What intrigues me is how people are so sure of their own chosen customary view of reality, and how they defend it like cornered pit bulls. This is just as true of the people who consider GUEST to be loony as it is of GUEST himself. What it amounts to is that they are defending their very own conscious indentity, fearing its destruction if they should ever give in and yield their basic position to anyone.

Those who believe any given proposition spend most of their energy seeking out info that supports that proposition and the rest of it heaping scorn on anything that doesn't, and NOT actually bothering to investigate it, beyond, perhaps, the most superficial glance or two, just to give themselves further ammunition for scorn.

I'm aware of this tendency in myself, as well as in others. I watch for it.

Therefore, I will consider any unusual viewpoint carefully, reconsider it, and reconsider it again. I will assess probabilities.

I think GUEST is onto some very real stuff here. I don't necessarily think it's ALL real. But I don't absolutely for certain KNOW what parts are real and what aren't. I am not, however, afraid to give it all some careful consideration while I continue to think about it. And I watch the course of events, and try to see what little I can do to deal with it.

The only things I know for absolute certain are the things I KNOW directly. Know what I mean? The rest is all someone's opinion...or someone's stated "fact", which may or may not be factual, depending on their intentions, their access to information, and a hundred other factors.

I am continuing to consider what GUEST has said. If, Ebbie, as you say, there are six large camps set aside for "potential rioters" in the USA I would be VERY concerned. Genuine democracies do not build camps to house potential rioters, they address the social ills that might lead to rioting in the first place and they do something positive to cure those ills. The USA's response to increasing crime, social breakdown, and despair is to simply keep building more jails and hiring more cops. That is the response of a dictatorship in the making. The whole world can see it coming, and it's not good.

I frankly believe your government has gone mad...in normal human terms...but not in their own, of course.

And, yes, the forum is slowing down. Let's keep an eye on that too.

I would be delighted to find out that things are WAY better and saner out there than I think they are. Absolutely delighted! Count on that. I like a peaceful, stable society. I hope it turns out that way. I would rather be healthy, happy, and prosperous (me and everyone else) than merely be "right" just for the sake of my precious little ego.

- LH