Althouse: "A woman in an airport bathroom who, I felt, had addressed my daughter Julia with an unforgivable tone of officiousness and disdain..."

March 6, 2009

"A woman in an airport bathroom who, I felt, had addressed my daughter Julia with an unforgivable tone of officiousness and disdain..."

Oh, the things that have become unforgivable.

83 comments:

Michael Haz said...: Judith Warner's children will grow to hate her and require many hours of expensive therapy during their adolescence.

As adults, they will put Judith in a nursing home in New York, then move to Seattle.

Judith will spend her last years chanting Buddhist meditations in Hebrew, leaving comments on her grandchildrens' Facebook pages and wondering why no one visits.

But no one will address her with an unforgivable tone of officiousness and disdain.; 3/6/09, 8:26 PM
blake said...: I'm blissfully unaware of this "mindfulness" thing.

But it does make me think people are missing the point about Buddhism.; 3/6/09, 8:38 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: Well.. there you have it.. The French do it so much better.; 3/6/09, 8:45 PM
Eli Blake said...: Hey, at least she didn't ask a border patrol officer to be polite.; 3/6/09, 8:48 PM
Anton said...: "Let me just correct you on a few things. Aristotle was not Belgian. The central tenet of Buddhism is not 'every man for himself', and the London Underground is not a political movement. Those are all mistakes, Otto. I looked them up." (A Fish Called Wanda); 3/6/09, 8:57 PM
The Crack Emcee said...: Warner's dancing around the real issues as much as possible - tapping as fast as she can - but here's the pull-quote I'm using tomorrow:

"The truth is, however admirable mindfulness may be, however much peace, grounding, stability and self-acceptance it can bring, as an experience to be shared, it’s stultifyingly boring.

I’ve also come to wonder if something desirably human is being lost in all this new and improved selfhood. That is to say: an edge. That little bit of raggedness that for some of us is really the heart of what makes us human."

Which is one of the main points I've been pounding home, to the disdain of the believers, since I started my blog: they've got a box of rocks, thinking they've bought a stereo - cheap. And insisting - demanding - everyone else must follow their lead.

Considering all the terrible consequences that flow from this philosophy - divorces, death, quackery, ruthlessness - and all with that solipcism Warner mentions (an added-on Alice In Wonderland-quality that believers ignore, or think is cute, but is troubling and much-too-obvious to outsiders) - NewAge has to be the biggest con of our lifetimes.; 3/6/09, 9:00 PM
The Crack Emcee said...: Buddhism's a joke as well.; 3/6/09, 9:02 PM
The Crack Emcee said...: And I lived in France and found, once you live in their idea of philosophy, they're nuts too.

That's it, kids. I'm done.; 3/6/09, 9:03 PM
J.R. said...: Isn't this the same woman that was intimidated by people responding positively to Sarah Palin?

She's an empty-headed fool.; 3/6/09, 9:04 PM
J.R. said...: Isn't this the same woman that was intimidated by people responding positively to Sarah Palin?

She's an empty-headed fool.; 3/6/09, 9:04 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: I guess my mothers way of handling stress was kind of old fashion...

Mother divorced my father b4 I even knew who she was...

Oh wait - she says its Reagan's Fault now.; 3/6/09, 9:05 PM
TitusLikesALotOf said...: I will tell you what is unforgivable fellow republicans.

Someone farted on my side on the subway today.

I felt the vibration, heard it, and then smelt it.

It was disgusting.

I said to the fellow passenger, "well I have never".; 3/6/09, 9:11 PM
blake said...: Crack Emcee notwithstanding, you might want to look up what the Buddha had to say about karma.; 3/6/09, 9:14 PM
TitusLikesALotOf said...: Can you refer to me as Pendavaris now? I legally changed my name.

You can shorten it to Pendy Wendy or Darvy Marvy if you like but my full name is now Pendarvis.

Thanks clams.; 3/6/09, 9:19 PM
traditionalguy said...: Buddha was a troubled soul who checked out and then was not troubled anymore. He was not there anymore either.That sounds like the waste of a perfectly good man. Crack is right as usual.; 3/6/09, 9:23 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: I will tell you what is unforgivable fellow republicans.

Titus is a dittohead?

BTW The Terry Gross Gene Simmons Interview is every archive must have.

It was really odd to think that it was not live and yet they decided to go ahead and put it on the air.; 3/6/09, 9:26 PM
Emily Carson said...: Titus:

There is a guy whose wife is named Wendy.

So he decides to surprise her and has her name tattooed on his organ. When he is aroused she sees her whole name there but when he is not aroused, all that shows is the W and the y.

So one day he is in a public restroom using one of those water trough type urinals. The guy standing next to him also has a W and a y on his organ. So he remarks to the other guy, "I guess your wife is named Wendy, too?"

The other guy answers, "Why do you say that?"

The first guy answers by pointing to the W and the y on his organ and explaining that he has the same tattoo, and when it is extended his wife can read her name.

The other guy answers, "No, actually mine says 'When travelling through the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in North Carolina please drive courteously and have a nice day."; 3/6/09, 9:28 PM
Peter V. Bella said...: My normal response to people who commit some kind of transgression upon me is go fuck yourself. God forbid you address my child in any type of a disparaging tone. I get more vulgar, obscene, profane, and scatalogical.

I usually feel so much better afterward.; 3/6/09, 9:36 PM
traditionalguy said...: Peter... Free speech-nothing like it.; 3/6/09, 9:38 PM
Peter V. Bella said...: I heard on the news today that the Crack head in chief had the former crack whore- Oprah- at the White House. How nice. I'll bet she got a better reception than the British Prime Minister.; 3/6/09, 9:41 PM
Methadras said...: What a load of pretentious crap. These woman and their new agey buzz word bullshit.; 3/6/09, 9:42 PM
Chip Ahoy said...: Today an attractive but wild-ass aggressive woman driver shook her fist at me and cursed me. Weather was nice and windows down. My move prevented her from making a broad swooping right turn in front of me taking up all three lanes instead of a demure and proper one-lane right turn which would have left an entire lane between us. Flat pissed her off because she really really wanted my lane Then, when we were driving next to each other, she refused to look at me smiling at her. We were totally "in the moment." I laugh at her anger. It goes like this: Ha ha ha ha ha.; 3/6/09, 9:50 PM
Anonymous said...: "Mindfulness" seems an odd name for it. I achieve pretty much the same results by not giving a fuck.; 3/6/09, 9:51 PM
traditionalguy said...: When you out grow traditional Christianity you become fair game for the re-cycled deception of the month. So just look pleasant and keep moving in all bathrooms. The gift of Christianity is Peace.No one can make you stop loving, so love is also real freedom. Good night, Spring break travel begins in the early AM.; 3/6/09, 9:56 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: Listening to it again it appears that "an unforgivable tone of officiousness and disdain" is waht set Gene Simmons off.

Coincidentally.; 3/6/09, 10:01 PM
J. Cricket said...: Oh, come on! You threw a sissy-fit and blogged about it over something just as small in an airport last year.

Has the diva forgotten about that pathetic display?; 3/6/09, 10:07 PM
Maxine Weiss said...: Yeah, but she'll have to chop her head off once she reads all the worse things said about her-- scrawled on the bathroom walls .; 3/6/09, 10:14 PM
fivewheels said...: Seriously, what could have possibly sparked a conversation -- officious or otherwise -- between an adult and a child in an airport bathroom?

Is it giving in to stereotypes if one's first guess is that the child was misbehaving in a way that demanded some kind of response from someone, but that a muddle-headed new-agey type of parent wouldn't recognize?; 3/6/09, 10:17 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: Simmons - How do you like this interview so far?

Gross - I think it's kind of a drag because you are making speches... and you are being intentionally obnoxious... thats what I mean... by defining every thing that you are saying as being a man.

I know I should get my own blog... whatever.; 3/6/09, 10:20 PM
Cabbage said...: Seriously, what could have possibly sparked a conversation -- officious or otherwise -- between an adult and a child in an airport bathroom?

Simple, her kid was acting like a self-actualized little jerk, and a more traditional-minded adult took to scolding.; 3/6/09, 10:33 PM
The Dude said...: I heard Oprah was stopped at the airport - they found 40 pounds of crack in her underwear.

Ok, I heard that joke in '86 or so, back when she was fat. Then she was skinny. Rinse, repeat.; 3/6/09, 10:42 PM
BJM said...: Chip, a couple of years ago I was driving back to the office from lunch and was merging into a right hand turn lane when an asshat in a van roared up on my bumper, pulled up next to me, honking his horn and flipping me off. I smiled which really pissed him off and he threat swerved as he careened around me.

Fifteen minutes later he walks into my office, copier sample case in hand, his big cheesy smile fading as he realizes where he's seen me.

"Don't even think about about it." I said.

He turned and bolted for the door.

Karma's a bitch.; 3/6/09, 10:52 PM
Maxine Weiss said...: Proper conversation to engage in, whilst having a bowel movement.....

1._______

????; 3/6/09, 10:53 PM
Jason (the commenter) said...: Bland is the new black.; 3/6/09, 10:56 PM
Awesome said...: Hell is Judith Warner.; 3/6/09, 11:01 PM
The Dude said...: Maxine Weiss said...
Proper conversation to engage in, whilst having a bowel movement.....

1. Hey, look, I just shit a huge fucking Maxine in the toilet! Call Titus!; 3/6/09, 11:05 PM
Dust Bunny Queen said...: Her child was probably a pretentious brat and needed to be slapped, but the woman who was officious and disdainful decided not to go to jail.

Good God. What a self absorbed twit.; 3/6/09, 11:11 PM
Awesome said...: I keep imagining all the nodding heads of of the people reading that Judith Warner crap and recognizing themselves in it. Ugh! I bet she voted for Obama too!; 3/6/09, 11:13 PM
former law student said...: To each her own, but I decided a while back that life is too short to spend time reading Judith Warner.

Pendarvis

Didn't he write for the Times of London? A restaurant critic or some such?; 3/6/09, 11:29 PM
TitusLikesALotOf said...: I just came back from a fabulous dindin. I feel fat.

I need to get to the gym tomorrow.

Tanky weather is almost upon us.

I will see tankys tomorrow.

Pendarvis.; 3/6/09, 11:32 PM
former law student said...: An aside: Does anyone else's mouth water when they see that delicious-looking leg of lamb in the PETA blog ad?

I should buy one, debone it, and cut it up for Irish stew for St. Paddy's day.; 3/6/09, 11:40 PM
Roberto said...: Small minds.

Anybody who thinks anybody on this blog site would spend ten seconds considering anything other than what they already believe or understand...is a "regular."

As in:

"I'm blissfully unaware of this "mindfulness" thing."

"Judith Warner's children will grow to hate her and require many hours of expensive therapy during their adolescence."

My favorite: "Buddhism's a joke as well." (DUH)

"And I lived in France and found, once you live in their idea of philosophy, they're nuts too." (DUH)

"What a load of pretentious crap. These woman and their new agey buzz word bullshit."

"Good God. What a self absorbed twit."; 3/7/09, 12:00 AM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: Tanky weather is almost upon us.

Well Titus.. you are in big trouble.. as you know Althouse doesn't like man in shorts.

Me?.. I would never ;); 3/7/09, 12:03 AM
Revenant said...: Hey, at least she didn't ask a border patrol officer to be polite.

Or, more accurately, repeatedly disobey a lawful order to turn off his car.

Sounds like Canadians need to learn proper police etiquette. :); 3/7/09, 12:03 AM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: Hey, at least she didn't ask a border patrol officer to be polite.

Or strangers in the web HELP! My toddler hits herself in the head, repeatedly.?

Btw - I've been told I used to do this as a toddler.; 3/7/09, 12:13 AM
theobromophile said...: Oh, I don't know if Warner's kid was being a brat in the airport. In my experience, bratty kids tend to get angry and irritated responses from adults, whereas kids who are being kids - wandering about a bit lost, taking too long to wash their hands, inadvertently getting in someone's way, etc - get the officious responses.; 3/7/09, 12:26 AM
Beth said...: It is good and fitting that children encounter adults who are not their parents and who scare the crap out of then once in awhile. That's socialization. And it's fun for the adults.; 3/7/09, 12:32 AM
Penny said...: Finding "peace" in your own way in any moment hurts who exactly?; 3/7/09, 1:01 AM
blake said...: As high as the odds may be that Judith Warner is raising misbehaving children, they're not much higher than the odds that some random adult would be a jerk. Indeed, the two are not mutually exclusive.; 3/7/09, 3:17 AM
Penny said...: We need a statistician to determine that, blake.

Any friends in government to support your claim?; 3/7/09, 3:38 AM
Chip Ahoy said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 3/7/09, 5:06 AM
Chip Ahoy said...: I have an observation about parenting that is racial.

Where I live, I've noticed Latin American families tend to shop with their entire families. It's common see groups of people around a single cart with kids running around playing. I've never once seen a parent discipline a child, even a loud child. At the same time, I only rarely see a child misbehaving. It seems to me Latin American parenting involves letting children be children and allowing episodes to play out without much intervention. Their patience is astounding. The payoff appears to be general harmony within the family, and in my opinion, the kids are adorable at play.

Coming out of a shop today a man was pushing a loaded cart with a boy in the seat. The boy was exercising his voice out of the building and across the entire parking lot. Just yelling a single wordless syllable at the top of his lungs until he ran out of air, then picked up the syllable again with a renewed lung capacity, and repeated that without stopping. I can recall doing that in my yard at about four years of age, just for the hell of it, just to see what my voice could do, and how long I could keep it up. Hearing that boy, irritating as it was, transported me back to being four years old and I marveled that his dad didn't quiet him. My dad would have popped me on the head. Hearing that boy filled me with the exuberant joy of a four year old that can make a big sound, which conflicted with my impulse was to yell, "shut up!"; 3/7/09, 5:08 AM
Darcy said...: WTF? I'm glad I was mindful enough not to absorb any of that nonsense.; 3/7/09, 7:31 AM
Peter V. Bella said...: I should buy one, debone it, and cut it up for Irish stew for St. Paddy's day.

Why waste a beautiful piece of meat for stew? After you debone that leg of lamb, butterfly it and slather the inside with a lot of pesto- a higher ratio of garlic is even better in the pesto for this- tie it up, slather the outside with pesto and and let it sit in the fridge over night.

Roast that sucker til medium. Enjoy.; 3/7/09, 7:34 AM
The Crack Emcee said...: "Finding 'peace' in your own way in any moment hurts who exactly?"

Well, let's see - Judith Warner is confessing to:

Laughing at her own hypocrisy, instead of correcting it.

Being pretentious.

Being a tool of the SHAM (Self-Help and Actualization Movement).

Knowing David Foster Wallace killed himself by thinking like this.

Getting angry at her husband for pointing out she's become a silly person (and siding with the silliness against her spouse - potential divorce material.)

Of "not being there at all" but foolishly claiming to actually "Be Here Now" - and thinking such self-imposed obliviousness has "charm".

Discovering she's actually been disconnecting from people - the exact opposite of what all this NewAge dribble claims.

Taking advice from people suffering from "depression and self-depletion" and "send my silent good wishes to people all over the world who have problems exactly like my own." (I guess the rest of us don't matter or couldn't be of any help to anyone so troubled in the first place.)

I love this bullshit line: "I have no doubt that this meta-connectedness feels real, and indeed is real, in the abstract at least." Yea: in the abstract. Idiot talk of the highest order.

Another goody: "I’ve come lately to wonder whether meaningful bonds are well forged by the extreme solipsism that mindfulness practice often turns out to be." Right: solipsism will bring us together. Sure, dummy. Being wrong is a community organizing tool.

She acknowledges such people won't shut up about their wrongness.

Of course, there's selfishness, being self-absorbed - and boring - and inhuman.

Other than all that, ""finding 'peace' in your own way" is just the bee's knees. And, now, multiply all that terrible nonsense by the millions - no billions - of idiots doing it, in our neighborhoods, college campuses, government, etc., and you start to get some scale of our problems.

Why does it seem, as the Boomers (who brought us this crap in it's modern guise) continue to assume the reigns of power, that we've "fallen and can't get up"?

That's why. It's the March of the Lemmings - right over a cliff.; 3/7/09, 7:44 AM
Unknown said...: Did I hear a hippopotamus fart, or did Michael post one of his usual blasts somewhere in this thread?

Hmm... let's see... no hippo smell... scanning comments... aha.; 3/7/09, 8:05 AM
Peter V. Bella said...: Anybody who thinks anybody on this blog site would spend ten seconds considering anything other than what they already believe or understand...is a "regular."

Well Mikey, most regulars are what the average person on the street would call normal. This woman and her ilk are abnormal and possibly in need of some kind of help or attitude adjustment.

I'd bet you even sided with the dumb twit who breast fed her child and chatted on her cell phone while driving her other kids to school. You probably found her dangerous multi-tasking and over whelming concern for her child's well being and hunger empowering.

Don't you live in California? That explains everything. You foreigners are strange people.; 3/7/09, 8:35 AM
John Burgess said...: Isn't the point of meditation, you know, sort of internal? Why externalize it by talking or writing about it? Seems to be missing the point here.; 3/7/09, 9:27 AM
TitusIsReadyForTheDayLetsBegin said...: This is an outrage. I can barely type. Liberals suck. Her children will hate her when they get older. They won't talk to her because she is liberal. I am disgusted by her. NY Times is an awful paper. I hate that paper but I will continue to read it in order to hate it more.

Pendarvis.; 3/7/09, 9:33 AM
former law student said...: NY Times is an awful paper. I hate that paper but I will continue to read it in order to hate it more.

Perhaps out of a profound ambivalence, the New York Times keeps the wit and wisdom of Judith Warner out of their actual newspaper.; 3/7/09, 10:18 AM
Frodo Potter said...: Beth said "It is good and fitting that children encounter adults who are not their parents and who scare the crap out of them once in awhile. That's socialization. And it's fun for the adults."

Beth, I have often disagreed with what you have written, but this time I could not agree more. Well spoken!

Michael said,
"Small minds.

Anybody who thinks anybody on this blog site would spend ten seconds considering anything other than what they already believe or understand...is a 'regular.' "

But Michael, aren’t you a “regular?” Actually, compared to some blog sites, the commenters here are quite thoughtful. I know I spend a lot of time thinking and rethinking my positions.

Having said that, I don’t find Judith Warner’s article particularly impressive or thought-provoking. She also *does* sound a bit pretentious.

One last thought that I’ll throw out to anyone and I am not being critical or sarcastic. Warner wrote of riding the “Metro.” She writes for the NYT, so I assumed she lived in NYC. But the “Metro” sounds like what they might call the D.C. subway. Does she actually live in D.C.? Does anyone know?; 3/7/09, 11:25 AM
The Crack Emcee said...: Here's my post on The Macho Response - I recycled my comments from here (the only recycling I'm known for). I'm offering it to y'all in hopes you'll check out the added links. I think they add context to Mrs. Warner's confessions.

Enjoy.; 3/7/09, 11:29 AM
Joe said...: I wanted to read the article so I could make a snarky comment related to the subject, but the article was unreadable. Seriously, this is an example of extremely bad writing. And people wonder why newspapers are going under.; 3/7/09, 1:02 PM
Charlie Martin said...: "Mindfulness" is also known as "paying attention." The opposite of "paying attention" is "being distracted."

"Practicing mindfulness" is "paying attention to what's really going on instead of getting distracted." The Buddhist practice of being mindful is simply paying attention to what's happening right now instead of getting distracted by thoughts, fantasies, past events ("karma".)

What Judith is talking about is how she got all distracted -- and continues to be distracted -- by what happened in this bathroom.

This is what is traditionally known in Buddhism as "fucking up."

What she was trying to do is practice "karuna", "compassion." The problem there is that the response out of karuna would have been to say "I know airports are stressful places, but that was an unacceptable way to treat a child," followed by a reassuring conversation with the child later, explaining what had brought the incident about and how to avoid those encounters in the future.

Writing columns about how you were so wonderfully in the moment and so on is traditionally called "stinking of Buddhism," but in Western Buddhist traditions is also called "being a pretentious twit."

Crack Emcee says: "Buddhism's a joke as well," and is correct. Unfortunately, he's not getting the punch line, while Paul says, "I achieve pretty much the same results by not giving a fuck," and demonstrates that he did; 3/7/09, 1:10 PM
Charlie Martin said...: I'm blissfully unaware of this "mindfulness" thing.

Good work.; 3/7/09, 1:11 PM
paul a'barge said...: She mentions David Foster Wallace.

In the middle of "being here now" he committed suicide.

Maybe she could take that as some kind of a suggestion?; 3/7/09, 1:14 PM
RR Ryan said...: I couldn't wade through more than two or three paragraphs. Whenever someone starts talking about other people feeling, "left behind", I feel their relief. The ones, "left behind". Please leave me behind.; 3/7/09, 1:27 PM
Blargo said...: How can you read such drivel ? I read a few paragraphs and need a nap now.; 3/7/09, 1:48 PM
twp said...: I wonder if Judith Warner is feelling all "meta-connected" with the comments on this blog.
What a crock of BS.; 3/7/09, 2:18 PM
Radish said...: I wanted to read the article so I could make a snarky comment related to the subject, but the article was unreadable.

I had the same problem. All jargon and inside jokes, and oddly-placed participles.; 3/7/09, 2:19 PM
BJM said...: The Crack Emcee @7:44
Why does it seem, as the Boomers (who brought us this crap in it's modern guise) continue to assume the reigns of power, that we've "fallen and can't get up"?

Hang on there, not all Boomers espoused this twaddle. The 60's flower children who embraced New Age psychobabble were a highly visible minority of the demographic.

Most Boomers were busy getting educations, jobs, taking on mortgages and raising kids, boring middle class 50's stuff.; 3/7/09, 2:32 PM
Patm said...: Oh what pretentious nonsense.

It's not even worth addressing.

This is why a credible church needs to hang on to its truths or it will be buffetted by every trendy wave that comes along.; 3/7/09, 3:18 PM
Jeff Faria said...: "Judith Warner's children will grow to hate her"

What's with the future tense? I just spent 5 minutes reading her and I hate her already.

Well, actually, that's not true. I just don't care enough to hate her. But if I was forced to deal with her daily, hate would be inevitable.; 3/7/09, 3:46 PM
Sassenach said...: "I am above reading - I am present to myself."

It takes a strong person to rise above reading. All those new ideas would only add stress.; 3/7/09, 5:51 PM
The Crack Emcee said...: Crack Emcee says: "Buddhism's a joke as well," and is correct. Unfortunately, he's not getting the punch line, while Paul says, "I achieve pretty much the same results by not giving a fuck," and demonstrates that he did.

Oh, I get it, but not giving a fuck isn't high on my list of goals in life; either from a personal perspective or for society. It leads to breakdown, something the many Buddhists out there rarely mention. And anyone so invested in breakdown isn't exactly what I'd call a potential rolemodel. Seriously, I can't fathom why anyone would want to adhere to such garbage. I do understand why Buddhists are always trying to teach the shit, though, and it has nothing to do with eliminating their always-primed egos. First Class Hypocrites are what they are, one and all.

Hang on there, not all Boomers espoused this twaddle. The 60's flower children who embraced New Age psychobabble were a highly visible minority of the demographic.

Stop it - I've studied this subject for too long for you to try to wiggle out of it: there are two demographics that dominate and spread NewAge: Specifically, women and Boomers. They may be "busy getting educations, jobs, taking on mortgages and raising kids," but they're also talking an awful lot about about "karma," going on retreats, spent a lot of their youth in seminars like est and The Landmark Forum, and thought/think "finding yourself" was/is a worthwhile endevour that should be pressed on others.

Sorry, but you're stuck with yourselves and your folly. Unfortunately, so are we all.; 3/7/09, 7:12 PM
Ken said...: We are rapidly losing the ability to ignore those who irritate us in small ways. And that may be the beginning of the end of civilization.; 3/7/09, 8:33 PM
Anonymous said...: J.R: I do indeed remember some really snarky East Coast liberal bile that this unreadable lotus eater poured on Governor Palin. I particularly recall some really acid comments on Warner's blog about Mrs. Palin using her children for political advantage, in a tone of voice suggesting that this unspeakably backwards hillbilly was the first politician in history to bring her kids onstage at a rally.

The funny thing is, knowing what I know of Alaska kids and New York City kids in general, and the Palin and Warner families in particular, I feel confident in predicting that the Palin kids will be much happier and contribute more to society as adults than the bratty Warner progeny. Teenage pregnancies and all, it won't even be close.; 3/7/09, 8:39 PM
RebeccaH said...: It would be nice if people would stop calling Buddhism "New Age stuff". Buddhism was around before Christianity, and it's not "new agey" to those who understand its true purpose, which frankly does not involve zoning out as if you just toked up on some really good shit.; 3/7/09, 10:03 PM
Unknown said...: "All the mind-numbingly boring drivel that we can fit."

The new, improved motto of the newspaper which once bragged they brought us "All the news that's fit to print."

The day Abe Rosenthal retired/was forced out, the NYT began a death spiral which strikingly resembles the motion of water leaving a flushing toilet.; 3/8/09, 12:45 AM
gekkobear said...: "mindfulness"

Well there's an Orwellian description.

It seems to be a status in which you have no opinions or thoughts of your own, so you borrow someone else's rather than thinking for yourself.

Then, you pat yourself on the back for being so "open" as to avoid doing any of your own thinking.

I'll just go ahead and do my own thinking, thanks.

And this "new" philosophical thinking? I've heard of it before; but when I was a kid it was called "twaddle".; 3/8/09, 4:37 AM
Laura(southernxyl) said...: "RebeccaH said...

It would be nice if people would stop calling Buddhism "New Age stuff". Buddhism was around before Christianity, and it's not "new agey" to those who understand its true purpose, which frankly does not involve zoning out as if you just toked up on some really good shit."

You're right, of course, Rebecca. Buddhism is older than Christianity. The form of it being practiced by these Westerners, though, may not be the classic form. They may be appropriating those elements of it that appeal to them, and the elements might be the ones they can fold into their new-agey philosophy.; 3/8/09, 8:18 AM
The Crack Emcee said...: Bullshit again: most of "NewAge" is old stuff - so-called "ancient teachings" and the like. If you were in America in the 1800s, you'd find the same bullshit being "taught" as truth in many places.

And anyone in this age who would accept an ancient belief system - about a guy who emerged from a slit in his mother's side - is really fooling themselves.

Like I said, there's no wiggling out of it:

You're lying to yourself - and, thus, to others as well - leading to the clusterfuck we have today.

I think our current problems will probably end when the Boomers die off, their numbers dwindle, and common sense can, finally, get a breather again.

One more thing: I think it's revealing that out of all the crap Judith Warner reveals in that column, Ann and the Instapundit focus on one silly topic - what NewAgers find irritating - rather than all the other destructive bullshit exposed in there.

It's no wonder, with geniuses like this getting all the attention (and giving it exclusively to each other) this shit spreads - free to negatively affect everything it touches - they just don't "see" it, and, probably, adhere to some of this "wisdom" themselves. (It's been said that Ann's pretty liberal, and she's shown superstitious tendencies in her writing - and Glenn's, definitely, on the wimpy side of conservatism.) This crap should be ripped apart and all it gets is "Oh, the things that have become unforgivable."

That's unforgivable.; 3/8/09, 11:22 AM
sarah said...: Only in the NYT does a parenting column begin with a dinner party bon mot. Do you suppose Warner's nanny manages to live in the moment as well?; 3/8/09, 7:55 PM