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The 13th Century Stained Glass Of Sainte-Chapelle de Paris, France.

July 13, 2020, 7:48 am
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Sainte-Chapelle de Paris, France.
Its 13th-century stained glass, two-thirds of which is original, is one of the largest collections in the world.





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Trump, Fauci And Golf. Take As Much Time With This As You Need

July 13, 2020, 7:49 am
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The Police, The Klan And BLM

July 13, 2020, 7:51 am
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How Can A Disease With 1% Mortality Shut Down The United States

July 13, 2020, 8:08 am
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The Saddest Part Of 2016

July 13, 2020, 8:09 am
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Image may contain: 2 people, meme, text that says 'THE SADDEST PART OF 2016 WAS SEEING HOW MANY PEOPLE BELIEVED THE WORST RUMORS ABOUT A WOMAN WHILE IGNORING THE WORST FACTS ABOUT A MAN'
Alan: I just finished a two hour conference call with a couple of old friends.
During that call I recalled that that Trump got over 60 million votes in 2016.
Then, making a rapid calculation, I concluded that some 40 million Americans believe conspiratorial nonsense, alternative facts and whole cloth lies before they will believe the findings of science.
As nation and as a people, I think our situation is much more tenuous then we let on.
Since antiquity there has been a saying: “Whom the gods would destroy they first make mad.”



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Colin Powell On "What We Have Come To"

July 13, 2020, 8:11 am
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In February, 2013, Hillary Clinton Was The Most Popular Politician In The United States

July 13, 2020, 12:58 pm
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Image may contain: 2 people, meme, text that says 'THE SADDEST PART OF 2016 WAS SEEING HOW MANY PEOPLE BELIEVED THE WORST RUMORS ABOUT A WOMAN WHILE IGNORING THE WORST FACTS ABOUT A MAN'
In February, 2013, Hillary Clinton Was The Most Popular Politician In The United States
Then, the Republican Noise Machine kicked in...

Alan: I just finished a two hour conference call with a couple of old friends.
During that call I recalled that that Trump got over 60 million votes in 2016.
Then, making a rapid calculation, I concluded that some 40 million Americans believe conspiratorial nonsense, alternative facts and whole cloth lies before they will believe the findings of science.
As nation and as a people, I think our situation is much more tenuous then we let on.
Since antiquity there has been a saying: “Whom the gods would destroy they first make mad.”

Pax on both houses: Trump, Hillary, The Popular Vote, And The ...




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Under Andrew Cuomo's Leadership, New York State Is Sending COVID Control Teams To Georgia

July 13, 2020, 5:46 pm
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Photo of the Day
At my briefing today, I unveiled a historical-styled poster that visualizes our state's struggle with COVID. 
Andrew Cuomo
(Click here for full-sized poster.)

2. New York State will deploy testing and contact tracing teams to Atlanta as the city continues to experience an increase in the number of COVID-19 cases. 
New York remembers how people across the country came to NY in our time of need and we vowed to pay it forward any way we could.



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Make America Great Again

July 14, 2020, 7:59 am
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"QAnon Is More Important Than You Think," The Atlantic

July 14, 2020, 9:10 am
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QAnon Reveals How Poorly Equipped We Are for the Era of Political ...
"QAnon Is More Important Than You Think"
The Atlantic

John Kennedy And His Son, John Kennedy Junior: QAnon And An Open Society

QAnon, The Trumpista "Deep State" Conspiracy Movement Glorifying America's Cultural Collapse

"Head Of DOJ Or QAnon?": "The "Deep State," Demonization And The "Evidence" Of Conspiracies


Time Out Of Mind, "Deep State Plutocracy" Is The Enduring Conspiracy. Warfare And Racial Animus Are The Decoys

"Dead-End Conspiracism" And "The REAL Thing"... Hidden In Plain Sight

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Excellent Collection Of Hyperlinked "Projection" Memes Featuring The Work Of Carl Jung

July 14, 2020, 1:42 pm
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Joe Biden Delivers Remarks On His Plans For A "Clean Energy Future"

July 14, 2020, 2:24 pm
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"If Brains Were Gunpowder, Trump..."

July 14, 2020, 2:50 pm
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No More Billionaires: "After You Reach $999 Million..."

July 14, 2020, 4:55 pm
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Image may contain: 1 person, text that says 'Mikel Jollett @Mikel_Jollett Ok how about this: No more billionaires. None. After you reach $999 million, every red cent goes to schools and health care. You get a trophy that says, capitalism" and we name a dog park after you. won 5:47 PM 3/22/20 Twitter for iPhone'

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  • Alan: The above meme makes way too much sense.

  • Still, it bears repetition.

  • The long game is the long game.


  • Zach Zimet

    Do you believe that the general level of wealth increasing in the world, and the dwindling level of people in poverty, is "fake news?"

    I don't mean this in a dismissive way, I think a reasonable person could have fact-based reasons to dismiss the way such things are measured, or what they really mean.

  • Alan Archibald

  • As with most things, the answer to your question depends on how wealth is calculated, and whether or not we take into account "downstream costs."

    This may be favorite New Yorker cartoon: https://www.reddit.com/r/neoliberal/comments/8eiy40/earth_day/

    I also think vast wealth is too seductive, and too often destructive.

    Trump -- and his kids -- are illustrations of where big money often leads.

    40 years ago I was walking on the Lake Ontario shore with a wealthy woman who -- out of the blue -- said to me: "I've known a lot of millionaires Alan, but I've never known one who wasn't a sonofabitch."
    At the moment, I cannot locate a pertinent quotation but it goes something like this: "The trouble with being rich is that you have to live with other rich people."
    Or maybe it was: "The punishment for being rich is that you have to live with other rich people."
    "The man is richest whose pleasures are cheapest." Thoreau
    When I'm south of the border, the truth of Thoreau's comment is evident.
    Here's an Atlantic article about lottery winners: the promise and the reality.
    Finally, although the popular imagination tends to admire Midas, the tragic fact is that he could no longer touch the people he loved for they would turn to gold.
    (To answer your question directly: No I do not think the dwindling number of people living in material poverty is fake news. I also suspect that the number of people living in psycho-spiritual poverty is increasing.)

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"We Know To The Extent That We Love" And Taste Trumps Cerebration As A Trustworthy Measure

July 14, 2020, 8:20 pm
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"We Know To The Extent That We Love" "Tantum Cognoscitur, Quantum Diligitur" St. Augustine of Hippo | made w/ Imgflip meme maker
Alan: The Western world has become increasingly biased in the direction of valuing -- and over-valuing -- cerebral knowledge and cerebral understanding. 

It is not my purpose in this brief essay to prove that cerebral understanding is inferior to other forms of knowledge -- such as the way "a man" and "a woman" (or any two people for that matter) know one another carnally.

Indeed, when two people "come together in carnal knowledge," the very prospect of cerebral knowledge - were lovers to ponder cerebration in the midst of climactic celebration -- is relatively insignificant against the backdrop of the all-consuming reality that attends the immediacy of sexual knowing.

But my purpose here is not to prove the Augustine's truth, for very little can be proven, particulary in the domain of religious faith. (That's why they call it faith, not knowledge.)

So, without trying to "prove" anything, I want to suggest the real possibility that Augustine's observation may be true; that epistemology may be conditioned by, qualified by, and even ratified by the practical reality of love.

"We KNOW to the extent that we LOVE."

And I would also suggest that we remain "un-knowing" to the extent that we fail to love - whether we fail to love the least of our brothers and sisters, fail to love people of another color, fail to love so-called "infidels," fail to love human failures and "the undeserving," fail to "love our enemies."

It is presumption -- and an unprovable presumption at that -- to believe (or to assert) that ultimate knowledge is truly embodied by dogma, doctrine and conciliar-or-pontifical pronouncements. 

All these word-bound enterprises are indicators -- what the Zen tradition refers to as 'fingers pointing us in the right direction" -- but "the pointing finger" is NOT -- emphatically NOT -- the "thing," the "incarnation," the "enfleshment," the existential Reality that the finger is pointing toward.

For nearly half a century I have marveled at Psalm 34 (reprised by 1 Peter) that we know the Lord through taste, which -- along with our inextricably bound and equally primitive sense of smell -- tells us what is real and good in ways that are completely apart from cerebration, verbal argumentation, and literary formulae (as important as all these things may be). 

Psalm 34:8 ESV 


Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!

1 Peter 2:3 ESV 


If indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.



Thomas Merton: Our job is to love others – When did you last feel ...

Fr. Thomas Merton Explains -- In 16 Words -- Why "Christian""Conservatives" Are Always Wrong








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The Big Lie And Conservative Christianity's Unshakeable Belief That The Bible Is Inerrantly True

July 14, 2020, 8:40 pm
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Pax on both houses: Tyranny's Best Kept Secret: It's ALL About ...
Alan: In effect, "the bigger the lie, the more believable it will be," especially to people who compensate for their ownineradicatable doubts by emphasizing their absolute certainty.

The full explanation of Hitler's "Big Lie" follows. 

But the essence is this: 

Hitler asserted that a lie could be so "colossal" that no common man would (or could) believe in the existence of liars exist with such "impudence (as) to distort the truth so infamously."

Here is the first paragraph of Wikipedia's entry on Hitler's propaganda technique called "The Big Lie" ("große Lüge"). 

"The expression was coined by Adolf Hitler, when he dictated his 1925 book Mein Kampf, about the use of a lie so "colossal" that no one would believe that someone "could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously." Hitler believed the technique was used by Jews to blame Germany's loss in World War I on German general Erich Ludendorff, who was a prominent nationalist and antisemitic political leader in the Weimar Republic. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_lie

"The Big Lie" also calls to mind a persistently thorny epistemological quandary as "The Big Lie" can be alleged by any two factions, one against the other.

And without an objective arbiter -- or a belief system that considers itself infallible -- it is very much like rape on a desert island occupied by just two people. 

The rape may have occurred. 

But it's one person's "word" against another's.

And so, the situation is truthfully "one" or the "other."

But there is no honorably evidentiary way to tell which is which.

In the end, any such interactive dialectic calls to mind "Projection Psychology 101."

Without attempting to determine who the rapist is --- or without trying to determine whether most lies in America originate with "The Deep State" or with Trump and his propaganda machine --- the situation suggests an insoluble conundrum.

However, there is THIS.

There is ALWAYS enough "shadow side" in each and every human being that anyone -- either a "husband" or a "wife" -- can TRULY discover enough darkness (enough "shadow") in "The Other" so that he or she can focus so fixedly on that darkness that the darkness (when removed from its full context and seen only in myopic, blinkered isolation) actually provides enough REAL EVIDENCE to make a persuasive case which damns "the other" no matter who "the other" is.

The following statements are factual.

"Damnable darkness" is ALWAYS present.

"Damnable darkness" is REALLY there.

"Damnable darkness" is built into me, just as it is built into you.

"Damnable darkness" is built into the human condition. 

But what is most damnable in those humans who tell Big Lies is the decontextualization of Truth in order to use REAL (but fragmented, dis-integrated shards of Truth) to create "airtight" arguments that enable people to "factually" represent "falsehood as truth," and to do so with such conviction that they actually represent "falsehood as truth" EVEN TO THEMSELVES. 

Revealingly, people who rely most on "philosophical absolutism" are able to proclaim Big Lies more easily because their psychological structure predisposes them to seeing the world in "black" and "white" and they -- according to the tenets of their absolutist belief system -- are at liberty to assign "black" and "white" as they see fit, not as "the preponderance of evidence" leads us to conclude.


Cocksure Quotes. QuotesGram

And so, it is not coincidental that the people who are most prone to deceiving others (and themselves) with Big Lies routinely (but not always) believe in conspiracy theories. 

The pardignmatic conspiracy theory is Hitler's own theory (asserted as fact) that "the Jews" were -- objectively-and-in-the-eyes-of-God -- an intrinsically corrupting influence on the transcendent virtue and goodness of the Aryan people.

The Biggest Lie is the belief that God -- through scripture, doctrine and dogma -- would NOT lie to us, and so anyone who is "on God's side" is ABSOLUTELY right because God cannot be wrong. (The biggest liars don't even question their epistemological foundation, and - in many instances - are too poorly educated to realize it is a question that can be asked, as well as a question that can be reasonably answered.)

Every absolutist pscyhe is at liberty to determine the True Nature of God (at least to one's own satisfaction) but, in the end, there are as many competing versions and visions of Deity as there are human beings on the face of the earth. 

Consider how many interpretations exist for the "Book of Revelation" or the particular conspiracy theory that "really" explains what happened.

Interpretations of the "Book of Revelation": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Revelation#Interpretations 

9/11 Conspiracy Theories: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/9/11_conspiracy_theories

Daniel Webster Prompts A Review Of Conspiracism And Its Destructive Role In American Politics


In the end -- and no matter how "humbly" the absolutely self-certain state their position -- their pontifications reduce to marvelously subtle acts of self-apotheosis which, at bedrock, identify oneself with The One, True God.

It is ironic that belief in The One, True God provides carte blanche to tell whatever lies one wishes.

"True Believers" KNOW their God is the complete embodiment of all that is true and that the ultimate truthfulness of their position is finally guaranteed by their God and, inter-relatedly, by their religion.

In effect, absolute belief (or the faithful proclamation that one believes absolutely) is accompanied by the remarkable willingness to declare (as a devout college-"educated" Catholic did): "I wouldn't believe that even if it was true." 

Or, as is increasingly the case in these conspiratorial, Trump Cult times: "I wouldn't believe that especially if it was true."

And so, self-identification with God and God's truthfulness participates in a presumptuous belief system based on a more-or-less continuous credo proclaimed by previous generations all the way back to the foundation of one's chosen religion, and this continuity -- combined with antiquity -- is absolutely validating in the mind of True Believers. 

How Self-Taught Philosopher-Longshoreman Eric Hoffer, Author Of "The True Believer," Judges A Government, Or A Way Of Life


But in the end, belief systems are belief systems. 

And one's faith is one's faith. 

The underlying heresy of conservative Christianity -- mostly evangelical-and-fundamentalist -- is the 19th century conviction that the Bible was an inerrant, literal statement of God's Truth. 

And although the following observation is speculative, I will mention my working hypothesis that the predictable certainties of science -- and most especially predictable, dependable cures -- were eroding the traditional foundation of faith, most especially faith in miracles.


Biblical Literalism And The Cultivation Of Hatred

Biblical Literalism: Not Only Impossible But Destructive Of Meaning And Souls

UNC-CH Professor Bart D. Ehrman:
Biblical Exegete And Former Christian Evangelical
The Bible and Textual Analysis

"The Obsession With Biblical Literalism," The Atlantic


And so it came to pass that belief and faith were replaced by fervently proclaimed "certainty of knowledge," as if one could transform faith-and-belief into knowledge by sufficiently passionate proclamation.

As we will see when Trumpism crashes and burns, the absolute conviction that one KNOWS the truth will crash and burn side-by-side with Trump Cult's Big Lie (i.e., that "opinion trumps Truth") and swept up in that conflagration will be the anodyne monstrosities of QAnon which, at bottom, is Trump's Ministry of Truth.

Discussion With 9/11 Truther Friend About Epistemology, Belief, Certainty And Purpose




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Correspondence With Frog Hospital's Fred Owens About Mexican Spanish And My Mexican Band

July 15, 2020, 11:41 am
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Dear Fred,

I am soooooooo happy you're back in the saddle - and pain-free!

I agree. "Vato" is a great word.

Here's another word which some of my Oaxacan band members call me as a term of endearment: güero. 

It's also what my honorary 4 year old niece, Valeria, calls me - tío güero.

If you haven't seen this video of my Mexican band, it's great -- the music, the dancing, the spirit. (Most often lead guitarist Oscar "Toledito" Castellanos calls me güero.) 

Great Rock ‘n’ Roll Dancing Inspired by Great Rock ‘n’ Roll Music Played by “Túnel del Tiempo.”


güero

Jump to navigationJump to search
See also: guero

Spanish[edit]

Etymology[edit]

The Mexican word güero ultimately originates from the Spanish word huero (“empty”), from the phrase huevo huero (“an empty egg that was lost during incubation”). The phrase huevo huero became associated with a sick person, and from this association came the association with the color white.[1]

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): /ˈɡweɾo/  Alan: "where-oh" (with marked accent on first syllable)

Adjective[edit]

güero (feminine singular güera, masculine plural güeros, feminine plural güeras)
  1. (Mexico) having pale skin and/or blond hair

Noun[edit]

güero m (plural güeros, feminine güera, feminine plural güeras)
  1. (Mexico) a person with light skin and/or blond hair quotations ▼
    ¿Qué onda, güero? ― What's up, whitey?

Usage notes[edit]

  • Often used as a term of endearment, or an informal way of saying "whitey" in Spanish. Unlike gringo, which generally refers to Americans, güero is used generally to refer to a lighter-skinned person, including the whites born in Mexico.

See also[edit]

  • chele - Alan - "Chele" is the Nicaraguan word of choice for güero. (In Mexico, "chela" is slang for beer, no doubt because "chela' means "light" like "lager" and takes on the feminine form because cerveza in feminine.)
  • gringo
  • huero
  • rubio
  • rucio (Chile)

References[edit]

  1. ^ “'Güero y huero': Etimología de güero”, in etimologias.dechile.net‎[1], 2012, retrieved September 1, 2012

Alan:: Also see the slang transformation of "buey," or "güey" ,or "huey": 







On Wed, Jul 15, 2020 at 12:35 PM Fred Owens wrote:

Learned vato today, like Dude, like que paso Vato?

--
Fred Owens
cell: 360-739-0214

My gardening blog is  Fred Owens
My writing blog is Frog Hospital



 
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Peter Frampton: "It Don't Come Easy"

July 15, 2020, 11:54 am
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Americans Are Getting Tired Of A Blowhard Who Tells Them Lies

July 15, 2020, 4:56 pm
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Americans Are Getting Tired Of A Blowhard Who Tells Them Lies | made w/ Imgflip meme maker

Compendium Of Pax Posts: The Unfathomable Mendacity Of Donald Trump And His Lickspittle Liars

Compendium Of Best Pax Posts On Trump And His Cultists' Passion For Lying And Falsehood

Truth Infuriates People Whose Lives Are Lies

American Conservatives Want To Be Lied To, But First Want To Redefine Falsehood As Truth

It's Not That The Assholes Are Uninterested In Truth. 
They Are Hostile To Truth.
"The Hardest Truth: People Want To Be Lied To"
"Trumpistas Don't Just Lie. 
They Are Hostile To Truth"
Image result for "pax on both houses" flag

Compendium Of Pax Posts Concerning Trump's Habitual Lying

If Mueller Had Been Given Sodium Pentathol, Here's What He Would've Told Us

VIDEO: Trump Tells More Lies Than Any U.S. Politician. Why Do Patriots And Xtians Believe A Liar?

http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2017/01/video-trump-tells-more-lies-than-any-us.html

Reprise: How Trump "Takes Credit" That's Not His... And The Dimwits Buy It

People Want To Be Lied To: The Convergent Horror Of Faithful Falsehood And Aggressive Ignorance

Trump Could Begin Every Speech With The Words "Everything I'm About To Tell You Is A Lie" And...

Republicans Generally - And Trump Specifically - Are Eager To Lie And Cheat If It Expands Their Power

False Witness

Comparing American Politicians' Lie Rates (From Mormon Press)

How Conservatives Use Decontextualized Shards Of Truth To Tell HUGE Lies
http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2017/08/scott-pruitt-how-conservatives-use.html

Chris Wallace: "Trump Is Engaged In The Most Direct, Sustained Assault On Freedom..."

Fox News' Chris Wallace: Republicans Angry Because They're "Having Trouble With The Facts"

Snopes Probes Rep. Omar's Foul Mouth: How Fox News Takes Tiny Truths And Twists Them Into Gargantuan Lies

Reprise: How Trump "Takes Credit" That's Not His... And The Dimwits Buy It

https://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2019/08/reprise-how-trump-takes-credit-thats.html

Trump, Obama, Intellectual Rigor And Teasing Out Truth: What Golf Tells Us

https://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2019/07/trump-obama-intellectual-rigor-and.html

How Conservatives Use Decontextualized Shards Of Truth To Tell HUGE Lies
http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2017/08/scott-pruitt-how-conservatives-use.html

Snopes Probes Rep. Omar's Foul Mouth: How Fox News Takes Tiny Truths And Twists Them Into Gargantuan Lies

Compendium Of Pax Posts Concerning Trump's Habitual Lying

It's Not That The Assholes Are Uninterested In Truth. 
They Are Hostile To Truth.

VIDEO: Trump Tells More Lies Than Any U.S. Politician. Why Do Patriots And Xtians Believe A Liar?

http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2017/01/video-trump-tells-more-lies-than-any-us.html

Reprise: How Trump "Takes Credit" That's Not His... And The Dimwits Buy It

People Want To Be Lied To: The Convergent Horror Of Faithful Falsehood And Aggressive Ignorance

Verbatim Trump Quote: "Any Negative Polls Are Fake News."

"Millions Of Deplorables Voted For Trump Because He Was The Only Candidate As Crazy As They"

"Trump's Bullshit"
Christian Ministers Have A Moral Obligation To Call Bullshit On Trump Cultists Spreading Lies
Bullshit And Bafflegab: How To Separate Truth From Conspiratorial Falsehood
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Nancy Reagan Reveals The Essence Of American Conservatism

July 16, 2020, 7:00 am
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