----El Nino has been pretty much a bust where I live in Southern California. We've received very little rain despite the weather expectations. All we have is the rest of Grey May, then June Gloom to anticipate as the clouds overhead, though sometimes dark, float past to release any moisture in downpours elsewhere -- sometimes threatening flooding and/or mudslides.
We can be grateful Northern California mountains did build up a snow pack almost normal for the season, but they'll need the same or more each year to come. At least this year there will be snow to melt providing some portion of our Southern California usual water allocation. Our city residents continue to convert landscapes to sustainable vegetation -- most of us voluntarily using water with care. Meanwhile our city's legal efforts to acquire our water rights continue despite the company's unwillingness to sell them back to us.
----The political candidate onslaught has begun. They've all previously been in Southern California numerous times in recent months and weeks, but now comes the big push.
Early afternoon I noticed two young men carrying clipboards coming through the neighborhood, but they turned away from my door when I directed their attention to my window sticker "No Solicitations - No Knock Registry" sign. Now I wonder if they were soliciting for business, if they were promoting a candidate or if maybe they were after signatures on another of many circulating petitions.
----Later I tuned in to early afternoon TV news to learn Bill Clinton was expected in about fifteen minutes at a nearby community high school in Pomona as he campaigns for wife Hillary.
----Heading south from here on one of our freeways into Orange County (known conservative stronghold ala Big John Wayne country) in the next few days Bernie Sanders (he's been in San Diego) will speak in Irvine at an outdoor amphitheater where I've enjoyed listening to the Pacific Symphony Orchestra concerts.
----Another day Donald Trump will be expressing himself in nearby Anaheim, also home to Goofy at Disneyland.
----A week or so ago Madeleine Albright was a speaker at one of our Claremont Colleges - Scripps - where she encountered protests to her appearance by some drowning out her voice. Her months earlier comments calling for women to vote based on gender caused Scripps women students, especially, to let her know their adverse reaction. There was some concern after a while that she wasn't being given an opportunity to be heard.
I expect some individuals, both men and women, may gender vote, but I think most of us are wise enough to also consider additional more significant criteria. I find it troublesome that there seems to be an increasing intolerance by many for listening to the views of those who differ from their own.
----ET 94 - external fuel tank -- is being united with NASA's Endeavour space shuttle at Los Angeles California Science Center Exposition Park. Here's the tank arriving in L.A. after a trip through the Panama Canal from New Orleans:
Fuel tanks for all other shuttles launched disintegrated after being jettisoned. Never launched, this tank is the only one remaining intact in the world. This orange monster is reported to be fourteen stories high when in vertical position for take-off with the shuttle. Today in horizontal position the tubular-looking tank was transported through streets where some light poles had to be temporarily taken down, though no trees trimmed as needed for the shuttle for safe passage. Turning corners was a challenging maneuver, but despite the slow speed the tank arrived safely at the Science Center earlier than expected.
Shuttle Endeavour took a spectacular flight over L.A. in 2012 when it arrived in Los Angeles. The flight flew over many special areas including east toward where I live, but here's one view over the famed Hollywood sign:
.
A spectator filled trip followed with transportation through the streets where it now rests at the Science Center as can be seen in this Los Angeles time lapse YouTube video:.
Recent years have seen other not just large but humongous objects being propelled through L.A. streets as I wrote about several years ago here in The Giant Megalith.
Only auto motorcades on the streets are in our future as best we know now in Southern California -- at least until our June 7th Presidential primary election. A couple candidates, at least, will return later to raise money. Then, we'll also see how important our state's voters are considered to be after the July Democratic and Republican national conventions.
Update:
This is a spectacular visual of Endeavour, the Los Angeles surrounding area, pilot audio noting points of interest, occasional radio chatter with control tower. A special thrill for small plane enthusiasts though this is no small plane.
Showing posts with label Scripps College. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Scripps College. Show all posts
Sunday, May 22, 2016
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
DEBATE NOT STIFLED BY CIVILITY
Contrary to what some people believe, encouraging a toning down of dialogue to civil level in no way jeopardizes effective debate but may facilitate meaningful discourse.
Serious injuries, tragic deaths and psychological trauma occurring quite unexpectedly in Tucson, Arizona was the radio news to which I awoke one morning over a week ago. In the succeeding moments I listened to rapid up dating accounts of events culminating with my relief upon learning that the perpetrator had been caught almost immediately as he attempted to re-load his weapon. Primarily, I followed the news reports hoping those who still lived would survive with little or no residual effects though I understood the challenge of such an expectation for Arizona’s Congresswoman Gifford.
Soon news reporters, officials and others interviewed were speculating on an answer to the question that I was also thinking – WHY? Why had this atrocity happened? What was the motivation for such a heinous act? I welcomed the eventual reassurance there were no other related events like this happening elsewhere.
There seemed little doubt the Congresswoman shot at point blank range was the target which subsequent information has suggested to be true. More questions came to my mind. Was this deadly act triggered by some words she had expressed or action she had taken? What prompted this violence that had impacted so many innocent lives of variously aged individuals? Was this a protest against our government? Was it about politics? What was the thinking of the now-identified young college age former student arrested as the shooter?
Various news items began to reveal this young man’s own writings, also videos with accounts and reports of his words evidencing unusual, increasingly strange, even bizarre behavior. He is alleged by many to be mentally ill while some would suggest this is not so.
A lot of accusations have been and continue to be made about the causes of this horrific event and others in recent years. Some suggest significant adverse influencing factors for such a violent act can be attributed to various individuals engaged in inflammatory radio and TV broadcasting. Exacerbating their negativity are written media rages and Internet rants. Despicable violence-laden metaphors are thought to be incendiary from those who are, or aspire to be, leaders in our local to highest legislative government offices.
There are those I am convinced who use outrageous means to deliberately appeal to the baser instincts of humanity for the primary purpose of self-aggrandizement to elicit excessive monetary rewards. They do this by expressing extremist political views using half-truths, outright lies, bitter angry rhetorical language couched in innuendo espousing not-always-so-subtle hate and intolerance laced with vitriolic derogatory name-calling. Deliberate divisive polarization of our nation’s populace is fomented for selfish personal and ideological goals under the guise of patriotism. Anyone who holds different views or provides contradictory facts is smeared with false labels designed to destroy credibility.
I’ve long disliked labeling terms so loosely applied to individuals as being accurately descriptive partially because they’re often misused with definitions not uniformly understood so are misleading. People often have differing perspectives of the same label term and erroneously assume everyone has the same meaning interpretation. Most thinking individuals have a range of positions from the conservative to the liberal depending on the issue. Lock step of only one view on all issues most frequently is a position occupied by radical extremists on either end of a topics continuum. A result can be escalating high emotional energy being expended in arguments that may not even stem from a shared factual base.
Reason suggests use of such deliberate labeling terms and name-calling negativity can be emotionally arousing stimulation that can further distort a mentally unstable individual’s already convoluted thinking, possibly contributing to some destructive behavior. Responsible mature leaders recognize this potential and conduct themselves in society’s best interest by using reasoned words and actions.
Consideration must be given to the fact we humans seek logical rational explanations for what we may not understand as occurred with this shooting atrocity. We cannot discount the possibility the act’s reality may be more akin to chaos than the reason we seek. However, we would be remiss to ignore changing some behaviors that are potential causal factors when we can. Anyone intimating that debate is stifled by using civil discourse about pertinent issues is making a ludicrous irresponsible argument.
A promising suggestion I’ve heard in an effort to create a more civil union would be to eliminate the “us and them” seating in both Congressional houses. Instead of the political parties clustering in separate groups, Congresspersons could integrate. If necessary, their random assigned seating might facilitate their establishing relationships enabling them to better serve all their constituents in an atmosphere with more collegiality.
No doubt many more facts are yet to be revealed about this Arizona tragedy, but whether or not we will ever know all the factors influencing this shooter remains to be seen. Meanwhile, we mourn all those who died and are encouraged by the recovery of the injured. We especially are anxious that Arizona’s Congresswoman Gifford continue her medical progress, a hope our President eloquently and emotionally expressed in his recent speech to the nation.
A Candlelight Circle of Hope for Congresswoman Gifford who graduated from our local Claremont, California's Scripps College will be held tonight which you may read about on the site link.
Serious injuries, tragic deaths and psychological trauma occurring quite unexpectedly in Tucson, Arizona was the radio news to which I awoke one morning over a week ago. In the succeeding moments I listened to rapid up dating accounts of events culminating with my relief upon learning that the perpetrator had been caught almost immediately as he attempted to re-load his weapon. Primarily, I followed the news reports hoping those who still lived would survive with little or no residual effects though I understood the challenge of such an expectation for Arizona’s Congresswoman Gifford.
Soon news reporters, officials and others interviewed were speculating on an answer to the question that I was also thinking – WHY? Why had this atrocity happened? What was the motivation for such a heinous act? I welcomed the eventual reassurance there were no other related events like this happening elsewhere.
There seemed little doubt the Congresswoman shot at point blank range was the target which subsequent information has suggested to be true. More questions came to my mind. Was this deadly act triggered by some words she had expressed or action she had taken? What prompted this violence that had impacted so many innocent lives of variously aged individuals? Was this a protest against our government? Was it about politics? What was the thinking of the now-identified young college age former student arrested as the shooter?
Various news items began to reveal this young man’s own writings, also videos with accounts and reports of his words evidencing unusual, increasingly strange, even bizarre behavior. He is alleged by many to be mentally ill while some would suggest this is not so.
A lot of accusations have been and continue to be made about the causes of this horrific event and others in recent years. Some suggest significant adverse influencing factors for such a violent act can be attributed to various individuals engaged in inflammatory radio and TV broadcasting. Exacerbating their negativity are written media rages and Internet rants. Despicable violence-laden metaphors are thought to be incendiary from those who are, or aspire to be, leaders in our local to highest legislative government offices.
There are those I am convinced who use outrageous means to deliberately appeal to the baser instincts of humanity for the primary purpose of self-aggrandizement to elicit excessive monetary rewards. They do this by expressing extremist political views using half-truths, outright lies, bitter angry rhetorical language couched in innuendo espousing not-always-so-subtle hate and intolerance laced with vitriolic derogatory name-calling. Deliberate divisive polarization of our nation’s populace is fomented for selfish personal and ideological goals under the guise of patriotism. Anyone who holds different views or provides contradictory facts is smeared with false labels designed to destroy credibility.
I’ve long disliked labeling terms so loosely applied to individuals as being accurately descriptive partially because they’re often misused with definitions not uniformly understood so are misleading. People often have differing perspectives of the same label term and erroneously assume everyone has the same meaning interpretation. Most thinking individuals have a range of positions from the conservative to the liberal depending on the issue. Lock step of only one view on all issues most frequently is a position occupied by radical extremists on either end of a topics continuum. A result can be escalating high emotional energy being expended in arguments that may not even stem from a shared factual base.
Reason suggests use of such deliberate labeling terms and name-calling negativity can be emotionally arousing stimulation that can further distort a mentally unstable individual’s already convoluted thinking, possibly contributing to some destructive behavior. Responsible mature leaders recognize this potential and conduct themselves in society’s best interest by using reasoned words and actions.
Consideration must be given to the fact we humans seek logical rational explanations for what we may not understand as occurred with this shooting atrocity. We cannot discount the possibility the act’s reality may be more akin to chaos than the reason we seek. However, we would be remiss to ignore changing some behaviors that are potential causal factors when we can. Anyone intimating that debate is stifled by using civil discourse about pertinent issues is making a ludicrous irresponsible argument.
A promising suggestion I’ve heard in an effort to create a more civil union would be to eliminate the “us and them” seating in both Congressional houses. Instead of the political parties clustering in separate groups, Congresspersons could integrate. If necessary, their random assigned seating might facilitate their establishing relationships enabling them to better serve all their constituents in an atmosphere with more collegiality.
No doubt many more facts are yet to be revealed about this Arizona tragedy, but whether or not we will ever know all the factors influencing this shooter remains to be seen. Meanwhile, we mourn all those who died and are encouraged by the recovery of the injured. We especially are anxious that Arizona’s Congresswoman Gifford continue her medical progress, a hope our President eloquently and emotionally expressed in his recent speech to the nation.
A Candlelight Circle of Hope for Congresswoman Gifford who graduated from our local Claremont, California's Scripps College will be held tonight which you may read about on the site link.
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