Baddogma's Other Meta Cafe- Polite Discussions About Scientific Mysticism and General Weirdness

a reply to: Peeple

Nothing? Wow! Congratulations! It is a pain but it is not painful (just boring). We all need a break every now and then so we can see a bit more clearly. And it is nice on the pocket book as I didn’t realize how much money I spend drinking in bars and not cooking at home. Now, I spend one night’s out money on two days worth of beer and make dinner for four or five days (doing udon noodles with veggies in my left over corned beef broth -sorry not totally vegan- that needs to be used or tossed).

I had to go a year sober. Ugh. But I learned patience. Forgiveness is next on the Buddha path but that is hard when you are a bit judgmental at others not being their best. (*Repeats mantra* Oh how money makes me happy. Oh how money makes me happy... ).

You have this. The pace is slower and you can’t fix everything. That is where letting go works best. But the skills on how to deal with life while sober is immense.

Oh, as I have said before, if you do it right it hurts like hell (sorry, just a thing we all have to face).

Ugh. I mean... no sports sucks! And watching cooking shows without being able to dine out? ‘Sup with that?! At least spring is trying (kicked a bumble bee the other day, on accident, as she was checking out the greens for flowers. YAY for spring! Sorry to my Aspian friend for startling it and giving it a boot).

a reply to: TEOTWAWKIAIFF

I don't know it's not a self-optimising thing, more a... realisation my thinker made my aimer lopsided. I thought I'm totally enlightened and # and then I realised my 2nd mind chatter was totally destructive. Focussed on all the wrong things. Sabotage!

But you can bet your shiny metal ass given the first opportunity I'm on my way to Eindhoven. Ha! Next year probably because of this stupid #ing annoying Corona #. I'm already bored by it. But what can you do....

So let's enjoy the sun, take a deep breath...I'm calm, I am relaxed, everything is wonderful.

Stop kicking bees, you punk.

a reply to: Reverbs

Exploding blue balls = mass dissemination.

I can imagine that, for nature, expecially our four legged friends, the reduction in road traffic must seem like heaven. Even to us, who understand how the cars and roads 'work', traffic is a dangerous and potentially lethal entity, for them it must be a whole other level beyond our understanding. A barrier? A noisy fearsome beast that cuts them down if they try to cross it?

I don't mind not going out. For the time being, for me, its a holiday. I've been struggling since before Christmas with fatigue, so I am making the most of the break and just relaxing into it. Obviously I am in a blessed position. My income is uneffected, so I can relax, get my strength back a bit. I'm still going into work, just for an hour or so, making sure that my buildings are doing okay and not feeling lonely without anyone to use them. The spiders are taking over, but that's okay, I'm the only one going in, and I don't mind them. I'm teaching myself how to weave. I've made a frame to work on. It's a lot harder than it looks but I am slowly getting the hang of it, my hands and fingers are getting used to the new moves.

Have you ever seen the Benedict Cumberbatch Sherlock Holmes? There is a conversation between Sherlock and his brother Mycroft, where Mycroft says that he doesn't get lonely, and Sherlock responds "how would you know?" I'm a lot like that, I don't have anything to really compare it to. I am neither lonely nor not lonely. This situation simply allows me to indulge the hermit in me, I can stay in my womb-cave and while away the hours without even noticing that there is a world outside much of the time. I haven't always been this way, although I have always needed more 'alone-time' than most, but I spent many years not wanting to go 'home' and now that I have found a 'safe-space' I enjoy indulging in that.

I don't think, as long as you are walking alone, that anyone is going to stop you from walking around minding your own business, for the foreseeable at least. And as you know, even if there are no humans about, there is always life, in multitudes, around you in some form or another. There's no real need to feel lonely, just cast away social conventions and talk to the ants, they don't have a lot to say, but that's what makes them such great listeners. And we're here. We can even synchronize our watches, be in each others company virtually, if that might help.

Have you still got food? How's your brother faring in the Persian Gulf?

Take care and keep well. Thinking of you.

a reply to: Peeple

Fun, and no hurting anyone else - then have at it - I didn't intend to rain on your parade. Sorry.

I have read words about entanglement theory but don't get it. If information could be transferred, it would probably make better sense to me, so I was hopeful more than anything that you had found a loop-hole.

Achievement is relative. For some getting out of bed can be a triumph. Money, social status, acquisition - tend to be the measure of most people's achievements, but they don't really interest me. I am sure that you achieve many things, far too many to list or mention. I know that I do.

Have you read any Mircea Eliade? He's my new favourite. A teensy, little-bit dated but it only really shows in his understanding of gender stereotypes, a lot of archaeology has been done since he was writing, but otherwise, an awesome guy, and still unsurpassed in his field (though give me chance).

I watched a documentary about the Spanish Flu. Evidently, patient zero was from Kansas, it only got called the 'Spanish' flu because they were the first to actually admit that there was a problem. Being neutral, they weren't afraid of showing their weakness. Patient zero left his farming/meat processing community, went to basic training, spread it around there, and then the US Army shipped it to Europe, and the rest, as they say, is history.

There is a lesson there about throwing stones.

a reply to: KilgoreTrout

Well, yea.. So I know how that feels. Ive been lost on purpose in the wilderness for days and trust me when you stumble onto houses and a road and cars it feels like aliens. Scary and jarring.

Food sort of Im eating like I do when Im trying to make 10$ last a week. My body doesnt like eating a ton of rice for long periods though. I found some money from a friend I can use starting tomorrow. So again not worried about the short term and not worried about me. I see all the dominos. people think somehow everything is normal when the restrictions are lifted. This is definitely far worse than 2008. The models push it much closer to the great depression.

You know I said I live in sort of one of the best spots for research and hospitals. Im literally surrounded by an army of doctors. And I work in the restaurant industry so my friends are basically those 2 groups. both are distraught. one gets to work, one doesnt. The hospitals even here will be over taxed. I know how much PPE and ICU and all that.
so... the doctors.. My friends are looking real stressed. Taking pictures of PPE like its a lambo in a rap video.

Anyways they released their predictions. They are recommending at least until June. No one leave the house.


And look all you super unsocial people who have money..
Im unsocial most days of the week, but im also hyper social on the other days. you see Im depressed my whole life and when I lean more towards wanting to fall off high places its better im not alone yea? Not even being allowed to make money is anxiety fuel everyday. A feeling theres a problem you need to fix constant, but you cannot. No money no job is a mind fvck.

so It really makes me tired hearing how people like having their break.

it feels very out of touch.

I feel like people are only looking at their own shorterm lives like its ok.. You havnt seen anything like this in your life times. 2008 was childplay. The True numbers in the USA for unemployment right now are closer to 10.5% they are reporting 4.4% which doesnt jive with the ammount of new unemployment claims, which are also heavily lagged behind reality because its taking weeks to make a claim.

im looking at about 16% unemployment. Thats my prediction. The universities here say 12-14%


putting into perspective thats the highest its ever been since accurate statistics. Its half as bad as the great depression. Some models push it to 30%. I don't really buy that, but we honestly don't know. Its not like we just go back to work one day. you see people like me would normally be spending money that gives other people jobs. well, people there wont lose their jobs for another 3 months or something. Im not taking those numbers into account. Only the initial domino. Then you look at new hiring. you know at the top people go into retirement at the bottom people join the workforce. Im not taking that into account either. but I can tell you job postings overall seem to be down by about 35%.. Not a good time to be leaving high school or college.

Remember 2008? Well the economy wasnt the worst then. it was more like 2012. we arent even done getting nuked yet, the fallout comes later.


So its great you three have your sh1t taken care of. Enjoy your break you dont like people anyway. Reality is different than the scope of your own personal life.


Like Ive been saying the only part of me I worry about is my mental state. Assuming I keep that in check Ill be fine. Its really not about me though. Remember my depression stems from imagining the world economy as a fated to die system relying on infinite grown and infinite energy when I was 4.

a reply to: Reverbs

And remember me saying that I took the (low-paying, physically demanding and often demeaning) job that I have because I knew that it was economy proof? I've had to fight for this job, my last boss decided it was him or me. I 'won' because I had to, but I took one hell of a battering. So yeah, thanks, I am making the most of a bad situation and getting some well-earned rest. You want me to apologise for that, you want me to join in the pity party and feel sorry for myself - or just for living - for being prepared, for living every day frugally and simply and this being just another day for me? I've got # all to be sorry about and I have no reason for feeling sorry for myself because I made choices, and that why I told you to just do what you needed to to survive, to get through this.

But cheers for the personal attack. Much appreciated.

a reply to: KilgoreTrout

Its not really about you is it?

a reply to: Reverbs

Most of it, no.

Economically it makes no sense that trained health care professionals, 'valuable' people are being sacrificed to fight an illness that limits itself to the old and infirm mostly. Some of these people cost hundreds of thousands to train, and they are being allowed to drop like flies.

There are alot of 'bad' decisions being made economically speaking, but that's because as humans, we care. Cold hard decisions are what Nazis' make.

Just because some of us 'struggle' with people, doesn't mean we don't like them.

a reply to: Reverbs

I am sooooo sorry. I completely blew that out of all proportion.

I'm afraid for you all over there. Seeing something coming and being able to do nothing about it...well, you know.

Anyway sorry, you tickled my achilles heel and I lashed out like the scared little animal I try to pretend that I am not, and got hyper-defensive.

Laugh at me please. I'm ridiculous.

a reply to: Reverbs

But I thought you were doing so well? Is it just a bad day? Did something happen?
It will pass, BB.

a reply to: Peeple

I think BB is fine, or at least he is doing as well as he be expected under the circumstances. But he is only surviving, which you know, is okay, he only has himself to worry about and he is better off than many in the same boat. He has a roof over his head, and food, however basic...but the end in sight is two months away at least. And he is one of 16 million (I think) in the same boat that aren't going to get back onto an even keel until the hospitality trade is back up and running. That's not going to be any sort of quick fix given the way the containment process has been thus far delayed. BB's not so much worried for himself as he is for all the people like him. I should imagine he is also worried about the people who are surviving even further down the food chain. By resisting social distancing, the US is prolonging their plight.

Compared to those of us living in socialist countries, the US is really selling out it's economic infrastructure for the sake of the wealth holding sector. By delaying containment, insurers and bankers are going to reap the rewards of not having to fork out for pensions. The working Joes and Joesphines are being laid out like sacrificial lambs economically speaking, while the old and the infirm are being so literally, because that's a direct cost saving. BoJo was erring on that course himself but fortunately is just dumb enough not to have gotten away with it.

I got a winning ticket but in Germany, you got the shiny gold one in all this.

a reply to: Peeple

Its not about me peeps. Its just hitting me more and more.
unemployment during the worst economic times of my life were only 500,000 a week tops not 6.6 million. I can tell you a bunch more people are out of work this week as when i tried to go to the bank its only the ATM open.
so add in all the bank tellers. I checked 3 companies so its probably all of em.

Im just letting you know now so youre not suprised. America is going somewhere we have never really seen before. And I am also pointing out how they play weird number games. 160 million workers. starting unemployment around march 15th was claimed as 3.3% so 10 million unemployment claims 10/160 .063 add 6.3% you have about 10% unemployment. they say its 4.4% Now thats not counting me or a lot of people I know as getting a claim processed is taking weeks. the website is in perma crash mode and the offices are backed up. It doesnt count a lot, and thats just 2 weeks. the data past that isnt out yet.

Im just letting you know that this is the calm.
its about to get real weird going into summer.
and do the kids graduate? I guess so but theyll be missing a lot from already not great schools.

2008 was a bunch of bad bets basically. so that and then that was bailed out.. ok.. this is no one has a job, no business are open as the starting point. thats a lot worse of a problem when 75% of GDP is that sector.. consumerism. Im so glad im not a chef right now with 10,000$ in food in the walk in like I had around this time last year. that would hurt my soul.

And its not like businesses just reopen. most restaurants dont have money to last 2 weeks closed. I know these things. Imagine them trying to get a new loan from a closed bank. The government bailouts I read into that its assuming the restaurant pays staff now and they get refunded much later. thats a no go. so many things sound good on paper. My friends restaurant ugh.. its only 2 owners, i can almost promise they wont reopen. Im working a more corporate gig. Best timing ever got in 1.5 months before this so I most likely have a job, but most wont.

Im here doing what I always do. This is my ATS self seeking truth.


here click this picture gives you a better idea:



Y axis number of unemployment claims
x axis is the year i think we started keeping data in 1967. goes to 2020
grey bars are "recessions"


And by the way they are only sending money not because of any human decency. they are afraid the entire country would be torn down. when this is "over" USA will be dog eat dog like it always is.


Another thing. Its the United States, So my state has been on lockdown since we had like 30 cases. its state by state. the federal government may or may not have that sort of power but politically its easier to leave any blame on governors. My state for instance is being adviced by the top infectious desease people at our universities that we have to stay closed until june. so far its until may, and they wont announce if it will stay in effect until closer to that last week of april.

people are following the rules in my area and also google released cell phone data showing that theres a guge reduction in all outside activity besides grocery stores, cause yes everything is tracked. they know your house is the place your phone stops moving 8 hours at night lol.

and they know your job. they know where the grocery store is and the pizza place. in fact im sure they find the log over the creek based on verbsy crossing that creek over and over and now google maps puts that as a path.

Anyway people are at home. no restaurants or movies or haircuts or any of that.

domestic violence is on the rise.
go figure.

originally posted by: Peeple
a reply to: Reverbs

But I thought you were doing so well? Is it just a bad day? Did something happen?
It will pass, BB.

Reverbs is having too much time to think. Usually if I work super hard and Im tired after work and on my day off I want to walk 15 miles i leave myself a few hours yo really think.. theres of course a conspiracy there. If everyone is tired ha...

The other thing is China. Its something that keeps coming up more and more. It doesnt seem so bad when a gaming company bows to china shutting up free speach for Americans at gaming events...

When WHO starts doing that sh1t, its just too on the nose.

Taiwan doesn't exist of course and to say it does goes against China. This is of course bad for business to do anything China doesn't like.

That's another emerging thing. The CDC lied to us and I knew they were lying. They didnt have to lie. They could have just told the truth. South Korea already knew face masks work because coronavirus is not aerosolized. its airborne in water droplets. meaning masks are effective. thats the CDC.. WHO is united nations.. So for them to be covering things up with china and favoring china in its claim that Taiwan is part of China..

Anyways my regular ATS instincts ive been ignoring as just regular people are like "wtf?" so i cant ignore these trends.

Its crazy everyone is scared of China.

Africa is a damn battleground and most people have no clue. China is buying up half the continent and USA has special operations and drones bases all over the place.

Russia only really matters in oil and nukes.. Better than buying from Iran for Europe.

Tesla might be the only company allowed to truly operate out of China without a distribution partner. Whereas PBR is just China owned. A lot of the games you play are likely owned by ten cent. ironically one of the biggest companies ever.

The pressure they exert on supposed health experts and other things like that is just a dark reminder that nothing is sacred when money is involved.

We arent even talking about recognizing Taiwan as a nation. They don't want to even say the word.

a reply to: Reverbs

I just checked my email. it was when we had 2 cases in my state I was emailed to not come to the hospital for anything besides emergency.

They set up video doctor visits and over video/phone prescriptions.

6 days later I was called on my day off.
Don't come to work.

Now we are at 16,000,000 newly unemployed like I say. The numbers will come in. but, the speed this is starting at, is not the speed it leaves at. similar to the most deaths in one day is between 1 and 2 weeks after the most new cases peaks.. thats counterintuitive to the idiots doing interviews. people take time to get sick and die after being tested.

so the economy is like that. we have 16 million cases. 10% unemployment. but those are just confirmed cases.. we don't know how many of those won't recover.. How many have a light infection of joblessness like me.. how many are homeless in 10 days.

Its probably 20 million jobless next week.
I know America is huge but thats a LOT.

a reply to: Reverbs

You are not your job. You are not the contents of your wallet. You are not your F# khakis.

You are the all seeing crap of the world.

You silly Space Monkey.

Breath. Two weeks is what you need to bear (drunk spelling). Heck, if it is just food, let me know and I will help as much as possible.

We are almost through. Relax. (Weirdness! My TV just made the “power off” noise although that was 20 minutes ago...)

You got this. And if you need some help, I’ll try. Don’t panic.

🍺

a reply to: TEOTWAWKIAIFF

nah Im fine.
Doomverbs will now be switched off for a few weeks.
But if someone near you needs a bit of help, do that in my stead.

It was only so that I told the story about to unfold.
little inside info. 90% of one persons renters (about 9 or 10 restaurants) ..... I should say one paid rent. Old Friend of my brothers. in fact one of the places I used to work he collected rent from my boss. I know a lot of that world which is why I bring it up.

but yes.
I went for an amazing walk today.
discussed possible moves for the future.

it was never about me, as Im kinda slippery.
But I got through that mental yucky spike.
woof.

originally posted by: TEOTWAWKIAIFF
a reply to: Reverbs

You are not your job. You are not the contents of your wallet...

I am sure many people know this, people working damn hard for little or no return, just to keep their heads above water, but there is also a strong contingent, seemingly well represented on this forum, who think they are just that and are completely affronted by being deemed none essential. I've never seen so many spat out dummies (beside my own). This is manifesting itself in a complete disregard for the lives of others, and a pointing of fingers at those that are losing their lives as if that is their own fault for not succeeding in an culture that requires that only a few excel to maintain the aspirational pyramid. As long as it's not 'me' and 'mine' its not an issue, I'm alright, so # everyone else.

While this is largely affected the elderly and infirm, there are significant deviations. A key problem, as Reverbs pointed out with the CDC data, is that they (like Al Gore and the damage that the Inconvenient Truth did by dumbing down the issue of Climate Change) assume that the average American is a moron. They're not, as you yourself know, they are as intelligent as the next nation, just largely, poorly educated and demotivated from doing anything about it. In addition Murdoch and his cabal are feeding the disinformation fishers, muddying the waters, building distrust. And so are China. Neither one is addressing the virus itself, they are attempting not to lose position in the global market. All people putting their jobs before their humanity. Nothing new there of course. Then of course, there are the hedge funds making billions in profits taking bets on when the economy will crash and how. Literally profiting from the misery of others. All those returns should be seized and used to mitigate loses elsewhere. It shouldn't just be immoral it should be illegal.

O’Grady told the Guardian: “It’s a sign of our broken economy that hedge fund managers are raking in billions, while care workers who are putting their lives on the line can barely scrape by. When the immediate crisis has passed, we need to rebuild a more equal economy. The super-rich must be made to pay their fair share and ordinary workers should get the respect and pay they deserve.”

Ruffer Investment, which was founded by multimillionaire financier Jonathan Ruffer, told clients it had made $2.6bn (£2.4bn) during the coronavirus pandemic-induced global stock market collapse after a series of cheap “protective investment” bets on market volatility delivered huge returns. The story was first reported by the Financial Times.

It also came to light that a US hedge fund made a 4,144% return betting on a stock market collapse in the year to the end of March. The Miami-based Universa Investments fund, which is advised by The Black Swan author Nassim Taleb, made a return of 3,612% in March alone. “I think we’ve shown Universa’s method of risk mitigation to be the most effective,” Mark Spitznagel, the fund’s president and chief investment officer, said in an investor letter seen by Bloomberg.

Odey Asset Management declined to comment on the TUC’s call for hedge fund owners to pay a “fair share” towards the fight against coronavirus. The fund made a return of 21% in March.

Odey, who has an estimated £800m fortune, privately told clients that the world was facing a crisis as bad as the Great Depression in the 1930s.

www.theguardian.com...

I'm just answering like this because it's for all of you, but not specific.
I'm looking for the silver lining in all of this and what I found is a bit vague, but that's just how things are these days.

So Reverbsie and I had this event in '14 when it felt like we were warning "these people" (from here on I'll refer to them as the bank, for shortkeeping) 'member?
(Kily you never said what your "psychotic event" was about and when it was? )
Anyhoo I assume they figured we're no threat so this is what was supposed to happen 6 years ago.
It's a challenge to the others/aliens/whathaveyou. The Bank knows they're here, but have decided that their not as powerful as they claim they are.
So this could go really interesting really fast.
I mean it's perfect, in a crisis under stress people show their real colours. As good as everybody is in the country they belong, that fits perfectly with my story.
I believe "tptb" is misleading, because it implies govs, economy, finances, churches... every one with power would be one group.
That's obviously wrong and misleading.
This is a war on many fronts.
I believe the Bank, are modern technocratic illuminati kind of and not to be confused with freemasons, a rivaling more modern secret club.
And even the name the Bank is misleading.
Point is they're all fighting over us. I believe there are genuinely good people, in govs, in secret services, everywhere basically.
I know there are people who think they're far above everybody else, I would call them evil, if that'd be a concept I believe in. They want to control everybody and everything. Technocrats building their Leviathan. Their socio-economical Laplace's demon.

Sometimes I think it's all super interesting and exciting, other times I think I'm crazy, but mostly I ... this could be it, this could be it, let's gooooooooooo aaaaaaaaaalreaaaaaaaaady!
But unlike movies things develop over weeks, months, years, sooo popcorn and lots of tea.

a reply to: Peeple

The psychology of most people is easy to use.
Im still lockeddown not allowed to work. Not allowed to pay rent or buy food by extention.

yes 2014. Those fvcks.

I already made my last stand. I got burned hard enough you can still see it on my face. It was probably already passed the time that it could have mattered enough.

Feels like a separate lifetime. It also feels pretty recent as Ill never forget it.

The conspiracies are as real as a wolf pack taking down its prey. Humans are the apex predator and how many hunt lower animals? Many understand the predatory nature of humans and ask that we form governments to be above regular humans so that the strong predators can be checked by the weaker.

Power always finds power.

My russian landlord who I see all the time is like "I left my country to get away from this, and I feel like Im back where I started." He left russia 50 years ago.

my state has 100 deaths. 10 million people.
so save a few hundred lives? to kill a million futures?

So this is the new normal. like anyone thinks the virus just disappears? lol.. And the debt being fought with debt is like some epic breakup the usa is having with itself.

Aliens.. I dont know. Im not normal. I usually attribute it to my "indian" genetics.

No this makes me sad just knowing everyone has given up their ownership of this world and this life. Aliens or no, the gameboard is ruined.