Ruminations
It's Not A False Equivalence
05/01/21 07:37
Often, when I counter someone's argument that X party is awful with saying both are shit, I will get a screed (long or short) about how it's a false equivalence because [*insert bullshit about party X or Y*].
Well, here's why it's not a false equivalence.
Well, here's why it's not a false equivalence.
How the US Can Go Metric
01/01/21 08:17
Here, in the U.S., we're one of just a few countries that are still using the Imperial measurement system, one that isn't exactly consistent across borders. That we're not all-in on the metric system here in 2021 is silly. We even have muppets like Tucker Carlson who attribute the Metric system to some "creepy new world order." Congress passed a law in 1975 to get this country over to the Metric system. The problem is, however, that it's voluntary. While there is a regulation in place to require agencies to use the Metric system, it lacks teeth. So, why can't we just switch to an objectively easier system?We're Already Using Metric Measurements
While many Americans hold on to the system they've always used out of fear of what's different, much like how they resist something as simple as wearing a mask to protect others from COVID-19, they're already using the Metric system in their day-to-day life.
Those guys boasting about "resisting the mask Nazis" as they stand by their over-sized grocery-getting pickup trucks compare engines using Liters (Metric!). In among their groceries are packages that have Imperial and Metric measurements side-by-side. Even more explicitly, they bought 2-Liter bottles of fizzy sugar water (soda). When they get home, after drinking their fizzy sugar water, they take their diabetes medication measured out, you guessed it, with the Metric system. Anyone (not those guys) who's participated in Track events in high school or college used the metric system. Those running events are measured in Meters. Casual runners and walkers doing 5Ks? Kilometers. Scientists in the U.S.? They're using the Metric system.
Finishing the Conversion Would Be Easier Than You Think
Take a look at the image to the right. It has two roughly equivalent speed limit signs, one in MPH and the other in kph. The second one doesn't even need the "km/h" under the number. The red circle is an international standard indicating a restriction. Adding the Metric speed limit sign should be done immediately. It allows people whose cars are showing Imperial measurements to understand how fast they're going relative to the speed limit while the conversion moves forward. At the same time, new cars should be sold displaying vehicle speed in kph by default and as the most prominent vs any side-by-side mph display. People driving older vehicles would use the upper speed limit sign while those driving newer vehicles would use the lower. The diferently-designed signs have the added benefit of avoiding confusion. Do I drive 40 mph or 60 mph? Highway signs showing distances should also be modified to show both miles and kilometers. While we're at it, stop teaching the Imperial system in grade school. Full stop.
Five years later: remove all Imperial measurements from new vehicles. Metric only.
Ten years on: remove all Imperial measurements from road signs.
How easy would it be for Americans to mentally make the switch? It would be easier than you think. When I was in France, we got around by car. Driving and obeying the speed limit was not difficult. The signs said the speed limit was 110 kph. The car showed the speed in kph. Anyone who can't do the same needs their license revoked.
What the Pandemic of 2020 Has Taught Me
02/12/20 22:00
The COVID-19 pandemic and our fellow members of society's response to it has taught me a lot about the human condition. As a species, we are not well.
With the exception of #8, all the above is bullshit. However, it's what American society seems to hold as its values today. We are not well.
- You only need a high school diploma to be a greater expert on epidemiological matters than actual epidemiologists, complete with their education and degrees. Those socially promoted to a diploma are apparently acceptable as well.
- Wearing a mask to protect others is a violation of our constitutional rights while apparently, being forced to wear a shirt and shoes into a restaurant is not.
- It's not only OK to get others sick, whether it's COVID-19, the flu, or the common cold, it's apparently, our God-given right to do so.
- The inconvenience of being kept from your weekly consumption of 3,000 calories inside Applebee's is a violation of our Constitutional rights and no manner of human suffering, death, or overwhelmed hospitals can justify it.
- Data presented by experts must be not only questioned, but disbelieved. Data presented by TV & radio talking heads and bloggers/vloggers can be trusted without question.
- In spite of the CDC and the Surgeon General explaining from the very day they recommended face masks that the primary purpose and benefit is to protect others from us, the wearer, we must make this about ourselves. We must keep framing our arguments around its benefit or lack there-of to us, the wearer. Altruism is for suckers.
- High school sports must go on, no matter how many people end up in the hospital and/or die. It's our dream that our kids grow up to be like Al Bundy.
- There is a direct correlation between loudmouths driving over-sized penis compensators and emotional fragility experienced when having to wear a piece of cloth over the nose and mouth.
With the exception of #8, all the above is bullshit. However, it's what American society seems to hold as its values today. We are not well.
Skin Color
20/06/15 21:49
With all of the yelling and screaming going on lately, there is something I believe needs to be said.
If you disagree with any of these statements, consider the words spoken by Martin Luther King, Jr in 1963:
I’ve had some say this is only a dream, and not reality. However, those people are so, so wrong. It is a reality for those who choose to make it so. I was raised in a way that makes those words, for me at least, not a dream, but a way of life. It’s a choice that only individuals can make. It can’t be legislated or imposed.
For us to move forward, together, as a society, we must ALL choose to make that our way of life. That goes for everyone, regardless of what their skin color is. I don’t care what your lot in life is or who you think is to blame for it. If you don’t live your life according to Dr King’s words up above, then you are part of the problem. The more that choose to make this their way of life, the more we can drown out the killers, agitators, and rioters.
If you disagree with any of my statements above about my skin color, then it is your racism and your racism alone that you must contend with. You can’t expect others to live by a certain code if you yourself aren’t willing to do the same thing whether others are or not. The longer people wait for others to change, the more certain we can be that change will not come.
You can’t expect people to come together to solve problems if you separate, segregate, discriminate, or invalidate others’ opinions based on something as superficial as skin color. You can’t have a “serious discussion about race” if it’s one-sided. You can’t have progress from a “serious discussion about race” if you don’t talk past race. It’s a superficial and artificial construct anyway.
If after reading this, you still have trouble with prejudices about skin color, be it someone else’s or your own, at least make a real effort to live by the ultimate rule for life:
While the Charleston shooter deserves the justice that will ultimately come, it is the family members of those killed who forgave him that I have the greatest admiration for. They are the embodiment of Jesus’ message of love and forgiveness. While the pain will live with them for the rest of their lives, they are refusing to let hate place an extra burden on their souls or their lives. They showed us all what it means to be Christian. Even in their time of loss, God will bless them.
My skin color is not powerful. It is not weak.It bears no pride or guilt.It is neither shameful nor shamed.It is neither an oppressor or oppressed.It does not owe and it is not owed.It is neither privileged or disadvantaged.Like all others, it has no culture, for cultures are learned and/or adopted.It isn’t poor or rich.It’s neither a blessing or a curse.It neither loves nor hates.It is a superficial feature, like a freckle or a mole.
If you disagree with any of these statements, consider the words spoken by Martin Luther King, Jr in 1963:
“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. I have a dream today!”
I’ve had some say this is only a dream, and not reality. However, those people are so, so wrong. It is a reality for those who choose to make it so. I was raised in a way that makes those words, for me at least, not a dream, but a way of life. It’s a choice that only individuals can make. It can’t be legislated or imposed.
For us to move forward, together, as a society, we must ALL choose to make that our way of life. That goes for everyone, regardless of what their skin color is. I don’t care what your lot in life is or who you think is to blame for it. If you don’t live your life according to Dr King’s words up above, then you are part of the problem. The more that choose to make this their way of life, the more we can drown out the killers, agitators, and rioters.
If you disagree with any of my statements above about my skin color, then it is your racism and your racism alone that you must contend with. You can’t expect others to live by a certain code if you yourself aren’t willing to do the same thing whether others are or not. The longer people wait for others to change, the more certain we can be that change will not come.
You can’t expect people to come together to solve problems if you separate, segregate, discriminate, or invalidate others’ opinions based on something as superficial as skin color. You can’t have a “serious discussion about race” if it’s one-sided. You can’t have progress from a “serious discussion about race” if you don’t talk past race. It’s a superficial and artificial construct anyway.
If after reading this, you still have trouble with prejudices about skin color, be it someone else’s or your own, at least make a real effort to live by the ultimate rule for life:
Do unto others what you want them to do unto you.
While the Charleston shooter deserves the justice that will ultimately come, it is the family members of those killed who forgave him that I have the greatest admiration for. They are the embodiment of Jesus’ message of love and forgiveness. While the pain will live with them for the rest of their lives, they are refusing to let hate place an extra burden on their souls or their lives. They showed us all what it means to be Christian. Even in their time of loss, God will bless them.