Riding to Hell in a Handbasket

We're all going to Hell... might as well enjoy the ride...

[saywhat-politics]

'It's kind of a Jesus Christ thing': Report says Trump refused offer to be quietly arraigned over Zoom

'It's kind of a Jesus Christ thing': Report says Trump refused offer to be quietly arraigned over Zoom

Former President Donald Trump turned down the chance to have a low-key arraignment over Zoom, instead preferring a high-profile booking he hopes will fire up his supporters, Rolling Stone reported Monday.

Sources told the magazine Trump refused the offers of a quiet surrender and demanded a midday, in-person appearance..

“He wanted a perp walk, he wanted daylight hours,” a law enforcement official in on the security planning official told Rolling Stone. “He wants to get out of the vehicle and walk up the stairs. This is a nightmare for Secret Service, but they can only strongly suggest — not order — that Trump enter through the secure tunnels.

"Trump wants to greet the crowd. This should be a surprise to no one — especially not his detail."

“It’s kind of a Jesus Christ thing. He is saying ‘I’m absorbing all this pain from all around from everywhere so you don’t have to,’ ” a source close to the legal team said.

Trump hopes to continue to promote his message, “‘If they can do this to me they can do this to you,’ and that’s a powerful message," the source said.

[wilwheaton]

Fascist psychopath with a god complex. Neat.

[ridingtohellinahandbasket]

Surprising very few, actually.

[ridingtohellinahandbasket]

I just did a fart so long, the bitch had chapters.

[wilwheaton]

“So. Point one. Americans are now experiencing the bitter, brutal reality of authoritarian collapse. Point two, that needs to called what it is, or else, Big Lies win, and self-deceit pervades a society, which is how collapse hardens and curdles. The first two points can also be thought of as Big Lies. Big Lie number one: both sides are equal, and so this is just politics as usual. Sorry, do you see our side trying to…inspect anyone’s genitals? Take anyone’s rights away? Didn’t think so. Big Lie number two: it’s just something innocuous, temporary, over-your-head, like “minority rule.” Not the very thing we read about in great books, which not coincidentally, are what they’re trying to ban — authoritarianism. That brings me to Big Lie number three. “America’s a divided country.” LOL. Are you kidding me? The vast, vast majority of Americans agree. On every single issue the GOP is now trying to push down their throats, and suffocate them with the antithesis of. Supermajorities of Americans agree on all the following things. Guns are out of control, and they need to be far better regulated, especially any crackpot being able to collect weapons of war. Women should have access to reproductive healthcare. Kids should be able to read books. Everyone should have healthcare. Taxes should be higher, especially on the wealthy and ultra-wealthy. Nobody’s asked, but I’d bet they’d also agree that there’s something very wrong with inspecting kids genitals, too.”

— Americans Are Now Experiencing the Everyday Reality of Authoritarian Collapse

[ridingtohellinahandbasket]

One reason (among many others) that I pay for a Washington Post subscription.

[ridingtohellinahandbasket]

Whoa

So this is a thing I forgot about. Tumblr? I forget the last time I posted anything on here. With Twitter doing a fast 'splode, many people are coming here or going to Mastodon.

Weird that this might be making a comeback, of sorts, no?

I've forgotten how this blog thing works. Might take me a couple of weeks to get my legs back underneath me.

[ridingtohellinahandbasket]

Huh

Some weird new things around here. New is scary.

[rocktheholygrail]

Michael Schur’s speech at The Good Place series finale table read

[ridingtohellinahandbasket]

I don’t want to make this all about me, but can I say for a second how much I love this show?

I LOVE THIS SHOW.

[pangur-and-grim]

if you ever receive bizarre random hate on this site, please don’t take it personally! 

this is just a SMALL collection of what Pangur’s received for looking strange & having a rough start to life. if a cat that can’t even type is regularly called Ugly and Problematic, it hurts to imagine what regular humans encounter on here.

[ruffboi-mags]

what the fuck is wrong with people

[ridingtohellinahandbasket]

My answer:

It's like my iPhone knows me better than I know myself.

[ridingtohellinahandbasket]

I’m not sure what you’re driving at here. Alex Jones did make a threat of physical violence. It’s against YouTube’s Terms. YouTube removed his account with all of his videos.

[ridingtohellinahandbasket]

hiimles replied to your post: Lay Opinion of Freedom of Speech

Speech is either free, or it’s not. There are laws covering making threats. If the speech violates the law, he should be arrested by authorities. Tech companies are acting in a quasi-government role to suppress free speech.

Regardless of whether they are or not, the established fact is that corporations are not a government. The First Amendment to the Constitution of the US reads:

Amendment I

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

(Source)

That wording there is important: “Congress shall make no law[...] abridging the freedom of speech[....]” (emphasis and ellipses added)

Congress make laws, not corporations.  Corporations get to decide what goes on their Internet platform (for better or for worse)--it’s in their Terms of Service.  The good ones will even tell you what kind of speech will get your posts (or accounts) removed.

In this case, a corporation decided not to host someone’s dangerous ramblings due to his violation of their Terms.  I am not a lawyer, but as a lay person, I don’t see how they escape liability for continuing to host his “show” even though he’s in violation of those Terms.  If they did, it becomes very easy for someone who had their content removed to show that they are inconsistent at best with their application of their Terms of Service.

People’s lives have been threatened. Parents of the victims of the Sandy Hook shootings have had their lives disrupted because of this unhinged nut job; one family has had to move seven times since the shooting.

I have no sympathy whatsoever for Alex Jones.  Eventually, everyone must pay the piper.  I’m hoping that it’s finally his turn.

[ridingtohellinahandbasket]

Lay Opinion of Freedom of Speech

So, this is a lay opinion.  Bit of a disclaimer: I am not a lawyer.  This is an opinion of an opinionated asshole on the Internet and is not to be interpreted as legal advice.  You’ve been warned, fuckers.

According to this article here: YouTube removes Alex Jones' page, following bans from Apple and Facebook, Alex Jones has been banned (or “page removed,” which effectively equates to the same thing) from YouTube.

Now, there are some right wing nutjobs who are decrying this as a violation of Jones’ Free Speech rights.

Bullshit.

What Alex Jones is doing is illegal, purely and simply.  The idea that Sandy Hook is a “false flag” incident (or whatever the fuck he called it) is repellent, a matter of public record, and is at worst libel.

First of all, there is the legal question of whether the platform is liable if someone sues Jones (as is currently happening right now: Truth in a Post-Truth Era: Sandy Hook Families Sue Alex Jones, Conspiracy Theorist). Is the platform legally liable?  Could the plaintiffs in the Sandy Hook suit, after taking Jones to the cleaners, then go after Facebook, YouTube, Apple, and Twitter?

Then, there’s the other problem.  All of these platforms have Terms of Service.  If you threaten violence against another person (Alex Jones threatens to shoot Robert Mueller in his latest video. YouTube seems fine with that) most of them have clauses in these Terms that delineate removal (Policy on threats).

Then, there is the publicity nightmare that YouTube faced, particularly when headlines like the Quartz article linked above get blared around the Internet.

Alex Jones agreed to these Terms when he signed up for these platforms and presumably knew what the consequences would be if he made threats of violence against a person or persons.  This is not the first case like this and until jugheads stop doing ignorant shit like this, probably won’t be the last.

[ridingtohellinahandbasket]

Oh, look. They did a video about your mom.

[tastefullyoffensive]

(via deadliidev)

[ridingtohellinahandbasket]

In the dictionary next to “savagery” is a reproduction of the above tweet.

[goawfma]

lil matt damon SNAPPED

[willsmithsmackedtheshitoutofme]

He looks exactly like Matt Damon

[te-amo-corazon]

the finger points 😭😭

[theseriouscynic]

Him and this gif have the same energy

[roguishpixiedreamgirl]

Aww I love him

[ridingtohellinahandbasket]

Confederacy apologists get owned.

[ridingtohellinahandbasket]

“Really in technology, it's about the people, getting the best people, retaining them, nurturing a creative environment and helping to find a way to innovate.” - Marissa Mayer I find this to be true, not just in technology companies, but in any business. A company that no longer innovates as a way to separate itself from its competitors is going to fail. Part of that means that companies have to keep talented people by offering them more incentive to stay. A lot of companies just simply aren’t doing that. People working for these companies below the Director level struggle to make ends meet. More and more of the better positions are requiring college degrees, yet don’t pay enough to pay for the loans, much less rent, food, clothing and other necessities. And God forbid that you work two jobs. That means they can’t force you to work extra hours on a whim. As soon as you quit the second job to work more hours they cut your hours back. And one of the buzz phrases (you know, that special code language that MBAs speak that sounds a lot like English but with different syntax and grammar) I’ve heard the last few months is “talent retention.” But meanwhile, we’re only going to hire temps because then we don’t have to pay for health insurance, we’re going to cut hours, we’re going to cut out various fringe benefits, but we want you to work harder. If you want us to stick around, you have an odd way of showing it.

[mysharona1987]

[ridingtohellinahandbasket]

Something must be done.

[ridingtohellinahandbasket]

Think of how stupid the average person is.  Then realize that half of [all people] are stupider than that.

George Carlin