The Messengers of Yesh Web Address

Friday, April 24, 2015

Puttering About

I've been putting some time into expanding my French. I've been reading some every day and watching videos on YouTube. With extensive help from a dictionary, I made it through Vacances dans la tourmente, which means something like vacations in the tempest. It's about these kids who find a map in an attic and go camping where X marks the spot looking for treasure. It's for ages 7 to 12, and it was still hard to read.

A couple of good YouTube channels I found are C'est pas sorcier(It's not rocket science) and 7jours(seven days). 7jour has subtitles in French and features news content. C'est pas sorcier is a science show that would kind of fit in on Discovery or the Learning Channel. It reminds me of Galileo but for a younger audience.

Remember the Charlie Hebdo attack? While looking up a word I didn't know, I ran across the word hebdomadaire. It means weekly. Hebdo is the abbreviated version. Charlie Hebdo means Charlie Weekly. Now it makes sense. What doesn't make sense is that the French word for week is semaine. Why isn't it Charlie Semainement? A mystery for later on.

I ran through part of my Pimsleur Hebrew course. It was a lot easier the second time around. The one thing I can say about Pimsleur is that it helps with picking up a native accent. If I had tons of money to burn, I'd buy the French version just for that.

Book Stuff
I've gotten a little done on the YA book I mentioned here and here a while back. It's set in virtual reality that's based on modern MMORPGs. I've read books with VR settings, but they really skimmed the computer aspect and the gaming aspect. Instead, they were more like fantasy novels. I'm putting real game interface technology into the book, albeit a future version of today's tech. I keep wondering if it's too geeky or if the reality of it will be more immersive for the reader. I also keep wondering if doing it that way will appeal to only a certain audience. Personally, I like the realism of it.

I've also been putting thought into the next two B'vellah War books. I already have an outline done for the major events in the story. I still need to decide things about the characters. Stasis was introduced in Messengers and plays an important role in the space novel. What if a character fighting in the war had the gift of stasis? I think I like that.

Friday, April 17, 2015

My Conspiracy Theory

In a previous blog I mentioned the American penchant for conspiracy theories. The Kennedy Assassination. Roswell, NM 1947. AIDS. Sept 11. There's a conspiracy for all them. For some people an event is never just an event. There somehow has to be some deeper meaning behind what the eye plainly sees. I can agree that what political leaders say in public can be radically different than reality behind the scenes. In a sense there's always a conspiracy going on, but I think it's more a conspiracy of knowledge, not necessarily a series of diabolical plots, although those do come to light from time to time.

Having said all that, some things in the public view make absolutely no sense. When that happens, we naturally try to connect the dots. Here's my homemade conspiracy theory about illegal immigration and its surprising cause.

America is facing an unprecedented invasion of illegal aliens. It's a threat to national security. Yet, somehow, the flow never stops. Does this, especially after Sept 11, make any sense? No. The first step to secure the nation is to secure the borders. If the borders are secure, there's no need for a Department of Homeland Security. By the way, why do we have DHS when the FBI and other agencies already do their job? That's a conspiracy theory all by itself. ;) So, we have porous borders where anyone, including documented cases of al qaeda operatives, can enter the country if they have the gumption to try. Does this make sense? No.

Several outbreaks of "mystery" diseases have cropped up in the U.S. A recent example. When it's obvious that illegal aliens are bringing third-world diseases into the country through the back door, these strange diseases are suddenly not mysteries anymore. Al qaeda aside, the health threats alone should be enough for congress to secure the borders. Failure to do so is inherently treasonous.

Why does congress fail to secure the borders even in the face of overwhelming threats to national security? One of the reasons is NAFTA and the SPP. Technically, North America is already or is in advanced stages of becoming the North American Union complete with a new currency, the Amero. This is well documented. Congress "can't" secure the borders for legal and political reasons any more than a European country could deny entry to other members of the European Union. Canada, the U.S. and Mexico are one country now. For quick proof, check products at the store. Anything with labeling in English, French and Spanish is a North American Union product. Other than the North American Union, I'm not aware of any other country that speaks those three languages as legal primary languages and requires labeling in them. But I'm kind of getting away from my conspiracy theory with all these facts. [For skeptics see also: Pacific Union, South American Union, Central Asian Union, African Union, Middle Eastern Union, Mediterranean Union and ask yourself if North America is going to the be the only region on the face of the planet that doesn't join together into one of ten unions in the new global government. That was only a partial list not including Russian and eastern European plans and treaties.]

Anyway, back to the conspiracy theory. Democrats, the welfare party, don't want to secure the borders because they can pull voters from millions of new welfare recipients, but that's too factual to be part of my conspiracy theory. Obama Amnesty Creates Loophole for Illegal Immigrants to Vote in Elections.

During the Bush administration, it was estimated that over 12 million illegal aliens had entered the country. That figure hasn't changed much since then, unless we're supposed to be adding these numbers together each year. Something isn't right in the reporting on the numbers, which is a red flag in and of itself. If any of it is close to accurate, there are now tens of millions of illegals in the country. And congress has allowed it regardless of party. Why? Why is congress allowing the country to be invaded and culturally destroyed? My opinion is that it's for spiritual reasons.

In 1973 abortion was made legal. Since then going on 20 million babies have been aborted. With 86% of states having a population of fewer than 10 million according to the last census, that's multiple states worth of people that don't exist and don't add to the economy. Illegal immigration makes up the numbers. It's so easy to imagine congressmen behind closed doors slapping each other on the back and congratulating themselves for the "wisdom" of their solution for replacing all the aborted babies. Year after year they drag their feet on securing the borders and keep counting illegals. Once they've replaced the aborted babies, congress will put a stop to the illegals and not one second sooner.

Illegal immigration is partly a direct cause and effect result of abortion. God is not mocked. By destroying the innocent, we've destroyed our future. Culturally, America will not survive the illegal invasion short of divine intervention. That's another reason it's allowed, to change the culture to one that can be more easily controlled.

From abortion to illegal aliens. The media never connects the dots. The public never connects the dots. I'm connecting the dots, and that's my conspiracy theory.

Friday, April 10, 2015

Drought Responses

It came to pass in Georgia of the United States at the time George “Sonny” Perdue was governor that there was a severe drought. The land was afflicted. Governor Perdue turned to the Lord his God and adjured those among the people who revered the God of heaven to pray for rain, though there were those foreigners who mocked the people. The governor and his men stood outside the capitol and prayed. The Lord heard and answered. Though estimated to endure for many years, the drought was soon broken.

After these things, it came to pass in California of the United States at the time Jerry Brown was governor that a severe drought came upon the land. The land was afflicted. Governor Brown did not turn to the Lord but relied on the strength of his own hand, and the Lord did not answer.

Monday, April 6, 2015

Boycott the Braves 2015

Not counting the game last night, today is opening day for major league baseball. Normally, I'd have the Atlanta Braves on. Not this year. Last season was the straw that broke the camel's back. It was a train wreck. The lineup had two glaring black holes: Dan Uggla who hit .162 and B.J. Upton who hit .208, up from .184 in 2013. Dan Uggla was released mid-season. B.J. Upton was owed too much money. Manager Fredi Gonzalez continued to play B.J. the entire season, even when it was beyond obvious his best position was on the bench. It was brutal and massively frustrating to watch those guys, especially when the whole team was in a slump. B.J. was so bad that in the off-season he changed his name to Melvin Upton Jr. Think rebranding.

When last year's season ended, I waited to see if Frank Wren(general manager) and Fredi Gonzalez(manager) would finally be fired. Fredi took over as manager in 2011. After watching him for a month, it became clear he wasn't up to major league standards. He's not terrible. He's not great. He's mediocre. During his first month, I saw him failing to make adjustments to events on the field. By the end of that month, I'd developed a bad feeling about where the Braves were headed. Since then, I've seen him out-maneuvered and generally outsmarted by better managers. It's been hard to watch, but I stuck with it for 4 seasons hoping and hoping he'd be let go. I almost gave up when his contract was renewed, but I didn't. Looking back, I should have.

After last year's season was over, Frank Wren got the boot. Fredi Gonzalez and B.J. Upton got to stay. The scuttlebutt said that Fredi was supposed to be fired, too, but Bobby Cox, who was heavily involved in making decisions, fought to keep Fredi around. Fredi's contract is up this year. Basically, he has this year to prove himself. Allegedly.

It still makes me mad, if I let it. I finally decided that as long as Fredi and B.J. were with the Braves I wouldn't waste my time watching them, not until they're both gone. Total boycott. If things are bad enough, Fredi could be let go by the all-star break. I'm not holding my breath. Last night saw some amazing news come across the wire. At the last minute, B.J. Upton was traded to the Padres! The Braves had to give up Craig Kimbrel, the best closer in the game, but B.J. is gone! I was so tempted to lift my boycott. I wanted to lift it, but Fredi will still be there stumbling along.

So, this year I'm switching to my backup team, the Chicago Cubs. They've made some great moves in the off season, picking up a good manager(it's what they say anyway) and an ace pitcher. The stadium is under renovation. They look like they're trying to win. The Braves' ownership, Liberty Media, haven't been trying to field a truly winning team. Their strategy has been to put a "good enough" product on the field that keeps bottoms in the seats to keep the money flowing in. Liberty Media spends the least it can and pockets the profits. You could say the mediocrity starts at the top.

Something I won't miss is the deception the broadcast team uses to mask problems from casual fans. They adore meaningless statistics. For example, they might say something like, B.J.'s hit safely in 7 of the last 10 games. Then they show a graphic of it that gives the impression of 70%. Well, if he averaged 4 at bats per game in the last ten games, that could mean that he got a hit 7 out of 40 chances, which is an embarrassing .175 average over the last ten games. When he was hitting .179, they would pull something like a 7 of 10 stat out to make it seem like he was on fire, when he was actually dragging the team down and hitting below .200. The announcers don't seem to be allowed to say anything that might influence someone not to come out to the ballpark. In other words they don't tell the truth about what's going on with the big picture. It's incredibly slanted coverage and generally roses and kittens. The broadcasts are filled with statistics that when you really analyze and think about them are completely and utterly meaningless. I'm so tired of that kind of deliberate deception.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to seeing what the Cubs do this year. I might watch a Pirates game from time to time. They were interesting last year and might be this year, too.

Today's French word is crapuleuses. I saw it in a news broadcast about terrorism, and it made me wonder. It means rogue.

Friday, April 3, 2015

Language Learning

Last week I was fighting an infection and feeling drained, but I'm back.

I've been looking at language learning software and programs lately. With the U.S. in a state of moral and economic collapse, moving overseas has never looked more like a valid option. I took a hard look at Rosetta Stone. It seems to take a long time and impart a small vocabulary. I don't know the official count, but I've read that it teaches about 500 words per level. It has 5 levels max. That sounds like a lot, but it's not.

This article has an interesting word frequency chart. It's specifically for Russian, but I've seen the 3,000 word figure used for other languages, too. The chart says that 2,925 words make up 80% of occurrences in the language. So, if you knew the top 3,000 most frequently used words, you'd be able to understand about 80% or more of a language's common usage. With 3 to 5 thousand words, you'd probably be able to understand anything minus words here and there.

I looked at Rosetta Stone Hebrew. Unlike most of their other languages, it only has three levels. Fifteen hundred words simply isn't enough. I also ran across a video review on YouTube from a guy who completed Rosetta Stone French 1 to 5. He said he's able to watch and understand French television and movies. That sounded really good. However, it took him 18 months to get through it!

Another popular program is Pimsleur. I already have Hebrew 1 and 2 of that. Unlike most of their other programs, it only has three levels just like Rosetta Stone. The Pimsleur course is audio and runs about 30 minutes a day for 30 days per level. You listen whenever you can, such as in the car, and pick up the language through listening and verbal responses. It doesn't work very well for me. I need written text. I've gone though level 1 and most of level 2. All through level 1, I was hearing a consonant in a particular word as an L. It was actually R, and I didn't know it until level 2 when new speakers were introduced. Ouch. Text is critical. Also, I'd find myself randomly remembering a word I'd learned but having no clue what it meant. At some point the amount of new words became overwhelmingly too much. That's part of why I only made it through most of 2. I had to listen to lessons several times before they would stick. It is incredibly boring. If you read enough reviews, people agree with me on that.

An interesting thing about Pimsleur Hebrew is the content. In level one it was teaching me how to ask Israeli women if they'd like to drink some wine or beer with me. At my place, their place or a hotel? All before anything related to the weather or where the bathrooms are. It gives the impression that Israel is some kind of paradise where women would be falling all over me, but I wouldn't be able to ask basic things.

I ended up buying Living Language Hebrew, Complete Edition for $29.20 new. I've done a little of it. So far it's mostly review of what I know, although it explains some of the rules that I didn't know or had only guessed at. I like that a lot.

After buying that, I learned that Assimil is supposed to be the best. Living Language is number 5 in an article I ran across that said it was similar to Assimil but explained grammar rules more. Assimil teaches about 2 to 3 thousand words and has a B2 rating in the Common European  Framework of Reference for Languages. There's a chart fairly close to the top that explains what the levels are. B2 is upper intermediate or level 4 of 6. The Assimil site is in French. I hope you took that in high school like I did. :)

While waiting for the Living Language set to arrive, I've been brushing up on my French by reading a short story and starting a couple of books. I have to rely heavily on a dictionary, but there have been a couple of paragraphs that I understood nearly perfectly. It's hard to resist the idea of attaining level B2. I ordered Assimil's New French With Ease. Their Hebrew version was supposed to be out in March. It's late. I can read French to a certain degree. I understand enough to know that movie subtitles are never quite right. But my listening comprehension is lacking. Assimil takes about 5 or 6 months from scratch, if you stick with it. I think it would take me less time. Within 15 minutes I noticed they don't teach the word for bird.

It's hard to decide between languages. I'd like to learn more Hebrew. My level is pathetic. But finishing French is so alluring. I'd be able to read non-British European news stories. I kind of want to do both at once, since I'd be coming at French from more of a place of picking up vocabulary than learning it new. Decisions, decisions.