Lions, Tigers, Echo Chambers, and Imposters, OH MY!

For those unaware, yesterday Donald Trump's social media network "Truth Social" launched for iOS, with the Android app scheduled to come out, well, someday.  The launch of the social network has been met with expected reactions - conservatives celebrating its launch while liberals condemn it. Meanwhile, moderates like myself sit back and cringe, wondering how we got here in the first place.

Dissent, discourse, disagreements, and compromises are good for all of society. Originally social media was a free flowing, politically neutral environment where political discourse was welcome, and occasionally tempers flared. Unfortunately, in recent years, social media has become fragmented. Social media networks started removing political content, often leaning towards one side of the political spectrum or the other based upon the company's values.

My Vaccine Injury - What Happened

First of all, I want you to know that I'm not a crazy anti-vaxxer. I've always been in support of vaccines, but was like many others, hesitant to get the COVID vaccine because it was so new, and so little time was available to study long-term side effects. This is my personal story of my ongoing struggle with adverse effects of the COVID vaccine. I am not a medical professional, this is not medical advice.

In August, knowing that the Federal government was going to mandate the vaccine for employees and contractors, I received the J&J COVID vaccine. I don't remember much from the following two weeks, other than being in immense pain, and being unable to think clearly. At some point a family member drove me to the ER, where they confirmed I was experiencing adverse effects of the vaccine, but were unable to provide me any relief other than "take Advil and stay hydrated".

Don't Fall for the NESA Eagle Scout Verification Scam

I've been extremely disappointed with the National Eagle Scout Association partnering with Publishing Concepts to contact anyone who has ever received the rank of Eagle to "verify" their contact information. I have received multiple emails about this, and before calling decided to do some research. Extremely disappointed in what I found.

This "verification project" is in fact a huge marketing ploy to convince Eagle Scouts across the country to spend hundreds of dollars on their "50th Anniversary Book". This is, in fact, a variation of the "Who's Who" book scam many people encountered in college, where we receive a letter telling us that we've been selected for this book, verify your information and purchase a copy! Of course what they don't tell you is that everyone gets in the book, and there's nothing special about it at all.

The only reason these businesses are allowed to operate is because they do indeed provide you the book you ordered for the extremely inflated price of $460.

The very first law of Scouting is that a "Scout is Trustworthy". The fact that NESA would do business with "Publishing Concepts", an organization which requires their employees to use hard sale tactics and even lie to people on the phone, leaves me very disappointed in NESA.

The opinions in this article are my own, and do not reflect those of my employer or clients.