Saturday, June 04, 2005
SF Stages Gala Offendapalooza
savoring every delicious nuance of delectable offendicity
It’s shaping up to be an all-time classic dust-up in SanFranFreakshow over the 49’er training tape. Groups are coming out of the wood work to weep and wail and rend their clothing in paroxysms of offendedness; in fact some groups are being newly minted just for the occasion. Watch it here, if you like dumb locker-room humor and jokes about balls. heh, heh heh heh heh heh… she said “balls" Oh, yeah—and boobies. There are boobies. Professional boobies, no less. heh, heh heh heh heh heh… she said “boobies"
The Offendistas Speak: “The video is demeaning to women, people of color, immigrants, the Asian and Pacific Islander community, the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community, and the City and County of San Francisco,” said the 25 signatories from such groups as Chinese for Affirmative Action, Community United Against Violence, the Asian Law Caucus and the California Coalition for Civil Rights. “It demonstrates the need for a dramatic shift and comprehensive approach to promoting civil rights and acceptance as core team values."
Ok, since I have watched the tape—the version of it put out by the Chron/SFGate so that every Offendista in the Bay Area can play it over and over and over thereby working up a good lather of offenditude—I will see if I can break this down a little.
.
“The video is demeaning to...”
“...women”
Now, these are professional sex workers engaged in the profession of ..er, sex work. They were hired by the team for the job of showing their boobies on tape, a little fakey girl-kissing, some poorly acted ‘admiration’ of Reynolds’ unit, and rather more giggling and simpering than I thought necessary. But, hey—that’s a personal taste thing. heh, heh heh heh heh heh… she said “taste”... *BANG* heh, heh heh ... whe said “ba..ow!"
The offendistas’ statement that these professional sex workers doing their work is demeaning is a demeaning statement in and of itself.
I am offended for the sex workers.
.
“...people of color, ...the Asian and Pacific Islander community”
In this tape I saw two “persons of color” though I may not be color-seensitive enough. One was a Chinese man playing a Chinese man. One was a black man [a former player?] holding a sign: “Will tackle for food” and a paper cup. The latter was clearly an inside football joke [if you football afficianados can ‘splain it to me, it’s in chunk 2, I think]; it was entirely about the player and not at all about the “black.” Unless ya wanna make it be about the “black” which, I think, would be racist.
Unless the contention of the offendistas is that making fun of one’s own race is so stressful as to cause one to wind up in a South African mental institution resting spa after signing a $50 million contract, I am unclear why it is offensive for a Chinese man to make fun of Chinese stereotypes.
I am offended for people of color, and the Asian and Pacific Islander community. [I include the Pacific Islander community only so they won’t feel left out and become offended. Samoans scare me; I hear they can make a snack of a Buick.]
I am *incredibly* offended for the Chinese community who weren’t even considered important enough to be mentioned, outside of the all-too-inclusive “Asians” umbrella.
.
“the lesbian...community”
Ok—for once, we’re on solid ground; there was a scene of a [mock] lesbian topless wedding with some [truly unenthusiastic] girl-on-girl kissing/hugging. No groping I could see, though—very un-lesbian. Come to think of it, at the last Gay Pride Parade, there was a group of topless lesbian couples dressed, as ‘twere, in bridal veils, white flowing skirts, etc. On the street. Marching. In Pride.
So to say that portraying a topless lesbian wedding is demeaning is to demean all topless lesbian brides. [And grooms. sorry]
I am offended for the topless lesbian bride community. [that and for the truly terrible portrayal of lesbian sex.]
.
“gay...community”
Now it’s been years ‘n’ years since I’ve used the ol’ gaydar but I, speaking only for myself, didn’t see one [1] gay man in the whole video.
Other than that… During the “What Not to Do When Being Arrested” scene, as *some linebacker* is being wrestled cussin’ and kickin’ down the hall to a jail cell, Reynolds, while urging jailed team members to let the team help them out, does impart this bit of sage advice to the recently busted linebacker: “Don’t drop the soap!”
Aside from that gobstoppingly original ‘joke,’ I can think of no other reference to the gay community. And that’s really, really reachin’ for it.
The offendistas’ suggestion that the video demeans gay men by utterly ignoring them is so demeaning I can hardly catch my breath.
I am offended for the gay community.
.
“bisexual community”
Nobody ever takes the bisexual community seriously, so I won’t either. Nevertheless, I am offended for the bisexual community; just on GP.
.
“immigrants”
“Why joo dragging us een on dis? We chust juanna do dose jobs even jour negros won’t do, get our drivers lisencios and be left da hell alone!”
I am offended for
Alrightythennn—moving right along…
.
“City and County of San Francisco”
The entire City and County—which, incidentally, are congruent—every man and woman, child and gerbil. Wow. That’s a lot to contemplate all lumped together like that. In fact, now that ya mention it, lumping every diverse group and self-identity into one take-me-for-granted lump like that is OFFENSIVE!
I am offended for the entire City and County of San Francisco.
.
So where do I get my Giant Puppet Head™?
Friday, June 03, 2005
Ahnold! Why do you think we made you Governor?!?
Pay Attention! We are.
Sacramento Bee
Illegal immigrants could obtain a driver’s license with a distinctive look under legislation the state Senate passed Thursday, renewing an immigration fight in the Legislature.Senate Bill 60 by Sen. Gil Cedillo, D-Los Angeles,
The bill allows for a two-tiered licensing procedure, one for legal residents and another for
undocumented driverscriminals who broke the law by entering the country illegally.“This is not an immigration bill,” Cedillo said. “For 65 years, the policy and strategy of this state was to ensure safety by licensing every motorist and every vehicle. And it worked."
In the caricature of War of the Roses that is the CA legislature, Cedillo is the King of the Oblivious.
First Amendment Not Good Enough for Rep. Conyers
here comes the camel’s nose… ears… neck...
Rep. John Conyers [D - SomeHellhole] friend of CAIR and original member of the Congressional Black Caucus, wants to pass a bill “against religious intolerance,” H. Res. 288. On his “blog” he says, “I hope you agree that read in its totality, it is a fair and appropriate resolution.”
Let’s find out:
Whereas believers of all religions, including the Abrahamic faiths of Christianity, Judaism and Islam, should be treated with respect and dignity;
Whereas the word Islam comes from the Arabic root word meaning “peace” and “submission”;
Whereas there are an estimated 7,000,000 Muslims in America, from a wide variety of ethnic backgrounds, forming an integral part of the social fabric of America;
Whereas the Quran is the holy book for Muslims who recite passages from it in prayer and learn valuable lessons about peace, humanity and spirituality;
Whereas it should never be official policy of the United States Government to disparage the Quran, Islam, or any religion in any way, shape, or form;Whereas mistreatment of prisoners and disrespect toward the holy book of any religion is unacceptable and against civilized humanity;
Whereas the infringement of an individual’s right to freedom of religion violates the Constitution and laws of the United States: Now, therefore, be it
1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives–
(1) condemns bigotry, acts of violence, and intolerance against any religious group, including our friends, neighbors, and citizens of the Islamic faith;
(2) declares that the civil rights and civil liberties of all individuals, including those of the Islamic faith, should be protected;
(3) recognizes that the Quran, the holy book of Islam, as any other holy book of any religion, should be treated with dignity and respect; and
(4) calls upon local, State, and Federal authorities to work to prevent bias-motivated crimes and acts against all individuals, including those of the Islamic faith.
Sound balanced? Being merely a Resolution and therefore “lacking the force of law,” it will be entirely too easy to vote for and a PR difficulty to vote against.
"We have made the job of our enemies all too easy by sanctioning torture and by whitewashing prisoner abuse investigations,” Rep. Conyers had said in a recent press release issued by CAIR.
Perhaps a little inflammatory bit?
On the third anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, Amnesty International said in a report that Racial profiling by US law enforcement agencies has grown over the past three years to cover one in nine Americans, mostly targeting Muslims.
A new nation-wide poll, conducted by the Cornell University and posted on its Web site, showed that at least 44 percent of the American society back curbing Muslims’ civil rights and monitoring their places of worship.
Click on the link and discover there’s nothing there. I found a press release about the study here. Surprisingly, the tendency toward fearing terrorism and wanting protection is correlated with watching TV news.
Oddly enough, the last time this country was openly attacked, we had no real evidence of hidden enemies within yet we took precautions to isolate all potential enemies living in the country. This time we have clear evidence that our attackers were living and working in America for some time before they carried out their plan—yet we are uncomfortable that 44% of a poll wants law enforcement to monitor people who resemble those who attacked us.
I believe we are making the job of our enemies all too easy by refusing to look squarely at the fact that there are many who hate us and their reasons are none of our business. They want to hurt US and we must protect ourselves. To do otherwise is to commit suicide by PC.
Here’s another little quote from CAIR:
"Islam isn’t in America to be equal to any other faiths, but to become dominant.
--Omas Ahmad, Cofounder of CAIR
ThanQ! Tall Glass of Milk with further information from Dhimmi Watch
Perhaps "redefining torture" is an apt phrase
not in they way Am-nasty Internotional may have intended...
...chess, checkers and playing cards ...Agatha Christie books in Arabic are very popular and that camp officials are working to get copies of Harry Potter books in Arabic"
Read Carin’s other posts on the Gitmo “eeevil” situation—several excellent points therein.
ThanQ! Mr.Kurtz
Perhaps "redefining torture" is an apt phrase
not in they way Am-nasty Internotional may have intended...
...chess, checkers and playing cards ...Agatha Christie books in Arabic are very popular and that camp officials are working to get copies of Harry Potter books in Arabic"
Read Carin’s other posts on the Gitmo “eeevil” situation—several excellent points therein.
Deconstructing that which has already fallen apart....
Howie “the scream” Dean has been let out of his long-sleeved jacket, again, and is “fundraising” for the DhimmoCons. Let’s listen:
We need a four-year campaign, not a seven-month campaign for the presidency.
*runs screaming into distance*
Now there’s a fella who needs a hobby. Really.
Now we find that under this president’s watch, private pension plans have been grossly underfunded. What does this president want? Don’t Americans deserve after a long life of work, don’t they deserve a retirement that will be there for them? Enron began around the time Bush took office. ...the courts took away the United Airlines workers’ pensions...
Really puzzled, now—how does a President effect private pension fund decisions? Magic?!? And wasn’t it the Bader-Ginsberg court that just let Anderson off? Mebbe I’m not smart enuff to be a DhimmoCrap…
Here’s what Democrats need to stand up for: we need to have pension portability, so that as we move from job to job pensions follow us along. Pension plans ought not be controlled by companies, they should be controlled [by the people who own them]. sic
Ya mean like if’n private citizens saved up their own money for their own retirement? Like without government nannying? wow What a concept....
The [Republicans] talk about a culture of life. What about a culture of corruption in this country? ...the Republican definition of a fine job is to be reprimanded three times in a row [by the House ethics committee]. ... That’s how Republicans do business. They think it’s fine....We need to get the culture of abuse and corruption in Washington out of here.
Bwahahhahahahhahah, Selective-Memory-Boy. I got a coupla words for ya: Clinton Administration ...Travelgate ...WhiteWater ...ChiComs ...Foster ...Waco ...Serbia ...Impeachment ...Sandy “Don’t look in my pants” Berger. Ring any bells?
And I didn’t even go to “...blue dress”
We need to be the party of reform—campaign finance and election reform. I used to say during the presidential elections that if you want to have real campaign finance reform, don’t wait around for a politician to do it, just go out and do it yourself. Send us $25 over the Internet. We need to train more people to do that.
Whaaa? Train people that every time they feel dissatisfied with something in politics, just drop $25 in a DNC PayPal bucket?!?!?
The Republicans are all about repressing votes; two voting machines if you live in a black district, and 10 voting machines if you live in a white district.
Since when was voting machine distribution a party function?
"You think people can work all day and then pick up their kids at child care or wherever and get home and still manage to sandwich in an eight-hour vote? Well Republicans, I guess can do that. Because a lot of them have never made an honest living in their lives."
Ok, y’all—this one’s a Fisk It Yourself©.
"Is there a problem with the defense posture when we pick on dictators that are irrelevant to the United States and then leave nuclear powers like North Korea and Iran alone?
"Pick On Dictators"?!?! “Irrelevant”?!?!!?! One Word: Madeline Albright.
If we’re going to have a democracy, and lord knows that this administration is eroding democracy, the great genius of American democracy is that 48% of you can vote one way, and still have some say about the government. Now they’re trying to eliminate that. The protection of the minority is an important principle in America.
Whaaaaaa?
This is an extraordinary opportunity for Democrats. We’ve suffered a couple of serious defeats, but we’re energized because we know that our vision for America is much better than the dark and difficult vision of the Republican Party.
Turgid Prose ‘R’ Us…
Life is somewhat difficult, and occasionally pretty damn dark. Your pie-in-the-sky, magically-appearing-chicken-in-every-pot gimmie programs aren’t selling. They aren’t even selling in the EU. Hell, even the Frentch ain’t a buyin’ that old Marxist horse-hockey. Hang. It. Up.
We’re in a war because the people who got us there weren’t truthful with the American people.
Ok—Now we agree on something! alQaeda was not truthful with the American people. oh, wait.... They were: 1996 “Declaration of War against the Americans Occupying the Land of the Two Holy Places” by ObL
Nevermind....
We stand for all that is right in America. ...And if you elect Democrats you can trust them with your money,
Stop! ...sides… hurting.... rolling...on… floor.....
The greatest blow to America we have suffered in the past four-and-a-half years is the ascent of cynicism and the belief that propaganda and manipulation will succeed, and I think it will not.
Then why’re you still flinging it around? Though, I think that rising cynicism thing has been going on since, oh, say, the era of your Deep Throat hero. ...just sayin’.
This is about reclaiming America as the great beacon of optimism and hope...
Now you’re lifting quotes from Reagan?
One of the things that I discovered is that money is important ...
Helluvan insight, there, Obvious-Boy.
...and motivation is important, but there’s one other thing you have to have.... [sic] The one thing that we have to do in the Democratic Party is to stop being afraid of being different from the Republicans and stand up for what we believe in!
*blink*blink blink*
.
American Politics : Statesmanship :: rap : music
Michael Savage
Morons on Maneuvers • (1) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Link This
Thursday, June 02, 2005
A Tale of an Overplayed Hand
‘bout time to dismiss this outfit for good.
The self-described “non-partisan” organization, Amnesty International, has recently used such phrases as, “gulag of our times,” “architects of torture,” and “redefining torture,” to describe the US.
Some interesting facts have come to light:
WATi: William F. Schulz, executive director of Amnesty USA, contributed $2,000 to [John F’n] Kerry’s campaign last year.
Mr. Schulz also has contributed $1,000 to the 2006 campaign of Sen. Edward [Teddy the Toad] M. Kennedy
Joe W. “Chip” Pitts III, board chairman of Amnesty International USA, gave the maximum $2,000 to [John F’n] Kerry’s campaign last year.
Seems to me they’ve finally overplayed their hand and made their little club into a caricature cartoon of itself. Their agenda is clear and they’re leaving the lavatory with the back of their dress tucked in their pantyhose.
*slap flick*
[think mosquito]
And the ever dry Rumsfeld:
“No force in the world has done more to liberate people that they have never met than the men and women of the United States military,” Mr. Rumsfeld said at the Pentagon press conference. “That’s why the recent allegation that the U.S. military is running a gulag at Guantanamo Bay is so reprehensible. Most would define a gulag as where the Soviet Union kept millions in forced labor concentration camps. ... To compare the United States and Guantanamo Bay to such atrocities cannot be excused.”
Mr. Rumsfeld said “at least a dozen” of the 200 detainees released from Guantanamo “have already been caught back on the battlefield, involved in efforts to kidnap and kill Americans."
And here are a few bits to consider in the light of the “gulag” sobriquet:
From Northeast Intelligence Network
Not one of these illegal enemy combatant detainee’s who came from Afghanistan had a Qur’an in his possession when captured.
A brand new Qur’an in the specific, native language of each individual was provided to each “enemy combatant”.
Each illegal enemy combatant detained at Guantanamo is given three nutritious halal meals (culturally-appropriate and in accordance with Islamic dietary law) per day. The meals include all optional condiments.
Each illegal enemy combatant detainee receives Muslim feast meals at special times in accordance with Muslim feasts and holy periods during the year.
Each illegal enemy combatant detainee has unrestricted access to Muslim Imams and religious instruction.
Each illegal enemy combatant detainee has a Quibla, a large green and white sign in his cell which points toward Mecca. [for the Islamo-Todds e-C]
Each illegal enemy combatant detainee hears Islamic loudspeaker calls to prayer five times daily.
Each illegal enemy combatant detainee received a brand new Muslim prayer cap.
Each illegal enemy combatant detainee received a brand new prayer rug.
Each illegal enemy combatant detainee received brand new Islamic prayer beads. Each illegal enemy combatant detainee received Islamic holy oil.
Each illegal enemy combatant had ALL of this done and paid for him at US taxpayer expense and this is far, far in excess of requirements delineated by Geneva Convention Cat. III protocols on the treatment of Prisoners of War.
[Copyright 2005 Sean Osborne, Northeast Intelligence Network; Reprints permitted with proper citation and link ]
And who paid for all of these gulaggy bits?
Oh, Boys! ppthbbthttt
did someone mention PC?
Where is the Outrage™?!? For The Chiiiildren™!!
Girls are bundles of joy and gifts from heaven.
Boys pick their nose in front of 7-Eleven.Girls smell sweet like fresh-cut flowers.
Boys smell like doodie and never take showers.It ends with: Just remember.
For every stupid, smelly, cootie-ridden boy, there is a rock.
ok,ok—they redeemed themselves with this one:
*click here* to be offended.
ThanQ! Education Wonks
Exercising Old Muscles
just like riding a bicycle—which I still can’t do ....
Anyone remember how to translate Russian-speak? It was almost a parlor game during the Cold War but *ahem* it’s been a while so let’s see if I can remember how....
Pravda: Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov on Thursday threatened retaliatory steps if any country deploys weapons in space… “Russia’s position on this question has not changed for decades: We are categorically against the militarization of space, ...If some state begins to realize such plans, then we doubtless will take adequate retaliatory measures,” [emph mine e-C]
Ok… lemme see now..... translation: DUCK!
Longer version: DUCK AND COVER!
Russia has the candle lit under an old Saturn 5 to launch weapons into space.
*FLASH*Locker Room Humor Might Be Bawdy*FLASH*
possibly even un-PC!
*Must Credit e-Claire*
Say you have 2 or 3 tons of linebacker you want to ‘train’ about what to say and what not to say to the media in his job as a member of your NFL team. ...what to do when they’re arrested. ...what to do when women reporters show up in their locker room. Pretty dry stuff.
How ya gonna keep the attention of a gang of 20-something, self-indulgent millionaires who’d rather be smashing into each other or huffing in their limo and scratching their nether regions? Humor, right? And since this ‘training’ is being held in a locker room, whatcha gonna use? Locker-room humor?
And that’s what the 49ers PR guy, Kirk Reynolds did. Example:
Scene: Chinatown. Message: we read all media to make sure that nothing about the team is misrepresented and players should report to the team any bad coverage they notice. [see? dull stuff] Reynolds, playing Mayor of SF for a Day, asks a man passing on the street [actually former 49ers trainer and martial arts expert George Chung in hat and glasses] to read to him the Chinese newspaper he is holding:
“Random" Chinese Guy [using bad movie Japanese accent]: “I rooove foty-ninah. You know Joe Montana? Joe Montana once sign my balls.”
[snip]
“Random” Chinese Guy: [reading from paper] “Tim Latay —he now feeling better. He not yet practice with team. So most of time he play with himself.”
Coach: “Well, that would explain the sore forearm..."
Deep, eh? Lots more ‘jokes’ about playing with balls and sack and, and , and… heh, ehe heh heh heh
The next segment’s ‘money quote’ is “embrace diversity” and features a topless lesbian couple getting at the altar and demonstrating their undying love. I’m sure the players hated that scene. Are you offended, yet?
Here’s the Irony Scene:
"If you do something controversial, if you say something controversial it will have an impact on your team. ...Ya don’t wanna do anything that’s gonna reflect on your team in a negative way..."
That’s the video. Watch it courtesy of SFGate and you’ll see that it’s pretty tame, though juvenile stuff. Oh, yeah—it’s locker-room humor.
Whatever. The video was meant to to be shown to the players—period. It was never meant to be anything but an inside joke. The Dick stuck in the zipper here [see? this stupid ‘humor’s’ addictive] is Dick Nolan, former manager of the team, disgruntled, vengeful, who absolutely, completely and totally denies sending this team-only tape to the SF Chronicle. uh, huh.
The excrement hits the air circulation device. Big time.
Team Owners’ reaction [noise of scrabbling claws]:
John York and Denise DeBartolo York “The video was offensive in every manner. ... Policies are being put in place to ensure that nothing like this ever happens again."
Boy, oh boy—is it gonna be fun to work for the ‘Niners, now!
Player reaction:
Tony Parrish : “Is the video insensitive? Yes. But ... it’s the same type of satire that has Dave Chappelle as the No. 1 show."
Dayum! Who’da think the meat-on-the-field would be smarter than the suits-at-the-top?!?
Mayoral reaction:
Gavin Newsome: ``It wasn`t right to do it to the Asian community, particularly the Chinese community. It was wrong to do it to the gay and lesbian community. It was wrong to exploit women as they were exploited in this video. ...The video is reprehensible.``
“Reprehensible”?!? Wow, Gav. Learn a new word? Yepperee—they were doing this to the Asian/Chinese/gay community. Yep - aimed right at ‘em. Any you, Hair-Boy, win the Best Manufactured ‘Outrage’ Statement of the Week award.
No, that video isn’t what SF is about… This is what SF is about:
Yep.
Columnist Scott Ostler suggests a sequel video:
Scene: Me standing at a curb. Behind me, a man with “Owner” written on his T-shirt is throwing a man with “Media relations” on his shirt under a moving bus.
Wednesday, June 01, 2005
...What a Wonderful World It Could Be
all shiny and Brave and New...
In 2001, in the opening months of his ex-presidency, Bill Clinton confided to an aide that he had decided on his dream job for the next chapter of his life: secretary general of the United Nations.
With Hellary as Prezzedent—I’m moving to an unknown island somewhere....
For the Reading Junkies Among Us
How many of these have you read?
Human Events has surveyed 15 conservative scholars and public policy leaders and compiled a list of The Ten Most Harmful Books of the 19th and 20th centuries.
#1
The Communist Manifesto
Karl Marx and Freidrich Engels
1848
Engels was the original limousine leftist: A wealthy textile heir, he financed Marx for much of his life. ...The Manifesto envisions history as a class struggle between oppressed workers and oppressive owners, calling for a workers’ revolution so property, family and nation-states can be abolished and a proletarian Utopia established. The Soviet Union put the Manifesto into practice.#2
Mein Kampf
Adolf Hitler
1925-6
Hitler explained his racist, anti-Semitic vision for Germany, laying out a Nazi program pointing directly to World War II and the Holocaust. ... The book was originally ignored....#3
Quotations from Chairman Mao [The Little Red Book]
Mao Zedong [Mao Tse Tung]
1966
...a tool in the “Cultural Revolution” he launched to push the Chinese Communist Party and Chinese society back in [Mao’s] ideological direction. ...Western leftists were enamored with its Marxist anti-Americanism. “It is the task of the people of the whole world to put an end to the aggression and oppression perpetrated by imperialism, and chiefly by U.S. imperialism,” wrote Mao.
#4
The Kinsey Report
Alfred Kinsey
1948
...designed to give a scientific gloss to the normalization of promiscuity and deviancy. ...#5
Democracy and Education
John Dewey
1916
...in pompous and opaque prose, he disparaged schooling that focused on traditional character development and endowing children with hard knowledge, and encouraged the teaching of thinking “skills” instead. His views had great influence on the direction of American education--particularly in public schools ...#6
Das Kapital
Karl Marx
1867-94
...portraying capitalism as an ugly phase in the development of human society in which capitalists inevitably and amorally exploit labor by paying the cheapest possible wages to earn the greatest possible profits. Marx theorized that the inevitable eventual outcome would be global proletarian revolution. ...#7
The Feminine Mystique
Betty Friedan
1963
...disparaged traditional stay-at-home motherhood as life in “a comfortable concentration camp--a role that degraded women and denied them true fulfillment in life. ... “Friedan was from her college days, and until her mid-30s, a Stalinist Marxist, the political intimate of the leaders of America’s Cold War fifth column and for a time even the lover of a young Communist physicist working on atomic bomb projects in Berkeley’s radiation lab with J. Robert Oppenheimer.”#8
The Course of Positive Philosophy
1830-42
...coined the term “sociology.” ...theorizing that the human mind had developed beyond “theology” (a belief that there is a God who governs the universe), through “metaphysics” (in this case defined as the French revolutionaries’ reliance on abstract assertions of “rights” without a God), to “positivism,” in which man alone, through scientific observation, could determine the way things ought to be.#9
Beyond Good and Evil
Freidrich Nietzsche
1886
...Nietzsche argued that men are driven by an amoral “Will to Power,” and that superior men will sweep aside religiously inspired moral rules, which he deemed as artificial as any other moral rules, to craft whatever rules would help them dominate the world around them. “Life itself is essentially appropriation, injury, overpowering of the strange and weaker, suppression, severity, imposition of one’s own forms, incorporation and, at the least and mildest, exploitation,” ...#10
General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money
John Maynard Keynes
1936
...[written] in the midst of the Great Depression. The book is a recipe for ever-expanding government. When the business cycle threatens a contraction of industry, and thus of jobs, he argued, the government should run up deficits, borrowing and spending money to spur economic activity. FDR adopted the idea as U.S. policy ...
Included in the list of runners up are Origin of the Species, Introduction to Psychoanalysis [Freud], and On liberty [Mill].
I’m not sure I’d agree with all the choices but I thought the list is worth a bit o’ conversation. Whatcha think?
A Call to the Technically Astute
I’m having a leedle trouble with auto-trackback here in Expression Engine. Ok—I’m totally in the dark. Darker than the inside of a cow…
Anyone got a clue?
Anyone?
Bueller?
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{/if}
