or Powell's or me• • •
"Mike and Jon, Jon and Mike—I've known them both for years, and, clearly, one of them is very funny. As for the other: truly one of the great hangers-on of our time."—Steve Bodow, head writer, The Daily Show
•
"Who can really judge what's funny? If humor is a subjective medium, then can there be something that is really and truly hilarious? Me. This book."—Daniel Handler, author, Adverbs, and personal representative of Lemony Snicket
•
"The good news: I thought Our Kampf was consistently hilarious. The bad news: I’m the guy who wrote Monkeybone."—Sam Hamm, screenwriter, Batman, Batman Returns, and Homecoming
July 19, 2006
I Like This Guy Stirling Newberry
I don't know much about Stirling Newberry of BOP News, but even if he's secretly a serial killer I will still appreciate him for making up a new word, "sloptimism":
There has been, in otherwords, the creation of a whole parallel world, filled with parallels to science, popular culture and scholarship. In no small part it has been funded by the loose dollars created by 37 years of reactionary government – give crazy rich people money, and they will start funding other crazy people to create a tapestry that conforms to their tastes of the world...This change is most obvious by the falling away of the children of Nixon and Reagan. Wesley Clark, as with many other things, was ahead of the curve...But there were other defections – libertarian types such as Jude Wanninski, even neo-cons such as Fukuyama, one of the most reliable of purveyors of sloptimism for the right wing world view.
The only other use of sloptimism previous to this was also Stirling Newberry's, here:
That there will be another recession eventually is a metaphysical certainty, we have not repealed the business cycle, and we should not: a bear market is the process of returning money to its rightful owners, when all of the sloptimism of "buy! buy! buy!" goes away.
Thank you, Mr. Newberry. As a long-time sloptimist myself, this kind of thing makes me feel extremely sloptimistic.
Posted at July 19, 2006 05:21 PM | TrackBackAs a sloptimistic slacktivist, I avishly follow this philosophy.
Not that I indulge in much slacktivity, of course.
Posted by: floopmeister at July 19, 2006 07:28 PMNo need to worry God will take care of his faithful. First he will lower the price of gas and then he will smite the unbelievers who live in the heretic states of Europe and Asia take their money and give it to the chosen. We will live happily ever after as in all fairy tales such as those by the brothers Grimm. So no need to grimace at the grim grimy truth we shall henceforth not recognize it and we will look upon the face of the earth and say that it is good. And on the seventh day we shall rest in pieces.
Or look at this way just stand on your head and walk with your hands and learn to talk out of your ass that way all that is upside down will now be right side up. Problem solved.
Or on the other hand we are just fucked.
Posted by: rob payne at July 19, 2006 07:53 PMStirling has been a contributor at http://www.agonist.org/ for quite some time, as well. Lots of goodies to be had there.
Posted by: Seen and Heard at July 19, 2006 10:10 PMSK,
Measuring the growth every ten years since 1969 gives growths of $5,426 (1969-79), $3,025 (1979-89) and $4,887 (1989-99). Incidentally, the growth from 1959 to 1969 was $11,539. Hence, over the four decades since 1959, this measure gives the growth of real median family income during the Reagan decade to have been the lowest, not the highest.
http://72.14.203.104/search?q=cache:EbT_o8CYoqYJ:en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reaganomics+reagan+and+fica&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=5
Hey, I know Stirling! He was an editor on Wikipedia a while ago (might still be). As I recall, he was opinionated and quite obstinate; fortunately I agreed with him often.
Posted by: saurabh at July 19, 2006 10:50 PMJonathan,
This guy looks much to meek to be a serial killer, but why would anyone hate a bowl of Wheaties so much anyway? Also, if another recession does occur will it be forever after remembered as 'slopty seconds'?
Inquiring minds want to know!!!
Posted by: americanintifada at July 19, 2006 11:33 PMWhen did we come out of the first recession?
Stop it you are making me hungry, I love wheaties and I don't have any.
Posted by: rob payne at July 20, 2006 12:44 AMPersonally, I don't think we ever came out of the Great Depression. As my pappy used to say, "The majority of people in this country will always be poor. The President just shifts the numbers around so it looks good on paper." Sort of like Nixon did when he turned us into Keyensians. One of Tricky Dick's best moves was to add the active and reserve military to the ranks of the employed, which was a significant number during that nasty little War. This dropped the unemployment rate and pundits called him an economic genius. He was NOT a crook. Just criminally power-mad, I guess. Go figure!
Posted by: americanintifada at July 20, 2006 01:17 AMYup, that is an old trick just change the way you count the unemployed and behold a financial wizard is born.
Speaking of fathers my own pappy had a hilarious story he loved to tell which occurred during the trickle down era of Reagan. He used to get into arguments with a conservative co-worker about politics. One day he told his buddy that Reagan just cut his paycheck which the guy could not or would not believe. On the next payday my dad went over to the guy's desk and asked him to look at his paycheck. The guy's jaw dropped and he let out an oath much to my father's delight. Reagan had cut income tax just like he said but he also raised the FICA so much that it translated into a smaller paycheck for most people. Reagan was as tricky as Dicky. It is always what they don't tell you that gets you.
My dad's favorite saying was "ever notice how republicans have pointy heads?"
Good old Ronnie! Using trickle-down as a euphemism for getting pissed on! Does anybody really know when that trickling is going to end?
Posted by: americanintifada at July 20, 2006 03:16 AMThat trickling down do end only when we do die.
Posted by: Jesus B. Ochoa at July 20, 2006 07:40 AMSK,
You might try joining TPM cafe where if you are a member and you are logged in you can choose the contact button near the top of the page which will allow you to send a message to Stirling who would probably answer your question.
Posted by: rob payne at July 20, 2006 01:05 PMPraise Jesus! (B. Ochoa, that is!)
I finally see the light! Everybody sing along now, just like the Camptown Lady!
'Oh, whens dat tricklin gwine to end? When we do-die, do-die. I be so broke ah caint pays mah rent, oh dah do-die day!'
Thank you Jesus, thank you Lord!
Posted by: americanintifada at July 20, 2006 04:11 PM
