Conflict in literature : coolguides - "Conflict in literature:
Classical:
Man vs nature
Man vs man
Man vs God
Modern:
Man vs society
Man vs self
Man vs no God
Postmodern:
Man vs technology
Man vs reality
Man vs author"
Illustrated with Looney Tunes
Opinion | The Real Divide in America Is Between Political Junkies and Everyone Else - The New York Times - "The common view of American politics today is of a clamorous divide between Democrats and Republicans, an unyielding, inevitable clash of harsh partisan polarization. But that focus obscures another, enormous gulf — the gap between those who follow politics closely and those who don’t. Call it the “attention divide.” What we found is that most Americans — upward of 80 percent to 85 percent — follow politics casually or not at all. Just 15 percent to 20 percent follow it closely (the people we call “deeply involved”): the group of people who monitor everything from covfefe to the politics of “Cuties.”... Among Democrats, the political junkies think the influence of wealthy donors and interest groups is an urgent problems. But less-attentive Democrats are 25 percentage points more likely to name moral decline as an important problem facing the country — a problem partisan Democrats never even mention. These gaps extend beyond issues to feelings about the other party. Hard partisans are twice as likely as people who pay less attention to politics to say that they would be unhappy if their child married someone of the opposing party. Hard partisans are also more likely to speak out about these political likes and dislikes. Almost 45 percent of people who are deeply involved say they frequently share their views on social media — in some cases, daily. It’s only 11 percent for those without a politics habit. To put this in perspective, a Pew study finds that 10 percent of Twitter users are responsible for 97 percent of all tweets about politics. This gap between the politically indifferent and hard, loud partisans exacerbates the perception of a hopeless division in American politics because it is the partisans who define what it means to engage in politics. When a Democrat imagines a Republican, she is not imagining a co-worker who mostly posts cat pictures and happens to vote differently; she is more likely imagining a co-worker she had to mute on Facebook because the Trump posts became too hard to bear... How can politics better match the opinions of a majority of Americans? The fact is, it’s not an easy problem to solve. We can try to give the hardened partisans less voice in the news. Featuring people who exemplify partisan conflict and extremist ideas elevates their presence in politics (though of course by definition, it is the partisans who are most closely watching the news who are also most likely to give their opinions). This is particularly true of social media: What a vocal minority shares on social media is not the opinion of the public. Yet such political tweets, as the political communication scholar Shannon McGregor finds, are increasingly making their way into news coverage as stand-ins for public opinion."
You’re Not Listening. Here’s Why. - The New York Times - "In an in-depth study of 38 graduate students, confirmed in a larger online survey of 2,000 people representative of all Americans, the Harvard sociologist Mario Luis Small found that slightly more than half the time, people confided their most pressing and worrisome concerns to people with whom they had weaker ties, even people they encountered by chance, rather than to those they had previously said were closest to them — like a spouse, family member or dear friend. In some cases, the subjects actively avoided telling the people in their innermost circle because they feared judgment, insensitivity or drama. You’ve probably experienced this phenomenon when someone close to you revealed something that you didn’t know while the two of you were talking to someone else. You might have even said, “I didn’t know that!” The revelation most likely occurred because the additional person was listening differently than you previously had. Maybe that person showed more interest, asked the right questions, was less judging or was less apt to interrupt. Again, it’s not that people in close relationships are purposefully neglectful or inattentive, it’s simply human nature to become complacent about what we know."
Meme - Nassim Nicholas Taleb @nntaleb: "Borat is nearly the most racist movie in history, overtly degrading the ople of #Kazakhstan. Yet many get "cancelled" for misusing a certain words out of context. So Sacha Baron Cohen & authors get a free pass by the "left" because he attacks Giuliani?
I blocked every person who wrote "Borat is parody", don't be a snowflake, etc. Yes, I know it is parody. My point is the double standard with "parodies": if racist jokes (actually insults) are allowed for some races & not others, it is racism in its worst form.
I visited Kazakhstan a few times. Every time, locals brought the subject & insisted that Borat was not representative, that it was unfair, that it cause a lot of damage, etc. One day I mistakenly called the driver, whose name was Marat, "Borat". It led to a huuuge reaction."
Facebook - "I see the meta in Borat - that it impugns just how ignorant the Western world is of other countries in the world. In fact, the subtext is that you have no idea how free you are and how equal you are.
Not sure I would say it’s a “racist” movie but yet I see what Professor Taleb is saying about the hypocrisy. I would also say that they’re lucky the Kazakhs are white-looking. Imagine making fun of the regressiveness of another culture or country whose people have darker skin?"
The Rudy Giuliani Scene In the New Borat Movie Isn’t What You Think - "Trump’s lawyer was caught on camera in a hotel room...tucking in his shirt."
Meme - "It's over, conservatives. We're going to destroy the government, eat the rich, slaughter police and abolish gender and religion"
"Ok I guess I'll fight you"
"Wow that's mean :( We just want free healthcare :("
On liberals gaslighting everyone by claiming the far left just wants free healthcare
Facebook - "Someone made a video of bats upside down, and it looks like a goth nightclub."
UK doing more than any other country to end scourge of modern slavery - "Countries doing the most and least to combat modern slavery, 2018
10 best countries
1) United Kingdom
2) Netherlands
3) United States
4) Portugal
5) Sweden
6) Argentina
7) Belgium
8) Spain
9) Croatia
10) Australia
10 worst countries
1) North Korea
2) Eritrea
3) Libya
4) Iran
5) Equatorial Guinea
6) Burundi
7) Democratic Republic of Congo
8) Congo
9) Russia
10) Somalia"
Clearly, "white supremacy" is at the root of the problem
"Police warned angry goat on roof only respects one man" : funny
The Best Decade Ever - "According to Johan Norberg, a native of Sweden and author of the book, “Progress: Ten Reasons to Look Forward to the Future”, the 2010’s were the best decade ever. That’s a pretty bold statement for sure. Here are ten reasons he cites when making this claim:
1) 28% of all the wealth mankind has ever created (measured as GDP per capita), was created in these ten years.
2) Extreme poverty more than halved, from 18.2% to 8.6%. The number of poor was reduced by 158,000 – every day.
3) The child mortality rate was reduced by a third. As a result, 2.1 million children’s deaths were prevented this year (2019).
4) Life expectancy increased from 69.5 to 72.6 years. So every day in the past decade, the average life span increased almost 8 hours.
5) The share of people governed by laws criminalizing consensual same-sex acts declined from 40% to 27% (down from 74% in 1969).
6) The share of countries with laws protecting women from violent partners increased from 53% to 78%.
7) The global death rate from indoor and outdoor pollution declined 19%.
8) Despite global warming, deaths from climate-related disasters declined by a third, to 0.35 per 100,000 people. A reduction by 95% since the 1960’s.
9) Many rich countries have reached “peak stuff”. The consumption of 66 out of 72 resources tracked by the US Geological Survey is declining.
10) Despite setbacks and strongman nostalgia, the share who live in a “not free” country declined from 34% to 26% (down from 42.5% in 1980).
Unfortunately, we don’t hear or read much about this in our news sources due to the media’s mantra of ‘if it bleeds, it leads’. It is certainly true there are still challenges and issues we face on this planet, not everything is perfect. But it is critical that we be mindful of the progress we are making and celebrate it, that we teach our kids about it. Then get back to work and continue to improve from here. As one of my business coaches taught me many years ago: our focus should be on progress, not perfection"
Meme - "Uh yeah sure I have five personality disorders and mental illnesses, hate my life, myself, my job, and my family but TRUST ME dude, my worldview and ideology are the KEY to a healthy happy life"
Meme: Political Compass - "Authoritarian Right: Martin Luther King Jr, Political views heavily influenced by his religion, Fought for the betterment of his race, Has a Federal Holiday in his onorh
Authoritarian Left: George Washington, Fought against British Colonialism, Expanded the powers of the Federal Government, Used force to crack down on disgruntled tax payers in the Whiskey Rebellion
Libertarian Left: Adolf Hitler: Was a vegetarian, Passed laws to protect animal rights, Hated ((Capitalism)), Did a shit ton of drugs
Libertarian Right: Kim Jong Un, Has a stockpile of illegal nuclear weapons, No taxes in North Korea, Hates the US government, constantly spied on by the CIA, Might literally be the fattest person in North Korea"
Angry Robot on Twitter - "Count Dracula was 412 when he moved to England in search of new blood. Sauron was 54,000 years old when he forged The One Ring. Cthulhu had seen galaxies flare into life and fade to darkness before he put madness in the minds of men. It's never too late to follow your dreams!"
Sam on Twitter - ""There is a considerable overlap between the intelligence of the smartest bears and the dumbest tourists." -Yosemite Park Ranger on why it's hard to design a bear-proof garbage can."
Erik Hearne's answer to How do chefs crack open large quantities of eggs? - Quora - "Easy! They don’t. Most restaurants, (with fancier restaurants being the exception) use cases of liquid egg. These cases contain 5 or 10 pound bags of cracked whole eggs which have been pasteurized and mixed with a small amount of citric acid as a preservative. These bags have a pour spout and some restaurants have dispensers for these bags."
Facebook - "Ask an artist for free work, he will be tRigGeReD cry laobeh laobu dua pek gong LYK ah gong as if you killed his laobeh, name and shame you on social media 'IT IS NOT 30MIN OF MY TIME; IT IS 10 YEARS OF MY TRAINING' ask an accountant for free work, he will smile and refuse politely, and go on with life. These artists have a victimhood complex which makes them triggered at anything and everything"
Man goes on first date with woman, she brings 23 family members along for the meal- - " The story begins in Zhejiang Province, where a 29-year-old man who’d been having trouble finding love during the pandemic was set up on a date by his mother. He was looking forward to the date, and arranged to meet her at a restaurant for a meal together. When he went to the restaurant as they had planned, he walked in to find his date had turned up with 23 of her relatives. She said, “Let’s all eat together”, and despite not receiving any advance warning that the party for two had turned into a party for 25, the man sat down and ate with the family. As they ate, the table filled up with expensive meals and alcohol, which his date and her family members devoured happily. At the end of the meal, the man was given the bill by restaurant staff and he was gobsmacked to find it came to a total of 19,800 Yuan (US$2,962). Unable to pay the bill, the man snuck out of the restaurant without anyone noticing and returned home, leaving the woman to foot the bill... Asked why she brought her family members with her to the first date, the woman said:
“I was testing whether the man who might potentially be my boyfriend would be generous enough to pay for all 25 people, including himself and myself.”
She went on to insist that she was the victim, as she ended up having to pay for the meal."
Thomas Chatterton Williams on Twitter - "Someone pretending to like you more than they do so they can have sex with you feels like a criminal offence to me. I feel like I should be within rights to sue"
"Let’s just cut to the chase and outlaw being alive"
Matt Walsh on Twitter - "Yes I am the beneficiary of “privilege.” The privilege is this: I had two parents. They stay married. They made sure I stayed in school. They gave moral guidance. My kids have the same privilege. Anyone with this privilege will have a fair shake at life. Anyone. Any race.
Of course this isn’t so much privilege as it’s just the way it’s meant to be. But if we’re looking for advantages that a child can be given early in life, this is it."
Facebook - "I totally disagree with this! Artists, or, for that matter, Human Resource Managers ARE essential.
It depends on the context. When we are moving from an unemployment or
low employment situation to finding jobs for people, Human Resource
Managers will be of great service.
I want to come back to artists - not just theatre folks, but musicians, dancers and all.
Many are my personal friends and associates but why I want to stand up for all of us is because of our professionalism.
In
recent months, we have not been just sitting around and shaking legs.
Many of us have had to invent different ways of reaching out.
Why do we want to reach out? Not that we want to be rich and famous and are egotistical.
We
hear from many out there, who are being urged to stay at home, that
they want, in fact need, the products and services we can offer. I have
had the privilege of being inspired by the varied online presentations
of many, many Singapore artists. And most of this done for free! How is
this not essential?
We, in ACT 3 Theatrics, are being approached by
organisations for productions that parents are clamouring for to keep
their children engaged and entertained. Not essential?
Why is this
need to publicly proclaim as to who is doing important work and who is
doing lesser ones. If nothing else, we have feelings. We, too, hurt when
pricked. Words of Shakespeare, an artist.
Amy J Cheng #singaporeartists"
Artists and their supporters have poor comprehension skills, since they don't understand that "essential" is in the context of covid. And since this story made it to international publications, it's not just in Singapore that they are sensitive and easily triggered
Keywords: artists are essential
Rishabh Gahlot on Twitter - "Former U.S. President Obama condemns violence at protests"
"The man who dropped 100,000 bombs on 8 different countries throughout his Presidency, murdering and displacing millions of men, women and children, wants to lecture us about “violence”."
Meme - "I hate it when men relax. What's so calming The thought of misogyny?"
"dudes just chillin thread. can we start a thread of dudes just chillin?"
Addendum: Imagine being triggered by this. This is the sort of person who complains about "white fragility"
How Canadians see each other. btw thats a fried bologna sandwich from Nfld & Lab : onguardforthee
Female Medical Professionals Shamed For Posting Bikini Pics in Published Study - "A group of researchers published a study that recently went viral last week for judging young doctors’ professionalism based on their social media posts... the study was published behind a paywall in the Journal of Vascular Surgery and looked at the social media accounts of 480 recent vascular-surgery graduates from 2016 to 2018...
61 of the 235 medical residents they reviewed had “unprofessional or potentially unprofessional content.”
These types of content were defined in their paper as: “drinking alcohol, using profane language, and wearing Halloween costumes, and sharing bikini photos.”...
“Account holders who self-identified as vascular surgeons were more likely to be associated with unprofessional social media behavior,” the paper continued. “Young surgeons should be aware of the permanent public exposure of unprofessional content that can be accessed by peers, patients, and current/future employers.”
Public reaction: When the study became free to view last week and was recently promoted on social media, it caught the attention and disapproval of many. The hashtag #MedBikini started trending on both Twitter and Instagram with medical professionals posting photos in their swimwear and showing their support for fellow “unprofessional” medical professionals.
Social media users found the study deplorable for “shaming” female doctors and nurses...
The study was retracted on Friday by the journal's editorial board after being published in the August 2020 issue"
So much for academic freedom, and for saying what everyone knows even if they don't want to acknowledge it. Who will suffer by not acknowledging reality? Young surgeons who will face professional consequences. It's more sexy to shoot the messenger
Report: hiring managers reveal what to do and what not to do on social media - "You should never post online pictures of yourself naked and drunk, but if you’re going to do it, do it on Tumblr. According to our most recent survey, hiring managers don’t check there... While a recent survey by social recruiting platform Jobvite found that 93% of hiring managers will screen candidates via social media, our study found that only 63% say they do so. The other 37% are not looking at your social profiles... We also asked employers whether they have seen something that has moved them to not hire a candidate. Nearly half of respondents, 48%, said yes. What did they see? The most common themes were “inappropriate” behaviours, including:
“Partying”
Drinking
“Inappropriate” dress
Drug use...
Ten things employers saw in social profiles that made them not hire that person
“Negative comments about previous employers.”
“Saw a post that they were going out drinking at the same time as their scheduled employment interview, which they obviously didn’t show up for. Needless to say they didn’t get the job.”
“Drinks in hand, partying in a bikini, comments on pictures using profanities, comments about hating the 9 to 5 grind.”
“Suggestive photos easily visible on Facebook. Not the image we want for our company.”
“A young man who had presented himself as very clean cut and well mannered had pictures of himself and his friends engaged in a fistfight with another group of individuals. The comments were outrageous targeting the other group based on race and economic status.”
“Sexist postings objectifying women.”
“Very angry face on the profile picture.”
“Inappropriate posts that were opinionated and ill informed. Candidate did not get to interview stage.”
“The person’s profile had many pictures of them engaging in illegal drugs.”
“A personal website dedicated to the promotion of their personal belief in an impending alien apocalypse.”"
Why give people good advice if they're going to get offended by it and then cancel you? It's telling that all the hiring managers here are anonymous
Power and provocativeness: The effects of subtle changes in clothing on perceptions of working women - "The current study investigates the effects of subtle changes in professional women’s dress on women’s perceptions of power and competence. We replicate and extend Howlett, Pine, Cahill, Orakcioglu, and Fletcher’s (2015) research showing that women in provocative clothing are rated as less competent. We used a larger sample, tested a second independent variable, and fine-tuned the design for higher face validity. Participants (N = 198, 170 women and 29 men) from a Midwestern university in the USA rated four photographs of professionally dressed women whose blouses varied in the number of buttons left undone and whether they wore a camisole. We found main effects of buttons (undone/done) and camisoles (on/off) for participants perceptions of intelligence, competence, powerfulness, and on a global rating score. Results also showed significant interaction effects between buttons and camisoles on ratings of powerfulness. The results have many implications for how women dress professionally."