A moment (above) you might have missed this week.
VOCABULARY AND PHRASE UPDATES
- “LIES, DAMNED LIES and STATISTICS” (-B.Disraeli [1804-1881] saying there are three kinds of lies): This observation regarding lies can be contemporized to: DATA, DAMNED DATA and MEGADATA, don’t you think? Of course, there is also: FACTS, UNDENIABLE FACTS and DEEPFAKE. (-cem) It used to be: “Only two things are certain: DEATH & TAXES.” Now it is: three things: DEATH, TAXES & DATA BREACHES. (-cem) Oh what a world we live in.
(I have received feedback accusing me of making up words for these Vocabulary passages. AU CONTRAIRE! All words I feature have been spelled out in articles I have read with my own eyes. Were I to insert something of my own creation, or were there some bon mots I want to take credit for – I will add (-cem) to that section of the post.) To proceed:
- AFFLUENZA: Remember that? It first went public as a defense for criminal behavior. Apparently, it was not a ‘one-off’ and people are using it, proudly, more frequently than you would have imagined. Me? I suffer from AFFLUENZA DEFICIENCY (-cem) There is also: BILLFLUENZA (-cem), the sufferers of which are deluded into thinking if they keep paying their bills, they can keep on going along and everything will be all right. There is no known cure for this ailment. (-cem)
- SHADOW PROFILES: These are created by the likes of FaceBook, who collect information about people who are not actually using the site. There might be a better way of saying this, but don’t get stuck up on grammatical construction when the real problem is you have no privacy and there is no where to hide.
- DECENTRALIZED: This is when a policeman uses a taser on a person who is resisting arrest and is ‘Decentralized’ thereby. This, generally does not happen to people with Affluenza as much as those with Affluenza Deficiency. It could also happen to you if your shadow profile were in error – or they found out false bad things about you in a DATA BREACH or in a viral U-Tubed DEEPFAKE conspiracy theory in which you were featured.
- MICROBEADS: Have you heard of these? They are the little plastic granules laced in your scrubby soaps and lotions that you rub on your face to make your skin look good and pink. They do not dissolve. It is said 808,000,000,000 (billions) of them are flushed down our drains every day. And then…well, it is as bad as the turtle and the straw. But how do ‘They’ know how many of these things go down our drains? Is there no privacy anymore? I know this is not the prime takeaway to be had from the subject of microbeads; but what can one do about any of it? One must scrub one’s face. No?
…and now for a few quotes from others on the subject of Lies and Facts (inspired by the first paragraph above)
- “The size of the lie is a definite factor in causing it to be believed…the simplicity of their (the masses) minds renders them a more easy prey to a big lie than a small one.” (-A. Hitler)
- “An unexciting truth may be eclipsed by a thrilling lie.” (-A. Huxley)
- “Whoever is careless with truth in small matters cannot be trusted in important affairs”. (-A. Einstein)
- “He will lie even when it is inconvenient: the sign of a true artist”. (-G. Vidal)
- “Figures don’t lie; but liars can figure.” (Old saying bandied about on Wall Street)
That’s it for now. Remember: Come home before dark. (-cem)
