Probably an unpopular opinion, but...

[primroseburrows]

...my take on the whole LJ/Six Apart/SUP panic?

Alaska is melting. Oh, and Georgia is baking.

IMO, it's all about perspective. To quote the esteemed and precociously wise Linus Van Pelt, "Five hundred years from now, who'll know the difference?"

Now I'm going to bed. i_am_a_hannah is coming home tomorrow and I must get things ready before work. Must sleep NOW.

Comments

[moonlight69]

*deletes somewhat ranty comment*

I like Peanuts.

[primroseburrows.livejournal.com]

Like I said, it's an unpopular opinion. ;)

[moonlight69]

It's not so much that as it just...doesn't really make sense to me. Are you saying that because one is a concern the other shouldn't be?

[primroseburrows.livejournal.com]

I absolutely think it's a concern, I'm just trying to put things into perspective. It's a concern, and a valid one, but it's not a disaster, which from some of the posts I've been reading, a lot of LJ-land thinks it is. LJ isn't the only fish in the sea.

[moonlight69]

I guess I just don't have the same people friended as you do. No one has seemed in dire meltdown panic mode on my flist, so I don't have the same perspective.

[primroseburrows.livejournal.com]

I've read a lot of honest-to-gods conversation, which is a Good Thing, don't get me wrong. But there's been some histrionics, too. It happened when Six Apart came in, too, and it ended up more annoying than catastrophic.

Having said that, I didn't much like having to stick my birth year up on my profile to join a community. LJ is getting Big Brother-y, but on a much, much smaller scale than say, the United States Government.

[neonnurse.livejournal.com]

I'm right there with you. And to expand a little, it's not so much perspective as proportion. I'm not saying people shouldn't get upset by threats to their enjoyable pastimes. But just imagine if the public in general put in a tenth as much energy towards fixing real actual genuine problems that threaten their lives and the lives of those they love, as they do on Harry Potter kerfluffles and pro football games and such....

What a world THAT would be, as a kinda smart guy has mused before. :)

[primroseburrows.livejournal.com]

But just imagine if the public in general put in a tenth as much energy towards fixing real actual genuine problems that threaten their lives and the lives of those they love, as they do on Harry Potter kerfluffles and pro football games and such

*nods vigorously* I love the First Amendment, it's one of the only uniquely American ideals left for which I can still feel pride. I hate censorship and age statements and silly ticky things that say HERE BE PORN, BEWARE (I had to put the year I was born on my profile to join a comm, wtf?),and if someone is given a hard time for their art, that sucks and I'd absolutely offer to help them in any way I can. But LJ being bought out by some company in Russia isn't a disaster. It's not the extinction of a species. Or a language.

George Bush has now announced that he doesn't care that his spies tell him Iran has stopped its nuclear program, he's going ahead with his evil plans anyway. This is almost exactly what he said about Iraq and WMDs. It looks like we're headed toward yet another battle front and more people are gonna be killed. I don't like all the stuff LJ has been doing, but I can't get too worked up about it when the whole world is coming apart in cataclysmal, maybe even lethal, ways.

[aingeal8c.livejournal.com]

Didn't Russia sell Alaska to the US? Not recently but originally?

[primroseburrows.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it was called Seward's Folly at the time. And then all the white guys came and kicked around a few aboriginals, just like they did everyplace else they went.

[aingeal8c.livejournal.com]

Ah I thought so. I wonder if Russia regret the sale...

[primroseburrows.livejournal.com]

The Inuit probably regret everyone. And it's their homeland that's melting.

Speaking of which, if you want to read something completely amazing, pick up a copy of Ada Blackjack. It's about an Inuit woman from Alaska who was the sole survivor of a party of explorers stranded on a Russian-owned island. There's adventure, survival, and the US, Canada, Britain and Russia all bickering amongst themselves while these poor people waited for rescue. I couldn't put it down.

[aingeal8c.livejournal.com]

Indeed they are the ones who've had the short deal throughout history.

That sounds a wonderful book. I shall be getting hold of a copy.

[primroseburrows.livejournal.com]

It's available from independent sellers at Amazon UK, but I haven't looked to see where else. I found my copy completely randomly when I was browsing around Borders.

[aingeal8c.livejournal.com]

I found a copy on Amazon itself and it is on its way apparently (though judging from the fact I am still waiting on two orders dispatched last week who knows when it will get here).

I am a sucker for historical non-fiction.

[luzula]

I do see what you mean. LJ is a pretty recent thing for me, and I'm not letting it take all my time. I do think fighting for something you believe in is essential and also very rewarding. (Not to say censorship stuff isn't important, but you have to choose what you're going to fight for.) I work a lot with forestry issues in Sweden--we have less than five percent forest left that's relatively unaffected by logging, and obviously that leads to serious extinction problems. The best part is when you're actually out in the forest doing inventories and stuff, but there's also a lot of administrative stuff that needs doing (accounting, *sigh*).

Oh, and would you be willing to beta something short and Caroline-related for me? It's not quite finished yet, though...

[primroseburrows.livejournal.com]

I work a lot with forestry issues in Sweden--we have less than five percent forest left that's relatively unaffected by logging, and obviously that leads to serious extinction problems.

Sounds like really interesting work, despite the number-crunching part.

I think that the way LJ has morphed into an ersatz babysitter is ridiculous and annoying, and people have a right to be concerned and thinking about other options. I won't be surprised, though, if it turns out to be the latest tempest in the LJ teapot.

*edits to add stuff*

Oh, and yes, I'd love to beta some Caroline. *g*

[ceilidh]

It's very likely that you see more outrage on LJ about LJ things because it's the site of the controversy. I'm a huge arts education advocate, that's MY big issue, but you won't see as much about that on my LJ than I do in real life, because it will actually do more good ranting about it in real life than on my LJ. I'm certainly not going to rant about LJ in real life as I'd prefer my co-workers, etc, not to even know I have an LJ.

[primroseburrows.livejournal.com]

I'm certainly not going to rant about LJ in real life as I'd prefer my co-workers, etc, not to even know I have an LJ.

Hehee. You have a point. Ranting is good, I rant all the time here.

Most people know I have a LJ, but most of my co-workers have never heard of it so they don't go searching, and even if they did, they'd chalk it up to just another eccentricity because they think I'm amusingly weird. *g*

[patchfire.livejournal.com]

AJC has a whole drought section. Check out the pictures, they're freaky.

Yay for Hannah coming home! :D Did she like Oz?

[primroseburrows.livejournal.com]

She's not home yet and I just woke up. I had to call in sick so I could get all the stuff done. She won't be home until after midnight, though.

*rain dances in your direction*

[ruthless1.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much for adding perspective to the hysteria that's going around. It's good to be reminded of this every once in awhile.

[primroseburrows.livejournal.com]

Sometimes I think that people like to make mountains out of molehills to help them forget that there are real mountains that might actually fall on them.

I'm sure I've done the same thing a time or two.

In conclusion, Geoffrey Tennant: