Psycho-Babble Politics Thread 1106285

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Re: Why Western Civilisation is better » sigismund

Posted by beckett2 on November 21, 2019, at 19:03:48

In reply to Why Western Civilisation is better, posted by sigismund on November 21, 2019, at 17:24:23

> Gore Vidal said he'd kept a photo of JFK above his desk as a warning against charm. His rhetoric? Pretty dreadful. Obama made good speeches. I loved the one in Alexandria, FWIW which is nothing. I lost faith during Deepwater Horizon. So going back from the current occupant, Obama, ohhh, GWB. Well that was the roadblock. His main virtue was his avoidance of empathy, and cultivation of personal virtue. I don't know. If sufficient people demand lies and groups to scapegoat? I like the one from his father used after the shooting down by the US of the Iranian passenger jet. 'I won't apologise the the United Stares of America. Ever. I don't care what the facts are.' Is this Sam Harris's fight with Chomsky about body counts?
>
> Robert Kagan? (full of that 'Rules Based International Order? Samantha Powers?) HRC? This is cloud cuckoo.
>
> So my general enquiry is why can we not do better? Why do we need Putin and Xi to speak something like the rough truth. (Because we live in a fantasy world?) If I was to speak like this here I would immediately be asked about Crimea and Xinjiang. If I were to praise Duterte's thought I would not be asked very much. The power of truth when Putin asked of the US at the UN 'Can't you see what you have done?' (Now I'll have to defend him! This isn't exactly racism, but we have no good words.) FDR had it, and that is 80 years ago.

You know I love Obama, although my eyes are washed of stardust. A complaint leveled at him was he apologized for the US too much. On GWB, his claim, compassionate conservatism, sparked (in part) the Tea Party (if I recall correctly). Too much compassion and humility!


Oh, I see what you're saying, maybe. That the presence of Putin and Xi are an insult to the narcissism of the west, therefore any praise or even lack of criticism is not permitted?

 

Re: Why Western Civilisation is better

Posted by sigismund on November 22, 2019, at 14:00:44

In reply to Re: Why Western Civilisation is better » sigismund, posted by beckett2 on November 21, 2019, at 19:03:48

> That the presence of Putin and Xi are an insult to the narcissism of the west

That sounds right. (I didn't know what I was trying to say.) As is the existence of Russia and China as anything other than balkanised states in need of colour revolutions and western advice on the creation of democracy and (ahem) free markets. Now really! You can already hear them laughing.

 

The apocalypse in Australia will be sepia

Posted by sigismund on November 22, 2019, at 14:12:55

In reply to Re: Why Western Civilisation is better, posted by sigismund on November 22, 2019, at 14:00:44

Fox drags the Overton Window to the right (Tucker?) I know, but the MSM in the US amazes me.

I am not an expert on RT but I have watched some of it.....Chris Hedges and Empire Files are maybe on there. I don't know about Grayzone? What makes MSNBC tick? The idea is that MSNBC has been infected by cultural marxism? Seperate toilets for the transgendered? Is that cultural marxism? Is Jordan Peterson the reaction to Rachel Maddow? (Just typing that exhausted my interest.)

Why should the NYT oppose Evo Morales or Lula de Silva who, like the PRC, lifted a good many out of poverty.

 

Re: The apocalypse in Australia will be sepia » sigismund

Posted by beckett2 on November 24, 2019, at 12:46:12

In reply to The apocalypse in Australia will be sepia, posted by sigismund on November 22, 2019, at 14:12:55

> Fox drags the Overton Window to the right (Tucker?) I know, but the MSM in the US amazes me.

I was unfamiliar with the Overton Window. I'm pondering on this....

 

Re: The apocalypse in Australia will be sepia

Posted by sigismund on November 24, 2019, at 21:12:27

In reply to Re: The apocalypse in Australia will be sepia » sigismund, posted by beckett2 on November 24, 2019, at 12:46:12

It's just the range of acceptable opinion. (I think) Trump does not fit into the Overton Window, whereas war with Russia does. (Can this be right?)

'If you switch on television it's just ridiculous and it's destructive. It kills us and talk shows will kill us, they kill our language.
So we have to declare holy war against every image we see every day on television.' Werner Herzog

I'd like to have seen more of his films.

 

Re: The apocalypse in Australia will be sepia

Posted by sigismund on November 24, 2019, at 21:25:15

In reply to Re: The apocalypse in Australia will be sepia, posted by sigismund on November 24, 2019, at 21:12:27

In one of his cartoons about tear gassing aboriginal kids in detention in the northern Territory FDOTM has a building, a store, with signs saying things like 'Overton Windows Sold Here!' and Buy your teargas here!'.

 

Re: The apocalypse in Australia will be sepia

Posted by sigismund on November 25, 2019, at 16:19:38

In reply to Re: The apocalypse in Australia will be sepia, posted by sigismund on November 24, 2019, at 21:25:15

FDOTM

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/nov/25/ecoterrorism-maybe-we-should-start-with-ringing-the-doorbell-of-a-mining-magnates-house

 

Re: The apocalypse in Australia will be sepia

Posted by sigismund on November 25, 2019, at 16:27:09

In reply to Re: The apocalypse in Australia will be sepia, posted by sigismund on November 25, 2019, at 16:19:38

Some years ago there were dead shearwaters along the beach for hundreds of miles. I wondered if they were used to catching small fish from time to time, and this time there were none. They fly from Siberia and back every year.

 

Re: The apocalypse in Australia will be sepia » sigismund

Posted by beckett2 on November 25, 2019, at 18:09:17

In reply to Re: The apocalypse in Australia will be sepia, posted by sigismund on November 25, 2019, at 16:27:09

I thought the shearwaters did not arrive on time this year. Did they arrive?

 

Re: The apocalypse in Australia will be sepia

Posted by sigismund on November 25, 2019, at 21:01:40

In reply to Re: The apocalypse in Australia will be sepia » sigismund, posted by beckett2 on November 25, 2019, at 18:09:17

No, I don't know. The dead shearwaters were from years ago. He's pretty well informed though.

This is unnecessarily depressing. It's unpleasant to be outside with the hot wind and everything shrivelling up. Hey? you know that lump of coal shellacked to keep their hands clean? That was given to Scomo by the head of the Minerals Council, and that man now has an important position in the PMs office. And then there's the bloody rapture. If you can avoid finding this depressing I'd want to know why. People taking the last 2 cows out to shoot them because there is no water.

 

Re: The apocalypse in Australia will be sepia » sigismund

Posted by beckett2 on November 25, 2019, at 21:16:28

In reply to Re: The apocalypse in Australia will be sepia, posted by sigismund on November 24, 2019, at 21:12:27

> It's just the range of acceptable opinion. (I think) Trump does not fit into the Overton Window, whereas war with Russia does. (Can this be right?)
>
> 'If you switch on television it's just ridiculous and it's destructive. It kills us and talk shows will kill us, they kill our language.
> So we have to declare holy war against every image we see every day on television.' Werner Herzog
>
> I'd like to have seen more of his films.

You can see him as an actor in The Mandalorian :) His gravitas is used to frightening effect.

When I watched the impeachment hearings (some of them), I streamed them from the NYT which provides very little commentaryl. Avoiding the cable news shows and commentary etc was the way to go. Cleaner. I other words, I agree.

Is the Herzog quote from an interview?

 

Re: The apocalypse in Australia will be sepia » sigismund

Posted by beckett2 on November 25, 2019, at 21:25:07

In reply to Re: The apocalypse in Australia will be sepia, posted by sigismund on November 25, 2019, at 21:01:40

> No, I don't know. The dead shearwaters were from years ago. He's pretty well informed though.
>
> This is unnecessarily depressing. It's unpleasant to be outside with the hot wind and everything shrivelling up. Hey? you know that lump of coal shellacked to keep their hands clean? That was given to Scomo by the head of the Minerals Council, and that man now has an important position in the PMs office. And then there's the bloody rapture. If you can avoid finding this depressing I'd want to know why. People taking the last 2 cows out to shoot them because there is no water.

Oh. Is this what you're referring to : https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/nov/24/alaska-australia-anxious-observers-fear-mass-shearwater-deaths

I read a Guardian report earlier this year (that they weren't arriving on time.) This update makes me nauseous. I haven't read all of it. Left open a tab for later.

 

Re: The apocalypse in Australia will be sepia » beckett2

Posted by beckett2 on November 25, 2019, at 21:33:43

In reply to Re: The apocalypse in Australia will be sepia » sigismund, posted by beckett2 on November 25, 2019, at 21:25:07

> > No, I don't know. The dead shearwaters were from years ago. He's pretty well informed though.
> >
> > This is unnecessarily depressing. It's unpleasant to be outside with the hot wind and everything shrivelling up. Hey? you know that lump of coal shellacked to keep their hands clean? That was given to Scomo by the head of the Minerals Council, and that man now has an important position in the PMs office. And then there's the bloody rapture. If you can avoid finding this depressing I'd want to know why. People taking the last 2 cows out to shoot them because there is no water.
>
> Oh. Is this what you're referring to : https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/nov/24/alaska-australia-anxious-observers-fear-mass-shearwater-deaths
>
> I read a Guardian report earlier this year (that they weren't arriving on time.) This update makes me nauseous. I haven't read all of it. Left open a tab for later.
>


Last winter (our winter, sorry) was the flooding? I'm really very sorry sigi. I had hoped the poor cattle would have been sorted out. So it's back to drought? (That was in Queensland, if I recall correctly. My knowledge of Australia is getting better.)

We should be getting the first real rain of the season-- very late. Last winter was wonderful. Almost like I recall. We'd need twenty more to break even. There was even fog! Though not enough. Redwoods create (or did) their own atmosphere or at least require it, which is fog.

 

Re: The apocalypse in Australia will be sepia

Posted by sigismund on November 27, 2019, at 20:55:08

In reply to Re: The apocalypse in Australia will be sepia » sigismund, posted by beckett2 on November 25, 2019, at 21:16:28

>Is the Herzog quote from an interview?

It was from a YouTube 30 minute film about all his films. It is a quote.

 

Re: The apocalypse in Australia will be sepia

Posted by sigismund on November 27, 2019, at 21:05:36

In reply to Re: The apocalypse in Australia will be sepia » beckett2, posted by beckett2 on November 25, 2019, at 21:33:43

Right. I didn't know that about the fog where you are.

The Liberal Party is in a difficult position. They market the coal and police the discussion while the country waits to burn. But everybody knows. This is like waiting for the avalanche. We don't know when or how it will come. They could make a virtue of this if they could seize the debate and turn it to their favour, but they misunderestimate the public.

 

Re: The apocalypse in Australia will be sepia » sigismund

Posted by beckett2 on November 27, 2019, at 23:10:47

In reply to Re: The apocalypse in Australia will be sepia, posted by sigismund on November 27, 2019, at 21:05:36

It may be we've officially reached the climate tipping point.

Earlier this evening I read about a study showing mountain lions in the Monterey Bay are being harmed by mercury from coal burning carried from the ocean by fog and carried onto land.

Unknown amounts of toxins in circulation.

 

Re: The apocalypse in Australia will be sepia

Posted by sigismund on December 1, 2019, at 3:41:13

In reply to Re: The apocalypse in Australia will be sepia » sigismund, posted by beckett2 on November 27, 2019, at 23:10:47

New and unusual cancers around from chemicals of which we know very little.

I'm not at home but I heard we may have had half an inch of rain.

 

Re: The apocalypse in Australia will be sepia » sigismund

Posted by beckett2 on December 3, 2019, at 13:13:33

In reply to Re: The apocalypse in Australia will be sepia, posted by sigismund on December 1, 2019, at 3:41:13

I'm worried about your bushfires. I'm hoping some rain arrives. Wasn't there a storm last week?

 

Re: The apocalypse in Australia will be sepia

Posted by sigismund on December 4, 2019, at 1:06:11

In reply to Re: The apocalypse in Australia will be sepia » sigismund, posted by beckett2 on December 3, 2019, at 13:13:33

Right here we had an inch of rain, but it wasn't widespread and I doubt it went far inland. That keeps the wolf from the door for the moment.

The fires are normally worse down south in the drier eucalyptus forests. So far so good. The Guardian had an article about continental fires, and for the first time I could imagine it, just as I can now easily imagine the rainforest burning. Maybe that will happen? The forest will dry and then burn? They talk about the Amazon turning into savannah.

 

Re: The apocalypse in Australia will be sepia » sigismund

Posted by beckett2 on December 5, 2019, at 21:27:23

In reply to Re: The apocalypse in Australia will be sepia, posted by sigismund on December 4, 2019, at 1:06:11

Is South Australia similar to parts of California, grassy with eucalypts? Today's footage of the bushfires reminds me of here.

 

Re: The apocalypse in Australia will be sepia

Posted by sigismund on December 6, 2019, at 1:42:56

In reply to Re: The apocalypse in Australia will be sepia » sigismund, posted by beckett2 on December 5, 2019, at 21:27:23

South Australia is dry and hot in the north of that state. There is this strange place called Wilpena Pound there in the Flinders Ranges. That was once sheep country.

Apparently the smoke haze goes 300 miles out. It has been almost a month of smoke, though those rainforest fires were much earlier. The afternoon light is yellow or orange, a bit like it is just before a big storm. Will this lead to some sort of change in the politics? It no longer seems (remotely) convincing to blame it on the greenies or young people eating smashed avocado and drinking lattes.

 

Re: The apocalypse in Australia will be sepia » sigismund

Posted by beckett2 on December 6, 2019, at 10:05:34

In reply to Re: The apocalypse in Australia will be sepia, posted by sigismund on December 6, 2019, at 1:42:56

> South Australia is dry and hot in the north of that state. There is this strange place called Wilpena Pound there in the Flinders Ranges. That was once sheep country.
>
> Apparently the smoke haze goes 300 miles out. It has been almost a month of smoke, though those rainforest fires were much earlier. The afternoon light is yellow or orange, a bit like it is just before a big storm. Will this lead to some sort of change in the politics? It no longer seems (remotely) convincing to blame it on the greenies or young people eating smashed avocado and drinking lattes.

Blame it on the greenies? Because they are the messangers? Ffs.


The koalas :(


 

Re: The apocalypse in Australia will be sepia

Posted by sigismund on December 6, 2019, at 13:49:47

In reply to Re: The apocalypse in Australia will be sepia » sigismund, posted by beckett2 on December 6, 2019, at 10:05:34

>Because they are the messangers? Ffs.

There has not been enough back burning, mainly because there is no safe season in which to do it. People who are green love nature. There's too much of it and it is burning. So it is their fault.

Doesn't seem very impressive when I put it like that.

If you can smell the burning then the fire is close enough. Normally that's not the case.

There was a letter to the Sydney Morning g Herald once reminding greenies that wind farms may actually increase global warming by slowing down the earth's rotation, and which could, at an extreme, throw the earth off its axis.

 

Re: The apocalypse in Australia will be sepia

Posted by sigismund on December 6, 2019, at 13:55:15

In reply to Re: The apocalypse in Australia will be sepia, posted by sigismund on December 6, 2019, at 13:49:47

Let's see.....

http://google.org/crisismap/australia

 

Re: The apocalypse in Australia will be sepia

Posted by sigismund on December 6, 2019, at 13:57:32

In reply to Re: The apocalypse in Australia will be sepia, posted by sigismund on December 6, 2019, at 13:55:15

Normally the worst summer fires are in the south below Sydney, especially Victoria. Maybe it rained there?


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