Selective outrage

Why should citizens or the government of the United States be concerned about Jamal Khashoggi, a self-exiled, independent, dissident journalist who lived in the United States but was a citizen of Saudi Arabia and was murdered in Turkey by citizens of Saudi Arabia? Why is the United States condemned by the media for not taking some action against Saudi Arabia? Why are other counties in the region not condemned for not acting against Saudi Arabia? Could the answer be as simple as American politics and the media?

Shadow people

Ever heard of shadow people? These are the wispy figures that appear in dark shadows or appear in your peripheral vision. They are usually described as

• Tall, slender, bipedal figures.
• Dark, one-dimensional shadows.
• Not quite a fully human form or without any detailed facial or body features.
• Wearing a hat and a trench coat or a cape.
• Having glowing red or orange eyes. 

Some may be similar to the Outlier logo of this blog.

When you first notice shadow people, you have an ominous feeling about them and may freeze, and, as you watch them closely, they also don't move. When you turn a light on them, they disappear, and when you remove the light, they don't reappear. Much like the Weeping Angles in the BBC television show Doctor Who, shadow people only seem to move when you are not looking at them.

What are shadow people? Some say they are extraterrestrials, demons or other spirits, astral bodies, time travelers, interdimensional beings, or just figments of imagination. More likely, the reason for seeing shadow people is the same reason we see the face of a man on the surface of the moon or mars or we see the image of Jesus on a wall or on a piece of burned toast or we see the image of Satan in a cloud of smoke; it's called pareidolia.

Pareidolia is a psychological phenomenon in which the mind responds to a stimulus, usually an image or a sound, by perceiving a familiar pattern where none exists. While at first, something may seem to be just a random assemblage of shapes and colors, once you pick out or have pointed out an object in the clutter, you see it and cannot unsee it. Likewise, a random noise may sound like a word if you are told to listen for the word. Numerous examples of pareidolia can be found on the internet. 

Humans have evolved to quickly identify the human shape, as well as the shapes of other animals in their environment because they may be potential threats. Camouflage clothing works not because it hides the soldier from view, but because it hides the shape of the soldier.

Maybe there is another explanation for shadow people. Maybe they are manifestations of outliers who are studying other humans in an effort to understand why they say, do, and believe such stupid things, such as the existence of shadow people.

Media

Remember when the media reported? Now they reportedly.

Unions

Last Friday, President Trump issued three executive orders aimed at getting rid of low-performing federal workers. The orders promote basing employment on merit rather than tenure, encourage agencies to fire employees instead of suspending them, and encourage workers to devote at least 75 percent of their time on direct job duties.

J. David Cox Sr., president of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), a union for federal workers, said the orders were “a classic example of this administration’s attack and assault on women, attack and assault on minorities.” So, getting rid of low-performing workers is an attack on women and minorities.

If this is true, then who are the high-performing workers?

The media

The media no longer report what happened; they report what could have happened, might have happened, would have happened, should have happened, etc. Instead of facts, they report rumors, gossip, hearsay, speculations, insinuations, feelings, judgments, impressions, opinions, social media, etc. Their purpose is no longer to inform; it is to persuade.

Ban killer cars

In Arizona over the weekend, a self-driving Uber car killed a woman who was crossing the street. The vehicle was operating in autonomous mode when it struck her but there was a human in the driver’s seat (probably texting).

This is just another case of things killing people, such as when firearms kill people. It is obvious that self-driving vehicles are dangerous. There is no need for self-driving vehicles. What if one plows into a school and kills innocent children. They should be banned, no matter the type of vehicle, the size of the engine, or the number of cylinders in the engine. The only reason these vehicles are around is that of all the money car makers and the AAA pay lobbyists and the money they donate to politicians. Ban all self-driving vehicles or at least ones with big engines—if it saves just one life, it is worth it.

Where's the outrage?

Why are there no student outrages, marches, protests, walkouts, etc. because of the hundreds of teenagers and children that are killed each year because of the use of alcohol and/or tobacco?

Still crazy?

Why aren’t there any more claims in the media about President Trump being insane, crazy, demented, etc? If he was insane before his annual medical exam, why isn’t he still insane?

Marijuanna

California and Colorado must be the healthiest states in the United States since they have full access to the miracle drug that cures about every disease; at least that’s what marijuana advocates have claimed for decades.

Heros

What happened to our heroes? A hero used to be a person who put his or her life on the line to save someone else from death or serious harm. These days, people are called heroes for just being good neighbors, friends, or citizens, and even for just following their doctor's orders. Now a hero is a little girl who reports smoke coming from a neighbor’s house, marines working motor pool at a reserve center who were killed by a terrorist, a dog who wakes its owner to save him from a fire, or someone who finishes treatment for cancer and is cured. 

If these are heroes, what do we call the people who rush into burning houses to save lives, marines who die rushing onto the battlefield to save fallen comrades, or people who defend someone being assaulted? These days, athletes are called heroes because they are good at their sports, doctors are called heroes because they are good at their jobs, and people who are shot while sitting in a church are considered heroes because they died (had they lived they would just be called victims).

You may admire someone who has done something great, or have sympathy for someone who is sick, injured, or has been killed but these things are not heroic. Bring back the true heroes, the people who risk their lives doing heroic things.

Death penalty

There are those who say the death penalty is cruel and unusual punishment, even though the signers of the constitution believed in and used the death penalty. These same people say that a life sentence is a worse punishment for murderers since they to have sit in their cells and dwell on their crimes for the rest of their lives. So, if life imprisonment is a worse punishment than the death penalty, and if the death penalty is cruel and unusual, then it follows that a life sentence must be more cruel and unusual than the death penalty.

In 1995, Susan Smith received a life sentence for murdering her two small sons. After over 20 years of dwelling on her crime, what are her thoughts on the crime she committed? In a recent letter to reporter Harrison Cahill of The State newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina Smith wrote,

"It has been hard to listen to lie after lie and not be able to defend myself. It is frustrating to say the least. Mr. Cahill, I am not the monster society thinks I am. I am far from it. Something went very wrong that night. I was not myself. I was a good mother and I loved my boys. The thing that hurts me the most is that people think I hurt my children in order to be with a man. That is so far from the truth. There was no motive as it was not even a planned event. I was not in my right mind. The only reason I lied is because I didn't know how to tell the people who loved Michael and Alex that they would never see them again. I didn't want to hurt them. I knew the truth would come out, but I had planned to kill myself first and leave a note behind telling what had happened. I didn't believe I could face my family when the truth was revealed."

So much for her seeing the error of her ways. She is just as repentant as Charles Manson was after 50 years of "contemplating" his crimes. He died in prison without ever repenting for his crimes.