Selling my collection

Bolero

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Internet, Social Media, TV, Cable News Channels, Media at large, Big Box Stores......
All have created a Lifestyle & Mindset that is bringing down America compared to post WWII when we all had to Fend for ourselves...
Its not going to change for the better, it will just slowly become worse,until we become just another Socialist Entitity struggling to survive.....
Extreme Liberal Left Wing Democrats are responsible for all this.......
 

Forsoothe!

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It's no coincidence that both Aldous Huxley and George Orwell were born and raised in the UK system in an age of liberalism where the state had the means and authority to decide to "help and guide" citizens. Orwell evolved from flaming liberal through Marxism and was driven back to reality by Communism. Huxley grew up in a science and literary environment and wandered thru drugs and mysticism. Both understood the limitations of the "Perfect Society", whether provided by modern social thinkers or science and mandated by government. My perfect may not be your perfect, but since I'm smarter than you, and in-charge...
 

Cadillactaste

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Adam says he doesn't know anyone from NY, NY. He's not sure if he's ever talked with him. (Going off the images shared.)

So friend list means nothing, again.. I'm not saying this guy is doing anything with ill intent. I just don't trust people.

Raffles...seems to put me off.

Now, another friend...was a seller to this one. Never had an issue with him. Other than he was thinking he was from Carolina...like possibly North Carolina.

Again, I'm not saying he has bad intentions. But that was two friends which are mutual I reached out to. The location thing...threw me. Unless he has a partner in this. But this one has met him in person. Knows nothing of this group.
 

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Paradox

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I think well before that we are going to have self-driving cars, and if you want to drive yourself, you will have to pay a huge insurance premium, because self-driving cars will be proven to be safer than human-driven cars.

Driving a car will become a luxury activity for the rich... similar to flying private airplanes.

Honestly I think that being able to read a newspaper or take a nap while my car drives me to work would not be such a bad thing
 

Bonsai Nut

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Honestly I think that being able to read a newspaper or take a nap while my car drives me to work would not be such a bad thing
Yeah I'm not saying it will be bad. When you stop to consider the $trillions of hours wasted every year just sitting in a car doing nothing, it is astounding.

For a couple of years I commuted to work on the train. It was slower than the car, but it was much cheaper, and you could actually DO something with your time. I used it to read books and practice guitar. My guitar teacher was astounded because I was his only student who practiced two hours a day!
 

ConorDash

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Speaking of trains, check out how derailed this topic is lol.

To a certain extent, ignorance is bliss. Knowing too much about things only causes you to lose sleep over things you can do nothing about and have no real impact on your life. Comparable to Bonsai.
Sometimes we go TOO much in to certain things and it turns us in to nervous wrecks who look at 100 different reasons why the tree's leaves started getting black tips. Also results in being afraid to work on trees. I use my own experience here again.

In the end, there was no way to confirm any of those reasons were true, and so nothing is really learnt. Just lost a few months of your life due to stress and makes you nervous to do more work in future.
 

Bolero

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It's no coincidence that both Aldous Huxley and George Orwell were born and raised in the UK system in an age of liberalism where the state had the means and authority to decide to "help and guide" citizens. Orwell evolved from flaming liberal through Marxism and was driven back to reality by Communism. Huxley grew up in a science and literary environment and wandered thru drugs and mysticism. Both understood the limitations of the "Perfect Society", whether provided by modern social thinkers or science and mandated by government. My perfect may not be your perfect, but since I'm smarter than you, and in-charge...
Orwell was his Pen Name....he died very young at 47 I think, just a few months after he published his "1984" Novel, his money and fame came from "Animal Farm" which he considered a reveal-all slam on Communism....
"1984" was his Legendary work piece and what makes him famous, he was actually a tragic figure and deserved better.....
 

Owen Reich

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Not sure what’s going on, but I’ve met a lot of bonsai people all over. I have thinned my Facebook list and and met a lot of them or they are people I want to see posts from internationally. A four hour workshop with 8 people doesn’t always constitute knowing or being friends with someone. Being friendly is my nature 😁.

Invoking name of anyone for a defense should be used less unless you know that person’s approach to the matter well. Taking pieces of a talk or video and using those pieces to solve a different issue usually ends badly and worse, you’ve confused people. Very frustrating to see someone ask questions with Help!!! added, then attempt to advise others the following week.

Glad there’s a forum and well meaning folks involved. Auctions are better than raffles imo
 

Boscology

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Facebook is for selling things to unhappy people, I have spent thousands promoting ads on FB and it is much more specialized than Google Adwords. With FB you can create visual ads that appear to specific users down to a very extraordinary level, you can make it so specific that only the exact people you determine will encounter a visual impression of your ad (happy b-day darling).

The purpose of marketing/advertising is to get you the consumer to change your mind, and make you act in a way that you would not otherwise beforehand.
 

TinyArt

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Of course, I’m going to post pictures here. Let me take good pictures and I’ll post in a few days. Thank you!
It’s been one month since that post. 😕

A picture’s worth a thousand words — let’s assume this was a cautionary tale, and waste no more of ours.
 

BonjourBonsai

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Internet, Social Media, TV, Cable News Channels, Media at large, Big Box Stores......
All have created a Lifestyle & Mindset that is bringing down America compared to post WWII when we all had to Fend for ourselves...
Its not going to change for the better, it will just slowly become worse,until we become just another Socialist Entitity struggling to survive.....
Extreme Liberal Left Wing Democrats are responsible for all this.......
Does anyone else find it ironic that capitalism writ large in the form of Facebook, google, etc. is creating this socialistic dystopian that everyone fears? The state has been complicit in not exercising more control over the evils that we are all complaining about. But that's a far cry from 1984. Or is it?
 

Flowerhouse

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Because of the bonsai auctions, I decided to give Facebook another chance. I created an account that I used for several years almost exclusively for bonsai auctions, though I also would casually look at international bonsai studios and events. I ended up accepting about 4000 "friends" from tons of bonsai people all over the world.

A few weeks ago, out of the blue, Facebook locked my account because they said I was using Facebook from a location they "didn't recognize". As far as I'm concerned, that is code for "we were once again using personal information in a way that you didn't intend or approve". I use a unique email for Facebook, and still have my password, but they will not allow me to log in - without first calling three international bonsai studios, asking them (in a foreign language) to visit a unique Facebook page where they are supposed to obtain a code and send it to me. Then when I enter the three different codes, I will regain access to my account.

Guess I'm back to not having a Facebook account :)

The irony... even though they are blocking me from using my account, that isn't stopping them from spamming my email with status updates, etc. I can't access the account to turn them off... so they will be spamming me until the end of time - if I hadn't known better by creating a unique Facebook email. I don't think I can even contact Facebook to have them delete my account - you normally have to be logged into your account to ask them to delete it.

Facebook is a joke. As I have said in the past, never EVER give them your information. They are the black hole of security risk on the Internet.
Yikes, this thread is all over the place! Just wanted to say that breaking up with FB is more fun than having them break up with you. FB is clingy, wants you to think about it for a month before you decide to actually break up. Reminded me of a guy I once knew....
 

Forsoothe!

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Does anyone else find it ironic that capitalism writ large in the form of Facebook, google, etc. is creating this socialistic dystopian that everyone fears? The state has been complicit in not exercising more control over the evils that we are all complaining about. But that's a far cry from 1984. Or is it?
The government is not smart enough to be complicit in arranging lunch, much something complex like a conspiracy between government forces and moguls of commerce. The problem we have is government does nothing well, and they do nothing, extraordinarily well. They used to be 25 years behind society's level of social progress, but now even that would be an improvement. How many Congressional inquires have they held in just the last half dozen years, and how many have accomplished anything at all, even just a better understanding of this or that by anyone? Zero. In fact all they do is muddy the waters and give each other political segment more reasons to distrust each other. Shakespear said, "If you want justice, first kill all the lawyers". Close, but no cigar. If we want good government first kill all the politicians and fire all the bureaucrats, and start all over again. Jefferson was right when he said that government would need to be refreshed with the blood of patriots every couple generations. Easier said than done.

It's not hard for ruthless people to do things that enrich themselves and others like them without actually conspiring. The interests of Fakebook, Google, Twitter, et al are all served by a government too dumb to see that the culprits are using our system against us, and they all know it. Each does their own thing. Just like the politicians. In 250 years have we done anything about politicians, or have they burrowed deeper into government, permanently. Remember, we didn't start with "politicians" running from one public office to another higher up, we started with the concept of the patriot as a part-time, temporary representative who returned to the farm or mill after doing his duty for a term. A laughable concept, considering the nature of mankind.
 

bonsaibp

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Internet, Social Media, TV, Cable News Channels, Media at large, Big Box Stores......
All have created a Lifestyle & Mindset that is bringing down America compared to post WWII when we all had to Fend for ourselves...
Its not going to change for the better, it will just slowly become worse,until we become just another Socialist Entitity struggling to survive.....
Extreme Liberal Left Wing Democrats are responsible for all this.......
No corporate greed is responsible for this and most corporate heads are republicans
 

Cadillactaste

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Spiraling down a rabbit hole of no return...

I know this was known as a peace pot. But the rabbits remind me of a rabbit hole this thread fell into. Thus...🐇 🐰... 💗
20210502_131336.jpg

My hand reached out to help save you all...

I'm heading outside to go mess with my trees...have a blessed day!
 

BonjourBonsai

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The government is not smart enough to be complicit in arranging lunch, much something complex like a conspiracy between government forces and moguls of commerce. The problem we have is government does nothing well, and they do nothing, extraordinarily well. They used to be 25 years behind society's level of social progress, but now even that would be an improvement. How many Congressional inquires have they held in just the last half dozen years, and how many have accomplished anything at all, even just a better understanding of this or that by anyone? Zero. In fact all they do is muddy the waters and give each other political segment more reasons to distrust each other. Shakespear said, "If you want justice, first kill all the lawyers". Close, but no cigar. If we want good government first kill all the politicians and fire all the bureaucrats, and start all over again. Jefferson was right when he said that government would need to be refreshed with the blood of patriots every couple generations. Easier said than done.

It's not hard for ruthless people to do things that enrich themselves and others like them without actually conspiring. The interests of Fakebook, Google, Twitter, et al are all served by a government too dumb to see that the culprits are using our system against us, and they all know it. Each does their own thing. Just like the politicians. In 250 years have we done anything about politicians, or have they burrowed deeper into government, permanently. Remember, we didn't start with "politicians" running from one public office to another higher up, we started with the concept of the patriot as a part-time, temporary representative who returned to the farm or mill after doing his duty for a term. A laughable concept, considering the nature of mankind.
I agree with you on many of the points you make. I was pointing out that the FANGs are products not of Extreme Liberal Leftwing Democrats but of middle of the road democrats and republicans whose campaigns are funded largely by exactly these corporations. I would bet that the more socialist learning members of government would be in favor of breaking up the FANGs or at least severely limiting their powers. Historically, the trusts were busted by the lefties and presently, the EU is doing a much better job at reigning in their powers.

By the way, Shakespeare would have made an excellent lawyer, he was too smart though.
 

Forsoothe!

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"Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely" a familiar quote because we see the effects down through history, lots. Coupled with, "The road to Hell is paved with good intentions" is also a kind of roadmap that we look at in hindsight when things go badly. I don't think that people start out to dominate, but it happens as a natural extension of a successful strategy one step at a time and when enough money or market is accumulated that competitors can be easily bought out, then or by then, the psychology has evolved to do anything to protect the flanks and the game changes subtlety to exercise the power of the market and pocketbook. There are too many examples just in America to list from railroads, steel, oil, to coal when the trust busters finally stepped in and changed the balance of power granting unions power to argue the point, but that resulted in business' running away and taking their jobs from here to there until it was obvious that didn't work that well either. The truth is that we never figure it out beforehand. This time is no different except that society and technology is changing so fast that new regulation might be foiled before the ink is dry, but the damage done by the wrong kind of legislation can last a generation.

And we still kill trees because we do things that didn't work out well before, but now we know more and can break the rules we cite to the novices because we're smarter than the less polished... We take it stride and we don't broadcast the failures in judgement.
 

Bolero

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No corporate greed is responsible for this and most corporate heads are republicans

No corporate greed is responsible for this and most corporate heads are republicans
Spoken like a Typical Left Wing Liberal Democrat,...Eh.
 

Bolero

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"Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely" a familiar quote because we see the effects down through history, lots. Coupled with, "The road to Hell is paved with good intentions" is also a kind of roadmap that we look at in hindsight when things go badly. I don't think that people start out to dominate, but it happens as a natural extension of a successful strategy one step at a time and when enough money or market is accumulated that competitors can be easily bought out, then or by then, the psychology has evolved to do anything to protect the flanks and the game changes subtlety to exercise the power of the market and pocketbook. There are too many examples just in America to list from railroads, steel, oil, to coal when the trust busters finally stepped in and changed the balance of power granting unions power to argue the point, but that resulted in business' running away and taking their jobs from here to there until it was obvious that didn't work that well either. The truth is that we never figure it out beforehand. This time is no different except that society and technology is changing so fast that new regulation might be foiled before the ink is dry, but the damage done by the wrong kind of legislation can last a generation.

And we still kill trees because we do things that didn't work out well before, but now we know more and can break the rules we cite to the novices because we're smarter than the less polished... We take it stride and we don't broadcast the failures in judgement.
The Senate, Congress and the Buerocratic Adminastration Feed the Media Biggies and their likes....
The main point of being in Government is to write a book, keep your hair Quafed, your 3 piece suit in good shape and become a TV Regular.....
 
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