Wednesday, August 10, 2016

University of Utah South Main Clinic: Racist hostile discrimination

Racist retaliatory treatment by the University of Utah, within a Salt Lake County facility.

The University of Utah South Main Clinic offers in person interpretation services for Spanish speakers. But if you speak another language or are from a non-Spanish country, you're out of luck.

The managers of the clinic are racist. The University of Utah is racist.

Most clinics of the University provide in person interpreters at no cost to patients, as is required by federal law.

But the South Main clinic only provides in person interpreters at no cost to patients if they speak Spanish.

They claim that over the phone is "just as good" as in person. But this is a lie. Over the phone interpretation creates more barriers, is more clunky to use, tends to negatively impact the experience of dealing with the provider in the room, and so on. "In person" is just better, better for us.

Their managers refused to listen to us. They refused to provide the name of their medical director. They run the clinic like a little fiefdom. A private little dictatorship. And they will engage in petty retaliation against anyone who complains or who raises their head.

Racist Whack-A-Mole is what they do de facto.

South Main Clinic, 3690 Main Street, Salt Lake City, Utah 84115 - Midwives for adults & teens; Teen mothers; Pediatrics - all University of Utah providers. But if you go there, you only get "top service" if you speak Spanish. Otherwise you're sorry out of luck. And they don't care about what you have to say, period.

They decide. You can either choose to live with their dictates, or go elsewhere.

Racist hostile treatment.

Clinic manager, "public servant" (in name only, not in deed), a Jeremy Egusquiza, is a racist in our view.

Do Spanish ancestry people hate Asians?

At the South Main Clinic, they do, de facto - by their actions at least, and that's what counts.

Racist treatment is racist treatment.

Additional key details:

1. University managers and staff promised to honor our interpretation preferences.

2. University managers and staff stated we would receive as a first preference an in person interpreter at the South Main Clinic.

3. In response to a complaint about a lack of an interpreter invite by schedulers for one visit, the manager of the South Main Clinic choose to illegally retaliate (illegal in more ways than one), and to pettily shut off our access to in person interpretation at that clinic. The actions of Jeremy Egusquiza were a de facto booting of my wife who is about to have a baby any day now. Petty. Shallow. Slimy. Racist. Retaliatory. And illegal in our view.

4. "They look down on Asian people." That's what my wife shared with me yesterday as we were sitting in a room at South Main waiting to see our preferred midwife.

5. On 5-18-2016 Leissa Roberts, Associate Dean for Factulty Practice with the College of Nursing, promised in writing "Your translator preference is noted in your wife's chart and we will continue to use the services you prefer in an effort to provide the best care possible."

6. On 8-9-2016 Leissa Roberts reneged on her promise, and stated "we will be unable to meet your request to have in person interpretation" at the South Main clinic.

7. On 7-20-2016 Melanie Wolcott stated "I have shared with management at South Main Clinic that the expectation is to have Catherine at all your visits--not phone translation services if at all possible."

8. On 8-5-2016 Melanie Wolcott responded to a complaint I sent about a lack-of-invite for an interpreter for one particular South Main clinic visit. She then stated: "I have passed this on to the clinic manager. You should hear back early next week about this."

9. However next on 8-10 Melanie Wolcott passes along the retaliatory response from the South Main clinic managers, via stating that the: "...South Main Clinic will not be able to provide in person translation services at the clinic."

10. Hostile treatment is hostile treatment.

11. Racist treatment is racist treatment.

12. A de facto booting is a de facto booting.

13. The tone & content of the response offered by Jeremy Egusquiza is outrageous. The man refused to share with me the name of the medical director for the South Main Clinic, a Wendy Hobson-Rohrer. I reminded him that he is a public servant and that the University is a public institution - and that as such he is required to provide such info when requested. He refused.

14. Our experience of being at the butt end of racist retaliation at the hands of University staff is being shared with Asian advocacy groups and people within Utah. We are letting people know that the South Main Clinic is not a welcoming place for anyone who doesn't speak Spanish.

15. Again, it is particularly slimy to treat a pregnant woman in this way who is about to have a baby. Two children at the University hospital. Thousands of dollars. Mr. Egusquiza doesn't care. He doesn't know what went on at Heartland, nor does he care. He gets to decide, like the king of his own little fiefdom. He gets to dictate what happens, everything else be damned. He get to retaliate in a racist manner against my wife. And the College of Nursing also gets to renege on the promise they made on 5-18 where they stated "Your translator preference is noted in your wife's chart and we will continue to use the services you prefer in an effort to provide the best care possible." All these people get to do this - unless you choose to change your mind. Is this possible? Can you honor your promises? Can you honor the law? Can you provide equal and equitable levels of service in this regard across the University Health System?

16. We like the midwives themselves. Usually kind women who are more than willing to help. But in the case of the the South Main Clinic, they are operating within an environment which is hostile to patient care. If we received in person interpretation at Heartland all while Heartland was open (2+ years), then we should be able to receive it at South Main (as per the midwife practice transfer from Heartland to South Main). This would be "equal treatment across the system." But this is only one reason to provide in person interpreters at South Main. Another is providing equal treatment for all races. If you provide in person interpretation for Spanish, then you must provide in-person for all. Another are the College of Nursing promises made to us in writing about honoring our interpretation preferences (5-18-16 and 7-20-16). And another is just common decency and proper treatment of a pregnant woman. If South Main started providing in person interpretation, then they cannot just unilaterally decide to cut us off. They have cut us off, and their treatment of my family is a de facto boot, plus it's also a de facto invite to leave the University system altogether. But other clinics at the University have been willing to provide a higher level of service, one which meets our needs interpretation wise. Yes sometimes an in person person is not available and we understand. Sometimes there's kinks in the system which need to be identified which he have helped with, and the past kinks have mostly been fixed (interpretation wise, for my wife's care). All other clinics try and get an in person interpreter. They try, and that's all we ask really.

-----------

August 2017 addendum:

Tuesday, August 9, 2016

Old fart establishment Republicans are against Trump.


Old fart establishment Republicans are against Trump.

Trump wants to do populist trade changes which should make hipster Bern supporters happy.

The more establishment rightists which come out against Trump, the more I realize he must be in.

He's not an Xtian fundie.

He's not a slimy raping (murdering?) Clinton.

And he's got some good big foreign policy balls.

Plus the soldiers like him most. And for flipping once the people who defend America should be given deference on such matters.

Response received:
Q: Clinton is raping & worse?
Q: Trump has been accused of rape. What about that?
Q: Doesn't having big foreign policy balls mean we'll just nuke everyone?

My responses:
Yes the Clintons have raped, and probably worse.

Christopher Hitchens
on Hillary:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrzyVt1lbpo


More:

http://www.thepoliticalinsider.com/every-clinton-sex-assault-victim/

http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2016/07/28/media-ignores-bill-clinton-double-rape-bombshell/

http://www.breitbart.com/big-journalism/2016/05/11/ann-coulter-every-rape-victim-deserves-heard-except-hillary-clinton/

No one left to lie to, interviews:Charlie Rose: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_RqyXT5bt4

cspan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZ6oY4dMeYo

And worse probable crimes of the Clinton crime family:

http://www.morningnewsusa.com/hillary-clinton-murder-list-shawn-lucas-seth-rich-victor-thorn-other-mysterious-deaths-2395504.html

http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/RANCHO/POLITICS/BODIES.php

http://www.infowars.com/evidence-indicates-michael-hastings-was-assassinated/

You know those tin pot hat righties who we all just chuckled about? Oh boo haa haa - Alex Jones, what a kook!

But, as OJ implied, if the gove fits, you must not aquit.

And Paul Joseph Watson is a mutch better representative of that section of the alt-right.


Hitch (on Iraq). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cp4U3garYSs

Milo Y. https://www.youtube.com/user/yiannopoulosm

PJW https://www.youtube.com/user/PrisonPlanetLive

Douglas Murray https://www.youtube.com/user/DouglasMurrayArchive
It takes a Britisher to remind Americans about key unique American values worth honoring.

In any case regarding the Clintons: apply the same moral compass you use for all things leftist. All the things you obsess about, to your current party leaders.

Oh pith. What's a little rape? Well, that's just "natural."

She "stood by her..." raping husband.


http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/09/27/roger-stone-pets-killed-tires-slashed-late-night-phone-calls-to-silence-bill-clintons-sexual-assault-victims/

"Stand by your raping husband...." to the tune of the song by Tammy Wynette, in a half drunk cornball country tone with a twang twang twang...

As for Trump:

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/436890/did-donald-trump-and-jeffrey-epstein-rape-13-year-old-girl

ce upon a time, I was a lib-chump.

In 1998, I was more of a full-on one. A morbidly obese virgin with no children, living in his parent's basement.


--------------- quote of: September 21, 1998 letter sent to a nephew, quoting from a letter I sent to congress

The more people that do what Ms. Lewinsky & Clinton physically did with each other the better. While I agree that Clinton lying to his wife was probably bad - his responses are to be expected. Why? Because when you force humans into a puritanical culture where their natural inherent proclivities cannot be properly exercised, what else do you expect to happen?

--------------- end of quote of: September 21, 1998 letter sent to a nephew, quoting from a letter I sent to congress

...and the above naive and stupid statement I made back then shows how stupid I was.

Cheating in marriage destroys marriages & families, and ruins childrens' lives. So shaming for cheating is also natural, and that's the type of natural that should take precedence in such cases.

But by 2008, I had wised up a bit:

--------------- quote of the file: note for hillary clinton - may 16, 2008.txt

May 16, 2008

To the DNC from Jonathan []

Hillary Clinton has on her web site a petition about "counting the votes in Florida and Michigan." These attempts on her part to change the rules of the game are dishonest, unfair, conniving, and not helpful.

The "votes" in Florida and Michigan should >not< count in the primaries. Why? Because Obama promised not to campaign there & Hillary broke her promise. So the "votes" are tainted.

Do not give in to the unfair, conniving, and the end run type of approach Hillary is trying. Obama is the nominee. Period. Move on - and let's now win against McCain.

Sincerely,

Jonathan
in Portland, Oregon


----------------------- end of quote of my message to the DNC

A further note for Ms. Clinton:

Your tactics in this campaign have been in the style of Karl Rove and George Bush, and they have been highly disturbing, corrosive, and racist.

Earlier in the race I could have gone either way between yourself & Obama. But your actions these past few months have fully convinced me that Obama is the most suitable President. I frankly feel that you've shown yourself to be unstable, and completely unsuited to the Presidency of my country.

Furthermore, the rose coloring of my proverbial glasses relative to yourself and your husband has now been lifted. When your husband was in office I supported him. Now I feel as if I were hoodwinked.

I know many republicans were disturbed by the actions of your husband when he was in the White House. In those days I supported him and yourself. But after what I've witnessed and learned about these past few months, I can now finally see why so many republicans were upset with you both. And I say this as a person who is politically a United Kingdom style Green.

You've now embraced the "politics of personal destruction" by being an advocate for it. In the past you and your husband rejected this type of politics, supposedly. Now it's your primary modus operandi. So it's sad to see this.

This is an honest message.

Sincerely,

Jonathan
in Portland, Oregon


--------------- end of the file: note for Hillary Clinton - may 16, 2008.txt

Now, as a finally married man with kids, I've wised up even more. A man with a wife and kids naturally becomes more socially conservative. I have. That's "my journey." So why do journeys to slow motion suicide (eg: journeys to gayness AKA sexual orientation dysphoria, gay marriage AKA outlier flaky abusive not even a comparison to the real thing "marriage," transgenderism AKA gender dysphoria, abortion, being "childfree," and journeys to death cults like Islam) get to be the ones most honored by leftists, whereas journeys to social conservatism don't? Runs counter to their narrative.

Big balls: You know, like the microscopic ones of Obama compared to Putin. Crimea? Gone. Islamic State? Born & flourishing.

Nuking? I take the neocon view: We'll only nuke as a last resort, or if one of our cities gets nuked.

But the leftist rhetorical pouncing on the nuke option may show a not-so-hidden desire for them to do some nuking of their own: namely those who don't tow the leftist party line. "Hate speech" Crimes into differing categories based on "what was in the mind of the killer" - but such actions lend credence to though crime censorship via having "hate speech" laws and codes. And thus the entire concept of "hate" crime is corrosive to free speech. There's just crime. All crime is "hate crime." Camel nosing in the "mind of the killer" brings in a whole host of freedom-threatening problems.
Current leftist hate, hate, hate, freedom of speech & thought. They hate conservatives, family values, and anyone who tells them they're being abusive dickheads for being overly & abusively permissive & relativist. They hate narratives with run counter to their abusively permissive lines of thought.


The Clintons are playing everyone for fools. They know which SJW (social justice warrior) buttons to push. But such pushing no longer works for me.

The establishment Republicans who really want Hillary in, de facto, are showing that voting for Trump is even more important.

Is Trump playing everyone for fools? I don't think so.

Taking into account the totality of reactions from all parties, I find high utilitarian value in a Trump presidency.

What swayed me to Trump:

Milo's Y's interview with Dave Rubin:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiA0P9iELAA


His interview with Joe Rogan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnH67G7vAu4


Related posts:
Trump & Brexit: The Leftist Armageddon
http://jonathanshome.blogspot.com/2016/07/trump-brexit-leftist-armageddon.html

Friday, July 29, 2016

Trump & Brexit: The Leftist Armageddon

The left's version of Armageddon: Voting for Brexit or Trump.

Regarding the following article:


The article appears to consider Brexit and Trump to be a sort of leftist Armageddon.

I 100% agree with Pat Condell regarding the value and necessity of a Brexit:

And I 100% agree with Milo Yiannopoulos regarding the high utilitarian value of Trump.

The ultra-leftist conspiratorialism present in the article reminds me of the ultra-rightist conspiratorialism I encountered while I was in Alaska. Tin pot hat leftistism.

Here's responses to a few key sections of the article:

"The liberal intellectuals are always in the minority."

Response:

Liberals such as they are control most of the media. NY Times. NPR. MSNBC. BBC. CBC. PRI. CNN. Washington Post. LA Times. USA Today. Cable comedy news programs. Nighttime comedy interview shows. Twitter. Facebook. Google.

Liberals such as they are control most of the Academy. Most college campuses are iron fistedly controlled by leftists, and now most pander to the social justice warrior (SJW) left.

"The people who see that open societies"

Open societies like Europe, where we now have rape gangs & mass rapes, women and children at risk via rape & attack, cartoonists murdered & under threat, Orwellian speech & thought control codes (ie: "hate speech" laws), a Voldemort affect regarding Islam (active denial that Islam is a problem or THE problem, again and again, murder after murder by Islamic people).

"being nice to other people"

It's not nice to let people simmer in their human spirit destroying cults. They get upset when we do. 9/11 is one such example. Misdirected anger. Iraq & Afghanistan were perfectly reasonable responses to 9/11.

Leftists seem to have a high appreciation for the value of brutal & bloody dictators. And come to find out Sadam did have WMDs after all:


And remember what Hitch said about Iraq:
...before the 2010 revelation from wikileaks.

Hitch was right, and he was right even before WMD material was found in Iraq.

"not being racist"

Leftists are the most racist people I know nowadays. Everything is about race, even religion is now a race. Islam is a race according to them. And everything is about fervently and frantically maintaining a hierarchy of social justice 'rights' and shaming.

Islam is at the top.

Amerindians, perhaps next.

Blacks, next - so long as they tow the liberal party line & don't go off the Democrat plantation.

Gays, next - but only leftist gays.

Gender dysphoric people (AKA 'transgender'), next.

Mexicans, next, but only leftist Mexicans who want to erase the borders & come to the U.S. illegally.

Women, next, but only leftist women and preferably women who're 'childfree.' If you're a stay at home 'breeder,' that's bad. (An abusive stance by the way)

Asian men, next - because they're 'too successful.'

Pink skinned men (aka 'whites'), bottom of the pile.

Any cultural values derived from 'whites' are on the bottom of the SJW pile of rights-hierarchy. The right to exist. The right to be promoted. The bottom-pile items have mostly zero rights.

Meme sets aren't races. And race is a racist concept to begin with.

"not fighting wars"

Wars like WWII? Wars like those which took place in Afghanistan & Iraq (Afghanistan especially)? The war which needs to happen with the newest 'Islamic State?' And yes, a culture war between the Western Enlightenment culture and Islam - a war of ideas, and if needs be of force so as to protect the Enlightenment values of freedom of speech & freedom to be a Western-type person in a Western country unthreatened by abusive crazy murderous Islamic Puritans?

Sitting on our hands doesn't work. Doing this allowed Islamic State to be born.

Obama told the UN that his preferred future belongs to those who never talk smack about the prophet of Islam. This was perhaps the biggest betrayal ever of The Enlightenment by a sitting U.S. President. The United States was founded on Enlightenment principles. And to state that a given religion cannot be criticized, that's a betrayal.


Obama & Wife of Bill helped birth Islamic State.

Saying it so doesn't make it so. Saying that Islam is a religion of peace doesn't make it a religion of peace. As per historical Islam and current Islam, the leaders, the documents, everything, Islam is a religion of war. It's a religion of conquest. It's a religion of murder and of rape and of pedophilia. Oh, and it's also a religion of genital rape of both females and males (even in 'moderate' Muslim countries, there's a very high dual-gender genital mutilation rate).

"is a better way to live"

So allowing psychopathic dictators to rule everything is a better way to live?

Lying about the abusive nature of some cultures is a better way to live?

Squandering the values and principles of The Enlightenment is a better way to live - values with led to the greatest & most free country humanity has ever known (America)?

No Enlightenment, no major scientific advances, no moon visit, no medical advances, no advancing of art & literature, no healthy entrepreneurism. Oh, and also no abolishment of slavery (in The West anyway - slavery still goes on in Islamic places though), nor giving women the vote, and on and on.

We only end up 'loosing fights' when we cut and run.

Islamic State is the latest example.

The ultra leftist hippie fear mongering isn't swaying me.

Trump is a breath of fresh air. Inasmuch as the traditionalist old fart right hates him, and the SJW left hates him, he's of very high value indeed.

And Brexit was accomplished by people who are tired of having their culture destroyed via unhinged immigration. By people who want to take control of their own 'tribe' and their own 'homeland.'

Friday, May 27, 2016

Ultra-leftists force women to use the men's restroom at UMOCA


Utah first? Opposites attract? In the shadow of the Temple the Utah Museum of Contemporary Art forces women to use the men's - since both restrooms are now man-welcome.

Not just femmy men. Not just Bruce Jenner deranged gender dysphoric  messed up men. All men - can use both restrooms at UMOCA, and so women have no choice but to watch men use the restroom and to allow easy access to their restroom activities.

Ultra-right wing Mormons spawn and attract ultra-left wing abusively permissive moronic dogmatic Stonewall-agenda leftist fascists.

Strange but true. Welcome to Salt Lake City. The shadow of Stonewall is higher than the shadow of the Mormon Temple. Is that a good thing?

Ask a socially conservative atheist woman from rural China with zero connection to the Bible and Book of Mormon: It's a genuinely dangerous and stupid and abusive idea to have mandatorily all-gender and all-outlier crazy dysphoric fool welcoming restrooms.

I love rebellious cutting edge art. I love pissing off Puritans and ultra-leftists alike.

But look: outliers exist. Dangerous predatory men exist. Women and girls need protection from such men, period.

-----

August 2017 addendum, video commentary:

The Woo of Sam Harris: Consciousness, Censorship, Drug trips, and Woo

Sam Harris, previously a horseman of the new atheist apocalypse, is full of woo.

Today I posted a long analysis of Harris's recent podcast where he chatted at length with Chalmers. I posted this text on a few Facebook forums and on Harris's page. The posting on Harris's page was deleted after about 10 seconds - probably by Harris or his family I bet.

Here's the text which Harris deleted or allowed to be deleted from his Facebook page:

-----------------

Harris & Chalmers vs Dennett on Consciousness:

Harris & Chalmers:
Dennett v Chalmers & then more of Dennett:
and

As per Dennett and as per my own evaluation, Harris and Chalmers apparently see consciousness as an ineffable glow or hum. You know, mostly the same fluffamuff glow one sees with 'light' ghostly mystical deistic Christianity (Anglican, Catholic, etc.).

I've tried very hard to wade through the first video with Sam's podcast. But every time I listen to a few minutes, I feel as if every single step further & further is chock full of woo filled treacle.

Harris & Chalmers sometimes partially and sometimes fully misrepresent Dennett's views. I don't think Dennett is saying consciousness doesn't exist. He's saying the woo-type doesn't exist. However the biological-computer virtual-machine type *does* exist, and he's not saying otherwise from what I can tell.

Related articles:

A lot of verbal & mental masturbation that happens during Sam's podcast (and I say this with the greatest respect for all forms of masturbation) is just plain crazy woo. Examples: We live in a simulated world? Woo. One *key* thing about even beginning to consider such a possibility is one of *perspective.* Who's watching the 'screen or monitor' of such a simulation? Computers who run sims respond to *us* and show *us* what they are doing.

If we did live in a simulation, the >simulating computer< would be generating results, presumably, for an *observer*. Thus there's no need for simulants to have any perception whatsoever of a *real* inner life, really. The hardware on which the sim is running has presents the sim world to an observer, period, right?

As independent biological machines we perceive our inner life because we're independent. If we were in a simulation, there would be no need (nor mechanism?) for simultants themselves to have any perception. The *observer* of the *entire* simulation just needs to be presented with a reasonable simulation, end of story - perhaps.

That's one objection. There's others. But assuming exponential curves for growth is perhaps misplaced. Just seems woo-ey.

Lastly Harris had plenty of time to read up on Dennett's views on consciousness before this most recent podcast with Chalmers, and to chat first hand with Dennett about these matters in detail, before Harris felt inclined to quickly publish a very rough hewn pamphlet on free will - thereby creating a new distance between himself & Dennett, and which is why I believe Dennett doesn't wish to engage in first hand chats with Harris on these matters now.

Harris's entire approach, to free will, and now to consciousness, seems lazy, woo-ey, and hobbled in part by previous exposure to woo Buddhism, and an over ascribing of far too much analytical experiential value to a past drug trip.

Buddhist ideas polluting science & reason: free will, the self, and consciousness

Free Will and The Self Are Not Illusions

---
I posted the above text on Sam's own page over at

It was deleted within about 10 seconds. I don't think he liked my critique of his podcast & so on, if it was his hands on the delete button - probably.

----------------- end of quote of my edited Facebook post where I note the observed censorship down toward the bottom.

Addendum:

In another forum someone asked how big the batteries shall be on the future simulating computer. My response:

As big as Sam Harris's and David Chalmers' egos.

The brain which must be uploaded first is Dennett's. 

Feels like if it weren't for his matter of fact common sense evaluations, woo-meisters like Chalmers and Harris would have free reign.

The Hard Problem of Consciousness (Chalmers, Dennett, & Hoffman)
The New Woo of Chalmers and Harris sounds and feels very much like Deepak Chopra smokey long time running woo.

The Future of God Debate Sam Harris and Michael Shermer vs Deepak Chopra and Jean Houston

Sam has gone off the rails since the above debate.

And Harris has been very lazy regarding his entire approach to free will and consciousness. 

Harris has these 'deep' chats with people now on his podcsst. But Dennett rightly apparently doesn't want to play Harris's game.

Harris had all the time in the world to read up on Dennett's writings and talks on both subjects. And even to talk to him first hand.

Instead he lazily revealed his own uneducated illformed poorly crafted naive Buddhist hippie drug trip views as some sort of 'revelation.' 

Harris is lazy and sloppy, and has revealed himself slowly and concisely to be a petty woo-meister himself.

B. Alan Wallace and Buddhist Dualism

"...he utterly mangles quantum mechanics theory in an attempt to argue that – science says the world is weird, and my beliefs are weird, therefore science supports my views. The logic of this argument fails, but it doesn’t matter because the premise if wrong – quantum weirdness disappears at the macroscopic level.

In the end Wallace does no better than anyone who tries to subvert science to support any ideology..."

---end of quote

Chopra & Chalmers & now Harris do also. Woo-meisters all. The conflation of science with mystical charlatanry

Tuesday, May 10, 2016

Review of Tim's Vermeer : creation of a masterwork grade painting on a first attempt using ~350 year old technology.

So, we saw this movie last night:

Got it from the library.

Regards Tim Jenison's efforts to find out how the painter Vermeer painted such accurate paintings of real world objects and rooms, with exquisite detail.

Using two lenses and a mirror (apparently):

Also check:



But the guy must have some skill to engage such fine brush strokes (see the film).

There's several reasons to believe that Johannes Vermeer used lenses and a mirror or mirrors to create his paintings:

Reason 1: The level of light, shadow, & object detail in his paintings would be difficult to create extemporaneously (without preparation - just putting brush to paper and painting).

Reason 2: Objects in Vermeer's paintings, their size ratios & etc. match up with each other (see the film also).

Reason 3: Also in a print of an original Vermeer Mr. Jenison noticed painted elements which match up with distortion effects which result from using curved mirrors. True that Vermeer may well have corrected for some such effects, but he wasn't perfect and one part of a painting was curved when it should have otherwise been straight.

In college I did take an art overview class. In that class I remember the teacher bleating on about the distinction between technology and art. What a bunch of bullshit though - especially in light of the findings of Mr. Jenison and related people.

A bit of googling shows that there may be "10 reasons to doubt" Jenison's hypothesis. And there may be 50 reasons why the author of such an article is a petty & shallow moron.

An untrained artist creates a masterwork grade painting, using lenses, mirrors, paint, a set, canvas, and light.

More on the thesis:

I'm a believer in the clear observational & experimental evidence.

Examining preexisting paintings. Conducting an experiment. Creating a masterwork grade painting on a first attempt, in about ~120 days (actual painting work) using ~350 year old technology. Why object?

Additional reviews:
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/tims_vermeer_2014/

More info:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2517051/Johannes-Vermeer-DID-use-mirrors-camera-obscura-paintings.html

Monday, May 9, 2016

U.S. Constitution didn't come from the Bible. Rather it came as a direct result of The Reformation & The Enlightenment.

The U.S. Constitution didn't come from the Bible. Rather it came as a direct result of The Reformation & The Enlightenment.

On the back of Modified and Enlightened and Evolved Christian tradition.

So not directly from the Bible, but it was done by children raised within the general European Christian tradition that's true.

When I examine who on the social & political landscape supports a.) the freedom to draw Mohamed, and b.) the publishing of such cartoons, the list is very small: Libertarians who're mostly conservative, and a few very (very) lonely leftists.

When Obama states that his preferred future belongs to people who never talk smack about Mohamed or the prophets of other religions, he's turning his back on the principles of The Enlightenment, principles which allowed America and it's Constitution to exist in the first place. He's also turning his back on all the people who want to (f-ing) leave abusive cults like Islam (& Mormonism & other highly abusive religions).

more info:
http://reason.com/blog/2012/09/25/president-obama-says-we-must-condemn-tho

So, it's true that ex-Muslims / atheists who pop up, rather naturally these days, within Islamic theocracies are little gems who should be valued & protected. They exist & live within countries which are essentially meat grinders, grinding against all opposition to the status quo.

Here's a special vid of an atheist visiting Mecca:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQ5x0vAEaCw

I'm sure that Obama would be upset by such a vid, as per his past comments about the supposed strong need to never offend a devout cult member.

Before 9/11 I had mostly zero idea what Islam was about. After 9/11 I woke up & realized that people in Islamic countries sometimes find their lives to be so shitty that they lash out in unhinged ways - misdirected anger. The 9/11 attacks were performed by men who were angry - but they should have been angry at their religion rather than at 3000+ innocent people in those towers.

The Enlightenment human tradition is a unique one, and one that should be valued. Freedom of speech. Freedom of thought. Freedom of religion. Freedom from religion. Freedom of commerce (mostly). Governmental transparency (hopeful). Freedom for science to progress. Freedom for science to question traditional religious dogmas & doctrines regarding literalist interpretations of a god. When leftists like Glenn Greenwald and Noam Chomsky (& many other 'regressive' leftists) blame America first for all that is wrong with the Middle East, they're also turning their backs on the Enlightenment tradition which allows them to speak & exist in the first place.

Mr. Greenwald is gay for example. If he lived in an Islamic theocracy he'd be suppressed at the very least or killed at worst.

The cold war abuses of America are not responsible for every single thing that ails the world. Religious theocracy, that of a specific religion, is largely to blame. And yes, it's a religion - that is Islam is a religion.

Before 9/11 I sat in my little ex-Mormon chamber and just thought about ex-Mormon things. I knew Joseph Smith was a charismatic charlatan. I know Brigham Young was an abusive authoritarian theocratic bozo. I relished the works of people like Monty Python with their general criticism of Christianity (eg: Life of Brian), and of Mormon specific humorist organizers like Steve Clark (operator of Latter-Day Lampoon now renamed The Salamander Society).

Consider what Muslim versions of the following works of art would look like?

Life of Brian:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monty_Python's_Life_of_Brian

Latter-Day Lampoon (aka Salamander Society):
http://salamandersociety.com/

Would Obama approve?

How about your average MSNBC & CBC & BBC presenter?

So I was raised in an itty-bitty religion which has as it's key tenant a required cult of personality revolving around this guy named Joseph Smith. Then when I got older I wised up & left that religion.

That whole experience provided greater insight into the entirely of the situation with Islam, it's followers, and those who want to leave it and be free of it.

A communist who left it (Maryam Namazie):
http://freethoughtblogs.com/maryamnamazie/2013/02/01/world-hejab-day/

A libertarian (Ayaan Hirsi Ali):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayaan_Hirsi_Ali

Another libertarian & big Ayn Rand supporter (Bosch Fawstin):
http://fawstin.blogspot.com/

And some people stay in to varying degrees, or are just 'marginally' in:

Maajid Nawaz:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maajid_Nawaz

Tawfik Hamid:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxfo11A7XuA

Maajid is considered an 'Uncle Tom' by hijab-loving Muslims though. And Tawfik is a former hard line Muslim w/key info re how Sunni flavor Islam prompts young men within it to consider getting virgins in paradise via suicide as a viable option for sexual expression (check the vid linked to above).

Charlie Hebdo was mostly killed off, and it's remaining members have given up publishing drawings of the prophet of Islam. So Obama's preferred future has been fulfilled re Hebdo. Hebdo was and is an ultra-leftist publication, but one which was 'very lonely' on the left - lonely like Bill Maher is, and lonely like Sam Harris is, and like Salman Rushdie is. Lonely leftists who could never get a Mohamed cartoon published in any mainline leftie publication if they tried.

In any case, I was raised an American Democrat. Now I'm a general middle of the roader. A moderate Republican/Libertarian, or a very very blue dog Democrat. But as per the response of the left to Hebdo (the murder of the artists) & Garland (Garland, Texas cartoon contest attempted to be shot up by Islamic adherents) though I'm a bit loath to refer myself as a Democrat at all. The response of the left to those events shows that the left, as it stands today, as nothing to offer people who want to a.) leave Islam, or b.) criticize Islam exactly the same way we've been criticizing Christianity for hundreds of years.

Also America isn't a full democracy. It's a republic. A representative democracy. There republicanism helps to quell craziness & chaos & stupidity which can come from 'full democracy.'

When 'democracy' came to the Islamic middle east, the secularists were mostly drowned out by the thoecrats (so far).

Where in an Islamic 'democracy' is one free to draw Mohamed? Nowhere? Then the principles of the Enlightenment are not being fully engaged. Freedom of speech. Freedom of though. Freedom of religion. Freedom from religion. Freedom for science to examine & critique literalist religious claims which touch upon the physical world. And so on.

There's slight bright spots here & there. Example:
http://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2015/12/30/egypt-president-calls-for-islamic-reform-again-in-muhammad-birthday-speech/
http://www.clarionproject.org/videos/egypts-president-el-sisi-calls-islamic-reformation

But in which Islamic country can one be an atheist openly? Criticize Mohamed? Draw Mohamed? Lampoon Mohamed - EXACTLY the way Monty Python did regarding Anglican Christianity? Nowhere yet.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2530920/You-parody-Islam-says-Palin-Monty-Python-star-believes-religious-sensitivities-increased-impossible-make-Life-Brian-today.html

But some ex-Muslims (and friends) somewhere shall do this someday soon I hope (parody Islam in total Life of Brian style & more).