tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16659850.post3066122230652978497..comments2024-03-17T03:42:21.277-05:00Comments on LEARNING CURVE ON THE ECLIPTIC: Another Broken Reed ~ Rachel MaddowTwilighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14138621610593773784noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16659850.post-67600788707580454082017-03-15T18:30:36.831-05:002017-03-15T18:30:36.831-05:00JD ~ Many thanks - I shall go read those pieces in...JD ~ Many thanks - I shall go read those pieces in the morning, in full. <br /> IYI - that's a good one! :-)Twilighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14138621610593773784noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16659850.post-7926232436928875752017-03-15T18:29:04.006-05:002017-03-15T18:29:04.006-05:00Comment from JD in England (he's having diffic...<b>Comment from JD in England</b> (he's having difficulty getting through Catchpa thingies)<br /><br /> Don't know her but I have heard the name. From what I have gleaned she falls into the category of "IYI" - Intellectual Yet Idiot!<br /><br />Just before reading your post I had been reading this - <br /><br />http://yourdailyshakespeare.com/plato-among-pundits-dialog/equalities <br /><br />Very long and rather obscure bit of philosophising but in the middle of it he referred to the rise of the "IYI" - 'these self-described members of the “intelligenzia” can’t find a coconut in Coconut Island' which came from somebody called Nassim Taleb.<br /><br />Here is Taleb's piece - <br /><br />http://nassimtaleb.org/2016/09/intellectual-yet-idiot/#.WMmf5aKkKVs<br /><br />In short, these people's only skill is the ability to pass exams set by people like themselves which, of course, makes them unemloyable in any meaningful way so they all become politicians/journalists/pundits etc<br />No wonder the world is in such a mess! :)<br />Both pieces are worth reading in full if you have the time.Twilighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14138621610593773784noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16659850.post-40315074991097828952017-03-15T18:18:39.953-05:002017-03-15T18:18:39.953-05:00LB ~ You're probably right - they are not thi...LB ~ You're probably right - they are not thinking far enough or widely enough ahead - "big picture". They consider only their current position as well-paid puppets, but are even blind to the puppet part, so it seems. I honestly thought Rachel was better than this, and Keith. They had me fooled for quite a while.Twilighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14138621610593773784noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16659850.post-52869096844119216602017-03-15T18:05:24.345-05:002017-03-15T18:05:24.345-05:00Very intelligent comment, RJ. Seems you're des...Very intelligent comment, RJ. Seems you're describing (in part), what happens when we succumb to the very real and dangerous temptation of wanting to be part of a particular group, rather than serve serve some greater altruistic principle or truth.LBnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16659850.post-19257028662875992122017-03-15T17:50:24.839-05:002017-03-15T17:50:24.839-05:00Me thinks they (including Rachel Maddow) "kno...Me thinks they (including Rachel Maddow) "know not what they do." I don't think Rachel would like the future she's helping to create. LBnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16659850.post-27198306455004191872017-03-15T12:56:20.726-05:002017-03-15T12:56:20.726-05:00RJ Adams ~ Thank you for this - I agree 100%.
T...RJ Adams ~ Thank you for this - I agree 100%.<br /><br />These times, as well as being "interesting" have become extremely clarifying too - as to who is on which side of the fence, who (the few) stands with The People - or 99% of 'em.<br /><br />I'm intending to brush up on Russian history. I'm already surprised to find that the Vikings were among those there very early on! Heck, Russians and East Yorkshire tykes like me might have shared ancient ancestors! Vikings raped and pillaged all over East Yorkshire, and York. ;-) Twilighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14138621610593773784noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16659850.post-16001454942207945682017-03-15T11:45:22.716-05:002017-03-15T11:45:22.716-05:00I haven't yet read Robert Parry's piece, o...I haven't yet read Robert Parry's piece, only your excerpt, but I agree wholeheartedly with his view of this latest round of McCarthyism and general Russia-bashing. Not one iota of evidence has been revealed to connect the Russian government with the DNC hackings. This movement by the U.S. media back towards the neoliberal elite as a sort of overreaching pendulum swing against the Trump administration is quite crazy. I said before the election that the choice was the frying pan or the fire. They chose the frying pan. Any swing back towards the fire can only have one result.<br />Rachel Maddow is no different from all the others who rise to fame through mainstream media. The power and the career prospects go to their heads (remember NBC's Brian Williams?) and they lose any true perception of reality. The BBC's Katty Kay is another grand example of a once dedicated and factual reporter, now risen among the exalted ranks of political commentators to hobnob with the Washington elite, and convince herself she's one of them.<br />Having seen the alleged Trump 'tax return', or at least the part Maddow got her hands on, there's obviously nothing on it to cause concern. Which leads me to agree with James Higham that it's a deliberate plant from inside the White House, meticulously timed to take the media heat off the Republican's latest healthcare debacle?<br />PS I've now read Parry's article and I'm in total agreement. Politicians are pastmasters at finding someone else to blame for their failings. Using Russia in this way is not only disgustingly arrogant (it grossly debases a nation whose history goes back to 862 A.D. - a little further than America) but also highly dangerous. While I believe Putin sufficiently intelligent to not trigger a nuclear war, the same cannot be said for Trump. Putin will only be pushed so far before retaliating in some form, and that retaliation might well prove sufficient for Trump's fragile ego to overreact, with devastating nuclear consequences.R J Adamshttps://sparrowchat.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16659850.post-29801774098136879642017-03-15T09:02:59.795-05:002017-03-15T09:02:59.795-05:00James Higham ~ HUH? I suspect you refer, not to ...James Higham ~ HUH? I suspect you refer, not to my post but to Trump's tax return "revealed" by Rachel Maddow last evening on MSNBC, which I don't watch but have read about just a few minutes ago<br /><br />https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-tax-records-leaked-to-msnbc-white-house-confirms-1489540089<br /><br /><br /><br />Twilighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14138621610593773784noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16659850.post-90845133591757258092017-03-15T08:41:18.217-05:002017-03-15T08:41:18.217-05:00I'm starting to think Trump leaked that himsel...I'm starting to think Trump leaked that himself.James Highamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14525082702330365464noreply@blogger.com