Keith Olbermann? Really?

Sometimes I break down and express political, social, or moral thoughts on this blog.

I don’t write about controversial subjects because I think I can change your mind.  I do it to examine my assumptions and clarify my thinking.  Most people I talk to have set views.  They either get their news from Rachel Maddow or Rush Limbaugh; they brush away evidence, examples, arguments, and appeals to reason from the other side.

In other words, I don’t think arguing politics or morality does anything to change the world.  It may make me feel better, but it won’t change your mind.  And that’s why I try not to proselytize.

But is it true, as Abi Sutherland says at Making Light, that “no one listens to counter-arguments or contrary views,” that people are “trapped in epistemic closure, clinging to their tribal beliefs”?  Maybe not.  In the linked blog post, she writes about Louis Marinelli, until recently a spokesperson for the National Organization for Marriage, a group fervently opposed to allowing same-sex marriages.  Marinelli, after meeting same-sex marriage advocates at protests and rallies, and after reading blog posts in favor of recognizing all marriages, switched sides.

Abi writes: “We never know, when we write online, who in our audience is at one of those tipping points. Nine out of ten passionate posts on important topics, or ninety-nine out of a hundred, might as well be writ on water. But all it takes is once; one time pays for all.”

But don’t worry … I won’t go overboard based on one encouraging example.  I have yet to change any of my friends’ minds, after all.  Just last Sunday, one of those friends took me aside at a party to tell me I needed to tone it down on my blog.  He said I was becoming a wild-eyed radical.  He said I was starting to “sound like Keith Olbermann.”

How hurtful.  Keith Olbermann?  That pussy?  I’m way to the left of him.

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A few years ago I wrote about an encounter with a killdear, a bird with an interesting method of protecting its nest.  Walking the dog in a nearby park, I inadvertently came too close to a killdeer’s nest, I guess, because suddenly here was this bird flopping around in the dirt as if it had a broken wing.  Whenever we came within a few feet of it, it would flutter and fly a little bit, luring us away from its nest.  I thought that was one of the coolest things I’d ever seen.

Every spring birds build nests up under the eaves of our front porch.  In the past I’ve knocked the nests down, but this year I decided to leave ’em be.  It’s not like the birds are doing any harm, after all, and aren’t we all God’s creatures?  Live and let live.  There’s a pigeon on its nest in one corner of the porch overhang and a house sparrow on its nest in the other.

Well, guess what?  House sparrows know about the “wounded bird” trick too.  This morning, as Schatzi and I opened the front door to go for a walk, the sparrow dived down to the ground, just past the range of Schatzi’s leash, then started fluttering and hopping in the dirt, gradually leading us away toward the garage and the edge of our yard.  I realized right away what was going on, but Schatzi was totally fooled … just six more inches, Dad, and that sucker is mine!

Speaking of birds, the old hummingbird nest from last year is finally gone.  I suppose that means the mother bird has knocked it down in order to build a new one.  Time to break out the Hummercam!

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Donna’s on the warpath.  Last week she bought some 1500 thread count Egyptian cotton bedsheets from a vendor at a kiosk in a mall.  Back home, when she took them out of the package, they turned out to be flimsy and cheap … not 1500 thread count, not Egyptian, probably not even cotton.

I must say, when I glanced at the package, it certainly looked like the sheets were labeled “1500 thread count/100% Egyptian cotton.”  But upon closer examination, it looks like Donna fell prey to deceptive labeling:

Frankly I’m surprised this sort of thing is legal, but I keep forgetting how many consumer protections have been undone by deregulation.

But there I go getting all political again.