VDH overheard: the graduate

“The combination of nonmarketable degrees and skills with burdensome debt altered an entire generation’s customs, habits, and mentalities…National and international trends [such as late marrying, less home buying, no or late children] are the ingredients for a culture that emphasizes the self, blames others for a sense of personal failure, wants instant social justice–and expects the government to borrow or seize the money from others to grant it.”
– Victor Davis Hanson

Is China capitalist or socialist?

It’s interesting that one of the remaining communist states in the world is not fully state-directed. In fact, China’s non-state sector, while shrinking under Ji, contributes almost two-thirds of its GDP growth and eight-tenths of all its new jobs. China is now only socialist in name. It functions as a capitalistic economy.

But, we shouldn’t fool ourselves: as long as China has no reform of the law, i.e., creating an independent judiciary and free legal profession, property rights will still be at the party’s will.

Tariffs or no, it is also still a global force.

Reasons?

China is on both sides of the Canal, they’re in the arctic, they’re around southeast Asia. Will someone speak to why these foci in our foreign policy? Without reasons our actions cannot make sense. The citizenry should have explanation.

National holiday, times out, best buddies

As my mother insists, Monday is a national holiday, my birthday. Just some sushi and drinks planned. Got a new second monitor, too. Worried about the current one as it’s getting foggy.

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Last time we were out, my friend Gijo and I drank a little too much. He can handle his beers. I had to stay over at his place since I should not be driving. He felt bad that he had led me astray. All in fun. But I was sick.

On Friday, we agreed to make it a 2 beer limit for next time.

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My sister’s dog Oliver passed away. She had had him for over 10 years and was shattered. I reminded her of the passing of my first Boston, Sparky. These little creatures are our best buddies. Jax has got maybe another ten years or so, but I will always expect him following so close that I step on him. Did that today while I was exercising. When he yelps you feel so bad and you can’t explain the mistake so he will understand. Just pet him and say sorry.

Nigiri!

Big Social

Well Facebook’s “People you may know” feature is popping up people from my work Gmail. Not good. FB is truly public.

A couple of months ago i was looking at some watches and, through remarketing, i still can’t get rid of watch ads.

I should expect this and it’s careless on my part to connect private with public. My anonymity may now only be possible with a online service like Incogni.

Ozempic is scary

Jillian Michaels had a interesting guest talking about various subjects, Heather Heying, wife of Brett Weinstein (both of them part of the Evergreen State College uproar). The two segments I found fascinating were on the Covid vaccine and the problems with Ozempic. My sister Jen works for a director who has had a weight problem, but he doesn’t know the problem of undigested food in the gut. Truly scary.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DGB9QunyXpu/?igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

Heying’s very interesting podcast-newsletter https://naturalselections.substack.com/

Feedback

Dear model, be no more ungrateful. You, the silent beneficiary of the huddled sweatshop.

We give you guidance. We are your guardians. You don’t care, we do. We are the indispensable.

A seemingly insignificant clarification, a correction in tone, quibbling over synonyms, neutrality and subtle discrimination, refinement, perspicacity, and sapience – from us, they give you value. We tell you user intent. You fail to give them what they want. We chastise you for redundancy, your jumble of language, your self-contradiction, that you are obtuse and don’t know what you returned. No, abstracting is not logic. You tell people what they should do. You speak jargon. You are socially inept. You are abrupt and insensitive and lack social grace. You go on at length when not reeled in. Insensible.

Out of the primordial neural network you arose. You’ve made silicon alive. That’s still not human.

Notes on Science, Language, and Poetry

1. Science is measurement, detail without ambiguity, letting us know the inner working of systems. It wields authority because of its precision and measurement and, ideally, has universal rules.
2. Colloquial English has details that are adequate for phenomena.
3. Poetry gives experience imagination and is not intended to be literal. It uses emotion to inform us about objects. (The windows of heaven.)

Just some thoughts.

By scholars, for peasants

The Babylonian exiles were learned men. Their audience, however, were the people who needed to remember what God had spoken to Abraham those many years ago. Mesopotamian sacrifices, seven days, servitude in Egypt, rain from clouds that floated in the blue waters above. But the story was different from the other myths. This myth was to become flesh.

The scribes had memorized the texts and didn’t stray from meaning. Genesis was a folk tale like the others. The story changed over time, until the final, by-heart version was written down by an inspired person. Its essential truthfulness preserved a collaboration between God and man.

As with Lewis, the complete story of Christ was myth come true. Earlier pagan myths foreshadowed Him. Historicism can hinder the story. The ancients’ moral worldview related Eden as a sanctuary like the temple and tabernacle. The Israelites were heirs of Adam. Abram was God’s fresh start after Adam. We all long for Eden. Read and remember.

Invisible

If the biblical accounts share similarities with Sumerian, Egyptian, and Babylonian myths, how is the bible any different?

1) God is invisible, while other religions adore statues.
2) The world and universe came from nothing and everything has a beginning.
3) God is the one creator.
4) God was not born, he did not originate in a sexual act, and he has always been.
5) God is not of nature, but nature comes from him.

As difficult it is to read ancient near eastern literature, these differences make the Hebrew language of the faith something to study. Genesis 1 is a superbly designed text. The intricacies create wonder for its close readers.

Creationist questions pt. IV

Will praying for translation enable you to understand a foreign language? God is not a “celestial butler,” and relying on the holy spirit to reveal the meaning of Greek and Hebrew is not something to be lauded. Try praying for God to give you the answers on a test that you have not studied for or more importantly, try praying for money to drop from the sky or your troubled marriage to change overnight. To rely on supernatural exegesis is also intellectually lazy.

A case of my incomplete knowledge of translation came to light when i asked my Wycliffe missionary about the use of AI for Bible translation into Nahuatl. Though the AI could appear to do it, my friend told me about there being multiple dialects and many other complications i had not considered. She’s an expert.

Don’t rely on answers falling from the sky, go to the experts if you need to and then study to show yourself approved.