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Do they also serve who only stand and blog? — 73 Comments

  1. I’m well past the point where it matters whether liberals or conservatives agree with anything I post.

    I verify all the information on ALL my posts on LatAm with at least 2 in-country media sources and two international media sources. Whether people agree with my conclusions or not, the facts are there.

    And the alarm clock keeps ringing.

  2. Neo,

    For me this blog is like those 3 AM discussions in graduate school in which we were sure we’d uncovered the solutions to many world problems.

    Older now, and not so naé¯ve, these discussions still introduce new points of view, allows us to present our own, challenge us to defend our own suppositions and occasionally cause us to revise them.

    IMO it allows us to see more clearly in the chaos of the day-to-day world. As with teaching, one always wonders if one is having any effect on students at all; there is rarely a direct answer to that question. However, when a blog has developed a consistent set of repeat commenters, it goes without saying that they have found something they consider valuable.

    Thanks!

  3. I think the key thing is to get others to change and move the independents and apolitical to conservative.

    Warren Buffett says there is nothing like committing your thoughts to paper as it clarifies and focuses your thinking. Warren is correct on most things except his politics; outside his circle of competence.

  4. To me, it’s an underbelly of the old-old,

    “if a tree falls in the forest and there’s no one around to hear it, did it make a sound?”

    neo, you are voicing truth, and perhaps more significantly, you are applying *reason*. I read your blog (obviously), and I often link to your posts in my communications with others.

    I realize the following is more a statement of faith than of fact, but I trust (naively?) that your voicing truth and reason, along with mine and along with our frequent commenters’, has a leavening effect in the collective atmosphere of thought.

    I freely grant that I can present to you no mechanism for precisely how this may happen, other than the endearingly naive “I tell someone, and that someone tells someone, etc.” It’s naive, but it’s not what I’m driving at. I’m driving at an influence present in that collective atmosphere of thought, a more ethereal presence than the simple A tells B tells C, that would not be there if not for the neo-neocon blog.

    Every day for six days a week (and sometimes even seven), a couple of trees fall in the forest of political and social thought, and a certain leavening does take place. It does not lend itself well to easy definition, or even to apprehension on a day-to-day basis. But I feel* it’s there.

    And we’re grateful for it.

    — — —

    [ * “feel”. I know it’s a mere “feeling” rather than an empirically observable quantitatively measurable objective phenomenon. Gotta deal with it as it is (smile). ]

  5. It must all link to action somehow:
    L’homme de pensée prepare l’homme d’action, il ne le remplace pas. DeGaulle

    Il faut agir en homme de pensée et penser en homme d’action. Bergson

  6. I really enjoy reading your blog. It alerts me to articles and things that I might have otherwise missed, it presents points of view that I hadn’t previously considered. In some cases you’ve changed my mind about things, even though I largely agree with you. One thing in particular is how we need to understand that we only control two branches of government, and don’t have enough votes in the senate to override a presidential veto. You’ve changed my mind about some other stuff too. This is a daily read, and I frequently point both other conservatives, and liberals that I know to it. So from my perspective, you do a lot of good.

  7. Neo,
    I think you, Bookworm, Bill Katz, just to name a few perform a real service by giving like minded folk a “safe place” in the current vernacular. Otherwise, in the liberal dominated media we would be adrift.

    Beyond that your research brings sources of perspective that many of us would never find on our own.

  8. Your blog helps me. I’m still somewhat closeted as a Conservative, at least on Facebook where I still have many, many California friends. Thanks to your blog and Bookworm Room, and the ability to comment, in starting to be more assertive commenting on Facebook. You both help me think issues out clearly, and develop a way to talk to these jack a** lefties without pulling a “Jane-you-ignorant-slut” routine. One can’t win, much less get sunstone to even consider possibly thinking differently about an issue of you tell them they are an idiot. Thanks to you two, I don’t do that.

  9. As I get older, I find my circle of friends gets smaller and there are fewer and fewer new people that I can really get to know. That means that I know the experiences and viewpoints of my friends and family, but I don’t get much new input to help me assess what is going on in the world. The life experiences of Neo and her commenters constantly wake me up and keep me from settling into a rut. There is so much emphasis today on staying healthy and keeping fit, but I really treasure the opportunity you all provide to keep my mind fit. Thanks, Neo.

  10. Non-activists more or less accept the socially prevalent narrative frame, the Overton window, whether they position themselves in the middle of it or on the edge of it. As such, the focus needs to be on controlling the socially prevalent narrative frame with the reinforcement of predominant themes, principles, and premises, though the setting for the process may be an issue of the moment, and the target must be the zeitgeist, although the medium may focus on an individual of the moment.

  11. Oh my.

    I continue to come here and (occasionally, bordering on rarely) comment, because in some important, not-minor-at-all-to-me ways, I feel somewhat less alone (abandoned?) in a world appearing depressingly (and increasingly) irrational.

    It’s an antidote of sorts …rather akin to that old saw about not hiding your light under a basket, I s’pose.

    …I’m always thankful for this particular corner of the ‘net; for its mistress, and for her patrons.

  12. trying to convince a handful of Marin liberals that they’re wrong.
    Talk about the labors of Sisyphus. You can’t convince a leftists. They just get angry when you present information that contradicts them. They don’t change their mind.

  13. Dear Neo, I turn to your blog first thing every day. I don’t send links to my many liberal friends, because their heads explode if anything comes from a source other than their lefty rags or blogs. If they saw the law of gravity explained at the National Review, they would denounce it as racist propaganda.

  14. I appreciate the thought and substance. Also, you do not seem to suffer fools all that well.

    So, the benefit is some good reads and comments. Also, you have knocked out a lazy instinct to write a comment laced with pap. And, an added benefit, the ballet interludes.

  15. Blogging is a way of reaching out to the world outside. It is one way of arriving at the truth.

  16. Many good comments – as usual. This is a place where you can stretch your mind. And at my age, my mind certainly needs stretching. Age is not your friend. 🙁

    I also appreciate neo’s depth of research and reasoning. I also appreciate all the excellent commenters. There are a number of shades of conservatism and libertarianism represented here with mostly reasoned and polite debate, which is hard to find most places on the Internet.

    I read the same five blogs everyday and several others on an irregular basis. This is always the first and the last stop before logging off the computer.

    Are you making a difference? I think the commenters have answered that question. Your blog is a bright point of light helping to illuminate the darkness.

  17. As a regular reader, I appreciate your research and that you often pick up on something that the MSM or a lot of other bloggers may have missed.

    I do share links to your posts with friends and family who may not be getting beyond the tv news level depth of a given topic. For example, chatted with a few over Thanksgiving who knew little about Cruz – so I sent them the link to your post on Cruz debating Code Pink protesters at one of his campaign events.

  18. Also a daily reader, for the reasons given by many others above. And the fact that you write clearly, concisely, wittily, and with passion and conviction.
    There are many bloggers now, but not so many essayists.

  19. Your writing has given me heart, ammunition, amusement, intellectual company, education and insight. I was drawn by your change story, which parallels mine and which you’ve told better than anyone. I stayed because you’re not a one trick pony. Reading you is getting the best distillation of a voice who could be a friend helping me know and understand what’s going on in these darkening times. Bless you and thank you.

  20. Hi Neo-

    Bloggers like you save us regular folk a lot of time…many of us don’t have the time to read all the day’s news and keep up on the important stories…
    I’ve found a few places I like to go daily, such as Powerline and your blog…places I’ve come to trust in the integrity of the reporting, and with the intellectual horsepower to provide a well considered report on the matter at hand and from a vantage point that resonates with me.
    You are one of the smartest bloggers out there, and your writing style is so pleasing it is always a pleasure to read your work.

  21. Neo– All I know is that your articles are (IMHO) the most insightful on the Internet. You have a way of getting to the heart of the matter on just about any subject, with a very readable style as well. The commenters here are top notch, too. I really don’t know how you manage it, but I’m hooked.

  22. I’m not sure how much good blogging does, really. I’d like to say otherwise. I hope you keep blogging. But does it really do anything more than reinforce our loyalty to “our side”? I’m coming off some bad blogging experiences the moral of which seem to be: nobody’s interested in real discussion. People will Like lies and downvote the truth, not out of malice or madness, but because they simply can’t recognize it from so far away. Doesn’t blogging condition us to engage only with allies? Am I really less of a delicate flower than the college campus lefties? I don’t want to talk to people who complain about “Faux News”, but I don’t want to talk to people who complain about “Shrillary” either. Are we losing the ability to have meaningful discussions? Or did we ever have that ability at all – have we just created a new place that we can pretend we’re having them? Conversion stories are deeply personal because we’re persons, and people are rarely persuaded by packaged content. It takes time, and wrestling with ideas that bounce around in your head for years. When the ideas line up in a sensical way, you can see where they’re pointing. But the unresolved question is, do internet chatrooms present ideas to us in a way that makes them more likely to penetrate our skulls, or less likely?

  23. This is my favorite blog, reasonable, thoughtful, and well-written. I hope you don’t stop! Also, the commenters are top notch.

  24. I post links to your articles frequently on Face Book, but most of my friends are conservative leaning.

  25. Neo: “Dittos” as they say on Rush Limbaugh’s show.

    I grew up (and have pretty much always lived) in a politically conservative environment, and so came to your blog a bit like one of those proverbial fish that don’t know that water is wet. That said, you and some of the commenters here have taught me much about conservatism, liberalism (classic and ‘new’), leftism ‘knaves and fools’ and the ongoing ‘cold civil war’ that has been a largely ignored fact of life in America and the West for the last 100 years or so. It was here that I learned (to my horror) about the Gramscian march through the institutions and from that about the Frankfurt School. I’ve recently finished the two Thomas Sowell books you recommended (The Vision of the Anointed and The Quest for Cosmic Justice) and frankly came away quite discouraged about the prospects of “the Anointed’ ever waking up from their narcissistic dreams (or escaping the Pavlovian gratification they must get from endless mental masturbation). However, like I said about the Snowden affair a long time ago, I’d rather be aware of these facts than not, so thanks for broadening my understanding of life. Plus where else on earth could I also get free ballet lessons?
    Keep up the good work.

  26. Neo: my retired MC son introduced me to you, his wife is retired MC, his brother retired Army, I read you daily, you make many good points, I don’t always agree but enjoy your points. Thank-you.

  27. Humans tend not to rock the boat, with the exception of the notable 3%, which I sometimes think of as spear leaders or anti authoritarians, combining concrete action with abstract idealism. Public morality devolves to how many people in your social c approve/disapprove of a current trend and your own current status quo. Basically, that means people don’t like being disliked by others. That is a notable flaw, but it is also part of why humans find vices to be tempting. If closing their eyes to evil and indulging in people’s weaknesses, are what allows them to keep their social circle satisfied, most people wouldn’t care to change any of that. It’s too much work.

    That’s why on the internet, where a second name or identity becomes born of a separate culture and social circle, has a different influence on people. They are still who they are, but now they don’t have to fear losing their friends or job based on what they think and how that is compatible or not compatible with their society: social consensus.

    Now normally that would just devolve to a kind of tribal network, where people stick around with others like them. And for much of the online world, that is functionally true. However, it’s much easier to meet more people online, and thus filter out the 3% or the 10% at the top of humanity. The more people you meet, the less likely you are to roll badly in a row. The 3% can serve as examples to the rest of humanity, who may not have such people in their limited social spheres. That’s where Neo comes in. She, by changing and converting, refuted the utopian abstract religion and ideology of the Leftist alliance. Her stories of her university, or rather post education era, makes that clear: what happens when people become part of a clique, a consensus, that has nobody that is careless or reckless enough to throw off the chains of the consensus.

    I became interested in the work of Neo Neo and Book because they deal with the social consensus, but they take the minority path. The path of greater resistance, not least resistance. Most humans would go to great lengths to maintain social approval and acknowledgement of status, from their peers and their social sphere. Yet there is a slim minority that doesn’t care too much about that, certainly not enough to allow it to affect their actions.

    One of the notable features of a sub culture, non mainstream, is that they use special terms and phrases, to distinguish themselves and to craft unique hybrid concepts that the mainstream refuses to consider. Thus the advent of the web blog or “blog” which has now turned into vernacular English as a verb, blogging. Not that everyone uses this or even understands it, but that sufficient numbers do use it, is a testament to how cultures can split off from the mainstream for the smallest of reasons.

    In order for me to crack the human riddle and function, there were certain critical goals I had to achieve, foremost among them would be the conscious awareness of the logic that drives human behavior. It isn’t enough to understand it or process it on the subconscious or unconscious level, that isn’t good enough for a civilization based on the English text for communication.

    It’s getting dark outside. Would be interesting to see tomorrow what my subconscious dreaming mind thinks of all this.

  28. Cornhead: I wish!! Carly’s still my favorite but it’s pretty clear that most of the media have decided to ignore her. Except for Fox: I think she’s going to be on FNS this morning with Chris Wallace. I don’t know what I think about Wallace; I keep thinking that maybe the apple hasn’t fallen far from the tree. He might try to tear her down but even if he does I have no doubt that she’ll handle herself well.

  29. neo-neocon,

    There are a handful of blogs I read regularly and yours is in that group. The most unique features of your blog are your writing style (and the way you think) and the topics you choose.

    I really enjoy the way you write. I find it very easy to follow as well as artistic.

    Regarding the topics; most all your posts are interesting (even the posts on dresses and dance), but more than once I’ve found your blog, and yours alone, voicing a precise sentiment about world affairs that I was feeling, or connected with. Like you, I’m very determined to solve puzzles and human behavior (including politics and war and terrorism) is a puzzle I struggle mightily to understand. With your writing you seem to take a similar approach; truly searching. Searching for reasons and answers. Searching for truth.

    It’s a long story, but I once had a blog read by tens of thousands daily. It sort of fell into my lap and in the process of trying to daily “feed the beast” I often asked myself why I bothered. I found the answer, in my case, is I was trying to work some things out, and putting words to screen and knowing they had to be sound enough for an audience helped me find what I was searching for.

  30. The dream I remember having now, was about a prisoner and talking to them, in a sort of jail, junkyard, courtyard. We were talking about a subject I only vaguely recall now.

    It is said that poets, scientists, and mathematicians often write down their dreams, because the insights are often beyond their conscious logic and core processing capabilities. No wonder, even an hour after wake up, the conscious mind is fully in control and the memory fades, because the subconscious is what generates the content.

    To reverse engineer it, the subject was probably about fear, fear of criminals for getting caught, fear of getting shot, fear of society, fear of criminals by society. The root itself, fear, is not rational, but it is often times useful. And yet I remember the conversation as being a harmonious or enjoyable one, like a dinner table discussion about hobbies.

    Rufus I also wrote a belated reply on the ballet thread, that might be interesting. http://neoneocon.com/2015/11/21/losing-your-turns-2/#comment-939856

  31. One of the benefits of having a pseudo reputation of being crazy, or what I prefer to call a “mad scientist”, is that when people disagree with me, it’s a gut check that I am observing a system from outside of it. Sometimes it is difficult to tell whether you are viewing an event from inside a bubble/box/prison of the Leftist mind control vs viewing it truly from the outside, with a superior pov. Also, when people agree with me, it is despite the reputation, and thus it filters out a lot of the social consensus attached to people who like to agree on things.

    Humans often have difficulties discerning whether their decisions are of their own free will, the Willpower of their soul, or because they want to curry favor or avoid disfavor from the Social Authorities. Thus when they find something of note coming from a person they dislike, everyone can probably guess that this wasn’t due to external influences. It was something internal, or maybe somebody was pointing at their face, shrugs.

    This was the so called “idealism” of bipartisanship and compromise. The problem with that on the world stage is that evil shouldn’t be compromised with, yet people were always looking for “disagreement” and disharmony. It doesn’t matter to me whether people agree or disagree about a subject, I dislike both states to begin with. What matters is why they do so and who for.

  32. G6loq: “It must all link to action somehow:”

    That’s an activist comment. For activists, diagnosis flows straight to commensurate prescription, then treatment.

    However, Neo and her commenters by and large are not activists. As is normal for mainstream conservatives, they partake in diagnosis well enough. Diagnosis is Neo’s strength and worth the read. But her blog is not the place to look for the subsequent step. Because they’re not activists, the quality diagnoses by Neo and her commenters do not flow straight to commensurate prescriptions.

  33. Neo,

    Thank you for this blog! It’s the only political one I read. And I will echo davisbr’s sentiments: as a lone conservative in an academic institution, it helps a lot to know there’s other like minded people out there.

  34. I suppose that every now and then a liberal crosses paths with this blog. Do any get convinced of anything different by reading it?
    The social media became more effective and their voices more loud.
    As these blogger still have added value to overall social media.

    Let read this:

    Mohammed argued that the ISIS narrative is beamed directly to Saudi youth via Twitter, and that the message is: “The West is trying to enforce its agenda on you – and the Saudi government is helping them – and Iran is trying to colonize the Arab world. So we – ISIS – are defending Islam.”

    Letter From Saudi Arabia

  35. Fausta:
    “I verify all the information on ALL my posts on LatAm with at least 2 in-country media sources and two international media sources. Whether people agree with my conclusions or not, the facts are there.”

    Since many supposedly reputable media sources are misleading nowadays, it helps also to cite to primary sources – the controlling law and policy and determinative fact-findings – where you can in order to cut through the conjecture and misinformation.

    Even when you know your cited media source is sound, the audience might not know which side to value higher when your debate opponent counters your vetted media source with a factually misleading yet ‘reputable’ media source. Their face values may look neutralizingly similar. The way to overcome that tactic is by citing to dispositive primary sources as well as trusted secondary/tertiary media sources. Again, where you can – often, media speculation is all there is to cite.

    For example, when I debate about the Iraq intervention, opponents will often cite a ‘reputable’ media source that claims no WMD infractions were found by UNMOVIC and/or the Iraq Survey Group. I trump their media source by citing directly to the UNMOVIC and ISG findings that reported a host of disarmament violations according to the “governing standard of Iraqi compliance” (UNSCR 1441).

  36. All these comments leave me with little unique to add. So, I say that I appreciate you immensely; you are by far my favorite pundit, on these most important issues, as well as on continuing to appreciate the remarkable beauty of our cultural lives. So, I hope you feel immense satisfaction of your reaching many people who really pay attention to your carefully researched and constructed opinions. That, I hope will motivate you to continue your time-consuming, expert analysis.

  37. Eric Says:
    November 29th, 2015 at 12:08 pm

    Because they’re not activists, the quality diagnoses by Neo and her commenters do not flow straight to commensurate prescriptions.
    Looks like this?

  38. Nick:
    “I’m not sure how much good blogging does, really. I’d like to say otherwise. I hope you keep blogging. But does it really do anything more than reinforce our loyalty to “our side”?”

    Follow that train of thought.

    They don’t move you and you don’t move them. So, it’s a stalemate, right? The “internet chatroom” echo chambers cancel each other out.

    Except that’s not what’s happening. There isn’t a stalemate. The echo chambers aren’t canceling out.

    Why?

    Why are their efforts effectively bending our social culture and critical social sources like our universities? Obviously, they’re doing something different with their version of “internet chatrooms”, or they’re doing the same thing but are part of a bigger movement that’s different. They’re achieving more than “reinforce our loyalty to “our side””.

    That’s not to say bloggers like Neo are individually inferior to their counterparts on the other side. Except competitively, the proof is in the pudding. It’s obvious that what Neo and her compatriot bloggers are doing is collectively inadequate. Something’s missing in the method that’s rendering Neo and bloggers like her not effective enough to win the Narrative contest for the zeitgeist.

    If Neo et al aspire to make a difference, then they need to come together and figure out why they seem to be mostly impotent at the same time their ostensible counterparts on the Left, who seem to be doing the same thing, are making a difference in the only social cultural/political game there is.

  39. Eric,

    Rush has often pointed out that “liberalism is easy”….who after all but heartless Conservatives opposes “Free Stuff”……

  40. Thanks so much for the shout-out. I blog to clear my head and then, when my head is clear, I take the distillation of my thoughts, head over to my real-me Facebook page, and try as politely as possible, and in a way that’s totally non-threatening, to get my knee-jerk liberal friends to think about core values, not slogans.

  41. You eventually learn what blogs will have something useful to say. And which blogs’ commenters also have something additional and useful to say as opposed to repetition of the post”s theme, or some other.
    Neo wins on both counts.

  42. I read your column every day. You and Daniel Greenfield are the first writers that I read when I log on. I wish everyone could read your column, and I often forward it to family and friends, most of whom are receptive to what you say. You can be sure that you make a difference to some of us.

  43. Intelligence, insight, wisdom, broad research and knowledge, companionship, ballet, and jelly beans. Who could ask for more?

  44. Enough of the ‘narrative’ diatribe. The popular media (msm, hollywood, music industry, academia) were captured by the left 70 years ago. It will not be defeated by a counter narrative. It must be starved to death. If you want to defeat the narrative of the death cult, work to convince the majority (yes it is a slim majority) to boycott the left in all its various manifestations.

  45. As a young man, with a passion forged in the cauldron of Viet Nam, racial strife and Nixon’s betrayal of the public trust, liberalism appealed to me because it has a heart. It has taken me too many years to discover that it lacks a brain.

    On this blog, mostly devoid of the grandstanding, sensationalism and hackneyed rhetoric of the company line I found in time spent with Limbaugh and Hannity – absent at least in the presentations of the author – I find opinions well-researched and drawn with logic. Quite refreshing.

    I am still awaiting the advent of a creature sewn together with both of those major organs present, highly functioning and in synch. If it does appear I hope it is more skillfully constructed and meets a better fate than Victor Frankenstein’s creation.

    Spending time here keeps that hope alive. And hope is such a sustaining force.

    Thanks for the informed opinions herein, a rarity these days and thus such a delight.

  46. Eric,
    I agree with you on the media.

    If you read my posts, I have all along linked to and quoted Congressional reports, books, posted full court rulings, and at times talked face-to-face with eyewitnesses when necessary. I was referring above to every single post I do, every day – and at this blog’s blogroll I’m labeled as “opinionated.”

    If Neo et al aspire to make a difference, then they need to come together and figure out why they seem to be mostly impotent at the same time their ostensible counterparts on the Left
    Maybe. I’m not good at repeating soundbites.
    A more sound tactic would be to change the narrative in academia, the mainstream press and the entertainment industry.

  47. Eric,

    Many on this post have mentioned personal lives that are quite, active; athletes, very busy professionals and/or parents. I myself have had a lot of success with competitive sports, am very fit for my age, have several degrees, raising three kids, own my own business, stay busy with my lovely wife, and am the type of guy who is always up for work in the community, my church and with private folks in need. And, from what little folks hear mention of their personal lives, I feel like a slacker compared to this audience.

    We’re not wallflowers or introverts, hiding in our basements typing on the Internet (although, ironically, I happen to be typing these very words in my basement right now). We’re just not fools. We tend to be practical and logical. What activists portrayed in the media do you see touting a sensible cause? The fools protesting sombreros at college Halloween parties? The fools shouting, “Hands up, don’t shoot” when all evidence points to the opposite?

    Look how quickly hundreds of thousands were spurred to action within hours of Rick Santelli calling for a “new Tea Party” after a frustrating morning on the floor of the New York stock exchange. This group is very willing to act and very ready.

  48. Having grown up during the Cold War when there was no Fox network, no internet, no blogs, no talk radio, for most of the time no private email, I can’t emphasize enough the feeling of exclusion and isolation that conservatives felt and were subjected to.

    At least now there are numerous outlets on which conservatives can complain about our MSM overlords.

    So God Bless the bloggers, talk show hosts and Fox.

  49. Ymarsaskar,

    Thanks for the heads up on your reply. I had not seen that. I read your comments and replied. I agree with what you wrote, but I still think the case I described is different. The inner workings of our brains is a fascinating topic. Some of the best natural athletes I have met are some of the least curious people I know regarding their bodies and minds. Sometimes I wonder if that lack of introspection gives them a competitive edge. After football games when I would wonder to myself how I was able to do what I had done, one thing I remember noticing is that my mind would be incredibly clear before plays, almost “empty.” I think that’s what athletes and performers mean when they say they were “in the moment.” Everything moves in slow motion and there are no distracting thoughts.

  50. Ymarsakar,

    In my early teens I was very interested in dreams and spent some time memorizing psychology’s theories about the symbolism of certain objects and themes in dreams. But over the years I stopped paying much attention. I decided what seemed to be mostly going on in my brain during sleep is my brain was doing a sort-of housekeeping. Reviewing what had happened that day and deciding what to store for future reference. I assumed that, occasionally, my conscious would latch on to items being stored and, having nothing better to do, make a dream sequence out of them.

    However, I will periodically (maybe once a year, maybe several times in some years) have very strong feelings of deja vu. I think I’m having the experience because what is happening was present in a dream that I have forgotten. I’ve noticed that after having these experiences there is almost always a positive change in my life. I don’t believe in clairvoyance (I think time only flows in one direction), but I still can’t deny this pattern seems to happen to me.

    Dreams are interesting stuff.

  51. parker,

    I absolutely agree. I find it funny how many Conservatives I know who complain about the media and culture yet spend their money and time on artists and performers who are vile and hate liberty and freedom.

  52. Fausta:

    I definitely didn’t mean “opinionated” to be anything but a compliment. I did that blogroll rather quickly about 10 years ago, so I no longer recall my thought processes when I wrote it. I was mostly trying to find some way to keep it from being just a list without any descriptors at all.

    To me, “opinionated” means “having opinions and not being afraid to state them.” All bloggers are opinionated, including me. It definitely does not preclude doing careful research.

  53. Neo,
    I understand that, since I only mentioned it now.

    Indeed, while I am opinionated, all the LatAm stories I post are 100% verifiable.

  54. I only read a few blogs, ACE, Belmont Club, Patterico, Just One Minute and Hot Air. AND THIS BLOG. I love this one and Belmont Club the best. Although, I read the comments at ACE out loud to my husband and we roll with laughter. Anyway, thank you for this blog which reflects my thoughts and opinions so perfectly, I can forward posts when I am tired of explaining.

  55. Thanks to everyone for all the kind words. As I’ve said many times, I really don’t think I’d be continuing to blog if it weren’t for the commenters

  56. Eric – Interesting comments. I guess I’m thinking about two different kind of blogs, or blogs with two different purposes: the reinforcing blog and the persuading blog. Blogs can do both, but I think that Ace, for example, is much more the former than the latter. I guess I’m starting to give up on the idea of persuasion on blogs. I’m also starting to worry that too much reinforcement makes us less able to persuade or be persuaded.

    I don’t think that either side is “winning” the blog war, because I don’t think that there is such a thing. Troops can lose on the battlefield if there are logistical failures, but good logistics don’t guarantee a victory. Blogs are becoming more a place where we go through training and get our equipment, rather than places we fight.

    People who I generally disagree with talk about The Big Sort; I’m thinking that they may be onto something. The blogging world allows both sides to truthfully say “the other side is all jerks” because we get positive feedback from our own people and consequence-free hostility from those we disagree with. If I’m running a filter during every conversation, getting ready to upvote or downvote based on key words rather than ideas, I’m reducing my ability to hear other people’s arguments.

  57. Neo, thank goodness for your seething cranium.

    Your comment at 11/30 at 1:32 about doing this for the comments shows me i need to appreciate more with more comments.

    No more lurking for me.

    Btw, i appreciate your Colorado shooting post because i can’t trust most other lazy places. It’s maddening

  58. For neo-neocon, a link in tribute so that it doesn’t go missed (albeit that it may not have done in any case), on account of seeing there her homepage photo including “The Last Lion”.

  59. Some of the best natural athletes I have met are some of the least curious people I know regarding their bodies and minds. Sometimes I wonder if that lack of introspection gives them a competitive edge. After football games when I would wonder to myself how I was able to do what I had done, one thing I remember noticing is that my mind would be incredibly clear before plays, almost “empty.” I think that’s what athletes and performers mean when they say they were “in the moment.” Everything moves in slow motion and there are no distracting thoughts.

    I call that the “game face” or a state of zen, complete focus on physical processes to the exclusion of emotion or imagination. Like the way a human can sometimes unlock the limiters on their muscle system to 100%. Or when a human defocuses on interpreting audio signals coming to the brain, overclocking and focusing on the visual cortex to speed up visual acuity and processing speed. Or when people close their eyes in order to focus on what they are listening to.

    The curiosity is generally something that people who have a talent for teaching, obtain. Since it isn’t necessary to have that plus the talent/ability. It generally makes it harder for them to teach somebody else to do something like what they did.

    As for blogs and propaganda, I see them as pro war propaganda in WWII. It wasn’t designed to convince the enemy. It was designed to keep your allies fighting. That “echo chamber” is thus what the Left fears. When a nation becomes an echo chamber, it cannot be stopped. Not by what’s in it, not by what’s outside of it. But that’s why the Left seeks to master the use of mind control and propaganda, the power of the United States can obtain for the Left many many slaves.

    As for dreams, keeping the household in order is part of the sleep maintenance cycle, and why some people sleep less than other people. The conscious part of the brain, the frontal cortex, uses up an extremely large amount of oxygen and other resources, to provide us “logic” and “imagination”. Future and past tense thoughts which animals have no need nor desire for.

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