tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6496460488742488789.post5058147155562207318..comments2024-03-18T10:29:46.055+00:00Comments on Ken Armstrong Writing Stuff: Ain’t Got No SpitKen Armstronghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07775956557261111127noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6496460488742488789.post-9906976099070206092017-01-23T14:18:57.720+00:002017-01-23T14:18:57.720+00:00I don’t think that social media is simply a waste ...I don’t think that social media is simply a waste of time, Ken, I actually think it’s detrimental to our health. Almost all my Facebook friends are writers and when I first came online I felt like I was in some kind of paradise surrounded by people who were like me and liked me for being the me I liked to be. All that’s changed. Every day I have to wade through shit to see if there’s anything uplifting, anything joyous and there usually is but by the time I get to it the damage has been done. I love the new one: alternative facts. Wonderful. Just wonderful. Trust is not especially fragile, it’ll weather more than a few storms, but once it’s broken things can never be the same again. In this post-truth world no one trusts what they read or even what they see. It’s depressing. No, I don’t think depression covers it. The word I’m looking for is grief. We’re in mourning. For the truth. There were a lot of deaths in 2016. I guess that one slipped by unnoticed. <br /><br />I read somewhere—somewhere on Facebook—that Trump isn’t the problem, he’s a symptom and that really does hit the nail on the head because if you stopped reading the American news and only suck to what’s going on in your own backyard you can’t help but feel the same. Who can you trust? You don’t trust sharks for starters. I’ve never understood people who allow themselves to be lowered into the ocean to watch sharks. I understand why professionals would take an interest but not ordinary blokes like us. <br /><br />I’m about the least political person on the planet. About the only thing that interests me less is sport. But I always thought that democracy was a good idea and communism was a good idea on paper. I’m not sure what form of government we have in the west these days but it’s veering dangerously close to mobocracy. And mobs scare me <i>way</i> more than sharks. Jim Murdochhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786388638146471193noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6496460488742488789.post-10231969317250205182017-01-22T16:41:05.541+00:002017-01-22T16:41:05.541+00:00Hi K, You're right, the protests have been upl...Hi K, You're right, the protests have been uplifting and also quite effective I think.Ken Armstronghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07775956557261111127noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6496460488742488789.post-20771120344898316242017-01-22T15:35:42.458+00:002017-01-22T15:35:42.458+00:00Only a few hours in to my 'down in the cage...Only a few hours in to my 'down in the cage' endeavour and, already, I have to think again. I conveniently forgot that Social Media is a time waster of the highest order and to open oneself to every Tom, Dick, Harry or Dick (there's a lot of Dicks) is not a very good idea.<br /><br />I'll go down in the cage, see what the shark is doing and shout about him where necessary. Then, for continued sanity, I will get the hell back to the surface and breathe deeply. Ken Armstronghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07775956557261111127noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6496460488742488789.post-64020046513245757232017-01-22T14:33:34.382+00:002017-01-22T14:33:34.382+00:00I have spit, but I was brought up being told it wa...I have spit, but I was brought up being told it was rude to spit. Although I'm not sure the shark pays mind to manners. So far I am impressed at the wonderful mass protests I have witnessed world/oceanwide conducted with respect and solidarity. It has given me hope that the Brodeys among us may just beat the shark. XCherrymorellohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15308316780365450076noreply@blogger.com