[Seth Says] Crit Damage
When people get very drunk and discuss novels, it's called "Lit Crit".
If they discuss a zoo novel they haven't read, it's "Hippo Crit"
"But what if they have a copy in their trunk?" That's irrelephant.
Crits are certainly on my mind this week, and not just because the game I've been playing (Wuthering Waves)(A gacha videogame, not inspired by Emily Bronte) makes it far too difficult to roll gear with the Crit Hit % and Crit Damage I need to actually carry me through the endgame modes. It's critical, so I'm critical.
But mainly crits are on my mind because of the decisions being made about who is allowed to be criticized in what ways.
HEBDO FROM THE OTHER SIDE
This week marks the 10-year anniversary of the Charlie Hebdo shooting, which you may recall was in response to some satirical cartoons about Muhammad. There was a large international response, and people around the world came together and drew Muhammad (some in exceedingly pro forma ways, like saying, "Hey, this asterisk is Muhammad!" --> * ) to agree that no one is granted immunity from being criticized in a cartoon.
But also, this week marks the 1-week anniversary of Washington Post cartoonist Ann Telnaes getting her editorial cartoon spiked, presumably because it depicted Post owner Jeff Bezos (among others) paying tribute at the foot of Trump. Obviously (I hope?) censorship is not the same as murder, but it still seems bad that someone can attempt to point out billionaires brazenly (even more brazenly than usual) enjoying corruption of the "pay to ignore rules" variety, and that that cartoonist can be told, "You can't say that." Less a free press than a purchased press.
My column this week touches on the Ann Telnaes cartoon, as well as Meta's recent debacle making AI profiles:
NEVER META BILLIONAIRE MEDIA MOGUL I LIKED
(In fairness, I have met many charming millionaires.)(But billionaires are a thousand times worse, mathematically)(And a million times worse morally)(maybe a billion times if they also control large media outlets)(small electrical outlets perfectly acceptable)(and perfectly lickable)(don't whiz on the electric fence!)
Facebook has once again gotten worse in various ways, and AI profiles were only last week's. This week saw Zuckerberg removing content moderation policies, since apparently hate speech restrictions, fact-checking, and rules against dehumanizing slurs were getting in the way of his target audience. (And, y'know, conveniently timed with Trump's ascension. If only someone had drawn a cartoon about that sort of thing!)
Musk basically did the same thing on Twitter -- but also won't let people say "cisgender" because he doesn't like the term. So open racism and sexism, totally fine, objective discussion calling out other people's bias, unacceptably disruptive. Dehumanizing slurs, back on the menu, pointing out billionaire corruption, censored. I'll admit, it's very much that type of thing that makes you think that Frank Wilhoit was right when he said, "Conservatism consists of exactly one proposition, to wit: There must be in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect."
(Feel free to make your own "Frank Wilhoit was right" T-shirts.)
HUNKA HUNKA BURNIN UGH
So, California's on fire again.
The awful news is expected to continue. One of my least favorite things about the (now-returning) "modern era" is that it often feels like the news is a Gish Gallop of horrible things. Like, obviously Trump makes it worse, not even in office and already threatening to annex land from America's allies, but even not including him, there's just too much nonsense to even respond to. Obsessing over the endless horrible things I can't do anything about doesn't help, but ignoring everything also seems bad.
I was lamenting this state of affairs to Debbie (always discuss your affairs with your partner!), and she said, "Well, then you should donate." (It's this type of thing responsible for me often telling her, "You're a smarter woman than I am.") So, I donated, and then I wrote this newsletter, and then I'm going to stop doomscrolling and do some more work before bed.
And if I'm productive enough in the next two hours, then I'll have tomorrow off and be able to just play videogames and eat sushi and live my best Friday life. Thanks for reading, back in two weeks with another column, and may you all live your best Friday lives. And me, I'll just be excitedly singing about the sushi I'm going to eat. Which makes Friday night... a salmon-chanted evening.
You may see a stranger (but probably no one much stranger),
Seth