Loosely Speaking

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Friday, July 5, 2019

I made this, this morning

Finally... https://looselyspeaking.blog After several years of blogging on a paid site– http://blogit.com –and a few years editorializing on Facebook, it’s time to go beyond those limited landscapes and head cross-country. What I publish here will reflect my own considered opinions, beliefs, and philosophies derived from a lifetime of experience and observation. My intent to stimulate reconsideration of cherished old beliefs–whether to update or confirm–in myself and in my readers. I am happy to... Sign in to see full entry.

Thursday, July 4, 2019

4th of July, 2019

I have mixed feelings this Fourth. You who read me here, you know I am a practical progressive, believe in compassion and justice, and utterly deplore the current administration's delusional justifications for it's program of malicious mischief. With the anti-Americanism rampant throughout Trump's cabinet and appointees, it is embarrassing to be an American, these days. It is shameful that more rational and humane voices are drowned out in the mob's chorus of nationalistic fervor. These years... Sign in to see full entry.

Thursday, June 27, 2019

Gender-flex

So, I have been thinking a lot about this for the past little while for reasons sociological and personal, and this is where I have arrived. Top of the hill? Or a plateau on the way up? Don't know. The view is good enough from here, for a while. It doesn't matter if your maleness or femaleness is a matter of birth records or genetics. It doesn't matter if it is biological or choice. The point is, if someone wants to live as a particular gender, a tolerant and civilized society can live with it... Sign in to see full entry.

Wednesday, June 19, 2019

Reparations

Problem with reparations... for descendants of slaves... for America's native tribes dispossessed, subjected to child-theft, and ethnic 'cleansing'... For ethnic minorities like the Chinese who worked on the railroads who were abused and disadvantaged, for the Japanese who were interned for being descendents of the Japanese... Where does the money come from to make any meaningful reparation to the victims of European-rooted imperalism and supremacy? I am not suggesting that reparations are wrong... Sign in to see full entry.

Monday, June 10, 2019

Privilege and awakening

Sometimes I feel like I am in one of those novels like FARENHEIT 451, where I am one of those proud citizens of one of the world's best nations--gradually realizing that in fact it is one of the ugliest, most abusive, least honorable of nations... That its promises are lies, its ideals are hiding terrible truths, its actual effect on the rest of the world and its own citizens, except for the most powerful, is inimical. All that is happening now in the bright light of day has always gone on, and... Sign in to see full entry.

Wednesday, June 5, 2019

Everyone writes the histories

https://historycollection.co/20-myths-from-american-history-were-here-to-debunk/11/ There are some interesting updates and corrections to the usual US history as taught in schools. I have not linked to the entire article, it begins with section 11, the one I found most interesting, and the several following regarding the Civil War. It is my contention that, in fact, the Civil War has never ended, it only changed its masks... and hoods. This particular section speaks to something NPR ran about a... Sign in to see full entry.

Tuesday, May 28, 2019

Because we can!

Why do we make stuff that actually in the long run, diminishes us? Why are we so proud and excited by what we clever monkeys can make, like machines to do work for us, like AI to do that humans used to do? Think of the jobs loss, think of the boredom of forced retirement and unemployment; think of how those still working have to compete with tech so that everyone has to move faster and be always multi-tasking to keep up... No wonder people burn out mentally and emotionally, no wonder so many... Sign in to see full entry.

Friday, May 24, 2019

Stem cell 'miracles'

There have been a lot of ads on Facebook lately inviting people to come listen to providers of stem-cell therapies. They suggest their therapy offers real cures for nerve damage ailments, joint disease, and other things. I did some homework: looked up the companies online, looked up articles in the field of stem cell research and therapies. What I found was scams that charge thousands to give an injection, thousands to give subsequent injections, and a whole lot of magical thinking about what... Sign in to see full entry.

Monday, May 13, 2019

Commenting on Game of Thrones, without spoilers

I have kept up with GAME OF THRONES on tv, and some years ago, read all the available books. George RR Martin is still working on the last of the series, has been for years. Last night was the penultimate episode of the tv series. There's a closed forum we have over on Facebook for discussing it privately, without inflicting spoilers on the rest of the world, especially those who have not yet seen this episode, or the series, and might want to experience it later or someday. A lot of people... Sign in to see full entry.

Sunday, May 12, 2019

My daughters are the best mothers!

I just want to say... My daughters have turned out to be the best mothers! Through challenges that began with having a kinda crazy, angry, CPTSD mom, and went on through their own dealings with their own kids' needs and demands, they are doing great with some of the hardest stuff and enjoying the best stuff. Both are masterful at appreciating what their children bring to the world, letting them be themselves, letting them experience safely in a world that is often weird and unpredictable, making... Sign in to see full entry.

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