General News Thread

[Mattias]

Unfortunately that's humanity in general, "what can you do for me right NOW" tends to be our overwhelming concern.

[asterism42]

https://www.wsj.com/articles/in-defe...ld-11608762986

capitalists: what if scrooge was good actually

[LegalLoliLover]

Oh, we read that in high school finance. Old news, isn't it?

[SpoonyViking]

https://www.wsj.com/articles/in-defe...ld-11608762986

capitalists: what if scrooge was good actually

What.

[OverMaster]

People seem to think that as generations go by folks as a whole absolve themselves of their prejudices and get better naturally, but that’s manifestly not true. That old saw about the arc of history bending towards freedom is a crock of shit.

but it is actually true that generations will change mindsets as history progresses. Whether or not those changes are for the better or worse, that’s for historians to debate, but at the very least, the lessons that the elderly now hold as inviolate are not really likely to be what those coming of age now are going to consider the most important

It's not so much that human mentality itself becomes more leaning towards freedom as generations pass, but that, as the technological and cultural level evolves, the capacity to suppress freedom decreases to some degree.

Let's not kid ourselves, it's far more difficult to keep people oppressed in the dark in the Global Era of Information now than it was back in the old days of yore before developments such as the printed press, electricity services, increased capacities to enforce health and social care, and the Internet. True, oppression does remain, and even finds ways to employ some of these developments for its own goals, but overall, the more developed a society is, the better equiped it is to be aware of and fight oppression, and in that, at least, we are not quite as bad as we were centuries ago.

[rxrx]

It's not so much that human mentality itself becomes more leaning towards freedom as generations pass, but that, as the technological and cultural level evolves, the capacity to suppress freedom decreases to some degree.

Let's not kid ourselves, it's far more difficult to keep people oppressed in the dark in the Global Era of Information now than it was back in the old days of yore before developments such as the printed press, electricity services, increased capacities to enforce health and social care, and the Internet. True, oppression does remain, and even finds ways to employ some of these developments for its own goals, but overall, the more developed a society is, the better equiped it is to be aware of and fight oppression, and in that, at least, we are not quite as bad as we were centuries ago.

Which is why COVID-19 is an excellent case. What happens when people view legitimate methods to prevent the spread and containing the virus as oppressing their freedom? How much worth does social responsibility has and its relationship with personal freedom in case of pandemic? On the other hand, how much becomes too much when authorities uses this issue to restrict people's freedom in the name of combating the virus?

[Twelveseal]

So in case no one's heard, there was a bombing in Nashville, Tennessee. This was apparently a very polite bombing, since the RV rigged to blow announced via loudspeaker that it was going to do so, and someone (presumably the bomber) made a bogus Shots Fired call to get the police on the scene in time to evacuate everyone. No deaths, only three minor injuries and those people are out of the hospital already. However, it devastated part of downtown, including an AT&T data center that the vehicle was parked in front of. Thing knocked out cell service and internet at different points across 15 states, for those who rely on that network. Including me, and possibly a few others on here. I happen to be at a nice place with wifi that's letting me write this up.

Stay safe, everyone.

[Spinach]

My city

[rxrx]

Wonder why they did this. Maybe out of the belief that network is the cause of the spread of COVID-19?

[Altima of the Gates]

Heard about this at work. Sheesh. Can't even say "can this year be done and over with" because it looks like things just get loonier and loonier.
Aliens next, I'll bet.

[rxrx]

Heard about this at work. Sheesh. Can't even say "can this year be done and over with" because it looks like things just get loonier and loonier.
Aliens next, I'll bet.

That's for mid-year. How about Trump has a successful coup first？

[Twelveseal]

Seems like it was a suicide bombing, but motive is unknown rn. The bomber was a 63 y/o local with a background in tech and electronics, owned his own small business, and did freelance work in the area.

I've heard conflicting info, tho. According to a Cricket email sent out to the employees, there was more to it. My fiance checked to see when the phones would be back up and was told that, according to said email, there were actually three bombs set; one in Cincinnati and one in Chicago. Whether those went off or not, I have not heard. Regardless, I'm taking the Cricket email with a grain of salt; I wouldn't put it above the company to spread misinformation in order to make its own vulnerabilities seem less glaring.

[Mattias]

Heard about this at work. Sheesh. Can't even say "can this year be done and over with" because it looks like things just get loonier and loonier.
Aliens next, I'll bet.

Wait, you didn't hear about the aliens back in April/May? You know the stuff what-his-name from early 2000's band had been harping on so long the Pentagon just said "Fuck it! here's all the tapes about our fighter planes meeting UFO's. We have no idea what they are or how they work".

IIRC it was a month or two after the attempt to Naruto run Area 51.

Edit: it was Blink-182's guitarist.

[Twelveseal]

Makes you understand why the phrase "May you live in interesting times," is not wishing someone well.

[Altima of the Gates]

Indeed.

Wait, you didn't hear about the aliens back in April/May? You know the stuff what-his-name from early 2000's band had been harping on so long the Pentagon just said "Fuck it! here's all the tapes about our fighter planes meeting UFO's. We have no idea what they are or how they work".

IIRC it was a month or two after the attempt to Naruto run Area 51.

Edit: it was Blink-182's guitarist.

I heard about it, but then thought, "well if you're gonna be like that, just bring it all out in the open".
If anything they should realize leaving people to spin their own conspiracies doesn't lead to good things.
Going "yeah, I'll give your crumbs, but this place is still hands off" is just asking for more stuff down the pike.
Though I was more saying for more information to get out, instead of "sightings".

[asterism42]

officially worse than trump

[RoydGolden]

The one time Trump decided to try doing something actually reasonable...

[Twelveseal]

Here's hoping Georgia's Senators are both Democrats, then, and we finally oust this asshole.

[rxrx]

Here's hoping Georgia's Senators are both Democrats, then, and we finally oust this asshole.

Possibility of that happening?

[Trubo]

Pretty unlikely anything major actually changes since Harris being VP in a situation where Senate is effectively split 50/50 means she gets to do tiebreaker votes, but Manchin is another Republican larping as a Democrat just like Biden, and she will never vote in favor of anything that threatens her moneyed interests.