Until the End of the World

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When things don't turn out the way you hoped, it may seem like the end of the world.

And sometimes, it's the other way around—it may be somewhat of a downer when the end of the world doesn't turn out the way you had hoped.



I know how you feel.



12.21.12 has come and gone, and here we are—wherever or whatever here might be.

The world is still standing.

Don't feel too bad about it.

If you ask me, for a good end of the world scenario, anything that falls short of Lars von Trier' s Melancholia is bound to feel like a bit of a let down, anyway.

Take heart.

Here are some things you can do to keep disappointment from getting to you:



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On est toujours libre de ne rien comprendre à rien.*

                        * (One is always at liberty not to understand anything to anything.)
                            —Gabriel Marcel



It's not you, it's us.

The gentleman does understand, of course, that this is the nature of the Wulfshead, right?

We're all strange here.



Don't fret about it, sir; you're not alone: people do not always get it. This is quite normal, actually. Statistically speaking.

Sir Ken Robinson explains it thusly:



The better question is: What does the post mean, TO YOU?



Thank you for dropping by. Please, do come again.

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Defy Gravity!

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Don't make me get the flying monkeys...




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The Words to Say it

Kudos to Jonathan Chait for this befitting indictment of the collusion of the Beltway elite of the so-called left, right and center.

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Amélie told me...

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Alessa's Harmony

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In colloquial speech, "limbo" is any status where a person or project is held up, 
and nothing can be done until another action happens.




                                                                     Tower of Babel (detail), by Colin McAllister

"...any labor that accepts the conditions of competition with slave labor accepts the conditions of slave labor, and is essentially slave labor. [...] The answer, of course, is to have a society based on human values other than buying or selling."
——Norbert Wiener, Cybernetics: Or the Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine
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Happy New Year!

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Oìdhche Shamhna and all that.



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It's the culture war, stupid!

I think Butters's got it right, here. If anything, this election's outcome proved one thing: "The GOP can no longer build a national coalition around a traditionalist conservative cultural agenda" alone. It does spell trouble for the Republican party (and their Tea Party constituency) in view of the fact that, as the three presidential non-debates painfully revealed, neither party has anything of significance to present that is fundamentally different from what their political counterpart is offering insofar as other substantive issues, such as the economy or foreign policy, are concerned.

Meanwhile in Washington:





What happen next is anyone's guess. Right?



Right.

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November Sixth

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It's almost time, kids. The clock is ticking...

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The debates are over with. So, just remember this, now:

Wherever you go...



...there you are:







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Season of Mists

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…once having tasted the lips of excellence, once having given oneself
to its perfection, how dreary and burdensome and filled with anomie
are the remainder of one's waking hours trapped in the shackled lock-step
of the merely ordinary, the barely acceptable, the just okay and not a
stroke better. Sadly, most lives are fashioned on that pattern. Settling for
what is possible; buying into the cliche because the towering dream is out
of stock…
——Harlan Ellison, Introduction, The Sandman: Season of Mists

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Bill Clinton Castigates the 47 Percenters

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For all the attention Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's infamous comment demeaning the 47 percent of the country “who believe that they are victims” has received—deservedly so—this kind of condescension toward half the country is sadly too prevalent a thing in Washington.



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In the Land of Wonderful Dreams

What???



It could happen!



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Avant que je m'ennuie

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Stand by. You're on the air.

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                                      Laurie Anderson: Smoke Rings


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The Pretense of Honesty

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I don't know, Rachel...

I think you are giving Romney too much credit.

If you ask me: Obama bumbled because he lacked convictions.

You know how it goes, the expression varies but the basic saying is the same:



It's not easy being a "New Democrat".

And it's not easy being Barack Obama—especially when there is so much he and Mitt Romney do really agree upon.

I think the best take on this has got to go to Charlie Pierce:



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The World of the Dark Crystal

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They say the Skeksis all live together in the high castle and have their own hierarchy with constant scheming among themselves for higher status.




Meanwhile, in the valley of the urRu:



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It is time for President Obama to do the right thing and join the forces of change: not in fine words but in fine deeds.

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Julian Assange Addresses UN Members, Lambasts Obama’s UN Address for Rewriting History
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Defying Gravity

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Rarely are Mega Corporations portrayed with anything other than unremitting negativism...

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I wonder why that is.

Meanwhile, in
WashingtonChicago...







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'Zat You Agent Smith?

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The uncontested absurdities of today are the accepted slogans of tomorrow...

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They come to be accepted by degrees, by precedent, by implication, by erosion, by default, by dint of constant pressure on one side and constant retreat on the other - until the day when they are suddenly declared to be the country's official ideology. ~ Ayn Rand When the Inner Party believes the prolefeed

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Princesse de rien

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Why don't they leave?

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It's not uncommon to hear "Why do women stay in abusive relationships?" or "Why don't they leave?"

The main reason "they stay" is they are too afraid to leave—they feel they have nowhere to go.

I must say I find it a little disconcerting to find similar feelings of learned helplessness being echoed (and/or willfully propagated) inside the political forums of news websites, on threads very much like this one:



It is a sad state of affairs for America, and indeed for democracy, when apparently, and by jatrig's own admission, above, Liberals in this country should feel that the only two options open to them is to either stay in the abusive relationship they perceive themselves to be in, or else end up "with a pimp."

There's got to be more to the word than this.

Or is there?

Maybe someone ought to write a self-help book about this.



That being said, I thought Jon Stewart's piece was spot on, as usual (no reason really for anyone to go ballistic over it—Jeez! when did the Dems lose their sense of humor?):

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart

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The words to say it

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Now, time for the weather...


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Here Be Dragons

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Don't ask...



It's a long story.
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Shagadelic, baby!

And a very happy impending birthday to you, sir!

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Penny For Your Thoughts.

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