In response, Fatah published a statement attacking Hamas in a fashion unprecedented since Hamas’s October 7, 2023 invasion and massacres in southern Israel. The statement quoted an accusation published by the Palestinian Authority’s news agency Wafa asserting that Hamas had decided on its own to undertake “the adventure of October 7, 2023, which led to a nakba more horrible and bitter than the one of 1948.” The statement added that President Abbas’s legitimate decisions serve national interests, while Hamas is advancing a foreign agenda. It also asked: “Does Hamas want us to appoint a prime minister from Iran or for Tehran to appoint one for us?” This condemnation of Hamas sparked an internal dispute within Fatah, some of whose members had supported Hamas up until that point. Some stated that Fatah chairman Abbas had published the statement without consulting Fatah institutions, and that it had been drafted by “security elements.”
Definitely some serious cracks are appearing – Abbas is even trashing Iran!?
The most beautiful women in sports are in rhythmic gymnastics. The routines are astonishing enough without long legged ballerinas making them look so easy.
Just another open-thread comment about something I read.
I don’t know what happened to Candace Owens. She went around the bend with her Jew hatred, and now she’s been fired by the “Daily Wire” for her rants.
I wouldn’t hold up my own mind as the perfect picture of mental health, but I can’t help but wonder whether there’s something really wrong with Candace Owens. She seems otherwise smart, articulate, and interesting. Why this weird and ugly flaw?
Here’s a link to the story:
“Owens’s departure comes after months of tensions between her and Daily Wire co-founder Ben Shapiro over her promotion of various anti-Semitic conspiracy theories.”
It is sad to see. I hate to speculate, but I was not surprised when she became outspoken regarding antisemitic opinions.
First, she is always outspoken, and I admire that when she opines on controversial topics regarding women and racism.
Second, I recall in one of the first interviews she ever gave (was it with Dave Rubin) she mentioned an appreciation of Kanye West (that went to the level of obsession, in my mind) and stating something to the effect that she had a premonition they would work together. It stuck out to me because it was a little odd, compared to her typically well reasoned and grounded manner of speaking. I’m pretty sure she stated she had that notion before she even got interested in politics, when she was still a virulent anti Conservative.
You may recall that she and Kanye West did team up, prior to West’s bizarre, public rantings about Jews. At no time after West’s strange behavior did she seem to denounce him, or even break contact with him.
I still admire her intelligence and strength and pray she will abandon her immature views of Jews and Jewish history. Unlike Tucker Carlson, who appears to be a pure, America First (second and third) isolationist, Ms. Owens’ statements about Israelis come across as tainted by distrust and conspiracy. Not a good look. At all.
US presented a ceasefire/hostage release proposal to UN Security Council.
Vetoed by China and Russia.
Bibi smiles.
Meanwhile, IDF kills/captures hundreds of Hamas terrorists hiding under Gaza Hospital.
May I posit that Ms. Owens is showing her Black creed? Is that racist of me, because I do not mean it to be.
I see where China and Russia vetoed the US resolution on Israel/Gaza. One can speculate on the reasoning.
I season “After Skool” with a generous serving of salt. Love the whiteboard animation, don’t quite trust the content. However, this one is backed up by legitimate research, particularly by Dan M. Kahan at Yale Law, that shows IQ correlates positively with bias.
Which has been my experience — as subject and observer. The smarter a person is, the better able to prove whatever case they want to make, i.e. motivated reasoning.
Or as Robert Anton Wilson, one of the writers who changed my life, put it:
___________________________________________
As Dr. Leonard Orr has noted, the human mind behaves as if it were divided into two parts, the Thinker and the Prover.
The Thinker can think about virtually anything….
The Prover is a much simpler mechanism. It operates on one law only: Whatever the Thinker thinks, the Prover proves.
To cite a notorious example which unleashed incredible horrors earlier in this century, if the Thinker thinks that all Jews are rich, the Prover will prove it. It will find evidence that the poorest Jew in the most run-down ghetto has hidden money somewhere. Similarly, Feminists are able to believe that all men, including the starving wretches who live and sleep on the streets, are exploiting all women, including the Queen of England.
–Robert Anton Wilson, “Prometheus Rising”
well I don’t trust Abu Mazen any far than I can throw him, he’s like the Crocodile in Yemen, Ali Saleh, who lasted almost forty years until the grim reaper eventually came for him,
he and general Ali Mohsen, who came from the same village, let loose the demons that became the local Al Queda franchise, AQAP
often with the cooperation of their security service the PSO, the Political Security Organization, founded by his brother, headed by his oldest son, a King Lear type arrangement
Because I’m sure there’s interest here in global warming science that’s unaware of this news, I’m reposting from the previous morning’s open thread.
After making us wait a year, science documentary filmmaker for UKs Channel 4, Martin Durkin, has released a full-length update to his first effort advancing skepticism of man made global warming from 17 years ago, finding it more substantive and compelling than ever!
Many hours after it premiered, I posted my personal reaction to YouTube:
“So riveting from minute to minute, that I had to ignore my full bladder and keep my ears and eyes glued for the duration! Over a year ago, documentary filmmaker Martin Durkin said that the skeptic’s case against global warming has only strengthened over the last 20 years — and here, he proves it. HATS OFF! Salud! Cheers! Prosit! Skul!”
The Wikipedia long-ass entry on Martin Durkin’s earlier 2007 effort, the documentary, “The Great Global Warming Swindle”, paints skeptics of man-made global warming as utterly, if irredeemably, wrong-headed, by dint of detailed objections. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Global_Warming_Swindle
Has Martin improved upon his original? Will anyone share viewing “Climate — The Movie” with orthodox-minded alarmist friends or family?
HT to Neo — Dr Judith Curry does not appear here. But Dr Sally Baliunas — astrophysicist at Harvard who was pushed out and attacked around 20 years ago for her dissent and heresy against the pre-censorship era mob (ie, AGW “consensus”) — does.
huxley:
Thanks for the response. It’s worth remembering. When I have some time, I’ll try to follow up on your references. But my first reaction is that I’m not sure that the thinker/prover model and IQ/bias correlation fully explain Candace Owens’s Jew hatred.
On the other hand, all I’ve got is that she’s gone a little bit crazy.
so schwab and soros, one is half jewish, the other is ethnically so, who seems to have become overseers of large parts of the money and economy of the mind,
both seem to be bond villains, the former more like stronberg, the one played by the great German actor Curt Jurgens,
I have often wondered how long Ben Shapiro would continue to put up with Candace Owens’ Jew-hating. Presumably she’s developed other avenues for revenue without the Daily Wire platform.
huxley – Interesting.
I think your thesis is also a sufficient explanation for the modern left. They believe what they want to believe and the most intelligent among them are smart enough to come up with a rationalization justifying it. I blame it on a lack of grounding due to the abandonment of religion in general and Christianity in particular, but YMMV.
The problem comes when the masses start following the crazy, intelligent elites because “they’re smart.”
the combination of inanities that people live by, I guess the short hand is Tim Blair’s law as he noted it 20 years ago from Down Under, his best stuff is paywalled at the Australians,
I’m not sure that the thinker/prover model and IQ/bias correlation fully explain Candace Owens’s Jew hatred.
Cornflour:
Hard to say. My guess is that some influential people in her life were anti-Semitic and her Prover proved it.
I’m reminded of my surfer buddy, who became a Green Beret, then a neo-Nazi Christian and KKK leader. He was a bright, decent fellow, but he fell in with some far right evangelical Christians and white supremacists and his Prover proved it.
Though I didn’t dedicate myself to the Revolution, I was hard left when I was young and my Prover proved it.
Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin leaving the House early cutting the Republican majority to 1. As predicted the Socialists are doing all they can to get the Communist party to be the majority in the House. This is the play created by Paul Ryano. There will be no Biden impeachment.
we were better off with the ‘fake congressman’ Santos, the best my friend who lives in the district, had in 20 years,
Bravo Yana!
What innate quality do the Russians and Eastern Europeans possess which gives them such otherworldly artistry, beauty and grace?
I’ve noticed it over the years in gymnastics, figure skating, and ballet. Comparatively, for me, Westerners seem cute and rather superficial. I wonder if this is a passed down cultural quality or something that can be learned?
Steve S.
Yana is from another planet. Or she has spent entirely too much of her lifespan in the gym.
But, as to your larger point: Listen to a Russian men’s choir. Sounds, at some points, as if the tenors are tearing their throats out. Maybe there’s a hospital for those who did, the few survivors going on to perform.
Same as to some of those dancers whose antics give my knees great sympathy. Or, in one case, toes.
Kind of late to the Open Party.
Princess Kate has announced that she has Cancer. One would hope that the idjits will now leave her alone.
My Wife got a diagnosis of Cancer too. Going to start Chemo soon.
Richard Aubrey:
I’m thinking more in terms “soul quality” which denotes a depth of emotion and life experience. But I agree with your point about the taxation of the physical involved.
How do the Republicans not understand that being the Menshevik party is bad for them?
it is art and music that makes everything else worth while, thats why the slow descent of Bravo and A&E into reality trash and CSI Miami reruns was so dissapointing,
I’m bummed that Jackson Holliday has been optioned back to AAA Norfolk to start the season. The “official” reason given: lack of ABs vs AAA lefty pitching let alone MLB lefties (and the O’s facing a bunch of those lefties early this season), coupled with still learning a “new” position at 2nd base. Ah well. We’ll just have to wait until . . . ? . . . I dunno, early May? Mebbe. But his debut is gonna be a kick when it comes.
huxley, Cornflour et alia,
In my experience it’s IQ plus non-elite life experience. I went to a big, state school. I happened to make friends with a lot of high IQ people, but they (we) were all from humble backgrounds; blue collar households, farm kids, even Ministers’ kids. The white collar kids I hung out with had parents who were teachers, including college professors with PhDs. We were all very independent. Most of us had parents who liked us. Some of us even had parents who loved us. But none of us had parents who were helicoptering in any manner (our parents were remarkably uninterested in our lives), and none of us grew up in a wealthy household.
We were all very much on our own and we all took a very practical view of life. We talked, debated, argued, cajoled, teased, but we were all seekers of truth. There were no sacred cows. We only cared about finding what worked. What made sense. We couldn’t afford to have an inaccurate view of anything, not for long, at least.
I know it is possible to also be very practical and logical and come from an elite upbringing. I see many examples of such people here. I also know it is possible to be non-elite and hold illogical, unpractical beliefs. I saw it often in my childhood neighborhood and elementary and high schools. In my experience, those people are not high IQ.
However, I have yet to meet a person with a decent IQ who comes from a modest background and espouses illogical or poorly reasoned opinions. My friends and I do not all vote the same, or hold the same political beliefs, but when we discuss such things it is all very practical. “I understand why you would vote for Biden/Trump, his policies will benefit your industry/community…” It’s just nuts and bolts. None of us live and die by what politician is in office.
*“A luxury belief is an idea or opinion that confers status on the upper class at little cost, while often inflicting costs on the lower class. The term is often associated with the phenomena where privileged individuals, often disconnected from the lived experiences of impoverished and marginalized people, hold political and social beliefs that signal their elite status, yet impose consequences on those with the least influence. The term is a neologism coined by social commentator Rob Henderson in 2019.”
Rob Henderson has come up at neo’s place before. Very interesting young man. Remarkable and impressive. He has a bright future ahead of him.
God bless your wife, SHIREHOME! All the best to you both!
SteveS: “What innate quality do the Russians and Eastern Europeans possess which gives them such otherworldly artistry, beauty and grace?”
Suffering.
Shirehome: best wishes to you and your wife.
miguel cervantes,
Do you watch the Architectural Digest channel? neo has posted a few videos from there. My wife and I watch it often. Some beautiful art there. They do also have interviews were vacuous “celebrities” show off their domiciles, but occasionally they are interesting also.
prayers for you shirehome
I might have come across it, there is a vast wasteland in many places with some oasis wadi’s tucked in between,
sdferr,
Any speculation on what is going on with Shohei Ohtani’s (former) interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara? It seems Ohtani definitely wrote a check or two to cover his gambling debts. I hope it was kindness and/or naivete on Ohtani’s part, and not collaboration in any way.
However, I have yet to meet a person with a decent IQ who comes from a modest background and espouses illogical or poorly reasoned opinions.
Rufus:
I take your overall point; however, I would point out that my Green Beret friend turned prominent KKK leader came exactly from that sort of background.
His father was the local high school principle. He was raised in a happy, but strict “Yes, sir; Yes, ma’am” family, always did his chores etc. He was literally an Eagle Scout.a
I’ll throw in the KKK secretary at my job in 70s Louisiana.
Also, Thinker/Prover isn’t limited to luxury beliefs.
I’ve no clue on Otani matters Rufus, but I’ll be watching to see how things settle out in a month or two, I’d guess. Orientals gombling!? gasp . . . Who’d have thought! (wink)
SHIREHOME, best wishes to your wife for a full recovery.
This afternoon at my cafe an older man came into my cafe, wearing a yarmulke and black t-shirt with “NOT IN OUR NAME” in bold white letters emblazoned on his chest.
_______________________________________
“Not in our name’: Jewish peace activists across the US call for immediate ceasefire and justice for Palestinians”
On Wednesday, thousands of Jews and allies marched on Capitol Hill, where they carried Palestinian flags and rallied in support of Palestinian rights, while Wise led a smaller sit-in with hundreds of activists inside one of the Capitol buildings. The action was organized by Jewish Voice for Peace and IfNotNow, two of the largest US Jewish groups calling for a just and peaceful resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
huxley. Somebody should ask those folks to describe Hamas’ role in the resolution. And then what happens if Hamas doesn’t comply? Another step back, “for peace”?
huxley, I wonder how Mr. “Not in Our Name” will feel when he’s assaulted in the street, or spat upon, or his home is vandalized — or worse. Insisting that “I’m not that kind of Jew” didn’t work well in Europe in the 1930s and 1940s. It also didn’t work well in southern Israel on October 7, 2023.
Geez. Springsteen’s guitar in the live “Prove it All Night” always blows me away. Then I hear it again…
Backstory is “Rolling Stone” called him a “mediocre guitar player.” Bruce came back on the next tour with blood in his eyes. He was proving something all right.
When young, Springsteen took a run at being one of the great guitar players, but settled for being one of the great songwriters, performers and band leaders.
You can’t have everything.
Yeah, I hate what he has become, but 70s Bruce is still a hero.
huxley,
Never liked Bruce in the ’70s, nor ’80s or ’90s. Still don’t like him. He always came across as a poseur to me.
“Blinded by the Light,” “Born to Run…” I can’t stand teen angst. Teen angst in 20 year-olds (was Springsteen in his 30s when he wrote those?) is even less becoming.
To his credit, from what I hear from folks who have seen him live, he works hard and tries to give people their money’s worth. I respect that, but I’d never pay to see him live because I don’t see how to get my money’s worth if the band is playing his music.
I did like Clarence Clemons though. I bought one of his solo albums.
Well born to run wasnt bad specially robert wuhl riff on it
Bruce once cancelled a performance in Tacoma due to the “aroma of Tacoma” (i.e. paper mill). Poseur in my opinion too.
Rufus:
No worries.
I remember going to a 70s party in Cambridge and gushing about my enthusiasm for Springsteen to a young woman (foolish me). I mentioned a tidbit that Springsteen in those days listened to Buddy Holly before every concert. To keep himself honest.
She looked at me with surprise. To her it was obvious Springsteen was a fake. Somehow I doubt it was a deeply thought-out position. (Who has the time in one’s 20s?)
What does it mean to be a fake? Isn’t that part of the job description for a commercial performer? Does anyone imagine that James Brown was ***JAMES BROWN*** all the time? That he hadn’t crafted and honed ***JAMES BROWN*** over time?
Springsteen wrote “Blinded by the Light” and “Born to Run” in his 20s, when he really was a hungry to make it kid from a working-class background, scrounging to get by, putting together his rock’n’roll persona out of Dylan and angsty teen 50-60s music.
I do wonder, however, if you missed the arc of his songs, at least post-“Born to Run”. Not to get stuck in teen angst but to find an honest way out of it.
___________________________
I’ve been working real hard, trying to get my hands clean.
–Bruce Springsteen, “Prove It All Night”
Its like deniro when hr first started out and was lucky to end up as the second half of the godfathet as young vito he was impressive but around the time the scorcese arc got tiresome see casino he had become a parody
HUBERT:
I have to agree with you on how the ache of suffering lends itself to beauty and expression
-SHIREHOME- Prayers for your wife and you. Trust and have hope.
SHIREHOME:
I hope your wife returns to good health soon.
huxley on Springsteen.
How fascinating and thought provoking. Your posts always shine to me. Others are more thoughtful or more ponderous.
I think I prefer the later Springsteen — or technically, the middle — from “Nebraska” and “Born in the U.S.A. in the ‘80s to “Human Touch” and “Lucky Town” in the 1990s.
The consensus holds that the latter clearly outshines the other, both released the same year. As if the personal outweighs the Big Themes of Human Touch in songs like “Man’s Job” or “All or Nothing.”
FROM WIKI: “Regarding the bad reputation of Human Touch and Lucky Town among his fans, Springsteen said: ‘I tried it [writing happy songs] in the early ’90s and it didn’t work; the public didn’t like it.’”
I’m the exception who adores these rolling, rollicking, anthemic, songs. Great musical company for long roads!
These latter songs are more provocative and powerful and meaningful than his earlier output to me.
If I ever get back to Albuquerque—we could chat and walk around. I well remember attending a conference there and touring the UNM campus.
(The journal of the Western [US] History Association was located there in the early 1990s.) I’ve enjoyed my few brief visits there other times (from CO, back then), too, just stopping in.
“Breaking Bad” neither dinted nor polished my impressions. But perhaps recent decades politics have…? I’m not sure.
T J,
That youtube, I saw it on Tiny Heller’s youtube, Climate – The Movie. Outstanding information! Gathering together those scientists just opens your eyes to how corrupt and deceptive the consensus crowd actually is.
There on climate we see the voice of sanity among brilliant scientists. Sadly, they risked and paid a heavy price for their honesty.
It puts me in mind of the physicians and nurses who witnessed the benefits of off label hcq and ivermectin treating corona virus and, at tremendous risk, spoke out and made the medicine available.
The corruption of science is just ushering in a new age of man, the anti-enlightenment, accompanied by a lot of human suffering and death. Move over Galileo make room for the honest scientists of today.
Re corona virus and medicine: too little, too late department: (this FLCCC substack article is the ONLY reference I can find). “ FLCCC Alliance Statement on the Settlement Reached in Case Against DHHS for Telling the Public to “Stop it” Regarding Taking Ivermectin to Prevent and Treat COVID-19” https://flccc.substack.com/p/flccc-alliance-statement-on-the-settlement
I think I prefer the later Springsteen — or technically, the middle — from “Nebraska” and “Born in the U.S.A. in the ‘80s to “Human Touch” and “Lucky Town” in the 1990s.
T J:
“Lucky Town” is the last Springsteen album I loved. I was right on board with his “happy songs.”
“Lucky Town,” the song, is one of my personal anthems. In fact LuckyTown is my nom-de-web at SongMeanings.com, if anyone is interested:
Yeah, house got too crowded clothes got too tight
And I don’t know just where I’m going tonight
Out where the sky’s been cleared by a good hard rain
There’s somebody callin’ my secret name
I’m going down to Lucky Town
Going down to Lucky Town
I want to lose these blues I’ve found
Down in Lucky Town
Down in Lucky Town
First – amazing performance by Yana!
Second – Follow up on possible fractures between Hamas and others:
..“a nakba more horrible and bitter than the one of 1948″
Definitely some serious cracks are appearing – Abbas is even trashing Iran!?
The most beautiful women in sports are in rhythmic gymnastics. The routines are astonishing enough without long legged ballerinas making them look so easy.
Just another open-thread comment about something I read.
I don’t know what happened to Candace Owens. She went around the bend with her Jew hatred, and now she’s been fired by the “Daily Wire” for her rants.
I wouldn’t hold up my own mind as the perfect picture of mental health, but I can’t help but wonder whether there’s something really wrong with Candace Owens. She seems otherwise smart, articulate, and interesting. Why this weird and ugly flaw?
Here’s a link to the story:
“Owens’s departure comes after months of tensions between her and Daily Wire co-founder Ben Shapiro over her promotion of various anti-Semitic conspiracy theories.”
https://www.mediaite.com/news/breaking-candace-owens-out-at-the-daily-wire/
Cornflour,
It is sad to see. I hate to speculate, but I was not surprised when she became outspoken regarding antisemitic opinions.
First, she is always outspoken, and I admire that when she opines on controversial topics regarding women and racism.
Second, I recall in one of the first interviews she ever gave (was it with Dave Rubin) she mentioned an appreciation of Kanye West (that went to the level of obsession, in my mind) and stating something to the effect that she had a premonition they would work together. It stuck out to me because it was a little odd, compared to her typically well reasoned and grounded manner of speaking. I’m pretty sure she stated she had that notion before she even got interested in politics, when she was still a virulent anti Conservative.
You may recall that she and Kanye West did team up, prior to West’s bizarre, public rantings about Jews. At no time after West’s strange behavior did she seem to denounce him, or even break contact with him.
I still admire her intelligence and strength and pray she will abandon her immature views of Jews and Jewish history. Unlike Tucker Carlson, who appears to be a pure, America First (second and third) isolationist, Ms. Owens’ statements about Israelis come across as tainted by distrust and conspiracy. Not a good look. At all.
US presented a ceasefire/hostage release proposal to UN Security Council.
Vetoed by China and Russia.
Bibi smiles.
Meanwhile, IDF kills/captures hundreds of Hamas terrorists hiding under Gaza Hospital.
May I posit that Ms. Owens is showing her Black creed? Is that racist of me, because I do not mean it to be.
I see where China and Russia vetoed the US resolution on Israel/Gaza. One can speculate on the reasoning.
L’chaim Bibi
https://twitter.com/jewishwarrior13/status/1771171715172696350?s=61
well you chose poorly stephen
https://rumble.com/v4kty4z-fmr-justice-breyer-to-nbcs-welker-dont-put-words-in-my-mouth.html
Latma — Fake It Out (satire): https://youtu.be/qoEtrkeUr4c?feature=shared
[Candace Owens] seems otherwise smart, articulate, and interesting. Why this weird and ugly flaw?
Cornflour, Rufus:
I ran across this “After Skool” video the other day:
–“Why Smart People Believe Stupid Things”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Peima-Uw7w
I season “After Skool” with a generous serving of salt. Love the whiteboard animation, don’t quite trust the content. However, this one is backed up by legitimate research, particularly by Dan M. Kahan at Yale Law, that shows IQ correlates positively with bias.
Which has been my experience — as subject and observer. The smarter a person is, the better able to prove whatever case they want to make, i.e. motivated reasoning.
Or as Robert Anton Wilson, one of the writers who changed my life, put it:
___________________________________________
As Dr. Leonard Orr has noted, the human mind behaves as if it were divided into two parts, the Thinker and the Prover.
The Thinker can think about virtually anything….
The Prover is a much simpler mechanism. It operates on one law only: Whatever the Thinker thinks, the Prover proves.
To cite a notorious example which unleashed incredible horrors earlier in this century, if the Thinker thinks that all Jews are rich, the Prover will prove it. It will find evidence that the poorest Jew in the most run-down ghetto has hidden money somewhere. Similarly, Feminists are able to believe that all men, including the starving wretches who live and sleep on the streets, are exploiting all women, including the Queen of England.
–Robert Anton Wilson, “Prometheus Rising”
well I don’t trust Abu Mazen any far than I can throw him, he’s like the Crocodile in Yemen, Ali Saleh, who lasted almost forty years until the grim reaper eventually came for him,
he and general Ali Mohsen, who came from the same village, let loose the demons that became the local Al Queda franchise, AQAP
often with the cooperation of their security service the PSO, the Political Security Organization, founded by his brother, headed by his oldest son, a King Lear type arrangement
Because I’m sure there’s interest here in global warming science that’s unaware of this news, I’m reposting from the previous morning’s open thread.
After making us wait a year, science documentary filmmaker for UKs Channel 4, Martin Durkin, has released a full-length update to his first effort advancing skepticism of man made global warming from 17 years ago, finding it more substantive and compelling than ever!
BEHOLD for free viewing “Climate — The Movie”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55n-Zdv_Bwc
Many hours after it premiered, I posted my personal reaction to YouTube:
“So riveting from minute to minute, that I had to ignore my full bladder and keep my ears and eyes glued for the duration! Over a year ago, documentary filmmaker Martin Durkin said that the skeptic’s case against global warming has only strengthened over the last 20 years — and here, he proves it. HATS OFF! Salud! Cheers! Prosit! Skul!”
The Wikipedia long-ass entry on Martin Durkin’s earlier 2007 effort, the documentary, “The Great Global Warming Swindle”, paints skeptics of man-made global warming as utterly, if irredeemably, wrong-headed, by dint of detailed objections. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Global_Warming_Swindle
Has Martin improved upon his original? Will anyone share viewing “Climate — The Movie” with orthodox-minded alarmist friends or family?
HT to Neo — Dr Judith Curry does not appear here. But Dr Sally Baliunas — astrophysicist at Harvard who was pushed out and attacked around 20 years ago for her dissent and heresy against the pre-censorship era mob (ie, AGW “consensus”) — does.
huxley:
Thanks for the response. It’s worth remembering. When I have some time, I’ll try to follow up on your references. But my first reaction is that I’m not sure that the thinker/prover model and IQ/bias correlation fully explain Candace Owens’s Jew hatred.
On the other hand, all I’ve got is that she’s gone a little bit crazy.
so schwab and soros, one is half jewish, the other is ethnically so, who seems to have become overseers of large parts of the money and economy of the mind,
both seem to be bond villains, the former more like stronberg, the one played by the great German actor Curt Jurgens,
I have often wondered how long Ben Shapiro would continue to put up with Candace Owens’ Jew-hating. Presumably she’s developed other avenues for revenue without the Daily Wire platform.
huxley – Interesting.
I think your thesis is also a sufficient explanation for the modern left. They believe what they want to believe and the most intelligent among them are smart enough to come up with a rationalization justifying it. I blame it on a lack of grounding due to the abandonment of religion in general and Christianity in particular, but YMMV.
The problem comes when the masses start following the crazy, intelligent elites because “they’re smart.”
the combination of inanities that people live by, I guess the short hand is Tim Blair’s law as he noted it 20 years ago from Down Under, his best stuff is paywalled at the Australians,
I’m not sure that the thinker/prover model and IQ/bias correlation fully explain Candace Owens’s Jew hatred.
Cornflour:
Hard to say. My guess is that some influential people in her life were anti-Semitic and her Prover proved it.
I’m reminded of my surfer buddy, who became a Green Beret, then a neo-Nazi Christian and KKK leader. He was a bright, decent fellow, but he fell in with some far right evangelical Christians and white supremacists and his Prover proved it.
Though I didn’t dedicate myself to the Revolution, I was hard left when I was young and my Prover proved it.
oh never mind
https://twitter.com/henryrodgersdc/status/1771226777232281971
yes that judge kaplan,
https://www.breitbart.com/tech/2024/03/22/current-ftx-ceo-says-disgraced-fraudster-sam-bankman-frieds-remorse-is-nonexistent/
Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin leaving the House early cutting the Republican majority to 1. As predicted the Socialists are doing all they can to get the Communist party to be the majority in the House. This is the play created by Paul Ryano. There will be no Biden impeachment.
we were better off with the ‘fake congressman’ Santos, the best my friend who lives in the district, had in 20 years,
Bravo Yana!
What innate quality do the Russians and Eastern Europeans possess which gives them such otherworldly artistry, beauty and grace?
I’ve noticed it over the years in gymnastics, figure skating, and ballet. Comparatively, for me, Westerners seem cute and rather superficial. I wonder if this is a passed down cultural quality or something that can be learned?
Steve S.
Yana is from another planet. Or she has spent entirely too much of her lifespan in the gym.
But, as to your larger point: Listen to a Russian men’s choir. Sounds, at some points, as if the tenors are tearing their throats out. Maybe there’s a hospital for those who did, the few survivors going on to perform.
Same as to some of those dancers whose antics give my knees great sympathy. Or, in one case, toes.
Kind of late to the Open Party.
Princess Kate has announced that she has Cancer. One would hope that the idjits will now leave her alone.
My Wife got a diagnosis of Cancer too. Going to start Chemo soon.
Richard Aubrey:
I’m thinking more in terms “soul quality” which denotes a depth of emotion and life experience. But I agree with your point about the taxation of the physical involved.
How do the Republicans not understand that being the Menshevik party is bad for them?
it is art and music that makes everything else worth while, thats why the slow descent of Bravo and A&E into reality trash and CSI Miami reruns was so dissapointing,
meanwhile reality slowly dawns on people
https://twitter.com/KanekoaTheGreat/status/1771244240171069860
I’m bummed that Jackson Holliday has been optioned back to AAA Norfolk to start the season. The “official” reason given: lack of ABs vs AAA lefty pitching let alone MLB lefties (and the O’s facing a bunch of those lefties early this season), coupled with still learning a “new” position at 2nd base. Ah well. We’ll just have to wait until . . . ? . . . I dunno, early May? Mebbe. But his debut is gonna be a kick when it comes.
huxley, Cornflour et alia,
In my experience it’s IQ plus non-elite life experience. I went to a big, state school. I happened to make friends with a lot of high IQ people, but they (we) were all from humble backgrounds; blue collar households, farm kids, even Ministers’ kids. The white collar kids I hung out with had parents who were teachers, including college professors with PhDs. We were all very independent. Most of us had parents who liked us. Some of us even had parents who loved us. But none of us had parents who were helicoptering in any manner (our parents were remarkably uninterested in our lives), and none of us grew up in a wealthy household.
We were all very much on our own and we all took a very practical view of life. We talked, debated, argued, cajoled, teased, but we were all seekers of truth. There were no sacred cows. We only cared about finding what worked. What made sense. We couldn’t afford to have an inaccurate view of anything, not for long, at least.
None of us had the support system to outwardly signal, luxury beliefs* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luxury_belief
I know it is possible to also be very practical and logical and come from an elite upbringing. I see many examples of such people here. I also know it is possible to be non-elite and hold illogical, unpractical beliefs. I saw it often in my childhood neighborhood and elementary and high schools. In my experience, those people are not high IQ.
However, I have yet to meet a person with a decent IQ who comes from a modest background and espouses illogical or poorly reasoned opinions. My friends and I do not all vote the same, or hold the same political beliefs, but when we discuss such things it is all very practical. “I understand why you would vote for Biden/Trump, his policies will benefit your industry/community…” It’s just nuts and bolts. None of us live and die by what politician is in office.
*“A luxury belief is an idea or opinion that confers status on the upper class at little cost, while often inflicting costs on the lower class. The term is often associated with the phenomena where privileged individuals, often disconnected from the lived experiences of impoverished and marginalized people, hold political and social beliefs that signal their elite status, yet impose consequences on those with the least influence. The term is a neologism coined by social commentator Rob Henderson in 2019.”
Rob Henderson has come up at neo’s place before. Very interesting young man. Remarkable and impressive. He has a bright future ahead of him.
God bless your wife, SHIREHOME! All the best to you both!
SteveS: “What innate quality do the Russians and Eastern Europeans possess which gives them such otherworldly artistry, beauty and grace?”
Suffering.
Shirehome: best wishes to you and your wife.
miguel cervantes,
Do you watch the Architectural Digest channel? neo has posted a few videos from there. My wife and I watch it often. Some beautiful art there. They do also have interviews were vacuous “celebrities” show off their domiciles, but occasionally they are interesting also.
prayers for you shirehome
I might have come across it, there is a vast wasteland in many places with some oasis wadi’s tucked in between,
sdferr,
Any speculation on what is going on with Shohei Ohtani’s (former) interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara? It seems Ohtani definitely wrote a check or two to cover his gambling debts. I hope it was kindness and/or naivete on Ohtani’s part, and not collaboration in any way.
However, I have yet to meet a person with a decent IQ who comes from a modest background and espouses illogical or poorly reasoned opinions.
Rufus:
I take your overall point; however, I would point out that my Green Beret friend turned prominent KKK leader came exactly from that sort of background.
His father was the local high school principle. He was raised in a happy, but strict “Yes, sir; Yes, ma’am” family, always did his chores etc. He was literally an Eagle Scout.a
I’ll throw in the KKK secretary at my job in 70s Louisiana.
Also, Thinker/Prover isn’t limited to luxury beliefs.
I’ve no clue on Otani matters Rufus, but I’ll be watching to see how things settle out in a month or two, I’d guess. Orientals gombling!? gasp . . . Who’d have thought! (wink)
SHIREHOME, best wishes to your wife for a full recovery.
This afternoon at my cafe an older man came into my cafe, wearing a yarmulke and black t-shirt with “NOT IN OUR NAME” in bold white letters emblazoned on his chest.
_______________________________________
“Not in our name’: Jewish peace activists across the US call for immediate ceasefire and justice for Palestinians”
On Wednesday, thousands of Jews and allies marched on Capitol Hill, where they carried Palestinian flags and rallied in support of Palestinian rights, while Wise led a smaller sit-in with hundreds of activists inside one of the Capitol buildings. The action was organized by Jewish Voice for Peace and IfNotNow, two of the largest US Jewish groups calling for a just and peaceful resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/23/us/jewish-palestinian-protest-israel-gaza/index.html
Yes not really no
https://twitter.com/ThePowersThatBe/status/1771253397229805593
huxley. Somebody should ask those folks to describe Hamas’ role in the resolution. And then what happens if Hamas doesn’t comply? Another step back, “for peace”?
huxley, I wonder how Mr. “Not in Our Name” will feel when he’s assaulted in the street, or spat upon, or his home is vandalized — or worse. Insisting that “I’m not that kind of Jew” didn’t work well in Europe in the 1930s and 1940s. It also didn’t work well in southern Israel on October 7, 2023.
https://www.breitbart.com/clips/2024/03/22/kinzinger-mtg-motion-to-vacate-could-force-speaker-johnson-to-work-with-dems-on-foreign-aid/
According to Fox News on TV just now, ISIS has declared responsibility for the attack on the concert venue in Moscow.
huxley, I wonder how Mr. “Not in Our Name” will feel when he’s assaulted in the street, or spat upon, or his home is vandalized — or worse.
Kate:
Unless he is close to a personal tipping point, my bet is his Prover can keep proving it.
Since Obama’s 2008 election I recall several instances of woke whites being physically attacked by blacks and still blaming white racism.
However, most leftist Israelis did hit their tipping point. Good for them!
–Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, “Prove It All Night”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okrvOAUg-yY
Geez. Springsteen’s guitar in the live “Prove it All Night” always blows me away. Then I hear it again…
Backstory is “Rolling Stone” called him a “mediocre guitar player.” Bruce came back on the next tour with blood in his eyes. He was proving something all right.
When young, Springsteen took a run at being one of the great guitar players, but settled for being one of the great songwriters, performers and band leaders.
You can’t have everything.
Yeah, I hate what he has become, but 70s Bruce is still a hero.
huxley,
Never liked Bruce in the ’70s, nor ’80s or ’90s. Still don’t like him. He always came across as a poseur to me.
“Blinded by the Light,” “Born to Run…” I can’t stand teen angst. Teen angst in 20 year-olds (was Springsteen in his 30s when he wrote those?) is even less becoming.
To his credit, from what I hear from folks who have seen him live, he works hard and tries to give people their money’s worth. I respect that, but I’d never pay to see him live because I don’t see how to get my money’s worth if the band is playing his music.
I did like Clarence Clemons though. I bought one of his solo albums.
Well born to run wasnt bad specially robert wuhl riff on it
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8sbhGggvCRI
Bruce once cancelled a performance in Tacoma due to the “aroma of Tacoma” (i.e. paper mill). Poseur in my opinion too.
Rufus:
No worries.
I remember going to a 70s party in Cambridge and gushing about my enthusiasm for Springsteen to a young woman (foolish me). I mentioned a tidbit that Springsteen in those days listened to Buddy Holly before every concert. To keep himself honest.
She looked at me with surprise. To her it was obvious Springsteen was a fake. Somehow I doubt it was a deeply thought-out position. (Who has the time in one’s 20s?)
What does it mean to be a fake? Isn’t that part of the job description for a commercial performer? Does anyone imagine that James Brown was ***JAMES BROWN*** all the time? That he hadn’t crafted and honed ***JAMES BROWN*** over time?
Springsteen wrote “Blinded by the Light” and “Born to Run” in his 20s, when he really was a hungry to make it kid from a working-class background, scrounging to get by, putting together his rock’n’roll persona out of Dylan and angsty teen 50-60s music.
I do wonder, however, if you missed the arc of his songs, at least post-“Born to Run”. Not to get stuck in teen angst but to find an honest way out of it.
___________________________
I’ve been working real hard, trying to get my hands clean.
–Bruce Springsteen, “Prove It All Night”
Its like deniro when hr first started out and was lucky to end up as the second half of the godfathet as young vito he was impressive but around the time the scorcese arc got tiresome see casino he had become a parody
HUBERT:
I have to agree with you on how the ache of suffering lends itself to beauty and expression
-SHIREHOME- Prayers for your wife and you. Trust and have hope.
SHIREHOME:
I hope your wife returns to good health soon.
huxley on Springsteen.
How fascinating and thought provoking. Your posts always shine to me. Others are more thoughtful or more ponderous.
I think I prefer the later Springsteen — or technically, the middle — from “Nebraska” and “Born in the U.S.A. in the ‘80s to “Human Touch” and “Lucky Town” in the 1990s.
The consensus holds that the latter clearly outshines the other, both released the same year. As if the personal outweighs the Big Themes of Human Touch in songs like “Man’s Job” or “All or Nothing.”
FROM WIKI: “Regarding the bad reputation of Human Touch and Lucky Town among his fans, Springsteen said: ‘I tried it [writing happy songs] in the early ’90s and it didn’t work; the public didn’t like it.’”
I’m the exception who adores these rolling, rollicking, anthemic, songs. Great musical company for long roads!
These latter songs are more provocative and powerful and meaningful than his earlier output to me.
If I ever get back to Albuquerque—we could chat and walk around. I well remember attending a conference there and touring the UNM campus.
(The journal of the Western [US] History Association was located there in the early 1990s.) I’ve enjoyed my few brief visits there other times (from CO, back then), too, just stopping in.
“Breaking Bad” neither dinted nor polished my impressions. But perhaps recent decades politics have…? I’m not sure.
T J,
That youtube, I saw it on Tiny Heller’s youtube, Climate – The Movie. Outstanding information! Gathering together those scientists just opens your eyes to how corrupt and deceptive the consensus crowd actually is.
There on climate we see the voice of sanity among brilliant scientists. Sadly, they risked and paid a heavy price for their honesty.
It puts me in mind of the physicians and nurses who witnessed the benefits of off label hcq and ivermectin treating corona virus and, at tremendous risk, spoke out and made the medicine available.
The corruption of science is just ushering in a new age of man, the anti-enlightenment, accompanied by a lot of human suffering and death. Move over Galileo make room for the honest scientists of today.
Re corona virus and medicine: too little, too late department: (this FLCCC substack article is the ONLY reference I can find). “ FLCCC Alliance Statement on the Settlement Reached in Case Against DHHS for Telling the Public to “Stop it” Regarding Taking Ivermectin to Prevent and Treat COVID-19”
https://flccc.substack.com/p/flccc-alliance-statement-on-the-settlement
I think I prefer the later Springsteen — or technically, the middle — from “Nebraska” and “Born in the U.S.A. in the ‘80s to “Human Touch” and “Lucky Town” in the 1990s.
T J:
“Lucky Town” is the last Springsteen album I loved. I was right on board with his “happy songs.”
“Lucky Town,” the song, is one of my personal anthems. In fact LuckyTown is my nom-de-web at SongMeanings.com, if anyone is interested:
https://songmeanings.com/profiles/submissions/17418387/comments/
________________________________
Yeah, house got too crowded clothes got too tight
And I don’t know just where I’m going tonight
Out where the sky’s been cleared by a good hard rain
There’s somebody callin’ my secret name
I’m going down to Lucky Town
Going down to Lucky Town
I want to lose these blues I’ve found
Down in Lucky Town
Down in Lucky Town
–Bruce Springsteen, “Lucky Town (MTV Plugged – Official HD Video)”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJaU_6swr60
________________________________
I made it to Lucky Town.
Great thanks for your compliment. I appreciate your comments too.