The h2g2 Post 18.11.19
Created | Updated Nov 17, 2019
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We're Here Because...
When we let politicians force us (or trick us) into thinking in terms of old vs young, left vs right, gay vs straight, male vs female, black vs white, we become easier to divide and conquer. My apologies to the Twitter user who wrote that, because I forgot to get his username before the feed scrolled on and I lost it in the furiously-growing tweet pile. But these are wise words – even wiser if we replace the word 'politicians' with 'media outlets/'influencers'/loudmouth internet trolls/etc. The occasion of the comment was something that happened on US Twitter one weekend. It seems the media here were making a big deal of the meme 'OK Boomer', which was being used by (presumably younger) commenters to refer disparagingly to the opinions of older commenters. One entire hashtag thread consisted of really bad life advice allegedly given by 'Boomers'. Personally, I found this suspicious, because although the advice was really bad, it sounded more like the things our Depression-Era parents said to us than something that would (or should) come out of the mouths of those born after the Second World War. But what do I know? Maybe some of my contemporaries were channeling their inner Ward Cleaver1. Anyway, some of the tweeting got kind of nasty. It became obvious, to me, at least, that many, many people harbour resentment at their parents (no surprise there), and that many older people resent being lumped in with the dummies and essentially told that the rest of the planet is waiting for them to die, already, so that the world can become a better place. Whatever happened to Teach your children well. Oh, heck, that was fifty years ago. Nothing good is that old, right? The reason I appreciated the tweet I started with was that it was exactly what I was thinking. 'Hey, some jerk wants to divide us again: old, young, nerds, jocks, bikers, pedestrians, coffee drinkers vs tea drinkers….' I hate that. Diversity isn't a word to me, it's what makes life worthwhile. That's why I like h2g2. Somewhere on the internet, there has to be a place where everybody gets together. Where our places of residence merely give us the opportunity to run out and take pictures everybody else wants to see (thanks again for that Eiffel Tower, Superfrenchie!). Where our different ages, hobbies, professions, and nationalities mean we are privy to information that others may be able to use. That's why we're writing the Guide. So let social media rant on. We'll just keep doing our thing. That's why we're here. Speaking of here, there's a lot going on in this issue. Here's a brief list: 
And that's all I had to say about that. Read this week's issue, and have a productive and enjoyable week!
Quote of the Week: We are all hats. But some of us are being worn. | ||||
| ENCOUNTERING NATURE | |
EXPLORING THE MIND | |
Old-fashioned cinema. |
Where are they going? |
Snoozing. |
What are the monsters about? (II) |
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LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION | |
What's the message? |
FOIA follies. |
Wildlife newsreel. |
All Good Gifts. |
| COLOURFUL IMPRESSIONS | |
| STORIES | |
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'That' Tower by Night. |
The home of the h2g2 Post team
1If you don't know who Ward Cleaver was, be glad.2Who?
