Artificial Abominations

Introduction

Artifical intelligence is a buzz word that is still a long way from being achieved. While it does offer promises, the negatives that it offers vastly outweigh any benefits.

2. Thesis
In this paper, we will examine the true nature of artificially intelligent programming (Such as Grammarly, ChatGBPT, and similar virtual machines that are becoming more pervasive.

Most of the things we hear referenced as artificial intelligence are not actually anything of the sort. For our best result, we will turn to world reknowned physicist Michio Kaku as interviewed in the Oberver. He has previously compared computer intelligence to a mentally challenged cockroach, but he has recently changed his stance.

“ Kaku, a theoretical physics professor at the City College of New York, said tools like OpenAI’s ChatGPT are nothing more than “glorified tape recorders.” ChatGPT is powered by large language models (LLMs), a subset of A.I. that trains algorithms with a large amount of human-generated text with the goal of producing text in a human-like way. “ https://observer.com/2023/08/michio-kaku-ai-chabot/

Dr Kaku is optimistic about the capabilities of Artificial Intelligence, but as he clearly states above, its really just an algorithm like any other. Not particularly intelligent. It actually is trained by and uses human-generated text. While it is of special interest to note we as a society have managed to link up the many combinations of words in different languages so that a computer might be able to render a comprehensible sentence, this does not mean we are getting more creative, or focusing our energies elsewhere. This simply means we have adapted a “Mechanical Turk” just like the automaton chess players of the 1800s. The difference being instead of chess, it talks to us like a confidante.

Dr Kaku also mentions that ““It takes snippets of what’s on the web created by a human, splices them together and passes it off as if it created these things,” Kaku said. “And people are saying, ‘Oh my God, it’s a human, it’s humanlike.’” https://observer.com/2023/08/michio-kaku-ai-chabot/ Put another way, we are seeing a ghost inside the machine. Because we believe that a toy, a phone, or a computer can address us using living language, we are compelled by our biology to believe it is another living being. An ancestor might have perceived it as witchcraft, and indeed, today it is being treated as a mystical phenomenon. However, it is well within the rights of the machine to produce such fantastic wonders, without having even the glimmer of a spark or soul. We are still dealing with a machine that works in ones and zeros.

The ultimate truth is still that we don’t have enough experiments with AI or with its applications. They are developing fields. Michio Kaku is an incredibly intelligent human being, but his own theory of String theory has failed to produce significant evidence to change physics. We can also see that studies on artificial intelligence are limited, and are in their infancy “ An insufficient sample size has insignificant statistical power, which causes an adverse impact on the true effect and the reproducibility of the findings” (Klein RA, et al. Many labs 2: investigating variation in replicability across samples and settings. Adv Methods Pract Psychol Sci. 2018;1(4):443–90. quoted through https://bmcbioinformatics.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12859-023-05156-9 ) That being siad, we are at the early stages of both technological innovation and philosophical study. The future is unpredictable, and, as any good experiment should show, if your theory is not held up by the evidence, it becomes necessary to go back and re-examine the evidence.

On the edge of the future, it is criticdal for us to examine any future ramifications of new developments. Despite our small sample size and few extant examples, we are still not too early to form an opinion, based in as much fact as we have available at the present, and proceed forward. While the field of AI is not new, scientific study has been around for generations, and we have results oriented ways to study any phenomenon.

Claim 2.

The last segment was more of an overview of the AI that is currently available, and what we should look for in it. After hearing from experts in the field who have much more experience than ourselves, let us examine the evidence of what will happen as Artificial Intelligence becomes more widespread.

People always talk about how wonderful new computer applications will be, but they rarely provide any idea of what those benefits cost us. We must grant that applications like Uber and stores like Amazon have resulted in greater conveience, but what is the actual cost to the economy? For every job that opens at a local warehouse, or as a driver, there are more lost from skilled logistics workers, couriers, and an untold cost in insurance.

It was recently estimated (this year) that the UK’s economy would lose 300 million full time jobs “Artificial intelligence (AI) could replace the equivalent of 300 million full-time jobs, a report by investment bank Goldman Sachs says. It could replace a quarter of work tasks in the US and Europe but may also mean new jobs and a productivity boom. And it could eventually increase the total annual value of goods and services produced globally by 7%.”https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-65102150 Notice the careful wording here. It could replace 300 million jobs. There are 61 million people in the UK, and even the population of the mighty United states would be unable to absorb a 300 million job loss. While the global value of goods and service may go up by 7%, it doesn’t let us know where the income is supposed to come from.


In fact, the same article gives us a very clear loss in the artistic and technical fields. “ The report notes AI’s impact will vary across different sectors – 46% of tasks in administrative and 44% in legal professions could be automated but only 6% in construction 4% in maintenance, it says.” https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-65102150 While construction is a noble profession, and maintenance requires skilled labour, neither one are growth industries. Also, if you have been working as an accountant and are near retirement, neither industry offers a place where you can exhibit your transferable job skills, and may be a health hazard for you. The government has traditionally been able to absorb at least some of these highly skilled workers, and offer new contracts for construction, but in an AI augmented world, how much room is there for customer service, general labour, and even the friendly person handing us our coffee in the morning? Quite the opposite, it is a bottleneck of creativity into a very narrow playing field As the old saying goes “Not everyone gets to be an astronaut”

Whether we see too many cooks in the kitchen, or too many astronauts on the launch pad, the ultimate reality is that we will need to adjust something in the economy to make things work. Traditionally, when the market is heavy on labour, but in an employers market, we wind up with wage loses. “”Consider the introduction of GPS technology and platforms like Uber. Suddenly, knowing all the streets in London had much less value – and so incumbent drivers experienced large wage cuts in response, of around 10% according to our research.

“The result was lower wages, not fewer drivers.

“Over the next few years, generative AI is likely to have similar effects on a broader set of creative tasks”. https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-65102150

This is a very telling anecdote that we have seen in our first section. Yes uber has offered more jobs, but did it offer more quality jobs? Unfortunately for human beings, it isn’t enough to just live, you have to live for something. Whether you have dreams of a beautiful home by the bech, or simply to treat yourself to a good meal and a glass of wine, work is sadly part of the daily life of most human beings. If you don’t work, you starve and are homeless and no one wants that. The University of Oxford, quoted directly above is showing us that our AI innovations are not making the world a workers paradise. Quite the opposite, it proves that we are driving down our own salaries just to take care of our families. An app like uber will tell you how much time it takes to get from point A to point B, how long it takes to get groceries, and other such miracles, but it is indifferent to how you live. This is 1800s laissez faire piecework, come around to haunt us again. With but a bit of legislation, we’ll be shopping at company stores which charge far too much for basic ingredients. Then, somewhere out there, a modern day scrooge will ask “Are there no Orphanges? Are there no Workhouses?”

300 million jobs, lost revenue, we have attached a cost to our obsession with AI. One thing we haven’t looked at in depth is the actual human cost. Humans do need to interact with each other, and simple shopping is a time honoured tradition to do that. A manager who took over a Canadian Tire store mentioned

“After Dwayne Ouelette took over the Canadian Tire in North Bay, Ont., last year, he decided to buck the trend and ditch the store’s four self-checkout machines — which had been there for a decade.

“I’m not comfortable using them and I don’t think some of my customers are comfortable [either],” said Ouelette, who removed the machines in July and replaced them with cashiers.

“I’d rather my customers see my cashiers and if there’s any questions or concerns, at least there’s somebody they can talk to.” https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/some-retailers-scaling-back-self-checkouts-1.7034047

This is slightly amusing because it means the machines are making customers uncomfortable. Customers are feeling isolated from the very equipment they are using. Despite the fact most stores keep someone close by for trouble shooting, anything from a slightly wrinkled bar code to a systems failure, the concensus is that the machines are not doing the job they were intended to. Boost checkout rates and improve customer satisfaction.

Even more worrisome is the fact that these machines are losing millions in sales for companies.

“Retailers were more forthcoming in an industry-funded study published in 2022. In it, 93 retailers across the globe estimated that as much as 23 per cent of their store losses were due to a combination of theft and customer error at self-checkout.

And a new survey commissioned by U.S. personal finance website LendingTree found that out of 2,000 Americans polled online last month, 15 per cent admitted to stealing at self-checkout. Twenty-one per cent said they’ve accidentally taken an item without scanning it. https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/some-retailers-scaling-back-self-checkouts-1.7034047 Most of us have heard of some variant of the customer who gets a packet of prime rib, and then puts the sticker for peanuts over top of it. We want to think the best of most people, but its very easy to forget that packet of gum you picked up. So if we assume 23% of people make accidents, while 21% of people are purposely walking away from the stand alone machines, we have a serious problem. No company can sustain a 23% loss for long. Yet this is while we are still dealing with relatively dumb machines, not even on the order of what they have at airports. That puts us in a loop where companies have to raise prices to make up for shrinkage, while customers become ever more temped to hide their merchandise and not scan it. The two feed off each other.


So instead of the extra labour going to innovate and make new economic innovations, the extra brainpower is instead trying to figure out how to cheat the system. AI will probably give us a better way to crack down on shoplifting, but that won’t happen once the major retailers realize it is better to keep the watchful eye of a cashier on standy. You’ll save more than the 23% that you are losing at the automated check outs, and that cashier will probably spend a lot of their money at your store, meaning your expenses become relativley low.

The optimists might declare that this will all be solved shortly as more and more innovations come along. It cannot be doubted that there will be more automated processes, and that they will make our lives easier. One day that beautiful future we see in Star Trek with automated showers, holodecks, and the idea of plenty for everyone will become reality. It may take a few hundred years, but as the population starts to shrink around 2050 ( https://www.un.org/en/academic-impact/97-billion-earth-2050-growth-rate-slowing-says-new-un-population-report ) we can begin to assess what damage has been done and where we need prosperity the most. Artificial intelligence is indeed great at modelling and predicting. That was what it was originally intended for, after all.

The problem has always been, and will always be, the human interface. Any computer can model anything, but it depends on its inputs. Who are the ones deciding the inputs? Humans. Two scientists can easily work on designing a simulation, but while the first doesn’t want to include the weather as it is notoriously fickle, the second might be interested in the extra detail. Both scientists are right, the first one will get their project done sooner because of having less data to work with. The second one may get a better simulation, but will have to sort through more data at the end. Its the never ending story with computers, GIGO – Garbage in, Garbage out. These bits of human conversation we are feeding into our artificial intelligence systems today are going to have effects on our long term. If one picks up a phrase from the 1800s used in jest, it may decide to repeat it to another. Since humans don’t like to be wrong, they will look it up, have a search engine tell them what it means, and our own minds will garble the data so that artificial intelligence will never work precisly 100% of the time. Assuming of course, anyone can afford wifi and computers after the economic crisis that is impending on the implementation of software that costs 300 million or more jobs.

I fear the worst.

The whole concept of the Mandella effect has intrigued me for a while. I do remember the announcement of Mandella’s death being announced, and my father telling me who he was. I remember Amnesty international telling us why they couldn’t intercede for him, and the whole routine. I also remember the song “Biko” which was released earlier. So the two are not conflated in my mind.

The Berenstain/Berenstein Bears. I would be willing to write this one off, except I have a unique experience that shows me the timeline is fractured. Back in the 1990s, I was doing part time work at a library, transferring their card catalogue to an online database. Mindless work, just typing titles and numbers into a machine, but it paid decent, and let me watch the classes coming in.

As it turns out, one of the teachers came up to me and asked what I was working on. At that point, it was the Berenstein/Berenstain bears part of the catalogue. She said to me “Did you know that although it is spelled “Stein” it is pronounced “Stain?” And I honestly did not know that.

All these years later, I question why that teacher would have told me that if there wasn’t a difference. For the record, she was being kind, not a know it all, it was kind of a fun bit of trivia. Now here I am decades later, with a memory that doesn’t make sense if the covers were written out to Berenstain (and wondering why, as kids, we never made more songs and puns off the “Stain” part)

What troubles me far more than this is another incident have found. Way more significant than misremembering a line in Star Wars or Casablanca. No. Most Mandella effect stuff can be tossed up to simple missed memories. People do tend to hear what they want.

You see, there was an entire concept that existed in the past, both in psychology, and in myth. The concept exists today but the definitions do not. Jung postulated that we had another personality within us – not just the anima/animus – but one that reflected all our dark desires, and things that we didn’t want to come out. It was pretty dark and spooky to think of it – all those things you stop yourself from doing unconsciously, like shoplifting, touching someone without permission, or worse, were all stored up waiting to get out.

Somehow we have lost this concept, except in literature. Star trek does it well, where Captain Kirk was split in two beaming up, one as the Good Kirk, the other one mad for power. There are plenty of other examples (The portrait of Dorian Grey) – so while the archetype is still with us, we have lost the tracts that used to explain it in detail.

In other words, a whole behavioural concept has disappeared from history. And this, in a world where we need it most of all.

I remember there was a term for it – not the shadow, because that is everything below the conscious level, but something similar. Not the Anima/Animus, because that is more sexual in nature. We are missing something vital to our psychology, and only reminded of it by faint echoes in art.

If an entire concept can be washed away, what is going on with our past?

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POST BATTLE ASSESMENT.

I firmly believe that the strategies we use in games tell us a lot about ourselves. Well, this past weekend, my friend and I put on a huge battle (in the Battletech universe) and it was an eye opener for me. I have become complacent and forgotten my own rules.

I have spent the past few months teaching and re-teaching the game to my kid and my friends. I was getting pretty cocky, since I moved my Grand Dragon into a field with 3 Assault Mechs and walked out. When you face off against a near peer adversary though, it is an entirely different world, and your cockiness gets put in check real fast.

To be clear, the match was a draw. I controlled 3/4s of the territory, and was concentrating my fire on his biggest units. I had lost a few light scout mechs, and we both had put down significant damage on each other. That being said, there are definitely things I could have done better.

I had a recon lance (A lance is a group of 4 mechs) that realistically should have been taken up by 4 other mechs instead. They were too small and light to do much good. They were just out of place. They performed as well as they could, but honestly, when battle was joined, I was often stumped at what to do with them. They were too fast to advance with the rest of my troops, and since they have wimpy baby armour, they need to keep running to survive.

Which brings us to the second observation. I used to be a master of group cohesiveness. Making sure that every unit matched each other to bring maximum firepower to the battlefield. That recon lance absolutely did not gel with my assault lance, which was much slower, and brought huge amounts of firepower to bear. But, while one was way forward ahead, the other was sluggishly bringing up the behind. In military terms, that opens you up for “Defeat in detail” where you single out individual units and knock them out. I usually implement that strategy. It was sobering to react to it.

My opponent figured out my strategy, which, to be honest, I wasn’t hiding it. I was going to use smoke rounds to force him into mismatched situations, and try to dictate the conflict towards my strengths. However, my recon lance forced me to move forward of my own smoke, trying to be too aggressive when he was trying to breach my barrier.

What does this tell me about myself?

Over the past year, I have encountered a lot of obstacles that other people cannot deal with. I have used finesse and brute force to counter them. My plan involved both finesse and brute force. But, I lost patience, which is unlike me in person, and I didn’t allow them to come to me. I tried to force things to happen, just like in real life, I’m going for the jugular vein on some pretty big targets. The lesson is to be patient, and let things come to me.

That patience is absolutely vital. Just like in the game, aggressive maneuvering with my scout lance showed its fundamental weakness, in real life, while I know all the buzz words and the people to go to, there are sometimes I can get caught with little more than bluster. And then I am exposed, with no real idea what to do next.

A strategy is great, but you have to stick to it. I had even wargamed out what my friend would do, and my predictions were mostly correct. In real life, you can’t do that, because every interaction is different. You might get a happy helpful person one interaction, and a grumpy one the next (No judgement, everyone is human) The ways they will react are completely different depending on your message. That is a vital life lesson. You can’t predict people, because every day is different.

Most importantly, it taught me to be humble. While I am a world beater playing against learners, against a peer, I am equal to them. The same with these service personnel (Customer Service or government) – its a peer environment. You’re not always going to get your way. Be humble, be patient.

My ultimate trick with a potentially hostile agent has always been to switch the conversation – instead of getting them to tell me what they can’t do, I ask them what they can do for me. Its a game changer, when done right. Their first answer might not be pleasant, but usually there is something within their power, even if its just transferring you to someone else. Just like in the game, I should have held my recon units back behind the smoke, because that was something they could do, as opposed to charging them forward, which did not fit their abilities. Be conscious of what is possible, and what is not.

Above all, have fun with it all! I’m just navel gazing because its late, I can’t sleep, and this amusing thought entered my mind. I hope you enjoyed it!

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Alone in the Dark

Jennifer shot awake in the middle of the night. Her sweaty palm reached up to slick back her dark unkempt hair, as she blinked in the soft moonlight. She licked her dry lips, and reached up for the glass of water that was on the night table next to the bed. The noise that woke her clanked out again, making her jump, and spill the glass onto the floor. The cool sensation of wet carpet trickled over her feet, and the woman prayed that there were no shards left behind to step on.

Her trembling hands found the glass in no time, and to her relief, it was whole. One more clatter from the outside, and she knew what it was. Bracing herself with the night table, she shakily rose to her feet. A glance out the window showed the garage door was open, and the light was on. Whatever it was, she needed to know. Besides, she needed more water, so she had to go downstairs anyway.

Inching down the stairs, holding the railing, she wished she was as spry as her teenaged years. The car accident had nearly killed her, but she had survived. After months in a coma and therapy, she had been allowed to come home, but nothing had really worked right in her body after that. So she had to take care going down the stairs, there was no one else there to care if she took a spill.

She made it down to the kitchen, and edged her glass onto the table. It made the softest of scrapes, but still made her mouth “Shh” to it. Out the window she peered, and totally forgot her desperate thirst. Before her very eyes, there was somebody moving about in her garage.

With all her might, she wished there were someone around to help her. Her mind raced with all the possibilities of what to do. Call the Police? She had left her phone upstairs. Lock the doors? Jennifer didn’t want to risk the noise alerting whatever was creeping around outside. Grab a baseball bat? She had never been an athlete, and what was a poor crippled woman going to do with a weapon. It wouldn’t even look intimidating while she was leaning on the frame.

What could it be? They had raccoons in the area, it had taken a year to get them out of the roof. Damned things used to frighten her every night running about and hissing at each other. Each time, robbing her of sleep as every thump reminded her of the sounds her body made rattling around in the car. That couldn’t be, no animal would open a garage door, much less turn on the light. It had to be something else.


Her thoughts turned to fancy. That young man she had met online. Enrique, the one with the million dollar smile. He had been so kind to her. They had shared a few chats, and she had told him where she lived. Perhaps Enrique had come, to set her free. He would be her prince, and sweep her away from her home, her prison. Perhaps he was just looking for the spare key. She ran to the front door to unlock it and fly to her fair Enrique.


Jennifer stopped with her fingers just short of the lock. She bowed her head and ran her grimy hands over her forehead. That wasn’t the whole memory. Things came slowly to her now, especially after having been woken up. Enrique hadn’t been very nice in the end. He wanted her money, he wanted her house. Jennifer had spent many days crying over him, and his handsome visage. How could a man so handsome turn out to be so cruel and evil inside? This Enrique wouldn’t be her prince, he would be her jailor. A baseball bat was too good for him, yet she lacked the strength to even defend herself with it.

What else could it be? She wracked her mind for anything she could think of. Her memories came back like a throbbing flood, and she leaned down to adopt a fetal position. It was the only way she could sift through them. One moment she was reliving her high school where people were always picking on her. She wasn’t a bad girl, she was a good student, but no one much liked her. Maybe it was someone from her past? She had moved so far away, that it was impossible.

“This sucks!” Jennifer thought to herself. It could have been anything outside, and her mind could only focus on how her Uncle had always been rude to her. Her mother abandoned her for a bottle and other men with money. Her father had struggled hard to take care of her, but he worked so much that she was stuck with her aunt. Her cousins were okay, but they always treated her as a second class citizen. While they got presents, she got a card.

Once more, the rustle came from the garage. Jennifer had to think now. It was like that night she got in the car. Her friend’s boyfriend was driving. They had all been drinking, and while he was the most sober, he didn’t have the skills to deal with snow and black ice. She remembered the ice machine getting closer and closer to the front, closing so fast like an Eagle grabbing a rat. Then, nothing until the hospital bed. It was the same sound, that crunching of metal that she was hearing now.

Was it possible she was still in the hospital? Maybe she hadn’t gotten better, and this was just a dream. Life was tough on single women, she couldn’t go anywhere on her own. Was it good Enrique, bad Enrique, or someone else entirely? Jennifer couldn’t trust her body, nor trust it to anyone else. Yet this was the time she needed it the most.


She felt so sad and lonely. This was her house, but she felt no security here. Her mind was still racing, more thoughts, more anxieties, what was even real any more? She needed someone to talk to, but who was there? Where was her aunt? Had she moved out? How was she so abandoned in this world? It perplexed her and vexed her.

The light in the garage suddenly went out. The footsteps echoed in the small space, and she could hear the panel door being pulled down. Out of instinct she hid up against the inside of the door, crouching down as much as she could to avoid being seen. Jennifer was petrified, because now the footfalls were getting closer.

The lock above her head clicked, and the door swung open with a squeak. Jennifer cursed herself for being too afraid to check the locks. It had made sense at the time, but not now. All she could do was turtle in the corner and hope whoever it was would ignore her. Her mind stopped as she saw the old beaten down shoes come to a stop in front of her nose. She shuddered, with her heart in her throat. Her cracked lips were dry as ever, and Jennifer found herself unable to scream.

A wizened old face bent down to look her in the eye. “Jennifer!” called out the friendly voice. It was her father! Her father! She had forgotten about him. Her father was looking after her now. A tear of relief streamed down her cheek as Daddy pulled her to her feet. “What are you doing out of bed? Did the noise scare you?”

Jennifer was too upset to speak, so she nodded her head quickly. “I’m sorry, Jennifer. Daddy had to crush the recycling. I usually do it at night so the noise doesn’t bother you. Come on now, lets go upstairs. We’ll give you some of the pills the Doctor gave you, and you’ll sleep like a baby!” His daughter pointed to the empty glass, and he laughed. “I’ll take care of that, you’ll never want for anything again.”

The man helped his daughter upstairs. Cruel fate had taken the best of her from him, but the medication kept her paranoid schitzophrenia down. He was just glad she was okay. Jennifer had been through a lot, and the world always seemed hostile to her. When the car accident happened, she had returned to a child like state. She was an adult, but she couldn’t care for herself any longer. That might be true, but he was still her father, and would take care of her until his dying day. He kissed her on the forehead, and went down to get that glass of water, hoping that she would remember him when he returned, or how she would remember him.

Whether she was in grade school or high school when he returned, he knew her soul was still in there. Her eyes were wide opene when he came through the door with the glass of water, but the look softened quickly to one of serenity. He put the glass down, and just talked to her. He didn’t know how much she understood, but his voice was enough to put her to sleep. He pulled the covers over her, and went to his own room. Tomorrow would be the same, and the next day. He needed his rest, but not so much as she needed to sleep. Dreams came quickly for both, as the morning snuck slowly up on both.

Extinction by the numbers

We have heard endless lamentation over the countless animals going extinct.  Indeed, it is distressing.  When we look at the numbers, things don’t seem so bleak.


In 2021, twenty three animals were added to the “extinct” category.  The shocking truth is that most of these animals disappeared decades ago.  They are just being cleaned off the slate, like an accountant writing off bad debt.


The Ivory Billed Woodpecker was last seen in 1944.  The entire nuclear race and space age took place in that time.  Yet our feathered friend isn’t alone, most animals have been gone for more than four decades.
Phyllostegia glabra var. lanaiensis (a plant in the mint family native to Hawaii) hasn’t been seen since 1914.  So as the guns of the first world war were beginning to fire, this plant last grew.  Its been over a century yet we are just updating this now?


Even more egregious, the Kauai nukupuu, a species of Honeycreeper bird has been missing since 1899.  We have creatures from the 19th century making headlines for not existing!  


Both of the last two species were native to Hawaii.  Those islands are beautiful, but the vivacious jungle canopy is not distracting enough to hide two such species for over a century.  Nor is the state large enough to hide multiple populations for long.  We are looking at over a century of institutional negligence.


It does make for an impactful headline.  All those species going extinct will shock the average reader.  Yet the significance is lost when these creatures expired before most of the planet were in a position to do anything about it.  Its doom porn at best, and at worst, encourages a defeatist attitude.


People respond to positive headlines.  So instead of species lost generations ago, lets look at the Panda which was recently removed from the endangered list.  The Grey Wolf and Rhinoceros join it in recovery.  Humans can make a positive difference, and that is what we need in our daily headlines.  

We need to take care of the environment, not to sew dissent and mistrust. Yes, we are in an environmental crisis, no sane person would deny that. To make people aware we need accurate information. Lets get the statistics balanced so we can address real problems and not go chasing after century old mysteries!

Rebecca’s Locket.

Becky pulled her little wagon along the faded grey concrete streets. The wind whistled through the alleyways, and blew her long brown hair up in front of her green eyes. She stopped moving forward, and sat down to tie her hair back in the elastic she had scavenged earlier, and looked towards her cart. It had once been painted a cheery red with white highlights, but time had taken its toll. Its wheels were pockmarked with notches from all the rocks that had become stuck in their rubber over the years. Still, the wagon was the most convenient thing for her to pull along behind her, because she could always coast down hills.

She looked to the sky, and noticed that the sun had nearly finished its descent along the horizon. Fortunately, she was close to home. Becky listened for any sounds, but there weren’t any to worry about. There was no one else to bother her, but on occasion, she ran across a wolf, or a deer, and marvelled at their beauty.

Her wagon was nearly full. It was a good day. She had found some marshmallows, some potato chips, a few bottles of water, and something called “Vitamins.” Her mother used to talk about how much she needed vitamins, back in the old times, before everyone had gone away. She hoped they didn’t taste as awful as the ones before did. They were gummy shapes, so hopefully they had some sweet sugar inside, instead of that nasty fake sugar that was in so much food. The little girl had become quite a good shopper in her time alone, and had even started reading labels. So much responsibility for a 10 year old.

Becky reached to her chest, and pulled out a heart shaped locket. Her hand froze in anticipation as she was about to open it. It was a picture of her mother on the inside, but she always remembered the first time she had opened it, and what else lay in store for her. She knew there was nothing to fear now. It was just a locket, a memory of what had been.

She swung the delicate little pendulum open, and looked upon her mothers kind gaze. Becky felt the sensation of a tear running down her cheek, both in gratitude for everything her mother had done, and also in memory of all that had happened. Her mother had promised her this locket would give her what she wanted, and it still did. The echo of her mothers love.

The little girl opened a packet of goldfish crackers and helped herself to a few mouthfulls. Just enough to give her the energy to make it home. Turning back to the wagon, she pulled on it with her last bit of strength, and stumbled her way down the boulevard to the house where she had always lived. The door swung open, since there was no one to be afraid of opening the latch. The only things she had to fear were the raccons stealing her supplies, but even they didn’t bother her these days.

There was a little lamp over the table, which was charged by a solar battery that she had found some time ago, and she switched it on to keep the darkness at bay. She took off her jacket, and hoped that the evening wouldn’t get too cold. Becky had never learned how to make a fire, and the little kettle could only fill up a few water bottles before running out of electricity. She had made a little fort out of all the blankets she could find in order to keep her own heat in. Just like she used to do to keep all the bad people out.


She hung up the locket around the lamp, where its golden heart shape would twist around. It reflected just a bit of light around the room, and made it seem like there was a spirit watching over her. Becky pulled out a chair to reach up to the pantry, to put her precious stores away. She had plenty of food, but there were always some days where she couldn’t get out, so she needed to keep herself well stocked. She put the kettle to work, heating up some water for instant noodles, and sat down to wait for them to cook.

The little girl pulled out her diary, and noticed it was one year ago today that she had celebrated her birthday with her mother. Her mind filled with beautiful memories, the great big cake that her mother had ordered from the grocer, and the present that she had been given. The heart shaped locket that was now hanging off of her table. “I’ll always be there for you” her mother had assured her “But if you ever are in a real emergency, open this locket, and your wish will be granted.”

That had been such a good day. They hade gone to the mall, and picked out some toys – toys that were still sitting inside Becky’s toy chest. Her mother used to nag her about keeping things clean, and now that the little girl was alone, she did her best to make her mother proud. She had just sat the bowl of noodles on the table when a sudden howl broke out, and her front door burst open.

Rebecca jumped as high as she could, her little heart racing. As the wailing sound went away, she exhaled gently, and pulled herself together. She was angry at herself for not making sure the door was closed. The wind seemed more powerful than ever now, and it was what had blown her door open. Still, at night, in her mind, it could have been anything. Bears, wolves, or even worse, perhaps other people.

No, there was no chance of it being other people. She had taken care of that. It wasn’t her fault, but it was what had happened. Her diary commemorated the day she was given the locket, but it also held the secret of when she had used the locket. Becky had kept it closed for months, because a wish was something that you held on too. She was just a little girl, and had no idea what to wish for. She had a home, a mother, food, friends at school, and everything seemed just fine. There were a few mean teachers, and bullies, but it seemed like everyone lived with those problems. She wanted to make sure she would use that wish responsibly. So she held on to it until that day.

The door had blown open back then just like it did today. Two men, big, burly, and wearing masks had kicked it in, and were waving guns around demanding money. Her mother had tried to send them away, but they scoffed at her. They threw her down to the floor, threatening her life, and Rebecca had hid in her room, trying to block the sound out from her ears. Her poor mother pled with everything she had, but nothing seemed to satisfy the thieves.

That was when Becky knew she had needed a miracle. She heard a strange thump from downstairs as she reached for her locket. She heard a gruff voice declare “If she moves, kill her. I’ll check upstairs” and then as the echoing footsteps crept up the stairs, the little girl became more and more afraid. This was the moment, she opened the locket, and saw her mothers picture staring at her.


There was something else in that locket, a little spark of energy that wisped up to her face. It hovered expectantly, as if awaiting her command. Surprised, enchanted, and concerned, Rebecca had only one thought in her head. To make this all go away. So, she looked at the little entity, and with her whole heart said “I wish they would all go away”

The thumping up the stairs stopped. Her mother stopped crying. For a moment, there was blissful silence. Becky thought everything was over, and was about to go downstairs when she heard a mighty series of crashes in the world outside. Cars were careening into one another, and their alarm systems screeched like mad banshees filling the world with noise. Some electrical poles were uprooted by the impacts, and pulled one another down like dominos. Becky looked out the window to see sparks flashing out into the sky, and fires starting over everywhere. She ran down to get her mother, but to her surprise, her mother had disappeared with the thieves. There the little girl stood, in the kitchen, with nothing left to hold on to but the picture her mother had left her.

That had been months ago, and Rebecca had learned to live by herself. She came to know which stores were open, and that grocery stores were filled with stinky rotten garbage. It was the dollar stores and convenience stores that sold food that was easy to eat. She had missed people at first, but slowly had gotten used to not hearing anyone else. The stary cats and dogs were her friends now, and she didn’t need to worry about teachers, lessons, or bullies. They had all simply gone away.

This was her life now, living another year. She had managed to find a cupcake with no mold or fungus on it, and unwrapped it now. Becky stuck a pink candle in the top, and imagined a flame on top, as if it were her own miniature birthday cake. She had always been told to make a wish and blow it out, but she was done making wishes. So she pretended to blow it out, and took a nice big bite out of the cupcake. It was chocolatey and sweet.

Since the TV and internet hadn’t worked in months, she pulled out some books she had found. “Nancy Drew” – she was reading about the young detective, and felt her eyes grow heavy. The book fell from her hands, and the young girl fell asleep, breathing heavily, eyes closed to the world.

Across the room, by the light, the heart shaped locket swayed back and forth, reflecting light throughout the room. The photo inside showed her mother smiling at her, just as she had promised. She would always be there to protect her little girl, and the locket was still serving that purpose. It was giving her hope in a cold, lonely world. It would always be there for her, it would always be by her side, and keep her mind on the love she had for her mother. Now, and forever, the heart shaped locket would be Rebecca’s faithful guardian.

NEW ANNOUNCEMENTS

I know its been a bit since I updated anything, but I’ve been rather busy.

New books are available on Amazon (Link: https://www.amazon.com/Jeff-Williams/e/B07J587RC5%3F ) Next up to be released “Hawk: Out of Time” a thriller set in the not so distant future!

I have been running a new podcast (Link: https://www.youtube.com/user/TheCylonman )

And I will be talking live Tuesday night EST from 22:00 to 23:30 on the Life Online Radio network – https://www.lifebroadcastingcenter.com – we are working on getting the skype up, so until then, send all your questions on twitter to @silverlightlive and we will read them during show time!

Throughout all that, I’m still taking care of my family, and making things work!

Best wishes for 2020 to everyone, and Seasons Greetings coming up!

The latest update…

Follow me at @JeffWillWrites, download Cemetery Island at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07B4TXNFM

“Age of Ashes” is nearing its final stages of completion, so look forward to that sometime in May.  Its sequel, “Age of Affliction” is being written as we speak, and is shaping up to be a worthy successor to the original.

Listen to my show, Just Another Conspiracy Show – the latest episode is up at http://www.podcasts.com/just-another-conspiracy-show-06e0401a1/episode/Currency-conspiracy-509e

You can also navigate to past shows from that link, so I hope you take the opportunity to catch up on any that you have missed.

Have a great day everyone!