ETYMOLOGY OF WORDS AND PHRASES, PART 11

Education, Entertainment, History, Scientific 6 Minutes

Murphy’s Law

If anything can go wrong, it will. This expression appears to have originated in the mid-1900’s in the U.S. Air Force. According to an article in the San Francisco Chronicle of March 16, 1978 (cited in the Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang), during some testing at Edwards Air Force Base in 1949, Captain Ed Murphy, an engineer, was frustrated with a malfunctioning part and said about the technician responsible, “If there is any to do things wrong, he will.” Within weeks his statement was referred to as “Murphy’s Law,” and by about 1960, it had entered the civilian vocabulary and was attached to just about any mistake or mishap. In succeeding decades, it became a cliche.

If the shoe fits, wear it!

If something applies to you, accept it. This expression is a version of an older term, if the cap fits, put it on, which originally meant a fool’s cap and dates from the early 18th century. This version is rarely heard today. It’s replacement by a shoe probably came about owing to the increased popularity of the Cinderella story and, indeed, an early appearance in print, in Clyde Fitch’s play “The Climbers” (1901), states, “If the slipper fits,”

Pennies from heaven

The first time that the expression “Pennies from heaven” came into the public consciousness was on the release of the 1936 film, starring Bing Crosby. It wasn’t coined by the film’s writers though, having been used in print a few years earlier, in Abraham Burstein’s book “Ghetto Messenger,” 1928.

A country mile

The complexity of what a mile actually is, or more to the point was when this phrase was coined, is more confusing than enlightening. Each country that has used a mile as a measurement of distance, has defined it differently from all the others, and most of them have changed the measurement at some point. What may help is a look at some documentary evidence. An early expression in print is in a poem by the Cornish seaman Frederick de Kruger – “The Villager’s Tale,”1829:

“The travelling stage had set me down
Within a mile of yon church-town;
‘T was long indeed, a country mile.
But well I knew each field or style;”

It’s reasonable to assume that the expression originated in the UK. The expression crossed the Atlantic in the 19th century and is still widely used there. Hardly any early 20th century report of a baseball game fail to use the expression when a ball is hit out of the ground. The expression is used in pretty well every English-speaking country and many have their own variants of it. People also speak of a ‘Welsh mile’, ‘a Scottish mile’, ‘Irish’, Dutch’, ‘German’ and so on.

Back to the drawing board

This term has been used since WWII as a jocular acceptance that a design has failed and that a new one is needed. It gained common currency quite quickly and began appearing in US newspapers by 1947, as here in theWalla Walla Union-Bulletin, Washington, December 1947: “Grid injuries for the season now closing suggest anew that nature get back to the drawing board, as the human knee is not only nothing to look at but also a piece of bum engineering.”

A drawing board is, of course, an architect’s or draughtsman’s table, used for the preparation of designs or blueprints. The phrase originated as the caption to a cartoon produced by Peter Arno (Curtis Arnoux Peters, Jr.), for the New Yorker magazine, in 1941. The cartoon shows various military men and ground crew racing toward a crashed plane, and a designer, with a roll of plans under his arm, walking away saying, “Well, back to the old drawing board.”

Know the ropes

The first known use of the expression in print is a figurative one, that is, one where no actual rope is being referred to. It comes in James Skene’s travel mémoire “Italian Journey,” 1802: “I am a stranger and… I beg you to show me how I ought to proceed… You know the ropes and can give me good advice.”

Clearly, ‘know the ropes’ must have been in use in some context where real rope was being used before Skene wrote his diary, but it seems that no one wrote it down. The first printed example of ‘knowing the ropes’ which alludes to a context where actual rope would be present is in Richard H. Dana Jr’s “Two years before the mast,” 1840: “The captain, who had been on the coast before and ‘knew the ropes,’ took the steering oar.”

That clearly has a seafaring connection, although it appears to be using the figurative meaning of the phrase, that is, ‘the captain was knowledgeable’, but without any specific allusion to ropes.

Bag and baggage

The phrase is of military origin. ‘Bag and baggage’ referred to the entire property of an army and that of the soldiers in it. To ‘retire bag and baggage’ meant to beat an honourable retreat, surrendering nothing. These days, to ‘leave bag and baggage’ means just to clear out of a property, leaving nothing behind.

The phrase is ancient enough that the earliest citation isn’t in contemporary English. Rymer’s”Foedera,” 1422, has: “Cum armaturis bonis bogeis, baggagiis”. The earliest reference in English that most would understand is in John Berners’ ‘The firste volum of John Froissart’, 1525: “We haue with vs all our bagges and baggages that we haue wonne by armes.” Shakespeare later used the phrase in “As You Like It,” 1600:

“Let vs make an honorable retreit, though not with bagge and baggage, yet with scrip and scrippage.”

Yada-yada

This phrase is a modern-day equivalent of ‘blah, blah, blah’ (which is early 20th century). It is American and emerged during or just after the Second World War. It was preceded by various alternative forms – ‘yatata, yatata’, ‘yaddega, yaddega’ etc. One of the earliest of these is from an advertisement in an August 1948 edition of the Long Beach Independent:

“Yatata … yatata … the talk is all about Chatterbox, Knox’s own little Tomboy Cap with the young, young come-on look!” All of those versions, and including ‘yada yada’, probably took the lead from existing words meaning incessant talk – yatter, jabber, chatter.

Yellow belly

The term ‘yellow-belly’ is an archetypal American term, but began life in England in the late 18th century as a mildly derogatory nick-name. Grose’s “A Provincial Glossary,” with a collection of local proverbs, and popular superstitions, 1787, lists it: “Yellow bellies. This is an appellation given to persons born in the Fens, who, it is jocularly said, have yellow bellies, like their eels.”

The usage wasn’t limited to the Lincolnshire Fens. In the same year,”Knight’s Quarterly Magazine” (London) published an account of life in the the Staffordshire Collieries. It began by describing the region as “a miserable tract of country commencing a few miles beyond Birmingham” and went on to recount a lady’s attempts at guessing the nick-name of a local resident: ‘Lie-a-bed, Cock-eye, Pig-tail and finally Yellow-belly.’

Up shit creek without a paddle

This slang phrase, like most street slang, is difficult to date and determine the origin of precisely. What we can say is that it, or at least the ‘shit creek’ part of it was known in the USA in the 1860s as it appeared in the transcript of the 1868 Annual report of the [US] Secretary of War, in a section that included reports from districts of South Carolina: “Our men have put old [Abraham] Lincoln up shit creek.”

Australia

In Lincoln’s day, as now, ‘shit creek’ wasn’t a real place, just a figurative way of describing somewhere unpleasant; somewhere one wouldn’t want to be. The ‘without a paddle’ ending is just an intensifier, added by later wags for additional effect. This dates from the middle of the 20th century. The American novelist John Dos Passos used the phrase in”Adventures of a Young Man,” 1939:

“They left the store ready to cry from worry. It was dark; they had a hard time finding their way through the woods to the place where they’d left the canoe. The mosquitos ate the hides off them. ‘Well, we’re up shit creek without any paddle’.”

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Published by NebraskaFilly

Army veteran (1976-1979), retired with entirely too much time on my hands

Published

168 thoughts on “ETYMOLOGY OF WORDS AND PHRASES, PART 11”

  1. Morning All!
    well Filly…you started off in rare form today!
    you made me spit water everywhere with “…UGLY GOES TO THE BONE.”
    bwahahahahahaha
    thank goodness it wasn’t coffee–that stuff’s too good to waste!
    awesome open as always!!

    Liked by 2 people

      1. I will have to tell that one to my mom when i see her next time!
        she was always telling me beauty was only skin deep. I wanna see her face when i tell her!!!
        LOL

        Liked by 1 person

  5. New source so I can’t vouch for the veracity of it.

    Glyphosate and Dioxin Detox
    Exploring the foods and natural compounds that assist the body in detoxing dangerous chemicals related to GMO agriculture and the chemical industry

    Gavin Mounsey
    15 hr ago

    Before I post the article I promised on seed saving I wanted to share some info on helping to detox the human body from the chemicals listed in the title above. As I documented my previous article, glyphosate is sprayed prolifically onto our food due to GMO Ag practices and this chemical is ending up in humans through an array of exposure sources (food, water and air). Thus, before I get into solutions for the GMO seed take over with my article on seed saving I want to provide info on how to get this dangerous chemical out of the human body and also provide some info on bioremediating glyphosate contaminated soil.

    https://gavinmounsey.substack.com/p/glyphosate-and-dioxin-detox

    Liked by 1 person

  9. Like

  10. EXCERPT: “Predictive Programming? Are ‘They’ Telling us Something?

    There are media reports that residents of East Palestine, Ohio were hired as extras, and this is being taken is significant of something else. Many people are of the view that the “deep state” is messing with us by allegedly doing these things — putting out uncanny movies right before things happen. Others “would not rule out anything.” After three years of fake virus, it’s possible.

    However, to say that someone might coordinate the release of a movie about the dangers of nuclear power to an actual meltdown (in the case of China Syndrome) to me seems petty, and impossible to coordinate by planning. Likewise with a toxic train crash. Why would anyone need the movie? Who the heck cares? So we could have this conversation now? So we could theorize and marvel over how they “make this happen”? Why, so we can feel even more powerless?

    Do we think that the nuclear industry — smug, over-confident assholes though they are — wants one of its power plants to melt down? That’s not good for business, their image or trust in their horrid technology. Three Mile Island nearly stopped the American nuclear industry in its tracks. Only a few plants have been built in the 44 years since the incident and a good few are being decommissioned.

    The implication of saying that The China Syndrome was planned in preparation for the meltdown is saying that the meltdown was done intentionally and by desire, coordinated with the release of a movie — not that it was an act of extreme negligence, poor engineering, hubris, stupidity, bad decisions and equipment failure, which are all typical of the nuclear power industry.

    The profit motive behind such accidents is cutting corners, not destroying the plant and creating a centuries-long cleanup.”

    https://planetwavesfm.substack.com/p/was-the-netflix-movie-white-noise

    Liked by 1 person

  11. Citizen 817
    February 18, 2023 12:30 am

    Just Like with Project Veritas Board of Directors – AFLDS Board Tries to Remove Dr. Simone Gold from Organization She Founded to Defend Medical Freedom

    Dr. Gold had entrusted certain individuals with protecting AFLDS while she was enduring an unjust prison sentence, but upon her return, she discovered they had acted corruptly, and attempted to gain operational control of the organization, unjustly trying to fire most of the existing staff—nearly 50 workers, even threatening some with lawsuits.

    When Dr. Gold confronted the Board privately and urged them to correct this, they refused and retaliated against her with a public smear campaign of startling false accusations. The dispute is now in litigation; the judge in the case confirmed the allegations against Dr. Gold were false, and advised the Board to find an amicable resolution with Dr. Gold.

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/02/just-like-project-veritas-board-directors-aflds-board-tries-remove-dr-simone-gold-organization-founded-defend-medical-freedom/

    Like

  13. Citizen 817
    Citizen 817
    February 18, 2023 12:36 am

    @TheLastRefuge2
    2h

    🙄 Backstabbing, conniving GOPe liars making the same stupid debate litmus again. The same pledge they collectively violated after the last time it happened. Then again, RdS managers are duplicitous weasels, so they’ll likely latch on – with full intent to lie.

    @michaelscherrr
    NEW: Republicans will formally require their presidential contenders to pledge support to the nominee if they want to debate. Also a donor and polling requirement.

    Several candidates, including Trump, have said they don’t agree.

    Liked by 1 person

  15. Citizen 817
    Citizen 817
    February 18, 2023 1:12 am

    @realDonaldTrump

    ·
    8m
    I will never call Ron DeSanctimonious “Meatball” Ron, as the Fake News is insisting I will. Even though FoxNews killing lightweight Paul Ryan is revered by him, Low Energy Jeb Bush is his hero and always at his side, his beaches and State were closed for long periods of time, his testing, testing, testing for the China Virus didn’t work out too well, and his loyalty skills are really weak, it would be totally inappropriate to use the word “meatball” as a moniker for Ron!

    Liked by 1 person

  16. gwp…i know
    Troublemaker10
    February 18, 2023 1:26 am

    Chair of NTSB Appears to Throw Shade on DOT Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Says Trump Era Brake Decision Not to Blame for East Palestine Toxic Train Wreck

    Excerpt:

    “That leads me to my last point: anyone speculating about what happened, didn’t happen, or should’ve happened is misleading a suffering community – PLEASE STOP SPREADING MISINFORMATION. For example…Some are saying the ECP (electronically controlled pneumatic) brake rule, if implemented, would’ve prevented this derailment. FALSE – here’s why…”

    The ECP braking rule would’ve applied ONLY to HIGH HAZARD FLAMMABLE TRAINS. The train that derailed in East Palestine was a MIXED FREIGHT TRAIN containing only 3 placarded Class 3 flammable liquids cars…This means even if the rule had gone into effect, this train wouldn’t have had ECP brakes.”

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/02/chair-ntsb-appears-throw-shade-dot-secretary-pete-buttigieg-says-trump-era-brake-decision-not-blame-east-palestine-toxic-train-wreck/

    Like

  18. Maquis
    February 18, 2023 3:20 am
    Reply to Troublemaker10

    THIS 👇!! The same politicians who demanded loyalty and support if they won the ’16 nomination, then turned around and worked against the ’16 winner, Trump. https://t.co/iQSjCrGsqm

    — TheLastRefuge (@TheLastRefuge2) February 18, 2023

    Liked by 1 person

  20. Re: This Tweet I posted yesterday (not sure if I posted it here or not)

    “Replying to
    @Eh_Bee_Sea
    and @JenniferHomendy

    What would you call a video from 20 years ago of a Class 3 railroad operating on exempted track, that is intentionally presented as the equivalent of a Class 1 Railroad that does not operate on exempted track? I’ll give you a hint, it starts with M and ends with IS INFORMATION”

    Liked by 2 people

  22. EXCERPT: “Americans’ devotion to and support of the public school culture is a mystery. One is reminded of James Madison’s statement in The Federalist, No. 46:

    “That the governments and the people of the States should silently and patiently behold the gathering storm, and continue to supply the materials, until it should be prepared to burst on their own heads, must appear to every one more like the incoherent dreams of a delirious jealousy, or the misjudged exaggerations of a counterfeit zeal, than like the sober apprehensions of genuine patriotism.”

    Are we suffering from the “misjudged exaggerations of a counterfeit zeal” when it comes to the role and the relevance of public schools? Do we not stop and consider the costs — physical, intellectual, and psychological — of our perpetual support for public schools?

    With our lips we draw near unto doing away with the public schools and abolishing the Department of Education, but our hearts continue to somehow justify sending our precious children to those same institutions. That’s why Representative Massie and the 20 congressmen willing to support HR 899 deserve our praise and our respect for having the courage to call for the shuttering of the federal bureaucracy that, it can be argued, does more damage to our country than any other.

    Finally, I’ll give the last word to The Law, Frédéric Bastiat’s exposé of legalized plunder. This particular quote focuses on the threats to freedom inherent in government-managed and -funded education:

    “You say: “There are persons who lack education,” and you turn to the law. But the law is not, in itself, a torch of learning which shines its light abroad. The law extends over a society where some persons have knowledge and others do not; where some citizens need to learn, and others can teach. In this matter of education, the law has only two alternatives: It can permit this transaction of teaching-and-learning to operate freely and without the use of force, or it can force human wills in this matter by taking from some of them enough to pay the teachers who are appointed by government to instruct others, without charge. But in this second case, the law commits legal plunder by violating liberty and property.”

    And there you have it: Good, bad, or indifferent, the federal Department of Education can only exist by “violating liberty and property.” Patriots and friends of liberty should contact Representative Massie and let him know that they support him and let him know that his efforts are not in vain.”

    https://thenewamerican.com/bill-to-abolish-dept-of-education-gaining-sponsors/

    Liked by 1 person

  23. EVERY state needs to do this!!!

    EXCERPT: “Members of the Tennessee General Assembly are seeking to enact one of the strongest and most comprehensive nullification bills in the country. House Bill 726 (H.B. 726) and Senate Bill 1092 (S.B. 1092), titled the “Restoring State Sovereignty Through Nullification Act,” are identical. They are sponsored by Representative Bud Hulsey (R-Kingsport) and Senator Janice Bowling (R-Tullahoma), respectively.

    The bills’ preface clearly and correctly explains the proper constitutional separation of powers (both horizontally and vertically), condemns the baseless elevation of court rulings, regulations, and executive orders to the level of “laws,” and expounds on the principle of nullification and the duty of “every constitutional officeholder, whether local, state, or federal,” to adhere to the Constitution.

    H.B 726. and S.B. 1092 then declare:

    ‘SECTION 6. It is declared that federal laws, federal executive actions, and federal court opinions must comply with the jurisdictional limitations of the United States Constitution. It is further declared that any federal action outside the enumerated powers set forth in the United States Constitution are in violation of the peace and safety of the people of this state, and therefore, said acts are declared void and must be resisted.

    SECTION 7. The proper manner of resistance is a state action of nullification of the federal action.’

    If enacted, H.B. 726 and S.B. 1092 would create formal processes for reviewing the constitutionality of federal actions and rejecting those found unconstitutional. In addition to expressly authorizing the governor, General Assembly, and state courts to nullify unconstitutional federal laws, it creates processes for counties, municipalities, and registered voters to force the General Assembly to introduce and consider bills of nullification.

    Under H.B. 726 and S.B. 1092, the scope of which federal actions to review is comprehensive. It defines “federal action” as including “federal law; a federal agency rule, policy, or standard; an executive order of the president of the United States; an order or decision of a federal court; and the making or enforcing of a treaty.”

    Additionally, the bills expressly state that “any federal action, whether said action is past, present, or future,” can be nullified using the outlined processes. When examining the constitutionality of federal actions, H.B. 726 and S.B. 1092 require considering “the plain reading and reasoning of the text of the United States Constitution and the understood definitions at the time of the framing and construction of the Constitution by the framers.”

    https://thenewamerican.com/tennessee-bills-would-create-process-for-nullifying-unconstitutional-federal-actions/

    Liked by 1 person

  24. — ‘Finally’ The Lancet Acknowledges Natural Immunity Superior to mRNA COVID Vaccines
    — Florida Issues Health Alert: mRNA COVID Vaccines Caused ‘Substantial Increase’ in Reports of Adverse Events
    — Court Documents Show GlaxoSmithKline Knew — for 40 Years — Zantac Could Cause Cancer
    — World Government Summit: How the Merging of Humans and Technology Will Define the Next 50 Years
    — DOJ to Federal Court: We Should Be Sued — Not Moderna — for Patent Infringement
    — Biden Administration Attempts to Sabotage Mexico’s GMO Corn Ban to ‘Protect Short-Term Profits of U.S. Ag Giants’
    — Judge Rules Against NYC in COVID Vaccine Case After Mandate Lifted + More
    — Pfizer, Targeting a Younger Demographic, Enlists yet Another Celeb for Its Latest COVID Vaccine Ad + More

    https://childrenshealthdefense.salsalabs.org/2-17-23defender

    Liked by 1 person

    1. I will never drink coke…
      we did experiments in HIGH SCHOOL years ago that scared me straight off that poison…
      (mostly i drink unsweetened tea or water when we’re out)

      Liked by 1 person

  32. Liked by 1 person

    1. gosh, i thought i just read (meaning this morning) an article saying hersch got it all wrong…still trying to find it.
      the person making the comment stated why he thought they were floating this now (about hersch getting it wrong)…

      Liked by 1 person

    2. here’s the exchange

      Citizen 817
      February 18, 2023 12:22 am

      @realDonaldTrump

      13h
      Sy Hersh Swings and Misses Big

      Careless claims that the U.S. blew up the Nord Stream pipelines cover for the real scandals of the Biden administration

      https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/sy-hersh-swings-big-misses-lee-smith
      4
      Reply
      Landslide
      Landslide
      February 18, 2023 12:47 am
      Reply to Citizen 817

      Color me confused.
      2
      Reply
      Maquis
      Maquis
      February 18, 2023 1:13 am
      Reply to Landslide

      It’s all spin.

      Took a while for the Coupsters to come up with their faux stories, now begins the flood.
      4
      Reply
      CarpeTrachea
      CarpeTrachea
      February 18, 2023 3:47 am
      Reply to Citizen 817

      I had a thought. Nothing to back this up—just a what if.

      The common sense notion that Brandon was behind the destruction of the pipelines was already out in the wild and pretty widely accepted. How could it be discredited?

      Set up a well known journalist with a “source” who feeds him a very detailed but provably false account. Then, a little after the story hits, show that the details are wrong.

      Sacrifice one Hersh and derail the narrative.

      Liked by 1 person

        1. i don’t know him either way…I just wanted to highlight one of the tactics the left might use to discredit someone like you described–history of proven right…
          they ARE sneaky and deceptive bastards after all

          Liked by 1 person

  34. ENTIRE ARTICLE @ JustTheNews: “Harvard Professor Emeritus Alan Dershowitz said it was unconstitutional for a Georgia judge to release parts of a Fulton County special grand jury report looking into efforts by former President Donald Trump and his allies to challenge Georgia’s 2020 election results.

    “It’s a terrible legal process,” Dershowitz said on the Thursday edition of the “Just the News, No Noise” TV show. “The Constitution provides for the grand jury to be a safeguard against false indictment. It’s in the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution.”

    Five pages of the report, including its introduction and conclusion, were released following county Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney’s order earlier this week. Dershowitz said that legal decisions like this cause serious problems.

    “Grand juries’ conclusions are not worth the paper they’re written on,” he explained. “They’re only usually charging documents. It’s a serious problem when grand juries make announcements like this without having given the opportunity of due process for those who they accuse.”

    Dershowitz explained that whether someone is Democrat or Republican, it should be an area of agreement that everyone is entitled to civil liberties. “You have to separate politics, whether you support or you don’t support a candidate from all of us having our civil liberties denied, in the name of trying to get Trump,” he concluded.”

    Liked by 1 person

  35. Entire Article @ TrendingPolitics: “Concerns have been raised about the potential widespread impact on air and water quality due to the release of toxic chemicals from the Norfolk Southern train derailment in East Palestine.

    Authorities evacuated all residents within one mile of the site of the crash on February 3 due to the train derailment and a controlled burn of the chemicals was initiated. This was to help reduce the possibility of an explosion that could have caused even more harm to the residents.

    Now experts are saying things may get even worse. The toxins could spread as fas as New York or even Canada.

    Vinyl chloride, which is recognized as a human carcinogen, was released from five train cars in the form of large plumes of dark smoke that could be seen across Ohio and Pennsylvania. According to Alex Hollingsworth, an environmental and energy policy researcher at Indiana University, the chemicals released from the Ohio train derailment have the potential to travel long distances and can be deposited in the soil, water, and plants.

    He also noted that the hazardous substances will pose a significant risk to the health of humans and animals, and can have long-lasting effects on the environment. Hollingsworth emphasized the need for proper cleanup and decontamination measures to mitigate the impacts of the chemical release.

    “There’s a mistake often that people make in their mind when they think, ‘This thing is only emitted here, I should only expect to see effects in a really tiny area around there.’ They’ll get greater concentrations near to the source, but stuff travels really far. It just makes it harder to detect the effect of any one event on health outcomes or even in a pollution reading, but it doesn’t mean that there’s no effect.”

    Hollingsworth provided The Daily Wire with a model that forecasts the movement of the particles generated by the controlled burn of the chemicals. According to his model, high-altitude particles are expected to blow across New York, Vermont, Lake Ontario, and southeastern Canada, affecting regions and people that are far away from the accident site.

    Hollingsworth mentioned, “It is totally possible that that claim is true and accurate, and that downwind farther away, concentrations have changed in a way that would be potentially damaging. It is possible that right by the source, air pollution levels as measured did not change very much, but because of the plume where the wind was blowing, there are changes in concentrations that are farther away.”

    “Events like this happen a lot in small numbers that are less salient. They don’t have big plumes of smoke and a train derailment is not involved. It’s like, ‘Jim dropped a wrench, and then we had an off-gassing of a few hundred pounds of this chemical.’” Hollingsworth finished. “They often go unreported, and it’s essentially impossible to link health effects of pollution. They are more common than people would think, and they are a threat to public health and safety.”

    Liked by 1 person

  38. Liked by 1 person

  40. Liked by 2 people

  45. BOOK BURNING IN THE 21ST CENTURY
    Denuding the internet is far worse than anything done to the Library of Alexandria or the rejection of Biblical books by the early Roman Catholics. What right do the Alphabettis have to deny access?

    Frances Leader
    29 min ago

    “We were all horribly deceived and filled with narratives that suited the establishment when we attended schools and colleges. Finding truth is a tremendous battle and getting harder every day as the Alphabettis progress on their mission to destroy the internet. Some of the links, videos and articles I have included in my older posts have been removed and when we use any search engine, we find only the acceptable face of main stream media and approved agencies.

    I went to a private girls’ school in the UK – believe me, we were told we were receiving the very best education in the world, bar none! lmfao!! 🤣😂 What a terrible lie that was!

    When I lived in Madrid, Spain I taught English at a very expensive private school and was astounded at the incredibly good education being imparted there. My students were very helpful, passing to me their knowledge of history and culture, particularly concerning the conquest of South America, which was noticeably absent from my education. The resentment felt towards the British Empire was palpable – I dared not mention Gibraltar or the Armada on pain of causing tremendous fury! Hearing those stories told from the opposing point of view was extremely eye-opening.

    Spain taught me that each country teaches its young its own story and that is invariably completely different from the stories being told by their neighbours! No wonder the French, Germans, Spanish, Italians, Greeks, Brits and Nordics all have completely different cultures which have clashed repeatedly throughout history!! To say nothing of the huge gulf between West and East, most noticeable if we look at Russian and Chinese cultural history.

    If the Alphabettis succeed in their efforts to narrow down the narrative by denying access to alternative views on the internet, then our understanding of all those diverse cultures will be lost to us and that would be catastrophic for the future development of mutual understanding.

    It feels like a book burning is occurring…. far worse than anything done to the Library of Alexandria or the rejection of Biblical books by the early Roman Catholics.”

    https://francesleader.substack.com/p/book-burning-in-the-21st-century

    Liked by 2 people

    1. close minded people.
      some times while i don’t agree with something, it sparks a deeper understanding in me why I believe something else.
      what are they so afraid of?

      Liked by 1 person

  46. Robert W Malone MD, MS
    Feb 18 · Who is Robert Malone

    “I listened to the audio version of this essay on my way to the airport this morning. Having grown up in California, the authors story resonates with me on a number of levels, and her comments also reflect my own shock and horror over what has happened in this country. Sasha Stone laments that the “woke” and now (really the “left”) is a cult that has been building over decades.

    She writes: “The Democrats folded. The media pandered. Corporations surrendered. Though it took me a while to really understand what had happened to the Left, I knew eventually it would drive me away. I was with them as a loyal Democrat who really was a true believer in the Party and even the social justice movement for a time. But then it got weird. Really really weird.”

    Yeh, this essay is a good one – enjoy!
    ———————
    “The modus operandi of every cult is to convince you there’s something wrong with you and only they can fix it.”
    ― Marty Rubin

    I grew up in the era of cults. My siblings and I attended a small elementary school in Topanga Canyon back in the 1970s, when it was still a wilderness of hippies and health food stores – not a safe haven for the 1%.

    We were heathens, without a doubt, raised like weeds by a former beauty queen who had dropped out of high school at 16 to have my older brother. She met my father at a nightclub called Pandora’s Box in Hollywood. If you look carefully you can see it in the background of Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.

    Pandora’s Box turned out to be just what marrying my father was like for my mother. Her whole world changed. She had three daughters right in a row and now had four kids all before the age of 24. Then my parents split and she raised us as mostly a single mom with various boyfriends who drifted in and out.

    We had to look out for ourselves because danger was everywhere. Grownups were off on their own trips – finding themselves, getting drunk and naked at grape stomps, their bodies and fluids co-mingling, along with the grapes and grape juice that would one day become wine.

    My mother, like so many in the counterculture, was and remains an atheist. Back then, God was uncool. Freedom was cool. Breaking free from tradition and convention rippled through the Left with tornado-like speed, destroying the past, creating a world anew.

    The Boomers broke free and saw nothing but wide open spaces and a chance to remake a world without God as they launched their counterculture revolution. Eventually, though, they would be sent adrift, with no collective sense of purpose. They chased everything from sex, drugs, and rock and roll to celebrities and cults. So many cults.

    Cults seemed to sprout up everywhere, all of them with the promise of a brand new way of living that fixed every problem. They would always try to lure my mom or us kids into them, always promising the same thing – happiness, a sense of belonging. They were at airports and outside supermarkets. We knew to stay away. Something about being raised as a wilding teaches you to trust no one.”

    Much more: https://sashastone.substack.com/p/did-i-just-leave-a-cult

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