Bizarre & Horrifying Maine Shooting

[LuxLuthor]

One area which really makes me angry is how much we spend on infrastructure projects compared to other places. Doesn't matter if we're talking roads, railways, subways, airports, etc. We regularly spend multiples of what every other first-world country does, often for inferior work. Case in point close to home, the Second Avenue Subway. We recently got a $3.4 billion federal grant for phase two. First I thought that would be enough to extend the existing SAS south to Hanover Square, and north to the Bronx, a total of perhaps 8 additional miles for those not familiar. Nope, it won't even cover the costs of extending the line 1.5 miles to 125th Street. That's slated to cost over $7 billion total. And that's despite the fact about 1 mile of tunnel already exists, left over from the aborted 1970s attempt at building the SAS.

The same garbage happens with every infrastructure project. I remember reading about a highway interchange costing half a billion dollars. Forgot where, but really? This type of thing should be a few tens of millions at most.

https://theconstructor.org/transportation/big-dig-tunnel-collapse/299046/. Don't forget the $2.8B "Big Dig" project in Boston that ballooned to $23B and counting.

 

[Falcon9h]

*Disclaimer: I have not researched this.

My impression, as a lay person, and simply going off of what I have heard, is that back in the 1970's or so, Geraldo Rivera did an expose on a psychiatric hospital, I think in NY or NJ, and uncovered a "snake pit", a psychiatric hospital that simply drugged and restrained the patients, and left them in their excrement for hours, basically, inhuman, unprofessional treatment. This expose got a lot of publicity, and began a movement to shut down psychiatric facilities nationwide. Then the thinking was that most mental patients could be treated with pharmaceuticals in an out-patient manner. So now we have mental patients out here in the wild with us, talking to the air, (you might imagine they are using a Bluetooth, but on closer examination, no earpiece) and other strange and bizarre behavior. Paired with the drunks and drug abusers, we have a real mess of humanity in the streets, everywhere. Couple that with the medical crisis, and you have a recipe for disaster when these patients can't get their meds and no supervision to make sure they take them.

I think that was Greystone in NJ or Pennhurst in Pa. Both horrific snake pits. The closings started in the early 80's.

 

[jabe1]

It would help a bit if the damn insurance companies would cover mental health care. Not all of them do, and they make it extremely hard to get coverage .There is not always a specific diagnosis, which is the only thing they understand.

 

[Falcon9h]

I feel much better avoiding watching the news. An hour of news makes you feel like it's the end of the world. Most of the stuff is beyond my control anyway, so why get aggravated with it?

I've had many hospital stays from mental health problems. Been diagnosed everything in the book. Psychiatry is like going to Vegas. Complete crap shoot. Took decades to finally come up with a workable regimen-and was on slews of unnecessary meds. Now on one antidepressant. The real recovery took place in the rooms of AA for me.
I don't watch news. Trying to stay out of depression, not in.
I still see a therapist. One thing above all she told me stuck above all: "Limit your toxic content."
Besides, the entire news media is the propaganda arm of the D party. Hard pass.

 

[alpg88]

One area which really makes me angry is how much we spend on infrastructure projects compared to other places. Doesn't matter if we're talking roads, railways, subways, airports, etc. We regularly spend multiples of what every other first-world country does, often for inferior work. Case in point close to home, the Second Avenue Subway. We recently got a $3.4 billion federal grant for phase two. First I thought that would be enough to extend the existing SAS south to Hanover Square, and north to the Bronx, a total of perhaps 8 additional miles for those not familiar. Nope, it won't even cover the costs of extending the line 1.5 miles to 125th Street. That's slated to cost over $7 billion total. And that's despite the fact about 1 mile of tunnel already exists, left over from the aborted 1970s attempt at building the SAS.

The same garbage happens with every infrastructure project. I remember reading about a highway interchange costing half a billion dollars. Forgot where, but really? This type of thing should be a few tens of millions at most.

I would be surprised if it was any different, cuz.......MTA.

 

[kaichu dento]

I keep seeing it said how depressing the news is, but it actually shouldn't be. Exposure to reality, even a deliberately negative spin on it, should never come across as anything worse than what it is; reality. Personal perspective is what drives the way we experience anything in life and I'm often reminded of a horrifying train/school bus collision where a girl had lost an arm. When help came to her she told them to go help other kids who needed the help more than she did. Perspective of a type that seemingly no longer exists in this country, well, maybe most first world countries anyway.

I can completely understand disappointment in what's reported in the news, but pretending it doesn't exist is partly how we got here in the first place.

"Whoever you are, or want to be, you may not be interested in politics, but politics is interested in you." Ignore what's going on at your own peril. Accepting what reality is and preparing for it, at the very least psychologically, will leave less chance of catastrophic depression if things take not only a turn for the worse, but beyond that, the very worst.

 

[IMA SOL MAN]

When I watch the news, it makes me truly thankful for all the blessings that I have received.

 

[jtr1962]

I can completely understand disappointment in what's reported in the news, but pretending it doesn't exist is partly how we got here in the first place.

"Whoever you are, or want to be, you may not be interested in politics, but politics is interested in you." Ignore what's going on at your own peril. Accepting what reality is and preparing for it, at the very least psychologically, will leave less chance of catastrophic depression if things take not only a turn for the worse, but beyond that, the very worst.

I don't disagree. A big part of the problem with watching news is trying to separate fact from fiction. I see way too much reporting where the reporter interjects their own opinion into the piece. Unless it's an op-ed, they should be like Joe Friday-"Just the facts, ma,am". Less sharp viewers will often take this opinion as fact.

Then there's entertainment masquerading as news. Again, less sharp viewers buy into it hook, line, and sinker.

An educated, informed citizenry is necessary for democracies to survive, but that also implies those charged with disseminating the news do so in an unbiased manner.

 

[Monocrom]

Reality is Depressing.
It's why so many people drink or take recreational drugs. Or, hard-core drugs.

(Seriously.... Take a good long hard look at this utterly diseased and insane world that Humanity has turned it into. Wasn't always this way.)

 

[bykfixer]

See, that's part of the problem. The world has always, always, always been a savage place. Until recently in the West, which actually has it pretty good in general and has more to be happy about than everywhere else yet the West are the ones with all of the complainers.

 

[bigburly912]

See, that's part of the problem. The world has always, always, always been a savage place. Until recently in the West, which actually has it pretty good in general and has more to be happy about than everywhere else yet the West are the ones with all of the complainers.

That's the whole problem. People live in a fantasy world that runs off of likes and upvotes and when they realize the world is real and real things happen every day they can't handle it.

 

[jtr1962]

(Seriously.... Take a good long hard look at this utterly diseased and insane world that Humanity has turned it into. Wasn't always this way.)

This is one reason why Musk's idea of sending a million people to Mars appeals to me. Those who are willing and able to make the journey will most likely represent the better part of humanity. So we go there, make our own little utopia, and to heck with everyone else. I know it sounds selfish but good people have been talking until they turn blue, only to be ignored by most because changing the status quo might cause some to lose money or power. The masses are brainwashed by those few in power to continue doing their bidding for them.

The handful of times we managed to create just, equitable societies didn't last, mostly because those on the outside got jealous and destroyed them, instead of following them.

 

[bigburly912]

This is one reason why Musk's idea of sending a million people to Mars appeals to me. Those who are willing and able to make the journey will most likely represent the better part of humanity. So we go there, make our own little utopia, and to heck with everyone else. I know it sounds selfish but good people have been talking until they turn blue, only to be ignored by most because changing the status quo might cause some to lose money or power. The masses are brainwashed by those few in power to continue doing their bidding for them.

The handful of times we managed to create just, equitable societies didn't last, mostly because those on the outside got jealous and destroyed them, instead of following them.

You do know that's how the United States was formed?

A group of people didn't like their situation and we have what we have today. What would make mars any different?

 

[wacbzz]

What the heck is this thread really about?

*Maine shooter
*Bullets
*How to write in millimeters
*Mental Health
*Actors
*US infrastructure
*College
*Mopeds
*Big Pharma
*Flea feces
*Mars

Really, I think this thread is just total proof that there's no such thing as mods anymore on this forum…

 

[jtr1962]

You do know that's how the United States was formed?

A group of people didn't like their situation and we have what we have today. What would make mars any different?

That's a good question. Offhand, I'd say the harsh environment will force people to cooperate with each other, instead of trying to kill each other. Remember conflicts are very resource intensive. On Mars you just won't have the resources for a sustained conflict. Also, especially in the beginning, the general IQ/education level of those who go will be far higher than the general population. Most problems created by man correlate inversely with education/intelligence.

The second part is we already know the mistakes made on Earth. We can decide to not repeat them.

 

[bigburly912]

The second part is we already know the mistakes made on Earth. We can decide to not repeat them.

Nobody is going to decide that. There will always be people hungry for more power. There's rocks on mars and there will be people on Mars. You can kill a man with a rock just as easily as a gun.

 

[jtr1962]

Nobody is going to decide that. There will always be people hungry for more power. There's rocks on mars and there will be people on Mars. You can kill a man with a rock just as easily as a gun.

True but that brings us back to the mental health discussion of this thread. Being power hungry is yet another pathology. Sadly, we revere this, calling it ambition, drive, whatever, instead of treating it as the pathology it is. Same thing with greed. By greed I mean the insatiable desire to keep accumulating far more stuff than you'll ever need, as opposed to getting enough to live decently. These things are pathologies which hopefully we'll figure out how to treat.

Another thing here is the fewer the number of people the more indispensable each one is. On that hypothetical Martian colony if you start murdering each other willy nilly in short order everyone dies. On Earth on the other hand probably half the population could disappear overnight and those remaining won't notice the difference.

 

[alpg88]

What the heck is this thread really about?

*Maine shooter
*Bullets
*How to write in millimeters
*Mental Health
*Actors
*US infrastructure
*College
*Mopeds
*Big Pharma
*Flea feces
*Mars

Really, I think this thread is just total proof that there's no such thing as mods anymore on this forum…

And we like it that way, in old times you would be already warned, not to assume moderators function, and not to discuss moderators actions or lack of them, but you do have a point, i do wish they would put karens in place, but freedom for all means you too

 

[jtr1962]

And we like it that way, in old times you would be already warned, not to assume moderators function, and not to discuss moderators actions or lack of them, but you do have a point, i do wish they would put karens in place, but freedom for all means you too

Also, the CPF of old had a bad habit of not just closing threads, but of deleting them entirely. Those threads often contained many long, thoughtful posts, in addition to the ones which got the thread deleted. I get closing threads if they become too heated, but not deleting them entirely. That to me shows disrespect for the time people put into posting.

A little self-moderation among those posting goes a long way towards reducing the need for official moderation.

 

[alpg88]

Pretty much, not to mention it is a cafe section.