Goodness, Gracious, Great Ball(ard)s of Fire!!!!

[zil2]

20 hours ago, Backroads said:

Reddit

16 hours ago, Vort said:

Reddit

1 hour ago, NeuroTypical said:

Reddit

r/fountainpens - it's the place to show off your new pen, new ink, new notebook, and how one or more matches your keyboard / hair / nail polish / wallet / car / dice / etc.  Alternately, you can get good newbie help, or help figuring out why your pen isn't writing well.  Everyone will be happy to encourage you to spend more money on fountain pen stuff.  And you'll get to vote on the color and name for the annual Diamine (that's an ink-making company) r/fountainpens ink.

r/Fountain_Pen_Cats shouldn't need any explanation.

[LDSGator]

12 minutes ago, zil2 said:

r/fountainpens - it's the place to show off your new pen, new ink, new notebook, and how one or more matches your keyboard / hair / nail polish / wallet / car / dice / etc.  Alternately, you can get good newbie help, or help figuring out why your pen isn't writing well.  Everyone will be happy to encourage you to spend more money on fountain pen stuff.  And you'll get to vote on the color and name for the annual Diamine (that's an ink-making company) r/fountainpens ink.

r/Fountain_Pen_Cats shouldn't need any explanation.

A lot of LDS use the LDS reddit page to bond with other believers. Especially if they don’t really gel with their ward. 

[zil2]

2 minutes ago, LDSGator said:

A lot of LDS use the LDS reddit page to bond with other believers. Especially if they don’t really gel with their ward. 

There are a lot of Church-related subs.  I can't say I've spent much time in any of them.  When I've gone to peruse recent posts, nothing jumped out as especially appealing.  And, frankly, in my experience, fountain pen people are nicer than even members of the Church.  (Probably because we don't talk politics or religion, but still.)

[LDSGator]

Just now, zil2 said:

can't say I've spent much time in any of them.

Oh same here. Just what I have heard. 

[Backroads]

On 10/12/2023 at 7:39 PM, Vort said:

I don't believe anything I read on Reddit. Partially, this is because I don't read Reddit (which is because I prefer not to bathe in raw sewage). But any time I see a Reddit story, it immediately goes into my "very likely false and ridiculously sensationalized" bin. Redditers just make stuff up out of whole cloth, and people swallow it and come back asking for more.

I'm in the weird mix of "Eh, I enjoy a good story" and take everything with a salt lick, and "I've seen more than my share of crazy in reality" that I don't necessarily dismiss everything. Still got that salt lick of doubt, though.

[Just_A_Guy]

I’m currently involved in a high-ish profile case at work that has developed quite a Reddit following, which I’ve been keeping a jaundiced eye on (but not posting to, obviously).  As it pertains to our case I’ve seen precisely one Reddit post that was sheer brilliance (and which very slightly affected the trajectory of the case), a couple dozen that were marginally insightful—and the other few hundred posts were nearly all utter nonsense (but still entertaining in their own way).

Edited October 18, 2023 by Just_A_Guy

[mirkwood]

43 minutes ago, Just_A_Guy said:

and the other few hundred posts were nearly all utter nonsense (but still entertaining in their own way).

Like reading ksl.com comments on police activity...

[prisonchaplain]

1 hour ago, Just_A_Guy said:

—and the other few hundred posts were nearly all utter nonsense 

When we can't dazzle them with our brilliance, we're left to baffle them with our baloney. 😉

Edited October 18, 2023 by prisonchaplain

[Backroads]

11 hours ago, Just_A_Guy said:

I’m currently involved in a high-ish profile case at work that has developed quite a Reddit following, which I’ve been keeping a jaundiced eye on (but not posting to, obviously).  As it pertains to our case I’ve seen precisely one Reddit post that was sheer brilliance (and which very slightly affected the trajectory of the case), a couple dozen that were marginally insightful—and the other few hundred posts were nearly all utter nonsense (but still entertaining in their own way).

Now I'm trying to figure out which local-ish case this is.

[Backroads]

11 hours ago, mirkwood said:

Like reading ksl.com comments on police activity...

Like KSL comments aren't the beacon of insight? 

[zil2]

27 minutes ago, Backroads said:

... beacon ...

You know you haven't had breakfast yet when you see bacon everywhere...

[NeuroTypical]

Folks are so resistant to the notion that sex trafficking of children happens a lot.   Here's what the UN has to say about global slavery: 

Compared to 2016 global estimates, 10 million more people were in modern slavery in 2021, with women and children disproportionately vulnerable.

Modern slavery occurs in almost every country in the world and cuts across ethnic, cultural and religious lines.

More than half of all forced labour and a quarter of all forced marriages can be found in upper-middle-income or high-income countries.

Eighty-six per cent of forced labour cases are found in the private sector, with forced commercial sexual exploitation representing 23 per cent – almost four out of five victims of whom are females.

State-imposed forced labour accounts for 14 per cent, of which nearly one in eight, or 3.3 million, are children.

More than half are in commercial sexual exploitation.

https://www.un.org/en/delegate/50-million-people-modern-slavery-un-report

So, doing some math, 10 million times .23 = 2.3 million child slaves.   They don't give the stats of how many of those are "forced commercial sexual exploitation" or "forced marriage", but it's hard to hold the opinion that it never happens, or so rarely it doesn't justify thinking or acting on.   

[Ironhold]

1 hour ago, NeuroTypical said:

Folks are so resistant to the notion that sex trafficking of children happens a lot.   Here's what the UN has to say about global slavery: 

Compared to 2016 global estimates, 10 million more people were in modern slavery in 2021, with women and children disproportionately vulnerable.

Modern slavery occurs in almost every country in the world and cuts across ethnic, cultural and religious lines.

More than half of all forced labour and a quarter of all forced marriages can be found in upper-middle-income or high-income countries.

Eighty-six per cent of forced labour cases are found in the private sector, with forced commercial sexual exploitation representing 23 per cent – almost four out of five victims of whom are females.

State-imposed forced labour accounts for 14 per cent, of which nearly one in eight, or 3.3 million, are children.

More than half are in commercial sexual exploitation.

https://www.un.org/en/delegate/50-million-people-modern-slavery-un-report

So, doing some math, 10 million times .23 = 2.3 million child slaves.   They don't give the stats of how many of those are "forced commercial sexual exploitation" or "forced marriage", but it's hard to hold the opinion that it never happens, or so rarely it doesn't justify thinking or acting on.   

The issue is that because a number of right-wing groups were going hardcore about conspiracies regarding child trafficking and prominent individuals, there are a lot of left-wing outlets, like Rolling Stone, who dismiss *all* discussion of the matter as conspiracy theory when it is in fact a real issue. 

This dismissal, in turn, leads the folks on the right to suspect that these outlets are covering something up, especially since some of these same outlets praised the film "Cuties". 

That's the issue.

[prisonchaplain]

It's so sad to me that so many adults--especially men--and too often ministers--fall prey to sexual temptation. My own fellowship had a terrible season in the late 1980s with the two Jimmies. More recently, Christian apologist Ravi Zacharias had terrible revelations about him immediately following his death. It's terrible when adults abuse adults--even worse when they abuse children. I really have nothing to add. It's all so sad. I believe redemption is possible--even from these crimes. It's why I do what I do. Nevertheless, this stuff is so heart wrenching. 😢

[LDSGator]

7 minutes ago, prisonchaplain said:

Christian apologist Ravi Zacharias

That was both stunning and devastating to read about. He was an excellent apologist. 

[NeuroTypical]

16 hours ago, LDSGator said:

16 hours ago, prisonchaplain said:

Christian apologist Ravi Zacharias

That was both stunning and devastating to read about. He was an excellent apologist. 

I was sad to hear about that as well.  Back in 2004, Ravi was the first evangelical leader to speak in our Tabernacle in over 100 years. 

[LDSGator]

20 hours ago, NeuroTypical said:

I was sad to hear about that as well.  Back in 2004, Ravi was the first evangelical leader to speak in our Tabernacle in over 100 years. 

We are all human and we all make mistakes-but his scandal was like a punch in the stomach to me. I always admired the guy. Life continues. 

[Ironhold]

1 hour ago, LDSGator said:

We are all human and we all make mistakes-but his scandal was like a punch in the stomach to me. I always admired the guy. Life continues. 

As an entertainment writer, one thing I sometimes have to deal with is the legacy of high-profile figures and their respective scandals. 

For example, I'm part of the generation that grew up seeing Bill Cosby on television. We watched both Fat Albert and The Cosby Show regularly, and we acquired his "Himself" comedy show on both audio cassette and DVD. We also have a few of his books hanging around somewhere. Now we know that he was, shall we say, far from the fatherly figure he depicted on television and that his son may have been killed because of it. So while he revolutionized a great many things about American television, he was also not a good person in the way most people would evaluate things. 

Fabulous Moolah was both a pioneering figure in women's professional wrestling and a sex trafficker who prostituted her trainees out to people she could get favors from. 

Voice actor and comedian Chris Latta turned in numerous influential performances in the 1980s and very early 1990s... but was if hints and allegations are true living a toxic personal life that contributed to his premature death. 

Et cetera. 

[NeuroTypical]

TBH, I'm not exactly unhappy that The Flash's Ezra Miller has fallen from grace.  My kiddo was idolizing him and his woke nonbinary nonageist lifestyle.   Watching him get arrested constantly, and his 12 yr old love interest's family need to get restraining orders against him, may have soured my offspring on the whole 'all love is love, everything everyone does is ok, only bigots disagree' stuff.

[LDSGator]

12 minutes ago, Ironhold said:

an entertainment writer, one thing I sometimes have to deal with is the legacy of high-profile figures and their respective scandals. 

Everyone deals with this, not just entertainment writers. 

[LDSGator]

14 minutes ago, NeuroTypical said:

TBH, I'm not exactly unhappy that The Flash's Ezra Miller has fallen from grace.  My kiddo was idolizing him and his woke nonbinary nonageist lifestyle.   Watching him get arrested constantly, and his 12 yr old love interest's family need to get restraining orders against him, may have soured my offspring on the whole 'all love is love, everything everyone does is ok, only bigots disagree' stuff.

I think every kid needs a moment like this where they realize their heroes aren’t always heroes. 

[Carborendum]

28 minutes ago, Ironhold said:

For example, I'm part of the generation that grew up seeing Bill Cosby on television. We watched both Fat Albert and The Cosby Show regularly, and we acquired his "Himself" comedy show on both audio cassette and DVD. We also have a few of his books hanging around somewhere. Now we know that he was, shall we say, far from the fatherly figure he depicted on television and that his son may have been killed because of it. So while he revolutionized a great many things about American television, he was also not a good person in the way most people would evaluate things. 

Perhaps this is a perfect example of the kind of "grudge" that Christians tend to hold, where we could learn a lesson from the Jews.

A very common phrase that is used a whole lot more among Jews than among Christians: "Nobody's perfect."

We see someone like Cosby fall from grace.  Then he is all-of-a-sudden anathema.  No one wants to mention them.  No one wants to be reminded of how hard they laughed at his talk about the drunk and the toilet bowl or "Grandpa is old and trying to get into heaven now."

But Jews still praise what King David did to build Israel into a great nation, while condemning what King David did in his personal life.  What are they going to do?  Deny what he did?  It's written in scriptures for crying out loud.

Edited November 16, 2023 by Carborendum

[Ironhold]

1 hour ago, Carborendum said:

Perhaps this is a perfect example of the kind of "grudge" that Christians tend to hold, where we could learn a lesson from the Jews.

A very common phrase that is used a whole lot more among Jews than among Christians: "Nobody's perfect."

We see someone like Cosby fall from grace.  Then he is all-of-a-sudden anathema.  No one wants to mention them.  No one wants to be reminded of how hard they laughed at his talk about the drunk and the toilet bowl or "Grandpa is old and trying to get into heaven now."

But Jews still praise what King David did to build Israel into a great nation, while condemning what King David did in his personal life.  What are they going to do?  Deny what he did?  It's written in scriptures for crying out loud.

The problem is that a lot of people nowadays don't understand nuance. They want the world divided into a binary system where you're either "good" or "bad". This complicates efforts to evaluate people from history. 

[LDSGator]

It’s not a a new issue. Dickens is one of the greatest novelists of all time but had a “highly questionable character.” I’m sure people struggled with the same things back in his time