tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-85751403993593290462024-03-05T11:54:41.419-08:00RamblebrainThoughts on nature, science, language, philosophy, old blues songs...whatever strikes my fancyRamblebrainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03730495971082649433noreply@blogger.comBlogger188125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8575140399359329046.post-21570272755253595982019-07-30T13:53:00.001-07:002019-07-30T13:53:58.788-07:00When They Go Low: On Being Civil to Trump Supporters
Mr M Evison / CC BY-SA 2.0
Over the last three years, as liberals and moderates struggle to find a way to respond to the Trump phenomenon, one of the big debates has been how to how to talk to Trump supporters. Should we be civil to people to support a man who is quite clearly a liar and racist? A man who has bragged about committing sexual assault, and lied more than any politician in recent Ramblebrainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03730495971082649433noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8575140399359329046.post-38993528612974324742019-01-05T18:41:00.000-08:002019-01-05T19:13:37.031-08:00Notes on Reason and EmpathyHave you ever noticed how some people will get all red-faced and blustery, and then say, “I think with logic, not emotion!!” I've heard that several times recently, and I'm always curious about what they mean. They must not think all emotions are contrary to logic, or they would see the contradiction in angrily declaring how logical they are. Maybe anger doesn't seem like one of the soft, squishyRamblebrainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03730495971082649433noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8575140399359329046.post-53492161796725742442018-04-08T12:17:00.000-07:002018-04-08T12:17:26.926-07:00On Political Moderation (In Moderation)
Things fall apart; the center cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world.
- W.B. Yeats, The Second Coming
Photo by kevint3141, Wikimedia Commons
If you read the news or follow social media in these polarized times, you might get the impression that moderates are a dying breed. The right marches farther right, the left marches farther left, while the center seems to Ramblebrainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03730495971082649433noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8575140399359329046.post-41895021181805414942018-02-01T14:37:00.001-08:002018-02-01T14:37:22.628-08:00Certainty, Censorship, and the Spirit of LibertyThe best thing I've read in the past year is a speech that Judge Learned Hand gave to a group of immigrants who had just become American citizens. He began by pointing out that most Americans are either immigrants or descended from immigrants; from people who gave up their old lives to try to make it in an unfamiliar new country. Then he asked why they took such a perilous step.
His answer: "We Ramblebrainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03730495971082649433noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8575140399359329046.post-33858308907337298342017-11-03T08:50:00.001-07:002017-11-03T11:21:36.337-07:00Russian Bots and Our Own Worst EnemyLast night I did a silly thing. I wrote a long, hotheaded, self-righteous Facebook rant urging people to be less hotheaded and self-righteous. I even began by saying, "I started writing, and it turned into a diatribe. Eh, damn the torpedoes." Eventually, my head grew somewhat cooler and I realized that my own impassioned righteousness was a great example of the frame of mind I was warning other Ramblebrainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03730495971082649433noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8575140399359329046.post-31234286271175928852017-10-23T09:00:00.001-07:002017-10-23T12:45:26.748-07:00Morning Thoughts on Freedom of SpeechI woke up this morning thinking about freedom of speech, and what it means. Yes, that is kinda weird. But it's a topic that's been on my mind a lot lately, because it seems to me that some folks on both sides of the political spectrum have become alarmingly hostile to freedom of speech and freedom of thought. For some on the left, liberalism now seems to be about policing what people say and Ramblebrainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03730495971082649433noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8575140399359329046.post-21395887970851331022017-09-26T21:43:00.000-07:002017-09-27T07:09:57.566-07:00White Privilege and the Weight of HistoryI love Billie Holiday, but I don't enjoy the song "Strange Fruit". It's the most powerful song I've ever heard, and I think every American should hear it at least once, but to be honest, I turn it off when it comes on. It's just too sad. I made myself listen to it tonight, though. It's on my mind because of a comment I saw on Facebook that I can't stop thinking about. The man who made it was Ramblebrainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03730495971082649433noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8575140399359329046.post-69616451362860665692017-09-22T09:01:00.000-07:002017-09-22T10:31:04.140-07:00From the Gangplank to the Big Hole: Deep History in the High Plains
If you drive west along Interstate 80 from Cheyenne, Wyoming, you'll soon begin to cross the Rocky Mountains. But the strange thing is, you might not realize it. In this part of Wyoming, the high plains are really, really high. They form a great ramp that goes up to 7,000 feet--almost to the top of this section of the Laramie Range, which is low by Rocky Mountain standards. When you get to Ramblebrainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03730495971082649433noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8575140399359329046.post-20542470689541415072017-09-07T12:15:00.002-07:002017-09-07T14:13:33.357-07:00Hopes and Dreamers: DACA and the Purpose of Morality
With the fates of 800,000 DACA applicants on the line, I wonder if it’s a good time for Americans to reflect on the moral issues at stake in this situation. These days people on either side of the political spectrum tend think the other side is simply amoral. But that’s usually not true (even if a few on both sides really are amoral). Most people on different sides of the political spectrum Ramblebrainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03730495971082649433noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8575140399359329046.post-48570928553422780102017-06-09T11:09:00.000-07:002017-06-09T16:00:24.119-07:00Thoughts on Ideological Purity
A couple of times recently I've heard the phrase "ideological purity", and thought, "That's really what some people want, isn't it?" Part of the reason our country is so polarized, I think, is that there are vocal minorities on both sides of the political spectrum who insist on ideological purity. They have an orthodoxy, and they try to enforce it. They view moderate and independent members of Ramblebrainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03730495971082649433noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8575140399359329046.post-53101026928179223842017-05-11T21:11:00.001-07:002017-05-11T21:31:30.019-07:00Sagan's Dust Mote: An Evening Reflection
Tonight I sat on my couch just as the evening sun was streaming through my west window, and I noticed a few dust particles glowing and dancing in the light. It made me think of Carl Sagan's famous reflection comparing the Earth to "a mote of dust, suspended in a sunbeam."
His comparison was inspired by a photo of the Earth taken by the Voyager 1 space probe in 1990, just as it was leaving the Ramblebrainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03730495971082649433noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8575140399359329046.post-5032278691391682112017-05-06T10:04:00.001-07:002017-05-06T10:17:52.273-07:00Darkness, Light, and Prairie Dogs
This past Thursday I was off work on a beautiful day in Colorado, and I was depressed. It was the National Day of Prayer, and Donald Trump was using it to sign an executive order promoting "religious freedom", which all too often these days means using religion as an excuse to discriminate. Meanwhile, the House of Representatives was using the day to vote for a bill that--if it passes the Ramblebrainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03730495971082649433noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8575140399359329046.post-5339366434840343702017-02-25T06:24:00.000-08:002017-02-25T14:30:19.555-08:00Hidden Beauty
At times when science is questioned and threatened, as it is currently, its defenders remind us of the many reasons science is vital: Science cures diseases and improves our quality of life. Science education and funding helps the US stay competitive in an increasingly technology-driven global economy. Science helps us understand how the world works; uncovering nature's deepest laws. All Ramblebrainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03730495971082649433noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8575140399359329046.post-80871691867081002622017-02-09T07:10:00.000-08:002017-02-09T15:14:44.254-08:00Facts are not Partisan: A Plea to Honest Conservatives
The party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command. His heart sank as he thought of the enormous power arrayed against him.
- George Orwell, 1984
Still from the film Gaslight
Most of the people I knew growing up were conservatives. I'm from rural Arkansas--a red part of a red state--so many of my friends, extended family, and Ramblebrainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03730495971082649433noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8575140399359329046.post-34651072696429175772017-01-28T08:30:00.002-08:002017-07-04T09:03:00.068-07:00What Patriotism Means to a Liberal
The other day I was taken aback when I heard a nice, intelligent-sounding young woman explain why she disapproved of Barack Obama and supported Donald Trump: she said she thought Trump has more pride in America. I think it really jolted me because I had just listened to Obama's farewell address, and it was absolutely packed with patriotic themes: with references to American history, to freedom,Ramblebrainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03730495971082649433noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8575140399359329046.post-30866034331852253722016-08-18T16:27:00.002-07:002016-12-04T07:21:32.149-08:00How to Make the Earth Seem Flat
If you know me, what I'm about to say might come as a bit of a shock, so I'm just going to throw it out there: I kinda think the earth might be flat. Not only that, I think the sun and moon might be much smaller and closer to us than we've been told--maybe just a few miles above the earth. I know it sounds crazy, but I just can't ignore what I've seen with my own eyes. Before you decide I've Ramblebrainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03730495971082649433noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8575140399359329046.post-74672851019807249982016-04-08T07:11:00.004-07:002016-12-09T19:45:54.061-08:00True Magic; Real Miracles
One of [the brain's] functions is to make the miraculous seem ordinary, to turn the unusual into the usual. Otherwise, human beings, faced with the daily wondrousness of everything, would go around wearing a stupid grin, saying “Wow,” a lot. Part of the brain exists to stop this from happening. - Terry Pratchett
It doesn't stop being magic just because you know how it works. - Terry Ramblebrainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03730495971082649433noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8575140399359329046.post-45490553733205180282016-02-05T10:18:00.000-08:002016-02-05T11:12:00.183-08:00What Would Cruz Do? Comparing Ted Cruz with Jesus
Blessed are the merciful,
For they shall obtain mercy. - Matthew 5.7
For if you forgive men their trespasses, your
heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their
trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. - Matthew 6:15
Defended the death penalty twice before the
Supreme Court as Texas Solicitor General. Also as Ramblebrainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03730495971082649433noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8575140399359329046.post-56627568044318471942016-01-13T06:38:00.002-08:002018-01-11T18:47:29.553-08:00What Would Trump Do? Comparing Statements by Trump and Jesus
Jesus
Donald Trump
Photo by Gage Skidmore. Click for credit.
Blessed are the merciful,
For they shall obtain mercy. - Matthew 5.7
Do unto others as you would have them do to you. - Luke 6:31My only complaint is that lethal injection is too comfortable a way to go
It's about 10 degrees below zero outside. ... You can keep his coat; tell him we'll send it to him in a couple of Ramblebrainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03730495971082649433noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8575140399359329046.post-15228007345055246462016-01-07T09:58:00.000-08:002016-01-07T10:13:13.003-08:00Notes on GeekinessGeeks have come a long way in recent decades. Once upon a time, the word "geek" meant a sideshow performer in traveling carnivals, who made money doing foul and degrading things like biting the heads off chickens. Then the word came to be associated with people who were smart, but socially-awkward. In other words: nerds (a word invented by Dr. Seuss). The fact that people equated nerds with Ramblebrainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03730495971082649433noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8575140399359329046.post-52566515038438342182016-01-07T07:08:00.000-08:002016-01-07T08:23:15.208-08:00Let Your Geek Flag Fly
Photo by Alan Fitzsimmons. Click for photo credit and info.
Not long ago, I spent a bunch of time writing one of my long and cerebral blog posts. And then I thought better of it, because I was making a simple point complicated. So here's that simple point: The world is full of staggering natural wonders and deep intellectual mysteries. It's endlessly complex and surprising. It's millions of Ramblebrainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03730495971082649433noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8575140399359329046.post-56394038230775367692015-12-11T08:52:00.000-08:002015-12-11T08:52:12.017-08:00Sticks in the Spokes: Things that Break Cycles of Hate and Violence
As I child, I never liked going to church, but privately, I was always fascinated by some of Jesus' ethical teachings. While I haven't been a believer since my late teens, lately I've gotten interested in Jesus again; not as a son of God or savior, but as an ethical thinker--even a strategic thinker. His instructions to be merciful and forgiving, to be a peacemaker, to love your neighbor and Ramblebrainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03730495971082649433noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8575140399359329046.post-69816246121379144532015-12-02T20:16:00.000-08:002018-02-27T11:51:33.594-08:00Mass Shootings: How Scared Should You Be?I've never thought it made sense for me to worry about becoming the victim of a random mass shooting. First, worry alone has precisely zero effect on whether it will happen or not. All it does is make you more anxious and less happy. Second, I've always figured that if I do die before my time, it's far more likely that it will be from something like cancer or a car accident. As awful as mass Ramblebrainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03730495971082649433noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8575140399359329046.post-26874924448545329202015-11-24T18:44:00.001-08:002015-11-24T18:56:42.288-08:00Man in the Mirror
Steve was nervous. He had never liked flying, especially since 9/11, and he especially hated flying with his family. But here they were anyway, waiting in the terminal to go to his parents' place for Thanksgiving. It didn't help that President Trump was on CNN talking about his plan to ban Muslims from flying. Steve would have never agreed with this kind of talk before, but the more he heard itRamblebrainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03730495971082649433noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8575140399359329046.post-66689436781993171552015-11-17T17:25:00.001-08:002016-12-04T07:37:58.416-08:00Blaming Innocent Muslims for Terrorism
It's 5 in the morning. I can't sleep. Yesterday, governors around the country declared that they would oppose having Syrian refugees in their states. And people loved it, especially in the red states. There was an outpouring of fear, hate and xenophobia on social media like nothing I've ever seen in this country. To get a feeling for it, check out the comments following the announcement by Asa Ramblebrainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03730495971082649433noreply@blogger.com2