Classifying Organized Deception

"Interesting concept. If automation can leverage the effort, it would be very useful. Rather than go directly to identifying sponsors, use weighted categories to build profile proxies."

"Its says Ogallala XL." she pointed to the monitor. The room erupted in laughter.

Obfuscation
Desensitization
Misdirection
Decoys
...

"Accurate descriptions alone provide the superior identification in this case. The reason is quite simple. Sock puppetry is inefficient in shooting down detailed and verifiable profiles. Especially when compared to demonization and other manufactured distortions of names and titles."

A related tactic, also based on deception, is the omission of important detail to create a false impression of integrity. Egregious at a whole new level when such omission is deliberate and a key factor in automated or semi-automated propagation of a deceptive meme.

© 2011 Buzz Hill

Leverage

"In a dream, we flew. From grand forests down across the fruited plain and into the devil's emerging punchbowl thousands of miles away."

If one leads with anger or fear, objectivity is all but forgotten. But what is there really to be afraid of or angry about? A peculiar choice in that one is uncomfortable and, most likely, need not be.

By design, by manipulative design. Such creations we could do without. Where do the really come from, dear Brutus? What motivates those who choose to change so much and do so hidden from view?

"Why would you want to believe they do not exist? Has the universe been unfair from your point of view? To whom? Someone you know?

"Desire is a powerful force, is it not? Especially if driven by strong afflictive emotion."

© 2011 Buzz Hill

Revenue

These are 'real' folks.

"Would you institutionally advertise to associate brand with integrity?"

"Personal, company?"

"Either, both."

Proper ownership, as defined is the third, and most pivotal, modifier. Which authentic person(s) takes responsibility at the appropriate scope? Who will benefit and how?

"Do your core values include the active support of other's individual dignity?"

"Authentic identity is the virtual opposite of preemptive messaging intended to deceive."

"But the dream had colors, lots of them, each standing alone in a sequence. What was that about?"

"I don't know ... yet."

---

Disruptor attacks and infiltration had taken a big toll, no question. The competition rapidly discovering the consequences of not getting 'the kill', though. Learning of the advantages of numbers and dispersion a new plan emerges. The enemy's big guns have to aim. When they do, it is at a very small portion of their highly dispersed opponent.

If trust is the foundation and nearly inviolate only a critical membership mass dispersed geographically is required to offset 'blank check' funded minions with a deception mission.

© 2011 Buzz Hill

Monkey

Seven Percent

"I've been there. Sometimes being highly functional masks the severity of its impact in context for a long time."

"But those very close know. Penetrating denial has patterns too."

"Of course and disruption is a given. The degree to which it is relevant is case dependent. Are you at all concerned?"

As many can attest, a discussion of this type could go on and on. High level systems tend to be less about fault avoidance and more about fault recovery. The bridge, detection. Experience of a global interactive network all but makes such an assertion irrefutable. Empirical evidence the most compelling of all.

But no one contributing to the mission had any illusion regarding how early they were along the emergent pathway. The prototype for their ambitions numbered in the billions already and the full implications of that fact became apparent only recently.

"Remember past attempts at intervention? I am guessing you have learned a lot since the time of the stories you tell about yourself." She new the traces went back six decades and change."

"As Judy Collin's sang, "... from both sides now." But still, science and technology are woefully inadequate to the task. Coded into the tunes of our times however, new answers lie. For we have come a long way, dear Prudence. A long way."

© 2011 Buzz Hill

Understand?

"The dream was unambiguous and in a way only possible at that level of abstraction."

It is a simple measurement really. A natural chemical is released in the body leading to what is called heart failure in this particular case. Think, stay cool or die. The precursor is like an idiot light on your dashboard (pay attention or you and this vehicle are toast).

So, when the self-anointed authority figure took the liberty of preparing to abuse a vulnerable innocent in full view of the nearby public, this person stood up and challenged the situation.

"You have no right to do that.", risking his life in the process. He went on to succinctly describe in words the gathered people could easily understand. Proving in that moment the validity of a collective moral compass.

This story would not be complete without talking about that chemical and failure of a critical organ. Standing tall for justice with conviction should not be life threatening. And so it was not, the potential was not realized nor even risked.

A smart heart, so-to-speak. Some define such as beautiful.

© 2011 Buzz Hill

So much more.

Do you really know the humble man behind this?

A tribute to a remarkable human and so much more.

With the almost daily news emerging from the Dodd-Frank revelation about colossally expensive wrongdoing in the private sector, this man is about making money without the heavy use of deception (legal or illegal).

The plan of the company he has led does not have to create a class of the undeserving in order to grow and provide an incredible return on investment.

Spin some of the data any way you want, it is impossible to avoid the conclusion that being compassionate is not incompatible with business practice. Good guys can win, big time. If you are being told differently, think again.

So when this guy says something, people pay attention. To have lived so much is but a dream for most of us.  But this kind of dream is exactly my intention, it makes me happy.

© 2011 Buzz Hill

Rules and Other Obstacles

"Your critics would argue that the view you just expressed leaves little room for a productive discussion on how to make it better."

"What do you mean, better? It is fine just they way it is."

The lyrics went something like "You're so vain, you probably think this song is about you."

Welcome to humanity and the point of this missive. The style is purposely not declarative and avoids instances to prevent a diversion from the level of abstraction intended.

A common tactic in intellectual warfare is forcing the opposition to specify and declare so as to discuss an instance rather than the principle. One more in a plethora of coercion tactics.

"So how does one effectively disarm this type of disruptor?"

© 2011 Buzz Hill

Executive Summary

"A maximum of two or three pages describing what this web-based start-up will bring to the internet spring. Why it is compelling to a large and growing population of ethical investors."

"Under the guise of privacy, well-funded and highly selfish interests have attempted a takeover of the IP network like they have broadcast and cable. They have competition for the simple reason their stewardship of the earth's shared resources has been dismal."

"This has created the substantial market opportunity, (Newtonian: reaction to a force) that is the business model of a handful of the world's most successful new companies."

"It is the simple logic of a company that does not need to rely on deception, not even secrecy to thrive. You can read all about it here.

"And for those who do not want it to happen? Why not? Are you afraid to compete with honesty? Surely not."

© 2011 Buzz Hill 

Afflictive Transformation

"As we have been discussing for some time (see log entries to verify), productive conversation visible to the web is one of the best counterbalances to the Deception Machine.

"It is exciting to consider that attempts to increase troll activity with false and multiple personas can actually amplify the positive effects of the reactive countervailing force by drawing sharp and motivated attention to the selfish interests of certain perpetrators. Further, creating better pathways back to the sources of 'bad guys'.

"By now, you have probably discovered what has been disclosed here over the past couple of years, the information to initiate a compassionate response to manipulators is available to anyone with a device connected to the web. Soon you will see a proliferation or organizations that will accelerate the wave."

"The key is to first recognize the potential and soon thereafter suggest it to friends. The rest will take care of itself, organically."

"A few of us will have the joyful experience of putting everything on the line - to save the world."

© 2011 Buzz Hill

Backchannel

"From time to time it is important to acknowledge the key role your feedback has provided. If we are to successfully scale up this social catharsis, the indirect nature of the feedback will need to be maintained.

"Know that your work is a tremendous inspiration to us. Tell Larry, Mark et al?"

---

What is not immediately apparent by simply observing the work of the vandals is that they are at the end of a long command chain. Each link of it, obscures its local source such that the originating source can be protected thoroughly.

Many make the mistake of trying to compete at the end of the chain not realizing that it is very ineffective to do so. The reason is simple, it is a top-down model with very little, if any, authority delegated.

By carefully working back up the chain one will discover how its dark leadership accomplishes its task of avoiding accountability.

© 2011 Buzz Hill

Change The Game

Heart is pure.

"The practical matter is there will need to be a concerted effort to mobilize the larger, high integrity players in the private sector."

"Continuing to let the dominant competition define the rules of engagement is a prescription for defeat."

"Is it that the high integrity leaders fear their name being falsely associated with an anti-corporate agenda?  After all, the ruthless competition has been doing this very successfully for a sustained period."

Disclosure backups in the hands of multiple parties with differing interests assures that tactics to destroy the documents will not succeed. The sheer volume of the disclosures means they can be released over time, if necessary. This can help illuminate attempts at coverup.

The 'insurance' tactic described has been honed over decades by many high profile applications.

© 2011 Buzz Hill

Destructor

"What should we know about Colorado?"

"Well from one point of view it is just a place of course, but interestingly it is the location of a detective's lead.

Recall that deception is the cornerstone of 'the competition'. Further, that anonymity and its attendant avoidance of accountability is the heart of its capacity to undermine social value (from our point of view.)" Relative invisibility is key to their operating model.

Our competitor has generated a substantial market opportunity for us in that they create a demand for the fair treatment of a certain impacted population lacking in their own agenda.

Those underserved by its predatory practices are important to certain other companies well being. From the perspective of the new company, this 'other' market can be scaled at will with little or no external capital.

© 2011 Buzz Hill

Authentic - Corrupt Continuum

"Its a rather simple trade-off really, and quite common. Corrupt is less authentic and authentic is less corrupt.

"A good example that is easy to study is sponsored internet vandalism, for lack of a better term. Deception of a certain type is lucrative for a certain class of predatory owners. The objective is deception where the appearance of believable, though fake, personas creates the mass perception of 'grass roots'.

"A countervailing economic opportunity exists wherein accountable individuals are hired to detect and disarm the socially destructive activity just described."

The bad guys create a market for good guys, so-to-speak.

Think of it as technology assisted deputization. Trusted persons are trained, then hired to use online skills to ferret out institutionalized communications abuse on the net. You will be happy to know there are sponsors ready to finance the effort who are waiting for a workable plan to be completed.

© 2011 Buzz Hill

Sponsor Opportunity

"One might reasonably ask why certain large cloud companies would want to purchase advertising in this new web presence."

Authentic Persona

"Take for instance, a large electronic device maker whose products are differentiated from the rest of each market by largely software driven intuitive user interfaces. By focusing on real individuals directly, the integrity of the brand, means their is a recurring and growing revenue opportunity from authentic individuals.

"The last part is key to our discussion. Rather than telling the reader what he thinks, and seeing if she/he agrees, ask. What better way to ask than to find a group of authentic individuals armed to the teeth with interactive, global tools for effective interaction?"

"Organic growth of the group's company creates the opportunity to keep its core mission pure. These are real individuals with no duplicates and no counterfeit identities.", she paused and looked up at others.

"One could argue the company under discussion delivers a good deal of the proposed functionality already."

As the discussion continued, it was clear the best sponsor prospects all brought some important piece to the new company's value proposition. The next two were closer to pure software plays.

"Social network with the best and most current technology. One's sense of thriving, much less security, is derived from authentic personal relationships. False personas (often in service to an insecure ego) are not sufficient for this definition of the modifier, authentic.

"Each sponsor benefits from the ongoing pure-play experiment in personal authenticity."

Two very large and still rapidly growing companies could be considered to fit in this category. And one of them has a business model closely tied with knowledge sharing. Deception does not fit at all well in a sharing model. And this all-to-common social dysfunction is naturally shunned by the new company's architecture.

NOTE: Some of the foregoing in this BuzzTheHill post is not fictional. Consider it a public disclosure and as such, to the degree something novel and not obvious to those skilled in the art has been addressed, the specific intent was/is to put it in the PUBLIC DOMAIN

© 2011 Buzz Hill

Now Hiring

Culminating brew ...

You represent a company that is proud of the fact it is not corrupt and would like an inexpensive opportunity to let the early adopters and influencers know. In so doing, re-establish faith in our free country and its ability to lead by example.

Our company will be owned and controlled by people who explicitly subordinate their financial interest in the new company to its mission of honoring the dignity of individual persons/stakeholders. This is NOT, however, to be construed as 'in lieu of financial return".

Revenue will be from institutional advertisers (PBS model).

A high number of work-at-home employees will learn skills for discovering and mitigating the impact of internet abusers.

The company will have an unprecedented level of transparency. All technology will be 'open source'.

The ratio of the highest payed executive to the lowest paid worker will be low and transparent. Management will be accountable to the people most impacted. The voice of the people can and will be heard.

Competition for internet cleanup will be encouraged because it will grow the market for the new company's service for the foreseeable future. There will be plenty of room for vigorous competitors.

NOTE: Some of the foregoing in this BuzzTheHill post is not fictional. Consider it a public disclosure and as such, to the degree something novel and not obvious to those skilled in the art has been addressed, the specific intent was/is to put it in the PUBLIC DOMAIN

© 2011 Buzz Hill

Rocket Science and Other Trivia

Coddling?

"Are 'deep pockets' of one mind? Probably not, they are human.

"Are they fallible? Probably, same reason.

"Who should speak for them? Think tanks? Certain academics? A media conglomerate?"

His answer was quick an unsurprising, "Frankly, I like it better when they speak for themselves. The courageous do. They have no need of hiding. Deception is not their core strategy."

---

"One would gather from the news that corruption is somehow legal. Is that true?"

"That would depend on how corruption is defined and interpreted by financially incentivized legal experts and underfunded law enforcement etc."

Net Neighborhood Watch - temporary jobs to help cleanup the web. Do you have a device connected to the internet? Are you willing to work from home? Does the idea of working just as many hours per week as you want sound appealing?

NOTE: Some of the foregoing in this BuzzTheHill post is not fictional. Consider it a public disclosure and as such, to the degree something novel and not obvious to those skilled in the art has been addressed, the specific intent was/is to put it in the PUBLIC DOMAIN

© 2011 Buzz Hill

System Integrity

"Measure unique and authentic person by those who vouch for her/him.  Social networks call them friends. When they are unique and authentic too, the integrity of the system is optimal.

"Adding this most fundamental of organizing principles after the enterprise is underway is more difficult - like fixing the foundation after the house is built."

In essence, this last comment summed up the challenge for them. They had been taking on faith that integrity would be of high value, though not  yet qualitatively specified. The ability to attract resources, especially engaged individuals, required that value details be more explicit. Classic chicken and egg situation (there are other options, Prudence).

'Reinventing the wheel', the most common mistake in these situations. The history of notable individuals ... many clues.

Brainstorm in progress. Only hints. Few declarations. Ever more lucid questions ...

NOTE: Some of the foregoing in this BuzzTheHill post is not fictional. Consider it a public disclosure and as such, to the degree something novel and not obvious to those skilled in the art has been addressed, the specific intent was/is to put it in the PUBLIC DOMAIN

© 2011 Buzz Hill

Liberal What?

"They might have been hoping that the new kid would be as predatory as the old guard or at least could be portrayed as such. Remember, if it bleeds - it leads.

"For instance, obsession with product introduction secrecy. There must be something 'carnivorous' about that, right?"

Jobs?

"Perception is reality. Control it for as long as possible, then leave town before anybody discovers what you are really up to. Stupid weak people have too much.

"What do you mean there is no place else to hide? No fair. I bought and paid for perception and it was expensive. I was able to take enough from stupid weak people to afford manipulation based management (MBM).

"Manufactured scarcity, very profitable for long enough to buy something to own and exploit. We call it capitalism to confuse people."

Energy?

© 2011 Buzz Hill

Stupid Works?

"Is steady as she goes actually the best we can do? I am asking because one gets the feeling that 'stupid works' has been getting a lot of traction lately."

Can you tell me again what the 'A' stands for?

Consider the implications of the successful mission to keep a lid on Keystone XL discussion until it is nearly too late. Assuming the the competition or its infrastructure is 'stupid' instead of not very nice is like saying, "I am sorry for winning, I don't mean to hurt your feelings. Why can't we all get along?"

Just as rationalizing continued violence because it keeps us prepared should the need arise is absurd, so too is dumbing everyone down by suppressing incentive to keep us safe from the selfish powerful.

You are not likely laughing if you are presently gullible, so consider it a good sign if something makes you chuckle.

By the way, you likely you will not hear this from an industry led by the notorious international deceiver, 'the corner is being turned even though you have been told you will hit the wall.' 

© 2011 Buzz Hill

Instrument Credibility

[Post editing in process. Thank you for your patience.]

"What I am advocating certainly describes a demonstrable pattern in the mass deception we have observed. Conflation is easy to achieve when the audience is in a heightened emotional state such as anger or fear."

"Contrast the effects of the just described deception pattern with the machine detectable authenticity study's results. "

Even without seeing their faces or the presentations in their midst, one got the sense of a major bridge emerging.

A frequency distribution of identity context correlations ranging from maximally deceptive to maximally authentic.

Empirical protocol.
Deception Stream, Authentic Stream.
Predicted vs. Actual Authenticity

What patterns emerged from comparing the deception stream from the authentic stream? What impact did opinions about the streams have?

NOTE: Some of the foregoing in this BuzzTheHill post is not fictional. Consider it a public disclosure and as such, to the degree something novel and not obvious to those skilled in the art has been addressed, the specific intent was/is to put it in the PUBLIC DOMAIN

© 2011 Buzz Hill

Justice For All

"Highly ethical law enforcement will prove a very important tool for leveling the playing field going forward. Using an appropriate structure and context for the entity responsible is critically urgent."

"We have new tools already in place. To keep them there, the Deception Machine will have to be slowed."

© 2011 Buzz Hill

The Big 'Mo'

"I want to acknowledge the contributors to this compassion movement. One of the best ways to do so is to encourage the organic propagation of sincere personal expressions of gratitude. 

The solution is the pursuit of 'true' happiness.

"It is important to minimize the disruptive tactics of the competition by engaging in authentic dialog with A FEW friends and suggesting they do the same. The brutal-selfish rely on automation that is, at least so-far, incapable of authentic dialog. Advantage compassionate."

Somebody had the presence of mind to copy some of the text and paste it into a Google query without the quotes and discover that it was, in fact, unique and NOT fresh off a propaganda production line.

Encouraged to form opinions based on 'feelings' oft repeated, many otherwise capable individuals find themselves inadvertently fomenting hate and fear when they were merely frustrated with the illusion of powerlessness. The short-sighted and self-centered tend to encourage such dysfunction - they need our firm but gentle compassion. 

© 2011 Buzz Hill

Easier to Cheat

Opportunity!

"Somebody buying US Treasuries just after the downgrade stands to make a huge, quick and nearly risk free return on investment. Who is paying attention?"

"Would this be easier using automated high-frequency trading?"

"Good question, we'll look into it."

After awhile when somebody says, "Oops." the red flag goes up immediately. What a couple of trillion amongst friends? Maybe the DOJ ought to find out. Is it true they have access to payed fines in corporate settlements?  Seems like a no-brainer, frankly.

"Did you see that billboard? It said something like, "I don't want to talk about politics. My side is losing."

Koch Industries, Wichita Kansas

The deception machine is losing its effectiveness. Ironically, it was not the content that was discredited this time - instead it was the long laundering chain method of obscuring causal relationships.

The motives of the command and control (think: head of the snake), now resonating with a disgusted population. Gut feel, if you will. Put an authentic face to your adversary and then the real contest (and the fun) begins. 

© 2011 Buzz Hill

Disruption for Fun and Profit

"Let me introduce myself ..."

"The way I have fun is to not be me on the internet. Facebook is just for fun and deceiving people about my identity is fun. If I can disrupt people's lives and not get caught … Let me just say its about as enjoyable as playing computer games all day and being payed for it."

Self calibration is, in part, referencing one's identity. Abandonment of this most human of functions surely has consequences. Does it not?

Interrupt disruptors and do so in concert with other well-meaning folk. Especially in the face of manufactured fear mongering.

'Manufactured' memes are recognizable by their repetitive nature. Thus they are less malleable than those of the organic type. Examples abound in the world of 'ownership'.

Optimize 'manufactured meme' recognition? Destructive manipulation may not be too far behind. It is, if you look closely, by design.

"Have I lost you yet?"

"Wait, what?"

"Good."

© 2011 Buzz Hill 

You Think Too Much

"If you think I am a piece of work now, you should see me when I try not to think."

All Is Trance

She grinned. It took a lot of time for her to finally get it. He was far less social when he did not honor his mind's persistent request. "So what did you do after that?"

"As they say, I bit my tongue." It was at these times his most productive soup conversations began. These insights could be best described as a rare discoveries of timeless value.

And while still few and far between, such gems were more frequent as of the time he had slipped into sustainable happiness just a couple of years before.

It is echo time once again on the prairie. Music to ones virtual ears. An appreciation for the symphony of patterns so common and under appreciated. And the buzz (no pun intended) will be 'obtuse, obscure' etc. Sometimes one has to defer explaining it to those disinclined to pursue depth absent an appropriate nudge.

© 2011 Buzz Hill

Perry Mason

"Are you being blackmailed, sir."

"Why on earth would you suggest such a thing?"

"Just fishing I guess. But you know some of the behavior just doesn't seem to make sense.", he paused realizing there could be other reasonable explanations. But there was not much doubt that a blackmailed person could operate in a way that would evoke such a response.

A basic tenet of the study of modern strategic communication is to consider the context of conscious awareness, both proximate and historical. The consequences of whatever was responsible sure seemed to serve the interests of a relatively small but powerful group all but hidden from public view.

"Words as weapons then? Isn't that a bit desperate?"

In just that one sentence the underlying manipulative pattern came into sharp relief. Paraphrasing the speaker and then advocating in a subsequent 'question'. He paused, knowing that if left unanswered the resulting attempt to coverup would likely be illuminating.

Who wins when the choice is made by a critical mass to not participate? Whoever was on top last, I suspect. Effective tactic. Keeps certain nefarious activity off the radar, so-to-speak. Until the consequences come too close to home again, that is.

© 2011 Buzz Hill

Vigorously Denied

Though he knew the subject well, to communicate it in familiar abstract terms would take more time than would be prudent.

"What they are denying now - a good place for the novice to start. Why? Asserting misguided claims ... repeating, as necessary. - Deceiver's concern is to remain hidden.

Crook?

This only makes sense when the deceiver has established a history of successful covert operation supported by disinformation campaigns on a large scale.

One can productively speculate about the scale of an operation by the resources dedicated to sustain a distorted external view. As we know, companies have emerged whose mission is to polish to a preferred image for a price, even in the newest of our interactive media.

Created perception is dynamic art with a long history. One need only look into the historical machinations of the personal ego to see what the foundational elements are. Mapping mind resources to their corollaries in the 'net' is both a design goal and the best integration to-date of said resources.

"Trust your instincts. In this case, they are reliable to an uncanny degree. The organized effort to dissuade your suspicions are starting to backfire on the perpetrators.

"Let me play devil's advocate here. Imagine a leadership agenda as follows:

") Understand and play to the control vulnerabilities of latest  broadcast and interactive communications infrastructure.

") Drive commercial demand for above by stimulating constant turmoil and suggesting that advertising a fiercely competitive view is the the path to resolution.

") Discredit the words and phrases that describe the covert strategy before it is implemented thus trivializing in the public's ey the effort to reverse engineer.

") Use time honored illusions of spectrum of opinion in a narrow window. When caught, sacrifice the extreme to re-establish the illusion's credibility."

© 2011 Buzz Hill

Nerve Center

"... suggests transnational or network of such using energy related and financially derived revenue to seed the cyber takeover of global command and control. Their biggest competitive threat is the rapidly declining nation-state 'superpower'. Accelerating that decline is a very high priority and, at the moment, seems to be going as scheduled."

Yes, that AFB. This is it, Toto.

"The communication technology piece ties it together and provides the state-of-the-art 'firewall' to keep it covert. Conspicuous by its absence - any public disclosure of breaches in the cloak.

This 'squeaky-clean' anomaly is starting to draw attention. Especially given the criminal prosecution history and decades old world stage presence."

"Whistleblowing, in particular would be devastating to an organization heavily reliant on secrecy. As would certain sustained technical disruptions." Think about what a power outage alone could accomplish. But, of course, extensive back-up power systems preclude that option.

"But I think the thought-experiment has merit. Distributed security is vulnerable because of the need to secure more than one site. Centralized security is vulnerable because it is a single target. Avoiding detection is bound to leave large trails that must be hidden from view, one way or another.

"Our problem continues to be a lack of certainty that the resources on which we depend have not been infiltrated by the target or are leaking timing intelligence to it."

© 2011 Buzz Hill

Convergence begins ...

So I said "Place bets on catastrophe, then cause it."

and the reply was, "Conspiracy theory."

and then I suggested, "Buy perception, its cheaper."

to which was heard, "Those stupid people, why don't they see through it? Like me?"

"Co-opt language to hide, say it loud and often."

"Still, I heard its true. Can't remember where, but I heard it more than once. So it must be."

And when I said, "But what do you think?"

the reply was, "Think?"

© 2011 Buzz Hill

Chase Continues ...

To transcend nation-states ...

"It bears repeating, the first time you arrive at a given post in this log, it may not be finished."

"So when should I come back?"

"Usually within a day or so."

"Times that try men's souls or some such. What strings are attached to our businesses, governments, churches and the like? To what degree must they override our devotion to each other, one and all, if at all? What should our concept of ownership bestow upon owners? Who decides? I am sorry, the answer, "owners decide" has more than proven to be grotesquely inadequate."

Is it so very hard to admit that something is within each of us that knows a simple, universal truth? And is it so difficult to believe that a little push back and encouragement for others to do likewise will be all it takes to energize a successful organic plan?

"The cynicism crop is not sustainable. It tends to eat its young in prodigious numbers. "Better than nature" is a fools remedy. Waking up from the nightmare is an exercise in taming the untrained ego.

"Pushing back could be as simple as suggesting to a client that specifying in a research study certain things could be construed as more about manipulation than discovery. Hearing too much of one's own echo is an insidious trap."

Turning to the open window and the evening breeze as if receiving wisdom carried by it she remarked, "Conflating brutal-selfish transnationals with capitalism is foolish for those who want a better world. Because it is an obfuscation tactic that cuts off the compassionate from a powerful potential ally."

© 2011 Buzz Hill