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I'm ok with (more than ok with, I'm enthusiastically in favor of) people reading the history of the brownshirts and leveling comparisons against whomever they wish. When it fits, it's an indication something needs to change. This doesn't fit: lol "secretive": https://www.ice.gov/outreach-programs/citizens-academy This article is a poorly reasoned hit piece, full of inflammatory language, written by people who are not in favor of the law when it comes to laws being enforced against folks they know. Imagine being mad that a government agency is so transparent, they actually put time/effort/budget into teaching whoever wants to learn all about what they do. Imagine refusing to actually attend a class, and then writing a hit piece against it. You wanna know how to turn @Phoenix_person into a fan of ICE? Have him do a ride-along with ICE agents. Similar to this phenomenon: In related news, I've been something of an afficionado of my local law enforcement citizens academies. I've attended 3 - local small town, Colorado Springs, and my county's academies. Pretty interesting things. I found all three of them to be genuine attempts at outreach to the communities served by these agencies. All three were welcoming and receptive of criticisms/complaints/issues/suggestions. I volunteered for a taser demonstration at one, because I honestly didn't know what I thought about police using tasers. I am a fan after having one used on me. I should say, I've attended 4 - but the one put on by my local government was SO BORING I stopped going after the 2nd session. Sitting through a budget appropriations meeting is boring enough. But sitting through a class about how they do budget appropriations? It was like torture. So to answer your question, no, @Phoenix_person, not like that. Drawing analogies between ICE citizens academies and the hitler youth or the brownshirts is sort of the height of nonserious accusation that folks have come to expect from the hysterical manipulative left. If 2025 is supposed to be a rebuilding year, I think figuring out how to be better at making ludicrous analogies isn't going to get you the results you're hoping for.

Prompt: Years ago, I watched part of an interview with or maybe documentary on Eric Clapton. I remember one part in particular where he was saying that a musician needed to be able to understand what he was thinking in his head and interpret that music on his fretboard. He added, offhandedly, that of course the person needed to be technically proficient enough to actually play his instrument. I was struck by that, because I have never developed any such skill, so I can only imagine being proficient enough not to have to worry about positioning my fingers and strumming or picking or whatever, but just playing a rendition of the music in my heart and soul (and brain). While driving here on Monday on the interstate, with very light traffic, I found myself occasionally driving with my knees while doing something else with my hands. (I'm not trying to justify or argue in favor of distracted driving, just talking about the phenomenon under discussion.) I was somewhat aware of what my legs were doing, and I marveled that I could actually steer the car, pretty well in fact, using only my thighs, all while operating the accelerator and brakes with my feet. Now, maybe I've done this so many times in my life that I actually learned the skill. But it seems to me that what's really going on is that I understand, almost intuitively, how to drive, and somehow that skill is transferrable to my knees. My brain understands what needs to happen and is able to coordinate the movements of my knees to mimic, not the movement of my arms in steering, but the effect achieved by my arms. This is truly remarkable. I'm sure this is a real thing, even if I'm overstating it regarding this particular example. Somehow, my brain maps my world and maps my actions, and then simultaneously can remap to something else. I have noticed this in my own life repeatedly and seen in demonstrated, as when a basketball player or football or soccer player twists or something in midair to redirect his effort. That is not something he specifically practiced; it's something he just FEELS and can do. Response: ChatGPT said: What you're describing is a fascinating and very real phenomenon: the interplay between unconscious motor control, body mapping in the brain, and the flexibility—or plasticity—of how the brain generalizes learned motor skills across limbs, tools, or even alternate body parts. Let’s break it down in light of neuroscience and embodied cognition: 🧠 1. Motor Maps and the Brain The brain contains motor maps—neural representations of the body and its possible movements. These are most famously located in the primary motor cortex, where each region is roughly responsible for controlling a different body part (this is often visualized by the "motor homunculus"). But movement isn’t simply about the motor cortex saying “now move the left knee.” It’s deeply integrated with: Cerebellum: fine-tunes motion, especially for learned and complex actions Basal ganglia: handles automated sequences (e.g., shifting gears without thinking) Premotor cortex: plans movements Parietal lobe: helps map spatial relationships between your body and your environment These regions cooperate to build internal models of action—what neuroscientists call forward models—which predict the sensory consequences of movement. Once a skill is mastered, these models run almost entirely outside of conscious awareness. 🎸 2. Eric Clapton and Effortless Musicality What Clapton was describing is similar to the concept of automaticity in cognitive psychology. He has developed such a finely tuned motor skillset that his brain no longer needs to consciously translate musical ideas into finger positions—it’s a direct route from intention to action. This happens when: Perception (the sound in your head), Planning (what to play), Execution (how your fingers move), become tightly coupled through massive amounts of repetition, creating a fast, almost unconscious feedback loop. This is similar to how elite athletes react before a movement is consciously understood. 🚗 3. Driving with Knees: Sensorimotor Remapping Your knee-driving story is a wonderful example of sensorimotor remapping: your brain doesn’t just learn “steering requires hands.” It learns the effect of steering: altering the car’s direction via rotational pressure on the steering wheel. So even when the usual input channel (arms/hands) isn’t available, your brain can substitute another body part (knees), because: It understands the goal (keep the car between the lines), It can simulate the required pressure and angle, It has enough proprioceptive feedback (from the thighs, hips, feet) to make fine adjustments. You’re leveraging a kind of motor equivalence—different effectors (limbs) can produce the same outcome because the brain is abstracting the function rather than hardwiring the specific body part. ⚽ 4. Athletes and Kinesthetic Intelligence When athletes twist midair or react in real time to unpredictable stimuli, they’re operating in a space of embodied intelligence. These micro-adjustments are not typically “taught” explicitly; they arise from: Constant exposure to variable situations The brain’s ability to simulate multiple outcomes rapidly Training that wires thousands of coordinated movement patterns It’s the art of improvisation grounded in real-time kinesthetic feedback. The motor cortex, cerebellum, and sensory systems are all tightly looped. 🧬 5. Philosophical Implications You’re intuitively touching on something profound: the body is not a puppet being pulled by the mind—it’s part of the mind. This is a cornerstone of embodied cognition theory: thinking doesn’t just happen in the head—it’s distributed throughout the body’s interactions with the environment. There’s an eerie elegance to this system. As you said, the musician feels the music and plays it—not note-by-note, but as an expressive, bodily act. Likewise, you don’t think “move thigh 6 degrees left” when driving with your knees—you intend a lane correction, and your body finds a way.

I had similar thoughts (the last section was worth the price of admission). The biological argument against free will is that if you think “move finger” and move your finger, your finger moves before the command part of your brain lit up. All it shows is the will of the person does not reside (or at least solely reside) in that part of the brain. Brigham Young taught that spirits are able to move at the speed of thought, suggesting an even tighter coupling between the will and this finer matter of spirit.

On an additional note, I started reading the old testament last year when we were still on the Book of Mormon, and continued it into this year, it's remarkable how when you read two different books of scripture side by side, you find different chapters that perfectly complement each other. I wish I recorded my impressions more often.

ICE is making arrests without warrants and deporting people without due process, and Trump is calling it legal. The actions of the SS were considered lawful actions by the German government, and they didn't start with herding people into trains. They started with things like this: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/05/10/trump-stephen-miller-habeas-corpus-constitution/83554334007/ You mean like this? https://www.immigrantdefenseproject.org/idp-and-partners-release-briefing-guide-on-ices-secretive-citizen-academy-programs-with-documents-uncovered-through-foia-litigation/ I agree that there it's important to look for red flags in both major political parties, and my disdain for the DNC shouldn't be a secret at this point. I don't know that David Hogg would be my pick to lead a far left reform movement, mainly because his gun views align more with liberal Dems than leftists, and that could swifly become a problem in today's political climate. Trump has created a lot of 2A enthusiasts on my side of the fence.

Another fun thing. Isaiah 56:1-8 speaks of a time when all will be welcome in the house of the lord, and God will gather in those who are not direct descendants of Israel. It then transitions into this: Watchmen, Shepherds and dogs are all "guardians" of the flock. The beasts seek to devour the flock. This seems to prophesy of a time when, God will begin to gather in people from all over the world, yet the "guardians of the flock" will fail to prevent the beasts from devouring the faithful. This passage is said to refer to the gospel, and the beasts are those who reject the gospel, and seek to rip away others from the gospel. The blind watchmen are those who fail to see evil. The mute dogs are those who fail to alert of Evil. The greedy dogs are those absorbed in lives of excess and the shepherds who lack understanding are leaders who just don't know any better. Apparently there isn't much consensus among scholars as to what is actually spoken about here, so I thought it could lead to some interesting insights. Does it refers to the restored gospel or christianity in general? Or some other principle? To me it seems like a warning against ineffective and unprepared leadership in the modern restored church. Would anybody say that they have seen examples where a unprepared leader has allowed a beast to devour some sheep? I read this chapter today, and also D&C 46, and it's good timing really, D&C 46 seems to offer the solution to this folly: 1. exclude nobody from meetings (inviting those who seek to destroy the gospel - referred to as the beasts - in, probably does quite a bit to diminish their power. 2. and to encourage everybody to develop their spiritual gifts for the benefit of Gods children. The D&C is quite clear, everybody will have at least 1 spiritual gift. If we all recognise it, and use it, then the sheep are prepared for times when beasts managed to get past the watchmen, dogs and shepherds. These are just some impressions from my personal study. They probably aren't worth much to anybody else 😝

Recent news stories have offered a pretty clear reminder. https://www.newsweek.com/ice-agents-battle-mom-baby-chaotic-video-worcester-2070027 Oy. Such a tragically, emotion-based, nonserious take, FP. I mean, yes, my Bragg/Pink Floyd comparison was mostly nonserious as well, so if you intended your post to be a reflection of mine, then I can understand and appreciate that. Up until your comparisons about the brownshirts. In one situation, ICE agents (or any law enforcement body, for that matter), scuffling with people intent on hampering the execution of lawful actions. In the other, an informal group of party bodyguard agitators who beat up dissenters at party rallies and beat up shopkeepers and invade/disrupt/bring violence to opposing parties events, eventually form the paramilitary wing of the notzie party under control of Oberster SA-Führer Hitler. No really - this should span political sides and ideologies. We should remember who the brownshirts were, their tactics, their impacts. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sturmabteilung

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wall#Plot The original album is a *lot* different, with Pink hallucinating that he's a fascist leader after having been forced out of his hotel room and given drugs so that he could perform, leading to a meltdown on stage. The movie is a lot more surreal in nature, leading to a lot of what the album was trying to say being inadvertently lost in translation.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/david-hogg-vice-chair-vote-dnc-democrats/ Young Democrats voted twenty-something gun control advocate David Hogg into a senior leadership position in the hopes that he would reform the party from within by forcing it to listen to younger voices. Older Democrats have now made it clear they intend to void his election due to a "procedural error" in what I'm already seeing some people speculate is retaliation for his efforts to upset the current order. Yeah, I'm thinking that 2026 isn't going to go as the Democrats want.

It does – but it is just intellectual humor. The Traveler

Apparently AI has no sense of humor.

He’s absolutely right about that one.

Just because even ending in a cliffhanger this thread deserves another read, I'll add this addendum... Since the Henry desktop vacuum (see previous comment) apparently sucks (because it doesn't suck), I got this orange cat desktop vacuum instead, which is fabulous! I use it to pick up eraser dust. It also picks up cat hair off the desk, but not off paper - very annoying how cat hair appears to be designed to glue itself to paper. Battery lasts forever, despite daily use.

Random thoughts: 1. I loved the Vatican when I visited. I’d like to live there. I also recognize that if it became the sort of place where the likes of me could go and live, much of what I love about it would be lost. My love for it—and indeed, a big part of its allure and spiritual power—derives from the fact that it is not what it would inevitably become if it were under my control. And I wish that Francis had understood and conceded about my country, what I understand and concede about his. 2. LDS temples are beautiful, but (with a handful of exceptions) their artistry is not even in the same ZIP code as the artistry of the great medieval and renaissance basilicas and cathedrals. 3. Artistry can be a form of worship. Craftsmanship can be a form of worship. In our temples we do the latter very well; as I think we are theologically beholden to do. But we do the former only at a very elementary level. Temple artwork is first and foremost intended to recall and evoke the spirit of specific past events; not about embracing beauty as an aspect of divinity and then pioneering new ways of seeking beauty for its own sake. 4. There are good reasons for the LDS Church as an institution to *not* prioritize artistry, even (arguably, especially) in its temples. Structures can become enormous money pits if you aren’t willing to say goodbye to them when they become obselete or damaged beyond repair (see SL Temple, SL Tabernacle, Provo City Center Temple, Kirtland Temple; compare Ogden Temple, Anchorage Temple, Provo Rock Canyon Temple). And the architectural uniqueness of France’s great cathedrals is a big part of why the government there expropriated those buildings and has often refused to give them back in the intervening centuries.

From Google AI: So now we know! I could never dissociate "I can't let Maggie go" (which is a great song, by the way) from women flying around in balloons eating bread. Wonderful!

The Colorado Dept of Public Health & Environment just paid me ten bucks to take a survey on health matters. One of the questions: I'm thinking they should have asked what I do during my day. I could have told them I argue religion and politics online, wading through some cesspools of bad human behavior. I dunno though. Maybe I should be paid reparations or something?

You don’t have to measure high, just have measurable thighs.

The white smoke was from a fire of unknown origin.

If you'll recall, back in 2014 / 2015 Zoe Quinn and Anita Sarkeesian were before the United Nations crying their crocodile tears about how their poor life choices and online sociopolitical activism had backfired spectacularly, leading to negative consequences... or as they put it, an organized cyber-bullying campaign ostensibly based on their being involved in video games despite being female. They were demanding reparations under the guise of seeking funding for their various organizations, and weren't going to leave without it. Meanwhile, I'd spent the past 15 years dealing with the anti-Mormon contingent on the internet, with things being far worse in both scope and magnitude than what they were getting at the time and in the case of the anti-Mormon contingent it legitimately was simply because we existed. Cue me wondering how much I could soak the UN for if I was to plead my case accordingly, or if only certain types of people could have that platform.

And for the sports fan.

For the music fan