Notes from “Noteflix’s production of “Troubles in the Garden”: The above photo is a ‘Tableau (though Stuffed) Vivant’ of the ‘Consider the Birds of the Air – who neither sow nor reap’ idea. Here, our Hero the Bluebird of Happiness and his love, Mamzelle Pinkie are enjoying life and not worrying about a thing. This is their Number One Priority in life. But wait! What is that purple slug doing, lurking about, in the upper left? More, next week.
VOCABULARY UPDATE:
- DOXING: The disclosure online, of personal information and directing it to friends and employers, etc. A non-violent response to violent behavior. For example if you had a friend who broke into, lets’s say, The U.S. Capitol building with an automatic machine gun…if you had a picture of him or her doing that – and you sent that picture out to his or her friends and employer and maybe the police, even…if you did that you would be DOXING. So far, DOXING is legal, so go for it.
- PRESBYOPIA: Once, a medical term describing the inability to see things up close. Now, it is used metaphorically; for example people who do not recognize Climate Change when rising waters flood their homes where waters never came before WORDY. Or those Climate Change Deniers who suddenly find they need air-conditioners in their homes when only a few years ago the temperatures never went above 70. Now the temperatures are in the low 100. Or when people hear a man lie to them over thirty thousand times, yet they still believe in his every next word. The inability to see things up close: At present there is no known cure, no vaccine, no nothing for this affliction – yet it is running wild throughout the land.
- THE 25-5 RULE: Though this post is not a ‘Self-help’ guide, I cannot resist telling you about this ‘Rule’ …as it is attributed to Warren Buffett, who has helped himself a great deal. Here is what he says: Make a prioritized list of 25 things you want to do in life. Then look at that list. Then circle the top five on the list. Then eliminate the other (lower) 20. Warren says the ‘other’ 20 are a distraction and will get in the way of your focusing on the top five. Apparently several people have worked this program and have found it helpful in attaining goals and enhancing Emotional Intelligence. If you do not know what ‘Emotional Intelligence” is, you are probably working on the lower 20.
- EXTRACTIVE ECONOMIES: This is the economist’s term for nations, states, or locations which make their money by taking ‘things’ out of the land. This is another name for: Texas, West Virginia, Wyoming – to name a few. They can be more economically powerful than their neighboring CONSUMER ECONOMIES (which used to rule the day). Warning: The EXTRACTIVE ECONOMIES focus on the top one thing they want to do…and they have the edge on you because they are focused.
- FLUID: The word ‘Du Jour…as in “The situation is FLUID“. I’ve heard and seen this term used in the news recently. It connotes changing activity in the subject being discussed as well as the narrator not knowing exactly what is going on. For example, this week: “Some buildings in Miami are in a FLUID state,” and “The make-up of an investigating committee on the Jan 6 riot is FLUID“, and “…Whether we can, or cannot, teach our children about our past is FLUID.“Just when you think you have a grip on life, something goes FLUID and you can’t concentrate on what you really want to do because you find out you have been told something – when you were a child – about your nation’s past that you were too young to know about. (I know that was a convoluted sentence, but I’ve lost focus.)
- “…NOT NOW”: Mort Sahl (’50s Stand-up, political comedian), said “Conservatives believe in reform; but NOT NOW.” That was funny then; but the situation has become FLUID and I think the present day Conservatives believe in “Reform: NOT NOW – NOT EVER“…because reform is economically infeasible. Show me I’m wrong.
- DO THE RIGHT THING: Sir Winston Churchill said Americans could always be counted upon to DO THE RIGHT THING – after exhausting all other possibilities.” My question is: Are we there, yet? Have we exhausted our lower 20?
And now, a different Point of View from our guest columnist: MATHUZALA:
MATHUZALA SPEAKS:
“Tests show: Ginkgo Biloba extract, in large doses, causes cancer in lab rats. How did the extract get there? We developed tumors, liver problems and thyroid issues; because of your ‘studies’. Our memories were not affected, however. Wait until you see the results of our Revenge Experiments, which are taking place as I speak.”
(Ed. Note: One may think it odd we publish this segment weekly, but you might be interested in this fact: A picture of Einstein’s brain is on display at the NIH – and it looks exactly like the picture of MATHUZALA’s brain that was taken after one of the last experiments done on him. For more about this subject, go to Amazon or Barnes & Noble and buy THE RAT PAPERS.)
And now a few quotes:
- “Liberals feel unworthy of their possessions. conservatives feel they deserve everything they steal.” -Mort Sahl.
- “Every word he says is a lie, including ‘And’ and ‘The’…” This has never been said before. But it could be said about somebody you have been listening to in recent years. The phrase is a corruption of what the critic Mary McCarthy said about the writer Lillian Hellman; “Every word she writes is a lie, including ‘And’ and ‘The’.”
- “History is little more than the register of crimes, follies, and misfortunes of mankind.” – E. Gibbon, “The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire”. (So, what is the harm in teaching it?
