On the First Day of WTF
Let me preface this by saying I absolutely adore conspiracy theories.
Which is not to say I believe them. 99.99999% of the time they’re pure hokum, some so mind-bogglingly ree-diculous I find it hard to fathom anybody would buy into a single word they promote.
I love them to pieces, though, the more outrageous the better. As an extension of my love affair with conspiracy theories, I’m hooked on the YouTube channel The Why Files. It’s a tongue-in-cheek look at the crazy that is our world, specifically runaway conspiracy theories. I love when the narrator brings you right along for the ride before dropping truth-bombs like, “Except it didn’t happen. This is what really went down.”
Except once in a while he points out the reality is a little more complex than the debunking would have you believe.
And occasionally you get a whole ‘nother level of WTF?
This is a short, by the way, which I believe makes it less than sixty seconds.
I expected the usual wry chuckle and “it’s been debunked” at the end. When it didn’t land, it was enough to send me on an Internet search.
I’d heard of the book, by the way, though I’d never paid any serious attention. I mean, pole shifts are a known fact. They happen over thousands or millions of years. I’ve read plenty of scientists scoffing at the idea of anything fast and catastrophic related to pole shifts.
Then I looked up the title online.
It led me to a cia.gov page.
Yes, really. And it really is a copy expressly marked Sanitized Copy Approved for Release, effective date June 24, 2013.
Again, I want to emphasize, this conspiracy-theory-esque book is actually ON, in heavily-redacted glory, the cia.gov page. If you’re not familiar, the average Joe Schmoe can’t buy or use a dot-gov website extension, and they sure as hell can’t post something on the cia.gov page. I used to work for the biggest domain seller in the world. I know there are certain domain extensions – notably .gov, .edu, and a few others – which are not available to anyone who isn’t in the government (for .gov) or in an accredited educational institution (for .edu). You can’t go to GoDaddy.com or WhoIs.com and register them. Not yours.
The actual link is:
https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP79B00752A000300070001-8.pdf
I know how to disguise a link — no conspiracy theory, merely my techhie-geeky-nerdy soul — so I elected not to make this one an actual, clickable link. Just so you know I’m not messing around with an out-of-season April Fool’s joke.
For the record, you can buy the book on Amazon, in a couple of versions. One version is 56 pages — the redacted variation, which you can get free from the CIA site. Ahem. The other is 146 pages and claims to be uncensored, but the original ostensibly was over 200 pages.
On the Second Day of WTF
I occasionally provide answers for Alexa. Yes, the Amazon Alexa; and yes, really.
To the best of my knowledge there’s no real benefit to answering questions for Alexa, unless you count the bug-eyes and double-takes at some of the questions. I don’t make money, don’t get Amazon credits, nothing like that. And I don’t typically tell anyone. But some days the questions are just so… so…
One of the questions is, “What’s cooking temperature?” That’s the entire question. Not, “What’s the baking temperature for a cake?” or “What temperature should the air fryer be for perfect French fries?”
And that’s nowhere near the most obtuse question I’ve seen. Another one today was, “How many cups in a millimeter?” I’ve seen questions like, “What does raccoons?” and “Who was?”
Um…
I’ve answered over 1000 questions for them, but some questions don’t have any rational answer.
On the Third Day of WTF
Facebook is a constant reminder of why America is in its current mess. People cannot read or write, and social media provides overwhelming evidence.
I’m sure it’s a very nice bathroocabinet. I simply have no idea what a bathroocabinet is used for. Looks like a shelf to me — but I could be mistaken.
On the Star Trek Day of WTF
One of my guilty pleasures is Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. It’s got the blend of camp and drama hearkening back to the 1960s iteration with William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy.
Perhaps one of the best parts of the new series is how beautifully it mines comedy from the Vulcan civilization, and in so doing, hits nail after nail on the head of our own 21st-century foibles. The Vulcans in this generation are less regal stoics than condescending stuffed shirts. And yet, their characters aren’t really changed from their original. We’re merely allowed to see the other side of the story and recognize their bigotry and snobbery for what it is. And it’s presented in ways that are funny as Hell.
The most recent episode perfectly illustrated why the show is now streaming, vs. on broadcast television. The character of Spock (even if you’re not a Trek aficionado, you know who Spock is) used the actual phrase, “What the f—!!” I didn’t censor the line. It’s where the show ended the scene in a hard, full break.
It was magnificent and hysterical. The show does occasional use language which puts it squarely outside the standards and practices of broadcast TV fare. This one simply chose the cutoff for its comedic timing.
This Trek is far heavier on comedy than most previous generations. It’s not quite a parody of Star Trek, though it has its moments. Even in comedic episodes, there are poignant or thoughtful interludes. It takes story lines from the original series and flips the perspective, and I’m here for it.
I read a novel in the 70s, so 50 or so years ago? It was about the poles shifting. I have a hard time some days remembering people’s names so I don’t have any details about the book other than the title is The Hab Theory. (I think)
I’ve heard about the pole shift theory for eons. And the poles HAVE shifted – I forget the exact amount, but the magnetic north pole has moved more toward Russia over the years. I’m thinking of getting the book. I have no doubt there’s a full copy somewhere, but even the free abbreviated version is an interesting start.