Friday, June 30, 2017

trump is just another american asshole

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/laughingindisbelief/2017/06/president-trump-trashes-canada-day/

Reconciliation

Reconciliation yay sure.
rec·on·cil·i·a·tion
ˌrekənˌsilēˈāSH(ə)n/
noun
noun: reconciliation; plural noun: reconciliations
  1. 1.
    the restoration of friendly relations.
    "his reconciliation with your uncle"
    synonyms:reuniting, reunion, bringing together (again), conciliation, reconcilement, rapprochement, fence-mending; More
    pacification, appeasement, placating, mollification
    "the reconciliation of the disputants"
    resolution, settlement, settling, resolving, mending, remedying
    "a reconciliation of their differences"
    agreement, compromise, understanding, peace;
    formalconcord
    "there was little hope of reconciliation"
    harmonizing, harmonization, squaring, balancing
    "the reconciliation of theory with practice"
  2. 2.
    the action of making one view or belief compatible with another.
    "he aims to bring about a reconciliation between art and technology"
     

    So who are the natives trying to reconcile with? Themselves? The natives do not get along with themselves. They attack the hands that feed them. See "the rabid squaw", just google it and know that the AHS lost two of there diversity group.
     
    There must be discussion with the two parties to reconcile. The government does not really speak for the people, and does not know how we feel. We have never been asked on this subject. They are not reconciling with the population. 
     
    As long as they live on reserves and reproduce like rabbits, they cannot reconcile with the economy, nor with those who are forced off the reservations due to the inter-native bigotry. 
     
    Their preference, well of many of them, is to not prepare themselves for work. Education is often ignored, and they want top dollar for poor work attitude. So they cannot reconcile with the working world. 
     
    In order to reconcile with anything, they must change, for the world outside of them is not going to change for them. Reconciliation means changing themselves. They do not yet seem to be aware of this yet. Oh well, in the end we all just die anyway. 

     

Friday, June 23, 2017

The Season of Discontent

At what point do societies become ungovernable? Most of the people are discontent, and when something more than 50% become discontent, is the country really governable anymore? The condition of trump's USA, where money control really lies with the elected Congress, well control of the major flow of the money at least, requires some agreement. But is this enough for a country to run smoothly? Not likely.

Here in Canada we have a liberal government spending like drunken sailors, much of it aimed at appeasing the natives and to buy the native and new immigrant votes in the next election. No amount of money will ever do it due to economic adaptation by the chiefs, little trickles down to the lower natives. That is a no win situation, but they are not happy; the young females keep running of and screwing themselves into poverty, drugs, alcohol, and/or the predators get them.

The young are not interested in much beyond alcohol, drugs, money, cars and the like. They want big money, but without training. Oh well, they stay unemployed, and so often cannot keep jobs due to such poor attitudes toward work do not fit the industrial needs for employees.  Oh well, we have immigrants to do the work anyway.

As a retired person, I can see the struggle with and against the government. The government lays out a grandiose plan, but it is not supported by the people, yet we are forced to conform... well conform may be too strong of word, tolerate more like. We go along because it is easier that resisting. It just does not matter any more. We are not held together by government, it is just easier to go along that to do what is right. It is that old silent majority issue, those under light stress do not think there is a real choice, just more of the same. We are not hurting bad enough to do anything, but there is discomfort, and more to come likely.

The population is becoming segregated by cultures into ghettos, or enclaves of separate cultures. Not a good situation. Unless something is done, we are going to have a country that is ungovernable. Those that get elected by popularity are not able to run the country, those civil servants that know how to run the country, based on the existing regulation may need to do what they can to improve the situation, not just keep changing the situation. Based on the background of too much population of the world, and continued population growth, the solution will be a big population die off, hopefully in other areas first. Oh well, in the end we all just die anyway. 


Wednesday, June 14, 2017

Herding Cats

Working with volunteers or being a volunteer in an organization is like herding cats. We need to know what each individual wants and needs to be able to influence them in a direction. There is no control. If the master driver is also a volunteer, now what? Can he or she maintain direction and not become a controller? A little authority goes to the head too often. There also must be communications at a level that the receiver can recognize and utilize. Texting is not applicable to seniors. Computer is not suitable for many seniors. Changing things on a web site and considering that notice is complete bullshit as communications. Without volunteers, what is the organization?

Seniors do not do well in scramble systems, at least this senior does not. Oh well. But working with volunteers can degrade into a scramble system easily.  Now I know that I am not good at dealing with people in general, and especially where I am the "expert" and they are know nothings or young people. The obvious to me is new and foreign to some. As a geotechnical engineer, I ran into a few "the earth is only 6000 year old types. Reality says otherwise.

Only dead men have no biases and no opinions. We all have large biases: by what we are, our education, would like to be and mostly what we believe. Some of our biases are known by us; some are not, but are obvious to everyone around us. It is those unknown to us biases and opinions that cause issues for us and others.

Our organization exists to serve the desires and needs of it's members. If it no longer serves the needs and desires we just go away or just stop. Our needs stop being fulfilled, or we go elsewhere to fulfill those needs. It is that simple. Problems start when biases and opinions start effecting the group, or activity. Problems really start when personalities get in the way, and the biases get in the way. What now?  

Monday, June 12, 2017

Note to self

Eliminate all that we do not know by"science is difficult therefore god did it" is just faking reality.

Critical thinking depends on who is defining critical thinking. Understanding and eliminating all our own basis is the key to deeper understanding.

Saturday, June 10, 2017

Critical Thinking

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2017/06/10/texas-will-now-require-women-to-bury-or-cremate-abortion-remains/

Christians got us this far. Now what? The above article demonstrates how unthinking, brutal, lacking compassion, lacking understanding some christians can be. Small c christians, they do not deserve any respect. Any young person is struggling to resist the hormonal drive we humans have. That drive is why the human species has prospered and our population has grown out of control and is currently beyond that which out planet can support, when combined with our energy use. The young are not at fault, it is a hormonal drive. Some manage to learn to resist, some do not. It is no different than addiction; it is or becomes a physical drive to do something. Some can resist, some cannot.

It is no different than being overweight, which is caused by overeating, which is caused by a hormonal drive to eat more than we need. If we humans could resist, there would not be 60% of the population overweight. Some people do not have the desire to eat; they are the normal weight people now; they cannot be compared to the those with the desire. It is all well and good, but unless those are perfect in all ways, they are hypocrites and/or ignorant.

After going through the critical thinking process on this subject, young people find themselves in the position of abortion or condemned for a child out of wedlock, to give up or try to raise, and with no income to support the child. There is no good solution. It is a choice of two bad choices. A choice of two lives destroyed or just one. So where is the christian compassion, the understanding, that christians claim? Not there. They talk a good story, but do not offer solution. Sex abstinence lecture after a pregnancy does no good. They were only doing what nature demands. So where is the compassion? Where is the understanding? Where is the good choice? Christians are a bunch of self righteous hypocrites that criticize and abuse but do not offer any solutions.

So which is more important: to criticize and abuse others for bad choices or to provide solutions for those bad choices? Found homes to support the mothers and take the children to raise as your own vs abuse the wood be mothers? Are you someone who will be respected or just another abuser?

This raises the need for a G in critical thinking, the good. Simply, a plan defining the virtues we are striving for free of bullshit of supernatural thinking. (see Pain in the Ass, Christopher W. DiCarlo) Even the Stoic, Epictetus had a plan.    

Friday, June 2, 2017

So what is my future in archery?

I retook-up archery a few years ago. Back in 69 to 71 I shot regularly, and even to lessons for two winters. It was fun, and I acquired a fiberglass bow and made wood arrows. Well fiberglass bows do not work well in the winter, and I exploded that bow. I got busy working and did not shoot regularly but only occasionally, when the opportunity presented. The wife had a brother who shot, and the husband of one of her friends shot, so I got perhaps a dozen afternoons over the next forty years. After I retired, I bought a couple of bows, now I have five and use carbon fiber arrows, and shoot twice a week usually. I have read a "few" books about the subject, and watched numerous videos, and have considered making bows.

Along the way I tried teaching enter level archery and found I like that also.

Archery, as a sport can be divided into three categories: competitive, hunting, and recreational. Each has its own styles, equipment, and emphasis. I am a recreational shooter by nature; I do not care about competition, and do not care to hunt or to take lives of animals just struggling to survive. It is just something to learn about and to do.

There are at least seven different styles of modern archery as well; instinctive, modern traditional, authentic traditional or reenactment, FITA Barebow, Olympic recurve, Hunter compound, Olympic Compound. The first three categories are my main interests; the remainder are where most people are at. Currently the club does not offer much in the way of courses or information in these three. That I would like to do, and develop a bit more in that direction. One of the big issues I struggle with is how much material to put into one lesson. The time dictates how far we will get. The next issue is selling this to the club.

Passive resistance or passive aggressive procrastination by the executive is apparent and is driving the activities of the club. They are against anything that they do not want. It          

Tolerance

Tolerance is what has been lost that is so critical in the inter-meshing of cultures. We tolerate the natives by paying for the old treaties so that we can have near ideal Indians, living in great quantities on some reserves. Here is an example of native intolerance: http://oathursdaynightgroup.blogspot.ca/2017/05/special-privilege.html

We tolerate the uneducated ideas of some religions. Muslims are also a multi sect religion, and some portions have lost tolerance for other sections and other religions. All conflict can be seen as loss of tolerance. Some time groups need to be stopped, if not stomped out, but then that is lack of tolerance combined with aggression.

The Muslims need to learn tolerance of others, and not go unhinged when we depict Mohamed as a violent general, for that is what he was. Oh well, shit happens.

I was at a talk, really a begging secession for teaching critical thinking to the third world, at a time that the US of Assholes is moving to a stupid position on climate change, to that of climate change deniers. Since 1974, we have know that human activities is driving up Co2 levels, and that is driving climate change. It is science, a mater of logic, proof with sound evidence, and it comes down to world population is too great. The US government is deigning all this. It is not taking the logical path, accepting climate change and making an economic decision to not address the effects of population. In this one move, the US has gone from a leading nation to a nation in decline, flailing about with a massive ego. We must tolerate this flailing, but it may be best to step back and let them flail as the world fails

This group of critical thinking promoters has created a recipe for critical thinking that works, just like the scientific method. It spends considerable time at understanding our biases, which once we identify them, we can apply critical thinking to each, and start to dismantle the supernatural thinking, the "witch craft and shay-men, spirit world, the learning by memorization, and the like. Oh well.

The recipe is; argument (assumption, precepts, conclusions), biases, context, diagram, evidence, fallacies. The emotional and spirit world will just need to learn to tolerate critical thinking as we continue to evolve down the path to pure logical people, or to well balanced emotional/logical people. Emotions are what drive us forward, we need those along with logic to lay the course. Oh well, in the end we all just die anyway.