It seems that our civilization’s response to the coronavirus is pulling us together. With each passing day, we see new examples of generosity between groups of people who previously had shared very little kinship.
Perhaps we’ll look back on this as a blessing in disguise, one that prepared us to deal with our profound environmental challenges that also require international cooperation. (more…)
Check out this quick but deeply moving story about Margaret Mead whose message is To be civilized is to help other people.
People a couple of generations ago would have shrugged this off. “Obviously,” they would have said.
Now, the concept of helping others in need is a matter of heated debate in American society. Do we need to be kind to people desperately fleeing danger? Should we feed hungry children? Isn’t it unacceptable that we have American veterans (or anyone) dying of treatable diseases? Don’t we have some sort of moral imperative not to destroy the environment in which future generations will live?
You may join me in answering these four questions in the affirmative, but keep in mind that you’re living in a society where about 40% disagree.
Let’s try to get back to a point where no one needed to tell us what it means to be civil.
I strenuously object to rap “music,” with its all-to-common promotion of violence, hatred, and misogyny. That’s why I was so pleasantly surprised when I came across this, extolling the virtues of …. wait for it …. the cucumber. So clever, so well done.
Here’s a directive from Norwegian University of Science and Technology to its students living abroad, especially if they happen to be in a “country with poorly developed health services and infrastructure and/or collective infrastructure, for example, the USA.”
Now, their website has been updated since to include all countries, but it’s kind of amusing and/or sad, depending on one’s perspective, that Norway regards us as a ****hole country.
The video below is an explanation of the Hyperloop, the futuristic mode of transportation in which passengers climb into pods that travel at speeds of up to 700 MPH though tubes with very low air pressure. One can imagine that such speeds could easily be achieved using the combination of magnetic levitation to keep the pod hovering above the base of the tube, combined with virtually zero wind resistance. (more…)
Here’s a short video on one of the many variations on the theme of converting the kinetic energy of ocean waves into electricity. A couple of points: (more…)
Most of us are decent and kind people, yet we live in a society that increasingly takes a joke like this and turns it into real life:
There are two people in a wood, and they run into a bear. The first person gets down on his knees to pray; the second person starts lacing up his boots. The first person asks the second person, “My dear friend, what are you doing? You can’t outrun a bear.” To which the second person responds, “I don’t have to. I only have to outrun you.” (more…)
This strikes me as close, but somewhat inaccurate.
Trump is who he is, i.e., a self-aggrandizing liar, in every situation, this one included. (more…)
It’s hard to explain Evangelical Christians, other than to say that they are not really Christians at all. (more…)
In a letter to Chief Justice John Roberts, an extremely senior judge detailed why he’s lost faith in the U.S. Supreme Court; I just read his resignation letter through the tears in my eyes.
Excerpts include: (more…)
