Ann Coulter refreshes our memory of one of the worst miscarriages of justice in American history.
And she reminds us that one of its worst actors was Martha Coakley, the Democrat nominee for the seat left vacant by the demise of Ted Kennedy. The tale is long and chilling, and worth considering.
Gerald Amirault had been imprisoned for fifteen years for crimes that never occurred. Martha Coakley, as a district attorney, had every reason to know this was the case, and yet lobbied against his clemency petition in order to make her feminist prosecutorial 'bones'.
The man languished in prison for three years more.
Imagine this woman in the Senate...
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Frozen Gore: Art As Theatre In Fairbanks
'Frozen Gore' has returned for a second year, thanks to two businessmen in Fairbanks, Alaska.
Yes, the Inventor Of The Internet, who believes the earth's core to be millions of degrees hot; who managed to give the impression that he had graduated both the law and divinity schools of Vanderbilt University(when he has, in reality, not); the Presidential candidate who brought us the 'hanging chad'; who darkly warned us of the disappearance of the polar bear(whose population is actually growing handily, thank-you); Bill Clinton's apologist and lap-dog; the Guru of Copenhagen; the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize; and the inspiration for the tens of thousands of 'Gore-Free Tennessee' signs that blanketed his home state in the fall of 2000--this very Al Gore has once again been memorialized in a large ice sculpture.
This year's sculpture features an avant-garde 'live-theatre' element: When the owners hook the exhaust of their pickup truck to the sculpture, AlGore blows smoke! Sort of a realistic touch, don't-cha-know!
Now, 'scuse me, the snow's about to begin here in Tennessee, in the coldest winter since the late 1970's. Need to put on some more hot cider, and check the pot of chili.
Don't think this is what AlGore exactly predicted for 2010...
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
The True Unsung Hero
Thomas Friedman of the New York Times reminds us of the true unsung hero of the Christmas Day attempted terror attack: the terrorist's father, who warned US intelligence in detail that his son had been snared by the jihadists, and represented a threat to the civilized worlds.
Think on that one for a moment! Think about how we love our kids, advocate for them, wish to see them always prosper and never come to harm.
What if it were my son, for instance, that decided that the KKK and Aryan Nation held the 'secret to life', and that he felt obligated to target blacks, Jews and Catholics for violent elimination from society? Even after a comfortable, even privileged background and education? Would I have the cojones to call the FBI and let them know? I hope so.
I would also hope that the FBI would have the common sense to listen and make certain the word got out before someone was harmed, beginning with my son. That's where things broke down, on our end, our people, our intelligence service, our law enforcement, our White House living in denial that there really are dangerous followers of The Prophet out there, too busy feeding the banksters to notice.
But, another general breakdown has taken place in the parts of the world where Islam prevails:
Finding people with the courage to confront that breakdown — the one identified by the father, the one that lures young Muslims away from the mainstream into a willingness to commit suicide against innocent civilians as part of some jihadist power fantasy — is what matters most right now.
Yes, we need to fix our intelligence. Yes, we absolutely must live up to our own ideals, as President Obama is trying to do in banning torture and closing Guantánamo Bay. We can’t let this “war on terrorism” consume us. We can’t let our country become just The United States of Fighting Terrorism and nothing more. We are the people of July 4th — not Sept. 11th.
But even if we do all that, no laws or walls we put up will ever be sufficient to protect us unless the Arab and Muslim societies from whence these suicide bombers emerge erect political, religious and moral restraints as well — starting by shaming suicide bombers and naming their actions “murder,” not “martyrdom.”
Finally, finally, someone from MSM/ObamaLand is saying what the rest of us have been saying for a long, long time: There is a big problem out there in IslamWorld, and until they put their house in order, this thing will not end peacefully.
Finally.
Think on that one for a moment! Think about how we love our kids, advocate for them, wish to see them always prosper and never come to harm.
What if it were my son, for instance, that decided that the KKK and Aryan Nation held the 'secret to life', and that he felt obligated to target blacks, Jews and Catholics for violent elimination from society? Even after a comfortable, even privileged background and education? Would I have the cojones to call the FBI and let them know? I hope so.
I would also hope that the FBI would have the common sense to listen and make certain the word got out before someone was harmed, beginning with my son. That's where things broke down, on our end, our people, our intelligence service, our law enforcement, our White House living in denial that there really are dangerous followers of The Prophet out there, too busy feeding the banksters to notice.
But, another general breakdown has taken place in the parts of the world where Islam prevails:
Finding people with the courage to confront that breakdown — the one identified by the father, the one that lures young Muslims away from the mainstream into a willingness to commit suicide against innocent civilians as part of some jihadist power fantasy — is what matters most right now.
Yes, we need to fix our intelligence. Yes, we absolutely must live up to our own ideals, as President Obama is trying to do in banning torture and closing Guantánamo Bay. We can’t let this “war on terrorism” consume us. We can’t let our country become just The United States of Fighting Terrorism and nothing more. We are the people of July 4th — not Sept. 11th.
But even if we do all that, no laws or walls we put up will ever be sufficient to protect us unless the Arab and Muslim societies from whence these suicide bombers emerge erect political, religious and moral restraints as well — starting by shaming suicide bombers and naming their actions “murder,” not “martyrdom.”
Finally, finally, someone from MSM/ObamaLand is saying what the rest of us have been saying for a long, long time: There is a big problem out there in IslamWorld, and until they put their house in order, this thing will not end peacefully.
Finally.
The Not-Ugly American
A charming short essay by British author Geoff Dyer about the gap between the reputation of Americans as seen by many in the UK, and the reality he encounters.
With so many of us living with one foot in each place via business and family, this is a good read:
The first thing I ever heard about Americans was that they all carried guns. Then, when I came across people who’d had direct contact with this ferocious-sounding tribe, I learned that they were actually rather friendly. At university, friends who had traveled in the United States came back with more detailed stories, not just of the friendliness of Americans but also of their hospitality (which, in our quaint English way, was translated into something close to gullibility). When I finally got to America myself, I found that not only were the natives friendly and hospitable, they were also incredibly polite. No one tells you this about Americans, but once you notice it, it becomes one of their defining characteristics, especially when they’re abroad.
The entire piece here. Enjoy.
And, ya'll come back and see us, ya heah?
With so many of us living with one foot in each place via business and family, this is a good read:
The first thing I ever heard about Americans was that they all carried guns. Then, when I came across people who’d had direct contact with this ferocious-sounding tribe, I learned that they were actually rather friendly. At university, friends who had traveled in the United States came back with more detailed stories, not just of the friendliness of Americans but also of their hospitality (which, in our quaint English way, was translated into something close to gullibility). When I finally got to America myself, I found that not only were the natives friendly and hospitable, they were also incredibly polite. No one tells you this about Americans, but once you notice it, it becomes one of their defining characteristics, especially when they’re abroad.
The entire piece here. Enjoy.
And, ya'll come back and see us, ya heah?
We're Making Progress! Dodd And Dorgan Hit The Road
News this morning that Chris Dodd Democrat of Connecticut, and Byron Dorgan of North Dakota announced this morning that they will not seek re-election.
Reality is settling in on the Senators who followed Himself over the cliff. The voters back home are not amused.
Chris Dodd, especially, would be facing questions about why he took a sweetheart deal from Countrywide Mortgage, one of the most notorious of the subprime operators. The Wall Street Journal covered his 'disclosure' of the deal last February, in which reporters were allowed to view, but not copy or carry away any portion of, what he purported to be the documents attached to the sweetheart loan.
'Heck, we'd all love the kind of courtesy that would have saved Mr. Dodd $75,000 over the life of the two loans he refinanced to the tune of $800,000, according to an analysis by Portfolio magazine. The savings came from rock-bottom interest rates and a free "float-down" -- the right to borrow at a lower rate if interest rates fall before you've closed on the loan.'
The shame of it all is that the questions won't be coming from a federal prosecutor--Prez HopeyChangey's Justice Department has his back on that problem, so long as he votes the party line until retirement.
As for Senator Dorgan--well, North Dakota is a huge piece of real estate with not many people. And the people that do live there are a hearty, self reliant lot. On a state-wide level, they avoided many of the sins of the past twenty/thirty years, and have come through the Great Recession relatively intact, with oil drilling now underway in many parts of the state. The good Senator would have great trouble justifying his support of the banksters and an administration that would love nothing more than to shutter the entire oil industry. Look for a Republican to replace him.
And, speaking of Republicans to replace someone in the Senate, there is still time to send a few shekels in the direction of Scott Brown, the GOP candidate who appears to be closing on the presumed Democrat heir to Chappaquiddick Teddy's seat.
If Brown wins, Prez HopeyChangey loses his sixtieth vote for the health-care monstrosity, and cap-and-trade, and the next round of bail-outs, and the next stimulus, and the confirmation of Helicopter Ben, etc. etc... Senator Brown could be a game changer, at least until the Dems finish suborning GOP Senator Snowe of Maine.
Even if he comes close, Teddy's heir will have to be looking over her shoulder at an electorate that could easily turn on her. Every little bit helps!
The Republican National Committee has been, let us say, lukewarm in its participation and support of Mr. Brown. His win or very strong showing could help encourage a housecleaning in that corrupt organization, as well.
The special election in Massachusetts is January 19.
Reality is settling in on the Senators who followed Himself over the cliff. The voters back home are not amused.
Chris Dodd, especially, would be facing questions about why he took a sweetheart deal from Countrywide Mortgage, one of the most notorious of the subprime operators. The Wall Street Journal covered his 'disclosure' of the deal last February, in which reporters were allowed to view, but not copy or carry away any portion of, what he purported to be the documents attached to the sweetheart loan.
'Heck, we'd all love the kind of courtesy that would have saved Mr. Dodd $75,000 over the life of the two loans he refinanced to the tune of $800,000, according to an analysis by Portfolio magazine. The savings came from rock-bottom interest rates and a free "float-down" -- the right to borrow at a lower rate if interest rates fall before you've closed on the loan.'
The shame of it all is that the questions won't be coming from a federal prosecutor--Prez HopeyChangey's Justice Department has his back on that problem, so long as he votes the party line until retirement.
As for Senator Dorgan--well, North Dakota is a huge piece of real estate with not many people. And the people that do live there are a hearty, self reliant lot. On a state-wide level, they avoided many of the sins of the past twenty/thirty years, and have come through the Great Recession relatively intact, with oil drilling now underway in many parts of the state. The good Senator would have great trouble justifying his support of the banksters and an administration that would love nothing more than to shutter the entire oil industry. Look for a Republican to replace him.
And, speaking of Republicans to replace someone in the Senate, there is still time to send a few shekels in the direction of Scott Brown, the GOP candidate who appears to be closing on the presumed Democrat heir to Chappaquiddick Teddy's seat.
If Brown wins, Prez HopeyChangey loses his sixtieth vote for the health-care monstrosity, and cap-and-trade, and the next round of bail-outs, and the next stimulus, and the confirmation of Helicopter Ben, etc. etc... Senator Brown could be a game changer, at least until the Dems finish suborning GOP Senator Snowe of Maine.
Even if he comes close, Teddy's heir will have to be looking over her shoulder at an electorate that could easily turn on her. Every little bit helps!
The Republican National Committee has been, let us say, lukewarm in its participation and support of Mr. Brown. His win or very strong showing could help encourage a housecleaning in that corrupt organization, as well.
The special election in Massachusetts is January 19.
A Modest, But Effective Idea--Move Your Money To Your Community Bank
This movement seems to be gaining legs, as one way families and small businesses can push back against the banksters.
More on this later, but here's the video promoting the idea.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
If Ten Percent is Good Enough For Jesus...
An inspired 2:50 from Ray Stevens, comic poet laureate of country music.
The scary bit is--he first released this song in the early 1990's!
Enjoy.
Splurge. Borrow. Repeat. And Consider The Source
God bless Mish Shedlock, he always has something good to share.
This editorial from the January 3 Chicago Tribune is especially sobering.
It addresses the Illinois voter bluntly:
You're a deadbeat, an astonishing $4.9 billion overdue in paying your bills. You owe much of that for services that were provided many months ago by people who, day in and day out, care for your ailing, handicapped and often helpless fellow citizens.
You're also -- sorry to be blunt -- inept. You repeatedly spend more than you earn and borrow to fill the gap. This year you'll outspend your income by some $12 billion.
In the process you've embraced debts that could plague your descendants after you're dead and gone. Examples: You've bizarrely promised your workers some $80 billion more in pension payouts than you can afford. What's more, you've promised them additional billions that you don't have for their health care after they retire.
And that's just the opening bits!
But, as we watch this drama unfold in Illinois, once the envy of the world, as it experiences the slow-motion car wreck of a state headed toward bankruptcy, it is a moment to reflect:
Where do The People In Charge hail from?
Who sat in the Illinois Senate a few years ago and helped hasten the day the state now faces?
Why did we turn governance of this country over to the people who created this disaster in Illinois?
What were we, collectively, thinking?
What should we, collectively, do next?
This editorial from the January 3 Chicago Tribune is especially sobering.
It addresses the Illinois voter bluntly:
You're a deadbeat, an astonishing $4.9 billion overdue in paying your bills. You owe much of that for services that were provided many months ago by people who, day in and day out, care for your ailing, handicapped and often helpless fellow citizens.
You're also -- sorry to be blunt -- inept. You repeatedly spend more than you earn and borrow to fill the gap. This year you'll outspend your income by some $12 billion.
In the process you've embraced debts that could plague your descendants after you're dead and gone. Examples: You've bizarrely promised your workers some $80 billion more in pension payouts than you can afford. What's more, you've promised them additional billions that you don't have for their health care after they retire.
And that's just the opening bits!
But, as we watch this drama unfold in Illinois, once the envy of the world, as it experiences the slow-motion car wreck of a state headed toward bankruptcy, it is a moment to reflect:
Where do The People In Charge hail from?
Who sat in the Illinois Senate a few years ago and helped hasten the day the state now faces?
Why did we turn governance of this country over to the people who created this disaster in Illinois?
What were we, collectively, thinking?
What should we, collectively, do next?
Saturday, January 2, 2010
OldSouth's 2010 List
It's a disease, I know. A exercise in narcissistic self-indulgence. A harmless diversion as well, since sitting here in my armchair, I control almost none of the events listed below. But, having read Karl Denninger's retrospective of his 2009 predictions, and he admitted scoring only 56%, I figure, 'What the hey, anybody can try this!'
So, Here we go, for 2010:
1. We had 140 bank failures in 2009, mostly small fry. We'll have 200 in 2010, and some of the 'bigger fish' will be among them. Some will not be the classical Friday afternoon raid scenario, as it will be difficult to find anyone able to take over these sick elephants. A lot of TARP money will be lost next year.
2. FDIC will have to admit it's insolvent, that insurance fees from the banks that behaved won't be enough to rescue their drunken cousins. Treasury and/or Fed will have to kick in a bunch more money, and there will be a major stink.
3. Ford will be making cars and money, GM will be making cars and losing money, and Chrysler will no longer be with us. Ford will make most of its money where it always has, on the F-150 pickup truck, because working America has to use a pickup truck to get its work done, and there is a real attrition of F-150's. You know, a real market, not the one Himself and Miss Nancy dream of.
4. There have been two Democrats, Tennessee Blue-Dogs, who have announced they will not run next fall, in addition to an Alabama Democrat who has switched parties. (He won't be back, because he'll be trounced by a black conservative in the spring primary.) I predict another 10 Democrat House members will head for the hills rather than face a furious electorate. GOP and Independents will pick up a total of 25 House seats. Miss Nancy will have a real problem on her hands.
5. There will be a massive market correction by June 2010, and the Administration and Fed will desperately try to pump it up again, to maintain the illusion that all is well. It won't work, it will be transparent this time, and it will really piss the voters off. We will end 2010 with Dow 7700, S&P 700. Pension funds will bleed, and local governments will go through convulsions, long overdue.
6. There will be the exposure of at least one more major financial scandal the magnitude of Madoff. Someone, somewhere, will expose a specific money trail from Washington to Wall Street and back again, with specific people attached. That someone will go through hell as the machinery of government is turned against him, but in the end heads will roll. Don't know if anyone will go to jail like Bernie did.
7. Sadly, sometime this year, we will have some major loss-of-life terrorist attack in either the US or UK, or both. Obama and company are both unwilling and unable to look reality in the eye. We will recover, but it will be tragic. I hope to Heaven I am utterly wrong on this one.
8. There will be a major assassination attempt staged by the Islamists, in India, Pakistan, the Emirates or Saudi Arabia. It may succeed. I hope I am wrong on this one as well.
9. Labour will be routed in the UK general election, but not before Gordon Brown attempts to impose some sort of 'state of emergency' to prevent the election from going forward. The UK electorate will finally tire of an unelected PM and unelectable government killing their country off. We can hope.
10. Obama will do nothing about Iran's nukes. The Israelis will.
11. Tiger Woods will re-emerge after his divorce deal is inked. He'll play some European tour events, accompanied by Steve his caddy, his manager, and one person tasked with the job of keeping little Tiger's pants on, tucking him alone into his bed at night. He'll play the Open at St. Andrews, will be booed by the gallery, and will miss the cut by a wide margin. He will then begin to rehab for a 2011 comeback, but the old magic will definitely be gone, even if his golf comes back. Expect the fist pump to go away.
12. Again, I hope I'm wrong, but there will be violence at the polls in some locations in November 2010. Feelings will be running very, very high. I'll be voting early.
Good wishes to all, and God preserve the United States of America.
So, Here we go, for 2010:
1. We had 140 bank failures in 2009, mostly small fry. We'll have 200 in 2010, and some of the 'bigger fish' will be among them. Some will not be the classical Friday afternoon raid scenario, as it will be difficult to find anyone able to take over these sick elephants. A lot of TARP money will be lost next year.
2. FDIC will have to admit it's insolvent, that insurance fees from the banks that behaved won't be enough to rescue their drunken cousins. Treasury and/or Fed will have to kick in a bunch more money, and there will be a major stink.
3. Ford will be making cars and money, GM will be making cars and losing money, and Chrysler will no longer be with us. Ford will make most of its money where it always has, on the F-150 pickup truck, because working America has to use a pickup truck to get its work done, and there is a real attrition of F-150's. You know, a real market, not the one Himself and Miss Nancy dream of.
4. There have been two Democrats, Tennessee Blue-Dogs, who have announced they will not run next fall, in addition to an Alabama Democrat who has switched parties. (He won't be back, because he'll be trounced by a black conservative in the spring primary.) I predict another 10 Democrat House members will head for the hills rather than face a furious electorate. GOP and Independents will pick up a total of 25 House seats. Miss Nancy will have a real problem on her hands.
5. There will be a massive market correction by June 2010, and the Administration and Fed will desperately try to pump it up again, to maintain the illusion that all is well. It won't work, it will be transparent this time, and it will really piss the voters off. We will end 2010 with Dow 7700, S&P 700. Pension funds will bleed, and local governments will go through convulsions, long overdue.
6. There will be the exposure of at least one more major financial scandal the magnitude of Madoff. Someone, somewhere, will expose a specific money trail from Washington to Wall Street and back again, with specific people attached. That someone will go through hell as the machinery of government is turned against him, but in the end heads will roll. Don't know if anyone will go to jail like Bernie did.
7. Sadly, sometime this year, we will have some major loss-of-life terrorist attack in either the US or UK, or both. Obama and company are both unwilling and unable to look reality in the eye. We will recover, but it will be tragic. I hope to Heaven I am utterly wrong on this one.
8. There will be a major assassination attempt staged by the Islamists, in India, Pakistan, the Emirates or Saudi Arabia. It may succeed. I hope I am wrong on this one as well.
9. Labour will be routed in the UK general election, but not before Gordon Brown attempts to impose some sort of 'state of emergency' to prevent the election from going forward. The UK electorate will finally tire of an unelected PM and unelectable government killing their country off. We can hope.
10. Obama will do nothing about Iran's nukes. The Israelis will.
11. Tiger Woods will re-emerge after his divorce deal is inked. He'll play some European tour events, accompanied by Steve his caddy, his manager, and one person tasked with the job of keeping little Tiger's pants on, tucking him alone into his bed at night. He'll play the Open at St. Andrews, will be booed by the gallery, and will miss the cut by a wide margin. He will then begin to rehab for a 2011 comeback, but the old magic will definitely be gone, even if his golf comes back. Expect the fist pump to go away.
12. Again, I hope I'm wrong, but there will be violence at the polls in some locations in November 2010. Feelings will be running very, very high. I'll be voting early.
Good wishes to all, and God preserve the United States of America.
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Words of Wisdom to Close Out 2009, Or Any Other Year, For That Matter
Cassandra Goldman of 'A Letter to the Times' lends real perspective, and merits a few minutes of our time.
By the way, OldSouth has learned a bunch of these lessons the hard way as well. Especially items 5, 9, 11, 12, and most especially 16... 13, 14, and 18 also are high in the running.
To quote the country song: Don't Ask Me How I Know
THINGS I HAVE WASTED A LOT OF TIME AND ENERGY LEARNING THE HARD WAY
By the way, OldSouth has learned a bunch of these lessons the hard way as well. Especially items 5, 9, 11, 12, and most especially 16... 13, 14, and 18 also are high in the running.
To quote the country song: Don't Ask Me How I Know
THINGS I HAVE WASTED A LOT OF TIME AND ENERGY LEARNING THE HARD WAY
December 1, 2009 by cassandragoldman
In which I reveal far too much about the folly of my youth.
1. Marry someone of your own class and background. Yes, I know that your DNA and his DNA have identified each other as an excellent fit, and consequently have ordered your hormones and his hormones to make beautiful music together. This will not help you five years down the road when you are having twenty trivial, insoluble and increasingly acrimonious arguments a day about things like whether paper towels make acceptable napkins or if the fact that you laughed three times during an episode of Friends is sufficient reason that you should endure an hour of the show every single week. The old joke is right: male and female is opposite enough.
2. When people say that in relationships, the most important thing they look for is “a sense of humor”, what they really mean is not that they want someone who has one, but someone who has the same kind as theirs. Two incompatible senses of humor cannot peacefully coexist under one roof.
3. Do not study occultism. Even if there is anything to it – and I think that there is a little – it is not enough to repay any significant time investment. The only exception is if you intend to make a career of telling other people about your useless but hard-won knowledge. It worked for Crowley and Leek. The market is pretty small, though; LaVey spent his last couple of decades on welfare.
4. Traditional notions of the differences between men and women exist because they are accurate. There are a very few people who are significantly gender atypical. If you are one of them, your atypicality will manifest itself with no effort on your part. If you are not, you will spend decades trying to wipe out your natural inclinations and at the end they will still be there. It wastes your time and annoys the pig. Invest your time in an endeavour more likely to succeed, such as completely eradicating dandelions from your lawn.
5. Without wishing to discourage anyone from cultivating qualities such as honesty, integrity, intelligence, and so on, I regret to inform you that unless you also acquire the skills of making a good first impression and displaying the shibboleths that will convince the people around you that you are of their tribe, very few people will ever discover that you have the former. Sure, beings with large brains “should” be able to dispense with all that. Convince the other six billion people on this planet, not merely to intellectually agree with this premise but also to act upon it, and then we can stop pretending to like the same bands as our buddies. (Note: most people will claim that they are above such petty signals. They are not.)
6. Ayn Rand was one of the great minds of history. She did not, however, have the whole story about anything. It just seems that way because today’s so-called “schools” and “colleges” and the MSM have filled themselves with so much poppycock and so well concealed the existence of most of history’s greatest minds (I did not even hear the name “Edmund Burke” until I was in my thirties) that when we encounter the one who they couldn’t cover up, due to those pesky best-selling novels, she seems to be the only person in history who ever made any sense.
7. Do not try to be an atheist. In recent years there has been a spate of books showing that belief in God comes, essentially, pre-installed on our hard drives. (Oddly, many people take this as proof that the belief is incorrect. Do they consider it impossible that the Creator would create us with the means of sensing Him?) Very few people are really capable of disbelieving; we’re just not wired for it. Most of those who claim not to believe actually spend a lot of time and energy trying to convince themselves that God does not exist. And since this disbelief is unnatural to humans, it tends to do nasty things to one’s temperament. Admit that He’s there and get on with your life.
8. While we’re on that subject, organized religion is, in fact, a good thing. If you want, you can say otherwise between the ages of 15 and 21; it will impress other people who are also between the ages of 15 and 21. After that, oh good grief read a history book. There’s way more to “organized religion” than the Inquisition. A lot of people much smarter than you have spent many centuries building up the organized religions. That these organizations have lasted so long is a pretty good indication that they’re on to something.
9. People who are mean in trivial little ways are probably also going to be mean in big important ways. If they only use their moral code in emergencies, it’s going to be rusty and unreliable.
10. Don’t eat too many carbohydrates. Limit your sugar and caffeine. Don’t try to limit your fat intake. (See Gary Taubes for why.)
11. If someone lies to you, or rewrites the history the two of you share, run. No matter how sincere and reassuring the talk the two of you have is, he (or she) will do it again.
12. Don’t try to rescue people, except from literal physical danger. People who beg you to “save” them are actually just hoping you’ll give them some company in the pits.
13. The fact that you have never fit in does not automatically confer virtue upon others who also have never fit in. They may be perfectly nice but awkward persons like yourself, but it is statistically more likely that they are speed freaks who are on the dole in between paying gigs of marginal respectability. Such people can be extraordinarily charming if you are not superficial enough or sensible enough to flee them on sight. (See #5; those instincts are so deeply ingrained for good reasons.) It is how they survive.
14. Don’t go to a therapist, and especially don’t let them mess with your biochemistry with medications (unless you are hallucinating or genuinely close to killing yourself or someone else). For one thing, psychologists and psychiatrists have spent years having their heads intensively crammed with mountains of the most absurd nonsense. For another, they go into that field in the first place because they are more screwed up than you will ever be and are trying to figure out why.
15. Smart people are not necessarily more ethical than stupid people. There is limited correlation, because higher intelligence goes with a greater future time orientation, so smart people count consequences more, but a lot of the time smart people just figure out sneakier ways to harm others.
16. Never assume that anyone else has the same sense of honor and fair play that you do. Don’t put yourself at the mercy of anyone else’s ethics. Odds are, they don’t have any.
17. Free love is neither.
18. That which does not kill you will not necessarily make you stronger. Just as likely, it’ll soften you up so that whatever comes next will kill you. Bear in mind that the man who originated that fine-sounding quotation ended his days in a lunatic asylum.
19. Do not attempt to tell any of this to people who have not already figured it out for themselves.
1. Marry someone of your own class and background. Yes, I know that your DNA and his DNA have identified each other as an excellent fit, and consequently have ordered your hormones and his hormones to make beautiful music together. This will not help you five years down the road when you are having twenty trivial, insoluble and increasingly acrimonious arguments a day about things like whether paper towels make acceptable napkins or if the fact that you laughed three times during an episode of Friends is sufficient reason that you should endure an hour of the show every single week. The old joke is right: male and female is opposite enough.
2. When people say that in relationships, the most important thing they look for is “a sense of humor”, what they really mean is not that they want someone who has one, but someone who has the same kind as theirs. Two incompatible senses of humor cannot peacefully coexist under one roof.
3. Do not study occultism. Even if there is anything to it – and I think that there is a little – it is not enough to repay any significant time investment. The only exception is if you intend to make a career of telling other people about your useless but hard-won knowledge. It worked for Crowley and Leek. The market is pretty small, though; LaVey spent his last couple of decades on welfare.
4. Traditional notions of the differences between men and women exist because they are accurate. There are a very few people who are significantly gender atypical. If you are one of them, your atypicality will manifest itself with no effort on your part. If you are not, you will spend decades trying to wipe out your natural inclinations and at the end they will still be there. It wastes your time and annoys the pig. Invest your time in an endeavour more likely to succeed, such as completely eradicating dandelions from your lawn.
5. Without wishing to discourage anyone from cultivating qualities such as honesty, integrity, intelligence, and so on, I regret to inform you that unless you also acquire the skills of making a good first impression and displaying the shibboleths that will convince the people around you that you are of their tribe, very few people will ever discover that you have the former. Sure, beings with large brains “should” be able to dispense with all that. Convince the other six billion people on this planet, not merely to intellectually agree with this premise but also to act upon it, and then we can stop pretending to like the same bands as our buddies. (Note: most people will claim that they are above such petty signals. They are not.)
6. Ayn Rand was one of the great minds of history. She did not, however, have the whole story about anything. It just seems that way because today’s so-called “schools” and “colleges” and the MSM have filled themselves with so much poppycock and so well concealed the existence of most of history’s greatest minds (I did not even hear the name “Edmund Burke” until I was in my thirties) that when we encounter the one who they couldn’t cover up, due to those pesky best-selling novels, she seems to be the only person in history who ever made any sense.
7. Do not try to be an atheist. In recent years there has been a spate of books showing that belief in God comes, essentially, pre-installed on our hard drives. (Oddly, many people take this as proof that the belief is incorrect. Do they consider it impossible that the Creator would create us with the means of sensing Him?) Very few people are really capable of disbelieving; we’re just not wired for it. Most of those who claim not to believe actually spend a lot of time and energy trying to convince themselves that God does not exist. And since this disbelief is unnatural to humans, it tends to do nasty things to one’s temperament. Admit that He’s there and get on with your life.
8. While we’re on that subject, organized religion is, in fact, a good thing. If you want, you can say otherwise between the ages of 15 and 21; it will impress other people who are also between the ages of 15 and 21. After that, oh good grief read a history book. There’s way more to “organized religion” than the Inquisition. A lot of people much smarter than you have spent many centuries building up the organized religions. That these organizations have lasted so long is a pretty good indication that they’re on to something.
9. People who are mean in trivial little ways are probably also going to be mean in big important ways. If they only use their moral code in emergencies, it’s going to be rusty and unreliable.
10. Don’t eat too many carbohydrates. Limit your sugar and caffeine. Don’t try to limit your fat intake. (See Gary Taubes for why.)
11. If someone lies to you, or rewrites the history the two of you share, run. No matter how sincere and reassuring the talk the two of you have is, he (or she) will do it again.
12. Don’t try to rescue people, except from literal physical danger. People who beg you to “save” them are actually just hoping you’ll give them some company in the pits.
13. The fact that you have never fit in does not automatically confer virtue upon others who also have never fit in. They may be perfectly nice but awkward persons like yourself, but it is statistically more likely that they are speed freaks who are on the dole in between paying gigs of marginal respectability. Such people can be extraordinarily charming if you are not superficial enough or sensible enough to flee them on sight. (See #5; those instincts are so deeply ingrained for good reasons.) It is how they survive.
14. Don’t go to a therapist, and especially don’t let them mess with your biochemistry with medications (unless you are hallucinating or genuinely close to killing yourself or someone else). For one thing, psychologists and psychiatrists have spent years having their heads intensively crammed with mountains of the most absurd nonsense. For another, they go into that field in the first place because they are more screwed up than you will ever be and are trying to figure out why.
15. Smart people are not necessarily more ethical than stupid people. There is limited correlation, because higher intelligence goes with a greater future time orientation, so smart people count consequences more, but a lot of the time smart people just figure out sneakier ways to harm others.
16. Never assume that anyone else has the same sense of honor and fair play that you do. Don’t put yourself at the mercy of anyone else’s ethics. Odds are, they don’t have any.
17. Free love is neither.
18. That which does not kill you will not necessarily make you stronger. Just as likely, it’ll soften you up so that whatever comes next will kill you. Bear in mind that the man who originated that fine-sounding quotation ended his days in a lunatic asylum.
19. Do not attempt to tell any of this to people who have not already figured it out for themselves.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)