"Nobody can control the weather."

William Lindsey :toad:

@Tooden I'd be hard-pressed to vote for her. Only yesterday, I quoted to someone words that ring in my ears from hearing my mother and her sisters say them over and over: "Pretty is as pretty does."

I really don't mean to criticize someone's appearance. But I do think how we behave ends up shining out in our faces, and how Ms. Taylor Greene behaves is not pretty to me.

Urzl

@wdlindsy Historically the Democrats have been super bad at playing offense. Their defense is hard to even judge since you can't win a game on defense alone.

It's part of why we all freak out over Republican advances even if they're small, we see the ball get past our defense and we know the Democrats aren't up to evening the score.

Timo

@wdlindsy Oliver is like a 'one trick pony', bashing the dems all the time. What doesn't he get about the capture of the media by the billionaires with an agenda? Who does he think will report all the statements of the dems? He's kind of stuck in the Obama-Bush era.

@wdlindsy

It doesn't change the fact it develops a belief system not based on facts or observed knowledge but whatever you choose to believe.

Andrew

@wdlindsy

And this with AI as it is now. The pace of development and investment is such that in not too long a time it will be very hard for anyone without the technical knowledge to tell the difference.

Deep fakes, AI and bad actors will result in an alternative reality in which the truth will be whatever anyone wishes it to be.

I genuinely fear the future.

Andrew

@wdlindsy

Beliefs require no evidence. In fact beliefs hold fast in the presence of evidence to the contrary when sustained by higher authority.

Christian evangelism in some quarters is transfixed by the literal truth of the Bible, that the Earth is only 6000 yrs old, the Flood was 4000 years ago, the world is flat, and space is fake as the world is enclosed by a firmament. You can’t debate it as their “evidence” is the Bible.

William Lindsey :toad:

@serendip1959 It's not clear to me to whom or what you're responding in the thread above. Yes, in the modern era, many branches of Christianity have reduced belief to an intellectually barren exercise in literalism, as you say — focused, in particular, in believing in the literal truth of biblical texts, or, inevitably, in a handful of select biblical texts, a canon within a canon. This is a very modern understanding of Christian faith that negates rich previous understandings.

William Lindsey :toad:

@serendip1959 I agree.

William Lindsey :toad:

@the5thColumnist No, but it makes clear that using this argument to slam religion altogether is basing your attack on a misrepresentation of what religious faith is about, when faith is properly understood. It's easy to knock down strawmen caricatures, but that seldom helps meaningful conversations.

William Lindsey :toad:

@timo21 Yes, you've shared that critique before. I read him differently. I read him as one of the long-ignored and long-scorned voices of people of color in mainstream media, who makes important points out of his experience as an African American. Even when I don't necessarily agree with all of his points, I have a strong commitment to listen seriously to the voices of African-American journalists, intellectuals, commentators.

William Lindsey :toad:

@gooba42 Yes, I agree. That's how I see it.

Andrew

@wdlindsy

It was the quote in your own comment about reality denial.

Timo

@wdlindsy OK, sorry about the rant. I'll stop with ranting about writers who seem to miss the threat to all of us by the emerging billionaire new world order. I'm glad you share various writers. Thanks for that. I had no idea his personal history, not that it matters for a rant about content of a piece.

William Lindsey :toad:

"A wave of antisemitic rhetoric and online threats has been leveled at state and federal officials in North Carolina in recent days as they respond to the destructive aftermath of Hurricane Helene, according to a report released on Tuesday by a nonprofit research group that studies online platforms."

~ Eduardo Medina

#hurricane #Milton #Trump #Republicans #lies #disinformation #ElonMusk #Twitter #X #antisemitism
/12

nytimes.com

(www.nytimes.com)

William Lindsey :toad:

Jonathan V. Last says one reason normalization of the unthinkable happens is that we're not wired to live with constant abnormality:

"If you create a constant stream of abnormalities, then eventually people accept them as normal.

Which is why authoritarians, like Trump, provoke. They seek to accelerate the neurological process, thus normalizing the authoritarian project and creating pathways to power."

#Trump #Republicans #lies #disinformation #authoritarianism
/13

Biology Explains Why People Normalize Trump

How authoritarians hack our nervous systems to desensitize us to their assaults on democracy.

(www.thebulwark.com)

William Lindsey :toad:

"For decades, it has been a GOP mantra to deny and denigrate reality—whether it’s calling climate change a hoax, claiming Obamacare has death panels, arguing that tax cuts for the wealthy trickle down, insisting that immigrants hurt the economy, or denying gun violence as a public health crisis.

In recent years, these lies have clearly escalated."

~ Elliot Kirschner

#hurricane #Milton #Trump #Republicans #lies #disinformation
/14

A Perfect Storm

Amplified by lies

(elliotkirschner.substack.com)

Reallyblue3

@wdlindsy fossil fuel funded disinformation by oil and gas oligarchs camouflaging themselves as conservatives or Christians got us to this point by spewing lies to promote climate change denial and stop any action against them harvesting trillions in dangerous natural resources

William Lindsey :toad:

@Reallyblue3 Yes, that sounds just right to me.

William Lindsey :toad:

@timo21 No need to apologize. People can see things differently, surely — and my perspective is hardly infallible.

William Lindsey :toad:

@serendip1959 That's an excerpt from Jill Filipovic. Sorry if that wasn't clear. It's not my statement, though I think it's a good one.