Are You Sure?
I'm positive.
posted by jm at 1:26 AM
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
About Me
- Name: jm
I am a brilliant creation of the universe formed from the cosmic protoplasm sailing into eternity. I have two hands, two feet, a couple of great ears, and I'm clipping through life at a moderate pace; minding my p*s and q*s, crossing my t*s, dotting every i.
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- Positive, Negative, and Everything In Between
42 Comments:
Hmmmm. Talk about positivism. Let's discuss Bawhney Fwank.
The Boys at HillBuzz took aim at the garrulous old pimp today and rightly so.
http://hillbuzz.wordpress.com/2009/03/25/wow-if-barney-frank-tells-you-that-youre-childish-and-need-to-grow-up-you-really-need-to-listen/
"Barney Frank confronting you and saying how childish you are and how much you need to grow up is like Oprah telling you that you eat too many doughnuts."
What a stitch. Now I've known Bawhney since way back when before he was elected to congress and was involved in local Massachusetts politics. We ran into each other frequently at some of the most precious hot spots in P-town. Bawhney was always loud, rather annoying, abrasive, pushy and somewhat childish. But I kept on voting for him while I remained in my native state. We needed gay political poster boys who advanced the cause, and Bawhney did it rather well. That was of course until he decided it was his right to fix parking tickets for his personal call boy. Anyhoot. Bahwney has never been the most mature Queen on the block, and its rather interesting to watch him toss knitting needles at the sign carriers. Then of course we don’t hear much mentioned right now of his role in this whole mortgage crisis, Freddie, Fannie and probably Tom, Dick and Harry too.
I could make a salacious joke about the last line, which is just begging for it, but I'll be a mature queen and refrain. ;o)
Class.
To be in the company of gentlemen. One of my ambitions.
At your service, jm. *bows*
:)
I really wasn't begging...that would not be mature, but certainly enjoy being entertained.
Ennio is the best.
I come from a long line of Leo Saturns whose destinies revolve around great entertainment. With the previous Saturn in leo transit and now the SN I've become increasingly bored with the public stage, and now I fight the impulse to tune it out altogether. But Ennio Marchetto inspired me to the hilt. It's not even his content as much as his spirit, imagination, and the phenomenal way he fluidly changes from one form to another in that Protean Piscean way. I was amazed, dazzled, and although I am even more uninterested in the political cast, I have renewed faith in human artistry. Discerning selection is the key.
My favorites, and they send me into near ecstasy, are the Ella Fitzgerald/Louis A ones. Those get me into that other dimension I love. So brief, but so good. That gravelly voice coming out of Ennio's cartooned belly. Genius in motion.
Louis had perfect rhythm. The best of sexuality.
There was
a documentary on Frontline awhile back called The Farmer's Wife, and I just watched it with intense interest. The relationship of farmers to the land was portrayed in detail and there, too, is a deep sexuality that is unique. Digging in and turning the earth, working every muscle, fiber, sinew, and cell of the body. Smelling, seeing, hearing with heightened intensity, both pleasurable and foul. Communing with the animals. Feeling, feeling, feeling, then blindly praying for nature to be kind when the seeds are planted, knowing exactly when to release control.
Of course, the farmers are becoming extinct, and one can only hope that some other form of connection to life and real sexuality will emerge.
Another trait of farmers is acceptance of failure. It's a part of nature. Rhythm again.
I wonder if this why farmers are so disregarded and looked down upon by the same society that fears and laughs at sexuality. I think you've struck gold, jm. I must think on this one. There's gotta be a connection there.
You're the one who struck gold, joe. I know you are right. Yes, while TV makes a mockery of sexuality. Utter mockery with it's nervous giggle and interpersonal bashing.
I never experienced it like I did during the 200 minutes of film. And this is where people's life source - food - comes from. Having sex with the earth is stunning, and that's how we survive.
But what is the cure for this fearful society? What does Pluto in Capricorn know and won't tell?
Really, joe. They look down on them so much as to drive them out of existence. Out of sight while the plastic shield covers life.
Plastic shield? Hmm... since we're talking sex, that phrase naturally brings to mind prophylactics for both sexes.
Ironically enough, it's the estrogen-mimicking chemicals in most plastics that are disrupting human and animal sex hormones. I used to consider it the revenge of the Goddess for being denied and suppressed for so long, but now I think it's just tragic. That's one thing Pluto did for me is strip me of any religiosity of any sort.
Dang I need an editor! I meant to say, the disrupted hormones appear to be causing males of many species to be underdeveloped or less fertile. More study is needed but let's stop pouring chemicals into the water and soil, huh? Jesus.
You're right again. And all the pretties to cover up the real sensations. I always ask why we're in this predicament. Afraid of life force. Then we penetrate bodies where we're not supposed to killing, instead of celebrating life. I just wonder.
Same thing with money hoarded in banks instead of spread around fertilizing life. It's psychotic right now as a result. I can't seem to follow the logic, but I'm sorta getting it.
There's no revenge of the frikking goddess that's bound to fix it. She's just as bad. I am thrilled that you've been stripped of religiosity in that way. Male and female are equally bad and good. Men thrust, women suck and smother, at their worst. They create magnificent life at their best.
I think it's life's attempt to curtail population growth. Sexual habits need revision. I think fertility will decline markedly in humans or else population will be reduced in other ways.
Life is a series of adjustments and religiosity is one way we interpret, but gods and goddesses are really human.
Fiscal prophylactics? Hmm. At its root, it's a denial of life, even if we are protecting ourselves from disease. I ran across a paper once where the researcher posited that the use of birth control disrupts a vital exchange between male/female partners. More than just bodily fluids, it was something else I forget.
Then we penetrate bodies where we're not supposed to
Taking it further, there's the matter of inoculations and vaccinations. Some say piercing the body's natural barrier (the skin) and introducing foreign genetic material (dead bacteria to stimulate the immune system) leads to autism, possibly more subtle illnesses. Who knows? I wish I could step back and see the bigger picture but it's still "through a glass darkly" yet.
They switch. The male is suppressed, then germinates. The female goes through cycles of the same. Maybe in down times, either force is renewed for good reason. The female is coming out of seed stage now and it's a good time to control the dominance and superiority factor, for once.
Oh no, I never considered that it would be a fix for anything, just a natural turning of the tide.
Could I do aught else but be stripped, with Pluto in control of my Sag until recently?
That's interesting about birth control and the vital relationship. It makes sense.
When women have sex outside of ovulation there is an allergic reaction to sperm and disease results. But I think it's part of the overall fear of sexuality. If we were more comfortable with it, perhaps we'd need less copulation. We could use fewer babies at this juncture. I don't think we're that far from the natural sexual impulses connected the hormonal rhythms. The artificiality in sexual exchange is probably indicative of the relationship troubles of which you speak.
Could I do aught else but be stripped, with Pluto in control of my Sag until recently?
That's what happened to me, Brother.
If we're talking about sexual habits, well, Pluto is the ultimate dungeon master. There's no safe word when you're in his hands, but at least he's thorough Dom, as they say in S&M. BTW no need to read anything into this. :o) Just one of my cynical observations about human existence. Pluto took my religion but gave me astrology instead. I think I came out on top! ;o)
Yep. You're on top.
On the other side is Venus and sex which is plain kinky without the pain. Then there's the alternative route. Art and creativity.
Heheh. I don't read anything into anything. Try not to. In fact, I hardly read anything at all anymore beyond our own thoughts.
JM, I love checking into your blog! You ARE a wonderful human being! And chiron and Joe, your exchanges are great too!
About hormones in the environment, girls suffer too. Puberty is reached much earlier for girls exposed to many estrogens in food and the environment. This may be a part of increased later cancers. I wonder if it might increase teenage sex drive. Of course, teens have always had sex drives!
I come from a lineage of farmers and serious gardeners. Only one relative now farms professionally and I can tell you that many farmers are now not connected with the land like they used to be. Not to judge tho, it is the system and farmers need to use anti-earth chemicals to survive. Not everywhere of course, but if your fields are completely surrounded by others which are 'chemical users' there is no hope of producing enough to pay off your loans or buy equipment/seeds without going along with the fertilizer/herbicide/pesticide systems. Many farmers go to AG schools and I know that the major chemical companies offer classes. Amazing!
Women have traditionally been tenders of the kitchen gardens and my mother is one. She is completely at home in her large organic garden! Happy, purposeful, and challenged. I used to garden (before I got so busy with work) and the smell and feel of dirt (even the worms) were a great joy.
Speaking of farming, Wendell Berry wrote The Unsettling of America and notes the disconnect we were discussing. There's a bit about it here. Interested and involved in my limited fashion in farm-to-fork issues, I can't help but worry you might be right about farmers going extinct. It's something approaching madness that this society cannibalizes the same class that produces the food it eats. It's like cutting off your nose to spite your face. I wonder if it's that brash, young arrogance of America that leads it to be so heedless and disrespectful of its elders, which is what farmers are, as stewards of the land.
Thank you dxp! I love your input and energy.
It's something approaching madness that this society cannibalizes the same class that produces the food it eats.
What a great statement joe. And you are on to something about the elders. I have to think about why they are going extinct beyond the obvious corporate reasons. There's a metaphysical reason I'll search for.
Juanita Buschkoetter, the farmer's wife, said that we would regret not getting fed from those that love the land.
On the other hand, maybe the life is too hard and farmers, once they adjust, would be better off. And maybe we are gradually evolving from the agrarian lifestyle as we know it. There are some interesting developments concerning synthetic foods, and who knows that in the Age of Aquarius, we might not eat that way!
Everything works itself out. But that cannibal idea is tops. I have to think about it.
Thank you. But I don't know how we could really move beyond an agrarian basis for living because synthetic foods are showing evidence of causing all sorts of problems in the body. The reasoning goes that the body's makeup is much the same as it was thousands of years ago, and the changes in our diet are occurring faster and faster and the body can't adjust. Corn syrup and its concentrated form, high-fructose corn syrup, is a great example. The body has no clue how to digest it so it gets stored-- as fat.
I dunno, I don't have the answers, just a lot of questions. :o)
I keep hoping for Tseka's Capricorn grandmother idea. We need a healthy dose of sensible maturity, that's for sure.
But I think it's part of the overall fear of sexuality. If we were more comfortable with it, perhaps we'd need less copulation.
An interesting viewpoint... I tend to agree. Sex seems like a wired in addiction (admittedly a necessary one for propagation of humanity) that for most people seems to mellow with age. It doesn't matter how many times you've done it before or how great or terrible it was, there it is again. Just like needing or wanting a drug. I had a much stronger sex drive in my 20's than I do now, but part of that is that I found other pursuits more satisfying, with longer lasting rewards, even if they are more subtle. Also, it seems like no one knows how to be sexy. TV sexuality is revolting and men and women don't seem to know much about real sexuality, not that that is a new condition. Or it could just be my line of work I guess, which is full of extremely analytical people. Widespread access to sex, and acceptance of most every practice (this is Bay Area, CA) -as long as one keeps it to themselves makes the topic blase in the bubble in which I live.
Great quote from the Wendell Berry book:
"And nowhere now is there a market for minor produce: a bucket of cream, a hen, a few dozen eggs. One cannot sell milk from a few cows anymore; the law-required equipment is too expensive. Those markets were done away with in the name of sanitation--but, of course, to the enrichment of the large producers. We have always had to have 'a good reason' for doing away with small operators, and in modern times the good reason has often been sanitation, for which there is apparently no small or cheap technology. Future historians will no doubt remark upon the inevitable association, with us, between sanitation and filthy lucre. And it is one of the miracles of science and hygiene that the germs that used to be in our food have been replaced by poisons."
Seems like this trend is continuing with them now trying to crack down on Farmer's markets, which have exploded in popularity.
Interesting. Over regulation kills small farms, dairies, farmer's markets and probably a myriad of other small traditional industries.
I wonder how new Obama policies will constrain self sufficiency in the coming collapse. We are already seeing tent cities
(OBamaBivwaks) established for the increasing homeless populations. Nouriel Roubini's latest forecast is much gloomier than other econmists' predictions.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aCvWs8KIIsUo&refer=worldwide
Talk about being positive and handling the negatoons well. Get a gander at Greta's blog today as a prelim to her Clinton interview.
http://gretawire.foxnews.com/2009/03/26/this-is-your-chance-some-of-you-can-teach-the-haters-a-lesson/
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090326/ap_on_go_pr_wh/obama_online_town_hall
Greetings Big Brother.
That'a a great comment mpk on sexuality. I agree with all you said, especially the part about finding more satisfying pursuits.
Also, it seems like no one knows how to be sexy. TV sexuality is revolting and men and women don't seem to know much about real sexuality, not that is a new condition.
Isn't it amazing? One thing that stuns me is how confused they are about body parts. Here they use the female breasts as weapons, pushing them out as a threat, even taking knives to them to make them "right". They are supposed to symbolize comfort and nourishment so I've concluded that the fixation and violence represent our societal nurturing problems. The violence toward the part increases our alienation.
I don't know why humans are so afraid and confused about it. I wish I did. It doesn't make sense. The most basic survival mechanism and the sorryist hangups known to man.
One of the worst habits I find here is the denigration of abstinence. It's OK for religious followers, but not for others. It seems it should be praised in our overpopulated age.
Of course the lack of knowledge about how to be sexy has pervaded the music industry. I know music and sexuality are closely related but they haven't grasped it yet. The real part. Not here.
They are afraid of rhythm in this culture which I think adds to their overall fear of life. Or is the result. That's what they love about mine, but they run from it. And return. Back and forth. Rhythm relaxes if they could let it come. We had it earlier last century, especially during the depression, then lost it at the close of the century.
The small farm operations are being killed and the government doesn't seem to show any interest in saving them. It's hard to say how the economic hard times will affect it. That's the difference between this one and the last depression. They could survive on their farms then. So we'll see. Necessity might overrule
the administration's policies. Remember that they are powerless. It's life itself that governs.
I do think the constraint of self-sufficiency is in the cards as needed for the Uranus-Pluto breakthroughs. The economic situation has just begun if it's intended to bring fundamental change to the system. The worse it gets, the more likely big change will come. Whose choice is it? Right now they want to believe that the turnaround is coming at the end of the year. So they don't really want change.
This government would like to foster complete dependency so they can have the power they know they don't. The pull and push will be the force of change, if there is going to be any, as the Cancer stellium is crossed and dependency addressed.
I couldn't get the link, chiron? What's doing?
Interesting link to the book review Joe. I don't think there will be less regulation of produce after whatever those scares about spinach and so on. The public demands it - if you buy food in a public place then it must be regulated. But bartering cannot be regulated, and that is how it used to be done. Someone would hunt a large animal and trade for another's zuccini. Or just gift it. I think that could be lots of fun too from newly vital city kitchen gardens. I think I'll plant zuccini - I actually like it!
The rhythm of music is related to the natural rocking back and forth the mother does with her infant. It releases hormones in both and provides comfort, and probably aids in the feeding process. It's the first thing she does when the infant cries. Rhythm soothes. Many musicians have Cancer planets.
When American music reached its height of great rhythm, Pluto was in Cancer. It was during the drought that music rose, probably a replacement for the fluid factor lost. The whole nation danced together. When Pluto reached 29 Cancer, the rains came.
Slowly, a rigidity entered the music, and now it is at a height. I think it's related to the overall fear and lack of cultural soothing that has led to antidepressant use, television addiction, and food addiction.
As a whole, we are tremendously uncomfortable and with 4 Cancer planets we can't function without solace and emotional soothing. We are recognizing, I think, that money is not a replacement.
So as Pluto opposes the Cancer point that had everything to do with the parched earth and emotions, it will be interesting to see what kind of resolution will come in terms of our nurturing needs. In Cancer, the government took the nurturing parental role successfully. Ideally, the roles of discipline and self reliance should be added, but probably a dearth of both elements is the lead-in. Cultural output reflects it accurately. Right now the screaming music is returning, hopefully on its way out. The incredible cry of pain has been marked in the last 10 or 20 years, so the wounds need salve. Maybe the cry in cyberspace is part of this process. The silent scream. Someone or something always hears. It depends on the readiness of the person to be comforted.
When we find that balance, leadership will reflect it, but some trials are destined first. Sounds are connected to smell and memory and are one of life's greatest sources of pleasure. Society's music is an accurate representation of mood. Neptune is close to US Moon and that might influence the outcome.
As far as regulation goes, I'm sure it will increase. People are giddy thinking it's just the financiers, but they aren't the only ones. The noose will tighten until survival dictates and we get loose. In the meantime, barter is a great idea and there are many other ways to get around the constrictor, depending on your own needs. Everyone needs tightening in some areas, and probably loosening in others. The Cancer-Capricorn axis is the theme for many years ahead. Food has everything to do with it. Ultimately the regulation comes from our individual relationships with nurturing.
Pluto also is involved with rhythm in the primordial squeeze and release life requires. The serpent of wisdom is due to squeeze all systems until this is recognized. We can consume to our hearts content if we let go and create the space. I think this is largely what Pluto in Capricorn is all about. Wealth is not meant to be hoarded excessively, one of the major challenges of mankind since humans settled and acquired property. And it's not just the obviously rich. It's like food and body fat. It's not the food, it's our relationship to nourishment. It's all atoms and molecules rearranging. And maybe more.
My pipe dream ... that people would recognize their own contribution to collective health and realize that the government is not the evil source. No amount of fiddling with taxes and what-not is going to get to the serpentine root, a piece of which lies in every human being.
In the meantime, there's ice cream to see you through.
Excellent comments by all.
Joe were you aware that Wendell Berry is asking for a 50 year Farm Bill? Check it out here.
Farm Bill
No, I hadn't heard and I thank you.
Actually, here's an update on that HR 875 which could place limits on farmer's markets and such. This appears to be a red herring, and the one to watch is SR 425 (Senate only). Here's a rundown of food bills in Congress right now. SR 425 is about halfway down. No cosponsors, referred to the Agri committee.
I wonder at the sheer number of "food safety" legislative bills being proposed these days. Is this more Cancer/security/paranoia?
The Wendell Berry piece is beautiful. Thank you duCan.
I can't tell about the food bills without knowing if they're always being proposed. Could be. Food and people are forever a problem, though.:) You'd think we could just eat and live. Systems, man. From mouth to anus is another one of those complex systems, so we're stuck. Might as well be paranoid and relax. It seems to work.
Thanks for the info, joe. Interesting.
Hi JM
Your writing yesterday was brilliant as usual. I just found this piece that I found very inspiring and would like to share it with you.
'And the pursuit of happiness, So Moved.'
I hope it brightens your weekend.
Very Beautiful
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