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Lies, Damn Lies, and Government Lies

Posted by on January 22, 2017 No comments

Absurd and obvious lies by government mouthpieces are no laughing matter. Such lies serve two very important purposes for a repressive–or would-be repressive–regime.

First, they create an official reality, a government-approved version of events that is the only officially acceptable version.

Second, it creates an opportunity for loyalists and the disloyal to identify themselves. People who repeat the ‘official’ version of events, who spread the lie, are the party loyalists who can be counted on. Those who call out the lie mark themselves as disloyal, enemies of the state.

The loyal and disloyal quickly come to live in two different worlds, with very different views of what has happened. Not just why, or by whom, but the actual events themselves. This further divides the population.

At this point, in the United States, the new regime is just testing the waters. Over the next four years we may well see loyalists encouraged to take note of those who are disloyal. They could be turned into an arm of their Party, turning in the disloyal, counter-marching at protests, providing enthusiastic crowds at The Leader’s rallies.

The disloyal could find themselves excluded from certain jobs. It could start with government jobs, where an unofficial loyalty test becomes a condition of employment. Then some private sector organizations will take up the trend. Or perhaps, with a few words of encouragement from the regime, the private sector will take the lead. In either case, the loyal will be rewarded and the disloyal punished.

I hope we do not make it to the next stage, where the disloyal begin to disappear, but that is up to us. Be aware. Be vigilant. Do not let the absurdity of what the regime’s mouthpieces say distract you from the very serious purpose that underlies those absurdities.

Who Is The Country

Posted by on January 31, 2017 No comments

“Merely a politician’s trick–a high-sounding phrase, a blood-stirring phrase which turned their uncritical heads: Our Country, right or wrong! An empty phrase, a silly phrase. It was shouted by every newspaper, it was thundered from the pulpit, the Superintendent of Public Instruction placarded it in every schoolhouse in the land, the War Department inscribed it upon the flag. And every man who failed to shout it or who was silent, was proclaimed a traitor–none but those others were patriots. To be a patriot, one had to say, and keep on saying, “Our Country, right or wrong,” and urge on the little war. Have you not perceived that that phrase is an insult to the nation?

“For in a republic, who is “the Country”? Is it the Government which is for the moment in the saddle? Why, the Government is merely a servant–merely a temporary servant; it cannot be its prerogative to determine what is right and what is wrong, and decide who is a patriot and who isn’t. Its function is to obey orders, not originate them. Who, then, is “the Country”? Is it the newspaper? is it the pulpit? is it the school superintendent? Why, these are mere parts of the country, not the whole of it; they have not command, they have only their little share in the command. They are but one in the thousand; it is in the thousand that command is lodged; they must determine what is right and what is wrong; they must decide who is a patriot and who isn’t.

“Who are the thousand–that is to say, who are “the Country”? In a monarchy, the king and his family are the country; in a republic it is the common voice of the people. Each of you, for himself, by himself and on his own responsibility, must speak. And it is a solemn and weighty responsibility, and not lightly to be flung aside at the bullying of pulpit, press, government, or the empty catch-phrases of politicians. Each must for himself alone decide what is right and what is wrong, and which course is patriotic and which isn’t. You cannot shirk this and be a man. To decide it against your convictions is to be an unqualified and inexcusable traitor, both to yourself and to your country, let men label you as they may. If you alone of all the nation shall decide one way, and that way be the right way according to your convictions of the right, you have done your duty by yourself and by your country–hold up your head! You have nothing to be ashamed of”. — Mark Twain

“Doesn’t matter what the press says. Doesn’t matter what the politicians or the mobs say. Doesn’t matter if the whole country decides that something wrong is something right.

“This nation was founded on one principle above all else: The requirement that we stand up for what we believe, no matter the odds or the consequences. When the mob and the press and the whole world tell you to move, your job is to plant yourself like a tree beside the river of truth, and tell the whole world — “No, YOU move.”” — Captain America

Science Works

Posted by on February 7, 2017 No comments

What’s really going on with those claims that scientists ‘manipulated’ climate data to fake global warming:

“Ships have been measuring water temperatures for a long time and are generally used as standards. So the scientists decided to recalibrate the buoy data up to match them. Remember, if you’re measuring absolute temperatures then that gives you the wrong numbers, but not if you’re measuring relative changes. If you add to the cooler temperatures or subtract from the warmer ones you get the same relative change. So it doesn’t matter which way you do it.”

Basically, the scientists are trying to measure change in temperature from a baseline in the mid-20th century, not absolute temperature now. That baseline temperature was measured using water pumped into the ships. It’s not as accurate a measurement of ocean temperature as measuring from a buoy outside the ship, but we don’t need the absolute temperature for this purpose. We want to know how much the temperature has changed, so we have to use the same sort of measurement as the original numbers. It’s just an adjustment of scale, not a falsification of data.

This is what happens when people don’t understand science. They think that scientists are lying for political reasons, rather than politicians lying for political reasons.

Incompetence and Invulnerability

Posted by on July 11, 2017 No comments

When viewing the bumbling of the Trump administration, and how it seems to almost be bragging about things it should be covering up, it is tempting to think, “What kind of idiots are these people?”

But what if they’re not really all that stupid, but simply don’t *care* that people know about whatever they did. What if they’re simply confident that no matter what they did that was morally dubious or actually illegal, nothing will be done about it?

What if they’re right?