I've Had Enough

I've had enough. Like many people, I've toyed with the thought of deleting my Facebook account. Earlier this week, in a spur-of-the-moment decision, I decided to toy no more and did it. More accurately, I stopped short of deleting it and deactivated it instead. Not deleting it gives me continued access to Messenger, where I can still connect with friends.

Perhaps it was the algorithm I had cultivated, but maybe not. I used to manage a Facebook page that I started a while back as a tribute to a lighted oak tree in Bloomington. I let the page go dormant for years and was shocked when I looked at it a few months ago and found that it had been overrun with hard-right propaganda accounts. I've heard of this happening before. A quick search shows it's not uncommon for that to happen. 

My experience of late on the platform shows a trend toward more racist and hateful comments, especially on pages for local TV stations, where the comments are primarily from residents of the metro area. No doubt, some of the interaction comes from bots, but regardless, if Facebook isn't going to try to police it, I have no use for it. I was getting the same ugly vibes on Facebook that I got on Twitter a few years ago after Musk took it over. It became a cesspool of intolerance and racism. I have no use for that. It's also not lost on me that I can easily turn the hate off, while others aren't so fortunate because of the color of their skin. They have to live with it every day. 

It's possible I'll take my Facebook account out of hibernation at some point, but I don't see that happening anytime soon. I may make an exception, though, when the fascist and likely child-rapist finally exits this life, to give him a heartfelt sendoff I've already crafted. I give him three months, tops. He's not looking well.

We took a trip out to Las Vegas with some friends last month to see The Wizard of Oz at The Sphere. I didn't realize they had taken entire scenes and rearranged them with AI—the tornado scene comes to mind. I've since learned that some people are unhappy about using AI to adapt the film for the venue's 360ยบ screen, which meant adding elements to each scene that weren't there before. We're not purists, and none of us were bothered by it. It was an immersive and impressive show that left us all in awe. I had high hopes going into the show, but even those were blown away by the experience. If you have an opportunity to see it, take it! You won't be sorry you did. 

While we were in Las Vegas, we kept seeing a funny sort of vehicle, unlike any we'd seen before. We soon realized they were self-driving cars. Tammy and I took rides in them twice, with a forty-minute wait each time before it arrived. The driverless cars are called Zoox, and they're a subsidiary of Amazon. They're being tested in 7 other states, but are used only by the general public in the Las Vegas area. They're on a short leash of just a few miles for now, and they're free to use. Neither of us was hesitant about riding in them. 

Tammy and I went with friends, Jay and Cindy, yesterday to visit the memorials to Renee Good and Alex Pretti in South Minneapolis. Jay is a minister and is very involved in working with the Muslim community (not in an effort to convert them, but to bring people closer together). He brought us through the Karmel Halal Market, where shops there cater to people from East Africa, primarily Somalia. I was struck by how friendly the people were towards us. I expected them to be a little suspicious of our presence, considering the attack the Somali people have been under, both on social media and by ICE thugs as they target them and others, but they were exceedingly warm and welcoming. I wish more people could experience what we did yesterday. Here are some photos from the day.

We also drove to Powderhorn Park, where there was a memorial service for Renee Good and others who have been killed by Trump's administration. As we were leaving the park, we were trying to climb a fairly steep and snow-covered hill. I was trying to help Tammy up, but we were both slipping. A young Somali man came down toward us and reached out his hand to help Tammy up the hill. That's the kindness I'm talking about. It put a bow on our experience.

Well said.

That's all I've got.

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