Being held back in a room?

When I was young, I was a member of a modern church. One day I had use of a room, but it was already occupied, so I listened by the door to hear if it was an activity which could be interrupted.

In the narrow room (the door was ajar and I could see the occupants, people I knew) were two people sitting closest to the door. On the other side of the desk was a man being interviewed, if that's the word.

That man said: "Am I really being held captured here, like a monkey in a cage?"

One of his two interviewers said: "Have you ever had an agreement with us?"

All in all, it was clear that the guy was in the process of leaving the organization in some way, and that these guys were applying all the psychological pressure at their demand to hold him/get him back.

Now, only on vague rumor lines have I heard of people actually being held back physically against their will in this organization. I can't be sure if, when, or how often that has happened.

But I have heard of many, many people, myself included a couple of times, who were in interviews for recruitment or sales pitches, who were there long after they wanted to leave, and did not feel they could leave.

Now if I got in that situation today (I wouldn't, I know the type too well now, if there's no clear benefit to yourself, don't go), I would lean forward so the interviewer(s) knew to listen, and then I'd say something like: "Listen, and please consider the legal implications of what you answer to this: am I free to go right now?"

Any interviewer with a modicum of intelligence would know, or at least feel, that he would be in trouble with the law if he held you back by physical force or a locked door. And even if he couldn't answer anything reasonable, he would remain passive while you picked up your coat and calmly walked out the door.

And in the rare case when somebody might be stupid enough to actually restrain you, you'd just have to wait til the time you were free (sit in the corner and sleep or such), and then go to the police. In any Western country I know of, restraining the freedom of a sane adult, even briefly, is very much against the law.  (In hospitals they won't even hold back a patient even if they know that he is highly likely to hurt himself by getting up.)

The only problem is that such interviewers are often highly willful people who think they have 100% of the Right on their side, and they have much to lose with their superiors, so they are very convincing. And most of the rest of us are simple generally timid, we don't want to make trouble or enemies, so we back down, maybe just arguing a bit.

PodRide

Tom found this, another entry into our ongoing series about alternative vehicles. (Including flying ones, which are less often called 'vehicles'.)

Good funny

Thanks to tOP for linking to this graphic. Hilarious.

And also...

My birth town, alien nation

I want to hear if others have had this experience, please:

Last time I visited my birth town, where I lived on the same small street for nineteen years, I didn't recognize it. I mean, I knew where I was, and all the rough features where there... But if I'd just walked through somehow without knowing where I was, I really don't think I'd have recognized it!

It was a profoundly strange feeling. Not really bad or good, but so surprising and strange. I was weirded out.

I'm guessing on two reasons: one, these days it's a pretty affluent area by a picturesque fjord, so everything which can be renewed and improved, meaning basically everything, has been renewed and improved. And of course when all the details have changed, the whole place has changed.

And B, I have myself changed a ton in the time since I left. I couldn't even come close to naming the ways. So, I'm guessing, I've also simply lost the emotional connections with the place. Whatever I had, I was never a very emotional person regarding the specifics of life which people are normally interested in. My sister for example had and has a much greater connection to the town and people than I ever have achieved. I've no doubt that is healthy.

Anyway... Has any of you guys have that same weird experience or the like?

Eolake in the late seventies

This photo was sent to me by my childhood pal Povl (left). (We first met at age six or so!) His guess is 1979-80, to me it looks more likely to be around 1978, when we were fifteen.

Anyhoo, I'd long been achieving that beauuuuutiful hairdo or lack of it by just being inside my head and books and not thinking about it (how such an introvert was never killed in traffic is beyond me). After starting high school after the ninth grade, I did start thinking about it and went for a way shorter style, as befitted the imminent arrival of the eighties. Don't judge me too harshly, it was the seventies, maaaan.

Povl found the photo at his father's place yesterday. I guess his dad or mum took it, but neither he nor I has any clue or remembrance of it. Unlike my own father, who was photogenic as a sunset (I remember a photo when he was dead drunk, and he still looked great), I was not ever photogenic and couldn't smile at a camera. I blame it on hating being in front of a camera since I was a toddler, I have no clue why since I love being behind it. This time I was caught unawares though, clearly.

"Legalize it All"

Thanks to Bru for the link to Legalize It All.

At the time, I was writing a book about the politics of drug prohibition. I started to ask Ehrlichman a series of earnest, wonky questions that he impatiently waved away. “You want to know what this was really all about?” he asked with the bluntness of a man who, after public disgrace and a stretch in federal prison, had little left to protect. “The Nixon campaign in 1968, and the Nixon White House after that, had two enemies: the antiwar left and black people. You understand what I’m saying? We knew we couldn’t make it illegal to be either against the war or black, but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin, and then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities. We could arrest their leaders, raid their homes, break up their meetings, and vilify them night after night on the evening news."

Mud pie

I found this great pic on our old friend Empty Spaces' blog.

Luck, gratitude and good-feeling

Article: Why Luck Matters More Than You Think.
"... they asked a first group of people to keep diaries in which they noted things that had made them feel grateful, a second group to note things that had made them feel irritated, and a third group to simply record events. After 10 weeks, the researchers reported dramatic changes in those who had noted their feelings of gratitude. The newly grateful had less frequent and less severe aches and pains and improved sleep quality. They reported greater happiness and alertness. They described themselves as more outgoing and compassionate, and less likely to feel lonely and isolated. No similar changes were observed in the second or third groups. Other psychologists have documented additional benefits of gratitude, such as reduced anxiety and diminished aggressive impulses."
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Sex bots

Sex bots are now quickly becoming a reality. They've already long been able to built (and sell; 'Real Dolls') lifeless silicone lifesized dolls which are quite realistic. And adding robotics and AI is just a matter of time, probably not a lot.

Of course now you hear "isn't this degrading to women, and a threat to our societal values?"

What it seems to me is that this is just the next big step in the "porn revolution". That's the one which started in Denmark in the late sixties, where Denmark was the first country in the world to legalize pornography. Of course the scandal was immense, so one has to wonder why very soon a great number of countries followed suit?

Well, it turned out that the "theory" that porn causes rape could not have been more wrong. After the legalisation in Denmark, rape statistics fell by thirty percent. That is astounding. Seems we should not underestimate the value of a safe outlet for troublesome drives.

Kewl Bowie clips

For me, Bowie was the Kilimanjaro of musicians/composers of the twentieth century.

Here is a great and funny collection of clips from interviews with Da Man.

Landing a rocket

Ever seen a rocket land? This is beautiful, the successful re-landing of a first-stage space rocket, landing it on a small platform floating in the ocean. I can hardly imagine the number of calculations to be done to do this, and the number of things which have to go right. But if you like science and space, or just a graceful engineering feat, this is a good one. (The video starts at the time point with this landing, but there is much more in it.)

By the way, I think it's so kewl that the landing platform is called "Of Course I Still Love You". Why? Because it's an obvious homage to the late SF author (one of my top faves) Iain M Banks. The name was one of the first and best of the many cheeky and inventive names he gave to his intelligent (and often collosal) spaceships in his space opera Culture novels.
If you like science fiction, especially on a very big canvas (huge), and haven't tried Iain M. Banks, then you are in for a treat.

Plastic doodling

Heat-extruding plastic strands and drawing them in 3D is one of the great new technologies we have. There are already several competing platforms; one of the high-profile ones is 3Doodler.

Lord knows how many different things this can be used for... But as usual one of those which interests me most is the fine art application. And I've already seen several different drawings/sculptures which I thought actually was mighty fine fine art.
Some of it from Rachel Goldsmith, she is a really good artist. (And she is not afraid of work.) Here is a 3Doodler feature article on her.