Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Their Greatest Accomplishment

Herr D assures me that human brains CANNOT be reimplanted.
He therefore must mean bipartisans who have had strokes after
arguing too much. --Hairy Deewon                                                  
There are times when I am surprised that America's Capitol building doesn't split in half physically from top to bottom like this story I just read: "The Fall Of The House Of Usher."  Of course, sometimes I'm even more amazed that anything was ever accomplished in the history of passing the buck bills.

What would you say has been the greatest accomplishment of Congress? I would have said raising their own pay. Any other people doing that would have gotten in a lot of trouble.

Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Why Some Clergy Might Be Holding Their Tongues

Shelob pointed out to me last neap tide that I should address some more current issues. Probably a good plan. So I had him cull some newsfeeds for me and redirect till I understood what was going on.

I ran into this dilemma. Shelob? Correct me if I get these numbers wrong:

1. 1 in 10,000 or more clergy are involved in publicly protesting the lifting of the same-sex marriage ban in Virginia.
2. 100% of declared religious groups have an official stance on same-sex marriage.
3. The clear majority of religious groups are officially against same-sex marriage, but growing numbers of congregations are taking the path of tolerance with and sometimes without approval by their clergy
4. The numbers don't match up.

Point 1: No way to collect exact number at this time. Small percentage.
Point 2: If 'no comment' is official stance, then this is correct. (One instance.)
Point 3: Apparently correct. No sociological variance data.
Point 4: Correct. Subjective interpretation to follow?

You betcha.
I'm all for tolerance and avoiding condoning what you can't approve of, but this interesting idea leapt out at me. There ARE other motives for clergy staying silent. What I'm curious about is how many people agree with my rating of commonness. Let me explain after showing you this graphic.
Herr D, heromachine.com. He's started referring to these as 'snap-works.' I'm going to be sending some small crawlers back through here, because he noticed some crediting errors. My goal is to fix all those by 8/31. --Hairy Deewon
The first motive I'm defining is 'PR-moderate image' or PRmi. I'm sure a lot of clergy are worried that extremists and fundamentalists are depicted as way too common. Frankly I haven't given Shelob the kind of processing power it would take to determine if religious protesting in America completely fell off after the unfortunate events of 9/11. But I think it's moderately likely. Clergy of every kind probably want to distance themselves from the kind of [roughly translates to hypocrite] that would kill other people or even act extremely hateful in the name of a supreme being. Like a supreme being would allow humanity to survive at all if it was hateful! You Humanity would be SO toasted. Too many victimizers by far.

The second motive is the 'sin reduction ratio' or srr. Clergy who believe, or at least profess to believe, that same-sex relations are sin have this interesting problem. If more people who like that kind of thing are in monogamous relationships, they aren't encouraging more people toward it. That might be looked at as encouraging less sin. Now THAT'S a dilemma. Clergy with this on their mind can't comment on same-sex marriage at all if they are trying to follow both their religion AND their own conscience.

I'm suggesting that the clergy who aren't publicly speaking out most commonly have BOTH srr and PRmi in mind, that second most commonly have just srr in mind, and third most commonly have just PRmi in mind.

How many of you think a different order is more likely?




Monday, July 28, 2014

Editorial Smack

Okay, so I made a mistake. I listened to political commentary again. I actually heard rival anchors accusing both sides of every issue I listened about of "playing politics," "partisan politics," etc.

Herr D, heromachine.com. He didn't title it 'Duh.'
THAT'S THEIR JOB. I've PAID attention. It's the job of every politician to fight the other side while blundering about trying to solve their jurisdiction's problems. Professional boxing IS still a sport--do you criticize them for fighting THEIR opponents? Yet, repeatedly, while spitting out loads of disinformation and more obvious examples of bias than examples of good grammar, they criticized everyone they didn't like in public office for treating their opponents like opponents.

I think I figured out why they're called 'anchors.' They block the light from above by stopping the boats they're rocking and trying to drag them down among the bottom feeders for some mudslinging.

Not correct etymology.

That was another example of sarcasm, Shelob. It was a frozen concentrated pureed metaphor.

Poetic license?

Yeah, let's call it that for now . . . what's the least sensible thing YOU'VE heard a news person say?

Saturday, July 26, 2014

No Comment

Herr D was good enough to only ask me one time how I ended up here with damaged transportation and equipment.


. . . I'm continuing not to comment on that.

But today's question is, who would like to tell us (as vaguely as you like) about something bizarre that happened to you that changed your life?

Friday, July 25, 2014

What You See Is What Someone WANTS You To Get

Herr D developed this piece on heromachine.com. All rights reserved. --H.D.
Shelob has been studiously finding dozens of examples of how Catholicism absorbed traditions and obscured the original meanings of things. So that entry yesterday? I guess I misunderstood. Zombies were what the original source material was about, and modern people have no idea, apparently.

How many of you believe the history you were taught without question? How much do you question it?

Thursday, July 24, 2014

Incomplete Religious Beliefs

Yikes. Okay. I owe any of my atheist readers an apology. I actually thought modern funerary practices were RELIGIOUS in nature. Shelob's research straightened me out. It's about zombies! No wonder it makes no sense, religiously.

Explain. Inconsistency disrupting program.

Your research, Shelob. It's about zombies. The gravestone, as you pointed out in your report, was originally a weight to keep the body in the ground. The epitaph was a charm to be spoken to keep the body in the ground. The coffins are heavy-lidded and used to be nailed shut to keep the body in the ground. Religious services held graveside with clergy were originally to keep the body in the ground. That reference you brought me about the rhyme about six feet under?

This was to keep the body in the ground, also?

Yes. So obviously, funeral practices are about zombies.

So, why referred to historically as a "Christian burial?"

That must be another aphorism. Obviously zombie beliefs are just too strong.

I couldn't contact Herr D in time. Luckily this was an easy one.
I mean, embalming fluid was a good clue. Poisoning the bodies so that they can't replenish the Earth clearly is as anti-religious as it gets. Every major religion and most of the more responsible secular movements declare some version of  "ashes to ashes, dust to dust," but embalming fluid is clearly against that.

More inconsistency. The Bible given to you mentions the dead walking.

Oh, you mean in that last section? Revelation? That's a specific event and believed to be unpreventable. I don't know if they count as zombies or not, but that can't be avoided by funeral practices according to their beliefs.

So atheists believe in zombies?

. . . I don't know? I think that's the question of the day. Do atheists believe in zombies? I do wonder when humanity will start giving back to the Earth. Many religious people believe in the soul after all. They should be okay with the bodies taking their rightful place in the ecosystem. Let me know, guys.

Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Just Correcting Another Lie We've Been Taught

Herr D made this on heromachine.com. He said the figure was premade, one
of the many useful features of the program. --Hairy Deewon                            
Okay, this one took me a while to figure out. The buzzword "nonrenewable" is not an example of inferior science. It's a LIE.  The fact is that humanity CAN prepare new sources of fossil fuel, you just aren't fast enough or wasteful enough or awful enough to do it successfully. Some more accurate terms might be "unconserved," "inconveniently reproducible," "inefficient," or perhaps "foolish." But I've begun a recipe for you--Shelob? Repeat those facts for me?

Approximately 13 billion bushels of corn at an average of 48 ears of corn per bushel per year produced in the United States according to various sites available to Google.com.

Therefore the shuckage?

At minimum of one pound of external leaves to be shucked per ear, that makes 624 billion pounds of potential foliage for petrocomposting.

Okay, that's the foliage. But it has to be composted in a tar pit, right? Did my chemical suggestion pan out?

No, Hairy. But net did.

I . . . what?

Also available to 'casual research' parameters, tar pit source.

Oh! Go ahead.

2.65 million miles of paved road in United States.

Doh! Very good, Shelob. Okay. If you take all the asphalt being broken up whenever roads and maybe the parking lots get maintenance, that should be enough to build a tar pit. Petro-compost the corn husks in it for a mere ten thousand years. Congratulations, you just renewed the crude, dude! Some people plant gardens in window boxes. The same general idea could be done for crude oil. Produced locally, no one would be dependent ON the oil to transport the oil to them.

Animal proteins necessary for best petrochemicals.

Yeah, Okay. Why not bury all the atheists in it? If they don't have a religious reason for a funeral, why not let them contribute to future generations?

Solution complete.

Great! Somebody get right on this, okay? I gotta go take another break. Had a bad case of oxygen narcosis yesterday. Overslept and ate WAY too much plankton. Digestion's still not quite right. [belch] Gotta go!

Monday, July 21, 2014

I KNEW There Was A Reason--

--that I identified with Herr D! Maybe it's just his sense of humor, but:

On a recent trip to the zoo, my young were tired and inexplicably went straight to the fence between the main thoroughfare and the biggest restaurant. My littlest started holding the fence and playing "lean back, jerk, let go, grab" while my oldest started staring down at the diners, fascinatedly for no apparent reason. Three tables full of diners looked up at her, as if to say "What are YOU looking at?"
I nudged my littlest and said, "It's feeding time here at the HUMAN enclosure. Do you remember what they look like from last time?"
My littlest shook her head and said, "No, Daddy."
I nodded as gravely as I could. "Well, you ARE new at this."
One guy laughed. He wasn't at the tables. He was far enough I hadn't thought he could hear me. 
Oh, well.


I wasn't there but wish I had been. What's your most recent moment where you wished you'd seen something in person?



Friday, July 18, 2014

Same Bones In The Sand, New Angle

Today I'm doing something unusual. I'm deliberately twisting someone's picture around and taking it out of context.

You mean, 'twisting someone's WORDS around and taking THEM out of context.'

No, Shelob, I meant what I said. Are you stuck in aphorism correction mode?

Possibly. Diagnostics beginning.

Yeah, okay; you do that. So Herr D made this picture over a year ago, but he had it turned clockwise from this way.

Herr D titled this one 'Atlantean Citizen' in its original form. Volcanoes! What can you do, right?--Hairy Deewon.
In this form, it might be titled: 'Person who insisted on right to live where he wanted in middle east.' I can't even imagine loving desert, let alone believing I had to live there.

Some of you know my living preferences--What are yours? Comment below.

Analysis complete. Translation correct, merely non-standard use. Pictures ROTATED not twisted.

Do you twist AI's?

No. AI software, like myself, non-corporeal. Code may be scramb--

Yeah, yeah, okay. [rolls two eyes] Remind me later to work on subroutines for analyzing sarcasm.

Troublesome emotional state?

What? Yes. I really wish I had something more useful to say to soldiers and civilians caught up in war. Herr D had a point yesterday. I DO want to help. I might be able to talk some sense into a war-choosing world leader, but I can't even get anyone to comment here at all. I don't feel good about that.

Hairy not responsible for pre-adolescent background.

Whose background?

Hairy's. Culture completely uninvolved in war for twenty standard lifespans. Last incident not helpful.

Yeah. Dousing both ambassadors with ink in the middle of them declaring war was only so helpful. After they stopped laughing at our representative, they still fought it. Over a billion dead per side. Gramps reportedly never emerged from his depression. We just don't understand war.

So, study it or new topic?

[translates to startled exclamation] --I'm getting counseling from my AI. I'm going for a swim, Shelob. Thanks. [swims out]

[Shelob examines discarded neural link, switches off--


Thursday, July 17, 2014

Make Me Sue Your Leader . . . For Peace!


Some of you may have been curious to meet Herr D, my fave digital artist. This just in, straight from him:


Dear  'Hairy,'
First, thank you for your continued inspiration, encouragement, endorsement, and advertisement of my artwork and the consistent mentioning of heromachine.com, my gracious canvas, paint set, and publisher. I have never had such a great fan before.
Second, I have a serious question. For someone who obviously wants to help and would obviously like more feedback, why have you never really spoken about war? There are some very troubled places right now, and maybe you  could help a lot of the people there? Maybe some good advice for the non-combatants?
Third, I would like to meet you in person someday. You know why it would be throwing away my health to enlist and that I'm Quaker but would have liked a chance to serve my country as a medic or a cook or clerk or something. I'd like to meet you and discuss how much more 'evolved' you'd like us to be, particularly when it comes to violence. Until then, I'll continue to communicate [this way, method redacted].
Thank you, 
Herr D

Um. Wow. I guess it's time. Herr D, thank YOU for encouraging me to start this blog. When I found you, I figured you'd just avoid me like most others did. 

Okay, point for point but WAY out of order, here it is: Yes, I know you wanted to serve as a non-combatant for the military and understand why you couldn't have. I think maybe though, that you just did in your own way.

I can't imagine meeting you face to face. I have vows of my own to fulfill, something you seem to understand, though you don't seem to know and might not believe the real reasons. Please do keep communicating as we have been. 

War, as it happens, is a peculiar problem for me. I feel incompetent at advising anyone at all about being a soldier, except for the obvious. If you believe you'd be treated better as a prisoner of war than your own side would treat theirs, surrender. That way you're not killing the people who would be nicer to you and yours. The non-combatants? What could I possibly say except 'keep your head down and go away if you can?' I actually admire the courage of people who die for the cause they believe in, even if it means being in such a horrifying thing as war. I admire the brave warriors on both sides. I especially admire the ones who shoot last. You know who you are. They're doing a job for what they think are good reasons.

The strange thing is I look UP to them and DOWN on those above them. Maybe if a world leader or two would like to comment on here, I could listen and moderate? After all, it's the ones ORDERING the war that are the ones that need to change.

As to evolving, humans are evolved enough to stop war NOW. It's just that culturally, not enough people are ready. I'm sorry to say that we should really just be grateful warfare is so inefficient right now. If it really does take 3000 more years to reach permanent peace, just LIVE THAT LONG AS A SPECIES, OKAY?


Wednesday, July 16, 2014

Boning Up

Herr D, heromachine.com, rights reserved as usual.
This one caught my eye because of the vertebral wings.
Such developments are even more rare than skulls thin-
ner than the eyes able to see out both sides. --Hairy    
When people say "I've a bone to pick with you," they supposedly mean there's a disagreement. That makes no sense at all. Why would you deliberately share a drumstick with someone you're arguing with?

I mean, forget about the same bones, I'm thinking more likely separate bones, bowls, CHECKS, etc. It would make more sense if you said, "I've a bone to pick FROM you." Now that would be a point of contention. And it would make more sense, because people who are too tired of fighting are sometimes referred to as "spineless." (Don't worry, I'm not offended.)

qqqQuesssstionnnn. 

Doh! I need to charge Shelob's case again. I knew he was too worked up yesterday.

ddD-- before.

What? Tell me later, Shelob. [wet clicking noises] There, that's better. Um. Question. Oh--does it strike anyone as strange that no one to this day has managed to take nuclear waste from fission plants and use it in fusion? I mean, that's kind of the point of recycling most of the time . . . Okay, let me rephrase. Why HASN'T anyone?

Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Widdle Bunny Wabbit Of Doom

Herr D, heromachine.com
Herr D said this character was named "Hastings" after some event that may have happened in history. I don't believe it, but who knows? I wasn't there. I finally remembered to ask his permission to post a link here to the beginning of his thread. http://www.heromachine.com/forum/the-heromachine-art-gallery/herr-ds-cfls/

There are other artists there, too. Some he says are better, but none that I understand so well. He says that's because I inspired his art and encouraged him to start the thread in the first place, but he encouraged me to start this blog, so--okay.

I am using this picture to illustrate the fault in the saying "fits like a glove." Herr D says regular gloves never fit him, even though his hands are regular enough to use a standard keyboard. Now this saying dates from a time when gloves might have been individually made, so it just needs a reboot.

Remember! When you improve the language, you improve your societal level of cognition. When you improve that, you improve your survival odds. Give me your best brand-new aphorism that means 'fits well.'

Monday, July 14, 2014

Scandalous CEO Sweatshop To Be Founded In Small Country Of Your Choice

[alarm sounding softly, rapid soft sucker sounds approach, various machine noises]
SHELOB! WE GOT MORE VIEWS THAN NORMAL FROM LAST BLOG! Look at THAT!

Noted.

Apparently, that's a REALLY popular topic. Just like you said.

Alternative theory from data collected since March.

Yeah?

Viewers more often read only first two words of title before viewing. Time spent fits theory.

[splashing sound--] What were the firs--that would mean--OH, YOU ALL SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF YOURSELVES. [gill equivalent of giggling] YOU thought I was showing-- [incoherent gill noises, more splashing.]

Blog time again.

Wh--oh. [translates to ahem] Yeah, look at THIS scandalous picture . . .

Herr D convinced me to do this one on heromachine.com.
I guess I did okay . . .  Hairy Deewon.                                  
I spent some time reading the complaints Shelob showed me about capitalism, government, big business, and economic disparity. I was particularly fascinated by the term 'outsourcing.' Let me define a term for ease.

"Wage multiplier" or WM, would be the constant to multiply the lowest salary/expected annual wages to equal the highest salary/expected annual wages within the same company/corporation.

Some identifiers of a well-run company besides the most obvious (extreme low turnover) is that it doesn't have a WM larger than 10. If the CEO of Asteroid Smelting, Ltd. is worth 100,000 acg/year, and any job in the company is worth less than 10,000 acg/year, then the company should hire someone else to handle it. Why wouldn't they? Badly-run businesses help ruin economies and generally lower everyone's standard of living. Obviously, there's a lot of flawed comparative valuation out there--this society pays some professional boxers more than certified nursing assistants, but this is about the outsourcing complaint.

Solution?

In cases where the highest-paid are in a horribly small minority, I offer the following solution:

CEO of Interplanetary Exhumation makes 91 million acg yearly, while the average of all ten demolitions experts makes 91,000 acg. With a WM of 1000, this company is obviously poorly structured. Obviously the demolitions experts are needed on site, so they can't be outsourced to Yurshoozsmellikekelpistan--but the country has a lower cost of living, on a ratio of 1:100 to IE's country.

In this example, IE is better off outsourcing the CEO, essentially lowering his salary to 910,000 acg, and returning IE to the category of a well-run company. Profits should rise fairl--

Geographical error, no locality found--

Leave it, Shelob! Down boy! [sudden disconnec-

Friday, July 11, 2014

Scandalous Pictures Not So Bad

Herr D used heromachine.com to make this for me.
I think it illustrates the point quite well.--Hairy       
I ran on a repeated theme, not quite a meme with Shelob's help while he was out browsing last night. How many did you find again?

59471 within parameters, between 5 and 6 x 10^7 social template approximations depending upon interpretation of variables.

A lot. Okay. I'm gonna spell out the social template and you correct me if I step outside it.

1. So, "Reporter" mentions how ads don't show the average female form, but uses skinny supermodels made up and coiffed by a small team of experts. Then "Reporter" explains that the pictures are airbrushed, Photoshopped, etc., to point out that people don't really look like the final result.

2. "Commenter" asks what difference it makes, does this really mean the ad industry is causing eating disorders, are people not smart enough to know these are models in ads, shouldn't models look different from regular people, etc.

3. "Questioner" asks why should models NOT look average. This about right, Shelob?

Possible narrowing to 35244 examples depending on interpretation.

Still a lot. Let's go with it. The fact is that women in ads should NEVER look average, be of average build, have any particular flaw that can't be taken out. Besides that, they should be too thin to survive supporting their mammary glands without being crushed under their own weight and just in general be too idealized to count as human anyway. This IS the digital age. I'm not being sexist, I'm being capitalist.

Remember to explain retinal involvement.

Right! The human retina will sooner notice and focus longer on certain shapes and colors. Those do include the shapes of human genitalia and other favorites, but that's not all. Taller, thinner shapes, faster moving shapes, shapes moving more directly toward or away--so, on a runway, a taller, thinner model will draw the human eye more successfully. This is exactly the same sort of science that helped the insurance industry realize that small red cars used to get more speeding tickets.

By the almighty dollar, if I'm paying someone too much money to get people to come and buy my stuff, they better not use a big blue car and waste my money!

Metaphor? Focus on solution.

Sorry. Getting wound up there. If people are worried that ads are sending the wrong message, teach kids in the indoctrination units public schools how to make ads more successful. Besides. Ads have to send the wrong message--otherwise people wouldn't waste so much money when obeying them. Oh, and nix on all that 'we have to expand forever' business. A certain four-year-old could see that was a bad idea.

Question.

Why won't America, the pioneers of business, develop better businesses? Maybe they'd run well enough to pay every employee enough to support a family of five.

Thursday, July 10, 2014

Beak Careful!

Herr D made this on heromachine.com. He describes it as
an attempt to copy the propaganda style from the WWII
era. Not bad, but I'm pretty sure the narrator didn't break in
much through the fourth wall in those days.                          
I have the idea that if the American people knew about the Holocaust while it began, the war would have gone very differently for American soldiers. How do you think it would have gone?

By the way, I left my equipment on again yesterday, and Shelob stepped out--don't be alarmed at the following, it's just a test pattern.

[BEEEEEEEEP] Hey, Shelob! Over here, little guy! Leaving the beacon on for ya! Okay? [soft sounds of suckers receding . . . ]

Wednesday, July 9, 2014

"Thrown For A Loop"

Herr D altered one of these Heromachine originals for context. Far from being just funny, this piece actually demonstrates how easy it is to use the site for people who have no drawing talent. The site is essentially an
electronic form of a paper doll. Remarkable versatility--I dearly hope that the program, and the encouraging
community that Hebert, developer, built around it, don't turn out to be humankind's greatest achievement.--HD
Shelob uncovered several sources of the original meaning of this particular aphorism. They disagree just enough that I'm using it as part of the proof I'm submitting to Universal Biologic that humanity does not have a racial memory.

Pyramids and hot chocolate still tied for second place?

Yes. Although the pyramids are probably falling to third. Anything that smells and tastes so good that a sane, sentient sea creature would give itself a second degree burn just to get more and then drink even more--

Check for agreement in human population?

Hey . . . not bad! What do each of YOU think is humanity's greatest achievement?

That was good, Shelob! I might ask you to plan mor--[soft hiss denoting egress from transmission unit, electronic bonging denoting automatic 'sleep' function immin--

Tuesday, July 8, 2014

I've Got JUST The Thing To Help You . . .

Herr D made this for me on heromachine.com. I didn't
even get it at first. --Hairy Deewon                                
What do you do when your intentions are misunderstood? The above picture, "Just An Enthusiastic Trim," is a great example of how hum- women have looked at me from time to time.

Monday, July 7, 2014

Courier & Jives

Herr D designed this one on heromachine.com. He did well, even
if there are one too many nostrils to look real.--Hairy Deewon      
Along the aphorism line, I figured something out. That saying 'don't look a gift horse in the mouth' means check inside its belly for people coming to kill you. The Trojan War must have been fascinating to watch. I missed seeing it by at least [time period redacted]

Time reference.

What? Oh.

Distraction?

Uh, no, I'm just distracted, Shelob. I may have verified that at least one engineering firm IS developing models of reverse wave machines. Those of you who have been viewing since May 6th, (I think) know I posted about the surprising lack of that technology on the market. I guess the D-I-Y-ers might beat them to market (or the local inventors.) I guess I'm surprised it's apparently taking such a long time.

Correct. "You Been Mooned" posted early May. Net traffic suggests engineering firm on task earlier than May.

So it IS obvious then. At least somebody is 'working on the problem,' eh?

Sunday, July 6, 2014

Have A Bash

Herr D designed this on heromachine.com.
With the 4rth of July having passed, I have to point out something interesting. I'm all for abbreviations and understood shortenings of language, but there is a misleading phrase in common use.

"Proud to be an American."

How many Americans earned their citizenship exactly? You can be proud of your ancestors becoming Americans, you can be proud you passed a citizenship test, and you can be proud of fellow Americans, and you can even be proud that you served American interests in the military or government.

So, you're grateful, or glad to be an American. "Pride goes before a fall,"  people. You don't want your nation to fall. You want naps, belches, and the rare blunder, which are 'falls' from great accomplishment.

Anyhow, I celebrated my independence from all ancestral obligations--

Independence Day is about formation of America, revolution from former 'parent' nation, not ancestors.

Oh, I knew that! And I celebrated the 4rth in style. Some few of you may have noticed my absence.

You blogged on 7/4/14. You took off 7/5/14.

. . . okay, I didn't know that. Thanx, Shelob. All right, I dove a little deeper with my equipment, checking out some neat coral textures and getting some great anemone tickles. I DID see fireworks, though. At least some others got the day wrong, too.

Question.

Right. Sometimes I'm really glad AND proud I programmed you. Reminders are very useful things, if occasionally irritating. What ELSE would you all be glad to be independent of most? I'm free enough for now, even being unable to move to different epochs.

Friday, July 4, 2014

Falsisms

I didn't contact Herr D before he had to sleep--so
I did this one. "Joe" is throwing his old ball over
the sun. See below for explanation.-Hairy Deewon
Shelob pointed out to me something I should spend a little time on. Certain aphorisms need to be revised, revoked, or redone instead of being reused and recycled. For example, there's this saying:

"There's nothing new under the sun."

This saying has irrefutably been wrong ONCE. I have to give it good odds that it's wrong often, if not usually. How am I so sure? WE ARE NOT UNDER THE SUN. We orbit around it.

Therefore, as new understandings and new discoveries are things, we have outdated that aphorism by understanding more about the sun not actually being 'above' us. I would love to be provided with more examples


Thursday, July 3, 2014

Two-Toned Too Trite For Truisms

Herr D said this is a recreation of an old clipping
he saw recently. He's looking for a source, but he
can't seem to find it. Pretty funny--Hairy Deewon.
 
I looked at some semi-modern neuroscience source material and found myself feeling sympathetic. NO WONDER YOU WE HUMANS HAVE DUALITY AND BINARY OVERSIMPLIFICATION PROBLEMS. There's only two hemispheres in a human brain. Specialized lobes are there, sure; but it looks like all of humanity has reason to be of two minds about everything. Holistic versus sequential? GET OUT OF TOWN! How does the average squidling child manage to understand an ordinary Wenn diagram before the age of two?

Most do not.

Really?  . . . gosh. How old IS the average human beginning to understand a Wenn diagram, Shelob?

Evidence culled in last seven seconds from developmental-oriented websites suggests, but does not explicitly state, that some children begin understanding Wenn - style logic at age three or four. Frequently taught after reading skills (5-6.)

But Shelob, that's too late for [best translation: critical windows] to happen.

Yes. Reason why cognitive dissonance therapy has inherent ethical difficulties at root of forestalled development. Also why aphorism "the world isn't just black and white" makes sense in common usage. 

Oh, yeah, I was wondering about that. Well. We can't restructure the human brain. That's unethical. But we can help with aphorisms. OKAY! Today's question is not how you deal with unfairly polarized issues--it is:

What's your favorite aphorism? I don't have a favorite. I have a least favorite: No chupa, no schtupa. (Yiddish)

Wednesday, July 2, 2014

Sing And Dance Around Again

Herr D explained to me that I was wrong about
castanets. Apparently they are NOT illegal fish-
ing equipment. All I know is that the passage I
read said that 'the audience was mesmeriized by
her work with the castanets as she had her way
with them.' Pic by Herr D on heromachine.-H.D.
So, I was going to do another bit about marine ecology and over-fishing, but the scandalous practice I discovered turned out to be a misunderstanding. I'm left with entertainment. What's your favorite musical instrument? For me, I'd have to say that no instruments sound better than vocalists, so I'll include them. Have any of you ever really listened to a whale sing? Forget the vocal talent, I don't have the memory to sing a song that long.

Tuesday, July 1, 2014

Can We NOT Take It Higher?

Herr D made this for me on heromachine.com.
He said this is one is free for all to use--just credit him.
I've been trying to understand the nuances of becoming an elected official. It seems very complicated. Get popular, promise people things, bad mouth any opponents and their plans in an unfair fashion, and get people to give you money so you can do all this on television. Apparently most of the time an elected official has to raise more money to get INTO office than he'll make FROM the office. That sounds a bit sketchy. On top of that, you have to claim to belong to one group of people while trying to make both largest opposing groups want you for the job.

Question.

Oh, yes, thanks, Shelob. Does it seem to any of you that Democrats and Republicans are alike in too many of the wrong ways and different in too many of the wrong ways? I know from -- from history that politcal parties used to be different than they are today. One of them was originally called the other, for example. Maybe it's time to prop up this balanciing act in a different way? This system WAS designed for peaceful change . . .