Category: Musings

Why Post the Hatemail?

Posted on by Jeff Cassman

As I’ve mentioned before, I get a lot of hatemail, and occasionally threats. The threats don’t bother me because the dangerous people act, rather than threaten.

I post the best of the hatemail for several reasons, first, it’s entertainment. Secondly, it serves as a benchmark of sorts; whenever I am wondering if *I* am the crazy one, I re-read them for reference. Finally, it’s an act of charity, a sort of prod to repentance and conversion for the guilty parties. I hope that when the offenders see their words posted in public for all to see that their humiliation will move them to contrition and repentance.

So yesterday when I received a PM from one such offender asking me to remove his diatribe from my site, I was hopeful that there was some element of this tertiary reasoning at work.

Nope.

He called me the devil and claimed I supported abortion, then said he was contacting an attorney because my posting of his public comments amounted to defamation.

Page updated with the latest.… Read the rest

Arrogance and Ignorance

Posted on by Jeff Cassman

If you are unmarried and not a parent you should probably think twice about telling a husband of 25 years and father of 14 children that he’s doing everything wrong and doesn’t understand women and the formation of children.

I get it; you might be right about everything, and I might be wrong about everything, your distance and lack of experience may give you a clarity of understanding and a wisdom my intimate familiarity prevents, and my perpetual error may blind me to the reality such that I see good where only evil exists, and my errant perception of my success to date may in fact be delusion which turns what I perceive as virtuous fortitude into irrational stubbornness, but the odds very much lean towards your manifestation of the Dunning-Krueger Syndrome, or as one old friend of mine says, “Arrogance and ignorance are a lethal combination”.

… Read the rest

Misinformation Dominates the Media

Posted on by Jeff Cassman

Those of you who don’t work in the media, or in PR or advertising are likely unaware of how carefully and strategically the news is planned, delivered and managed. Even those who have some sense of how misinformation, disinformation and simple ‘Fake News’ dominate the information we are exposed to lack the critical thinking abilities or the time to investigate and discern.

So just look at this meme and apply it to every story you read, hear or see, all the time, regardless of the source. If you approach these things with skepticism, especially where the ‘reporting’ involves accusations against a person or institution you’ll be right more often than not.… Read the rest

Schrödinger’s Sock

Posted on by Jeff Cassman

For more than 20 years I’ve wondered how my Wife manages to lose so many socks. It’s so bad, we have a large laundry basket overflowing with nothing but socks which have no match.

Think about that…it must be hundreds, perhaps thousands of orphan socks.

How does this happen? I mean, you take the socks from the basket, into the washer, then to the dryer, and then back out again. What’s so complicated about it?

Yesterday I did my own laundry for the first time in many years. I’ve been on the road for more than a week and it simply couldn’t be avoided.

I loaded the washing machine with two black t-shirts, three pair of black boxer shorts, two pair of navy dress socks, one pair of black dress socks and three pair of black athletic socks.

It’s a small load, so what could go wrong?

After I pulled the clothes out of the dryer, I found that I was short one navy dress sock and one black athletic sock.

Out of 12 socks, two were missing.

I checked the dryer, and then the washer, and then the area around the machine, and then the basket, and then the path from my room in the condo to the machines.

Nothing.

I guess when I get home tomorrow, I’ll check the bastard sock basket.… Read the rest

About that Blackmail…

Posted on by Jeff Cassman

Three weeks ago I posted an article about how I was being blackmailed and how I advised others to deal with it.

Today I saw that the richest man in the world was being blackmailed:


Something unusual happened to me yesterday. Actually, for me it wasn’t just unusual — it was a first. I was made an offer I couldn’t refuse. Or at least that’s what the top people at the National Enquirer thought. I’m glad they thought that, because it emboldened them to put it all in writing. Rather than capitulate to extortion and blackmail, I’ve decided to publish exactly what they sent me, despite the personal cost and embarrassment they threaten.

I don’t pretend that Mr. Bezos is one of the 11 people who read this blog, but I must say that it appears his strategy is precisely the same that I recommended, viz,:

  1. Confront your fear and accept the possible/likely consequences
  2. Involve legal counsel
  3. Involve law enforcement (if appropriate)
  4. Go public fast

It seems Mr. Bezos may have made some terrible personal choices and stands to lose tens of billions of dollars for it, but at least he didn’t respond like a coward when threatened. As he wrote, “If in my position I can’t stand up to this kind of extortion, how many people can?”

This is what’s known as ‘Courage in a crisis’.… Read the rest