I loved David Lynch's work as much as I hated listening to him talk about art. The whole "Do what you love, do it well, just be yourself" thing sounds great but is actually horrendous advice unless you're already successful or independently wealthy. If you actually have to pay rent and stuff do not approach any creative field like that! ...
Is there a word for when you take your conclusion and state it as a fact that serves as the premise of your argument ...
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This experiment with letting a small handful of people amass most of the wealth in a society and then inflict something devastating on the world when they reach middle age and realize no one likes them seems to have run its 5000-year course. We might not need to run additional trials. ...
Nick says:
I actually have been waiting for the guano followup. It was a lot darker at the end than I anticipated.
waldoh says:
As an Australian, besides being super depressed about being a participant in this matter, being forced to watch as my country sank to the levels of Guantanamo, I was mightily amazed and quite grateful that someone outside Australia picked up on it.
Despite being so far from anywhere really dangerous, because everyone else in the world was screaming 'security', the conservative party has for many years utilised fear and loathing as an election tool. When PM John Howard ratified Bush's war on Iraq, it set the tone for for his future statements when he said " We'll decide who comes to this country and the circumstances in which they come".
Successive PM's ratified this 'policy' culminating in the recently dismissed ex PM Tony Abbott, who's bellicosity, secretiveness and win-at-all costs' attitude escalated the grotesqueness to deafening.
It is a distressing thought especially at this time of year, that the so many dispossessed people, not only on Nauru but around the world, are at the mercy of Nations that are governed by incompetent fools.
And if Bernie Sanders doesn't win….no, that's too depressing to even contemplate.
The Season's joy and happiness to you and your readers and best wishes for the New Year.
Tim H. says:
Wow, they lived on a shit-splattered rock, then found a way to go downhill from there…
CassiusStarbuckle says:
"Between 1994 and 1996, the Nauru House went under a facelift to replace the former pebble-concrete facade of the building with new, matte-gray aluminium siding."
-Wikipedia
Architectural anhedonia.
svnski says:
Seconding Waldo. Was going to add more, but now I'm too sad…
Enjoy the festive season Ed, you magnificant bastard you.
Jimcat says:
"And if Bernie Sanders doesn't win….no, that's too depressing to even contemplate."
Well, you'd better start contemplating it. As popular as he is among the sort of people who follow Gin and Tacos, the consensus among serious political analysts is that he has no chance of making it to the White House.
Dave Dell says:
To paraphrase a line from the best book about golf ever written (Dead Solid Perfect by Dan Jenkins):
Humans, what we don't fuck up we'll shit on.
Skipper says:
@Jimcat. "Serious political analysts" — in other words, bullshit flingers.
The latest poll I saw said that Bernie would beat any of the current GOP candidates handily. But you're right. When the media doesn't want someone to win, they will make sure they don't.
I'm sure you remember that in 2003, in the middle of December, Howard Dean was the acknowledged "unbeatable front runner." By the Iowa caucuses, following a savage assault by the media and "serious political analysts," he was considered "unelectable."
Greg says:
"…excepting Bakersfield." Fixed that typo.
Tim H. says:
Skipper, pardon the Douglas Adams reference, but I'd say Bernie's problem is, he's not a lizard. The media reaction is not unlike the first "Bodysnatchers" remake…
Steve says:
I was born in Fresno. I don't think it was a typo.
Jimcat says:
@skipper: I volunteered for the Dean campaign before the Iowa primaries. That's the source of my realistic outlook.
Jesse B says:
Having spent time in both, and only being a generation removed from the vicinity between them, it's a tough call, but I think Bakersfield is the worse of the two… Unless you especially love meth and a certain country sound. Fresno at least has grapes and isn't effectively a desert. I believe Bakersfield also has the worst air quality in California outside of Los Angeles. Gotta love them feedlots and inversion layers.
paintedjaguar says:
So here's a similar but (somewhat) happier story about the Marshall Islands, which may soon be uninhabitable due to global warming.
http://www.hakaimagazine.com/article-long/landlocked-islanders
These lucky islanders once had a bunch of atomic bombs dropped on them by the US, as a result of which they also have a trust fund…
(it's a good article)
c u n d gulag says:
Oy.
First, bats shit on you.
Then countries and corporations take your batshit, while giving you shitty money for your batshit.
Then, your country makes shitty investments, and the banks shit all over you.
Then collection agencies take any good shit that might be left, leaving you with no shit – bat, or otherwise.
Man, talk about shit-outta-luck!
This whole story is batshit crazy! *
*Sorry, but someone had to say it.
JDM says:
Curious as to how much they had, at their peak it was about a billion Australian dollars, meaning A$100 grand per citizen.
doug says:
Well, I guess no regular reader is surprised at a dark ending to a tale from you. And this one did not disappoint.
Merry fucking Christmas anyway!
Mark says:
If Bernie Sanders is elected president our future will be no brighter than this miniature island country Mr. Ed describes.
moderateindy says:
How can you say that about Fresno………………..I mean you did live in Peoria.
Bitter Scribe says:
Sanders is a shrill, self-righteous Johnny One Note about income inequality. The fact that he's unelectable speaks well for democracy.
mothra says:
Hmmm….I think Obama may have just found the solution to his Gitmo dilemma. I am sure no right wing congresshole would object to paying Nauru to take those detainees off our hands and disappear them forever.
waldoh says:
"the consensus among serious political analysts is that he has no chance of making it to the White House."
Thank fuck for that, especially 'serious'.
Sanders is a shrill, self-righteous Johnny One Note about income inequality. The fact that he's unelectable speaks well for democracy.
Hmmm, Coddled Chump trolls patrolling Gin & Tacos.
If Bernie Sanders is elected president our future will be no brighter than this miniature island country Mr. Ed describes.
If Bernie Sanders isn't elected President, America will descend further chaos, dragging the rest of the world with Her. The only redeeming feature of the whole affair will be the schadenfreude watching wingnuts ferociously gibbering nonsense while blaming any 'Liberal fascist' they can tag.