Great Night (a #ShortStory)

"What happened to your face!?"

"I cut myself shaving."

"That looks like a bad cut. You will see the scratch for days."

"I know, right? The pain is okay. It just stings a little for a few seconds but these scratches are disfiguring."

"Right. It's why I really prefer scratches on my back."

"On your back?"

"Yes, because you can't see them but you can feel them and smile at the memory of a great night."

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Why do people believe Shell when Shell states Shell is not responsible for climate change?

Meet the Money Behind The Climate Denial Movement (click)

Here's a simple graph to show to even the people in the back that the average global temperature ís rising. 

Here's the source (click) for this graph.

You may have also seen this one on social media:

As 'evidence' the average global temperature is not rising at all. That it's all just a hoax, made up by 'the elite'. Usually without naming the source. That should be a giveaway. 

To really understand Berner's graph on carbon dioxide through the ages, one needs to be able to read. Like this article (click). It explains that the periods of time are so extremely vast that hardly any of the figures are 'fact' but an estimate at most. In Robert Berner's own words: <<He noted that "exact values of CO2... should not be taken literally.">> Which makes sense since the graph starts at over 500 million years ago. 

As if you're stating that people now owe more socks then they did a thousand years ago and use those figures to suggest that we really don't need bigger drawers. It makes absolutely no sense and is just a bunch of useless data. Albeit interesting.

Which of course doesn't keep climate change deniers to use the graph as their 'evidence' that 'the elite' is fooling us with stating the fossile fuels industry is largely responsible for manmade climate change and its consequences: droughts, floods, tornadoes, hailstorms, failed crops, Spain turning into a dessert, melting ice caps...

Why do you think climate change deniers are so unbelievably stupid? They are also very self centered. I'm sure they will scream that governments and scientists should have warned them about the consequences of climate change when they see their bed slippers float away and their coffee has become extremely expensive. 

Until they drown, climate change deniers believe anything that's put out there by websites from Clintel (click), the infamous climate change deniers foundation. Not surprisingly Clintel has close ties with Thierry Baudet, leader of a Dutch [fascist] Nationalist Party since fasci...pardon...'nationalists' love spreading fake news to their flock.

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Guilty (#stoetry)

Slightly embarrassed glances

were exchanged 

at that morning's meeting:

"I won't tell if you won't" 

without words.

Without promises, 

fears or expectations 

they had spent

part of their lives 

in eachother's company.

And it felt right.

So why did they feel guilty?

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Let's party! Or look hopefully at our smartphone screens

It's that time of the year again. People go to parties. In the US recently for Thanksgiving (except Native Americans of course) and in other parts of the world for different ways of celebrating the end of the year according to the Gregorian calendar: company drinks and of course the biggest [lie] of them all: the infamous Christmas party. 

Christmas ('Christ's mass') was originally celebrated around His birth, the end of March. Which was also the time that many peoples celebrated Spring, the 'beginning' of life. With lots of parties were people would jump up and down around a tree. 

Coincidentally (or is it?) the Dutch word 'spring' means 'to jump'. 

Anyway: Roman Emperor Constantine (click) thought it would be a swell idea to have Jesus be born when the Romans already celebrated the very popular feast of Saturnalia. In December, once the tenth month of the year. Hence the 'dec'. You know, the party from the famous paintings. With all those - often chubby - naked people feeding of wine, grapes and eachother.

Have you ever wondered why the pictures of God you were shown as a kid in Bible class looked eerily similar to depictions of the deity Saturn? Wonder no more:

Hmm, I wonder why the (Catholic) church doesn't want their sheep 

to know they simply stole their picture of God from the Roman deity Saturn?

Constantine got his people reverted to Christianity because he figured it was the easiest way to oppress...excuse me...to rule them. Instead of working out a way of scaring people into obeying him, he could now simply tell them what to do and not to do 'because that's God's will'. It also saved him a bundle on whips, spies, police and torture devices.

A very pragmatic man. Although some would call him 'lazy'. 

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Those who don't get party invitations (in December or whenever, really) but really want to meet drunk people because they are much easier to socialize with than sober people and often don't even care about your looks or social status, revert to a method to still get some attention and feel loved through a method that these days is known as 'Tinder': a few 'swipes' and you have contact with someone who wants to [f*ck] meet you. Yeah, exciting!

Recently, in New York, a woman named Cassidy Davis set up a now monthly event (click) and immediately got Tinder to sponsor her because they don't want her project to fail. 

The idea is that you meet people online through the Tinder app and then pay (...) to meet them in 3D. Like, you know, for real. In a bar, club, bowling alley, restaurant, on the beach, in a park or wherever.  

Because after years of online 'dating' people forgot how to interact without a smartphone in their hands, they get handed out a piece of paper with questions on it to ask people you've never met before. They call it 'chaotic bingo'. 

And if you have five questions answered correctly, you get a Tinder Platinum account for a year. Yeah. 

The idea is that if people meet eachother in real life (or as the Tinder people call it in their sway lingo: 'IRL'), they are much more inclined to interact and have fun, whether they eventually 'hook up' (that's American slang for 'have s3x') or not. 

What a great [scam] idea! People pay to be send a date and time and the address of a venue. And do so willingly! Without thinking for even a second that you don't need to pay an organisation for what old fashioned people call: 'Let's go out, have fun, talk to people and see what happens'. 

Is it social anxiety, not being taught by parents or older siblings how to socially interact? Why do people need someone to tell them how to have fun and talk to people they never met before?

In the Netherlands there are similar organisations that help (desperate?) singles to meet 'n mingle: you pay some organisation a fee and in exchange they send you a time, date and place for an event. 'But only for highly educated people like yourself!', one of those organisations advertises 'because we only want to [get money] connect people [with money] of at least a certain intelligence level.' So they do glow-in- the dark lasertag, glow-in-the-dark bowling, glow-in-the dark clubbing, glow-in the dark-volleyball...you know, events that only highly educated people are smart enough to [pay a lot of money for] enjoy.

Do you have trouble socializing with people you never met before? Would you rather chat with people online or in real life? 

The violin (#stoetry)

In the middle of the labyrinth

there's a piano.

But nobody is playing it

because no one can reach it.

Was the labyrinth built around it

or did it just grow there?

"No one will ever know",

said the violin.

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Light and Darkness

Light should always conquer darkness, right? No, of course not. Just imagine it would always be sunny. There would be no rest. We could never enjoy a sunset or sunrise. Plants need sunshine ánd rain to grow. Humans need light ánd darkness to work and rest.

Try seeing a Star Wars movie with only the Light Side of The Force. No Emperor Palpatine. No Kylo Ren, Darth Maul or *gasp* Darth Vader.

No Yin without Yang. 

Even God ("to be" or "he who is" or "that what is") needs an opponent (the original meaning of "Satan"). 

The Chessboard of Life with only white pieces? What kind of game would that make? It would make us really, really unhappy. It's why our alien overlords created a new, less 'perfect' Matrix.

Perhaps we are merely pieces on the Chessboard of Life and being manipulated by God and His Opponent. 

The only choice we have is to stand still either move forward. And free will? Where we go depends on our place on the board and the movements of the pieces in front and opposite of. 

The best we could even hope to get out of life is a sense of accomplishment; not a large amount of money or a collection of fine cars and wines we leave behind our rotting corpses. Just ask any dying millionaire. 

No, it's in knowing you made a stranger smile, the echo of the words "I love you, dad" and the general idea that thanks to you the world is a slightly better place. 

People who are only here for their own happiness and thereby stand in the way of the happiness others, are the most unhappy people in the world.

We are our own heroes and villains.

We seem to need heroes ánd villains to feel things are right, as they should be. 

And here's something to ponder:

A hero might sacrifice the world to save you. A villain might sacrifice you but save the whole world. (Thank you, Amanda)

Who is the actual 'bad guy': the one that saves one, or the one that doesn't hurt millions?

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Smoking crater (a #ShortStory)

Why worry about something

that's inevitable?

Facts remain, whether you stress over them or not. 

'Oh no, the plane is gonna crash!' 

'Yes, it is. I would like my remaining minute not to be confronted with some screaming idiot who thinks that screaming will stop the plane from crashing. 

So if you could please shut up? Thanks.'

'But the plane is crashing! We're all gonna die!'

'Yes, and if don't shut up, you'll die

before we become a smoking crater.'

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Why don't people worry about real problems?

'The people' don't want to worry about real issues. So they jump at the chance to cry about 'wokeness' or other 'problems' demagogues invent for them. 

Are people simply bored? Why else would they worry about problems that are actually not?

Climate change, war, famine, poverty, inequality, droughts, floodings, racism, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, lack of diversity... those are real problems. 

So why be concerned that the mailman may have been a girl once? 

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Peaches (#stoetry)

Her gracious moves

were enchanting

and under her spell

he could do nothing

but watch

as she defied gravity

and even dust

forgot to settle.

With a smile and a song

she walked up to him

and although he had prepared

an eloquent little speech,

when she asked him:

"How are you doing?",

he could barely mumble a reply:

"Peaches"

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Should we listen to immigrants telling us immigrants are bad people?

These people are all of foreign descent. Meaning their direct ancestors came to the country that these people want to lock down for immigration. 

If it were up to them, they would not have been born in the country that they want to shield from 'foreigners'

Why do a lot of immigrants don't want more immigrants to enter 'their' country?

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Be Hard (#stoetry)

Between the gold and the glitter

she stood out

as the most shiny of all

Diamonds are cheap

compared to the price

of her love

His feelings ran deep

As deep

as the ocean in her eyes

Drowning

would not be hard

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Are there only two genders in nature?

It's almost impossible to believe but there are actually people who are convinced everything in nature is binary: either 'this' or 'that'. But that thought is simply false. For instance: nature in no way looks anything like on the 'one hour photo service' pictures of the late eighties:

The sun just isn't always the same shade of yellow and neither is the beach. The sea isn't always the same colour green, the sky isn't always the same colour blue and people in real life are never either pink or brown. 

Not even for those who desperately want that to be true.

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Just think of it: why are most aliens you see on tv neither male or female? The only exception I can think of - although there are probably more - are the so called 'Predators'; those fighting 'Aliens' on Earth all appear to be male. Although rumour has it that female Predators are just as ruthless.

Back on Earth there are all kind of gender-combinations with a ginormous mix of characteristics. 

Some life can change gender at will and even humans don't always follow the 'men hunt, women stay gather (click)' adagium. 

Extremely scared and conservative people are terrified. And they live - like young children like to play - in 'the upside down world'. So people who believe in science they call 'woke'. While they themselves squeeze their eyes tight, put their fingers in their ears and go 'Nah nah nah!'

Why do you think some people think there are always only two genders? And why are they terrified about there being more?

The End of the World (#stoetry)

Everybody should feel free!

To express themselves.

To say what they want,

To act like they want.

To wear what they want.

So I'm with Jesus:

everyone is equal!

But some are more equal than others:

A boy wearing long hair and a dress!? 

Before you know if, 

girls will want to wear 

their hair short and trousers.

That would mean the end of the world!

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It can't be a coincidence! Yes, it can.

Conspiracy theorists have one thing in common: they don't have a clue what 'causality' means. 

Most of them are lazy too and simply repeat what they heard other conspiracy theorists say.

Simply sticking two pieces of data together and stating they are connected doesn't mean you 'have woken up', 'looked it up' or 'did your own research'. It just means you're stupid.

I made up the above samples, here's one doing the rounds amongst simple people who believe right wing populists stating they are fighting pedophiles:

'His last name translates to 'sugar mountain'. That must mean he lures children with candy and piles their dead bodies in front of his pedo Cabal friends in a huge mountain! Right? It just can't be a coincidence!'

Why are 'wappies' (MAGA-people, Q-fans, Karens, anti-vaxxers, racists, etc) so stupid and gullible they believe anything that's popular in their narrow minded bubble?

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The Mugger (a #ShortStory)

"Give me your money or I'll stab you!" 

"In the past few days I lost my job, my home and my girlfriend, 

with all my money. And now am forced to go live with my mom again. 

Please stab me." 

The guy almost started crying, was at the brink 

of giving me his sharpened screwdriver but reconsidered, 

shook his head and walked away. 

"F*ck, I can't even get myself killed if I want to. 

Is there really nothing I can succeed at these days?" 

It took me a while but I 'm okay now. 

And I hope so is the mugger.

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Trolls!

"Father reunited with daughter after doing two tours in Afghanistan." a post may read.

Some replies will look like:

"What a terrible dad, abandoning his child!"

If you have a social media account (Instagram, Reddit, Threads, Facebook or whatever) you have probably come across posts and responses like this.

While people with empathy are happy for the father and daughter, people who hate themselves and their own lives want others to be just as miserable as they are.

They are commonly known as 'trolls' and are known party poopers; very negative people who refuse to believe there can be good in the world.

Do you think we should feel sorry for trolls or simply feed them to mythical trolls 

and be done with them?

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