tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post7005470479827728090..comments2023-10-17T08:19:58.196-04:00Comments on FreeThinke: FreeThinkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16682678301019952436noreply@blogger.comBlogger36125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-56734561036214453762015-04-03T23:24:50.360-04:002015-04-03T23:24:50.360-04:00A truly altruistic thread. Well done.A truly altruistic thread. Well done.Charleston Blackbottomnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-46339499575542715832015-04-03T10:15:05.344-04:002015-04-03T10:15:05.344-04:00Would you scatter your seeds in the wind, Fanny? ...Would you scatter your seeds in the wind, Fanny? Or look for "fertile" soil?Speedy Ghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01640242783952822072noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-46967626940523774332015-04-03T09:38:55.411-04:002015-04-03T09:38:55.411-04:00I draw conclusions based upon what I observe, and ...I draw conclusions based upon what I observe, and I have observed that Ducky is a serial snarling, sneering snipe who beclouds whatever forum he enters with his foul (or should I say fowl) flatulence and bitter, biting attacks.<br /><br />If that disgusting, curdled creature has any redeeming qualities, he should put them on display every once in awhile.Fanny Faggnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-14604709971780658362015-04-03T09:29:05.210-04:002015-04-03T09:29:05.210-04:00FJ,
I personally would love to follow a "Duc...FJ,<br /><i> I personally would love to follow a "Ducky's Here" blog. </i><br /><br />Ditto.Always On Watchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08192688822955022541noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-14792077469516569672015-04-03T07:26:32.215-04:002015-04-03T07:26:32.215-04:00Since you were speaking of ts eliot... this seems ...Since you were speaking of ts eliot... <a href="http://thersiteshideout.blogspot.com/2015/04/the-walkabout.html" rel="nofollow">this</a> seems apropos.-FJ the Dangerous and Extreme MAGA Jewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16745768408538827278noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-16226905643179171402015-04-03T07:22:36.239-04:002015-04-03T07:22:36.239-04:00The duck has been my education in the blogosphere....The duck has been my education in the blogosphere. He often buries nuggets of sources and methods in his retorts that are extremely useful and educational. I personally would love to follow a "Ducky's Here" blog.-FJ the Dangerous and Extreme MAGA Jewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16745768408538827278noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-18014661716824109602015-04-03T02:13:46.991-04:002015-04-03T02:13:46.991-04:00That may be true SOME of the time Fannie, old gir...That may be true SOME of the time Fannie, old girl, but not ALL the time. Ducky has a good side and many worthwhile bits of information to share.<br /><br />I rather enjoy his company on the rare occasions when he's not merely trying to fulfill his long term ambition to "cheese off' the right wing.<br /><br />When he acts like a prick, I respond accordingly, but you mustn't make the mistake of thinking he's all bad, or that we hate each other.<br /><br />So, cool your jets, dear, and try never to <i>assume</i> anything, and remember always to look before you leap. FreeThinkehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16682678301019952436noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-91319165843638586562015-04-03T02:06:46.051-04:002015-04-03T02:06:46.051-04:00Thersites, what I wrote to Ducky at 2:04 AM, might...Thersites, what I wrote to Ducky at 2:04 AM, might interest you since it serves pretty well as a response to what you have written above.FreeThinkehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16682678301019952436noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-45937433588511886672015-04-03T02:04:55.380-04:002015-04-03T02:04:55.380-04:00Ducky,
You are so full of erudition and vigorous...Ducky, <br /><br />You are so full of erudition and vigorous opinion I think it might enrich the blogosphere considerably if you established a blog of your own. I'm sure it would interest me and other thoughtful types greatly.<br /><br />If you'd like to write a Guest Post and have me publish it here, why not submit it to our mutual friend AOW, who could then submit it to me. I know she'd be delighted to act as a go-between, since she respects both of us.<br /><br />I never edit anyone else's text for any reason other than to correct possible typos, spelling errors, and omitted punctuation –– <i>i.e.</i> I'll insert a question mark or a period if either is clearly indicated but was somehow left out.<br /><br />You have a good mind, are well informed on the arts, and I truly would welcome input from you of an educational nature. <br /><br />Why not try it? I detest the endless exchange of mutual insults and snide innuendo. How about it?<br /><br />Today is Good Friday. T.S.Eliot made a powerful statement about that. I nearly published it for this occasion, but decided to use something of my own instead. An odd coincidence that you should suggest Eliot to me just as i was contemplating him, myself, which is not something I do often, since I often find him lugubrious to the point of morbidity! Nevertheless, he was an important master of the language, and I certainly respect him for that.<br /><br />As for John Adams's statement, I seek always to lift such things above and beyond the mundane context in which they were written and interpret them as spiritual revelations of what we could –– and should –– be our highest aims. <br /><br />I believe we are essentially spiritual, but too easily get mired in material considerations which keep us from realizing our potential.<br /><br />It's roughly like learning and performing a piano sonata. What Beethoven ate for breakfast on the day he completed the manuscript, or the status of his love life, or the weather, the state of his health, or his quarrels with friends, etc. interest me only mildly. The ESSENCE of any of his works has little-or-nothing to do with quotidian considerations. The thing we revere about Beethoven was his unique perception of the world that lies Above and Beyond the ability of the five physical senses to comprehend.<br /><br />That's why expert performer who play all the notes often bore us to tears. They miss the POINT of Beethoven's efforts.FreeThinkehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16682678301019952436noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-83462052514180378392015-04-02T23:46:53.401-04:002015-04-02T23:46:53.401-04:00Surprise! Little miss sour pants flies in here an...Surprise! Little miss sour pants flies in here and dishes up his old standby, crab chowdah.<br /><br />I bet you're a real blast at parties, Ducky, like a turd in the punch bowl.Fannie Faggnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-40948935707005643752015-04-02T23:29:46.733-04:002015-04-02T23:29:46.733-04:00Why don't you ever quote T. S. Eliot, especial...Why don't you ever quote T. S. Eliot, especially <i>Notes Toward the Definition of Culture</i>? I'm really surprised he's not your go to guy.<br /><br />"I do not approve of the extermination of the enemy: the policy of exterminating or, as is barborously said, liquidating enemies, is one of the most alarming developments of modern war and peace, from the point of view of those who desire the survival of culture. One needs the enemy."<br />--T. S. Eliot<br /><br />Perpetual war. I don't think Adams was ready to understand the military industrial complex.Ducky's herehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14608115001116619877noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-17390269021440310372015-04-02T19:17:28.793-04:002015-04-02T19:17:28.793-04:00Lavinia Perkins said
Stop it, please. You make me...<b>Lavinia Perkins said</b><br /><br />Stop it, please. You make me feel embarrassed for you. Find a better use for your time. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-53499680395133080412015-04-02T18:54:41.821-04:002015-04-02T18:54:41.821-04:00FT,
It's an INNER thing -- the way CHOOSE to L...FT,<br /><i>It's an INNER thing -- the way CHOOSE to LOOK AT whatever it is life hands out. This is where the power of PRAYER and SUPPLICATION transcends the physical limitations hat appear to bind us.</i><br /><br />I do not disagree with you, and John Adams may well have agreed with you, too. But I don't see that such was Adams's meaning in that particular letter to Abigail.Always On Watchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08192688822955022541noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-10626962005523006242015-04-02T18:54:05.410-04:002015-04-02T18:54:05.410-04:00If I can stop one heart from breaking,
I shall not...<i>If I can stop one heart from breaking,<br />I shall not live in vain;<br />If I can ease one life the aching,<br />Or cool one pain,<br />Or help one fainting robin<br />Unto his nest again,<br />I shall not live in vain.</i><br /><br />~ Emily Dickinson (1830-1886)<br /><br />That puts i very neatly in a nutshell for me.<br /><br />It isn't what HAPPENS to us that matters, it's we CHOOSE to DO about it that counts. The more we think of others and the less we think of Self, the happier and more fulfilled we are apt to be.<br /><br />It took me more than sixty years of fretting and fuming to learn that, and STILL I get irked to the point of madness by the opacity displayed by others who seem utterly perverse, inane and self-defeating. But I am WRONG to give way to feelings of that sort.<br /><br /><br /><br />FreeThinkehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16682678301019952436noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-15134004117568601672015-04-02T18:52:44.045-04:002015-04-02T18:52:44.045-04:00SF,
if everyone is busy painting, playing lutes an...SF,<br /><i>if everyone is busy painting, playing lutes and reading poetry, the Mongol hordes swoop in and put an end to your cultured society</i><br /><br />That is the reality.<br /><br /><i><br /><br />People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf. -- <a href="http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/g/georgeorwe159448.html" rel="nofollow">George Orwell</a></i><br />Always On Watchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08192688822955022541noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-36272643349937493482015-04-02T18:49:47.903-04:002015-04-02T18:49:47.903-04:00FT,
John Adams wrote (emphasis mine): I must stud...FT,<br />John Adams wrote (emphasis mine): <i> I must study politics and war that my sons may have <b>liberty</b> to study mathematics and philosophy.</i><br /><br />He also wrote (again, my emphasis): <i> in order to give their children <b>a right</b> to study painting, poetry, music, architecture, statuary, tapestry and porcelain</i><br /><br />Therefore, I believe that the statement which John Adams made had political significance. Get the politics settled so that <i>Beauty, Order, Refinement</i>, etc., can be pursued.<br /><br />In a comment below, Thersites provides some important <a href="http://www.familytales.org/dbDisplay.php?id=ltr_jod3536&city=" rel="nofollow">context</a> for Adams's words cited in the body of the blog post. It seems that he would rather have been partaking of other and higher pursuits, but had <i>duty</i> to fulfill so that his children could be free in other respects (emphases mine):<br /><br /><i> I could fill volumes with descriptions of temples and palaces, paintings, sculptures, tapestry, porcelain, &c., &c., &c., if I could have time ; but I could not do this without neglecting <b>my duty</b>. The science of government, it is my duty to study, more than all other sciences ; the arts of legislation and administration and negotiation, ought <b>to take place of, indeed to exclude, in a manner, all other arts</b>. </i>Always On Watchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08192688822955022541noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-70960796146894990672015-04-02T18:43:46.172-04:002015-04-02T18:43:46.172-04:00SHUCKS! Just lost a lengthy comment.
1. All dogs ...SHUCKS! Just lost a lengthy comment.<br /><br />1. All dogs are descended from the wolf<br /><br />2. Human beings are descended from a common ancestor as well.<br /><br />3. Alexander Tyler charted the cyclical course of every Civilization known to history thus far. Eventually ALL fall prey to the same pattern and repeat the mistakes that destroyed the others. (OZYMANDIAS describes it with chilling eloquence in poetic language.)<br /><br />4. We appear to be in a state of decline. Too bad it happened on our watch, but there appears to be little we could do to halt what seems fore-ordained.<br /><br />5. I STILL say, however, that Adams's words may be interpreted to have a UNIVERSAL APPLICATION to all INDIVIDUALS in ALL circumstances in any and all periods of history. <br /><br />It's an INNER thing -- the way CHOOSE to LOOK AT whatever it is life hands out. This is where the power of PRAYER and SUPPLICATION transcends the physical limitations hat appear to bind us.<br /><br />SOME men are capable of being freer in a dungeon than many a rich and famous man living in a palace or a penthouse.<br /><br />In the end SPIRIT is All-in-All.FreeThinkehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16682678301019952436noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-82060566144635992362015-04-02T17:19:42.095-04:002015-04-02T17:19:42.095-04:00I fully support and agree with Adams' words yo...I fully support and agree with Adams' words you posted.<br /><br />My comment goes to the old "Sheep. Wolves, and Sheepdogs" story.<br /><br />Maybe we all start at wolves, but society evolves and in this context becoming a sheep is a good thing: You produce wool, and ultimately, mutton and lamb chops. <br /><br />But a society of nothing but sheep will end up eaten by wolves, if not literally, then metaphorically as they become economically unviable.<br /><br />Expand it out and sheepdogs include cops, but also sanitation workers, farmers and people who convert raw materials into infrastructure, electricity, natural gas, gasoline, etc.<br /><br />We will always need sheepdogs, and God bless them, because they allow the rest of us to lounge and dream and chase our pursuits free from safety, security and survival worries.<br /><br />I see two things going wrong here in the US viz this allegory:<br /><br />1. Government has us all on constant alarm now, everyone mounting the parapets of the fortress and scanning the horizon, and indeed constantly looking around because we have let in thousands of Trojan Horses. Everyone is on alert all the time, and that is horribly unhealthy for individual mental states and for society as a whole.<br /><br />2. A lack of sheepdogs, and the castration of sheepdogs. We haven't won a war since 1945, thanks to pusillanimous politicians, and we are slowly but surely deballing the police over the actions of a few criminals in their ranks.<br /><br />2 continued. We discourage manual labor and the skilled trades that produce and maintain the infrastructure that undergirds our society. Too many people pursue useless degrees, not enough engineers and hard science grads.<br /><br />These factors will conspire to kill this great experiment.<br /><br />I'm not lecturing anyone; I know that you all know this all too well. I'm just explaining where I am coming from.Silverfiddlehttp://westernhero.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-88096293128494559902015-04-02T15:46:36.553-04:002015-04-02T15:46:36.553-04:00In 1789, Louis XVI would no longer be thinking of ...In 1789, Louis XVI would no longer be thinking of poetry and/or porcelain.Thersiteshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15751286903359745316noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-37768810539692683142015-04-02T15:39:09.941-04:002015-04-02T15:39:09.941-04:00Context is everything...
It is not indeed the fi...Context is everything...<br /><br /><i> It is not indeed the fine arts which our country requires ; the useful, the mechanic arts, are those which we have occasion for in a young country , as yet simple and not far advanced in luxury, although perhaps much too far for her age and character. I could fill volumes with descriptions of temples and palaces, paintings, sculptures, tapestry, porcelain, &c., &c., &c., if I could have time ; but I could not do this without neglecting my duty. The science of government, it is my duty to study, more than all other sciences ; the arts of legislation and administration and negotiation, ought to take place of, indeed to exclude, in a manner, all other arts. I must study politics and war that my sons may have liberty to study mathematics and philosophy. My sons ought to study mathematics and philosophy, geography, natural history and naval architecture, navigation, commerce and agriculture, in order to give their children a right to study painting, poetry, music, architecture, statuary, tapestry and porcelain. </i>Thersiteshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15751286903359745316noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-88523795813331860362015-04-02T15:36:49.977-04:002015-04-02T15:36:49.977-04:00Adams was in Paris (1780) when he wrote thos words...Adams was in Paris (1780) when he wrote <a href="http://www.familytales.org/dbDisplay.php?id=ltr_jod3536&city=" rel="nofollow">thos words</a> to Abigale. And surely the poets he was referring to, were the French?Thersiteshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15751286903359745316noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-17652066319234229012015-04-02T14:47:15.289-04:002015-04-02T14:47:15.289-04:00Like Adams, I study politics and war. For the tim...Like Adams, I study politics and war. For the time for prose and poetry is rapidly drawing to a close.Thersiteshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15751286903359745316noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-52084163081287220292015-04-02T14:44:07.759-04:002015-04-02T14:44:07.759-04:00why then have you bothered to devote yourself to t...<i>why then have you bothered to devote yourself to the study of philosophy ancient and modern?</i><br /><br />Why does the alchemist seek to transmute stones into gold?Thersiteshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15751286903359745316noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-71387113395134378552015-04-02T14:34:54.525-04:002015-04-02T14:34:54.525-04:00In still other words, I believe in the belief in l...In still other words, I believe in the <a href="http://thersitescorner.blogspot.com/2013/06/blog-post.html" rel="nofollow">belief in law</a>, originating from violence, but which sustains the law. ;)Thersiteshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15751286903359745316noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-86807162848865293062015-04-02T14:30:51.765-04:002015-04-02T14:30:51.765-04:00...and that behind every great a passionate law, l......and that behind every great a passionate law, lies <a href="http://thersitescampsite.blogspot.com/2013/06/on-origin-of-laws.html" rel="nofollow">a smirking ape</a> attempting to conceal the violence from whence the law originated.Thersiteshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15751286903359745316noreply@blogger.com