What America’s Allies Wouldn’t Do
To put it another way, they refused to commit war crimes by participating in an illegal and immoral war.
Are Our Brains “Wired” Differently?
At left is something that theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer said shortly before he was executed by the Third Reich for his protest against the fascist regime.
Most of us have had the thought he expressed here. We may be talking with an old friend who went to a prestigious college and showed when we were young considerable intelligence, who now, when it comes to world politics is now limited to the talking points of Newsmax and Fox News.
How did this happen?
Nobody knows, but, over the last couple of decades, this subject has caught the attention of neuroscientists who believe that liberals’ and conservatives’ brains are internally connected differently from each other.
As an example, tests show that the brain activity of self-identified liberals and conservatives are vastly different when experimental subjects are shown photographs of potentially threatening animals, like spiders and snakes. Those who think of themselves as conservatives have brain activity that show fear and hatred, while self-described liberals’ brains suggest that they perceive such animals as simply members of the planet on which we live.
Maybe no one is to blame; perhaps we just live in different worlds of consciousness.
Those hankering for a great read on this subject, albeit fiction, should check out Ian McEwan’s masterpiece “Saturday.”
Tagged with: Are Our Brains "Wired" Differently?
Science Is Not a Set of Facts; It’s a Process of Learning More About Our Universe
At left is an interesting thought exercise. Here’s everything I can think of, and it’s not much. When I was in elementary school in the early 1960s, it was believed that:
The main types of rocks: sedimentary, metamorphic, and igneous, had been in place and remained the same since the formation of the earth. Now we have the “rock cycle,” where rock compounds are known to be continually changing form over very long periods of geologic time.
Every atom in our bodies and elsewhere on our planet is the result of the explosion of stars somewhere in the universe. As Neil DeGrasse Tyson puts it, “You are in the universe, and the universe is in you.”
Alberta Isn’t Going Anywhere
The support for Alberta’s seceding from Canada is about 5%, according to a physician I know up there.
I know it’s hard to believe, but Fox News is a thoroughly dishonest organization.
Suiting the Human Spirit
The closest you’re going to come to a society that suits the human spirit, aka a utopia, is social democracy.
People work, but within reason; they don’t need two or more jobs to keep their heads above water. They get lengthy vacations and parental leaves.
They pay higher taxes, but they receive valuable benefits from the government, e.g., free education and healthcare.
Moreover, they have a sense of community, of taking care of one another. Perhaps the most soul-killing aspect of life in America is that so many of us are indifferent to the needs and suffering of others.
Tagged with: a society that suits the human spirit, free education and healthcare, indifferent to the needs and suffering of others, lengthy vacations, parental leave, people receive valuable benefits from the government, People they don't need two or more jobs to keep their heads above water, sense of community, Social Democracy, Taking Care of One Another, the most soul-killing aspect of life in America, utopia
“Trump Is the Worst Idea that Ever Happened to America” — Bono
Not sure why Bono chose the word “casino” here.
“Fascist dictatorship” would have worked for me.
Trump’s “Paramilitary Force”
All dictators need organizations like ICE, i.e., 22,000 armed thugs that can be deployed to make life miserable in any city that does not support the autocrat.
“No Kings” Protest Successful in Unexpected Places
Lebanon, New Hampshire saw more than 1300 protestors at its “No Kings” protest last Saturday.
This is remarkable, if only because a) the population of the town is only 14,000, and b) it’s located in the middle of a purple state, where Trump got 48% of the vote in 2024.
Tagged with: "No Kings" Protest
Trump Can’t Last Much Longer
As dim-witted as the MAGA people are, and as greedy and cruel as Trump’s billionaire supporters are, this presidency is coming to a close. Unless there is massive cheating in the midterms, the Republicans are going to get creamed, and the resulting congress will expel Trump from the White House.
Here’s a Renewable Energy Claim for Your Amusement
Ever heard of piezoelectricity, the generation of electric charge in solid materials—such as quartz, ceramics, and bone—in response to applied mechanical stress?
It’s real, but it is very limited in scope, and thus it has zero potential application in our world, despite what the people at Pavegen are claiming.
If you don’t care what you pay for electricity, this makes perfect sense.
Hamsters running on wheels can be used to generate electric power too.
Tagged with: Renewable Energy Claim
