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618 mind control

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On our modern gods The other day my brother and I were talking about current events. Somehow, the old notion of "tv is the new god" came up.  That was a popular idea a few years ago, that television had replaced religion as the place where we get our values. But TV has been dethroned by the phone, so the question came up, is the phone the new god? But then there's the old god, which isn't the oldest god, and seems to be holding strong as the meter for what's appropriate behavior for some people. A lot of people. And that line of thinking gave me some fresh insight into our current world.  See, here's the thing. Let's set aside right/wrong/true/untrue for a minute, and examine mind control through the ages. In the forgotten past, that may have looked a lot like some tribes still alive now, we were hunter-gatherers and lived in family-esque groups. Those groups had various beliefs about the world, that were handed down by ...
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617 propaganda and other baloney

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Two blog posts in a week? What's happening?  Well, to be honest... I'm reading a paper book. And right now I'm lying in bed next to my wife in the dark. At this time, I might normally read an ebook. But I'm reading a paper book, which requires a light. So instead, you get to look at my old screenshots.  Let's start with framing. Framing is one part of propaganda. At top, a literal demonstration of framing, or cropping, really.  Here's another one. This is how Fox News covered the depraved drug party called BurningMan: And here's how an attendee captured their arts festival in the desert: Same event, same day and weather, even.  What else is in my phone?  (Why we see homeless camps piled high with trash.) (Oh, plus it's hard to get trash service with no address.) Sometimes you don't have to say much to get your point across.  Um, see what you will in this g...
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616 change and the unknown, on the road

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The more I observe the current identity meltdown in the USA, the more I see frustrated wheelchair users who are raging against their immobility. How do I illustrate this argument for you? With screenshoots, of course.  And some irony. At top, you know, ebikes could be excellent if they just weren't so rascally. Those overpowered ebikes, they're the problem. Don't worry about my 400 horsepower grocery hauler getting 8mpg. It's the damn bike that can go 40mph we need to argue about!  Solid state batteries are starting to happen. Yes, that's an MG. The British brand. No, it's not made in England. Yes, China. How does AI and robotics play into our transportation future? I don't know, but I'm pretty sure not with fossil fuels. There's like an infinity of political hijinx I could be talking about in this space. But honestly, until we are willing to rethink and open up our i...
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615 hiding the truth

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Let's take a little tour through screenshits on my phone.  We start with South East Asia. As 'westerners' we're generally taught to ignore this area as being, well, the cradle of humanity where all the really important stuff has happened. No, that was in Europe!  Gun powder? Pasta? Money? Hydraulics? The stirrup? Zero? Never heard of 'em. ChatGPT gave wildly different answers, $93k average and $92k average if you exclude the top 1000 earners.  The medium is the message. (He types into his phone.) At this point in the shrinkflation cycle, a lot of us agree. Car addicts designing the world around their addiction.  Seems like a fairly good idea.  Less is more.  Learning to enjoy the things I have has made a big difference in my life. And requires occasional reminders.  We'll be getting to more charts soon enough. They're all like this on...
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