#verified information

[morri-mclelland]

So, I didn't want to say anything last night when there was so little verified information. My safe feeling of home was violated last night with the mass shooting in Lewiston, Maine. While that is not my town, it really isn't all that far from where I live, just about an hour or so from me, it isn't uncommon for Mainers to drive large distances daily for work, school or shopping, so an hour is really nothing in the grand scheme of things.

So, firstly, to my friends, followers, and lovely mutuals... we are safe. Both my sister and I are home safe and all our family and friends are currently safe.

Next, to the facts:

The suspect's name is Robert Card, a 40 year old Weapon Instructor who lives in the nearby town of Bowdoin.

At current, 18 people have died and an additional 13 are injured, though the extent of their injuries are unknown.

The shootings happened at a bowling alley, where there were bowling leagues playing, and a bar, where there was an event to celebrate those within the bar and restaurant industry.

His car was found at a boat launch in Lisbon Falls late last night.

At current, 8:15 pm, there is a house surrounded in Bowdoin, where they believe the suspect might be holed up, but this is UNCONFIRMED. There is roughly 100 local and national, and possibly international at this point, reporters nearby on scene, but this is all still active, so I wish safety to them all.

Currently, there are already schools and businesses that have decided it isn't in their best interests to open tomorrow, my own campus being one of them. LLBean was closed today, and I believe will be closed tomorrow, and I genuinely can't remember the last time they were closed for the whole day outside of COVID mandate. For those of you who don't know, LLBean's Flagship store is open 24/7, including Thanksgiving, Christmas Day and New Years Day. And while shopping is the least of my concern, the fact that it has changed and forced us that extra bit out of our norm is that much more unsettling.

As more information is verified, I will try and let people know. Most of my information is from the WCSH News Center Maine live coverage, and where they are getting their information.

[robinreturnstotumbler]

His name is Ulysses Grant Dietz

His first book is called Desmond

[mayasaura]

It really dawned on me watching episode 17, just how important this sequence of events is to Kabru and Laios' relationship, and how. Well. That's for a different post. I want to keep this one free of spoilers. (Certified Safe For Anime Only™)(There are spoilers for episode 17, tho. Obviously.)

Kabru's main concern has been, at least in part, revealed. He wants to figure out if Laios is capable of defeating the dungeon, and, if so, if Laios can be trusted with the power that might confer. The answer to his first question is simple. Yes. If anyone can defeat the dungeon, it's Laios.

The second question is where things get interesting. Can Laios be trusted with power?

In the aftermath of Laios' first fight with Toshiro, Kabru learns that while Laios has no particular respect for the law or conventional wisdom, he does have the humility to consider that his judgment might be flawed if he encounters conflict with someone he respects.

That is the face of a man taking notes, and I think he's making a cautious mark in Laios' favor. Laios doesn't really understand Toshiro's opinion, but he's listening.

Then, in the fight with the Falin-Dragon chimera, Kabru voices dissent—disgust, even—with Laios and Marcille's priorities.

You can practically see the Dragon Age style approval rating drop. Kabru disapproves. Minus fifteen hearts. If it had ended like this, I think Kabru would have lost all interest in Laios. Someone who would sacrifice a dozen lives out of sentiment can't be trusted.

Laios' response, and the way it builds on Kabru's earlier observation, is crucial.

He listened. And even better, he didn't listen blindly. He applied critical thought to Kabru's argument. What Kabru hears from him isn't just "I'm sorry, you were right," but also, "I understand and respect your position and priorities, and here's a very good argument for why killing what I still consider to be my sister is not in our best interest."

He processed Kabru's criticism and came to his own conclusions, and he did it fast. Not only that, but he's right. Kabru hadn't considered the potential consequences of killing the chimera.

Laios proved in this one exchange that he 1) isn't blinded by either his pride or his prejudice, 2) has the strength of character to not just fall back and surrender to someone else's judgment when he's uncertain, and 3) is smart enough to tactically outhink Kabru.

This is why Kabru is so invested in Laios liking him that he forces himself to eat the harpy omlette. This is why Kabru takes Laios' hand and makes sure he knows he wants to see him again. He doesn't understand Laios, and he still has strong reservations about him. Laios' interest in monsters scares him. But Laios has proved to Kabru that he might be capable of being the person Kabru needs him to be.

Top Ten Pictures Of The Moment He Won You Over (Taken Just Before Disaster).

[front-facing-pokemon]

[soupscapes]

I did a Squiddo :D

At the beginning of this week I couldnt tell you the first thing about Lifesteal smp- I watched so many of her videos this week including seasons 5 and 6 of lifesteal ToT Horray :D

[robinreturnstotumbler]

From the horse's mouth

[dotthings]

I get why people aren't taking random twitter clout-chaser seriously but can we not do denialism on things that were already confirmed like the script draft with [OMMITTED] all over it and the finale having three different covers of Carry On while Dean drives and drives and drives, there were obviously scenes that were cut. Plus the fact we already know Dean and Cas were at one point intended to reunite at the Roadhouse and Misha said they had a nice exchange. Details unknown. You don't have to buy what twitter random says specifically but there was an intention at least at one point to have Dean and Cas reunite. And even after the covid cuts...that episode was shortened. There are missing scenes. And it's not the remote filmed phone calls with Jody, Claire, Donna, since those were in the draft I saw, but in addition to that there was [OMMITTED][OMMITTED][OMMITTED].

[tomorrowusa]

Russia is heavily invested in installing their puppet Donald Trump back in the White House. They are relying on low information voters who get all their news from social media to help them.

US intelligence has assessed that Russian operatives were behind a fake video purporting to show someone destroying mail-in ballots in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, that circulated on social media Thursday. “The IC (Intelligence Community) assesses that Russian actors manufactured and amplified a recent video that falsely depicted an individual ripping up ballots in Pennsylvania, judging from information available to the IC and prior activities of other Russian influence actors, including videos and other disinformation activities,” said a joint statement from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. The agencies said that the video is part of an ongoing Russian effort to “raise unfounded questions about the integrity of the US election and stoke divisions among Americans” in the final days of the 2024 campaign. CNN reported earlier Friday that US investigators suspected that Russian operatives were behind the fake video, according to two sources briefed on the matter.

And it's not just Pennsylvania. Russia is probably behind this incident in Georgia.

Georgia election official says battleground state fended off cyberattack likely from a foreign country

Tell people you know in real life not to get news from social media – Twitter/X, TikTok, and the various Facebook offshoots in particular. When you see stuff on such platforms it's not much more credible than people writing on public bathroom walls. Accounts which claim to be news sources can be fakes which have intentionally similar names to legit news sources.

FYI: I don't consider Tumblr to be social media. There actually is content moderation here. 🙂

There are still legit free sources of reliable news such as CNN, NPR, the BBC, the PBS NewsHour, and The Guardian. And while not free, you can get the New York Times digital edition for just $1 a week for a year in an introductory offer.

If somebody you know personally is spreading disinformation from Russia or the GOP (almost the same thing), bluntly tell them it's bullshit and direct them to a legit news source. People are more likely to listen to people they know. So speak up!

And if there are any posts you find helpful from this blog, feel free to share them with people you know who are not on Tumblr.

[infriga]

To add to the discussion about plagiarization and misinformation, one thing I know that can contribute to complacency is how much time and effort it can take to fact check everything you watch. That's daunting for most people, let alone people who don't have as much experience with it or who deal with disabilities and executive dysfunction.

But there are some things you can do to minimize damages that are easier to manage on a more individual basis.

You don't have to necessarily fact check every single thing every creator says in every video in order to make sure they're 100% legit every time. I know not everyone has the mental bandwidth to do that sort of thing constantly. Generally it's okay to just practice some mindfulness and not blindly trust someone if you haven't vetted their claims personally.

What you can do is fact check yourself. Don't repeat stuff you hear from a video as if it is a fact unless you have looked into it yourself first to confirm that what the video said about it is true and that their sources are good. And if you source someone make sure you've vetted them specifically and checked their own sources on that particular topic or bit of information (and check that they even HAVE sources to begin with and aren't just copying their sources verbatim). You can't source every video essay you ever watch or check every single one for plagiarism, but you can source yourself and what you say, and make sure you're not spreading bullshit or citing the wrong person. If you find that you don't have the energy to do even that much in a given moment, then just keep the information in question to yourself for the time being until you do have the energy to verify it.

And some stuff that's generally just good practice: if it's a topic that you're particularly interested in, it's a good idea to seek out more than one video about it from more than one creator. The more diverse your sources of info on the topic the better, especially if you seek out more than just the popular stuff. Get a broader picture of it from a wide variety of people from a wide variety of demographics. It's a lot easier to spot stuff like plagiarism if you're looking at more than just one or two channels, and even if you don't spot it, because they're often good at hiding it, you at least can make sure that you're giving more obscure creators the same attention as well instead of only defaulting to the most popular wide-spread creators and content.

Seeking out more than one type of medium is usually a good idea as well. I know reading stuff like written papers or essays or books on a topic can be difficult for some people, but if you can manage it even just occasionally then branching out every once in a while is still worth doing because it gets you out of one particular information sphere and into another, reducing the chances of an echo chamber effect. If you can't bring yourself to do that much homework on a topic, then again remember to keep in mind that your knowledge about it is limited and could be wrong, and don't spread that info without doing your own research first. Videos are not inherently a bad way to learn about stuff, papers or books can be wrong, and plagiarized, and badly sourced, and can spread misinformation too, my main point is that it's good to avoid having your information come to you through a single choke point if you can help it.

It can be exhausting trying to hold every online creator accountable on an individual basis, I get that, so I don't expect everyone to extensively peer review every channel they ever watch, but at the end of the day you can at least make sure to try and hold yourself accountable first and foremost.

[webgottism]

girl i wish

[somewhatsentientspellbook]

According to IMDb, we have some official cast members for the first three episodes of TLOVM S3!

Please be mindful that I don't know if these names are accurate/verified, they're just what's been reported on IMDb

I'm only reporting the new cast members with official character names or titles, but there are other new names that weren't included in this list:

Jennifer Karraz (Mistress Asharru)

Mara Junot (J'mon Sa Ord)

Samba Schutte (Hand of Ord)

Rachel House (Dohla)

There was also confirmation on CR socials for the titles of the first three episodes!

A Deadly Bargain

Prisoners of Ank'Harel

Vexations

[lang-shih-na]

making this one of the first times shih-na talks is sick and twisted i'm gonna throw up

[mychlapci]

no way the teacher is telling us to use chatgpt

[ruffboijuliaburnsides]

when you watch a relatively good lil video essay about something you love, and they've got a lot of the details right but the very basic stuff is wrong... like bruh, how did you miss THIS?

[redgearsmovin]

Season 2 - Birthday Ball

[ahalliance]

what even is an AI-powered google search . what even is an AI-chat . I’ll kill you