Discussion today has focused on the Russian Facebook scandal, the end of a former England cricket captain’s Ashes century drought, and an article on modern ways of approaching death.
To join in you can click on the links in the comments below to expand and add your thoughts. We’ll continue to highlight more comments worth reading as the day goes on.
The Russian Facebook scandal damages liberals as much as the right
There are many comments under American political analyst Thomas Frank’s piece on Russian ads on Facebook and their effect on Americans during the 2016 US election.
‘Facebook can be abused by people of any political leaning very easily’
Russian influence is massively overstated. Facebook is a website that uses algorithms to choose news based on your browsing. It’s also a place that encourages you to discuss things with people who hold only your views, thereby never enacting challenge. If you’re happy to exist in a space where you agree with everything because of your confirmation biases then any old rubbish written by anyone can bleed into it. The system can be abused by people of any political leaning very easily - point being, Zuckerberg and the tech-billionaires are your problem, not the Russians.
vammyp
The final act of love: reclaiming the rites of modern death
Articles on death and dying often attract a lot of discussion, this one on modern ways of celebrating the end being no different.
‘Too much fuss over an essential part of life’
My wife and I discussed at great length what we each wanted, and it was remarkable for us to discover that we were pretty much both on the same page. No fuss, just a simple cremation, with the ashes to be kept until the surviving partner passed away and then to have our ashes combined, and spread at our favourite spot -- our local pier, where we had spent so many lovely, peaceful hours.
She died in late October, but her ashes sit with me in our lounge and there they will stay until my time comes.
Too much fuss over an essential part of life, all of this ‘funeral industry’. As Omar Khayyam wisely said: “One thing is certain, and the rest is lies; the flower that once has bloomed forever dies”.A couple of nights ago, I got up out of my armchair and got as far as, “I’m putting the kettle on, would you....”, before I remembered. I do a lot of ‘remembering’ of late.
grahameasom1
Alastair Cook ends Ashes century drought after England skittle Australia
Discussion under this article has mainly been about England’s performance during the second day of the fourth Ashes cricket test match against Australia – and why it’s too little too late.
‘We needed this performance earlier when it mattered most’
Any improvement is to be welcomed. At this stage avoiding a 5-0 is (sadly) an important goal.
But we’re kidding ourselves if we think one good day redeems this tour in any way. So far all that’s actually been achieved is that England have avoided the follow-on in a dead rubber against a weakened Australia attack.
The performance we needed from Cook, Broad and others was to have days like this one after the other in the first three tests when it mattered most.
TheGoodThief
Comments have been edited for length. This article will be updated throughout the day with some of the most interesting ways readers have been participating across the site.
