Thursday, September 30, 2010

A SHIFT IN THE EARTH'S MAGNETIC POLES -- Fascinating Information From Yahoo's "Who Knew?"

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Douglas Castle, Author of Braintenance (http://Braintenance.blogspot.com) shares some very interesting news.












---------------

A SHIFT IN THE EARTH'S MAGNETIC POLES -- Fascinating Information From Yahoo's "Who Knew?"

Dear Friends:

Okay...I'll confess. This issue has always confused me. But, intrepid Braintenance Brain-Wrinklers and Knowledge-Seekers, this video has certainly straightened me out. I'm throwing my compass out in order to avoid any further confusion -- the only directions which I truly understand are "Forward" and "Reverse". If I need to figure out precisely where I am, I'll have to study and learn a great deal more about the constellations...looking down upon us from the night sky.

http://whoknew.news.yahoo.com/?vid=22188727


Faithfully,

Douglas Castle

p.s. Special thanks to the fellas who came out with the GPS application for automobile travel. It beats trying to re-fold a roadmap, or stopping in a strangely archaic gasoline filling station and asking a slow-moving chap with extraordinarily bad teeth, rubber coveralls and a New England accent (even down south! For some inexplicable reason, these solo petrol-pumpers can have a Derry, New Hampshire accent even when you're stuck in Macon, Georgia -- go figure).

Labels, Tags and Key Words for This Article: northern lights, polar caps, magnetic poles, true north, true south, true lies, northern lights, reverse polarity, magnetic reversal, natural pehomena, mercury in retrograde, factoids, Braintenance, Douglas Castle, smarter, stronger, TNNWC Group, The National Networker Weekly Newsletter, Left Right and Center, The National Newspicker, DouglasCastleBlogosphere, keeping in touch, making conversation, communications, climatic change, Mayan Calendar, cycles and waves, geology.


Douglas Castle
Toll-Free Telephone: 888.317.6498
Facsimile: 914.517.5944
Become a Member Of TNNWC Group: http://bit.ly/JoinTNNWC

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

The Five Types Of Threatening Personalities - Identify Them And Prepare Yourself

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THE FIVE TYPES OF THREATENING PERSONALITIES
Identify Them and Prepare Yourself

Written by Douglas Castle for Taking Command! at http://TakingCommand.blogspot.com




Ironic Note: You come into contact with all five types almost daily.

Observation: These types of personalities are ultimately either institutionalized, or become powerful role-models, cult-leaders or business magnates. Extremes.

Examples: BOLO ("Be On The LookOut") ALERT - spend a day commingling with a nice, mixed group of people, and you will see each of these types represented -- I'll let you sort out which is which.

Vigilance: Each of us has harbors each of these propensities to some extent. We control them, we contain them, but sometimes a major life event pushes these demons into positions of dangerous control within us.

Dear Readers:

The people whom we are inclined to fear, and who, sadly come to dominate our lives and the world in which we live are categorized below. Learn to recognize them, to either avoid or counterstrike them, and to navigate a world filled with a far greater percentage of them in the Human population than we would care to believe. But then, Taking Command assumes and requires that we recognize reality, accept it, findways to contend with it, and, to the extent which we are able, to change that reality to conform to our standards.

The cast of characters:

1. The violent psychotic, filled with paranoic delusions, feeling persecuted and injured, and perceiving constant threats. If he is outspoken and articulate, he may become a cult leader or a folk legend. If he cannot interact at all with others, he will commit acts of violence (homicidal and suicidal), and be incarcerated or otherwise institutionalized if his family lacks sufficient resources to keep him clear of the System's web;

2. The sociopath who can be charming as needed but will do whatever he requires in order to manipulate people and circumstances to his advantage. He is unencumbered by a conscience, is an imaginative and convincing liar, and he can always justify, within himself, the damages he causes to others. He is driven by selfishness;

3. The scheming plotters and planners who are quite visibly malevolent, but who are obsessed with their own success and gain, almost as they are obsessed with hurting others in the process. They do not use guile and charm. They are often obvious about their motives (no matter how savage or socially unacceptable), and they will do whatever it takes to achieve them. They do not care about convincing others -- they are insularly self-righteous, and driven by a combination of needing to dominate and needing to inflict pain -- to sacrifice others in the interest of personal gain is the optimal amalgam of both motivations;

4. The abusive, opportunistic energy vampire. These are people who will impose upon you (often using flattery, deceitfulness, pity) to do things for them. Their principle objective is transfer their burdensome responsibilities onto you, and to pay you in the most valueless currency possible in return. There is no meaningful exchange or reciprocity offered. These people also like to get free samples, terminate relationships when they become obligated to begin making payment, fail to repay debts, complain endlessly about how they "counted on you but you disappointed them," bend your ear with their tales of hardship and woe, and become notably scarce when their help or efforts are required.

5. The socially-disconnected psychopath who does not even comprehend the notion of consequences resulting from his actions, takes brazen risks (often due to an unreasonable lack of fear, combined with compulsiveness to address his immediate needs), and has a depraved indifference to the suffering of others. He is completely indifferent. There is no bargaining with him. He does not have any awareness, much less a conscience, regarding life or property. He lives in the compulsive present, with no connection to the future, or to other living creatures. For this individual, there is no wrong or right -- there is only hunger, and a need to quickly satisfy it.
---------------

Learn to recognize these potentialities in others, and learn to see them in yourself, as well.

Conclusion: Know who you really are (understand yourself with as much critical objectivity as is humanly possible), see others for whom they really are, are use this knowledge to optimize your personal productivity as well as your interactions with 0thers.

Faithfully,

Douglas Castle

Labels, Tags and Keywords: self-knowledge, personality-typing, energy vampires, sociopathy, psychopathy, selfishness, manipulation,  vigilance, depraved indifference, Self-Control, Articles by Douglas Castle, Taking Command, negotiations, self-defense, personal productivity, leadership... 

Resources: There is a very interesting and entertaining blog about astrology and psychopathology which I happened upon, and which I highly recommend your taking a look at: http://www.elsaelsa.com/astrology/tag/psychopath/. While I am not an expert or a fully-convinced adherent to astrological analysis and prediction, I continue to keep an open mind...hopefully it won't evaporate.


Douglas Castle
Toll-Free Telephone: 888.317.6498
Facsimile: 914.517.5944
Become a Member Of TNNWC Group: http://bit.ly/JoinTNNWC

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Quick Vision Test 1 - Are You Colorblind? - Red/Green Colorblindness

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Quick Vision Test 1 - Are You Colorblind? - Red/Green Colorblindness

Dear Friends:

There are multiple types of colorblindness, and a large percentage of the world's population suffers (unknowingly) with some form of colorblindness which impairs visual experience and makes learning more difficult. Braintenance (http://Braintenance.blogspot.com) has found some picture samples for you to use in order to test yourself.

If you find that you suffer some form of colorblindness, bear in mind that most people do, in some form and to some extent. You might want to visit your opthomologist for explanations and some suggestions for some creative means of correcting or compensating for this perceptual challenge. You would be amazed at the number of people who spend years being challenged with colorblindness and do not even realize it!

The tests below are for Red/Green Colorblindness, but there are a number of other types of colorblindness (such as Blue/Yellow) across a spectrum [no pun intended] of possibilities :



Individuals with Red-Green color blindness should read the number 2. Others will see the number 5.




Individuals with Red-Green color blindness should read the number 56, as should most of us.




Red-Green color blind should not be able to read any numeral but the rest of us should see the numeral 6




Individuals with Red-Green color blindness should read the number 5, while the rest of us should see the numeral 3.




Individuals with Red-Green color blindness should read the number 70, while the rest of us will tend to see the numeral 29.




Individuals with Red-Green color blindness should read the number 21, while the rest of us should see the numeral 74.




Red-Green color blind should not be able to read any numeral, but the rest of us can see the numeral 8.















Individuals with Red-Green color blindness should read the number 17, while the rest of us will tend to see the numeral 15.

---------------

The possibilities for confusion, encryption (hiding messages in plain sight), subliminal messaging and learning issues are tremendous. Happily, many common varieties of color blindness can be treated with tremendous success.

Following are some links to resources with more information about the causes, effects and cures for color blindness, provided by the ever-popular and increasingly dominant Google Search Engine:

 

Search Results


  1. Ishihara Test for Color Blindness


    Ishihara Test. What numbers do you see revealed in the patterns of dots below? I am color blind, as is about 12 - 20 percent (depending on whose figures you ...
    www.toledo-bend.com/colorblind/ishihara.asp - Cached

  2. Test for Colorblindness On-line


    This on-line color vision test consists of four cards from the popular color vision test "Color Vision Testing Made Easy". Try and find a circle, star, ...
    colorvisiontesting.com/online%20test.htm - Cached - Similar

  3. Colorblind Homepage


    You will learn about a new "pediatric" color vision test for early detection. ... Where you can buy different color vision tests. Purchase tests for school, ...
    colorvisiontesting.com/ - Cached - Similar

  4. Color Blindness Test and Facts


    'Color vision test' and 'reverse color test' to assess if you have normal color vision or not.
    www.archimedes-lab.org/colorblindnesstest.html - Cached - Similar

  5. color blind test by jean jouannic opticien


    Nov 29, 2007 ... New test tracking of the colour blindness with color's vision perception indicators.
    www.opticien-lentilles.com/daltonien.../new_test_daltonien.php - Cached - Similar

  6. Color Blindness - Free Color Blindness Test and information on ...


    Information on Color Blindness including Color Blindness symptoms and Color Blindness tests options.
    www.eyecaresource.com/conditions/color-blindness/ - Cached - Similar

  7. Color blindness - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


    Most clinical tests are designed to be fast, simple, and effective at identifying broad categories of color blindness. In academic studies of color ...
    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_blindness - Cached - Similar

  8. Are You Color Blind?


    What numbers do you see ? If any. 25 6. 45 8. 56 29. Answers - (from left to right). 25, 6, 45, 8, 56, 29. Color Blindness Test ...
    www.everwonder.com/david/colorblind.html - Cached - Similar

  9. Color Blindness Test


    This test is designed to evaluate the quality of your color vision. Even though this test can be very accurate, it should never be used to replace a ...
    www.maniacworld.com/color_blind_test.htm - Cached - Similar

  10. Videos for tests for color blindness




Color Blindness test - Real !
2 min - Feb 18, 2008
Uploaded by VladimirWlado

youtube.com
---------------


I hope that you will find this information to be of interest and use.

Faithfully,

Douglas Castle



Color Vision Test - Official Version
6 min - Nov 12, 2008
Uploaded by protandeutan

youtube.com


Douglas Castle
Toll-Free Telephone: 888.317.6498
Facsimile: 914.517.5944
Become a Member Of TNNWC Group: http://bit.ly/JoinTNNWC

Monday, September 27, 2010

THE UNIVERSALLY CORRECT ANSWER TO EVERY QUESTION!

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THE UNIVERSALLY CORRECT ANSWER TO EVERY QUESTION!

-A breakthrough of very limited utility by Douglas Castle

Dear Readers:

We put ourselves through far too much cerebral struggling, frentic recall, creative stalling tactics and simulated laryngitis or other sudden seizure-like "maladies" when we are faced with a question asked of us by a determined interrogator (whether we are hooked up to electrodes by desperate terrorists, being held at gunpoint by a drug-crazed "Bonnie and Clyde" - style couple badly in need of personal hygiene and fashion advice, appearing before a Congressional Subcommittee led by some ruddy-complected old fellow with a gavel and sporting Ted Kennedy glasses on the tip of his nose, or, far worse... being asked a question in front of all of our peers in Mrs. Shenendorf's third-grade class at Shore Road Elementary School).

This need not happen ever again.

You have now heard it from me -- a former landscaper, wedding singer and college professor, that the Universally Correct Answer To Every Question is this:

"IT REALLY DEPENDS..."

In this world of climatic change, cosmic wormholes, multi-tasking (i.e., performing a circumcision while text-messaging your stockbroker, listening to the The Best Of Placido Domingo on your iPod, and balancing on a three-wheeled skateboard), philosophical discord, sensorial overload, subjectivism and confusion, this answer is always technically correct, as it is never fully wrong.

Please try it.

I hope this helps.

Faithfully,

Douglas Castle

Labels, Tags and Key Terms: The Universally Correct Answer To Every Question, Articles by Douglas Castle, Humor, irony, Douglas Castle's Wisdom, TNNWC Group LLC, useless knowledge, home-based businesses, jokes, mastering any situation, things not to touch because you don't know where they've been, Southern Poverty Law Center, Lysdexia, LSD, ukelele favorites, the hazards of eating natural food, Luke Perry's scar, flatulence remedies, feigning diseases to frighten people, start-up businesses, cow pie thowing contests, increase web traffic, more leads, pretending to be working, sleep deprivation, Rush Limbaugh's Personal Trainer, correcting near-sightedness, TNNWC Publications, saving our waterfowl, RadioDAZZ, buzz-to-brand, social media, anti-social media, conspiracy theories and the conspirators who want us to believe them, irony and other metals, BP Energy, award-winning blogs, Alexa (the ranking service), Alexa (Billy Joel's daughter), unconventional cures for obscure diseases, The National Networker Weekly Newsletter, Left Right and Center, The National Newspicker, rainy day fun, why people pick at scabs, WhoIs, WhoAint, WhoDat...


Douglas Castle
Toll-Free Telephone: 888.317.6498
Facsimile: 914.517.5944
Become a Member Of TNNWC Group: http://bit.ly/JoinTNNWC

CAUSE AND EFFECT - Which Is Which?

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Dear BrainTrainers:

If we agree with the proposition that every effect is the result of a cause, and further, that 1) every effect is preceded by a cause and 2) there are occasionally what appear to be infinitely iterative (i.e., back and forth) chains of causes and effects, how can we identify which agent is the cause and which is the effect if we begin our observation after the chain has already begun?

This might seem like a revisitation of the "chicken and egg" conundrum, or of the famous hillbilly family feud between the Hatfields and the McCoys (no one seems to remember which family started the feud, or what the initial offense was), but it bears serious thought.

How do we identify which observed agent is the cause and which is the effect? How can we test this to verify our theory? How do we eliminate absolute correlations between events where there is no actual causality? For example:

Some time ago, when I thought that I was reasonably intelligent (sidebar: the more that I learn, the more acutely I perceive the vastness of all that I do not know, and of all that remains to be learned), I told a friend that "smoking marajuana leads to heroin addiction." He immediately, without flinching, put me in my place by stating "Well, then...every serial killer drank milk as a child, so that must mean that drinking milk, while young, leads to one's becoming a murderer." I felt awfully stupid.

Today, because I've had so many years to sharpen my skills as a smartass, my response to his response would have been, "That makes sense. Most cereal killers drown their quarry in milk." But I didn't understand about homonyms back then. Darn.

Have you ever wished that you could go back in time and say all of the witty things that you didn't think to say until after the opportunity had passed?

Back to the subject, how do you identify which is the cause and which is the effect if you've only begun observing the chain of  back-and-forth events sometime after the beginning?

Faithfully,

Douglas Castle

Tags, Labels, Key Terms and Other Stuff Relating to This Postcause vs effect relationships, correlation does not imply causality, cereal killers should be treated more leniently than serial killers, Braintenance, chicken-and-egg, Famous Family Feuds, the real McCoy, Mac n' cheese, Mac n' me, lactose intolerance, excessive alliteration, bad puns, TNNWC, Harlan,












We're so sorry, Uncle Albert...


Douglas Castle
Toll-Free Telephone: 888.317.6498
Facsimile: 914.517.5944
Become a Member Of TNNWC Group: http://bit.ly/JoinTNNWC

Sunday, September 26, 2010

Paraprosdokian - Ann Sloan, Connectrix, Introduces A New Figure Of Speech To Conceited Lout Douglas Castle

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Paraprosdokian - Ann Sloan, Connectrix, Introduces A New Figure Of Speech To Conceited Lout Douglas Castle.

The entire staff of TNNWC Group, LLC, where I serve at nominal pay as CEO and Co-Chairman, is taking pleasure in my humiliation. - DC

Dear Readers and Other Strangers:

Paraprosdokian? - On first reading Ann's email to me, I thought she might be referencing some obscure Armenian scientist, an unusual musical scale, a gland at the base of the brain stem, or a secretive religious sect (the type that Dan Brown would write about, if, in fact, Dan Brown could write -- I have read several of his books, but I cannot really call what he does "writing." His stilted dialogue and stretching of credulity do, however make for some entertaining movies, and he is now making sufficient money that he no longer has to be the [ahem] headmaster at a private boys' school).

Notwitstanding my digression (and my apparent inability to focus, as I am now thinking of Jack Black as well as Dan Brown for no reason except due to the colorful nature of their monosyllabic monikers), the term "Paraprodokian" is indeed a real word, as Ann describes in an excerpt from her letter to me, which follows, replete with hysterical examples:
---------------
A paraprosdokian is a figure of speech in which the latter part of a sentence or phrase is surprising or unexpected in a way that causes the reader or listener to reframe or reinterpret the first part. It is frequently used for humorous or dramatic effect, sometimes producing an anticlimax.



� I asked God for a bike, but I know God doesnt work that way. So I stole a bike and asked for forgiveness.

� Do not argue with an idiot. He will drag you down to his level and beat you with experience.

� I want to die peacefully in my sleep, like my grandfather. Not screaming and yelling like the passengers in his car.



� Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car.

� The last thing I want to do is hurt you. But it's still on the list.
� Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.

� If I agreed with you we'd both be wrong.

� We never really grow up, we only learn how to act in public.

� War does not determine who is right - only who is left.
� Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit; Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.

� The early bird might get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.

� Evening news is where they begin with 'Good evening', and then proceed to tell you why it isn't.



� To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism. To steal from many is research.

� A bus station is where a bus stops. A train station is where a train stops. On my desk, I have a work station.

� How is it one careless match can start a forest fire, but it takes a whole box to start a campfire?

� Some people are like Slinkies ... not really good for anything, but you can't help smiling when you see one tumble down the stairs.

� Dolphins are so smart that within a few weeks of captivity, they can train people to stand on the very edge of the pool and throw them fish.

� I thought I wanted a career, turns out I just wanted pay checks.

� A bank is a place that will lend you money, if you can prove that you don't need it.

� Whenever I fill out an application, in the part that says "If an emergency, notify:" I put "DOCTOR".

� I didn't say it was your fault, I said I was blaming you.

� I saw a woman wearing a sweat shirt with "Guess" on it...so I said "Implants?"

� Why does someone believe you when you say there are four billion stars, but check when you say the paint is wet?

� Women will never be equal to men until they can walk down the street with a bald head and a beer gut, and still think they are sexy.

� Why do Americans choose from just two people to run for president and 50 for Miss America ?

� Behind every successful man is his woman. Behind the fall of a successful man is usually another woman.

� A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory.

� You do not need a parachute to skydive. You only need a parachute to skydive twice.

� The voices in my head may not be real, but they have some good ideas!

� Always borrow money from a pessimist. He won't expect it back.

� A diplomat is someone who can tell you to go to hell in such a way that you will look forward to the trip.

� Hospitality: making your guests feel like they're at home, even if you wish they were.

� Money can't buy happiness, but it sure makes misery easier to live with.

� I discovered I scream the same way whether I'm about to be devoured by a great white shark or if a piece of seaweed touches my foot.

---------------
I humbly thank Ann B. Sloan for making my afternoon just a bit less rotten.

Faithfully,
Douglas Castle
Toll-Free Telephone: 888.317.6498
Facsimile: 914.517.5944
Become a Member Of TNNWC Group: http://bit.ly/JoinTNNWC

Thursday, September 23, 2010

The Defensiveness Dilemma

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The Defensiveness Dilemma

Dear Fellow Mind-Explorers:

Have you ever been in a circumstance where someone has accused you of being 'defensive'?

This accusation is the most damning thing that can be directed at you. If you choose to refute this accusation, you will actually validate it -- you will, in point of fact, justifiably or unjustifiably, be "being defensive about being called defensive."

Two observations:

1) If you want to really get under someone's skin, accuse him or her of being defensive (and say it gently, as if you were talking palliatively to a psychiatric patient). In fact, the best way to frame this accusation is by saying, patronizingly, "There now! There's no need to be so defensive..." If they respond, simply nod your head up and down and say, "Okay, okay. No problem. I understand." This response serves increase the intensity of the offensive accusation and ratchet it up a few notches;

2) If you are accused of being defensive (by someone who has read this article), the best recourse is to say, "I'm so sorry! I didn't realize that it would sound that way to you." This response is never expected, is highly patronizing, and really serves to reverse the circumstances. A word of caution -- when you utter those words, say them sofly and gently, with a smile. If possible, pat the other person's hand in an infantalizing, clying "there, there" gesture. You cannot show the slightest sign of anger, offense or irritation. It is a bit of a challenge, but is well worth the result.

Have fun with this. Please let me know what happens.

Life is an experiment, and the world is your laboratory!

Faithfully,

Douglas Castle



Douglas Castle
Toll-Free Telephone: 888.317.6498
Facsimile: 914.517.5944
Become a Member Of TNNWC Group: http://bit.ly/JoinTNNWC

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Brain-Twister: Tossing A Coin - Not So Simple...

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Brain-Twister: Tossing A Coin - Not So Simple...

Dear Friends:

Note: This article is secretly a post about Management, and how people think. But I won't tell you that. You see, people take Management very seriously, and they shut down at the mere sight or sound of the term. But if we re-frame the same content as a Brain-Twister, everybody wants to play! Don't speak a word of this to anyone!

When I was a mere tadpole in the New York System (which system has subsequently become a tragic) study in entropy, I was taught about probability. We were all indocrinated about the difference between "independent events" and "dependent events."

Every one of us was absolutely clear that each toss of a "fair coin" (balanced, and not weighted or otherwise structurally altered) was an independent event, with the probability of the coin's landing on Heads being equal to .50 (fifty percent) and the probability of the coin's landing on Tails also being equal to .50 (fifty percent). Each coin toss was independent of any other coin toss, and the probability of a tossed coin landing with the heads side up was exactly the same as was the probability of the same tossed coin landing with the tails side up.

It was an immutable, irrefutable proposition.

What they never told us was that these probabilities were "statistically determined" based upon a "very large" number of tosses. As we all know, occasionally you can toss a coin several times and get just heads, just tails, or some combination that was not quite 50/50. Intuitively, we believed that given enough tosses, the number of times that heads would come up would always be equal to number of times that tails would come up. The notion of an infinite number of tosses tending toward the sacred 50/50 ratio was never questioned -- yet, when tossing a coin just a few times, the outcome was, in fact, very seldom, 50/50.

Here's my question, framed in several different ways:

If you were betting on a coin toss game (which was unfixed, honest and legal), and the first two tosses turned out to be heads, would you bet on heads for the next toss? How about if the first four tosses turned out to be heads? How about if the first seven tosses turned out to be heads (statistically unlikely, but definitely possible)?

Here's my observation:

As the number of heads in a row increased, the odds of your betting on the next toss coming up heads would be reduced. In your mind, you are probably thinking something like this..."Since the statistic is eventually supposed to average out to 50/50 the REAL LIFE odds of the next toss resulting in landing on heads is decreasing with every toss. The next one's JUST GOTTA turn up to be tails."

What is the reason for this type of thinking? It is because we feel that the individual tosses are not truly independent, and that the earlier tosses are "statistically forcing" the outcome of the next toss.

If you had never been taught about this 50/50 statistical tendency (let's say that you were some cave-dwelling type of individual, as were many of my relatives, and that you only knew what you observed) -- you would then behave in just the opposite manner. With each toss resulting in heads, you would become increasingly convinced that the next toss would ALSO be heads. Your reasoning would be based purely upon your observation of a relatively small number of occurences.

Here's My Confession:

After seeing an increasing number of heads coming up in a row, I would become increasingly likely to bet on tails...as if the tosses had to support the statistic based upon the infinite example. I believe that somehow the universe will force the next toss to bring my observations into line with what I'd been taught. This means that I do not fully believe that each toss is truly independent of the next.

Here's Some Food For Thought:

Both the cave-dweller (my great-uncle Farkas) and I would be biased based upon either pre-conceived notions or inadequate testing. We would both be using logic, but we would both be wrong.

Here's a Bit More:

People make decisions either based upon over-education or under-experience.

As always, I welcome your comments.

Faithfully,

Douglas Castle

p.s. Please feel to express your thoughts regarding this post in the Comment Section which follows in the itty-bitty hyperlinks under this article.

Article Appears Courtesy Of http://Braintenance.blogspot.com



Douglas Castle
Toll-Free Telephone: 888.317.6498
Facsimile: 914.517.5944
Become a Member Of TNNWC Group: http://bit.ly/JoinTNNWC



Gratuitous Picture Of Albert Einstein:












LINGOVATIONS are featured in The BLUE TUESDAY Report Weekly. If you'd like to get your free subscription NOW, just go to http://www.tnnwcgroup.com/. To see the latest issue of The BLUE TUESDAY REPORT, go to http://www.thenationalnetworker.com/BlueTuesday.shtml.

Google LINGOVATIONS for more information!

Did you ever think that Google would become a verb?

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

How The Big Boys Negotiate - A Bit of Blame-Shifting, and a Bit of "Friendly" Extortion

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HOW THE BIG BOYS NEGOTIATE - A Bit of Blame-Shifting, and a Bit of "Friendly" Extortion

Note: This article, written by Douglas Castle, originally appeared in TAKING COMMAND! (http://takingcommand.blogspot.com/)  on September 3, 2010 is reprinted with the author's permission.



Dear Friends:

The following article, taken from The New York Times, is as humorous as it was predictable.

The factual scenario is summarized:

1. BP, through its negligence and legendary risk-taking behavior creates (by its drilling) an ecological crisis of unsurpassed proportions.

2. The coastal states' wetlands and oceans are profoundly injured, as are all of the area businesses and the long-suffering economy. All is befouled due to BP's casual approach to offshore drilling and disregard for safety and the environment.

3. The US Government (in a tussle with State and local authorities), strikes a "good faith" deal with BP where BP will accumulate a fund from which it will pay out claims to injured parties. That fund, and any claims are supposed to be handled by an independent US attorney as Special Master in order to keep everybody "honest."

4. BP claims that it is acculmulating this restitution fund, but has dropped the issue of the Special Master's participation, and is spending a fortune on some TV commercials featuring BP hotlines to call about claims. This is like having somebody mug you, and then tapping on the shoulder and asking if you could have some of the money back from the wallet he stole so that you might have cabfare to a hospital. It's putting more power in the hands of the offending party. It's stupid.

5. Parties in the US want to continue to impose a ban on offshore drilling -- largely in response to the BP disaster.

6. BP claims that if offshore drilling (its favorite pastime and a substantial profit-maker) were to be limited, that it might not be able to make sufficient money to accumulate the victims' restitution fund (which it is still supervising and administering, wolf-in-charge-of-the-henhouse style, in its tradition of "integrity" and "good faith"). In basic terms, BP is very like the embezzler who is caught, and tried in court and compalains to the Judge, "How can I repay my victims if you send me to jail? If I can't continue to steal from new victims, then how can I make sufficient money to make my victims whole?

Yesterday someone mentioned to me that BP should change its name from BRITISH PETROLEUM to "BIG PIG." I added that the US government, at inestimable cost to its taxpayers and the victims of the "little leak," will provide the trough and the swill.

Oink!

Faithfully,

Douglas Castle
---------------
Breaking News Alert
The New York Times
Thu, September 02, 2010 -- 9:33 PM ET
-----

BP Says Limits on Drilling Imperil Spill Payouts

BP is warning Congress that if lawmakers pass legislation
that bars the company from getting new offshore drilling
permits, it may not have the money to pay for all the damages
caused by its oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

The company says a ban would also imperil the ambitious Gulf
Coast restoration efforts that officials want the company to
voluntarily support.

####

Key Terms, Tags and Labels: Conflict of interest, voluntary compliance, recriminations, circular logic, misplaced trust, BP, ecological disasters, paradoxes, shifting blame, shifting costs, economics, big business and big government, offshore oil drilling, negotiations, politics, posturing, propaganda, TNNWC Group, The National Newspicker, Left Right and Center, Blue Tuesday Report, Douglas Castle, trends, trending, confederation of dunces, conspiracy theory, victimization, juggernauts, oxymoron, farsical fossil fuels.

Douglas Castle
Toll-Free Telephone: 888.317.6498
Facsimile: 914.517.5944
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Wednesday, September 8, 2010

INSTANT MANAGEMENT - Douglas Castle's Crash Course

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MANAGEMENT requires a plan, leadership, delegation of responsibility, some basic rules, communications, compliance, monitoring and enforcement -- as well as some genuine positive incentives directly related to successful performance. Now step forward and collect your diploma.

Yours,

Douglas


Douglas Castle
Toll-Free Telephone: 888.317.6498
Facsimile: 914.517.5944
Become a Member Of TNNWC Group: http://bit.ly/JoinTNNWC

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Oxymorons and Euphemisms

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Dear Friends:

Oxymorons and euphemisms are fascinating modes of either expressing conflictory comments, or of stating bad news or facts with minimum offense, the least emotional impact potential, or in a "silver lining" --- "But the Good News, is..." fashion. Both are great fun. Before we continue, let's be certain we know the difference:

"Civil War" is a frequently used oxymoron. "Civil Unrest" is a euphemism-tinged oxymoron. "Putting the dog to sleep" is a euphemism. "Ethnic Cleansing" is an incredibly audacious euphemism -- equating "cleansing" with "genocide" is quite a stretch.

"The People's Republic of China" is a euphemism-tinged oxymoron.

When somebody from the government or from BP (British Petroluem) speaks of the greatest ecological catastrophy in recorded history, and says, "The worst is over now. Most of the oil has evaporated or has been 'dispersed', and the waters around the Gulf are completely safe," he or she is simply a "moron." When BP takes out advertisements on television talking about, "...and BP will be here for you, and we won't leave until we make this right." --- well, that is an "insult to everyone's intelligence."

Faithfully,

Douglas Castle

From BRAINTENANCE, at http://Braintenance.blogspot.com
Tags, Labels and Key Terms: oxymorons, euphemisms, insults to the intelligence, lies, propaganda, morons, trends, creative communications, figures of speech, Articles by Douglas Castle, TNNWC Group, BP, oil spills

Douglas Castle
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