SpinozasHeresy @SpinozasHeresy@qoto.org

1/ Someone asked, "How can basic HTML pages be social media -- and create something resembling the public square?" So here's a thread 🧵

If you were not around to witness the early web, let me explain what it was like.

During the 90s, most websites just used HTML. CSS and JavaScript existed in the latter part of the decade, but they were entirely optional.

The appeal of the web wasn't "rich media". Again, that came later.

What made the web exciting is what also made it social: hyperlinking

Within minutes of tweeting about Mastodon, my tweet was flagged.

@rvawonk RW-ers are so convinced that everyone hates "the other" as much as they do that chaos will automatically result in a "race war". The only people waging such a thing are RW-ers against the rest of us. The rest of us know exactly who the problem is here.

Hello, Mastodon! My #introduction: I've worn a lot of hats in my life, but right now, I'm agitating and organizing for the democratic populist rebellion as I approach my 80th (!) year of life here in Texas. I've been the Ag Commissioner of Texas, editor of @TexasObserver, a NYT best selling author, a radio show host & a podcaster, and more. Also: beer fan & foodie. You can win me over with a solid, local IPA and good eats any day of the week. ✊

@tofugolem @RadicalWoman111 @antonioserrata

Check out this video clip from @HowardMortman at C-SPAN on #birdsite. They show distain very publicly.

During Congressional Gold Medal ceremony for Jan. 6 police, representatives of those receiving awards shake hands with Schumer then walk past McConnell and McCarthy.

https://twitter.com/howardmortman/status/1600166569807872000?s=46&t=btFHJAq3HNuuOU0Y5rspHw

@tofugolem @RadicalWoman111 @antonioserrata

Political strategist @RachelBitecofer over on #birdsite — haven’t seen her on Mastodon yet — believes the #MAGA #GOP should be mercilessly mocked for all their fascist-wannabe BS agitprop. Combining the mocking with stating truth. Sort of sounds like the direct opposite of GOP’s lies and incitement to division. Hakeem Jeffries just might be very adept at this.

.@glenn_a_fine@twitter.com, former IG at BOTH DOJ and DOD, weighs in @TheAtlantic@twitter.com with a strong case for making the Justices' ethical requirements formalized and no longer up to the Justices themselves.
The Supreme Court Needs Real Oversight https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/12/supreme-court-ginni-thomas-january-6-ethics-oversight/672357/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2022/12/oral-arguments-colorado-wedding-alito-incomprehensible.html

I've been thinking a lot about Twitter and failure lately. And the absurdist Gladiator spectacle that we're all watching. I decided to turn it into a blog post: https://zephoria.medium.com/what-if-failure-is-the-plan-2f219ea1cd62

For #AcademicToots #AcademicMastodon I’m wondering if universities established dot edu masto instances that we adopted, this could supplant paid #BlueCheck #BlueTick verifications as a de facto employer verification in the #Fediverse, at least for our sector.

I make street art to make people smile - Art by Rudy Willingham

Follow Rudy Willingham on Instagram and TikTok: @rudy_willingham
Music: Lovely Day by Rocky Dawuni
"I make street art to make people smile" #art #streetart #mastodon #funny

#WhoGoesNazi read this piece, written by the first female journalist to be expelled from Nazi Germany, #DorothyThompson she sets the reader up at a gala. Each person we meet is a letter of the alphabet. Which letter would you be most similar to? Your neighbor? Brother? Auntie? (Ps. I don’t know who shared it first, but thank you. It is so helpful to understand the human nature, & background that helps create the #Nazi).

https://harpers.org/archive/1941/08/who-goes-nazi/

Then they came for the surrealists,
And I did not speak out,
Because my tuba was on fire.