Open Thread 12-01-16: Thinking of Friends and Relatives
Honey, you lied...and I had no reason to doubt you
All this talk of fake news reminds me of my own list of "don't trust 'em!!"
Washington Post
New York Times
HuffPo
Esquire
dKos
NPR
MSNBC
Salon (!)
Digby (!)
Michael Moore (woo-hoo!)
No big deal for us. We know how to read, how to verify stories, how to double-check. If Digby says something and it sounds fishy we don't simply take it as the truth, we go looking for corroboration. Some, like my friend Brian, don't. He's still looking (half-heartedly) for the "smoking gun" against Hillary, while he believes that....well, let's go see what he's saying now.
The vote was rigged against Hillz by tough voter ID laws. PropOrNot is a legitimate organization. The Wisconsin vote was hacked.
But I love the guy. He's passionate about Standing Rock. He doesn't blast Obama for doing nothing, but he's hoping that the Prez might intervene any day now.
I bet we all know people like this. These dearest friends who are almost there, who have strong ideals but who just don't question what they hear.
As Juvenal or Lincoln or Shakespeare I said "oh well, what can you do?"
Meanwhile the roof is great. Still more work to be done but no leaks. I remain panicky. I hear the kitchen clock ticking and I think it's water dripping. I hear the cat drinking from her water bowl and I think it's water dripping. You get the idea. Besides our roof there were two others right out my window that were getting done. I'm not big on heights so I really admire those roofers' ability to think nothing of it. Or Gulfgal's hubby, who stood on their roof this summer, "helping the guys".
In other news I talked to some of the back East relatives today. Can't believe how old my little cousin is! Boy, he's getting old! My uncle said to me "I can't wrap my head around the fact that I'm 88 years old now!" Me either. I told him I still think of myself as a teenager and that he's in his 30s. One of my favorite things he ever said (talking about Sergeant Pepper when it came out) was "I like this but I think the last one was better". I disagreed with him but thought it was really cool that such an old guy (38 at the time) would know both records. These days lots of people think he was right! Maybe shaz and I will take a trip back there next year. I doubt it, though. I don't fly and she hates how long the train takes...and how expensive it is.
And now....some entertainment! All of these have something special in common.
Bo!
Buddy!
Elvis!
Fats!
Little!
Comments
Good Morning everyone.
Thank you, Shahryar, for the open thread.
Yes, it would be easier to list the people I will read anymore than the ones I won't.
Great morning tunes!
new Beatle album
seemed like with every new album, my initial thought was it wasn't as good as the one before...until I listened a few times.
I guess it like versions of songs. Usually you like the version/artist you heard first.
Glad your roof project is going well!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
thx, Shah, why is it that
1. we get older, but think or feel the same as we felt, when we were younger.
2. we can't imagine our relativesand friendes get older too and how that changed them and if we haven't seen them for a long time are all shocked about it, because we can see and feel the things when in personal contact but not over nice phone calls, emails or may be blog and facebook conversations.
You have to see and feel it to "get" it. I just "got" that recently.
Nice OT. Thanks.
A theory on # 1
As the brain ages, the fissures get deeper. It was the earlier impressions on the surfaces of brain tissue that sink deeper into the cortex, which gives them a more direct access to our consciousness. I'm going to try apply it to my fading memories. The recent ones have callouses owing to internal protection against the shower of waves being beamed at us from our new technologies. I made all this up to justify lining my hat with lead. Stronger than tin foil, ya know... /s
oh my, your poor head,
such heavy lead foil hat. I don't think I would try it...
Ain't the weight so much
as it is the inability to broadcast outward...
newer Beatles
Yup. Remember listening to the Double White album several times before I got it. They were changing. What a concept! Young enough then to be both impressionable and open. Wish my relatives could be as well.
I like to be a fogey in certain ways to prevent...
becoming one in other ways.
I have never owned a smart phone. And I never will. I reserve my online activity to one hub. When I'm online, I'm online. When I'm not, I'm UNAVAILABLE.
I think it helps me remember that there are things that are popular with my age group that I will never embrace, and lesser evilism and becoming complacent with the status quo are two of them.
(Course, doesn't hurt that every person from my home town who I didn't respect at all who were in my class went into politics. One's a mayor now and wants to be a Congressman. Helps keep perspective.)
I do not pretend I know what I do not know.
Got out to see Big Bad Voodoo Daddy
at the Oriental in Denver last night. They've still got it, no question. I cover Mister Pinstripe and You, Me and the Bottle Makes 3 with the horn-driven blues band I sub for occasionally... This was their Christmas show, and they have some killing Christmas tunes. Nothing like adding a hundred or so swing dancers in down front to really make the evening roll.
Scotty Morris mentioned one thing during the show that I hadn't realized- they've been going for 23 years, and still have all the original members. Talk about "Friends and Family"! Wow...
Nice OT, Shah!
Perspectives are always great. I remember how when I was young, I vowed not to act old. Well, I try not to, but the body now aches some days after exercise when it never did in the past. I try very hard NOT to reminisce and to learn from the younger generation. It is a conscious effort that is not always successful, but at least being mindful of it helps.
We had blue tarps on our roof for nearly nine months after we woke up in the middle of a rainy night with water falling into the bed. We had tarp upon tarp because I was so afraid of the roof leaking again. And it took those nine months for hubby to finish his project enough to be able to call the roofers in. He was up on the roof with them the entire time making sure they did it right. Never mind that he had never roofed a house before, LOL. As for me, I never get above the third rung on a ladder and would never get up on a roof period!
Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy
I was wondering if I could help the roofers. Answer: no!
they had two ladders, one to the lower portion of the roof, the other from there to the top of the dormer. When it got windy I asked myself "if the wind pushes this upper ladder over, can I climb out a window and set it right?" I guess I would have had to. Sometimes in situations when you have to, things aren't so scary. You just do them. But since I didn't have to, I thought "nope". Too much of a slope. Not without a rope.
As I mentioned, two other houses right behind us were getting roofed so I could watch those in progress and I was amazed at how nonchalantly they took it. Good for them!
And yes, when water started coming through the floor into the (downstairs) dining room I certainly moved quickly! I know just how you felt and why you had so many tarps. It sure feels good to have ours gone, replaced by an actual roof.
acrophobia : a technical correction
ac·ro·pho·bi·a |ˌakrəˈfōbēə|
noun
extreme or irrational fear of heights.
Acrophobia is not an extreme or irrational fear of heights. The dictionaries have it wrong because psychiatrists, psychologist, et cetera have little understanding of fundamental brain function. To them, at least to the extent they report, acrophobia is an academic exercise in parsing and classification.
Acrophobia is rooted so very deep in brain function that classical classification schemes will only ever admit to superficial prophylactic treatment. To truly understand the nature of acrophobia, one must witness the mind shattering experience from within that very special level of hell.
As usual · · · Your mileage may vary.
sort of like agrophobia
which is parsed by the mental scholars as fear of going out and about. I think not. The lack of brain function understanding leads to all kinds of silly theories.
"sort of" should be "Exactly"
As a claustrophobic (superficially the opposite of agoraphobia) and an acrophobic I have had many opportunities for observations (à la Socrates' examined life). These personal observations, dealing with faculty and students over the years, and my academic discipline have lead me to a point of view distinct from those practicing those other disciplines.
well spoken
One of the reasons I left the field of psychology to the scholars, they just didn't get it! Introspection is demanding, mostly requiring ignoring the status quo to refresh the view points. Building on antiquated theorems didn't do it for me. So now I practice.
"mostly requiring ignoring the status quo"
I always taught my students: Don't believe anything I say, even as I know more than my predecessors (yes even the Curies, Einstein, et cetera), you will know more than I if you choose to continue. If all you ever do is confirm what I already know, I will be disappointed.
This puts you in the perfect position to really make a difference. You should seriously consider the challenge of rewriting some aspect of your curriculum.
thanks rip
It helps to have a supportive mind. Perhaps better said:
To ignore the status quo requires an introspective assessment, presupposing an alternative viewpoint. (Or some such).
BTW, your sig line is also attributed to Hiyakawa. I used to use it but was ridiculed here. His version is tense correct (understood). I believe his was the original? Thanks again.
presupposing an alternative viewpoint ‽
I have a peculiar approach: I start with the notion that I don't have any real answers. And, my elders saw reality (at best) through a glass darkly. This last bit is manifestly true: it wasn't until recently that the notion of Quantum Mechanics was even developed, and most still want to interpret reality classically rather than understand it on its own (Q.M.) terms.
The upshot: We have no choice in the matter, an alternative viewpoint is mandatory, period. This is across the board, from the most esoteric to the most mundane, if we don't reinvent ourselves we will not make progress, if we don't progress we will not survive.
And, once again I feel the need to insert my usual disclaimer: I do not advocate going down the rabbit hole of the Deepak Chopra woo-woo stupidity. We need to workout how to not be stifled by the ignorance of our past and build a solid understanding of what is real.
My daughter, an Assistant District Attorney is a strong advocate for mediation and restorative justice. So, I have reason to be optimistic about councilors in the field, and the standard toolkit (DSM) needs a thorough updating.
As for the quote: Why (how?) would anyone ridicule you for using the quote? I used it all the time while teaching (particularly in my upper division) physics classes. As for its origins: from my faulty memory I thought S. I. Hayakawa had quoted McCloskey. I like the irony if he, in fact, said this during a press briefing at that time in my life.
I re-shingled my entire complex roof (insurance description)
last year when I had a major snow/ice dam incursion around a skylight (which has a blown seal now, crap). I also live in fear of any drip, d r i p. Roof, plumbing? I took off my dead solar DHW system and its roof penetrations, closed an abandoned chimney penetration. Expensive, I put that on a HELoC, that I still owe $38K to. Can't figure out if the interest deduction is worth grabbing that amount out of my cottage sale, or to keep paying, $250 monthly, half to interest payments. Deductible.
Hey! my dear friends or soon-to-be's, JtC could use the donations to keep this site functioning for those of us who can still see the life preserver or flotsam in the water.
Hey Shah@! Thanks for the OT open thread) and the
OT (old timers). And (not) speaking or maracas (players), here's one for you --
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
Jerome Green, his maraca man
Heh, never heard that, fun.
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
You forgot
The Guardian. That's okay because the list of fake news providers is endless. I love it how the list provided by the bogus Propornot has listed some of the best news sites and publications as fake news. So people do not read any news that is not 'centrist' or does not go along with The Russians did it insanity.
Here's a lengthy but good read by Bill McKibben about the importance activism in these dark days
How the Active Many Can Overcome the Ruthless Few
https://www.thenation.com/article/how-the-active-many-can-overcome-the-r...