“Rarely do we find men who willingly engage in hard, solid thinking. There is an almost universal quest for easy answers and half-baked solutions. Nothing pains some people more than having to think.”
That quote is very apropos in our current environment; perhaps it’s always true to some degree. The Internet age and social media hasn’t helped in our present culture.
Yep, good quote. I’m actually reading a good book about thinking (Thinking, Fast and Slow), and I’ve had lots of opportunity lately to see examples of careless thinking . . .
Today isn’t a holiday here, but I don’t have to go to work. A good thing too, since I have been working extremely hard the past four days. The weekend 12 hour shifts were, I think, the busiest I have ever had.
Second in-law’s elderly stepmother was placed in a nursing home by her own children while her husband, Second in-law’s father, went to the hospital for surgery. She has now tested positive for COVID while still in the nursing home. She has been already in very precarious health.
Chas, at the end of a 12 hour shift, my body doesn’t do what my brain tells it to do. I start dropping things, forgetting where I put something, etc. I forgot my winter boots at the clinic this time. Aging is just getting permanently tired.
But Second in-law’s stepmother didn’t have to go to the nursing home. As a Mennonite woman, she has many children and grandchildren – when Second in-law’s father married her, they were both widowed seniors and had adult children and grandchildren – but her own children are, to put it bluntly, parasites, and would never have done anything so selfless as take their aged parent in for a few weeks. They hover around her like vultures, taking what material gain they can get for the time being and waiting for her to die so they can get whatever inheritance there is. Second in-law and his siblings have no say in their stepmother’s care. They think she married their father to try to escape her own children’s ‘tender care’. Second in-law’s father is several years younger than her, and has been taking care of her like a personal attendant since they married. In fact, he got the injury he needed surgery for while taking care of her.
MLK Day is a big celebration day in Atlanta. It will be a subdued day because of Covid restrictions. The strangling arms of Covid keep reaching and grabbing traditional events. Will another group of May graduates lose out on the opportunity for all the celebrations? I hope not. We have yet to give our son a congratulatory hug for his accomplishment. But I must focus on the gains and not the losses and pray for others to be spared from similar losses.
Despite what the link sounds like, the first program is on a book about the craft of making felt flowers for all sorts of projects. The flower garland is the one I thought would be nice to do for special occasions.
For some reason my Mac will not let me post on the blog. I will call tech support later to see what the solution is. For now I have a serious question to ask.
As you know, I was recently shamed and my post removed from a FB group. I found out New Year’s Day that my posts are going to an admin for approval.
We all know that things are rapidly changing. Now Latinos are LatinX and I do not know what the proper term these days is for people whose ancestors were brought here from Africa.
Our office is closed today but I am sticking to my teaching schedule. I told everyone that if they chose not to attend today it would be an excused absence. I had one man who is of African decent ask me in a text if he really would be excused I said of course.
Then in the same text, because he will be attending the parade today I asked him to please be careful. I said we are living in strange times. This isn’t your broker speaking, this is the mother in me.
Was I out of line?
I genuinely care about people. They call me Mama Kim around here sometimes. I just don’t like second guessing myself all the time.
Re Thinking, Fast and Slow, this is a little bit about what Amazon says about the author: “Daniel Kahneman (Hebrew: דניאל כהנמן, born March 5, 1934) is an Israeli-American psychologist notable for his work on the psychology of judgment and decision-making, as well as behavioral economics, for which he was awarded the 2002 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences (shared with Vernon L. Smith). His empirical findings challenge the assumption of human rationality prevailing in modern economic theory. With Amos Tversky and others, Kahneman established a cognitive basis for common human errors that arise from heuristics and biases, and developed prospect theory.” (I deleted some parenthetical info.)
The main thesis in the book is that our “thinking” takes two forms, which work together but sometimes poorly. We have “fast” thinking, which is quick impressions of things we already know (or think we know). For instance, a tall man walks into the church foyer, and you don’t have to look at his height and his face and the color of his hair and what he wears and from all of that figure out that the man is your pastor or your brother–your mind puts together what you already know, and you identify him without even thinking about it. But “fast” thinking can also work for something more complex that you know well, like driving your car around a curve or the ability to read a sentence. “Slow” thinking is figuring things out. It’s thinking through a sentence with new information in it or guessing the meaning of a new word, or analyzing new information.
The book uses a lot of studies to show that people often make errors in thinking based on a lot of factors, including thinking shortcuts. For instance, when deciding whether to invest in a new company, people are likely to decide it’s a good investment based on having seen the CEO interviewed and thinking he’s likable and smart, without looking at whether the stock is already priced too high or whether the investor knows anything about what the company does. He talks about a lot of judgment errors. One, for instance, is the “halo effect,” and in that one, you see someone who is good looking and tall, and who seems friendly, and you automatically think that he is also intelligent and kind. But it works the other way too–if you don’t like the looks of someone, or you hear one bad thing about the person, then mentally you downgrade him in every category. It’s basically the mind doing as little work as it can get away with and filling in the blanks.
Another is the “sunk-cost fallacy,” in which people who have already invested a lot in something tend to try to see it through. An example of this one (this isn’t one he gives, but is one I’ve seen) is the girl who keeps dating the same guy for several years, even though it becomes clear he won’t marry her, because it’s hard to admit to herself that this is wasted time that’s getting nowhere. She wants to think that yes, it’s been five years and he won’t even talk about marriage, but surely five years of dating means he’ll propose soon–and even thinking about “starting over” with someone else is daunting.
I see implications in the book for all sorts of situations, from dating to parenting, hiring decisions to investing–and the way people think and talk about the news and political leaders.
Morning! We had a dusting of snow overnight but it just appears as diamond sparkles when the sun shines on the frosty flakes…so pretty! More snow to come in this afternoon….
Kim sometimes I just want to tell people to “deal with it” when they take umbrage with what I say anymore. So many are at the ready to be offended and if they truly know your heart they have to know you mean no harm. Seems so many feel we need to be “educated” to their way of thinking. I just can’t anymore. I know you are in a situation where you must be professional and mindful of others becoming “offended” but honestly we cannot live our lives to conform to whichever way the wind blows…and I do think that young man would be thankful that you care about him and his safety… ♥️
One of my brothers recently commented about not agreeing with me on politics. I replied that he doesn’t need to agree with me; just not think the worst of me.
Lazy thinking is why speech is being curtailed. Nothing more irritating, apparently, than have to defend an opinion that really runs against the facts. Plus, if you let others speak those facts to those you are trying to manipulate, those people may start thinking beyond the 20 second sound bite. Schools are aiding and abetting lazy thinking in too many. Not all schools and not all educators, thank God.
We are all human beings, so of us all engage in lazy thinking sometimes.
Roscuro, so sad for that woman. I suppose it is even sadder (in a way) for the adult children, since they will find possessions are not eternal and won’t bring lasting joy. Hopefully, they will find out in time. Their own children may follow their example, too. I am saddened by everything that took place after my dad died and then after my mom died. I would have never believed it.
The flower making book looks like a lot of fun, Janice.
I am behind in seasons. I am crafting a no sew quilt Christmas tree. It turned out to be more work than I thought it would. It isn’t difficult, but has to be done right from the beginning and it is easy to miss a step or do something wrong when you are just learning it online. Little things would be caught quickly if I were learning in a class or from a friend. As it is, I have taken apart my work a couple of times. It is just ‘watching television time,’ so no biggie.
Oh, Kim. How much your comment reminds me of my concern for a guy (of color) I supervised. For part of his duties he kept up with office supplies and did an excellent job. Sometimes he did not have enough to do and management looked to me to find things to keep him busy so he would not be noticed asleep at his desk when they walked by. He was so conscientious to never waste supplies. I highly respected him. For that reason, when I found a notebook that had something on it that prevented it from being reused, I asked him to wash it off so it could go back in the supply cabinet. For asking him to do that I got called into HR for a meeting first with their staff and secondly with him and a mediator. That was over thirty years ago. Has anything changed? Only regression. And it is called progressive.
Good morning! I survived my first work run after covid. I can hardly believe how it has sapped my strength. I had a new girl to train, so was mentally exhausting as well. Precepting makes me try think how to make everything into a learning experience. Sort of like homeschooling. 😊
Take it easy, RKessler. Going slower now may preserve your health for later.
I have always thought that the awful unknown virus (high fever, chest congestion, trouble breathing, vomiting, diarrhea, and muscles aches and pain from head to toe – sound familiar?) that I had the July I was in West Africa contributed to my collapse from asthma the following December. I hadn’t really recovered full strength when I returned to the clinic in August and worked through the intense heat and humidity of the rainy season. I was so worn down by the end of November that a mild cold sent me into a tailspin with my asthma. I lost the ability to take a deep breath (it was like breathing with a band of iron around my chest) and even to speak – I would try to say something and nothing would come out, as it was like my vocal cords just stopped working. The team gave me ipratropium and albuterol nebulizer treatments and oral prednisone to try to get the lung inflammation under control, but I just kept getting worse. After two nights where team members had to stay with me, I finally told the NP I didn’t think I would make it, as I was starting to feel cold and like I was slipping away. They got me out of the village to the capital, which was by the ocean where the air is clearer, but even then I had some bad episodes before being flown home. Even after I got home, I was virtually bedridden for weeks, and it took me over two years to be able to consider going back to nursing. Even now, I know I will never be the same. That virus and subsequent asthmatic episode permanently worsened my asthma. Before West Africa, I occasionally took my rescue inhaler, maybe two or three times a week, and only used my maintenance inhaler when I had a chest infection, only every few months. Now I use a combination inhaler twice daily on a good day.
I could use some prayers for discernment and wisdom to not overreact to something coming down through the Sunday School program. My husband was concerned at how I was shouting at the computer and asked me NOT to send my very angry email.
Which I didn’t.
But I’m still upset.
Wild winds here today. It’s extraordinary to watch the trees dance.
Kim- Most of us who are of Spanish descent don’t even know the term “LatinX”. It must have been created by some feel-good white liberal who felt the need to de-genderize a language that has a gender for every noun. As a Spanish teacher, I would have gone with a neutral term “Latine” (pronounced [la-TIN-eh]) as a compromise for those who feel the need to equalize everything.
I’m curious as to how LatinX is even pronounced. Is it ‘latin-x’ or does it rhyme with lynx – ‘latinx’?
To add to what Peter said: https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/12/us/latinx-term-usage-hispanics-trnd/index.html
‘”The term replaces the “o” in “Latino” or the “a” in “Latina” with an “x” to make it gender-neutral. But in doing so, its critics say, English speakers are imposing a term on the Hispanic and Latino population that doesn’t make sense for them.
‘Gilbert Guerra and Gilbert Orbea were early opponents of the term, arguing against it in a widely-cited 2015 op-ed for Swarthmore College’s campus newspaper.
‘”Perhaps the most ironic failure of the term is that it actually excludes more groups than it includes,” wrote Guerra and Orbea. “By replacing o’s and a’s with x’s, the word “Latinx” is rendered laughably incomprehensible to any Spanish speaker without some fluency in English.”
‘Cristobal Salinas, a professor at Florida Atlantic University who has researched the use of the term “Latinx,” said the term is sometimes seen as US-centric — and just another way that the US is exerting its influence on Latin America.’
Kim, I use the “I’m a mom” excuse all the time at my work. The staff are all 16 to mid 20s, so when I remind them to run facing the traffic as they sign out to go for a run, I excuse it by saying “I’m a mom and I care about you” 🙂 I also use it for other stuff, like if they’re not feeling well or about to do something ‘silly’.
Since Cheryl mentioned books we are reading, in the time I had off, I read ‘Histories and Fallacies’ by Carl Trueman, which talks about how to, or rather how not to, approach history. He uses various flawed theories of history to demonstrate how not to do things. One of the things he talks about is the necessity of falsifiability. In other words, there should always be a possibility that historical evidence could prove one’s theory of history incorrect. If, when one’s theory is challenged by new historical evidence, one instead discounts the evidence rather than give up the theory, then one’s theory is no longer viable or useful. He used the example of Marxist theory of history, which explains history as a series of class struggles. He pointed out that while economics was a valid focus in history, the Marxist theories lost validity when they discounted contradictory evidence, such as, say ,a lower class opposing a revolution, as being due to something termed ‘false consciousness’. Marxists claimed false consciousness is a result of a class being tricked into engaging in a struggle against their own class interests. Instead of discarding or modifying the theory that all conflict in history is class conflict when they find evidence that members of a class didn’t behave as predicted by the theory, they just attributed the contradictory behaviour to a supposed false consciousness. Trueman pointed this was essentially no different than the average conspiracy theorist who, when confronted with evidence that contradicts their theory, just insists that the contradictory evidence is further evidence of a conspiracy to cover up the supposed conspracy. He also deals with various historical fallacies as exemplified in Holocaust denial, which is an increasingly popular conspiracy theory and one that is very difficult to contradict effectively, as I know from personal experience. A good little book for anyone interested in learning from history.
No holiday here, either, and I have no story, still looking. And feeling just not with it, too much going on with the death of my friends and feeling newly disheartened, somehow, after the past year of the pandemic mess.
We don’t use LatinX – yet.
So many fallacies going around these days, from medical to political to religious (QAnon, anyone? It’s a real and growing danger — and not usually that overtly recognizable — to churches and Christians who aren’t well grounded theologically).
Rkessler, yes, take it easy. Roscuro, I remember how sick you were back then.
Interesting text early this morning with Carol’s brother in NJ (a non-believer, and pretty hard-core about it). He wrote this during our back-and-forth about Carol’s final arrangements:
++++++++++++
~ Given the amount of pomp and ceremony the Church teaches I found it remarkable Carol truly only cared about the afterlife. Bypassed much of the dogma, a true Christian at heart. Rare. ~
+++++++++++++++
I answered by saying that Carol knew her Bible and doctrine very well and was always diligent in joining with a MO Synod church whenever she moved (even though her attendance was spotty).
In the past year, when she was still feeling somewhat OK, she spent mornings taking her boyfriend through morning devotions provided by the Lutheran church and teaching him the Bible (she’d bought it for him a year or 2 ago). He was raised Baptist (African-American, grew up in south Los Angeles), but I doubt he was in church much during his life. He seemed also to have mental and emotional issues.
DJ, seems like he was comforting himself with that thought and way of putting down the church and the fullness of treasure it adds to true believers lives. I feel sorry for him with such a loss to process without God.
Anytime you hear “dogma” from an unbeliever you understand where they’re going.
Carol tried to share the gospel with him, but he wasn’t interested, he was very secular and very politically liberal. She was the only one who was a Christian, as far as she knew, in her family, she had to sneak off to church as a kid.
LACoFD SEES SHARP DECLINE OF INTERNAL COVID-19 CASES AS SECOND PHASE OF VACCINE PROGRAM UNDERWAY
_______________________
The Los Angeles County Fire Department (LACoFD) has experienced a drastic decline in the test positivity rate and number of individuals out sick with COVID-19 within its workforce.
“With a nearly 75 percent acceptance rate in our Department, the COVID-19 vaccine is allowing us to keep our first responders on track to stay as healthy as possible during these most challenging times of the pandemic,” said Fire Chief Daryl L. Osby. “With the second dose of the vaccine now being given to our team members, this will provide another layer of protection and allow us to continue to seamlessly provide the highest level of care to our patients.” …
_____________________________
~ Unbelievable.
L.A.’s newest mass vaccination site at Dodger Stadium, which just opened on Friday, is CLOSED for the HOLIDAY.
Holiday?!
We’re in a pandemic.
We’re in a surge.
And someone thought it was a good day to take a day off?
A DAY OFF?
Seriously?!? ~
Roscuro – What you wrote about “false consciousness” reminded me of how some liberals will say that minorities or women are “self-hating” when they espouse conservative views.
I have three local friends, one from my church, who veer towards the QAnon stuff. (Although I don’t know if they are aware that the theories they post about are from QAnon.) They also happen to follow a “prophet” named Lance Wellnau. I took a look at his Facebook page, and found this in the sidebar:
“The Bible describes all this but holds out the promise that there will be two kinds of nations when Jesus returns – “sheep” nations and “goat” nations. All this is in a new best-selling book “Gods Chaos Code.” It’s all about this moment and the conflict between good and evil as it is worked out in individuals and nations revealed a CODE, hidden in the restoration of Israel. This hidden code brings to manifestation the end time meaning of the Hebrew temple, the battle to build walls and gates and the rise of global empire that seeks to take over the nations.”
He’s the one who said that it is God’s will for Trump to be elected, and if he is not elected, that would be against God’s will. Can a president be elected against God’s will?
Nevermind. Right after asking that, I read in DJ’s link:
“Though they’re often used interchangeably, “Hispanic” refers only to people from Spanish-speaking countries, which includes Latin America and Spain. “Latino” refers to people with roots in Latin America, which includes Portuguese-speaking Brazilians, but excludes Spain.”
The Ontario government was criticized for pausing the provincial vaccination program during the holidays. As several healthcare workers pointed out, the healthcare field just keeps working through holidays. But there may be an economic factor, as healthcare workers generally get time and a half for working holidays. Thus, it is more expensive to pay those giving the vaccines during a holiday.
Kizzie @ 9:20- Then there i the term “chicano”. I don’t know if it’s still in use, but it refers to people of Mexican heritage. Not sure if it only refers to those born in the US or all Mexicans.
And If I remember correctly, the word “Hispanic” is also a creation of the US government since people in Latin America are of many “races”. But some don’t like it since it lumps 20 some nationalities into one group. So Spanish got back and don’t use “americano” or “norteamericano” in some places, because both terms include people from countries outside the US, like Canada, Mexico and Latin America. They made up the word “estadounidense” for people from the US. It would translate to “United Statesian”.
Wandering Views 
This posted early. But I guess it’s already the 18th somewhere, just not in the US.
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That quote is very apropos in our current environment; perhaps it’s always true to some degree. The Internet age and social media hasn’t helped in our present culture.
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Yep, good quote. I’m actually reading a good book about thinking (Thinking, Fast and Slow), and I’ve had lots of opportunity lately to see examples of careless thinking . . .
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As In . . . I could care less?😀🤣
The cat that is cuddled up and purring could hardly care more.❤
Have a good rest, Wanderers!💤
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It’s morning now. And it is a holiday.
But nothing different happens here.
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Your book sounds enlightening, Cheryl. Who is the author and what is their background?
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Today isn’t a holiday here, but I don’t have to go to work. A good thing too, since I have been working extremely hard the past four days. The weekend 12 hour shifts were, I think, the busiest I have ever had.
Second in-law’s elderly stepmother was placed in a nursing home by her own children while her husband, Second in-law’s father, went to the hospital for surgery. She has now tested positive for COVID while still in the nursing home. She has been already in very precarious health.
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Getting old is very difficult, Phos.
The main problem is that your body doesn’t do what your brain tells it to do.
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Chas, at the end of a 12 hour shift, my body doesn’t do what my brain tells it to do. I start dropping things, forgetting where I put something, etc. I forgot my winter boots at the clinic this time. Aging is just getting permanently tired.
But Second in-law’s stepmother didn’t have to go to the nursing home. As a Mennonite woman, she has many children and grandchildren – when Second in-law’s father married her, they were both widowed seniors and had adult children and grandchildren – but her own children are, to put it bluntly, parasites, and would never have done anything so selfless as take their aged parent in for a few weeks. They hover around her like vultures, taking what material gain they can get for the time being and waiting for her to die so they can get whatever inheritance there is. Second in-law and his siblings have no say in their stepmother’s care. They think she married their father to try to escape her own children’s ‘tender care’. Second in-law’s father is several years younger than her, and has been taking care of her like a personal attendant since they married. In fact, he got the injury he needed surgery for while taking care of her.
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Good morning. Nor here, Chas. Babies every day.
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Wouldn’t change a thing.
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MLK Day is a big celebration day in Atlanta. It will be a subdued day because of Covid restrictions. The strangling arms of Covid keep reaching and grabbing traditional events. Will another group of May graduates lose out on the opportunity for all the celebrations? I hope not. We have yet to give our son a congratulatory hug for his accomplishment. But I must focus on the gains and not the losses and pray for others to be spared from similar losses.
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These free programs may be of interest to someone here:
https://mailchi.mp/publishersweekly/win-timely-political-graphic-novel-thriller-1438038?e=fefd64b93c
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Despite what the link sounds like, the first program is on a book about the craft of making felt flowers for all sorts of projects. The flower garland is the one I thought would be nice to do for special occasions.
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For some reason my Mac will not let me post on the blog. I will call tech support later to see what the solution is. For now I have a serious question to ask.
As you know, I was recently shamed and my post removed from a FB group. I found out New Year’s Day that my posts are going to an admin for approval.
We all know that things are rapidly changing. Now Latinos are LatinX and I do not know what the proper term these days is for people whose ancestors were brought here from Africa.
Our office is closed today but I am sticking to my teaching schedule. I told everyone that if they chose not to attend today it would be an excused absence. I had one man who is of African decent ask me in a text if he really would be excused I said of course.
Then in the same text, because he will be attending the parade today I asked him to please be careful. I said we are living in strange times. This isn’t your broker speaking, this is the mother in me.
Was I out of line?
I genuinely care about people. They call me Mama Kim around here sometimes. I just don’t like second guessing myself all the time.
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Re Thinking, Fast and Slow, this is a little bit about what Amazon says about the author: “Daniel Kahneman (Hebrew: דניאל כהנמן, born March 5, 1934) is an Israeli-American psychologist notable for his work on the psychology of judgment and decision-making, as well as behavioral economics, for which he was awarded the 2002 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences (shared with Vernon L. Smith). His empirical findings challenge the assumption of human rationality prevailing in modern economic theory. With Amos Tversky and others, Kahneman established a cognitive basis for common human errors that arise from heuristics and biases, and developed prospect theory.” (I deleted some parenthetical info.)
The main thesis in the book is that our “thinking” takes two forms, which work together but sometimes poorly. We have “fast” thinking, which is quick impressions of things we already know (or think we know). For instance, a tall man walks into the church foyer, and you don’t have to look at his height and his face and the color of his hair and what he wears and from all of that figure out that the man is your pastor or your brother–your mind puts together what you already know, and you identify him without even thinking about it. But “fast” thinking can also work for something more complex that you know well, like driving your car around a curve or the ability to read a sentence. “Slow” thinking is figuring things out. It’s thinking through a sentence with new information in it or guessing the meaning of a new word, or analyzing new information.
The book uses a lot of studies to show that people often make errors in thinking based on a lot of factors, including thinking shortcuts. For instance, when deciding whether to invest in a new company, people are likely to decide it’s a good investment based on having seen the CEO interviewed and thinking he’s likable and smart, without looking at whether the stock is already priced too high or whether the investor knows anything about what the company does. He talks about a lot of judgment errors. One, for instance, is the “halo effect,” and in that one, you see someone who is good looking and tall, and who seems friendly, and you automatically think that he is also intelligent and kind. But it works the other way too–if you don’t like the looks of someone, or you hear one bad thing about the person, then mentally you downgrade him in every category. It’s basically the mind doing as little work as it can get away with and filling in the blanks.
Another is the “sunk-cost fallacy,” in which people who have already invested a lot in something tend to try to see it through. An example of this one (this isn’t one he gives, but is one I’ve seen) is the girl who keeps dating the same guy for several years, even though it becomes clear he won’t marry her, because it’s hard to admit to herself that this is wasted time that’s getting nowhere. She wants to think that yes, it’s been five years and he won’t even talk about marriage, but surely five years of dating means he’ll propose soon–and even thinking about “starting over” with someone else is daunting.
I see implications in the book for all sorts of situations, from dating to parenting, hiring decisions to investing–and the way people think and talk about the news and political leaders.
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Morning! We had a dusting of snow overnight but it just appears as diamond sparkles when the sun shines on the frosty flakes…so pretty! More snow to come in this afternoon….
Kim sometimes I just want to tell people to “deal with it” when they take umbrage with what I say anymore. So many are at the ready to be offended and if they truly know your heart they have to know you mean no harm. Seems so many feel we need to be “educated” to their way of thinking. I just can’t anymore. I know you are in a situation where you must be professional and mindful of others becoming “offended” but honestly we cannot live our lives to conform to whichever way the wind blows…and I do think that young man would be thankful that you care about him and his safety… ♥️
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One of my brothers recently commented about not agreeing with me on politics. I replied that he doesn’t need to agree with me; just not think the worst of me.
Lazy thinking is why speech is being curtailed. Nothing more irritating, apparently, than have to defend an opinion that really runs against the facts. Plus, if you let others speak those facts to those you are trying to manipulate, those people may start thinking beyond the 20 second sound bite. Schools are aiding and abetting lazy thinking in too many. Not all schools and not all educators, thank God.
We are all human beings, so of us all engage in lazy thinking sometimes.
Roscuro, so sad for that woman. I suppose it is even sadder (in a way) for the adult children, since they will find possessions are not eternal and won’t bring lasting joy. Hopefully, they will find out in time. Their own children may follow their example, too. I am saddened by everything that took place after my dad died and then after my mom died. I would have never believed it.
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In Doha Qatar getting ready for another all night flight to Kuala Lumpur
I’m tired
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The flower making book looks like a lot of fun, Janice.
I am behind in seasons. I am crafting a no sew quilt Christmas tree. It turned out to be more work than I thought it would. It isn’t difficult, but has to be done right from the beginning and it is easy to miss a step or do something wrong when you are just learning it online. Little things would be caught quickly if I were learning in a class or from a friend. As it is, I have taken apart my work a couple of times. It is just ‘watching television time,’ so no biggie.
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Oh, Kim. How much your comment reminds me of my concern for a guy (of color) I supervised. For part of his duties he kept up with office supplies and did an excellent job. Sometimes he did not have enough to do and management looked to me to find things to keep him busy so he would not be noticed asleep at his desk when they walked by. He was so conscientious to never waste supplies. I highly respected him. For that reason, when I found a notebook that had something on it that prevented it from being reused, I asked him to wash it off so it could go back in the supply cabinet. For asking him to do that I got called into HR for a meeting first with their staff and secondly with him and a mediator. That was over thirty years ago. Has anything changed? Only regression. And it is called progressive.
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Good morning! I survived my first work run after covid. I can hardly believe how it has sapped my strength. I had a new girl to train, so was mentally exhausting as well. Precepting makes me try think how to make everything into a learning experience. Sort of like homeschooling. 😊
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Take it easy, RKessler. Going slower now may preserve your health for later.
I have always thought that the awful unknown virus (high fever, chest congestion, trouble breathing, vomiting, diarrhea, and muscles aches and pain from head to toe – sound familiar?) that I had the July I was in West Africa contributed to my collapse from asthma the following December. I hadn’t really recovered full strength when I returned to the clinic in August and worked through the intense heat and humidity of the rainy season. I was so worn down by the end of November that a mild cold sent me into a tailspin with my asthma. I lost the ability to take a deep breath (it was like breathing with a band of iron around my chest) and even to speak – I would try to say something and nothing would come out, as it was like my vocal cords just stopped working. The team gave me ipratropium and albuterol nebulizer treatments and oral prednisone to try to get the lung inflammation under control, but I just kept getting worse. After two nights where team members had to stay with me, I finally told the NP I didn’t think I would make it, as I was starting to feel cold and like I was slipping away. They got me out of the village to the capital, which was by the ocean where the air is clearer, but even then I had some bad episodes before being flown home. Even after I got home, I was virtually bedridden for weeks, and it took me over two years to be able to consider going back to nursing. Even now, I know I will never be the same. That virus and subsequent asthmatic episode permanently worsened my asthma. Before West Africa, I occasionally took my rescue inhaler, maybe two or three times a week, and only used my maintenance inhaler when I had a chest infection, only every few months. Now I use a combination inhaler twice daily on a good day.
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Working, training others, and going to school, plus a husband, animals, and a child.
Wow, RK65. Prayers for sustained energy and the ability to have some down-time! At least the end of school will mean some free time again–I hope!
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Jo only has a short time in Qattar. I’m curious if everyone is wearing a mask on the other side of the world.
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Michelle, yes: https://www.gco.gov.qa/en/preventative-measures/
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I could use some prayers for discernment and wisdom to not overreact to something coming down through the Sunday School program. My husband was concerned at how I was shouting at the computer and asked me NOT to send my very angry email.
Which I didn’t.
But I’m still upset.
Wild winds here today. It’s extraordinary to watch the trees dance.
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Kim- Most of us who are of Spanish descent don’t even know the term “LatinX”. It must have been created by some feel-good white liberal who felt the need to de-genderize a language that has a gender for every noun. As a Spanish teacher, I would have gone with a neutral term “Latine” (pronounced [la-TIN-eh]) as a compromise for those who feel the need to equalize everything.
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I’m curious as to how LatinX is even pronounced. Is it ‘latin-x’ or does it rhyme with lynx – ‘latinx’?
To add to what Peter said: https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/12/us/latinx-term-usage-hispanics-trnd/index.html
‘”The term replaces the “o” in “Latino” or the “a” in “Latina” with an “x” to make it gender-neutral. But in doing so, its critics say, English speakers are imposing a term on the Hispanic and Latino population that doesn’t make sense for them.
‘Gilbert Guerra and Gilbert Orbea were early opponents of the term, arguing against it in a widely-cited 2015 op-ed for Swarthmore College’s campus newspaper.
‘”Perhaps the most ironic failure of the term is that it actually excludes more groups than it includes,” wrote Guerra and Orbea. “By replacing o’s and a’s with x’s, the word “Latinx” is rendered laughably incomprehensible to any Spanish speaker without some fluency in English.”
‘Cristobal Salinas, a professor at Florida Atlantic University who has researched the use of the term “Latinx,” said the term is sometimes seen as US-centric — and just another way that the US is exerting its influence on Latin America.’
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Kim, I use the “I’m a mom” excuse all the time at my work. The staff are all 16 to mid 20s, so when I remind them to run facing the traffic as they sign out to go for a run, I excuse it by saying “I’m a mom and I care about you” 🙂 I also use it for other stuff, like if they’re not feeling well or about to do something ‘silly’.
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Since Cheryl mentioned books we are reading, in the time I had off, I read ‘Histories and Fallacies’ by Carl Trueman, which talks about how to, or rather how not to, approach history. He uses various flawed theories of history to demonstrate how not to do things. One of the things he talks about is the necessity of falsifiability. In other words, there should always be a possibility that historical evidence could prove one’s theory of history incorrect. If, when one’s theory is challenged by new historical evidence, one instead discounts the evidence rather than give up the theory, then one’s theory is no longer viable or useful. He used the example of Marxist theory of history, which explains history as a series of class struggles. He pointed out that while economics was a valid focus in history, the Marxist theories lost validity when they discounted contradictory evidence, such as, say ,a lower class opposing a revolution, as being due to something termed ‘false consciousness’. Marxists claimed false consciousness is a result of a class being tricked into engaging in a struggle against their own class interests. Instead of discarding or modifying the theory that all conflict in history is class conflict when they find evidence that members of a class didn’t behave as predicted by the theory, they just attributed the contradictory behaviour to a supposed false consciousness. Trueman pointed this was essentially no different than the average conspiracy theorist who, when confronted with evidence that contradicts their theory, just insists that the contradictory evidence is further evidence of a conspiracy to cover up the supposed conspracy. He also deals with various historical fallacies as exemplified in Holocaust denial, which is an increasingly popular conspiracy theory and one that is very difficult to contradict effectively, as I know from personal experience. A good little book for anyone interested in learning from history.
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No holiday here, either, and I have no story, still looking. And feeling just not with it, too much going on with the death of my friends and feeling newly disheartened, somehow, after the past year of the pandemic mess.
We don’t use LatinX – yet.
So many fallacies going around these days, from medical to political to religious (QAnon, anyone? It’s a real and growing danger — and not usually that overtly recognizable — to churches and Christians who aren’t well grounded theologically).
Rkessler, yes, take it easy. Roscuro, I remember how sick you were back then.
Interesting text early this morning with Carol’s brother in NJ (a non-believer, and pretty hard-core about it). He wrote this during our back-and-forth about Carol’s final arrangements:
++++++++++++
~ Given the amount of pomp and ceremony the Church teaches I found it remarkable Carol truly only cared about the afterlife. Bypassed much of the dogma, a true Christian at heart. Rare. ~
+++++++++++++++
I answered by saying that Carol knew her Bible and doctrine very well and was always diligent in joining with a MO Synod church whenever she moved (even though her attendance was spotty).
In the past year, when she was still feeling somewhat OK, she spent mornings taking her boyfriend through morning devotions provided by the Lutheran church and teaching him the Bible (she’d bought it for him a year or 2 ago). He was raised Baptist (African-American, grew up in south Los Angeles), but I doubt he was in church much during his life. He seemed also to have mental and emotional issues.
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DJ, seems like he was comforting himself with that thought and way of putting down the church and the fullness of treasure it adds to true believers lives. I feel sorry for him with such a loss to process without God.
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I am reading Courting Misfortune by Regina Jennings. It’s very engaging.
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Anytime you hear “dogma” from an unbeliever you understand where they’re going.
Carol tried to share the gospel with him, but he wasn’t interested, he was very secular and very politically liberal. She was the only one who was a Christian, as far as she knew, in her family, she had to sneak off to church as a kid.
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I did also share with him the story of how she’d take her friend through Scripture and the church’s morning devotions each day.
He changed the subject in his next text.
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Finally. Some good news.
LACoFD SEES SHARP DECLINE OF INTERNAL COVID-19 CASES AS SECOND PHASE OF VACCINE PROGRAM UNDERWAY
_______________________
The Los Angeles County Fire Department (LACoFD) has experienced a drastic decline in the test positivity rate and number of individuals out sick with COVID-19 within its workforce.
“With a nearly 75 percent acceptance rate in our Department, the COVID-19 vaccine is allowing us to keep our first responders on track to stay as healthy as possible during these most challenging times of the pandemic,” said Fire Chief Daryl L. Osby. “With the second dose of the vaccine now being given to our team members, this will provide another layer of protection and allow us to continue to seamlessly provide the highest level of care to our patients.” …
_____________________________
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Oh the crying baby
Finally stopped but I am awake
How are you tonight Mumsee?
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Reading becoming Elizabeth Elliot
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I’m only in airports and everyone is required to wear a mask
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That’s what I figured. Enjoy that biography!
It’s 75 degrees and sunny here. I’ve put on sandals and am headed out for a walk.
The wind is expected to roar all day and night. 😦
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Seen on Twitter:
~ Unbelievable.
L.A.’s newest mass vaccination site at Dodger Stadium, which just opened on Friday, is CLOSED for the HOLIDAY.
Holiday?!
We’re in a pandemic.
We’re in a surge.
And someone thought it was a good day to take a day off?
A DAY OFF?
Seriously?!? ~
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Doing well, Jo, how are the fellow passengers?
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One was kinda creepy.
But mostly it was folks from Ukarumpa and New Tribes. A plane full of missionaries
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I wanted to charge my phone but couldn’t find where to plug it in which is what you do on the plane. Finally I remembered and plugged in my charger
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Roscuro – What you wrote about “false consciousness” reminded me of how some liberals will say that minorities or women are “self-hating” when they espouse conservative views.
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DJ, not to mention, a few people do have today off and thus would be free to get the shot today if it was available.
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I have three local friends, one from my church, who veer towards the QAnon stuff. (Although I don’t know if they are aware that the theories they post about are from QAnon.) They also happen to follow a “prophet” named Lance Wellnau. I took a look at his Facebook page, and found this in the sidebar:
“The Bible describes all this but holds out the promise that there will be two kinds of nations when Jesus returns – “sheep” nations and “goat” nations. All this is in a new best-selling book “Gods Chaos Code.” It’s all about this moment and the conflict between good and evil as it is worked out in individuals and nations revealed a CODE, hidden in the restoration of Israel. This hidden code brings to manifestation the end time meaning of the Hebrew temple, the battle to build walls and gates and the rise of global empire that seeks to take over the nations.”
He’s the one who said that it is God’s will for Trump to be elected, and if he is not elected, that would be against God’s will. Can a president be elected against God’s will?
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Is there a difference between Hispanic and Latino?
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Nevermind. Right after asking that, I read in DJ’s link:
“Though they’re often used interchangeably, “Hispanic” refers only to people from Spanish-speaking countries, which includes Latin America and Spain. “Latino” refers to people with roots in Latin America, which includes Portuguese-speaking Brazilians, but excludes Spain.”
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The Ontario government was criticized for pausing the provincial vaccination program during the holidays. As several healthcare workers pointed out, the healthcare field just keeps working through holidays. But there may be an economic factor, as healthcare workers generally get time and a half for working holidays. Thus, it is more expensive to pay those giving the vaccines during a holiday.
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Kizzie @ 9:20- Then there i the term “chicano”. I don’t know if it’s still in use, but it refers to people of Mexican heritage. Not sure if it only refers to those born in the US or all Mexicans.
And If I remember correctly, the word “Hispanic” is also a creation of the US government since people in Latin America are of many “races”. But some don’t like it since it lumps 20 some nationalities into one group. So Spanish got back and don’t use “americano” or “norteamericano” in some places, because both terms include people from countries outside the US, like Canada, Mexico and Latin America. They made up the word “estadounidense” for people from the US. It would translate to “United Statesian”.
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Can a president be elected against God’s will?
Theologically and biblically, I’d say no.
That doesn’t always mean good leaders are elected.
God has his purposes. His ways are not our ways.
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“Chicano” was very popular in the 1960s-70s
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And what about Castillian? Is that what you teach, Peter? Is it easily understood by people from Mexico and Latin America?
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