Another great roundup. Thank you! And can anyone explain why people do shit like create stupid conspiracies around things like the fires on Maui? Ridiculous.
Pretty simple really. Psychologist Rob Brotherton, in his book Suspicious Minds: Why We Believe Conspiracy Theories (2015), argues that conspiracies are largely the result of the "misattribution of agency." Usually this is when something bad happens - think the assassination of JFK, or 9/11, Covid-19, and now the fires in Maui - people want to know who (what "agent") is responsible. Same thing when something incredible happens - think the moon landing - but not as common. If no answer is immediately forthcoming people will make something up. Alternatively if they don't like the official answer given then they will invent an answer they think is more plausible. A lot of people have trouble believing that a group of thirdworld terrorists could have successfully pulled off an attack on US soil as devastating as 9/11, so they assume the US government must have been in on it. Likewise people don't think we have the technological capacity to send people to the moon, so the US government faked the moon landing on a sound stage with the help of director Stanley Kubrick. Most conspiracies of this type also ascribe a kind of hyper-competency and bureaucratic omnipotence to the US government. Which brings to mind a favorite Umberto Eco quote: "Conspiracy theories are what happens when people stop believing in God, but keeping asking whose doing His job."
Sure, it can apply to people directly affected. Anti-vaxxers still catch Covid and catching Covid doesn't change their views on the topic. Advocates of false flag conspiracies involving school shootings include the parents of children who were victims. I don't know if it's more or less common for people directly impacted by an event to believe a conspiracy about it or not. It would be interesting if there was some statistical data on that angle.
It is risky to believe everything in articles written by journalists. Coatis or coatimundis are native to the United States in New Mexico and Arizona and they are occasionally spotted in Texas but the extent to which they may have any ongoing populations there is unknown. They were introduced to Florida where they apparently have become established. South of the border, in addition to being found in Mexico and South America, they are found in Central America. Although it is apparently legal to own them as pets in Oklahoma, from what I know of wildlife laws, I very much doubt that that is true everywhere in the US.
Each state will differ, obviously. My mention was intended to apply to Oklahoma. The failure of the journalists to check with actual experts about the potential for coatis to be in the US naturally is totally unsurprising since they seem to do little work to ever get facts in stories about unusual animal sightings.
Anyone out there know how stapling a sign to a power pole could endanger anyone besides the utility worker climbing a pole? That's assuming the person stapling the sign isn't on a manlift or ladder.
Aug 20, 2023·edited Aug 20, 2023Liked by Sharon A. Hill
From Energex's Facebook post, Aug. 12: "Someone narrowly escaped with their life this afternoon after plugging a staple through an 11,000 volt cable on a power pole – you can see the scorch marks on the stapler and the sign." Based on comments, either the cable was improperly shielded, or the cable was stapled above 2.4 meters, the minimum height of extra cable protection on a high voltage "feed pole". I was ready to discount the "11,000 volts" as an error on the journalist's part until seeing the Facebook post. This must have fed a transformer on the ground. Also from comments, the problem of signs being fastened to power poles is widespread there, and there's little enforcement of their prohibition. Seems to be little love for Energex, www.productreview.com.au shows them at 1.6 out of 5 stars with 68 reviews. One thing is for certain, there was only one news report which was repeated nearly verbatim in the echo chamber.
Thanks for this! I don't normally see cables visible at ground level on poles but I suppose it could be possible. Incredibly stupid of someone to have tried this.
Another great roundup. Thank you! And can anyone explain why people do shit like create stupid conspiracies around things like the fires on Maui? Ridiculous.
Pretty simple really. Psychologist Rob Brotherton, in his book Suspicious Minds: Why We Believe Conspiracy Theories (2015), argues that conspiracies are largely the result of the "misattribution of agency." Usually this is when something bad happens - think the assassination of JFK, or 9/11, Covid-19, and now the fires in Maui - people want to know who (what "agent") is responsible. Same thing when something incredible happens - think the moon landing - but not as common. If no answer is immediately forthcoming people will make something up. Alternatively if they don't like the official answer given then they will invent an answer they think is more plausible. A lot of people have trouble believing that a group of thirdworld terrorists could have successfully pulled off an attack on US soil as devastating as 9/11, so they assume the US government must have been in on it. Likewise people don't think we have the technological capacity to send people to the moon, so the US government faked the moon landing on a sound stage with the help of director Stanley Kubrick. Most conspiracies of this type also ascribe a kind of hyper-competency and bureaucratic omnipotence to the US government. Which brings to mind a favorite Umberto Eco quote: "Conspiracy theories are what happens when people stop believing in God, but keeping asking whose doing His job."
This seems to apply to outsiders far removed from the events. Does it apply to people directly affected? What do they think?
Sure, it can apply to people directly affected. Anti-vaxxers still catch Covid and catching Covid doesn't change their views on the topic. Advocates of false flag conspiracies involving school shootings include the parents of children who were victims. I don't know if it's more or less common for people directly impacted by an event to believe a conspiracy about it or not. It would be interesting if there was some statistical data on that angle.
It is risky to believe everything in articles written by journalists. Coatis or coatimundis are native to the United States in New Mexico and Arizona and they are occasionally spotted in Texas but the extent to which they may have any ongoing populations there is unknown. They were introduced to Florida where they apparently have become established. South of the border, in addition to being found in Mexico and South America, they are found in Central America. Although it is apparently legal to own them as pets in Oklahoma, from what I know of wildlife laws, I very much doubt that that is true everywhere in the US.
Each state will differ, obviously. My mention was intended to apply to Oklahoma. The failure of the journalists to check with actual experts about the potential for coatis to be in the US naturally is totally unsurprising since they seem to do little work to ever get facts in stories about unusual animal sightings.
Anyone out there know how stapling a sign to a power pole could endanger anyone besides the utility worker climbing a pole? That's assuming the person stapling the sign isn't on a manlift or ladder.
I’m confused too. I can’t immediately figure out how this happened.
From Energex's Facebook post, Aug. 12: "Someone narrowly escaped with their life this afternoon after plugging a staple through an 11,000 volt cable on a power pole – you can see the scorch marks on the stapler and the sign." Based on comments, either the cable was improperly shielded, or the cable was stapled above 2.4 meters, the minimum height of extra cable protection on a high voltage "feed pole". I was ready to discount the "11,000 volts" as an error on the journalist's part until seeing the Facebook post. This must have fed a transformer on the ground. Also from comments, the problem of signs being fastened to power poles is widespread there, and there's little enforcement of their prohibition. Seems to be little love for Energex, www.productreview.com.au shows them at 1.6 out of 5 stars with 68 reviews. One thing is for certain, there was only one news report which was repeated nearly verbatim in the echo chamber.
Thanks for this! I don't normally see cables visible at ground level on poles but I suppose it could be possible. Incredibly stupid of someone to have tried this.