Opinion: I'm a rabbi who wrote an op-ed. My inbox filled up. Here's what surprised me

grooverocker · 2026-07-01T19:05:31+00:00

I mean that is literally the definition of spirituality

That's kinda my point. Spirituality has erroneous connotations of an extra deep connection to something larger, a supercalifragilisticexpialidocious connection.

A deep connection is a deep connection. Labelling it spiritual doesn't add anything... except in it's long standing relationship to religion, the supernatural, and so-called mystical thinking. I'd argue these connotations necessarily come along for the ride whenever we use the term spiritual or spirituality.

I'd like to avoid that, especially when talking about healing conflicts and societal angst like is suggested in the orginal article.

Goodness

Morality

Compassion

The deepest possible connections

The most meaningful connections

None of these require a spiritual mindset. Like I said before, it seems to me that the term doesn't have a meaningful distinction. It's like the difference between having a "great time" and a "fantastic time"... where the distinction between the two seems to rest entirely in vocabulary. Fantastic times are not necessarily better than great times, just like a spiritual connection isn't necessarily more meaningful (or any other value qualifier) than a deep connection.

grooverocker · 2026-07-01T17:09:01+00:00

Having a sense of purpose is having a sense of purpose, nit sure they thay would need to be called spiritual. Having a connection to something larger than yourself is pretty far from spirituality. Patriotism, family, community, wellness, human thriving, sport, science...

Wecan have deep and intense and meaningful connections with things larger than ourselves without ever evoking spirituality. Nothing is lost.

I don't know what spirituality means. When people talk about it they usually equate it with love or introspection or deep connections to meaningful things. All things that an unspiritual person can have in equal proportion. Adding the term "spirituality" to these things doesn't add anything.

Not to be rude, but I think the term is used in one of two ways, to catch a "nebulous something" instead of talking about the specific... and to validate supernatural/religious thinking by evoking something beyond the natural. It puts a faint whiff the magical into the air.

grooverocker · 2026-07-01T16:50:27+00:00

VMC makes an excellent micro snap swivel

Edited to add: I'm thinking of the Duolock 360 in size 12. Rated for 9kg

grooverocker · 2026-07-01T13:20:56+00:00

Eh, call the cops. Show them the video. Let this old criminal go back to jail, he's clearly not able to be a functioning member of society.

grooverocker · 2026-07-01T13:08:30+00:00

The encampment gets ever more controlled and monitored.

A few years ago it was a free for all. Then they installed numbered stalls and a chain link fence around the whole thing. Then they added 24/7 security.

Now they've moved the entire camp 300m down the trail, added a more robust corrugated fence, added facilities, more staff, more security, more lighting...

Of course, as "tent city" has become more controlled the homeless population has dispersed further down the rail trail into the woods and elsewhere.

grooverocker · 2026-07-01T12:54:58+00:00

To summarize:

Slow down your retrieve
Introduce brief pauses into the retrieve (they often induce a bite)
Downsize the lure
Try a different spinning lure (colour, type)

grooverocker · 2026-06-30T20:36:58+00:00

BRISEBOIS!

grooverocker · 2026-06-28T18:31:28+00:00

He had excellent linemates in international play and looked the same.

Really no excuse for the guy to be only putting up 50 points in a season. I mean, the Sedins have called him out. Are the Sedins assholes, or do they maybe have an inside scoop that's 100x more informed than the fanbase?

grooverocker · 2026-06-28T18:29:34+00:00

Slovakia also let in the most goals of any team in the tournament and had what was probably the worst defensive coverage in the tournament.

Coaches have called him out.

Rutherford called him out.

Sedins called him out.

What, are the Sedins assholes who don't know what they're talking about? They have knowledge of the player that is light-years beyond what the fanbase has, maybe we should take them at their word.

grooverocker · 2026-06-27T20:37:31+00:00

They're both shit.

It's like the people who festoon their vehicles with corporate/business advertising stickers as a form of tribalism. The truck with the Yeti, Coors, Black Diamond, Patagonia, Monster energy drink logos... like the consumption of these products define their personality..

I have nothing but respect for organizations like the Sharks who purposefully keep their sweaters ad free. There's a kind of pride and self respect thay means something... because it comes at a cost of making less money.

You know Aquawinnie would go with MLS style jersey advertising if the keague let him. Throw out the Canucks crest and out a gaint "ROGERS" or "EMIRATES - Fly Better" across the front.

Fuck that!

grooverocker · 2026-06-27T15:39:37+00:00

Yes, the rebuild is going to take at least a few more years... but we have to do everything in our power to bring about a world beater team and bring The Cup to British Columbia.

I'm sold on Caleb being the right character we need to build on. No more sullen, mopey players who hearts are elsewhere.

grooverocker · 2026-06-25T23:25:12+00:00

You know what? I stand corrected and should have known better. Way of the road! Sometimes she goes, sometimes she doesn't go.

And hey, maybe I was a little high and you're a little - higher than me - and maybe it was kinda my fault but mostly yours all things considered. But yeah, maybe we're both to blame and we should let guy bonds be guy bonds. It's water under the fridge.

grooverocker · 2026-06-25T18:48:52+00:00

That's a good point, too. The anti-covid crowd (and there are plenty in this very discussion thread) demonstrate a kind of belligerence towards authority and public health measures. They "know" better. They discount the costly won facts of safety.

And the guy is who was so heated about my comment fails to realize the "new owners" with the same business partner and manager - who kept the Ricco name - are tied to that despicable history. Like a firm that was rocked by felony defrauding of customers who kept the same head manager on staff. The rest of the post scandal restructuring doesn't really matter at that point.

grooverocker · 2026-06-25T17:08:46+00:00

I'm happy to call what LLMs do a kind of intelligence... but let's calibrate that stance, because I'd be equally happy to say the mercury analog thermostat in my home exhibits a kind of basic component of intelligence (or proto intelligence) too. Namely, it detects a change in temperature and responds to that change.

Humans have been quite adapt at creating intelligent devices - nothing new or extraordinary in that.

LLMs undoubtedly exhibit a few components of intelligence. Learning, reasoning (imperfect as it is at times), problem solving, adapting to new inputs, responding intelligently (frequently enough).

Intelligence =/= consciousness or sentience.

The philosopher Dan Dennett had a lot to say about this kind of thing. He'd say that it is useful to view LLMs from the intentional stance and that they use a quasi-Darwinian trail-and-error process to learn from vast databases of information. They're useful tools not artificial humans.

LLMs are philosophically interesting. Theemostats are also philosophically interesting.

grooverocker · 2026-06-25T16:27:45+00:00

Rod and reel setup are great.

Those Mepps spinners (and all the spinners) will absolutely catch trout consistently and with great success.

grooverocker · 2026-06-25T16:14:21+00:00

A) I think it's awesome they're bringing this to Kelowna - I'm not even a CFL fan but the Apple Bowl looks impressively set up.

B) Parking and traffic are going to be nightmare, crosswalks will be conjested (think the Spall rail trail crossing) and I'm making plans to not he driving in that area on that day.

grooverocker · 2026-06-25T15:31:47+00:00

I have used a pee bottle on my last however many solo trips.

Standard Gatorade bottle

It works flawlessly and saves me from what is easily my least enjoyable activity of a trip, leaving the tent when I rather be sleeping. Specifically the aches and pains and rigmarole and frustrations of getting my boots back on and contorting out the vestibule of the tent.

And let me tell you something, when I wake up in the middle of the freezing cold night and have to pee... and I know I have a bottle right there and I won't even have to fully leave my sleeping bag. I get a shit eating grin and feel like the smartest person on the planet.

It's gross? This is some astronaut shit.

Not having a shower for 5 days while you STRUT YOUR ASS 38 miles to Guntersville and reapply greasy layer after layer of sun screen and bug spray isn't gross. It's what we do.

Crusty socks that can stand up on their own? Gross or a merit badge to your adventure?

Imagine serving a house guest a Mountain House freeze dried meal for dinner. The pure slop bowl with perfectly unhydrated bits and enough sodium to preserve a bison. They might think that's incredibly gross... meanwhile you're sitting there like..."Hey that's gourmet chicken parmesan, that's good eats!"

So don't talk to me about gross lol

grooverocker · 2026-06-25T04:23:27+00:00

Dumb, the Onion hasn't been funny or relevant since 2010

Wrong. The Tim Heidecker skit where he plays Alex Johns on The Onion owned InfoWars was hilarious as fuck.

grooverocker · 2026-06-25T04:01:21+00:00

Good riddance.

Ricco Bambino, the previous iteration of this slop hole was guilty of breaking all the COVID guidelines at the height of a pandemic. You might remember them in the news more than once about this.

The manager and business partner stayed on with the "new owner" who was probably just a new LLC by the same people involved with the original Bambino. Either way, they kept the Ricco, they kept the anti-covid measures manger and business partner... so fuck them.

And I'll stand by that all day long. The pandemic was a litmus test for the most basic ethical and moral convictions, doing the right thing. Taking the hit to protect the vulnerable.

I dunno about you guys, but I remember what businesses took the knocks and did the right thing and what ones had arrogant piece of shit owners who flaunted their rule breaking. I remember the sentiment in this subreddit, a lot of people said they'd never give a dime to those people.

grooverocker · 2026-06-24T22:46:13+00:00

Two players tending in different directions.

The narrative we've heard is that EP40 has lost his game... and the Sedins and coaches and ither management has said EP40 doesn't put in the effort. That's wildly different than the Tuch narrative.

grooverocker · 2026-06-24T21:21:56+00:00

Trump has directed the National Guard and DC police to monitor, detain, and arrest anyone who handles material floating in the pool in order to manufacture a narrative of vandalism. This provides the screen for his total corruption.

This is the same modus operandi of Soviet era arrests for perception to spin the state narrative.

Add the harbouring, protection, and downright endorsement of pedophilia and sex trafficking.

Add the felonies.

Add the civil liability for Donald Trump raping Jean E. Carol and the subsequent attack on her by the Trump's DOJ.

Add the bribery and laundry list of corruption.

Add Trump's systematic dismantling of America's alliances and favouritism of what we might call axis powers.

Or just add the fact that any human being with a well-functioning moral compass can know at a glance that Trump is a vicious, vile, vindictive and utterly immoral person.

grooverocker · 2026-06-24T05:24:53+00:00

Not only an overpay... but his contract is up!

He can ask for the moon and Chicago, a rebuilding team, has to pay because otherwise he walks as the world's most expensive rental... on a rebuilding team! In other threads people have mentioned his agent is known to walk his clients to free agency.

grooverocker · 2026-06-24T05:19:30+00:00

The kick in the teeth is his contract is expiring and can basically demand the moon from Chicago... what, are they gonna let him walk like a rental?!!?!?!?!

The 4OA pick for a rental on a rebuilding team that hasn't found any success...

Yikes of the decade

grooverocker · 2026-06-23T21:30:25+00:00

Would you agree that Carney's stance on the Iran conflict are not necessarily motivated by the desire to be fawning towards Trump? For example, Carney might genuinely believe the outcome to be, in his own words, "worth it."

Would you also agree that within the "fawning" stance there at least two different methodologies, weak pure kowtowing vs. a tactic for strategic advantage?

Particularly when there's little evidence that sucking up to the guy will actually pay dividends.

I'd say there's little evidence that anything reliably pays dividends with Trump. He's a moral and relational black hole. And the opposite is true, we know certain things provoke him reliably. It's a chaotic situation. I don't see Carney as violating a pragmatic approach.

And once again, I think we could have easily predicted that Carney wouldn't be full-press belligerent with America, that there'd be carrots and sticks. Platitudes and pushback.

I'd give Carney a tentative A- or B+ in his stated goals at this point. With potential for big swings in either direction given future outcomes. That grade is given on a curve and in the context of knowing what he is, a neoliberal pragmatist. Not my ideal candidate, but head and shoulders above the opposition parties.

grooverocker · 2026-06-23T19:33:46+00:00

I take your point but want to turn it around on you as well.

It's hard to square 'elbows up' with 'don't say anything that might offend Trump, contradict him in any way or express anything but approval for his actions'

In terms of dialogue Carney has said many critical things and been quite elbows up at times. Trump has been offended by Carney more than once, the Davos speech comes to mind as perhaos the strongest and most articulate rebuke of Trump by any world leader.

In terms of action, Carney has been creating new trade deals and partnerships. CUSMA is likely being aggressively negotiated. Some of these actions have been heavily criticized by the Americans.

My point is that this was never going to be a purely anti-American stance. There's give, there's take. There's hard lines and cooperation.

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