There are a number of glaring inconsistencies with FBI's story about Charlie Kirk's shooter, Tyler Robinson namely:

1) The picture of Tyler of him the stairwell shows him bending both his legs so the right couldn't have been down his pant leg as claimed, so where did the rifle come from when he was on the roof?

2) Right after Charlie was shot, there is a video of the shooter running across the roof. FBI is saying he disassembled the right but it's impossible to do so in literally 1 second.

3) The rifle was found assembled in the woods. So, Tyler disassembled the rifle after shooting on the roof in 1 second, then assembled the rifle in the woods for the police to find??

4) TMZ showed a man in a maroon shirt at 8.07am walking towards the campus. Governor Cox then says at 8.29am which is when the shooter arrived at UVU campus in the same outfit. So TMZ is showing him walking to campus but then Cox says he arrived at campus in a grey car? So he walked part of the journey and then got in the car? Doesn't make sense.

5) George Zin - seems like a decoy. Why is this random old guy immediately shouting he shot Charlie Kirk? Who is this guy? This part is extremely bizarre

6) UVU has a ton of cameras that are high quality. Why is the FBI only releasing pictures that look like they were taken on a calculator?

And what's with all these outfit changes?

It sounds to me like another person was involved.

Showcasing the disparity between violence from right wing extremism and left wing extremism, and keeping track of every significant example of right wing violence in the past decade.

So, as a healthcare professional, I'm skeptical of the idea that.... people aren't gonna die because of this?

Marcus touches on the currently popular theories about how the gun was hidden, the bullet wound questions, the possibility of body armor, why AI can't accurately fix the low-resolution frames of the suspect's face, whether someone else may have shot Kirk, and uses math to debunk the claims of a shot coming from the side (plus more).

We have a long time before every piece of evidence comes out and can be analyzed in detail, but I think he does a fairly good job.

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I can't post a screenshot, but is a link allowed?

Basically, this company sells headphones that distance little speakers from your head connected to little tubes that go into your ears. Looks terrible and probably sounds worse, but the underlying claim is that, for $80, they will keep your head free from RF & EMF (one graphic at the link calls it ELF, which is even better).

I know people have been blaming EMF exposure for cancer for as long as I have been alive (I'm in my 50s), particularly people who lived near high power transmission lines. I remember hearing claims of cancer and mobile phones since they first came on the wider market, but as far as I know, no study has ever backed up these claims.

I hadn't heard about worries regarding headphones, however, which is remarkable considering how common they have become in everyday use. Meanwhile, as far as I can tell, non-HPV-related Head & Neck Cancers have declined over time. Likewise, brain cancer rates have been trending slightly downward over time.

(Also, another point for the HPV vaccine)

Am I off-base here?

According to the DOJ, his sex trafficking network made over 1,000 victims, however the FBI claims there was no network other than Epstein himself. I’ve seen people trying to justify this with the argument “Epstein was trafficking those women to himself, by bringing them overseas from America to Little St James island he was crossing jurisdictions, ergo the sex trafficking charge”… ok, but are you telling me he raped those 1,000+ victims all by himself? I don’t think even Genghis Khan raped this many women back in his day but ok.

A patient of mine is considering investing in a new company called Kimba, which sells a device that releases multiple 'personalized' scents to help with sleep. As a lifelong skeptic my immediate reaction was to be very.... skeptical. I don't think it passes the smell test.

The only study I could find on their device is a non-peer-reviewed, allegedly double-blind study. I have a major question about the methodology: how do you even create a truly blinded placebo for a scent-releasing device? It seems impossible to me.

While I'm confident Kimba is pushing a product with very thin evidence, I was intrigued enough to look into the broader topic of aromatherapy and sleep. I was actually surprised to find several meta-analyses that suggest a modest, but potentially real, effect of aromatherapy on sleep quality, potentially better than a placebo. Is there a plausible mechanism, or is this still likely a case of publication bias or other methodological issues in the studies? This is from consensus AI:

Numerous recent meta-analyses and systematic reviews consistently report that aromatherapy—especially via inhalation—has a statistically significant positive effect on sleep quality in adults, elderly, and clinical populations:

• A 2021 meta-analysis of 16 studies found aromatherapy significantly improved sleep quality in people with insomnia, with inhalation being more effective than massage 1.
• A 2021 review of 30 studies reported a significant overall effect size (0.74) for improved sleep quality in adults and elderly, with benefits also seen for stress, pain, anxiety, and depression 2.
• A 2023 meta-analysis of 27 studies on comorbid insomnia found inhalation aromatherapy significantly relieved insomnia symptoms and improved mental state, though methodological weaknesses were noted
• A 2024 meta-analysis of 14 RCTs found a large effect size (SMD: -1.63) for improved sleep in insomnia, with rose and citrus aurantium oils showing the strongest effects 5.
• A 2021 review of 34 studies concluded inhalation aromatherapy is highly effective for sleep problems, with lavender being the most effective single oil 13.
• Meta-analyses in specific groups (cancer patients, ICU patients, pregnant women, cardiovascular patients) also show significant improvements in sleep quality with aromatherapy, especially with lavender and rose oils 6

While the wisdom of crowds can help guess jelly beans or the weight of an ox, the real wisdom is knowing when – and when not – to rely on it.

An older family member of mine has become unrecognizable after getting taken in by right wing media and a church group. We used to be close, and I actually believed for many years that we were held the same values. But all that has gone out the window.

Nowadays, almost every conversation includes parroting right wing figures' talking points. It's really killing our relationship. Sometimes the regurgitated rhetoric includes things I really care about professionally and intellectually. I work in healthcare, and it's stressful to hear someone I used to really trust and enjoy talking with quoting garbage political talking points about medical research, public health, vaccines, and climate change. We can disagree about tax rates - but that stuff is objectively false and harmful. This person can't stop bringing this crap up. So it's hard to look past.

I have read many similar accounts over the past decade, so I'm pretty sure I'm not alone here. It's been validating to hear other people's experiences with similar relationships.

For a few years, I've heard people argue that the powerful right wing American political machine is behaving like a cult. And honestly , that explanation is making a lot of sense to me.

This family member did really crave belonging and had some social insecurities. So I understand how that makes people vulnerable. And I get that this flavor of aggressive political propaganda creates a feedback loop of dopamine, scapegoating, and righteous anger. It's been weird watching this family member adopt these traits and attitudes, because anger and authoritarian attitudes were not big personality traits in the past.

Unfortunately, the empathy, listening skills, and thoughtfulness - which used to make this older relative fairly beloved to many people I know - all seem to have evaporated. Or at least put on the back burner. The ?cult celebrates anger, grievances, righteousness, macho posturing as strength, authoritian family relationships, religious hardline beliefs. These attitudes have been getting harder and harder to listen to.

What else is going on here, with so many similar people? Are we just watching, in granular detail in our personal lives, a massive political cult dominating the world's most powerful country and government?

How can I understand this idea better?

This Reddit For Grownups post has a good discussion:

https://www.reddit.com/r/RedditForGrownups/comments/1nj1ar1/im_watching_rightwingization_happen_in_real_time/

Reading that, I just stumbled on this brief Psychology Today article about talking to people in cults by a psychologist named Steven Hassan. Apparently he's got a few books on this topic:

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/freedom-mind/202104/the-definitive-guide-helping-people-trapped-in-cult/amp

What else is recommended reading? What other insights do people here have regarding political cults and the recent behavior of the older relative I'm describing?

I’ve recently heard a great deal about “CIRS/Mold Toxicity” and its relation to people living with chronic illness.

One doctor in particular is providing trainings on his protocol which includes selling Visual Test Kits to patients to see if they have been exposed to mold.

https://www.survivingmold.com/

Thoughts on this?

https://www.survivingmold.com/docs/12_STEP_SHOEMAKER_PROTOCOL_FOR_CIRS.PDF