Random News Stories

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Made fun of Islam in general and Omar al-Baghdadi in particular.  So, according to the edgy and contrarian Twitter masses, they were totally asking for it.

I mean yeah, it's kinda douchebaggy, that output.  But if douchebaggery were punishable by death...well, people being contrarian, victim-blaming twats on Twitter while there's still blood being washed out of the offices of Charlie Hebdo would rank somewhat higher on the list than Charlie Hebdo themselves.  And violent, Islamist extremists would dwarf both by comparison.

Right? Who's the biggest douchebag, here?

[LMNO]

I'm seeing quite a lot of people who raise a hue and cry against slut shaming rape victims, and are now saying that the dead journalists were "asking for it."


#CorpseShaming

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Thought this was interesting: http://www.theguardian.com/global/2015/jan/07/life-after-a-viral-nightmare-ecce-homo-to-revenge-porn

A while ago I wrote about being nervous over the internet's long memory and how easy it is to accidentally screw yourself up forever- or be a victim of random chance turned into a meme. It is nice to see that this isn't always totally awful, but I'm still not sure it is worth attaching your face/name to social media...

That is really interesting. I don't really have a solution, because anything you say could be taken out of context or used against you socially, whether it's in an email or on Twitter, or in the case of the Target bagboy, even just a sneak snapshot taken while you're minding your own business. I'm hoping that our culture will get more moderate as it matures alongside instant communication.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

I don't Twitter, though. Twitter fucking scares me.

[Doktor Howl]

Twitter is basically tumblr for hyperactive people.

[Cain]

Yeah, technological innovation always seems to lead ethical maturation to use said innovations in a responsible manner, unfortunately. 

And yes, Twitter is fucking horrific.  I had to use Twitter, with my previous writing job.  I'd get screaming nutjobs sending death threats to me for being too pro-Israeli and too anti-Israeli.  I'd get people using the fact I used a different translation standard from the one they used to suggest I know absolutely nothing about the topic in hand, despite the multiple footnotes from a wide variety of sources.  I'd get called a "colonialist neoimperialist" for objecting to people killing people overseas, and threats of being doxxed and blacklisted.

And this was all just in response to a single article, theorising how a collapse in Hamas' infrastructure and popular support might play out in the long term.

[Doktor Howl]

Yeah, technological innovation always seems to lead ethical maturation to use said innovations in a responsible manner, unfortunately. 

And yes, Twitter is fucking horrific.  I had to use Twitter, with my previous writing job.  I'd get screaming nutjobs sending death threats to me for being too pro-Israeli and too anti-Israeli.  I'd get people using the fact I used a different translation standard from the one they used to suggest I know absolutely nothing about the topic in hand, despite the multiple footnotes from a wide variety of sources.  I'd get called a "colonialist neoimperialist" for objecting to people killing people overseas, and threats of being doxxed and blacklisted.

And this was all just in response to a single article, theorising how a collapse in Hamas' infrastructure and popular support might play out in the long term.

I once wrote on a political board, several years ago, that Israel led with its chin last time they invaded Lebanon, and got their asses kicked because they went ahead and did what their enemies expected them to do. 

I was immediately shat on by everyone on both sides for my "political view".  ONE (1) guy spoke up and told both sides "he isn't siding with anyone, he's just describing what actually happened."  Then HE got shat on.

[Cain]

The subject does make people pretty retarded on its own, I wont lie.  But this was special sauce crazy...and I was asked not to write about Israel/Palestine again, which I was more than OK with.  It's a dumb conflict anyway.

[Doktor Howl]

The subject does make people pretty retarded on its own, I wont lie.  But this was special sauce crazy...and I was asked not to write about Israel/Palestine again, which I was more than OK with.  It's a dumb conflict anyway.

Well, it's also like watching a trainwreck on infinite loop.

[Cain]

Which is also, incidentally, a great description of pretty much any "Twitter storm" that occurs.

[Demolition Squid]

This really made me smile and is a great counterpoint to the people demanding that 'the muslim community' do something about the terrorists.

Taking Murdoch's logic to a knowingly absurd conclusion, he also wrote: ".@rupertmurdoch is Christian just like Mark David Chapman who shot John Lennon. Why didn't Rupert stop it? #RupertsFault", and ".@rupertmurdoch is responsible for all pedophilia committed by anyone Catholic. @rupertmurdoch why are you pro-pedophile ".

[Cain]

Given a Muslim police officer was killed trying to stop the attackers, I rather think the Muslim community did do something to try and stop the killers.  Given French intelligence knew who the attackers were, before the attack (from intelligence that must have, ultimately originated from the French Muslim community)....

Etc etc.

This bizarre need to make Muslims abase themselves and perform for the amusement and edification of media blowhards is pretty hard to understand.

Or maybe not.  I mean, Twitter and tumblr does the same thing all the time.  Only people actually call them out on being lunatics when they do it.

[Demolition Squid]

Yeah...

My Dad has been spouting the same nonsense about the muslim community needing to 'do more'. He seems to genuinely believe that all muslims know who the terrorists are and decide not to tell anybody because they secretly support them.

He's also been going on about how, as the muslim population has been on the increase, by 2050 Britain will be a majority muslim country.

I tried pointing out that if that happens, we'll have nothing to fear from terrorist attacks since we'll be an islamic caliphate. For some reason that didn't go down well.

[Cain]

Ah yeah, that old scare story.

Basically, for that to be the case, the birth rate of UK Muslims has to match those of the population of Yemen and Palestine - among the highest birthrate in the world - while the birthrate of every other group in the UK has to drop below the replacement number.  The Eurabia conspiracy theorists love that one.

More likely, Muslims will form about 10% of the population of the EU by 2050.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Interesting story on "speaking While Female". Note toward the end,  the credit union that has majority female leadership and front-line staff; men there have a more difficult time being heard. This is a really good illustration of why it's important to find and maintain a balance.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/11/opinion/sunday/speaking-while-female.html?_r=0

YEARS ago, while producing the hit TV series "The Shield," Glen Mazzara noticed that two young female writers were quiet during story meetings. He pulled them aside and encouraged them to speak up more.

Watch what happens when we do, they replied.

Almost every time they started to speak, they were interrupted or shot down before finishing their pitch. When one had a good idea, a male writer would jump in and run with it before she could complete her thought.

Sadly, their experience is not unusual.

We've both seen it happen again and again. When a woman speaks in a professional setting, she walks a tightrope. Either she's barely heard or she's judged as too aggressive. When a man says virtually the same thing, heads nod in appreciation for his fine idea. As a result, women often decide that saying less is more.