March 1st, 2022
“Socrates rejected expediency, and the necessity for manipulation that accompanied it. He chose instead, under the direst of conditions, to maintain his pursuit of the meaningful and the true. Twenty-five hundred years later, we remember his decision and take comfort from it.”
– Jordan B Peterson
On the eve of another 31-day ritual that I’ve come to anticipate as the month of March, I had one of my deep conversations with Danny that ranged from Socrates to creativity to monasticism to Ukraine. With this go round, I look to exclude as well as include, day by day, and to allow for a dynamic metamorphosis of its own making. I want my process to evolve organically this time in contrast to a more deliberate agenda. The first thing to exclude is inactivity. To organize, dig, and walk. I cannot define what this regimen is meant to become until it unfolds. And so, it has begun. Let it take shape!
Today’s sight bite— Two doves on a power line, —c-l-i-c-k— golden-pink breasts glowing with the final light of a sun no longer visible to others below their urban tightrope.
Posted in Creativity, Exercise, Friends, Nature, Psychology | No Comments »
February 3rd, 2022
Immense thanks to Brett Henson, John Hockensmith, and Kate Savage for bringing this video to fruition! For anyone who wants to discover a bit more about my plein-air approach to making collage landscapes.
Posted in Art | No Comments »
January 31st, 2022
“The term ‘disinformation’ is reserved for those who question liberal pieties, not for those devoted to affirming them. That is the real functional definition of “disinformation” and of its little cousin, ‘misinformation.’ It is not possible to disagree with liberals or see the world differently than they see it. The only two choices are unthinking submission to their dogma or acting as an agent of “disinformation.’ Dissent does not exist to them; any deviation from their worldview is inherently dangerous — to the point that it cannot be heard… Leading Democratic Party politicians have repeatedly subpoenaed social media executives and explicitly threatened them with legal and regulatory reprisals if they do not censor more aggressively — a likely violation of the First Amendment given decades of case law ruling that state officials are barred from coercing private actors to censor for them, in ways the Constitution prohibits them from doing directly.”
— Glenn Greenwald, 1/29/22
Posted in Current Events, Words | No Comments »
December 11th, 2021
“What I foresee going forward is a government clinging white knuckled to a crisis response when regular people would far prefer to simply stay home for a few days if they’re sick and get on with their lives if they’re not. Instead of safety maximalism, they would prefer to balance risks and rewards in a world where other priorities such as business, school, and a full reopening for people without comorbidities (who have never been at much risk and have been in even less risk after vaccines) or others that simply want to make their own health decisions.”
— Chris DeMuth, Jr., 12/11/21
Posted in Angst, Community, Crashology, Political Affairs | No Comments »
November 30th, 2021
Thanks for your interest in my collage landscapes. Click on each thumbnail to view a larger image. Link here to scroll the original blog posts atThe Collage Miniaturist.
Posted in Art | No Comments »
November 22nd, 2021
“Every institution that was once trustworthy has been debauched to maximize private gain: higher education, science, medicine, national defense — the list includes virtually every sector and industry in America. Nothing can be trusted because somebody behind the scenes is spinning the story and data to mask their self-interest, their immense gains, and the carefully contrived structure of diverting investigation and eliminating transparency, competition, and accountability.
“The consequences of the drip-drip-drip of moral decay is difficult to discern in day-to-day life. It’s easy to dismiss the ubiquity of artifice, PR, spin, corruption, racketeering, fraud, collusion, and narrative manipulation (a.k.a. propaganda) as nothing more than human nature, but this dismissal of moral decay is nothing more than rationalizing the rot to protect insiders from the sobering reality that the entire system is unraveling and heading for its final reckoning: collapse.”
— Charles Hugh Smith, 11/21/21
Posted in Angst, Business, Crashology | No Comments »
August 9th, 2021
“When something is important enough to you, you do it. So obviously if I haven’t done it, it’s because maybe it wasn’t all that important to me. The secret to happiness, of course, is not getting what you want; it’s wanting what you get.”
— Alex Trebek, via Rabbi Hyman Schachtel
Posted in Personalities, Psychology | No Comments »
August 1st, 2021
“Americanism — the ism — with the universal thought that is expressed and manifested in the brotherhood of man into group thought, as expressed by the Masonic Order, will be the eventual rule in the settlement of affairs in the world. Not that the world is to become a Masonic order, but the principles that are embraced in same will be the basis upon which the new order of peace is to be established… When these things are considered, then it is self-evident that individuals should be up and doing.”
— Edgar Cayce, Reading 1152-11
Posted in Crashology | No Comments »
July 26th, 2021
“Regarding the challenge of transformation, I think it is important to acknowledge that in order to grow, there is pain and suffering. The hardest moments in my life have ultimately been what pushed me to strive to be and do better. I cannot think of any example in history where someone achieved greatness without pain and suffering, and at some level, I think we need this suffering to ennoble us. All this is to say that I think the person you will become through this process will be stronger, clearer, and more beautiful.”
— June Kellum, Dear June
Posted in Angst | No Comments »
July 16th, 2021
Gwen Heffner
1 9 5 2 – 2 0 2 1
⚘
master artisan of pottery
major force in the Kentucky arts
my pal from our first encounter
R
I
P
Posted in Art, Death, Friends | No Comments »
June 8th, 2021
“Science enhances the moral value of life, because it furthers a love of truth and reverence — love of truth displaying itself in the constant endeavor to arrive at a more exact knowledge of the world of mind and matter around us, and reverence, because every advance in knowledge brings us face to face with the mystery of our own being.”
— Max Planck
Posted in Awe, Personalities | No Comments »
May 26th, 2021
“Americans should increasingly question the role of the Federal Reserve and its impact on society. It’s not normal, nor should it be, that the economy keeps running from bust to bust to bust and requires ever more debt and intervention to ‘save it’ from the fall out of the asset bubbles the Fed has propagated time and time again. ”
— Sven Henrich, NorthmanTrader.com
Posted in Crashology, Personalities | No Comments »
May 14th, 2021
“I think the next stage in the market psychology is when people figure out there is no adult supervision left in these markets… Daddy is not going to come home and fix this. We are at the point where there are no solutions, and that’s when things spin out of control…”
— John Rubino, DollarCollapse.com
Posted in Angst, Crashology | No Comments »
April 16th, 2021
4/13/21 — “Nothing matters inside of a bubble until it does. The phrase new paradigm is becoming ever more prevalent to justify prices and the tape. Truth be told, there is no new paradigm except this one: More artificial liquidity than ever and more debt spending than ever and as a result people chasing stocks into higher valuations than ever. That’s it. There is no mystery.”
4/15/21 — “People are engaging in investing behavior that would be severely punished in any other time in history, but, because they aren’t, the belief becomes self fulfilling. This is the environment the Fed has unleashed with its reckless insistence to keep printing. What crisis? We are looking at big recovery growth everywhere. Stimulus is flooding through the system. The virus is getting under control with vaccines that are rolled out aggressively. Consumers are flush with cash and ready to spend.”
— Sven Henrich, NorthmanTrader.com
Posted in Crashology, Personalities, Psychology | No Comments »
April 14th, 2021
“Just as it is laughable that the CIA and GCHQ care about social justice, feminism, and racial diversity as they bomb and subvert the rest of the world in ways that contradict all of those professed values, the idea that corporate giants who use sweatshops, slave labor, mass layoffs and abuse of their workforce care about any of these causes would make any rational person suffocate on the stench of their insincerity.”
— Glenn Greenwald, 4/13/21
Posted in Current Events, Political Affairs | No Comments »
April 2nd, 2021
My respect for Kelly’s journalism is growing week by week. My respect for Peterson is already at the maximum setting. Therefore: with today’s disrupted media, this conversation, in my estimation, is about as good as an interview gets these days. — Get the podcast. —
Posted in Personalities, Priorities, Psychology, Social Science | No Comments »
March 20th, 2021
Follow my art-each-day ritual at The Collage Miniaturist.
The Need to Take Sides
collage miniature by J A Dixon
6.75 x 8.75 inches
from my Series of Rock
Posted in Art, Craftsmanship, Creativity, Priorities, Studio | No Comments »
February 27th, 2021
“There is no reason to suppose that they [central bankers] understand the modern financial system and economy to any greater extent than they did in 2007 (that is to say, not at all). Nevertheless, they plow ahead, expressing total confidence that what they are saying and doing is wise and not dangerous drivel.
“It is unlikely that these unprecedented and experimental government policies of such gargantuan scope will actually create the desired result and allow themselves to be able to be unwound without great shock and disruption to the global financial system.”
— Paul Singer, 2014
Posted in Angst, Crashology | No Comments »
February 6th, 2021
Earlier this week, Dana and I traveled to Ohio with Terie to pay tribute to her grandmother, Jane. I like to point out that Dana found only one satisfactory mate in life, but she was blessed to have two first-class mothers-in-law. Saints, like all human beings, have imperfections, although they best emulate the only perfect example known to us, and show us how to live. Jane was that kind of person.
It was an emotional trip for another reason. Jane’s street-level funeral procession, from Moraine to North Dixie Highway, will stick with me for a long time. I can’t recall ever having seen such a disturbing progression of urban blight than what I witnessed from the back seat as Dana drove. We were all acutely aware of our surroundings. Every red light was bypassed within the supervision of local police. The steady, harrowing vision outside was that of a sad wreck — a city that I knew so well in the ’80s as Dayton, Ohio.
“Oh, the humanity . . .” (in the true spirit of the original lament)
Posted in Angst, Community, Crashology, Dana, Death, Family, Saints, Terie | No Comments »
February 3rd, 2021
Jane Lou Hovis Willoughby Booton
1 9 2 5 – 2 0 2 1
a life of faith, kindness, strength, and dignity
R
I
P
Posted in Death, Family, Saints | No Comments »
January 29th, 2021
“It may be difficult for many of you to embrace the disconcerting and possibly bewildering idea that the entire status quo is untenable and will disintegrate not from policy errors or poor leadership but simply as a consequence of its current structure.”
— Charles Hugh Smith, 2018
Posted in Angst, Crashology, Nonfiction, Social Science | No Comments »
January 19th, 2021
“Now, as I leave the White House, I have been reflecting on the dangers that threaten the priceless inheritance we all share. The greatest danger we face is a loss of confidence in ourselves, a loss of confidence in our national greatness. No nation can long thrive that loses faith in its own values, history, and heroes, for these are the very sources of our unity and our vitality. At the center of this heritage is also a robust belief in free expression, free speech, and open debate. Only if we forget who we are and how we got here could we ever allow political censorship and blacklisting to take place in America. Shutting down free and open debate violates our core values and most enduring traditions. In America, we don’t insist on absolute conformity or enforce rigid orthodoxy and punitive speech codes. We just don’t do that. America is not a timid nation of tame souls who need to be sheltered and protected from those with whom we disagree.”
— Donald J Trump, Farewell Address
Posted in Current Events, History, Personalities, Political Affairs, Presidency | No Comments »
