Posts by Brock Talon

40

Liberal vs. Conservative mental health study - what do you make of it?

by Brock Talon in

a pew study from 2020 (but one i just now came upon myself) reported that the more liberal you are, the more likely you are to have a mental health condition.

the worst suffering group are white females, ages 18-29 where over 56% have admitted to be described by their own doctors as having a mental health condition.

conservative females of the same age group suffer at less than half that number (27%).. while women tend to have more mental health problems than men (don't be mad at me for saying it, this is what the study reports) it is notable that liberal men have a higher percentage of mental health conditions than conservative women in the same age group.

Brock Talon

This is why equality is no longer a concern of the Left, but equity. Equity is equal outcome without equal participation or equal qualification. Everyone should be accepted into college regardless of grades. Everyone should receive equal pay regardless of actual or potential output.

This is Leftist claptrap.

Consider: what makes college education special in the first place? Why is it desired at all? Anyone care to answer?

I will tell you: Because those with it have a greater chance at earner a "better" living. Study after study shows the college educated earn more over a lifetime than those without. THAT is in fact why people want to spend two, four or more years after high school to get that degree: TO EARN MORE THAN OTHERS and have a better life than others. If EVERYONE were to have a college degree, then its worth would become meaningless. That is why a high school education is now meaningless, because we as a society have pretty much buttoned that one up. There used to be a time when not everyone had a high school diploma, so it meant something at that time. Now it does not. Why in the world would we want to turn a college education into an extension of high school? This comes from the Bernie Sanders school of stupidity.

So then, if an advanced education has value, why should it be given away, or watered down such that just ANYBODY can go, regardless of grades, and then anyone can pass, regardless of achievement? There is an old joke that goes like this: "What do you call the person who graduated at the bottom of his class in medical school?" "Doctor!"

Yes, even those who go through a grueling Medical/Physicians degree program and just barely squeak by are still called Doctor. Do we now want to lessen that even more? Do YOU want the doctor who graduated at the bottom of his or her class operating on you? How about the affirmative action doctor who got in because they belonged to the politically correct demographic and "passed the test" only because someone needed a number to fill in? Now we want the standards to be lowered even more than that so that we have "equity"?

Leftist claptrap.

40

Liberal vs. Conservative mental health study - what do you make of it?

by Brock Talon in

a pew study from 2020 (but one i just now came upon myself) reported that the more liberal you are, the more likely you are to have a mental health condition.

the worst suffering group are white females, ages 18-29 where over 56% have admitted to be described by their own doctors as having a mental health condition.

conservative females of the same age group suffer at less than half that number (27%).. while women tend to have more mental health problems than men (don't be mad at me for saying it, this is what the study reports) it is notable that liberal men have a higher percentage of mental health conditions than conservative women in the same age group.

Brock Talon

Etude, if liberals are the ones who are so caring and the conservatives are heartless assholes, then why does survey after survey show that conservatives actually GIVE more, both in time and in money to various causes?

Spend some time reviewing the Philanthropy Round Table site to see that the HEAVY givers are conservatives.

https://www.philanthropyroundtable.org/almanac/statistics/u.s.-generosity

Or review this article: "Conservatives are more generous than liberals"

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/more-generous-liberals-conservatives-081500677.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAI2QtkEZjlgg5ZlPhE7CDvuP6qEKU2m_BbngaoT-7we1KKh5euy5B97G7_c842F0DGo7u_YoSEbrD9zIbtFojSVsPEZWG0IL0kKCSHea3_QOYmbD3wACy4_xiohv_XRcoa-PXtCnCssDr89YI3Pkv4r5AQL1aostdnEEJZWii83E

Or review this article: "Whatever you may think of Republicans, don't call them stingy."

https://www.realclearmarkets.com/articles/2018/11/06/whatever_you_may_think_of_republicans_dont_call_them_stingy_103479.html

If you search yourself you will find articles written by liberals who try to explain this away by saying things like "well, sure, conservatives have more than liberals, but they just mostly give to their churches...." or "Liberals give, but they just give differently. They give to the arts, while conservatives give to religious organizations or other similar charities."

I find these excuses for poor giving among liberals humorous. For starters, the AMOUNT of money in that first study is to be considered first: regardless of what KIND of giving you may think is worthwhile, conservatives just give more of theirs than liberals do.

Also to make a blanket statement that conservatives have more money than liberals seems kind of silly when the biggest media companies in the world are either owned or run by liberals. (Facebook, Twitter, Microsoft, etc.) Who said conservatives have more money? What study is that? And why does it matter anyway, when giving whatever money you may have to whatever charity you might consider worthwhile? Conservatives do more, liberals do less.

After most natural disasters occur, who is the one of the first groups that are in their helping those in need? Religious organizations, that's who. (Of course, not Jehovah's Witnesses though.) What is needed more at that time, a nice meal and a warm blanket, or some piece of artwork? Why is giving to the arts so much better than giving to churches? Also, there are many religious liberals and many non-religious conservatives, and as I have already stated in this thread, I believe this is a mistake to conflate these. But the excuse laden articles want to do so to obscure the simple fact that those who self-identify as liberals simply give their time and money less to their charities of choice. Period.

The only conclusion that can be drawn is that liberals just simply love to be generous with other people's money and like to talk a big game about "caring", but do not put their OWN money where their mouth is.

40

Liberal vs. Conservative mental health study - what do you make of it?

by Brock Talon in

a pew study from 2020 (but one i just now came upon myself) reported that the more liberal you are, the more likely you are to have a mental health condition.

the worst suffering group are white females, ages 18-29 where over 56% have admitted to be described by their own doctors as having a mental health condition.

conservative females of the same age group suffer at less than half that number (27%).. while women tend to have more mental health problems than men (don't be mad at me for saying it, this is what the study reports) it is notable that liberal men have a higher percentage of mental health conditions than conservative women in the same age group.

Brock Talon

jwundubbed, the survey was NOT of the medical professionals themselves, it was of people who have gone to a medical professional. THEY were asked their political leaning and then in the same survey asked if they had ever been told by a medical professional if they had ever suffered a mental health issue. Simple.

Your ability to understand the survey and the issue at hand is what is hinky.

40

Liberal vs. Conservative mental health study - what do you make of it?

by Brock Talon in

a pew study from 2020 (but one i just now came upon myself) reported that the more liberal you are, the more likely you are to have a mental health condition.

the worst suffering group are white females, ages 18-29 where over 56% have admitted to be described by their own doctors as having a mental health condition.

conservative females of the same age group suffer at less than half that number (27%).. while women tend to have more mental health problems than men (don't be mad at me for saying it, this is what the study reports) it is notable that liberal men have a higher percentage of mental health conditions than conservative women in the same age group.

Brock Talon

truth_b_known

Your input is interesting, as is the article you listed. Yours was the kind of feedback I was hoping for. And I do agree that Leftism and Liberalism are not exactly the same thing.

That said, I am of the opinion that Liberalism is currently being swallowed up by Leftism. I am not sure there are many middle-of-the-road liberals around any longer because if they do not espouse the extreme Leftist ideology that is being shoved down everyone's throat today, they will be "cancelled" and shouted down along with any true moderates not to mention conservatives.

For example, being Liberal in the U.S. used to mean that although the U.S. has faults and needs to be reformed, it is still the greatest nation on Earth. I don't see that espoused much any more. It is now more "The U.S. was formed out of racism and misogyny and should be torn down completely." Notice the Left says "Defund the Police" not "Reform the Police"... and I don't hear of many Liberals arguing against that nowadays for fear they fall into the conservative camp and be shunned by their peers.

For example, being Liberal used to mean that Capitalism is a valuable system that must be tweaked to benefit the whole more fairly - it can be reformed. Leftism says Capitalism cannot be reformed at all and we must take on a Socialist approach to everything. Looking at what the Joe Biden administration is doing right now shows that the Leftist ideology has taken over, without any real thought on the consequences. They are still paying people to sit on their couches rather than work at the all too many jobs that are available out there that employers cannot even begin to fill because they are fighting against our socialist-bent government. To what end? Why are we spending printed money for all of this? Leftism, that is why. Liberals would have made sure everyone works and tried to get a more "fair" wage. Heck, even Bill Clinton reformed the Welfare system because he understood it was better to give people a chance to work for their money on their own rather than suckling at the teat of the government their whole lives. Alas, there are no more Bill Clintons any longer. Just Leftists. Extreme ones like Bernie and AOC and forced ones like Biden and Pelosi.

--

I also think the article you listed had suppositions that I don't think I totally agree with. For one, it tied being conservative with being religious way too much. Heck, it's hypothesis weighs almost entirely on that premise. But then how do you explain our own board's Simon? He is definitely no longer religious, but his political ideology would be put squarely in the conservative category on most things. Caitlyn Jenner and many thousands like her are other examples. That is way too simple for me. I believe conflating religiousness with conservatism is much more egregious than conflating Liberalism with Leftism.

The one conclusion jump you also make that I simply don't agree with is that the Pew study's "mental health condition" is only neuroticism. How would you know that? Certainly neurosis could be one of those "mental health conditions" but the question posed was "has a doctor or other healthcare provider told you that you had a mental health condition" which as pointed out by another poster is a very broad question. You are narrowing it down way too much. And, even so, it does say that Liberals are AT LEAST neurotic - not exactly a good calling card. "Hey mom, I met a new girl I want to introduce you to. Yes, she has mental health problems, but don't worry, she's only neurotic."

The other thing that comes into question is simply a person's emotional makeup to begin with, before they ever even take on what we would call a political ideology. What I mean by that is this: Does Liberalism lead to mental health conditions or does having a mental health condition lead to being Liberal? Chicken or egg?

Either way, I would rather be in the percentage group without all that.

40

Liberal vs. Conservative mental health study - what do you make of it?

by Brock Talon in

a pew study from 2020 (but one i just now came upon myself) reported that the more liberal you are, the more likely you are to have a mental health condition.

the worst suffering group are white females, ages 18-29 where over 56% have admitted to be described by their own doctors as having a mental health condition.

conservative females of the same age group suffer at less than half that number (27%).. while women tend to have more mental health problems than men (don't be mad at me for saying it, this is what the study reports) it is notable that liberal men have a higher percentage of mental health conditions than conservative women in the same age group.

Brock Talon

It is amusing to me that this thread (as well as others I have read about commenting on this study on other sites) have people who question the veracity of the study, or they try to downplay it, or muddle the issue to deflect the import of what the study is actually saying.

Let me comment on some of these:

"Mental health is a broad term."

Sure it is. However, that broad term applies to every demographic equally. Whatever "mental health issue" means to each respondent, they all were asked the same exact question. It doesn't matter what that mental health problem/issue is, those who are self-described as liberal have more of them. Period.

"The conservatives probably don't admit it."

So liberals are more honest than conservatives? You mean the same liberals who wanted to destroy Brett Cananaugh for allegedly groping a girl while in high school 40 years ago with zero corroboration from her friends and family, but ignore and excuse Joe Biden for allegedly raping a woman while a sitting Senator with multiple corroborations from her mother (on Larry King!) and her friends? You mean those same liberals who spent millions and years trying to pin Russian collusion on Donald Trump with zero evidence in the end, but ignore an actual video of Joe Biden bragging about leveraging one billion in U.S. aid to Ukraine to have their top prosecutor ousted who just happened to be investigating his son, Hunter Biden, for corruption? You mean THAT kind of honesty?

"It could be that liberals just seek mental health help more than conservatives."

It could be. But the sick usually seek out help. That is why older people seek medical help more than younger people, because they are sick more. If liberals do seek out mental health help more often than conservatives it also may equally be because they need it.

"Creative, artistic people are more prone to being emotionally unstable."

Wow. So now ALL liberals are creative Kanye West types? And all Kanye West types are liberal? Oops, wait, Kanye is PRO Donald Trump, so that doesn't work. Even people like Caitlyn Jenner are conservative, so no, that doesn't work either. It is funny to see someone equate liberalism with being artistic and creative. I guess conservatives are not capable of being artistic or creative, you have to be liberal to have those skills? Who writes and sings all the country western music?

"The new generation seeks therapy more than older generations do."

This one amused me the most. They obviously did not even look at the chart or read the reports on the study because it crossed all age boundaries. Sure, the younger people in the study had the most self-reported mental health problems, but older people reported as well. That is why the study separated them into age groups. Even if older people do seek out therapy less, the proportions still say that liberals suffer more than conservatives in that same group.

--

The one thing this report does not talk about is other races. I only saw "whites" in this study. How do the other races compare, not just liberal vs. conservative, but black vs. white, etc. in the same demographic. I would really be interested in those figures.

40

Liberal vs. Conservative mental health study - what do you make of it?

by Brock Talon in

a pew study from 2020 (but one i just now came upon myself) reported that the more liberal you are, the more likely you are to have a mental health condition.

the worst suffering group are white females, ages 18-29 where over 56% have admitted to be described by their own doctors as having a mental health condition.

conservative females of the same age group suffer at less than half that number (27%).. while women tend to have more mental health problems than men (don't be mad at me for saying it, this is what the study reports) it is notable that liberal men have a higher percentage of mental health conditions than conservative women in the same age group.

Brock Talon

A Pew study from 2020 (but one I just now came upon myself) reported that the more liberal you are, the more likely you are to have a mental health condition.

The worst suffering group are white females, ages 18-29 where over 56% have admitted to be described by their own doctors as having a mental health condition. Conservative females of the same age group suffer at less than half that number (27%).

While women tend to have more mental health problems than men (don't be mad at me for saying it, this is what the study reports) it is notable that liberal men have a higher percentage of mental health conditions than conservative women in the same age group. It is also notable that those who describe themselves as "moderate" (neither liberal nor conservative) suffer mental health issues in the middle numbers between each of the groups.

There is no way around it: regardless of age and gender, the more liberal you are, the more likely you are to suffer from mental health issues.

https://www.eviemagazine.com/post/over-50-percent-white-liberal-women-under-30-mental-health-condition

https://wbckfm.com/new-pew-study-white-liberals-mental-problems/

https://www.wibc.com/blogs/mock-n-rob/pew-study-white-liberals-disproportionately-suffer-from-mental-illness/

54

What Do You Think of Dr. Fauci?

by minimus in

jw
friends

last year millions of people were singing his praises.

what’s your opinion of him right now?.

Brock Talon

Fauci argued in a 2012 paper that the benefit of Gain-of-Function research into bat virus "was worth the risk of a pandemic."

https://techstartups.com/2021/05/28/dr-fauci-argued-2012-paper-benefit-gain-function-research-bat-virus-worth-risk-pandemic/

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/world/anthony-fauci-backed-virus-experiments-despite-pandemic-risk/news-story/3c604681cfcbfeda88bac25e372a1b8a

Fauci then backed Wuhan lab with $millions of U.S. dollars.

https://www.newsweek.com/dr-fauci-backed-controversial-wuhan-lab-millions-us-dollars-risky-coronavirus-research-1500741

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/top-us-health-advisor-dr-fauci-backed-controversial-wuhan-lab-for-risky-coronavirus-research-report/articleshow/75449844.cms

For those who deny Fauci funded the Wuhan lab research (because Lefty reporting media denies that COVID even started in China or Wuhan at all) read here how Fauci ADMITS himself to funding the Wuhan lab research, but denies it was for "gain-of-function."

https://nypost.com/2021/05/25/fauci-admits-nih-funding-of-wuhan-lab-denies-gain-of-function/

I ask you, if Fauci wrote in a report in 2012 that "gain-of-function research" was worth the risk of a pandemic and then later in 2018-2019 funded a lab that did in fact perform gain-of-function research, why would we believe that the funding he provided was NOT for gain-of-function itself? Does that make any sense? What WAS the funding for then?

So, did COVID19 start in Wuhan? All evidence (supported by actual science) shows it did.

https://theprint.in/health/covid-19-has-no-credible-natural-ancestor-was-created-in-wuhan-lab-claims-new-study/668333/

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-57268111

https://www.axios.com/wuhan-lab-coronavirus-cdc-director-c599cf7b-9e30-4314-909b-a9bdac28ead6.html

Why are any of you out there STILL defending this lying moron?

10

Disneyland

by road to nowhere in

jw
friends

we just saw the disney ad on tv.

pimi wife says we never took the kids.

i wanted to reply that we used vacation for conventions and important stuff..

Brock Talon

Bethel Song [sung to the tune of "It's a small world"]

It's a world of hard work

A world of tears

It's a world of control

And a world of fears

There's so much that we share

Like the same underwear

It's a small minded world after all....

[chorus]

It's a small minded world, after all

It's a small, minded, woooooooorld.....

11

The Queen's Gambit (2020) One of the most enjoyable miniseries I've seen in awhile

by TD in

the queen's gambit is a 7 episode netflix miniseries about a female chess prodigy in the 1950's and 60's.. the story chronicles the life of the fictitious character, elizabeth harmon (anja taylor-joy) from the time she learns the game as an orphan clear up to the point where she defeats russian grand master, vasily borgov (marcin dorociński) to become the world champion.. female grandmasters are a rarity, so i was afraid the series was going to morph into an anti-male screed.

(it easily could have).

nearly every male character in the series, from the gruff but kindly william shaibel, the custodian at the orphanage who taught her the basics of the game and fronted her the money for her first tournament to vasily borgov himself is gracious and clearly delighted to play against a woman so talented in a sport dominated by men.. two notable exceptions were her pos adopted father who didn't care about her or his wife and a russian player who got a little salty when she kicked his butt in 21 moves.

Brock Talon

Interesting. I think I might want to watch this movie. Thanks for the tip.

I recently saw The Coldest Game on Netflix, which is a chess game / spy thriller. While it may sound exceedingly dull (it is chess after all) it was actually a surprisingly good movie. The protagonist was played by Bill Pullman (a Hollywood actor I enjoy watching) and a bunch of other very capable actors I don't think I ever saw before. They were placed in the Cuban Missile Crisis era and the lead plays a part in that famous JFK event as well as being a key person in the making of the atomic bomb years before.

With a flawed hero, deadly assassins, ruthless KGB and double agents, this movie is all fiction but based on real events.

It kind of made me want things to have actually gone that way in real life.

41

Governing Body; Villians or just Deluded?

by pistolpete in

are you sometimes dumbfounded at the direction the governing body takes?.

thousands of documents proving 607 bce is wrong, yet the gb sticks to the date, why?.

the generation that would not die, yet they continue by introducing an overlapping generation.. disfellowshipping at a time when everyone is leaving, not a good idea, yet they continue to disfellowship.. here is a video that addresses these questions.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbgeqhp9o9i.

Brock Talon

In Crisis of Conscience, Ray Franz expressed the opinion that they really believe it

For starters, the "Governing Body" is not one person. It is a group of people that has changed hands over time as individuals of the group die off and are replaced. Would you speak of the U.S. Supreme Court as if it were one entity? I think any time one generalizes about any group of people, they are either over simplifying or conflating.

That said, if the question was "do you think individual members of the governing body are villains or are they simply deluded?" then I could give my opinion on that.

Back in the early 1980's when I was at Bethel, I knew one member of the Governing Body very, very well. I actually did field service with him pretty much every week, often actually working with him one on one in field service. He was one of the few single GB members, so he did not have a wife to work in service with and that left us single guys able to rotate our field service with him. We often had lunch and/or dinner with him, and even attended congregation gatherings with him. I rode in a car to the meetings with him 3 times a week. I witnessed his sense of humor first hand, and could feel his earnestness in his prayers and the way he behaved in pretty much everything he did. This man was ALL ABOUT Jehovah, the Kingdom, Jesus Christ's return and every trivia point that the Bible had to offer. His mind was on these things all the time, so much so that even for a Bethelite, it seemed not human. Yet, there he was, all with a decent sense of humor (I teased him and others around me all the time and he laughed or smiled in most of the shenanigans I did) and was a kind and gentle person most of the time. I think I saw him cranky once or twice, but if there ever was a person who could be said to be "like Jesus" it was this man.

I recall one day we were approaching people in the subway to talk to them in field service and a man was at the magazine stand looking at the pornography side of the stand. As Bethelites, we always knew which side of the stands NOT to stand next to because that is were all the nakedness was on full display. Back then in those years it was not hidden much. Anyway, this GB member walked over to the man studying which girlie magazine he wanted to purchase and stood next to him while the man looked over the offerings. I stayed back, fearful of being seen next to the nude pictures. This GB member watched the man for awhile and the man finally noticed this little Yoda looking gentleman smiling at him. When the GB finally had the man's attention, he said to him "Why are you looking at all these naked girls? This is not what is going to make you happy. You need to feed your mind on spiritual things. Let me share this scripture with you..."

I met other GB members as well. I did not know them as well as the one I just described, but I saw them also quite frequently and witnessed their personalities. Some were nice, others were jerks. Some were full of themselves and others were relatively humble. Fred Franz was by then a nearly blind shell of what he probably used to be at one time, but it struck me how simply he was dressed and how little ANY of the GB actually owned for having toiled away most of the adult lives as the leaders of a large religion. Had they been executives of even a small company for that long of time, they would be quite well off. Most of the GB I knew of had little, all packed into a simple room. Granted, it was a room bigger than mine was, but still, nothing compared to what an exec of a large company would have.

My opinion: Most of the GB actually believe what they dole out. Perhaps there is one or two who know they are dealing out a bunch of crap and do their thing for power, prestige or whatever else. But I believe most have drank the Cool Aid and are serving it out to others. I think most are in a state of denial about the horrors they inflict on others, telling themselves that it is what God wants.

I say this because I have witnessed what many are like first hand and not because I want to make excuses for what they do.

That said, my experience was nearly 40 years ago, so I admit I do not know any of the new generation of GB. Perhaps they are different than those I got to know all those years ago and they are now all purposeful villains.

But I doubt it.