Category: Fourre-tout

Big political and religious organizations are usually driven and blinded by ideology. Intransigent ideology!

These organizations all prescribe horse blinkers for their followers. It is to prevent their flock from seeing anything to the rear and the sides. They should only catch sight of the carrot that the puppet master dangles in front of them.

If you are not with us, you are against us, is their motto. A prime example of this phenomenon is the recent demotion of congresswoman Liz Cheney within the GOP. Long a faithful Republican trooper, she had the audacity to break with the pack and vote to impeach Saint Trump. A mortal sin in the eyes of the “Big Lie” supporters. They demanded her head, and the GOP was quick to oblige.

“The big lie (German: große Lüge; often the big lie) is a propaganda technique used for political purposes, defined as “a gross distortion or misrepresentation of the facts, especially when used as a propaganda device by a politician or official body.”

As Goebbels and Hitler said, if you repeat a lie often enough, it becomes the truth, or at least it forces citizens to have some doubts about the truth.

“The ultimate end of any ideology is totalitarianism.” Tom Robbins

And this is the hidden and dangerous side of this doctrine. The ultimate goal of these organizations is the total subjugation of their flock. Nazism, communism, Islamism, early Christianism, conservatism, far-right groups, etc. all follow that scenario,

They want to impose their narrow views on all and rule by intimidation and fear. No dissent is authorized, and all are primed to worship their leader, their god. Like Il Duce, the leader cannot be wrong, even when what says feels rather outrageous. But you don’t question the Messiah!

In America (as well as many parts of the world) many individuals many families are blinded by ideology. They do so because they feel comfortable with what they hear, and they are surrounded by think-alike individuals. They are not loners… many people share their ideas…

Another dangerous ideology is the distrust and fear of vaccines. Vaccines have been successfully used for over a hundred years and have helped to cure or prevent scores of terrible diseases. But some people blinded by ideology and accepting outrageous lies, still believe that it does more harm than good.

Ideology does not fare well when compared with common sense, but alas “None so blind as those who will not see.”

When in doubt, forget the damn ideology… just use common sense!

Alain

I don’t know if you have noticed, but it is now fairly common in today’s movies to show various characters sitting in the loo.

What was long considered to be a private affair, is now shown in CinemaScope to thousands of spectators. I realize that the film director (probably a cinema-verité lover) wants to show realism, but is this really necessary? Personally, when I am in the loo, I  prefer privacy; it is more conducive to the business at hand.

By the way, do not confuse “loo” with the French word “loup”. They are “homophones” and despite their different spelling, they are pronounced totally the same way. But the catch is that they have an entirely different meaning. To be specific, the French word “loup” (pronounced exactly as loo) means “wolf”, and it is widely used in many popular expressions such as:

 Avoir une faim de loup : To be as hungry as a wolf
Se jeter dans la gueule du loup : To jump into the wolf’s mouth
Crier au Loup: To cry Wolf
Hurler avec les loups: To howl with the wolves
Être connu comme le loup blanc : To be known as the white wolf
To be known by everybody.
L’homme est un loup pour l’homme : Man is a wolf to man
Faire entrer le loup dans la bergerie : To let the wolf in the sheepfold
Elle a vu le loup: She has seen the wolf (she lost her innocence)

So, when a UK citizen comes to France and asks “où est le loo?” (where is the loo/loup?)  he might get some rather surprising looks.

French (as well as English) is ripe with homophones and they can be rather confusing to a foreigner. But they are fun to play with, such as in the following sentence:

La mère du maire habite à côté de la mer. (The mother of the mayor lives next to the sea.)

La mer — the sea
Le maire/ la maire — the mayor
La mère — the mother

That is all for now…

Alain

 PS:  A reminder that you can read this text in French, German, Spanish and Russian by clicking on “Translate”.

Let me start by reiterating that life is not fair. It is utterly unfair. And this bias starts the minute that you are born. In the name of social justice, and to nip this inequity in the bud, I suggest that infants start a movement to fight this blatant injustice….

In our society, natural body assets are primordial, as they are going to play a big part in your life. The shape of your eyes, your nose, your ears, your chin, etc. are going to be determining factors. If you are lucky, you will get a decent face; if you are not and look rather odd, this is the first strike against you. And there is nothing (or little) that you can do about it.

As you grow up, your body shape is going to become consequential. You will need to be well-proportioned… not too tall, not too short, not too fat. And again, there is not much that you can do about it. It has been pre-ordained, and your genes will decide for you.

A woman will start worrying about her body probably earlier than a man. In our ever-evolving culture, curves (butts and boobs) have become highly prized goods and if lacking in this area, many women will feel distressed.

On just about any social media, young women are posting selfies to flaunt their curves. They believe that their look is their biggest selling point, and they are trying to maximize it. But they are misguided. It is more important to be attractive on the inside than on the outside.

“You can’t really invest in your looks like your only ‘thing’ because it is a depreciating asset. Put your money, put your effort, invest in your brain and talent which will appreciate and get better as you get older.” Rashida Jones

 If you are not particularly attractive, you will need to be more resourceful. Fortunately, your brain is there to help. It is a tremendously powerful tool that will (most of the time) trump natural body assets. Beauty is ephemeral (a depreciating asset), but a brain will continue to develop and pay interest throughout a lifetime.

Physically unattractive people always have to try harder and are usually more resilient than good-looking ones. But looks are not everything… Many homely people did very well despite their less than perfect appearance. Among them Woody Allen, Bill Gates, Mahatma Gandhi, Golda Meir, Mick Jagger, Stephen King, Camilla Parker-Bowles…

Natural body assets are valuable, but they don’t define a person. The brain and the heart do. If you are fortunate to have both, without any doubt, you are a winner.

Only when our clever brain and our human heart work together in harmony can we achieve our full potential. Jane Goodall

Alain