It had been over three years since I’d had a run-in with the Facebots. That streak ended a month ago, when I shared a meme that I myself found misleading, and I accompanied it with correct (or more correct) information.
I got dinged three weeks later for sharing a misleading meme. (Never mind the correction I posted with it.) I was cited for “false information and physical harm.”
Wait — what? Physical harm? The subject of the meme was EVs, for cryin’ out loud.
You can’t make this shit up.
After publishing yesterday’s Ubi Libertas Blog post, “Rain, Beryl?” I went through my ritual of sharing the link to my personal Facebook page and another page I manage, plus X and Truth Social. Strangely (and immediately), ‘bots deleted my Facebook posts.
Deb tried, too, and her shares likewise were removed. The reason?
“It looks like you tried to get likes, follows, shares or video views in a misleading way. This goes against our Community Standards on spam.”
I have no idea what that’s about. Read the post for yourself — spam? Seriously?
Several of my friends speculated that it was because I used the words “Ridge” and “Ruby” next to each other. I’ve invoked that same place-name in a half-dozen other blog posts over the last two years, without issue, so I don’t buy that theory.
Just as I never learned why my previous Facebook profile (which I’d had for 12 years) was nuked unceremoniously in January of 2021 — a week after the current occupant of the Oval Office was installed — I’m sure I’ll never know why “Rain, Beryl?” was removed.
It reminds me a lot of something that unfolded in my professional life, over 25 years ago now. One day I was summoned to HR and accused of “harassment” and “intimidation” of one of the people on the team I managed. I never was told who complained, nor did I ever find out what, exactly, I had done to prompt such a formal reprimand.
Strictly confidential. Sign here.
I mean, it’s not like these people, their pansy-ass policies and their algorithms are governed by the Sixth Amendment or anything, right?
“How come everyone thinks I’m paranoid? You discuss this behind my back, don’t you?”
Danny Zimmer (Jack Weston), The Four Seasons (1981)
These days, I know for a fact that I’m being watched. Closely. I have incontrovertible evidence of that. Though I never hesitate to speak my mind, I measure my words carefully before publishing them.
(That, by the way, is what’s called “knowing your ass from a hole in the ground.”)
But a perfectly reasonable question lingers — with all of Facebook‘s censorship, arbitrary restrictions and bullshit “standards,” why am I still there?
I’ve been successful, for the most part, in using Ubi Libertas Blog to hold nannies and ‘bots at arm’s length. By posting largely innocuous links to much more unequivocal content, I don’t attract nearly the scrutiny that I would by saying my piece directly.
More important, I derive a certain perverse personal satisfaction from using a tool of the anti-American Left to oppose its interests. I take great pride in exploiting vulnerabilities in my enemies’ tactics and strategy, essentially turning their own weapons against them.
Lovers of Liberty may not want to admit it, but Facebook can be an effective “force multiplier” in disseminating The Truth. It just can’t be done crudely or clumsily.
And that’s why I’m still on there.
“I swear by my life and my love of it that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine.”
John Galt, from Atlas Shrugged (1957)
This morning’s overcast skies were something I’d been looking forward to. There would be no sun beating down on the camper and the cabin, trying to turn them into ovens. Those clouds foreshadowed the rain (and storms) that are supposed to come to The Mountain over the next 36 hours.
Forecasters are in general agreement that we’re gonna get wet. Beryl is moving faster and tracking more to the east than was predicted originally, which will affect what we’ll see and for how long.
The first of the outer bands reached us around 1:30pm CDT. At that time, the main body of the system was in southeast Texas, still over 400 miles away.
By the time Deb got Home from work, our rain gauge registered a quarter-inch. That’s only the beginning.
Looking at the official forecast for tonight and tomorrow, one particular word stood out. Where usually I see “possible” (preceding the amount of precipitation predicted), today the word was the more certain “expected.”
As in, “3 to 5 inches expected” tonight and “2 to 3 inches expected” tomorrow. We’re high and dry on the homestead, but I suspect that things will get interesting between now and Wednesday morning.
Take care of yourselves, Patriots. Stay calm. Stay sharp. Stay free.
#WiseUp #LibertyOrDeath #Ungovernable
#LetsGoBrandon #FJB