Why the Ominous Language?

I know it’s been some time since I (#blogger #blog #somseason #YA #authors) have written a blog post. Let me explain. Our daughter got married in March in Portugal, so that monopolized some of my time. We also bought a lake property and had lots of projects there to contend with, so that took up our summer. I know, these sound like excuses and you’re right, they are. The truth is, I needed a break from blogging. As they say, ‘You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink.” In other words, you can show someone the truth, but you can’t force them to explore or accept truth if they don’t want to. Or, as Danish theologian and philosopher, Soren Kierkegaard says, “There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn’t true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true.” New Thought self-help book author, W. Clement Stone, once said, “Truth will always be truth, regardless of lack of understanding, disbelief or ignorance.” The fact is, truth does not mind being questioned, but a lie does not like being challenged. It felt like I was beating a dead horse meaning I was wasting my time and effort trying to do something that is impossible, which is to wake up people to what is really going on. Anyway, I’m back.

I’ve been noticing a pattern lately when it comes to the weather. It seems that rain has become a flood warning. Snow has become a snow warning. Wind is now a tornado or hurricane warning. Summertime has become an extreme heat warning, and wintertime has become extreme cold alert. Even more, the language being used by meteorologists to describe weather phenomena has become very threatening, like the CBC news article, How can B.C. protect itself from the next atmospheric river? Or the NASA website’s report, Another Atmospheric River Hits British Columbia. I have never heard of atmospheric rivers until recently. In my day, we would say, “that was a downpour.”  The article, What are atmospheric rivers? says atmospheric rivers are relatively long, narrow regions in the atmosphere – like rivers in the sky. It says they come in many shapes and sizes, those that contain the largest amounts of water vapor and the strongest winds can create extreme rainfall and floods, often by stalling over watersheds vulnerable to flooding. There has always being heavy rains that caused flooding. Wikipedia reports that between the years 1900 and 2005 there were 241 flood disasters in Canada. Why weren’t atmospheric rivers to blame then?  Why the ominous language?

According to the Time Magazine article, ‘Bomb Cyclone’ and Other Weird Weather Words for Our Climate Change Era, Atmospheric Lakes –a term coined in 2021—are a thing. This article defines atmospheric lakes as “compact, slow-moving, moisture-rich pools” of water vapor that detach from atmospheric rivers to create their own smaller, slower weather system. Not sure if Atmospheric Lakes are real, but in my day we would call these of rains a “soaker.” Are they just trying to scare us?

Another strange weather expression I heard was regarding a storm in our neighbouring province of British Columbia (BC). I saw headlines such as, Another bomb cyclone heads for B.C. this weekend, but this will be different and Bomb cyclone: What is the weather phenomenon slamming B.C. and U.S.?  In my day, we would say, “that was a wicked storm,” but it was just another storm. The article, What are bomb cyclones and how do they form? defines a bomb cyclone as… “a mid-latitude cyclone that has rapidly intensifies.” A cyclone is a low-pressure weather system with winds rotating inward, counter clockwise in the northern hemisphere. According to Wikpedia, there have been many recorded Pacific hurricanes (tropical cyclones) since 1858. Seldom do they reach BC though. Why don’t they just say cyclone or hurricane instead of the scary-sounding weather term bomb cyclone?

Then there are Firenados, as in the CNN news article, California’s largest single wildfire spawned two massive firenados. According to the Time article, Firendados are a blend of fire and tornado, that is, flaming columns of rotating fire, often erupting during a wildfire (where else would they occur?) when intense heat rises and combines with turbulent winds up to 100 mph. I’ve heard about forest fires all my life, but never a Firenado. Weird! Is this just another weather term to scare us?

The article, The weirdest and rarest weather phenomena from around the world, talks about microbursts. Never heard of those as a kid. A microburst is a smaller version of a downburst, the opposite of a tornado.  The article claims instead of the wind pulling air to a central point and then sucking it up from the ground, a downburst drops the air and forces it out in all directions once it reaches the ground which can lead to a lot of strong winds emanating from a single point. Apparently, there are wet downbursts associated with large amounts of rainfall during a thunderstorm, while a microburst is the same but on a smaller scale. In my day, we’d say that was a wicked thunder storm, but you must admit, downbursts and microbursts sound a lot scarier.

Have you heard of a flash drought? I’ve heard of flash floods, but flash droughts? Come on, that seems a bit of a stretch. The Time Magazine article I sited earlier defines it as the “rapid onset or intensification of drought” when a period of lower-than-normal precipitation rates combines with extreme heat and wind. These typically develop quickly over the course of a month or less. We’d call these dry spells as a kid; a period of time when it didn’t rain in over a month, but let’s face it, a flash drought sounds more ominous.

Now the weather term—a term that quickly gained popularity with mainstream U.S. media—is “heatflation.” This term was coined to describe scenarios “when hot temperatures sent prices soaring.” Now droughts have always killed crops, and caused less food to be produced, but heatflation? Come on, that is just fear porn to support the climate change narrative.

Why all these scary weather terms? My answer is the climate change agenda. Climate change has always occurred and the narrative that we humans are causing it is a fraud. When government and corporate elites stop flying around in their private jets, which contributes much higher CO2 emissions than vehicles, then I’ll take climate change seriously. These weather terms are fear-mongering!

It was Adolf Hitler who said, “By means of shrewd lies, unremittingly repeated, it is possible to make people believe that heaven is hell – and hell heaven. The greater the lie, the more readily it will be believed.” He also said, “Tell a lie loud enough and long enough and people will believe it.” Remember, “A lie doesn’t become truth, wrong doesn’t become right, and evil doesn’t become good, just because it’s accepted by a majority.” American educator, author, Booker T. Washington said that.

They’ve been lying about humans triggering climate change for a long time. The article, Wrong Again: 50 Years of Failed Eco-pocalyptic Predictions says in the 1970’s, we were told an ice age was coming, and oil reserves would run out. In the 1980s there were dire warnings about ozone depletion. In the 1990s global warming, due to the Greenhouse Effect, would cause long hot summers and droughts. In the 2000s we were warned of melting arctic ice and rising sea levels. Well, none of it happened. It’s all to keep us fearful; bullying (#bullying, #antibullying) really to get us to pay things like carbon taxes as Trudeau imposed on Canadians. In fact, at the 2023 COP28 Summit, Africa proposed global carbon taxes to fight climate change.

Yes, I know I sound like one of those crazy conspiracy theorists, and you probably think I believe weather is manipulated. Yet it is interesting that there is a company called Weather Modification and that there are Eight American States Seeding Clouds to Overcome Megadrought. Explain that.

The author of 1984 and Animal Farm, George Orwell said, “In a time of universal deceit – telling the truth is a revolutionary act.” Being called a conspiracy theorist is actually a complement to me as a conspiracy theorist is someone who figures out the truth before most people do. “You must always be willing to truly consider evidence that contradicts your beliefs, and admit the possibility that you may be wrong. Intelligence isn’t knowing everything, it’s the ability to challenge everything you know.”  Author unknown. Sometimes pride gets in the way of seeking truth.

Why the Controversy?

I (#blogger #blog #somseason #YA #authors) have been hearing about the movie ‘Sound of Freedom’ for a while now, and being that it is playing in a nearby theatre, my wife and I went to see it. This movie is ‘eye opening’ and emotionally moving. No one can see this movie without being affected, especially since it is based on a true story.

This movie tells the true story of Tim Ballard, who was a special agent for the Department of Homeland Security, who was moved to quit the agency and launch a non-profit organization. The organization is called Operation Underground Railroad and is devoted to fighting child sex trafficking throughout the world. In case you haven’t seen it, here is the trailer.

What I find interesting is that the movie was made in 2018, was supposed to be released by Fox the following year, but Disney bought the studio and shelved the movie. Why would the Disney Corporation shelve the movie? Is Disney trying to prevent people from seeing it? That is my conclusion. There is no other logical reason. Yahoo News has an article entitled, Why Are So Many People Are Against The ‘Sound Of Freedom’ Movie — Despite The Very Real Issue It Covers? That’s a good question. I am baffled. Why are people—especially Legacy or Mainstream Media—against a movie that is based on a true story and is about child sex trafficking? They should be encouraging people to see the movie, not the opposite.

Celebrities like singer Jewel and actor/director Mel Gibson are among those to publicly embrace the film and encourage fans to go see it. Donald Trump also has endorsed the movie. Perhaps that is why Forbes wrote an article entitled: Here Are The Right-Wing Figures—From Donald Trump To Steve Bannon—Championing Surprise Hit ‘Sound Of Freedom’. The movie seems to be labeled as ‘Right Wing.”  According to Deffin, the differences between left-wing and right-wing ideologies center around the rights of individuals verses the power of the government. Left-wing ideology believes society is best served with an expanded role for the government whereas right-wing ideologies advocate for individual rights. Is Mainstream Media against individual freedom since they are bashing the Sound of Freedom movie?

Slate, a daily magazine on the web and podcast network writes about How Sound of Freedom Misrepresents Its Subject—and Why the Movie Is So Seductive, saying the movie is the exact point where a legitimate problem and dangerous conspiracy theory meet. Need I remind you that according to Paul Craig Roberts, chairman of the Institute for Political Economy, the term “Conspiracy Theory” was invented by the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) in order to prevent disbelief of official government stories.

Let me refresh your memory with an example. The mainstream media pushed the narrative that the COVID-19 vaccines were safe and effective and anyone who believed otherwise was ridiculed as a conspiracy theorist. Big Pharma has now admitted that their COVID-19 vaccines can cause serious blood clots and that the vaccines don’t stop transmission. I wrote about this in a previous blog. Those alleging COVID vaccines were dangerous, opposing the official government narrative, were accused of promoting conspiracy theory, yet as it turned out, they were speaking truth. ‘Conspiracy theory’ is an overused term used to demonize those who negate the official government storylines.

Legacy media is also trying to discredit the movie, Sound of Freedom. Yahoo’s article, Why Right-Wing Conspiracy Theorists Are Embracing ‘Sound of Freedom’, also connects the movie to conspiracy. Toronto Star’s article,  Sound of Freedom: Why a film about human trafficking is accused of trafficking in QAnon conspiracies does as well. According to the BBC article, QAnon: What is it and where did it come from?QAnon is a wide-ranging, completely unfounded theory that says that President Trump is waging a secret war against elite Satan-worshipping paedophiles in government, business and the media.” The Washington Post makes this claim as well in its article, ‘Sound of Freedom’ is a box office hit whose star embraces QAnon, as does the Guardian who says, Sound of Freedom: the QAnon-adjacent thriller seducing America.

Some media is more derogatory. Yahoo news says the  ‘Sound Of Freedom’ Is a Superhero Movie for Dads With Brainworms. That’s insulting, especially since I am a dad. Watch the CNN News Clip bash the movie.  Listen as CBC Radio columnist, Rad Simonpillai, who says the movie is “a dog whistle for xenophobic Pro-Trump, Pro-Life types.” The Rolling Stone article, Why Anti-Trafficking Experts Are Torching ‘Sound of Freedom’ says the movie offers a “false perception” of child trafficking that experts worry could further harm the real victims. Who are these experts? There is little doubt for me that Legacy media is trying to prevent people from seeing the movie. Why? Are they trying to hide something? Truth perhaps?

Some people wanting to see the movie claim they are being prevented from seeing it, as the New York Post says ‘Sound of Freedom’ audience claims: Theaters sabotage showings. Why would theatres sabotage showings by forgetting to dim the lights, turning off the air conditioning in theaters, or effecting an emergency evacuation.

Yet, despite this ‘Sound of Freedom’ is now PROFITABLE while Disney’s Box Office Bombs AGAIN! It has reached a Box Office Milestone: ‘Sound of Freedom’ Crosses $100M in U.S. Why is that? Something about this movie draws people to see it. Maybe others are like me, as I choose to draw my own conclusions about the movie. I stopped listening to Legacy media three years ago.

I for one, think everyone should see this movie because human trafficking is bullying  (#bullying, #antibullying) of the evilest kind. Tim Ballard says to someone in the film that child sex trafficking is rarely discussed because it’s “too ugly for polite conversation.” It is an ugly topic. The International Labour Organization (ILO) says forced labour generates annual profits of US$ 150 billion (source). The movie claims human trafficking is a 150-billion-dollar a year operation. That’s shocking!

Tim Ballard, in the movie also said, “Do you know there are 22 million new images of child porn on the internet? That’s up 5,000% from just 5 years ago. 5000%.” Ballard says, “It’s [child trafficking] already surpassed the illegal weapons trade, and soon it will surpass the drug trade. Do you know why? You can sell a bag of cocaine once. A 5-year-old child, you can sell them 5-10 times a day, for 10 years straight.” In one of the movie’s most powerful scenes, Tim says, “God’s children are not for sale.”  Yet, there are those you don’t want you to know this.

One of the statements made in the film that left me speechless is: “In 2023, there are more people enslaved than in any time in history, many of those are children.”  According to ILO, 50 million people worldwide live in modern slavery (source). My intuition tells me the number is much higher.

A definition of human trafficking is the act of recruiting, harboring, transporting, providing or obtaining a person for compelled labor or commercial sex acts through the use of force, fraud or coercion. Human Trafficking Search (HTS) seeks to raise awareness and help prevent and eliminate human trafficking worldwide. According to them, there are six types of human trafficking

  1. Sex trafficking and child sex trafficking
  2. Forced labour
  3. Debt Bondage
  4. Forced child labour
  5. Involuntary domestic servitude
  6. Unlawful recruitment and use of child soldiers

William Wilberforce, a British politician, philanthropist and a leader of the movement to abolish the slave trade once said, “You may choose to look the other way but you can never say again that you did not know.” I couldn’t have said it better myself. It was Condoleezza Rice who said, “Defeating human trafficking is a great moral calling of our time…”  You can no longer “stick your head in the sand” meaning you can no longer pretend that human trafficking does not exist.

Human trafficking is modern day slavery and it is a world-wide problem. We live under the illusion that slavery is illegal—which it is—and no longer exists. It may be “too ugly for polite conversation,” but it is a topic that must be talked about. That is the sole purpose of the movie. The first step to solving any problem is awareness. Start by going to this movie. Educate yourselves. Formulate your own opinions and stop listening to what others tell you. It is time for you to think for yourself and do you part in making this a better world for our children.