Intolerance: a plea

Zizek:

""""The key moment of any theoretical (and ethical, and political, and - as Badiou demonstrated - even aesthetic) struggle is the rise of universality out of the particular life-world. The commonplace according to which we are all irreducibly grounded in a particular (contingent) life-world, so that all universality is irreducibly colored by (embedded in) a particular life-world, should be turned around: the authentic moment of discovery, the breakthrough, occurs when a properly universal dimension explodes from within a particular context and becomes "for-itself," directly experienced as such (as universal). This universality-for-itself is not simply external to (or above) the particular context: it is inscribed into it, it perturbs and affects it from within, so that the identity of the particular is split into its particular and its universal aspect. Did already Marx not point out how the true problem with Homer is not to explain the roots of his epics in the early Greek society, but to account for the fact that, although clearly rooted in their historical context, they were able to transcend their historical origin and speak to all epochs. Perhaps, the most elementary hermeneutic test of the greatness of a work of art is its ability to survive being torn out of its original context: in the case of a truly great work of art, each epoch reinvents/rediscovers its own figure of this work, like there is a romantic Shakespeare, a realist Shakespeare, etc. Take Wagner's Parsifal: a lot of historicist work was done recently trying to bring out the contextual "true meaning" of the Wagnerian figures and topics: the pale Hagen is really a masturbating Jew; Amfortas' wound is really syphillis... The idea is that Wagner is mobilizing historical codes known to everyone in his epoch: when a person stumbles, sings in cracking high tones, makes nervous gestures, etc., "everyone knew" this is a Jew, so Mime from Siegfried is a caricature of a Jew; the fear of syphillis as the illness in the groin one gets from having intercourse with an "impure" woman was an obsession in the second half of the 19th century, so it was "clear to everyone" that Amfortas really contracted syphillis from Kundry... """

Mitt, taxes and the Adversary

Mitt Rumney

""Death and taxes and the Divine Right of Kings, it is said, my friends, are life's only three certainties. But in the wake of President Obama's tax compromise with congressional Republicans, only death and the Divine Right retain the status of certainty: the future for taxation has been left up in the air. And Mr. Uncertainty is not a friend of investment, prosperity, or Kings and their subjects.

The deal has several key features. It reduces payroll taxes and extends unemployment benefits for the little people, and keeps the tax rates of brother Bush intact. So far, so good. But intermixed with the benefits are considerable costs of not inconsiderable consequence. Given the unambiguous message that the Elect sent to Washington in November, it is difficult to understand how our political leaders could have stooped to such a disappointing agreement. The new, more conservative, Nephite and christian Congress should reach a better and more pious solution.

The deal keeps current tax rates from rising to pre-Bush era levels for two years. But in 2013, unless Congress acts again, rates will increase dramatically, nearly equalling Clinton socialist-era levels--which is to say, Statist-Adversary levels.   Lest we forget friends, the government bureaucrats--the modern Statist-Adversaries--are nothing but a committee for managing the common affairs of the little people, which is to say--Lamanites."

10 years gone

Bush/Gore/WSWS

""The events of Election Day 2000, encompassing the night of Tuesday, November 7 and the early morning hours of Wednesday, November 8, are among the most extraordinary in American political history. Yet they came after a presidential campaign of the most humdrum character, in which no political issues were seriously discussed. The consensus among political pundits and pollsters was that Bush, then governor of Texas, held a narrow but significant lead over his Democratic opponent, Vice President Al Gore.

As in 1998, however, when predictions of major Republican gains in the midst of the impeachment crisis failed to materialize, it appeared as the votes began to be counted that the political establishment had underestimated the popular hostility towards the right-wing program of the Republican Party, founded on tax cuts for the wealthy and the slashing of domestic social spending.

Gore won many of the big industrial states with relative ease, including Michigan and Pennsylvania. The Democrats were sweeping the northeastern states and were expected to win the Pacific Coast, while Bush carried the south and southwest, the Rocky Mountain states and Ohio. It appeared that the election would be decided by Florida’s 25 votes in the Electoral College.

Just before 8 p.m., several US television networks called the outcome in Florida for Gore, based on their exit polls of voters compiled throughout the day. The Bush campaign reacted immediately, breaking with precedent and putting the candidate before television cameras to denounce the network projections and declare his certainty that Florida—where his brother Jeb was governor and the Republicans controlled the machinery of state government—would end up in his column."""

María, Te Adoramos

"The various modes of worship which prevailed in the Roman world were all considered by the people as equally true; by the philosopher as equally false; and by the magistrate as equally useful."  (Gibbon)

compromise

Gary-Hart/HuffPo

"Deciding when to compromise should be easier than it is for a leader. Should you give something you are against to get something you want? Or should you stand on principle and refuse to compromise? These classic questions for democratic leaders used to be rare, but they are becoming more common.

That is because the current Democratic president is confronted by a minority opposition party (soon to be majority in the House) that has adopted as its policy unified opposition to virtually all Democratic initiatives. Against the standard press assumption regarding "polarization" in Washington, that has not been the policy of an opposition Democratic party many of whose leaders voted for the Iraq war and Bush tax cuts most of their party constituents were against. Neither Presidents Carter, Clinton, nor Obama are or were far left or liberal (contrary to the ridiculous Fox rhetoric about socialists)."

more on BO's Tax-scam :RobertReich

~(WASP)

Dupree'sParadise/Boulez/FZ

Boulez conducts Zappa's Dupree's Paradise (with cheesy claymation for the schtoopid Amercanische) Enough to have the usual yokel reaching for his Book of Mormon  (ah swear that sounds like a soundtrack for the  LAMANITEs themselves, pilgrim--which is to say the preterite rabble...). Rather superior to the usual Aaron Copland philaharmonic sounds (Copland never wrote those obbligati) --who, I suspect FZ was parodying at times, though that wicked jazzy-atonal piano section--Mingus-ish-- no parody tho perhaps slightly programmatic as in....urban-capitalist Entropy with a capital E.-- Copland or Lennie Bernstein hits the 'hood. (those who don't recognize Copland probably aren't ready to listen to FZ's serious music).

sabado Gigante

II.


Bert hisself, supposedly (en pinche aleman)

(Dedicated to a piece of mierda AKA Darrell Issa, and gangsters of all sorts, derechos y izquierdas).
____________________________

""""On thinking about Hell, I gather

My brother Shelley found it was a place
Much like the city of London. I
Who live in Los Angeles and not in London
Find, on thinking about Hell, that it must be
Still more like Los Angeles. """"

Bertolt Brecht



¡Nada mas que clasicos!

NY Times: Ministry of Mis-information

Porter/Counterpunch:

"""""A diplomatic cable from last February released by Wikileaks provides a detailed account of how Russian specialists on the Iranian ballistic missile program refuted the U.S. suggestion that Iran has missiles that could target European capitals or intends to develop such a capability.

In fact, the Russians challenged the very existence of the mystery missile the U.S. claims Iran acquired from North Korea.

But readers of the two leading U.S. newspapers never learned those key facts about the document.

The New York Times and Washington Post reported only that the United States believed Iran had acquired such missiles - supposedly called the BM-25 - from North Korea. Neither newspaper reported the detailed Russian refutation of the U.S. view on the issue or the lack of hard evidence for the BM-25 from the U.S. side. """"

Miserliness

LA Times:

""""A proposal to provide Social Security recipients with a lump-sum payment of $250 as a modest income boost in difficult economic times was blocked Wednesday by Republican-led opposition in the House and Senate.

The measure would have provided the one-time payment to 54 million Social Security recipients in lieu of an annual cost-of-living adjustment.

This is the second consecutive year that the cost-of-living adjustment has not been awarded, a result of the country's low inflation rate. Last year, Congress authorized a $250 payment to each recipient as part of the economic stimulus measure.

President Obama and congressional Democrats urged Congress to send another round of payments, but Senate Republicans had vowed to block Democratic-backed legislation that does not concern tax cuts and government spending.

The bill, which required 60 votes to pass in the Senate, failed on a 53-45 vote late Wednesday afternoon. Independent Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut and Democratic Sens. Russell D. Feingold of Wisconsin, Kay Hagan of North Carolina, Mark Udall of Colorado and Mark R. Warner of Virginia joined Republicans in voting against the bill.

Warner's office said he voted against it on the basis of its cost, estimated at $13 billion. Other Democrats did not respond to requests for comment.

Most Democrats said the rejection of the proposal stood in contrast to a pending deal in which the wealthiest earners would continue receiving a tax break.

"People are wondering how it could be that we could provide a million dollars in tax breaks to the richest people in this country but we couldn't come up with $250 for struggling seniors and disabled vets," Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said before the vote.""""

“Wish a miser long life, and you wish him no good.” Ben Franklin

sabado gigante

Igor'sBoogie/FZ/MoI

Contingencies fans probably have heard of  the death of Beefheart.   Ave atque vale. Google "Don Van Vliet selling vacuum cleaners to Aldous Huxley" for mo,'  or not. Or peruse the Up Sifter   and Lester Bangs' trenchant rock scrawlings.

Ice Rose

Lester Bangs on Beefheart:

ὀλιγαρχία

How the Oligarchs took over America:

""""Not surprisingly, political power has a way of following wealth. What that means is: you can't understand how the rich seized control of American politics, and arguably American society, without understanding how a small group of Americans got so much money in the first place.

That story begins in the late 1970s and continues through the Obama years, a period in which American policy has been so skewed toward the rich that we're now living through the worst period of income inequality in modern history. Consider the statistics: 50 years ago, the wealthiest 1% of Americans accounted for one of every 10 dollars of the nation's income; today, it's nearly one in every four. Between 1979 and 2006, the average post-tax household income (including benefits) of the wealthiest 1% increased by 256%; the poorest households saw an increase of 11%; middle class homes, 21%, much of which was due to the arrival of two-job families."""""

Κατά τον δαίμονα εαυτού

                            
 James Douglas "Jim" Morrison (December 8, 1943 — July 3, 1971).

 Admiral George Stephen Morrison placed the plaque with the greek inscription "ΚΑΤΑ ΤΟΝ ΔΑΙΜΟΝΑ ΕΑΥΤΟΥ"-- literally, "According to his own Daemon"--on his son Jim's grave in Pere Lachaise  in the 90s.  


The Crystal Ship

Black Robe, indicted

Senate convicts Louisiana federal judge/LA Times:

"""The Senate on Wednesday convicted a Louisiana federal judge on corruption and perjury charges, the first time in more than two decades the chamber has voted to remove a public official after an impeachment trial.

The vote to remove Judge Thomas Porteous was unanimous on one of the four articles of impeachment; the charges were brought against Porteous in unanimous votes by the House of Representatives in March.

He becomes the eighth federal judge removed from office. The Senate also voted to bar him from ever holding public office in the future.

Porteous, who served on the federal court for the eastern district of Louisiana, was charged with accepting cash and other favors from individuals with business before his court in order to pay gambling debts, and with lying to the Senate and FBI following his nomination to the federal bench."""""

Perhaps the beginning of a trend! US Senate busts up Black Robe gang. The shade of Jefferson, who detested standing courts and John Marshall, might approve (as those who communicate with the dead may know).  Only faux-liberals would approve of the US judicial monarchy--not withstanding the rare victory for authentic democracy served up by a  few intelligent  federalists.  After the Citizens United decision,  any rational non-conservative should have abandoned their faith in the SC as a  great protector of democracy, anyway--yet the judge-loving liberal Tory still persists (some even quote Marx or Zizek, et al and teach in Ivy League schools).

Arsenic-based life study flawed

NASA*::

""""Redfield blogged a scathing attack on Saturday. Over the weekend, a few other scientists took to the Internet as well. Was this merely a case of a few isolated cranks? To find out, I reached out to a dozen experts on Monday. Almost unanimously, they think the NASA scientists have failed to make their case. "It would be really cool if such a bug existed," said San Diego State University's Forest Rohwer, a microbiologist who looks for new species of bacteria and viruses in coral reefs. But, he added, "none of the arguments are very convincing on their own." That was about as positive as the critics could get. "This paper should not have been published," said Shelley Copley of the University of Colorado.""""

The hasty, conclusionary thinking typical of the NASA researchers--"we've discovered a new form of life"!---might be considered symptomatic of corporate research, or what one might term the Factoid-as- Entertainment business ( Factoid-bots live for the newest research or pop-science discovery; paraphrasing that clever factoid-positivist Bertrand Russelll, provide a necessarily true argument that the world didn't start yesterday).

Al Gore did much the same via his pitch of global warming, overlooking many difficult scientific issues (ie, proving whether natural or manmade CO2 results in warming, for one) jumping to conclusions, thus creating both mindless "climate advocates" and a yokel backlash. Uncertainty doesn't move product.

"gambling losses..."

of the American financial aristocracy:

"""""Fed bailout loans outstanding reached a high of $3.3 trillion, but the cumulative amount of cash funneled by the US central bank to banks, hedge funds and major industrial corporations reached the tens of trillions of dollars.

Every major Wall Street bank was on the Fed dole, as were giant companies including General Electric and Verizon Communications. The Fed ran nearly a dozen separate bailout programs which together eclipsed by far the Treasury Department's $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program―the program that handed over billions in public funds to the banks in 2008 and 2009. In comparison to the amounts funneled by the Fed to US financial institutions, the Obama administration's $787 billion stimulus package was a drop in the bucket.

These vast sums were loaned out at rock-bottom interest without any strings attached. The banks and corporations that benefited were not even obliged to provide an account of what they did with the money. The entire purpose of the operation was to use public funds to cover the gambling losses of the American financial aristocracy, and create the conditions for the financiers and speculators to make even more money.""""

More evidence confirming the bipartisan character (and...multicultural character) of the corporate dystopia (in brief). Every member of the CA-Demo legislative gang voted yea for TARP.

Evil................

""Most of us have learned to be dispassionate about evil, to look it in the face and find, as often as not, our own grinning reflections with which we do not argue, but good is another matter. Few have stared at that long enough to accept that its face too is grotesque, that in us the good is something under construction. The modes of evil usually receive worthy expression. The modes of good have to be satisfied with a cliche or a smoothing down that will soften their real look."""

— Flannery O'Connor

sabado Gigante

Frank Zappa, December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993.
FZ-musick: Guar-ann-teed to bother the fock out of honkay protestants, and other assorted moralists (of all colors), even ones who vote ....Dinocrat.


Mo' FZ:

Adams/FZ

Pynchon/FZ

and some holiday muzack

Mo' Dead Barbaras, every day, on the Big C.

L.A. Noir

Complete LA Noir/LATimes

""""Mickey had arrived between 8:30 and 9 p.m. in his new, black Caddy, accompanied by his bulldog, Mickey Jr. The dog had his own checkered bib so he could eat in style off a plate at his master's feet.

At a hearing a month before on Rondelli's application for a license to offer live entertainment, Mickey had taken the 5th when asked if he was a hidden owner. This night, he came early to meet with a black singing group seeking his help and with Roger Leonard, who fancied himself a writer-producer. Leonard was at Mickey's table to talk about making "The Mickey Cohen Story."

Sam Lo Cigno took the seat on Mickey's left and Piscitelle took a seat on the other side, where he could see anyone entering the dining room. Last to arrive was Mickey's date, Sandy Hagen, a model, full name Claretta Hashagen. She ordered the veal scallopini."""""

                    Take dat, ya doity rat

More Contingencies Crime-time klassics:

JamesThompson

Hammett

Burden/metropolis II

Bravo.

More

holiday myths: chanukkah

""""Over the next 100 years, the Maccabees used their military might to expand the Jewish kingdom, forcibly converting the Idumeans to Judaism... They epitomized the worst in military dictatorship... The more successful the Maccabees became, the wealthier and more Hellenistic they became!... they ended up becoming the single most successful Hellenizing force in Jewish society!...the Maccabean Kingdom was conquered by the Romans, and by the time the Rabbis, heirs of the Perushim and Hasidim, edited the Talmud, the land of Israel had known tremendous loss of life and destruction due to vainglorious military resistance and rebellion against Roman might. The martial memories of the Maccabees were no longer seen as reminders of a glorious past but dangerous, seditious influences which must be supressed at all costs ... The rabbis feared glorifying a martial past while still occupied and oppressed...The myth of the cruse of oil masked the truth about Hanukkah for centuries. The rabbis may have deliberately lied about the military origins and Hellenistic causes of Hanukkah in order to maintain the holiday but shifted its focus to God and more religious themes out of a greater need for survival!...""""