Category: RELATIONSHIPS

Incarcerated Again

I woke up this morning to find that I have, once again, been thrown into “NextDoor” jail again — for about the third time in three years.

What is “Next Door?” — It is a site that apparently wishes it were Face Book — It is a site where people post notices about their lost dogs and cats, their disorderly neighbors, and their wayward brats.

Most of the people on that site act like total assholes (My opinion entirely) including myself because it is fun (To me, anyway) to vent and tell people what I think of them and their petty little problems.

The problem is there are worse assholes than me on that site and they never seem to be “Disciplined” by the moderators — moderators with seeming God-Like powers to discriminate as they please.

Here are some other people’s opinions about the site:

DISCRIMINATION! SEGREGATION!

This website Discriminates and Segregates! With countless attempts to find out why my account is disabled from responding or replying to any post outside my own neighborhood has gone ignored! They suspended my account once with no explanation!
I deleted my account finally!
Website is nothing but whiners anyway!

Date of experience: February 15, 2023

https://www.trustpilot.com/review/nextdoor.com

And, Yes, I will go back onto their site once my 4-day suspension is over because I am an old, cranky asshole and telling petty-assed snobs is a hobby that I absolutely enjoy — next best thing to sex as far as I am concerned.

Steps To Stopping Fake News In Its Tracks

We have all heard all the claims being made about “Fake News” these days — thank you Donald Trump — It seems like everything that ever irritated Donald Trump somehow earned the title, “Fake News” and his millions of adoring worshippers are still using his definitions to qualify whatever they choose to receive and to believe.

Of course, I have to say, right now, “There is life after Donald Trump.” (More than 70 million of our Trump-washed fellow Americans may not believe that, but all available evidence proves that there is life after Trump. (I am surprised that The Donald has not come out with “The Donald J. Trump Study Bible” so that his minions can have a new tool with which to conduct their worship services in His name. (Of course I cannot say factually that people do actually worship the former guy, but it sometimes feels to me like they do because I interpret their actions and their responses to be evidence of such a travesty. Now you have had a sample of how terribly biased I can be sometimes for which I never offer apologies.

But I am talking about “Bias” here so let me say, “The first thing you need to do when you are hearing something or reading something is to determine if whatever you are hearing or reading slants toward a particular viewpoint. Bias is something that comes forth from somebody’s views and opinions on things.

I think we can agree that there are media outlets (blogs, tv stations, radio stations, newspapers, magazines, etc., etc.,) that can be identified as either Conservative or Liberal in their biases. Both of these kinds of bias specialize in feeding their consumers information that agrees with what the consumer already believes to be truth. That is one of the reasons that a lot of people have difficulty entertaining ideas other than their own. These kinds of people tend to regard every idea that does not agree with their particular bias as either a lie or as fake news and is, therefore, not worth considering at all. These are the kinds of people who have a condition that I like to call, “Locked-In Thiinking.” They believe a certain thing and will never believe anything else unless they suffer some great mental trauma that shakes them back into consciousness.

Here is an article that describes the various kinds of bias and how they take hold in the human mind and affect everyone’s individual daily life experiences:

https://www.masterclass.com/articles/how-to-identify-bias

The danger with media bias is that such media may not be giving you the whole story. I would venture to say that Media of all kinds give their consumers only those parts of any story that the Media moguls feel will cement the loyalties (and the support) of their consumers.

What The People Are Saying

Here is one quote from an article that talks about why people mistrust the Main Street Media bias these days:

I know I think that because they show favoritism toward their preferred political party, whether it be democrat or republican.

https://www.quora.com/Why-do-60-of-Americans-think-that-MSM-is-not-credible?share=1

I think it all boils down to people getting used to the idea that the things they are hearing on their favorite news source might be telling them something that is either a little more or a little less than the absolute truth and getting those people to start investigating and questioning on their own —- One way to do this is to listen to both sides of an argument and then comparing how your own life is affected by what you have been believing.

This kind of effort will require people to leave their comfort zones for a while but if the truth can be distilled from the effort, then the effort will be more than worth while.

I have learned something over the years that a lot of people will never agree with. I am a Center-Of-The-Road Liberal when it comes to politics. But I have discovered that there are some Conservative ideas that are worth listening to and so I do not lock them out or ignore them when I feel they have something worthwhile to say. Even the craziest of them seem to me to make sense on limited occasions — very limited to be sure — but sometimes they do sound sensible.

Is The Chinese Surveillance Baloon Anything New?

Today, the United States military shot down a high-flying surveillance balloon over safe coastal waters and began salvage operations to recover it according to reports. This balloon had been drifting over certain sensitive areas of the U.S., for days and had been tracked by military operations. The sensitive areas reportedly included some American Nuclear sites in Montana. The Chinese government reportedly had claimed that the balloon was nothing but a weather balloon that had drifted off course, taking it over the Continental United States by accident.

What Is This Balloon Thing All About?

QUOTE: “…..U.S. officials first detected the balloon and its payload on January 28 when it entered U.S. airspace near the Aleutian Islands. The balloon traversed Alaska, Canada and re-entered U.S. airspace over Idaho. “President Biden asked the military to present options and on Wednesday President Biden gave his authorization to take down the Chinese surveillance balloon as soon as the mission could be accomplished without undue risk to us civilians under the balloon’s path,” said a senior defense official speaking on background. “Military commanders determined that there was undue risk of debris causing harm to civilians while the balloon was overland.” …” END QUOTE.

CITATION — The above quotation is taken from the following source:
https://www.defense.gov/News/News-Stories/Article/Article/3288543/f-22-safely-shoots-down-chinese-spy-balloon-off-south-carolina-coast/

Does China Have A History With Balloon Surveillance?

Yes, China has a long history of using balloons for military surveillance.

The use of balloons as a form of reconnaissance dates back as far as the Warring States period (475–221 BC) in ancient China.

During World War II, the Chinese military was known to employ balloon-borne cameras to observe Japanese targets. In more recent years, China has continued to use balloons for surveillance purposes.

In the 1990s, the Chinese military reportedly used large helium balloons to track the movements of American aircraft in the South China Sea. In 2020, the Chinese military reportedly tested a high-altitude airship for reconnaissance purposes.

Why A Balloon As Opposed To A Military Surveillance Plane?

1. Cost: Balloons are much cheaper to purchase and operate than airplanes.

2. Stealth: Balloons are much more difficult to detect than airplanes, allowing for covert military surveillance operations.

3. Weather: Balloons can stay in the air for much longer periods of time than airplanes, allowing for longer surveillance operations.

4. Flexibility: Balloons are much more maneuverable in the air than airplanes, allowing for more precise surveillance operations.

5. Environmentally-Friendly: Balloons are much more eco-friendly than airplanes, which require significant amounts of fuel and generate noise pollution.

What Are Some Retaliatory Actions China Might Take Because We Shot Their Balloon Down?

It is hard to say because relations are strained between the United States and China right now and, according to the analysts, those relations do not seem to be getting any better anytime soon.

But here is a short list of the things that I personally think the Chinese might do in retaliation for our shooting down their spy balloon:

1. Issue a diplomatic protest and demand an explanation.
I think this would be their first response — to protest and to play dumb and to show their indignation.

2. Launch a retaliatory strike against US assets.
I think this is less likely unless those assets might be something like attacking some low flying surveillance asset that the United States might have in operation in the Chinese skies.

3. Impose economic or trade sanctions against the US.
I am not sure China is in a position to issue economic or trade sanctions against the USA unless it would be in some wholly token or symbolic manner but one can never be sure.

4. Increase military presence in the region.
I think this would be a knee jerk action and would not be very impressive because they have been doing that already.

5. Increase surveillance in the region.
Now that their little balloon ploy has been exposed, I am thinking that their best scientific and military minds are probably scrambling to find other means and methods of doing surveillance on the activities and assets of the United States. I am thinking satellites. Satellites make the most sense to me.

6. Increase propaganda against the US.
There is no doubt in my mind that this is going to happen and is probably already happening even as I write this post.

7. Complain to the UN and other international organizations.
Playing the victim to gain sympathy from others around the world is common among bad actors who get caught with their pants down.

8. Launch cyber attacks against US assets.
I believe this is a possibility although I am thinking (and it is nothing but my opinion), that doing cyber attacks and even cyber spying is somoething they might possibly have been doing for a long time now.

9. Lobby other countries to support their position.
This, to my way of thinking, is a no brainer.

10. Cut off diplomatic relations with the US.
They might threaten it, but I am not personally convinced that they would actually do it.

When “I Love You” Can Be Totally Meaningless

Opinion From The Magnificent Mind Of John

When you hear someone say “I love you,” it can be a powerful moment or it can be a moment when you are tempted to say to yourself, “That is horse shit!”

It can make you feel connected and understood, and it can make you feel valued and appreciated. It can also make you wonder to yourself, “I barely know this person so what is it that they want from me to make them say such shit?”

I have discovered from hard experience that when someone tells you they love you, they are usually interested in one of two things …(1) Getting into your pants or (2) Getting into your wallet.

I have counseled people to always be wary of anyone who approaches with a glaring brilliant but fake smile on their face and their hand stretched out toward you. This might be real affection (which is rare as hens’ teeth) or it might be the smiling spider intent on eating the trusting fly.

For many people, those three little words can also be meaningless. Sure, they might be coming from a place of love, but they don’t always mean what they say. It’s easy to say “I love you” without really meaning it, and when this happens, it can make the phrase feel empty and hollow.

It’s important to remember that saying “I love you” is only a small part of what it means to really love someone. It’s important to show your loved ones that you care in meaningful ways, such as through your actions, spending quality time with them, and showing that you understand and support them.

These actions can speak louder than words and are more likely to convey the true depth of your feelings for someone. So, while “I love you” can be a beautiful expression of affection, it’s important to remember that it’s just a few meaningless words unless it’s backed up by genuine actions.

Take, for example, the son or daughter who has moved into the world and started living lives of their own who never — or painfully rarely ever — call you, visit you, send you a card, invite you to visit …but who will invariable tell you that they love you.

Yes, this miserable state of affairs does exist. This is when the expression of love means absolutely nothing.

People I have known all my life suddenly appear out of nowhere after years of never communicating and then have the nerve to tell me that they are my friend. I am happy to inform those people that friends do not ignore each other for years at a time.