A win in November will not end the MAGA poison. It has built up for too many years, as decent blue collar jobs have been offshored, women have found fulfillment without needing a man or any partner, nonwhites and immigrants of all kinds have found success here. The changes in our demographics and social hierarchies are threatening to enough of our population that responding positively to them will take quite some time. How our entertainment changes is somewhat trivial, to me. It would be good to see more films and books celebrating what we are becoming, lauding compassion and caring, viewing independence for all people and equal partnerships in relationships more positively. There are no superheroes. We have to be the heroes of our own lives, and that is challenging and hard. Too many of us simply don’t want to be, and that is the rot at our core.
The right are very good at projecting their evil plans on the left. Take stop the steal, for instance. It is a GOP who are trying to steal the election. Look at the economy, the Democrats get it humming along and the Republicans destroy it continually. Look at the border, the cult pretends that the wall works even though there are pictures of people going over and under and through the wall. The right pretends global warming does not exist while there are forests burning. The right even pretends that unlimited greed that is not regulated will make the world a better place?
Nobody in their right mind desires evil. The right wingers have obviously had their minds crosswired since birth.
The human race may have crossed the threshold of working towards a Utopia with little human suffering because of religions that don't allow birth control. In that case, we will end up with a dystopia where the living will envy the dead.
I do believe that the right lives to kill love and hence romance. They are miserable, petty ungrateful human beings, whose brains have been made into mush by their elders! Misery loves company, they can't stand seeing happy people!
Misery & brutality gets the clicks & news coverage. I wonder do other intelligent species like the dolphin or the apes, or whales have the type of thoughts that we would consider destructive to their societies? Killer whales may gather together in a concerted way to kill their prey but do they speak to each other in their languages to denigrate other killer whales pods from different locations? They may be territorial by nature but do they actually agree to attack another pod in advance?
Asking for homosapiens. We need help from wherever or who ever we can get it from.
They have recently discovered that Marmoset Monkeys call each other by name, as do elephants and parrots, I never heard of Orcas whale pods attacking each other,probably because they are equally "armed", but Orcas do attack grey whales, But an Orca is not a whale either it is a dolphin.
Then again Orcas have market segmented themselves, Resident Orcas, live in an area that live off Salmon in Washington , Britich Columbia and Alaska, in Norway, Iceland and scotland it is herring and mackerel. Transient Orcas live off warm blooded creatures like seals and whales.
Transient whales have been seen in Puget Sound, feeding off grey whales. Puget Sound and the Haro Straits. Salish Sea, the Strait of Georgia and the Strait of Juan de Fuca are the hunting grounds of Resident Orcas.
No conflict has been observed between Resident and Transient, their dietary preferences are mutually exclusive.
There is a species of primate that will attack and even eat it's own kind. The Chimpanzee
Chimps are the other animal closest to humans. The eating part is not because of hunger. People like to say animals do not kill unless they are hungry-wishful thinking.
I will not be a pacifist in this lifetime, my instinct is to protect.
To protect is my instinct also Alis. There are genuine pacifists, like the hero of Hacksaw Ridge, and there are pacifists of cowardice like Trump.
And animals do kill because it is their nature and not for hunger. I am a cat person, I have four, a purebred, to rescues and a barn cat that adopted us.
I worry about and care for them all, three are totally indoor cats, the barn cat comes in at night and when it is raining. He is a killer, and kills for the sake of killing. He doesn't eat much at home, most of his food is take out.
It is the best of times, it is the worst of times. If we can stave off the impositions of billionaire control freaks, we can all have what I call "nice-sessities" like universal healthcare, free college, a home for everybody, dignity and respect. No more golf resorts, private jets, and billionaires in space.
There are lots of solid and thoughtful comments today. I'm a bit out of popular culture but wonder if movies even matter that much, given how many come out, how much is on video, and how many other avenues there are for entertainment and information (true or not) today. Still, they can have an impact. I teach online college environmental classes and the two films that students consistently bring up as positive examples are "Wall-E" and "Avatar". Sometimes others like "Fern Gully" also, as well as occasional older kids television shows aimed at protecting the earth. So there are positives here.
It is too bad that we don't have a single culturally unifying and positive vision; one educator wrote that the last "common denominator" he found for his students was that they all knew "The Wizard of Oz" movie, but maybe that's not even true anymore. But really, when you have someone with influence discussing how he has to stop media "that bend to the woke mind virus" you know that we just can't be passive and hope for better days either.
NEVER have we had a larger choice when it comes to the content available. Hollywood definitely does not dominate as it used to.
The times have changed. One in four Gen-Zers are saying they will choose not to have children. They cite financial hardship as the reason.
This American society, with the huge economic disparity and no affordable health care, has been a real buzz-kill for romance. No one can afford to DATE. Think about what a beautiful dinner, movie, drinks and dancing costs.
Romance should be free---in a perfect world. In a Perfect World, that's a Hollywood phrase, a movie, and now it is a meme.
I know what you mean about costs. I recently gave my granddaughter's boyfriend $20.00 for his birthday & I felt like a tightwad!! I apologized & said that years ago that would have paid for dinner & a movie with some left over for gas & now it isn't even enough for gas!!! I did also plant a tree for him in a national forest which he really appreciates so I guess the $20 was ok!!!!
But with DNA tests......fathers will not get off so easy. I'm thinking Gen Z is going to HAVE to step-up and try to be decent about parenthood. Most of them were very much wanted, and that's what kids need.
That is the key. Welcoming, loving, and caring for a child in or out of wedlock is now praised in this country. Boomers changed a whole host of bull-shit morals.
I am a genetic genealogist by Avocation alis. I've spend tens of thousands of hours digging through documents, especially census. It is quite common to find a man who screwed two or three wives to death,literally, a distant relative had 11 children by his first wife, she died of exhaustion, he remarried had 10 more childen,she died in childbirth, he married again and had three more children before he died.
Women dying in childbirth was as common as river rocks. no sooner was she in the ground then he was looking for a replacement, especially if he children, and he wasn't picky either.
One dude, James Lanier, buried his wife and then married a great great aunt who, according to the 1850 census, was an idiot.
Anyone from Downs Syndrome, to manic depression was listed on the census as idiot
If a father had the means he would tutor his sons, at least his oldest son, if he died when they were minors (under age 16), regardless of whether the mother was alive, the children were considered orphans and let out to guardians as free labor, infants and toddlers were generally taken in by cousins, even 2nd cousins.
For a mother to retain custody of her own children, she had to prove to a court that she had the means to tutor her sons. Few did, so she had no choice but to remarry as soon as she could, and there were always eligible widowers around
If Leonard Leo has his way , Hollywood will remake “ The Hunger Games “ from the point of view that Panem was simply misunderstood the real bad guys were out in the Districts interfering with progress with their “woke “
behavior. There are no “ single cat ladies “ in Panem , they are all living the dream .
Thanks for my chuckle of the day, Paul. According to Google, Harvey is still in prison and the now ex-wife is dating Adrien Brody. HA!
Federalists have won the judicial appointment battle for now. Let them waste their money on trying to fight the culture war AGAIN. Boomers won the vast majority of it while they were busy making all that money. The Leo's just can't help themselves. Always fighting the last battle in their head.
The movement that is anti-woke, and pro-primitive masculine seems to be coming from the many millions of mostly white males who have antiquated genes for survival turned on. These genes are no longer an asset for survival, but a primitive left over from warring tribes who were being threatened by each other for food and other resources. For humanity to evolve out of this counterproductive, disastrous genetic predisposition, there has to be a paradigm shift in our species, out of competition, into sharing, mindful interaction with the earth, lower birthrate, more awakened parenting, and many other things. The alternative is on and off wars, maybe toward extinction. An example of a start is to look at what is taught in business schools, and competitive sports, how the military is used, and the military/industrial/political complex.
Competition over the wrong things is what is bad. Going along with Hartmann's topic for today, most women are attracted to men who are friendly, kind, and have a sense of humor over an angry man who can't carry on a conversation. A room com that would tell a story that portrays human nature in that way could be interesting and cause men to change the strongman hero for a realistic version of an everyday personable hero.
For entertainment, movies can't provide what a limited series or series can, which is to feel you intimately know the characters, similar to reading a novel. I was looking forward to Costner's next part of "Horizon." It reminded me of "How the West Was Won" and thought it was a new format to bring people back to the big screen. I'm disappointed they postponed it.
A series with true to life romance with a married couple was "Friday Night Lights" which we recently saw on Netflix.
If it is genetic we don't have enough time we better hope that it is environmental caused. We could change the environment the children are raised in and probably about a hundred years minimum if we grew them properly in rational growing centers where there is no child abuse allowed and that includes from conception drug babies. With a lot of toys and fields to play in we could end racism, crime, religious hatred, mental illness... Agnostic rational growing centers is what is needed. If the children are not taught to think like humans before the age of two they are beyond rehabilitation often!
We can be trained to tame and redirect, and control the impulses from genetic predisposition. It takes early childhood education, good examples, teachers and parents with mature moral reasoning skills, critical thinking skills, and a high emotional IQ. This is not the norm. If it was, we would have a whole different kind of politician, and sure as hell not anyone as defiant as Trump and Vance. They do reflect the worst tendencies that I am talking about with genetic predisposition without redirect. That training of the impulses may lead to permanent genetic changes for the positive over 100s years. Meanwhile back at the primitive ranch, we have a lot of work to do.
Is it coincidence that I have been sayin' that Trump has the mean woman blues. Loomer vs. MTG. Plus... the materialistic and dispassionate foreign wife.
Lol. Nothing can make me feel sorry for Donald Trump. I used to own several Roy Orbison albums but I don't remember "Mean Woman Blues." Trump deserves a mean, cold wife that he can't divorce for political reasons. And I wonder how much she would get since I read Melania has updated her prenup several times. He dare not inappropriately touch another woman either.
Btw, I switched from phone banking to door to door. I hope they have door hangers. We don't have our signs yet. We saw two Trump signs on our two mile walk this morning. One of the houses was where they sent two big dogs after me last year.
When I worked the 2010 census in my red locality shotguns were aimed at workers, verbal abuse was rampant towards the government, people complained of FBI workers living nearby spying for the government while pretending to be something else. It was bizarre. I knocked on one door & 2 men in suits (no one dresses in suits where I live) invited me to answer their questions & were glad to hear that I supported the government.
Men on the right, even some on the left, and even Moms with boys bristle at the words Toxic Masculinity, but damn if this article by Thom describes and high lights this hyper masculinity, that is actually based on insecurity, doubt and even a nagging sense of inferiority..
The reason why Viagra is such a profit maker. I suggest that its customers are J D Vance and MAGA types.
Incels exist because they can't find a female that will submit. Poor things.
When Kamala & Walz are sworn in, I hope we have given them majorities in the Senate and House.
Then THEY can be Superheroes for America, and do the Super Human, or as Thom called it, the "Heavy Lifting" of fixing SCOTUS, and stop them from destroying our democracy.
I believe firmly linking legislation for the Big Issues of Reproductive Freedoms, Voting Rights across America, Banning Assault Weapons, EPA's ability to protect our environment, money = speech, legalized bribing of government officials, strengthen our public schools ... That is, linking these all to renovating SCOTUS, so that SCOTUS will not come at these issues AGAIN and undo what Harris and the Dems do to restore those rights and bring common sense to our laws. This can be effective in getting The People to support changes to SCOTUS. Republicans will never support changes to SCOTUS, and you may have already noticed some of them are trying to frame such ideas as radically unconventional - see the drivel from Ponnuru at the WaPo. But SCOTUS must be changed. And in a changed SCOTUS, yes Ponnuru - even Republicans can still be nominated to the court.
The People saw, and understand that it was SCOTUS who destroyed Roe, Voting Rights, Legalized Machine Guns... Remind them, rinse, repeat. Make it clear this has been solely the fault of this rigged, partisan mob of unelected monarchs. This can ONLY be stopped by fixing the out of control SCOTUS with immediate institution of Term Limits, Biennial Appointments, Court Expansion, and Strong Ethics Rules.
I don't think anyone wants to make a movie about any of that, and I'd be more interested in a solid reality TV show with a happy ending.
Strictly (historically?) speaking, "It's a Wonderful Life" cannot be credited with moving America into the New Deal notion that “we’re all in this together,” since the film did not really enter the national conscience until the mid-1970s. According to Wikipedia's (correct) entry (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It%27s_a_Wonderful_Life):
"Although it was nominated for five Academy Awards, including Best Picture, It's a Wonderful Life initially received mixed reviews and was unsuccessful at the box office. Theatrically, the film's break-even point was $6.3 million, about twice the production cost, a figure it did not come close to achieving on its initial release. Because of the film's disappointing sales, Capra was seen by some studios as having lost his ability to produce popular, financially successful films. Its copyright expired in 1974 following a lack of renewal and it entered the public domain, allowing it to be broadcast without licensing or royalty fees, at which point it became a Christmas classic."
A women in the White House is sure. Not sure the politicians know how to take advantage of the cultural impact. JFK gave us magic and a Moon shot while Johnson was needed to put the human value on the plate. The vote was the key while government leadership towards companies was key. A larger spiritual example is coming where the truth of frequency is acknowledged as more real than the mere outer shell our false social values have taken as important. Worldly power is real but only as much as we give it power. Joy has the power to take it down and out.
Following your lead, there is an additional important theme where media (traditional radio, TV, and movies) greatly impacted culture. Malcom Gladwell in his "Revisionist History" series on gun violence pointed out how in the 1950s and 60s the cowboy theme promoted the "Wild West" and solving disputes by GUN VIOLENCE dominated USA culture (think John Wayne - the faux cowboy who has in own western museum in Tulsa and an Orange County airport named after him). He pointed out that Judge Scalia was in the generation bred on these stories. In the Supreme Court argument on the Second Amendment his questioning discussed the theoretical risk of riding on the NYC subway at night in the terms of a dangerous Wild West risk. (Actual recording provided). QED.
BTW As a Canadian he pointed out that Canadian western procedurals involving the Royal Mounties, had a German shepherd dog in the plot and conflict was often solved by negotiated or non-violent intervention.
Sometime after Joe Biden announced his challenge to donald trump, I came across a U.S. election analysis based on the Vedic astrology personalities of each candidate and their relationship to the United States.. It was a lengthy and fascinating piece that alleged donald trump to personify unresolved karma for the United States; that our failure to address or resolve transgressions from the founding of the country, as well as others accumulated along our way, has put our continued existence as a country in jeopardy. trump was holding a mirror that reflects the issues we must deal with in order to move forward in a positive way. Both trump and Biden were perceived as crucial to determining our survival as a cohesive nation. trump’s karmic connection to the U.S. was, in the author’s view, well established; but it was also asserted that Biden had a strong karmic tie that would influence the survival of our nation; the nature of that influence was not clear to the writer. An analogy was made between the astrological skirmishes going on, then as well as now, and the closely similar skirmishing of the mid-to-late 1960s. Because the planetary alignments of the ‘60s were converging to be favorable for making significant progress with social issues, much was accomplished in the 60s; but the current alignments have been and still are, in a separating phase, significant progress would be unlikely. There was a strong caution that during the current years-long planetary phase, progress that came out of the ’60 upheavals was in grave danger of being undone. In personality analysis, it was noted that his drive for vengeance likely would destroy trump and that Biden’s strong Scorpio sun would see him through his karmic task. My interest in astrology has been limited to personalities, but this study caught my eye and has proved to be telling in what could be called a play of karma drama. trump blusters and rages onto the political scene and wins the White House; Biden stops him from a second term and chooses Kamala Harris as VP; Biden’s second challenge to trump is thwarted by an uncharacteristically damaging debate performance, and he is persuaded to step aside for Kamala - now poised to be the GIRL who KOs trump! And trump? He’s near full madness in vengeful rage. Hmmm. Makes me really wonder about Vedic astrology! And, no, I can’t recall what magazine this piece was in. Wish I could.
Too many of my close friends have drifted into wannabe tough guy roles thanks to diaper fill like Bro Rogan and Lone Musk.
I miss my dudes with good hearts and critical minds. It's become a lonely day that never ends. I'm sure I'm not the only one.
Are they aware that Trump hates dogs? https://rvat.org/
A win in November will not end the MAGA poison. It has built up for too many years, as decent blue collar jobs have been offshored, women have found fulfillment without needing a man or any partner, nonwhites and immigrants of all kinds have found success here. The changes in our demographics and social hierarchies are threatening to enough of our population that responding positively to them will take quite some time. How our entertainment changes is somewhat trivial, to me. It would be good to see more films and books celebrating what we are becoming, lauding compassion and caring, viewing independence for all people and equal partnerships in relationships more positively. There are no superheroes. We have to be the heroes of our own lives, and that is challenging and hard. Too many of us simply don’t want to be, and that is the rot at our core.
Consider the Nancy Pelosi image that Trump has popped. https://www.youtube.com/shorts/bUxjaRqN8c4
Or the classic https://www.youtube.com/shorts/TUe5wtuSTfo
The right are very good at projecting their evil plans on the left. Take stop the steal, for instance. It is a GOP who are trying to steal the election. Look at the economy, the Democrats get it humming along and the Republicans destroy it continually. Look at the border, the cult pretends that the wall works even though there are pictures of people going over and under and through the wall. The right pretends global warming does not exist while there are forests burning. The right even pretends that unlimited greed that is not regulated will make the world a better place?
Nobody in their right mind desires evil. The right wingers have obviously had their minds crosswired since birth.
The human race may have crossed the threshold of working towards a Utopia with little human suffering because of religions that don't allow birth control. In that case, we will end up with a dystopia where the living will envy the dead.
I do believe that the right lives to kill love and hence romance. They are miserable, petty ungrateful human beings, whose brains have been made into mush by their elders! Misery loves company, they can't stand seeing happy people!
Misery & brutality gets the clicks & news coverage. I wonder do other intelligent species like the dolphin or the apes, or whales have the type of thoughts that we would consider destructive to their societies? Killer whales may gather together in a concerted way to kill their prey but do they speak to each other in their languages to denigrate other killer whales pods from different locations? They may be territorial by nature but do they actually agree to attack another pod in advance?
Asking for homosapiens. We need help from wherever or who ever we can get it from.
They have recently discovered that Marmoset Monkeys call each other by name, as do elephants and parrots, I never heard of Orcas whale pods attacking each other,probably because they are equally "armed", but Orcas do attack grey whales, But an Orca is not a whale either it is a dolphin.
Then again Orcas have market segmented themselves, Resident Orcas, live in an area that live off Salmon in Washington , Britich Columbia and Alaska, in Norway, Iceland and scotland it is herring and mackerel. Transient Orcas live off warm blooded creatures like seals and whales.
Transient whales have been seen in Puget Sound, feeding off grey whales. Puget Sound and the Haro Straits. Salish Sea, the Strait of Georgia and the Strait of Juan de Fuca are the hunting grounds of Resident Orcas.
No conflict has been observed between Resident and Transient, their dietary preferences are mutually exclusive.
There is a species of primate that will attack and even eat it's own kind. The Chimpanzee
Chimps are the other animal closest to humans. The eating part is not because of hunger. People like to say animals do not kill unless they are hungry-wishful thinking.
I will not be a pacifist in this lifetime, my instinct is to protect.
To protect is my instinct also Alis. There are genuine pacifists, like the hero of Hacksaw Ridge, and there are pacifists of cowardice like Trump.
And animals do kill because it is their nature and not for hunger. I am a cat person, I have four, a purebred, to rescues and a barn cat that adopted us.
I worry about and care for them all, three are totally indoor cats, the barn cat comes in at night and when it is raining. He is a killer, and kills for the sake of killing. He doesn't eat much at home, most of his food is take out.
Bob… excellent commentary!!
It is the best of times, it is the worst of times. If we can stave off the impositions of billionaire control freaks, we can all have what I call "nice-sessities" like universal healthcare, free college, a home for everybody, dignity and respect. No more golf resorts, private jets, and billionaires in space.
There are lots of solid and thoughtful comments today. I'm a bit out of popular culture but wonder if movies even matter that much, given how many come out, how much is on video, and how many other avenues there are for entertainment and information (true or not) today. Still, they can have an impact. I teach online college environmental classes and the two films that students consistently bring up as positive examples are "Wall-E" and "Avatar". Sometimes others like "Fern Gully" also, as well as occasional older kids television shows aimed at protecting the earth. So there are positives here.
It is too bad that we don't have a single culturally unifying and positive vision; one educator wrote that the last "common denominator" he found for his students was that they all knew "The Wizard of Oz" movie, but maybe that's not even true anymore. But really, when you have someone with influence discussing how he has to stop media "that bend to the woke mind virus" you know that we just can't be passive and hope for better days either.
NEVER have we had a larger choice when it comes to the content available. Hollywood definitely does not dominate as it used to.
The times have changed. One in four Gen-Zers are saying they will choose not to have children. They cite financial hardship as the reason.
This American society, with the huge economic disparity and no affordable health care, has been a real buzz-kill for romance. No one can afford to DATE. Think about what a beautiful dinner, movie, drinks and dancing costs.
Romance should be free---in a perfect world. In a Perfect World, that's a Hollywood phrase, a movie, and now it is a meme.
I know what you mean about costs. I recently gave my granddaughter's boyfriend $20.00 for his birthday & I felt like a tightwad!! I apologized & said that years ago that would have paid for dinner & a movie with some left over for gas & now it isn't even enough for gas!!! I did also plant a tree for him in a national forest which he really appreciates so I guess the $20 was ok!!!!
The tree is a beautiful touch, Return. Your love and blessing is the real gift.
The out of wedlock pregnancies will increase - hormones.
But with DNA tests......fathers will not get off so easy. I'm thinking Gen Z is going to HAVE to step-up and try to be decent about parenthood. Most of them were very much wanted, and that's what kids need.
That is the key. Welcoming, loving, and caring for a child in or out of wedlock is now praised in this country. Boomers changed a whole host of bull-shit morals.
I am a genetic genealogist by Avocation alis. I've spend tens of thousands of hours digging through documents, especially census. It is quite common to find a man who screwed two or three wives to death,literally, a distant relative had 11 children by his first wife, she died of exhaustion, he remarried had 10 more childen,she died in childbirth, he married again and had three more children before he died.
Women dying in childbirth was as common as river rocks. no sooner was she in the ground then he was looking for a replacement, especially if he children, and he wasn't picky either.
One dude, James Lanier, buried his wife and then married a great great aunt who, according to the 1850 census, was an idiot.
Anyone from Downs Syndrome, to manic depression was listed on the census as idiot
If a father had the means he would tutor his sons, at least his oldest son, if he died when they were minors (under age 16), regardless of whether the mother was alive, the children were considered orphans and let out to guardians as free labor, infants and toddlers were generally taken in by cousins, even 2nd cousins.
For a mother to retain custody of her own children, she had to prove to a court that she had the means to tutor her sons. Few did, so she had no choice but to remarry as soon as she could, and there were always eligible widowers around
Alis
If Leonard Leo has his way , Hollywood will remake “ The Hunger Games “ from the point of view that Panem was simply misunderstood the real bad guys were out in the Districts interfering with progress with their “woke “
behavior. There are no “ single cat ladies “ in Panem , they are all living the dream .
Harvey Weinstein- executive producer.
Thanks for my chuckle of the day, Paul. According to Google, Harvey is still in prison and the now ex-wife is dating Adrien Brody. HA!
Federalists have won the judicial appointment battle for now. Let them waste their money on trying to fight the culture war AGAIN. Boomers won the vast majority of it while they were busy making all that money. The Leo's just can't help themselves. Always fighting the last battle in their head.
The movement that is anti-woke, and pro-primitive masculine seems to be coming from the many millions of mostly white males who have antiquated genes for survival turned on. These genes are no longer an asset for survival, but a primitive left over from warring tribes who were being threatened by each other for food and other resources. For humanity to evolve out of this counterproductive, disastrous genetic predisposition, there has to be a paradigm shift in our species, out of competition, into sharing, mindful interaction with the earth, lower birthrate, more awakened parenting, and many other things. The alternative is on and off wars, maybe toward extinction. An example of a start is to look at what is taught in business schools, and competitive sports, how the military is used, and the military/industrial/political complex.
I like this comment Tim, and it fits with mine but at a deeper level. As an amateur genetic genealogist I should have thought of this.
What is taught in university and college supports and reinforces the regnant paradigm.
Competition over the wrong things is what is bad. Going along with Hartmann's topic for today, most women are attracted to men who are friendly, kind, and have a sense of humor over an angry man who can't carry on a conversation. A room com that would tell a story that portrays human nature in that way could be interesting and cause men to change the strongman hero for a realistic version of an everyday personable hero.
For entertainment, movies can't provide what a limited series or series can, which is to feel you intimately know the characters, similar to reading a novel. I was looking forward to Costner's next part of "Horizon." It reminded me of "How the West Was Won" and thought it was a new format to bring people back to the big screen. I'm disappointed they postponed it.
A series with true to life romance with a married couple was "Friday Night Lights" which we recently saw on Netflix.
If it is genetic we don't have enough time we better hope that it is environmental caused. We could change the environment the children are raised in and probably about a hundred years minimum if we grew them properly in rational growing centers where there is no child abuse allowed and that includes from conception drug babies. With a lot of toys and fields to play in we could end racism, crime, religious hatred, mental illness... Agnostic rational growing centers is what is needed. If the children are not taught to think like humans before the age of two they are beyond rehabilitation often!
Children learn by example more than from intentional teaching.
We can be trained to tame and redirect, and control the impulses from genetic predisposition. It takes early childhood education, good examples, teachers and parents with mature moral reasoning skills, critical thinking skills, and a high emotional IQ. This is not the norm. If it was, we would have a whole different kind of politician, and sure as hell not anyone as defiant as Trump and Vance. They do reflect the worst tendencies that I am talking about with genetic predisposition without redirect. That training of the impulses may lead to permanent genetic changes for the positive over 100s years. Meanwhile back at the primitive ranch, we have a lot of work to do.
Is it coincidence that I have been sayin' that Trump has the mean woman blues. Loomer vs. MTG. Plus... the materialistic and dispassionate foreign wife.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-kWZZ71yzas
Lol. Nothing can make me feel sorry for Donald Trump. I used to own several Roy Orbison albums but I don't remember "Mean Woman Blues." Trump deserves a mean, cold wife that he can't divorce for political reasons. And I wonder how much she would get since I read Melania has updated her prenup several times. He dare not inappropriately touch another woman either.
Btw, I switched from phone banking to door to door. I hope they have door hangers. We don't have our signs yet. We saw two Trump signs on our two mile walk this morning. One of the houses was where they sent two big dogs after me last year.
When I worked the 2010 census in my red locality shotguns were aimed at workers, verbal abuse was rampant towards the government, people complained of FBI workers living nearby spying for the government while pretending to be something else. It was bizarre. I knocked on one door & 2 men in suits (no one dresses in suits where I live) invited me to answer their questions & were glad to hear that I supported the government.
Last night we sent tens of thousands more texts into WI and MI.
Only got a few comments.
Men on the right, even some on the left, and even Moms with boys bristle at the words Toxic Masculinity, but damn if this article by Thom describes and high lights this hyper masculinity, that is actually based on insecurity, doubt and even a nagging sense of inferiority..
The reason why Viagra is such a profit maker. I suggest that its customers are J D Vance and MAGA types.
Incels exist because they can't find a female that will submit. Poor things.
When Kamala & Walz are sworn in, I hope we have given them majorities in the Senate and House.
Then THEY can be Superheroes for America, and do the Super Human, or as Thom called it, the "Heavy Lifting" of fixing SCOTUS, and stop them from destroying our democracy.
I believe firmly linking legislation for the Big Issues of Reproductive Freedoms, Voting Rights across America, Banning Assault Weapons, EPA's ability to protect our environment, money = speech, legalized bribing of government officials, strengthen our public schools ... That is, linking these all to renovating SCOTUS, so that SCOTUS will not come at these issues AGAIN and undo what Harris and the Dems do to restore those rights and bring common sense to our laws. This can be effective in getting The People to support changes to SCOTUS. Republicans will never support changes to SCOTUS, and you may have already noticed some of them are trying to frame such ideas as radically unconventional - see the drivel from Ponnuru at the WaPo. But SCOTUS must be changed. And in a changed SCOTUS, yes Ponnuru - even Republicans can still be nominated to the court.
The People saw, and understand that it was SCOTUS who destroyed Roe, Voting Rights, Legalized Machine Guns... Remind them, rinse, repeat. Make it clear this has been solely the fault of this rigged, partisan mob of unelected monarchs. This can ONLY be stopped by fixing the out of control SCOTUS with immediate institution of Term Limits, Biennial Appointments, Court Expansion, and Strong Ethics Rules.
I don't think anyone wants to make a movie about any of that, and I'd be more interested in a solid reality TV show with a happy ending.
Strictly (historically?) speaking, "It's a Wonderful Life" cannot be credited with moving America into the New Deal notion that “we’re all in this together,” since the film did not really enter the national conscience until the mid-1970s. According to Wikipedia's (correct) entry (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It%27s_a_Wonderful_Life):
"Although it was nominated for five Academy Awards, including Best Picture, It's a Wonderful Life initially received mixed reviews and was unsuccessful at the box office. Theatrically, the film's break-even point was $6.3 million, about twice the production cost, a figure it did not come close to achieving on its initial release. Because of the film's disappointing sales, Capra was seen by some studios as having lost his ability to produce popular, financially successful films. Its copyright expired in 1974 following a lack of renewal and it entered the public domain, allowing it to be broadcast without licensing or royalty fees, at which point it became a Christmas classic."
A women in the White House is sure. Not sure the politicians know how to take advantage of the cultural impact. JFK gave us magic and a Moon shot while Johnson was needed to put the human value on the plate. The vote was the key while government leadership towards companies was key. A larger spiritual example is coming where the truth of frequency is acknowledged as more real than the mere outer shell our false social values have taken as important. Worldly power is real but only as much as we give it power. Joy has the power to take it down and out.
Thank you, Mr. Hartmann, for sharing that substack.
Following your lead, there is an additional important theme where media (traditional radio, TV, and movies) greatly impacted culture. Malcom Gladwell in his "Revisionist History" series on gun violence pointed out how in the 1950s and 60s the cowboy theme promoted the "Wild West" and solving disputes by GUN VIOLENCE dominated USA culture (think John Wayne - the faux cowboy who has in own western museum in Tulsa and an Orange County airport named after him). He pointed out that Judge Scalia was in the generation bred on these stories. In the Supreme Court argument on the Second Amendment his questioning discussed the theoretical risk of riding on the NYC subway at night in the terms of a dangerous Wild West risk. (Actual recording provided). QED.
BTW As a Canadian he pointed out that Canadian western procedurals involving the Royal Mounties, had a German shepherd dog in the plot and conflict was often solved by negotiated or non-violent intervention.
Sometime after Joe Biden announced his challenge to donald trump, I came across a U.S. election analysis based on the Vedic astrology personalities of each candidate and their relationship to the United States.. It was a lengthy and fascinating piece that alleged donald trump to personify unresolved karma for the United States; that our failure to address or resolve transgressions from the founding of the country, as well as others accumulated along our way, has put our continued existence as a country in jeopardy. trump was holding a mirror that reflects the issues we must deal with in order to move forward in a positive way. Both trump and Biden were perceived as crucial to determining our survival as a cohesive nation. trump’s karmic connection to the U.S. was, in the author’s view, well established; but it was also asserted that Biden had a strong karmic tie that would influence the survival of our nation; the nature of that influence was not clear to the writer. An analogy was made between the astrological skirmishes going on, then as well as now, and the closely similar skirmishing of the mid-to-late 1960s. Because the planetary alignments of the ‘60s were converging to be favorable for making significant progress with social issues, much was accomplished in the 60s; but the current alignments have been and still are, in a separating phase, significant progress would be unlikely. There was a strong caution that during the current years-long planetary phase, progress that came out of the ’60 upheavals was in grave danger of being undone. In personality analysis, it was noted that his drive for vengeance likely would destroy trump and that Biden’s strong Scorpio sun would see him through his karmic task. My interest in astrology has been limited to personalities, but this study caught my eye and has proved to be telling in what could be called a play of karma drama. trump blusters and rages onto the political scene and wins the White House; Biden stops him from a second term and chooses Kamala Harris as VP; Biden’s second challenge to trump is thwarted by an uncharacteristically damaging debate performance, and he is persuaded to step aside for Kamala - now poised to be the GIRL who KOs trump! And trump? He’s near full madness in vengeful rage. Hmmm. Makes me really wonder about Vedic astrology! And, no, I can’t recall what magazine this piece was in. Wish I could.
I hope so!