WARNING: Violent Jews, outside agitators, and/or undercover LAPD apparatchiks attack UCLA student peace in Palestine encampment as campus security stands by and city police are nowhere to be found. The students and their guests were left to fend for themselves against pro-genocide, pro-Israel attackers armed with bear spray (chemical irritants), clubs, metal pipes, and explosives.
I'm here to put Pro-Palestinians in check.
Photogenic Ashkenazi (German European) Jews tell Oprah's Dr. Phil, "Side with us," and he does, embedding with the riot police amassing to destroy UCLA's peaceful demonstration protesting UC's complicity with Israel and the war machine (CIA, Pentagon, Biden administration) funding Israel's genocide in Gaza and throughout Palestine. His one chance to side with progressive students for peace, Dr. Phil goes more regressive to get ratings and play it safe. "Let's highlight the Jewish perspective for a largely Zionist-Christian audience," he must have been thinking.
Dr. Phil: The [One and Only] Truth Behind the UCLA Pro-Palestine Protests
I love you, Dr. Phil. You're always right. Oprah must be so proud. "Cash me outside," right?!
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(Dr. Phil Primetime) May 8, 2024: Old and increasingly decrepit Doc Phil McGraw is first and foremost about making money. What better way than sticking his nose into a divisive issue.
That'$ my boy, Pema! - Who, Mr. Phil?
I'm America’s top talk show host, and I need to turn it up in prime time. Just ask my boss, Oprah. I'm on a mission to tackle issues that matter to my ratings: parents’ rights, social media, education, homelessness, the Fentanyl crisis, and much more.
No topic is out of reach of my cameras, no cow is too sacred not to slaughter, and nobody is too lost for me not to tell them how to get found and get right with the Judeo-Christian Lord above all, El Capitalismo.
(NY Post) At the "anti-Israel" (not pro-Palestine) UCLA violence camp
It's time you find your way back, you antisemitic Bruins! What is this, Athens? Pay attention to what happened to the Trojans across town. The police set them straight. And the police are moving in on you unless you obey.
(WSJ News) May 1, 2024: Groups of counter-protesters clash with peaceful students at a pro-Palestinian tent encampment demonstration and sleep in at UCLA. Peaceful demonstrations have taken place at elite colleges across the U.S. this week leading to multiple arrests by police trying to shut them down and stifle free speech just as in 1960s' Berkeley. Photo: Etienne Laurent/AFP/Getty Images #wsj #ucla#protest
UCLA: Riot police fire deadly (albeit less lethal) rubber projectiles at student demonstrators in an orgy of police violence
(Sky News) May 2, 2024: Hundreds of peaceful demonstrators have been arrested by police after letting violent pro-genocide outsiders attempt to dismantle a pro-Palestinian tent camp at the University of California Los Angeles. #propalestine #skynews #protest
Subscribe to join in and check local listings at meritstreetmedia.com to make me more popular. Watch Dr. Phil Primetime every day and watch me lecture dummies and tell them right from wrong because they're too stupid to see it themselves. It's cathartic. And if you don't like it, catch me outside. Watch 8:00 pm ET/7:00 pm CT exclusively on Merit Street Media. Check your damn local listings like I said. We built a damn website for you to get on it, meritstreetmedia.com or call (877) 844-3700 to tell me how much you like my show, and I can tell you where to watch.
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Dr. Phil McGraw (Dr. Phil Primetime), all Jewish panel of explainers for one side (the right side) of the story to get at "the truth behind the UCLA pro-Palestine Protests"), May 8, 2024; Wall Street Journal (WSJ) News, May 1, 2024; Sky News, May 2, 2024; Shauna Schwartz, Ashley Wells, Sheldon S., Pfc. Sandoval (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
In this age of "likes" on Facebook and Instagram, social media can sometimes make friendships feel insincere. So what does friendship mean in this modern day?
Take Two explored this question with Alexander Nehamas. He is a professor of philosophy at Princeton University, and author of the book, On Friendship.
INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS
Why he studies friendship:
"I think that friendship is an amazingly important relationship in our lives. A life without any friendships is almost incomprehensible. But friendship is not a moral good. In other words, a very good friend can make you do things that are not at all good -- even though they are good friends.
"There's a proverb that some people use that says, 'A friend can help you move house, a good friend can help you move a body' ...and yet at the same time, not only contemporary philosophy but philosophy from the time of Aristotle on -- at least in the way that we've read Aristotle -- has always thought of friendship as a moral good.
"Aristotle actually seems to believe that only virtuous people can be friends. And since he believes there are very, very few virtuous people in the world, there are very few friendships. And yet when you look around, you see there are friendships between any kind of people, and there is, as they say, honor among thieves as well."
How friendship is like art:
"Great art can sometimes be very immoral, and yet we still value art, despite the fact that in many cases it goes against all our moral beliefs or commitments.
"So we love art, and we love our friends, and in very interesting ways, not only do they share this non-moral feature, but in both cases, it is an individual that we love, it's a particular work of art that we love, and even if other works of art have similar qualities, we may not like those other works of art.
"The same way that suppose you and I are friends, and I say, 'I like you, I love you because you're very intelligent.' And somebody says, 'Well how about George over there? He's even more intelligent.' And we say, 'I love your particular intelligence, the way you express your intelligence.'
"All these expressions are ways to express that it's the very individual that we love, not the individual under a general description. And that's the same thing with works of art. So one feature that can be a wonderful feature in a particular work of art, say a particular color in a painting, the same color could destroy a different painting."
How social media has complicated friendships:
"One thing that social media is good for, I think, is to keep a friendship alive. What I don't think is very good is the idea that you can become a friend with somebody simply because you have friended each other on Facebook or whatever it is, because those relationships, they're not individual relationships.
"Because when I put something out on Facebook, I put it out for everyone who has friended me or whom I have friended... So the individual doesn't come in the same way when the relationship starts on social media.
"I think that sometimes people meet through social media and then they continue their relationship, either in private without involving other people through the media, or personally, they go and meet each other. And then I think a friendship can actually flourish. But the pure use of social media to establish and preserve a friendship I think is hopeless."
WARNING: Strong opinions and obscenities! Although often funny, they are likely to offend.
In this very funny YouTube video, comedian "Captain Awesome" [Jello Biafra's son by any chance?] does an excellent job of spoofing religion. We thought his ideas nevertheless deserved comment. He brings up some points one might easily be misled on. Therefore, while laughing and enjoying Awesome's wit, we thought we might give serious consideration in answer to his observations:
1. Is Buddhism about peace, love, and harmony?
Yes, but more importantly it's about insight into the true nature of phenomena and liberation from suffering.
2. Is the Buddha fat and bald?
No, the historical Buddha was neither. But Chinese depictions of good luck, particularly at Chinese restaurants, do show a jolly bald bodhisattva or other being loosely referred to as "Buddha." This has led to a great deal of confusion. The Buddha was an ascetic, tall and if anything quite lean (even emaciated while fasting prior to his enlightenment). He cut off his curly hair, but it formed a top-knot (not an unusual style in India particularly for spiritual recluses) not a bald patch.
3. Did the Buddha smoke weed and talk about how in tune with nature [he was]?
This is hilarious material, and we hope no one is offended. No, the Buddha did not smoke marijuana. One of Buddhism's fundamental tenets, as part of the Five Precepts, is to "abstain from intoxicants which might occasion heedlessness." However, some Indian ascetics do smoke hashish (seemingly in excess) as part of their religious rituals -- particularly in Kashmir and Nepal and the Himalayan foothills where it grows freely like a weed that no one bothers much about. While the Buddha does not talk about how "in tune with nature" he or anyone else was, such harmony is consistent with the message. This view may come about from Buddhism's association with Taoism and other indigenous traditions in Asia with which it mixed.
4. Key Tenet I: "All human life is suffering"?
This statement is a literal mistranslation and a philosophical misapprehension of the Buddha's message. The meaning is bettered rendered as either "All conditioned states of existence are unsatisfactory" [because of their impermanent and impersonal nature] or "Suffering [dukkha] is inherent in life." As we live we will find ourselves dissatisfied with the things we strive for and obtain -- particularly material and sensual pursuits. The goal, therefore, is not necessarily to abandon them but to uproot the greed and craving (lobha and tanha) we have that incessantly drives us to chase what does not yield satisfaction. There is a permanent happiness, an unblemished bliss that is attainable here and now that has nothing to do with sensuality. It also, paradoxically, has nothing to do with a hereafter. It is not a heavenly state. It is called Nirvana, literally, "the end of all suffering." The path to Nirvana is increasingly pleasurable states of blissful concentration known as jhanas (meditative absorptions) that lead to purification of the heart and mind. This purification is experienced in the body and prepares one for insight (vipassana). The temporary bliss of concentration is no liberation; however, the permanent bliss of liberating-insight does lead to a permanent end to all further suffering. Just as life is ruined by the suffering and misery associated with it (as well as the imperfection and emptiness we're sometimes left feeling) -- because dukkha means the RANGE of unpleasant sensation between agitation and agony -- so Nirvana is without such association.
5. Does suffering (dukkha or "unsatisfactoriness") come from desire?
This is correct is easy to miscomprehend. At the root of dissatisfaction is craving (tanha, literally "thirst"). When an unpleasant state arises in the mind (or heart, which both go by the same word, citta), it is sure to be rooted in greed, hate, and delusion. These defilements occur together. All lust and anger are rooted in ignorance. Hate is simply the frustration of desire, the resistance to getting what we don't want. Not getting what we want is lust leading to suffering. Whether we are repulsed or attracted is based on ignorance and desire. If there were nothing we wanted, we would not be oppressed by hate. There would be no frustration. If there were nothing we wanted, we would not be oppressed by greed. There would be no suffering. But ignorance impels us to be attracted to things that can never yield satisfaction. Similarly, it repels us from all the things that we find unpleasant, that are not our desire. All of this becomes directly observable through mindful meditation. Otherwise, we just keep going, never understanding why life seems empty and painful and difficult. So score one for Captain Awesome. Anyone who claims the things of the world can satisfy is grievously mistaken. One need only look around for the most contented people. They are never the ones with the most material comforts, with seemingly every reason to be happy. It isn't our comforts that make us unhappy, but rather our greed (desire), hate (aversion), and delusion (ignorance).
6. You want sex and cars, and that will just cause more "suffering" according to Buddhism?
It won't just cause dukkha ("unsatisfactoriness"). It will feel good. There is no denying that there is pleasure to be had in sensual existence, particularly the pleasant world of humans. What also comes along, however, is a danger (the liability to become attached and lose the impermanent object of desire, which in our foolishness leads to all manner of suffering) and a risk. But there is an escape from this suffering and seeing the true nature of things: seeing them as impersonal and not belonging to us, as foreign and a potential burden, the longing and desire for them shrinks. The heart pulls away like plastic thrown in fire. And there is peace, and in this peace there is clarity and the possibility for insight to arise. The cause of all happiness is non-greed, non-hatred, and non-delusion, or stated positively: unselfishness, loving-kindness, and wisdom. Have sex (that doesn't hurt anyone or destroy anyone's relationships), but fulfillment is not to be found there. So long as one thinks it is, one becomes obsessed, invites all manner of troubles, and ultimately ends up unfulfilled, confused, and with nothing to show for this precious human life. Have cars (that are obtained honestly and without harming others). Have all that you. Taste the world. The risk is attachment to things that will not last and will never satisfy. It is futile to argue with one who neither knows nor sees this truth: "One was too many, and yet a thousand wasn't enough." It's true of alcohol, sex, cars, money. It is fruitful to argue with one who both knows and sees this truth. The dawning of insight usually comes in the wake of enough suffering to jolt one out of slumber and indifference. Otherwise, we just keep banging our head wondering why life doesn't work out.
7. To end desire you must follow the tenets Buddhism?
No. Concentration (to the point of absorption) suppresses defilements (greed, hatred, delusion, and fear, which is a kind of hatred/aversion so is not usually mentioned separately), which are the proximate cause of all the suffering we experience. Insight (into ultimate materiality and mentality) eradicates defilements, leaving us instead as unselfish, compassionate, wise, and fearless. Many traditions (if not most) teach the suppression of defilements. Few teach the path to their permanent eradication. Buddhism in that sense is not really a "religion" and is not limited to Buddhists. The path is open to everyone, just as the problems exist for everyone. Greed (rooted in the other defilements) will not lead to non-greed. Greed leads to greed and ultimately to unsatisfactoriness. But non-greed (temporarily freed of defilements, as well as liberating-insight) leads to non-greed and an end to unsatisfactoriness. This is not a truth to be accepted on faith, not a philosophy to adopt. It's visible here and now, in life just as in meditation (looking at the mind and its circular habits). The Dharma is inviting saying, "Hey, there's a way out of the trap; we're the ones causing ourselves harm, and therefore we can do ourselves a great deal of good.
8. Happiness isn't going to come by you thinking out your problems and such?
That's right. Thinking doesn't do it. Insight (knowing and seeing) does.
9. You've got the Path, you've got the eight paths to get to happiness?
Almost. There is a "Noble Eightfold Path" to Nirvana ("the end of all suffering"). Its eight factors are discussed in the WQ archives. But as it is said in Eastern Philosophical circles, There is no way to happiness; happiness is the way!
10. Rich people, rich countries have higher quality of life; the desire, the desire for goods just increases the happiness?
Does it? Scandinavian countries with their Happiness Index and the only Buddhist kingdom in the world (Bhutan)'s Gross Domestic Happiness are not related to materiality and desire. Desire is the opposite of contentment and happiness. Obtaining desires is a form of happiness (temporary satiation), but it doesn't satisfy. Satisfaction is characterized by an alleviation of desires. America and the Western industrialized nations are some of the unhappiest because we chase material happiness that doesn't work. People then go on a spiritual search to fill the void. Voluntary renunciation and contentment leads from subtle happiness to more subtle happiness, and with the appeasement of the defilements, it is possible to rapidly advance in insight and wisdom. And the way to the final end of suffering is happy as it goes culminating in the ultimate bliss that transcends intellectual understanding, Nirvana.
NOTE: The captain then veers away from talking directly about Buddhism in favor of geopolitical matters. We'll let those countries' citizens and regimes defend themselves if they wish. Travel -- missing in most of our American lives -- might radically alter and expand Awesome's view of the larger world. Nevertheless, together with Captain Awesome we fervently wish: "May all living beings be well and happy!" And in the interest of a healthy debate, here is Buddha Gem with a compassionate video response:
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