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Kosmo

Fear mongering

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We have "scientific" models predicting dramatic and destructive climate change. We have also dire predictions of deadly pandemics. Terrorist attacks with tiny number of casualties (what % of US or UK citizens are killed by jihadists yearly outside conflict areas?) provoke enormous changes and loss of freedom for everybody. Various foods are targeted by official or private campaigns making unproven statements about their health danger a good example being the absurd vilification of salt.

Many people and organizations, public and private, want us to be afraid for various reasons that are about their interests and against ours. They profit from scaring us at our expanse. Media has become the place where this craziness it's propagated and public opinion it's at the level of a 5 year old looking for monsters under his bed.

Rant over.

 

About the most recent global scare:

http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/...,637119,00.html

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We have "scientific" models predicting dramatic and destructive climate change. We have also dire predictions of deadly pandemics. Terrorist attacks with tiny number of casualties (what % of US or UK citizens are killed by jihadists yearly outside conflict areas?) provoke enormous changes and loss of freedom for everybody. Various foods are targeted by official or private campaigns making unproven statements about their health danger a good example being the absurd vilification of salt.

Many people and organizations, public and private, want us to be afraid for various reasons that are about their interests and against ours. They profit from scaring us at our expanse. Media has become the place where this craziness it's propagated and public opinion it's at the level of a 5 year old looking for monsters under his bed.

Rant over.

 

About the most recent global scare:

http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/...,637119,00.html

Usus autem sum, ne in aliquo fallam carissimam mihi familiaritatem tuam, praecipue libris ex bibliotheca Ulpia, aetate mea thermis Diocletianis, et item ex domo Tiberiana, usus etiam [ex] regestis scribarum porticus porphyreticae, actis etiam senatus ac populi. 2 et quoniam me ad colligenda talis viri gesta ephemeris Turduli Gallicani plurimum invit, viri honestissimi ac sincerissimi, beneficium amici senis tacere non debui. 3 Cn. Pompeium, tribus fulgentem triumphis belli piratici, belli Sertoriani, belli Mithridatici multarumque rerum gestarum maiestate sublimem, quis tandem nosset, nisi eum Marcus Tullius et Titus Livius in litteras rettulissent? 4 Publ<i>um Scipionem Afric<an>um, immo Scipiones omnes, seu Lucios seu Nasicas, nonne tenebrae possiderent ac tegerent, nisi commendatores eorum historici nobiles atque ignobiles extitissent? 5 longum est omnia persequi, quae ad exemplum huiusce modi etiam nobis tacentibus usurpanda sunt. 6 illud tantum contestatum volo me et rem scripsisse, quam, si quis voluerit, honestius eloquio celsiore demonstret, et mihi quidem id animi fuit, 6 <ut> non Sallustios, Livios, Tacito<s>, Trogos atque omnes disertissimos imitarer viros in vita principum et temporibus disserendis, sed Marium Maximum, Suetonium Tranquillum, Fabium Marcellinum, Gargilium Martialem, Iulium Capitolinum, Aelium Lampridium ceterosque, qui haec et talia non tam diserte quam vere memoriae tradiderunt. 8 sum enim unus ex curiosis, quod infi[ni]t<i>as ire non possum, ince<n>dentibus vobis, qui, cum multa sciatis, scire multo plura cupitis. 9 et ne diutius ea, quae ad meum consilium pertinent, loquar, magnum et praeclarum principem et qualem historia nostra non novit, arripiam.

Edited by sylla

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I had rhinovirus once. It made me horny.

 

Huh. When I had rhinovirus, all I got were unsightly little birds on my back.

 

-- Nephele

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My favorite fear-mongering are the local news 'teases'.

 

Real news teases;

 

"Could constant hiccups be a sign of cancer? Watch news8 at 10."

 

"Are you normal. Find out Tuesday at 11."

 

"How a twist on the Predator Law could shut down religion."

 

"Could your house be making you fat? Tomorrow CBSNews2 at 5."

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Usus autem sum, ne in aliquo fallam carissimam mihi familiaritatem tuam, praecipue libris ex bibliotheca Ulpia, aetate mea thermis Diocletianis, et item ex domo Tiberiana, usus etiam [ex] regestis scribarum porticus porphyreticae, actis etiam senatus ac populi. 2 et quoniam me ad colligenda talis viri gesta ephemeris Turduli Gallicani plurimum invit, viri honestissimi ac sincerissimi, beneficium amici senis tacere non debui. 3 Cn. Pompeium, tribus fulgentem triumphis belli piratici, belli Sertoriani, belli Mithridatici multarumque rerum gestarum maiestate sublimem, quis tandem nosset, nisi eum Marcus Tullius et Titus Livius in litteras rettulissent? 4 Publ<i>um Scipionem Afric<an>um, immo Scipiones omnes, seu Lucios seu Nasicas, nonne tenebrae possiderent ac tegerent, nisi commendatores eorum historici nobiles atque ignobiles extitissent? 5 longum est omnia persequi, quae ad exemplum huiusce modi etiam nobis tacentibus usurpanda sunt. 6 illud tantum contestatum volo me et rem scripsisse, quam, si quis voluerit, honestius eloquio celsiore demonstret, et mihi quidem id animi fuit, 6 <ut> non Sallustios, Livios, Tacito<s>, Trogos atque omnes disertissimos imitarer viros in vita principum et temporibus disserendis, sed Marium Maximum, Suetonium Tranquillum, Fabium Marcellinum, Gargilium Martialem, Iulium Capitolinum, Aelium Lampridium ceterosque, qui haec et talia non tam diserte quam vere memoriae tradiderunt. 8 sum enim unus ex curiosis, quod infi[ni]t<i>as ire non possum, ince<n>dentibus vobis, qui, cum multa sciatis, scire multo plura cupitis. 9 et ne diutius ea, quae ad meum consilium pertinent, loquar, magnum et praeclarum principem et qualem historia nostra non novit, arripiam.

Edited by sylla

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. . .destructive climate change. . .predictions of deadly pandemics. . . .Terrorist attacks with tiny number of casualties. . .foods are targeted. . .health danger. . .scaring us at our expanse. . .Media has become the place where this craziness it's propagated. . .

 

It occurs to me that the citizens of this Forum are in a position to take the 'long view' of all this silly angst. Be faithful to the principles of our heritage and know that we survive and prevail over the temporary ascendancy of [in the words of the US President] "small men with oversized rage". We are Rome's inheritors and we take the "long view".

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I don't know why we need to be afraid. There's so many threats we cannot escape from...

 

1 - Food is bad for you

 

2 - Drink is bad for you

 

3 - Driving cars will slaughter hapless hordes of inncoent beings

 

4 - Mountain sized meteorites are heading our way

 

5 - Space aliens are going to invade us any day now

 

6 - Jesus will pick up the faithful in a puff of smake and leave the rest of us to suffer damnation. Any day now. It's been prophecised.

 

7 - Climate change will kill us with heat prostration

 

8 - Climate change will kill us with another ice age

 

9 - Sasquatch will kill us because that's what hairy monsters do

 

10 - Dan Brown will destroy civilisation as we know it by inventing conspiracies that people believe in

 

11 - The earths magnetic field will flip over any day now and our bodies will work in reverse.

 

12 - Arcaeologisits will accidentially uncover Antlantean super-weapons

 

13 - Caldrail might go back to flying Cessnas

 

14 - If I've forgotten anything, please insert it on the end of the list...

 

Let's face it... We're doomed!

 

But Actually, yes we are. Ultimately human beings prefer certain ecological conditions and we can only thrive in them. The earth will gradually grow hotter and hotter (bar a few ice ages and such) until the sun burns it off in a few billion years or so. Just in case you were optimistic... ;)

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There is a high probability that at some point the Universe will start contracting in the Big Crunch resulting a pile up until even the atoms are crushed. If not the only other possibility is that the Universe will expand for ever and all stars will use up their fuel and freeze.

Looking out the window I wish global warming will occur faster...

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