This was somewhat interesting until the comments about Epstein’s victims returning to his orbit.
For a guy who believes himself to be a thorough researcher he is painfully ignorant on the subject of sexual trauma. Then an appeal to cultural relativism to excuse grown men sexually preying on pubescent girls? There are great arguments for slavery if "Other cultures do it. It's existed historically" is your metric. It was extremely disappointing to hear Meghan agree with this take.
I suggest you both need to learn more on this subject before making such cavalier judgments. Start with a read of Sarah Polley’s essay on her experience with Jian Ghomeshi in her memoir Run Toward the Danger.
Seeing this sort of victim blaming disseminated when good information has been available on the topic of sexual trauma for some time is very frustrating.
Michael Shermer is probably one of the public-facing people whose views align most closely with mine, although I am really, really not a Californian.
I tend to lean towards lab leak, but I don't really know (they don't teach about furin cleavage sites in medical school).
But with the lab leak, and with the ICE shootings, and with a lot of these other things, I think the lower case t truth isn't the only consideration. Even if George Floyd had actually been killed by a white supremacist, it would just be one extreme event in a country of 300 million people. Even if you think the handful of trigger-happiest ICE agents in the country deserve to be fired or prosecuted, that really doesn't have much bearing on border policy or law enforcement generally. Even if COVID didn't escape from lab, gain of function research is still real, government funded, and out of control, and it could still easily cause a pandemic.
I meant to ask this on the interview w/ the journalist from Minnapolis that has now relocated to Kentucky. Have you seen the "The Fall of Minneapolis" documentary? Personally, I htink its a little heavy on police sympathy, but there are some really interesting sections of it, one in particular, is the mother of one of the cops explaining standard procedure for cops holds - and the actions of the officer handling Floyd seems legitimate based on what she says... There's some other stuff, more video etc. I think it's odd that they didn't have a police admin explain the procedure... While it feels like a bit of a bias piece, it made me rethink the Floyd situation.
I believe the reason a person will not say under oath that a man cannot get pregnant is because doing so would confer legal standing to biological reality . As long as they can say, "I don't know", the area can remain legally ambiguous and women (not having a legally defined category) do not have legal standing to defend their hard-won rights as women.
I believe the sort of person under discussion here is lying (to the public and perhaps to themselves) simply because they don't want to get thrown out of the club. I don't think the intellectual or strategic aspects of this are that important, except to a few people at WPATH.
While I don't disagree with you about the aspects of social conformity, it would be nigh impossible to justify allowing men into women's sports, bathrooms, and prisons without the illusion that being trans somehow makes a man into a woman. So, okay, we can disagree about motive while the results are the same.
Right, and maybe to get into testifying in this hearing, this person had to be a true believer and adopt all those beliefs. I agree there are a small handful of true believers.
But what I'm getting at is the shallowness of most of "wokeness". Nobody cared at all about this issue until suddenly everyone did. The same is true of racism, Gaza, rape, the environment, and any number of other things. I find it all completely disingenuous on the part of 99% of people involved.
The nail is resounding from the swing of your hammer! That is one of the most important analyses I have ever come across and it aligns with my values as a K-8 educator. Thank you for sharing it!
I'm looking forward to listening and will read his book. I just finished another really great book about finding truth while avoiding falsehoods, among other things, called Open Socrates. I'm recommending it at every opportunity.
Re: the woman driver shot by ICE, it shouldn't have happened and many of the ICE guys are assholes. But two things can be true at once.
My father was military police in the Marines and two uncles were state troopers and when I started driving my dad said that if I was ever pulled over, to do What Ever the officer wanted me to do. All cops have known or known of some officer shot at a traffic stop.
My father said the officers don't know if I am armed. All they know is that they want to be sure to come home to their wife and children and if you indicate in any way that their life may be at risk, they will move to flip the odds in their favor. And you could get shot.
And as a citizen, putting yourself between a cop and their goal--whether you agree with them or not--is opening a door where their sense of potential threat may cost you your life.
She didn't deserve to die, but she clearly had not had training in non-violent civil disobedience, which advocates compliance with cops. Don't give them another reason to break the law--at your expense!
Lack of wisdom on the part of the driver and her wife. Sadly.
the book details connections to Iran Contra and BCCI and selling software (stolen by the DOJ in the first place) to Israel which was used to spy on American nuclear facilities (not far from Epstein ranch fwiw) in cahoots w/ Robert Maxwell, Ghislane's father... the sex stuff was just a teeny part of a major financial shenanigans. Webb deduces that mainstream only focuses on the sex stuff to cover up the financial crimes. I don't doubt it, but saddly, I'm not sure the average American can take in all that info. and might glaze over.
The "conspiracy theorists" who've been discussing global government and elitist plans for eugenics/genocide might think this ICE stuff is a push for digital ID. You cannot have undocumented people and, as Michael points out, the naturalization process can be unwieldy... seems likely the digital ID will be introduced to "solve" all these problems.
Also, the violation of the posse comitatus act in having ICE occupy cities against the approval of state governors, suggest the degradation of states rights (something Trump purported to be in favor of in the past) and lean toward Marshall policing...
I think it's really important for folks not to define themselves with politics or even opinions. Whatever righteousness or truth is, it isn't "winning" an argument online. This is also why IRL interactions are important.
First lawsuit victory https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/detransitioner-wins-2-million-medical-malpractice-lawsuit/. Will the NYT cover it?
This was somewhat interesting until the comments about Epstein’s victims returning to his orbit.
For a guy who believes himself to be a thorough researcher he is painfully ignorant on the subject of sexual trauma. Then an appeal to cultural relativism to excuse grown men sexually preying on pubescent girls? There are great arguments for slavery if "Other cultures do it. It's existed historically" is your metric. It was extremely disappointing to hear Meghan agree with this take.
I suggest you both need to learn more on this subject before making such cavalier judgments. Start with a read of Sarah Polley’s essay on her experience with Jian Ghomeshi in her memoir Run Toward the Danger.
Seeing this sort of victim blaming disseminated when good information has been available on the topic of sexual trauma for some time is very frustrating.
Michael Shermer is probably one of the public-facing people whose views align most closely with mine, although I am really, really not a Californian.
I tend to lean towards lab leak, but I don't really know (they don't teach about furin cleavage sites in medical school).
But with the lab leak, and with the ICE shootings, and with a lot of these other things, I think the lower case t truth isn't the only consideration. Even if George Floyd had actually been killed by a white supremacist, it would just be one extreme event in a country of 300 million people. Even if you think the handful of trigger-happiest ICE agents in the country deserve to be fired or prosecuted, that really doesn't have much bearing on border policy or law enforcement generally. Even if COVID didn't escape from lab, gain of function research is still real, government funded, and out of control, and it could still easily cause a pandemic.
I have a colleagues who were suspended from youtube for suggesting covid was a lab leak.
I should say my colleague had his youtube account magically restored two years later as the lab leak hypothesis entered the mainstream.
I meant to ask this on the interview w/ the journalist from Minnapolis that has now relocated to Kentucky. Have you seen the "The Fall of Minneapolis" documentary? Personally, I htink its a little heavy on police sympathy, but there are some really interesting sections of it, one in particular, is the mother of one of the cops explaining standard procedure for cops holds - and the actions of the officer handling Floyd seems legitimate based on what she says... There's some other stuff, more video etc. I think it's odd that they didn't have a police admin explain the procedure... While it feels like a bit of a bias piece, it made me rethink the Floyd situation.
I believe the reason a person will not say under oath that a man cannot get pregnant is because doing so would confer legal standing to biological reality . As long as they can say, "I don't know", the area can remain legally ambiguous and women (not having a legally defined category) do not have legal standing to defend their hard-won rights as women.
I believe the sort of person under discussion here is lying (to the public and perhaps to themselves) simply because they don't want to get thrown out of the club. I don't think the intellectual or strategic aspects of this are that important, except to a few people at WPATH.
While I don't disagree with you about the aspects of social conformity, it would be nigh impossible to justify allowing men into women's sports, bathrooms, and prisons without the illusion that being trans somehow makes a man into a woman. So, okay, we can disagree about motive while the results are the same.
Right, and maybe to get into testifying in this hearing, this person had to be a true believer and adopt all those beliefs. I agree there are a small handful of true believers.
But what I'm getting at is the shallowness of most of "wokeness". Nobody cared at all about this issue until suddenly everyone did. The same is true of racism, Gaza, rape, the environment, and any number of other things. I find it all completely disingenuous on the part of 99% of people involved.
If you want to wade into the swamps of social media, this is a pretty good explication what I'm talking about: https://x.com/Devon_Eriksen_/status/2009393479886004403
The nail is resounding from the swing of your hammer! That is one of the most important analyses I have ever come across and it aligns with my values as a K-8 educator. Thank you for sharing it!
I'm looking forward to listening and will read his book. I just finished another really great book about finding truth while avoiding falsehoods, among other things, called Open Socrates. I'm recommending it at every opportunity.
Re: the woman driver shot by ICE, it shouldn't have happened and many of the ICE guys are assholes. But two things can be true at once.
My father was military police in the Marines and two uncles were state troopers and when I started driving my dad said that if I was ever pulled over, to do What Ever the officer wanted me to do. All cops have known or known of some officer shot at a traffic stop.
My father said the officers don't know if I am armed. All they know is that they want to be sure to come home to their wife and children and if you indicate in any way that their life may be at risk, they will move to flip the odds in their favor. And you could get shot.
And as a citizen, putting yourself between a cop and their goal--whether you agree with them or not--is opening a door where their sense of potential threat may cost you your life.
She didn't deserve to die, but she clearly had not had training in non-violent civil disobedience, which advocates compliance with cops. Don't give them another reason to break the law--at your expense!
Lack of wisdom on the part of the driver and her wife. Sadly.
Rorschach tests on top of Rorschach tests!
Great convo! It went really fast.
Whitney Webb's book "United States of Blackmail" details the Epstein money and cites the sources.
the book details connections to Iran Contra and BCCI and selling software (stolen by the DOJ in the first place) to Israel which was used to spy on American nuclear facilities (not far from Epstein ranch fwiw) in cahoots w/ Robert Maxwell, Ghislane's father... the sex stuff was just a teeny part of a major financial shenanigans. Webb deduces that mainstream only focuses on the sex stuff to cover up the financial crimes. I don't doubt it, but saddly, I'm not sure the average American can take in all that info. and might glaze over.
Very little in this clown landscape is crazier than, "What is a woman?"
The "conspiracy theorists" who've been discussing global government and elitist plans for eugenics/genocide might think this ICE stuff is a push for digital ID. You cannot have undocumented people and, as Michael points out, the naturalization process can be unwieldy... seems likely the digital ID will be introduced to "solve" all these problems.
Also, the violation of the posse comitatus act in having ICE occupy cities against the approval of state governors, suggest the degradation of states rights (something Trump purported to be in favor of in the past) and lean toward Marshall policing...
I think it's really important for folks not to define themselves with politics or even opinions. Whatever righteousness or truth is, it isn't "winning" an argument online. This is also why IRL interactions are important.
My first exposure to "conspiracy" was the jfk assignation in the 80s as a kiddo.
I've thought about the late 60s assignations of jfk and mlk and kent state and thought maybe shit's always been and gonna be crazy.
and, to Michael's point, we now see more headlines (which Meghan taught me is heavily manipulated by publishers often against writer's wishes).