Fooling Themselves Part Two

  Bill O'Reilly, the main attraction of Fox News, is a liar. He has been caught repeatedly lying about his reporting during the Falklands War, the 'Troubles' in Northern Ireland, and the tragic violence in El Salvador. He lied in print about being on the doorstep of a source, just at the moment the man killed himself inside the house.
  I won't waste time giving the details, as they are easily found. In any event, they are not the point of this piece.
  In an earlier post, I wrote about the penchant conservatives have for swallowing lies. Not just lies about Obama's birthplace and policies; not just about scientific evidence and findings- but about everything. Brian Williams received a six month suspension for his lies. Bill O'Reilly has the full backing of his publisher, his network, and his audience.
  Earlier, I stated that conservatives are so well trained, that when fed shit, they say 'Thank you, sir, may I have another'. Passing time only confirms my opinion.
  In the future, I will refer to Billy-boy as "Not Really" O'Reilly. He deserves it.
 
 Note: See David Corn and Daniel Schulman in Mother Jones 2/19/15 and subsequent articles for Billy-boy's peccadilloes

The Luck of the Irish (It's Not All Good)

"There's no point in being Irish if you don't know the world's going to someday break your heart."

Daniel Patrick Moynihan
Quoted in Chris Matthews, Jack Kennedy, Elusive Hero

Remains of the Day

A double celebration of the day!

Today is the birthday of Albert Einstein.

We also celebrate March 14th as Pi Day.
As all of you know, Pi starts out: 3.14- thereby giving this day, 3/14, special significance to math-philes and science geeks. This particular March 14th, is even more wonderful. This is the year 2015, after all, and the next two digits of Pi are one, and five. So- 3/14/15 matches Pi to the fourth decimal place for the only time in the next one hundred years. Happy Pi Day- 3.1415 to you all!

Quote of the Post

" There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are."

Somerset Maugham

For my sister, the novelist.

Quote of the Post

" There is no place as forlorn as that where man once was established and busy, where the patient work of his hands is all round, but where silence has fallen like a secret so dense that you feel if it were not also so desperately invisible you could grasp a corner of it, lift the dark veil, and learn a little of what was the doom of those who have vanished. What happened to them?"

H.M. Tomlinson, The  Ruins, sketch, in Old Junk

The Thing That Counts

  The USAPATRIOT Act (yes, it's an acronym,) has provisions which will soon expire. I wait in vain for the whole fucking thing to die a well deserved death, but many seem to think that it keeps us safe, even at the expense of some of our Liberty.
  I would remind the cowards that the prime directive of our government is not to keep us safe at any cost. The prime directive of our government is to protect our freedom at any cost.

Cult of Emptiness

  ISIS is hollow, empty, and afraid. Very afraid. They have proven this beyond any doubt with their detestable destruction of ancient artifacts in the museum in Mosul, and now with the bulldozing of the ancient cities of Nimrud and Hatra.
  Destruction is the easiest thing in the world, and it is the cowards only choice; they hate what they cannot do themselves. To build requires courage. One must not only have the will and strength necessary, but the belief in the future and the bravery to shape it. Destruction is empty; it is hollow; and it is all the likes of ISIS possess. They join a long, sad, list of such: Nazis, Khmer Rouge, Mao's communists, and so many others that have proven themselves the truest barbarians.
  I cannot contain my anger at the wanton destruction of history- the celebration of ignorance that exists even in this country. Republicans have embraced the lowest common denominator of Human Knowledge as their standard. This is the first step toward destruction.
  ISIS kills and destroys out of fear. They have a creed that is no creed, but only vacuum. They will fail, and be destroyed, as is their only due. But what damage will they cause before then?

This post is a partial vent for an immense amount of steam. Maybe I will refine this in coming days, but I had to put down my utter contempt for these ghouls.

Quote of the Post

It Really Is Prologue

".... What used to be described as a thoughtless act of aggression was now regarded as the courage one would expect to find in a party member; to think of the future and wait was merely another way of saying one was a coward; any idea of moderation was just an attempt to disguise one's unmanly character; ability to understand a question from all sides meant that one was totally unfitted for action. Fanatical enthusiasm was the mark of a real man, and to plot against an enemy behind his back was perfectly legitimate self-defense. Anyone who held violent opinions could always be trusted, and anyone who objected to them became a suspect.... The plain way of looking at things, which is so much the mark of a noble nature, was regarded as a ridiculous quality and soon ceased to exist. Society became divided into camps in which no man trusted his fellow."
Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War
Quoted in: Thomas Cahill, Sailing the Wine Dark Sea: Why the Greeks Matter

Sound familiar?

The Cahill book is recommended on this blog, along with his others. He calls them 'The Hinges Of History', and I can't praise them highly enough.
Happy reading.