by DAVID BROWN | CLEARNFO.com | December 24, 2017
Merry Christmas & A Happy New Year!
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Monthly Archives: December 2017
Historical Revisionism and the Conspiratorial View of History
by DAVID BROWN | CLEARNFO.com | December 23, 2017
Historical Revisionism and the Conspiratorial View of History
Though the ranks are thinning, there still exists today those who believe the official stories of the JFK assassination (40%) and the attacks on 9/11 (50%).
Despite great progress in rational, evidence-based discovery of fact and the clear refutation of official false-narratives promulgated by the US Government and its protectors surrounding JFK and 9/11, there is much less progress in other major historical events: great swaths of people still cling to many historical myths too uncomfortable to question. Some of these myths are so dangerous 17 countries have found it necessary to fine or imprison any who may question ‘settled history’. It seems certain areas of the historical record are off limits; today’s history requires laws –in place of evidence– to protect questionable official assertions.
Jerusalem, Israel’s capital?
by DAVID BROWN | CLEARNFO.com | December 20, 2017
On the matter of Trump’s decision to acknowledge Jerusalem, as Israel’s capital …
Though our logic may be strong, much of what is known about Zionism, Christian Zionism, the Balfour Declaration of 1926 (its actual intention), the Roman Empire’s creation of Palestine, etc. may be based on false assumptions and so the conclusions are suspect. This is not to say our personal perceptions or logic are wrong, only that the assumptions upon which our conclusions are based must be re-examined to get closer to the truth. Without this re-examination, a new factual context cannot be built.
The Trump Method?
by DAVID BROWN | CLEARNFO.com | December 19, 2017
Do I detect a pattern here, or am I dreaming?
Seems like Trump’s technique is as follows:
1) First off, he is fully aware of the game going on around him, but pretends he has no clue
2) This gives his adversaries a false sense of confidence and perceived advantage
3) He then trolls these adversaries shifting them up a notch emotionally
4) He also drops ambiguous clues only an insider would have, creating uncertainty and low level panic in his heretofore confident adversaries
5) This ramps up the emotions another notch
6) In this confused and emotional state, his adversaries make a hasty move making easy to discover mistakes in the process
7) Trump points nonchalantly to their easily discoverable and easy to understand error and lets others expose his adversaries’ villainy
8) Benefit: Trump advances one square, letting others finish off what he has teed up.
On the matter of Christmas …
by DAVID BROWN | CLEARNFO.com | December 19, 2017
We have a lot to be thankful for this Christmas. Back in March of 2014, the love of my life and the mother of my children broke her neck in a car wreck, so that Christmas Amy was wearing a Halo after extensive neck surgery. Amy was one of the lucky 3% because 97% of the people with her type of injury are paraplegic or dead. Today, Amy is both alive and healthy; and doing very well thanks to the expert medical care she received.
Now Christmas means many things to many people. For some it’s about Christ and Christ only. Yet for many, it represents a time for family and gift openings, and watching the bright happy faces of their children; and for others, a lonely time that can only be filled with long-past memories of happier times … of children’s laughter and loved ones no longer at our side. For many it represents a lot of unnecessary work, effort and expense getting all the decorations up, gifts bought, fighting crowds and the resultant debt that follows. For others, it represents the commercialism of a sacred holiday where big businesses are trying to sell stuff we don’t need. For many retailers, Christmas brings their books from the red into the black; without which they couldn’t survive the other 11 months of the year. Still others see it as a big lie and a falsehood, an evil trick played upon naive children; and wish that as adults we should all come clean and be honest with our children to build their trust. Some see its history as a pagan holiday; having nothing at all to do with Christ, while others feign offense.
But for me, I love Christmas and the mythology that surrounds it … and I probably always will. Why? Because I have an entire childhood filled with wonderful feelings and memories about Christmas. In the interest of full disclosure– I was raised in a Christian home as a Christian and continue to this day a Christian; but for me, Christmas represented a special time of the year of bright lights, music, Christmas trees, stockings and presents and excitement, and oh did I love my childhood presents! Though my parents were of modest means, I almost always got exactly what I wanted from a 4-wheel drive ‘Mighty Might’, to real bow and arrow set, I have great memories. I had disappointments too. One year, I asked for a horse and I got one, but it was a rocking horse. My mother still has that old B&W photo of me on this rocking horse. In my disappointment, I told my mother that I wanted a “WEAL Horsy”. Years later I got my wish.
Now that I am an old fart and no longer a child, I enjoy Christmas even more. Because now I get to peer into the faces of my innocent grandchildren, as I once peered into my own children’s faces, and I see the joy and the happiness and anticipation on their faces; and magically I am transported back to my childhood.
Will our children discover there is no Santa Claus at some point? Yes they will. Will they be disappointed? Yes they will. Will they feel betrayed by those they should be able to trust the most? Perhaps, but give them time, and maybe they will realize the real meaning of Christmas as I did: that there are some profound gifts to be had in this mythology. The myth of Christmas has its roots in the love parents have for their children. It’s a ‘play-pretend’. It’s an event … it’s how we’d like things to be. It is –in the words of Joseph Campbell– an archetype deeply seated in the collective unconscious. It really doesn’t matter if you are Christian or not; or even if you are a bitter/happy atheist, we all share the same fundamental mental and physical makeup.
Most people believe that myths are just stories that are not true; some think a myth is a lie, but this is not true. Myths are a way of communicating powerful messages that bypass the critical mind. A myth is like throwing a message in a bottle past the conscious mind secured firmly into the subconscious, forever there to reside. These memories are what childhood is made of and provides our strength as we face our challenges through the bumpy road of adulthood. These important messages –these myths—are the message of love. The message is hope and the message is belief. Peace on Earth, Good Will Toward men.
-David Brown