A Place for Sharing Books etc

[Ethel]

On 9/29/2022 at 6:18 AM, alexa said:

I've just purchased this book, it was used & cost £100 a brand new one cost £250 to £300 & there's even one at cost of £1015.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bloodlines-Illuminati-Fritz-Springmeier/dp/0966353323

 

 

 

So far it's been excellent reading.

 

Tbh, even though you can get it as a pdf, it's still nice to have a physical copy, because then you can pass it on to your descendants. The way things are going with the Internet, the kind of info in this book may well become priceless. That book could go out of print and eventually disappear from the Internet, so it may turn out to be money well spent!

[alexa]

16 minutes ago, Ethel said:

 

Tbh, even though you can get it as a pdf, it's still nice to have a physical copy, because then you can pass it on to your descendants. The way things are going with the Internet, the kind of info in this book may well become priceless. That book could go out of print and eventually disappear from the Internet, so it may turn out to be money well spent!

 

So true Ethel, and another plus, you can read it at your leisure,  you know what Ethel, you've just cheered me right up. 

[Ethel]

8 minutes ago, alexa said:

 

So true Ethel, and another plus, you can read it at your leisure,  you know what Ethel, you've just cheered me right up. 

 

Good. I love books, tbh I probably have too many, but I prefer a hard copy to a pdf any day due to the effect of the screen on your eyes. That's why I use flux to soften the glow.

[alexa]

7 minutes ago, Ethel said:

That's why I use flux to soften the glow.

 

I may be being ignorant here, but what is flux ?

[Ethel]

12 minutes ago, alexa said:

 

I may be being ignorant here, but what is flux ?

 

It is a program you install on your computer which dims the brightness of your screen and softens the glow to make it more warm glow than blue glow. It reduces the harmful effect of the laptop screen on your eyes. Another alternative is sunglasses with red lenses. The blue glow is associated with overall eye strain and a general degradation of your optic nerves over a period of years.

Edited September 30, 2022 by Ethel

[alexa]

3 minutes ago, Ethel said:

 

It is a program you install on your computer which dims the brightness of your screen and softens the glow to make it more warm glow than blue glow. It reduces the harmful effect of the laptop screen on your eyes. Another alternative is sunglasses with red lenses. The blue glow is associated with overall eye strain and a general degradation of your optic nerves over a period of years.

 

Thanks Ethel, I'll install this. 

[peter]

The Complete books of Charles Fort IBSN-13 978-0-486-23094-8

The Book of the Damed

Lo!

Wild Talents

New Lands

[Ethel]

Slenderman by Kathleen Hale: A Commentary

 

This book, which was published this year, provides an insight into the 2014 “Slenderman” stabbing; a crime in which two twelve-year-old girls attacked and then stabbed one of their own friends after apparently developing an unhealthy obsession with the Internet creepypasta character “Slenderman”, going on to claim that the influence of this character was pivotal in their decision to commit the crime.

 

I have read a few sad and depressing books in my time, but there are few as sad as this, and there are almost none which are a more damning indictment of how America treats people with mental illnesses.

 

Firstly: the basic facts of the story:

 

• In 2014, Morgan Geyser and Anissa Weier, two twelve-year-old girls from Wisconsin USA went on a walk one day with one of their classmates, Peyton Leutner. After some deliberation, Anissa held Peyton on the ground whilst Morgan stabbed her friend 19 times.
• After multiple surgeries and a lengthy recovery, Payton Leutner made a full physical recovery but still lives with the trauma of what she lived through
• Some time later, after having been committed to a mental institution, Morgan Geyser was diagnosed with acute Schizophrenia. It was later established she had probably been born this way, something which is exceptionally rare
• Morgan’s parents did not know she was Schizophrenic
• Morgan’s Father was also diagnosed Schizophrenic
• At the time, Anissa Weier was diagnosed as experiencing “shared psychosis” or “folie a deux”. She was released in 2021 after seven years in a mental health facility
• Morgan Geyser was sentenced to 40 years to life of involuntary treatment in a mental health facility, including three years in locked confinement. She remains in Wisconsin’s Winnebago Mental Health Institute

 

My Commentary

 

By the time I had finished reading this book it was very clear to me that there are a lot of people in Western society who hate people with schizophrenia. This perception gradually built and built throughout the book, until eventually the book reached it’s inevitable conclusion, and I viewed both the American “justice” system and the American Mental Health system as utterly ineffectual. Although Anissa Weier was diagnosed with shared psychosis and although I probably could pass some comment on her psychopathology in this piece of writing, I have chosen instead to place the emphasis on Morgan Geyser since she was the one who carried out the actual stabbing, whilst Anissa Weier was an accomplice. More of the focus overall has been placed on Morgan Geyser.

 

The book contains a very vivid and detailed description of the crime itself. It obviously isn’t easy reading to picture a child being stabbed 19 times. I felt physically ill and tearful. However, this simply isn’t the end of the story.

 

The author does well to create sufficient background in which she more than adequately described how Morgan, all of 12 at the time she committed her horrific crime, spent the first 12 years of her life with seemingly permanent hallucinations. At school, Morgan was generally unpopular and was intermittently bullied, her only real friend for years being Payton Leutner, the same friend she went on to stab 19 times.

 

To begin with, Morgan was interviewed by a police officer whose bias could not even be hidden. From the off, his interviews with Morgan were littered with prejudices, biases, misunderstandings and misconceptions, making it nigh on impossible for him to be anywhere close to impartial or rational. He later claimed that he didn’t believe Morgan to be schizophrenic at the time of being interviewed, despite her saying she didn’t really know where she was. Interview footage clearly showed Morgan looking at various things only she could see, something which the investigating officer, who repeatedly lied, was aware of.

 

Media bias and outright dishonesty added to the general atmosphere of hatred directed towards Morgan; newspapers and TV news outlets purposefully sought, at different times, to cover up both Morgan’s age (a child) and the fact that she had lived the first 12 years of her life with an undiagnosed mental condition.

 

Help for her schizophrenia was withheld for months after Morgan’s arrest. In the aftermath of her arrest, whilst going through her room, her parents found a University level psychology textbook. It was, needless to say, not part of her school curriculum and it became obvious to Morgan’s parents that she had been attempting to find out what was “wrong with her”, in the absence of any diagnosis or help of any kind. When eventually told by staff at the Winnebago Mental Institute that she would be receiving medication which would make the hallucinations go away, she began to cry, stating that the various characters she hallucinated, including various characters from ‘Harry Potter’ were her friends.

 

As regards to the “hallucinations”, the character of Slenderman was one of these. I place “hallucinations” in inverted commas because I believe that the visions that schizophrenic people see belong to the Astral Realm. David Icke recently espoused this theory in “The Trap”, but he is not the first to do so. I have encountered this theory at least once before, although cannot remember where, and have believed this for many years myself.

 

It becomes clearer and clearer as the book progresses that the American mental healthcare system is grossly out of it’s depth, especially where serious conditions like Schizophrenia are concerned. For example, the book states that Morgan, both a child and a schizophrenic, was placed in isolation for several periods whilst in the hospital. This is wrong on two separate levels; 1) she is a child and 2) she is schizophrenic, a condition which is almost certainly exacerbated by isolation and more difficult to cope with if you are isolated. No child should ever be isolated. The author places satisfactory emphasis on the fact that children’s brains are still growing at age 12 and in fact, the pre frontal cortex, the part of the brain responsible for impulse control, is not fully formed until a person is in their 20’s. Despite the fact that it has been conclusively proven that a person’s brain is not fully formed until their 20’s, Morgan was eventually placed on a cocktail of anti-depressants and one of the most dangerous medications there are, anti-psychotics. As the book progresses it becomes obvious that all involved consider that the objective of medical “care” for schizophrenic people should be to sedate and stall them, rather than help them have quality of life or genuine understanding of their condition. Also, Morgan’s “Intelligence” is repeatedly portrayed as dangerous, whilst some “professionals” actually gloated and seemed pleased when Morgan reported that the Anti-psychotics began to affect her cognitive functioning and intelligence negatively.

 

Consistent lack of sympathy/empathy was shown by the American general public towards the fact that Morgan was schizophrenic, and had spent the first 12 years of her life coping with this by herself, with no help from any direction. It would make absolutely no difference whether the person we are talking about here had committed a crime or not. The American general public have little to no empathy for mental health conditions in anyone, let alone in children, and when it comes to lack of empathy for the individuals themselves I would say that schizophrenia and Autism share the top spot. I have literally never heard one single “normal” person in the Western world empathize with any person on either the Autistic or Schizophrenic spectrums, let alone any other condition. The author satisfactorily contrasts this with the massive outpouring of care towards Payton Leutner.

 

I asked myself why it was I felt more inclined to empathize with a schizophrenic who had stabbed her own friend 19 times than I did to empathize with the actual victim of the stabbing and it was very clear to me: she needed it more. The victim of the crime had literally millions of people sending her cards and well wishes, whilst the other child, a 12 year old who had lived her entire childhood with an undiagnosed case of probably the most acute and life-changing mental health condition there is was being sent literal hatred by the American general public. I would like to ask you to imagine how you would cope under those circumstances. Imagine how you would have fared living your entire childhood hallucinating every single day of your life, sometimes in a frightening way, whilst not even having a close enough relationship with your own parents for them to know you are schizophrenic. At school, you are bullied by your peers and ostracised.

 

I know what it is like to live with literally nobody on my side, I know how it feels. There but for the grace of God I might, on a different path, have been compelled towards committing a crime myself. I know how it feels to feel completely alone in the world with nobody fighting my corner, not even my own parents, with undiagnosed conditions. Despite what one of the prosecuting lawyers in the case said, there was not only one victim involved in this case. There were at least two. Furthermore, if it were obvious and clear that there was only one it wouldn’t need to be said. It is a testament only to the abject lack of empathy people in the Western world have towards people with neurological conditions that someone who has to live their entire childhood with a severe undiagnosed condition is considered “not a victim”.

 

This callousness continued in the courtroom when the judge repeatedly asked Morgan, still only 12, to repeatedly recount details of the stabbing even whilst she was visibly sobbing and in a state of severe emotional distress, something which is tantamount to child abuse and further evidence of how broken Western society truly is. One witness for the prosecution after another spilled out dialogues which were clearly imbued with their own personal feelings and conjectures - something which is tolerated easily enough by society and the “justice” system if the person happens to be a medical professional. Several of these people expressed the view that people with schizophrenia should be institutionalized forever.

 

The icing on the cake, and the most damning indictment of the attitude of America, and a large part of the Western World’s attitude towards mental health and schizophrenia in general is summed up in the following quote from the mentor of the judge who sentenced Morgan to 40 years in a mental institution, Alvin Eisenberg:

 

“He gave her 40 years, did he? Well my God, I think that’s wonderful… We don’t need mentally ill people in society.”

 

 

Conclusion

 

Even though the story itself, and the content of the book is relentlessly depressing, the author has done an outstanding job of representing all possible angles to this case. There is no clear bias here. The damage done to Peyton Leutner and the trauma she will have to live with, probably for the rest of her life, is well documented here, as is Morgan Geyser’s history of Schizophrenia and the abject lack of advocacy and support in her life as regards her condition.

 

The content above represents only a fraction of the content which damns the American justice system and the American mental health system. I refuse to even call what is offered to people like Morgan Geyser care.

 

The crux of this entire issue, should you actually want that particular red pill is as follows: The western world, especially America, is still, in the 21^st century, failing people with mental health conditions. It is failing children with mental health conditions especially, and it is absolutely failing people with schizophrenia. Morgan’s Father actually commented upon how in Western society, when a child is diagnosed with a physical illness like cancer, people in general are overwrought with sympathy and compassion, but when a child is diagnosed with something like schizophrenia or Autism, people are absolute stony and unfeeling. This is the heart of the matter. But for Western society’s abysmal ignorance in the face of mental health conditions, this crime would never have happened. Truth be told, there are millions of people responsible for this crime.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Bombadil]

Really enjoying this so far: 

• Finding Merlin

• By: Adam Ardrey

 

A lot of compelling discussion about Arthur and Merlin being from Scottish History. @Macnamara and any Scots will most likely enjoy.

[Macnamara]

44 minutes ago, Bombadil said:

A lot of compelling discussion about Arthur and Merlin being from Scottish History.

 

of course!

 

why else would merlin be buried at drumelzier or Guinevere at meigle? Why else would there be an 'arthur's seat' hill in the centre of edinburgh? And could the modern district of lothian have once had a champion by the name of lance-lot?

 

Could arthur not have been carried off by nine maidens to the isle of mey after his climactic battle?

 

But wait.....whats that you say welsh people? King arthur is from wales is he?

 

and wait.....what's that you cornish folk say? Oh he's from cornwall is he?

 

and you bretons....i suppose he's from there too is he?

 

lol....king arthur lives!

 

 

[Ethel]

1 hour ago, Macnamara said:

 

Why else would there be an 'arthur's seat' hill in the centre of edinburgh?

 

 

 

The views from up there are certainly amazing; it's one of my favorite walks, being an Edinburgh lass, born and bred.

[Bombadil]

1 minute ago, Ethel said:

 

The views from up there are certainly amazing; it's one of my favorite walks, being an Edinburgh lass, born and bred.

I haven't been to Scotland for nearly 30 years. As a child I used to go with my stepdad all over Scotland. At first appearance the wilds can look pretty harsh and unforgiving. In one of his books he wrote, Neil Oliver discusses being atop a ben, can't remember which one. He said that the weather was perfect Scotland. Lashing down and blowing a gale. It was then he was reminded of why he loved his country so much.

[Bombadil]

2 minutes ago, Bombadil said:

I haven't been to Scotland for nearly 30 years. As a child I used to go with my stepdad all over Scotland. At first appearance the wilds can look pretty harsh and unforgiving. In one of his books he wrote, Neil Oliver discusses being atop a ben, can't remember which one. He said that the weather was perfect Scotland. Lashing down and blowing a gale. It was then he was reminded of why he loved his country so much.

Finding Merlin : the truth behind the legend of the great Arthurian mage : Ardrey, Adam : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

[Ethel]

1 minute ago, Bombadil said:

I haven't been to Scotland for nearly 30 years. As a child I used to go with my stepdad all over Scotland. At first appearance the wilds can look pretty harsh and unforgiving. In one of his books he wrote, Neil Oliver discusses being atop a ben, can't remember which one. He said that the weather was perfect Scotland. Lashing down and blowing a gale. It was then he was reminded of why he loved his country so much.

 

Nature wise it's a great country, I have visited much of it and it's wildernesses are a real work of beauty.

[Bombadil]

Just now, Ethel said:

 

Nature wise it's a great country, I have visited much of it and it's wildernesses are a real work of beauty.

I agree. I love Cornwall though it sometimes feels small. It's easy to forget the vastness of the north.

[Ethel]

2 minutes ago, Bombadil said:

I agree. I love Cornwall though it sometimes feels small. It's easy to forget the vastness of the north.

 

I love the South too, I travelled around the Devon area which is right next to Cornwall and I did some absolutely stunning coastal walks. 

[Bombadil]

32 minutes ago, Ethel said:

 

I love the South too, I travelled around the Devon area which is right next to Cornwall and I did some absolutely stunning coastal walks. 

Devon is great. Really different from Cornwall. Really beautiful rolling hills.

[Macnamara]

11 hours ago, Bombadil said:

I agree. I love Cornwall though it sometimes feels small. It's easy to forget the vastness of the north.

 

the thing about cornwall and scotland is that they have very complex coast line with lots of crinkles so if you were a giant and could grip the coast and stretch it out it would be longer then it looks on a map

 

Equally if you look at scotland from a giants-eye view you can see that it is very hilly and if you reach down and pulled the land flat it would widen out to a much larger area in the same way that a crinkled up piece of paper would widen on a table if you flattened it out. So scotland is much bigger then it would appear at first glance and travel can take longer than expected what with dodging hills and lochs and winding single track roads

[Macnamara]

11 hours ago, Ethel said:

The views from up there are certainly amazing; it's one of my favorite walks, being an Edinburgh lass, born and bred.

 

It's a cracking wee hill...one of my favourites. You get a great panoramic view from the top for not much climbing....a lot of bang for your buck so to speak!

 

It's also covered with history although the 'radical road' under the salisbury crags was closed last time i was there and i'm not sure if it is open again. They were concerned about rock fall but its not just there that i'm finding barriers under the snp. Time and time again i'm finding historic places fenced off and access restricted even though the covid scamdemic is over.

 

Even if some rocks had tumbled off the crags (and that does happen) i'm an adult and i can make an assessment myself and decide for myself if i want to walk under those crags. A warning sign will suffice and after that i'll be responsible for my own safety

[Dickwan]

1 hour ago, Macnamara said:

 

It's a cracking wee hill...one of my favourites. You get a great panoramic view from the top for not much climbing....a lot of bang for your buck so to speak!

 

It's also covered with history although the 'radical road' under the salisbury crags was closed last time i was there and i'm not sure if it is open again. They were concerned about rock fall but its not just there that i'm finding barriers under the snp. Time and time again i'm finding historic places fenced off and access restricted even though the covid scamdemic is over.

 

Even if some rocks had tumbled off the crags (and that does happen) i'm an adult and i can make an assessment myself and decide for myself if i want to walk under those crags. A warning sign will suffice and after that i'll be responsible for my own safety

 

I'm up there most days (up and over old Arthur and then round the Crags); so refreshing to get out of the city without actually having to leave the city. 

 

[Bombadil]

19 hours ago, Macnamara said:

drumelzier

Is this about 30 miles from Glasgow? I'm asking because in the book I mentioned the author gives a lot of weight to location for Drumelzier being the true burial area of Merlin. Having no local knowledge of Scotland, it's pointless me using a map for reference. This is based upon there being many places with similar names. Especially old names still used by locals.

[Bombadil]

25 minutes ago, Bombadil said:

Is this about 30 miles from Glasgow? I'm asking because in the book I mentioned the author gives a lot of weight to location for Drumelzier being the true burial area of Merlin. Having no local knowledge of Scotland, it's pointless me using a map for reference. This is based upon there being many places with similar names. Especially old names still used by locals.

Near a place called Dunipace in vicinity of Denny? I apologise if my spellings are terrible.

[Macnamara]

On 10/14/2022 at 3:10 PM, Bombadil said:

Is this about 30 miles from Glasgow? I'm asking because in the book I mentioned the author gives a lot of weight to location for Drumelzier being the true burial area of Merlin. Having no local knowledge of Scotland, it's pointless me using a map for reference. This is based upon there being many places with similar names. Especially old names still used by locals.

 

bare in mind also that merlin lived in the great caledon forest that once covered swathes of scotland. Once it was teeming with wolves, lynx, beaver, bears, wild boar and golden eagles, now there are only brigands...

 

 

 

[Macnamara]

On 10/14/2022 at 3:36 PM, Bombadil said:

Near a place called Dunipace in vicinity of Denny? I apologise if my spellings are terrible.

 

nope see the map above. Denny forms part of the 'denny, falkirk triangle' which has the highest number of UFO sightings in the UK

 

Just beware that civilisation didn't penetrate too deeply in some parts of scotland and there can be wild tribes of barbarous people. Some of them take great delight in drinking a fearsome potion that is brewed for them by the priest caste, which puts them into a battle frenzy known as 'the buckie-rage'. You can usually tell before the onset of this terrible condition however as the potion horribly distorts their face, so if you see anyone in those parts swigging from a bottle and then developing 'buckie-face' you'd best turn on your heels and run. But otherwise i wish you good luck on your quest sir knight!

 

Of course our breton cousins will claim that merlins tomb is in their broceliande forest:

 

[Macnamara]

On 10/14/2022 at 11:03 AM, Dickwan said:

I'm up there most days (up and over old Arthur and then round the Crags); so refreshing to get out of the city without actually having to leave the city.

 

nice! there's a hidden path just to the right of the crags next to st anthony's chapel that takes you up through the gorse to a ridge that then leads upto the summit