Cha Cha Cha Changes
by lizard
I’ve gone through some big changes the last few months, both professionally and personally, which makes now an ideal time to also change my approach to blogging. My first post on September 8th, 2010, was titled Poetry and Politics. In the last year I’ve essentially abandoned poetry and delved obsessively into geopolitics with a sprinkling of commentary on local issues. For now I think I’m done with that, especially the local stuff. Instead I’m going to refocus on poetry, which will probably mean less frequent posts.
I’ve appreciated seeing more posts from JC, and I hope he has the time and inclination to keep readers appraised of the nefarious developments of America’s goal of full spectrum dominance across the globe.
Pete Talbot has popped up as a contributor at Intelligent Discontent, writing a defense of the state of the fourth estate for his first ID post, a post that concludes with this:
I’ve been critical of my local paper and the print media in general, Lord knows. In the future, I’ll try not to pile on the reporters and editors. Being a journalist is a job and in a tight market, when you have a family to feed, one isn’t about to buck the system. They are doing their best to practice their craft under very trying conditions.
Freed from association with the pariah blog, I’m sure Pete will continue to illuminate ID readers about why people with jobs in a tight market are unwilling to buck the system that pays them.
I understand quite well why people must make compromises. For example, trying to work a system toward reform IRL while also trying to buck it online is like traversing a minefield sometimes.
So I’m going to write some poems. Stay tuned…
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4&20 blackbirds 
January 28, 2015 at 10:12 am
Well then, maybe this is a good time and place to share this:
The Unknown Citizen
W. H. Auden, 1907 – 1973
(To JS/07 M 378
This Marble Monument
Is Erected by the State)
He was found by the Bureau of Statistics to be
One against whom there was no official complaint,
And all the reports on his conduct agree
That, in the modern sense of an old-fashioned word, he was a
saint,
For in everything he did he served the Greater Community.
Except for the War till the day he retired
He worked in a factory and never got fired,
But satisfied his employers, Fudge Motors Inc.
Yet he wasn’t a scab or odd in his views,
For his Union reports that he paid his dues,
(Our report on his Union shows it was sound)
And our Social Psychology workers found
That he was popular with his mates and liked a drink.
The Press are convinced that he bought a paper every day
And that his reactions to advertisements were normal in every way.
Policies taken out in his name prove that he was fully insured,
And his Health-card shows he was once in hospital but left it cured.
Both Producers Research and High-Grade Living declare
He was fully sensible to the advantages of the Instalment Plan
And had everything necessary to the Modern Man,
A phonograph, a radio, a car and a frigidaire.
Our researchers into Public Opinion are content
That he held the proper opinions for the time of year;
When there was peace, he was for peace: when there was war, he went.
He was married and added five children to the population,
Which our Eugenist says was the right number for a parent of hisgeneration.
And our teachers report that he never interfered with their
education.
Was he free? Was he happy? The question is absurd:
Had anything been wrong, we should certainly have heard.
January 28, 2015 at 10:50 am
4&20 blackbirds
Blogging the politics and culture of Missoula and Montana and everywhere else beyond.
Perhaps you need to rephrase the purpose statement. BTW, why the petty, childish swipe at Pete? Also, are you attending law school now?
January 28, 2015 at 11:18 am
Perhaps it could be changed to Sounds and thoughts from the lyre atop Palatine. Nero would be so proud.
January 28, 2015 at 11:20 am
Craig, have you ever considered starting your own blog? You have lots of great ideas and advice for other people so what’s keeping you from taking your own advice?
Is it fear of failure?
January 28, 2015 at 12:41 pm
What makes you think that the posts here won’t continue to reflect the byline?
January 28, 2015 at 11:23 am
Pete jumping ship for Jonestown?
I hear the Kool-aid is mighty tasty over there.
January 28, 2015 at 11:34 am
Pete is making a case for not having moral courage. That’s so common, so easy, so few have it anyway. And ID is the perfect place for cowardice, as people who would confront him are banned.
Way to show up, Pete.
January 28, 2015 at 12:19 pm
Gosh, and you wonder why I don’t post here anymore?
January 28, 2015 at 12:45 pm
Because you are a moral coward?
January 28, 2015 at 2:21 pm
No, because you are an asshole.
January 28, 2015 at 2:25 pm
P.S. Look forward to seeing some new poetry, liz.
January 28, 2015 at 3:46 pm
refocusing will be good.
January 28, 2015 at 4:14 pm
I think I am closer to the truth than you. You’ve never contributed me with anything other than your faith based views
January 28, 2015 at 12:50 pm
I am tempted to put up the clip of Don Corleone slapping and shaking Johnny Fontaine and telling him “You can act like a man!”
But I won’t.
January 28, 2015 at 4:34 pm
Back during Reagan’s Central American wars, Chomsky referred to the American public as “deeply indoctrinated,” and that has always stuck with me. Inability to process evidence, faith-based belief in trusted sources, even when wildly illogical, and anger when they are exposed to contradictory evidence. They are usually unable to even glance at anything they might disagree with. That’s brainwashing, but the product of deep immersion in schooling, news, entertainment and groupthink. It has yielded the most docile and easily fooled population, perhaps in human history.
But there is also a need to belong, to feel accepted, and to have mutual support of like-minded people. People are far more concerned about group acceptance than seeking truth. There are only a few of us, maybe 5-10% of the population, that can transcend the nonsense, and even fewer who can endure the ridicule that goes with it.
Just is that way.
January 30, 2015 at 6:56 pm
Your blind faith in the idea that your intellect or courage are superior to those of others is as ludicrous as any belief system out there. While mainstream America might not share your passion for conspiracy hokum or geopolitical speculation, it is not due to cowardice or a lack of intelligence. It is merely a question of priorities. The only way in which you are exceptional is in your arrogance.
January 29, 2015 at 8:28 am
Could you say Islamic extremists are “deeply indoctrinated”?
January 29, 2015 at 10:14 am
Not so much as you.
The greatest force for terror on the planet is American foreign policy. This is supported by massive evidence, but hidden from view by the American propaganda system. Muslims everywhere know this because they have been invaded, bombed and tortured by Americans. They get their information delivered by thugs with guns.
Along comes a deeply indoctrinated American who calls those who fight back “Islamic extremists”, and I think, quite easily, this this country is clinically insane.
January 29, 2015 at 3:04 pm
Too bad you can’t stay where you’re at.
You’re too old (54 or younger) and you need 3.5M NZD to qualify as an investor applicant for citizenship.