jackfisherbooks.com Open in urlscan Pro
192.0.78.24  Public Scan

Form analysis
2 forms found in the DOM

POST https://subscribe.wordpress.com

<form method="post" action="https://subscribe.wordpress.com" accept-charset="utf-8" style="display: none;">
  <div class="actnbr-follow-count">Join 93 other followers</div>
  <div>
    <input type="email" name="email" placeholder="Enter your email address" class="actnbr-email-field" aria-label="Enter your email address">
  </div>
  <input type="hidden" name="action" value="subscribe">
  <input type="hidden" name="blog_id" value="43624324">
  <input type="hidden" name="source" value="https://jackfisherbooks.com/">
  <input type="hidden" name="sub-type" value="actionbar-follow">
  <input type="hidden" id="_wpnonce" name="_wpnonce" value="11aa2719cb">
  <div class="actnbr-button-wrap">
    <button type="submit" value="Sign me up"> Sign me up </button>
  </div>
</form>

<form id="jp-carousel-comment-form">
  <label for="jp-carousel-comment-form-comment-field" class="screen-reader-text">Write a Comment...</label>
  <textarea name="comment" class="jp-carousel-comment-form-field jp-carousel-comment-form-textarea" id="jp-carousel-comment-form-comment-field" placeholder="Write a Comment..."></textarea>
  <div id="jp-carousel-comment-form-submit-and-info-wrapper">
    <div id="jp-carousel-comment-form-commenting-as">
      <fieldset>
        <label for="jp-carousel-comment-form-email-field">Email (Required)</label>
        <input type="text" name="email" class="jp-carousel-comment-form-field jp-carousel-comment-form-text-field" id="jp-carousel-comment-form-email-field">
      </fieldset>
      <fieldset>
        <label for="jp-carousel-comment-form-author-field">Name (Required)</label>
        <input type="text" name="author" class="jp-carousel-comment-form-field jp-carousel-comment-form-text-field" id="jp-carousel-comment-form-author-field">
      </fieldset>
      <fieldset>
        <label for="jp-carousel-comment-form-url-field">Website</label>
        <input type="text" name="url" class="jp-carousel-comment-form-field jp-carousel-comment-form-text-field" id="jp-carousel-comment-form-url-field">
      </fieldset>
    </div>
    <input type="submit" name="submit" class="jp-carousel-comment-form-button" id="jp-carousel-comment-form-button-submit" value="Post Comment">
  </div>
</form>

Text Content

JACK FISHER'S OFFICIAL PUBLISHING BLOG

Skip to content
 * Home
 * About
 * My Books
 * Contact
 * Donations
 * Short Stories


← Older posts

January 7, 2022 · 5:48 am


REBOOTING ULTIMATE MARVEL: WHY IT SHOULD BE DONE

The following is a video from my YouTube channel, Jack’s World. It is the first
in a series of videos that I’ve been working on regarding the prospect of
rebooting Ultimate Marvel. This series will be at least six videos long and is
my most ambitious video series to date. Enjoy!



Leave a comment

Filed under Jack's World, Marvel, superhero comics, superhero movies, YouTube

Tagged as Avengers, Brian Michael Bendis, Bryan Hitch, comic books, Fantastic
Four, Jack's World, Mark Millar, Marvel, Marvel Comics, Rebooting Ultimate
Marvel, Spider-Man, superhero comics, Superheroes, Ultimate Fantastic Four,
Ultimate Marvel, Ultimate Spider-Man, Ultimate X-Men, Ultimates, YouTube,
YouTube Video, YouTube Video Series


January 3, 2022 · 7:12 am


ANNOUNCEMENT: TAKING A BREAK FROM THIS SITE

Every now and then, it’s important to take a step back, look at what you’re
doing, and think long and hard about how you want to move forward. The start of
a new year is generally a good time to make that effort. Since graduating
college, I’ve made it a point to use the beginning of a new year to make
important decisions about the near and far future.

Sometimes that means changing something about myself, be it related to my health
or my personal relationships.

Sometimes, it means evaluating where and how I apply myself on a day-to-day
basis.

Sometimes, it can even mean choosing whether or not to let something go, be it a
project, a passion, or a goal.

Make no mistakes, I’ve contemplated many things about how I’ll navigate the new
year. Some choices are more mundane than others. A few have larger
ramifications. The one I’m sharing today might very well qualify.

Today, I’m officially announcing a change as to how I utilize this website. I’ve
been posting daily to this site almost every day since 2017. I originally
started it as a way to sell my novels and build an audience for my writing.
Aside from the two books I got published and several others I self-published,
not much has happened on that front. I still submit manuscripts to publishers,
but I’ve yet to garner much attention.

Over time, this site has become less and less linked to those efforts. It
doesn’t appear to be helping me further my goals anymore. That’s why I’ve made
the following decision.

Moving forward, I will no longer be posting to it daily. If you’re a regular
reader of this site, I sincerely apologize. Believe me when I say I appreciate
the support, especially the kind that comes from friends and relatives. However,
I think the time is right to make a change.

A couple weeks ago, I decided to analyze the overall traffic this site gets. I
looked at the stats for the entire year. In doing so, I saw some clear and
unavoidable trends.

This site does get a fair bit of traffic. However, over 90 percent of that
traffic is to my Sexy Short Stories. Since 2019, that section of my site has
been generating more and more traffic. It’s now at a point where the daily posts
barely register. I’m lucky if one new post gets more than a dozen hits, whereas
one of my older Sexy Short Stories get over a hundred on that same day.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m grateful for that traffic. I’m glad my Sexy Short
Stories have found an audience. It has just rendered the time and energy I put
into those daily posts less worthwhile. However, there’s another major factor
that led me to this decision and that’s my YouTube channel, Jack’s World.



Over the past year, that channel has grown a great deal in terms of content and
audience. I have over 400 subscribers at the moment and I’m eager to see that
grow even more in the coming years. As such, I’d like to focus more of my energy
on making videos rather than daily posts.

I’ve also come to enjoy making these videos. I’m still learning the process, the
software, and all the little skills needed to make a quality video. I’d like to
channel more energy into that effort and I just can’t do that while also posting
regularly to this site.

I’m sorry if this news disappoints some. I know a few friends and family members
were regular readers. I still hope to provide content. Some of the content on my
YouTube channel is very similar to the kind of stuff I’ve written about on this
site. With videos, though, I can add more media elements to make it more engage
in.

As such, I feel that’s where I think my time and energy is better spent, at
least for now.

Now, that doesn’t mean I’m abandoning this site completely. Like I said, my Sexy
Short Stories get quite a bit of traffic. At some point this year, I’m going to
go back to writing those. I don’t know how frequent they’ll arrive, but I hope
to make it a regular thing that readers can look forward to.

Other than those stories, I’ll also make a post whenever I post a new video to
Jack’s World, just to keep that aligned with this site.

Beyond that, there won’t be much else. That means no more weekly comic book
picks, no more Sexy Sunday Thoughts, and no more articles about sex robots.
Again, I apologize to those who regularly read those posts. I just feel like the
time is right to make this change and move forward.

I still haven’t given up on my goals of becoming a published author. I have a
number of unpublished manuscripts that I’d like to sell one day. I just don’t
think posting to this site is helping me achieve that right now.

To everyone who has followed this site for the past several years, I sincerely
thank you.

To the friends and family who have encouraged me every step of the way, I love
you all.

Take care and stay safe.

Leave a comment

Filed under Books, Pubilishing, erotica, Las Vegas, erotic fiction, romance,
Crimson Frost Books, Jack Fisher's Insights

Tagged as Announcement, becoming a published author, blog, blogging, Future
Goals, Jack Fisher, Jack's World, New Years, New Years 2022, novels, selling
books, sexy short stories, writing, writing novels


January 1, 2022 · 7:35 am


NEW YEAR 2022: ANNOUNCEMENTS, TEASERS, AND OVERALL OUTLOOK

The following is a video from my YouTube channel, Jack’s World. It is a message
of hope and encouragement for 2022, as well as a general set of announcements as
to what you can expect from this channel moving forward. It also contains a
major announcement about this website, which I’ll expand on in a couple days.
Enjoy and Happy New Year!



Leave a comment

Filed under Jack's World, YouTube

Tagged as 2022, 2022 Outlook, Announcement, New Years, New Years 2021, New Years
2022, New Years Day, New Years Eve, New Years Resolution, teasers, the future,
YouTube, YouTube Channel, YouTube Video


January 1, 2022 · 7:33 am


JACK FISHER’S SEXY SUNDAY THOUGHTS: NEW YEARS 2021 EDITION

It’s official now! We made it through another year. After making it through
2020, this might not seem like quite as great a feat. At the same time, this
year still came with plenty of unique challenges, some of which aren’t
completely resolved. That doesn’t mean we failed. It just means there’s more
work to be done.

Despite these frustrating circumstances, I hope everyone had a wonderful New
Year’s celebration. Whether it involved a small gathering with friends and
family or just a night to yourself with a bottle of cheap champagne, there was
plenty of reasons to celebrate. Making it another year in this crazy world,
especially after the events of the past two years, is quite a feat.

Now, as we head into 2022, we can look forward to achieving even more. It may
seem daunting, but that’s exactly why we shouldn’t shy away from the challenge.
Each year is another opportunity to learn, grow, and adapt to an ever-changing
world. Sometimes those changes can be pretty harsh, but that only serves to make
us stronger in the long run.

It also gives us a better appreciation for everything we hold deer. From the
lives we build to the friends we make to the family we cherish, making it
through another year helps give us perspective. We need that every now and then
to see the bigger picture of our lives and the world around us. It’s often as
reassuring as it is necessary.

So, on this first day of 2022, I hope everyone finds a way to celebrate and
appreciate this new year in whatever way they see fit. Here’s to making this
year better than each one that came before it. As one final gift, here are some
Sexy Sunday Thoughts to get us going on the right foot for 2022. Enjoy!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

> “The difference between flirtation and seduction is how intentional an
> erection ends up being.”



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

> “Does receiving oral sex from a cannibal counts as thrill sex?”



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

> “If you’re attractive and willing to get naked, you can make any activity seem
> sexy.”



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

> “True love is genuinely wanting to give your lover an orgasm and make them
> breakfast the next morning.”



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

> “Like it or not, a non-insignificant part of the population was conceived
> during an orgy.”



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

> “If someone’s bucket list has a lot of depraved sex acts, then you can usually
> assume they’re a bit repressed.”



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

> “A man sharing his porn stash with his lover should count as a romantic
> gesture.”



Leave a comment

Filed under Sexy Sunday Thoughts

Tagged as comedy, crude humor, crude jokes, funny, funny jokes, humor, Jack
Fisher, Jack Fisher Blog, Jack Fisher Books, jokes, raunchy, raunchy comedy,
raunchy jokes, sex, sex comedy, sex humor, sex jokes, sexy, sexy comedy, sexy
humor, sexy jokes, Sexy Shower Thoughts, Sexy Sunday Thoughts, shower thoughts


December 31, 2021 · 7:23 am


HOW TO TELL IF YOU’RE IN A CULT WITH THE B.I.T.E. MODEL

Like it or not, religion is a big part of many peoples’ lives. Whether you’re an
ardent atheist or an impassioned believer, there’s no getting around it. There
are still millions of religious people all over the world, living their lives
and practicing their faith. Even though religion, in general, has been in
decline in recent decades, it’s still a powerful force in many communities.

By and large, most religious people are every bit as ordinary and decent as
non-religious people. They live their lives, love their families, and generally
go about their business. For some, their religion generally enriches their lives
and that’s a good thing. I know plenty of people like that.

However, this is not about them.

This is about those who take religious ideology to a dangerous and damaging
extreme.

I’ve talked about this kind of extremism before. It has led to some legitimately
harmful trends. In some cases, it has the potential to be an existential threat
to the world at large. While any ideology can be taken to a harmful extreme,
religion can be uniquely damaging because it deals in abstracts, beliefs, and
spirituality.

There are things you can’t touch, measure, or quantify. As a result, they’re
incredibly difficult to contest and argue against. You can give someone all the
irrefutable evidence in the world. If their preferred holy book or cult leader
says the world is made of cheese, that’s what they’ll believe and they’ll cling
to that belief with all their might.

This sort of thing manifests most prominently in cults. Now, not every cult is
religious in nature, but religion is often a powerful driving force in many.
Most of the cults that make the news for all the wrong reasons were religious in
nature.

How people end up in these cults varies. You can listen to former cult members
from all walks of life and get a different perspective for how they fell into
it, how they got out, and why they became so captivated. These stories are quite
harrowing and I encourage everyone to seek them out. They have many lessons to
offer.

Following these stories may also make you wonder what sets a cult apart from a
traditional religion. Like I said before, most religious people don’t conduct
themselves in the way cult members do. On top of that, those who are in a cult
probably don’t think they are. To them, this is their normal, skewed as it might
be.

Given how diverse cults can be, it’s not easy to determine when a certain
religion or ideology has crosses that threshold. Some argue that certain
Christian denominations and political movements are cults, but usually as a
means of insult or denigration.

Thankfully, people far smarter than me have given this subject much more thought
and study. There’s one particular model out there that I find to be quite useful
in discerning cults from ordinary religious activity.

It’s called the B.I.T.E model. Developed by Steven Hassan, a mental health
professional who has studied behavioral control tactics, it’s a handy tool for
assessing the cult-like structure of both religious and political ideologies.

The model and the name are an acronym for four general patterns of behavior that
tend to manifest in cults. They are as follows:

> Behavior Control: Involves regulation and micromanagement of peoples’ behavior
> from how they dress, how they eat, and what they do with their time.
> 
> Information Control: Involves organized efforts to withhold, distort, or
> manage the information people see in terms of knowledge, news, and education.
> 
> Thought Control: Involves organized efforts to shape opinions and worldviews
> of everything from their moral code to the language they use. The ultimate
> goal is to instill a warped view of reality.
> 
> Emotion Control: Involves manipulating and channeling a wide range of
> feelings, both positive and negative. The result is often involves instilling
> fear of outsiders and any differing opinions, as well as a sense of
> worthlessness that only the organization can help them resolve.

It’s not a perfect model, but it’s one of the simplest and most comprehensive to
date. The model is structured in a way to include both religious and
non-religious ideologies. If you were to apply this model to organizations like
NXVIM or basic personality cults, it would check the same boxes as any religious
cult.

At the same time, it also helps highlight how certain religious and political
ideologies do not count as cults. Some may fit certain parts of the model, but
not all. For something to really be a full-fledged cult, it needs to check all
four bases and in a meaningful way. That also helps sift through instances where
someone tries to call something a cult as an insult.

With this model in mind, I encourage everyone to use it to evaluate their own
religious or political affiliation. That may not be easy. Like I said, people in
cults usually don’t think they’re in a cult. Many don’t even realize how deep
they were into it until they leave.

That makes self-assessment of your beliefs and affiliations that much more
critical. The B.I.T.E model might not be perfect, but it is both useful and
insightful. We all need to be critical of our beliefs. Given how dangerous
certain cults can be, it’s important we know the signs before it’s too late.

Leave a comment

Filed under health, politics, psychology, religion

Tagged as B.I.T.E Model, being in a cult, BITE Model, Branch Davidians, Charles
Manson, conservative, Conservative Christian, cult of personality, cults,
dangerous cult, escaping a cult, exploitation, faith, Heaven's Gate, NXVIM,
organized religion, Personality Cults, politics, psychology, religion


December 30, 2021 · 7:52 am


WHY WE’LL NEVER (FULLY) GET RID OF MISINFORMATION

Being informed is important. In some cases, it is literally a matter of life and
death. That’s a big reason why I’ve made multiple posts urging people to get
vaccinated against COVID-19. It could literally save your life. It’s also free,
by the way. How many other things that could save your life are also free?

Seriously, people, get vaccinated. I’ll belabor that as much as I have to.

However, this isn’t only about vaccines or the idiots who refuse to get them.
It’s about the “information” that these people are using to justify their
choices. I put “information” in quotes because calling some of this stuff
information is a poor use of the term.

Information, by definition, is supposed to inform. It’s supposed to make you
more aware and educated about the world around you. Lies, propaganda, and
misinformation do none of that. That sort of thing makes you dumber, more
vulnerable, and more easy to manipulate by those willing to do so.

It happens in politics, religion, pop culture, business, and even shady
marketing schemes. Much of these endeavors don’t have facts, truth, or
verifiable information on their side. As a result, they require that people buy
into whatever misinformation they feed them. It’s dishonest, disgraceful, and
should be condemned to the utmost.

The problem is that people still buy into it.

Moreover, some people actively seek for this kind of information.

This is something I think many people have experience with, either directly or
indirectly. I also suspect it has become a lot more relevant lately, given the
rise of anti-vaxxers and conspiracy theories. This sort of mentality was always
present. The problem is that the internet and social media have made it
disturbingly easy to spread.

Now, it’s easy and tempting to blame big tech companies for this phenomenon.
Make no mistake. Big tech companies are certainly at fault to some degree. Many
of these same companies also have done some incredibly shady things, to say the
least.

However, I’m still of the opinion that, no matter how disreputable big tech
companies can be, it still ultimately falls on the users to control what
information they seek. Whether it’s Google, Facebook, or TikTok, these systems
don’t operate in a vacuum. They simply respond to user input. We are, to some
extent, responsible for the information we seek.

I’m certainly guilty of seeking out information that isn’t exactly reputable.
There have been times, including a few very recent instances, where I find
myself seeking information that turned out to be less than truthful. Even if it
was for something as innocent as comic book news or NFL trade rumors, it’s still
misinformation as best and outright lies at worst.

That may not do much harm if the information you’re seeking is only damaging to
your Fantasy Football team, but if that information involved politics or your
health, then that’s where the real damage can occur. I’ve already seen it
manifest with friends who fell down some very dark internet rabbit holes. Some
of that might have just been by accident, but I also don’t doubt it was
intentional in some cases.

In recent years, I’ve tried to make a more concerted effort to seek accurate,
truthful information. I haven’t always succeeded, but I genuinely try to find
true and accurate information, even if it’s something I don’t like. The fact it
takes so much effort has me worried.

On top of that, it has led me to believe that it might not be possible to avoid
misinformation. Even without the internet, it will find you. Propaganda and lies
did exist before the digital age. It’ll likely always exist to some extent, so
long as human brains are wired a certain way. Since we can’t change that anytime
soon, despite the best efforts of Elon Musk, we’re likely stuck with
misinformation.

This has me genuinely concerned because, even as some tech companies are making
greater efforts to combat misinformation, it’s still relatively easy to find. On
top of that, there are people out there working for nefarious organizations who
are actively engaged in creating, spreading, and supplementing misinformation.
Even if you shut them all down tomorrow, others will just spring up to replace
them.

In some respects, it’s a lot like the war on drugs. You could arrest every
single drug dealer in the world this morning, but by dusk a bunch of new dealers
will emerge to take their place. Like it or not, there’s still a demand and
there’s money, influence, and power to be gained.

Misinformation may not be the same as heroin or pot, but is subject to the same
incentives. People actively seek it. Taking it in makes them feel special,
important, and smarter than their neighbor. Today, it’s misinformation about
vaccines, liberals, and gaming culture. Tomorrow, it might be about something
else entirely.

It all comes back to how we’re wired. Our brains are not designed to seek truth
or accurate information. They’re designed to keep us alive. Misinformation might
be damaging in the long run, but it can make us feel better in the short-term,
which is sadly more than enough incentive for some, even if it proves deadly in
the long run.

I seriously wish I could end this on an uplifting note. I genuinely tried to
find some way of putting a positive spin on this struggle. Unfortunately, the
best I could come up with is to simply urge everyone to try harder to seek true
and accurate information. If these past two years have taught us anything, it’s
that bad information can cause a lot of harm.

We can never get rid of it, so long as our brains operate as they do.

We can and should still do our part. Truth and accuracy matters. You may not
like it, but it may very well save your life in the long run.

Leave a comment

Filed under Current Events, outrage culture, political correctness, politics,
psychology, rants, technology

Tagged as anti-vaxx, bias news, business, COVID-19, COVID-19 Pandemic, digital
age, digital media, disinformation, fake news, false, falsehood, human
psychology, idiots, internet, marketing, mass psychology, misinformation, news,
news feeds, news source, Pop Culture, propaganda, psychology, rabbit holes,
religion, social media, social psychology


December 29, 2021 · 6:27 am


NEW COMIC BOOK DAY DECEMBER 29, 2021: MY PULL LIST AND PICK OF THE WEEK

By now, I think everyone should be fully recovered from their Christmas
festivities. Depending on how festive things got, your place might not be
entirely clean. Kids and adults alike can make a hell of a mess when they’re
excited on Christmas morning. I know this because I’ve made quite a few messes
over the years.

Whatever the state of your holiday hangover, today is a momentous day of another
kind. It marks the final New Comic Book Day of 2021. For comic book fans, that’s
often noteworthy for a number of reasons. The end of the year often coincided
with preludes, epilogues, and teasers for what’s to come in the next year. It’s
also a chance to look back on everything that happened in the past year and just
appreciate it.

Now historically, the last New Comic Book Day of the year has been fairly light
in terms of noteworthy releases. You almost never see major milestone issues or
the end of major events on this week. More often than no, a lot of filler issues
get released this week and that’s perfectly fine. Not every week can be a
blockbuster release.

Personally, I’ve often used this week to look back and see which comics or
collections are worth adding to my collection before the new year begins. In the
same way this week tends to be light on major issues, the first couple months of
the new year tend to have major releases that are poised to set the tone. I’m
already saving my money accordingly.

For this week, though, I’m content to enjoy the post-holiday afterglow with a
simple stack of comics. They don’t have to blow my mind. They just have to help
me relax and appreciate the conclusion of another holiday season. For those
still recovering from the festivities, I hope this final New Comic Book Day does
the same.

Here is my final pull list and pick of 2021. Enjoy and here’s to an awesome
2022.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


MY PULL LIST

Action Comics #1038

Amazing Spider-Man #83

DC vs. Vampires #3

Death of Doctor Strange #4

Deathstroke Inc. #4

Detective Comics #1046

Devil’s Reign #2

The Flash #777

Harley Quinn #10

The Joker Presents: A Puzzlebox #14

Justice League #70

Power Rangers #14

Power Rangers Universe #1

Star Wars: Bounty Hunters #19

Superman ’78 #5

Teen Titans Academy #10

Timeless #1

Wastelanders: Star-Lord #1

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


MY PICK OF THE WEEK
TIMELESS #1



Leave a comment

Filed under Jack's Quick Pick Comic

Tagged as #NCBD, Ant Man, Avengers, Captain America, Captain Marvel, comic
books, Comixology, Dark Horse, DC, DC Comics, DCU, digital comics, Hulk, Iron
Man, Jed MacKay, Kang, Kang The Conqueror, Mark Bagley, Marvel Comics, Marvel
Universe, New Comic Book Day, Thor, Timeless #1, Tony Stark, Vision


December 28, 2021 · 6:41 am


WHY YOU SHOULD GET A YEARLY FLU SHOT (AND MY WORST EXPERIENCE WITH THE FLU)

For the past year, I’ve gone out of my way to urge people to get vaccinated
against COVID-19 while also pointing out why anti-vaxx arguments are
ridiculously stupid. Honestly, I’m sick of doing that and I’m sick of talking
about this. I wish getting a vaccine didn’t have to be a point of contention,
but that’s just the state of the world we live in.

Again, get vaccinated people. You’ll end this pandemic and save lives in the
process.

That being said, I’d like to add another layer to this effort. It’s not quite as
dire as the current situation with COVID-19, but it’s still relevant, given that
it involves our health and ways we can improve it. It has to do flu shots.

Now, let me start by making clear that the flu is not as serious as COVID-19.
Despite the claims of certain misinformed pundits, the typical flu is less
likely to kill you than COVID-19. You still don’t want to get either because
even if it doesn’t kill you, having the flu is an awful experience.

You feel like crap for almost an entire week.

You can barely eat anything and even when you do, it’s hard to keep down.

Your face is flushed all the time, your nose is stuffy, your throat is sore, and
your head won’t stop pounding from the inside.

It’s just an all-around bad time for you and your body. If you’re older or
happen to be in poor health, it can be even more serious. People do die because
of the flu and it’s not a trivial figure, either.

That’s why I encourage everyone to get a yearly flu shot, especially this year.
Last year was bad enough, but this year is even more critical. Now that
lockdowns are over and people are trying to live life as it was before the
COVID-19 pandemic, the flu is likely to make a comeback.

As such, if you can get a flu shot, do what you have to do in order to get it.
Do it for yourself and your family. I certainly plan on doing so. If you need
information on doing so, the CDC has an entire section of their website
dedicated to it.

It’s not a conspiracy.

It’s not an agenda.

It’s just a shot that’ll protect you from another disease you don’t want to get.

To further reinforce that point, I’d like to share a quick story about the worst
flu I ever got and how it affected my attitudes towards flu shots. It’s not a
very pleasant story, but I hope it gets the point across as to why flu shots are
critical.

To set the stage and context, this occurred back when I was in the seventh
grade. At this point in my life, I wasn’t in great shape overall. However, aside
from bad allergies and acne, I was in generally good health. I hadn’t been
seriously sick beyond a common cold in years. As a result, I saw little need for
flu shots.

Then, one evening, I started feeling a little ill. I can remember exactly when
it happened. It was around 7:00 p.m. one evening. I’d finished dinner and my
folks were watching TV. It started with a sore throat and a cough, but it was
nothing I hadn’t dealt with before. I thought I’d feel fine after I slept it
off.

I was very wrong.

When I woke up the next morning, I felt terrible. My joints hurt, my head hurt,
my sinuses were stuffed up, and I was so weak you could knock me over with a
feather. I don’t remember looking in the mirror that morning, but I’m pretty
sure I looked like hell.

Despite all that, I still thought I could make it to school that day. I thought
it was just something that would wear off after I got going. I made an effort to
get dressed, get some breakfast, and walk to school. My mother kept encouraging
me not to, but I didn’t listen.

In hindsight, this was a terrible decision.

I managed to make it to school. But just as my first class began, my body just
gave out. I couldn’t keep my head up and I couldn’t focus. My teacher naturally
sent me to the school clinic. Once there, the nurse said I had a 101-degree
fever. That’s pretty bad, even for a seventh grader.

My mom had to come and pick me up. To her credit, she didn’t say, “I told you
so.” She just took me home, laid me down on the couch, gave me some medicine,
and let me sleep.

The next few days sucked, but they weren’t nearly s bad as the first. I was so
weak, tired, and sickly that I couldn’t do much aside from watch TV. At one
point, I ran out of favorite movies to watch. I tried playing video games, but
my head was in such a fog that I didn’t have much fun.

It was just such a terrible experience overall. Even after I got better, I made
it a point to take the flu serious from that day forward. I always got a flu
shot when it was available. I also took my health a bit more seriously, even
though I wouldn’t get in shape until years later. I think that experience helped
inform future health habits that have stuck with me to this day.

I still wish I didn’t have to go through that to learn the value of good health
and flu shots. I certainly don’t want anyone to have to learn those hard lessons
like I did. Even if the flu is not life-threatening, it’s just not an experience
you want to have.

So please, if you can, get a flu shot this year.

Get one every year if you can. Take it from someone who learned the hard way.
Having the flu sucks. A vaccine can help protect you from it and after living
through a pandemic, we should all make the effort.

Leave a comment

Filed under health, real stories

Tagged as being healthy, being sick, CDC, COVID-19, COVID-19 Pandemic, feeling
sick, flu, flu season, flu shot, getting a flu shot, getting sick, health,
illness, Pandemic, personal story, public health, real story, seasonal flu,
vaccination, vaccine


December 27, 2021 · 9:04 am


NEW ZEALAND PUSHES FOR INTERNATIONAL BANS ON FULLY AUTONOMOUS WEAPONS (AND WHY
OTHER COUNTRIES SHOULD FOLLOW SUIT)

Whenever I discuss or follow issues surrounding artificial intelligence, it’s
not long before the topic of killer robots come up. That’s to be expected and
not just because most of us have seen “Terminator” one too many times. However,
it’s no laughing matter.

At this stage in our technological development, killer robots and autonomous
weapons aren’t restricted to science fiction. They already exist in many
respects. We just call them drones or unmanned combat aerial vehicles. These are
real things that operate in real war zones. They have killed people, including
innocent civilians.

They may not look like your typical T-101, but make no mistake. They’re every
bit as deadly. They don’t need to hide within the body of Arnold Schwarzenegger.
They can just flies thousands of feet over your head and kill from a distance.
That’s a scary thought for anyone in a war zone, but you can take some comfort
in that these machines still have human operators.

That could eventually change. As I’ve noted before, artificial intelligence is
advancing to a point where it can match or exceed the skill of an ordinary human
in specialized tasks. Even if we’re decades away form an AI that has the same
cognitive capacity as an ordinary human, we already have AI systems that
specialize in particular tasks, like chess.

It wouldn’t be that great a stretch to develop an advanced artificial
intelligence that could specialize in flying combat drones without any human
input. In principle, an artificial intelligence wouldn’t be nearly as prone to
human error or hesitation if their human pilots were taken out of the equation.

However, that also raises some serious ethical, as well as strategic questions.
If humans are out of the loop in operating these autonomous weapons systems,
then what happens to how we conduct warfare? What does this mean for both sides
of an armed conflict?

Ideally, an advanced AI will be better at making decisions to limit civilian
casualties. That is likely the ultimate goal in researching these systems. The
problem is we’re still a long way from that goal, so much so that one government
in the world is already trying to establish a precedent.

Fittingly, it’s a government from an area that is not in any war zone, nor is it
near one. New Zealand, a country not known for frequent warmongering, recently
pushed for a worldwide ban on autonomous weapons systems. It’s a bold and
ambitious effort, but one I believe we should take seriously.

Stuff: Government to push for international ban of autonomous weapons, or killer
robots

> The Government will push for an international ban on fully autonomous weapons,
> or killer robots, that use artificial intelligence to target and kill people
> without any human decision-making.
> 
> New Zealand has for decades advocated for disarmament in international forums,
> after declaring the country a nuclear-free zone in the 1980s. Autonomous
> weapons are seen as a new frontier in the arms race between major military
> powers.
> 
> Disarmament Minister Phil Twyford on Tuesday said the Government had decided
> to take a “tough and uncompromising” stance on autonomous weapons, and seek a
> ban of fully autonomous weapons on the international stage.

Regardless of how you feel about New Zealand’s policies or intentions, this is
one rare instance where politics might have to inject itself into science. Like
it or not, the pace of artificial intelligence is accelerating. Few agree on how
much time it’ll take to reach human level AI, but nobody denies that it’s an
advancing field.

At some point in the very near future, we’ll have AI systems specifically
tailored to fly combat drones with the same proficiency as a skilled Air Force
pilot. That does not require human level AI. It just requires AI that can handle
the various tasks associated with operating these systems.

When that time comes, it will be tempting to take flawed humans out of the loop.
That means militaries with these autonomous weapons systems won’t have to be as
hesitant when it comes to deploying these systems.

We can safely assume this because there’s a big difference between pushing a
button that fires a gun and ordering another human being to fire that same gun.
Even if that other human is trained and obedient, they’re still human. They can
still make mistakes. They can still hesitate.

For once, that’s not a bad thing. Sometimes, we need humans to hesitate in the
midst of war. Were it not for hesitation, the Cuban Missile Crisis could’ve
ended very differently.

If waging war is too easy for those with access to these systems, then more war
will follow. More war means more death, destruction, and violence. Too much of
that and lasting peace becomes much more difficult. The whole of 20th century
history is proof enough of that.

Like nuclear weapons, autonomous weapons systems are a Pandora’s Box that cannot
be closed once opened. We’ve already opened it partially thanks to drone
warfare. For that reason, I think New Zealand has the right idea in terms of
mitigating the potential danger.

Even if autonomous weapons systems become so advanced that they operate better
than any human, we still need at least one human behind the decision making
process. We still need a flesh-and-blood person to pull the trigger rather than
entrusting that recourse to a machine.

We, as a species, simply cannot and should not walk this path with our
technology. It’s not just about limiting the use of dangerous weapons. Once we
start teaching these advanced AI’s to kill, then we won’t be able to unteach
them. If they eventually become too good at it, then that does not bode well for
humanity as a whole, regardless of which side they’re on in any war.

Leave a comment

Filed under Current Events, technology

Tagged as AI, Artificial General Intelligence, Artificial Intelligence,
autonomous weapons, drone strikes, drone war, electronic warfare, future of
warfare, killer robots, modern warfare, NATO, New Zealand, robotics, robots,
Skynet, technology, war, warfare, weapon systems, weapons


December 26, 2021 · 9:01 am


JACK FISHER’S SEXY SUNDAY THOUGHTS: CHRISTMAS 2021 EDITION

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas the other day. I certainly did. There
were gifts exchanged, feasts enjoyed, and plenty of wonderful moments between
family and friends. It was beautiful, festive, and memorable for all the right
reasons. To my wonderful family, I thank you once more for making this another
great Christmas.

Whatever you did to celebrate, be it small or large in scale, I hope it was just
as great. Whether it was getting the best present you could’ve asked for or just
sharing a large meal with the family, I hope you did something special. After
this past year, we needed that, albeit for reasons not too different from what
we faced in 2020.

I know the news in recent weeks has been less than ideal. I also know that next
year is already looking to be plenty challenging, more so than we’d hoped. We’ll
get to those challenges soon enough. For now, let’s just take a step back and
appreciate the feeling of having made it through the holidays once more.

Christmas has always been my favorite holiday. It has always been special to me
for so many reasons. This year was no exception. Things with my family are
constantly evolving. One day, I hope they evolve even more once I meet that
special someone. For this year, though, I’m just glad I was able to share it
with the people I love.

Even though Christmas is over, there’s still some holiday spirit left to
celebrate. To that end, here is one more gift from me to you. It’s my Christmas
2021 edition of my Sexy Sunday Thoughts. Enjoy!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

> “Anything that causes erections will always have more value than gold in the
> long run.”



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

> “Every birthday party is an indirect celebration of your parents’ orgasms.”



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

> “Nagging is evolution’s way of keeping people from getting too horny.”



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

> “Trying to make sex feel better is like trying to make sugar taste sweeter.”



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

> “Would you trust a man who claims to be straight, but has a stash of gay
> porn?”



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

> “The fact that idiots have kids is proof that sex is truly fool proof.”



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

> “Does the fact that some of us were conceived during the sexual revolution
> mean it succeeded?”



Leave a comment

Filed under Sexy Sunday Thoughts

Tagged as comedy, crude humor, crude jokes, funny, funny jokes, humor, Jack
Fisher, Jack Fisher Blog, Jack Fisher Books, jokes, raunchy, raunchy comedy,
raunchy jokes, sex, sex comedy, sex humor, sex jokes, sexy, sexy comedy, sexy
humor, sexy jokes, Sexy Shower Thoughts, Sexy Sunday Thoughts, shower thoughts


← Older posts



 * DONATIONS
   
   Support this blog and all my sexy publishing efforts by donating to the
   following link:
   
   


 * JACK’S SEXY NOVELS
   
    * Skin Deep
    * Child of Orcus
    * The Escort and the Gigolo
    * The Final Communion
    * The Secrets of Sadfur Island
    * Holiday Heat
    * Jackpot
    * Passion Relapse
    * Rescued Hearts

 * 


 * LATEST RELEASE


 * RECENT POSTS
   
   * Rebooting Ultimate Marvel: Why It Should Be Done
   * Announcement: Taking A Break From This Site
   * New Year 2022: Announcements, Teasers, And Overall Outlook
   * Jack Fisher’s Sexy Sunday Thoughts: New Years 2021 Edition
   * How To Tell If You’re In A Cult With The B.I.T.E. Model


 * JACK FISHER’S TWITTER FEED
   
   * RT @Newsarama: Will you read a Storm-centric X-Men book on Mars?
     trib.al/6tCN17Z 1 hour ago
   * RT @getFANDOM: Happy Birthday to J.K. Simmons and his moustache 👨🏻
     https://t.co/zFcf24aWFZ 1 hour ago
   * The first week 18 of the @NFL season feels strange, but the beer tastes
     just as good. 😊 2 hours ago
   * RT @Marvel: Meet Jolt, who plays Lucky the Pizza Dog in Marvel Studios'
     #Hawkeye! 🍕 https://t.co/li0ri4ATiG 3 hours ago
   * RT @CBR: The Bob's Burgers Movie gets a first look premiere window during
     the upcoming College Football Playoff National Championship Game.…
     4 hours ago

Jack Fisher's Official Publishing Blog · The official blog for books by Jack
Fisher


Jack Fisher's Official Publishing Blog

 * Follow Following
    * Jack Fisher's Official Publishing Blog
      Join 93 other followers
      
      Sign me up
    * Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.

 *  * Jack Fisher's Official Publishing Blog
    * Customize
    * Follow Following
    * Sign up
    * Log in
    * Report this content
    * View site in Reader
    * Manage subscriptions
    * Collapse this bar

 

Loading Comments...

 

Write a Comment...
Email (Required) Name (Required) Website