Definitely going to write about a Mesopotamian god for my next Rewind Wednesday. (You'll love this dude--very down to earth.)

Just imagining the social media venting I'd be doing in that era, with *that* era's geopolitics shaped by equally fervent religious conviction, makes me chuckle. Ruefully, perhaps, but a laugh's a laugh.

Oh, each track is so good.

"I've seen you change the water into wine
I've seen you change it back to water, too
I sit at your table every night
I try but I just don't get by with you
I wish there was a treaty we could sign
I do not care who takes this bloody hill
I'm angry and I'm tired all the time
I wish there was a treaty,
I wish there was a treaty
Between your love and mine"

#CoSoMusic
https://youtu.be/yvRZslZ75b4

Oh! And it's Leonard Cohen's birthday, so I think we all know what album to put on today.

"If you are the dealer, I'm out of the game
If you are the healer, it means I'm broken and lame
If thine is the glory, then mine must be the shame
You want it darker
We kill the flame."

#CoSoMusic
https://youtu.be/v0nmHymgM7Y

And... now we breathe, accept that humans do be like that sometimes, and carry on. Have a good Saturday, folks!

Ekphrasis challenge later on.

*And when it comes to religion, to be clear: if it wasn't our current lone holdout from the Canaanite pantheon of gods, it would have been some other pantheon before that - or whatever pantheon we create next. Specific faiths are just a wrapper for deeper human behaviours in our authority-seeking group species. Getting rid of any specific wrapper doesn't change our underlying tribalism. This is why I sorely appreciate the people trying to lean into the nicer parts of our cultural lore today.

The walk helped a bit.

It is very easy to be angry at religion for causing so many moral blindspots.

I have no love for most Abrahamic faith traditions, although I sorely appreciate the people trying to make the best of horrible stories, crafting something better out of the nicer bits.

But it's not just religion. It's comfort.

So many people who live with *more* are quick to judge people whose access to resources is extremely limited.

Relative safety is impressively good at making us cruel.

Woke up angry with the news again.

Time for a good ol' walk in the park, then some recording.

Good grief, though.

Some days it's really hard not to be frustrated by the world's relentless tribalism, and how impossible it seems to be for us to have any kind of moral consistency or ethical clarity on a scale larger than our direct communities.

But I'll remember to forgive us silly apes for being mere silly apes in a few.

Just have to move the cranky old meat sack around the block a bit first.

Finished reading a CoSonaut's book tonight, and am currently handling admin work for a volunteer role, but I'm also eager to try to finish a story draft before I call it quits tonight (from an idea that came from another CoSonaut!), so...

Sometimes it's a very good thing indeed to have days too full to wallow. 👍🏻

#MediaLiteracy

The takeaway:

1) Just because a small town / remote region has been highlighted in a news cycle doesn't mean the news is actually from that region.

2) Often, the news cycle is being generated or amplified by people outside the region, for ends that have nothing to do with signal-boosting or empowering people from X region.

3) When in doubt about a whirlwind of a story involving another part of the world, look for *local* reporting. Reporting *on* locals isn't good enough. 2/2

Another #MediaLiteracy note:

Yesterday a friend explained how proud he was to not be "biased" in his assessment of the Springfield news. His reasoning? He'd seen videos of spot interviews with locals, so he now had a "balance" of complaints.

What he'd forgotten is that a swarm of pundits were descending after the fact. Those reports weren't really homegrown. But many don't understand the difference between natural & artificial news growth, especially with all the gutting of local newsrooms. /x

Low-internet day.

Going out now for my newspaper, and after today's work I'll have time to read a CoSonaut's novel and write a little fiction myself.

I humbly ask the world not to blow up entirely in my absence.

Have a good one, and keep your vibes right however you have to.

It's frickin' nuts out there. 🕊️

Oh boy.

"Lionsgate’s exclusive model will be used to generate what it calls “cinematic video” which can then be further iterated using Runway’s technology. The goal is to save money – “millions and millions of dollars” according to Lionsgate studio vice chairman Michael Burns – by having filmmakers and creators use its AI model to replace artists in production tasks such as storyboarding."

I hope they enjoy not being able to copyright the #AI work they use!

#Technology
https://www.cartoonbrew.com/artist-rights/lionsgate-signs-deal-with-ai-company-runway-hopes-that-ai-can-eliminate-storyboard-artists-and-vfx-crews-243035.html

The last two days were derailed by the heaviness of the world.

Today's piece is a reflection on recent news, the terrible dread of waiting on wartime escalation, the heartsickness of seeing how people rationalize atrocity, and the hard fact that this is just how humans have been for almost 3,000 years of written record.

We keep trying to do better not because it's easy or even likely, but because "trying" is only human, too.

#Humanism #Politics #War #MediaLiteracy
https://open.substack.com/pub/mlclark/p/sitting-with-the-heaviness-of-the

What makes malinformation so effective is that most people are passive consumers of news media, so they'll pay attention more to the urgency with which news items show up on their feeds. They might not have media practices that allow them to quickly slot this flood of outrage into the bigger picture.

This makes people easy prey for the loudest actors.

A good defence starts with making whatever news you do consume *conscientious*.

Do not confuse vehemence on social media with proper reporting.

Not going to finish this essay before 10, but I do want to note a #MediaLiteracy concept we need to stay sharp around:

Malinformation.

It's not *inaccurate* intel, but it's intel blown out of proportion to dominate a news cycle or divert attention from another story.

When a political group has been found to do a Very Bad Thing, for instance, defenders will go on the offensive by signal-boosting smaller issues, flooding the feed with outrage over them instead.

It's propaganda, and it works.