Isn't orgonomy where they make cute little animals and shit by folding a piece of paper in a gillion different ways?

Martin Gardner had a hilarious chapter on Reich in his excellent book Fads and Fallacies in the Name of Science. Apparently Reich decided, later in life, that "orgone energy" could counteract nuclear radiation. Ended up poisoning a bunch of people by accident trying to prove it. Also claimed he could make rain, heal people, &c. Lots of weird shit going on with that guy.

If you ever read the whole Unibomber manifesto, while we are on the subject of crazies, he makes a really well detailed and documented case for why liberalism is a self destructive mental illness. Way beyond just pointing out the obvious stuff like tollerating abuse and intentional harm while maintainint the belief that it's all your fault really is kind of co-dependant. The big problem for me of course is their determination to take the rest of us with them.

Sorry I'm late, my morning orgone accumulator session ran a little long. Goddamn, it's refreshing.

Instead of bickering over politics, it'd be really entertaining for the Left and the Right to see who has the most entertaining crazies.

The Left: PETA, Greenpeace, vegans (sorry foks, but you have both incisors and molars for a reason), communists, crypto-anarchists, and a whole constellation of crystal-lovers, cultists, and "earth mother" ex-hippie types. And let's throw Islamists in since the Left seems so fond of 'em.

The Right: neo-fascists, skinheads, racists, eugenics loons, literal Biblical fundamentalists, anti-government militia types, money-crazed greedheads, and Patrick J. Buchanan (and maybe Sean Hannity too).

Other: Bill O'Reilly. Really, who knows what his political creed is? A neo-populist Elmer Gantry gasbag in any guise.

You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars.

You have a right to be here.

Reich was, well, a total nutball (mind you, that's just a layman's diagnosis). But he was the first and very nearly only guy to make a connection between politics and psychology. The Mass Psychology of Fascism is an interesting read, even if the English translation is lousy and most of Reich's conclusions are wrong-headed. Of course, you want to be careful about taking "political psychology" too seriously; the Soviets got a lot of mileage out of that notion.

Incidentally, you can see some nifty footage of an orgone-powered cloudbuster in operation if you can track down the video to a song called "Something Good" by a British group called, weirdly enough, the Utah Saints.

Don't forget the other 'crazies' category monty; Minnesota Vikings fans. You con't get any more irrational then that. Well, except for those crazy fundies, right?

You know who's also crazy? Carnies. You know, circus folk.

Small hands. Smell like cabbage.

Cheers,
Dave at Garfield Ridge

BrewFan:

Speaking as a lifelong Steelers guy, your none-too-subtle digs at the Vikings shall go unrequited. Further, Packers fans have it all over Vikings fans in the craziness category -- at least the Vikings are civilized enough to play indoors in subzero weather.

But really, what can we expect from someone who admits a liking for the lowly Brewers? The best part of that lousy franchise is the broadcaster; how sad is that?

Go Steelers!!

Found this on LGF.

I wish I could ask each Muslim in the world, "Do you advocate the concept of Jihad?" (And let's dispense with the Jihad-as-internal-struggle nonsense right now; we all know what it means.)

Because if you, as a Muslim, cannot abrogate the concept of Jihad, then we are enemies. We will be enemies until you are dead or I am. What you believe is absolutely contrary to everything I hold dear, and I will do all in my power to make sure you are hindered and harmed in your quest. If Islam means Jihad, then I consider Islam evil, and I will not hesitate to say so in public or in private.

I will not countenance a death-cult, and if I must war against a billion Muslims to get that point across, then so be it. If War is the only alternative to Dar Al Islam, then war it will be.

"Speaking as a lifelong Steelers guy"

You're one of those smart Minnesotans :)

"Vikings are civilized enough to play indoors "

No, that just makes them big pussies.

"The best part of that lousy franchise is the broadcaster"

We agree!

Are racists right-wing crazies exclusively? While the white-sheets boys can be put on the right side of the ledger (unless they happens to be Democrats from West Virginia, in which case they're Pillars of Democracy), there's a pervasive strain of left-wing racism - if, by racism, you mean someone who advocates discrimination against another on the grounds of his race. It's principally directed against us hypomelaninistic (white) folks, but in practice it also slams Asians, Jews, and any other group that happens to be more successful than the leftoids can tolerate.

As for Vikings fans: they're goofy, to be sure, but they have nothing on Packers fans. It's all that cheese - it clogs their carotid arteries and slows their cerebral functioning.

Lions fans. I mean, talk about fundamentalist die-hard faith.

"It's all that cheese - it clogs their carotid arteries and slows their cerebral functioning"

This is a myth. Its a well known fact that 6 Pabst Blue Ribbons will counteract the effects of cholesterol.

Galactic Stream: Those guys rock!

Kate Bush did a video back in the 90s (Cloudbusting) featuring a "cloubuster" designed by Geiger, the artist who designed the famous Aliens. Her song and video is apparently based on the events leading to Reich's arrest by government agents, but it is not accurate.

The video portrays Reich (played in the video by none other than Donald Sutherland) as a genius who "knew too much" and was silenced by government goons. In reality, he was arrested for violating interstate trafficing in medical equipment and fraud.

Reich was a student of Freud, and was a nutjob. Towards the end of his life he was deep into a paranoid fantasy involving flying saucers, weather control and government coverups. Good X-files material.

You have to admit the guy writes extremely well, whether or not he's a crank. He hooked me into reading the whole article.