Capitalism - Feudalism without the King
Tax the Rich
Tax the Rich
Website Wednesday
Without having to read my rantings about the noise from war drums in the US, read Tom Engelhardt's column in Tom Dispatch, And Then There Was One: Delusional Thinking in the Age of the Single Superpower:
Tom nicely traces the history back to when the world knew the madness of superpowers up to the present day lunacy created by just one superpower (USA).
My approach to the world today is slightly different than his and I think Werner Herzog's remark about "cows in the fields" sums up my thoughts nicely. (Explanation below.) Engelhardt says that no way could George Orwell, who so presciently foresaw the uber-spying/uber-conflict world of today, have envisioned only one world superpower emerging in the future when he wrote 1984 in 1948, However, I put less emphasis on the importance of this only- one-superpower development than he does. Oh, I know it is very, very bad today that there is no gate-keeper providing the needed warning to the US of: Stop this nonsense or I will kick your ass. But I think whether there is one super-power, two super-powers, a zillion super-powers among humans, there are always enough bulls in the field seeing red and plotting violence at every turn and also so, so many cows in those same fields just watching them and munching grass.
A little explanation: Yesterday, I saw Burden of Dreams, the documentary on the making of Herzog's movie opus, Fitzcarraldo. The documentary showed the epic disaster that movie almost was. Filmed in the jungles of South America, bogged in by weather, tribal customs and clashes, ennui, war, and Murphy's Law, Herzog plodded on. At the end of the documentary he comments on this mad dream of his and says about himself, about all creative people: Without dreams we would be cows in a field. Which got me thinking: Maybe we should only breed creative people. After all, did you ever hear a war breaking out over two artists wanting to paint on the same easel? And such thoughts lead me to view this current insanity with horrified ennui because can we ever evolve out of the blood-thirst which seems always just below the surface of our species?
Upbeat picks today however, starting with:
Watch this kid paint. You'll realize fast that he must be a street painter but I'm amazed with his ease and confidence. Then after you're finished saying: Wow!, move on to one of my loves, designing in small spaces:
I am so impressed with what this guy did with that cube, but be sure to visit the whole site:
It's a current blog and I like their motto: finding comfort, style & dignity in small spaces. (Which may soon become the motto of NYC as they allow smaller and smaller apartments to be rented at exorbitant rates.)
This next one is a picture story:
with a wacky twist at the end so I will say no more. I don't know anything about this site, Limk, (you need to sign up) but this page is open and interesting.
This one is purely personal:
Fall is coming, the weather is changing and I have to re-decorate. Like geese going south, bears going night-night, I have to move furniture. In My Own Style gives me (and you) all sorts of ideas for re-doing your space - and stuff.
OK, this next one is probably personal also:
Because, for sure, I have got to start eating healthy again. You may need to block a chunk of time to read this blog but it looks interesting, healthy and is obviously, a labor of love. Of itself, it says: The George Mateljan Foundation, a not-for-profit foundation with no
commercial interests or advertising, is a new force for change to help
make a healthier you and a healthier world. I would have to spend a lifetime researching if all their facts are correct (they give you tons of info) but their staff has professional degrees. If you're health-minded, take a look; if, for no other reasons, they have recipes!
And finally, school is starting and in keeping with kids putting on their thinking caps after a long summer (though, with us, the summer was filled with school mandated work), here are free, online college courses, many of which are current:
I usually just listen to free, online, already finished courses so I get none of the class assignments. Here, it looks like you listen along with the class and get links to the reading assignments. You have to register for this site (if it's only the one page, it's a simple registration: name, e-mail and password ) but my jury's still out as to whether I'm going to register. (The NSA has so spooked me!) Take a look. There are a lot of very interesting courses from all over the world.
That's it for today. See you next week.
No comments:
Post a Comment