Little Talk:

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How Much Web-Surfing Does A Man Require?

My current answer:

One or two peeks, one or two pokes.

peek #1: pre-dawn / morning

After waking up.

peek #2: morning / afternoon

Breakfast or lunch.

poke #1: afternoon / evening

Tea or dinner.

 

poke #2: evening / night

Before turning off the laptop and tethering the phone.

***

Big Talk:

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I never met the man. So why do I think of him as "Charlie"? One of nature's Charlies, perhaps.

https://washingtonmonthly.com/2023/11/23/why-charlie-peters-matters/

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Next post: January 29, 2023

Little Talk:

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How Much Dull Routine Of Existence Does A Man Require?

My current answer:

1. waking up

2. morning / afternoon session

3. afternoon / evening session

4. evening / night session

5. winding down

waking up:

1. wake up

2. get ready

3. check e-mail & messages, turn on the laptop

4. go back to bed and stare out the window a bit

5. 5 minute warm up

6. 5 minute meditation

winding down:

1. check e-mail & messages, turn off the laptop

2. tether the phone

3. pace around and stretch a bit, stare out the window a bit.

4. 5 minute cool down

5. 5 minute meditation

6. fall asleep

Why do I seem to need so much dull routine of existence? Possibly because if you give me an inch, I may take an ell.

***

How Much Exercise Does A Man Require?

My current answer:

Types of exercise sessions:

warm-up: 0-10 minutes

short: 10-30 minutes

medium: 30-60 minutes

long: 60-100 minutes

absolute min: 1 short

comfortable min: 2 short

comfortable default: 2 medium

comfortable max: 2 long

absolute max: 4 long

***

How Many Sessions Does A Man Require?

My current answer:

session 1: field work, possibly preceded by desk work

session 2: desk work

session 3: field work, possibly followed by desk work

I had been stalling on a bit of desk work that I found difficult. One day, I got an early start, around 7:30, and . . . kept going till I finished, around 4:30. Yay!

However . . . I took some short cuts to finish, short cuts which arguably reduced the quality of the work. And the things I had been planning to do after finishing, on that day, I did not in fact do. On the whole, "sitting down to do desk work every day between 7:30 and 3:30", is perhaps very productive, but I still did not find it entirely satisfactory.

Big Talk:

https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/israel-hamas-war-day-26-live-updates-nov-1-2023/article67483247.ece

https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/israel-hamas-gaza-palestine-war-conflict-live-updates-november-10-2023/article67520005.ece

I am grateful to Haggai Matar and +972 Magazine for writing this (via digby):

https://digbysblog.net/2023/11/09/explaining-the-crisis/

https://www.972mag.com/october-war-israelis-palestinians-historic/

Bad news from Israel & Palestine.

In trying to figure out what I thought about the bad news, I found I needed to substitute "LTTE" for "Hamas".

Can I agree with the statement, "The LTTE needs to be destroyed."?

To be honest, no.

Can I agree with the statement, "The LTTE needs to be eradicated."?

To be honest, no.

Can I agree with the statement, "The LTTE needs to be 'wiped out'."?

Again, to be honest, no.

Why can't I agree with these statements? Well, because LTTE terrorism is only half of the equation. The other half is justice and fairness for Sri Lankan Tamils.

The LTTE, at least its military wing, was, in fact, destroyed. I do not think the destruction of the LTTE was a great victory for humane values, over terrorism. I think the destruction of the LTTE was itself a crime against humanity. And, to be honest, I do not think it was necessary.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mullivaikkal_massacre    

What can I agree with? I can agree with the statement, "The LTTE is responsible for many actions of great evil. Those actions were neither legitimate, nor necessary. And it is just that the people responsible for those actions should be held accountable for them."

One of my favorite things about the Hindu newspaper is their "From the Archives" section, where they publish one article from fifty years ago, and another article from a hundred years ago. The articles they published for November 10:

"Fifty years ago | Egypt and Israel to sign package deal to-day"

https://www.thehindu.com/archives/from-the-hindu-archives-november-10-1973-egypt-and-israel-to-sign-package-deal-to-day/article67516523.ece

"A hundred years ago | Bavarian coup"

https://www.thehindu.com/archives/from-the-hindu-archives-november-10-1923-bavarian-coup/article67516692.ece

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Next post: December 29, 2023