Coming back from a lie.

 

Damage Control

To be clear:

A lie is an untruthful assertion. The speaker intends to cause belief in the truth of a statement that the speaker believes to be false. Hence, a lie involves an intention to deceive.Feb 21, 2008.

https://plato.stanford.edu › entries › lying-definition

Let's imagine your being interviewed. You're asked about your vaccination status. You reply, "Yeah, I'm immune." The answer is evasive because you're not vaccinated. You've used unproven homeopathic regimens you thought would make you immune. Only they didn't. Your story unravels. 

What can you do besides blaming the press, and lashing out against your critics by calling them a woke mob?

5 Steps to Save Your Reputation When You're Caught Lying

1. Own Up to It. Being caught in a lie is embarrassing, which means your first instinct might involve denying it. ...
2. Apologize. ...
3. Avoid Excuses, But Provide Explanation. ...
4. Do Damage Control. ...
5. Avoid It in the Future.

Jul 27, 2016

https://www.inc.com › kat-boogaard

Is all publicity good publicity?

The sad tale of the celebrity quarterback

I have a dog who will do almost anything to gain attention. We're working with him. When celebrities misbehave, it could be for the same reasons. The result can turn ugly quickly.

Maybe Aaron Rodgers should just stop talking.  A report from NBC Sports says, Rodgers called out the wrong reporter. He blamed Molly Knight and The Wall Street Journal, for getting his fractured toe story wrong. He misidentidied the reporter.

Reporter Molly Knight, formerly of The Athletic, responded to Rodgers after he misidentified her as the author of The Wall Street Journal's 'COVID toe' article.

"Since there seems to be some confusion: I did not write the Aaron Rodgers Covid toe article," the journalist tweeted. "I do not work for the Wall Street Journal. Please stop all this hate. Thank you."

Road Rage: Just One Symptom

Road Rage Everywhere!

Road Rage is on the rise. Violent altercations are leading to fatal shootings, and it is happening with increased frequency. It's another symptom of our social ills, and it's the tip of the iceberg.

This just a sampling from various news sources

• After boarding a flight to New York’s LaGuardia Airport, Arielle Jean Jackson got into a heated verbal altercation with a Southwest employee. According to Bloomberg, she was asked to leave. While departing, the confrontation turned physical, and Jackson hit an airline agent. The employee was brought to a hospital after being punched in the head.

• In Vermont, a man menaced a group of election officials, warning them that “your days are f*cking numbered.”

• In Missouri, a public health official was “physically assaulted, called racist slurs, and surrounded by an angry mob.”

• In Oregon, a school board member was told that a neighbor was out looking for him — and threatening to kill him

• Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) shared a video posted to his Twitter and Instagram depicting violence and the apparent killing of the Democratic congresswoman. His party thinks this is ok.

• The former head of Tennessee’s vaccine rollout, Dr. Michelle Fiscus and her husband, have been forced out of their home after facing threats and taunts. 

• School nurses threatened for enforcing COVID protocols. 

• Anti-vaxxers are threatening to burn down schools. 

• In 2020, 279 hate crime incidents against individuals of Asian descent were reported, compared to 158 incidents reported in 2019. More than 60% of hate crimes in the United States were carried out on the basis of an individual's race, according to FBI data released Monday.
• 

We're coming apart at the seams

 There is no civil discourse. We could blame social media, but social media is only the means by which we spread our hate.

It should be no surprise that road rage is on the rise too. It's not just your imagination. There are more shootings and deaths as a result of road rage.

In 2020, 42 people a month on average, were shot and killed or wounded in road rage incidents according to a recent report by Everytown for Gun Safety, a national gun violence prevention organization. That’s nearly double the monthly average for the four years prior.

The group’s report comes from data collected by the Gun Violence Archive, a nonprofit research organization.

If the trend continues, Everytown projects there will be more than 500 deaths or injuries involving road rage incidents with guns in 2021. So far this year, someone has been shot and killed or injured every 18 hours, said Sarah Burd-Sharps, the group’s research director. -Pew Trust

Where to go from here?

We can't control another person's emotions, but we can control our own. We can understand our own triggers and put a lid on them before they get out of hand. We can also attempt to deescalate the situation. I went to the NSW Website to find out more.

This is from NSW Government Health.

When there are signs of anger or verbal aggression it is important to remember that:

• you need to stay calm
• anger may be a sign that the person is in distress, experiencing fear or frustrated
• it is not possible to reason or problem solve with someone who is enraged
• effective communication skills are the key to settling, resolving and de-escalating a situation.

Use the strategies below to de-escalate a situation:

• Listen to what the issue is and the person's concerns.
• Offer reflective comments to show that you have heard what their concerns are.
• Wait until the person has released their frustration and explained how they are feeling.
• Look and maintain appropriate eye contact to connect with the person.
• Incline your head slightly, to show you are listening and give you a non-threating posture.
• Nod to confirm that you are listening and have understood.
• Express empathy to show you have understood.

It is not possible to stop another person being angry, but these steps may help to make the person feel calmer. Something more constructive begins then.

Was Virgin Birth a Miracle?

 

 

Not Really

While parthenogenesis, a.k.a. “virgin birth”, might seem miraculous, it's actually common as dirt in nature. Indeed, some 2000 species are capable of doing it, including snakes, ants, turkeys, chickens, amphibians, Komodo dragons, and sharks. That's right, even your Christmas lunch can do it.

Oct 14, 2018 Melbourne University

If you are a believer, God created everything, including virgin birth in the creatures listed above. Those who wrote the Bible were, likely, not aware of this. Education, including science class, wasn't available to anyone but a select few. Virgin birth would have been a true miracle to these people. It was beyond anything they could have (pun intended) conceived of.

Immaculate Conception in Nature?

(Immaculate conception actually refers to Mary, mother of Jesus. She was born free of sin.)

What in the world is parthenogenesis? 

"Derived from the Greek words parthenos and genesis, meaning “virgin” and “creation”, parthenogenesis is the naturally-occurring phenomenon by which a female is able to produce offspring independently of a male counterpart. More technically, it refers to the development of an embryo from an unfertilised egg." (Melbourne University)

The article goes on:

Why does parthenogenesis exist in nature?

While some species only reproduce by parthenogenesis, other nifty organisms are capable of switching between regular sexual reproduction and parthenogenesis. In aphids and crustaceans, this switch is triggered by a change in season and favourable growth conditions. Komodo dragons and snakes change tack when male suitors are lacking.

Is this possible in mammals? (Hey guys, should we be worried?)

The egg-laying animals that can partake in solo conception don’t have to worry about genomic imprinting, chemical modifications to genes which cause them to act differently depending on which parent they’ve come from. Without a copy from mum and a copy from dad, mammalian development is out of kilter and doesn’t happen normally.

We're not home free yet!

However, on 11 October 2018, researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences chemically induced parthenogenesis in mouse eggs. Haploid stem cells were then collected from the activated, dividing eggs. By deleting problematic imprinted genes, the scientists were able to fuse two haploid stem cells from two different female mice to bring to life 29 live pups. Astoundingly, these pups went onto mate with male mice and have pups of their own.

Red and Blue COVID gap widens

The New York Times: U.S. Covid Deaths Get Even Redder

The brief version: The gap in Covid’s death toll between red and blue America has grown faster over the past month than at any previous point. In October, 25 out of every 100,000 residents of heavily Trump counties died from Covid, more than three times higher than the rate in heavily Biden counties (7.8 per 100,000). October was the fifth consecutive month that the percentage gap between the death rates in Trump counties and Biden counties widened. Some conservative writers have tried to claim that the gap may stem from regional differences in weather or age, but those arguments fall apart under scrutiny. (If weather or age were a major reason, the pattern would have begun to appear last year.) The true explanation is straightforward: The vaccines are remarkably effective at preventing severe Covid, and almost 40 percent of Republican adults remain unvaccinated, compared with about 10 percent of Democratic adults. (Leonhardt, 11/8) (Found in Kaiser Health News)


I'm incredulous. As the death toll rises, it would seem that more people would opt for the vaccine no matter their politics. The lies and falsehoods on the internet seem to have more credibility among the the rural red state population.


The Guardian reports, In the United States, there is a renewed campaign to vaccinate rural Americans due to the stark difference in Covid-19 cases and deaths among those living in less-populated areas compared with towns and cities. Rural residents are now twice as likely to die from Covid-19 as Americans in metropolitan areas. Yet rural areas tend to lag at least 10% behind metropolitan areas when it comes to vaccination – and this hesitancy is exacerbating already existing health issues. (Schreiber, 11/9)

Groups still push for vaccine exemptions, resist getting shots —

Poynters PolitiFact debunks the most common hoaxes.

• Misinformation about the COVID-19 vaccines continues to spread on Facebook and other social media, with help from public figures like Fox News host Tucker Carlson.

• PolitiFact has fact-checked online hoaxes and claims about the COVID-19 vaccines’ safety and efficacy, trials, ingredients, purpose and side effects.

• The COVID-19 vaccines were proven to be safe and effective through a rigorous testing process. Their ingredients are public, and they do not include microchips for government tracking, metals or other toxic materials. They are not mandatory in the U.S.

• The COVID-19 vaccines do not alter your DNA or affect fertility, and they cannot “shed” to impact unvaccinated people. They have not caused widespread death and disease.

Raising Money? Tell a Good Story

Relate by Telling Stories

So many fund raising appeals are based on need. No, not the need of those being served. The need of the non-profit. As a former boss said, you're leaving money on the table. It is, as if, your need will somehow translate into action. A list of your services hardly qualifies as reasons for giving. Think of it this way, if you were an unemployment service, is it more effective to say you have 500 clients, or tell the story of how you helped a particular client find meaningful work?

Instead tell stories that intrigue, inspire, motivate, rally, ignite advocacy, and secure donations.

The Network for Good has a nifty little page on their website, Top 3 Storytelling Essentials for Fundraising.

I've copied and pasted it for you here. (You can also go to the link I've provided.)

Once Upon a Time…

Whether you prefer to curl up with a good book or get lost in a film, the story is what captures our imagination. A good narrative brings people together and forms a common ground; it evokes emotion, sparks passion, and creates empathy.

For a nonprofit, a good story can:

• intrigue journalists
• inspire donors
• motivate staff and board
• rally supporters
• ignite advocacy
• secure corporate sponsorship

Stories are the basic building blocks for reaching our goals.

As fundraisers, you’re responsible for arousing sympathetic emotions and inspiring action. The most powerful way to do that is to tell a great story. But what makes your story great? What do you need to include?

The essential elements of any good story are the character, desire, and conflict. 

Character

Your protagonist is who your audience relates to. Personalize your organization and mission. Look at your data and find those case studies that can serve as representational stories for the work you do. People are twice as likely to give a charitable gift when presented with an emotion-inducing personal story that focuses exclusively on one character’s plight. 

Desire

We all want something. What is the desire within your character’s story? Is it a need to change their world, to obtain something, get rid of something, restore order, or escape a threat? Make sure their need is powerful and immediate.

Conflict

Conflict refers to the obstacles that arise and prevent the character from getting whatever she or he wants. Powerful stories about relatable people overcoming challenges inspire the reader (or listener) to help. Tap into those universal human emotions and your audience will engage with you.

Particularly when it comes to telling your nonprofit’s origin story—whether you’re discovering how to tell it for the first time, or simply want to refresh your approach—a powerful narrative is the foundation of successful fundraising.

The idea is to raise the passions of your potential donors. Try relating to them with success stories about the people you serve. Tug at the heartstrings. Inspire action.