Imagine launching and growing a popular social media platform. Getting a huge buyout for it. Watching it burn down to the ground, scorching everything that was good and fun about it. And then, a few years, later starting again with a thing that looks and works just like what you started with, and having people flock to it out of joyful relief.

This particular strand of the metaverse is definitely a weird one.

I've been spending a lot of time recently thinking about how some self-described sceptics are especially susceptible to falling for conspiracy theories.

The more people think they're immune, the more likely they are to take on the person of "true believers." and the more difficult it is to persuade them otherwise.

It's just one more quirk of the human condition.

#politics

The perpetual indeterminacy of his seriousness is not a bug, it's a feature. The unpredictability keeps everyone and everything off balance, which makes him uniquely powerful.

Everything is a joke, the threat of suffering, the fear of suffering, or even the reality of suffering.

People support him in part because they want to be insiders, safe from being the target of his jokes.

But there is no insider with him.

The Joker has been made the mayor of Gotham.

No-one is safe.

Infowars is now owned by the Onion because irony is dead.

And also because irony has been resuscitated with a stim pack that launched it into orbit.

https://www.readtpa.com/p/the-onion-now-owns-infowars-because

It's pretty much impossible to overstate Covid's impact on global politics and democracy.

We've never needed life-and-death gov't interventions like that before in our lives. It stands to reason that wherever they were felt, they were deeply controversial.

Covid was bigger than doctors, hospitals, gov'ts, int'l orgs, everything!

Globally, people are voting from their shock & trauma, and are being (easily) led by politicians to blame incumbents for their suffering & grief.

#politics

#politics

It really does seem like Trump is constantly asking "Where is the line?"

And the answer, all the way from the voting public to SCOTUS, is "There isn't one."

This is the question that needs to be raised with conservatives and especially republicans. "Where is your line? What would be a deal-breaker?"

These are the people who -- my whole life -- have been calling out moral relativism. And now, this is their guy. This is now their moral centre.

They need to made to see it.

(I'm taking a cue from A. R. Moxon in uncapitalising "christian" in cases where I feel the descriptor bears no meaningful resemblance to the Christ consciousness, yet remains an important way to idenify a socio-religious phenomenon.)

I've probably said this here before, but it's more true than ever:

The US is in a race between christian extremism and secularism.

The numbers show that churches are increasingly desperate because they are shrinking, in every way. People started empying the pews in earnest during Trump's first run. It's accelerating again.

The US evangelical complex is currently upside-down -- it cannot cover its assets internally. It is now being propped up by international sources.

#religion
#politics

Back when Twitter was fun, I joined a conversation about the alarming popularity of villains in US pop culture.

I pointed out that people get tattoos of villains, like the Joker (esp Heath Ledger's version), Walter White and Darth Vader.

I was questioned for suggesting that the power of story can convince people to align with villains because they're relatable. People were shocked by how "gullible" I am.

For my part, I think I underestimated the problem.

TFG is now the moral centre of the republican party. They're jockeying to make him the moral centre of the USA, and by extension, the entire world.

Indeed, the whole republican propaganda machine seems to be treating this whole thing like it's just another kind of reality TV debacle, not a real-life decision with dire, lasting consequences.

#politics

Anyone who laments polarisation and votes conservative is playing with cosmic levels of cognitive dissonance.

In several of the photo portrait sites I follow, I've seen a sudden resurgence of photos showing people smoking.

It feels like that has to be symptomatic of something.

This is the season of whether I think I need my sunglasses or not, I'm wrong.

Also, these experiences cover several well-known name brands.

I'm not naming them on purpose, but I'll just say that my own choice was from an established company with a strong reputation.

I should add that I'm pretty gentle with my gear -- it was not mistreated.

The gaming laptop segment is built to a price point, and it shows.

I have a solution if you're on a budget: buy a used workstation-class laptop. They're certainly more heavy and clunky, but they'll last for a good, long time.

Be wary of buying a gaming laptop for work stuff. I did that a few years back to get the computing power I needed to edit media at a reasonable price.

Gaming laptops are the epitome of planned obsolescence. They're intended for people who are on a steep, constant upgrade path.

The case literally crumbled to pieces, with plastic crumbs ending up in the cooling fans, and the other inner workings.

Listening to others, my experience is not unique.

Somebody just asked if I had a chainsaw they could borrow.

And now I'm asking myself: how could I arrive at this stage of my life, and not own a chainsaw?

What have I been doing with my time?!

I'm surprised that graphic design is still so underrated in so many circles.

How a piece looks has a massive effect on how it is perceived and interpreted.

Design provides the context for the content. They're meant to work together.

#Edit

I just got back from my first paying family photoshoot in a long time.

I either need to do this way more, or never again.

#IAmTired