Comments on: More fun with sitemeters: reading in Tehran

By: cold pizza

cold pizza — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 22:52:06 +0000

Some say this class will end in “A”s
Some say in “C”s
From how I test on other days
I like to think that I’d make “A”s
But if it brought me to my knees
I think I know enough of school
To say that for may passing
“C”s
Are also cool
And I’d be pleased
-cp (with apologies to Frost)

By: Sergey

Sergey — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 21:46:24 +0000

“the renaissance happened despite christianity, not because of it.”

There would be no Renaissance without St. Thomas Aquinat, the main exponent of Aristotel, without St. Augustine, the main propagandist of Plato and neo-Platonism, there would be no Renaisance without monastery scriptoria where these manuscripts were re-written for 10 centures or without St. Antony who founded the said monasteries; and, of course, there would be no Renaissance without Crusaders that had thrown out Saracens from Europe, saving its culture from brutal vandalism. Where did you study history, jg? If this was what were taught to you, your teachers should be publicly whipped for such lessons.

By: Holmes

Holmes — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 08:47:37 +0000

I find Frost too dark and afraid of his own shadow. His poems he considered to be fleeing bits of “form” in the face of the chaos of nature. Much like fleeting security in “stability” in the face of a world history of war.

By: MissyN

MissyN — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 08:05:50 +0000

As to Robert Frost, you might do a piece some day on his superb Directive, which begins:

Back out of all this now too much for us,
Back in a time made simple by the loss
Of detail, burned, dissolved, and broken off
Like graveyard marble sculpture in the weather…

Jamie, “Directive” is my favorite Frost poem since first encountering it in college. Thanks for reminding me – it’s good to see those opening lines again.

By: Ymarsakar

Ymarsakar — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 06:21:18 +0000

The thing is, if we were sending others to their deaths, the first guys I would send is the hate ridden and obssed neoneoconned, confude, and just here. Perfect soldier-automatons and myrmidons in my view. But they aren’t fighting so… what exactly are the soldier senders in Washington doing, you know?

No wonder the Left wants the draft back. They want to get rid of their weapons.

By: justaguy

justaguy — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 05:01:39 +0000

Sergey,

the renaissance happened despite christianity, not because of it.

All you islamophobic neocons should be taken on a guided tour of Spain to give you some reality. Then you should all be kicked out of a plane high above Baghdad (not the green zone) to go and fight your silly war for civilisation instead of sending others to their deaths.

By: Ymarsakar

Ymarsakar — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 04:05:15 +0000

Conned and folks have too much hate. I wouldn’t change their viewpoints, their hate is too valuable a weapon to wield against my enemies. So I would just manipulate their hate, direct it towards those who I wish to see destroyed, or simply direct it against themselves and watch them combust. No, Neo’s psychological knowledge was invaluable in my pursuit of the propaganda arts rather than at any attempt on my part to alleviate people’s pain.

While she has always tried to see psychology as a way to alleviate pain and help people, I have always seen psychology as a way to destroy people from the inside out without any need for violence or any evidence for that matter.

Even when Neo wrote about her interest in hostages and hostage situations, it was from the role of the victim in how to defend against psychological attacks. I am more offensive minded.

People who are real pacifists, like the Amnish. Can’t really be roused up and used as weapons with propaganda. But those who spew hate and anger? Easy clay.

I’m not a shrink, I’m not a psychologist. If they have to take the Hippocratic Oath, then well, I’m doubly not one of their member.

By: Sergey

Sergey — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 00:50:10 +0000

The very notion of “cultural imperialism” is absurd, and it is especially absurd that those who use it negatively call themselves “progressives”. Spreading of culture beyond abode of its origin is the main working mechanism of any progress of humankind. By this mechanism Greek mathematics and philosophy became universal. By this mechanism Christianity civilized half the globe, bringing humanism to barbarians. By this mechanism British common law modernized countries with hundred thousand strong population – to their tremendous advantage. And empires – Roman, Byzantine, British – were vehicles of this progressive transformation.

By: Sally

Sally — Sun, 26 Nov 2006 23:56:18 +0000

Or someone like conned? Or “nahncee”? From a shrinky point of view?

By: Ymarsakar

Ymarsakar — Sun, 26 Nov 2006 23:55:07 +0000

I never started reading Nnc because of her poem posts, but because of her psychological posts on changing minds. Course, she was talking about how her mind was changed, but I knew it was very useful for how to change other people’s minds as well.