Death of Hypatia®

Category: WIBCI

  • WIBCI Post #91

    WIBCI we learned to  Live Life Lyrically?

    Think of a song you really like and use the ole inter-webs to find the lyrics. No matter how many times you heard a song, no matter how ‘by heart’ you think you know it, I bet you learn something and/or think of the song differently when you read word for word what the artist/poet wrote.

    The following are the Lyrics to In Your Eyes by Peter Gabriel, which you may know. I found I couldn’t help hearing the song when I read the lyrics, but knowing the tune is not compulsory (if you haven’t heard it, I propose a listen). To me Peter seems, well….intense, attentive, and fortunate.
    Love, I get so lost sometimes 
    Days pass and this emptiness fills my heart
    When I want to run away, I drive off in my car
    But whichever way I go

    I come back to the place you are

    All my instincts, they return
    The grand facade, so soon will burn
    Without a noise, without my pride
    I reach out from the inside

    In your eyes
    The light, the heat

    (in your eyes)
    I am complete
    (in your eyes)
    I see the doorway
    (in your eyes)
    To a thousand churches
    (in your eyes)
    The resolution
    (in your eyes)
    Of all the fruitless searches

    (in your eyes)

    Oh, I see the light and the heat

    (in your eyes)
    Oh, I wanna be that complete
    I wanna touch the light, the heat, I see in your eyesLove, I don’t like to see so much pain
    So much wasted, and this moment keeps slipping away
    I get so tired working so hard for our survival
    I look to the time with you, to keep me awake and alive

    And all my instincts, they return
    And the grand facade, so soon will burn
    Without a noise, without my pride
    I reach out from the inside

    Mr. Gabriel has looked and seen: The resolution of all the fruitless searches, in someone’s eyes…….
    Damn Peter.
    I have not seen such things in anyone’s eyes, nor, to my knowledge, have such things been seen in my eyes.
    Doesn’t sound like it sucks.
    What do YOU think?
    … more “WIBCI Post #91”

  • WIBCI Post #90

    WIBCI HISTORY were more ingrained in us?

    Paul Strathern said of a person:

    “…a teacher throughout his life and never sought to hold public office, yet no man throughout human history has ever had such a lasting effect on the world. “

    Who do YOU think Paul Strathern is discussing? Think about it and I’ll let you know in WIBCI Post #96.… more “WIBCI Post #90”

  • WIBCI Post #89

    WIBCI we thought more about the WORDS we use?

    You ever notice that words, like songs, can get played out? Like they don’t mean what they were supposed to mean anymore.

    Take this word for instance: GREAT: / greyt / adj. /:

    1. unusually or comparatively large in size or dimensions.
    2. large in number; numerous.
    3. unusual or considerable in degree, power, intensity, etc.

    Not only has this word been squeezed of all meaning, all three definitions per Dictionary.com seem to be subjective. As if the word can have one meaning to the speaker and a different one to the audience.

    The adjective also can’t seem to stand on its own, when used by itself, you are unsure if the ‘Great’ is good or not so good unless there is a helper adjective. The phrase ‘Great God’ can only be interpreted properly if you hear the inflection and/or have background.  The Great Depression was not great for anyone, and Alexander ‘The Great’, was not great for everyone.

    Wouldn’t It Be Cool If: a less subjective word was inserted into our daily vocabulary? WIBCI words meant more?… more “WIBCI Post #89”

  • WIBCI Post #88

    WIBCI we has less adult anxieties?

    Remember when you were a kid and you worried basically about nothing?!

    When I was a kid if I lost something (which was not rare) and actually realized it whilst still out and about (which was rare), I may have experienced a momentary feeling of loss and/or feigned a glance or two about my immediate location, but I would quickly move on and play in a puddle.

    Remember how mittens were connected by a string that would go inside your snowsuit sleeve, across your back and out the other sleeve? This allowed you to throw off mittens with abandon when  barehands were needed, like for making really good snowballs, itching, picking, pinching, or flicking.

    I wish we had these mitten-connectors for adults. I would like to shake off my gloves on impulse without having to shove them somewhere or inevitably drop one, never to be seen again. I don’t need the anxiety or the puffy pockets.

    Coolest thing for me about being a kid was being a kid. I think we need more things that we know are going to be there so we can get back to being.

     … more “WIBCI Post #88”

  • WIBCI Post #87

    WIBCI politicians agreed on whom we honor?

    Wouldn’t It Be Cool If: the same politicians who feel honor bound to memorialize a conservative political speaker, also found it necessary in 2020 to memorialize a woman who spent 27 years of her life on the Supreme Court fighting for the rights of ALL Americans?

    WIBCI our government venerated civil servants who revered all people?… more “WIBCI Post #87”

  • WIBCI Post #86

    WIBCI ‘Stars’ of the big and little screens weren’t such sellouts?

    Per The Urban Dictionary: In the words of zefrank, a sellout “doesn’t have to do with actually having money, it has to do with the perception that your pursuit of popularity and potentially making money has caused you to sacrifice your core values.”

    Why is it that I’m seeing more and more successful actors hawking the wares of online streaming services, internet providers, and games?

    Are they starving for attention or do they need the money? Because, if people who have been in movies find it fiscally necessary to make embarrassing ads that damage their reputations as artists, what position do they think the average American finds themselves?

    When ‘Actors’ have jumped the shark:

    • If you say the phrase ‘no ads’ in an ad
    • If you are singing and/or dancing in an ad
    • You won an Academy Award
    • If your presence in an ad causes an eeesh reaction in its viewers and conjures up concern for how you have invested

    WIBCI those who have made millions found it irresponsible to promote things that waste the time and money of lay people worse off than themselves?… more “WIBCI Post #86”

  • WIBCI Post #85

    WIBCI we learned from HISTORY and LITERATURE?

    In 1778 Pierre Beaumarchais wrote the play, The Marriage of Figaro. At this time in France, the theatre was THE political space for critical public opinion. This play mocked and ridiculed the old aristocratic value system of France and per the lecture: Living the French Revolution and the Age of Napoleon S1 E2 Privilege: Old Regime Society: ‘(the play) gives us ‘insight into the mood of public opinion in the 1780’s.’

    King Louis XVI was shown this play by royal censors and stated: ‘This shall never be played. It would be necessary to destroy the Bastille itself before this play would be without dangerous consequences. This man mocks at everything in the Government which should be respected.’

    Déjà vu …. no?

    The play was banned, but underground, in private salons, performances of the play were ‘secretly popular’, and in 1784 royal censors allowed it to be publicly performed. So popular was opening night that reportedly a few people were crushed to death when the doors opened. The Marriage of Figaro was about a then debunked tradition of noblemen having the right to replace the groom in bed with new brides on their wedding nights. The servant who was constantly one-upping his master is the main character whose main concern is that his fiancé will meet this fate. The servant angered by the state of hierarchy states:

    ‘Because you are a great nobleman, you think you are a great genius… Nobility, fortune, rank, position! How proud they make a man feel! What have you done to deserve such advantages? Whereas I, lost among the obscure crowd, have had to deploy more knowledge, more calculation and skill merely to survive than has sufficed to rule all the provinces of Spain {France} for a century!’

    -Pierre Beaumarchais, The Marriage of Figaro

    This struck a nerve in France and started the public thinking about the morality of its leaders. Oh and if you don’t know how King Louis XVI ended his reign….look it up.

    WIBCI we started thinking about the morality, or lack of it, in politics? WIBCI we were talking about inequality today?… more “WIBCI Post #85”

  • WIBCI Post #84

    WIBCI: Paying Taxes wasn’t considered Plebeian?

    In an explanation as to why the Danish people rank among the happiest people in the world year after year:

    To many, it is quite the mystery, as besides the horrific weather, Danes are also subject to some of the highest tax rates in the world. 

    Interestingly, there is wide support for the welfare state. The support stems from an awareness of the fact that the welfare model turns our collective wealth into well-being. We are not paying taxes, we are investing in our society. We are purchasing quality of life. The key to understanding the high levels of well-being in Denmark is the welfare model’s ability to reduce risk, uncertainty, and anxiety among its citizens and to prevent extreme unhappiness.

    –Meik Wiking, The Little Book of Hygge

    I feel like we are ‘off’ with how we think about our country as a whole. We are doing away with the programs that taxes pay for, yet the only people really paying taxes are those that would benefit from the programs. And why are we so down on immigrants, if we gave them citizenship, they could work for decent wages, sneaky employees would be forced to declare their existence and get them insurance and benefits, licenses, and money to spend/reinvest in the community. And you know one thing a newly made citizen is most certainly going to do?……………………

    Pay taxes.… more “WIBCI Post #84”

  • WIBCI Post #83

    WIBCI: Justice were more justifiable?

    Wouldn’t It Be Cool If there were more satisfactory justice per the rich and powerful who get wrist slaps for obliterating lives? You know the Diddi’s, Dr. Huxtabulls, and Harvy BeerSteins of the world? Per Diddi a handful of months in resort prison seems a bit unjust, no? Dr. Huxtabullshit has been a free man since 2021! He is sitting on his couch getting royalty checks, cause his  show airs EVERY DAY?!  People should have listened to Courtney Love in 2005 but instead careers and money have proven way more important in show-business/Hollywood/the world than the dozens Harvey the Hutt destroyed.

    Maybe we need to create a new criminal charge, one that actually considers the level of mindf@#$ing that victims suffer, will continue to suffer for the rest of their lives, and make the guilty sentencing minimums and maximums just.

    The charge kinda exists (Abuse of power or abuse of authority, in the form of “malfeasance in office”) but I can’t find instances of guilty verdicts or examples of sentencing. So I propose a new offense/criminal act to which do-badders could be charged: Gross Abuse of Position. Under this ‘offense’, offenders could be charged if they systematically abuse others through one or more of the following:

    • Mind Control tactics (popular with cults, Gooogle it and you will quickly find many, many ‘lists’ of successful manipulation techniques) like social isolation and conditioning, created group dynamics/language/hierarchy/rituals, punishment, banishment, peer pressure and shaming.
    • Financial control/manipulation in the form of unfair wages, working hours, or responsibilities and/or control of housing, transportation, and financial independence.
    • Non-Professional Personal Life control/manipulation including: determining cadence with pre-existing friends and family, romantic relationships, sexual relationships, access to information, physical appearance, free time, social interactions, blackmail, threats, and retribution.

    Sentencing should be equal to the number of years it will take to un#$%^ each person and financial retribution. Just need to figure out how to create a new criminal charge…..… more “WIBCI Post #83”

  • WIBCI Post #82

    WIBCI those on-line were EMPOWERED?

    Wouldn’t It Be Cool If we used Catfishing techniques against the Catfishers?

    According to Wikipedia, Catfishing refers to: the creation of a fictitious online persona, or fake identity, with the intent of deception, usually to mislead a victim into an online romantic relationship or to commit financial fraud, such as the pig butchering scam. Perpetrators, usually referred to as catfish, generally use fake photos and lie about their personal lives to present themselves as more attractive for financial gain, personal satisfaction, evasion of legal consequences, or to troll.

    Having watched many episodes of Catfish, there seemed to be learning on the part of the ‘victims’, and little to no repercussions for the ‘perpetrators’.

    But….it seems like a precaution exists in the act itself. Step one in every episode of Catfish includes running the pictures through an image search. Why is that on us to see if people are fake if the platform could do that itself? Why doesn’t the platform that is allowing for the fake profiles to exist have some skin in the game? Why not include an image search before any image is approved for upload? If the image is found to already exist somewhere else, you aren’t allowed to upload it. And why not create a page of the most catfished images so people can recognize if they are being scammed by professionals? Seems win/win no?… more “WIBCI Post #82”

  • WIBCI Post #81

    WIBCI we exhibited more SOLIDARITY as a populace?:

    Wikipedia defines Solidarity or Solidarism as: an awareness of shared interests, objectives, standards, and sympathies creating a psychological sense of unity of groups or classes. True solidarity means moving beyond individual identities and single-issue politics. Still, solidarity does not reject individuals and sees individuals as the basis of society.  It refers to the ties in a society that bind people together as one.

    Wouldn’t It Be Cool if all journalists walked out when the AP could no longer report from the White House? WIBCI other Higher Education institutions backed Harvard when Harvard was sued? WIBCI States banded together when support for its residents was taken away.

    We are stronger together.… more “WIBCI Post #81”

  • WIBCI Post #80

    WIBCI we had roasts instead of debates before elections?

    Wouldn’t It Be Cool If when choosing between candidates, you could base it on how well they performed in, reacted to, and came off in their own roast?

    Think about it:

    • You would be able to find out if the candidates had a sense a humor?
    • You would get to see how they handled being purposely insulted by the best, professional comics of the day, live on camera, and to be rebroadcast relentlessly.
    • You would get to see if they could laugh at themselves.
    • You could judge whether the on-camera reaction was genuine or differed greatly from that which you imagine happened off-camera. Aka are they phony?
    • When they spoke, you could tell if they were in touch with pop culture, current events, and public opinion.
    • You could judge how articulate, smooth, quick, and witty they were?
    • Most importantly, you could see if they were funny.

    To me, that information is of more valuable than canned campaign promises and mud-slinging.

     

    Pick someone in government, alive or dead, and imagine how they would perform/react in their own televised roast.

    Gandhi and Honest Abe would slay…..Hitler, not so much.

     … more “WIBCI Post #80”

  • WIBCI Post #79

    WIBCI we supported FREE PRESS?

    On 10/1 all Federal funding will end for Public Broadcasting.

    We are better because of PBS.

    Wouldn’t It Be Cool If our government thought so?

    Maybe millions of people with little wallets and/or hundreds of people with big wallets will pick up the slack, but it would be cooler if we didn’t have to.… more “WIBCI Post #79”

  • WIBCI Post #78

    WIBCI Questions were more honest?

    Wouldn’t It Be Cool If instead of someone asking you a question as if they wished to know what you thought on the subject, when they were really goading you into saying something they are prepared to dismiss with great flourish, they actually gave insight into what they really thought?

    Like if Person A, instead of baiting Person B said: ‘I hear this argument all the time that _____ is _____ but I believe this argument is flawed because of _____. What do you think?

    Person A has jumped to the punchline and it may not be as rewarding as a contradictory and/or condescending retort, but Person A might actually learn something about what Person B thinks and this could add to Person A’s knowledge on the subject. If Person A didn’t want to learn, don’t ask.… more “WIBCI Post #78”

  • WIBCI Post #77

    WIBCI we noticed acts of POLITICS?:

    COWARD (Webster): /kou-erd/n/: a person who lacks courage in facing danger, difficulty, opposition, pain, etc.; a timid or easily intimidated person.

    DICTATOR (Wikipedia):/dik-tey-ter/n/: In modern usage, the term dictator is generally used to describe a leader who holds or abuses an extraordinary amount of personal power.

    CULT of PERSONALITY: /kuhlt/uv/pur-suh–nal-I-tee/n/: is the result of an effort which is made to create an idealized and heroic image of an admirable leader, often through unquestioning flattery and praise. Historically, it has been developed through techniques such as the manipulation of the mass media, the dissemination of propaganda, the staging of spectacles, the manipulation of the arts, the instilling of patriotism, and government-organized demonstrations and rallies. A cult of personality is similar to apotheosis, except that it is established through the use of modern social engineering techniques, it is usually established by the state or the party in one-party states and dominant-party states. Cults of personality often accompany the leaders of totalitarian or authoritarian governments. They can also be seen in some monarchies, theocracies, failed democracies, and even in liberal democracies.

    • Juan Peron, 3 time elected President and arguably, dictator, of Argentina, built a personality cult around he and his wife, whose effects are still felt in Argentinian culture today. This dictator should his cowardice, in part, best put by Wikipedia: He often showed contempt for any opponents, regularly characterizing them as traitors and agents of foreign powers. Those who did not fall in line or were perceived as a threat to Perón’s political power were subject to losing their jobs, threats, violence and harassment.
    • Mussolini exhibited his cowardice by instructing the press what to write and what not to write about the fascist.
    • One of Hitler’s initial task of cowardice after assuming power in Germany was to extinguish all rights of the German Press.
    • US government showed its when it defunded PBS and pressured TV networks to silence….. comics?!
    … more “WIBCI Post #77”
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