Episodes From Shock Corridor, the Decumentary
Incomprehensible- Trump's upbeat bragging that he now has the tallest building in Manhattan, ON 9/11! Of course that's where his mind went. He actually ran for president that year. Imagine!
https://youtu.be/K88DcY-MMUY
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Wow, seriously, what a debate! Anyone still undecided had a clear look at two starkly different candidates.
After being asked several times, somehow Trump still couldn't bring himself to say that he wants Ukraine to win in Russia's war of aggression. This might be the clearest example of his admiration for Putin.
Kamala's laundry list of his race-baiting through the years, I'm so thankful he had to sit there and listen to it.
His position on abortion... wait, what's his position on abortion again?
He was given $400 million dollars from his father resulting in six bankruptcies? Oof. Not exactly the greatest economic genius of his generation.
People are leaving his rallies bored and exhausted, as he is speaking? Yep! And his convention speech too.
Military leaders think he's a disgrace. There are now many examples of him disrespecting the military. He doesn't understand the concept of sacrifice.
Speaking of concepts, after a decade in politics, the guy only has "a concept of a plan" for healthcare? The shame. Does that seem like a guy without the ability to think about the country's critical policies from a middle-class perspective?
Hundreds of prominent Republicans are supporting Harris, including many from Trump's own cabinet and others who served under him. They say he's a threat to national security and the future of the country.
All that talk about dictators feigning respect for him because they know they can manipulate him if they flatter him, it left him in ruins.
Kamala is soft on crime? Trump himself is a criminal! He's been prosecuted for national security crimes, economic crimes, fraud, election interference, sexual assault, etc, etc. My goodness, this stuff is devastating. This is not weaponization of the justice department. Grand juries indicted him based on the evidence. Weaponization of the justice department is what he's threatening to do in going after his political enemies.
We're not a failed nation, what a stupid notion!
Trump was fired by 81 million people and "clearly, he's having a very difficult time processing that." Wow, that was the linguistic equivalent of Jared Leto getting his face beaten into a pulp in Fight Club.
Trump is so easily angered, and driven by emotion. Has Star Wars taught us nothing? Anger is an emotion of the Dark Side. One doesn't want the Empire to have the ability to destroy planets, and we can give Trump access to the nuclear codes.
The list goes on and on. At some point does this count as elder abuse?
Something weird dawned on me though that isn't getting a lot of attention. Kamala zinged Trump, saying that world leaders laugh at him behind his back, and to rebutt her, he praised... Hungary's Viktor Orban? That's his shining example of a respectable world leader??? Orban was democratically elected but became a dictator, and Project 2025 is largely based on his model.
Trump pretends to disavow Project 2025, but it was written by his key advisors and is echoed in his daily talking points. If Trump knows only one thing, it's marketing, and he recognizes "Project 2025" as a marketing problem, nothing else. The guy might actually be the greatest marketing genius of his generation.
One strategy of consolidating power is to literally shut down media that you don't like. Orban shut down critical media, forcing their sale at discounted rates to new owners that were friendly toward him.
The debate moderators did a fantastic, and mostly fair job. If they were unfair at all, it was that they let Trump talk too much, which just hurt him more and more anyway. Recognizing the disaster, after the debate Trump said about ABC, “I mean, to be honest, they’re a news organization. They have to be licensed to do it. They ought to take away their license for the way they did that.”
"They" should take away their license? Who, Biden? Of course not, Trump is talking about himself after reelection. Anyone who thinks he wouldn't shut down critical media is kidding themselves. Shutting down critical media is no small problem for a country.
We are all free to disagree with the media. Obviously Trump himself is free to disagree with the media. This is something else though. There are no countries that have shut down media critical of those in power that we would ever aspire to be like. When people are not allowed to hear criticism, they literally lose their ability to think critically. Read Masha Gessen's criticism of Putin, criticism she was only allowed to publish in the United States after fleeing Russia.
This all reminds me of what Kamala said about Project 2025 not long after she became the nominee. "Can you believe they put that thing in writing?"
She's right, that doesn't seem so smart, but when someone has unchecked power, why would they have to be smart?
September 11, 2024
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My LNP op-ed
https://lancasteronline.com/opinion/columnists/presidential-debate-sheds-light-on-what-makes-trump-unfit-column/article_4226e708-71e5-11ef-b553-87d97642e786.html
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Voltaire- "What can you say to a man who tells you he prefers obeying God rather than men, and that as a result he's certain he'll go to heaven if he cuts your throat?"
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Someone planted an uplifting sign right outside my house
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To paraphrase and update a George Carlin joke- Did you ever notice that people not wearing masks in stores have faces you didn't want to see in the first place?
September 11, 2020
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Good job Trump! Excellent idea to fire Bolton. The guy's a lunatic. You deserve praise. PERHAPS not as much praise as condemnation for hiring him to begin with, but praise nonetheless. So here you go Trump, let's make it official- excellent work firing the guy that you must have been out of your mind hiring to begin with. Keep up the good work!
September 11, 2019
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Daniel Johnston left us on this day in 2019.
TRUE LIVE WILL FIND YOU IN THE END
True love will find you in the end
You'll find out just who was your friend
Don't be sad, I know you will
But don't give up until
True love will find you in the end
This is a promise with a catch
Only if you're looking can it find you
'Cause true love is searching too
But how can it recognize you
If you don't step out into the light, the light
Don't be sad I know you will
Don't give up until
True love will find you in the end
https://youtu.be/Ma7lyfYzIw8
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Great movie! The top echelon of medium echelon films, if you know what I mean. Released on this day in 1963
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I'm reading Michael Pollen's Food Rules. "#43 Eat all the junk food you want as long as you make it yourself." He has no idea how much ice cream I can make! I just had a small bowl of orange-banana-flax seed... maybe I'll go eat the rest.
September 11, 2012
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Some people just like to like things.
September 11, 2011
(11 likes)
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When did this become Patriot Day? Whatever. How about a quote from Edward Abbey, the patron saint of patriots- "A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government."
September 11, 2010
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I found some blood on my finger on the road home after playing air hockey. I thought it might have been the juice from a smashed raspberry. I tasted it and it was blood. But where did it come from? It tasted like mine.
September 11, 2009
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The Hope Diamond was stolen along with other French crown jewels on this day in 1792. when six men broke into the house where they are stored. That was 230 years ago, and I can imagine the exact jubilation that they felt in that moment.
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On this day in 1973, with the help of the United States, a coup in Chile, headed by General Augusto Pinochet, toppled the democratically elected president Salvador Allende. Pinochet exercised dictatorial power until ousted from office in 1990.
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Short story writer, O. Henry, was born on this day in 1862. "I'll give you the whole secret to short story writing. Here it is. Rule 1: Write stories that please yourself. There is no Rule 2."
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D. H. Lawrence was born on this day in 1885.
Nobody knows you.
You don't know yourself.
And I, who am half in love with you,
What am I in love with?
My own imaginings?
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Brian De Palma was born on this day in 1940. "I don't see scary films. I certainly wouldn't go see my films."
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Comedian Daniel Sloss was born on this day in 1990.
"I think one of the hardest things about being a parent is Christmas morning, when you've spent all this time, money and effort making this day so magical. And then you look down at your child with those beautiful blue eyes that you hope resemble yours. And they spend the whole day thanking Santa. You know that disappointment that parents feel in that moment — that's exactly how doctors feel whenever you thank God."
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John Ritter left us on this day in 2003, a tragedy. Tell me, how is it possible that the opening credits to Three's Company crack me up every single time? The guy was a genius.
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Jim Carroll became one of the people who died, on this day in 2009.
PEOPLE WHO DIED
Teddy sniffing glue he was twelve years old
Fell from the roof on East Two-nine
Cathy was eleven when she pulled the plug
On twenty six reds and a bottle of wine
Bobby got leukemia, fourteen years old
He looked like sixty five when he died
He was a friend of mine
Those are people who died, died
Those are people who died, died
Those are people who died, died
Those are people who died, died
They were all my friends and just died
G-berg and Georgie let their gimmicks go rotten
So they died of hepatitis in upper Manhattan
Sly in Vietnam, bullet in the head
Bobby OD'd on Drano on the night that he was wed
They were two more friends of mine (two more friends that died)
Those are people who died, died
Those are people who died, died
Those are people who died, died
Those are people who died, died
They were all my friends and they died
Mary took a dry dive from a hotel room
Bobby hung himself from a cell in The Tombs
Judy jumped in front of a subway train
Eddie got slit in the jugular vein
And Eddie, I miss you more than all the others
And I salute you brother
Those are people who died, died
Those are people who died, died
Those are people who died, died
Those are people who died, died
They were all my friends, and they died
Herbie pushed Tony from the Boys' Club roof
Tony thought that his rage was just some goof
But Herbie sure gave Tony some, some bitchen proof
Hey, Herbie said, Tony, can you fly?
But Tony couldn't fly, Tony died
Those are people who died, died
Those are people who died, died
Those are people who died, died
Those are people who died, died
They were all my friends and they died
Brian got busted on a narco rap
He beat the rap by rattin' on some bikers
He said, hey, I know it's dangerous
But it sure beats Riker's
But the next day he got offed
By the very same bikers
Those are people who died, died
Those are people who died, died
Those are people who died, died
Those are people who died, died
They were all my friends, and they died
Teddy sniffing glue he was twelve years old
Fell from the roof on East Two-nine
Cathy was eleven when she pulled the plug
On twenty six reds and a bottle of wine
Bobby got leukemia, fourteen years old
He looked like sixty five when he died
He was a friend of mine
Those are people who died, died
Those are people who died, died
Those are people who died, died
Those are people who died, died
They were all my friends, and they died
G-berg and Georgie let their gimmicks go rotten
They died of hepatitis in upper Manhattan
Sly in Vietnam, took a bullet in the head
Bobby OD'd on Drano on the night that he was wed
They were two more friends of mine, I miss 'em, they died
Those are people who died, died
Those are people who died, died
Those are people who died, died
Those are people who died, died
They were all my friends and they died
Mary took a dry dive from a hotel room
Bobby hung himself from a cell in the tombs
Judy jumped in front of a subway train
Eddie got slit in the jugular vein
And Eddie, I miss you more than all the others
This song is for you my brother
Those are people who died, died
Those are people who died, died
Those are people who died, died
Those are people who died, died
They were all my friends, and they died
Those are people who died, died
Those are people who died, died
Those are people who died, died
Those are people who died, died
They were all my friends, and they died
https://youtu.be/9bOjc70f4p8
My God, that song gives me a rush every single time, goosebumps all over.
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The height of filmmaking. Best dialogue. The Seventh Seal- The Church Painter
https://youtu.be/CPs1yuBW8u4
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The Onion, September 11, 2021- Americans Fondly Recall 9/11 As Last Time Nation Could Unite In Bloodlust
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Seneca- "If what you have seems insufficient to you, then though you possess the world, you will yet be miserable."
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This is also the anniversary of Subway's ill-fated "Subtember 11th" marketing campaign. What were they thinking when they hired The Onion as their marketers?
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Norm Macdonald- I went to my doctor because I gained 45 lbs, and he asked me why I gained so much weight. I said I thought it was funny because everyone's always trying to lose weight, but I'm trying to gain it, trying to be a huge fat guy, and he said, "That's not funny that's alarming." He said that my massive weight gain was quite alarming and that I'm in a lot of trouble. And I said, "Well I think it's funny, and I'm the comedian."
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Mark Twain- “If you tell the truth, you don’t have to remember anything.”
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23 emotions people feel but can't explain
16. Exulansis
The tendency to give up trying to talk about an experience because people are unable to relate to it.
17. Adronitis
Frustration with how long it takes to get to know someone.
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Bertrand Russell, Mortals and Others, Volume II: American Essays 1931-1935- “The fact is you cannot be intelligent merely by choosing your opinions. The intelligent man is not the man who holds such-and-such views but the man who has sound reasons for what he believes and yet does not believe it dogmatically. And opinions held for sound reasons have less emotional unity than the opinions of dogmatists because reason is non-party, favouring now one side and now another. That is what people find so unpleasant about it.”
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William James- "Procrastination is attitude's natural assassin. There's nothing so fatiguing as an uncompleted task."
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Stephen Jay Gould, The Flamingo's Smile: Reflections in Natural History- "We have become, by the power of a glorious evolutionary accident called intelligence, the stewards of life's continuity on earth. We did not ask for this role, but we cannot abjure it. We may not be suited to it, but here we are."
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Herzog- "I prefer to be alive, so I'm cautious about taking risks."
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There was a strong man of Drumrig
Who one day did seven times frig.
He buggered three sailors,
Four Jews and two tailors,
And ended by fucking a pig.
Addendum
Part 1:
Salman Rushdie, Step Across This Line: Collected Nonfiction 1992-2002:
The fundamentalist seeks to bring down a great deal more than buildings. Such people are against, to offer just a brief list, freedom of speech, a multi-party political system, universal adult suffrage, accountable government, Jews, homosexuals, women's rights, pluralism, secularism, short skirts, dancing, beardlessness, evolution theory, sex. There are tyrants, not Muslims.
United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has said that we should now define ourselves not only by what we are for but by what we are against. I would reverse that proposition, because in the present instance what we are against is a no brainer. Suicidist assassins ram wide-bodied aircraft into the World Trade Center and Pentagon and kill thousands of people: um, I'm against that. But what are we for? What will we risk our lives to defend? Can we unanimously concur that all the items in the preceding list -- yes, even the short skirts and the dancing -- are worth dying for?
The fundamentalist believes that we believe in nothing. In his world-view, he has his absolute certainties, while we are sunk in sybaritic indulgences. To prove him wrong, we must first know that he is wrong. We must agree on what matters: kissing in public places, bacon sandwiches, disagreement, cutting-edge fashion, literature, generosity, water, a more equitable distribution of the world's resources, movies, music, freedom of thought, beauty, love. These will be our weapons. Not by making war but by the unafraid way we choose to live shall we defeat them.
How to defeat terrorism? Don't be terrorized. Don't let fear rule your life. Even if you are scared.
Part 2:
Dorothy Parker's 1928 love letter to New York.
My Home Town
It occurs to me that there are other towns. It occurs to me so violently that I say, at intervals, "Very well, if New York is going to be like this, I'm going to live somewhere else." And I do—that's the funny part of it. But then one day there comes to me the sharp picture of New York at its best, on a shiny blue-and-white Autumn day with its buildings cut diagonally in halves of light and shadow, with its straight neat avenues colored with quick throngs, like confetti in a breeze. Someone, and I wish it had been I, has said that "Autumn is the Springtime of big cities." I see New York at holiday time, always in the late afternoon, under a Maxfield Parrish sky, with the crowds even more quick and nervous but even more good-natured, the dark groups splashed with the white of Christmas packages, the lighted holly-strung shops urging them in to buy more and more. I see it on a Spring morning, with the clothes of the women as soft and as hopeful as the pretty new leaves on a few, brave trees. I see it at night, with the low skies red with the black-flung lights of Broadway, those lights of which Chesterton—or they told me it was Chesterton—said, "What a marvelous sight for those who cannot read!" I see it in the rain, I smell the enchanting odor of wet asphalt, with the empty streets black and shining as ripe olives. I see it—by this time, I become maudlin with nostalgia—even with its gray mounds of crusted snow, its little Appalachians of ice along the pavements. So I go back. And it is always better than I thought it would be.
I suppose that is the thing about New York. It is always a little more than you had hoped for. Each day, there, is so definitely a new day. "Now we'll start over," it seems to say every morning, "and come on, let's hurry like anything."
London is satisfied, Paris is resigned, but New York is always hopeful. Always it believes that something good is about to come off, and it must hurry to meet it. There is excitement ever running its streets. Each day, as you go out, you feel the little nervous quiver that is yours when you sit in the theater just before the curtain rises. Other places may give you a sweet and soothing sense of level; but in New York there is always the feeling of "Something's going to happen." It isn't peace. But, you know, you do get used to peace, and so quickly. And you never get used to New York.
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