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 28, 2019

Staying alive

Another of my Canadian friends is working his way slowly through the 'free' medical system up in the Great White North. He had a stroke a few months ago, and is now having headaches that last days while his clinic nurse consultant tells him, that's normal, not to worry. This is someone trained to soothe and comfort, to reduce stresses and concerns. I think he should try to get his next actual doc appointment moved up. Sometimes something could be more urgent than merely important. This is my... Sign in to see full entry.

Friday, January 25, 2019

discussion happening on Facebook...

The discussion began with the headline about Ireland voting to boycott goods from Israeli settlements. It went pretty directly to whether being anti-Israel is the same as being anti-semitic. I jumped in to say they are not the same. Most people responding seem to agree with me. A few don't, and by their words, they don't seem to be particular sensitive to nuanced issues. I think there is a problem going deeper than modern history, with any and every culture that claims 'chosen by God' status and... Sign in to see full entry.

Wednesday, January 23, 2019

Cursive, foiled again!

There are those who would cease to teach penmanship--specifically cursive writing--in today's school curriculum. Their argument is that cursive writing is not necessary, and that instead the fine art of keyboarding has supplanted it. They say, too, that it is difficult to learn, a hardship for kids. What's the problem with offering something a little challenging for the kids--of whatever age? It's 26 letters. It's a method that can be smoother and easier on the hand than printing. It isn't that... Sign in to see full entry.

Tuesday, January 22, 2019

The latest tempest

This whole event of the kids in the MAGA hats, the Indian elder with the drum, and the Black Israel community reps is a study in the emotional hair triggers that are so prevalent in the US these days, and how social media amplifies the knee-jerk/panic/feat-to-anger reaction in a 'viral' way that later becomes an exercise in chagrin, to those who leaped onto the seemingly PC band wagon before finding out any facts. Some will be embarrassed, some will never admit they were that wrong, and go... Sign in to see full entry.

Tuesday, January 8, 2019

Spectrums and bell-curves.

Not all billionaires are the same, nor Libertarians, nor any other labeled group. In fact, in any such group are likely to be both the high- and low-energy extremes, high- and low-functioning--and most will be in the middle.. High level Libertarians pick up the garbage that low level Libertarians throw around. High level rebels write pamphlets, low level rebels make bombs. High level money-gatherers spread the wealth to community and humanitarian endeavors, low level ones buy politicians to make... Sign in to see full entry.

Monday, December 31, 2018

Fear of the Unknown

Thinking of those who praise Trump, his agenda & administration--It must be terribly frightening to live in a world where there is no stability of truth, where any day Reality can flip-flop to whatever suits one man's caprice, one man's paranoia, ignorance, mood, or pique. Only children believe that the voices of authority always speak truth, are always backed with actual knowledge or integrity. Children are betrayed when they are not allowed to learn from outside the circle of their local or... Sign in to see full entry.

Sunday, December 30, 2018

Change

Key to resolving troublesome and conflicting beliefs is to delve compassionately into the origins of the beliefs. This is true for an individual, it is true for a culture. When the origins are discovered, and their inspiration understood, when the misunderstandings that underpin them are clarified, when it is realized that today's understandings are quite different and based on better information, then it is possible to release the obsolete, the conflicting, the unresolvable beliefs that have... Sign in to see full entry.

Monday, November 12, 2018

America...

https://www.businessinsider.com/2018-midterms-8-new-scientists-elected-to-house-senate-2018-11?utm_content=buffera2a37&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer-insider-main&fbclid=IwAR1YqJOm1a9EfV2qUd8SHAKfth07_4G6Yp6jzMkpxOH2HoiL7wW3v2OXEGs https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/8xp9bx/for-the-first-time-since-2010-people-who-accept-climate-change-control-the-house-science-committee?fbclid=IwAR0UyQEuRXSwZyQ8ubHuEh4A2-0Mv76j2BoYknYwExUPTHE0Gv2D0UcFnpA... Sign in to see full entry.

Sunday, November 11, 2018

A Deep and Weary Sigh of Relief...

While the squabbling goes on in a few parts of the country, mostly since Election Day, quiet has fallen over the land... The devastations of wildfire and gunfire still break the heart, but in one thing I am much relieved: America is not dead, not wholly given over to the smugly ignorant, the cruel, the criminally greedy. I relax some, knowing that I live amont a people who reject that kind of nation, who will make a fight of it, to recover the America that was once the leader of the world. There... Sign in to see full entry.

Wednesday, November 7, 2018

Getting America back

There was a time when America was celebrated as the great Melting Pot, a nation enriched by the best of the many cultures and communities. And today, it's back. We have a House of Representatives truly representative of the American people. So many 'firsts' of race, religion, culture, gender... Let's celebrate for all that... and then forget about the labels, finish the parties, and let them get on with governing. Whatever they've asserted and promised along the campaign, next, it's time to do.... Sign in to see full entry.

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