Facebook Jail                                       #251

By Hank Silverberg 

I have been released from Facebook "jail." There is a long saga here about how my Facebook page got compromised and how I got locked out and could not get back in, and how the instructions Facebook gave me to recover it did not work. But that story doesn't fit the narrative I wanted for today. It's what happened when I had to create a new page that gives me a headache and goes to the point about what is wrong with social media. 

As I set up my new page, my goal was to get all the friends I had on my original page, built  up over a decade, to return. They were all people I actually know, including family, long time friends from high school and college, or former colleagues and co-workers who I got to know over the years. They were not strangers. 

First I had to send out messages asking them to rejoin, knowing that many of them would think, since I was already their Facebook friend, that this was some kind of hack attack. It took a while, but I got many of them back. But with some of my "friend requests" Facebook kept saying, "Can't send request it looks like you may not know this person. Send requests to people you know personally to see their updates on Facebook."

Among those they blocked me from requesting to be my friend with that phrase were my old college roommate who has been my friend for 40 years,  and two of my cousins with the same last name as mine.  

Facebook was choosing who could be my friend?

I began using my new page with enthusiasm, relating this story through a post. Then I got into a big "discussion" with an old friend who had not been on my old page. We were debating how the First Amendment applies to religion, government and separation of church and state. We were not agreeing about much, but the chat was civil. No name calling or bad words. 

Then all of a sudden I get a message from Facebook that I had violated their terms of service and I would be on a restricted list for 24 hours. There were no details on what on-line infraction I had committed. 

Did my friend report me for not agreeing with her? (No, I found out later she did not.)  

 So, ironically in the middle of a debate on the First Amendment, Facebook decided to restrict me from chatting. I could still post, but I could not comment on anyone else's post. I was in Facebook "jail" for 24 hours. 

When I told some of my friends about this later, several of them relayed that they too, at times, had been restricted. Some of them more than once. 

So here is the question: Who makes those decisions? A  person, an algorithm, or A-I?  

Note that Facebook is a private company and they do NOT have to abide by the First Amendment. They can control what appears on their platform (like this blog). But the least they can do is tell you why you are being punished, and let you choose your own friends.     

Must See TV?????

The Georgia state trial of  Donald Trump and his 18 codefendants is probably going to start before the November 2024 presidential election. Trump is trying to delay it, but the prosecutor has been pushing for it and the judge seems cautious against

long delays. Since it's a state court and not federal court like the other charges Trump faces, the one in Georgia is likely to be televised, and as you would expect there will be lots of live coverage. That coverage on many TV outlets (with the exception of Court TV) is likely to include commercial breaks. So it raised my eyebrows a bit when MoveOn.Org sent out emails soliciting contributions so they can run some "hard hitting" TV ads during the trial. I don't send them money for a lot of worthier causes and I am certainly not sending any for this. But it brings up the possibility that the Trump campaign or some of his very rich donors might want to run pro-Trump ads during the trial. Such ads from either side will turn the whole thing into a three ring circus. Let's hope cooler heads prevail and that the networks airing the trial will reject such ads. Stay tuned.    

Climate Change Is Real!

Despite what you may hear from some political candidates, climate change is very real. Scientists say July and August of this year produced the warmest temperatures ever worldwide. 

According to the European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service, the average global temperature this summer was 62.19 degrees F  (remember that while it is summer in the northern hemisphere, it is winter in the southern hemisphere,  accounting for the average temperature around the globe).

Copernicus says both July and August have been 1.5 degrees warmer than pre-industrial levels from 1850 to 1900, crossing a key threshold scientist have long warned we must stay under to avoid a climate catastrophe. 

The main source of those higher temperatures remains greenhouse gases which hold in the heat. They come mostly from automobiles or power plants that burn oil or coal.

There is also more scientific evidence that climate change is producing more intense and frequent extreme weather that impacts the entire world ecosystem. It was much wetter in Europe last month, producing record rain fall and flooding in France, Greece, Italy and Portugal. There were also temperatures well above average in the southern hemisphere, in Australia, several south American countries and Antarctica. 

Meteorologists here in the United States have noticed that Hurricane Lee, currently churning in the Atlantic, became a Category 5 storm more rapidly than most, and although it has since dropped in strength, they note such storms are getting stronger at higher latitudes. 

ABC News quoted Marshall Shepherd from the University of Georgia, who said that if the trend continues, cities like Washington, D.C., New York and Boston may face greater impact from hurricanes and stronger landfalls. 

He noted that Hurricane Idalia was much stronger inland than past storms. It hit the city of Valdosta, Georgia, 70 miles from the coast line, with 70 mile per hour winds. 

Meteorologists have also spotted waves as high as 45-50 feet as Hurricane Lee moved across the open sea in the Caribbean. Those waves could be higher at landfall. 

https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/hurricane-lee-charting-new-weather-signal-monster-storms-103048327

https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/06/world/hottest-summer-record-climate-intl/index.html

Track hurricane Lee here:https://weather.com/?cm_ven=PS_GGL_SevereLee_9062023_1&par=MK_GGL&gclid=Cj0KCQjw0vWnBhC6ARIsAJpJM6daHGbPbpPKr5naRO73JIzDvtDHGYLGMUVU6fkeuquEiD1Bgxi3qssaAimuEALw_wcB

21st Century Progress

Here is a story you  probably have not heard about.  The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services says now, in 2023, as many as 2 million Americans live without indoor plumbing. Now some remote villages in Alaska are finally getting running water. In Akiachak, the 700 residents have been living in some of the 3,000 homes in 32 villages that lack running water. But this week they are getting indoor plumbing for the first time. 

(Is this a luxury?)

Without water faucets and toilets, Akiachack residents had to lug their water from across town from a section that had hookups. As a toilet, they had to use five gallon "honey buckets" and then had to lug the waste outside to a nearby dump. Not a pleasant thing to do in any circumstance, but especially in Alaskan winters. 

Installing indoor plumbing in this community is expensive, almost $28 million in state and federal aid. Remember, it's the main water pipes into the community plus pipes and fixtures in each house. Health officials say this is going to vastly improve the health of the town's population, especially the children. 

https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2023-09-08/water-hookups-come-to-alaska-yupik-village-and-residents-are-thrilled-to-ditch-their-honey-buckets

Yes, this is hard to believe in the richest country on Earth in the 21st century. But it's true.   

  

Dumbest Quote of The Week! 

This week's dumb quote comes from Republican U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville of Alabama. You may have heard that Tuberville is using what's known as Senatorial Privilege to block the promotions of hundreds of military personnel, and some of his colleagues say it's creating a national security risk. It's a ploy to get the Pentagon to change its policy that allows the military health care system to pay the cost for service members who need to travel to get an abortion. He doesn't like that. But he apparently also doesn't like the men and women who risk their lives to protect us all. He thinks the military has become too "woke." During an appearance on Fox News (where else?)

to back up that ridiculous claim, Tuberville said:

"We got people doing poems on aircraft carriers over a loudspeaker."

That, he said, was evidence that the military was "...headed downhill, not uphill."   

So poetry is wokeness? That will come as a surprise to many people. 

Tuberville got elected to the Senate mainly because of his name recognition from being a long time college football coach at Ole Miss and Auburn. He should have stuck with football. A number of his Senate colleagues are starting to get annoyed with him, but they won't make a big deal of it because they like the provision that allows one Senator to hold up votes. 

(Your comments and suggestions are welcome)   

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