I just watched Patterns (on a rainy Sunday morning) per your recommendation Celia. What a treat with a theme that is truly timeless. Maybe some day we’ll see a remake of it - but this time it will take place at Pfizer headquarters where there’s an executive with a conscience witnessing the immoral actions of Bourla and his ilk. And his persistence leads to revelations about this criminal syndicate disguised as a pharmaceutical corporation. Wouldn’t that be interesting?
And speaking of Rod Serling, I have mentioned before about my brief encounter with him alone in an elevator when I was 16 where answering my question about the Twilight Zone, he confirmed that it’s not pure fiction. But until now I was unaware of the circumstances surrounding his death on the operating table during a coronary bypass surgery in 1975. My father (also a onetime heavy smoker who had suffered a prior heart attack at age 45) was having chest pains around the same time as Rod. He met with heart surgeons at both Emory and at Mass General both who advised him against it as they didn’t think he’d survive it. And shortly after that he had a second attack, this time fatal.
And six years ago after experiencing angina, I had a double bypass operation where everything went smoothly allowing me a chance to continue my journey in good heath with revitalization of spirit. The connections between my father, Rod Serling and myself are indeed most intriguing. So once again I’m grateful for crossing paths with you Celia here on Substack. So here’s to joy, heath and the lessons learned in the Twilight Zone.
Elsa and Pandelis, don't people (especially in third world countries who are desperate for money) get paid to participate in drug trials? Did mRNA trial participants get any compensation? Americans are reluctant to be trial participants which is why pharma preys on disadvantaged people or inner city black and brown in Los Angeles for experimental vaccines.
which disturbed me so much I didn't know where Rod Serling was going to send me.
I see Cia is also providing a link to Jennifer's article. Many years ago when my son developed seizures temporally connected to the DTP, I asked his pediatrician if vaccines can cause seizures? His response--"no they can't". Until I read the product insert, I believed him. I had a lot to learn.
And here we are. My goodness the rabbit hole has no bottom.
None bigger than the worship of Allopathic medicine.
IMHO we wouldn't be so far gone into this dystopian nightmare if people, even those who refused the vax, many went to their doctor the next day to get their meds, would take responsibility for their health. As a society the majority have been worshipping at the alter of pharma their whole life. I too was in the cult but broke away about twenty years ago.
I have had a serious eye problem, actually a number, for most of my life. NO DOCTOR has been able to help. It is a neural ophthalmology problem. And very rare. I tossed an idea out to my newish eye doc. My long term guy retired. She gave me a lecture on reading things on the internet and thinking that replaces her 12 years of university. I said I have had that particular issue since I was 25. I am 72. For 47 years I have been warned I would be severely visually impaired within five years. Still driving! I said ‘you maybe had a thirty minute talk on this ten years ago. Maybe you’ve had one other person on your caseload other than me with this. Maybe. I have been dealing with this with virtually no help for 47 years. I have beaten the odds hugely. Do you actually think you know more about this than me?’ I was ticked. She went on and a few minutes later she stopped and apologized. She said ‘that was really wrong of me. I should be listening to you not the other way around. I am sorry.’ I cooled down.
It's nice to hear she came to her senses. Can you tell me more about your research. I ask because I too have an eye problem. Went to two specialists who claimed it was a cataract and the third after further test revealed some broken blood vessels in my line of sight. Anyway
I would like to find more info and hear more of your story.
It seems like the crazy ones in the medical system have gone crazier. They are more aggressive, and the way they wield the tests and testing is frightening. The test result lets them remove all personal responsibility of what they are doing.
I am so happy we are talking about him.... Celia, you will love Anne's book...worth reading....great pics in there, too...... I have a small pic behind me of him with Twilight Zone written beneath that shows up in all my work ZOOM mtgs, still...... ;)
His interview with Mike Wallace is very interesting. He clearly saw the beginnings of how art, creativity, morality and truth HAS to give way to the almighty dollar. I think that Gates, Zuckerberg, Rockefeller, Sorros, and Bezos (and now Musk with his woke WEF censor running twitter/x) would all agree completely!
It's the almighty dollar, for sure. I think also it is ego-tripping -- who has the biggest . . . pile of cash and the most power.
These malodorous men are competing against one another: Ego is everything -- compassion, honor, integrity, TRUTH, are obstacles.
I'm going to have go watch Patterns again; I viewed it last year (am usually drawn to 50's B+W films, especially ones I haven't yet seen; and Van Heflin never disappoints).
It has been so long since watching TZ I thought I had not seen Patterns. The unmistakeable message in the story I could not forget. I don't remember being scared of any of his episodes, except the one about the old lady alone when little space creatures came into her house. After watching Patterns watched him talk to students about writing. Celia, you came to mind listening to him talk about what a writer is. You are a natural born writer.
Agnes Moorehead played the old lady, in a Serling-type twist, she was the giant on a different planet invaded by US astronauts. The only TZ episode with one actor and no dialogue! (just grunts) Moorehead later played Endora on Bewitched, her talent was restricted to the mother-in-law role. Rod Serling involved time travel and exploring other worlds several times - wrote the screenplay for Planet of the Apes.
Though I very much liked and admired Rod Serling as a figure and what I can presume of him as a person, I did detect a few things about his political tendencies. In the episode, "The Monsters are Due on Maple Street," Serling develops a critique of the blacklisting of Communists suspected as existing in Hollywood, the State Department during the McCarthy period and its penumbra. That topic deserves sober, replete and nuanced conversation and, unfortunately, a comment section is not a sufficient vessel capable of carrying that cargo. To reduce my comment, again insufficiently, to a crude, first outline, Serling saw fascism and Nazism as evils without the necessary and inseparable etiology of these reactionary movements: Marxist revolution and the destruction of existing orders, especially -- but of course not only -- Christian Civilizations. Nonetheless, a case can be developed that Communism in Asia was a means of preventing the further spread of Christianity.
In short, I think Serling had a bit of a tendentious soft spot in his heart for the Left. I do not see the Left and the Right as having a complementary, mirrored, Yin and Yang relationship. (Naturally, I welcome countering evidence for this if anyone would like to offer such evidence and perspective.)
I concur David. Speaking of blind spots and PSY OPs, I've written about the McCarthy OP and its long lasting censorious effect. Have you read Diana West's books? I have a feeling you have.
I think I have read one or two of her books. It has been a while. I have read articles or listened to numerous interviews where she is the guest. I am not familiar with your take on McCarthy, no. I will have to look at that.
Diana West was a friend of one of the best historians on McCarthy, M. Stanton Evans. This is a reminder to kick myself in the butt and get back to finishing his book, "Blacklisted By History: The Untold Story of Senator Joe McCarthy and His Fight Against America's Enemies". Among the many facts that contradict the Leftist McCarthy Narrative is that the Venona papers released in the 90s have revealed that McCarthy actually UNDERestimated the number of Communist infiltrators in American government and culture during his time.
Re-reading my own essay from 2015, I note with amusement an indication of how much I've changed since then, in that I used to be against conspiracy theories in general; now, since 2020, I have become a conspiracy theorist myself. Thus I wrote back then of Diana West:
"her locutions have an unfortunate tendency and effect of fostering a view that seems to conflate the two and hence can have a conspiracy-theorish ring. "
Started reading her syndicated (I think they're called) articles in the early O years -- might have been from the Washington Times; remember her on CNN; read her contributions to Townhall; bought her books, The Death of the Grown-Up; American Betrayal (NOT to be missed); and acquired Blacklisted by History, and Witness, among others. To be short, her writing has largely shaped my political thinking.
It was on her webpage that I first encountered your name ;-).
Anyone who balks/balked at the need to investigate Communist infiltrators & saboteurs is either a Useful Idiot Leftist or a Communist themself. No third option.
I think that I agree, Hesperado. I have through time and with fading memory lost my familiarity, as I was hinting at with Celia, with Diana West's political perspectives.
I will paint, of course, with a broad brush. Please be aware that I acknowledge numerous counter examples in the details. I find that the subversiveness of Marxist/Communists/Leftists (mild and radical) is a fundamental revolutionary evil, to which all forms of rightist movements are a reaction.
Revolutionary movements, synonymous with the all versions of the Left, are inherently deceptive. They must be secretive in order for kindling. They are formed by the top-down manipulation of broodings and ineptly-addressed grievances of those who are generally less able to properly articulate and effect rectifications or reappraisals of perceived injustices, for whatever reason.
Rightist causes, justly-defined and constituted or beset with excesses and brutality, do not arise 'de novo' in stable -- generally homogeneous -- communities, societies, and nations. Furthermore, there is always potential for Hegelian manipulators to attempt to co-opt and capture rightist movements in order to create systems of controlled opposition and more layers of deception and cloaking.
The subversiveness of the Left is still, I believe, the prior evil and no doubt provoked, funded and orchestrated by figures in the shadows.
I read your 2015 article, "When the details bedevil. . . " Salient points for me included: "Part of the above-mentioned calculated propaganda and disinformation promoted by Communist saboteurs and enabled by their starry-eyed liberal Useful Idiots involves a rather subtle ploy: fomenting confusion in the form of a jungle of details so complex, most have no patience for sustaining the attention necessary to keep the point (or points) in mind."
Indeed: obfuscation. This forces an unwitting and naïve people or polity to become ensnared in their own response, much to the advantage and designs of the subversive. The naïve parties come to define themselves according to their enemy's intentions. At the outset, the contest is already lost. The mouse is in the teeth of the snake. It is merely a matter of time for the venom to act and for the victim to be swallowed, partly alive.
Next, the revolutionaries hide many of the puzzle pieces. This is unnoticed as long as many unfitted pieces remain --- which in the real world is a very long time. I like the resurrection of the original denotation of the word 'dissembly' to mean more than general deception, but specifically to mean the dismantling and hiding of facts -- not all, which would be detectable -- but just some. This immediately brings to mind the related tactic of the limited hangout. Thus, the wounded efforts of the truth seekers expend more battle energy in a futile exercise of caring for moribund contradictions than in the outright rejection of obvious, and therefore "dead," falsehoods.. As a side comment, I'll bet this might lend itself to informatic analysis. Much work has already been done in the mathematical theories of communication in the 1940s, -50s and -60s. I am sure in the back shops of AI this is a hot topic of semantic theory.
And then, this minor note, but I encounter this issue a lot, "One has to maintain a balance between either extreme: it is neither a conspiracy theory, nor is there no problem of attempted sabotage." Apart from any development of your opinion over time, perhaps the clause should read: ". . . it is neither a conspiracy, nor is there no problem of attempted sabotage."
The "theory" part is a third-party observation and description of two modes of understanding events: stochastic or partly random, versus controlled or at least significantly influenced. As such, the possibility of a conspiracy must always be one category of one or more explanations (multiple working hypotheses) on the table. There is no, there could be no, 'a priori', general prejudice against the concept or possibility of a conspiracy. Only the malicious and ridiculous psy-op of Dispatch Document No. 1035-960 could purport such a thing, and only the widespread naïveté mid-20th Century could make the ploy possible. Thank goodness the alternative media is dispelling the efficacy of that stratagem. In fact, maturity and savvy makes it understandable that all of historical human action of social, institutional, political, economic or historical importance involves planning, coordinated action, arrangements, contracts, machinations, collusion, conspiracies or plots. As the enterprises grow when divorced from natural or divine law, the degree and severity of dishonesty, criminality and misanthropy grows rapidly. The huge players -- having jettisoned the absolute primacy of morals, ethics, and legality -- will have as much hope of staying out of trouble as two teenagers in the back seat of a car in a secluded location without their pants on. One thing leads to another and, oops, before you know it, a conspiracy is born.
Maybe you are correct, Rod may have been a culpable Lefty, or at least a Lefty lite. If I recall 'Patterns', correctly, it had some very good themes and concepts.
Well, it's clear Rod was a Lefty, as have been like 99% of all post-modern people involved in movies, TV, music, literature and other pop arts. With the decades-long activity of Communist sabotage of the West including USA from without (mostly the Soviet Union), what would make it Conspiracy and not just sabotage from an external enemy is the collusion of elements within the West including USA -- the collusion being the product of fellow-travelers and turned Westerners (in effect converting to Communism secretly). Not only do I now believe this is what unfolded, I think it has been so successful that in effect America became the new home of the Communist Revolution after the Soviet Union collapsed. But they haven't (yet) finalized their subversion from within. The Covid scam was no doubt an enormous acceleration of their project.
The wife and I just finished the movie, 'Patterns', and the after-film discussion. I started writing something up. I will try to finish it in the morning.
Dr. Schmitt: Your candy is way up on the top shelf, and I can't reach it all. What I can reach was worth the effort. Perhaps I'll make a point of extending my reach several more times to see if more of it will fall into my reaching hands..
Thank you for your provocative -- yet somewhat puzzling -- contribution.
Somehow, I think you are too modest. Well, I am delighted that you found it worthwhile. My mentor explained that one of his professors, in turn, had explained that he liked to finish each class with something that the students found inscrutable --- it made them go back to their rooms and struggle with the ideas.
Well, I am not lecturing. I am just here for the conversation and to learn myself. I think there will be plenty of opportunity for both with responses like yours. Smooth (I am borrowing that word.)
I don't like being scared. But I like Twilight Zone and I like Serling. I don't like it when he scared us, and it's hard to find the exact right line. Maybe he was manipulating us in a way, with fear. It's worth thinking about. He also SAW so many things, that he took on as a writer of lament and warning.
I’m a big Serling fan, thank you for highlighting him and his work in these posts! I loved watching the Twilight Zone growing up, but it wasn’t until I was an adult that I really recognized and appreciated his brilliance and his immense heart. Now when I watch these episodes, I’m often astounded by his deep understanding of human nature and his uncanny foresight. I always feel like he’s trying to teach us something important.
(And btw my strong gut feeling is that he would’ve recognized and railed against the Covid tyranny from Day 1!)
Having grown up with The Twilight Zone, I've probably seen every episode.
I remember the one with William Shatner; but it's W Shatner that I remember, not so much the plot.
The one with the camera that takes a picture of a future event, like the winning of the horse race; what a temptation to the crooked-minded!
But the episode that first comes to mind is the one which takes place in a hospital room, where what appears, sheets covering her and her face heavily bandaged, is a young woman. The doctors and nurse we see only standing around her bed, their faces obscured. But the conversation among the staff bears the marks of concern for the outcome of the procedure, undoubtedly plastic surgery.
Will it be successful? Will she finally be able to enter society, not as a freak but as a pretty, even beautiful, young woman.
I loved that show as a kid. I could only watch it on Friday nights when I slept at a friends house. My parents wouldn't allow, too late at night
The episode that always comes to mind for me is the one starring Burgess Meredith as the librarian(?) The world ends, or something like that. The last scene is Meredith still alive after the destruction, amidst piles and piles of books. He's in his glory.
I did watch the entire Grand Jury -- as it was uploaded, episode at a time.
Vivienne, I remember, was the blond with the very short, oddly-styled, hairdo.
Am I right?
I could easily descend into conjecture and gossip here; but if you know the reason for the conflict and could share it in a word or two, I would welcome some insight as to how that team broke apart. I really liked them both.
Loved Patterns. Haven't watched a movie in ages, except for It's a Wonderful Life, which I watch every December. Thank you for sharing these many interesting things about Mr. Serling. I didn't know anything about him and have only seen a few TZs. It seems like he was from out of this world, his speech patterns, voice, message. Kind of like how during the Renaissance, there were so many absolute geniuses. How could one time period get so many? They had to come from somewhere else, in order to help humanity. I always learn so much from you, Celia. Thank you for being a writer. I'm sure it isn't easy. ♥
I just watched Patterns (on a rainy Sunday morning) per your recommendation Celia. What a treat with a theme that is truly timeless. Maybe some day we’ll see a remake of it - but this time it will take place at Pfizer headquarters where there’s an executive with a conscience witnessing the immoral actions of Bourla and his ilk. And his persistence leads to revelations about this criminal syndicate disguised as a pharmaceutical corporation. Wouldn’t that be interesting?
And speaking of Rod Serling, I have mentioned before about my brief encounter with him alone in an elevator when I was 16 where answering my question about the Twilight Zone, he confirmed that it’s not pure fiction. But until now I was unaware of the circumstances surrounding his death on the operating table during a coronary bypass surgery in 1975. My father (also a onetime heavy smoker who had suffered a prior heart attack at age 45) was having chest pains around the same time as Rod. He met with heart surgeons at both Emory and at Mass General both who advised him against it as they didn’t think he’d survive it. And shortly after that he had a second attack, this time fatal.
And six years ago after experiencing angina, I had a double bypass operation where everything went smoothly allowing me a chance to continue my journey in good heath with revitalization of spirit. The connections between my father, Rod Serling and myself are indeed most intriguing. So once again I’m grateful for crossing paths with you Celia here on Substack. So here’s to joy, heath and the lessons learned in the Twilight Zone.
OK favorite TZ episodes
1) To Serve Man
2) A Stopover at Willoughby
3) Eye of the Beholder
4) Room 22
5) Time Enough at Last (Burgis Meredith who just wanted to read)
I could rank my top 25 as well, super fan! Your turn.
Let’s talk soon
I watched the "Twilight Zone" when I was a kid,now it feels like we are living in a episode of the "Twilight Zone "
As a kid, I believe I watched all the episodes of "Twilight Zone".
Now, I have to watch "Patterns", as well as checking out his daughter's book.
Thank you!
Wow, wow, wow! That test: "he earned $1,000 for testing a jet ejection seat that had killed the previous three testers." No comment.
what would people do for a quick buck ...
Evidently, kill other people en masse in hospitals, at vaccine stations and by promoting it.
You may even ass corporations mandating counter measures.
Elsa and Pandelis, don't people (especially in third world countries who are desperate for money) get paid to participate in drug trials? Did mRNA trial participants get any compensation? Americans are reluctant to be trial participants which is why pharma preys on disadvantaged people or inner city black and brown in Los Angeles for experimental vaccines.
Jeff, I started watching "Patterns" this morning with enormous trepidation. Yesterday I had read Jennifer Margulis's Report https://jennifermargulis.substack.com/p/autopsy-confirms-infant-died-from?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=842640&post_id=136877291&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=oh1o8&utm_medium=email
which disturbed me so much I didn't know where Rod Serling was going to send me.
I see Cia is also providing a link to Jennifer's article. Many years ago when my son developed seizures temporally connected to the DTP, I asked his pediatrician if vaccines can cause seizures? His response--"no they can't". Until I read the product insert, I believed him. I had a lot to learn.
And here we are. My goodness the rabbit hole has no bottom.
I believe we have many false idols in our world.
None bigger than the worship of Allopathic medicine.
IMHO we wouldn't be so far gone into this dystopian nightmare if people, even those who refused the vax, many went to their doctor the next day to get their meds, would take responsibility for their health. As a society the majority have been worshipping at the alter of pharma their whole life. I too was in the cult but broke away about twenty years ago.
I have had a serious eye problem, actually a number, for most of my life. NO DOCTOR has been able to help. It is a neural ophthalmology problem. And very rare. I tossed an idea out to my newish eye doc. My long term guy retired. She gave me a lecture on reading things on the internet and thinking that replaces her 12 years of university. I said I have had that particular issue since I was 25. I am 72. For 47 years I have been warned I would be severely visually impaired within five years. Still driving! I said ‘you maybe had a thirty minute talk on this ten years ago. Maybe you’ve had one other person on your caseload other than me with this. Maybe. I have been dealing with this with virtually no help for 47 years. I have beaten the odds hugely. Do you actually think you know more about this than me?’ I was ticked. She went on and a few minutes later she stopped and apologized. She said ‘that was really wrong of me. I should be listening to you not the other way around. I am sorry.’ I cooled down.
It's nice to hear she came to her senses. Can you tell me more about your research. I ask because I too have an eye problem. Went to two specialists who claimed it was a cataract and the third after further test revealed some broken blood vessels in my line of sight. Anyway
I would like to find more info and hear more of your story.
Almost all of it is nonsense. Poor research, poor results, terrible long term effects and so on. Yet people continue to do exactly what they’re told.
It seems like the crazy ones in the medical system have gone crazier. They are more aggressive, and the way they wield the tests and testing is frightening. The test result lets them remove all personal responsibility of what they are doing.
Remember Cat when it was expected that patients should get a second opinion?
Now it's "trust the science." And by inference, "trust me."
That ship has sailed.
I am so happy we are talking about him.... Celia, you will love Anne's book...worth reading....great pics in there, too...... I have a small pic behind me of him with Twilight Zone written beneath that shows up in all my work ZOOM mtgs, still...... ;)
Thanks for reposting that PCR debunking paper.
I'm sorry, but where can I find this?
The Corman-Drosten paper?
Looks like this could be the pre-print. Will need to download and read it to be sure.
https://osf.io/9mjy7/
Thank you.
Looks like PubMed whitewashed Drosten , et al. I suppose the rebuttal is now considered irrelevant and Drosten, et al is the Gold Standard. Madness...
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7863229/
Not a surprise.
His interview with Mike Wallace is very interesting. He clearly saw the beginnings of how art, creativity, morality and truth HAS to give way to the almighty dollar. I think that Gates, Zuckerberg, Rockefeller, Sorros, and Bezos (and now Musk with his woke WEF censor running twitter/x) would all agree completely!
It's the almighty dollar, for sure. I think also it is ego-tripping -- who has the biggest . . . pile of cash and the most power.
These malodorous men are competing against one another: Ego is everything -- compassion, honor, integrity, TRUTH, are obstacles.
I'm going to have go watch Patterns again; I viewed it last year (am usually drawn to 50's B+W films, especially ones I haven't yet seen; and Van Heflin never disappoints).
Where can I find to watch Patterns?
Alison, it's linked on the word "yesterday" in this post. I posted the movie last night. Hope you enjoy it!
It has been so long since watching TZ I thought I had not seen Patterns. The unmistakeable message in the story I could not forget. I don't remember being scared of any of his episodes, except the one about the old lady alone when little space creatures came into her house. After watching Patterns watched him talk to students about writing. Celia, you came to mind listening to him talk about what a writer is. You are a natural born writer.
Agnes Moorehead played the old lady, in a Serling-type twist, she was the giant on a different planet invaded by US astronauts. The only TZ episode with one actor and no dialogue! (just grunts) Moorehead later played Endora on Bewitched, her talent was restricted to the mother-in-law role. Rod Serling involved time travel and exploring other worlds several times - wrote the screenplay for Planet of the Apes.
Yes! Thanks for reminding me of the details. Ha,ha,ha, yes of course human invaders.
https://youtu.be/ASfwFKUyM_4?si=9xxkAx_GIGy-6Oew
Thank you!
Though I very much liked and admired Rod Serling as a figure and what I can presume of him as a person, I did detect a few things about his political tendencies. In the episode, "The Monsters are Due on Maple Street," Serling develops a critique of the blacklisting of Communists suspected as existing in Hollywood, the State Department during the McCarthy period and its penumbra. That topic deserves sober, replete and nuanced conversation and, unfortunately, a comment section is not a sufficient vessel capable of carrying that cargo. To reduce my comment, again insufficiently, to a crude, first outline, Serling saw fascism and Nazism as evils without the necessary and inseparable etiology of these reactionary movements: Marxist revolution and the destruction of existing orders, especially -- but of course not only -- Christian Civilizations. Nonetheless, a case can be developed that Communism in Asia was a means of preventing the further spread of Christianity.
In short, I think Serling had a bit of a tendentious soft spot in his heart for the Left. I do not see the Left and the Right as having a complementary, mirrored, Yin and Yang relationship. (Naturally, I welcome countering evidence for this if anyone would like to offer such evidence and perspective.)
I concur David. Speaking of blind spots and PSY OPs, I've written about the McCarthy OP and its long lasting censorious effect. Have you read Diana West's books? I have a feeling you have.
I think I have read one or two of her books. It has been a while. I have read articles or listened to numerous interviews where she is the guest. I am not familiar with your take on McCarthy, no. I will have to look at that.
Diana West was a friend of one of the best historians on McCarthy, M. Stanton Evans. This is a reminder to kick myself in the butt and get back to finishing his book, "Blacklisted By History: The Untold Story of Senator Joe McCarthy and His Fight Against America's Enemies". Among the many facts that contradict the Leftist McCarthy Narrative is that the Venona papers released in the 90s have revealed that McCarthy actually UNDERestimated the number of Communist infiltrators in American government and culture during his time.
My old essay from 2015 goes into more detail:
https://hesperado.blogspot.com/2015/02/when-details-bedevil.html
Re-reading my own essay from 2015, I note with amusement an indication of how much I've changed since then, in that I used to be against conspiracy theories in general; now, since 2020, I have become a conspiracy theorist myself. Thus I wrote back then of Diana West:
"her locutions have an unfortunate tendency and effect of fostering a view that seems to conflate the two and hence can have a conspiracy-theorish ring. "
I'm a big fan of Diana West.
Started reading her syndicated (I think they're called) articles in the early O years -- might have been from the Washington Times; remember her on CNN; read her contributions to Townhall; bought her books, The Death of the Grown-Up; American Betrayal (NOT to be missed); and acquired Blacklisted by History, and Witness, among others. To be short, her writing has largely shaped my political thinking.
It was on her webpage that I first encountered your name ;-).
So, here we are.
Thank you for all you do.
Anyone who balks/balked at the need to investigate Communist infiltrators & saboteurs is either a Useful Idiot Leftist or a Communist themself. No third option.
I think that I agree, Hesperado. I have through time and with fading memory lost my familiarity, as I was hinting at with Celia, with Diana West's political perspectives.
I will paint, of course, with a broad brush. Please be aware that I acknowledge numerous counter examples in the details. I find that the subversiveness of Marxist/Communists/Leftists (mild and radical) is a fundamental revolutionary evil, to which all forms of rightist movements are a reaction.
Revolutionary movements, synonymous with the all versions of the Left, are inherently deceptive. They must be secretive in order for kindling. They are formed by the top-down manipulation of broodings and ineptly-addressed grievances of those who are generally less able to properly articulate and effect rectifications or reappraisals of perceived injustices, for whatever reason.
Rightist causes, justly-defined and constituted or beset with excesses and brutality, do not arise 'de novo' in stable -- generally homogeneous -- communities, societies, and nations. Furthermore, there is always potential for Hegelian manipulators to attempt to co-opt and capture rightist movements in order to create systems of controlled opposition and more layers of deception and cloaking.
The subversiveness of the Left is still, I believe, the prior evil and no doubt provoked, funded and orchestrated by figures in the shadows.
I read your 2015 article, "When the details bedevil. . . " Salient points for me included: "Part of the above-mentioned calculated propaganda and disinformation promoted by Communist saboteurs and enabled by their starry-eyed liberal Useful Idiots involves a rather subtle ploy: fomenting confusion in the form of a jungle of details so complex, most have no patience for sustaining the attention necessary to keep the point (or points) in mind."
Indeed: obfuscation. This forces an unwitting and naïve people or polity to become ensnared in their own response, much to the advantage and designs of the subversive. The naïve parties come to define themselves according to their enemy's intentions. At the outset, the contest is already lost. The mouse is in the teeth of the snake. It is merely a matter of time for the venom to act and for the victim to be swallowed, partly alive.
Next, the revolutionaries hide many of the puzzle pieces. This is unnoticed as long as many unfitted pieces remain --- which in the real world is a very long time. I like the resurrection of the original denotation of the word 'dissembly' to mean more than general deception, but specifically to mean the dismantling and hiding of facts -- not all, which would be detectable -- but just some. This immediately brings to mind the related tactic of the limited hangout. Thus, the wounded efforts of the truth seekers expend more battle energy in a futile exercise of caring for moribund contradictions than in the outright rejection of obvious, and therefore "dead," falsehoods.. As a side comment, I'll bet this might lend itself to informatic analysis. Much work has already been done in the mathematical theories of communication in the 1940s, -50s and -60s. I am sure in the back shops of AI this is a hot topic of semantic theory.
And then, this minor note, but I encounter this issue a lot, "One has to maintain a balance between either extreme: it is neither a conspiracy theory, nor is there no problem of attempted sabotage." Apart from any development of your opinion over time, perhaps the clause should read: ". . . it is neither a conspiracy, nor is there no problem of attempted sabotage."
The "theory" part is a third-party observation and description of two modes of understanding events: stochastic or partly random, versus controlled or at least significantly influenced. As such, the possibility of a conspiracy must always be one category of one or more explanations (multiple working hypotheses) on the table. There is no, there could be no, 'a priori', general prejudice against the concept or possibility of a conspiracy. Only the malicious and ridiculous psy-op of Dispatch Document No. 1035-960 could purport such a thing, and only the widespread naïveté mid-20th Century could make the ploy possible. Thank goodness the alternative media is dispelling the efficacy of that stratagem. In fact, maturity and savvy makes it understandable that all of historical human action of social, institutional, political, economic or historical importance involves planning, coordinated action, arrangements, contracts, machinations, collusion, conspiracies or plots. As the enterprises grow when divorced from natural or divine law, the degree and severity of dishonesty, criminality and misanthropy grows rapidly. The huge players -- having jettisoned the absolute primacy of morals, ethics, and legality -- will have as much hope of staying out of trouble as two teenagers in the back seat of a car in a secluded location without their pants on. One thing leads to another and, oops, before you know it, a conspiracy is born.
Maybe you are correct, Rod may have been a culpable Lefty, or at least a Lefty lite. If I recall 'Patterns', correctly, it had some very good themes and concepts.
Well, it's clear Rod was a Lefty, as have been like 99% of all post-modern people involved in movies, TV, music, literature and other pop arts. With the decades-long activity of Communist sabotage of the West including USA from without (mostly the Soviet Union), what would make it Conspiracy and not just sabotage from an external enemy is the collusion of elements within the West including USA -- the collusion being the product of fellow-travelers and turned Westerners (in effect converting to Communism secretly). Not only do I now believe this is what unfolded, I think it has been so successful that in effect America became the new home of the Communist Revolution after the Soviet Union collapsed. But they haven't (yet) finalized their subversion from within. The Covid scam was no doubt an enormous acceleration of their project.
The wife and I just finished the movie, 'Patterns', and the after-film discussion. I started writing something up. I will try to finish it in the morning.
Dr. Schmitt: Your candy is way up on the top shelf, and I can't reach it all. What I can reach was worth the effort. Perhaps I'll make a point of extending my reach several more times to see if more of it will fall into my reaching hands..
Thank you for your provocative -- yet somewhat puzzling -- contribution.
Somehow, I think you are too modest. Well, I am delighted that you found it worthwhile. My mentor explained that one of his professors, in turn, had explained that he liked to finish each class with something that the students found inscrutable --- it made them go back to their rooms and struggle with the ideas.
Well, I am not lecturing. I am just here for the conversation and to learn myself. I think there will be plenty of opportunity for both with responses like yours. Smooth (I am borrowing that word.)
Governments tool is to fool-PRS formula Problem Reaction (FEAR) Soloution (GOVT AUTHORITY.
What is the problem? TOO Many useless sponges sucking the earth of OUR bounty. WEF/DAVOS?CENTRAL BANKERS truly live in the twighli zone!
They live here with us, me thinks, as part of Satan's army.
But
Greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world (the evil one).
If he would have been on our side, I like him better. I still don't like the Twilight Zone.
I don't like being scared. But I like Twilight Zone and I like Serling. I don't like it when he scared us, and it's hard to find the exact right line. Maybe he was manipulating us in a way, with fear. It's worth thinking about. He also SAW so many things, that he took on as a writer of lament and warning.
I’m a big Serling fan, thank you for highlighting him and his work in these posts! I loved watching the Twilight Zone growing up, but it wasn’t until I was an adult that I really recognized and appreciated his brilliance and his immense heart. Now when I watch these episodes, I’m often astounded by his deep understanding of human nature and his uncanny foresight. I always feel like he’s trying to teach us something important.
(And btw my strong gut feeling is that he would’ve recognized and railed against the Covid tyranny from Day 1!)
Having grown up with The Twilight Zone, I've probably seen every episode.
I remember the one with William Shatner; but it's W Shatner that I remember, not so much the plot.
The one with the camera that takes a picture of a future event, like the winning of the horse race; what a temptation to the crooked-minded!
But the episode that first comes to mind is the one which takes place in a hospital room, where what appears, sheets covering her and her face heavily bandaged, is a young woman. The doctors and nurse we see only standing around her bed, their faces obscured. But the conversation among the staff bears the marks of concern for the outcome of the procedure, undoubtedly plastic surgery.
Will it be successful? Will she finally be able to enter society, not as a freak but as a pretty, even beautiful, young woman.
Let me know it you want the end of the story. ;-)
Yes I liked that one too, oink
I loved that show as a kid. I could only watch it on Friday nights when I slept at a friends house. My parents wouldn't allow, too late at night
The episode that always comes to mind for me is the one starring Burgess Meredith as the librarian(?) The world ends, or something like that. The last scene is Meredith still alive after the destruction, amidst piles and piles of books. He's in his glory.
Then his reading glasses fall off and smash.
60 years later and I can still feel my reaction.
I get ya!
Just realized that link is invalid. Does anyone have a good one for the Drosten-Corman Review?
I wonder if they took it down?
Was it ever published by a journal?
I remember a lot of talk about this on Reiner Fuellmich's channel.
He has a new site now since the conflict with his partner Vivienne.
THe new site is pretty good. Some very interesting interviews.
In any case, he, more than anyone I've listened to, addressed the Drosten papers and how they were written.
I did watch the entire Grand Jury -- as it was uploaded, episode at a time.
Vivienne, I remember, was the blond with the very short, oddly-styled, hairdo.
Am I right?
I could easily descend into conjecture and gossip here; but if you know the reason for the conflict and could share it in a word or two, I would welcome some insight as to how that team broke apart. I really liked them both.
Whew!
Loved Patterns. Haven't watched a movie in ages, except for It's a Wonderful Life, which I watch every December. Thank you for sharing these many interesting things about Mr. Serling. I didn't know anything about him and have only seen a few TZs. It seems like he was from out of this world, his speech patterns, voice, message. Kind of like how during the Renaissance, there were so many absolute geniuses. How could one time period get so many? They had to come from somewhere else, in order to help humanity. I always learn so much from you, Celia. Thank you for being a writer. I'm sure it isn't easy. ♥
YA KNOW TODAY PEOPLE ARE STILL TAKING EXPERIMENTAL SO CALLED MEDICINES NOW IF THAT AINT THE TWILIGHT ZONE
A SCIFI THRILL SEEKER