manipulation

 

Something stirred my interest this week (though, it should not have) and finally I realized I had to write about it or it'd not let me go lol. I tend to be that way with a lot of things. If they are on my mind, I can finally go on, once I do whatever the feeling had me needing to do... even when I had other things to do that 'I' regarded as more important.

This one related to a 'trans' group in Norway that decided Aretha Franklin's song, Natural Woman was offensive to trans and they wanted it taken off Spotify, etc. For reasons beyond my understanding, the media picked up the story from what I gather was a 'new' group. The group doubtless knew that and hence tweaked it. The media is so easy to manipulate. I have no idea what Spotify, etc. did about it, but I know what they should have done-- ignored it.

Whether you are sympathetic to trans causes, are trans, this should have been ignored as it's not about trans at all-- not in its message or its timing (came out in 1968). I think they pushed it to get their group known. Maybe it worked and maybe not but wish it would not and wish our media would be less gullible.

I had to listen to the song again as though I remembered the melody, I'd forgotten the words. If that is your case, here's a link to hear it on YouTube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jCFzreP1ng

Listen to those words and do you hear anything about a man becoming a woman? You do not, as back then it was far less a 'cause' than it has been recently. But if a man wants to become a woman, does he not want to be a natural woman? 

What the song speaks to is this woman finding someone who makes her feel all she hadn't felt before. She has found the one who brings out the female in her. Could not a trans-woman also feel that way when they had the 'right' person come along? It's about an emotional reaction to loving the right person and what it did to the writer's heartstrings. 

A feminist might disagree with that message-- feeling we should not need someone else (notice song never said male or female lover) to feel all our own inner strength and being. We should do it for ourselves as most recently Miley Cyrus sang about in her new song-- Flowers. I can do it for myself was her message. It is probably the strongest way to be when we don't need someone else, but when we do, is that bad when it's the right person? When other people bring out the best is us, isn't that a good thing?

What to do? What to do about anything?

 

The following article was on someone's post on Facebook. I spent some time looking for other sources regarding Universe 25 Experiment. They are mostly in scientific journals like Smithsonian. It is food for thought and possibly the mainstream media didn't pick up on it because it's uncertain how it applies to human cultures. Still worth considering what it might mean for us today and into the future.  

The only change I made to the text was to insert paragraphs to make it more readable. I don't necessarily agree with all its interpretations but am still ruminating on it for what I know of the world today where I live. If it does apply to humans, what can or should we do?

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The "Universe 25" experiment is one of the most terrifying experiments in the history of science, which, through the behavior of a colony of mice, is an attempt by scientists to explain human societies. The idea of ​​"Universe 25" Came from the American scientist John Calhoun, who created an "ideal world" in which hundreds of mice would live and reproduce. 

 

More specifically, Calhoun built the so-called "Paradise of Mice", a specially designed space where rodents had Abundance of food and water, as well as a large living space. In the beginning, he placed four pairs of mice that in a short time began to reproduce, resulting in their population growing rapidly. However, after 315 days their reproduction began to decrease significantly. When the number of rodents reached 600, a hierarchy was formed between them and then the so-called "wretches" appeared. The larger rodents began to attack the group, with the result that many males begin to "collapse" psychologically. 

 

As a result, the females did not protect themselves and in turn became aggressive towards their young. As time went on, the females showed more and more aggressive behavior, isolation elements and lack of reproductive mood. There was a low birth rate and, at the same time, an increase in mortality in younger rodents. Then, a new class of male rodents appeared, the so-called "beautiful mice". They refused to mate with the females or to "fight" for their space. All they cared about was food and sleep. At one point, "beautiful males" and "isolated females" made up the majority of the population.

 

According to Calhoun, the death phase consisted of two stages: the "first death" and "second death." The former was characterized by the loss of purpose in life beyond mere existence — no desire to mate, raise young or establish a role within society. As time went on, juvenile mortality reached 100% and reproduction reached zero. Among the endangered mice, homosexuality was observed and, at the same time, cannibalism increased, despite the fact that there was plenty of food. 

 

Two years after the start of the experiment, the last baby of the colony was born. By 1973, he had killed the last mouse in the Universe 25. John Calhoun repeated the same experiment 25 more times, and each time the result was the same.

 

Calhoun's scientific work has been used as a model for interpreting social collapse, and his research serves as a focal point for the study of urban sociology.

We are currently witnessing direct parallels in today’s society..weak, feminized men with little to no skills and no protection instincts, and overly agitated and aggressive females with no maternal instincts.

The thing is, humans do tend to cluster into pods for sustenance, jobs, good location for beauty or water, entertainment, etc.-- hence overcrowding. That might be where we most see this played out. My husband added that it would be good if more studies were done by other species similar to ourselves. Not sure they have been as mice and rats seem most like us for many experiments.

 

Titling a book

 

If you have never written a book, you have no idea how difficult finding titles can be. You want one that suits the book but also alerts its potential readers. It's not easy. The series name is to tell those readers that there is more if they so wish.

We have found some of my books worked for their titles from the start... but some not so much and we changed them. Something Amazon had allowed. Such a change had come when in December of 2021 we felt we needed something different for the Arizona historicals-- something that indicated they were more than romances. Ranch Boss came up with the idea, which led to shortening the titles also to something that didn't define the genre but did give a hint of the theme. We made the change in February of 2022 with no problems.  

What sounded like it should be interesting turned out not so much or readers, who saw nothing in them to convince them to try something maybe different. We stuck with it for a while; but come the end of 2022, we decided to shift back to a more romance oriented title but different than we had previously tried for this series (I know that sounds confusing. It was for me too). That was the beginning of trouble which taught me some new lessons-- none of which related to titles, subtitles or series names...

 First-- read the messages from Amazon when they come in. Neither of us had done that and they stated firmly that it was no longer possible to change titles or subtitles on books already out there. They would follow the guidelines for ISBN-- no changes after publishing. We had made the above change before the new rules. The new ones were now 'the' books. They refused to accept our desired changes-- though, they might've been sympathetic-- to a point!

I won't go into all the frustration that led to for us and them-- all of which could have been avoided if we we had just read that notice. It ended with us finally reading it and learning we had one option. It said, to change titles, pull the books, make changes and submit them to Amazon as new books. Because I made a further mistake, Amazon blocked the first book in the series. Guess they were tired of seeing our questions regarding what they had previously answered.

 Second lesson was something only I had to learn, as Ranch Boss already knew it, pay more attention to the meaning of subtitles. I saw it more connected to the series, but it's to the title-- as it says. A subtitle gives the reader a further clue as to what the book has for a dominant theme. He had done this for other books (after he'd taken some classes),
but I had missed the boat for what I understood. It's an important one.

 

What I have to do, and am in no hurry to do it, is sufficiently edit each of the books. I already came up with a better ending for the first one as one reviewer had earlier said it appeared to end too abruptly. In my writing it, I had thought all issues had been resolved, but it'll be easy to expand that ending in a way that might satisfy such critics who wanted something more.

 

 We can still notify previous buyers, in the blurb, that it's a returning title-- even though it's new.  Editing, for me, is actually fun as I always see how I can find better ways to say things. The books won't qualify as abridged as I don't want to substantially shorten them. So, what is a good word when they are reedited?  Maybe just that, as I've seen it done by other authors. I think the first of these will be out in two months *fingers crossed*, as we are in no hurry and then maybe one a month after that. 

 

The first one does have a new title in our minds-- but that could change. We have some ideas for the series name-- as we try to come up with titles we can live with forever. Lucky I was not working on the new book right now as my calendar is free :)

Is there a lesson beyond the books? I'd say-- pay more attention to rules. This is particularly true when we are bombarded by information, or is it? Also be aware of the meaning of words to use them properly-- again when we are bombarded by words... Everything doesn't have such immediate consequences but they can. All photos are from our Arizona home.

disagreements okay or not

 

 I have mostly kept this blog away from politics or religion for more or less selfish reasons. I don't want the hassle I find when I comment on such topics in places like Facebook where I get slammed. Still, it is selfish and I do have many thoughts I discuss with my husband and friends where we sometimes agree or disagree but can talk about it sanely with a final agree to disagree. Most today seem to want to only hear what they already believe and they stay in such cliques. I get it but it's got its drawbacks. 

Today I read a column by Cal Thomas with an ending paragraph to which I much agree. His complaint was we don't have intellectuals leading either party or even getting elected. He named those in the past who were but couldn't think of one today-- to name anyway. Here's his comment. 

"There’s a proverb that seems to make my point: “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another” (Proverbs 27:17). While some theologians say this verse is about human relationships, it might also be applied to intellectual pursuits. Just as playing tennis or golf with someone better than yourself can improve your game, so does keeping company with smarter people — and particularly those with different points of view — make you sharper and better able to vote intelligently and elect people more worthy of holding public office than many who are currently in elective positions or campaigning for them."

Will schools do this, help children and young adults to agree to disagree with intelligent points or is that out of the question for today? 

I personally think this lazy way of thinking also permeates the books most want to read and their entertainment. It has to support their point of view, whatever it is, or many toss them out.

The bobcat was one that visited our Arizona property and watched with concern as it had just killed a bird but was afraid to eat it with being watched. It had a kitten and went back to finish its meal after the paparazzi had left *s*.