The Home of the Reactionaries

What are you? a man or a mouse

2012-01-20T14:00:00.000-08:00

2 old boys sitting around a supper table laden with cheese, crackers and wine , getting deep and personal; the discussion becoming a little fast and loose
"you know what your problem is mate!" the good old friend bursts out mate. "You're too weak - you don't stand up to her ... and to others'.
Agitated the other moves uncomfortably and says " I am not , I am not a woose"
" well what about the other day when that you let the kids have Mackas for the fifth time in a row ?"(sic)
"Yeah well"
"Yeah well what - what are you - a man or a mouse .....really"
"Dunno" but firmly putting hand to mouth "this cheese sure tastes good".

Hitchens on the drip feed

2010-07-13T16:53:00.000-07:00

Yes , reactionaries ( "contrarian" if you want to pussyfoot) like Hitchens don't like the truth - the reminder that their ticket to ride ( being noticed and read) is not authorship, but the use of someone else's ideas as their bouncing off point ..Paradox there somewhere? - hitches a ride. Hitch 22

It seems to me that the moral justification for being contrary is that " nothing is certain ", but such an argument doesn't cut very deep( and goes to the heart of much modern confusion ?).
As he said on FTBookclub last night, he was reasonably certain that nothing is certain , and that fact ( der?) presumably that made him feel like he no longer needed to change his opinion and focus on that subject.
This old greek circular stuff may keep some brains ticking over , but it gives me, as a scientist who needs to come to a conclusion each hour, an unproductive headache -especially with concepts and big picture stuff . Give me a Hebrew starting point to the day anyday) http://thinkhebrew/.blogspot.com
Is there much to learn from his book ? Hitch-22 His interview on ABC with Jennifer Byrne nearly sent me to sleep.

The real limits of Libertarian Fundamentalism

2009-06-02T16:39:00.000-07:00

Real leaders can say No. Politicians need to say No, occassionally - for their very survival.
Father Christmas Kevin, is after all, a bit of fiction that can't last.
Even more important, Political parties who want to be real and keep impacting in the places from which they are paid , need to a rationale de politica to say no.

Labor libertarians just can't say no - neither in practice , nor in theory .
Libertarian Fundamentalism leads directly to woosiness - time Labor made that connection so they have some hope of exorcising it from the kindergarten games of politik celestia a that will lose them office .
After all, sometimes politics demands real protection - real protection for children. Protection for those who have no voice from those who want what they want.
Real leaders need to say no on behalf of children of the future - the no-name children . Those who identity is not ONE name ( the unity in diversity that is the right of every child growing up in a family) --but a nothing name. see the particular issue of giving adults rights over children in Victoria here

Warning signs

2009-05-26T05:10:00.000-07:00

When policy is made on the run? No that's harder to pick than when the media run the message and when the polys are on the run.
When people panic is preceeded by poly panic.