Loosely Speaking

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Wednesday, May 16, 2012

The Art of Saying No

It came up here, recently--how to say "no" when someone says, "Be my Friend." For that to be easy, only takes considering the context of the request, and whether 'friend' means anything, really, in that context. Facebook has trivialized the very concept of 'friend.' Yet, still, some of us go through paroxysms of guilty self-justification before we decide to decline, refuse, reject. Or we don't say 'no' and allow another near-stranger into the circle of folk who will be keeping tabs on us. And... Sign in to see full entry.

Monday, May 14, 2012

Privacy is passe'

Apparently, being a ceo of a huge thing makes your opinion meaningful, even if you haven't quite reached 30, yet, and made your fortune with more luck than wisdom. Mr. Zuckerberg recently put out that declaration which sounds to me like a sneer at people who still regard privacy as something we should be able to expect in our lives. Minimizing a problem surely is easier than solving it. Someone might answer, "If you aren't doing anything wrong, why should you be afraid of constant scrutiny?" But... Sign in to see full entry.

Friday, May 11, 2012

Further thoughts on women's choices and declining birth-rates

A great focus of our society, since the advent of reliable birth-control in the 1960s, has been a woman's right to choose. Biology and men previously defined women's choices. The Sexual Revolution, and Feminism assaulted the institutionalized gender-roles, and raised questions that finally had powers beyond persuasion, to demand satsifactory answers. Some of those issues are still in hot debate, such as the right to choose abortion to end unwanted pregnancy. Also in debate are the adjoining... Sign in to see full entry.

Thursday, May 10, 2012

CHIMPANZEE by Disney

We went to see this new docu-drama--I guess that is a legitimate way to describe it. We had a private showing. Not for any reason but that we were the only two in the theater, at the early evening showing. It may be enough, to say it is a Disney product. Independent and impressively talented and dedicated film-makers provided the footage of the wild chimpanzees. Disney organized it and added a lot of anthropomorphic music and narration, but stopped short of a laugh-track. (Does anyone besides me... Sign in to see full entry.

Thursday, May 3, 2012

again, inspired by Setaki's blogs, then running off in my own direction...

To be fair, Africa has given the world a few diseases, too: HIV/AIDS originated among wild chimps in Cameroon ( http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/05/060525-aids-chimps.html ). Also, some pretty ugly practices of humans on other humans: Without Africans selling Africans, eager partners with the European and Americans, slave trade could not have flourished. Africa also gave us, Homo sapiens, birth and nurturance. It achieved Ife, Oyo, and Benin and other centers of culture and society... Sign in to see full entry.

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Inspired by Setaki

People are people everywhere, and we are all made of the same stuff, have the same tendancies to set ourselves higher than others do, blow our own horns, share what we are excited to know (whether it's true or not), patronize inadvertantly when we think we have learned or invented or discovered something no one else has... It is also the case, I believe, that more and more of us, everywhere in the world, are expanding our awareness and outlook: there is less of both the EuroAmerican's being... Sign in to see full entry.

Monday, April 30, 2012

GAME OF THRONES

It's several volumes, this tour-de-force of what is loosely called 'fantasy' writing. It really is a remarkable (and very long: several volumes, epic in its scope, wonderfully complex) piece of writing by George RR Martin, and I do recommend it to you. It's about war and love, and mostly, the dynamics of dynasty: politics. It focuses on character, and on the foibles and follies, the frustrations of human interaction. It is full of twists and turns that defy most novel-writing conventions: it... Sign in to see full entry.

Sunday, April 29, 2012

Are you watching GAME OF THRONES?

https://mail-attachment.googleusercontent.com/attachment/u/1/?ui=2&ik=9d9dedf327&view=att&th=136febd33f61a403&attid=0.1&disp=inline&realattid=f_h1m9fewu0&safe=1&zw&saduie=AG9B_P8HqZ9P41yE_s7GQf8Rb7tJ&sadet=1335715881815&sads=y5i0JzPG5QM-H9ZYjKfz_eAxLS0 if you aren't watching this HBO series, nor have read the books, this will probably not amuse that much. For those who are and have, this is too funny not to share. Sign in to see full entry.

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Across the Cultural Divide

As immigration brings cultures together, there are bound to be clashes of perception and belief, assumption and expectation, and the slippery concept of "everyone knows you do (or don't do) that!" I observed a diametrically opposed concept of the merchant/customer relationship overseas. In Asia, and many parts of the world, in cultures that arise from much closer-to-desperate living habits than ours, commerce tends to be an adversarial experience, where each side strives to give the least and... Sign in to see full entry.

Friday, April 6, 2012

Bill Nye, Science Guy!

He gave a lecture the other evening, at the UCCS campus. (U of Colorado, Colorado Springs) It was something really refreshing, listening to this wonderfully intelligent, enthusiastic, life-loving man who is near my own age, who refers back to things familiar to me, like the first Earth Day, and the Vietnam draft. And did I mention, sensible? His message to the kids is this: There are problems in the world: find ways to fix them! Don't do less, to conserve-- Do more with less. He wasn't telling... Sign in to see full entry.

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