World, Writing, Wealth discussion
Storytelling and Writing Craft
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When Truth is Stranger than Fiction
OMG - I was in the grocery store checkout line today and the cover story on one of the magazines was about two young couples whose embryos were switched in a fertility clinic mix-up, which was a major plot element in "Raise the Dead" - it's more like truth folowing fiction.
These are fascinating stories! Anything that can happen, has a probability to happen. It’s especially powerful/supernatural, when a fictional situation materializes
I grew up reading the Dick Tracy comics in the paper. The wrist radio was so cool back then, just a dream. And now we've done one better: wrist video. I'm still waiting for a Star Trek transporter :-)
I'm also waiting for the transporter. But didn't their communicator look like a flip phone? And they also had something like FaceTime?
The communicator did look like a flip phone, but they had that cool way of opening it with one hand. Maybe you can do that with modern flip phones? I don't know. I did really like my little Nokia flip phone back in the day :-)
I have a friend who reads a lot of political thrillers and she's reading one right now by the guy who took over the Mitch Rapp series from Vince Flynn - it was written about 4-5 years ago, called "Red War" - the leader of Russia has a brain tumor and start acting erratically and wants to provoke a war with the West.I heard a lot of speculation lately about Putin's puffy appearance and whether he might be on steroids or a course of chemo.
I recently watched a series about Elizabeth Holmes, who fooled many savvy investors with her fake medical device. That story is one that seems stranger than fiction.
When truth is stranger than fiction? How about a president's son leaving his laptop in a computer repair shop and forgetting to pick it up? Resulting in the implication that his father was involved in his nefarious dealings. Real life can be pretty strange and interesting.
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Just read a very sad story the other day. A woman with 3 kids, the youngest was an infant, strangled 2 of them and tried to kill the baby and then tried to kill herself. She survived but the baby didn't. In an article that interviewed the husband, it was theorized that she had postpartum depression.So my favorite read of '22 was a Sherlock Holmes novel called "Hidden Fires" - its based on a comment Holmes makes that the most winning woman he ever knew was hanged for poisoning her three children. When the woman is tried, her lawyer calls a specialist who testifies about something called "puerperal mania" which was an old term for postpartum depression - apparently they recognized this in the 19th century and there were even women who were acquitted on this defense.
How about how Rolex beat the Quartz Crisis?Rolex started out in London, selling wrist watches to British military officers. They bought swiss movements and cases which they assembled and sold in their London office. After WWII, they moved to Switzerland, and started building everything in house. Take note; during this period, their customers were upper middle class people who needed watches for work or sporting.
In the late 60's, Casio figured out how to produce a quartz movement which is cheap and accurate to less than a second a year, while mechanical watches cost a lot in man hours to make and are accurate to around five seconds a month. Rolex's product line was instantly obsolete and over-priced.
The mechanical watch industry lost their s*** as they fully expected to go the way of mechanical adding machines.
However, Rolex doubled down on their mechanical in house movements and raised their prices. Then they claimed that quartz movements were the inferior product because they cost less. This worked so well that people will pay more for a steel cased Rolex than a gold cased Rolex, because Rolex makes fewer of the steel cased models.
Rolex was so successful that copycat brands like Hublot can buy a $200 movement from ETA, put it in a steel case, and sell it for $10,000.
How does this topic fit in Story-telling and Writing Craft?I don't find my experience stranger than fiction. Different....and in cases similar:
In 1992 my SO (gray magic witch and Dominatrix) and I had fallen asleep after making love. I dreamt of us in coitus, fused together - and jumped awake. I looked at her, who had come starkly awake as well, and said, "Did you feel that?!" She said, "Yeah!" I said, "...like we were fused!" She said, "Yeah!"
Nine years later rummaging through my dad's SF and Fantasy collection, I came across Don Pendleton's THE GODMAKERS, an adventure psi thriller kind of affair, where at the end the protagonist and his 'love' (and co-starring female) join in coitus to defeat the World God in Infinity...and in doing so perish, their bodies fused.
Cover of the book:
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qdw3AYG0DU...
You're not unique, Citizen, but one of a type.
Days ago I imagined someone saying what you said. In your comment you seem to presume something about me and my self-regard....all the while dis-regarding - ie: lack of scientific process - the curiousness of the incident I presented.Scout wrote: "You're not unique, Citizen, but one of a type."
Yeah? How did it go? Please elaborate.
I've been watching the murder trial of Alex Murdaugh in S. Carolina. He was accused of murdering his wife and son, claimed for over a year not to have been at the scene, and then changed his story on the stand a few days ago and admitted he was with them minutes before the murder. There were many unbelievable things that came to light during the trial, some of them stranger than fiction. He was convicted yesterday and sentenced today to two consecutive life terms. Just as unbelievable were the comments the judge made after sentencing. Never seen anything like it in fiction.
Scout wrote: "...Just as unbelievable were the comments the judge made after sentencing. Never seen anything like it in fiction...."What were they, Scout?
Nik wrote: "Scout wrote: "...Just as unbelievable were the comments the judge made after sentencing. Never seen anything like it in fiction...."What were they, Scout?"
Judge Newman's sentencing:
https://youtube.com/watch?v=e9uwaHb80...
Thanks for that video J. The judge inviting him to confess, dressing him down for his lying and stealing, talking about the ghosts of his wife and son visiting him for the rest of his life . . . as I said, I've never seen anything like it from a judge.And here's something else. Watch this video of him denying killing his wife and son, all the while nodding his head "yes."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTYoT...
"Innocent until proven guilty!" has been and remains a crucial foundation to any unbiased judicial system. That said; I personally believe that this well-intended and logical philosophy has been far too often utilized, manipulated, and abused by clever lawyers to allow facts and testimony that clearly demonstate the guilt of a criminal to occasionally allow them to be freed or file endless appeals due to a vaguely interpreted technicality or clever interpretation of the accused's intent, witnesse's testimony, or juror's behavior.Perhaps it is time to revisit long-established legal terms and behavior to reflect reality and common sense rather than a technical and often misperception, of fairness and truth.
What would you suggest instead of presumed innocence?
Scout,In response to your question in message 30, I offer the following alternative for consideration.
presumption n 1: presumptious attitude or conduct: AUDACITY 2: an attitude or belief dictated by probability; also: the grounds bending probability to a belief.
(Source: Merriam-Webster English Dictionary.)
I suggest that, during a trial, there be no presumption one way or the other. The primary focus should be on what actually happened, not what possibly or might have happened.
Easy Internet access has made it much more difficult, if not impossible, to assemble a jury made up of people with no pre-conceived personal opinions.
During selection, one can only hope that the prospective jurors are being honest and sincere when responding to specific questions regarding possible prdjudice or preconceived intent.
During the trial, only facts and material evidence should be presented: (weapons - DNA
- finger prints - visual & audio recordings - phone records - documented statements published by the accused - actual witnesses on the scene while the crime took place.) Conjecture regarding the accused's beliefs, attitude, emotional state, or remorse after the fact, or clever manipulation of a minor procedural technicality should not come into play.
I have personally been called upon to serve on a jury three times during my lifetime. For whatever reason, I have been chosen (sometimes coerced) to become the Jury's foreman. Although I always insisted and strongly encouraged my fellow jurors to think independently and explain their reasoning, I cannot guarantee that their decisions may not have been unduly influenced by their fellow jurors or myself.
Don't know whether in the States, but in some countries in tax laws the presumption is reverse, i.e. - a taxpayers needs to convince there was no wrongdoing on his/her/its part. That's why I think they succeeded to charge mafia bosses on tax charges and not on violent ones.In most criminal offenses it's necessary to prove two things: actus reus (an act of criminal wrongdoing) and mens rea (criminal intent or negligence), therefore the subjective state of the offender (whether he or she intended to commit a crime, was indifferent, or negligent) is also important for qualification of the crime and/or for conviction.
Nik wrote: "Don't know whether in the States, but in some countries in tax laws the presumption is reverse, i.e. - a taxpayers needs to convince there was no wrongdoing on his/her/its part. That's why I think ..."As for tax, I suspect the tax codes are so complicated that someone with sufficient money can find some clause somewhere to justify whatever, which means the tax-man prefers to leave them alone rather than get egg on face in a court case
Let's say you're accused of a crime you didn't commit. Wouldn't you want to be presumed innocent with the burden of proof on the prosecution?
I think with tax the burden of proof is on the prosecution, but the burden of proof that you have correctly declared your income lies with you. They got Al Capone on tax evasion on the grounds his lifestyle could not be supported by his declared taxable income. They did not have to prove he did not declare income x - he had to prove that his income and expenditure matched his declaration. The funny thing is had he declared his income properly, he could have got away with murder.
Jim wrote: "Scout,In response to your question in message 30, I offer the following alternative for consideration.
presumption n 1: presumptious attitude or conduct: AUDACITY 2: an attitude or belief dicta..."
You miss the entire point of the criminal legal system. Presumed innocence is the ONLY way to go for our system to work. You have to keep in mind it is up to the State to prove beyond a reasonable doubt. The defense has to prove nothing at all. What many fail to understand is when the state decides to come after you for a crime, they have the entire system and financials to back them and the vast majority of us have limited means. The case must be a slam dunk, not more likely than not.
You want to only allow in "evidence". The whole system is predicated on evidence. Much of it is circumstantial and the tapestry gets weaved to show the case. Rarely do you get the gun handed to you or the fraud dropped on your lap. As for minor technicalities, that cuts both ways and the entire system is based on it. A cop should not get a pass when they make a mistake. A prosecutor should not get a pass when they make a technical mistake because that is their job. When a mistake is allowed in, it can affect someone's life negatively that may not have done the crime. The little things matter.
As for jury selection, I too have sat jury and grand-jury. I walked away impressed every time. No we do not all agree with our different experiences and educations. Yet, every time I have served, I have seen average people try their very best to do the right thing and make sure the defendant gets a fair trial.
Here's an example of truth being stranger than fiction: ESPN's woman of the year has a penis :-)
Scout wrote: "Here's an example of truth being stranger than fiction: ESPN's woman of the year has a penis :-)"Give me a break.
Scout wrote: "Here's an example of truth being stranger than fiction: ESPN's woman of the year has a penis :-)"I guess that the coaches in women's sports will need to be better trained in the proper treatment of testicular injuries.
https://youtube.com/shorts/Hbbt3fvj91...
Papaphilly wrote: "Jim wrote: "Scout,In response to your question in message 30, I offer the following alternative for consideration.
presumption n 1: presumptious attitude or conduct: AUDACITY 2: an attitude or b..."
I have served on several juries in 2 states. Your last statement agrees with my experiences too. There can be a single juror who is obviosuly reacting from their own prejudice, but they usually come around to setting it aside when they see the rest of the jury isn't going to agree with him/her.
Scout wrote: "Give you a break from what, Papa?"With all of the incredible women out there doing sports, they pick one that has a penis?
How long do you think it'll be until they decide to publish a version of 1984 which has been edited for "modern" sentiments?
J. wrote: "How long do you think it'll be until they decide to publish a version of 1984 which has been edited for "modern" sentiments?"Anytime soon. Orwell died in 1950, which means he is out of copyright (I think - there have been efforts to extend it.)
My feeling exactly, Papa. To edit 1984 is to do exactly what Orwell predicted. Nonsense seems to make sense to a large part of the population today. The rest of us don't know what to do to stop it.
How ironic it would be if this happened.
Stranger than fiction? I've never read fiction that features a US president with obvious mental incapacity who is encouraged to run for 4 more years.
Supermarkets, where everything is free of charge in a capitalist environment? They do exist: https://www.israel21c.org/the-superma...
World, Writing, Wealth
Books mentioned in this topic
1984 (other topics)1984 (other topics)
The shooting on the set in the Alec Baldwin movie reminded me of a book I read years ago, a series I really liked. This one was called "Plot Twist", the fourth book in the series. The plot revolves around a movie company coming to Atlantic City, NJ to make a TV pilot based on the murder that happened in the first book, and there is a murder on the set involving a prop gun that is loaded with real rounds. And the plot twist is a doozy.
Last book in the series was called "Raise the Dead" and involved frozen embryos and surrogate pregnancy - another good plot twist - but this was pretty much before it was a big deal in the news.