Facts and Evidence and Hearsay

In this country, the law is all about facts and evidence.  You need those things to convict someone of a crime.  The evidence can even be circumstantial, but there needs to be a preponderance of it when all you've got is circumstantial.

Hearsay is flat out.  Opinions, too.

You cannot walk into a court room and say 'I heard someone say that the defendant committed the crime', anymore than you can walk in and say 'I think the defendant committed the crime' - unless you have evidence and facts to back up your assertions.

Seems to me that these days, people are using hearsay and opinions in place of facts and evidence.  Not in a real court, mind you, but in the court of public opinion.  You are tried and convicted without a shred of actual evidence.

"So and so said the person is a murderer, so it must be so."  "I heard someone say this person is a thief, so they are."  "Everyone knows he did what they say he did."  Ask about evidence and facts to prove the assertions and you may find yourself under their guns.

Oh, there's been a lot of hullabaloo about fake news.  If you don't try and convict someone without evidence, then fake news is about as damaging as a plastic spoon.  If you don't treat the media as a reliable witness, nothing they say can cause harm.  If you don't rely on the masses to tell you what is fact and what is fiction, then there's nothing to worry about.  And if you don't think celebrity equals authority, then you might be okay.

Except in this culture today, the news isn't questioned.  The media is truth.  If a whole bunch of people think something, then it must be fact.  And celebrities are gods.

Umm, yeah.

So, when you're out there reading and listening and deciding how to proceed, take a moment to figure out what reality is.  It might take some effort.  It might take you not believing a goddamn thing until actual facts are presented somewhere, somehow.  It takes work.

But it's worth it.

Try every case in the court of your own opinion and base those opinions on verifiable facts.  Demand evidence.  Ignore hearsay. 

Or continue on as you have done, thrashing around and waving your arms and huddling in the fear someone hopes you'll have because when you're afraid, you're easier to control.

Personally, I like knowing stuff and being certain for myself.  But that's me.

Sunday Update - Week 4

Wow.  Looking back, Week 4 is a blur.  So let's work backward and see if I can't cobble that sucker back together...

Let's see.  Yesterday I spent the morning scrubbing floors by hand.  I was going to use my Swiffer WetJet thingie, but the little battery must've died.  No squirties.  So, I got out the tub of Clorox wipes and went to town.  The kitchen is done.  And that spot under the rug in the foyer because ew.  I also shook all the rugs.  Then I took a shower because between washing floors and shaking rugs, I was filthy.  The rest of the day I focused on laying around feeling ouchie.

Oh, wait, I did some editing work first thing.  Round 2.  Got the first page and a half of notes entered.  Later in the day, I did another page and a half of notes.  I'll enter those this morning.

And, oh yeah, I did finish Round 1 of the edits last week.  Got that last chapter rewritten.  Yay.

I read Silver James' Crash & Burn last week.  I haven't started any other books because I'm using my Kindle for editing.  Although, I guess I could use the old Kindle for editing and read on the new one.  Or I could pick up one of my hardcopy books and read that...  Derp.

Spent a couple hours fishing.  It was nice to be out at the lake, but then the wind came up and I really didn't feel like fighting the wind, so I came home.

Other than that?  We're hunkering down and holding tight in the chaos.

How were things for you last week?

Saturday Fishing Report - 1/28/17

Okay, so last Fishing Report, I reported a landmark no-skunking fishing trip on Friday the 20th.  It was followed by a repeat on Saturday.  Same spot.  Same method - worm on a #2 hook set about 5' deep and about 10-15' from shore.  Same results.  Only this time I caught a 12" spotted bass and two small panfish about 4 and 5 inches respectively.  Both days the air temp was in the low to mid 60s and the water temp, according to the locals, was running in the upper 40s. 

I also went fishing on Tuesday, but that was a bust.  I started out at about 10am.  Sunny skies.  Unseasonably warm.  Calm.  The calm didn't last long.  The wind picked up to the point where casting out into the river was a crap shoot.  And when I could get the worm into the right places, no bites. 

The temperatures dropped out on the rest of the week, so I stayed home.  Which brings me to another subject...  Why I don't ice fish.

Now, when I was a wee lass in Michigan, I did have the occasion to go out ice fishing with my father.  I only remember once, but my memory for back then is swiss cheese, so there may have been more times.  I remember being cold.  I do not remember catching anything. 

Reason 1 for not ice fishing: COLD.  Since I'm no longer a wee lass, I can no longer shrug off the cold.  I don't like it and I don't want to.  Plus, it makes my joints ache.  Not worth it.  Not for me.

Reason 2?  Table Rock Lake is not a lake, strictly speaking.  It's a river that's been backed up by a dam.  Thus, it's always flowing and never freezes - at least not anywhere I've seen and even if I did happen to see a place that looked frozen over, I wouldn't want to walk on it and fall to my frigid, watery death. Thank you very much.  Not worth the risk.  Nut-uh. No way.

So, chances are you will never see an Ice Fishing Report here.  Not from me, anyway.  If I thought my Michigander brother had any inclination to guest post, perhaps that would be your chance to see anything about ice fishing here.  He ice fishes.  He posts pics on FB of his catches.  I'm happy for him.  But he's a hardier human than I. 

And that's it for this week's fishing report.  Take some time this week to enjoy the outdoors, even if you can't drown worms.

Thursday This n That - Opinions Edition

I'm just gonna throw this out there.  Snape is not a romantic figure.  He's a stalker.  He couldn't have Lily, so he watched her from afar for years.  He was so obsessed his patronus charm became the same as hers.  He took his inability to have her out on her kid.  Yeah, if he really secretly cared about Harry, why the hell did he put Griffindor's sword under the ice of a river in the middle of the freakin' winter when he could've left it under a tree or a pile of leaves?  He was a snotty little boy who grew up into a snotty little man, and trying to make him into a heroic figure cheapens heroism.

The bullies of the world have gotten away with name calling for so long, it's now natural for the world to believe them when they call someone a name.  Especially when several of them gang up together.  And if you don't back down when they call you a name, they're happy to try to pound you into the ground so you'll give them your lunch money (or your self-esteem or your voice or your beliefs).  But the same holds true now as it did back on the playground.  Them calling you a name doesn't make it true.  And fuck them.

I'm sick to death of the rampant man-bashing going on right now. All these commercials where the wife is smug and superior while the husband is incompetent?  Yep, cut that shit out, too.  If the roles were switched and the commercials made the woman out to be stupid, there'd be such a public outcry it would be deafening.

For that matter, I'm tired of people who are supposed to love each other bashing on each other.  Then again, I've been tired of that crap for years.  I used to videotape weddings.  Yeah, you know where I'm going.  Cramming cake in your new spouse's face isn't funny and it's a shitty way to start what ought to be a lifelong partnership.  It's disrespectful and mean-spirited.  Cut it out. Maybe that's why people seem to think it's okay to say snotty, nasty things about their significant others - they started out being disrespectful.  Bleh.

Ugh.  That's enough. 

One final opinion... It was a beautiful day yesterday and it's going to be a beautiful day today.  Every day you wake up is a beautiful day, regardless of what else might be going on in your life or the world.  The alternative to waking up is dead.  And that's unacceptable.

Now, shoo.  Go enjoy your life.  Accomplish something.  Gaze at something pretty.  Sing a song.  Dance around the house.  Pet a furbaby.  Kiss someone.  Hug yourself.   (And if you've got something negative stuck in your craw that's preventing you from seeing the positives in life, let it out for petesakes*.)


*Just remember that if you're letting it out here, comments are subject to approval. =o)

It's Good to Be Alive

Just a little reminder... It's good to be alive...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDu93pdyBDE

 "Good To Be Alive (Hallelujah)"
by Andy Grammer

Uh huh
Uh huh
Ooooooh
Uh huh
Alright
Alright
Uh huh

I've been grinding so long, been trying this shit for years
And I got nothing to show, just climbing this rope right here
And if there's a man upstairs, he kept bringing me rain
But I've been sending up prayers and something's changed

I think I finally found my hallelujah
I've been waiting for this moment all my life
Now all my dreams are coming true, ya
I've been waiting for this moment

And it's good to be alive right about now
Good, good, good, good to be alive right about now
Good, good, good, good to be alive right about now
Hallelujah, let that bass line move ya, say yeah
It's good to be alive right about now

I was dead in the water, nobody wanted me (Uh huh)
I was old news, I went cold as cold can be
But I kept throwing on coal tryna make that fire burn (Uh huh)
Sometimes you gotta get scars to get what you deserve (Uh huh)
I kept moving on and now I'm moving up (Uh huh)
Damn, I'm feeling blessed with all this love

I think I finally found my hallelujah
I've been waiting for this moment all my life
Now all my dreams are coming true, ya
I've been waiting for this moment

And it's good to be alive right about now
Good, good, good, good to be alive right about now
Good, good, good, good to be alive right about now
Hallelujah, let that bass line move ya, say yeah
It's good to be alive right about now

I almost can-, cannot handle it
I could get u-, could get used to this
I almost can-, cannot handle it
I could get u-, could get used to this

I think I finally found my
(Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah
Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah)

And it's good to be alive right about now
Good, good, good, good to be alive right about now
Good, good, good, good to be alive right about now
Hallelujah, let that bass line move ya, say yeah
It's good to be alive right about now

Good, good, good, good to be alive right about now
Good, good, good, good to be alive right about now
Good, good, good, good to be alive right about now
Good, good, good, good to be alive right about now
Alright

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I'm still waiting for my moment, but it's still good to be alive right about now.

Sunday Update - Week 3

Hello again and welcome to the Sunday Update with your host, B.E. Sanderson.

This past week, the nation saw a new episode of Adults Behaving Badly.  Personally, I had work to do and personal stuff to accomplish.

Work:

I got the first round of edits on Natural Causes almost to completion.  All I have left on this one is to rewrite that last chapter.  Which I will do today.  If I can figure out the best plan of attack for it.  I have one loose end to tie up and a denouement thing wherein all will be made clear.  I do not want this to end with anything even remotely akin to a cliffhanger.  There may be subsequent books, which I hope you will someday want to read but not because you are dying to find out what happened about X and Y.  I fucked up and unintentionally did that with Up Wish Creek, and I regret it.

Personal Stuff:

I read a neat book called Sleep Hollow: Rise and Ride Headless.  It was totally engrossing. 

I went fishing three times last week.  Wednesday was a bust.  Friday and Saturday were good days. 

On one of those fishing days, I had an interesting interaction with a couple of older dudes.  They said they were killing time.  That's cool.  We chatted about fishing.  Also cool.  Then one of them kept asking questions about where I lived.  I was vague as always.  Over that way.  Down the river.  Above the flood line from last year.  Yada yada yada.  Then he got a little weird and said something snotty like I was offending him by not trusting him enough to tell him where I lived.  Dude, in this world, no one gets to know where I live.  Hell, it was one of the first things my mother taught me - strangers do not get to know where you live.  It's stood me in good stead for almost 47 years and I see no reason to change. Anyway, he chilled out and pointed out where he thought was a good place to catch bluegills before the two of them went on their merry way.

I made a variation of steak pizzaola yesterday.  It was a bust.  Not quite sure what happened, but the roast I used (instead of steak because it was cheaper) turned into a yucky, stringy, chewy mess and the sauce was bleh.  Of course, my go-to sauce is no longer available at my local Wallyworld and everything else I try is yuck.  (The roast isn't to blame either.  I bought a big one and cut it in half.  The first half was made into pot roast and it was tender and yummy.  The second half died an ignoble death drowned in mediocre sauce.)

Seeing loads of deer, turkeys, and eagles right now.  All of that makes me immensely happy. 

That's it for me.  What's up with you?

Saturday Fishing Report - 1/21/17

Finally.  I was NOT skunked on a fishing trip.  Yesterday afternoon, I went out about 2pm to that same spot where I caught that walleye.  I fishing all over that place alternating between the same worm and a few lures for about 2 hours.  Nada.  Then I went back to the place where I caught the walleye.  At that time of the day, it was mostly in shade with a little wind.  Gnarly.  I started getting bites almost immediately, but I wasn't sealing the deal.  So, I went to a smaller hook.  (I was on a #1.  I think I went to a #2 - smooth shank because my stupid Wallyworld stopped carrying the 2s in a baitholding shank.  Bastards.)

Two, three casts and I got something hefty.  I wasn't entirely sure what it was, but it was fighting good, so I guessed either a walleye or a bass.  But it didn't jump, so I was leaning toward walleye.  Nope.  Bass.  Largemouth to be exact.  A thirteen-incher.  And FAT.  Little pudge-ball must be gorging on crawdad babies or something.  (Can't say exactly what the poundage was.  I don't carry a scale with me.  There's a chart at In Fisherman that says it was about 1.16 lbs.  Figure in the fatness and I'm gonna say 1.25 for that dude.)

About twenty minutes later, I caught a green sunfish that was a helluva fighter.  I figured I had a meal there for sure.  Nope.  Only 6".  Too bad it wasn't an inch or two bigger.  Thems good eatin'.

So, here's the skinny.  They were all biting about 5' deep and only about 10-15' from the shore, off chunk rock banks sloping toward the main channel of the river, at nearly dusk.  On nightcrawlers.  Better bite off the head half than the tail half.  Go figure.

Still, a beautiful day at the lake.  And I did finally catch some fish after over a month of total skunking.  Might go out again today.  We'll see.

Until next week, have many beautiful days and enjoy some quiet time in the outdoors, if you can.