Loosely Speaking

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

Tuesday, December 10, 2019

Here we go some more...

It's like a group of mature adults on one side, and a group of children on the other. And they have to work out the problem together. So even with all the childish blathering, distractions, ridiculous arguments and accusations, the adults have to deal with it to get the job done. They have to sit and listen and respond as if the kids are making actually meaningful contributions to the process, even though we can all see, they are simply trying to derail it. It's like a family where if the kids... Sign in to see full entry.

Friday, December 6, 2019

Education is the most important thing...

...and we are screwing it up. Whoever is responsible, the educational system in the US is failing to produce desireable results--unless we want a society of poorly-informed, learning-resistant people with gun-violence induced PTSD. Teaching to tests is a disaster for everyone, based on mistaken ideas of solving problems through statistics. It limits teachers' ability to bring their own particular skills and talents to teaching; it overwhelms students, discouraging any enthusiasm of learning and... Sign in to see full entry.

Wednesday, December 4, 2019

Is homosexuality condemned in the Bible?

Here's an interesting thing: https://www.forgeonline.org/blog/2019/3/8/what-about-romans-124-27?fbclid=IwAR1LLUF2gh413SlW3_2ZyPDWD70bWx57VRlmdOwtZiCGtNys4qOa1Lp-PJs Sign in to see full entry.

Monday, December 2, 2019

Who do they think we are?

Nestle's would have to raise the price of candy bars if they are held accountable for practicing child slavery. Amazon defends its treatment of workers in fulfillment centers on the basis that people want 1- and 2-day delivery. What kind of people do these big corporate machines think we are? Would we not pay that little more for candy to eliminate child slavery? Would we not be willing and able to wait a day or two or three or a week longer, if it means treating workers humanely? When we know... Sign in to see full entry.

Friday, November 22, 2019

Cult-proofing the children

More and more parents & teachers are coming to understand this: Kids at every age need two things: connection and education. Because they will find them, and follow whoever gives them a sense of connection, and they will believe whatever that person teaches them. Cult recruiters know it. They have always exploited this dynamic: finding the disaffected, the lonely, the disconnected, the kids--of whatever age--who feel unloved, unheard, unvalued, and inviting them to belong. Charles Manson knew... Sign in to see full entry.

Monday, November 4, 2019

The Cult of Trump

What we have here is a cult. It begins at the center and spreads, this wave of delusion and absurdity, demolishing the ability to question, to think straight, to distinguish truth from lies or reality from fantasy... It overwhelms any ability for critical thinking, any logic and common sense in its path. It flips perceptions of reality on their heads, and imagines its own evils as what their chosen foe is and does. It is one of those cults of ecstasy, in which a manic madness obliterates all... Sign in to see full entry.

Saturday, October 26, 2019

Counting the costs...

I have taken a step back from commenting on Facebook and other social media platforms--even here, sometimes. It isn't that I am not reactive to some of the stuff that gets posted there, or that I don't disagree strongly, or don't see an opening for a really clever comeback. But I have taken another look at who I am when I get clever that way, and I am noticing that what I'd opine has already been offered, often more than once. The thing that is getting to me most, though, is how it changes me to... Sign in to see full entry.

Thursday, October 10, 2019

Just sayin'

The colonial powers paved the surface and built on shallow foundations, trying to negate and overcome the Earth. They have plowed down a few inches, they have shaved off the forests, they have killed off what they found troublesome and inconvenient. They believed they needed nothing and no one but themselves to prosper, never looking beyond immediate profit, never counting its actual cost. The indigenous nations are the earth, their roots go deep, and--like the Earth itself--will outlast the... Sign in to see full entry.

Saturday, October 5, 2019

Al Franken speaks

Al Franken last night, at the Paramount Theater in Seattle... Not only heartening to hear a political speaker making sense, but to see the enthusiasm for him and the size of his audience was also very encouraging. I particularly like his suggestion that they should give Trump the nuclear codes--but change them, first. Then after he pushes all the buttons, hurry him down to the bomb shelter and leave him there for a while. There was more, but that was the main point. Not surprisingly, there were... Sign in to see full entry.

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Yay for money!

Money is a battery for storing the energies produced by human work. It's a transformer, too, changing human work into stuff. When the potter trades pottery for the farmer's grain, it is a device for equalizing any difference in the relative values for the goods generated by the work. In itself, it has no value, only carries the energies of things that do have real value: the affirmation and confirmation of the worker's worth. Money and the energy it holds can be very useful s tuff. Accumulation... Sign in to see full entry.

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