Culture

Diversity Kills: Air Force Edition

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Alternate title. Diversity Always Leads To Mandatory Quotas: Air Force Edition

The purpose of an army, whether on land or sea or air, is twofold: to kill the enemy and to discourage the enemy from attacking. Anything which distracts from these goals weakens or destroys these abilities. So much is obvious, truths which everybody used to know. But things change.

The Air Force—my alma mater; Staff Sergeant Briggs, me—has issued a memorandum, from the secretary Deborah Lee James herself, for all commanders with subject “2016 Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) Initiatives.”

Diversity is our weakness. Diversity will cause military weakness. Let’s see how with these new initiatives (I apologize for the picture, but it was much faster than re-typing them all).

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The first few bullets are calls for mandatory quotas. As the title of this post says, Diversity always leads to mandatory quotas. Always. But perhaps less well known is that Diversity also always leads to an increase in Diversity categories. First there was sex, where “Equality” between the sexes was demanded. Think suffragettes. Then came demands for “Equality” between a limited slate of races: the number of official races continues to increase, with suggestions for new ones always arising from those who claim human races don’t exist or aren’t important. Then came ability status, then sexual desire, then on and on, with no end in sight, and no end possible. Unless we abandon Diversity and Equality, the number of categories will forever fractionate and blossom.

The bullet “Provide Female Airmen More Time to Decide on Balancing a Career with a New Child” is proof of what was claimed would never happen. That “Equality” of women would lower standards. Diversity always lowers standards, and it does so because it mandates quotas. People are selected for their Diversity characteristics over and above their abilities. A woman, pregnant or new mother, can never be the warrior equivalent of a single man in his twenties.

The bullet “Reduce Bureaucratic Obstacles to Providing Reasonable Accommodations for Individuals with Disabilities” is monumental in its blindness. It is sure certain and final proof that Diversity is destructive. It is so dumb that you feel dirty even mentioning it, let alone having to type a sentence showing it idiocies. Anybody who can’t understand the fatality of this directive is lost to us.

The bullet “Provide Unconscious Bias Training Materials Prior to Key Career Events” is proof that because Diversity is not natural, it must always be accompanied by propaganda and to force acceptance. That Diversity awareness, and Diversity “buy in”, will be required for promotion shows again the degrading effects of Diversity. Surely many will merely mouth their love of Diversity in order to keep their jobs or be promoted, but lying like this to get ahead weakens the soul. Worse, many will believe Diversity is as important as they are told it is, another form of soul corruption.

A negative feedback is in place, Diversity builds upon Diversity, and the military becomes weaker with each step. Frankly, I see no way out. Exposing its fallacies and showing its conclusions are pointless, because a strong military is not the goal of those espousing Diversity. Diversity is their goal, and they are attaining it. And, as shown above, everything they do will increase Diversity; hence articles like this one might even do positive harm because it encourages those who tout Diversity by highlighting their good efforts.

Solution? Besides war? None.

Update Just when you might have fallen prey to false hope comes this moronic headline: Transgender U.S. Air Force Airmen Can Now Skip Physical Fitness Tests.

Deborah James said in a statement, “This is another step in allowing transgender Airmen to serve openly, receive medical care relating to gender transition and allow transgender individuals to join the Air Force…Our strengths as a military are the quality and character of our people, and those things that make us unique are the same things that make us strong.” [Ellipsis original.]

Old Vlad is sitting in Krelim, dispirited. He calls up number Eleven in Bejing to complain. “They’re making this too easy,” he groans. “Where is the challenge!”

Categories: Culture

38 replies »

  1. Whatever does “Enable Recruiters to Open New Geographic Markets” mean?
    Outside the U.S and territories? Maybe ISIS land? Got to fill those quotas!

  2. Just for a very brief moment, remember back to the era when Jews suffered restrictions on entry to various civic institutions such as universities. When those practices were retracted there was no call for principles of diversity, no policies of positive discrimination quotas. Just it happen as it would. Think back also to similar entry of Asians, Chinese and Japanese among them – again no calls for diversity, no quotas. Fortunately they weren’t considered to be some form of crippled samples of humankind.

  3. When things go wrong, just blame it on diversity, whatever it is to you. Piece of cake. Only white male men are competent, just to go along the style of this blog.

  4. And of course, white men never committed any mistakes or crime. No, no such news can be found in the media.

  5. G.K. Chesterton once said, “If a man is appointed Minister for Faeries in the Lower Garden, do not expect him to announce that there are no faeries in the lower garden.” Just so, Officers for Diversity should not be expected to say there is no need for officers of diversity and to simply remove barriers, leaving the essence of the organization in place.

  6. If you have a degree and join the military, or are civilian medical professional you automatically have officer status in the British military with all that entails and rightly so.

    If you work as a locum there is never any danger that you are recruited because of a disability.
    With a week’s notice period you certainly know that if you’re not up to the job you are out. Personally I was always the one who terminated the job if it wasn’t convenient or if the staff were insufferable. This happened once when I worked for the RAF. I was there many months and was asked to come back by the staff who counted, the GP’s, warrant officer and Wing commander. The flight SGT was put on permanent gardening leave with his foot ‘nailed to the floor’. I don’t think that man could cope outside of the military and is probably propping up a bar in Liverpool as we speak. A certain pilot, Daniel, six feet four, was also sorry to see me go but I was too decent to have my head turned. We live and learn. The SFT had been telling all the SAC’s and so on about my pay which was open discussion, apparently. Considering I have good mobility and don’t appear not to see this causes suspicion and jealousy in the easily moved to envy. He was, as the GP informed me, walking around bumping into doors and walls saying “oops, I’m the physio.” Like with all attempts to hurt, it’s not the thing said but the intent that is hurtful, always and if that is premeditated it’s all the worse.

    Most permanent staff, cannot work under this level of uncertainty and yet are often envious of the extra financial reward that this contracting brings with it.

    Diversity is not a system, it’s just a word that’s been done to death.

    Quoters never existed at any point within my career path.
    I take personal offence at the thought. I wouldn’t work for someone who wanted me for my visual problem to make up the numbers. Just the way I was brought up, my privileged education but more important an attitude of mind.

    During my time it came to my notice or was told to me that selection for SAS is done irrespective of any other consideration than ability.
    Meaning that the normal requirements for fitness and this refers to eyes limbs etc rather than cardiovascular fitness do not apply.
    There was a men with one eye, and missing fingers. The hottest shot was too valuable to lose.

    If a man becomes disabled during his military career there is often gainful employment within the military that is offered and sometimes excepted.

    Quoters are an insult.

    To be balanced about this, countries like India have started to value the lives of disabled people and discovered the fruit that can bear from this approach. Instead of drowning their blind girls they send them to school. Under the sky of some idealists of the opposing side to diversity this wouldn’t happen.
    The girls in some cases earn more money than their families ever thought possible, often choosing bank call centres or other appropriate work for blind girls.

    So the message here is, don’t shoot the wrong person. It’s the politicians and the bad philosophers making bad arguments who need to pull their socks up. Not the person trying to make their way.

    As for officers of diversity, I’ve never heard of one of those creatures.

    It’s not the same situation for every individual who is ‘unfortunate’ and compassion and balance aren’t gifts given to all. GK Chesterton is saying that a man is subject to the hand that feeds him. This works for people employed by a religious organisation as well. However, some of us have standards!

  7. No, Daniel was six feet five, I got him mixed up with someone else.
    We were at the tea table in the mess and I was a new. it took a long time to look all that way up when they’re standing so close. This is a reason to smile, apparently.

  8. JH makes the usual error of conflating hyperinflation with the normal expansion of the money supply. Black men have always served in the US Army, and their feats of valor were well known: in the Civil War, the Spanish-American War (where the 9th and 10th US Cavalry took the Heights of San Juan side-by-side with the 1st US Volunteer Cavalry, “The Rough Riders”), in the Apache Wars and Pershing’s pursuit of Pancho Villa. Although Wilson disbanded the Buffalo soldiers, soldiers of the 369th Infantry Regiment (“Harlem Hellfighters”) earned a great many Legions of Merit from the French government, under whose command they served.

    Black men were included in the Army not because of “diversity” but because the Army needed fighting men, and military needs trumped social prejudice. No one lowered any standards to admit them, the way that “transgender” airmen can skip physical fitness tests. You may notice the difference. It is not mere prejudice, but concern for the fighting prowess of the armed forces. Granted, Briggs is talking about the Air Force, not the Marines, but still….

  9. “A negative feedback is in place, Diversity builds upon Diversity, and the military becomes weaker with each step. ”

    Hate to nitpick this feedback thing, but this example above is of positive, not of negative feedback. (Overamplifying both effects, NOT diminishing are fingerprints for the +fb.) Regardless of the negative outcome, these are symptoms of overly fallacious regulation (Diversity grows to the + hell while Army services tend to diminish to 0).

  10. “Social Justice Warriors” — The slang expression sort of takes on new meaning with such initiatives by the USAF (and similar in the other military service branches).

    Anyone troubled by the changes discussed might take some comfort from the “Things Could Be Worse” perspective by noting that at least, for now, all this accommodation of diversity is being restricted to humans.

    That may change as a PhD disssertation submitted, successfully, to Ohio State University (considered among the top) includes this gem, the meaning/intent of which is by no means as well bounded as some might hope:

    “Social studies education and sustainability education are the two constructs being explored in this study. Social studies is …. . Sustainability education
    seeks to develop informed, reflective and action taking citizens who are able to balance their rights to a clean, safe and fulfilling environment with their responsibilities to present and future generations AND TO OTHER SPECIES.”

    Reference:
    http://gradworks.umi.com/35/35/3535222.html
    – ttps://etd.ohiolink.edu/rws_etd/document/get/osu1354673663/inline

  11. Diversity is the new affirmative action and the results will be similar. A retired friend of mine worked in marketing and at one company he thought he was certain to become marketing manager when the incumbent retired. Instead a woman was promoted over him. He had worked with this woman and said she was not qualified to be the manager. He asked someone in upper management what happened and was told the CEO wanted to promote a woman into management. My friend didn’t see a happy outcome for this situation and left the company for another job in about a month. About six months later the company paid the female marketing manager about $250,000 to resign and just go away quietly and don’t cause any problems. My friend tells the story with considerable amusement.

  12. YOS, did I say anything about black men? It’s OK if it makes you feel better to accuse me of making a mistake.

  13. It was even worse in south Africa where non qualified people in all sort s of roles, I mean admin roles, were given jobs whilst qualified staff were let go.

    This fear of diversity as a spreading disease needs some treatment.
    I can honestly say that since the world has obsessed with ‘diversity’ things have got worse in terms of how people behave to one another and who can blame them really. We don’t need an academic paper to show that something is so.
    That is cowardly argument.

    It’s another infringement on freedom of employers and the public to chose how they act and who they employ. In my view, because I believe in the good nature of most people, unlike suspicious people.

    Hate cannot be outlawed any more than love can be mandatory.
    God tried that and it didn’t work. What hope has governments?

  14. YOS, did I say anything about black men?

    No, what you said was:

    When things go wrong, just blame it on diversity…. Only white male men are competent,

    That is, you said more about black men, by implication, than anyone else said about white men, competent or otherwise.

    The confusion, as I said, lies in conflating perfectly the acceptable removal of impediments to mission accomplishment with a manic obsession with diversity-as-such. Hence, the rhetorical trope of citing quotidian and harmless examples to counter complaints about extreme instances.

  15. “Worse, many will believe Diversity is as important as they are told it is, another form of soul corruption.”

    Have you ever actual read your Bible? Or just Aquinas?

    JMJ

  16. YOS, sigh… what confusion? Your confusion about my sarcasim toward Briggs, a white male man? My (not so sincere) apologies. I know, American military is so much weaker because the numbers of official races, female soldiers, and LGBT soldiers, and so on have increased. The country is going down because of liberal agenda! When China and Russia attack us, we better make sure that we don’t show them that those numbers are up!

  17. JH, what should I be afraid of? The delusion that those who disagree with you on Point A will necessarily disagree with you on Point B? You were going on about white males when all Briggs had commented on was less physically qualified airmen. Or airpersons. There is a difference between barring someone because you think his condition disqualifies him and requiring his recruitment in particular percentage. I say, go for competence and it all comes out in the wash.

  18. JMJ,
    Soul.? This as close as it gets to capturing the nature of soul without words.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1-TrAvp_xs

    ‘lumpy jumper’s should not be in combat roles or anywhere near the end of a gun, a strategic map or bossing military men around.
    (I wouldn’t trust me even with full eyesight).
    Paintballing was fun but not the real ting.

  19. Joy, you are so darn right! A white male man is the best! Mr. JH is the prime example. Women can only be whatever they are allowed to be. Diversify kills, remember that. 🙂 🙂 🙂

    YOS, diversity kills, be afraid! Did I say you disagree with me?What delusion? The delusion I had is that I though you have some sense of humor.

    “All Briggs has commented on was less qualified airmen”? Hmmm… really? Perhaps, I forgot that today is my Chinese reading day.

  20. Worse, many will believe Diversity is as important as they are told it is, another form of soul corruption.

    Worse, many will believe the part about soul corruption in the above statement, another form of soul corruption. Please note symptoms of such form of soul corruption include bellyache, sleeplessness, and delusions.

  21. Welcome to my world of hearing smiles:
    That last line reads:
    “Kill, remember that, slightly smiling face, slightly smiling face, slightly smiling face.” (Spoken like it just drew a rabbit out of a hat!) I preferred the Steven Hawking voice, It read properly, understood commas. ‘Voiceover’ isn’t up to much. Just good enough to sound great when you’re in the shop. Like a lot of sales, promise everything, deliver nothing. It’s the modern way.

    It is a military post after all.

  22. Diversity, multiculturalism and, one of the newest and my personal
    favorite sustainability, all terminology inserted into the popular lexicon
    with Bernays like aplomb. Indeed I feel Bernays has been given
    historical short shrift and should be up there, on the mantle piece
    so to speak, with the towering figures of Einstein, Freud, and Marx.

  23. U.S. Motto:

    E. pluribus unum — Out of many, one. Unity stronger than its parts.

    The symbol is the bound bunch of sticks, individually the sticks are weak and easily broken, together they are strong, practically unbreakable.

    That symbol has been used for a long time and appears in a number of versions (e.g. the “Mercury” [Winged-Cap-Liberty] Dime on the reverse as part of an ax; on the modern dime on the reverse as part of a torch; and on the front edge of the chair on which Lincoln sits in the Lincoln Memorial as decorative structure). E.G.:

    http://livinglincoln.web.unc.edu/2015/04/12/the-creation-of-the-lincoln-memorial/

    http://www.usmint.gov/mint_programs/circulatingcoins/indexbcee.html?action=CircDime

    Now, the U.S. has come to a curious point where some strong elements desire to invoke “diversity” in the sense of, “Out of many, many weak who need coddling,” or something like that… That might not be treasonous in the strict sense, but is certainly treasonous to the underlying ideals central to the founding of the country.

  24. diversity kills, be afraid!

    Nah. St. Thomas thought well of it, and regarded it as a way in which creatures participate finitely in the infinity of God. What kills is the numerical obsession with “diversity” at the expense of competence. That is, making it a goal as such, rather than simply a consequence of seeking other goals. (It is part and parcel of what we might call the “intelligent design theory” of government, the notion that we can design our society when we cannot even design a really good toaster-oven; i.e., socialism. If, for example, race has nothing to do with competence in the military arts, then focusing on competence and removing cultural barriers are sufficient and the diversity will simply happen. An example is the diversity in the Communion of Saints, where the only requirement is a certain degree of holiness.
    #
    E. pluribus unum — Out of many, one. Unity stronger than its parts.

    The symbol is the bound bunch of sticks, individually the sticks are weak and easily broken, together they are strong, practically unbreakable.

    A/k/a, the fasces, from which a political movement took its name. Another symbol was the fist by which the weak individual fingers (phalanges) were curled into a strong punch; hence also, the Falange.

    The lictors who followed the Roman consuls, praetors, et al. about their duties carried the fasces on their shoulders in order to beat malefactors with the rods of correction. If the magistrate was an imperator (lit. “he who commands”), he was entitled to insert the headsman’s axe into the bundle as a symbol of military authority. However, he could not do so within the first milestone from Rome itself.

    The “unum” part was once accomplished by “the melting pot,” but we try not to do that anymore, since it would be “cultural imperialism.” All those sticks continue to be weak unless they are bound together (ligare, from which re-ligio)

    The more modern motto of e pluribus plurum seeks to maintain the diversity as a good in itself by preventing assimilation into the unum. This ensures that the ‘plurum’ remain always marginalized from the common culture, perhaps even unable to speak the common language, and will therefore remain poor and dependent upon the correct politicians.

    So, yes, in that sence, diversity-as-end-in-itself does kill.

    Human nature triumphs. A number of years ago, the Edison NJ school district proposed putting all the Indian students into ESL classes by which they would be instructed in math, etc. in the Hindi language. There were enough Indian students to form an Official Minority and receive federal money proportionate to the number of such students. No bureaucrat can turn his back on a bucket of money. But the mothers of those students descended upon the school in protest. No, they said, teach them in English! We want to become Americans. Besides, we are Gujuratis, Marathis, Tamils, etc. We don’t speak Hindi! But we did learn basic English in India.

  25. YOS That’s very interesting I think you would enjoy Gray’s. Our anatomy lecturer, Derek Field used to tell us all the stories about how structures were named. Latin helps as a memory prompt, too. (acetabulum, Sartorius, The names used to make Sense. Then the anatomical snuff box. I wouldn’t know because I don’t do anything like that but medical students in Ye olden days used snuff.

    Don’t forget the muscles or your phalanges will be floppy. Ligaments aren’t enough. It’s all in the synergy. If you want to take a knife or a weapon from someone’s hand flex the wrist if you have both hands free and the grip will release due to the stretch on the extensor tendons and dorsal muscles and the slackening of the flexor muscles~and tendons. This optimum position is essential for all normal hand function in about 40-60degrees extension. Check it out on yours! Make a floppy hand then make a power grip and look at what the wrist does.

    A feature manipulated to practical advantage in upper spinal injuries where the grip known as tenodesis (my bad spelling) is used to bring the fingers to the palm by allowing flexors to shorten as the passive contractures develop. Stretch those and the person can’t achieve a hook grip which is all they would otherwise have and every bit counts. an effect called passive insufficiency. Active insufficiency being used with the self defence forced release.

    For the strongest iron punch, carry a C battery in your palm. It will turn your punch into iron man’s! Not that I doubt it isn’t already.
    (Goodness don’t you have to be careful around here!)

    (and don’t use the stair master! leg press only in sitting or squats.)
    I have visions….

  26. Please note symptoms of such form of soul corruption include bellyache, sleeplessness, and delusions.

    Since a living being is a synolon — that is, a union of form and matter, of psyche and soma — it is no great surprise if many maladies are psychosomatic; esp. when you take a synolistic (‘holistic’) view. The opposite also holds true: a somatic corruption may affect the psyche, because it’s all one ousia (substance).

    See here for a short discussion:
    https://thomism.wordpress.com/2008/08/10/the-mode-of-analysis-proper-to-the-discussion-of-the-soul/

    The powers unique to the human soul are intellect and volition. It is possible, by habituating neural patterns that originate in more primitive parts of the brain, to interfere with neural patterns originating in the neocortex thus disrupting the rational intellect. Strong drink may do this physically; a desire for power and dominion over others may do so mentally. Hence, the old saying, “Sin makes you stupid.”
    https://webapps.pni.princeton.edu/ncc/PDFs/Neural%20Economics/Cohen%20(JEP%2005).pdf

  27. Here goes… over the top!
    YOS I hope you are being facetious. I have to get this off my chest and write it out there. Sorry in advance if it’s offensive but it’s not the intention, naturally.

    The term Psychosomatic is not used clinically. The mechanism is described rather than diagnosed or a ‘syndrome’ is given a name. Stress is better understood these days and shouldn’t be dismissed as a fad. I’m not correcting you at all, we agree on almost everything and even some of what follows but not all. I’m aware that you agree with much of this but will want to justify why it’s okay to medicalise the soul or anatomise it. (not atomise!)

    @@@@@@@@@@@@@@(don’t they look like roses?)
    The ’sin makes you stupid’ is quite wrong and in many ways but I think of three straight away. These old sayings have a lot to answer for. I think I did appreciate what you meant but sayings like that have been informing attitudes, evidently.

    Of course hard drink or even small amounts make people do things they wouldn’t do otherwise. They simply find it difficult to overcome compulsions once the alcohol is working. It’s not considered a legal defence with respect to the wrong itself. It is taken into account in sentencing. A person still knows right from wrong when they’re drunk, The so called older parts of the brain are effected equally by the alcohol. It’s not that they are made stupid as much as they don’t care. This means that the ordinarily considered softer less intellectual part is inhibited, not the intellect. You see if a person lives in the intellect they have only an ever more complex set of rules to follow. They have lost touch with that innate, gentle, sensitive part, one might call the heart. Skip it.

    What happens is they stop caring. Another indication that the lower function or so considered of compassion and sensitivity which might lead to better decisions is inhibited. So the sensitive part which ‘lives lower’ which should be working didn’t work to inhibit the behaviour. QED!

    I base a lot of this on attitudes gleaned from this very site, where emotion and feeling are outlawed as deliciously low.
    @@@@@@@@
    ….Morally it is wrong to equate evil with stupid because if this is the case then stupid equates to evil. Thus, yet again here, there is a waiting trap laid unwittingly for intelligent people who then claim superior morals because of a sense that only stupid people are sinners. It is really distasteful when they do and I know you’re not doing this but plenty do. It’s too attractive a temptation.

    This is where we get to people speaking of others as pigs. Never is the individual even pointed out for clarity but the generalisation is that if you’re of low IQ you must be a sinner, or prone to it because you aren’t able to ‘think your way out of sin or that you are a protestant so have stopped caring about sin as we heard recently…. just ad homonyms hidden in plain sight. Ed Feser makes a habit of this in his articles and it seems to me either a really bad tool for trapping someone before they announce their real intent, or just a schadenfreude enjoyment that the person has read all the way through to be kicked in the teeth at the end. It’s done repeatedly by writers who want to tell you their version before they kick. So I don’t say it’s accidental. Secular disputes are a waste of time. For English people anyway. America can invite trouble if they want and yet again fail to learn from true history.

    What has happened is that people have stopped caring about other people’s sins. Crimes are what matter in a protestant society. Other people’s sins are none of anybody’s business by decree other than in a tyrannical system. The truth is power enough. The truth knows nothing of intellect. The bible isn’t an exercise in intellectual gymnastics. (now that it has been translated for stupid people.)

    It’s all the free will speech which is just statements of the obvious. Clearly free will is involved in all acts. No need to resort to high and low brain functions to explain this unless people want an excuse to dissuade competitors.
    @@@@@@@@@
    …..The argument from the brain and neurology is not provable. It is laden with value judgements on parts the body, steeped in prejudice and so on. Not just from religious people but the likes of Dawkins would agree with you about ‘primitive’. To me it’s like blaming the wheels on the car for being ’so stone age’.

    It is something latched onto by moralists to hope to dissuade the ‘sinner’ It’s a tool of persuasion. Some persuaders can’t even speak of it without giggling. I don’t blame them for giggling because it’s funny but that’s how deeply they hold the view they are preaching so earnestly. Theres a disingenuousness about it.

    The brain functions as a piece and it also functions with the body. It is an orchestra. It is not a computer where one part activates in absence of another part.. Blood flow and neural function continue always when blood to certain brain areas fluctuates with high oxygen demands. No part switches off! Some areas are inhibited just like the orchestra.

    When it works well it functions like mauler’s fifth, fourth movement. When not it’s like freeform jazz or metal with each member thinking their instrument is not heard. This compartmentalising is a variation of all arguments about the brain where so much certainty about it is directly proportional to the desire for the thing to be true. So by this standard there is a desire for dominion over others driving the association that older parts are stupid parts and sinful parts. It’s rubbish. Sorry and all that. Atheists and Catholics enjoy this the most, that’s irony.

    Jesus did say that man’s heart had hardened.
    He spoke of the person as mind, heart and soul. I’ve been looking for my soul to distinguish it from the other two. It can’t be done. A fully orbed knowledge AND understanding of metaphysical and supernatural power is required. We have no handle on any of that information if it is even information.

    When people speak of soul I believe they are speaking of a deep contemplative part that is both thinking very much and feeling. I’m still not buying Ed F’s argument….I say Ed F to blame him as I’m being polite to Briggs and you. Poor Ed. He’s heard it all before.

    When we die, is when the magic happens, that’s what I believe and speaking of soul at that point is a different thing which is outside of our domain to understand. ‘we invented the definitions’ won’t do. That is a variation on “it’s our game and we’re taking our bat and ball home”. We’ve all tried that as children and we find we’ve got no one to play with. In the case of my sister, break the recorder in two, result! but the problem doesn’t go away.

    …. Higher the intellect the higher the ability and capacity for sin and the more dastardly. This shows that sin has nothing to do with ‘primitive’ or ‘stupider’ parts. People just do stupid things and the do wrongful things known as sin. It’s definitely not confined to the stupid arena.

  28. The term Psychosomatic is not used clinically.

    Of course not. It is a philosophical term, used to recognize the hylomorphic nature of a substance. That which is the physical being (soma) and that which is the mental being (psyche) is the same being. It is not a Cartesian ‘ghost in the machine’ and it is not merely a machine, period. The ‘me’ that perceives the ink marks on the page and the ‘me’ that understands the thoughts represented by those ink marks are the same ‘me’, psyche and soma. Hence, psychosomatic or synolisitc.

  29. Yes, YOS I did say I wasn’t correcting you but we are supposed to be existing in the real, by which I mean practical world. The clinic is reality when these things are put to test live, they fail or survive. Sometimes they fail for years before people are ready to admit they fail.
    I had referred to the term as philosophical but took that part out to be brief!

    Sometimes things just do need saying. I don’t expect you to defend the bad arguments of other people. I was illustrating where some ideas are picked up by authorities and used to maximum effect. …all in a good cause.

    Since we agreed from the start and I seemed to be the only one who thought we agreed, It’s curious to consider the length of time it’s taken to show this is so.

  30. Ad hominem, sorry. I had it with an ‘a’ and spellchecker likes always the funnier options.

    The Hounds Of The Baskervilles is on.
    It’s probably a sinful film….

  31. 1. Staff Sargent Briggs thank you for your service
    2. Having a basic understanding of what your roll was in the United States Air Force (a little bird told me) do you think that just any old person assigned to the position because of diversity not qualifications could have performed that position?

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