Manufacturing Consent.

Documentary that I'd like to discuss a bit once again, by Noam Chomsky.
Even though he leans pretty far to the  left, and I don't always agree with him, he makes some pretty astute observations about the way propaganda works in the media.

I've learned that you can learn from something or someone, even if you do not agree with every policy, opinion, or stance that they take.

In normal times, the news and print media tend to behave in the manor described in the video.
These aren't normal times, and it doesn't necessarily apply to my local print media. They sometimes tend to set their own agenda.

I  suggest checking out the entirety of the documentary on YouTube.

The Big, Huge, Secret.

Throughout the years of 2007 to 2010, I was poor enough to pay no income tax at all.

Stop the presses.

Did everyone get that?

Now that you've received that news of such great importance, and all the smoke and mirrors have been removed from the room by the DNC set crew, you can go on about your life as usual.

Big, huge, secretive news, right?

The fact that people are sometimes poor.

"The Control Freak."

A little piece I wrote to get a point across.

"The control freak.

Dirty dishes scattered across the room.
Piles of clothes balled up on the chair and in the corner.
Important pieces of mail and scrap pieces of brainstorm paper placed around the room, hidden like Easter eggs.
An unmade bed.
A grape juice stain on the sheets.
A shag carpet, in desperate need of a vacuuming, speckled with miniscule pieces of garbage, batteries, and water bottles.
Reminder cards from missed doctor appointments that still somehow managed to slip your mind.
A perfectly organized digital music library, alphabetically organized by artist, then sorted and labeled by album and year of release.

The control freak."


Also, for the last time, here are a few key words for you to understand:

PTSD
Stress
Triggers
Trauma
Sensitivity
Flashbacks
Psychosomatic manifestations or illness
Controlled setting/The observer effect

It's really that simple.

The Pillars of the Next American Revolution

Out of all the things that I've learned from the past 3+ years in the spycraft, such as a rudimentary understanding of macroeconomics (namely how to fix our economy and create jobs), how to play political "inside baseball" (the horse trading and negotiating that goes on behind the scenes), the ability to build a broad consensus, and how to analyze information and think critically on my feet, one skill has proven most valuable: the ability to reason with, advise, and influence some of our nations most powerful politicians.

Comprehensive tax reform, once thrown on the back burner after the Simpson-Bowles Commission, magically made its way back to the forefront of the discussion on how to get our economy back on track.

Once considered a fringe idea, the idea of eliminating the private, run-for-profit Federal Reserve and fractional reserve banking became a tangible reality.

The idea of cheap mortgages as a stimulus and as a way to rescue the housing market was thought to have come from Mars.

You would figure that the last two common-sense reforms I found during my research would have found some resonance within the halls of Congress and the White House much sooner. They didn't, so it took some elbow grease to get them there.

The return of Glass-Steagall and the breaking up of the big banks?
Formerly a dream.

An infrastructure bank?
It formerly held no traction on the right.
Now it does.

These are all foregone conclusions now.
All it will take is an ounce of popular sentiment to push things over the edge and get them done.


By any measure, a revolution is on its way.

These are the pillars upon which the revolution will stand:

1) Solvency: In our national pocketbook. We will have balanced budgets soon.
2) Honesty: About our past. The 9/11 Commission Report will go right in the trash where it belongs.
3) Opportunity: There will be jobs to go around. There will be more affordable housing.
4) Transparency: As far as technological innovations go. Be it cybernetics or be it H.A.A.R.P.

I believe that the American people deserve a fair shot.

"Entrain the Brain to go Insane?"

A pertinent excerpt from Angels Don't Play This HAARP: Advances in Tesla Technology:

"The general rule is that the brain's predominate wave frequency will be lowest, in terms of pulses per second, when relaxed, and highest when people are most alert or agitated. External stimulation of the brain by electromagnetic means can cause the brain to be entrained or locked into phase with an external signal generator. Predominate brain waves can be driven or pushed into new frequency patterns by external stimulation. In other words, the external signal driver or impulse generator entrains the brain, overriding the normal frequencies causing changes in the brain waves; which then causes changes in brain chemistry; which then causes changes in brain outputs in the form of thoughts, emotions, or physical condition. As you are driven, so you arrive. Brain manipulation can be either beneficial or detrimental to the individual being impacted.

...Changing the way we think, if we are individually in control of our changes, is a healthy thing. It is disgusting to realize that governments are interested in these techniques, not for beneficial individual uses but in order to gain increased control over populations they view as dangerous. These technologies offer both great promise and a high potential for abuse. Since the techniques are here now, all of the work in these areas should be open to public review. This would help assure the preservation of the most fundamental right of humankind, the right to think in our own way."

Ball.

It's been several years since I've played organized baseball (I've only had catches and gone to batting cages since). That being said, this is what the scouts are expecting, and what would be confirmed by anyone who has seen me play for an extended period of time.

1) Inaccurate arm behind the plate at times.
This can be worked on with drills working on throwing mechanics and through sheer repetition.
Knoblauch-itis is all from the shoulders up.

I can remember being shifted over to second base when problems like this persisted, but I feel this is something that might be worked on.
DH also exists.

2) Great at blocking balls in the dirt and catching would-be wild pitches.
Great reflexes.

3) Good at calling a game behind the plate and working with what my pitcher brings to the table to get outs.

4) Good at framing borderline pitches.

5) I know how to drop down a good bunt.

6) Uncanny power for someone my size.
It's not often you see a 150 lb. kid hitting the ball 440 feet.

Any knowledgeable sports fan might say "4 or 5 out of 20 pitches is a small sample size."
Which is true. But it also reveals something else.

That was my first time facing balls coming in that fast (80 MPH+).
With more repetition and opportunities, I could increase my performance in that setting.
It just shows the potential.

I'm bigger (by a good 30-35 lbs.) and stronger now, too.
I'd like to see where I can take this.

The opportunity will present itself, and GM's are interested.
I just have to be ready to earn my spot.

I want to play Minor League Ball.

The 2008 Election.

Being wet behind the ears in all things political, I registered Democratic in my first Presidential election and voted for Barack Obama.

He was hip, cool, young, and promised a vague platitude of "Change" and "Hope."
He was Black, too, which was nifty at the time.

"Yes. One of us finally made it."

I voted for him because he promised to end the wars and bring our troops home, which is something that McCain made no promises to do (If my memory serves me correctly.).

Obama reneged on those promises.
As well as promising to be the most transparent administration ever.
Not to mention close ties to Wall Street in his inner circle, which he pledged against as he was running for the office.

I saw "The Obama Deception" very early in his first term.
It was enough to make me realize that we had made a mistake.

He later flip-flopped on various other issues, such as repealing NAFTA and GATT, turning the economy around during his first term, and the ballooning national debt.

Plenty of buyer's remorse here, but I still decided to work with him in good faith, as the country needed leadership at the time, and we were stuck with the person who held the Presidency. We needed a community organizer, if you will. I have no remorse for working with Democrats in good faith when the country needed it, even as they were too busy flinging mud and engaging in the politics of personal destruction to get any actual work done.

I guess I was doing my job too well.

Not to mention, some messed up stuff happened to me, without my consent or foreknowledge.

I was just doing my job and making contacts.
Just like you don't walk outside of your house in the morning and expect a jet turbine to fall onto your head, I had no reason to suspect that I would be implanted with a microchip.

The Swiss army knife of implants. It does everything: provides visuals through the subject's eyes, telepathic thought-reading (if imperfect), electroconvulsive therapy, GPS tracking, and thought manipulation.

That's where the science is these days, so keep up.
The worst part is, you won't even feel it when it's put in.

I have no problem with admitting to making a mistake.

Let me put it this way:
I won't be voting for Barack Obama come November, and maybe you won't be either.