Death of Hypatia®

Category: WIBCI

  • WIBCI Post #136

    WIBCI we learned to eat more crow?

    Wouldn’t It Be Cool If credit was given where it was due?

     

    I can’t believe I’m typing this but…..

    some credit MUST be given to the President of these United States.

    FOR THE PAST 72 HOURS…IN A ROW…. the POTUS has NOT:

    • lied to the public in an address, speech, and/or comment on camera,
    • posted a regrettable opinion on a social media platform,
    • performed military operations without Congressional approval,
    • defied the Constitution,
    • enacted an Executive Order that oppresses the poor whilst advancing the rich,
    • offended an entire collection of individuals,
    • utilized the Department of Justice for personal vengeance,
    • and/or exhibited a cringy lack of decorum internationally

    Maybe he’s not so bad?

     

     

    April Fools.

     

     

     … more “WIBCI Post #136”

  • WIBCI Post #135

    WIBCI we listened to Denis Miller?

    Wouldn’t It Be Cool If compared to today’s political climate, 36 years ago didn’t seem progressive?

    On October 8th, 1988, a few weeks before George Bush Sr. was elected President of the US, Denis Miller during SNL’s Weekend Update had this to say:

    You know, I don’t even think the Presidential system works anymore. I’m advocating a new system, the volleyball-tocracy. We elect six men, one of them serves until he screws up, they rotate, somebody else takes it for a while. 

    I think he was on to something…..… more “WIBCI Post #135”

  • WIBCI Post #134

    WIBCI we were more like dogs?

    Wouldn’t It Be Cool If created less chaos?

    Cesar Millan, ‘The Dog Whisperer’ was interviewed on PBS’ To Dine with Date Sullivan. They were having dinner at his favorite restaurant and talking about how he went from homeless immigrant to where he was today. Specifically he was talking about how he learned he had to rehabilitate the human owners, NOT the dogs.

    “Human rationalize, we have a choice, so we should be like the most balanced of them all, but we are not.

    We are the ones that create confusion, happiness, and chaos, all over the world.

    Animals would never aim for confusion, happiness and chaos; they would never follow an unstable leader, ever, woman or a man.

    We are the only species to follow unstable leaders.”

    Ain’t that the truth.

    So I thought about it. We also seem to be the only species capable of extinguishing another. Just us and Mother Nature/time. We are the only species that enslaves. We are the only species that takes more than we need.

    Seems everybody else might be better at this whole evolution thing…

    What do YOU think?… more “WIBCI Post #134”

  • WIBCI Post #133

    WIBCI we knew why the US is conducting an oil blockade in Cuba?

    Wouldn’t It Be Cool If our government talked to us?

    Oil blockades don’t hurt governments, they hurt people. People can’t cook. People can’t get to work. People can’t get surgeries. I can find out who and how we are doing this, but the WHY remains unclear. So the POTUS can instruct our military to harm to the citizens of another country and doesn’t have to explain the rationale to us?

    When government motives aren’t explained, government actions appear sketchy.

    Sorry I’m a citizen who questions, I know how you hate that.… more “WIBCI Post #133”

  • WIBCI Post #132

    WIBCI those with voices, used them?

    Wouldn’t It Be Cool If celebrities with an audience of 17.86 million also had balls?

    I watched the Academy Awards, half live, have later.

    What I noticed is this; of all the people who spoke on the microphone that night, the only ones who actually had guts and took advantage of those listening to speak to one or more of the horrendous things going on in the world….

    – weren’t white men.

    Is this complacency because you are the last group to ever be suppressed, is it because you have no lack-of-rights to complain of, or is it because those affected by all the bad in our current society….. AREN’T YOU?

    Be cooler if you cared beyond your career.… more “WIBCI Post #132”

  • WIBCI Post #131

    WIBCI honoring our nation’s champions wasn’t polarizing?

    Wouldn’t It Be Cool If our administration appeared worthy to bestow ‘honors’?

    White House visits by championship teams (per wikipedia):

    In the United States, the winner of a professional championship game, such as the Super Bowl or World Series, often visits the White House after winning said championship. Usually, the championship team meets with whoever the president of the United States is at the time, and the president gives a speech related to the team.

    Although the exact start of the tradition of championship teams visiting the White House is unknown, the earliest known time it happened was on August 30, 1865. On that day, then president Andrew Johnson welcomed two amateur baseball teams to the White House: the Brooklyn Atlantics and Washington Nationals.

    The first time a professional sports team visited the White House was in 1869 when the Cincinnati Red Stockings visited Ulysses S. Grant at the White House.

    In 1963, John F. Kennedy welcomed the Boston Celtics to the White House, that being the first time an NBA team visited the White House.

    In 1992, the Toronto Blue Jays became the first Canadian-based team to visit the White House, following their victory in the 1992 World Series.

    These visits are usual, they’ve been recorded happenings for over 160 years.

    Maybe it’s just me, but White House visits under our current regime seem….unusual.

    It is not unusual for individuals to decline such an invitation, Larry Bird did not visit Ronald Reagan in 1984, Michael Jordan played golf instead of meeting President Bush in 1991, and ‘In 2011, Boston Bruins goalie Tim Thomas refused an invitation to visit the White House after the team’s Stanley Cup win due to his belief that the federal government had grown out of control under the presidency of Barack Obama.

    What is UNUSUAL is that entire teams have refused to meet our current President.

    What is also UNUSUAL is that 50% or 10 out of 20 of the teams invited to the White House during our current administration, never met the President.

    And what is also UNUSUAL is that our current leader is the first and only President of the United States who has ever revoked/taken back/had his fingers crossed per an invitation to the White House for our nation’s champions.

    Classy.… more “WIBCI Post #131”

  • WIBCI Post #130

    WIBCI we were as CONFIDENT as Dr. Seuss?

    Wouldn’t It Be Cool If we thought like this?

    You have to be odd to be number one.

    -Dr. Seuss

    Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.
    -Dr. Seuss
    … more “WIBCI Post #130”

  • WIBCI Post #129

    WIBCI we learned from HISTORY?

    Wouldn’t It Be Cool If we learned instead of repeated?

    Howard Zinn’s ‘A People’s History of the United States’ is a no holds barred, curt, straight forward, brutally honest, account of the founding of this country. While skimming through it recently I was struck by how many phrases that were describing over 2.5 centuries ago ring so very true today.

    (Circa 1839)  “Certain men in the farm country became leaders and organizers: Smit Boughton, a country doctor on horseback; Ainge Devyr, a revolutionary Irishman. Devyr had seen monopoly of land and industry bring misery to the slum dwellers of London, Liverpool, and Glasgow, had agitated for change, had been arrested for sedition, and fled to America. He was invited to address a Fourth of July rally of farmers in Rensselaerville, where he warned his listeners: ‘

    If you permit unprincipled and ambitious men to monopolize the soil, they will become masters of the country in the certain order of cause and effect’….”

    What do YOU think?… more “WIBCI Post #129”

  • WIBCI Post #128

    WIBCI Public Service Announcement:

    Wouldn’t It Be Cool If we warned more?

    To children of all ages, if anyone physically or mentally makes you feel uncomfortable in any way, shape, or form, and tells you not to tell.

    TELL.

    Tell every fucking person you come into contact with. Tell your parents, your siblings, your teachers, friends, friends’ parents, that weird old lady always watching you out her window, your neighbor, that boy you like, that girl you hate. ANYBODY.

    If someone does something to you and tells you not to tell, it is because they know they did something wrong. So TELL.

    If they name someone specifically not to tell, agree you won’t do it, promise if you have to, and as soon as they are out of your sight you break that promise and tell that very person and everyone else in between. This is a promise everyone will be okay that you break. Go on telling until someone makes it stop happening.

    TELL. TELL. TELL.

     … more “WIBCI Post #128”

  • WIBCI Post #127

    WIBCI: We Knew WHERE THE MONEY WENT?

    Wouldn’t It Be Cool If there was some trust?

    Per the Federal cuts that have taken place in the US…. I’m all for a good tightening of the belt, but the disassembling of departments necessary for our future seems a bit aggressive no? According to squared compass.com:

    “Taken together, these actions — alongside other forms of attrition and in the face of an extended hiring freeze across most of government[17]— were expected to drive the projected departure of 317,000 federal employees (roughly 50 percent more than the annual average number of separations during President Trump’s first term) and reduce the federal workforce by about 249,000 employees overall after accounting for new hires by year’s end, OPM Director Kupor announced in November.[18]“

    ON TOP of the salaries of over 300,000 people, the Fed pulled back 24.95 Billion dollars from just the top 10 agencies. This includes the Departments of: Ed, Energy, Interior, Labor, Transportation, Housing/Urban Development, Agriculture, as well as the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, and The Environmental Protection Agency.

    In other words, the Federal cuts for 2026 ‘saved’ the US Federal Government the salaries for 317,000 people and for JUST THE TOP TEN AGENCIES ‘saved’ the US Federal Government 24.95 BILLION DOLLARS.

    Wouldn’t It Be Cool If we were told where the money went?… more “WIBCI Post #127”

  • WIBCI Post #126

    WIBCI The Constitution was the final say?

    Wouldn’t It Be Cool If our leader adhered to it?

    By a vote of 6-3 the Supreme Court struck down the sweeping tariffs that President Donald Trump imposed on imports per two executive orders. The Constitution gives taxing power, including tariff power, to Congress and not the POTUS. Any Presidential imposition of tariffs depends on an act of Congress. Chief Justice John Roberts found that IEEPA was not an act that delegated tariff authority to the executive branch. So the answer was no.

    Shouldn’t that be the end of it? If the President’s job is to uphold the Constitution and something he did was unconstitutional than shouldn’t they just say ‘my bad’ and move on? Not this one.

    Instead, our leader, went on a time out worthy tirade, said he would invoke other laws and announced a blanket tax on all countries invoking section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, in which Congress said the president could levy tariffs of up to 15% for up to 150 days to fix ‘fundamental international payment problems’.

    How is this not authoritarian?

    … more “WIBCI Post #126”

  • WIBCI Post #125

    WIBCI We Knew Our Rights?

    Wouldn’t It Be Cool If we knew what could/couldn’t be done to us and our communities?

    Per my State’s official website:

    When can ICE enter people’s homes and other private spaces?
    Under most circumstances, ICE agents cannot legally enter private spaces—such as homes, private
    offices, or the non-public areas of a workplace—without one of the following:
    • A judicial warrant signed by a judge or magistrate; or
    • Voluntary consent from someone who has actual or apparent authority over the property (e.g., someone who lives there).

    *Note that an ICE administrative warrant (Forms I-200 and I-205 described above) is not a judicial
    warrant and does not authorize entry into a home or other private space without consent. A judicial
    warrant is one that is signed by a judge.

    If ICE agents are seeking to enter a house, a person has the legal right to speak through the door to:
    • Ask to see the warrant before opening the door;
    • Check whether the warrant is signed by a judge; and
    • Deny entry if it is not.

    ICE OUT… more “WIBCI Post #125”

  • WIBCI Post #124

    WIBCI we appreciated what was different?

    We all accept that all snowflakes are unique, but I was thinking about it and looked it up. Here is what I found:

    Per Wikipedia:

    Wilson Alwyn Bentley (February 9, 1865 – December 23, 1931), also known as Snowflake Bentley, was an American meteorologist and photographer, who was the first known person to take detailed photographs of snowflakes and record their features. He perfected a process of catching flakes on black velvet such that their images could be captured before they either melted or sublimated, and elaborated the theory that no two snowflakes are identical.

    He got interested in snowflakes as a teen on his family farm in Vermont:

    He tried to draw what he saw through an old microscope given to him by his mother when he was fifteen. The snowflakes were too complex to record before they melted, so he attached a bellows camera to a compound microscope and, after much experimentation, photographed his first snowflake on January 15, 1885. He captured more than 5,000 images of crystals. Each crystal was caught on a blackboard and transferred rapidly to a microscope slide. Even at subzero temperatures, snowflakes are ephemeral because they sublimate.

    Apparently these photos were so good that no one really took photos of snowflakes for 100 years. But is 5,000 really an exhaustive study? And as this sounds like a rather difficult and cold way to spend your time, not many people are out there trying to prove him wrong me thinks. But as I kept reading I came across Kenneth Libbrecht, a snowflake scholar from this century, he is also a professor of physics at California Institute of Technology. I found his way of backing up Bentley’s theory illuminating:

    Libbrecht thinks that the question of whether there have ever been identical snowflakes is just silly. “Anything that has any complexity is different than everything else,” even if you have to go down to the molecular level to find it.

     

    Sounds to me like different than everything else is what makes something special.

    If you want to learn more, check it out:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilson_Bentley… more “WIBCI Post #124”

  • WIBCI Post #123

    WIBCI we represented ourselves better?

    I was watching a pair of pale and wispy Olympic ice skaters from a newish country, bedazzled up with aggressively bunned hair, frozen smiles, heaving for breathe, anxiously awaiting scores for the pinnacle of a lifetime’s worth of hard work and achievement.

    The only thing blighting this moment is the U-S-A, U-S-A, U-S-A chant obnoxiously drowning out the commentators attempts to make the down time interesting.

    Poorly played Emma.

    Albeit the timing for this particular moment was less than classy, to me, chanting this in public places no longer rings of patriotism, it seems more like a bully mantra, more likely to color my cheeks with embarrassment than pride. Maybe if you were there in the stadium, surrounded by countrymen, it might be catchy, but from my couch, it wasn’t the best look.… more “WIBCI Post #123”

  • WIBCI Post #122

    WIBCI we embodied separation of church and state?

    Wouldn’t It Be Cool If when the new POTUS was sworn into office that he/she/they placed their hand on the US Constitution?

    Here are the words they say:

    “I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”

    Nothing against the Bible but if we truly are tolerant of all religions and not supposed to cross the streams per Thomas Jefferson, than why not swear on the actual thing you are supposed to ‘preserve, protect and defend’?

     … more “WIBCI Post #122”

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