Posts

Bigotry through Low Expectations

Image
by Cowboy Bob Sorensen  In the formerly United States, today is the conclusion of Black History Month. Some things I want to say will rile a few folks. (Of course, those will be the ones who "think" with their emotions and are less concerned with actual thought.) This material came together for me in a big box store. Like many places, our shopping experience is allegedly enhanced by the music system. The store had several announcements about being proud to support black-owned businesses. They also exhorted people to buy items made by those businesses. Limestone near Rosendale, NY railroad trestle, Photo by Cowboy Bob Sorensen (modified with FotoSketcher The messages on that radio rubbed me the wrong way — they struck me as manipulative. Conservative talk show host Chris Plante refers to the "soft bigotry of low expectations." The messages sound like " white man's burden " because they need the help of white people in order to succeed. Blacks also nee

A Silent Contradiction on the Birthplace of Jesus?

Image
At this time of year, misotheists and professing Christians of a liberal bent make their disbelief in the Bible known. Documentaries on television and articles in secular sources give actual Bible believers little or no credence. One does not need to even be a theist, let alone believe in biblical inerrancy, to be a professor of the New Testament. It is important for Christians to use critical thinking when dealing with alleged experets. In this case, one indicated that since two of the Gospels do not mention that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, the silence is an implicit contradiction. Christmas Nativity Scene, Pixabay / Andreas Böhm They didn't mention Bethlehem? This child's first response was, "Huh. How about that?"  Calling the omission of the birthplace of Jesus a possible contradiction is a massive argument from silence, old son. In police investigations, the witnesses are separated to keep them from discussing the details with each other. That cuts down on influe

Keeping My Wife at a Distance Online

Image
by Cowboy Bob Sorensen  Although nobody asked and I am under no obligation to explain myself, I will anyway. In several places, I have mentioned that I have a wife. (At Piltdown Superman when I'm writing in my cowboy character, I do not.) However, I never named or described her. The reason is quite simple: atheists and leftists. On more than one occasion, I have been physically threatened by them, especially angry misotheists. This only happened online, but some have stated they wanted to come over here — especially because I staunchly present creation science. Charlene at Niagara Falls in 2007 (?) EDIT: It occurred to me later that I left out a secondary factor. Years ago (and I am leaving off the sequence of events that led me to my reluctant conclusion), I could not have a Fakebook account under my real name. Apparently atheists in power there kept deleting my accounts, so I became someone else. She didn't call me by my real name when I was using that account. Although I la

Haunted Hospital, Gaslighting, or...

Image
Here I am at Westchester Medical Center waiting for open heart surgery for a double or triple bypass in a couple of days. There was a strange sequence of events that got me here, I was originally expecting to have a short visit to the Urgent Care for a different problem. This is being written using an old cell phone, speech to text, and other technological wizardry. There is a small table on wheels just under 3 ft long for me to use. I did not notice before, it has a small drawer that is not very deep. I put some things in there that I wanted to be close to me. I needed something, went to look for it - and it was gone. Creepy hospital, Unsplash/ Andy Li Time to write off on a short but relevant side trail. The word gaslighting is overused nowadays, but it is still something real. When used correctly, the word involves psychological manipulation to make someone deny their perception of reality -  or even their own sanity. You can see that it is malicious, not just a mistake

Cryptozoology and Arguing from Silence

Image
by Cowboy Bob Sorensen This article was inspired while I was writing an introduction to a post about wolverines . At first, it was going to be a part of the introduction, but it needed its own place. It is expanded from that intended introduction. Wolverines are known to mostly live in the far north, but a few live further south.  Captain Meriwether Lewis saw on in 1806 and referred to it as a "tyger cat," as it was unknown to white folks. Indeed, when the first specimen of a platypus was sent from 'Straya to England, the recipients thought it was a prank. Public domain image from the National Park Service, modified at FotoSketcher I am  doing a backward approach to cryptozoology , which is a search for animals that are hidden or extinct. I spent my first forty years in Michigan, which is called the Wolverine State even though it apparently never had a large number of them. Did they ever exist there? All we have are eyewitness accounts and the fact that there are others

The Secular Science Industry is Weaponizing Science for Leftists

Image
People think that scientists are dispassionate and aloof, but that is the opposite of reality. There are posts on this weblog and on Piltdown Superman  showing that the secular science industry is hell-bent on supporting leftist causes. (Again, there are scientists who just want to do their work and not bother with the cultural and political wars of their employers.) The organizations are getting way out of line. Instead of doing what they supposedly stand for, their campaigning is actually harmful to the public. Leftist elites love it, though. Democrats and other leftists utilize social(ist) media to supposedly combat misinformation (essentially, uninformed erroneous statements) and disinformation (goal-oriented falsehoods). Since leftist politicians and their bedfellows in the secular science industry are elitists, they  decide what is right or wrong. They also tamper with the meanings of dis- and mis information to include truths they don't like. Secular science is rooted in ma

A Basic but Effective Internet Security Tactic

Image
by Cowboy Bob Sorensen The most effective way to keep your identity, finances, privacy, and so on safe online is to never go online. Easy enough... Unfortunately, since internet activity is ubiquitous and even expected, it is impractical to stay offline and live in this world. There are owlhoots looking to get information and money, and many are very skilled. Software developers are constantly updating against viruses, phishing, and other hacks — which is one reason to let your operating system, virus scanner, and other software update itself. Cybercrime warning, Pixabay / Gerd Altmann (geralt) Okay, we know that most folks cannot completely avoid going online to do certain minimal things. Sneaky people still find ways of causing people harm. Education is extremely important, and I reckon a good measure of suspicion is useful. Experience is helpful but getting that also has risks because people are exposed to sites that may be harmful. Suspicious Facebook Messenger message with link (