Lord Baden Powell created Boy Scouting. Though it appears he was not a Masonic Brother, one of his best friends was Rudyard Kipling (a very famous Mason)!
When institutions destroy any attempt to improve life outside of approved methods. Electric boosted bicycles have become a way for everyone to commute efficiently and with less traffic congestion than cars and more freedom than the bus. Zero point pollution. NYPD thinks confiscated and destroying them is a good thing. Wasting energy creating pollution and worsening traffic in doing so. Institutions cant be trusted at all. Release the full Epstein files.
I don't disagree. But, I think such things are largely our fault as voters. The quality of elected official moves further from 'citizen legislator' and closer to 'dirtbag' with each electoral cycle, but we keep right on re-electing the same people. We have Congressmen, each and every day, openly committing crimes that would, and have, landed ordinary citizens in prison, and we keep right on re-electing them. (Insider trading.) Pelosi the poster child for this, but they do it on both sides of the aisle.
So when will the populace awake and stop voting for these people? Or simply stop complying?
Catch 22. Restrict voting to only those capable of understanding. But who decides how to do the restrictions and can they be trusted to make good reforms? Personally I think voting should be restricted to land owners, business owners and, military and veterans. Basically people that have are are currently taking personal risks associated with the society. Basically if you havent put your money or you life at risk for the stability of society, you shouldn't be voting in how that society is run.
The government lost the people’s trust when it lost Walter Cronkite.
There is very little news reporting anymore. Simply mouth pieces for whatever political party they support. And the lies. Constant lies spewing out of the talking heads is mind boggling. And the constant calls for violence is sickening. The unending victimhood. The divisive rhetoric. The stupid labels being applied Willy nilly to anyone that disagrees with you.
I agree that most of 'the news' isn't the news anymore. Just political commentary as you mention, and I would argue political commentary completely detached from political principle. What can win is now judged much more important than what is the right thing to do.
And I think that is what has led to the huge rise in independent journalism. People are still willing to place their trust in individuals, but not in institutions. That will accelerate as the younger generations supplant the older.
Ultimately the current state of the press is much as it was in the earliest years of our founding. It was crazy as hell when Washington, Adams, and Jefferson were at the helm as well.
It is unfortunate that the world we live in today, has not only experienced an erosion of trust in many institutions that were considered authoritative and trustworthy. but that the younger generations don't seem to understand how trust should work.
You mention the internet adoption by the public. I truly believe that is one of the major factors in this change.
I was having a discussion with a motorcycle rider on a Facebook group about fog lights. Another member of the group had posted an image of his newly installed fog lights but this other user stated that because the lenses weren't yellow, the lights were not actually fog lights. His argument was that fog lights MUST ne yellow.
I replied that it wasn't a true statement. Fog lights can be white or yellow lenses. While a yellow lens leads to less reflection from fog than the white, the perception of that to the human eye is negligible. Fog lights are only effective if mounted low with the reason being that fog does not touch the surface, but rather has a gap between the surface and the bottom. The low mount of the lights, takes advantage of that by lighting the gap space. Also, being lower, it reflects less light back to the eye level of the driver.
I told him that my data came from academic sources that I have access to as a university alumni. Going to university, you are familiar with validating your sources and ensuring you are using trusted sources of informatiom.
His reply was to point out YouTube videos and other Facebook groups that reinforced his opinion. He trusted people he didn't know, and sources that were found online. In my opinio, he didn't understand the concept of trusting your sources of information.
This is, unfortunately, all too common. The generation that has grown up with the internet, and now AI, put blind faith in what they get back from these sources, without vetting the information.
I even had one guy argue with me that he thought the fuses for his air conditioning unit were not sized correctly because when he put his voltmeter on the load side, he saw the voltage fluctuating and causing brown outs. A brown out is when voltage drops below acceptable levels for the equipment. I tried to explain to him that a fuse is simply a metal strip is an overload device. It either passes current or it doesn't. If the fuse is bad, no current flows.
He said he researched on the internet and because, when he shook the fuse it sounded like sand inside, he believed the fuse was faulty. I tried to explain that the material inside the fuse is designed to be an arc prevention mechanism for if and when the fuse does blow due to overcurrent.
BTW, I have over 15 years of experience in the HVAC/R industry so my source of knowledge is experience. His, was the internet.
I also teach courses on AI. I demonstrate many times to students, why they should not blindly trust the responses that AI returns. Most get it, some still don't.
But you last question was around it affecting Freemasonry. I believe it most certainly does. One of your previous posts about the social media influencer who posted about Doric Lodge in Seattle and the atrocities that Masons perform, is a great example.
When the general public trust someone like that, over truly seeking the truth. It impacts our fraternity in a negative way. How do we respond? I have no solid answers at the moment. It is a conundrum that I struggle with.
I certainly agree that people put far too much faith in what they read from unknown sources online, and that this problem will only increase as Ai becomes more and more prevalent.
Indeed, I think that willy-nilly Ai use will make people less able to think, much has been the case with people using GPS has degraded the ability to get around without it.
This morning I saw a seemingly legitimate announcement about a new law passed in one of the States. It caught my eye because it would be a clear violation of the 5th Amendment. That doesn't mean that it didn't happen of course, Legislators pass laws in violation of the Bill of Rights all the time, that's why we have the Supreme Court. But still... So I looked it up, yep, no such law was passed in that State. The announcement was a fake. But how many will believe it? And was it posted by a homegrown moron for fun? Or was it posted by a foreign government to help stoke division within our country? We know that a great deal of the latter is happening.
We will always have, I think, people spouting lies about our Fraternity. We always have had. I have to believe that our most effective reaction is humor. Humor tends to dispel nonsense, because it seems to help others more clearly see the nonsense than they would be able to if it was treated in a serious manner.
To flip that script a bit...I had a brother who swore up and down that putting premium gas into his honda crv yielded better gas mileage. I told him that is not true. He insisted. I sent him links discussing this common misconception. Even given the truth, he refused to acknowledge it and kept on wasting money.
Motorcycles usually recommend 92 octane, and some high performance cars as well. But your crossover car? Nope.
Years ago I did own one of those high performance cars that called for premium, and I was pleased to sell it for that very reason. And that was before gas prices went completely insane!
This has been a source of argument for many years.
A fellow Mason, who is an auto mechanic, told me also that gas from Costco or Safeway is not as good as that from Shell.
I have been using 92 in my wife's car and mine, and my motorcycle, because of the claims that the engine "needs" it to perform correctly and to prevent issues.
I think 89 would work just fine in the turbo-charged 4 cylinders in the Mercedes
His claims were based on his own testing, keeping a log of miles and gas consumed. But, I'd counter that it caused unconscious bias. He drove differently when testing, being more moderate in his driving style that encouraged better mileage. Not intentionally and he probably didn't even notice the difference.
Both Shell and Costco put additives in their gas to reduce carbon built up, so the mechanics claims are really not reflective of reality. Given a choice, I'd pick Costco over anyone, as the price difference is going to be substantial for the same quality.
“A fellow Mason, who is an auto mechanic, told me also that gas from Costco or Safeway is not as good as that from Shell.”
I hear that crap SO often! One time I had a customer who said he filled his tank with fuel from the Indian Reservation and as soon as he got out on the highway, the engine started acting up. He then went to the local regular gas station and topped off the tank and it immediately ran better, and he’ll never get fuel at an Indian Reservation again.
DUDE! When you topped off the tank, probably 75-80% of the fuel was from that Indian Reservation pump, as you generally fill up a tank when it’s approaching empty. I just let that one go.
Forums were really notorious for crappy reviews. I remember one saying he bought a set of Autolite plugs for his truck, and when he drove it, it was “Spittin’ and sputterin’” until he got it home, then he put Motorcraft plugs in it and it ran fine, and he’ll never buy Autolites again. What likely really happened: He was in a hurry when he put the Autolites in and probably cracked a couple of insulators as he was installing them, which led to the misfires, and when he put the Motorcraft plugs in, he was more conscious of what he was doing and took him time, and the engine ran great. Not Autolite’s fault, it was installer error and he didn’t want to take responsibility for it. For the record, I’ve been running Autolites in my commute car and my pickup since I bought them. About 90,000 on the truck and 130,000 on the car. No issues. But this guy likely would say, "well, you’re just lucky then." …no. I went through multiple pairs of those plugs as maintenance of the car, like changing your oil. Nice try.
“His claims were based on his own testing, keeping a log of miles and gas consumed. But, I'd counter that it caused unconscious bias. He drove differently when testing, being more moderate in his driving style that encouraged better mileage. Not intentionally and he probably didn't even notice the difference.” Now I DID do something like this when I bought a new E3 plug for my 110. I tested it up against the stock NGK plug, but I tested it in numerous directions to cancel out the biases. Then I tried it again a year later to see if I was being objective enough. Sure enough, the results were the same. I’d bog you down with another 500-word report on those findings, but I’m already 450 words into this comment as is…
Here I watch two competing networks. One loved by my Republican friends, the other loved by my Democrat friends. I figure that by doing so, I can find the truth somewhere in the middle.
It is always amazing to me though, while both networks will report on the exact same set of facts, how radically different they can and do portray those facts.
Here it’s more like the public broadcaster (CBC) against the American-indebted private ones (CTV and Global), and the latter are slightly more inclined to distort things…
We do have a public broadcaster too (PBS) but I don't think it ever had high viewership, and while I used to watch one of its news programs regularly, the news operation there seems to have degraded very badly through the years.
Well, IMHO if the NY Times has lost trust as an institution, where does that leave the institution of Freemasonry when it comes to trust? I think Br. Gerry O'Brien raises some really good points about the internet and its use for both good and bad. Any general distrust is amplified exponentially by social media trolls and others with an agenda. When it comes to Freemasonry as an institution, being that we have 52 Grand Lodges in the US that do not speak with a single voice, we are not equipped to fight disinformation. The political adage is when you are explaining, you're losing.
So what is the answer? Personally, I think it is in how we carry ourselves as individuals, and serve our communities as local lodges. I don't believe it is helpful or productive to engage in social media, or with narrow-minded people. Those who want to spread heat rather than light (unfortunately including sometimes the occasional Brother) have no interest in the truth. I firmly believe that as a Masons we slowly change the world through acts of kindness and charity. That builds trust.
As Albert Pike stated, "What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us; what we have done for others and the world remains and is immortal." Pike's apt quote subtly reminds us that it is the acts of individuals that make the difference. If the institution of Freemasonry is to thrive it will be due to those individual acts, and not because of any perceived institutional power.
>>>The political adage is when you are explaining, you're losing.
I agree. I think the proper response to insane attacks on our Fraternity is humor. Humor is quite disarming when properly done.
>>>I don't believe it is helpful or productive to engage in social media
I tend to agree with this as well. We will never change anyone's mind about anything by ranting on Social Media. I do believe that in the past, Social Media was a superb tool for Lodges to use for things like communicating with their members and Masons in the surrounding areas. But it has not worked well for that for a very long time now. Now it is little but yelling into an echo chamber. And yes, some of our Brothers do a lot of yelling into those echo chambers, which does nothing but harm the reputation of our Craft.
I think you are right, we make a difference through our individual actions. And when those actions are for the good, that is the best possible communication Freemasonry can have.
MWPGM Bailey, the twelve points Boy Scouts lived by started with "Trustworthy"!
Yes indeed, I remember it well.
Lord Baden Powell created Boy Scouting. Though it appears he was not a Masonic Brother, one of his best friends was Rudyard Kipling (a very famous Mason)!
https://www.threads.com/@nypd/post/DYSZGE2DrKf?xmt=AQG0ueUHz-hEla6z-7zP1OXdr6mxBquDOzh67ZzPFECJ7oVhhwxZaentkcoY14cywD66_kKm&slof=1
When institutions destroy any attempt to improve life outside of approved methods. Electric boosted bicycles have become a way for everyone to commute efficiently and with less traffic congestion than cars and more freedom than the bus. Zero point pollution. NYPD thinks confiscated and destroying them is a good thing. Wasting energy creating pollution and worsening traffic in doing so. Institutions cant be trusted at all. Release the full Epstein files.
I don't disagree. But, I think such things are largely our fault as voters. The quality of elected official moves further from 'citizen legislator' and closer to 'dirtbag' with each electoral cycle, but we keep right on re-electing the same people. We have Congressmen, each and every day, openly committing crimes that would, and have, landed ordinary citizens in prison, and we keep right on re-electing them. (Insider trading.) Pelosi the poster child for this, but they do it on both sides of the aisle.
So when will the populace awake and stop voting for these people? Or simply stop complying?
Catch 22. Restrict voting to only those capable of understanding. But who decides how to do the restrictions and can they be trusted to make good reforms? Personally I think voting should be restricted to land owners, business owners and, military and veterans. Basically people that have are are currently taking personal risks associated with the society. Basically if you havent put your money or you life at risk for the stability of society, you shouldn't be voting in how that society is run.
Essentially people with skin in the game.
Yes. And a caveat
Limited liability is not a business with skin in the game. So corporation ownership of any kind doesnt count as business ownership.
The government lost the people’s trust when it lost Walter Cronkite.
There is very little news reporting anymore. Simply mouth pieces for whatever political party they support. And the lies. Constant lies spewing out of the talking heads is mind boggling. And the constant calls for violence is sickening. The unending victimhood. The divisive rhetoric. The stupid labels being applied Willy nilly to anyone that disagrees with you.
This world is turning to shit.
I agree that most of 'the news' isn't the news anymore. Just political commentary as you mention, and I would argue political commentary completely detached from political principle. What can win is now judged much more important than what is the right thing to do.
And I think that is what has led to the huge rise in independent journalism. People are still willing to place their trust in individuals, but not in institutions. That will accelerate as the younger generations supplant the older.
Ultimately the current state of the press is much as it was in the earliest years of our founding. It was crazy as hell when Washington, Adams, and Jefferson were at the helm as well.
It is unfortunate that the world we live in today, has not only experienced an erosion of trust in many institutions that were considered authoritative and trustworthy. but that the younger generations don't seem to understand how trust should work.
You mention the internet adoption by the public. I truly believe that is one of the major factors in this change.
I was having a discussion with a motorcycle rider on a Facebook group about fog lights. Another member of the group had posted an image of his newly installed fog lights but this other user stated that because the lenses weren't yellow, the lights were not actually fog lights. His argument was that fog lights MUST ne yellow.
I replied that it wasn't a true statement. Fog lights can be white or yellow lenses. While a yellow lens leads to less reflection from fog than the white, the perception of that to the human eye is negligible. Fog lights are only effective if mounted low with the reason being that fog does not touch the surface, but rather has a gap between the surface and the bottom. The low mount of the lights, takes advantage of that by lighting the gap space. Also, being lower, it reflects less light back to the eye level of the driver.
I told him that my data came from academic sources that I have access to as a university alumni. Going to university, you are familiar with validating your sources and ensuring you are using trusted sources of informatiom.
His reply was to point out YouTube videos and other Facebook groups that reinforced his opinion. He trusted people he didn't know, and sources that were found online. In my opinio, he didn't understand the concept of trusting your sources of information.
This is, unfortunately, all too common. The generation that has grown up with the internet, and now AI, put blind faith in what they get back from these sources, without vetting the information.
I even had one guy argue with me that he thought the fuses for his air conditioning unit were not sized correctly because when he put his voltmeter on the load side, he saw the voltage fluctuating and causing brown outs. A brown out is when voltage drops below acceptable levels for the equipment. I tried to explain to him that a fuse is simply a metal strip is an overload device. It either passes current or it doesn't. If the fuse is bad, no current flows.
He said he researched on the internet and because, when he shook the fuse it sounded like sand inside, he believed the fuse was faulty. I tried to explain that the material inside the fuse is designed to be an arc prevention mechanism for if and when the fuse does blow due to overcurrent.
BTW, I have over 15 years of experience in the HVAC/R industry so my source of knowledge is experience. His, was the internet.
I also teach courses on AI. I demonstrate many times to students, why they should not blindly trust the responses that AI returns. Most get it, some still don't.
But you last question was around it affecting Freemasonry. I believe it most certainly does. One of your previous posts about the social media influencer who posted about Doric Lodge in Seattle and the atrocities that Masons perform, is a great example.
When the general public trust someone like that, over truly seeking the truth. It impacts our fraternity in a negative way. How do we respond? I have no solid answers at the moment. It is a conundrum that I struggle with.
I certainly agree that people put far too much faith in what they read from unknown sources online, and that this problem will only increase as Ai becomes more and more prevalent.
Indeed, I think that willy-nilly Ai use will make people less able to think, much has been the case with people using GPS has degraded the ability to get around without it.
This morning I saw a seemingly legitimate announcement about a new law passed in one of the States. It caught my eye because it would be a clear violation of the 5th Amendment. That doesn't mean that it didn't happen of course, Legislators pass laws in violation of the Bill of Rights all the time, that's why we have the Supreme Court. But still... So I looked it up, yep, no such law was passed in that State. The announcement was a fake. But how many will believe it? And was it posted by a homegrown moron for fun? Or was it posted by a foreign government to help stoke division within our country? We know that a great deal of the latter is happening.
We will always have, I think, people spouting lies about our Fraternity. We always have had. I have to believe that our most effective reaction is humor. Humor tends to dispel nonsense, because it seems to help others more clearly see the nonsense than they would be able to if it was treated in a serious manner.
And thanks for the explanation of fog lights!
To flip that script a bit...I had a brother who swore up and down that putting premium gas into his honda crv yielded better gas mileage. I told him that is not true. He insisted. I sent him links discussing this common misconception. Even given the truth, he refused to acknowledge it and kept on wasting money.
Motorcycles usually recommend 92 octane, and some high performance cars as well. But your crossover car? Nope.
He went to his grave holding onto that nugget.
Years ago I did own one of those high performance cars that called for premium, and I was pleased to sell it for that very reason. And that was before gas prices went completely insane!
This has been a source of argument for many years.
A fellow Mason, who is an auto mechanic, told me also that gas from Costco or Safeway is not as good as that from Shell.
I have been using 92 in my wife's car and mine, and my motorcycle, because of the claims that the engine "needs" it to perform correctly and to prevent issues.
I think 89 would work just fine in the turbo-charged 4 cylinders in the Mercedes
His claims were based on his own testing, keeping a log of miles and gas consumed. But, I'd counter that it caused unconscious bias. He drove differently when testing, being more moderate in his driving style that encouraged better mileage. Not intentionally and he probably didn't even notice the difference.
Both Shell and Costco put additives in their gas to reduce carbon built up, so the mechanics claims are really not reflective of reality. Given a choice, I'd pick Costco over anyone, as the price difference is going to be substantial for the same quality.
“A fellow Mason, who is an auto mechanic, told me also that gas from Costco or Safeway is not as good as that from Shell.”
I hear that crap SO often! One time I had a customer who said he filled his tank with fuel from the Indian Reservation and as soon as he got out on the highway, the engine started acting up. He then went to the local regular gas station and topped off the tank and it immediately ran better, and he’ll never get fuel at an Indian Reservation again.
DUDE! When you topped off the tank, probably 75-80% of the fuel was from that Indian Reservation pump, as you generally fill up a tank when it’s approaching empty. I just let that one go.
Forums were really notorious for crappy reviews. I remember one saying he bought a set of Autolite plugs for his truck, and when he drove it, it was “Spittin’ and sputterin’” until he got it home, then he put Motorcraft plugs in it and it ran fine, and he’ll never buy Autolites again. What likely really happened: He was in a hurry when he put the Autolites in and probably cracked a couple of insulators as he was installing them, which led to the misfires, and when he put the Motorcraft plugs in, he was more conscious of what he was doing and took him time, and the engine ran great. Not Autolite’s fault, it was installer error and he didn’t want to take responsibility for it. For the record, I’ve been running Autolites in my commute car and my pickup since I bought them. About 90,000 on the truck and 130,000 on the car. No issues. But this guy likely would say, "well, you’re just lucky then." …no. I went through multiple pairs of those plugs as maintenance of the car, like changing your oil. Nice try.
“His claims were based on his own testing, keeping a log of miles and gas consumed. But, I'd counter that it caused unconscious bias. He drove differently when testing, being more moderate in his driving style that encouraged better mileage. Not intentionally and he probably didn't even notice the difference.” Now I DID do something like this when I bought a new E3 plug for my 110. I tested it up against the stock NGK plug, but I tested it in numerous directions to cancel out the biases. Then I tried it again a year later to see if I was being objective enough. Sure enough, the results were the same. I’d bog you down with another 500-word report on those findings, but I’m already 450 words into this comment as is…
I trust the CBC more than any other media outlet in Canada, but sometimes that's not saying much...
Here I watch two competing networks. One loved by my Republican friends, the other loved by my Democrat friends. I figure that by doing so, I can find the truth somewhere in the middle.
It is always amazing to me though, while both networks will report on the exact same set of facts, how radically different they can and do portray those facts.
Here it’s more like the public broadcaster (CBC) against the American-indebted private ones (CTV and Global), and the latter are slightly more inclined to distort things…
We do have a public broadcaster too (PBS) but I don't think it ever had high viewership, and while I used to watch one of its news programs regularly, the news operation there seems to have degraded very badly through the years.
Well, IMHO if the NY Times has lost trust as an institution, where does that leave the institution of Freemasonry when it comes to trust? I think Br. Gerry O'Brien raises some really good points about the internet and its use for both good and bad. Any general distrust is amplified exponentially by social media trolls and others with an agenda. When it comes to Freemasonry as an institution, being that we have 52 Grand Lodges in the US that do not speak with a single voice, we are not equipped to fight disinformation. The political adage is when you are explaining, you're losing.
So what is the answer? Personally, I think it is in how we carry ourselves as individuals, and serve our communities as local lodges. I don't believe it is helpful or productive to engage in social media, or with narrow-minded people. Those who want to spread heat rather than light (unfortunately including sometimes the occasional Brother) have no interest in the truth. I firmly believe that as a Masons we slowly change the world through acts of kindness and charity. That builds trust.
As Albert Pike stated, "What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us; what we have done for others and the world remains and is immortal." Pike's apt quote subtly reminds us that it is the acts of individuals that make the difference. If the institution of Freemasonry is to thrive it will be due to those individual acts, and not because of any perceived institutional power.
>>>The political adage is when you are explaining, you're losing.
I agree. I think the proper response to insane attacks on our Fraternity is humor. Humor is quite disarming when properly done.
>>>I don't believe it is helpful or productive to engage in social media
I tend to agree with this as well. We will never change anyone's mind about anything by ranting on Social Media. I do believe that in the past, Social Media was a superb tool for Lodges to use for things like communicating with their members and Masons in the surrounding areas. But it has not worked well for that for a very long time now. Now it is little but yelling into an echo chamber. And yes, some of our Brothers do a lot of yelling into those echo chambers, which does nothing but harm the reputation of our Craft.
I think you are right, we make a difference through our individual actions. And when those actions are for the good, that is the best possible communication Freemasonry can have.