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Quote:
Originally Posted by rockgremlin
^^^^Back on April 29 I made this post after Elon Musk was getting really vocal about re-opening the economy, even going so far as calling the stay at home orders "fascist".
Since then, Mr. Musk has doubled down, and has become a very outspoken critic of the economic lockdown.
In a company update titled, Getting Back to Work, Tesla shelled out its plan to safely return. Here’s the 38-page playbook.
However, Alameda County, CA thinks otherwise and said if the company opened it would be out of compliance with the order.
Now, Tesla is suing Alameda County for not letting the company reopen. This is crazy - here’s the official complaint Tesla filed. But wait...
Elon tweeted and threatened to move Tesla from the state of California.
Attachment 94716
And here is Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez's very classy and professional reply:
Attachment 94717
Probably the most difficult thing for me personally is watching what this pandemic has done to the elderly. My father is 94 and in a care facility. Me, my siblings, and the grand kids have not seen my dad for about three months now. My dad has quite literally been quarantined to his room for 28 of those days and is currently in his room and can't leave. Food is brought to him and he is checked on by staff. He doesn't know how to use technology so he can't Zoom, facetime, etc. It really breaks my heart to see him and others suffer with extreme loneliness. My dad was an educator and a people person. My mom passed away a year and a half ago so he is alone. We can't even do window visits because one employee's mother tested positive and so the whole facility is on extreme lock-down again. I get it. If the virus gets in that care facility, many would die. As for my in-laws, I don't think I have ever seen fear in their eyes like I have with this virus. Moral of the story, if you have any elderly parents/grandparents, give them a call. They could use it.
^^^My Mom is also in an elderly care center and it's the same deal where she is at. I haven't seen her in over two month's. I would normally go have lunch with her every Tuesday.
But I'm also a pragmatic person and I have to say it might be better to let this pandemic run it's course and extract it's ounce of flesh because this is bullshit. The current quality of life in an elderly care center is low and not something I'd care to be part of it I was in such a place. I'm just not a fan of destroying the country in the process of trying to protect those with underlying medical issues. IMHO... We managed to create a cure worse then the disease... YMMV
:soapbox:
End of life decisions are never easy. I've lost everyone who came before me. As I tell my family, I'm up to bat. I almost hit a home run last year.
Quality of life to me is very important. Quantity not so much.
My brother posted a story on Facebook a few days ago that relates to your experience with our elderly that I thought was very good. It got shared a few times so I hope some elderly folks got messages or called. All of my grandparents have passed but at the initial self-isolation we started our first ever weekly FaceTime on Sunday afternoons with my parents and siblings who live out of state.Quote:
Originally Posted by Scott Card
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Watch the media remove their masks once they think the cameras are off.
https://twitter.com/Matt_Zawadzki/st...91180190240768
It's all a joke and we are getting played so hard.
Nope, better keep the churches closed
https://twitter.com/ethanjweiss/stat...65939037331456
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MINDF*CK MONDAY #29: WHY PEOPLE BELIEVE CRAZY THINGS
By Mark Manson
https://markmanson.net/newsletters/mindfck-monday-29
May 4, 2020
Welcome to another MF’in Monday email, the only weekly newsletter that probably has a worse hangover than you do. Every week, I present three interesting ideas to hopefully make us all less terrible human beings. This week we’re talking 1) conspiracy theories — why do people believe them? 2) good news: the great mental health collapse of 2020 may have been greatly exaggerated and 3) some new science that suggests that swearing is useful!*
Let’s get into it.*
(Note: if you enjoy this email and know someone who would benefit from it, please consider forwarding it and asking them to*sign up*to receive it themselves.)
1. Why people believe crazy things*– Over the past two months, I have been receiving a steady stream of crazy conspiracy-laden emails—far more than usual. These range from your typical anti-vaccine nonsense to “5G data networks causes coronavirus” to the idea that the entire pandemic (or, excuse me, “plandemic”) is a well-coordinated hoax by some shadowy international cabal looking to… I don’t know, make lots of money, or something.
Many other readers have emailed me over the past month saying that they are alarmed at how many of their otherwise smart, well-adjusted friends and family have gone looney tunes recently and bought into this nonsense. They have asked me what it is about these theories that is so appealing. Why do smart people put their brain on hold while they check the other line for a few months?
Fortunately, I, too, was once 16 years old and believed every theory I read on the internet. So I kind of feel I understand where these people are coming from. As with most human behavior, conspiracy theorizing doesn’t appeal to us on an intellectual level, it appeals to us on an emotional level. And once you understand that, it all starts making a lot more sense.*
Conspiracy theories originate from:*
A) A Desperate Need for Certainty*– Human minds are meaning machines. When something good happens to us, we demand to know why. When something bad happens to us, we also demand to know why. The better or worse the thing that happened, the more powerful the instinct to deduce the reason and cause.
The problem is that many of the most impactful events in human history can happen for no apparent reason. This drives the human mind bananas. The idea that millions of lives can end or be changed forever (and it was not consciously decided or controlled by some outside force) is just inconceivable to our brains on some level. We don’t like randomness because randomness means uncertainty and uncertainty means we’re not safe.
Therefore, we all have an extremely strong emotional urge to make sense of calamities in a way that gives someone or something conscious control of that event. The easiest way to do this is to find the people or groups who are most likely to benefit from said calamity. Generally, in crises, uber-wealthy people and governments benefit the most. They also have the most power to begin with. Ergo, most people’s minds have a strong gravitational pull towards believing that uber-wealthy people and governments must therefore be orchestrating the calamity in some way.
But the fact is that even the most competent individuals and governments are horribly inefficient and inept in most cases. Remember the first maxim of*Negative Self Help*— humans suck. You could add an addendum to that by saying, “Humans suck; human organizations suck even more.” I don’t care if you’re the CIA, the NRA, the Gates Foundation or the Hare Krishnas — human organizations are generally slow, wasteful, incompetent, and woefully unaware of the consequences of their actions. The idea that thousands of people could coordinate perfectly—in secret!—to accomplish some nefarious goal is insane, at least to anyone who has actually dealt with other humans in a significant capacity.
B) Feelings of Moral and Intellectual Superiority*– When you believe something most other people don’t, you experience a sense of superiority and righteousness. You feel pity and outrage at the uninformed masses—outrage that you must become a great martyr to help save humanity from its blindness.
Ah, how dramatic!
If the craving for certainty attracts one to a conspiracy theory, the false sense of moral superiority cements it. Not only do you get to know why the virus spread, but you get to feel sorry for the confused masses. You get to be angry that more people don’t “open their eyes” or “wake up.” You get to argue really, really intensely on social media, or with some dickhead with a newsletter, that*nooooo,*if only you understood.
Basically, people hold onto conspiracy theories for the same reason they root for the underdog in sports, or they pick the most obscure film or band to be their favorite music, or they try to join secret clubs—the exclusivity grants them a feeling of importance.
The tragedy of all of this is that attacking these people for their beliefs makes them more determined. “Of course you’d attack me! The truth is too much for you to handle!” And on and on the false sense of importance goes.
C) Lack of Critical Thinking*– I’ve always found it funny that governments can hardly pay for a toilet without it leaking to the press in some way, yet we’re supposed to believe that tens of thousands of people coordinated across the planet and not a single person broke the silence?
Or, how about the purported motive of most conspiracy theories is some form of “Rich guy wants to be even richer!”
Well, what the ****? Why doesn’t he just invest in Amazon. I mean, given how long it would take to plan and execute a pandemic, that’s probably just as lucrative and you don’t have to kill millions of people!
Generally, I’ve found that conspiracy theorists are unable to think two or three moves ahead on the chess board. They fail to detect the difference between evidence and conjecture, what is fact and what is opinion. I’ve also noticed they’re just bad at math. For instance, they look at a situation with vaccines where you might have 37,000 deaths and 200 million lives saved, and because 37,000 is a really big number, they just assume it’s bad… without considering the fact that it’s 0.0018% of the number of lives saved.
But most importantly, conspiracy theorists just strike me as intensely lonely. To be able to believe such outlandish things about human nature, to assume that vast organizations can coordinate in such ways, and to see that amount of raw evil in the world… this seems only possible for someone who doesn’t get out nearly enough. Go talk to a couple of government officials and spend a few months in a corporate hierarchy. You will quickly see that they could hardly organize a children’s parade, much less build network towers that beam viruses into people around the globe simultaneously.*
So, what do you do with a person who believes in a conspiracy theory? I think the best thing you can do is simply state facts while trying to relate to them on an emotional level. You can challenge their claims. But do it patiently, respectfully. Be kind. They will lash out emotionally—because, after all, conspiracy theories are about emotions, not logic—and they might call you names, say you’re evil, feel sorry for you, etc., etc.*
But you’re not going to change their minds in one go. No, instead you must pepper them with information and perspective, and then just let it all take hold in the soil of their minds, like seeds of rationality.*
And eventually, when these people do come out and start experiencing the world in all of its complexity and ambiguity, those seeds will sprout. And they will (hopefully) realize that, yes, they were being a dumb****.*
And the world will rejoice.*
2. Perhaps there is no Great Mental Health Apocalypse*– About a month ago, deep in my own little quarantine, I*wrote an article*lamenting that we were likely going to see an explosion of mental health issues in 2020—due to social isolation, boredom, and general fear and anxiety about the world.*
Well, I have some good news. It appears I might have been wrong. Two new academic papers are in the process of being published, both looking at people’s mental health under quarantine. And the results are encouraging.*
The*first one*studied people’s feelings of social connection and relatedness under quarantine. After a few weeks, the vast majority of people reported little to no drop in feelings of social connectedness, including extraverts. And while many people reported increased feelings of lethargy, overall life satisfaction was barely affected.
The*second study*looked at a group of Dutch students and found that mental health problems did not increase over a measured three-week period in March and April. In fact, early on, mental health problems slightly*decreased.*
Perhaps we underestimate the resiliency of the human mind. Perhaps our fear of social distancing outpaced the emotional reality of it. Perhaps, as I discuss in*Everything is F*cked: A Book About Hope, the challenges of the crisis reinforced our mental fortitude rather than wrecked it. Perhaps, as usual, I need to relearn the lessons from my own books.*
For me, personally, the last few weeks have been much better. It feels as though there was a mental adjustment period the first two to three weeks and since then, problems have been minimal. I certainly do miss my friends and being able to go enjoy a night on the town. But overall, my mood and energy have stabilized. I’ve developed routines. And I feel pretty good. Better problems and all that.
3. **** yes! Swearing works!*– As you can imagine, I get criticized for my use of profanity all the damn time. In fact, I received so many complaints that a few years ago, I wrote an article called,*“Why I Have a Potty Mouth”. In that article, I explain the social uses of profanity, how the meaning of words evolves over time, and why profanity is actually advantageous in the context of personal development.
Yet, my critics were unimpressed.*
Well, the other day I stumbled across*a new study*that says, in fact, I was ****ing right. Shouting the word “****” not only increased people’s pain tolerance, but it also heightened experiences of humor and emotion. You’re goddamn right it did! From the study:*
“For conventional swearing (“****”), confirmatory analyses found a 32% increase in pain threshold and a 33% increase in pain tolerance, accompanied by increased ratings for emotion, humor, and distraction, relative to the neutral word condition.”
**** yeah, science. Score one for Team Mark “****face” Manson.*
So, the next time someone whines at me about my habitual use of the F-word, I will say, in the words of the great Jesse Pinkman, “Science, bitch!”. Because apparently, when dealing with the more painful aspects of life, few things come in handy as much as an enthusiastic F-bomb.*
Until next week,
Mark
(Note: if you enjoy this email and know someone who would benefit from it, please consider forwarding it and asking them to*sign up*to receive it themselves.)
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https://youtu.be/7aT-Nb0nDeY
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Oh I LOVE a good conspiracy theory! The one where President Trump was an asset of Russia was one of my favorite. It still lingers today.
Hard to question the government when the government refuses to answer questions.Quote:
Originally Posted by Iceaxe
https://youtu.be/xNw5wa4Q8IY
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A friend shared this article on facebook. I hate reading crap like this. Not because I'm a Trump apologist or I think he is doing everything right, or because he's paying me to say good things or anything like that. I hate these articles because they only tell one side of the story, and they project blame away from everyone that isn't Trump for everything that they think could have happened or whatever. They are saying that we could have prevented 90% of the deaths from COVID19 if we had closed down the country on March 2, rather than when we did. What?? How do you figure that out? Also, no mention of all of the democrats that called Trump a racist or xenophobe for limiting travel to and from China and Europe when he did. What about when all of those democrats were out telling everyone to go to the parades in Chinatown?
I mean, they aren't even trying to cover their bias with anything resembling truth anymore. They just blatantly ignore what really happened. This is what Bill Barr means when he said that history is written by the winners. What a piece of crap article.
https://www.rollingstone.com/politic...m7gDBy4SuSTVhc
ConspiracyQuote:
Originally Posted by Sombeech
False = Trump working with Russia to influence 2016 election
Truth = Russia and others screwing with the election of their own accord because people don't research their facts. They just believe what they watch in videos.
Result = Trump has become an asset to Russia.
My opinion = Is this good or bad well I haven't determined yet.
Trump clearly has a hard on for both Putin and Kim Jong-un
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You do know that Putin did NOT want Trump to win, right?Quote:
Originally Posted by blueeyes
and did you also know that the DNC was NOT hacked by Russia?
Perhaps if #FAKENEWS tried asking intelligent or even relevant questions they would get answers.Quote:
Originally Posted by blueeyes
Trump has been the most open and transparent President in our lifetime. I don't fault him in the slightest for refusing to answer "gotcha" questions.
I remember when I was in 6th grade and we discovered gotcha questions. A favorite was "have you ever f**ked a pig as much as you wanted?"
The questions asked by #FAKENEWS might be a little more sophisticated, but they are still intentionally structured to make anyone foolish enough to answer them look like a dumbass, so the only way to win is to change the rules and refuse to answer.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Iceaxe
I was just going to say this. The question she was asking was ridiculously worded, and was NOT an attempt to gain knowledge but to trap Trump. Trump sniffed that out immediately and that's why he shut it down. Blows my mind that a rationally thinking person couldn't see this.
The dude is constantly taking questions, and from people that hate him, not his favorite planted questions.Quote:
Originally Posted by Iceaxe
He's so transparent that several of the big MSM companies wanted to find a way to silence him.
I can't think of a single time that Trump has been asked a question that he wouldn't answer, unless it were timing issues like the condition of Kim Jung Un which was total strategy. Damn, some traitorous little shits got busted for that story. So sweet. Other than timing issues, like ongoing investigations or sensitive issues, Trump is completely transparent. A major complaint from his enemies is about hearing from him too much.
Quote:
Originally Posted by blueeyes
Go to 1:15 of this video -- as Trump is walking away from the podium someone loudly proclaims "What the......?"
:roflol::roflol::roflol:
Quote:
Originally Posted by rockgremlin
And since this video clip fails to show it.... the chick asking the dumbass question is Asian and was attempting to trap Trump in a racist comment trap.
Can her reaction ‘......(stumble). Um , sir, why are you saying that to me’ be described as anything less than a middle school temper tantrum response? Same as ‘I know what you are, but what am I?’ Or’ Rubber and glue ..(you know the thing’.Quote:
Originally Posted by Iceaxe
She asked him a question, and he responded by pointing to China. Who else would he be answering to? She asked the question, he responded to her. It’s not like Wolverine else in the crowd asked a question, and he then picked her out and directed her to go ask China.
Clearly a race bait attempt- pathetic and childish one at best.
How else would anyone expect anyone to respond to a childish response and outburst like that other than to just stop the press conference?
Perhaps Blueeyes will field that question as she didn't agree with Trump's response...Quote:
Originally Posted by BasinCruiser
And wheres the don't separate the children movement now----oh, it's not politically convenient, I get it.
https://i.imgur.com/kburaSt.jpg
L.A. County extends Stay-at-Home orders until July. :facepalm1:
https://www.latimes.com/california/s...ard-new-normal
Read the comments -- folks are livid about it, as they should be. Maybe, just maybe this is what it takes to inspire the population of Kalifornistan to consider voting out the current leadership.
^^^yeah... my thought was in attempting to nail Trump some Democrats might be pounding nails into their own coffins... or at least we can hope.
Quote:
Originally Posted by rockgremlin
Let me guess? No one can defend capitalism...and no one acknowledges 80+% vote for Garcetti and hes done nothing out of the his style?
" And avoid eating and drinking at bars, restaurants, and public food courts.If everyone makes this change or these critical changes and sacrifices now, we will rally together as one nation and we will defeat the virus. And we’re going to have a big celebration all together
" some may look at them and say they’re going to be really inconvenient for people. Some will look and say, well, maybe we’ve gone a little bit too far. They were well thought out. And the thing that I want to reemphasize, and I’ll say it over and over again: When you’re dealing with an emerging infectious diseases outbreak, you are always behind where you think you are if you think that today reflects where you really are. That’s not word speak. It means: If you think you’re here, you’re really here because you’re only getting the results; therefore, it will always seem that the best way to address it were to be doing something that looks like it might be an overreaction. It isn’t an overreaction. It’s a reaction that we feel is commensurate, which is actually going on in reality."
"So it seems to me that if we do a really good job, we’ll not only hold the death down to a level that is much lower than the other way had we not done a good job. But people are talking about July, August, something like that. So it could be right in that period of time where it, I say, wash — it washes through. Other people don’t like that term. But where it washes through.
Q So is this the new normal until either the summer?
A: We’ll see what happens. But they think August. Could be July. Could be longer than that. But I’ve asked that question many, many times."
Do you need more? There are wolves and there are those who let the wolves run. But you dont hear about those people.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Adonis
"Even fewer can defend socialism."
Why?
Because most are dead...
Hope the vaccine gets released soon so that our lives can go back to normal.