Luna Bliss

I'm sorry this happened to you, and unfortunately if your landscaper won't work with you there's nothing you can do at this point. If you hire someone again be sure and write up a clear contract together, spelling out the details. It's amazing how different our initial impressions and discussions can be vs the clarity that arises when objectives are spelled out in detail via text. When doing landscaping jobs I ask for a third upfront, a 2nd third when a bit over half-way through, and the final third upon completion and discussion with my client to make sure they're happy. Sometimes half up front and half upon completion is easier. It's important the customer feels safe. Doing the work in sections allows for customer feedback at each juncture as well.

Can you afford a new graphics card? I had either an ATI or AMD card, can't remember which one but it was a fairly old one, and switched to Nvidia -- I was amazed at how much better everything looked.

I wonder why they chose to keep U.S. plants. Did they have a motivation other than profit, like the 'wellness' of the community? Or is the method for their type of business actually more profitable by keeping some plants in the U.S.?

Yeah I know, I thought of the same too as far as expense. But, what about programs that help set up older teens, say 16, 17 and connect them with the work to learn programs. They could begin to qualify for said work to learn program in high school is more the reason I see a need. It does sound like quite an undertaking though, plus Biden's infrastructure jobs plan I believe is for ten years and it's not the jobs created from the infrastructure bill will be here forever. That sounds like a good plan (and I think some high schools do have such programs) if they could identify a teenager who knew he would not go to traditional college, and if that teenager could actually decide what he wanted to work at. Much better than just leaving them to flounder after leaving high school.

Good to hear of these success stories. I'm curious though what would happen to your community if your manufacturing plant went overseas or to Mexico. And do you feel pretty secure that it won't?

You're incorrect in many areas. The apprenticeship programs for electricians and carpenters also requires in school classes usually through the union. My husband spent 4 years doing so. Work while you learn. Homes and businesses are still built by skilled carpenters. As is the wiring and plumbing in those homes and businesses. Things may be different in your country but there are still skilled jobs here that don't require a college degree. Somewhere along the way, people began to think working hard was somehow less desirable. Sweat and hard work. It's what most countries were built on. While it's true there are good-paying jobs to be had through training in the trades and so education acquired through a traditional college is not always necessary, I'm not sure so many of these jobs are available as you're imagining. Take, for example, all the manufacturing jobs that left the U.S. and went to other countries, or the increasing automation which eliminates so many avenues for workers. There's only so many plumbers and construction jobs any area of the country can accommodate and retraining for older people especially who lost their manufacturing job is not always possible, and so we need to somehow make up for all these jobs that have disappeared in recent years. I can't get behind your statement that "somewhere along the way, people began to think working hard was somehow less desirable. Sweat and hard work. It's what most countries were built on". Where did you get the idea that people in the U.S. became lazy? Now I hear a lot of conservatives with their excessive focus on individualism blaming the worker for their plight, saying workers are just not pulling themselves up by their bootstraps enough (as if we just need to whip them into shape), but I think we need to look at changes in society as contributing more to the problems of employment today. Even if the psychological make-up of individuals has changed to a degree we still need to find out what has changed within society to cause this -- there has to be a cause beyond workers suddenly not liking hard, physical work causing an epidemic of drug addiction and depression. I'm not against self-determination and self-responsibility -- I just don't think it paints the complete picture of this issue. So "how is society different today vs times past", is the primary question we should focus on. And tying all this to human evolution could be interesting too.

Most of the trade jobs as well as jobs in other areas require significant education beyond high school, and this education can be obtained at a typical college or via an apprenticeship and on-the-job training specific to any type of trade. I just don't see how this training would be feasible for high school -- it would be too costly to set up training for the myriad of possible jobs at each and every high school, and on-the-job training for the trades works best anyway. Better to look at education beyond high school to solve this problem, whether in the trades or a typical college -- how to make both avenues more affordable. Besides, more than vocational training, high schools should inculcate habits of mind like curiosity, skeptical questioning, enthusiasm, creativity, patience, and self-discipline as an underpinning for future goals. These are the most important qualities to succeed in any job a student might acquire through further training in the trades or via the traditional college route.

Yes in many countries tuition is pro-rated so those with no ability to pay can attend for free.

omg here you are with the super-sekrit causative factors. It's amazing what you come up with to minimize the real causes of the mess we now have in the U.S. with all these unnecessary deaths. Isn't it more logical to believe not EVERY single community would end up with an outbreak because they simply didn't come into contact with Covidiots bringing the virus there? I'd bet my life the reason some of those communities didn't have an outbreak is because they were fortunate enough not to encounter non-mask wearing, Covid denying, lockdown fearing, and unproven remedy slurping idiots. And now we can add vaccine paranoia as one of the risks for these poor people in homes -- I just hope nobody will be allowed to work in nursing homes without showing their vaccine certificate.

Thanks...another piece to the puzzle of pet care being hard to find these days...everybody in lockdown welcoming new pets into their home..

Kids learn about all sorts of things in school, including religion. Often by learning about all the facets of the world we begin to get a sense of how we'd like to contribute to that world. How could we ever know what we'd like to work at if we have no knowledge of the world? I agree that vocational training should be added to the curriculum in late high school years, and often it is in some schools (shop, for example). But this does not have to mean there's anything wrong with learning about religion or any other subjects. * And all this has nothing to do with "Dawkin's suggestion". The reality of other subjects outside of vocational training being taught in schools has always been there -- this is not some novel suggestion by him. The reason he mentions it is because he wants subjects such as religion taught outside of a Science class.

Comparative Religion is a valuable subject to study, whether in high school or college. Through the study of the world's religions we learn about other cultures, their psychology, and the reasons why various parts of the world are the way they are. By providing an opportunity to learn about religious beliefs we are not saying one or the other religion is true, but only pointing out the reality of people's beliefs. https://www.thegreatcourses.com/courses/comparative-religion I think Dawkins simply makes the case that Comparative Religion should not be taught as a Science in the way that Creationists want. Science is about making theories and testing them, and that would not be possible when we consider testing Zeus...lol.

‘If I am right, that the story of the Western world is one of increasing left hemisphere domination, we would not expect insight to be the key note. Instead, we would expect a sort of insouciant optimism, the sleepwalker whistling a happy tune as he ambles towards the abyss.’ Iain McGilchrist, The Master and his Emissary

Well, I don't think 16, 17, 18 is a "child". I was speaking more of high school. American schools don't prepare kids for anything other than working at a fast food place, going into the armed forced to get an education or taking upon 20+ years at least of student debt for some college if the person is not born to rich parents who can send them to college. I think American schools need to teach something practical. Many other countries, the kids go to school but they are with a private tutor until bed-time. Other countries have children that are just far, far more educated than America. Our 18 year olds come out with the education to work at a fast food place as the vast majority. Perhaps a class in High School describing in detail career options so a teenager could begin considering where they want to work? I don't recall ever having such a class in High School. One big problem is that 'service jobs' make up such a large percentage of jobs available today, and the pay is poor. * In other words, what good does it do to educate people for jobs that don't exist? I see this as the area to blame, and not so much the fault of schools.

I m prepared to believe that an organism could effect some change in itself and offspring as a direct result of what it detected in it's surroundings, but that is putting me in Lamark's camp, not the accepted Darwinian camp. Ahhh, well I don't know enough about the specifics of evolution to even be commenting perhaps. Basically I just think it's wrong to think of any life form evolving as a single, individual agent separated from the whole, as they are interacting with all other life forms surrounding them as they evolve. An ecosystem.

Why couldn't the changes be both random and a direct response to something the organism detected in its environment?

How would a child know what job they desired unless they had a broad education in the sciences, philosophy, psychology, literature, music, and all the liberal arts courses taught in colleges?

Just from a cursory glance at this topic it appears many Scientists don't believe humans ceased changing: The 10, 000 Year Explosion: How Civilization Accelerated Human Evolution: Cochran, Gregory, Harpending, Henry: 9780465020423: Amazon.com: Books Other Scientists believe it's mainly a cultural adaptation, and that this actually changes the brain.

The dance between the conscious and unconscious brain as it deals with life experiences is indeed fascinating, and I'm interested in why our brains started dancing in a way that is causing the 6th great extinction on planet earth, culminating in humankind's death as well. If we know what went wrong perhaps we can bring our brains back in balance so that we can live in harmony with earth's processes instead of destroying it and ourselves along the way. Or are we just like any other species that eventually goes instinct and no matter that we have these big brains as there's not much we can do about it? I'm thinking some sort of bad mutation occurred that made humans particularly lethal, both to themselves and the environment. Perhaps a cultural mutation, as culture and biology are inextricably intertwined according to recent studies. I'm betting it's the 'left' brain run amuck, dissecting reality to the point where many humans believe they are actually separate from the earth and can completely control it (a little too much fun with all those Scientific experiments can go to one's head, as the transhumanists exemplify in spades). If you feel separate from something you are less inclined to care for it or understand what it needs, and tend to treat it as a 'thing' to exploit. As wise people have said, we forgot we belonged to the earth and thought the earth belonged to us. Forget the problems with Religion -- Richard Dawkins and his ilk are the biggest and most destructive viral memes to ever infect the planet.

I was thinking about what you said here and about our mind dancing back and forth between a more conscious and subconscious awareness and especially in regards to creativity. I don't know if I have ever experienced what you are talking about while creating as I just create and don't really think of why or what's going on with the process of it all. However, I just wanted to clarify what I was talking about regarding my "drug-induced" prescription pain killer dreams. What I found, if, let's say both the ego and super-ego part of my brain were deadened from these drugs, then what I found in my id was utter blather. And, it was. I remember now even being agitated at these dreams and waking up with an "oh how ridiculous" thought on my mind towards these dreams - because they were - complete and utter nonsense that I was getting agitated and like Ceka mentioned I just didn't want to be there anymore and I felt the same way but a bit agitated as well. The agitation really made me want to wake up and get out of bed and start my day. But, what I'm clarifying here is your experience with your subconscious is not with a deadened ego and super-ego like those who might experience due to a drug. So, your experience is completely different because the ego and super-ego are still there to process stuff. Yeah some drugs damage vital processes in the brain and so nothing would be enhanced. I think they damage what's known as 'executive function', but don't quote me on that: http://www.ldonline.org/article/29122/ Certain psychoactive drugs are a different matter however, and have the potential to affect consciousness in beneficial ways. They're very intense though, and for myself I choose mediation to get rid of the old 'tracks' or ruts of the mind...brain patterns that have outlived their usefulness, acquired through conditioning and/or experience.

Lady Maverick is on the prowl again...

https://www.boomlive.in/world/fake-news-covid-19-canadian-doctors-misleading-claims-12350?infinitescroll=1

The right hemisphere might be the source of supernatural ideas that latch onto concepts such as sacrifice, ritual slaughter, might is right.... I'm not sure that left-hemisphere dominance is quite so disastrous as it's being made out to be. I don't think the author of The Master And His Emissary, McGilchrist, is saying there is no use for the conscious mind and its properties (logic, reason) which might be properly applied to change the examples you cited (like sacrifice and ritual slaughter). The problem is when you apply these properties to the wrong facet of existence where the 'right' brain with its more holistic comprehension should predominate, or when one utilizes 'left' brain properties excessively and so a kind of imbalance is created with detrimental effects. BTW, the earlier video I posted of his was not the best one I've seen. He has quite a few videos on YouTube, and though quite long I'm gleaning more from the following one (basically I'm trying to avoid buying his most famous book and looking forward to buying a more recent one due to come out in the next couple of months).

Did you psychically tune-in to my desktop? 😉 I had the The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind open there: It's freee to read: http://s-f-walker.org.uk/pubsebooks/pdfs/Julian_Jaynes_The_Origin_of_Consciousness.pdf Looks like it could be interesting. Though written in the 1960's and 70's he starts off writing like one of the Romantics in the 19th century: The Problem Of Consciousness O, WHAT A WORLD of unseen visions and heard silences, this insubstantial country of the mind! What ineffable essences, these touchless rememberings and unshowable reveries! And the privacy of it all! A secret theater of speechless monologue and prevenient counsel, an invisible mansion of all moods, musings, and mysteries, an infinite resort of disappointments and discoveries. A whole kingdom where each of us reigns reclusively alone, questioning what we will, commanding what we can. A hidden hermitage where we may study out the troubled book of what we have done and yet may do. An introcosm that is more myself than anything I can find in a mirror. This consciousness that is myself of selves, that is everything, and yet nothing at all一 what is it? And where did it come from? And why? Few questions have endured longer or traversed a more perplexing history than this, the problem of consciousness and its place in nature. Despite centuries of pondering and experiment, of trying to get together two supposed entities called mind and matter in one age, subject and object in another, or soul and body in still others, despite endless discoursing on the streams, states, or contents of consciousness, of distinguishing terms like intuitions, sense data, the given, raw feels, the sensa, presentations and representations, the sensations, images, and affections of structuralist introspections, the evidential data of the scientific positivist, phenomenological fields, the apparitions of Hobbes, the phenomena of Kant, the appearances of the idealist, the elements of Mach, the phanera of Peirce, or the category errors of Ryle, in spite of all of these, the problem of consciousness is still with us. Something about it keeps returning, not taking a solution.