Category: Persuasion

Zenith

5/22/2013

The zenith is the highest point above us in the sky.

If we look high enough, we will see one star distinguished from all the rest.

Sometimes we look to "stars," or people who excel at what they do.

We know them for one great thing they did that really matters.

There was Mark "the Bird" Fidrych, still remembered 37 years after his rookie baseball season in which he brought joy to his teammates, the fans and baseball itself.

There was the "Tank Man" in China, famous for his resilience in standing in front of a tank poised to run him over.

There was Robert F. Kennedy, a candidate for president, whose heartfelt plea for peace to a mostly black crowd in Indianapolis informing them of the assassination of Martin Luther King may well have saved lives.

What did these achievers have in common?

They expected nothing in return for their efforts. None of them demanded anything of those around them. And each changed the rules of victory and defeat.

Can you think of other examples of true "zenith"?

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When You Cease Expecting

2/10/2013

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There will always be a gap between what we expect and what we get.

We expect the truth but those who know it may not have any reason to tell us and good reason not to.

We expect a peaceful environment around us but it only takes one person to shake it.

We expect that others will respect our rights but for some, ignoring rights is the way they achieve what they want.

About the only things that cannot be taken from us are our own thoughts and feelings. To expect anything beyond that is to feed our disappointments.

In the words of Buddha, when you cease expecting, you have all things.

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The 9/11 Official Theory Box

8/25/2010

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Like many children, I believed in Santa Claus. He came by my house, dropped through the chimney and left off presents for my brother and me every year. Until I figured out the reality of Santa, he was a necessary part of my understanding of Christmas.

I was in a box in which I so believed in Santa Claus that no one could convince me that the facts were really different. I only got out of that box when I realized that I had never taken another idea seriously.

When I mention my disbelief in the idea that Osama bin Laden planned and orchestrated the events of 9/11, I get a quizzical look from some people. They apparently cannot understand why I do not accept the official theory. I think that they are in a box much like I was as a child.

If one has conducted research and concludes that bin Laden and al-Qaeda committed the crimes of 9/11, I have no problem with that. Good research allows a person to seriously consider a number of possibilities before making a decision. Somewhere along the way they shed the box.

But I am convinced that a significant number of our population cannot hold a meaningful conversation about this topic because they never challenged their own conceptions. And until they do, they will not comprehend anything I say that goes beyond the walls of their box: the 19 suicide hijackers, the four planes, the phone calls from passengers, the courageous passengers who fought back and forced a crash landing of one of the planes in a field, etc.

This attitude fits in with an old beer commercial whose message was "It's it and that's that." It is the idea that we know what we need to know and that's all there is to it. It is too bad because new information cannot reach one whose mind is closed.

There is plenty of information for anyone interested in challenging the official line of 9/11 to consider. And when we consider new information, we throw away the box that traps us. Consider this:

The 19 suicide hijackers - who says there were any hijackers that day? The information about them came from the media, which supposedly heard from investigators who found documents about the 19 men in the trunk of a car or on the luggage carousel at Boston Logan airport, depending on which story you believe. Why would hijackers bring any information that identified them? Especially when seven of these names have been identified as names of people still alive! Throw off the box - the documents sound more like a plant to throw off investigators than what the official story tells us.

The four planes - who says that four planes were used to crash into buildings? Again the media told us the flight numbers and gave various lists of passengers for each. But no one has ever produced receipts for plane tickets, boarding pass stubs or videos of any of the passengers supposedly on the flights. Furthermore, the Bureau of Transportation Statistics records show that only two of the four alleged hijacker flights were scheduled to take off that day. With four crash sites, it should be obvious that other objects were used in at least some of the crashes that took place.

The phone calls from passengers - What calls? Research has proven that cell phones are ineffective, at best, at the altitude that the flights supposedly went to. The idea that over twenty calls went through, even if a few were reliable air phones, is preposterous. The box opens here if we are willing to acknowledge the possibility that calls were made from the ground, either through voice synthesizers or by people to their relatives. Why would people call relatives with information of impending doom if it were not true? Consider the fact that a hijack simulation took place that very day.

And that story about passengers on United 93 fighting back against the hijackers? Without hijackers, that would be impossible. Where did we get this information? We got it from the media who got it through a representative of Verizon phones, who said she did not tape record the conversation with one of the men supposedly involved in the fight against the hijackers because she was afraid she would disconnect the call. As if a person with nothing else to do but call would not simply call her again?

Most people, I am convinced, want the truth. But wanting it is not enough. It is necessary to go and seek it. Just get rid of that box over your head and see what you can find!

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Would You Rather Be Jefferson Davis or Benedict Arnold?

6/2/2010

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Does anyone really change their mind?

An experience I had at work may have provided me with an answer. I work for a city as a public employee and served as an alternate representative for the existing union. A faction of the union wanted to bring in an outside union to replace the existing one and made motions at an official meeting to that effect.

Displeased with the manner in which the existing union management attempted to stop the motions by declaring them illegal, I voted with the faction (and on behalf of my regular representative, who bolted from the meeting with several others to try to stop the quorum).

Early on, I felt as though the battle lines were clearly drawn. Even though I contended from the beginning that I simply wanted a vote to be held among all employees in my class to allow choice between the two unions, I was “typecast” by those siding with the existing union as one of “those people.”

I wrote out and sent messages to all voting members of the union explaining my point of view, discussing ways the two sides could compromise and responding to various bits of what I believed to be misinformation by the other side. (Neither side behaved especially professionally in this mess).

What did the other side typically say? They would correct me and insult me if I so much as forgot to identify myself as an alternate. Neither side trusted one another and no one gave an inch.

Throughout this time, each side sent assertions of fact back and forth on the emails and also posted messages on bulletin boards in break rooms. But no member of either side publicly announced that they were convinced of the correctness of the other side's point of view. Why was that?

Because once the lines are drawn and “shots” are fired, people tend to “duck for cover” and line up with their allies. Does anyone really change sides? All we need do to answer that question is to answer this one: Who is the greater villain in United States history – Jefferson Davis or Benedict Arnold?

I could have pounded away at those who opposed a vote with sound arguments on many grounds. In fact, I did. I sent messages of my arguments to the union president, vice president and counsel. In the end, the union management got its way, I left the union and I hear things are back to normal.

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Zenith

When You Cease Expecting

The 9/11 Official Theory Box

Would You Rather Be Jefferson Davis or Benedict Arnold?

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