Cognitive disonance

There is an article about Sidney Gottlieb and his mind control experiments for the CIA in the Daily Beast, The Sinister Scientist Behind the CIA’s Mind-Control Mayhem. Aside from the usual Daily Beast hyperbole, I found the following quote to be very interesting:

...Kinzer writes. “Their research had shown them that mind control is a myth—that seizing another person’s mind and reprogramming it is impossible.”

Soooo... the CIA couldn't figure out a way to control an individual, but Russian hackers can cause Americans to vote for Donald Trump? In some corner of my mind, it seems like the same paranoia that caused a fear of the Russians to start the CIA down the rabbit hole of mind control is still infecting us. If it is possible to influence a population through manipulation of mainstream and social media, don't tell me the Russians are the only ones capable of doing it. And if there is someone capable of doing media influence, they are probably doing it.

A motivational speaker named Denis Waitley said, "If a 60 second commercial can sell you laundry detergent, can't a 60 minute soap opera sell you a lifestyle?" What can a 24 hour a day connection to media sell you?

Serendipity? Coincidence? Small World

Last time I saw Mara Tekach was riding a train into Philly.

Today, I am reading New Trump travel policy takes Cubans back to old family separation standard in the Miami Herald, and I come across this line, "Mara Tekach, the U.S. embassy’s charge d’affaires, said the change achieves reciprocity between U.S. visa rules and Cuba’s, which allow most Americans only single-entry tourist visas for up to three months." So it turns out Mara is a career diplomat, Deputy Chief of Mission in Havana, Cuba. I sense something coming. Maybe I'm wrong, but maybe I'm not.

Jarrett Dodge

Some Jarrett Dodge links.

A couple of "Cars of the Month" from the 1970 GTX registry. They won an award at the final Jarrett Dodge All Mopar Show.

Car Dealership to Close After Nearly 70 Years - a sad day in Hatboro

Remnants of reviews on cars.com.

Kavanaugh

Have you ever sexually assaulted anyone?

Not under the standards of the time, but under today's standards.

Have you ever been sexually assaulted?

Have you ever been falsely accused?

Have you ever been 100% sure about something and found out you were wrong?

Can 2 people with completely different stories both be telling the truth? Not necessarily stating facts, but telling what is true to each of them individually in their minds?

I guess it's only fair, for the first time, a rich white man has been lynched over the unsubstantiated word of a white woman.

The whole thing reminds me a heck of a lot of the Joan Allen film, The Contender.

Cool story bro'

Joe Hill and a MA cold case.

Ted Sturgeon would be 100 years old if he weren't dead. He wrote some cool stuff, though.

Kathleen Turner is Great!

In Conversation: Kathleen Turner from Vulture. via Metafilter.

She didn't click with the cast of Friends

Vox talks about Turner's Vulture Interview.

Some stuff from Metafilter

What Happened to General Magic?

The Bullshit Web

Deep into the weeds on color-matching at an auto body shop

My parents just asked me what all this Q stuff is about