Political action available to all of us, and for this one we don’t even hate to HAVE TO pick up a phone, write a postcard, donate money, or canvass door-to-door.
h/t Another Scott
Hoping to make a collection of reminders like this.
Come for the politics, stay for the snark.
Putin dreamed of ending NATO, and now it’s Finnish-ed.
Wake up. Grow up. Get in the fight.
A sufficient plurality of insane, greedy people can tank any democratic system ever devised, apparently.
We need to vote them all out and restore sane Democratic government.
JFC, are there no editors left at that goddamn rag?
I’d hate to be the candidate who lost to this guy.
with the Kraken taking a plea, the Cheese stands alone.
“I never thought they’d lock HIM up,” sobbed a distraught member of the Lock Her Up Party.
You passed on an opportunity to be offended? What are you even doing here?
This really is a full service blog.
He imagines himself as The Big Bad, Who Is Universally Feared… instead of The Big Jagoff, Who Is Universally Mocked.
I conferred with the team and they all agree – still not tired of winning!
Fundamental belief of white supremacy: white people are presumed innocent, minorities are presumed guilty.
Bark louder, little dog.
We’ve had enough carrots to last a lifetime. break out the sticks.
At some point, the ability to learn is a factor of character, not IQ.
Never entrust democracy to any process that requires Republicans to act in good faith.
It is possible to do the right thing without the promise of a cookie.
The media handbook says “controversial” is the most negative description that can be used for a Republican.
Our job is not to persuade republicans but to defeat them.
I’m more christian than these people and i’m an atheist.
Come on, man.
The rest of the comments were smacking Boebert like she was a piñata.
In after Baud. Damn.
azlib
I don’t own a firearm because I have no practical use for one. Statistics show owning a gun is also more dangerous to your own person and your family.
pat
I assume you meant to write HAVE rather than HATE?
Baud
My suggestion. Listen to other people’s suggestions and then do what you decide best. No one is obligated to do anything.
Baud
@pat:
I hate to pick up the phone.
ETA: I wonder if the kids wonder what people call it “picking up” the phone.
raven
@azlib: What “practical use”?
Baud
@raven:
Makeshift hammer. Paperweight.
raven
@Baud: Butt stroke
mapanghimagsik
Its possible its not a reply *person* at all. So yeah, unsolicited advice from the internet is even less valuable that it was before (which was darn close to zero)
RaflW
As someone who used ironic distancing and ennui to get through high school, I recognize this stuff. But what gets one through a socially stratified, shitty setting like that doesn’t translate well to the rest of life.
I also think half those reply-people are either bots or IRA-type influencers trying to engineer Putin’s goals. No matter what, block and move on is the best strategy. Deprive the inertia proponents engagement.
Snarki, child of Loki
When will “Teh Kidz” wonder about DIALING a phone?1??
Kay
Oh, I don’t know. “Meant to defang movements” or just contrarian? This reminds me of the eternal discussion on whether we should take what Trump says seriously or not. “Its a distraction from this other bad thing! Don’t fall for it!”. Then we find out its real, or not.
I don’t think anyone is going to be able to reliably discern malicious intent from comments so you just end up paranoid and policing everyone. Do we all really need or want to become political operatives?
TBone
Meme: Kermit the Frog looking at his phone, held at arm’s length, with pursed lips. It’s ringing.
“I don’t use my phone for that.”
It’s SO me.
BTW, about location apps data:
Hackers claim to have compromised Gravy Analytics, the parent company of Venntel which has sold masses of smartphone location data to the U.S. government.
Being smarter means leaving your phone at home, I guess (turning off permissions isn’t a thing I really trust to work).
Gin & Tonic
@TBone:
Use one of your spare tinfoil hats (you have spares, of course) to wrap your phone in when you leave the house.
zhena gogolia
I just contributed to Uncle Eb’s GoFundMe. I hope they’re doing okay.
Thanks, WG, for bringing some positivity. AL does too.
Kay
I mean, I know Alice isn’t so fragile that some random asshole telling her to buy a gun will make her abandon her anti-gun, anti-killing stance especially if she considers herself as starting a movement. Opposition means just what it says – its adversarial.
rikyrah
Good Morning Everyone 😊 😊 😊
TBone
@Gin & Tonic: which hat, the tin foil hat for 5G or the one made out of a cybertruck wrap?
Ten Bears
The kind of troll that long ago led me to turn off comments at my house, and these days limit commenting to a couple places left ’round the net. Thing I’ve realized is they’re the same outside, ‘cept outside they know they’d get punched
The straw that broke the camel’s back was particularly ugly, put me in a doom-loop. I was still drinking then and … well, drank more. And all that …
RevRick
Our church’s Green Team is forming a nucleus of what we call a Climate Hope Affilate, which will organize voters in PA 7 to lobby federal and state legislators and engage media on behalf of environmental issues. It’s based on a model developed by Sam Daley-Harris on hunger issues, which he has laid out in his book, Reclaiming Our Democracy.
Basically, bombarding legislators with emails, letters, phone calls, and mass add-your-name petitions is a colossal waste of time and energy. You need to develop a personal relationship with relevant staff and the legislator and you need to create a local media presence to reinforce your message. And you can’t do it alone.
Over the next four weeks, we will be inviting people (not just UCC) to become a team of twenty or more to become good trouble in our district (and the corresponding PA legislative ones).
Baud
@rikyrah:
Good morning.
Another Scott
@mapanghimagsik: Yup. We cannot tell these days. It’s even worse than the olden days when “nobody knows you’re a dog.”
A reply in Alice’s thread:
E.g. Morale Operations Field Manual (63 page .pdf) from the OSS in 1943.
We’re smart animals, but we’re too often easily manipulated animals by those using well known techniques. We can do better and we really must do better.
Hang in there, everyone.
Best wishes,
Scott.
RevRick
@azlib: The ownership of a firearm stems from two factors: irrational fears about others and an outsized fantasy about being a hero.
TBone
@Another Scott: Men Who Stare at Goats was an eye opener hahaha wish that were funnier.
Steve LaBonne
@RevRick: Outstanding!
Baud
@RevRick:
I appreciate you, Rev. One of my worst fears is that too many libs are antisocial like I am. That would not be good for society.
Omnes Omnibus
@RevRick: I own two shotguns and rifle because of irrational fears about others and an outsized fantasy about being a hero? I did not realize that. Golly.
Baud
I use a crossbow in my hero fantasy.
ETA except when I’m a ninja.
Montanareddog
@RevRick: and opportunity.
I live in a country where it is almost impossible for a civilian to buy a gun, and keep it at home.
Homicide and suicide by firearm are orders of magnitude lower than the US.
TBone
@Baud: I’m a Harley Quinn baseball bat type.
RevRick
@Omnes Omnibus: Are you a hunter?
Starfish (she/her)
@RaflW: I feel like Alice is sensitive to a lot of things. She said that she hated LinkedIn because of the type of people there as well. I replied that it would be better to have Cat Girl influencers there instead of fake CEO influencers. People who tell you that they do their best work when they sleep 16 hours a day over people who tell you that they are very efficient because they only sleep 4 hours a night.
Omnes Omnibus
@RevRick: Does it matter?
Another Scott
@RevRick: Thank you, and your compatriots, for doing the work. It’s important.
And for continuing to tell us about it. A big part of the fight is reminding people that they’re not alone.
Best wishes,
Scott.
Miss Bianca
@RevRick: Well, then there are those of us who use them to (regretfully) plink the rattlesnakes we find in the woodpile or otherwise too close to the house and the damn-fool doggos.
But yeah, otherwise…point taken.
@Omnes Omnibus: lotta hunters out here in the sticks, also, too.
TBone
@Another Scott: I was castigated for telling about my new church experiences here. So I STFU about it.
Starfish (she/her)
@RevRick: There are other groups doing similar things. One of my friends is involved in the Citizens Climate Initiative, and they will go talk to all their congresspeople about environmental issues.
artem1s
Those bots sound more like the Borg than Skynet. Resistance is Futile. Be cool and join the hive mind* like the rest of us drones.
*I’ve always suspected these self-styled edge lords are desperately trying to make every Neal Stephenson novel they’ve ever read come true. Unfortunately for us the one they are fixated on now is the sequel to REAMDE – Fall: Dodge in Hell. Basically it’s a re-boot of Genesis where coders figure out how to achieve immortality by uploading their memories after death into a server and live out their days in a sort of second life nirvana – but more boring than the evangelical version of ‘heaven’. Of course there is an inevitable expulsion in their new Eden involving a hive mind take over initiated by one of the Archangel founders who wants to enslave all of the inhabitants. As usual, our current crop of autocratic ID10Ts take away the wrong lesson and have decided the bad guys are the ones they want to worship and emulate. Stephenson misses an obvious opportunity (and plot point) to actually end one of this books satisfactorily as not one of the living relatives of these dead Meta assholes decide to yank the plug on the servers. Frank Capra wept.
Another Scott
@TBone: I remember. :-(
[ Obama-brush-shoulder.gif ]
I appreciate your input here.
Best wishes,
Scott.
TBone
Today’s FTFNYT
O Canada, Come Join Us.
By Ross Douchebag.
Point and laugh, DougJ!
TBone
@Another Scott: thank you, kindness is a good thing.
Gretchen
I don’t need encouragement to quit Facebook. It’s all ads, weird videos and links to things I’m not interested in. About every 15th entry is by someone I actually know. They’ve wrecked their platform
Kay
@Another Scott:
There are people on BJ who regularly defend staying on Twitter. I’m on Team Alice, I deleted first Twitter and then Facebook (I don’t use Facebook so easiest boycot ever) – is everyone who says it’s better to engage on Twitter than delete malicious?
The “stay engaged v boycott” argument comes up with every boycott ever and always has.
karen gail
Not sure if this fits here or not: Just back from long drive to grocery store, the local is limited in offerings.
So if there was a Trump flag or sign up on place the US flag is at full mast; but that wasn’t all most of the small towns, communities haven’t lower flags at any place but fire station and a couple of town halls took down flag completely.
I think I saw only 1 flag at half-mast on personal property and 2 flags at half-mast for small businesses; there are so many who flying US flags at full mast with Trump flags also flying.
wenchacha
So much “damned if you do or don’t,” which adds to paralysis, for me.
Zuck calls it virtue signaling if we quit Meta, reason tells me it supports hate and disinformation if we stay. I am really conflicted, since Meta keeps me connected to people I love. Bluesky isn’t that, yet, and who knows if it turns into another X?
I respect pacifism, but it doesn’t work against Nazis or Russian aggression. Does might make right? Because that sucks. There probably aren’t any simple answers to complex problems.
Can Grok give us the answers?
That arc of the universe isn’t going to bend itself.
Kay
To me, if you had an existing movement to boycott Facebook and someone dropped in to that group to say “boycotts don’t work” then that’s malicious. But if you’re STARTING one and promoting that in a public space you should expect the naysayers – you’re persuading people to join not holding a “we’re all 100% behind this boycott” meeting.
If Twitter is any indication liberals will not be 100% boycott of Facebook.
Baud
@Kay:
That makes sense. Especially on Blue sky where it’s easy to block or mute folks.
ETA: People who want a closed system should create a subreddit.
Kay
Zuckerberg doesn’t want to hire any more icky girls – we need more “masculine energy”
Just a reminder that less than 10% of Fortune 500 companies are run by a woman, 28% of the US Congress, and Americans are two decades behind the rest of the world in electing a woman President. I don’t think we need more misogyny, actually. We lead in that.
Starfish (she/her)
@Omnes Omnibus: You own two shotguns and a rifle cause you are a hillbilly. That is different.
Jeffg166
@TBone:
I have a rolling pin.
Matt McIrvin
@RevRick:
Okay, but what about our fears of those people? I have the same nightmare scenarios that run in my head that they do, only the difference is that the killers in mine are them.
WaterGirl
@pat: That was HAVE TO, bastardized to HATE by the dreaded autocorrect.
Nelle
@RevRick: I have found that weekly calls to one particular staffer sometimes make a difference. He certainly took good notes on my calls about supporting Ukraine and the day that the House voted to support funding Ukraine, the congressman (an R) himself called me and talked to me for about 15 minutes about why he went to Ukraine, why he supported the bill.
Yesterday, when I called to talk to the staffer, I found that he had left and gone to state government. I called him at his new job to congratulate him (it was a move up) and wish him well. Now I start in with a new person at the congressional office.
I do probe for any points of commonality, even with opponents I despise, and try to begin there. Just hunting for a crack of humanity.
I can’t do that with either Senators Grassley or Ernst. Neither DC or local offices are answered by a person. Always, leave a message and we’ll get back to you. Which they never do.
Scout211
Just popped in to say Uncle E.’s GoFundMe is over half way to their goal. Keep it coming jackals, all you wonderful, kind and generous people. ❤️
And in regard to this thread, I have no idea how to overcome all the naysayers and doubters and “yabbuts,” but maybe we should think about just accepting how each and every one of us goes about it, even if it’s not your way or my way. Just a thought.
Omnes Omnibus
@Starfish (she/her): I am not and never have been a hillbilly. I mean, one the few topics I have ever gotten into an argument with Miss Bianca about is the violin vs fiddle question (fiddle-players are lazy violinists who won’t sit up straight and use the bow properly).
Kay
I read that the only reason the armed forces are meeting recruiting goals is more women are enlisting and they qualify.
Lol. Media, Republicans and billionaires are going to have to choose – women or armed forces. We snuck in while they were pretending they didn’t hate us for that brief period.
brantl
@raven: Hunting, I think, is a legitimate use a of an appropriately accurate gun.
Parfigliano
@RevRick: That’s the goofiest thing I’ve every read about reasons for gun ownership.
Starfish (she/her)
@Omnes Omnibus: That is so funny!
Also, I am going to have to take Miss Bianca’s side in any argument because she lives in my state and has a useful skill of knowing how to shoot rattlesnakes. We spooked a rattle snake on a hiking trail this past summer, and I was so scared.
Matt McIrvin
@wenchacha: Virtue signaling is good. It’s only a problem if it’s empty, if signaling is all you do.
Everyone is going to make their own choices. I’ve been on there largely with the justification of communicating with family and friends (some of whom are LGBT). But some of them are also getting disgusted and getting off.
Facebook has always been a craphole, it’s an actively unpleasant environment and the main reason I use it is that a bunch of people I know are there and communicating through a disorganized email feed is even more unpleasant. But the equation may be shifting.
MinuteMan
@Baud:
Do you usually call without picking up the phone?
matt
I left Facebook years ago on the principle ‘don’t feed the enemy’.
Baud
@Matt McIrvin:
Virtue signaling is the modern version of do gooder.
Like these are bad things.
Baud
@MinuteMan:
Sometimes. I usually use speakerphone.
eclare
@Kay:
I’m still on Twitter because three or four accounts, including my public utility, have not started Bluesky accounts. Once they start, I’m out.
Haven’t used FB in probably twenty years. After I first joined, I got all of these friend requests from people that I definitely was not friends with. I asked myself “who needs this?” and haven’t used it since.
Nelle
I overheard my adult son telling someone that, when growing up in Kansas, there was no gun in the house. Uh, I said, there was always a gun, mostly broken down though, well-stored from exploring children, and very separate from ammo. It was required for survival gear for pilots in Alaska (husband was a bush pilot, based in Kaktovik, on the north coast, for years). He always dreamt of going back to fly in Alaska so didn’t get rid of the gun, until we moved to New Zealand. My son was quite startled. (Kids don’t know everything about their parents!)
Nelle
I’ll reluctantly be on FB for a while yet. I have a sister living in the Democratic Republic of Congo, former students around the world, friends around the world, and FB is one of the quickest ways to be in contact. But now, I have to seek them out. The FB feed is dreck and trash. Family and friends are hidden.
Miss Bianca
@Omnes Omnibus:
*straightening up, utilizing best Bugs Bunny voice*
“Of course you know, sir, this means…war.”
WaterGirl
@Scout211: I will say again that others in the BJ pack may also need help, so by all means help UncleEb, but maybe be mindful that other fire loss related needs are also coming down the pike?
BigJimSlade also lost his home, but I don’t know yet what kind of help he might need.
Geminid
@Matt McIrvin: I have a couple friends who own firearms. They’re both Lesbians and are two of the most rational people I’ve ever met.
They have no problem with firearms regulation and would just as soon Virginia adopted California’s more rigorous system.
WaterGirl
@MinuteMan:
“Siri, call Omnes”
eclare
@WaterGirl:
Did you get the text that I sent?
Omnes Omnibus
@Miss Bianca: Yes. Sorry, but it’s true.
WaterGirl
@eclare: Yes, thank you.
RevRick
Miss Bianca
Wait, was there not just a post up about the DNC thingie? Man, you get up to put your coffee cup in the sink and the whole (online) world changes..
ETA: Moral of the story: Just keep drinking more coffee.
KatKapCC
@WaterGirl: Autocorrect is annoying enough, but especially when it insists on “correcting” something that was very obviously not incorrect and its “correction” is nonsensical. Autocorrect on iPhone apparently does not think the words “were” or “its” exist and ALWAYS wants to change it to “we’re” and “it’s”.
comrade scotts agenda of rage
@Omnes Omnibus:
Heh heh, you should have used a quote you once tossed at me, lemme see if I can remember it:
“That has to be one of the dumbest things ever said here.”
Which would be directed at the original statement, not your reply.
WaterGirl
@Miss Bianca:
Yes, there was. I edited to say that it turns out that the forum for the DNC Chair will be later today, so I changed it to a Saturday Morning Open Thread with a note about the DNC Forum.
But David Anderson put up his post just seconds after mine, so I pulled mine.
Look for the DNC post later this afternoon. There’s some speculation that it will be around 4pm Eastern, but I don’t have an exact time yet.
WaterGirl
@KatKapCC: Hmm, I don’t know if my iPhone does that or not. I will have to watch for that.
different-church-lady
1) I think I’m guilty of this kind of thing too often.
2) Bob is the kind of person who has lost the distinction between being savvy and being smart. And that type loooooooooves the internet.
UncleEbeneezer
@zhena gogolia: Thank you so much :)
Denali5
@Miss Bianca: Thank you for standing up for the fiddle-players. OO is a snob.
different-church-lady
@WaterGirl: Public service announcement: you can set iOS to flag spelling without auto-replacing.
(a: Nobody seems to know about it. b: I don’t doubt other mobile OS’s have the same.)
UncleEbeneezer
There’s a flip side version of this dynamic when people who want structural/major change scold everyone who doesn’t let boycotts/activism guide every decision. Like scolding people for still using FB to keep in touch with loved ones and give them a lecture about Zuckerberg and the evils of social media etc. It always grates on me. Especially when FB’s reach is crucial for managing situations like we are navigating now.
Baud
@UncleEbeneezer:
There’s a lot of policing that goes on. At the end of the day, it’s up to each of us to simply reject it when it goes to far.
kindness
My folks wouldn’t allow firearms in our house growing up. Wasn’t until I went to Boy Scouts summer camp that I shot a .22. When I moved out into the stix here in red California, I got a couple 22s. I target shot and plinked with them. I liked the challenge of target shooting. It isn’t easy to hit that bullseye. I never wanted hunt and I didn’t keep the guns for defense. They’re kept locked away. I hardly target shoot at all any more but I do still have those guns. So, I kinda disagree with what several of you have proclaimed here. A liberal can own a gun and not be a danger to society, him/her self, and not have them as ego enhancers. Yea, I’m the minority, but we’re out there.
RevRick
Miss Bianca
@UncleEbeneezer: Yeah, I’m conflicted about the “ditch FB” thing. Everyone I know who is doing is saying, “I’m on BlueSky now!” so I’m like, “does this mean I have to get a BlueSky account now?”
I have a Twitter account which is completely inert, I haven’t even bothered to get rid of it, since I hardly ever bothered to access it. Same with Instagram – I seem to *have* an account, which still surprizes me every time they send me a reminder about it – but I never use it.
Miss Bianca
@kindness: I hear you.
On the topic of guns, tho…I was a little alarmed when I got a reference request from the big local Xtian camp around here for a former intern at my theater. Among the other questions I had to answer was (slight paraphrase here): “Would you trust this person one-on-one with a child around horses, water, rifles, and Bible study?”
And I was like…”uh…never seen X around horses, water, rifles, or a Bible, but I would trust them one-on-one with a child.”
And then, because I’m paranoid that way, I was thinking, “are they prepping these kids for the Apocalypse Militia, or are they just doing basic ol’ Bible-camping?”
I know some of the people involved with this camp, they’re very Christian but also pretty cool, so I may bring this up with them just to see what’s going on.
Matt McIrvin
@Miss Bianca: There’s another dimension: all the people on Mastodon telling me to delete my Facebook account NOW, but NOT to go on Bluesky because Bluesky is also corporate evil and is going to kill Mastodon. Everyone just has to be on Mastodon and if they’re not I guess you shouldn’t follow them.
Well, on the fediverse, because some of them are also the people who tell you you have to say “fediverse” and not “Mastodon”, and explaining that burningly crucial distinction would take us further into the weeds.
Sure Lurkalot
@Nelle:
My first encounter with Facebook was my then college-aged niece who was on it constantly during a visit and proclaimed, “I hate it but I HAVE to be on it.” That should have been ample warning but I did sign up.
I used it for well wishing and condolences. Less than 20 posts in as many years. Now it’s just full of ads and inane puzzles and when I hide them, the man in the machine just coughs up more bullshit. Next on tap… engaging with bots and people calling LGBTQ mentally ill.
I think I’ve had enough. Facebook is just reverting back to its roots of an anonymous way of being shitty to other people. I am sad that people have to rely on such dishonest and malevolent actors to keep in touch with friends and family.
different-church-lady
I see we’re still all treating the propaganda apps like they’re not the actual problem…
different-church-lady
@Sure Lurkalot:
She was smarter than most: she figured out she was being manipulated. Most people just fell in love with the manipulator.
And that was Zuck’s true evil: taking over mindshare to the point where all other forms of “connection” were starved and forgotten.
TBone
@Jeffg166: ha! Mom gave me two – one of marble and one of glass.
Captain C
@Kay:
I suspect that the billionaires would prefer to weaken the military on the belief that it makes them more untouchable. Right up until another state actor fucks with them and it’s too late for them to call for help, especially as their mercenaries suddenly want no part of fighting an actual armed forces.
Also, sad but amusing that the Republicans have become the anti-armed forces party.
Another Scott
@WaterGirl: There’s some “southern” DNC candidate forum going on here at the moment.
Jaime Harrison starts talking at about -58 minutes (as of now).
There’s a break now, they say they’ll be back in 5 minutes.
There’s apparently going to be a “northern” candidates forum in Detroit on Thursday.
Thanks.
Best wishes,
Scott.
zhena gogolia
@UncleEbeneezer: You’re welcome! I hope you all are doing okay. I was in Altadena once visiting a friend, and it was so nice.
Miss Bianca
@Another Scott: Wait, we have “southern” and “northern” DNC candidates? Designated as such?
different-church-lady
@Miss Bianca: Bring back divisional play!
Quiltingfool
@Geminid: I am concerned with all the idiots carrying guns. If I see someone strapped, I move away quickly. I don’t know them, I don’t know if they understand and practice gun safety.
See, I could carry concealed here in wild Missouri, but I don’t. First off, I’m not very practiced in handling a gun. I’d probably shoot a hole in my purse. Second, I don’t feel the need to have a gun in WalMart. Someone starts shooting, I’m gonna fall down and play dead, my fast running days are over!
Honestly, the only gun I’m comfortable handling is an 1858 Civil War replica three bander long gun (and a carbine too). Black powder and .58 caliber lead bullets, with a percussion cap. The only drawback to those guns is if you need to shoot at someone who has ill intentions, they have a wait a minute so I can pour powder down the barrel, ram the bullet down and put on the percussion cap. Faster to fix bayonet or use the gun like a bat, lol!
Sure Lurkalot
@different-church-lady:
And a collective failure of nerve. We made the telephone (more or less) a public utility.
Another Scott
@Miss Bianca: They seem to be running for divisional reps, secretary, and similar things, in the DNC (but I haven’t looked into the details). It’s good they’re having a forum for these positions and the candidates there. I didn’t know anything about it until I went looking for the Chair discussion (but apparently that’s later today – I hope it doesn’t cut into viewership having the time be kinda hard to find…).
Thanks.
Best wishes,
Scott.
different-church-lady
@Sure Lurkalot: The internet is the public utility. Zuck is a middleman/parasite. The analogy would be if instead of calling people directly, everyone felt like they had to call Facephone and have Zuck process it in and out to us.
Sister Golden Bear
@artem1s: But, but…. it would be so kewl if we created the Torment Nexus for reals. /s
Gin & Tonic
@Sure Lurkalot:
Its roots are finding somebody to fuck.
Baud
@Gin & Tonic:
No wonder it became popular.
TBone
@Gin & Tonic: worse than that! Misogynist “HOT OR NOT?”
FelonyGovt
@wenchacha: Right now I’m really glad I haven’t deleted Facebook because it’s keeping me connected to up to date information about the LA fires and the status of people here I care about. I’ll figure out what to do about it when we’re out of this.
TBone
I just saw, in my little hometown newspaper, an ad for an Estate Gun Auction nearby.
So. Many. Guns. Is there a loophole on background checks and paperwork when you buy at auction? I’ma find out.
Bright spot: our first baby of the New Year is biracial! Proud mama & bewildered papa photo with little bundle is priceless!
geg6
We have guns in our house: two hunting rifles and a .22 pistol. John hasn’t hunted in decades (he has used the pistol for some target work in the last decade or so) and I haven’t shot a gun in a very long time (my dad taught me to use a 30.06 and a .22 pistol as a teenager at the shooting range nearby). But we keep them around to threaten, should any intruders decide to target us. They can only be used to threaten though, because we do not have any ammo in the house. If I feel things getting tense here in Wingnuttia, we can always pull them out, clean them and go buy some ammo. No doing that until it feels like we have to.
raven
@TBone: \In 1993, President Clinton signed the Brady Bill into law, which implemented the national system of Brady Background Checks on gun sales. Since its enactment in 1994, Brady Background Checks have prevented approximately 4.9 million prohibited gun transactions and saved countless lives. However, only Federal Firearms Licensees (FFLs) are required to conduct background checks on gun sales. This allows 1 in 5 guns to be sold without a background check through private transactions. Loopholes in the law also allow individuals with histories of domestic violence and hate crimes to purchase and possess firearms. These gaps in the law too often enable individuals intent on doing harm to access firearms and cause injury or death.
TBone
@raven: I am a member of
https://www.bradyunited.org/
Which is why I wondered about the loophole and haven’t managed to find a succinct answer yet. Apparently in PA they must check in with PICS but a straight answer is hard to find.
https://www.pa.gov/agencies/psp/programs/firearms/firearms-records.html
Omnes Omnibus
@Denali5: Violinists with bad posture and poor bow technique can still make good music.
scav
Finding someone to fuck, finding someone to fuck over, same difference.
Gin & Tonic
OT, but Ukraine has taken two North Koreans soldiers as POW, and is transporting them to Kyiv for medical treatment, after which they will reportedly be made available to journalists (although I worry about the format of that, and how it squares with Geneva Conventions.)
Omnes Omnibus
@scav: No. You are definitely doing at least one of those things wrong if you can say that.
Gin & Tonic
@Omnes Omnibus:
I’ve heard Pinchas Zuckerman refer to himself as a fiddle player.
scav
@Omnes Omnibus: Well, in this exact instance, I was aiming for Zuckerdom consciousness and intent: my natural bent is to avoid the set of behaviors.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
Speaking about Facebook, I have proved to my personal satisfaction that Zuckerbot creates false political facebook groups to simply troll the users to increase engagement with endless flame wars in the comments. I started blocking anything on Facebook that was about politics that I wasn’t sure was run by a human being, and my experience changed radically, in fact it’s nice now.
Anyway, Zuckerberg is full of shit, there was never any fact checking or hate speech moderation on Facebook, beyond the usually internet TOS CYA the web host from lawsuits stuff, like they will suspend somone’s account or ban someone if they were calling for actual voilance.
Anyway, consider this; what does having a flame war with some dumb ass idiot on Facebook accomplish, besides getting you upset? It’s not like stupid people can be reached.
Omnes Omnibus
@Gin & Tonic: Zucherman has earned the right to be as self-deprecating as he chooses.
zhena gogolia
@Gin & Tonic: A lot of serious classical musicians do that. I think it’s a kind of reverse snobbism.
azlib
@raven:
If I lived in the wilds of Alaska with large Polar bears roaming nearby, I’d have a high powered rifle handy just in case.
scav
Second funniest thing I ever saw was at a violin camp: an instructor trying to get a class primarily of Suzuki-ists to play the Orange Blossom Special.
minachica
@different-church-lady: I was able to turn Auto-correction off under Settings –> General –> Keyboard on my iPhone. Thanks for the tip!
Geminid
@azlib: When my friend Debbie lived in Alaska she’d the keep a large caliber handgun with her when she went fishing because the brown bears were so common in the Fairbanks area. I think they are all over the state.
The locals liked to remind Debbie to save the last bullet for herself. Alaska humor.
different-church-lady
@Enhanced Voting Techniques:
It makes Zuck richer. And that’s why they encourage it.
lowtechcyclist
@Enhanced Voting Techniques:
The way FB works, it does its level best to get you upset anyway. That last stupid thing that idiot said doesn’t just drop off the page, supplanted by more recent stuff. The FB algorithm keeps it up near the top to keep on ticking you off, because anger -> engagement -> ad revenue.
I gave up FB years ago because of that crap, well before I knew about the algorithm, because it just felt unpleasant to be there on account of not being able to get away from stupid arguments. But when I learned about it, everything made sense.
Geminid
@Quiltingfool: I’m not comfortable seeing people carrying guns around either. I don’t see that very often here in Virginia though, even though we’ve always been an open-carry state.
One of many things I like about California’s gun laws is the requiirement for a seperate permit to purchase firearms. Besides mandating firearms safety instruction and practice, it’s one more hoop to jump through; fewer impulse purchases for one thing.
I decided that was a good thing when I read about how shooting deaths went up in Missouri after its permit-to-purchase law was repealed fifteen or so years ago.
dc
@Kay: She’s not talking about herself, she’s talking about how those replies demobilize and derail and so if that’s all you have to add, don’t.
artem1s
@different-church-lady: this is the real reason capitalist want to kill the post office and have kept them from entering the digital communication market. if the US still supported public utilities the post office would be the most natural agency to handle email services and social media. But that would mean companies like Yahoo and Facebook and Twitter can’t force you to look at ads while your trying to exchange cookie recipes with your Meemaw and plan a fishing trip with Papaw.
Monetization and putting ads on every fucking living and digital thing possible is what is driving enshittification of everything including old fashion LETTERs to your family.
Lily
@Baud: I wonder what they would say if we asked little kids to explain a phone booth.
Mike in Pasadena
Thanks, Watergirl, for sharing Alice’s post. Excellent point.