Like Grandma Used To Make. I love myth-busting. BTW, my grandmother was a good cook, but I have abandoned her recipe for Swedish Meatballs for a far better one online. February 2014.
Least-Racist Nation. I am glad this one got some attention, even though it is less than a year old. November 2018.
Not Their Tribe. My discussion of the various American tribes, particularly the Arts & Humanities tribe, was a primary focus of the blog in the early years. I thought I had a lot to say about it, and did - over and over again. It gets a little tedious when someone has a new toy and can't stop talking about it. But this one was pretty good, and it attracted 42 comments, one of the most ever, and the discussion there is very good. Perhaps the best comment thread ever here. Very early in my blogging career. I am tempted to collect a best five out of the 200 posts that bear on the topic. November 2006
Me 'n IQ I put in little chip shot comments about IQ while posting here and commenting elsewhere, but I hadn't put those in much context. Other people do this better, and I just linked to them a little while ago. December 2012
#70 I will handle separately. It is about conspiracy theories and paranoia, and I think I will put it together with other posts for a more complete picture.
Monday, August 05, 2019
Sabbath Excuses
The "Disgust in Politics" post is turning out sort of meh, but I will press on. In the meantime I thought the way my sabbathkeeping worked out yesterday might be instructive.
When I taught the discussion class on the Ten Commandments last year, I was again impressed by the commentary on keeping the Sabbath. In our culture we automatically think of going to church as the main portion of that, but the scriptures have a different emphasis. The command is to cease from work. I have tried to be mindful of that since then.
Our church has two services. I went to one. I had decided Friday that after finishing with better clothes after church, I had just enough for a load of permanent press, and as I am not working this week, there would be no point in waiting. It's not very much work. Just a load of laundry. I use the last of the spay cleaner for the callers and cuffs, and run out. I have to shop for more before I can complete this.
Well, seeing that I am going shopping anyway - I go to the smaller, more local store, not wanting to get involved with heavy commerce on the sabbath - I might as well get the other things on the list. I like efficiency. Less wasted motion. Of course, it takes some thinking to be always alert for efficiencies, so I'm thinking if there are other errands, nearby errands that I could do. Since I'm gong to be out anyway. So I shop, mail a letter, and bring the groceries in. I go back and finish with the collar spray and put the clothes in the washer. While I was downstairs, it was efficient to empty the dehumidifier, and even more efficient to use that water on the plants outdoors. As I am putting in new grass for repair in a dozen spots around the lawn, it wasn't enough for all of them, so I got out the hose to cover them all. New grass needs three light mistings every day, so that was the first.
I has been dry, and I noticed the grass burning in a few places. Hmm, better put down more water on the whole lawn. This takes about two hours, but non-continuous, just moving sprinklers from place to place. As I'm doing this I am noting what places will need further repair, which will need moss-killer, plus a few other tasks around the yard. Not that I'm going to do that today, of course. It's the sabbath. That would be working on the sabbath. I do, however, make a little map with markings - for use tomorrow. My mind is occupied with how much dirt I should get, and whether I need more seed.
The washer needs an extra spin cycle during this, and while that's happening I take the few remaining clothes out of the dryer to make room for the wet clothes in a few minutes. I bring them upstairs, but I don't fold those, because that would be working. I do put them in their proper rooms. I go switch the wet clothes. I begin to be worried that I am doing a lot of work for a person who is not supposed to be working, and that my mind is taken up with the tasks of the house. The day is getting on. I have not reached a "not working" spot yet. I still have my 4-5 mile walk to do - that's not work really - and I am not going to do a difficult post, but I could throw down something quick on AVI. I should be able to find a few minutes for that.
I did not have lunch, I have taken to fasting for most of the day, taking only fluids. But I will be having cut vegetables with dip starting at about 3 in preparation for dinner, so I cut up vegetables and put them out. I will be grilling tonight, so I cut up the squashes into strips and put basil and garlic powder on them. There are dishes in the sink, and the dishes in the drainer need to be removed before there is room for those. I discover that the dishwasher has not been emptied yet. Well while I'm right here I should probably do that, for efficiency's sake.
I take the short drive to the long walk. I listen to a podcast, but turn it off, thinking it would be better to pray. Which I do, but I keep getting distracted and have to start again.
When I get back, I do have to hang up these clothes, because permanent press. I read my email and post a little bit. I read a little on my most usual sites, I check the sports scores but don't linger. It is getting late in the afternoon, after all. I take a short nap, maybe 30 minutes. When I get up it is time to make dinner. I am texting my wife and children from time-to-time during all of this. There was a book I was hoping to get to. Not gonna happen. Maybe tomorrow.
At 7:15pm I am putting dinner on the table. The sun is still up, the sabbath is not yet over. As dinner is wrapping up, I enjoy some last moments of the day, and it is good, prayerful sabbathkeeping, for about fifteen minutes.
I always thought those groups that kept a very strict sabbath with lots of rules, like Orthodox Jews who cannot turn on a light switch because it is considered a form of kindling fire, to be very strange people who put unnecessary burdens on themselves. Don't they know about grace?
It turns out they are right and I am wrong. Ceasing work is the most important piece, because all the other pieces of sabbathkeeping wait on that one. Nothing can happen until the work stops.
When I taught the discussion class on the Ten Commandments last year, I was again impressed by the commentary on keeping the Sabbath. In our culture we automatically think of going to church as the main portion of that, but the scriptures have a different emphasis. The command is to cease from work. I have tried to be mindful of that since then.
Our church has two services. I went to one. I had decided Friday that after finishing with better clothes after church, I had just enough for a load of permanent press, and as I am not working this week, there would be no point in waiting. It's not very much work. Just a load of laundry. I use the last of the spay cleaner for the callers and cuffs, and run out. I have to shop for more before I can complete this.
Well, seeing that I am going shopping anyway - I go to the smaller, more local store, not wanting to get involved with heavy commerce on the sabbath - I might as well get the other things on the list. I like efficiency. Less wasted motion. Of course, it takes some thinking to be always alert for efficiencies, so I'm thinking if there are other errands, nearby errands that I could do. Since I'm gong to be out anyway. So I shop, mail a letter, and bring the groceries in. I go back and finish with the collar spray and put the clothes in the washer. While I was downstairs, it was efficient to empty the dehumidifier, and even more efficient to use that water on the plants outdoors. As I am putting in new grass for repair in a dozen spots around the lawn, it wasn't enough for all of them, so I got out the hose to cover them all. New grass needs three light mistings every day, so that was the first.
I has been dry, and I noticed the grass burning in a few places. Hmm, better put down more water on the whole lawn. This takes about two hours, but non-continuous, just moving sprinklers from place to place. As I'm doing this I am noting what places will need further repair, which will need moss-killer, plus a few other tasks around the yard. Not that I'm going to do that today, of course. It's the sabbath. That would be working on the sabbath. I do, however, make a little map with markings - for use tomorrow. My mind is occupied with how much dirt I should get, and whether I need more seed.
The washer needs an extra spin cycle during this, and while that's happening I take the few remaining clothes out of the dryer to make room for the wet clothes in a few minutes. I bring them upstairs, but I don't fold those, because that would be working. I do put them in their proper rooms. I go switch the wet clothes. I begin to be worried that I am doing a lot of work for a person who is not supposed to be working, and that my mind is taken up with the tasks of the house. The day is getting on. I have not reached a "not working" spot yet. I still have my 4-5 mile walk to do - that's not work really - and I am not going to do a difficult post, but I could throw down something quick on AVI. I should be able to find a few minutes for that.
I did not have lunch, I have taken to fasting for most of the day, taking only fluids. But I will be having cut vegetables with dip starting at about 3 in preparation for dinner, so I cut up vegetables and put them out. I will be grilling tonight, so I cut up the squashes into strips and put basil and garlic powder on them. There are dishes in the sink, and the dishes in the drainer need to be removed before there is room for those. I discover that the dishwasher has not been emptied yet. Well while I'm right here I should probably do that, for efficiency's sake.
I take the short drive to the long walk. I listen to a podcast, but turn it off, thinking it would be better to pray. Which I do, but I keep getting distracted and have to start again.
When I get back, I do have to hang up these clothes, because permanent press. I read my email and post a little bit. I read a little on my most usual sites, I check the sports scores but don't linger. It is getting late in the afternoon, after all. I take a short nap, maybe 30 minutes. When I get up it is time to make dinner. I am texting my wife and children from time-to-time during all of this. There was a book I was hoping to get to. Not gonna happen. Maybe tomorrow.
At 7:15pm I am putting dinner on the table. The sun is still up, the sabbath is not yet over. As dinner is wrapping up, I enjoy some last moments of the day, and it is good, prayerful sabbathkeeping, for about fifteen minutes.
I always thought those groups that kept a very strict sabbath with lots of rules, like Orthodox Jews who cannot turn on a light switch because it is considered a form of kindling fire, to be very strange people who put unnecessary burdens on themselves. Don't they know about grace?
It turns out they are right and I am wrong. Ceasing work is the most important piece, because all the other pieces of sabbathkeeping wait on that one. Nothing can happen until the work stops.
Sunday, August 04, 2019
What A Difference A Year Makes
Last year the Red Sox had their greatest season ever. This year they will not make the playoffs. I am not paying much attention, except for the batting statistics.
I don't want to be greedy. After an entire childhood and middle-age of only the Celtics winning championships here and there, we have had unbelievable riches in New England since 2001. In addition to championships, we have had many "almost" seasons that other regions would be happy to remember.
We are lucky in that we have so many colleges that only the alumni of each one cares about its sports teams, so the fandom looks at the professionals. We have only FCS football, occasional NCAA tournament basketball, laughable college baseball, track-and-field, etc. We do have good college hockey, for what it's worth.
The Celtics fell apart. The Red Sox have fallen apart. Never count out the Patriots, but Kansas City, Los Angeles X2, Indianapolis, Carolina, Philadelphia, Minnesota, and a few others look good. The moving finger writes, and having writ, moves on.
I don't want to be greedy. After an entire childhood and middle-age of only the Celtics winning championships here and there, we have had unbelievable riches in New England since 2001. In addition to championships, we have had many "almost" seasons that other regions would be happy to remember.
We are lucky in that we have so many colleges that only the alumni of each one cares about its sports teams, so the fandom looks at the professionals. We have only FCS football, occasional NCAA tournament basketball, laughable college baseball, track-and-field, etc. We do have good college hockey, for what it's worth.
The Celtics fell apart. The Red Sox have fallen apart. Never count out the Patriots, but Kansas City, Los Angeles X2, Indianapolis, Carolina, Philadelphia, Minnesota, and a few others look good. The moving finger writes, and having writ, moves on.
It Doesn't Matter
Firefox Pocket puts "interesting" articles before my eyes when I open a new tab. As they are geared toward what a general Firefox audience will find interesting, they often aren't that interesting to me. Yet I am not entirely divorced from my culture. They catch me from time to time, and I am sure we are looking at a world in which their algorithms become so good that they catch me every time, and I will have to throw them off the scent by going to random sites, or trading places with friends who are unlike me - one day every week. Even that will not be enough, I fear. Someone will program in Oh, he's one of those Traders who is trying to throw us off the scent, but we actually have data on the type of people those who adopt that strategy seek out, and that tells us even more. He is a B5 who hangs out with A7's and E1's, and thinks a B13 is a really unusual friend, so he tries to trick us by trading with those every 0.9, 2.1, and 4.7 months. Let's put an article about how tartar sauce affects the endocrinological responses of libertarians in front of him. We've got four advertisers that have paid money for that microniche.
Where was I? (They'll have that in their very granular data also.) Pocket put forward an article from the very liberal Guardian, that I did find sorta interesting, mostly in opposition. Plastic. A plastic-free July.
Please stop. It. Doesn't. Matter. People who are worried about plastics have this vision of Styrofoam or milk containers sitting in landfills for thousands of years and not breaking down. Do you hear me? They are not breaking down and they can just see them, lying there in accusation against the 20th and 21st Centuries. Our descendants will hate us. Not their descendants, because they didn't have children, but, but, you know (insert hand-waving here). Seven generations and all that. Ugh. Shiver. They haven't hit the greater importance of cultural over physical legacy yet, our picture of plastics lying there polluting just everything disturbs us, despite the fact that the land mass of the world is virtually empty and we have plenty of room to hide this stuff where it won't ever be found. They are horrified by plastics. (Older readers may enter the movie reference in the comments, but try to put it cleverly. Feel free to compete.)
Now, if you want to be horrified by plastics because of PCB's or whatever, I'm with you. Let us please focus on clean water, or eliminating chemical by-products that have actually been shown to be dangerous. I am in favor of being taxed heavily to fix that, and kicking companies in the balls that have ignored that and screwed us over. Just stop about the climate change, will you? Warmth is good. Water we can't drink anymore is bad. Tricky chemicals in the ground are hard to get rid of, yes. Pretending we have more hurricanes now is insane.
Where was I? (They'll have that in their very granular data also.) Pocket put forward an article from the very liberal Guardian, that I did find sorta interesting, mostly in opposition. Plastic. A plastic-free July.
Please stop. It. Doesn't. Matter. People who are worried about plastics have this vision of Styrofoam or milk containers sitting in landfills for thousands of years and not breaking down. Do you hear me? They are not breaking down and they can just see them, lying there in accusation against the 20th and 21st Centuries. Our descendants will hate us. Not their descendants, because they didn't have children, but, but, you know (insert hand-waving here). Seven generations and all that. Ugh. Shiver. They haven't hit the greater importance of cultural over physical legacy yet, our picture of plastics lying there polluting just everything disturbs us, despite the fact that the land mass of the world is virtually empty and we have plenty of room to hide this stuff where it won't ever be found. They are horrified by plastics. (Older readers may enter the movie reference in the comments, but try to put it cleverly. Feel free to compete.)
Now, if you want to be horrified by plastics because of PCB's or whatever, I'm with you. Let us please focus on clean water, or eliminating chemical by-products that have actually been shown to be dangerous. I am in favor of being taxed heavily to fix that, and kicking companies in the balls that have ignored that and screwed us over. Just stop about the climate change, will you? Warmth is good. Water we can't drink anymore is bad. Tricky chemicals in the ground are hard to get rid of, yes. Pretending we have more hurricanes now is insane.
1865
I am listening to the historical thriller podcast series 1865. It is a radio drama (an older form that I had forgotten how much I liked) and picks up on the night Lincoln was shot. Secretary of War Edwin Stanton is the main character, and John Wilkes Booth turns out to have more connections to other major players than I knew. Rather ugly connections, actually. President Andrew Johnsoneven, and Booth's secret fiancee Lucy Hale, the daughter of John Parker Hale, the radical Republican Senator from NH, just for openers. I am finding it fascinating. I recommend this highly.
First there is information I had never known, which left me dumbfounded. I am not an expert on the Civil War, but I do pay attention as things go by and know at least a bit. Or perhaps I don't, and only know one of the preferred narratives. Every episode some new twist is introduced and I recoil saying "That can't possibly be true." Yet when they discuss (between each episode) the actual historical support for their dramatic choices, those are the well-attested items, while the ones I had thought unremarkable are where they took some license.
Secondly, it is always good to be reminded that the events of history take place in real time, and the people making decisions and living them out do not know what we do. We read back what we know in a dozen ways that deceive us. It was a very big deal that Booth was still at large for two weeks after the assassination, and this influenced far-reaching decisions, such as the declaration of martial law. That Mrs. Lincoln in her derangement refused to leave the White House created an enormous PR problem for everyone, and no one quite knew what to do about it, and it see-sawed the balance of power among those left to run the country. The surrender of Lee was not the end of the war, but we now regard subsequent actions as mere mopping-up. We only know that Booth was eventually caught and killed, against orders, and that Mrs. Lincoln did eventually leave and let President Johnson move in, and that General Johnston did shortly surrender. For us, mere footnotes among larger events. For them, the dominant questions of the moment.
First there is information I had never known, which left me dumbfounded. I am not an expert on the Civil War, but I do pay attention as things go by and know at least a bit. Or perhaps I don't, and only know one of the preferred narratives. Every episode some new twist is introduced and I recoil saying "That can't possibly be true." Yet when they discuss (between each episode) the actual historical support for their dramatic choices, those are the well-attested items, while the ones I had thought unremarkable are where they took some license.
Secondly, it is always good to be reminded that the events of history take place in real time, and the people making decisions and living them out do not know what we do. We read back what we know in a dozen ways that deceive us. It was a very big deal that Booth was still at large for two weeks after the assassination, and this influenced far-reaching decisions, such as the declaration of martial law. That Mrs. Lincoln in her derangement refused to leave the White House created an enormous PR problem for everyone, and no one quite knew what to do about it, and it see-sawed the balance of power among those left to run the country. The surrender of Lee was not the end of the war, but we now regard subsequent actions as mere mopping-up. We only know that Booth was eventually caught and killed, against orders, and that Mrs. Lincoln did eventually leave and let President Johnson move in, and that General Johnston did shortly surrender. For us, mere footnotes among larger events. For them, the dominant questions of the moment.
People Vs Principles
I noticed in a recent gay marriage discussion - a special context, as our small and tight-knit denomination decided to remove a church from the rolls for the first time in 134 years over the issue, and our congregation was discussing this in a formal meeting - that the people who were against the measure argued from people, while those in support argued from principle. This applied even to the people who were of divided mind and ambivalent about it, as the statements they shared were from principle when they were acknowledging the separation arguments and about people when they were contemplating the remaining unified options.
This was not 100% the case. There was some appeal to the principles of loving others as Jesus said and being welcoming, yet that still seems strongly in the "people" camp. The idea that we were misreading the scriptures was also offered, noting that homosexuality at the time the NT was being written was a matter of unequal power, of powerful older men having relationships with young men, and this was what Paul was reacting badly against. That is even more an argument from principle, of not adding burdens that the Bible does not require. I have thought about this possibility since I first heard it years ago and ultimately find it unpersuasive and may discuss that at some point. Yet it does qualify as a principle, not as a special pleading for an individual.
I have noticed a similar divide when people discuss abortion, extramarital sex, drug use, and some social sins such as rudeness or anger, which will sometimes be excused because the person "really has a good heart once you know her." It does not extend to other sins that people think are really wrong. No one says "Yes, she's greedy and manipulative but she's such a dear once you get to know her." No one says "Okay, he molests little girls, but he's otherwise a prince of a fellow." We only say this when we think the sin in question is not really, really all that wrong. I will qualify that by noting that we may have come to be more approving of those behaviors because of family or friends.
Carol Gilligan asserted decades ago that this was a difference between male and female morality, that men argued from principle, while women paid more attention to how an abortion or divorce would affect the network around the person. That is the stereotype and a lot of people will claim this Network vs Abstract is indeed a female/male difference, but I don't know it to be true. Gilligan refused to reveal her data, bizarrely citing confidentiality, and I don't believe her results have been replicated by others. I have certainly heard women appeal to principle in the face of loved ones being hurt, and heard men pretty clearly being swayed by the fact that they were talking about a friend or family member. At most, I will grant that a tendency might be there. It is not universal.
My tone and presentation likely telegraph that I am very much on the side of those who choose their morality according to principle, but I want the other lesson to emerge as well. Our principles might have changed if it were our sibling, our friend, or most especially, our child who we were talking about. It's my usual both-sides-now argument: if your principles changed because it was a friend who you considered a "nice person" who was under discussion, perhaps you should not have changed. If you reason from principle but have never been tempted by seeing the conflict play out on the head of your own child, perhaps you should not be so confident you would remain firm in other circumstances. Deep affection tests principles.
Yes, this is background to the issue of disgust as a moral axis.
This was not 100% the case. There was some appeal to the principles of loving others as Jesus said and being welcoming, yet that still seems strongly in the "people" camp. The idea that we were misreading the scriptures was also offered, noting that homosexuality at the time the NT was being written was a matter of unequal power, of powerful older men having relationships with young men, and this was what Paul was reacting badly against. That is even more an argument from principle, of not adding burdens that the Bible does not require. I have thought about this possibility since I first heard it years ago and ultimately find it unpersuasive and may discuss that at some point. Yet it does qualify as a principle, not as a special pleading for an individual.
I have noticed a similar divide when people discuss abortion, extramarital sex, drug use, and some social sins such as rudeness or anger, which will sometimes be excused because the person "really has a good heart once you know her." It does not extend to other sins that people think are really wrong. No one says "Yes, she's greedy and manipulative but she's such a dear once you get to know her." No one says "Okay, he molests little girls, but he's otherwise a prince of a fellow." We only say this when we think the sin in question is not really, really all that wrong. I will qualify that by noting that we may have come to be more approving of those behaviors because of family or friends.
Carol Gilligan asserted decades ago that this was a difference between male and female morality, that men argued from principle, while women paid more attention to how an abortion or divorce would affect the network around the person. That is the stereotype and a lot of people will claim this Network vs Abstract is indeed a female/male difference, but I don't know it to be true. Gilligan refused to reveal her data, bizarrely citing confidentiality, and I don't believe her results have been replicated by others. I have certainly heard women appeal to principle in the face of loved ones being hurt, and heard men pretty clearly being swayed by the fact that they were talking about a friend or family member. At most, I will grant that a tendency might be there. It is not universal.
My tone and presentation likely telegraph that I am very much on the side of those who choose their morality according to principle, but I want the other lesson to emerge as well. Our principles might have changed if it were our sibling, our friend, or most especially, our child who we were talking about. It's my usual both-sides-now argument: if your principles changed because it was a friend who you considered a "nice person" who was under discussion, perhaps you should not have changed. If you reason from principle but have never been tempted by seeing the conflict play out on the head of your own child, perhaps you should not be so confident you would remain firm in other circumstances. Deep affection tests principles.
Yes, this is background to the issue of disgust as a moral axis.
Saturday, August 03, 2019
A Slip of the Tongue
From an article in the Jewish Journal.
Host Ebro Darden said there are “multiple corrupt governments working together” worldwide, citing Israel, Russia, Saudi Arabia and the United States. He then said that “there are a lot of young Jewish people I know that are against the occupation” and that “what’s going on with Israel and Palestine – while it’s very, very deep – it is very, very criminal and it is very, very unjust.” Ocasio-Cortez replied, “Absolutely. I think to where we’re at as a country when it comes to Israel-Palestine is very much a generational issue.” She added that “young Jews in Israel” are tired of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and said that the Netanyahu government is just like the Trump administration.I'm sure he meant very, very, very. And so did she.
Drinking Too Much
Just in case you were worried, there are levels beyond levels. I had a patient this week who has been drinking over 40 units a day, usually hitting 50. Those are Eastern European levels. The bio father of my two Romanians drank two liters of palinca a day. That would go anywhere from 80 to 130 proof, made out in the shed. Babushkas sell it to tourists in Fanta bottles for the equivalent of a couple of dollars each.
The Politics of Disgust
I was composing a new post in my head about the politics of disgust. I thought I had said something about it before, years ago, in the context of Jonathan Haidt's Moral Foundations Theory. I figured that linking back to that as a warmup would be an intro to the post, so I entered "disgust" in my search bar.
I have actually written about it a fair bit, and have previously made all the best points I was thinking of making today. Check that. Richard Johnson made a point in a comments section that I must have thoroughly absorbed and was about to make myself without crediting him.
There is enough that I think I shall review them and see if I can't make one or two really good posts out of them.
I have actually written about it a fair bit, and have previously made all the best points I was thinking of making today. Check that. Richard Johnson made a point in a comments section that I must have thoroughly absorbed and was about to make myself without crediting him.
There is enough that I think I shall review them and see if I can't make one or two really good posts out of them.
Food Snobbery
It's all fun and games until the food snobs come along.
And then more food snobs.
Sandwich connoisseurs* know...
The majority of Americans have never...
Well, if you've had really authentic...
It is entirely okay to declare your preferences and criticise others choices - food is a matter of, ahem, taste, after all. Just don't preen about it.
The sandwich thread was otherwise fun.
*I still can only remember the spelling of that by thinking of Snagglepuss pronouncing it.
And then more food snobs.
Sandwich connoisseurs* know...
The majority of Americans have never...
Well, if you've had really authentic...
It is entirely okay to declare your preferences and criticise others choices - food is a matter of, ahem, taste, after all. Just don't preen about it.
The sandwich thread was otherwise fun.
*I still can only remember the spelling of that by thinking of Snagglepuss pronouncing it.
Friday, August 02, 2019
Tulsi Gabbard
I forget you don't see what we see here in NH. You would think Tulsi was the only person running for president at the moment. Her people are into very big "TULSI" signs. You don't see even small signs for most others. On bumpers, you can't always tell if the Bernie Sanders stickers are new or left over from last time.
Thursday, August 01, 2019
Saved Links
Progressive Cities have the worst housing inequality. Sometimes being against racism mostly means other people. October 2017
Obamacare was built with the flaws Trump now exploits. Megan McArdle. October 2017
Harvey Weinstein - Two narratives . Paul Mirengoff over at Powerline: October 2017
If We All Stopped Eating Beef. Popular Science October 2017.
Obamacare was built with the flaws Trump now exploits. Megan McArdle. October 2017
Harvey Weinstein - Two narratives . Paul Mirengoff over at Powerline: October 2017
In fact, however, the Hollywood exposed by the Weinstein scandal is a special case. I have litigated sexual harassment cases, advised corporations about the issue, contributed a chapter to a book about the law of sexual harassment, and read (I’m guessing) a few thousand court decisions in which harassment was alleged. I can think of a few cases where an executive was accused of acting as viciously as Weinstein over a period of years. But I can’t think of any in which the behavior was condoned on such a widespread scale — one that went beyond a single employer to penetrate an entire industry — much less condoned so broadly for decades.Democrats Yelp as Trump Upholds Constitution Michael Barone October 2017
If We All Stopped Eating Beef. Popular Science October 2017.
Party Declaration
I forgot to mention that I changed my party affiliation to "Undeclared" a few weeks ago. In NH you don't say "Independent," because that is occasionally the name of an actual party.
Monday, July 29, 2019
Saturday, July 27, 2019
The 71st-75th Most Popular Posts
I reviewed Charles C. Mann's 1493, a follow-on to his 1491. Both changed the way I looked at whole swaths of history, and I have reread them since. Sometimes I repent of my excitement for a book or article because I get swept away in its argument, which I later decide has holes. I still recommend these. Because of how quickly new archaeological information comes out, both already have claims that have been superseded. Those are still minor. May 2014
The Future of Us All. A discussion of changes in jobs and changes in the economy - what will it mean going forward. Good links. Good comments. I still like my own points fairly well. January 2012
Lumosity. Well, it might be true. I discuss why we should be suspicious. I suspect the traffic for this post is driven by people search for opinions about Lumosity. I hope mine helped. August 2012.
The (Not-Very) Good Old Days of Education - Part 1. I submitted the entire series over at Chicago Boyz recently, where it was not well received. The complaint was that I had not made the case all that well that prior education was all that bad, and even less had made the point that current education is just about as good. Perhaps so, I went on at length without making my point at times. Yet I am still chalking it up to simple resistance to an idea that conservatives love. School used to be abusive, both physically and in humiliating children. Much of what was taught was useless. Anecdotes to the contrary are more likely to mislead than to inform. WRT today, whatever crap they are teaching and bad attitudes they are encouraging - and they are - America still leads the world, all the way through school. This is disguised by the apples-and-oranges research that always shows us 27th in the world, behind Namibia or whatever, that media sources love to report on every year. It's not true. June 2012. The rest of the series Part II. What's Wrong With The Schools? Not part of the series, but humorous and related. English Public (private) Schools. Part III.
Father's Day Sermon Just me grousing. Some fun comments from those at liturgical/lectionary churches. June 2011.
The Future of Us All. A discussion of changes in jobs and changes in the economy - what will it mean going forward. Good links. Good comments. I still like my own points fairly well. January 2012
Lumosity. Well, it might be true. I discuss why we should be suspicious. I suspect the traffic for this post is driven by people search for opinions about Lumosity. I hope mine helped. August 2012.
The (Not-Very) Good Old Days of Education - Part 1. I submitted the entire series over at Chicago Boyz recently, where it was not well received. The complaint was that I had not made the case all that well that prior education was all that bad, and even less had made the point that current education is just about as good. Perhaps so, I went on at length without making my point at times. Yet I am still chalking it up to simple resistance to an idea that conservatives love. School used to be abusive, both physically and in humiliating children. Much of what was taught was useless. Anecdotes to the contrary are more likely to mislead than to inform. WRT today, whatever crap they are teaching and bad attitudes they are encouraging - and they are - America still leads the world, all the way through school. This is disguised by the apples-and-oranges research that always shows us 27th in the world, behind Namibia or whatever, that media sources love to report on every year. It's not true. June 2012. The rest of the series Part II. What's Wrong With The Schools? Not part of the series, but humorous and related. English Public (private) Schools. Part III.
Father's Day Sermon Just me grousing. Some fun comments from those at liturgical/lectionary churches. June 2011.
Denouement, Continued
Hmm. Perhaps I overestimated how much deep thought was going to result from Arthur C Brooks' essay. I am having many thoughts, but they don't seem to be leading very far. Certainly not to any coherent whole.
I see an advantage to the career I fell into that I had not noticed before. The amount of fluid intelligence needed for the job is above average, but not enormous. I always made my way through by finding side specialties to learn about, or took on special projects, or mostly, just finished my work as soon as possible so that I could chat up the very intelligent people who I found around there. I recommend neurologists as a go-to resource for that, with psychiatrists second. Psychologists who do testing or research I would rank pretty high as well. But mostly, my fluid intelligence always went to things outside of work, and those are still largely available to me.
Thus, coming in to cover for other people's vacation requires an adaptability and willingness to endure unfamiliarity and chaos that most people don't like, but I'll have enough fluid intelligence for this gig even after anticipated decline. This part of the adjustment is not bad at all, and I can see myself doing it indefinitely.
His opening story about the elderly famous person who was feeling useless did sting a bit. I had thought that the problem in those years might be regrets at not having accomplished more, yet here was someone who accomplished a great deal. Current usefulness is the issue for some. I had a glimpse of this in 2000, shortly after my mother died. I took my stepfather out to lunch and he mentioned that he was not useful anymore. I nodded that I had seen the first of that the year before, as my second son came to the end of his highschool years. We had not fully decided to bring the two Romanians into the family at that point, and I still considered that raising the first two sons had been the Great Work of Tracy's and my life. What would I do after? Work was a job, not a career. Perhaps getting the new church off the ground would be the key.
My stepfather cut me off dismissively, that I didn't understand at all - very typical of him, but I at least see his point. He had been successful in his career, president of a mutual fund and made millions. He had just gone through the arduous two years of losing a second wife to cancer. My comment must have seemed shallow to him. No one needed him anymore, not for anything. I still had children at home and a wife. I had a job to go to. That earlier success actually makes the transition harder had not quite occurred to me, thought it makes sense. We get used to a certain level of status and accomplishment as normal and perceive sharply any diminution. My semi-retirement two-and-a-half years ago was an opposite for me. I was greatly relieved at not having so many things depend on me every day. To walk away from permanent anxiety was blessed release. Maybe that will look different in four years.
I was a little irritated at Brooks going the Hindu mystic route - I have never had much patience with Americans trying to get the hang or Eastern religions. The advice he received and passed on was more practical than mystical, however. I had read something like this before. It does seem wise to change goals to what is more appropriate for those who have seen much. To see things and understand them and pass them on may be among our more useful tasks, not a consolation prize. Dragging in David Brooks and his new book did make me wonder whether Arthur understood this as deeply as I thought. To focus on eulogy virtues instead of resume virtues is a nice phrasing, but is this really so profound? I've been thinking about death since I was a child, and have had a life of sermons, books, conversation, and Bible studies that taught the vanity of earthly accomplishment and the preeminence of building a self for the next world. Isn't it simply...well, I suppose it still needs to be taught, new every morning.
I see an advantage to the career I fell into that I had not noticed before. The amount of fluid intelligence needed for the job is above average, but not enormous. I always made my way through by finding side specialties to learn about, or took on special projects, or mostly, just finished my work as soon as possible so that I could chat up the very intelligent people who I found around there. I recommend neurologists as a go-to resource for that, with psychiatrists second. Psychologists who do testing or research I would rank pretty high as well. But mostly, my fluid intelligence always went to things outside of work, and those are still largely available to me.
Thus, coming in to cover for other people's vacation requires an adaptability and willingness to endure unfamiliarity and chaos that most people don't like, but I'll have enough fluid intelligence for this gig even after anticipated decline. This part of the adjustment is not bad at all, and I can see myself doing it indefinitely.
His opening story about the elderly famous person who was feeling useless did sting a bit. I had thought that the problem in those years might be regrets at not having accomplished more, yet here was someone who accomplished a great deal. Current usefulness is the issue for some. I had a glimpse of this in 2000, shortly after my mother died. I took my stepfather out to lunch and he mentioned that he was not useful anymore. I nodded that I had seen the first of that the year before, as my second son came to the end of his highschool years. We had not fully decided to bring the two Romanians into the family at that point, and I still considered that raising the first two sons had been the Great Work of Tracy's and my life. What would I do after? Work was a job, not a career. Perhaps getting the new church off the ground would be the key.
My stepfather cut me off dismissively, that I didn't understand at all - very typical of him, but I at least see his point. He had been successful in his career, president of a mutual fund and made millions. He had just gone through the arduous two years of losing a second wife to cancer. My comment must have seemed shallow to him. No one needed him anymore, not for anything. I still had children at home and a wife. I had a job to go to. That earlier success actually makes the transition harder had not quite occurred to me, thought it makes sense. We get used to a certain level of status and accomplishment as normal and perceive sharply any diminution. My semi-retirement two-and-a-half years ago was an opposite for me. I was greatly relieved at not having so many things depend on me every day. To walk away from permanent anxiety was blessed release. Maybe that will look different in four years.
I was a little irritated at Brooks going the Hindu mystic route - I have never had much patience with Americans trying to get the hang or Eastern religions. The advice he received and passed on was more practical than mystical, however. I had read something like this before. It does seem wise to change goals to what is more appropriate for those who have seen much. To see things and understand them and pass them on may be among our more useful tasks, not a consolation prize. Dragging in David Brooks and his new book did make me wonder whether Arthur understood this as deeply as I thought. To focus on eulogy virtues instead of resume virtues is a nice phrasing, but is this really so profound? I've been thinking about death since I was a child, and have had a life of sermons, books, conversation, and Bible studies that taught the vanity of earthly accomplishment and the preeminence of building a self for the next world. Isn't it simply...well, I suppose it still needs to be taught, new every morning.
Smoke On The Water
Sponge-headed Scienceman informed me that Pat Boone had done a heavy metal album in the 1990s. Even better, he has a copy of it, which he lent to me. It's called "In A Metal Mood" and has Pat in leathers, riding a motorcycle.It includes "No More Mr. Nice Guy."
It all starts out with reasonable promise, but then 20 seconds in, you realise that this is less of Deep Purple and heavy metal, and more of hot jazz from an earlier era. I expected to see Sammy Davis Jr. peek out and give a thumbs up. Good guitar solo just before the 2:30 mark, though.
The final song on the album, "Stairway to Heaven," was not so jarring, as it had always been one of those contrast, slowed-down songs that every heavy metal band had a couple of.
It all starts out with reasonable promise, but then 20 seconds in, you realise that this is less of Deep Purple and heavy metal, and more of hot jazz from an earlier era. I expected to see Sammy Davis Jr. peek out and give a thumbs up. Good guitar solo just before the 2:30 mark, though.
The final song on the album, "Stairway to Heaven," was not so jarring, as it had always been one of those contrast, slowed-down songs that every heavy metal band had a couple of.
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