Liveland History: 15th September 2013

For this segment of Liveland History, here is my post from three years ago, "Potentially Bad Timing":

http://airnicetolivelands.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/potentially-bad-timing.html

It was a clarification post after I had written two pieces, one positive and one negative, about Robin Thicke in a short space of time. However, I reckoned I wrote the clarification more for my own benefit than anyone else's.

Three years ago, Thicke was highly prominent in the news. Nowadays, after his divorce and controversies...not so much. In the aforementioned article, I noted that Thicke was once known "for a decent song rather than bizarre stunts and controversy.".At the moment, he and Pharrell are appealing a copyright infringement case against "Blurred Lines".

Relevant tweet

I saw this image of the following tweet posted to Facebook earlier:

I would say that "medical degrees from Infowars University" are what these people who are diagnosing Hillary Clinton via the Internet all possess. Infowars is a far-right fringe site and an Alt-Right troll den; it is not a reliable source by any means and should not be trusted.

"Better love story than Twilight" meme

Since 5/5/14 (according to Blogger), I've had the header "'Better love story than Twilight' meme" as a draft post; however, until now it's always been empty, as it was something I intended to write but never came around to doing so. Now, I am.

Over two years, I was frustrated by seeing Internet comments where people would say "still a better love story than Twilight" to any sort of romance or "romance" (for example, an incest case or something in a music video). I came up with the idea to do a blog post and go on a rant. However, I'm no longer interested in ranting about this particular troll meme when there are far more important issues to worry about.

No, the only reasons why I've written this post are to clear a draft in my posts folder and to come up with something to write tonight. In other words, it's kind of a post to say I'm not writing a post (about a certain topic)! Nah - I've changed since May 2014.

Hillary Clinton and her health

I wrote this on Facebook earlier as my response to the reaction about Hillary Clinton's recent bout of pneumonia:

"Yesterday, my post to remember 9/11 was to say that the best way to honor the victims is to be more understanding and less hateful - to foster cooperation. I'm appalled that in the 24+ hours since Hillary Clinton felt ill at a 9/11 memorial service, I have witnessed online the opposite of what I had hoped for: Massive, massive amounts of vitriol - expressions of glee at her being ill and seemingly countless people wishing for her demise. Even on websites politically favorable to her, comments sections are littered with those celebrating her being sick.

While I am not surprised by this sort of behavior, I am disappointed. Actually, the fact I'm not surprised is a disappointment in itself, as it shows the level of decorum within political arenas is currently atrocious. It's one thing to not support a candidate but another to cheer any harm towards them."

What I didn't say is that Clinton being ill does not, by any means, excuse the long history of bigotry committed by her main opponent in this election. It is ridiculous to suggest that being sick - and easily treatable in this case, I should add - suddenly makes Clinton "unfit" for the presidency when none of her opponent's comments, so matter how gruesome, have done the same for him. Clinton has been campaigning hard and attended a 9/11 memorial in high heat and humidity even though she should have been in bed; this shows strength on her part.

Fifteen years

In light of it being fifteen years since the events of September 11th, 2001, I wrote this on Facebook earlier today:

"Fifteen years since 9/11...I think the best way to remember and honor those who died that day is to not use them as an excuse to hate others but to instead use them to encourage understanding and cooperation. Why? Because the 9/11 casualties were themselves victims of hatred; spreading more hatred is not only disrespectful to them but also leads to further deaths and resentment. Does the world not have enough anger already?"

Sadly, 2016 appears to have been an excellent year for hatemongers. I've seen quite a lot of horrible comments online before, of course, but this year has been especially vitriolic. The hate needs to retreat.

Gary Johnson's error

Recently, For New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson, who is the Libertarian Party's candidate for President of the United States this election cycle, erred by asking "What is Aleppo?" when asked in an interview with regards to how he would address the crisis going on in that Syrian city. As a result, he was mocked on social media and the news went wild with his error.

Now, I am not a libertarian by any means and I oppose the Libertarian Party but honestly, Johnson's error really is not a big deal. For one thing, he was at least willing to ask what Aleppo is rather than give a nonsense answer to cover up not knowing. Granted, the Syrian crisis is something that he, as a candidate for president, should be familiarized with but Johnson isn't a fool - he is the type who would educate himself on the matter.

At any rate, Johnson's flub pales in comparison to all the racist and misogynistic garbage that the Republican nominee for president has spouted for well over a year now. It seems deeply unfair that a one-off error for a small-party candidate earns them ridicule in the media but long-term bigotry from another candidate continues unabated and relatively unconfronted.

On the bright side for Johnson, it likely brought publicity to his campaign. He has been polling between 10% and 12% and is arguing to be included in the presidential debates.

Like "Bliss"

This morning, while my mother and I were out walking on the local fields, I photographed this view:

The field, with its hill and cloudy blue sky, I think resembles the iconic "Bliss" desktop background picture from Microsoft Windows XP.

I used the HDR filter of the app SnapSeed to enhance the image.

Phone maker joke

In light of the new iPhone, I posted this joke to Facebook today:

"So, Apple has replaced wired headphones with wireless. In the long-running game of smartphone maker one-upmanship, our favourite South Korean company announced the upcoming "Samsung Galaxy Blank" - a phone without a screen; makes an excellent paperweight. Meanwhile, Google suggested that its next Nexus might not even have corporeal form - users instead rely on imagination for functionality. Unfortunately, patent trolls claim ownership of both ideas. Stay tuned for more Onion-like news!"

 It should be noted that my phone is a Galaxy Note!

Argument tactics of the Alt-Right

To follow up on my post from last month about the Alt-Right, this post will focus on the troll tactics used by the Alt-Right during online discussions. While I wrote a significant amount this aspect of the Alt-Right in that piece, I wish to cover it some more. In addition, this post will be the first "work in progress", in that while I will submit it now, I will expand it later; I feel there is more to research about this but I want some content here now.

I should also note that the tactics used by the Alt-Right also overlap those used by the "anti-SJW" crowd; however, as the Alt-Right is by its nature "anti-SJW", for the purposes of this post they are treated as the same entity.

Keywords:

Frequent words used by the Alt-Right to silence opposition are:

"Snowflake"

"Hurt your feelings"

"Trigger(ed)"

"Safe space"

"Sensitive" 

"Cuck"

"White Knight"

"How dare you assume..."
"My soggy knee"

Their uses of "trigger(ed)" and "safe space" are always in a mocking manner, in that whenever an Alt-Right individual is the subject of criticism, they will declare that their opponents have been triggered and in need of a safe space. "Snowflake" is a derisive term for anyone who disagrees with them and they often ridicule others for being "(over)sensitive".

"Cuck" usually refers to conservative-leaning people whom the Alt-Right considers to be sell outs or weak. An example of this is a Republican in the United States who is Christian and, as a part of their Christianity, adopts children from other countries. As the Alt-Right is centered around white supremacy, this sort of person might as well be on the Left, as they are bringing foreigners into the country. "White Knight" usually refers to a man who speaks up for women but it is also used to dismiss a white person who stands up for non-whites.

"How dare you assume..." is a mockery against people who identify as a demographic group they were not born as; this is usually an attack on the transgender and genderqueer communities, such as people who were born male but change sex and identify as female or those who don't identify as any gender. This form of attack usually descends into absurdity: for example, if you suggest to an Alt-Right individual that they as a white non-transgendered man from a high-income background might not understand the perspective of minority groups from poor backgrounds, such an individual often replies with "How dare you assume my identity! I identify as a black, lesbian, disabled, vegan and Muslim transwoman* who is a Disney Princess and was born on Neptune! YOU NEPTUNE-HATING, DISNEYPHOBIC RACIST!"- even though the person obviously does not at all identify with such a demographic and is using them as a shield.

(*Transwomen who are black, Muslim, disabled, vegan and lesbian are not an absurdity in themselves as they do exist and they should not be used as a punching bag for trolls. By "absurd", I was referring to the behaviour of the Alt-Right individual(s).)

As for "my soggy knee", that's a dismissive play on the word "misogyny". Alt-Right individuals sometimes deride users of the word by talking about "my soggy knee(s)".

Deflections:

This is a placeholder; I will expand later.

Feigned ignorance:

See previous section. 

Conclusion:

That's it for now, so the conclusion is currently limited. Again, I will be expanding the post at a later time and will note any major changes to it.

"Babylon" - David Gray

Here is "Babylon":
 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zI_SBAkdKzc&spfreload=5

It's by David Gray, a British musician. "Babylon" was released in July 1999 and comes from White Ladder, Gray's fourth studio album. In addition "Babylon" being his most successful single, White Ladder itself charted for over three years.

While I think I might have heard the song at least once while I lived in America, I associate it most with Heart radio, as it is often played on the Heart radio network.

Jacob Wetterling

The remains of Jacob Wetterling have been found:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/jacob-wetterling-remains-found-27-years-abduction-minneapolis-a7225266.html

Wetterling was a boy in Minnesota who went missing in 1989. The bright side to this recent development is that his parents now have closure about what happened to their son; the sad part, of course, is that their son was never found alive, as they had long hoped for. I can only imagine what pain they've experienced over the years and how they're feeling now. What has happened to them is beyond horrible, as is, of course, what happened to Jacob himself.

I know about the Wetterling case because I read about it in a Reader's Digest about fifteen or so years ago. Over the years I've checked if there has ever been any news but until now, there hadn't been anything.

Steve Irwin - ten years later

Nearly a decade ago, I wrote this small tribute to Steve Irwin:

"Steve Irwin invested millions in lands. He did this to protect the environments that wildlife lived in. He should be remembered for that, and the other great achievements he did."

I cannot believe that it has been ten years since Irwin's death. I remember the day as though it were yesterday - I read the news in the morning and by the time the afternoon came around (on the US West coast, where I was located at the time), the Internet was almost impossible to navigate with all the people who were logged on at once reading up about Irwin.

When Irwin became famous, he often received criticism for emphasising entertainment over conservation but he used the former to aid with the latter while remaining true to his principles; Australia Zoo is part of that legacy as is the awareness he raised/people he inspired to become involved. He was most certainly a positive force in the world and he went too soon.

All these years later, thank you, Steve Irwin, for your conservation work and thank you to Terri Irwin for continuing it.

College e-mail redux

On the 22nd of last month, I predicted that I would soon lose access to my college e-mail. As of today, that has now happened; whereas yesterday I could still log in, when I tried this morning and afternoon my password and account name were rejected.

This was to be expected; accounts were reset last year, after all, and I am no longer a student at Central. I'm surprised I could log in as late as yesterday.

The receptionists' commendation

My last action at Central was to fill in a form to recommend a commendation for the receptionists. I spent somewhere around ten and fifteen minutes writing up a lengthy piece about why the receptionists should be commended for their work.

Unfortunately, I learned in the past few weeks after e-mailing reception that they had not received any commendation; they helpfully directed me to the Quality team if I wanted to follow up on it, which I did. The Quality department informed me that they had never received my form, hence why they never issued any commendations; however, they asked if I would be willing to submit a new piece for them.

As a result, I rewrote my list of reasons in an e-mail and sent it off to the Quality department. Last week, I received a letter informing me that the receptionists would receive a commendation and today, the receptionists e-mailed me to say that they had indeed received it and thanked me.

Naturally, I am delighted. The receptionists at my campus were wonderful for my entire time there and I really feel as though they deserve recognition for their work. Receptionists are often overlooked yet they are the face of an organisation when someone walks into the building. Besides, my interactions with the receptionists were more than positive; they've done much for me and it was nice to do something for them for a change.

An atrociously undesirable source of praise

In the highly unlikely event that I were to receive praise from white supremacists, I would say "Whoa!", take a step back and then wonder what terrible thing I had said to attract acclaim from such an awful source. What I wouldn't do is ignore it or make any sort of overtures to them; this is not a group with which I want any sort of association. In fact, taking a step back, re-evaluating yourself and then rejecting such praise should be the default position for any reasonable person. Anything other reaction will be viewed by the giver as an endorsement or a promotion of their ideology. That's how they think.