[709]

Originally Posted by Ryan My dog is a non-human biologic but that doesn’t make him a mystery.

Mmm-hmm.

[PB PM]

Originally Posted by psmith2.0 How it's defined by raging nutballs vs. sane, normal people absolutely factors. Demented website ramblings of weirdos (flat-earth, no moon landing) isn't "proof" of anything, except in the minds of other lost, hopeless cases buying into the nonsense. Conspiracy types have become my least-favorite/most-hated group of people in the past 1-2 years. When you realize some of the decades-long dickwits they replaced (anyone named "Kennedy", anyone employed by CNN, actors with the last name "Baldwin", etc.), then that's a big statement. For instance, someone will wish Paul McCartney "happy birthday" on Instagram (how, you may ask, is that weird, political or remotely "Bud Light" in nature...or anything divisive, that everyone wigs out over, etc.?). Because, within seconds, a bunch of jugheads will start up with the whole "Paul died years ago and has been replaced by a double ever since". Oh, gotcha...a "double" who looks, sings, plays bass, piano, writes and speaks just like the one that supposedly died, huh? Bug off. And their "evidence/proof" is always the most second-grade flunk-out examples of idiocy and moronification (obviously retouched/doctored photos ("In the photo on the left, you can clearly see McCartney's left nostril in 1963 lined up with his fourth eyelash...and now it doesn't!"), sixth-hand accounts of someone who was at the scene and secured Paul's severed head, which was mouthing the lyrics to "Eleanor Rigby", etc.). I used to entertain these types if I ever ran into them at a bar or wherever. The last time someone started up with any of that usual nonsense, I told them where to go, and what to do to themselves once they arrived, and just walked away. Got no time/patience for immaturity and mental patients and those a little too proud of being both, and they use their arrogance and know-it-allness like some sort of shield (made of tin-foil, of course). You cannot have a normal, rational conversation with these people. God knows I've tried. Yes, "these people"...conspiracy flakes and people off their medication (if they ever took any to begin with). My life is weird/interesting enough. I don't need the unbalanced, weirdo central casting/cosplayer squad making it more so, in a way I can't control. Those "chemtrails" assholes are always my favorites. Nothing is ever just what it obvious, naturally is with some of these people. It's always some convoluted, whacked-out "conspiracy" that could never come to be, or endure for years/decades intact. That these people work in medical offices/buildings, drive city busses and subways, scares the hell out of me. "Don't you have to not be crazy to hold certain types of gigs?" Sorry for the rant...I can't stand this bunch, and the thought of them sharing/stealing my oxygen (which floats above each of us in clear, crystalized cubes the government developed in the 30's, you see...) tends to set me off a little.

So tell us how you really feel! Yup. Sounds about right. Hold on I need to put on my ionized bracelet, rub my crystal ball and contact the spirits of my dead ancestors. Okay, I’m good now. Now about the flat earth theory!

[kscherer]

Originally Posted by PB PM rub my crystal balls

FTFY

[psmith2.0]

Originally Posted by PB PM So tell us how you really feel! Yup. Sounds about right. Hold on I need to put on my ionized bracelet, rub my crystal ball and contact the spirits of my dead ancestors. Okay, I’m good now. Now about the flat earth theory!

Oh, it's the worst. Those people light my fuses like no others.

The McCartney ones really do it.

Just the amount of functioning(?) stupidity it requires to buy into such a thing, and ignoring so much else.

When I read their comments on Instagram or wherever, they talk in such a way that it only floats if they truly believe it and thing as though they've somehow got shit figured out more than anyone else in the solar system. It's the arrogance, I think, married with the stupidity. Making the arrogance totally unearned/baseless.

I can tolerate a certain amount of arrogance from someone working in a field, with credentials/education to seemingly kinda back it up, and to lay it out in a coherent, sensible way with legit proof, facts, etc. But I can't take arrogance from morons/dumb-asses/mental patients. It just doesn't fly/compute.

[PB PM]

We just have to remember, 100 IQ is the average, there are a lot of people well below that.

[709]

Originally Posted by psmith2.0 It's the arrogance, I think, married with the stupidity. Making the arrogance totally unearned/baseless.

Thank you for reminding me that I have a family reunion this weekend. Ugh.

[Bryson]

Almost 50%, in fact!

[Kickaha]

Originally Posted by psmith2.0 Making the arrogance totally unearned/baseless.

They're just so *CERTAIN* about their wrongness and rejection of reality and rational thought, you have to look at it almost in awe.

Like, how the hell does anyone find that level of confidence in anything, much less in positions that fly in the face of objective reality?

On a related note, at what point does the break from reality become classified as a mental illness?

[PB PM]

If we listen to modern philosophy there is no objective reality. We are all just dreaming. Dang this is one messed up dream, can I wake up as a butterfly now?

Seriously though, people on the other side of the fence look at us and think the same thing.

[Kickaha]

The difference, being, of course, that they're demonstrably not working with observable reality, logic, reason, or even continuity of language, and that is very, very much by intent.

Anecdotes and closely held personal beliefs are considered more 'real' than broad data gathering and verifiable information with provenance and pedigree from primary sources.

It's a break from reality, utterly anti-science, anti-expertise, anti-intellectualism, and frankly, pre-Enlightenment. (It's no coincidence that modern democracy is post-Enlightenment, and is therefore a target.)

You want Bronze Age society? Because this is how you get Bronze Age society.

They can think they're right all they want, but without a basis of reason and inspected assumptions, they're just full of shit. Frankly, I'm tired of being expected to take their opinions more seriously than they do.

They can have their opinion, they can spout their opinion. I don't have to pretend that it has value.

[PB PM]

Absolutely.

[Anonymous Coward]

River otter attacks in California.. Apparently these otters are territorial or just protecting their young. As mentioned in the article, river otters are about a third the size of ocean otters. Luckily, otter 841 has just infrequently displayed what has been interpreted as threatening behavior. If otter 841 actually attacks a person, she is likely to be euthanized, but as of now, the plans are still capture and relocate.

[psmith2.0]

Interesting. From the article, it sounds like the person was just swimming and, for once, not being a complete idiot around wild animals, as is often the the case in these “when wildlife attacks” stories. I’m kinda to the point where I don’t trust any wild animals to “be nice” or act as I’d hope/expect/prefer.

They, like us humans, are so spun up and hopped up on a diet of God-knows-what, they’re walking around with their iPhones out, looking for any “World Star!” Moments themselves.

We have an agreement. I’ll stay away, leave you alone, not approach you or your family, etc. and you do the same, deal? I certainly don’t wanna kick a squirrel…but I will if it comes to it. Won’t be my fault/doing, I assure you. I just stay the hell away from animals when I’m out and about, walking in the woods, mountains, etc. A good way to get bitten/scratched by something you have no idea about their health/what THEY might be carrying. I don’t wanna get AIDS or whatever, and damn sure not from a chipmunk or raccoon bite/attack.

I keep my distance and I always have a 4-5’ stick with me to assist in that, to put between myself and whatever, as a distance-keeping barrier.

You just never know how they’re going to react. That’s why they have “wild” in their collective name. Like the idiots bringing bears onto a talk show and then everyone freaks out when the host gets mauled and has his face eaten off. Yeah, well no shit. It’s a bear. The little tophat/derby, bow tie and sequined vest doesn’t magically cancel that out.

I don’t even go to zoos anymore because it makes me a little sad. I know they’re pissed already. Standing there gawking at them feels wrong/bad. Except for my beloved Jasper 🐈‍⬛, I leave animals the hell alone.

[709]

Originally Posted by drewprops Putin spoke overnight, describing the burgeoning rebellion by the Wagner Group's Prigozhin as a "stab in the back". Prigozhin is alleged to have been involved in dark actions around the world, from conflict in Africa to disinformation campaigns online. Running a private army requires a special kind of ruthlessness. Going up against Russia seems like a reckless path. Does Prigozhin know something we don't? BBC is saying Putin has reached out to Belarus' president to ask for help.

BBC Breaking News is saying he's dead now, his plane shot down by Russian air defenses. With Putin still alive it was only a matter of time.

Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin was on the passenger list of a jet which crashed killing all on board, Russia's civil aviation authority has said. Earlier, Wagner-linked Telegram channel Grey Zone reported the Embraer aircraft was shot down by air defences in the Tver region, north of Moscow. The jet, which was flying from Moscow to St Petersburg, was carrying seven passengers and three crew. Prigozhin led a failed mutiny against the Russian armed forces in June. Grey Zone said local residents heard two bangs before the crash and saw two vapour trails. Tass news agency said the plane caught fire on hitting the ground, adding that four bodies had already been found. The aircraft had been in the air for less than half an hour, it said.

[kscherer]

"We want Prigozhin. Kill everyone on board!"

Sounds about right.

He fell out window.

[turtle]

I'm really, really shocked be was killed in Russia. Totally and completely shocked.

Well, ok, just that it took this long to happen actually.

[kscherer]

I think he might have been the only person alive on the planet that didn't see it coming.

No way I would have ever gotten on an airplane again. Those bastards shoot down airliners for lack of anything better to do.

[turtle]

Exactly. I would have expected he look at another country to use as his base of operations. Skip going to Russia ever again and still have his men guard him constantly. Failed coup against Putin doesn't extend one's life much.

For his sake, at least he likely died quick and painlessly vs torture and agony that I expected.

[PB PM]

Wait, no ice pick to the back of the head. Call me disappointed.

[drewprops]

Originally Posted by kscherer He fell out window.

From an airplane

...

[psmith2.0]

He'll be fine, seeing as how he's not a white country singer (or Ted Nugent) saying it.



That subhead seems a bit ginned-up by some record company PR flunkie and the CYA move/statement to end all others.

Will be interesting to see how, if at all, this plays out. Anyone else would already be in some deep, career/income-altering shit, and embarking on a 2-3 crying-on-cue apology tour

[chucker]

He's 76; he has no fucks left to give. And, as a corollary, LBGTQ people shouldn't be too bothered by what some old white dude thinks.

[chucker]

Sure, but Trump has a fair bit more power and clout than some singer whose last hit was a quarter century ago.

[chucker]

“Doesn’t have the baggage” goes both ways. See Lizzo. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...suit-rcna95161

That one’s a story because she’s so full of it.

[psmith2.0]

How in the hell can Lizzo “weight-shame” anyone?!?

[psmith2.0]

There's "unhinged", and then there's this one.

What did Barron ever do to her? Or anyone? He seems "special", almost a brain-damaged baby deer, nothing like his old man.

A former social studies teacher arrested earlier this week for threatening to shoot Donald Trump and his son Barron, 17, has now been accused of previously stalking the teen at his high school. Tracy Marie Fiorenza, 41, was arrested Monday morning in Chicago on a charge of transmitting threats to kill or injure - months after she traveled to Florida to allegedly stalk the former president's youngest son.

Yeah, that's normal. And the very real results of allowing one man to live, rent-free, in your head 24/7, two-plus years after leaving office and exiting the public stage. Holy crap, people. Try to get a grip. You're not well if you're thinking this way. I don't care how "righteous" or "justified" you feel you may be. It's ridiculous. Trump isn't some supernatural, otherworldly (underworld) figure, ffs. He's a ridiculous, fallible man, full of hot air and idiocy, and not worthy/deserving of such levels of obsession/focus.

People like this, their wounds are entirely self-inflicted at this point. I actually know a few. Well, "knew". I can't be around people this spun-up/on edge, I don't care how hot/interesting/creative/talented they may be. "Hot" (and all the rest) only takes you so far when you're batshit crazy/unbalanced. When you can't even watch a movie or just enjoy a quiet, pleasant dinner (at home, or, God forbid, a crowded, public restaurant) without a politically-induced outburst, tantrum or wig-out from across the table, it's time to check out and spend your time elsewhere, with better, more pleasant, and grounded, people. I'm the first to say that I'm simply not equipped - emotionally, mentally, psychologically, education-wise, etc. - to deal with crazy people. It ain't my job and it sure as shit isn't a hobby. Or "fun".

If all you wanna talk about is "politics", or, more specifically, a fat-ass, yellow-haired carnival sideshow barker who you truly can't stop obsessing on/talking about, I'm gone. It just isn't interesting anymore. It never was, but at one point I was a bit more patient/tolerant of such stuff because it was kinda new, fresh and novel. Now? You've got about 12-15 seconds to not annoy me with ranting/caterwauling/handwringing/obsessing about Donald damn Trump (of all people on the planet). In all honesty, I'd truly rather talk/hear about Rick Springfield and/or Debbie Gibson.

She also claimed Donald Trump is the leader of a pedophile ring and that the government followed her former students in Chicago and used 'remote sexual stimulation' on them.

She's squarely into flat-earth/pizza-gate territory now.

In May, Fiorenza allegedly emailed the school's headmaster, writing: 'I will state that I will shoot Donald Trump Sr. AND Baron Trump (sic) straight in the face at any opportunity that I get!' Fiorenza allegedly wrote a similar email on June 5, saying she would 'slam a bullet' into Barron Trump 'with his father IN SELF DEFENSE!,' according to the affidavit submitted by a U.S. Secret Service agent.

Keep talking, sweetpea. Need another shovel? A backhoe, perhaps? One of those big yellow CAT steam shovels/scoopers?

Her court-appointed lawyer Daniel Hesler has said 'There is nothing suggesting she is actually an aggressive person.' [see above quotes for a quick reminder - Paul] He added that Fiorenza said 'psychotronic weapons are communicating directly into her head and she’s just trying to stop it.'

You know who else says stupid shit like that? Alex Jones and his slurping acolytes/tactical flashlight fetishists and the "if you sail a boat far enough to the horizon, you'll fall over a ledge" crowd. You know, lunatics.

'She would never actually get close to Barron Trump because she’s afraid of him... This is all a little wacky but it doesn’t say that she’s a danger.' [it doesn't quite say she ISN'T, counselor - Paul] As her lawyer spoke, Fiorenza objected, shouting: 'I have a master’s degree in psychology. I am not delusional!'

No, of course not. Educated, degreed people can't be, correct? Everybody knows mental illness only afflicts the uneducated. It bounces off her like bullets off Superman (who she probably believes is peeking in her bedroom/bathroom window at night, perv that we all know he is).

This woman "taught" children. And you know damn well she votes. And I'll wager $50 she's got one of those purple "Co-exist" bumper stickers on her earnest little Prius.

[Ryan]

Honestly that sounds like someone suffering from psychosis.

[psmith2.0]

Well, yeah. Whatever she's suffering from, she's got a full dose of it. And if something happens to the First Baby Deer, some folks will have some stuff to answer for (her "lawyer" claiming she's no danger, the judge(s) who didn't take it seriously, etc.). She's stating quite clearly her wishes/intents. Not much grey area, "open for interpretation" there.

Don't we always say we wish we had such a thing to go by from the parade/grocery store/grade school mass shooters, so, for once, we could "do something" and "prevent a tragedy"?

"If we only knew, or had any clue of their thinking/mindset...". (you usually do, nobody just wants to act on it, drop a dime or otherwise be seen as a snitch or, heaven forbid, a "Karen". All these recent mass shooter assholes were laying out some pretty decent-sized breadcrumbs/clues, for anyone willing/interested in looking/acting. It was no "surprise" to anyone who knew them. When people write crazy stuff, online/social media, you have to give it a solid, honest look. Some people, that's their very job. Mouthy idiots have had the Secret Service knocking on their door before, it isn't unheard of.

With so many people whacked out on prescription pills, doing God-knows-what to their brains/thinking/behavior and the easy accessibility/acquisition of firearms, just laughing off/dismissing stuff as we could/did decades ago isn't as smart/easy. Nothing surprises me anymore. I'd expect law enforcement and others like them to have a similar view. They kinda have to.

Well...here she is, laying her shit out quite clearly, for all to see/read. Psychotic or not, it probably shouldn't be completely ignored/glossed over. Just so everyone's covered and doing the right thing, as best they can with what's available to go on. That's what these people are supposed to do. Of course her attorney is going to go to bat for her, saying she's no danger, doesn't present a threat, etc. That's his job, but you can't listen to/go by those clowns. They get paid to be full of shit and twist things.

Not just dismissively wave their hand and make a snarky comment. That's what I would do...that's my job/role. But I'm not law enforcement or the courts/judge. I'm in no position to do anything about this woman. Other than smack her, on general principle, if I crossed her path. "Snap out of it, lady!" **SMACK** "the bad orange man can't touch you anymore, I promise. Go mend fences/rebuild bridges between yourself and all the family and friends you've lost/driven away over the years...they still love you, and probably miss you, until you decided to go full moonbat!"

[kscherer]

Originally Posted by psmith2.0 How in the hell can Lizzo “weight-shame” anyone?!?

Maybe she thought they were too small?

Originally Posted by psmith2.0 And I'll wager $50 she's got one of those purple "Co-exist" bumper stickers on her earnest little Prius.

And I bet she voted for Biden!

[psmith2.0]

Originally Posted by kscherer And I bet she voted for Biden!

She voted for anyone who didn’t have an “R” next to their name, so yeah. Hell, she probably wrote in Hillary, or Oprah, with a straight face. She’s already shown herself to be two scoops short of a ice cream sundae, so nothing’s a real big leap at this point.

“And for Vice President, that Muppet girl with the long blond hair who’s in that band. She seems pretty cool! Or Lady Gaga!”