skipper

  • That is the date of the upcoming election between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris. Trump has made it crystal clear that there will be an honest election only if he wins.  He promises chaos if he doesn’t win. […]

  • Good judgment, Marc. My real estate business suffered a similar demise because venture capitalists bought the bank where he maintained a company loan.

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    An icon from J.R. R. Tolkien’s ‘The Lord of the Rings’, The Eye is constantly watching for an opportunity to strike evil in the world. Tolkien references Sauron as the most complete evil. Throughout many […]

  • Instead of writing about these things, mariner will drop the lead-ins and sources so the reader can check out the ones of interest.

    ֎ Scientists Make ‘Cyborg Worms’ with a Brain Guided by AI — AI and tiny worm […]

  • In the last post, mariner wrote about habits stored in the brain which were hard to dislodge. It occurred to him that the manner in which education is applied to students also is suffering from old habits that are […]

  • In the last post, mariner cited a man who had lost his brain functions but could still make breakfast. The article citing him was about habit and how much of our behavior is managed by a special part of the brain […]

  • I’m gonna buy a paper doll that I can call my own
    A doll that other fellows cannot steal
    And then, the flirty, flirty guys with their flirty, flirty eyes
    Will have to flirt with dollies that are real

    When I […]

  • If one looks hard enough on television one can find excellent documentaries. Mariner recommends a documentary on Netflix about the Neanderthal. It was engrossing enough to provoke him into visiting several books […]

  • A person is as pressed by social media as if the person were a movie star. Every potion, every holiday spot, every kinky way to do something, is tossed at the screen. There are some well intentioned advertisers, […]

    • Regarding local newspapers: After 38 years I am cancelling my subscription to the Baltimore Sun. The Sun was originated by the Abell family and was sold to the Chicago Tribune in the late 90’s(?). They in turn sold the Sun to a hedge fund who drastically cut staff, features, content etc. Last year the Sun was purchased by the owner of Sinclair Broadcasting Corporation, a collection of local news outlets that disseminate articles and features from Faux (sp) News Channel. The drift towards right wing content has been accelerated by the current election to the point where I no longer wish to line the pockets of David Smith, Sinclair’s owner with my meager retirement assets.
      On the positive side, a new local newspaper, the Baltimore Banner, has hired several castoffs from the Sunpaper and appears to be expanding their nascent operation with some success.

      • Good judgment, Marc. My real estate business suffered a similar demise because venture capitalists bought the bank where he maintained a company loan.

  • Officially, mariner has returned home from Chicken Little’s hen house. He did watch the democratic convention. News is show biz. The actual participants in the convention, however, really put on a professional […]

  • Watched the democratic convention. How many times did you hear someone say ‘existential’? Did they mean:

    Meaningful? Emotional? Positive? Real? Empirical? Spiritual? achievement?

    Let’s face it. ‘Existential’ […]

    • I heard existential at least three times, always with threat. Is an existential threat a threat to our existence? Wouldn’t it be more powerful to say “a threat to our very existence?” if that is what was meant. Otherwise, existential threat sounds like a philosophical idea.

      Mariner can sure get a lot of traction out of one word!

    • At least we didn’t hear “self fulfilling prophecy” . What the hell does that mean?

  • Isn’t it great that we have a new hobby – the meaning of existential? Marc’s observations are a true experience; when we hear folks use the word, we tend to feel they really don’t have a substantive argument. Marc […]

  • Mariner expected the common response to be “Doesn’t this guy have anything else to do?” The feedback from friends and readers was varied. Two responses to the post are examples.He admits his detailed meandering […]

    • Well, now I need another walk!

    • All I know is this. When I’m talking to someone who presumes themselves an expert on the issues of the day, they use terms like “existential threat” and “self fulfilling prophecy” to add gravity to their illogical position. At that point, I know not to discuss the subject any further.

  • When is something existential? Defining this word can be a hobby. Its origins, going back to classic Latin, suggest it is an essence or a state of continuous ‘being’. Today, it has many applications as a moral […]

    • I had an existential experience on my morning walk. The trees and flowering weeds were there whether I saw them or not. Perhaps I should rephrase that. I think the trees had the existential experience, and I had a thought while on a walk in reality. Isn’t every walk a walk in reality? I wonder why the term existential came into use when the word reality is more clear. There must have been an existential need for another word. Or to put it another way–there must have been a real need for another word.

      I did enjoy this existential moment, and also my morning walk–both were a real pleasure!

  • Mariner recently read an account of the next phase in AI: Merging corporate data with personal data taken from one’s own computer or smartphone. It is an attempt to “read the interests of the user” in order to […]

  • Recently mariner and a lifelong friend have been sharing contemporary experiences. Since childhood, both have had an interest in the smaller creatures of nature in its undisturbed state. Walks in the woods took […]

  • Mariner feels compelled to address the immigration issue. Amid all the other pressures in a rapidly changing society and a rapidly changing planet, immigration serves as the most dependable barometer of progress […]

  • It is 94 degrees with humidity at maximum levels thanks to Iowa corn which sweats as much as humans do. Dare not go outside. What to do … what to do …  Alright, mariner will write a post.

    It is too bad […]

  • The animal kingdom always has looked down on the plant kingdom. Plants are around for animals to use for food, housing, entertainment, protection, etc. Plants do not respond to treatment by animals; they don’t […]

  • 1 – Go 100 percent Vegan. Cows and sheep are exceedingly wasteful in terms of Armageddon (or the Sixth Extinction, they are the same thing). Too much land, too much processing and not the best regimen for general […]

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