…because I’m leaving soon for a dinner with a German man, a French man, and his English wife.

I expect an interesting evening.

However, I cannot leave without recommending you read this post by the Commissar at The Politburo Diktat:

Questioning Patriotism

Think seriously about what he has to say.

More on this later.

For a fascinating look at the current, self-labeled “conservative” mindset, go read this page:

Ten Most Harmful Books of the 19th and 20th Centuries

I would not dispute that both The Communist Manifesto and Mein Kampf belong on this list, but read some of the descriptions of the other books on the list.

Once you have digested that information, then observe these “honorable mentions”:

Origin of the Species
by Charles Darwin

Coming of Age in Samoa
by Margaret Mead

Introduction to Psychoanalysis
by Sigmund Freud

Descent of Man
by Charles Darwin

I am still trying to fully comprehend the anti-science mentality exhibited by many on the right-wing, especially given in this case that the science they decry has made so much possible, from understanding the origins of diseases (using the theory of evolution) to making the Internet possible (quantum mechanics, among other fields of study).

Logic is apparently not only optional but indeed discouraged in some ideological beliefs.

Nothing is so admirable in politics as a short memory.
   -John Kenneth Galbraith

…that I received from a friend today, I could only say this:

To some personality types (including mine), on occasion, the apocalyptic end has a seductive appeal that is almost impossible to resist in its finality, because it resolves all those uncertainties that an intelligent mind sees and understands, it resolves all those uncertainties that tear apart the heart that the intelligent mind recognizes is just as important as logic. It seems to resolve all the pain and agony…

Seems to…

The seduction of that so-called final solutions is just that, a seduction that promises far more than it could ever deliver.

The apocalyptic solution of victory or destruction seems to be the only one considered now, even by those I feel are rational in their beliefs.

Yet the fundamental truth that Pyrrhic victory is NOT better than no victory at all has not changed.

Unfortunately, we are on the path where we will all perish in the flames because it appears that many, enough it seems, no longer care if the victory is a true one or merely Pyrrhic, and instead want the fires of Hell to consume all regardless.

The Apocalypse is most often believed to be the end of days. Do we truly want to hasten that upon ourselves?