Paul Offit On Science Friday: Do You Believe In Magic?

Give Women Haircuts (And Refuse Them Sexual Favors)

Didn't I tell you Drudge has been fishing - for something to hype - for a little while now?

Looks like he got it.

Still doesn't make it news. 

 Isn't it fascinating how - even with all the *known* charlatans out there - they still decide to run with speculation? Assumptions. This "could" be true (could not) and this "may" have happened (may not) so much you stop listening because you may as well be getting your news from ghost hunters?

 Day before yesterday, they were interviewing a vegan on NPR and he said the United States doesn't do anything well anymore, and I wondered how NPR can get a community service license when it actively chooses to broadcast such a twisted view of the world and our place in it? 

 Everybody's got their heads stuck so far up their own asses they can't see their way out. 

 I don't know if it's human nature, but I guess most people only seem to gain perspective in disaster, and then it's back to the bullshit. Remember 9/11? We're all Americans now? I think we're over it. 

 Major news stories? Come on. Do you really think this news gathering before us - right now - has somehow got you better informed than during the chaos of 9/11? Come on again: 

 They're "informing" you - about a "scandal" that isn't there - how "useful" is that?

As useful as becoming a NewAger because you didn't like religion.

Oy Vey.

 Shut the madhouse doors,...

Shortest Distance Between 2 Points: Cutting Your Throat

 Wild last few days. Now I've gone and got addicted to House M.D..

   

 Just in time really, since I know several people making really bad decisions, and much prefer the distraction of network television's first acerbic atheist, living with pain. 

   

 Gee, I wonder how that could happen?

   

 I can't say, but the more I see of how the mind works, the more I wonder how we've made it this far.

   

 There honestly is no reasoning with people, even when their interest in doing so's in plain view. 

   

 It's a brain thing - like one day having the "blahs" - except they're hellbent on sabotage. 

   

 It's draining.

   

 Me, I still hold the door for people, still use "Sir" or "Ma'am", and spend a good portion of the rest of my day practicing being appalled, thankyouverymuch. 

   

Because, from the highest of academics to the lowest street crazies, if there's one thing everyone else agrees on today, it's their desire to live (shall we say) "a care-free lifestyle".

   

 They fold their arms and just say and do anything. 

   

That's what you get from NPR being on all-the-time.

   

 The small fibers that connect us, how one person's words and/or actions can send several other actors into action - always wrecking havoc on the unsuspecting - makes their precious "balance" look pretty lopsided. 

   

 It might as well be a claw hammer attack from our rear.

   

I was gonna write about how I'm catching myself smiling, for no reason every once in a while, but instead I feel today like I'm nursing a wound. 

   

 Nobody's touched me - I'm not even the one in the crosshairs - and yet I'm already hurting.

   

I wish I could tell you what it is, in detail, but I can't:

Except it's not going to end well,...

 

Macy's Song For Black Men At The Libraries & Museums

I was just returning from the library - and heard my local NPR affiliate discussing exorcisms like they are for realz - so this was a welcome iTunes pick-me-up when I got safely back home:

AKA Before the lows could set in,...

 

It's Always Something,...

"He repeated this ritual three times,..."

The words that forced me to turn off NPR today,....

 

Newspaper Editorials Vs. America: A Very Bad Hand

I can't find it online, but yesterday NPR reported on a poll that, if I remember correctly, found 71% of newspaper readers agreeing the dailies aren't giving us what we want. 

 Kinda puts a hole in journalism's lie, that "the internet is killing us", don't it?

 

All Out (Of Sorts): Seemed Like A Good Idea At The Time

And don't miss Paula Broadwell, David Petraeus, and the Mentoring Scam - it puts things in perspective nicely:

One National Public Radio host declared herself “annoyed” that the Petraeus scandal might cast a pall over all male-female mentor relationships. But allow me to suggest a potential upside: there is a vanishingly small chance that the Broadwell-Petraeus affair might do irreparable damage to the mentor industry, which is about as useful as the holistic medicine industry.

"About as useful as the holistic medicine industry." Isn't it weird how such things are repeatedly said, as an aside, but few will confront it directly?

"Australians spend a lot of money on these products each year, money which may be wasted."

Well, there's no need to worry about that as long as such a good, caring, and compassionate man as Mitt Romney is in the business, huh?

 That is, if he even understands what business he's in,...

 

I'm A Ramblin' Man (Part I Of A Dialogue On Everything)

Howdy, Folks, how's everybody doing? I'm alright. Yeah, seriously, I'm fine. Having been pushed into a corner, politically, culturally, whatever, I'm starting to find that I like it here. I've come to think it's still part of my, long, post-divorce transition:

When I was in my marriage, I was part of something larger than myself - cared about others and all that - but, now that I'm no longer "hooked-up" to my wife's NewAge freak show, my views reflect it and I'm comfortable.

I've been called a "bigot" a lot lately, which is cool, because - as someone raised where putting others down for fun is part of our subculture - "bigot" is probably one of the lamest accusations anyone's ever leveled at me. As the late, great Christopher Hitchens labeled them, it's the kind of thing "soft-centered types" throw around, thinking they can hurt you because they imagine you're as weak-kneed (and weak-minded) as they are.

Not.

Though, I must admit, this use of the word "bigot" has puzzled me lately since - like the word "nigger" - I've always coupled bigotry with ignorance. To me, a bigot is someone who talks out of his ass against shit he or she doesn't understand. But those throwing "bigot" around now - Mitt Romney supporters - have always known far less about him and Mormonism than I, which was confusing. At least, until I read this line from Hitchens:

I don’t think I would want to vote for a Scientologist or a Moonie for high office, or indeed any other kind, and I think attempts to silence criticism of such outfits are the real evidence of prejudice."

Actually, that's not exactly true. It was that line, plus a reply from an Althouse reader (on Hitchens calling Mormonism "One of the most egregious groups operating on American soil.") that did it. Here's the reply:

Considering that comes from the pen of Christopher "Mother Teresa was a sexually frustrated masochist who gloried in squalor and filth and fellated Third World dictators" Hitchens, I'll pass on what he thinks is egregious.

Got that? Hitchens' scholarship on Mother Theresa, and any other issue, was simply pushed aside in favor of what this person wants to "believe" - in other words, total NewAge thinking. Now things were falling into place:

The prejudiced "soft-centered types," who don't care about facts, are throwing around a tired accusation regarding things they know nothing about.

Should I be bothered about that? I don't think so. NewAge wouldn't exist without it. And - when it comes to me being the target of such attacks - there's really nothing "new" there. As I have said many times, stupidity is the currency of the culture right now, and the larger culture is definitely NewAge.

For instance, if you separate "bigotry" from ignorance, as my attackers seem to be doing, then being a bigot isn't such a bad thing. Here's the definition of "bigot":

A person who is obstinately or intolerantly devoted to his or her own opinions and prejudices; especially : one who regards or treats the members of a group (as a racial or ethnic group) with hatred and intolerance.

I can live with that. I'm openly a cult critic. Considering most people know little-to-nothing about the subject, I am almost forced to appear "obstinately or intolerantly devoted" to my own thoughts on the subject. I mean, what else am I going to do? Defer to those who are "so open-minded their brains fall out"? Can't happen.

Plus it puts me in good company. Archie Bunker used to be Exhibit 'A' for what I thought was a bigot, but nowadays, he's the poster child for far-reaching conservative thought:

What's not to like about that? Everybody loves Archie - even if they didn't at the time he was on TV. (According to Wikipedia, "In 2005, Archie Bunker was listed as number 1 on Bravo's 100 Greatest TV Characters, defeating runners-up such as Ralph Kramden, Lucy Ricardo, Arthur Fonzarelli, and Homer Simpson.") If anything, Archie's example reminds me people don't like to accept the truth, immediately, when it's presented - something I knew already.

There are a few other "bigots" saying the same things I am - after I say them - so I don't feel too alone. Michael Wolff of The Guardian (U.K.) recently did a column on Rupert Murdoch and Scientology that, over a week later, makes the exact same connections I did with Mitt and Mormonism. Of course, that's an anomaly, as most do it piecemeal, unable to put all the pieces together as I do. For instance, today, there was an article stating Brad Pitt was almost a Scientologist. Now, if you're a reader of this blog and have followed Pitt's adulterous "spiritual journey" as I have - through his fascination, say, with the cult leader Ken Wilber - is this really news? No - if you read this blog and understand NewAge, it not only fits perfectly with who Brad Pitt is, but it would be a surprise to discover he hadn't looked (or almost been sucked) into it. Brad Pitt, like most people, is NOT a critical thinker - he's "spiritual."

Which is why, politically, we are where we are. Like that Althouse commenter I mentioned, above, it's all about feelings and "beliefs" for most people, and things are coming apart because such garbage in/garbage out "thinking" has no bearing on reality - except to compel it to destroy anyone or anything that doesn't cooperate:

Remember Global Warming? It used to be all the rage, until reality went on a rampage against it, and now? Somehow, science isn't cooperating with the deceitful "scientists" who once "believed" they had it (and us) pinned down.

And so it goes.

Along with NewAge culture, part of the problem, I think, is the fact there's a velvet rope around who gets to to be heard out there. This occurred to me a few days ago, as I was listening to NPR, and they had Mike Huckabee come on to talk politics. I thought, Mike Huckabee? Do we really need to hear more from him? Is "The Huck" going to bring any new insights to what we already know - or is he just going to peddle pablum as always? He peddled pablum,…and it's the same everywhere else I looked:

The same names, pumping the same nonsense, to the same audiences expecting the same thing.

BTW - I've been listening to NPR in the car for a change, but there is none. As I said, I found Mike Huckabee on Left-wing radio just as I do on Right-wing radio, and that's the problem - it's Mike Huckabee (or someone like him) all the time, everywhere, and no other views are allowed.

What we have here is conventional wisdom, and the latest line, amongst those "soft-centered types" is that this tame-but-deceptive political race is "getting ugly." But - since the conversation stays within the range of these regular guests - I don't buy what they're selling. If this was true, Hot Air couldn't write a sentence like this:

In a palette-cleanser for a slow newsday Sunday BuzzFeed takes us back 40 years to the fashion nightmare that was my youth.

Bad 70's fashion? Astrology pants? Thanks a lot for that (I don't know what Hot Air is anymore, now that they've brought The Ham onboard,…) But, more to the point, how can there be "a slow newsday Sunday" when it's supposedly gotten so damned ugly out there?

Give me a break,...

 

Goody: The 'N' Word, The 'F' Word, And Now 'P.E.N.I.S.'

Along with N.P.R. listeners calling black people "African-Americans" when we ain't ever been to Africa, I really wish we hadn't started with this childish damned speak-and-spell bullshit. Here's someone scared to death of gay people (or scared gay people will be someone's death) but I had to run to a fucking dictionary just to understand why. Not cool. It sounds important.

Anyway, get it together, get over yourselves, and say what the fuck you mean. If it bothers you there may be a bit of faggot on the dick, say it bothers you there may be a bit of faggot on the dick. If large groups of black people bother you, say large groups of black people bother you. I don't care. Say whatever the fuck you want to say but, whatever you do, stop kissing each other's asses about it. Especially you N.P.R. people. That shit makes me nervous.

 And I'm sure Miss Crazy Lady would have a few words to say about it as well,...

It's Just A Fact Of Doing Business: We Listen To Yoga Masters Like We Look For Bacon Breasts

Here's TMR's Outstanding Quote of the Week (and damn it, if we had thought of this line ourselves, we would've used it waaay sooner on T-Shirts or something for - forgive the expression, Nina Totenberg - Christmas.) Here it is:

Yoga's not getting anybody a job.

Yea, we know - *brilliance* - and you're welcome.

BTW, just as a humorous tie-in/dig, we have a very-very-liberal friend/reader who recently admitted in a fit of anger - even though his conservative brother, and our Rush Limbaugh-listening ass, can afford to feed ourselves and he can't - he thinks he's "better" than the both of us, put together, because "I can touch my toes."

Yes, NewAge - you gotta love it:

It makes life just fucking peachy!

If Memory Serves, The Phrase Still Goes, "A Conservative Is A Liberal Who Just Got Mugged"

No, we won't keep reminding y'all how many times we've said this was going to be The Age of the Black Conservative but, we think it's safe to say, Juan Williams is firmly in our camp now - and swinging for the bleachers.

And why not? Not only must it be sweet for this black man to find support while publicly going after an employer who's done him wrong, especially a white one as holier-than-thou as NPR, but some (like we here at TMR) consider bringing NPR down as also the possible fulfillment of some kind of patriotic duty or something.

Watching Juan Williams gleefully tear into NPR - it just re-enforces our long held view, that electing Barack Obama as "America's First Black President" wasn't nearly the major racial event of the new millennium it was sold as, when compared with what it has unleashed.

Stay tuned.

Naturally Putrid Radio Has Lost (And We Juan!)

Life is so strange: we can still remember the very first time we saw Juan Williams on public television, and thinking he was some milk toast-y black guy whose opinions didn't matter much (Which is true if you think about it: until now, has Juan Williams ever said or done anything worth mentioning? Hell, he didn't even do anything now - it was NPR that did something so wrong we're all talking about it). And yet, today, he's the darling of the Right - specifically because he's an old school Democrat and not a "progressive" - after being thrown over the side for ideological impurity. As Bill O'Reilly says, here, Williams' career is now set - thanks to NPR attempting to destroy him. Whodathunkit?

And - wow - who do NPR think they are? Seriously, Juan Williams was a great fit because he was as milk toast-y as they appeared to be. Now, here they come, playing hardball with a guy they probably thought wouldn't fight back - forgetting the thing they hated most about him were his conservative friends - but now he's got a lot of friends, and even worse, they're coming into power, ready to fight. It's just a stupid, stupid, stupid move by NPR, all around.

If NPR soon gets defunded (as Sarah Palin suggests) that'll be fine by us - we stopped watching/listening to them years ago, once we realized they were a part of the NewAge matrix - because anything that forces Louise Hay to dig deeper, into her own pocket, to keep an outlet for her stable of NewAgers open, is A-OK around here. (We'd be happier if Hay just died already, but whatever.)

And if, like Air America, NPR eventually finds they can't survive without sucking on the public tit, all the better. This Juan Williams thing is just the sort of episode that proves why. They weren't ever to have been trusted - or supported - and especially not on the public dime. As we've been saying for years (and even David Mamet eventually discovered - calling them "National Palestinian Radio") underneath that soft-spoken coo-cooing, they're nothing but a nest of NewAge vipers:

And now, in a FOX News frenzy, it appears they've finally gone and bitten themselves to death.

Good riddance.

Feeding The Beast: It's A Daily Operation

Morning: Breakfast is served.

"If you were in the presence of a man having a heart attack, how would you respond? As he clutched his chest in desperation and pain, would you call 911? Would you try to save him from dying? Of course you would.

But if that man was Rush Limbaugh, and you were Sarah Spitz (above, center) a producer for National Public Radio (update: Spitz was a producer for NPR affiliate KCRW for the show Left, Right & Center), that isn’t what you’d do at all.

In a post to the list-serv Journolist, an online meeting place for liberal journalists, Spitz wrote that she would 'Laugh loudly like a maniac and watch his eyes bug out' as Limbaugh writhed in torment.

In boasting that she would gleefully watch a man die in front of her eyes, Spitz seemed to shock even herself. 'I never knew I had this much hate in me,' she wrote. 'But he deserves it.'"

Afternoon: A take-out lunch.

"I made poorly considered remarks about Rush Limbaugh to what I believed was a private email discussion group from my personal email account. As a publicist, I realize more than anyone that is no excuse for irresponsible behavior. I apologize to anyone I may have offended and I regret these comments greatly; they do not reflect the values by which I conduct my life."

Evening: A big dinner with a little light entertainment.



Tomorrow: Repeat.

There's Much More They're Not Talking About

"The eight a.m. NPR news update today included word of the fatal shooting of one soldier and the wounding of another outside an army recruiting station in Arkansas. The news reader, Nora Raum, outlined the incident and stated that the shooting appeared to have 'religious motivations.' She did not name the suspect, Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad, or tell NPR listeners what those religious motivations might be. In other words, it could have been a radical Unitarian who gunned down the soldiers, or possibly a violent Presbyterian.

Why the shyness? Why not tell people what is actually happening in the world? We saw this a couple of weeks ago, when the press only gingerly acknowledged that the malevolent though incompetent suspects in the synagogue bombing-conspiracy case in New York were converts to Islam. How is the public served by this kind of silence? The extremist Christian beliefs of George Tiller's alleged murderer are certainly relevant to that case, and no one in my profession is hesitant to discuss them. Why the hesitancy to talk about the motivations of the man who allegedly killed Pvt. William Long?"

-- Jeffrey Goldberg, on the spirituality-based "Conspiracy of Euphemism" we live under, in The Atlantic.