Serious ? to UK folks.

[Dragapult]

My own family is much in the same boat. No surprises that I don’t speak to them much any more.

Right now they are telling me that the mayor in Los Angeles personally set the Palisades Fire. She has a (D) after her name so it's true. Why? Because they heard Fox News talking about this.

Is there going to be blame? Sure. Were there a lot of failings? Absolutely. But you see, Fox News said something and therefore it has become true. No verification, no looking something up to see what another source might say, Fox News said it, it's now true.

Climate change is also not real. Droughts? Just the result of weather machines controlled by people with (D) after their names. It was chilly this morning? That's clearly proof that climate change is a lie. Again, Fox News tells them their world view is the only correct one, so it is.

I might hate Murdoch even more than Trump. At least Trump will be gone in four years. Murdoch's stink will just move down to his children and the ******** will continue.

 

[Suzanne O]

Right now they are telling me that the mayor in Los Angeles personally set the Palisades Fire. She has a (D) after her name so it's true. Why? Because they heard Fox News talking about this.

Is there going to be blame? Sure. Were there a lot of failings? Absolutely. But you see, Fox News said something and therefore it has become true. No verification, no looking something up to see what another source might say, Fox News said it, it's now true.

Climate change is also not real. Droughts? Just the result of weather machines controlled by people with (D) after their names. It was chilly this morning? That's clearly proof that climate change is a lie. Again, Fox News tells them their world view is the only correct one, so it is.

I might hate Murdoch even more than Trump. At least Trump will be gone in four years. Murdoch's stink will just move down to his children and the ******** will continue.

A load of rubbish.

A firebug started it and has since been arrested.

 

[alexm]

Long live the UK!

And to the USA!

The simple answer is, for the same reason we can't put politics aside this side of the pond either, sadly.

Anyway, hope you managed to dodge the fires?

 

[Dragapult]

Anyway, hope you managed to dodge the fires?

If he didn't live in the hills (Palisades, Altadena, etc.) he's probably fine. I live in the valley and was less than 10 miles from the blaze, but it never came much closer. (The 2018 fires actually came closer to my house). The blaze was large but still didn't even come close to the extent of the Santa Monicas. (Seriously, people don't understand how rugged and vast this otherwise very modest mountain chain really is).

Very sad. But a way of life here. If it's not fires, it's earthquakes. There's always something anywhere you live.

 

[jeb35]

@Dragapult You do realize you can have multiple quotes in one post right? Just in this thread I've seen like 6 posts in a row quoting something from the same member. That could have been 1 post. Just saying.

 

[Dragapult]

@Dragapult You do realize you can have multiple quotes in one post right? Just in this thread I've seen like 6 posts in a row quoting something from the same member. That could have been 1 post. Just saying.

Yes, I'm aware of that. But I read the thread, post my comments, and move on. I will think about one post, comment, then read another one and have a new round of thinking and commenting. Sometimes it comes out as multiple posts, other times it is a series of quotes. You can always report my posts if you are bothered by them.

 

[Dragapult]

A firebug started it and has since been arrested.

Good. I believe that was the Kenneth Fire, which was contained some days ago.

 

[Chris D]

There is no question that the UK has gone off the rails in terms of arresting people for posts the government doesn’t like.

I don’t have the time or energy to read every post in this thread but this is just not how the law works in this country.

For the most part, reports to the contrary will be referring to the Summer riots.

Every single person, without question, was convicted of crimes that they committed and, for the most part, pled guilty to.

I can assure you that for every report anyone can provide where the rhetoric was they were “arrested for posts on social media”, were actually convicted of actual crimes that actually endangered the life of, or harmed, actual people.

Vague one I remember was the poor old taxi driver father who was “arrested for a social media group” but in actual fact was a key instigator in the riots and was spreading false information and encouraging violent disorder including attacks on mosques and asylum seeker accommodations. This had a real and tangible detrimental effect on real people, and made an already highly charged and racially motivated attack on innocent people much worse.

He belongs in prison just the same way a brown person would belong in prison if they were inciting violence against churches and people’s homes.

When “social media posts” cause violent people with baseball bats and petrol cans to ascend on hotels with people inside with the intent of hurting people and actually carrying through with setting buildings on fire with people inside, yeah, expect a prison sentence. But let’s not pretend it’s just “posts the government don’t like”.

 

[mattrogowski]

The above is correct, and this is the problem with modern politics and social media in particular. I don't remember people stoking division like this 10-15 years ago because there wasn't a medium to do it, now it's all about who can shout the loudest about why the other party is wrong and who can get the best headline. When you take away the sensationalism and look at what has actually physically happened, it starts to sound less like everything is some sort of conspiracy or overreach or "my side good, your side bad", and simply a case of people being punished for breaking the law in the same way that would happen regardless of who was in charge.

For example when there were riots in the US at the end of 2020 with the whole Kyle Rittenhouse thing, I'm pretty sure people were calling for rioters and looters to be jailed. But then when we jailed rioters and looters we had people from the US saying the government were wrong. The only difference is one happened under a right-wing government so it was okay and one was under a left-wing government so it wasn't. It was "wrong" because the people being locked up were on "their side" whereas in the US they were on the "other side" (supposedly). It's nonsense. It's either wrong in all cases or none of them, but people who claim to be from the party of law and order simultaneously say that jailing people for breaking the law and order is wrong. Make it make sense.

Another example is Elon talking about Tommy Robinson being "unfairly jailed and put in isolation", when in reality he was jailed for contempt of court for continuing to make false accusations against someone after breaching multiple court orders requiring he stopped, which he later pled guilty to, and he requested to be put in isolation for his own safety. But "man held in isolation at his own request after admitting to a crime he committed" doesn't have the same ring to it, so it wouldn't sound as good if Elon tweeted that. So instead he says what he wants and people that believe every word he says have something new to be "angry at the left" about. Robinson was also found guilty of contempt of court in 2019, so the man doesn't learn, and then has people like Elon (from the party of law and order) actively supporting him! It's laughable.

So, no, it's not "just social media posts" or "hurty words" as people like Elon have suggested. I'm fairly sure that if you were to go on social media in the US and encourage people to set fire to a building containing people you didn't like and that resulted in physical harm coming to people, that local law enforcement and even the FBI would be having a word with you about that, and it wouldn't be dismissed as "woke nonsense" if they received a punishment for it.

It's very easy for people these days to latch onto some issue or come up with a little slogan and gradually sensationalise it even more until it's turned into something completely different to what it actually is just to come across as the "better side".