August 27, 2018

Quite the line-up of faces on Drudge right now.




We talked about the Pope's horrible scandal yesterday, so I'm not restarting that.

I refuse to talk about the latest murderer (on the right)... other than to just say he looks mentally ill.

The story about Glenn Greenwald is something I was already in the middle of reading. It's in The New Yorker: "Glenn Greenwald, the Bane of Their Resistance/A leftist journalist’s bruising crusade against establishment Democrats—and their Russia obsession." Excerpt:
Greenwald...has lived largely in Rio for thirteen years. For most of that time, he and Miranda, a city-council member, rented a home on a hillside above the city, surrounded by forest and monkeys. Last year, they moved to a... house... in a baronial-modernist style, and built around a forty-foot-tall boulder that feels like the work of a sculptor tackling Freudian themes: it exists partly indoors and partly out....

He seemed happy. He was wearing shorts and flip-flops; he has a soft handshake and an easy, teasing manner that he knows will likely confound people who expect the sustained contentiousness that he employs online and on TV....  Greenwald, though untroubled about being thought relentless, told me that he was “actually trying to become less acerbic, less gratuitously combative” in public debates. He recently became attached to the idea of mindfulness, and he keeps a Buddha and a metal infinity loop on a shelf behind the sofa; a room upstairs is used only for meditation. He has turned to religious and mystical reading, and has reflected that, in middle age, one’s mood “is more about integrating with the world.”
That all strikes me as hilarious, so I give it to you now, but there's much more to the article, which I haven't read yet, because I was reading it while waiting to have blood drawn and the buzzer went off calling me into the lab. It was just a routine test, but I had to fast for 12 hours, including no coffee, so that threw off my morning routine. If you want to know the difference between Morning Coffee Althouse and No-Coffee Althouse, read this post and then all the posts that preceded it this morning. Anyway, I will finish the Greenwald thing, and I'll have more to say about it. I love when left-wing people go after left-wing people. It's just boring when right-wing people go after left-wing people and left-wing people really do need to be gone after.

If you scroll up at Drudge, you'll see...



... link goes to CNBC: "Dow jumps more than 250 points, Nasdaq hits 8,000 as US and Mexico strike trade deal."

ADDED: Maybe, like me, you wondered, what's an infinity loop. Here:

172 comments:

MadisonMan said...

The Stock Market surge is all thanks to Obama.

Henry said...

Describe yourself as described by Ian Parker.

Bay Area Guy said...

Of the 3, leftist Glen Greenwald is certainly the most sane. He actually has analyzed the "Russian-Collusion" hoax with accuracy.

The Pope? I question his infallibility, as much as I question his banana republic view of economics:)

Seeing Red said...

Looking at you PM Zoolander. Why did Mexico cut you out?

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

Ann said - I love when left-wing people go after left-wing people.

Indeed. Because true classical liberalism is abused by the leftwing speech/ leftwing thought-crime brown-shirts. It's refreshing to see push-back.

Henry said...

The long long tennis-based lead-in to this profile reminds me David Foster Wallace. He could join them, ghost-like, in the sweaty upstairs where those-who-must-be-shunned practice their personal growth.

Tyrone Slothrop said...

About thirteen years ago, as a newbie to political blogs, Glenn Greenwald introduced me to a term I had never heard before. That term was "sock puppet". This has colored my opinion of him ever since.

Fernandinande said...

"The tartness of his face sours ripe grapes."

Game over man!

Birkel said...

I know MadisonMan was having fun with that first comment.
But here is Deutsche Bank's take on Trump's proposed policies, from 11 days before Trump's inauguration.

So, I'm going to go out onto a limb and say the changes Trump has made were predicted, in print, by people with real skin in the game. And those predictions were that Trump would be great for the economy.

Also, Canada can get in line and pretend they are part of the marching band. Trump is leading the procession.

bagoh20 said...

" he looks mentally ill." That is rather imprecise language.

He looks exactly like a gamer, if Mick Jagger was a gamer. Now Einstein, that guy looked crazy.

J. Farmer said...

I do not share much of Greenwald's politics, and his prolix essays can sometimes be difficult to wade through, but he is a clear and independent thinker and is not afraid to attack DNC Inc. Alas, he is firmly on the side of most SJW causes, including immigration. Odd that after living in Rio for over a decade with his rentboy-turned-husband that he would champion an immigration policy that would certainly replicate Brazil's inequality problems in the US.

Tank said...


bagoh20 said...

" he looks mentally ill." That is rather imprecise language.

He looks exactly like a gamer, if Mick Jagger was a gamer. Now Einstein, that guy looked crazy.


No, Einstein had crazy hair, but he did not look crazy.

Henry said...

There's actually some good stuff in that profile when Ian Parker let's Greenwald do the talking. Greenwald is a million times more interesting than the prolix defender of the status quo.

Years after he began writing critically about expanded Presidential powers, “all these powers are now in the hands of Donald Trump,” he said. “He gets to start wars. So I do get a sense that, O.K., people are going to finally understand that this model of the American Presidency—this omnipotence, this lack of checks and balances—is so dangerous. But the problem is they’re being told that the danger is endemic to Trump, and not to this broader systemic abuse that’s been created. And that’s why I’m so opposed to the attempt to depict Trump as the singular evil. It’s not just partial or incomplete—it’s counterproductive, it’s deceitful.”

Henry said...

@farmer -- I did not read your prolix before I wrote mine. We've been triggered.

Qwinn said...

All of you saying bad things about Glenn Greenwald should be ashamed of yourselves! He is consulted by Senators and leaders all around the world! His books are all best sellers and his brilliance is unmatched! You are not fit to even fart away from his general direction! I bid you good DAY, Sirs!

- Rick Ellensburg

Chuck said...

So this is like North Korea, right? Trump does some stuff to create chaos, then "negotiates" a deal where little is changed, and Trump takes credit for a grand new arrangement where not much is now except for names and perceptions and images.

PM said...

Pope...Mope...Misanthrope

Anonymous said...

Holy Cow! He lives in Brazil?? It's a country at war with itself. The monied are fleeing to
Portugal and the US as the streets are given over to daily firefights and random murder.
It's a murderous mess.

Michael said...

Chuck
Thank you for your insight on the Mexico trade deal. Illuminating, deep, a reflection of your thoughtfulness.

Qwinn said...

Despite my inability to resist poking fun at Greenwald for his previous sock puppet antics, I do appreciate his willingness to risk the ire of his unhinged brethren. It does elevate him to my extremely short list of "Lefties who are even capable of a moment of honesty", which currently numbers around 4 (though atm I can't remember who the 4th one is). He's right next to our hostess on that list, in fact.

FIDO said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Mike Sylwester said...

On my screen -- on the right margin from the "line-up of faces" -- is a beautiful, busty, young Asian woman who might want to marry me and live with me in America.

traditionalguy said...

Greenwald is a Truth lover. As such he has no place in the World Governance Cabal that sets Big Lie Narratives that are broadcast by everyone uncritically. Like Assange, he knows what really goes on in secret and will on occasion confront the big lies. The miracle is that he is still alive.

gahrie said...

Does the article discuss his sockpuppeting?

FIDO said...

Mickey Kaus and Andrew Sullivan and (I shudder to have to write this) but Maureen Dowd ALSO used to take on the Left in their stupidity.

Thinking...Nick Hentoff?

But one doesn't hear so many independent voices any more.

Scott M said...

Shorter Twitter: "Hitler had trade deals too."

Birkel said...

Mexico Deal:
More of the products must be built in North America, especially cars.
The pass-thru status of Mexico and Canada as conduits for Chinese goods to escape U.S. trade policy is phased away.
Less protectionism of Mexican and U.S. farm products.

Factory employment up.
Fewer government workers.

Market to 26k.

Chuck fopdoodle extraordinaire, is angry.

FIDO said...

The Right has too many guns and military to confront so the Left is stuck devouring their own.

This Pope is a Marxist tool, whose economic ideas are abysmal. For a while I was thinking of switching to Catholicism because of the history, dignity and structure of their faith.

Alas, they are all pseudo Marxists SJWs who have sold out their Faith in God for their Faith in Stridently Structures Social Systems...as this pope clearly reveals.

Achilles said...

I refuse to talk about the latest murderer (on the right)... other than to just say he looks mentally ill.

Of course.

Just more leftist resistance violence.

Everyone else out here is talking about it.

You can ignore the fact that the leftists are unhinged and violent. The media covers for them too. And the Inga’s of course.

Nobody else is ignoring the violent little shitheads in our midst.

Scott M said...

Mickey Kaus and Andrew Sullivan and (I shudder to have to write this) but Maureen Dowd ALSO used to take on the Left in their stupidity.

Dowd still does on a regular basis, doesn't she?

Mike Sylwester said...

Last year, they moved to a house in a baronial-modernist style, and built around a forty-foot-tall boulder that feels like the work of a sculptor

Maybe in my own life I should do something more profitable than writing prolix essays in a blog about the movie Dirty Dancing.

Bay Area Guy said...

Greenwald interview this summer on the Special Counsel:

Well, as you know, I’ve been a skeptic of this entire Russia Mueller investigation from the start. And, you know, we’ve seen this so many times before in Washington, where allegations of impropriety lead to an independent counsel or special counsel, and then, years later, the special counsel is so far afield from the original allegations that nobody even remembers what prompted the investigation to begin with. And I think, in large part, that’s what’s happened here. Remember that in 2016 the controversy began because people in the Clinton campaign, and then the intelligence community, claimed that Vladimir Putin himself ordered Russian intelligence officials to hack the DNC and John Podesta email inbox and that the Trump campaign colluded with them to do that, cooperated and conspired with them on the hacking. Here we are, 18 months later. There have been a lot of indictments, but none of those indictments have anything to do with those original claims, nor has any evidence been presented that those original claims are actually true.

On this issue, Greenwald is lucid and reasonable.

The Crack Emcee said...

"He recently became attached to the idea of mindfulness, and he keeps a Buddha and a metal infinity loop on a shelf behind the sofa; a room upstairs is used only for meditation. He has turned to religious and mystical reading, and has reflected that, in middle age, one’s mood 'is more about integrating with the world.'”

I'd be embarrassed, to claim to be a thinking person, yet have so little imagination that this cult spirituality could possibly be seen as a source of anything. I'm already embarrassed it makes it into news articles, but I'm glad to have the image of Greenwald with his "metal infinity loop" while Hillary's performing "Alternate Nasal Breathing Exercises" along with that Cortez woman who can't count, etc. - it builds confidence that, collectively, the Left can be trusted and has finally got it together.

Meanwhile, Scientology's moving into the Columbian government, and old Glenn and the rest of the media are Sgt. Schultz and knows "NO-THING!"

NewAge is a cosmic-sized blindspot hovering over our entire world.

Limited blogger said...

No celebratory hats for new market milestones. That might mistakenly cast a positive light on Trump.

Sheridan said...

The picture of the Pope on Drudge - that upturned face in side view - I swear it looks like Jim Nabors about to break-out in song! The Impossible Dream! How apt....

Achilles said...

Chuck said...
So this is like North Korea, right? Trump does some stuff to create chaos, then "negotiates" a deal where little is changed, and Trump takes credit for a grand new arrangement where not much is now except for names and perceptions and images.

Poor Chuck. The democrats are going through the same conniptions.

You are trump’s greatest achievement.

We see you for what you are now.

Henry said...

On this issue, Greenwald is lucid and reasonable.

Yes. There's him and Dershowitz versus the infinity loop.

The Crack Emcee said...

Andrew Sullivan once marveled that Obama was a Leo.

Glenn Greenwald is doing Buddhism and "mindfulness".

Oprah now works for 60 Minutes. I could go on forever.

Know who you're getting your news from y'all - because they got you if you don't.

Original Mike said...

”The pass-thru status of Mexico and Canada as conduits for Chinese goods to escape U.S. trade policy is phased away.”

LLR hardest hit.

Hammond X. Gritzkofe said...

Either Drudge looked long and hard to find a bad looking pic of Trump, or a good pic was seriously manipulated (dare I say "Gimped"?).

Andrew said...

Add me to the list of people who appreciate Greenwald despite disagreeing with his politics. It's good to have an honest and courageous leftist stand up to the Russia collusion nonsense.



Known Unknown said...

OT: I recently became the owner of a vintage Newcomb travel record player. I cannot seem to find the exact model online. However, it has a neat little metal placard on it that says "Property of Madison College." Madison College would be the Madison Area Technical College, founded in 1912 in Madison, Wisconsin.

Anthony said...

He's been on Tucker Carlson's show a lot and I like the cut of his job there. I didn't pay much attention to him until recently, although I vaguely remember thinking he was a stereotypical leftist jerk. Can't say why though. On TuCa's show he sounds like a libertarian.

Anthony said...

That should be "jib" obviously.

Andrew said...

Off topic, but I am seriously disappointed that John le Carre, one of my favorite authors, hasn't weighed in on all of this (Russian collusion, etc,). He's a leftist, but surely he should be able to perceive the possibility that the Dems with their allies in the govt and the press have manufactured the collusion narrative from the beginning. His novels often have multilayered deceit and manipulation, and I can't stop thinking that this is one of his plots come to life.

madAsHell said...

other than to just say he looks mentally ill.

Mental illness is just a social construct foisted upon us by the white privilege patriarchy.

Molly said...

(eaglebeak)

As to Hitler's trade deals--which always came with a maximum of force. Like invasion.

This joke was circulating in 1930s Czechoslovakia, as it then was (with reference to Bayer):

First Hitler gives you the headache. Then he sells you the aspirin.

DanTheMan said...

>>other than to just say he looks mentally ill.

I blame:
1) hate chicken
2) The NRA
3) Russians

Michael K said...

Chuck is tired of winning.

So tired.

Clyde said...

Yeah, the shooter wasn't quite Adam Lanza batshit-crazy looking, but he was getting there.

Kevin said...

Regarding the comment above on infallibility, I don't believe Francis or Benedict has formally declared an infallible doctrine. Popes may often restate doctrine that pre-existed as infallible, but a new declaration is quite rare. No one claims that everything the Pope does or says is infallible.

Jim at said...

I could go on forever.

Yes. We know.

Milwaukie Guy said...

FIDO: Alas, they are all pseudo Marxists SJWs who have sold out their Faith in God for their Faith in Stridently Structures Social Systems...as this pope clearly reveals.

As are most Mainline Protestant churches including, sadly, the Kirk. I'd like to go once in a great while except I'm afraid I'd hear some pro-Palestinian or gay gobbledegook dressed up in the sermon.

Roughcoat said...

Willingly or no, through either ignorance or deliberate intent, Pope Francis is in league with Satanic forces that have gained control of the Catholic Church hierarchy.

Ignorance is Bliss said...

DanTheMan said...

I blame:

4) The NFL

How many concussions did that poor kid suffer playing Madden ##?

n.n said...

The pope is human, conceived with original sin (i.e. potential). The Catholic Church is divinely inspired, and in that respect is incorruptible. The edifice changes. The people progress, diverge. The Church is conserved.

mccullough said...

Greenwald practices “mindfulness.” What horsehit that is. For a guy skeptical about a lot of things, he’s easily susceptible to some faddish bullshit.

gilbar said...

Michael K said... Chuck is tired of winning. So tired.
I really Have To stop drinking soda while reading these comments; i need a new keyboard

narciso said...

Actually, le carre showed he's firmly in the haklyut-orbis orbit, in the interview he had with ben Macintyre, it's as bad a case of tds, as he had with w, around the time of the Iraq war's beginning,

Earnest Prole said...

Greenwald is essential because he's one of only a handful of Left journalists who argue from first principles and not from Democratic Party talking points.

narciso said...

it's interesting because there is a side of the intercept, that is firmly on the Russia, Russia side of the equation, the ones who reality winner leaked to, to her regret.

Howard said...

Althouse trollin Crack with the newage squirrel set up on a pedestal for him to knock down and get a dopamine rush. In this way, an elderly white woman controls the mind of a rapper. It's almost like he is under the spell of a cult.

DanTheMan said...

>>4) The NFL

>>How many concussions did that poor kid suffer playing Madden ##?

Excellent point, since borrowing other people's suffering is now enough to claim that you, too, are a victim.

In that spirit, and purely for local color, I might add in:
5) Slavery
6) New Age believers

Roughcoat said...

The Catholic Church is divinely inspired, and in that respect is incorruptible.

If you mean that inspiration divinely inspired cannot be corrupted, then, yes, to be sure. But you're wrong about the Church. The Church, i.e. the earthly Church, can be and has been corrupted. It has been severely corrupted of late. The corruption is not total. But it is catastrophically deep and widespread.

narciso said...

the interesting part of the shooter's profile, are a familiar pattern of animus, and the long running dispute between the establishment in question, and the city of Jacksonville on security matters,

Roughcoat said...

The Church hierarchy and priesthood is corrupt, has been corrupted. And the hierarchy and priesthood are big parts of what the Church is.

Bay Area Guy said...

Slightly off topic, but our friend Crack is against NewAge cultism and for reparations.

What would happen if Pope Francis comes out for reparations?

Ann Althouse said...

"Yeah, the shooter wasn't quite Adam Lanza batshit-crazy looking, but he was getting there."

I thought of Adam Lanza too when I saw the picture. Was going to say: It's as if Adam Lanza had grown up. Can't remember exactly why I censored myself.

narciso said...

Confidence is high, on that point, he's directly proscribed capital punishment, yet he seems to be indifferent toward communism,


now if bolsanero, gets in, greenwald will have a whole new bout of agita, he's the smart mouthed fmr paratrooper, who seems to be in the lead, with a populist message,

Howard said...

Le Carre on Trumputin
https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2017/08/donald-trump-russia-putin
https://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=548632065

Howard said...

The bug eyes indicate crazy or graves disease

walter said...

Blogger Achilles said...
Just more leftist resistance violence.
--
Really? Was that guy known as such? I mean..yeah..a sore loser, but..

Rob said...

So an infinity loop is a new age Slinky. But can it walk down stairs?

narciso said...

of course, the fact that the sanctions have struck deep into the Russian economy, and that a company of putin's top contractor, the wagner group was annihilated doesn't enter into it,

narciso said...

meanwhile franklyn foer, who published scott beauchamps 'fake but accurate' Iraq account, who then lent his byline for that bogus alpha bank story, on the eve of the election, has another whopper re McCain and manafort, in the atlantic, the ones who hired Julia ioffe after she was caught slandering melania, in the new republic,

Bay Area Guy said...

The problem with these asocial murderous gamers is clearly the lack of any blow jobs (preferably by females) in high school.

What is the feminist position on this? More blow jobs, less crime.

Francisco D said...

Liberalism used to be associated with open-mindedness. The old joke was that a liberal was so open minded, he could not argue his own position effectively.

Now we are surprised when liberals like Greenwald, Dershowitz and Turley show that they are open minded about Trump and about such minor details as laws and evidence.

I trace the evolution in liberal thinking to educational changes in which kids are taught WHAT to think rather than HOW to think.

We are raising a generation of kids who don't even try to problem solve. They just spit back what they are told. Young employees simply repeat what was scripted to them like robots.

John Pickering said...

I hope Ann gets to read that whole long Greenwald story in the New Yorker, and lets her readers know that Glenn may be getting to announce a little news:

A few days later, on the phone, Greenwald had news. He had “talked to a bunch of people and figured out what I thought, in the most rational way possible,” and now regarded the indictments as genuine evidence of Russian hacking—the first he’d seen in two years. To think otherwise, he said, “you’d pretty much have to believe that Mueller and his team fabricated it all out of whole cloth, which I don’t believe is likely.”

He hadn’t tweeted about this yet. He was still pondering the best way to announce it. “I want it to be substantive—I don’t want it to be distorted,” he said. “If I did it on Twitter, it would be ‘Oh, Glenn Greenwald admits he’s wrong!’ I don’t actually think I’ve been wrong about anything.”

walter said...

Would like to know if meds were in the mix.

Ray - SoCal said...

Mindfulness is a tool and can be useful for improving your mental health, but it can also be used wrongly.

Bay Area Guy said...

Greenwald debate this July 2018:

So let me just make two points. Number one is, if you look at President Obama versus President Trump, there’s no question that President Obama was more cooperative with and collaborative with Russia and the Russian agenda than President Trump. President Trump has sent lethal arms to Ukraine—a crucial issue for Putin—which President Obama refused to do. President Trump has bombed the Assad forces in Syria, a client state of Putin, something that Obama refused to do because he didn’t want to provoke Putin. Trump has expelled more Russian diplomats and sanctioned more Russian oligarchs than [Obama] has. Trump undid the Iran deal, which Russia favored, while Obama worked with Russia in order to do the Iran deal. So this idea that Trump is some kind of a puppet of Putin, that he controls him with blackmail, is the kind of stuff that you believe if you read too many Tom Clancy novels, but isn’t borne out by the facts.

Shattering the narrative, bit by bit.

Sebastian said...

"left-wing people really do need to be gone after."

But not by other left-wing people, for not being left-wing enough.

Sure, Trotsky was loathsome in his own way, but that doesn't mean he deserved to be killed by Stalin's henchmen.

(I am not saying GG is loathsome.)

Ray - SoCal said...

I’m surprised at Chucks comment on the trade deal with Mexico, I expect better analysis from him.

Conservative Treehouse has had the best analysis I have seen.

It’s not NAFTA with slight tweaks, that is why Canada was not part of the deal. Brilliant strategy by Trump to do an end run around NAFTA that is impossible to change due to political inertia, by negotiating a new agreement directly with Mexico. Canada thought Trump was negotiating NAFTA, put up lots of obstacles / demands, possibly based on advice from Obama, and got shut out of negotiations.

Sebastian said...

"Dow jumps more than 250 points, Nasdaq hits 8,000 as US and Mexico strike trade deal."

Stable genius strikes again.

Michael K said...

We are raising a generation of kids who don't even try to problem solve.

Getting them out of public schools, either charter schools, private schools or home schooling helps mitigate the damage.

Michael K said...

Howard, LeCarre has been anti-American for years.

I am currently reading his new book, though.

I see he is anti-BREXIT. So what What does he know ?

Trumpit said...

And @Michael K doesn't look mentally ill? I prefer the word "crazy" myself.

Bay Area Guy said...

Trumpit is calling Michael K crazy. Heh

Pause and reflect on that for a moment.

Crazy folks often think the sane are crazy......

Robert Cook said...

"Howard, LeCarre has been anti-American for years."

What does it mean to be "anti-American?"

Darrell said...

What does it mean to be "anti-American?"

Look in the mirror.

Robert Cook said...

"About thirteen years ago, as a newbie to political blogs, Glenn Greenwald introduced me to a term I had never heard before. That term was "sock puppet". This has colored my opinion of him ever since."

There still has never been any proof that was Greenwald. He admitted it was from "someone" at his address. I suspect it was his boyfriend.

Ignorance is Bliss said...

Trumpit said...

I prefer the word "crazy" myself.

I, for one, will respect your preference when referring to you.

James Pawlak said...

You can determine if someone is mentally ill by looking at an inferior picture of them?

I will, therefore, not send you a copy of either my passport or DL photos!

On the other hand, you might examine your "selfie".

Robert Cook said...

"'What does it mean to be "anti-American?"'

"Look in the mirror."


That doesn't answer the question. What does it mean to be "anti-American?" (For that matter, what does it mean to be "pro-American?")

Bay Area Guy said...

What does it mean to be "anti-American?"

There's no mechanical check-list, but roughly:

1. Oppose the system of capitalism
2. Promote socialism.
3. Dislike the American Revolution.
4. Desire to change the interpretation and meaning of the Constitution
5. Not like the American flag
6. Not like the National Anthem
7. Disregard the rule of law.

Stuff like that, Cookie.

Trumpit said...

[ "Dow jumps more than 250 points, Nasdaq hits 8,000 as US and Mexico strike trade deal."

Stable genius strikes again.]

You are off-the-charts crazy to believe Schlump is a "stable genius." Pestilence is a better word to describe him. The stock market reflects avarice, speculation, and animal spirits. It has nothing to do with Schlump.

"Even apart from the instability due to speculation, there is the instability due to the characteristic of human nature that a large proportion of our positive activities depend on spontaneous optimism rather than mathematical expectations, whether moral or hedonistic or economic. Most, probably, of our decisions to do something positive, the full consequences of which will be drawn out over many days to come, can only be taken as the result of animal spirits—a spontaneous urge to action rather than inaction, and not as the outcome of a weighted average of quantitative benefits multiplied by quantitative probabilities." - John Maynard Keynes

In other words, Schlump will screw up the economy and cause an economic collapse such as what happened under Bush in 2008. No bailout may work to salvage the world economy next time.


Chuck said...

Ray said...
I’m surprised at Chucks comment on the trade deal with Mexico, I expect better analysis from him.

Conservative Treehouse has had the best analysis I have seen.

It’s not NAFTA with slight tweaks, that is why Canada was not part of the deal. Brilliant strategy by Trump to do an end run around NAFTA that is impossible to change due to political inertia, by negotiating a new agreement directly with Mexico. Canada thought Trump was negotiating NAFTA, put up lots of obstacles / demands, possibly based on advice from Obama, and got shut out of negotiations.


What exactly are you saying? That Trump's brilliant negotiating got us a better deal with... Canada?

Here in Detroit, Canada is already our biggest trading partner, by far. The Canadians aren't filching U.S. jobs with underpriced labor and lax environmental laws. Wo what big deal is Trump going to get out of Canada? Select lumber products? Dairy?

Most of what we hear from the Detoit automakers concerning Trump's mucking around in international trade is, "GTFO; leave us alone."

Qwinn said...

Cook asking "What is anti-American?" is like fish asking "What is water?" Or maybe "What is fish?"

buwaya said...

"and animal spirits"

Yes. Trump is like a good-luck charm.
Like a Japanese-Chinese lucky cat -

Maneki-Neko

He is this animal, for the global economy. Or maybe a lucky Buddha -

Lucky Budda-Budai

Rub his belly when making deals.

buwaya said...

And no-one has repealed the business cycle.
The trick is to recover quickly from inevitable crashes.

The Crack Emcee said...

Ray said...

"Mindfulness is a tool..."

The fools who fall for it are anyway. They've only been doing this shit for decades. It's not like the results aren't in.

I've been here for almost a decade, saying you've built a Fantasyland to live in, and I'm also saying the Emperor's got no clothes. You're all lying to yourselves.

The only thing impressive about it is how confidently it's done. But, what's the old saying? It's not what you know that's the problem, but what you know that just ain't so - and, after all these decades, y'all got heads FULL OF THAT SHIT.

buwaya said...

Obama failed because his recovery was painfully slow and weak.

The Crack Emcee said...

Mindfulness Training for Teens Fails Important Test - A large trial in schools showed no evidence of benefits, and hints it could even cause problems

"No evidence of benefits". Those words are music to cultist's ears. It's kept the alternative medicine, homeopathy, supplement, and quackery business busy lately. Nothing to worry about though. Nothing to worry about at all....

The Crack Emcee said...

And nobody warn Glenn Greenwald - because you care.

The Crack Emcee said...

You care like Steve Jobs' "friends"

The Crack Emcee said...

"WE LOVE YOU, STEVE!"

BYE!!!

Seeing Red said...

U.S. president says Canada can join if it's prepared to negotiate fairly; Freeland on way to Washington

From CBC.

Time to kiss the ring. Lolol

Francisco D said...

"Most of what we hear from the Detoit automakers concerning Trump's mucking around in international trade is ..."

How about what you hear from the American taxpayers who bailed out the Detroit automakers under Obama?

We protected your incompetent management and lazy, greedy unions. Any involvement with the UAW Chuckles?

Reagan mucked around in International trade and got the Japanese to move plants here. One positive side benefit that that automotive suppliers who went into business with them had to learn how to manage a manufacturing plant, for once.

Seeing Red said...

Rather than a five-year sunset clause, as originally proposed by the U.S., this new deal would set a 16-year term for the trade agreement, with a review process after six years to consider whether the deal would be renewed for another 16-year term. Officials briefing reporters said this longer period of time would protect the interests of investors.

Darrell said...

Trudeau will soon be dressing up as a Brony, wearing merkin eyebrows underneath.
The US is sick of subsidizing Canada with the trade deficit. The EU folded. Mexico folded. China will soon fold. And Canada will join the fold, qith Trudeau or not.

Trump flushed your toilet when he offered the world no tariffs no subsidies, and no phony restrictions or delays--pure free trade. Suck it, Chuck. We know that you know how.

tim in vermont said...

Mindfulness is sort of like “critical thinking,” not that easy to really teach somebody, and taken to mean so many things that charlatans have a field day with it. To me “mindfulness” is carefully trying to understand the origin of your conscious thoughts, to look for underlying thoughts you might have immediately forgotten when the main thought appeared, or to see lines of thought that had been cut off, “vetoed” by your sub-conscience mind before your conscious mind could even explore it, and to “not believe everything you think.” I can’t imagine teaching it in a classroom, but it is more something and individual has to come to through their own thought and effort.

Personally, I don’t care if studies say it’s a lot of rot, because it has changed my life, somewhat along the lines that Althouse described when she said she went from observer to active participant in her life. “There’s a new sheriff in town” is one way I would put it.

MadisonMan said...

The stock market reflects avarice, speculation, and animal spirits. It has nothing to do with Schlump.

It's great that you don't think Trump is greedy.

Michael K said...

In other words, Schlump will screw up the economy and cause an economic collapse such as what happened under Bush in 2008. No bailout may work to salvage the world economy next time.


Crack, is that you ?

What crashed the economy was the election of Democrats majorities in 2006. Barney Frank and Maxine Waters presided over the final stage of the real estate fraud bubble.

I used to have a clip on my own blog of Frank saying "Let's roll the dice on more time" after a Bush official warned them about the Fannie/Freddie coming catastrophe.

A pretty good explanation here,

We're hearing Republicans in the presidential primary blame the housing crisis on the Clinton-era push to lend more to poor people. In your view, what caused the mortgage crisis and subsequently the financial crash?

Congressman Frank, of course, blamed the financial crisis on the failure adequately to regulate the banks. In this, he is following the traditional Washington practice of blaming others for his own mistakes. For most of his career, Barney Frank was the principal advocate in Congress for using the government's authority to force lower underwriting standards in the business of housing finance. Although he claims to have tried to reverse course as early as 2003, that was the year he made the oft-quoted remark, "I want to roll the dice a little bit more in this situation toward subsidized housing." Rather than reversing course, he was pressing on when others were beginning to have doubts.


There it is. There was also the use by Democrats of Fannie and Freddie as plush goodies for old Democrat pols.

Like Franklin Raines.

The government on Monday filed civil charges against former Fannie Mae chief Franklin Raines and two other top executives, accusing them of misconduct costing shareholders billions of dollars.

The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight announced that it is seeking fines and the return of millions in bonus money. It filed 101 charges against Raines, former chief financial officer Timothy Howard and former controller Leanne Spencer.

Raines and Howard were swept out of office two years ago in the multibillion-dollar accounting debacle at the government-sponsored company, which finances one of every five home loans in the United States. Fannie Mae earlier this month announced a long-awaited restatement for 2001 through June 30, 2004, that erased $6.3 billion in profit.


Michael K said...

And James Johnson.

James A. Johnson (born December 24, 1943) is a United States Democratic Party political figure, and the former CEO of Fannie Mae. He was the campaign manager for Walter Mondale's failed 1984 presidential bid and chaired the vice presidential selection committee for the presidential campaign of John Kerry. He briefly led the vice-presidential selection process for the 2008 Democratic presidential nominee, Senator Barack Obama.

Well, that certainly qualifies him to run a huge federal housing fund.

An Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO) report[4] from September 2004 found that, during Johnson's tenure as CEO, Fannie Mae had improperly deferred $200 million in expenses. This enabled top executives, including Johnson and his successor, Franklin Raines, to receive substantial bonuses in 1998.[5] A 2006 OFHEO report[6] found that Fannie Mae had substantially under-reported Johnson's compensation. Originally reported as $6–7 million, Johnson actually received approximately $21 million.

In the 2011 book Reckless Endangerment: How Outsized Ambition, Greed and Corruption Led to Economic Armageddon, authors Gretchen Morgenson and Joshua Rosner wrote that Johnson was one of the key figures responsible for the late-2000s financial crisis.


Yes that was the "Bush economic collapse."

tim in vermont said...

Mindfulness training in teenagers seems pretty doubtful in any event, as their cerebral cortex is not yet fully developed. Which is why Democrats court them.

Francisco D said...

Chuckles,

I forgot to mention that the stock market is up today. The Dow was at 18,227 when Trump was elected less than 2 years ago. It is up well over 40% at 26,049. Nasdaq is up over 50% from 5,193 to 8,017.

The animal spirits of the stock market have been stirred by Trump, but you want to give credit to Obama and our existing trade agreements.

Insanity is repeating the same bullshit over and over again, until you think it's true.

The Crack Emcee said...

tim in vermont said...

"Personally, I don’t care if studies say it’s a lot of rot, because it has changed my life"

And here he have the root of the "cult" problem. Name a cult that doesn't thrive on that statement.

tim in vermont said...

Crack's link is far more ambiguous than he would have you believe, BTW. There is, unsurprisingly, evidence that it has benefits for adults, per his article.

The Crack Emcee said...

tim in vermont said...

"Crack's link is far more ambiguous than he would have you believe, BTW. There is, unsurprisingly, evidence that it has benefits for adults, per his article."

I gave you several articles - including one saying the "positive" studies are bogus - so stop lying: dishonesty is supposed to be something mindfulness weeds out of you.

tim in vermont said...

And here he have the root of the “cult" problem.

What cult do I belong to? The cult of thinking for oneself? The cult of trusting one’s own thinking and experience over the inchoate yammerings of this journalist or that?

tim in vermont said...

This is from your link Crack.

there is empirical evidence that mindfulness offers a moderate benefit for anxiety, depression, and pain, at least in adults.

I included the hot link to NIH. If you have a single link that debunks the findings that mindfulness does have benefits in adults, even if it is modest, I will be happy to review it.

The Crack Emcee said...

tim in vermont said...

"What cult do I belong to?"

The NewAge Movement, what else? You think normal folks fall for this bullshit - even after it's debunked?

"The cult of thinking for oneself?"

How can you be thinking for yourself while following a belief system with billions of others worldwide?

"The cult of trusting one’s own thinking and experience over the inchoate yammerings of this journalist or that?"

There is a reality you can trust and cross-reference evidence with - to go beyond your beliefs - and they can anchor your thoughts much, much better. Without them, anything goes - that's how we get Jesus freaks, too. You are the easiest person for you to fool. And you seem determined to do so. I don't try to talk stupid people out of the stupid things they talk themselves into. That's not my thing. All I can do is give you the information and hope you're not too far gone. Good luck. You sound like you need it.

Roughcoat said...

Mindfulness, both in general and specifically in the form of CBT and ACT (especially the latter), saved my life and changed it vastly for the better.

The Crack Emcee said...

tim in vermont said...

"This is from your link Crack."

I repeat: I gave you several links. Cherrypicking evidence is a cult practice as well. Keep it up. You're making all the right moves so far.

The Crack Emcee said...

Roughcoat said...

"Mindfulness, both in general and specifically in the form of CBT and ACT (especially the latter), saved my life and changed it vastly for the better."

You also started attacking me racially, as soon as I got here, so it must be working correctly.

tim in vermont said...

I have been working on mindfulness consciously for two years, at least, and I don’t believe that what I call mindfulness can be taught in a short time, nor do I think that the benefits will be seen in a few weeks. Nor would I pretend that I can convince somebody who is not so inclined to pursue it in a way that they will benefit from it.

We found no evidence that meditation programs were better than any active treatment (ie, drugs, exercise, and other behavioral therapies).

If it works as well as exercise, that’s pretty great! What if you did both?

The Crack Emcee said...

tim in vermont said...

"I included the hot link to NIH."

You must take me for a fool. The NIH houses the NCCIH - where NewAger Tom Harkin and Mormon Orrin Hatch set up their little alternative medicine promotion headquarters.

I know all the cult tricks.

tim in vermont said...

repeat: I gave you several links. Cherrypicking evidence is a cult practice as well.

Sorry Crack. I like you as a commenter, but I am not. going to read. every link you put up. That’s a lot to ask as a commenter. I picked one that you prominently highlighted and read it. Don’t flatter yourself that I am going to read every link you put out there in a desperate search for a weak link.

If you are going to ask people to read links, come with the strong ones.

tim in vermont said...

It was your link, Crack. I just read it and carefully considered it.

The Crack Emcee said...

Tim, they got you - you're doing their practices (which takes up your time and thoughts as any cult wants to do) going to them (NCCIH) for information, and you probably stay in the cult bubble 24 hours a day, I'd bet.

That's sad, but the reality that killed Steve Jobs, Steve McQueen, Corretta Scott King, and so many others. I'm over it.

Fuck all y'all.

The Crack Emcee said...

tim in vermont said...

"Sorry Crack. I like you as a commenter, but I am not. going to read. every link you put up. That’s a lot to ask as a commenter."

Hey - you're the one doing the practice without checking out the opposing lit - backed up by science. If you care about yourself, you'll read. If you don't, you'll pretend I'm putting a demand on you and blame me for your continued ignorance. Being a cultist already tells me you're stupid, so you got nothing to prove here. Read. Don't read. You're a jackass either way in my eyes.

"I picked one that you prominently highlighted and read it."

They turn colors if you make them links. I didn't "highlight" shit. You picked the one you hoped to find an argument for - I know cultists.

"Don’t flatter yourself that I am going to read every link you put out there in a desperate search for a weak link."

Your every criticism involves what you think I'm thinking - insecure bitch. Mindfulness hasn't improved that. Seems like a waste of time without it.

"If you are going to ask people to read links, come with the strong ones."

I haven't met a cultist yet who can recognize the difference.

Henry said...

I gave you several links. Cherrypicking evidence is a cult practice as well.

Crack, you undermine yourself with your own argument. But for all your cherrypicking, I don't think you're a cultist.

Henry said...

I've followed some of your links, btw. You extrapolate enthusiastically.

Rusty said...

I like reading economic analysis from the likes of Trumpit and Chuck. Like two monleys fucking a doorknob.

BUMBLE BEE said...

David Katz of Baltimore has been hospitalized for mental illness. Bet he was on psych meds like the other school shooters. Good thing his health records were kept confidential! That sorta stuff is important!

tim in vermont said...

You picked the one you hoped to find an argument for. - Crack telling me what I am thinking.

Your every criticism involves what you think I’m thinking - insecure bitch. - Crack, same comment even.

Come on Crack.

Roughcoat said...

tim in Vermont:

Highly recommend RMIT University (Australia) "6 Act Conversations" program. Available free online for download:

https://emedia.rmit.edu.au/communication/index.htm

The Crack Emcee said...

Henry said...

"Crack, you undermine yourself with your own argument. But for all your cherrypicking, I don't think you're a cultist."

I don't cherrypick evidence: I read science articles and blogs. What am I supposed to do - trust GOOP to tell the truth?

Double Blind Studies. If you ain't got 'em, get away from me.

Howard said...

BB, Good point about Katz: How many school shooters were TM mindful yoga supplemental herbal naturalpathic cultists and how many were getting the gold standard medicine from science?

Michael Fitzgerald said...

"He looks mentally ill". Thank you, doctor. What other diagnoses would you like to make based on a photograph? You know, your avatar is starting to look like it's hearing voices....

The Crack Emcee said...

Where's the Proof That Mindfulness Meditation Works? The ubiquitous technique for relieving stress and pain has remarkably little scientific evidence backing it, a group of scientists contend

Scientific American

The Crack Emcee said...

Mindfulness and Meditation Need More Rigorous Study, Less Hype

Association for Psychological Science

The Crack Emcee said...

But tim and others are using the tried-and-true "It works for me!" technique for determining efficacy.

As you can see, NewAgers are the reason shit don't work because, at any time, they think it's totally legit to blow off reality and declare "Personally, I don’t care if studies say it’s a lot of rot, because it has changed my life" - SO FUCK YOU, SCIENCE AND EDUCATION!!!

They're cultists - and perfectly mad.

Birkel said...

I prefer to stay out of the moment. I prefer not to try to monitor my own feelings as I feel them. I prefer mindlessness.

Now TCE doesn’t have to fuck me.

tcrosse said...

Shitfulness has always been efficacious. It works for me.

Howard said...

Why Most Published Research Findings Are False
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1182327/

Francisco D said...

"Mindfulness and meditation need-more rigorous study, less hype"

That is certainly true of most "pop" psychological interventions of the past 25 years. The hype is always greater than the empirical findings would suggest. Some of my (less scientifically trained) colleagues are certainly guilty. EMDR is an egregious example.

That said, some people benefit from these interventions, just as 10% of patients in controlled Pharma studies benefit from placebos.

Howard said...

Shitemptyness is nirvana, especially after drinking a strong cuppa joe.

tim in vermont said...

Double Blind Studies. If you ain’t got 'em, get away from me.

The day I tell you that you should practice mindfulness and all of your problems will be gone, you can say that. All I am saying is that being in touch with your thoughts and emotions and not letting them run/ruin your life is worth the effort to a lot of people.

BTW, have you seen the hockey documentary “Soul on Ice”?

Michael K said...

just as 10% of patients in controlled Pharma studies benefit from placebos.

Back in the days before Proton Pump Inhibitors, 30% of peptic ulcers healed with placebo.

Michael K said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Michael K said...

Idiotic Blogger.

narciso said...

he doesn't give them a tingle"

http://time.com/5375731/jair-bolsonaro/

Original Mike said...

Chuck said...”Most of what we hear from the Detoit automakers concerning Trump's mucking around in international trade is, "GTFO; leave us alone."”

Seriously? Does that include the truck makers protected by a 25% tariff?

tim in vermont said...

Thanks Roughcoat.

narciso said...

in a just world, she'd get another Pulitzer:


https://saraacarter.com/whistleblower-exposes-key-player-in-fbi-russia-probe-it-was-all-a-set-up/

PuertoRicoSpaceport.com said...

I have a complaint about the Portal, Ann.

I can't buy that mobius loop toy through it!

You need to take this up with management.

One of the nice things about grandkids is that it gives me an excuse to buy toys like this for me to play with. 4 of them spaced from 8 months to 14yrs means I can justify just about anything.

BUT I CAN"T BUY THE MOBIUS LOOP VIA YOUR PORTAL!!!

John Henry

Bay Area Guy said...

Dr. Crack is in the house! Show me the data, fool!

Anonymous said...

tim in vermont: It was your link, Crack. I just read it and carefully considered it.

So did I, and some of the others. Looks like he jumped on the headlines and didn't read, or didn't understand, what the articles were actually saying. "Mindfulness" and "meditation" currently have very high fad-status among scientifically ignorant new-agey and bizz-whizz types, an association which Man of Science Crack thinks constitutes irrefutable proof of inefficacy in itself.

Any reasonably scientifically-literate person, who is familiar with cognitive therapy, and capable of critically evaluating an experimental design (and what passes for science writing in popular venues), would not conclude from reading the linked articles that "mindfulness" of whatever definition has been scientifically proved to be 100% charlatanry and new-age bullshit, and that there is no credible evidence for any beneficial effects.

Such a person would probably have a larf at the design of some of the experiments purporting to test the efficacy of meditation/mindfulness ("We had one group of totally untrained workers/students be "mindful" for 15 minutes and compared them with a totally untrained control group who were unmindful for 15 minutes", lol). But he wouldn't take from the articles what our Man of Science has projected into them.

Roughcoat said...

Cognitive behavioral therapy are acceptance-commitment therapy are not new-agey. There is not nothing new-agey about them. I'm involved in ACT in order to deal with OCD and OCD-linked depression. It's not new-agey, or cultish, or spiritual in its orientation. It is practical and low-key. If you think it's new-agey you don't know what you're talking about.

And that's all I'll say about it.

Lewis Wetzel said...


Blogger Robert Cook said...

"'What does it mean to be "anti-American?"'

"Look in the mirror."

That doesn't answer the question. What does it mean to be "anti-American?" (For that matter, what does it mean to be "pro-American?")

Well, Robert Cook, I suppose it has a lot to do with the constitution. There is no America w/o the constitution. Just regions or states. It defines, politically, what it means to be American. Not culturally, just politically. Most Canadians are culturally part of the upper Midwest. No one expects them to act like "Americans." They got their own deal goin' on.

Ray - SoCal said...

I agree most mindfulness studies are junk. When the term is too broadly used, it becomes hard to mKe conclusions

A good book that took more of an engineering approach to mindfulness came out of Googles class, Search Inside Yourself: The Unexpected Path to Achieving Success, Happiness (and World Peace)
Chade-Meng Tan

That also created an institute that has good videos, https://siyli.org/

There is s place for mindfulness, and one for science. I view mindfulness as more of creating habits / short cuts, in how you think. The issue is making the right ones.

Steve Jobs was hubristic and paid the price on his health decisions. Interesting how Christian Science has died away...

Ray - SoCal said...

The fatal flaw in NAFTA is how it allows countries to use Mexico and Canada as back doors into the US market.

I see Canada as screwed by Trump - excellent read...

https://theconservativetreehouse.com/2018/08/27/justin-from-canada-painted-his-country-into-a-lose-lose-trade-corner-more-details-of-u-s-mexico-deal/

The Crack Emcee said...

Ray said...

"Steve Jobs was hubristic..."

And tim in Vermont saying "Personally, I don’t care if studies say it’s a lot of rot, because it has changed my life" isn't? That's the very definition of it.

As for the rest of you, as usual, making leaps in logic I didn't (and pinning them on me) I never said those articles, alone, proved anything. I said - and say every day - there's a large body of cult evidence AMERICA DOESN'T LOOK AT that, along with the science, adds up to my conclusion. Y'all WILLINGLY IGNORE what you like - I don't. Some you have a personal investment in it being correct or seeming to "work" - I don't. I'm just watching a bunch of liars, lying, and saying your beliefs in NewAge, just like a belief in religion, are what make you do that - I don't.

And they're what's fucked up in America, now, for doing so. They are the weakest link.

The Crack Emcee said...

Because of NewAgers, and their determination to destroy standards in this country for their "It works for me!" bullshit, we spend time arguing over how many angels can fit on the head of a pin instead of dealing with real issues. Because SCIENCE isn't good enough for them. LOGIC isn't good enough for them. REALITY itself isn't good enough for them. They're special.

They're cultists.

The Crack Emcee said...

'We saw nuns kill children': Horror claims about torture, sexual abuse and MURDER in Catholic orphanage in Vermont surface decades on

tim in Vermont: "It works for me!"

The Crack Emcee said...

BTW - That a bunch of people who give blacks grief on race fall for NewAge nonsense is NOT a surprise.

Anonymous said...

TCE: They're cultists.

You're a cultist yourself, Crack. A cargo-cultist, to be precise. You huff and puff, invoking science and throwing around its vocabulary, yet you misunderstand the articles you link, and what other people were saying here, because you insist on misinterpreting everything through the grungy filter of your own obsession with new age cranks. You're surrounded by lizard people, er, new age cultists everywhere you turn!

Nobody here is showing any signs of falling for new-age crankery. The only crank here is you.

Robert Cook said...

"'What does it mean to be "anti-American?'

"There's no mechanical check-list, but roughly:

1. Oppose the system of capitalism
2. Promote socialism.
3. Dislike the American Revolution.
4. Desire to change the interpretation and meaning of the Constitution
5. Not like the American flag
6. Not like the National Anthem
7. Disregard the rule of law.

Stuff like that, Cookie."


Yeah, that's what I figured...childish bullshit and meaningless obedience to symbols.

1. How is capitalism uniquely American? How is capitalism uniquely exempt from criticism? How do you know there isn't a better system that hasn't been devised yet, or a better version of capitalism? What is "opposing" capitalism? Simply criticizing its faults? Does that suffice? Or does it require the active efforts to end capitalism? If so, by what means? If by legal, peaceful means, is that still anti-American? Is one required to unquestioningly love capitalism to not be anti-American?

2. How is promoting socialism innately anti-American?

3. "Dislike the American Revolution." WTF? Is that even a thing?

4. The meaning and interpretation of the Constitution is the job of the judiciary. That is what the legal system is all about and always has been. One's man's fundamentalism is another's heresy. Who can claim to have the essential and correct understanding of every aspect of the Constitution and how it applies in practice?

5. So, being pro-American requires idolatry? That's what worship of the flag is, you know. It's just a brand logo, that's all. Just like every other flag.

6. The National Anthem? OMG. You really are a slave to stimuli, aren't you? The flag is just our logo, and the Anthem is just our commercial jingle. The Anthem is another object of idolatry.

7. There are law-breakers in every country, and in all social strata. I'm sure many law-breakers here consider themselves pro-American. Or are neutral on the subject. I doubt most crimes are committed with the least thought of "America" and how great it is or isn't. What kind of disregard of the rule of law do you mean, exactly? The kind exhibited by G.W. Bush when he violated the Constitution by illegally invading Iraq?

Taken all together, you're describing a robot or slave, a religious fanatic...not a free citizen.

The Crack Emcee said...

Angle-Dyne, Samurai Buzzard said...

"You're surrounded by lizard people, er, new age cultists everywhere you turn!"

I don't pay attention to you guys because, on it's face, this is bullshit, so I know YOU'RE not listening and are also bullshit. I didn't accuse Bill Burr of being a cultist. I didn't accuse Trump. I haven't accused Mike Pence and he's crazy. Jeff Sessions?I never claimed him. I didn't say Nancy Pelosi is a cultist and she represents their main stronghold, San Francisco. I didn't accuse Diane Feinstein. Am I making myself clear yet? Here, let me:

You're full of shit.

The NewAge Movement is as real as the Catholic church, and no amount of waving away - especially by those wrapped up in their silly and dangerous practices - is going to change me pointing out their madness or other excesses because, frankly, at this point I find their mystic mayhem and Nazi-like lack of compassion for each other hilarious.

narciso said...

this country, lost it's way, when it ignored the Word of God, for the Word of men, you down with that crack, or are you pedaling some other snake oil,

The Crack Emcee said...

narciso,

This country lost it's way when it bowed to the Word of God, without evidence he ever existed. We're not cave men anymore. We can put away our superstitions. We've been to the moon. There's no Heaven up there. You're not special. Nobody's watching your private moments. If you think they are, you're crazy. Stop it.

It's time America stopped being a young country and grew the fuck up.