A friend and I just recently reconnected after having gone the past two and a half years without speaking. She dropped out of my life shortly after the insanity started with covid, the mostly peaceful protests, the 2020 elections, and the push for us all to start thinking about race in a way that I never did before. She and I have been friends for a little over thirty years. Shortly after we met, she told me that she thought we had probably been married in a different life and that we were soul mates. We are both mothers; we both love our children, and we love each other's children. Only now, one of our children is gone; my friend's daughter; she died of breast Cancer earlier last year; she was the same age as my son. We had always imagined them getting married and having beautiful babies. But that never happened; they chose different mates. And, my son, sadly, is gone too; he didn't die, thank God; he quit talking to me; as of October, it'll be four years. My friend is a Mama Bear, and so am I; her fur is black; mine is white. She told me once, "You don't see color." to which I responded, "I see color; it just doesn't matter." The past four years has played a number on far too many humans. The one thing that I learned a long time ago is that racism is learned. And the lessons that have been relentlessly taught, have, as Heather said make us, "...forget that actually, we care about one another." My Mama Bear friend and I are both grieving; thankfully, we have each other to hold onto again. "Our shared humanity is what matters." Thank you once again, Heather. My appreciation for you is deep.
Thank you, so much, for sharing this slice of your life with me and with us. We do give up on one another. Sometimes it is not from anger or fear so much as from fatigue. And then, when we have time to rest and to reflect, sometimes we can come back to one another. I am so glad for you and your friend, that you have each other, in your lives and in your grief. Grief reveals love in so many ways.
wow. a very sad situation and the silver lining of friendship.
the intentional division is beginning to seem the primary, and not the secondary goal. or maybe more accurately, the means to an end. (aka globalist agenda)
I feel like it's worth noting that your statement here could reasonably be described as 'antiracist' if the word 'antiracist' had not been domain squatted by race baiting spin doctors.
You know, 'domain squatting in the human mind' is actually one I'm quite proud of, spin doctors and race baiters are everywhere of course.
I came up wit it when I was trying to express a coherent idea of 'white culture' in a comment section on youtube. "white culture" is domain squatted, it should point to the loss of cultural distinctiveness under mass media and corporate influence, instead it points to something called 'white people' which has to do with skin color.
Whenever I read the writings of people whose agenda is obviously more important to them than discovering an unexpected and possibly uncomfortable truth I have to ask myself "Why do these people have outlets to spread blatant falsehoods?" Dis and mis information is propagated while mal information (true information that someone somewhere doesn't want you exposed to) is censored and the sources censured? This is supposed to be the "information age" but sifting through masses of data to determine the truth is becoming ever more difficult.
It really is. Claims made with no evidence, or even an attempt at evidence, seem ever more common. When said with an air of authority they become true in people's minds. It's difficult to battle such rhetorical trickery.
A scientist will equivocate, because so much is uncertain and variable. But a politician will project certainty, because so many voters want to feel certain. Politics needs simplistic 'good guys' and 'bad guys'. That's why I hate politics.
My "favorite" is the way they altered the historical temperature data in 2015 to show an upward trend in temperatures where none existed. We tell others to "follow the science" but then the question becomes "which/whose science?"
Indeed, the "Cartesian crisis" is a critical problem, if not as widely recognized as it should be. "Why do these people have outlets to spread blatant falsehoods?" The same reason we have ours: Our First Amendment freedom of speech. The remedy for these falsehoods must be not less freedom of speech, but more. Our only chance is to let the truth be spoken as widely and as loudly as possible. Truth is stronger than lies.
I agree of course but I was making the point that that free speech, hate speech, commercial speech and all the rest have become more ubiquitous than many of us can deal with. Sturgeon's Law states that 90% of everything is BS. It is way easier find the ten of one hundred that are worth finding than the hundred out of a thousand and the problem gets worse as the numbers grow. When nothing guarantees a consistent distribution you could spend a truly massive amount of time before you found ANYTHING worth finding. That was my complaint that there is becoming TOO MUCH propaganda to even search through for the truth.
Here's another thing I worry about. SO MUCH of our information these days comes in video format. There are so many good podcasts to watch, but they take too much time! An hour, two hours, three hours! They're all interesting, but I don't have time to listen to a tenth of the ones I find helpful and encouraging -- much less venture into learning something from the opposition! I devour the Darkhorse regular podcasts, but don't even have time for the other great interviews on their channel. And I'm retired! I listen at 1.5X or 2X speed so that I can fit more in, but even that disturbs me, as I wonder what it does to my brain. Bret & Heather are unusual in sounding calm even at double speed, but so many of the other podcasts at that speed sound frantic and angry, even when they're not -- how can that not be bad for our mental health?
How I wish this great information were available in written form, where I could take it in so much faster, easily "rewind" for clarification, and search for content! Written content is also generally better crafted and edited. (Why do you think I am here?)
I worry about these things too. I have become convinced--most days--that more people prefer video content to written content, and that I (and you) are the exceptions in this regard, rather than the norm. I prefer the written word for many reasons, including that I am not bound to anyone else's timeline, precisely as you describe. Many (smart, actually educated) people can't fathom taking in text quickly, though, so the idea that a wall of text, as it may appear to them, is somehow an easier way to engage with new information sounds preposterous.
As for listening to human voices at accelerated speeds, I agree here too: this cannot be good for our brains. I mostly restrict myself to 1.1 - 1.4 times, depending on the speaker, but even with that relatively modest acceleration I know that I am missing nuance, meter, the empty spaces. Communication is not just done in words.
One of the most important things I believe we must do -- though how to do so I do not know -- is to stop ceding the language to our enemies. Since when did questioning the usefulness of one particular vaccine make one an "anti-vaxxer," deserving of public scorn, and worse? Since when did beliefs that John F. Kennedy would have been comfortable with become "far-right extremism"? We must not allow the opposition to control the labels.
Do you know any black mothers (and especially grandmothers!) who are not "mama bears" when it comes to their children? I don't. That seems as weird as the idea that studying and doing well in school is "acting white." As racist as it comes.
As racist as it comes, indeed, and yet you saying that is, de facto, racist. Unless you are black. Different rules for different races - that's what anti-racism is all about!
Also on those signs (or related ones): In this house, we believe in science.
In my experience, people who say they "believe in science" tend to have no idea what science is, and think that believing in it means trusting without question anyone who shows up claiming to be a scientist. If scientists disagree with one another, believe the one with the best credentials. Or maybe the best haircut.
Yes. So true. Forgot about the science part. Just “brand” yourself pro science and anti hate and you are free to lecture others on fluid sexes and how repugnant American heterosexual white men are!
I truly wouldn't care if Harris was pink with purple polka dots; the marketing of her (including the words coming out of her mouth now) does NOT match up with her past deeds or alliances. the entire thing is macabre theater. the very idea that the corporate media can be used to guilt-trip us pale-hued people into accepting 'selected' leaders based on race/sex characteristics is beyond my comprehension.
I guess I'd have to read the NYT piece you are countering to understand how the argument could be made that... what?... black women don't love their children? , but that would go against my policy of not wasting minutes of the day in the company of bad faith liars.
And, parenting isn't an exclusively mammalian trait. Go try to grab a pigeon chick from under one of my hens or cocks, and you'll find out some birds are mama bears too.
What. In. The. Actual. Fuck??? I guess I shouldn't be surprised of yet another blatant nugget of proof that we, as a culture, have landed in Upside Down World.
this insane and obviously inflammatory assertion makes the NYT, yet people discussing real and obvious issues facing the world, in a factual, observational way, are banned from social media. or worse, arrested and threatened with imprisonment. this writer is collecting a paycheck for this drivel just adds insult to injury. seriously, what century is she living in and why is she being rewarded for going there?
A friend and I just recently reconnected after having gone the past two and a half years without speaking. She dropped out of my life shortly after the insanity started with covid, the mostly peaceful protests, the 2020 elections, and the push for us all to start thinking about race in a way that I never did before. She and I have been friends for a little over thirty years. Shortly after we met, she told me that she thought we had probably been married in a different life and that we were soul mates. We are both mothers; we both love our children, and we love each other's children. Only now, one of our children is gone; my friend's daughter; she died of breast Cancer earlier last year; she was the same age as my son. We had always imagined them getting married and having beautiful babies. But that never happened; they chose different mates. And, my son, sadly, is gone too; he didn't die, thank God; he quit talking to me; as of October, it'll be four years. My friend is a Mama Bear, and so am I; her fur is black; mine is white. She told me once, "You don't see color." to which I responded, "I see color; it just doesn't matter." The past four years has played a number on far too many humans. The one thing that I learned a long time ago is that racism is learned. And the lessons that have been relentlessly taught, have, as Heather said make us, "...forget that actually, we care about one another." My Mama Bear friend and I are both grieving; thankfully, we have each other to hold onto again. "Our shared humanity is what matters." Thank you once again, Heather. My appreciation for you is deep.
Thank you, so much, for sharing this slice of your life with me and with us. We do give up on one another. Sometimes it is not from anger or fear so much as from fatigue. And then, when we have time to rest and to reflect, sometimes we can come back to one another. I am so glad for you and your friend, that you have each other, in your lives and in your grief. Grief reveals love in so many ways.
wow. a very sad situation and the silver lining of friendship.
the intentional division is beginning to seem the primary, and not the secondary goal. or maybe more accurately, the means to an end. (aka globalist agenda)
I feel like it's worth noting that your statement here could reasonably be described as 'antiracist' if the word 'antiracist' had not been domain squatted by race baiting spin doctors.
"Domain squatted by race baiting spin doctors" - fantastic phrase, especially the "domain squatted" part.
You know, 'domain squatting in the human mind' is actually one I'm quite proud of, spin doctors and race baiters are everywhere of course.
I came up wit it when I was trying to express a coherent idea of 'white culture' in a comment section on youtube. "white culture" is domain squatted, it should point to the loss of cultural distinctiveness under mass media and corporate influence, instead it points to something called 'white people' which has to do with skin color.
Whenever I read the writings of people whose agenda is obviously more important to them than discovering an unexpected and possibly uncomfortable truth I have to ask myself "Why do these people have outlets to spread blatant falsehoods?" Dis and mis information is propagated while mal information (true information that someone somewhere doesn't want you exposed to) is censored and the sources censured? This is supposed to be the "information age" but sifting through masses of data to determine the truth is becoming ever more difficult.
It really is. Claims made with no evidence, or even an attempt at evidence, seem ever more common. When said with an air of authority they become true in people's minds. It's difficult to battle such rhetorical trickery.
A scientist will equivocate, because so much is uncertain and variable. But a politician will project certainty, because so many voters want to feel certain. Politics needs simplistic 'good guys' and 'bad guys'. That's why I hate politics.
My "favorite" is the way they altered the historical temperature data in 2015 to show an upward trend in temperatures where none existed. We tell others to "follow the science" but then the question becomes "which/whose science?"
Indeed, the "Cartesian crisis" is a critical problem, if not as widely recognized as it should be. "Why do these people have outlets to spread blatant falsehoods?" The same reason we have ours: Our First Amendment freedom of speech. The remedy for these falsehoods must be not less freedom of speech, but more. Our only chance is to let the truth be spoken as widely and as loudly as possible. Truth is stronger than lies.
I agree of course but I was making the point that that free speech, hate speech, commercial speech and all the rest have become more ubiquitous than many of us can deal with. Sturgeon's Law states that 90% of everything is BS. It is way easier find the ten of one hundred that are worth finding than the hundred out of a thousand and the problem gets worse as the numbers grow. When nothing guarantees a consistent distribution you could spend a truly massive amount of time before you found ANYTHING worth finding. That was my complaint that there is becoming TOO MUCH propaganda to even search through for the truth.
Here's another thing I worry about. SO MUCH of our information these days comes in video format. There are so many good podcasts to watch, but they take too much time! An hour, two hours, three hours! They're all interesting, but I don't have time to listen to a tenth of the ones I find helpful and encouraging -- much less venture into learning something from the opposition! I devour the Darkhorse regular podcasts, but don't even have time for the other great interviews on their channel. And I'm retired! I listen at 1.5X or 2X speed so that I can fit more in, but even that disturbs me, as I wonder what it does to my brain. Bret & Heather are unusual in sounding calm even at double speed, but so many of the other podcasts at that speed sound frantic and angry, even when they're not -- how can that not be bad for our mental health?
How I wish this great information were available in written form, where I could take it in so much faster, easily "rewind" for clarification, and search for content! Written content is also generally better crafted and edited. (Why do you think I am here?)
I worry about these things too. I have become convinced--most days--that more people prefer video content to written content, and that I (and you) are the exceptions in this regard, rather than the norm. I prefer the written word for many reasons, including that I am not bound to anyone else's timeline, precisely as you describe. Many (smart, actually educated) people can't fathom taking in text quickly, though, so the idea that a wall of text, as it may appear to them, is somehow an easier way to engage with new information sounds preposterous.
As for listening to human voices at accelerated speeds, I agree here too: this cannot be good for our brains. I mostly restrict myself to 1.1 - 1.4 times, depending on the speaker, but even with that relatively modest acceleration I know that I am missing nuance, meter, the empty spaces. Communication is not just done in words.
So very well said, and so true!
One of the most important things I believe we must do -- though how to do so I do not know -- is to stop ceding the language to our enemies. Since when did questioning the usefulness of one particular vaccine make one an "anti-vaxxer," deserving of public scorn, and worse? Since when did beliefs that John F. Kennedy would have been comfortable with become "far-right extremism"? We must not allow the opposition to control the labels.
Do you know any black mothers (and especially grandmothers!) who are not "mama bears" when it comes to their children? I don't. That seems as weird as the idea that studying and doing well in school is "acting white." As racist as it comes.
As racist as it comes, indeed, and yet you saying that is, de facto, racist. Unless you are black. Different rules for different races - that's what anti-racism is all about!
💯
Whenever I walked around my neighborhood I see a handful of signs on the lawn “hate has no place here”. I imagine the NYT author has one.
What a lie. These are the people with the most hate in their souls.
Also on those signs (or related ones): In this house, we believe in science.
In my experience, people who say they "believe in science" tend to have no idea what science is, and think that believing in it means trusting without question anyone who shows up claiming to be a scientist. If scientists disagree with one another, believe the one with the best credentials. Or maybe the best haircut.
Yes. So true. Forgot about the science part. Just “brand” yourself pro science and anti hate and you are free to lecture others on fluid sexes and how repugnant American heterosexual white men are!
Those lawn signs are red flags in disguise.
Succinctly put, once again. The divisiveness has got to end. Let it begin with us
I truly wouldn't care if Harris was pink with purple polka dots; the marketing of her (including the words coming out of her mouth now) does NOT match up with her past deeds or alliances. the entire thing is macabre theater. the very idea that the corporate media can be used to guilt-trip us pale-hued people into accepting 'selected' leaders based on race/sex characteristics is beyond my comprehension.
love the lion pic
I guess I'd have to read the NYT piece you are countering to understand how the argument could be made that... what?... black women don't love their children? , but that would go against my policy of not wasting minutes of the day in the company of bad faith liars.
And, parenting isn't an exclusively mammalian trait. Go try to grab a pigeon chick from under one of my hens or cocks, and you'll find out some birds are mama bears too.
What. In. The. Actual. Fuck??? I guess I shouldn't be surprised of yet another blatant nugget of proof that we, as a culture, have landed in Upside Down World.
this insane and obviously inflammatory assertion makes the NYT, yet people discussing real and obvious issues facing the world, in a factual, observational way, are banned from social media. or worse, arrested and threatened with imprisonment. this writer is collecting a paycheck for this drivel just adds insult to injury. seriously, what century is she living in and why is she being rewarded for going there?
Thank you.