https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/26/opinions/opinion-the-cause-of-campus-chaos-zakaria/index.html

TV, and now cell phones.

On 27/04/2024 11:56 pm, John Larkin wrote:
>
> https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/26/opinions/opinion-the-cause-of-campus-chaos-zakaria/index.html
>
> TV, and now cell phones.

But that isn't the problem.

The real problem is much the same as the change in the American diet
which has made Americans a lot fatter.

People who sell food have tweaked it so that the people who buy it buy
more of it - it doesn't matter the the manufacturers that their
customers get fatter and die younger.

People who sell opinions make their output more compelling rather than
more informative, because that enlarges their audience.

Being able to get stuff published in the New Yorker won't make you all
that rich. Becoming a star on Fox News is much more profitable - Tucker
Carlson is a depressing example.

John Larkin's enthusiasm for climate change denial reflects his
willingness to binge on the intellectual equivalent of junk food.

We need an intellectual equivalent of Ozempic - critical thinking in a
pill. Academic education is supposed to instill critical thinking, but
it didn't work on John, or Donald Trump.

--
Bill Sloman, Sydney

On 4/27/2024 9:56 AM, John Larkin wrote:
>
> https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/26/opinions/opinion-the-cause-of-campus-chaos-zakaria/index.html
>
> TV, and now cell phones.
>

Hilarious how the WSJ-shithead claims that when thousands of students
are willing to be beaten and arrested en masse it implies they're "less
resilient and disengaged." Did Tienanmen Square need TikTok to happen?

The super-rich will say any nonsense to protect their interests and the
dividends of their gruesome wars. Fareed Zakaria, Douglas Belkin, the
WSJ and NYT just work for 'em.

One of the more amusing indie games in recent history, where you play
the editor of the NYT and have to keep the paper running while ensuring
the super-rich, the police, and the state of Israel are always satisfied
with the content:

<https://molleindustria.itch.io/the-new-york-times-simulator>

On 4/27/2024 12:11 PM, Bill Sloman wrote:
> On 27/04/2024 11:56 pm, John Larkin wrote:
>>
>> https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/26/opinions/opinion-the-cause-of-campus-chaos-zakaria/index.html
>>
>> TV, and now cell phones.
>
> But that isn't the problem.
>
> The real problem is much the same as the change in the American diet
> which has made Americans a lot fatter.
>
> People who sell food have tweaked it so that the people who buy it buy
> more of it - it doesn't matter the the manufacturers that their
> customers get fatter and die younger.
>
> People who sell opinions make their output more compelling rather than
> more informative, because that enlarges their audience.
>
> Being able to get stuff published in the New Yorker won't make you all
> that rich. Becoming a star on Fox News is much more profitable - Tucker
> Carlson is a depressing example.
>
> John Larkin's enthusiasm for climate change denial reflects his
> willingness to binge on the intellectual equivalent of junk food.
>
> We need an intellectual equivalent of Ozempic - critical thinking in a
> pill. Academic education is supposed to instill critical thinking, but
> it didn't work on John, or Donald Trump.

Even many US university students tend to be smart enough to notice that
the US seems to have endless money to fund foreign conflicts, but always
talks austerity when it comes to them and their future (or lack thereof.)

"Haha you'll never afford a home even with a college degree but here's
another $50 billion for Israel and Ukraine, and there'll be another $50
billion after that, and after that..."

There is plenty of "social capital" left among young people and
university students. But the powers-that-be do tend to get particularly
unhappy when a significant portion of it focuses into a beam pointed in
their direction.

On 4/27/24 18:38, bitrex wrote:
> On 4/27/2024 12:11 PM, Bill Sloman wrote:
>> On 27/04/2024 11:56 pm, John Larkin wrote:
>>>
>>> https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/26/opinions/opinion-the-cause-of-campus-chaos-zakaria/index.html
>>>
>>> TV, and now cell phones.
>>
>> But that isn't the problem.
>>
>> The real problem is much the same as the change in the American diet
>> which has made Americans a lot fatter.
>>
>> People who sell food have tweaked it so that the people who buy it buy
>> more of it - it doesn't matter the the manufacturers that their
>> customers get fatter and die younger.
>>
>> People who sell opinions make their output more compelling rather than
>> more informative, because that enlarges their audience.
>>
>> Being able to get stuff published in the New Yorker won't make you all
>> that rich. Becoming a star on Fox News is much more profitable -
>> Tucker Carlson is a depressing example.
>>
>> John Larkin's enthusiasm for climate change denial reflects his
>> willingness to binge on the intellectual equivalent of junk food.
>>
>> We need an intellectual equivalent of Ozempic - critical thinking in a
>> pill. Academic education is supposed to instill critical thinking, but
>> it didn't work on John, or Donald Trump.
>
>
> Even many US university students tend to be smart enough to notice that
> the US seems to have endless money to fund foreign conflicts, but always
> talks austerity when it comes to them and their future (or lack thereof.)
>
> "Haha you'll never afford a home even with a college degree but here's
> another $50 billion for Israel and Ukraine, and there'll be another $50
> billion after that, and after that..."

$50 billion is chump change compared to the US budget

On Sat, 27 Apr 2024 21:00:05 +0200, Lasse Langwadt <llc@fonz.dk>
wrote:

>On 4/27/24 18:38, bitrex wrote:
>> On 4/27/2024 12:11 PM, Bill Sloman wrote:
>>> On 27/04/2024 11:56 pm, John Larkin wrote:
>>>>
>>>> https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/26/opinions/opinion-the-cause-of-campus-chaos-zakaria/index.html
>>>>
>>>> TV, and now cell phones.
>>>
>>> But that isn't the problem.
>>>
>>> The real problem is much the same as the change in the American diet
>>> which has made Americans a lot fatter.
>>>
>>> People who sell food have tweaked it so that the people who buy it buy
>>> more of it - it doesn't matter the the manufacturers that their
>>> customers get fatter and die younger.
>>>
>>> People who sell opinions make their output more compelling rather than
>>> more informative, because that enlarges their audience.
>>>
>>> Being able to get stuff published in the New Yorker won't make you all
>>> that rich. Becoming a star on Fox News is much more profitable -
>>> Tucker Carlson is a depressing example.
>>>
>>> John Larkin's enthusiasm for climate change denial reflects his
>>> willingness to binge on the intellectual equivalent of junk food.
>>>
>>> We need an intellectual equivalent of Ozempic - critical thinking in a
>>> pill. Academic education is supposed to instill critical thinking, but
>>> it didn't work on John, or Donald Trump.
>>
>>
>> Even many US university students tend to be smart enough to notice that
>> the US seems to have endless money to fund foreign conflicts, but always
>> talks austerity when it comes to them and their future (or lack thereof.)
>>
>> "Haha you'll never afford a home even with a college degree but here's
>> another $50 billion for Israel and Ukraine, and there'll be another $50
>> billion after that, and after that..."
>
>$50 billion is chump change compared to the US budget

It's not even chump change compared to the $1tn increase in the US
national debt every 100 days.
I have no idea what the thrust of the original article is suggesting.
I have no idea what Bitrex is bitching about, either. Sending money
for war purposes whilst ignoring domestic concerns is just what
Globalism is all about. Globalism is what Bitrex has always espoused
here, so why he's got his panties in a bunch I simply don't know.
Anyway, what's most important is that the horse in the photo hasn't
been provided with eye protection. All riot horses in the UK are fully
kitted-out with personal protection gear. I'd assumed it was the same
in the US but clearly it isn't. THAT issue at any rate, definitely
requires addressing.

On Sat, 27 Apr 2024 12:22:57 -0400, bitrex <user@example.net> wrote:

>On 4/27/2024 9:56 AM, John Larkin wrote:
>>
>> https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/26/opinions/opinion-the-cause-of-campus-chaos-zakaria/index.html
>>
>> TV, and now cell phones.
>>
>
>Hilarious how the WSJ-shithead claims that when thousands of students
>are willing to be beaten and arrested en masse it implies they're "less
>resilient and disengaged." Did Tienanmen Square need TikTok to happen?
>
>The super-rich will say any nonsense to protect their interests and the
>dividends of their gruesome wars. Fareed Zakaria, Douglas Belkin, the
>WSJ and NYT just work for 'em.
>
>One of the more amusing indie games in recent history, where you play
>the editor of the NYT and have to keep the paper running while ensuring
>the super-rich, the police, and the state of Israel are always satisfied
>with the content:
>
><https://molleindustria.itch.io/the-new-york-times-simulator>
>
>
>

One thing it's worth asking yourself, if more people were like me,
would the world be a better place?

On 29/04/2024 5:03 am, John Larkin wrote:
> On Sat, 27 Apr 2024 12:22:57 -0400, bitrex <user@example.net> wrote:
>
>> On 4/27/2024 9:56 AM, John Larkin wrote:
>>>
>>> https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/26/opinions/opinion-the-cause-of-campus-chaos-zakaria/index.html
>>>
>>> TV, and now cell phones.
>>>
>>
>> Hilarious how the WSJ-shithead claims that when thousands of students
>> are willing to be beaten and arrested en masse it implies they're "less
>> resilient and disengaged." Did Tienanmen Square need TikTok to happen?
>>
>> The super-rich will say any nonsense to protect their interests and the
>> dividends of their gruesome wars. Fareed Zakaria, Douglas Belkin, the
>> WSJ and NYT just work for 'em.
>>
>> One of the more amusing indie games in recent history, where you play
>> the editor of the NYT and have to keep the paper running while ensuring
>> the super-rich, the police, and the state of Israel are always satisfied
>> with the content:
>>
>> <https://molleindustria.itch.io/the-new-york-times-simulator>
>
> One thing it's worth asking yourself, if more people were like me,
> would the world be a better place?

It isn't. There's no way that you can can generate an objectively
reliable estimate on your own effect on the world as a whole.

Anybody silly enough to ask the question has to live with the fact that
if you are that silly your effect on the world is bound to be negative.

In John Larkin's case, his enthusiasm for climate change denial
propaganda guarantees that his net effect on the world as a whole is
going to be negative.

--
Bill Sloman, Sydney

On 29/04/2024 3:01 am, Cursitor Doom wrote:
> On Sat, 27 Apr 2024 21:00:05 +0200, Lasse Langwadt <llc@fonz.dk>
> wrote:
>
>> On 4/27/24 18:38, bitrex wrote:
>>> On 4/27/2024 12:11 PM, Bill Sloman wrote:
>>>> On 27/04/2024 11:56 pm, John Larkin wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>> https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/26/opinions/opinion-the-cause-of-campus-chaos-zakaria/index.html
>>>>>
>>>>> TV, and now cell phones.
>>>>
>>>> But that isn't the problem.
>>>>
>>>> The real problem is much the same as the change in the American diet
>>>> which has made Americans a lot fatter.
>>>>
>>>> People who sell food have tweaked it so that the people who buy it buy
>>>> more of it - it doesn't matter the the manufacturers that their
>>>> customers get fatter and die younger.
>>>>
>>>> People who sell opinions make their output more compelling rather than
>>>> more informative, because that enlarges their audience.
>>>>
>>>> Being able to get stuff published in the New Yorker won't make you all
>>>> that rich. Becoming a star on Fox News is much more profitable -
>>>> Tucker Carlson is a depressing example.
>>>>
>>>> John Larkin's enthusiasm for climate change denial reflects his
>>>> willingness to binge on the intellectual equivalent of junk food.
>>>>
>>>> We need an intellectual equivalent of Ozempic - critical thinking in a
>>>> pill. Academic education is supposed to instill critical thinking, but
>>>> it didn't work on John, or Donald Trump.
>>>
>>>
>>> Even many US university students tend to be smart enough to notice that
>>> the US seems to have endless money to fund foreign conflicts, but always
>>> talks austerity when it comes to them and their future (or lack thereof.)
>>>
>>> "Haha you'll never afford a home even with a college degree but here's
>>> another $50 billion for Israel and Ukraine, and there'll be another $50
>>> billion after that, and after that..."
>>
>> $50 billion is chump change compared to the US budget
>
> It's not even chump change compared to the $1tn increase in the US
> national debt every 100 days.
> I have no idea what the thrust of the original article is suggesting.
> I have no idea what Bitrex is bitching about, either. Sending money
> for war purposes whilst ignoring domestic concerns is just what
> Globalism is all about.

It isn't. Globalism is merely more international trade - it lets nations
specialise in making what they make best and trading those products with
other nations who have other skills.

Cursitor Doom associates it with the kinds of imaginary international
conspiracies that enrich his fantasy life, rather like my undergraduate
friends who thought that adobe haciendas were exotic (which they were)
and exciting, which mud-brick farm houses weren't, when I told them what
the Spanish phrase meant.

> Globalism is what Bitrex has always espoused here, so why he's got his panties in a bunch I simply don't know.

He knows what Globalism means in practice (and subsidising foreign wars
isn't any part the practical reality), while you don't.

> Anyway, what's most important is that the horse in the photo hasn't
> been provided with eye protection. All riot horses in the UK are fully
> kitted-out with personal protection gear. I'd assumed it was the same
> in the US but clearly it isn't. THAT issue at any rate, definitely
> requires addressing.

Getting horse used to wearing full personal protection gear takes time.
Americans do tend to want to do stuff in a hurry.

Horses can be skittish, as a handful of the Household cavalry showed in
London last week.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/apr/27/army-injured-horses-household-cavalry-london

--
Bill Sloman, Sydney