$ jlc (10,317)

It is called Superstition. It is usually regarded as a characteristic of primitive societies. I suggest that we get together an send Brady a big pile of palm fronds so that he can weave them into a pope idol and start a Cargo Cult.

Jan, shaking her head sadly

These are the important points that need to be made, RJS. Thank you for the summary.

Jan

You are right. No one talks about wealth creation - except to excoriate the 'rich'...many of whom are the wealth creators.

Jan

Good questions, winterwind. Since you and I largely agree in our personal perspectives, it is also difficult for me to understand the socialist stance. When I try to understand something, I tend to try to put myself 'inside' of it...but I cannot really do this with socialists.

Like many of us in the Gulch, though, I have spend most of my life being the 'one thing is not like the other' person in the room. I have come to realize that there are genuinely people whose intrinsic models of the universe are hugely different than mine.

Some of these people have become my close friends - they are flaming liberals. Nonetheless, they are gracious, generous with their own possessions, supportive, honest, intelligent and imaginative. How can this happen? How can so many blasted nice geniuses believe that because they are willing to give money to support people who do not work that it is OK for them to take my money to do the same? I am evolving some theories, but don't feel that I have this problem captured yet.

These people have my respect as individuals, because they have earned it over the course of decades.

Jan, the observer

I think that Pope Francis is the most interesting and genuine pope to surface in a long time. It is a damn shame that he is a Socialist, but this should not come as a surprise: He has himself voluntarily chosen that as his personal lifestyle (and he does seem to mean it).

I totally disagree with his philosophy, but I am aware that many people of the world actually believe in it and would chose it for themselves. I soooo do not understand this personally - but I do understand that any system of governance needs to take this human tendency into account: We live in a real world where people are socialist and/or religious and we cannot ignore it.

I think Francis believes what he says, but I do not like or support his plan. I want the US gov to firmly keep illegal immigrants out of the US. I am quite willing to be open-handed about work visas and legal immigration policies but I want illegal immigrants gone.

I and my ancestors, for a number of generations, have invested our efforts (and our taxes) in creating a physical infrastructure that makes our lives better. The only people who have a right to that infrastructure are the people who made it and their invited guests - legal immigrants and visitors.

But there are lots of people who disagree with me and who think that what I have belongs to them by right. I can disagree with those people, but still understand that their views and philosophies are real - and if they behave with integrity, I may have a lot of respect for them.

Jan, "may" is a big word

I think this is a hoot, but outside of any expertise I have. With respect to something that I have considered: There are now numerous programs that allow amateurs to participate in archaeological digs. Not only do you not get paid, but often you are charged for transportation, room, and board. This has proven to be a huge benefit to archaeology, and the low level excavators at many digs are now retired office managers and dental assistants.

These programs allow people such as me, who have a long term interest in archaeology to participate in it 'once in a while' and provide the pros with very skilled helpers.

It seems to me that this NASA program is drawing on these resources in a positive way. Like the archaeological excavations, it is a win-win situation. I would consider that this was a fair exchange of my work for my invitation to participate.

Jan
PS. To whomever I was discussing the meaning of Sobek with the other week, I actually found a real inscription with the name Sobek-sa't (daughter of Sobek) on it. The hieroglyphs are 'a mummified crocodile' 'a duck' 'a hemispherical loaf of bread'. (middle of bottom line)

http://www.metmuseum.org/collection/t...

Uh...that was a Really Long reply. Was all that necessary?

Jan, somewhat puzzled

Yeah! Spot on. Sometimes her name is written as Neferusobek, which makes me think that Sobek-nofru is just an alternate spelling. Happily, "nefer" is one of the (few) words that I know: it means 'perfect', and is a fairly common element in noble names.

Why would that make her the pharaoh daughter who plucked "birth" (Mss) from the river?

Jan

Huh. Interesting thought. The only word I recall in Ancient Egyptian for 'daughter' is "sa't", but I am only a beginner. I will see what I come up with as a translation of the name (thinking...I believe that Sobek is a god or goddess...)

Jan

OK. Had to do a bit of research (which is a good way to wake up the brain). Here is a list of the female pharaohs of Egypt who ruled in their own right (but sometimes for only a very short period).
MERYT-NEITH (1st Dynasty c.3000 BC)
NITOCRIS (6th Dynasty 2148-44 BC)
SOBEKNOFRU (Neferusobek) (12th Dynasty ?1767-1759 BC)
HATSHEPSUT (18th Dynasty c.1473-1458 BC)
TWOSRET (Tausert) (19th Dynasty c.1187-1185 BC)
CLEOPATRA (c 51 BC)

The list compasses a span of about 3000 years.

Jan

Actually, there were about 5 women pharaohs of Egypt; I think at least one was in the Old Kingdom. I can look that up if you are interested.

Jan

I am not sure if those are my prime criteria, db. It has always been evident to me that the women who did rule have had a high percentage of 'outstanding' rulers even though the total number of woman rulers is low. The best refutation of Rand's illogical assertion that a woman should not rule because it would ruin her sex life (!) is that it does not seem to have done this for historical rulers (except perhaps for Eliz. the First, who based her public persona on being the Virgin Queen - and there is some doubt there as well).

It was such an odd think for Ayn Rand to say... I have never been able to figure it out.

Jan

Ha! Great thread. Wm had mentioned this to me in a general sense yesterday; I did not have a chance to look up the article. Thanks for posting it! I thought the writing of slogans on the 'points of anatomical differentiation' was a nice touch.

Seriously, it is time that women in general and Islamic women in particular take the lead in smashing down these bloody damn Islamic reactionaries. We need more Kurdish 'lionesses' to stand up against people who would suppress women or knowledge or freedom or gays. But I suspect that bare-breasted women will be the most popular weapon of choice!

Jan

You might be interested in Blink, by Malcolm Gladwell, then. A fascinating story of a Greek statue (khoro?) begins the book and interweaves all through the other chapters.

Jan

My thinking is along the likes of MichaelAa and blarman. People tend to fall in love with people in their proximity; people in their proximity often have similar backgrounds and beliefs. Even it the people in your proximity do not reflect your philosophy, you will be drawn to 'someone'...because that is hard-wired into us.

I have read (and can recommend) the book Blink (I think I got a lead to this book here in the Gulch). It talks about fast decision making and how accurate such decisions are. Going with your 'first 10 sec impression' is actually a functional plan.

Jan

Ha! And a great Sunday morning read over a cup o'coffee and a home-made breakfast bar.

And I think the gunslinger in the story was smart enough to have been worth saving.

Thanks for removing the caps, I 'see' as yelling nowadays. I will send that story on to one of my sisters.

Jan

Well, thank you. We will be able to get together some day and chat.

Jan

I tried it for a few seconds, just to see, but I do not like the sound of 'voices talking at me' so I clicked off right away. Just a matter of preference, but I like reading info more than hearing it or seeing it on a video. (Talk radio drives me crazy; do not like songs that have words.)

So I will stick with the blog Gulch.

Jan,

Wow.

Jan

Oh, please let this happen! If Obamacare can be derailed, I can live with it not being a 'clean sweep'. Let's just get this nightmare overwith.

Thanks for the hopeful thread, johnpe.

Jan

That would have the 'disadvantage' of increasing the educational distance between kids. One of the 'advantages' of the traditional school system is that it normalizes the amount of education available and does not let the smarter kids excel by too much.

Jan

Good story, dukem.

Jan

The only good thing about my HS closing while I was in my Junior year was that I got to skip the Prom!! I had been dreading that since Freshman year. Fortunately, I had taken all solid courses and was able to graduate as a Junior, and went straight to college...but without Senior math and physics, the path of my life changed.

Jan

Thanks for the insight, and for the caution. I do not have children and have little empathy with them (these two things are not unrelated), so it is easy for me to deride education and the difficulty of educating children - special needs or otherwise.

I am glad that your child is such a go-getter. More power to him.

Jan

Yes. This is kinda like the 'robots in fast food' discussion. Human beings are reluctant to change, but if you block their traditional path you will force them to innovate.

So let's have home schooling, charter schools, and McRobot.

Jan