The Cons Of Overthinking

The Climate Change Conspiracy

  NO. 1

Climate Change is a widely talked about subject since the late 19th century. It is the rise of the average temperature on Earth’s climate system, and while there have been past periods of global warming, the rate it is going on right now is at an unprecedented level. But many conspiracy theorists believe that climate change must be a hoax, or has been invented for financial and ideological reasons.  Human influence is obviously the largest contributor due to climate change or global warming, but ‘’allegations have been made that scientists and institutions involved in global warming research are part of a global scientific conspiracy or engaged in a manipulative hoax. 

 Climate change denial ‘is a latecomer to neoliberal anti-environmentalism, it is now become the countermovement’s pivotal issue in battles against environmental regulations. Neoliberals hold that the issue provides license for wholesale intervention everywhere. Anti-environmentalism has been, from the start, a keystone of neoliberal anti regulatory politics.’’  Many politicians, celebrities, and magazines have stated that climate change is a hoax, scam or elaborate conspiracy, and this is dangerous because it convinces the public that climate change is a hoax as well; especially because the more power a person has the more convincing they become.

NO. 2

Donald Trump, in 2012, has stated that,  "The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive." Really? Climate change is not a scam created by a neighboring country, it is something real that affects everyone on the planet. ‘’The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) concluded that ‘human influence on climate has been the dominant cause of observed warming since the mid-20th century. These findings have been recognized by the national science academies of major nations and are not disputed by any scientific body of national or international standing. Impacts include the extinction or relocation of many species as their ecosystems change, most immediately in coral reefs, mountains, and the Arctic.’’

   Unfortunately, economic stability will always be the reason for ignoring or abusing the environment. Conspirators and those who deny climate change will also see it as changing the jobs they’ve taken, the lives they’ve led, and the politicians they’ve followed, not to mention that getting the American public to understand and care about climate change is a challenge, even with the many conspiracies out there. ‘’Reeling from conservative attacks over liberal bias, ‘mainstream media’, seeking ‘editorial balance,’ often grant parity to ‘climate skeptic’ news releases and policy papers, from right-wing think tanks and their bought experts and pundits, with peer-reviewed science. Having increased leverage in recessions and periods of economic insecurity, many Americans are receptive to conservative views--that regulating fuel efficiency, and thereby vehicle size weight, increases energy prices and taxes ‘kills jobs,’ violates freedom of choice and threatens overall liberty.’’

NO. 3

    The way the media frames climate change doesn’t help inform people either on how to safely combat climate change, where every frame somehow includes a doomsday scenario, so much that it disempowers how people will react, and respond. Tropical storms, rising oceans, heat waves, reduction of snow and ice, and high carbon dioxide in the atmosphere will only increase if we choose to do nothing and believe that the science is wrong. When Hurricane Irma hit Houston, it showed real life consequences to climate change--as ocean temperatures increase, more hurricanes will become more severe and catastrophic. But those who reported and interviewed people, mainly conservatives who deny or deflect climate change is in the wrong for even presenting that to their audience. ‘’Those supplying the media with information--scientists, politicians, and NGO’s--share some of the blame. The way they media frame climate change will affect how audiences respond. Challenges include making stories more relevant to audiences, raising the profile of adaption and the perspectives of the poor, and reporting on ways to address climate change that brings additional benefits.’’

   Conspiracies have the ability to be fun, cause drama, and bring people together---they can also bring disarray and be wildly inaccurate. They can also be dangerous to the general public for fueling theories over science; climate change is real, and whether these theorists believe it or not, is based on whether or not human influence. We have the power to change the way the world has become.

The Taliban, Al-Qaeda, and the people affected

NO.1

20 years ago, the U.S took action and invaded Afghanistan after the events of 9/11. No Afghan person was involved in such events, and have been victims themselves to the Taliban and Al-Qaeda prior to 9/11; for 20 long years, innocent Afghan civilians have been suffering, displaced, and killed in a war the U.S incited. Now, as reports came in two weeks ago, President Biden has finally pulled the U.S troops out of the country, the Taliban, now stronger than ever, stormed the capitol of Kabul, declaring it under Taliban rule now.

NO. 2

How was the Taliban and Al-Queda created? Who formed them? By the U.S, during the Cold War Era! The C.I.A, at the time, entered the country to fight against Russia/communism. Once the Russians left that side of the country, so too did the U.S, leaving heavily armed militants with American weapons with nothing to fight against except civilians. ‘‘The CIA gave birth to Osama Bin Laden and breastfed his organization during the 1980′s. Former British Foreign Secretary, Robin Cook, told the House of Commons that Al Qaeda was unquestionably a product of Western intelligence agencies. Mr. Cook explained that Al Qaeda, which literally means an abbreviation of “the database” in Arabic, was originally the computer database of the thousands of Islamist extremists, who were trained by the CIA and funded by the Saudis, in order to defeat the Russians in Afghanistan. America’s relationship with Al Qaeda has always been a love-hate affair. Depending on whether a particular Al Qaeda terrorist group in a given region furthers American interests or not, the U.S. State Department either funds or aggressively targets that terrorist group. Even as American foreign policy makers claim to oppose Muslim extremism, they knowingly foment it as a weapon of foreign policy.’’

NO. 3

‘‘Pashtana Durrani, the founder and executive director of LEARN, a nonprofit focused on education and women's rights, said she had run out of tears for her country. "I have cried so much there are no more tears left in my eyes to mourn. We have been in mourning the fall of Afghanistan for now quite some time. So I'm not feeling very well. On the contrary, I'm feeling very hopeless," she said. Durrani said she'd received text messages from boys as well as girls, who despaired that years of study were "all for nothing." She said the Taliban kept talking about girls' education, but they hadn't defined what that meant. Islamic studies are assumed, but "what about gender education? What about professional education?" she asked. "If you think about it, it makes you hopeless because there's no answer for it."

NO. 4

In fact, in the 1990’s, the Taliban had a strong hold on the country, forcing women to into arranged marriages, banning them from school, and executing those who were not wearing their full-face veils, not to mention banning women from professional careers. The Taliban supported Al-Qaeda to plan terrorist attacks on Western nations. Now that the U.S has left, ‘‘some Taliban members want to address local grievances, others wants to return to the brief period prior to 9/11 when the Taliban controlled Afghanistan in the late 90’s, and the establishment of a caliphate.’’

Agent Carter

I AM SO HAPPY #AGENTCARTER GOT RENEWED

I can understand not wanting to get pregnant or have kids but y'all do not need to take that out on pregnant people themselves

The Study of Creation Stories

In every culture on Earth, people make up creation origins. I say origins because I am aware that many people still believe in their individual God, OR gods, and therefore, in their own creation origins. The purpose of these stories is is to reassure us, humans, that we are not alone, that we were created to have some purpose, and that there was a reason we are alive here today. Creation myths exist because every culture has one, and that is to say that some individuals created us for a reason. Creation myths can influence how the history of the world or society is viewed by the type of story the creation myth has originated from, based on how the society is living.

NO. 2

Some of the similarities among these creation myths are that in the beginning, the world is dark, but some deity or animal comes and sets the world with light and color. The deity sets to work and makes the world with animals, man, mountains, rivers, etc. In the Aboriginal Creation Origin, an endless tall pole is coming out from the ground and emerges from the land in the time before time. At the end of the pole, Ka-ro-ra, the Creator God was the one who was sleeping at the end of the pole. Ka-ro-ra produces sons by dreaming of them, searching for fruit. The Greeks made it so that the Earth was a battleground, devoid of life from the early battle of the gods, until the titan Prometheus created humans out of clay, modeling them in the shape of the gods. Except that leads to the horrible end for him, when he asked the king, Zeus for fire. As most people know, Prometheus was chained to a rock with an eagle to pick out of his liver for all eternity for stealing fire to give to the humans.

NO. 3

Creation stories are entertaining to hear, regardless if you believe them or not. Before modern technology, people only had their imagination and word of mouth to get them through the day. That’s why archeologists deduced early humans’ cave drawings and stories as ways that show that they were there, that they should be remembered and celebrated. Each creation's origin story is designed with each society's culture and views in mind. In the Inca myth, it mentions planting and plowing fields, which is what the men do, and the art of weaving and cooking, which is what the women do. Each person comes together, pro-creates, and teaches this to their children, and the cycle repeats.

Tezcatlipoca, or "One Leg".

NO. 1

Tezcatlipoca is the god of the night sky, hurricanes, obsidian, conflict, and providence. When depicted, he usually wore a talisman with a disk worn as a chest pectoral. While depicted with black and yellow stripes painted across his face, he is usually shown with his left foot replaced with an obsidian mirror, bone, or snake, as it was lost to the sea monster Cipactli in the mythos. In the Aztec religion, he was the central deity. In Aztec or Mesoamerican folklore, he and other gods could shapeshift, and he was no different as his counterpart was the illusive but powerful jaguar, which is why he is known as the jaguar god.

NO. 2

This figure is extremely popular, and worshipped by the Mayan and Olmec communities. His name in the Mesoamerican language means ‘Smoking Mirror.’ This deity has numerous epithets which allude to different characteristics, like Ipalnemoani ("He by Whom We Live"), Necoc Yaotl ("Enemy of Both Sides"), and Tioque Nahuaque (‘Lord of the Near and the Night’), etc. His power to omnipresence was more a connection that extended far beyond obsidian since ritual bloodletting and human sacrifice were conducted with obsidian. Apart from being a creator god, he was also a trickster and ruled over the modern Aztec pantheon.

NO. 3

Tezcatlipoca, according to Aztec mythology, was born to the primordial creator deities Ometecuhtli and Omecihuatl, and had four siblings; one of whom, Quetzalcoatl, the god of the wind, patron of priests, and inventor of calendars and books; he was known as the Serpent Feathered god. The brothers feuded as much as they worked together, working towards the same goal but sometimes in opposition towards each other. After being born, this deity spent over 600 years for his youngest brother Huitzilopochtli to grow flesh before Tezcatlipoca and Quetzalcoatl, together, made the world. Before the world was made, the only thing that was technically alive were a few gods, a massive ocean and the sea monster, Cipactli, which Tezcatlipoca successfully lured away and killed by using his foot as bait. Both brothers were able to create the world on the sea monster’s body.

Midsommar: Horror redefined

NO. 1

So, technically Midsommar is a horror movie, written and directed by the great Ari Aster, debuted in 2019 and got raving reviews, and the film centers around Dani, played by Florence Pugh, who goes through an incredible, traumatic journey that ends in an equally incredible and yet extremely disturbing note. So, why are we talking about this film instead of the ‘myths’ or folklore stories? Well, because this is a film that isn’t like generic horror; it doesn’t include supernatural, it doesn’t have goblins, demons, fairies, but humans. Humans, in this film, is the scariest monster. In this instance, the Harga cult, who shows Dani love and acceptance she was denied the whole movie.

NO.2

Spoilers, for anyone who hasn’t seen Midsommar: So, what makes this movie horrifying? By how bright everything is. In the beginning, of course, it’s dark. Dani has lost her whole family, unfortunately, to a murder-suicide. She is stuck in a toxic relationship with her boyfriend, Christian, who longs to break up with her but is too cowardly to do so. The horror aspects happen when they and their friends go on a, funnily enough, anthropological research trip to Sweden, at the height of the Midsommar festival where they meet the Harga community, (cult). Many of what the Harga community does, like watching the elder’s die by suicide over a mountain, a tactic of eugenics, the disappearances of Christian’s friends, which he later finds out were gruesomely murdered, and then was tricked, and subsequently, raped, while Dany is having panic attack after panic attack was all planned. The use of light, for instance, is used oppressively for all of the visitors, and the isolation of language and traditions is used to ‘differ’ everyone. The cult is mostly open to Dani, for they chose her to join. A cult seeks to have more members, to grow within their own traditions, and not to question anything that occurs, no matter how horrific.

NO. 3

Now, Midsommar is a horror movie, and quite different from the actual Midsommar festival! So, what is the Midsommar festival? It is a holiday to celebrate the arrival of summer because Sweden, where the holiday is commensurate, is known for its long winters. It predates Christianity and is primarily held close to the summer festival. ‘‘The maypole or Midsummer pole is decorated with greenery and flowers. As it turns out, the maypole is a comparatively new part of Swedish Midsummer tradition. It came to Sweden in the late Middle Ages from Germany, where the pole was decorated with leaves and raised on May 1 (hence the name). Since spring comes later to Sweden it was hard to find the greenery to decorate the pole on May 1, so the tradition was moved to Midsummer. Some sources also attribute the perpetuation of the term majstång, or maypole, to the archaic Swedish word Maja, meaning ‘to decorate with green leaves.’ The traditional dance around the pole has changed around the centuries though, and it involves all sorts of folk dancing in traditional costumes, as well as all games for all ages to join in.’’

In conclusion, Midsommar is a movie that explains that not all bad things can be done in the dark. In fact, most evil and horrific acts are especially done in the light. One of the main themes of this movie is loss, and how grief affects people. Unfortunately for Dani, she is driven insane by the cult’s doings and has been accepted into the Harga cult unknowingly.

Krampus, the legend!

During the Christmas season, every young boy and girl awaits their presents and gifts with eagerness, hoping for Santa to make their way to their homes. The saying, you better watch out, you better not cry, you better not pout is the official song for Santa Claus as he is checking his list for all the good boys and girls. But for those who are naughty children, the invention of the famed horned goat Krampus who works together with St. Nick.

NO. 2

Created in Eastern European folklore, Krampus, meaning ‘claw’, is depicted as a horned, half-demon like monster who terrorizes naughty children, hitting them and beating them with whips, other versions having him with chains, sometimes shaking them to scare the children, equipped with a sack or a basket strapped to his back, to cart off the children chosen to be either eaten or dragged to Hell. He even has a holiday dedicated just to him, celebrated in Germany and now, because of the film, in America as well, called Krampusnacht, or Krampus Night, on December 6. In this long and very funny tradition, spectators dressed up as Krampus appears in the streets, visiting homes and business, along with his devilish accomplices, evil elves and imps, the total anthesis of Santa Claus, who help Krampus scare people and onlookers in the streets.

NO. 3

Because of the resurgence of the celebration of Krampus in the late 19th century, including popular greeting cards with his image and funny rhymes and poems, not to mention the many horror movies or TV shows in North America, gaining traction and popularity every time Christmas comes around. Or maybe it’s because of the intense, heavy commercialization around Christmas time, meant for family and friends. So, here’s the question, do you celebrate Krampus, or Christmas as a whole, or do you think he’s just a myth better left to the children?

This genocide is not just Netanyahu’s creation. This genocide is a state-funded terrorist machine propping up American imperialism and Israeli ethnosupremacy saturated by religious imperialism.