Social Media "Influencers" are the worst people in the world.

 In short: She lied

There was no 'hungry baby' and there was no food crisis. So what she did was take up time and resources from those people who might actually need something for clicks.

And this is influencers today.

When they're not hawking scammy Memecoins they're putting on performance art designed to flame outrage from people who have a very low cognizant ability to detect bullshit. They want free shit, attention and, to be honest, I'm not really sure what else.

Full Disclosure: I don't have the Tik Tok app on my phone. I'm aged out of that demographic.  Fortunately there are Youtube channels built solely around mocking these people and going down that rabbit hole is a descent into mild insanity.

Did you know that there are Tik Tok influencers who make videos telling women how to use men to get them to dump their entire "fortunes" (for lack of a better word) on them before dumping them and moving on (only to do it again)? It's called the "Sprinkle, Sprinkle" movement and it's disgusting.

While doing some research for this post I watched some of these videos and what I found was a) disgusting, b) mildly disturbing and c) pretty damn depressing. The Boss (My wife for those of you who don't follow me on Xitter) and I watched a couple together and her takeaway was "Shit, I'm glad we're married" and that was my feeling as well.

Social media influencers have made dating a hellscape for both men and women. Far beyond what is termed The Incel Movement by the Left is a generation of young men who have just......given up. They've quit on the dating and relationship world and they've largely done it in response to women who, driven by these influencers, go out with men with the express intent of milking them dry and then moving on, if they don't film an instant reaction video mocking them for being desperate, for the simple act of say, complimenting them on their looks that evening.

It's not a Battle of the Sexes if one side has just thrown in the towel and given up, and a LOT of young men have.

Of course, now the Influencer discourse has moved to anger. Anger that young, available men aren't approaching them any more, not complimenting them, not offering to buy drinks. Men are pushing back on women who demand to be taken to five-star restaurants on the first date and ordering the most expensive thing on the menu. (Supposedly, to test how much the man "cares"). The reaction videos of these angry people after their date just up and walks out (which seems to happen frequently) are treated as funny but they're really not. They're sad.

I've often stated, not on here, but to friends and on Xitter, that the Pandemic has broken society. From drivers running red lights or ignoring traffic laws, to line cutters on the highway, to just general anti-social behavior, COVID broke things that I'm not sure can ever be fixed. I believe that influencers are an extreme symptom of the disease. While on lockdown they immersed themselves in the Kardashians* and came to view it not as entertainment, but as an instruction guide for life. Never mind that Kim & Co are extremely toxic and very unlikely to be very duplicative. 

In other words, you're not going to be the Kardashians, have their wealth, their fame, and their overpriced product lines. Instead you're going to have a Tik-Tok or Instagram channel and some deep regret at the end of it all when your 15 minutes of fame runs it's course.

This is not to defend Lakewood Church (an institution which with I have several issues, both theological and practical) but the fact is this lady did not call into the proper channels. I did some checking and Lakewood does have Benevolence arms, they do charitable work. The correct place to contact would have been one of the ministries they support who provide this aid. What this influencer basically did was set the Church up to fail. She did not do it as some grand experience on Religion, she did it for clickbait. She did it to probably try and extend her 15 minutes of fame which is rapidly expiring.

And shame on the media for providing her with a platform, never forgetting that "Click2Houston" was also doing this for clicks.

The only way to solve this issue is to just start tuning out. Remove the politics and other items from it and starvation is the best, and only solution to the problem. The principles of free speech say that these influencers are allowed to spew their venom but they also give us the ability to ignore them and let them die on the vine.

Until we do this, the harm to society is going to continue to grow.

Update: Houston's Middling Regional Daily weighs in.

At least they provide some context, allowing the Church to admit that the operator did make an error not directing her to the food services and charities that they support who would have formula available immediately.

This is much like calling the corporate office for a restaurant chain and demanding a reservation at a specific location instead of directly calling the restaurant in question. Of course they're not going to be able to do that, nor would they have specific information about availability at any one specific location for any given evening. This should be called out but......OUTRAGE!!!!!!

*FWIW: I've proudly never watched a second of the Kardashians show, nor any of their spin-offs, and I don't really know all that much about them except for what I've read 2nd hand from other sources. 

The Biggest Political Lie that You Believe

As the Government Shutdown Grinds on and Federal Employees Continue to not Receive Paychecks......

Well, not your Congressional Representatives and Senators, THEY continue to get paid, the media continues to allow one of the biggest political whoppers, typically uttered by sub-par Congressional members, to continue apace.....

“It would be very strange for the American people to have weighed in, in support of Democrats standing up and fighting for them, and within days for us to surrender without having achieved any of the things that we’ve been fighting for,” said Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn. (Emphasis mine)

They're not "fighting". Full stop. No politician "fights". They bloviate, they sit together and eat caviar and drink sparkling wine, they go to fundraisers masked as dinner parties, they stroll around D.C. laughing with their families and friends, but they don't 'fight'.

The myth of the brave, fighting Pol is one of straight fantasy. And it leads us to poor government and even poorer representation. It draws focus from statesmanship and quality leadership to silly things like red tennis shoes. And the creaking, aging media eats it right the eff up. Honestly, they love this shit. It gives them the vapors.

But the uneducated, useful idiot loves it. From further down in the article....

“Moderate Senate Democrats who are looking for an off-ramp right now are completely missing the moment,” said Katie Bethell, political director of MoveOn, a progressive group. “Voters have sent a resounding message: We want leaders who fight for us, and we want solutions that make life more affordable.” (Again, Emphasis mine)

Of COURSE you do Ms. Bethell.  Because you're stupid, shallow and don't understand that they're not "fighting" for you, they're working to increase their power base, regain control of the Houses of Congress and maybe score some choice committee positions that will help them attain their true goal of rewarding their political patronage.

Yes, you want "solutions" that will make life more affordable. Yet you probably supported the pandemic subsidies that (in part, not in whole) led us into this mess in the first place. You want affordability without having a basic understanding of how things work. You want Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, filibustering so hard that he passes out on the Senate floor. What you get instead is Chris Murphy, with his hairdo and make-up applied for the camera, regurgitating words that some staffer gave him to say.

I've said this before and I'll say it again: We get the government that we ask for, and we get it good and hard. In this case we get it without lubrication.

I've no doubt that, eventually, this government shut-down is going to end. The end will not come, however, as the result of some brave "fight" put up by a milquetoast. It will come when both sides start to feel the wrath of an electorate that's had enough and then one side or the other will choose to just stop "fighting" (read: showboating for the cameras) and will be forced to capitulate.

The other side will then claim victory and will cast their "opponents" (read: co-conspirators) as weaklings who lacked the strength of courage to continue keeping on. They will then all congratulate themselves on a job well done and retire to wherever it is that they meet up to smoke cigars and sip Brandy.

Of course the media will eat this up and the cycle will continue.

News Round-up (11/06/2025)

 Kind of a hodge-podge in my return to this thing......

ESPN Bet is no more. DraftKings and FanDuel continue to take over the sports betting world.  Look, ESPN Bet was a bad, really bad book.  But DraftKings and FanDuel are the worst. Losing competition in the space is going to be bad for bettors as the "Bankrupt or Ban" method of bookmaking becomes commonplace.  If you're a serious bettor you should continue to keep rooting for, and patronizing Circa.

I feel for the TSA agents, I really do. I also feel for the flight controllers. But this mess is just another reason to go ahead and grit your teeth and sign up with Clear. (It's also an argument for privatizing airport security.)

Supermoons are cool. I do wonder this however: If crime rises during a full moon, does it rise even more during a Supermoon?

Beware the tendency to read too much into low-turnout elections. Outdated institutions that should be shuttered LOVE to do this.

I'm not sure how much of this is legitimate "analysis" and how much of it is wishful thinking. One thing I do know, Tomlinson is another resource the Chron should jettison and replace with news reporting resources.

Wild Goings on at Couchatta. Greed, shots fired (and, tragically, a minor's life put in jeopardy) and a whole bunch of shenanigans. Damn.

Sound cameras? As with any proposal to try and fix a societal ill through "simple" technology I find that the proposed solution is neither simple, nor is it a grand slam that it will be effective.

Menefee makes the CD 18 run-off despite having the WORST political ad in recorded history. What was he burning in that grill? Legal briefings?

Nancy Pelosi announces she's (finally) done. Well......bye.  The problem is that now the historical revisionism will commence and she'll eventually have some obscure airport in California named after her.

Tomorrow starts Flightmageddon. Supposedly both Houston airports will be affected, as will most of the major hubs in the US.  If you don't have to fly right now, probably a good idea to not. On the bright side it appears most major airlines will offer refunds.

And finally....

Jordon Bennington trying to hide the puck from Ovechkin's 900th goal is the funniest thing you'll see today.

The Chron self owns on the heels of yesterday's election. (Sad trombone)

 Why did so few Houstonians vote yesterday?

According to this Chron article it's because they couldn't find much about the election on the social medias.

Ouch.

Not that the Chronicle did not provide enough coverage (although, I would still argue that it didn't, at least not quality coverage) or that the Editorial Board did not endorse (they did, on some of the races). Nope, the reason (primarily younger) voters decided to skip this election is that they overwhelmingly did not feel educated enough on the issues at hand.

Granted, that's not why I did not bother to go vote. I haven't voted in years. I've lost full confidence in our political system and believe that voting is one of the more useless rights we currently retain. It doesn't matter who you vote for, you're going to get the same level of suck, just in different areas. There are far more important places to put your focus and energy these days than America's late-stage Republic.

But this article should be worrisome for the Chron, part of a failing institution that's wheezing along like a car with 200,000 miles whose check engine light came on at 120,000. Because this article clearly shows that younger people no longer care about what's printed in the pages, or online for the Chronicle and, in fact, they're not even looking at it.

I've long stated that the value and importance of the Chronicle Editorial Board is long past it's shelf life. The expiration date for that wheezing institution has long passed. It's past time to shutter the relic and redeploy those resources to actual news gathering functions, and (gasp!) maybe an expanded social media team.

The fact is, a fact that's lost on Newspapers FWIW, young people (and even most older people to be totally honest) don't give a crap what the opinions of some life-long J-school graduates are on any issue. They have no practical experience in the fields or issues on which they are opining, just I have no practical experience in journalism.

Which is why I believe the Chron should focus on where they actually might have (a little) experience. Reporting news. Print it online (I would actually get rid of the hard copy paper since it's irrelevant these days) and then have your social media teams go to work. Broadcast actual journalism on the socials, and start to train a new generation on coming to your website to read the long-form should it peak their interest and they wish.

Of course, the second part of this is that your journalism should be factual and as free from bias as is possible given human limitations.  It is impossible to eliminate all bias of course. We all have certain filters through which we view the World, and that's not really a terrible thing. However, that doesn't mean that you cannot work around that by acknowledging, and openly admitting your bias so that people can understand the viewpoint that you are writing from.

For example: I am an Oil and Gas professional in my mid-50s who is fairly fiscally conservative who believes in a smaller government that focuses on shoring up the things people NEED (roads, public works, etc.) rather than spending money on things politicians WANT (stadiums, light-rail, etc.). I believe in reducing the regulatory burden while ensuring that the regulations that are in place clear, concise and that they actually ensure businesses are operating within the law. I believe in Conservation not Environmentalism, and I believe in a legal system that is fair to all, but which also serves (primarily) to protect the public.

See, it's not that hard. Obviously I have other beliefs but that little paragraph above pretty much sums up my political philosophy from an economic viewpoint. Social matters are a different issue of course, and much more nuanced.  But, for most reporters just a simple acknowledgement of their party affiliation would let readers know from where they are coming. I will admit that I'm a little bit harder to pin down because I no longer have a political affiliation. (At one time, I was Republican, but that was a LOOOOONG time ago.)

If anything, the linked article below illustrates just how bad things are getting for newspapers these days. It also shows the lack of self-awareness that current exists in the media that they run this article without understanding what it means for them and their future.

Which is why I don't think they are ever going to turn things around.