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Meteorologists harassed and threatened by conspiracy theory kooks.

9-10ths_Penguin

1/10 Subway Stalinist
Premium Member

The kooks have started putting their focus on urban planning, too.

They've started absolutely freaking out about "15 minute cities": the idea of trying to make neighbourhoods where most of your daily needs are within a 15 minute walk or bike ride from your home.

It's gotten bad enough that a county council in my area has moved their meetings online because of security concerns.

I've also heard from town and school board staff about getting angry calls after putting up signs near an elementary school (an inocuous thing where they did signs at different radii around the school saying "only a 5-/10-/15-minute walk to school from here!" so that parents who drive their kids would see them and hopefully realize that walking their kid is a reasonable alternative). The local wackos saw "15 minutes" on a sign and started frothing at the mouth.
 

9-10ths_Penguin

1/10 Subway Stalinist
Premium Member

From the article:

Under many of the agency’s Twitter posts, especially those that refer to more extreme weather, users have posted images of blue skies, crisscrossed with wispy, white trails. They falsely claim the trails contain a cocktail of chemicals to artificially manipulate the weather – keeping rain away and causing climate change.

A modest proposal:

Point the "chemtrails are causing climate change" conspiracy theorists at the "climate change isn't real" conspiracy theorists and get them to fight it out so they leave the rest of us alone.
 

exchemist

Veteran Member
Shooting the messenger is a very common phenomenon, whether in business (where it happens all the time, as I know to my cost), politics, or even the weather.

Very funny that some people are so deeply, deeply stupid as to think the weathermen actually control the weather, though.

Also funny that this "chemtrails" baloney is still going. I thought that had died out about a decade ago.

But where is @InChrist when you need her? She must have a view on this, perhaps involving the Bilderberg Group, Bill Gates and G5 masts. :cool:
 

ChristineM

"Be strong", I whispered to my coffee.
Premium Member
In America's case, many are incapable of critical thinking due their religious upbringing, making them more susceptible to political indoctrination and conspiracy theories.

INFORMATIVE

It's a sad condition that exists in other countries too.
 

SomeRandom

Still learning to be wise
Staff member
Premium Member

Is it bad that I actively seek out this kind of thing for entertainment?
Like one of the (admittedly very leftist) streamers I watch has a weekly segment of their daily streams dedicated to conspiracy theorist content. Affectionately dubbed Tinfoil Tuesday. The show even comes with a form of Bingo. That’s how predictable these guys are
 

Yerda

Veteran Member
A modest proposal:

Point the "chemtrails are causing climate change" conspiracy theorists at the "climate change isn't real" conspiracy theorists and get them to fight it out so they leave the rest of us alone.
They're often the same people. And often the very same people who will tell you with a straight face that covid isn't real and also it was created in a lab.
 
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exchemist

Veteran Member
Is it bad that I actively seek out this kind of thing for entertainment?
Like one of the (admittedly very leftist) streamers I watch has a weekly segment of their daily streams dedicated to conspiracy theorist content. Affectionately dubbed Tinfoil Tuesday. The show even comes with a form of Bingo. That’s how predictable these guys are
I like the idea of "Tinfoil Tuesday".

What I often wonder is whether these nutters were always among us, and we were simply unaware of them before the internet gave them a voice, or whether the internet has really caused a growth in adoption of nutty ideas.
 

rocala

Well-Known Member
It's a sad condition that exists in other countries too.

They're often the same people. And often the very same people who will tell you with a straight face that covid isn't real and also it was created in a lab.
We certainly have them in the U.K. I was quite shocked when somebody that I knew well told us that there was no climate crisis. She and her friend later added that the Nazi's were not all bad - there was no holocaust. The amazing thing was that we were actually volunteers on an environmental project at the time.
When covid appeared, I knew it would only be a short time before I started getting ridiculous emails from her.
 

SomeRandom

Still learning to be wise
Staff member
Premium Member
I like the idea of "Tinfoil Tuesday".

What I often wonder is whether these nutters were always among us, and we were simply unaware of them before the internet gave them a voice, or whether the internet has really caused a growth in adoption of nutty ideas.
Why not both?:shrug:

I do recall reading about conspiracy theories that were once “popular” during the Victorian Era.
And the internet, well, it has its downsides. Let’s just put it that way lol
 

Windwalker

Veteran Member
Premium Member
In America's case, many are incapable of critical thinking due their religious upbringing, making them more susceptible to political indoctrination and conspiracy theories.
I think that has more to do with the politically driven dumbing down of public education, than religious upbringing. If you make people dumber, it's easier to control them through uncritical political rhetoric. The country used to be far more religious than now, but the public education system was stronger back then.

That's where the difference lies. It wasn't being religious or not. In fact, the less critical thinking skills we develop, the more fundamentalist religious view grow. What we are seeing is an implosion of religious moderation, or mainstream views, both religiously and politically. The formula is make them dumber and easier to manipulate, then divide and conquer. It's what to do when you don't have anything to offer that people want, and you want to stay in power.
 
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anna.

colors your eyes with what's not there
The kooks have started putting their focus on urban planning, too.

They've started absolutely freaking out about "15 minute cities": the idea of trying to make neighbourhoods where most of your daily needs are within a 15 minute walk or bike ride from your home.

It's gotten bad enough that a county council in my area has moved their meetings online because of security concerns.

I've also heard from town and school board staff about getting angry calls after putting up signs near an elementary school (an inocuous thing where they did signs at different radii around the school saying "only a 5-/10-/15-minute walk to school from here!" so that parents who drive their kids would see them and hopefully realize that walking their kid is a reasonable alternative). The local wackos saw "15 minutes" on a sign and started frothing at the mouth.

I'd love to live in a 15 minute city. I live in car-centric SoCal, and everything is a drive. But then California is a big state with a lot of open space and a lot of suburban sprawl in and the only way to walk to everything is to live in the core of downtown and most people don't.
 

anna.

colors your eyes with what's not there
I like the idea of "Tinfoil Tuesday".

What I often wonder is whether these nutters were always among us, and we were simply unaware of them before the internet gave them a voice, or whether the internet has really caused a growth in adoption of nutty ideas.

They were always among us.
 

SkepticThinker

Veteran Member
The kooks have started putting their focus on urban planning, too.

They've started absolutely freaking out about "15 minute cities": the idea of trying to make neighbourhoods where most of your daily needs are within a 15 minute walk or bike ride from your home.

It's gotten bad enough that a county council in my area has moved their meetings online because of security concerns.

I've also heard from town and school board staff about getting angry calls after putting up signs near an elementary school (an inocuous thing where they did signs at different radii around the school saying "only a 5-/10-/15-minute walk to school from here!" so that parents who drive their kids would see them and hopefully realize that walking their kid is a reasonable alternative). The local wackos saw "15 minutes" on a sign and started frothing at the mouth.
Oh man, my brother-in-law is all over this for some reason. :rolleyes: Apparently he doesn't realize he already lives in a "15 minute city."

As someone who used to work in real estate, I can assure everyone, this has been an advertising slogan for many decades now and is nothing new.
 

Heyo

Veteran Member
What I often wonder is whether these nutters were always among us, and we were simply unaware of them before the internet gave them a voice, or whether the internet has really caused a growth in adoption of nutty ideas.
The nutters were always there, probably more than today. But not only weren't we unaware, but also the nutters. And that made/kept them humble. Now that they know that there are others, they proclaim their tinfoil opinions with the confidence of being in a group of "knowledgeable people". In the past it was much easier to teach them or at least shut them up.
 
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