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, January 25, 2021

The cost of education, or of the lack of it

"Science is more than a body of knowledge; it is a way of thinking. I have a foreboding of an America in my children's or grandchildren's time -- when the United States is a service and information economy; when nearly all the key manufacturing industries have slipped away to other countries; when awesome technological powers are in the hands of a very few, and no one representing the public interest can even grasp the issues; when the people have lost the ability to set their own agendas or... Sign in to see full entry.

Checks vs No Checks.

NYTimes today discusses pros/cons of stimulus checks. Biggest pro in my mind: Americans need a break as much as many need more money to get on with life. We need to know Government is working for us, cares about the things Trump and his GOP never cared about--like the well-being of the American people. We don't have to deserve it or need it--while many do need it to take care of the urgencies of their lives and families, some don't, and will bank the funds. That's what some consider a downside... Sign in to see full entry.

Tuesday, January 19, 2021

A metaphor for the times

The train went careening around corners, crashing through crossings with people in them, speeding along crumbling cliff-side rails, throwing hot sparks into dry prairies while always just staying ahead of the wildfires it started... Suddenly the movie has gone into slo-mo, as the ultimate, inevitable wrecking of the Trump maladministration has begun: Long-time passengers are leaping off as quick as they dare while the wild-eyed engine crew keeps shoveling in the dirty coal as fast as they can...... Sign in to see full entry.

Saturday, January 9, 2021

Time does what only Time can do...

Patience is a casualty of this age of immediate information and too-ready opinionating. On Wednesday, as all the mayhem played out, conjecture and personal interpretation flew in all directions. The Media did its thing of milking the drama, inflaming and alarming to increase its audience-share. Anxieties were fueled by What Ifs, and Chicken Little was having fits. Then the mockers and jokers moved in to laugh at the ludicrous and the sheer ineptness of the perpetrators, from Trump on down to his... Sign in to see full entry.

Thursday, January 7, 2021

Yesterday...

Trump has no comprehension of how the American government works. He doesn't know the Constitution or the laws or the history of this country. Neither do his followers. So they flail about making grandiose, inept and impotent gestures, and end up shooting themselves in their collective feet. Yesterday's rioting at the Capitol was, perhaps in their imaginations, a coup attempt, but really, it was just a carnival of blustering self-importance and petty bullying, and pointless destruction of... Sign in to see full entry.

Friday, January 1, 2021

Nothing is quite over yet.

In the course of collecting my monthly prescription at Kaiser, I spoke briefly with the woman at the front desk and said something about looking forward to Inauguration Day. She gave me that flat look, and said, "Why?" Apparently she does not look forward to the coming administration. I was taken by surprise, that in the midst of pandemic and social chaos, this medical worker still thinks the coming administration is a bad thing. It may not have been the best many of us could have hoped for--I... Sign in to see full entry.

Monday, December 28, 2020

Is it better to be right, or happy?

I had a card the other day from a woman who has been a member of the family ever since her son made my daughter pregnant, and then after a brief time, left her for someone he liked better. My daughter, however, remained loved and appreciated by this woman, and when her son callously 'disinvited' my daughter from their family gatherings, she was so pissed off at him, she told him he was the one not welcome. Patty has delighted in my daughter and our grandchild, living near enough to visit... Sign in to see full entry.

Thursday, December 24, 2020

Life and Time

This Christmas will not be like last Christmas, before the pandemic swung into town. It won't be like next Christmas, either, though that one won't be like last year's either, because things have changed, but not back to 'normal.'This is good: It was not, in point of fact, a good 'normal,' it was just what we'd become used to. We are in a season of enlightenment, a turbulent changing of the tides. Raging waters will rush, cleaning out pockets of the old stuff that collects when the waters are... Sign in to see full entry.

Wednesday, December 16, 2020

measure by measure

I've been watching a lot of Curiosity Stream shows, many nature documentaries, and many of those are from the UK, and that means that measurements are in metric. I keep thinking, yeah, going metric is not the worst idea every, seeing as in most of the world that's the standard.But my brain, as with most American brains, metric doesn't easily translate to miles and feet and ounces and pounds. It seems to me, if these documentaries gave both measures, it would surely ease along the learning and,... Sign in to see full entry.

Tuesday, December 15, 2020

"Deep roots are not touched by the frost..."

Around the world, as European explorers roved out beyond their own boundaries, they treated every land that did not already have a European flag planted on it--and sometimes even if they did--as theirs for the claiming. They met the indigenous peoples who had, in fact, long ago discovered the lands themselves, and occupied them. Those European explorers were exploiters, disregarding any prior claims, treating the people like resources to be used for European benefits, or to be ploughed under as... Sign in to see full entry.

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