Big Talk

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About 2 and a half years ago, I picked up an anthology of letters at a used book stall, a few of them historical, most of them sample letters for various situations in life. The book opened with an excerpt from Bennett Cerf's "Laugh Day", about Fiorello La Guardia. I had misplaced the La Guardia excerpt, and don't currently have access to the book, but thanks to the miracle of the Internet Archive, I was able to retrieve it:

https://archive.org/details/laughdaynewtreas00cerf

"One of the greatest mayors New York ever had was Fiorello La Guardia - "The Little Flower." Every New Yorker remembers the day Fiorello read the the funny papers over the radio - with all the appropriate excitement and inflections - when a strike kept the Sunday journals off the stands. They remember too his squeaky fulminations against the "crooks" and "tinhorns" in our town, and his weekly radio sign-off, "Patience and fortitude."

One time the ubiquitous mayor chose to preside in a Night Court. It was bitter cold outside. A trembling man was brought before him, charged with stealing a loaf of bread. His family, he said, was starving. "I've got to punish you," declared La Guardia. "The law makes no exceptions. I must fine you ten dollars."

But the Little Flower was reaching into his own pocket as he added, "Well, here's the ten dollars to pay your fine - which I now remit." He tossed the ten-dollar bill into his famous sombrero.

"Furthermore," he declared, "I'm going to fine everybody in this courtroom fifty cents for living in a town where a man has to steal bread in order to eat. Mr Bailiff, collect the fines and give them to this defendant!"

The hat was passed and an incredulous old man, with a light of heaven in his eyes, left the courtroom with a stake of $47.50"

Fiorello's apparent refusal to pull strings to resettle his sister Gemma more quickly, shows a kind of persnickety integrity, an integrity which is currently out of fashion, but which might not be out of fashion forever:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiorello_La_Guardia#Nazi_detention_of_sister,_brother-in-law,_and_niece

"Gemma finally managed to get word to the Americans, who contacted Fiorello, who was then director of the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA) and had been unable to locate his sister and brother-in-law since their disappearance. He worked to get them on the immigration lists but asserted in a letter, included in the appendix of Gemma's memoir, that her "case was the same as that of hundreds of thousands of displaced people" and "no exceptions can be made". It took two years for her to be cleared and sent to the United States. She returned to New York in May 1947, where she was reunited with her brother only four months before his death."

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Something Michelle Gomez said at a Comic-Con panel that I liked:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48wpf0phoxA&t=1771s

"As somebody who's endured a lot of rejection, and as somebody who's nickname by their agent is The Roach, as in the cockroach, because I'm now an inspiration to the younger clients because I keep getting squashed like a bug out there and I keep coming back, so my tip would be, just never give up. And, this world is abundant and there's enough for everyone, and if you do give up, somebody else is going to take your spot anyway, so if you really just believe in yourself and keep going, you'll get your five minutes of fame."

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An article by Masha Gessen, and a quote by Garry Kasparov, that I keep coming back to:

https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-new-yorker-interview/garry-kasparov-says-we-are-living-in-chaos-but-remains-an-incorrigible-optimist

"At first they were using Trump mostly as an icebreaker. They expected Hillary to win and wanted to discredit her completely. Trump was the perfect vehicle for discrediting not only Hillary but the entire electoral system. Putin’s great advantage is that, unlike Soviet propagandists, he is not selling an ideology. I call him the merchant of doubt. His message is, We are shit, you are shit, and all of this is bullshit. What democracy? Trump was the ideal agent of chaos."

I play around a bit with the NEIGHBORS acronym: Not Everything Is BS.

To me, fascism is friends and neighbors being disappeared in the dead of the night. One thing we have unfortunately had cause to learn is that, at the time, it's difficult to tell the difference between people disappearing for ordinary reasons, and people being disappeared for extraordinary reasons.  A nation which wishes to nip fascism in the bud must perhaps develop rituals for noticing when people have disappeared, and also rituals for retrieving people, and bringing them back, when appropriate.

My fundamental opinion on trans rights, for what it's worth, is that I trust Hagrid Severus Snape M. Gessen, and Natalie Wynn. Those two may be wrong, of course, but they are not going to be wrong for the wrong reasons.

There was an internet comment on one of Natalie Wynn's videos, which I can't find, but which struck me at the time: A woman, perhaps slightly larger and hairier than the average woman, was attacked by a band of roving mean girls, who gleefully informed her that she was not eligible to use the Ladies Rest Room. She left the room in humiliation, and felt bad the rest of the day.

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I've been thinking a bit about the difference between democratic, community capitalism and undemocratic, psy ops capitalism.

Psy Ops Capitalism: 

Extensive monitoring, surveillance and psychological profiling to determine: 

1. Who is worth investing in.

2. Who can be safely discarded.

3. Who can be trusted with large amounts of money and power.

Community Capitalism:

1. Everybody is worth investing in.

2. No one can be safely discarded.

3. No one can be trusted with large amounts of money and power.

One of my favorite bits of Andrew Tobias's writing is the "Trust No One" chapter of The Only Investment Guide You'll Ever Need. Murray, Murray, Murray.

http://www.grandtimes.com/insurance.html

https://andrewtobias.com/trust-no-one/

Note that while I do believe everybody is worth investing in, I don't necessarily believe everybody is worth investing large amounts of money in. I believe everybody is worth investing small to medium amounts of money in.

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The speech by Otto Wells opposing the Enabling Act of 1933 is pretty great, and stands the test of time. The parts of it that do not stand the test of time are the attempts to throw Hitler a bone here or there, in order to appear "reasonable".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enabling_Act_of_1933 

The Centre's Ludwig Kaas spoke to voice his party's support for the bill amid "concerns put aside". He had still not received the written guarantee he had negotiated but had been assured it was being "typed up" . . . Heinrich Brüning remained silent.

Only SPD leader Otto Wels spoke against the Enabling Act . . .

 "The Weimar Constitution is not a socialist constitution. But we stand by the principles enshrined in, the principles of a state based on the rule of law, of equal rights, of social justice. In this historic hour, we German Social Democrats solemnly pledge ourselves to the principles of humanity and justice, of freedom and socialism. No Enabling Act gives you the power to destroy ideas that are eternal and indestructible."

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Little Talk

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How Much Waking Up Does A Man Require?

My current answer:

1. wake up

2. stare out the window a bit

3. un-tether the phone, and check whether the sky has fallen

4. re-tether the phone, or set a timer (optional)

5. stare out the window some more (optional)

6. get up, stand up, people get ready

7. ???

8. profit!

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How Much Tabloid Reading / Web-Surfing Does A Man Require?

My current answer:

2-4 quick glances, 1-2 leisurely looks

in terms of time (maybe):

quick glance 1, 3: dawn, dusk

quick glance 2, 4: midday, midnight

leisurely look 1: pre-dawn to dusk

leisurely look 2: pre-dusk to dawn

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Next post: December 29, 2025