Maggie's Farm

I remember when the situation in Ukraine began, we were assured the Russian claims of "Nazis" wasn't true.  Since that original falsehood, the NYTimes has walked back the position slowly.  But sometimes reality gets even more absurd than you can imagine.  After all, when the Left, which once called Trump a 'Nazi', offers up a real Nazi for a standing ovation, you have to begin to wonder who the 'real Nazis' are.  I've always known it is the Left, masquerading as they do as "anti-fascist" which allows them to behave in a fascist manner.

Point is, when you celebrate a Nazi, simply because he's Ukrainian and fought Russians in WWII, you confirm that you have created a self-perpetuating cycle of BS which is beginning to pile up.  It becomes even worse when you utilize your media ties to block the information surrounding that person. The Left will say "but lots of German soldiers weren't Nazis."  Soldiers, yes.  Waffen SS, not so much.  Let's just get a grip and call things what they are.  

The cycle of leftist hypocrisy and lies is growing.  We're just caught in their vortex. 

For weeks, Mrs. Bulldog resisted seeing Barbie with me because she feared I'd have a negative reaction to the pro-female message, as some in the conservative media have.  I assured her that not only am I not a conservative, but I have a sense of humor.  One rainy Saturday afternoon, I finally got her to shift enough and we took it in.  I thoroughly enjoyed it. It's funny and the story is absurd in the extreme.  Yes, there's an outlandishly Woke overtone of "men rule the world" as a message.  It's only a part of the story.  The main story really is much more subtle.  Yes, it's partially about empowering women, but it's also a story about how Wokeness and Intersectionalism are dangerous, while individualism and self-awareness are critical. If you (like me) do not mind spoilers, then feel free to read on.  I found Barbie to be funny, engaging, and intelligent, requiring an open mind and a willingness to engage absurdity to gain insight into deeper thoughts.  Sadly for the scriptwriters, I believe they underestimate consumers and their own intelligence exposes the massive flaws in the agenda the writers hoped to push.  It actually promotes capitalism (success of Ken's Mojo-Dojo Casa Home), civility and avoiding thoughts and behaviors which promote gender supremacy.  Ken's hoodie, at the end, more or less sums up my view.  Be yourself.

Barbie was just a comedy that tried to (poorly) push a leftist agenda and wound up undoing itself with other, better, themes while making me laugh hysterically.  Ken, inadvertantly at the end, promotes individuality.

The movie begins by paying homage to 2001: A Space Odyssey and an openly ironic narrative describes how Barbie, the doll, "saved girls" and helped improve their lot in the world and in life by empowering girls to achieve.  This was, arguably, the most inspired part of the production, because it parodies itself and, throughout the movie, it incorporates recreated scenes from classic films.

Is there an overriding theme or message to Barbie?  Yes there is, but it is poorly done.  What the theme may be, ultimately, is up to you, and I'm sure we'll all have different views.  I did not see what they wanted me to see (I rarely fall for Hollywood nonsense). 

I'll expand this and point out "Anti-Gouging Laws" are a form of sanctions and not only make strenuous situations more difficult, but they also create their own markets (among people willing to pay, pay cash, and keep their mouth shut).  Lots of government agencies will claim they 'work' and cite a few specific and unusual examples and claim "victory."  Pyrrhic, at best.  The same is true with governments discussing sanctions.

International sanctions rarely work because of the point made in the title - they create 'black' markets.  Russia's oil has sanctions against it?  So what.  Some country that doesn't care about the West will buy it on the cheap, then resell to nations that support the sanctions but are happy to play intermediary, and eventually it gets back to the West one way or the other.  Either as refined product, or by markets elsewhere that undermine the larger market and disrupt supplies.

The communist world had sanctions against many Western goods - but they were always available in communist nations.  My father traveled to Russia with a suitcase carrying a few extra cases of Marlboros (he didn't smoke) and a few pairs of Levis.  Always good to have the local currency (contraband) ready just in case. A friend who travelled to Argentina 8 years ago, where currency controls were in place, was directed to join a "currency club" where they got a "preferred rate of exchange".  The official Argentine rate was so bad, many people set up these "clubs" where they'd exchange at a better rate, knowing they could get the currency out and exchange at better rates outside of Argentina.

There aren't many examples of sanctions working and doing what they're supposed to do.  Usually sophisticated nations can find ways out of, or around, sanctions.

In the modern world, the claim was Russia's removal from the SWIFT payment system would cripple them.  Someone forgot that the decentralized nature of the internet and cryptocurrencies made the hegemonic controls of a SWIFT system problematic.  If you're going to cut someone out of the system - when might YOU be cut out of the system (for any variety of political reasons)?  Russia isn't crushing it, economically, but the claims about how poorly it would be doing by now were clearly overblown and based on a poor understanding of modern economic interactions. 

I posted on Monday about the death of someone I'd gone to high school with and the conversations it sparked, as well as the odd situation it presented due to the poor teen experience I'd had (and since resolved for myself), and the difficulty of finality when a relationship ends poorly.

Part of writing in a forum like this is to just 'get stuff out there'.  Another part is to share ideas or feelings that may help others.  Still another part is seeing what others share back.

Every single comment made is helpful and meaningful.  While I haven't written for quite some time (I really need to fix how I handle time management), this was something I felt was good to share.  I'm glad I did and thank you to everyone who commented.  Maggie's is not just a forum to write, it's a place to share.  One reason I like to post anonymously is because writing can be a way to draw attention to yourself, and that's not what I write to do.  While some readers do know who I am, most don't.  I like seeing what almost all our readers have to say (there is a rare comment I can't abide by...but free speech still rules my life).  In this particular case - all were very useful.

Death and Birth are two things which bind us all.  It's something we're all going to experience.  The stuff in between?  We're all going through stuff.  Just stuff.   My believe is sharing will help develop ways8: for us to bind together in better ways.  So always trying to be open.  

Thank you. 

Mortality is a strange thing.  We're here, then we're not.  Our friends and family are here.  Then they're gone.  We focus a lot on things that impact us while we're alive, as we should, to make our lives more interesting and enjoyable.  Outside of rare conversations on spirituality or religion, many people spend little time thinking about saying good-bye or preparing for what is inevitable, aside from taxes.  It's a strange thing that death is actually one of the more important parts of life, after perhaps birth, and just like birth we have little to no control over when it takes place.  We have some control over ourselves and our lives during the interim period between birth and death, though.  Maybe that's the point?

Two things occurred in the last week which started me thinking about mortality and specifically my own mortality.  They were both events which get most people thinking.  First was a discussion with my in-laws about their end-of-life planning, as they have now both passed their mid-80s.  Second was a notice that a classmate from high school had died, not someone I was extremely close with, though we had a relationship which had recently ended poorly.