Society's Child
© Corey Brickley
The panic attacks started after Chloe watched a man die.
She spent the past three and a half weeks in training, trying to harden herself against the daily onslaught of disturbing posts: the hate speech, the violent attacks, the graphic pornography. In a few more days, she will become a full-time Facebook content moderator, or what the company she works for, a professional services vendor named Cognizant, opaquely calls a "process executive."
For this portion of her education, Chloe will have to moderate a Facebook post in front of her fellow trainees. When it's her turn, she walks to the front of the room, where a monitor displays a video that has been posted to the world's largest social network. None of the trainees have seen it before, Chloe included. She presses play.
Comment: There's obviously a lot going on with this story. Facebooks content moderators are exposed to the worlds' dregs of society on a consistent basis. That's going to be traumatizing in one way or another for most people.
It's true that suffering can also be a mechanism for growth. This is part of what SOTT was designed for. We look at the worst of the worst every day. However, we do for the most part stay away from graphic photos, videos, etc. It's not wise to stare into that abyss. But there can value in processing what is happening throughout the world and working to understand the very many influences at play. We also work to understand the flaws in our thinking, mechanisms of healing, and how our connection with others is essential for getting through this mess. This is very different from 'content moderation' where there is just exposure and arbitrary rules to dance around. And it is all being done in strict isolation.
These people are having their psyche repeatedly wounded with explicit imagery, and then they are being tasked with ruling on what thoughts and information are permissible. This is a horrible combination! Most people don't have the interest to understand ourselves or the world. It's unlikely the executives at Facebook have such a drive; same goes for the average content moderator. And yet, they are at the forefront of regulating information for the users of their technology.
© YouTube / Татар-информ
The bloody patient identified only as Vladimir, 34, was reportedly being treated at the Zelenodolsk central district hospital in Tatarstan on Monday when he insisted on going outside to smoke a cigarette.
Video footage of the heavily intoxicated man shows him wearily walking outside the hospital - against the orders of medical professionals - wearing nothing but his underwear. Worried doctors can be heard telling the patient that this smoke break could be his last, eventually convincing him to come back inside.
© Ruptly
The footage shows a Golfstream business jet as it slides on its side and lands, barely avoiding crashing, in the snow-covered airfield of Sheremetyevo Airport.
The plane, which flew from Azerbaijan's capital, Baku, had five people on board, including three passengers and two crew members. None were injured, media reported.
Anti-Semitic symbols and words were found drawn in chalk on an elementary school yard in New York City. A councilman tweeted the photos last week.
Dozens of swastikas, a Nazi eagle and the words "Hail Hitler" (sic) were found drawn in chalk on the pavement of PS 139's schoolyard Friday morning. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo had directed the State Police Hate Crimes Task Force to assist the New York Police Department in its investigation.
The boy has been released to his mother, Tsourovakas said. Police would not provide further details on the case. The boy is expected to appear in court at a later date to face the charge.
© Dan Rose
Dan Rose and Jessica Starr pose in this undated family photo.
Dan Rose and Jessica Starr pose in this undated family photo.
Now, Starr's family, speaking out for the first time since her death, says they believe Starr's struggles with complications from the eye surgery led to her death.
"Absolutely," Starr's husband, Dan Rose, told ABC News' Paula Faris in an exclusive interview that aired Wednesday on "Good Morning America." "There was nothing else that we can attribute it to."
"She really knew something was not right within a matter of days," Rose added. "She started to complain of incredibly dry eyes. She had almost no night vision. She had starbursts that she was seeing during the day and at night."
© Reuters / Ammar Awad
Palestinian residents look at a section of Israel's West Bank barrier that collapsed
Palestinian residents look at a section of Israel's West Bank barrier that collapsed
Severe rain caused a section of the wall to fall at the Shuafat refugee camp near Anata in East Jerusalem on Wednesday, after the ground it was built on collapsed, revealing a wide open space where the towering concrete stood moments before.
Palestinians are seen celebrating in footage filmed at the wall, with many taking in the new unobscured view of East Jerusalem.
Comment: Trump and other American supporters of a wall on the border with Mexico often cite the Israeli wall as a model. But there's one major difference: the Israeli wall cuts into Palestinian territory. If the U.S. followed Israel's model, it would effectively be annexing Mexican land. But you'll never hear facts like this about Israel from people like Trump or Coulter. Publicly acknowledging Israeli criminality is for the most part verboten.
The 7-year-old boy from Texas who had made a hot chocolate stand to raise money for Trump's wall has now had the $15,000 he raised seized by Venmo who says that they are holding the funds until he turns 18.
The parents of Benton Stevens had helped him set up a hot chocolate stand in a strip mall earlier this month with a large sign that said the proceeds would go to help build a wall on the southern border. In about an hour, the young activist had raised $221 dollars before people complained to the owner of the store where he had set up his stand and they made him take it down.
"I guess some liberals - or whatever you want to call them - they were griping at the owner (of the store) and going in and yelling at him and slamming him on Facebook," Jennifer said.
© Job Creators Network
"The first billboard reads, 'Hey AOC, the Green New Deal Stinks.' The second billboard is just below the first and mocks Ocasio-Cortez's claim that 'farting cows' are a major problem contributing to global warming as mentioned in part of her 'Green New Deal,'" the Job Creators Network said in a press statement. "It also points out that the proposal is estimated to cost anywhere from $51 to $93 trillion dollars. Viewers are directed to the website TheGreenRawDeal.com to learn more information."
"If this Green Raw Deal is enacted, you can kiss the American dream goodbye. It will require a nauseating amount of money to meet the promises and the massive welfare increases called for by this so-called deal," said Alfredo Ortiz, JCN President and CEO. "Small business owners are successful in America due to our country's commitment to free-market policies. The socialist policies in Ocasio-Cortez's plan have no place in America."
© Guillermo Arias/AFP/Getty
Fifty-one percent of Americans say that they would rather have a border wall on America's southern border, compared to 31 percent who say that they want a Green New Deal, according to a poll released by Remington Research Group.
Republicans said that they would prefer a border wall by a 68-point margin, while Independents said that they would prefer a border wall by a two-to-one margin.
Overall, a majority of Americans, or 51 percent, said they oppose a Green New Deal, 51 percent of Democrats support the radical environmental program, while Republicans and Independents overwhelmingly oppose Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's (D-NY) idea outright.
Comment: The Green New Deal contains a list of unfeasible and outlandish proposals that, under the eye of serious scrutiny, don't add up:
- The 10 most insane requirements of the Far Left's Green New Deal
- The Far Left's Green New Deal has more in common with Mao's Cultural Revolution than FDR's New Deal
- The Technocrats and the 'Green New Deal'
- Big money lurks behind the Ocasio-Cortez Green New Deal. Who's really backing it?
- Ocasio-Cortez's 'Green New Deal': A radical mandate for government control of American society
Comment: This issue really cannot be distilled down to a simple explanation that 'government' is not needed. Some form or another is needed. One of the big problems in the US is a lack of accountability within government systems as well as their connections with big business and interest groups. The scale, complexity, and existing structures that hold immense power don't provide any easy solutions. More than likely, the US has some very hard lessons to endure.