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Welcome to a new week!
Today’s quote is from a poet: “Pretty much all the honest truthtelling there is in the world is done by children.”
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back to top32 Comments to “Whirled Views 5.19”
I don’t know which poet penned today’s quote, but I respectfully disagree (and yes, I love children too). I prefer the following:
“To make your children capable of honesty is the beginning of education.” John Ruskin (1819-1900), Time and Tide by Weare and Tyne, 1867.
Honesty must be intentionally taught to children, by word and especially by deed, or they may not get it. And get it, they must.
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The quote was made by Oliver Wendell Holmes.
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O. W. Holmes was a poet?
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The point of the quote is that children are usually not tactful. Like the child in the story of the “Emperor’s New Clothes,” they often tell the unvarnished truth about what they observe around them.
Joel’s point is different but equally true. Children tend to lie to cover their own faults and misdeeds.
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But you can’t count on which one your going to get because children also have very active imaginations.
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Speaking of children, my baby is five now. He’s been telling me he was going to start to eat vegetables when he was five. I going out today to buy carrots.
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Joe B: You’ve earned the digital coffee of the day. Enjoy!
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No kidding, Kbells! My children had a kindergarten teacher who told the parents of her students, that if we didn’t believe everything our children said about her, she wouldn’t believe everything they said about their parents. Her point was well taken. A little investigation can be a good thing when children say something.
Too funny about the vegetables!
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Good luck with that vegetable thing, KBells! Hope your young man had a great birthday.
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Harris – I have a note on my calendar to ask you about how your history book is coming along. I hope it’s going well.
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There’s a man who comes from South Africa. He’s white. He’s now an American citizen.
So…doesn’t that make him African-American?
And since I was born here in America, as were many/most of you, doesn’t that make me a Native American?
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Karen O., good questions. They point the flaws inherent in identity politics.
People aren’t supposed to be categories, I don’t think.
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There’s an interesting article in USN&WR –May 19 edition, about “Fixing the Food Crisis”. One suggestion is, ”Take a Pause on Biofuels”. This is a boondoggle that never should have started. Over a decade ago, the news commentator, Paul Harvey began promoting fuel from corn, etc., as a means of helping farmers. I said, “Don’t use food for fuel!”. The more we hear about it, the less sense it makes. I know some of you live in corn producing areas, but there are better ways of using corn than trying to make gasoline (spelled ethanol). UNS&WR says, “Producing fuel from crops-corn in the US and rapeseed, palm, and soy oil in Europe- accounts for between one quarter and one third of the spike in global commodity prices, says the International Food Policy Research Institute. Governments have heavily subsidized the industry as an energy alternative, but now one UN food official labels these policies “criminal” and has called for a five-year biofuels fuels production moratorium.” It never should have started.
The article also says US aid to Africa only serves to “drive down prices, making local farmers less likely to expand production and improve yields.” So our helping can actually hurt in the long term. But the problem is political. The country of Rhodesia (I can’t spell Zimwhatever) used to export food. Now they starve. And USN&WR says, concerning aid to Africa, “Many agencies feel that such a change would best serve the hungry. Congress, however, has preferred aid policies that help constituents in the Farm Belt states sell off their surpluses.”
I am not against the farmers or agricultural states. I am for sanity and common sense.
USNews has suggestions for alleviating the problem. Nowhere, do they mention punching holes in the ground.
Someone will say, “If we start drilling in Anwar and the Gulf today, it will take ten years to get oil flowing.” I say, “If Bill Clinton hadn’t vetoed the bill congress passed ten years ago, we would have oil by now.”
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Whatever Obama-supporters say, Karen O, race seems less and less of an issue (at least to my generation).
Now we’re dealing with new hot, divise topics: like gender orientation and environmental protection.
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11. This also seems to put mixed race people in the position of having to choose a race and reject a large portion of their heritage. I have enough Native American in me that if I wanted to I could get rid of 7/8 of my ancestors. When we applied for my son’s SS# we had to pick a race.
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Klasko [10]:
Why the nicest comment I’ve had in a long time. I am just so honored that you put it on your calendar. So thank you.
As to the book? Well, the book is moving a little slower (ie more research) than I would have anticipated. Grump grump grump. At this point, I’m hoping to have enough together by end of summer to shop it to publishers. That’s the hope for now.
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Karen O.,
That’s why I generally don’t use the term “African American,” except in the same context in which I’d use, say, “Scottish American.” I know black people in this country who aren’t (directly) from Africa, and I know Africans who are in this country and aren’t citizens. And my oldest brother is white, but an honest-to-goodness African-American: He was born in Nigeria and had dual citizenship as a child. I prefer “black” unless the “African” part is legitimate to the conversation, as it sometimes is. My Scottishness is sometimes relevant.
Plus, from what I hear, most black people prefer “black,” and “African American” is a full six syllables longer–unnecessary. And I detest the new tendency for black people to call white people “caucasians.” That makes me think of the stupid pictures in fifth-grade social studies (always of someone very fair-skinned, blond and blue-eyed) labeled “Caucasian,” alongside the very dark black person labeled “Negroid” and the Asian labeled “Mongolian” (distinct from “Mongoloid,” the then-sometimes-used term for a Down syndrome child). Do we really want those images? No? Then please don’t call me caucasian; white will do.
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Oh, and for those who knew I was waiting on news regarding publication of a book, I just got a no today–so we’re on to the next step.
But I do have a potential roommate–someone from my own denomination, which would be nice. I haven’t met her yet, so we’ll see.
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honest truthtelling- As opposed to what, dishonest truth telliing? I guess it gives another meaning to poetic (or poet’s) license.
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OK so I have a serious question for everyone: Where does a homeless and jobless person go to “make a difference in this world”? He is looking for something to do to help others and make this world a better place that either provides or pays for a roof over his head and a meal.
As he puts it, “I want to be a part of something that is bigger than I am and feel like I matter and that I’m making a difference, because right now I feel worthless.”
This is a person for whom I have been praying for years. As far as I know, he is not saved, but I do know that he has heard the gospel message. He has not rejected it outright, but he is definitely not walking in it. I continue to pray for him.
Any ideas you guys have would be most welcome. I would like to point him in the right direction. Who knows? Maybe this will be the vehicle God uses to bring home another prodigal. Thanks.
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Goodwill offers job training for guys like him, I think.
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Is there such a thing as dishonest truth telling? I would think not but I don’t think like a poet where anything is possible.
I too disagree with the premise. I’m not sure kids lie less than anyone else – but I doubt it.
Poets lie more than most no doubt and they have a hard time with reality, especially those that write fictional prose and try to pass it off as nonfictional poetry
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PeterL: Dishonest truth telling, to me, is when someone tells only part of the story, IE:
“Bobby was in the room.”
Honest truth telling would be: “Bobby was in the room and he hit Susie.”
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Klasko, my first thought was the Salvation Army, believe it or not. They might be able to help his homelessness and joblessness.
Congrats, CherylD.
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The dishonest officials that we elect as our federal representatives in Washington have tried for years to come up with an energy policy for the USA that made sense financially and technologically while reducing our dependence on foreign oil, reducing greenhouse gases and developing alternative energy sources. They have failed miserably to do so not because this is too tall an order for these idiots but because of them. The policy is difficult but any normal person could easily come up with one that is light years ahead of what these nincompoops have saddled us with.
The reasons these elected officials fail are quite easy to figure out too. Firstly and most importantly, our goals as normal American citizens do not match the goals of the criminal conspirators and extortionists we elect. We want a sensible, fair and workable energy policy that is best for the country not for our party – they do not. They are beholden to and at the mercy of the lobbyists that they sold their soul to in order to get the bribe money they are addicted to – the bribe money they need to get elected.
Lobbyist of the oil companies, political parties, unions, environmental groups, alternative energy companies and suppliers, carbon credit companies, companies associated with and against nuclear power, those who believe and don’t believe global warming theories, are all giving money to these addicts we call Reps and Senators and all are getting promises from them on what they will do for the right amount of money.
So we get nothing worth having as a result. The policy itself is quite easy figure out. No one will like it all but, we are grown ups and realize we have to compromise to get the best of all worlds. I bet you our energy policy would pass a vote by regular Americans in the 75% approval range no problem and we could craft it in about 10 minutes. Why? Because we have common sense, are normal, know what is right and we want to do the right thing for America instead of being insane and wanting to do what is right for me, me, me, me, instead.
So i am going to think about a fair decent and honest energy policy and post it here in a few minutes and we will see if we can agree on it or not.
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Well, while CherylD and Harris are talking about publishers, can I fuss a little?
Why is it that so many periodicals and even book publishers are focused on such a narrow audience: African-American women, Reformed Evangelical pre-millenial Canadians, or minority female children from broken homes who want to go on and get Ph.Ds? Am I the only one who notices this?
Is there even a market for good literary short stories these days, or is that vanishing into the past under a wave of You-Tube videos and magazines for Reformed pre-millenialists?
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Llama, you want them to apply common sense, logic and reason and bite the bullet on the hard things? Good luck with that. Am waiting for your plan.
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Anyone seen anything from Drill lately? I miss my Drillbits.
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KLasko, Drill and Pentamom. And some others I can’t recall right now. Momoffour hasn’t been around lately either.
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I’ve actually never seen Pentamom ….
Yeah, I missed you Klasko. (Or maybe I just wasn’t on the right threads!) Good to see you posting again.
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Thanks Kimberly. My time has been limited lately. And definitely more limited on the weekends.
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