Social media | Piss and Moan

Assume

Posted on December 10, 2020 by backuphill

There seems to be a lot of assumptions going around these days. And you know that old saying about those that ass-u-me, “You make an ass of you and me.”

If that is the case, there are a lot of asses running around with no clue as to what they are speaking of.

Shall we count the ways?

There are a lot of people that assume the last two elections were “stolen” by one party or the other. The Democrats spent two plus years of wasted time and wasted money to investigate Trump, on the assumption that there is no way he could have legitimately beaten Hillary, only to find there was scant to no evidence that he had help in stealing the election. Now, the Republicans are going to waste time and money to try to stop or investigate whether or not Biden has stolen this election. Again, there seems to be little evidence of such an occurrence and lots of assumptions are being made.

There are a lot of people making assumptions about a vaccine that will “save the world” from Covid. The assumption is that once available it will help life go back to “normal.” It is safe to say that even with a vaccine, life will not return to normal as we are now seeing evidence that if you don’t get the vaccine you may be excluded from society until you. There are also those who assume that when it become available that it will be mandatory for all. There is nothing normal about that.

There are a lot of assumptions being made about wearing, or not wearing, as mask. Violence being done to those without. Name calling to those who do. People thinking it’s their job to inform others of the mandates or rules or whatever. Lots of assumptions being made about others without actually knowing them or their situation.

There are a lot of assumptions about people who are different from ourselves. That’s definitely a part of the problem we see in society at large. We someone who is different from us and we assume we know something about them, or people like them. Never a good way to deal with people.

There are a lot of assumptions being made in every Hallmark Channel movie, especially the Christmas ones. Good grief I had to endure one last night and the assumptions written into the storylines to generate conflict to enable the resolution are ridiculous. Of course, I can’t help but make assumptions about the people who regularly consume such entertainment, so there is that for me…

Anyway, you probably assumed where this post was going or where it wasn’t going. You may have been write, or you may have been wrong. The fact is we all make assumptions and it is hard to do so. As such, there’s a little bit of ass in us all.

I assume you read to the end. Tell me what you think if you did. What assumptions do you have, or are willing to admit?

For the love

Posted on November 20, 2020 by backuphill

of spam.

No, not the meaty and gooey pork product, though I do love me some of that stuff fried and then put into a grilled cheese sammich! But, I digress. Distracted by food. That’s easy to do…

Anyway, I have had an increase in followers the last week or two. While it is nice to see that number go up, it’s kind of irritating to know that a large number of those are just really spam accounts. They aren’t real followers. Just garbage producers of crappy, repetitive, and unhelpful marketing advice and products. Oh, and throw in the motivational and weird stuff too. You would think that WordPress would have a way of detecting and eliminating this garbage.

Someone once said there was a way to limit this (I think it was something about requiring an email address, but I can’t remember for sure), but at the time I didn’t want to do it because I wanted to give the best, most wide-open access possible. Maybe that is a bad idea, maybe not.

Anyway, rather than going that direct, I thought I would try an experiment. Wanna help with the social media test, an unofficial survey of sorts? It’s gonna require that you do something…

If you are a real follower and actually read the blog, leave a comment – a very specific comment – “Not spam.”

Seriously, I wanna see if this works. I may use this to weed out the followers who aren’t really following. So, if you wanna stay in the know, DO IT!

Stalked

Posted on November 18, 2020 by backuphill

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio on Pexels.com

Should I be worried? I have a feeling like I am being stalked…

Thanks for the clicks.

Someone is going back and reading my old blog posts, on both blogs. I have no idea who it is because they don’t leave a comment or a like. I even got a Facebook referral yesterday, and I haven’t had the original account connected to Facebook in more than a several years (I have no idea what the referral was for since apparently we don’t get so see how those clicks translate to traffic) and the newest blog (now four years old) has never been connected.

So, who is stalking me? Who is going WAY BACK in the archives and reading the old stuff? Who, or whom, is doing this?

Show yourself. Come out of the shadows. Reveal thyself and stop stalking me. At the very least, show me some love with a like, share, or comment. Sheesh.

Or, not. Whatever. If you find stuff so interesting, share it. Pass it around. Maybe others would find it interesting too.

Ongoing saga

Posted on November 5, 2020 by backuphill

Comcast/xFinity has some real nerve. Obviously, there is always an issue with the cost of their service. Too high for too little. That has never been in doubt. But, if you saw an earlier post (Thieving) about the issue I was having with their billing, well the saga continues…

So, brief catch-up if you haven’t read the other post. Comcast decided randomly that it wouldn’t accept payment from my bank. They have done so for years but suddenly have decided the payment last month wasn’t going to be accepted. Instead of notifying me of an issue, they just said I hadn’t made the payment and said my account was “past due.” My bank says and has proven the payment was made and accepted by Comcast (thus, money was deducted from my account.) Now you are caught up.

I have made several calls the Comcast and navigated their stupid automated system over and over to get to a live representatives, who quite frankly don’t know squat. I was told the first time I needed to get confirmation from my bank that the payment was made.

I did so. It wasn’t the “right” kind of verification.

So, I was finally able to get through to Comcast payment services who said that they did receive a payment couldn’t (read wouldn’t) apply it because they needed some kind of verification because it was paid by a “virtual credit card.” Say what? I am using the bill payer service from my bank and the payment is made electronically to their system. There has never been an issue before. They don’t me to contact my bill payer service at the bank to get the specific authorization they needed.

I contacted the bank. They did their research and communicated directly to Comcast with the information. Comcast’s response? The customer has to provide the proof.

#$%&#$$@!!!!

Listen, Comcast, I authorized the bank to pay you. You have an agreement with the bank to accept electronic funds payments. You have been accepting said payments for years. Now, you won’t accept the payment and want me to authorize a payment the bank made on my behalf?

What the F’n crack you smoking over there?

I haven’t yet sent the proof to Comcast yet, but I’ll let you know if need a couple of you to accompany me down the the office to voice my literal displeasure in doing business with them.

How about a peaceful protest involving some windows and flipped cars? I feel like burning something down.

Fatigue

Posted on November 4, 2020 by backuphill

Photo by Karolina Grabowska on Pexels.com

Anyone else just tired of everything? I mean, like, EVERYTHING.

Literally half the country has lost it’s freedom loving mind.

Not to mention that literally three counties in my state control (read that as dictate) the election results for the other 36.

I am just tired. No wonder people wander into the wilderness, live off grid, and desire to never see other humans again.

Cavemen had it good.

Prognostication

Posted on November 3, 2020 by backuphill

Tonight will be one of the dumbest nights in television history.

Tonight networks, television stations, cable news channels, radio stations, and literally everyone else will be trying to predict who will win the election(s).

They will be falling all over themselves trying to get the scoop and declare a winner first. They will make predictions on races all over the country, for lots of different elected positions.

They will, in effect, be meddling in the election.

It happens every year and it is actually kind of disgusting and should be illegal.

East coast voting stations and polling places close (at minimum) three hours earlier than West coast stations and polling places. As such, announcing any “results” of what East coast states are doing or the way they are leaning actually influences what happens on the West coast. If voters on this coast see predictions that tell them the election is going one way or the other, it actually discourages people from voting. Amazingly, there doesn’t seem to be a lot of research on this, but it is safe to say it happens. It’s human nature.

So, keep it under wraps. Stop trying to predict a winner before there are true results. It’s not only irritating, but it’s actually irresponsible and verges on tampering.

But, of course, we won’t see that happen tonight. So, sit back and watch the stupidity. Or not.

Journalism is dead

Posted on October 30, 2020 by backuphill

Or at least it is nearly dead. There are still people out there who are doing their best to write and publish from a neutral perspective and this is EXTREMELY rare these days.

Glenn Greenwald isn’t the poster child for complete neutrality, but at least he comes close. While he may be a left-leaning journalist, he hasn’t pulled his punches when it comes to criticizing the left. He has pursued the truth and has exposed some very dark corners in American politics and government. But, that obviously can only go so far. Up to now, he hasn’t seen much in the way of censorship (or at least that is the way he describes it).

But, that has changed. Balanced and honest journalism requires that you see things from both sides and attack both sides when necessary. Yes, that is a little like biting the hand that feeds you, but a true journalist can’t ignore one side of every story. If they choose to do so, the sully the profession (as I am sure you are fully aware that most Americans don’t trust the media any longer).

Greenwald has resigned from the media outlet he helped co-found. Because they wanted to censor an article he wrote on Hunter and Joe Biden, one that was critical of the Democratic darling and the media cover-up of revelations related to business dealings in foreign countries. He is justified in asking questions and form an analysis, apparently that other journalists are even unwilling to think about, because others are not asking the questions and are not willing to be critical.

We have known journalism is dead for a long time. Thus, the distrust of the American media. But this, this is a whole different level of censorship and verges on conspiracy by the left to support a political candidate purely because he is the alternative to a candidate they have tried repeatedly to destroy over the last six years. Their mantra has been and continues to be, “Anyone but HIM!” So much so that they even eat their own when people don’t fall into line with their narrative.

I hope you take a look at the information provided by Greenwald. It is fascinating and eye opening. It is enlightening, but also confirms what many already know. Only now, we know it without a shadow of a doubt.

Suppression

Posted on October 28, 2020 by backuphill

Did you see that post from yesterday? The one where I asked people not to vote if…

I am guessing probably not.

Wonder why I ask? Because I believe WordPress is suppressing it.

I can’t think of any other reason why it wouldn’t have gotten at least five times as many views (I don’t ask for much, really). Honestly, wouldn’t people be interested just to see what it is about? I click on stuff to read all the time just because I wanna know what point of view the author is coming from, even if I don’t agree. Am I the only person who does this now? Do you only read the headline and move on without giving it even another thought or shred of curiousity?

As of this morning, it only had TWO views. Of those two views, none of them were from the Reader – those people (roughly, there is a lot of spam) who actually have followed the blog. There are no views on it today yet either.

I can only come to one conclusion…it’s being suppressed because it is telling people not to vote. Well, not exactly, but essentially that is the suggestion if you can’t meet certain qualifications, most of which are pretty straight-forward and common sense.

I guess asking for people who are educated, well informed, and have common sense to vote is wrong.

Interesting. How the politics of free speech play out on social media and other platforms, right?

Please don’t vote…

Posted on October 27, 2020 by backuphill

…if you take advice from celebrities or athletes on who you should vote for.

…if you only get your news from one source or one perspective.

…if you only follow the party line all the time.

…if your only research is memes about who not to vote for.

…if you don’t do your own research.

…if you only take advice from your family.

…if you can only see “the issues” in regards to yourself.

…if you can’t see or won’t accept an “issue” from more than one perspective.

…if you can’t acknowledge or understand the concerns from an different perspective than your own.

…if your vote is out of spite regarding someone else’s vote.

…if you get your information from any social media platform.

…if your vote is based on information from tv commercials.

…if you you take an “endorsement” from a media outlet as legitimate.

…if you aren’t a citizen or have a legal right to vote.

…if you haven’t payed attention at all but received a ballot in the mail.

…if you didn’t pay attention in school and don’t know how the process works.

…if you don’t value your right enough to get educated about the issues and candidates.

…if you’re too stupid to vote with some intelligence.

Anything you would add to the list?

Group texts

Posted on October 23, 2020 by backuphill

I feel very strongly about this. Like, VERY strongly.

Group texts (and even group chats, for that matter) are impossibly stupid and annoying.

I don’t want to participate in all the inane drivel most people have to talk about. I especially don’t like my phone getting lit up because of a stupid conversation.

Please don’t include me, unless it is an emergency or something needs to be coordinated. Otherwise, leave me out! AND once those few instances need to be used, stop using the group chat asap. Delete it so there is no accident in choosing the wrong one.

UGH. I despise their use…and, quite frankly, I despise people who feel the need to use them often.

Now you know why I am so grumpy all the time. I just don’t like people. Really.