liminal_luke

Maybe it´s your karma? On a less snarky note (sorry!), it´s not easy to change people. Especially online. In all my years of trying, I´m not sure I´ve ever changed someone´s worldview or style of writing here on the forum -- which doesn´t seem fair as other people have changed mine. Buddhists will be Buddhists. Ain´t much anybody can do about them.

Oh, I had no idea that Brian had passed. I loved his presence here and missed him greatly when he left.

Kindness need not always be kind and gentle; often enough it´s a swift kick in the pants. The Mr. Nice Guy approach -- being kind to others at one´s own expense -- is actually not kindness at all. True kindness does not discriminate between self and other but shines equally on all beings.

Thanks. I like to think so, though that assessment, alas, is not universally shared. I´d say smart but not "nuke smart."

I sure hope the ban doesn´t apply to jokes. I think people of all political persuasions can agree that these are times that call for a sense of humor.

What old3bob has done here is start an undercover political thread, subverting the desire of the mods to put the kibosh on current event discussion. When he refers to "a certain depth of evil" I know exactly what -- and whom -- he is talking about. He likely thinks that by talking in code he can escape official censure. And he´s probably right. Smart fella.

Of course, of course. As a fan of the show So You Think You Can Dance?, I could research many more examples of white guys who can most definitely dance. But "white guys can´t dance" is a phrase from popular culture (or at least I think it is), and I thought it would be funny. Back to the comedic drawing board!

Fortunately for me, one need not know too much about the science or pseudoscience of race and culture, the migrations of large groups in 19th century Europe, or the karmic mechanics of reincarnation (which soul goes where) to express the fervent hope that we all get along. It´s probably a rosy oversimplication, but I like to believe that people from all backgrounds are equal, that we´re all capable of doing everything, although it might be true (Steve´s brother notwithstanding) that white guys can´t dance.

By definition, slop is uniform. Simple proper food is rustic and varied. Simple proper food resembles the people who eat it -- multifaceted, soulful, individual; slop resembles AI. Corporations have to make things uniform to return a profit and thus produce slop. Cooks who care about cooking as an art produce food with chi, food that holds the subtle but powerful imprint of the creative process. Such cooks may make money but you generally can´t buy their creations at 7-11.

Bernie Bayard, my old naturopath/acupuncturist, used to say that dirt thrown in a dirty pond isn´t noticed. But throw dirt in a clean pond -- that´s another story. It was a metaphor for diet. Another day of slop on top of a slop food diet doesn´t make much of a subjective difference. But eat "clean" for a few weeks and then go to Burger King? Opps!

This table from Ted Gioia´s substack (The State of the Culture, 2024 - by Ted Gioia) comes to mind.

this is Brilliance (and that last line -- Hilarity) thanks!

feels like old times

Venus in the Western Sky My companion in its brightest month A diamond cool radiance Lingers above the horizon Reminding me (in the words of the poet) To care And not to care As all the earth-bound madness Engulfs our lives. Steady, faithful A light in the darkness As the day Morphs into night -- Joseph Goldstein

I´ll give it a go. People buy solar panels thinking that they´re doing their part to "save the planet" by "going green." Of course it´s not true because a lot of oil was used in the manufacture and transport of those solar panels. Customers think they are getting one thing -- an opportunity to connect with nature and do good for the climate -- but they are being deceived. It´s a fake do-gooder purchase. Just like a rubber duck isn´t really a duck. We buy them to get some sort of three-steps removed connection with nature but they don´t work; we´re deceived. We live in a world where real environmental action is replaced by confusing fake actions and real ducks are replaced by rubber ones. It´s sad but also oddly reassuring. If people are wrong about solar panels and rubber duckies maybe they´re also wrong about the imminent demise of our duckmocracy. I hope so.