Bliss

1. Bliss is the grave.
2. The grave is fear.
3. Happiness is something to be feared?

Plagiarism

Plagiarism is the insincerest form of laziness.

Is Life Necessary

Is life necessary for the perception of time?

Does entropy happen?

Is entropy experienced?

Will a rock know itself?

Can concrete be abstract?

Discovery may abound, but do you really want to know?

Did you really think it would not be exploited?

Are the depths really worth the price?

Do all great things have a hollow core?

Sometimes a revolution is not worth the price?

Then again, what is?

Unity?  Please.

(I'll be moving and without internet for a time.)

The Dangers of Believing Your Own Propaganda

As I've stressed repeatedly for years, there is a great danger in believing your own propaganda (or if I'm feeling a little earthier I might say "Don't believe your own bullshit").  Patrick Cockburn recently wrote a short piece about this truism with respect to the government of Israel:

An old Israeli saying describing various less-than-esteemed military leaders says: "He was so stupid that even the other generals noticed." The same derisive remark could be applied almost without exception to the present generation of Israeli politicians.

Such healthy skepticism among Israelis about the abilities of their military and political leaders has unfortunately ebbed in recent decades. As a result, Israelis are left perplexed as to why their wars, military interventions and armed actions have so often ended in failure since the 1973 war, despite the superiority of their armed forces

The latest example of this is the assault on the Gaza aid convoy by naval commandos, a confrontation initiated by Israel which thereby ensured that the convoy's organizers achieved their objectives to a degree beyond their wildest dreams. By using assault troops in a police action against civilians with predictably bloody results Israel managed to focus international attention on its blockade of Gaza, which the world had hitherto largely ignored. The Israeli action infuriated Turkey, once its strongest ally in the region, and strengthened the claim of Hamas to Palestinian leadership.

The capacity of Israel to shoot itself in the foot needs explanation. From the beginning the operation was idiotic, since Israel was always likely to look bad after any confrontation between élite troops and civilian protesters. Even more ludicrous is the Israeli explanation that their élite and heavily armed soldiers were at risk of their lives because they had to use thick gloves to protect their hands when sliding down cables from a helicopter and therefore could not use their weapons.

[...]

The problem is that nobody believes Israeli propaganda as much as Israelis. Pro-Palestinian activists often lament the fluency and mendacity of Israeli spokesmen on the airwaves and the pervasive influence of Israel's supporters abroad. But, in reality, these PR campaigns are Israel's greatest weakness, because they distort Israelis' sense of reality. Defeats and failures are portrayed as victories and successes.

The slaughter of civilians is justified as a military necessity or somehow the fault of the other side. Opponents are demonized as bloodthirsty terrorists. Comforted by such benign accounts of their activities, Israeli leaders are consumed by arrogance because they come to believe they have never made a mistake. Denial that errors have occurred makes it extremely difficult to sack generals or ministers, however gross their incompetence or record of failure.

Many Israelis privately take their own propaganda with a pinch of salt, though the number is diminishing. But abroad, the most third-rate Israeli politicians strut before fawning audiences as heroic defenders of the state. Not surprisingly they return home with a dangerously inflated idea of their own abilities and in a perilously self-important mood.

The Israeli propaganda machine, official and private, has been running full throttle in the last few days justifying the assault on the aid convoy to Gaza. Probably spokesmen feel they are performing well given the weakness of their case. In fact, they do nothing but harm to Israel. The greater their success in denying gross and culpable mistakes, the more likely it is that the perpetrators will hold their jobs – and the more likely it is that the mistakes will be endlessly repeated.

 And as a result, the US is beginning to re-evaluate it's relationship with this tiny little country that, beyond feelings of a moral obligation to support, has no real strategic significance and is becoming more of a liability with each passing day.  (The moral obligation will fade as new generations, which have never seen a death camp tattoo, ceases to care about the history.  In the West, a short attention span is the norm.)  Hence, the Israelis would do well to replace their leaders with those whom realize the danger (of course, they won't).  See Also.

Link.

Business

Anyone you are doing business with is not your friend.

Unpleasantness

Unpleasantness is something that happens to other people, except when it happens to you.

Altered State

If an altered state of consciousness is a normal condition, then it is no longer altered.

Who Cares?

Who cares whether or not God exists?

Creativity = Insanity?

Dopamine System in Highly Creative People Similar to That Seen in Schizophrenics, Study Finds:

High creative skills have been shown to be somewhat more common in people who have mental illness in the family. Creativity is also linked to a slightly higher risk of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Certain psychological traits, such as the ability to make unusual pr bizarre associations are also shared by schizophrenics and healthy, highly creative people. And now the correlation between creativity and mental health has scientific backing.

"We have studied the brain and the dopamine D2 receptors, and have shown that the dopamine system of healthy, highly creative people is similar to that found in people with schizophrenia," says associate professor Fredrik Ullén from Karolinska Institutet's Department of Women's and Children's Health, co-author of the study that appears in the journal PLoS ONE.

 This explains a great deal about certain people: They're only "healthy" because they're functional.

Fear 2

Fear is a weapon for denial.

Fear

1. Few wish to face their fear.
2. Fear is power.
3. Putting a face on fear can ensure anonymity.
4. Few wish to face their fear.

Money

Money is a solid illusion.

The New American Dream

"The new American Dream is to get very rich and still be regarded as a victim."
                              - Charles Simic

Hate

Where there's nothing to love, there's always something to hate.

Gold

Gold may not always be worth having, but it's always worth stealing.