Pilot Derangement Syndrome, and Other Miscellany
Russian state-controlled media always posts the complimentary things the Republicans say about Putin. Remember a week or two ago when Trump congratulated Putin for the prisoner exchange? Paul Whelan was detained on Trump's watch. Trump has said he'll end the war in Ukraine immediately if he's reelected. You don't think that would be by defunding it, do you??? Remember the first impeachment where Trump tried to bully Zelenskyy into opening an investigation into Biden by withholding congressionally mandated aid that was to go to Ukraine? This all paints the same picture and we'd be fools to ignore it.
August 13, 2024
Postscript- But then they pull the link!
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Oh my goodness. I just heard that Salman Rushdie was stabbed on stage today, and that he's on a ventilator with liver damage, likely to lose an eye. He's the living embodiment of the right to free speech. Wishing him well, and wishing that every one of us says whatever we like, without threat of violence or intimidation.
Rushdie- "It's no trick to support the free speech of somebody you agree with or to whose opinion you are indifferent. The defense of free speech begins at the point when people say something you can't stand."
August 13, 2022
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Joe Biden's statement:
Jill and I were shocked and saddened to learn of the vicious attack on Salman Rushdie yesterday in New York. We, together with all Americans and people around the world, are praying for his health and recovery. I am grateful to the first responders and the brave individuals who jumped into action to render aid to Rushdie and subdue the attacker.
Salman Rushdie—with his insight into humanity, with his unmatched sense for story, with his refusal to be intimidated or silenced—stands for essential, universal ideals. Truth. Courage. Resilience. The ability to share ideas without fear. These are the building blocks of any free and open society. And today, we reaffirm our commitment to those deeply American values in solidarity with Rushdie and all those who stand for freedom of expression.
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There's a whole gang of kids on my block who all play together, 10 of them ages 4 to 8.
Today there was an 11th, and a parent I never met before. As it turns out, she is my neighbor from directly across the street, and they have a 4 year old. I had no idea!
I asked how long they lived there- 10 years. We lived here 14 years. For 10 years we lived within field goal range of each other and never met! She said they should socialize more, but I said sometimes too much socializing can be overrated. (Has a more antisocial comment ever been made?)
Then the conversation took a strange turn- her four year old daughter threatened to murder my daughter and her friends! But murder them with bubbles, so I don't think that really counts. Hey, she was grumpy.
My neighbor was horrified, telling me that they don't use death threats at home. It hadn't crossed my mind that they might have. Everybody knows that at least 95% of toddlers are psychopaths. I figured that was a more likely cause than her being a trained bubble assassin.
Anyway, if you end up near my house, watch out for this gang of 11 just to be safe, particularly the younger ones.
August 13, 2022
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Pretty strange that exactly zero people died during the Covid vaccine clinical trials, but now many people know someone who knows someone who died within a few hours after receiving the shot. These same people might walk blind-folded through rattlesnake country fearing the antivenom.
August 13, 2021
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Chevy Chase was on Norm Macdonald's Netflix show saying that he used to play poker at Johnny Carson's house with Steve Martin, Carl Reiner and others. Norm asked his sidekick, "Can you imagine being a fly on the wall for that!? You wouldn't understand anything. You'd be worried about spiders and shit."
August 13, 2020
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I'm a Trump critic, I'm not sure if you noticed! Today's not a normal day in Trump criticism though.
Day in and day out I expect the guy to be awful and he never disappoints. Sorry, I meant that he always disappoints. I'm very rarely shocked though. I was shocked when he defended white supremacists, and I was shocked when they admitted they were separating children from parents as a deterrent to immigration. Other than that, I might have only been shocked one or two times.
And that brings us to today, when the president admitted, to the world, that he intends to cut post office funds in order to mess up the election. He wouldn't do that if he thought he could win, would he? Could this have something to do with the fact that 72% of Democrats plan to vote by mail, while only 22% of Republicans plan to? So he's going to use any government apparatus available to him to ensure his election... just like he learned in Dictatorship 101.
Just last night Emma asked me if the Postmaster General could go to jail for slowing down the mail. I said that he couldn't because there's no way to prove his intent. Trump just stated the intent!
Here's the really baffling thing. Trump could win legitimately, but now he's undercut himself. There's no way out, if he wins it's because he admitted to pulling dirty tricks.
Now here's something fun to think about. Trump thought Obama should resign because of two Ebola deaths. Imagine there were 150,000+ deaths and Obama was taking measures to ensure people couldn't increase their personal safety by voting by mail leading up to his election with Romney. So Trump needs to take his own advice and resign. Any Republicans who care about legit elections need to call for someone else to be nominated.
Quite literally, Trump does not care about winning legitimately, he only cares about winning. If you don't believe me, ask Kanye West.
August 13, 2020
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Sam Harris:
Imagine you're on an airplane cruising at 30,000 feet. At some point, near the end of the flight, you see the pilot stumbling out of the cockpit. He appears visibly drunk or insane. He gropes one of the flight attendants; he gets on the PA system and brags about how rich he is; he castigates the passengers for having insulted him. He says, “If you want me to land this plane, you have to be nicer to me.” Something completely out of keeping with the role and responsibility to safeguard the lives of the people on that plane.
Then he launches into a conspiracy theory about how the airline is run by a shadow group of maintenance workers who have been undermining him, and he thinks they have been monkeying with the instruments in the cockpit. He fires the co-pilot, sending him to the back of the plane and telling him not to move. And he does a dozen other things like that—in the span of an hour—that prove beyond any possibility of doubt that this is not a normal situation. He's not a normal pilot.
When it comes time to land the plane, the danger of something going wrong has been horribly magnified. You are worried about this, quite reasonably so. You're appalled to find that control over so many lives—yours among them—has been given to someone who is obviously, monstrously unfit for the job.
You notice there are people on the plane who are inspired by this pilot's antics, goading him on. He's now threatening to punch some old woman in the face, and people are yelling he should do it. And then people are turning to you, as you begin to worry about this out loud, and claim that you have Pilot Derangement Syndrome. You should just stop whining and enjoy the flight: Captain Trump is making flying great again.
So this is your situation. You're worried about obvious incompetence and distraction from the task at hand, coming at a moment where everyone can least afford it. We're in the middle of a global pandemic and economic emergency. Now the question is: How much of your concern about not dying in a plane crash is due to political partisanship? It is obvious that is not even a variable.
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Trump tweet: "I will be interviewed by Maria Bartiromo on Fox Business this morning at 7:30. A.M. Enjoy!"
Does this sum it up? "Enjoy." It's just one word, but it gives away his game. He aspires to be an entertainer above all.
Imagine Reagan, or any president, saying something similar- "I know a thousand people are dying each day but I'll be speaking later and I really hope you enjoy it." It's why he reassembled the coronavirus team immediately after disassembling it, saying he didn't realize how popular they were. It's why when he was asked several times, he still couldn't give interviewers a vision for a second term. You know what he's thinking- "MORE ENTERTAINMENT!"
I don't know, it's not even entertaining to me. It's like if Adele sang a George Wallace speech. It's like if David Copperfield actually made the Statue if Liberty disappear. It's like if Nixon ran in '72 promising to end the Vietnam war with a hilarious stand-up routine.
This guy is about as good at entertaining as he is at ridding the country of Coronavirus.
August 13, 2020
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It just crossed my mind that the hardcore 2nd Amendment people who are fond of quoting, "the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed," would gladly support arming all of the prisoners in all of the prisons. I mean, it says "shall not be infringed", right? And accepting that it's absurd that we can't infringe on the 2nd Amendment rights of prisoners, why can't we include domestic abusers and other violent offenders? That would make us more safe, not less safe.
August 13, 2019
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Robert Reich:
As tyrants take control of democracies, they typically do it in 10 ways.
1. Exaggerate their mandate to govern – claiming, for example, that they won an election by a landslide even after losing the popular vote, and that they lost the popular vote because of massive voter fraud.
2. Call anyone who opposes them “enemies,” including journalists and media outlets that criticize them, and accuse such journalists and outles of spreading fake news.
3. Blame economic stresses on immigrants or racial or religious minorities, and quietly foment violence against them.
4. Quietly encourage domestic terrorists to use violence on defenders of democracy. Refuse to openly condemn such acts. Get manufacturers of guns and munitions to encourage such acts as well.
5. Communicate with supporters directly through mass rallies and unfiltered statements (now called tweets).
6. Tell the public big lies, causing them to doubt the truth and to believe fictions that support the tyrants’ goals.
7. Appoint family members and generals into high positions of authority
8. Make personal alliances with foreign dictators, but express indifference if not defiance toward democratic leaders.
9. Draw no distinction between personal property and public property, profiteering from public office.
10. Count on average peoples’ confusion, fear, or apathy to allow all this to happen.
August 13, 2017
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The hallmark of any leader who understands the common person is, obviously, that they crap in a gold toilet.
August 13, 2017
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Albert Einstein- "Possessions, outward success, publicity, luxury - to me these have always been contemptible. I believe that a simple and unassuming manner of life is best for everyone, best for both the body and the mind."
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The president is right, there are "many sides" to a lot of issues.
Trump on the Challenger disaster: Let's not jump to judgment before we hear the O-ring's side of the story.
Trump on the Great Depression: We have nothing to fear but fear itself, and hope. There are a lot different points of view.
Trump on Putin being a killer: You think the United States of America is so innocent??? (Oops, that one is real.)
Trump on his sexual assault controversy: Nobody ever asked to hear my hand's side of the story.
Trump on 911: Bin Laden must be one smart cookie! (Oops, that was about Kim Jong Un consolidating his power.)
Trump on Civil Rights: It takes two races for one to be discriminated against.
Trump on gravity: Some people think the center of the Earth attracts, others think outer space repels.
Trump on WWII- Sure, Nazis are bad but I can't Make America Great Again without a my neo-Nazi supporters.
August 17, 2017
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Anthony Scaramucci is on This Week, somehow sounding very reasonable, confirmed that the president likes to do the opposite of what is expected.
Funny thing about that- when what is expected is the RIGHT thing, the president will willingly do the WRONG thing, simply because he likes to be a contrarian.
It's plain for all to see that the president's decisions are made with regard to his personality defects above what is right or wrong.
In a nutshell, we are being run by ego above morality.
August 13, 2017
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Of all the weeks that I could have run out of heating oil, I think I picked the best possible one.
August 13, 2016
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Sloths dad is dead...
August 13, 2015
Postscript: Sloth got into my computer and posted that.
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From IFL Science
Humans have been sending radio signals strong enough to go into space since 1936. The tiny blip of blue shows humanity’s reach into the vastness of the Universe.
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Salvador Dali illustrates Montaigne's essay, That To Study Philosophy Is To Learn To Die, from 1580, (borrowed from a line from Cicero)
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A guy came in today for an interview wearing a "The Only BOSS I Listen To Is Springsteen" t-shirt.
August 13, 2011
Postscript: He was actually a friend of mine, for the shirt as a joke, I hired him, and a week or two later he crashed the truck into a bridge.
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On this day in 1536- the Tenbun Hokke Disturbance. Buddhist monks from Kyoto, Japan's Enryaku-ji temple set fire to 21 Nichiren temples. Buddhists huh?
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On this day in 1972, Karl Wallenda walked on a tightrope between the foul poles at Veterans Stadium. The payment for his services? $3000.
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Fast Times at Ridgemont High was released on this day in 1982. Inconceivable that when I saw it it was only a four or five year old movie.
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Last night there was only one parking spot left at a Barnstormers game, and some jerk had parked about a foot and a half into it. I squeezed in even though I was about an inch from his car. I got out the passenger side, and he was going to have to get in through his passenger side. Apparently he wasn't too happy about that, so he scratched up the side of my car with his keys. I don't care about that though, I'm just happy that I made him mad!
August 13, 2022
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Fidel Castro was born on this day in 1926.
"There is often talk of human rights, but it is also necessary to talk of the rights of humanity. Why should some people walk barefoot, so that others can travel in luxurious cars? Why should some live for thirty-five years, so that others can live for seventy years? Why should some be miserably poor, so that others can be hugely rich? I speak on behalf of the children in the world who do not have a piece of bread. I speak on the behalf of the sick who have no medicine, of those whose rights to life and human dignity have been denied."
I'd include the right to self-determination as a basic human right.
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Hawaiian singer and ukulele player Don Ho, was born on this day in 1930. Classic palindrome- "Oh no, Don Ho."
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Sarah Huckabee Sanders was born on this day in 1982. She famously refused to disown Trump's comments that the press are the enemy of the people. Somebody remember that for her gravestone.
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H. G. Wells left us on this day in 1946.
"We all have our time machines, don't we. Those that take us back are memories...And those that carry us forward, are dreams."
His book, The Time Machine, factored heavily into the series finale of Better Call Saul, symbolizing regret.
You know what his last words were?
"Go away, I'm alright."
He didn't know he was dying.
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John Slattery was born on this day in 1962, and that's no lie.
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On this day in 1969, there was a ticker tape parade in New York City for the Apollo of an astronauts and that night at a state dinner in Los Angeles, they were awarded the presidential medal of freedom by Nixon.
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Another notable birthday- Tom Perrotta (1961)
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Another notable deathday- Florence Nightingale (1910)
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H.G. Wells again- "Advertising is legitimised lying."
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There's a whole gang of kids on my block who all play together, 10 of them ages 4 to 8.
Today there was an 11th, and a parent I never met before. As it turns out, she is my neighbor from directly across the street, and they have a 4 year old. I had no idea!
I asked how long they live there- 10 years. We lived here 14 years. For 10 years we lived within field goal range of each other and never met! She said they should socialize more, but I said sometimes too much socializing can be overrated. (Has more antisocial comment ever been made?)
Then the conversation took a strange turn- her four year old daughter threatened to murder my daughter and her friends! But murder them with bubbles, so I don't think that really counts.
My neighbor was horrified, telling me that they don't use death threats at home. It hadn't crossed my mind that they might have. Everybody knows that at least 95% of toddlers are psychopaths. I figured that was a more likely cause than her being a trained bubble assassin.
Anyway, if you end up near my house, watch out for this gang of 11 just to be safe, particularly the younger ones.
August 13, 2022
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Something applicable, from Paul Bloom's "Just Babies, the Origins of Good and Evil."
"In one of the coolest studies in developmental psychology, Rozin and his colleagues did an experiment in which they offered children under 2 something they described as dog feces ("realistically crafted from peanut butter and odorous cheese.") Most of them ate it."
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Mickey Mantle left us on this day in 1995.
"A team is where a boy can prove his courage on his own. A gang is where a coward goes to hide."
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When pressed by David Frost on whether or not he believed in God, Isaac Asimov responded, “God is much more intelligent than I am — let him try to find me.”
http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2013/08/13/isaac-asimov-religion-science-humanism/
August 13, 2013
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"Sorry Mickey, but because of the way you lived on Earth, you can't come in. But, before you leave, would you autograph these baseballs for Him." - Mantle quoting St. Peter at the Pearly Gates
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On any issue, the facts are the facts, and any rational argument should rely on the facts. One's identity adds nothing to the argument, and reliance on it will weaken it.
Sam Harris on Identity Politics:
https://youtu.be/dvzOH2YY-_M
August 13, 2017
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AP News- Analysis: Why won’t Donald Trump condemn white nationalism?
When the neo-Nazis cheer your words an action, you have a problem. A moral problem, not a support problem. The article says the race issue doesn't poll negatively with his supporters. From the article:
On Saturday, as Trump read slowly through a statement about the clashes that left dozens injured and one woman dead, he condemned hatred, bigotry and violence “on many sides.” The president was silent when journalists asked whether he rejected the support of nationalists groups.
That silence was cheered by the white supremacist website Daily Stormer: “When asked to condemn, he just walked out of the room. Really, really good. God bless him.”
https://apnews.com/7d824d4df86649fd98c4ba63a8015d0c
August 13, 2017
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New York Magazine- Trump Hires the Worst People, According To Trump
Finally, something everybody can agree on.
https://nym.ag/2KRc1mL
August 13, 2018
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The Atlantic- Trump’s El Paso Photo Is Obscene, by Graeme Wood
"The president’s callousness has reached a new low: smiling, flashing a thumbs-up next to an orphaned infant."
"A really exceptional work of obscenity, like a really exceptional work of beauty, exceeds the ability of its viewers to fathom what they just saw. Did that just happen? But … how? What sorcery created it? Words don’t arrive, and the stammering gives way to silence."
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/08/trumps-el-paso-photo-is-obscene/595888
August 13, 2019
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Vice- Trump Just Admitting He's Sabotaging the USPS To Screw Up the Election
Oh good, so he's getting impeached and removed this afternoon, right?
“They need that money in order to make the Post Office work so it can take all of these millions and millions of ballots. But if they don’t get those two items, that means you can’t have universal mail-in voting, because they’re not equipped to have it.”
I don't think anyone ever accused the guy of putting the will of the votes over his personal self-interest.
https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/m7jkxq/trump-just-admitted-hes-sabotaging-the-usps-to-screw-up-the-election
August 13, 2020
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Mantle again- "But god-damn, to think you're a .300 hitter and end up at .237 in your last season, then find yourself looking at a lifetime .298 average - it made me want to cry."
I totally get it!
"In 1960 when Pittsburgh beat us in the World Series, we outscored them 55-27. It was the only time I think the better team lost. I was so disappointed I cried on the plane ride home."
Man, If I cried as much as Mickey Mantle I'd wear a dress. You remember what he said about Pete Rose right?
"If I had played my career hitting singles like Pete, I'd wear a dress."
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Mr Show- Blow Up the Moon
Why haven't we done this yet? The children are the future.
August 13, 2020
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Alfred Hitchcock joined us on this day in 1899. Here's a world class anecdote from Peter Bogdanovich's book, "Who the Devil Made It: Conversations with Legendary Film Directors."
“Well, it was a quite shocking, I must say – there was blood everywhere,” Alfred Hitchcock began suddenly from the rear of the elevator. We were at New York’s St. Regis Hotel, heading down to the lobby. There was as light flush to his cheeks from the several frozen daiquiris he had just drunk in his suite. The elevator had just stopped, three people dressed for the evening had joined us, and immediately Mr. Hitchcock started to speak, sounding as though he were in midsentence and projecting in that careful and familiar TV tone of his. He went on, “There was a stream of blood coming from his ear and another from his mouth.”
The people had recognized Hitchcock immediately, but now they seemed purposely to avoid looking at him.
He went right on, gazing beatifically ahead of him as the elevator stopped again and another well-dressed couple came aboard: “Of course, there was a huge pool of blood on the floor, and his clothes were spattered with it – oh! it was a horrible mess.” No one on the elevator, it seemed to me, was breathing. “Blood all around! Well, I looked at the poor man and I said, ‘Good God, what happened to you?’“ At that point the elevator doors opened onto the lobby and Hitchcock said, “Do you know what he told me?” and then paused. After a moment, and quite reluctantly, the other passengers moved out of the elevator and then looked back at the director as we walked away. After several foggy moments, I asked, “Well, what did he say?” and Hitch smiled benevolently, taking my arm, and said, “Oh, nothing – that’s just my elevator story.”
His definition of happiness:
https://youtu.be/14dOICbwSIs
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"Until I saw Mantle peel down for his shower in the clubhouse at Comiskey Park one afternoon, I never knew how he developed his brutal power, but his bare back looked like a barrel full of snakes." - Dale Lancaster in 1957 Chicago Sun Times
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50 Of The Creepiest Things Kids Have Ever Said To Their Parents
My 4 year old son and I were waiting for our food at Panera. While we stood there, he started rubbing my belly and talking to it. I asked him what he was doing; he said that he was talking to the baby. I informed him that I was not pregnant. And he said "there IS a baby in your belly...I just saw it crawl across the floor and climb up into you".
And another:
My 4 year old has an imaginary friend named John. He's had him for a while, but a few months ago he came to me, completely serious and said, "Big John said he loves you." and then walked away. Now he has always referred to him as his Buddy John. Foe example, " My buddy John and I...."
My grandfather's name was John and everyone used to call him Big John. He passed away when I was 6 years old. We lived with him at the time of his passing and he was such a huge part of my life. I have never referred to him as Big John or even John when speaking about him, always just grandpa.
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Joseph Campbell- “You must have a room, or a certain hour or so a day, where you don’t know what was in the newspapers that morning, you don’t know who your friends are, you don’t know what you owe anybody, you don’t know what anybody owes to you. This is a place where you can simply experience and bring forth what you are and what you might be. This is the place of creative incubation. At first you may find that nothing happens there. But if you have a sacred place and use it, something eventually will happen.”
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Roger McDaniel- "Snowflake Christians weren't offended when trump peddled Bibles to raise $$$ to defend himself against sexual abuse charges."
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Vladimir Kara-Murza- “Political change in Russia always comes unexpectedly… The next time, change will come in exactly the same way — abruptly and unexpectedly. None of us knows the specific moment and specific circumstances, but it will happen in the foreseeable future. The chain of events leading to these changes was started by the regime itself [with its full-scale invasion of Ukraine] in February 2022. It’s only a matter of time.”
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Flannery O'Connor- "Only if we are secure in our beliefs can we see the comical side of the universe."
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