#but Google results of 2016 election

[violetfaust]

In 2016, Hillary Clinton lost Florida, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Arizona ALL by less than the number of votes that went to third-party candidates.

That’s why we got Trump.

With Kamala/Walz going up DAILY, I've seen more people talking about voting third party/Jill Stein (EW) and I believe the above screencaps from @three--rings can explain WHY Third Party votes NEVER work NOR is this the election to screw around in.

Everyone....like she says above.....PLEASE LEARN FROM HISTORY!!!

(Because if Trump gets in, he's NEVER LEAVING).

[ms-demeanor]

hi, hopefully this isnt a stupid question -- this is only my second election i'm voting in, and i'm a little confused about results. is it actually confirmed that trump has won, or is it just almost certain based on the counted votes? bc i know that provisional ballots (like mine) probably arent immediately counted, and there was that thing about votes needing to be verified because of signatures, plus to my knowledge the electoral college doesnt vote til december? i'm probably just grasping at an infinitesimal chance of things not being shit, but also i do actually want to understand and google is not helping :( if you can't explain no worries, you just seem to be knowledgable & willing to answer questions haha

This is absolutely not a stupid question.

So everything is currently pointing at what is most likely, not at what is 100% certain, but it's like 99% certain. There are still votes being counted, but in the states where the election has been called it has been called either because enough of the ballots have been counted that the remaining count wouldn't change the results, or that the area is historically so strongly in favor of one party that it's exceptionally unlikely that they'd flip the other way (for example, they're still counting california's ballots but you're more likely to get struck by lightning five times today than california is to flip red in this election). The places that have not yet been called do not have enough electoral votes for Harris to win the election.

The electoral college is exceedingly unlikely to flip their votes against the state/district vote; "Faithless electors" is the term for members of the electoral college who would vote against the vote they are committed to for their region. It was something discussed in both the 2016 election and the 2020 election and flipping the electoral college without winning the election was the motivation behind J6. As shitty and bullshit as I think the electoral college is, if you're going to have one and you're going to have the rule of law, you can't hope for faithless electors because what you're hoping for at that point is that the people representing you are acting directly against the choice of the voters.

I want you to listen to me. I have been voting in presidential elections since 2004. Presidential elections always suck. Who the president is does matter, and does impact your life, but you genuinely do not have a ton of influence over that so you can't let it throw you into despair and inaction, because we should be active and political and protesting the wrongs of the world even if your favored political party wins. Vote in local elections, work with your local community, and if your local community sucks too, work with online communities to both give and get support.

Whenever something like this happens, people pass around the Mr. Rogers quote about looking to the helpers. I like that quote. I think it's good, I think it's hopeful, I think it helps! But I also think that sometimes it's even more effective if you look for how to help. Who are you the most scared for after this election? Who are you worried about in your community or among your friends? What can you do that might make their life easier? What can you do to protect people like that in your community? What don't you know that might make you better prepared to help them in the future?

One thing that I think is a fantastic way to prepare to help is to either begin or continue learning a language that you don't know. I am working hard on my Spanish because I live in California and there are a ton of Spanish speakers here who I might be able to help. Is it directly aiding anyone right at this second that I'm practicing conjugation? No. But it might help someone who is being harassed by a cop, or who is unhoused and needs help, or who is being abused by an employer at some point in the future, and I can get myself ready to help. Learn how to use naloxone and pick up up an inhaler; you might not need it now, but it'll make you ready to help someone who does need it. Order free covid tests every chance you get, even if you don't need them, because then you can give them out to people who do need them. Plan B has a multi-year shelf life. Pick some up so that you've got some on hand if someone needs it.

Maybe there's nothing you can do right at this exact second (though if you are able to donate to gender affirmation fundraisers, border kindness, abortion funds, bail funds, etc., you can absolutely do that), but you can get ready to help someone who will need you someday.

[hellsbellschime]

Was the Clinton vs Trump election similar to this election?

Not at all. Clinton was considered an absolute lock to win the election and Trump was assumed to have no chance, and James Comey announcing that Clinton was being investigated plus those assumptions was literally just enough to throw the election in his favor. I remember quite distinctly telling myself that every state that was up in the air would have to go to Trump in order for him to win, and that is what actually happened, and I'm still shocked and appalled and sad about it.

But also, as many people have pointed out before, at the time Trump was an unknown quantity, and a lot of people assumed well, how bad could he be. And now we know, because millions of people died as a result of his decisions, and Roe v. Wade was overturned.

And maybe I'm misremembering, but I feel like that time was also around the start of that extremist right wing thing that has unfortunately become a THING in many places across the world, and not a lot of people realized that this wave was coming at that point. Now, Project 2025 is a term a lot of people are familiar with and it's not unusual to acknowledge that conservative extremists are quite possibly on the verge of overthrowing the government. It's actually INSANE to think that only 8 years ago this was not our known reality.

Plus, I cannot stand the narrative that HRC was a "bad candidate," because if she had been elected it would have made an unfathomably massive difference in things like COVID and Roe v. Wade, but she was a "bad candidate" in the sense that the American right has been churning out anti-Hillary propaganda quite literally since 1979. I actually Googled it, because I know that the start of her whole "man-hating feminist bitch" narrative began because when Bill Clinton was elected as governor of Arkansas, right wingers were up in arms because she kept her maiden name despite being married. It was enough of a "scandal" that she changed her name from Hillary Rodham to Hillary Rodham Clinton. That woman was harassed by people so much that she literally, legally changed her name. And when I tell you that she got shit from the right from that moment until this one, I am deadass serious.

I have similar issues with Biden, he's actually very far left in comparison to most American politicians, but he has also been the target of right-wing propaganda for over a decade. I totally agree that he's old enough to retire and swapping him out for Kamala was the choice, but his status as a "bad candidate" is more about the amount of anti-Biden propaganda that people have been subjected to. Kamala by some miracle doesn't have that baggage, which is why Trump and the Republicans have really struggled to generate a good campaign against her.

I am still scared shitless at the idea that Trump could very realistically possibly win, but there is an excitement around Kamala that we haven't had since Obama's first election I think. People are actually excited at the prospect of voting for her. But whatever happens, it's not a repeat of 2016.

[soyouareandrewdobson]

Elf on the shelf and pedo on the net

Merry Christmas/Holidays, everyone!

So I think you know what this post is going to be about. The one comic, that has become a christmas tradition at hypocrisy's blog.

Released mere days before Christmas of 2016 -which Dobson likely considered ruined, because it was Trumps first Christmas after he won the election 2016- the comic shows two male stripers, with one pondering that the reason he joined the profession, may be related to some rather “unsavoury” kinks he developed as a result of a Christmas tradition.

Now being from Europe, I myself didn’t even know of the “Elf on the Shelf” until I saw this comic. Though a quick google search made me realize, why that was: The entire idea of putting an elf doll on the shelf to “watch over the kid” wasn’t even a thing until a children book came out in 2004, that promoted the idea. The real take off of the Elf being around the first half of the 2010s and since then having managed to creep its way into the popcultural subconscious.

Yeah, if you can’t tell, I am not really a fan of that thing, based on the designs I saw. Also the idea of “surveilling” your children to see if they are naughty or nice feels rather creepy. And I grew up in a culture that accepts the idea of good old Saint Nicolas and his henchman Rudolph/Krampus putting the bad ones into their place via spanking or worse.

However, Dobson managed to make the concept even creepier by virtue of relating it to a masturbation punchline. Which in turn makes you just ponder, what the heck is wrong with Dobson?

So, let us just dissect this thing quick, before it sours any positive Christmas mood.

First, Dobson supposedly did the comic, because in his opinion the “Elf on the Shelf” sends a strange message to kids…

And to be fair, a lot of kids seemingly hate the creepy little doll and “experts” have called it out at being psychologically damaging. Going so far as to say the toy “normalizes” the concept of constant surveillance and that it would be okay. Which personally I think is a bit of a stretch, but not entirely inaccurate also. So making fun of the concept of the doll, totally okay with me. Heck, Teen Titans Go did an entire episode mocking the thing.

But Dobson’s attempt of making fun of it, just crosses into genuine creeper territory, for one simple reason: Sexualization of minors.

Look, I don’t believe Dobson is a pedophile -though his poor choice of wordings on twitter posts and certain aspects of art pieces can give the impression- and the situation Dobson shows in the comic is not explicitly pornographic. After all, we don’t see the kid like buttass naked pumping the bike pump while the elf stares. I now give you five minutes to hopefully delete that mental image with enough eggnog at your disposal.

But it still turns “sexual”…

An implication that is not very subtle for a couple of reasons.

First, the person asked and thinking back to the Christmas tradition is a male stripper. A job in the sex works. By the way, respect for people in that job (independent of the sex) for being able to work without feeling objectified (or too much) and managing to keep a decent body shape. Hope also for your safety out there.

Which I am not just saying because Dobson incidentally tries to mock male strippers in the comic in my opinion. After all, we all know Dobson hates men. And when men aren’t some MRA morons or fat misanthropic nerds, they can’t be anything but dumb male himbos or potentially depraved homosexuals who got kinky by perverting a Christmas children tradition.

Yeah, I am stretching here a bit, but we are talking about Dobson. The guy was always more than open to the idea of making gay men the butt of some joke in Alex ze Pirate.

Am I really supposed to believe he changed that attitude?

But back to the comic. The second reason why obvious the entire thing has sexual undertones as punchline… just look at that face

That is the face of someone masturbating under the blanket. The sultry eyes, the blush on his face, one hand under the cover while the other is above, bitting his lip… if that thing were animated, I bet the kid would be moaning and I could report Dobson to some authority.

And yeah, that is really what the entire creepiness of the comic boils down too. The face of the kid that leaves no other room for interpretation except “a sex pun, based on a “Christmas tradition” targeted at really small kids. With the final panel feeling like Dobson likely had a good laugh at his “joke”, thinking others would react the same.

Well, the reaction doesn’t seem to have been what Dobson hoped for, cause he would later release the following tweet.

Two things to that: First, I think the reason people were “confused” Dobson (confused likely means here, asked him if he is a pedo), was that they kinda didn’t want to think you were going into that “sexualized” territory because that would raise more red flags than you obsessing over KorraSami. And would have also felt rather out of character for you, cause of how prudish you become at the subject of sexualization.

Second, accusing others of lacking imagination and that therefore little things like that comic stump them. Dobbitch, I have read every major comic you ever made, if anyone lacks imagination, it is you. Your mental capacity for imagining stuff is lower than of a braindead person in a coma. And the fact that a self declared “child friendly” webartist focuses most of the time on the punchline “character X is thirsty”…

even if the character in question is underaged, makes me think you are enjoying Belgian porn on the sideline.

Overall, the comic is just creepy. But not in the way that it makes the doll itself creepy and therefore the butt of the joke. Rather it makes the artist behind the comic creepy, because he tries to imagine a scenario where that thing causes someone to spring their first boner.

The sad thing being, Dobson could have easily made the comic creepier and funnier at the same time, fi he just had put the focus of the comic on the puppet and not the kid. For example, of all the things in the world, I think Family Guy could make the joke of a creepy elf puppet work, if it played out like that: Lois puts an elf on the shelf for every kid in the house, including Chris.

Chris goes to bed, camera focuses on him, turning around, the puppet is cut off from you.

Chris says “good night”  to the elf.

Zoom out to show the shelf, now it is Herbert the creepy neighbour in an elf costume on the shelf saying “Night, Chris”

There. Now if you excuse me, I need to take a shower. Not necessarily from reviewing that comic, but because I actually wrote out a Family Guy joke.

[mariacallous]

There was a ripple of laughter in the US Supreme Court on February 21 when Justice Elena Kagan said: “We are a court—we really don’t know about these things. We are not, like, the nine greatest experts on the internet."

On February 21, the nine justices heard oral arguments in the case of Gonzalez v. Google, a case brought by Reynaldo Gonzalez, whose daughter was killed in a 2015 ISIS terror attack in Paris and who alleges that YouTube’s algorithm aided in the attack by recommending the group’s recruitment videos to people who would be most susceptible to their message. The outcome of the case could decide the future of social media platforms worldwide. 

At the heart of the case is the question of whether tech companies should be held liable for harmful content posted on their platforms by their users—something for which they are currently protected under Section 230 of the Telecommunications Act, a 1996 piece of legislation whose primary purpose was to increase competition in broadcasting and telecoms markets. It is a protection that has shielded companies whose platforms have enormous reach and influence from being held responsible for harms caused by extremist content and disinformation. But it is also a fundamental underpinning of free speech online. 

“The purpose of Section 230 was to try to prevent platforms from becoming the soccer ball that gets kicked around whenever people disagree about what appropriate free expression on the internet is,” says Andrew Sullivan, president and CEO of the Internet Society, which filed an amicus brief in support of Section 230. “If you start to mess with this, you’re fundamentally messing with the design of the internet. And that is going to lead to a splintering of the network.”

Debates over Section 230 have largely been confined to the circuit courts—lower levels of the US federal court system—for nearly two decades. That changed after the 2016 presidential election, when Republican lawmakers began to seize on and amplify often spurious claims that platforms were censoring conservative users. That message proved effective in galvanizing elements of their base, and Republican figures have continued to accuse major tech firms, such as Meta and Twitter, of bias. 

One prominent example of this supposedly “biased” enforcement is Facebook’s 2018 decision to ban Alex Jones, host of the right-wing Infowars website who later was slapped with $1.5 billion in damages after harassing the families of the victims of a mass shooting.

Many of the actions that infuriated Republicans were those shielded by the First Amendment to the US constitution, which guarantees free speech. Those protections are essentially unassailable legislatively, so lawmakers targeted Section 230 instead. 

Starting in 2018, prominent conservatives began demanding changes to the law that would expressly hinge Section 230’s liability protections on how companies treat political speech. High-profile Republicans, including Missouri senator Josh Hawley and Texas senator Ted Cruz, frequently misconstrued the section’s language. “The predicate for Section 230 immunity … is that you’re a neutral public forum,” Cruz said in 2018, interpreting the law as shielding only websites that treat left- and right-wing political views equally. 

Recent laws in both Texas and Florida have sought to impose greater restrictions on the way platforms can and cannot police content.

Gonzalez v. Google takes a different track, focusing on platforms’ failure to deal with extremist content. Social media platforms have been accused of facilitating hate speech and calls to violence that have resulted in real-world harm, from a genocide in Myanmar to killings in Ethiopia and a coup attempt in Brazil.

“The content at issue is obviously horrible and objectionable,” says G. S. Hans, an associate law professor at Cornell University in New York. “But that’s part of what online speech is. And I fear that the sort of extremity of the content will lead to some conclusions or religious implications that I don’t think are really reflective of the larger dynamic of the internet.”

The Internet Society’s Sullivan says that the arguments around Section 230 conflate Big Tech companies—which, as private companies, can decide what content is allowed on their platforms—with the internet as a whole. 

“People have forgotten the way the internet works,” says Sullivan. “Because we’ve had an economic reality that has meant that certain platforms have become overwhelming successes, we have started to confuse social issues that have to do with the overwhelming dominance by an individual player or a small handful of players with problems to do with the internet.” 

Sullivan worries that the only companies able to survive such regulations would be larger platforms, further calcifying the hold that Big Tech platforms already have.

Decisions made in the US on internet regulation are also likely to reverberate around the world. Prateek Waghre, policy director at the Internet Freedom Foundation in India, says a ruling on Section 230 could set a precedent for other countries.

“It’s less about the specifics of the case,” says Waghre. “It’s more about [how] once you have a prescriptive regulation or precedent coming out of the United States, that is when other countries, especially those that are authoritarian-leaning, are going to use it to justify their own interventions.”

India’s government is already making moves to take more control over content within the country, including establishing a government-appointed committee on content moderation and greater enforcement of the country’s IT rules.

Waghre suspects that if platforms have to implement policies and tools to comply with an amended, or entirely obliterated, Section 230, then they will likely apply those same methods and standards to other markets as well. In many countries around the world, big platforms, particularly Facebook, are so ubiquitous as to essentially function as the internet for millions of people.

“Once you start doing something in one country, then that’s used as precedent or reasoning to do the same thing in another country,” he says.

[thekimspoblog]

Episode 1:

“November”

Description:

“The Year was 2016. The result of the presidential election set the whole country reeling. Confused about morality, confused about reality! Kim Wexler was no exception. And so she returned to the only person she could trust.”

Cold Open:

Fade in from red-orange to the back of a woman’s head. The ponytail seems familiar, but as the camera rotates around her, the face is revealed to not be any established character (ideal casting: Hadley Delany). The woman is battle-hardened, wearing a bulletproof vest and camouflage to blend in with the scrub of the desert she’s crossing. She walks slowly and carefully holding a metal detector. She stops to dig a crumpled piece of paper from her pocket. Her gloves are tattered, and the fingers that poke through are black with dirt. On the scrap are gps coordinates: 43.9479° N, 104.8614° W.

The map on her cell phone suggests that she is already at the precise location; she should be right on top of it. Still, it takes hours of walking around before the metal detector begins to chirp. Digging at the spot with a shovel takes another hour. At the sound of the shovel hitting metal, the woman falls to her knees and begins to dig the lockbox up with her hands. As the camera pulls back from the dig site and pans upward, the sound of sirens gets louder and louder. Off in the far, far distance is a towering inferno and clouds of black smoke. The city is burning.

Title Card:

White cursive over a black background reads “Slippin’ Kimmy”. The theme song is ethereal and haunting, with bells, strings, and woodwinds. A trail of footprints represent the ellipsis on both sides of the text. Blue flowers sprout from the “i”s in the name, and the footprints turn dark red.

Episode:

[Ext. B&W wide-angle shot of Route 550, Colorado Turnpike]

Over the sound of wind and crackling radio static, “Tide is High” by Blondie fades in. A second-hand white Honda Accord speeds northbound (right-to-left), leaving the road signs shaking in its wake.

[Int. car]

Kim Wexler is singing along with the radio at the top of her lungs. She adjusts the rearview mirror. Everything else is black and white, but the blue of her eyes are an exception. So is the blue road sign up ahead: “ADX Montrose: 3 Miles”.

[Int. Prison visitation lobby]

A color TV is mounted to the wall. The broadcast has been monopolized by Donald Trump’s ugly orange mug. His image is inescapably plastered on every television in America. Text appears at the bottom of the screen, stylized after a vintage flip-clock. The numbers tick downward to “11.19.2016 1:24 pm”. Kim walks to the front desk, doing her best not to look at the TV set. The woman at the front desk recognizes Kim and already visibly dislikes her.

Kim: I’m here to see my client, James M. McGill.

She retrieves her license from her purse and hands it to the woman. The woman looks at it, then types something into her computer.

Front Desk: Your license to practice is invalid.

Kim: Really? That’s news to me. It must just be a bug, right? Someone typed the wrong information into the system?

Front Desk: No. Your license hasn’t been valid in years. You’re not a lawyer. In fact, I Googled Kimberly Wexler the last time you were here, and it turns out your name has been in the newspaper. It says you were disbarred; grand theft auto. And you’ve had the nerve to wave that card around like I wouldn’t catch on. You realize this makes my job harder, right? Years of naively letting some stranger alone with the inmates, possibly giving them weapons? I could be fired for compromising security like that!

Kim: I’m sorry. Please. Hand to god, the only thing I ever smuggled in was a pack of cigarettes. I just wanted to see my husband.

Front Desk: You’re gonna have to wait your turn like the rest. You can call him through the glass, just like everyone else. And by the way! Cigarettes clog our drains, set off sprinklers, and facilitate trading between convicts, which inevitably leads to fights. So don’t think that part was harmless either!

Kim turns around and ambles back to the rows of plastic chairs to sit down. Ok, she’d wait.

[Hours pass. Crossfade to the same shot of Kim in the lobby. By now two more women have arrived and are sitting a few chairs away from Kim talking. The flip clock ticks upwards to “11.19.2016 3:35 pm”. The voice of one of the women talking fades in]

Prison Wife 1 (ideal casting: Evan Rachael Wood): I didn’t get home from the hospital until 1 am. But it’s okay. I know he still loves me.

Prison Wife 2: Sounds like he’s more trouble than he’s worth.

When Prison Wife 1 glances in Kim’s direction, we can see her left eye is bruised black. Kim recoils a little. Her instinct is to take pity on this woman, to lecture her on abuse statistics in the hopes that would save her. But Kim stops herself, realizing how condescending and hypocritical that would be. Whether or not these women were victims, it wasn’t her job to swoop in and protect them. The woman at the desk was right; Kim wasn’t here as a lawyer. And these women were her peers.

Prison Wife 2: His parents got the money though, right?

Prison Wife 1: Yeah, but my foreman is wanting me to sign a statement saying I caused my own injuries, because I was asleep at the wheel.

Prison Wife 2: Well how does that reflect any better on them? They keep you going on three hours of sleep a night, and then it’s your fault if you’re tired? That’s bullshit!

Prison Wife 1: It is bullshit! But the important thing is the job is done. Bruce’s parents are taken care of.

Kim: Wait. So Bruce is your… ?

Prison Wife 1: Fiance. The one I’m here to see.

Kim: And his parents are… ?

Prison Wife 1: In a better home now. Thanks to me.

Kim: And this (she gestures to the black eye) happened at a construction site? Your fiance didn’t do that?

Prison Wife 1: Not directly! But I told him I didn’t want to take that gig in Lakewood. I knew it was dangerous.

Kim: You’re a construction worker?

Prison Wife 1: Carpenter. Independent contractor. I’m not an employee; they just control when I eat, sleep, and use the toilet. That’s all.

Prison Wife 2: What did Bruce do? Why’s he locked up?

Prison Wife 1: You’re not supposed to ask those kinds of questions!

Prison Wife 2: You won’t tell? Fine! I’ll go; mine’s not that bad. My Johnny stole a dog! He liked this animal, and he didn’t think the owner was taking care of her, so he stole her. That’s it! But he’s black Sicillian, so you know.

Kim: If I were you, I wouldn’t sign that admission of fault.

Prison Wife 1: But they are strongly implying they’re gonna fire me if I don’t!

Kim: Get a personal injury lawyer. A strongly worded letter is usually enough to preempt wrongful termination.

Prison Wife 1: I can’t afford that!

Kim: There are tons of affordable small practices out there. Most of the billboards I saw on my way here are for criminal lawyers, but most of the ones along I-25 are Personal Injury.

Prison Wife 1: Do you see this jacket? Look at how good a condition this jacket is in. I’ve had this jacket for eight years. I scrimped and saved for this jacket. So I might be broke, but I’m not cheap. I have taste! And those billboards? Those guys have no taste. How can I trust someone’s judgment when they’re so… tacky?

Kim: You don’t know the full story.

Prison Wife 2: What about you, Zoe DeShannel? (referring to Kim’s haircut) What did your friend do?

Kim thinks for almost a full minute, deciding what to say. There’s a flicker of guilt on her face, but then her discomfort twists into a strange smile. She leans in close to answer:

Kim: He helped me kill my boss.

Prison Wife 1: (whispering) Nice.

Prison Wife 2: Hey, I know that guy!

A guard has just entered from the hallway.

Prison Wife 2: (Running over to him) Artie? Artie! It's me; Terry? You sat 2 desks away from me in chemistry?

Guard: (a little overwhelmed) Oh Terry! Yeah, it’s been a while. How are you?

Prison Wife 2: Not good, Artie. I’m not going to lie. Hey! Hey Artie? My friends and I just really miss our boyfriends, and we’re desperate for a hero. Maybe you could unlock that door behind you and then just… count to ten?

Guard. I can escort you to Visitation. You’ll be able to talk to them over a direct line.

Prison Wife 2: See, we considered that. But we would really appreciate something with a little more physical contact? It’s very important for mental health.

Kim: And it helps deter recidivism!

Prison Wife 2: But I can understand why you’re reluctant to leave us unsupervised with criminals. I have an idea! Why don’t you stay in the room and watch us the whole time? That way, if I’m hiding contraband, you’d catch me pulling it out.

The guard ponders this offer.

Guard: I’d be risking my job. Seems like I should get to do a little more than watch.

Terry hesitates. That would be outside of her comfort zone.

Prison Wife 1: Her boyfriend is very possessive. Jealous. I don’t think he’d react well to that kind of proposition. Mine on the other hand is a little more open-minded.

Guard: I’ve always had a crush on you, Terry… But fine, I’ll take the blonde.

The woman at the front desk is glaring daggers at the hushed exchange taking place near the hallway. Artie unlocks the door with his keycard, and the four step inside the facility. 

Jimmy has been moved to Block A due to overcrowding. Staring up at the top bunk, he idly plays with a loose bolt on the bed. He jumps a little when the steel door screams open.

Guard: McGill. You’ve got a conjugal visitation.

Conjugal? What? Federal Prisons didn’t allow… Oh no. Was it Thursday again already? Kim stepped inside the claustrophobic cell.

Guard: I’m going to lock you in here until I get back.

Both wives took the guard’s hands in theirs and started to lead him down further down the hall.

Prison Wife 1: You’ve got roughly an hour and a half.

Kim: You know you don’t have to do this.

Prison Wife 1: Everything’s under control. Like I said, Bruce owes me one.

Kim gave a puzzled look. The guard turned the key in the steel door, locking Jimmy and Kim in together.

Kim: Hey

Jimmy: Yourself. What happened to your license?

Kim: I got pinched. It was only a matter of time. How are you holding up?

Jimmy: Same old, same old. You get to lift weights, pick up trash by the highway, sew made-in-America sweatshop textiles, whittle bars of soap into the shape of your childhood dog. Yes, camp is very entertaining, and they say we’ll have some fun if it stops raining.

After a pause, Kim beams at him. She moves in to embrace him and kiss him passionately.

Kim: I figured out how to get you out on parole.

Jimmy: (at the same time) You need to stop coming here.

Kim: Wait. What?

[quotesfrommyreading]

Pressure on social media companies dates back to 2015, when a law came into force obliging them to store the personal data of Russian users on Russian territory and giving the government the power to fine them, or close them down, for not doing so. None of the Western companies have complied, which led to the closure of LinkedIn in 2016. Google, Meta and Twitter have collectively been fined more than $600,000 since the start of 2020.

It was in 2016 that requests from the Russian government to Google to remove videos from YouTube and to block certain search results began to rapidly increase. The company's transparency reports show that over the last 10 years it has received more such requests from Russia than the rest of the world combined - Google says a third of them relate to "national security".

Like the other Western companies, Google complies with some Russian requests but not with others.

Efforts to control the spread of undesirable information on social media accelerated further in early 2021, after the return of Alexei Navalny to Russia from hospital in Germany, where he had been treated for poisoning with the chemical weapon Novichok.

Navalny was immediately arrested, leading to unsanctioned protests in Moscow, St Petersburg and other cities, which supporters widely advertised on social media.

This prompted angry complaints from Roskomnadzor. The posts were quickly removed from the third most popular social network in Russia, VKontakte (or VK.com), owned at that point by oligarch Alisher Usmanov, the former Arsenal football club shareholder.

But Western social networks were less accommodating, so Roskomnadzor started taking them to court and fining them.

Its next step, in March, was to slow down traffic on Twitter, for its refusal to delete these and other posts. Pictures and videos, in particular, became slower to load.

And later in the year it persuaded Google and Apple to remove from their stores a tactical voting app, designed to help Navalny sympathisers unite behind a single candidate in local elections, thereby maximising the chance of defeating the candidate of the ruling United Russia party.

The head of Navalny's team, Ivan Zhdanov, denounced the companies for what he described as "a shameful act of political censorship".

He later tweeted part of a letter from Apple, which pointed out that prosecutors had said the app was enabling illegal "interference in elections" and that media regulator Roskomnadzor had warned the company that it was promoting an "extremist organisation"

  —  How Russia tries to censor Western social media

[darkmaga-returns]

With Donald Trump poised for a second term as President, a significant number of Americans are exploring the idea of moving abroad.

Search data and immigration inquiries suggest a surge in interest, reflecting deep divisions within the country.

What’s driving this trend, and what does it say about the current state of the nation?

Key Facts:

– Google searches for “move to Canada” spiked by 1,270% after U.S. polls closed. – Searches about moving to New Zealand and Australia increased by nearly 2,000% and 820%, respectively. – Immigration New Zealand’s website saw 25,000 new U.S. users on November 7, up from 1,500 the same day last year. – Immigration lawyers in Canada report a flood of inquiries from Americans. – Despite heightened interest, few Americans ultimately emigrate.

The Rest of The Story:

As election results indicated Donald Trump’s re-election, many Americans began searching for ways to leave the country.

Google data revealed a dramatic increase in searches related to moving to Canada, New Zealand, and Australia.

On the evening of the election, searches about emigrating reached all-time highs for these countries.

Immigration websites experienced a surge in traffic from U.S. users. For instance, Immigration New Zealand reported 25,000 new American visitors on November 7, a significant jump from the previous year.

The trend mirrors the reaction after Trump’s 2016 victory but seems intensified due to a particularly divisive campaign.

Many Americans express concerns about potential threats to democracy and fears over issues like race, gender, education, and reproductive rights.

Online communities, such as the Reddit group “r/AmerExit,” have become hubs for sharing advice on emigration.

However, some caution immigrating to Canada or other countries is not always easy and few actually make the move.

[crowaes]

was gonna put this in the tags of the last post but it got way too long.

that last post hit the nail on the head so well in regards to everything that went wrong. economics and bidens stubbornness in even attempting to run in the first place led to a lot of the mess were in. but theres a couple things ive been dwelling on.

first- despite demographic shifts and a sweeping victory election enthusiasm was incredibly low on the whole. trump won the popular vote for the first time but with 2 million people less than he did in 2020. harris campaign and even to some degree trumps did not encourage people to get to the polls.

second- politics are driven strongly by emotions and perception rather than facts and policy. this should have been clear since 2016 but 2024 reinforces it. a lot of people do not know what theyre voting for until after theyve already done it. take, for example, the rise in "what are tariffs" in google trends directly after election day. people do not understand how they work and the inflationary results they have on the economy. they vote based on the idea and perception that trump and the republican party are good for the economy.

third- exit polls and the lgbt community. in 2020 cnns exit polls showed biden got 64% of the lgbt vote. meanwhile in 2024 nbcs polls showed harris got 86%. its a demographic that has seen major increase. but harris campaign was incredibly weak on lgbt issues. there was no trans dnc speaker for the first time in multiple campaigns. harris only spoke on trans issues rarely. when asked in an interview by cnn she said it should be left up to the law. a very lukewarm statement when so many anti trans laws have been introduced and enacted. like many other demographics, dems are taking them for granted.

to tie everything up, theres a line during the questioning about trans issues that serves as a microcosm of the whole campaign. the interviewer asked harris her position on trans issues because the trump campaign was attempting to define it for her. after harris dodged it a bit, the interviewer said she wanted to give harris a chance to define herself. and instead of taking that chance she effectively dodged the question and said nothing.

[whatsissue]

‘Moving to Canada’ Searches Spike After U.S. Election, But It’s Not So Simple

‘Moving to Canada’ Searches Spike After U.S. Election, But It’s Not So Simple Following the recent U.S. election, a familiar trend has emerged: a surge in Google searches for “moving to Canada.” This phenomenon has become a predictable reaction among Americans dissatisfied with presidential election outcomes, as many seek to explore the possibility of finding a better life north of the border. Election Results and Search Trends Despite president-elect Donald Trump’s victory speech promising a “golden age for America,” many Americans appear skeptical, leading to a peak in searches related to relocating to Canada. According to Google Trends, queries such as “how to legally move to Canada,” “moving to Canada from U.S.,” and “moving to Canada requirements” saw significant increases, particularly from states that overwhelmingly supported Vice President Kamala Harris, including Oregon, Washington, New Hampshire, and Vermont. In contrast to the post-2016 election spike, which overwhelmed Canada’s immigration website, the Canadian government’s immigration page appears to be functioning normally this time around. Social Media Reactions On social media platforms like X, many users expressed their intentions to move to Canada, with responses ranging from lighthearted jokes to serious considerations. Some individuals shared their personal stories, while others offered humorous takes on the situation: - “My son is googling how to move to Canada and asking me if I can sell the house.” - “The marriage proposals from my American friends are rolling in — my inbox is basically ‘Love Is Blind: Americans who will now do literally anything to move to Canada.’” - “Just a reminder that you guys can’t just move to Canada. You need to chug a litre of maple syrup before you live sappily ever after.” A Different Context? Historically, interest in moving to Canada has often been more of a joke than a genuine plan. After the 2016 election, many celebrities announced their intentions to relocate, but few followed through. However, this election cycle feels different, with Americans grappling with the reality of a potential second Trump term. As noted by Fortune magazine, the current political climate has intensified fears among those opposed to Trump, especially given the possibility of a Republican-controlled Senate and House, which could lead to significant legislative changes. The Reality of Moving to Canada While Canada may seem appealing to those disenchanted with U.S. politics, it is essential to recognize that moving to Canada is not as simple as it may appear. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau recently announced a reduction in the number of permanent immigrants allowed into the country, from 500,000 to 395,000 next year. This decision reflects the government’s attempt to balance labor needs and population growth in the aftermath of the pandemic. Although Canada offers various immigration pathways, including federal programs for skilled workers and work permits for those with job offers, the immigration process can be complex and time-consuming. Aspiring immigrants must navigate visa applications, residency requirements, and the possibility of long wait times. Warnings from Canadians Canadians have also chimed in, cautioning that life in Canada may not be the utopia some Americans envision. Comments on social media highlighted that Canadian politics are not vastly different from those in the U.S. and that the country faces its own challenges, such as high inflation, a housing crisis, and a healthcare system that, while universal, has its shortcomings. Some tweets emphasized the need for serious research before attempting to move, as securing a visa requires more than just a passport. “I don’t think folks realize that a passport isn’t going to do much for you. If you’re planning to move to another country, you’re gonna need to start researching and applying for visas.” Historical Context While it’s too early to predict a mass exodus of Americans into Canada, historical data shows that some have successfully made the move in the past, albeit not in the overwhelming numbers suggested by social media. For example, in the first quarter of 2018, 2,615 U.S. citizens were granted permanent residency in Canada. Following Trump’s 2016 election, an average of 2,342 Americans obtained permanent residency per quarter, compared to 2,131 per quarter from 2007 to 2016. Conclusion The surge in “moving to Canada” searches post-election underscores the deep divisions within the U.S. political landscape. While the idea of relocating may be appealing to some, the reality of immigration and life in Canada requires careful consideration and planning. As Americans navigate their options, the complexities of moving north serve as a reminder that political dissatisfaction can lead to a search for change, but achieving that change is rarely straightforward. Thank you for taking the time to read this article! Your thoughts and feedback are incredibly valuable to me. What do you think about the topics discussed? Please share your insights in the comments section below, as your input helps me create even better content. I’m also eager to hear your stories! If you have a special experience, a unique story, or interesting anecdotes from your life or surroundings, please send them to me at whatsissue@gmail.com. Your stories could inspire others and add depth to our discussions. If you enjoyed this post and want to stay updated with more informative and engaging articles, don’t forget to hit the subscribe button! I’m committed to bringing you the latest insights and trends, so stay tuned for upcoming posts. Wishing you a wonderful day ahead, and I look forward to connecting with you in the comments and reading your stories! Read the full article

[athenasunclaimedchild]

Don't want to be that person but... where is the link? This is a screenshot of a tweet and sources (not hyperlinked) to MSNBC and X. A basic google search with key words for this article does not turn up results.

I do not need to spell out that project 2025 is major bad news for anyone in the US, but we shouldn't let that fear let us spread false claims or unverified news stories.

Obviously, stay educated and vote but keep your eyes sharp for posts that look sketch!! 2016 election had major issues with bots generating false information on tumblr!!! Stay vigilant y'all!!

after claiming in the recent presidential debate that he has nothing to do with project 2025, footage from trump’s keynote speech at the Heritage Foundation in 2022 proves the opposite: that project 2025 is “critical” and has “laid the groundwork” for what he plans to do if re-elected

project 2025 is very real and if you don’t think he’s going to use it or that it won’t impact you in any way, you are wrong

read it, get informed, and go vote

sources: X & msnbc

[typewriter83]

Tuesday, November 5th is Election Day in the United States. If you thought the 2016 election was important and you thought the 2020 election was important than the 2024 election cannot be ignored or skipped.

Don’t just vote for President - the House and the Senate races are just as (if not more) important than the Presidential race. Read your ballots.

Don’t listen to the pollsters - NO ONE is in the lead, the election hasn’t happened yet. YOUR VOTE COUNTS. I promise you, trust the process; make a plan and get out and vote or you have NO RIGHT to complain about the results.

If you are unsure of where to go or what to do - you can google the county you live in and voting. This election is too important to dismiss.

Decisions are made by those who show up. ❤️🤍💙

[drsorrell]

Reading Short Fiction, Tues. 7.30

INTRO I put a lot more stuff on here for Day 2. It doesn't mean we will get to all of it, but I like to have a lot of options and then see how the class develops based on you guys. I also linked the Discussion Question #1 (DQ1) prompt on the syllabus in case you misplaced the paper copy.

Check-in

Review yesterday's class: a general approach to reading short fiction via Categories. We aren't looking for a "science experiment" 100% proof but rather an interpretation based on evidence. Today, I will demonstrate using some outside-of-the-text evidence as a different way of viewing a story. (You don't have to do this kind of research yourself; it's just to show you that there are different ways of reading and understanding literature.) STORY CONTEXT: APPALACHIA, GEOGRAPHY, HISTORY

"Sidle Creek" is a more nuanced portrait of "Appalachia" than the mainstream media one that emerged after Trump's election in 2016, when many people who didn't like Trump blamed "hillbillies" and read JD Vance's (now Vice-Presidential candidate!) memoir, Hillbilly Elegy, to try to understand the election results.

Frank Rich, "No More Sympathy for Hillbillies" (2017)

Kevin Baker, "The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless White Mind" (2017)

This portrait of Appalachia is a historical trend. It is more "grist for the media mill," according to historian Ronald Eller and writer Elizabeth Catte ("Liberal Shaming of Appalachia: Inside the Media Elite's Obsession with the 'Hillbilly' Problem" (2017).)

"Appalachian" identity is problematic, as the geographic area is enormous and varied (more on that here and here).

How tributaries work:

Kittanning (Google Maps)

The author lives here. (This doesn't mean these are the creeks in the story, but it helps understand their importance to her.)

FREE-WRITING & PERSONAL REACTIONS/CONNECTIONS: If you don't know how to get started, you can always free-write whatever comes into your head. The point of this is not to TMI you but to show you that personal reactions/connections are not a bad place to start if you're unsure what to do next. Try it out for DQ1!

Dr. Sorrell's free-write: Creeks & Kiddos, looking under rocks for life (snakes, salamanders, frogs, insects), flat stones, skipping stones, exploring, and being a kid again myself. Sunshine and shade, surprises. Creeks are life-affirming, so I feel one of the story's messages deeply, but not in the confined way it happens there (Esme hiding away from the world behind her rock wall). For me, creeks are more about opening out and connecting to other, bigger things, whereas, in the story, Sidle Creek seems more contained and separated; its connection with the Allegheny River is dangerous (poisonous?). Creeks change, kiddos change (and get sick of creeks), but stepping in the water or finding something you didn't expect is always refreshing.

(5.27.24, Crouse Run, Allegheny tributary)

(6.26.24, Deer Creek, Allegheny River tributary)

DISCUSSION: Break down the second half of the story using the same general Close Reading categories as Monday (from the board).

TIMELINE/EVENTS (WHAT): Kerin, Tyler, Tyree

IDEAS/INTERPRETATION (WHY): Jaden G, Marcus, Bradley

LANGUAGE/STYLE (HOW): Kyaire, Damon, Reed, Nijay

PERSONAL REACTIONS/CONNECTIONS: Calvin, Derek, Isaiah

Talk about Discussion Question #1.

Start writing out Discussion Question #1. My original plan was to collect these at the end of class today, but since some of you have tutoring, let's shoot for tomorrow morning instead.

Preview/look ahead to tomorrow's reading: "Emergency" by Denis Johnson, prereading strategies.

HOMEWORK: 1 Read Johnson, “Emergency” (1991), p. 1-3, ending at “on it” (a few paragraphs above the end of the page, on the right). Keep using Active Reading strategies by marking anything you find interesting, relatable, meaningful, that you like, don't like, basically anything that grabs your attention :) 2 Finish writing your answer to DQ1 and bring it to class tomorrow morning.

[vlogbrothershistory]

June 14 in Vlogbrothers History

2007: June 13: Dominican Debacles

2009: Iran Election Fraud: 5 Reasons to Doubt the Results

2010: Be The Change - vlogbrothers

2011: Google Is Alive!

2013: What is the Strongest Force on Earth?

2016: Orlando

2019: What /Actually/ Happened at Chernobyl

2022: Should Hank and I ... box each other??

[ailtrahq]

In an increasingly AI-driven world, blockchain could play a critical role in preventing the sins committed by Apps like Facebook from becoming widespread and normalized.Artificial intelligence platforms such as ChatGPT and Google’s Bard have entered the mainstream and have already been accused of inflaming the political divide with their biases. As foretold in popular films such as , and most recently, , it’s already become evident that AI is a wild animal we’ll likely struggle to tame.From democracy-killing disinformation campaigns and killer drones to the total destruction of individual Privacy, AI can potentially transform the global economy and likely civilization itself. In May 2023, global tech leaders penned an open letter that made Headlines, warning that the dangers of AI Technology may be on par with nuclear weapons.One of the most significant fears of AI is the lack of transparency surrounding its training and programming, particularly in Deep Learning models that can be difficult to expropriate. Because sensitive data is used to train AI models, they can be manipulable if the data becomes compromised. In the years ahead, blockchain will be widely utilized alongside AI to enhance the transparency, accountability and audibility concerning its decision-making process.Chat GPT will make fun of Jesus but not Muhammad pic.twitter.com/LzMXBcdCmw— E (@ElijahSchaffer) September 2, 2023 For instance, when training an AI model using data stored on a Blockchain, the data’s provenance and integrity can be ensured, preventing unauthorized modifications. Stakeholders can track and verify the decision-making process by recording the model’s training parameters, Updates and validation results on the Blockchain.With this use case, blockchain will play a leading role in preventing the unintentional misuse of AI. But what about the intentional? That’s a much more dangerous scenario, which, unfortunately, we’ll likely face in the coming years. Even without AI, centralized Big Tech has historically aided and abetted behavior that profits by manipulating both individuals and democratic values to the highest bidder, as made famous in Facebook’s Cambridge Analytica scandal. In 2014, the “Thisisyourdigitallife” app offered to pay users for personality tests, which required permission to access their Facebook profiles and those of their friends. Essentially, Facebook allowed Cambridge Analytica to spy on users without permission. The result? Two historic mass-targeted psychological public relations campaigns that had a relatively strong influence on both the outcomes of the United States presidential election and the United Kingdom’s European Union membership referendum in 2016. Has Meta (previously Facebook) learned from its mistakes? It doesn’t look like it.In July, Meta unveiled its latest app, Threads. Touted as a rival to Elon Musk’s Twitter, it harvests the usual data Facebook and Instagram collect. But — similar to TikTok — when Threads users signed up, they unwittingly gave Meta access to GPS location, camera, photos, IP Information, device type and device signals. It’s a standard practice of Web2 to justify such practices, touting that “users agreed to the terms and conditions.” In reality, it would take an average of 76 working days to read every Privacy policy for each app used by a standard internet user. The point? Meta now has access to almost everything on the phones of over 150 million users.In comes AI. If the after-effects of the Cambridge Analytica scandal warranted concerns, can we even begin to comprehend the impacts of a marriage between this invasive surveillance and the godlike intelligence of AI? The unsurprising remedy here is Blockchain, but the solution isn’t as straightforward.One of the main dangers of AI rests in the data it can collect and then weaponize. Regarding social media, blockchain technology can potentially enhance data Privacy and control, which could help mitigate Big Tech’s data harvesting practices.

However, it’s unlikely to “stop” Big Tech from taking sensitive data.To truly Safeguard against the intentional dangers of AI and ward off future Cambridge Analytica-like scenarios, decentralized, preferably Blockchain-based, social media platforms are required. By design, they reduce the concentration of user data in one central entity, minimizing the potential for mass surveillance and AI disinformation campaigns. Put simply, through Blockchain Technology, we already have the tools needed to Safeguard our independence from AI at both the individual and national levels. Shortly after signing the open letter to governments on the dangers of AI in May, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman published a blog post proposing several strategies for responsible management of powerful AI systems. They involved collaboration among the major AI developers, greater technical study of large language models and establishing a global organization for AI Safety. While these measures make a good start, they fail to address the systems that make us vulnerable to AI — namely, the centralized Web2 entities such as Meta. To truly Safeguard against AI, more development is urgently required toward the rollout of Blockchain-based technologies, namely in Cybersecurity, and for a genuinely competitive ecosystem of decentralized social media Apps. Callum Kennard is the content manager at Storm Partners, a Web3 solutions provider based in Switzerland. He’s a graduate of the University of Brighton in England.

[tinaleighx]

The Chronicles Of Being The “Sick Girl”

Hi, I’m Crystina or known by many as Tina. I’m a 25 year old woman, born May 14th 1998 and this Is my experience and story throughout my journey with Kidney Failure and my Mental Health. This is an open letter to any and all, from a casual reader to those with the same struggles as I. Further not, here we go.

In the early months of 2016, I was approaching the milestone of finally being an “Adult”, My 18th birthday. I was so excited. This is a big thing in someone's life but for me, It may have possibly been the worst events of my life. Although my birthday was fairly normal. I woke up and went through the day as anyone would. Looking back at it now, seeing myself. I was very pale but I thought nothing of it. Maybe I just needed more sun. As the months went on I started feeling more and more Ill, I had experienced an episode of a very rare disease called Henoch-Schönlein purpura or better known as HSP/Spring fever. I had unbearable leg pain to the point I couldn’t move out of bed. I thought nothing of this, my last episode was so many years ago when I was just a little kid. We were told nothing would come from this but this episode had attacked my Kidneys leading me to Kidney Failure. Which in a sick and twisted way is pretty funny. Imagine being diagnosed with a super rare disease, becoming one of the few to experience any kidney issues to then become one of the rarest to end up developing Kidney Failure. It’s not that funny but, my “luck” doesn’t work in my favor. After this my health would quickly decline. On the 4th of July of 2016 I remember my dad was grilling hamburgers, the smell. God the smell made me feel so sick. I remember this put me off hamburgers for years to come. But even then I never thought twice about my health or how I felt. I carried on feeling sick and always sleeping. I remember sleeping so much that I’m sure I slept for 23 out of 24 hours a day. I don’t remember much of those days. I wish I knew. I lost many friends due to this. I was never around. As the months went on and things got worse I remember once looking up my symptoms on Google. We’re always told to take google results with a grain of salt so I didn’t believe it when all things lead to Kidney failure. What once healthy young woman believes that she suddenly develops an illness like this? I didn’t then but I wish I did. I still continued to go on and push through all the things I felt. Getting more and more sick as the days went by. I remember watching the 2016 election from my parents bedroom floor. I couldn’t even sit up for longer than 60 seconds. I had tried many things rather than face the truth. I remember trying out gluten free freezer meals. “Maybe I’m allergic to gluten” I thought to myself and It helped, for one night and then I was back at square one. In mid November my Mom had forced me to finally go to the hospital. I went and It was the most overwhelming experience of my life. I remember having my blood taken for testing and I remember immediately being rushed to the back of the ER. I was having questions thrown at me faster than my brain could understand. I never had an answer for them and I felt extremely anxious. It felt like a scene from a movie except there was no one there to yell “CUT!”. They needed a urine sample but I could no longer use the restroom, thinking about it now I don’t even remember using the restroom a lot leading up to this moment. This is when It all starts to become a blur to me. I remember being anxious, I remember my parents reactions, I remember my doctor saying if I had waited any longer to come in I would have been dead. From there that night was a blur. I do remember being told I needed dialysis treatment immediately. Was rushed to have surgery for a port access. It’s all just overwhelming to think about now. If I hadn’t been so stubborn and caught up in the idea that I was invincible maybe things could’ve been different or maybe I’d still be here typing this. But from here the time at the hospital is all a blur. I still try to put it together to this day. 

After my time at the hospital I started Dialysis at a nearby client for the next 4 years of my life. I know what you’re thinking. “4 years? Some get twice as much!” and while I understand that it does not outweigh my own experiences and emotions. I was the youngest person at this client, I had seen many come and go in what I hoped was them getting the call but, with the age everyone was I can only imagine It was much worse. I had heard about people passing away, even someone I sat next to for a few weeks. She was the sweetest woman I have ever met. Unfortunately she didn’t make it. I was so scared. Kidney disease and failure can take you away so suddenly. Everyday I was scared it would take me too. I was so envious of those my age, able to do things. I was jealous at points. I didn’t deserve to be in such a position as this. Even to this day I feel so far behind those at my age. It takes a lot from you. You feel hopeless, you’re playing a game with death. You either get the call or die waiting. I was lucky to have the doctors I had. He pushed for me to get on the list. If I had any other doctor who knows where I’d be now. As the years went on I had many ports go bad and clot resulting in me needing many new ones. I had surgeries done for fistulas but they never lasted due to my weak veins. They never lasted and I have all the scars as a reminder that my body was and always will work against me. 

(PART 2 COMING SOON)