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Jeff & David, from The Compton-Kids, Series #1 (copyright by Tetman Callis)
Getting in the the way of good governmentGetting in the the way of good government
“America’s commercial and military competitors are nations that have far fewer qualms about using government to promote their goals and that view government and the market as partners in a common project of national development. At home, the future of the economy depends on public investments in R&D and infrastructure by the federal government as well as state and local governments. And the most efficient parts of the American safety net are those that are purely federal, like Social Security and Medicare, not crippled and dysfunctional federal-state hybrids like Medicaid.” – Michael Lind (from John Stoehr interview in Boston Review)
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Jeff #3, from The Compton-Kids, Series #1 (copyright by Tetman Callis)
Not much fun on a calm, moonlit night, eitherNot much fun on a calm, moonlit night, either
“A drunken soldier with a musket in one hand and a match in the other is not a pleasant visitor to have about the house on a dark, windy night.” – Major General Henry W. Slocum, 1865 (quoted in Shelby Foote’s The Civil War: A Narrative)
The resonant properties of cinderblock wallsThe resonant properties of cinderblock walls
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Jeff #2, from The Compton-Kids, Series #1 (copyright by Tetman Callis)
The view from the mirrorThe view from the mirror
“When Nietzsche lost his faith, he concluded that God is dead. This is not critical thinking. This is narcissism.” — Leon Wieseltier, Kaddish
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Jeff #1, from The Compton-Kids, Series #1 (copyright by Tetman Callis)
There’s no getting it rightThere’s no getting it right
“If you can write about the wreckage the wreckage is not complete. You are intact.” — Leon Wieseltier, Kaddish
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Jane & Diane, from The Compton-Kids, Series #1 (copyright by Tetman Callis)
Uniquely trivialUniquely trivial
“If tradition is the great punctuator that saves us from ourselves it also usefully cuts us down to size, reminding us that we’re not that special, that our supposed uniqueness is trivial in the grand scheme of things.” — Adam Phillips, “Commanded to Mourn”
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Geraldine #1, from The Compton-Kids, Series #1 (copyright by Tetman Callis)
Changing statesChanging states
“Imposing a pattern or form on experience over long stretches of time tends to make people very impatient because the material is always so recalcitrant. Continuity is always at war with circumstance, and the contingency of events. If a religion wants to be more than a refuge it has to develop, but if it adapts too eagerly it runs the risk of dissolving.” — Adam Phillips, “Commanded to Mourn”
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Geraldine, Tiger & David, from The Compton-Kids, Series #1 (copyright by Tetman Callis)
Revolution #10Revolution #10
“There is revolution when what is deemed to be ordinary is put into question, when what is considered to be beyond the realm of choice is discovered not to be.” — Adam Phillips, “Commanded to Mourn”
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Diane & David, from The Compton-Kids, Series #1 (copyright by Tetman Callis)
A comfortable fitA comfortable fit
“Most people do not invent themselves. Most of them choose to be what they already are.” — Leon Wieseltier, Kaddish
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David & Jeff, from The Compton-Kids, Series #1 (copyright by Tetman Callis)
The unbearable stiffness of goodThe unbearable stiffness of good
“To promote virtue, of whatever kind, forces people to be more of a piece, to be more consistent, than they can bear to be.” — Adam Phillips, “Commanded to Mourn”
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David & Diane, from The Compton-Kids, Series #1 (copyright by Tetman Callis)
So pay attentionSo pay attention
“One of the things our traditions are there to do is to remind us what the best things about us are.” — Adam Phillips, “Commanded to Mourn”
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David #2, from The Compton-Kids, Series #1 (copyright by Tetman Callis)
Guidance is providedGuidance is provided
“The books tell you to open the books so that you can find out beforehand what will be the most significant events in your life.” — Adam Phillips, “Commanded to Mourn”
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David #1, from The Compton-Kids, Series #1 (copyright by Tetman Callis)
The glorious nose of dogThe glorious nose of dog
“A good dog is a natural super-soldier: strong yet acrobatic, fierce yet obedient. It can leap higher than most men, and run twice as fast. Its eyes are equipped for night vision, its ears for supersonic hearing, its mouth for subduing the most fractious prey. But its true glory is its nose.” – Burkhard Bilger, “Beware of the Dogs”
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David, Janice & Jeff, from The Compton-Kids, Series #1 (copyright by Tetman Callis)
Here’s looking at youHere’s looking at you
“We have come to take for granted comprehensive lateral surveillance. We have grown used to regarding friends as also spies, whose allegiance is uncertain; they are agents who are liable to identify us in photographs, keep tabs on our whereabouts, spread misinformation or disinformation in permanent, public forums on our behalf — or to our detriment, who can be sure? Even intimates can become inadvertent double or triple agents in the infinite regress of strategies and counterstrategies in our intricate social-media self-presentations, which we can never really be sure aren’t false-flag operations. Why do people share what they share? And since they know I will be asking that question, how has that affected their choice to express that enthusiasm over that Stanley Cup playoff game, or Obama’s kill list, or the kale they had for dinner? How do I respond? Everything is a move in a complicated game that social-media surveillance makes sure we are always playing. Control over even our own identity slips away from us, as we lose sense of what is spontaneous and what is mere tactical performance in the midst of such recursive reflexivity. We sense our own fragile fakeness, which can only confirm our suspicions of others.” – Rob Horning, “Agents Without Agency”
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David, Diane & Jeff, from The Compton-Kids, Series #1 (copyright by Tetman Callis)
If you still have oneIf you still have one
“One of the greatest gifts you can give anybody is the gift of your honest self.” — Fred “Mister” Rogers (quoted by Rob Owen in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
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David, Dan & Jeff, from The Compton-Kids, Series #1 (copyright by Tetman Callis)