Blog
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“to go cold turkey with …” – Idioms – by the Free Dictionary, Thesaurus and Encyclopedia.
go cold turkey – Idioms – by the Free Dictionary, Thesaurus and Encyclopedia.
to suddenly and completely stop doing something, esp. a bad habit
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Daniele Ganser: Fear as a Weapon – the Effects of Psychological Warfare on Domestic and International Politics
IPRD » Fear as A Weapon The Effects of Psychological Warfare on Domestic and International Politics
I looked the author up, browsed the resp. articles on de.wikipedia.org and fr.wikipedia.org. There is no en.wikipedia.org article on him yet.
“Fear as a weapon“, that reminded me almost immediately of “FUD” = “fear, uncertainty and doubt“:
a tactic of rhetoric and fallacy used in sales, marketing, public relations, politics and propaganda …
Sort of “funny”:
… Then, on Tuesday, November 6, a NATO spokesman probably Robert Stratford explained that NATO’s denial of the previous day had been false. The spokesman left journalists with a short communiqué which stated that NATO never commented on matters of military secrecy …
… Field Manual FM 30–31B details how and when the state can carry out terrorist operations. It specifies the methodology for launching terrorist attacks in nations that “do not react with sufficient effectiveness” against “communist subversion.” Ironically, the manual states that the most dangerous moment comes when leftist groups “renounce the use of force” and embrace the democratic process. …
Daniele Ganser’s conclusion:
Those very few scientists who have researched the fields of psychological warfare and published on the subject realise that the weapon of fear is still being used today by a number of international actors in the context of the so- called ‘war on terrorism’. Without fear the so-called ‘war on terrorism’ could not succeed. Yet fear cripples the personal development of every human being and promotes violence in human interactions. Therefore all efforts should be made to assess the reality and power of fear as a secret weapon. Thereafter a conscious decision to monitor one’s own emotions, and particularly one’s fears and those who manipulate them, can allow every human being to break free from the destructive circle of fear and violence. For fear is a dangerous weapon only as long as the target remains ignorant of its real causes and the secret strategy is undetected. In full light it loses its strength and tends to dissolve. Regaining control of one’s own thoughts and emotions, and making a conscious decision to steer clear of fear and hatred, seem therefore, adequate answers to some of the major challenges of the twenty-first century.
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from Fort-de-France back home to my client / host
Got on a bus.
Left the bus at the giant Carrefour / Dillon market.
Some shopping incl. getting the Toy Story sneakers for son#2, some beer and tea bag and lovely red jam and nut cream and instant coffee and last not least some guave fruits.
My client / host and me had agreed in the meantime to meet at the Gwa Gwa pub to eat out.
Got on a bus, asked the bus-driver to tell me, where the stop for the hospital resp. Gwa Gwa would be, and he told me to take the bus in the other direction (stuttering and not easy to understand).
Got to the bus stop in the opposite direction, called my client / host again, and he confirmed that I actually was in the bus in the right direction – so, girls, do you know, why men don’t ask strangers for the direction? because they hate to get fooled. Even if he didn’t fool me on purpose, I just shouldn’t have asked.
So waiting for the next bus in the right direction, which could take up to an hour.
Had the foolish idea to show my thumb, like hitchhikers do it in Germany, but why shouldn’t I? I had to wait anyway, so I can just as well do something useful at the cost of very little energy. Apparently hitchhikers do it differently over here, they more like wave their right hand to say “Helloooooo!”.
A lady and her maybe 12y daughter stopped, not taking me for too serious, but not being too anxious as well. That was rather nice. After leaving their car I checked for my iPod, confused where I had put it at last, ran to their car, asked them to let me have a look at where I sat, didn’t find it there, finally found it in my rucksack. Of course.
I got to the Gwa Gwa quite some time before my client / host, and enjoyed sitting there and watching people, apparently middle class.
Had some nice time there with my mate.
Had a gentle walk back later that evening, actually always slightly anxiously watching the traffic, not only because we were hard to spot during this nightly walk on that rural road.