The WOKE Thread (Merged from WTF?)

[jazzdude]

Virginia Dept. of Ed moves to end accelerated math classes for 'equity': 'Not an exaggeration' - Washington Times
Virginia looking to completely remove all accelerated math classes until 11th grade.
Curious how this is going to effect women and minorities in STEM...
This is starting to become the second version of Orwell's 1984. 

That's pretty dumb. Math seems to be one of the few subjects where there's some level of tailoring to the student (via accelerated paths). It helps meet the need of the student by providing an appropriate level of challenge.

A better fix would be better teaching in lower grades and building confidence in math earlier, which would pay dividends in high school and beyond.

[Pooter]

Got a story for you guys. This is going to be long and a little out of left field but I figure where better than to share it in this thread so I'll just go ahead. I have accidentally conducted a decade-long free speech experiment in the comment section of one of the most liberal leaning "news" sites in the world, and here are my findings. Let me explain. 
 

So there I was in college back in the 2010 timeframe and I got turned on to this fringe leftist news website called motherjones. Some of you might know it. They used to run an actual print magazine too.  If you haven't heard of them just go check the site right now, they're running articles about how opposing dc statehood is racist, how much people like that Biden is "boring" and other standard leftist tropes.  Compared to the bias in the MSM it's nothing particularly new or interesting, they've just been doing it shamelessly and for a lot longer. 
 

When I got turned on to this site in college I would read the ludicrous articles for fun and I immediately gravitated toward the comment section.  It was a hive of activity with 40-50 comments on an average article and sometimes hundreds on the popular ones.  I made an account and immediately started debating people. I never intended to troll, I simply enjoyed being in the minority there and trying to pick apart other peoples ideas. I became kind of addicted to playing political devils advocate in an ideologically homogenous place. Other quasi conservatives came and went, mostly trolls, but I was a semi active commenter for 7+ years. I had some legitimately good debates with people and I like to think I changed a few minds and had my mind changed about a few things too. 
 

The first time I noticed a change in the comments section was a few years back when they got rid of disqus (comment hosting software) and moved to a comment moderation/hosting service call coral. Coral is run by ... drumroll...  Vox. So I think you can already guess where this story is going.    The pitch was that the new moderation software was going to crack down on hate speech and inappropriate content. At first there was very little change, but then other users started complaining that the moderation was flagging them for profanity. I was always very careful not to swear in comments and didn't have an issue at first. But then I started having comments sent to moderation for no apparent reason. Moderation simply for cordially disagreeing or posting a mainstream opposing viewpoint. 

 

Some of my comments made it through the filters (with extremely careful wording) but then it got weirder as I noticed the bile filled responses to my comments weren't being blocked at all. Name calling, ad hominem attacks, death threats, and every label from nazi to the literal devil were thrown my way, laced with profanity the entire time. All the while More of my comments started getting blocked. Meanwhile comments from bots for porn sites and money scams started passing through the filter too. It became increasingly obvious that the sole purpose of the moderation was to shut down any opposing viewpoint no matter how it was presented. 
 

I tried making a new username but after 3 or 4 posts the moderation figures out you aren't a flaming liberal and just blocks anything new you submit. I noticed on my main account they even went back in my comment history and retroactively deleted some old comments of mine. It's simply not worth even trying to engage anymore because the moderation wall won't let anything through. 
 

So what is the motherjones comment section like today? Well it's 6-9 commenters that log on every day to violently agree with each other and say that conservatives are evil and the source of all problems.  There are no dissenting opinions and the tone from the regular commenters is increasingly self-congratulatory.  It's one of the most severe political echo chambers I've ever seen and a perfect microcosm of what our political discourse has become.  Now I'm not going to complain that my speech is being infringed because of course motherjones is a private company that can do what it wants, but there are lessons to be learned here.

1. echo chambers are insidious.  It's easy to look into another echo chamber and see the stupidity for what it is, but we need to be incredibly cautious with our own information diet to not end up in one ourselves.

2. Diversity of opinion is good for business.  These days motherjones is always running some kind of pathetic donation campaign to stay afloat. I saw first hand what their idiotic moderation did to their comment section engagement and I'm sure those anti-speech tendencies are torpedoing the rest of their business.

3. Go to motherjones if you want to read some truly entertaining leftist nonsense.  But I'll warn you, it will make you mad and you will want to comment. Don't waste your time.

Edited May 4, 2021 by Pooter

[Lord Ratner]

7 hours ago, Pooter said:

Got a story for you guys. This is going to be long and a little out of left field but I figure where better than to share it in this thread so I'll just go ahead. I have accidentally conducted a decade-long free speech experiment in the comment section of one of the most liberal leaning "news" sites in the world, and here are my findings. Let me explain. 
 

So there I was in college back in the 2010 timeframe and I got turned on to this fringe leftist news website called motherjones. Some of you might know it. They used to run an actual print magazine too.  If you haven't heard of them just go check the site right now, they're running articles about how opposing dc statehood is racist, how much people like that Biden is "boring" and other standard leftist tropes.  Compared to the bias in the MSM it's nothing particularly new or interesting, they've just been doing it shamelessly and for a lot longer. 
 

When I got turned on to this site in college I would read the ludicrous articles for fun and I immediately gravitated toward the comment section.  It was a hive of activity with 40-50 comments on an average article and sometimes hundreds on the popular ones.  I made an account and immediately started debating people. I never intended to troll, I simply enjoyed being in the minority there and trying to pick apart other peoples ideas. I became kind of addicted to playing political devils advocate in an ideologically homogenous place. Other quasi conservatives came and went, mostly trolls, but I was a semi active commenter for 7+ years. I had some legitimately good debates with people and I like to think I changed a few minds and had my mind changed about a few things too. 
 

The first time I noticed a change in the comments section was a few years back when they got rid of disqus (comment hosting software) and moved to a comment moderation/hosting service call coral. Coral is run by ... drumroll...  Vox. So I think you can already guess where this story is going.    The pitch was that the new moderation software was going to crack down on hate speech and inappropriate content. At first there was very little change, but then other users started complaining that the moderation was flagging them for profanity. I was always very careful not to swear in comments and didn't have an issue at first. But then I started having comments sent to moderation for no apparent reason. Moderation simply for cordially disagreeing or posting a mainstream opposing viewpoint. 

 

Some of my comments made it through the filters (with extremely careful wording) but then it got weirder as I noticed the bile filled responses to my comments weren't being blocked at all. Name calling, ad hominem attacks, death threats, and every label from nazi to the literal devil were thrown my way, laced with profanity the entire time. All the while More of my comments started getting blocked. Meanwhile comments from bots for porn sites and money scams started passing through the filter too. It became increasingly obvious that the sole purpose of the moderation was to shut down any opposing viewpoint no matter how it was presented. 
 

I tried making a new username but after 3 or 4 posts the moderation figures out you aren't a flaming liberal and just blocks anything new you submit. I noticed on my main account they even went back in my comment history and retroactively deleted some old comments of mine. It's simply not worth even trying to engage anymore because the moderation wall won't let anything through. 
 

So what is the motherjones comment section like today? Well it's 6-9 commenters that log on every day to violently agree with each other and say that conservatives are evil and the source of all problems.  There are no dissenting opinions and the tone from the regular commenters is increasingly self-congratulatory.  It's one of the most severe political echo chambers I've ever seen and a perfect microcosm of what our political discourse has become.  Now I'm not going to complain that my speech is being infringed because of course motherjones is a private company that can do what it wants, but there are lessons to be learned here.

1. echo chambers are insidious.  It's easy to look into another echo chamber and see the stupidity for what it is, but we need to be incredibly cautious with our own information diet to not end up in one ourselves.

2. Diversity of opinion is good for business.  These days motherjones is always running some kind of pathetic donation campaign to stay afloat. I saw first hand what their idiotic moderation did to their comment section engagement and I'm sure those anti-speech tendencies are torpedoing the rest of their business.

3. Go to motherjones if you want to read some truly entertaining leftist nonsense.  But I'll warn you, it will make you mad and you will want to comment. Don't waste your time.

There is no intellectual basis for the policies of the progressive left anymore. Even the marxist part of the party is at odds with the critical race theory nonsense.

 

"Reason" implies that there are such things as right answers. Debate is a form of multi-party reasoning, so if you're entire ideology is based on falsehoods, debate is a threat. The only logical thing the left does these days is stifle debate.

 

Reminds me of the conservatives when they were nonstop railing against gay marriage. A bunch of small-government warriors demanding the federal government protect their religious ceremony from copy cats. Funny seeing the parties completely switch which one gets to be insane over 20 years.

[Homestar]

8 hours ago, Pooter said:

Well it's 6-9 commenters that log on every day to violently agree with each other

So, kind of like bops.net?

[HeloDude]

16 minutes ago, Homestar said:

So, kind of like bops.net?

Doesn’t sound like you and others have  been in agreement with much of what’s been posted over the last several years (and vice versa)...so no, not like bops.net. 

[Lord Ratner]

6 minutes ago, HeloDude said:

Doesn’t sound like you and others have  been in agreement with much of what’s been posted over the last several years (and vice versa)...so no, not like bops.net. 

Oppression olympics. Both sides seems equally susceptible.

 

Even the term mainstream media is rapidly losing its relevance. I suppose we could use the term "legacy media," which would represent the longest running news sources, which have always been and are still overwhelmingly liberal. The difference is that sometime in the 90s those sources decided it was no longer their responsibility to hide their bias. Fast forward 30 years, and the result is that a number of equally ideological conservative news sites have formed, many of which are dominating the legacy Media at their own game.

 

My point is that we have a tendency as humans to operate on feelings we had a long time ago, even when a dispassionate review of the present landscape would suggest the source of those emotions has been remedied. Just look at how many race warriors are complaining about imbalances that haven't existed in America for decades. They use present-day anecdotes as example of a systemic problem. If you remove the content of their argument, it sounds similar to conservatives complaining that the media landscape hasn't changed. In both cases they are wrong.

[Pooter]

32 minutes ago, Homestar said:

So, kind of like bops.net?

It's not nearly as bad here. Some threads get a little echo chamber-ey but there's nothing stopping more liberal users from chiming in if they want to. And they usually do. In contrast, my comments which aren't even that conservative would be blocked for even a slight deviation from the orthodoxy. Or the grave crimes of asking a probing question or playing devils advocate. 
 

Trust me it's much better here, but that isn't to say we can't be careful and always think critically to ensure we don't go in that direction too. 

[pawnman]

Now that Jenner is opposing Newsome for the governor of California...she's out of the LGBT club.

 

[brickhistory]

One of the Chuavin jurors looks like he lied to the judge about his knowledge of and bias towards the trial.  On the record and under oath that "he only had a vague knowledge of the case." (paraphrased)

Photos/social media of him a few months BEFORE being selected showing him wearing a "Get off our necks" shirt and his comments on a local radio show this week where he says "We need to take action by being part of the system."

Just can't help bragging on taking down the "man," even if that bragging adds bigly to an appeal's overturning of the some or all of the charges.

[FlyingWolf]

https://www.military.com/daily-news/2021/05/15/space-force-co-who-got-holiday-call-trump-fired-over-comments-decrying-marxism-military.html

 

[FLEA]

1 hour ago, Kiloalpha said:

https://www.military.com/daily-news/2021/05/15/space-force-co-who-got-holiday-call-trump-fired-over-comments-decrying-marxism-military.html

This dude already has a book out and political contacts. He's made regardless of what is done with him. 

[SocialD]

7 minutes ago, FLEA said:

This dude already has a book out and political contacts. He's made regardless of what is done with him. 

 

One might even say, he knew this may be the outcome. Get your name in the limelight, book is promoted and get out of the military...that's like 3 birds with one stone!  We have a pilot at DAL that appears to be doing pretty much the same thing.  

[brickhistory]

1 hour ago, FLEA said:

This dude already has a book out and political contacts. He's made regardless of what is done with him. 

A self-published book?  Not usually a ride to easy street.

There's always more to any story, but it does look like "wokeism" is a thing within uniformed military leadership.

 

30-year AA pilot was just doxxed and the company says its investigating him after he posted anti-critical race theory in his kid's school words on his faceplant account.

Only way to counter this is to stand firm.  And let the company Bob's know that pilot skill/experience is more important to me, the customer, than any wokeness.

 

[CaptainMorgan]

I just listened to the podcast, hardly seems to be anything one should get fired over.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[bfargin]

"This decision was based on public comments made by Lt. Col. Lohmeier in a recent podcast," a Space Force spokesperson said in an email. "Lt. Gen. Whiting has initiated a Command Directed Investigation on whether these comments constituted prohibited partisan political activity."

I find this very problematic. So, lets fire the commander while we determine if his words are an issue/problem and violate any rules.

Edited May 16, 2021 by bfargin

[brickhistory]

1 hour ago, bfargin said:

"This decision was based on public comments made by Lt. Col. Lohmeier in a recent podcast," a Space Force spokesperson said in an email. "Lt. Gen. Whiting has initiated a Command Directed Investigation on whether these comments constituted prohibited partisan political activity."

I find this very problematic. So, lets fire the commander while we determine if his words are an issue/problem and violate any rules.

[M2]

13 hours ago, bfargin said:

"This decision was based on public comments made by Lt. Col. Lohmeier in a recent podcast," a Space Force spokesperson said in an email. "Lt. Gen. Whiting has initiated a Command Directed Investigation on whether these comments constituted prohibited partisan political activity."

I find this very problematic. So, lets fire the commander while we determine if his words are an issue/problem and violate any rules.

Are you new to the "guilty until proven innocent" USAF?!? 

[bfargin]

I guess I was mostly surprised that they put it right out there in words, for all to see. Didn't even have the decency to hide the truth while screwing somebody.

[pawnman]

8 hours ago, M2 said:

Are you new to the "guilty until proven innocent" USAF?!? 

I mean...he recorded and published the evidence. I'd say he proved exactly what he was accused of. 

I suspect he couldn't define "Marxism" or provide an example without Googling it. But he felt the need to take a shot at the SECDEF.

[M2]

1 hour ago, pawnman said:

I mean...he recorded and published the evidence. I'd say he proved exactly what he was accused of. 

I suspect he couldn't define "Marxism" or provide an example without Googling it. But he felt the need to take a shot at the SECDEF.

I am pretty sure he knew exactly what he was doing...

[HU&W]

On 5/16/2021 at 12:07 PM, brickhistory said:

A self-published book?  Not usually a ride to easy street.

There's always more to any story, but it does look like "wokeism" is a thing within uniformed military leadership.

 

30-year AA pilot was just doxxed and the company says its investigating him after he posted anti-critical race theory in his kid's school words on his faceplant account.

Only way to counter this is to stand firm.  And let the company Bob's know that pilot skill/experience is more important to me, the customer, than any wokeness.

 

Once cnn picked up the story, his book rocketed to #6 on Amazon. 

[Sua Sponte]

He was a FAIP, flew Eagles, then does Space. What happened there?

[brickhistory]

2 hours ago, HU&W said:

Once cnn picked up the story, his book rocketed to #6 on Amazon. 

Self-publishing is, as I wrote, a very difficult way to make serious money.

But for this guy, good for him.

I hope he laughs all the way to the bank, repeatedly.

[kaputt]

https://news.yahoo.com/mayor-lori-lightfoot-chooses-only-232100768.html
 

“I have been struck since my first day on the campaign trail back in 2018 by the overwhelming whiteness and maleness of Chicago media outlets, editorial boards, the political press corps, and yes, the City Hall press corps specifically,” Lightfoot wrote.

Edited May 20, 2021 by kaputt

[pawnman]

8 hours ago, kaputt said:

https://news.yahoo.com/mayor-lori-lightfoot-chooses-only-232100768.html
 

“I have been struck since my first day on the campaign trail back in 2018 by the overwhelming whiteness and maleness of Chicago media outlets, editorial boards, the political press corps, and yes, the City Hall press corps specifically,” Lightfoot wrote.

Is this just a way to purge the press corps of any reporter who covered the story of Lightfoot breaking her own quarantine rules for an appointment at a hair salon?