You Can’t Forget the Past

The following is from the movie The Two Jakes. It was the sequel to Chinatown (1974), and was released in 1990. Actor/director Jack Nicholson reprises his role as J.J. “Jake” Gittes, a private investigator in post-war (late 40’s) Los Angeles. In the following ‘scene’ he is on his way out to see a client in …

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Mask People are Sheeple

A fun and well done video. Note the Georgia Guidestones shown prominently throughout. 3:52 – Media Bear – A redo of Depeche Mode’s song People are People from 1984. Georgia Guidestones A message consisting of a set of ten guidelines or principles is engraved on the Georgia Guidestones in eight different languages, one language on each …

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A Multiverse of Truths

“We choose truth over facts.” — Joe Biden We might assume that this was just another Biden gaffe, and it probably was, but it speaks also perhaps to a larger problem, that of myriad “truths.” “Your truth, my truth, their truth.” This was always and ever sophistry, and I assumed that this was self-evident to …

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Racists and Homophobes Welcome Here

I saw a sign in front of a small business that said “Racists and Homophobes not welcome here.” Now if you feel the need to publish that, what does that say about you? If I was running a small business I think I would put up a sign that said “Racists and Homophobes welcome here, …

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Manipulation of the American Mind: E. Bernays

Courtesy of Richard Gunderman – 9 July 2015 “The most interesting man in the world.” “Reach out and touch someone.” “Finger-lickin’ good.” Such advertising slogans have become fixtures of American culture, and each year millions now tune into the Super Bowl as much for the ads as for the football. While no single person can …

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Civil Society – Following the Amenities

An impromptu post to spacebook last week, copied here. Not particularly deep, just food for thought… There was a saying years ago that if you were not important enough to miss a phone call then you were really not very important. I have thought of this every time the last twenty years that I have …

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The Most Important Sentence

I have always loved language and languages. “He who does not know another language does not know his own,” said Goethe, and it is so true. Nothing else expands our minds the same way. The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis claims in fact that the language we use to speak (and think) actually affects the way we perceive …

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De gustibus non est disputandum

Beauty… what is it really? I came across a YouTube where a young woman sent an unaltered picture of herself to Photoshop experts around the world with the instructions, “Make me beautiful.” The results were interesting. The video is 2 minutes. Naturally, people will have their own preferences, and we should be thankful for that. …

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Delibes: Lakme – Duo des Fleurs

The “Flower Duet” is a famous duet for soprano and mezzo-soprano from Leo Delibes’ opera Lakmé, first performed in Paris in 1883. The duet takes place in Act 1 of the three-act opera, between characters Lakmé, the daughter of a Brahmin priest, and her servant Mallika, as they go to gather flowers by a river. …

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Bizet’s Carmen: Habanera

Habanera (music or dance of Havana, Spanish: La Habana) is the popular name for “L’amour est un oiseau rebelle” (“Love is a rebellious bird”), an aria from Georges Bizet’s 1875 opera Carmen. It is the entrance aria of the title character, a mezzo-soprano role, in scene 5 of the first act. It is based on …

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How language shapes the way we think

There are many ways to transfer to our fellow humans the things that occur in our minds, whether these are things we think, or things we feel… or, most likely, some combination of both. These occurrences may only appear to emanate from within ourselves and language may take many forms, but these discussions are beyond …

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thoughts on mindful anonymity…

When I first started thinking about this site I assumed it would be mostly anonymous. Not so that people could hide behind some facade (people including myself), but so that we might speak freely without fear of repercussions by some real-life whack-job. Using pseudonyms has been done throughout the ages. That being said, I have …

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Religion blushing veils her sacred fires

A fascinating exchange. A Muslim immigrant to Canada explains to a reporter from Rebel Media that homosexuality is not an organic lifestyle and that Canada’s embrace of it will prove to be its own demise. Amen. I say that this has been the plan all along. It only confirms what I have said time and …

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White Left – China’s New Internet Insult

Black Pigeon offers a unique and intelligent global perspective. In this video he notes that the worst insult that can be given in China is to call someone a Baizuo, meaning literally “white left.” It is meant to end the conversation, basically calling the designee unhinged and incapable of being reasoned with — like the …

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Beware of Images

In 1929, at the age of thirty, the Belgian artist Rene Magritte painted “The Treachery of Images.”  The painting showed a pipe, written underneath with the paradoxical inscription This is not a pipe (written in French of course). When it was pointed out to him that what he had created was in fact a pipe, Magritte replied “OK, …

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