Loosely Speaking

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Saturday, August 24, 2019

It isn't a crime...

but maybe it should be: The deliberate obstruction of the proper functioning of government. Malfeasance, misfeasance, and nonfeasance are all applicable, perhaps, but maybe it needs to be spelled out more specifically. Looking at you, McConnell! You have flouted the clear will of the American people continually, usurping control of the Senate's ability to do the job they were elected to do, making yourself a dictator over what issues can be voted on or not, according to your personal agenda. You... Sign in to see full entry.

Saturday, August 10, 2019

I have now tried the Impossible Burger and the Beyond Meat burger. Both were charcoal-broiled. The Impossible Burger has a more meat-like texture, where the Beyond Meat one is a bit too wet and soft, yet cooking it more tends to over-cook it. Both are a couple of dollars more expensive than beef burgers, and neither is much healthier for the consumer. But they are a lot healthier for the cows. Sign in to see full entry.

Thursday, August 8, 2019

Hubris

I heard something on NPR a day or two ago about a dynamic of human thinking whereby a person--many persons, actually--who takes a test, believes they did better on the test than they actually did. Much better, in fact. The suggestion is, we are often blind to our own errors, or level of capability. This reminded me of a post I put here on Blogit a couple of years ago. I have now re-edited it and added a link for further reference. Thinking about Trump and Nixon, and about that special hubris... Sign in to see full entry.

Thursday, July 25, 2019

Paris is burning...!

Things seem to be cooling down here in the Americas, but Europe and the UK are getting walloped now, with killing heat. It's frightening to see the temperature maps going up into the hot pinks and purples of over 100F, knowing that the affected populations are in no way prepared for this! And still, there are those unable to read writing on walls, who think this is not a climate catastrophe happening, that it is just 'normal variation' in global climate. Most of them, I am ashamed to say, are... Sign in to see full entry.

Saturday, July 6, 2019

Birthright

Knowledge is power. Lack of information, or the wrong information diminishes our real power as it increases our sense of helplessness and desperation, makes us angry until it seems our feelings are the only force we have to defend ourselves. This desperate anger is the fuel of mobs, it is the madness of violence as an imitation of control. It is disastrous to trust only our feelings untempered by reason and knowledge. Long ago humanity chose intellect over instinct, to be responsible for our own... Sign in to see full entry.

Friday, July 5, 2019

I made this, this morning

Finally... https://looselyspeaking.blog After several years of blogging on a paid site– http://blogit.com –and a few years editorializing on Facebook, it’s time to go beyond those limited landscapes and head cross-country. What I publish here will reflect my own considered opinions, beliefs, and philosophies derived from a lifetime of experience and observation. My intent to stimulate reconsideration of cherished old beliefs–whether to update or confirm–in myself and in my readers. I am happy to... Sign in to see full entry.

Thursday, July 4, 2019

4th of July, 2019

I have mixed feelings this Fourth. You who read me here, you know I am a practical progressive, believe in compassion and justice, and utterly deplore the current administration's delusional justifications for it's program of malicious mischief. With the anti-Americanism rampant throughout Trump's cabinet and appointees, it is embarrassing to be an American, these days. It is shameful that more rational and humane voices are drowned out in the mob's chorus of nationalistic fervor. These years... Sign in to see full entry.

Thursday, June 27, 2019

Gender-flex

So, I have been thinking a lot about this for the past little while for reasons sociological and personal, and this is where I have arrived. Top of the hill? Or a plateau on the way up? Don't know. The view is good enough from here, for a while. It doesn't matter if your maleness or femaleness is a matter of birth records or genetics. It doesn't matter if it is biological or choice. The point is, if someone wants to live as a particular gender, a tolerant and civilized society can live with it... Sign in to see full entry.

Wednesday, June 19, 2019

Reparations

Problem with reparations... for descendants of slaves... for America's native tribes dispossessed, subjected to child-theft, and ethnic 'cleansing'... For ethnic minorities like the Chinese who worked on the railroads who were abused and disadvantaged, for the Japanese who were interned for being descendents of the Japanese... Where does the money come from to make any meaningful reparation to the victims of European-rooted imperalism and supremacy? I am not suggesting that reparations are wrong... Sign in to see full entry.

Monday, June 10, 2019

Privilege and awakening

Sometimes I feel like I am in one of those novels like FARENHEIT 451, where I am one of those proud citizens of one of the world's best nations--gradually realizing that in fact it is one of the ugliest, most abusive, least honorable of nations... That its promises are lies, its ideals are hiding terrible truths, its actual effect on the rest of the world and its own citizens, except for the most powerful, is inimical. All that is happening now in the bright light of day has always gone on, and... Sign in to see full entry.

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