I am working on a couple of books right now. One is an update of something I wrote in the past and the other is something new. It took me a long time to realize that the writing process is really about rewriting.

The posts I share here I consider first drafts. They aren't as developed and refined as published work should be. It was only recently that I acknowledged that the first attempt isn't going to be perfect. That the ideas will develop.

I spent too much time focused on system as opposed to action and now is the time to change that.

A lot of people believe that they have been appointed the official spokesperson for a group. Even better, sometimes they aren't even part of that group that the are trying to speak on behalf of.

We see this a lot with talking heads about the military and veterans. There is no one opinion in the military. As most people who have served will tell you a tremendous amount of time is spent discussing and debating opinions. While there are some common factors there are also a lot of differences.

I enlisted in the Army in my thirties, having lived six years overseas and having held two senior level jobs. My worldview was different than the person I traveled to basic training with that had never been on an airplane.

Even if you are part of a group it doesn't grant you the authority to speak for that group. We all have a voice and need to remember that is what we are using when sharing opinions. Our voice.

I appreciate when people put little clues into their Twitter bios. Things like Red X marks, references to Q, declaring themselves a patriot and more let me know that they aren't someone really worth listening to.

However, the one that makes most clear to me that they are just a blind follower and have no idea what being a free or independent thinker really means.

If you are really a free thinker it will be shown in your tweets instead of needing to declare it.

I started a Substack that I wrote daily on for the month of January. It was the first time I completed a full month of writing and sharing thoughts. I have been having an internal debate as to whether I should continue the practice.

I think for now I will continue it but be posting daily here on Listed. I will use the Substack for more detailed posts but be writing here on a daily basis for now.

Why two places? Becuase I want a place to be able to write in public but also don't want to stress having to publish something detailed each day. Writing in Standard Notes, I feel less pressure and a way to express myself in a variety of ways. In addition to publishing thoughts I am looking to experiment with some fiction and other types of writing.

I will share updates on how this progresses.

The task of the totalitarian propagandist is to build special pictures in the minds of the citizenry so that finally they will no longer see and hear with their own eyes and ears but will look at the world through the fog of official catchwords and will develop the automatic responses appropriate to totalitarian mythology.
- A.M. Merloo, The Rape of the Mind

This is what many are trying to do with words like "deep state" and "dossier"

Politicians and other propagandists do this with phrases such as deep state and hijacking terms such as collusion or transcript. The goal is to make it easier for people to not use their brain and just follow along with whatever they are told.

Once the mind is conditioned, like those that get all of their news from certain sources, it becomes harder for people to think for themselves.

In order to maintain a free country it is important that each person forms their own thoughts and makes their own decisions.

Do you remember that in classical times when Cicero had finished speaking, the people said, "How well he spoke" but when Demosthenes had finished speaking, they said, "Let us march."
-Adlai Stevenson

If you spend enough time online you will see that people are more concerned about being told how well they tweet. It is less about getting others to take action and actually solve problems than it is about having the most likes or retweets.

If your message stops at likes then has it really served a purpose? You need to get others to actually take action.

Veteran's Day is a wonderful way to thank veterans and it is great to see appreciation for the sacrifices made. But there are a lot of things that happen throughout the year that actually disrespect the sacrifice made.

If you want to show your thanks and appreciation here are some things to do.

Don't speak for Veterans. 

We see people who have never served talking about what disrespects veterans. No veteran is in a place to speak for all others and if someone hasn't served they are in no place to determine what is offensive.

We see this when people abuse photos of wounded or fallen soldiers to spread their political message. Or talk about how someone exercising their freedom of speech or expression is offensive to veterans.

If you haven't served, don't try to speak for veterans.

Stop Thinking All Veterans are the Same

As America is a diverse country so are the people that serve and have served in the Armed Forces. There are Christians, Jews, Muslims, Atheists, Wiccans, and more. There are immigrants and there are people who can trace their ancestry back to the Pilgrims.

There are Democrats, Republicans, Independents and people who don't even care about politics.

As there is no one American, there is no one Veteran.

Don't Judge Someone's Service Based on Their Politics

Either you respect people who served or you don't. If you are critical of their service because you disagree with their politics you show disrespect for all veterans.

Military service is one component of a person and doesn't define everything about them. 

Don't Use Veterans Only When Convenient

Politicians on both sides love to use Veterans whenever it is convenient for them but like to forget about them when it comes to benefits.

Be honest about it.

So, there are some ways you can actually show appreciation to Veterans.

The laws of logic have no action on crowds.
-Gustav Le Bon

Just look at the rallies that take place on a regular basis and you see that there is no logic being used. Those gathered just follow along with whatever is being said even when it makes no sense. Think like an individual and don't get dragged into the crowd.

Video and audio should not autoplay on your site. While I am not one for absolutes but along with never using Comic Sans, I would say autoplay does not have a place in a website. People may visit your site in a situation where they need to be discreet. Or maybe they have a sleeping child and are finally sitting down to look some things up and they get greeted by a loud sound.

Your website content should be able to stand on its own without sound or video, remember that people will be visiting your site who may not be able to hear or see and you need to account for this.

Please just don't use autoplay.

They live, we are likely to say, in different worlds . More accurately, they live in the same world, but they think and feel in different ones.
-Walter Lippman

This was true when it was written and even more so today. We see many people who are looking at the same issues in the world but the perspective is totally different.

He who dictates and formulates the words and phrases we use, he who is master of the press and radio, is master of the mind.

• A.M. Merloo, The Rape of the Mind

We have allowed words such as Deep State, collusion, and more enter our vocabularies and they are taking on their own existence.

We now see it with Quid Pro Quo and people being stuck on the term as opposed to the actual crimes.

If we let someone, in particular and authoritarian define terms we are giving them power.

A common theme that is coming up among government officials and law enforcement is the idea of encryption backdoors to allow law enforcement to access your data. These are extremely dangerous and citizens should do all they can to prevent government from requiring these.

Yes, there will be information that the government may not be able to access in an investigation, on the other hand there is no way to guarantee that any backdoor will not be abused. In addition, due to how encryption works any form of government backdoor could be exploited by hackers. To allow the government to be able to do what they want will weaken the security of the data.

For these reasons, it is best to use open source encryption tools that have been independently verified by security professionals. When you rely on a corporation such as Facebook for the encryption you do not know what weaknesses there may be.

Make sure to reach out to your elected officials and let them know to protect our rights to encryption.

If you are looking for a simple way to store some private notes check out Protected Text. It is a web-based app that is free and secure. The great thing about it is there is no registration so nothing can be linked to you.

It is a relatively simple application so more for some quick notes and thoughts and not a full note taking tool but very useful and they have no way to read your notes or even know what belongs to you.

You know you need to think about the prospect when creating a website or sales copy and what is important to them but are you really thinking about the action you need them to take?

Before you start any new project the first thing you must define is the goal you need to achieve. The finest prose or most advanced website will do nothing if it isn't driving the reader to action.

So before you start any project, define what success is to you.

That is a simple question you can ask yourself when you come across any news story these days or when you hear someone's political arguments. Instead of jumping to reaction take a moment and think for yourself.

Yes, it is easier to have others do the thinking for us, but there is a lot to be gained by taking a few moments and really looking at the source and applying logic to the idea.

While you may not be first to share something at least what you share will be accurate.