Nota Bene: this post might or might not remain here depending on the outcome of this test. I’m […]
Category Archive: Opinions and Stuff
My thoughts on a variety of things.
A few days ago marked the ten-year anniversary of the world losing Christopher Hitchens. I’ve written before about […]
I recently updated my Blogger blog (HERE). For the profile, they ask one’s preference in music and movies. […]
Until recently, I didn’t have a succinct way to express an essential aspect of how I live. Heck, […]
Using the concept of “freedom” when discussing vaccines is an example of people cheapening ideals that should drive […]
Many of today’s bitter arguments, nee discussions, are on issues that allow — no, demand — only binary answers: Yes, No, Right, Wrong, True, False.
“Isn’t it true that surgeons cut patients and sometimes cause patients to die?”
“Yes, but—”
“NO BUTS! Surgeons are awful people!”
Everyone recognizes the weakness of the argument. It may well be surgeons are awful people, but for reasons completely independent from them cutting into and mucking about in people’s insides.
That extreme example exemplifies the level of debate for many contentious issues.
Abortion and guns are two issues that come to mind; issues framed as being binary but aren’t.
This blog has many opinion posts buried among other poorly read — and probably poorly written — posts. My fiction still holds the record for least-read offerings, but my opinion pieces are a close second.
As mentioned before, I write not only to clarify my thoughts but also to keep track of my changing views.
What!?
On a comment, in passing, I happened to mention I might be prone to write about those three things tonight — the silly search for ‘purpose’, bees, and rocks — and I thus felt compelled to do so . . . first up:
It’s that time of year when the bees aren’t finding enough flowers out there in the wild, so they take over the feeders. They can do so because of two flaws in the design of those feeders. One, the holes are too large. A hummingbird can feed through a very small hole, but those are large enough for the bees to nearly squeeze through.
So, yesterday I posted a quick observation about the state of comments on this blog (and maybe blogs in general, based on some of the feedback).
I might have come across as rueful of the situation, hence let me clarify a few things because I fear unintended consequences from that post . . .
Namely, I fear an increase in comments due to people (consciously or unconsciously) thinking I was pressuring them (consciously or unconsciously) to comment more often.
Well, let me set the record straight . . .
Yup, still busy . . . but, I want to give a glimpse of a few things coming up. Meaning, these are photos that will appear in future posts (with others, of course). For instance, bugs . . .
I have a ton of hummingbird videos and photos . . . I’ll need to decide what and how much I want to share, but whatever it will be, it will look something like this . . .
Here’s the thing . . . I don’ feel like writing fiction. Instead, I feel like putting down some thoughts about different stuff, and maybe a show a few photos.
That’s an American Goldfinch (LINK) . . . mooning us.
Of all the books I’ve read that contained math, science, and the practical application of the two, the book by Randall Munroe, What If? <<link, was the most enjoyable and the most informative.
It also gave me an insight into the mind and thought process of the guy who writes the xkcd comics <<link.
The above is his entry when the 1982 Exxon Memo to Management about CO2 Greenhouse Effect (LINK) was made public. The link contains a link to the original PDF.
Warning: this post is just words. About 2,400 words. No photos, and all opinions. The reader is warned.
One of my favorite movie scenes is from Raising Arizona (LINK) and it’s where the title of this piece comes from. Here’s the relevant part:
Gale:
Alright ya’ hayseeds, it’s a stick-up. Everybody freeze. Everybody down on the ground.
Old Man in bank:
Well, which is it young feller? You want I should freeze or get down on the ground? Mean to say, if’n I freeze, I can’t rightly drop. And if’n I drop, I’ma gonna be in motion.
So, why this title? Lemme ‘splain in my usual tedious way.
For them not interested in reading, you can see the photos in THIS<<link SmugMug Gallery.
For a SmugMug slideshow, click HERE<<link. When you click the link, it will open in a new window, and you have two options:
1) Manually scroll through the photos by clicking the “<” and “>” symbols to the left or right of the photos.
2) There’s a PLAY/PAUSE button at the Top-left of the screen with the transition set at about 5 seconds. Note: clicking the PLAY arrow activates the option for a full-screen slideshow. You can then still use the”<” and “>” symbols to the left or right of the photos (this will pause the slideshow).
If you want the full experience, keep reading.
We begin with a fairly easy “find the hummingbird” . . .
. . . followed by an extremely easy “find the hummingbird” . . .
Letsee . . . what to talk about today?
Indigenous is an interesting word. A dictionary definition (there are a few variations) goes as follows:
Produced, growing, living, or occurring natively or naturally in a particular region or environment.
But also:
Relating to the earliest known inhabitants of a place.
For the purpose of this post, I’ll talk about a combination of the two definitions and how they are purposefully mangled by idiots . . . er . . . non-thinking jer . . . er . . . well-meaning people.
And I’ll begin with Hawaiʻi.
Having lived in Hawaiʻi for a few years, I was struck by the sanctimonious attitude of many of the natives. Like most people everywhere, they have a certain image of themselves, are proud of their culture and customs, and walk around with a chip on their shoulder about being ‘invaded’ by who they call ‘haoles’.
They will tell you the term refers to ‘light skin’ or ‘visitor’, but just swap the ‘h’ and ‘a’ around and you get what I think they really mean.
You see, Hawaiʻians, like most people who don’t know history, claim possession to where they live by virtue of having lived there a long time and — like most people — are not happy when outsiders ‘invade’ the place. I’m sure most readers are familiar with various conflicts around the world — and here, too — based on claims about who has the right to live in this or that place.
The thing is, at one time, no one lived on those islands. Then Polynesians came, liked it, and settled there (LINK). Later, Tahitians came, liked it, and settled there. By ‘settled’, I mean conquered the Polynesians (LINK). You know the rest; Europeans came and also settled there, and so on.
Disperser Tracks 