In 1979 I turned 12. Living in Roseville, for a time then in 1980 lived in Turramurra. My parents were divorcing and my mother put my father in an impossible situation, and involved me in the divorce proceedings. My father had beaten me as a child, and had continued to during the divorce. Usually, he was egged on by my mother to do so. I was asked to provide testimony, and so was presented to an officer of the court to hear it. It was arranged that my father would drive me there, and along the way, he would threaten to beat me for telling stories. I tried to explain myself to the lawyer, who managed to misrepresent anything I said. I had pointed out my mother was a drunk but my father used to hit me and I didn't want to be hit, and did not respect my mother. The end result on judgement of divorce was that I'd live with my mother but live with my dad on weekends. He had continued his beatings. My mother arranged for me to spend my time with Ray Debus.
The first weekend with Ray did not go as I wished. For reasons I do not understand, he insisted on showering with me, washing my bottom and body, and getting me, while naked, to ride on his shoulders while he got me to admire the great view of Sydney Harbour (or whatever that water view is in Drummoyne). In the morning he was solicitous and took me back home. I asked not to see him again. My mother gave me the choice of him or my dad. I chose my dad. Later in the year, after I told my mother what had happened, she invited Ray to dinner, and instructed me to be well behaved. Afterwards, she said "He did not hurt you" and she organised that she could holiday at his holiday house near the beach. A couple of times a year. When I eventually graduated from university, my mother invited him to the ceremony, I asked her why after I asked him why he was there. She said she had hoped I would cause a scene at my dad's workplace. I left home for a second time, having left home when I was 20, but reconciled when I was near graduating age 23, and when I left again, I have never spoken to her since. Shortly before he died, Ray sent me childhood keepsake photos he had had. I never explained to him how inappropriate he had been. My mother would justify herself, saying her father had raped her when she was about 7, and after.
Under lockdown in Melbourne, the share house narcissist has free reign. He is a wife beater. Iranian. He claims not to be Muslim. He prefers Persian over Arabic. He frequently drunk drives a late model VW sedan. He has no job. He is dirty, often washing his arms, but never towelling down any of the surfaces he soaks. He cooks and washes up, but in doing so he leaves the dirty surfaces for others to clean up after him. He pushes burnt pasta, petrified mushroom matter and so on, down the drains, when he can, blocking the drains, rather than disposing of them in rubbish or garden. If anyone speaks to him, he bad mouths anyone else not present. He blames an elderly woman for smoke alarm, cleaning fails, not taking out rubbish when he is the culprit. He does not like how the parents of a young child are raising that child (one year old thriving with loving couple who work and study). Hair in the shower he blames on the obese NZ girl, who is half of a NZ couple who keep to themselves. His pet peeve is 'being cold' and so he shuts all the bathroom windows any time he is there, rather than shutting the bathroom door. This means that the bathroom is constantly wet and mouldy. When he leaves the shower, he leaves cleaning fluid on the floor of the shower. The cleaning fluid is provided by the landlord. He wanted the toilet to face the centre of the bathroom, not perpendicular to the wall it was fixed. So he broke it, several times, lifting it out of it's seating and separating the back waste pipe so it flushed directly onto the floor. He did not do that perfectly, so he had to do that several times. This was because the toilet roll holder projected onto his side when he tried to urinate into the bowl. When a plumber fixed the damage to the toilet, he got the plumber to loosen the tap on the bathroom sink so he could move it from side to side. This has made that tap impossible to use one handed.
On 1st Aug police were called out because of arguing and fighting. Narcissist was beating his (wife?). Police arrived and spoke with both parties, and then left.
I had heard on his first night here, Narcissist beat his wife slapping her loudly three times so she gasped. They had cooked a crispy skin salmon. She had been the one to keep the skin on the burner. She had cooked the chunky fish well, but clearly it had not cooked through. I was downstairs waiting for a delivery. His room is upstairs and one can clearly hear through the doors, but the walls are well sound proofed. He complained the salmon was not cooked through. She said it was ok, and some peoples had it that way. He said "You are not hearing me." He said that three times. Then he apparently slapped her three times in quick succession. I heard her gasp. I have not heard any subsequent incidents, but am now aware police were called on the 1st of August and it is routine that those near his room overhear him bashing her regularly.
20th August 2020
following an email to the estate agent on the behaviour of the narcissist, I had promised not to provoke him. The narcissist took my clothes out of the washing machine and left them in my basket. It was first light outside and I had gone down to do the same job. I had just missed doing it. Narcissist had his load going. I was also using the kitchen to heat up some soup. Narcissist had not used the kitchen sink. while I was heating the soup, Narcissist walked behind me, washed his arms and left. He had had no purpose in being there. A few moments before, after I had urinated in the bathroom, he went to go into the bathroom and shut the window after I left. He had used the opportunity to wash his arms then. His washing his arms means he soaks all the surfaces around him. I believe he had gone downstairs to the kitchen to make sure I did not sabotage his washing by turning off the machine, as he had done to me in the past. Of course, when I remove clothes from the washing machine to use it, I hang them up. No charge. One of the towels I had washed was solely so I could towel down after Narcissist had used the shower or bathroom.
Kitchen Sink Gristle from Narc
I put gristle in can
10:37 in the evening. Police knock on my door to my bedroom in share accommodation. They want to see my ID.
Aug 21st
I'm expecting a plumber who does not show. Calls at 2pm to reschedule for Monday. Needs me to take away his guilt by assuring him there is unlikely to be an emergency. Narcissist is quiet. I got up at 6am to listen to NYY lose. I go to pee, and after I close the door, Narcissist is looking to use the bathroom. We don't talk. Later in the afternoon, I let the downstairs lady know that the plumber isn't coming by. Narcissist is preparing to drive, drunk. He has left his car outside while he showers. He leaves a mess as always. Closed windows. Bathroom floor and surfaces soaking wet. Toilet bowl is dirty. Bath met soaking wet.
Aug 22nd
Saturday. 7:40 am. Narc has closed shut the bathroom windows and left all the bathroom surfaces wet.
9:30 am Narc has gone to shower, leaving all surfaces wet and bath met soaked on the floor. All windows shut again.
Plumber shows 1pm and installs new shower head, unblocks drains, tightens loose tap.
Aug 23rd
Narcissist fully closes windows overnight.
730 PM, Narcissist has pushed shower head up, unnecessarily, meaning the joins weaken for next users. The room is soaked. The bath mat squishes water if one steps on it. The bench tops are soaked, and not towelled down. Windows, which had been ajar are fully closed.
Shower head pushed up
counter top soaked
Bath mat soaked and squishy
floor with water
At times during the day, the fire alarm will squawk every twenty seconds for maybe an hour. It is a piercing sound and I feel it affecting my hearing, long term. Tonight at about 10:50pm it went off for a full minute. I don't know why.
At 11:20 pm, Narcissist used the bathroom to brush his teeth. He had to leave a puddle on the floor and soak the counter doing so. .
===
Aug 24th
Left enormous turd in toilet. Turd would not flush. Took several hours to get turd flushed. Did not clean up after showering. Floor was wet. Counters were wet.
===
Aug 25th
12:20 afternoon, Shut windows, left counters smeared with oily substance. Floor soaked. The rest of the day, no sign of Narcissist throughout the house. But the bathroom was a mess and stayed that way until I cleaned it up at 11pm. When I showered, open the windows, towelled down the surfaces.
===
Aug 26th
5 am, the windows were still open the room was 'clean'
2 pm, he is back, having left the floor and counters a mess. The shower head is adjusted so it needs to be twisted to use. The windows are shut.
9pm. I clean up for Narcissist, towelling down surfaces etc. He decides he must flush the toilet next door to the shower, while I'm in the shower. I'm not two minutes in the shower. The result is water in the shower becomes very hot, and after being adjusted, very cold.
27th
6:30 am clean bathroom, windows ajar.
9 am Narcissist has left all the surfaces wet and shut the windows.
9 pm Narcissist has left all the surfaces wet, and pushed a bog roll paper cover to the side of the toilet rather than putting it in the bin in the same room.
28th
4am clean bathroom, but for paper next to toilet I can't reach.
7am Narcissist has left all the surfaces wet.
6pm Narcissist in using the kitchen soaked the counter tops in washing up and washing his arms. He does not leave the towelling to dry, but scrunched up. Where he used the stove top is a grease and oil stain.
29th
Narcissist has along with his normal activity, left underpants and a bog roll next to the toilet. I used an arm extension to reach it. He also lowered the shower head unnecessarily. Soaked the floor and counter tops and closed the windows so nothing dries.
30th
10 am
Narcissist leaves mess in bathroom. I see in kitchen he still has not cleaned his mess from the other day.
Reports from our share house guy that works in security that Narcissist is continually beating up his wife.
There are such truths as are self evident. That all men are created equal. But that does not mean equality need be imposed at each and every turn. Equality does not exclude growth. Neither does it exclude love. And with growth and love, things become un equal. Equality does not lead to equality. To maintain equality after bad decisions, self serving ones are made, is patently unfair. And this is how Popper teaches us to argue gainfully. ====
“What I call 'the myth of the framework' is a view, widely held and often even unconsciously accepted, that all rational argument must always proceed within a framework of assumptions – so that the framework itself is always beyond rational argument. One could also call this view 'relativism', for it implies that every assertion is to be taken as relative to a framework of assumptions. A fairly common form of the myth of the framework also holds that all discussions or confrontations between people who have adopted different frameworks are vain and pointless, since every rational discussion can operate only within some given framework of assumptions. I regard the prevalence of this myth as one of the great intellectual evils of our time. It undermines the unity of mankind, since it dogmatically asserts that there can, in general, be no rational or critical discussion except between men who hold almost identical views. And it sees all men, so far as they try to be rational, as caught in a prison of beliefs that are irrational, because they are, in principle, not subject to critical discussion. There can be few myths that are more destructive. For the alternative to critical discussion is violence and war – just as the only alternative to violence and war is critical discussion. The main point, however, is that the myth of the framework is simply mistaken. Admittedly, a discussion between people who hold identical, or almost identical, views is bound to proceed more easily than a discussion between people who hold strongly opposed, or vastly different, views. But only in the latter case is the discussion likely to produce something interesting. The discussion will be difficult, but all that is needed is patience, time, and good will on both sides. And even if no agreement is reached, both sides will emerge from the discussion wiser than they entered it. By 'good will' I mean here the admission, to start with, that we may be wrong, and that we may learn something from the other fellow.” Karl Popper, 'Knowledge and the Body-Mind Problem'.
====
Comparing two quotes
“Goering, after the Nazis had come to power by a majority vote, declared that he would personally back any stormtrooper who was using violence against anybody; even if he made a little mistake and got the wrong person.”
Karl Popper, ‘After The Open Society’.
“…If you see somebody getting ready to throw a tomato, knock the crap out of them, would you? Seriously, ok. Just knock the hell — I promise you I will pay for the legal fees, I promise.”
Donald Trump
There is a large disparity between those statements. I see the similarity too. Trump is telling peace officers to be thorough in defending against bullies. That is very different to calling on Brownshirt stormtroopers to be thorough.
I'm reminded of Scott Adams 2015 appraisal of candidate Trump which has born out throughout Trump's Presidency. Scott is a left wing supporter, but speaks truth to power. At the time, Scott pointed out there were broadly two camps, those that supported Trump and those who did not. They are told the same things as each other, but hear them very differently. So Trump saying to punch on the nose a reckless law breaker is heard by pro Trump peoples as Trump saying what Theodore Rooseveldt may have. Standing up to the bully. But those who oppose Trump hear the same words as a call for violence. I don't approve of violence, and I shamefully have people on my pages that are awful, and inarticulate. I don't always block them. For me, what puts Trumps above comments into perspective is things like Hillary Clinton calling for the lynching of a Coptic Film maker following Benghazi. Hillary knew him as innocent of the circumstance, but she named him and pointed the finger so as to get extremists to target him, to hide what she had done. Or, Biden profiting from Ukraine in a sting that had Russian backed separatists shooting down a Ukrainian space Malaysian airliner. In the months leading up to the tragedy, Ukraine were 'painting' with radio identifiers, their military aircraft as civilian, inviting the tragedy. Followed by the US signal corps intercepting Russian transmitters as they discovered their mistake. That is a different class of 'violence'
===
Yuval Noah Harari, ‘Sapiens, a Brief History of Humankind’.
In defense of open society:
“People continue to conduct a heroic struggle against racism without noticing that the battlefront has shifted, and that the place of racism in imperial ideology has now been replaced by ‘culturism’. There is no such word, but it’s about time we coined it. Among today’s elites, assertions about the contrasting merits of diverse human groups are almost always couched in terms of historical differences between cultures rather than biological differences between races. We no longer say, ‘It’s in their blood.’ We say, ‘It’s in their culture.’
Thus European right-wing parties which oppose Muslim immigration usually take care to avoid racial terminology. Marine Le Pen’s speechwriters would have been shown the door on the spot had they suggested that the leader of the Front National go on television to declare that ‘We don’t want those inferior Semites to dilute our Aryan blood and spoil our Aryan civilisation.’ Instead, the French Front National, the Dutch Party for Freedom, the Alliance for the Future of Austria and their like tend to argue that Western culture, as it has evolved in Europe, is characterised by democratic values, tolerance and gender equality, whereas Muslim culture, which evolved in the Middle East, is characterised by hierarchical politics, fanaticism and misogyny. Since the two cultures are so different, and since many Muslim immigrants are unwilling (and perhaps unable) to adopt Western values, they should not be allowed to enter, lest they foment internal conflicts and corrode democracy and liberalism.
Such culturist arguments are fed by scientific studies in the humanities and social sciences that highlight the so-called clash of civilisations and the fundamental differences between different cultures. Not all historians and anthropologists accept these theories or support their political usages. But whereas biologists today have an easy time disavowing racism, simply explaining that the biological differences between present-day human populations are trivial, it is harder for historians and anthropologists to disavow culturism. After all, if the differences between cultures are trivial, why should we pay historians and anthropologists to study them?”
Karl Popper, ‘The Open Society and Its Enemies’.
Karl Popper “The abandonment of the rationalist attitude, of the respect for reason and argument and the other fellow's point of view, the stress upon the 'deeper' layers of human nature, all this must lead to the view that thought is merely a somewhat superficial manifestation of what lies within these irrational depths. It must nearly always, I believe, produce an attitude which considers the person of the thinker instead of his thought. It must produce the belief that 'we think with our blood', or 'with our national heritage', or ‘with our class'. This view may be presented in a materialist form or in a highly spiritual fashion; the idea that we 'think with our race' may perhaps be replaced by the idea of elect or inspired souls who 'think by God's grace'. I refuse, on moral grounds, to be impressed by these differences; for the decisive similarity between all these intellectually immodest views is that they do not judge a thought on its own merits. By thus abandoning reason, they split mankind into friends and foes; into the few who share in reason with the gods, and the many who don't (as Plato says); into the few who stand near and the many who stand far; into those who speak the untranslatable language of our own emotions and passions and those whose tongue is not our tongue. Once we have done this, political equalitarianism becomes practically impossible.”
DDB BLM have a devastating platform of support rooted on semantics and nothing else. That is why they tear down statues of people who opposed slavery? Because they don't oppose 'slavery,' the well defined word, but the undefined bad feeling experienced by those not identifying with a tribe. And that trolls other tribalists.
JW David Daniel Ball BLM is against this culturism. There is no such thing as reverse racism
DDBI'm sorry, but their actions speak very loudly, and are different to their words
===
“I have in lectures often described this interesting situation by saying: we never know what we are talking about. For when we propose a theory, or try to understand a theory, we also propose, or try to understand, its logical implications; that is, all those statements which follow from it. But this, as we have just seen, is a hopeless task : there is an infinity of unforeseeable nontrivial statements belonging to the informative content of any theory, and an exactly corresponding infinity of statements belonging to its logical content. We can therefore never know or understand all the implications of any theory, or its full significance.”
Karl Popper, 'Unended Quest', Chapter 7.
DDB Which is very different to meaning that nothing could be understood. Only that nothing can be perfectly understood. Everything falls apart, people grow old and some die early. There is anger and people, desperate, at cross purposes. Yet the world is a better place. People have better, more productive lives. Dreams can be realised. How can both worlds be the same? They cannot, unless there is grace. With grace, forgiveness and redemption, all becomes possible. Love never dies, although the loved one passes. The misunderstood becomes clarified. Errors are forgotten. People hesitate, agonising over the right choice. Sometimes, it is better to choose what seems best at the time. And pay the consequences.
===
“The concept of open society is based on the recognition that our understanding of the world is inherently imperfect. Those who claim to be in possession of the ultimate truth are making a false claim, and they can enforce it only by imposing their views on those who differ. The result of such intimidation is a closed society, in which freedom of thought and expression is suppressed. By contrast, if we recognize our fallibility, we can gain a better understanding of reality without ever attaining perfect knowledge. Acting on that understanding, we can create a society that is open to never-ending improvement. Open society falls short of perfection, but it has the great merit of assuring freedom of thought and speech and giving ample scope to experimentation and creativity.”
George Soros, 'Open Society – Reforming Global Capitalism'.
"But when we examine the character traits of a thinker, instead of the truth of his thought, we open up a Pandora's box of prejudices that makes it virtually impossible for us to be rational at all. Once our prejudices are released, it makes little difference what anyone says or does. Instead of appealing to reason, we give ourselves over to emotion. We know in advance that whatever certain people say or do is right, and whatever certain others say or do is wrong. Some people equate this sort of thing with criticism because it so often leads to condemnation. But it has nothing to do with criticism in my sense. It is, on the contrary, magic.
If there is just one thing that people who want to preserve open society should learn, it is that the traits of a thinker have no implications for the truth of his thought.”
Mark Amadeus Notturno, 'Education for an Open Society'. Can be found in “Science and the Open Society – The future of Karl Popper's Philosophy”.
I'm not tribal. Anyone can have good insights. George is right in this excerpt. I feel outside of this excerpt, George gets carried away in a harmful way. It doesn't mean this is wrong. For me, there is a concept of heaven where the faithful to God are still learning, still practicing. Few, if any, die knowing it all. So is heaven, then, an open society as George would have it? We reach nub when we discuss truth. An open society is an ideal for which we should aim. But not at the destruction of truth. George seems to want to go down a side road of good intentions, and actively legislate for openness, removing truth barriers to his vision.
I first heard this song yesterday. I like the message of dignity which is not present in modern debate with activists. Yet this is definitely a protest song. It protests war. I protest tyranny. I decided to employ the song as a broadside against the political movement seizing COVID-19 hysteria and over ruling peoples lives, promising falsely that people can be freed from death, by giving up their freedoms. Now I read about the history of the song, and see that in 1962, Dylan wrote it as a broadside against those building fall out shelters. I had already guessed from the 1962 date that, with JFK alive and the Vietnam War not really present and Korean war buried by Democrats in detente, that Dylan was not going for what today seems obvious.
I will not go down under the ground "Cause somebody tells me that death's comin' 'round An' I will not carry myself down to die When I go to my grave my head will be high, Let me die in my footsteps Before I go down under the ground.
There's been rumors of war and wars that have been The meaning of the life has been lost in the wind And some people thinkin' that the end is close by "Stead of learnin' to live they are learning to die. Let me die in my footsteps Before I go down under the ground.
I don't know if I'm smart but I think I can see When someone is pullin' the wool over me And if this war comes and death's all around Let me die on this land 'fore I die underground. Let me die in my footsteps Before I go down under the ground.
There's always been people that have to cause fear They've been talking of the war now for many long years I have read all their statements and I've not said a word But now Lawd God, let my poor voice be heard. Let me die in my footsteps Before I go down under the ground.
If I had rubies and riches and crowns I'd buy the whole world and change things around I'd throw all the guns and the tanks in the sea For they are mistakes of a past history. Let me die in my footsteps Before I go down under the ground.
Let me drink from the waters where the mountain streams flood Let me smell of wildflowers flow free through my blood Let me sleep in your meadows with the green grassy leaves Let me walk down the highway with my brother in peace. Let me die in my footsteps Before I go down under the ground.
Go out in your country where the land meets the sun See the craters and the canyons where the waterfalls run Nevada, New Mexico, Arizona, Idaho Let every state in this union seep in your souls. And you'll die in your footsteps Before you go down under the ground.
"The Unfortunate Lad", also known as "The Unfortunate Rake", is a traditional folk ballad (Roud 2; Laws Q26), which through the folk process has evolved into a large number of variants.
"Streets of Laredo" (Laws B01, Roud 23650), also known as the "Cowboy's Lament", is a famous American cowboyballad in which a dying cowboy tells his story to another cowboy. Members of the Western Writers of America chose it as one of the Top 100 Western songs of all time
As I walked out in the streets of Laredo As I walked out in Laredo one day, I spied a poor cowboy, all wrapped in white linen All wrapped in white linen and cold as the clay.
"I see by your outfit, that you are a cowboy." These words he did say as I slowly passed by. "Come sit down beside me and hear my sad story, For I'm shot in the chest, and today I must die."
"'Oh once in the saddle I used to go dashing, 'Oh once in the saddle I used to go gay. First down to Rosie's, and then to the card-house, Got shot through the body, and now here I lay."
"Oh, beat the drum slowly and play the fife lowly, And play the dead march as you carry me along; Take me to the green valley, there lay the sod o'er me, For I'm a young cowboy and I know I've done wrong."
"Get six jolly cowboys to carry my coffin, Get six pretty maidens to bear up my pall. Put bunches of roses all over my coffin, Roses to deaden the clods as they fall."
"Then swing your rope slowly and rattle your spurs lowly, And give a wild whoop as you carry me along; And in the grave throw me and roll the sod o'er me. For I'm a young cowboy and I know I've done wrong."
"Go bring me a cup, a cup of cold water. To cool my parched lips", the cowboy then said. Before I returned, his spirit had departed, And gone to the round up – the cowboy was dead.
We beat the drum slowly and played the fife lowly, And bitterly wept as we bore him along. For we loved our comrade, so brave, young and handsome, We all loved our comrade, although he'd done wrong.
Farewell and adieu to you, Spanish ladies, (alt: "...to Spanish ladies") Farewell and adieu to you, ladies of Spain; (alt: "...to ladies of Spain;") For we have received orders (alt: "...'re under orders") For to sail to old England, But we hope in a short time to see you again. (alt: "And we may ne'er see you fair ladies again.")
(Chorus:) We'll rant and we'll roar, like true British sailors, We'll rant and we'll roar across the salt seas; (alt: "We'll range and we'll roam all on the salt seas;") Until we strike soundings In the Channel of old England, From Ushant to Scilly 'tis thirty-five leagues. (alt: "34" or "45".[8])
Then we hove our ship to, with the wind at the sou'west, my boys, (alt: "We hove our ship to, with the wind from sou'west, boys,") Then we hove our ship to, for to strike soundings clear; (alt: "...deep soundings to take;" "...for to make soundings clear;") Then we filled the main topsail (alt: "'Twas 45 (or 55) fathoms with a white sandy bottom") And bore right away, my boys, (alt: "So we squared our main yard") And straight up the Channel of old England did steer. (alt: "And up channel did make." or "...did steer")
So the first land we made, it is called the Deadman, (alt: "The first land we sighted was callèd the Dodman") Next Ram Head, off Plymouth, Start, Portland, and the Wight; (alt: "Next Rame Head off Plymouth, Start, Portland, and Wight;") We sailèd by Beachy, (alt: "We sailed by Beachy / by Fairlight and Dover") By Fairly and Dungeness, And then bore away for the South Foreland light. (alt: "Until we brought to for..." or "And then we bore up for...")
Now the signal it was made for the Grand Fleet to anchor (alt: "Then the signal was made...") All in the Downs that night for to meet; (alt: "...that night for to lie;") Then stand by your stoppers, (alt: "Let go your shank painter, / Let go your cat stopper") See clear your shank painters, Hawl all your clew garnets, stick out tacks and sheets. (alt: "Haul up your clewgarnets, let tack and sheets fly")
Now let every man take off his full bumper, (alt: "Now let ev'ry man drink off his full bumper,") Let every man take off his full bowl; (alt: "And let ev'ry man drink off his full glass;") For we will be jolly (alt: "We'll drink and be jolly") And drown melancholy, With a health to each jovial and true hearted soul. (alt: "And here's to the health of each true-hearted lass.")
About Spanish flu. According to IPA, the true death rate of COVID 19 is 0.08% of all infections, or 800 per million. That is far less than what published rates are showing because we havent tested asymptomatic people. In Victoria, if an asymptomatic person showed for testing they are turned away.
