Wouldn't that be a powerful advantage! Israel declaring itself a secular state. I gather that almost half of Israelis identify themselves that way already. Great idea!
An interesting thing is that almost everyone is urging restraint after this latest retaliatory strike. I'm glad the Iranians only went after two military targets. I have not heard yet whether there are any Israeli casualties...
Yes, it is more bluster than substance from Iran. This is a religious proxy war between Iranian Shiites and Arab Sunnis with Orthodox Jew Israel caught in the middle. Neither Russia nor China will back Iran if a real war breaks out against the West. Like Russia, Iran’s youth do not embrace religious zealotry and would prefer living in the 21st century rather than the 12th.
There is really nothing in Iran’s bargain for the Arab states who likely appreciate Israel and the US thinning the herd of jihadists in the region and putting Iran back in its place. Like Russia, Iran needs this war to bleed off internal dissent and the stress is likely to topple the whole house of cards culminating in domestic civil war.
Fascist theocracies tend to have short shelf lives which Israel is struggling with currently. It is time for Israel to declare itself a secular modern state and to jettison Jerusalem declaring it as an international UN cultural site. Nations based on religious zealotry are doomed to fail.
Still having trouble understanding specific factions and the long standing grievances and how they divide or might. Thanks for the piece. Feels like we’re being dragged back to the womb of civilization for something like a restart which is only an abstract thought of metaphor, not a reality. I think you’re right about Gaza. I imagine you got Malcom’s letter about Monday and wide protests here and the world. Time will tell in all incredibly incendiary places that have our attention.
I see it as a clash between two theocracies over Jerusalem. Both Israel and Iran have become right wing theocracies and the orthodox zealots have control in both countries. Iran has a grudge with the Arabs going back to the fall of the Persian Empire and the Arab Sunnis and Iranian Shiites have fought for legitimacy of the lineage of Muhammad and the true expression of Islam for centuries.
Both the Jews and the Muslims claim Jerusalem as their sacred ground and it can easily become a holy war of biblical annihilation of perceived infidels. Add in smoldering resentment of Western imperialism in the region and there will be blood.
My opinion is the A15 threat is not specifically Iranian but certainly being used by them to create chaos in the West. Iran does not have the international reach to organize such an event and certainly would not preview it before taking action. This feels like a Western grassroots attack on capitalism rather than anything to do with radical Islam.
Will Iran use it to their advantage... you betcha. Will Israel stay stuck in the corner it has painted itself into... yep. Is this playing with fire in region filled with dynamite... sadly so. Miracles may happen, but so much can go wrong very dramatically. I wrote a reply on Malcom's article trying to make sense of this new threat. Thanks for your thoughtful reply.
The A15 threat smells to me of a Western anarchist stunt rather than an Islamic jihad. The American-English accented narration and the hand wringing over the plight of Palestinian Arabs while showing the green Hamas battle flag rather than the official flag of Palestine. This to me is a blatant co-opting of the horrors of Gaza to justify an attack on Western capitalism by disenfranchised Westerners not Islamic jihadists. You are right to be confused and that is the point of the A15 effort - spreading confusion.
Finally found time to see the video again. The old commies at the end telling kids to “shut the fuck up” is pretty worth the time for review with your help. I agree this whole movement is by the west. It started inorganically right after oct 7. It slapped me so hard. It challenged all I understood about the subject which I admit was old attitude that hadn’t changed. But I wasn’t so incorrect about the situation. In the video there’s a clear plea to help them as they protest and struggle which is clearly a nod to a normalcy one would expect but I think is absent. My point is the plea appeals to people who don’t really understand the situation.
I know some younger adults that have taken on this cause and I’m sick about it because I know they mean well. The constant barrage of photos from main stream expose the tragedy that takes is own life from the image. Pretty much the same image again again. More people are dying elsewhere with less concern. The threat, Im horrified, to say is the media and its reach. Who needs real descent when this is so much more controlled? We are so screwed. Enjoy trial day.👋
"Who needs real descent when this is so much more controlled?"
Canadian philosopher Marshall McLuhan coined the phrase "the medium is the message" back in the 60's before the internet was even invented. "Indeed, it is only too typical that the 'content' of any medium blinds us to the character of the medium". For McLuhan, it was the medium itself that shaped and controlled "the scale and form of human association and action." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_medium_is_the_message
Since then there have been all sorts of studies on how 24/7 information overload and texting has atrophied our attention spans drowning us in a sea of information without much insight or depth analysis. Simply seeing it on the media of our doom scrolling devices makes it "real" even if it doesn't physically occur. Virtual reality has crept into all aspects of our lives blurring the difference between personal experience and mass media programming. McLuhan was talking about the changes occurring when the news went from newspapers to TV broadcasting and "infotainment." Wait until we unleash AI alternative reality upon ourselves! We've dug ourselves quite a reality "hole" and rather than stopping digging, we shovel ahead even more furiously. Yes, we are so screwed...
I’ve been thinking about all this. Have to say I talk about myself a lot, I don’t know how else to frame things sometimes, I regret. My experiences teach me as I haven’t been in school since ‘76 and also having been a dance teacher, nearly 50 years of that, the instructions are so experiential and full of metaphor.
I remember the McLuhan stuff when it happened. My dad was the same age and his generation had a particular vibe. He was right and so was the writer of “hidden persuaders” in the day an equal book that seemed so simple but was profound and easier for me to think about. Perhaps it’s why it’s not a bible like concept like the medium is the message. Specifically about advertising the potential to manage images to excite. Pushing sex primarily as the motivator. Big leap now to Scientology for this conversation. And experiences I had with people associated. There was EST also and other cults popped up. Big problems there I can’t express and have fear about spreading in any large way. It’s a mind control deal which is likely known as a cult but they have more serious techniques than I certainly knew. Put that aside for now. Whether them or others, I’ve had glimpses. Implanting memory can be done but being able to see memory somehow. Again, a personal experience that is either a seamless trick or real. Either way, a real mind f. Anyway, I went to art school, graduated in ‘76 to art school for fine art but seguayed into media which was really illustration then. Paste up and mechanicals, as likely the last real generation before computers. I studied advertising for 3 weeks if that. A high strung and full of polished ideals woman that I was I left those classes because the thrust was to lie. To deliver, to trick through any device visually to sell. I recall standing to say, but that’s a lie or similar, the whole class looked at me and no one had any idea that that was wrong. Blank faces that communicated I was the odd one out so I did leave. It was simply a stance to adopt to serve the problem to solve. I fought my way though art school in that way. Copyrights were also not used yet really and problems with work for hire were bad too. Anyway, when the medium message came around soon the Network movie happened so yes, we were in a change but nothing like today. Just retired from being a florist in 2022. My husband learned floristry in NY, in a long journey, we met in art school. He’s a painter. Started that business in 2011 as a shop for flowers as a destination of Sedona, a tourist town where there are or were lots of weddings. Near where we already live. A strong internet presence was paramount so I made that. Used our own photos of our own arrangements, really top drawer. What I had to deal with and decide on was how to make that presence and still have an independent life. How does one post or learn to as it’s all new, to be a person and be separate from a business. Or literally I see how some become the business as has really been demanded now. That, it the deal right there. When you become the presence that you’ve imprinted on the media. Indesguishable for so many especially if you’re not old and all your memories are intergrated with media. That, my friend is where we are. And it is not a beautiful thing. Time to time I think social media sends information and like the Palestine protests, signals like to schools of fish to peel of and swim one way rather than the other. I don’t know what the message is exactly or from whom and that is what I seek to know but likely won’t find out Like Bill Barr in the news today. We watched him bury the Trump info to keep Trump out of prosecution. And yet now, he did it in secret it’s reported. The echos of what happened are overlapping other echos and what’s that called when waves bunch up? Found it… Constructive interference happens when two waves overlap in such a way that they combine to create a larger wave. Destructive interference happens when two waves overlap in such a way that they cancel each other out.
I think destructive interference is being tried. Getting time stamps on articles is paramount now to establish a realer timeline. Everything happens “now” in media. I don’t think any of this is tried and true. More like tried a bit and with manipulation as intended and never been done so just throw the switch! Which brings me to my point. The *message is the most important and it’s the message that is not in alignment with sustained life. And that is the *why of we are screwed. So appreciate your time and thoughtful remarks. They help me think myself out of my mind cul de sacs.
Wouldn't that be a powerful advantage! Israel declaring itself a secular state. I gather that almost half of Israelis identify themselves that way already. Great idea!
An interesting thing is that almost everyone is urging restraint after this latest retaliatory strike. I'm glad the Iranians only went after two military targets. I have not heard yet whether there are any Israeli casualties...
Yes, it is more bluster than substance from Iran. This is a religious proxy war between Iranian Shiites and Arab Sunnis with Orthodox Jew Israel caught in the middle. Neither Russia nor China will back Iran if a real war breaks out against the West. Like Russia, Iran’s youth do not embrace religious zealotry and would prefer living in the 21st century rather than the 12th.
There is really nothing in Iran’s bargain for the Arab states who likely appreciate Israel and the US thinning the herd of jihadists in the region and putting Iran back in its place. Like Russia, Iran needs this war to bleed off internal dissent and the stress is likely to topple the whole house of cards culminating in domestic civil war.
Fascist theocracies tend to have short shelf lives which Israel is struggling with currently. It is time for Israel to declare itself a secular modern state and to jettison Jerusalem declaring it as an international UN cultural site. Nations based on religious zealotry are doomed to fail.
Still having trouble understanding specific factions and the long standing grievances and how they divide or might. Thanks for the piece. Feels like we’re being dragged back to the womb of civilization for something like a restart which is only an abstract thought of metaphor, not a reality. I think you’re right about Gaza. I imagine you got Malcom’s letter about Monday and wide protests here and the world. Time will tell in all incredibly incendiary places that have our attention.
I see it as a clash between two theocracies over Jerusalem. Both Israel and Iran have become right wing theocracies and the orthodox zealots have control in both countries. Iran has a grudge with the Arabs going back to the fall of the Persian Empire and the Arab Sunnis and Iranian Shiites have fought for legitimacy of the lineage of Muhammad and the true expression of Islam for centuries.
Both the Jews and the Muslims claim Jerusalem as their sacred ground and it can easily become a holy war of biblical annihilation of perceived infidels. Add in smoldering resentment of Western imperialism in the region and there will be blood.
My opinion is the A15 threat is not specifically Iranian but certainly being used by them to create chaos in the West. Iran does not have the international reach to organize such an event and certainly would not preview it before taking action. This feels like a Western grassroots attack on capitalism rather than anything to do with radical Islam.
Will Iran use it to their advantage... you betcha. Will Israel stay stuck in the corner it has painted itself into... yep. Is this playing with fire in region filled with dynamite... sadly so. Miracles may happen, but so much can go wrong very dramatically. I wrote a reply on Malcom's article trying to make sense of this new threat. Thanks for your thoughtful reply.
Oh, thank *you.
What do you mean by, “this feels like Western grassroots attack”. Who do you mean by “Western?”
I’ll look back at Malcom. Thank you. I’m making sense of it - better anyway.🙏
The A15 threat smells to me of a Western anarchist stunt rather than an Islamic jihad. The American-English accented narration and the hand wringing over the plight of Palestinian Arabs while showing the green Hamas battle flag rather than the official flag of Palestine. This to me is a blatant co-opting of the horrors of Gaza to justify an attack on Western capitalism by disenfranchised Westerners not Islamic jihadists. You are right to be confused and that is the point of the A15 effort - spreading confusion.
Finally found time to see the video again. The old commies at the end telling kids to “shut the fuck up” is pretty worth the time for review with your help. I agree this whole movement is by the west. It started inorganically right after oct 7. It slapped me so hard. It challenged all I understood about the subject which I admit was old attitude that hadn’t changed. But I wasn’t so incorrect about the situation. In the video there’s a clear plea to help them as they protest and struggle which is clearly a nod to a normalcy one would expect but I think is absent. My point is the plea appeals to people who don’t really understand the situation.
I know some younger adults that have taken on this cause and I’m sick about it because I know they mean well. The constant barrage of photos from main stream expose the tragedy that takes is own life from the image. Pretty much the same image again again. More people are dying elsewhere with less concern. The threat, Im horrified, to say is the media and its reach. Who needs real descent when this is so much more controlled? We are so screwed. Enjoy trial day.👋
"Who needs real descent when this is so much more controlled?"
Canadian philosopher Marshall McLuhan coined the phrase "the medium is the message" back in the 60's before the internet was even invented. "Indeed, it is only too typical that the 'content' of any medium blinds us to the character of the medium". For McLuhan, it was the medium itself that shaped and controlled "the scale and form of human association and action." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_medium_is_the_message
Since then there have been all sorts of studies on how 24/7 information overload and texting has atrophied our attention spans drowning us in a sea of information without much insight or depth analysis. Simply seeing it on the media of our doom scrolling devices makes it "real" even if it doesn't physically occur. Virtual reality has crept into all aspects of our lives blurring the difference between personal experience and mass media programming. McLuhan was talking about the changes occurring when the news went from newspapers to TV broadcasting and "infotainment." Wait until we unleash AI alternative reality upon ourselves! We've dug ourselves quite a reality "hole" and rather than stopping digging, we shovel ahead even more furiously. Yes, we are so screwed...
I’ve been thinking about all this. Have to say I talk about myself a lot, I don’t know how else to frame things sometimes, I regret. My experiences teach me as I haven’t been in school since ‘76 and also having been a dance teacher, nearly 50 years of that, the instructions are so experiential and full of metaphor.
I remember the McLuhan stuff when it happened. My dad was the same age and his generation had a particular vibe. He was right and so was the writer of “hidden persuaders” in the day an equal book that seemed so simple but was profound and easier for me to think about. Perhaps it’s why it’s not a bible like concept like the medium is the message. Specifically about advertising the potential to manage images to excite. Pushing sex primarily as the motivator. Big leap now to Scientology for this conversation. And experiences I had with people associated. There was EST also and other cults popped up. Big problems there I can’t express and have fear about spreading in any large way. It’s a mind control deal which is likely known as a cult but they have more serious techniques than I certainly knew. Put that aside for now. Whether them or others, I’ve had glimpses. Implanting memory can be done but being able to see memory somehow. Again, a personal experience that is either a seamless trick or real. Either way, a real mind f. Anyway, I went to art school, graduated in ‘76 to art school for fine art but seguayed into media which was really illustration then. Paste up and mechanicals, as likely the last real generation before computers. I studied advertising for 3 weeks if that. A high strung and full of polished ideals woman that I was I left those classes because the thrust was to lie. To deliver, to trick through any device visually to sell. I recall standing to say, but that’s a lie or similar, the whole class looked at me and no one had any idea that that was wrong. Blank faces that communicated I was the odd one out so I did leave. It was simply a stance to adopt to serve the problem to solve. I fought my way though art school in that way. Copyrights were also not used yet really and problems with work for hire were bad too. Anyway, when the medium message came around soon the Network movie happened so yes, we were in a change but nothing like today. Just retired from being a florist in 2022. My husband learned floristry in NY, in a long journey, we met in art school. He’s a painter. Started that business in 2011 as a shop for flowers as a destination of Sedona, a tourist town where there are or were lots of weddings. Near where we already live. A strong internet presence was paramount so I made that. Used our own photos of our own arrangements, really top drawer. What I had to deal with and decide on was how to make that presence and still have an independent life. How does one post or learn to as it’s all new, to be a person and be separate from a business. Or literally I see how some become the business as has really been demanded now. That, it the deal right there. When you become the presence that you’ve imprinted on the media. Indesguishable for so many especially if you’re not old and all your memories are intergrated with media. That, my friend is where we are. And it is not a beautiful thing. Time to time I think social media sends information and like the Palestine protests, signals like to schools of fish to peel of and swim one way rather than the other. I don’t know what the message is exactly or from whom and that is what I seek to know but likely won’t find out Like Bill Barr in the news today. We watched him bury the Trump info to keep Trump out of prosecution. And yet now, he did it in secret it’s reported. The echos of what happened are overlapping other echos and what’s that called when waves bunch up? Found it… Constructive interference happens when two waves overlap in such a way that they combine to create a larger wave. Destructive interference happens when two waves overlap in such a way that they cancel each other out.
I think destructive interference is being tried. Getting time stamps on articles is paramount now to establish a realer timeline. Everything happens “now” in media. I don’t think any of this is tried and true. More like tried a bit and with manipulation as intended and never been done so just throw the switch! Which brings me to my point. The *message is the most important and it’s the message that is not in alignment with sustained life. And that is the *why of we are screwed. So appreciate your time and thoughtful remarks. They help me think myself out of my mind cul de sacs.
Off to day two of you know who’s nap time. 🙏✨