To create a text file listing the contents of the directory, navigate to the desired folder in a command prompt and type:
dir /on /b /s >list.txt
The /on orders the lists by alphabetical name, the /b makes it only list the filename, and the /s includes subdirectories files in the list.
(Courtesy 0f liveslick.com)
Good thing Obama released his birth certificate. Guess it disproves my theory that he was actually born in Cimmeria, the outcast bookworm son of a barbarian tribe. I wonder if I’ll ever be able to prove my theory that Donald Trump is actually a symbiosis of two beings from Arctalan IV, 12,000 light-years away in the Spongiform Nebula: the perpetually-starving brain-symbiote that sits atop the humanoid transport-symbiote with the permanently pursed lips that suck wisdom from the air around it. Eh, probably not.
The reason leaders who are purportedly from the left disdain their base, which leaders from the right don’t generally do, is because, in my humble and not-so-knowledgeable estimation:
They know that the liberals have nowhere else to go. If they push back against the establishment, and cause their “left-of-center” leader to lose an election or just political clout, they will end up with a flaming idiot cowboy bigot in office like GWB who will fuck up the country.
If this happens on the right – they push their leaders, their leaders lose, and a person from the “left” gets elected (which means a centrist), they know (deep down, yes, they know) that this person will not destroy the country, but actually try to fix the issues, and also kowtow to them. And they can roadblock him all they want, until the dense American public gets fed up and elects a right-leaning con artist again, who can once again reverse any good that the previous politician had done. Which would be mostly centrist shit anyway.
But the Democratic leadership knows the left has nowhere else to go but them, and that the left cares too much about the middle class, the future of our kids, the environment, etc., to give that up to make points and support a long-term strategy of takeover. So they go about their business of trying to placate the right, not their own base. Not enough of an immediate threat there.
We’ve had enough right-wing idiots in power. I could deal with a left-wing idiot. But I guess I’ll just have to settle for the calculating, capitulating centrist.
Ongoing hatred, as much as it is human, eats at the spirit, does it not? I have found as I age that it is easier to analyze the hatred, find its roots, and try to laugh at the people that cause it. Laugh at them for their ineptness in life, their walled-in narcissism as they crash through the world, flailing about in helpless attempts at relevance. And laugh at them knowing that, if they even make it that far, they will sit old and decrepit, eaten away by the bile of their selfishness and mania, and stew in a pool of dementia and insignificance.
All that said, a good bout of angst and animus is also healthy. We are not Vulcans.
I am gloomy. Murky. Dismal in thought, often. “Mark the Dark” I’ve been called. Despite holding on the shreds of youthful idealism, I revile the human race. I stand on the rim and loathe and laugh at it from without. On good days, I disdain and disparage people. On bad days, I despise them. They bathe in a toxic cauldron of hatred, violence, jealousy, ignorance, and cruelty. They claim to be the most intelligent entities spawned by evolution on this earth. Often, then, I question the direction and speed of evolution.
I’m not a joiner. But I can’t help being a member of the human race. I was born that way. I don’t hold out much hope for us. Whether it will end for us in a holocaust of fire and fallout, or starvation and disease on the heels of overpopulation, I can’t foresee. But though I have fanciful science fiction story ideas about humans thousands and millions of years hence, I don’t see us surviving long enough to even leave our solar system.
But Egypt has given me renewed hope. I never would have believed this could happen, especially in the mideast, where religious zealotry and intolerance is legion. This organic, social-media-managed uprising had its desired effect through the perserverance of people who had had enough of tyranny. There was no dynamic leader, no cult of personality to inspire the masses to overthrow their despot. The fact that hundreds of thousands of people can come together, essentially leaderless, and agree to protest without violence in the face of violence, and not give in to mob rule when they’re attacked, to stand up Ghandi-like for their future and the future of their children; if that doesn’t rekindle hope for humanity, what can?
I pray (so to speak) that their righteously ousted government doesn’t lead to another manifestation of tyranny.
From correspondence years ago… seemed an appropriate tribute.
From: Mark Goldman
Sent: Wednesday, September 24, 2008
To: Brown, Vincent
I think “Hoochie Koochie Lady” and “Never More” will make it onto the Dio mix – I’ve been groovin’ to the other 2 albums, but naught can stand next to the other material. According to Wikipedia, he’s 66! Wha?
From: Brown, Vincent
Sent: Wednesday, September 24, 2008
To: Mark Goldman
Yes, those two songs are the best. Actually, “Never More” has always been my favorite Elf track. It sounds similar to the “jam” part in Floyd’s “Echoes”.
Yeah, a big mystery surrounding Dio’s actual age. I think he is actually 5,293 years old and remained youthful because he long ago entered the Mystifying Wood and found the Enchanted Tree where he slew the Frog Wizard and took his Magical Golden Ring. Or some shit.
From: Mark Goldman
Sent: Wednesday, September 24, 2008
To: Brown, Vincent
He also took a holy dive into the enchanted waters of the invisible Lake, flew the golden dragon over the rainbow at midnight, looked into the evil eyes of the spider-beast, had a gypsy dream in which he danced with the rock ‘n’ roll angel in the land of milk and honey before the gates of babylon, and sped (at night) to the wizard’s tower from which he stole the Elf-Sceptre from the Big black shape and then…
From: Brown, Vincent
Sent: Thursday, September 25, 2008
To: Mark Goldman
..he jumped (from a ladder) onto the back of his trusty warhorse, Murray, and, as he saw a rainbow rising, he galloped through the misty morning, through widing roads and treacherous passes of the Forbidden Forest towards Castle Magica where he was to sample poorly made ale and the juice of grapes (evil or da wine) but even with much haste he arrived tardy and was the last in line. By the time Dio made it to the front, they said it was over.
From: Mark Goldman
Sent: Thursday, September 25, 2008
To: Brown, Vincent
Then at the front he met a snake charmer from the sixteenth century, who had come forward in a time machine. She was a fortune-telling woman who claimed to have run with the wolves (unlocked) and seen the devil cry. She was born on a silver mountain and lived among the night people. He asked if she was a mistress of insanity, and she said, “Listen to the shadow of the wind, boy – we’re all stars.” He grew fearful and flew away breathlessly. After he dropped Murray off at a stable, he walked to a weird freeway where he saw some wrathful robots passing by. He crossed it and came to a lake where another lady lived, and though she was beauteous, her aspect was evil. She said, “You have a sacred heart, strong warrior, but I bid you leave me.” He thought to charm her with guile, and said “But I’m hungry for a little bit of heaven!” She stood up and shouted, “Eat your heart out!” He grew wroth and drew himself up to his full height. Four foot three. He announced petulantly, “I am the King of Rock n’ Roll! Never More shall you taunt me, you Hoochie Koochie Bitch!” Then he slipped away and followed the southern cross, muttering something about “damned country girls.”
I’ve struggled somewhat with being labeled a “liberal.” Not because I’m afraid of the term; I don’t buy the job – remarkable and successful though the effort was – that conservatives have done over the last few decades in reworking it into an insult. Sometimes I even call myself “a liberal.” Usually to warn somebody I don’t know well of my views before they start spouting things that will make both of us uncomfortable. So sometimes I go with it, but I just can’t jump into it wholeheartedly.
Like most people, I don’t like being pigeonholed. I’m also not a big joiner; I find it difficult to give myself over to something that somebody else invented or defined. Yes, I’m definitely in trouble there as a writer – it’s hard to be original these days.
So, though most of my opinions coincide with the general grouping of opinion usually labeled liberal or progressive, there are marked differences. I get irritated with many liberals’ knee-jerk “poor Palestinians” syndrome. Libraries have been filled with this topic, so I won’t belabor it here. I’m also not big on the righteous anti-death penalty stance. I don’t like it the way it is, but in principle I think a fair society should have the right to remove the threat one of its members poses to the others; however, the evidence would have to be irrefutable. So it’s probably unworkable except in an ideal world (in which I suppose there would be no crimes that would warrant the death penalty). It’s academic, I guess, but that’s why I say “in principle.”
It’s the reverse of what you might think. I approach things not from a defined perspective, but with what logic I can muster. No mere mortal can be truly objective, for in becoming an adult, one presumably learns things, which in turn cause biases in future learning. It’s unavoidable. But when I’m confronted with an issue, I try to ignore my immediate reaction to it. I research it as much as I can before I form an opinion. I massage my opinion. I’m not afraid to admit I’m wrong. Any person with a smidgen of wisdom will grant that strength lies in admitting fallibility and working to better oneself, not in denying mistakes and the displacement of blame.
I don’t approach things from a predetermined perspective, right, left, center, or diagonal, and try to find things that support my already-formed opinion.
The fact that I approach issues this way and many of my beliefs end up falling into the “liberal” camp tells me something. It tells me that those who fall into the liberal camp are more logical in their analyses, more deliberate, less subjective, and more thoughtful. Yes, this is generalizing, because people have their prejudices. I’ve met blockheaded liberals in my time, and I probably have my own little biases here and there I could tweak. The key is, I recognize this.
I’m not saying that people who are considered “left” or even “center-left” are emotionless automatons, critically analyzing issues with Vulcan tenacity. There is obviously also much emotion on the left. It’s just that the emotion comes after the forming of an opinion. Your research, intuition, and observational and interpretational powers inform your opinion, which then inflames your passion, the intensity of which depends upon the issue. With most conservatives, what I see is the opposite. Passion inflames opinion, then bends intuition, distorts interpretation and observation, and limits research.
I long ago attempted to codify my belief system, to define this amorphous mass of morals, ideas, and ideals into something that words can represent. It came to this: a symbol with six points, six basic concepts that surround and combine to beget many others. They are Strength, Honor, Wisdom, Compassion, Imagination, and Judgment.
When I start from as objective a place as my flawed humanity allows, and I follow those tenets, I may end up in many places. But that place is almost never within the bounds of “conservatism.”
So call me a liberal if you like. Just don’t expect my opinions to immediately coincide with those that your personal liberal archetype holds.
Windows Live… another network. I ignored myspace and facebook long enough, and I refuse to participate in the Twitter idiocy. So here we go, another social network. There can”t be enough of them, really. Web 2.0, Web 3.0, iPads, 1.5 TB hard drives, 64-bit dual-layer blu-ray syncho-flash technology, etc., etc.
Even I, a guy who”s supposed to keep up with these things, am left to rasp in a curmudgeonly way, “Who needs this shit?” Sometimes I”m tempted to side with the luddites who claim that computers have made us “stupider.” I mean, how do you people have the time for all this? I don”t think I even had the time before I had a child!
It”s a good thing no one reads this blog, or they”d be pissed at me for my highly irregular updates. But I can rationalize my inaction by claiming that I just don”t want to add much to the maelstrom of information that we bombard ourselves with every microsecond. I guess I”m a humanitarian after all.
This is one of the most idiotic metal-related things I have ever read:
Is Udo Dirkschneider the Lemmy Kilmister of German heavy metal? Not quite, as that title would probably go to SODOM”s Tom Angelripper.
What the hell does that even mean?
Admit it. If you commute to work in your car and you drive through suburbs, you’ve been stuck behind a school bus at some point. And like me every once in a while, you may have found yourself cursing out loud at the behemoth in front of you, then feeling guilty for the cursing. Of course you should have to stop for a school bus. On both sides. Of course it’s a good idea. Even people who don’t have children of their own probably agree. I agreed with it before I had a son of my own. He doesn’t ride the bus (yet), but any law that objectively enhances the safety of children is valid in my book.
But that leads me to this: We shouldn’t need this law. Call it idealism, maybe, but if we had decent, well-designed roads with sidewalks and crosswalks, and drivers who were skilled and gave a shit, we wouldn’t. This brings me back to one of my long-standing peeves: sidewalks and bike paths, or the lack of ‘em. (Another reason I have affection for Rachel Maddow – she loves to get geeky about the unsexy subject of infrastructure.)
If we planned our communities instead of leaving them to the whims of developers concerned only about the almighty dollar, we might have schools and shopping centers and gathering places within walking and biking distances of homes, not this moronic and unsustainable sprawl. We’d have sidewalks and bike paths and playgrounds and all of that, and cut down on traffic, danger from traffic, use of fossil fuels, emissions from using those fuels, and use of energy in general. We’d increase fitness levels, and most important of all, provide the means for a sense of COMMUNITY. Oh shit, there’s that word, with the same root as that dreaded Stalin/Marx/Mao thing… what was it called?
I’m guilty of it, too. I live in a house far from any real cultural centers. Sure, there are carbon-copy strip malls everywhere, but how does that help in bringing a sense of community? I’ve noticed this since living here in the US: people can be so isolated from one another. I hardly see my neighbors, barely remember their names. I admittedly am far more interested in international news and issues than what happens locally – local issues hold no interest for me because I’m not involved. Sure, it’s partly my fault. But the way we do things is not conducive to people being involved. It’s not encouraging. When it’s dangerous to walk to a friend’s house a couple of streets away because there are no sidewalks, we drive. And no wonder we don’t have a sense of community, we never talk to each other because we’re always in OUR FUCKING CARS! I ride my bike a lot (for fitness, rarely for transportation), and to see the incoherent rage of the imbeciles whom I dare to slow down because of my meager human-powered perambulation is saddening. I can’t count the number of times I’ve been honked at for no good reason, and even run off the road on occasion because some frazzled mom was late getting her kids to soccer or just wasn’t paying attention (or whatever), wrapped up in her own world. Oops, I just used a woman for my example of bad drivers. Guys can be just as bad, usually in a different, more aggressive way.
Back to community. I have to bring up Germany again. Yes, I know it’s a tiny country compared to ours and the logistics just don’t compare. But there are bike and pedestrian paths everywhere, not to mention a stellar public transportation system. Sense of community? I used to see people sweeping the sidewalk in front of their home. The sidewalk – not part of their property.
Besides there not being any real connectedness between us, I guess my sense of community, or rather the lack of it, stems from no sense of history and culture. Rather than grand stone buildings with admirable design, we have cookie-cutter housing developments, the houses built out of wood and drywall I can put my foot through. Rather than well-respected businesses that have been in the same family for a century or more, we have ugly little pre-fab strip malls, whose tenants seem to change yearly. Rather than locally-owned, dedicated, and homey restaurants of all kinds, we have slick, neon fast-food chains that serve up grease-laden hunks of mush. Am I too critical of my own country? It’s all out of love and a wish to improve it, man. Well, most of it. Believe me, I have plenty of critiques of my other favorite country, Germany, besides the obvious thing that happened a few decades ago (unless you ask diminutive middle-east dictators or addle-brained right-wing chumps). That’s for another rant.
How to resolve this lack of a sense of community I see here? A confluence of many things, and that’s for the many people smarter than I. But for a start, let’s build some damned sidewalks and bike paths and some community places we can be proud of – and I ain’t talkin’ any more churches. That’s also for another rant. Oh, if I had the time, volumes I could fill. Humor me – writing about things I like just ain’t as interesting.