Tag: cunning plans

Coincidence is Logical – Except When it Isn’t

~ quantumdreamer ~ Leave a comment

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There is a certain type of person who prefers to ascribe coincidence, or random happenstance to events rather than accept any unproven {hypothetical} causal links. It would take a multiplicity of “coincidental” occurrence before they would deem significant corelation of happenstance sufficient to justify either causal linkage or even causality itself.

If the statistics to the contrary started to build up, they would resist dropping the logical conclusion of coincidence for quite a while.

Because of this they would never believe in karma. Even were it to slap them around the chops with a large wet pollack.

Say for discursive example you were covertly reading this blog and perhaps making some cunning plans which in some way pertained to me. You then noted that I posted “We’re only making plans for Nigel” here. The first port of call would be that this was entirely coincidental. You might start a tad, nevertheless. It is logically impossible for someone in another country to know that you were discussing or chatting about them. The occult ability of “seeing” belongs only to fictional characters like “Wednesday Addams”. At a stretch you might go so far as to think I had made some lucky intuitional guess which by fluke of timing matched circumstance. No way would you, as a rational scientist, accept that seeing is possible and that I am capable thereof.

People therefore write off many things because their confirmation bias says that they cannot or should not be possible. Anecdotal evidence of not boarding a plane because of  bad vibe and it subsequently crashing and burning, remains anecdotal and conversational perhaps to be found on “The Daily Mail”. The life of those prone to ascribing things near always to coincidence is a bit boring and chances are that they miss a great deal. They should steer well clear of roulette, statistics says so.

There are however many things for which coincidence and random happenstance are poor explanations. But logic is very limited and as it is currently formulated fails to encompass many things without far-fetched hypotheses like dark energy and dark matter.

“Show me a can of dark matter!!”

There is a part of society which believes in karma and synchronicity. Were you forever looking for these things then chances are you will find them. You could argue that belief in synchronicity is a self-fulfilling prophecy because of confirmation bias. Similarly if you were fond of the notion of seeing, ANY thing, any event, no matter how small could provide you with proof of efficacy. You could comb the opus of Nostradamus or the Revelation of Saint John and find clear {and incontrovertible} evidence of fulfilment of prophecy. It might not occur to you that you are kidding yourself.

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So where is reality?

Is it that coincidence is logical except when it isn’t?

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The Book of Revelation, also known as the Book of the Apocalypse or the Apocalypse of John, is the final book of the New Testament, and therefore the final book of the Christian Bible. Written in Greek, its title is derived from the first word of the text, apocalypse (Koine Greek: ἀποκάλυψις, romanized: apokálypsis), which means “revelation” or “unveiling”. The Book of Revelation is the only apocalyptic book in the New Testament canon and occupies a central place in Christian eschatology.

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Gang aft agley

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But Mousie, thou art no thy lane,
In proving foresight may be vain:
The best-laid schemes o’ Mice an’ Men
Gang aft agley,
An’ lea’e us nought but grief an’ pain,
For promis’d joy!

Still thou are blest, compared wi’ me!
The present only toucheth thee:
But Och! I backward cast my e’e,
On prospects drear!
An’ forward, tho’ I cannot see,
I guess an’ fear!

Robert Burns

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It would seem that the boring old chestnut of “cunning plan” is once more afoot. Those blessed with conventional intelligence and accustomed to using manipulative practices to leverage that which they may or may not want, have a “play book”. In normal corporate and interpersonal matters many of the pages in said book are well thumbed and some have a fairly repetitive modus operandi. What worked once is often used again.

The wife reminded me of an occurrence this morning when someone was playing silly buggers on my tutoring profile site. As usual the best strategy is to play with an entirely straight bat. If someone is pretending to be a potential tutee ask them the same things you would ask other tutees. I ask INFJ questions and these are not what many expect. Answering them is not an obvious bullet point thing. An INFJ question probes beyond face value. It is about feeling and intuition. I often was accustomed to a familial visit before taking on a new tutee. Only one family twigged that I was vetting them, the others thought they were vetting me. Introversion can be handy.

When university students used to try to gain advantage by pulling a “sickie” for exams I would send them to a particular doctor at the health centre with whom I had a good working relationship. I explained that I needed a professional opinion. Later I would have a chat with the doctor and use that to inform my conversation with the student. Often the students mis-reported their conversation with the doctor in the hope of gaining an advantage. Many withdrew their claims of “sickie”.

 Some people simply cannot help themselves in trying to be clever, Trevor. Well knock me down wiv a feather. Being honest, simple and up front is not in their play book. So they try to play silly buggers and come up with very convoluted things, “plans” which make sense, at least in their weird, distorted worlds.

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People prone to cunning plans do not factor in dreaming symbols nor the esoteric concept of seeing. Some people need a pretext in their minds and this is a rational justification. Pretexts and precedents are “important” for certain types. Some cunning “covers”, some so-called pretexts, are completely transparent in left side awareness. Unaware of this people can make right knobheads of themselves when they try to be cunning. Like the Emperor they may be wholly unaware that they have been seen, naked, in their true technicolour colours.

Oh well there may be some incoming, soon…

Stuck, On Hold and In Limbo

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While the world is caught up in a Bruce Springsteen “Glory Days” rose-tinted-sepia version {drama} of what America might once again become, not much is moving forward. The capitalist evangelist nation has admitted it is no longer competitive and is thinking sanctions to protect its internal markets. Your average American is unwilling to work for the same pay as someone less corpulent.

The war in Ukraine and the barbarity in Gaza continue apace. The world watches, sits on its hands and talks but does not. Humanity is very stuck and harping on about the Glory Days will not help no matter how many Bud Lights you refuse to drink. There has been no genuine lead from the USA for near a decade. Unsurprisingly the economic miracle foreseen by the Brexit soap-boxers has not propelled the UK into becoming a world economic superpower. Cunning plans may not be well thought out.

There is a huge leadership vacuum in the world today.

In my opinion humanity is need of an almighty wake up call to re-start the “save the planet” agenda and to overcome the for profit climate change nay-sayers. The equation is simple choose to be “comfortable” now and do fuck all, then pay very dearly later. This manifesto will get you elected in a “popularist” sense.

Here we have decided to see if it is possible to get anything done to ameliorate my hips. We have decided not to attempt to sell and move. The idea being that two new hips is about a year if the waiting time is a few months. I can’t find data on French wait times. Nor do I know if it is even possible. At the end of the month, we shall have a little more information. Best guess is the earliest operation would be after the summer. If it was UK best case scenario is six months wait with up to two years possible / probable. I could spend a huge chunk of remaining life savings and get it done privately in Hampshire, near the ferry port.

At the moment we are on hold and in limbo. Things are up in the air with no answers. We share that stuck-ness with the world. The news on television is very repetitive, a daily Groundhog Day. I don’t care who is on Love Island nor what percentage of GDP the UK will devote to defence.

Humanity needs an almighty wakeup call…

Something Changing…

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Over the last few days I have had the sensation of things stacking up, coming towards some kind of nexus. After which the future might be clearer. There is a sense of tension and of missed opportunity exterior to our world. I feel an avoided crossing which may not get close to manifesting for a large number of years or ever again. The sense is of an aperture closing, of time running out.

Life can take trajectories other than we might imagine.

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It does not turn out the way we might anticipate or expect.

The upcoming rheumatology appointment may shed some light on what is going on with my skeleton. It is wise not to get too optimistic. Life has shown me that I have to endure on a number of occasions, there can be no solution or let up.

I feel one pathway one trajectory  may be closing off.

I do not see a way forward.

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It is all a little up in the air.

This little foray upcoming may come to something or send us back to where we started.

What may be happening external, according to the banging jungle drums, I have no control over. But my gut feeling is that if anything is incoming it will be a foxtrot unicorn. An overly complex “cunning plan”. If such a thing is in the pipeline I would advise, desist. But since when did anyone listen to me.

It is weird. It feels as if something is afoot exterior to the compound here…

What may come in dreams tonight remains to be seen…large pink-bunny steroids don’t sound all that attractive.

I will be all Timmy Mallet – wide awake.

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The Wrong End of the Stick Dream 16-03-2025

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An English idiom meaning to get something wrong by one’s approach by making stupid assumptions. To think that something you’ve been offered is the opposite of what it is. To confuse left and right. To turn an ability into a disability, a solution into a problem.

From the Urban Dictionary

Overnight I have had another dream in which some people get the very wrong idea about my “relationship” with them and on the basis of that make incorrect assumptions about what I must and will do for them, to help them out and otherwise clear up a mess which is entirely of their own making. They, in the dream, imagine that I am a bit like one of them, on the same level and with the same motivations. Which I am not.

The dream prior to that says that in some things I have no choice. I simply cannot do what might be convenient because it is evil.

This recurrent theme of somebody else’s mess has occurred numerous times over more than the last decade or so. It is not my mess, I cannot clear it up, nor can I like a fairy Godmother rescue them. Bonnie Tyler may be singing a song but it does not refer to me, sorry. I cannot offer any advice because it would fall on deaf ears.

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It is said that a warrior lives by challenge. I have found increasingly that the challenge for me is non-intervention, to leave well alone and to let others have the opportunity to learn. This notion of stepping back did not initially sit well. It turns out not getting involved or conflated into the drama of others, is both relaxing and economic. In the midst of some soap opera or other everything seems very important, with detachment that looks more like emotional over reaction. Some people like drama and thrive thereupon. They stoke it and feed.

I have learned that it is impossible to explain to someone caught up in and obsessed by their social conditioning, what things are like, and how they look, when that conditioning has nearly completely gone. It is one of those things that has to be experienced. No verbalisation can convey.

This may sound arrogant, as if I may be looking down. Is that real or your reflection which you see in the mirror I hold up for you. Am I haughty? Or have I at least partially risen above the soap-opera-plane?

Poor me, I am so misunderstood…

It that my being victim or a truth of sorts.

I do not feel victimised rather inured to, accustomed with, bored by, an experience I have had often in my sixty years.

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We’re only making plans for Nigel
We only want what’s best for him
We’re only making plans for Nigel
Nigel just needs that helping hand

And if young Nigel says he’s happy
He must be happy
He must be happy
He must be happy in his world

We’re only making plans for Nigel
He has his future in a British steel
We’re only making plans for Nigel
Nigel’s whole future is as good as sealed, yeah

XTC

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OMG What Have We Done?

~ quantumdreamer ~ Leave a comment

From time to time people can get very caught up in the brouhaha of a moment of confrontational politics. They can become polarised in thinking and very stubborn. They can entrench and vote against something just to spite others or to “prove” a point. The next day they may wake up and for just a fleeting instant have a realisation that they have been hasty and made a bad decision. Then before their eyes the long drawn out tedium of Brexit unfolds. The “wise, mature and measured” presidency of Trump clicks into gear. The thing which they voted for unfolds in ways which they had not ever considered, because calm thought was never a part of the process for them. It is too late to undo what has been set in motion.

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This sentiment of OMG what have I/we done is not restricted to politics it happens on the micro and nano scale in our daily lives. People stick with their “decisions” even if they are stupid in order to save “face”. They can be very stubborn and adamant in their near fervent justifications but deep down we all know when we are kidding ourselves.

I will place a bet; the Trump presidency will not increase world harmony as it is holistically measured.

It seems to me that we all have to endure this strange American psychodrama where everything is a “what is in it for me” deal. That a US president is even gobbing off about Greenland, Panama and Canada is a bit of a shocker.  It may indeed be time for the USA to try its hand as being an overt imperial power as opposed to pseudo-covert.

If we can take any lessons from the invasion of Ukraine it is that the bogeyman Russian conventional army can be stopped in its tracks even when it has air superiority. The Russians can probably endure more loss and body bags than the softer western nations. Remember it was the USA which hyped the Russian and Chinese bogeymen to all and sundry.

Now it seems Trump is playing kissy-kissy with Vlad.

OMG what have we done? Is probably not yet a widespread sentiment in the US of A.

I remember watching a news interview with an African man about the January 6th Capitol attack. He said it was just like watching the goings on in his country. The USA was no more sophisticated than a country in turmoil between corrupt factions. Since Independence there had been many coups and changes of government. The rule or law had failed.

The division bell has sounded and the snowball of US isolationism has started rolling. If any sensible calculations were made, there may be an error. Will a man with six prior bankruptcies be the saviour which makes America great again?

There is a part of me which will be pleasantly surprised if it all works out well. That part is not holding its breath.

On a personal note, our residence rights expire in March next year.  If the anti-immigration mantra continues to be harshly chanted, we too may have to sling our hooks.

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We reap what we sow…

Now Brits stand in line with their blue passports and wait, just like those from the kingdom of Lesotho, the DRC and Rwanda.

I know let us send our immigrants to Rwanda it is a stable country and safe…with nice backhanders…

What a cunning plan…

Talking Behind Someone’s Back and Fait Accompli

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At the moment there is a bit of furore in the press that Trump et al. are taking with Putin et al. behind the backs of Ukraine, Europe and the UK. They are doing this in the Machiavellian home of Saud.

People seem not to like this yet they talk behind the backs of others on a regular basis. It is a play straight out of the forceful manipulation handbook / playbook, cobble together some cunning plan and then present it to the absentee(s) as a fait accompli. Should they not accept they are branded ungrateful and non-cooperative even if they have to bend over grab their ankles and take it up the arse without lubricant.

The praetorians always know what is best for the plebs. The plebs should thank their lucky stars.

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Behind closed doors cabals are not inclusive. They may pretend and profess to be, but that is bullshit.

These cabals are part of what is euphemistically termed “management practice”. The 1922 committee is an example of behind doors stitch up. I have been on the periphery of such behaviours and perhaps on the receiving end of fait accompli. It is a Don Corleone offer even without the nocturnal equine encouragement.

Wherever actual transparency as opposed to the public relations version of that is absent, gossip spreads faster than Covid 19 at a race meeting / piss up. I saw firsthand on Twitter / X how misinformation and BS spread faster than a Los Angeles wild fire blown by a warm breeze.

A forced “agreement” rarely has longevity. A contract based on gossip and hearsay lacks solid foundations.

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I have never myself appointed a spokesperson or port-parole so if any charlatan pretends to speak on my behalf, they are lying. If someone says behind closed doors that they know what I am after, what I might want / like they are delusional, mendacious and manipulative. Yet I could not stop anyone from casting themselves as such. People may speculate, that is at best inaccurate and at worst dangerous.

Many people are so sure that they know how to sort a situation out, how to bring it to a close. Such premature omniscience is rarely able to hold back adamant opinion. It rarely occurs to these that they may be wrong. One cannot change the view of an adamant dogmatic by persuasion.

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Do you talk behind people’s back?

Do you make cunning plans without inclusive consultation?

Are you a Trump mini-me?

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