A Matter Of Perspective

-
Reuters:   Young Americans are so dissatisfied with the options in the US presidential election that nearly one in four would rather have a giant meteor destroy the Earth than see Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton in the White House.



The tongue-in-cheek question was intended to gauge young Americans’ level of unhappiness about their choices in the 8 November election, said Joshua Dyck, co-director of UMass Lowell’s Center for Public Opinion which conducted the poll alongside Odyssey Millennials.

The choice alluded to the Twitter hashtag “#GiantMeteor2016”, a reference to an imaginary presidential candidate.

Some 53% of the 1,247 people aged 18 to 35 said they would prefer to see a meteor destroy the world than have Republican Trump in the Oval Office, with some 34% preferring planetary annihilation to seeing the Democratic former secretary of state win.

Some 39% said they would prefer that Barack Obama declare himself president for life than hand over power to Clinton or Trump, with 26% saying the nation would do better to select its next leader in a random lottery.

Some 23%, nearly one in four, preferred the giant meteor outcome to either Trump or Clinton.

The Giant Meteor 2016 movement, also known as Sweet Meteor O' Death or #SMOD16, began as a joke by those unhappy with their presidential choices.

The Twitter account now boasts more than 20,000 followers. You can even get a bumper sticker.




In other News:

- The Guardian (Dave Schilling) 10.02.2016:
Junk the system: why young Americans won’t do as they’re told this election

- The Intercept (Glenn Greenwald) 06.25.2016:
Brexit Is Only the Latest Proof of the Insularity and Failure of Western Establishment Institutions

MORE >

But let me tell you something baby...

-


You love me for everything you hate me for.






MORE >

Vox.com "explains" the news

Jawohl Mein Führer!

With friends like Matt Iglesias, who needs a Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda?

MORE >

Oh Well...

-


Never mind, then!

            
            
MORE >

Why do elephants paint their toenails red?

-
       Genius abhors consensus because when consensus is reached,
       thinking stops. Stop nodding your head.
       —Albert Einstein

Some people just simply don't get it.

And that means you, Rotten Tomatoes:



And you, Katie Walsh and Christy Lemire:





It is you who are confused, Christy.

Mike And Dave Need Weeding Dates is NOT raunchy comedy, it is absurdist/existential comedy at its very best.

Says who?

Says Salvatore Attardo:



I quote:





But, as I said, some people don't get it:



Or perhaps, it is just simply the "professional" critics who don't get it.

The audience seems to be getting it well enough.

Is Mike And Dave Need Weeding Dates a successful comedy?

Well, let's put it to this simple test: Does the audience laugh?

The audience does!

A lot!

And that's all one needs to know. Forget the professional critics. Forget Salvatore Attardo. People are laughing. The proof is in the pudding. This is all the evidence one needs that Mike And Dave Need Wedding Dates is successfully funny.

People are laughing because at some level the movie connects with them. It's close to home, and in your face. It connects with people's daily reality—a thing that, incidentally, professional critics, just like politicians, have totally become disconnected from. The movie exposes the absurdity of daily reality and social conventions and makes light of the burden of all those arbitrary rules and norms governing our society and behaviors all of us have been programmed through force of habit to take for granted without necessarily thinking about them.

This dialogue from the movie, in which Alice attempts to cover her total ignorance of what a hedge fund is, is a most perfect illustration of it:



You are laughing?

Of course, you are—that one piece alone is a pure gem.

But are you laughing at Alice, now, or are you laughing with her?

How many people, if put on the spot, would actually be able to give a coherent definition of what a hedge fund really is about?

Insofar as I am concerned, this is possibly one of the best description I have heard.

The way she picks up those ready-made words form the talking points mosaic of daily news (like so many people do), and spin them to the point where they lose coherence, beginning with "too big to fail," and ending up with "Bernie Mac" and "DL Hughley," through words association, inscribes itself in the tradition of Absurdist/Existential comedy at its best.


MORE >

Meanwhile, at the Democratic National Convention...

-
                                           YES WE CAN

         


MORE >

The String Cheese Incident (SCIturday) @ Electric Forest 2015 - HQ Audio

Nothing like a little String Cheese to get one through a Friday morning.



One o' these days I am going to make it to an Electric Forest event.  Oh yeah!



#StillCheesin'
MORE >

Meanwhile in the Lounge

-

MORE >

Everlast ~ What It's Like (With Lyrics)

Nothing to read hear.


Ya's know.

MORE >

I don't know...

-
Some people have been taking it pretty hard.

If you ask me—it has been said before, and I'll say it again:

America does deserve Hillary Clinton vs. Donald Trump.



After all, it's not like anyone forced anyone to cast their vote for either one of those contestants during the presidential primaries.

It's called free will -- look it up.

MORE >

Good News Everyone!

-





Performances like the one above, by John Oliver, last Sunday on HBO, are a most perfect example of the reason why propaganda of the level of Last Week Tonight will always leave its lesser counterparts from the like of Fox News, Vox.com, or Now I Get It in the dust.

To be fair to Bill O'Reiley, Ezra Klein or Katie Couric, nothing is more effective than propaganda disguised as comedy, to be sure.

Still, you've got to give John Oliver's unparalleled talent as a contortionist credit for this convoluted piece of rhetorical gesticulation, which under the guise of overtly challenging this country broken Primary-Caucus as the "erratic clusterfuck" that the system really is, manages to wind up telling his viewers that all is well, in the end, because we "got lucky" as both parties will likely nominate their most popular candidate.

Lorenzo, here, says it best:



In other news:
Establishment Collectively Stunned To See Citizens Reject Rigged Democratic Primary

MORE >

Today's update from the Ministry of Truth

-


Brought to you in Newspeak by David Brock:



More about the "secretary's exemplary record," here, on Current Affairs.

MORE >

The establishment is revolting...

And that's not all:





I kid Joel Benenson :-)


MORE >

Sh'mon, where is your love?

-
LOL

It'd appear that perhaps Glenn Greenwald was onto something with his essay about The Seven Stages of Establishment Backlash.

Is this stage 6 already?




The weaselly article hit-piece, by Burgess Everett on Politico, refers to "nearly a dozen Democratic lawmakers" without mentioning any by name, except for four senators: Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) and Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.).





Methinks that reports of Bernie Sander's demise are greatly exaggerated.






Furthermore, win or lose, Bernie Sanders campaign is good for the Democratic Party.

It's good for Democracy.

And it's good for America!



MORE >

It's Spring...

-

MORE >

Non ne luy coupés pas !

-
There have been speculations as to the reasons for Chris Matthews’s relentless "shilling" for Hillary Clinton.



Moveon.org is running a petition demanding MSNBC's suspension of Chris Mathhews for the duration of the Democratic primaries.

I don't know.

While, certainly, there is no denying that there is potentially a case to be made for some possible conflict of interest, here:



I am inclined to give Chris Matthews the benefit of the doubt.

Sometimes, you just have to give stupidity credit where stupidity credit is due. I think Chris Matthews is just simply being the usual blowhard self he has always been.

In other words, Chris Matthews doesn’t need a motive to be a biased Beltway insider and a disingenuous political hack. That’s who he is. It’s his nature.

Does anyone even take him all that seriously?

No, no need to cut Chris Matthew's Hardball off, MSNBC.

There is very little left, there, worth to be taken seriously, or of any consequence to anyone.

Gabriel Bataille’s 1613 popular song about a satyr’s clumsy courtship of a nymph comes to mind:





Just bring us back someone of some courage who is not afraid to play ball where and when it actually matters.

Bring us back Keith Olbermann, MSNBC! What do you say?

MORE >

Moral Clarity

-
You want to know what moral clarity is?

This is what moral clarity is:

Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii just endorsed Sen. Bernie Sanders in his bid to become President of the United States. She also resigned as Vice Chair of the Democratic National Committee.



This is her interview on Meet the Press, this morning:





MORE >

Seriously?

-
The look on Glenn's face is priceless.

I wonder what he is thinking...


MORE >