The Official Website of Michael Corthell

If you want to achieve your dreams and take steps to achieve your life goals, then commitment is the key to help you get there. If you believe you can reach your goals and have the commitment and self-confidence to expand that belief, anything is possible.

So, you don't like the way your life is going, or you love it so far? Our lives seem to be a series of events and accidents. But if you look back you will see a pattern. Find out what that pattern is, and you can change your future hopefully for the better [or maintain it].

  When considering the question of whether or not someone is an autocrat, dictator wannabe, it would be good to remember that Joseph Stalin , Benito Mussolini , and Adolf Hitler all took great care in always saying the opposite of what they did, and do the opposite of what they said. This is the mark of a psychopath who becomes head of a nation (or an organization). History is full of tales and stories to narrate how powerful men exploited their authority and power to inflict misery and suffering on others. While some leaders used ruthless ways to capture cities and gain control over states, others simply derived sadistic satisfaction in torturing and abusing people. As you read the accounts of the following people who abused their authority by abusing humankind, it might dawn on you why we must never accept a lying psychopath as head of state. Here's a list of psychopathic leaders who used the most dreaded and brutal methods in history to torture their people: Full Article  

We know that our enemies will mistreat us, acting in unkind ways. We guard against being disrespected and shield ourselves against hateful words that are thrown at us like rocks — that’s what our enemies do, they try to hurt us. We are sometimes caught off guard by the actions of our enemies, but these actions are never unexpected. Our enemies wouldn’t be enemies if they were nice and supportive...right? Friends on the other hand, and by friends I mean all good people, are a different story all together. We expect them to do right, to have our backs. Otherwise good people often enable bullies and even seditionists to thrive by remaining silent in the face of the bad person's actions. It's either fear or apathy but the result is the same — silence is consent. Never forget that or this: “Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.” ― Dietrich Bonhoeffer * *  Dietrich Bonhoeffer   was arrested in Apri

Conspiracy theories resist falsification and are reinforced by circular reasoning: both evidence against the conspiracy and an absence of evidence for it are re-interpreted as evidence of its truth, whereby the conspiracy becomes a matter of faith rather than something that can be proved or disproved.  Research suggests that conspiracist ideation—belief in conspiracy theories—can be psychologically harmful or pathological and that it is correlated with psychological projection , paranoia and Machiavellianism .  Psychologists attribute finding a conspiracy where there is none to a mental illness called illusory pattern perception .Conspiracy theories once limited to fringe audiences have become commonplace in mass media , emerging as a cultural phenomenon of the late 20th and early 21st centuries.

False equivalence is a logical fallacy (a propaganda technique and a favorite of conmen/women) in which an equivalence is drawn between two subjects based on flawed or false reasoning. This fallacy is categorized as a fallacy of inconsistency. In common speak, a false equivalence is often called "comparing apples and oranges". Thomas Patterson of the Shorenstein Center for Media, Politics, and Public Policy at Harvard University wrote about the false equivalency used by the media during the 2016 United States presidential election : ''False equivalencies are developing on a grand scale as a result of relentlessly negative news. If everything and everyone is portrayed negatively, there’s a leveling effect that opens the door to charlatans. The press historically has helped citizens recognize the difference between the earnest politician and the pretender. Today’s news coverage blurs the distinction.''

There is a real danger in democracy. It is the risk of the electorate being wrong about a candidate, and until now it wasn't an obvious risk (to many that is).  This mindset has been too prevalent in our era, ''My ignorance is just as good as your knowledge,'' and that has to change.

  “I've never understood America," said the king. "Neither do we, sir. You might say we have two governments, kind of overlapping. First we have the elected government. It's Democratic or Republican, doesn't make much difference, and then there's corporation government." "They get along together, these governments?" "Sometimes," said Tod. "I don't understand it myself. You see, the elected government pretends to be democratic, and actually it is autocratic. The corporation governments pretend to be autocratic and they're all the time accusing the others of socialism. They hate socialism." "So I have heard," said Pippin. "Well, here's the funny thing, sir. You take a big corporation in America, say like General Motors or Du Pont or U.S. Steel. The thing they're most afraid of is socialism, and at the same time they themselves are socialist states." The king sat bolt upright. "Please?&qu

Healthcare must shift to a prevention model.  The focus must be on positive diet and lifestyle changes. Healthcare systems must adopt a more preventative health approach based on the developing science behind the health benefits of plant-rich, nutrient-dense diets( 100% whole food plant based diet ) plus other lifestyle changes such as regular exercise and limiting stress.  After the pandemic, consumers will be more aware of the importance of their underlying health, and will increasingly understand that healthier food is needed to help support their natural defenses. With a much deeper understanding of nutrition , the global food industry must change immediately by offering a plant-based range of product options to support optimal human health. The healthcare industry can respond to this by promoting disease prevention. And, by the way, a healthy plant-based diet is good for the planet's health as well.

Seasons Change and So Do We by Michael Corthell Our first reaction to the unexpected change is usually quite negative. Feeling vulnerable and maybe even threatened, we can react badly.  In fact, we go through stages: Surprise (shock, wondering why this is happening to us.), Panic (how the changes will impact us and if we'll be able to handle them), and even Blame (we try to find safety and reassurance by shifting the blame to someone else). Bottom line ? We all need to know how to handle Change . ''Any change, even a change for the better, is always accompanied by drawbacks and discomforts.'' — Arnold Bennett What is the worst that can happen? Ask this question, then decide just how likely it is to happen. The next question is, ''How likely is it to happen?'' How much and what part of this change can you control? When change happens, figure out how if it's something you can control over, and just how much control you do ha

  Concerning Incitement The Supreme Court has held that "advocacy of the use of force" is unprotected when it is "directed to inciting or producing imminent lawless action" and is "likely to incite or produce such action". The Supreme Court has also held that speech is unprotected if it constitutes "fighting words". Fighting words, as defined by the Court, is speech that "tends to incite an immediate breach of the peace" by provoking a fight, so long as it is a "personally abusive word which, when addressed to the ordinary citizen, is, as a matter of common knowledge, inherently likely to provoke a violent reaction". “True threats of violence” that are directed at a person or group of persons that have the intent of placing the target at risk of bodily harm or death are generally unprotected.

Those seeking to take control a country and its citizens always utilize fraud and deception to carryout their sinister agenda. Intolerance is a foundation of fascism and tyranny. Opposition is first silenced, and then either imprisoned, or banished. This formula has happened over and over throughout human history. This process usually starts on a small scale, but then gains more and more momentum as the movement gains traction and the opposition is systematically eliminated. Intolerance is the number one tool used by fascists seeking to subjugate a population through the elimination of freedom. These power mad people take hypocrisy to new levels by openly appearing to preach tolerance while actively attempting to suppress those disagreeing with them. See: The Paradox of Tolerance for more information 

Is there a real difference? by Michael Corthell The paradox of tolerance states that if a society is tolerant without any limits, its ability to be tolerant is eventually co-opted or destroyed by the intolerant. Karl Popper described it as the seemingly paradoxical idea that in order to maintain a tolerant society, the society must be intolerant of intolerance. (see laws against hate speech ) Tolerance as defined by Dictionary.com says ''a fair, objective, and permissive attitude toward those whose opinions, practices, race, religion, nationality, etc., differ from one’s own; freedom from bigotry''.   Acceptance is defined in the same dictionary as ''favorable reception; approval; favor''. So we can see that there is a big difference between the two. Many don't like the word tolerance. There’s something about it that makes us think 'putting up with' or 'dealing with.' Saying, ''I’m tolerant of Islam,'' can be interpr