Sympthsical
Sympthsical's JournalPic of rally layout for perspective
I see a lot of comments/theories/questions arising from a lack of perspective of the rally layout. The cameras depth of field make it seem like the onlookers are mere feet behind Trump and that there is only one central bleacher. "Why aren't people behind Trump looking wounded?"
The bullets came from Trump's right and struck the set of bleachers in the lower right of the picture. (Captured the pic from the press conference).
The pictures and video we've seen running everywhere really do not give a good sense of where everyone was during the shooting, and the bleachers/people being struck where not on camera at the time. I thought this would help and maybe answer some of the posts I've been seeing.
BBC interview with man who witnessed shooter is wild
https://x.com/sharpfootball/status/1812265909727396107?t=madgPal51fzNJUSc0nbtVANote, for conspiracy theorists, the man says the SS probably couldn't see the shooter initially from their vantage (start at 1:55 for that).
But this sounds like some epic fuck uppery of not securing the area.
Is being normal sauce not an option?
We'll have more information than we care to have in a matter of hours.
Just a few hours.
It's extremely easy to not make the Right's memes and billboards for them.
How to Side-Step the Trap of News Addiction
Just, you know, putting it out there. Started idly observing recently and seeing some six to ten hour binges per day floating around. That is an actual problem with adverse impacts on individuals and those around them.
https://treatmentmagazine.com/how-to-sidestep-the-trap-of-news-addiction/
For example, 73.6% of individuals with severe problematic news consumption reported experiencing mental ill-being “quite a bit” or ”very much.” In contrast, such a frequency of adverse mental health effects was reported by only 8% of study participants not consumed by the news. Concerning physical consequences, 61% of those with severe levels of problematic news consumption reported experiencing physical ill-being “quite a bit” or ”very much.” In contrast, only 6.1% of the other study participants experienced such physical issues.
The takeaway? Extreme news consumption can be damaging. As Bryan McLaughlin, PhD, associate professor of advertising at the College of Media and Communication at Texas Tech University, explains, “For these individuals, a vicious cycle can develop in which, rather than tuning out, they become drawn further in, obsessing over the news and checking for updates around the clock to alleviate their emotional distress. But it doesn’t help, and the more they check the news, the more it begins to interfere with other aspects of their lives.”
Steps to take:
1. Avoid watching the news and read it instead. Not tuning in to the news prevents you from seeing the negative repetition of stories. Instead, rely on trusted written sources.
2. Diversify your news sources and get a balance of viewpoints. By taking this approach, you get a better perspective and a fuller picture.
3. Turn off push notifications from news sources on all devices. It’s important to accept that you don’t need to know everything immediately. News outlets employ the notion of “missing out” to manipulate viewers into consuming more of their content.
4. Carve out specific times to get your news and stick to them. If you find it essential to keep watching, limit yourself to twice a day for 30 minutes to an hour. This will enable you to maintain balance in your life.
Mental health and self-care are important.
This "one bad debate" refrain isn't helping
To be clear, I am not calling for Biden to step down. I don't know that it would help at this point, and an open convention would be a disaster for the civil war it would set off in the party so close to the election.
However, have we been absolutely head in the sand about the age issue? Absolutely. I just don't think people have wanted to have a clear-eyed view and acknowledge that the electorate was generally good with one term, but the minute a second term was announced, a lot of people went, "Wait, seriously?" How many times in how many different ways did people need to be shown polls about this issue before they would acknowledge the problem? I know DU has had a habit of, "It's ageism, there is no problem, and let us not talk about this again." But that is not what's going on in the rest of the country. You can't alert on everyone's kitchen table.
That's what's so irksome about the "one bad debate" refrain. It was not one debate. It was a major test. It was a test for millions of voters who were not sold on putting an 82 year old who has visibly slowed down in for another four years. This was the first time people were going to see the president without a prepared speech, teleprompter, notes, or a press conference with prearranged reporters. He had to stand up there, alone, solely dependent on his own abilities and faculties.
We saw what happened. And it is incredibly damaging in a way that other debates ordinarily would not be. Because this "one bad night" is actually the climax of two years of speculation and conversation among voters that has been amply illustrated in both polls and the culture at large.
I don't know what the answer is here. It doesn't matter, because I have no say-so over the course of events. Only President Biden has the power to make a decision in this case.
But saying, "Meh, had a cold. One bad night" and then being absolutely stymied by the reaction is betraying a lack of attention to people who exist outside of one's curated spaces. This is all I'm hearing about now - not just from political junky friends but people who normally don't talk about politics. My father-in-law who is 77 and has never in the history of ever discussed politics suddenly has a strong opinion about this. And this is a highly educated immigrant. Not a Trump fan.
President Biden is the only one who can get himself out of this by going out there and extemporaneously showing people he's up to another four years. Not reliant on prepared speeches, friendly audiences, teleprompters, or note cards. Just go out there and prove he is not being propped up in any way. That's the only course forward if he chooses to remain.
But the "just one bad night" ship has sailed, glued a rocket engine to the back, and disappeared over the horizon now. It's counterproductive. People think it's helping to say these things. It's not. It's quite the opposite. People outside of partisan spaces do not believe that right now. It's way past time (a year ago was past time) to acknowledge the reality of what the American electorate has been thinking and is thinking moving forward.
Well, good afternoon to you too, James!
My texts are out of control so far this election, but this was . . . kind of amusing/annoying/like-why?/but-still-entertaining.
But I really hope they're not sending that generally around, because it's so weirdly unprofessional to throw that at someone's phone (unsolicited, I may add). Not everyone is me who found it vaguely funny because of its inappropriateness.
Small favors, though. It's not an eight paragraph biography of the candidate (I keep. getting. those.)
Protestors block Jewish students from entering UCLA
Just wanted to toss this one out there for the people who are forever "not seeing any antisemitism" or think "It's all outside agitators!"
There are these people, and there are the people who make excuses for them.
This is illiberalism.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Palestinian_Violence/comments/1cgt422/jewish_ucla_student_blocked_from_entering_his_own/
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