Trump Vs. Pelosi — The Citizens Lose

Yesterday, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, majorly dissed President Trump by attempting to cancel his State of the Union address for Tuesday, January 29 citing lack of resources to secure the National Special Security Event (NSSE) due to the government shutdown. 

In turn, CNN applauded Pelosi for having:

– Just pulled a major power move on Donald Trump’s State of the Union

Today, President Trump reciprocated by refusing to provide military aircraft for Pelosi’s trip aboard citing the same shutdown. 

In this case, The Guardian condemns President Trump stating that he:

– Escalates shutdown row by cancelling Pelosi trip

I am not taking sides (seriously), but just can’t help but notice the incredible bias in the “Fake News” that we are all being fed in the massive media “echo chamber.” 

Again, Pelosi cancels Trump and its reported on as she did a great thing, while when Trump responds and cancels Pelosi, then that is reported on as he is escalating the situation. 

Something is very wrong in this country–regardless of which politicians and parties you love or hate and whether you agree with a border wall or not–shouldn’t we get news that is honest and even-handed. 

The system is broken and we are the masses that are being controlled in our thinking and our voting.  

This is not democracy–it is social control and b*llsh*t brainwashing! 😉

Branding Israel

Please see my new article in The Times of Israel called, “Israel Rebranded.”

For decades, Palestinians terrorists have inflicted on Israelis: stabbings, shootings, vehicular rammings, suicide bombings, terror tunnels, missile attacks, and more. But aside from this overt, violent war of attrition, the Palestinians are simultaneously waging a full-blown “marketing war” against Israel for world opinion. In this war of words and propaganda, the Palestinians get rebranded and so does Israel.

Have faith in the redemption and stand up and speak out against the falsehoods and fake news, so that Israel can have its rightful place among nations and also be a “light unto the nations.”  😉

News – Real and Imagined

I thought this was a funny Dilbert comic that a colleague had by their office. 

News–My Brain Hurts.

It’s not only the 24/7/365 news cycle that make it often extremely repetitive and monotonous–where “breaking news” is the same news from 5 hours ago-sometimes even from 5 days ago. Ho hum, boring. 

But it’s also the forced news, where there always has to be a story even when there isn’t one worth taking about. Every reporter has to earn their keep too. Oh no, not another cat rescue from a backyard tree! 

Hey, in the end its ratings–that drives advertising, which of course pays the bills, so don’t hold your breath as to how long we can continue to talk about the 2016 election, the Kavanaugh hearings, the Mueller Investigation, and so on. It’s the news gifts that keep on giving and giving. 

Sometimes, it’s about getting different angles on a story–however, more often it seems like just the same old, same old–how many ways can you say, he did it or he didn’t do it?

Then there is the fake news and alternative facts, where if there isn’t a story (or one that supports the sponsor’s world filter), then maybe–just maybe–we need to create one and get people unsettled or use it for social control (remember the “Echo Chamber”). And for sure, let’s not forget the power of a good conspiracy theory! People certainly are gullible, right? 

This all reminds me of a famous saying by Lenin:

There are decades when nothing happens, and there are weeks when decades happen.

In some ways maybe it was better to just have the morning and nightly news without all the B.S. in between, because…there are decades when nothing consequential happens. 

I guess we all just are waiting around for the weeks when decades happen, but when that sh*t hits the fan, who says there will even be any news to be had. 

No wonder, Dilbert says his brain hurts–doesn’t yours? 😉

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

A Half Truth

So everyone is always playing with the truth. 

They don’t want people to really know the truth, but they don’t want to call it a real lie.

Hence the saying:

“It’s just a white lie!”

A white lie is usually taken as in “pure” or “righteous”–in other words, there is a good reason (like to prevent someone from getting hurt) for lying, .

Yes, sure there is (LOL).

Sometimes people lie to themselves:

“What you don’t know can’t harm you!”

Most often, people tell what they call half truths.

This is commonly referred to as:

“Beating around the bush!”

However, don’t tell anyone:

A half truth is a lie!

And just like beating around the bush arouses the birds to fly and get caught in a net–that’s what telling half truths do too. 

Why is it so hard to tell the whole truth, because that would make most people look pretty bad. 

If people only knew.

But someday, of course, they will. 😉

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Dr. Insane and Meshuggenah Island

So I want you to know that there is a very thin line between fantasy and reality. 

There are those who want you to not only question reality, but also to accept alternative deceptions. 

They want to substitute fantasy and conspiracy and their version of “truth” for what is happening and real or intentionally phony. 

But (more) fake news and lies are not real news and truth. 

They ask questions, and they provide “answers.”

But the answers are more often contrived to make you think they are a reality when they are brainwashing and mindf*cking you. 

They show you maps and pictures–it is nothing but entertainment to sow fear and for mass hysteria and distortion. 

Dr. Insane is running her own Meshuganah Island. 

You can easily get caught up in it. 

But I caution you that there is a thin, thin line between fantasy and reality. 

It’s not a game.

The game and joke are on you. 

Misinformation, psychological operations throw you off track. 

Yes, there are secrets–there have to be. 

Not everything is for everyone to know at the moment.

But the world is not run on: I say, he says, she says. 

There is power. There are plans. There is execution. 

Randomness sometimes. 

Intent sometimes. 

Corruption all too often. 

You can’t really know. 

Were we smart or just plain lucky?

Someday, the unknown becomes known, but not on rants and raves. 

Follow the data carefully and question it to make sure. 

In the end, the King of Kings is guiding everything and therefore there is no reason to fear. 

 

The world is going according to plan.

Fear leads to you wanting to gain control. 

Some people want to vent or to pretend they know something when they don’t. 

There is no reason to conjecture and cross with Dr. Insane into Meshuganah Island.

Making things up makes things worse.

What we do have to do is to keep good winning over evil with truth. 😉

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Faith Has To Win Over Worry

Anxiety is worry and fear on steroids.

Some people have separation anxiety.

Others have social anxiety.

And then there is good ‘ol generalized anxiety.

It was fascinating-scary to learn that nearly 1 in 3 will have an anxiety disorder before the age of 18.

Despite all the abundance, affluence, advancement and technological progress, people are nevertheless more fearful about their present and futures. 

Perhaps like Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, when people weren’t able to satisfy their most basics physiological and safety needs, they didn’t know better to worry about everything else like whether they were truly loved, integrated, on the right track in life and fulfilled.  

These days, we have more money, time, and information to know that there is plenty to be anxious about. 

We know the most horrible stories of trauma, illness, death, corruption, disaster, terror, and war–it’s plastered on the news and Internet 24/7/365.

Moreover, our “friends” and connections are blabbing about it on the social networks day-in and -out.

We are aware of our mistakes and foibles in real time as feedback is given and received with both likes as well as open criticism, marginalization, and alienation at every turn we take.

You have to ask yourself–is it meant to help anyone or to degrade and destroy the others, the opposition, the ones we don’t like anymore. 

It’s not just trolls that can make your life miserable, but everyone from your bosses to your peers and social circle who give you pause with continuous reaction and footnote–much of it driven by alternative facts and fake other world self-serving reality.

Perhaps yesterday you were a genius and on top of the world, but then all of a sudden you’re low-life garbage.

Your self-worth and future are measured by likes and dislikes, connections and reactions by people who are driven by their own agendas, power, and biases. 

It’s not just local either. 

North Korea and Iran are tweeting about destroying the world and their latest rocket launches and WMD development. 

Tomorrow maybe the end of one or of many. 

There is truly plenty to worry about in society driven by selfishness, materialism, faithlessness and a moral vacuum where truly anything goes. 

Selflessness, meaning, morality, and faith have to win over all the reasons to be anxious. 

We know too much about the bad every day, and this can only be overcome by anchoring ourselves in the good. 😉

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

The Fine Line Between Fantasy and Reality

So I’ve started to realize that there are at times a (very) thin line between fantasy and reality. 

In some cases, people hear some facts or some truth, and then in their mind, they concoct entire stories of fantasy or full-fledged conspiracy around it.

But more than that, the fantasy in their minds, because it starts with a real fact or two then becomes entirely perceived as reality itself. 

We saw plenty of this in the last election cycle and even today, with one political side or the other purchasing phony dossiers or making up stories about the opposition–and they may even have some underlying facts associated with it. 

But around these facts, entire scripts and stories are concocted through inductive reasoning or highly imaginative thinking, whether for example, of deep Russian conspiracies reminiscent of the era of McCarthyism or the Salem Witch Trails of yesteryear. 

Again, I’m not saying that nothing is there, but the question is whether there is real truth then to the whole conspiracy that has been drawn from fantastical minds of opposition agents, reporters, and others gainfully benefiting and perhaps running amuck with these grandiose versions of alternate reality?

What I am coming to believe is that it’s not so much that people are willfully making up these stories (although there can certainly be plenty of biases, exaggerations, and agendas at work as well), but that in their mind, they create these bombastic versions of what seems like truth to them and then they pawn it off and sell it to others who are only to happy to latch unto some juicy new gossip or theory of “what’s really going on.”

Similarly, some people who get very mad may actually take albeit a genuine fight with another person and pour layer upon layer of evil doings and manipulations on them until by the time their mind is done, the other person has become the devil themselves–and the fantasy for a short time seems like it is the reality–until such time that cooler heads prevail and reality replaces the mind’s fantasy or it’s ultimate fears. 

In short, there is a very fine line between fantasy and reality–our minds can get carried away with facts or notions of the moment and build those into full-fledged conspiracy theories of “who done it” and “why didn’t we see it all along.”

Certainly, this doesn’t mean that there aren’t some very good pretenders out there who truly are doing very bad things and covering their tracks, and it’s for the gifted and detective minds out there to perceive those and prove them as being the greater reality.

But we have to be careful in accusing people–until such time that the facts are all there and the perception or fantasy of our mind’s eye is shown to be the reality indeed. 

We need good investigative journalism, excellent law enforcement and intelligence, and clarity of mind to know what’s real and what’s fake in life and in our fantastical minds. 😉

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Who Won The Election? Russia

So it turns out that the all important election of 2017 for the 45th President of the United States…

Was not between President Trump and Hillary Clinton at all.

Oh no.

Because who really won the election is Russia!

From the dossier to the uranium deal, charges of collision and stealing the election, the investigations, special counsel, weakened White House, chaos, confusion, misinformation, fake news, and alternative facts.

This is called INFORMATION WARFARE. 

All of these serve not only to weaken our elections and political system, and unnerve the trust of the American people, it wastes the time and efforts of our elected officials and media chasing ghosts. 

When you can’t win an election fair and square, you pull out the McCarthyism card invoking fear of Russia and provoking political repression here at home. 

It’s the “Commie bastards,” of course that are interfering in our democracy.

But really it wasn’t!  

Unless you count a hundred thousand dollars or so of political ads and botnets in a billion dollar plus election as serious meddling–not. 

Basically, we are talking a self-inflicted national wound–that keeps bleeding and bleeding. 

Our country is going on a wild goose chase–looking for something, turning over stones, but what they find–how significant is any of it?

The real winner again is Russia.

They are strengthening themselves in the world. 

They have the West on edge.

Our politicians and system of government is weakened.

We waste time, while Russia takes over Crimea, wins big in Syria, militarizes the Arctic, partners with China, and advances their world agenda. 

We are distracted with eyes off the ball–spending days, weeks, months, and years in a tizzy pointing fingers at each other, seeing shadows, scared of ghosts, and punching into the air. 

Russia won the election for sure. 😉

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

VICE News Superior

So I have started watching VICE News and you should too. 

It is on HBO and is superior to the other big news outlets in so many ways. 

The intensity and clarity of their photography and videos is unbelievable!

My daughter said to me:

“This is clearer than REAL life!”

And she was right…I don’t know how they do it. 

Also, they remove all the clutter from the news screen that CNN, MSNBC, and others use at the top and bottom of the screen–instead it’s just clean, focused, and right to the news point. 

VICE puts the key messages in callouts right on the screen in large and easy to read boxes–the impact is you see the visual and the print message dramatically together and you get it and remember it!

They do this for their photos and videos.

Finally, with all the “talk is cheap” news these days, it is nice that VICE seems to focus more on reporting and less on subjective opinion. 

With all the failing, fake, and alternative news out there, it is nice to see that someone has invented a better news program.  😉

(Source Photo: Vice News)

Another Nothing Burger

So I’ve noticed that not only in politics–but in life–people are want to throw around a lot of nothing burgers.

This happens when they make vague accusations–incriminating people or groups–but without substantiating what they are saying. 

It’s a way of bullying, discriminating, and hating on others. 

Creating doubt about your victim–keep saying those derogatory, demeaning, and hateful stories–it tarnishes the other person’s image, reputation, and credibility.

Creating an endless aura of fallibility on the other person’s part. 

Here, we go…they screwed up again!

It’s death by a thousand cuts of insults, pot shots, and sucker punches.

It’s a definite form of verbal and emotional abuse and violence. 

Sometimes, there may be something to it–in which case the party that screwed up should take responsibility, correct their mistakes, and commit to sincerely doing better in the future. 

But often, there is nothing there!

And the false accusations are merely a way to cover up (management) incompetency or bias by the accusers themselves. 

It’s a great way to dominate the conversation, but really the people making the stink are simply acting out–and not too flattering as the whiners and complainers.

They point fingers at others, but there are three fingers pointing back at themselves!

Why?

Because it’s another nothing burger meant to deceive, discredit, and retard and take the focus off their own meatless patties!  

Where’s the beef?

The liars and deceivers and propagandists are using you for their own means.

Another nothing burger in the oven and it ain’t kosher! 😉

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)