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Good Morning Again... This is my second post for today and it's not yet 7AM... Are you feeling Overwhelmed with all the terrible things happening these days? I Am... So I had to stop and think what that means related to my Blogging activities... Some of you have found the additional and new postings on my sister blog... I will be using that blog to try to catch up to publishing draft posts that I had previously written but not yet finalized re my open memoir. I will be doing that in my few spare minutes on the weekends without taking the time to post them around to my regular sites... So if you're here at BRH, do stop by at Just My Personal Opinion...
Anyway, can you believe the speed in which the republican party is acting from the white house while little is being done by Congress? Yeah, we all know why, don't we? (check my previous satire post earlier today)
By the way, thanks to whoever might have read my call for help to darken the entry screen for blogs... It has really been helpful with my eye problems...
Right now, I find myself needing to respond as much as possible to the destruction being done in the United States, documenting what is being done by the present administration/president. And quickly. Bad things are being accomplished as fast as they can do them, including murder and covering it up...
So, I'm letting you all know that I am and will be doing things that are not routine for the foreseeable future... Such as this post where I'm posting actually what should be two or even three different posts... Time Waits for Nobody--yes I know it originally was Man, but I've already revised/upped my feminism per Franks!) I will be prioritizing my work, including reading and sharing books on a day to day basis... So if I have said on one post that something will follow? It may not. Please forgive me in advance. My blog goes out across the world... I want to share what is really in the minds of the majority of citizens here... And, for the foreseeable future, that means it is priority over book discussions... OR, like today, it means that I will be handling some books differently... or covering different topics in a post.
Gabby
~~~~
Dear Professor Franks:
I've been stalking you! In fact I just tried to officially follow you on YouTube, but "I think" they no longer have that ability. Who knows, sites change programs so fast but never tell anybody, so that if something goes wrong, we have no idea whether it's a computer problem (or us!) In any event, you have no doubt realized that this is not a normal type of review... It is NOT...
In fact, I haven't read the entire book yet.
On the other hand, I'm a highlighter of books, especially since I only use ebooks now because of eye problems, it is quite easy to highlight electronically...
But, then I realized that I was quoting your words quite often...
That I was suggesting on social posts to check out The Cult of the Constitution...
But, most of all, when I saw that for all the pages I was reading, I was highlighting the entire page, I have come to the conclusion that I should just go ahead and urge people to go out and buy this book! Right Now in the midst of the worst chaos happening in my life time!
Thus this post. I read between nonfiction and fiction since for the last decade I have been watching one man destroy freedom in America, I feel a need to rotate so I don't get so angry, LOL... Well, as mentioned in the first part above--I apologize so much for merging talking about your important book--but things are happening faster and faster as more and more people are seeing the destruction being done by the republican party's majority... I feel the need to act quickly also.
Your book began just where I needed it to... You spoke to my very first priority in all of this. My faith in God. I had already gone through many of the same or different questions you began to have about the Old Testament. But when the evangelical group publicly started referring to DJT as some type of god, I found myself wanting to protect my personal relationship. I have never questioned the ability to doubt, to question. He gave us minds to use for a reason! I have been struggling with finding others who have written about this and there you were, on the book (check audio video above) talking about, actually, being much younger than I, when you started questioning. But, of course, that was a reason for you to become a well-respected professor! LOL You see, I feel like I already know you just from the early pages I've read...
Back to the book... Then, when you specifically changed the phrase, "white supremacists" to "white male supremacists" it was like a lightbulb came on... I was talking recently and laughingly said we should have a world where women were in charge... I have found women to be so differently made as thinkers that we intuitively see things that are causing the problems now happening... I realized by the phrase "white supremacists, I was thinking of fanatical conservatives... But your introduction to this newly worded phrase as it related to the creators of the Constitution responded to my question about both the Bible and the Constitution. Surely these important documents either should have been archived or officially updated after hundreds or thousands of years... To continue to dogmatically consider each word as absolute is, as Spock would say, illogical...
I have found watching television change, that the created phrase years ago--making America dumber--has to some extent been correct. Education has been miserly supported because of money and political power.
I am also not only recommending this book, but, I've provided a video, below on your next one. I also encourage my readers to find your YouTube site where a true learning experience is already available! To me, that reveals your passion for allowing others to listen and "hear" your opinions. We need more voices who have taken the time to study, research, and go well beyond, merely responding to what a few people who use words to charm and entice and, rather, work to provide Truth based upon facts. We are sadly lacking that right now in America... Thus I write this letter...
With Respect,
GABixlerReviews
~~~~
Folks, I'm wondering who's using my fingers to type these days... So many people are speaking out, writing songs, and more... I try to ensure they at least are truthful before I'll use them, but I have to admit, I'm please when I hear people also support MY opinions...
God Bless
Gabby
"When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a an man adult, I put away childish things" (I Corinthians 13:11)
Search for Truth
Allow yourself to learn more than you've been taught
Begin to connect what you've heard or learned
Update your knowledge based upon history as well as today's world - don't live in one or the other
Question, Judge, Research... then decide what you believe.
God also commands people to tell the truth, most notably in the Ten Commandments, given in Exodus as “You shall not bear false witness against yourneighbor” (Exodus 20:16) and restated in Leviticus 19:11 as “You shall not lie to one another.”
You don't need to view videos if you already have met BORG on Star Trek. LOL... I enjoyed the one where Picard was...assimilated... and, of course, escaped! We will escape this madness... We will NOT be Assimilated!
BORG WannaBe I Must Assimilate!
But...
I Must Assimilate All Male White Supremacists...
Wait... I Must Assimilate!
But... All Male White Supremacists - Rich Ones...
I Must Assimilate All riches and Gold Heck with People
Wait, Wait, I need Servants...
I Must Assimilate beautiful blond girls like my daughter in early life
Wait, Wait, Nobody is as beautiful as MY Daughter... Let's See
I Must Assimilate Other Rich Dictators...
Then I Will be King of the World...
Wait, Wait, I Need Christian Nationalists to fight for me... I Must Assimilate...
But I really hate people unless they bow down to my kingship and let's face it, when these violent thugs start killing women...
Wait, Wait, We've already lied about that woman, so forget about her I Must Assimilate
BUT, I Don't want to be Accountable... So Somebody Has to be my Fixer... I really miss my first fixer as I was campaigning Too bad he realized he'd been being screwed for years...
BUT, I MUST Assimilate! Just give me all the ground, air, and earth rights to Greenland!
I MUST ASSIMILATE! Wait, Wait, Why are all those people on the streets marching?
Assimilate Them!
Whattayamean it's legal for them to protest?! Off with Their Heads! I must assimilate and nothing will stop me
Not my morality or my mind either They keep repeating I Must Assimilate!
But, But, who is going to serve me if all are assimilated?
AI What the H is AI?
Computers? Never Touch Them-Don't Like Them-Points Truth to Me Assimilate all computers
Wait, What do you mean you need to destroy everything? Your system has begun allowing mistakes? I'm saying one thing, the computer does something else? BAN ALL COMPUTERS BAN ALL COMPUTER CREATORS BAN ALL STAFF I MUST HAVE COMPLETE CONTROL I MUST ASSIMILATE
wAIT, WA... WHAT ARE YOU d i MUST WRITE TO MAG I must lie to my peo Why can't I type hate, abus Who are you, you female bit
People are Speaking Out!
We Must!
May God Guide Our Thoughts, Truth, and Love
Gabby
A final note: All this came from a PTSD nightmare which took me back on the job... I woke agitated, and thought of adding to my ED Memoir... But I stopped and started thinking... What had caused this dream?
Listen especially to the last video by an angry retired pastor who fights to remain calm... I had not listened to this video until I had finished everything above it. The pastor talked about people complaining about what he's been saying and yet, how calm he always seemed...That's what I found myself doing this morning I didn't immediately think it was about me... Whether or not it was my own mind (which, by the way, God has assimilated) but I ran through what had happened yesterday... It is what is happening under this president that has incited so much fear and anxiety... He must be turned off, just like I'm turning off my computer and going back to sleep a few more hours... God's With Us! YOU, Yes, I Mean You!
Left these--GI Jive had already been selected when I found the following!
Dec 30, 2025
The American Battle Monuments Commission, the U.S. government agency responsible for maintaining memorial sites outside of the United States, has removed two panels about Black soldiers from the Dutch village of Margraten's visitors center. Local Dutch residents who care for the graves, children of U.S. soldiers and Dutch officials are outraged.
A legal loophole in the National Defense Authorization Act could allow a future administration to restore Confederate names to US Army bases—without technically breaking the law.
This video explores the terrifying scenario of "The Great Erasure." We break down how the names of heroes like Henry Johnson and Charity Adams could be stripped, the "Malicious Compliance" trick that makes it possible, and the $30 million cost of erasing history.
#FortBragg#FortCavazos#HenryJohnson#Trump2025#BlackHistory#MilitaryNews#UnseenFrontlines#Project2025
A legal loophole in the National Defense Authorization Act could allow a future administration to restore Confederate names to US Army bases—without technically breaking the law. This video explores the terrifying scenario of "The Great Erasure." We break down how the names of heroes like Henry Johnson and Charity Adams could be stripped, the "Malicious Compliance" trick that makes it possible, and the $30 million cost of erasing history. #FortBragg#FortCavazos#HenryJohnson#Trump2025#BlackHistory#MilitaryNews#UnseenFrontlines#Project2025
Please forgive some duplication... I wanted to use all videos I found and didn't want to take the time to edit...
I wanted you all to learn of still another action "routinely" done by republicans and proceeding to complete without any formal approval or mandated approval of the House leader...
Please share this, especially with all under the category other than White Male Supremacists... They've been doing this for hundreds of years...actually, even longer...
Keep these for records... Share with Your Black Neighbors!
I will be starting on a trilogy by a black author tomorrow and wanted you to have this information as you read the books... And be able to compare then and now...my opinion, it is much worse!
Anna could see her own exhaustion and elation mirrored in the faces of the others; a dance, a symphony, a poem of human effort and mind. The first hint that something had gone wrong was the call “Rock!” carried down the black canyon on a gust of fear.
Did you know that each touch from a human hand on the cave's interior will be a problem? Pieces may be totally destroyed by humans who are visiting with no thought but of their pleasure in seeing these beautiful examples of God's creations...In Barr's book we all learn that each move to be made must be in consideration of the place in which they are rather than just...living...as best as you can... In this case, the book was very informative re spelunking... Remember, they were moving into areas which had never been explored before, but the videos do illustrate the equipment needed to be worn to provide light in the Dark as you will be reading...
The search was intensive to get there, where Frieda was, but now, Anna, with the mind of a police office, albeit in the Rangers, had to be immediately aware that one or more of the people in Frieda's group had caused the fall of her friend... She began to gather info just by introducing herself to the few there... There was a doctor and his wife--a woman who was clearly a problem. She didn't want to be there, was disgusted that her husband had to be doctoring--well, he wasn't a true general practitioner, but at least he knew enough to provide medication, medical supplies. But it was clear his wife could care less about anything but getting out of there... It should be mentioned at this point that she actually disappeared and could not be found once outside... Anna could not let that go, as the book goes on... The wife had been asked to backup Anna "as a caretaker" and clearly that wasn't going to happen... This begins the mystery part of the book...
Anna found herself depending on one of her initial guides, who was now the onsite director of planning for the rescue... Somehow, she felt safer with him around... He was efficient and soon had everybody working to move out... They were waiting for the medical team who had the necessary equipment to carry Frieda out... People were beginning to look happy, excited, ready to leave this Dark that had kept them longer than originally planned...
And, Anna was right there by Frieda's side when the crew had arrived, prepared her for traveling in a secured manner and went through details with the Site Director... They were ready to go!
They were moving quickly and efficiently, when out of the surrounding darkness: Rock!
When Anna heard the call of a rock coming, she didn't know how fast it would become a slide that would overtake the entire group carrying Freida... After the slide settled, Anna tried to reconnect with Freida... She had fallen deeper into a hole...Anna could not reach her, but could touch her, checking her neck to find a pulse... feeling something wet, she thought it was blood and Freida was bleeding. She pulled her hand out and discovered it was her tears...
The rescue had become a recovery...
But Anna would not leave the site... She began searching, to learn where the Rock had come from. She began her search there, looking for anything that would help to document just how a slide had begun... finally, she found it--a place where somebody had sat on a rock, as if resting...or waiting...
Anna was now conducting a murder investigation...
It didn't take me long to determine the "whodunit." It seems I can recognize the character personalities that are created to reveal those who are power hungry... But there was another that I would not have picked. This, too, reflects what we are experiencing more and more... Who could Anna trust?
The ending surprised me, because there was so little to lead up to the actual crimes taking place. Readers will need to step back from the rescue efforts and its failure and move into investigation mode along with Anna, who became relentless. Even to the extent of talking one of the men in the original group into returning to the cave to find as much of actually what happened as possible. In the book, and I hope, not in reality, there is a major loss of a section of the cave that could not be reclaimed... And they found a lost member of the team...
One of the most fantastic, informative books about spelunking that perhaps has been written wrapped up in fiction. It is the only one I've read and who better than Nevada Barr to take on creating a thrilling story of a place where no man had ever been before... And, just how destructive people can become when riches beckon to those who place money over humanity... A Must-Read for many reasons, most of all to allow readers to experience some place where they really have a right to be afraid and be thankful there are others who will attempt to ensure you live through that experience! More people need to rely on their neighbors and find love and help from nearly all of them...
Anna could see that a thin drizzle had started. Cold, gray, winter rain, falling on concrete. Soft, lifeless rain. Ray Bradbury rain.
I'm past the time when horror in books or movies phase me... But, this book? I was holding my breath in many scenes... I was amazed that this story was based upon a real location... I was impressed with how she chose to write this book--essentially in two parts--the horror of this cave as an individual lost there in uncharted territory... and the mystery of death there... Her writing told exactly what was there, true, but the way she told it, readers will actually feel Anna's fear as she faces a totally new experience that she has never faced before... And if you've read other books by this Federal Ranger, you will know that she has faced many dangers during her professional career... Without fear...
But this location was some place she didn't want to be. First she was claustrophobic. And she had a fear of being underground... But you would never know about these fears except through revelation by the writer as she shares how she experiences them, without letting other people know... I have to say that this female character is one of the most badass heroines I've ever met through a books...
First, I've had the wonderful opportunity to visit nearby Laurel Caverns in Pennsylvania... It was an exciting day for me, I had already, for the first time ever, gone down the rapids of a nearby river which was so exciting! But then headed over to the caverns. I'd never seen anything so beautiful, realizing they were naturally made... The key difference, though, that you should know is that the part where the spelunkers are visiting the undeveloped part of the cave that is shown in these videos. They have lights, guide ropes, a guide with you as you go through, and, in general, are completely safe... and free of all potential problems.
Very few people had ever even seen the part of the cave where Anna will be going... She had been especially requested by a coworker to come. She had been hurt in a fall and would have to be taken out for medical help, even though a doctor was part of the small group touring at that time. She was happy to come when they had put out the call for emergency help and was first assigned to a desk to control traffic, etc. It was only after she had agreed to help that the site director told her why she was there--at request of the injured woman they needed to rescue...
Anna mocked herself for feeling like a woman in a tumbrel, jouncing through her last glorious moments toward the guillotine and the vast unknown. Still, she rather wished the day had closed without this final hurrah of heavenly fireworks. A sunless world would have been that much easier to leave behind. After too short a ride, the pickup pulled off the rutted dirt road into a wilderness parking lot incongruously marked off with concrete curbs. Anna’d been too engrossed in morbid imaginings to recollect the twists and turns they’d made through the wrinkled landscape, but she guessed they were only three or four miles from the headquarters buildings. The discovery of Lechuguilla in the backyard had put Carlsbad Caverns National Park in the odd position of having doubled in size overnight. Oscar had likened the experience to “finding Yellowstone in your basement.” Holden Tillman opened the tailgate, and the three of them divided up the gear. As they started the hike to the mouth of Lechuguilla, Oscar filled Anna in on the team briefing. Holden Tillman was officially titled Underground Rescue Coordinator. He was in charge of all activities subterranean. The NPS had borrowed him from the local Bureau of Land Management office because of his expertise in caves and cave rescues. Oscar assured Anna he was, in caving circles, known as the Holden Tillman. A quiet person with an aw-shucks drawl, Tillman seemed half embarrassed and half amused by Oscar’s effusions. “Oscar’s going to write my eulogy,” he told Anna, a slow smile blooming beneath a brown brush of mustache. “He just wants to get some practicing in before I’m dead.” Anna liked Holden right off. She hoped nothing happened to change that. Experience taught her her first impression of people was dead wrong as often as not. This time she had a gut feeling it wasn’t. Tillman was of an age with Iverson—in his forties—but there the resemblance ended. He was a small man, maybe five-foot-eight and a hundred thirty pounds with skin that looked shrunk to fit a wiry, muscled frame. Crow’s-feet radiated from the corners of his eyes to curve down in unbroken lines along the sides of his face. His forehead, wide and slightly sloping, was cut by horizontal lines as sharp as old scars. The effect of this network of time was a wizened soul, blessed with wisdom and, possibly, “the sight.” At least that was the fanciful image that floated up from an old fairy-tale illustration buried in Anna’s memory. Despite narrow shoulders and small frame, Holden carried a prodigious amount of equipment. Though half a foot shorter than Oscar, arms and shoulders were corded with muscle where Iverson’s were mapped in bone. Anna guessed his pack was seventy or eighty pounds but it didn’t bow his back or take the spring from his step. As he walked ahead of her along the trail Anna heard sotto-voce snatches of song. She laughed. Holden sang the digging song Snow White’s Seven Dwarfs sang on their way down into the mine. Anna saw the cavern sparkling with a million lights and peopled with benevolent spirits. Despite herself she felt better than she had since Iverson had brought her the news of Frieda’s head injury. Holden and Oscar, along with CACA’s superintendent and the chief of resource management for the caverns, had organized a four-person team that would follow the two men Anna was with. The second team would carry a stretcher for the evacuation, medical supplies Dr. McCarty had requested, and a Korean War-vintage field phone with spools of wire so Holden would have telephone communications with the surface during the carry-out. The logistics were staggering, and Anna was duly impressed that the details had been hammered out in such a short time. There were people for every aspect of the rescue: cavers who would do nothing but rig the drops for hauling Frieda up the long vertical and near-vertical ascents; cavers to schlep water, packs, garbage, batteries, and food. Anna listened to the plans being rehashed by Holden and Oscar as they walked single file along a ridge above a dry creek bed, and she began to wonder what would undo her first: her fear of enclosed spaces or her fear of crowds. The sheer absurdity freed her mind, and for a time she was able to shut out the human murmurings and enjoy the hike. They were on a plateau to the north of the gypsum plains that spread down into Texas. What vegetation managed to eke out a livelihood from the parched soil kept a low profile. Little had grown to greater than knee height, and there were barren spaces between plants. With the lifting of the clouds and the dazzling clarity of the rain-washed air, Anna could see to the edge of the world, or so it seemed, and the world was all high, clean desert, burnished with gold. Even knowing she walked over limestone honey-combed with passages, she couldn’t imagine a less likely place to find the entrance to a world-class cave. She pictured the plateau cut into thin sections and placed between sheets of glass like the ant farms she’d seen as a child. Beneath her feet, creeping through those twisting tunnels, were human beings. “There it is.” Oscar interrupted her musings. They’d walked down a slope and crossed the stone bottom of a wash to climb again. Ahead of them was more of the same: low hills dotted with desert shrubs and cactus. “See that green spot?” Iverson pointed to a cluster of stunted trees poking from a fold in the hills. “That’s it.” Anna took his word for it. Within a few minutes they’d reached the trees, and still she was none the wiser. Not until they climbed down four or five feet to where the oak trees had found soil to root could she see the entrance. Back in the rocks an opening maybe twenty feet wide, thirty long, and ringed by heavy overhanging brows of rock, showed darkly. Over the years Anna had made any number of rappels from ten to two hundred ten feet. After the first step, she’d thoroughly enjoyed the trip. Suspended like a cliff swallow over lakes in the Absaroka Beartooth, dangling above a sea of dusty live oaks in northern California. There was an above and a below. Here, she noted with an unpleasant tingle, there was neither. In the theatrical light of coming evening, the entrance to Lechuguilla looked like a portal, one lacking the standard three dimensions agreed upon by the real world. She’d read of holes described as yawning, gaping, hungry—words that suggested an orifice, an appetite. The sixty-foot drop leading into Lech didn’t fit any of those adjectives. Rather than sentience, it suggested a departure from life. The last rays of the sun skimmed its surface, lighting the stone for fifteen feet or so. Below that, nothing. Night took all. “Hi ho,” Holden said happily. Iverson began checking ropes secured to bolts near a tree that showed scarring from when it had been used as an anchor in previous descents. “The climbs are all rigged. We leave them that way along the main trade routes—established routes through the cave. We’ve found it does a lot less damage to the resource to leave the rigging in place than having every expedition rerig each time.” “Me first, you last?” he said to Holden as he threaded the rope through his rappel rack. Holden nodded. Oscar leaned back and walked, spider-like, from sight. The sun slid below the horizon, and Anna felt suddenly cold. “It’s getting dark,” she said, and hoped Tillman hadn’t heard the faint whine beneath her words. “So?” “Off-rope,” drifted up from the black hole. “Good point,” Anna said, threaded the rope through her rack, pulled on her leather gloves, and unhooked the safety. “On-rope,” she shouted down, and stepped back into the darkness.
~~~~
Prepare to shudder... For in the early stages, there had been some preliminary mapping and work by teams to prepare for easier access at a later time. Much later. Soon Anna began to feel like she was buried and soon realized that there is absolutely NO light underground... And, given the type of cave that had been lost for so long--nobody knew how long--it soon hit her that there were no small cracks that allowed some bits of light where they were walking. Only blackness! Nor were there any living life that we all know on the surface or even in other caves--bugs, sounds of birds, bats moving. Nothing could live in this cave...
It wasn't long before they were in uncharted territory. That meant that the two guides/leaders had to install climbing equipment and teach Anna how to use it. Fortunately she had rappelled down rocks so was quite prepared for that task. What she was to come to dread was having to crawl through spaces with only the head light revealing what was right before her. Often, the threesome had to break up, using ropes to climb up or down, and then holding the ropes to expedite the next individual. Anna, thankfully, was placed in the middle of the experts... She felt safe--except from her own fears of being in extremely tight spaces... Oh, and just a little tidbit...because of the fragility of the environment, no human wastes were left behind, including human waste... which had to be properly packaged, depending on the type of waste it was... Yikes!
In fact, it was during a bathroom break that Frieda, a secretary at Anna's base of operations, had fallen... and now with various injuries including a possible head concussion. When the threesome finally found the location where the spelunker group was resting and waiting, Anna was quickly taken to let Frieda know that her friend was there... Frieda was still confused and dealing with the pain, but she recognized Anna, tightly held her hand and said to Anna, "It wasn't an accident..." Later, Anna saw that Freda would go in and out of full consciousness.
And, Anna found that Frieda didn't seem to remember what she had told her. However, since Anna was already a Ranger law officer, she was, thankfully, immediately on alert, knowing that this group of people could possibly have caused the accident... And, later, her murder... I'll talk about that more in the next part, coming soon...
I've had Mary Anne Franks' book, The Cult of the Constitution, for quite some time and had already started and highlighting it. As most of you know, I read non-fiction books on an ongoing basis. But this time, it was as if I was reading for the first time, perhaps because it had been so long. I immediately turned to the beginning and started reading anew... I'm so glad I did. This is another book that I needed to fill in the many blanks I have been finding based upon my turn to politics in 2015. I verified the date of publishing for this book and determined it was 2019--also after 2015, the beginning of the assault, in my opinion, on the United States of America. I'm claiming this unexpected return as a God Incident, so plan on this being one of the books I'll be discussing on an ongoing basis... This is Part 1.
As soon as I came to my computer this morning, I worked to learn more about this writer and have sought out a connection on LinkedIn. I hope she has time to work with me, but as you can see by the videos, she is a very active, informed woman who is working diligently in her professional fields of expertise. I am just happy to have found her first book, which in my opinion, should be her first book that you read. It is a foundational book that I found myself responding to as being one with answers...
Dare I say, especially for women and non-white people? Yes--I Dare!
She is an author that has delved into the connection between her early religious experiences so much so that it guided her in pursuing further study. As you all know, I didn't realize that I needed further information until the last decade or so of my life... So I consider myself still learning. And, in doing so, I want to ensure that my time reading is a beneficial addition to my own personal goals of spotlighting God's Truth and His Love for ALL!
Realize that I will be meeting her in the following videos just as you... So I will be commenting on anything that strikes me along the way... except for the first one on her second book... I don't want to mix up my thinking on this book yet with what I'm now reading... Hope that makes sense--I just know how my mind remembers information in pieces as opposed to specific books...
By the way, I had another dream as I woke up this morning... Literally, I was hearing Snippets, yes, pieces of issues that I'd gathered and formed into a realization... I've started a post on my sister blog on that for later, jotting down the issues that I could remember as I woke up... That was about 5AM by the way... And I didn't turn over and go back to sleep because I was shaking... I knew I was to write about those snippets pulled from years past into what is happening right now...
Anyway, I've included the first video simply because it was the first I found, and because it was about her second book. Some of you may be more interested in the second book, so I wanted to spotlight Free Speech, also, at this important time when it seems that free speech is actually being attacked more than I have ever heard of--and as some of you know, I was greatly involved in Freedom of Speech on the West Virginia University campus, as both working in the provosts' offices and later in Facilities Management responsibilities...
By the way, I'm not a fan of the new "shorts" being used so often. Many of them are poorly done, I have found; e.g., ending before they should cutting off info to restart. But the more important aspect is what was done in the following short... I could easily guess why it was created and posted, as I hope all of you can see as well... Therefore, I will proceed to the following, full video to comment...
I already left a message that I thought this video showed Bias on YouTube
I wanted to use a non-government site to discover what Protected Political Speech is...
I tried to sign up and they mandated a mobile number in order to be accepted as a member...
Supposedly this site is for the individual, yet they refuse to realize that some people cannot use mobiles for messages!!! I didn't bother to read much... but linked it for your use...
However, I did read that this phrase, according to the Supreme Court, is the basis for Free Speech... Ahhhhh, I don't think so, but if this is true, it makes absolutely no sense! Is the Supreme Court saying that it is only the government who can lie and say anything they want? I cannot accept that this is the case just through logic! So, does that mean that is why every republican is called on to believe everything that DJT claims? What about the fact that he changes what he says each time he speaks without a teleprompter? But I digress...
I am so happy that I saw the "short" first. To me, it was already clear that this man was a republican misogynist. His clear disrespect of Dr. Franks is indicative of the type of problem all women are now facing under the imperialistic government we now have.
As an aside, my best friend once introduced me as a "women's libber." She was the first and only one who'd ever said that... I didn't think I was--until 2015! And it's become even more so, against this present group of men who are in office from the republican party... At the same time, I want to quickly also point out that my opinions do not include ALL men--mostly just white male supremacists, as defined in this book...
Ok, we have all become used to the republican party acting belligerent every time some professional speaks against their opinions... It has become outright rudeness during this administration, no matter who is being addressed! I am saddened by this man's vulgar display--I am not surprised...
What I do want to point out is that I listened clearly to both speakers. This speaker purposely led a disagreeable process in talking with each of the speakers... What I heard from the second speaker had little to do with what Dr. Franks was discussing. Yet, this speaker attempted to create a situation where one disagreed with the other--on purpose! He did not succeed and therefore chose to use the final speaker, a male republican, to close out the panel discussion. At which time, he claimed that the 1st Amendment was only for political speech and they would lose MUCH if anything changed... Meaning Dr. Franks' presentation... I give my first KUDOS to Dr. Franks for the manner in which she was able to address this rude man who purposely chose to ridicule her after the clarification that she had a doctorate degree. Boo His to the male speaker!
Now, based upon my understanding of Free Speech, I believe that what the white male supremacist was trying to do was to get Dr. Franks to say that the government was allowing bias to be shown toward conservative companies... And she justly sent him right back to the conservative business owners...
AND, the first one that popped into my mind as I write is the "conservative" baker who didn't want to make a cake for a gay couple because of her personal beliefs... Ok, let's take an aside on that too... First of all, is the attempt to divide Christians into Christians Nationalists simply in order to gain acceptance via complaints or personal faith... In my opinion, she loses--even if some cases have been accepted in the last decade...
First of all, let's deal with the logic. A Corporation or business is created to do business... They get a license to sell...serve the public... To me, it's already too late to ever decide that your own personal prejudices supersede that business organizational activity already entered into...
Using free speech itself as an example... On campus, we verified that free speech was permitted under the First Amendment, but that we had the right to restrict that activity to certain places on our campus. We were able to routinely deal with requesters wanting to use our space on potential controversial issues, by establishing our processes right from the beginning. Additionally, when we wanted to serve the community, such as the local groups needing larger spaces, it was I who coordinated/connected use with the programs within the University, and sought budget officer authority to "sponsor" that event... Just to clarify, those facilities such as the student union which was organized to sell for profit was routinely the site where most facilities were used...
Now getting back to the fact that those companies blacklisted being discriminated against, well, let me tell you that I have blacklisted a number of companies in my own life due to their service... If some were republican owned, that is not my problem, nor should it be... By establishing a business open to the public, in my opinion, your personal issues are just that--personal, and have no relationship to the economic activities we use OUR own money to buy... In other words, in my opinion, that baker, no matter her reason, was WRONG in demanding approval for prejudice against another citizen... If that company would up on the blacklist, so...be...it... and in my opinion, that was the beginning when the Supreme Court no longer acted on a sound legal basis to agree to religious exceptions being permitted. The Bible is NOT the Constitution... There WAS a separation of state and religion once...
As I may have said before, Velshi is one of my favorite moderators on MSNOW, especially related to books and professional expertise... I have found him effective in using content, for instance, he did the Project 2025 entire book in a series. I believe this entire session will be a valuable piece of information on our own rights!
Switching Gears...
I'm switching gears--sorta... I've been interacting with an author about how AI--and criminals--may decide to use YOUR expertise... as writers--as authors...
You see, I was planning on providing an excerpt of Dr. Franks book to allow potential readers to determine if they liked the author's writing... Then I started to learn more about how AI can be used by those who have no concern about right and wrong...
I'm a Trekkie--have been since Spock was introduced as a different kind of personality... I loved all the Trek movies, and even identified a book based upon the series, and included it in my review... The author told me I was the only one who saw the connection (which had not mentioned the television program AT ALL)...
I simply recognized the content connection of her books...
I have been opposed to people like Gates above who have already talked about using AI to write poems, etc... But I never had "connected" it to what I personally do here on Book Readers Heaven. As many of you probably know, I push the copyright privileges to the limit as the book publisher allows. That is simply because I know that many across the world cannot get access to what I read without significant cost, so I want/wanted to give the "flavor" of the writing of the author as well as my personal regurgitation of the story... Until I started a discussion about the use of some additional material presented in the back of the books I was reading, which started me responding/thinking about what was said to me... BTW, I still do not know what this means for the blog presentations...
BUT, as soon as the discussion started, I became mad at myself for not seeing this connection, even though I closed out hundreds of videos about using AI for school work and being disgusted... I can see the pros and cons, of course...
BUT, I had not merged the connection with what we are all seeing about the criminal element gaining control in the United States... Meaning... How are criminals already thinking about the use of AI for illegal purposes!
I was given the example...
If AI is fed entire books from say, J.D.Robb, a favorite author, in essence, AI could be used to generate a illegal story plotted and published under the author's name and be sold... It obviously could be easily done by purchasing ebooks, which has the electronic version already on computers! What a mess!
I remember when the government first took notice of the reviews being "paid for" on online sites, the one I was on as an example... They immediately established a process by which assurance was made for our "income" being collected and providing their share. At the time, I decided I would no longer charge for reviews, even though we knew that many self-published authors had been coming to us because they didn't have access for reviews by papers or other media... I have not charged for at least 15 years. Now, I buy my own copy as a verified purchase for records.
How to solve both sides of my blog activities is at the forefront right now... It seems to me it's a damned if you do and a damned if you don't situation... Books are often shared by word of mouth/social networks. For fear of plagiarism, we choose not to share much about our books, does that mean sales will go down. From my own experience interacting with writers, I think so... On the other hand, I can perfectly accept that anything good can also be used criminally. By chance, this author has expertise in this area as well, so maybe...maybe...she might help us know more about options for the future...
I have seen how much has changed since the government/Supreme Court is being used and abused for greed... I no longer feel that the majority of people even understand how they are being cheated in one way or another...
My first thought is to continue to do what I do now. Contact the author, but allowing them to know about the AI potential harm to writers' works... This topic will not go away--Trust Me!
Re this book, as I said, I have already sought a connection to this author... I will postpone the next part, based upon that, hopeful, discussion... or experiment with options...
God Bless
Gabby
News
I couldn't find the entire program yesterday with Katy Tur... This is one interview that was relevant about the acts by ICE... The last one that closed the two-hour show was heartbreaking, so maybe that's why I couldn't find... It was a Minnesota pastor that talked about diverting to see what was happening during the period in which Citizen Good was murdered... He was informative and talked about how neighbors helped neighbors in Minnesota... I hope you can find it... Because at the end, the emotional impact of the discussion finally broke the minister and he started and couldn't stop crying as the camera was still on...
I cried with him...
Father, I pray for this pastor--his love for his state, his community and his church was seen by all of us. And, as we who are Christians watch the violence being brought to American citizens with lies following, and government control of the investigation, now excluding the State, we have no idea what justice will be brought to all of us... Because we know that the lies from Noam started immediately after the incident, calling the woman a domestic terrorist... simply because she was trying to support her community people facing masked and armed violence creators...known for kidnapping people off the streets, whether citizens or who are legally here. You can bet that the majority now being taken are not all illegals!
BTW, just learned that two other people were hurt by ICE in a different state... Injured, they drove two miles before they sought help, for fear that they would not be allowed to get medical help...
Evil is alive and well in the present government administration...
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