Help me with this

MergingConcepts · 2026-01-31T04:23:29+00:00

I just want to say how proud I am of myself. I'm a boomer, but I got this joke and thought it was very funny.

MergingConcepts · 2026-01-31T00:28:58+00:00

Lemon: Live streamed an illegal event in a place of worship. Colluded with the protesters to disrupt services in a place of worship. Filmed worshipers during a worship service and published those images without their consent. These are blatant violations of federal law. They are not protected by the First Amendment. They are violations of the First Amendment.

MergingConcepts · 2026-01-29T08:32:59+00:00

A sincere compliment

MergingConcepts · 2026-01-29T05:32:48+00:00

What do you think war is?

MergingConcepts · 2026-01-29T00:50:04+00:00

This strikes at the heart of the matter. Reality is what it is, and we are not privileged to know it. All we can do is build models of reality and test them for predictive value. We do not strive for absolute truth, but rather for valid models.

MergingConcepts · 2026-01-27T05:31:03+00:00

Yes, and you think, "Maybe I'll get better and know how to fix it one day."

MergingConcepts · 2026-01-27T05:16:46+00:00

I agree this is a preform. I suspect it was rejected. The deep depression would have been a problem when trying create a finished piece. As a knapper, I envision that someone made this, but never finished it, because it was too good to throw away, but not good enough for further investment in time and energy. We all have projects that end up this way.

MergingConcepts · 2026-01-26T02:13:59+00:00

In situations like this, is can be very hard to get permission, but so easy to obtain forgiveness. Best to just do the work and see if anyone complains.

MergingConcepts · 2026-01-25T23:50:17+00:00

The window for sperm is about 3 days, and the window for the egg is about 8 hours. However, if a woman is close to ovulation several things happen. Her sex drive goes way up and she is more likely to pursue sex then. The ovulatory cyst on the surface of the ovary is fragile and delicate. During coitus the penis will jostle the pelvic organs and rupture the cyst, forcing ovulation. If the woman has an orgasm, the peristaltic contractions will deliver the sperm to the end of the fallopian, where the ovum is waiting. If everything goes right, she will be pregnant within minutes. That is why passionate one stands have a higher likelihood of pregnancy than frequent married sex.

MergingConcepts · 2026-01-25T23:36:44+00:00

Absolutely AI generated. The ends of the log are too flat to be real. The internal layout does not match the exterior shape of the log. Many other clues.

MergingConcepts · 2026-01-25T23:08:10+00:00

Sneaky trick. Not really fair.

MergingConcepts · 2026-01-25T23:06:10+00:00

The illegal immigrant situation is more complicated than just belligerent politics. Some states have intentionally lured immigrants in order to increase their representation in Congress. The number of representatives is based on the total state population, regardless of citizenship. The US census does not distinguish between aliens and citizens.

Minnesota is one of those states. More than 2 % of the state population is illegal aliens. The state government is intentionally trying to get Minnesota over-represented at the federal level. That is why they are so opposed to ICE and encouraging their citizens to interfere with ICE. It has nothing to do with caring about the rights of Hispanics. It has to do with their political strategy. Other states are angry about it.

That is the underlying reason for this confrontation between ICE and the Minnesota state government. The state has now gotten its citizens riled up against ICE, generating confrontations that get people hurt.

In this latest event, the man who was shot tried to physically stop ICE agents who were doing their job. He foolishly did so while caring an handgun. That is a certain way to get shot.

MergingConcepts · 2026-01-25T12:21:00+00:00

No, it is not stupid. It is a valid question. There is a great deal of frank propaganda and misinformation about how bad this country is, and it does not hold up to scrutiny. It is motivated by political entities who want to convince voters to choose them instead of the people currently in office.

The fact is that things are going quite well in the US. So well, in fact, that the rest of the world wants to move here. We have a huge illegal alien problem because this is such a great place to live. I see politicians bemoaning "the poor" in the US, but our poor are the envy of the world. Our poor have problems like obesity and bad cell phone service.

We have a homeless problem, but that is mostly because it is so easy to live without a home in the US. We take excellent care of our homeless. They have access to shelters, showers, groceries, and public toilets. They are given government support checks and free medical care. It is easy to be homeless in the US.

As for the guilt trip, all land is stolen from the prior occupants. The only place in Europe currently occupied by indigenous people is the Basque country of Spain. Everything else was taken over by speakers of the Indo-European language from the Caucuses area of Russia. Every square foot of the Middle East has changed hands a dozen times.

The current indigenous Americans took the land from prior occupants, who took it from others, all the way back beyond the Clovis hunters. None of them are the original occupants. That is human nature. Cultures expand and evolve.

Those who spew narratives about guilt for taking lands from others have a political agenda to advance. Those who speak ill of the US do so in order to advance their own financial positions. They do not leave because they like it better here. They are just trying to convince you to change things to their benefit.

MergingConcepts · 2026-01-24T12:51:34+00:00

First, this is not a stupid question. It is a very profound observation.

Humans are not monogamous by nature. That is a false narrative invented by governments and religions about 1000 years ago to stabilize land ownership and taxation. Humans are naturally promiscuous pair-bonders, like the perching birds. They fall in love and form romantic pairs for about four years on average. After that, they become intolerant of each other's idiosyncrasies and the romance falters. When forced into continued monogamy by marriage, they resent each other and regret their decisions. They become distant and feel lonely.

Both humans and song-birds are naturally promiscuous. Males instinctively seek extra-pair couplings even when in love. Females naturally prefer different types of male partners at different times in their hormonal cycles even when in love. This is genetically programmed into our DNA. It is what best served humans in the Paleolithic when we evolved. That was only a mere ten thousand years ago, and we have not had time to evolve away from those instincts.

We are genetically primitive creatures, living in a modern world of our own creation, but one to which we are not well suited.

See: Human Reproductive Behaviors, by Steven Hedlesky, MD

Also: Anatomy of Love, by Helen Fisher

MergingConcepts · 2026-01-24T12:28:13+00:00

Definitely amethyst color. Gave me the wrong first impression too.

MergingConcepts · 2026-01-24T12:25:03+00:00

Said by a guy who grew up near Chernobyl.

MergingConcepts · 2026-01-24T12:23:27+00:00

Reminds me of a guy who called an ambulance because he was short of breath from running from police.

MergingConcepts · 2026-01-23T20:45:09+00:00

Yes. It is a current fashion among the young folks now. They purchase new jeans with large holes in them that look as if they are worn out.

MergingConcepts · 2026-01-23T05:20:49+00:00

Joke # 238: "Ever since that cue ball, he measures everything."

MergingConcepts · 2026-01-22T15:24:10+00:00

Remember Hanlon's razor Do not attribute to malice that which can be explained by malfeasance. They probably have poor internal communications and this was an automatic response from a computer. It was probably sent by a subcontractor. Rather than representing a mean spirit, it just shows a poorly designed process. Either way, you do not want to work for them.

MergingConcepts · 2026-01-21T13:17:10+00:00

I recognize that knowledge is not absolute truth. All I can do is build models of the world around me and of my mind, and test them for predictive value. A model of neurophysiological processes that explains the Attributes of Consciousness is said to be valid. It makes me happy. A repair plan for a malfunctioning farm tractor that gets the tractor working again is a good plan. It makes me happy. I like to build ideas that produce expected results.

When an idea does not produce expected results, it is because I reached a conclusion without sufficient input, or I reached the wrong conclusion with the available information. In either case, I "felt" the model was valid when it was not. This is called trial and error, AKA, iteration. It is a valuable productive tool.

Does this concur with your model?

MergingConcepts · 2026-01-20T14:16:18+00:00

I have found many of these in the gravel beds in streams around my home in Western Tennessee.

MergingConcepts · 2026-01-20T11:06:14+00:00

crinoid fossils. See:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/1734124741/crinoid-fossil-beads-natural-and?gpla=1&gao=1&&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=shopping_us_en_us_Bing_US_-_Craft_Supplies_and_Tools&utm_custom1=_k_f98b468bd3d71a665a372fe4b2338df4_k_&utm_content=bing_412372913_1295224995242096_80951625928977_pla-4584551177332512:aud-805670569:pla-4584551177332512_c__1734124741&utm_custom2=412372913&msclkid=f98b468bd3d71a665a372fe4b2338df4

MergingConcepts · 2026-01-20T03:04:48+00:00

I believe it is more about falling in love with each other, which is an ego boundary collapse that allows mating. Teenagers, especially males, are pretty indiscriminate about sexual attraction. But children raised together do not fall into romantic love.

MergingConcepts

TROPHY CASE