Breaking the Sound of Silence

“The modern world of superficiality has clouded our ability to TRULY communicate with each other.

It often seems futile in our modern world of superficiality to speak with meaning. The classics of old have been replaced with the sleaze of today. Meaningful thoughts and ideas often remain unheard because of the shallowness of our modern society

Instead of reaching down within one’s soul, modern man reaches out toward mass media and looks toward the world of illusion to fill his brain with hollow thoughts nothingness.

How do we communicate with a world enchanted by the flashy appearance of our technological age? To a mass of people who escape the reality of their existence by taking part in the video drone and not in the natural world.

The words of those who see the world for what it truly is as tragic and unfortunate as it truly is has fallen on deaf ears. -- MrStosh

Sounds of silence

Hello darkness, my old friend
I’ve come to talk with you again
Because a vision softly creeping
Left its seeds while I was sleeping
And the vision that was planted in my brain
Still remains
Within the sound of silence

In restless dreams I walked alone
Narrow streets of cobblestone
‘Neath the halo of a streetlamp
I turned my collar to the cold and damp
When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon light
That split the night
And touched the sound of silence

And in the naked light I saw
Ten thousand people, maybe more
People talking without speaking
People hearing without listening
People writing songs that voices never share
No one dare
Disturb the sound of silence

“Fools” said I, “You do not know
Silence like a cancer grow
Hear my words that I might teach you
Take my arms that I might reach you”
But my words like silent raindrops fell
And echoed in the wells of silence

And the people bowed and prayed
To the neon god they made
And the sign flashed out its warning
In the words that it was forming
And the sign said “The words of the prophets
Are written on subway walls
And tenement halls
And whispered in the sounds of silence”

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Are Cell Phones Today's Cigarettes?

On Friday, April 15, NBC's chief medical editor, Dr. Nancy Snyderman, claimed that after doing research, she found that radiation levels from cell phones are very low; therefore, should not pose a danger to people. Really? Where did she conduct her research? Verizon? AT§T? Must have, because CPR News cites 170 studies , alone, that blatantly contradict "Dr." Snyderman's findings. To be sure, that's only the tip of the iceburg.

Head of the INTERPHONE study, Elisabeth Cardis, and scientists in Israel link mobile phones to parotid gland tumors. Dr. Siegal Sadetski, testifies at US Senate Hearing



Children and young people are most at risk. Why? Well aside from the fact that they are so addicted to their mobile phones, that a study says it feels like they have lost a limb when they are without them, their brains are still growing and their skulls are thinner, so the radiation penetrates even deeper.  I wonder...does "Dr." Nancy Snyderman have children?  Grandchildren?

By law, in France, if you are under 14-years of age, you cannot use a cell phone. In other European countries, if you under 9-years old, you cannot use a cell phone. However, here, in the United States of Corporate America, where corporate profit trump, even life and death matters, the corporate owned media lies to us, and tells us that cell phones are safe.

The Interphone report states that your risk of getting a parotid tumor on the same side of your head that you use for listening to the mobile phone increases by:

•34% if you are a regular cell phone user and have used a mobile phone for 5 years.
•58% if you had more than 5,479 calls in your life-time.
•49% if you have spoken on the phone for more than 266.3 hours during your life-time.
•47% if you have used a mobile phone for 5 years or more and have had more than 5,479 calls in your life-time.
•50% if you have used a mobile phone for 5 years or more and have spoken on the phone for more than 266.3 hours.

And if you live in a rural away from major cities area your risk increases by:

•81% if you have made more than 18,996 calls in your life-time.
•96% if you have a life-time exposure of more than 1,035 hours.
since towers are farther apart, mobile phones have to emit higher levels of radiation to communicate with the nearest antenna.

However, even though the Interphone study, just pubished in the International Journal of Epidemiology, still shows statistically significant increased risk of brain tumors after 10 years of cellphone use, according to Lloyd Morgan, B.Sc.,(video below) lead author of  "Cellphones and Brain Tumors: 15 Reasons for Concern", says this study grossly underestimates the risk,  threrefore, rendering it unreliable.


Interphone Study Design Flaws

Just to give you an idea of how juvenile our corporate leaders are:   In San Francisco, last year, a bill was passed requiring cell phone retaliers to post radiation levels. The cell phone industry got so angry that they canceled all of their conferences in the San Francisco area.  These are the kind of people who rule our nation...our world.

Let's be clear. It's not just cell phones that have created this man-made sea of electromagnetic waves in which we live. It's portable phones (just as bad as cell phones) microwave ovens, televisions, computers, fluorescent lights, electric razors and hairdryers, iPods, etc. An abnormal electromagnetic environment like this has never existed before. So, who knows what the end result will be.

The aforementioned was in no way intended to be a "lecture" on the evils of cell phones, computers, or anything else in that realm. I'm as addicted as anyone else to the "pulsating EMF frequency" culture of convenience that  has transformed all of us into human antennas in order to receive those conveniences...perhaps, even moreso.  What I find infuriating is the repression of information that deprives us of making informed decisions, especially, when those decisions revolve around the most innocent and vulnerable of our citizens: our children.
Links:

Cell phone use found to affect the glucose metabolism of the brain

Asymmetries in Hip Mineralization in Mobile Cellular Phone Users

Brain tumour risk in relation to mobile telephone use: results of the INTERPHONE international case–control study

Mobile Phone Use Goes Beyond Brain Tumors

Is Your Cell Phone Melting Your Brain?

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Achieving Transparency through Plain Language

What is the cost of obscurity? The cost of wordy, unclear, pompous, and dull? Well, the VA saved $40,000 per year from rewriting one standard letter in plain language. The Navy reduced reading time by 17-23% and saved $350 million per document. GE saved up to $500,000 by reducing help desk staff costs by rewriting a software manual. That's just a few examples of what clear and effective communication can save in time and money.

Experts claim we can easily cut 25% from our writings. Think of this in the context of saving disk space on computers or shelf space in reference libraries. How many fewer sheets of paper would the Department of Defense use were it to reduce all texts by one fourth? On the NPR website is an article which tells of a 1989 study of Naval Officers who took 17% to 23% less time to read a plain language version of a document versus the document in its original form. Furthermore, their comprehension increased after reading the clearer text. By placing dollar figures on the results using an average hourly pay figure for officers, the study determined the Navy would save from $27 million to $37 million on the low end and $57 million to $73 million on the high end just from the time saved reading plain language documents. If all Navy personnel read plain language documents, then the saving would be in excess of $250 million each year!

Yet, anyone who has read a credit card disclosure , mortgage contract, or any legal contract for that matter, can tell you it's almost impossible to comprehend, even for the most learned Americans, in some cases, let alone, the average citizen with an 8th grade reading level. And let's not even start on the unintelligible entangled monstrosities that are credit derivatives...the ones that brought our economy to its knees.

So, why can't we, the people demand the right to understand what we pay for, vote for, and depend on a daily basis? Why is it legal that corporations and institutions can obscure documents and disclosures on purpose, clearly, for their own gain? After all, the U.S. Constitution states the role of the federal government is to "promote the general welfare". That is, government should provide a level playing field that allows every citizen the chance to take advantage of what the United States has to offer.

However, a confused American is very profitable American, and that's the name of the game -- profits before people. The objective is clearly to make most Americans feel powerless and stupid. The profit makers/power brokers know very well that no one likes to admit their failure to comprehend the tax code, real estate papers, statutes, executive orders, affidavits, jury instructions, insurance contracts, investment contracts, 16 page credit card agreements (printed on tissue paper in microscopic type, written on the "twenty-seventh" grade reading level) and all consumer-finance contracts and anything and everything written in legalese. Confusion is the best way to maintain the vast inequity built into our education and socioeconomic system.

There is no excuse. It's been proven that complex subjects can be translated into plain language with no loss of accuracy or precision. It's been proven that plain language saves time, money, and most importantly, sanity. As it states in the Principles for Long-term Credit Card Reform, "all the forms and statements that credit card companies send out have to have plain language that is in plain sight"...that this should apply to all government and private documents, from every industry so that all Americans are given the opportunity to comprehend and understand without hiring specialists that charge excessive fees that most of us cannot afford.

Links:

Center for Plain Language - wants government and business documents to be clear and understandable. They support those who use plain language, train those who should use plain language, and urge people to demand plain language in all the documents they receive, read, and use.

71-year old Chrissie Maher found the Plain English Campaign, 30-years ago, waging war on confusing language.

2009 Center for Plain Language Symposium -
National Press Club, Washington, D.C., October 30, 2009

The Plain Language Action and Information Network (PLAIN)

From slam poetry to plain language for health care

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Should We Control Anonymous Propaganda?

After all, it's always good to consider the source, but how can you consider the source when the source is anonymous or assuming a different identity?

The unique characteristics of Internet communications present new challenges to the issue of anonymity, the "concealing of one's identity while communicating, thus enabling the expression of political ideas, participation in the government process, membership in political associations, and the practice of religious belief without fear of government intimidation or public retaliation."

The Internet offers individuals with very little money or political power the vehicle to potentially reach large audiences and make a real impact, thus leveling the playing field. Although the Bill of Rights, and of the First Amendment guarantee free speech, that does not protect individuals with unpopular opinions from retaliation (loss of job, anonymous threats, etc.). Anonymity is often the only protection in many cases.

As is the case with all personal freedoms, anonymity on the Internet is often used to inflict harm...for example, posting an individual's private information, spreading false or damaging statements, etc. However if whatever is spread causes harm, liability and monetary damages may be awarded.

Proving "harm" is another story. First you must hire an attorney to file for a subpoena to serve upon the ISP in order to reveal the identify of the "defamer", who then has the right to file a "motion to quash." The burden of proof is on the person defamed, so he or sher must present "prima facie" evidence that the accused did inflict harm. The inconvenience and cost can be prohibitive, leaving most of us at the mercy of anonymous evildoers lurking amongst us.

Then, there is the propaganda mill. It's bad enough when we can the "who" behind the information designed to mislead or persuade us, but when the propagandist conceals his identity, the impact could be that much greater. Wikipedia is one example where the "anonymous" go to propagandize. However, as in the case of Wikipedia, most *wikis track the editor's ip address, so, it' fairly simple to see that much of the so-called anonymous editing is coming from Congress, the CIA, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and the American Civil Liberties Union.

In addition, large corporations get in on the act: "Someone from Halliburton deleted key information from an entry on war crimes; someone from Diebold, an electronic-voting machine manufacturer, deleted sections of its entry about a lawsuit filed against it. Someone at Pepsi deleted information about health problems caused by the soft drink. Somebody at The New York Times deleted huge chunks of information from the entry on the Wall Street Journal." And of course, the CIA has been editing the entry on the Iraq war.

Fortunately, Wikiscanner and other similar tools allow us to search the millions of edits across the wiki spectrum so that we may consider the source. And, it's never been easier to do our own research for verification purposes.

The idea of government legislating against anonymous Internet posting, editing, etc. is unconstitutional and creates more problems than it solves. Enforcing it alone would be impossible and extraordinarily time consuming and costly. So, since we, the people have the tools to do our own research and check the sources of our information, anonymous propaganda is not all that troublesome . As for the other issues, it's the price we pay for living in a free society.

"Protections for anonymous speech are vital to democratic discourse. Allowing dissenters to shield their identities frees them to express critical, minority views . . . Anonymity is a shield from the tyranny of the majority. . . . It thus exemplifies the purpose behind the Bill of Rights, and of the First Amendment in particular: to protect unpopular individuals from retaliation . . . at the hand of an intolerant society." -- 1995 Supreme Court ruling in McIntyre v. Ohio Elections Commission

The Changing Web and Copyright.

*In a nutshell, a wiki is a collection of collaborative Web pages that allow users to modify entries, thus, a wiki is constantly changing depending on who creates or revises the entries.

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What About an Eighth Grade Clarity Committee (EGCC)?

More than wealth, guns, knives, attack dogs, alarm systems, heavy armor, etc., our first line of defense against what life can dish out in today's society - protecting ourselves from private industry, our government, financial and legal system - is learning to read. The average reading level in America - approximately 8th grade - enables the "average" American to read and comprehend the New York Times. Some may argue that that's not good enough. However, when you consider the average IQ is 100, the vast inequity built into our education and socioeconomic system - the number of people struggling to put food on the table - America's reading level is just about where it should be. In other words, American citizens are doing the best they can with what they've got to work with.

Assuming we the people, have lived up to our end of the bargain, what can we expect from the federal government? What is their role? Well, according to the U.S. Constitution, the role of the federal government is to "promote the general welfare". That is, government should provide a level playing field as much as possible that allows every citizen the chance to take advantage of what the United States has to offer. This is certainly not the case when institutions are allowed to write documents and disclosures in such a way that the complexity far surpasses the average American citizen's reading capacity. Credit card disclosures, mortgage contracts, and credit derivatives, especially, surpass the reading level of some of the most learned people in the United States!

Why can't we demand that every American has the right to understand what we pay for, vote for, and depend on a daily basis? Why is it legal that corporations and institutions can obscure documents and disclosures on purpose, clearly, for their own gain?

The answer is easy. A confused American is very profitable American. The objective is clearly to make most Americans feel powerless and stupid. No one likes to admit their failure to comprehend the tax code, real estate papers, statutes, executive orders, affidavits, jury instructions, insurance contracts, investment contracts, 16 page credit card agreements (printed on tissue paper in microscopic type, written on the "twenty-seventh" grade reading level) and all consumer-finance contracts and anything and everything written in legalese.

What would happen if every piece of legislation, every contract, credit card agreement, and basically anything legally binding had to pass through the Eighth Grade Clarity Committee (EGCC), made up of a diverse group of high achieving eighth graders of average to above average intelligence, as a final test of clarity. If all the eighth graders appointed understand, it passes...if not, it must go back for a rewrite until the EGCC grasp whatever it is being tested with little effort.

It's been proven that complex subjects can be translated into plain language with no loss of accuracy or precision. It's been proven that plain language saves time, money, and most importantly, sanity.

People like myself will be most appreciative and I think we would see a thriving, productive, and most importantly, an informed America evolve.

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