@NatureMC@bookwyrm@writers while I didn't dig deep, I'm not sure how bookwyrm would prevent fake review bombing... tho federated instances could block, but it's still lots of content moderation...
@pyperkub Of course but here real people and admins are working for that. I also think that with the size of the servers here, a bombing would be noticeable due to the size of the data. @bookwyrm@writers
Today in Labor History December 6, 1889: The trial of the Chicago Haymarket anarchists began amidst national and international outrage and protest. None of the men on trial had even been at Haymarket Square when the bomb was set off. They were on trial because of their anarchist political affiliations and their labor organizing for the 8-hour work-day. 4 were ultimately executed, including Alber Parsons, husband of future IWW founding member Lucy Parsons. One, Louis Ling, cheated the hangman by committing suicide in his cell. The Haymarket Affairs is considered the origin of International Workers Day, May 1st, celebrated in virtually every country in the world, except for the U.S., where the atrocity occurred. Historically, it was also considered the culmination of the Great Upheaval, which a series of strike waves and labor unrest that began in Martinsburg, West Virginia, 1877, and spread throughout the U.S., including the Saint Louis Commune, when communists took over and controlled the city for several days. Over 100 workers were killed across the U.S. in the weeks of strikes and protests. Communists and anarchists also organized strikes in Chicago, where police killed 20 men and boys. Albert and Lucy Parsons participated and were influenced by these events. I write about this historical period in my Great Upheaval Trilogy. The first book in this series, Anywhere But Schuylkill, came out in September, 2023, from Historium Press. Check it out here: https://www.thehistoricalfictioncompany.com/it/michael-dunn and https://michaeldunnauthor.com/
Today in Labor History December 5, 1928: The Colombian military slaughtered up to 2,000 people in the Banana Massacre. Workers had been on strike against United Fruit Company since November 12. They were participating in a peaceful demonstration, with their wives and children. The Columbian troops set up machine guns on the rooftops near the demonstration and closed off the access streets so no one could escape. The soldiers threw the dead into mass graves or dumped them in the sea. U.S. officials in Colombia had portrayed the workers as communists and subversives and even threatened to invade if the Colombian government didn’t protect United Fruit’s interests. Gabriel García Márquez depicted the massacre in his novel “One Hundred Years of Solitude,” as did Álvaro Cepeda Samudio in his “La Casa Grande.”
United Fruit, which is now called Chiquita, controlled vast quantities of territory in Central America, and the Caribbean, maintained a near monopoly in many of the banana republics in which it operated (e.g., Honduras, Guatemala, Costa Rica). By 1930, it was the largest employer in Central America and the largest land owner. In 1952, the government of Jacobo Arbenz, in Guatemala, began giving away unused land, owned by United Fruit, to landless peasants. In 1954, the CIA deposed the Arbenz government, leading to decades of brutal dictatorship and genocide of Guatemala’s indigenous population. The head of the CIA at that time was former board member of United Fruit, Allen Dulles, who also oversaw the over throw of the democratically elected prime minister of Iran, the Bay of Pigs invasion, and the MK Ultra LSD mind control experiments.
@NoraGottlieb@bookstadon
Btw, coincidentally, the scientist who led the MK Ultra mind control experiments for the CIA, as well as developing poisons to assassinate Castro and Lumumba, was named Gotlieb.
I got a 1 star #review on my latest book yesterday. I’m trying to figure out how this happen, purely on a technical aspect. I’ve never sent an ARC to anyone named “Alexander.” Also, this person only has 15 total books read on their #GoodReads profile. The other 14 a different genre, then there’s my book. Best theory I can come up with is this person didn’t want to ruin their pristine account by giving a 1 star so used another account to do the dirty work. #writingcommunity#author@bookstodon
@dickrubin716@bookstodon interesting that it references plot points, which suggests they did in fact read the book.
It does read like they tried really hard to sound like actual critique, but it's also cleary a hit piece. No actual review is this exclusively negative.
Today in Labor History December 3, 1984: A methyl isocyanate leak from a Union Carbide plant in Bhopal, India, killed over 3,800 people and injured up to 600,000 more. Up to 16,000 people died, in total, over the years following the disaster. The Government of Madhya Pradesh has paid compensation to family members of 3,787 of the victims killed. Numerous local activist groups emerged to support the victims of the disaster, like Rashida Bee and Champa Devi Shukla, who won the Goldman Prize in 2004. Many of the activists were subjected to violent repression by the police and government. Larger international groups, like Greenpeace and Pesticide Action Network also got involved. The disaster has played a role in numerous works of fiction, including Arundhati Roy’s “The Ministry of Utmost Happiness” (2017) and Indra Sinha’s “Animal’s People” (2007). It has also been referenced in music by the Revolting Cocks “Union Carbide” and the Dog Faced Hermans ”Bhopal.”
@MikeDunnAuthor
I remember well that insurance companies executives rushed to have the family of deceased or injured victims, and signing a settlement agreement of a few hundred $, a huge amount for those people, preventing them from suing the company after that and obtaining the thousands and ten of thousands of $ they might have claimed and would have no doubt obtained.
Was a teenager then and I remember seing these obnoxious people as a pack of hyenas.
They would have a bonus of many thousands of $ for each settlement they had those illiterate victims signed.
Hi, I'm an as-of-yet unpublished YA author and high school math teacher who just joined Mastodon. I'm looking out for suggestions of who to follow in the writing/teaching community!
@weirdwriter I'm already following you! I'm very interested in accessibility. It's crazy that people don't always get it right for something as simple as ebooks.
Today in Labor History November 20, 1820: An 80-ton sperm whale attacked and sunk the Essex, a whaling ship from Nantucket, Massachusetts. The tragedy occurred off the western coast of South America. 7 members of the 20-man crew died at sea, as they attempted to make land in the lifeboats. Survivors ate their dead comrades to stay alive. The story inspired Herman Melville to write his 1851 novel Moby-Dick. And it inspired modern day orcas to organize and fight back to reclaim the seas from humans.
@MikeDunnAuthor@bookstadon As a longstanding supporter of Sea Shepherd's brand of antiwhaling activism, I say whaling ships being rammed and sunk is always a good thing.
#WritersCoffeeClub Ch 3 Nbr 8 — What does your most productive writing space look like?
This is my most productive writing space. It includes a keyboard and trackpad glued to my treadmill, a monitor above mirroring my iPadPro to the right, a Apple TV puck, a Homepod mini, and coffee.
I get more revision done here than anywhere else, and some composition, too!
"So a lot of all your writing happens on - wait. Is that a treadmill?"
Shhh! Don't tell anyone, but /I'm really a hamster./ That's my hamster wheel. It allows me to get my writing tasks done while getting my aerobic exercise during a busy day (most of them). ~2.8 mph. Remember, I also read aloud to proof my stories...
@NickEast@writers@writingcommunity@writing@humour There’s a story that when Cristiano de André, son of the Italian singer-songwriter Fabrizio de André, was asked in school to write an essay about “What does your dad do as a job?” he wrote a one-word answer: “Sleeps.”