Ambulocetus @ambulocetus@social.cleverlibre.org

Don't break someone's heart, they only have one.
Break their bones; there are 206 of those.

Mass media organizarions like TV networks and newspapers are new to Mastodon, so this is our only opportunity to either make them feel welcome or feel unwelcome. I think we should let all mass media outlets know that if they won't act like real joutnalists, they won't be welcome here, and they should go back to twitter.
I am objectively more informed than average, and I do it without TV or newspapers, and you can too.

@joshsternberg Lots of replies, but few solutions. Well, I for one did send them a nasty message.
These media orgs are new to Mastodon, so this is our one opportunity to either make them feel welcome or feel unwelcome. I think we should let all mass media outlets know that if they won't act like real joutnalists, they won't be welcome here, and they should go back to twitter.
I consider myself to be more informed than average, and I do it without TV or newspapers, and you can too.

@TheOldGuy

@EarthOne @KimberlyN @augieray I've heard that called a "cult" many times, and I do agree that there are some cult-like aspects to it, but it's not the complete story.
If it was merely a cult, cult deprogramming would be possible, but their defense mechanism is too strong to allow that. What we have here is a contagious, toxic, memetic ecosystem, that uses techniques from cults, as well as tactics from religious evangelists, snake oil salesmen, psychology, propaganda and things learned from advertising and brainwashing studies. Stuff all of these into a brain and scramble them all up and what do you get?
All of these things add up to something more than merely a cult. What we have here can be compared to (this is just an analogy; don't take it literally) what we have here is a contagious, artificially induced, finely crafted, synthetic mental illness.

@alexwild I have a buddy who, the last time I saw him, he was still using Windows Media player because he didn't trust that new-fangled VLC. Some people will always stay in the old country while we explore the new world.

You could be the smartest person in the world, but if your emotions have blinded you to objective reality, no-one can tell the difference between you and an idiot.

@nytimes Go back to twitter with that tripe. We don't need corporate shills pretending to do journalism. You are barely better than Fox.

@nytimes OOh there's incisive journalism that will affect my day to day life. This isn't twitter. Go away, pseudo-journalists! We don't need corporate media to stay informed.

@Benfell Giving you the benefit of the doubt, I assume that you are not saying that we should all just give up and bend over because there is nothing we can do to change things. So do you have any alternative proposals, or only reasons why nothing will work?

@Benfell Well, not to get into a measuring contest with you, but I've been places and seen things. So I know about the ugly underbelly.
That being said, I was still able to hop through a string of shitty landlords. When I finally found a good one, I stayed there for 20 years until I could get my house. Admittedly, jobs are little trickier, but right now there seems to be more jobs than workers, so it's a good time for the American worker to get their confidence back.

@Benfell That's true, but sometimes people are merely intimidated into believing that they have no power. whatsoever, and that's not true.

Turn the tables on them. Are you looking for a job? You should be interviewing them to see if they deserve to have you for an employee. Are you looking for an apartment? If they want you to prove that you'll be a good tenant, then they just proved that they won't be a good landlord, so keep looking. Nothing will ever change if we don't change it ourselves.

@futurebird @nev I got called out to a house last week for a Lasius swarm. Huge nest in the crawlspace, and the un-naturally warm weather caused them to think it was spring. The Alates weren't thinking about food, so I had to use Tri-die. One of the biggest swarms I've ever seen. It was beautiful and I felt bad, but the couple's little toddlers were getting Alates in their Froot Loops, so I had to do it.

@inklings Almost curious how the right will spin that.