Loosely Speaking

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

Thursday, May 2, 2019

Nature still provides the best solutions

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/apr/03/natural-world-climate-catastrophe-rewilding?CMP=share_btn_fb&fbclid=IwAR3JxME8d2UCFCrYBjQlsSO4wvX0b5wOV1PaMVstxgKzW62wYfpaDiaHKQA There's a lot in this article to take encouragement from, and some really good information about a simple alternative to all the complicated ideas governments are coming up with to help resolve the climate crisis. Sign in to see full entry.

Monday, April 29, 2019

No spoilers here...

GAME OF THRONES... AVENGERS: ENDGAME... We watched the first last night, the second this evening, and the analytic part of my mind watched me watch them, observed my inner responses to each. Both are long-awaited outcomes of a long series of productions, both feature huge battle scenes. The first had me at least mentally and emotionally edge-of-the-seating, the second--nope. It is the difference between the complex characters, relationships, emotions and events of a 7 volume epic novel, and... Sign in to see full entry.

Sunday, April 7, 2019

Stones of the Earth

In every land in the world, in every country, every politically-bounded nation, there are many faces and personalities. There are the official faces of government, the ones who deal with laws and controls both within the nation and with other nations. There are the commercial faces of those who manage trade within and without, who manage the wealth of the nation and interact with other nations through commercial interests. Politicians and Bankers have ever overlapped, often through the medium of... Sign in to see full entry.

Tuesday, April 2, 2019

Wonder and Curiostiy

It seems to me to be some kind of commentary on American life, when an airline, for instance, enforces closed windows on everyone on a flight. American Airlines did that for most of the Great Circle flight we took from Dallas/Ft Worth to Beijing. We had the computer imagery to watch as the flight progressed, and it is cool to see, but it is not the same as looking out the window at the actual landscape. When I fly, most of the pleasure is in gazing down at the Earth from so high above that one... Sign in to see full entry.

Sunday, March 31, 2019

Pyramids, Cannon-fodder, and Social Contracts

I was watching a courtroom procedural show. The case was about the death of a soldier due to a stupid and undenied mistake by an Army doctor who was, even so, protected by US military policy. I got to thinking... There are some professions in which the workers are spoken of with grand, idealized pronouncements, and celebrated for such fine and ineffable qualities at heroism, dedication, and sacrifice... But when it comes down to money-where-mouth-is, there is no actual respect, no meaningful... Sign in to see full entry.

Friday, March 22, 2019

Too many choices!

There are simply too many would-be Presidents jumping into the arena these days, mostly Democrats this time. One of them keeps popping up on Facebook wanting donations from grassroots sources as she is not accepting any PAC funds. Okay... But what does she stand for? What other issues are important to her? All I know is she wants us to fund her run. Others I know little about, but I am paying attention, listening to what they have to say and how they say it. So far, topping my list of possibles... Sign in to see full entry.

Tuesday, March 12, 2019

Shakespeare's histories

Yesterday I watched Kenneth Branagh's HENRY V again. It is one of my most favorite films, and one of the very best productions of Shakespeare ever made. Branagh makes the language understandable, accessible to the modern ear. His passionate style of acting brought him an Oscar nomination, also one for his direction. (He didn't win, but the film did take the Oscar for costuming.) Someone then asked if I've ever seen the series THE HOLLOW CROWN which recounts in a series of 2 hour film adaptations... Sign in to see full entry.

Wednesday, February 6, 2019

a curmudgeon speaks...

Okay... Can you tell that Rupert Murdoch now owns the National Geographic Magazine? "...galloping..." "...stumbling..." "...staggering..." Colorful language creates maybe a more arousing impression to general readers, but hardly makes clear that all this is about a geologic time scale, not our daily/weekly human time scale. It's colorful and emotionally evocative, that word "galloping" but it suggests an urgency that does not exist, a concern that is, as it happens, negligible in human terms. We... Sign in to see full entry.

Sunday, February 3, 2019

Oh, come on, people!

About the governor whose college yearbook photo has stimulated screams and moans and demands he step down as governor. Kids are not known for being culturally smart or sensitive. The real question should be, what does he believe now, what do his adult actions indicate? If he has not grown past the guys in the photo, then sure, he should be held accountable. But should he step down because he may--or may not--have posed in a photo 30 years ago that ended up on his yearbook page? And who are the... Sign in to see full entry.

Tuesday, January 29, 2019

Measles in Oregon and Climate Change

Right now there is a serious outbreak of measles happening in southwestern Washington State, with 35 cases among a population of 22% non-immunized school kids. Some of these kids may die because their parents opted to disbelieve the doctors who long ago discredited that first claim linking vaccines to autism. Part of the anti-vax problem stems from lack of trust in authority and claimed expertise. It is part of the American Dysfunction, that we expect to be lied to, gas-lighted, taken advantage... Sign in to see full entry.

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