Loosely Speaking

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Wednesday, March 2, 2016

The American Revolution 2016

Revolution... Bernie Sanders drives the cause of social justice and balance that will utterly change how the United States operates as a government and as a force in the world. It isn't just a platform, it's a revolution against how things have been happening in this country for quite a few years now. The Constitution put the People in charge, gave us the power of the vote, but we the People have been cozened, we've been lied to, we've been disenfranchised--mostly because we decided we were not... Sign in to see full entry.

Tuesday, March 1, 2016

The only real choices there are this time around

I believe that Hillary Clinton desperately wants to win because she wants to be the First Female President of the United States, more than anything else. I think she whole-heartedly believes she deserves to be that, and will fudge this and that if she feels she has to, to win. I believe she will do an adequate job of it, if she wins. She will do less damage than any of the Republicans. If she wins the nomination, she will have my vote. I believe that Bernie Sanders tenaciously wants to see... Sign in to see full entry.

Sunday, February 21, 2016

What we eat

Over on Fbook, I came across an acrimonious exchange between a Vegan and a Non-Vegan, that started with a very interesting summary of what the chicken mind is really like, based on observation of chickens as chickens instead of as just food. Just 300 years ago, it was 'scientifically' (which in those days meant 'philosophically') stated that animals are essentially meat machines with no higher cognitive abilities or sensibilities: no feelings, no emotions, no intellect or intelligence... And... Sign in to see full entry.

Thursday, February 18, 2016

Reviewing...

Here is the review I posted on Facebook this morning: Yesterevening at the Dusty Loo Bon Vivant Theater where Theaterworks presents their best stuff, they did again, and it was even just a final dress rehearsal... the show opens tonight. SATCHMO AT THE WALDORF is a one-man show with John Douglas Thompson as Louis Armstrong, Armstrong's life-long manager, and Myles Davis. That's Louis with the 's', thank you very much, he was most insistently NOT French nor Creole... The show, written by Terry... Sign in to see full entry.

Thursday, February 11, 2016

Knee-jerks over words aren't helping anyone

I've been meaning to write this for some time now, the more evident it becomes how confused many people are with that word "socialism" in the mix. Emotional knee-jerks and cringes seem to overwhelm a more dispassionate consideration of what it actually means and implies when taken apart from historic associations. There is that deplorable attitude of "I decided what to think about this thing years ago, I have no need to look at it again." Only the most stalled-out people have not grown in... Sign in to see full entry.

Wednesday, February 3, 2016

Being Alone

Loneliness... solitude... It's a spectrum of the experience of being alone. Loneliness is being alone, feeling isolated, on the outside looking in... It is feeling rejected, unloved and unlovable; it is being without anyone to rely on, and having no one who relies on you; it is feeling invisible, an object of indifference to the rest of the world, especially those you feel should care about and for you. Solitude is feeling contentedly alone, free to do and be as you like; it is freedom from... Sign in to see full entry.

Monday, February 1, 2016

"They think they can get away with anything!"

Little My, a feisty little creature from Moominland (Tove Jansson created the cartoon and later wrote a series of books that are not exactly all for children)declares this when she slips on an icy patch and rides down a snowy slope on her backside. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moomin This report, on the other hand, comes from Bill Moyers: Playing dirty –> Ted Cruz’s campaign is drawing criticism for sending mailings to Iowa households that resemble official government forms with the words... Sign in to see full entry.

Friday, January 29, 2016

I blame the Disney Effect.

So many Disney cartoon movies open with the death of a mother, the abandonment of a child. Our hearts are engaged, as human hearts so easily are, with sympathy for the lost and lonely, the helpless left alone in a hostile world. We attach these feelings to baby elephants and fawns, for instance, but they are our feelings, human feelings, and particularly our feelings and assumptions about death and loss. Disney has built an empire on painting animals even in film documentary style, as creatures... Sign in to see full entry.

Thursday, January 28, 2016

Some thoughts on wonder and ignorance

I've been looking at some articles about other animals besides human beings who routinely use tools to get what they want from the world around them. Some not only use sticks and stones to open nuts, for instance, or fish termites out of their homes, some actually alter the stick or rock to better do the job they want it to do, and that is tool-making. Used to be the commonly accepted truth, about a century ago, that tool use and tool making was one of those wondrous differences between humans... Sign in to see full entry.

Wednesday, January 27, 2016

CONFUSTICATION continued... to the end

PART FIVE Meanwhile, the Hobbit’s wife in this fable Had gone to the trouble of setting the table With china and candles, all the forks matching handles Then she sat and she watched the clock tick... His most favorite foods grew much over-done while she sat there and gnawed on a dried out bun. As the fine meal turned bad, she got worried, then sad And finally she started to simmer... She pulled off her apron and combed out her hair Then she went to the pub, for she knew they’d be there She... Sign in to see full entry.

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