Look Up: Take two
The facelift takes off with the new look and URL. There will be some modifications over the next while as the content grows. The Old Guys site will remain as the archive of version one.Continue Reading
Cool Culture Flirts with ‘TFW No GF’ and the Dark Web
Filmmaker Alex Lee Moyer is interviewed about her new doc “TFW No GF.” The film’s title references a phrase used online to describe the profound emotional depression experienced by men whose lives are void of any romantic relationship with women. Here is the Amazon Prime Video describtion, “a generation of disaffected youngContinue Reading
The Bully
there is something gut wrenching about this piece in The Atlantic of civil servants being toyed with and then driven out or fired by Trump as heproceeds like a forest fire hollowing out agencies and installing yes-men…..The piece is a longish read so be forwarned. Look closely at the portraitsContinue Reading
Bezos and the Hate Store of Self Publishing
Is the Bezos self publishing manatra really a free speech ideal or another example of capitalist overreach? (From the start, Bezos was determined that nothing should interfere with the company’s relentless quest for scale. He instilled in employees an almost dogmatic rejection of gatekeepers — those intrusive editors and criticsContinue Reading
Trump, Covid-19, Martial Law and Suspending the Next Election
Came across this article and the idea just jelled that Martial Law is exactly what Trump would use if the pharma sliver bullet for Covid-19 does not pan out and save his bacon. He shows signs of the jitters these days in front of the press and he has to beContinue Reading
“They”
“the ultimate inclusive word: both gender-neutral and non-binary, singular “they” refers to men, women and persons who are trans or gender-nonconforming” Dennis Baron Academic and author Dennis Baron has a new book, What’s Your Pronoun: Beyond He and She. You can find him on Youtube for an extensive interview in additionContinue Reading
The Neo-Liberal Black Hole
The two most compelling sentences I have read this week, from a piece by Anne Anlin Cheng on Parasite and Get Out. In the ultimate neoliberal fantasy, appropriation and tribute (stealing and virtue-signalling) can be one and the same. Just as parasitism and hosting collapse under this political economy, soContinue Reading
On Teaching History
American educator Sam Weinberg with some ideas on how history could be better taught. https://slate.com/human-interest/2018/09/why-learn-history-sam-wineburg-history-class-failing.htmlContinue Reading
Watching Bernie and His Sandernistas: Redux
After reading this interview/review of a book, Bernie and the Sandernistas by Jeffrey St. Clair on Bernie’s last defeat at the hands of Hillary I asked myself, is it possible that this is happening all over again in 2020 only now instead of Hillary it will either be Buttigieg, Biden,Continue Reading
Culture of the con
The tradition of con men and con women in American literature has deep roots. Last year, when reflecting on the edifying support for Trump, the notion of bad faith appeared germane. When looking at the Senate Republicans, and Dershowitz notwithstanding, this is highly relevant. Yet, the events of the lastContinue Reading
The Relevance of Marxism in America Today
The Democrat leadership race between poll leaders Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden presents a fundamental ideological split within the party that expressed itself in the last leadership contest between Sanders and Clinton. The schism then and now is centered on notions of socialism as expressed by the liberal youth vote versus theContinue Reading