Woo-woo for sure, BUT her heart’s certainly in the right place. Kind of amazing that she hasn’t yet come to the realization that she's a Republican. Maybe in a while.
Who cares about labels. We are seeing the great re-alignment of working Americans who value free speech and individual liberty versus the toadies to the authoritarian corporatists.
Why does she need to be labeled as part of a false dichotomy? It’s issues and beliefs that matter . . specifics, not vague, Ying-Yang packages that enable you to stop thinking.
Well I do think, when there are more women, that the tone of the conversation changes, and also the goals of the conversation change. But it doesn't mean that the whole world would be a lot better if it were totally run by women. If you think that, you've forgotten high school.
I don't get it. I skimmed the article, didn't watch the offered video, I may come back and do all that later, read and watch. But I saw references to "right" and "left," and phrases like "equal opportunity," and I don't get all the hand-wringing. During 86 years I've never met a person who didn't believe 100% in equal opportunity. Have you? No, just stick to that. Seriously, can you give evidence of one instance. Hating another person is not denying them anything; loving another person is not granting them anything. I suspect 234, or whoever wrote this is a female, with a female nature. Fine, but I don't need to hear angst or feelings about angst.
For ME, the take-away quote is this: "It’s too easy to weaponize empathy, because it's easy to justify doing evil if you're convinced you’re the good guy."
This sentiment just re-confirms my philosophy that "People are stupid, and vote and choose things and others who are contrary to their own self-interests because it FEELS good!"
I saw a video on the dumbest dem/Socs. The video had a female US senator who said, "We think and act with our heart not our head." As far as Dem/Socs go, she was right on the money.
When I saw that, I heard the strains of The Twilight Zone.
I see it every time I discuss politics with my lefty daughter.
Can you think of any real life decisions you have made in your life while in the throws of an emotional roller coaster?
I can’t.
In meditation we spend a lot of time learn how to recognize these peaks and valleys so we can let them pass in order to create space for now, for clarity of mind and decision making.
oh, i can give you an example! someone who is dating someone and within six months of dating gets pregnant and said couple decide to go ahead and get married. this was the case of someone i knew.
i always tell my kids, "don't make ANY serious decisions -life/love/money-at night when it's dark out. your sense of reality is totally warped by the pull of the moon and everything seems much more intense and dramatic than it actually is. wait until morning and then look at your situation again to see if you feel the same way as you did in the nighttime to see if it's solid."
“Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.”
I do get it, but can see why others might not. In general, for me personally, I see both equal opportunity and equality of outcome as somewhat rigged games. I'm not saying that to be a whiny angsty victim, just an observation. I don't expect the world to change to suit me, but I am going to push back when I feel it is important to do so.
Rain - Yes, but it's like Rob and Lit said, "equal opportunity, " and "equality of outcome," the way the Left uses them -- rigged games -- as you said, is evil.
There’s a commercial for some online university that claims “we’re all born with the same abilities” (I’m paraphrasing) which made me think “that’s an absolutely absurd claim”. Many aspects of our society are “rigged games” and even with equality of opportunity, everyone has different backgrounds and skill sets. Making the game as fair as possible given our inherent human differences and limits is a noble goal but is it possible? I don’t know
I think we can only try to move in the direction of equality of opportunity, but stop trying to do the impossible and for sure stop beating ourselves and each other up for not being able to 'fix' it all. Life is inherently not fair and we cannot essentially change that. A tree puts out many seeds and a lot of them fall on asphalt or drown in the river or get eaten by critters, etc. Only a very few of those original seeds will ever grow into a mature tree. To say all those seeds should have across the board equality of opportunity or equality of outcome is kind of silly. We humans mostly have empathy so we feel guilty if we do better than someone else or we feel angry if someone else does better than us; so we try to somehow fix the situation since we are social mammals because we instinctually know if one of our immediate social group is struggling too much, it is going to eventually effect us all.
RM-W-- I totally agree! i'm not sure if folks have seen an article in either NYT or WSJ about a woman who froze her eggs so she could pursue her career, and find a partner and have kids later. Now she wants ALL women to have that opportunity (I believe she called it a "RIGHT"), and thinks that our government should pay for this! When will this madness end?
All - Read Coleman Hughes TFP piece on Ta-Nehisi again. Pay special attention to the comparison Hughes makes between the people of Africa historically and the people of South Korea recovery from Japan's slavery and then Japanese people's recovery from their own self- inflicted catastrophe. It is almost shocking to see it finally in print.
Thanks Michael. Tried to look it up, says for paid subscribers only which isn't me any more. Just got the introductory paragraph is all. When I have time I'll try to look elsewhere and see if I can read it for free.
Poet - Yes, but as you see, I skip over those kind of people, and only share with kindred spirits. I do keep an eye on them though, nobody goin' to sneak up on me, if I can help it.
234 - I'm a reader, not a watcher, except for Bogart, et al films and baseball games. And Tucker lost me with the flying saucers, but other than that I like him and hope they return him someday -- call Spielberg and Dreyfus.
Chris Rufo has posted the biggest fraud of Kamala Harris to date. She plagiarized huge chunks of her book on crime( until yesterday I didn’t know she that she published a book)
There is no doubt that the claims are true. The NYTimes is trying to smear Rufo as they did when he broke the Claudine Gay plagiarism scandal, by calling Rufo a racist and trying to minimize the stealing of other pol’s work. Harris actually lifted verbatim from Wikipedia
The Free Press did cover it in a small mention in their list of news items but this too is dishonest. Harmeet Dhillon’s testimony on T Carlson was not covered at all and alone should have been enough to have Harris resign .Rufo never breaks a story without hard proof to fortify the claims he makes.
Harris is an incompetent fraud and should resign as VP and as candidate for the corrupt DNC
Thanks for reminding me of the Tucker interview, I did want to listen to that. I saw Rufos posts on X yesterday and I agree, he would never break that story without the proof and he did show proof. The question in my mind is, did Kamala even write the book or was there a ghost writer. Which, if there wasn’t, they’ll say there was. The editor & publisher has lost all professional credibility as well.
But it needs to be shut down by people ceasing to read it, not by the government shutting it down (which is what Leftists want to do to any media that doesn't agree with them).
All the MSM platforms that are interfering in the election by lying and editing out the real interview should lose their FCC license and any tax exemptions they hold
As someone who used to be a ghostwriter for a few years, I can confirm this. I used to call it “making heroes out of assholes”. It can be lucrative work, but I had to stop because I could no longer look at myself in the mirror.
Lmfao I have met hundreds of celebrities through the years and half of them can’t function without personal assistants organizing their lives. It’s the old George Carlin rule that half the people are dumber than average. Having a special talent does not equate to intelligence
One of the reasons I stopped doing professional editing is that most of my customers were PhD students who were referred to me by their department head (someone I went to college with years and years ago when I was an undergrad). I was essentially rewriting their dissertations because they lacked the skill to do so themselves.
In a few cases, it was because they weren't native speakers of English, and I never minded those--that was never a lack of smarts, only a lack of facility with English. But it always bothered me to be doing it for native speakers, because I couldn't help feeling that someone who is hoping to be granted a PhD ought to have the ability to write well enough to convey their own ideas.
The fact that I was doing this with the full knowledge and approval of the head of their department made me skeptical of every doctoral degree that is now granted. I would never have written papers for money for undergrads, and doing so for graduate students felt slimy as hell.
The Rufo reveal of plagerism is important but the TCarlson interview with Dhillon shows there is a whole litany of K behavior that is…terrible. Some is outright illegal. A must listen.
Description of book from Wikipedia: “ Smart on Crime: A Career Prosecutor's Plan to Make Us Safer is a book by Kamala Harris with Joan O'C. Hamilton, first published by Chronicle Books on October 7, 2009”
There was another writer but that doesn’t excuse plagiarism.
Excellent point. The book contains specific facts, statements, etc.(whether true or not) that Kamala is incapable of clearly conveying to an audience. Like her 60 Minutes interview it would require much editing to remove meaningless passages.
As I have posted before…..THEY DONT CARE!! The Dems didn’t want Harris but are stuck with her after the Biden charade fell so far apart they could not hide it any longer. Harris is lucky that the election is only weeks away. She’s now become unpalatable and would be getting a call from Nancy if there was time to pull it off.
I would find that hard to believe. I think that because “Trump is Trump” they don’t believe he will play nice with them. If Trump does try to cut deals he better remember the old story about the scorpion and the frog.
IF the Dems lose the election (unlikely with their institutionalized cheating structure), and they assassinated Trump, they would have Vance as president, which would likely be far worse for them because Trump is very easy to manipulate, whereas Vance is a lot smarter and more mature emotionally.
BREAKING: CNN confirms my reporting that Kamala Harris plagiarized her book, Smart on Crime.
This is exactly how it worked with Claudine Gay: the NYT tried to obfuscate; CNN told the truth; other publications followed. Eventually, even the NYT admitted that it was plagiarism. Posted by Rufo
Off topic but: One of my favorite editorial cartoons had the devil on a phone, wire upward, icicles on his nose caption: "The Cubs and the Padres in the playoffs? Yeah, that would explain it...."
For those who want to see Trump in a less “Trumpy” fashion, watch his interviews with Andrew Schultz, Doctor Phil, Gutfeld, and “All In”. He’s actually quite a genuine, funny, thoughtful guy.
She looks like a woman I met at a Burn in May who I dated from Memorial Day until mid July. Wacky and wild but way too unstable for me. This woman would put aWiccan spell on you and drive you to a Jim Beam breakfast 🥃
There's a scale that measures a woman's degree of hotness vs craziness depicting where the intersection is where it just becomes too dangerous....and the intersection can be pretty high in some cases.
I didn't even notice them. I couldn't look away from the crazy-in-an-enticing-sort of way look in her eyes. They always seemed to be looking slightly in the wrong direction.
Yea, I watched it twice. That's kinda embarrassing
LOL. You were using your "man eyes" I guess. The tats are swirls and I was a bit mesmerized by them. Try a third and see if you can spot them. Then again, maybe a third is a bit too much.
I too am sceptical of her claims about women in power meaning better outcomes. It all depends on how they use the power. Competent people have better outcomes when they are in power than incompetents. The trick is finding the competent people. And it is far harder than one might imagine.
NB I became interested in the link back in Nov 23 when the Ecologist (a climate change/rewilding/keep the hedgerows mag) suddenly went all in for Hamas and said that they had always been this way but had just acted as if they were separate.
So basically the media saying -- gosh how surprising is rather disingenuous.
Personally having lost about 25 kilos this summer, the FAST 800 diet for 8 weeks works (it is v hard to begin with) and keeping off ultra processed food. I made my own food as the recipes were not great. This is the diet which Michael Moseley the presenter who died in Greece at the beginning of the summer and Dr Roy Taylor from Newcastle championed and showed that diet like this which could result in people going into remission with Type 2 Diabetes or prediabetes rather than the surgery. I was supporting my husband as he was getting ready to his 2nd knee surgery.
Regarding GWB, and pretty much most large organizations these days, the PTB's will co-opt and use every single 'good' intentioned thing and twist it to serve their own agendas. We really need to turn around and get back to supporting local grass root organizations run by folks we personally know and live around and interact with regularly who are impacted immediately and directly by the group decisions.
Large size/name recognition does not automatically mean good intentions. I do think grass roots can do so much good. I have long been wary of the umbrella funding groups where you can't tell where the money is coming from and what their agendas might be.
My secret fantasy is that everyone on the planet decides simutaneously to take care of their own community on all levels and pretty much ignores the grandiose shemes and scheming of the idiots in charge of the world. Of course this would require a higher power to somehow simply evaporate all the nuclear weapons............
It is a wonderful thought. One can dream. It is v Panglossian -- looking after your own garden.
There are reasons why I prefer Adam Smith to Marx and think him far more radical. Again it is v much the local community rather than the state run monopoly.
So so true. And here is the extra craziness for me, some of those state/ county/ federal tax dollars are put back into our communities, but then there are lots and lots of strings attached and those funds are controlled by outside forces that do not have the best needs of the community in mind.
Wonderful thought RM-W, but when I look just at my own local community, I see people convince themselves they are taking care of it and making the best choices, but it appears to me they are selling out to the highest bidder, or voting blocs that will keep them in power. What you fantasize seems to go against human nature!
Ah yes that is what we have nowadays for sure. But I remember a time when small isolated communities were pretty self-sufficient and much less influenced by outside entities. We might have disagreed about alot of things, but in the end there were usually reasonable compromises made we could all basically support because there was a huge incentive for us to make it work, in otherwords we really needed each other for survival, regardless of our differences.
Finding the most competent qualified candidate for every position without regard for sex, race or any other immutable characteristic., should be the goal of society.
Ah Michael Moseley was a huge popular pop medicine presenter in the UK. He died of heat exhaustion in Greece -- his body was found off the beaten track after he'd gone for a walk on his own. His last series of Just One Thing is currently on British television. He was v good at trying things himself.
One of his big successes was popularizing the 5:2 diet which is good but doesn't bring blood sugar levels down. The 800 does and what is more interesting, it also significantly reduced liver fat.
Prof Roy Taylor is the man who actually discovered the connection between the v low calorie diet for a set period of time and getting diabetes 2 into remission. The first small trial was in Newcastle in 2011. It worked so well that people started doing it and having success on it before the British Diabetes Society had finished their conclusions. Their conclusion is that it did work for a significant proportion, generally people who have recently been diagnosed. They have discovered that diabetes 2 manifests itself differently for males and females btw.
The ZOE app with its 30 different plants per week is also interesting. Plants include spices, tea, coffee etc -- not just fruits and veg. eating a wide range seems to decrease appetites because of the micronutrients. A big question exists on if Big Food has really led to people eating basically monocultures of chemicals, rather than the actual nutrients the body requires. It is the whole thing about Ultra Processed Food v real food.
(I was going quickly as I should really be working on my latest rather than wearing my procrastination princess tiara. Unfortunately I do enjoy wearing that particular tiara though.)
Th diet stuff is really interesting imho. Back in 2012 I decided to do the Tracy Anderson bootcamp and lost an incredible amount. I then didn't know if it was the diet or the exercise. So I basically kept up with the exercise until the menopause hit etc (grazing is a real problem and temptation with being a writer). I did a load of reading around trying to understand why the diet had worked as well because I was curious.
I knew my husband had gained too much but could do as little as it has to come from within. Luckily a friend got him onto the 800 and that worked for him. He then got into rowing but when his knees got seriously bad, the weight started going on again, particularly after the first knee last March.
Anyway, so we both did the 800, partly in a tribute to Moseley -- I did the full 8 weeks and was shocked at how much weight I lost (I am just walking the dog these days as Tracy Anderson kept putting my back out -- I have a bad back), my husband only did half as you do not want to be on it when you have surgery (because your body is trying to heal). He basically then went to the 'Mediterranean type diet'. Anyway it worked. I was so interested to read about the 30 plants per week thing which came out this summer as I knew there is this problem (a friend is writing a book which comes out in Mar about females and ultra processed food). Probably more info than you need, but it is just a bit of background on why I am interested in the subject.
Yes there is an element of that. Moseley refined the diet as he worked out that intermittent fasting was useful, and it is now called the FAST 800, instead of the bloodsugar diet. The main takeaway for me was to do it by really upping the pulses, fresh fruit and veg that I ate and really limiting my grazing while cutting out the refined wheat, yeast and sugar products. One of the refinements was minimum of 2 weeks but a max of 12 on the 800 only portion.
While not a Franz Boas fan and much of Margaret Mead has been debunked as well, comparative anthropology has found many effective matriarchal societies (though mostly tribal) and of course our fellow intelligent land mammals the elephants. I meant to comment about this point on Celia’s original post but one of my male outside cats got in this morning so I was sidetracked. Nature red in tooth and claw applies to humans as well.
And by the way, Kamala’s husband is a nanny-shagger and a woman beater so all this talk about Trump’s “sexism” is bullshite. And Trump is an equal opportunity insulter.
I need to attend my next USC class reunion and ask around. They only graduate 180 of us a year and they divided us into two cohorts of 90 each for first year class so I would be able to glean some good gossip
I didn't leave the Democratic Party, I was removed. I was raised by Democrats and was registered as a Democrat until 2016. Before the California Primary, I made ut clear I would NOT donate or vote for Hillary. Not under any circumstances.I would vote by conscience, not as I was TOLD. Mimi Kennedy was the name on the nasty email I received, removing me from the DNC lists. I was one if the 6% who voted for Independent Candidates. I confess I was not the bigger person, and sent a "Nyanya" email after the loss saying " betcha wish you had my vote now, don'tcha."
I sometimes wonder what would have happened if Bernie had had the balls to demand a floor fight at the convention. But he folded. I think he would likely have won the general election, because a lot of non-Democrats (including me) had been won over by the rational platform he had been running on (whether he would actually have governed that way isn't something I feel sure of, given his previous and later positions).
I lost complete respect for Bernie after that. He was obviously going to remain a company man to the end, regardless of how the Dems treated him or the country. And that is what the uni-party does; they buy, co-opt or neutralize the unacceptable opposition. Many have pointed this out. It's how the PTB's remain in power regardless of who is president. They cannot afford a major wind shift every four years, so they rig the game. Which we all know of course.
I felt the same when he folded. He promised to stand up to corruption in Washington, and he wouldn't even stand up to it in the Democratic Party. Complete loss of respect from me.
While some were saying "America is not ready for a woman President". I said "no way America will elect a man with a New York Jewish accent". Not even one who served his country for over a half century on principle, not for gain. Socialism is a no go for me. Yes, I know, garbage collection is socialism too. I remember the discrimination of East Germans by West Germans after the fall of the Wall. West Germans called them cows. Slow, plodding, no initiative, no drive or foresight. Cud chewing cows. I'm still not over it. I had no idea the prejudice was conceived, incubated and fostered in Universities.
I worked for a global manufacturing company, in the early 2000's set up operations in the Ukraine. One thing I noticed in the Ukraine, (and later China) as opposed to Mexican operations is the people had to be told every step of the process, and authorized to perform every step. In Mexico, the people would intuitively move to subsequent operations without extensive permissions. The Ukrainians, in addition, had to be pushed and prodded to provide feedback as to potential improvements.
I still believe it was the years living under Communism that made them leery to do anything that wasn't "by the book"
I’m sorry. Three house Bernie the millionaire is a communist. His “programs” like all communist programs only work for the top, not the masses. Hence the three houses and the millions of dollars AND the failed college of his wife while the masses get crumbs if lucky.
Bernie will be sent to the dustbin of populist politicians who showed no strength when push came to shove. He folded to the establishment without a whimper.
I see Bernie Sanders as a complete hypocrite. Promoting socialism as he made himself a millionaire within the free enterprise, capitalism system. Got himself a couple of houses. I don't begrudge anyone success but don't preach socialism as you are winning with capitalism. And living off the backs of taxpayers for the rest of your life.
I’m afraid I have to disagree with you on this. I think that Bernie’s policies would have given us…a slightly Americanized version of Justin Trudeau’s Canada.
There hasn’t yet been a ‘woman’ in power. Patriarchy is a system, to which we all fall prey. When women ascend to power, as they have always throughout history, they conform to the system like their male counterparts and play by those rules. The system leaves very little choice. Hilary emulates male leadership. Kamala uses men to climb the ladder. We need a breakthrough. Trump is paving the way.
“This is how much of a progressive I am: I wrote this book about the origins of Patriarchy—Before War: On Marriage, Hierarchy, and Our Matriarchal Origins. Patriarchy is a trauma response. It’s a system. It’s not about blaming men, as both men and women are harmed by the system, and both perpetuate it. And now I believe that the left is perpetuating Patriarchy more.”
Rainbow has often written about Cherokee society, in which women owned the houses and fields, and in which ancestry was reckoned matrilineally, but men had responsibility for governing the tribe as a whole. I've always felt that a division of labor and responsibility by *skill-set* like that was a better approach.
That's a dangerous model, regardless of race or creed.
Who says a man is better at running anything because he has the XY chromosome? Generalizing and labeling by identity whether politics, religion, business is a fool's errand.
Well it worked to enhance survival for many human groups for thousands of years. and imo it's a helluvalot better than the gender free for all we've got right now that is tearing society apart from the inside out.
There is a reason ancestry is determine matrilineally in Judaism. During the days of the Temple, Judaism determine whether a baby is Jewish by the father. Because they always knew who the father was. After the Temple was destroyed, they changed to determining if the baby is Jewish by the mother. Because they could not always be sure who the father was. I wish I knew exactly why this change was required in Jewish society, but I suspect it was because of the chaos that ensued after the exile. I suspect ancestry determination is similar with your heritage as well.
How very interesting. To my knowledge, most native American tribes were matrilineal pre European contact. Even the most structured and 'patriarchal' tribes, still honored lineal descent through the mother as primary. For example in hereditary Chief tribes, the mantle passed most often to the Chief's sister's son, not to his own son. My tribe went patrilineal after assimilation, but there is a holdout group of Cherokees who still follow the old clan matilineal descent rules. A friend in college belonged to this group and since his mother was white, even tho his dad was full blood, he was never fully accepted, even tho he was enrolled as a legal citizen of the that Cherokee tribe. Originally your identiy as a Cherokee came through your clan and your clan affiliation was determined by your mother. So a Cherokee woman could marry anyone and her kids would alwyas be Cherokee. Not so the other direction tho.
Interesting. The Chief’s sister’s son. That turns the European model upside down. In the early days of The Ottoman Empire, the next Sultan was determined patrilineally, but fratricide was often used to ensure that power would not be threatened. So there were often lots of killings before the new Sultan rose to power.
Yes, in many indigenous societies there was division of duties and roles mostly based on need and biology, and women were more co-equal in that their roles were highly respected even if they were encouraged to stay in their lane.
The interesting thing is, that when you honor biological inclinations and all roles are mostly equally respected, Ie, not too much classism, sexism or racism regarding who is seen as doing the most 'important' jobs, most folks, most of the time are quite happy to stay in their lane. Discontent, disempowerment and disrespect are big factors in social rebellion.
I think it is mostly better because then the whole social group supports your role and you can then feel empowered in what you are doing. Of course there will still be unfairness and problems as there is no perfect fix, but a flexible social group that is rooted in strong survival roles which have been proven to work, can always make some allowances and exceptions.
I’ll take my lumps, but here is my thought: The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world. Leftists understand this very well. They pushed for women to pursue “power”, then moved in to take over the role of “rocking the cradle”. Has there been anything more damaging than leftist control of education?
I did not think so until the NC fiasco and now to education I add emergency preparedness and management. At some point we need to question whether the accumulation of tax money at the federal level and expecting it to trickle down effectively is a good idea.
There are actually still some Matriarchical societies in the world. There's a book called Leaving Mother Lake by Namu that describes her life growing up in rural western China in such a society. Very interesting!
Yes, there are many examples of matriarchy, but I meant in America. The examples of women you cite are women who have successfully navigated the patriarchal system by mimicking the behavior of men in hierarchy and dominance. Women in indigenous matriarchies govern more equilaterally as they do in raising children; however, there is always the influence of hierarchy and biology, so it's quite tricky to sort out, as dominance always plays its own strong role.
Really good essay Celia! So timely and so glad to have time to respond this am and so glad to have you back! Alot to unpack-- I see a basic lack of trust between people all the way around which seems to have definitely settled along race and gender lines, not just political. Years ago I was privileged to do ceremony with the Sami people in Lappland. A traditional female lineage shaman from Siberia was also there and I was so impressed and amazed by her complete claiming of power and authority without having to be the slightest bit aggressive about it. I have known many powerful caring women of several different races and traditions, but they have always had to fight in some way to maintain enough power and authority to be effective. They have also often, in numerous ways had to 'apologize' or downplay that power in order to be accepted by the world around them. This Siberian woman did not have to do that, in any way that I could see, because her culture, her community and her family, as well as generations of tradition had invested her role as a female shaman, with full power and authority. As she shared about her life and people, I realized how much deep respect and trust and dependence on each other was necessary in a Siberian reindeer herder group, just to survive the harsh lifestyle. Also they had to survive the genocidal Soviet policies etc. I am sure there were many things under the surface which I did not see, but she had a long lasting impact as she exemplified for me personally what true inherent power as a woman can look like. American culture is obviously different and power for a woman will look different here. I believe part of the attraction with Kamala for other women, is not just that she is female, but because they see themselves in her in other ways. It is almost de rigour in American culture in general for powerful women to apologize for that power and downplay their authority in multiple small and often unconscious ways This is what Kamala basically does every time she opens her mouth and she reinforces that apologetic demeanor with her body language, while at the same time she is desperately attempting to claim the power and authority suitable to her role. Very frustrating mixed messages and exactly what many women feel and act out every day. This to me appears to be all mixed up with the need to be seen as a 'nice' person that so many women are forced to believe in and is especially reinforced by the political left message of 'We are the good guys, the rational reasonable caring inclusive people'. Recently a man of long time acquaintance went off on me and got really angry when I respectfully refused to back down. His parting shot was, " and I thought you were a nice person.'. He said it as tho I had failed some basic litmus test. I didn't respond because I did not want to escalate the situation, but I really wish I would have said what I was thinking which was, " Whatever gave you the idea I was a nice person? And why the hell would you ever expect me to be effective if I was only 'nice' all the time? I believe that many women are trying to push back against that outer and inner messaging and too often go too far the other way. In otherwords they become bossy and bitchy and aggressive to try to feel empowered, because they don't actually feel empowered at all.
I think you have hit the nail on the head! I know that I, personally, only tend to act bitchy when I do *not* feel in control of a situation. My best female boss ever *never* got bitchy; she trusted her ability to guide everyone without having to do that.
I feel extremely fortunate that I was never instilled with the "be nice" pattern that so many women have drummed into them by other women.
When "everything" is about women, nothing is about them. People are leaders or followers. Natural leaders are followed, irrespective of gender. You see that in so many settings, both social, business, organizational.....doesn't matter. The endless chatter just gets in the way of reality.
True. I would also like to expand the view a bit. Both women and men who are natural leaders and who have been mostly supported in that role, often do well . However there are many strong women and some men who would make good leaders who have been and are abused for stepping up and trying to take charge. When you are beaten down enough at a young age, you are not likely to risk being a target and leaders are targets. I would also point out, that biologically speaking, it is very much riskier for a woman to step up and take the lead, especially without strong support from a powerful mentor of some kind. Physically, a woman is going to be at a disadvantage in an escalating altercation and leadership roles tend to magnetize confrontation. Male leaders in general are simply not expected to be 'nice.' Women generally however are expected to be more soothing. And women in powerful positions know that they are physically more at risk and so they engage in various social behaviors to modify that risk. It's pretty complex and everyone is different, but there are good reasons many female leaders become more 'masculine', etc. There are also good reasons so many young girls are seduced into taking testosterone and becoming more 'confidently masculine'. Biologically, females across the board in nature tend to be more cautious, because that is nature's way of protecting the future of the species. I don't think that in American politics we have really seen women claim inherent female power. I can't help but compare the amazons who supposedly cut off one breast so as to be able to more effectively use a bow and arrow, with the teen girls today wanting to get their breasts cut off to be more like boys. At it's root, it's an empowerment issue.
I'm sure she was impressive. I had some real kick ass female elders myself! From my perspective, women who have gone through menopause are a whole different critter.
In my grandmother's case, I doubt it was menopause. She was orphaned at an early age and was the sole caregiver of her younger brother. She met my grandfather and raised five daughters, often by herself, as he had a demanding job that required extended travel. She was "a lady" in every sense of the word. A wise counsel and I was terrified only of letting her down. Not only was she an accomplished painter but I recall she could still do handstands in her 50s. With her dress tucked demurely between her legs. Definitely not someone to be trifled with.
Great comment. It's way past time to return to a fundamental principle of looking past race and gender for everything. How many on the left would disparage Donald Trump if he was the world's best brain surgeon, and they needed brain surgery?
Who has ever asked the gender of the pilot flying the aircraft before they board?
Saw a true meme, this morning, saying that Obama was telling black men to vote for Harris because she’s black, then asking what the media would do to Trump if he told white folk that they had to vote for him because he is white.
I think we are speaking of different periods of history. Yes woman have been accepted in many fields for a long time now, but it wasn't always that way. And of course nowadays there is a ridiculous over emphasis on both gender and race, which as you say has little to do with competence.
We used to call my mother “The Velvet Hammer”. When she was in the mood for really giving it to someone, when she squinted her eyes that certain way, you did NOT want to be in her crosshairs.
But she was NEVER confused for being bitchy - she just was never one to be patronized, condescended to, or taken for granted. On the other hand, I’m constantly amazed at the things she let me get away with (while very much holding me accountable) - her love was, really, unconditional.
The Sami have really been struggling this past decade with 'climate change' or whatever one wants to call it . The tundra has been melting and that has been very hard on the reindeer. I did write a bit about my time with the Sami last Christmas. "Tis the Season' essay on my Elder Voice Substack. I have never looked at Christmas the same since I spent time above the Arctic circle! It's been over ten years since I had any direct contact with the Sami I met and suddenly out of the blue I was contacted a couple of weeks ago by a lady in Finland who is part of the group that originally sponsored me there. It was nice to reconnect a bit, but the Sami elder I did ceremony with has long since passed and the younger Sami are busy trying to just survive and seem a bit like the young everywhere now, rather immersed in digital culture land.
Open minded people ask questions and seek truth. I am not alone when i say I know plenty of people who are not open minded and have zero interest in reality or the truth. They come in all sizes, colors and flavors. The media does not seek truth anymore because they are not open minded. They have an agenda. This does not automatically mean they are evil although many are. People need to seek truth ( THE truth) on their own for in today's world there are agendas and manipulators galore. I prefer to hear from so called nut cases rather than "journalists" whose arrogance far exceeds their intelligence. Joey Scarborough is one of the poster boys proving this last observation.
Sadly, schools are doing their best to squash truth seeking or critical thinking. Let's hope DJT gets elected and starts returning our education system to actual education!
I just got into some kerfuffle on FB (yeah, I still go there) regarding CBS heavily editing Harris' nonsensical speech.
Blue Woman writes: What do you suggest?
Me: Equality. They're distorting her words for protection, his to undermine.
The discussion then becomes criticism of me for pointing out Harris' flaws.
They said that Trump is "insane." I said, give examples. They said, What, you don't know?
I said, Harris claims he wants a national abortion ban. He has said no such thing. That makes no sense after overturning Roe v. Wade for being unconstitutional.
They then call me "delusional."
Do I believe he incited a riot on Jan 6th?
I say no. He told people to protest, but the left tells people to protest, and the left protests resulted in far more death and destruction.
Guess what? I'm "delusional." This conversation is not worth having with me. I have fallen into a "rabbit hole."
I write: Trump was acquitted. This means that the evidence was examined. That's "delusional."
Meanwhile, everyone ought to listen to Harmeet Dhillon's summary of Harris' career. Give me a crude populist real estate thug over a lazy, inarticulate, incurious plagiarizer who sleeps her way to the top, and is in the VP slot because of the color of her skin and genitalia. This person hasn't had to fight for anything.
Trump has.
I'm voting for the patriarchy: MERIT. HARD WORK. FREE SPEECH. SPACE X. A VP WHO KNOWS POLICY AND CAN EFFECTIVELY COMMUNICATE IT.
Why would anyone vote for her? She’s a chimera, taking on an appeasing look for each group she meets, saying what each group finds pleasing. Do you really want this person leading the free world?! With Elmer Fudd as the emergency fall back!?
😆 Yeah me too. Was waiting for the boom and Timmy doubled over gasping in pain. Lucky for him it didn’t happen. Would have been one of the most viral videos in history.
I am seeing the same thing on substack though. I was disillusioned with TFP writing but still enjoyed the comments. Until they became like you describe. I have flaws but not wanting to hear an opposing point of view is not one of them.
Exactly. There is no arguing with these people because they have to see for themselves how the media has been captured and has distorted reality and there isn’t an easy way to do that. I’m just so grateful that I was able to break out of the matrix and see reality for what it is. But it’s also left me in an awkward position with my liberal friends and even my own grown son who are still blind and supportive of the Dem party. I don’t even know where to start to get them to try and understand because if you point out another perspective such as January 6, they immediately shut it down as delusional as you said.
“But as the Trump years went on, I started to notice that nothing bad was happening, nothing fascist was happening.”
————————————————————
Nothing fascist from Trump, but plenty from the Left including claims that the Russians “hacked our election,” two bogus impeachments, democrats urging people to be violent against Republicans, and the whole Trump-Russian conspiracy theory played-out daily in the media and capped by a $50 million witch hunt, to name a few.
This woman could literally be me, woo woo and all. Thank you for sharing Celia. I've not committed to Trump yet, but as we get closer to voting, I understand my responsibility to my children and my country. I'm in such a struggle to know what to believe. Even the interview Disa suggested with Harmeet Dhillon, I wonder what Mamala did to truly piss her off. And I dont particularly trust Tucker either.
But just like woo woo lady, my lived experiences, what I've seen with my own eyes, what I believe in my heart and what I've learned in the rabbit holes the last 3 years will not allow me to vote for the Democratic party for the first time ever. I have been trying to educate myself on Trump, the person, not persona. Thanks to the commenter who suggested the more humane Trump podcasts. I will listen!!♡
I wish Harmeet had chosen a different podcast. But she is open about her biases. She brought proof of her claims. She is straightforward and credible.Harris is the opposite. It all fits what we are witnessing with our own eyes.
I’ve never liked Trump and never voted for him before. Bit he isn’t a FRAUD. He’s always been this way. So many solid lifelong Dems are voting Trump because The Dems are no longer for the most fundamental American precepts , like our Constitution!
Which should remind everyone about the plans the Democrats have for SCOTUS when/if Kamala gets elected — court packing to ensure left wing majority on the court forever.
If you consider the issues, it's easy to vote for DJT. Ask yourself if you're ok with grocery prices, gas prices, crime, funding illegals with your tax $$ without having voted for it, a candidate no one voted for who is the candidate solely because she's a female POC, a candidate who couldn't get votes and who slept her way to the top, a party that is ignoring the hurricane crisis and actually trying to prevent aid groups from helping, a party who enacts lawfare, a biased judicial system, a party that attempts to assassinate opponents, the list goes on but start there.
I doubt any president is going to be able to effectively tackle inflation. There has been too much QE and not sure how that genie can be put back in the bottle.
True. Inflation always has been, is, and always will be a function of monetary policy. As the chairman of the Fed is theoretically independent a new president only has one shot at fixing this- appointing the right chairman.
The recent rate cut was a bad idea. We should have continued to ram down M2/M3 until we all screamed in agony.
Federal spending has got to be cut. But I think it can be done by putting a stop to the waste, fraud, etc.. And economic growth needs to be encouraged across the board by cutting regulatory red-tape and getting the federal thumb off the scale.
It's hard to argue with your advice Lynne, but unfortunately there are many people who benefit, at least in the short term, from waste, fraud, regulatory red-tape, etc. My comment on The Free Press article "Argentina's President Javier Milei Loves Being the Skunk at the Garden Party" applies to some extent to the U.S. as well:
Javier Milei talks a good game, but I fear he will ultimately be stymied in his attempts to implement his libertarian/free-market policies in Argentina by powerful local constituencies that will fight "tooth and nail" to hold onto the economic and social advantages they think they enjoy under the current system, regardless of how unproductive that system is. Worse, he may be made a scapegoat for the country's continuing economic malaise, even if his policy agenda is never given a fair chance to work. The unfortunate result would be that Argentinians will (again) sour on libertarian and free-market ideas, and will have to wait for another prospective savior to come along and try to pull the country out of its doldrums.
Thanks Dave. I fear you are right. I am sorry I missed your article. I was a paid subscriber to TFP when it was still Common Sense. I stayed after the quantity of articles increased accompanied by the inevitable drop in quality. Sometimes I would read a paragraph and go straight to the comments which were often lively. But I walked away when they began censoring comments and when my subscription expired I did not renew it.
I agree with your criticisms of TFP but I still find it interesting enough to stick around. Part of the problem may be that Bari and Nellie are busy raising their kids and TFP just isn't that important to them anymore. I haven't been censored yet, but I try to be very polite and measured even when I disagree with an article or comment.
I couldn't help but think of the genie popping out of the bottle in the old Bugs Bunny cartoon, "I'm here, I'm here!". And how it gets angry at being disturbed lol.
Yes but the fact is that the Fed has been engaging in QE since the GFC and Trump did nothing to stop it. The massive public payouts during Covid is what caused inflation along with QE. Aside from that, I do agree with your points.
The Tucker interview with Harmeet Dhillon is truly worth your time. It is a chronological, fact-filled narrative of the life of Kamala Harris and reveals what little substance there is to her past and present work product. Harmeet has special insight into the VP’s political connections as she lived and worked in San Francisco among the same circles. She does most of the speaking (not Tucker)and I was amazed at her knowledge. Harmeet doesn’t scornfully denigrate Harris. She comes to the discussion loaded with evidence of the privileged, corrupted path Harris was treated to from her first day of work straight out of college to her ascension to the current presidential ticket. I came away surprised by her lack of qualifications and stunned by her arrogance that it won’t matter to the American voter. I am a Trump voter, but wow Harmeet delivers some surprising stuff. The MSM knows all this and would prefer that we don’t hear it. I hope you will try to work your way toward voting for Trump/Vance. I respect you for caring about the world we chose for your children to live in, the seriousness you give to your decision and your willingness to research the truth.
That was me. I was always going to vote Trump because the Dems are deranged, but I have to say watching those interviews bolstered my opinion of the man.
Yep, it's really very simple. Who has given us the mess we're in? The endless wars. The insanely mounting debt. The litany of lies. The suppression of free speech and individual liberty. Not Trump.
The entrenched, elitist corporate and political class has created this mess. They all need to go, but primarily the DNC and its handmaidens in legacy media. They are the enemies of free people, free markets and free ideas.
And as I've said, - thanks to all those who post Harris/Walz lawn signs and bumper stickers. It's nice to have certain people self-identify as mentally instable and enemies of liberty and sane values.
I like that meme about Clinton/Gore, Bush/Cheney, Obama/Biden and Biden/Harris being in control for 28 of the last 32 years but wanting to blame Trump for the present circumstances.
I'm dog-sitting for my daughter in a suburb outside of Detroit. From block to block, there are thirty houses. Out of those, thirty, seventeen have Trump signs or flags. Six have Harris signs, and the rest have nothing.
The worst though are the ones that pretend to support for Harris/Walz because they think it will get them in the "club". They have no principles, no morals, no care for anything or anyone- just riding the waves of power. I can take the really deluded, overcome by the propaganda - I think there's still a prayer they'll awaken. The others though, will crawl through slime to support Team Power, and will maim and kill anything that gets in their path.
As many are aware Bill Clinton said that Laken Riley would still be alive if her killer had been properly vetted. What has not been reported is that Hillary is so mad that after hearing what Bill said Hillary said that "I will no longer have sex with that man." You all can write the next line yourselves.
I think a DNA test would prove Bill the infertile is not the dad. Unbelievable Hilary found solace with Webb Hubbell, arguably one of the ugliest men ever.
She probably paid her to be in that relationship. Actually she allowed Huma to have another high paying job at the same time tax payers were paying her a lot of money.
Desperate times create desperate people using desperate measures.
He did literally say that but I think his point was that having illegals as a work force excused or made up her death. It was pretty twisted logic. Maybe akin to Maryha Radditch telling JD Vance that only a handful of apartment complexes in Aurora were controlled by a Venezuelan gang. JD Vance also debunked the we need illegal laborers argument on some show with somebody named Lulu.
What about Bill’s makeup? Evidently applied by a mortician? Did you see the shake in his hand? He is not well, as to be expected, if you had to live with her.
Woo-woo for sure, BUT her heart’s certainly in the right place. Kind of amazing that she hasn’t yet come to the realization that she's a Republican. Maybe in a while.
I don't think she is a Republican. More of a Libertarian.
Who cares about labels. We are seeing the great re-alignment of working Americans who value free speech and individual liberty versus the toadies to the authoritarian corporatists.
Same thing at this time. That's the significance of Kennedy and Gabbard coming on board, and the Cheneys et al walking out.
Why does she need to be labeled as part of a false dichotomy? It’s issues and beliefs that matter . . specifics, not vague, Ying-Yang packages that enable you to stop thinking.
I call myself a “sane centrist”. You’re welcome to join me…
"I’m really curious to see her research showing that having women in power leads to better outcomes, because I am skeptical."
Think Golda Meir and Margaret Thatcher, The Iron Lady.
I like this quote attributed to the late U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright (https://www.azquotes.com/author/196-Madeleine_Albright?p=1):
Well I do think, when there are more women, that the tone of the conversation changes, and also the goals of the conversation change. But it doesn't mean that the whole world would be a lot better if it were totally run by women. If you think that, you've forgotten high school.
I don't get it. I skimmed the article, didn't watch the offered video, I may come back and do all that later, read and watch. But I saw references to "right" and "left," and phrases like "equal opportunity," and I don't get all the hand-wringing. During 86 years I've never met a person who didn't believe 100% in equal opportunity. Have you? No, just stick to that. Seriously, can you give evidence of one instance. Hating another person is not denying them anything; loving another person is not granting them anything. I suspect 234, or whoever wrote this is a female, with a female nature. Fine, but I don't need to hear angst or feelings about angst.
For ME, the take-away quote is this: "It’s too easy to weaponize empathy, because it's easy to justify doing evil if you're convinced you’re the good guy."
This sentiment just re-confirms my philosophy that "People are stupid, and vote and choose things and others who are contrary to their own self-interests because it FEELS good!"
Well said, Robert. You're spot on! We've weaponized empathy and virtue signaling, and our enemies are using these values against us very effectively.
100%.
It is focused on our guilt button.
My paternal grandmother was an expert in laying guilt upon others.
So much so, that in my adult life, I am impervious to its clutches.
Helps me with my lefty friends when we argue.
I saw a video on the dumbest dem/Socs. The video had a female US senator who said, "We think and act with our heart not our head." As far as Dem/Socs go, she was right on the money.
When I saw that, I heard the strains of The Twilight Zone.
Defund the Police movement and all its negative impacts to lower class citizens was born out of empathy.
"empathy"
Tolerance & compassion can kill.
So incredibly sad.
Emotions. 100%.
That’s what they play on.
I see it every time I discuss politics with my lefty daughter.
Can you think of any real life decisions you have made in your life while in the throws of an emotional roller coaster?
I can’t.
In meditation we spend a lot of time learn how to recognize these peaks and valleys so we can let them pass in order to create space for now, for clarity of mind and decision making.
oh, i can give you an example! someone who is dating someone and within six months of dating gets pregnant and said couple decide to go ahead and get married. this was the case of someone i knew.
i always tell my kids, "don't make ANY serious decisions -life/love/money-at night when it's dark out. your sense of reality is totally warped by the pull of the moon and everything seems much more intense and dramatic than it actually is. wait until morning and then look at your situation again to see if you feel the same way as you did in the nighttime to see if it's solid."
One of the guiding principles of my life is that upset people do not make good decisions.
Megyn Kelly recently interviewed the author of a book entitled "Toxic Empathy" about that topic.
Allie Beth Stuckey is the author. It was a great interview and important subject.
“Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.”
― C. S. Lewis
Can always count on the wisdom of CS Lewis.
One of my favorite quotes of all time.
I do get it, but can see why others might not. In general, for me personally, I see both equal opportunity and equality of outcome as somewhat rigged games. I'm not saying that to be a whiny angsty victim, just an observation. I don't expect the world to change to suit me, but I am going to push back when I feel it is important to do so.
Rain - Yes, but it's like Rob and Lit said, "equal opportunity, " and "equality of outcome," the way the Left uses them -- rigged games -- as you said, is evil.
There’s a commercial for some online university that claims “we’re all born with the same abilities” (I’m paraphrasing) which made me think “that’s an absolutely absurd claim”. Many aspects of our society are “rigged games” and even with equality of opportunity, everyone has different backgrounds and skill sets. Making the game as fair as possible given our inherent human differences and limits is a noble goal but is it possible? I don’t know
I think we can only try to move in the direction of equality of opportunity, but stop trying to do the impossible and for sure stop beating ourselves and each other up for not being able to 'fix' it all. Life is inherently not fair and we cannot essentially change that. A tree puts out many seeds and a lot of them fall on asphalt or drown in the river or get eaten by critters, etc. Only a very few of those original seeds will ever grow into a mature tree. To say all those seeds should have across the board equality of opportunity or equality of outcome is kind of silly. We humans mostly have empathy so we feel guilty if we do better than someone else or we feel angry if someone else does better than us; so we try to somehow fix the situation since we are social mammals because we instinctually know if one of our immediate social group is struggling too much, it is going to eventually effect us all.
I get your point, but apple seeds and human beings are a poor comparison.
We can disagree on that.
RM-W-- I totally agree! i'm not sure if folks have seen an article in either NYT or WSJ about a woman who froze her eggs so she could pursue her career, and find a partner and have kids later. Now she wants ALL women to have that opportunity (I believe she called it a "RIGHT"), and thinks that our government should pay for this! When will this madness end?
Our Government = Us. Just sayin'
Not really.
Why would she need to freeze her eggs? Wants to have kids at age 50 like Elizabeth Edwards (no insult meant to her, just saying).
All - Read Coleman Hughes TFP piece on Ta-Nehisi again. Pay special attention to the comparison Hughes makes between the people of Africa historically and the people of South Korea recovery from Japan's slavery and then Japanese people's recovery from their own self- inflicted catastrophe. It is almost shocking to see it finally in print.
Thanks - will look for that. I really appreciate Coleman Hughes and his unapologetic heterodoxy.
He is an inspiration for sure!
Thanks Michael. Tried to look it up, says for paid subscribers only which isn't me any more. Just got the introductory paragraph is all. When I have time I'll try to look elsewhere and see if I can read it for free.
Here’s an archived version:
https://archive.ph/IskMQ
Mr Karg what you say is true but unfortunately many humans are simple minded and need to see things as duality in opposition.
Poet - Yes, but as you see, I skip over those kind of people, and only share with kindred spirits. I do keep an eye on them though, nobody goin' to sneak up on me, if I can help it.
Michael, I got a great visual of you keepin your eye out for all those pesky sneaky varmints!
Rain - and I got a chuckle from your great visual -- I deserve the scene. I should always know to quit when I'm ahead, huh.
Watch the video. It's worth every second. Also, watch the Tucker Carlson interview with Harmeet Dhillon......priceless!
234 - I'm a reader, not a watcher, except for Bogart, et al films and baseball games. And Tucker lost me with the flying saucers, but other than that I like him and hope they return him someday -- call Spielberg and Dreyfus.
I get it, but sometimes exceptions should be made. This is one of those times.
It unfolds like a book you can't put down. Give it a try before you pass judgement.
It's a total take down of Kamala Harris as Dhillon goes way back with her. It's a bit long. Only wish this had come out much earlier on.
Chris Rufo has posted the biggest fraud of Kamala Harris to date. She plagiarized huge chunks of her book on crime( until yesterday I didn’t know she that she published a book)
https://x.com/realchrisrufo/status/1845856003205796165?s=42
There is no doubt that the claims are true. The NYTimes is trying to smear Rufo as they did when he broke the Claudine Gay plagiarism scandal, by calling Rufo a racist and trying to minimize the stealing of other pol’s work. Harris actually lifted verbatim from Wikipedia
The Free Press did cover it in a small mention in their list of news items but this too is dishonest. Harmeet Dhillon’s testimony on T Carlson was not covered at all and alone should have been enough to have Harris resign .Rufo never breaks a story without hard proof to fortify the claims he makes.
Harris is an incompetent fraud and should resign as VP and as candidate for the corrupt DNC
Thanks for reminding me of the Tucker interview, I did want to listen to that. I saw Rufos posts on X yesterday and I agree, he would never break that story without the proof and he did show proof. The question in my mind is, did Kamala even write the book or was there a ghost writer. Which, if there wasn’t, they’ll say there was. The editor & publisher has lost all professional credibility as well.
The NYTimes is a pathetic rag that covers for these DEI frauds, supports terrorist groups and needs to be shut down
But it needs to be shut down by people ceasing to read it, not by the government shutting it down (which is what Leftists want to do to any media that doesn't agree with them).
Agreed.
All the MSM platforms that are interfering in the election by lying and editing out the real interview should lose their FCC license and any tax exemptions they hold
She doesn't have the time or brains to write a book. There's nearly always a ghostwriter for high-profile people's books.
As someone who used to be a ghostwriter for a few years, I can confirm this. I used to call it “making heroes out of assholes”. It can be lucrative work, but I had to stop because I could no longer look at myself in the mirror.
Lmfao I have met hundreds of celebrities through the years and half of them can’t function without personal assistants organizing their lives. It’s the old George Carlin rule that half the people are dumber than average. Having a special talent does not equate to intelligence
Bill O'Reilly comes to mind!
One of the reasons I stopped doing professional editing is that most of my customers were PhD students who were referred to me by their department head (someone I went to college with years and years ago when I was an undergrad). I was essentially rewriting their dissertations because they lacked the skill to do so themselves.
In a few cases, it was because they weren't native speakers of English, and I never minded those--that was never a lack of smarts, only a lack of facility with English. But it always bothered me to be doing it for native speakers, because I couldn't help feeling that someone who is hoping to be granted a PhD ought to have the ability to write well enough to convey their own ideas.
The fact that I was doing this with the full knowledge and approval of the head of their department made me skeptical of every doctoral degree that is now granted. I would never have written papers for money for undergrads, and doing so for graduate students felt slimy as hell.
See description here. There was another writer, which is not an excuse.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smart_on_Crime
The Rufo reveal of plagerism is important but the TCarlson interview with Dhillon shows there is a whole litany of K behavior that is…terrible. Some is outright illegal. A must listen.
I did listen to it today! It’s worse than I thought in terms of her lack of qualifications. Really lacking.
Description of book from Wikipedia: “ Smart on Crime: A Career Prosecutor's Plan to Make Us Safer is a book by Kamala Harris with Joan O'C. Hamilton, first published by Chronicle Books on October 7, 2009”
There was another writer but that doesn’t excuse plagiarism.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smart_on_Crime
Harris is not smart enough to have written that book and she’s certainly not smart on crime.
Excellent point. The book contains specific facts, statements, etc.(whether true or not) that Kamala is incapable of clearly conveying to an audience. Like her 60 Minutes interview it would require much editing to remove meaningless passages.
But her name is on it so if there's plagiarism, she owns that.
As I have posted before…..THEY DONT CARE!! The Dems didn’t want Harris but are stuck with her after the Biden charade fell so far apart they could not hide it any longer. Harris is lucky that the election is only weeks away. She’s now become unpalatable and would be getting a call from Nancy if there was time to pull it off.
Do you think they're trying to make nice with DJT behind the scenes and cut some deals? (Serious question)
I would find that hard to believe. I think that because “Trump is Trump” they don’t believe he will play nice with them. If Trump does try to cut deals he better remember the old story about the scorpion and the frog.
Hard NO....they would assassinate him before they tried to work with him.
You & I & do not understand this level of hatred, where you will stop at nothing to attain your goal. "Drunk on power" is an understatement.
I was thinking that since the previous assassination attempts failed, maybe now the Dems are at the negotiation phase. They are getting desperate.
IF the Dems lose the election (unlikely with their institutionalized cheating structure), and they assassinated Trump, they would have Vance as president, which would likely be far worse for them because Trump is very easy to manipulate, whereas Vance is a lot smarter and more mature emotionally.
But would they realize that?
BREAKING: CNN confirms my reporting that Kamala Harris plagiarized her book, Smart on Crime.
This is exactly how it worked with Claudine Gay: the NYT tried to obfuscate; CNN told the truth; other publications followed. Eventually, even the NYT admitted that it was plagiarism. Posted by Rufo
https://x.com/realchrisrufo/status/1846030192504197388?s=42
CNN told the truth is a statement I never thought I’d read. In other breaking news Hell has frozen over
And pigs can fly 🤣🤣
I laughed.
Bad time to be eating my lunch! 😂
Aaaaaagh! Send us blankets please!
Off topic but: One of my favorite editorial cartoons had the devil on a phone, wire upward, icicles on his nose caption: "The Cubs and the Padres in the playoffs? Yeah, that would explain it...."
Oh yay that means the White Sox won the World Series, right?
In other news, Harris revealed to have forked tail and cloven hooves. Media swoon. “What a bold fashion statement!” “ It’s the new look this fall!”
'What a bold fashion statement' ........and just in time for Halloween too!
The only way that Harris is going to go away is if she is defeated next month.
Rufo needs a place in Trump’s administration…he’s brilliant!
Wait till she finds out that her “selling point” isn’t even that valuable anymore.
For those who want to see Trump in a less “Trumpy” fashion, watch his interviews with Andrew Schultz, Doctor Phil, Gutfeld, and “All In”. He’s actually quite a genuine, funny, thoughtful guy.
Dr Phil's interview with Trump was brilliant. Also the Doc's interview with RFK;
He was great on Gutfeld. That's who he really is and the Left hates him for it. Bottom line, he is real and their candidate is fake.
Here I go again. THEY DON’T CARE! Trump could walk across the Potomac, heal a blind man and feed the multitudes. They can’t give up the power.
They know that we obey laws and we will not do anything about their shenanigans.
Well we do know what the PTB's of Roman times did to the last guy who performed those specific miracles..........
Truth.
I've said it before, Trump could literally walk on water, and the headline at WaPo would be "Trump Can't Swim"
The All-In interview changed some of the hosts’ minds on him. It’s a great interview,
He’s certainly not the next coming of Hitler, but that’s what they’re brainwashed to believe.
All-In and Dr. Phil were good interviews for sure.
Seems like Joe Rogan is jumping in.
Says he will interview both.
I’ve got to believe / hope that the main stream networks must be asking themselves, is there a future for us ?
Sure as hell hope they are asking that! Martha Raddatz should be crawling under a rock right about now!
I agree.
JD Vance got the better of Martha Raddatz.
It is so enlightening to listen to a full Trump interview. I wish more democrats would be open minded enough to do so.
Okay she may be a little out there, but she's also:
1) Right and
2 )Hot
Thanks for the morning laugh.
Guys just being guys.
Steven?! You got your beer goggles on this early?
She looks like a woman I met at a Burn in May who I dated from Memorial Day until mid July. Wacky and wild but way too unstable for me. This woman would put aWiccan spell on you and drive you to a Jim Beam breakfast 🥃
There's a scale that measures a woman's degree of hotness vs craziness depicting where the intersection is where it just becomes too dangerous....and the intersection can be pretty high in some cases.
It's all about the tipping point. It's always most interesting right before it falls over the edge.
LOL!! You guys!!
LOL
I was distracted by the tats on her shoulders.
I didn't even notice them. I couldn't look away from the crazy-in-an-enticing-sort of way look in her eyes. They always seemed to be looking slightly in the wrong direction.
Yea, I watched it twice. That's kinda embarrassing
LOL. You were using your "man eyes" I guess. The tats are swirls and I was a bit mesmerized by them. Try a third and see if you can spot them. Then again, maybe a third is a bit too much.
I'm game for one more. I'm curious about the tats now.
Holy shit! You're spot on about the tats. I realize now I was focused on hoping for more cleavage and didn't even notice them first time.
I too am sceptical of her claims about women in power meaning better outcomes. It all depends on how they use the power. Competent people have better outcomes when they are in power than incompetents. The trick is finding the competent people. And it is far harder than one might imagine.
An interesting article I read today was about the Hezbollah tie up with the climate change people. The use of Green Without Borders is how they managed to get the tunnels etc so close to the UN. As this Atlantic Council report (American think tank) for Aug 2023 shows -- the US, and Israel knew what GWB were up to, the UN just did not care. https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/menasource/hezbollahs-posture-unifil-israel/ This is the Telegraph article on the subject: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2024/10/14/hezbollah-expanded-presence-un-peacekeepers-lebanon-israel/ or https://archive.ph/kdJBP
NB I became interested in the link back in Nov 23 when the Ecologist (a climate change/rewilding/keep the hedgerows mag) suddenly went all in for Hamas and said that they had always been this way but had just acted as if they were separate.
So basically the media saying -- gosh how surprising is rather disingenuous.
Wes Streeting (Health Sec) has come out for making sure Britain stops widening its waistbands as obesity has implications for the NHS. He is doing some big tie up with a Big Pharm to produce weight loss shots on the NHS. I mean what could go wrong? I suspect there will be a sugar tax as well. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/10/14/widening-waistbands-are-a-burden-on-britain/ or https://archive.ph/61NuR
Personally having lost about 25 kilos this summer, the FAST 800 diet for 8 weeks works (it is v hard to begin with) and keeping off ultra processed food. I made my own food as the recipes were not great. This is the diet which Michael Moseley the presenter who died in Greece at the beginning of the summer and Dr Roy Taylor from Newcastle championed and showed that diet like this which could result in people going into remission with Type 2 Diabetes or prediabetes rather than the surgery. I was supporting my husband as he was getting ready to his 2nd knee surgery.
Roz Adams who won her Employment Tribunal against Edinburgh Rape Crisis Centre has been in court sorting out the settlement. She has been awarded £35k but the wording of the apology etc is still to be decided. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/10/14/edinburgh-rape-crisis-centre-trans-row-mridul-wadhwa/ or https://archive.ph/ukXiw
And this is a v good explainer about Stonewall's diversity scheme has been unravelling (the US equivalent of Stonewall is the HRC I believe). It also shows the problem with overly strong staff networks., https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/10/15/stonewall-diversity-champions-trans-lgbt-charity-workplace/ or https://archive.ph/p2GYL
Regarding GWB, and pretty much most large organizations these days, the PTB's will co-opt and use every single 'good' intentioned thing and twist it to serve their own agendas. We really need to turn around and get back to supporting local grass root organizations run by folks we personally know and live around and interact with regularly who are impacted immediately and directly by the group decisions.
Large size/name recognition does not automatically mean good intentions. I do think grass roots can do so much good. I have long been wary of the umbrella funding groups where you can't tell where the money is coming from and what their agendas might be.
I have just been reading what Northumbrian Water as doing to clean up the rivers and coasts in their catchment area. Clean water is important. They are about to do a local meeting in Hexham on the subject. https://www.nwg.co.uk/responsibility/environment/a-vision-for-our-coasts-and-rivers/
My secret fantasy is that everyone on the planet decides simutaneously to take care of their own community on all levels and pretty much ignores the grandiose shemes and scheming of the idiots in charge of the world. Of course this would require a higher power to somehow simply evaporate all the nuclear weapons............
It is a wonderful thought. One can dream. It is v Panglossian -- looking after your own garden.
There are reasons why I prefer Adam Smith to Marx and think him far more radical. Again it is v much the local community rather than the state run monopoly.
Haven’t heard a Candide allusion in a while. Well played Ms Styles
If the government wasn't taking all our money (so many taxes!), if would be easier for us to take care of our own communities.
So so true. And here is the extra craziness for me, some of those state/ county/ federal tax dollars are put back into our communities, but then there are lots and lots of strings attached and those funds are controlled by outside forces that do not have the best needs of the community in mind.
look at the monies flowing to NGO's....and how many of them are "Pure of Heart"
Wonderful thought RM-W, but when I look just at my own local community, I see people convince themselves they are taking care of it and making the best choices, but it appears to me they are selling out to the highest bidder, or voting blocs that will keep them in power. What you fantasize seems to go against human nature!
Ah yes that is what we have nowadays for sure. But I remember a time when small isolated communities were pretty self-sufficient and much less influenced by outside entities. We might have disagreed about alot of things, but in the end there were usually reasonable compromises made we could all basically support because there was a huge incentive for us to make it work, in otherwords we really needed each other for survival, regardless of our differences.
I too think local is the key.
Finding the most competent qualified candidate for every position without regard for sex, race or any other immutable characteristic., should be the goal of society.
Diversity for the sake of diversity is a disaster
Yes it is. There is an expose of Stonewall in the Telegraph btw: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/10/15/stonewall-diversity-champions-trans-lgbt-charity-workplace/ or https://archive.ph/p2GYL
One point they make is that staff networks have become overly powerful.
This is the diet which Michael Moseley the presenter who died in Greece at the beginning of the summer and Dr Roy Taylor from Newcastle championed
That’s rather discordant
Ah Michael Moseley was a huge popular pop medicine presenter in the UK. He died of heat exhaustion in Greece -- his body was found off the beaten track after he'd gone for a walk on his own. His last series of Just One Thing is currently on British television. He was v good at trying things himself.
One of his big successes was popularizing the 5:2 diet which is good but doesn't bring blood sugar levels down. The 800 does and what is more interesting, it also significantly reduced liver fat.
Prof Roy Taylor is the man who actually discovered the connection between the v low calorie diet for a set period of time and getting diabetes 2 into remission. The first small trial was in Newcastle in 2011. It worked so well that people started doing it and having success on it before the British Diabetes Society had finished their conclusions. Their conclusion is that it did work for a significant proportion, generally people who have recently been diagnosed. They have discovered that diabetes 2 manifests itself differently for males and females btw.
The ZOE app with its 30 different plants per week is also interesting. Plants include spices, tea, coffee etc -- not just fruits and veg. eating a wide range seems to decrease appetites because of the micronutrients. A big question exists on if Big Food has really led to people eating basically monocultures of chemicals, rather than the actual nutrients the body requires. It is the whole thing about Ultra Processed Food v real food.
(I was going quickly as I should really be working on my latest rather than wearing my procrastination princess tiara. Unfortunately I do enjoy wearing that particular tiara though.)
I love what you're saying about diet.
Also, I absolutely must get a Procrastination Princess Tiara! I want to alternate it with my very stylish tin foil hat!
That made me lol 😂
Perhaps a tinfoil Tiara?
Great idea!
Procrastination Princess tiaras are brilliant.
Th diet stuff is really interesting imho. Back in 2012 I decided to do the Tracy Anderson bootcamp and lost an incredible amount. I then didn't know if it was the diet or the exercise. So I basically kept up with the exercise until the menopause hit etc (grazing is a real problem and temptation with being a writer). I did a load of reading around trying to understand why the diet had worked as well because I was curious.
I knew my husband had gained too much but could do as little as it has to come from within. Luckily a friend got him onto the 800 and that worked for him. He then got into rowing but when his knees got seriously bad, the weight started going on again, particularly after the first knee last March.
Anyway, so we both did the 800, partly in a tribute to Moseley -- I did the full 8 weeks and was shocked at how much weight I lost (I am just walking the dog these days as Tracy Anderson kept putting my back out -- I have a bad back), my husband only did half as you do not want to be on it when you have surgery (because your body is trying to heal). He basically then went to the 'Mediterranean type diet'. Anyway it worked. I was so interested to read about the 30 plants per week thing which came out this summer as I knew there is this problem (a friend is writing a book which comes out in Mar about females and ultra processed food). Probably more info than you need, but it is just a bit of background on why I am interested in the subject.
It sounds similar to intermittent fasting.
Yes there is an element of that. Moseley refined the diet as he worked out that intermittent fasting was useful, and it is now called the FAST 800, instead of the bloodsugar diet. The main takeaway for me was to do it by really upping the pulses, fresh fruit and veg that I ate and really limiting my grazing while cutting out the refined wheat, yeast and sugar products. One of the refinements was minimum of 2 weeks but a max of 12 on the 800 only portion.
While not a Franz Boas fan and much of Margaret Mead has been debunked as well, comparative anthropology has found many effective matriarchal societies (though mostly tribal) and of course our fellow intelligent land mammals the elephants. I meant to comment about this point on Celia’s original post but one of my male outside cats got in this morning so I was sidetracked. Nature red in tooth and claw applies to humans as well.
Have a read of Layne Redmond's, When Drummers Were Women.
My two female dogs rule the roost against the 5 males in my house, I can tell you that.
Is it getting chilly down there in TX Ken?
Here in South Texas it was below 60º for a change, had been in the high 70's/low 80's in the mornings
And by the way, Kamala’s husband is a nanny-shagger and a woman beater so all this talk about Trump’s “sexism” is bullshite. And Trump is an equal opportunity insulter.
Yes, and when Trump said that thing he was a Democrat.
And as long as he was giving money to the Democrats, they adored him in spite of his behavior. Which tells you everything you need to know.
the oldest profession........
That’s great. I am using that if necessary
Haha
I need to attend my next USC class reunion and ask around. They only graduate 180 of us a year and they divided us into two cohorts of 90 each for first year class so I would be able to glean some good gossip
I didn't leave the Democratic Party, I was removed. I was raised by Democrats and was registered as a Democrat until 2016. Before the California Primary, I made ut clear I would NOT donate or vote for Hillary. Not under any circumstances.I would vote by conscience, not as I was TOLD. Mimi Kennedy was the name on the nasty email I received, removing me from the DNC lists. I was one if the 6% who voted for Independent Candidates. I confess I was not the bigger person, and sent a "Nyanya" email after the loss saying " betcha wish you had my vote now, don'tcha."
I sometimes wonder what would have happened if Bernie had had the balls to demand a floor fight at the convention. But he folded. I think he would likely have won the general election, because a lot of non-Democrats (including me) had been won over by the rational platform he had been running on (whether he would actually have governed that way isn't something I feel sure of, given his previous and later positions).
But Hillary had to be Queen.
I lost complete respect for Bernie after that. He was obviously going to remain a company man to the end, regardless of how the Dems treated him or the country. And that is what the uni-party does; they buy, co-opt or neutralize the unacceptable opposition. Many have pointed this out. It's how the PTB's remain in power regardless of who is president. They cannot afford a major wind shift every four years, so they rig the game. Which we all know of course.
I felt the same when he folded. He promised to stand up to corruption in Washington, and he wouldn't even stand up to it in the Democratic Party. Complete loss of respect from me.
I really think that is why Trump won. Lots of Dems felt betrayed and I think some just didn't vote that go round.
I heard money had something to do with that. As always.,, my rule holds.
Probably, there does always seem to be a money trail when you look for it.
He was gifted a house by Hilary. Sanders has never had a job and has never accomplished anything. He's a career politician and needs to retire.
AMEN!!
While some were saying "America is not ready for a woman President". I said "no way America will elect a man with a New York Jewish accent". Not even one who served his country for over a half century on principle, not for gain. Socialism is a no go for me. Yes, I know, garbage collection is socialism too. I remember the discrimination of East Germans by West Germans after the fall of the Wall. West Germans called them cows. Slow, plodding, no initiative, no drive or foresight. Cud chewing cows. I'm still not over it. I had no idea the prejudice was conceived, incubated and fostered in Universities.
I worked for a global manufacturing company, in the early 2000's set up operations in the Ukraine. One thing I noticed in the Ukraine, (and later China) as opposed to Mexican operations is the people had to be told every step of the process, and authorized to perform every step. In Mexico, the people would intuitively move to subsequent operations without extensive permissions. The Ukrainians, in addition, had to be pushed and prodded to provide feedback as to potential improvements.
I still believe it was the years living under Communism that made them leery to do anything that wasn't "by the book"
I’m sorry. Three house Bernie the millionaire is a communist. His “programs” like all communist programs only work for the top, not the masses. Hence the three houses and the millions of dollars AND the failed college of his wife while the masses get crumbs if lucky.
Bernie is a Communist when it suits him.
Yes- he didn't quite get to Fidel's 5 houses, fine wines and of course the BEST cigars on the planet, but it wasn't for not trying!!
Bernie, the communist, would never risk losing his grift. The old asshole might have to work for his supper for once.
Bernie will be sent to the dustbin of populist politicians who showed no strength when push came to shove. He folded to the establishment without a whimper.
It would have prevented Trump from being THE populist candidate. Instead the Dems made their deal with the devil. Maybe literally.
I see Bernie Sanders as a complete hypocrite. Promoting socialism as he made himself a millionaire within the free enterprise, capitalism system. Got himself a couple of houses. I don't begrudge anyone success but don't preach socialism as you are winning with capitalism. And living off the backs of taxpayers for the rest of your life.
I’m afraid I have to disagree with you on this. I think that Bernie’s policies would have given us…a slightly Americanized version of Justin Trudeau’s Canada.
Which is pretty bad, let me tell you. Harris is like Trudeau too.
WOW! The Dems actually remove people? I guess guilt & exclusion works on most of their base, who love groupthink. That is really scary!
I'm so glad you have the courage to think for yourself! Keep up the good work!
They did you a great favor, my friend.
Wow, the DNC actually removed you.
That’s amazing.
There hasn’t yet been a ‘woman’ in power. Patriarchy is a system, to which we all fall prey. When women ascend to power, as they have always throughout history, they conform to the system like their male counterparts and play by those rules. The system leaves very little choice. Hilary emulates male leadership. Kamala uses men to climb the ladder. We need a breakthrough. Trump is paving the way.
“This is how much of a progressive I am: I wrote this book about the origins of Patriarchy—Before War: On Marriage, Hierarchy, and Our Matriarchal Origins. Patriarchy is a trauma response. It’s a system. It’s not about blaming men, as both men and women are harmed by the system, and both perpetuate it. And now I believe that the left is perpetuating Patriarchy more.”
Rainbow has often written about Cherokee society, in which women owned the houses and fields, and in which ancestry was reckoned matrilineally, but men had responsibility for governing the tribe as a whole. I've always felt that a division of labor and responsibility by *skill-set* like that was a better approach.
That's a dangerous model, regardless of race or creed.
Who says a man is better at running anything because he has the XY chromosome? Generalizing and labeling by identity whether politics, religion, business is a fool's errand.
Well it worked to enhance survival for many human groups for thousands of years. and imo it's a helluvalot better than the gender free for all we've got right now that is tearing society apart from the inside out.
There is a reason ancestry is determine matrilineally in Judaism. During the days of the Temple, Judaism determine whether a baby is Jewish by the father. Because they always knew who the father was. After the Temple was destroyed, they changed to determining if the baby is Jewish by the mother. Because they could not always be sure who the father was. I wish I knew exactly why this change was required in Jewish society, but I suspect it was because of the chaos that ensued after the exile. I suspect ancestry determination is similar with your heritage as well.
How very interesting. To my knowledge, most native American tribes were matrilineal pre European contact. Even the most structured and 'patriarchal' tribes, still honored lineal descent through the mother as primary. For example in hereditary Chief tribes, the mantle passed most often to the Chief's sister's son, not to his own son. My tribe went patrilineal after assimilation, but there is a holdout group of Cherokees who still follow the old clan matilineal descent rules. A friend in college belonged to this group and since his mother was white, even tho his dad was full blood, he was never fully accepted, even tho he was enrolled as a legal citizen of the that Cherokee tribe. Originally your identiy as a Cherokee came through your clan and your clan affiliation was determined by your mother. So a Cherokee woman could marry anyone and her kids would alwyas be Cherokee. Not so the other direction tho.
Interesting. The Chief’s sister’s son. That turns the European model upside down. In the early days of The Ottoman Empire, the next Sultan was determined patrilineally, but fratricide was often used to ensure that power would not be threatened. So there were often lots of killings before the new Sultan rose to power.
Who always knew paternity? Ever heard, "Mommy's baby, daddy's, maybe?" That was a fact until DNA testing.
Not in the circles I traveled in.
Interesting point.
Yes, in many indigenous societies there was division of duties and roles mostly based on need and biology, and women were more co-equal in that their roles were highly respected even if they were encouraged to stay in their lane.
The interesting thing is, that when you honor biological inclinations and all roles are mostly equally respected, Ie, not too much classism, sexism or racism regarding who is seen as doing the most 'important' jobs, most folks, most of the time are quite happy to stay in their lane. Discontent, disempowerment and disrespect are big factors in social rebellion.
I quite agree. Disempowerment and disrespect break down everything no matter the society.
I think it is mostly better because then the whole social group supports your role and you can then feel empowered in what you are doing. Of course there will still be unfairness and problems as there is no perfect fix, but a flexible social group that is rooted in strong survival roles which have been proven to work, can always make some allowances and exceptions.
There have been women on power. Some were good some were bad. But they were competent.
Women until recently have had to work harder for that success but that’s life. Who said life was fair?
We need to work 5his out so families can flourish
Margaret Thatcher went through hell, much of which I would argue was for being female, but was a very effective leader.
I’ll take my lumps, but here is my thought: The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world. Leftists understand this very well. They pushed for women to pursue “power”, then moved in to take over the role of “rocking the cradle”. Has there been anything more damaging than leftist control of education?
I did not think so until the NC fiasco and now to education I add emergency preparedness and management. At some point we need to question whether the accumulation of tax money at the federal level and expecting it to trickle down effectively is a good idea.
There are actually still some Matriarchical societies in the world. There's a book called Leaving Mother Lake by Namu that describes her life growing up in rural western China in such a society. Very interesting!
Yes, there are many examples of matriarchy, but I meant in America. The examples of women you cite are women who have successfully navigated the patriarchal system by mimicking the behavior of men in hierarchy and dominance. Women in indigenous matriarchies govern more equilaterally as they do in raising children; however, there is always the influence of hierarchy and biology, so it's quite tricky to sort out, as dominance always plays its own strong role.
Really good essay Celia! So timely and so glad to have time to respond this am and so glad to have you back! Alot to unpack-- I see a basic lack of trust between people all the way around which seems to have definitely settled along race and gender lines, not just political. Years ago I was privileged to do ceremony with the Sami people in Lappland. A traditional female lineage shaman from Siberia was also there and I was so impressed and amazed by her complete claiming of power and authority without having to be the slightest bit aggressive about it. I have known many powerful caring women of several different races and traditions, but they have always had to fight in some way to maintain enough power and authority to be effective. They have also often, in numerous ways had to 'apologize' or downplay that power in order to be accepted by the world around them. This Siberian woman did not have to do that, in any way that I could see, because her culture, her community and her family, as well as generations of tradition had invested her role as a female shaman, with full power and authority. As she shared about her life and people, I realized how much deep respect and trust and dependence on each other was necessary in a Siberian reindeer herder group, just to survive the harsh lifestyle. Also they had to survive the genocidal Soviet policies etc. I am sure there were many things under the surface which I did not see, but she had a long lasting impact as she exemplified for me personally what true inherent power as a woman can look like. American culture is obviously different and power for a woman will look different here. I believe part of the attraction with Kamala for other women, is not just that she is female, but because they see themselves in her in other ways. It is almost de rigour in American culture in general for powerful women to apologize for that power and downplay their authority in multiple small and often unconscious ways This is what Kamala basically does every time she opens her mouth and she reinforces that apologetic demeanor with her body language, while at the same time she is desperately attempting to claim the power and authority suitable to her role. Very frustrating mixed messages and exactly what many women feel and act out every day. This to me appears to be all mixed up with the need to be seen as a 'nice' person that so many women are forced to believe in and is especially reinforced by the political left message of 'We are the good guys, the rational reasonable caring inclusive people'. Recently a man of long time acquaintance went off on me and got really angry when I respectfully refused to back down. His parting shot was, " and I thought you were a nice person.'. He said it as tho I had failed some basic litmus test. I didn't respond because I did not want to escalate the situation, but I really wish I would have said what I was thinking which was, " Whatever gave you the idea I was a nice person? And why the hell would you ever expect me to be effective if I was only 'nice' all the time? I believe that many women are trying to push back against that outer and inner messaging and too often go too far the other way. In otherwords they become bossy and bitchy and aggressive to try to feel empowered, because they don't actually feel empowered at all.
I think you have hit the nail on the head! I know that I, personally, only tend to act bitchy when I do *not* feel in control of a situation. My best female boss ever *never* got bitchy; she trusted her ability to guide everyone without having to do that.
I feel extremely fortunate that I was never instilled with the "be nice" pattern that so many women have drummed into them by other women.
When "everything" is about women, nothing is about them. People are leaders or followers. Natural leaders are followed, irrespective of gender. You see that in so many settings, both social, business, organizational.....doesn't matter. The endless chatter just gets in the way of reality.
True. I would also like to expand the view a bit. Both women and men who are natural leaders and who have been mostly supported in that role, often do well . However there are many strong women and some men who would make good leaders who have been and are abused for stepping up and trying to take charge. When you are beaten down enough at a young age, you are not likely to risk being a target and leaders are targets. I would also point out, that biologically speaking, it is very much riskier for a woman to step up and take the lead, especially without strong support from a powerful mentor of some kind. Physically, a woman is going to be at a disadvantage in an escalating altercation and leadership roles tend to magnetize confrontation. Male leaders in general are simply not expected to be 'nice.' Women generally however are expected to be more soothing. And women in powerful positions know that they are physically more at risk and so they engage in various social behaviors to modify that risk. It's pretty complex and everyone is different, but there are good reasons many female leaders become more 'masculine', etc. There are also good reasons so many young girls are seduced into taking testosterone and becoming more 'confidently masculine'. Biologically, females across the board in nature tend to be more cautious, because that is nature's way of protecting the future of the species. I don't think that in American politics we have really seen women claim inherent female power. I can't help but compare the amazons who supposedly cut off one breast so as to be able to more effectively use a bow and arrow, with the teen girls today wanting to get their breasts cut off to be more like boys. At it's root, it's an empowerment issue.
Perhaps.
But, then again, you never met my maternal grandmother.
I'm sure she was impressive. I had some real kick ass female elders myself! From my perspective, women who have gone through menopause are a whole different critter.
As are men as their testosterone drops.
In my grandmother's case, I doubt it was menopause. She was orphaned at an early age and was the sole caregiver of her younger brother. She met my grandfather and raised five daughters, often by herself, as he had a demanding job that required extended travel. She was "a lady" in every sense of the word. A wise counsel and I was terrified only of letting her down. Not only was she an accomplished painter but I recall she could still do handstands in her 50s. With her dress tucked demurely between her legs. Definitely not someone to be trifled with.
Great comment. It's way past time to return to a fundamental principle of looking past race and gender for everything. How many on the left would disparage Donald Trump if he was the world's best brain surgeon, and they needed brain surgery?
Who has ever asked the gender of the pilot flying the aircraft before they board?
Saw a true meme, this morning, saying that Obama was telling black men to vote for Harris because she’s black, then asking what the media would do to Trump if he told white folk that they had to vote for him because he is white.
There was a time, not long ago when many people would NOT have flown with a woman pilot or allowed a woman to operate on them, etc.
I have to disagree. There may have been some, but hardly many.
I flew weekly for 35 years. So did hundreds for the company I worked for. No one ever brought up the pilot's gender..........not once.
I think we are speaking of different periods of history. Yes woman have been accepted in many fields for a long time now, but it wasn't always that way. And of course nowadays there is a ridiculous over emphasis on both gender and race, which as you say has little to do with competence.
We used to call my mother “The Velvet Hammer”. When she was in the mood for really giving it to someone, when she squinted her eyes that certain way, you did NOT want to be in her crosshairs.
But she was NEVER confused for being bitchy - she just was never one to be patronized, condescended to, or taken for granted. On the other hand, I’m constantly amazed at the things she let me get away with (while very much holding me accountable) - her love was, really, unconditional.
Ditto. Are we related? lol
AMEN Bruce-- just like race!!
When Drummers Were Women. Layne Redmond.
This looks very interesting. Thank you George.
She was an amazing woman: drummer, artist, film maker, author. I had the privilege of studying with her for 6 months.
Wow. What a blessing.
Thank you for this perspective.
Very interesting.
I hope you'll write about your time in Lappland. I'm fascinated by the Sami.
The Sami have really been struggling this past decade with 'climate change' or whatever one wants to call it . The tundra has been melting and that has been very hard on the reindeer. I did write a bit about my time with the Sami last Christmas. "Tis the Season' essay on my Elder Voice Substack. I have never looked at Christmas the same since I spent time above the Arctic circle! It's been over ten years since I had any direct contact with the Sami I met and suddenly out of the blue I was contacted a couple of weeks ago by a lady in Finland who is part of the group that originally sponsored me there. It was nice to reconnect a bit, but the Sami elder I did ceremony with has long since passed and the younger Sami are busy trying to just survive and seem a bit like the young everywhere now, rather immersed in digital culture land.
Open minded people ask questions and seek truth. I am not alone when i say I know plenty of people who are not open minded and have zero interest in reality or the truth. They come in all sizes, colors and flavors. The media does not seek truth anymore because they are not open minded. They have an agenda. This does not automatically mean they are evil although many are. People need to seek truth ( THE truth) on their own for in today's world there are agendas and manipulators galore. I prefer to hear from so called nut cases rather than "journalists" whose arrogance far exceeds their intelligence. Joey Scarborough is one of the poster boys proving this last observation.
Sadly, schools are doing their best to squash truth seeking or critical thinking. Let's hope DJT gets elected and starts returning our education system to actual education!
Remember, there is no such thing as “the truth“ for the left now. There is only “my truth“ that exists within a system of oppressors and oppressed.
I just got into some kerfuffle on FB (yeah, I still go there) regarding CBS heavily editing Harris' nonsensical speech.
Blue Woman writes: What do you suggest?
Me: Equality. They're distorting her words for protection, his to undermine.
The discussion then becomes criticism of me for pointing out Harris' flaws.
They said that Trump is "insane." I said, give examples. They said, What, you don't know?
I said, Harris claims he wants a national abortion ban. He has said no such thing. That makes no sense after overturning Roe v. Wade for being unconstitutional.
They then call me "delusional."
Do I believe he incited a riot on Jan 6th?
I say no. He told people to protest, but the left tells people to protest, and the left protests resulted in far more death and destruction.
Guess what? I'm "delusional." This conversation is not worth having with me. I have fallen into a "rabbit hole."
I write: Trump was acquitted. This means that the evidence was examined. That's "delusional."
Meanwhile, everyone ought to listen to Harmeet Dhillon's summary of Harris' career. Give me a crude populist real estate thug over a lazy, inarticulate, incurious plagiarizer who sleeps her way to the top, and is in the VP slot because of the color of her skin and genitalia. This person hasn't had to fight for anything.
Trump has.
I'm voting for the patriarchy: MERIT. HARD WORK. FREE SPEECH. SPACE X. A VP WHO KNOWS POLICY AND CAN EFFECTIVELY COMMUNICATE IT.
You’ve captured a very common dialogue these days.
Bravo
Please refrain from mincing words. Harris is a prostitute.
Also the Wizardess of Odd. LOL.
Why would anyone vote for her? She’s a chimera, taking on an appeasing look for each group she meets, saying what each group finds pleasing. Do you really want this person leading the free world?! With Elmer Fudd as the emergency fall back!?
Elmer Fudd, brilliant. Maybe she'd bring back John Kerry as Goofy?
Dude can't load his own shotgun. Pitiful.
Loading a shotgun with the butt in your crotch (whoa that sounds strange…) shows you all you need to know about “gun guy” Timmy. What a fraud.
saw that video, was waiting for the payoff when the shotgun goes off with the butt in his crotch.
I would have laughed, which is what one does when someone exhibits their pure stupidity
😆 Yeah me too. Was waiting for the boom and Timmy doubled over gasping in pain. Lucky for him it didn’t happen. Would have been one of the most viral videos in history.
and then the wait would be on to see how CBS explained how they weren't going to air the footage
Tampon Timmy, meet Dick Cheney.
😂
ELMER FUDD! Ha that’s perfect.
Elmer Fudd, perfect !
😂😂😂😂
I want to hear her Mandarin accent.
Elmer Befuddled!
I am seeing the same thing on substack though. I was disillusioned with TFP writing but still enjoyed the comments. Until they became like you describe. I have flaws but not wanting to hear an opposing point of view is not one of them.
Sorry to say you are wasting time and air space on these people...
Exactly. There is no arguing with these people because they have to see for themselves how the media has been captured and has distorted reality and there isn’t an easy way to do that. I’m just so grateful that I was able to break out of the matrix and see reality for what it is. But it’s also left me in an awkward position with my liberal friends and even my own grown son who are still blind and supportive of the Dem party. I don’t even know where to start to get them to try and understand because if you point out another perspective such as January 6, they immediately shut it down as delusional as you said.
“But as the Trump years went on, I started to notice that nothing bad was happening, nothing fascist was happening.”
————————————————————
Nothing fascist from Trump, but plenty from the Left including claims that the Russians “hacked our election,” two bogus impeachments, democrats urging people to be violent against Republicans, and the whole Trump-Russian conspiracy theory played-out daily in the media and capped by a $50 million witch hunt, to name a few.
This woman could literally be me, woo woo and all. Thank you for sharing Celia. I've not committed to Trump yet, but as we get closer to voting, I understand my responsibility to my children and my country. I'm in such a struggle to know what to believe. Even the interview Disa suggested with Harmeet Dhillon, I wonder what Mamala did to truly piss her off. And I dont particularly trust Tucker either.
But just like woo woo lady, my lived experiences, what I've seen with my own eyes, what I believe in my heart and what I've learned in the rabbit holes the last 3 years will not allow me to vote for the Democratic party for the first time ever. I have been trying to educate myself on Trump, the person, not persona. Thanks to the commenter who suggested the more humane Trump podcasts. I will listen!!♡
I dislike Tucker immensely. He is the WOKE right,
I wish Harmeet had chosen a different podcast. But she is open about her biases. She brought proof of her claims. She is straightforward and credible.Harris is the opposite. It all fits what we are witnessing with our own eyes.
I’ve never liked Trump and never voted for him before. Bit he isn’t a FRAUD. He’s always been this way. So many solid lifelong Dems are voting Trump because The Dems are no longer for the most fundamental American precepts , like our Constitution!
I couldn’t WAIT to vote for him in 2016 so he could realign SCOTUS and appoint Justices who actually interpret the Constitution!
Which should remind everyone about the plans the Democrats have for SCOTUS when/if Kamala gets elected — court packing to ensure left wing majority on the court forever.
I listened to the entire podcast with Harmeet and followed that with Honestlys podcast about the Dems voting for Trump.
Like 234s snarky comment, I'm not dating the guy!
For God's sake woman, you're not going out on a date with him.
If you consider the issues, it's easy to vote for DJT. Ask yourself if you're ok with grocery prices, gas prices, crime, funding illegals with your tax $$ without having voted for it, a candidate no one voted for who is the candidate solely because she's a female POC, a candidate who couldn't get votes and who slept her way to the top, a party that is ignoring the hurricane crisis and actually trying to prevent aid groups from helping, a party who enacts lawfare, a biased judicial system, a party that attempts to assassinate opponents, the list goes on but start there.
I doubt any president is going to be able to effectively tackle inflation. There has been too much QE and not sure how that genie can be put back in the bottle.
True. Inflation always has been, is, and always will be a function of monetary policy. As the chairman of the Fed is theoretically independent a new president only has one shot at fixing this- appointing the right chairman.
The recent rate cut was a bad idea. We should have continued to ram down M2/M3 until we all screamed in agony.
Federal spending has got to be cut. But I think it can be done by putting a stop to the waste, fraud, etc.. And economic growth needs to be encouraged across the board by cutting regulatory red-tape and getting the federal thumb off the scale.
It's hard to argue with your advice Lynne, but unfortunately there are many people who benefit, at least in the short term, from waste, fraud, regulatory red-tape, etc. My comment on The Free Press article "Argentina's President Javier Milei Loves Being the Skunk at the Garden Party" applies to some extent to the U.S. as well:
Javier Milei talks a good game, but I fear he will ultimately be stymied in his attempts to implement his libertarian/free-market policies in Argentina by powerful local constituencies that will fight "tooth and nail" to hold onto the economic and social advantages they think they enjoy under the current system, regardless of how unproductive that system is. Worse, he may be made a scapegoat for the country's continuing economic malaise, even if his policy agenda is never given a fair chance to work. The unfortunate result would be that Argentinians will (again) sour on libertarian and free-market ideas, and will have to wait for another prospective savior to come along and try to pull the country out of its doldrums.
Thanks Dave. I fear you are right. I am sorry I missed your article. I was a paid subscriber to TFP when it was still Common Sense. I stayed after the quantity of articles increased accompanied by the inevitable drop in quality. Sometimes I would read a paragraph and go straight to the comments which were often lively. But I walked away when they began censoring comments and when my subscription expired I did not renew it.
I agree with your criticisms of TFP but I still find it interesting enough to stick around. Part of the problem may be that Bari and Nellie are busy raising their kids and TFP just isn't that important to them anymore. I haven't been censored yet, but I try to be very polite and measured even when I disagree with an article or comment.
I couldn't help but think of the genie popping out of the bottle in the old Bugs Bunny cartoon, "I'm here, I'm here!". And how it gets angry at being disturbed lol.
Presidents don't control the price of anything, other than that I think you're correct.
They don’t directly control prices, but their policies have effects on prices.
You mean like tariffs?
Yes but the fact is that the Fed has been engaging in QE since the GFC and Trump did nothing to stop it. The massive public payouts during Covid is what caused inflation along with QE. Aside from that, I do agree with your points.
The Tucker interview with Harmeet Dhillon is truly worth your time. It is a chronological, fact-filled narrative of the life of Kamala Harris and reveals what little substance there is to her past and present work product. Harmeet has special insight into the VP’s political connections as she lived and worked in San Francisco among the same circles. She does most of the speaking (not Tucker)and I was amazed at her knowledge. Harmeet doesn’t scornfully denigrate Harris. She comes to the discussion loaded with evidence of the privileged, corrupted path Harris was treated to from her first day of work straight out of college to her ascension to the current presidential ticket. I came away surprised by her lack of qualifications and stunned by her arrogance that it won’t matter to the American voter. I am a Trump voter, but wow Harmeet delivers some surprising stuff. The MSM knows all this and would prefer that we don’t hear it. I hope you will try to work your way toward voting for Trump/Vance. I respect you for caring about the world we chose for your children to live in, the seriousness you give to your decision and your willingness to research the truth.
Harmeet Dillon is the real deal.
I got about 1/2 way through and stopped because I did not need any more.
Kamala Harris is a fraud.
One podcaster, Charles CW Cooke, on Megyn Kelly’s show simply call Harris an aviator, actress and stupid.
Because she has not given thought to any policy issues over the past decade.
Harris speaks well about abortion only, because she has thought a lot about it.
But zero on other important topics.
Do what this lady did Jenny. Go straight to the source and analyze his comments for yourself.
That was me. I was always going to vote Trump because the Dems are deranged, but I have to say watching those interviews bolstered my opinion of the man.
Jenny- you will be surprised! He is down to earth, sane, caring and NOT an A-hole!
Keep reading and pushing against what you have thought in the past.
My suggestion is to work through the emotions of this dilemma.
Allow the emotions pass, so you can think critically about this.
Good luck.
Yep, it's really very simple. Who has given us the mess we're in? The endless wars. The insanely mounting debt. The litany of lies. The suppression of free speech and individual liberty. Not Trump.
The entrenched, elitist corporate and political class has created this mess. They all need to go, but primarily the DNC and its handmaidens in legacy media. They are the enemies of free people, free markets and free ideas.
And as I've said, - thanks to all those who post Harris/Walz lawn signs and bumper stickers. It's nice to have certain people self-identify as mentally instable and enemies of liberty and sane values.
I like that meme about Clinton/Gore, Bush/Cheney, Obama/Biden and Biden/Harris being in control for 28 of the last 32 years but wanting to blame Trump for the present circumstances.
I'm dog-sitting for my daughter in a suburb outside of Detroit. From block to block, there are thirty houses. Out of those, thirty, seventeen have Trump signs or flags. Six have Harris signs, and the rest have nothing.
Just curious, which suburb. I'm betting not Dearborn.
About twenty minutes from Detroit, twenty minutes from Dearborn.
Yeh, those lawn signs do help me avoid dangers zones for sure.
The worst though are the ones that pretend to support for Harris/Walz because they think it will get them in the "club". They have no principles, no morals, no care for anything or anyone- just riding the waves of power. I can take the really deluded, overcome by the propaganda - I think there's still a prayer they'll awaken. The others though, will crawl through slime to support Team Power, and will maim and kill anything that gets in their path.
As many are aware Bill Clinton said that Laken Riley would still be alive if her killer had been properly vetted. What has not been reported is that Hillary is so mad that after hearing what Bill said Hillary said that "I will no longer have sex with that man." You all can write the next line yourselves.
Bill says I can die a somewhat happy man
Bill quietly mutters “Thank you Jesus!”
That's hilarious! When was the last time they had sex? When Chelsea was conceived?
Bill's reply: "So what else is new?"
OR
He silently thinks, "Whew!"
I think a DNA test would prove Bill the infertile is not the dad. Unbelievable Hilary found solace with Webb Hubbell, arguably one of the ugliest men ever.
Lots of rumors that she was in a long relationship with her aide Huma Abedin.
She probably paid her to be in that relationship. Actually she allowed Huma to have another high paying job at the same time tax payers were paying her a lot of money.
Desperate times create desperate people using desperate measures.
Anthony Weiner, Hillary Clinton, Alexander Soros ... you have to wonder about this woman's proclivity to keep such gruesome company.
years back I saw a photo comparison of Chelsea to Hubbell...pretty strong likeness
I wouldn't bet much on Bill being Chelsea's father.
He did literally say that but I think his point was that having illegals as a work force excused or made up her death. It was pretty twisted logic. Maybe akin to Maryha Radditch telling JD Vance that only a handful of apartment complexes in Aurora were controlled by a Venezuelan gang. JD Vance also debunked the we need illegal laborers argument on some show with somebody named Lulu.
Did Bill listen to himself?
What about Bill’s makeup? Evidently applied by a mortician? Did you see the shake in his hand? He is not well, as to be expected, if you had to live with her.
Was that makeup? Oy.
I thought it was just the look you get with end stage syphilis.
That was belly laugh funny.
I suspect that hasn’t happened post Lewinsky. Possibly way before her. So nothing to see there.
I’m sure Bill has other outlets for his bodily functions.