So, to the Trump dossier that Fusion GPS wrote over Trump and the Democrats paid $5.6-million.
I sat down today and came to realize that this entire dossier....which I thought was 300 to 500 pages....was basically 35 pages. That's it. That's $160,000 per page.
It's an unbelievable amount.....for fictional material. And the Democrats felt it was worth not only the $5.6-million, but threw another $3-million in on top of that.
How was the money spent? I'm guessing there was a bar tab set up, and whoever this British dude was....he stayed at five-star hotels....sipped through as much booze as he wanted....had $90-a-plate dinners....and interviewed only the best hookers in town.
How stupid is this? If you were a working-class democrat and had sent Hillary $75....you'd be kicking yourself right now and wondering what-the-hell-idiot would go and spend money like this on fake stuff. Did Hillary actually approve this?
Wednesday, 25 October 2017
How Stupid Can You Really Be?
So, the basic story is that the DNC (Democratic National Committee), in hopes of taking down Trump in the campaign and helping Hillary win....paid $5.6-million for the Fusion GPS dossier on Trump.
I sat there for about thirty minutes thinking over this and reading through the various accounts. They listed the payment as 'legal fees', and it's basically structured in this way.
Since we know that about 99-percent of the dossier is a fraud and fake....the question would lead back to the DNC....if you just wanted a fake dossier, why pay $5.6-million? You could have done the same dossier with some creative writer for $5,000.
Someone at Fusion GPS convinced the idiots at the DNC that they had the best people, the best writing, and the way of making the fake dossier seem truthful, and so the price-tag of $5.6-million makes sense.
Money flushed down the toilet? This is what amazes me. You could have bought 224 pick-ups with that money. You could have most of the home-ticket tickets for the University of Alabama football season, for the entire stadium. There are dozens of things that you could have done with $5.6-million. But with this money....all you got was a fake dossier on Trump?
It presents this image of the leadership of the DNC as being not only corrupted, but just plain stupid. Who authorized the payment? How was the money shifted over, via wire-transfer? Could Trump now sue the DNC for defamation of character?
So, I come to the last note of criticism....Hillary Clinton. When you start back in Little Rock with decisions made....like White Water, and then you go down the list with over a hundred significant screw-ups that should have derailed your public career (and never did)....now you come to the dossier story. She likely stood there after hearing the details of the dossier and felt absolutely sure that this would convince those stupid Republicans and moderates not to vote for some sex-fiend like Trump. And now?
I sat there for about thirty minutes thinking over this and reading through the various accounts. They listed the payment as 'legal fees', and it's basically structured in this way.
Since we know that about 99-percent of the dossier is a fraud and fake....the question would lead back to the DNC....if you just wanted a fake dossier, why pay $5.6-million? You could have done the same dossier with some creative writer for $5,000.
Someone at Fusion GPS convinced the idiots at the DNC that they had the best people, the best writing, and the way of making the fake dossier seem truthful, and so the price-tag of $5.6-million makes sense.
Money flushed down the toilet? This is what amazes me. You could have bought 224 pick-ups with that money. You could have most of the home-ticket tickets for the University of Alabama football season, for the entire stadium. There are dozens of things that you could have done with $5.6-million. But with this money....all you got was a fake dossier on Trump?
It presents this image of the leadership of the DNC as being not only corrupted, but just plain stupid. Who authorized the payment? How was the money shifted over, via wire-transfer? Could Trump now sue the DNC for defamation of character?
So, I come to the last note of criticism....Hillary Clinton. When you start back in Little Rock with decisions made....like White Water, and then you go down the list with over a hundred significant screw-ups that should have derailed your public career (and never did)....now you come to the dossier story. She likely stood there after hearing the details of the dossier and felt absolutely sure that this would convince those stupid Republicans and moderates not to vote for some sex-fiend like Trump. And now?
This Uranium-One Story
This story of the sale of US uranium to the Russians has been brewing for months. Bill made $500,000 from a Russian syndicate by giving a speech. Hillary's foundation got some money after the deal was pushed through. There's probably enough on the story to write sixty pages of material.
I've looked this in the past week and come to three observations:
1. There's tons of uranium in Russia and it doesn't make any sense that some Russian billionaire folks would work up some deal with the Russian government to go out and buy more at inflated US-prices, and ship it to Russia. My belief? I think the Russians baited the Democrats, and Hillary....into getting deep into this deal, and at the right time (expecting Hillary to win), they would have disclosed more to the deal and probably gotten a Senate investigation into President Hillary (assuming she would have won), and maybe triggered her resignation from the Presidency with a threat of impeachment.
2. In 2009, Secretary of State Clinton directed Rober Mueller (our special prosecutor now) who was the head of the FBI.....to fly off to Russia personally and deliver a sample of some ''captured uranium" that the US had intercepted being sold by Russians to some middle-man. Was the FBI holding the uranium? I kinda doubt that. So the question....why Mueller? Why did he have to be this delivery guy?
3. Finally, what exactly did Bill know about this entire deal? Did this whole thing start up because of some European meeting that Bill attended and the deal originally pitched to him....not Hillary?
If you had come up in the 1980s and suggested that the US government would ever approve a uranium sale to the Russians....most everyone would have laughed...yet here we are, and eight years later, it's looking like bribery.
I've looked this in the past week and come to three observations:
1. There's tons of uranium in Russia and it doesn't make any sense that some Russian billionaire folks would work up some deal with the Russian government to go out and buy more at inflated US-prices, and ship it to Russia. My belief? I think the Russians baited the Democrats, and Hillary....into getting deep into this deal, and at the right time (expecting Hillary to win), they would have disclosed more to the deal and probably gotten a Senate investigation into President Hillary (assuming she would have won), and maybe triggered her resignation from the Presidency with a threat of impeachment.
2. In 2009, Secretary of State Clinton directed Rober Mueller (our special prosecutor now) who was the head of the FBI.....to fly off to Russia personally and deliver a sample of some ''captured uranium" that the US had intercepted being sold by Russians to some middle-man. Was the FBI holding the uranium? I kinda doubt that. So the question....why Mueller? Why did he have to be this delivery guy?
3. Finally, what exactly did Bill know about this entire deal? Did this whole thing start up because of some European meeting that Bill attended and the deal originally pitched to him....not Hillary?
If you had come up in the 1980s and suggested that the US government would ever approve a uranium sale to the Russians....most everyone would have laughed...yet here we are, and eight years later, it's looking like bribery.
Sunday, 22 October 2017
Fiction and History
In my senior year of high school....the history teacher required us to purchase (cheaply, I must admit) a copy of Uncle Tom's Cabin and read it as a class history project.
I read the book in approximately two weeks. It's around 400 pages long, and a fictionalized piece on the period before the Civil War, and intended to be some explanation to the necessity of the Civil War.
As I wrapped up the book on a Sunday evening....I sat there quietly and contemplated...it was a decent book but it is entirely fiction. For a literature or English class, it would have been appropriate. For a history class? No.....it wasn't fitting because of the fictional nature.
The book was designed by Ms. Stowe to be some emotional piece.....bringing you to the cause of opposing the south and slavery. Even by age 17, I'd read well over a thousand pages of history material and non-fiction analysis of the period prior to 1865. I'll admit that UTC's slant on things is probably 95-percent correct, but there is little to cover the economics of America from the early 1600s to 1865, and how you got to this particular situation in life.
In simple terms, it's a lousy book on history but a decent book for getting your emotions to oppose southern values of that era.
The instructor? My general belief from a decade after this mandatory reading was that students were supposed to get a negative view of the south, and understand the pro-Union position. Slanted? Well.....yes.
The same behavior occurring today? My guess is that it's a common theme and repeats itself often.
The sad thing is that we actually had a test (maybe ten questions) which came at the end of the reading assignment, and you actually had to remember around six to eight major characters. I made up some cheat sheet, with three lines to each character and I had around four people who copied to sheet.....who obviously didn't read the book and needed background material to the test. The sad thing to this is that you are basically memorizing fictional names and events....for a history exam.
I read the book in approximately two weeks. It's around 400 pages long, and a fictionalized piece on the period before the Civil War, and intended to be some explanation to the necessity of the Civil War.
As I wrapped up the book on a Sunday evening....I sat there quietly and contemplated...it was a decent book but it is entirely fiction. For a literature or English class, it would have been appropriate. For a history class? No.....it wasn't fitting because of the fictional nature.
The book was designed by Ms. Stowe to be some emotional piece.....bringing you to the cause of opposing the south and slavery. Even by age 17, I'd read well over a thousand pages of history material and non-fiction analysis of the period prior to 1865. I'll admit that UTC's slant on things is probably 95-percent correct, but there is little to cover the economics of America from the early 1600s to 1865, and how you got to this particular situation in life.
In simple terms, it's a lousy book on history but a decent book for getting your emotions to oppose southern values of that era.
The instructor? My general belief from a decade after this mandatory reading was that students were supposed to get a negative view of the south, and understand the pro-Union position. Slanted? Well.....yes.
The same behavior occurring today? My guess is that it's a common theme and repeats itself often.
The sad thing is that we actually had a test (maybe ten questions) which came at the end of the reading assignment, and you actually had to remember around six to eight major characters. I made up some cheat sheet, with three lines to each character and I had around four people who copied to sheet.....who obviously didn't read the book and needed background material to the test. The sad thing to this is that you are basically memorizing fictional names and events....for a history exam.
Saturday, 21 October 2017
'Empty Barrel' Talk
I've sat and watched Florida Representative Frederica Wilson over the past week and comical sequences or bickering with the White House. Then this 'empty barrel' verbiage came up.
Military people will use the term once in a while....but it's mostly the guys with history degrees. I've probably heard this term used at least a dozen times in my life.
It tends to lead back to the 1600s/1700s and be used for a ship which has a high number of barrels onboard which are empty. So as the ship rocks back and forth....creaking with hundreds of noises....the empty barrels will bump against each other and simply add to the noise. A full barrel would have stability and not bump against the wall of the ship. Eventually the ship term made it's way to land-usage and people would identify others who talked a lot....as 'empty barrels'.
Representative Wilson went full turbo after that usage and claimed that this was racist in nature....mostly because she went to the dictionary and read it there. I think she made up her mind that 'empty barrel' meant something over the slave-trade but it just doesn't fit that way.
Back in 2009...the 17th district of Florida (Wilson's district) was a 50-50 blend of Republicans and Democrats. In 2008....Obama ran and only got around 48-percent of the local vote. In 2012, after the Census results and redrawing of the Florida map (for more representation)....Obama got 86-percent of the vote. Yes, it's a gerrmandered-district....heavily designed for someone like Wilson.
The problem I see here for the news media is that every time you get Frederica Wilson up for a national interview....some Democrats watch the exchange and just shake their heads. She's like some character dreamed up on WWE-wrestling. If the Democrats were all hyped up to show intellectual landscape....with Wilson, you lose confidence. I think the White House realizes that and will keep heat on her.
Military people will use the term once in a while....but it's mostly the guys with history degrees. I've probably heard this term used at least a dozen times in my life.
It tends to lead back to the 1600s/1700s and be used for a ship which has a high number of barrels onboard which are empty. So as the ship rocks back and forth....creaking with hundreds of noises....the empty barrels will bump against each other and simply add to the noise. A full barrel would have stability and not bump against the wall of the ship. Eventually the ship term made it's way to land-usage and people would identify others who talked a lot....as 'empty barrels'.
Representative Wilson went full turbo after that usage and claimed that this was racist in nature....mostly because she went to the dictionary and read it there. I think she made up her mind that 'empty barrel' meant something over the slave-trade but it just doesn't fit that way.
Back in 2009...the 17th district of Florida (Wilson's district) was a 50-50 blend of Republicans and Democrats. In 2008....Obama ran and only got around 48-percent of the local vote. In 2012, after the Census results and redrawing of the Florida map (for more representation)....Obama got 86-percent of the vote. Yes, it's a gerrmandered-district....heavily designed for someone like Wilson.
The problem I see here for the news media is that every time you get Frederica Wilson up for a national interview....some Democrats watch the exchange and just shake their heads. She's like some character dreamed up on WWE-wrestling. If the Democrats were all hyped up to show intellectual landscape....with Wilson, you lose confidence. I think the White House realizes that and will keep heat on her.
Friday, 20 October 2017
Vampire Story
Last year, I sat and watched some TV travel documentary on Malawi. It's one of those little countries in the east-central Africa.....mostly resting against Lake Malawi, and a fair amount of woods/forests and open plain. It reminded me of Michigan to some degree (well....without Detroit). To be honest, after watching the hour-long show, it kinda stuck out in my mind as a place that I'd prefer not to travel into.
They chatted for about five minutes on folks there, and their humble belief in spirits and ghosts. It would be safe to say that about 90-percent of the public believes in things like this.
I noticed that Malawi came up in the news this week. Over the past two months.....they've had this story going around the nation of vampires.
Yeah....vampires.
Mobs have gotten hyped up when accusations occurred and guys were pointed out as vampires (I assume this occurred at night), and the authorities say that eight guys are dead so far...dead over vampire accusations.
The authorities have discussed this problem. One side of the issue is that virtually everyone believes in witches and evil spirits. So it's not that hard to convince folks in the vampire story.
The dead guys? Well....if you just got pointed out and had bad teeth.....that might get an ass-whooping.
So the government has gotten involved and are discussing public media and advertising. How it would work? Anyone's guess.
We've been fortunate so far in America....with all the anti-Trump hype....no one has suggested vampire stuff going on and the need to get worried about a new Trump threat of biting folks.
They chatted for about five minutes on folks there, and their humble belief in spirits and ghosts. It would be safe to say that about 90-percent of the public believes in things like this.
I noticed that Malawi came up in the news this week. Over the past two months.....they've had this story going around the nation of vampires.
Yeah....vampires.
Mobs have gotten hyped up when accusations occurred and guys were pointed out as vampires (I assume this occurred at night), and the authorities say that eight guys are dead so far...dead over vampire accusations.
The authorities have discussed this problem. One side of the issue is that virtually everyone believes in witches and evil spirits. So it's not that hard to convince folks in the vampire story.
The dead guys? Well....if you just got pointed out and had bad teeth.....that might get an ass-whooping.
So the government has gotten involved and are discussing public media and advertising. How it would work? Anyone's guess.
We've been fortunate so far in America....with all the anti-Trump hype....no one has suggested vampire stuff going on and the need to get worried about a new Trump threat of biting folks.
Wednesday, 18 October 2017
My Opinion of the Russian Oligarch Troll Farms
For about ten months, I've followed this hyped-up story of the Russian Oligarch troll farms involvement in the 2016 election.
My observations?
1. This is absolutely NOT a Russian government operation. If it was, you would not have been so easily led back to the front door of the troll farm. It's a commercial operation, financed by one wealthy Russian billionaire. Putin might occasionally have lunch with the guy, but I don't see this as being a Russian government operation.
2. Based on everything said....less than one million dollars was spent on this whole thing. If you think about it....if you'd tried to do this same thing in the US....it would have cost you $300 million minimum.....which says a lot about them recruiting a couple of guys for a reasonable price and just giving them one single boss with simple instructions.
3. Do that many Americans even review news items off Facebook and Twitter? So far, no one can cite any evidence that five-percent or ten-percent of American society is paying attention to the troll-manufactured news bits. That's the odd thing about this whole story. It's hyped-up by CNN, the WaPo crowd, the NY Times, and MSNBC, with Sunday talk-show enthusiasts running scared. But there's simply not any real evidence that this effort by the Oligarch trolls has succeed at anything
4. Finally, what happens in the spring of 2020 during the primary period? Will the Oligarch trolls come out in force? Will they hype up Bernie Sanders? Will they hype Trump? Will they hype anything? It's a big unknown.
My observations?
1. This is absolutely NOT a Russian government operation. If it was, you would not have been so easily led back to the front door of the troll farm. It's a commercial operation, financed by one wealthy Russian billionaire. Putin might occasionally have lunch with the guy, but I don't see this as being a Russian government operation.
2. Based on everything said....less than one million dollars was spent on this whole thing. If you think about it....if you'd tried to do this same thing in the US....it would have cost you $300 million minimum.....which says a lot about them recruiting a couple of guys for a reasonable price and just giving them one single boss with simple instructions.
3. Do that many Americans even review news items off Facebook and Twitter? So far, no one can cite any evidence that five-percent or ten-percent of American society is paying attention to the troll-manufactured news bits. That's the odd thing about this whole story. It's hyped-up by CNN, the WaPo crowd, the NY Times, and MSNBC, with Sunday talk-show enthusiasts running scared. But there's simply not any real evidence that this effort by the Oligarch trolls has succeed at anything
4. Finally, what happens in the spring of 2020 during the primary period? Will the Oligarch trolls come out in force? Will they hype up Bernie Sanders? Will they hype Trump? Will they hype anything? It's a big unknown.
Saturday, 14 October 2017
Thirty Pages
I sat and read over three or four stories early this morning over the FBI, the Lynch-Clinton documentation from the tarmac meeting to discuss Hillary, and the likely review to come out of this.
Basically, the FBI kept saying for months that no documentation existed from the Lynch-Clinton tarmac meeting in late-June of 2016. Then in the last week, they found thirty pages of material and handed it over.
The basic story? Lynch said that the whole meeting was just a casual meeting with Bill coming out to her VIP jet sitting on the tarmac in Phoenix, Arizona....to discuss grandkids, golf and travels. Yeah, I know....it just sounds kinda hokey but she's more or less sworn to that story.
Why on board the jet? I'm guessing it was out of the way from the public and they suspected that no one would spot Bill entering it. It wasn't reported by national press (yeah, that's another odd part of the story). It was the local Channel 15 reporter who spoke to the story, that swept the nation.
The thirty pages? I'm guessing that there's three or four emails, with one final report over the entire trip that Lynch took, and the final report is likely a quarter of this entire thirty pages, with only three lines having to do with Clinton.
I seriously doubt that anything will come out of the thirty pages.
Why Bill had to meet face to face? He has some magnetic personality and thinks he can charm folks with that casual southern charm. So the face-to-face meeting had to be part of the whole game. Since there are no other witnesses to the meeting....you simply have to assume what Lynch wrote....is entirely true.
Ethically? Well, it's one of those episodes that really makes Lynch look bad. A regular person with ethnics would have looked at the potential troubles and just said 'no'.
So you can imagine the next couple of days while some folks pour over thirty pages and come to realize that there's really not much to say....Lynch bumped into Bill....maybe two lines of commentary about grandkids and golf, and she wished Bill good health. A lot of drama, over nothing much.
Basically, the FBI kept saying for months that no documentation existed from the Lynch-Clinton tarmac meeting in late-June of 2016. Then in the last week, they found thirty pages of material and handed it over.
The basic story? Lynch said that the whole meeting was just a casual meeting with Bill coming out to her VIP jet sitting on the tarmac in Phoenix, Arizona....to discuss grandkids, golf and travels. Yeah, I know....it just sounds kinda hokey but she's more or less sworn to that story.
Why on board the jet? I'm guessing it was out of the way from the public and they suspected that no one would spot Bill entering it. It wasn't reported by national press (yeah, that's another odd part of the story). It was the local Channel 15 reporter who spoke to the story, that swept the nation.
The thirty pages? I'm guessing that there's three or four emails, with one final report over the entire trip that Lynch took, and the final report is likely a quarter of this entire thirty pages, with only three lines having to do with Clinton.
I seriously doubt that anything will come out of the thirty pages.
Why Bill had to meet face to face? He has some magnetic personality and thinks he can charm folks with that casual southern charm. So the face-to-face meeting had to be part of the whole game. Since there are no other witnesses to the meeting....you simply have to assume what Lynch wrote....is entirely true.
Ethically? Well, it's one of those episodes that really makes Lynch look bad. A regular person with ethnics would have looked at the potential troubles and just said 'no'.
So you can imagine the next couple of days while some folks pour over thirty pages and come to realize that there's really not much to say....Lynch bumped into Bill....maybe two lines of commentary about grandkids and golf, and she wished Bill good health. A lot of drama, over nothing much.
Friday, 13 October 2017
Kerbow Family Connection
Over the past couple of years, I've spent some time looking at one single stretch of the family tree which ran to the Kerbow name. It's an odd name....French in origin.
So, the story goes to this period around 1731 when some French Huguenots boarded a Dutch ship called the "Billender Townsend" out of Rotterdam, Netherlands. Jean Kerbo (spelled slightly different) boarded, and ended up in Philly.
The thing about this Huguenot group.....they'd lived in the Pfalz region of Germany for several decades....mostly because of religious persecution. A lot of this religious fervor that occurred, comes out of the Thirty Years War period (1619-to-1650 era). The war started originally between the reformers and the Catholics. Halfway through this war, the religious side of this conflict mostly ended and it became a single community opposing another community....mostly over revenge-killing.
The family arrived in Philly on 8 October 1731. What's generally said is that family united with other Huguenots in the Maryland region....going south into North and South Carolina over the next decade or two. By the 1860 period, one division of the family had moved into Minor Hill, Tenn. That's where my connection occurs.
The religious side of the family? If you go through things, this whole religious thing kinda 'dryed-out' after one generation in the US.
The original area of France? If you gaze at a France map....it's on the southeastern side...about forty miles south of Nancy, in a region called Haute-Saone....a county-like area that is about forty by forty miles, and mostly all farms. It's about a 20-minute drive to the Swiss border, and there's nothing urban there....this is pure farming territory today.
The population shift for Haute-Saone? Well, that's an interesting story. From mid-1800s to 2005...it was a dramatic shift....dropping from the 400,000 level in the 1800s to 210,000 by the end of WW II. Most of the shift? This was a pure farming area, and lots of people left for industrial jobs by the mid-1800s to early 1900s.
Today? You only find the Kerbow name around the US, to a smaller degree in Estongia and France. My guess is that the bulk of the family left in the 1600s/1700s, and some ended up in Estonia as well.
Added note: There are at least six different spellings to the name (Kerbo; Kerbow; Kirbo; Curbo; Curbow and Kuehrbeaux).
So, the story goes to this period around 1731 when some French Huguenots boarded a Dutch ship called the "Billender Townsend" out of Rotterdam, Netherlands. Jean Kerbo (spelled slightly different) boarded, and ended up in Philly.
The thing about this Huguenot group.....they'd lived in the Pfalz region of Germany for several decades....mostly because of religious persecution. A lot of this religious fervor that occurred, comes out of the Thirty Years War period (1619-to-1650 era). The war started originally between the reformers and the Catholics. Halfway through this war, the religious side of this conflict mostly ended and it became a single community opposing another community....mostly over revenge-killing.
The family arrived in Philly on 8 October 1731. What's generally said is that family united with other Huguenots in the Maryland region....going south into North and South Carolina over the next decade or two. By the 1860 period, one division of the family had moved into Minor Hill, Tenn. That's where my connection occurs.
The religious side of the family? If you go through things, this whole religious thing kinda 'dryed-out' after one generation in the US.
The original area of France? If you gaze at a France map....it's on the southeastern side...about forty miles south of Nancy, in a region called Haute-Saone....a county-like area that is about forty by forty miles, and mostly all farms. It's about a 20-minute drive to the Swiss border, and there's nothing urban there....this is pure farming territory today.
The population shift for Haute-Saone? Well, that's an interesting story. From mid-1800s to 2005...it was a dramatic shift....dropping from the 400,000 level in the 1800s to 210,000 by the end of WW II. Most of the shift? This was a pure farming area, and lots of people left for industrial jobs by the mid-1800s to early 1900s.
Today? You only find the Kerbow name around the US, to a smaller degree in Estongia and France. My guess is that the bulk of the family left in the 1600s/1700s, and some ended up in Estonia as well.
Added note: There are at least six different spellings to the name (Kerbo; Kerbow; Kirbo; Curbo; Curbow and Kuehrbeaux).
Thursday, 12 October 2017
On the Topic of Autodidacticism
As a kid, I had this reading interest. Already by age ten...I had an interest in history, geography, cultures, etc. I was lucky, this rural school I attended....had a decent library. It might have been on a twenty foot by forty foot room....but they had an ample amount of books. Added onto this, my mom would take me by the county library, which had a larger selection.
I never thought much about this interest or curiosity of mine...even after I left home and went off to the Air Force. They offered various training segments, instruction in odd things (assembling and disassembling rifles for example), bigger libraries, and I simply broadened out my prospective.
I had what you'd call autodidacticism. Autodidacticism is typically a behavior where you are self-educating yourself, proceeding through life with some instructors, or an entire lack of instructors. Autodidact people tend to pick and chose their interest. They are typically terrible students for the system used in most schools today.
An Autodidact kid might come up and shock you because he's actually interested in ancient Rome. He wants to know about the construction of the Colosseum.....it's intended purpose....how they operated....who came out for the events.....and how the Colosseum fits into the spiral of the Roman Empire. Naturally, 99-percent of high school teachers can't answer these questions. In fact....probably over 50-percent of college history professors....can't answer his request. This is the kid who reads forty books over the period in question....memorizes the names that matter....and has some poster over his bed of the Colosseum. At some point, the kid will grow up....travel to Rome, and stand in awe of the Colosseum for several hours.
Autodidacts tend to skip regular college because they really can't provide an adequate education. If they do attend college, you tend to notice that they may pick and choose various classes which don't fit to any major. For example, you might have some kid who picks two or three economic classes just to understand capitalism, it's history, and the logical anti-capitalist motivation. Beyond that, he has no other interest.
This is also the kid who might take a community college class on how to build a log cabin, but never actually go beyond that point or ever build a log cabin.
Education went through some odd periods. The Catholic Church picked up education and operated a number of instructional programs, and ended up starting the college system as we know of it today. Up until the mid-1800s....if you went to any US or European college program....what you found was a simplistic program built upon five central themes....debate, ancient history, Latin, philosophy, and theology). Engineering and science got added in the mid-to-late 1800s.
What you found a huge growth pattern upon in the 1800s were Autodidact people developing their interest....going out to study things on their own, and building a reputation as an expert.
You can find cases where people would travel for miles to hear so-and-so speak to some topic, or some expedition to Africa, or some new medical idea.
Oddly enough, if you peel away a lot of the Batman character displayed over the past twenty years....he's a Autodidact. He is self-taught to some degree, and using masters to provide an education in other areas.
The world ahead for the Autodidacts? That's an interesting topic. The internet basically offers this vast landscape to go and learn odd knowledge that was difficult in the past to gain. You can sit now via a YouTube lecture and get a two-hour lecture by some noted British professor from Cambridge on Roman war techniques. Or you could sit and hear a sixty-minute talk by some Japanese professor on herbal remedies that were commonly practiced in Japan's 1600s. Or you could hear some gifted guy talk about horse-shoe procedures and how they differ from one culture to another.
In some ways, we are opening up a vast door now for Autodidacts. They could go way beyond anything that we'd ever dreamed of.
I never thought much about this interest or curiosity of mine...even after I left home and went off to the Air Force. They offered various training segments, instruction in odd things (assembling and disassembling rifles for example), bigger libraries, and I simply broadened out my prospective.
I had what you'd call autodidacticism. Autodidacticism is typically a behavior where you are self-educating yourself, proceeding through life with some instructors, or an entire lack of instructors. Autodidact people tend to pick and chose their interest. They are typically terrible students for the system used in most schools today.
An Autodidact kid might come up and shock you because he's actually interested in ancient Rome. He wants to know about the construction of the Colosseum.....it's intended purpose....how they operated....who came out for the events.....and how the Colosseum fits into the spiral of the Roman Empire. Naturally, 99-percent of high school teachers can't answer these questions. In fact....probably over 50-percent of college history professors....can't answer his request. This is the kid who reads forty books over the period in question....memorizes the names that matter....and has some poster over his bed of the Colosseum. At some point, the kid will grow up....travel to Rome, and stand in awe of the Colosseum for several hours.
Autodidacts tend to skip regular college because they really can't provide an adequate education. If they do attend college, you tend to notice that they may pick and choose various classes which don't fit to any major. For example, you might have some kid who picks two or three economic classes just to understand capitalism, it's history, and the logical anti-capitalist motivation. Beyond that, he has no other interest.
This is also the kid who might take a community college class on how to build a log cabin, but never actually go beyond that point or ever build a log cabin.
Education went through some odd periods. The Catholic Church picked up education and operated a number of instructional programs, and ended up starting the college system as we know of it today. Up until the mid-1800s....if you went to any US or European college program....what you found was a simplistic program built upon five central themes....debate, ancient history, Latin, philosophy, and theology). Engineering and science got added in the mid-to-late 1800s.
What you found a huge growth pattern upon in the 1800s were Autodidact people developing their interest....going out to study things on their own, and building a reputation as an expert.
You can find cases where people would travel for miles to hear so-and-so speak to some topic, or some expedition to Africa, or some new medical idea.
Oddly enough, if you peel away a lot of the Batman character displayed over the past twenty years....he's a Autodidact. He is self-taught to some degree, and using masters to provide an education in other areas.
The world ahead for the Autodidacts? That's an interesting topic. The internet basically offers this vast landscape to go and learn odd knowledge that was difficult in the past to gain. You can sit now via a YouTube lecture and get a two-hour lecture by some noted British professor from Cambridge on Roman war techniques. Or you could sit and hear a sixty-minute talk by some Japanese professor on herbal remedies that were commonly practiced in Japan's 1600s. Or you could hear some gifted guy talk about horse-shoe procedures and how they differ from one culture to another.
In some ways, we are opening up a vast door now for Autodidacts. They could go way beyond anything that we'd ever dreamed of.
Wednesday, 11 October 2017
The Worry Story
The WattsUpWithThat crowd wrote up an interesting piece today....over a university study piece (by Chapman University)....studying 'fears' of people.
The study crowd says that climate change/global cooling.....really isn't high up on the list of fears by Americans. Shocker, eh?
In fact, more Americans believed and feared paranormal things (like ghosts)....more than climate change. I think if you did the same survey on Germans....it'd be the exact opposite.
On the top fears or worries for Americans? Number one: corruption of government bureaucrats. Amusingly enough....fear of Trumps reform of the Healthcare Act came up as number two on the fear list.
Fear of North Korean nukes? Way down as number nine. In fact, folks worried more about not having enough money (ranked five on the list).
I sat and pondered over the listing.
From the list of the top ten fears that most Americans showed fear over? I kinda have to admit that I don't sit around and worry much about any of these.
Oh, I worry about snakes if I'm in a snaky area and there's high grass. I worry about food poisoning if I'm at a questionable one-star restaurant. I don't worry much about ghosts, cannibals, meteors, wild dogs, or angry elephants. I do worry about nutcases who talk to themselves, Brahma bulls, driving in snow-storms, real Nazis (not the fake Nazis), and people who appear to have leprosy. I don't worry about meth-heads unless they seem totally out of control.
The problem I see with this survey business is that they aren't really going out into country settings and asking regular people about this stuff.
Most folks from where I grew up would hype up their worry over tornadoes, their car transmission failing, the county voting to go dry, their wife finding out about their mistress, the water heater failing, meth-heads, corrupt cops, and some Alabama governor making a play on their wife or girlfriend. Folks worrying about climate change? I doubt if it'd even make the top forty worries.
This worry discussion? I guess someone worries about what makes you worry.
The study crowd says that climate change/global cooling.....really isn't high up on the list of fears by Americans. Shocker, eh?
In fact, more Americans believed and feared paranormal things (like ghosts)....more than climate change. I think if you did the same survey on Germans....it'd be the exact opposite.
On the top fears or worries for Americans? Number one: corruption of government bureaucrats. Amusingly enough....fear of Trumps reform of the Healthcare Act came up as number two on the fear list.
Fear of North Korean nukes? Way down as number nine. In fact, folks worried more about not having enough money (ranked five on the list).
I sat and pondered over the listing.
From the list of the top ten fears that most Americans showed fear over? I kinda have to admit that I don't sit around and worry much about any of these.
Oh, I worry about snakes if I'm in a snaky area and there's high grass. I worry about food poisoning if I'm at a questionable one-star restaurant. I don't worry much about ghosts, cannibals, meteors, wild dogs, or angry elephants. I do worry about nutcases who talk to themselves, Brahma bulls, driving in snow-storms, real Nazis (not the fake Nazis), and people who appear to have leprosy. I don't worry about meth-heads unless they seem totally out of control.
The problem I see with this survey business is that they aren't really going out into country settings and asking regular people about this stuff.
Most folks from where I grew up would hype up their worry over tornadoes, their car transmission failing, the county voting to go dry, their wife finding out about their mistress, the water heater failing, meth-heads, corrupt cops, and some Alabama governor making a play on their wife or girlfriend. Folks worrying about climate change? I doubt if it'd even make the top forty worries.
This worry discussion? I guess someone worries about what makes you worry.
My Idea for a TV Show
I have this idea for a television script.....with all the fake reality being played out in politics today in America.
So, various people have threatened to leave the US....to mostly Canada....because of the Trump win.
My script idea is to take some guy, and his family (of course) and go through the Trump exit.
The guy would discover about ten minutes into the show that Canada won't accept him (some marijuana charge from the 1980s). Eventually, he'd settle on Costa Rica. The family would haul all of their belongings onto a 1982 school bus and drive down through Mexico.
Eventually, they'd arrive at the designated immigration point for Costa Rica....to discover the town that they are encouraged to settle into....is El Trump. There's some unease with dad as he discovers this.
The rest of the plot would revolve around the family discovering that secretly....each of them had some attraction to Trump-like thinking. At the end of the first season, they'd all stand and admit....they were Trump enthusiasts but just never knew it. And now, will they leave Costa Rica to return? Or will they bring Trump-enthusiasm to Costa Ricans?
So, various people have threatened to leave the US....to mostly Canada....because of the Trump win.
My script idea is to take some guy, and his family (of course) and go through the Trump exit.
The guy would discover about ten minutes into the show that Canada won't accept him (some marijuana charge from the 1980s). Eventually, he'd settle on Costa Rica. The family would haul all of their belongings onto a 1982 school bus and drive down through Mexico.
Eventually, they'd arrive at the designated immigration point for Costa Rica....to discover the town that they are encouraged to settle into....is El Trump. There's some unease with dad as he discovers this.
The rest of the plot would revolve around the family discovering that secretly....each of them had some attraction to Trump-like thinking. At the end of the first season, they'd all stand and admit....they were Trump enthusiasts but just never knew it. And now, will they leave Costa Rica to return? Or will they bring Trump-enthusiasm to Costa Ricans?
Tuesday, 10 October 2017
Murders and Numbers
2016 number of homicides (with any type of weapon, to include knives, hammers and axes) in the state of Alabama: 407
2016 number of homicides within the city of Birmingham and the county of Jefferson, Alabama: 151
2016 number of homicides within the city of Mobile, Alabama: 43
2016 number of homicides within Tuscaloosa, Alabama: 20
Yeah, More than half of the state's murders....came from one single county, and two urbanized cities.
2016 homicides in Utah? A total of 90 for the entire state. Of that, nine involved people shot by cops.
One of the 90 Utah homicides, actually was a woman who ran off a road....killed by a tree impact....with a vehicle repossession guy attempting to retake her vehicle.
So, when you see some journalist or intellectual try to talk about guns, and banning of guns....then you need to ask more questions...dig deeper into the whole story.
Have murders in Alabama really increased? You can go back to 1960, and find that 406 people murdered. In 1964, we actually got down to 316 for the state. Over the past seven years in Alabama? We actually averaged around 300 per year.
So, you get to the point of trying to write some script or law to remove automatic weapons. If you go down the list....from the 4,000-odd people on the Alabama homicide list....you might have saved five or six. If you'd banned knives? It'd be way over one-hundred....maybe going to two-hundred. Seems like you go for knives first, if you were logical about this.
2016 number of homicides within the city of Birmingham and the county of Jefferson, Alabama: 151
2016 number of homicides within the city of Mobile, Alabama: 43
2016 number of homicides within Tuscaloosa, Alabama: 20
Yeah, More than half of the state's murders....came from one single county, and two urbanized cities.
2016 homicides in Utah? A total of 90 for the entire state. Of that, nine involved people shot by cops.
One of the 90 Utah homicides, actually was a woman who ran off a road....killed by a tree impact....with a vehicle repossession guy attempting to retake her vehicle.
So, when you see some journalist or intellectual try to talk about guns, and banning of guns....then you need to ask more questions...dig deeper into the whole story.
Have murders in Alabama really increased? You can go back to 1960, and find that 406 people murdered. In 1964, we actually got down to 316 for the state. Over the past seven years in Alabama? We actually averaged around 300 per year.
So, you get to the point of trying to write some script or law to remove automatic weapons. If you go down the list....from the 4,000-odd people on the Alabama homicide list....you might have saved five or six. If you'd banned knives? It'd be way over one-hundred....maybe going to two-hundred. Seems like you go for knives first, if you were logical about this.
Sunday, 8 October 2017
Epic of Gilgamesh: Poem Three
If you follow my essays, this is a series of twelve pieces over the epic poem series of Gilgamesh...written over 4,000 years ago on some clay tablets and were stories told around the campfire there in Sumeria. I'd suggest that you go back two days ago and catch poem one before reading this one.
Today, we follow our two heroes, Gilgamesh (king of Uruk), and the rural backwoods guy Enkidu....who got civilized by a local harlot gal, and then took up a fight with Gilgamesh over some young brides.
In poem three, we find our two guys standing there in the rural court area of Uruk, with the senators or elders wanting to give Gilgamesh advice prior to this big journey. Not a lot is written over the advice....it's probably mostly words about not sipping booze or wine with folks you don't know....don't pick fights with bad-ass folks....and watch out for harlot-women along the trail.
At some point after this meeting....Gilgamesh decides to visit his momma....noted as Ninsun (sounds like Nissan but different). She was a Goddess, in absolute form.
Most folks tend to go back and look up the literal translation of Ninsun, and it tends to be the lady-in-charge-of-wild-cows.
Most guys sitting at the fire and listening to this....particularly from rural areas, would have this image burned into their mind over some sturdy and big-boned gal who tended the nut-case cows of some valley who'd go and chase guys down.
Anyway....Ninsun gave some advice as well to Gilgamesh. At this point, Ninsun think so highly of this friend of Gilgamesh....she makes him a son. There's not much written down over how Enkidu felt about accepted in the family...one has to assume it was accepted without much talk. That's how stoic guys are.
Then Gilgamesh hands out some words to the elders about how to run Uruk while he's gone. This is sparse in terms of what was said. One might suspect that he made sure they didn't do nothing stupid. Then, the boys leave for the big adventure.
End of poem three.
To be honest, I kinda think poem three is weak, but there was probably more made up with Ninsun, and her Goddess business.
Today, we follow our two heroes, Gilgamesh (king of Uruk), and the rural backwoods guy Enkidu....who got civilized by a local harlot gal, and then took up a fight with Gilgamesh over some young brides.
In poem three, we find our two guys standing there in the rural court area of Uruk, with the senators or elders wanting to give Gilgamesh advice prior to this big journey. Not a lot is written over the advice....it's probably mostly words about not sipping booze or wine with folks you don't know....don't pick fights with bad-ass folks....and watch out for harlot-women along the trail.
At some point after this meeting....Gilgamesh decides to visit his momma....noted as Ninsun (sounds like Nissan but different). She was a Goddess, in absolute form.
Most folks tend to go back and look up the literal translation of Ninsun, and it tends to be the lady-in-charge-of-wild-cows.
Most guys sitting at the fire and listening to this....particularly from rural areas, would have this image burned into their mind over some sturdy and big-boned gal who tended the nut-case cows of some valley who'd go and chase guys down.
Anyway....Ninsun gave some advice as well to Gilgamesh. At this point, Ninsun think so highly of this friend of Gilgamesh....she makes him a son. There's not much written down over how Enkidu felt about accepted in the family...one has to assume it was accepted without much talk. That's how stoic guys are.
Then Gilgamesh hands out some words to the elders about how to run Uruk while he's gone. This is sparse in terms of what was said. One might suspect that he made sure they didn't do nothing stupid. Then, the boys leave for the big adventure.
End of poem three.
To be honest, I kinda think poem three is weak, but there was probably more made up with Ninsun, and her Goddess business.
Epic of Gilgamesh: Poem Two
Part of my series on the ages old story of Gilgamesh (you need to go back a day or two to review poem one)....this is my rendering of poem number two (without the poetry stuff).
As we last left our three characters (Enkidu the unsophisticated rural guy, Gilgamesh the thug king, and Shamhat the harlot gal with slutty behavior).....Shamhat had just brought Enkidu into a camp of shepherds.
Naturally, most audience members listening into the story are a bit thrilled, because this is probably their chief occupation, and it's a bit thrilling for their craft to be mentioned in a story.
There on the first day in the camp....the shepherd guys are introducing Enkidu to the local refined food. It's safe to say....it was a bit gourmet-like in nature, probably very fatty/greasy, and the spices and pepper-usage were a bit too much for Enkidu. But he was never a guy to turn down a free buffet-dinner.
After a while, the shepherds have a vote and appoint Enkidu to the head position of night watch. To be honest, this is the worst job of a shepherd and Enkidu probably didn't grasp that until the end of the first shift.
As days passed.....one evening....some guy with no name (there's always that type of character in a Steinbeck novel)....comes passing by. A bit of conversation starts up between Enkidu and the stranger. Guys in this case typically talk about weather, sheep, women, and 'stuff'.
The stranger brings up a new topic though....Gilgamesh (the king) and his treatment of new brides. The talk gets hyped up and Enkidu is all disturbed that such guy is taking advantage of these fine women.
In a flash, without much thinking....Enkidu decides to take off to Uruk.
To be honest, Enkidu wasn't much of a traveler....probably had no idea where Uruk was located....and didn't have a map or compass.
No one says much over days or weeks passing....that part of the poem that just leaves this out. We an assume that it took more than a day or two.
So our hero....Enkidu arrives at this capital city and plants himself at the entrance of a wedding chamber. As Gilgamesh prances up to the doorway.....he finds Enkidu blocking the door. It's a bit of a shocker. Typically....no one ever blocks doorways in the kingdom.
A fierce fight erupts. The poem doesn't really give this much coverage. It ought to have been a sixty-line moment, and a lot of fist-to-fist coverage spoken about.
What we can say is a pretty good fight occurs, and there's a pause....mostly because both are tired-out and not able to fight much more.
Enkidu notes that Gilgamesh was fairly strong. Both guys admire each other....a bit of sweat has fallen off each other. Gilgamesh says that he Enkidu ought to be friends. Note, he didn't say 'special friends'....just that they could hang out with each other.
Gilgamesh talks up this epic adventure idea....going off to the Cedar Forest. Enkidu asks what's big about this Cedar Forest, and Gilgamesh responds that there is this monster called Humbaba (some kind of monster demi-God). If they together were to defeat Humbaba....legends would be told over both.
Enkidu looks over this talk and the Humbaba creature, and he kinda thinks this ain't very smart. He's advising Gilgamesh against this idea. Some old guys in the Kingdom....mostly Senator-types (like Senator McCain) also note that they don't think this hunting down Humbaba idea is that smart.
Gilgamesh is not to be deterred and our dynamic duo run off in search of the Humbaba.
End of Poem Two.
It should be noted that there's almost no mention of the Shamhat gal (the slutty gal training Enkidu in poem two), and there's never a name given to the newly married gal that Enkidu saved from Gilgamesh. It should also be noted that no mention of the stranger's name who suggested this adventure to Enkidu was mentioned.....or if he had a limp or any warts. The party down at the Shepherd camp? The alcohol consumed at the camp? Well....it's best not to mention that part, I guess.
As we last left our three characters (Enkidu the unsophisticated rural guy, Gilgamesh the thug king, and Shamhat the harlot gal with slutty behavior).....Shamhat had just brought Enkidu into a camp of shepherds.
Naturally, most audience members listening into the story are a bit thrilled, because this is probably their chief occupation, and it's a bit thrilling for their craft to be mentioned in a story.
There on the first day in the camp....the shepherd guys are introducing Enkidu to the local refined food. It's safe to say....it was a bit gourmet-like in nature, probably very fatty/greasy, and the spices and pepper-usage were a bit too much for Enkidu. But he was never a guy to turn down a free buffet-dinner.
After a while, the shepherds have a vote and appoint Enkidu to the head position of night watch. To be honest, this is the worst job of a shepherd and Enkidu probably didn't grasp that until the end of the first shift.
As days passed.....one evening....some guy with no name (there's always that type of character in a Steinbeck novel)....comes passing by. A bit of conversation starts up between Enkidu and the stranger. Guys in this case typically talk about weather, sheep, women, and 'stuff'.
The stranger brings up a new topic though....Gilgamesh (the king) and his treatment of new brides. The talk gets hyped up and Enkidu is all disturbed that such guy is taking advantage of these fine women.
In a flash, without much thinking....Enkidu decides to take off to Uruk.
To be honest, Enkidu wasn't much of a traveler....probably had no idea where Uruk was located....and didn't have a map or compass.
No one says much over days or weeks passing....that part of the poem that just leaves this out. We an assume that it took more than a day or two.
So our hero....Enkidu arrives at this capital city and plants himself at the entrance of a wedding chamber. As Gilgamesh prances up to the doorway.....he finds Enkidu blocking the door. It's a bit of a shocker. Typically....no one ever blocks doorways in the kingdom.
A fierce fight erupts. The poem doesn't really give this much coverage. It ought to have been a sixty-line moment, and a lot of fist-to-fist coverage spoken about.
What we can say is a pretty good fight occurs, and there's a pause....mostly because both are tired-out and not able to fight much more.
Enkidu notes that Gilgamesh was fairly strong. Both guys admire each other....a bit of sweat has fallen off each other. Gilgamesh says that he Enkidu ought to be friends. Note, he didn't say 'special friends'....just that they could hang out with each other.
Gilgamesh talks up this epic adventure idea....going off to the Cedar Forest. Enkidu asks what's big about this Cedar Forest, and Gilgamesh responds that there is this monster called Humbaba (some kind of monster demi-God). If they together were to defeat Humbaba....legends would be told over both.
Enkidu looks over this talk and the Humbaba creature, and he kinda thinks this ain't very smart. He's advising Gilgamesh against this idea. Some old guys in the Kingdom....mostly Senator-types (like Senator McCain) also note that they don't think this hunting down Humbaba idea is that smart.
Gilgamesh is not to be deterred and our dynamic duo run off in search of the Humbaba.
End of Poem Two.
It should be noted that there's almost no mention of the Shamhat gal (the slutty gal training Enkidu in poem two), and there's never a name given to the newly married gal that Enkidu saved from Gilgamesh. It should also be noted that no mention of the stranger's name who suggested this adventure to Enkidu was mentioned.....or if he had a limp or any warts. The party down at the Shepherd camp? The alcohol consumed at the camp? Well....it's best not to mention that part, I guess.
The Campus Story
It's page three news and begs questions....but it came up in the past week with the University of Missouri putting out a list of instructions on how to run or host on-campus events for the general student population.
In the middle of the guidelines....they 'nudge' the students to some degree and suggest that you (the students) ought to ask yourself...."If my event is potentially triggering, have I consulted with someone from the counseling center?"
Then it asks students...is this event of such a harsh thing for your lifestyle or mental side.....should you go ahead and have a counselor present to help you make it?
Finally, the university asks in a simple way....do you know where your 'safe' space is located? It kinda reminded me of the Air Force days when you had to know your storm shelter, and that some Major might run up to you and try to test you on where the nearest tornado shelter was located.
In some ways, the university is admitting that the kids attending now (over the age of eighteen) are not mature enough or capable enough to make rational decisions, or interpret data that you hand out.
Then you look over at this counselor business. With a campus of 20,000 students....how many counselors would require? Three-hundred? Five-hundred? If Dalton-the-student did call you up and state some personal emergency over at the campus cafeteria....that they were out of vegan-food, how would you prioritize your arrival? Be there in six minutes? Expect me in sixteen minutes? Or would you just advise Dalton over the phone that jello is a good substitute?
If these kids are this immature....can you even allow them to buy a six-pack of beer? Or to purchase a pack of Marlboros? Could you even trust the kid to handle condoms or date some slutty gal from out-of-state?
It seems like to me the answer here is simple. You need to pause kids at 18, upon graduation from high school, and force them to get a job in the real world....waiting for a year before going off to college. Maybe even two years of waiting. Perhaps they ought to even consider developing an Army boot-camp system where you go through twelve weeks of intense training to bring your maturity level up two or three notches.
The atmosphere up at Missouri? It makes me curious if they have some kind of maturity problem across the state and got a bunch of kids pretending to be eighteen-years-old, when their behavior level appears to be 12-years-old.
It's a pretty bad situation when a campus leadership position is there to suggest you can't handle reality but we'll accept you on campus anyway.
In the middle of the guidelines....they 'nudge' the students to some degree and suggest that you (the students) ought to ask yourself...."If my event is potentially triggering, have I consulted with someone from the counseling center?"
Then it asks students...is this event of such a harsh thing for your lifestyle or mental side.....should you go ahead and have a counselor present to help you make it?
Finally, the university asks in a simple way....do you know where your 'safe' space is located? It kinda reminded me of the Air Force days when you had to know your storm shelter, and that some Major might run up to you and try to test you on where the nearest tornado shelter was located.
In some ways, the university is admitting that the kids attending now (over the age of eighteen) are not mature enough or capable enough to make rational decisions, or interpret data that you hand out.
Then you look over at this counselor business. With a campus of 20,000 students....how many counselors would require? Three-hundred? Five-hundred? If Dalton-the-student did call you up and state some personal emergency over at the campus cafeteria....that they were out of vegan-food, how would you prioritize your arrival? Be there in six minutes? Expect me in sixteen minutes? Or would you just advise Dalton over the phone that jello is a good substitute?
If these kids are this immature....can you even allow them to buy a six-pack of beer? Or to purchase a pack of Marlboros? Could you even trust the kid to handle condoms or date some slutty gal from out-of-state?
It seems like to me the answer here is simple. You need to pause kids at 18, upon graduation from high school, and force them to get a job in the real world....waiting for a year before going off to college. Maybe even two years of waiting. Perhaps they ought to even consider developing an Army boot-camp system where you go through twelve weeks of intense training to bring your maturity level up two or three notches.
The atmosphere up at Missouri? It makes me curious if they have some kind of maturity problem across the state and got a bunch of kids pretending to be eighteen-years-old, when their behavior level appears to be 12-years-old.
It's a pretty bad situation when a campus leadership position is there to suggest you can't handle reality but we'll accept you on campus anyway.
The Problem with Stupid Intellectuals
"Some ideas are so stupid that only intellectuals believe them."
-- Orwell, from Notes on Nationalism (1945)
Maybe up until a decade ago, I could sit and watch a debate or discussion by a couple of intellectuals, and be somewhat 'entertained'. But I reached some stage where it often pains me to watch intellectuals, journalists, scientists, political figures and provocateurs engage in discussions.
If you sit there and bring up poverty....the end-game of the discussion usually centers on what you want to 'give' the folks in poverty. Yeah, it has to be a 'gift' or some government promise in the end. Job-training or a craft-skill crash-course? Birth-control knowledge and reasonable cost methods for the control? Classes and knowledge on how to manage money once you get it? None of these usually get brought up.
If you sit there and bring up gun control....the end-game of the discussion is usually centered on all weapons being banned (like the Australia method). Hunters and farmers? Left out of the discussion. The mere fact that probably 90-percent of Republicans and Democrats in urban areas like St. Louis, Memphis or Birmingham have pistols in their car and house, and they have no desire to give them up? The fact that most of these mass shooters from the past twenty years have legal or illegal drugs/prescription drugs in their system? These are things never brought up in these discussions.
If you sit there and talk over fixing health care costs....the end-game of the discussion is that the dozen-odd things which make health-care expensive....cannot be discussed. Generally, the talking intellectuals just want everyone to be included, and subsidy coverage for the poverty-class to be the support structure to keep this going. We won't talk about drug companies, law-suit craziness, or the cost of medical schools. These are topics forbidden in any discussion.
If you sit there and bring up tax reform.....the end-game is a wild debate where no one really wants to pay taxes.....not the private wealthy guy....not the companies....and not working-class guy. Why the government can't downsize it's spending budget? Don't bother bringing that up. Also, don't bring up state-by-state allocations. There are literally hundreds of topics under this situation, which are just laying off in the shadows of the conversation.
If you sit there and bring up climate change....the end-game is usually to create a wealth distribution gimmick where rich industrialized countries pay the lesser countries.....for something, but you aren't sure about how this really works. The fear-factor about peer review? Don't bring that topic up with the intellectuals. The fact that they were fairly settled on the science in the mid-1970s with global cooling, and then a dozen years later....insisted that the science was settled in the late-1980s.....global warming was the absolute problem....then said a dozen years later, nope, the science is settled on climate change. The fact that 500 sciences exist in the world, and only one is settled apparently, never dawns on most scientists talking the subject.
An apology to the scientists and intellectuals.....you could do better, if you used your knowledge combined with common sense. But you've yet to reach that level.
Saturday, 7 October 2017
Epic of Gilgamesh: Poem One
A long time ago, off in the lands of Mesopotamia....in the age of Sumerians, we had a bunch of pretty creative folks. That's over 4,000 years ago, and likely going way past that point.
The locals of the time got around to the art of telling stories....more or less to entertain folks. You do that when there's no TV, radio, or internet.
Now, it has to be said that these were of the Hemingway or Steinbeck type story-tellers....that they got hooked on a decent story, and there have been literally dozens of variations of the story told.
So, we come to what is referred today as the 'Epic of Gilgamesh'. It survive mostly because we've found tablets which lay out this story. This version which survives is done in the poem method, and it makes some folks think that it was done to preserve the story in one simple constructed story and prevent forty different stories being manufactured.
The original version? Translated into English....Surpassing All Other Kings.
The first tablet lays out the story, and I'll tell in a basic fashion....without the poetry or fine words...just in plain-speak....southern-style.
Out yonder in the lands....there lays this land of Uruk. There was a king of the region and his name was Gilgamesh.
Folks tended to respect Gilgamesh because he was two-thirds god and one-third man. Now, usually some engineer or intellectual guy from the audience would halt the story-telling and say you can only fifty-percent X and fifty-percent Y.....or you could be one-quarter this, and one-quarter that....etc.
Well....you just have to accept the fact that Gilgamesh, for the purpose of this story....was a one-third, two-thirds kinda of guy.
Course, this would bring up the next question....how would you know that he was only one-third man? Well, it's just a story....don't get all tangled up on this.
So, we get back to this story.
Its safe to say that things weren't great in the land of Uruk, and some folks felt that Gilgamesh was oppressive in nature. At this point from the audience, the engineer would ask....you mean like Trump?
No....not like Trump. Gilgamesh had invented some method of understanding that it was fine if he slept with women on their wedding night. No one is saying he had 'seconds' or 'thirds'....that he had this understanding.
Questions from the audience would arise again....what if there were twenty women getting hooked up this Saturday? Well....this is just a story. There just isn't any king-like guy going around and hooking up with twenty women in one night.
Now I should point at this point that the tablet where this part of the story would have some more details....is a bit broke, and we are left to wonder what the heck happen to Gilgamesh on these special nights., but the information just ain't there.
Guys were complaining as well....mostly over too many physical tests or events...or through too many construction projects in his land.
So, as folks pleaded with the Gods (plural) to fix this Gilgamesh business....they responded.....more or less.
Way out in the rural regions of Uruk...there was this rather non-intellectual guy...a plain regular sort of dude, who went by the name of Enkidu.
Legend has it that Enkidu had a pretty nifty beard, and had a fair amount of body hair (something women admired in those days).
The few folks who knew Enkidu....spoke of his preference for the life of simpleness, living under the stars, and sipping spring-water. Some local hunter had a problem with Enkidu because he was always springing his traps. We don't know what kind of critters the hunter was going after but it appears to be small game....not tigers or lions.
The hunter guy then told the sun-god Shamash about Enkidu.
No one knows much about this sun-god dude but he was popular.
An arrangement was made with Shamash, who felt that Enkidu could be brought into the real world....taught a few things....put on some clothing....become more sociable. In order to make all this happen.....Enkidu is introduced to a gal called Shamhat.
It's safe to say that Shamhat was a bawdy gal....a lady of the evening....or a harlot. The poem doesn't go into details. We don't get the description like Steinbeck would give....golden flowing hair.....legs that drive a man crazy....or million-dollar lips.
It's hard to say how young men around the campfire and hearing the Gilgamesh story imagined Shamhat. It was probably a five-star lust scene and guys just making up different images of her.
Shamhat had the sole job of teaching Enkidu manners. As the story goes....after seven nights in some tent with Shamhat....Enkidu emerged half-way to being civilized. How this is possible, is left out of the story, and probably discussed later by various men sipping wine and offering observations over Enkidu.
Enkidu left out of the love-tent business and headed off to a shepher'ds camp to get the rest of the lessons.
What's generally said then, as we conclude chapter one....is that Gilgamesh woke up from some dream about the arrival of someone to change his life. No, it's not Shamhat, if you were thinking that.
End of the first poem over this story.
Now, I admit...there's a whole lot of information left out and I suspect that there are other tablets out there with a better version....probably racier and a bit more sensual in nature, but that's the one and only version dug up so far.
The locals of the time got around to the art of telling stories....more or less to entertain folks. You do that when there's no TV, radio, or internet.
Now, it has to be said that these were of the Hemingway or Steinbeck type story-tellers....that they got hooked on a decent story, and there have been literally dozens of variations of the story told.
So, we come to what is referred today as the 'Epic of Gilgamesh'. It survive mostly because we've found tablets which lay out this story. This version which survives is done in the poem method, and it makes some folks think that it was done to preserve the story in one simple constructed story and prevent forty different stories being manufactured.
The original version? Translated into English....Surpassing All Other Kings.
The first tablet lays out the story, and I'll tell in a basic fashion....without the poetry or fine words...just in plain-speak....southern-style.
Out yonder in the lands....there lays this land of Uruk. There was a king of the region and his name was Gilgamesh.
Folks tended to respect Gilgamesh because he was two-thirds god and one-third man. Now, usually some engineer or intellectual guy from the audience would halt the story-telling and say you can only fifty-percent X and fifty-percent Y.....or you could be one-quarter this, and one-quarter that....etc.
Well....you just have to accept the fact that Gilgamesh, for the purpose of this story....was a one-third, two-thirds kinda of guy.
Course, this would bring up the next question....how would you know that he was only one-third man? Well, it's just a story....don't get all tangled up on this.
So, we get back to this story.
Its safe to say that things weren't great in the land of Uruk, and some folks felt that Gilgamesh was oppressive in nature. At this point from the audience, the engineer would ask....you mean like Trump?
No....not like Trump. Gilgamesh had invented some method of understanding that it was fine if he slept with women on their wedding night. No one is saying he had 'seconds' or 'thirds'....that he had this understanding.
Questions from the audience would arise again....what if there were twenty women getting hooked up this Saturday? Well....this is just a story. There just isn't any king-like guy going around and hooking up with twenty women in one night.
Now I should point at this point that the tablet where this part of the story would have some more details....is a bit broke, and we are left to wonder what the heck happen to Gilgamesh on these special nights., but the information just ain't there.
Guys were complaining as well....mostly over too many physical tests or events...or through too many construction projects in his land.
So, as folks pleaded with the Gods (plural) to fix this Gilgamesh business....they responded.....more or less.
Way out in the rural regions of Uruk...there was this rather non-intellectual guy...a plain regular sort of dude, who went by the name of Enkidu.
Legend has it that Enkidu had a pretty nifty beard, and had a fair amount of body hair (something women admired in those days).
The few folks who knew Enkidu....spoke of his preference for the life of simpleness, living under the stars, and sipping spring-water. Some local hunter had a problem with Enkidu because he was always springing his traps. We don't know what kind of critters the hunter was going after but it appears to be small game....not tigers or lions.
The hunter guy then told the sun-god Shamash about Enkidu.
No one knows much about this sun-god dude but he was popular.
An arrangement was made with Shamash, who felt that Enkidu could be brought into the real world....taught a few things....put on some clothing....become more sociable. In order to make all this happen.....Enkidu is introduced to a gal called Shamhat.
It's safe to say that Shamhat was a bawdy gal....a lady of the evening....or a harlot. The poem doesn't go into details. We don't get the description like Steinbeck would give....golden flowing hair.....legs that drive a man crazy....or million-dollar lips.
It's hard to say how young men around the campfire and hearing the Gilgamesh story imagined Shamhat. It was probably a five-star lust scene and guys just making up different images of her.
Shamhat had the sole job of teaching Enkidu manners. As the story goes....after seven nights in some tent with Shamhat....Enkidu emerged half-way to being civilized. How this is possible, is left out of the story, and probably discussed later by various men sipping wine and offering observations over Enkidu.
Enkidu left out of the love-tent business and headed off to a shepher'ds camp to get the rest of the lessons.
What's generally said then, as we conclude chapter one....is that Gilgamesh woke up from some dream about the arrival of someone to change his life. No, it's not Shamhat, if you were thinking that.
End of the first poem over this story.
Now, I admit...there's a whole lot of information left out and I suspect that there are other tablets out there with a better version....probably racier and a bit more sensual in nature, but that's the one and only version dug up so far.
Money Laundering
After the hype of the Vegas shooting....the term money-launderer has been uttered a couple thousand times.
For the benefit of folks who don't grasp the amount of money being shifted around in the underground economy......some numbers ought to be mentioned.
In the first decade of this century....it's generally believed that one trillion got moved out of China alone.
It's believed that three-quarters of a billion got moved around by Russians to situations outside of Russia.
It's estimated that almost half-a-billion dollars left Mexico.
It's estimated that a third-of-a-billion dollars left Malaysia.
Its estimated that a quarter-of-a-billion left Saudi Arabia.
You can add it up, but generally....it's around fifty billion dollars a month during this entire decade....that money had to move around without being noticed.
Around the US? No one ever wants to sit down in front of Senators and talk over the issue, with numbers. You have to figure that at least 100,000 individuals are working around the clock....to launder money in the US.
It has to go into fake companies or business operations, or fake apartment buildings, and come out clean at the other end to be used for real cash assets for people.....or be moved overseas where it's laundered into another country's banking system.
What you need to take out of this? For a period of a decade (2000 to 2010)....roughly three trillion dollars were likely moved around the globe quietly by a number of individuals. And I would imagine for the period of 2010 to 2020....it's probably double that amount.
For the benefit of folks who don't grasp the amount of money being shifted around in the underground economy......some numbers ought to be mentioned.
In the first decade of this century....it's generally believed that one trillion got moved out of China alone.
It's believed that three-quarters of a billion got moved around by Russians to situations outside of Russia.
It's estimated that almost half-a-billion dollars left Mexico.
It's estimated that a third-of-a-billion dollars left Malaysia.
Its estimated that a quarter-of-a-billion left Saudi Arabia.
You can add it up, but generally....it's around fifty billion dollars a month during this entire decade....that money had to move around without being noticed.
Around the US? No one ever wants to sit down in front of Senators and talk over the issue, with numbers. You have to figure that at least 100,000 individuals are working around the clock....to launder money in the US.
It has to go into fake companies or business operations, or fake apartment buildings, and come out clean at the other end to be used for real cash assets for people.....or be moved overseas where it's laundered into another country's banking system.
What you need to take out of this? For a period of a decade (2000 to 2010)....roughly three trillion dollars were likely moved around the globe quietly by a number of individuals. And I would imagine for the period of 2010 to 2020....it's probably double that amount.
Maybe the End of the Bergdahl Episode
This past week, if you went to page two news out of the US....there's this story over Sargent Bergdahl. He's the guy who felt the Army was doing him wrong, and just decided one day to walk out the back of a Army post in Afghanistan....then being captured by the law-lords of the region, and held as a captive for five years. Thankfully, President Obama and team decided to trade some Gitmo folks for him. Sadly, the Army didn't feel any positive stuff over his adventure and charged with some crimes.
This week, Bergdahl said he'd accept a guilty deal without a lot of court action, over the charges of desertion and misbehavior before the enemy. Generally, you could get five years max for desertion, and life in prison for misbehavior before the enemy. The judge will make the final decision. Some folks feel that he ought to be shot. Some folks feel like the guy, having spent five years in some Taliban-like prison deal....ought not get much more than five years of Army prison.
Why avoid the court action? I think he had five years in the Taliban-like setting and got his rational sense back into his system.
What I'd give the guy? I'd give him a fifteen-year prison sentence, with five of those hooked to credit with the time in the prisoner setting with the Taliban folks, leaving him ten full years in the Army prison. If you look over his attitude and intelligence level....it's kinda obvious that the Army should have dumped him by the fourth month of service. He just wasn't Army-material. Taking him off to Afghanistan? Big mistake on their part. Maybe if he'd gone through a six-month long boot-camp period and really gotten orientated about the team-concept.....things would have worked out. He wasn't motivated or capable of handling Army-life. I'd take a guess that a quarter of the American population would not be capable of handling three years in the Army.
As for his future after leaving the Army prison-life? I just don't see this guy doing much more than flipping burgers or stocking shelves at some grocery.
This week, Bergdahl said he'd accept a guilty deal without a lot of court action, over the charges of desertion and misbehavior before the enemy. Generally, you could get five years max for desertion, and life in prison for misbehavior before the enemy. The judge will make the final decision. Some folks feel that he ought to be shot. Some folks feel like the guy, having spent five years in some Taliban-like prison deal....ought not get much more than five years of Army prison.
Why avoid the court action? I think he had five years in the Taliban-like setting and got his rational sense back into his system.
What I'd give the guy? I'd give him a fifteen-year prison sentence, with five of those hooked to credit with the time in the prisoner setting with the Taliban folks, leaving him ten full years in the Army prison. If you look over his attitude and intelligence level....it's kinda obvious that the Army should have dumped him by the fourth month of service. He just wasn't Army-material. Taking him off to Afghanistan? Big mistake on their part. Maybe if he'd gone through a six-month long boot-camp period and really gotten orientated about the team-concept.....things would have worked out. He wasn't motivated or capable of handling Army-life. I'd take a guess that a quarter of the American population would not be capable of handling three years in the Army.
As for his future after leaving the Army prison-life? I just don't see this guy doing much more than flipping burgers or stocking shelves at some grocery.
Friday, 6 October 2017
Pepsi and Nasty
Carmen Yulin Cruz.
Yesterday, she did an interview wearing a 'nasty' t-shirt. It's supposed to be some kind of message, but it's hard to say what.
Typically, you were appearing in front of me, in some leadership role or executive role....wearing a t-shirt saying 'nasty'...I would likely have tainted or misguided thoughts. For some reason, the image and 'nasty' would burn into my my mind. After that....every time I saw the person...I'd be thinking 'nasty'.
Forty years ago....no mayor would have gone out and worn something like this, period. Today? It's a provocative lifestyle and people want to entice you or draw you to some fake conclusion.
After a while, you look at the whole image of the photo, and then you latch onto the Pepsi machine on the right-side of the image. "Nasty" and Pepsi? A subliminal message? Something to do with titillating or wicked thoughts?
Now I'll start thinking something sensual every time I see a Pepsi machine, and think of the word "nasty". I'll probably have to go and visit a mental health expert now.
The Plane Story
I noticed in today's news that the passenger gal who got all upset about two dogs being carried in the passenger area for a flight, then got dragged off by airport security when she made a case of dogs on board...intends now to carry forward a legal situation with the airline (Southwest).
Southwest says (at least that's their position)....that they are awful sorry that the lady ended up getting off by airport security and they've been trying to have a chat with her.
Some people were leaning toward the gal in this story...until it came up three days later that she was a professor of Islamic studies at a prestigious US university. Folks who know the Islamic religion well....also know that Muslims tend to be anti-dog (a good bit). The idea of riding in a cabin for two hours? It might be unsettling.
Why she complained in the first place? She says she had to be on this flight, because her elderly father being sick. In her defense, she says she's got a serious allergy issue with dogs. Actual proof of the allergy? Well, that will pop up in court and there might be a discussion about the nature of this. If she has the paperwork, then the judge is going to ask how she intended to travel while knowing dogs might be part of the deal. She might not be able to answer that one. All future air travel with this gal? Well....yeah, it's best not to ask about this either.
The folks handling this on the plane? Well.....I ponder upon this.
Back thirty years ago (1980s), you could walk out to the airport and tended to find generally nice folks standing there and flights were a special thing. It didn't matter how bad the food was, the bitchy-nature of the stewardesses, the funky smell in the airplane bathroom, the weird nature of the ticket-lady, or the lateness in taking off (folks didn't say much if it was two hours late).
In the past fifteen years....something has occurred with air-travel and it's not the same experience. Part of this is the cheap nature now, and you have all those Greyhound bus dimwits who pay the $150 for a round-trip deal from Atlanta to Detroit, and the whole nature of the experience is gone.
Folks whine about the food, the knee space, the amount of bags that people drag onboard, the after-shave that 'Bob' is wearing, the funky grandma-smell from some of these older women, the drunk-level of guys onboard, the slutty dress and attire of some women (the boobs literally just falling out of the apparel), and any flight being more than 25 minutes late is now a big deal. Some folks just get disturbed if the stewardess appears to be over the age of fifty and a bit chunky.
The front-desk folks and the airport security staff? Well, they really don't want to let some idiot go and make some type of negative experience out of the deal. I noted a video from last month that I watched where some anti-Trump gal got hyped up over a young guy sitting next to her, and she tried to get the staff to remove him (he had a pro-Trump-shirt on). There was one brief attempt to calm her down, and then they called for security. She was going to exit the plane at that point....no questions or begging would help.
I look at this professor and I see the same situation....you get one chance to calm down, and then the security folks step in.
All of this brings me to my point...the public probably needs a reminder now....that just getting from point A to point B is the test of flying around the nation. You want to get there safely, and you'd best not find 688 reasons to whine over the conditions or the attire of the fellow-passengers, or their dogs.
The issue is that we seem to want to draw a line and let people know how we feel....trying to force change or force others to accept our vision of things. The sad thing is that once this starts up....you might have a guy like me standing there and noting your slutty attire as being too obvious, or me suggesting a dry-county approach to alcohol on board the plane. Note as well, I'd be perfectly happy for dinner options on a plane if you just handed out Mountain Dew and beef jerky. The dog thing would be acceptable to me, as long as it was a border collie (not one of those poodles).
Southwest says (at least that's their position)....that they are awful sorry that the lady ended up getting off by airport security and they've been trying to have a chat with her.
Some people were leaning toward the gal in this story...until it came up three days later that she was a professor of Islamic studies at a prestigious US university. Folks who know the Islamic religion well....also know that Muslims tend to be anti-dog (a good bit). The idea of riding in a cabin for two hours? It might be unsettling.
Why she complained in the first place? She says she had to be on this flight, because her elderly father being sick. In her defense, she says she's got a serious allergy issue with dogs. Actual proof of the allergy? Well, that will pop up in court and there might be a discussion about the nature of this. If she has the paperwork, then the judge is going to ask how she intended to travel while knowing dogs might be part of the deal. She might not be able to answer that one. All future air travel with this gal? Well....yeah, it's best not to ask about this either.
The folks handling this on the plane? Well.....I ponder upon this.
Back thirty years ago (1980s), you could walk out to the airport and tended to find generally nice folks standing there and flights were a special thing. It didn't matter how bad the food was, the bitchy-nature of the stewardesses, the funky smell in the airplane bathroom, the weird nature of the ticket-lady, or the lateness in taking off (folks didn't say much if it was two hours late).
In the past fifteen years....something has occurred with air-travel and it's not the same experience. Part of this is the cheap nature now, and you have all those Greyhound bus dimwits who pay the $150 for a round-trip deal from Atlanta to Detroit, and the whole nature of the experience is gone.
Folks whine about the food, the knee space, the amount of bags that people drag onboard, the after-shave that 'Bob' is wearing, the funky grandma-smell from some of these older women, the drunk-level of guys onboard, the slutty dress and attire of some women (the boobs literally just falling out of the apparel), and any flight being more than 25 minutes late is now a big deal. Some folks just get disturbed if the stewardess appears to be over the age of fifty and a bit chunky.
The front-desk folks and the airport security staff? Well, they really don't want to let some idiot go and make some type of negative experience out of the deal. I noted a video from last month that I watched where some anti-Trump gal got hyped up over a young guy sitting next to her, and she tried to get the staff to remove him (he had a pro-Trump-shirt on). There was one brief attempt to calm her down, and then they called for security. She was going to exit the plane at that point....no questions or begging would help.
I look at this professor and I see the same situation....you get one chance to calm down, and then the security folks step in.
All of this brings me to my point...the public probably needs a reminder now....that just getting from point A to point B is the test of flying around the nation. You want to get there safely, and you'd best not find 688 reasons to whine over the conditions or the attire of the fellow-passengers, or their dogs.
The issue is that we seem to want to draw a line and let people know how we feel....trying to force change or force others to accept our vision of things. The sad thing is that once this starts up....you might have a guy like me standing there and noting your slutty attire as being too obvious, or me suggesting a dry-county approach to alcohol on board the plane. Note as well, I'd be perfectly happy for dinner options on a plane if you just handed out Mountain Dew and beef jerky. The dog thing would be acceptable to me, as long as it was a border collie (not one of those poodles).
Thursday, 5 October 2017
The Time Travel Story
I noticed this story off Fox News today. There's this guy up in Wyoming, who appeared in Casper on Monday night looking for the cops. Cops found him, and he wanted to let them know that Earth was going to be attacked, and that he'd come from the future (2048) to warn them of the attack.
Normally, police in Casper don't get many time-travelers.
At some point, they decided a alcohol-test was necessary for the time-traveler dude. End-result? .136
A fair amount of alcohol. Course, he wasn't driving, so DWI is not possible. Drunk and disorderly? Well...he wasn't disorderly. I'm guessing he'll rest out the next twenty-four hours and then get released.
What he said while in this stage....aliens are coming in 2048. He was originally aiming for 2018, but landed in 2017 instead.
The thing about this is that thousands will read the story, and just wonder about this. Was the guy for real? Are there aliens invading in 2048? Did the guy really travel through time?
This guy....as fake as he might be....just earned himself a title for the rest of his life....the 'time traveler'.
Normally, police in Casper don't get many time-travelers.
At some point, they decided a alcohol-test was necessary for the time-traveler dude. End-result? .136
A fair amount of alcohol. Course, he wasn't driving, so DWI is not possible. Drunk and disorderly? Well...he wasn't disorderly. I'm guessing he'll rest out the next twenty-four hours and then get released.
What he said while in this stage....aliens are coming in 2048. He was originally aiming for 2018, but landed in 2017 instead.
The thing about this is that thousands will read the story, and just wonder about this. Was the guy for real? Are there aliens invading in 2048? Did the guy really travel through time?
This guy....as fake as he might be....just earned himself a title for the rest of his life....the 'time traveler'.
Sunday, 1 October 2017
Days of 'Whatever'
A couple of months ago, I got all interested in Evergreen College (public college in Washington state) and their various issues with out-of-control students. I've essayed two or three pieces on the college and their woes.
Yesterday, I sat and read over two particular days of each calendar year that the college seems to recognize in some fashion.
There is the Day of Absence...which is recognized as a local community day for discussing and getting hyped-up about 'identity groups'. Naturally, if you were white....you aren't among the 'identity groups'.
You can join up with various groups....just to mostly sit around and talk....excessively from what I can figure. All of this is supposed to lead in some way to anti-racism. The evidence of such? Well....it's best not to ask for facts or evidence.
The second day in question is the Day of Presence. This one is interpreted in various ways by different people. It's mostly the day after the Day of Absence discussions and supposed to be when students show 'strength' and 'power'....although again, it's best not to ask how or why, nor should you suggest any debate over the topics.
After some reflection, I came to ponder this idea...that this college needs a full calendar of days to think, discuss and reflect a lot of things.
They need a day of pestilence (to reflect upon disease), a day of Apocalypse (to reflect upon coming evil times), a day of Anhedonia (to reflect upon the lack of pleasure), a day of gluttony (to reflect upon over-eating), a day of fragility (to reflect upon the chaotic times upon us), and even a day of fatuousness (to reflect upon the sad state of stupidity in the world today).
There's probably over 250 days required for folks. You could have a day of harvest (to reflect upon the hard work of farmers), a day of asininity (to reflect upon craziness around us), a day of indomitable (to reflect upon stoic nature), and perhaps even a day of beer (to reflect the essence and wonder of beer).
Yesterday, I sat and read over two particular days of each calendar year that the college seems to recognize in some fashion.
There is the Day of Absence...which is recognized as a local community day for discussing and getting hyped-up about 'identity groups'. Naturally, if you were white....you aren't among the 'identity groups'.
You can join up with various groups....just to mostly sit around and talk....excessively from what I can figure. All of this is supposed to lead in some way to anti-racism. The evidence of such? Well....it's best not to ask for facts or evidence.
The second day in question is the Day of Presence. This one is interpreted in various ways by different people. It's mostly the day after the Day of Absence discussions and supposed to be when students show 'strength' and 'power'....although again, it's best not to ask how or why, nor should you suggest any debate over the topics.
After some reflection, I came to ponder this idea...that this college needs a full calendar of days to think, discuss and reflect a lot of things.
They need a day of pestilence (to reflect upon disease), a day of Apocalypse (to reflect upon coming evil times), a day of Anhedonia (to reflect upon the lack of pleasure), a day of gluttony (to reflect upon over-eating), a day of fragility (to reflect upon the chaotic times upon us), and even a day of fatuousness (to reflect upon the sad state of stupidity in the world today).
There's probably over 250 days required for folks. You could have a day of harvest (to reflect upon the hard work of farmers), a day of asininity (to reflect upon craziness around us), a day of indomitable (to reflect upon stoic nature), and perhaps even a day of beer (to reflect the essence and wonder of beer).
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