Subtext, Subtlety, and Clarity in Description

Most of the time we don't want to be overt with our descriptions of the inner world of our characters. Character flaws are always better when they are demonstrated a few times before we name them, or discuss them in dialog. We don't want to stop the story, for example, to point out:
"Bob was tormented by nightmares, caused by sleep apnea, both of which keep sleep from being rejuvenating. His denial of the importance of either condition causes him to suffer from memory lapses, lack of attention and depression."

Time for the Television to Die

Money can now buy the political marketing strength of TV. If this is the case, then TV ads must be discredited. All of them. The truth is TV political campaign ads are under no obligation to use facts anyway. I can simply say, "Look at the mess that Obama has brought us to." then look sad, and pet a puppy while shedding a single tear in my eye. "When will we make America great again?"

No matter what my party, I'm under no obligation to present any justification for any of these implied claims. I don't have to be factual about America's condition. Great or not. I don't have to state the condition I'm referring to . I do not have to define 'mess'. I don't even have to confirm that it is President Obama I am referring to with any of these implied claims.

All of it, from the coloring, to the tonality, the hesitant breath, the voice modulation of 'fear being brave', and every word is a lie. All of it. It is created by someone much like myself. It is crafted using proven manipulation techniques of the highest form. No propaganda engine in the history of our species comes close to the empathy inducing cult messaging we are capable of today. We are already trained from birth (those raised during and after Nixon at least) to hate the current president, no matter what the problem, or economic condition. It is practically unAmerican to not to believe the current president is always wrong and doing wrong things. 

It's kind of a running joke, right? Except it takes the simplest of efforts to take this inclination and twists it into serious hate.

So, with that in mind, TV ads, all of them, have to be discredited. They have to be seen as fraudulent. People need to turn to the Internet for their views. To websites with citations and references. They have to be able to turn to each other and say, "Is this really happening in Detroit, where you live?"

Verify what you believe. Find real sources of information. Don't allow Koch brothers to buy your vote.

The US Government is not founded on Christianity

This level of fabrication is more common than you might believe. There is a set of subjects which demonstrate several levels of fabrication and intended design. A major place of fabrication right now is quotations from the Founding Fathers, specifically, what they wrote or were quoted as saying about the Constitution -- and if the Constitution was based on Christian ideals and principles. 

I'm not going to get into an argument with anyone about this. A primary document says, with no ambiguity at all, written and signed by John Adams, 
As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion,—as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion, or tranquility, of Mussulmen [Muslims],—and as the said States never entered into any war or act of hostility against any Mahometan [Mohammedan] nation, it is declared by the parties that no pretext arising from religious opinions shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries."
[Adams submitted and signed the Treaty of Tripoli, 1797]”
― John Adams, Thoughts On Government Applicable To The Present State Of The American Colonies.: Philadelphia, Printed By John Dunlap, M,Dcc,Lxxxvi

That document, written as a Treaty, which was then approved by congress, and signed by John Adams, still exists. We have the original, never been altered, document. That should be enough. Right? In case it is not let me point out this part of the Constitution of the United States as well:
"This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding."
(Article VI, Section II, United States Constitution)
The combination of these two primary documents create, as it says, the Law of the Land. So, legally, the United States, in word, and intent, is a secular government. That should be enough, yes? 

No. No it is not and the battle out there demanding that we are a Christian government, that we were founded by Christians, that the intent was Always Christian, that it was so Obvious that it was Christian that it simply didn't occur to them to explicitly say it was Christian -- as they didn't bother pointing out that the ocean was wet or the trees were green either -- so it is Christian. "One Nation, Under God!"

So, aside from the fact that the Pledge was altered in the 1950s by paranoid people afraid of Communists and Soviet Russia to say "Under God", and I really wish they would change it back -- that's just not true. There are mountains of primary documents from each of the founding fathers clearly stating they are not, and have not been Christian, or that religion was of little or no importance to them, or in the case of one, that he was Christian but fully understood what happens when Religion, any religion governs. 

Willfully Ignorant F*cksticks: The Levels of Deception on Climate Change



It was July 31st of 2014 when I had the sheets pulled from my eyes and had the "acceptable level of deception" made clear to me. Until then I had in my head that there was a limit. In fact I believed that my normal, tedious practice of checking sources, was close to paranoia. With my history, however I accepted this aspect of myself -- acceptance being less expensive that therapy.  As is pointed out in my discussion of the "Big Lie" most people, simply don't believe that someone, anyone, will be -- as Bill Weir so aptly described -- a willfully Ignorant Fuckstick -- but more than that, and this is where it gets into the mind bending realizations -- be not ignorant. To know the truth and still push the agenda of denial. Pushing it so strongly you wonder, "where does opinion stop, and national treason begin?"

This particular article is regarding the Climate Change issue. No, it is not a debate. You don't have debates about things that are fact. Ok? 

As expressed so artfully by Jon Oliver, you do not have debates about facts. You might as well have a debate over which is larger, 5 or 15. Or if owls exist, or if there are hats. Your opinion is irrelevant. So, we don't need nor even want is an opinion poll on how many Americans believe the Climate Change problem exists. That poll is not pertinent to the problem, 

However it does give valuable insight into the importance of a good, and effective educational system.

So I read that article, and then dropped down into the comment section to discover that Yes, there are people who are willing to publicly embarrass themselves, and put in writing that they believe the Climate problem is a myth. I point out to one person that yes, in fact there is a predictive method that has been accurate over 12 years down to within a  single degree of accuracy for each of those years, and that the method has been tested, retested and peer reviewed several time, and found to be accurate, demonstrable and reproducible. That last one is really the most important of the set. If others can't reproduce your results, then it doesn't matter really what you come up with -- even if you come up with it every time.

After I point this out, another person tells me to read an article on Breitbart News...which that site and another like them Breitbart Texas and others are the worst "news" sites out there -- I wouldn't' believe it if they told me it was raining while standing out in the rain. But the commenter is telling me to look at a link offered in that comment section. So... I check it out. I go to the page, ignore the article and search for DiogenesDespairs. Finding him I check the page that he links to and check it out. 

After working as a researcher for Google.com for a little more than three  years, I developed a sense of authenticity which could be recognized simply by the presentation of the website itself. This is not a value that can be relied on of course, but nothing about this website set off any alarms. The coloring, tone, layout and font setting all had "academic" quality to them. First I read the page, which was slow going because this was real, academic writing in a field I don't get exposed to very often. But, after a time I realize that this is making a solid and possible argument which could explain and negate the Climate Change problem as we understood it.

So, putting on my research hat, I checked to see who this person was and began a background check for credibility. Dr. Michael Pidwirny turned out not only to be credible, but one of the masters of his field. He not only publishes but his articles are listed in Physical Geography (index rating of 12) and does studies for the National Council for Science and the Environment -- which despite its name, is not in fact a propaganda machine run by the Koch brothers but an actual foundation committed to the best use of science based knowledge -- and does not take positions at all on Environmental issues.

To sum up, the author, in ability, professional recognition, and publication is NOT the person you want to be challenged by -- because he is probably right. I decide that I need to learn more about his point of view because the first page I landed on is -- dense, and I admit to myself that my level of understanding could be off. After finding some other related papers of his I get some coffee and settle in for a few hours of reading.

It takes about fifteen minutes before I realize that something is amiss. Both of the new papers are highly supportive of Climate Change existing and being a direct affect caused by human activity. The dates are within the last two years. So I go back to see what the dates were on the web site. The date is 2006, older than the two papers but wildly different from them as well. Then, on another page, I read this small paragraph.
In the last few centuries, the activities of humans have directly or indirectly caused the concentration of the major greenhouse gases to increase. Scientists predict that this increase may enhance the greenhouse effect making the planet warmer. Some experts estimate that the Earth's average global temperature has already increased by 0.3 to 0.6° Celsius, since the beginning of this century, because of this enhancement.
WFT? -- Having an odd, probably wrong, "couldn't be true, could it?" idea... I look for this information published some place else and I find the book on his personal area at his college -- and the page is different.

Fast checks and verification take me back to the comment area under the article I started with -- with these words in my head:

Wow.. that's interesting.. the website he uses to point at :http://www.physicalgeography.n... is like -- a real web site... and the guy who it says wrote it... is like a real scientist with published papers in well known journals : Dr. Michael Pidwirny a Canadian even. Except, what he is saying on the Physical Geography web site... isn't what his papers say anywhere else in the world... For example, he says this :
"Without the greenhouse effect the Earth's average global temperature would be -18° Celsius, rather than the present 15° Celsius. In the last few centuries, the activities of humans have directly or indirectly caused the concentration of the major greenhouse gases to increase. Scientists predict that this increase may enhance the greenhouse effect making the planet warmer. Some experts estimate that the Earth's average global temperature has already increased by 0.3 to 0.6° Celsius, since the beginning of this century, because of this enhancement. Predictions of future climates indicate that by the middle of the next century the Earth's global temperature may be 1 to 3° Celsius higher than today."

at this publication: http://www.eoearth.org/view/ar...
So... like ... why is it that Deniers will go to such great lengths, far enough to forge a whole fricken website to lie about this? I mean, seriously. This is real, dangerous, earth killing stuff and Deniers are playing with it like it is a firecracker or something, like if they are wrong it will only hurt a little, and we'll figure something out. -- not going to happen like that people. This makes ISIS look like some kids on the corner kicking a can, alright?

So, yes.. they actually forged a website for this man, and altered the text of his book which they copied from his college website. 


Two sentence horror stories

I have fallen in lust with "Two Sentence Horror Stories" The idea was started on a forum I tripped into. The thread began with a request for horror stories in two sentences. I loved the idea and really liked some of the stories which were posted.

Not even my eyes move when the scalpel cuts into my chest beginning the autopsy and sending brutal slices of pain through me.
I look to heaven, searching for God, and say, “You hit like a girl.”

Black Dog

The Black Dog: If you had to risk your life, twice, in order to save one person ... a child ... from a horrible and painful death -- and there would always be injury to you, and pain... would you do it? ... 


I think that there are many people who would do this... if there was no doubt in your mind that the child would die if you did not respond. We are not talking about running into suicide. The first battle you have to get through is with a large black dog. If you win that fight, the dog will show you where a serial killer has the child, just before the killer has done any serious damage to the child. Then you have to get the child away from him. That might be easier than the dog… might be harder, but That is the deal. Are you still game?

What about the next time? How about the next? What about the fourth time? Remember that you could die, the chance is there twice You are fighting for your life, as well as another's each time ... so there will always be pain each time... what about the fifth time?... could you look at the Black Dog across the street, ready to lead you to another killer who has another victim, and walk the other way? That is the question for my next novel... The Black Dog

The Theory of Planned Behavior

Introduction The Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) provides a comprehensive framework for understanding and predicting human actions in a pla...