Friday, July 24, 2015

Friday Water Cooler

Trump is popular because Americans are angry (wonkwire.com). And anger makes you do things you're not proud of later.


What Donald Trump was up to while John McCain was a prisoner of war (WaPo). Lest we forget.

I gave up Ayn Rand for Bernie Sanders: How I grew up and traded libertarianism for a progressive “socialist” (salon.com). I wish this article had been longer. I, too, started out an Ayn Rand fanatic (decades ago, when she was hitting on Nathaniel Branden) and ended up, well . . . where I am now.

CO2 emissions are dropping not due to good policy, but economic recession (rawstory.com); or at least, that hypothesis is, in fact, supported by new research.

Woman recruited by Google four times, and rejected each time, joins age discrimination suit (computerworld.com). The median age of a Google employee is 29. It's a youth culture, plain and simple. I saw it on my own in-person interview there. (At age 56, I sure as hell didn't get the job.)

LA police discover arsenal of 1,200 guns in dead man's home (theguardian.com). Police found the 1,200 guns and two tons of ammunition "after the man’s decomposing body was found in a car down the street from his home in the Pacific Palisades neighbourhood." UPDATE: Bob Smith (the dead man) had told fiancée he was "an undercover operative for the government."

Washington’s first year of legal marijuana sales generated $70 million in tax revenue (thehill.com).

Labor force participation rate (click to enrage).

Numbers Needed for the Prime U.S. Workforce to Recover (econintersect.com). "The charts above offer strong evidence that our economy is in the midst of a massive structural change. The three mainstream employment statistics — unemployment, labor force participation and employment-to-population — all document an ongoing economic weakness far deeper than the result of a business cycle downturn."

Why We Hate Poor People (dailydot.com). Because the reality that poverty is not a choice anyone makes voluntarily collides with our childish devotion to the idea that capitalism is a meritocracy. (Duh.)

Alex Rocco
Hollande proposes a Eurozone government (openeurope.org.uk). Pure fantasy.

NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton wants "resisting arrest" to be a felony charge (observer.com) because obviously, only a felon would resist arrest, right?

Comparing how security experts and non-experts stay safe online (googleonlinesecurity.blogspot.com). Interesting research from Google.

Austerity is the New Auschwitz (this blog). I changed the title. It used to be "Greeks Are the New Jews."

R.I.P. Alex Rocco (avclub.com), aged 79. Was best known for his unforgettable portrayal of mobster Moe Greene (shot in the face at the restaurant) in The Godfather.

  ❧   
 
Have you checked out my free book Mental Health Myths Debunked? Tons of info, tons of live links, lots of straight talk about depression, meds, therapy, psychiatry, mental health trends, statistics, and more (documented, with links to sources). And you know me, I call bullshit on bogus ideas (then give URLs to the actual data). The idea that antidepressants take weeks to do anything? Myth. Most people benefit from antidepressants? Myth. Antidepressants separate from placebo in clinical trials? Largely myth. (Half the trials show separation. Half don't.) Electroshock therapy is safe and effective? Bigtime myth. But don't take my word for it: Read the science for yourself. It's all laid out (with references) in the book. Download ePub or PDF now at NoiseTrade. Tell a friend.

  ❧ 

Retweet this post! It is with tremendous gratitude that I salute the great folks who retweeted me yesterday:



Have you added your name to our mailing list?

Also please visit HackYourDepression.com when you have a chance, and share that link with someone you know who might be suffering from anxiety or depression.