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Just emerging for a short time from lurking with a little question.
According to Pirsig, quality is supposed to be something we all know
when we see it. Two prominent posters obviously agree with this
assessment, yet it seems, find little quality in the each others
postings. Obviously, they each consider themselves to be astute judges
of qualityand yet
DMB can find very little quality in what Platt posts and has come close
to labeling him a fascist, and Platt has cast DMB as a socialist and a
liberalwhose postings are tainted with such low-quality communist
propaganda. Not many MOQrs, seem eager to rush to eithers defense in
attacks from the otherwith the exception of John B, who was instantly
branded with the socialist tag by Platt for daring to side with DMB.
Platt has reached out to RiskyRog for moral support in his quest to keep
the MOQ out of the liberal and socialists filthy hands, but even Risky
is reluctant to stray too far into Platts corner. So, I propose a
simple question before I slip away into to the dark recesses of
lurkington. Whose postings have more qualityPlatts or DMBs? From
someone who thinks that, far and away, the highest quality posting ever
made on the moq-discuss page occurred on Sat, Sept 15 2001 calling
itself, I am a Load of Bullocksby some bloke who has since gotten
himself removed from the discussion page for unrelated offensesmy vote
goes for DMB. I think I have just earned Platts sticky tag of
communist/socialist/leftist scum.
Please cast your vote, along with your substantiated reasoning (which is
more than I have done). Lets try and keep the politics out (is it
possible?). Which one contributes more quality to the discussion page?
I think it is a worthwhile question.
For those who are interested, I have included the highest quality post
from Killer Blade as a measure of a high quality essaya standard, so to
speak. This essay deserves to be preserved.
Kindest
Andy
Ps. Moq_discuss was of a higher quality when it included postings from
Struan Hellier. I am interested in quality, however, not in the
advancement of any metaphysics such as the MOQwhich this site is
devoted too(and something both Platt and DMB have signed allegiance
to). Therefore my humble opinion will go unacknowledged by the
administrator of the siteperhaps as it should be.
Pss. Dont think I am attacking either DMB or Platt for their
contribution. As an addicted lurker, I often find myself bypassing
long-winded postings with undecipherable comments, reviews, insights or
whateverfor the bits of wisdom these two offer up. They are,
presently, my two favorite posters and I enthusiastically read their
postings from beginning to end (does this say something about the
quality of discussion of late?).
MD I am a load of bollocks
By killer blade
Here is what I think
What everyone is saying at the moment, and probably will be saying about
the New York terrorist attack for a very long time is bollocks.
It is bollocks because they do not know anything. It is bollocks because
the origins of the terrorist act are deep and complex and even people
who
have done in depths studies would hesitate to say anything definitive.
It is bollocks because they are awash with emotions that make them
crazy,
angry, and depressed.
And, as the arrests begin, I think one should mention the Birmingham Pub
Bombing. All the people who were given life sentences for that atrocity,
were subsequently proven innocent. But at the time the British people
needed someone to take the blame and people were found who fitted the
bill.
So I will go out on a limb here and say that most of the arrests, if not
all of them at the moment, are bollocks.
What I am about to say next is probably bollocks as well. I have no
great insight into the incident. I merely watched it on the TV. I assume
TV is
bollocks at the best of times, and so what I think is bollocks. The
difference is perhaps, that I do not pose as anything but a man capable
of talking
bollocks. The most considered opinions that you will find coming out of
the editorials of the newspapers are no more authoritative about these
matters than the average Brit with eight pints of Newcastle Brown Ale
down his throat. The reasoned studies responses from responsible figures
of
authority, are just as much bollocks as the rantings of people who write
to newsgroups. Sadly we are all obliged to talk bollocks now.
Most of you reading this are probably not average Brits so might not
understand what I am talking about. Never mind. It's bollocks. Nor
actually
understand what I mean by bollocks. It means, roughly, that one's
emotions are posing as one's intellect and that by saying something,
then you are
proving it. Unfortunately we are now going to live with a lot of
bollocks for a very long time and a lot more people are going to be
blown up for the
sake of a load of old bollocks.
Let the bollocks commence then.
If one wishes to conduct a guerrilla campaign it must have a political
goal, otherwise how will you know it has succeeded? Mao Tse Tung said
that,
and I think he might be counted as something of an authority in
revolutionary bollocks. But with the attack on the Trade Centre, there
were no
demands, and seemingly no goals other than the explosion. Perhaps they
thought that everyone would go to heaven as a result, which as you
probably know, is a load of old bollocks. And if you don't, then you are
part of the problem.
It is hard to negotiate with a load of old bollocks or make war on it,
which I assume is the chief attraction of such an act. I can imagine how
this is
put in Arabic: "These Americans won't know what has hit them! Fuck 'em
all. They are all bollocks."
John McVicar, a notorious English bankrobber turned esteemed authority
on the philosophy of bollocks, said, "Your chaos is my order." He was
explaining how to rob a bank, which, if one wants to seek rational
thought in this process, might make one wonder what has been stolen in
all the
chaos? If nothing more than a load of old bollocks, I suspect it is the
meanings underpinning our language. Now is the time to drop officialese,
newspaperspeak, media cliches, and academic niceties, because they are
bollocks, and if they were not, they are now. But who am I to talk? I am
talking bollocks. I am talking the worse kind of bollocks, ironical
bollocks, because that way I can deny everything when all the people who
do not
understand what I mean, start sending me abusive letters and making
threatening phone calls. I think I shall set my answerphone to announce
"Bollocks!" when anyone rings me.
I am a pessimist at the moment, as you might suspect, and believe that
the emotions that this has unleashed will exhaust themselves only when
there is
a lot more rubble. Or worse. I suspect, in the light of McVicar's
wisdom, that something has been hijacked other than the four airliners
and we will
be discovering what that is in due course. Sun Tzu, another philosopher
of bollocks, said something about making sure your enemy is confused so
that you can take advantage and so, what is the next move and has it
already
been taken?
I am however sufficiently optimistic to know that tomorrow some random
act can change that perspective and that maybe the workings of chance
were behind these events far more than design. The World Trade Towers
made good targets and airliners offered opportunities that sooner or
later
someone would test. The world is full of all sorts of cults and
embittered frustrated people who think bollocks. So if there are
opportunities for
random symbolic expressions of raging
bollocks, someone will find them, and the bigger the better, be it
overkill at Waco, or President Bush's support for an Israeli government
currently
engaged in dismantling Clinton's peace initiatives. The poor, and the
desperate, will always be with us, which, as some of you might be
guessing from
the theme of this missive, is bollocks.
Whatever meaning the attack had, it has imposed upon America the same
sense of futility, frustration and bitterness that people develop while
living
in the midst of endless tit for tat conflicts and blood feuds. I do not
think something like this has ever been written so large before and it
will take
years to be rid of and perhaps never will. It will be incorporated into
the US psyche through its cultural output. Hollywood right now is
searching for
a load of old bollocks to uplift us. The media has shifted into gear.
And the memoirs are already beginning to be composed and compiled.
Heroes
are being invented. Insightful forward thinking individuals whose
warnings were not heeded are being dug up. And a new vocabulary and a
new short
hand of shared attitudes is emerging. We all know it will be bollocks
but to say so and not participate in it will demonstrate our lack of
humanity. To
be human, the prevailing wisdom has it, is to go along with all the
bollocks.
I draw upon my own personal experiences to attempt to discover common
emotional ground. And like everyone, or at least everyone over the age
of sixteen, one finds fertile ground for a bit of emotional
bollocks.
So I shall talk about what happened when my brother managed to get
himself on a list of drowned sailors. There is a memorial in Flamborough
Head
to the whole sorry incident alongside another memorial to other sorry
incidents that regularly occur in fishing communities. So while the
horrors of
that week broke over the heads of my family, reality went out of the
window. There are a whole range of emotional complications with children
at
the best of times but this happening created about as much twisted
emotional fall out as was possible. My overwhelming feeling was that
others got
off on this sort of thing. It excited them and I resented that deeply. I
also resented the manufacturing of the event that took place by people
who
knew bollocks, which might be why I am talking bollocks
right now.
The press came round looking for stories that fitted the emotional
requirements of their advertisers and readers. The Religious teams moved
in to do
whatever it was they thought they were doing - annoying me mostly I
think. (One takes things personally on these occasions.) Petitions for
more
safety at sea were circulated, hands were shaken outside No 10 Downing
Street and expressions of concern for the safety of our brave lads in
the
fishing industry were made. All bollocks. We knew it was bollocks when
it was happening. We knew the crappy third rate idiotic set up that
caused
the deaths. We knew no good would come out of petitions and such stuff.
But you went along with the circus, took the platitudes on the chin,
because it was easier to do so and there was no vocabulary that could
express the situation adequately anyway. Luckily the Oprah Winfrey show
had not been invented otherwise I am sure there would have been a
whole lot more bollocks.
People in New York are going through all this and more. It happens in
lots of places and that fact is no consolation. It is part of life!
Bollocks. No
consolation at all. Nuke them all! Bollocks. No consolation. You name
it: Bollocks. There are people right this moment on the TV screen being
asked, "And how does it feel while you wait to know if your husband is
dead or not?" BIG CLOSE UP for the tears.
You see what I mean? Bollocks. Everyone feels excited by this. It's a
great story! It's like a movie! We are in "Independence Day!" And we are
going to whup ET's ass!
Somebody printed a list of "Survivors" on the Internet. The people who
have not heard from their relations and friends since the collapse of
the
Towers are drawing great hope from seeing their name on the list. Who
posted that list? How do they know who has survived and who has not? It
is
bollocks of course. People are being deliberately misinformed for
reasons one cannot quite fathom. Is it to keep them calm enough so that
there can
be extended media coverage of their emotional roller coaster? Bollocks!
How can I be so cynical?
I've just heard of some Israeli officials calling Yassar Arafat their
own Bin Ladin. More bollocks.
This show is going to run and run. We have not seen anything yet. Just
when you thought deep vein thrombosis was going to be your worst
nightmare on an airline, along comes this. The long-term effects are
deep and you will think they are normal. Reality has changed. One set of
bollocks has given way to a new set of bollocks.
Here is the only solution to the problem that I can think of. Give the
Palestinians their own state, with Jerusalem as their capital. It is a
load of
bollocks of course, but so what? What isn't? It can be Israel's capital
as well and who cares about the practicalities? The politicians can deal
with the
inconveniences and nonsense after the ceremony. They are all bollocks
anyway. Great leaders should worry about broken sewers, cracked
pavements and better street lighting, not metaphysical bollocks. Boring
bollocks is what politicians were born to do and if not they should go
into
monasteries, up mountains
somewhere, out of harms way. It should have happened years ago. Isn't
that an example of the Wisdom of Solomon? Bollocks of course, but there
you go, some of these people believe that sort of bollocks. It will not
stop these sort of bomb attacks because there is always more bollocks to
believe in. But that's one load of bollocks pushed to the
side.
Let's take a look for a brief moment at the load of bollocks in Northern
Ireland. Why has their been a peace process? Because talk of European
Union, global markets, free movement of labour, capital, and people have
made nationalistic bollocks increasingly pointless. Globalisation is a
bit of a
bollock buster. It is a load of bollocks in itself. It's a great pyramid
scheme taking money out of idiots pockets and slipping it into other
idiots
pockets, and nothing to show for the exchange except the maintenance of
"confidence". I.E. bollocks! And here's another load of bollocks...
Pause
while I empty another bottle of Newcastle Brown into my mug...
The ripples of this explosion can be looked at from endless angles. The
whole is impossible to see. And lots of little shock waves will coalesce
now
and then into huge freak waves... More bollocks! One can go on and on,
so I won't.
Here's something that isn't bollocks:
Do not leave your luggage unattended. Do not carry weapons aboard a
plane. Report immediately all unattended cars with their engines still
running
and evacuate the area. Do not block the exits. Do not get in the lifts
when there is a fire. Do not flush the lavatory while the train is still
standing in the
station. Do not buy property in Manhattan in the forseeable future. Do
not panic because it is all bollocks.
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