Mickey Z
Cool Observer
Friday, November 11, 2005
11/11: Anti-War Veteran's Day, exposing torture, Mr. Vonnegut's b'day, & Chomsky vs. the Internet?
the internet is lots of things. in some sense we are first generation internet so we don’t know yet what it is going to end up as. it can be a hideous time-waster and it can also be a good tool for activism, communication etc etc.
one thing that is for certain is that it is in some ways still an elite organisation. regardless of motives only those with the time, the money and the availability of connection can get on. this obviously favours people from wealthier countries and backgrounds and also urban rather than rural.
Posted by michael on from scotland 11/11 at 08:03 AMoh and… http://pilger.carlton.com/print
Posted by michael on from scotland 11/11 at 08:06 AMIt’s all about how you use it, like everything else with the exception of TV. The benefits that come from not having a TV far outway the drawbacks. But I have one, see how bad it is?
I am currently changing my Internet use habits and bringing sanity back in my life. I like to come here, because as people have said before, this place is different, unique and I have an actual (or rather, virtual) conversation. I’ve stopped my blog for now, especially while I write my book and when I am down I will use my blog for personal writing. I still read a lot of depressing things, but I am now searching for positive action. Personal, local action. Along the lines of what michele is doing. Something for my local community.
In short, what I am changing is the fact that I am now using my Internet, instead of allowing my Internet to use me!
That was the “issue.”
Posted by JOS on from mi orgullo, Puerto Rico 11/11 at 08:14 AMTop GOP leaders say that a devastating terrorist attack on US soil would help the President get out of his slump. Who are these people??:
Posted by JOS on from mi orgullo, Puerto Rico 11/11 at 08:22 AMHi!
JOS you´re right!
It´s all about how you use it.It has certainly helped med considering ordering music and litterature I couldn´t find elsewhere.
There is also a great number of sites that´s interesting (like this blog for example) but I guess that most of the net is mostly crap but to each his own,I guess:
http://www.mamarocks.com/to_each_his_own.htmYou can also easily keep in touch with fiends and make new ones so it´s not all bad but sometimes I find myself thinking though “get off the net and read a decent book instead!,this is crap!”
Posted by Old Glen on from Sweden 11/11 at 08:44 AMright on, Old Glen.
Posted by JOS on from mi orgullo, Puerto Rico 11/11 at 08:45 AMOf course you kan keep in touch with fiends but I meant friends!
Posted by Old Glen on from 11/11 at 08:49 AMi do a lot of research into propaganda, new and old so it is very useful for me. just came across this today.... if u get 15 minutes download it and have a look. v interesting stuff made for US
http://www.archive.org/details/DontBeaS1947
Posted by michael on from scotland 11/11 at 08:52 AMGood morning, all. Welcome back, Glen. You know, we do have have a few fiends here on occasion but, hey, that’s the Web for you.
I like what each of you says and I do feel a strong need to re-evaluate my own Net habits. Of course, I strongly hope the Expendables will continue to keep this blog on their to-do list, but I appreciate the need for balance. I sometimes “doubt” I can continue being so active here and still handle all life is tossing my way.
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 11/11 at 08:56 AMLike I said, Mick: “I like to come here, because as people have said before, this place is different, unique and I have an actual (or rather, virtual) conversation.”
I get a lot out of this place. I for one am not going anywhere.
Morning to all here and to come.
Yeah, where is that Joe character?
I’m looking out the “window” for you, Joe.
Posted by JOS on from mi orgullo, Puerto Rico 11/11 at 09:01 AMand you also find funny stuff too…
Posted by michael on from scotland 11/11 at 09:02 AMHappy Anti-War Veterans Day to everyone. Mickey, you have a lot here today. I think that Chomsky is right. For most people I have talked with, the internet is a waste of time. I often ask people if they Google. I am always amazed at how many, “Well educated” people with computers ask, “What’s Google?”. Many just use their computers for e-mail and game playing. I always tell them that I have learned more from Google than I ever did in school. When having conversations with people, I can almost always separate those who use their computers to access information and those who don’t, without even asking them about their computer usage........About Drudge, I know that he is controversial but it is an easy way to get the C-span schedule etc.
Posted by RMJ on from Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts 11/11 at 09:04 AMYikes: http://www.chipandpin.co.uk/index.html
There are a few things I like about the internet like this blog and having met people I might not have otherwise but for all the rest of it, I agree with Chomsky.
Posted by Owen on from Barcelona 11/11 at 09:41 AMyou probably have to have been subjected to the renault adverts we get in the UK to fully appreciate this but i still think its funny…
Posted by michael on from scotland 11/11 at 11:41 AMHappy Remembrance day everyone. You all got your poppys on? ;)
I think that Chomsky commentary was spot on. I stopped following a lot of left sites and people: Common Dreams, NPR, Democracy Now, and yes Chomsky. When I saw them completely following lock step with the “official’ 911 story. It became to me painfully obvious who was handling the media on all levels. Honestly listening to Chomsky these days makes me feel like I lost a trusted friend. There are some things he’s so right about, but other things he’s either flat out wrong about or worse yet deliberately misinforming. Thank God we still have Kurt.
I think John Stewert is very clever and very funny. However even he says he’s not a news source, he’s a comedy show.
Now a days I follow the smallest scale news operations I can find. Usually independent people who do there research and express there views with out asking you to follow there agenda or even believe what they say. Just to keep an open mind, and open heart, and open eyes. Individuals need to be responsible for developing there own awareness of the world. No one should be telling you what it is. ;)
“Top GOP leaders say that a devastating terrorist attack on US soil would help the President get out of his slump. Who are these people??:”
These are the same people that way back in September of 2000 called for a “Pearl Harbor type event” Which would galvanize the public into supporting a war agenda.
More info on this here:
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article5428.htmPersonally I think what’s going on in the white house ceased to be about America at all a long time ago. It’s about military industrial globalists maneuvering the world toward a consolidation of power and a 1 world government. America is just the current fall guy similar to Soviet Russia and Hitler’s Germany. Build them up then tear them down. Order out of chaos. A new world order in this case.
Posted by Luna_C on from The Great White North 11/11 at 01:09 PMOff topic but Bush just finished a long speech in Wilkes-Barre, my hometown. There were too many lies in it to list here but there is one that I will be watching to see if the Press notices. Bush said that we were not in Iraq in 2001 before 9/11. How could he NOT know about the bombing that we continued to do since 1991? If the Press lets that big one go, we should attack the Press. Also, it was interesting to watch how Bush used the words of the Democrats to justify the war. He even quoted Kerry and pointed out how the Dems voted for the war. Ah, it is a great day for all Independents and 3rd Party supporters! Chalk one up for the Anarchists, Socialists, Greens, Communists, Libertarians…
Posted by RMJ on from Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts 11/11 at 01:10 PMRight now on Drudge the headline is BUSH UNLEASHED...BUSH SLAMS RE-WRITE OF HISTORY. I just sent this message to Drudge,
“IN Wilkes-Barre Bush said that the U.S. was NOT in Iraq before 9/11/2001. He is re-writing history. The U.S. had been bombing Iraq since 1991.”Posted by RMJ on from Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts 11/11 at 01:25 PM“Aretha Franklin was teary-eyed, Carol Burnett was teasing, Alan Greenspan was reliably taciturn, and “The Greatest of All Time” stole the show when President Bush bestowed the Medal of Freedom on them and 10 others in a White House ceremony yesterday.
Bush, who appeared almost playful, fastened the heavy medal around Muhammad Ali’s neck and whispered something in the heavyweight champion’s ear. Then, as if to say “bring it on,” the president put up his dukes in a mock challenge. Ali, 63, who has Parkinson’s disease and moves slowly, looked the president in the eye—and, finger to head, did the “crazy” twirl for a couple of seconds.
The room of about 200, including Cabinet secretaries, tittered with laughter. Ali, who was then escorted back to his chair, made the twirl again while sitting down. And the president looked visibly taken aback, laughing nervously.”
Posted by JOS on from Calle Colón 11/11 at 01:53 PMI thought Nimmo’s ‘commentary’ was complete gash, and not out of over-fondness for the old man.
Strip out whatever Chomsky may (or as likely may not) have said to Ms Brockes (http://www.counterpunch.org/cockburn11052005.html), strip out the emotive language (’mediaeval’ muslims, operating out of caves… in Frankfurt, if my oft-defective memory serves), you’re left with the guy having a tantrum because someone he respects “system"atically disagrees on his pet conspiracy theories. Boo hoo. Lets all shoot the N.W.O. shill.From ‘Scary’ Stan Goff - http://stangoff.com/?p=206, and maybe more important, http://stangoff.com/?p=212.
Personally, I use the net as my main info source. The only advantage to consuming the mainstream media is you get good and cynical at reading between the lines of mainstream media, and getting some idea about what people are ‘supposed’ to think. Why Noam does it I’d guess.
Posted by Mew on from mates house 11/11 at 02:17 PMHi Mickey and all of you MZ’ers!
Just a brief comment from Australia: of course you have less spare time than before the Internet, Mickey, but .. all your readers have gained a great blog full of insights, quotes, graphics, etc. Thanks for all you do!
And have a SUPER weekend!!Posted by Helga Fremlin on from Daylesford, Australia 11/11 at 02:25 PMand dare i be cynical enough to suggest that you have sold alot of books this way too?
??!!?? i don’t need to dare myself - i just said it!
Posted by michael on from scotland 11/11 at 02:29 PMMichael, I’d love to know how you define “a lot of books.” Trust me, this is not some false modesty or futile attempt to keep to real: my sales numbers give new meaning to the term negligible. I am rapidly slipping from obscurity “into” anonymity.
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 11/11 at 02:38 PMi really didn’t mean it that way. just a bit of a joke. deprecatory humour is very much en vogue here - and has always been. it sounds fucked up but with my group of friends the more we abuse each other verbally is actually a sign of how comfortable we are with each other. i am SURE its like that elsewhere. i REALLY REALLY didn’t mean it to sound that way.
i enjoy it here. this is the only forum i regularly am on and the quality of comments and things we get each other to look at always impresses me.
this site is superb and in truth i thnk we have all picked up some pretty useful stuff from each other.
can’t really say any more than that.
Posted by michael on from scotland 11/11 at 02:44 PMHello, my friends -
JOS - ran away with my wife for a couple of days. Just returned a couple of hours ago. Thanks for noticing my absence…I really love Chomsky. That said, he’s an anarchist. He wouldn’t expect us to follow him anywhere, or I hope he wouldn’t.
Chomsky was raised in a world in which the radio and the ice-box were the major technical innovations. Perhaps he’s most comfortable in a quiet office, surrounded only by books and papers and various folders…
I cherish his courage and hard-work and incredible scholarship but I’ll live day to day by my own lights. His comments were probably a description - not a perscription.We’re all anarchists, here, I assume.
As I see it, of late -
freedom IS wisdom… even freedom from the constraints of the wise and noble and most well-intentioned among us.
Thoreau said:
“Give me a wildness whose glance no civilization can endure...”I’d much prefer to “err profoundly” in my own world than to be correct in Chomsky’s. We’ll have to love each other, and disagree… My time is my own, to waste or not, and I’ll not turn to authorities to determin which is which…
Freedom IS wisdom, no matter how messy or filled with potential error.
Whitman said, speaking to everyone:
“O, I have been dilatory and dumb,
I should have made my way straight to you long ago,
I should have blabbed nothing but you, I should have chanted nothing but you.
I will leave all and come and make the hymns of you…
None but would subordinate you, I only am he who will never consent to subordinate you,
I only am he who places over you no master, owner, better, God, beyond what waits intrinsically in yourself...”I’ll go with Whitman…
Posted by joe on from Oregon 11/11 at 03:07 PMme too joe.
worried i have upset mickey now.
i will give u a sample conversation…
now bear in mind this would only happen with people i know well (point is i feel i am starting to know people here). my mate derek for example, walks into the pub to meet us
MICHAEL - hello derek
DEREK - get a proper job you useless bastard
MICHAEL - Shut up you specky (bespectacled) ginger c*ntand thats just hello! not a word of it is meant and if it wasn’t someone you were comfortable with then you would not do it (there are sort of rules of engagement).
this is not at all how discourse is conducted here. just an idiosyncratic thing between a few friends.if helga is around - i have to say i have noticed a few aussies doing the same sort of thing.
i could be digger myself deeper here but this is often how things are conducted with myself and a few pals. not one word of it is taken seriously. if we have serious things to say to eac other ten it is not done in this way at all.
Posted by michael on from scotland 11/11 at 03:17 PMWelcome back, Joe from Oregon. Can you do me a favor and not talk to that useless bastard from Scotland?
Michael: Fear not, I’m not upset with you. I just felt the need to be honest about my writing career (sic) and your comment created the ideal space.
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 11/11 at 03:43 PMHi everyone...Mickey, maybe no one who has a Google score of 3,ooo,ooo can make a claim to obscurity.
....I just heard from some in Pennsylvania near the site of the Bush speech. They tell me that only people with invitations were allowed to be in attendance. Seems that is an on-going WH policy to make it look like Bush has a lot of support.Posted by RMJ on from Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts 11/11 at 04:17 PMHi, Mickey from Astoria. Hi Rosemarie. Hi JOS & Michael. Michael, let me check this out:
“Hey, Schmucks, f*&^% off and die!”Yeah, you’re right, it’s good.
Rosemarie - Our beloved President does not deserve your attention, not even your anger or disdain. He’s a snake-oil salesman, a carnival guy: “Come right in, Gentlemen, to the home of Little Sheba! She walks, she talks, she crawls on her belly like a reptile...”
Perhaps we could drag his whole gang out to some tiny, uncharted island, somewhere, and watch them slowly devour each other. Till then, we should pay no attention to them at all except to turn on the fan and perhaps light a few matches whenever they’re around…
Posted by joe on from Oregon 11/11 at 04:29 PMn-o-o-o-o-w-w-w-w you’re getting it
Posted by michael on from scotland 11/11 at 04:35 PMJoe, I understand what you say but it is sort of like the compulsion to look at an accident scene. Beyond that, I believe that if we are to make any headway, some of us must keep an eye on what is happening in the enemy’s camp. Today during the speech, my eyes were on those in the audience. That prompted me to check into things and that’s how I found out about the “invitation only” set-up. For example, the military is now doing serious recruiting at NASCAR. It is important to know that because it gives a clue to the mind set of those who would disagree with us. I try to catch some right-wing media everyday. Most people would agree with your position, Joe. BTW, welcome home.
Posted by RMJ on from Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts 11/11 at 04:47 PMI don´t call myself an anarchist but I end up in the middle of the down, left corner (the green square) when doing the test at: http://www.politicalcompass.org/
I guess I´m not the only one?
Posted by Old Glen on from 11/11 at 05:09 PMGreetings, all.
Though I don’t watch TV regularly, I have seen The Daily Show on occasion, and have always found it clever and extremely amusing. Unfortunately, Stewart’s interviews with relevant politcal figures turn into softball games. Of course the show is not a hard news program, but the political satire that drives it deserves more from these interviews as, I think, do we.
Which leads me to Al Franken.
Willing and able to tear apart the Bush administration and it’s media lampreys, he steadfastly refuses to examine the Democrats with the same zeal. Quite something considering the painfully obvious collusion between the two parties. I’m waiting for Franken’s next book, “Hypocrisy and the hypocritic hypocrits who ignore it.”My “response” to the internet question: The internet is what you make it. What are you making it?
Posted by Cart on from 11/11 at 05:33 PMOld Glen...that test was fun. I am to the left of Gandhi and Nelson Mandela or as my friends say, “Rosemarie is so far to the left that she makes Bernie Sanders look like a Republican.”.
Posted by RMJ on from Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts 11/11 at 05:41 PM“...it is sort of like the compulsion to look at an accident scene.”
Very good stuff, Rosemarie.
Hi Cart and Old Glen…Rosemarie, I think you may be on to something. I certainly think they’re very, very good at whatever one might call the terrible game they’re playing. Learning more and more about what they do, and how they do it is probably very wise…
Ultimately, Left and Right are just labels, and like all labels, they further divide us and set us against one another…
After 9/11 I found some remarkably articulate and accurate criticisms of the official government story, on extremely “right-wing” sorts of sites. Most of the serious critical examinations of the Fed., and of banking in general emerge from the “right,” as well.
The farther one gets from belief in and respect for government, the more I tend to agree. I’m unable to imagine how government, in any of it’s current forms, can be defended sucessfully in a reasonable argument…About Stewart and Franken: I think they’re both nice guys, entertaining guys. It’s hard to take either of their politics or thinking too seriously… which, I imagine, is part of the point.
Posted by joe on from Oregon 11/11 at 06:34 PMHello, all...fever, aches, yuck.
MZ, you’re the farthest thing in the world from negligible, and your sales will reflect that one day. I hope soon. But whenever you’re downhearted, remember that Moby-Dick was the publishing disaster of 1851 and sold like it had buboes on its cover. The bestseller of that season was some moralistic claptrap by Oliver Wendell Holmes. We do’t read him...we DO read Melville.
And how dare you call Michael from Scotland useless? Seagulls will always need a place to crap and rats will always need filth to survive. As to his bastardy, it’s not his fault his mother knew his father only Biblically.
Hi Joe.
Hi RMJ.
Glen, I always end up wondering who sets the poles on these compasses. Stalin and Hitler don’t seem different at all to me.
Helga, have a great weekend, and JOS...novel talk. Email. Saturday.
Posted by Mudge on from Dear, dead Austin 11/11 at 06:38 PMHitler, Thatcher and Friedman (good ole Uncle Milt) all worked for the same people. There are some that think Stalin, knowingly or unknowingly did too. Wanna guess who they are? The split is really about freedom vs dominance/subjection which usually works out to (Social) Anarchism and Power/Government.
So I reckon it’s Gandhi Vs The Rest.I have a dream! In it all the politicians and all the bankers and an aweful lot of lawyers are put on an island with two shipping containers. One is full of money and the other is full of guns and ammo together with White Phosphorus and Fuel/Air bombs. Did I say I was an anarchist? Perhaps there IS a dark side to anarchy, after all!
I LOVE the internet. I am an inverterate, unrepentent, unreconstructed autodidact! So it’s perfect. Sure it takes time but there’s a lot to learn.
Cheers and Happy Saturday!
Posted by Jim on from 11/11 at 06:38 PMHello all...I’ll be back later on to join in this great discussion. And yes, that Michael is one hell of a bastard.
Mudge, I hope you feel better. I look forward to our novel chat tomorrow. I have an extremely busy morning and early afternoon, but after that I’m all yours.
Now my wife will be jealous…
Posted by JOS on from Calle Colón 11/11 at 06:47 PMHello everyone. Thomas Paine once said: “He who dares not offend cannot be honest.” Then again, Paine was a total jerkoff.
This conversation has me inspired to try “writing” a new book: “How to Get Along with Everyone.” I’d make it a collaboration if I could only find another asshole writer worth working with.
P.S. I may actually have a little time to work on my novel tonight.
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 11/11 at 06:52 PMHi Mr. Mudge - (Hey, our very own Eminem!)
I, too, hope you feel better pronto, Sir. My wife is also a bit under the weather, this afternoon, as is my son… I agree with you about Mickey’s work, Mudge. Van Gogh did not sell a painting in his lifetime, Mickey, so you’re already well ahead of one of the great masters. You’re also way ahead of the rest of us…Jim - bravo. Period.
JOS - good to see you.
Michael, where did you get off to? Time to return with a magnificent blast…
Posted by joe on from Oregon 11/11 at 07:15 PMMickey, Yours would be better, but I remember the fuss made over Dale Carnegie’s “How to get along with everyone” book a long time ago. Now I prefer the Ward Churchill approach to human relations. The peace movement failed because too many were afraid to call a “killer” a killer. The local Peace demonstrations today were cancelled (by the “peace” people) because “Peace” might offend someone on Veteran’s Day. Maybe being that “nice” should not be more important than protecting the people who are being bombed.
Mudge, have you been taking your vitamins? I send good wishes to your fevered brow.Posted by RMJ on from Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts 11/11 at 07:34 PMI´m not near a computer as much as I´m a longhand writer so hello to you all and be well. About them thar charts above, might I recommend ignoring any system which imposes geographical coordinates on ideologies.
Posted by Owen on from Barcelona 11/11 at 08:01 PMI wonder if Noam would find this quiz to be a hideous waste of time: http://tinyurl.com/byjoz
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 11/11 at 08:30 PMdudes...we r all in cyber/virtual/all that shit friend wise
i will just do glaswegian (correct term for someone from glasgow) about these points.
mudge… i love the intelligentsia style abuse (obviously) but that is not how it works in bars. i am also about halfway thru moby dick at the mo. much racism and much wisdom. its a struggle between the the perceived academic wisdom that “you can’t judge history backwards” and the fact that some of it is extremely profound.
old glen: i give my students that wee test at 17 or 18. it is, at best, a poor indicator. if i am not wrong it is http://www.politicalcompass.org and it is fairly superficial.
and on a personal note...my brother may b about to split with his wife - which may explain by tardiness this eve.
‘how to get along with everyone’ would actually be a bad book - no matter how well it was written (see ‘Notes From Underground’ by Fyodor Dostoevsky)
i have friends round and in this country it is 1.30 am. nevertheless if i get an answer in twenty minutes i will be back
(and joe - it is part of the point. franken etc...woods-trees etc)
Posted by michael on from scotland 11/11 at 08:32 PMi posted same time as mickey.
want to hear reactions to previous post but another question is coming to the fore…
every time i go on net at the moment i get a pop-up asking me to d a survey about my political opinions. is anyone else geting this at the moment? could b paranoia but i find it a wee bit sus.
Posted by michael on from scotland 11/11 at 08:36 PMsudsdiary points
mudge. i laughed at loud (lol an that that rubbish) with the joke u made about my parents. i genuinely think its good shit. u got terribly upset the other day by the schwarzenegger (i dont care how it is spelt) thing. my mother died when i was 4 and my dad pissed off and left us when i was 14. this means nothing. a JOKE IS A JOKE. NOTHING IS ABOVE HUMOUR. NOTHING NOTHING NOTHING. she died of cancer.
i often tell cancer jokes. NOTHING is above humour
i must seem like scum all of a sudden
the capthca is approaching a ‘corner’
Posted by michael on from scotland 11/11 at 09:01 PMits after 2am here
don’t mean to be bad
a dose of reality never hurts tho.yours,mine,anyones -thats what its about. if we lose that then it is all gone.
Posted by michael on from scotland 11/11 at 09:16 PMGlaswegian?
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 11/11 at 09:52 PManyone still awake?
michael, best wishes to your brother. a dose of reality never hurts...well, it may hurt, but it also helps.
Posted by JOS on from Calle Colón 11/11 at 10:29 PMHey JOS. You just caught me before I signed off. Nice day of comments here. Thanks, all...and good wishes to Michael and his brother.
“Perhaps” we can do it all again tomorrow.
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 11/11 at 10:36 PMMay I die now, please? The fever’s peaking, and it’s like being in a trailer with GWB yakkin’ on the radio, a passel of cats on the furniture, and nothin’ to eat except tofu, with a tornado coming.
In other woreds hell.
RMJ, I’ve been religious about vitamins since I was 21, and it’s one thing I beg for money to keep buying becuase I don’t want to get sick(er). The election judges, not so armed against viral invaders, are both more ill than I. >pause for Schadenfreude<
Michael, I take your point about humor. I laugh at myself a lot, because I’m a bumbling pigheaded ball of inconsistencies. I would still have made the joke about your parents knowing what I know now. What I wouldn’t have done, and what I would be offended by, is if someone somehow implied YOU were defined by those events. Your dad, well...you were 14, he probably COULDN’t stand you, but that isn’t why he left and anyone who says otherwise should say it to me. PS: In my experience, splitting up is better for all hetero couples. It’s a giant mistake to live with the ones you breed with. Huge. Very few species have the nerve to try it. Your brother will be fine. In your private ear, I can’t stand Moby-Dick and I think people who say they love it are covering the fact they can’t understand a damn word!
JOS...okay. Midafternoon your time is two hours ahead of mine, if I remember correctly...is PR on Atlantic time? And if you’re really all mine, he said with a lecherous leer, screw the Internet (well, first anyway), I’m hoppin’ a flight.
MZ: The world is rife with asshole writers (my sister Goody Two Choos sent me YET ANOTHER novel excerpt by one of her friends, I think I need to visit her and sneak into all her friends’ houses to virally infect their computers or trash their printers or something...rich white people should NOT write) and no-talent hacks. Work on your own stuff and leave the bonobos to their typewriting. You “gave” at the office when you proofread all those years.
Hi Jim! How’s that whole autodidact goin’? >nudges MZ’s ribs<
LUNA! I forgot to say from yesterday that I’d sweatlodge with any of y’all. It is a really cool-sounding way to foster a sense of community.
Hi Michele, nice to see you even briefly, go go go with the Standing Dani!!
Posted by Mudge on from Dear, dead Austin 11/11 at 11:01 PMOh Lawsy I forgot to say to Owen a big “NaNo” and I hope your fingers don’t fall off when you eventually type the whole thing into A COMPUTER FILE, WHENEVER THAT MAY BE. I hit caps lock and I’m just too lazy to retype. How’s Barcelona?
RMJ, I can’t abide mealy-mouthedness. Killers are killers. I write to prisoners all the time and I don’t sugarcoat the fact that I research their crimes before I write...and if their version is different from the official one, I want to know details of why and how. Nine times in ten, they end up admitting to me that the official version’s pretty much correct. But only after they realize that, while I don’t condone what they did, I make a sincere and sustained effort to understand why they did it. I don’t want to spend the rest of my life being judged by my worst day(s), why should I do that to someone else? And “nice” gets the world exactly nowhere, sorta like “tasteful” and “genteel”. Kind, generous, helpful...these are words to conjure with.
Sweat is dripping from me onto the keyboard and it’s 60F. I think it’s time for a TheraFlu and beddy-bye.
Posted by Mudge on from Dear, dead Austin 11/11 at 11:17 PMMudge, PR is Atlantic time without daylight’s savings. It is 12:40am as I type the captcha word, hit submit and “lay” me down to sleep.
night, all.
Posted by JOS on from Calle Colón 11/11 at 11:40 PMConsidering the origins on the ‘net, there’s a nice poetry to it being for very human communication. Lots of room in here for autodidacts, merchants, anarchists, activists and artists. Be a pity if the sphincter people managed to cripple it.
Posted by Beau on from 11/12 at 01:18 AMThanks, Beau.
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 11/12 at 08:24 AMThe politalcompass may be a poor indicator but take it for what it is - a slightly fun but flawed indicator.
Does anyone know any kind of better and accurate test?Posted by Old Glen on from 11/12 at 08:27 AMThere’s the political beasts survey. That one is excellent.
Posted by Beau on from 11/12 at 11:22 AMBeau, I love the phrase “sphincter people.” I will borrow it to describe some people in my NaNoWriMo novel, if you don’t mind. A link, if you want to look at the excerpt: http://www.nanowrimo.org/userinfo.php?uid=95314
Side NaNote...does anyone else find the new author profile pages as cutesy-poo and ickums as I do?
Posted by Mudge on from Dear, dead Austin 11/12 at 12:46 PMMudge, by all means feel free to use it. It was passed, so to speak, down to me by a former civil servant who used it to describe his “superiors” in the hierarchy. His other commentary on the control freak lifestyle was lamentably less charitable.
Posted by Beau on from 11/12 at 04:49 PM
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