@RantingRooster

I remember when — and why — you made it. There is a reason (many reasons, actually) why this place is like no other and we wanted to support it and help it grow. Now more than ever, it's still true.

Thanks for the timely reminder.

to go anywhere else. It's your site @JtC, your rules, if people don't want to follow the rules, oh well, one can only do so much.

[video:https://youtu.be/92h-sI1VLvc]

@RantingRooster
creating, posting and now re-posting it.

be well and have a good one.

to go anywhere else. It's your site @JtC, your rules, if people don't want to follow the rules, oh well, one can only do so much.

[video:https://youtu.be/92h-sI1VLvc]

@RantingRooster

to go anywhere else. It's your site @JtC, your rules, if people don't want to follow the rules, oh well, one can only do so much.

[video:https://youtu.be/92h-sI1VLvc]

@RantingRooster
I like the sense of getting necessary things done without the screen constantly flipping to some other angle, and at the end the man's genuine warm glance.

to go anywhere else. It's your site @JtC, your rules, if people don't want to follow the rules, oh well, one can only do so much.

[video:https://youtu.be/92h-sI1VLvc]

@RantingRooster

Please subscribe me to your channel.

What a neat vision of the people here, and the vibe you enjoy and encourage.

Beautiful, the sentiment and the visualisation.

to go anywhere else. It's your site @JtC, your rules, if people don't want to follow the rules, oh well, one can only do so much.

[video:https://youtu.be/92h-sI1VLvc]

@gulfgal98
Now that I do, I see more of the picture in the essay you commented on. Kind of an ah-haaa moment.

I'm glad you put in your 2 cents. You always seem genuine, honest and oozing of decorum. I greatly appreciate that, despite, oftentimes, lacking the latter myself!

Not sure what to make of AE's personality change over the past year or so, though. I genuinely used to enjoy his Medusa essays, but then the tone changed, or maybe I just happened to notice it. At any rate, I sincerely hope that if he's having some sort of medical or other issue, he's able to get help with it.

that Sirena had her own blog. In fact, I have never interacted with her on this site to my knowledge. So like most people who posted their own opinions, I did so in good faith. Second, my post on that thread reflected a position I have long held since the beginning of this site and was not intended to stir up or continue a controversy beyond adding my own $.02 worth. I now realize that $.02 was probably better kept to myself.

JtC, you own this site and your name is on all the documents so you have the right to run it as you see fit. I acknowledge I needed to be reminded of that fact and will go forward with that in mind.

@UntimelyRippd
When this site was founded I was a member in good standing at DK although things were getting more and more repressive over there. It was nice to read essays here that would never have gotten past the political correctness enforcers. AE was funny although even then sometime he went beyond statements I could have uprated.

For the past couple of years I have been too busy to participate in any blogging site. When I logged in here I was looking forward to swapping puns with the Alligator. It quickly became clear that he had changed and it was best to avoid him as much as possible.

First, I have largely stopped posting here, and the reason I have largely stopped posting is that I was so disgusted and infuriated by the bizarre anti-science, and actually anti-human, bullshit being sprayed by AE and his comrades that I simply couldn't stand it anymore.

This site was interesting to me because I wanted to discuss responses to the issues in both technical and human terms. There used to be a strong reality-based group here with substantial technical and legal training. In the last few weeks I have written several essays about vaccine trials and potential treatments but did not post them. Once you and other people with technical backgrounds got tired of dealing with the BS there was no point in posting. It would have been interesting and useful to share information about how best to protect ourselves from the virus.

Well, the insane covid=flu posse have been allowed to publish an endless array of falsities (and repeatedly, even when the straightforward falsity has been demonstrated to them, and with no subsequent attempt at refutation by said persons) -- some of which said falsities could actually get people killed, were readers to treat them as anything resembling "information" upon which "informed decisions" might be made. Nonetheless, AE wasn't tossed out for telling dangerous lies (and under the authority of his MD

My usual strategy for dealing with on-line jerks is to log out. There a lot of participants here that I sincerely like so it was difficult to walk out while people without technical training were being hammered with dangerous lies. On that last thread someone I like seemed to be listening to AE's theory that the healthy young folks should just go ahead and get herd immunity at the expense of older people like most of us. Nobody needs to sacrifice themselves despite the BS that Ed had been peddling.

At the time I thought Ed might be denying the existence of the epidemic because of his own age and health issues. Earlier Ed had asked me (nastily) if I knew what ADE is. I already knew ADE makes vaccine development more difficult but did not want to upset other people here so I did not reply at the time. When I saw Ed encouraging someone on the thread to endanger themselves I posted a response to someone who was already pushing back against Ed. New studies seemed to show that ADE is not going to prevent the development of a vaccine. I wanted to share that with Ed and perhaps get him to be less aggressive in his denialism. Instead Ed attacked three of us with a somewhat incoherent rant; then he got into a nasty fight with otc.

I regret not being able to joke with the Ed of 4 years ago. I do hope he is well.

Is it true that

absolutism extends to people being free to use social media to persuade damaged and vulnerable human beings to go jump off a bridge? Or kill their children? Is there really no limit?

It has been said that my right to swing my fist stops at my neighbors nose. I think my right to swing my fist stops when I make my neighbor fear my fist will hit his nose.
Free speech is also important. This does not mean that anyone has a right to shout "Fire!" in a crowded theater.

It is not OK to say things to intentionally harm others or cause them to harm themselves.

It is not OK to intentionally catch a virus and spread it with the knowledge that it can kill others.

Partly because whenever I considered offering a measured opinion on this matter, I quickly veered off during the mental composition into an authentically very angry rant, which seemed largely pointless.

But here goes.

First, I have largely stopped posting here, and the reason I have largely stopped posting is that I was so disgusted and infuriated by the bizarre anti-science, and actually anti-human, bullshit being sprayed by AE and his comrades that I simply couldn't stand it anymore. How many times must I point out that Judy Mikovits is a well-documented liar, lunatic and scientific fraud, before people stop credulously posting videos where she spews her nonsensical lies and bullshit? For the love of fucking christ, one of the two remaining posters on the site with whom I absolutely refuse to engage on any matter of any kind "rebutted" something I'd written by citing Project Fucking Veritas. Seriously?

Entrepreneur stomped off in a huff because he cannot abide "any" kind of censorship. Well, the insane covid=flu posse have been allowed to publish an endless array of falsities (and repeatedly, even when the straightforward falsity has been demonstrated to them, and with no subsequent attempt at refutation by said persons) -- some of which said falsities could actually get people killed, were readers to treat them as anything resembling "information" upon which "informed decisions" might be made. Nonetheless, AE wasn't tossed out for telling dangerous lies (and under the authority of his MD, for fuck's sake), he was tossed out for mocking and bullying people whose understanding of Covid-19 risk differs substantially from his (and corresponds rather more closely to the available data). He wasn't even banned for goading people to take risks that he was simultaneously downplaying (with falsehoods), he was just banned for being a colossal fucking asshole about it. (I wonder whether entrepreneur's absolutism extends to people being free to use social media to persuade damaged and vulnerable human beings to go jump off a bridge? Or kill their children? Is there really no limit? Is his tolerance really Identically Zero?) In that one final thread, AE simultaneously belittled people for exercising caution (living in their Fear Caves) AND exhorted them to BE VERY AFRAID of the evil pipples that were going to infect them with the very dangerous and fearful Covid-19 (you know -- the one that they shouldn't be afraid of), by contaminating their qRT-PCR tests.

In other words, he was just a monster fucking troll who would justly have deserved to have every one of his essays on Covid-19 greeted with a shower of abuse and contempt, when in fact they were generally greeted by measured and careful rebuttal, by people with a lot more patience and/or optimism than myself.

Believe me, if I wrote an extended essay expressing (and justifying with examples and argument) the full level of my contempt for certain contributors to this site, it would be a Major Fucking Eye Opener, and it would also be the last thing I was ever permitted to post -- even though not one thing in it would be an untruth, nor a gratuitous insult. People who are blase about it ("I've been called worse") have no fucking clue what it's like when someone like me really comes after a person, with destruction as an objective -- but if they did, they'd have a little more empathy for folks who are sensitive to other and/or milder forms for verbal abuse.

And by the way, every time some asshole here posts some ridiculous fucking conspiracy theory about how all the fucking virologists and other scientists investigating Covid-19 all over the whole fucking world are playing some stupid fucking go-along-to-get-along game, covering up what they "really know", ignoring whatever is unpopular, etc. etc. etc.; well, I take it very very personally. Very personally. If you get my drift. Which is why I can no longer allow myself to post here, generally speaking -- at least, not about anything that actually matters.

On the other hand, last week my daughter spotted an unfamiliar bird flitting about in the small black cherry tree in our yard. We had to do some research to identify it: the Scarlet Tanager. I don't think I've ever seen one before, anywhere.

Have a nice day.

@UntimelyRippd

For saying what I believe needed to be said since the bizarre covid-19 essays from the medical doctor being discussed in this thread began. I too have made myself scarce around here but for different reason. Mostly because the essays about covid-19 cause me a lot anxiety. And I prefer not to repeat another visit to the ER for anxiety induced chest pains.

Having said that, I must confess I regret to hear that you are not posting anymore, since you are among the posters I most enjoy reading. And trust.

Beautiful bird, btw. Red is definitely my color. You know, me being a fire sign and all. Yeah, I know that isn't too scientific but at least it can't potentially kill anyone, so there's that.

Partly because whenever I considered offering a measured opinion on this matter, I quickly veered off during the mental composition into an authentically very angry rant, which seemed largely pointless.

But here goes.

First, I have largely stopped posting here, and the reason I have largely stopped posting is that I was so disgusted and infuriated by the bizarre anti-science, and actually anti-human, bullshit being sprayed by AE and his comrades that I simply couldn't stand it anymore. How many times must I point out that Judy Mikovits is a well-documented liar, lunatic and scientific fraud, before people stop credulously posting videos where she spews her nonsensical lies and bullshit? For the love of fucking christ, one of the two remaining posters on the site with whom I absolutely refuse to engage on any matter of any kind "rebutted" something I'd written by citing Project Fucking Veritas. Seriously?

Entrepreneur stomped off in a huff because he cannot abide "any" kind of censorship. Well, the insane covid=flu posse have been allowed to publish an endless array of falsities (and repeatedly, even when the straightforward falsity has been demonstrated to them, and with no subsequent attempt at refutation by said persons) -- some of which said falsities could actually get people killed, were readers to treat them as anything resembling "information" upon which "informed decisions" might be made. Nonetheless, AE wasn't tossed out for telling dangerous lies (and under the authority of his MD, for fuck's sake), he was tossed out for mocking and bullying people whose understanding of Covid-19 risk differs substantially from his (and corresponds rather more closely to the available data). He wasn't even banned for goading people to take risks that he was simultaneously downplaying (with falsehoods), he was just banned for being a colossal fucking asshole about it. (I wonder whether entrepreneur's absolutism extends to people being free to use social media to persuade damaged and vulnerable human beings to go jump off a bridge? Or kill their children? Is there really no limit? Is his tolerance really Identically Zero?) In that one final thread, AE simultaneously belittled people for exercising caution (living in their Fear Caves) AND exhorted them to BE VERY AFRAID of the evil pipples that were going to infect them with the very dangerous and fearful Covid-19 (you know -- the one that they shouldn't be afraid of), by contaminating their qRT-PCR tests.

In other words, he was just a monster fucking troll who would justly have deserved to have every one of his essays on Covid-19 greeted with a shower of abuse and contempt, when in fact they were generally greeted by measured and careful rebuttal, by people with a lot more patience and/or optimism than myself.

Believe me, if I wrote an extended essay expressing (and justifying with examples and argument) the full level of my contempt for certain contributors to this site, it would be a Major Fucking Eye Opener, and it would also be the last thing I was ever permitted to post -- even though not one thing in it would be an untruth, nor a gratuitous insult. People who are blase about it ("I've been called worse") have no fucking clue what it's like when someone like me really comes after a person, with destruction as an objective -- but if they did, they'd have a little more empathy for folks who are sensitive to other and/or milder forms for verbal abuse.

And by the way, every time some asshole here posts some ridiculous fucking conspiracy theory about how all the fucking virologists and other scientists investigating Covid-19 all over the whole fucking world are playing some stupid fucking go-along-to-get-along game, covering up what they "really know", ignoring whatever is unpopular, etc. etc. etc.; well, I take it very very personally. Very personally. If you get my drift. Which is why I can no longer allow myself to post here, generally speaking -- at least, not about anything that actually matters.

On the other hand, last week my daughter spotted an unfamiliar bird flitting about in the small black cherry tree in our yard. We had to do some research to identify it: the Scarlet Tanager. I don't think I've ever seen one before, anywhere.

Have a nice day.

@Lily O Lady Aspie is the only other banning I can remember. Frankly, I think both had it coming. I’d hardly call that censorship. I’ve been on sites where comments would disappear or get phantom edits by moderators, etc. I think anyone who complain about censorship here is being melodramatic and wrong.

My two cents. Probably should have kept it to myself but I think it’s as important to speak out when someone does something controversial that I feel was the right move as it is to call out injustices.

just weren’t a good place for me. He really did seem to have wandered off the trail. Banning on this site is rare as hen’s teeth. I can remember only one other and that was Aspie Corner, who seemed to be more and more consumed with frustration and anger.

@The Wizard

...is a serious commitment. It takes a rare talent, as you point out.

Knowing when to tolerate that for community interest, freedom of expression and artistic content and, conversely- when to protect the community is an art.

Political-based communities are infinitely more complicated to manage compared to all the rest. "Communities" built around special interests — like sports, gardening, arts, sciences, you name it — are artificial constructs. They are like a large trellis in your garden that is covered with a growing vine. The trellis limits where the vine can go. Artificial communities can self-organize. After content is plugged in, it might take less an hour per week to manage the community and keep it running.

(Johnny's going: "An hour a week? wtf?")

Political communities are complicated to manage because the human brain sees Communities and political systems as the same thing, which is deeply connected to survival. Forming communities is a praxis that is built into human DNA. Without community support, our species cannot survive and evolve, which is the point of our existence. So, naturally, Community is a pattern that humans follow when designing a government.

No one has to teach a human how or why to build a community. When we became mobile and walked out of Africa 100,000 years or so ago, we left behind fossil records of communal living wherever we lingered. Across all those millennia, continuing until very recently, Homo sapiens have instinctively organizing themselves as Communists. It took an Industrial Revolution, two World Wars, and the 1954 McCarthy Hearings to finally beat those instincts to a bloody pulp.

So, you can just imagine the deep conflicts, troubled chaos, and sudden emotions that rumbles beneath any free ranging-Political community. I don't know whether JtC is a martyr or a saint for taking this on. In doing so, he removed himself. That may not have been his original intention, but I believe that's what it took to do it right.

JtC- Keep doing what you are doing. You have an amazing tolerance of posters that are quite hyperbolic. Knowing when to tolerate that for community interest, freedom of expression and artistic content and, conversely- when to protect the community is an art. Great job!

@strider58 and I agree 100 percent.

I am mostly just a lurker and seldom comment, but rely on this blog for most of my political information. This site has great writers and informative links that I look forward to reading everyday. AE has of late been very obscure and defensive in a lot of his essays. I used to like to read his point of view but have avoided them as of late and missed the drama. JTC I am going nowhere and would like you to know that you are doing great.
Thank You for this site and thanks to all who post here.

@Battle of Blair Mountain
problem for those who fear the alligators. I even read somewhere here that alligators are conservatives. Darn it, I was tricked out again. Now I am looking for the gooder of two goods and vote of course of the gooder one.

I mean, alligator's don't live on hills brah.

@Fishtroller 02 @Fishtroller 02
well, one of my stupid comments. Sorry.
I wished I hadn't made this one.

so, is it enough to have two computers (no synchroniztion), two nicknames and two email adresses or do you have to be connected to two different routers and service providers as well.

Fishy troller, you, don't seduce the little boys and girls.

I own two Caucus99% hats!

@Hawkfish
I'm an old Adelle Davis fan and he backs her up on vitamin D, zinc, and magnesium
with in-depth info from trustworthy research plus info re modes of action, advice on dosage.

I’m not going anywhere either.

I remember when I first got here there was a news story about a kid being eaten by an alligator in Florida. AE was quite upset. It has been sad to see him go off the rails. I confess I just ignore people who I find obnoxious but the danger of his covid stuff was making me angry. What was most surprising was that AE was the guy who put me in touch with Dr Campbell - a massively sane voice.