R&E Political Discussion

R&E Political Discussion - Spring 2026
[ R&E Political Discussion - Spring 2026 ]

had a good run

Posted by mender on May 17, 2026, 8:39 am

all the way from yesterday
thru Here comes the sun.
He brought to all of us a
bit of happiness and joy.

Listening to him search for breath
in voice makes me wonder…

Paul McCartney is one of the world's best singers.

Posted by Ken C on May 17, 2026, 9:20 pm, in reply to "had a good run"

I never heard Hope For The Future before. Thanks.

The Teeny-Boppers loved his squeaky crooning...

Posted by Cheap Seats Shaman *= on May 18, 2026, 7:44 am, in reply to "Paul McCartney is one of the world's best singers."

...and paid bunches of $$$ for his socialist rags.

If you're into that kind of music...Just another over marketed musician...

Posted by Cheap Seats Shaman *= on May 17, 2026, 12:11 pm, in reply to "had a good run"

...and openly socialist Brit.🥱

On Music and Culture from An American

Posted by Mondo Fuego™ on May 17, 2026, 5:00 pm, in reply to "If you're into that kind of music...Just another over marketed musician..."

Music seems to parallel art, architecture, fashion and literature, and the apparent decline in the quality of music becomes more comprehensible when viewed in concert with a larger context. It would appear that all of these vestigial expressions of the soul of today's mankind have generally lost a major amount of lustre when compared with the "standards" of yesteryear.

Perhaps changes in social and economic structure, combined with the shift from local to global orientation have impacted our ability to express our individuality ... maybe we have lost some of our individuality ... and maybe gained nothing in return.

We have experienced acts from the past which are indeed difficult to follow, especially on which to improve. After Beethoven, Monet, Rachmaninoff, Thomas Hardy, Eric Claption, Ray Charles, Billy Strayhorn, Patsy Cline, and the like, it is challenging to create something improvisational and original and have it pass muster and become a new standard, resting on new laurels instead of being a cheap knock-off of someone else's inspiration. Perhaps originality has been thoroughly exploited and there is nothing new to be created? For parallel example, where do we go beyond our current technology? We have trains, planes and automobiles, electricity, air conditioning, computers, smartphones, radio, television, video games, internet, robots, drones and nuclear bombs ... so what do we have to which to look forward? We have nonsensical chatter about living in colonies on the Moon or Mars, but we have yet to break the 70 MPH highway speed limit, our supersonic commercial jets are in graveyards and we are traveling at a slower pace than in the 1960s.

Although I do not foresee a major renaissance in culture any time soon, if one look closely, there are still those chosen few who offer quality, albeit that they are not always "original" in their expression. In "Country Music" and Pop, if one can wade past the fluff of the "can't miss" artists like Taylor Swift, Garth Brooks and Carrie Underwood, there are a few artists with real talent ... maybe Reba McIntyre and Miranda Lambert? In Jazz, I'm kind'a impressed by a couple of concoctions by Nicola Conte ('Black is the Graceful Veil') and Vassilis Tsobropolus ('The Spell'). I continue finding works of art which do not pale in the light of day, yet the frequency of such encounters has diminished noticeably. Maybe it's just that so much crap is thrown at us daily in ever-increasing amounts by the omnipresent media that it is hard to ferret out the true gems in life. Maybe we don't even get a chance to see them because they are the items of low mass consumerism and they get the bottom rung in terms of promotion.

Mass media has enabled the nameless, faceless slobs who have inherited Earth to live vicariously through the lives of others instead of mastering their own life, and as long as we continue to narrowly define the "winner" as the one who sells the most mediocrity, then entities like Taylor Swift and McDonalds are always going to be dubbed by the masses as superior to Kiri Te Kanawa and Filet Mignon.

I got it ... your short-line writing style ... you have peripheral vision limitations ...

Posted by Mondo Fuego™ on May 17, 2026, 10:48 am, in reply to "had a good run"

Right.

Scanning a longer line from left to right presents a problem?

Right?

No, I am not your Ophthalmologist. I am your Psychiatrist.

Actually

Posted by mender on May 17, 2026, 3:05 pm, in reply to "I got it ... your short-line writing style ... you have peripheral vision limitations ..."

I wear prescriptions, but that’s neither here nor there n my writing style is intended to make it easier for you and those
of your mindset who seem more intent on criticism than content- go figg’r…

That being said, I feel I can rest with assurance that you have actually accomplished more with your life and done
for more people in need then Paul or I could ever have
done or even put together as one. Phun awn

Your writing style would be easier on everyone ...

Posted by Mondo Fuego™ on May 17, 2026, 4:44 pm, in reply to "Actually"

... if you actually said something instead of speaking in cryptic riddles.

Simple Solution

Posted by Otto Kleinberg on May 18, 2026, 7:56 am, in reply to "Your writing style would be easier on everyone ..."

Avoid reading mender’s posts. They are above your pay grade anyway.

Re: Your writing style would be easier on everyone ...

Posted by Jacques Koph on May 18, 2026, 5:04 am, in reply to "Your writing style would be easier on everyone ..."

I find it awfully curious that someone capable of such deeply and extensively lofty comment can find no meaning in the original language in the Mender postings.

Well, then, I will just keep looking for meaning in the Mender postings.

Posted by Mondo Fuego™ on May 19, 2026, 9:04 pm, in reply to "Re: Your writing style would be easier on everyone ..."

Maybe I will use AI to render it meaningful.

just keep looking for meaning

Posted by Jacques Koph on May 20, 2026, 5:20 am, in reply to "Well, then, I will just keep looking for meaning in the Mender postings."

It may be certain that a person processing the intelligence you do process will be able to discern the meaning, hidden
within in the periphery language, without too much difficulty once you have the assistance of artificial intelligence.

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[ R&E Political Discussion - Spring 2026 ]