Kmele, in your Big Think teaser for Dispatches, I certainly didn’t expect to see both Fred Armisen and David Krakauer, brilliant scientist and head of Santa Fe Institute, to show up as interviewees. That’s a hellavua broad intellectual range! Looks juicy! For the uninitiated, Krakauer doesn’t just study complexity, but also human stupidity...no, I’m not making that up, and he told me everybody always laughs when he says that. But isn’t it worth studying?
(recorded a pod w Krakauer, will post it to 5th chat when it is out. )
Matt, clear from your video on the flyers we’re now living through an age where hard left think free speech goes in only one direction. They get it, nobody else does, and anybody else trying to exercise it is morally offensive to them.
Speaking of our beloved Bill of Rights, something my fellow FIFers may appreciate. It is a big read, so mostly for those w libertarian leanings who love the 4th Amendment assertion that we’re SUPPOSED to be free of unreasonable search (an assertion getting crushed daily by surveillance tech). It took months of reporting to crack how this surveillance laser works and how it might be deployed against ordinary people AKA all of us. https://technoskeptic.substack.com/p/will-this-military-laser-steal-your
Here's a link to "The Natural History of Destruction", the film that Moynihan mentioned in “Poundtown”. It's about the bombing of Dresden using found footage and was brought up in the context of debates about which civilians are considered innocent.
I thought the "Brown Political Review" was a website with a non-white viewpoint, and thought it odd that Kmele would be interviewed by them given his views on race, then I realised it was the based at the University.
Finally, Pitchfork put out a very good documentary of the band and their Souvlaki album. NME and other British music magazines put out absolutely vicious reviews of that album. Even the Manic Street Preachers’ Richey Edwards declared, “I hate Slowdive more than Hitler!”
The most distressing part of Dispatches from The Well was that Kmele drives his own car. I thought the man who had a red box distance and a taste for the extravagant would have the good taste to hire a driver in a foreign country.
Kat Timpf (#33, #97) has a show on Wednesday, November 8, at NYC's The Venue at The Hard Rock. Her show is part of the New York Comedy Festival. Info and tickets here!
Since I learned that the Israeli government was showing footage of the Hamas massacre to journalists, I found myself wishing, somewhat perversely, that a photographer were on hand to take portraits of the journalists before and after they saw the film. A similar, but kinder project is linked below. What does it feel like to witness the worst acts of brutality of which man is capable? How might one viscerally react. What light might wink out in the eyes of those who've born witness.
Now that the video (broken into clips, apparently) is available, I think I have to stop wondering and watch it myself.
There is something terribly wrong with this country, isn't there? Cruelty and injustice. Intolerance and oppression. And where once you had the freedom to object, to think and speak as you saw fit, you now have censors and systems of surveillance coercing your conformity and soliciting submission. How did this happen? Who's to blame?...Truth be told, if you're looking for the guilty, you need only look in a mirror.
I know why you did it. You were afraid. Who wouldn't be? War, terror, disease. There were a myriad problems to corrupt your reason and rob you of your common sense. Fear got the best of you.
Re: Lake/Finkelstein debate, 100% (literally) of the comments YouTube shows me are effusive in their praise of Finkelstein. What should I make of that? I am incredulous. Should I be? Maybe the state of affairs, including widespread and unabashed support of Hamas, is worse than I imagine. Someone, please explain.
Just anecdotally, the pro-Hamas protests seem to be getting larger.
At this point it might not be fair to say "pro-Hamas" protests as they're now "ceasefire" protests... but if they're largely the same people, and they're using largely the same rhetoric, it seems like a distinction without a difference.* I guess all they needed to do was soften their rhetoric the tiniest bit to make it palatable to the mainstream.
If anyone has real polling data on how American public opinion has shifted over the past month, I'd love to see it.
*I do think there are legitimate, or at least comprehensible, reasons to protest Israel / in support of a ceasefire. It's just hard for me to believe there's much of that happening right now rather than laundering extremist beliefs by using the language of "peace".
Unless the protest is pro ceasefire after Hamas unconditionally surrenders and gives back the hostages, I'm fine with calling it pro Hamas.
I just happened to stop at a rest stop with busses of protestors on their way to DC yesterday and it was utterly shocking and enraging. Hundreds of people in keffiyahs.
There were choppers over my apartment this Thursday past. I checked the local subreddit to learn that protesters had taken over our main train station.
There's still so much I can't comprehend. Could someone bring a "We condemn Hamas' violence and call for leadership change" sign to a "ceasefire protest"? I don't think there should be any conflict, but I can't imagine that sign holder wouldn't be thrown out of the protest. I still can't figure out whether I'm too cynical or not cynical enough.
Did you listen to the debate? Did you interpret Finkelstein’s message as being primarily pro Hamas, or rather simply, pro Palestinian rights? I listened and found his historical analogies to be uncomfortable. That being said, I find myself in disagreement with the lads on the roll that the US and Israel has played in the inflaming of Islamic fundamentalist terror groups (elected or not) like Hamas. After studying the various botched interventions in the Middle East during the last half of the 20th century as well as during the early 2000s I don’t see how anyone could possibly make the case that we didn’t accelerate or enflame radicalism in Syria or Afghanistan, this can be easily demonstrated in studying the trajectory of Isis for example. This is all not to say that the individuals who carry out such acts aren’t accountable but rather that the greater historical narrative needs to take into account the full breadth of the historical causes of ideological development and their affects on the world. Moynihan loves to bring up Islamic extremism as if it came out of nowhere or as if it’s just inherent to the greater logic of Islam which it isn’t- he seems to wish that it were emphasized and attacked more brutally a la Sam Harris, but this frustration seems deeply misdirected and a kind of simple Manichaeism.
I have not listened to this debate yet, though I did listen to Finkelstein recently on Glenn Loury's show. I understood him as pro-Palestinian for sure. From reviewing the comments for the video from people who liked him, it seems that - when I listen this weekend - I'll find that he staked out more aggressive positions in this exchange. Thanks for the thoughtful reply. I can get to your position: there are absolutely good reasons for distrust and animosity and resistance. But, I cannot get to the position of "the Israeli's had it coming," especially when people mean, "the Jews had it coming," and especially when "it" means the deliberate, planned slaughter of October 7th was defensible in any way. I also don't understand what someone like Finkelstein would like? Assuming that Israel and its citizens would like to continue existing, what should Israel do? To quote one of my favorite commentators, "it isn't at all obvious."
I absolutely agree. “It is not at all obvious”. This is part of the reason why I can’t find myself on one “side”or another as if this can simply be reduced to sides. My heart goes out to the innocent people of Israel and Palestine. I also agree that to say “they had it coming” is abhorrent as it would be to say the same thing about 911.
My heart lights up at Jane Goodall, whose film "Among the Wild Chimpanzees" I watched at 5 years old one night in 1981, while my dad worked an evening shift at the now gone Barney's Burgers in my hometown. I sobbed (SOBBED) when Flo died. I saw her one night recently at UCSB, and am glad Kmele included her. Like her, David Greybeard is also my favorite. She is one cool lady, and I hope Kmele is honored AF to have her.
When my dad met my stepmom I was 8 (1984 so we are roughly the same age). She had at least five years of National Geographic mags, the entire collection of The Ocean World of Jacques Cousteau, and an entire set of 1967 World Book Encyclopedias. I signed off. Too quickly in hindsight. But I met Jane Goodall in those magazines. A living saint.
Ha! Our main “bathroom set” was NG. My dad was obsessed. I remember the little Afghan girl on the cover when I was maybe 9, and then years later the Quebec I read the French version of when they found her as an adult. Wild Kingdom was a youth staple, but not Cousteau. I did visit his museum in Monaco once, though. Trippy place.
Kmele, your style is on point (but what was I expecting)? That shacket, pure John Dutton. The pin with "I Am a Man." And don't think we missed the Kanye teddy bear sticker on the laptop. I pray for him too.
first things first, sipping on Woodford Reserve. second, listening to the Finkletstein-Lake debate, would love to hear the Fifths response on a deeper level. Listening to Finklestein reminds me how useless my Masters in Political Science is
If that subhead is a reference to Flight Of The Conchords' "Bowie", then I salute you, Matt Welch.
Kmele, in your Big Think teaser for Dispatches, I certainly didn’t expect to see both Fred Armisen and David Krakauer, brilliant scientist and head of Santa Fe Institute, to show up as interviewees. That’s a hellavua broad intellectual range! Looks juicy! For the uninitiated, Krakauer doesn’t just study complexity, but also human stupidity...no, I’m not making that up, and he told me everybody always laughs when he says that. But isn’t it worth studying?
(recorded a pod w Krakauer, will post it to 5th chat when it is out. )
Matt, clear from your video on the flyers we’re now living through an age where hard left think free speech goes in only one direction. They get it, nobody else does, and anybody else trying to exercise it is morally offensive to them.
Speaking of our beloved Bill of Rights, something my fellow FIFers may appreciate. It is a big read, so mostly for those w libertarian leanings who love the 4th Amendment assertion that we’re SUPPOSED to be free of unreasonable search (an assertion getting crushed daily by surveillance tech). It took months of reporting to crack how this surveillance laser works and how it might be deployed against ordinary people AKA all of us. https://technoskeptic.substack.com/p/will-this-military-laser-steal-your
Here's a link to "The Natural History of Destruction", the film that Moynihan mentioned in “Poundtown”. It's about the bombing of Dresden using found footage and was brought up in the context of debates about which civilians are considered innocent.
https://vk.com/video-136471876_456243436
I thought the "Brown Political Review" was a website with a non-white viewpoint, and thought it odd that Kmele would be interviewed by them given his views on race, then I realised it was the based at the University.
You’re thinking of the Brown Review of Politics.
I thought we were the Brown Review of Politics?
Comment of the week, gosh I'm honored! :D
Slowdive! Matt should listen to their Souvlaki album from 1993. Here’s a link!
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kL4-koXbPqeBxIGNoPO5d60Lb0o5cuUAA&si=DMsonyauE1C4Eh5M
Their 2017 self-titled album is also great (released 24 years after Souvlaki)
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_l8gNk4QIz3gX-og4p77QI-gELx-w7wuk8&si=laAWlc8DoL7WBDAD
And they just released another great album this year titled “everything is alive”
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kdjLziB4VitnxJ4ks-Ij-OxdbpJAF_oWU&si=YQO7APLJo0TCshEV
Slowdive’s cover of Syd Barrett’s “Golden Hair” is superb and causes some people to cry:
https://youtu.be/vTZhG9YSY_c?si=3BItbWWQAwbYE764
Finally, Pitchfork put out a very good documentary of the band and their Souvlaki album. NME and other British music magazines put out absolutely vicious reviews of that album. Even the Manic Street Preachers’ Richey Edwards declared, “I hate Slowdive more than Hitler!”
https://youtu.be/Sjr6esFXJl4?si=s53-i2-FpzwQMhUT
"some people"
Ha! I saw Slowdive play "Golden Hair" live at the 2014 FYF Festival in Los Angeles and did tear up as well.
I just saw Slowdive on their latest tour. Great show, though some of the lighting effects were epilepsy-inducing.
The most distressing part of Dispatches from The Well was that Kmele drives his own car. I thought the man who had a red box distance and a taste for the extravagant would have the good taste to hire a driver in a foreign country.
Stars — They’re Just Like Us!
Kat Timpf (#33, #97) has a show on Wednesday, November 8, at NYC's The Venue at The Hard Rock. Her show is part of the New York Comedy Festival. Info and tickets here!
https://nycomedyfestival.com/lineup/kat-timpf-live-you-cant-joke-about-that/
Since I learned that the Israeli government was showing footage of the Hamas massacre to journalists, I found myself wishing, somewhat perversely, that a photographer were on hand to take portraits of the journalists before and after they saw the film. A similar, but kinder project is linked below. What does it feel like to witness the worst acts of brutality of which man is capable? How might one viscerally react. What light might wink out in the eyes of those who've born witness.
Now that the video (broken into clips, apparently) is available, I think I have to stop wondering and watch it myself.
https://fstoppers.com/documentary/photographer-captures-peoples-reactions-when-told-they-are-beautiful-102444
I feel like we watched that at a faculty meeting once. Still made me a little weepy watching again, but then I haven’t had my coffee yet. ☕️
Remember remember the FIF of November!
Omg, I love you.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbxgYlcNxE8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfBCnUnofNU&ab_channel=FilmIsNowMovies
There is something terribly wrong with this country, isn't there? Cruelty and injustice. Intolerance and oppression. And where once you had the freedom to object, to think and speak as you saw fit, you now have censors and systems of surveillance coercing your conformity and soliciting submission. How did this happen? Who's to blame?...Truth be told, if you're looking for the guilty, you need only look in a mirror.
I know why you did it. You were afraid. Who wouldn't be? War, terror, disease. There were a myriad problems to corrupt your reason and rob you of your common sense. Fear got the best of you.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxw4O4jJSzw
Re: Lake/Finkelstein debate, 100% (literally) of the comments YouTube shows me are effusive in their praise of Finkelstein. What should I make of that? I am incredulous. Should I be? Maybe the state of affairs, including widespread and unabashed support of Hamas, is worse than I imagine. Someone, please explain.
Just anecdotally, the pro-Hamas protests seem to be getting larger.
At this point it might not be fair to say "pro-Hamas" protests as they're now "ceasefire" protests... but if they're largely the same people, and they're using largely the same rhetoric, it seems like a distinction without a difference.* I guess all they needed to do was soften their rhetoric the tiniest bit to make it palatable to the mainstream.
If anyone has real polling data on how American public opinion has shifted over the past month, I'd love to see it.
*I do think there are legitimate, or at least comprehensible, reasons to protest Israel / in support of a ceasefire. It's just hard for me to believe there's much of that happening right now rather than laundering extremist beliefs by using the language of "peace".
Unless the protest is pro ceasefire after Hamas unconditionally surrenders and gives back the hostages, I'm fine with calling it pro Hamas.
I just happened to stop at a rest stop with busses of protestors on their way to DC yesterday and it was utterly shocking and enraging. Hundreds of people in keffiyahs.
It is enraging. They don't tie an outfit together nearly as well as a kente cloth scarf!
There were choppers over my apartment this Thursday past. I checked the local subreddit to learn that protesters had taken over our main train station.
There's still so much I can't comprehend. Could someone bring a "We condemn Hamas' violence and call for leadership change" sign to a "ceasefire protest"? I don't think there should be any conflict, but I can't imagine that sign holder wouldn't be thrown out of the protest. I still can't figure out whether I'm too cynical or not cynical enough.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=We20pkfGkLQ
Did you listen to the debate? Did you interpret Finkelstein’s message as being primarily pro Hamas, or rather simply, pro Palestinian rights? I listened and found his historical analogies to be uncomfortable. That being said, I find myself in disagreement with the lads on the roll that the US and Israel has played in the inflaming of Islamic fundamentalist terror groups (elected or not) like Hamas. After studying the various botched interventions in the Middle East during the last half of the 20th century as well as during the early 2000s I don’t see how anyone could possibly make the case that we didn’t accelerate or enflame radicalism in Syria or Afghanistan, this can be easily demonstrated in studying the trajectory of Isis for example. This is all not to say that the individuals who carry out such acts aren’t accountable but rather that the greater historical narrative needs to take into account the full breadth of the historical causes of ideological development and their affects on the world. Moynihan loves to bring up Islamic extremism as if it came out of nowhere or as if it’s just inherent to the greater logic of Islam which it isn’t- he seems to wish that it were emphasized and attacked more brutally a la Sam Harris, but this frustration seems deeply misdirected and a kind of simple Manichaeism.
I have not listened to this debate yet, though I did listen to Finkelstein recently on Glenn Loury's show. I understood him as pro-Palestinian for sure. From reviewing the comments for the video from people who liked him, it seems that - when I listen this weekend - I'll find that he staked out more aggressive positions in this exchange. Thanks for the thoughtful reply. I can get to your position: there are absolutely good reasons for distrust and animosity and resistance. But, I cannot get to the position of "the Israeli's had it coming," especially when people mean, "the Jews had it coming," and especially when "it" means the deliberate, planned slaughter of October 7th was defensible in any way. I also don't understand what someone like Finkelstein would like? Assuming that Israel and its citizens would like to continue existing, what should Israel do? To quote one of my favorite commentators, "it isn't at all obvious."
I absolutely agree. “It is not at all obvious”. This is part of the reason why I can’t find myself on one “side”or another as if this can simply be reduced to sides. My heart goes out to the innocent people of Israel and Palestine. I also agree that to say “they had it coming” is abhorrent as it would be to say the same thing about 911.
After a few drinks:
My heart lights up at Jane Goodall, whose film "Among the Wild Chimpanzees" I watched at 5 years old one night in 1981, while my dad worked an evening shift at the now gone Barney's Burgers in my hometown. I sobbed (SOBBED) when Flo died. I saw her one night recently at UCSB, and am glad Kmele included her. Like her, David Greybeard is also my favorite. She is one cool lady, and I hope Kmele is honored AF to have her.
On that note, it would be cool to see the likes of Adyashanti included in Kmele's discussion about life. https://adyashanti.opengatesangha.org/
When my dad met my stepmom I was 8 (1984 so we are roughly the same age). She had at least five years of National Geographic mags, the entire collection of The Ocean World of Jacques Cousteau, and an entire set of 1967 World Book Encyclopedias. I signed off. Too quickly in hindsight. But I met Jane Goodall in those magazines. A living saint.
Ha! Our main “bathroom set” was NG. My dad was obsessed. I remember the little Afghan girl on the cover when I was maybe 9, and then years later the Quebec I read the French version of when they found her as an adult. Wild Kingdom was a youth staple, but not Cousteau. I did visit his museum in Monaco once, though. Trippy place.
Kmele: Love. You. Man. Prayers for you always. Go, go, go! 🙏🏻❤️🙏🏻
Prayers for the rest of you. Keep the faith.
Kmele, your style is on point (but what was I expecting)? That shacket, pure John Dutton. The pin with "I Am a Man." And don't think we missed the Kanye teddy bear sticker on the laptop. I pray for him too.
The kid likes shoegaze? Hell yeah.
I mean, usually not! But she's got a friend feeding her some Smiths-type stuff, and it's glorious.
High five friend!
first things first, sipping on Woodford Reserve. second, listening to the Finkletstein-Lake debate, would love to hear the Fifths response on a deeper level. Listening to Finklestein reminds me how useless my Masters in Political Science is