George Rebane
Trump’s cabinet picks are overwhelmingly on the mark by my lights. However, there are a couple of them who are arguably inappropriate for their assigned jobs. Former congress critter Tulsi Gabbard is a nice lady, and no doubt has many talents which do not include the executive experience and required knowledge base to become Director of National Intelligence. The DNI oversees 18 of nation’s top intelligence agencies and is responsible for summarizing much of what the president sees on a daily basis. There are many others more suitable for the job. And Lori Chavez-DeRemer is an abysmally poor choice for SecLabor. She is on record as the most pro-union Republican and supports the Protecting the Right to Organize Act which is a devious piece of legislation that the unions use to enforce workers to unionize against their will. Her confirmation in that job puts a fox to guard the hen house.
Speaking of the cosmos and an ontology that has an excellent chance to make sense of it, I offer for your attention a video on some important ongoing research in that field of enquiry. Dr Michael Levin of the Allen Discovery Center at Tufts University has recorded a long podcast summarizing the current status of this research – ‘Self-constructing bodies, collective minds: the intersection of CS, cognitive bio, and philosophy’. To me it was an extremely illuminating cum mind-blowing presentation. I have long thought that at its primal level the cosmos (i.e. ‘what is’) is really an amalgam of evolving patterns at many levels of intelligence that are variously structured into a universe which is then seen as distinct realities by its countless parts (patterns) observing/seeking their own foundations. Levin’s work is the first I’ve encountered that puts my hazy mental meanderings on a more solid footing. The next thing I need to do is take the time to view the whole thing again, and make notes. More to be said about it later. For those interested in these concepts and questions, I introduce you to the bleeding edge of such thoughts.
[update] Joe pardons son Hunter and logs one more gigantic lie to the legion already on his record. Looking in the rear-view mirror we all should have seen this coming. The pardon is a required ‘Stay out of Jail’ card for the entire Biden family. I can hear Hunter telling his pop ‘if I’m going down, you all are going down.’ Hunter knows enough to send a lot of people up the river, and if he is now hauled into court again, you can bet the ranch that he’ll sing like a bird.
Great Divide – unclear on the concept
George Rebane
The other day I read a newspaper column by a good-hearted commentator who tried to convince readers that there already exists a natural and effective path both sides can travel to heal the historical schism which today separates us and grows wider by the year. In keeping with the season when families gather to celebrate their holidays, our columnist pointed out that sharing “our love of family and friends and our desire for the best for them” is sufficient common ground to foster a dialogue for healing our nation’s breach.
We have heard such shibboleths for decades now as the country’s ideological factions continue to draw us apart. My own thoughts on this seeming paradox have led to the realization that it is precisely those shared sentiments we have for family and friends that have driven us apart, and which will continue to do so the more we all are intensely concerned for the future of our loved ones.
Reflecting on the matter, we see it is really the diametrically opposite endpoints of the country’s governance, in which both sides fervently believe and work for, that give rise to the hate and discontent we have with each other. As a free market capitalist who believes in individual liberties, and who has directly experienced living under their absence, I loathe the thought of all those ignorant yet well-meaning neighbors and fear their cynical political leaders who work day and night to achieve a collectivist autocracy under which all that we hold near and dear about the organization of society will become impossible. I and people who share my beliefs consider the achievement of such ends, especially under the cloak of perfidy, to be the dominant and overwhelming evil of our times that will endure and prevail unless we address it openly and directly in the public forum.
And the rank and file of such believers in collectivism share the exact opposite views, and of us as the purveyors of programs and policies that will lead to a tyranny reminiscent of Nazism and fascism (although predictably not socialism or communism). Understandably they want none of that for their families and friends, and see us opposing their ideological desiderata as the nation’s evil ones. And so the beat goes on, vehemently abetted by disastrously misunderstood shared values where each side is convinced the other side wants to herd them down the road to serfdom.
That we continue to hope for change and rapprochement while beseeching the same laudable social values of hearth, home, family, and friends no doubt qualifies such behavior as another form of mass insanity that guarantees our growing separation.
Posted at 12:08 PM in Culture Comments, Great Divide, Our Country, We the iSheeple | Permalink | Comments (8)
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