Octopus Overlords

Posted: **Tue Apr 20, 2021 9:54 pm**

The name now is James Corvus.

Posted: **Tue Apr 20, 2021 10:12 pm**

malchior wrote: ↑Tue Apr 20, 2021 9:19 pm
stimpy wrote: ↑Tue Apr 20, 2021 9:09 pm
Smoove_B wrote: ↑Tue Apr 20, 2021 8:38 pm As others have started stating, the entire 9+ minute act was filmed in HD and we were all still wondering if Chauvin was going to be found guilty. Our country needs help.
There was no way that with that piece of evidence he was going to be found not guilty.
No way.
I suspect Philando Castile's family would strongly disagree with your conviction about the outcome here.

Totally different circumstances.
Not saying it was justified, but in this case the guy had a gun and the officer states he was in fear and shot accordingly.
You're really trying to compare that to an officer kneeling on a guy for 9 minutes that has already been subdued and poses no harm?

Posted: **Wed Apr 21, 2021 6:53 am**

stimpy wrote: ↑Tue Apr 20, 2021 10:12 pm
Totally different circumstances.
Not saying it was justified, but in this case the guy had a gun and the officer states he was in fear and shot accordingly.

Castile was carrying legally and informed the officer of such. The officer panicked and shot him without seeing a firearm. Everyone probably knows that I'm generally pretty lenient on justified use of force. That wasn't.

Posted: **Wed Apr 21, 2021 7:19 am**

Talk radio was talking about the case and getting attacked for politicizing Floyd's death in one breath and for how, at worst, Chauvin should have been found of guilty of manslaughter and really did nothing wrong because he was doing what he was trained to do and then launched attacks on my rep, Talib. (who, in all honesty, probably did go off, as she is wont to do. I didn't hear.

I vote for her but I'm not so excited in doing so). If media coverage is at all barometer (and I hope it's not) then my state is lost deeper and deeper down the Q hole.

Posted: **Wed Apr 21, 2021 8:39 am**

LordMortis wrote:Talk radio was talking about the case and getting attacked for politicizing Floyd's death in one breath and for how, at worst, Chauvin should have been found of guilty of manslaughter and really did nothing wrong

The "I'm not racist but....." talking point on my Facebook feed is that it doesn't make sense that he should have been found guilty on all three counts. Of course this shows a complete lack of understanding of the legal process and what the jury was asked to do, but they get their panties in a wad when you try to explain facts.

Posted: **Wed Apr 21, 2021 8:46 am**

I continue to wonder if it's OK to go back to FB. I don't remember how long ago I left. Maybe 18 months. Maybe longer. I need a social platform, where people go to be social and talk about social things. What they've done. What they're doing. What they're going to do. Often so they can make plans to do it with others. Someone really should create an app like that.

Posted: **Wed Apr 21, 2021 10:24 am**

Remus is hip to facebook. Check with him.

Posted: **Wed Apr 21, 2021 12:20 pm**

YellowKing wrote: ↑Wed Apr 21, 2021 8:39 am
LordMortis wrote:Talk radio was talking about the case and getting attacked for politicizing Floyd's death in one breath and for how, at worst, Chauvin should have been found of guilty of manslaughter and really did nothing wrong
The "I'm not racist but....." talking point on my Facebook feed is that it doesn't make sense that he should have been found guilty on all three counts. Of course this shows a complete lack of understanding of the legal process and what the jury was asked to do, but they get their panties in a wad when you try to explain facts.

I saw this too. I'm stuck that they didn't independently start asking these type of questions. They were told it was unusual and the idea took hold. It seems there is a consistent push for forces to inject chaos into the straightforward.

Posted: **Wed Apr 21, 2021 12:46 pm**

LordMortis wrote: ↑Wed Apr 21, 2021 8:46 am I continue to wonder if it's OK to go back to FB. I don't remember how long ago I left. Maybe 18 months. Maybe longer. I need a social platform, where people go to be social and talk about social things. What they've done. What they're doing. What they're going to do. Often so they can make plans to do it with others. Someone really should create an app like that.

Discord is pretty cool OO should start a Discord if they haven't already. No ads nor tracking for ads.

Posted: **Wed Apr 21, 2021 1:20 pm**

I've pretty much figured out the secret to Facebook, and it's a much less toxic place for me now. The examples I give on this board are typically from my friends responding to an idiotic post, vs the idiotic post itself coming across the feed.

Basically a couple of years ago I started purging anyone with pro-Trump tendencies or views that I strongly disagreed with. Just blocking their posts, not necessarily full de-friending and raising animosity. You don't have to see that stuff if you don't want.

Then I started getting active in a bunch of Facebook groups that I was interested in. Solo gaming, horror comics, music diversity. Because most of those groups are heavily moderated, it's really rare you're going to get crap posts. And I've met and interacted with some wonderful people through those groups. They really are the centerpiece for Facebook for me, and give me another reason to keep going with it besides just keeping tabs on family.

Over time as you just keep stamping out the weeds that pop up in the feed, it will all start trending into stuff you do want to see. It's extremely rare that I ever get anything negative coming across these days.

Posted: **Wed Apr 21, 2021 1:44 pm**

My approach to FB is similar. First of all, curate your contacts. I only have 77 friends, of whom maybe half are occasionally active, and they're all people whom I know at least virtually -- I don't get the impulse to collect hundreds or even thousands of "friends." So I don't have any toxic people in my own feed. When I see one in a friend's feed, I just wish them into the cornfield: Click their name to go to their page. Click the meatballs (...) button on the right side of the header. Click Block. BAM! That person no longer exists. I only do that to repeat offenders who never contribute anything worthwhile. After blocking maybe a dozen friends-of-friends I very rarely see shitposters anymore. Then curate your feed by liking content creators such as local businesses, political writers like Heather Cox Richardson, science writers like SciBabe and Technology Review, and entertainment sites like Cracked.com and IFL Science. Finally, my family has a private group where we can talk amongst ourselves without posting personal stuff to our timelines.

That's not as much effort as it sounds like because it builds gradually over time. I have a nice bubble where I'm entertained and informed, and I can keep in touch with actual friends.

Posted: **Wed Apr 21, 2021 2:10 pm**

Yeah, I'm on FB using a pseudonym and I'm part of various hobby-related groups. The one local group I'm part of absolutely has toxic a-holes that comment, but they're usually moderated into oblivion once that happens. I am not friends with anyone; I don't interact with family. Just knowing my personality, I can't imagine that would end well, so I'm able to use it as a way to get hobby information - that's it.

Posted: **Wed Apr 21, 2021 2:30 pm**

Imagine being so utterly vile a human being that you think the reason Chauvin was convicted was because "riots work".

Ron DeSantis on Chauvin's jury conviction: "If that's something that can potentially happen, where you have justice meted out because the jury is scared of what a mob may do -- not saying that's what happened here ... [but] that's completely antithetical to the rule of law."

Posted: **Wed Apr 21, 2021 3:18 pm**

YellowKing wrote: ↑Wed Apr 21, 2021 1:20 pm Basically a couple of years ago I started purging anyone with pro-Trump tendencies or views that I strongly disagreed with. Just blocking their posts, not necessarily full de-friending and raising animosity. You don't have to see that stuff if you don't want.

This. I had a half a dozen hard core Trump friends that constantly posted nonsense that would only inflame me and drive up by blood pressure. I finally decided that their good posts did not compensate for their bad posts so I blocked them. I hate to miss the good things going on in their lives but it's just not worth it. We are still "friends" and I still get notified of their birthdays so I can send them a wish and every once in a while a take a peak at their pages to see if anything has changed. But my FB life is much better now that they are gone.

Posted: **Wed Apr 21, 2021 4:11 pm**

Smoove_B wrote: ↑Wed Apr 21, 2021 2:10 pm Yeah, I'm on FB using a pseudonym

Friggin' Carlos Danger rides again.

Anyway...

I'm in a facebook group for Joe Bob Brigg's Last Drive In. Mostly folks just discuss horror movies and the olden days of the glorious Drive In. But someone posted a review of some movie on Shudder that had just premiered about a group of rich people killing less rich people for fun (the worst offense that movie is guilty of is being unoriginal). But they ended it by saying they couldn't finish the movie because it hit too close to home with "what's happening in our country right now". I became curious as to what they meant and asked what they were talking about. They responded that it wasn't unlike how Soros and his cabal are killing poor children and drinking their blood. At first I thought they were being sarcastic...but they continued on about how horrible that was. I ended up chasing them away by asking if he was just as concerned with the massive rise in Easter Bunny sightings and then continuing to call him a Bunny Denier; but good lord. That was the first time I'd ever come across someone like that personally.

Posted: **Thu Apr 22, 2021 4:34 pm**

+ another. You get out of Facebook what you put in. If you follow or befriend everything that catches your eye, you'll get an eye full of crap. If you stay 'friends' with people who post crap, you'll see crap. If you feed it lots of your personal data, it'll have lots of your personal data.

But if you pick and choose who you're in contact with, pick and choose who you follow, and don't post anything you wouldn't announce publicly, you're going to have a very different experience.

On the rare occasion that I want to stay in contact with someone that posts crap (usually nonsensical memes), I just hit the options button on each post and click "Hide all from Stupid Memes to Annoy Friends" (or whatever.) After a few you'll have blocked their sources and they can post nonsense all day long without it ever crossing your path. Generally this is limited to family, and the result is that I only see their actual personal photos and text pages.

Posted: **Thu Apr 22, 2021 10:55 pm**

Before we leave the Facebook derail, I have to point out that the FIP Warriors group saved my cat's life (and thousands of others). If a friend hadn't told me she'd heard of a FB group claiming to have a cure for this supposedly incurable disease, Warren surely would have died last summer. He was down to his last few days on Earth when we received our first shipment of meds, all arranged via FB, and I will be forever grateful for that.

Posted: **Mon Apr 26, 2021 6:31 pm**

Yeah, I’ve come across far more good people on gaming and movie Facebook pages than I have nut jobs. Closing yourself off for fear of them is not how I want to approach social media.

Posted: **Mon Apr 26, 2021 6:49 pm**

I have had a mostly benign experience with Facebook because all I do is read my feed, meaning what my "Friends" have posted. I never dive into the wilds of strangers' posts. If someone I've friended goes off the rails, I just mute them (as I have done with many former classmates and quite few relatives and family friends).

This means FB for me is mostly about learning when people I know (or have known) get married or go on vacation or change jobs or adopt a pet. I can't imagine a better use for it. Also I get notified when people die, which seems important.

How even is it that you encounter horrific political strangers and their conspiracies on FB? Is it when you start following your acquaintances at church or work or your GOP militia or wherever?

Posted: **Mon Apr 26, 2021 7:04 pm**

Holman wrote: ↑Mon Apr 26, 2021 6:49 pm How even is it that you encounter horrific political strangers and their conspiracies on FB? Is it when you start following your acquaintances at church or work or your GOP militia or wherever?

In my case, it's when a friend's friend posts to my friend's page. Both of my nephews are connected to some real mouth-breathing knuckle-draggers. For the most part that just means seeing an offensive post every now and then. Don't engage with them and you won't get drawn in. Repeat offenders are easily blocked.

A certain member of OO has one friend who habitually piles on pro-trump messages (to be fair, my friend eggs him on). For awhile I thought he was a bot because he just repeats FOX lies. He's one of a handful of people that i finally blocked, because he only ever spread aggravation without contributing a single original thought. Another time, a friend of a friend saw a mildly political post on my timeline and replied with a load of derp -- she swore that trump was going to take MA, which made an amusing argument; I'm guessing that she didn't know what MA is. My friend was mortified and unfriended her.

These are all isolated incidents and easily controlled.

Posted: **Mon Apr 26, 2021 9:25 pm**

Apparently the real malevolence of FB is how it uses keywords and who-knows-what-else to invite users to join interest groups (something I have never done). This immediately adds dozens or even hundreds of strangers to a user's feed. Many groups (either organically or by subtle design) devolve into conspiracies or other shared stupidities, and thus the FB algorithm contributes to the decline of civilization more or less automatically.

Thanks, Zuck!

Posted: **Tue Apr 27, 2021 9:31 am**

I'm a member of many interest groups on Facebook. Groups for specific board games, a couple of pigeon rescue groups, formerly some D&D groups built around running a specific adventure, crafting/painting groups, and so forth.

What I do, though, is join them and then immediately unfollow most of them. If I'm in the mood to see what's up with the Core Space board game, I just click on that group. If I have an active interest in a particular board game or activity (like if I were currently playing Core Space), I refollow that group to see their current stuff as it happens. It is very, very rare that I ever see a political/conspiracy post from one of those groups. The people running them generally have a vested interest in keeping them on topic and posters who do such things are almost immediately removed, their posts deleted long before I see them. What you end up with is a very focused community dedicated to one specific activity, which is awesome and sometimes invaluable.

That's not to say that there's never a bad apple. Now and then I'll find myself in a group full of elitists, or run by an ego, or staffed by idiots, the same as any number of other internet communities. When that happens I simply click 'leave group' and it vanishes, completely. This happens maybe once a year.

Facebook is a powerful and valuable tool if you treat it as such. But you have to pick and choose, and you have to be smart about what you put out there, just like any other internet based tool.

Posted: **Tue Apr 27, 2021 9:53 am**

Blackhawk wrote: ↑Tue Apr 27, 2021 9:31 am Facebook is a powerful and valuable tool if you treat it as such. But you have to pick and choose, and you have to be smart about what you put out there, just like any other internet based tool.

I admit that I fell into some bad social media habits (namely getting in political arguments with strangers or friends of friends), and made the conscious decision over the past 6 months to tray and (mostly) disengage with FB. I muted or blocked the majority of the MAGA derpers in my orbit, only keeping my immediate family members and a couple friends, as it's sometimes helpful to have the proverbial canary in the coal mine. I don't post often, and try to keep what I do post to just stupid memes, music, or random goofy observations. As a result, my feed has become 99% obscure death metal bands, board games, movies, Utah sports, and video games. It's a great curator of info for those things I like. I do see the political posts pop up from time to time, but mostly just ignore them.

It took me far longer than it should have, but I finally realized there's really no sense in engaging.

Posted: **Tue Apr 27, 2021 10:04 am**

Skinypupy wrote: ↑Tue Apr 27, 2021 9:53 amI finally realized there's really no sense in engaging.

This is where I've been for a long time but I still like to listen to them. My canaries really help me understand where these ideas come from. You can sometimes see the ripples back to the origins. I have noticed that less and less can be seen back to the source especially recently. That says to me they've gone back into deep dark holes on the Internet or closed groups that shield them from view. It is also unsurprising that the idea that the right is being "censored" has risen so loud.

Posted: **Tue Apr 27, 2021 10:20 am**

Skinypupy wrote: ↑Tue Apr 27, 2021 9:53 am It took me far longer than it should have, but I finally realized there's really no sense in engaging.

This. When I come across someone who is obviously a nutcase, I usually will just ignore them. It's better that way. Nothing someone says on the internet is likely to change their mind. That will have to come from personal experience and/or the patience of family and friends.

But I can count on one hand the number of those folks I've come across in the last 6 months. So I don't lose any sleep over trying to avoid them.

Posted: **Wed Apr 28, 2021 11:33 am**

My ex husband found all of his relatives on his Dad's side on Facebook and now he wants to change his last name as they are all idiot Republicans. He told our son that our son could change his last name 'anytime'. So fortunate that I only have intelligent people in my feed, my extended family is about as anti GOP as you can get.

Posted: **Wed Apr 28, 2021 12:37 pm**

Lorini wrote: ↑Wed Apr 28, 2021 11:33 am My ex husband found all of his relatives on his Dad's side on Facebook and now he wants to change his last name as they are all idiot Republicans. He told our son that our son could change his last name 'anytime'. So fortunate that I only have intelligent people in my feed, my extended family is about as anti GOP as you can get.

Will you adopt me? I will learn to better appreciate Euros, I swear!

Posted: **Wed Apr 28, 2021 12:59 pm**

I've mentioned this before, but what kills me is my brother. He's been out and proud for decades. He even runs a summer resort that caters to the LBGTQ community alongside his longtime partner of 25 years.

Yet he and his partner are rabid Trump supporters. They absolutely loathe anything that smacks of liberalism. His partner is a former marine, which makes me wonder how he can support a group that wants homosexuals and transgendered people OUT of the military.

It just boggles the mind...and is living proof that the LBGTQ community is not a monolithic institution like republicans would have you believe.

Posted: **Wed Apr 28, 2021 1:05 pm**

hepcat wrote: ↑Wed Apr 28, 2021 12:59 pm I've mentioned this before, but what kills me is my brother. He's been out and proud for decades. He even runs a summer resort that caters to the LBGTQ community alongside his longtime partner of 25 years.

Yet he and his partner are rabid Trump supporters. They absolutely loathe anything that smacks of liberalism. His partner is a former marine, which makes me wonder how he can support a group that wants homosexuals and transgendered people OUT of the military.

It just boggles the mind...and is living proof that the LBGTQ community is not a monolithic institution like republicans would have you believe.

They actually have an outstanding record, as long as you don't want to play sports. Or get married. Or use the restroom. Or protest. Or vote...

Posted: **Wed Apr 28, 2021 1:06 pm**

But... but... the agenda!

Posted: **Wed Apr 28, 2021 1:14 pm**

My brother went off on letting teenagers choose their own gender when last I visited my father for a family get together.

This coming from someone who's best friend used to be in a drag show under the name Kitty Amour.

I feel like living in the rust belt like we did all those years created the need to conform to the standards of everyone around them in order to survive. And now that they're in an environment that allows them to be themselves to a much greater degree, they've forgotten how to turn off that mechanism.

Posted: **Wed Apr 28, 2021 1:59 pm**

hepcat wrote: ↑Wed Apr 28, 2021 12:59 pm His partner is a former marine, which makes me wonder how he can support a group that wants homosexuals and transgendered people OUT of the military.

An acquaintance of mine is a trans woman whose military career (pre-transition) was as a combat helicopter pilot. Multiple deployments, saw a ton of live action, etc. Same as your brother's partner, she is a very loud and proud Trump supporter. I asked her once how she could support someone who was so outright hostile to people like her. Her justification was twofold:

1. She owns a company that does lots of IT contracts for the federal government, and she saw a significant boom under Trump. So she personally benefited.
2. Because her transition was post-military, she doesn't feel any obligation to support trans people who were currently trying to serve. Her exact words were "that's their problem" and they just needed to "toughen up".

So, it's the usual conservative case of "fuck you, I got mine", amplified x1,000. I can't really wrap my head around it, tbh. She also had a burning hatred of Hillary, which didn't help matters any.

It just boggles the mind...and is living proof that the LBGTQ community is not a monolithic institution like republicans would have you believe.

Indeed.

Posted: **Wed Apr 28, 2021 4:40 pm**

Gay people self-loath too...

Posted: **Thu May 20, 2021 6:36 pm**

NBC News

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's journalism school is not offering Nikole Hannah-Jones, the Pulitzer Prize-winning creator of The New York Times' "1619 Project," a tenured professorship after facing pressure from conservatives.

NC Policy Watch first reported that the UNC-Chapel Hill's board of trustees had decided not to approve tenure for Hannah-Jones at the Hussman School of Journalism and Media. According to the 19th, she is the first person in this role at UNC-Chapel Hill to be denied tenure by the board.

The university announced last month that Hannah-Jones would join the school as the Knight Chair in Race and Investigative Journalism in July. Conservatives quickly condemned the university's decision to offer Hannah-Jones the tenure-track position.
...
Despite the controversy, Hussman dean Susan King said she was "delighted" to welcome Hannah-Jones as an educator.

"While I am disappointed that the appointment is without tenure, there is no doubt in anyone’s mind that she will be a star faculty member," King said in a statement obtained by NBC News.

Posted: **Thu May 20, 2021 7:06 pm**

I don't have time to call up a link, but a Twitter search on the topic of the UNC board of trustees will bring you whole threads on how the board has tries to exert its power to suppress research and teaching. They have also worked with GOP legislators to shape state laws restricting course content on racism and the history of Jim Crow.

But the GOP is for free speech and against Cancel Culture, amiright?

Posted: **Thu May 20, 2021 8:43 pm**

I just had a contractor over to put in a bay window and an entry door. After i put the deposit down, we were talking about the neighborhood. Then out of nowhere comes "don't you think that a certain group of people are getting too much attention on mainstream media" Question.

What I said on FB because I don't want to type it again.

"Note to contractors. Just because you are white, and I am white, don't ask me if I think a certain group of the population is getting too much attention in "the mainstream media". You will get the best history lesson I can come up with, and I am embarrassingly not qualified to do so. Shut up, take my money, and do the work. Next time, I'll look harder in my choice of home repair businesses.
At least, he seemed to have a bit of an epiphany."

Wtf.

Posted: **Sat May 22, 2021 4:12 pm**

Santorum is an equal opportunity racist, and he is gone from CNN.

CNN Drops Rick Santorum After Racist Comments About Native Americans

Posted: **Sat May 22, 2021 4:35 pm**

See ya!

Posted: **Mon May 24, 2021 7:25 am**

A lot of people are very upset with the NY Times over a piece they did. And I get it in the abstract - they sat in a Republican focus group talking about George Floyd - which is of suspect value. Especially since panels like this tend to be flawed since the people feel peer pressure to respond by the party line. Also the NYT is seemingly obsessed with platforming Trump voters. I read through the panel interview end-to-end <link here> and it has me again wondering how we go forward when there are millions of people like this out there. The whole thing just belies the power of Fox/OANN fueled ignorance.

Edit: I also learned very little new about Trump voter's so the critics also have a point.

FPatrick Healy: How many of you, before George Floyd’s death, believed that the police officers in America did their best to treat everyone — white, Black, Hispanic, Asian, everybody — the same, professionally and fairly? [All 14 raise their hands.]

OK. After George Floyd’s death — I’d like to see a show of hands — did any of you feel differently about that, in terms of how police officers treated people by race?

Frank Luntz: Not one of you. Actually, hold on. Kathryn is the only one.

Kathryn (from Arizona): I think that was just a unique situation. I mean, that’s unfortunate. But again, the media just ran with the story for weeks and weeks and weeks.

Martha: We talk about the media. But the one thing we haven’t touched on that has caused divisiveness is social media. Prior to social media, you were able to have clearer lines about what’s right and what’s wrong. And now you can find 200 people that will agree with you on anything on social media — any kind of behavior, any kind of way. And I think that it divides us. It puts us in silos.

The one big change I’ve made in the last year is I do a lot less social media. And I don’t trust anything that I see on social media unless I’ve checked it out.

Patrick Healy: I’m going to say a phrase, and I’d like to get one word or a brief reaction. And the phrase is “Black Lives Matter.”

Jeremiah (from Michigan): Misguided.

Nancy: Political.

Josh: The idea is fine. The group itself — a bunch of losers.

Taylor (from Ohio): Corrupt and going the wrong direction for the Black community.

Alex: A tool.

James: Marxist hate group.

Evelyn: Well, he took mine. I was going to say Marxist. So I’ll say communist.

Posted: **Mon May 24, 2021 7:47 am**

These people are irredeemable.

Octopus Overlords

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