48 Comments
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Citizen60's avatar

It’s National Dog Day! Extra tummy rubs and treats are in order.

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Jay Janney's avatar

So what do I give to the dogs then? 🤔

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C C Writer's avatar

I gave them a scratch behind the ears.

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Kurt's avatar

I've always thought that these ancient writings are allegorical, wherein the authors were trying to advise and warn us on how to live.

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Jay Janney's avatar

Update: I'm alive! 😀

Interestingly enough, neither my daughter nor my wife initially noticed my daughter's name powerwashed onto the driveway. She went outside, and came back in, asking if our daughter had written her name on the driveway

"You didn't recognize my handwriting"?

"I could read it". She then added "but the letters got bigger....like our daughter wrote it".

"I thought of laying board down top and bottom to keep the letters the same size.

"you do plan to wash it off after the party"

"Of course!"

"Good".

So the good news is she is not upset I wrote our daughter's name on the driveway. She did thank me for powerwashing the garage doors, the gutter, the front windows 1st floor, and the sidewalk.

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Dsfelty's avatar

That's funny. Reminds me of when we first moved here and had a big lawn(planted lots of trees and other natives since then). I'd draw big, goofy love notes and hearts to my wife in fertilizer, which, once the grass took off, showed up quite well from a distance. Our neighbor had a remote control airplane and surprised us with some great aerial photos he took.

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Jay Janney's avatar

I tried to plant daffodils in the shape of a heart, only the squirrels ate half of them! 😡

I thought of writing "phlebotomist" below her name, but was afraid I'd run out of power before I finished, and then everyone would be embarrassed.

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BikerChick's avatar

I might be upset if you power washed my front window.

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Jay Janney's avatar

Well, I wouldn't do it without your permission first! 😏

I'm also standing fairly far back from the window, so it's really about the same pressure as a garden hose with a nozzle head.

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BikerChick's avatar

Well it’s not the pressure so much as the streaks. I use a special window cleaner with a squeegee but hey, if you cleaned up the water in a streak free manner, I’d be A-OK with it.

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Kurt's avatar

It was on this day in 1920 that the 19th Amendment was formally incorporated into the U.S. Constitution.

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Citizen60's avatar

And it’s the goal of Christian Nationalists to get it repealed. They are a huge component of Trump’s supporters, and are expanding their footprint in the US with new congregations.

Fighting over and over for the same ground gets old.

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Kurt's avatar
Aug 26Edited

From ChatGPT....

"According to the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI), in their 2024 American Values Atlas survey of over 22,000 U.S. adults:

• 10% of Americans are Christian Nationalism Adherents — they strongly and consistently agree with Christian nationalist statements.

• 20% are Christian Nationalism Sympathizers — they agree with most statements, albeit less intensely.

Combined, that means roughly 30% of Americans either adhere to or sympathize with Christian nationalist views.

These percentages have remained stable since the PRRI survey began in late 2022.

Christian Nationalism Adherents 10%

Christian Nationalism Sympathizers 20%

Total (Adherents + Sympathizers) 30%

Christian Nationalism Skeptics 37%

Christian Nationalism Rejecters 29%

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Jay Janney's avatar

I'd have to see how they define Christian Nationalism. I suspect I would be considered either a skeptic or a sympathizer, depending on the definition.

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Phil H's avatar

Making bold assumptions about faint glyphs i an obscure language is a bit ore than speculative, but downright sensationalistic.

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Kurt's avatar

I sense a storyline for a 6 part TV series.

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R.Rice's avatar

Aw, come on! We are given something positive to ruminate on, so why not run with it! :-)

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IncognitoG's avatar

Too bad “My WAG” isn’t a popular introductory phrase in academic journals.

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Jay Janney's avatar

We add an "S" for "silly"....

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Phil H's avatar

Good morning. 55 here, with a high maybe reaching 70. The mothership is covering an event I’m sure you are all intensely interested in — the UN climate change conference (Conference of Parties or COP) in Belem, Brazil, a city in the Amazon basin. Noteworthy that neither the US nor PR China — the 2 biggest CO2 emitters — are sending government delegations.

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Jay Janney's avatar

I just wanna see STOP OIL! try to pollute the amazon for attention...

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CynthiaW's avatar

It shows they care about reducing emissions from the travel of Government Special People. Good on 'em!

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Kurt's avatar

I think it has more to do with deflecting interest in COP and thereby making it "go away", than any attempt at reducing emissions. The US certainly can't lend it any credence, and China would rather "sell" its version of eco-consciousness than provide COP with photo ops of enviro-transgressors.

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IncognitoG's avatar

Full sunshine and 50º F. I could get used to living in such conditions…

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The original Optimum.net's avatar

I think the last line is not translated correctly. If I'm not mistaken, it says, "Always put the shower curtain INSIDE the tub."

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Kurt's avatar
Aug 26Edited

哈哈哈哈哈。。。。That's funny!

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IncognitoG's avatar

So you’re saying it could be proto-IKEA instructions?

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Kurt's avatar

IKEA uses ideograms.

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Jay Janney's avatar

I thought it was spelled idiotgrams, in honor of their not-so-DIY customers.

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Kurt's avatar
Aug 26Edited

Probably. I usually throw the instructions away.

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The original Optimum.net's avatar

Oh, yes. Especially given that they are open to interpretation.

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Kurt's avatar

As a tool guy and person called by everyone when something needs assembling, the IKEA instructions are not bad. It's way more to do with the general population's incompetence in assembling anything.

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Paul Britton's avatar

I would like to know which symbol or marking translates to "Lo" -- as in, "Lo, I cut down the gates."

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IncognitoG's avatar

Maybe it’s short for “Lois”, the dude’s lady friend.

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CynthiaW's avatar

In some modern languages, there would be a case marker - maybe a diacritical, maybe a syllable or a tone - indicating emphasis. In others, it's just a particle: Yo! Hey! Look! This! Oi!

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Jay Janney's avatar

One day my wife once wondered what our dogs were saying when they barked.. I replied "Hey!" "Hey!", and she laughed.

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CynthiaW's avatar

Good morning. "If correct ..." is doing a lot of work in that paragraph, but it's interesting to think about.

First official day of Envirothon. I have to teach study skills.

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IncognitoG's avatar

Raises very interesting questions. “If incorrect” raises even more of them, though.

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CynthiaW's avatar

If it's incorrect, then it's an unknown kind of inscription that may mean nothing, and the guy was just overenthusiastic and got it all wrong.

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Jay Janney's avatar

I've read about Alice Kober's work on deciphering the Linear B tablets. It's very sophisticated, how she analyzed it. Of course, she also studied 20 different languages, and made her own mechanical database, so she had plenty of talent.

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Kurt's avatar

What's a mechanical database? Like, a Rolodex?

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Jay Janney's avatar

Alice Kober made her own index cards in WW II out of cigarette packages. She cut them, then hole punched them. She wrote info on each card, then threaded the cards (several thousands of cards) together, so that by pulling vertically and horizontally (on a different hole) she could see what symbols remained grouped together.

It's very impressive work on her part. Sadly for her, she died just before Linear B was finally decoded, based on her work.

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Kurt's avatar
Aug 26Edited

Actually, a mechanical RELATIONAL database. Wow. A mechanical DB is just a Rolodex. Mechanically linking relations is wild.

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Kurt's avatar

That is fascinating! A mechanically grouped database. Brilliant.

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Wilhelm's avatar

Do some not study their study skills? What happens then?

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CynthiaW's avatar

Then their studying is less effective, and they don't do as well in competition.

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