I have, it seems, exceeded my wildest dreams as a social media user: I am now considered a racial terrorist. No, I’m not joking and I found it amusing that I was mentioned in a list of just awful people (being facetious here). the mention comes from a comment on a friends blog that she happily tweeted out to us. It stems from a conversation several of us were having on Twitter concerning a writer for an unknown (to me at least) online publication that seemed to be attacking our mutual friend, Sarah Braasch, ad nauseam. If anyone here is still unfamiliar with Sarah’s story, just do a search on her name from my homepage. You can also look at SkepticReview for other blog posts concerning her situation.
Stupidity
Walking Back Stupid
I think this happens to everyone at one time or another: being in a conversation or an online dialogue with someone that, no matter what is said, evidence presented, will not concede that they may be wrong. In fact, it often happens that the person will double-down, and that will usually end any attempt to resolve whatever the issue was to begin with, No one’s perfect and we can all find ourselves being unable to climb out of a hole we ourselves have dug. For some reason, it seems to be easier to keep digging than just to admit to being in error.
Judgements versus Observations
I just watched a terrific video from Blaire White on being misgendered. I think it’s spot on and makes a lot of good points about the current use of they/them, xe/xir, etc., for those that may declare to be non-binary or gender fluid, or whatever else it is out there. I wrote a while ago that maybe instead of taking the chance of misgendering, therefore insulting someone, I should just use the pronoun it. Yes, that seems proper for every occasion and I won’t take the chance of hurting someone’s feelings. Yeah, like I care.
Reject the Stupid
Recently, I was in a conversation with a few friends. One person made a few, in my opinion, outrageous statements that I disagreed with and promptly said so. Another friend there,actually, in front of every one there told me that I had to respect the views of others. Really? No where in the timeline of my life does anyone automatically receive respect. I believe in showing respect to others but in circumstances, there are times when a persons opinion needs challenging. One problem, if not the problem I see nowadays are people afraid to stand up for what the think is right, to become sheep, to aquise to the loudest voice. Sorry, but I won;t do that.
They’re Not Rocket Scientists
I’ve always thought it was curious that people would commit an illegal act, have a friend record it, and then post it online, with their face visible to anyone. I’m sure many of us have seen the short clip of the woman in a grocery store, taking out a container of ice cream, removing the lid, licking the contents, then placing the lid back on a replacing the container in the freezer. Now it looks like she may have been identified and the penalty (state) for a conviction? A minimum. of 2 years in prison with a maximum sentence of 20 years. That seems harsh but the issue is contaminating food, on purpose, possibly causing harm to others.