Loosely Speaking

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

Sunday, November 18, 2012

About those service dogs...

In the past couple of years, this has come up several times. A woman in the next seat, in the front row of the plane, had a service dog, a labrador, I think. He was a sweet, well-trained dog, a better seat-neighbor than some humans I've flown beside. She had several ailments, one of which included seizures, and her dog could warn her when they were coming. Good dog! Another woman I know has a 'service dog' who goes with her everywhere. What is the service? It makes her happy to have her dog... Sign in to see full entry.

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

It's a weight off my heart...

I am more than happy, I'm delighted that American leaned just far enought my way, that I am celebrating this morning, instead of angry, resentful, disheartened, dismayed... I'm sorry that so many others are feeling that way today. Smart or right or helpful, or not, we have become so tightly polarized to Parties and particular ideas and people, that the day after Election Day is not just an 'oh well' day for those whose causes and candidates lost. I don't think it is helpful. On the contrary, we... Sign in to see full entry.

Friday, November 2, 2012

If campaigns could only tell the uncorrupted truth,

If all, or at least the vasty most of us, could see through the blandishments and manipulations, the contrivances and devices made to persuade, to trigger alarm and get us acting from fear... If only we all knew how easily our feelings and minds are managed, because of the many things we don't know, but think we do... If we could see our own susceptibilities and guard against their exploitation... But, no. I am sure it was the same in Pericles' Athens, and in the Roman Republic: that votes are... Sign in to see full entry.

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

The Constitution of the United States of America, like any great document,

is subject to interpretation, and is not always interpreted the same way by everyone; and though it was constructed with considerable flexibility, times and technologies and social realities change and grow. That's why it allows for amendment, and brings in minds who were not the original framers. And amendments, in keeping with the social realities and pressures of their times, are sometimes mistakes. (Thinking, Prohibition was not such a great notion, though it was intended as highly ethical... Sign in to see full entry.

Monday, October 8, 2012

Aren't you a little old to be so cynical...?

I've been thinking quite a bit about my previous post and the responses it has gotten. I have been thinking about why I still get passionate, and what really does matter, with who we elect to high office. Whoever is President gets to shape the Supreme Court, should any vacancies occur. That can matter. The President speaks to the rest of the world, establishes, and maintains the presence and image of this nation among other nations. The President makes decisions that shape our course into the... Sign in to see full entry.

Saturday, October 6, 2012

Conversation with a Brit

My son-in-law, the one just back in the US from NZ is originally from GB. We were discussing the election, and he says that he is amazed how emotional we get in this country about our candidates and parties. He says no one in Great Britain gets all this agitated over elections. Why? Because they know it won't matter. Nothing will really change, the games will go on as they always have, with one side then the other winning a few, then losing a few, and life for the rest won't much be affected.... Sign in to see full entry.

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

The first candidates' debate I saw...

No, not Lincoln/Douglass... it was Carter/Reagan--the first I paid attention to. I learned something significant from that debate. I watched Carter deliver hard facts, backed up with actual information. He wasn't fooling around, he was telling us what we needed to know. I heard Reagan say, "There you go again... hahaha! " and from him, I heard little of substance. But what I heard after the debate was what was really educational: just about all the pundits and analysts, gave the "win" to Reagan.... Sign in to see full entry.

Sunday, September 16, 2012

RANTING: Road Rage

(reprised and a little re-edited, from my earliest Blogit days) Is it really necessary to blind every on-coming vehicle? Is it a macho thing? Should we be assuming, the brighter the lights, the more ineffectual the wee-wee? Okay, I can do that. And for you who think that everyone has those little flippy rear-view mirrors, so you can come up behind them with your brights on, even if you were right, which you aren't, side-view mirrors have no such feature, and you are blinding people from both... Sign in to see full entry.

Friday, September 14, 2012

Anything to win...

Is it any wonder that we can't believe anything anyone says about anything? Anything to bring down an enemy... anything to win an election... anything to get someone's money, vote, agreement... It's human nature, this greed that informs human society: greed for power, for control, for wealth, for adulation, for winning... We are so hungry, so many of us, for these things! In little personal ways, in lives that are small, relatively close worlds, as much as on the national and international... Sign in to see full entry.

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Where have all the heroes gone...long time passing...?

Since the passing of Neil Armstrong, people have been mourning not only his death, but the loss of an American hero. I’ve heard people asking, “Who are our heroes today?” It’s gotten me thinking, that question. What makes a hero? What makes one like Neil Armstrong? Where are we looking for new heroes? My heroes are the people who put their personal stuff aside for the sake of a greater need, or a greater purpose than their own. Heroes are people who set aside even their interest in their own... Sign in to see full entry.

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