The Love of Christ everyone. A continuing shinning example of why I hate the faith. Treat others as you'd have others treat you. Anyhow, I agree, no need for a ban, at least yet, though that is a new low, but in line with the rest of the Trump supporters. It again, just shows how evil and vile the faith is, because that's what they actually think Christ would act like, do and say, and have zero conviction in their heart otherwise. The modern right is the biggest reason cited why people leave the faith or are turned off by the faith, so the more Trump supporters dig in, the more and more people will leave the faith. Hopefully they'll turn to reason, or Paganism, anything but stick to a faith where they are happy at the death of a man who served his nation far better than the man they praise. As to Bob himself, I don't know if he's just a troll or what, my issue has never been with him, but the faith he represents. I am surrounded by people like him at home and work, and it isn't the people, it's their faith... sort of like how they say of the gays, "love the sinner hate the sin", I just hate everything about them, but I'm sure they are just fine people otherwise.

While I didn't like McCain, I at least respected his service. I respect the fact that he REFUSED to leave the POW camp when it was offered to him because there were others there before him, and he'd go on for another four plus years more of torture because of his refusal. He could have left the service long before he was even shot down, as he was injured on the deck of his ship when he was accidentally shot by another plane on the deck, an indecent that killed 134 other sailors and injured 161 others, himself included... of course many on the far right blame him for somehow being shot in that case and say he caused the deaths... As bad as he was on his political philosophy and the whole Palin thing (which I agree with what was pointed out already, was an attempt to lure the far right and women voters, and it worked on the far right, he probably wouldn't have got nearly as many votes as he did without her, because the narrative had already shifted far right on Fox and talk radio), he at least served and didn't dodge service because of a bone spur.

And this video just goes to show how gullible people are, "he's a Muslim" and he has to refute it. He has to keep saying how good Obama is as a man, and how true to himself he is, but they boo him. They are so wrapped up in the Fox and talk radio narrative, and their little social media bubbles, they don't know how to vet things they see and hear... they may do a quick Google search, not realizing that Google changes its search results to match what you'll find most agreeable... and then even if they do see a link they disagree with, they'll ignore it, find ones they like and coddle their bias.... I should know, I was among them for far too long. Up until basically this 2008 election, where I moved from Republican to supporting Paul, to supporting Obama, then loosing my faith shortly after the election because of the far right's actions...

Personally, I think the difference is whether you grow and move on. I've certainly said some stupid shit in the past, and I'm lucky enough that there wasn't any kind of social media to have a permanent record of it.

But I'd like to think if someone produced evidence of me being racist (unlikely), sexist (probably) or homophobic (definitely), I would be able to say "yeah, that guy was an idiot, I'm sorry for what he/I said, but I'm not that stupid anymore".

Who believes this shit? Trump supporters, and that is near 35% of the voting population. They may not buy into it happening in 72 hours, but they do think this is a religious war, and that Christianity is under attack, and that Trump is appointed by God to lead this country back to being a Christian nation and all us evil Liberals are fighting the will of God. This is the thing most people on the left don't understand. They don't realize how deeply personal and holy this thing is for the right. Everyone just keeps seeing all the trip ups that Trump does, and thinks, "Blue Wave!" but those trip ups energize his base, and help guarantee they'll be out in fore come November. They are being manipulated by Fox, talk radio and their churches to believe all this stuff. Remember, his supporters supported a child molester in Louisiana over a Democrat, because they think Democrats are that truly evil. Just watch a bit of TBN, watch Jim Baker, watch Fox News... just begin to imagine that this sort of stuff is what you absorb all day every day, this is what you are being fed in church, this is what your social media circles are feeding you. You'll begin to see, this isn't that far out there, this is what they think is happening. They think we are in the end times, and Trump is our last hope against the Anti-Christ, even though he and the GOP are EVERYTHING the Bible warned us the Anti-Christ would be like... it's insane. I'm surrounded at home, at work... all over by these types.

I would like to thank the Sift. I would NEVER be fed this on any social media, youtube, etc. (not on Facebook, never have, FIGHT THE POWER)

Even though the the upvote/downvote part is not unlike the manipulation they're talking about, at least I get content that isn't in my bubble. A bubble I'm more and more convinced is being forced on me, not because I'm afraid of being wrong or of change.

wow! insightful! +5

what a pleasure to see that a television program is willing to spend so much time on sharing insightful comments and reflection on social media.

I am also impressed with the quality of the comments for this video here on sift.

Unreal. Imagine the shitstorm if someone had said "Fuck Obama" a few years ago? They'd be slammed and called racist by the media and everyone on social media.

I dont like Trump either but this is ridiculous. Such a shame.

But can you blame 'all' of the problem on Bush/Obama?

I can recall many changes in the 80's from Reagan, huge cuts to school lunch programs, and many attempts to either reduce or totally eliminate the Department of Education.

In 89, Bush Sr. and the Governors of 'every' state held a summit, where they developed some of the first goals for future changes to education. These included some of the first recommended changes to standards-based education.

During both of Clinton's terms they steamed ahead at full speed on these goals, leading to massive changes forcing standards-based education. They implemented ESEA, which was succeeded by the two later programs you mentioned.

So we clearly can't pin it to just one group, as both led the charge at one point or another. This is what I meant by my statement. Neither Liberals nor Conservatives can point a finger and say, "Is this a dagger which I see before me, the handle toward my hand?" They both grasped it and wielded it.

So, now as you mention, we have a climate which puts incredible importance on standardized testing. Because of this, and how the schools are funded, students are basically learning how to pass a test based on minimum standards as set by the government. Students aren't taught what they 'can' learn, but what the government thinks they 'should' learn.

I graduated in 1992, so I missed the true first wave of standardized tests. But if I had not been, I know I would have been *incredibly* frustrated at being forced to learn at a slower pace because all students needed to pass. I can almost guarantee I would have acted out, become more of a clown and troublemaker than I actually was in school, because I would have been bored to tears.

As you mention also, we have a highly media based group of children today. I agree cell phones should be not be allowed.

As far as the publishers, perhaps it is less than noble to prey upon the environment that we have currently. I can't blame them, however, because it would be akin to blaming cell phone makers for making products that children want for connectivity to social media. Like any company, they are in it for a profit. It just happens to be that currently the profit is more in tests than innovative learning tools/textbooks. They are simply doing what they have to do, like any corporation. I'm sure a lot of that includes lobbying to keep standards based education in place.

We can blame a lot of different groups, even parents. But that isn't solving the issue. I have my ideas of how to begin fixing it, which may differ from yours because I am not in the 'business' nor do I have children. I would say the following would be some baseline changes I would implement or suggest:

1. School Uniforms - It makes it harder to differentiate between children and helps against the forming of cliques.

2. A complete 180 from standards based education.

3. We have to invest more money into hiring more teachers. Smaller classes means less stress, more personal interaction, and more time for the teacher to be aware of 'problems' before they blow up.

4. Students should only be allowed to access devices owned by the school, ones that are for education and not instagram. What they have available before and after school is on their parents, but they shouldn't have it in class.

5. I will probably take some flack, but I do believe that vouchers should be allowed versus forced public school attendance. Forcing people who cannot afford private schooling to send their children to public education means you remove choice of the quality of learning. Once public schools start to even out in quality due to the aforementioned changes, then we can remove vouchers.

I know the feeling! So Long and Thanks For All the Fish was my early favorite of the 3 main singles, but this one grew on me more. They are all good though.

A lot of album reviewers seem to think this one is a bit too preachy in being sort of anti mobile devices / anti social media. I can kinda see that, but it doesn't strike me as overly that way. Guess it touches a nerve for some.

How those games, toys & gadgets of the 70's-90's genuinely made us happy THEN & even NOW after all these years. Kids today that are all-in on the social-media train end up addicted but SAD. That's just not on the same level of fun as those old stuff.

I've never liked what this douche has as opinions, but his stance regarding moral-posturing over facts is spot on. Social media is just mob rule writ large.

...oh, and I was speaking about the guest, not Maher. That douche is okay.

Not to be all hipster and such, but I stopped using Facebook about 5-6 years ago, when Google Plus came out. I liked Google Plus, because it put me more in contact with people of similar interests and seemed to help me avoid crazy family members.

After a year or so I stopped using G+ as well. I just didn't find that kind of connection useful to me. Not sure what it was, but it felt like I had to participate in order to get anything out of it.

I was probably off all social media until about 2 years ago when I got on Twitter. I have been pretty happy with the asynchronous nature of it.

I really should just delete my FB account.

Some of them certainly.

But this kind of thing is the exception rather than the rule for most of the parents I know. I think people my age (~40) who've had kids have been through the whole social media thing and are pretty wary of it.

I don't think I know a single child under the age of 15 whose screen time and online presence isn't very carefully monitored by their parents for this very reason.

"Hi, I’m(A) ____________, and I’m (B) _________________…"

okay

"(B) Our greatest responsibility is to serve our Northwest communities. We are extremely proud of the quality, balanced journalism that KOMO News produces."

okay.

"(A) But we’re concerned about the troubling trend of irresponsible, one sided news stories plaguing our country. The sharing of biased and false news has become all too common on social media."

I mean, with reports of social media "shadow banning" conservative accounts (and other one sided controlling of content), it troubles me too.

"(B) More alarming, some media outlets publish these same fake stories … stories that just aren’t true, without checking facts first."

True statement. Remember this: https://youtu.be/WhHAPsXhbR8

"(A) Unfortunately, some members of the media use their platforms to push their own personal bias and agenda to control “exactly what people think” … This is extremely dangerous to a democracy."

aka opinion as fact. also bad.

"(B) At KOMO it’s our responsibility to pursue and report the truth. We understand Truth is neither politically “left nor right.” Our commitment to factual reporting is the foundation of our credibility, now more than ever."

so, they pledge to do their job. okay.

"(A) But we are human and sometimes our reporting might fall short. If you believe our coverage is unfair please reach out to us by going to KOMOnews.com and clicking on CONTENT CONCERNS. We value your comments. We will respond back to you."

when they screw up, we have a way to tell them. how is this bad?

"(B) We work very hard to seek the truth and strive to be fair, balanced and factual. … We consider it our honor, our privilege to responsibly deliver the news every day."

again, they pledge to do their job.

"(A) Thank you for watching and we appreciate your feedback."


I don't see the big deal.

I could well be wrong about this, but my understanding is that the data wasn't really stolen, it was freely shared by Facebook. I also don't think there is any evidence that suggests that CA used their psychoanalytic stuff on the Trump campaign specifically. It sounds like they are targeting voters more on purely their geographical location than any in depth analysis of their social media profile. It seems doubtful to me that CA were the only ones at this game though...

I do think Facebook absolutely shares some blame - They hand over their users data and make app creators etc pinky-swear that they will use it responsibly and delete it once they are done...and then they do absolutely nothing to ensure that agreement is honoured. They either willfully ignored it because they knew the data was likely to be misused, or they were naive to the point of complete incompetence. I really can't see an option C.

Astonished @bobknight33 posted a video about Trump using more stolen data to further manipulate voters. Kudos.

This whole debacle is a prime example of why I won't ever join Facebook or other similar social media. It's been clear from day one they are not going to keep your data safe. Posting your life there is like writing everything you do and think in your diary that you then leave open in the public library every day, assuming the librarian is going to keep it private. Getting your information there is like wading into a mob of angry people and believing what you overhear them scream at each other. I just do not see the appeal, but I am pretty anti-social.