I while back I was emailing back and forth with a lady who lives in Cody, Wyoming, business related, and mentioned to her that on a trip to Yellowstone National Park last June our grandson (then age 12) wanted to see a dam. We drove by Boysen Reservoir, and when we got to the head the boy was disappointed that it was an earth-fill dam. Meh. So I made it a point on the way home to make a right turn in Cody and head up the highway to Buffalo Bill Dam, a real one. There was so much snow in the mountains last year that during the winter they had drained the reservoir so that it would not overflow. Even so, last June both floodgates were wide open and an amazing torrent of water was entering the Shoshone River down below.
I only mention that because after I included this in an email, I thought “Oh my God, I’ve already said that to her in another email. I am repeating myself!” I had to know, and so asked her if the story was a repeat. No, she said. Phew!
I’ve been thinking about aging, and the effect it is having on the blog. I try to be self-aware, but aging is a subtle process, and changes happen slowly, so we are not totally cognizant. I am aware that my body is breaking down, even as I work out at the gym, hike and ski and do all of the hard labor required for our three wooded acres on a steep hillside. I accept that. It is the mental changes that I fear more, the calcification, the set opinions, the certainty that I am right when I am not. I am criticized for being too transparent, too easily taking ownership of mistakes, but I can see no other way. If mistakes indeed are the best teacher, embrace them!
Last year at this time I decided to have a look at climate change, and have invested hundreds of hours in the hoax. In times before I decided to take a closer look at Waco, the McCartney twins, Columbine, Jonestown, John Denver, Tiananmen, John McCain’s fake POW status, John Brown, Dennis Washington, AIDS, and on and on. With each project came thrill of discovery, but these days I am avoiding large projects and the associated hours of research. I am more likely to do a quick hit, or worse yet, as I recently did with Obamacare, write a long post on memory, nothing new to add.
But note something else about each of those projects – they are dated. Columbine was twenty years ago, Jonestown forty. The McCartney’s are mid-70s, Denver is now 76, John McCain died of old age, and all the rest are long before the ages of our current crop of readers.
For the sake of the blog and the thousand or so hits we get every day, I think it is time for younger writers, newer visions. A young reader recently asked me to do a facial comparison. Not to spoil the surprise, there are two actresses, one I know, the other a complete stranger to me. I did so, and the results were stunning. I hope to see something published from him in the near future.
But aside from that, I can page through an entire issue of US Weekly or People, and not know one face. That, dear friends, means I am getting old.
No doubt I’ll keep putting stuff up here, but in terms of staying topical and interesting, I am fully aware time has gone by and my interests are diverging from those of the readers. I hope to rectify that, I hope for fresh blood. Anyone reading this who has an urge to write, who enjoys painstaking research and the thrill of discovery, get in touch! Sit down and write about people I’ve never heard of. The blog is in need of de-aging cream.
Note in Passing: If you’ve not watched Game of Thrones and intend to, do not read this paragraph. Last night for us was the final episode. Tyrion Lannister was selected by the new King Bran to be the King’s Hand. He did not want the appointment, citing all of the mistakes he had made and evil deeds he had committed. He had thought he was smarter than he really was, and that sometimes resulted in tragedy. Bran told him he would pay for his evil deeds by living in regret, and that his mistakes would always come to mind when offering advice. This made him the perfect candidate for the job. I could not have agreed more.
Piece of Mindful 
You look younger than you are. And it is the older topics where the lessons are laid out more.
But new writers here would be a good idea.
I would welcome pieces by John le Bon, Thibault Erikson and others.
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Believing “half of what you see” and “nothing that you hear” is only half the battle. The definition of insanity is repeating the same mistakes and expecting different results. if repetition is the motherhood of learning, then so be it. some people need to have that drummed into them before they get it. Sticking to the old guns just to prevent being proven wrong, only proves being a fool. Easily taking ownership for mistakes is a sign of growth and wisdom,and fresh blood with a set of new eyes can sometimes open those that are closed.
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For what it’s worth Mark, there is nothing in your writing that I have ever noticed that gives any indication of the symptoms of decline that you mentioned. You are sharp as a tack, and the exercise you describe would put the average person (myself especially) to shame.
This blog is truly a treasure in the free sharing of ideas, which is nearly extinct in this day and age. You should be extremely proud.
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Thanks … we all navigate the aging process and I know the power of ego. We are all walking around in a cloud called “me.” I want to get out of the way as younger minds fly by. I really want to be a spectator these days.
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When you get what you want in your struggle for self, and the world makes you king for a day. Just go to the “mirror” and look at yourself, and see what that man has to say… “Dale Wimbrow Sr”. Some are born great, Some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them… “Shakespeare”.
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It takes a peculiar combination of traits and abilities to do any type of writing well, but the odds of someone writing this kind of material well seem even more remote. As I’ve said before, I’m so grateful for this blog. I’m also grateful Fauxlex is stepping in and look forward to his future posts.
I hope you keep writing though, Mark… even if few or none of your posts continue to focus directly on conspiracy themes. I fancy myself a good writer and have sometimes thought about starting a blog or asking to be a guest writer here. After a lot of reflection, I’ve realized it’s not in my nature to focus so narrowly–or rather, so directly–on the deceptions and manipulations of our leaders. We desperately need people to do it and to do with intelligence and self-awareness, so thank God for what you’ve created here. But my path seems to be writing (and hopefully living) in such a way that my awareness of what’s really going on–limited as it is, and greatly expanded by this blog–resonates between the lines. I’ll be tiresome and mention my writing hero Nabokov again. I started waking up while reading him, not because of what he said directly about his awareness of conspiracy, but because he kept that awareness hidden in the cracks of his work, to be perceived or not perceived. Many of his most ardent fans don’t perceive, or don’t believe he was serious, or perhaps don’t believe he was sincere. I do, because he didn’t beat me over the head with his sincerity. Sincerity (as you know all too well, I’m sure) is easy to dismiss, to mock, to oversimplify. It’s also easy to fake. But if an author’s understanding of the world resonates in everything he writes, no matter what the explicitly stated subject matter is, I believe him.
When I first started reading POM, Mark, I skipped the posts where you blogged about personal matters or things that were happening in your area. Now I read them with as much or more pleasure as your conspiracy posts. So I hope you keep contributing regardless of the subject matter, even if a lot of readers do what I did and skip over the personal stuff. It’s good stuff.
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This post explains a lot of what is being going on lately here. Sad to read but understandable nonetheless. MMC project fizzled in 2017/18 and no newer gatekeepers of note so far. There is no need to write about hoaxes only. I am caught between Scylla and Charybdis: Not as old as a baby boomer but not as young as a fcuking millenial… I trust people older that 50 most of the time, they (in general) have what is invaluable and got no shortcuts to obtain: Experience. Yeah, 70 is a heavy package but you could write about music for example or letters to your younger self or whatever else. There are topics that are timeless. Let me share some interesting read: The day the music burned… as the writer put it… so dramatic but judge for yourself: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/11/magazine/universal-fire-master-recordings.html
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