Christopher Columbus was indeed looking for “spices,” but her most certainly was not lost. It is quite a special secret pleasure how the people around us fail to realize what is really happening to them. It is also possible to classify long series of transactions, extending even to a whole lifetime, so that significant human social behaviour can be predicted, both short term and long term, can be predicted. Such chains of transactions take place, even when they yield little instinctual satisfaction, because most people become very uneasy when they are faced with a period of unstructured time; hence, they find cocktail parties, for example, less boring than being by themselves. The need to structure time is based on three drives or hunger. The first is stimulus or sensation hunger. Far from trying to avoid stimulating situations, as some people have claimed, most organisms, including human beings, seek them out. The need for sensation is the reason why roller coasters make money and why prisoners will do almost anything to avoid solitary confinement. The second drive is recognition hunger, the quest for special kinds of sensations which can only be supplied by another human being, or in some cases, by other terrestrial beings. #RandolphHarris 1 of 21

That is why milk is not enough for baby monkeys and human infants; they also need the sound and smell and warmth and touch of mothering or else they will wither away, just as grownups do if there is no one to say Hello to them. The third hunger is structure hunger, which is why groups tend to grow into organizations, and why time-structures are among the most sought after and the most highly rewarded members of any society. An interesting example combining both stimulus hunger and structure hunger is found among rodents raised in a state of sensory deprivation, that is, in complete darkness, or in a constantly lighted white cage with no variation. Later in the lives of these animals, after they had been put in ordinary cages with “normal” rodents, it was found that they would go to food in a maze if it were placed on a checkerboard, but they would not go to food is it was placed on a simple background. Normally raised rodents would go to the food regardless of the background. This showed that the hunger of the deprived rodents for a structured stimulus was more important than their hunger for food. The experimenters concluded that the need for structured stimuli (of as they put it, for “perceptual experience”) may involve biological processes just as basic as food hunger, and that the effects of early sensory deprivation may persist throughout life in the form of a strong attraction to complicated stimuli. #RandolphHarris 2 of 21

There are four basic classifications for the short-term structuring of time in human social behaviour, with two limiting cases. Thus, if two or more people are in a room together, they have six possible kinds of social behaviour to choose from. At one extreme the limiting cases is withdrawal, in which the people do not overtly communicate with each other. This may occur in such diverse situations as a subway train or a therapy ground of withdrawn schizophrenics. Next to withdrawal, in which everyone remains wrapped in his own thoughts, the safest form of social actions is rituals. These are highly stylized interchanges which may be informal or may be formalized into ceremonies which are completely predictable. The transactions which make up rituals covey little information, but are more in the nature of signs of mutual recognition. The units of a ritual are called strokes, by analogy with the way in which infants are recognized by their mothers. Rituals are programmed from outside by tradition and social custom. The next safest forms of social action are called activities, what is commonly called work, in which the transactions are programmed by the material that is being worked with, whether it be wood and concrete, or problems in arithmetic. #RandolphHarris 3 of 21

Work transactions are typically Adult-to-Adult, oriented toward the external reality—that is, the subject of the activity. Next in the order are pastimes, which are not as stylized and predictable as rituals, but have a certain repetitive quality and are in the nature of multiple-choice, sentence-completion interchanges, such as take place at cocktail parties where people do not know each other very well. Pastimes are largely socially programmed by talking about acceptable subjects in acceptable ways, but individual notes may creep in, leading to the next form of social action, which is called games. Games are set of ulterior transactions, repetitive in nature, with a well-defined psychological payoff. Since an ulterior transaction means that the agent pretends to be doing one thing while he is really doing something else, all games involve a con. However, if there is a weakness it can hook into, handle or “gimmick” to get a hold of in the respondent, such as fear, greed, sentimentality, or irritability, only then does a con work. After the “mark” is hooked, the player pulls some sort of switch to get his payoff. The switch is followed by a moment of confusion or crossup while the mark tries to figure out what must happen to him. Then both players collect their payoffs as the game ends. #Randolphharris 4 of 21

The payoff, which is mutual, consists of feelings (not necessarily similar) which the game arouses in both the agent and the respondent. Unless a set of transactions has these four features, it is not a game—that is, the transactions must be ulterior so that there is a con, and the con must be followed by a switch, a crossup, and a payoff. We recently saw in example of this when the 2020 Presidential election was stolen from President Trump, then he was replaced by Joe Biden, whom everyone knew was mentally incompetent, and as time drew closer to the 2024 election, the con was followed by a switch, putting Vice President Kamala Harris in office for a crossup, and a payoff. This can be represented by a formula. C+G=R–>S–>X–>P (Formula G). The cons hooked into a gimmick, by all the sudden making it public that they wanted President Biden to step down because he was mentally unwell. The democrats then pulled the switch, by making Kamla the new democrat nominee by default because they knew she could not legally earn the ticket, this was followed by a moment of confusion, and both players got to collect their payoffs. Biden gets to remain president and Kamala has a chance at becoming the next president. Whatever fits this formula is a fame, and whatever does not fit it is not a game. #RandolphHarris 5 of 21

For example, the mere fact of repetition or persistence by President Trump in running for re-election in 2024 does not constitute a game. This, in a therapy group, if a scared patient repeatedly asks the therapist for reassurance every week (“Tell me I will get better, doctor”) and when he receives it, says “Thank you,” that is not necessarily an ulterior transaction. The patient has stated his need frankly and has had it gratified, and does not take advantage of the situation in any way, but gives a courteous response. These transactions, therefore, do not constitute a game but an operation, and operations, no matter how often they are repeated, must be distinguished from games, just as rational procedures must be distinguished from rituals. If another patient, however, asks the therapist for reassurance, and upon receiving it, uses the response to make the therapist look stupid, that constitutes a game. For example, a patient asked: “Do you think I will get better, doctor?” and the sentimental therapist replied, “Of course you will.” At that point, the patient revealed her ulterior motive in asking the question. Instead of saying, “Thank you,” as in a straight transaction, she pulled the switch with: “What makes you think you know everything?” This reply crossed the therapist up and threw him off balance for a moment, which is what the patient wanted to do. Then the game ended, the patient feeling elated at having conned the therapist, and he is feeling frustrated; and those were the payoffs. #RandolphHarris 6 of 21

In a sense, Kamala is the patient. She knew all along that President Biden was mentally unfit to run the country, but took so long to admit it because she wanted to pull the switch and throw the American people off balance. Now Kamala is feeling elated at having conned the White House and the American people, and Biden is left feeling frustrated. If Biden is unfit to be the democratic nominee, then how can he be fit to fulfill the remainder of his presidency. Furthermore, you remember President Trump predicted this would happen. Everything his says is truth and he often can see into the future. Some people will say, “President Trump lies. He said that he wanted to lock Hilary up, then when asked about it said that he did not say that.” Well, what happened is he said, “The people said that.” These people could have been his campaign contributors, and he did not send Hilary to jail. Therefore, Trump did not lie, nor does he. The game Kalama played followed Formula G precisely. The con was pretending not to know Joe Biden was unfit to be president, and the gimmick was the country’s sentimentality. When the con hooked into the gimmick, the American people responded in the way she expected. Then she pulled the switch, causing a crossup, after which each collected a payoff. So, C+H=R–>S–>X–>P. #RandolphHarris 7 of 21

This is a simple example of the game called, from the patient’s side, “Slug Him,” or “Whammy,” and from the therapist’s side, “I am Only Trying To Help You.” Colloquially, the payoff is called a trading stamp. “Good” feelings are spoken of as “gold” trading stamps and distressing feelings are said to be “brown” or “blue trading stamps. In this case the Kamala got a counterfeit-gold trading stamp for a counterfeit triumph or success, and the President Biden got a brown one, which is not unusual. Each game has a slogan or motor by which it can be recognized, such as “I am Only Trying To Help You.” This slogan is colloquially called a “sweatshirt.” Usually, the same of the game is taken from its slogan. Beyond games lies the other limiting case of what can take place between people, which is called intimacy. Bilateral intimacy is defined as a candid, game-free relationship, with mutual free giving and receiving and without exploitation. Intimacy can be one-sided, since one party may be candid and freely giving, while the other may be devious and exploitative. Activities involving pleasures of the flesh offer examples which cover the whole spectrum of social behaviour. It is ecident that they can take place in withdrawal, that they can be part of a ritualistic ceremony, or that they can be all in a day’s work, a pastime for rainy day, a game of mutual exploitation, or acts of real intimacy. #RandolphHarris 8 of 21

Theredore Roosevelt, who had been a Burgess’ student at Columbia Law School was also inspired why the drama of racial expansion. In his historical work, The Winning of the West, Roosevelt drew from the story of the frontiersman’s struggle with the Indians the conclusion that the coming of the whites was not to be stayed and a racial war to the finish was inevitable. “During the past three centuries,” wrote the young scholar-in-politics, “the spread of the English-speaking peoples over the World’s waste spaces has been not only the most striking feature in the World’s history, but also the event of all others most far-reaching in its effects and its importance.” This great expansion he traced back many centuries to the days when German tribes went forth to conquest from their marshy forests. American development represents the culminating achievement of this mighty history of racial growth. The writings of John Fiske, one of the earliest American synthesizers of evolutionism, expansionism, and the Anglo-Saxon myth, shows how tenuous could be the boundary between Spencer’s ideal evolutionary pacifism and the militant imperialism which succeeded it. A kindly man, whose thought was grounded in Spencer’s theory of the transition from militancy to industrialism, Fiske was not the sort to advocate violence as an instrument of national policy.  Yet even in his hands evolutionary dogma issued forth a in bumptious doctrine of racial destiny. #RandolphHarris 9 of 21

In his Outlines of Cosmic Philosophy, Fiske had followed Spencer in accepting the universality of conflict (outside of family relationships) as a fact in savage society; he believed it an effective agent in selection. However, the superior, more differentiated, and integrated societies had come to prevail over the more backward by natural selection, and the power of making war on a grand scale had become concentrated in the hands of “those communities in which predatory activity is at the minimum and industrial activity at the maximum.” So warfare or destructive competition gives place to the productive competition of industrial society. As militancy declines, the method of conquest is replaced by the method of federation. Fiske, who had long believed in Aryan race superiority, also accepted the “Teutonic” theory of democracy. This doctrine sanctified any conquest incidental to Anglo-Saxon expansion. English victories over France in the eighteenth-century colonial struggles represented a victory over Spain and the acquisition of the Philippines Fiske interpreted as a high point in a conflict between Spanish colonization and superior English methods. In 1880, when he was invited to speak before the Royal Institute of Great Britian, Fiske gave a series of three lectures on “American Political Ideas” which became widely known as a statement of the Anglo-Saxon Thesis. #RandolphHarris 10 of 21

Fiske praised the ancient Roman Empire as an agency of peace, but argued that it had been inadequate as a system of political organization because it failed to combine concerted action with local self-government. The solution to this ancient need could be provided by representative democracy and the local self-government embodies in the New England town. By retaining the rustic democracy of America’s Aryan forefathers, American federal organization would make it possible an effective union of many diverse states. Democracy, diversity, and peace would be brought into harmony. The dispersion of this magnificent Aryan political system over the World, and the complete elimination of warfare, was the next step in World history. With characteristic Darwinian emphasis upon race fertility, Fiske dwelt upon the great population potential of English and American races. America could support at least 700,000,000; and English people would within a few centuries cover Africa with teeming cities, flourishing farms, railroads, telegraphs, and all the devices of civilization. This was the Manifest Destiny of the race. Every land on the globe that was not already the seat of an old civilization should become English in language, traditions, and blood. Four-fifths of the human race would trace its pedigree to English forefathers. Spread from the rising to the setting sun, the race would hold the sovereignty of the sea and the commercial supremacy which it had begun to acquire when England first began to settle the New World. #RandolphHarris 11 of 21

If the United States of America would only drop that its shameful tariff and enter a free competition with the rest of the World, it would exert such pressure, peacefully of course, that the states of Europe would no longer be able to afford armaments and would finally see the advantages of peace and federation. Thus, according to Fiske, would man finally pass out of barbarism and become truly Christian. Reverend Josiah Strong was dissatisfied with American’s spiritual life. He was against immigrants, Catholics, Mormons, saloons, tobacco, large cities, socialists, and concentrated wealth—all grave menaces to the Republic. Still, he was undaunted in his faith in universal progress, material and moral and the future of the Anglo-Saxon race. He employed the economic argument for imperialism; and a decade before Frederick Jackson Turner he saw in the imminent exhaustion of the public lands a turning point in national development. It was Anglo-Saxonism, however, that brought him to the highest pitch of enthusiasm. The Anglo-Saxon people, the bearers of civil liberty and pure spiritual Christianity, said Strong, “is multiplying more rapidly than any other European race. It already owns one-third of the Earth, and will get more as it grows. By 1980 the World of Anglo-Saxon race should number at least 713,000,000. Since North American is much bigger than the little English isle, be the seat of Anglo-Saxondom. #RandolphHarris 12 of 21

“If human progress follows a law of development, if ‘Time’s noblest offspring is the last,’ our civilization should be the noblest; for we are ‘the heirs of all the ages in the foremost files of time,’ and not only do we occupy the latitude of power, but our land is the last to be occupied in that latitude. There is no other virgin soil in the North Temperate Zone. If the consummation of human progress is not to be looked for here, if there is yet to flower a higher civilization, where is the soil that is to produce it?’” Strong went on to show how a new and finer physical type was emerging in the United States of America, bigger, stronger, taller, than Scots or Englishmen. Darwin himself, Strong noted triumphantly, had seen in the superior vigor of Americans an illustration of natural selection at work, when he wrote in The Descent of Man: “There is apparently much truth in the belief that the wonderful progress of the United States, as well as the character of the people, are the results of natural selection; for the more energetic, restless, and courageous men from all parts of Europe have emigrated during the last ten or twelve generations to that great country, and have there succeeded best. Looking to the distant future, I do not think that the Reverend Mr. Zincke takes an exaggerated view when he says: ‘All other series of events—as that which resulted in the culture of mind in Greece, and that which resulted in the empire of Rome—only appear to have purpose and value when viewed in connection with, or rather as subsidiary to…the great stream of Anglo-Saxon emigration to the west.’” #RandolphHarris 13 of 21

Returning to his theme that the unoccupied lands of the World were filling up, and that population would soon be pressing upon subsistence in the United States of America as in Europe and Asia, Strong declared: “Then will the World enter upon a new stage of its history—the final competition of races for which the Anglo-Saxon is being schooled. If I do not read amiss, this powerful race will move down upon Mexico, down upon Central and South America, out upon the islands of the sea, over upon Africa and beyond. And can anyone doubt that the result of this competition of races will be the ‘survival of the fittest’?” Life is precsrious and unpredictable, and the only way to live it is to make every effort to save it as long as there is a possibility of doing so. However, we must put a stop to the idea that it is part of everybody’s civil rights to say whatever he pleases, and it should be illegal to burn the American flag. Indeed, it is part of the probability that the improbable happens. A real possibility means that there are psychological, economic, social, and cultural factors which can be demonstrated—if not their quantity, at least their existence—as the basis for the possibility of change. There is a reason democrats are allowing an invasion at the southern border. #RandolphHarris 14 of 21

A violent revolution in the style of the French or Russian revolutions, which means the overthrow of the government by force and the seizure of power by revolutionary leaders is not currently possible for several reasons. First, there is no mass base for such a revolution. Even if all the radical students, including military marginalized populations, were in favour of it—which, of course, they are not—this mass base would be completely lacking because together they constitute only an exceedingly small minority of the American population. If a small, desperate ground tried a Putsch or a kind of guerilla warfare, its suppression would necessarily follow. Those who think in terms of a guerrilla war of the marginalized populations against the majority in the cities forget Mao Tse-tung’s basic insight that guerrillas can be successful only if they work within a population favourable to them. It need not be stressed that the real circumstances are precisely the opposite condition. Furthermore, it is most doubtful that even if the two factors mentioned so far did not exist, a violent revolution could succeed. An extraordinarily complex society like that of the United States of America, based on a large group of skilled managers and managerial bureaucracy, could not function unless equally skilled people took the place of those who run the industrial machine now. Neither the students nor the marginalized masses offer many men with such skill. That is why Kamala had to steal with election and they are allowing 20 million migrants to invade America. #RandolphHarris 15 of 21

However, a “victorious revolution” would simply lead to the breakdown of the industrial machine of the United States of America and defeat itself, even without the forces of the state, which would suppress it. Veblen, in The Engineers and the Price System, already states this essential point over one hundred years ago. He wrote: “No movement for the dispossession the of Vested Interests in America can hope for even a temporary success unless it is undertaken by an organization which is competent to take over the country’s productive industry as a whole, and to administer if from the state on a more efficient plan than that no pursued by the Vested Interests; and there is no such organization in sight or in immediate prospect.” He adds an observation which is particularly relevant to today, when there is talk of revolution by sabotage and guerilla warfare. “Wherever the mechanical industry has taken decisive effect, as in America and in the two or three industrialized regions of Europe, the community lives from hand to mouth in such a way that its livelihood depends on the effectual working of its industrial system from day to day. In such a case a serious disturbance and derangement of the balanced process of production is always easily brought on, and it always brings immediate hardship on large sections of the community. #RandolphHarris 16 of 21

“Indeed, it is this state of things—the ease with which industry can be deranged and hardship can be brought to bear on the partisan organizations as the A.F. of L. It is a state of things which makes the sabotage easy and effectual and gives it breadth and scope. However, sabotage is not revolution. If it were, then the A.F. of L., the I.W.W.. the Chicago Packers, and the U.S. Senate would b e counted among the revolutionists. To take effect and hold its own even from the time being, any movement of overturn must from before hand provide for a sufficiently productive conduct of the industrial system on which the community’s material welfare depends, and for a competent distribution of goods and services throughout the community. Otherwise, under existing industrial conditions, nothing more can be accomplished than an ephemeral disturbance and a transient season of accentuated hardship. Even a transient failure to make good in the management of the industrial system must immediately defeat any movement of overturn in any of the advanced industrial counties. At this point, the lessons of history fail, because the present industrial system, and the manner of close-knit community life enforced by this industrial system have no example in history.” It is important to consider the difference between the technical aspects of industrial society in 1968 and of Russian society in 1917, or even German society in 1918. These were societies which were by comparison much less complex and where, indeed, the apparatus of the government and of industry could have been taken over by intelligent and capable people from outside.  However, in 2024, in the United States of America, what we thought was impossible, we are seeing take place before our eyes. RandolphHarris 17 of 21

We touch again here on the problem of violence. It is a most amazing and bewildering paradox that in a situation where violence is losing it rationale—in international relations because of the existence of thermonuclear weapons and within a state because of the complexity of its structure—it is looked upon as a method of solution, although only by a small minority. This popularity of violence is an outcome of the psychic and spiritual despair and emptiness, and the resulting hate against life. It is greatly furthered by the literature which portrays man as driven to violence by his innate and almost uncontrollable destructive instinct. On the other hand, the change in society cannot be accomplished simply by the publication of books advocating it or even by ideas spread by gifted speakers or orators. Unless such ideas can be translated into specific plans and actions, they may win the sympathies of several people who will, however, become even more disappointed when they see that these ideas in themselves have had no influence on reality. What, then, is the basis for the “real possibility?” Generally speaking, this real possibility can be formulated in a simple fashion: that it is possible to “move” public opinion to such a degree that it makes itself felt in the decision making of the executive and the legislative branches; that by its influence it restrains further expansion of the policies we are now embarked on’ that eventually it gains a majority of voters; and thus that those who represent the ideas of the new movement become the political leaders of the country. #RandolphHarris 18 of 21

What are the conditions which form a real possibility to achieve this end? First, there are certain psychological conditions which have been on the increase for some time, and which have become still more visible in the American people. I refer to the widespread dissatisfaction of people of all classes and ages with our way of life—its bored and lack of joy. However, if it were not for the presence of a positive condition, namely, that of a longing for new directions, for a renewal of values, for the end of the dehumanized, bureaucratic method, for a new psychospiritual orientation— this negative psychological condition would be much less effective. The second condition is that our democratic system continues to function. Even though it does not live up to its promises, it is not insensitive to major swings in public opinion. Even our professional political bureaucracy—self-seeking as many of its members may be—wants to be re-elected and hence needs to pay attention to what people think and want. The first concrete condition, then, of achieving our aim is to preserve that minimum of democratic structure which we have got and to fight at every point where it is threated. The new constituency of the forces which want a new direction in American life exists already. It has such a great power as a potential precisely because it is not restricted to one political party, social class, or age, but comprises a wide sector of the American population, from conservatives to radicals. #RandolphHarris 19 of 21

The Sacramento Fire Department is a team whose members are effective, empowered, and enthusiastic in their service. They have been recognized as regional leaders by their community, neighbours, and peers. They enthusiastically supported by their community, which views them with pride, respect, and confidence. Their mission is accomplished by a physically fit, healthy, and increasingly diverse work force, well trained in a in a multitude of specialized skills, and empowered with a high level of involvement in their success. Theu equipment is dependable, capable, and consistent with the needs of the community, embracing cutting-edge technology and emphasizing firefighter safety. “The Sacramento Fire Department has been very good to me, good to my family. I have excellent benefits, but there’s still a lot I desire. Coming up from Santa Clara, you want to see some changes, but every department has its own little ways of doing things, and you can’t make the changes. I went through the riots of COVID pandemic. I was in the at the north end. I saw a lot of destruction. They were doing it against their own people and communities. They didn’t care who they were destroying, because it was all in their own area. They were putting people out of business, their own people, and it was very said. #RandolphHarris 20 of 21

“I was never really in a situation where I felt I’d never see my children again. I’ve learned from experience, and I know my limitations. Many times, in a fire you’re with somebody and then you’re not with somebody. They might have backed out of something happened. But I never really felt I was alone. It’s almost like having an angle there with you. I’ve been in situations where I was alone and I had gone deeper into a fire than I should. But I never really felt I was alone. It was almost life a tap on the shoulder: this is enough, back.” The Sacramento Fire Department core value is to always be respectful while keeping their community safe. You can help save lives and property by donating to the Sacramento Fire Department. Also, please remember to raise your children to love America, be patriotic, respect law and order, and to treat everyone with respect and dignity, but know when to say, “No.” Love of the divine is our primary duty. Love of our neighbour is only a secondary one. Behold, I am prepared, ready to fulfill the commandments of my Creator. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic, for which it stands, One Nation, Under God, Indivisible, with Liberty and Justice for all. #RandolphHarris 21 of 21

The Winchester Mystery House

Day by day, the amazing manifestations of Mrs. Winchester’s tormenting spirits were noted down. In between the new and full moon disturbances in Llanada Villa were worse. It is no secret that Mrs. Winchester was being treated by psychic experts. One night after a particularly exciting day, Florence Farr magnetized her head and quietened her, and suggested that Mrs. Winchester should go to bed. Going up the stairs a small table and a crystal vase crashed over, and a little later a great noise of banging and tearing was heard in Mrs. Winchester’s room. When Florence went into the room, it looked as if a tornado had swept over it.

While touring The Winchester Mystery House, mysterious ceremonies may infuse, as it were, something of a ritual during the Victorian times, and the Devil himself may appear in the form of a human being. Join us for our summer Flashlight Tour, happening for one night only. Do not miss out or you will be left in the dark…literally! Our Final Flashlight tour of the year 27 July 2024. https://winchestermysteryhouse.com/