Greed for Ever More Knowledge and Experience

Two days ago I returned from hiking/photographing Yellowstone National Park for a week. Being in such an immense beautiful place, I was able to turn my mind off of the many things I do or attempt to do in my normal life. Hiking in Yellowstone, I merely walked about, noticing  beautiful things and trying to take photos that hit the sweet spot, a task that is largely intuitive. I looked for images that would work as pretty photos or as works of art (I blend some of my photos with numerous texture and blending layers on Photoshop). As I hike and take photos, I tend to think of only those few things and I tend to not think much in words, which is a wonderful change of pace from my normal life. Somehow I don't think of much other than what is in front of me and it calms my ADD-ish monkey mind).

Now that I am back home, I am tempted to think in many directions at one time, whether it be processing the photos, reminiscing about the trip, planning another trip someday, reaching out to treasured friends, working as an attorney, trying to understand the culture wars, writing an article (or two or three), working out, walking in the nearby park, playing or composing music and many other things/distractions/opportunities.  I am lucky to live a life where these things are realities.  But what should I do when there are so many things I want to think about and do?  I am in my mid-60s, which lends a bit of urgency to this quest, because I don't know how many more active years I will have, physically and mentally. This quandary/opportunity reminds me of the following quote by Frederick Nietzsche (aphorism #249 from The Gay Science):

Oh, my greed! There is no selfishness in my soul but only an all-coveting self that would like to appropriate many individuals as so many additional pairs of eyes and hands—a self that would like to bring back the whole past, too, and that will not lose anything that it could possibly possess. Oh, my greed is a flame! Oh, that I might be reborn in a hundred beings!” --Whoever does not know this sigh from firsthand experience does not know the passion of the search for knowledge.

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How to Respond When a Wokeness Warrior Dares to Mention “Evidence” When Making Arguments

I do like this Tweet:

"Just tell him, "Your reference to 'evidence' reflects a discourse rooted in logic, critical thinking, and Enlightenment values. As such it is a problematic manifestation of whiteness." You have to know how to talk to these people."

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FAIR Sends Point-by-Point Rebuttal to National School Boards Association (NSBA) Letter Requesting Federal Law Enforcement Involvement in School Board Proceedings

On September 29th, the National School Boards Association (NSBA) published a letter addressed to President Joe Biden, requesting “Federal Assistance to Stop Threats and Acts of Violence Against Public Schoolchildren, Public School Board Members, and Other Public School District Officials and Educators.” NSBA's dishonest request to President Biden resulted in Attorney General Merrick Garland's Oct 4 misguided memorandum, stating that the Justice Department “is committed to using its authority and resources to discourage these threats, identify them when they occur, and prosecute them when appropriate.”

FAIR (Foundation Against Intolerance and Racism) offers this detailed and much-needed point-by-point rebuttal to NSBA's dishonest letter to President Biden.

FAIR is a grassroots nonpartisan organization dedicated to advancing civil rights and liberties for all Americans, and promoting a common culture based on fairness, understanding and humanity.. See FAIR's recent announcement for more information on the purpose of FAIR and recent efforts of FAIR to combat Woke racism.

Here is a quick link to FAIR's October 13, 2021 Point-by-Point rebuttal to NSBA's letter to President Biden.

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Modern Journalism’s Task: Protecting Us From the Facts

Katie Couric now admits that she censored Ruth Bader Ginsburg's comments regarding kneeling during the national anthem to "protect" RGB. Here is an excerpt from the NY Post:

Couric, being a “big RBG fan” and feeling protective of her and the controversy the comments would likely embroil her in, wrote in the book that she “lost a lot of sleep” and felt extremely “conflicted” over deciding whether she should include Ginsburg’s full thoughts on the matter.

In her new book Couric claims that she withheld the full quote (which would have been highly newsworthy) because RBG “was elderly and probably didn’t understand the question.”

What did RBG actually say in 2016? Here are a few screen shots from the New York Post:

Note that for Couric, RBG was too old to understand Couric's question but not too old to serve as a high-functioning Justice on the Supreme Court.

Here's what is really going on: RBG's statement simply didn't fit the preconceived media narrative Couric was serving up. That was the real problem.  Modern journalism is both what they tell you and what they withhold from you. They are not content to tell you facts so that you can think for yourself. They want to tell you how to think and they do this by misleading you.

BTW, this is not the first left-leaning institution that refused to accurately report the words of their hero, RGB.  Remember what the ACLU recently did? 

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