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Comments Posted By cyrano1

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The Crisis of Reality:Conclusions

Killgore: Morality in the abstract seems a great concept we all buy into. Yet the reality I’m grappling with right now is when “morality” cuts into self preservation. When a childhood friend and former small business owner made an early decision to refuse paying into social security, and is now decades later destitute, has tapped out all of his other friends, and is asking me (a friend who has occasionally been in contact) for financial help, I’ve found myself grappling with my own morality by actually facing the reality that I’m making a decision about the extent I choose to practice it. I’ve given some substantial financial assistance and have chauffeured him to doctor appointments, but am finding that his declining situation and my own declining willingness to continue rendering assistance into an ever enlarging black hole of need has left me in a moral bind – guilt ridden but also realizing that continuing to “help” will drain what few resources I have left.

I’m absolutely positive that many of us have to make these kinds of “immoral” decisions frequently, and they’re extremely uncomfortable for all of us who, in the abstract, believe ourselves to be our brother’s keepers.

» Posted By cyrano1 On February 28, 2011 @ 4:08 pm

PW: Thanks! Our interconnectedness in what we understand of our “universe” is undeniable to me, as well as the incredible history and possibilities of history which we only faintly grasp. The only “tangible” proof seems to lie in our shared elements – about which, of course, the full results aren’t in. That our stars twinkle with the ancestors of previously existing lifeforms makes perfect sense!

That we live in a time when enough is known to allow our minds to wonder at the vastness and complexity of it is a gift isn’t it? And that we can imagine our expanding universe as the size of a molecule in an even larger universe is quite entertaining and not without reason.

I believe the reality that we’re insured of eternal existence is beyond any doubt on my part. We lifeforms along with borderline and inert ingredients get recycled, no matter what form the elements take and wherever they endlessly travel into the future. We can assume that eventually we’ll join the twinkling ancestors of others as new stars are born.

And I do buy into the conceit that those of us who truly realize what specks we are in the space-time continuum have a better grasp of the reality that our legacy in life is confined to the brief period we’re alive to interact with our planet and the beings on it. With such a perspective, amassing great wealth, owning a bunch of stuff, and fouling the air we breathe just doesn’t seem to make much sense somehow.

» Posted By cyrano1 On February 28, 2011 @ 2:08 pm

PW: Love your posts! That you’ve used the word “we” instead of “I” in your last sentence says it all. Our search is a shared one – yet we live in a world full of humans who don’t search and think in terms of “I”. Too many of our fellows have the answers already canned and ready for instant delivery, and their “we” is too often confined only to those who share their unquestioned beliefs.

The belief that stars are the “twinkling souls of our ancestors” is a lovely thought to contemplate, as well as researching the fascinating myths that gave it birth; but not likely to contribute to further unraveling of the mysteries of the universe from a scientific standpoint.

Asking “the right question to get the answer we need for the problem at hand” demands that we face our temporal existence and that parties trying to solve the problem at hand aren’t so fully entrenched in their own unacknowledged blinders that viable solutions requiring pragmatism, acceptance of diverse opinions, and what we know of science are excluded.

Many of us understand that the separate lenses we each use to view life is severely limited, and that we’ve only scratched the surface in our capacity to even ponder about what more there is to begin to understand; but we also dimly realize that these are the only tools available for us to continue trying to make our shared existences more meaningful.

The commonly held view (belief) here at Planet that a meaningful existence includes the endless struggle to include equity in the lives of our fellows is definitely not universally shared is it? And do those who spend their lives scratching for the basic necessities needed to continue their existence for another day have the luxury of time to ponder on what it all means?

» Posted By cyrano1 On February 28, 2011 @ 12:12 pm

Agreed. We’re at this point a member of the self replicating life forms which arose from the stuff of stars, and all of us lifeforms have a deeply wired in instinct for survival (narcissism).

(disclaimer: until otherwise informed through further scientific breakthroughs)

» Posted By cyrano1 On February 28, 2011 @ 10:03 am

An Ill-advised Rant on the Nature of Arguments

From the poetry of Donald Rumsfeld:

The Unknown
As we know,
There are known knowns.
There are things we know we know.
We also know
There are known unknowns.
That is to say
We know there are some things
We do not know.
But there are also unknown unknowns,
The ones we don’t know
We don’t know.

🙄

» Posted By cyrano1 On February 28, 2011 @ 9:01 am

In the World of the Blind, We’re Often Led Off the Cliff

Marion: Hah! Thanks! I just looked him up and he really does appear to be as you describe. A self-serving, heartless predator disguised as a “notable journalist” fitted with enough proper education credentials to get away with it here in the US.

» Posted By cyrano1 On February 27, 2011 @ 1:14 pm

jdmn17: I loved the fact that at once time they were contrasts, but not as “contrasty” as they later became. I subscribed to both for many decades in order to get a sense of balance in public “thinking”. I cancelled Time in disgust well over a decade ago over an outrageously inaccurate William Safire piece, and just now have cast off Newsweek. I guess I’ll just cave in and finally subscribe to “The Nation” as my only snail mail current events source. It’s a proudly lefty rag and some of us currently jammed into our ideological corners are increasingly in need for comfort from those who preach only to the choir. Besides, it has that nostalgic cheezy newsprint quality so lacking in today’s slick-faced, slim contents publications .

» Posted By cyrano1 On February 27, 2011 @ 12:57 pm

It was once a liberal publication! John Meacham was at the helm and Fareed Zakaria was a regular contributor. When Newsweek was bought from the Washington Post by Sidney Harman last April for one dollar, Meacham and Zakaria bailed. They must have known it was a failing publication, and found new homes elsewhere. It did come as a surprise to me that a rightward slant was in the works.

The Feb 21 issue which prompted my cancellation contains a slim 48 pages including ads, the Will article, the Ferguson ambush, well-written pieces on Wael Ghonim and the Mubarak history and family, and ends with a page devoted to Bristol Palin. Quite a mess!

» Posted By cyrano1 On February 27, 2011 @ 10:02 am

Marion: Thanks! You’re writing what I think! The polarization here CAUSED by a media which is not held responsible for weighing the merits of each side of our disagreements continues to shove us into our respective corners. Schultz, who I found to be too hyperbolic to listen to prior to the Wisconsin demonstrations found a place in my heart when the “greater evil” of blatant union busting made his rhetoric more welcome and palatable – (for about a week).

I watch BBC, CBC, PBS Newshour, and Al Jazeera to obtain the more in depth local and important global information not uniformly available on our own mainstream MSM. A couple of exceptions in my view are Fareed Zakaria and Christiane Amanpour. Plus there are sometimes moments of lucidity among some of the other daily MSM pundits (excluding Fox) who occasionally buckle down to do some research, call in real experts, and indulge in more in depth, balanced reporting. Rachel is the ultimate go-to person to dig out truth to combat right wing spin and lies and would never suggest that sitting out an election is a good idea. Wouldn’t it be nice to have your system of civility required of British media so we wouldn’t have to resort to shouting?

Television news isn’t the only vehicle of spin in the US. I just this morning cancelled my subscription to Newsweek Magazine. It’s been easy to ignore their regular ultra right wing columnist, George Will; but when they gave this week’s cover story to their shiny new Obama bashing columnist, Niall Ferguson, it all became too much to support. Ferguson, in my view, is a simple-minded Rumsfeld clone equipped with a larger vocabulary – and he apparently believes Obama’s inability to control and guide unfolding events in North Africa reveals a fatal flaw in his foreign policy expertise.

Thus again, opinion becomes fact for the uninformed in a country full of provincial voters who proudly confirm their lack of global perspective.

» Posted By cyrano1 On February 27, 2011 @ 9:28 am

The Death of Moderation

A Buddy and PW: Guess I’m thinking about the inability for our voters to think before voting. Here in Washington State, for example, voters resoundingly defeated two measures which would keep our state revenues flowing in and one which would have actually increased them. Two were regressive in that they would require sustaining a system which imposes state controls over who is allowed to sell liquor, and what food (bottled water, candy) should be taxed. The other was Bill Gates senior’s initiative to institute a state income tax dinging the top two percent of wage earners.

People SAY they’re willing to pay higher taxes, but when it comes to the ballot box, they really proved they AREN’T. And I don’t believe that dems sitting it out made the difference. The vote spread was just too huge to explain it any other way: Voters really don’t like paying for the services they expect, no matter how they respond otherwise in polls.

» Posted By cyrano1 On February 23, 2011 @ 1:54 pm

I LOVE your article!! And every time I try to “moderate” my opinions, something like the Wisconsin issue comes up and I find myself jammed back into the spittle spewing species I’m really not fond of. Guess it boils down to my own reality that the “other” side really does have control of the agenda through corporations and corporate owned MSM. They do own too much of the governing process. Our small voice heard through our MSNBC heroes spend the bulk of their time REACTING: correcting lies, skewering the irrational “thinking” of assorted politicians, and revealing real motives behind the spin.

Weighing our current education levels and our current direction in government against those of our better educated neighbors, our reality can’t be ignored. We’re a right-leaning, anti education country which celebrates individual rights; and while giving voice to shared responsibility, we prove otherwise through our uninformed votes.

Many of us understand we can’t fix a country in quick decline when it’s full of fast food voters who lack basic critical thinking skills – so we’ll continue to rail loudly against the process which continues to bring us down as a nation. And Ed Schultz, who a week prior to Wisconsin I found to be too loud and abrasive to watch, is now my current hero and the voice of reason.

» Posted By cyrano1 On February 23, 2011 @ 9:48 am

The Daily Planet, Vol. 2

Fabulous post again Cher! I’ve just spent what seems like hours clicking on your sources which led to other sources which puts more pieces of the incestuous right wing “think” tank corporate funded puzzle of government ownership together for me. Thanks for laying a trail of perfectly placed bread crumbs for us to follow!

Your links led me to revisit my local piece of the puzzle, our local Evergreen Freedom Foundation, another Koch via Cato funded marvel which has for many years relentless gone after our Washington State Teacher’s Union, WEA. And although Cato’s list of corporate donors has shrunk, Walmart is still (no surprise) a heavy contributor. 🙁

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Cato_Institute#Corporate_sponsors

» Posted By cyrano1 On February 21, 2011 @ 1:50 pm

Sarah Palin is Right

X2!! A lovely parody!! Nicely done, Caru!!

» Posted By cyrano1 On February 20, 2011 @ 6:32 pm

The Daily Planet, Vol.1 Sunday Edition

Cher: Thanks! And of course it’s significant! Would Rachel lose her job if she did a running segment on media ignored protests throughout our own country? It has to start somewhere, right? I even think some of MSNBC is starting to rub off a little on some of the rest of them (except Fox, of course)

There certainly weren’t any cameras around when we marched against the Iraq war were there? We all have video cameras and we can send in footage. We just need a large venue to air them instead of sharing within our own closed loop.

» Posted By cyrano1 On February 21, 2011 @ 12:12 pm

Cher: I just watched it again, and the entire video has been re-edited – but the Bernstein piece is still intact. Yep, he definitely has the “entitlement” lingo down and has bought into the sweeping meme that social security and medicare urgently need fixing. Sooo, a huge chunk of the union discussion was derailed with unchallenged simplistic theoretical statements from Bernstein – of all people!

I think we always want the entirety of all issues to be discussed when any part of of them are used in arguments. And intent or time constraints make that either politically inadvisable or would drag out debate to intolerable lengths for an audience with little tolerance for content beyond the text version of a bumper sticker. Thanks for calling our attention to it!

» Posted By cyrano1 On February 21, 2011 @ 11:56 am

PW: Me either. The one and only time I swatted one of my kids on the rear was the time my three year old daughter ran into the street. She insists 40 years later that I didn’t alter her view on life through my impulsive fearful response. And I’m a parent who like many of those in my generation was regularly smacked around and vowed to never re-visit that tradition on the next generation.

Which leads me to reflect that it was our smacked around generation which marched in the streets for civil rights legislation. Hmmmm. Maybe we should have smacked our own kids around so they’d be less inclined to sit out the injustices we’re facing today? They tend to “discuss” rationally but don’t appear to take action? 🙄

» Posted By cyrano1 On February 21, 2011 @ 11:34 am

It’s still so maddening isn’t it? I think we’re all suffering from outrage fatigue. New Zealand sounds nice!

» Posted By cyrano1 On February 21, 2011 @ 10:39 am

Thanks for sending us to Morning Joe! The link didn’t work for me so I found the union discussion by googling Morning Joe and hit the video link.

I loved the discussion – even the issue Joe brought up later about closed shop practices which force those who don’t wish to join to participate – and in addition, support candidates they don’t like because their membership fees go into the PAC contributions the majority endorse. I’ve been familiar with this issue for decades and expect the tension between the small minority and the far greater majority will always exist. The costs of collective bargaining? The loss of individual freedom when one is in the minority.

Obviously Joe brought this up because he’s not a fan of unions, and his message to viewers who lack the fuller view, will be swayed against union practices through his argument.

So, the real issue may be whether or not we feel the whole argument should be aired, or just that with which we agree?

» Posted By cyrano1 On February 21, 2011 @ 10:31 am

Lakoff in my view is absolutely right. Simplicity at the expense of a broader understanding: the mindset of individual responsibility versus shared responsibility in ourselves and towards our fellows. While I’d like to think we can follow his advice and re-frame the message for broader appeal to conservatives, the infrastructure for message delivery (our MSM) belongs to those we’re trying to re-train.

This morning watching CNN, two people were interviewed to answer the burning question of whether or not Wisconsin teachers should return to the classroom. Both responded that they should. Job neglect by self centered protesters all at the expense of frustrated parents! The real message that collective bargaining rights hangs in the balance was again not heard.

Our MSM really is in control of the terms used to describe the message. That we have a small corner of MSNBC is nothing short of a miracle.

» Posted By cyrano1 On February 21, 2011 @ 9:51 am

Wisconsin, what does it really mean?

“Teachers Unions, ACT/SAT, and Student Performance: Is Wisconsin Out-Ranking the Non-Union States?”

“To sum up:

Yes, Wisconsin has great schools, with great outcomes. Yes, states without teachers’ unions lag behind. Yes, that lag persists even when you control for demographic variables. Yes, that difference seems to rest less on the quantifiable resources that unions fight to bring to the classroom than on the professionalism, positive working environment, and effective school administration that unions foster.

And yes, Virginia, (and Texas, Georgia, and North and South Carolina) unions do work.”

http://studentactivism.net/2011/02/21/teachers-unions-actsat-and-student-performance-is-wisconsin-out-ranking-the-non-union-states/

» Posted By cyrano1 On February 21, 2011 @ 8:19 am

And now I’m realizing that any state has these issues or can have them. School districts and administrators do the hiring, so if they have lax standards, or employ favoritism or nepotism, or hire due to a favorite hair color ……………. anything can happen. We live with systems that are held captive by the people who run them aren’t we?

» Posted By cyrano1 On February 20, 2011 @ 7:49 pm

You’re totally taunting us with these things! 🙄

» Posted By cyrano1 On February 20, 2011 @ 7:03 pm

Maybe this will work? 😆

» Posted By cyrano1 On February 20, 2011 @ 6:58 pm

@ Kesmarn: Good grief!! Where did this take place? What state? Appalling!

» Posted By cyrano1 On February 20, 2011 @ 6:53 pm

Dang!! It works! 🙄

» Posted By cyrano1 On February 20, 2011 @ 6:44 pm

Thanks Cher! Bookmarked it! 😆

» Posted By cyrano1 On February 20, 2011 @ 6:39 pm

Those are FABULOUS!! Ya gonna tell me how to do them??

» Posted By cyrano1 On February 20, 2011 @ 6:27 pm

time to share! I’d love me some animated giffy smiley thingys. 🙂

» Posted By cyrano1 On February 20, 2011 @ 6:16 pm

Hah! Maybe a genetic defect? 🙂

» Posted By cyrano1 On February 20, 2011 @ 6:13 pm

Cher: You’re hitting on my major hot button issue!

My sense of it is that too many students come unprepared to work, they’re distracted by the toys they bring into the classroom, not enough of their parents demand accountability, too much emphasis is on grades without concern for content, and parents tend to place blame on teachers when their kids fail to perform to acceptable standards. All under the umbrella of “entitlement”: Unearned self regard, which seems to be the underlying malaise which keeps our downward spiral in motion – each generation losing a bit more “wisdom” than the previous.

Aided and abetted by administrators who fear the wrath of unhappy parents and as a result, fail to support their teachers when community politics trump reasonable behavioral expectations.

» Posted By cyrano1 On February 20, 2011 @ 5:59 pm