Loosely Speaking

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

Sunday, December 13, 2015

What Charlie wrote

Charlie wrote this in response to a report/image on Facebook of a burning mosque: They wanted a war of fire and attrition. By answering their acts of mindless, inhuman horror with more of the same, we are giving them exactly what they want. We are surrendering to the madness that possesses them... that madness... radicalization based on fear, hatred... it has many disguises, wears the cloaks of different causes and religions... but it is the same demon. DAESH doesn't have to sneak terrorists... Sign in to see full entry.

Monday, December 7, 2015

The Roosevelts

There are a few Great People in the world in every century, every generation. I recently watched Ken Burns' documentary mini-series, THE ROOSEVELTS, and was struck by the enormous differences the three most historic Roosevelts-- Teddy, Franklin D, and Eleanor-- made in this country, and in the world. It is a fascinating and moving look at the times my grandparents, my parents, and my own generation lived through, and brings them closer to me, too. It is especially topical now, as the issues that... Sign in to see full entry.

Tuesday, December 1, 2015

The Greatest Nation in the World

First this, if you haven't seen it or want a reminder: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RyzDRc34l2g Then this: America could be the greatest country in the world again by overturning a few centuries' of bad habits of thought, assumption, lack of national introspection. Here is one issue that illustrates how we could become great again in all the ways that count: We have the wealth in America to take care of our own struggling, as well as the struggling of other nations who fail to look after... Sign in to see full entry.

Saturday, November 28, 2015

The war is between tribal and civil mentalities.

Tribal thinking holds family and kin to be the center of Us, and everyone else is Them. Tribal mentality is profoundly defensive of the tribe/clan/kin/religion's beliefs, rituals, and values. and sees the Outsider as threatening all of that and therefore, the tribe's existence. Tribal thinking is about tribal survival. There is no tolerance for different truths or opinions, or ways of living. The tribal thinker can't afford to be open-minded or open-hearted. Civil thinking emerged from the... Sign in to see full entry.

Saturday, November 21, 2015

Well, here's a thing!

I found this on Facebook today, from Bill Moyers, one of the few true and honest journalists in America today. After I watched it, I wrote: There are two Americas. One belongs to The People, as declared and intended by the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States. It is the America of The People, by The People and for The people that Lincoln referenced in the Gettysburg Address. Then there is the second America: the one finagled into the paws and pockets of Special... Sign in to see full entry.

Monday, October 26, 2015

It makes no sense

...that patients are told No food after midnight before your surgery, regardless of whether that surgery is at 8am or 3pm. Why not, don't eat any nearer than 8 hours to your surgery? Do doctors think we are too dim to work out the actual time?...that appointments are made for 4pm with the full awareness that a doctor is going to still be with his 3pm appt at 4pm: Do doctors think our time is simply not as important as their time? Have you ever protested such high-handed disregard of your time?... Sign in to see full entry.

Friday, October 16, 2015

No, the cows don't keep their calves...

It is one of the items on the animal rights agenda, to get people to stop buying from industrial dairies that only care how much milk an animal produces in its lifetime, without caring a whit about its actual life. Same with the goat milk industry. It's not the contented backyard goat or cow kinda thing. If the critter isn't for making milk, it's for making meat. Chickens and pigs... same sad story: they are treated as production machines for eggs, KFC, and pork. Conditions are horrendous, a... Sign in to see full entry.

Thursday, October 15, 2015

The Democrats take the stage...

...and they had a debate! They spent no time smacking each other down, and with some pretty direct questions from Anderson Cooper, moderating, issues were discussed and character explored. A couple of thoughts occurred to me: There were five on stage, only two of whom can really be hoping for the nomination. Why do the others bother? My theory is that they are jockeying for position, for the VP side of the ticket. So... what about a Sanders/Clinton ticket? Very possible, maybe even likely, and... Sign in to see full entry.

Thursday, October 8, 2015

Winning with compassion

So much is changing in the world in the ways we think of ourselves in relationship to others, both of human and non-humankind. It lifts my heart every time I see a report of new public policy embracing compassion and acknowledging our role as Earth's stewards where it has all been about exploitation for all the millennia since civilization began. But I think we should also view with compassion the human lives forced to change to keep up. For many, priorities have been about caring for their... Sign in to see full entry.

Wednesday, October 7, 2015

Bambi vs The Big Bad Wolf

https://www.facebook.com/atchuup/videos/1456047227995347/?fref=nf I sure hope this video gets to the people who most need to see it: the ranchers who decry the destructiveness of wolves in an environment, for instance, and the legislators in Alaska who think massive wolf-hunts from helicopters are a good idea. Society has been so Disneyfied over the past several generations, so Bambioozled into thinking that deer, slender and graceful and... well, doe-eyed, that they must be cherished like... Sign in to see full entry.

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