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#Post#: 2953--------------------------------------------------
Re: Member Interesting, Hair Raising, Humorous or Otherwise Unus
ual Experiences
By: AGelbert Date: April 12, 2015, 4:36 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
Intimations of Mortality
HTML http://www.doomsteaddiner.net/forum/index.php/topic,4594.msg72867/topicseen.html#msg72867
Off the keyboard of Surly1
[center][img width=587
height=738]
HTML http://www.doomsteaddiner.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/freda-blackboard.jpg[/img][/center]
Artwork: Anthony Freda
[center]Originally published on the Doomstead Diner on April 5,
2014[/center]
[center]"Any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in
Mankinde; And therefore never send to know for whom the bell
tolls; It tolls for thee."”[/center]
[center] ?John Donne [b] [/center]
[hr]
It was a milestone week. I turned 65. Like many, I never thought
I would reach this age. Yet this very week I learned that
several childhood friends did not. Three have passed this year,
two of whom played significant roles in my early life and then
drifted away, like we do.
Allow me to beg your indulgence from taking the pulse of doom to
indulge a few personal observations.
We children of Happy Motoring, were raised on the Flintstones
and the Cleavers as a vision of family life, and on the Jetsons
as a vision of a cornucopian future. As the son of an
electrician and a homemaker, I was raised on trade union
Democrats values– economically liberal, socially conservative,
and expected that I would somehow take my place in a world much
like theirs. Uh, no. By the time I left college, that world that
no longer existed.
During my lifetime it’s all changed– the New Deal social
contract has been rescinded, and the prescription, we’re told,
is austerity for workers and tax breaks for corporations and the
one per cent. In the 1960s a single earner could pay the rent
or mortgage, clothe and feed a family, buy a car and maybe have
a little left over for a vacation. Now two earner (or more)
households have become the norm, and the vast majority of
paychecks yield far less earning power than that of a union
electrician in 1965.
I recall a lesson from fifth grade. We learned about the
“melting pot,” complete with an illustration of people of all
nationalities and races happily jumping into a pot to make soup.
The point being we were a nation of immigrants, bonded together
in the notion that, “out of many, one:” E Pluribus Unum. Today
armed, angry white men patrol the southern borders in search of
brown faces without papers. A nation built on immigrants no
longer welcomes immigrants, unless they bring an independent
fortune or skills favored industries need.
I was the second of my family to enter college, and my luck to
enroll during the height of Vietnam. I went in patriotic, full
of received wisdom and civic virtue, and enrolled in ROTC,
earned a scholarship and was prepared to enter the Regular Army
as an officer.
Then came the USS Pueblo incident, and then My Lai. Those
episodes shattered closely held beliefs and preconceptions. At
once, my college experience transformed from 13th and 14th grade
to learning how to think, perhaps for the first time. What, you
mean our government would leave Lloyd Bucher and those sailors
to rot in a North Korean prison? What, you mean kids like me
uncritically murder Asian women and children? What, we’re not
the good guys? I began to question everything that I had been
taught, and from there, everything changed.
On reaching adulthood and employment in which the demands were
on mind rather than body, my style would be to work hard, play
harder and cram as much as possible into what would doubtless be
a few short years. To the surprise of all, those stretched on.
My MO was that while I might not be the brightest or most
talented, I was a grinder who would succeed through sheer dint
of effort and persistence. 80 hour weeks punctuated with long
evenings of riotous relief, and, uh, excess? A way of life. For
a while.
It took many years to realize that what I did was not who I was.
There were victories; and there were losses.
The losses give you perspective, and remind that the bell
eventually tolls for all of us.
And with that ringing in my ears, I now approach the final laps
of a career in media, including photography, video, film and
writing. A time to think of What’s It All Been About, and What
Have I Learned Along the Way? Having made every possible mistake
along the way, committed every sin short of murder, and been
slow to learn from experience, repeating most mistakes several
times, a few simple principles have emerged:
[b]1) Kindness. Always be kind. Easy to lose track of when we
are young and on the make, in competition with others and
serving those all-important ego needs. We get sucked–or leap–
into the matrix and forget what’s really important, which are
relationships.
2) Don’t criticize, condemn or complain. Dale Carnegie makes
this his first rule of human relations. In college I played
interior line, and wrestled. My job was to knock other people
down. After a while the workplace, as in life, one eventually
begins to learn that not every adversary needs knocking down,
and not every obstacle is an adversary- some are opportunities.
Some learn this essential truth later rather than earlier. It’s
amazing how relationships change when you stop being critical of
others, and thus engage their own self protective mechanisms.
Duh.
3) Live in the Present. In my 20s, I encountered a slender tome
by Baba Ram Dass entitled, “Be Here Now.” As I recall, it was
about the importance of being fully present in the here and now.
It resonated. How many of us spend time rehashing old wounds,
or worrying about the future? There is a reason that the
“Recitation of the Grievances” made famous by Jerry Stiller’s
Festivus celebration on Seinfeld was so funny– because it’s so
true. Whenever I return home, I become 15 again as my 86 year
old mother opens a trunk full of 60-year-old grievances. Was it
Voltaire who said, “My life is been filled with one catastrophe
after another, most of which never occurred?” We spend a lot of
time worrying about uncertainties, when the effort is better
placed on creating a desired reality.
So we Boomers came of age and enjoyed the blessings of cheap
energy and a dollar backed by nukes and military force. Now the
energy is getting more dear, harder to extract and the dollar is
closer than ever to losing reserve status, all at a time when
good jobs remain hard to find.
My life has been modest in material terms, but has been enough.
Enough to enjoy a working class standard of living, a decent
home and raise a daughter. It’s a life I’ve chosen, with no
apologies or excuses. What brings me to the Diner each day is
the realization that it’s all doomed, and I will miss it when
it’s all gone. Between the neocons eager to fight World War III
down to the last drop of your grandchildren’s blood, and the
crony capitalists and their bankster allies determined to bleed
the last drops of wealth out of the near empty husk of what used
to be America’s middle class, it appears that those at the top
of the pyramid have determined that the world needs to shed
about 6 billion “useless eaters” and redundant population. What
do corporations do when they have excess workforce? They lay
them off.
Prepare to be “laid off.”
[center][quote]The clouds that gather round the setting sun
Do take a sober colouring from an eye
That hath kept watch o’er man’s mortality;
Another race hath been, and other palms are won.
Thanks to the human heart by which we live,
Thanks to its tenderness, its joys, and fears,
To me the meanest flower that blows can give
Thoughts that do often lie too deep for tears.
–Wordsworth, Intimations of Immortality[/quote][/center]
People aren’t stupid. Most people, from urban liberals to
country rednecks, can sniff the zeitgeist “Survivalists” have
been around since the 70s. Nowadays, more people are turning to
“prepping”, including many on the far right, who have repaired
to fortified compounds in Idaho, etc., the better to wait out
the zombie hordes and/or the black helicopters. (Bracing, is it
not, to think that the Mormons will be the subset of Americans
best positioned to transition through the Zero Point?)
Karma is a ****. If one reaps what one sows, our portion today
is the inevitable bitter harvest of decades of government lies
and perfidy, from the Warren Commission’s “magic bullet” to the
9/11 cover story to the lack of faith in the very function of
government due to corporate capture. People are sick of being
lied to; people are sick of seeing their unresponsive government
toady to lobbyists, while ignoring the needs of ordinary
citizens. So they’re planning for it all to end, and quite
literally taking matters into their own hands for when it does.
One of the great blessings of my dotage is having found the
woman that shares my home and life. I met Contrary quite
literally in the streets during the height of Occupy. Casual
conversation developed into a friendship that then exploded into
something quite unexpected. Had anyone told me that I would be
getting married after decades of living as a single man, I would
have doubled down on that action and covered all I could get.
Well. Surprise, surprise. I now live with my best friend,
confidant and a veritable Scheherazade, a wellspring of both
stories and common ****ing sense.
As a child, my grandmother had ice delivered by horsedrawn dray,
and lived to see man land on the moon and the end of the Soviet
Union. Considering my own lifetime, in which cheap energy draws
to a close, I can see our current mode of living will not
survive our generation. We have been reduced to a “precariat,” a
term used by that servant of hell Alan Greenspan. Prospects for
our young people of gone from bad to worse. Our grandchildren
will shake their heads in disbelief when they hear stories about
the way their parents used to live.
When the dollar loses reserve status, the American lifestyle
will be reduced to that of the average Croatian today; couple
that with the significant and increasing likelihoods of
environmental collapse, water shortages or nuke plant meltdowns,
and the prospects darken even more. The good news is that the
holders of real wealth, those who own property, metals, real
assets will survive substantially intact. The only people who
will suffer are those who are paid in, save or spend dollars,
and who **** away their earnings on luxuries like food, rent,
heat, and medicines.
So near the end of it all, it looks as if we’re at the end of it
all. Makes a fellow wistful. What matters is that we make such
common cause as we can, treat one another as well as we are
able, and greet uncertainty with grace and dignity. And be
grateful that that bell has not yet tolled, and that the grave
has not yet opened for that dirt nap.
Intimations of Mortality
HTML http://www.doomsteaddiner.net/forum/index.php/topic,4594.msg72867/topicseen.html#msg72867
[img width=80
height=60]
HTML http://www.doomsteaddiner.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/banksy-07-flower-thrower-wallpaper-e1423051661990.jpg[/img]<br
/>Surly1 is an administrator and contributing author to Doomstea
d
Diner. He is the author of numerous rants, articles and
spittle-flecked invective on this site, and quit barking and got
off the porch long enough to be active in the Occupy movement.
He shares a home in Southeastern Virginia with his new bride
Contrary in a triumph of hope over experience, and is grateful
that he is not yet taking a dirt nap.[/I]
Surly,
Thank you for your honesty. That, in and of itself, is rare
among Humans.
HTML http://www.runemasterstudios.com/graemlins/images/2thumbs.gif
I wish I could say what you said about past experiences. I
can't. When I look back on what happened and when it happened
and what I did, NOT KNOWING what was actually happening, to
further compound my errors in life, I am actually glad it is
almost over. I was mostly a stupid chump.
HTML http://www.createaforum.com/gallery/renewablerevolution/3-200714183312.bmp
My only accomplishment in life has been that, after God knocked
some sense into me, I am willing to die to avoid doing the wrong
thing.
HTML http://www.runemasterstudios.com/graemlins/images/2thumbs.gif<br
/>Doing the right thing is to "Trust God and lean not upon your
own understanding".
Everything else is missing the mark.
Forgive my arrogance and lack of humility, but I consider that
the only achievement that has any merit whatsoever while our
soul occupies a body. Of course, most here don't just disagree,
they get a great laugh about anyone ignorant enough to believe
in a personal God and salvation through Faith in Him, practiced
ONLY by obedience to Him.
[i]Unlike you, Surly, a person who has demonstrated with his
life and example that working for the good of the whole is FAR
MORE IMPORTANT than working for the good of the individual, most
humans are convinced that providing for their biochemical needs
and surrounding themselves and their loved ones with possessions
is the only prudent course of action for a Homo SAP. Looking out
for number one and number one's offspring is IT, as far as they
are concerned, no matter how much pretense of working for the
good of humanity they may espouse.
IF IT ALL ENDED HERE, THEY WOULD BE JUSTIFIED IN THEIR
EGOCENTRISM. BUT IT ONLY STARTS HERE... 8)
[img width=640 height=560]
HTML http://biblepic.com/53/17761.jpg[/img]
#Post#: 2956--------------------------------------------------
Re: Member Interesting, Hair Raising, Humorous or Otherwise Unus
ual Experiences
By: AGelbert Date: April 12, 2015, 7:13 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
[quote author=Surly1 link=topic=4594.msg72905#msg72905
date=1428875268]
[quote author=agelbert link=topic=4594.msg72903#msg72903
date=1428871714]
I wish I could say what you said about past experiences. I
can't. When I look back on what happened and when it happened
and what I did, NOT KNOWING what was actually happening, to
further compound my errors in life, I am actually glad it is
almost over. I was mostly a stupid chump.
HTML http://www.createaforum.com/gallery/renewablerevolution/3-200714183312.bmp
My only accomplishment in life has been that, after God knocked
some sense into me, I am willing to die to avoid doing the wrong
thing.
HTML http://www.runemasterstudios.com/graemlins/images/2thumbs.gif
Doing the right thing is to "Trust God and lean not upon your
own understanding".
Everything else is missing the mark.
[/quote]
My friend, thank you for taking the time to read this little
screed. I often think no one reads anything I write.
When you say, and I quote,
[quote]I was mostly a stupid chump. [/quote]
... you must realize that I have spent the bette part of a
lifetime in that role. Every lesson I learned, I paid retail
plus 30 for, because I come from a long line of hardheads to
whom no one can tell anything.
I identify with what you have written about wanting to leave a
little something behind for your wife, as I do now too, waiting
to spare her waiting in line at the plasma bank.
One of the great blessings of this misspent life is time with my
daughter. She had a rare day off today and spent it hanging out
with me. She's 23 going on 50, whereas I have friends who decry
the immaturity of their 50 year-olds. Counting blessings and
feeling grateful...
[/quote]
[quote] retail plus 30 [/quote]
Same here. The latest "installment" is still ANOTHER fast one by
my ever loving family and the Courts. The judge got together
with the bank after dragging her feet for nearly two months to
authorize "mediation" proposed by the bank.
The judge finally figured out why the bank was playing dead (in
theory, mediation would have eliminated conditio juris for a
bank auction of the house by a payment plan for the tiny debt of
$5,912 on a building worth $700,000 plus). What they ACTUALLY
wanted to accomplish was to have an excuse to charge ME with
contempt of court and make ME a rebel so the foreclosure could
proceed. The court "mediation authorization" order made it CLEAR
that anyone who didn't show up can be charged with contempt.
This is not normal in that type of a court order. In fact the
rules of procedure in all court orders ASSUME that anyone
ordered to a proceeding can be found in contempt if they don't
go.
HTML http://www.createaforum.com/gallery/renewablerevolution/3-200714191404.bmp
I smelled a rat and said so to my wife. She said it didn't make
sense for the widow, who now had a lawyer, to not pay the $5,912
so the bank would get taken out of the picture. At that point,
with the house paid for, a sale of the property could proceed
without the widow (or me) getting shafted.
My wife did not think it possible that the widow could be so
stupid as to go along with the fraud perpetrated by the bank,
the judge and my siblings. So I hoped for the best. At any rate,
I did not think it prudent to travel 1,500 miles one way to get
my ass handed to me. My brother is not a nice guy. Life is cheap
in Puerto Rico.
My brother (with his power of attorney from all my other
siblings), the one that has been ABSENT, along with all the
others, from all court proceedings since day one and the widow
(my stepmother) showed up with ZERO intention to pay anything.
Their job was to DEMONIZE ME in the time tested motto of the
Court System (Vox Populi, Vox Dei - "the voice of the
[s]PEOPLE[/s]MOB is the voice of GOD"
HTML http://www.createaforum.com/gallery/renewablerevolution/3-200714183312.bmp).<br
/> I didn't go on April 9, 2015. The next day I called the
mediator to see what the results of the mediation were.
The "mediator" told me over the phone that the case had been
returned to the judge because "not all parties were present" and
"other things she learned that were confidential and I had no
right to know". I calmly said that as a party to the lawsuit, I
though I had a right to know. She repeated that I had no right
to the information on the motion she had sent to the judge and
"other things she learned that were confidential". When I said
the bank had only been interested in negotiating with the widow,
she said that was not her concern. She said that if I had a
complaint, I should get a lawyer and tell the judge.
I was taken aback by her tone, which was arrogant, angry and
dismissive. I was very low profile and low key throughout the
conversation and never raised my voice or spoke rapidly. When I
asked her to calm down, she almost screamed into the phone that
she was "calm". I then realized what had happened (the whole
"mediation" thing was a setup) and, in total defeat, said, "God
bless you", She angrily responded, "AND YOU TOO!". I said bye
but she had hung up already.
SO, I'M the bad guy now, will be found in contempt of court
followed by the house being auctioned AND have whatever fine
(sanción) the HONORABLE judge slaps me with, OF COURSE. deducted
from the pittance that I might get from the auction (Most
likely, I will end up OWING the court money after my entire
inheritance is stolen from me - stealing from me wasn't enough;
they have to punish me for wanting justice too.). MISSION
ACCOMPLISHED.
HTML http://www.createaforum.com/gallery/renewablerevolution/3-200714191329.bmp
They are very prudent in their own eyes. So it goes.
And ANYONE STUPID ENOUGH to state that I could have avoided the
contempt charge by showing up, does not understand that a
crooked system has OTHER OPTIONS in readiness if that one isn't
"effective" in shafting the target. So if YOU KNOW WHO shows up
to defend the court system, I have a GIANT FINGER ready for him
if he dares to do so.
I told my wife I should have never submitted all the legal
motions. She said that everything I stated was true and
regardless of how crooked the judges, the bank, my family and
the widow are, telling the truth about this carefully planned
and orchestrated fraud was the right thing to do. Somebody read
it and somebody learned something about how greed and evil
works, hopefully, to avoid being victimized by it in a similar
fashion.
God will judge them in His Court. There is no corruption there.
Sorry to be so down. I'm glad you can be grateful. Good for you.
[img width=640
height=480]
HTML http://imageprest.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Sunflower02.png[/img]
#Post#: 2966--------------------------------------------------
Re: Member Interesting, Hair Raising, Humorous or Otherwise Unus
ual Experiences
By: AGelbert Date: April 14, 2015, 2:59 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
[quote author=Eddie link=topic=559.msg73056#msg73056
date=1429039287]
[quote author=agelbert link=topic=559.msg73012#msg73012
date=1428973596]
[center]
HTML http://clevelandcivilwarroundtable.com/images/people/lincoln/lincoln_rob_young.jpg[/center]
[center]Robert Todd Lincoln[/center]
[quote]Robert Todd Lincoln – “Bob” to his family and friends –
was dubbed the “Prince of Rails” during his “Railsplitter”
father’s 1860 campaign for president, after a visit to this
country by England’s Prince of Whales. Robert was a prince that
would never ascend to the throne.
He was the oldest of the four children – all boys - of Mary and
Abraham and the only one to reach maturity. He lived a long
life. Born in 1843, he died in 1926. [/quote]
HTML http://clevelandcivilwarroundtable.com/articles/lincoln/prince_rails.htm
HTML http://clevelandcivilwarroundtable.com/articles/lincoln/prince_rails.htm
[center]This is an interesting article about Robert Todd
Lincoln, son of Abraham Lincoln, who was present at the
SEGREGATED :P 1922 dedication of the Lincoln Memorial in
Washington, D.C. [/center]
[center][img width=340
height=450]
HTML http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c1/Robert_Todd_Lincoln_-_Harris_and_Ewing.jpg[/img][/center]
[center]Robert Todd Lincoln[/center]
[center]by Mark Bushnell, a historian and writer who lives in
Middlesex, Vermont. [/I][/center]
SNIPPET 1:
[quote]During his tenure as secretary of war, Robert got blood
on his own hands, Vowell asserts, having been ultimate
responsibility for a botched expedition to the North Pole. Under
the auspices of the Department of War, a 25-man scientific
research team had started for the pole the same week Garfield
was shot. The men established a base at the pole and waited in
vain for resupply or rescue.
Some historians blame Robert’s lack of interest in the
expedition for its inadequate provisioning. The starving men
eventually tried to head south. Only six of them survived the
journey, [i]which they did by eating some of those who did not.
Robert Lincoln and others tried to cover up the cannibalism by
claiming that the bodies of the dead had been cut up for
bait.[/quote]
SNIPPET 2:
[quote]Few people knew about other connections between the Booth
and Lincoln families. A couple of years before the
assassination, Robert Lincoln had been moving between moving
train cars when he slipped.
A man reached out and grabbed Robert’s coat, saving him from
being crushed between the heavy train cars. “That was a narrow
escape, Mr. Booth,” said Robert, having immediately recognized
his savior, Edwin Booth .[/quote]
[center][img width=275
height=200]
HTML http://www.createaforum.com/gallery/renewablerevolution/3-060914180936.jpeg[/img][/center]
Robert Todd Lincoln, harbinger of presidential doom
HTML http://vtdigger.org/2015/04/12/robert-todd-lincoln-harbinger-of-presidential-doom/
[/quote]
Robert Todd Lincoln is a very interesting character to me. You
know that he was the one who had to deal with his mother, who
ended up institutionalized. Her situation was tragic, but it
must have been living hell for him to deal with her suicidal
depression and bipolar craziness.
You know that he probably destroyed a great deal of her
correspondence, and also refused to allow the release of his
father's papers until after his own death in 1926. At that
point, a lot of books about Lincoln has already been written,
many of them not too accurate.
[/quote]
Eddie,
Yes, Robert hired Pinkerton guards to follow his mom around and
keep her out of trouble before he finally took her to Court
(with all the testimony from the Pinkerton fellows to help put
her away, of course). But after she was institutionalized, she
won her release In Court. They never spoke again.
ALL her brothers fought on the Southern side in the Civil War.
ALL her children except Robert died young. It's a wonder she
didn't go crazy sooner. I think it was Robert's Responsibility
to take care of her. I think it was wrong to try to "put her
away" as is the American wont with "inconvenient" family members
that are "embarrassing" the family. Robert had the money and the
time to care for his mom with paid help AT HER HOME. Had she
been violent to herself or other people, I would agree that she
be institutionalized. But she wasn't. So it was an example of a
self centered attitude so prevalent in this society.
I'm not trying to judge him. I simply don't agree that relatives
can be stuffed into institutions when they are losing it. I
think that is irresponsible, but quite modern and accepted
DARWINIAN, apex predator, survival of the fittest, egocentric
and conscience free behavior.
I have BEEN THERE where Robert's mom was. It is WRONG to shaft a
relative because of a mental crisis. But that is what my family
did when I had a crisis. They never stopped demonizing me after
that. That is how I got my disability retirement from the
Federal Government.
I'm not crazy. I never was. I simply had a crisis. This society
is an unforgiving piece of shit, Eddie.
Robert Todd Lincoln was NOT being charitable or responsible by
trying to off load his responsibility to care for his mom. She
had suffered FAR more than he had. Please take that into
consideration.
#Post#: 2967--------------------------------------------------
Re: Member Interesting, Hair Raising, Humorous or Otherwise Unus
ual Experiences
By: AGelbert Date: April 14, 2015, 5:44 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
[quote author=Eddie link=topic=559.msg73062#msg73062
date=1429041788]
Having had the experience of having a bipolar mother myself, I
guess I can't help but feel sympathy for the son, although my
brothers (after the death of my father) were the ones who did
most of the heavy lifting, had to deal with Mom's mental
illness, much more than I did.[/quote]
Well then, you are indebted to your brothers. Our parents did
the heavy lifting to raise us. We owe them any and all heavy
lifting they require later in life.
That is why, despite my dad's successful efforts to deny me my
mother's inheritance, I never tried to sue him.
I did not like that greedball. He ran the household I grew up in
like a permanent Army boot camp. As soon as my feet were big
enough, all I ever got were G.I. shoes because they were the
cheapest. Christmas "presents" were mostly clothing. Other
clothing and sneakers was mostly from the thrift shop (second
hand from other military families that donated clothing).
But ALL my dad's clothing, except the uniforms, was top of the
line (See the Dictator complex). He had silver embroidered ties
while he complained about how fast our hair grew ("forcing" him
to give us our crew cuts) and how we were eating too much and
outgrowing our clothes too quickly. The guy was a permanent
disher outer of 24/7 guilt trip psychological abuse so we would
feel guilty for being such moochers and grateful to his royal
fascist highness for all his "sacrifices". He actually
complained to me when I was a teenager that I "made too much
noise" when I was pis sing in the toilet!
OF course he never missed a Sunday golf game with his personal
golf clubs, bag and cart (he NEVER paid a caddie). And he was SO
PROUD of that HAPPY FAMILY of 7 children that he took such GREAT
CARE OF. ::)
But he did keep me fed and clothed while growing up. Yes, he was
an abusive fu ck, but, I know my responsibilities. He died at
the ripe old age of 95 in 2008. I hope he extracted his head out
of his self centered ass before he died. RIP. 8)
#Post#: 2969--------------------------------------------------
Re: Member Interesting, Hair Raising, Humorous or Otherwise Unus
ual Experiences
By: AGelbert Date: April 14, 2015, 6:57 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
[quote author=Ka link=topic=4600.msg73059#msg73059
date=1429040719]
[quote author=RE link=topic=4600.msg73027#msg73027
date=1429000054]
[quote author=Ka link=topic=4600.msg73025#msg73025
date=1428997774]
You don't think it is a good thing to be allowed to think for
oneself, and to be able to pursue one's own path to one's own
goals? What point is there to survival if only groupthink is
allowed?
[/quote]
The problem is that Individualism leads to EXTINCTION, not
SURVIVAL.[/quote]
Assuming this is true (which I don't, but I'll get to that), I
ask again, what is the point of surviving if you are not allowed
to think for yourself?
[quote]Individualism deemphasizes your dependence on the Group
to survive. By becoming Individualistic, we fractured the
society and lost our group understanding of our dependence on
the rest of the environment to support not only our own species,
but all species.[/quote]
I guess you haven't noticed my posts about Green Libertarian
Socialism. If you had, you would be aware that I am aware of the
danger that unrestricted individualism has to the environment,
that as I just stated (to Eddie) that I am not in favor of a Ron
Paul-like like libertarianism. Any individualist who is not
aware of his dependence on the biosphere and of his group to
survive is a dangerous idiot.
On the other hand, if the group does not allow individualism,
then it does not deserve to survive.
[quote]
Individualism is the precursor to Greed, because it allows you
to justify your own well being at the expense of others in your
community. [/quote]
I dispute this, in that there was Greed long before
individualism became an ideal. Greed, and other sins of
groupthink societies (like worries about losing face) arise
because the groupthink honors the rich and famous. And that has
been around as long as history. Individualism, however, never
became an ideal until the modern era -- in fact, modernism can
just about be defined as the rise of the ideal of individualism.
[quote]The individual can only exist though if the community
exists. So the individual has to be subservient to the needs of
the community, which in fact includes all the other living
creatures on the earth as well.[/quote]
Yes, the individual needs the community, but the community also
needs individuals who can think outside the box so that when
conditions change it has a way to adapt. So how do we reconcile
these needs?
My answer is green libertarian socialism. The social structure
needs to be set up so that basic needs of everyone are met, yet
in a way that prevents the rise of a nomenklatura, and that
preserves the biosphere. And does not require everyone to chant
slogans from the Little Red Book. To achieve this will take a
lot of thinking, but I think it can be done, but almost
certainly not realizable until enough of the thinking class sees
it as the only viable alternative.
[/quote]
Ka,
Well, YEAH, Green Libertarian Socialism does take care of
circumscribing individualism to behavior that doesn't harm the
community/biosphere.
HTML http://www.desismileys.com/smileys/desismileys_0293.gif
But RE might claim that the individual IS TOTALLY subservient to
the community (i.e. the biosphere) under Green Libertarian
Socialism. Me too
HTML http://www.createaforum.com/gallery/renewablerevolution/3-200714191258.bmp<br
/>. The reason for that is that the buttons that are pushed insi
de
our gray matter when somebody talks of "individualism" are DOING
WHATEVER YOU WANT, WHENEVER YOU WANT TO DO IT. As you said, that
IS being an idiot.
But THAT is how our society defines "individualism". Your
nuanced and ethical definition that differentiates from the
individualism (which includes boundless greed) of Nero,
Alexander the Great, Genghis Khan and so on is, as you have said
before, a hard sell for the average Libertarian (or average
American, for that matter).
THAT was the type of "individualism", I believe, that RE is
referring to. That is the type of "individualism" that you
consider only an idiot would have.
I agree. But the Green Libertarian Socialism definition of
"individualism" is not part of the common parlance.
Thinking "out of the box" has always been a function of the
wise, regardless of whether they were groupthink type societies
or the more dysfunctional, "everyone for themselves" modern
social structures.
Are you saying that wise people ONLY began "thinking out of the
box" when individualism was given free rein in society? If so, I
would beg to differ. That premise will not hold water.
As a matter of fact, modern society is HARDER on "free thinkers"
than those with the "calculate seven generation effects before
making changes" world view.
We ARE NOT allowed to invent ANY device that challenges the
Corporate Status Quo. IF we try, we get suppressed, bought or
bopped. The rigid control of Homo SAP thought and endeavor is
WORSE THAN NEVER. And the celebrated people TODAY are the
greediest IDIOTS the world has EVER witnessed. Paulson, Buffet,
Koch Brothers et al put Nero to SHAME!
Your belief in the necessary contribution that thinking outside
the box is, of course, is valid. But linking it to
"individualism" is incorrect. Thinking outside the box comes
from wisdom, not from studying the rules to see how you can
break them and make a profit. SOMETIMES the "new widget" that
makes somebody some big bucks improves social conditions.
But, by and large, the ones that actually do, are suppressed
before they get to market. We have a destructive inertia in our
brand of "Capitalist individualism" BECAUSE only the
"celebrated" greedballs actually CAN act as individuals. And
when they do, which is most of the time, they act like the
destructive idiots that they are.
#Post#: 2973--------------------------------------------------
Re: Member Interesting, Hair Raising, Humorous or Otherwise Unus
ual Experiences
By: AGelbert Date: April 14, 2015, 9:22 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
[quote author=RE link=topic=4600.msg73076#msg73076
date=1429063674]
[quote author=Ka link=topic=4600.msg73059#msg73059
date=1429040719]
[quote author=RE link=topic=4600.msg73027#msg73027
date=1429000054]
[quote author=Ka link=topic=4600.msg73025#msg73025
date=1428997774]
You don't think it is a good thing to be allowed to think for
oneself, and to be able to pursue one's own path to one's own
goals? What point is there to survival if only groupthink is
allowed?
[/quote]
The problem is that Individualism leads to EXTINCTION, not
SURVIVAL.[/quote]
Assuming this is true (which I don't, but I'll get to that), I
ask again, what is the point of surviving if you are not allowed
to think for yourself?
I could speculate on a lot of reasons, like the point is to love
others, or to observe the world around you and take joy in it
etc. However, since you speculate that Individualism didn't
exist back in the distant past, what was the point then of
surviving?
[quote]Individualism deemphasizes your dependence on the Group
to survive. By becoming Individualistic, we fractured the
society and lost our group understanding of our dependence on
the rest of the environment to support not only our own species,
but all species.[/quote]
I guess you haven't noticed my posts about Green Libertarian
Socialism. If you had, you would be aware that I am aware of the
danger that unrestricted individualism has to the environment,
that as I just stated (to Eddie) that I am not in favor of a Ron
Paul-like like libertarianism. Any individualist who is not
aware of his dependence on the biosphere and of his group to
survive is a dangerous idiot.
I did miss those posts. Just from the title though,
"Libertarian" & "Socialism" in the same sentence is an Oxymoron.
I've never met a Libertarian who was a Socialist and vica
versa. It sounds like a kludge to me.
On the other hand, if the group does not allow individualism,
then it does not deserve to survive.
See above.
[quote]
Individualism is the precursor to Greed, because it allows you
to justify your own well being at the expense of others in your
community. [/quote]
I dispute this, in that there was Greed long before
individualism became an ideal. Greed, and other sins of
groupthink societies (like worries about losing face) arise
because the groupthink honors the rich and famous. And that has
been around as long as history. Individualism, however, never
became an ideal until the modern era -- in fact, modernism can
just about be defined as the rise of the ideal of individualism.
How do you know Greed predates Individualism? If you define
Individualism as beginning with modernity (when did that begin?)
you might make that case, but IMHO you had Individualism going
right back to the beginning of Ag. Kings, Pharoahs etc clearly
acted Individually making rules for the society.
Anyhow, while Greed likely existed in some form before
Individualism, it really took off with this ideal.
[quote]The individual can only exist though if the community
exists. So the individual has to be subservient to the needs of
the community, which in fact includes all the other living
creatures on the earth as well.[/quote]
Yes, the individual needs the community, but the community also
needs individuals who can think outside the box so that when
conditions change it has a way to adapt. So how do we reconcile
these needs?
My answer is green libertarian socialism. The social structure
needs to be set up so that basic needs of everyone are met, yet
in a way that prevents the rise of a nomenklatura, and that
preserves the biosphere. And does not require everyone to chant
slogans from the Little Red Book. To achieve this will take a
lot of thinking, but I think it can be done, but almost
certainly not realizable until enough of the thinking class sees
it as the only viable alternative.
I never said that Individualism should be eliminated, only that
it must remain subservient to the needs of the Group. In the
words of Mr. Spock:
[center][img width=640
height=440]
HTML http://www.thesurvivalpodcast.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/kirk-and-spock-needs-quote.png[/img][/center]
That's just CFS. Or as Spock would say, "Logical".
RE
[/quote]
[/quote]
[center] [img width=100
height=100]
HTML http://www.pic4ever.com/images/47b20s0.gif[/img]<br
/>
HTML http://www.runemasterstudios.com/graemlins/images/2thumbs.gif[/center]
#Post#: 3117--------------------------------------------------
Re: Member Interesting, Hair Raising, Humorous or Otherwise Unus
ual Experiences
By: AGelbert Date: May 11, 2015, 6:57 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
[quote author=Eddie link=topic=559.msg75078#msg75078
date=1431373862]
Actual footage of MIT undergrads working on this technology
under laboratory conditions.
[embed=425,349]
HTML http://youtu.be/nxMRpql7Ook[/embed]
I first you don't succeed, open another Guinness.
[/quote]
::) I not only bring out the curmudgeon in you, I bring out the
snarky side as well. ;D
In 1969, yours truly attended sea survival school at Homestead
Air Force Base. We had a lot of fun and learned all sorts of
cool facts like "Drinking urine is not recommended because of
the high salt content" and other gems of CFS that downed fliers
might not possess. After some fun and games (falling 60 feet
along a wire attached to a parachute harness that splashed into
a pond where we had to "release the chute", swim under a
floating chute to prove we wouldn't get tangled in it, and then
climb on a raft.), they gave us a taste of the real thing in
Biscayne bay.
[img width=640
height=480]
HTML http://i789.photobucket.com/albums/yy178/KiwiBiggles/005.jpg[/img]
We would, attached to a parachute, be towed off a floating
platform and launch into the air like an aircraft taking off
from an aircraft carrier. After parasailing a few minutes, they
waved a red flag from the speed boat. At about 300 feet above
the waves, I hit the release of the tow rope. Then I carefully
opened the chute release rings as I floated down (you have to
stick one arm over each riser in case you pull the ring release
when you open the cover).
Then you watch the horizon so you can yank the rings about 20
feet before impact. You do this because, once you are in the
water, your weight is off the chute and it is an absolute BEAR
to get the rings to release the chute. Downed fliers were
drowned this way by either getting tangled in the chute OR
having a strong wind drag them for miles, face down, over the
water surface.
Once in the water, we all gathered on an 18 man raft and were
picked up by a chopper (we had to swim away from the raft to get
fished out). We could NOT touch the lift harness until it was in
the water (they said it would shock the shit out of us if we did
-so you swim at it as it descends and frantically swim away when
it is coming too close. LOL!).
But, to make a long story even longer :icon_mrgreen:, we did the
condensation ball moisture capture thing to get drinking water
way back then. It's part of the issue equipment on pilot
survival gear. 8)
The MIT invention is NOT that. The MIT invention is a bonafide
bit of Renewable Energy technology that will help people in
third world countries and help Americans as we transition to
third world status too. But you know that.
HTML http://www.desismileys.com/smileys/desismileys_6869.gif
[img width=640
height=380]
HTML http://www.createaforum.com/gallery/renewablerevolution/3-110515184812.jpeg[/img]
[quote]The finished prototype is small enough to fit in a
tractor-trailer and includes photovoltaic cells to supply the
electricity. The system, when fully operational, can supply the
basic water needs of a village of between 2,000 and 5,000
people, MIT officials said. Although the prototype was more
expensive, Wright said the team is hopes to lower the costs of a
village-sized unit to about $11,000. [img width=060
height=055]
HTML http://www.emofaces.com/png/200/emoticons/fingerscrossed.png[/img]
Such a lower-power system is useful mainly for treating brackish
water and not seawater, which contains far more salt. But the
prototype now being tested could handle water that contains salt
concentrations of up to 4,000 parts per million, meaning it
would work in about 90 percent of India’s wells, Wright said.
Seawater’s salt concentration averages about 35,000 parts per
million.[/quote]
HTML http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/05/08/1383429/-MIT-created-a-solar-powered-machine-that-turns-saltwater-into-drinking-water
HTML http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/05/08/1383429/-MIT-created-a-solar-powered-machine-that-turns-saltwater-into-drinking-water
#Post#: 3681--------------------------------------------------
Re: Member Interesting, Hair Raising, Humorous or Otherwise Unus
ual Experiences
By: AGelbert Date: August 30, 2015, 6:16 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
Agelbert NOTE: I am congratulating fossil fueler MKing on the
purchase of a Ford Fusion Energi EV.
[quote author=MKing link=topic=5259.msg84137#msg84137
date=1440894687]
[quote author=agelbert link=topic=5259.msg84131#msg84131
date=1440892226]
Well done, MKing.
HTML http://www.createaforum.com/gallery/renewablerevolution/3-200714191456.bmp
I am relieved of the thought that you were going to "take
advantage of low gasoline prices" by buying a hummer. ;D
[/quote]
I've already owned one. It was okay. 15 mpg around town, got as
good as 19mpg on the highway. Used it for one family christmas
trip. It was a bit tight for 4 people, the dog, and presents and
stuff.
[/quote]
I had a brief job parking cars at the Park and Travel long term
airport parking when I first moved my retired ass to Vermont.
Having spent most of my working life inside a reinforced
concrete windowless building (Enroute Air Traffic Control
Center), I figured this was a chance to be outdoors 24/7 and get
paid for it!
I confess to the gas guzzling pleasure of driving cars too (at
least in 1996!). I got to drive Mercedes diesels, a hot Porsche
and all kinds of vehicles I would have otherwise not driven
because they are high price tag items. We even had that EV that
GM destroyed on behalf of the fossil fuel industry parked there
once. I didn't get a chance to park that one, though.
I got to drive a Hummer once. I was surprised that it had that
that HUGE separation between the driver and the passenger in the
front. I did not find the hummer to be anything but a rather
clunky riding truck suitable for midgets with Napoleon
complexes. How tall are you, MKing? (just kidding! ;D)
Back in 1981, when you made your discoveries about how to deal
with the status quo, I made a few discoveries of my own. I had a
Ford F-150 super cab pickup that got about the same mileage as
that hummer you had. :( I was working at Syracuse Tower (not
where I could see outside - I was in automation at the time). I
had owned that pick up since 1977 and I was not a happy camper
about the mileage, given the price shock in 1979. I would ride
a bike with a tiny roller drive motor on it to work during the
summer (freezing my arse off at night because it used to go down
to 45 in summertime Syracuse, New York back then. Even at 15
mph, 45 degrees is no fun at all for an 8 mile ride).
Of course in winter ( any part of the year that was not summer
in Syracuse - only Buffalo gets more snow in the lower 48 USA
than they do!), my fondly labeled "Arab buster" ;D ( I was a
Republican back then![/I]) was out of the question.
Just before the strike, Jeff Hall, the PATCO union rep, became
all friendly with me even though previously he (along with most
people there) had no use for me whatsoever because of my "low
class" Hispanic heritage. I smelled a rat but did not say so. I
simply told Mr. Hall that I had signed a contract when I hired
on specifically pledging not to strike.
The strike came in August. The telephoned threats came right
after that. At work, I went back to working airplanes instead of
the computers that helped work airplanes. We worked 50 to 60
hours a week.
The union folks decided the spic needed a lesson. My F-150
crapped out. Courtesy Ford charged me about $1100 for a major
overhaul. I specifically told the mechanic to give me an oil
sample BEFORE the overhaul.
He "forgot". All I got from him was the scored cylinder sleeves.
I took those to my insurance agent ([I]vehicle vandalism repair
costs were part of my homeowners policy). He said, I'm sorry
sir, company policy does not allow payment for damages if no oil
sample is submitted and we get proof from a lab of adulteration.
But thank you for insuring with Allstate. [img width=80
height=40]
HTML http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_9HT4xZyDmh4/TOHhxzA0wLI/AAAAAAAAEUk/oeHDS2cfxWQ/s200/Smiley_Angel_Wings_Halo.jpg[/img]
I'm sure the "bad memory" of the mechanic at courtesy Ford had
nothing whatsoever to do with the one thousand plus people march
at the Syracuse airport terminal building SUPPORTING THE
STRIKERS (that included a lot of employees from Courtesy
ford...).
So we both learned a thing or two in 1981.
I'm sure my experience does not surprise you, considering the
steps you take to avoid getting the short end of the stick, so
to speak.
I bring them to your attention, not so you will say, "No sh it
Sherlock, where'd you get the first clue?", but as proof that
some people, quixotic though their behavior may appear, refuse
to go with the "fu ck your buddy to stay ahead of the game"
Social Darwinist program.
Of course, folks like me often end up living in manufactured
homes and driving 20 year old gas guzzlers. I simply do not
consider the outward accoutrements of materialism a true
measure of success.
Lucid said, [quote]I think it's healthy to marinate on your
mortality from time to time. It helps keep things in
perspective. I read an article a while back that was written by
a hospice nurse. She said the number one thing that people
regret on their death bed is that they didn't live life how they
wanted to...they lived it how society wanted them to. They
wished that they had done more of the things that they wanted to
do.
I think there is a lot of wisdom there. We should all live as
if we will die tomorrow, and we should live that way everyday.
HTML http://www.doomsteaddiner.net/forum/index.php/topic,559.msg84109/topicseen.html
HTML http://www.doomsteaddiner.net/forum/index.php/topic,559.msg84109/topicseen.html[/quote]
I agree. and because I live my life, particularly since 1981, as
if I might die tomorrow (or today), I have lived my life the way
I think is the best way to live it, regardless of what society
wants or expects from me.
When I go to my grave, I will have some regrets, but they are
all from my behavior prior to my 1978-1981 epiphany.
You may say, as any materially successful chap might say to my
"sermon" about the joys of principled poverty ;D, that I'm just
rationalizing the shaft job I have gotten from society because I
didn't have the intestinal fortitude to overcome life's " normal
Social Darwinian challenges", as the materially successful chap
DID and DOES.
HTML http://www.createaforum.com/gallery/renewablerevolution/3-200714191329.bmp
But I might counter that it is the materially successful chap
that is doing the rationalizing (see what Lucid said. 8)).
#Post#: 3938--------------------------------------------------
Re: Member Interesting, Hair Raising, Humorous or Otherwise Unus
ual Experiences
By: AGelbert Date: October 2, 2015, 1:13 am
---------------------------------------------------------
[quote author=K-Dog link=topic=5598.msg86923#msg86923
date=1443760855]
[quote]
Ashvin and K-Dog, the most important issue of our time is the
existential threat we face from CO2 pollution. The other empathy
deficit disordered activities humans are foolishly, greedily and
stupidly pursuing need to be addressed. Those activities produce
habitat destruction.
[/quote]
It is a mistake to think that I disagree. The assault on
humanities future is being fought on many fronts and these
fronts mutually reinforce each other. Consider that agriculture
as we currently know it is dependent upon massive quantities of
fossil fuels. The use of fossil fuels sends CO2 pollution into
the environment in a relentless assault. Modern agriculture is
not sustainable, it will kill us and it is madness to pursue the
unsustainable. It has become a matter of life and death. With
the current world population humanity must change ways or
perish. There is no longer any other way to make it through and
stop the CO2 pollution that will trigger our demise but by
changing ways. It is all interrelated and everything man does
under the sun determines the outcome of humanities future or the
lack of one. There is no singe greater contributor to CO2
pollution than animal agriculture.
[/quote]
K-Dog,
In addition to my scientific training, which I got AFTER the
following life work experiences, I learned along the way to
prioritize in life and death situations.
If you don't, you freeze. I'm an experienced pilot. I'm also an
experienced air traffic controller. We are trained to not fool
around with competing, interrelated issues. We are trained to
prioritize one or more emergencies. We temporarily DISCARD the
lower priority, even if it means people will die.
I've seen big tough guy students freeze at the controls of an
aircraft. I've slammed their hands turned white on the controls
and yelled at them to get with the program. It usually worked.
But if I, the flight instructor, would not have been there ,
they were dead meat.
I've seen air traffic control trainees about defecated on their
drawers when they lose the picture. I've pulled the plug on a
supervisor working 25 plus C141 aircraft around Grenada during
Reagan's mini-war there because the guy froze up. And he had
more time as an air traffic controller than I did!
So don't think because you are so analytical and reasonable, you
are not in danger of IRRATIONALLY making things worse by
prioritizing our biosphere degradation factors incorrectly. If
you want to give up, then I will tell you straight out that you
are making a mistake. If you want to draw some false equivalence
with meat and CO2 from fossil fuel burning, then you are like
some student I had once who forgot to pull the flaps up before
starting a take off roll in a touch and go. The torque from the
lighter load caused him to ground loop. He was the brightest
student I had, but he thought he knew it all.
He was his own worse enemy BECAUSE the instant it dawned on this
smart ass that he was losing control, he panicked.
Are we communicating, K-Dog?
There are a LOT of big talkers here that I know will sh it on
their drawers when the enormity of our situation dawns on them.
For now, most of them are happily bathing in that river in
Egypt. When they can no longer do that, it will be sad to watch.
THAT is why I rant and rave here trying to get people to pull
their heads out of their comfort zone asses. THEY are putting
themselves and their families in DANGER.
The fact that eating meat causes SOME CO2 pollution does not
mean that it has an equal priority with our duty to do whatever
we can to FORCE every fossil fuel corporation into bankruptcy
and every executive pushing that poison into penury and/or
prison.
THAT is the priority. We do not have ANY chance if we don't stop
that. Did you read what I just posted about the methane in the
Arctic? It's fun time up there with methane soon. Do you think
going vegan is going to stop that horror? Good luck with that.
I understand priority of duties. People who don't prioritize in
an emergency situation contribute to the clusterfork, make
things worse by their lack of clarity and cause people who look
up to them for advice to give up.
I CHOOSE to remain focused on the MOST important issue. And it
torques me off to NO END that I get such little support on that.
Expect your scattergun approach to be labeled back door
nihilism. The fossil fuelers will applaud while they gear up to
scream for a geo-engineering bit of taxpayer fleecing. And all
along we will going merrily along down to hell in a hand basket.
HTML http://www.createaforum.com/gallery/renewablerevolution/3-200714183337.bmp
What you are advocating is similar to a pilot adjusting the
elevator trim tab to keep the proper back pressure on the
control yoke while ignoring the engine out procedure. Our ENGINE
is the biosphere. Burning fossil fuels is what is stalling OUR
participation in it.
If you don't get that, then I'm done trying to convince you of
it.
#Post#: 4096--------------------------------------------------
Re: Member Interesting, Hair Raising, Humorous or Otherwise Unus
ual Experiences
By: AGelbert Date: November 10, 2015, 6:27 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
[center]
HTML https://youtu.be/EDHBoOnfaXQ[/center]
[center]Tip #5: Have Fun!
Five Tips to get the most out of your technology. Tip #5: Have
Fun! - You can, and if you choose to you'll see that it helps
make tips 1 through 4 even easier![/center]
HTML https://askleo.com/tip-5-have-fun/#comment-376349
Agelbert COMMENT: Thumbs up for Tip #5, Leo.
Since I programmed a mainframe back in the 1980's (yeah, I'm
ancient!), I learned to have fun with technology and accept that
continued learning is sine qua non to having that fun. When you
stop trying to keep up, it starts to get NOT fun to catch up a
few years later.
The machine I programmed back then was a 32bit machine. It
"only" took about 15 years or so for the 32 bit machines to
reach the general populace. If Motorola had been the winner of
that race instead of Intel, it would have happened a lot sooner.
But that is water under the 'sore subject' bridge.
Back then, even the definition of a "half-word", "word" and
double-word was in dispute! A "word" for us was 30 bits with the
added 2 bits for parity. IBM had other ideas and they won out.
I bring all this up because I programed in assembler, not high
level stuff. When you do a "double Shift left" (i.e. a type of
divide in binary), in our assembler language (Sperry-Univac
ULTRA -Universal Language Translator Assembler), 60 bits were
shifted.
Everybody agreed about what a bit was. We all were familiar with
the "bit bucket" where all embarrassing programing efforts were
sent. But IBM decided what a 'byte" was and what a "word" was.
Some guys had the TRS80 and programmed it so a bit of confusion
ensued. The Boolean instructions that accessed a "word" or a
"half-word" for buffer packing or math manipulations needed
some type of standard.
This is a quote from my Technology Dictionary published by Radio
Shack in 1987:
Word: a collection of bits which the computer recognizes as a
fundamental information unit and uses in its operations. Usually
defined by the number of bits contained in it, e.g., 8-,16-, or
32-bit word.
Word Length: The number of bits in a computer word.
Byte: A group of adjacent bits treated as a unit. Eight bits is
a common byte size.
END OF (ancient) QUOTE
Back then there was all sorts of hype about the "coming
advances" when computers would move from 8 bits to 16 bits. I
was not impressed. If they could build a 32 bit data transfer
(and 64 bit buffering!) missile tracker and modify it for air
traffic control back in the 1980's, I didn't see why they
couldn't make 32bit personal computers. Motorola was working on
it. IBM and Intel were taking their time.
Well, we are up to 64 bit handling motherboards with 128 bit
buffering video cards (I may be behind here because I am not a
gamer). I am certain that much wider data path technology (that
DO NOT heat up motherboards like gaming computers do now) is
available.
Leo, I have kept up and it has been fun to do so. But since I
am, like you, a bit of a geek, I think it is much easier to do.
Most people cannot get the "nuisance factor" out of their minds
when dealing with technology. So I do appreciate your efforts to
make all this stuff more "user friendly" to the user.
Thank you..
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