How then shall they know?

The fact that the modern mind is not “advanced”, but is considerably degraded from the great minds of the past, can only be understood by reading the philosophers of the past, including the early theologians and martyrs, and comparing them to the shallow bumblings and blatherings of today’s scientists, philosophers, and theologians.

One seldom puts “the martyrs” into an intellectual category, but there are no shortage of ante-Nicene examples to demonstrate that one reason Christianity triumphed over noble paganry was the formidable minds of its early advocates, such as Justin Martyr. It is frankly astonishing at times to witness atheists crowing, and Christians quailing, about concepts that were conclusively dealt with to the satisfaction of all parties nearly 2,000 years ago.

Can you even imagine what noble pagans like Aristotle would have made of today’s world of mutating pronouns, diversity science, and paedoalethic relativism?

“I will tell you,” said I, “what seems to me; for philosophy is, in fact, the greatest possession, and most honourable before God, to whom it leads us and alone commends us; and these are truly holy men who have bestowed attention on philosophy. What philosophy is, however, and the reason why it has been sent down to men, have escaped the observation of most; for there would be neither Platonists, nor Stoics, nor Peripatetics, nor Theoretics, nor Pythagoreans, this knowledge being one. I wish to tell you why it has become many-headed. 

It has happened that those who first handled it, and who were therefore esteemed illustrious men, were succeeded by those who made no investigations concerning truth, but only admired the perseverance and self-discipline of the former, as well as the novelty of the doctrines; and each thought that to be true which he learned from his teacher: then, moreover, those latter persons handed down to their successors such things, and others similar to them; and this system was called by the name of him who was styled the father of the doctrine. Being at first desirous of personally conversing with one of these men, I surrendered myself to a certain Stoic; and having spent a considerable time with him, when I had not acquired any further knowledge of God (for he did not know himself, and said such instruction was unnecessary), I left him and betook myself to another, who was called a Peripatetic, and as he fancied, shrewd. 

And this man, after having entertained me for the first few days, requested me to settle the fee, in order that our intercourse might not be unprofitable. Him, too, for this reason I abandoned, believing him to be no philosopher at all. But when my soul was eagerly desirous to hear the peculiar and choice philosophy, I came to a Pythagorean, very celebrated—a man who thought much of his own wisdom. And then, when I had an interview with him, willing to become his hearer and disciple, he said, ‘What then? Are you acquainted with music, astronomy, and geometry? Do you expect to perceive any of those things which conduce to a happy life, if you have not been first informed on those points which wean the soul from sensible objects, and render it fitted for objects which appertain to the mind, so that it can contemplate that which is honourable in its essence and that which is good in its essence?’ Having commended many of these branches of learning, and telling me that they were necessary, he dismissed me when I confessed to him my ignorance. 

Accordingly I took it rather impatiently, as was to be expected when I failed in my hope, the more so because I deemed the man had some knowledge; but reflecting again on the space of time during which I would have to linger over those branches of learning, I was not able to endure longer procrastination. In my helpless condition it occurred to me to have a meeting with the Platonists, for their fame was great. I thereupon spent as much of my time as possible with one who had lately settled in our city, a sagacious man, holding a high position among the Platonists, and I progressed, and made the greatest improvements daily. And the perception of immaterial things quite overpowered me, and the contemplation of ideas furnished my mind with wings, so that in a little while I supposed that I had become wise; and such was my stupidity, I expected forthwith to look upon God, for this is the end of Plato’s philosophy.

“And while I was thus disposed, when I wished at one period to be filled with great quietness, and to shun the path of men, I used to go into a certain field not far from the sea. And when I was near that spot one day, which having reached I purposed to be by myself, a certain old man, by no means contemptible in appearance, exhibiting meek and venerable manners, followed me at a little distance. And when I turned round to him, having halted, I fixed my eyes rather keenly on him.

“And he said, ‘Do you know me?’

“I replied in the negative.

“‘Why, then,’ said he to me, ‘do you so look at me?’

“‘I am astonished,’ I said, ‘because you have chanced to be in my company in the same place; for I had not expected to see any man here.’

“And he says to me, ‘I am concerned about some of my household. These are gone away from me; and therefore have I come to make personal search for them, if, perhaps, they shall make their appearance somewhere. But why are you here?’ said he to me.

“‘I delight,’ said I, ‘in such walks, where my attention is not distracted, for converse with myself is uninterrupted; and such places are most fit for philology.’

“‘Are you, then, a philologian,’ said he, ‘but no lover of deeds or of truth? and do you not aim at being a practical man so much as being a sophist?’

“‘What greater work,’ said I, ‘could one accomplish than this, to show the reason which governs all, and having laid hold of it, and being mounted upon it, to look down on the errors of others, and their pursuits? But without philosophy and right reason, prudence would not be present to any man. Wherefore it is necessary for every man to philosophize, and to esteem this the greatest and most honourable work; but other things only of second-rate or third-rate importance, though, indeed, if they be made to depend on philosophy, they are of moderate value, and worthy of acceptance; but deprived of it, and not accompanying it, they are vulgar and coarse to those who pursue them.’

“Does philosophy, then, make happiness?’ said he; interrupting.

“‘Assuredly,’ I said, ‘and it alone.’

“‘What, then, is philosophy?’ he says; ‘and what is happiness? Pray tell me, unless something hinders you from saying.’

“‘Philosophy, then,’ said I, ‘is the knowledge of that which really exists, and a clear perception of the truth; and happiness is the reward of such knowledge and wisdom.’

“‘But what do you call God?’ said he.

“‘That which always maintains the same nature, and in the same manner, and is the cause of all other things—that, indeed, is God.’ So I answered him; and he listened to me with pleasure, and thus again interrogated me:

“‘Is not knowledge a term common to different matters? For in arts of all kinds, he who knows any one of them is called a skilful man, in the art of generalship, or of ruling, or of healing equally. But in divine and human affairs it is not so. Is there a knowledge which affords understanding of human and divine things, and then a thorough acquaintance with the divinity and the righteousness of them?’

“‘Assuredly,’ I replied.

“‘What, then? Is it in the same way we know man and God, as we know music, and arithmetic, and astronomy, or any other similar branch?’

“‘By no means,’ I replied.

“‘You have not answered me correctly, then,’ he said; ‘for some [branches of knowledge] come to us by learning, or by some employment, while of others we have knowledge by sight. Now, if one were to tell you that there exists in India an animal with a nature unlike all others, but of such and such a kind, multiform and various, you would not know it before you saw it; but neither would you be competent to give any account of it, unless you should hear from one who had seen it.’

“‘Certainly not,’ I said.

“‘How then,’ he said, ‘should the philosophers judge correctly about God, or speak any truth, when they have no knowledge of Him, having neither seen Him at any time, nor heard Him?’

Only a man with no understanding of evil can possibly delude himself into believing that a clear perception of the truth is tantamount to happiness.

Michelle calls out the neoclowns

I’ve been justifiably hard on Michelle Malkin over the years. She’s still never, to my knowledge, come clean about her lack of research concerning the complete absence of any threat posed to the US West Coast by Japan in 1941. But she’s clearly got no shortage of steel in her spine, because she’s openly calling out what appears to be the latest subversion by the country that publicly claims to be a great ally, but too often behaves like a mortal enemy:

Two things can be true: 1) Gaetz may well have engaged in vile behavior, perhaps even worse and more sordid than what has been alleged so far AND 2) Israel/Mossad is at work using all of the involved Beltway and Florida figures as honey-pot puppets on a much grander theatrical stage…as they have done in the past and continue to do in the present. I don’t know what specifically the aim is here — drawing the US into war with Iran, something to do with Ukraine/Russia, who the hell knows. 

But the most important takeaway is this isn’t what “greatest allies” are supposed to be doing to each other, right? It is, however, what Russia and China and Israel and other sovereign nations’ intelligence apparatuses do to their rivals. Pattern recognition is fundamental. 

The second most important takeaway is to recruit and promote a better generation of upright, disciplined, un-blackmail-able America First politicians and leaders. Otherwise, it will be business as usual in the spook-infested America Last Swamp. Time for normie Republicans to open their eyes and de-condition themselves from their reflexive stances on so many things. “Greatest ally” my ass. Stop staring at the shadows inside the cave. Look behind you.

Blackmail culture is subversive, destructive, and literally both unAmerican and anti-Western. As I mentioned in tonight’s Darkstream, the only way to stay afloat in a sea of lies is to relentlessly tell the truth. That’s not possible for ticket takers and those who “succeed” by selling their souls.

And the only way to combat the evil, the ugly, and the lie is to relentlessly stand up and support the Good, the Beautiful, and the True.

Convicted in the court of Nike

Deshaun Watson is done:

Tuesday’s press conference caused many to view the ongoing controversy involving Deshaun Watson differently. Among the many now viewing the situation differently, apparently, is Nike.

Via CNBC.com, the sports apparel giant has suspended its endorsement deal with Watson.

“We are deeply concerned by the disturbing allegations and have suspended Deshaun Watson. We will continue to closely monitor the situation,” Nike said in a statement.

It’s simply astonishing how people, and organizations, think they can somehow bluster their way through things when they know, beyond any shadow of a doubt, what the other side knows about them.

This isn’t actually about an NFL quarterback….

Taiwan for War with Russia

I suspect that is the deal that the Biden not-Adminstration made with its paymasters in order for its support of his fake election. One defense expert even anticipates an invasion of Taiwan within three years:

Beijing’s incursions are part of a series of dry runs in preparation for an invasion of Taiwan, John Mills, former director of cybersecurity policy, strategy, and international affairs at the Office of the U.S. Secretary of Defense, told The Epoch Times.

Mills projects that these exercises could culminate in a large-scale dry run in the next two years. These dry runs are necessary, Mills said, given the complexity of amphibious landing operations—as well as the fact that the Chinese military has never conducted a forced landing on a hostile power in a real-life situation before.

Any amphibious assault on Taiwan may also involve swarms of Chinese civilian merchant vessels and fishing boats, he said.

He believes an invasion could come in the next three years—much sooner than the six-year estimate given by U.S. Adm. Philip Davidson, head of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM), during a congressional hearing in early March.

“If they haven’t done it in 10 years, I think Xi will probably have been removed from office. I think even six years is pushing it,” Mills said. He added that Xi could come under pressure to attack Taiwan to deflect attention away from internal problems, such as an economic crisis.

U.S. Adm. John Aquilino, the nominee to replace Davidson as head of INDOPACOM, at his confirmation hearing in March declined to endorse Davidson’s six-year estimate, but said the threat of a Chinese invasion is “much closer to us than most think.”

I would assume the plan is to invade Taiwan while their asset is still believed to be Commander-in-Chief of the US military and capable of misdirecting it. This explains why Ukraine is being actively encouraged to launch a suicidal war against Russia while asking to join NATO, as war in Ukraine would commit the US military to an unwinnable war against Russia, thereby providing China a free hand to operate in the South China Sea without US interference.

So, there’s good news and bad news

The good news about the not-vaccine: it will reportedly reduce your risk of dying from COVID-19. Probably. The bad news about the not-vaccine: it will reportedly increase your risk of dying from cancer.

There’s a secret layer of information in your cells called messenger RNA, that’s located between DNA and proteins, that serves as a critical link. Now, in a medical shocker to the whole world of vaccine philosophy, scientists at Sloan Kettering found that mRNA itself carries cancer CAUSING changes – changes that genetic tests don’t even analyze, flying completely under the radar of oncologists across the globe.

So now, it’s time for independent laboratories that are not vaccine manufacturers (or hired by them) to run diagnostic testing on the Covid vaccine series and find out if these are cancer-driving inoculations that, once the series is complete, will cause cancer tumors in the vaccinated masses who have all rushed out to get the jab out of fear and propaganda influence. Welcome to the world of experimental and dirty vaccines known as mRNA “technology.”

I have to admit, my sympathy for anyone experiencing unexpected adverse effects from the not-vaccine is pretty close to nonexistent. These aren’t infants being inoculated against their will and without their knowledge or ability to resist, after all. They are adults who one would quite reasonably expect to know better than to permit themselves to be injected with untested experimental substances on the word of people with literally billions of dollars to gain from selling the injections.

Of course, given the fact that the not-vaccine is being ruled out as a causal factor even when people literally keel over and die after being injected, we can expect that the cause of the increased number of chronic lympthocytic leukemia cases in five or ten years will remain a complete mystery to the medical and scientific communities.

Comments are not content

For the same reason that book reviews are not books. Ann Althouse turns off the comment section. Instapundit readers do not approve:

“Keep it the way it is” — that is, let comments flow into new posts unmoderated and deal with problems as they come up by deleting the trolls and the spam and so forth. I like the free flow too, but unlike the rest of you, I have to continually tend to the problems, and whenever I step away from the blog to go about my life in the material world, I have background static: I wonder what’s happening in the comments. Do I need to get in there and deal with a troll infestation? There was an open door to anyone in the world to make a mess of a place that I had bound myself to protect and that I had protected for 17 years.

I didn’t try to skew the poll by telling you about the burden it has become for me. I just wanted to see what you thought, and it’s nice to know that the majority of poll-takers were happy with the experience I had worked so hard to create. The behind-the-scenes work for me isn’t something that should concern you. Quite the opposite. The backstage labor isn’t part of the show. 

I was interested to see what people would say in the comments. That’s the up side of comments for me. I like to read what people have to say. I’m used to the sense of seeing the readers and feeling the camaraderie. But somewhere along the way in that thread that is now up over 600 comments — many of which are from me, responding to people — I could see that there is only one answer that gives me what I’m afraid I must take for myself. And that is the end of comments. 

I’ve chosen the least popular option — if you don’t count the “Something else,” which wasn’t any specific option at all. You can email me by clicking here. If you email me, you need to say if you don’t want to be quoted on the blog, because I may select quotes from the email to use in updates to the blog. But the freewheeling chattiness of the comments section is gone. I’m sad to lose it. 

In that long thread yesterday, a lot of people told me that they come to my blog not for me but for the comments. They seemed to think that argued in favor of my continuing to carry the burden of moderating the comments. It cut the other way. I didn’t plan for yesterday to be so momentous, but it was that argument — augmented with the threat that I would lose traffic, the all-important, precious traffic — that pushed me toward decisive action.

Althouse needn’t worry. A simple survey of the ratio of pageviews to comments demonstrates that only a tiny fraction of readers on any blog comment on it, which makes it particularly amusing to hear all the commenters talking about how the reason they go to a site is for the comments. That’s not true. There is a word for a site where people go just to read the comments, and that is Twitter. Except the reality is that they mostly go there to scream into the void, as most tweets are completely ignored by everyone else there.

The number of self-interested comments at Instapundit – nearly 700 – complaining about her decision are downright amusing. They appear to be mostly motivated by their sudden inability to force their Very Important Opinions on those who did not request them.

  • The point of blogging is to offer the service of commentary. Blogger’s who turn off comments are forgetting why people came in the first place.
  • she discontinued comments because they almost 100{3549d4179a0cbfd35266a886b325f66920645bb4445f165578a9e086cbc22d08} disagree with her. If a site wont let me or others comment, I dont go there. I read sites not only for what the owner says, but to gauge opinion.
  • Goodbye Althouse. No comments, no visit. The comments were the only attraction for me.
  • Not going to Ann any more. I read her and the comments. Without the comments then there is only her, which is not enough for me to go there.
  • Watch as her reader numbers decrease as her “community” becomes less interested in a one-sided interaction info/news resource that became just one more out of many. She could have easily chosen not to respond personally to comments that were always going to include voices that called her out for previous issues or disagreed with her current opinion. She is simply unwilling/unable to take that route, despite the simple fact that she herself knows and acknowledges that many of her readers come for the comments. For the interaction of other voices besides her own. Now she doesn’t have to deal with any criticism that she would ever have to respond to though. And really, that is the point. Is anyone supposed to have empathy for her situation? I do not feel any.
  • Without comments you have an echo chamber.
  • I went there FOR the comments. Went, past tense.
  • Bumner. At her site in particular, the comments were as informative and entertaining as her posts- which tended to be very short. I wonder what the metrics say when a site gives up comments? I know I don’t frequent many sites that don’t allow comments. And my activity notably drops way off on a site that had comments and then drops them.
  • The comments were always by far the best part of Althouse’s site. You didn’t miss much by skipping her posts and going straight to the comments. Hasn’t been much reason to go there for awhile, none now.
  • Getting rid of comments will disappear readers almost as fast as putting it behind a paywall.
The fact is that commenters are completely delusional about their impact on a blog. In addition to the pageviews/comments ratio, I’ve seen what has happened when I shut down the comments and was able to examine the resulting impact on the traffic, which was absolutely none at all. But that’s neither here nor there, as my position on comments has not changed since 2008, although my position on being a libertarian certainly has.
What people often forget is that the commenters on a blog make up a small fraction of the readers of that same blog. A few people may read blogs for their comments, but the vast majority do not, the self-inflated fantasies of some blog commenters notwithstanding. Moreoever, a blog’s commenters tend to be the most outspoken, fractious, and emotionally troubled portion of its readership. They inevitably cause problems; the notorious trolls are actually much less irritating than the revenant-stalkers who are so socially inept that they cannot refrain from showing up where they know they are not wanted. Add to this the emotionally incontinent fanboys who respond inappropriately to everything from criticism of the blogger to criticism from the blogger and you’ve basically got a worthless morass of wasted time in the making. It doesn’t help when people feed the trolls and revenants by responding to them either.
This is a real problem for many bloggers and I don’t blame those, like Ross Douthat, who have decided that it’s simply not worth the trouble trying to manage the unmanageable. Fortunately, it’s not a problem for me, for three reasons. First, as I have repeatedly stated, most people are idiots – functionally if not literally – and that applies to most commenters here. Until you demonstrate otherwise, rest assured that I hold you in all the intellectual regard you have merited to date, which is to say none. I therefore need not concern myself with your ramblings. Second, while I definitely do care what some people think, you almost certainly aren’t on that particular list. I might like you, I might find you amusing, I might even regard you as a positive mutation and a distinct step forward in the evolution of Man… but that doesn’t mean that I care what you think. Third, as a libertarian down to the bone, I don’t believe that it is possible to manage people for an extended period of time, so I’m not inclined to waste my time trying.
So, no one need be concerned that I’m going to ditch the comments. They are often useful, occasionally amusing, and always completely avoidable. I’ve even heard more than once from bloggers who envy the way in which substantive and intelligent discussions erupt here from time to time. 

Because they want Russia back

 Ron Paul asks “why is the Biden Administration pushing Ukraine to attack Russia?”

The unhinged US “experts” behind the 2014 coup against the elected Ukrainian president are back in power and they are determined to finish the job – even if it means World War III! The explicit US backing of Ukraine’s military ambitions in the region are a blank check to Kiev.

But it is a check that Kiev would be wise to avoid cashing. Back in 1956 the US government pumped endless propaganda into Hungary promising military backing for an uprising against its Soviet occupiers. When the Hungarians, believing Washington’s lies, did rise up they found themselves all alone and facing Soviet retaliation.

Despite the cruel US propaganda, at least Eisenhower was wise enough to realize that no one would benefit from a nuclear war over Budapest.

Why is it any of our business whether Crimea is part of Ukraine or part of Russia? Why is it any of our business if the Russian-speaking population of eastern Ukraine prefer being aligned with Russia?

Why, for that matter, are unproven allegations of Russian meddling in our elections a violation of the “rules-based international order” but an actual US-backed coup against an elected Ukrainian government is not?

We are seeing foreign policy made by Raytheon and the other US military contractors, through cut-outs in government like Austin and others. Feckless US foreign policy “experts” believe their own propaganda about Russia and are on the verge of taking us to war over it.

It seems as if Americans are sleepwalking through this dangerous minefield. Let us hope they soon wake up before we’re all blown up.

Because the Trotskyites who fled the Soviet Union after Stalin won the intra-communist power struggle and infested the United States now run the Biden administration and they have been seeking to use the US military to take their revenge ever since.

As Ron Paul assiduously avoids noticing, the third- and fourth-generation followers of Leon Trotsky who call themselves “neoconservatives” and include people such as Bill Kristol, Michael Ledeen, Ben Shapiro, and Doug Emhoff are entirely responsible for advocating these would-be wars on Syria, Russia, and Iran. It is not the defense contractors, who strongly tend to prefer Cold War-style arms buildups that don’t actually involve their overpriced products being put to the test.

Talent hates convergence

The Dark Herald explains why converged organizations are incapable of performing their core functions at Arkhaven.

There is an old adage in business; talent goes where the money is.

There will shortly be a new adage; talent avoids where the Woke is.

Google and Amazon became the powerhouses they are today because a generation ago (ouch) they were willing to spend big to get talent. And they got it. It says something about the level of people they were getting that one of the questions on Google’s employment application was, how many books have you written?  This was before internet publishing was a thing.

Unlike the Dickensian workhouse conditions for the Microserfs up north at Redmond, the googlers were treated like princes.  One of the big winners when the company finally went public was the company chef, not food service’s director you understand, but chef as in actual chef.  

Google was also very tolerant of their employee’s eccentricities, believing (not without reason) that a happy employee was a creative employee.  However, this opened the door to a certain kind of eccentricity; political activism.  Since Silicon Valley has its roots in Berkley’s Home Brew Computer Club, Leftism was built into their culture from the start. * Consequently, Google and Amazon were both happy to indulge these little hobbies of their junior employees.  

But then these corporate activists started making hiring decisions.  I remember a story one veteran told, when he applied, the interviewer sneeringly asked him, (citing the company’s Don’t be Evil mantra) how many innocent people had he killed?

The Woke will always find a reason to hire other Wokelings.  Diversity is usually a good excuse but there is always a way to justify hiring someone who is utterly unqualified for her job.  And those that are actually good at their jobs have to take up the slack for the useless dead weight. It used to be a “blonde with a great rack.” Now it’s a “three-hundred-pound, hippo with a purple mental-illness haircut.”  

The thing is the blonde was always cheerful, nice to everyone and pleasant to look at.  She at least made the work environment more enjoyable.  On the other hand, the whale with the purple hair is constantly shrieking and demanding submission to the SJW narrative from everyone that she comes in contact with. During working hours instead of doing her job, she is organizing witch hunts to get people fired. She and her comrades make life miserable at that company.

Here’s my big point:  Every top tier worker in that field will know about this and avoid that company like the plague in the future.  

If the Arkhaven blog isn’t on your list of day trips yet, it should be. 

Impact Day is on the way

The Project Asteroid Production Leader puts out a call for more volunteers.

Impact Day approaches!

The asteroid is picking up momentum and increasing in size. A few brave souls are needed to help us guide the asteroid toward its intended target.

We need the help of a few volunteers with Photoshop (and ideally Illustrator) and some experience using Photoshop. You’ll be expected to put in at least six hours work per week, but if you want to spend a little more time helping push back in the culture war then that’s great.

Some of the work is basic but time consuming, whereas other aspects are more technical. We value people with little experience but a strong drive to help more than people with little determination but a lot of skill. If you’d like to be part of helping take down the dinosaurs of comics publishing then contact us for more information.

Email voxday AT gmail DOT com if you’re willing and able, and I’ll forward your contact information to the project leader.

It wasn’t the apple cider

Has anyone actually seen Jordan Peterson and Hunter Biden in the same room at the same time?

President Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden admitted during a CBS News interview that he smoked Parmesan cheese after mistaking it for crack cocaine during the height of his addiction.

Reporter Tracy Smith said, “You wake up some mornings — I shouldn’t even say some mornings because you slept 15 minutes at a time and be looking for crack and to smoke whatever was there?”

Biden said: “I spent more time on my hands and knees picking through rugs smoking anything that resembled crack cocaine. I probably smoked more Parmesan cheese than anyone – than anyone you know, Tracy.”

Smith said, “Because there would will be crumbs mixed in?”

Biden said, “Yeah, I went one time for 13 days without sleeping, and smoking crack, and drinking vodka exclusively throughout that entire time.

I wouldn’t have thought anyone could exceed the comedy potential of the Obama administration. But the fake Biden administration is clearing it effortlessly.