Open thread 9/7/2024
This has long been one of my very favorite poems, and recently I stumbled on this haunting musical rendition in song:
The New Neo
A blog about political change, among other things
This has long been one of my very favorite poems, and recently I stumbled on this haunting musical rendition in song:
Daily Caller has this – The Deadliest Crack In Kamala’s Campaign Just Burst Wide Open
Ditto on the “graph is alarming”! Don’t know how such a graph made it to any news site…
A profound, haunting poem by one of my two favorite poets. You should check out the film “Margaret” (2011) which is inspired by the poem.
See: https://jamesbowman.net/2012/05/margaret/
Karmi, the graph didn’t make it to any news site that leftists will read. All links in that Daily Caller story go to Federal Reserve sites and ZeroHedge. So, yes, it’s correct, and no, it hasn’t made the non-right news sites.
Gerard Manley Hopkins! One of my favorite poets.
Kate – they’ll have to leave out Jobs, economy, and immigration topics in the debate else Trump will probably get it in! 🙂
Dershowitz quits Democratic party.
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz…,
Decided to call my cousin to see what’s up. She could wait to start off with the hated TRUMP! Which I firmly shut off because my fiance and I are flying to Serbia very soon and I just wanted happy thoughts. Trump haters REALLY have issues.
Trump Derangement is an illness. So is Jew-hating. It’s not a great surprise that these illnesses frequently go together.
Gavin Newsom kills California bill to help undocumented immigrants buy homes
Guess the local poll numbers finally woke him up on making ‘some undocumented immigrants eligible for up to $150,000 in state-backed home loans’ – where do these people even get an ideal like that?!
Spring and Fall: To a Young Child
Márgarét, áre you gríeving
Over Goldengrove unleaving?
Leáves like the things of man, you
With your fresh thoughts care for, can you?
Ah! ás the heart grows older
It will come to such sights colder
By and by, nor spare a sigh
Though worlds of wanwood leafmeal lie;
And yet you wíll weep and know why.
Now no matter, child, the name:
Sórrow’s spríngs áre the same.
Nor mouth had, no nor mind, expressed
What heart heard of, ghost guessed:
It ís the blight man was born for,
It is Margaret you mourn for.
–Gerard Manley Hopkins
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I couldn’t place the poem by title, but the first two lines … oh, yes.
Then the last.
Natalie Merchant has always been a class act.
From Harris’s first campaign:
After an audience member asked about her ties to Mr. Brown, she rose from her seat at the front of the sanctuary as her two opponents, Bill Fazio and Terence Hallinan, looked on.
Ms. Harris walked behind Mr. Fazio, asking if the audience remembered how Mr. Hallinan had attacked him for being caught in a massage parlor in a 1998 raid. She walked behind Mr. Hallinan, asking if the audience remembered how Mr. Fazio had attacked him for being a “deadbeat dad” who failed to pay child support.
As faint gasps echoed across the room, Ms. Harris wrapped her punch in a gauzy pledge. Unlike her opponents, she promised that she would run a campaign based on the issues, not on negative attacks.
What kind of hellish joke of a world are we living in?
Re: Epiphone Les Paul guitar
physicsguy:
It arrived well-boxed and undamaged. No marks or scratches or signs of poor workmanship. Bolted-on neck — it is a budget Les Paul. $270.
It was my first time tuning an electric guitar. I broke the D-string twice while tuning. Not sure why. The other strings were OK.
I took it to a quitar tech. Zip. Zam. No problem. He didn’t charge, but I slipped him a ten. He said all these Epi Les Pauls he had seen were good stuff.
It plays fine though my speaker and the controls seem to work. I haven’t tested it extensively. I don’t know enough to tell you anything more.
It’s going to be a fine beginner’s guitar. I even like the cherry sunburst paint job.
Abraxas:
In the absence of anything better, Harris is posturing herself as “For the People” and Trump, of course, as a selfish rich bastard out only for himself.
Open borders. Defund the police. High inflation. Cold shoulder to the middle class and veterans. Etc.
Good luck with that, Kamala!
huxley:
I first encountered the poem at the age of twelve in a textbook that belonged to my older brother. He used to recommend poetry to me that he really liked.
I was immediately taken with the poem, which I intuitively understood (“what heart heard of, ghost guessed”). I read it over and over back then and committed it to memory as one of my favorite poems. Hopkins was an astounding poet.
@ huxley Re: Epiphone Les Paul guitar
A few of my ex-wives used to say ‘men and their Toys’ jokingly to me when I would get one. Glad it arrived in great shape—it was obvious that you were excited about it.
Went to all kinds of concerts in the 60s & 70s – loved the music but didn’t know anything about the instruments. Hendrix on the guitar was amazing tho…
Came across some article last year on gossip concerning Machine Gun Kelly’s guitarist Sophie Lloyd – in her words a “bedroom” guitarist. She lost me with talk of shredleys, shred & shredding (?!?) but I did like her guitar playing.
Enjoy the new ‘Toy’…
I recently linked to a conversation between Chris Williamson and Eric Weinstein where Weinstein said Kamala Harris phrase “to see what can be, unburdened by what has been” was something from Marx, but couldn’t pinpoint it.
As an aside, he also said, that JD Vance is very sincere in his desire to help the working class that has been abandoned by economic policies during the last several decades.
Back to the point. Here’s an essay talking about @KamalaHarris saying “to see what can be, unburdened by what has been.”
Brian E:
I’ve had a history of discussions with my conservative cousin on this subject. He calls Harris a Communist and he is sure that he is correct and it will make a difference.
I don’t argue with him anymore. But my response is no and no.
Today’s wokeist left can be traced back to communism. The oppressors vs oppressed template is in place, but today’s wokers have no idea what communism was. Nor the Communist Manifesto.
Calling them communist is sort of like calling out Muslims as Jews because there is a linear relationship from one to the other. Muslims don’t see themselves as Jews. The woke don’t see themselves as communist. Both are right.
Also it doesn’t make a difference. Calling Kamala Harris communist doesn’t settle the issue. To those independents and undecideds it sounds like old-fashioned McCarthyism and is discounted or counted against conservatives.
I read it over and over back then and committed it to memory as one of my favorite poems.
neo:
No higher praise in my book. It’s unfortunate IMO that memorization is no longer considered a valid educational technique.
At the bridge in Harry Chapin’s “Taxi” there is an odd high descant part which took me a long time to notice:
_______________________________
Baby’s so high that she’s skying
Yes she’s flying, afraid to fall
I’ll tell you why baby’s crying
‘Cause she’s dying, aren’t we all?
–Harry Chapin, “Taxi”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5dwksSbD34
_______________________________
I’ve wondered if Chapin knew his Hopkins.
Enjoy the new ‘Toy’…
Karmi:
You saw Hendrix?
[Bows]
I’m already dreaming of a Strat. As soon as my calluses grow in…
GMH speaks to the heart like no other in poems sacred (God’s Grandeur) and profane (Binsey Poplars). Thank you Neo for this moving song/recitation.
Hopkins – a great poet. When my homeschooled son did his AP English Lit course ‘The Windhover’ was one of the poems assigned for analysis. This was in 2008 or ’09, can’t remember exactly. Imagine my disbelief when NO MENTION of the religious meaning of the poem was made. WTF? The imagery is unmistakable AND Hopkins dedicated it ‘To Christ our Lord’!!! I knew then that as a culture we might be beyond help.
Huxley,
I agree about calling Harris a communist – ‘does not compute’ for most. We need a better word for what she is – no not THAT word – something that defines the totalitarian regime she is part of. I recently heard ‘Communofascist’. Still not there…
Congratulations on the new instrument and good luck with your studies.
Back in the day Husband saw Hendrix 3 TIMES!!!
With the aid of computers, scientists are now starting to be able to create accurate models of various mechanisms within human cells, and other life forms, which demonstrate that many of these mechanisms are complex and intricate, what can only be called biological machines.*
It seems unlikely to me that natural selection would be capable of leading to the creation/evolution of such intricate biological machines, particularly since the human body, for instance, contains untold millions of such varied biological machines.
* See one such modeling–there are others on the Internet–here at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPSm9gJkPxU&t=452s
Huxley…agree,there’s questionable value in repeated accusations of Kamala being a Communist, using phrases like “Comrade Kamela”, etc. People under about 45 don’t remember the Soviet Union at all, and many have been taught to think of ‘communism’ as a great ideal, even if difficult to implement in practice.
Also: While the ideology of today’s Dems does include substantial elements of Communist ideology, it also differs in some important ways. The Dems are obsessed with race/ethnicity. When they abandon traditional religions, they don’t usually become atheists, but rather followers of various mystical beliefs. They don’t want the government to directly own and run the ‘means of production’, but they do want to control those means of production. All of these things are closer to Fascism/Naziism than to Marxism.
My most recent post: Worthwhile Listening–some recent musical discoveries and a few old favorites:
https://chicagoboyz.net/archives/71668.html
Sunday Open Thread: The Russian war on the west:
The Russian Economy at War (2024) – Sanctions, growth, inflation & mounting risks = Perun
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tHkwLSS-DE&t=13s
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c14zdypxr7no
I never called Kammy a Communist, and I’m not suggesting that would be a good strategy. But rather than being some nebulous, ethereal, feel good phrase– “to see what can be, unburdened by what has been” is grounded in revolutionary ideology.
I’m fully aware of the difficulty in finding a label for the left and lots of digital ink was spilled trying to define Barack. But “fundamentally transform the country” and what Kammy has spouted for years are two sides of the same coin.
It doesn’t mean anything to the average voter, and it’s certainly possible that Kammy is intellectually challenged and carries it no further than a some sort of Zen phraseology.
But her policies are certainly socialist, and yes she (along with her fellow leftist travelers are more Fascistic than anything) . Medicare for all aka socialized medicine and the abolishment of private insurance, the idea that media has a social obligation to censor speech that isn’t favored by the government.
This “explanation” of Kammys policy flip-flops on the All in Podcast highlights the problem.
This is Jason:
And each time David Sacks pushed back on this notion these policy changes aren’t sincere, Jason said they were the equivalent to Trump changing his position on abortion.
So two problems to overcome. The left is just going to lie about her previous positions being her fundamental goals for society and they are going to ride the abortion issue to the election.
She’s been vice president for nearly four years and has never considered anything fundamental like what she would do as President? Wow. Just wow.
Or is it more likely her revolutionary meme is her fundamental policies? Remember, after recently saying she wasn’t against fracking she added her core philosophy hadn’t changed. That’s how you talk out of both sides of your mouth and possibly get away with it.
My online Google news feed offer stories from HuffPo, The Independent (London), and elsewhere. The brief summary allows me to get a feel for their takes on Trump.
Viscous and hellaciously speculative, are the words that come to mind. “Unhinged rant” is ascribed to him in reaction to Kamala’s pushback, or something. The Independent assures us that people close to Trump see him in spiraling decline. Projection much?
What a swamp the “news” has become. But not here, dear online friends. Not here. Thanks.
My online Google news feed offer stories from HuffPo, The Independent (London), and elsewhere. The brief summary allows me to get a feel for their takes on Trump.
Viscous and hellaciously speculative, are the words that come to mind. “Unhinged rant” is ascribed to him in reaction to Kamala’s pushback, or something. The Independent assures us that people close to Trump see him in spiraling decline. Projection much?
What a swamp the “news” has become. But not here, dear online friends. Not here. Thanks.
when she speaks of the ‘climate crisis’, well that means that fracking most go, she seemed to entertain that fracking was unhealthy to children, but Nigerian and Venezuelan crude is fine, defunding the police she hasn’t averted from there, her staffers are in favor of banning gas stoves,
an irony about the Independent, who owns it a Russian oligarch, ex kgb? his father was expelled from Britain in the 70s, the Huffington Post that Breitbart helped set up, from the divorce settlement that Arianna had with the Humble oil heir, product of the Indonesian crude that Pat Brown helped secure, father of Jerry,
Says Eric Weinstein, “learn the truth and take yourself off the board.”
I never called Kammy a Communist, and I’m not suggesting that would be a good strategy
Brian E:
I didn’t mean to say you did. I was just jumping off from your comment.
Here’s a Spiked article examining the roots of Woke and how it has mutated quite far from the traditional left, socialism and communism:
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Sure, the broad creed [Wokeism] that has broken into the mainstream over the past decade co-opted a lot of radical theory during its earlier development, including the thought of 1960s icons such as Herbert Marcuse and Michel Foucault – indeed, the latter bequeathed the theory of power being invisible and ubiquitous.
But wokery, Kaufmann insists, is fundamentally a form of hyper-liberalism, an extreme egalitarianism. It is less a cast-iron ideology and more a soft religion. This explains why some of its claims can seem so bizarre – because that’s how the tenets of religions usually appear to outsiders and non-believers.
https://www.spiked-online.com/2024/09/08/where-did-wokeness-come-from/
” … there’s questionable value in repeated accusations of Kamala being a Communist …”
Just after I dreamed up Khmerla Rouge?? 🙁
Seriously, maybe Trump’s strategy should be to simply enumerate his commonsense policies and their results, and contrast them with Biden/Harris’ radical policies and their results.
Hyper-liberal is not a bad description.
Take a look at this long discussion with Eric Weinstein, especially the first part, in which Weinstein says that “the powers that be”–the people and institutions which actually run the world, and this country–are quite content with how things currently are, and with the illusion of democracy which they have created.
They don’t want their arrangements disrupted, and “will not let” (an uncontrolled, free agent, a disruptor like) Donald Trump, become President.”*
These powers that be have thrown everything that they can think of at him –including, so far, one assassination attempt–and he’s still in the race, even apparently growing stronger.
If I were Trump, forget the Secret Service, I’d make sure that, in addition, I was guarded and surrounded 24/7 by my own security force, and that everything I ate or even touched, came in contact with, even the atmosphere in the rooms I would be in, would be thoroughly checked for toxins beforehand.
* See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYRYXhU4kxM&t=7011s
P.S. Years ago, on a tour of England, we stayed at London’s Millennium Mayfair hotel, on Grosvenor Square, and had a couple of beers at their bar.
A couple of weeks later, this hotel was the site of what was apparently a Russian assassination attempt on of a former KGB officer named Litvenenko, which employed radioactive Polonium–as I remember, in his tea service–and it was eventually tracked all over the hotel, which I read was closed for quite a while for decontamination.
You really want to know what a Harris-Nutz regime will be like?
Have a gander at how Labour’s Starmer and his tovarich ogres have so assiduously hijacked the UK and are turning it into a Totalitarian morass.
(I suppose one COULD argue that at least the Tories were incompetent…. Moreover, it SHOULD prompt one to take a more tolerant view of just how Macron is trying to walk back his own sheer stupidity…but for how long will he be able to keep his foolish finger in THAT dyke…?)
File under: “Biden”, Act III? (or IV, depending on how yer counting…)
P.P.S.–Speaking of Trump’s security, nowadays I’d also have a frequency analyzer handy, checking to see if some part of the electromagnetic spectrum might be being focused on the Donald.