Big Wooly Mammoth

now it's all starting to make sense. i remember you mentioning Strauss in the past.

Strauss on politics

According to Strauss, modern social science is flawed because it assumes the fact-value distinction, a concept which Strauss finds dubious, tracing its roots in Enlightenment philosophy to Max Weber, a thinker whom Strauss described as a "serious and noble mind.†Weber wanted to separate values from science but, according to Strauss, was really a derivative thinker, deeply influenced by Nietzsche’s relativism.[6] Strauss treated politics as something that could not be studied from afar. A political scientist examining politics with a value-free scientific eye, for Strauss, was self-deluded. Positivism, the heir to both Auguste Comte and Max Weber in the quest to make purportedly value-free judgments, failed to justify its own existence, which would require a value judgment.

While modern liberalism had stressed the pursuit of individual liberty as its highest goal, Strauss felt that there should be a greater interest in the problem of human excellence and political virtue. Through his writings, Strauss constantly raised the question of how, and to what extent, freedom and excellence can coexist. Strauss refused to make do with any simplistic or one-sided resolutions of the Socratic question: What is the good for the city and man?

Liberalism and nihilism

Strauss taught that liberalism in its modern form contained within it an intrinsic tendency towards extreme relativism, which in turn led to two types of nihilism[12] The first was a “brutal†nihilism, expressed in Nazi and Marxist regimes. In On Tyranny, he wrote that these ideologies, both descendants of Enlightenment thought, tried to destroy all traditions, history, ethics, and moral standards and replace them by force under which nature and mankind are subjugated and conquered.[13] The second type – the "gentle" nihilism expressed in Western liberal democracies – was a kind of value-free aimlessness and a hedonistic "permissive egalitarianism", which he saw as permeating the fabric of contemporary American society.[14][15] In the belief that 20th century relativism, scientism, historicism, and nihilism were all implicated in the deterioration of modern society and philosophy, Strauss sought to uncover the philosophical pathways that had led to this situation. The resultant study led him to advocate a tentative return to classical political philosophy as a starting point for judging political action

on another note, Andrew Cash (L'etranger, Cash Brothers) is now the MP for Davenport.

Of course he does. He's not a bad man. He's just wrong.

Lots of people are wrong and decent people.

I disagree. I think that he is a bad person. he has NO CONSCIENCE. he is a bully. and he will do all he can, fuck the consequences, to get what he wants. that's the scary part (well some of the scary part).

and he makes decisons based purely on ideology. not on evidence.

Question:

Is it necessary to be bad at ethics to be good at politics?

i don't think so. I wouldn't say Obama is unethical. but then again, he might not be that good at politics.

the far right in Canada, and the U.S. have no problem blatantly lying in support of their cause. and the population seems to suck it all up.

fuck - donald trump might be the president in two years.

I really want to move to France right now (or Sweden, or...).

i'm about three-quarters of the way through that book. damn scary stuff. I heard Lawrence Martin in an interview state that Harper has no conscience. i'm not sure that I will now be able to finish the book. it's just gonna make me too angry.

the libs and NDP need to unite. otherwise the centre-left has no chance. (we were luck while the alliance and PCs kept splitting the right vote.) but, how many right liberals will be lost? would such an alliance still have gotten 50% of the vote last night? I'm not so sure. I wish that Alberta would just separate. I'd like to keep Quebec though, thank you. we need them, now more than ever.

what the fuck!!!

GTA party standings:

Before election: Liberal 31, Conservative 14, NDP 2

After election: Conservative 32, NDP 8, Liberal 7

that says it all.

i'm curious to see the actual numbers. did the cons get more votes in the GTA, or did the NDP surge screw the libs, and in turn the rest of us?

I don't think that this will be over in four years. as long as he doesn't totally screw up the economy, they will be around for much longer than four years. fuck the environment. fuck health care. fuck social justice. hello jails (lets just arrest those who don't think like us). good-bye CBC (how long until that announcement is made?) i have never been so scared for this country's future.

the lying, deceit, contempt for parliament, lack of accountability, etc. wasn't an issue for 40% of us. with a majority, all of that can be much better hidden. if it was a non issue today, it will remain so.

when the globe and mail endorsed harper my immediate reaction was to cancel my subscription. I held off, but will now be doing so. i don't want to read national news for the next few years. it just raises my blood pressure.

I was looking up who said the quote about the government you deserve and found this at jambands.com:

Thomas Jefferson is credited with saying The government you elect is government you deserve. H.L. Mencken said the same thing, but better: "People deserve the government they get, and they deserve to get it good and hard."

so, we are a country of fools, morons, and idiots.

well folks, bend over.

there is so much going on in community that it takes multiple viewing to catch it all (which I rely upon others to do!). like the episode in which Ahmed was mostly missing, except that he was in the background of most scenes helping deliver a baby (whic he mentioned in last nights episode).

modern family

knights of prosperity

the latter is a hilarious show based on the premise of robbing mick jagger, who is also in the show. there were only about 10 episodes ever made.

it's off

Am I the only one getting asked for a password on the Bluesfest website?

that's been going on and off for the last few hours. at one point i got a static page - no links would work.

Cheap Trick!!! but, only one hr set :-(

but...on, potentially, the only day I will be in town for this years bluesfest. and karl denson! except at same time as CT.

by the way, courtyard hounds are the dixie chicks minus natalie maines. (i'll be seeing them a few days later at the grassroots festival.)

I think all tickets are will call only.

Noticing a lot of shows doing this, maybe to prevent scalping? Cut the cost of tickets? My Jeff Mangum tickets are will call only too.

the web site noted that all seats in the first 6 rows were will call only. I don't think that they could handle ALL of the ticket buyers having to go to will call starting at 7PM.

i got on at 12:15 and grabbed a single on the floor. Row E, but to the side. my only choice was to pick up at will call. there were no pairs available. the next single that popped up was in the gallery.

Thanks

Imaginary Cities - from Winnipeg.

I actually enjoyed them.

In Ottawa she looked like she was just going through the motions.

Ottawa was really really loud too.

hmm - I didn't get that vibe at all. I also didn't find it very loud. I spent the entire show at the back of the floor with a nice spot on the boards, right next to the sbd. definitely not too loud there. on my way in I realized that I should have brought earplugs, but turns out that I didn't need them.

Anyway, this was my first Pixies show. for some reason I never got into the band. always knew about them, but never heard their music until recently. was a fun show.

nice

cool - will defintely try to check that out. and pick up some of their yummy chocolates. their stuff is probably my favourite chocolate.

the reunited original version of Return to Forever played jazz fest a few years ago. this version has a different guitarist and has added Jean Luc-Ponty.

not to pleased about Brad Mehldau and Joshua redman playing the same time as RtF. Although, the 7PM BM/JR show should be over in time for the RtF show.

The Bronze pass notes:

Entrance to Studio Series, National Arts Centre Studio – based on availability

does that mean you get in as long as the show doesn't sell out? what are the chances of BM/JR not selling out.

if you have never seen Brad Mehldau, I highly recommend it. Caught him at the Archives Auditorium maybe 5 years ago and at the Confed Park main stage a couple of times. The guy is brilliant.

... like I've seen before on the '99 tour when tickets were less expensive.

that's when he moved beyond my price range. IIRC tix were about $100 which was generally unheard of at that time. looks cheap in comparison.

i guess the "lower tier" friends of Massey are part of that riff-raff Neil doesn't want at this show, or at least up close.

neil still fucking rocks. and i still won't pay that kind of money to see him. he's been out of my price range for more than 10 years now. at least for his solo shows.

awesome. and i'm in toronto that week.

Watt is looking kinda rough these days and I wonder how much longer he handle touring out of a van.

we noticed that as well. he's wearing a brace on one of his knees. kind of funny - he showed up in his coat with a backpack, took them off, plugged in his guitar and off he went.