The pornography of hatred

The root word of pornography Appears to have something to do with prostitution as opposed to sex per se. Of course there are all kinds of prostitution but the derivative meanings seem to be based on the original meaning, more or less. Of course roots do not necessarily determine the present state of the evolution of language. For example,there probably is a connection between the original word "gay,"and its current usage but on the face of it the connection seems to be obscure to most of us. We had Gay neighbors growing up. Their farm is little more than a few shards of wreckage however it was a nice little place, on the hill just to the east of our farm. I often wonder what became of them. It is sad that I don't remember their first names. I am inclined to think that my friend's name was Gary Gay but I might be thinking about the homosexual Gary that I met when I was a freshman at Northern Illinois University. Gary was a good friend and helped me in a wonderful way, actually in two wonderful ways. He allowed me to learn about a whole new world i.e. the gay subculture. And he also helped me to discover I was not homosexually inclined.

Gary- NIU Gary- had a unique word for people who were clueless. A word I have never heard again in any context, so I wonder if it is a part of the gay idiom: 'PEARHEAD.'
Now that I think about this, it is fairly obvious that this probably means something similar to "pinhead." I seem to recall a comic strip based on such characters.

The reason this comes to mind, and this is off the cuff, is that I am puzzled over the current meaning of some popular words. I recently went to the book store-more about my purchase later-and there I noticed a very prominent book apparently a best seller, called "How to Talk to Idiots". It reminded me of an earlier book entitled, "R...L... Is a Big Fat Idiot" I also received a magazine, one which I normally like to read unlike the other titles just mentioned, entitled, "(M.A.) Is an Idiot" While I was in the airport I read a few pages of MA's book. I don't quite see the point.

Is this all tongue in cheek, ironic and not irenic? Dies Irae!!!!!!!! "I think not!"-- by the little man who wasn't there-- some people have excused Garrison Keillor's complaint about Unitarians as being tongue in cheek. GK usually writes humorously--but this last column was not humorous, it was decidedly quite serious and represents a side of GK that I think we males all have but try to keep well cloaked. My parents think he may have had a stroke. If so he need to take an aspirin if his CAT scan looks ok. But in another sense--see below--organicity may have a lot to do with it, although there are many many other contributing factors to consider..are we responsible for our words? Science is out to lunch on this, but makes a great excuse to add to all the ancient ones. One thing is certain-- the lawyers have a tax on personal responsibility and it's very profitable for them not to admit Randomness as a possiblity, at least not in public. In private it's Total Oliver Wendell Holmes; in public it's Abraham...and Lincoln.

I also understand that there has been a bill passed recently against "hate speech." It apparently has not been implemented yet. Obviously.

I realize that pejorative speech, like prostitution, he has always been with us. Because of this, the descriptive term "dysfunctional," is difficult to apply with any precision. What I am coming to realize is that it is addictive perhaps the same way that sexual pornography is addictive but may also be such a basic reaction that it cannot be eliminated only suppressed. I recently observed that Linus claimed he was allergic to criticism. This may not be just a figure of speech. To compound the difficulty, it is quite common to be allergic to oneself. Examples would be rheumatoid arthritis; systemic lupus erythematosus which is very interesting in that it is an allergic reaction to a person's own DNA. I have struggled with what is called in Christianese a "critical spirit." Whether this is my own personality disorder; or whether it is gender based, culturally conditioned, or an acquired immune syndrome caused by a retrovirus, or just my own personal acquired or inborn taste in thought, imagination, and social intercourse-is of course impossible to say and I would be the last one to be able to pin that down, referring back to Kierkegaard and Walker Percy and "Lost in the Cosmos-The Last Self-Help Book".

We are all aware of the connection between sex and violence of course. A wonderful parody of this can be enjoyed in the British comedy sketch, "Sex and Violence down the Mines " -it is quite easy to infer the connection in numerous rock and roll acts. The Sex Pistols, Guns n' Roses, and The Violent Femmes come to mind.. so there seems to be some type of organic connection here extremely well lubricated by certain cultural conditions and cycles. There can be little argument that this is a fundamental connection and can even be found in the studies of brain function and structure especially with modern technologies such as PET scanning and even more amazing tools. The most recent book that I have read on this is called "His Brain, Her Brain " by Walt and Barb Larimore. While it does not necessarily address specifically the issue that I am talking about here, the research involves embryology, endocrinology, development and developmental psychology cultural and spiritual issues just to name a few.

Just as with drug addiction, it appears that endorphins are part of the chain of cause-and-effect. I would be interested to know what happens with endorphins in the male brain in particular when violent videogames are played. My guess is that the response to morphine, crack cocaine, pornography, and a virtual violence are quite similar. I would be interested to know if anybody has any insight about this since I don't have time to do any further research on the at the moment. And what is the biochemical reponse of the female brain to the same set of stimuli? Any "thoughts" on that? "Evidence-based medicine" is the current buzzword around my ranch. WE WISH!!!!!!!!!!!

The question I asked in the last post is quite relevant here. The response to the question of the appropriateness of these sexual/violent display behaviors are myriad but the common root appears to be evasion of personal responsibility. Anything from, "devil made me do it, " to "I was born this way, " or "God made me this way " or "the woman that you gave me (made me do it yeh right) " is the problem --and there's the classic R. Crumb dictum: "Um Tut Sut; sure why not? "And millions more; probably 100s of unique excuses for every man woman and child on the planet.

"Here the MS breaks off again and resumes again in another" ....Post. Stay Toasty. Write if you get unemployed.........