I've just enrolled in a scientific study

 

I won't go into details, but I've enrolled in a scientific study on brain performance that will last the better part of 3 months.  It will involve MRI Scans at the beginning and at the end of the study, zoom interviews, and use of some software for 15 min/day for 12 weeks.  This will be the first time I will be participating in any kind of study, and I think I should have fun doing so.

Why do I note this?

As I get older, I want to contribute a little to the world.  Doing anything related to politics is a non-starter, as I have way too many skeletons in my closet that, if exposed, would cause me a lot of grief.  The idea of leaving money to a scholarship fund still has value to me, but the logistics of setting it up may make this idea a non-starter.  Volunteering has lost its luster for me, given how little I enjoy many of the grunt tasks I once did.  So, when RQS told me about this study, I figured that I'd apply and see if I would be accepted.  And I was.   (More on this study later....)

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What I'd love to see is a scientific study on the types of people who hold rigid social/political/religious beliefs.  Is there something that can be gained by knowing how people function better than they know themselves?  Would this information be abused?  We already know how well political pollsters can gauge how the masses will react to certain messaging.  We already know how people react to selected advertising campaigns.  But at what level should this information stop being collected and analyzed?  Could we figure out why people join cults, and how to break their ties to their cults?  Could this be used in politics?  What about marketing?  Just because I'd like to see research in this area, I'm not sure if it wouldn't be misused.

We have extreme political polarization right now.  I'd like to be able to use scientific methods to end that polarization, as well as prevent it from happening again.  Sadly, populist leaders have an innate sense of how to manipulate people, and society at large doesn't have the tools to prevent populism from becoming a cult.  Life isn't simple as I'd like it to be....

I could ramble on  for a long while and say nothing of note.  So I'll end this entry here for today.

Faith vs. Cults

 

A little while ago, I had a conversation with a person who effectively said that religion itself was a root of evil, as it is used to control people and to do what is not in the interest of humanity.  I countered that all 3 major western faiths teach the same thing.  Then I followed that there is difference between having faith and being in a cult.  

I don't see that having a religious faith is bad, especially when a person questions and tests that faith every day.  One of the tenets of my faith is to treat others as I would have them treat me under the same circumstances.  Given that simple code of behavior, I often fall short of my ideal.  I am not perfect, so I have to accept imperfections in others. No one person has "THE" answer to life.  My faith tells me that I have "AN" answer to life. I question both my answer and people who claim to have their answers every day, so that I can improve my answer. This allows me to "live and let live" as long as that other person doesn't impinge on my life.

Contrast the above with the beliefs of a cult.  People blindly follow the directions of their leaders, not questioning whether those directions go against the official tenets of their belief structure.  The ultra orthodox in every religion tend to use extreme rules to control people, to keep them from even forming the questions that would set them on the path to unique personal faiths.  In short, this is tyranny hiding behind the label of religious freedom.

Look at the first statement in the image above: The Leader is Always Right.  Do Trump's followers ever say he is wrong about anything?  I haven't heard any of them say anything like this.  Next, look at the lack of criticism of the leader.  Isn't it amazing that GOP loyalists never question Trump's statements even when they are provable lies?  What about justification?  As much as I didn't like Hillary Clinton, I never could justify putting her, or any in the Democratic party in jail for opposing the GOP.  I could go on and on through the list, fleshing things out.  But the most important thing, as with many ultra orthodox religious followers is that they can't see themselves as part of a cult.  They see themselves as possessing the only "truth".  Everything else is a lie that must be stamped out.

Right now, we have an important choice to be made in November: Do we want to surrender our freedoms to a minority cult?  Or, do we want to preserve our freedoms, and live according to our individual faiths?  Hopefully, we will make the right choice in a few months....

By the time you read this, the first trial will be over.

 

By the time you read this, the first of the 4 Trump trials will be over and done with.  Will he be acquitted?  I hope not, as he is a danger to the Trans community.  Will there be a hung jury?  Possibly, but I hope not.  I'd hate to see this same case go to trial again.  Will he be convicted?  I hope so.  But I'm afraid that Trump will be out on bail while the verdict is appealed.  And if he loses on his appeals, will he spend any time in prison?

There are a lot of Trump trolls out there, who defend him with all the zealotry of typical cult members.  They can and will not see objective reality, as they have bought into his myth that "I alone, can fix things."  If this were true, why didn't the job get done done during his one term in office?  Trump is a con artist, a grifter who has bamboozled millions of people.  And the rest of the GOP are afraid of what his supporters will do.

You'll notice that the three great Abrahamic faiths all believe in the same god, even though he is worshiped differently in each of them.  All say to love thy neighbor and to treat strangers as you'd treat family.  And yet, all have been corrupted to have factions who will fight and kill to see that their version of god wins out.  To me, faith is the ability to test one's beliefs and act according to those tenets in spite of our natural instincts.  Cultism demands of individuals an unquestioned acceptance of dogma, and a willingness to fight to have that dogma rule everyone's behavior.  Doesn't MAGA sound like a cult to you?

As I wrote this entry, I watched Robert DeNiro hold a rally near where the Trump trial was being held. He rightfully noted that authoritarians gain their power by the use of fear - free people know not to worry about that fear and see the danger inherent in that fear.  Is it any wonder that the most used tactic of MAGA is to shout people down who don't agree with them?  They are like lambs being led to the slaughterhouse.  But it's hard to feel pity for them, as they willingly joined a cult, and are no longer receptive to arguments based on reality.  They are a danger to people like me, and all we can do is to see that their cult leader does some serious prison time, so that the cult leader comes out "tenderized" by the experience.

Sadly, if he is convicted, he will still get protection from the US Secret Service - even in a prison cell.  If it were up to me, he'd get a multi-cultural education from the Red, Blue, Letters and Numbers fraternal organizations,  (For those not familiar with the slang, Reds - Bloods, Blues - Crips, Numbers - MS-13, and Letters - Singaloa.)  The one thing I'd hate to see is him being protected by the Aryan Brotherhood, as I'd like to see him be the forced recipient of some masculine "love" from one of the aforementioned groups.

At least, the case will go to the jury tomorrow, and we'll likely to have had a verdict by the end of May......

Another one bites the dust

 

If you're an avid reader of this blog (and I know that there aren't that many of you), you know that I despise the man above.  Unlike our 45th president, he's a competent slime-ball, and deserving of all of the contempt that he has earned from the American left.  Too bad, that until recently, he was a darling of the American right - Trumpism without Trump.  Luckily, as I write this, this contemptible person has just "suspended his campaign" and endorsed "Orange Elvis" for president.

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We've seen Trump mold the GOP in his own image, leaving no room for dissent.  When one listens to excerpts from his speeches, Trump now seems to be going senile.  I do not believe that the one person who is left in the race for the GOP nomination will usurp Trump from his control of the GOP.  This leaves us with the strong possibility that one of the criminal cases against Trump may decide his guilt before the GOP convention, if not before Election Day in November. 

What happens if Trump is convicted?  Will a conviction change the votes of many independents?  What about "No Labels" effect on the general election?  Even crazier is the possibility that Trump will be elected, but noted as being disqualified to serve due to the 14th amendment.  More than that, could he be deemed too ill (senile) to serve and prevented from taking office due to actions taken under the 25th amendment?  There are so many unknowns at play in this election, that it may make sense for many Republican party loyalists to vote Democrat - simply as a tool to clean out the Trump cultists from the GOP.  I see the GOP as afraid to deal with the Trump cult, and it will be up to the Democrats (as usual) to clean up the mess the GOP has made.

I am very afraid of the reprisals that will likely take place if Trump wins in November.  So I will support any and all legal means to keep him from power until he has been defanged and declawed - preferably in ADX Florence (America's Supermax Prison.)

With 4 indictments, you get egg roll.

 

As I started writing this entry, our ex-president has just had his 4th criminal indictment.  My friends know how happy I am to see this, as this man has no empathy for his fellow human being.  Like the late, great Dame Edna, they'd both say that "it's all about me."  Unlike Dame Edna, the ex-president is a malicious and corrupt grifter.

If one is a "Conservative" by today's standards, one dispenses with the rule of law and order when their side breaks the law.  In the case of our former president, most GOP politicians defend our 45th president because they are afraid of his supporters.  The ex-president is the leader of a cult, and he is an expert at leading it.  The "sane" members of the GOP fear this cult, and go out of their ways to avoid its ire.

Unfortunately, the names of the Grand Jurors who indicted the ex-president and his henchmen on RICO charges are public record.  This means that it is likely that they will be "punished" for indicting the leader of the cult.  This is a shame.  All jurors (Grand and Trial) should not have their names published in the public record.  Sadly, in Georgia, Grand Jurors' names and addresses are on the public record, and in this case, puts these people at risk.  Don't be surprised if some cult member attacks one of the 23 grand jurors on the case at some time in the near future.

And now the "fun" begins.

I expect to see the prosecuting attorneys all fighting to get their cases on the docket in ways that the individual trials don't conflict with each other.  The Federal trials will not be on TV.  But Georgia's might be.  We need for the public to see everything, so that there is no chance to say the ex-president and his cronies were railroaded.  We need for people to see that justice was fair, and based on all credible evidence.  Hopefully, something will allow this to happen.

But what happens before, during, and after a fair trial?

Many people who are part of the MAGA cult have given up on classic American principles.  They feel that the elite live under different rules than the rest of us do, and they are right to some degree.  Clinton lied under oath when referring to Monica Lewinsky, and no one from the Democratic party stood up to say that a felony was committed and that he should be disciplined (or impeached, then removed from office).  Because his wife stood by him, she got one of two choice US Senate nominations and easily won the vacant seat.  People in this class were told that globalization would bring them more and better work, and instead were put on the dole in states where no new work was to be found.  Can you blame them for supporting a cult leader, when he says the very things the masses want to hear - even if easily proven untrue?

Since many in this cult no longer believe that we have the rule of law, nor do they believe that we have fair elections, they feel that it is OK to use violence to achieve their ends - nothing else has worked for them.  What will happen to the jurors who indicted their leader?  I'm afraid to find out the answer to that question. I'm even more afraid of what will happen during the trial, and after a possible conviction.  Could you imagine what would happen if this man and his henchmen are sent to prison - as they likely deserve?

I'm afraid for America.  Very afraid.... 

 

 

 

PS: MAGA Lunatics have published the names and addresses of the Grand Jurors, so that they can extract their revenge.  Let's hope that they can stay safe from harm.