What’s On Your Mind?

[lizkat]

Tik Tok will be the downfall of western civilization. We will have dared ourselves to our own deaths.

Quite possibly.

Every time I start to type "why don't they just send a cop to the back door of every kid who relayed a threat like that and have a long talk with the mom or pop and the kid?" then I realize I'm talking about advocating a surveillance state.

The backbones of that certainly already exist, but god forbid we should say the quiet part out loud in the USA.

The really sad thing is that we still have people who say it doesn't take a village to raise a kid. We now have an international community raising our kids and we have zero clue most of the time who the influencers really are.

I was maybe a little happier when it was just a bunch of grandmas on front stoops or in sheer-curtained parlors who were raising our kids by picking up the phone and asking Mabel or Gloria if she realized Joey was still picking on kids smaller than him on the way home from school.

So I don't type actual inquiries about hey why don't we have COPS do this? Heh but the grandmas were not a bad idea and every decent person over the age of about 60 actually knows this.

A village will help raise your kid whether you want that to happen or not. The way things go now, the village awaits your seven-year-old's first use of an iPad connected to the net to watch some kidvid.

But I do wonder where's Tik Tok with this stuff, they know who breaks their guidelines and should be banned not just suspended.

I guess it's simple enough to spoof an IP address, to create another username... and another, and another, and certainly the real police in any community of size are not going to spend hours looking to arrest the average teenage parrot of meaningless mass threats that some malevolent person initiated. So it's a challenge to both the social media outlets and to would-be regulators in governments.

Will we end up having to give up the idea of relative anonymity -- and so some protection of "free" speech along with a measure of freedom from fear of physical harassment for voicing opinions-- just because some people think it's fun (or, politically useful) to escalate use of "social" media from mere insult to threats of harm?

Is it even possible to demand verifiable identity on the net any more?

All of us have our particulars out there somewhere, thanks to hacks of careless beancounting megacorporations and even governments. And no beancounting social media outlet is very concerned about making sure it's not being deceived about identify in the case of ordinary Americans. Only someone who's a celebrity gets that kind of once-over when going for the "verified identiy" stamp on their social media setup.

I'm certainly out of suggestions on how to make this better. I sometimes fantasize though about some uber-Nanny giving the whole planet a cyber-TIMEOUT for a couple hours now and then, without notice. Time enough for all our short-circuiting. attention-shifting brains to cast about for something real to do, something real to connect to and realize that in real time and space, all actions do have consequences.

 

[chengengaun]

The really sad thing is that we still have people who say it doesn't take a village to raise a kid. We now have an international community raising our kids and we have zero clue most of the time who the influencers really are.

I was maybe a little happier when it was just a bunch of grandmas on front stoops or in sheer-curtained parlors who were raising our kids by picking up the phone and asking Mabel or Gloria if she realized Joey was still picking on kids smaller than him on the way home from school.

So I don't type actual inquiries about hey why don't we have COPS do this? Heh but the grandmas were not a bad idea and every decent person over the age of about 60 actually knows this.

A village will help raise your kid whether you want that to happen or not. The way things go now, the village awaits your seven-year-old's first use of an iPad connected to the net to watch some kidvid.

Very well said. The village analogy reminds me of global village and The Gutenberg Galaxy by Marshall McLuhan. I need to revisit the book.

 

[lizkat]

In my email this morning, twice. Hell, for my money they had it right the first time. 2021 = one long Halloween.

​

 

[Renzatic]

2021 = one long Halloween.

...if only.

 

[lizkat]

...if only.

Well the trick part, not so much the treats.

Maybe after I quit fuming over Manchin on Fox today, I will remember some cool stuff about 2021.

Anyway moving on, what else is on my mind: warmest December I can remember., and another week of it on tap. Phenomenal outlier in my memory, even though we have had generally milder winters for at least the past five years.

Thirty-eight years ago I spent my first Christmas up here. It was 22 below 0ºF with blizzard conditions and 7-foot drifts that morning... naive thing that I was, I hadn't even realized it could snow when it was that cold.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

My mother.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

My mother.

My mother: Today is the third anniversary of her death.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

And today is also the day of the winter solstice, something which is also very much on my mind.

 

[shadow puppet]

Happy Winter Solstice everyone.
"Yuke King" by Michael Kerbow.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Thinking of my mother - for, today marks the third aniversary of her death - and my poor cousin, who died not quite three weeks ago - all I can suggest is that those who of you who have friends and family whom they love to give them a hug (Covid permitting).

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Other Brother emailed to discuss Christmas, memories and Mother, and wrote: "So she passed away on a day she always had mixed feelings about, the worst of the winter darkness but also with it's passing the prospect of things becoming brighter."

 

[DT]

Happy Birthday my dude!

 

[Eric]

Happy Birthday my dude!

View attachment 10672

Happy birthday! @JayMysteri0

 

[Alli]

And belated happy birthday, Jay!

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Quite possibly.

Every time I start to type "why don't they just send a cop to the back door of every kid who relayed a threat like that and have a long talk with the mom or pop and the kid?" then I realize I'm talking about advocating a surveillance state.

The backbones of that certainly already exist, but god forbid we should say the quiet part out loud in the USA.

The really sad thing is that we still have people who say it doesn't take a village to raise a kid. We now have an international community raising our kids and we have zero clue most of the time who the influencers really are.

I was maybe a little happier when it was just a bunch of grandmas on front stoops or in sheer-curtained parlors who were raising our kids by picking up the phone and asking Mabel or Gloria if she realized Joey was still picking on kids smaller than him on the way home from school.

So I don't type actual inquiries about hey why don't we have COPS do this? Heh but the grandmas were not a bad idea and every decent person over the age of about 60 actually knows this.

A village will help raise your kid whether you want that to happen or not. The way things go now, the village awaits your seven-year-old's first use of an iPad connected to the net to watch some kidvid.

But I do wonder where's Tik Tok with this stuff, they know who breaks their guidelines and should be banned not just suspended.

I guess it's simple enough to spoof an IP address, to create another username... and another, and another, and certainly the real police in any community of size are not going to spend hours looking to arrest the average teenage parrot of meaningless mass threats that some malevolent person initiated. So it's a challenge to both the social media outlets and to would-be regulators in governments.

Will we end up having to give up the idea of relative anonymity -- and so some protection of "free" speech along with a measure of freedom from fear of physical harassment for voicing opinions-- just because some people think it's fun (or, politically useful) to escalate use of "social" media from mere insult to threats of harm?

Is it even possible to demand verifiable identity on the net any more?

All of us have our particulars out there somewhere, thanks to hacks of careless beancounting megacorporations and even governments. And no beancounting social media outlet is very concerned about making sure it's not being deceived about identify in the case of ordinary Americans. Only someone who's a celebrity gets that kind of once-over when going for the "verified identiy" stamp on their social media setup.

I'm certainly out of suggestions on how to make this better. I sometimes fantasize though about some uber-Nanny giving the whole planet a cyber-TIMEOUT for a couple hours now and then, without notice. Time enough for all our short-circuiting. attention-shifting brains to cast about for something real to do, something real to connect to and realize that in real time and space, all actions do have consequences.

Terrific post.

The "grandmother" who filled that function on our road was a retired Lieutenant-Colonel, who lived four houses away - his son, his only child, was (and is) a very good friend of both Decent Brother and mine.

Anyway, @Apple fanboy would know the sort of guy I am describing - crisp, dapper, upright (in every way), polite, yet commanding - a man of utter integrity, who sported polished, laced, brown brogues, razor sharp creased twill trousers, pressed shirt and tie, tweed jacket, was commissioned just before, or during, WW2, (and yes, as his son pointed out to me, "that generation" had an extraordinary capacity for alcohol - he was convinced that most of them suffered from some form of PTSD) - who kept fit by walking (marching?) daily, long walks - and barked at (and kept a close eye on) groups of young local male miscreants long before they ever had a chance to even think about (let alone plot or plan) getting into mischief or stepping out of line in any way seriously.

 

[lizkat]

Terrific post.

The "grandmother" who filled that function on our road was a retired Lieutenant-Colonel, who lived four houses away - his son, his only child, was (and is) a very good friend of both Decent Brother and mine.

Anyway, @Apple fanboy would know the sort of guy I am describing - crisp, dapper, upright (in every way), polished, polite, a man of utter integrity, polished, laced, brown brogues, creased twill trousers, pressed shirt and tie, tweed jacket, commissioned during WW2, (and yes, as his son pointed out to me, "that generation" had an extraordinary capacity for alcohol - he was convinced that most of them suffered from some form of PTSD) - who kept fit by walking (marching?) daily, long walks - and barked at groups of young local male miscreants long before they ever had a chance to even think about (let alone plot or plan) getting into mischief or stepping out of line in any way seriously.

The thing is everyone seems meaner these days and in the US of course some don't think twice about pulling a gun to make a deadly point of "mind your own biz".

It's sad and has been exacerbated by covid. Service workers and the customer service staff of retail companies have reported record numbers of over-the-top abusive callers or in-store tantrum throwers. It can become just too much to bear no matter what the wage scale is after awhile. Everyone is stressed out over disappointments of one sort or another -- items not in stock, delivery dates not met etc., stuff that ordinarily makes one roll eyes and press on but nowadays can seem like a last straw and the unfortunate CS rep takes the brunt of consumer unhappiness. Maybe it was ever so, but now the job even comes with the occasional death threat which is really just ... way into mental illness territory. I mean over something like a mask, or a ripped seam in a blouse?

 

[yaxomoxay]

Friend of mine, no vax, at the hospital, apparently her condition is very serious and might die. I truly hope she survives but I hope she learned her lesson and I hope she’ll use her mistake to be an example to other people.

 

[Eric]

Friend of mine, no vax, at the hospital, apparently her condition is very serious and might die. I truly hope she survives but I hope she learned her lesson and I hope she’ll use her mistake to be an example to other people.

Yeah, it's easy to point a finger and say "I told you so" but the reality is every time this happens it saddens me, nobody wants to see another person suffer and die at the hands of this hideous virus. I wish your friend the best and like you said, hopefully it will serve as a reminder to others she may know who might still be on the fence about a vaccine.

 

[Apple fanboy]

Friend of mine, no vax, at the hospital, apparently her condition is very serious and might die. I truly hope she survives but I hope she learned her lesson and I hope she’ll use her mistake to be an example to other people.

Hope they pull through. Stories like this make me fear for Mrs AFB more and more. This week and next I’m travelling to London with a stop over and am paranoid I’ll bring it back home. I’ll be as careful as I can, but it’s not like I get much choice. I have to work.

 

[DT]

Friend of mine, no vax, at the hospital, apparently her condition is very serious and might die. I truly hope she survives but I hope she learned her lesson and I hope she’ll use her mistake to be an example to other people.

OOC, what was her vaccination stance? Was it slightly voluntary (as in, felt safe due to lifestyle / a little concerned over the vaxx development), due to other mitigating circumstances (couldn't do to medical issues, etc.), raging anti-vaxx (with or without insane political extremism)?