March, 2021 archive
Our Cyberdystopia 0
A “cheer mom” uses “deepfake” images in an attempt to force her daughter’s rivals to leave a cheerleading squad. A snippet:
Spone is accused of manipulating photos from the social media accounts of three girls to make it look like they were drinking and smoking, and even digitally altered them to make the girls appear naked.
“The suspect is alleged to have taken a real picture and edited it through some photoshopping app to make it look like this teenaged girl had no clothes on to appear nude, when in reality that picture was a screengrab from the teenager’s social media in which she had a bathing suit on,” said Bucks County District Attorney Matt Weintraub.
We are a society of stupid.
Facebook Frolics 0
Frolicking with falsehoods.
The Price of Denying the Past 0
Tony Norman does the math.
Accountability 0
The writer of a letter to the editor of The Roanoke Times has a disturbing thought.
“But I’m the Victim Here . . . .” 0
Dick Polman takes a stab at understanding why Trumpettes are so easily gulled (or immune to truth or deeply delusional–take your pick). A snippet:
What best explains this disease of self-delusion? I’ll give it a try:
They never take responsibility for anything, they can never admit they were wrong about anything, and they need a bogeyman to blame, because they’re terminally invested in victimhood.
Follow the link for the rest.
Fly the Fiendly Skies 0
Back when I was on the road for business one or two weeks a month, I spent a lot of time on airplanes.
Mostly, I viewed a flight as an unpleasant ordeal to be endured (in contrast, train travel was fun), even as seats got smaller, amenities disappeared, and complementary meals became a memory. I got quite good at zenning out invoking the relaxation response and ignoring my fellow sufferers.
Nevertheless, I doubt I could have ignored this level down-home stupid.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Politeness takes practice.
Unnerved, the boy decided to pack up and go home. But just as he was leaving, more shots were fired and he dropped for cover on the ground.
He wasn’t injured.
Game wardens later found the shooter, who was firing at a steel target just off the ground without a recommended backstop and few trees between the target and where Redding was fishing, according to WCSH.
“Anybody can be a gun owner but be a responsible gun owner and do your homework before you go out shooting,” his father, Matt, who is president of the Maine Youth Fish & Game Association, told the TV station.
One more time, “responsible gun owner” is an oxymoron.
The Anachronism 0
I find Prince Harry and Meghan Markel’s stories of how they were treated credible. After all, it was English settlers who fostered America’s original sin of chattel slavery and created the myth of white racial superiority so as to ease their consciences (and line their wallets).
What most strikes me, though, is the downright petty nastiness of the treatment they received. Even bigots are capable of being polite.
I’m a Southern Boy. I have known in my lifetime many bigots who are capable of politeness. It doesn’t make them any less bigoted, but at least they were able to dress up their bigotry in Sunday-go-to-meeting clothes.
Also, I don’t get Americans’ fascination with the British royal family. Nor that of PBS viewers with soap operas set in Edwardian England. Grump, grump, grump.