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, June 13, 2025

Change Happens

I was reading some news from the UK today and it struck me how lucky that nation is to be so enriched with citizens bringing ideas and culture from so many parts of the world. It's how the world grows, how it's supposed to grow. I know there are many who deplore the changes to their traditional idea of their country, who mourn for the loss of uncontested values and beliefs, and I understand their resistance. They are so deeply attached to their histories and what they see and feel as their past... Sign in to see full entry.

Thursday, May 29, 2025

More About Being An American

It's one of the things that Americans abroad are most recognized by and very often criticized for: striking up conversation with total strangers! Yes, we do that. We do it abroad not realizing that what we do at home is, in fact, not done in many other societies in the world. Americans consider it a good thing, a friendly gesture, a sign that there is no threat here. We rarely if ever consider that in some other societies it is, in fact, the opposite. Americans are used to speaking our minds,... Sign in to see full entry.

Friday, May 23, 2025

On Being American

My son-in-law, an Englishman by birth, has held a green card for several years. This week he took the test and the oath and now he is an American. This is a strange time for Americans, as the dominating force at the top is the most anti-American we have ever had to contend with. Even during the Gilded Age of the turn of the 19th/20th century, it was not as bad as this. It was bad for the poor and the working classes, but right now all the programs that were instituted for support and relief of... Sign in to see full entry.

Sunday, May 18, 2025

A sombre anniversary

It was this day, 45 years ago just around 8:30 in the morning, Mount St Helens erupted into the sky, and across the landscape. I've been watching and reading a series of day-by-day reports from the beginning of May up to that monumental event. I was there that day. We lived in Olympia, about 60 miles northwest of the mountain, an area which never saw more than a scattering of ash in the weeks following the initial eruption. There was another about a week later when we were in Portland, and that... Sign in to see full entry.

Wednesday, March 26, 2025

It's the little things that matter

Thinking of the master criminal who gets nabbed in a traffic stop because a tail light was out. Thinking of Al Capone going to prison for fiddling his taxes. Thinking of my sister who got nailed for forging Mom's signature on a failed test paper because she spelled "Charlotte" with an "e" instead of an "o." Or how she got caught for stealing maraschino cherries because she left a bright red drop of juice on the white countertop. Wouldn't it be a thing if the current coup was brought down by the... Sign in to see full entry.

Friday, February 28, 2025

Stress Counter-measures

Stress... Anyone feeling it? I've been thinking about it today, another day of staying home, of not doing any shopping. It's not hideously cold, it isn't pandemic: It's not a big thing, it's just another thing, this commitment to not spending for 24 hours. It's not a big deal, it's just a matter of not taking an easy habit for granted for just one day. Changes in routine as much as major life changes create stress, and lately we've all been hit with a lot of change, a lot of uncertainty about... Sign in to see full entry.

Friday, February 21, 2025

Politics... Suspenders & Consequences

The pendulum swings, the wheel turns, the electorate sparkles with consequences...! It's begun. Not just the palpable resistance from those who saw it coming, but the dawning realization for the first few of the voters who thought he was not bamboozling them, that, in fact, he was. It was always about two things: grabbing the power to make over the world to his liking, and staying out of prison. All he needed was to convince enough voters that he was there for them, and now he doesn't need them... Sign in to see full entry.

Wednesday, February 12, 2025

Crisis

This morning I woke with a sense of confidence in the multitude of American people who, after taking a moment to gasp for breath, are now breathing steadily. There is resistance, both social and legal, to the flurry of insupportable, capricious and malicious absurdity emanating from the White House. It took a minute, but everywhere Americans are joining hands to bring about a correction, It is useful to remember that there was no landslide, nothing even close to a mandate: Most Americans did not... Sign in to see full entry.

Tuesday, February 4, 2025

Figuring out BlueSky

It's a thing more Twitter-like than Fbook-like, and I have not been twittering for some years now... But I like the idea of something not owned and manipulated by the likes of Musk or Zuck, so there I am on BlueSky: @clbaggins.bsky.social I finally figured out how to add a post, and now I am trying to find out how to look at my own posts instead of just a parade of others' posts. Getting there, though... Just posted a thing over on Fbook, then had to shorten it for BlueSky--an interesting... Sign in to see full entry.

Sunday, February 2, 2025

A matter of trust

I learned early in life that authority or the claiming of authority is not to be trusted. There has never been a time in my life growing up and living in the 'modern' world that lies have not filled the atmosphere: Anyone can say anything. And now, anyone can create false photos of anything. Our senses are constantly bombarded with lies and bullshit, there is always someone attempting to manipulate our senses and our minds in order to sell us whatever product they profit from. I have lived with... Sign in to see full entry.

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