Notices by Lydia Conwell :mastodon: (lydiaconwell@todon.nl)

Who had Andrew Lloyd Weber on their bingo card?

#totp

Isaac Asimov critiques Orwell's 1984.

It's an interesting read because it's a critique of a writer by a writer, so there's a lot of picking apart how the 1984 world would (or wouldn't) work.

And he needs a hero. Asimov hates the lack of heroes in 1984, which I kinda liked.

He also rightly points out that the state surveillance wouldn't work without robots or computers. And there are some interesting points made of Orwell's colonial leanings.

I think Asimov is a touch too hard on the book, yet his criticisms seem quite valid. It goes to show that a writer can sort of get it wrong, yet end up creating something that kinda gets it right, and inspires people for generations in a slightly different way.

Another thing I think Asimov misses is the culture of propaganda, an area Orwell worked in. I think the book is good at propaganda techniques.

What's also interesting is that some of the things Asimov is dismissing in 1980, when he wrote the critique, seem very accurate descriptions of the present. So maybe Orwell did get it right?

But I agree that I don't think Orwell was a prescient genius. I think he just happened to write something engaging and meaningful whilst bitching about the Soviet Union.

https://redsails.org/asimov-on-1984/

#Orwell #Asimov #1984 #Writing #Writers

This is an interesting section from the essay. Remind you of any politician?:

"As any politician knows, no evidence of any kind is ever required.

It is only necessary to make a statement — any statement — forcefully enough to have an audience believe it. No one will check the lie against the facts, and, if they do, they will disbelieve the facts. Do you think the German people in 1939 pretended that the Poles had attacked them and started World War II? No! Since they were told that was so, they believed it as seriously as you and I believe that they attacked the Poles."

Since posting things online is an entirely useless and ineffective form of activism, when you post such a statement, it has absolutely no effect on me.

And I don't even get to see your words of wisdom either, so I don't even get to know such a theory, because posting online is worthless.

To make sure I know how useless keyboard activism is, you have to meet me in person in real life and scream it into my face. Only then I will receive the message and be able to act upon it.

So until then ... I'll be waiting.

"Posting online is worthless activism!"

Says, person online.

@aral The guy now revealing the gun now is merely revealing the paradigm that has existed since the end of WW2, just perhaps Europe thought they were willing participating in it.

Messing around with book cover designs and it's interesting how much fonts create a particular impression merely by how they are designed.

Some seem comical, some overly formal, some boring, some seem comical because they are overly formal, and some are formal with a hint of playfulness.

All of this is implied however. They're just letters at the end of the day.

@aral I'd like to boost such things but I've made it one of my rules to never boost youtube.

Although I do post links to blogs with embedded youbtube videos because there's no escaping the tendrils of google.

#DeclassifiedUK | The #Chagos Islands were never #Britain’s to give away

"Yet the most scandalous aspect of the proposed deal is that Britain and the US will continue to operate the military base at all, and deprive the Chagossians of being able to return to Diego Garcia."

https://www.declassifieduk.org/the-chagos-islands-were-never-britains-to-give-away/

#Decolonisation #Labour #UK #US

I like seeing my toots appear on the Federated timeline then disappear down it forever.

It's a bit like flushing the toilet.

#Mastodon
#Fediverse
#FederatedTimeline

@aral I will watch that via Invidious.

Just remember:

When you become famous, your #SocialMedia timeline will be rich pickings for people to quote you on all your incredibly witty observations.

Reading the history of the free software movement is just a series of acronyms that did stuff.

#FOSS

Once, there were dinosaurs.

[End of transmission]

So I've watched half of the Revolution OS documentary and I noticed:

Development of free operating system not favourable to corporations.

GNU is a recursive acronym where the G stands for GNU.

Linux was developed by Linus, which is pronounced Lee-nus but Linux is pronounced Lin-nux.

Bascially, #Linux is for people who like annoying other people, isn't it?

#RevolutionOS

#ChrisHedges | The Empire Self-Destructs

"The dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) — Elon Musk claims is run by “a viper’s nest of radical-left marxists who hate America” — is an example of how these arsonists are clueless about how empires function.

Foreign aid is not benevolent. It is weaponized to maintain primacy over the United Nations and remove governments the empire deems hostile. Those nations in the U.N. and other multilateral organizations who vote the way the empire demands, who surrender their sovereignty to global corporations and the U.S. military, receive assistance. Those who don’t do not."

https://chrishedges.substack.com/p/the-empire-self-destructs

#US #Trump #Elon #Empire

@aral So it's a Lebanese tree, stolen from stolen Lebanese land.

It's a revolting gift from a revolting person to a revolting person.

@aral Nice. A war criminal taking pride in his war crimes.

What that article doesn't say is what type of tree that cross section of truck came from. Is it an olive tree? And is it one of the ancient Palestinian olive trees Israel likes to uproot or burn?

Probably a good tag line for #Mastodon is:

"There's nobody here!"

You know, because no one uses Mastodon.

And anyone thinking of joining you can give them the tag line:

"There's nobody here!"

You know, it'll be a reverse psychology thing. Make them even more curious.

#TheresNobodyHere

I also remember a lot of comedy lager adverts too.

People must have been drinking too much and getting all dirty all the time.

Then they'd help themselves to an array of different breakfast cereals.