Month: November 2023

At present, we are in the process of contemplation of the imminent publishing of a numerically, noteworthy essay, (Blogpost # 1000) and the expiration of the period of eight years since the conception of plinyblog. It has not been our practice (with few exceptions, viz., birthdays, and wedding anniversaries) to award metaphysical significance to any otherwise, notable dates or calculated level, per se, as singularly significant (despite their pragmatic necessity). We have, instead, sought to emphasize the essential and objective significance of the meaningful landmark events, themselves. Thus, at this precipitate time, we have succumbed to an admittedly, nuanced, desire to offer our all-encompassing, landmark (# 1000^th) statement.

 As declared at the inception of plinyblog, we have determinatively, elected to express our written views in the grammatical second person (i.e. “we,”), to avoid the possible perception that our writings are the “self-righteous” product of personal editorializing or as the expression of egotistic presumption.  Our observations have, consistently, been based on our empirical experience and consequent learning. Our dedication has been to offer, for the readers’ possible interest, our nuanced thoughts, and observations, as they have been perceived by us, from empirical experience.

We have attempted, as well, to avoid the perception that we were recounting various episodes of autobiographical content for the purpose of their revelation. Specifically, the intended purpose of our essays on our early childhood experiences in the contextual exotica of the 1940s, European Ashkenazi immigrants, was principally, to effectively portray the nuanced features of their transplanted lives.

The salient, theme, running through our past 977 ubiquitous essays, amounts to a reflection of our ardent devotion to the responsibility and necessity of Man’s efforts at his intellectual and cultural advancement, thereby fulfilling his life, and derivatively, for the betterment of his society.

Thus, we have eternally promoted the wise and salubrious “long-term investment” in the lifetime undertaking of personal and beneficial elective interests, viz., reading good literature, engagement in hobbies, or the personal study of science, the arts, and the humanities. The development of independent knowledge, interests, and skills, au dehors the boundaries of one’s family life and employment, is fertile ground for advanced maturity and confident individual thought. Travel, where possible, is especially salubrious. The opportunity to exercise one’s individualized and personal reason is the key to effective personal contemplation and a clear window into the empirical understanding of life and humanity. Our view regarding the classic, philosophically examined, concept of, “happiness,” is essentially encompassed in the development of the ultimate sense of self-fulfillment; the latter, a predictable product of individual learning and its consequent increase in understanding and the attainment of mature perspective (i.e. “wisdom”).

At this point in this writing, by unavoidable necessity, and with appropriate apology, we would descend into a less important, autobiographical context, albeit, solely for illustrative purposes, in demonstration of the salubrious nature of the ultimately rewarding lifestyle, outlined in the preceding paragraph.

We have recently attained the venerable age of 87, and become the uncomfortable recipients, of a painful back and troublesome knee; such that, a “walker” is required for our restricted perambulation; the latter activity, normally, restricted to the confines of our apartment or country residence. As a practical, age-related phenomenon, our physical condition has mandated the cessation of many favored, lifetime activities, travel, walks in the park, gardening, swimming, and the like. Yet, we remain content.

In a past essay, “Old Age Is Not A Disease,” we weighed the pain and uncomfortable physical limitations of old age, against the valuable, concomitant, facility of the simultaneous acquisition of the increase in understanding (“farschtant”) and mature perception. Our cumulative knowledge and lifelong development of knowledge, derived from experience, as above declared, has resulted in an objective, situational understanding of early life experiences as well as a rational reconcilement with the extant physical disabilities and discomforts of old age.

For those individuals who have entertained the thematic, lifetime development of inner personal thought, the recognition of the temporal absence of the storm and stress, common to youthful life, the cessation of life’s subsequent, multifarious anxieties, regarding personal issues, family, children, and finances, constitute an appreciated and comforting mitigation of the extant discomfort. For contemplative individuals, mature recognition of, and acquiescence to, the natural phenomena of age (assuming a reasonably acceptable state of general health) leads to a positive opportunity for a peaceful and especially pleasant, contemplative life.

Such a state of mind promotes the pleasurable and stimulating ability to selectively meditate on a library-full cornucopia of subjects, serious or recreational, to ponder, and to make virtual voyages to recollected places of past travel (without the impediments of packing, travel to the airport, flying, arrival, customs and security lines, hotel travel, unpacking and the like) and, most especially, to enjoy at will, the extensive benefits of an unfettered exercise of reason and imagination and, thereby, to pleasurably, savor the especially sweetness of the dessert that follows life’s main courses.

-p.

We have been considering the cogent possibility, that the basis of our condemnation of the former President, founded on his demonstrated misdeeds, his criminality, and immoral behavior, can be viewed from a somewhat nuanced, albeit, consistently, depraved and contemptible, perspective.

It is conceivable to perceive Donald Trump as a rare, even sui generis, personality, whose contemptible behavior is, essentially and neurotically, based upon an unquenchable desire to demonstrate professed superiority and its consequential, success (even stardom), but is, in harsh reality, plagued with a fragile and self-conscious sense of precarious personal worth; the latter neurotically, necessitating an eternally, demonstrable public display of (faux) confident superiority and asserted empirical success.

We ponder the credible possibility that Trump’s demonstrated, ignorance and absence of human empathy, are, motivated by an insatiable, neurotic aspiration for public confirmation of his aspirational image and manifested professions of celebrity and empirical superiority; as opposed to basic contextual malevolence. Notably, in either case, the shameful, detrimental effects are, observably reprehensible.

From such a nuanced view, Trump’s persona can be perceived as sui generis (one of a kind) and not merely, a hapless “bull in a china shop,” but, who, wherever he may go, neurotically, brings the entire “china shop” with him.

Consistent with our perception, Trump’s, unexpectedly, large following can be seen as an enormous conglomerate of disparate, populist citizens, unified in their, disparate, malcontent, and perceive his manufactured braggadocio and bizarre behavior, in sync with their negative outlook, as a mutually compatible, indication of irreverence and rebellion against (the elitist) society and the latter’s assumption of alleged superiority and unjustified privilege.

Trump, himself, inarguably, evinces a total lack of personal political philosophy or dogma; his preferences are exclusively and primitively based upon who supports and pleases him. In fact, within the Republican House of Representatives the litmus test, for advancement, bizarrely and sadly, is whether one supports Trump, his election denial (“the Big Lie”), and his nefarious, Washington -based insurrection. His egocentric persona is all too willing to scrap the Nation’s Constitution and Laws, to achieve his ultimate egotistic goal, his autocracy, in the style of his admired avatars, Putin (Russia), Kim Sung Un (North Korea), Li Qiang, (China) and Viktor Orban (Hungary).

Whether one chooses to critically evaluate Trump’s harm to the nation as having its etiology, founded in his inclination to immorality, or to amorality, pure hedonistic evil, or compelling neurosis, the tragic impact on the nation is equally heinous.

Over the course of our writings, we have emphatically urged that the selection of Presidential candidates should not be based, solely and precariously, on the calculation of public political sentiment. Our Democratic Republic, (like other countries), is empirically, and unfortunately, saddled with a large population of citizens who observably evince an inadequate education and are poorly informed; inarguably, far short of the expressed criteria of Thomas Jefferson [“…for a Democracy to succeed, there must exist a sufficiently educated and well-informed citizenry”]. We have ironically observed that any civilian applicant, albeit for any mundane employment, has the mandatory requirement, in the interest of the prospective employer, as a prerequisite, to be found acceptable, after vetting and interviewing.  It seems to us, to be no less than a strict fiduciary duty, in the rational and pragmatic interest of the Nation, to fully vet and examine all prospective nominees for the World’s most powerful and impactful position, whose executive index finger is responsibly, said, to be “on the nuclear button.

-p.

We were disappointed but not particularly surprised, upon learning that Rep. George Santos has survived the recent vote to expel him from the House of Representatives.

Notwithstanding Santos’ repeated, sanctimonious claim, “I stand firmly in my innocence,” the wily Congressman from Queens, has been found to (1) Lie about a false Jewish ethnos, embellishing it with a deceitful account that his grandparents were Holocaust survivors, (2) make false and deceitful representations concerning his assets and net worth, (3) make  representations, under oath, that he was a financial advisor, despite possessing no assets, investments nor capital, (4) has been charged with money laundering and the fraudulent use of donated campaign money for personal expenses (viz. credit card debt and the purchase of designer clothes), (5) has been accused of passing a bad check in the State of Pennsylvania, (6) is the subject of accusations made by the Secret Service of participation in a criminal ATM skimming scheme, (6) has falsely claimed membership in a (non-existent) Animal Rescue Organization, and, further, to have rescued more than 2,500 animals,(7) has been accused of illegally, stealing other people’s identity, (8) accused of Credit card fraud, (9) of falsification of written records, (10) of making false statements to Congress, and (11) is the recipient of two dozen criminal charges against him.

We were disappointed to learn that with such an extensive record of nefarious, acts of falsity and criminal behavior, the morally depraved Congressman survived the official proceeding to dismiss him from the House of Representatives. However, taking into consideration the perverse unprecedented, context and atmosphere, extant, since the deplorably, immoral, and rudderless term, of Donald J. Trump, and, persisting thereafter, and its routine desecration of political ethics and morality, the decision to retain the egregiously immoral and deceitful Member of Congress was, not unimaginable.

The old adage, “One rotten apple can spoil the barrel,” gained verisimilitude and empirical significance, with the entry of Donald J. Trump into America’s political scenario. As the undisputed avatar and diagnosable practitioner of serial mendacity, Trump is deservedly, entitled to sole ownership of an exclusive patent, as well as the trademark, for the concept and populist brand name of “alternate facts.” Trump, himself, is empirically, the principal alchemist and conjurer of the dark practice of paranoiac conspiracy ideation and deserving of credit for effecting the metaphysical decline of objective truth and the consequent absence of meritorious and moral principle in government.

Politically, Trump’s legion (effectively, “cult”) of followers, seems to consist of an enormous populist conglomerate of (unsophisticated) officials and private populist citizens, collectively, uniform in the bearing of personal grievances. Disappointingly, advancement to leadership in Congress has become dependent upon a litmus test, consisting of the tribal determinative criterion of supporting Trump, in his autocratic, “Big Lie” (election denial) and the consequent violent, and transgressive, insurrection.

In such a transmogrified, fundamentally flawed political context and atmosphere, it was, simultaneously, disappointing but empirically, unsurprising, that Santos, a psychopathic liar, was not, deservedly, dismissed by the Republican-dominated Congress.

Since the political advent of Trump, who, among his many other nefarious characteristics, maintained substantial populist support, despite being a proficient practitioner of serial mendacity, There seems to be an unwritten but implicit understanding  (i.e., the “Merry Santos Clause”) that the practice of political prevarication, when conveniently, necessary, is a tactically, routine and mundane practice.    

It would appear that the formal discipline of George Santos would be professionally inconvenient to the members of the Republican majority in the House of Representatives.

-p.

This essay is supplemental to, and an extension of (#974, “The Hamas War against Palestine”). In the immediately, preceding essay, we observed that the unwarranted, cruel, and bloody attack on Israel, by Hamas, at one and the same time, constituted an inarguably, heinous and depraved act, and, as well, a maliciously, and brilliantly effective chess move.  Hamas was confident in its empirical expectation that Israel, a tiny Nation, albeit, possessing a world-class military capability, would fully retaliate for its horrendous attack (involving the psychopathic, beheading of babies, the rape of Israeli women of all ages, the burning of family-occupied homes, public executions, and the like). The pernicious, but, tactfully, shrewd aggressor, as planned, kidnapped hostages and quickly retreated to the safety of its substantial network of underground tunnels, constructed in Gaza, tactically, below hospital buildings and residential areas.

They did so in the expectation that Israel’s predictable response would, of necessity, be visited upon the innocent Gaza public, residing on the surface, above their extensive, well-supplied, safe tunnels. The anticipated, World response to such military retaliation by the attacked Nation imposed upon an innocent civilian population would, undoubtedly, ignite the wrath and the chastisement of World opinion against Israel. Hamas, well aware that it did not have the military capability to achieve its dedicated goal of the extermination of the Jewish State, could, by such cruel and pernicious stratagem, invoke world castigation against it and injure its widespread support and good standing. The resultant mortal impact on the Gaza population was the basis for our title, “Hamas’ War against Palestine.”

The perniciously conceived goal, unfortunately, was, successful; so successful that it, effectively, re-started that age-old and seemingly, never-ending, tragic Roku series, featuring the perverse and unjust hatred of the Jewish people. Perpetually nascent and abiding, and for the moment, peacefully, hibernating, anti-Semitism, was again re-awakened and is now on the rise, worldwide. In sum, it is our view, that the eternal narrative of age-old anti-Semitism, as empirically, demonstrated by its tragic and irrefutable history, was propitiously, awakened by Hamas, as it has been, historically, on so many other, unjust past occasions. In the course of World history, Jews were conveniently and irrationally deemed guilty for the advent of plagues, dry seasons, failing crops, and other naturally occurring disasters.

At a minimum, Jewish, citizens of the United States, and those of other countries, such as England and France, inarguably, are not Israeli, yet, now find themselves, the irrational recipients of an egregious increase in the plethora of hateful, Nazi-like manifestations of ancient anti-Semitism; this time, as noted, tactically, resurrected by the Hamas-inspired, analogous “Roku”- type, never-ending Series, featuring the unrelenting and unjustified, hatred of the Jewish people.

Such hatred has existed and festered since the Holy Roman Empire (4^th Century, B.C.E.) under Emperor Constantine, as explained by the (former) Catholic priest, James C. Carroll, in his world-changing and enlightening book, “Constantine’s Sword,” The book recounts the role of the Catholic Church in the advent and perpetration of anti-Semitism, in an effort to punish recalcitrant Hebrews who would not convert to Christianity. Jews were, thereafter, universally, stereotyped, mythicized, and targeted for their so-called, “exotic beliefs and religious practices.”

It is especially troubling, to receive media reports on the heightened, level of overt expressions of pernicious and primitive anti-Semitism on University campuses. Such institutions, which are responsibly charged with the development of the enlightenment and the advancement of the rational thought process of their students, are apparently, evincing a chronic, atavistic, and primitive end product, still suffering from ancient ignorance and Dark Ages, prejudice. It might be of some utility to advise certain of these campus haters that pro-Palestine is, distinguishable from being pro-Hamas or anti-Semitic.  

It is our information that Jews constitute only 2.4% of the American population yet, anti-Semitic incidents, remarkably, constitute a full 60% of its hate crimes. Mainstream America must recognize the danger of this current reprise of the ancient hatred and take steps to protect all of its citizens, on and off campus.

It is certainly, past time that the never-ending Serial presentation of anti-Semitism was removed from the historically continuing menu of Roku “app” choices.

-p.