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By The Associated Press

Todays Highlight in History:

On April 9, 1865, Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee surrendered his army to Union Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House in Virginia.

On this date:

In 1413, the coronation of Englands King Henry V took place in Westminster Abbey.

In 1939, Marian Anderson performed a concert at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., after the Black singer was denied the use of Constitution Hall by the Daughters of the American Revolution.

In 1940, during World War II, Germany invaded Denmark and Norway.

In 1942, during World War II, some 75,000 Philippine and American defenders on Bataan surrendered to Japanese troops, who forced the prisoners into what became known as the Bataan Death March; thousands died or were killed en route.

In 1959, NASA presented its first seven astronauts: Scott Carpenter, Gordon Cooper, John Glenn, Gus Grissom, Wally Schirra, Alan Shepard and Donald Slayton. Architect Frank Lloyd Wright, 91, died in Phoenix, Arizona.

In 1968, funeral services, private and public, were held for Martin Luther King Jr. at the Ebenezer Baptist Church and Morehouse College in Atlanta, five days after the civil rights leader was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee.

In 1979, officials declared an end to the crisis involving the Three Mile Island Unit 2 nuclear reactor in Pennsylvania, 12 days after a partial core meltdown.

In 1996, in a dramatic shift of purse-string power, President Bill Clinton signed a line-item veto bill into law. (However, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the veto in 1998.)

In 2003, jubilant Iraqis celebrated the collapse of Saddam Husseins regime, beheading a toppled statue of their longtime ruler in downtown Baghdad and embracing American troops as liberators.

In 2005, Britains Prince Charles married longtime love Camilla Parker Bowles, who took the title Duchess of Cornwall.

In 2009, Mockumentary Parks and Recreation starring Amy Poehler, Nick Offerman and Aziz Ansari debuts on NBC in the US.

In 2010, Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens announced his retirement. (His vacancy was filled by Elena Kagan.)

In 2020, the government reported that 6.6 million people had sought unemployment benefits in the preceding week, bringing the total to 16.8 million in the three weeks since the coronavirus outbreak took hold. The Food and Drug Administration sent a warning letter to conspiracy theorist and radio host Alex Jones, telling him to stop pitching bogus remedies for the coronavirus.

Ten years ago: A Florida special prosecutor said a grand jury would not look into the Trayvon Martin case, leaving the decision of whether to charge the teens shooter in her hands alone. (Prosecutor Angela Corey ended up filing second-degree murder charges against George Zimmerman, who pleaded not guilty, claiming self-defense; Zimmerman was acquitted at trial.)

Five years ago: Suicide bombers struck hours apart at two Coptic churches in northern Egypt, killing 43 people and turning Palm Sunday services into scenes of horror and outrage. Dr. David Dao, a passenger on a United Express flight about to take off for Louisville, Kentucky, was dragged off the plane by security officers at Chicagos OHare International Airport to make room for four airline employees; the incident was captured on video that went viral. (United reached a settlement with Dao.) Sergio Garcia beat Justin Rose in a sudden-death playoff at the Masters for his first major.

One year ago: Britains Prince Philip, husband of Queen Elizabeth II, died at the age of 99; he was Britains longest-serving consort. Hip-hop icon DMX died at a hospital in White Plains, New York, days after suffering what officials called a catastrophic cardiac arrest; the Grammy-nominated rapper and actor was 50. Former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark died in New York at age 93. A trio of Russian and American space travelers launched successfully from Kazakhstan and reached the International Space Station. Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear signed a partial ban on no-knock warrants a year after the fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor. The National Labor Relations Board said workers at an Amazon warehouse in Alabama had voted against forming a union. San Diego Padres right-hander Joe Musgrove pitched the first no-hitter in the teams history, a 3-0 win over the Texas Rangers.

Todays Birthdays: Satirical songwriter and mathematician Tom Lehrer is 94. Actor Michael Learned is 83. Country singer Margo Smith is 80. Actor Dennis Quaid is 68. Comedian Jimmy Tingle is 67. Country musician Dave Innis (Restless Heart) is 63. Talk show host Joe Scarborough is 59. Actor-sports reporter Lisa Guerrero is 58. Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey is 58. Actor Mark Pellegrino is 57. Actor-model Paulina Porizkova is 57. Actor Cynthia Nixon is 56. Rock singer Kevin Martin (Candlebox) is 53. TV personality Sunny Anderson is 47.

Rock singer Gerard Way (My Chemical Romance) is 45. Actor Keshia Knight Pulliam is 43. Rock musician Albert Hammond Jr. (The Strokes) is 42. Actor Charlie Hunnam is 42. Actor Ryan Northcott is 42. Actor Arlen Escarpeta is 41. Actor Jay Baruchel is 40. Actor Annie Funke is 37. Actor Jordan Masterson is 36. Actor Leighton Meester is 36. Actor-singer Jesse McCartney is 35. R&B singer Jazmine Sullivan is 35. Actor Kristen Stewart is 32. Actor Elle Fanning is 24. Rapper Lil Nas X is 23. Actor Isaac Hempstead Wright is 23. Classical crossover singer Jackie Evancho (ee-VAYN-koh) is 22.

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Today in History: Today is Saturday, April 9, the 99th day of 2022. - wausaupilotandreview.com

We scored an exclusive interview with the cast and creators of Woke at WonderCon 2022, and they share when and what got them woke.

Woke Season 2 is currently streaming on Hulu. The series was created by cartoonist and activist Keith Knight and Marshall Todd. The series follows Keef Knight (Lamorne Morris) who is an African-American cartoonist on the verge of mainstream success when an unexpected incident changes his life. Season 2 follows up after he processes the events of Season 1 and pursues his new life direction. But like in the first season, Keef comes to realize he was really unaware of all the problems and issues there are even when you intend to do right.

SPOILERS: Morbius Post-Credits Scen...x

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The show is great and is an unexpectedly light-hearted watch despite the heavy and painfully real issues it covers. A feat achieved, I believe, because everyone involved with the series got woke. Because of their deep understanding of the issues, the systems, and people had to come from a deeply personal understanding. The story and the characters, though played for comedy a lot of times, come off as genuine. So I asked the cast and creatives of Woke

The Illuminerdi: What was your woke moment?

Keith Knight: I would say one of my woke moments was when I was a junior in college. I had a teacher and it was my first black teacher ever. He was an American Literature teacher and he gave us for assignments to read: Ralph Ellison, Richard Wright, Maya Angelou, James Baldwin.

And when someone said, Why are you giving us all Black writers?

He said, Im giving you all American writers.

That was the moment where my comics went from being about keg parties to being about something more.

RELATED: Woke Season 2 Review Doing Right and Doing Good is Messy AF

Lamorne Morris: When McDonalds stopped serving ice cream at 10 oclock DAMN! We got to do something about this! *Everyone Laughs*

No. I used to perform at Second City in Chicago. Sometimes I wore a suit. Then I would park someplace and walk [to the theater]. At the time I was dating a Jewish girl, and my best friend was a Black dude. [We were] walking back to my car, and the police stopped us while walking. As we were walking toward the car they stopped us before we could get to the car and accuse me of stealing the car. And Im wearing a suit. They put my girlfriend to the side because shes screaming and yelling. Its a whole thing. They moved her to the side and asked her, if this was my car.

I was like, I just told you it was my car. These are my keys!

It was a whole situation. And my boy was chilling. My boy was just like this, Thats how it is.

And hes in cuffs, like down, but hes just like, Just chill. G, just chill.

And Im so confused. I was like, How are you? If you just saw the audience I just performed in front of.

Second City is notoriously white.

I was like, Man, I cant believe this. This is one of the weirdest moments of my life.

So, that was an eye-opener for me

Youre still Black!

T. Murph: For me, I think Ive had run-ins with the police in my younger teenage years. Adult years. All that

Lamorne Morris: Thats because youre a criminal. Lamorne Morris

T. Murph: No, no, no! Absolutely correct! No, but for me, I think the one, the straw that broke the camels back was what happened to Trayvon Martin. Just seeing that happen to a child. Also Tamir Rice. And nothing was done. Then to watch somebody like George Zimmerman go on to become a cult favorite. Be invited to conventions and sell a gun that killed a kid for millions of dollars. This is insane!

Then you have people who are like, All you guys talk about is race!

Then its like, Are you not paying attention to whats happening? Or are you pretending to be blind?

So that was definitely my eye-opener.

Everyone had an incredibly profound and personal answer. It didnt matter age or race, everyone got woke to the world at some point or another. Though the experiences vary greatly, everyone was on the same page and I believe it is why the series is so relatable and apt. Also why it can approach the issues without being preachy or biased. Im sure watching everyone share their experiences is more impactful so watch the interview below. Like the show, its surprisingly light-hearted and fun for hitting such serious topics.

Created by:Keith Knight; Marshall ToddProduction Companies:Cloud Nine Productions; Olive Bridge Entertainment; ABC Studios; Sony Pictures TelevisionGenre:ComedyOriginal network:HuluCast: Keef (Lamorne Morris), Gunther (Blake Anderson), Ayana (Sasheer Zamata) and Clovis (T. Murph), shownSynopsisCartoonist Keef Knight is now a popular activist on the rise, but hes facing a world where woke has become big business. Can Keef and his friends bring about real change, or is it just about the dollar$? And can Keef navigate this new world without destroying what hes become? Inspired by the life and work of artist Keith Knight,Wokecontinues to upend Black nerd and activist culture, deftly satirizing with a wink and a smile. (Courtesy of Hulu)

When did you get woke? What was your reaction when you realized you didnt immediately think of that list as American authors? Do you need a link to start watching Woke? Let us know in the comments below and let us know when you start your binge onTwitter.

KEEP READING: How I Met Your Father Review: Charming, Hilarious, Apt, and Almost Legendary

Related

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Woke Exclusive: The Cast and Creatives Reveal When They Got Woke at WonderCon 2022 - The Illuminerdi

from the don't-feed-the-trolls dept

Weve noted for a while that Trumps alternative social media platform, Truth Social, isnt doing particularly well. Being a Trump product, the platform (surprise!) began with a lot of money slushing around that wasnt spent in any coherent way. Its also just generally glitchy and terrible. And its not helped much by the fact that after all of his whining about social media censorship (read: minimal accountability for saying stupid and sometimes dangerous things), Trump doesnt even use the product.

Then theres been the slow realization by the company that it still has to deal with the headaches of reality and content moderation at scale, which weve also noted isnt going particularly well. If you want a platform that isnt just a pit of bile and illegal content, you have to have moderation standards, which is why Parler, Gab, and now Truth Social (which muzzled some racist drivel by right wing dirty ops shitlord Roger Stone last week) have barred obnoxious people from doing dumb and sometimes illegal things.

Truth failed to gain traction even with the National Republican Senatorial Committee spamming its support for the platform like a feverish street corner huckster:

Putting the corruption, grift, and technical incompetence aside (and theres a lot to put aside), when the political mainstream press discusses the struggles of Social and other GOP social media platforms, one of the top arguments explaining why they fail is because echo chambers are just no fun:

I think the challenge that a lot of these newer ones have is to not be an echo chamber for people who hold similar beliefs, said Alex Weber, a content creator who was embraced by conservatives online after posting videos criticizing mask mandates, vaccine mandates and the mainstream media. I think why Instagram and Facebook and all these are so impactful is because youve got all different types of people.

While thats true to a point, it misses a key part of the failure. The problem isnt just that such groups corral like-minded people into groups made specifically for them. Hell, huddling with like-minded people is 80 percent of the reason Reddit was created and a major reason for its success.

No, one of the major reasons such projects fail is because they break the GOPs troll and inadvertent amplification cycle. How many times does a right wing personality say something grotesque, racist, or otherwise terrible on Twitter only to have it hate retweeted countless times by numerous people, usually partisan opposites, who think theyre dunking on, correcting, or punishing the content?

The entire success of modern GOP discourse is based on trolling. On any given day on Twitter and Facebook, theres a ceaseless array of left wing and centrist accounts hate retweeting every idiotic and racist thing Fox personality Tucker Carlson says, expanding distribution of his viewpoints exponentially.

Right wing celebrities like Ann Coulter have paid their mortgage for 30 years by intentionally saying stupid and controversial things, then soaking up free advertising as the outraged amplify said stupid and controversial thing to a significantly larger audience that might have never seen it otherwise.

Twitter dunks work to amplify dodgy and shitty trolls in much the same way. Theres just a countless array of folks who think theyre helping by dunking on terrible takes, when theyre only really amplifying those terrible takes to a much broader audience. Its utterly counterintuitive, and in some cases punished by engagement and ad engines (across both online and traditional cable media), to do anything else. Controversy sells. Nuance does not.

So while platforms like Truth Social are stumbling because theyre badly made by incompetent people who arent magically immune from the challenges of content moderation, theyre also stumbling because they break a cornerstone of online right wing discourse: trolling to amplify propaganda. A room full of terrible trolling propagandists has nobody to troll but themselves. And what fun is that?

Most of the Section 230 and conservatives are being silenced discourse is falsely framed as a conversation about free speech in punditry and the press. In reality, what the modern Trump GOP wants is the mandated carriage of propaganda. The dominant U.S. press simply cant help but frame Trump GOP concerns of censorship as legitimate, which speaks to the propagandas effectiveness.

Its why the GOP freaked out when DirecTV made the ordinary business decision to kick the conspiracy and fantasy channel off of its lineup. Its why the GOP despises big techs belated and often sloppy attempt to clean up race-baiting GOP propaganda on their platforms. Its why the party adores media consolidation at the hands of Sinclair, and the steady destruction of genuine local news reporting.

The modern Trump GOP cant just come out and admit their goal is mandated carriage of bigoted propaganda designed to rile up low-information Americans, so they have to dress it all up as something grander, including the Trump GOPs performative support of antitrust reform (read: an attempt to gain leverage over tech giants to mandate the carriage of, you guessed it, propaganda).

Shifting demographics and a fading (and dying) electoral base arent great news for the modern GOP, which increasingly alienates a big chunk of independent voters with unhinged behavior and positions. As a result, like many global authoritarian movements, theyve been forced to embrace online propaganda, fabricated culture war, and victimization porn to agitate and befuddle the public.

The idea that doing absolutely anything to rein in race-baiting propaganda in online or traditional media is censorship or the silencing of conservatives is itself propaganda, and it would be lovely if the broader discourse and press would wake up to this fact before were all drowning in many of the even uglier aspects of rank authoritarianism.

Filed Under: big tech, big tech censorship, censorship, conservative censorship, propaganda, section 230, silenced conservatives, social media, trolling, trollsCompanies: truth social

See original here:
GOP Social Media Experiments Fail (In Part) Because They Break The Troll/Amplification Cycle - Techdirt

This kind of foolishness, which arrived on April Fools Day no less, deserves nothing more than an eye roll and a trip to the recycling bin. But the invocation of QAnon makes this something beyond another sketchy promotion. The senders address is given as a post office box in Portsmouth, N.H., but no one seems to know whos behind this mailing, whos footing whats probably a sizable tab, or the motive behind it.

Get Weekend Reads from IdeasA weekly newsletter from the Boston Globe Ideas section, forged at the intersection of 'what if' and 'why not.'

Perhaps Id find clues if I scanned the cards QR codes or visited its email address, but my mother cured me of that sort of thing. Years ago, an envelope arrived from what appeared to be the Unification Church, led for decades by Rev. Sun Myung Moon, who conducted mass weddings for church-arranged marriages, claimed he was the messiah, and bought full-page newspaper ads defending Richard Nixon during the Watergate scandal.

That letter disturbed my mother so much, she made me throw it away but not in the house. I tore it up, balled up the remains, and tossed it in a public trash container a few blocks away.

Without question, Moon was a cult leader. But unlike QAnon followers, Moons devotees never participated in a deadly insurrection to overturn the results of a presidential election.

Unlike other cults, QAnon has no designated leader. According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate groups, the Q name is the umbrella term for a sprawling spider web of right-wing Internet conspiracy theories with antisemitic and anti-LGBTQ elements that falsely claim the world is run by a secret cabal of pedophiles who worship Satan and are plotting against former president Donald Trump.

Somehow theyve overlooked the fact that Trump was a longtime friend of convicted sex offender and accused pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

Trump isnt mentioned in the postcards text, but his photo is featured alongside those of Big Tech megalomaniacs (Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Facebooks Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk); politicians (former president Barack Obama, Senator Mitt Romney of Utah, former New York governor Andrew Cuomo); performers (Mel Gibson, Kanye West, Jay-Z, Taylor Swift); and far-right provocateurs (Alex Jones, Ann Coulter); among others.

While the postcard is certainly controversial, Steve Doherty, a United States Postal Service spokesman, told NBC 10 Bostons Alison King, there doesnt appear to be anything in the mailing that would make it illegal to send through the mail.

If these postcards violate no law, this could mean we should expect more of this propaganda from an unhinged lot the FBI labeled a domestic terrorism threat and that was before the Jan. 6 insurrection. Prominent among the throngs with Trump banners and Confederate flags were people wearing QAnon garb and holding up handmade Q signs. Some of them breached the US Capitol, pummeled police officers, and went hunting for lawmakers barricaded in their offices.

Instead of shunning QAnon, Republican lawmakers adopted its mendacious talking points on nonexistent voter fraud, the efficacy of COVID protocols, and purported pedophilia rings among Democrats. This was glaringly obvious in some GOP senators disgraceful performances during last months Supreme Court confirmation hearing for Ketanji Brown Jackson. Unable to attack Jacksons qualifications, they drilled down on a manufactured theme that she gave lenient sentences to those convicted of possessing child pornography. That it was untrue didnt matter; Republicans followed through on a scurrilous lie Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri tweeted before the hearings.

It was perhaps the most significant Republican nod yet to the QAnon faithful, a boost to normalizing the conspiratorial claptrap doused in hate, racism, and attempts to shred democracy. About 16 percent of Americans now say they adhere to QAnon theories that government, media and financial worlds are controlled by Satan-worshipping pedophiles, an even larger percentage than when Trump was president.

Under normal circumstances, one could laugh at the ridiculousness of it all. But this perilous moment is anything but normal. With little daylight between many Republicans and QAnon, American right-wing politics is mainlining extremism. Now after spilling from the bowels of the Internet to the halls of Congress, these dangerous beliefs are literally landing on our doorsteps.

Rene Graham can be reached at renee.graham@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @reneeygraham.

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What is QAnon doing in my mailbox? - The Boston Globe

ITS NOT MASSIVELY surprising to hear Ulster head coach Dan McFarland claim hes not a fan of the two-legged European knockout system given that, were it not in place, his side would be Heineken Champions Cup quarter-finalists already.

After their 26-20 win in Toulouse over the defending European champions last week, rather than going through, the two sides have to do it all over again at Kingspan Stadium on Saturday to determine which side progresses to the last-eight instead, and McFarland admits hes not a massive fan of the schedule.

I quite like the idea of the six pool games and then one knockout match (per round), opined the former Connacht prop.

I get it. It does add an interesting dynamic. But I read another coach who said the feeling at the end of the game is an odd one. You dont have the normal elation or despondency that you would in normal games. Its very different.

Whether I dont like it as much because it is different and were adverse to a bit of a change, or whether its just the fact I prefer youre a winner or a loser at the end of 80 minutes, I dont know.

However he feels, McFarland has no say in the matter. Rather than basking in the glory of a quarter-final place, they have a six-point lead to defend in Belfast on Saturday against a side who will have a fire lit under them after their perceived injustice from last Saturdays first-leg.

While there were no complaints with a red card handed out to winger Juan Cruz Mallia for a particularly nasty mid-air collision with Ben Moxham, Matthis Lebels disallowed try drew ire from the sell-out crowd at the Stadium de Toulouse, while the third try of Robert Baloucounes hat-trick had Ugo Mola flailing his arms around in anger that the Ireland winger wasnt called offside.

But even were it not for those incidents, preparing to play the same team twice in a row presents its own unique challenges that teams so rarely face in rugby. For instance, how much will either team change things up to keep their opponent guessing while, equally, not losing their consistency of performance? Or will they back their fundamentals to get the job done, despite knowing their opponents have the measure of them from game one?

Generally speaking teams will have a way that they play. Obviously small things within that will change, such as set piece launches or small tactics around phase play or defence. But generally speaking teams wont change a massive amount, believes McFarland.

Why? Because if you get to the level youre at now, youve been successful with the things you do week in, week out. The more you change, the more moving parts there are to get right, and that can be a limiting factor.

Well have changed small things around launch plays or our phase play, well try to improve in areas around our defence but thatll be more to do with our system work. I would expect similar things from them. I wouldnt expect Toulouse to come and say were not going to offload this week or were not going to counter-ruck you this week, or were not going to try and maul and scrum you with our enormous people.

They had some good launch plays that put us under pressure, so I imagine theyll be looking for similar plays this week but with a bit of variety from last week.

With the carrot of a first home European quarter-final since 2014 on offer, though, McFarland is not worried about his sides preparation and he is eagerly preparing for a game that, under the floodlights at Kingspan Stadium, could produce fireworks.

The rewards are such at the end of it, and the goal is so big that the emotional side of things look after themselves. We have to be very focused on what were trying to achieve thats being clear on who we are, what were about, improvements weve got to make, added the English coach.

Get closer to the stories that matter with exclusive analysis, insight and debate in The42 Membership.

Theres no need to remind guys that its a European knockout game with a home quarter-final at stake against a massive opposition. The emotion will be there, and emotion is important in rugby. Its a sport that does well with passion because of the physicality of the game. Its not something that necessarily needs to be driven in a week like this.

Theyre the European champions, theyre the Top 14 champions and we played a helter-skelter game against them last week. We did a lot of things well and we ended up winning, but Im sure this week will be equally tough and probably even tougher.

The task is huge but the reward is huge as well, and well be ready for it.

In the final episode of the series, The Front Row The42s new rugby podcast in partnership with Guinness welcomes comedian Killian Sundermann in to studio. The online funnyman fills us in on his schools rugby days, gaining recognition during the pandemic, making his stand-up debut and travelling around Europe in a van. Click here to subscribe or listen below:

Source: The42/SoundCloud

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''The feeling at the end of the game is an odd one' - McFarland not a fan of two-legged European ties - The42