Snubbed Manuscript Saves Writer from Bankruptcy

Here is another success story of a desperate writer:

‘The publishing world is in a frenzy over a debut novel whose Australian author is drawing comparisons to JK Rowling (Harry Potter? Perhaps you’ve heard of it.). “Beautiful Malice was one of the most extraordinary manuscripts I’ve read in a very long while,” one editor with an insufficient bid says of Rebecca James’ thriller, intended for teens and up. “I’m still reeling over having lost it.”

‘James, a 39-year-old mother of four, was literally facing bankruptcy after her kitchen-sales business went bust, only to see her novel picked out of a pile of unsolicited manuscripts. Now, she says she’s “gobsmacked” over becoming an overnight millionaire, with Beautiful Malice to be translated into 30 languages. “It was very scary,” James tells the Wall Street Journal of the ride, but “this is now an amazing fairy tale.” WSJ

The Inescapable Philosophy of Philosophy -by Jamesesz

~ Our meeting today, my dear reader, is not one of coincidence, luck or blind chance. That we have met today means that we were meant to meet one another and our meeting could not have happened in any other way. We might forget in the near future that this meeting has ever happened but we cannot change the fact that this encounter has already taken place.

We live in a world that seems to move faster in comparison to our own mechanical wristwatch. Every single day the advancements in technology supersede our ability to catch up with new innovative creations. Computers have invaded every sector and segment of our everyday lives while the World Wide Web has lifted the shroud hindering international communications and solved most of the difficulties previously faced in international relations. Such is the world of the 21st century, a world where globalization is no longer a fairy-tale dream but a reality that we are now only beginning to comprehend.

In a world where change seems to be the only constant thing, we find yet another element that has remained unscathed through the passage of time. This element is none other than the importance of philosophy, the soul of our intellectual consciousness.
Philosophy is now increasingly important as individuals of different races, cultures, personalities and backgrounds interconnect with the new platforms and avenues provided through the developments of information technology. However, these advancements are not without cost. As the world becomes a smaller place, frictions and misunderstandings between different beliefs, social norms, tenets and opinions surface to become increasingly evident, thus showing us, that we require something other than technology to bridge the gap. This is where philosophy is to play its major role.

But what is the intended meaning when a man uses the word philosophy? Every word or concept requires a definition that can at least be generally accepted for the purpose of communications. Yet the word philosophy evokes many different meanings when we hear it being uttered by another individual.

I believe that philosophy lies, like many other things, in the eyes of the beholder. Should we define philosophy as only the particular doctrines relating to some specific individual or school in history, we cannot be more wrong. On the contrary, philosophy is a personal outlook or perspective that an individual has on the world and all its properties either in reality or in imagination.

This means that philosophy, as a word, would include more than just generally accepted schools of thought like Plato or Aristotle. Taking its meaning loosely, philosophy is one’s perspective of life itself. Having said so, it is not surprising that the word has a different meaning when it is used by a different person.

The difficulty of such a definition is that almost every single individual in the world has a personal philosophy that overlaps with the philosophy of others while remaining distinctively different.
As Bertrand Russell once put it, ‘the definition of philosophy will vary according to the philosophy we adopt’. And in a world where so much diversity is present, it should not be surprising that the variance between different systems of beliefs should be as contrasting as night and day.
Adding to that, our continuous inability to form similar definitions for the same concepts and words remains a hindrance to a desired state of seamless communication while at the same time posing a source of conflict.

Take for example, how the word ‘philosopher’ is used. Seldom it is that we regard an individual as a philosopher unless that person has written a number of books, invented some famous quotation, or has argued his ‘philosophy’ with his every known acquaintance.
Yet if we acknowledge that every man has his own system of beliefs, regardless of how irrational it may be, and is capable of intellectual thoughts, would not every man be a philosopher?
At least every man that matters in this world would be and should be called a philosopher! The only difference is that an individual might make for a really poor philosopher in comparison to others.

I would say that it is a common misconception that one must follow the philosophy of a single man, be it, Spinoza, Descartes or Immanuel Kant, to be a philosopher. The word philosopher came from Ancient Greece where the word, ‘philosophos’, was used to describe anyone who was a lover of wisdom. The mission of philosophy is a simple and noble one, which is, ‘to advance the cause of human reason, to perfect its methods, and to extend their application across an ever widening range of pursuits’.
To this day, many have risen to the challenge and the richness and vitality of our current society in terms of the proliferation of knowledge stands testament to the labours and experiences of great men in history.

Philosophy must be understood as something that is inescapable regardless of the difference in intelligence, socio-economic status, race, gender and age. Unless one in either mentally impaired or living in an asylum, one would find that he is, inevitably, a subject to the sovereignty of philosophy and all her devices. At the core, philosophy can be divided into epistemology, metaphysics and logic.
In the middle circle, one would find moral philosophy (ethics), the philosophy of language, the philosophy of mind (psychology) and the philosophy of science.
On the outer circle, philosophy includes things that are more familiar to us, including, aesthetic, the philosophy of education, the philosophy of history, the philosophy of law, the philosophy of mathematics, the philosophy of religion, political philosophy and social philosophy.

When we have outlined the vast scope that philosophy covers, we realize that philosophy is something that is unavoidable and relevant in every endeavour of our everyday lives. It is no mystery that a PhD in higher education means a doctorate in the philosophy of a certain area of study. To deny the importance of philosophy is similar to believing that we should not ‘think’ at all.
And this we know to be a great folly in a world as competitive and unforgiving as ours. Instead of avoiding the perils and difficulties of knowing philosophy, let us then rise up to the challenge of being a lover of wisdom in hope that the continuous accumulation of knowledge would foster a greater understanding of the world as it is and a greater degree of tolerance in society!

~ Ee Suen Zheng

The Seering –by Izaakmak

This is the first semi-sci-fi article submitted here and I think it’s worth a read:

After a weekend where four separate murders have been reported here in the city I call home, including one where the victim was robbed after being left for dead by his assailant, I’m reminded of an issue I’ve struggled with for many years. Being a person with a known proclivity for dwelling on the imponderable, I’ve been thinking about two things written in the bible since I first learned of them as a child:

1. After the flood during Noah’s time, God promised that the earth and everything living on it would never again be destroyed by a flood. Of course there are many who would argue that His wrath could still rain down upon us in other forms, but since we are taught that he sent Jesus to save us from ourselves, we must assume that the “never again be destroyed” part was very important to Him.

2. While dying on the cross, Jesus prays for God to “forgive them, for they know not what they do.” His prayer implies both that he feared the manner of his death would cause God to violate his promise to Noah, and that, in spite of overwhelming evidence to the contrary, we are too stupid to recognize our own guilt.

Now if you’ve read much of this blog, you’re probably aware that I have many, many problems with religion as a whole, including the Baptist variation of Christianity that I was raised to believe in. And also, being the perversely creative yet vindictive S.O.B. that I am, you probably wouldn’t be surprised that I’ve spent a wee bit of time pondering just how I would go about testing Jesus’ faith in our ignorance – and then provide us with our well deserved punishment when we fail – without the need for God to violate his promise.

What I came up with is roughly described in this little work of fiction I call:

~ The Seering ~

I can’t help about the shape I’m in
I can’t sing, I ain’t pretty and my legs are thin
But don’t ask me what I think of you
I might not give the answer that you want me to

Oh well

Now, when I talked to God I knew he’d understand
He said, “Stick by me and I’ll be your guiding hand
But don’t ask me what I think of you
I might not give the answer that you want me to”

Oh well

~ Fleetwood Mac ~

Admin -the fiction part:

January 4, 2010: This just in: There are unconfirmed reports of a mysterious “virus” spreading through some areas of the American mid-west. The reports indicate that this virus causes those infected to suddenly be able to “hear” the thoughts of those around them. While those we’ve contacted in the medical and scientific communities are skeptical about the existence of such a virus, we are nevertheless getting reports from these same areas of unexpected, violent attacks aimed at individuals the attacker claims to have “overheard” having thoughts the attacker found to be offensive. We will keep you updated on what we’re sure will turn out to be yet another of those “End Of The World” hoaxes.

January 6, 2010: The U.S. government has issued a statement today pleading for calm in the wake of the spreading violence associated with the belief that there is a “virus” on the loose causing people to suddenly be able to hear the thoughts of those around them. Although experts seem to think that this is merely some form of mass hysteria similar to that surrounding the “Y2K” event of over a decade ago, a scientific task force is nevertheless being set up to investigate. It’s uncertain as to how fast this task force can get to the bottom of what’s happening however, as it appears that everyone associated with the outbreak, including those sent to investigate by local news outlets, are now refusing to be approached. Stay tuned for further updates.

January 10, 2010: While scientific experts are still scrambling for an explanation for what has come to be known as “The Seering,” the existence of this new phenomena can no longer be denied. As evidence for the spread of this new “disease” comes in from more and more locations around the world, the mounting death toll is approaching a level that rivals the worst natural disasters in human history. While I don’t want to add to the fear and panic already gripping the world, the fact that gathering further information from the places where the disease has already struck seems next to impossible doesn’t exactly inspire hope that a solution will be coming any time soon. We will continue to bring you updates for as long as we can hold out… (static)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Pink Floyd – Run Like Hell

Run, run, run, run
Run, run, run, run
Run, run, run, run
Run, run, run, run

You better make your face up in your favourite disguise
With your button down lips and your roller blind eyes
With your empty smile and your hungry heart
Feel the bile rising from your guilty past
With your nerves in tatters when the cockleshell shatters
And the hammers batter down the door
You better run

Run, run, run, run
Run, run, run, run
Run, run, run, run
Run, run, run, run

You better run all day and run all night
And keep your dirty feelings deep inside
And if you’re takin’ your girlfriend out tonight
You better park the car well out of sight
‘Cos if they catch you in the back seat tryin’ to pick her locks
They’re gonna send you back to mother in a cardboard box
You better run

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

January 1, 2020: Well, it’s been 10 years since mankind was struck with The Seering pandemic, and although it ran it’s course in less than 6 months time, it cost the lives of nearly 90% of the worlds population and has taken all of the time since it ended for us to reach anything like a genuine recovery. While no one truly knows if the pandemic was man-made, a freak of nature, or divine retribution, mankind has nevertheless been dramatically moved by the experience. For now at least, the global society we live in will not tolerate the lies and deceit that had left us so vulnerable to destruction at our own hands. And this reporter, for one, prays that we remain steadfast in that resolve.

Note: In case any thinks this idea was inspired by the new Flash Forward series on TV, you’ll find that I wrote about my idea back in Me No Know KeyMoSobbi – Part 2 – Item 3. But I’ve been thinking about it for a long time.

I want ice water.

Does Free Will Exist or Not? -by Anil Ananthaswamy

I really want your opinions about this very controversial issue please :

In 1983, neuroscientist Benjamin Libet asked volunteers wearing scalp electrodes to flex a finger or wrist. When they did, the movements were preceded by a dip in the signals being recorded, called the “readiness potential”. Libet interpreted this RP as the brain preparing for movement.

Crucially, the RP came a few tenths of a second before the volunteers said they had decided to move. Libet concluded that unconscious neural processes determine our actions before we are ever aware of making a decision.

Since then, others have quoted the experiment as evidence that free will is an illusion – a conclusion that was always controversial, particularly as there is no proof the RP represents a decision to move.

Sound decisions

Long sceptical of Libet’s interpretation, Jeff Miller and Judy Trevena of the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand, attempted to tease apart what prompts the RP using a similar experiment, with a key twist.

They also used scalp electrodes, but instead of letting their volunteers decide when to move, Miller and Trevena asked them to wait for an audio tone before deciding whether to tap a key. If Libet’s interpretation were correct, Miller reasoned, the RP should be greater after the tone when a person chose to tap the key.

While there was an RP before volunteers made their decision to move, the signal was the same whether or not they elected to tap. Miller concludes that the RP may merely be a sign that the brain is paying attention and does not indicate that a decision has been made.

Miller and Trevena also failed to find evidence of subconscious decision-making in a second experiment. This time they asked volunteers to press a key after the tone, but to decide on the spot whether to use their left or right hand. As movement in the right limbs is related to the brain signals in the left hemisphere and vice versa, they reasoned that if an unconscious process is driving this decision, where it occurs in the brain should depend on which hand is chosen. But they found no such correlation.

Paradigm shift

Marcel Brass of Ghent University in Belgium says it is wrong to use Miller and Trevena’s results to reinterpret Libet’s experiment, in which volunteers were not prompted to make a decision. The audio tone “changes the paradigm”, so the two can’t be compared, he says. What’s more, in 2008, he and his colleagues detected patterns in brain activity that predicted better than chance whether or not a subject would press a key, before they were aware of making a decision.

But Frank Durgin, a psychologist at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania, says that Brass’s results do “seem to undermine Libet’s preferred interpretation”, though they don’t contradict it outright.

Anil Ananthaswamy / Source: New Scientist

The Ugly Publishing Truth

Here is the reality of the publishing business:

‘…the publishing industry treats writers like shit on their shoes.

The price you pay for being a writer is high.’ – James Frey

A Guest Post by James N. Frey — You Won’t Want to Miss This. This is a post from: Larry Brooks at storyfix.com

Cultural Shift: Generations, Race, Technology –by Benjamin Steele

Admin note: This is just the first part of this article. You can visit Mr. Steele’s weblog for the whole:

I’ve been thinking about society in terms of cultural shifts. I sense we’re in the midst of a shift or several shifts combined. Three main factors have come to mind. I was thinking about racial conflicts in the US (in particular in my own small midwestern town), there is of course a lot going on with technology as the information age is just starting to hit its stride (is the industrial age ended yet?), and the ever so fun topic of generations. Here is some of what I came across, but I plan on doing much more research.

– – -

The first article is quite interesting. It’s about the US shifting towards a new racial majority. I was discussing this yesterday with somone in the comments of my local paper’s website. They challenged my assertion that this shift was supposed to happen so soon. It’s always hard to say with predictions, but I’d think the Census Bureau would be fairly accurate. It does seem that I was partially correct in that the shift will happen with the younger generation within the next decade or so. I’ve heard that already for Gen Y race isn’t much of an issue. I was a Gen Xer in the South and in the 1990s bi-racial dating was acceptable.

However, in many small midwestern towns, race was never an issue in the past because some people grew up never or rarely seeing anyone who wasn’t white. My town is a relatively more racially diverse town (still as a college town the other races tended to be of a higher class such as wealthy people from other countries), but is only now feeling the the full impact of Chicago’s overflow (increasing inner city population?). Crime has increased and the population in general has increased. Even though there is more gang activity, I suspect that the crime is as much a result of cultural conflict as anything else. It’s hard to know what is causing what with changes in various factors: race, poverty, crime, culture, racial tensions, downward turn of economy, etc. I somehow doubt that the conflict going on in my town is simply a local issue and instead probably connects to the shifts going on in the entire country.

The End of White America? by Hua Hsu (The Atlantic)

Whether you describe it as the dawning of a post-racial age or just the end of white America, we’re approaching a profound demographic tipping point. According to an August 2008 report by the U.S. Census Bureau, those groups currently categorized as racial minorities—blacks and Hispanics, East Asians and South Asians—will account for a majority of the U.S. population by the year 2042. Among Americans under the age of 18, this shift is projected to take place in 2023, which means that every child born in the United States from here on out will belong to the first post-white generation.

Obviously, steadily ascending rates of interracial marriage complicate this picture, pointing toward what Michael Lind has described as the “beiging” of America. And it’s possible that “beige Americans” will self-identify as “white” in sufficient numbers to push the tipping point further into the future than the Census Bureau projects. But even if they do, whiteness will be a label adopted out of convenience and even indifference, rather than aspiration and necessity. [...] To take the most obvious example, whiteness is no longer a precondition for entry into the highest levels of public office. The son of Indian immigrants doesn’t have to become “white” in order to be elected governor of Louisiana. A half-Kenyan, half-Kansan politician can self-identify as black and be elected president of the United States.

As a purely demographic matter, then, the “white America” that Lothrop Stoddard believed in so fervently may cease to exist in 2040, 2050, or 2060, or later still. But where the culture is concerned, it’s already all but finished. Instead of the long-standing model of assimilation toward a common center, the culture is being remade in the image of white America’s multiethnic, multicolored heirs.

For some, the disappearance of this centrifugal core heralds a future rich with promise. In 1998, President Bill Clinton, in a now-famous address to students at Portland State University, remarked:

Today, largely because of immigration, there is no majority race in Hawaii or Houston or New York City. Within five years, there will be no majority race in our largest state, California. In a little more than 50 years, there will be no majority race in the United States. No other nation in history has gone through demographic change of this magnitude in so short a time … [These immigrants] are energizing our culture and broadening our vision of the world. They are renewing our most basic values and reminding us all of what it truly means to be American.

Not everyone was so enthused. Clinton’s remarks caught the attention of another anxious Buchanan—Pat Buchanan, the conservative thinker. Revisiting the president’s speech in his 2001 book, The Death of the West, Buchanan wrote: “Mr. Clinton assured us that it will be a better America when we are all minorities and realize true ‘diversity.’ Well, those students [at Portland State] are going to find out, for they will spend their golden years in a Third World America.”

Personal Privacy – A Dangerous Concept! –by Tech Thoughts

September 21, 2009 · 5 Comments

It seems rather strange to think of privacy as a dangerous concept. But governments, worldwide, would have you believe that it is, and generally have been highly effective in convincing their citizens that privacy has limited individual benefits. Moreover, governments have been successful, in large part, in convincing people that too much privacy has serious social and security implications.

To experience this erosion of individual privacy in action all you need do is walk anywhere, drive anywhere, and you will be recorded with, or without, your knowledge or permission. Your behavior and your activities will be noted, and in many instances stored for later retrieval. You need go no further than your own home town.

Police in London, England, despite its thousands of CCTV cameras, estimated last year that just 3% of crimes were solved by CCTV. All the while however, restrictions on invasion of individual privacy were thrown out the window. Despite this lack of effectiveness, London continues to add more cameras.

Virtually ever method of communication, including telephones and computers, can be, and are in fact, monitored by governments for “trigger” words or phrases. Web sites, email chats, and VOIP conversations are monitored for “suspicious” conversations, or activities.

It seems that most people (particularly younger people), have come to terms with living in this climate of little or no privacy; of uber surveillance – since we have been conditioned to believe that there is nothing we can do to change this reality.

The aftermath of September 11, 2001, has guaranteed that resistance to the government enforced surveillance society we now live in, is viewed with suspicion and hostility. Not only by government, but by individuals themselves. We are now the dogs in a Pavlovian experience – conditioning works.

I count myself amongst those who are genuinely concerned that the massive amounts of government data collection presents threats to our civil liberties and human rights – with good reason, I believe.

The idea that social control in the guise of patriotism, enhancement of security, and the protection of democracy is effective, is not new. Propaganda is a well established tool used to convince people to subvert their own best interests.

Those who are aware of history, a diminishing percentage of the population it seems to me, are familiar with Joseph Goebbels. Goebbels’s skillful use of propaganda ( a lie by any other name), helped Adolf Hitler acquire and maintain power, leading ultimately to World War 2.

In the final analysis, allowing government unrestricted control of our lives has proven, and will prove once again, to be disastrous. Thomas Jefferson, 200 years ago, had something to say on this issue of government power when he stated, “Experience hath shewn, that even under the best forms of government those entrusted with power have, in time, and by slow operations, perverted it into tyranny”.

The continuing erosion of our right to privacy cannot lead to a positive outcome. Democracy, as many of us have defined it in the past, is undergoing profound changes as we stand by and watch; participants in our own demise.

K and K 2009 Rematch

Since I consider Chess as an art (of war), I decided to ‘guest post’ this here. Kasparov and Karpov will renew their rivalry, which started stormy ‘politically’ and personally in 1985, at Spain starting today.

Dragged Down By The Stone -by Izaakmak

This is the message Mak sent me which I consider a preface or intro to the post. I just love this guy’s humor:

Hey there,

Do you have some sort of comment time-out on the Plato on-line blog? I was trying to get caught up a little when I found that I couldn’t comment on certain older posts, starting with “So Really Now- Yahoo or Gmail or…?.” The issues of poorly written code and “God-like” assumptions of what’s best for the user are particular pet peeves of mine. There were a couple of posts just prior to that one that raised my hackles as well.

Speaking of Plato, have you ever considered the irony, considering my status as a philosopher wannabe, of my having withdrawn into this “cave” to “reflect” on the apparently unexplainable world outside? Personally, I think that’s funny as hell. That is if you can ever consider “hell” funny. That’s a play on my blog’s by-line.

Lastly, I’d like to suggest Dragged Down By The Stone for the Wp Writer’s Group. I was thinking about expressing my outrage at how the government, the media, and advertisers treat us like dumb animals to be (mis)lead to slaughter, when I realized that I had already covered that issue from a much broader perspective. Besides, I think it’s funny too.

Later,

Mak

The post:

March 20, 2009

In the late 70’s, during my first attempt at “higher education,” I wrote an essay on how I thought that Pink Floyd’s Animals album was an accurate reflection of our modern world.

Sadly, I don’t have a copy to share with you today. I do, however, find it sweetly ironic that now, some thirty-two years later, the Pigs are in the air with no place to land while the Dogs are in a drop-dead panic because the Sheep are on the rampage.

Please allow me to translate into language more suitable for “modern” thought:

The Dogs are those well-trained individuals who work so hard to squeeze every penny of profit they can out of the system we (the people) provide at the behest of the Pigs.

The Pigs are those whom we (the people), for one reason or another, have granted “positions of authority” in our lives. While the Pigs are mainly elected officials, all those who are looked to for leadership and guidance fall into this category as well.

The Sheep includes pretty much everyone who are not Dogs or Pigs, including the wannabes.

Now it is possible for a member of one group to move into another. And because of the “special” nature of this wonder-land we live in, it is even possible for a player to exist in more than one group at the same time. Isn’t that cool?

Sadly though, there is trouble on the board. Paradise has turned into a ball of confusion. The Sheep are out for the Dogs blood now that they’ve realized their true place on the food chain. The Dogs are begging the Pigs to bail them out now that their victims are circling around with leash/noose in hand. And the Pigs are fluttering about like wounded ducks while simultaneously wagging their fingers at the Dogs and crying for the Sheep to show more of that “patience” they’re so famous for.

As Pink Floyd sang:

“Now it’s too late to lose the weight you used to need to throw around
So have a good drown
As you go down
All alone
Dragged down by the stone.”

How unfortunate it is that the “you” in that prose might well be all of us. Sometimes I envy the dinosaurs. At least they didn’t know what hit ‘em.

I want ice water. Update 3/20/09

I decided to update this article after watching John Oliver’s (The Daily Show) stand-up performance on Comedy Central. With his being British, and with Pink Floyd being British, and with my fascination with that British accent (I think in a British accent at times don’t you know), it just seemed appropriate that I include his closing thoughts as an update to this article.

John, and his comic “scientist” sidekick, made the point that perhaps the reason the U.S. isn’t working harder to solve the problems of the world is because, according to the rules of this crazy competition, the “winner” of the game is the country that is on top when the world ends. Well now, being the die-hard and fatalistic American patriot that I am, I’m obligated to consider that perhaps this is a good thing. It’s just a damned shame that no one will be around to celebrate our glorious achievement.

But, again, being the die-hard and fatalistic American patriot that I am, I am also unwilling to give up on fame and fortune – regardless of the cost! Perhaps we can leave some sort of Great American Monument to brag about said achievement for future alien visitors to find and be awed by. Won’t that just wipe the smirk right off their proud, little, grey, planet-hopping faces!

Categories:
Pink Floyd, economics, games, humor, lyrics, music, politics

No Olson’s Editing for Free –satire

Here is an example of what you will get if you try to get free advice from Olson so beware:

‘Josh Olson is a professional screenwriter, and his time and experience are money. So just as the author of A History of Violence wouldn’t ask you to “represent me in fucking court, or take out my fucking gallbladder,” please, don’t ask him to give you advice on your screenplay. “I will not read your fucking script,” he writes in the Village Voice—because you’re probably no good, and he’ll feel obligated to tell you.
‘It’s also a point of pride. “Everybody can write, right?” So aspiring ink-stained wretches “don’t regard working screenwriters with any kind of real respect” and “will hand you a piece of inept writing without a second thought.” Olson considers it “cruel to encourage the hopeless,” and he’ll be glad to dispel your delusions so “you’ll be free to pursue your real talent.” If you’re lucky, you know what that is. “The unlucky ones keep on writing shitty screenplays and asking me to read them.”’
—Harry Kimball SOURCE: Village Voice

Olson might be harsh and satiric but truth is almost always too.