Received an email from Computer Guru Chris. These days, LOL has been doing the (almost) daily posting leaving Chris time to do the previously ignored statistical analysis. I am beginning to think that ignorance might be bliss – to not know is to not worry, fret, perseverate and etc. etc. etc. More about ignorance later in this blog.
Subject line of Guru’s email: What happened on July 30th.
He: something of a spike that day.
Me: I am overly impressed with the graphics you have provided. But what year are we talking about? If 2022 I was in Canada – but I am not sure what I was doing. The blog will reveal all. I shall go back and read it. I had my apartment, know that much. Hmmm Whatever it was I guess I gotta do it again. Hahaha Alexis
The graphics will be shown at the conclusion of this blog – that day, July 30th I had 691 visits. My immediate response was to perform an imitation of Homer Simpson:
Me: DUH
My mind was reeling, thinking, initially, that it must be something on land, something must have happened here, perhaps a mass rally with everybody yelling : “I gotta read that woman!” Instagram could hold the clue, as often my activities are photographed and discussed there. There is a July 25, 2002 photo of me, two little girls, a Canadian flag and a United in our Freedom sign. I was new to Canada at that time, not realizing that the Freedom movement was a misnomer. It is a movement that is insidious, terribly misinformed, and in their ignorance, destructive. I replaced my ignorance with knowledge so it is extremely unlikely that the Freedom folks attending the rally, upon receiving my unsolicited blog card would, respond en masse a week later. There were no further Instagram posts until August 5, 2022. Photo is me at rest with this caption.
Me: It is 14 here after a low of 9 and this is supposed to be summer. What is a girl to do? Lay on her bed in her warm Monet hoodie and take a rest. (Received 29 Likes).
First source of information failed – looked for clues on Instagram. Found none, so clueless. Therefore, in sheer desperation turned to my blogs, to find one posted on July 29, 2022 and another on July 31, 2022. Again, found nothing happening on land – no mass rally with everybody saying: “Gotta read that woman!”
I therefore was forced to use deductive reasoning. No Idea if it is empirically correct. I shall never, ever know. And, in the long run of life, I suppose, who cares?
Back to some definitions. Beginning with deductive reasoning. Deductive reasoning is a logical approach where you progress from general ideas to specific conclusions. Deductive reasoning is also called deductive logic or top-down reasoning. Wikipedia tells us more than you really want to know, beginning: “Deductive reasoning is the mental process of drawing deductive inferences. An inference is deductively valid if its conclusion follows logically from its premises, i.e. if it is impossible for the premises to be true and the conclusion to be false.”
Now onto ignorance is bliss. It is a proverb meaning if you do not know about something, you do not worry about it. The saying “Ignorance is bliss” comes from Thomas Gray’s poem “Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton College” (1742). This phrase has positive and negative connotations depending on how one looks at it. In some ways, ignorance is bliss as certain things are beyond our control. However, the lack of knowledge or ignorance is only until we get to know the reality. Ignorance can never be bliss, rather it is the root cause of the misery in human beings.”
I do agree with this – ignorance is the root cause of misery in human beings. A prime example being the Freedom party in Alberta actually desecrating the Canadian flag out of sheer ignorance – blaming their individual miseries and lack of success on governmental policies that ensure their safety and freedoms, such as covid vaccinations and other pandemic measures.
Synonyms for blissful ignorance are: insensible, insensitive, in the dark (about something) oblivious. This quote from Albert Einstein, who as everyone knows, knows about everything:
“The only thing more dangerous than ignorance is arrogance.”
But here is something entirely amazing and seemingly coincidental. This morning received an Instagram like from Rubaniqalb. The like to my comment:
Me: This, it seems to me a new revert, has been lost in the practice of the faith in most countries, As an individual it is central to my adherence to the faith. It makes the Islamic Faith unique.
Shaykh Hamza speaks, profoundly and convincingly: “Seeking knowledge is incumbent upon every Muslim.”
This is the link: https://www.instagram.com/reel/CosLjmDo0u1/?igshid=MDJmNzVkMjY=
The Quran 17:36 speaks of ignorance: And follow not that of which you have not the knowledge; surely the hearing and the sight and the heart, all of these, shall be questioned about that. Do not pursue that of which you have no knowledge. Indeed hearing, eyesight, and the heart—all of these are accountable.
Receiving this comment at the very moment I was writing about ignorance and knowledge is amazing and extraordinary.
But back to the statistical knowledge that may, or may not have, been obtained. The July 29, 2022 blog is, as usual, rather a mishmash (a confused mess; hodgepodge; jumble). The blog jumbled, speaking of silly things such as my Elvis Presley fan club presidency many years ago, accompanied by New Yorker cartoons to bring humor. However, the title did announce something serious was to come: A Commentary Concerning Conditions in the UAE (Not Funny).
I had written; “The UAE has no postal service so I lived for five months without any mail. To say the very least, it was disruptive and alienating, leaving me feeling hopeless and helpless. As was the inability to have a bank account, a phone, an apartment or any signs of permanence and reliability. Without an Emirati ID nothing is possible and my retirement visa was denied after months of limbo. It was denied because my retirement fund is managed by the Marin County Employee’s Retirement Association, not a bank. To receive the five year retirement visa the banks of the UAE must have your money. The banks are owned by the Royal Families. This unknown in the remainder of the world – the Windsors do not own or control the Bank of England nor any other banks. UAE visas are easily obtainable to set up businesses, the business account is held by one of the Royal banks. If the visa holder decides to leave the UAE they leave their money behind. Did not realize that when first going there – was assured that with the acceptable documentation of my pension income all I needed to provide was six months of bank records and my retirement visa would be assured. But my bank records showed the deposit of my monthly income not the three billion well-managed monies that funded it. One can also obtain an Emerita ID and visa if you invest in property. But the property is never held in a freehold but reverts back to Royalty. Selling the property not a viable option because Dubai, in particular, is overbuilt. There are hundreds of vacant buildings sometimes built with dirty money. I know all of this because people talk to me, trust me and talk to me. My hotel, the Abu Dhabi Airport Premier Inn was a center for people coming and going from the country so I met many people in dire straits, leaving their fortunes behind in the rapacious hand of Royalty. Rapacious is aggressively greedy or grasping. Its synonyms describe the activity: grasping, greedy, avaricious, acquisitive, covetous, mercenary, materialistic, insatiable, predatory, voracious, usurious, extortionate; money-grubbing; grabby. What was (and remains) so confusing to me is that I was in that country seeking refuge as a Muslim. The Rulers of the Middle East are Muslims. Allah abhors extravagance. It was all rather mind boggling. But the good news is that, with my Canadian passport, I was able to flee and live here. I have it all – an apartment, a phone, a bank account, a cadre of incredible professionals and a mail box where I can regularly and routinely receive mail. It is slightly slow and the zip codes with their letters and numbers difficult to remember but it comes. I now can receive the magazine of my New Yorker subscription. Therefore, humor again shall rule.”
So was this what caused the spike? There is sure-fire way to know. Nothing else in the blog is particularly compelling. Did word get out that I had ‘blown the cover’? Did hundreds of people living in the UAE, knowing of the repression of the true state of affairs but never heard it spoke about, shout;
They: I gotta read that woman!!!
Subsequently, after the fact, did the repressive UAE rulers made it impossible for people to have access? It would be rather amusing if that were so – because on July 31, 2022 the title announced that the UAE was being viewed in less condemning ways.
“My criticism of the UAE is therefore moderated by the appreciation for my personal safety and health during the months of my residency. I continue to be somewhat appalled at the working conditions of some workers, the more marginal, uneducated ones. But the UAE provides safe haven for them, those from Sri Lanka for example. Those from other, more peaceful countries are able to send home large portions of their income to support family members. They do not identify with the UAE, so do look forward to the day they can return to their homeland – sometimes to homes built by their wages.”
After all, nothing is ever all good, nothing is every all evil. But do remember the words of Albert Einstein: “The only thing more dangerous than ignorance is arrogance.” The UAE Rulers are supremely arrogant. In the authentic Hadith, the Prophet (peace be upon him) said, “One will not enter Paradise, if one has an atom’s weight of arrogance in his/her heart.”
Arrogance is a major sin in the Islamic faith. It corrupts a person’s heart and soul and lead him towards Allah’s anger and wrath. On the day of judgment arrogant people will be gathered like ants and be taken to hell. Allah loves humility and humbleness, as pride belongs to Allah alone.
I did not, as yet receive a response from Computer Guru Chris, did send another questioning email with the subject line: Hope the spike occurred in 2022.
Me: Hello! I did write an ‘explanation’ of it on the blog of today based on the nearby events of 2022 . Who knows but all of the thinking and analysis is worthless if it was another year and I would look stupid. Goodness knows we would not like that!!!
There is no way to know of course and more analysis might be necessary. And does it matter? Not sure but it certainly is interesting. Alexis
The following photo is the graph showing the spike.
