The Purpose-Driven Goose-Step

Thot of you briefly this past Sunday (3.50 / 2)

well, actually I was thinking of the entire whiteysphere, whilst sitting in our little community church, singing a few white gospel classics and listening to the pastor's rather excellent comic timing as he led us into this week's rendering of the gospel, all of which are now forgotten. You see, while I am inspired by the Jesus myth, I don't actually need it to be reiterated ad nauseum.

Well, maybe I do need it, but you get my drift....

We had a special guest, a man who responded to the recent crisis by going there and pitching in fulltime to help with relief efforts.

You see, Otvos, unlike the millions of internet pwogs who never give Haiti a thot except as blog fodder for another anti-US diatribe when disaster strikes, this guy didnt really have to stretch to get Haiti....he's been leading a mission there since 2003. All church supported financially, all with volunteer help, most of whom are white, middle class or higher, protestant bible thumpers woring in a strange Catholic land.

His missions last three months at a time, with 50 volunteers rotating in. Since 2003 they have constructed 1,000+ houses (to US std earthquake codes), built a large (non-religious) skkkool and two medical clinics.

How they have managed to do this despite the self-righteous condemnation of atheistic internet pwogs is beyond me.....but I'll take the easy road and say its a miracle of the Jesus myth. What have the atheistic internet pwogs been up to lately?

[:o)

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by: donkeytale @ Wed Mar 03, 2010 at 07:52:24 AM CST

No Title (1.00 / 1)

There's this guy named Stephen Gowans. He is somewhat a thorn in the toes of kinder and gentler imperialism. Picture LordByron with a real name minus the feminism schtick.

I left him a couple posts. He published the first one. I took exception with his running interference for Ahmadinejad. He doesn't think that dude has done any Holocaust denial. He responded asking for proof.  

I wrote a second post in response. I told him about another hard core lefty by the name of George Salzman who writes for Giordano. George wrote something up questioning Narco News' affiliation with Ackerman and the ICNC. I told Gowans that Salzman was making a mistake by referring to Israel as a Nazi stste. That's like calling an African-American (or Colored as Otvos prefers) the N word.

Gowans proceeded to not only deny publishing of my second post, he deleted the first one along with his response.

Gowans would fit in well at this website. He makes some very good points about kinder and gentler imperialism. However, he never can see how both sides of a debate can truly suck. He can't see that perhaps in Iran a spontaneous grassroots movement has formed against the theocracy that goes beyond any Western attempts to manipulate it.

Gowans is so set in his hatred of the West, that not only does he rail against the UN getting involved in humanitarian missions, he supports the dictator Mugabe in Zimbabwe.

These fools can't be reached. Maybe Otvos can tell us more about the project to derail Hillary Clinton's campaign. That was quite the bizarre email he sent to Francis Holland back in 2006.

Do you think you're damaging Hillary, [yet]?

If you don't care, the project collapses, making you look like a Republican agent.

http://davefromqueens2.blogspo...
http://allaircraftarenotinvolv...

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by: socrates @ Wed Mar 03, 2010 at 11:57:03 AM CST

[ Parent ]

Interesting deteriorating post, jeffie. (0.00 / 0)

You sound almost sane at the beginning, although all your references are vague and unlinked except in your mind.

Then you revert to rant-lies.

Keep trying. And take those pills.

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by: Ormond Otvos @ Wed Mar 03, 2010 at 20:35:15 PM CST

[ Parent ]

I like the positive (3.50 / 2)

reinforcement. It says that humans can have compassion for the most fatally damaged among us.

Nice soft touch there. It warmed my left ventricle.

"May we live long and die out"

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by: supersoling @ Wed Mar 03, 2010 at 20:44:11 PM CST

[ Parent ]

religion is a symptom of (3.00 / 1)

what the real problem here in the U.S. is: boneheadedness and anti-intellectualism. And us proud to be deliberate boneheads are so easily manipulated (71% of us think Iran has duh bomb!!) we've got ourselves a hopeless political situation where the rich will just continue to steal from the middle and poor till we're a third world country.

The vast majority of (non desperately poor) people in the world do not take religion at all seriously. They've got too much pride and take life and ideas seriously, and that doesn't leave room for hanging in a church on Sunday mouthing as-if-true lame-ass lies.

But, like I said, if you didn't take it at all seriously, then it was only an hour and a half of schmoozing and bullshitting out of a day that's supposed to be off work.

For attractive lips, speak words of kindness, For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people, For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry. -- A-Hep

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by: fairleft @ Wed Mar 03, 2010 at 13:13:05 PM CST

[ Parent ]

It's easy. And you already know the answer. (0.00 / 0)

How they have managed to do this despite the self-righteous condemnation of atheistic internet pwogs is beyond me

They aren't listening to the nay-sayers. Been there, done that. Don't intend to do it until I die.

Speaking of miracles, did God make the quake?

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by: Ormond Otvos @ Wed Mar 03, 2010 at 20:40:08 PM CST

[ Parent ]

The cause of the quake is irrelevant... (0.00 / 0)

The effect is all that matters.

What is yours?

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by: donkeytale @ Wed Mar 03, 2010 at 21:43:09 PM CST

[ Parent ]

My what? (4.00 / 1)

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by: Ormond Otvos @ Thu Mar 04, 2010 at 21:20:58 PM CST

[ Parent ]

"effect" (0.00 / 0)

1 a. purport, intent b. basic meaning, essence
2 something that inevitably follows an antecedent (as a cause or agent)
3 an outward sign, appearance
4 accomplishment, fulfillment
5 power to bring about a result; influence.
6 plural: movable property, goods
7 a. distinctive impression b. the creation of a desired impression. c. (1) something designed to produce a distinctive or desired impression -usually used in plural (2) plural : special effects
8 the quality or state of being operative, operation  

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by: donkeytale @ Fri Mar 05, 2010 at 07:39:55 AM CST

[ Parent ]

Better than "affect" (4.00 / 1)

Guess that's one where spellin' kkkounts.

Don't answer OO, it's a trick question.  ;-)

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by: 4kedtongue @ Fri Mar 05, 2010 at 15:28:38 PM CST

[ Parent ]

No way...Otvos is far too wiley for my schtick.... (0.00 / 0)

But Otvos will have no answer, of course. He seldom, if ever, does.

Atheism is like Oakland: no there, there. You can't have much "effect" with a negation.

You can have plenty of "affect," tho.

This is generally the point in the discussion where Otvos descends into smugly sarcastic put-downs in a pathetic attempt to cover his weak schtick.

See below, for example.

[:o)

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by: donkeytale @ Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 14:47:57 PM CST

[ Parent ]

I'll take one through seven, Alex. (4.00 / 1)

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by: Ormond Otvos @ Fri Mar 05, 2010 at 18:17:31 PM CST

[ Parent ]

there's a line from the first (0.00 / 0)

Matrix movie spoken by Agent Smith. He's talking about humans....

"I'd like to share a revelation that I've had during my time here. It came to me when I tried to classify your species and I realized that you're not actually mammals. Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with the surrounding environment but you humans do not. You move to an area and you multiply and multiply until every natural resource is consumed and the only way you can survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern. Do you know what it is? A virus. Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet. You're a plague and we are the cure. "

Come to think of it, that sounds like a description of capitalism. But that's another virus, for another time.

Agent Smith has us pegged. And what is the purpose of a virus? To spread, to multiply, to consume. That's our purpose in life, really. Stay alive long enough to teach our spawn to stay alive long enough so that they can pass on the plan to their spawn, and so on. There is no higher plane. It's a very simple and minimal biological process.

If most of us have figured this out you can almost understand then, how billions of people, pardon, amoebas, fly into the porch light looking for a greater purpose. A reason to believe that any of this matters, or ever did matter.

It's with these sparse thoughts in mind that I suggest we all acquire nukular tipped, shoulder fired missiles and...wait for it....

AIM HIGHER!!


"May we live long and die out"

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by: supersoling @ Wed Mar 03, 2010 at 20:14:16 PM CST

Oh, I see it as a lot more complicated than that, but just as doomy. (0.00 / 0)

The interaction of culture with biology gives you results like army ants, and lemmings, and deer in the Everglades.

Cycles of growth and die-off.

We won't all die, but I'd say to a certainty that capitalism will generate a spasm or two that knock us down four or five orders of magnitude. Don't plan to be here for that, and I'm glad to have lived in such a comfortable time and place.

I guess a lot of my natural empathy has been abraded away by the constant negative news about the species I'm supposed to somehow identify with. It's easy to be alienated if you're raised rational.

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by: Ormond Otvos @ Wed Mar 03, 2010 at 20:46:05 PM CST

[ Parent ]

It's easy to be alienated if you're raised rational. (4.75 / 4)

That might be the clearest description of my predicament as I've known it.

My empathy for humans is eroding, too. Not that I've ever fully identified with them, but what commonality I do still feel is rapidly falling away, exponentially. I suppose I should be something like sad about it. The problem is, my capacity for sadness, even anger is being replaced by simple disgust.

"May we live long and die out"

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by: supersoling @ Wed Mar 03, 2010 at 21:07:18 PM CST

[ Parent ]

I liked the Architect's lecture. (0.00 / 0)

It was well crafted, and of course, totally wasted on the audience. A nice piece of cogsci philosophizing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...

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by: Ormond Otvos @ Wed Mar 03, 2010 at 21:02:36 PM CST

[ Parent ]

The transcript (Matrix Reloaded) (0.00 / 0)

Neo and The Architect
thanks to neo1980
The Architect - Hello, Neo.

Neo - Who are you?

The Architect - I am the Architect. I created the matrix. I've been waiting for you. You have many questions, and although the process has altered your consciousness, you remain irrevocably human. Ergo, some of my answers you will understand, and some of them you will not. Concordantly, while your first question may be the most pertinent, you may or may not realize it is also irrelevant.

Neo - Why am I here?

The Architect - Your life is the sum of a remainder of an unbalanced equation inherent to the programming of the matrix. You are the eventuality of an anomaly, which despite my sincerest efforts I have been unable to eliminate from what is otherwise a harmony of mathematical precision. While it remains a burden to sedulously avoid it, it is not unexpected, and thus not beyond a measure of control. Which has led you, inexorably, here.

Neo - You haven't answered my question.

The Architect - Quite right. Interesting. That was quicker than the others.

(The responses of the other Ones appear on the monitors)

The Architect - The matrix is older than you know. I prefer counting from the emergence of one integral anomaly to the emergence of the next, in which case this is the sixth version.

(Again, the responses of the other Ones appear on the monitors: "Five versions? Three? I've been lied too. This is bullshit.")

Neo: There are only two possible explanations: either no one told me, or no one knows.

The Architect - Precisely. As you are undoubtedly gathering, the anomaly's systemic, creating fluctuations in even the most simplistic equations.

(Once again, the responses of the other Ones appear on the monitors: "You can't control me! Fuck you! I'm going to kill you! You can't make me do anything!)

Neo - Choice. The problem is choice.

The scene cuts to Trinity fighting an agent, and then back to the Architects room

The Architect - The first matrix I designed was quite naturally perfect, it was a work of art, flawless, sublime. A triumph equaled only by its monumental failure. The inevitability of its doom is as apparent to me now as a consequence of the imperfection inherent in every human being, thus I redesigned it based on your history to more accurately reflect the varying grotesqueries of your nature.

However, I was again frustrated by failure. I have since come to understand that the answer eluded me because it required a lesser mind, or perhaps a mind less bound by the parameters of perfection. Thus, the answer was stumbled upon by another, an intuitive program, initially created to investigate certain aspects of the human psyche. If I am the father of the matrix, she would undoubtedly be its mother.

Neo - The Oracle.

The Architect - Please. As I was saying, she stumbled upon a solution whereby nearly 99.9% of all test subjects accepted the program, as long as they were given a choice, even if they were only aware of the choice at a near unconscious level. While this answer functioned, it was obviously fundamentally flawed, thus creating the otherwise contradictory systemic anomaly, that if left unchecked might threaten the system itself. Ergo, those that refused the program, while a minority, if unchecked, would constitute an escalating probability of disaster.

Neo - This is about Zion.

The Architect - You are here because Zion is about to be destroyed. Its every living inhabitant terminated, its entire existence eradicated.

Neo - Bull****.

The responses of the other Ones appear on the monitors: "Bull***!"*

The Architect - Denial is the most predictable of all human responses. But, rest assured, this will be the sixth time we have destroyed it, and we have become exceedingly efficient at it.

Scene cuts to Trinity fighting an agent, and then back to the Architects room.

The Architect - The function of the One is now to return to the source, allowing a temporary dissemination of the code you carry, reinserting the prime program. After which you will be required to select from the matrix 23 individuals, 16 female, 7 male, to rebuild Zion. Failure to comply with this process will result in a cataclysmic system crash killing everyone connected to the matrix, which coupled with the extermination of Zion will ultimately result in the extinction of the entire human race.

Neo - You won't let it happen, you can't. You need human beings to survive.

The Architect - There are levels of survival we are prepared to accept. However, the relevant issue is whether or not you are ready to accept the responsibility for the death of every human being in this world.

The Architect presses a button on a pen that he is holding, and images of people from all over the matrix appear on the monitors

The Architect - It is interesting reading your reactions. Your five predecessors were by design based on a similar predication, a contingent affirmation that was meant to create a profound attachment to the rest of your species, facilitating the function of the one. While the others experienced this in a very general way, your experience is far more specific. Vis-a-vis, love.

Images of Trinity fighting the agent from Neo's dream appear on the monitors

Neo - Trinity.

The Architect - Apropos, she entered the matrix to save your life at the cost of her own.

Neo - No!

The Architect - Which brings us at last to the moment of truth, wherein the fundamental flaw is ultimately expressed, and the anomaly revealed as both beginning, and end. There are two doors. The door to your right leads to the source, and the salvation of Zion. The door to the left leads back to the matrix, to her, and to the end of your species.

As you adequately put it, the problem is choice. But we already know what you're going to do, don't we? Already I can see the chain reaction, the chemical precursors that signal the onset of emotion, designed specifically to overwhelm logic, and reason. An emotion that is already blinding you from the simple, and obvious truth: she is going to die, and there is nothing that you can do to stop it.

Neo walks to the door on his left

The Architect - Humph. Hope, it is the quintessential human delusion, simultaneously the source of your greatest strength, and your greatest weakness.

Neo - If I were you, I would hope that we don't meet again.

The Architect - We won't.

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by: Ormond Otvos @ Wed Mar 03, 2010 at 21:12:33 PM CST

[ Parent ]