What is a plastic hour?

I am trying to understand a plastic hour. What a strange phrase. It is from Gershom Scholem. 

In the October edition of the Atlantic, I read this: 

Large majorities say that government should ensure some form of universal health care, that it should do more to mitigate global warming, that the rich should pay higher taxes, that racial inequality is a significant problem, that workers should have the right to join unions, that immigrants are a good thing for American life, that the federal government is plagued by corruption. These majorities have remained strong for years. The readiness, the demand for action, is new. 

Really - and here is the response the author, George Packer, gives to the question: What explains it? 

• Nearly four years of a corrupt, bigoted, and inept president who betrayed his promise to champion ordinary Americans. 
• The arrival of an influential new generation, the Millennials, who grew up with 
• failed wars, 
• weakened institutions, 
• and blighted economic prospects, making them both more cynical and more utopian than their parents. 
• Collective ills that go untreated year after year, so bone-deep and chronic that we assume they’re permanent—from 
• income inequality, 
• feckless government, 
• and police abuse to a shredded social fabric 
• and a poisonous public discourse that verges on national cognitive decline. 
• Then, this year, a series of crises that seemed to come out of nowhere, like a flurry of sucker punches, but that arose straight from those ills and exposed the failures of American society to the world.

Pretty strong stuff. I wondered what I could remember an example of each of the above points.

Inept: yes. There has been no doubt in my mind that Trump is inept as a manager. Obama is too kind to say that he failed to grow into the job. He, Trump, has failed in all aspects of his work. He continues to fail. How is it that he has not been voted out yet? I picked management as his first failure, because he cannot find and keep competent and trustworthy people around him. His turnover rate to September is 91% for his 'A-team'. See this article from the Brookings institute.

But hope in the Millennials? Who are they? I remember the failed wars - we have had them before. But there are also warriors who like wars whether they fail or not. Weakened institutions - that's a conservative mantra == small government. This is a mistake that conservatives make in all countries, whether in the name of freedom or efficiency. It's just not that simple. You cannot make species conservation, research into strange data patterns (pandemis research)  or the arts into profit centres.

Collective ills? Yes - but also the plague of what I might call self-protection, a necessary component of human living, but prone to complacency and excessive self-interest. Jonah displays this when the tender plant frazzles in the heat of the sun. Jonah is a sign for our time. He does not mention the pervasive prejudice that arises from skin tone, poverty, mental illness, and so on. The militarization of the police is serious. 

Sucker punches, yes, and some of them directly the consequence of the untreated collective ills.

But do they answer the points in the lead paragraph?

1. universal health care, 
2. that it should do more to mitigate global warming, 
3. that the rich should pay higher taxes, 
4. that racial inequality is a significant problem, 
5. that workers should have the right to join unions, 
6. that immigrants are a good thing for American life, 
7. that the federal government is plagued by corruption.

What would you say? 

Here are my answers, 

1. of course. We must care for each other.
2. of course. The evidence is overwhelming.
3. of course. The motive for more is highly overrated.
4. of course. What could be more obvious?
5. maybe - this is a partial solution to other problems.
6. of course. We are all immigrants from somewhere. Some 1000s of years ago, some not.
7. really? I doubt it. Corruption is a problem. That's why we have regulatory bodies. We know these are being dismantled in lots of places - the small government problem that conservatives love.

You may be able to access this article here.  https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/10/make-america-again/615478/

Set up your folly in God (Psalms 78)

 No one who needs to will read this. And those whose minds never change will not hear their need to change if they fail to hear where they sit in an unclean pool. We are all so good at the defence of our prejudices.

Ah, that should have been a tweet, a momentary song in the wilderness.

Today is the feast of Michael and all angels, 24 years since the disastrous accident that felled my eldest son, Jeremy, now in long-term care as a result. Head injuries have long time ramifications. It's a wonder that any of us lives at all. Yesterday the 4 and 6 year olds were climbing rocks in gumboots.

So here is the lesson for today, Genesis 28:10-17. I read the first few words in a Bible I have had for 15 years or so, an old parallel Hebrew English Bible, comparing the Hebrew to the King James Version, and then I gave up and read my own translation. (Fixed a typo too.) The KJV is really odd, adding words everywhere to point out that the place is special and that he stayed all night, and lay down to sleep. But it is just a place, and neither 'all night' nor 'to sleep' is in the text, but considered by the translators as part of the verb. (There are no warning italics, but they can't warn you of anything anyway.)

Just for fun here is a comparison of the translations.

	The venerable KJV	My concordant translation
	And Jacob went out from Beersheba, and went toward Haran	10 And Jacob went forth from Beer-Sheva, and went to Xaran.
	And he lighted upon a certain place, and tarried there all night, because the sun was set; and he took of the stones of that place, and put them for his pillows, and lay down in that place to sleep	11 And he came across a place and lodged there, for the sun had set, and he took from the stones of the place and he set up his pillows, and lay down in that place.
	And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it	12 And he dreamed, and behold, a ladder stood firmly earthward, and its top touched towards the heavens, and behold, messengers of God ascended and descended on it.
	And, behold, the LORD stood above it, and said, I am the LORD God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed;	13 And behold, Yahweh took a stand above it, and he said, I am Yahweh, the God of Abraham your father, and the God of Yitschaq. The land that you have laid down on, to you I will give it and to your seed.
	And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed	14 And your seed will be like the dust of the earth, and you will break out seaward, and eastward, and northward, and southward, and all the families of humanity will be blessed in you, and in your seed.
	And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of	15 And behold, I am with you and will keep you everywhere that you walk, and I will return you to this ground, for I will not forsake you until I have done that which I have spoken about to you.
	And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the LORD is in this place; and I knew it not	16 And Jacob awoke from his sleep, and he said, Notwithstanding, there is Yahweh in this place, and I myself did not know.
	And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place! this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven	17 And he feared. And he said, How fearful is this place. This is nothing but the house of God, and this, the gate of the heavens.

I will not forsake you until I have done that which I have spoken about to you. Now there's a promise that transcends temporal values. 

I read also this morning that one in five of high-school graduates in the US have never heard of the Shoa, traditionally called the holocaust. Human memory is short, but the glory in the interstices of things is not flesh bound by the passage of time. Nonetheless we could do with teaching responsibility and care. Yet to put this in context, I recall Dr Fauci saying, I don't know how to teach you that we must care for each other. Isn't that an odd problem? We have the example from the Hebrews that we must teach each other 'in time' that we must care for each other. I wonder, is this in today's lessons? Not explicitly in the short final section of Psalm 103, but it is explicit in Psalm 78, a psalm we sing a few verses in year B, next August and September.

Here's the critical instruction: Read this to your children - And ha, set up your folly in God. Reminds me of one of the seven remarkable novels of that inkling, Charles Williams, The Greater Trumps. While looking this up I discovered, Et in Sempiternum Pereant, a bit of his writing I had never seen. Both are free at the links from project Gutenberg.

Psalms 78
מַשְׂכִּ֗יל לְאָ֫סָ֥ף הַאֲזִ֣ינָה עַ֭מִּי תּוֹרָתִ֑י הַטּ֥וּ אָ֝זְנְכֶ֗ם לְאִמְרֵי־פִֽי	a mwcil lasf hazinh ymi torti h'tu aozncm lamri-pi	1 An insight of Asaph. Listen my people to my instruction. Bend your ears to the sayings of my mouth.
אֶפְתְּחָ֣ה בְמָשָׁ֣ל פִּ֑י אַבִּ֥יעָה חִ֝יד֗וֹת מִנִּי־קֶֽדֶם	b aptkh bmwl pi abiyh kidot mni-qdm	2 I will open my mouth in a parable. I will ferment riddles from of old,
אֲשֶׁ֣ר שָׁ֭מַעְנוּ וַנֵּדָעֵ֑ם וַ֝אֲבוֹתֵ֗ינוּ סִפְּרוּ־לָֽנוּ	g awr wmynu vndym vabotinu sipru-lnu	3 which we have heard and known, and our ancestors recounted to us.
לֹ֤א נְכַחֵ֨ד ׀ מִבְּנֵיהֶ֗ם לְד֥וֹר אַחֲר֗וֹן מְֽ֭סַפְּרִים תְּהִלּ֣וֹת יְהוָ֑ה וֶעֱזוּז֥וֹ וְ֝נִפְלְאוֹתָ֗יו אֲשֶׁ֣ר עָשָֽׂה	d la nckd mbnihm ldor akron msprim thilot ihvh vyzuzo vnplaotiv awr ywh	4 We will not conceal from their children in the generation to follow, recounting the praises of Yahweh, and his strength and his wonders which he did.
וַיָּ֤קֶם עֵד֨וּת ׀ בְּֽיַעֲקֹ֗ב וְתוֹרָה֮ שָׂ֤ם בְּיִשְׂרָ֫אֵ֥ל אֲשֶׁ֣ר צִ֭וָּה אֶת־אֲבוֹתֵ֑ינוּ לְ֝הוֹדִיעָ֗ם לִבְנֵיהֶֽם	h viqm ydut biyqob vtorh wm biwral awr xivvh at-abotinu lhodiym lbnihm	5 He raised a testimony in Jacob and he set up instruction in Israel, which he commanded our ancestors, to make known to their children,
לְמַ֤עַן יֵדְע֨וּ ׀ דּ֣וֹר אַ֭חֲרוֹן בָּנִ֣ים יִוָּלֵ֑דוּ יָ֝קֻ֗מוּ וִֽיסַפְּר֥וּ לִבְנֵיהֶֽם	v lmyn iidyu dor akron bnim iivvldu iqumu vispru lbnihm	6 so that the generation to follow will know. The children to be born, will arise and recount to their children,
וְיָשִׂ֥ימוּ בֵֽאלֹהִ֗ים כִּ֫סְלָ֥ם וְלֹ֣א יִ֭שְׁכְּחוּ מַֽעַלְלֵי־אֵ֑ל וּמִצְוֺתָ֥יו יִנְצֹֽרוּ	z viwimu balohim cslm vla iwcku mylli-al umxvotiv inxoru	7 so they might set up their folly in God, and not forget the prodigality of God, and observe his commandments,

God is, of course, a different set of waters. Whatever adjective you put beside waters, and translators have chosen many, stagnant, standing, still, at rest, living, moving, rushing, do swim in a safe place.

Will the real rules please stand up?

 One of my pandemic projects is to map the differences between a pointed and an unpointed text of the Hebrew Bible. I am doing this using the very memorable and capable left to right version of the square text called SimHebrew. 

I had 'my own version' of a left-to right abbreviation  in capital letters and with a few punctuation marks for the gutturals aleph and ayin. But I converted to the lower case version developed by Jonathan Orr-Stav. (Such a Latin-letter code is an abbreviation because it takes one byte as opposed to 7 bytes in rendered Unicode, and one byte as opposed to 2 internally. Using a Unicode database is really awkward for me and the technology was new 10 years ago so it was a non-starter.) 

My method of data capture is to use the unpointed Mechon-Mamre text that can be downloaded from their site (one book at a time) and to run it through the SimHebrew converter here. Then to manipulate the text in notepad until I have legitimate insert statements for my database. This is somewhat prone to error but eventually I get a clean script. (I use a combination of Word and Notepad for the necessary global changes.)

After this I create a temporary table that matches: book, chapter, a conversion of the alef-betic verse number to a real verse number, and a word by word Hebrew word in SimHebrew, full pointed text word from the Leningrad codex, the stem code, raw word form, and semantic domain from my database, the word number relative to the start of the verse, and the word id (assigned by an Oracle sequence and connecting to my word table).

I recently added 2 Kings to my data. At first I assigned the wrong chapter numbers - a little oversight. That resulted in over 5000 differences in my calculations. When I fixed the issue, the differences went down to about 230. I then discovered that M-M is treating דִּבְיוֹנִ֖ים (dbivn) which they render as dung of a dove as two words (db ivnh - apparently a poor substitute for salt). Fixing those 4 instances dropped my mismatches by 100. Then word by word I work through the remainder until the differences are accounted for.

My program that calculates the words also suggests a code snippet that will fix any discrepancy (as long as I put it in the right place in the code.) The program as it stands gets 99% of the words right on first pass now. So my predicted SimHebrew Bible is about 99% right. Sorry - for the Bible, that's not good enough.

About this time in the history of the project, I ask, Is there a better way? I know I can finish the way I have begun and my brute force spelling changes are next to 0. I have over a third of the words in my test data now and over 75% of the stems represented. But the code is specific to prefix and suffix and sometimes to particular vowel combinations in the WLC. What are the real rules? 

Native speakers who 'just know' the pronunciation - what are they really doing? Certainly they have retention in memory by word form, by context, and by stem. But can I get the program to discover the shortcuts that people use? And in some ways see what they are doing. (And thereby discover the nature of the evolution of language usage.)

Here's an example: the 31 uses so far of עצר (yxr)

For yxr, the following rules are noted. 

• First you see that the holem is rendered as /o/ in lines 1 and 2 and others. This is default, but some words with some exceptions do not render the o. 
• Next (line 3) you will note that the qamats is not rendered as /o/ (or vav for rtl Hebrew) but it is in line 4, but the qamats under the second letter of the stem is rendered with prefix /i/ and /t/ in each case without suffix. 
• Tsere is rendered as /i/ in line 6 and 12 - but only the tsere under the last letter of the prefix. (I would like to color code these but the new editor absolutely ruins rtl display with embedded color coding.) 
• Notice that the final h is dropped in line 19. 
• Lines 26 and 27 would have rendered the qamats in the closed syllable as /o/ if the suffix had not been /u/. That's a general rule - but there are exceptions here too and exceptions to the exceptions.

Ref (book: chap: vs: (word within vs)	Stem	Word Form	Morph	Sim Source	Sim Calc.	WLC Word	Domain	Rendering
2 Chronicles 14:10(30)	yxr	iyxr	i/yxr	-iyxvr	-iyxor	־יַעְצֹר	BOUND	יעצר will coerce
1 Chronicles 29:14(7)	yxr	nyxr	n/yxr	-nyxvr	-nyxor	־נַעְצֹר	BOUND	נעצר contained of
2 Chronicles 13:20(2)	yxr	yxr	yxr	-yxr	-yxr	־עָצַר	BOUND	עצר did coerce
2 Kings 4:24(9)	yxr	tyxr	t/yxr	-tyxvr	-tyxor	־תַּעֲצָר	BOUND	תעצר do detain
2 Chronicles 7:13(2)	yxr (5)	ayxr	a/yxr	ayxvr	ayxor	אֶעֱצֹר	BOUND	אעצר I contain
1 Kings 8:35(1)	yxr	bhyxr	bh/yxr	bhiyxr	bhiyxr	בְּהֵעָצֵר	BOUND	בהעצר when is contained
2 Chronicles 6:26(1)	yxr	bhyxr	bh/yxr	bhiyxr	bhiyxr	בְּהֵעָצֵר	BOUND	בהעצר when are contained
Amos 5:21(6)	yxr	byxrticm	b/yxr\ticm	byxrvticm	byxroticm	בְּעַצְּרֹתֵיכֶם	COVENANT	בעצרתיכם in your conclaves
2 Kings 9:8(9)	yxr	vyxvr	v/yxvr	vyxvr	vyxur	וְעָצוּר	BOUND	ועצור the contained
1 Kings 21:21(11)	yxr (10)	vyxvr	v/yxvr	vyxvr	vyxur	וְעָצוּר	BOUND	ועצור the contained
Proverbs 30:16(2)	yxr	vyxr	v/yxr	vyvxr	vyoxr	וְעֹצֶר	BOUND	ועצר and contained
1 Chronicles 21:22(17)	yxr	vtyxr	vt/yxr	vtiyxr	vtiyxr	וְתֵעָצַר	BOUND	ותעצר that may be contained
2 Kings 17:4(20)	yxr	viyxrhv	vi/yxr\hv	viyxrhv	viyxrhu	וַיַּעַצְרֵהוּ	BOUND	ויעצרהו so detained him
Job 4:2(5)	yxr	vyxr	v/yxr	vyxvr	vyxor	וַעְצֹר	BOUND	ועצר but contain
Psalms 106:30(4)	yxr (15)	vtyxr	vt/yxr	vtiyxr	vtiyxr	וַתֵּעָצַר	BOUND	ותעצר and was contained
Job 12:15(2)	yxr	iyxr	i/yxr	iyxvr	iyxor	יַעְצֹר	BOUND	יעצר he contains
2 Chronicles 2:5(2)	yxr	iyxr	i/yxr	iyxvr	iyxor	יַעֲצָר	BOUND	יעצר contains
1 Kings 18:44(19)	yxr	iyxrch	i/yxr\ch	iyxvrç	iyxorc	יַעַצָרְכָה	BOUND	יעצרכה detain you
2 Chronicles 22:9(27)	yxr	lyxr	l/yxr	lyxvr	lyxor	לַעְצֹר	BOUND	לעצר to coerce
Psalms 107:39(3)	yxr (20)	myxr	m/yxr	myvxr	myoxr	מֵעֹצֶר	BOUND	מעצר through coercion of
Proverbs 25:28(8)	yxr	myxr	m/yxr	myxr	myxr	מַעְצָר	BOUND	מעצר containment
2 Chronicles 7:9(4)	yxr	yxrt	yxr\t	yxrt	yxrt	עֲצָרֶת	COVENANT	עצרת a conclave
Joel 1:14(4)	yxr	yxrh	yxr\h	yxrh	yxrh	עֲצָרָה	COVENANT	עצרה a conclave
Joel 2:15(7)	yxr	yxrh	yxr\h	yxrh	yxrh	עֲצָרָה	COVENANT	עצרה a conclave
2 Kings 10:20(4)	yxr (25)	yxrh	yxr\h	yxrh	yxrh	עֲצָרָה	COVENANT	עצרה a conclave
Job 29:9(2)	yxr	yxrv	yxr\v	yxrv	yxru	עָצְרוּ	BOUND	עצרו contained
2 Chronicles 20:37(19)	yxr	yxrv	yxr\v	yxrv	yxru	עָצְרוּ	BOUND	עצרו could be coerced
2 Kings 14:26(10)	yxr	yxvr	yxvr	yxvr	yxur	עָצוּר	BOUND	עצור coercion
Jeremiah 36:5(7)	yxr	yxvr	yxvr	yxur	yxur	עָצוּר	BOUND	עצור am detained
1 Chronicles 12:1(7)	yxr (30)	yxvr	yxvr	yxvr	yxur	עָצוּר	BOUND	עצור he contained himself
1 Kings 14:10(12)	yxr	yxvr	yxvr	yxvr	yxur	עָצוּר	BOUND	עצור those who are contained

All that is pretty straightforward. But what are the real rules? 

Some of my rules are miles long conditions; strings of stems with prefix and suffix combinations and the occasional appeal to an odd Unicode value. 

The 'rules' are long for when to render hireq as /i/.

• 200 distinct stems which do not contain a yod are allowed to render hireq as yod without exception.
• Another 281 allow hireq as yod on an exception basis.
• Only 7 stems containing a yod disallow hireq as yod.
• Another 46 disallow it on an exception basis.
• Hireq is usually ignored in a closed syllable - but there are exceptions and exceptions by word form to the exceptions (only 8 stems).
• Hireq is rendered as /ii/ for several reasons. When the prefix is i, and for tsere, patah, and qamats occasionally. What! these also are rendered as o or v sometimes. Who can know?

Any ideas?

I have been debating whether to design a data table for the rule combinations. I don't want to do it unless I cannot simplify the code. Last time I asked I discovered several simplifications. Looking for more...

Here's the rule for qamats becoming vav (RTL) or /o/ (SIM): I have converted the code to 'English'

Unconditionally for stems ahl, anih, arc, avn, bvw, ctl, grn, iq+n, iqwn, irqym, nvh, rnn, yziali, zvh, 

(+ is my single letter internal abbreviation for tet ט.)

or the stem is +rk and prefix suffix combination in (none, cm) 

or the stem is +hr and prefix suffix combination in (none, t, c, t)

or the stem is abd and prefix suffix combination in (b, n)

or the stem is acl and prefix suffix combination in (l, h, b, nu) 

or the stem is adm and v_prefix = m and the first part of the word is m with a schwa

or the stem is amn and the word form is amn and there is no tsere under the second stem letter

or prefix suffix combination = b, h

or the stem is ark and v_suffix in (ti, vt)

or the stem is bit and v_suffix in (icm)

or the stem is bzz and prefix suffix combination in (i, vm)

or the stem is cvl and prefix suffix combination in (v, clu)

or the stem is csh and prefix suffix combination in (none, u)

or the stem is dbr and prefix suffix combination in (b, c) 

or the stem is gal and prefix suffix combination in (l, c)

or the stem is gbh and prefix suffix combination = l, h

or the stem is gml and prefix suffix combination in (none, h,none, c) 

or the stem is hrh and prefix suffix combination in (vh, tihm)

or the stem is ivn and prefix suffix combination in (none, none)

or the stem is iwr and prefix suffix combination in (none, o, b, o)

or the stem is imn and prefix suffix combination in (m, none)

or the stem is isd and prefix suffix combination in (b, i)

or the stem is knn and not (suffix in (u) and there's a qamats under the second letter) and the domain is not in (PERSON, LOCATION)

or the stem is kq and v_suffix not in (u)

or the stem is kgg and prefix suffix combination in (none, i) 

or the stem is krb and prefix suffix combination in (none, h, l, h) 

or the stem is krm and prefix suffix combination in (none, h, vb, h) 

or the stem is kwc and prefix suffix combination in (none, i) 

or the stem is kzq and prefix suffix combination in (b, h, b, nu) 

or the stem is lcd and prefix suffix combination in (l, h) 

or the stem is mlc and prefix suffix combination in (l, o, b, o, c, o) 

or the stem is mvt and prefix suffix combination in (h, h) 

or the stem is pyl and prefix suffix combination in (c, h) 

or the stem is q+n and prefix suffix combination in (none, i)

or the stem is qdw and v_suffix in (im, iv)

or the stem is qra and prefix suffix combination in (none, nu, none, ic, none, im) 

or the stem is qrk and prefix suffix combination is none, h

or the stem is rb  and prefix suffix combination in (b, none) 

or the stem is sll and prefix suffix combination in (none, vh) 

or the stem is rbb and prefix suffix combination in (v, none)

or the stem is rbb and prefix suffix combination in (hb, none)

or the stem is rkb and prefix suffix combination not in (none, none)

or the stem is rkx and prefix suffix combination in (l, h)

or the stem is tmm and prefix suffix combination in (b, none) and the first two letters of the word are not m

or the stem is wby and prefix suffix combination in (m, h, l, h) 

or the stem is wcb and prefix suffix combination in (b, o) 

or the stem is wcr and prefix suffix combination is l, h

or the stem is wdd and prefix suffix combination in (i, m)

or the stem is wmr and prefix suffix combination in (a, none,vl, h,none, h)

or the stem is wp+ and prefix suffix combination in (none, h) 

or the stem is wr and suffix in (c, rc)

or the stem is wrw and prefix suffix combination in (none, ih) 

or the stem is xrp and prefix suffix combination in (none, h) 

or the stem is ybd and prefix suffix combination in (l, h)

or the stem is yni and prefix suffix combination in (none, nu) 

or the stem is yzz and prefix suffix combination in (none, i) 

or the stem is zcr and prefix suffix combination in (b, nu) 

or the stem is yzr and prefix suffix combination in (l, ni, l, u,none, ni,none, nu)

then

the qamats under the first letter of the stem becomes /o/.

And by the way if the stem is qdw and v_suffix in (im) then the schwa under the first letter becomes /o/!

(or maybe only v)