Loosely Speaking

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

Monday, November 17, 2014

Fed up with hype and bullshit

Don't tell me something is "priceless." Don't predict it will "blow my mind" or that I've "never seen anything like it." Never "uptalk" yourself or whatever thing you are trying to sell me. You will be wrong, and you will look stupid. This I posted on Facebook recently, one of the places where this kind of nonsense goes on. And when I am saying "nonsense" I am thinking of George Carlin. Sign in to see full entry.

Wednesday, November 5, 2014

Just sayin'

It saddened me to discover recently that my toilet paper of choice is a product of one of the companies owned by the Koch brothers. It is my general policy not to encourage such people by buying their stuff. I am making an exception here, not only because it's a pretty good product, but also and mainly because I think about the Kochs every time I use it. Sign in to see full entry.

Monday, November 3, 2014

The Party Line

Repuplicans generally support matters of individual freedom, the freedom to ride the range unfenced-in by government regulations or community interests. What's community to the Marlboro Man? It's just him and his horse, and his right to smoke wherever he feels like lighting up. Democrats generally champion the community, protecting and promoting its interests and needs ahead of those of individuals who would put their interests ahead of the community. Republicans are telling the world that the... Sign in to see full entry.

Monday, October 20, 2014

I'm not naming names...

Sometimes, 'shadenfreude' gets out of control: We want the disease to be a plague, a pandemic, for the storm to tear up landscape, homes and lives, for the freeway accident to involve 90 cars, and blood... We want to be the spectators of the biggest, most horrendous, awesome thing anyone could witness... and tell about to those who missed it. We don't want to be in it, we want to watch from a barely safe distance. That's how some politicians these days are reveling in ebola: the bigger the... Sign in to see full entry.

Thursday, October 9, 2014

Who besides human beings are persons?

http://www.iflscience.com/plants-and-animals/ny-court-will-decide-if-chimps-qualify-legal-personhood The article appeared on facebook, and attracted a great number of comments that swung from hearty approval, to disgust and disbelief that anyone would waste their time on such a pointless question. Mostly, the arguments run a course between emotion-based morality and intellectual debate: What humans feel, what humans think. Science and diligent, documented observation can present well-established... Sign in to see full entry.

Saturday, October 4, 2014

About those leg cramps...

http://www.aarp.org/health/drugs-supplements/info-01-2013/drugs-that-can-cause-leg-cramps.html?cmp=NLC-WBLTR-DSO-TEST2-100314-F2-419638&encparam=Cdry5rr/Cv2Op2QYHHnUnwmBtUZ7ytzmw8AVzH/tu5A= Several of the drugs listed are on my daily meds menu. Tried statins but that didn't work out, so now I take fish oil capsules, and eat more salmon and tuna. Sign in to see full entry.

Wednesday, September 10, 2014

Ever hear of Quora?

People ask and answer questions there--some worth reading and writing, some not so much. Recently I was asked to respond to a question regarding the end of the Mongol Empire. This is how I responded: http://qr.ae/WbPvx Sign in to see full entry.

Friday, September 5, 2014

It's about civilization

The world is wondrous varied in its human populations, and humans in our particular approaches to solving life's problems. Difference of perception and opinion are, on one hand, the very source of wonder and interest; on the other, they are the foundations of competition, confrontation and war. The first problem of civilization is how to bring large populations with all their diversities together in close association, and yet maintain the peace so that there can be commerce, shared learning,... Sign in to see full entry.

Monday, August 11, 2014

So sad...

Probably by the time you read this, it will be old news that Robin Williams has died, apparently by suicide. He was 63. So many funny people who make the world laugh and heal its aches, suffer from depression, known only to those closest to them. The headlines say "commedian" and "comic" which is hardly fair to him. They should read: Comic, Dramatic Actor and Philanthropist. He was a kind of hero to some of us, courageous in speaking up for tolerance and generosity and common sense. I'm so... Sign in to see full entry.

Tuesday, August 5, 2014

Do you chat?

Once upon a time, conversations were simple, face-to-face affairs that began with a greeting, and ended with a farewell. Telephones didn't change the format: one answered the call with some version of Hello, and ended it with some variant of Goodbye. Now, we have chat. Not everyone uses online chat, but many do, and I have noticed among my friends with whom that is a primary manner of communication that while a chat begins with a greeting, very often, there is no concluding remark to say the... Sign in to see full entry.

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