1/31/24 – To the irreverent dreamers, with our heads in our novels that both entertained and taught us, impractically idealistic, ridiculous romantic, we see in the world what we found in our books, and it is hope. Keep dreaming. Keep being yourself.
1/31/24 – Every so often during a day, we stop to remember things past. Who or what do we choose to remember? Are we brooding on insults, wallowing in recriminations, or allowing bitterness to swallow our present. Let us instead remember random acts of kindness and the heroes that we’ve known, never known, or those we all know. As a nation, we elevate certain men and women because they deserve it. They wanted the character of their country written into the history books. Their names are a testament to the nation’s glory. They wanted it to be known that no matter how dark the world might get, there will always be people with character that are willing to fight against it, even sacrificing their lives. Their sacrifices are never in vain. Let us remember them often, and say a silent prayer of gratitude to them. They will hear us, and they will feel loved.
1/30/24 – Administrations can be toxic, districts dysfunctional, and students disrespectful or addicted to their phones because their parents aren’t doing their jobs. Educators must, no matter what, do theirs. While the world falls apart, their passion for learning and character formation, their own and others, must remain a source of hope and light for the world. There are many others who are doing noble work, the Lord’s work. Scholars and artists who without acclaim or money keep producing research and art to inspire us and to force us to think hard about who we are and what we’re building. Our military who put their lives on the line for us. It is dangerous work, and they know it. No matter how toxic our politics, how idiotic the fads that captivate the country, or how traitorous the commander-in-chief (the evil one, trump) may be, they have codes of honor to follow and people to save. Religious men and women, who often take vows of poverty and chastity and in spite of a culture that undervalues or even ridicules them, work consistently for the betterment of our society. The few good journalists who report objectively, often risking their lives to tell the stories that must be told, the ones the world needs to hear. God bless the best among us for keeping the world moving forward whether during a pandemic, war, or whatever other unnecessary misery the worst among us inflicts.
1/29/24 – Much of the liberal mainstream media are generally ignorant idiots pretending to be intellectuals. They are atheists, science-worshippers who don’t understand science and have not actually spent much time thinking about hard questions. The Big Bang is generally accepted scientific theory. The key difference between the Christian and atheist understanding of it is that Christians believe God, who exists outside of space, time, matter, created it whereas atheists believe it just happened. You might disagree with it, but Christians’ understanding of the creation of the universe is actually an answer. If you think that pretending a non-answer, the magic trick of it just happening, is an answer is gaslighting, you would be correct. However, this is par for the course for these people. They are constantly gaslighting with or without realizing it. Why? Because, just like their magic trick, they actually have nothing.
1/29/24 – Does the “mobster look” come with a hammer and a sickle? Let us know when the dumb youth and the gullible media figure it out? When you’re getting played by morons, please keep repeating the word “science” to try to compensate for your stupidity, ignorance and lack of discipline.
1/28/24 – The likelihood that there is a god is high. The likelihood that there are many gods is low. Therefore, the likelihood that there is one true God is high. However, there is no crime in venerating pagan and Christian saints alike who espouse similar beliefs, universal values. We live in continuity. There are no discontinuities in the human journey, and time is our divine thread. It is so divine that it can be accounted for only by the divine. The atheist answer to the puzzle of the creation of the universe is that it just magically came to be or bizarre theories that cannot account for time. The Christian answer for the creation of universe, developed by a Catholic priest, Georges Lemaître, is what is called the Big Bang. His answer is definitely more logical. It’s easy to say “science,” “science,” “science.” It’s quite another to actually understand or practice it. Happy Sunday!
1/28/24 – Nobody gets to rewrite history. Jesus was a Jew from the people of Israel, not the people of Palestine. He was not Arab, and his identity was not Palestinian. If this truth is inconvenient for you, that’s too bad for you, but it remains the truth. That said, Jesus belongs to the world, as he so chose.
1/28/24 – Regarding Ukraine, don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good. Corruption exists everywhere. Ukrainians just need to keep working to get rid of it, keep being transparent, keep holding people accountable, and keep perfecting their union, as the rest of us, including Americans, are doing. Slava Ukraini! PS Belatedly, Happy Birthday to Zelensky!
1/28/24 – When on the same day, one reads progressive Gen Z is the savior of Americans and Biden’s poll numbers with black men are falling, one has to wonder if the Democrats want to win or lose the election.
As it stands, Gen Z doesn’t do anything but stare at their phones. Their diversity is not a value. It’s a statistic. If they’re so pluralistic, why do they feel the need to police, such as canceling, dissenting opinions? Any favorable volunteering numbers is because they don’t have jobs. It’s not a demonstration of values. Showing one’s values is donating money when you don’t really have money to donate or giving of your time when you don’t really have time to give. It’s not resume padding. When young people have actually done something for the country and shown us their character, then and only then, they might merit some higher estimation than the presently low one.
It is also unethical to treat older people, some of whom have actually sacrificed for the country, as if they’re disposable has-beens with antiquated values. It is also unethical to treat immigrant minorities who often have conservative values as if they are backward and unevolved because they are religious and don’t subscribe to hedonism and other immorality.
To return to the softening of support for Biden from one of his core voting blocs, i.e. people who actually vote, might it have something to do with pandering to younger progressives? At the end of the day, any party worth its salt should not be dependent on any one group to be its savior. Its appeal should be broad and solid. That appeal comes with being reasonable and honest with voters, and valuing all of them, not just the ones that appeal to modern, western tastes that are often questionable at best.
1/27/24 – To the Jewish people, Christians thank you. You gave us everything.
1/27/24 – Never forget. The Jewish people are a source of strength and light for the world. We pray for their safety, for justice for them and that they never let evil people change them into people they aren’t proud of. “His hope is that the horrors of October 7th and its aftermath won’t overtake Jews or Israel. While dealing with antisemitism unfortunately is part of what it means to be Jewish, says Farkas, it doesn’t define Jews. ‘We are defined by our love of life, by our joy and by incredible acts of loving kindness.’”
International Holocaust Remembrance Day rings differently this year
1/27/24 – “Rosensaft recalled in his speech the stories of Bosnian Muslims who risked their lives to save their Jewish neighbours from the Nazis and, about 50 years later, Bosnian Jews saving and caring for their Muslim neighbors during the country’s internecine war.”
Muslims and Jews in Bosnia observe Holocaust Remembrance Day and call for peace and dialogue
1/25/24 – White people’s superiority complex is nauseating. They have no respect for the natural world, no respect for nature, no respect for the natural health and beauty of the human body, no respect for God, and no respect for all of the things, which is tremendous, that they don’t know. They are arrogant and narcissistic, and the manifestations of this lack of respect and their demented self-love on us and on our culture is destroying life on the planet. When the history books are written on the demise of our species and life on the planet, there will be a direct line to their negative influence on the world.
1/24/24 – The propaganda (self-described free press) agenda is for everyone in the country to change their gender with unhealthy drugs, edit their genes to become mutants and practice the new none religion, which is pretty much just like the old atheist religion. That’s their utopia. If it’s your dystopia, that’s because you’re a backward degenerate who likes being natural and natural things and are not an enlightened Hoka shoe, Lululemon pants, Stanley cup, Taylor Swift suburbanite pretending to be urban cool.
1/24/24 – The science- and self-worshippers at NPR (National Propaganda Radio) are trying to more subtly signal their science worship. Yes, let’s place nones, trans, and gene editing right next to each other and only the other initiated science- and self-worshippers will notice. No, we notice. That’s why they are the propaganda. Are they noticing the right shift of the country? Are they aware of their role in radicalizing the electorate? No, because they have their heads up their self-righteous propagandist a–ses.
1/24/24 – What qualities do rich people have that the rest of us are supposed to emulate? Although it definitely doesn’t apply to many of them, let’s give them working hard and work discipline. They still end up in negative territory because the rest of their character is terrible: greedy, narcissistic, self-absorbed, self-indulgent, self-serving, selfish, often delusional, etc. A couple positive qualities are not enough. They have to exercise discipline on every dimension, especially their money addiction and selfishness. Also, even though they like to think otherwise, they are not gods, and they are not special. (They are not Michelangelo.) They are just flawed – and entirely mediocre – human beings, who got lucky. Do the f—king work and exercise self-control. Thank you, and have a doubly nice day.
1/24/24 – Rich people like to and try to justify their money addiction (avarice) by claiming they worked really hard, so they deserve it. No, they don’t. Look at how many people work extremely hard in the world, especially in poorer countries, who have nothing to show for it. Many of them are indentured servants, basically slaves. So, spare us the f—king bulls—t. It is insult upon injury to deprive workers of fair compensation for their labor and then claim to be virtuous (a hard worker) when you’re just a f—king greedy, immoral a–hole. Thank you, and have a nice day.
1/23/24 – They are our best, and we honor their beautiful, brave souls, Navy SEALS, Nathan Gage Ingram and Christopher J. Chambers. May they rest in peace. They have character traits we want to emulate: courage, discipline, and excellence. God bless them, and God bless America.
1/23/24 – All people need to be much more disciplined.
1/23/24 – Belonging to a union isn’t protection for workers to be lazy or irresponsible. Don’t abuse unions. You are always expected to work hard, be professional and responsible. Take pride if not passion in your work. Unions exist to protect workers from what has become an increasingly ill-balanced compensation structure, with those at the top getting far more than they should with everyone else getting far less than they should. Unions also protect workers from exploitative companies and practices. It’s about leveraging solidarity for fairness – not for laziness. It’s also about fighting for a good work/life balance so we have time for other important aspects of life, such as family, faith and our own health and well-being. This does not mean that you should go home and indulge in various bad habits or waste your time/life. One is supposed to exercise discipline in all aspects of life. Our ancestors worked hard so that we can have a better future. We need to work hard to honor them and to give the next generation what they deserve.
1/21/24 – Paul saw the light on the way to Damascus. Before that moment, he was absolutely convinced he was right. After that moment, he realized how wrong he was. Like pre-conversion Paul, MAGA don’t understand and don’t practice their self-identified religion correctly. The question is: Will MAGA become like the post-enlightenment Paul, or are they like the high priests? There will likely not be some on the road moment for MAGA. In fact, they are acting more and more like the high priests with each passing day: legalistic, law-abusing, power-preserving, treacherous, all the while preening in their self-righteousness, and insulting God with their hypocrisy.
1/21/24 – When you admire the wrong people, you risk becoming like them. Then, before you know it, you’ve lost your soul. Half the country has fallen under the influence of an evil man, trump, and are becoming like him.
1/21/24 – When you choose people to admire or emulate, they don’t need to look like or be like you. You don’t need to have similar genetics. Christians should know this better than anybody else. Jesus, who is our guiding light and our savior, was a brown Jew, a Hebrew, an Israelite, from what we call the land of Israel. He belonged to a relatively small group of people who are/were ethnically joined. During his own lifetime, he literally crossed boundaries to bring his ministry to those outside of his ethnic group, the Jews, violating the taboos of his time. He was aware of what he was doing, and it is documented in the Gospel. Nativism is antithetical to the Christian faith, which is a global religion. From its inception, the religion and Jesus have belonged to the world.
The Party of Malice
1/20/24 – Someone needs to remind Tim Scott, whose judgment has been compromised by his ambition, that the evil one, trump’s, last VP, a white man, was nearly lynched by a mob. Just imagine what they would do to Tim Scott, a black man. When ambition, greed, power and other addictions are more important than the values Jesus preached, as he said, repent. Following Jesus isn’t a show or a signal. It’s a way of life.
1/20/24 – Many really talented people were very disciplined. We can copy them no matter how talented we are or aren’t. Michelangelo (yes, he comes up often because, well, he’s il divino) lived about twice as long as his peers, until almost 90-years-old, and he worked like a beast. His work was not just artistically and intellectually demanding but also extremely physically demanding. Setting aside the intense technical difficulty, sculpting marble and painting frescos are not exactly easy on the body. Nonetheless, he was highly productive until the end of his life, and his youthful personal ambition became a divine purpose as he matured.
Of course, none of us are Michelangelo, but we can all take a similar approach to life. He was deeply religious (the Holy Spirit touched that man…), highly passionate about his work, which was usually religious in subject, and as a polymath engaged his mind and talents in diverse disciplines. He exercised regularly both in his work and horseback riding. He was too busy to have bad habits or indulge in unhealthy activities. And he complained all the time, which might seem like a negative, but it’s not. Work like him, and you’ll understand how important expressing one’s feelings is to staying the course, not to mention staying sane.
This is how to age: living your life like your youthful, robust self doesn’t age; it matures on all dimensions. For all of his complaints about his physical ailments, he exemplified maturation instead of just getting older. You don’t have to be unbelievably talented to want to live like every minute of your limited time on the planet matters. It does for all of us. Use it well.
1/20/24 – Structure and routine are really important, not just for kids, but throughout one’s life. Make your bed. Keep your place clean and organized. Have to do lists. Unless you do a lot of manual labor, don’t eat more than three reasonable meals per day. Even as you get older, you likely won’t put on weight if you eat appropriately, and you’ll stay healthier. In many ways, it’s more important than exercise. Get adequate rest. Don’t be so productive that you don’t sleep enough. That’s not healthy either.
1/20/24 – You are likely addicted to something, but you can end your addiction. However, you have to want it, and you have to do the work. Nobody else can want it for you or do the work for you. If you think you’re not addicted to something, you’re likely wrong. Almost everybody is addicted to something these days. How much time do you spend on your phone, on social media, watching TV or movies, unhealthy socializing, playing video games, shopping, surfing, eating too much, etc.? Keep track of how you spend your time. Add it up, and you’ll see that you’re addicted to something. That’s your life you’re wasting. Think about it.
1/20/24 – We’re living in an era where people seem to have no idea how to exercise self-control and discipline. Do people no longer structure their days or restrict themselves from engaging in unhealthy activities? If you need some help doing so, skip all the “advice,” and look to monastic communities or the military. You can just copy their structure with some modifications. They do it better than anybody else. Their days are very structured, and they are very disciplined. Although they obviously have different purposes, they are both also about sacrifice.
How to structure your day: have times and activities listed for the entire day. (See below for an outline of an average day.) Generally, follow the structure. Don’t develop or indulge any bad habits. (This is critically important.) These includes shopping, playing video games, watching TV, movies, or other entertainment, surfing or social media in addition to the other more obvious addictions. Any form of entertainment should be at most a total of two hours per week. No time on social media. Bare minimum use of phone. Spend only a moderate amount of time reading the news, so you can stay informed. Socialization is encouraged but should also not be excessive. Spend time in nature and on your spiritual life. The idea is to be so productive that you have no time (and eventually desire) for bad habits or unproductive activities.
From 12/2/23 – “Simple average day: Wake up, work, go home, do little things around the home, errands and such, time for family, friends or yourself (e.g. exercise), sleep. Repeat.”
1/20/24 – So, the most recent thing to go apes—t over is apparently ranch-flavored Burt’s Bees lip balm, is that right? What’s wrong with everybody? Our enemies, especially the Chinese who are contributing to this idiocy, are laughing at us. Who needs Pavlovian dogs when they have humans. This is just embarrassing.
1/19/24 – People waste way too much of their time – their lives – online. Go read a book or take in some culture. Hang out with real people in the real world. Goodbye.
1/19/24 – How to choose a water bottle: assess your needs, go to the store (or online store), look at the selection, match to your needs (such as size, cleaning, car holder, straw vs. spout thing, hot/cold, leak proof, etc.), price (see below), align to personal aesthetics, purchase. The thing to not do: spend any time online looking at “influencer” blogs.
1/19/24 – Word to the wise. Sometimes, if you’re too cheap, it might end up costing you more than you save. Weigh pros and cons well.
1/19/24 – This is extremely odd behavior. Unsure what else to say about it. “Trying to parse why strangers ascribe such meaning to an object or product that is meaningless to you—or why they’re so set on one thing and not another, similar thing—is usually a fool’s errand. Humans by nature turn objects into meaning, and consumerism is the process by which that impulse is commodified by middlemen looking to ascribe that meaning to particular things in order to sell your identity or values or group affinity or sense of community back to you.”
It’s Just a Water Bottle
1/18/24 – “‘This war has never been about any real security threat to Russia coming from either Ukraine or NATO,’ Bauer added. ‘This war is about Russia fearing something much more powerful than any physical weapon on earth — democracy. If people in Ukraine can have democratic rights, then people in Russia will soon crave them too.’” God bless Ukraine and the Ukrainians. We will never forget about them and our support will never diminish. It’s as strong now as it has ever been. Slava Ukraini! Long live freedom and democracy!
Top NATO military officer urges allies and leaders to plan for the unexpected in Ukraine
1/18/24 – The irony of someone who joined an order that gives up consumption to end up being an expert on what it means to be a consumer and to be consumed. AI is effectively about consumption. It’s cyclical consumption. We consume (or produce as laborers). This data becomes the input for the algorithms that then influence our consumption (or production). “For his part, the friar told AP that regulating artificial intelligence shouldn’t mean limiting its development. ‘It means keeping them compatible with that fragile system that is democracy, that today seems to be the best system,’ Benanti said.”
The Vatican’s top expert on AI ethics is a friar from a medieval Franciscan order
1/18/24 – Everything that goes into your person should be thoughtful. One of the beautiful things we could all learn from monastic communities is that they are intentional about everything they do and consume. If we want a thriving culture, we have to create it. It doesn’t just happen. Renaissance Italy didn’t just happen. The artists and intellectuals wanted it and worked very hard for it. The patrons wanted it and invested in it. Their legacy remains with us. Don’t be lazy. Put in the effort to actually think about who you are and what you consume. Be intentional. Be unique. Our democracy depends on people being independent thinkers and consumers.
How social media algorithms ‘flatten’ our culture by making decisions for us
1/17/24 – If you learned how to read literature well, you will rather quickly realize that you could be like (almost) every character you encounter if you allow yourself to be unrestrained. We’re all capable of depravities. The difference is the degree to which we restrain them. Some of us restrain ourselves well. Others not only allow themselves to go unrestrained but plunge with glee into the darkness of the human heart. This is one of the many brilliant truths found condensed into one book, the Gospel. It lays them out in a way that has been unsurpassed. If anybody thinks they are beyond depravities, that they are incapable of them, they think wrong.
There is a big difference between seeking justice and seeking revenge. Perhaps MAGA deludes itself into thinking it seeks justice. Perhaps it has plunged into the darkness of seeking revenge, regardless of what is just or unjust. “Trump, in so many ways, quickly made fools of them; his various inanities, failures, and possible crimes sent them scrambling for ever more bizarre rationalizations, defenses of the indefensible that separated them from family and friends. If in 2016 they suspected, rightly or wrongly, that many Americans looked down on them for any number of reasons, they now know with certainty that millions of people look down on them—not for who they are but for what they’ve supported so vocally.”
People do think less of MAGA because they support the evil one, trump, and it’s justified. If one supports evil people, such as Hitler or Stalin, Putin or Modi, then it’s justified that people will think less of them. The depraved response is to seek revenge as a salve for one’s wounded ego. This is not justice. This is the siren call of pride, and it has led many people down a path to immorality and evil. “Trump wants payback; so do millions of voters who have no one to blame for their sense of humiliation but themselves.” And the way out for them, as Jesus said, is not revenge but repentance.
Trump Wants Revenge—And So Does His Base
1/16/24 – The climate change models seem to be underestimating the warming. Have they accounted for a downward spiral? The worse global warming gets, the more energy we use to heat and cool spaces. The worse global warming gets, and so on.
1/16/24 – DeSantis should drop out.
1/15/24 – To turn to a real American, Happy Birthday to Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr! The country has a select brave men and women who sacrifice their lives for the nation’s progress. We honor and thank him. God bless him today and every day.
1/15/24 – If the evil one, trump, is the chosen one, then why is it so cold on the first day of his revenge election?
1/15/24 – It’s rather enjoyable to watch moronic MAGA stand out in the freezing cold for hours for their evil cult leader. It’s the simple pleasures.
1/15/24 – Your therapist will tell you it’s everybody else’s fault and send you the bill. That’s not what the Gospel says. It says that you need to change yourself, and it’s free.
1/14/24 – America has turned into vapid, shallow morons. Don’t be like the Kardashians. Be like Kierkegaard. Happy Sunday!
1/14/24 – If you can be someone who’s never bored, you figured it out. There’s far more to do than can fit into one life. How could one possibly be bored? But maybe that actually isn’t the problem.
Kierkegaard’s Three Ways to Live More Fully
1/9/24 – The Washington Propaganda has an affection for self-glorifying, shallow, stupid, intellectually deficient, godless morons writing opinion pieces on God. Just f—k off.
1/9/24 – No phone addiction. No money addiction. No BS addiction. No influencers. It’s not hard, people. It’s actually a lot easier and better. It’s simple, healthy living.
1/9/24 – To all rich people, you don’t need any more money. You just want more. The kids are addicted to their phones. You’re addicted to money. Get some godd—n discipline. Start modeling virtuous qualities instead of sinful ones. Be self-controlled, responsible adults. Your indulgences and lack of restraint have f—ked up our world, and we resent you for it.
1/9/24 – All kids do these days is stare stupidly at their phones. Progress.
1/9/24 – You don’t need an app to tell you where to go. You know what you do. You drive, walk or bike around your city, make little notes of interesting places, and then go to them. Or you ask your friends, colleagues, etc., you know, maybe interact with people. Simple and genius.
1/9/24 – What on God’s green earth is an “influencer.” Apparently, people actually spend their time on this, whatever it is, and it’s one of the dumbest things to have recently emerged. You don’t need an “influencer” to tell you anything. If you want to buy something, you go to the store, look at the selection, compare prices, perhaps seek out some opinions, and then buy the thing that most appeals to your unique person and judgment.
1/9/24 – Are we going to blame the existence of the addictive product or the people who choose to abuse it? Is the phone, the algorithm, etc., the problem, or the people who can’t or won’t control themselves? Is the left capable of holding people accountable? Last we checked, all kinds of addictive things have existed: coffee, tobacco, weed, alcohol, street drugs, pharma drugs, phones, gambling, sex, and a big one – money. You get the idea. Many of these things have existed since basically the beginning of time. What’s changed is our expectation of human behavior. Apparently, nobody is held accountable for their own behavior or addictions anymore. Exercise discipline!
1/8/24 – Living well isn’t about how much money or comfort you have. It’s about how you spend your time, your life, and the quality of your mind and your character. Keep it simple.
1/8/24 – If rich people want to be cool or more importantly genuine, they would give most of their money away to the poor and live simply like the rest of us. An upper-middle-class life is better than a rich life, and a middle-class to upper-middle-class life is the best. Being poor (without being part of a strong community or a religious order) is hard. Being rich is easy but vacuous. This is why they often end up chasing substance outside of themselves and their circle. They also have no freedom. We can go wherever we want without being hounded. We can get lost walking around our city, our parks and communities, stop here or there for something to eat or drink, take in some culture, casually and without scrutiny. Whether or not they realize it, the money took away more than it gave them because that’s what money does. That’s what it would do to any of us if we had a lot of it. The tradeoff is simply not worth it. When we tax the rich, we’re actually doing them a favor, no matter their protestations as we take the drug away, and they’re doing the country and, hopefully especially the poor, a lot of good. We’re bringing the rich’s feet down to the ground, and lifting the poor’s burden of their backs. It’s a beautiful rebalancing to help us all stay focused on the things that truly matter.
1/8/24 – PS Not only did older generations have better taste in music, they knew how to read and analyze great literature. They also admired artists who kept out of the limelight, such as Salinger. Younger generations might try it sometime, you know, actually producing worthy work instead of self-promotion. Older generations also didn’t engage in rants on social media under the guise of literary criticism that instead brought attention to their literary ignorance. But hey, it “trended,” and that’s all that matters, right? Attention (at any cost).
1/8/24 – Look at what happened to Burning Man. Rich people started going there. Now, it’s dead. As soon as the thing goes mainstream, or God-forbid, rich people start going to it, thinking it’s cool, you’ve got to stop going. It’s done. They did the same thing to SXSW. The whole point is to get away from those people. It’s bad enough we often need to interact with them to make a buck. (They’re so narcissistic, they often can’t tell that we really don’t like or respect them.) Do we also need to see them during what were once activities for people who actually care about true innovation, spirituality and the arts? No, we really don’t. They remind us of the thing we want to forget – money, especially when we’re trying to focus on the things that matter (often with a substantial dose of inexcusable hedonism. Don’t even try to justify it. Just confess, ideally in a confession booth with a priest). Creativity is hard enough. Letting go of the material world is hard enough. Being less of a s—head than you usually are is hard enough. You get the idea. You don’t need a bunch of rich f—kers reminding you that in your daily life, you often end up being an a—hole like they are. Calling Holden, we’re all sold-out phonies to some degree, but at least, many of us still make the effort to not be sold-out phonies and still feel bad about being so. That’s something, but it becomes nothing once the rich people come around.
How the ultra-wealthy infiltrated anti-capitalist Burning Man
1/8/24 – Who says small venues are for old people? When kids were still cool, which they aren’t anymore, this was the thing! It was like a great travel story, but it was a great music story. I saw ____ at ____ (small venue). Part of what gave the experience cachet was that the artist had not blown up (yet) because they hadn’t been “discovered” and that the venue was small. That was when kids – not the music industry – wanted to discover new talent, not just mindlessly imbibe and tribal signal what was, what’s the word…, right, “trending”. It used to be that money and fame would ruin the thing no matter what it was. Once it got big, the kids would lose interest because it had gotten too mainstream? Where is that glorious, youthful snobbery? Where is that rebelliousness? Where is that desire to be different? It doesn’t seem to exist anymore.
The Secret Joys of Geriatric Rock
1/8/24 – There is definitely no anarcho-punk in this video. There is a lot of Taylor Alison Swift though. Blackstone says that it buys assets and makes them better. Did y’all know that? Better. That’s an interesting description of what they do. (Watch at your own peril. If you can’t erase it, not our fault.)
Blackstone’s 2023 Holiday Video: The Alternatives Era
1/8/24 – We don’t definitively know if Michelangelo (yes, there’s a theme, some might say obsession) was gay. Some people have suggested he was. It’s possible. What does it matter either way? Is his work diminished if he was? Of course not. Would his work be better if he was? No, it wouldn’t. Il divino’s work stands on its own merits regardless of the person. (Some say he was rather irascible, which makes him all the more endearing to some of us, but doesn’t bias the assessment of the work.) Was his devotion to the Lord any less ardent? No, it wasn’t. He loved him until the end, and it came through in his work. What would have been repugnant though is if he used gay people to make his career, which, of course, he didn’t.
Also, whatever Michelangelo’s sexual orientation was is actually none of our business. If he was gay, he wasn’t openly. Respect people’s privacy. He also surely wasn’t sexually abusing children as some gay or straight priests have, with the Catholic Church, the largest denomination of the church founded on the Apostle Peter, covering it up. Michelangelo’s feelings about his sexual desires or life are between him and the Lord, and that’s it.
1/7/24 – Spend some time on your spiritual life. Be a whole person. Happy Sunday!
1/7/24 – Remember: God gave you life; you will die; spend your time wisely. Many people have gotten addicted to their phone’s apps, which is more than a little ridiculous. The best thing to do is to not use the phone the way others are using it. It’s meant for calling, texting and practical stuff, including learning. But even when you’re doing productive things on your phone, such as learning a new language or skill, keep it reasonable. Don’t have social media, news, or other unproductive apps on your phone. Frankly, the phone is boring. It’s mindboggling that people find it so appealing. In no particular order, there is nature, books, places of worship, people, food, cultural activities…and on and on. So many other things to do that engage your whole person. The clock ticks, and life awaits. Enjoy!
You have one life. Do you really want to spend it looking at your phone?
1/6/24 – Devoted to Jesus Christ, and that’s it. Christ is priest, prophet, king. We don’t need anyone else.
1/6/24 – Today, Christians celebrate Epiphany. God walked with us in the flesh. Jesus’s divinity was known to others during his lifetime, firstly, his own mother, Mary, then Joseph, and next the Three Kings. God is with us. Emmanuel.
1/6/24 – If you’re not crazy about Biden, fine. Just don’t vote for the evil one, trump.
1/6/24 – The evil one, trump, deserves the death penalty for what he did on January 6, 2021.
1/6/24 – George Washington was a slaveholder, and that will remain a stain upon his character. But he was also a great president and leader. We can hold both parts of him at once while still holding him high. Jesus understood this dichotomy of men and women. He said to the person who denied him three times even though he recognized his divinity as the Son of God that he would build the church on him, Peter, the rock. Peter, who knew he would likely be martyred, was also crucified. There are no perfect people. There are people who despite their weaknesses rise to the occasion. They are called, and they answer the call. Our country is founded on patriots like George Washington who refused to be king. After two terms as president, he became a citizen again of the United States of America. He put country above self because that’s what honorable, valorous patriots do.
1/6/24 – Many Democrats would rather have a younger president and simply a fresh approach, but as presidents go, it gets way worse than Biden. He’s been good. Not great. Not terrible. Just good. More importantly than anything else, he saved the country from more of the evil one, trump. The worst “president” (he was president in name only) in American history is the evil one, trump. There is no comparison. He is a loser. He is a treasonous traitor. He is a wannabe dictator. He is pure evil.
President Biden Delivers Remarks Near Valley Forge, Pennsylvania
1/5/24 – Just saying that someone or some group is “populist” doesn’t mean that it’s totally wrong, backward, or whatever. MAGA are f—kheads, but that’s because they are choosing to support the evil one, trump, even though he’s obviously a dangerous demagogue. Does this say something quite negative about the state of MAGA’s soul? Yes. But that’s different from saying the elites are right about intellectual or other matters.
Remember that Bernie supporters are also “populists” who share the same anti-free trade sentiment as MAGA. They have legitimate grievances. When elites (who really don’t understand economics well, even the economists) keep pushing their simplistic understanding of complex economic issues, they don’t allay but inflame them. These “populists’” realities aren’t matching the idealized outcomes of the economic models, which are often not supported empirically, or the narratives the elites, such as David Brooks, pitch.
Brooks, in particular, is an oddity. He seems quite aware of the elite/regular folk divide, yet he rather hypocritically sits on a comfortable ivory perch telling people whose ancestors often sacrificed greatly for our country and who value simple things that they just don’t get the globalism that the other elites have been shoving down everyone’s throats.
A reviving domestic manufacturing industry under Biden can be attributed in no small part to Bernie’s influence. This is definitely not the position of a neoliberal, free trade economist. It would be quite ironic if it’s one of the factors that gives Biden a second term.
Also, barbarism comes in many forms. Some forms reflect the brutality that man has always been capable of, one that comes at the end of a gun. Other forms come at the end of a pen. They are based on “law and order” and “the spirit of capitalism” (Protestant or other). Just because it’s written with pen onto paper doesn’t mean it’s moral. What is legal in one man’s country can be illegal in another. Just look at how much legal controversy we’re dealing with domestically, leave alone internationally.
1/5/24 – Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and give to God what is God’s. Economics doesn’t result in morality. There are many solid arguments against free trade (without limits). Firstly, being economically independent (autarky) has its own value, particularly as it relates to national security. Secondly, many (developing) countries became highly dependent on trade, and their economies became brittle and imbalanced. Thirdly, economic specialization is often environmentally damaging. Fourthly, there are always tradeoffs in economics and in life, and there are always losers, not just winners. Many other reasons, too many for a quick list…. Last but not least, free trade is definitely not morality inducing. There isn’t a single economic system or ideology, neoliberalism or anything else, in the world that somehow softens people’s hearts. Money does not have that power, and money never leads to morality. Money corrupts.
1/5/24 – Aided by technology, the Millennials created a culture in which one sells themselves instead of their ideas. Before them, the culture was not like this, in part, because one couldn’t do this. There was no mechanism to market oneself (really prostitute oneself) on a big platform even after the creation of the Internet. Sure, some fledgling social media sites existed, but Gen X was generally more interested in experiences in the real world than spending huge amounts of time prostituting themselves on the Internet. What one should always be selling is their ideas, not their person. Michelangelo didn’t need to sign anything (which he didn’t do but one piece in an uncharacteristic flex of his ego). His work spoke for itself. Of course, most of us aren’t Michelangelo, but the standard hasn’t changed: the work is what matters. The rest is a mirage. After time passes, this will be made clearer. The sands will be blown away to reveal, well, nothing. Like an unknown masterpiece, its glory will be visible only to its owner.
1/4/24 – George Will’s greed is preventing any modicum of objectivity. He doesn’t like paying taxes, and therefore, he’s going to engage in absurd equivalencies that undermine any credibility he might have while holding up some pretext of libertarian ideology. We get it. He doesn’t want to pay taxes. Well, f—k him. There are costs to living in a great country and keeping it great. Pay your f—king taxes. It’s an act of patriotism. In general, Libertarians need to ask themselves what they do for the country. It doesn’t exist for them to extract as much as they can for themselves. That’s not freedom. That’s greed. And there is a big difference between the two.
1/4/24 – And what are Swifties? You’re literally named after someone else. Pathetic. The culture took some strange turn that it needs to turn away from because it’s f—king sad. This is not limited to Millennials or Gen Z. There are people who fought the Nazis, honorable, brave people, who naturally don’t want some punk-a—, s—head Millennial or Gen Z, who thinks they’re great just for existing, to tell them that they’re somehow less than or “cancelled”. Who the f—k are they, communist-leaning, know-nothing, do-nothing narcissists? And they would be right, except that the same people who fought the Nazis are now supporting a fascist, the evil one, trump, the most dangerous person in the world. They are acting like they are his dogs. Has everybody lost their minds? Yes, they have. Everybody needs to get some god—n dignity and pride. Like and think things that are different from others and have your reasons for your preferences and thoughts. Be a person instead of someone else’s puppet. God made us free. Act like it.
1/3/24 – Be truly different. Leave a mark that is as unique as you are. People don’t need to “follow” you or to “like” you. They don’t need to want to be like you or be jealous of you. They don’t even need to know anything about you. Care about the quality of your character and your work. Don’t worry about whether it appeals to others. Focus on learning and being.
1/3/24 – The Millennials killed music and culture.
1/3/24 – Is the propaganda (self-described free press) getting paid to write articles on Taylor Swift? This is a serious question. It’s like a full-blown multi-publication ad campaign. There are other f—king musicians in the world, many of whom are much more talented. Good god. Get a grip!
1/2/24 – Yes, the world is falling apart, and we’re in for serious trouble, but trying to control others won’t make anything better. If anything, it’ll make things worse. Stop policing others. Start changing yourself.
1/2/24 – Some of us are suckers for great stories, valor, honor and bravery. Mark Milley is his own person. Have personality. Have character. Have an identity that’s actually yours.
1/2/24 – Great article! We’re so blessed as a country to have patriots like Mark Milley. We salute and thank him. They have kept our Republic intact for 247 years. What happens when are they kept out of positions of powers in an evil administration? Rome falls.
The Patriot
1/2/24 – If reelected, the evil one, trump, might get us into a war so that he can try to stay in power by claiming martial law. Americans’ children will die so that the evil one can become a dictator.
1/1/24 – This is the state of the world on the first day of 2024. We’re going down in epic fashion.
1/1/24 – Do Millennials or Gen Z know who they are if they don’t know what’s been cancelled? Do they exist if they aren’t “trending”? Did X, formerly Twitter, make them and then unmake them? Are they at the whims of the corporate gods? Have the corporate gods taken over their temporal lobes? Maybe they can ask God to restore them to their pristine glory (oops, they don’t believe in him; God has been “cancelled”), or maybe like the planet, it’s too late.
Here is a little musical and political history for folks. “Anarcho-punk spread to the United States in the late 1970s with groups like Austin’s MDC and San Francisco’s Dead Kennedys. Los Angeles’ Black Flag also embraced anarchists politics between 1982 and 1986, when Henry Rollins was their vocalist. United States anarcho-punk generally supported revolutions in Latin America and anti-Apartheid movements and criticized the Presidency of Ronald Reagan.” How many articles have been written about Taylor Swift recently, Time magazine’s person of last year? The youth pre-Millennial would have found it disgusting, pure corporate, anodyne trash. Are people getting it yet? Diffuse from the f—king tribe. You’re supposed to be different!
Anarcho-punk
1/1/24 – The Middle East, perpetually in conflict or war, always getting worse.
1/1/24 – Africa, perpetually unable to get its act together, also moving toward totalitarianism.
1/1/24 – Europe, science- and self-worshipping white narcissists who are dying off.
1/1/24 – The rest of Asia, moving toward totalitarianism.
1/1/24 – China and Russia, the countries that have no value for human life.
1/1/24 – India, the country that loves to hate the female sex and human dignity.
1/1/24 – The USA, the country with a couple of competing generational groups who want to control everybody with fascism or communism, a sociopathic ex-president who wants to be a dictator, and a supreme court that interprets the law to reflect their ideological preferences, effectively controlling people who should be free. Anyone seeing the pattern here? Everybody wants to control someone.
1/1/24 – We’re going to lose our planet and possibly our democracy. Progress.
1/1/24 – It’s 2024. One more year of self-destruction. Global boil on.