Tag: social media

Paywall X

X, formerly known as Twitter, is looking into the possibility of charging users a small monthly fee to use the service. If this happens it will be the final death blow to the Social Media platform.

Twitter was my favorite Social Media outlet, back when it was young. It had no ads, it no gimmicks, just simple text and some attached images. Plain, simple, useful.

I have written before that I prefer the older forms of Social Media, before it even had a name. Email Groups, Blogs, and Internet Forums.

With these there is control of who sees your posts. Who comments on your posts. And even who is a member of the circle getting the posts. Now, of course, they can be sent on to other places as well.

All of the current Social Media outlets can be replaced. But not with the batch of clones that are out now that are mimicking the current popular platforms. Even now we have multiple Twitter clones out there and all fall short of the original.

Will X survive by charging all members a fee? I don’t think so. Most sites, even news sites, that have paywalls I personally browse away from the moment I hit that wall.

Are Paywalls good to have? It depends. Yes in some cases it is a good measure. In other cases, it is not. And for Social Media. It is a bad idea.

Leftist Lexicon Word of the Week

I would never want to be a White House Press Secretary under any circumstances. First, you have to communicate with members of the press, which is like going to Chuck E Cheese during a big toddler birthday party on a good day (and working that same birthday on a bad day). Second, you might have to address a scandal that involves the President and his/her family.

And then, there’s the third reason: I’d have the same title as the current Press Secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, who makes Jen Psaki look good by comparison. Recently, Jean-Pierre responded to a question about the ongoing legal troubles of Hunter Biden, who I’m lead to believe is related in some way to President Puddin’ Head Joe but I’m waiting until the mainstream media confirms because I’m thorough like that. Apparently, I’m still having to wait since Karine Jean-Pierre referred to Hunter Biden as a “private citizen” and the press hasn’t asked a follow-up question about it.

While we wait on reporters to, you know, do their fucking jobs, let’s talk about private citizens for a bit. Maybe by the time this piece is done, we will be able to confirm the First Crackhead is related to Puddin’ Head Joe.

private citizen

What the Left thinks it means – people who should be kept out of the public spotlight to avoid unnecessary attention

What it really means – how Leftists describe one of their own when he/she/it royally fucks up

The concept of what constitutes a private citizen has been the subject of a lot of good natured debate within First Amendment scholarly circles. And, as is the case with such scholarly debates, nothing’s really come of it except more debate. Fortunately, the law gives us a bit more clarity:

The term “private person” means— (A) any individual who is a citizen or national of the United States; and (B) any corporation, partnership, association, or other legal entity organized or existing under the law of any State, whether for profit or not for profit.

And by “a bit” I mean none at all.

Generally, the rule of thumb is a person who is not well-known would be a private citizen. In short, anybody who still uses Mastodon as a Twitter alternative. Once that person gets a bit of fame or infamy, the protections afforded a private citizen get worn away. Still, even someone well-known in Monkey’s Ass, Wyoming, would not be as well-known in New York City, so venue matters.

Or it used to. Thanks 24/7 news and social media.

Then, there are celebrities. In exchange for fame, fortune, and the occasional appearance on talk shows, they give up expectations of privacy for as long as they’re in the public consciousness. Some, like Dustin “Screech” Diamond, never quite escape. Others, like Dustin “Screech” Diamond’s stunt double, reclaim their privacy by giving up their celebrity.

The thing about celebrity, though, is it can be extended to members of their families. The children of politicians fall into this category, especially if they fuck up in such a way it makes the news. Ask the Bush Twins about that after their underage drinking fiasco. That means, Hunter Biden, if he truly is the offspring of Puddin’ Head Joe, would not qualify as a private citizen.

Wait…nope. Still no mainstream media confirmation of that yet. But hope springs eternal.

So, why would Karine Jean-Pierre lie to us about Hunter Biden being a private citizen? I mean, aside from it’s her job to unconvincingly lie to the White House Press Lapdogs…I mean Corps. The short answer is because she can get away with it. The politically obvious reasons are, well, Hunter Biden is a crackhead embarrassment that makes his dad look even worse than he already does, thus handing Republicans an easier win than any woman against a Leftist man in an arm wrestling contest. The more people connect Hunter to Joe, the harder it is for Hunter to be considered a private citizen.

At its face, the idea is absurd. But these are Leftists we’re dealing with here, so it’s not surprising. The Left wants you to believe Hunter Biden, who has a well-documented history of being a shitty person, somehow isn’t famous enough to be covered as a news story, hence he’s a private citizen. Yet, his art that sells for $500,000 a flop…I mean pop gets people all over the world to buy it, so he logically can’t be a private citizen because he’s known worldwide.

This is why I don’t recommend trying to make sense of Leftist logic without hard liquor.

Now, it’s nice to know Leftists care about protecting private citizens from undue attention. If only they weren’t fucking hypocrites on the subject when it suits their needs. If you’re a Colorado baker who happens to be Christian and refused to bend over (figuratively and literally) to a same-sex couple, you get put on blast so everyone knows how much of an evil no-good right wing homophobe bigot Hitler wannabe you are. If you’re a member of ANTIFA who gets caught on video attacking someone with a bike chain, the Left will go out of their way to hide that information.

Hmmm…if only there were indicators of when the Left will flip-flop on what constitutes a private citizen…oh, wait, there is! They always flip-flop like John Kerry cooking at a beachfront IHOP working straight commission.

As unsurprising as the Left’s duplicity regarding private citizens is, the scary thing is it may be too late to protect private citizens, actual and hypothetical, due to the advent of social media. Any dick with a cell phone can film you doing something horrible (or at least make it look like you did something horrible), post it online, and make you famous before you can say “YouTube Shorts.” Then, you are known as Fat Guy Yells At Burger King Employee While His Shorts Fall Down forever and you have to delete your online presence and start blogging under the name of Thomas…

I’ve said too much.

Anyway, with privacy going the way of anyone not fawning over the Barbie movie, we need to get on the stick to address how this impacts private citizens. Unfortunately, we’re lightyears behind and no one else is thinking about this issue because there’s a Barbie movie, you guys! That, and the fact more people want to be seen on social media like TikTok, so they’re willing to trade their status as private citizens for fame, no matter how temporary it is.

Yep. We’re fucked.

Until such time as society decides to give up on being famous, it’s up to us to keep the idea of a private citizen alive. That means keeping your head down, being aware of your surroundings and the people in it, and not drawing attention to yourselves. Live your life as much off the grid as possible, or if that’s not possible, be smart with what you share. Yes, this will make you massively unhip to the rest of the world, but when you consider what is considered cool these days, it’s no big loss.

On a larger scale, we have to recognize what a private citizen is and why Hunter Biden isn’t one. No matter how the Left tries to spin it, this situation is like a Lindsey Lohan drug story, only with shittier art. And considering Lohan’s acting career, that’s saying a lot!

This just in! Still no mainstream media confirmation Hunter and Puddin’ Head Joe are related. Like the number of licks it takes to get to the Tootsie Roll center of a Tootsie Pop, the world may never know.





Discord vs IRC

I’ve written about a few of these topics in the past and I’m sure they will be revisited again in the future. In our modern world connected as we are through the technology of the internet. There is still a need for text only based real time chatting between 2 or more people.

Text only based chatting has many advantages over both voice or video methods of communication. Far less bandwidth is needed is the biggest advantage. It can work on even the worst internet connections and the slowest of PCs.

In the days of Dial-up internet, were AOL was the king of providers, they had a multitude of chatrooms for many topics and communities across their membership. And outside of AOL and accessible to it, and all other providers were the many servers and networks of Internet Relay Chat (IRC).

During the height of IRC’s popularity it had over a million users signed in across the multitude of networks and servers. Today, with the rise of Social Media, this number has been reduced to a quarter of what it once was.

A vast majority of IRC users are now found on the Discord service. It has a number of similarities to IRC that allows users to feel “at home” there. However there are a lot of differences too between the 2 platforms.

Here are some of the similarities and differences:

Discord has a native “pretty” interface. Granted IRC does not but it’s totally depends on which IRC client one uses to access IRC.

Discard has audio and visual communications options. IRC does not have these functions at all. They are left to other services to provide them.

Discord has Avatars and Profiles. Although IRC at its base level does not. There are IRC clients that provide similar functions.

Both services have bots running on them in multiple channels performing a multitude of various tasks.

Discord requires registration in order to use it. IRC does not require registration, but many networks and servers have registration available and it’s recommended.

Discord has the ability to create channel threads. Topics that filter out of the main channel discussion into a sub-channel without leaving the channel. IRC does not have this unique ability. In IRC one would have to chat privately or form a separate channel with the smaller number of users.

Both services off the ability to chat privately between users.

IRC is independent. There are networks and stand alone servers. Each one is unique. Discord “servers” are all part of Discord and ran on the same equipment as all others.

This one fact can lead to a single point of failure for Discord. If the Discord service goes down. All of the Discord “servers” are done. Not true at all with IRC since each server and network are independent of one another.

And with the independence, IRC is individually owned. Where as Discord is corporately owned and could change any aspect of its service with a board member vote. Including making the entire service a paid service.

On Discord you can @mention another user of the “server” you are connected to and they would be notified of the mention. IRC doesn’t have this as a built-in function. However, like other functions that are built-in to Discord, many IRC clients have similar functions.

On Discord, if you join a “server”, you are automatically in all the channels save for ones that are role restricted which can cause unwanted notifications of chats. One IRC when you connect to a server you only join the channels you want to join or none at all.

With IRC, anyone can create a new channel just by joining it. And that person gets admin rights in that channel automatically. If there is registration available and the user desires they can register the channel and make it permanent. But on Discord, only Admins can create new channels. It’s the same role given to create, destroy, or modify any channel so it’s not given out to everyone.

Discord has a history feature. Once you join a “server” and are in the channels you can infinitely scroll up to see what was previously said in that channel by anyone. On IRC, there is a +H mode that can be set on some servers or networks that allow a similar functionality but it’s usually not infinite.

Discord admins have the ability to delete chats in a channel. IRC doesn’t have this ability. Once the chat is there it’s there. But new users generally wont see it because of the lack of history available.

Bots are on both services as previously mentioned. And bots are very handy to have to provide functions and features that aren’t part of the system. With Discord, you have to have Dev permissions to create a bot. And that bot cannot run on a regular member’s account. Doing so would get the bot and user banned from Discord. On IRC however, there are a variety of scripting options available. Some are based on the client program use to connect to IRC and others are dependent on the bot being used. And you can run scripts from your own client as well.

This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to comparing IRC and Discord. Just looking at this list the favor leans towards IRC over Discord despite some of its unique features. Many Discord features can be duplicated or simulated in IRC with a bit of scripting or simple options enabled on one’s client program.

I will always be an IRC enthusiast. After all I have ran my own IRC network/server for 25 years. And in this day and age of cancel culture, the freedom of an IRC server is just what is needed.

I am sad to say that I have lost a few IRC channels to Discord. And looking at those Discord “servers” I could have over a 1000 users on my IRC network if they stayed or came back.

But if you are looking for a place to have an online real-time text based chat. I’m happy to help you get setup on IRC. You can connect via a browser at https://web.communiti.chat or point you favorite IRC client program to irc.commuinit.chat and get setup to go.

Leftist Lexicon Word of the Week

Leftists tend to freak out about things they don’t like because, well, they’re Leftists. This week’s freakout is courtesy of their favorites and ours, former President Donald Trump. See, Trump is running for President in 2024 and CNN…gave him airtime for a town hall meeting.

I know! I was shocked that a cable news network would spend time talking to a famous political figure in an attempt to get ratings!

Although Leftist freakouts are as common as bad pop music songs right now, Leftists are just as predictable with their responses: hashtag activism. For a short time, Leftists on Twitter got #BoycottCNN trending which is…something, I guess? What is a bit more certain is I’m going to mock the hell out of it!

#BoycottCNN

What the Left thinks it means – a response to CNN allowing Donald Trump airtime to spread his hateful message

What it really means – a lame response to CNN allowing Donald Trump airtime to promote his Presidential campaign

First, a bit of background. A long time ago, CNN was the place to go on cable to get news, mainly because it was the only place to go on cable to get news. For the most part, they played it straight down the line, but over time CNN became the source for many a Leftist squawking point, thanks to the Commander in Briefs, Bill Clinton. Seems more than a few of the staff were more in the tank for him than Michael Dukakis. (And if you got that reference, I’m eternally grateful.)

From there, CNN’s descent into Leftist madness (but I repeat myself) got more pronounced. And once other cable news networks like Fox News and MSNBC got involved, it was only a matter of time before the only name in the cable news game became an afterthought, as the ratings showed. It got so bad at one point that reruns of Yogi Bear beat CNN in the ratings.

A change was needed, so CNN tried to go hard against Trump in an attempt to suck off some of MSNBC’s viewership. One tiny problem: Leftists really don’t like CNN because they’re not Leftist enough. After all, they…allowed conservatives an opportunity to speak! Oh, the horror! And with MSNBC being batshit crazy enough for Leftists, CNN didn’t stand a chance.

Enter Chris Licht, who became the new boss at CNN in 2022. He decided to take a different approach, one that was unheard of a few years prior: reporting actual news. This got him branded as someone who wanted to make CNN more centrist (i.e. to the right of Stalin), which Leftists simply can’t abide because…reasons! Leftists even went so far as to call CNN “Fox News Lite” because of the move.

Let’s just say the ratings haven’t been going in the right direction yet. The reason is simple: CNN pissed off too many people. The Right won’t tune in because of the decades of carrying water for the Left, and the Left won’t tune in because they have MSNBC to parrot their squawking points without even the slightest deviation. No matter what Licht does, it’s never going to be enough.

But that’s not the issue at hand.

The Leftist response to CNN doing what it’s done for other Presidential candidates (albeit with less than stellar results) is par for the course at worst. But the Twitter temper tantrum behind #BoycottCNN is a new level of Leftist impotence and idiocy. First off, didn’t Leftists on social media try to #BoycottTwitter? Yes, yes, they did. And it worked as well as you might expect: not at all. So, they go on Twitter to pass around the hashtag!

That’s what the kids like to call a self own.

Then, there’s the “me too” aspect of this hashtag. (Not to be confused with #MeToo, which is a completely different Leftist shitshow.) As many Twitter Leftists were so quick to point out, they were already boycotting CNN, as though it were a badge of honor. At this point, boycotting CNN is like boycotting “The Golden Girls” (although I am still involved in a letter-writing campaign about Estelle Getty): it’s pretty much a moot point. They’re already swirling the drain, so losing tens of tens of viewers isn’t going to change that. Piling on, even virtually, is pointless.

But then again, pointless actions are what the Left specialize in. See also: #MeToo.

The part that really tickles me is how the Left reacted to the shift in CNN’s approach to news. When you really think about it (and I do because I need something to do while I browse Twitter), the Left is upset a news organization is moving away from propaganda and more towards actual reporting of facts…but the Left says their favorite cable news shows are already doing actual reporting…so…

Yeah. I got nothing.

I take that back. I actually got something here, and it’s all about controlling the narrative. The Left cannot abide not being in control of the flow of information, and with both Twitter and CNN moving more towards the right as a means to even the playing field, the Left fear they’re losing control of the ability to shape what people think. Which they are, mainly because they don’t understand people in general. And business. And success. And long term thinking. And…well, you get the idea.

But as with so many hashtags, the #BoycottCNN shelf-life will be thankfully short, and the damage will be minimal. Yet, the Left overplayed its hand with the boycott because it gives us an insight into how the operate and why they reacted the way they did. That gives us ammunition to use in the future while also putting their objections into context.

In the end, though, CNN is going to become a casualty in the cable news wars by its own hand. They believed in their own invincibility and didn’t plan for a future where a test pattern could draw better numbers than their prime time shows. CNN burned up a lot of its early credibility worse than Mrs. O’Leary’s cow, but if they’re truly serious about getting back to hard news without as much spin, I wish them all the best. It’s the harder and longer road, but it will bring the best outcome possible.

Plus, it’ll piss off Leftists, which is always entertaining.




My Commencement Address – 2023 Edition

Yep, it’s that time of year again, and once again nobody has reached out to me to give a commencement address. Not a college (barber or clown), not a university (Hamburger), not a community college, high school, junior high, or even kindergarten. I almost had a speaking gig at a preschool graduation, but they pulled out after getting a copy of my speech. Who knew there would be so much outrage at the use of the word “motherfucker”?

So, I offer the following speech that will once again go unheard because of reasons I really don’t quite understand. Here goes!

Hello, Class of 2023!

It is a pleasure to be attending your graduation from [insert name of school] and to provide you with some helpful and inspiring words as you enter the next stage of your young lives. Unless, of course, you’re a late bloomer and took a while to graduate because you have an idea of what the “Real World” has to offer.

If you fit into this category, don’t spoil the ending, okay? Let it be a fun surprise.

Anyway, here’s the helpful part of the speech. Get the fuck off your phones! Seriously, turn them off. Especially if you’re on them right now to Tweet about how lame a speech I’m giving. First off, it’s rude to ignore a speaker for personal reasons. If you want to tell me how lame my speech is, wait until after the speech to tell me in person. Preferably after I’ve cashed the check.

Second, you’re missing out on the best part of life, which is not to get a TikTok video to go viral. After COVID, we should avoid having anything go viral. Know what I’m saying? The point is life is full of beauty if you’re paying attention. And, no, a selfie of you with a sunrise in the background isn’t the same as being there at sunrise just living, breathing, vaping.

Okay, so that last one is optional.

That phone in your hand puts you in touch with the world, but it also distracts you from it. That, and the advent of narcissism so rampant in society today, makes us all virtual and actual assholes. Maybe you missed this during your studies while sending an Instagram post about how awesome some flash-in-the-pan pseudocelebrity is, but society requires at least some recognition that other people exist.

I know. It shocked me too.

And here’s another shock for you. Other people might not think as highly of you as you think of yourself. That’s right, kids. People might just have…different opinions! And with those different opinions come a choice: accept the differences and find ways to connect, or be a miserable overbearing motherfucker.

Guess which one I think you’re going to pick.

Now, guess which one I hope you’re going to pick.

Here’s a hint. The two answers should not be the same.

After over 50 years on this rock we call Planet Earth, I’ve seen humanity make a turn for the worst. The fact we have “Karens” roaming about free should be enough evidence of that. And this kind of shit is going to continue unless we stop thinking of ourselves as the center of the universe.

And that means, yes, getting off your fucking phones.

The way to make human connections is to get away from the inhuman connections technology has made. Life is full of great little moments that occur between humans unfettered by ideology or technology or whatever other ology you want to apply here.

Like love. Not the media version of love, mind you, but actual “ride or die” love. As shocking as it may be to you, I am a happily married man, but I wouldn’t be if I hadn’t decided to open my mind and heart to a woman who is my polar opposite in so many ways. We’ve learned an important lesson that I will pass along to you: you don’t have to be disagreeable to disagree. We have yet to have a real fight in almost 10 years of marriage. Have we had angry or emotional exchanges? Absolutely. Have we had low points in our marriage? Yep! Are we still together in spite of our differences?

Let me check with my wife first.

Kidding! We are still together…unless you know something I don’t.

Either way, we make it work because we respect each other’s opinions even if we don’t agree. And if a big oaf like me can do it, I’m reasonably sure that at least 20-30% of you can.

Provided, of course, you…get the fuck off your phone.

Inspired yet? If not, well…I got nothing.

Thanks for having me!

Leftist Lexicon Word of the Week

For all the shit I give Twitter on here, I do have to admit it does have some good points. Like, the fact the level of entertainment I get laughing at the sheer batshittery without having to pay a dime for it. But it’s also good for seeing the lifespan of Leftist outrage over a relatively minor thing.

Like a blue checkmark.

Since Elon Musk took over Twitter, he’s pissed off Leftists by…treating people equally. And the Left just can’t handle that because prior to Musk, Twitter was their playground. So, instead of adopting to the new environment, they went to Twitter to bitch about it. And now, they’re taking additional steps: they’re blocking anyone with a blue checkmark, a Twitter hashtag called #blocktheblue.

And, yes, it’s just as dumb as you thing.

#blocktheblue

What the Left thinks it means – a way to separate the paid Twitter shills from the real users

What it means – an insight into Leftist self-importance and hypocrisy

One aspect of Leftist identity is the belief they are the elite, the creme de la creme of society. As a result, they do everything they can to hobnob with other Leftists (except for anyone who isn’t white, rich, and unapologetically narcissistic because you just can’t let everyone into these circles). This included Twitter.

That’s where the blue checkmarks come into play. In the pre-Musk Twitter days, a blue checkmark became a symbol of superiority, mainly because of Leftists making it one. Of course, Twitter denied this colorful combination of pixels meant anything of the sort (because they were in on it the whole time), but just seeing what the internal drones were doing (thanks #TwitterFiles), we know it was bullshit.

Then, some high-profile Twitter users (think valedictorian of clown college) decided to push back against Musk by pushing followers to block anybody with a Twitter Blue account. This movement kicked into high gear recently after Musk removed legacy blue checkmarks to those who didn’t pay the oppressive $8 to get a blue checkmark.

It’s at this point I should point out you don’t need to pay $8 to use Twitter, just to get the verified blue checkmark.

See? I told you it was as stupid as you think. But wait, it gets better!

Since anyone can pay $8 for a verified blue checkmark, Leftists are doing the completely rational thing and assuming everyone with a blue checkmark is a bot or a fraud of some sort. And, as we know, Leftists hate competition. It got to the point people with blue checkmarks felt the need to tell their fans that they didn’t pay $8 for the checkmark, as though they would get kicked out of Leftist social circles if they didn’t.

Now, I’m sure the Leftist elites who are bitching the loudest over this could afford the $8, so it’s not a monetary issue. And it’s not an integrity issue, either, because none of these assholes would know integrity if it came up with them with a name tag, introduced itself, kept referring to its name throughout the conversation, left them a business card, and called them once a week to catch up.

What it comes down to is a loss of exclusivity for Leftists. And they’re handling it badly, or in other words like they handle just about everything. Because they no longer feel special, they throw an online temper tantrum…on the platform they despise.

To any Leftists who are reading this and see themselves in my description, that’s called getting owned.

Sure, the Left has social media alternatives, but they’re not taking them because there’s a reason they’re alternatives: because Twitter is basically the lead dog. That creates the Kobayashi Maru of social media. Either they stay on Twitter where they can be visible and hypocritical, or they can go to another social media site where they are principled, but yelling into the void where only 3 people might engage if only to nod in partisan agreement.

Of course, Musk might just pay the $8 for some of these Leftists, like he did for Stephen King, just so they can enjoy Twitter Blue. Or to troll them as only he can. You know, whichever. Which will cause them to lose their collectivist minds and have to issue more and more apologies to their Leftist allies and explain they didn’t actually pay for Twitter Blue, which will make some of their allies doubt their Leftist bonafides and…well, let’s just say you can spend your $8 on a lot of popcorn because this cycle of dumbfuckery is perpetual. And entertaining!

Granted, this isn’t a major issues on the scale of the Russia/Ukraine War, the border issue, or why anyone decided to green-light a second season of “Velma,” but sometimes these seemingly insignificant issues give the clearest view of the Leftist mindset. And #BlocktheBlue is the kind of issue that puts the Left’s mindset on full blast.

Of course, the Left is overlooking the most obvious solution to the current environment they see on Twitter: log off. It’s fucking Twitter! You have a life away from social media, so go do something! It’s not like you’re being productive members of society by being melded to your phones posting hashtags standing up against racism, sexism, or the ism-of-the-day. Trust me, you’re not missing anything by not being on Twitter 25/8. And if your entire existence is tied to social media, it’s as vapid and empty as, well, most Twitter posts.

To paraphrase a famous saying from the 60s, log off, put down, and go out.

The Unimproved Twitter

Twitter. Even when the Left owned it, it was my favorite Social Media platform. I think because it wasn’t full of ads (originally), games, and other nonsense that is found is most other Social Media platforms.

Twitter was, and still is, a micro-blogging site. And I like blogs. They are plain and simple and good to use to express your views and opinions. You are reading one of my blogs right now.

Since Elon Musk has become the owner of Twitter. I’ve come back to it more. Only to find some rather annoying changes and a few pleasant surprises as well.

I wanted to add a Twitter feed to a website. The usual procedure is to create an app or possibly just give an app permission to access the specific Twitter feed. And the app I was using believed the same thing. This ended up being a terrible dark rabbit hole.

You needed to get a Dev account now just to create a simple Twitter bot to read a feed and post it to another website. And the approval isn’t automatic. Were in the past you could easily just be auto approved to create any bot on the platform. It was very frustrating to say the least.

And of course it turned out to not be necessary. A pleasant surprise after the fact and some digging around. The process is fairly simple now to have a Twitter feed post someplace else. But apparently no one has been informed of this change.

I do have multiple Twitter accounts. I think I may have one even for this blog. I liked using TweetDeck. Because I could see multiple accounts at once and post to all or any specific combination when making new posts to Twitter. But it’s been changed.

The old TweetDeck is now “classic” TweetDeck. And although it is currently accessible still. It may not stay that way. I just don’t like the new version of the application. It’s not very friendly. I’ve never understood why people like to fix things that aren’t broken.

The management and censorship of Twitter was broken. The platform itself was not. Leave it alone Elon and just fix what was broken.

No Red Wave

Why the Republicans are losing elections. It’s very simple, the party is full of techno-phobic people.

In a nation of 350 million people. The Republican Party pushes for paper ballots and hand counting of votes. And the Leftist controlled Democratic Party is only happy to help keep this antiquated system going. Because it makes it very easy to cheat and inject fake ballots.

This is not the only place that the Republican Party rejects technology. This is also very evident in Social Media as well. Instead of embracing this 21st century communications tool. They ignored it and allowed the Left to embrace and then control it. And now complain about that control.

And what does the Republican Party do instead? They have bus tours for candidates. Does anyone even go to these? Certainly not the younger voters. Social Media is where they can be found and that only has the message from the Left.

Thus, there was no red wave in the 2022 elections. They message never went beyond the choir that was singing it.

Leftist Lexicon Word of the Week

Now that the midterm elections are over…mostly, we can now turn our attentions back to one of the most important issues of the modern world.

Blue checkmarks on Twitter.

Since Elon Musk took over Twitter, Leftists have been losing their hivemind adjusting to the new boss not being the same as the old boss. From wanting to layoff 75% of the workforce (a good start) to suspending Kathy Griffin’s account for impersonating Musk in spite of requests to not do it (an excellent middle), the straw that broke the camel’s back was Musk introducing a fee to get a blue checkmark. The original suggested price for this was $20, but after interacting with horror author and general fuckwit Stephen King, Musk dropped it down to $8.

You would have thought you voted for Donald Trump the way the Left reacted. Even our favorite Congresscritter the Socialist Socialite got involved, sending multiple tweets about issues ranging from technical issues she blamed on Musk (that were later proven to be user error) to Twitter no longer being a good platform to talk to actual journalists and politicians to the irony of having to pay $8 for free speech (which is not only not ironic, but also not accurate).

All of this over a stupid blue checkmark.

But, as you might expect, there’s a lot more under the surface driving the Left’s outrage.

Twitter blue checkmark

What the Left thinks it means – a vital tool to combating impersonation and ensuring people know they’re getting information directly from the source

What it really means – a status symbol that was abused by those wanting to control the flow of information and who was seen as credible

It’s said the road to Hell is paved with good intentions, and the same applies to the information superhighway. What Twitter attempted to do was to curtail the number of people impersonating famous people, which isn’t bad in and of itself. As with tools or Congresscritters (but I repeat myself), it’s all in how they’re used that determine the ultimate outcome.

In the case of the blue checkmark, the tool became used to separate the valued from the unwashed masses, the elite from the normies, and the credible from the Weekly World News-esque information brokers. Now, if the process to getting one was the same across the board, it wouldn’t be an issue. However, pre-Musk Twitter made it an issue. Although official Twitter guidelines state there are no minimum membership requirements, they have a number of requirements that have to be met to be considered for verification.

Such as being famous.

And people wonder why I think Twitter is the Hannah Gadsby of social media: painfully unfunny, yet mind-bogglingly popular with certain parts of the population.

Let’s call the pre-Musk blue checkmark what it was: a participation trophy for people whose actual accomplishments make me look like, well, Elon Musk. The fact it got handed out to users in a scattershot manner (with many Leftists getting the checkmark without fail) made it valuable, but only to those looking for clout. Try paying your mortgage with a blue checkmark sometime. I’m gonna go out on a limb and say it doesn’t end well unless you enjoy living in your car.

The best part about it? You could get your verification removed for any reasons without prior warning. And who got to decide that? Why, Twitter employees who lean so far Left they’re parallel to the ground. That’s how Leftists like Tara Dublin (aka the woman who flipped off a Trump supporter, called him names, and attempted to play the victim) has a verified account, but so many Right-leaning people or even neutral people have to jump through flaming hoops just to get denied.

By the way, I’m going to have to ask for hazard pay for looking at Dublin’s Twitter account. I think $10 will cover it because, well, ten bucks is ten bucks, eh.

Now that everybody with $8 can get verified, the Leftist elites aren’t so elite anymore, which pisses them off to no end. Before Musk got involved, they had free reign to do what they wanted without repercussions, even if their actions went against Twitter’s Terms of Service. But that’s what made Twitter the social media Love Canal that it was. Even a slight correction to remove the toxicity is enough for Leftists to lose their shit. Fortunately for them, there’s plenty more on the streets of San Francisco.

What is that saying Leftists always bring up these days? Something about equality feeling like oppression to a certain group…

Oh, well. I’m sure there’s no other current event where this is being proven in a way the Left didn’t expect.

Of course, the best part about this is Twitter sued Musk so his offer to buy Twitter would go through. And Leftists openly pushed for this to happen, citing legal precedent. To paraphrase a famous line from “Pawn Stars,” congratulations, Leftists. You just fucked yourselves sideways with a rototiller.

The reason for the current outrage goes beyond the Left losing a meaningless status. Instead, it goes straight to a loss of power and the potential for Big Tech comeuppance, which will further erode the Left’s power within the tech industry. If Musk is even remotely successful in turning Twitter around and being profitable doing it, there will be a seismic shift in how Big Tech does business. After all, you can’t base a successful business model around people not known for being gainfully employed. Just ask Air America…oh, wait…

The $8 for a blue checkmark stings in another way. Back in the day when conservatives would complain about Twitter unfairly applying the TOS, Leftists would respond with, “Twitter is a private company and can set whatever rules they want.” Which is true, but a piss-poor justification for one-sided enforcement of rules. Now, they’re not so keen on the idea Twitter can do what it wants because it’s a private company. Instead, they want to be special and hold it over everyone else’s head, but Musk isn’t having it.

Now that the salt’s been poured in the wound, would you like some tequila and a lime to go along with it?

I’ve never had a Twitter account (mainly because there are too many twits on it), and I still don’t intend to get one because I don’t see the need to get into a social media dick measuring contest with people I wouldn’t let in my house, let alone my Twitter space. But I have seen this very scenario play out before, so I know how it ends.

Back in the day, America Online was the hot spot for anybody who was anybody. And, yes, it had a problem with biased enforcement of the Terms of Service, mainly in favor of Leftists who could impersonate other chatters, swear, lie, post private information of others, and generally be assholes. Not only was I the victim of such Leftist asshattery, but for a time I was a member of the enforcement arm, monitoring a political chatroom for anyone who violated the rules. While I did my best to be fair (and judging from the number of times Leftists and Rightists complained about my performance, I think I was), others weren’t so honest.

Soon, AOL’s chatrooms, particularly the political ones, were nuclear wastelands without the charm. Instead of nipping the clear bias problems in the bud, the powers that be decided to let it slide. And it slid…right off the edge of a cliff. Now, AOL is regarded in the same way CompuServe was regarded back when AOL was popular. Is it because of the bias? Maybe, but it’s definitely more due to bad management of which biased TOS enforcement is a part.

Pre-Musk Twitter was going down the same road AOL did, right down to the impending irrelevancy. With other social media sites like TikTok and Instagram coming onto the scene, Twitter’s popularity among younger generations has been dropping like Kanye West’s corporate sponsors. Any businessman or woman worth his/her salt could see this and try to make changes as a means to preserve the platform.

And that meant ripping the bandage off the gaping chest wound and addressing the problems without considering Leftist fee-fees, or at least asking they pay fee-fees for their electronic superiority complex. And if they don’t…Twitter is still free to use, just like it is for everyone else who doesn’t feel the need to spend $8. It’s not the end of the world, free flow of information, free speech, access to journalists and celebrities, and everything the Left wants us to believe is coming due to the proposed changes to the Twitter blue checkmark program. Ultimately, it’s Leftists getting pissed off because their blue checkmark doesn’t make them special anymore. It just means they are dumb or egotistical enough to pay to get their Tweets about politics, news, and selfies noticed.

In short, they want to feel like celebrities without the body of work to support it. (Hey, it worked for Paris Hilton!)

I welcome the changes Elon Musk will be making to Twitter down the road, if only to see Leftists’ heads explode. And if the blue checkmark changes are any indication, smart investors will go in heavy on tarps, ponchos, and rubber boots very, very soon.






Leftist Lexicon Word of the Week

When you think about it (and I have because I don’t have a life), the Internet is a once-in-a-lifetime invention, and it has radically changed the way the world does things. Sorry, Paul Krugman.

Among the many elements of modern life affected by Al Gore’s invention, the way we communicate has changed. Not only do we have the ability to send images and videos around the world (which is useful to the Internet porn industry…not that I know anything about that, mind you), but it’s created a culture where its users share aspects of their lives, whether it be major events or the BLT you had for lunch.

And, as with anything that gets shared, some people aren’t going to like what is being shared. Enter one of the relatively new players in global Internet culture, LibsOfTikTok. Within the past few weeks, this one Internet account has been linked to anti-gay, anti-trans, and pro-Russia sentiments according to the Left. Are they right…errr correct? Let’s find out!

LibsOfTikTok

What the Left thinks it means – a dangerous Internet presence that has become a new weapon against the Left

What it really means – a dangerous Internet account to the Left because it exposes them and what they believe when they think no one is watching

Politicians in general, but Leftists especially, operate in secrecy as much as they can to prevent others from finding out how the ideological sausage is made. Before the advent of the Internet, it was a lot easier to show a public face and a private face. To her credit, Hillary Clinton is a master of this, and Leftists justify it no matter how dishonest it makes her look.

With the Internet and the way it’s affected how we interact with each other, it’s a lot more difficult because there are cameras everywhere (and I’m not just talking about the NSA’s cameras, either). All it takes is someone with a cell phone and an opportunity and a politician can look like the two-faced rat bastard he or she truly is.

But that same principle applies to other non-political figures, like public school teachers. With Leftists dominating the education system like the Harlem Globetrotters dominate the Washington Generals, the classroom has become the new ideological battleground where they have the high ground, the low ground, the middle ground, and pretty much any ground that isn’t already owned by the federal government. With that nigh-uniformity comes a sense of invincibility, which leads to a level of confidence and comfort that only the best hugboxes provide.

But I’m sure oversharing online while feeling untouchable would never end badly, right?

Enter Chaya Raichik, former real estate professional and current Leftist boogieman…errrr boogiewoman…errr boogieperson? Fuck it! We’re going with boogieman just to piss off the Left even more than they already are. Raichik started sharing videos Leftists made and put on social media willingly, but would make them look like raging assholes to anyone outside the Leftist hivemind. Whether it was teachers attempting to indoctrinate students to be more accepting of gay and trans people (a decent enough goal, but one that the parents should at least be in on) or quoting what hospital employees say about giving “gender affirming” medical procedures to children, she kicked a hornets’ nest, leaving Leftists to spin events so much the estate of Enrico Fermi is consulting lawyers to see what their legal options are.

With the Leftist dominance of social media, it wasn’t too long before platforms started to a) be filled with Leftist outrage over being exposed as creeps, and b) find ways to try to limit access to Raichik’s accounts. Why, it’s almost as though they had something to hide…

Missing in all of the outrage is a bit of perspective. Well, that, and self-respect, shame, and common sense, but you get the picture. Raichik wasn’t posting videos edited in a way to make the subjects look bad. She left that to the mainstream media since they’ve had much more experience. All she did was find the videos and post them.

And, not to put too fine a point on this, these videos Raichik posted were put up by the people themselves. Voluntarily. As in they made a conscious decision to post these videos. All she did was expand the reach through circulating them (and providing commentary at times so no one could doubt where she stood on the shit being posted).

For that, LibsofTikTok became public enemy number one with Leftists. Although they’ve succeeded in getting her social media accounts on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram suspended, usually it’s been temporary. (Funny how these things seem to happen to conservatives primarily…oh, well. I’m sure it’s just a coincidence.) This, of course, pisses off Leftists to no end. How can they attempt to subvert America with everybody pulling up a lawn chair and watching?

If there’s anyone who can identify closely with what Raichik is going through it’s James O’Keefe of Project Veritas. O’Keefe has suffered the slings and arrows of outrageous Leftist propaganda for doing what LibsofTikTok is doing. Granted, O’Keefe has shot himself in the foot a couple of times, which helps the Left paint him as untrustworthy, but far more often than not he has the goods. That makes him effective, which is why the Left have to try to destroy him however they can.

Thus, we have the gameplan going forward with LibsofTikTok. The thing that LibsofTikTok has in her favor, though, is the current state of communication these days. The Internet is the ultimate grapevine where you can hear gossip, news, and people complaining about gossip and news. While the Left holds onto social media tighter than Al Gore’s asshole, people of like minds still have a way to make their thoughts known using the very tools the Left controls. Email is still a thing, too, but it’s supplemented by YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and any number of means. Hell, even TikTok is reaching people. After all, there wouldn’t be a LibsofTikTok account without there being a TikTok to begin with. Now if only I could get my LibsofAmericaOnLine idea off the ground…

Regardless of how you feel about the person behind the account, it’s pretty fucked up to go after a person for posting what other people say online, and it’s being done with the express purpose of silencing dissent. I guess dissent is only patriotic when the Left is out of power. And to make matters worse, these folks are playing the victim when they advocate for bizarre and potentially deviant behavior and get caught. So, it’s okay to suggest adult/child sex isn’t wrong, but don’t you dare call attention to it because…reasons?

It would be a stretch to call what LibsofTikTok does as investigative journalism, mainly because I wouldn’t want to taint her with the connection to journalism right now. But the spirit is still there, and just like in the days when reporters would track down a story and be relentless in finding the truth, the powerful want to silence her. Ironically, it’s the nature of social media that makes those silencing attempts not only futile, but amplified to the point of saturation. And far be of me to disagree with the opinions of the journalistic giant that is Vice, but LibsofTikTok isn’t a threat to anyone except Leftists who want to keep their deeds kept undercover.

However, I have an idea that will get the Left to either bugger off or make their heads explode (so, a win-win). Just say LibsofTikTok identifies as Media Matters.