This tiny octopus, whose body measured about five centimeters across, was spotted swimming along at a depth of 825 meters as we explored Whiting Seamount, off Puerto Rico.
Yeah, I got one of Tumblrās you-may-have-unwittingly-interacted-with-propaganda-blogs emails too. And like everyone else, I kind of shrugged because really, what am I supposed to do about that now? I have search disabled on my blog, and my tags are a mess; thereās no way I could go through and actually find any of the propaganda I may have inadvertently boosted over the seven years Iāve been on this site.
But out of curiosity I looked over Tumblrās list of IRA-linked blogs. And one username stood out to me. I recognised it because for several months last year it had been showing up constantly in my notifications after I reblogged one of their posts with a response.
When I first saw the post by black-to-the-bones, I wanted to know more about these women. I dug up the original Tweet, ran a reverse Google image search andā¦ well, as you can see from my reblog, there turned out to be quite a lot of information about them on the internet, which I spent the next hour or two collating into my post.
Now, donāt get me wrong here: I am one hundred percent aware that history regularly erases the contributions of women, and especially women of colour. But as you can see from my reply, in this particular case the history of these three women absolutely is notĀ āhidden from usā. The person attempting to hide these womenās history was black-to-the-bones themself.
The original post ā which we now know was posted by a state-sponsored propaganda blog ā took a legitimate issue, but misrepresented facts to stir up emotion about that issue. The issue was perfectly tailored to resonate with Tumblrās culture of social justice, and it worked. The vast majority of reblogs of the original post do not include any correction or further information.
Again, donāt get me wrong: anger is important. Itās a necessary part of social justice. But we have clear evidence that bad-faith actors are intentionally fomenting false anger to keep us reacting emotionally rather than thinking rationally. And they are smartĀ about it. They will mix in their attempts to divide and enrage us with innocuous cute videos to gain followers, and legitimate posts about issues. So that when they do post actual misinformation, it slips under our radar.
When propaganda blogs do something likeĀ try to smear a Jewish woman as a white supremacist, itās obvious who their target is, and what their goal is. But I wanted to highlight the black-to-the-bones post above because itās a subtler, more insidious kind of propaganda. Itās part of a continuum of tactics designed to keep up a constant background noise of outrage.Ā
Because while anger is important, constantĀ anger makes it harder for us to empathise with each other. It makes it harder for us to be constructive, rather than destructive. And ultimately, it just exhausts us and leaves us too apathetic to care.
So getting back to my original question: What are we supposed to do about that now?
Fact. Check. Everything.
Your racist grandparents arenāt the only ones being targeted by fake news. We are being targeted with posts that are specifically designed to appeal to Tumblrās social justice culture. SoĀ if you see a post about an issue that makes you angry, stop before you reblog. Check the source. Google the details. Make sure your anger about legitimate issues isnāt being exploited by malicious actors.
Propaganda like this relies on us reacting to outrage before we stop to think. Be smarter than that. Donāt let yourself be manipulated.
Iāve been on aĀ Discworld re-read for about a year now, and it just struck me how Pterry gets progressively angrier and less subtle about it throughout the series.
Like, we start out nice and easy with Rincewind whoās on some wacky adventures and ha ha ha oh golly that Twoflower sure is silly and the Luggage is epic, where can I get one. Meanwhile Rincewind just wants to live out his boring days as a boring Librarian but is dragged along against his will by an annoying little tourist guy and honestly? Fuck this.
We get the first view of Sam Vimes, and heās just a drunken beaten down sod who wants to spend his last days as a copper in some dive but oh fuck now he has to fight a dragon and honestly? Fuck this.Ā
The first time we see Granny Weatherwax, sheās just a cranky old woman who has never set foot outside her village but oh fuck now she has to guide this weird girl who should be a witch but is apparently a wizard all the way down to Ankh Morpork and honestly? Fuck this.
Like, these books deal with grumpy, cranky people.Ā But mostly, the early books are a lot of fun. Sure, they have messages about good and evil and the weirdness of the world, and theyāre good messages too, but mostly they are just wacky romps through a world thatās just different enough that we can have a good laugh about it without taking things too much to heart.
But then you get to Small Gods, in which organized religion is eviscerated so thorouhgly that if it was human, even the Quisition would say itās gone a bit too far while at the same time not condemning people having faith which is kind of an important distinction.
You get to Men at Arms and I encourage everybody with an opinion on the Second Amendment to read that one.Ā
You get to Jingo, Monstrous Regiment, Going Postal (featuring an evil CEO who is squeezing his own company dry to get to every last penny, not caring one lick about his product or his workers or his customers or anything else and who, coincidentally, works out of Tump Tower. Iām not making this up).Ā
And just when you think, whew, this is getting a bit much but hey, look, he wrote YA as well! And itās about this cute little girl who wants to be a witch and has help from a lot of rowdy blue little men, this will be fun! A bit of a break from all the anger!
Wrong.Ā
The Tiffany Aching books are the angriest of all. But you know what the great thing is?Ā
The great thing is that Pterryās anger is the kind of fury that makes you want to get up and do something about it. It upsets you, sure. But it also says Itās up to you to change all of this. And you can change all of this, and even if you canāt. Do it anyway. Because magicians have calculated that million-to-one chances crop up nine times out of ten.
Itās the kind of anger that gives you purpose, and it gives you hope. And that concludes my essay about why the Discworld series is so gloriously cathartic to read when it seems like all the world is going to shit.
So go. Read them, get angry and then get up and fight. Fight for truth. Justice. Freedom. Reasonably priced love and, most importantly, a hard-boiled egg.
GNU Terry Pratchett.
first, what they said^
secondā¦. the later books – the latter Tiffany Aching books, Going Postal, Making Money, Snuffā¦ when Pterry was writing those he knew he was ill.
He knew he didnāt have as much time as he wanted or needed.
He knew he was running out of time, and he kept writing anyway, because he still had stories to tell.
And god, Iām glad we had those last books.
āThe great thing is that Pterryās anger is the kind of fury that makes you want to get up and do something about it. It upsets you, sure. But it also says Itās up to you to change all of this. And you can change all of this, and even if you canāt. Do it anyway. Because magicians have calculated that million-to-one chances crop up nine times out of ten.ā
^^ THIS. Especially because he did exactly that in real life. When he was diagnosed with the Embuggerance, he did everything he could to raise awareness, he poured hundreds of thousands of pounds into Alzheimerās charities, and he made documentaries about living with the disease. He gave speeches, radio talks, he met with the prime minister to convince him to put more money into dementia research, he spoke out in support for terminally ill peopleās right to die with dignity. All while continuing to write us these beautiful stories and characters full of that same passion and rage. He was absolutely incredible.
There is a fury to Terry Pratchettās writing: itās the fury that was the engine that powered Discworld. Itās also the anger at the headmaster who would decide that six-year-old Terry Pratchett would never be smart enough for the 11-plus; anger at pompous critics, and at those who think serious is the opposite of funny; anger at his early American publishers who could not bring his books out successfully.
The anger is always there, an engine that drives. By the time Terry learned he had a rare, early onset form of Alzheimerās, the targets of his fury changed: he was angry with his brain and his genetics and, more than these, furious at a country that would not permit him (or others in a similarly intolerable situation) to choose the manner and the time of their passing.
And that anger, it seems to me, is about Terryās underlying sense of what is fair and what is not.
The ringtailĀ cat (Bassariscus astutus) is a mammal of the raccoon family, native to arid, southwestern regions of North America.
Much like the common raccoon, the ringtail cat is omnivorous and nocturnal. It is solitary, except during gestation, when the male will procure food for the female until she gives birth to 2 – 4 cubs.
llustrations showing kings wearing gold crowns, represented by Maymon ā a black bird ā as King of the South; and Egyn ā a black bear-like animal with a short tail ā as King of the 17
These illustrations are from a late 18th century book about magic, the Clavis Inferni sive magia alba et nigra approbata Metratona by M. L. Cyprianus. There is not much information available about the book or author, but the writer of the Res Obscura blog suggests the author might actually be St. Cyprian.
Mr. C just got back from the vetās with both cats a little while ago.
Apparently, Mirrors was lying down totally behind the monitor for a while, but he was too occupied with Feist to get any photos š
(Mirrors probably also wanted well away from his niece, by that point. Not just the overwhelming humans.
As usual, they shared a carrier. I would have thought Feist was running on empty after peeing all over Mr. C when we were trying to get her in there, but apparently not. The towel in the bottom was soaked enough that the vet swapped it out for another one before they left š With both cats stranded in the Cat Piss Sea for a while.
Not too surprised that they have a need for a rolling supply of pet carrier towels, like the box of spare dry pants in my kindergarten class. But, thatās the first time weāve needed to make use of it so far.)
Urocyon's Jaunts 2.0 
You must be logged in to post a comment.