Tag Archives: gender

Another weekend, another bunch of stuff to alleviate stress

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This entry is part [part not set] of 100 in the series Today's Tidbits

Why, yes, you continue to get a proliferation of fluff in the feed. But it’s good fluff!

At least I think it is.

Creative. Witty. So wrong it’s awesome.

It’s the stuff that helps alleviate the stress that my life has been lately.

But have no fear! There are also some gems of real content in there.

Interesting bits of science. Some very insightful comments on items. Actual world happenings that we should all be aware of.

Check it out, enjoy what you can, maybe jump in and participate in a conversation (even if you’re coming across this months later… don’t hesitate to comment, I’ll see it and it may get things moving on that post again).

Here’s the feed.

A Weekend’s Worth of Amusement (Offset by Some Real World News)

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This entry is part [part not set] of 100 in the series Today's Tidbits

It’s been a little trying here in the real world. Lots of not-so-great things going on if you pay attention to the news. More not-so-great things going on for some people I give a damn about. ANd my own feelings of utter stagnation really aren’t helping any.

So… To The Internet!

There’s no shortage of feel-good, restore your faith in humanity, mind blowingly cute, utterly hilarious things out there. Thankfully, a lot of those turned up over the past few days. Seems that sharing them has done more than a few people a bit of good.

Of course, there’s also the real world news stuff that I can’t in good conscience completely ignore. (Once a news guy, always a news guy.) But there’s also some genuinely good news of good people doing good things (that whole ALS Ice Bucket Challenge has been a small goldmine of creativity and good will) some even doing good things at great risk to themselves (like they guys running aid and rescue missions in the mountains of Iraq).

The world can seem to be a really nasty place. It’s what we’re sold on TV–both in the news and in our entertainment. Visible, violent conflict is exciting (when it’s not happening to you or people you know). It gets eyeballs on the screen, which means eyeballs on the ads, which means money in someone’s pocket. “If it bleeds, it leads” remains true no matter where things are showing up.

But that’s not a fully accurate representation of the world. If it were, we’d all have been dead of one thing or another long, long ago. (And anyone who thought it was a good idea to bring a child into that fully bad world would be struck down by appalled mobs… who’d only be proving how bad things are.)

We’re still here. We’re still moving forward. There are still people fighting the good fight and many, many more quietly changing the world for the better.

Little by little, if we look, the light is there, holding the darkness at bay.

It’s still up to us to look, though. At both sides. To find the balance.

Here’s the feed…

Just a Whole Lot of Stuff

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This entry is part [part not set] of 100 in the series Today's Tidbits

I meant to update Thursday… and even Friday… but… well… it was a holiday weekend and I figured I’d use it to catch up on things.

And by “things”, it turns out I meant all those games I bought during the Steam sale. Because I really didn’t do much else for most of that long weekend.

The feed from Thursday features a bunch of music (via YouTube) because I was in a classic rock kind of Throwback Thursday mood.

Then there were all sorts of questionable political things that went on (or kept going on, as the case may be), as well as some astounding (both in good ways and bad ways) social stuff.

So, this extra long rundown is a real mixed bag. Kind of like life.

FCC Overloaded, Rough Road to College, Red Velvet Mites of Love, Genderless, and Slenderman Delusions

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This entry is part [part not set] of 100 in the series Today's Tidbits

One of the strangest bits of news that came through today (amid a crazy work schedule and some really annoying Facebook problems), was the story of two 12-year-old girls who stabbed another 12-year-old “friend” of theirs in an attempted murder.

They did it, the article said, to gain the favor of the Slender Man and earn the comfort of getting to hang out with him in his mystical mansion in the woods.

In a word, that’s crazy.

For those who don’t know, Slender Man is a meme that kind of got out of control. Started in a “make something creepy” flavored thread on an online message board. He’s kind of taken on a life of it’s own, growing far beyond the confines of that one thread and making appearances in videos, art, and even computer games.

Apparently now he’s a focus for human sacrifice, too.

And that’s just sad.

Delusional is as delusional does, but at least most delusions in the past have been based on things that aren’t as easily dismiss-able (or searchable) as being, well, genuine fakes. Angels, demons, aliens, even most other urban legends, all have their origins buried in generations of ambiguity. Slenderman’s creation is documented on a Wikipedia page that’s one of the first things that comes up when you search for him.

If these kids can’t make the distinction between something that obviously made up and reality, it’s no wonder they have no problem with the idea of killing someone they called a friend.

There’s no connection to reality, let alone real-world cause and effect or empathy, to be found here.

At least not yet.

Maybe something more… human… will emerge if the case proceeds and the media covers it with any sensibility.

The one vaguely positive thing here is that it’s not the media fishing for a cause… this whole Slender Man motivation is apparently what the girls explained when they were caught.

Body Image, Movies on the Horizon, Brain Science, Gut Science, Net Neutrality, Photo Etiquette, and Paranoia

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This entry is part [part not set] of 100 in the series Today's Tidbits

I love a good conspiracy theory as much as the next guy, but even I agree that things are getting a little out of hand.

Once upon a time, you had to either already be looking for them or meet someone who was a little “off” in order to really get a line on a conspiracy theory. Then they really started getting used on TV shows (like The X-Files) a lot more. Then along came the Internet and, suddenly, even the most outlandish, poorly conceptualized conspiracy theory had a place where it could find a vehement audience.

It’s only grown from there.

Right now, we have thousands of people who genuinely buy into the most unsubstantiated claims of conspiracy (usually against their personal interests) by either the government, corporations, or some mysterious foreign power. And these people are loud and proud about it. They slow down, if not completely derail a number of legitimate discussions when they get involved by refusing to adhere to even the most basic rules of logic. The only good news is, it’s easy to spot them so you can dismiss them.

One step down from them are the really dangerous group, though. The wingnuts who have just enough actual information in their theories to sway the opinion of people who are on the fence. In small doses, they don’t sound crazy… but after prolonged exposure to them and their arguments, the holes in their logic (usually at the basic premise level) become evident. By that point, though, there’s a high chance a number of people have already bought into and acted on the ideas. This is how we see measles make a comeback after being virtually wiped out in the U.S.–through people buying into the idea that vaccines are somehow worse than the diseases they prevent.

Down in the stream report, there’s an article that goes into a whole lot more detail. I highly recommend it. I’m left wondering how much further it will all go. We’re already seeing public discourse that’s more polarized than we’ve seen in generations… and it already swings with a heavy set of conspiracy theories. How much more can the argument for sensible discussion take before it’s rendered completely non-viable?