Here we go.

Hello, World.

This will be my first foray into web publishing for quite a while; I Ran a BBS in the early 90's, had domains and sites up when it became possible to, had a dedicated line and servers in my basement when that became possible, ran my own websites and hosted a select few others, up until 2008 or so when I had to move to Tennessee.

So. it's 2020, I'm somewhere that I could get back in the game.

And I have interesting things to say, allegedly. I have opinions on issues throughout the possible interest spectrum, and academic + Professional experience in a variety of disparate areas.

Unfortunately, it appears I am now technically insane. My views, opinions, and conclusions on a variety of topics differs substantially from the accepted norm. From wikipedia we know that Abnormal behaviors are "actions that are unexpected and often evaluated negatively because they differ from typical or usual behavior". As I make decisions and take actions on my concept of reality, I can't be anything but abnormal.

A few of my other labels: Conspiracy Theorist. Gun Nut. Anti-Gun nut. Fascist. Elitest. Socialist. liberal. Nazi. Bernie Bot. Trumpist. There are a few others but those are the high spots. You may have noticed that some of those labels don't exactly paint a clear picture?

Part of that is because outside of one or maybe 2 topics which I would call "beliefs", I have Opinions. I suppose I'd better explain what those are.

I could simply make a link to the wikipedia page on opinions, but as the admins of wikipedia no longer remember what it says, I'd better explain.

There are Facts, which are things that are consistent with reality, and can be proven to be true through evidence and experimentation. (Note: In my Universe, which includes Quantum Mechanics and the belief that mankind doesn't know everything there is to know, Facts have an asterick next to them. example: You tell me you are standing in your living room and are going to drop a tennis ball from your hand and ask me to tell you what will happen. My answer would have to be "It will almost certainly fall and hit the ground". because I can conceive of circumstances where that might not happen, it simply isn't, in my world, a fact.)

And then there are Opinions. Wiki says "An opinion is a judgment, viewpoint, or statement that is not conclusive".

Which brings me to my problem. Lets throw another word out there, "Credibility".Wikipedia has a pretty good article on the subject. In essence, something is considered a fact if a majority of credible experts believe it to be one. I can rephrase that fairly accurately, and say that "if more than half of individuals who have expertise in a specific field are of the opinion that an aspect of that specific field is a fact, it is a fact".

I'll use Climate Change as an example. I would use something more current, but emotions are running a bit calmer than usual on this topic.

If I were to ask you to tell me the facts about climate change, there are 5, possibly 6 likely answers depending on who you are. If you are a Non-Conservative without a STEM degree, you will likely say whatever CNN represents as "Fact": "Several surveys have shown that 97% of scientists believe climate change is caused by man". If someone disagrees with this fact? "failure to fight climate change is a crime against humanity"