Loosely Speaking

By Ciel - About Me - E-mail this page - Add to My Favorites - Add to Blog List - See other blogs in Everything Else

Friday, March 3, 2017

Racist and Sexist: Cut it out.

If you look at sex or gender as relevant to a conversation or description when it really isn't, that is being sexist. If you look at skin color or cultural background and insist on calling it 'race' and then bring it up when it isn't actually relevant to what you're saying, then that is being racist. We will never stop being sexist or racist until we stop considering sex or skin color when they are not relevant. By 'relevant' I mean: useful or essential to an understanding of the matter at hand.... Sign in to see full entry.

Tuesday, February 28, 2017

Dealing with Bullies

Bullies rely on other people being nicer than the bully is. It is time to stop being nice. It is time to stop being polite to rudeness where it protects rudeness from consequences. Persistent passing on bullying is called 'enabling.' No, we don't want to become them, we don't want to be as mean, as manipulative, and outright nasty. We don't want to sacrifice our dignity just because they have no hint of dignity themselves. Where is the line to be drawn? I think it is where we stop pretending... Sign in to see full entry.

Thursday, February 23, 2017

Tribalism is killing us.

It's all very well to have your own tribe, to build it up and maintain it with your own beliefs and ideas about who you are and what is your relationship with your universe, your deities, the other people you share the world with. It is beautiful to celebrate your worldview with dances and art, rituals and traditions. But it is not all right to attempt to safeguard those things by forcing everyone else to give up their cherished beliefs, their values and connections with their own dieties, and... Sign in to see full entry.

Sunday, February 19, 2017

Lift-off, Touch-down

I was in 4th grade and watched the first NASA manned Mercury launch from my classroom, and every other launch was just as much a special event all the way through the Gemini and Apollo programs. After some years, it seems such things became rather routine, until the Challenger disaster. Then many of us realized that this is never routine, never safe. Today I watched the SpaceX launch without that casual assumption that, of course all will go well. And then something new happened, when the tall... Sign in to see full entry.

Friday, February 17, 2017

Just because we can...

Remember JURASSIC PARK? Remember how they explained right up front that the dinosaurs were not actually the same as the originals, because their DNA was mixed with modern frog DNA? https://www.theguardian.com/science/2017/feb/16/woolly-mammoth-resurrection-scientists Is it really 'de-extinction' when the result is not actually a woolly mammoth? Seems to me, these efforts will result in a new thing, not an old one, and the arguments for doing it seem... far-fetched. For instance, how many of... Sign in to see full entry.

Wednesday, February 15, 2017

Hostile Takeover

Trump is, I suspect, beginning to realize that he is not CEO of a country, that the tactics of a hostile takeover are not going to work here. He seems to have come to this job thinking he could raise all his buddies to positions from which they can liquidate all the assets of the nation, dismantle all the systems in place and reshape them to channel money to himself and who he likes. What he has never understood is that as President of the United States, he works for us: He is our employee, our... Sign in to see full entry.

Saturday, February 11, 2017

Here's a thing...

This is copy/pasted from something I found on Facebook that invited readers to copy and paste. A Trump supporting Facebook friend told Scott Mednick, "We suffered for eight years. Now it’s your turn.” Scott wrote a brilliant response asking how exactly his friend had suffered under Obama: There will never be a President who does everything to everyone’s liking. There are things President Obama (and President Clinton) did that I do not like and conversely there are things I can point to that the... Sign in to see full entry.

Thursday, February 9, 2017

Life in these United States

...just came under further threat. With the confirmation of a confirmed racist as Attorney General, the White Supremacist creeps who have been coming out from under their rocks since the Trump regime came into power, now have someone to back them up with the power of law. It is a comforting thought that when Trump goes, his cabinet will go with him. I only worry about how much irreparable damage they can do in the meantime. Sign in to see full entry.

Monday, February 6, 2017

Here's a link...

https://grabyourwallet.org/ I am looking through this list, seeing plenty of places I don't shop anyway, brands I've never bought. I see a couple that I will continue to use, but can contact to tell them I would use them more if they divested from their Trump interests. In a world that's all about money, nothing grabs their attention faster than reducing their profits. Here's another, if you want to be responsible, or not, for who brings you chocolates:... Sign in to see full entry.

The White House Circus

Why is anyone still paying attention to the spokespersons for today's White House? They rant, they whine, they lie... There is no point to responding to nonsense, there is no useful information coming from any of them. In fact, they are a distraction from actually significant things going on. We know they're doing it, we hardly need to stockpile more evidence. If anyone still doesn't see it, it's because they don't want to see it, and no additional information will change their opinions. I... Sign in to see full entry.

Headlines (What is this?)