cabal exposed

"the groups of people who make culture what it is."

in an unparalleled expose the new york times style magazine has named names and provided photographic identification of the secret cabal of ideological commissars that rule style and elegance and are the final arbiters of what we should think, wear, eat, drink, find and decorate a domicile, and , in general be what they find to be acceptable...this is a valuable document...unprecedented investigative journalism...

there are definite ideas about how i should dress to fit into the "culture" they so assiduously work to create...

and remaining true to habit there are multiple suggestions on how women should dress themselves at any cost ( and there are $53535 worth of clothes in this photo and the obligatory number of "price on request" [if you have to ask you cannot afford it ] articles from the top flight of haute couture designers ) to fit into the elite perception of itself...

i will be declining their suggestions of what to imbibe...and they can cram the idea of leaving the subject of politics out of the conversation with walnuts...

they have claimed home decor as part of their purview as well...who am i if i don't have a $10000 bed or leather couch?

and if i can afford the clothes, the jewelry, the drink, and the bed i can certainly afford to "live happier" in a $1.1 million condo...that would be having it all...at least as far as the cultural cadres are concerned...

if the cadres would like to talk about it they can find me in the back yard, cleansing the palate by hanging out with the trees, wheat, rye, asparagus, ramps, onions, daffodils, and the russian olives...we have radically different definitions of culture.

it depends on your definition of "elitist"

the puking buddha and i are having a shufti at the "we are not an elitist newspaper" ( one editor actually did state this in an editorial ) new york times...and this week the sunday paper brings us yet another edition of "T the new york times style magazine"...

and although the "men's fashion" or the "design" or the "travel" issues all have things to recommend them, "women's fashion" has always been our favorite for a multitude of reasons but mostly because it puts the lie to the whole "not elitist" editorial bullshit...and this issue does not disappoint...

dior will be more than happy to sell any of you non-elitists this dress for a modest $11000...

or, perhaps, you would prefer this $11740 plus ensemble...the plus is because those elegant red gloves are "price on request" and bound to drive the total cost a scoshe higher...still what's a few bucks more? especially when they accessorize the whole "look" so well...

and you can further accessorize by choosing from these wonderful purses an/or shoes valued at $13381 plus...plus because we again find a "price on request" ( if you have to ask you can't afford it ) item...

and you can flaunt your newfound "style" in the lobby, hallways, and elevators in the building where you just bought your bargain $1.93 million condo...why waste such style on the street?

and, in the midst of all this upscale elite consumerist garbage, the vile editors have included an article on dorothea lange...whose work recorded the poverty and angst of the great depression...my disgust was on high alert before i saw this...as a consequence i am speechless..or,. at least, lacking in adequate adjectives to express what is going on in my head..."the paths to error are various and infinite" and the times continues to mark them out...there are a multitude of behavioral sumps in this alleged nation...this non elitist newspaper is leading the parade for one of them...denial runs deep.

reading the n y times ( sort of )

today's n y times weighs in at a hefty three pounds twelve and three-quarter ounces...who knew there was so much news? i mean i knew there were climate related issues ( i talked to my brother in florida yesterday and will try to do so again today ) and the assorted tererorists and diplomats and batshit crazy north koreans ( well complimented by the current swamptown crop of loons cast in ideological concrete...where is the lake of fire? ) but an almost four pound newspapaer? then i opened it and things began to gain perspective...lots of inserts..the usual sunday magazine and the quarterly "style" magazine ( more on those soon enough...patience )..additionally there is a "special offer from the economist to n y times readers ( i can, if i act quickly, save $321.87 off the twelve week regular subscription rate of $333.87 by claiming the unheard of low price of a buck a week...that's right...twelve weeks for twelve bucks because i am a n y times reader...astonishing...you can see my response in, i believe, the sixth photo...the only people who believe economists anymore are other economists and "free market" geeks with their heads up their asses )...there is an entire brochure for wonderful cruises and another for "eight exceptional days" of $9590 sofas and $7180 dining room sets...a pattern was becoming discernible...so...armed with the latest times advertising rates for color and black and white advertising i began to look at the magazines..the "style" magazine (http://nytmediakit.com/uploads/rates/CRS-9040_2016_Rate_Cards_TMag_EC3.pdf there's the price list url ) had advertising worth $7,200,322 and, as a side note, turned an article about the travel writer and novelist bruce chatwin into a vehicle for selling outdoor clothing...everything is for sale at the times...while the sunday magazine "education issue" ( educating whom to what i wonder ) had a measly $1,927,350 (http://nytmediakit.com/uploads/rates/CRS-9040_2016_Rate_Cards_Magazine_EC2.pdf )...interestingly enough milton hershey, fordham, uc davis, ucla, nyu, harvard medical school seton hall, adelphi, pace, and loyola marymount universities accounted or $1,177, 825 of that total...you have to spend money to make money...every university bean counter knows that...my news is distorted and my desires are engineered ( at least that is the hope )...we all live in the memory hole now and everything is spun to the point of unrecognizability...i never looked for "truth"...it is too subjective...sifting through all this blather and self-serving crap for fact is a tedious business...i keep trying though...everyone has an agenda and the world is replete with liars, grifters, and swindlers...america in the 21st century has tapped into the main nerve of that...the "hog butcher to the world" is turning into a nation of gated communities and flea markets...we passed the crossroads a ways back and i wonder if the street us wide enough for a u-turn.