Farrugia, Nathan M.: The Seraphim Sequence (The Fifth Column II)

2014-11-05 humanitysdarkerside 3 Comments

The Seraphim Sequence - Nathan M Farrugia

The main question in The Seraphim Sequence seems to be “who is really on Sophia’s side” in her battle against the Fifth Column. She trusts five people. These are Jay, Damian, Nasira and Benito. Her hero is Freeman, the leader of the Akhana. Anyone else is questionable in her mind, although there are a couple who seem to grow on her. Feeling as though you are able to trust as many as five people, considering Sophia’s background, is actually pretty good.

A group of psychopaths deciding the way the world is run doesn’t seem that far-fetched to me. At one point in the story Jay even feels as though he is in a Dan Brown story to which Damien responds “Please don’t make this any worse than it has to be,”. Jay does his best to keep the fighting off them, but a Farrugia novel will not leave its characters in peace. I can only hope that the main characters survive Mr. Farrugia’s clever pen.

Sophia is still dealing with her guilt regarding the 400 million women she inadvertently caused to die horrific deaths. Therein lies the difference between Sophia and the pscyhopaths, like Cecilia and Denton, that have been and are in charge. One has regrets and one does not. On one point, I will give the psychopaths their due. One of them states that being relieved of feelings of guilt would make Sophia more efficient. That is true. Guilt does slow a person down. It makes us rethink our options and try to find less destructive ones – for the people we wish to save. Destruction for the other side should be as complete as possible. Maybe we are all psychopaths to one degree or another.

There is a lot of action and plenty of fun weapons that aren’t too terribly different to what is available today. The weapons that do deviate are within the realm of possibility – at least they are to my non-weapon knowledgeable mind.

Definitely recommended.

Reviews:

The Seraphim Sequence available on Kindle

My review of The Chimera Vector

Can Genes be Turned on and Off in Cells?

DNA building blocks can be made in space, NASA

Human Genome is Part Bonavirus, Tina Hesman Saey

Microwave Mind Control, Tim Rafat

No, diatoms have not been found in a meteorite, Phil Plait

Pseudogenes (from Farrugia’s website)

The Psychology of the Mob Mentality, Nicola Davies

The Roots of Evil by Erwin Staub

Autism / Aspergers

The agenda around gender in Autism

2014-11-05 humanitysdarkerside 1 Comment

“The chief psychiatrist told my parents that I couldn’t have Autism as I was sensitive, and didn’t like maths or trains and most of all, I didn’t fit the limited number of Aspies this man had treated, all of whom were boys. I gained a diagnosis of Borderline Personality Disorder – apparently a very common misdiagnosis for Asperwomen, and spent the next few years being told how dysregulated my emotions were and what a nasty manipulative little attention-seeking borderline I was.”

YennPurkis

I am an Autistic woman. I was diagnosed with Asperger syndrome in 1994, a time when few people outside of a select group of mental health professionals knew anything about the more ‘Aspie’ part of the Autism spectrum.

When I got my diagnosis, I was told that being a woman with Autism was really rare. Most people on the Autism spectrum were boys. They lacked empathy, they did’t understand nonverbal cues, they couldn’t hold conversations, they were kind of flawed geniuses and liked maths and physics. Oh, and they all liked trains apparently, or trams and buses if they were a bit atypical. Of all these attributes, none of them involved people with Asperger’s being girls. Girls on the spectrum were – according to psychiatric wisdom – an anomaly. So I was an anomaly amongst anomalies and nobody knew anything about how to make my life better. I didn’t take…

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Science

Aaronson, E.; Wilson, T.D. & Akert, RM: Social Psychology

2014-11-04 humanitysdarkerside Leave a comment

Social Psychology - Aronson Wilson Akert

Social Psychology by Elliot Aronson (University of California, Santa Cruz), Timothy D. Wilson (University of Virginia) and Robin M. Akert (Wellesley College) is one of the books that has made the greatest difference in my life. In fact, I would call it the “great eye-opener” for me, enabling me to acknowledge my own right to truth. An immensely painful journey was what lay ahead of me, one that went against what I had previously thought true. Of course, this did not happen solely due to Social Psychology, but Social Psychology was what enabled me to ask the right questions about the world.

As you might have guessed from the title, Social Psychology is a book about social psychology. It happens to be meant for students taking psychology classes and costs a whole lot. The version I have, is the second edition published in 1997. The current edition is the eight and updated from my older one.

Today I just added a few trailers and films to the left sidebar. From my own observations and the examples in Social Psychology getting ourselves to see another person as “other” allows us to accept and do unto others actions we would not so easily accept being done or doing to our own people. We/them, people/objects, worthy/unworthy or good/evil labels added to other people allows us to rationalize what we do and accept. Some of the experiments that illustrate this gave results that were somewhat surprising at the time. The famous Stanford prison experiment showed how seemingly decent people did terrible things to others given the right circumstances. Stanley Milgram and his team showed how far people were willing to go in hurting others given a uniform was present.

I doubt being autistic/aspergian makes it any easier/worse to discover how convoluted human thinking is. At first I resisted, then I observed and read some more. Eventually, I had to accept that I was no different than others, and that acceptance has made it slightly easier to recognize what is going when it happens and to adjust my own actions. And when I rationalize, am being a hypocrite or join in group thinking something goes off in my brain and I am able to decide whether I want to continue the behavior.

Perhaps the greatest advantage to being aspergian (at least a highly functioning one) shows itself in what happened once I realized that the authors of Social Psychology might be correct. We go off on tangents in our lives and become extremely interested in something. I need the written word. Television and films often overwhelm me. But books and the computer screen are fine. So I read A LOT. Which is what I did and do regarding social psychology processes.

Now, with 50 being right around the corner, I find it impossible to view others as evil/bad/them once I get time to take a breath and think. Often I disagree with their way of thinking. Sometimes I think that people are incredibly stupid with the tools they use to get their point across. But to them it all makes sense. Some people think of me as bad/less/outsider/evil and that is fine. Sad, but fine. Why should they be exceptions to the social influences we all come under?

Definitely recommended.

Fantasy

Cane, Laken: New Regime (Rune Alexander V) (2014)

2014-11-03 humanitysdarkerside 2 Comments

The Rune Alexander serial is dark. Probably too dark for a lot of you out there.

Life hasn’t gotten any easier for Rune. Others against humans, others against others and humans against others does not make for a quiet life for the Shiv Crew. Racism is a strange thing. Inside my head my logical part tells me that the oppressed should be above being racist themselves. But that just isn’t so. The Others have been killed for sport by many humans. Turns out the Others aren’t any better themselves really, because there is always another person whose looks/qualities places them lower on the value-ladder. In New Regime the ones who seem to be the lowest of the low are the Pikes. And the Pikes know it.

Rune asks Owen if he thinks she is evil. Owen’s answer is that she is who she is. And really, how do you define evil? Is it even possible? I doubt it. Rune fights for the people she cares for. In her case those people are the Shiv Crew and their unofficial mascot, Gunnar. For them she would do anything. To her enemies, Rune and Shiv Crew are evil. But the world is like that. We are divided into us and them and the evil ones happen to be all of THEM. The Others, the Humans, the Magic, the Strangers, the Fanatics and on and on the list goes. All of these groups have branches that consider the Shiv Crew disposable, usable or tortureable. And the feelings are often mutual.

Rune is her monster and her monster is Rune. Finally, Rune is coming to terms with that. Both want to be in control and finding the balance between the two is a struggle. While few of us will have to wade through the blood and gore that the Shiv Crew do, some people have to live lives fraught with life and death situations daily. How do people balance their monsters and kinder sides in such situations? Probably the way Rune has had to, by accepting that she is becoming the person she is and needs to find a way to live with.

There is plenty of blood and gore. Some humor. Some romance, although not of the “sigh” variety. Plenty of friendship. Plenty of action. Some really sad situations. Definitely recommended.

Majorly cool ending! Just saying.

I received a reviewer’s copy.

Reviews:

New Regime available on Amazon US, Amazon UK

My reviews of:

Autism / Aspergers

So, What is Stimming?

2014-11-03 humanitysdarkerside Leave a comment

The Stimming Checklist currently has a list of 1441 different types of stims that people perform. I use a lot of them. Not only autistic / aspergian people stim. As you see from the list, all you have to do is look around and you will see that just about every person you meet stims in one way or another.

Is it OK to stim? Of course, it is. If some person out there is trying to tell you that it is not, then phooey to them. Stimtastic has pretty great links to how you can skim and why it is OK to stim. I recommend that you read what she has to say.

HAVE FUN STIMMING!

Science Fiction, Young Adult

Bertauski, Tony: The Legend of Socket Greeny (Socket Greeny III) (2010)

2014-11-01 humanitysdarkerside 4 Comments

The Legend of Socket Greeny - Tony Bertauski

The Legend of Socket Greeny - back cover - Tony Bertauski

The Legend of Socket Greeny 2 - Tony Bertauski

I bawled. Yes, I bawled at the conclusion of the Socket Greeny saga. I even sent the author a text stating that he had made me bawl.

Everything is a lie.

Socket, Chute and Streeter are young for the kind of lives they live. Socket has to take on more responsibilities in being a symbol for the Paladin Nation. But being seen as a super-hero isn’t that big of a deal for a teenager who would rather be with his friends. Unfortunately, being seen as a super-hero is a label Socket isn’t getting away from any time soon.

Socket’s super-hero status came from being able to distinguish reality from lies. Except, what do you do when you discover that the things you thought you knew about yourself are wrong? Everything you have been told is a lie. How do you then keep yourself transcended? With age I have discovered that most things we are told about the world and ourselves are false to one degree or another. For Socket this discovery comes abruptly and at a time when he thought life was finally looking up.

Yet, Socket keeps on going. Then serious trouble comes his way. Where does the line between human and artificial intelligence go? Could an AI become truly human? Bertauski asks this question, and it is one that researchers and laypeople have asked themselves a great many times. I find myself not really caring. Perhaps that is because autists have been and still are considered as less than human. Not that I believe for a second that autists would be more welcoming of AI’s than allistics. Not at all. But I wonder if I might?

Poor Socket Greeny. He is in for “the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune” and the pain that goes with that. Socket is also in for a whole lot of action and difficult choices. Not only the lies told to him by others will have to be faced but also the lies told to him by himself. Personally, I find those the most difficult ones to deal with. Somehow, being honest with myself is much more painful than being honest with others. But that honesty offers growth. Growth that aids Socket Greeny as he fights for survival against the terrifying creatures he encounters.

Definitely recommended. This is a serial, which means you will need to read the previous ones to understand The Legend of Socket Greeny.

Reviews:

The Legend of Socket Greeny available on Amazon US and Audible

My review of:

Autism / Aspergers, Reblogged

The problem with the Mask Analogy for Women with Autism

2014-10-31 humanitysdarkerside Leave a comment

“Given all of this, one could ask; just whose perception of ‘normal’ are we applying here and whose definition of ‘pretending’ or ‘masking’ are we using?”

Seventh Voice

A mask is a false external covering.

It can be worn to conceal a person’s true identity for better or for worse.

The idea that Women with High Functioning Autism are not being adequately diagnosed, simply because they wear masks, also carries within it the ideation that all women with Autism intentionally try to conceal their true selves in order to ‘pass as normal’.

This in turn implies that all women with Autism willingly engage in the act of perpetrating some form of female deception which, in turn, somehow creates the inability of professionals to recognize them for who they are.

The idea that women are fiendish creatures, capable of deceiving men, is not a new one.

In fact, that particular idea is as old as humanity and has been used successfully over the course of history to deny women the same basic human rights and considerations as men.

Which…

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History, Reblogged

an Gorta Mor (or The Great Irish Famine, 1845-1852)

2014-10-31 humanitysdarkerside Leave a comment

“Hundreds of thousands throughout the Isle were dispossessed, and they trudged in weary lines to the port cities, hoping to find passage to America. With no food and little to no money, inestimable thousands died along the way and were buried in mass graves.”

Gifford MacShane, Author

Most of the time I find history boring. But every once in awhile, I stumble over something fascinating. And usually, that something makes me cry.

I’d heard quite a bit about the Irish Famine at different places along the way, like in English class in high school when we read Jonathan Swift’s essay A Modest Proposal (if you haven’t already read it, I highly recommend it. It gives an incredible satiric look at the British government’s feelings on “the Irish problem.” The problem, in short, was that there was such a thing as “the Irish”.)

At any rate, the subject cropped up now and again. But it wasn’t until I started writing my Donovan series that I realized how closely related I was to it. My father’s family emigrated from Ireland in the early 20th century, chased out by the British Army (or so the story goes). As I started…

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Science Fiction, Young Adult

Bertauski, Tony: The Training of Socket Greeny (The Legend of Socket Greeny II) (2010)

2014-10-30 humanitysdarkerside 1 Comment

The Training of Socket Greeny - Back cover - Tony Bertauski

The Training of Socket Greeny 2 - Tony Bertauski

The Training of Socket Greeny - Tony Bertauski

To me The Training of Socket Greeny is, like The Discovery of Socket Greeny, about identity. But it is also very much about seeing things as they are. You know, seeing through the bullshit of the propaganda we are fed, and seeing through our expectations into reality. Which is kind of odd to me as much of the book happens in Virtual Reality (no, not for real).

And what a VR it is. Poor Socket draws out new abilities, but the cost of his new abilities is high. His trainer, Pon, puts him through a program that is enough to kill anyone. This is where VR is a good thing. Except some of the damage Socket sustains is real and he has to learn to transcend it. In fact, it seems as if that is what his training is about: transcending himself. Socket doesn’t understand what that entails and I am going to admit that I don’t either. Because how do we let go of our fears. In a sense, they are kind of comforting because we don’t have to think so much about what is going on. But there is a part of me that would love to be able to set them aside.

Socket also has to figure out if transcending himself means that he has to leave his old life and his old friends behind. When do we reach the point of not being able to give any more? Lots and lots of existential questions are being asked throughout the trilogy, questions that we sometimes forget to ask as we grow older. However, these are questions that a lot of youth ask themselves.

It wouldn’t be a Bertauski story if there wasn’t a lot of action thrown in with the deeper story. The action is excellent and probably too violent for some of you. There are also romantic bits.

Definitely recommended.

Reviews:

My review of The Discovery of Socket Greeny

The Training of Socket Greeny available on Audible, Amazon

Science Fiction, Young Adult

Bertauski, Tony: The Discovery of Socket Greeny (The Legend of Socket Greeny I) (2010)

2014-10-26 humanitysdarkerside 4 Comments

http://www.prlog.org/10812997-the-discovery-of-socket-greeny.jpg

Sixteen years old and ripped away from all that was familiar into a new world where his whole identity needs to be re-discovered is pretty much what The Discovery of Socket Greeny was about for me.

My son is doing a paper on tourism, and in it he mentions the possibility of replacing our corporeal experiences with virtual reality ones. In the life of Socket Greeny and his friends technology has gotten to a point where this is possible. Teaching is done this way. Although the students come to a physical school and sit in classrooms with a teacher present, most of the teaching is done in VR rooms. Gaming takes on new meaning when you get to integrate yourself so fully into the experience.

But when Socket Greeny is taken from his friends he discovers that such immersion brings its own hazards, and that he is one of the tools needed to fight the dangers of the virtual world. The world he enters is brutal. His tests are intense. I suppose people who have gone through training as CIA spies would recognize the horrible invasiveness of it all. Yet Socket endures.

Much of that endurance is due to his friend Spindle. Spindle is always there for Socket. His patience and kindness is limitless. One might almost be tempted to think that he was programmed to be that way. And perhaps he was. But then again maybe not.

I am thrilled not to be Socket Greeny, but I am thankful for having met him and his unusual world. Definitely recommended.

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Reviews:

The Discovery of Socket Greeny available on Amazon US

History

Protected: The year 1952

2014-10-20 humanitysdarkerside

Music

Eminem: Cleanin’ Out My Closet (The Eminem Show) (2002)

Video 2014-10-16 humanitysdarkerside 2 Comments

Music, lyrics and passion make this Eminem song incredibly powerful. I’d say enjoy, but that wouldn’t fit the mood of Eminem’s Cleanin’ out my Closet.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_K2qOQ0lBw

In a later song Headlights (The Marshall Mathers LP 2) Eminem apologizes (kind of). Clearly Eminem’s childhood was extremely difficult. However, Eminem has gone through healing processes and sees his childhood in the same but a different light.

Eminem has the kind of music and lyrics that appeal to me. A lot of the time listening to him hurts. Even when I disagree with him I still find myself listening (yes even this 50 year old lady).

Mystery

Crabtree, Elisabeth: Deadly Magic (Grace Holliday I) (2012)

2014-10-15 humanitysdarkerside Leave a comment

https://www.coverkicks.com/

http://elisabethcrabtree.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/final-final-cover-23.jpg

Deadly Magic transported me to the days of Tuppence and Tommy. A modern technology version of the two, yet leaving me with the sense of a bygone era. I had fun with Grace and …, their meeting and the mystery (death) that brought them together.

Who dun’ its seem to have vanished from my reading habits. Goodness knows why. Perhaps I haven’t felt the need. Reading Deadly Magic prodded that desire in me.

Corpses kept on turning up. First there was Lily. Usually the first person to be killed is the main target. Deadly Magic kept to the script of the traditional mystery style. There was no real magic involved. Just magicians with their illusions. Grace was just a regular office worker with a harsh boss.

In some ways I used to be like Grace. Perhaps my autism makes me believe just about anything people tell me. Some people probably find that convenient while others get annoyed. My sense of fair play would have made remaining an employee of Straker extremely difficult. But I have worked with people who remained in such situations for one reason or another. Grace accepts Straker’s comments and behavior to a certain point. Once he crossed that line, she spoke up without being rude. I wish I could do that.

The other characters support Grace, so we only get glimpses of some of their traits. One of them doesn’t mind breaking all societal rules. Like a lot of literary crooks, this person’s compatriot has a talent for rationalization.

Elisabeth Crabtree’s style completely fooled me in one regard. For some reason I was convinced we were in London when in fact we were in New York. Perhaps that had to do with the way most of the story happened in three buildings, rather than outside. One was the old office building. The second was the deadly theater and the third was Grace’s apartment.

Grace is asked to investigate the death by her boss. She discovers that he has asked most of his employees to do the same. But Grace feels that something is off with the apparent suicide and decides to take her investigations seriously. Looking into murder without the authority of the police behind you can be a dangerous venture. Perhaps betrayal lurks. Grace seems blissfully uncaring about the dangers involved. There are people like that out there. I know several of them. Nuts the whole bunch, but fun to be around.

If you want to read something lighthearted and fun with a little suspense, this might well be the book for you.

Reviews:

Deadly Magic available on Amazon US

General

Great horny toads

Audio 2014-10-15 humanitysdarkerside Leave a comment

Yosemite same Yosemite Sam – Great horny toads

Great horny toads: An interjection used to exclaim surprise or astonishment. Has redneck-ish (and even sexual) connotations and is perhaps used mainly in rural America. Also known to be occasionally used by the Looney Toons cartoon character Yosemite Sam. (Urban dictionary)

Fantasy

Church bulletins (do not know origin)

2014-10-13 humanitysdarkerside 1 Comment

Bertha Belch, a missionary from Africa, will be speaking tonight at Calvary Methodist. Come hear Bertha Belch all the way from Africa.
Announcement in a church bulletin for a national PRAYER & FASTING Conference: “The cost for attending the Fasting and Prayer conference includes meals.”
The sermon this morning: “Jesus Walks on the Water.” The sermon tonight: “Searching for Jesus.”
Our youth basketball team in back in action Wednesday at 8 PM in the recreation hall. Come out and watch us kill Christ the King.
“Ladies, don’t forget the rummage sale. It’s a chance to get rid of those things not worth keeping around the house. Don’t forget your husbands.”
The peacemaking meeting scheduled for today has been canceled due to a conflict.
Remember in prayer the many who are sick of our community.
Smile at someone who is hard to love. Say “hell” to someone who doesn’t care much about you.
Don’t let worry kill you off — let the Church help.
Miss Charlene Mason sang “I will not pass this way again,” giving obvious pleasure to the congregation.
For those of you who have children and don’t know it, we have a nursery downstairs.
Next Thursday there will be tryouts for the choir. They need all the help they can get.
Barbara remains in the hospital and needs blood donors for more transfusions. She is also having trouble sleeping and requests tapes of Pastor Jack’s sermons.
During the absence of our Pastor, we enjoyed the rare privilege of hearing a good sermon when J. F. Stubbs supplied our pulpit.
The Rector will preach his farewell message after which the choir will sing “Break Forth into Joy.”
Irving Benson and Jessie Carter were married on October 24 in the church. So ends a friendship that began in their school days.
A bean supper will be held on Tuesday evening in the church hall. Music will follow.
At the evening service tonight, the sermon topic will be “What is Hell?” Come early and listen to our choir practice.
Eight new choir robes are currently needed, due to the addition of several new members and to the deterioration of some older ones.
Scouts are saving aluminum cans, bottles, and other items to be recycled. Proceeds will be used to cripple children.
The Lutheran men’s group will meet at 6 PM. Steak, mashed potatoes, green beans, bread and dessert will be served for a nominal feel.
Please place your donation in the envelope along with the deceased person you want remembered.
Attend and you will hear an excellent speaker and heave a healthy lunch.
The church will host an evening of fine dining, superb entertainment, and gracious hostility.
Potluck supper Sunday at 5:00 PM – prayer and medication to follow.
The ladies of the Church have cast off clothing of every kind. They may be seen in the basement on Friday afternoon.
This evening at 7 PM there will be a hymn sing in the park across from the Church. Bring a blanket and come prepared to sin.
Ladies Bible Study will be held Thursday morning at 10. All ladies are invited to lunch in the Fellowship Hall after the B.S. is done. The pastor would appreciated it if the ladies of the congregation would lend him their electric girdles for the pancake breakfast next Sunday.
Low Self Esteem Support Group will meet Thursday at 7 PM. Please use the back door.
The eighth-graders will be presenting Shakespeare’s Hamlet in the Church basement Friday at 7 PM. The Congregation is invited to attend this tragedy.
Weight Watchers will meet at 7 PM at the First Presbyterian Church. Please use large double door at the side entrance.
Mrs. Johnson will be entering the hospital this week for testes.
The Associate Minister unveiled the church’s new tithing campaign slogan last Sunday “I Upped My Pledge – Up Yours.”
Our next song is “Angels We Have Heard Get High.”