[Youngian]

Enough heavy metal. Let's get on to the prog bands where the lyrical fun really starts. Close to the Edge anyone?

Radio Gnome by Gong contains the immortal line; ‘they’ve got a flying teapot and don’t need a taxi.’

[safe_timber_man]

Something is very wrong with Twitter these days. I don't really understand algorithms particularly well but I'd assume the sheer amount of racism on Twitter is something to do with a change in algorithms. Racism on social media is far from a new thing - but what does seem to be relatively new is prominence and visibility of it.

For example, Stephen Lawrence is currently trending. You click on the trend and the top 4 posts are from racists throwing out examples of white people who have been killed by people of colour with "but what about THESE people" and taking issue with Stephen Lawrence being talked about. There are also a large number of tweets from people saying Stephen Lawrence was a drug dealer.

Again, these sort of comments aren't new - but to be the first ones you see when you click on a trending topic? Either we as a population are getting FAR more racist or someone, somehow, is intentionally boosting racist tweets and accounts. They're ranked higher up than the actual news reports on Stephen Lawrence themselves!

[Andy McDandy]

I suspect that as well as Musk readmitting people previously banned for racism, he also encouraged a lot of new users, emboldened by his stance, and drove away a lot of reasonable people. The result is that it seems a hell of a lot nastier.

[Bones McCoy]

I saw the "Stephen Lawrence was a gangster" thing on facebook last year.
Posted a horrified response, got piled on and blocked.

I think we suffer from speaking the same language as the USA.
"Monster the victim" is a regular tactic from the USA - and the defamation sticks, even if absolutely false.

It's also includes one of the US right's preferred tactics, projected inversion.
In this case we know several of the killers had previous for drug dealing.
There's no evidence of Stephen Lawrence having any kind of record.
Do we think that Dacre would have championed his cause if he were a common street thug?


This is form the alt-right playbook, and many of the tweeters may have been Americans who only hears of the case through Fox or Telegram.

[Samanfur]

Musk is talking about removing the block function altogether. If that happens, I think that the friends of mine who've been holding out because of the contacts they've built up would finally be off up the digital road in a cloud of pixelated smoke.

[safe_timber_man]

When this is the 5th highest tweet on the Stephen Lawrence trending topic, with 4k+ likes then this goes beyond just 'allowing free speech'. It's surely commercial suicide. Hopefully advertisers are having a serious think when they see shit like this.

[Andy McDandy]

Rigby's killers were arrested moments after their crime, were quickly tried and convicted, and are in jail for life. Not so with Lawrence's murderers.

Oh yes, I forgot, he was white and they were black therefore the entire black community bears responsibility for the crime.

[Youngian]

Mrs Rigby hasn’t been silent about political nutbags using her son’s murder for their agendas.

[davidjay]

Nothing shows respect for a grieving mother more than ignoring her wishes.

[Youngian]

Meta (aka Facebook) are talking about launching a Twitter rival called Threads which has raised eyebrows in the UK.
Former Sheffield MP Nick Clegg grew up in the early 80s but who listens to him?

[Bones McCoy]

Facebook would do better to sort out their bullshit algorithm.

For almost a month my feed has been packed with Loyalist flute bands and bonfires.
I don't think I've shown any interest in either of those "cultural traditions".

I click the "Don't show me" option on all of them, and next visit, a whole lot more.

[Yug]

Meanwhile, me, who was following several pipe bands*, now get none at all in my feed, and now have to go looking for them again.


* I like the bagpipes, me. When played by people who know what they're doing.

[Andy McDandy]

Same here. Tory MPs, anti-woke crap, far right groups, and Laurence bloody Fox. Blocking away and they're like hydra heads.

[Malcolm Armsteen]

Meanwhile, me, who was following several pipe bands*, now get none at all in my feed, and now have to go looking for them again.


* I like the bagpipes, me. When played by people who know what they're doing.

The lament (Sleep, Dearie, Sleep) played at the late Queen's funeral was one of the most moving things I've seen/heard in years.

[Bones McCoy]

Now that Farage's original story is discredited, the trolls are leading with "What about all those other cases?"

They as short on detail as ever.

[Spoonman]

[Bones McCoy]

World's greatest businessman turns out to be imbecile.

[Abernathy]

World's greatest businessman turns out to be imbecile.

Wasn't that supposed to be Trump ?

[Yug]

It's not "Highlander". There can be more than one.

[Bones McCoy]

It's not "Highlander". There can be more than one.

Nice segue from the earlier bagpipes theme.