Death of Hypatia®

Category: WIBCI

  • WIBCI Post #173

    WIBCI we experienced PERFECT LOVE?

    Perfect love appears to have been sought after since man could write, but sought differently.

    In modern times we throw words/phrases around like ‘soul mates’, ‘my person’, ‘twin flames’, ‘made for each other’, ‘kindred spirit’, and ‘true love.’ Such phrases give the impression that there is one, and only one, person who is ‘meant’ for you. To me this seems like a bit of a stretch since in a 2011 Tedx Talk, self-help author Mel Robbins announced that the odds of being born are one in 400 trillion…..huh……, imagine what the odds are that you were born AND your ‘soul mate’ was also born at the same time in a geographical area where you two kids would bump into each other. Do they make numbers that high? Suffice to say, nearly impossible. So why are we setting ourselves up for failure? Maybe we could lower that lofty bar a little bit?

    Wouldn’t It Be Cooler If, instead of focusing on finding that one person, we focused on being loved that way we want to? Maybe people would be quicker to leave failing relationships because THEY were too important to waste time on someone who didn’t return love properly.

    I like the way that Joseph Campbell shortened what was written by Giraut de Bornelh, troubadour (1138-1215), maybe 800 years ago, they had a better plan: look for the love, not the person:

    “So through the eyes love attains the heart, for the eyes are the scouts of the heart. And the eyes go reconnoitering for what it would please the heart to possess. And when they are in full accord and firm, all three in one resolve, at that time perfect love is born from what the eyes have made welcome, to the heart. For as all true loves know, love is perfect kindness, which is born, there is no doubt, from the heart and the eyes.”

     … more “WIBCI Post #173”

  • WIBCI Post #172

    WIBCI we could articulate WHY we love?

    WOULDN’T IT BE COOL IF people understood their own MOTIVES?

     

    I love words. I’m in awe that with 26 letters, spaces, and punctuation we can learn about the entire world.

    I love authors, not for the words they wrote, but for the thoughts they provoked, in ME.

    When mastered, with 26 letters, spaces, and punctuation we can teach the world about ourselves.

     

    The point of Death of Hypatia® is for you to learn about you and what you love, but I believe it is as important to know WHY.

     … more “WIBCI Post #172”

  • WIBCI Post #171

    WIBCI if we really BELIEVED or really didn’t?

    Wouldn’t It Be Cool If we truly understood what it is we believed, not what we were told/brought up/influenced into believing? WIBCI there was a moment in time when we were hit with the full force of what we believed, or what we DIDN’T believe?

    (Per Wikipedia) Nihilism: is a family of philosophical views that reject the existence of any objectively meaningful purpose, moral value, truth, knowledge, or related concepts. Nihilistic views span several branches of philosophy, including ethics, value theory, epistemology, and metaphysics. 

    Existential nihilism asserts that life has no objective meaning or purpose. The idea that all individual and societal values are ultimately pointless has been associated with various responses.

    Medusa has sometimes appeared as representing notions of scientific determinism and nihilism, especially in contrast with romantic idealism.  In this interpretation of Medusa, attempts to avoid looking into her eyes represent avoiding the ostensibly depressing reality that the universe is meaningless. Jack London uses Medusa in this way in his novel The Mutiny of the Elsinore:

     

         “I cannot help remembering a remark of De Casseres. It was over the wine in Mouquin’s.  Said he: ‘The profoundest instinct in man is to war against the truth; that is, against the Real. He shuns facts from his infancy. His life is a perpetual evasion. Miracle, chimera and to-morrow keep him alive. He lives on fiction and myth. It is the Lie that makes him free. Animals alone are given the privilege of lifting the veil of Isis; men dare not. The animal, awake, has no fictional escape from the Real because he has no imagination. Man, awake, is compelled to seek a perpetual escape into Hope, Belief, Fable, Art, God, Socialism, Immortality, Alcohol, Love. From Medusa-Truth he makes an appeal to Maya-Lie.’ “

    — Jack London, The Mutiny of the Elsinore

     

    Morbid, yes. Devastating, yes. Thoughtful, yes. His own………YES.

     … more “WIBCI Post #171”

  • WIBCI Post #170

    WIBCI there were more VIRTUES?

    Wouldn’t It Be Cool If Blast from the Last Year

    This is a post from 6/28/25 with minor modifications (a writer is never ‘done’):

    WIBCI Post #30

    Wouldn’t It Be Cool If POLITICS learned from PHILOSOPHY?

     

    In The Republic by Plato, Socrates discusses the four chief virtues necessary for justice to thrive in a city/State:

    COURAGE, MODERATION, JUSTICE and WISDOM

     

    Picture a present day leader….do YOU think they honor and exhibit these virtues?

    What do YOU think of these four words?

    Picture someone YOU admired as a kid, did they have all four virtues?

    Do YOU exhibit them?….

     

    Sadly the persons I pictured last year have not improved.

    … more “WIBCI Post #170”

  • WIBCI Post #169

    WIBCI we noticed PATTERNS?

    Wouldn’t It Be Cool If we learned from history?

    With it being the 250th anniversary and a plethora of American Revolution documentaries to watch, I began The American Experiment and like I’m guessing, all Americans who find these interesting, you can’t help drawing parallels, comparisons and contrasts between us then and us now.

    The stationing of British troops in Boston and in some other communities inspired great anger and resistance. One of the hallmarks of the kind of oppressive ruler that our founders feared might emerge sometime in the US is to put troops in the communities and turn them against the American people. That was a key mistake that King George did. 

    -Al Gore The American Experiment S1E1

     

    USA Today’s opinion forum from January 17th, 2026 agreed with the former Vice President when discussing the current President:

    As for his biggest mistake, it would be how he has used Immigration and Customs Enforcement – taking money from other needed programs and using it to increase the size of ICE, then sending these people, with masks and little training, to terrorize cities and states.

     

    Maybe folks in DC should be learning from the very history we are celebrating rather than hosting ultimate fighting….seems that would be Better For The Most. Just me?… more “WIBCI Post #169”

  • WIBCI Post #168

    WIBCI we were more like FRANCE?

    Wouldn’t It Be Cool If we acted like a COMMUNITY?

    During the recent wildfires in France I heard a story on NPR.
    I learned there were over 200,000 evacuees, the most since WWII.
    I heard about a person in the Mayor’s office of this village who stayed behind, found, and fed local pets.
    I learned that 80% of firefighters in France are volunteers and regardless of the political affiliation of the community, all were aided. The firefighters were openly appreciated and acknowledged by the locals, including a woman who brought homemade crepes to thank them. Shop keepers were hugged by patrons when they returned, to their homes and with a 24/7 security system looting was kept to a minimum.
    If a disaster happened where YOU live, would the community response be more like southwestern France or LA?

     

     … more “WIBCI Post #168”

  • WIBCI Post #167

    WIBCI FREEDOM OF THE PRESS WAS SACRED?

    Wouldn’t It Be Cool If we noticed the forest among the trees?

    I was reading an article in The Guardian and at the end noticed this plea for support. I believe it is important for us to realize what is happening to our Press and its freedom’s before they are gone:

    The following excerpt is from this plea:

    We hope you appreciated this article. Before you close this tab, we want to ask if you could support the Guardian at this dangerous time for journalism in the US.

    According to a leading global watchdog, American democracy is now more imperiled than at any point since the 1960s, marked by a precipitous decline in press freedom – driven by mounting pressure from the Trump administration in the form of threats, criminal investigations, politicized regulation, frivolous lawsuits and, for public media, catastrophic funding cuts. 

    Meanwhile, organizations that are supposed to be independent like the FBI and the FCC, our radio and television regulator, have also been targeting press freedom under Trump-aligned leadership, with the FBI raiding a reporter’s home and the FCC threatening ABC’s TV licenses after Jimmy Kimmel made a joke about Melania Trump.

    The response from some ultra-wealthy and corporate media owners, keen to appease the president, has been chilling: CBS News has been taken over by a Trump ally; CNN may be taken over by the same billionaire; Jeff Bezos has continued to impose cuts and editorial interventions at the Washington Post; and multiple outlets have settled multimillion-dollar lawsuits from the administration to protect their business interests.

    Democracy is best served by a robust, thriving free press. But when that freedom is under attack, it falls to a determined few news organizations to ensure the full truth still reaches the public. Owned neither by a billionaire nor a corporation, the Guardian remains dedicated to covering this administration with uncompromising moral and factual clarity – and to keeping trustworthy journalism paywall-free for the world.

    Despite the risks of maintaining our fierce independence, what sustains us – and fills us with deep gratitude – is the unwavering support we’ve seen from readers. It is no exaggeration to say that we are here because of people like you: a majority of our funding comes directly from readers responding to messages like this. Your support not only powers our work, but more importantly, it safeguards the financial independence that underpins our editorial freedom and courage.

     

    What do YOU think? Does this affect how you think about your information and where it comes from? What is SACRED to you?… more “WIBCI Post #167”

  • WIBCI Post #166

    WIBCI More Were Merrier?

    Wouldn’t It Be Cool If there was more JOY and less ENTITLEMENT?

     

    In 1976 Mike Royko from the Chicago Daily News wrote that perhaps the recent uptick in the women mugged downtown could be due to the lack of police on the street as they were acting as body guards for Frank Sinatra. Did the gracious crooner apologize to the ladies of Chicago and/or make a donation to a local charity for the inconvenience his presence caused the city? Nope, on May 4th, 1976 Frank Sinatra wrote a scathing letter to the columnist Mike Royko.

    Here it is word for word:

     

    May 4th, 1976

    Mr. Mike Royko “Chicago Daily News”

    Let me start this note by saying, I don’t know you and you don’t know me. I believe if you knew me: 

    First you would find immediately that I do not have an army of flunkies.

    Secondly, neither myself, nor my secretary, nor my security man put in the request for police protection. It is something that’s far from necessary.

    It’s quite obvious that your source of information stinks, but that never surprises me about people who write in newspapers for a living. they rarely get their facts straight. If the police decided that they wanted to be generous to me, I appreciate it. Why not take it out on them instead of me, or is that too big a job for you?

    And thirdly, who the hell gives you the right to decide how disliked I am if you know nothing about me. They only honest thing I read in your piece is the fact that you admitted you are disliked, and by the way you write I can understand it Quite frankly, I don’t understand why people don’t spit in your eye three or four times a day.

    Regarding my “tough reputation” you and no one else can prove that allegation. You and millions of other gullible Americans read that kind of crap written by the same female gossip columnists that you are so gallantly trying to protect; the garbage dealers I call hookers, and there’s no doubt that is exactly what they are, which makes you a pimp, because you are using people to make money just as they are.

    Lastly, certainly not the least, if you are a gambling man:

    a) You prove, without a doubt, that I have ever punched an elderly drunk or elderly anybody, you can pick up $100,000.

    b) I will allow you to pull my “hairpiece”; if it moves, I will give you another $100,000; if it does not, I push you in the mouth. How about it?

    -Sinatra

     

    Jesus.

    In my opinion, Ole’ Blue Eyes comes off as a dick. He starts by pointing out how they don’t know each other so how dare a journalist write about a celebrity, but then HE goes on to personally insult and degrade the man he admittedly doesn’t know, journalism, the American public, women, and hookers!  Wake up on the wrong side of the bed Frank?  He wants you to prove his “tough reputation” after saying he should he should be assaulted 3 to 4 times daily, before threatening the journalist, insulting women, and never denying any of the allegations. Entitled much Frankie? I guess 1%’s have historically sucked.

    But this story has a surprisingly apropos ending.

    The reason I could write the letter word for word was because in 2009 a lovely little lamb of a lady brought in a framed letter and 4 news articles to Antiques Roadshow. She goes on to say how she always read the Chicago Daily News and Mike Royko’s column. When Mike Royko received this letter, he did not take Frankie up on his bet, he did not cower in fear….he published it.

    He not only published it, but he auctioned it off to the highest bidder with the proceeds going to The Salvation Army.

    And this white haired gem of person was that highest bidder.

    But wait, that isn’t even the best part!

    When she found out that the letter, she bid $400 dollars on was now worth $15K, she responded with such JOY; it was the best reaction I have ever seen after many, many, many episodes. I almost cried myself. She had to sit down between yelling to the crowd, ‘Did you hear that?!”. She couldn’t hug her friend Betty hard enough, the appraiser was overcome, and the PA who brought her the chair was enveloped in her arms.

    But wait, there’s more!

    While embracing the PA she whispers to her (but luckily for us, the audio was caught by the PA’s microphone):

    ‘If I ever sell it, I’m giving the money to The Salvation Army. The more the merrier!’

     

    Good on you Mike, good on you lovely lady, good on you Betty!

    WIBCI there were more people who thought like her and less people who thought like Frank?

     

     

    … more “WIBCI Post #166”

  • WIBCI Post #165

    WIBCI EMPATHY were the norm?

    Wouldn’t It Be Cool If time spent with others were more a part of our own EVOLVING?

    Recently I was with a group of people and I was discussing the disappointment I felt while talking with my relatives. I related how I wasn’t asked questions about my life beyond ‘how are things?’. There were no follow-up questions, penetrating looks, or requests for more background. I seemed to serve only as an opportunity mirror used to bounce back or redirect my words into anecdotes related to themselves. In none of these conversations did I walk away feeling more understood, more capable to tackle that which needs tackling; I had no advantageous new point of view to consider.

    BUT this is not the part of the conversation that I wish to be considered the most poignant point of this.

    When I was done venting, the response I received was most unexpected. From the three individuals present I was to believe that it was I that was the oddity in these disappointing discussions, not my relatives. I was told that I asked people to ‘start from the beginning’ and asked about previous conversations, and THIS is what was unusual, NOT their uninterestedness.

    I was the empathetic exception. They reported that even their most intimate of correspondents don’t ask of them, the questions I expect to be asked by others.

    Huh…

    As I’m writing a book, I see conversations with others as chances to see the world differently, possible viewpoints of characters yet to be born. I know what I think of the world and I don’t care whether you agree or not; I find no need, unless genuinely asked, to try out my opinions on you to see if you agree or find me intelligent. What I’m coming into these conversations not knowing is how it all looks from your shoes, that’s what I want to know. I want to know YOU, I want to hear what YOU think, I want to consider what YOU consider. If I learn something about you, or see something from a different angle, I might learn a little something about me.… more “WIBCI Post #165”

  • WIBCI Post #164

    WIBCI we look at some of the takeaways from THE WORLD CUP

    Wouldn’t It Be Cool If FIFA was above kissing the ring?

     

    SPORT is supposed to be impressive, entertaining, real and pure. Wikipedia lists the following as a definition for the word:

    The precise definition of what differentiates a sport from other leisure activities varies between sources. The closest to an international agreement on a definition is provided by the Global Association of International Sports Federations (GAISF), which is the association for all the largest international sports federations (including association football, athletics, cycling, tennis, equestrian sports, and more), and is therefore the de facto representative of international sport.

    GAISF uses the following criteria, determining that a sport should:

    • have an element of competition

    • be in no way harmful to any living creature

    • not rely on equipment provided by a single supplier (excluding proprietary games such as arena football)

    • not rely on any “luck” element specifically designed into the sport.

     

    The World Cup was a chance for North Americans, more specifically, Americans, to better appreciate the global world they are a part of. To me Sport is something free of religion and politics, where the world agrees on the rules and enjoys together.

    Wouldn’t It Have Been Cooler If we let the sport happen? If our leadership didn’t value winning over sport maybe teams would have been able to bring all their staff into the United States, maybe fans wouldn’t have had to leave bonds to ensure their departure, maybe we wouldn’t insist rules are overlooked for US, maybe we could have had grace and taken it upon ourselves NOT to take an advantage, maybe we could have had class, maybe we could have separated church and state a bit better.

    That is where, in my eyes, the US could have been cooler. But this failure is also on the hands of FIFA. It starts with the ridiculous and thinly veiled ‘FIFA Peace Prize’ which was announced in Nov. 2025 and given out in December 2025 after a thoughtful MONTH long discussion. The empathetic and world altering achievements this award is supposed to symbolize, did not seem to be embodied by its first recipient. Huh, I thought FIFA was this giant of industry, a world power, an independent creature subject to the impulses on no one. Guess I was wrong.

    They crumpled just like everyone else does.

    I want to be represented by teams that win games because they were physically and mentally better. I don’t want to win because we bent the rules to our favor. Empty trophies and empty awards given by empty organizations. It was so obvious to me that the message was not about the world coming together for sport, it was about making money for a few. What a shame.

    But unlike me I do have one positive takeaway. To me the best part of some of the World Cup games being in the United States. Is the amazement of foreigners that Americans are cool. Often the citizens of a nation are judged by their leadership. The best takeaway from the World Cup, for me, was the overwhelming outpouring of fans from other nations being so shocked that Americans were lovely.

    Most of us are lovely, thank you for noticing.

    Shameful FIFA president tarnishes World Cup with U.S. penalty reversal

     … more “WIBCI Post #164”

  • WIBCI Post #163

    WIBCI FLASHBACK to WIBCI Post #19 To those who are unfamiliar to this website, which by my calculations would be…….ah yes, here it is… everyone, that would include everyone. Below is what I posted on June 11th of last year explaining the meaning behind Death of Hypatia® the only thing I changed is adding the fancy little ® symbol that I have since received:)   Wouldn’t It Be Cool If we learned from HISTORY? WIBCI we learned from the Death of Hypatia®:

    Who/What happened to Hypatia of Alexandria?

    Hypatia was a woman born c. 350 who lived in Alexandria, Egypt. We do not know what Hypatia looked like nor do we have any of her writings. What we know of Hypatia is from her students, contemporaries, rumor, slander and myth. The scholar/mathematician/philosopher/astronomer was beloved by Christians and Pagans alike. Known for her tolerance and intelligence, students traveled from all corners of the empire to study with the Neoplatonist. Neoplatonism is a combination of philosophy/mathematics/science into an order which attempts an explanation for the universe. Reknown for her inclusivity for all people/religions, she established great influence in the philosophical and political realms of Alexandria. Orestes, the Roman prefect (Roman Governor) sought advise from Hypatia during a public feud between himself and Cyril, the archbishop of Alexandria. The archbishop, in the name of Christianity, began to impose on Orestes’ secular authority. Orestes was attacked, saved by the people of Alexandria, discovered the leader of the perpetrators whom he had tortured and killed. Cyril placed the blame on Hypatia, the witch, possibly due to her influence, maybe jealously for her popularity and/or to get her tolerance out of the way. Although the details of her death will never be known, it is believed that in c. 415 a mob pulled Hypatia from her carriage and dragged her into a church. Her flesh was scraped from her body; it is believed to have been done with roof tiles or oyster shells. She was dismembered and burnt.

    Why this is considered a Death of Hypatia® moment:           

    • The event caused a scholarly exodus, Alexandria ceased to be the intellectual capital of the world.
    • The event attributed to the decline in intellectualism in the Roman Empire.
    • The event is arguably noted as the moment that marks the end of the Classical Era.
    • Any Death of Hypatia® moment results in the decline in people thinking for themselves due to the increase in organizational persecution for thinking anyway other than what the status quo of the day dictates.
    Free thought has been the historical Achilles’ heel for those few who contribute to Death of Hypatia® moments.
     
    What do YOU think?
    … more “WIBCI Post #163”

  • WIBCI Post #162

    WIBCI we used the DUCK TEST in life more?

    WOULDN’T IT BE COOL IF we called it like it was?

    Have you heard of The Duck Test? per Wikipedia it is:

    The duck test is a frequently cited colloquial example of abductive reasoning. Its usual expression is:

    If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a duck.

    The test implies that a person can identify an unknown subject by observing that subject’s habitual characteristics. It is sometimes used to counter abstract arguments that something might not be what it appears to be.

     

    I’ve noticed an uptick in the use of the word TYRANT, so let’s dig.

    Per Dictionary.com:

    tyrant / tahy-ruhnt / ˈtaɪ rənt / n /:

    1. a sovereign or other ruler who uses power oppressively or unjustly.

      Synonyms:
      dictator, autocrat, despot

    2. any person in a position of authority who exercises power oppressively or despotically.

    3. a tyrannical or compulsory influence.

     

    So that is what tyrants are.

    So what do tyrants do?

    To look into this I turned to Joseph Campbell, described by Wikipedia as:

    Joseph John Campbell (March 26, 1904– October 30, 1987) was an American writer. He was a professor of literature at Sarah Lawrence College who worked in comparative mythology and comparative religion. His work covers many aspects of the human condition. Campbell’s best-known work is his book The Hero with a Thousand Faces (1949), in which he discusses his theory of the journey of the archetypalhero shared by world mythologies, termed the monomyth.

    Since the publication of The Hero with a Thousand Faces, Campbell’s theories have been applied by a wide variety of modern writers and artists. His philosophy has been summarized by his own often repeated phrase: “Follow your bliss.”He gained recognition in Hollywood when George Lucas credited Campbell’s work as influencing his Star Wars saga.

    In The Hero with a Thousand Faces, Joseph Campbell writes:

    The figure of the tyrant-monster is know to the mythologies, folk traditions, legends, and even nightmares, of the world; and his characteristics are everywhere essentially the same. He is the hoarder of the general benefit. He is the monster avid for the greedy rights of ‘my and mine.” The havoc wrought by him is described in mythology and fairy tale as being universal throughout his domain. This may be no more than his household, his own tortured psyche, or the lives that he blights with the touch of his friendship and assistance; or it may amount to the extent of his civilization. The inflated ego of the tyrant is a curse to himself and his world – no matter how his affairs may seem to prosper. Self-terrorized, fear-haunted, alert at every hand to meet and battle back the anticipated aggressions of his environment, which are primarily the reflections of the uncontrollable impulses to acquisition within himself, the gift of self-achieved independence is the world’s messenger of disaster, even though, in his mind, he may entertain himself with humane intentions.

    WIBCI minus the last 12 words, does this remind you of any particular Duck?… more “WIBCI Post #162”

  • WIBCI Post #161

    WIBCI we APPRECIATED HISTORY

    Wouldn’t It Be Cool If there was more GUMPTION in our Government?

    Had you heard of The Saturday Night Massacre? I hadn’t until recently. The full Wikipedia link and main description are below, but in a nutshell….

    • In 1973 amidst a scandal the President requests that the special prosecutor drop a subpoena for audio tapes intended as evidence in possible impeachment proceedings
    • The special prosecutor refuses
    • The President orders the Attorney General to fire the special prosecutor
    • The Attorney General refuses and resigns
    • The President orders the Deputy Attorney to fire the special prosecutor
    • The Deputy Attorney refuses and resigns
    • The President orders the Solicitor General to fire the special prosecutor
    • The Solicitor General fires the special prosecutor and intends to resign but per the Ex-Attorney General and the Ex-Deputy Attorney General is persuaded to stay on
    • The American public does not dig this
    • Congress does not dig this
    • Congress initiates impeachment process 10 days later
    • 5 days later the US district judge rules the dismissal of the special prosecutor illegal
    • The President resigns

    I mention appreciation and gumption at the top because in comparison….I’m impressed.

    Think about it, WIBCI if TODAY we had: DC Men with Power who did what’s right as opposed to what’s right for them, Civil Servants who put standards before personal security, Politicians who put country ahead of party, a World where the Public was listened to, A Justice System that was just, and Our Government did what was BETTER FOR THE MOST?

    I think that Would Be Cool……If.

     

    Per Wikipedia: The Saturday Night Massacre was:

    a series of resignations over the dismissal of special prosecutor Archibald Cox that took place in the United States Department of Justice during the Watergate scandal in 1973. The events followed the refusal by Cox to drop a subpoena for the Nixon White House tapes at President Richard Nixon’s request.

    During a single evening on Saturday, October 20, Richard Nixon ordered Attorney General Elliot Richardson to fire Archibald Cox; Richardson refused and resigned effective immediately. Nixon then ordered Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus to fire Cox; Ruckelshaus refused, and also resigned. Nixon then ordered the third-most-senior official at the Justice Department, Solicitor General Robert Bork, to fire Cox. Bork carried out the dismissal as Nixon asked. Bork stated that he intended to resign afterward, but was persuaded by Richardson and Ruckelshaus to stay on for the good of the Justice Department.

    The political and public reactions to Nixon’s actions were negative and highly damaging to the president. The impeachment process against Nixon began ten days later, on October 30, 1973. Leon Jaworski was appointed as the new special prosecutor on November 1, 1973, and on November 14, 1973, United States district judge Gerhard Gesell ruled that the dismissal had been illegal.

    The Saturday Night Massacre marked the turning point of the Watergate scandal. The public, while increasingly uncertain about Nixon’s actions in Watergate, were incensed by Nixon’s seemingly blatant attempt to end the Watergate probe. Congress, having largely taken a wait-and-see approach regarding Nixon’s role in the scandal, quickly turned on Nixon and initiated impeachment proceedings that would end in Nixon’s resignation.

    … more “WIBCI Post #161”

  • WIBCI Post #160

    WIBCI we listened to LARRY DAVID?

    Wouldn’t It Be Cool If we learned from comedy?

    Comedy has to be based on the truth. You take the truth and put a little curlicue at the end.

    -Sid Ceasar

    If you don’t know who Sid Caesar is, look him up. He knows what he is talking about. His comedy career spanned 60 years on television and the big screen; from ‘Your Show of Shows‘, to ‘Cannonball Run II’, to ‘Vegas Vacation’.

    Recently I watched Larry David’s new show called ‘Life, Larry, and the Pursuit of Unhappiness‘. In this show American history is given a comic edge, Larry David style. I found it hilarious, ambitious, and ballsy. I like that there are still artists in this country who are willing to put their necks on the line to shine a comic light on what is unwell in our country.

    Below is a GREAT example:

     

    Narrator (Samuel L. Jackson):

    ‘George Washington was nearing the end of his second term. and though the Constitution allowed for unlimited re-election, Washington thought that it was best for the country that he step aside, proving to his fellow citizens that his commitment was to democracy instead of power. Washington also warned against the rise of political factions. He feared that if people voted in line with party loyalty instead of the common interest of the nation (Better For The Most), it could promote a spirit of revenge, leading to the rise of cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men who would take the reins of government… 

    but that could never happen.’

    Next we pan down to a reenactment of Washington’s concession speech. The part of George Washington is played to perfection by the late, great, Rob Reiner:

    ‘My fellow citizens, I stand before you today as your President to announce that I shall not be seeking a third term.’

    The gathered crowd in 1790’s garb gasp in astonishment and someone yells:

    ‘Your country needs you!’

    The President continues:

    ‘No, in order to assure the success of our fledgling democracy, I believe that no man should serve more than two terms as president. And I hope that future presidents will follow my lead.

    A spectator of the seeming merchant class (Larry David) speaks up:

    ‘What if some future President doesn’t follow your lead and runs for a third term?’

    The President responds:

    ‘There are remedies for that. The Congress can pass a constitutional amendment that would prohibit that’

    Merchant counters:

    ‘What if there was some asshole in office, some narcissistic prick, who doesn’t follow the Constitution?’

    After some grunts and ‘yeahs’ from the crowd, George retorts:

    ‘I understand your fervor sir but perhaps you could temper your language.’ 

    Merchant:

    ‘My apologies Mr. President. You know, I…this really gets up my dander, this stuff.’

    President:

    ‘I understand, but rest assured, even if this future president violated the Constitution, then the Congress of the United States and the United States Supreme Court would not allow it.

    Merchant:

    But what if the Supreme Court is a bunch of yes-men and Congress is a bunch of pussies who care more about party than country?!’ 

    President:

    ‘I can’t even fathom the existence of such men but to further ensure the success of this grand experiment, I would suggest that after every presidential election, there be a peaceful transfer of power….where the loser accepts the results of the election and full-throatedly endorses the victor.’

    Merchant:

    ‘Anyone who wouldn’t accept the results of a free and fair election is a sociopath, a madman. A man like that could even foment an insurrection rather than just admit that he lost.’

    The crowd is riled up by this and one of the men yells:

    ‘What a cocksucker!’

    Merchant continues:

    ‘He could use the presidency to enrich himself and his family. He could send troops into American cities to terrorize and even kill American citizens, all to distract from the fact that he’s friends with a pedophile! He could attack universities, even the free press, silencing anyone who dares to criticize him.’

    Here the Merchant is interrupted by another onlooker (Jimmy Kimmel):

    ‘Ah Come on. That could never happen.’ 

    Merchant:

    ‘That’s what you think.’

    On-Looker:

    ‘Are you suggesting that the President would taketh the time to challenge anyone who dare make fun of him, as if he were a big baby?’

    Merchant agreeing:

    ‘A big baby!’

    On-Looker:

    ‘I don’t see it.’

    President:

    ‘No! What duly elected president would do such a thing!’

    Merchant:

    ‘An insecure, lying asshole! He would cheat at golf!’

    Crowd murmurs:

    ‘That’s sick!’ & ‘That’s vile!’

    President:

    ‘What is golf?’

    Merchant:

    ‘It’s a game they invented in Scotland. It’s a lot of fun’ 

    President:

    ‘What kind of man would cheat at this golf?’

    Crowd:

    ‘A sick man!’ & ‘An Asshole!’

    Merchant:

    ‘And did I mention that he’s best friends with a pedophile?’

    President:

    ‘Please citizens, be calm. He is only talking hypothetically. In reality a man of such poor character would never be elected president in the first place.’

    Merchant:

    ‘I’m just spitballing here, Mr. President, but what if he was a deeply corrupt con man, a pathological liar who preys on people’s prejudices?’

    President:

    ‘Are you positing that our electorate is a collection of dupes that would be swayed by such a scoundrel?’

    Merchant:

    ‘Yes Mr. President! That’s exactly what I’m positing!’

    … more “WIBCI Post #160”

  • WIBCI Post #159

    WIBCI you NOTICED WHAT THEY WERE SELLING?

    Picture a commercial where a young woman is pictured in a montage:  bored out of her head in the dreariest of offices and dispiritedly watching the spin cycle at a laundromat too dull for color, self hair-cutting in a bathroom, and a cup-o-noodles rip-off rotating in a microwave oven.  The sheer volume of toothbrushes points to multiple roommate habitation and the noodles in styrofoam are an obvious nod to a frugal lifestyle. The narrator says:

    You work hard. You save your money…

    so you can have all this…

    by the time you are like….. 87?!

    Then it hits you.

    This final three lines above are narrated over rapid fire images of: a very white wedding on the beach at sunset, a very white woman watering the roses in front of her twin swan topiaries (she appears to be wearing curlers and borrowed a dress from Mrs. Cleaver), a family photo of mom, dad, eldest bro, little sis, and a non-binary infant, an elderly couple NOT very white holding hands and running on the beach, cuddling, and laying a loving head upon husband #3’s shoulder. The dream crashes to reality at the word ’87 when the young woman standing on a metropolitan intersection regains her footing after a death defying brush with a speeding city bus and noticing the guy across the street spinning a life insurance policy placard in a scream mask/costume. the Narrator continues:

     

    Life is short.

    So you start spending on today.

    More gentler montage of images of the young woman making purchases such as: a bougie fruity drink, a green and red cocktail for two with a sparkler in it, boxing lessons, a tuba, a washing machine (still in its box), and face and hand masks shown off masterfully, boxes that pile up from floor to ceiling swallowing what seems to be a doorman, and head banging like you just don’t care at a concert. Narrator continues:

    Which means you need a bank that was actually built for life today instead of,

    you know, then….

    At the word ‘then‘ we once again see the now ironical 1950’s curlers lady and the swan topiaries. The final image is of the young woman who obviously took this commercials advice and frivolously started spending like there really was no tomorrow at the peak of an endorphin high while running in a marathon.  The Narrator ends with:

    (bank name) Do it right.

     

    Um…what was said/shown that was ‘right’?! Is piling up a massive mound of debt ‘enjoying life’ that this target demographic is unlikely to ever shovel their way out of, really a responsible life plan to be angling to our youth? The same youth who may have incurred outrageous debt for an education that wasn’t really designed to employ them in a world that doesn’t have jobs for them. The same youth who have less cognitive abilities than all generations before them, not enough life skills, and will most likely be living with their parents for far longer than welcomed… you think this reckless, thoughtless, selfish campaign is the way to go?

    Sorry youth, the world sucks, be smarter.

     

    … more “WIBCI Post #159”
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