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February 2nd, you know, will be the 100-year anniversary of Ulysses (1922), which is generally considered the finest novel written in the English langauge during the entire Twentieth century.

That's a mouthful .. is it not? I am already feeling the sense of swag that must come from such a thing.

This image that I included, this is an original first-edition copy of a limited edition printing, that was published in Paris by Sylvia Beach.

» I Know Sylvia Beach (Shakespeare & Co.)

In Hemingway's Moveable Feast, you actually meet Sylvia Beach. You meet her at her bookstore, Shakespeare & Co.

That's where she was telling young Ernest to make sure he has himself a good, hot meal .. because he was looking a little thin.

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This page continues from » Page One (19 Aug 2021).

» Paying Attention to Deceitful Spirits and to the Doctrines of Demons

Doesnt what Dostoevsky says about how people can become possessed by the bizarre ideas of a bizarre ideology to the point that they actually appear to embody some sort of dark, demonic energy ..

.. doesnt the theme of Dostoevsky's novel seem to jibe with what Paul writes here?

Sure does seem like it to me.

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This page continues from a section lifted out of an entry titled » The Darkness Didnt Get It (19 June 2021).

It is a sad, depressing topic to address. Time and again scripture talks about evil forces who deceive the unwitting, who also deceive themselves.

It says a lot of things that would make me very uncomfortable if I were them. And I told them as much.

Scripture says, you know, that God sends a powerful delusion on those who reject the truth.

They repeatedly dismissed my concerns, so I feel as though I genuinely tried to help. I feel like I tried to warn them about perils spelled out so plainly in the scriptures for those on that path.

You know what they say about leading a horse to water.

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The inside flap of the dust jacket for the Pevear translation of The Brothers Karamazov (Everyman's Library) says that Dostoevsky's story is told with » hair-raising intellectual clarity and a feel for the human condition unsurpassed in world literature.

When writing about Dostoevsky in the past I have always focused on another part of the text contained there on the inside flap ..

.. the statement that mentions his » towering reputation as one of a handful of thinkers who forged the modern sensibility.

When I first read that, I set the book down on my lap and wondered, "What does that even mean?"

Impressive as that statement is, it wasnt the thing that impressed me most about his accolades.

When I read that he wrote with a feel for the human condition unsurpassed in world literature, I knew what that meant.

A feel for the human condition.

Every human has a feel for the human condition. You have a feel for the human condition.

Even Sean Hannity has a feel for the human condition .. though not a very good one.

(Kiss my ass, Sean. Reptiles have a feel, too. Just not a human one.)

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This page continues from here » Hypocrisy in America - Page Three (2 Oct 2018).

» "It's Okay if You Hack Up Enemies-of-the-People"

If I were going to try a similar thing as Blow does here .. by giving existential voice to actions ..

.. I might say that the Administration's response to the Saudis for the gruesome murder of Jamal Khashoggi is something like »

"It's okay if you use a bone-saw to hack up journalists from the Amazon-Washington Post .. long as the blade is sharp and not very rusty .. because they are just enemies of-the-people anyway. Downright disgusting, I tell you. Thanks for the help, but try to be a little more careful next time. And 15 guys is way too many. You shouldnt need more than two or three. Talk to the Russians."

I am talking about actions here, not words. What do the actions say if you strip away all the words .. because you can no longer trust the words. And because actions always speak louder.

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This page continues from here » Hypocrisy in America - Page Two (2 Oct 2018).

» Elite-Level Hypocrisy and the Sad Lesson of Paul Ryan's Speakership

Check out this review and fact-check of Paul Ryan's speakership done by Ari Melber (6 Dec 2018).

He is not putting words into Paul Ryan's mouth. Ari is letting Paul Ryan speak for himself .. and then looking at how Paul did relative to those statements that he publicly uttered himself.

» Nobody is Even Close

I wonder what Charlie Pierce thinks of this.

You could spend the rest of your life trying to identify and document all the hypocrisy in our government .. and still not capture it all.

I bet that Michael Moore knows what I am talking about.

Have they no shame? Do they just say whatever they think that people want to hear? It certainly appears that way.

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This page continues from here » Hypocrisy in America - Page One (2 Oct 2018).

» Birds of a Feather Flocking Together

Speaking of being renowned for hypocrisy .. here is Ken Starr with a young Brett Kavanaugh.

Birds-of-a-feather are they.

» Hypocrisy and Self-Delusion

Nobody lives a life completely free of hypocrisy .. but gross hypocrisy is a result of self-delusion.

They dont see their hypocrisy because they dont know themselves .. because they are self-deluded.

And because they dont see this obvious thing that is right in front of them ..

.. they naturally think that others dont see it either.

Some people think that they are a straight-shooter .. when it is obvious to everybody else that they are not.

And it doesnt stop at just crooked shooting, either. But you will never be able to get them to see the error of their crooked shooting.

Go ahead and give it a try and you'll see what I mean.

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This entry originated here » When Governments Inflict Lasting Psychic Trauma on Children as a Matter of Policy - Page Two (21 June 2018).

» What a Hypocrite

I wonder what Mike Pence thinks of this. He seems to be familiar with the way that bad morals can end up incinerating the planet.

He is such a hypocrite. He is a hypocrite's hypocrite. Paul says that such people condemn themselves.

Peter says to rid yourself of all hypocrisy. (Mike mustve skipped that part.)

Jesus himself warned the people about the hypocrisy of the members of the Establishment of his day ..

.. saying that these Establishment members do not practice what they preach ..

.. and that these self-righteous Establishment hypocrites like to major in the minor things .. while neglecting the really important stuff, such as justice and mercy.

Mike Pence is the Establishment of our day .. a part of the Establishment. So I probably shouldnt be so surprised at his hypocrisy.

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Some time ago I wrote that Nietzsche, for me, is about » a crisis without equal on earth. These words come from Nietzsche himself.

I have a copy of the Modern Library Classics » Basic Writings of Nietzsche, which contains complete texts of five of Nietzsche's most important works, from his first book to his last.

1. The Birth of Tragedy (1872)
2. Beyond Good and Evil (1886)
3. On the Genealogy of Morals (1887)
4. The Case of Wagner (1888)
5. Ecce Homo | How One Becomes What One Is (written 1888, published 1908)

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[ This entry originated » here. ]

» A Smart Motherfucker

I am a smart motherfucker myself .. without even trying to be. My dad told me at least a million times while I was growing up, "Dont be smart."

What he really meant was, "Dont be a smart-ass."

I could definitely be a smart ass. (Because I am so smart.) No doubt about it. Being a smart-ass is part of what got me into trouble with the captain.

Because I am not afraid to toe-up with authority figures when they are fucking up. Particularly when their fucking up is affecting me or mine.

Or did he really not want me to be smart?

My dad was smart, but not educated. My mom told me, "I married your father because he was smart and because he had good teeth."

» Dad vs Fyodor Karamazov

I can confirm that he was smart, but only in a Fyodor Karamazov sort-of-way.

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