Richard Robertson

Unseen wrote:
This seems a whole lot less snake oily.

Trump as dictator and other constitutional matters… although Snake Oil is (imo) a currently relevant theme. But personally, albeit merely anecdotally, back in Oct/Nov ’18 I tested my blood sugar, and it was scary high. The next day, I was OFF carbohydrates, with complete conviction. Only…[Read more]

Trump became a kind of reality show star, and now I’m wondering if its success helped him learn better how to manipulate gullible people (which he was successful at even before his stardom).

I think perhaps these shows, along with soap operas, appeal to some inner human, seeking of approval, and fear of being shamed… along with a naive…[Read more]

Unseen wrote:
I typoed. It’s supposed to be “unready to give up…’ LOL

Thank you for suggesting that. I realized fairly soon after posting that the Portlandia scene wasn’t about the vegetarians of whom you were referring; so I was just posting a favorite scene (of mine), somewhat related.

I don’t really know which Portland memes are empirica…[Read more]

Unseen wrote:
Most people I know here—including those of us who love animals—are ready to give up pork chops, beef ribs, cheese, and scrambled eggs for tofu, kale, and acai berries.

I believe that!

I still think, at worst, it was a bit of carelessness with words, and that you are wrongly inferring the writer’s intent. I could be wrong, but I am banking on what my philosophy instructor taught us is a “charitable interpretation”.

daughterofkarl wrote:
To be fair, the same could be said to be true of almost every civilization that ever achieved ascendancy on the world stage, whether it’s the French slaughtering the Huguenots, or the English starving the Irish. Genocide and slavery were not unique to America, nor did genocide and slavery not occur in the Americas before t…

[Read more]

The person you miss, is not actually the person she is now.  The person you miss has gone, and is unlikely to return.  The person she is now, is totally incompatible with you.  Not because of her faith. Because of her attitude about her faith.

She may at some stage mellow, or deconvert, and then she will be yet another person – who you may or ma…[Read more]

It most likely happened because she was terrified that you’d talk her out of her new comfort – sort of like an ex-smoker who gets all up in the faces of people who still smoke.

(Also, please could you use some paragraph breaks next time?  It’s a bit tough to read a huge block of text with no breaks!)

Unseen wrote:
One of the problems of being a beautiful woman is that she can never be sure if her friends—especially male friends—is based on her physical being or her as a legitimate human being.

Same for people with money.

It’s turtles all the way down, and God all the way up.

Glen D wrote:
The big problem with such a creation is that all governments lie their tits off, at least by omission. I doubt we will be told until after the fact, when they have been militarised.

I agree. And I think development of AI “sentience” should be outlawed worldwide or at least limited and subject to oversight because 1) it will be…[Read more]

Glen D wrote:
But then, I’m old and easily confused.

Naw, I haven’t gotten that impression at all.

As for myself, the past week or two has been full of forgetfulness almost every day, which worries me and even makes me get mad at myself. Not to sound morbid, but I also think about old-age forgetfulness as a symptom of “fading consciousness” w…[Read more]

Glen D wrote:
As far as I’m aware, there is no consensus in the mind/body dichotomy.

Oh man, stick around, and you’ll see some consensus on that. Dualism seems mostly dead and gone to Heaven.

Oh, wait, you’re in Australia! [see Recent formulations]

But seriously, ‘Muricans do take the prize when it comes to the dichotomy of traditional belie…[Read more]

Depending on my daughters’ decisions, I may be reborn in earthworms.

If they take to my suggestion, I will be happily converted to ashes, sneakily dumped into a random construction site’s cement mixer, and reborn distributed widely in a concrete foundation.

I can also hope eternally for a widely publicized ribbon cutting ceremony or two.

Edit:…[Read more]

I like metaphor and ambiguity at times, and how they allow for liberal, personal interpretation, especially when the speaker is transparent about it. It’s more thought provoking than the strict, dogmatic clarity we see from fundamentalist doctrines and strict dogmas.

But yeah, he churns emotions and waxes nefarious when characterizing infidels.…[Read more]

_Robert_ wrote:
We really need to encourage our daughters to enter disgusting trades like sewage system maintenance and chemical tank clean-out and dangerous trades like high power line work

Not encouraging our sons to do those things would be sufficient, imo. Actually, my goal was to encourage my kids’ best and favorite interests. I don’t care…[Read more]