Do your own research?

As we wove our way through the covid responses, we heard a lot of voices saying that we were being misled and that we should worry about ourselves and "do our own research"

First off, I was (and still am) amused by the notion that you shouldn't trust scientifically valid research, and instead should trust your crazy uncle who read these fringey articles about some topic that may (or may not) be relevant. You don't trust scientific research but will do your own…research? Huh. 

Second, it's the point about it being selfish. If there's one thing social media (and vapid tv shows) have taught us: selfishness is rewarded. Be that individual and you'll get clicks and make money. And be famous!

What we forget is that we live in a society, and the constitution - which "we" claim to love when it comes to things "we" like and forget about when it comes to things "we" don't - calls for the common good:

We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

It's right there in the preamble. So rather than being selfish and saying it's your body and you'll make decisions about it, and calling attention to your unique individuality, saying things like "this is America I have freedom," perhaps we should have thought about how this was (and is) a deadly virus which propagates through people. And we should have provided for the common good. 

Didn't want a vaccine? That's your right. But why did you have to be so vocal about it? 

In any event, the problem of people being in it for themselves, and claiming to know secrets that some bigger entity (like scientists or the government) doesn't want to tell you is prevalent. 

It happens in other scientific beliefs (flat earth? Fake moon landing?) and other types of beliefs, like religion. 

But it also happens in other places. What of Bernie Madoff who was essentially stealing money? He told people he had a super secret formula for getting rich in investments and would share it, if the investments were large enough (and what he was doing was taking money from person B and giving it person A, then taking money from person C and giving it to person B; all while taking a commission)

But people believed it because they wanted to. He was wealthy and had a plan to help you get there. (How did you really think he got wealthy? Surely it had something to with taking from others). 

And then there was the big election lie. People believed it because they wanted to. They were so deceived by the cult of personality that they accepted it on face value. 

And while the sedition that happened was probably the worst of it, there were some financial shenanigans happening (and which continue to happen. See my post about the Google ads). 

The Jan 6th committee has stated:  

"that the … campaign used these false claims of election fraud to raise hundreds of millions of dollars from supporters who were told their donations were for the legal fight in the courts. But the … campaign didn't use the money for that. The 'big lie' was also a big rip-off." 

https://news.yahoo.com/jan-6-panel-trump-campaign-used-election-lie-to-raise-millions-from-supporters-163747101.html

They took in somewhere around $250 million dollars from suckers, er supporters, who had bought into the notion that he couldn't have lost. I know some of these people, and probably you do too. They're everyday people with not huge amounts of money laying around. They lost it. Because they wanted it to be true. That they knew more than we did. 

And where did this money go? Something like 5% of it was paid to various "legal expenses" … while the remainder essentially went to the guy and his close associates. 

Not for nothing, but that quite clearly violates the law. There are specific laws about "wire transfers" and how they may be collected and disbursed. And how the language has to be clear on how money will be used. 

So my general advice is that you look up from your phone and think about things a little. 

James May reveals what he thinks of veganism

ICON Park target blast game

Who in their right mind thinks this is a good idea?!

https://www.wfla.com/news/florida/icon-parks-new-target-blasting-game-draws-criticism-online/

And a note about the commentor who thinks that it’s “over the top” to have a controversy and equates this to laser tag and other things….

Things like laser tag are simulated shooting environments where everyone is agreeing to play the game of chasing each other around. 

This rather dumb idea is shooting at targets around the area from a high distance, in a fantasy with no one else consenting. It is much more like the gun-related violence we see every day. 

Astrophysicist Paul Sutter explains the world’s seeming lack of trust in science

Worth a listen

https://arstechnica.com/science/2022/07/astrophysicist-paul-sutter-on-trusting-science-and-why-so-many-people-dont/

That pisses me off

Google is selling adspace to a group that's fundraising for the treasonous, seditious, piece of shit twatwaffle who used to inhabit the Oval Office.

I find it unacceptable and am looking to change my relationship with Google in ad space.

Because fuck him and those that still support him.

Fear and control

It seems to me that this is what it's all about. The "ruling class" (or the aristocracy if you will) present you with views of their terrific world, and tell you can live like them and fulfill on the American dream by working hard.

And yet there's this oddity to it: in order to achieve it, you have to live by a set of rules. It's a false promise of course. It takes more than hard work to get there.

And by the way, these rules greatly benefit them, and which, in reality, are against your own interests.

Let's dive in to that a bit. We had the pandemic and everything about the way we worked changed for a time. Corporate profits (at least for the large companies that could allow for remote work) were through the roof. Higher than anyone expected, and in some cases record profits.

But as soon as they saw the opportunity, companies started trying to bring people back into the office. Where they can control them. You have heard phrases like "it's the only way we can mentor future leaders" which is utter nonsense. You had some suit types telling their staff they never actually "left" but rather this was a speed bump. And then you had the ones who told their employees to come back or simply find another job.

Several companies said they would manage to get everyone back through slowly changing policies until they got what they wanted.

There was one company that let the cat out of the bag, and said "when the recession happens, people will fear losing their jobs, and so they'll do what we tell them without argument."

Which is exactly what I said. Fear and control.

Look, I have no way of knowing where this goes. But here's a nugget for you: a fair number of people saw through the charade and quit their jobs as part of "the great resignation." Suddenly it wasn't about money, but rather quality of life. Some people might wind up back working for a company. But then again some millennials who went back to traditional jobs in "corporate America" realized that this was horseshit and I heard a comment that summed it up well: "I'd rather sell my toenails than go back and do this again."

But it goes further. Healthcare in this country is designed in a way that favors the wealthy. And everyone else should feel lucky to have anything. And in that same vain, the fact that insurance is tied to a job is relatively crazy. So you have to work in order to stay healthy? That's controlling you too. (Aside: a friend in Canada really couldn't believe how silly our healthcare system is. To be sure theirs is silly in other ways, but ours forces you to work in order to have good insurance).

And what of this decision about abortion? And states making it a criminal act? This is also about control. Tell people what they must do, and then blame other people for their woes. It's a huge shell game. It's not about life. It's about keeping us poor and in fear.

There's also this gun nuttiness that's rampant. It causes people to take out these frustrations and the rest of us can live in fear. And right on cue, some dumbass connects guns and abortions and says some nonsense about wanting to arm babies in the womb to prevent abortion.

So it's not about life?

And on and on. The military industrial complex is huge and is about acting tough on a global stage. And fearing some boogeyman … gotta stay big. How about if we spend less on that and more on, say, social programs to close some of this gap? No. If they did that, it would be harder to control people.

People are stupid and selfish

Couple is sick. Decides to go to Disneyland anyway. They do test positive for covid. But what's the big deal?

Uhhhhh. This is what's wrong with us as a society.

https://www.disneydining.com/disney-vloggers-accused-of-going-to-disney-knowing-they-had-covid-ks1/


Short. Sweet. To the point. That's the beauty Dave's iPhone.