[Real Clear Wire] Convention, customs, manners and civility.
When my daughter Ella was 16, I met her at a local restaurant for dinner. I was already seated when she arrived and before I could hold the chair out for her, she plopped down in the seat next to me. I was livid. I stood up and told her to get her ass out of the chair and stand up. I told her to always wait until the gentleman held the chair out for her, no matter how long it takes. I followed with "you need to demand respect from men, because if you don’t, you’ll never get it."
Manners are important. Indeed, they are the adhesive glue that binds society together and allows it to operate in smooth, orderly and conciliatory fashion. Like all convention, customs and manners developed organically because they served important functions. There was never a top-down Napoleonic Code of Manners that was dictated to the populace by some sort of government edict. I think all would agree that we have seen a degradation of civil society over the past 30 plus years. Our cities are trashed, there’s violence in the streets, and civil adult discourse is rare.
Politicians and talking heads are totally uninhibited from telling not just "straight up lies," but lies that are so fantastically and obvious false that a 3rd grader can immediately recognize the deceit. I attended schools with rigid honor systems and grew up in a culture where such blatant dishonesty made one an outcast and an immediate social pariah, cast out from respectable society. I remember a childhood contemporary was kicked out of boarding school for cheating on a test. At the time, this seemed like a punishment worse than death, as he would have to live with the stigma of dishonor the rest of his life. These long-established honor codes reflected the mores of the culture, anyone who violated these standards polluted the student population and had to be immediately drummed off campus. Today dishonesty seems to be rewarded as long as it advances an agenda.
I have lots of nicknames, Robbie, Jones, Big Rob, Big, B.R., B-aura, Mr. Bread Truck, Professor and a few others, one of which is Mr. Mayor. I don’t know why folks call me Mayor, but I have thought quite a lot of what I would do if I was the mayor of Richmond, or better yet Governor of Virginia. The very first initiative, before any government policy proposals would be to start a campaign to re-establish civility and good manners. And what better place to begin than Richmond, Virginia, which I am quite sure, at one point not terribly long ago was the good manners capital of the world. I want to bring those days back. An initiative like this takes leadership and passion. Oh, how I hate to see what is happening to my city, not to mention the fabric of our national culture. My campaign would be much like Nancy Reagan’s "Just Say No" program. No government money.
When Robert E. Lee became president of what would become Washington and Lee University in 1865, he initiated the "Speaking Rule." Other Virginia schools followed. I don’t remember there being such a rule at the University of Virginia, primarily because the natural, organic culture that already existed was one spoke to everyone he passed and engaged in a pleasantry. It’s demoralizing to walk down the sidewalk in Richmond and watch your oncoming neighbor try NOT to make eye contact to avoid speaking. They know nothing of the "speaking rule," and it’s sad. In the world of social media where people rage at complete strangers, there is no better salve than to look someone in the eye , smile and say "Good morning."
Good manners revolve around respect for others, and of course such respect is the essence of the Golden Rule. Good manners have a transcendental nature in that they create a system that one can’t see and can’t touch, but nonetheless create a benign social order. This evolves into a "custom" which evolves further into an almost universal "convention." Kindness, gentleness, respect and tolerance are the result. Moreover, when a child is raised in this social order, this invisible ethos of civility instills itself in one’s personality, it is imbued, cooked in the sauce, and the act of being well mannered and thoughtful occurs without any conscience volition or effort to be that way. A few years ago, I visited two older gentleman I knew in the Alzheimer’s ward. There were ladies present, and I’ll never forget, although they couldn’t remember their names, they didn’t forget their manners. They were as we say perfect "southern gentlemen." It was "baked in."
Before the advent of "business casual," we all wore suits. How well I can remember 100 degree, extremely humid days and the perfumed smell of tobacco resting in downtown Richmond warehouses. Despite the heat and humidity, men did not take off their jackets when wandering outside their offices. If one was in the presence of a lady, the custom was to seek her permission before taking off one’s jacket. Now this might sound archaic to some, but the foundation of this rule, like so many others, is respect for and deference to women. As these exercises in civility have waned, what are we left with? The absolute barbarity of men beating the tar out of women in an Olympic sport.
Dressing well is important. By putting forth an effort to look nice, you exhibit respect and appreciation towards everyone you encounter, but the respect works both ways, your dress illustrates that you respect yourself. Likewise, being punctual illustrates your respect for the other party and the value of his time, but it also illustrates that you respect yourself.
Boy, how many lessons did I learn from my father! Always stand when a lady enters a room. Stand when she leaves the dinner table and stand again when she returns. Ladies are always served first. Never, ever begin to eat until the last lady at the table has picked up her fork and put food in her mouth. I’ll always remember him telling me to always wear a sports jacket and sometimes a tie when traveling on a plane. "Son, wherever you go in this world, you are a representative of the Commonwealth of Virginia and our family." When I was old enough to drive and before cell phones, the custom was to follow a woman home and make sure she got into her house safely. When I see kids that I coached or taught in Sunday School wearing a hat in restaurant, I yank it off their heads and ask them what the hell is wrong with them. That was Dad’s biggest pet peeve! Offer the black housekeepers walking through the neighborhood to the bus stop a ride. Always be a good sport, and win or lose after any competition, whether athletic or business, shake the other fella’s hand. When using the telephone, introduce yourself and say "may I speak to," and not "is so and so there." Never go through a woman’s pocketbook or anyone’s mail. There’s a proper way to shake hands. Oh, he was a stickler for proper English! Using words correctly and phrased pleasantly honors the recipient. And, I will never forget exactly where I was when I heard the biggest rule of all. I was 5 years old. Dad was driving. I can remember the story Dad told me, the exact bend in the road and the message was the most despicable thing a man could ever do, and was never, ever permissible under and circumstances, was to hit a woman!
#8
#7 The probability of two people having 3 letter initials differing by one letter is 75/26^3. The probability that that's a middle initial is 25/26^3. The formula you wrote is just nonsense. Besides being irrelevant to what I asked.
#13
“A dying culture invariably exhibits personal rudeness. Bad manners. Lack of consideration for others in minor matters. A loss of politeness, of gentle manners, is more significant than is a riot.” ― Robert A. Heinlein, Friday
#14
What's the frequency... of initial letters in various languishes? Oy, my head.
Sure wish my mom had said to me, every time I questioned the usefulness of insincere social niceties, "You know all those pleasant things I say about you all the time? Good manners. Go and do likewise."
#2
The French castle sketch in Holy Grail has become hate speech.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
08/11/2024 9:07 Comments ||
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#3
Interesting. Atkinson starts out by saying he's probably immune due to his public exposure. If I were one of the orcs running GB these days, I'd make a point of going after him to underscore the fact that no one was safe.
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/11/2024 05:40 ||
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#1
AI is getting better...
I am sure next time AI will have learned from this mistake, and will adjust for it.
Meanwhile.
The usual MSM Talking Heads and Fact checkers have quickly denied the AI enhancements and now claim to have used AI to check for AI adjustments.
Question: Would AI be so stupid as to self-incrimination?
Maybe it is time to update Miranda Rights to include AI's being read its rights, prior to questioning. 🤐
#2
Every person in America above the age of 8 has a camera phone to collect evidence and a social media account to disseminate news. These AI pictures of her campaign events are a suckers play.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
08/11/2024 9:10 Comments ||
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#3
2 other very wrong things. 3 just wrong things too. Garbage.
It’s hard not to imagine, with every innovation that is made in technology, what it will be like if is put to the use every technology in history seems to have been used for: warfare.
Airplanes, motors, artificial intelligence, even the first people to forge with steel instead of bronze or iron doubtless marveled at what fine swords and spears it would make. For decades, the democratic sphere of the world has been building their armies smarter.
American troops attacked Normandy and freed Europe with rifles, helmets and the shirts on their back; close to eighty years later, their descendants abandoned Afghanistan in shame with thousands of dollars apiece in tactical gear, armor, advanced firearms and drones. That doesn’t track, does it? How could an army grow less effective as it becomes infinitely more advanced?
The answer is not what the army is equipped with, but the will and heart within- and behind -those soldiers. In the Second World War, nations were fighting for their literal existence, to remain states of their own instead of being ground under the boot of Nazi Germany, the Japanese Empire, or the Soviet Union. In Afghanistan, politicians minced words into meaningless salad and served it to young Americans.
Now, look at the world’s reaction- the world’s outrage - to Israel’s war in Gaza, and fight against the Hezbollah forces in Lebanon. They cannot believe their eyes: shocked to the core by the mere sight of wounded civilians in an active warzone, or tanks driving in city streets. They cannot grasp that wars need to actually be fought, especially against the tendrils of Iran’s Islamic empire in Hamas and Hezbollah. Perhaps the politicians of Israel have committed a breach of etiquette; they forgot to dress their war in meaningless cliches about nation-building or hearts and minds, phrases wrung dry of any weight by their terminal overuse.
Despite this shattering of the illusion of a bloodless, war-less war of the future - imagined ever since the first bomber planes, perhaps even the first artillery cannons - the world forums are still outraged that the IDF is fighting a war by fighting a war. Perhaps it’s a lingering image of Afghanistan and the failed War on Terror, brought home to these people who never ran from a rocket siren in their lives except in video games and movies, a world where terrorists all live, all the time, in isolated complexes far from civilization, and elite soldiers can launch- this is always the word - operations to assassinate them.
This concept is far out of line for these Western pundits and social media trend-setters with the reality of the war against Hamas: a terrorist army entrenched in and under several cities, with any person among the seemingly civilian populace potentially being an agent of theirs. This is not the Hollywood war against terrorism where you fly across an ocean, a sea and two continents, then depart from a forward operating base to eliminate a Taliban mastermind. This is Israel’s actual, real war on terrorism, taking ground in an enemy country that is too close for anyone in the nation to ever be comfortable.
What the world envisioned was a war of cursors clicking, drones hovering, perhaps a handful of buildings raided in the dead of the night. This is not how a war is fought. The Americans had two decades to learn this in and by all appearances failed to. This will be an impolite war, fought without apologies or finesse, because the alternative is continuing to fight with precision and etiquette against an enemy whose most subtle tactic is stabbing a civilian to death for being an infidel.
In every generation our enemies have sought with tactics seldom changing to destroy us; lynch mobs, enslavement, ravaging of our towns and cities. The IDF has no reason to alter from the strategy that has best served the Jewish people to defeat our enemies, from the streets of Shushan to distant Uganda: their destruction with every means we can muster.
Posted by: Grom the Reflective ||
08/11/2024 00:00 ||
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#1
War is hell. You cannot qualify war in harsher terms than I will. War is cruelty, and you cannot refine it. Those who brought war into our country deserve all the curses and maledictions a people can pour out. William Tecumseh Sherman
Text taken from the Telegram channel of xronikabpla
[ColonelCassad] War has changed before our eyes
The gods of the old war: Intelligence, Maneuverability, Speed, Logistics, Communications, Tools for Success Development – all of this remains relevant unless every point is cut off by drones… Reconnaissance drones, interceptor drones, fighter drones, strike drones, bomber drones, miner drones, long-range drones, drones, drones, drones…
Drones have brought the art of war to a standstill. Conducting a column, conducting reconnaissance, conducting a rotation, conducting a supply – everything has become a roulette with an unclear outcome. No one feels safe anymore. If it’s not an FPV drone, then a minefield that appeared out of nowhere. If it’s not a reconnaissance drone, then a repeater ball in the stratosphere. And behind them are exposed positions and the impossibility of moving without being noticed. And interceptor drones are already waiting for you in the air.
Without understanding the essence of the changes that have occurred, it may seem that the loss of priority in the drone war is a temporary phenomenon. We just need more drones and this will restore parity. That now our military-industrial complex will shake itself up and build up! As they built up shells, "calibers" and tanks.
But no, it will not build up if we do not answer some questions.
Why did drones flare up so brightly and strongly only in the SVO? Why did this not happen before? After all, drones have always been there. What happened and how important is it?
We see only what is open to our eyes. We see drones, talk about drones and believe that the matter is in some products, the production of which must be quickly established and everything will be fine.
And this is the main misconception. Drones are the tip of the iceberg. Parity is formed not by drones and their numbers, but by a number of important REASONS:
1. People. Direct interaction between developers and fighters without gaskets. The people who pass the chain are usually incompetent and prone to harmful creative rethinking.
2. Decentralization of development and production. Maximum involvement of everyone willing to help the country with their heads at the level of artels and small design bureaus. With many solutions, one will definitely work. Russia is still full of Kulibins.
3. Constant contact. Daily participation of developers in the lives of fighters. In fact, the artel is attached to the unit. There is no need to be afraid that the artels will start to fail and spoil. The military-industrial complex starts to fail and spoil when it gets involved in this area.
4. Hardware. The finished product is more important than documentation, regulations and acceptance tests. Now the hardware will change 100 times before the first set of design documentation is ready.
5. A penny element base and a technological designer without the word "import substitution".
6. Expansion of application scenarios. We try EVERYTHING that comes to mind.
7. Mentoring and maximum replication of successful practices.
The Titanic sank not the piece of ice that was above the water, but the one that was under. There can be no talk of any priority in the drone war without accepting the factors above as a guide to action. It was not the drones that came to war, but the new principles of management. Drones, like all sudden innovations, are only a consequence.
In Russia, at the beginning of the war, the interaction between spontaneous design bureaus and Army units developed in this way. That is why drones and airplanes and new means of communication appeared. We had this approach. But the enemy also appeared and remained with it. This interaction arises by itself, it does not need to be imposed. It can only be destroyed if the goal is to “preserve traditions”, introduce: monopolization, standardization and simplification.
Loss of priority will lead to loss of Initiative - the main goddess of War. And after the loss of initiative, losses may simply begin.
#1
A study should already have been completed that made a total evaluation of the service academies and the personnel needs over the next twenty years. The day of the piloted plane is over. As is the aircraft carrier. New thought must be given to submarines, including the use of them in transport. As for the Marines and Army, how will robots supplant boots on the ground?
#3
With regard to low cost war fighting drones, the defense industries will drag their feet every step, because they don't want low cost anything.
If it ain't got a big markup, they're not interested.
Posted by: ed in texas ||
08/11/2024 8:36 Comments ||
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#4
Game changer weapons exist only in computer games.
#7
It just unbalances the arrangement in force structure. Up till now most countries have relied upon air superiority or air supremacy at the expense of alternative air defense systems. Now force structure and asset integration will shift to more assets in AD to counter drones. "If it flies, it dies" Identification, Friend or Foe systems also are included in that.
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