First, I want to thank everyone for your expressions of sympathy. I’m sad, but I’m not stressed about being sad. This is the stuff life is made of.
Anyway — here are some things to read while I catch up on other things.
Sean Wilentz, “Cofounding Fathers: The Tea Party’s Cold War Roots,” in the New Yorker.
“Blockage of Nobel prizewinner exposes Senate’s dysfunction,” editorial, Boston Globe.
Remember Veronique de Rugy, the genius who declared last April that Democratic districts got more stimulus money than Republican ones? And a quickie analysis by Nate Silver showed that the “Democratic districts” nearly all were state capitals? Stimulus money to the states went to agencies of the state governments, which were nearly always located in the same district as the state capital, and for some reason districts surrounding state capitals tend to vote Democratic. Well, she’s back, and now she’s arguing that President Bush was far stronger at job creation that is President Obama. “There were more jobs created monthly under President Bush than under President Obama,” she says.
If that’s not how you remember things, you are not alone; see Joe Weisenthal and especially Ezra Klein. I’ll let you try to sort out where Veronique went off the rails, if you wish, but the best rebuttal to her column is the first comment: “I hope you’re pretending not to understand this.”
On the other blog, I am taking on a part of the Academic Establishment that is making a name for itself by slandering Buddhism; see “Murderous Mahayana?” and “Where Religion Ends and Sociopathy Begins.” This may not interest all of you, but the second post in particular is more about Assholes of Academia than Buddhism.
Your subjects on your Buddhist blog remind me a lot of traditions in other faith/new age systems as well. In my not too distant past was an episode that reminded much of the scene in Carlos Castenada’s books where Don Juan has the protagonist jump off a cliff, and if his spiritual knowledge and will is strong enough, he will be able to fly. In Thelema, there’s the concept of “crossing the abyss,” which the seeker is supposed to do at some point in his life. In neither case do I believe that followers of those systems literally throw themselves off cliffs or into abyssal canyons, any more than Jesus expected his followers to pluck out eyes and lop off limbs.
Ah, yes, “Cruella’ de Rugy is right.
I remember those halcyon days of 100% Bush employment.
Where, on our way back from work, we’d hitch our ponies to the tangerine trees and gaze up at the marmalade skies. And on our walk home, we’d drift past the flowers, that grew so incredibly high…
And now, thanks to Obama, we’re unemployed and hip-deep in pony shit, wishing he’d been able to give us a better health care system to deal with those 8 years of eating marshmallow pies!
Well, thank God those good Republicans don’t want to help people get jobs, clean up toxic shit, and want to repeal any health care that did manage to squeak through. We’d all rather die as patriotic free Americans, than as healthy, employed SOCIALISTS!
Damn Obama!
Damn the Democrats!!
“All Hail ‘Little Boots!!!'”
Someone remind me not to drop acid before noon anymore. I’m getting too old…
Really, Veronique’s acid must be top grade. Or as the lady said about Meg Ryan in When Harry Met Sally, “I want what she’s having.”
“There were more jobs created monthly under President Bush than under President Obama,â€
Well, sure! When you consider all the Blackwater thugs and assorted trough feeders who partook at Bush’s war banquet.
I agree that Veronique probably dropped some quality Kryptonite. She’s in orbit!
A little off topic….But, I’m noticing that a lot of NATO troops have been getting killed in Afghanistan recently, and I’m wondering why the Taliban is focusing on NATO troops. It’s good to see that Americans aren’t getting killed.
“I’m sad, but I’m not stressed about being sad. This is the stuff life is made of.”
Words of great wisdom. Thanks
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