Lately, they gaz'd at da tony

[Re: A Pleasing Secret History: Andrei Codrescu's Posthuman Dada Guide (Village Voice)
by Tony Clifton on Sun 03 May 2009 07:04 AM PDT Profile Permanent Link
Given the posthuman aspirations of IY and the stunning failure of its followers, after the passing on of its founders, to produce -other than with the rare exception- much of anything beyond two dysfunctional communities and numerous court cases in which its acolytes go for the throats of one another using writ, tort, and criminal law, after reading this book I find myself heartily agreeing with Codrescu that the appropriate response to the posthuman is DADA. dada]

[Re: Sri Aurobindo: Man or Messiah by Carter Phipps (EnlightenNext executive editor comments on Heehs affair)
by Tony Clifton on Sat 02 May 2009 10:16 PM PDT Profile Permanent Link
I would rather save Nietzsche for his keen insights into the revenge motives of the aggrieved victims. The latest victim's motif having been heard in the past day or so is a post-colonial shtick aka” “It is said that on close examination (!) this biography re-asserts the white man's (not woman's, apparently) superiority over the brown man, by putting down another "brownie". “ Regards the reviewer: Well certainly we all cast our shadows however, I would rather hope SCIY's falls under the sign of the Colbert Report than the Genealogy of Morals, because if anything -as we all implicitly know- this whole event can be viewed as Farce. In its cosmic dimension it is certainly that, one need not consult the Mahabharata to figure that one out. At issue here is not so much the raging heart of the bhakta but more the testosterone surges of aggrieved rival males bent on extracting revenge by tracing a victim hood past slights of ones guru, to matters of race and national identity. Hence the followers of the prophet of human unity are left to settle their matters in court, World Union succumbing to community turf wars, the specter of colonialism, and bruised male egos. In any case integral dialog is preempted by Identity concerns and male aggression. So rather than reference a supra-rational reality or knowledge by identity in this matter, it would be better to first understand identity politics, gender, and difference. da tony]

[Re: Sri Aurobindo: Man or Messiah by Carter Phipps Science, Culture and Integral Yoga
by Tony Clifton on Sat 02 May 2009 11:40 PM PDT Profile Permanent Link
Co-creating the problem here is a morally relativistic stance! For some folks actions have clearly inflamed enough public actions as to incite a nationally publicized criminal court case and in the process have elevated an otherwise transient academic biography into a symbol of identity politique, free speech, and the laws of two nation- states. So, at the very least it should be said that some have "co"-created this conundrum much more than others!! One cant speak directly for him here but da tony says issues with Peter visa vie the community and the biography are all valid, but what the DaDa here doth protest is the means to carry out power agendas on either side. Namely, ones that begin by interrupting any chance at an integral encounter, that preclude dialog by dismissing the other in a public court room! The opportunity for dialog has never been dismissed on SCIY, but rather the claims it resists are those that turn the private concerns of a community over to orders of state powers, one which resorts to the discourse of cultural exclusion and ex-communication rather than to a civil dialog! tony... dada.

The poem, "The Village Schoolmaster" that we used to read in school, before I myself became one, has those lines:

Amazed the gazing rustics rang'd around;
And still they gaz'd and still the wonder grew,
That one small head could carry all he knew.

Lately, “they gaz'd” at da tony. [TNM]