This might seem paranoid, but…

[TiberiusPrime]

I'm an apathetic paranoid. I know they're out to get me, I just don't care.

 

[SimonDoom]

I'm an apathetic paranoid. I know they're out to get me, I just don't care.

I'm a fatalistic paranoid. I know they're going to get me eventually. Nothing I can do about it.

 

[Tio_Narratore]

That was the only Norwegian neighborhood I knew about in New York. I'd have to look up why they settled there.

It was very Norwegian. Even a Norwegian newspaper - Nordisk Tidende - and we had an annual May 17th Norwegian Day Parade. A soccer team as well - Goa - that operated in Norwegian. Interestingly, I reffed them in a tournament thirty years ago, same name, but all Latino. But if you want the museum of Norwegian Americans, you have to go to Seattle. The history of immigrant settlement in Brooklyn is fairly complex. In Sunset Park it seemed to be in waves that started at 3rd Avenue, closest residential area to the docks, and then moved inland, up the ridge and over as the immigrant group expanded and became more moneyed (though never really wealthy).

 

[gunhilltrain]

I'm a fatalistic paranoid. I know they're going to get me eventually. Nothing I can do about it.

Who do you think is mostly likely to get you? I would guess it's most likely a branch of the government. Corporations are more indifferent, just looking for a profit with little else in mind. Governments, however, like to have power and mess with people just for the hell of it. The most paranoid places have an authoritarian government, like the old Soviet Union. Stalin, in particular, was a master at using paranoia on the entire population.

 

[gunhilltrain]

Mum and Pops met online. Both sets of parents were very skeptical of the person their kid (though they weren't kids) was meeting. However, once they met their future son or daughter-in-law, they fell in love with them as well. I've never been on a dating site. I think these days, a lot of hookers use local dating sites. However, the streets haven't dried up either.

Streetwalkers mostly disappeared, in New York at least, because the entire situation moved on-line. Then newer groups have moved in, especially in the last five years, and they are on the streets again. Roosevelt Avenue in Queens is the new red-light district for them.

 

[MillieDynamite]

They, that's who, he told you that, didn't he?

Who do you think is mostly likely to get you? I would guess it's most likely a branch of the government. Corporations are more indifferent, just looking for a profit with little else in mind. Governments, however, like to have power and mess with people just for the hell of it. The most paranoid places have an authoritarian government, like the old Soviet Union. Stalin, in particular, was a master at using paranoia on the entire population.

 

[MrPixel]

Corporations are more indifferent,

Indifferent to a fault. In the US there are some safeguards against gov't intrusions, there are few to no safeties against corporate intrusions that in some cases can make one's life positively miserable. Recent specific "mass" example is what is called "telematics" in motor vehicles. This where your car rats on you every time you floor it, or brake hard, spontaneously uplinking that data to the manufacturer, who sends the data to a broker, who then sells it to your insurance company, who then doubles your insurance rates as "a risk". Obfuscation through chain of custody, at minimum, with no avenue for challenge.

NOT conspiracy - GM is being sued over this practice now that it was discovered. This started happening roughly with 2018+ model year, and the documented downstream effects came to light in 2023. Start here. Also search for "LexisNexis" and "telematics" for a real eye-opener.

Paranoid? Of course. There are hard reasons to be, as somebody is watching you.

 

[Comshaw]

I know I'm just paranoid, but EVERY TIME I walk past a shop with a window there's this old guy looking back at me, THE SAME GUY! He follows me every where I go! Isn't that some form of harassment or stalking?

Comshaw

 

[lovecraft68]

I have a black cat named Poe (Yes, of course she is named Poe) and she is a creepy little thing who is a living jump scare, she comes out of nowhere in the middle of the dark to do the yowling screechy thing and scare the crap out of you. hence anytime I leave the bedroom at night to go to the bathroom I'm on guard, looking around everywhere.

 

[Duleigh]

I know I'm just paranoid, but EVERY TIME I walk past a shop with a window there's this old guy looking back at me, THE SAME GUY! He follows me every where I go! Isn't that some form of harassment or stalking?

Comshaw

I'm just looking! Sheesh. Some people are so touchy!

 

[MrPixel]

Paranoid? Of course. There are hard reasons to be, as somebody is watching you.

Oh... and, locally, and suddenly, there are automatic license plate readers at nearly every corner, at least in our state. Your every move is being recorded, and, again, like telematics there is not a damn thing you can do about it.

At least our legislature saw fit to make commercial use of biometrics illegal - most commonly known as "facial recognition" - and there has actually been some enforcement of the law. But I understand that law is unique, and other states have not followed suit.

 

[Duleigh]

Oh... and, locally, and suddenly, there are automatic license plate readers at nearly every corner, at least in our state. Your every move is being recorded, and, again, like telematics there is not a damn thing you can do about it.

At least our legislature saw fit to make commercial use of biometrics illegal - most commonly known as "facial recognition" - and there has actually been some enforcement of the law. But I understand that law is unique, and other states have not followed suit.

As of 2024 Illinois, Texas, and Washington have passed legislation regulating private entities’ collection and use of biometric information. Nobody else. Fourteen other states have introduced bills which are pending or hanging in limbo.

You can track this information here.

 

[AG31]

Oh... and, locally, and suddenly, there are automatic license plate readers at nearly every corner, at least in our state. Your every move is being recorded, and, again, like telematics there is not a damn thing you can do about it.

At least our legislature saw fit to make commercial use of biometrics illegal - most commonly known as "facial recognition" - and there has actually been some enforcement of the law. But I understand that law is unique, and other states have not followed suit.

I thought this was supposed to be a humorus thread..... What you posted is just scary.

 

[SimonDoom]

If you're ever thinking to yourself, "I don't get what all this paranoia thing is all about," just watch the John Carpenter movie "They Live." Pay attention to the next pair of sunglasses you buy.

 

[Duleigh]

Do you want something to be paranoid about? How about this. A fellow that used ChatGPT and a nailgun to develop a home-made smartweapon. He insists that it will be a boon to the construction industry. Yeah Right. I'm from New York, I know what construction industry he's talking about.

"Hey buddy nice four-bedroom you got there. Be a shame should somethin happin to it. KnowhatImean?"

Check it out here...

 

[Tio_Narratore]

Oh... and, locally, and suddenly, there are automatic license plate readers at nearly every corner, at least in our state. Your every move is being recorded, and, again, like telematics there is not a damn thing you can do about it.

At least our legislature saw fit to make commercial use of biometrics illegal - most commonly known as "facial recognition" - and there has actually been some enforcement of the law. But I understand that law is unique, and other states have not followed suit.

In England some automatic plate readers, installed for detecting light-jumpers, are connected to electronic billboards. The reader accesses the registration, and the car model generates ads on the billboard targeted at likely demographics of the car owner.

 

[Tio_Narratore]

Do you want something to be paranoid about? How about this. A fellow that used ChatGPT and a nailgun to develop a home-made smartweapon. He insists that it will be a boon to the construction industry. Yeah Right. I'm from New York, I know what construction industry he's talking about.

"Hey buddy nice four-bedroom you got there. Be a shame should somethin happin to it. KnowhatImean?"

Check it out here...

Then again, some years ago the police set up a sting operation in Brooklyn. They opened an Italian bakery and waited for the mob to show up for extortion. The mob showed up, and told the "owners" which restaurants and delis would be their new customers.

 

[AlexBailey]

“Illuminaphobia” - a fear that one of your car’s tail lights may have failed when a Highway Patrol car appears in your review mirror.

 

[Duleigh]

“Illuminaphobia” - a fear that one of your car’s tail lights may have failed when a Highway Patrol car appears in your review mirror.

this is a real fear - ask any truck driver. And to insure that Illuminaphobia is not just paranoia but a real terror, the sheriff's department carries a tail light adjustment tool

 

[MillieDynamite]

Breaking a taillight cover (without damaging the bulb) makes following a car at night easy-peasy. Not that I've ever done that.

this is a real fear - ask any truck driver. And to insure that Illuminaphobia is not just paranoia but a real terror, the sheriff's department carries a tail light adjustment tool
View attachment 2472860

 

[TarnishedPenny]

This is going in directions I had not anticipated.

Teddy will come in handy tonight...

 

[SimonDoom]

I don't believe that aliens are trying to read my mind. I really don't.

But on the other hand, aluminum foil is cheap and after a while I don't notice it being wrapped around my head.

I'm just saying.

 

[StillStunned]

I don't believe that aliens are trying to read my mind. I really don't.

But on the other hand, aluminum foil is cheap and after a while I don't notice it being wrapped around my head.

I'm just saying.

I've heard that aluminium actually amplifies your brainwaves, and makes them easier for the aliens to read.

 

[SimonDoom]

I've heard that aluminium actually amplifies your brainwaves, and makes them easier for the aliens to read.

Damn. That explains so much.

 

[gunhilltrain]

this is a real fear - ask any truck driver. And to insure that Illuminaphobia is not just paranoia but a real terror, the sheriff's department carries a tail light adjustment tool
View attachment 2472860

The are breaking the law by damaging the vehicle. Don't complain on the spot (never worth arguing with them) but bring it up at a later date. With who, that is up to you. By the way, is this more common in certain states?