Looking back at the evolution of these articles, going back seven years, now, to (July) 2013, I can see I started to consistently use ‘impact’ headlines in 2018.
Mainstream journalism demands as accurate and neutral a descriptor of the item under discussion as possible, albeit with the flavor or point of view of the publication. While Pulp journalism invented “click bait”, aiming to create lurid, dramatic headlines that readers simply could not resist.
I’m going for a mix of both. The headline must do it all to be truly successful.
As I started to compile this list of headlines and the quotes from those articles, and began to read it back to myself, it occurred to me that the repetition of the facts was important. Documenting the consistent trend that was occurring.
While the quotes speak to the philosophy surrounding the situation, and also to the mechanisms of war, deception, and how the few control the many.
Alternating them lets the mind rest up from facts with a little art.
As I read this new document, I thought “reading one of my articles is certainly an acquired taste.” Highly repetitive, albeit by design. At best scholarly, at worst didactic. But the headlines are compelling, and the quotes show how the whole scam is being executed.
I’m hopeful that reading them alternate to one another in this TLDR version will create a learning environment which is conducive to exposing the scam, and the codified propaganda language that obscures it. For those unaware, “TLDR” is a highly-negative text response that means “Too Long, Didn’t Read”.
I wanted them all in one document, to get a record in place of what I’ve done over time, but it got so large that the e-mail system’s response time became so slow I had to put them into individual years.
Here’s 2018:
December 5, 2018 - Crime in Scotland is at the lowest level since 1974
“And what happened then? Well…in Whoville they say, that the Grinch’s small heart Grew three sizes that day!”
From “ How the Grinch Stole Christmas! ”, by Theodore “Dr. Seuss” Giesel, 1957
December 10, 2018 - The number of bird species counted on St. Kitts in 2018 was the highest ever recorded, and 18% above the previous record, set in 2011
“In the walls of the cubicle there were three orifices. To the right of the speakwrite, a small pneumatic tube for written messages, to the left, a larger one for newspapers; and in the side wall, within easy reach of Winston’s arm, a large oblong slit protected by a wire grating. This last was for the disposal of waste paper. Similar slits existed in thousands or tens of thousands throughout the building, not only in every room but at short intervals in every corridor. For some reason they were nicknamed memory holes. When one knew that any document was due for destruction, or even when one saw a scrap of waste paper lying about, it was an automatic action to lift the flap of the nearest memory hole and drop it in, whereupon it would be whirled away on a current of warm air to the enormous furnaces which were hidden somewhere in the recesses of the building.”
From " 1984 ", by George Orwell, 1949
December 12, 2018 - The smartphone market saw a year-over-year decrease of six percent in the third quarter of 2018, the fourth consecutive quarter of year-over-year declines
“When men yield up the privilege of thinking, the last shred of Liberty quits the horizon.”
- Thomas Paine
December 12, 2018 - Hardback book sales increased 31% in the U.K. last year
“Never tell the truth to people who are not worthy of it.”
― Mark Twain
December 12, 2018 - The number of measured antlers that met the minimum score for entry on South Carolina’s state records in 2018 increased 19% in the last two years
“Readers are advised to remember that the devil is a liar.”
From " The Screwtape Letters ", by C.S. Lewis, 1942
December 12, 2018 - Apple just cut its production lines by 33%, in the face of iPhone demand that is projected to drop close to 10% by 2020
“Courage is not one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point.”
- C.S. Lewis
December 14, 2018 - 2018 - The new rainfall record for Los Angeles, CA for December 6 is 88% above the old record, which was set in 1997
“There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root.”
- Henry David Thoreau
December 14, 2018 - At any given time, 27 million women, men, and children are victims of human trafficking
Jake Blues: “What’s going on?”
Police Officer: “Aw, those bums won their court case and they’re marching today.”
Jake: “What bums?”
Officer: “The U.S. Nazi Party.”
Elwood Blues: (knowingly) “ Illinois Nazi’s .”
Jake: “I hate Illinois Nazi’s.”
From “ The Blues Brothers ”, by Dan Akroyd and John Landis, 1980
Beautiful woman in night gown: (frightened) “Oh, thank God, you’re here!”
First Emergency Responder: “O.K., let’s see your I.D., sweet-stuff.”
Woman: “I.D.? But there’s a man chasing after me.”
Second Emergency Responder : “What Man?”
Woman: “He’s right behind me, he’s a black man, he’s wearing a suit, and he’s on roller skates!”
Second responder: “I’m sure he’s got (unintelligible) too!”
Woman: “No, really! I was at the convent , reading the Bible, and this girl appeared out of nowhere, and she took me to meet this guy, and he was some kind of sex maniac, and he had all these dildo’s and all this weird stuff, and then she took me to this house where I was auctioned off in front of this clergyman and this Senator , and this guy who was dressed up as a Nazi , and they sold me for ten thousand dollars , and I didn’t like the guy, so I escaped, and this black guy that worked there started chasing after me, and he was just about to catch me when you guys came up, and that’s the truth, officers, really.”
From the adult film “ Raunchy to Say No ”, 1985
December 15, 2018 - The US suicide rate rose 50% for women of all ages from 2000 to 2018
‘You say the ring is dangerous, far more dangerous than I guess. In what way?’
‘In many ways,’ answered the wizard. 'It is far more powerful than I ever dared to think at first, so powerful that in the end it would utterly overcome anyone of mortal race who possessed it. It would possess him.’
From “ The Fellowship of the Ring ”, by J.R.R. Tolkien, 1954
December 19, 2018 - “Now, then,” said Joan to the waiting battalions, “the place is yours—enter in! Bugles, sound the assault! Now, then—all together—go!”
Joan lay on the grass, weak and suffering, hour after hour, but still insisting that the fight go on. Which it did, but not to much purpose, for it was only under her eye that men were heroes and not afraid. They were like the Paladin; I think he was afraid of his own shadow – I mean in the afternoon, when it was very big and long; but when he was under Joan’s eye and the inspiration of her great spirit, what was he afraid of? Nothing in this world – and that is just the truth.
Towards night, Dunois gave it up. Joan heard the bugles.
“What!” she cried. “Sounding the retreat!”
Her wound was forgotten in a moment. She countermanded the order, and sent another, to the officer in command of a battery, to stand ready to fire five shots in quick succession. This was a signal to the force on the Orleans side of the river under La Hire, who was not, as some of the histories say, with us. It was to be given whenever Joan should feel sure the boulevard was about to fall into her hands – then that force must make a counter-attack on the Tourelles by way of the bridge.
Joan mounted her horse now, with her staff about her, and when our people saw us coming they raised a great shout, and were at once eager for another assault on the boulevard. Joan rode straight to the fosse where she had received her wound, and standing there in the rain of bolts and arrows, she ordered the Paladin to let her long standard blow free, and to note when its fringes should touch the fortress. Presently he said:
“It touches.”
“Now, then,” said Joan to the waiting battalions, “the place is yours—enter in! Bugles, sound the assault! Now, then—all together—go!”
And go it was. You never saw anything like it. We swarmed up the ladders and over the battlements like a wave—and the place was our property. Why, one might live a thousand years and never see so gorgeous a thing as that again.
From “Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc”, by Mark Twain, 1896
December 20, 2018 - “Improved mortality detection is the likeliest explanation”
“You know my method. It is founded upon the observation of trifles.”
Sherlock Holmes, from “ The Boscombe Valley Mystery ”, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1891
December 16, 2018 - Record number of Mexican wolves found dead in 2018
" Improved mortality detection is the likeliest explanation for the increased absolute number of mortalities in 2018.”
Aislinn Maestas, Fish and Wildlife spokeswoman
No one at the Fish and Wildlife Service was available to be interviewed about the deaths on Thursday.
The causes of death for the wolves this year have not yet been released
December 21, 2018 - “But the central power which uses the agent is never caught – never so much as suspected.”
“He [Moriarty] sits motionless, like a spider in the centre of its web, but that web has a thousand radiations, and he knows well every quiver of each of them. He does little himself. He only plans. But his agents are numerous and splendidly organised. Is there a crime to be done, a paper to be abstracted, we will say, a house to be rifled, a man to be removed – the word is passed to the Professor, the matter is organised and carried out. The agent may be caught. In that case money is found for his bail or his defence. But the central power which uses the agent is never caught – never so much as suspected. This was the organization which I deduced, Watson, and which I devoted my whole energy to exposing and breaking up.”
Sherlock Holmes, from “ The Final Problem ”, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1893
Sherlock: I’ve been neglecting my hobby. I’m going to visit Swirl-Theory.com and discuss conspiracy theories .
Watson: Your hobby is conspiracy theories?
Sherlock: No, of course not. They’re pure sophistry. Large groups of people cannot keep secrets . My hobby is conspiracy theorists . I adore them, as one with a barmy uncle or a pet that can’t stop walking into walls.
From the T.V. show “ Elementary ”, posted on Reddit’s “r/conspiratard” subgroup
December 22, 2018 - 2018 – Since 1999, suicide rates in Missouri are up 37 percent, while in Kansas, they are up 45 percent during the same time period
“One can fool some men, or fool all men in some places and times, but one cannot fool all men in all places and ages.”
Jacques Abbadie, 1684
December 27, 2018 - The catch rate for Chinook salmon on Lake Ontario during April to June 2018 set a record that was 227 percent above the previous five-year average
“Goldfinger could not have known that high tension was Bond’s natural way of life and that pressure and danger relaxed him.”
From “ Goldfinger ”, by Ian Fleming, 1959
December 27, 2018 - 2018 - US tornadoes lowest in 65 years of record-keeping
Hans Gruber: Do you really think you have a chance against us Mr. cowboy?
John McClane: Yippie Ki Yay Motherfucker.
From the movie “ Die Hard ”, written by Steven E. de Souza and Jeb Stuart, 1988
December 4, 2018 - “Waller Bros. Farms in Union county documented an amazing 108.39 bushels per acre.”
“The real man smiles in trouble, gathers strength from distress, and grows brave by reflection.”
- Thomas Paine
Jeff Miller, Brooklyn, New York, June 26, 2020
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