February 2012
34 posts
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Emily Said was the most beautiful girl in school—exotic yet familiar, tapping some static aspect of beauty. Henry Phrontisterion was not tapping anything. He was as ugly as his last name and as awkward as others’ attempts to pronounce it, Phrontisterion. Yet, Emily Said was inexplicably attracted to him, Henry Phrontisterion. She wanted to fuck him because he was awkward; but, because...
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I pass my time on TV and masturbation time multiplied by the blood of slaves in sweatshop prisons and all I feel is angst and shallow fatigue, a lackluster solipsist wilting in a lack of spotlight, but I have legs. Why don’t I move? Instead, I demand the spotlight moves or the stage moves, the supply moves. I feel uprooted, yet I stand still, I wilt. And watch TV and masturbate. I refuse to...
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“Communism and “free-market” capitalism both are modern versions of...”
– Wendell Berry in “The Total Economy”
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Middle Piece: "The Next Rhetoric"
This piece was written on the eve of Isaac’s first child.
The Contract with America in 1994 had an unintended effect—it nationalized elections. Rather than running against the local candidate, the Republicans ran against Clinton. In this new rhetoric, national issues like abortion, gun control, healthcare came further to the forefront at the expense of more local issues like...
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Franny was shaking uncontrollably on the floor; I took off my jacket to warm her, to reassure her, but it did little to stem the spasms. “John! Why’s she on the floor?!”
I’d wanted to meet Wendell since I was 17 and Wendell had wanted to meet since I was 14, but neither of us wanted to talk to each other now. This was unfortunate—the dinner party was for...
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Le Roy High School Illness
This illness fascinates me because of its continuity with the 17th century. Most of the experts and journalists covering the event stress the perceived role of social media in spreading the illness. These same people then note the illness’ long history and its famous role in nunneries and possessions. While there’s a definite 21st century twist on the illness, the illness seems little...
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Evolution of Corporate Case Law
All are supreme court cases unless otherwise noted.
“The objects for which a corporation is created are universally such as the government wishes to promote. They are deemed beneficial to the country; and this benefit consitutes the consideration, and in most cases, the sole consideration of the grant…Charitable or public-spirited individuals, desirous of making permanent...
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GRAY AREA!$$(11$#@($
For a century now, corporations have been defined as ‘individuals’ before the law. This being the case, politicians supporting ‘individualism’ are also supporting collections of people or corporations. By giving ‘individuals’ more rights, corporate collectives gain rights as well. Put differently, the individual v collective line that animates many on the right...
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Power Outage
The TV reflected my motions with its black screen. I noticed I wasn’t very telegenic; I wouldn’t watch that. How embarrassing to live as an aborted TV show.
I remained pale despite the black screen. My inanimate face boasting the emotional range of Socrates’ bust. Could Socrates get a reality show?
So, I lit up a cigarette and tapped my French heritage, but even Godard...
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Thoughts on Tumblr Politics
Tumblr has its own news cycle, largely fueled by ideologies which are entirely disconnected from the world. Why is demisexual so controversial? What’s with this feminazi thing? What the hell is so great about Ron Paul? As far as I can tell, people pick on extremists and lunatics to prove how committed to their position they are, which is exploiting a legitimate issue for gain. It’s the...
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Later Piece: "Logistics"
His sanity was being called into question during this stage of his life
“Amateurs talk strategy. Professionals talk logistics.” ~ General Omar Bradley (If you do not know who he is, you’re probably a communist.)
I grew up playing RTS games like Age of Empire and Empire Earth augmented with turn-based games like Civilization. But, these games haven’t evolved since. Sure...
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“I’m in favor of legalizing pot just so potheads will never have anything...”
– Daniel Tosh
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“The National Security Strategy” defines terrorism as “premeditated,...”
– “A Citizen’s Response” by Wendell Berry
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Middle Post: "On Abortion"
The first paragraph was found in his memoirs. The subsequent piece was for publication. At the time of its publication, abortion rights were being curtailed after a series of Republican victories in state government.
Abortion is an issue I’d rather not discuss; as a man, I’ve always viewed wearily. But, I have something to say about the subject. I listen to radical conservatives who...
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Middle Post: The Breakthrough - "Tool Statements"...
Here’s a popular claim: ‘X’ isn’t good or bad, it’s a tool, a form of power, a means to an end.* This claim is everywhere:
I am also led to the view that it [capitalism] cannot in and of itself be regarded as an ethical principle; that it must be regarded as instrumental or a corollary of some other principle such as freedom. ~ Capitalism and Freedom by Milton...
W. W. Norton: The Metaphysicians of South Jersey →
wwnorton:
Because in large cities the famous truths
already had been plumbed and debated,
the metaphysicians of South Jersey lowered
their gaze, just tried to be themselves.
They’d gather at coffee shops in Vineland
and deserted shacks deep in the Pine Barrens.
Nothing they came up with mattered
so…
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Leviathan Eats the World
Let me catch you up—we digitized everyone’s minds. It was going well, but people started to miss the physical world—not everyone is content to use their imagination #americans. So, we used the computers to build robots for the people who wanted to enjoy the physical world again. One programmer decided to build the most bad ass robot ever; it’d make King Kong an ant. He...
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Early Lyric: The Decatur Protest Song
Inspired by the 2011 revolutions and a Sufjan Stevens song during Mr. Isaac’s college years.
The state of America is generalized hysteria: alternative realities ignoring sexualities, the devolution revolution aggravated air pollution, apathy and irony and money in the polity, and markets still believable yet acts inconceivable. Our faith in democracy became theodicy with Madison, Jefferson...
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Early Piece on Walking: "This is Walking"
The following was written during Mr. Isaac’s teenage years. It is among the earliest works. Excuse the editorializing, but it’s clearly derivative.
Walking and Hell. Nearly synonymous. A bunch of narcissists unable to imagine the issues of others. It’s so base—‘Walkin’ the streets is like battlin’, be careful with your body.’[1] And, it’s...
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The Collected Scrapbooks of WT Isaac
Introduction By S. Blattgreen
The following pages have been compiled as a representation of the life, influences, and thought of Mr. Isaac. He was a preeminent polemicist in his day, a time of divisiveness and unity, of energy and apathy. Through these ‘scraps’ I hope to display his vibrant mind and interest in humanity and its environment is evident. Besides his journal entries and...
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still on the ground
Thee giraffe ascended, to scout for rain— leaves were dry, and clouds were shy in thee hot, and broiling July. Thirsty mind and brain, like a hyena camping near the rot— where foul and trite desire dictates being. Myopic giraffes explore, wanting fruit, but horizons furnish nothing. Fleeing, giraffes still anchored, grounded must pollute the globe of grime as shapes fall, debased like...
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I contracted apathy under the tree in the playground when the bird shit on me. It was pervasive, the meaninglessness, like gravity. It’s terminal like entropy scattering data, and life alike.
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American Versions of Tolerance
Tolerance is a hot button issue in American politics. Conservative critics wonder why we should accept a culture (Arab culture) that perpetrated 9/11, while Evangelical culture is under constant criticism from the left. It’s a matter of definitions. Conservatives have an outlook of tolerance in accordance with Locke:
“…however clearly we may think this or the other doctrine to...
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“The Civil War was simply a four-year military action…It was a military...”
– Shelby Foote, 1997
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sitcoms these days
Favorite sitcom episodes:
Community - Remedial Chaos Theory - “Troy and Abed’s new apartment!”
Community - Cooperative Calligraphy - “It’s a bottle episode.” Community goes big, but I think its best episodes involve its characters; it has the best cast on TV for a sitcom.
Community - Modern Warfare - I remember seeing this on TV and thinking, “Uh, why...
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“In terms of political morality one must state the specific limits beyond which...”
– Reinhold Niebuhr, The Children of Light and the Children of Darkness
January 2012
26 posts
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There was an oil derrick protruding from her chest. Her loose-fitting top hid the vein it was tapping and competed with her breasts. Though gawked at (for strangeness or beauty, I could not tell), she was provocative. She was beautiful; the oil derrick sapped nothing. It was a frat party, in a basement. She flung herself on a support pole and displayed herself. Everyone stopped dancing; the DJ...
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Such a Dick
A lot of people don’t realize this, but I grew up in the South; I exterminated my Southern accent in the first semester of college—it was like being exorcised. The prejudiced thing I experienced was a stand-up act. It was in some shitty bar that buzz bands and comedians performed at on weekends. So, I ended up seeing this comic. He comes out telling jokes like Borat, minus the irony....
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I could see her hips, and they were Lachaisian. The boldness of the stars transmitting despite occasion: Such a natural thing for the numbers to prevail; my senses feel that Truth. But hold onto that reason I heard it through my youth; The cortex has melted remaking my perception— the only beauty now is you. The...
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poem hold the lettuce
Thin verse, liposuctioned; it’s thinned gin— for postliposuction. No pubic hair, shaving nature— it’s a self-evident duty despite its invisibility. Invisibility nourishes self-judgement; it’s a conservative court, filled with terminal selves. Sip the thinned gin; it’ll keep the court down.
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GOP Presidential Candidates on Citizens United
unanimous approval of conservative justices who believe: “Indeed, to exclude or impede corporate speech is to muzzle the principal agents of the modern free economy. We should celebrate rather than condemn the addition of this speech to the public debate.” (Scalia concurring in Citizens United)
Romney loves the decision.
Newt Gingrich evading the question because Sheldon Adelson.
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back in the day
Consider the following: Corporations are people and American politics currently is pushing individual rights, more individual freedom. In this scenario, individuals gain rights, but, so do corporations, despite being collections of people. Because of this, increased individual rights, have lead to increased corporate rights. And, it’s certainly arguable that corporations have more rights...
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Candidates at an Election
View I DISHWASHER, RUNNING, SCREAMING, TELEVISION. Sigh, This is my house—always loud. Always out of control like fraternity row, only sober. Very sober. I wish I could coat myself in Teflon.
“As governor, he promised—no new taxes. Yet, he raised taxes, twice in three years. Twice in three years, after promising. This is not a man we can trust; this is not a man for America;...
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“Like many anniversary celebrations, the plan for 1987 takes particular events...”
– Thurgood Marshall in 1987
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Absurdity. People have built their careers around it, Jon Stewart did. But, as Esquire notes, it isn’t solving anything. That’s not to say Jon Stewart’s doing a bad job or a bad thing; he’s revealing absurdities that otherwise would pass unnoticed. The problem is, to maintain his creditably, Jon Stewart must attack both the left and the right; he’s not balancing the...
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“The men who dwell in the city are my teachers, and not the trees or the country.”
– Socrates in Phaedrus
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Being a Nazi's Cool
The Nazi’s won, in landslide fashion; liberals across the world celebrated. A few decades prior, victory was impossible. The saving grace for the Nazis was the death of the baby boomers. Because they were beholden to a post-WWII Hitchens-esque anti-totalitarian fear, they refused to vote for a party so freely advocating authoritarianism. Perhaps it wasn’t ‘complete’...
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