“I can hear those champagne bottle corks popping in Moscow — like it’s Christmas every fucking day": US Politics, February 2024

folks got the jitters out there.

Definitely, and I think a lot of the disconnect that tables is talking about upthread is that the things that particularly give people the jitters aren't easily accounted for by our normal economic data dashboard. They are more structural things about security and stability, which have been relentlessly undermined by dehumanizing corporatism, lack of reliable access to healthcare, people feeling trapped in various ways where they are (Americans are moving across state lines less than they have in decades), cumulative household debt, etc. Lots of these things do get measured in various ways, but they're mostly not what talking heads mean when they say "the economy," which focuses mostly on GDP, DJIA and the unemployment rate — things that can be "good" in the aggregate without saying much about average individual experience.

I know, I know, but as a brainwashed leftist ... there is no God

Americans are moving across state lines less than they have in decades),

The old are moving to Florida to die or to kill me.

xp that post me

i tell a left evangelist friend of mine "the thing that's important about the church is exclusively social. partly because there is no god, of that i'm rather sure." to dorks who say "i hate organized religion, but i'm ~spiritual~" i will say "fuck that, you must be precisely the opposite, but find a church that's not loaded with assholes preaching exclusionary hatred"!

well, i spose they _can_ be spiritual, whatever the fuck they think that means.

"i hate organized religion, but i'm ~spiritual~" i will say "fuck that, you must be precisely the opposite, but find a church that's not loaded with assholes preaching exclusionary hatred"!

OTM. Also: these people don't wanna make time to go to church/observe sacraments.

I think there is a strong need/desire in most of us to believe or at least hope that there is something after death, hence the idea of "spirituality."

ha i do not want anything but release that is the desire, i want for nothing more, it would only disappoint.

/radicalovershare

Organized religion, on the other hand, as has already been pointed out, is more of a tribal/social affiliation.

I think that has been made astoundingly clear in the Age of Trump.

Dream catchers, kokopelli, hackysack

well, i spose they _can_ be spiritual, whatever the fuck they think that means.

hm. i now perceive the necessary hegelian synthesis. that it should be social AND spiritual. *hunter ascends amidst angelic chorus*

well, i spose they _can_ be spiritual, whatever the fuck they think that means

so like spirituality requires fellowship? Christian fellowship specifically, or do you have like an approved list

growing up in a heavily christian country definitely sucks. a christian continent even. connected to another christian continent. bleh. sick of their demons and fears. everyone should just go bowling.

the grange hall in town here is world-renowned (for real) for its contra dancing. seems like a much healthier use of a large building. it gets kinda smelly and sweaty in there. also: they used to have hardcore shows there in the early 80s. flipper played there! and siege! also a much better use of a large public building. similar smells and dancing as well.

probly should be here?

do you have like an approved list

nope. slightly more at link but only slightly. didn't know which thread was "best," just picked that one.

btw scott, i joined a grange three months ago to volunteer. ha, elev. 8350', i can ride my bike 3000' of vert to get to it, then serve the community. it's a bit elderly, but i feel happy and useful there!

scott aren't you from ct? i grew up in fairfield cty, ppl there just worshipped money i don't recommend that either.

I got busy yesterday and couldn't respond to people who responded to my q, but thank you

― rob, Thursday, February 8, 2024 5:58 AM bookmarkflaglink

You're welcome. Though I was wondering why you asked it.

my family is from guilford/sachems head but i grew up in brookfield which i wouldn't recommend much. right on route 7. when we moved there there were still cows crossing route 7. now its just one of those hellish endless things. but where my house was was nice. very new england. i lived next to the catholic grade school/church and across the street was the big congregational church. next to my house was the historical society. behind my house was the volunteer fire station. the siren went off a lot. and i worked across the street at the village store where you could read your newspaper next to the potbelly stove. very rustic! i never go back there. no reason to. very catholic town. lots of Italian and Irish catholic families with a million kids. lots of good pizza and scowling redheads in my town.

x-post

i was gonna read the CT parts of thurston moore's book because i know he had a similar existence down the road in bethel. getting wasted in the woods and getting into petty trouble. it could be very boring. you had to do something to make it less so. no netflix!

yup i get it, thx. i only remember that because like 20 yrs ago you mentioned wxci, is it? in the early-mid 80s that station was important fodder for me.

that station saved my life! i simply cannot ever give them enough credit. so much love. they turned me on to half the music i worship.

The conversation may have moved on from this but Unitarian Universalists are the libbiest churchiest churchlibs there are.

I hate to generalize but every single one of those mfs wears a chunky sweater and round glasses and donates to public radio and eats fake meat. They all have wooden canoes and play the oboe.

i said radical priests ymp

I sing at a UU church and this checks out

We was all on the cover of Newsweek

i learned sex ed at a unitarian church in the 70s. west redding, ct. great barbecues. they were nice folks. my parents mostly went for the talk and coffee.

How do you get a family of Unitarians to leave the neighborhood?

Burn a question mark on their lawn

I learned it in 1963 between the Chatterley ban and the Beatles' first LP.

They all have wooden canoes and play the oboe.
hm. are they tactical oboes? when i say _radical_...

my family was going to the unitarian church here in greenfield since before the civil war. my dad went once when he moved in with us and did not like it one bit. no people left. and the ones that are left were not very friendly to him. he's like 10th generation UU! oh well. i enjoyed going to Star Island in the summer for a good old fashioned UU think tank hoedown when i was a kid.

Scott, I can relate. Fourth generation here. I took UU sex ed at the church T.S. Eliot went to (founded by his grandfather). That church had a surprising collection of dildos.

that station saved my life! i simply cannot ever give them enough credit. so much love. they turned me on to half the music i worship.

I live in Fairfield County, after 30 years in NYC…while it is not exactly unlike the state of affairs in which "people are obsessed with $$$," it is a big, welcome contrast to NY, like, the outdoors aspect is fantastic; although I do miss Park Slope/Ditmas Park/Kensington.

One thing that is very good about Fairfield County is that the record buying game is nowhere near as competitive as NYC; you can find stuff here easily and not particularly expensively. I bet Scott S and possibly B. Amato went to Disc and Dat, but I am wondering if Scott was aware of Gerosa Records? there is also a place in Bridgeport called the Archive, which while it is focused on exploitation cinema DVDS, also has records: I found a copy of Patto "Roll Em, Smoke Em, Put Out another line" a record I have never seen anywhere.

From Page 6 of the special counsel report - a favorable legal conclusion for the presiden, but a tough one set to be seized upon by political rivals: The special counsel concluded he’d be perceived as “a sympathetic, well-meaning elderly man with a poor memory.” pic.twitter.com/vUBrSQsxLO

— Ed O'Keefe (@edokeefe) February 8, 2024

Seems like a misreading by O'Keefe (who's a hack). The special counsel said Biden would present himself as "a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory." Which would be the smart play. It worked very, very well for Reagan, whose brain was Swiss cheese by the time he left office.

Definitely went to Disc and Dat, and Gerosa ever since it opened in the late eighties. Glad to hear that both are still around. Trash American Style was too scary for me as a teen (though I’d been there). I felt better among the proggers at Gerosa.

xp hey, at least I avoided a Musk-bot blue checkmark account

It worked very, very well for Reagan, whose brain was Swiss cheese by the time he left office

I didn't even realize until looking up just now that Biden assumed office at an older age than Reagan was when he left office

Old and busted: "defining deviancy down"

The new hotness: "defining dementia down."

Biden's obviously the candidate, but who would the dems field now if he had to drop out? Would it be Harris?

IF he resigns or dies, Harris becomes president, then the party would have to nominate her this summer.

There's a kook in the building next to me that has a KENNEDY 24 sticker on his Escalade... he's nearly always drunk and I've seen him driving erratically

it's probably RFK

There's a kook in the building next to me that has a KENNEDY 24 sticker on his Escalade

Kirsty MacColl song.

I would like it to be Harris for reasons of my own, but perhaps the universe will conspire to elevate somebody like Buttigieg or Newsom.

We almost came perilously close to a woman president in the recent past, but every force in the universe seemed to align to prevent it.

(Nota bene: not specifically defending HRC or Harris or Warren or even Haley - none of whom are perfect - just noting that we've proven ourselves capable of nominating and electing extremely imperfect dudes over and over again.)

name one

Whatever else, Trump isn't perfect.

Kirsty MacColl song.

doffs cap