Passing Thoughts (2U) Without Ever Moving My Mouth

Alright, let's open our minds a little bit, enough to accept tech workers getting weird "on the path":

“It’s going to be a place on Earth that becomes a sacred space for growth and development. The people who need love will end up here. We want the world to be a part of this. It’s not a secret journey, but you still have to go on that journey to get here.”

If you need a refresher before you take off, here's more on how we got here from wherever there was:

“In the United States, similar elite lobbying efforts to institutionalise nonsense were firmly launched in 1991 (a couple of years before the Prince formed the Foundation for Integrated Health) when the Senate Appropriations Committee -- which is responsible for funding the National Institutes of Health (NIH) -- set in motion a chain of events that led to the formation of the Office of Alternative Medicine. The 'prime mover' behind this momentous turn of events was Appropriations Committee chair, Tom Harkin, a Democrat from Iowa, who 'had been urged to take this legislative step by two constituents, Berkley Bedell and Frank Wiewel.' All three men having personally witnessed the alleged curative power of alternative medicine, and were therefore keen to use their political clout to advance their wacky personal beliefs. 

So it was that a Congressional mandate forced mysticism upon the very heart of the medical establishment, with initial members of the Office of Alternative Medicine's advisory panel including best-selling New Age authors Deepak Chopra and Bernie Siegel, not to mention Bedell and Wiewel. Unfortunately the Office of Alternative Medicine has gone from strength-to-strength, and in 1999 was re-established as a full NIH center known as the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM). This is not, however, to say that they have done anything useful (yet), other than prove that the utility of alternative therapies have no material basis. On this matter a recent study actually demonstrated that after distributing some $2 billion of funding the Center had made 'no discoveries in alternative medicine that would justify the current annual expenditure of $134 million' to maintain its existence.”

Speaking of things we can get rid of, I don't see how Peggy Noonan's winning anything (except in the Charlie Sheen sense) but everything else seems accurate:

"What’s strange about the column is that Noonan somehow takes the evident toll of the allegations against the IRS as proof that the Obama administration has gotten away with something: that this was a real and damaging scandal that is being dismissed by the media as overhyped. But what she is describing is in fact proof of the exact opposite: the allegations have taken a great toll on the agency (and, polls suggest, on Obama himself) precisely because they were overhyped and not dismissed by the media. In other words, Peggy Noonan won. She just doesn’t seem able or willing to admit it. 

The fact is, the more we learn about the scandal, the more egregiously and irresponsibly overwrought the initial coverage of it appears."

Fuck Peggy. I've got my own problems. One of 'em is everybody needs to grow up. Here's but one of the topics I'm struggling with - and, I think, the fact I so rarely see it addressed can have multiple meanings, good and bad:

"Where is the diversity of popular voices in Rap that give voice to being/acting like an adult? Perhaps I’m asking for too much. Maybe Rap is supposed to stay young—it’s a youth movement. Maybe I’m supposed to outgrow Rap as an art form while maintaining my love for Hip-Hop culture. I refuse to believe that’s true, though. But is Rap ready for the “' take care of my family and it’s difficult at times/I’m trying to pay my bills while simultaneously writing these rhymes'” record?"

I just don't know. Consider the man I mentioned in one of my songs, appearing (for the umpteenth time) to validate every word I said:

“Hip hop star DMX was arrested for driving under the influence in South Carolina this past week. Despite attempts by the rapper's publicist to deny reports of his arrest, it has been confirmed that X reportedly failed a sobriety test after being stopped by state troopers on July 25th. 

The South Carolina Highway Patrol told HipHipWired that DMX was arrested after being identified as a "possible DUI driver" in a 1978 Plymouth station wagon and was stopped for driving erratically. He failed a field sobriety test. He was also charged with not having a driver's license and not wearing a seat belt. 

Footage also surfaced of the arrest.”

 

I can't wait. Just as I can't wait for a new book out with a very provocative title:

“My Life in a Love Cult: A Warning to All Young Girls, My True Life Story by Marion Dockerill, High Priestess of Oom, 1928.”

1928? Wow. She was obviously a member of the NEW NewAge,...