Continuing with the political theme, I know that Dina McGreevey is a lying sack of shit. She tried to paint herself as a victim when her husband came out on TV but she 100% knew and they had an arrangement.
When McGreevey was first elected governor I was about to start work with the rest of my shift when I heard a few of them who were gay talking about how someone “In the family” was now governor. I asked what they meant and I was told it was an open secret in the community. He would frequent gay bars in the area and was not trying to hide it at all. At the time he was mayor of a large town and of course running for governor. Throughout his administration there were stories that came out through the state police that confrimed it. So much that there was no way she didn’t know and was complicit in the deception. Later I worked a National Guard detail at the governor’s mansion years after he was gone. I hung out with the old security guard who had been through many administrations. He said the McGreevey’s were the only ones that wouldn’t let the State Trooper security detail or the guards into the Governor’s Mansion. That’s like not letting the secret service into the White House. I have multiple other reasons to believe she knew and credible sources I heard stories from. Of course I can’t prove anything.
I also know that being gay had nothing to do with why he had to resign. The PTB already knew he was long before he resigned. There were multiple credible allegations of corruption that were coming to a head and he was told to resign or he would come out on the wrong end. Again I believe who I heard it from but it’s hearsay I have no proof.
I don’t think there was anything that anyone could have done to forestall the conspiracy theories. It was just too tempting an opportunity. Gossiping is what humans do.
My point is that they didn’t help matters. In a hundred ways, the investigation made things look shadier than they needed to look. (I’m trying not to derail this into another JFK thread, so I won’t cite examples, but there are obvious ones).
I’m convinced that Dino Eggs, the early 80s game I played as a kid on my Commodore 64 and today on an emulator, has some sort of sophisticated AI built into its programming. It is absolutely devious in how it behaves, especially on the higher levels.
I can infer from certain behaviors that the game doesn’t act randomly in many instances, which is perfectly explainable. But I can’t explain how intentional it seems to behave when thwarting the player. It’s creepy and really frustrating.
I have always considered this a bit of an exaggeration.
I worked as a weapons loader at a stateside fighter base, during my youth. And no, we did not have live weapons at our base, and absolutely could not have loaded live missiles on short notice. But every fighter in the inventory has a 20mm gatling gun, regularly loaded with training ammunition. While the shells were not filled with explosives, they were still a good-sized hunk of lead moving at a couple thousand feet per second. And activating the gun system on the ground was about a 30 second job – I have done it hundreds of times.
Which seems a more than adequate weapons system against an non-maneuvering airliner.
I always assumed the gun was plan A; and ramming was plan B, but a much better story.
I used to think that. Until I met my DIL who is convinced that deep down, I know that God exists but just won’t admit it. I don’t of course, but I have to accept that her belief is real. And she is really intelligent.
Not only is this attitude extremely common in Christianity, there’s even a Bible verse that says as much - the verse in the New Testament that says that deep down, unbelievers know God exists and are therefore “without excuse.” That’s why many Christians are so adamant that atheists are in denial.
And even without guns, the fighter jets might have flown in front of the Boeing’s cockpit and roasted its windshield and the cockpit and occupants of the cockpit with its engine exhaust, or induced some sort of wake turbulence.
Years ago I attended a Bigfoot “convention”, mostly out of curiosity and to laugh at the rubes. Paid a cover charge and realized most of the people attending were there to point and laugh also. Meanwhile, the Bigfoot people raked in a gortune from cover charges, food sales, t-shirts, etc.
Never been to marriage counseling myself, but one thing I suspect but can’t prove: The vast majority of marriage counseling is either 1) akin to performing CPR on a dead person (way too late,) or 2) is meant to get the therapist to serve as a an ally to team up 2-vs-1 against the other spouse.
I feel certain that, even as religious people are aware at some level – and it might, as in my case, be quite conscious – that there is a different kind of truth embodied by science and data and fact, atheists also know, on some level, that there is truth that is deeper and more profound than any science can approach. They often cannot admit it to themselves, but there is a part of them that knows this.
I imagine that, very often, when one member of a couple suggests counseling, it’s because they think it’ll be a 2-vs-1. Quite possibly, both partners think that (with each one thinking they’ll be in the majority, of course). But I expect that the vast majority of counselors are professional enough not to take sides, which probably often ends up annoying both members of the couple.
I’m certain that most descriptions of dreams are heavily edited to sound coherent, and that most people would sound completely batshit insane if they described their dreams accurately.
When my wife separated from her then-husband, he insisted they go to marriage counseling. The counselor ended up concluding that he was 99% of the problem. They divorced soon afterwards.
Marriage counselling 99% of the time has nothing to do with marriages and relationships. It’s mostly teaching people basic introspection, communication & trust building tools so they can better understand what they want, how to truly see their partner and activities the two can engage in to see if their relationship can be repaired. The only reason we call it marriage counselling is that people can only ever be convinced to learn these things from a professional when their romantic relationship is on the line.
Almost everyone who depends on close interpersonal relationships and would benefit from them working better could benefit from marriage counselling techniques. You don’t necessarily have to hire a professional to work with you one-on-one but being familiar with the types of exercises that marriage counselors use, what their purpose is and how to put them into practice are basic skills I think would benefit any manager, anyone who feels lonely or anyone who is confused about their life path and what brings them joy.
As for how it specifically works in actual settings, I’m sure there are plenty of bad counsellors who can’t help but bring their own trauma into the situation and take sides but a lot of the time, you’ve seen enough relationships that you’re more like an engineer that’s trying to diagnose a malfunctioning piece of equipment and you have the same feelings towards it as any other piece of equipment coming through your door.
At the end of the day, some relationships can be fixed with the right effort, some could be fixed by a talented enough counselor but this person isn’t it and, by the time a couple walks through the door, many just can’t be fixed nor should be fixed. I think most counsellors don’t view their primary value add as fixing anything, but in providing clarity that can provide comfort even if the relationship were to end. They help people better understand what forces were driving them to get together in the first place, what each is seeking from the other that the other is incapable of giving and for both parties to try the best they can to adjust their behaviors and change but to also understand the limitations of change any other person is capable of. Often, the main hurt of a relationship ending is the hurt and confusion over why it happened and the constant “what if” of could anything have been different and counsellors can help provide some modicum of closure and release.