It was actually less infuriating than I expected, from the description.
I haven't wanted to punch someone in the throat this much in a while. What a complete dickweed. Is there anything we can do to sabotage this motherfucker? Get him banned from Facebook or otherwise hit him in the pocketbook? I really want this prick to pay.
I'm with Walt on this one. He doesn't sound like the world's most ethical guy, but he thought he was running a satire site like the Onion (he might not be good at it, I don't know) and then was blindsided, like many of us were, by just how much bullshit Trumpites are willing to swallow (allow to go down their throats, if you will).
I fucking hate people. This isn't helping.
He was blindsided because he didn't check how his stuff was being used just like the people who didn't check his reports, except he was getting paid.
I'm still directing a good 70% of my rage at Comey.
Maybe more, but I've got a bit for FB, and of course all the shitheels who voted for this motherfucking grifting worthless sack of shit president elect.
He may have been blindsided at first, but he realized what was going on and kept on doing it because he was making money and maybe because he found it so darn freakin' hilarious that people could be so stupid.
Ecch. The .com.co thing, too. Lame tricks from 15 years ago but it works because of the retarded way Facebook (and Google) shows pretty pictures for links.
He was blindsided by the results but he clearly noticed the effect he was having on the Trumpistas. That's where his money was coming from. Satire may have been his original intent but it became pretense.
The difference is that even if people believe The Onion, it doesn't throw thousands of people into emotional turmoil and terror. Whereas if you run a fake story making Muslims wear badges, it takes approximately eight seconds to spread far enough to frighten thousands if not tens of thousands of people.
I admit that my reaction to this is colored by the sheer volume of terrified phone calls, texts, e-mails and conversations I have dealt with in the past week from friends and colleagues. Many of them are not closely engaged in every up and down of politics, so what they hear is filtered through friends and Facebook -- making them even more prone to hearing a snippet of fake news and panicking.
he thought he was running a satire site like the Onion (he might not be good at it, I don't know) and then was blindsided
Most of the interview might be consistent with that very charitable reading, but not this:
His followers don't fact-check anything -- they'll post everything, believe anything. His campaign manager posted my story about a protester getting paid $3,500 as fact. Like, I made that up. I posted a fake ad on Craigslist.
If he's actually generating checkable "facts" behind his fake stories, sure sounds like the goal is for people to treat the stories as legit. I'm with Witt.
I was blindsided by peep but I'm not going to let that stop me.
6: My rage is boundless and has many targets.
You can't con an honest man. People who believe in bullshit are the collaborators of bullshitters, not the victims.
I reserve my loathing for the Establishment Media, which is, let's face it, basically in the same business, but a lot more sanctimonious about it.
Yeah, the MSM loves the Facebook fake news story because it gives them cover. Deep down, they know they've fucked up.
The wingnuts in my life are not big Facebook users, but they're all constantly topped-up on the latest fake Democrat/liberal/brown people/biased media outrage. With my father, especially, I've noticed that whenever I hear some crank spouting off on a call-in current affairs show, I've recently heard the same stuff nearly verbatim from my father (last night it was George Soros paying anti-Trump protestors $5,000/head, because of course who could imagine that people might protest for some other reason). Facebook might be part of this Great Nonsense Pipeline, but hear too many non-internet users spouting the same nonsense for traditional, mainstream-ish players (ie, Fox) to be let off the hook.
15 seems right. But . . . I saw this story yesterday.
In the final three months of the US presidential campaign, the top-performing fake election news stories on Facebook generated more engagement than the top stories from major news outlets such as the New York Times, Washington Post, Huffington Post, NBC News, and others, a BuzzFeed News analysis has found.
During these critical months of the campaign, 20 top-performing false election stories from hoax sites and hyperpartisan blogs generated 8,711,000 shares, reactions, and comments on Facebook.
Within the same time period, the 20 best-performing election stories from 19 major news websites generated a total of 7,367,000 shares, reactions, and comments on Facebook.
16: Wasn't that story literally created by the guy in the OP?
And why do I love the word "literally" so very much?
The Democrats needs a literal brawler (in the metaphorical sense of 'literal') who can counter these types of tricks.
Why are right wing lunatics so fucking obsessed with George Soros? He appears in every goddamn fake story.
Because he's Jewish and in finance.
There are other Jewish people in finance! Why always Soros?
To be fair, Saul Alinsky also gets lots of attention, and not only is he not in finance, he hasn't even been alive for 40 years.
He does, however, share that other thing in common with Soros.
On the OP, I'm actually surprised that the quotes in this article can't support a criminal prosecution for libel. Those are normally impossible to prosecute, but that's partly because you don't normally have people publicly admitting that that's exactly what they did.
23: he donates mad wealth to liberal causes.
I don't think your average person knows he's Jewish right off, at least from the name. Are there other leftist sugar daddies to the tune of billions of dollars? I can't think of one offhand.
23: There's also Goldman-Sachs.
Honestly, I guess probably it may just be because Soros and (B.) Clinton are known to be close acquaintances. But it's still jarring. I basically never hear Soros' name in any context anymore, except right wing conspiracy theories, in which he's in all of them.
18: Oh, I didn't even catch that. I'm tempted to send the article to my father, but since it's in the Washington Post, it will be immediately dismissed as leftist propaganda.
20: I think the Soros thing is crazy, too, and I assume it goes down to the liberal donations. The sad thing is, if the cold war were still the primary occupation of the right, Soros should be seen as a hero.
I don't think your average person knows he's Jewish right off, at least from the name.
The sort of average person that we're talking about here doesn't know shit, and doesn't want to know shit. The fact that they take their guidance from racists doesn't excuse them, though.
The average person were talking about here gets his information first or second hand from people who put three sets of parentheses around "George Soros."
Don't the Russians also have a bone to pick with Soros because of his organizations' work in places they want to control?
16: Swope, I'm starting to think we share a father. Do you think you're in the secret family, or am I?
Random fun fact: Soros is one of the very few native Esperanto speakers. Which is not independent of him being from a lefty Jewish family. I'd love to hear him speak it.
I've been seeing a lot of those fake/not-fake news sites pop up over the last couple of years. They are ostensibly humor sites except they are written so that they sound real. There are definitely people for whom The Onion falls into this category, but these newer sites are much closer to plausible news stories for the most part. I've seen people forward them as true, which hardly ever happens for The Onion. The OP guy is just one of many. I guess writing them is just another form of trolling, when you come right down to it.
34: Christ, I hope so. I've always wanted a sibling I could offload the responsibility of old-age care of these crazy old fuckers onto.
35: Oh, hey again. Whatchu mean, "native Esperanto speakers?" Can that even be a thing? I had an Esperanto "phase" when I was at uni, which is one of the last things I happily shared with my father. It probably would have worked out better if I'd been from a lefty Jewish family. I would have been *so good* at being from a lefty Jewish family.
Only child here, too. Care-wise, it's bad now and only going to get worse.
By native Esperanto speaker I mean his parents were IIRC Communists, or at least some kinds of leftists, who were fully into internationalism. They consciously raised him as Esperanto as his first language. Or co-first language with...Hungarian, maybe?
37: it's pretty nice. I love them a lot.
SEK's Facebook entry a few minutes ago:
"I'm dead -- well, not yet. Still sorting it out. But I'm entering an entering an end-of-life facility at the end of the week, to die in Houston. It's been fun, but such fun can only last so long -- time to get to the difficult business of dying."
36: the 2011 Onion article about Planned Parenthood opening an $8 billion Abortionplex actually got a huge amount of traction on the right. Including a republican congressman who was fooled. I have relatives who still insist this is true and actually happened. If you point out that the Onion is satire they just say "well it was reported in other places too." I'm sure the "other places" were all ultimately linked back to the onion article, but this point is lost on them. (Amusingly, the Abortionplex does have Yelp reviews.)
41: Fuck. That's horrible. What a terrible, awful year.
Thank you for sharing for those of us not on facebook.
Oh my god. I'm so sad to hear that.
Everything seems awful. Going to the bar because avoidance sometimes works briefly.
There seems to be a familial difference of opinion. His sister commented:
Scott Eric Kaufman, you are not dead. You are not being transferred to an end of life facility. Please go back to resting!
All, thank you for your kind words.
49: Oh fuck, now I don't know what to think.
Family disagreeing with the patient isn't uncommon. Also not uncommon is a patient who seems okay and isn't quite moored to reality. All say he needs more than one organ transplanted. The odds aren't good for that. Maybe he has decided that the situation is intolerable.
Technically, any where you live is an end of life facility if you stay long enough.
Oh no. That's awful. He's suffered so much.
Whatever is going on, it sounds like they really need help to pay his medical bills. Donate here.
My sister is always telling me I'm not going to die. As long as I do what she says.
Anyway, we all go into death alone, but the Houston part is negotiable.
And, I guess, Viking women with the bad luck to appeal to Viking kings.
That SEK news is horrible beyond words. I don't know what to think. I gave.
I recommend not thinking too hard beyond "this poor guy needs sympathy, and love, and a shit ton of money no matter what happens next."
Having read Breitbart's investigative reporting on SEK, I don't believe a word he says.
It's almost noon here and I've yet to haul my ass out of bed (tho I did drink some coffee a half hour ago). Worried I may be getting depressed. That's never good but given my history it's terrifying.
It's almost midnight here and I'm about to go to bed. Hope you're not falling back into depression, Barry.
Me too, Teo. I'm going out tomorrow to meet a friend so that's good.Good night.
It's after six here and I'm still at work. Hope you're not falling back into depression, Barry.
Thanks, Mossy.
Another danger sign is extended absence from commenting. Back about 10 years ago it was mostly CT and LGM and I've stopped commenting to each of them for other reasons.
Maybe some of it is the latest horrific political news but things at work are fucked and I have to either move out of my apartment or take the housing allowance and go out on my own (when I'm looking to leave) and with the latest news I don't even feel like I can talk to my no doubt Trump voting parents for advice. It would be a lot easier if that SOB hadn't appointed an out and out white supremacist and anti-Semite to his inner circle. Holy hell.
Anyway, I'm up and about more or less. Answering emails. Preparing for another job application that may come my way and will keep me in the region at a much more rational institution. Then for some escapist TV.
Still at work after 6 sucks Mossy. Hope you're home soon.
I wish I had beer...
I work nights, it's normal. And facilitates cross-time zone commenting.
Thanks. A lot of ducks have to line up for this particular one but we'll see.
Anyone think there's anything supporting this?
I certainly think a lot more investigation and analysis needs to be done.
From the link above:
The most interesting thing Beran notes is that there's a big statistical difference between counties in Wisconsin that use paper ballots, and counties that relied only on electronic voting machines. "In paper ballot counties Obama won in 2012, the ballot county losses are 1-2%," Beran says. "However in counties Obama won in 2012 that are purely digital, [Clinton] lost by 10-15%."
"In paper ballot counties Obama won in 2012, the ballot county losses are 1-2%," Beran says. "However in counties Obama won in 2012 that are purely digital, [Clinton] lost by 10-15%."
Milwaukee County and Dane County (Madison) were among the counties that went paper. Most of the others were electronic. That probably explains it right there.
There are counties that switched from electronic ballots to paper?
Barry, just wanted to leave a note of support. Hope things get better for you.
Hi Barry, I hope you're not falling into depression.
Best wishes, Barry. Hope it pans out.
80: My voting place did - a paper ballot that you then scan. People are nervous about electronic voting.
I can't understand why.
80: My jurisdiction did. We went from touch screens to hand marked paper ballots that are scanned as you go out. I wholeheartedly approve.
Also good wishes to Barry. I've been having the occasional stare-down with the black dog myself lately. I'm winning, but it's draining.
keep me in the region at a much more rational institution
That would be a huge improvement. Good luck.
Take care of yourself, Barry. I recommend pretty aggressive treatment for even mild depression / dysthymia, because a) fuck it and b) in my experience, I lose perspective on how bad things are as a function of how bad they've gotten.
My guess is paper ballots are in underfunded counties, ie urban Milwaukee.
Dane County is surely not underfunded, though. (Although I guess I don't know... maybe Epic pays no taxes?)
...
Jeff Sessions? Oh god, here we go.
All of the Trump appointments are horrifying. It's why I'm still avoiding the news. Every time I hear about the latest I can only do a rueful chuckle/sob at the future. Like, I don't know any details of Sessions but I remember vaguely disliking him in Alabama so hahahaha. No.
I'll join you in flipping out about Jeff Sessions. I had a brief moment where I thought Trump might draw from a pool other than the usual suspects, or at least draw from the less odious side of the pool. I could not have been more wrong. Bolton for Secretary of State is apparently a real possibility.
94: Yeah, flipping out, too. I had heard his name for Defense and that was bad enough, but Attorney General? Ugh.
The more I learn about any individual appointee the more I worry. Visiting conservative family now so I'm going to try to avoid the news--and maybe here as well--so that I don't precipitate any undesirable incidents.
My family should be O.K. I'm sure some of my cousins voted Trump, but I don't think they'll mention it around my dad.
I think it drove home the sheer amount of work that will be required to avoid worst-case scenarios.
People, be kind to your conservative families and, if you can't avoid the subject, express concern for the fate of the Republican Party and the Constitution and a wish that the US might not turn into the Russian Federation. The worst you'll get (hopefully) is a pat on the head and a reassuring oh-dear-what-nonsense-you-read-in-your-media, which may help to reinforce bonds on their end. If they say they like that Putin a great deal, start throwing chairs.
I'm not feeling the need to alienate any even remotely thoughtful, sympathetic conservatives, i.e. anyone with even residual affection for democracy and the rule of law.
express concern for the fate of the Republican Party and the Constitution
That's another good reason to have my dad around. You can't get away with bogus shit about the Constitution around him. Unless he's falling asleep during the conversation (which happens all the time now).
Has anyone posted this update to 41? Very sad.
The post just prior to this but in the other thread.
I no longer know what is the current general-purpose Trump thread, so I'm not sure if this is the right place to post this. But, would it possible to request discussion of this article? This article, combined with recent conversations I've had with Trump voters, is changing the way I think about this election. I think the article is wrong about a number of fundamental points, but it does highlight quite a few points that have been overlooking or mischaracterized elsewhere. The media was at fault, but not in the way we thought. (Or not only in the way we thought.)
