Octopus Overlords

stessier wrote: ↑Mon May 09, 2022 3:17 pm May 10th is a state holiday in South Carolina. Care to guess what we celebrate?

Spoiler:

Confederate Memorial Day

sigh

My wife works for the Dept of Education and every year she intentionally works on this day, and has some visible internal/external message about why she’s working.

Truly a disgrace.

I bought a couple of cigars because Wife is away this week, and asked for a box of stick matches, which they always used to give away with cigars.

"We haven't been able to get those in a long time."

"Ah, supply chain problem?"

"No. The state classifies them as pyrotechnics. Our distributor's insurance doesn't cover them."

This is the kind of thing that turns otherwise decent people into Republicans.

Yearning for the good old days, the Phillipines elect Ferdinand Marcos as their next president. The icing on the cake is electing President Duterte's daughter as vice president.

Marcos Jr. won Philippine presidency, unofficial count shows

The namesake son of late Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos appeared to have been elected Philippine president by a landslide in an astonishing reversal of the 1986 “People Power” pro-democracy revolt that booted his father into global infamy.

Marcos Jr. had more than 30.5 million votes in the unofficial results with more than 96% of the votes tabulated overnight after Monday’s election. His nearest challenger, Vice President Leni Robredo, a champion of human rights and reforms, had 14.5 million, and boxing great Manny Pacquiao appeared to have the third highest total with 3.5 million.

His running mate, Sara Duterte, the daughter of the outgoing leader and mayor of southern Davao city, had a formidable lead in the vice presidential race, which is separate from the presidential race.

The alliance of the scions of two authoritarian leaders combined the voting power of their families’ political strongholds in the north and south but compounded worries of human rights activists.

Marcos Jr. and Sara Duterte avoided volatile issues during their campaign and steadfastly stuck instead to a battle cry of national unity, even though their fathers’ presidencies opened some of the most turbulent divisions in the country’s history.

When we worry about the coming autocracy - this is what it'll look like in the United States. Police harassing citizens (especially any groups of non-whites) with what should be blatantly illegal searches. Except they'll have made more and more things that would were normal every day things illegal. Different from state to state.

Kraken wrote: ↑Mon May 09, 2022 11:44 pm I bought a couple of cigars because Wife is away this week, and asked for a box of stick matches, which they always used to give away with cigars.

"We haven't been able to get those in a long time."

"Ah, supply chain problem?"

"No. The state classifies them as pyrotechnics. Our distributor's insurance doesn't cover them."

This is the kind of thing that turns otherwise decent people into Republicans.

That seems odd. I was nearly out of wooden stick matches this week and bought a three-pack of boxes at the grocery store. (I don't smoke cigars, but wooden stick matches are useful for bathroom anti-fart candles.)

I'm in PA, though, where you can almost buy a gun at a gas station.

I wonder what the odds are that the monarchy survives in this form for another 50 years. It's not providing any sort of stability. If anything, it's the opposite.

Sees GenX trending on Twitter...clicks GenX...oh...of course. I mean I totally agree that the meths who ruined our country should step aside but...this tweet is a *chef kiss* for GenX.

Gen-X represent!

And my parents were not baby boomers. They were older.

This is a massive story in the middle east. Shireen was one of the most recognizable reporters in the middle east. She also is an American citizen which adds "fun" dimensions to the incident.

Al Jazeera is accusing the IDF of killing the reporter based on a surviving witness (they were shot as well) who said the IDF opened fire on the group of journalists without warning during a confirmed IDF raid in Jenin.

Events are moving quickly considering how sensitive the situation is but the Israeli PM Bennett called for an investigation. IMO it is very unfortunate that the Foreign Ministry released the prejudicial tweet below. Al'Jazeera making the claim is also a bit unfortunate but at least they have a direct witness instead of some weakly sourced foundation.

Further the clip below says indiscriminate firing was the likely cause of her death. How did they determine likely? In any case, a video was released that purportedly showed attempts to retrieve her after the shooting. The folks trying to retrieve her seem to be receiving fire and it doesn't sound indiscriminate. They are discrete shots when one lone individual comes out of cover to try and move the reporter.

Well it's a good thing that everyone will wait for the details to emerge before jumping to any rash conclusions in this sensitive area.

Yeah, that's going to be a mess.

It's unlikely that someone blind-firing an AK did that but it's easily solved by forensics if they recover the bullet that killed her.

LawBeefaroni wrote: ↑Wed May 11, 2022 9:58 am Yeah, that's going to be a mess.

It's unlikely that someone blind-firing an AK did that but it's easily solved by forensics if they recover the bullet that killed her.

A key problem is that the relevant parties will not trust an IDF or PA led investigation. Nor investigations led by...anyone else.

malchior wrote: ↑Wed May 11, 2022 10:26 am

LawBeefaroni wrote: ↑Wed May 11, 2022 9:58 am Yeah, that's going to be a mess.

It's unlikely that someone blind-firing an AK did that but it's easily solved by forensics if they recover the bullet that killed her.

A key problem is that the relevant parties will not trust an IDF or PA led investigation. Nor investigations led by...anyone else.

That's why it's going to be a mess. It doesn't have to be but it will.

malchior wrote: ↑Wed May 11, 2022 10:26 am

LawBeefaroni wrote: ↑Wed May 11, 2022 9:58 am Yeah, that's going to be a mess.

It's unlikely that someone blind-firing an AK did that but it's easily solved by forensics if they recover the bullet that killed her.

A key problem is that the relevant parties will not trust an IDF or PA led investigation. Nor investigations led by...anyone else.

Yeah, one of my first reaction was that even if the truth here turns out to be reasonably determinable...it's far from clear how much the truth will matter here.

Yeah, this is about the story, not about the truth.

That sounds oddly familiar...

Is it possible to award a Pulitzer to a Twitter account?

malchior wrote: ↑Tue May 10, 2022 10:37 pm Sees GenX trending on Twitter...clicks GenX...oh...of course. I mean I totally agree that the meths who ruined our country should step aside but...this tweet is a *chef kiss* for GenX.

It's hard to hand the reigns to Gen Z when only the first year of the entire cohort has reached eligibility to hold Congressional office.

How many social gains that the younger generations are fighting for are the continuation of fights started by GenXers? If you want to see the transition between the 'dark ages' that the Boomers thrived in and modern times, that's Generation X. And to be fair, it was the Boomers that really kicked off a lot of those movements. And hell, Bernie Sanders is from the Silent Generation - older than the Boomers. As were MLK, Malcolm X, Harvey Milk, Marhsa P Johnson, and hundreds of others.

The problem isn't that Generation _ is running things, the problem is that the only members of any generation allowed to run things are those that toe the mainstream/establishment line.

Blackhawk wrote: ↑Wed May 11, 2022 11:56 am How many social gains that the younger generations are fighting for are the continuation of fights started by GenXers?

Which should remind us to stay aware of who we might turn in to. How many social gains that GenX have fought for were continuation of fights started by Boomers and the Joneses? How many of the modern X aristocratic technophiles have essentially leveraged themselves into fighting against the very people technical people who made these aristocrats their wealth and now want to end those fights?

Here come the joneses Xer crossover

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SCL_Group

Here come the Xers

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PayPal_Mafia

LordMortis wrote: ↑Wed May 11, 2022 12:11 pm

Blackhawk wrote: ↑Wed May 11, 2022 11:56 am How many social gains that the younger generations are fighting for are the continuation of fights started by GenXers?

Which should remind us to stay aware of who we might turn in to. How many social gains that GenX have fought for were continuation of fights started by Boomers and the Joneses? How many of the modern X aristocratic technophiles have essentially leveraged themselves into fighting against the very people technical people who made these aristocrats their wealth and now want to end those fights?

Here come the joneses Xer crossover

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SCL_Group

Here come the Xers

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PayPal_Mafia

Like I said - it isn't the generation. There hasn't been a generation without its life-long visionaries, and there hasn't been one without its life-long revolutionaries. It's the individuals from within those generations that we're choosing, not the generations themselves.

Discernment is work. Some people simply choose what they're told to choose, invariably by those who benefit most from that choice. Others choose what is comfortable and familiar rather than choosing the terrifying unknowns of change. And then we are bothered that we are stuck in a deep rut, bothered that nothing changes. And then we look for who to blame.

But if we put the blame in the wrong place (we're not being driven into the ground by generations, we're being driven into the ground by institutions), then we fail to actually discover and address the real causes. "It's the boomers!" is a distraction. It isn't the solution.

Steve Schmidt has been fighting some weird Twitter war all week. I generally agree with him most of the time but he has been swinging away wildly this week.

Any chance that he has some hard proof discrediting these stories?

FULL-THROATED CORRECTIONS

Is he trying to be funny?

El Guapo wrote: ↑Thu May 12, 2022 12:05 pm Any chance that he has some hard proof discrediting these stories?

I mean he sounds like he believes he does but when have we seen anything like that actually happen?

Schmidt also put out a thread and then a substack attacking Meghan McCain. Apparently she trashed him in her book (which no one is buying), and he responded by talking about what a ridiculous diva she was during the 2008 campaign.

The surprise, though, came when he started trashing John McCain himself, claiming that Schmidt and others tried to stop him from picking Sarah Palin but that McCain made the choice foolishly and all on his own. He claimed McCain had had an affair with a lobbyist. Oh, and he accused him of knowing but ignoring that one of his top campaign advisors was working with Paul Manafort to advance Russian interests.

There was a subsequent thread, but I quit reading it because it was pretty incoherent. (Maybe he was drunk?)

Holman wrote: ↑Thu May 12, 2022 12:17 pm Schmidt also put out a thread and then a substack attacking Meghan McCain. Apparently she trashed him in her book (which no one is buying), and he responded by talking about what a ridiculous diva she was during the 2008 campaign.

The surprise, though, came when he started trashing John McCain himself, claiming that Schmidt and others tried to stop him from picking Sarah Palin but that McCain made the choice foolishly and all on his own. He claimed McCain had had an affair with a lobbyist. Oh, and he accused him of knowing but ignoring that one of his top campaign advisors was working with Paul Manafort to advance Russian interests.

There was a subsequent thread, but I quit reading it because it was pretty incoherent. (Maybe he was drunk?)

Yeah that is the war I'm referring to. He was rambling quite a bit but I didn't find it super incoherent. More stream of consciousness - so maybe drunk? When he is on the air and making his points they are usually spot on and accurate in comparison. That's as good a guess as any about what was happening. He also had some randos come out and defend him too. For example, one person told a story about how Schmidt saved them when they nearly drowned on a booze cruise on the Hudson north of the Tappan Zee. He also picked fights with Chari Jacobus about how she is a loon (which is reasonably true!). A weird week to say the least but this one is so specific a claim that it's hard to believe.

Schmidt just dropped another thread. Guess his earlier comments were linked to an action. It sounds like he might be suing the NY Times about LP coverage or demanding a retraction. It isn't clear yet.

Edit: His lawyers sent a letter to the NYT demanding a correction (available on his substack here). It details what they believe are violations of NYT internal policies. He takes particular aim at Maggie Haberman heavily implying she was trading access in publishing stories about it.

It is also a vehicle for Schmidt to tell his side of the story. Whether it is all true or not is another matter. Though, it seems to Schmidt is detailing out a lot of the grift happening in the LP and saying that Schmidt and Wilson weren't part of it and were victims themselves of it. I'd characterize it as partly a complaint and partly image rehabilitation.

malchior wrote: ↑Wed May 11, 2022 5:53 am This is a massive story in the middle east. Shireen was one of the most recognizable reporters in the middle east. She also is an American citizen which adds "fun" dimensions to the incident.

Things...are not going well. Things are horrific in Ukraine, but this feels like it should be bigger news:

Unbelievable pictures of Israeli forces attacking mourners carrying the coffin of Shireen Abu Akleh to church for her funeral in Occupied East Jerusalem.

Absolutely heart stopping moment when it looks like casket may fall.

This is where the Israel as an apartheid state stuff gets its fuel. I don't understand what the heck they are thinking. It is like they want to kick off another intifada.

Edit: *Deathwatch material begins here*

Why isn't it bigger news? I mean it's the middle east. It's "supposed" to be chaotic, amirite? One thing struck me. It was interesting to me what the NY and Washington Post reporting both left out. To wit, that one of the people shot specifically says they saw the Israelis firing on them without warning.

Instead, the WaPo piece quotes both the Israel and PA positions but omits the eyewitness account.The NY Times does the same in a different way. They abstract out that the PA and Al Jazeera claim Israeli forces shot her but don't make note of the specific allegation. Both are pretty startling omissions. The coverage and many Tweets included video of him making the statement after he was released from the hospital. Al Jazeera has it on the front page of their website. It seems pretty hard to claim they didn't see it.

She was shot in the head in the West Bank city of Jenin, Al Jazeera and the Palestinian Health Ministry said, blaming Israeli forces for her death. The Israeli military said on Twitter that “Palestinian armed gunfire” might have been responsible.

Also, no mention that the Israeli Foreign Ministry released an unattributed video of someone firing an AK and claiming it was 'likely' that she was killed by unintentional fire from Palestinians. The Israelis are at least to their credit acknowledging the possibility now. That is a definite improvement on what looked at the beginning to be a campaign to muddle the truth. It doesn't serve the public's interest to bury that attempt.

In that I'll say this, this feeds my feeling that I don't feel informed by the MSM coverage in the United States. It's crazy but Twitter provides you with far more transparency (though it is very muddled). However, at the very least it is an excellent source to understand what is being *left out* of stories. And it is pretty disappointing once you start to see it over and over.

As an aside, I am finding myself building empathy from some on the right. I somewhat get why they felt the reporting is biased or incomplete. Sure a lot of their feelings are based on propaganda pushed from the right. However, the MSM sure throws fuel on the fire for this. If I feel generous, maybe these are mistakes or the reporters were unaware of some fact. That's possible but when you see this over and over? It really eats away at the trust I have for MSM reporting. For example, the NY Times *right now* has a video showing a staid funeral procession for her. They certainly don't have the part above.

And to be fair to WaPo

The funeral of slain Palestinian American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh began in chaos Friday, after Israeli police beat mourners with batons after they tried to carry her coffin on their shoulders and initially refused to let it travel to a church in a hearse.

Abu Akleh was shot dead Wednesday while covering an Israeli military raid in the West Bank. Large crowds formed early Friday at the entrance to St. Joseph’s Hospital in East Jerusalem, where her body had rested overnight.

Israeli police prevented crowds carrying Abu Akleh’s coffin from leaving the hospital compound, beating mourners with batons until the coffin almost dropped to the ground. After the coffin was loaded into a hearse, it was allowed to leave the hospital compound, under heavy Israeli security guard.

Though weirdly they still omit the specific accusation from the other reporter who was shot. Seems like a good time to layer in that information, right? In fact, the shot reporter (Ali al-Samoudi) might be one of the two reporters!

Two reporters who were with Shireen and several other witnesses have told The Washington Post that no firefight was happening near the spot where she was killed.

A source on the specific accusation. Sure it looks like the guy has an agenda. And they could legitimately be worried that the statement is inflammatory but it still seems *incomplete*. They could abstract the accusation in the same way they do above without directly quoting the inflammatory material.

Ali al-Samoudi, the Al Jazeera journalist who was also shot by Israeli forces next to Abu Akleh but is now in stable condition, said there was no presence of Palestinian armed fighters at the scene.

“We were going to film the Israeli army raid, and suddenly, they shot us without asking us to leave or stop filming,” he said.

“The first bullet hit me and the second bullet hit Shireen. They killed her in cold blood because they are killers and they specialise in killing only the Palestinian people.

“There was no Palestinian military resistance at all at the scene,” he added.

Also FWIW, geolocation by other groups (including B'Tselem which is a pro-PA Israeli organization) have compiled accounts showing that the video Israel released was geolocated 300m away and without line of sight to where the reporters were. That might be what is prompting the Israeli walk back of their claims.

The WaPo story, once clicked on, has this headline:

Massive crowds, police beatings as journalist’s funeral is held in Jerusalem

But the tiny thumbnail on the front page says,

Mourners clash with police at Palestinian American journalist’s funeral

There are two very different implications in their word choice. "Clash" strongly implies mutuality. A beating is not a "Clash."

Blackhawk wrote: ↑Fri May 13, 2022 10:51 am The WaPo story, once clicked on, has this headline:

Massive crowds, police beatings as journalist’s funeral is held in Jerusalem

But the tiny thumbnail on the front page says,

Mourners clash with police at Palestinian American journalist’s funeral

There are two very different implications in their word choice. "Clash" strongly implies mutuality. A beating is not a "Clash."

That's a common problem with these bigger outfits. Lots of hands in editorial decisions in different parts. For instance, a lot of social media headlines are sensationalized by the social media editor for clicks.

Schmidt is now apparently carpet bombing all the 'bad people' (in his eyes) at the Lincoln Project. Tweets threads like the below for several individuals airing dirty laundry.

malchior wrote: ↑Fri May 13, 2022 11:00 am

Blackhawk wrote: ↑Fri May 13, 2022 10:51 am The WaPo story, once clicked on, has this headline:

Massive crowds, police beatings as journalist’s funeral is held in Jerusalem

But the tiny thumbnail on the front page says,

Mourners clash with police at Palestinian American journalist’s funeral

There are two very different implications in their word choice. "Clash" strongly implies mutuality. A beating is not a "Clash."

That's a common problem with these bigger outfits. Lots of hands in editorial decisions in different parts. For instance, a lot of social media headlines are sensationalized by the social media editor for clicks.

I used to get a laugh watching the CNN site as a big story broke. They'd post a quick, informative headline. Five minutes later, it was a dramatic informative headline. Five minutes after that it would be a shocking semi-informative headline. By the 30 minute point it was War of the Worlds.

But the phrasing here really made it seem like they wanted to downplay it as much as possible without out-and-out lying.

Blackhawk wrote: ↑Fri May 13, 2022 11:05 am

malchior wrote: ↑Fri May 13, 2022 11:00 am

Blackhawk wrote: ↑Fri May 13, 2022 10:51 am The WaPo story, once clicked on, has this headline:

Massive crowds, police beatings as journalist’s funeral is held in Jerusalem

But the tiny thumbnail on the front page says,

Mourners clash with police at Palestinian American journalist’s funeral

There are two very different implications in their word choice. "Clash" strongly implies mutuality. A beating is not a "Clash."

That's a common problem with these bigger outfits. Lots of hands in editorial decisions in different parts. For instance, a lot of social media headlines are sensationalized by the social media editor for clicks.

I used to get a laugh watching the CNN site as a big story broke. They'd post a quick, informative headline. Five minutes later, it was a dramatic informative headline. Five minutes after that it would be a shocking semi-informative headline. By the 30 minute point it was War of the Worlds.

But the phrasing here really made it seem like they wanted to downplay it as much as possible without out-and-out lying.

Right - and without knowing who made that call it is hard to know the why. I personally read folks like Jay Rosen who consistently call out this behavior. Once you see it...it's hard to not see it. But also it drives understanding about why some of the drivers for why polarization is happening.

There is always going to be some level of 'human element' to everything. My problem is they pretend they are above it or that it isn't happening. And others may jump to conspiracy or sinister forces. I don't think you can eliminate all that but I think they need to start listening to their constructive critics because there really appear to be issues.

Like my old grand daddy used to say, "The less a man makes declarative statements, the less apt he is to look foolish in retrospect.".

And now the NY Times has a blurb on the front, "Israeli Police Attack Palestinian Journalist’s Funeral, Citing Provocation"

In a statement, the Israeli police said they “took enforcement action” after some mourners began chanting “nationalist incitement” and after police officers had given the crowd a warning. As the coffin was carried out of the hospital, police said, they were “forced to act” because “rioters began throwing stones toward the policemen.”