Do Exactly What You Would Do If You Felt Most Secure

Quotable Quotes (Vol. 2)

Public Domain

If you're new here, this is a weekly column consisting of letters written to my (eventual) grandchildren (who exist) and my great-grandchildren (who don't, yet) -- the Stickies -- to haunt them after they become grups and/or I'm dead.

[The following column is rated SSC (Sexy Seasoned Citizens). If read by grups or callowyutes it may result in psychological/emotional/etceteralogical triggering.]


                                                 Glossary  

                                                   About

Irregularly Appearing Imaginary Guest Star: Dana -- A gentlereader

"I always felt very secure and very safe with real estate. Real estate always appreciates." -Ivana Trump


Dear (eventual) Grandstickies & Great-Grandstickies (& gentlereaders),

It recently occurred to me that I wrote a column a few months back called Quotable Quotes, a title I stole borrowed from a venerable Readers Digest feature of the same name. I had intended to make it a regular feature but didn't follow through.

I looked up the column in question and discovered that it was written almost a year ago... Methinks it might be time for volume two.


"Do exactly what you would do if you felt most secure." -Meister Eckhart

[Meister who?]

Eckhart von Hochheim, Meister (Master) Eckhart, was a Christian mystic, theologian, and philosopher in the late 13th and early 14th century, Dana. His friend...

[Hoo-boy, sorry I asked.]

His friendly neighborhood inquisition convicted him of heresy but he appealed to the pope, John XXII, and...

[Now you're talkin'! Did they roast him like a steak?]

Roast him like a steak? What are... oh, no, he died while PJ22 was thinking it over.

[Well that's no fun. And you're writing about him because?]

I'm writing about the quote. Although he was a popular preacher and an important theologian this was a long time ago and much of his work has been lost.

He's popular with both certain modern theologians and mystics... and certain New Agey types, which has led to out of context quotes, like the one that's the title of this missive, being turned into memes. The quote intrigued me so I went a-googlin' in search of the context because it can obviously be spun in all sorts of directions, rendering the authors meaning, meaningless.

All I came up with was a longer version of the quote but since it (in my semi-humble opinion) confirms what I suspected, I'm a happy camper.

"To be sure, our mental processes often go wrong, so that we imagine God to have gone away. What should be done then? Do exactly what you would do if you felt most secure. Learn to behave thus even in deepest distress and keep yourself that way in any and every estate of life. I can give you no better advice than to find God where you lost him."

[Hmmm... which means exactly what?]

I think that Meister Eckhart was saying that if you misplace your faith you should carry on in the world as if you hadn't, that doing so is the best way to find it again. To act, as Jordan Peterson has said, as if God exists.

[OMG, don't tell me you've had a come to Jesus...]

While I don't share the contempt and dismissal implied in your statement -- preferring true-woke to faux-woke -- no, I haven't, not in the usual sense. But I prefer to keep my metaphysics to myself. 


While I hesitate to speak for Dr. Peterson and I'm hardly an expert on his teachings?/conclusions?/philosophy? I shall venture out on to the relevant limb and state that we both think that:

Neurology/psychiatry/psychology/etceterology

--And even the "lived experience" of the allegedly marginalized --

Clearly indicates that...

[Wait-wait-wait. Allegedly?]

Well, I'm no public intellectual (obviously) and I find that I'm wrong with disturbing regularity. However, it seems to me that since the formerly marginalized have achieved, and continue to receive, saturation levels of attention within the infosphere that...

No wait, sorry, that's another letter.

Where was I? Oh yeah, -- clearly indicates we'll feel good about ourselves and be motivated to keep getting out of bed in the morning as long as we're striving to reach an ever higher goal.

For the religiously and/or the mystically inclined, a personal, ever-developing relationship with God, or a higher power of some sort, does the trick and answers a lot of important questions. Eckhart was advising that if you hit a rough patch maintain your moral and ethical ideals and the peace that surpasses understanding will return.

Peterson's version (and mine), acting as if God exists -- to never stop seeking the truth, to never stop striving to live as morally and ethically as possible, to acknowledge that when you're being brutally honest that 98.711% of the time you know what the right thing to do is, so do it -- amounts to the same thing.


[Huh. So you're saying that it doesn't mean that even if we're brimming with confidence and self-esteem courtesy of politically/culturally/etceterally correct parents and teachers and therapists and the like -- that waking and baking is unquestionably a legitimate way to start every day?]

What I'm saying is that we should give a bit of thought to what we really want, how we're going to get there, and what we'll be thinking about when we're on our deathbed and evaluating our lives.

What I'm saying is we should give a bit of thought to how we should conduct ourselves on the playground. Are you cool/do you keep your cool? Do you share your toys? Are you worthy of being a best friend? Are you a bully?

What I'm saying is that we should set the highest goals we can think of and if/when we reach them we're still not satisfied, or if we change our minds before we get there is:

Keep. Reaching. Your inner GPS will offer up the appropriate suggested routes.

Do these things and you will be supplied with the meaning that so many claim doesn't exist even though most of them can't stop looking for it.

It's okay to occasionally take detours just because they look interesting. In fact, I can't recommend it enough. Just be careful you don't get lost.

Poppa loves you,
Have an OK day

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P.S. Gentlereaders, for 25¢ a week, no, seriously, for 25¢ a week you can become a patron of this weekly column and help to prevent an old crank from running the streets at night in search of cheap thrills and ill-gotten gains. Just click here or on the Patreon button at the top or bottom of my website. 

Or, If you do your Amazon shopping by clicking on one of Amazon links on my site, Amazon will toss a few cents in my direction every time you buy something.

Or, you can just buy me a coffee.  

Your friendly neighborhood crank is not crazy about social media (I am a crank after all) but if you must, you can like me/follow me on Facebook. I post an announcement when I have a new column available as well as news articles/opinion pieces that reflect where I'm coming from or that I wish to call attention to.

©2019 Mark Mehlmauer As long as you agree to include the name of my website (The Flyoverland Crank) and the URL (Creative Commons license at the top and bottom of the website) you may republish this anywhere that you please. Light editing that doesn't alter the content is acceptable. You don't have to include any of the folderol before the greeting or after the closing except for the title. 

I'm a Wild-Eyed Libertarian and Free Marketeer with a Bleeding Heart and Conservative Impulses

...And I want to be the king

Photo by Valario Davis on Unsplash

If you're new here, this is a weekly column consisting of letters written to my (eventual) grandchildren (who exist) and my great-grandchildren (who don't, yet) -- the Stickies -- to haunt them after they become grups and/or I'm dead.

[The following column is rated SSC (Sexy Seasoned Citizens). If read by grups or callowyutes it may result in psychological/emotional/etceteralogical triggering.]

                                                 Glossary  

                                                   About

Irregularly Appearing Imaginary Guest Star: Dana -- A gentlereader

"Only kings, presidents, editors, and people with tapeworms have the right to use the editorial we." -Mark Twain


Dear (eventual) Grandstickies & Great-Grandstickies (& gentlereaders),

I have, in past letters described myself -- politically speaking -- by using various variations of the title of this missive. My current official position is exactly the same as the current title.

This clarification is important since I plan on running for King of the United States of America next year.

Note that I said next year. I would spare you the endless horror of the Permanent Campaign. If elected king I shall post a proclamation proclaiming that aggressive campaigning prior to the last three months before an election is tasteless, tacky and expensive and recommend that Congress legislates accordingly.

Two years after I'm crowned I'll hold a national, binding referendum on my monarchy and step down if the Citizens of the Republic (C.O.R) want me to. This referendum will also come with a yes or no question to vote on.

"Shall the Princes of the Senate and the Rent-a-Rats of the House of Representatives be subject to term limits?" That should prove interesting.

Also, I'm going...     

[Hey! You! Mr. hey look, it's a squirrel! Given that you admit to tweaking, however subtly, your official position over the course of the years, doesn't that make you just another freakin' flip-flopper?]

Technically, I suppose it does, Dana. But although a politician, in theory, must stand for something, they must also be practical if they are to get and/or stay elected.

Flip-flopping, as well as carefully crafted after spinning, is a time-honored tool in the successful politician's toolbox.

[Well then why should anyone vote for you, you're just like...]

No, I'm not.

When I do an obvious flip-flop and stick the landing, or just change/refine my position a bit, if asked why I'll just shrug my shoulders and say, "I've changed my mind." There will be no weasely "walking back" that insults the intelligence of the COR.

If I feel an explanation is necessary I'll release a statement of clarification (S.O.C.).

[But what about...]

And while we're on this subject, no more White House daily press briefings.

[But you can't...]

Sure I can, they're not mandated by law. Reporters will be welcome to submit written questions about anything they like. My administration will answer whichever ones we think are worth answering.

[But if you do that...]

The purple journalists will be limited to performing in/on/at their own venues. If a question is ignored that they think demands an answer, they can call us out. If the public agrees, we'll either be forced to answer or take a hit.

BIG BUT,

This will help any administration, that chooses to, to run things with the big picture in mind -- as opposed to the goofy way we're doing things now. The Gummit of the United States is run like a high-school that has turned the school over to the students, all of whom are social media mavens.

It's time to put the adults back in charge. The adults that do all the work and pay all the taxes out here in the real world so they can live their lives without having to worry that their government's been replaced by:

The Gummit

the ultimate in reality television

(premiering this fall on ABS -- All BS, all the time)

[Wait a sec', what's any of this got to do with the title of...] 

You started it. Besides, this column features "the wit and wisdom of a garrulous geezer," remember? Garrulous, according to Merriam-Webster, refers to a person that's "given to prosy, rambling, or tedious loquacity."

[Sure, but...]

I'll consider releasing a SOC, let's move on, please.  

I'm a wild-eyed Libertarian and free marketeer, that is to say:

"I want the playground to have minimum rules and maximum fun. I want just enough rules to give everyone an equal shot at some swing time and neutralize the bullies." -me

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." (My emboldenization.)

If you don't know the source of the second quote you should be sentenced to a week, maybe two, in one of Emperor Xi's concentration camps.


With a bleeding heart...

What any given Libertarian believes, by definition, is going to be anywhere from slightly to radically different from what any other given Libertarian believes. We like it that way.

There shouldn't even be a Libertarian party. That's like having a party of cats, whose platform would consist of the only plank they could all agree on. It is resolved that all cats have the freedom to sleep as much as they want.

Sleeping is a right!

Libertarians should strive to be a viable wing of both the Republicrat and the Depublican parties.

The libertarian wing of the Republicrat party of the most prosperous (and lucky) nation the planet Earth has ever produced should fight for a safety net that harnesses the power of the marketplace and the common sense of the citizens.

Singapore's been doing it for years. Why can't we? Their system works better than ours and (per-capita) costs half as much. They have actual interest-earning money set aside for retirements, not a trust fund full of paper promises that's going broke.

As for the Depublican party, if they had a libertarian wing perhaps they could be talked off the ledge before they leap into the abyss of socialism.


And conservative impulses...

Liberty without responsibility is anarchy -- the zombie apocalypse kind, not the starry-eyed idealist's version. Any properly brought up kid knows that's how you run a cool playground.

That's why an ad-hoc committee consisting of me, Loopy de' Loupe and Nick the Greek ratted out the 22nd Street playground pool pooper to one of the cool lifeguards, who administered swift and terrible justice. The miscreant was banned from the pool for the rest of the summer.

I've got a bunch of conservative impulses that are the result of my version of a currently fashionable notion, "lived experience," but I don't wish to trigger anyone so I'll stop here.

I shall undermine our modern-day Jacobins, who worship at the feet of St. Robespierre, with love and snarcasm.

Poppa loves you,
Have an OK day

Please scroll down to react, comment, share, assuage guilt, or shop at Amazon.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
P.S. Gentlereaders, for 25¢ a week, no, seriously, for 25¢ a week you can become a patron of this weekly column and help to prevent an old crank from running the streets at night in search of cheap thrills and ill-gotten gains. Just click here or on the Patreon button at the top or bottom of my website. 

If you do your Amazon shopping by clicking on an Amazon link above or below Amazon will toss a few cents in my direction every time you buy something.

Or, you can just buy me a coffee.  

Your friendly neighborhood crank is not crazy about social media (I am a crank after all) but if you must, you can like me/follow me on Facebook. I post an announcement when I have a new column available as well as news articles/opinion pieces that reflect where I'm coming from or that I wish to call attention to.

©2019 Mark Mehlmauer As long as you agree to include the name of my website (The Flyoverland Crank) and the URL (Creative Commons license at the top and bottom of the website) you may republish this anywhere that you please. Light editing that doesn't alter the content is acceptable. You don't have to include any of the folderol before the greeting or after the closing except for the title. 








 



  

Purple Journalism (Vol. 2)

Photo by Orlova Maria on Unsplash

Please note: This column has been rendered gender-neutral (& should be read accordingly) and approved for publication by the City Council of Berkely, California. All personal pronouns that would unfairly presume to indicate the gender identity of the H. sapiens mentioned (he, she, etc.) without their approval have been rendered as they or them to avoid the unintentional infliction of triggering or verbal violence upon their persons.    

However, my use of the term BIG BUT, twice in the same column, has been referred to the sub-committee for the investigation of thought crime and hate speech because of the potential offending of the calorically challenged community. Being a member in good standing of said community, I've referred myself to a psychiatrist to determine if I have self-hate issues -- and in the hope of scoring some good meds.


If you're new here, this is a weekly column consisting of letters written to my (eventual) grandchildren (who exist) and my great-grandchildren (who don't, yet) -- the Stickies -- to haunt them after they become grups and/or I'm dead.

[The following column is rated SSC (Sexy Seasoned Citizens). If read by grups and callowyutes it may result in psychological/emotional/etceteralogical triggering.]

                                                
                                                  Glossary  

                                         Just who IS this guy?


Irregularly Appearing Imaginary Guest Star: Dana -- A gentlereader

"When I was a child I had wax in my ears. Dad didn't take me the doctors, he they used me as a night light." -Les Dawson


Dear (eventual) Grandstickies & Great-Grandstickies (& gentlereaders),

"Purple Journalism: journalism as currently perpetrated by many news outlets that claim to be professional, unbiased, and factual. In reality, they are partisan, prone to sensationalism, and motivated primarily by the bottom line." -me

I'm not a fan of the Donald. Not now, not then. I voted for the goofy libertarian guy because I couldn't vote for either the Donald or the Billary. After all, I am a wild-eyed libertarian and free marketer with a bleeding heart and conservative impulses.

[Not then?]

Dana, you've been showing up a lot lately, not that I mind you understand I...

[Hey, I'm a creation of your subconscious, it's not like I have control over...]

Point taken. I guess I'm just missing Iggy and Marie-Louise.

[Not then?]

What? Oh, I mean when they first entered my personal infosphere, when they published their (and some ghostwriters) bestseller, The Art of the Deal, and the Orange One was turning up here, there, and this one time even way over there.

I tried reading it and found it to be lighter and fluffier than my mum's pancakes. And yet it was a bestseller, so whaddaiknow? P.T. Barnum lives? And they did manage to get themselves elected president of the United States of America without even spending much of their own money.

For the record, I've always thought that claiming that the Pooteen played the role of the man behind the curtain was goofy... although they are more powerful than the Wizard of Oz turned out to be ("Oz never did give nothin' to the Tin Man"). And they are, no doubt, a world-class bully and dick-tater.


The paragraphs above are a preface to the actual subject of this semi-humble missive, Jake Tapper, well-known employee of one of the all Trump all the time news networks, CNN.

If you set aside the occasional exceptions that prove the rule -- so that they can claim/pretend to be objective news sources that carefully separate fact from opinion -- CNN, like most of its brethren, is in the biased infotainment business.

For example, CNN is (mostly) all anti -- the Donald -- all the time. FOX is (mostly) all pro -- the Donald -- all the time.

There's good money to be made promoting polarization and pathos. Infotainment = current events + a reality show ethos. 

While I know what (and who) I believe and where I stand, I go out of my way to reject promoting polarization and creating conflict for entertainment. I try to avoid sexing (and violencing) up reality to capture the attention of jaded, entertainment obsessed Americans (like me).

Making fun of everybody and calling out naked emperors is more fun, and ultimately I suspect, more useful.


The Tapper, if you're not familiar, is the CNN White House correspondent semi-famous for their performances at White House press briefings -- staring the Tapper.

I fully support pain in the ass journalists in search of the truth for truth's sake.

BIG BUT,

Self-aggrandizing journalists with an ego as big as their agenda who believe that once they've decided the object of their wrath is the work of/spawn of Satan and they should shift into End Justifies the Means Mode and abandon objectivity and the ethical norms of their profession for the sake of justice/resistance/mom's apple pie (made with locally sourced organic apples)...

I've got a problem with that.

Particularly if a given reporter, like the Tapper, for example, writes a book in which they come back down from the mountain to declare that "Purists in the field of journalism and academics opining from the safety of the classroom can lament the downfall of neutrality. But neutrality for the sake of neutrality doesn't really serve us in the age of Trump."

I have not and will not read the book. The passage above is quoted all over the place and the Tapper is not claiming it's taken out of context. Call me biased if you like but as far as I'm concerned that's as much as I need to know. 

Another BIG BUT... 

Common sense would seem to indicate that, of course, no journalist is actually capable of being truly neutral. This is not a characteristic of H. sapiens generally, or your average Joe/Joan Bagadonuts -- not traditional donuts, of course, I speak of healthy, gluten-free donut alternatives (if there is such a thing) -- specifically. 

A journalist should strive to gather as many relevant, objective facts as possible and present the customer (us) with what they honestly believe to be the objective truth to aid us in making our way through another difficult day in the Information Age. 

I myself would love to be guided by the Tapper's wisdom and personal opinions but I would prefer them to labeled as such, that is to say, as commentaries, for the sake of clarity.


Bonus! And you won't be charged extra. I found this (disturbing) story on the Fox News website a while back but never got around to passing it on. It's both a (lump of) News That You Can Use and an outstanding example of pure Purple Journalism. 

It's an article about a two and a half centimeter long lump of ear wax with pictures and video. 

Earwax clump clogging entire ear canal removed from patient: 'Look at that!' 

By the way, only the wax was removed, not the entire ear canal, the headline is easily misconstrued.

I gotta go or I'm going to late for an appointment with my otolaryngologist. Poppa loves you. 

Have an OK day. 
Please scroll down to react, comment, share, assuage guilt, or shop at Amazon.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
P.S. Gentlereaders, for 25¢ a week, no, seriously, for 25¢ a week you can become a patron of this weekly column and help to prevent an old crank from running the streets at night in search of cheap thrills and ill-gotten gains. Just click here or on the Patreon button at the top or bottom of my website. 

If you do your Amazon shopping by clicking on an Amazon link above or below Amazon will toss a few cents in my direction every time you buy something.

Or, you can just buy me a coffee.  

Your friendly neighborhood crank is not crazy about social media (I am a crank after all) but if you must, you can like me/follow me on Facebook. I post an announcement when I have a new column available as well as news articles/opinion pieces that reflect where I'm coming from or that I wish to call attention to.

©2019 Mark Mehlmauer As long as you agree to supply my name and URL (Creative Commons license at the top and bottom of my website) you may republish this anywhere that you please. Light editing that doesn't alter the content is acceptable. You don't have to include any of the folderol before the greeting or after the closing except for the title.