Something I keep hearing, over and over: “My vote doesn’t matter!”
It’s either that or another similar message, like, They’re all bought and paid for anyway, or One person can’t change things, or even I’m too busy.
Nonsense! I’m writing today to tell you not only that change is possible, not only that you have the power to help, but exactly how you can do this.
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“If you have any young friends who aspire to become writers, the second greatest favor you can do them is to present them with copies of The Elements of Style. The first greatest, of course, is to shoot them now, while they’re happy.”
Dorothy Parker
To Begin With
I’ve been writing for over a decade, and I’ve been doing it full-time for nearly eight months. In all that time, I’ve earned a few thousand bucks — enough to complicate my income taxes, not enough to pay for my daily ramen and now weekly cup of coffee. If you hope to write for a living, either start off wealthy or be Stephen King.
But that’s not success.
(more…)This is a simple account of what’s happening from as unbiased a perspective as we can manage. To see our biases, scroll to the bottom.
Operation Al-Aqsa Flood
Starting before dawn on 07 October 2023, militant forces led by Hamas invaded towns and villages in southern Israel, slaughtering civilians and abducting women, children, and foreigners as hostages. Paraglider troops deliberately targeted a music festival, at which location alone they killed, raped, and captured hundreds. They then returned to the Gaza Strip and celebrated it as a major victory.
(more…)Welcome, welcome! Welcome one and all to the most recent of our Not Fake News Updates, if you’re keeping track of them as they go by. C’mon in, pull up a chair, pour yourself a cup of coffee, and get ready for some bits of news you might have missed while the 24-hour infotainment networks have been spewing distractions at you again.
Are you sitting comfortably? …Good. Then let’s begin!
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(If you’re new to the Great TwiX Experiment, click here for Week 1.)
I’ve been on vacation for a couple of weeks, and these reports have lagged to the point where they’re no longer even close to weekly. I’d thought I could keep up with them easily, but life intervened, and I left my data behind at home.
So here instead we have an interim bulletin, complete with…
NEWS FLASH! Elon Musk now pays me to TwiX!
Hello again from the News Desk here at The Not Fake News!
The past week has been a busy one, with not one but two huge trials in Georgia plus several sentences handed down over conspiracy in the January 6th cases. Doubtless they will occupy the headlines for several months to come, so there’s really no need to mention them here.
However, as usual, this means that there are probably an awful lot of important events folks may have missed thanks to all the hoopla and associated foofraw. That is where we come in.
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(This article is Part 3 of a series. For the first installment, click here.)
Hello, loyal readers, and welcome to Week Three of the Great Blue Check Experiment! In case you’re new here, I’m your host, @gnerphk on TwiX and J. Millard Simpson on any site that publishes my fiction. I’m coming to you today thanks to the wonders of caffeine overdose, having only just met a 4000-word short deadline that may or may not sell. Don’t blame me if the letters shake; blame the stimulants.
As you may recall, in the first article I discussed getting story clicks; in the second, the effects of being classed as “potentially abusive content”. Today I’d like to talk a bit more about the revised System, time-and-effort efficiency, and clickthrough rates.
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This image is from a Twitter… uh, X-Twi… a TwiX post by one Amy Nixon, @texasrunnerDFW. (It’s not the property of TNFN; the laws appear unclear on who exactly owns it. But if Amy objects, we’ll take it down as a matter of simple courtesy.) It shows a startling disparity in Austin, Texas between homes available for sale and AirB&Bs for rent: 3329 homes for sale, 12,127 AriB&Bs for rent.
You’d think this means people should sell the AirB&Bs or something, and that they’re either greedy or stupid.
But after a little research and analysis, this just tells me that Austin needs more houses. Which it won’t get.
No, don’t hate me yet. Read first.
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Last night I discovered a battered old diary in a box in the attic. It was covered in dust and cobwebs, and looked like it had passed through fire and flood. The first half is missing.
Curiously enough, the year at the top of the pages reads 2023. Must be a misprint.
The following are the surviving entries, faithfully recorded by Yours Truly:
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Canada’s been on fire for two months now. Lahaina in Maui just burned flat. And now we have a hurricane causing flooding in Las Vegas, Death Valley, and Los Angeles.
Climate change? Or weather?
Let’s take a look:
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The Not Fake News 
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