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Home » Open thread 1/31/24

Open thread 1/31/24

The New Neo Posted on by

If you have to explain a joke, you’ve already lost your audience. And then, if you try to explain it but can’t …

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Open thread 1/31/24 — 40 Comments

  1. All this blather about Taylor Swift possibly endorsing Biden and therefore swaying the election toward him has me picturing a venn diagram with a circle representing impressionable Taylor Swift fans intersecting another representing likely Trump voters. So there’d be some group who would change their vote from Trump to Biden based purely on Taylor Swift’s say so. But there’d also be a (likely much larger) group of Taylor Swift fans that wouldn’t have voted at all who perhaps would pull the lever for Biden based on her endorsement.

    But this is being way to reductive I suppose.

  2. well we can grok several things

    1)she endorsed him last

    2)quantum fund bought her catalog

    3) her significant other is paid in part by pfizer

    4) she thinks chimera (transgenders) are just totes wonderful

    5) now she had a little tiff against blackburn that didn’t go anywhere

    6) she doesn’t seem to care about the material state of her neighbors

    7) they have been floating this prospect

    8) some people notice these things,

  3. While I entirely expect Taylor Swift will endorse Biden at some point for a number of reasons, I’m very skeptical of psyop conspiracy theory that’s currently being bandied about the Conservosphere. The whole thing seems far fetched and silly, especially since everything can be explained without the need for a conspiracy, which miguel cervantes just did above.

  4. well I put the pieces together, how big her splash would be, debatable,

    but people pretend this is not a possibility are fooling themselves,

    ten years ago I tell you the Dems will legitimate the destruction of major cities through demonization of the police, tens of billions of dollars in damages, businesses will abandon every major metropolis, and there will be every bank every major media outlet, every major manufacturer, service company be on board, the terrorists will get off scott free, or only a slap on the wrist

    those that participate in a rally near the Capitol because of a dubiously certified election will rounded up, some will be shot like a decorated air force vet,or beaten into unconsciousness some will committ suicide, men who were nowhere on the premises, will be sent up for Draconian sentenes, you would say to me thats crazy

    lets engage in utter lunacy, the leading health ministries would engage in dangerous biological research in an unsanctioned lab,
    the whole thing goes awry, the pretend it has nothing to do with their money and resources
    the lead promoter will be touted as the next Aeschylus, prompt reliable treatment will be denied and millions would die

    you would tell me, what have I been smoking

  8. Kate:

    CC™ will beg to differ, or insist the January 5, 2017 treason was completely
    justifiable give the potential consequences!

  11. Addressing the convergence of disparate allegories, one thing I’ve tried to do in my stories is to cobble up familiar sounding ones that aren’t. Something like “You’re shaking the cart!” instead of “Don’t rock the boat.” or “Very Dusty” instead of “Filthy rich”. Kind of like “shiny” in Firefly.

    The first comes across readily but the second requires your reading the stories to understand. Sometimes, if the second variety might be too obscure, I’ll provide a footnote.

  12. what inspired that inquiry, well I must have seen ghostbusters, a 100 times since it aired, but there was a line that Gozer was worshiped, some 6000 years ago, which was before most civilizations, now Dan Acroyd really could do a dead pan performance, so I took it as plausible,

    in reality though, there are some dark forces Gods Demons, the ones Jonathan Cahn has been categorizing, that have come into this world,

    maybe it happened because of Engel v Vitale, maybe earlier in the republic, with Covington (sic) that first case that sought to separate God from the public square, like the Thuggies and Kali in the Indiana Jones film, like the Pazuzu idol recovered at the opening of the Exorcist, In the amusing prequel Young Sherlock there is an Egyptian revival cult in the middle of London, this is in part to cash on the popularity of Indiana Jones and provide an alternate backstory for Moriarty,

    were the Victorians as devout as they appeared, probably not but as compared to the world that came after them, a world headed by the new pantheon of Marx and Freud and Darwin, was the world improved, the former licensing envy the second lust and utter insanity and the third encouraging other animal impulses, nature abhores a vaccuum and something will fill that vaccuum

    so in the absense of a tottering Church of England for instance another strong faith arises, among the masses and some of the elite, that would be Islam, which was the organizing of not a few of the colonies,

  13. miguel cervantes @ 12:44pm,

    Interesting string of coincidences this week that I won’t bore you with that led me to this flash of potential insight, but I think you might be on to something.

    We all know many ancients associated at least some insanity or evil behavior with demon possession and we know quite a few religions have a component where evil and good are battling here on Earth and trying to influence humans in their cause. It’s part of Act 1 of “Ghostbusters” (or, maybe Act 2?), there is some energy or some portal creeping open releasing a lot of chaos and evil into New York City. And, many cultures and religions used and understood drugs, especially psychedelics, as sometimes opening “windows/doors/portals” to the supernatural.

    With all that as a premise… I know a fair amount of folks here know about Ken Kesey, the Merry Pranksters, Wolfe’s “The Electric Kool-aid Acid Test…” Ken Kesey was a very bright young man studying literature and, while in school, took a night job in a mental institution to support his family and also took part in drug trials for extra cash. One of the drugs he was given is LSD.

    Ken Kesey gets the idea for a book, “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” that sparks a movement to close mental institutions. The movement gains steam and now we have multiples of numbers of individuals struggling with mental illness and/or addiction living miserable lives in America’s streets. Sometimes these people attack others. There is a huge uptick in crime and chaos.

    Some interesting coincidences. If a supernatural force sometimes afflicted vulnerable people in order to wreak havoc and chaos, that force would want those people in public, where they can do the most harm. Not locked up in institutions. How to get people to do the irrational act of closing such institutions? Find a very talented communicator who is “expanding” his access to “portals” via psychedelics and plant the seed for a story depicting cruelty and horrors in those institutions. Then Babylon, whoops, sorry, Hollywood, makes the story into a great, popular entertaiment featuring a bombastic, talented, young entertainer and Babylon, whoops did it again, Hollywood showers the movie with awards and praise.

    It is very similar to Dan Akroyd’s premise in “Ghostbusters.”

  14. Well, if and when dogs and cats start living together, I’m heading for the high ground.

    Just sayin’

  15. it was a number of events Kesey’s imput, the exposes by Geraldo in NYC in the 70s, talk about a Slor, the legal revolution of Gesell and Bazelon, some cost cutting measure in the Reagan administration, the shying away from true faith among the cognoscenti, so called, some of the fraud in certain Moral Majority figures, like say Jim Bakker who is still around in some circles, I’ll add that into the mix, it all formed a perfect storm we see here today,

    as to the deep state’s involvement in this it’s curious not only from early research that the CIA engaged in, with psychedelics,
    the part that persons like Cary Grant, and the Luces among the most staid people in the world you would imagine, of course Timothy Leary who has as big an impact as Kesey did or Bill Hitchcock, the distaff Mellon chemist, there was this character Ronald Stark

    look at Gotham or City of Brotherly Love, or City of Angels or any of a dozen others and ask that question again, the law abiding citizens the church goers they have to fear the crazy people have free reign,

  16. what was the lesson of the Opium Wars that the English forgot about learning, that Sax Rohmer tried to teach in his own war, that mass intoxication, weakens societies, this occurs with hallucinogens as well as antidepressants and stimulants,

    maybe they went overboard with Reefer Madness, which they adapted into a play and then a film on Showtime with the future star of Veronica Mars as the ingenue but you look at New York or San Francisco, you really want to, all of these elements work as one to weaken a society, to alter the doors of perception as huxley put it, well what comes through,
    Growing up in Miami in the 1980s, where certain factors were making the society brittle, the trade in various intoxicants,
    that made the financial centers boom for a time, that enlivened this sleepy southern town but at a cost, this was the era of the Cocaine Cowboys and the violence that came with it, Miami Vice exploited this element of the human suffering of these victimless crims, although probably Scarface made the biggest impression, on a certain group of musicians and other artists,

    Its not merely Pacino’s terrible accent, that was only surpassed by Rod Steiger some years later, in the Specialist, but the image it painted of my community, not merely the Mariel contingent although that was certainly a part of it, Many urban youths found too much inspiration, in that terrible archetype,

  17. Judge Benitez ended the CA ban on mail order ammo (and other restrictions).

    I expect the 9th to place a stay on it soon. But for now . . .

  20. I saved myself watching a 23-minute video by doing a search on “Sumerian dog joke.” Probably a play on words, now lost in the mist of time.

  22. miguel, if as Taibbi’s site reports the “Center for Countering Digital Hate” misrepresented itself as a registered UK charity when it applied for IRS 501(c)(3) status, when it has never been a UK registered charity, its tax-deductible status should be immediately revoked. Not that I think this will actually happen.

  23. miguel cervantes @ 1:49pm,

    I like a lot of what Libertarians say and profess, but your description of Miami in the ’80s keeps me from following their ideology. There seems to be a strong drive towards seeking intoxicants and intoxication within many humans. I agree the “drug wars” do not seem to be working, but it also doesn’t appear that “no drug laws” work either.

    I believe humans should be free to put whatever they want into their bodies, but the simple matter of my believing that philosophically doesn’t appear to correlate with human flourishing when humans are permitted that freedom.

  24. the mark steyn ‘punishment as process’ skids to a dead stop, because mann’s atty, did not file the offending document in person

  25. miguel,

    Philem McAleer posted this on X one hour ago:

    Phelim McAleer
    @PhelimMcAleer
    ·
    1h
    BREAKING NEWS: Judge has listened to the relevant tape of Michael Mann Vs Mark Steyn case. He says Mann’s lawyers DID enter allegedly defamatory articles into evidence on Jn 23. CASE CONTINUES

  33. I have no idea what the dog joke means or meant, but I do find it interesting that in ancient Sumeria, such things as jokes even existed in the first place. And they had taverns, too?!

  34. Phillip Sells,

    Not only were their jokes 4,000 years ago, in his novel, “Galapagos,” Kurt Vonnegut asserts that even 1,000,000 years from now, when environmental changes lead to humans evolving into furry sort-of sea lions:

    “And people still laugh about as much as they ever did, despite their shrunken brains. If a bunch of them are lying around on a beach, and one of them farts, everybody else laughs and laughs, just as people would have done a million years ago.”

  35. The Biden regime’s persecutions of his focal opposition leader is manifestly collapsing. The case in Georgia led by Fulton, County AG is in jeopardy because of corruption of Fani Willis and her BF/co-counsel. And Special Prosecutor Jack Smith’s cases concerning Presidential mishandling of secret documents is about to be exposed…as completely legal since the Obama years.

    Get out of jail free card courtesy of a previous President? Stranger things have happened.

    Here’s Glenn Reynold’s of Instapundit dishing Wednesday night:
    “AN ATLANTA LAWYER FRIEND SENDS THIS: Business Partners Of Fani Willis’ Alleged Lover Bankrolled Her Campaign. She Gave Them Lucrative Contracts. [LINK to Daily Caller expose: https://dailycaller.com/2024/01/31/fani-willis-nathan-wade-law-contract-donations/%5D

    My friend adds [says Glenn]: “Oh, this is cascading. And I’m only sending you the stuff that’s already public. You’d be amazed what unsubstantiated rumors are flying around among the local bar.”

    The other matter comes from newly discovered documents unearthed by America First Legal:
    today.

    “A secret Obama memo, the Presidential Information Technology Committee (PITC), regarding control of Presidential records could change everything in the DOJ’s politicized prosecution of Trump,” the organization announced Tuesday on Twitter/X.
    …
    America First goes on to explain that “Obama’s PITC memo may have created a reasonable belief in President Trump that he, in fact, had such authority” to “possess or retain… classified documents.” That’s contrary to Smith’s 37-count indictment against Trump for “willful retention of national defense information; conspiracy to obstruct justice; withholding a document or record; corruptly concealing a document in a federal investigation,” among other charges.
    https://pjmedia.com/vodkapundit/2024/01/31/will-obama-get-trump-off-the-hook-n4925989
    ______

    The story from Stephen Green is somewhat convoluted. But the jist seems to be that this memo, if still operative throughout the Trump Presidential years, may give him a plain old “Stay Out of Jail” card, with respect his Federal prosecutions by Smith.

    Stay tuned. The other old man’s prospects are getting brighter and brighter on multiple fronts, just as FJBs keep turning darker.

  36. AND more good news for Trump, HEADLINE:

    Georgia Lawmakers Introduce Legislation to Bar RICO Charges
    The Messenger (via MSN.com) ^ | 31 January 2024 | Eva Surovell

    State lawmakers in Georgia on Wednesday introduced legislation to void the racketeering charges former President Donald Trump is facing in the state. The lawmakers say they seek to prevent “current and future politically-motivated prosecutions commenced” in Georgia….
    https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/georgia-lawmakers-introduce-legislation-to-bar-rico-charges/ar-BB1hyylV?

  37. Time to start up “Plagiarism Clubs” at Harvard and all of our elite institutions…(including the WH?):
    ‘ “Entirely Counterfeit”: Harvard’s Chief Diversity Officer Plagiarized At Least 40 Times According To Complaint’—
    https://www.zerohedge.com/political/entirely-counterfeit-harvards-chief-diversity-officer-plagiarized-least-40-times
    To be fair, DEI IS “entirely counterfeit”…except for that paycheck(!) and the mud you’re permitted—sorry, encouraged—to sling because of…heh…HUMAN RIGHTS!

    Members can compete with one another regarding the more daring, creative, effective and AUDACIOUS examples of the genre (er, art form).
    (Pretty sure it would be perfect to replace the once popular “Debate Clubs”, which are pretty much defunct these days…because one is not allowed to debate anything.)

    They can delve into topics like “Pure Plagiarism” vs. “Applied Plagiarism”; “Platonic Plagiarism” vs. Post-Modern Plagiarism…and of course there’s “Meta-Plagiarism”, for those more advanced participants.

    With real-live examples, certainly.
    (Oh, and Guest Speakers…of which there’s apparently no shortage.)

  38. Jokes are as old as thinking animals. Never seen the TikTok (YouTube?) video of the cat leaning in and drinking from a water trough and a horse walking up quietly and nosing the cat in the butt sending it into the water then look at it, turn and walk away? Or the cat that casually reaches out and pushes another over the couch edge?

    Animal jokes.

  39. Oligonicella, dolphin humor would be an interesting study, I bet. I’ve not seen the cat vs. horse clip, but the cats messing with each other, yes.

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