Brian Williams Contradictions

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Many of you inquired about my thoughts on Brian Williams when the story broke last week. Williams was giving tribute to a retired solider at a New York Rangers hockey game at the end of January when he said he was in a helicopter that was hit by RPGs in Iraq in 2003.  When the soldiers who were there heard his tribute, they realized his story was inaccurate, and hence the story broke last week.

I normally would have commented, but I unfortunately threw out my back shoveling during Chicago’s blizzard, had to cancel a three day class, and was subsequently in a lot of pain and on my back. And when people are in pain, they don’t think clearly, so I refrained.

Williams said at the Ranger’s hockey game, “The story actually started with a terrible moment a dozen years back during the invasion of Iraq when the helicopter we were traveling in was forced down after being hit by an RPG…Our traveling NBC News team was rescued, surrounded and kept alive by an armor mechanized platoon from the U.S. Army 3rd Infantry.”

Feeling better now, and looking at the story again, I don’t think people need much more information now nor do you need to be a lie detector to see the truth. Williams clearly is caught telling different versions of the same events–yes, events–in his life now.  Over and over again. It’s truly troubling.

CNN put together a good video here showing some of his contradictions. It can’t be disputed that something is amiss.  Furthermore, in the video by CNN, Williams seems to actually take delight in duping people.  Do you see it?

It’s very sad to see someone so respected for doing an a good job sabotage himself to this degree.  This can happen for multiple reasons. The few that come to mind initially are because they love the ego-boosting attention that comes with impressive stories (ooh, wow, OMG, you are amazing, how do you do it?), or because they get joy in thinking they are smarter than others and no one will notice (it becomes a game).  What other motivations do you think one would have to conflate stories like Williams has?

 

Bobbi Kristina Brown: Who Found her?

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Reading the news this morning, I see a report by MSN that says Bobbi Kristina Brown’s boyfriend’s friend, Max Lomas, is the one who found Bobbi Kristina unresponsive.  Not her boyfriend, Nick Gordon.  I find that odd–especially if Gordon was home.

According to the article, it says that Lomas let a cable guy in the home, showed him around and according to Lomas’ attorney, it was the cable company that prompted Lomas to seek out Bobbi Kristina. When Bobbi Kristina didn’t respond, he went in to check on her and found her unresponsive. He then screamed for Gordon.

That seems odd, doesn’t it?

What guy friend seeks out the girlfriend when his friend is supposedly home?  Especially in a master bedroom (I’m speculating) and bathroom?

What guy opens the bathroom door on his friend’s girlfriend? Wouldn’t the normal reaction be to have the boyfriend check on her first considering he is supposedly home?

Where was Gordon that he couldn’t help the cable company, or call for Bobbi Kristina, but that he was reachable by screaming?  I mean he wasn’t in the master bedroom (guessing that is where Bobbi Kristina was)–so where was he?

There are some flags here that I’m really curious about. I’d like to hear the answers to these questions.  I’m not saying there is anything conclusive but my eyebrows are definitely up!

If the 911 call comes out, or if her boyfriend Gordon or friend Lomas speak out, please let me know.

Romina Garcia’s Seeks Attention

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romina
Romina Garcia is not being honest.  She is doing whatever she can to get attention, and she thinks she is being really clever pulling her “YouTube” stunt. Sadly, it has worked. She made it on to Dr. Drew and Dr. Phil, and has been written about in the media.

This is not the type of content I enjoy writing about, but I know people will ask my opinion so I am sharing it in advance.

Romina tells women in essence (my words–not hers) that a man loves when you he hits you because he’s risking everything–jail time.  It’s pure nonsense.  I can’t believe it has even been entertained as realistic, but from what I’ve seen it has.

Romina is clearly a troubled young woman (yes, she is a woman–she is 18) who will do or say anything to get what she admires, which she says is being pretty, famous/rich and like Kim K.

I hope she gets the help she needs because she truly needs help.

Selling oneself out for fame never ends well.

The Bachelor Disses Britt

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If you’ve watched The Bachelor on ABC this season, there was a really interesting clip of Britt calling out Chris, the Bachelor, on Monday about some of his actions and the actions of others. While no one can miss he is tongue tied, I believe you could predict he would walk away rudely as he did at the end of this clip (which Kimmel cut off).

He leaked a boat load of negative emotions multiple times (contempt, disgust, anger –multiple ways) towards Britt that it was overwhelming, and yet his words didn’t reveal the same. His emotional state is borderline hostile, and he didn’t have the nerve to stand up to what he believed, so he tried to say anything else, and it was a complete failure.

We can now take his emotional response and identify behavioral traits about Chris. He hates to be challenged or questioned. He struggled to keep his calm and listen to people who challenge him. Instead he let his emotions overcome him and he had to walk away. Rudely. He also wasn’t able to express how he truly felt. Instead he bottled it up, which leaves a high propensity for emotional outbursts later on. If Britt didn’t pick up on his emotional responses, she will be in for a world of surprise later.

All of these traits bode horrible for a relationship. It’s not surprising that Chris is still single, if you ask me. He is deeply insecure under his facade and projecting himself as someone he is not. That will eventually backfire on him.

Myth Busted: “To be honest with you…”

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Many people tell me that when they hear “to be honest with you”, or similarly, “to tell you the truth” and “honestly”, they believe the person is lying.  As they say, why else say it unless you are going to lie?

Listen to Shahid Khan, owner of the American NFL team, the Jacksonville Jaguars, say it above at time marker 10:26.

“Well, I gotta be honest with you, its kind of the only thing that made me a little bit angry,” says Khan about being held at the border after 911 due to being of foreign descent.

Do you think he is lying?

He is not lying.  So why do honest people say this?

I polled people on my Facebook page, and here are some of the responses people gave why they use it:

  • “… I use that, normally… right before I state something reluctantly. If I am aware that the truth is going to illicit a negative reaction from someone, I will us that phrase as a preface, especially after being pestered for information that I would not like to share.”
  • “I think I’ve used the phrase more when I am asked for my opinion on something and I feel that the person asking may not like my opinion after I express it.”
  • “I do say “honestly” and “to be honest” when I’m admitting some kind of harsh truth that I have not wanted to say for fear of a fight. I also say it when I want to emphasize something truthful.”

That makes sense, doesn’t it?  So honest people use these terms, too.

Can a liar use these phrases?

Absolutely. 

But is this a reliable clue to deception?

I don’t believe it is.

Unless we can delineate why we know its a lie versus when it is the truth, then I would caution people from making assumptions because its not much better than a coin toss otherwise.

Below Katy Perry say, “I’ll be honest. Sometimes I just watch the Super Bowl for the half time show and the commercials.”

See time marker :25.

Is she telling the truth?

Absolutely!

She is absolutely telling the truth and doing exactly what others said above–prefacing her statement because she doesn’t think it is going to be liked! Katy Perry gives us a micro-expression of fear before she begins, and then covers her face because she is slightly embarrassed she admitted it!

If you recall, Katy first replied with “I love the Super Bowl, of course”–that’s what caused her pause. With her next statement, she basically admits she doesn’t love the game for necessarily “the game”, and she honestly tells you why!