Political Correctness
FWIW, I completely agree with Julia Louis-Dreyfus here. Being “PC” means having a sensitive awareness of other people, and that’s never a bad thing, IMO.
Tagged with: Political Correctness
Grammar in Political Writing
Do you ever get a text that starts like this? “Hi, (Craig). Joe Biden here, asking you for your support in the upcoming election….”
Anyone’s first thought would be that the president of the United States is most definitely not sending out text messages, and that’s a good thing, considering that his time would be better spent on arenas related to world peace, managing Russia’s unprovoked attack on Eastern Europe, growing the job market, controlling inflation, and moving the nation forward in climate change mitigation.
Similarly, the advertisement shown above was not written by Biden, but the reason I’m confident in that is different: it invokes the grammatical prowess of perhaps a 7th grade kid who’s struggling with English.
“Myself” is a reflexive pronoun, and is not a substitute for the word “I,” which is the subjective first person singular pronoun. Also, if there is more than one subject of the sentence, as is the case here, “I” belongs as the last one.
Dealing with Power
We’re surrounded by the words of human history’s greatest minds, many of whom seem to be reminding us of the jeopardy in which we find ourselves today.
After the president of the United States who was elected in 2016 lost in 2020, he went on a mission to retain power, and in the most blatantly illegal means imaginable.
Tagged with: Dealing with Power
Correlation Does Not Imply Causation
Most of us would agree that music programs are wonderful things to have in our schools, but we need to learn how to think logically at the same time.
Is it possible that:
Schools with music programs are simply better than average schools, with other characteristics, e.g., better teachers, that cause higher graduation rates?
Students who attend schools with music programs come from more affluent families that encourage graduation?
Tagged with: Correlation Does Not Imply Causation
Heat in the Atlantic
The map here is “sea surface temperature anomaly,” and is described as follows: The Atlantic Ocean basin is facing unprecedented conditions in 2024. A severe marine heatwave has developed in the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and off Florida’s coast, with water temperatures reaching the low 90s. The Florida Keys and the Bahamas are under a bleaching warning due to record-high temperatures, stressing coral reefs and marine ecosystems. Some areas are 5-8°F above normal.
Nearly the entire tropical Atlantic is experiencing a marine heatwave. These record temperatures will fuel stronger hurricanes. A 2°F rise in sea temperatures can increase hurricane wind speeds by over 13%, potentially turning a 140 mph Category 4 hurricane into a 160 mph Category 5, tripling the damage potential.
With La Niña creating favorable conditions for hurricane development, NOAA has issued its most aggressive hurricane season forecast on record for 2024.
Tagged with: record-high temperatures
Religion and Science
This is true by definition. Religion is based on faith, not reason. If it were provable, it would be science.
In most cases, I don’t have anything against this. People who believe they’re going to see their grandparents in heaven are not causing any real problems.
Exceptions:
Religion taught in schools as science, e.g., creationism.
Violence inflicted in the name of religion, examples of which are too numerous to mention.
Fanaticism that results in stupidity, e.g., evangelical Christians for Trump.
Tagged with: religion and science
Quantum Mechanics and the Human Mind
The meme here reminds me of a thought I had during my first (and only) course on the subject:
There’s no guarantee that the human mind evolved so as to make sense of the universe, and it appears that, in fact, it did not. We’re used to dealing with things around us that we can see and touch, like spears, rocks, and bodies of water. To say that two particles on opposite sides of the universe affect one another instantaneously is so completely counter-intuitive that trying to figure this stuff out might just be folly.
Tagged with: Quantum Mechanics and the Human Mind
Next Gen Paper?
Is it possible to make paper products from recycled stone? Of course. We have the technology at this point to do all kinds of things never dreamed of before.We can gather up distributor caps from old Fords and reprocess them into paper, and, while this will “save a tree,” it’s a fabulously stupid idea.
Karst Paper Goods advertises : (Our paper, shown at left ) is made from recycled stone, completely removing the conventional need for wood in paper manufacturing. No trees, no acids, no water and no waste. (It’s) more durable, more sustainable, and infinitely smoother to write, scribble, doodle or draw on.
Are we concerned that our current paper is too rough or uneven to “write, scribble, doodle or draw on?”
Are we aware that, in the digital age, paper is becoming increasingly less relevant?
There are paths toward sustainability, but this, to be sure, isn’t one.
Tagged with: Next Gen Paper
The Horrible Truths We Face in the U.S. November Presidential Election
I’m surprised to see this pabulum from George Clooney. It’s not incorrect, but it’s an extremely bland statement as to what’s going on here.
All U.S. elections are about progressives, who, by definition, want to move our country forward, and conservatives who want to move the country back to an earlier time. Look at Barry Goldwater vs. Lyndon Johnson, or G.W. Bush vs. Al Gore, or any of the others.
What makes this election unique is that one of its two candidates is clearly a criminal sociopath. We’ve heard what he said about exacting revenge against his political enemies. We’ve all read the indictments against him, and seen that multiple grand juries have found solid evidence that he tried to overthrow the U.S. federal government. There’s not much doubt as to what’s going to happen to American democracy if he’s re-elected.
America finds itself at a truly momentous point in time, and it has little to do with the usual issues of liberal and conservative.
Nature, Nurture, and …. ?
We’ve been having this discussion for at least 100 years. How is it possible that two siblings with essentially the same DNA and the same home environment can be such different people?
In the 18th Century, British philosopher John Locke proposed his theory of tabula rasa, “blank slate,” suggesting that, when we’re born into this world, we bring with us exactly zero in terms of what will later become our unique selves. Few if any of us believe that today.
But what precisely do we believe?
Spiritualists assert that each individual has its own “basic personality,” perhaps deriving from our past lives.
Biologists who specialize in this arena are investigating epigenetics, the concept that we have genetic information that causes elements of our genome to either be expressed or not.
Many questions remain.
Tagged with: epigenetics
