On Facebook lockdown for two more days

I am still on Facebook lockdown for two more days in quasi-jail (I can like comments, but can’t comment), punished for editing one of my own comments on horses. You try spelling Przewalski’s horse correctly on the first or second, try. It’s nothing like  how it’s pronounced.

When will this ridiculous Facebook AI censorship bot patrol stop, or at least be upgraded to be a useful tool to fight hate speech and racism, versus a stupid cause, like spelling or grammar. I am dyslexic, or as they say, neurodivergent, and I struggle to write clearly. It does not come easy.

Who is being protected from my aberrant behavior, that is, from correcting my own comment too many times? The punitive measures of the Facebook Alt-father is like being sent into a closet for something that you didn’t do. 

I’ve been sent to jail for posting a photograph of Einstein’s desk, a photo of a leucistic chicken and a horse, myriad spelling errors, a video  of friends singing Gregorian chants at my cousin Mike Collins’ memorial, the list goes on. 

There’s no rhyme nor reason, and certainly no learning curve. And  these punitive measures don’t cure us of any habits because none of us actually knows WHY we were sent to Facebook jail to begin with, and there is no way to challenge their utterly asinine decisions. 

Whatever happened to let the punishment fit the crime? Clearly, I am a bad article.

Yet another epic Facebook fail, this time over Przewalski's horses

So, editing one’s own comments goes against Facebook community standards. I was correcting my typos, which were partially Facebook’s fault. I was responding to someone’s comment and then went back to clarify the difference between a purebred Przewalski's wild horse and the modern horse and possible crossbreeds or, to be hyper-correct, hybrids.

I added, “The Przewalski's horse is stocky, short, and pot-bellied in comparison to its domestic cousins. It has a spiky mane like a zebra. All Przewalski's horses have a light belly and darker back, with a dark stripe on the back from the withers to the base of the tail. They also have more chromosomes,…” etc. 

Just as I added the clincher, a hybrid Przewalski's horse and modern horse results in a horse with a floppy mane—a DNA indicator, like donkey ears on a mule—Facebook shut me down. Understand that I am dyslexic, or as they say these days, neurodivergent, so I struggle to write clear, nuanced sentences. Writing does not come easy, I have to work at it. I edit everything early and often

Could someone please explain to me how this editing process could possibly go against community standards? Other than Facebook is allergic to facts versus fiction. I was not over-posting or spamming or over-sharing. I certainly wasn’t being obnoxious or belligerent. I was correcting and clarifying one comment. I am allergic to typos. So, yes, I do fix them whenever I spot them. Well, bollocks I say, because I can. I will not be dumbed down to the lowest common denominator of unintelligent comments. and I will not let the sleeping typos lie.

For some peculiar reason Facebook constantly changes what I write— especially after I post a comment —so I have to edit my comments early and often. Gaslight much? I am beginning to suspect that Facebook AI bots are anti-intellectual, because it puts me in jail every time I am on a scholarly bent. No name-calling, not being derogatory, merely facts— Sometimes with supporting links. This time it was about horses.

The last time I most memorably was thrown in Facebook jail was for posting a photograph of Einstein‘s messy desk on the anniversary of the day he died. Facebook, of course claimed it was going against community standards, and that it was pornography. The only real pornography I could see was the formula written on the blackboard: some segue of e = MC2.

 It looks like I can post status updates on my own page, and like posts, but that’s about it. See you in a week. Be very, very bad, all of you. Be obstreperous. Edit and change your posts early and often. Down with the fasciestest regime. stet.

Oh, and for the record, I document everything—because I can.

A yellow card from Facistbook

I am constantly being harassed by Facebook AI bots that manufacture bogus/trumped up reasons to shut me down in an attempt to silence me. Usually, it’s for editing my own comments.

 

The only ding I could find against my Facebook page was a yellow card from a March 23 post about Taylor Swift urging people to vote. The T-shirt was altered, and I even noted that. 

I wrote: “The photo of Taylor Swift in anti-Trump shirt may be doctored, but the threat is real. So, for that reason I stand with her. Vote! Interesting, the Facebook censor bot visited and decided this post needs to be...”

• Public • Hidden from profile”

Facebook cut off the rest of my sentence. I think I wrote, “…at the bottom of my feed.”

Actually, Facebook completely removed the post and my explanation from my page. They didn’t just send it to the bottom of my feed as they had stated. They said it was false information. I agree, and I noted it. 

And then Facebook said that it could pose physical harm. Say, what? How can a T-shirt that tells people to vote cause physical harm? What am I missing here? How draconian.

So here’s the clincher, Facebook completely removed my repost but not John M Disque’s original post of it. It’s still up and on his page. What gives?

I merely shared the post with a caveat. And there’s no way to object to Facebook’s decisions. They’ve removed all recourse. There is no way to complain or disagree with them.

Now watch, I’ll get thrown in jail again for posting this. It has happened before.

Facebook AI bots blocked Michael Collins’ memorial video of a medieval hymn part 2

And once again I am being harassed by Facebook for “copyright infringement” that was already resolved in my favor weeks ago. Note the assumption that there’s a rightful owner to this music. It’s a private post, no one else can see it. I can’t make comments because I’m still in jail except for status reports. Clearly, Facebook AI censorship bots patrol my Facebook page early and often.

#trolledbyFacebook #FacebookFail #MetaFail

Reason: Public domain

Additional details: we've been through this before: this is the second time you flagged 12 century medieval church music. You do not own it. It does not infringe on any known copyright. These are Gregorian Chanters singing at a memorial for their dead friend, my cousin. Please stop. This is harassment at this point. 

I thought I already won this dispute. has Facebook taken to flogging dead horses as well? The 12th century public domain hymn, Salve Regina has been copyright-free since the middle ages. I wonder why Warner Music Rights Management Group AI bots think they owns this music? Are they getting religion?

Dear Facebook,

Your Facebook AI bots are constantly trolling my online activity to the point of actual harassment. I am constantly being blocked and thrown in jail for commenting, or sharing innocuous content.

For example, the last time I tried to correct a typo on a comment, because Facebook had changed the name of noted poet Lynn Hejinian who had died, misspelling it. So I corrected it, and got six days of jail.

Ditto that when I posted memorial photos when equally noted poet Jack Hirshman unexpectedly died of Covid. six days of jail time.

I tried to add the word crêpe with the circumflex to my comment, and got six days. I reported it and got six more days for reporting it. That has happened twice now.

Between Facebook, “helping” me to misspell words, generally substituting the wrong words—AFTER I posted a comment—and my dyslexia, I need to be able to edit typos. I am a writer, and writers revise. I am a horrible typist, so I make typos, and I also want to be able to correct those mistakes. how is this going against community standards?

There are myriad Facebook sanctions against me for wanting to spell words correctly. Literally.

Out of the blue, a year after the fact, Facebook deleted a comment I wrote about botany in a botany group, where I mentioned the seeds of a California palm tree.

Before that you took down a post of mine where I posted a photo of a spotted horse and chicken as an example of leucism and the leopard spotted gene.

Since when is posting about science a crime?

And then I reposted a black and white meme about Einstein’s messy desk on the day, he died, and was flagged for posting nudity. it was a messy desk, and it wasn’t even naked. It was covered with paper.

I posted a comment about historic Gravenstein apples to the Fort Ross site and was flagged for spam. I wrote to them and they were equally horrified.

Twice now Warner has muted videos of my cousin’s memorial service, where his friends who are Gregorian chanters, were singing a 12th century hymn, Salve Regina, which is certainly copyright free and in the public domain. I won the dispute the first time, and yesterday Warner muted it again. Your algorithms are way off. Incidentally those videos were private, and no one else could actually see or hear them. Only me.

Also, I have been thrown in jail for making a comment about another cousin’s death—I was reminiscing when he was a child. Six days in the slammer.

Another cousin who died, I mentioned something about her, also alerting my family. Another six days in the slammer. And when I complained about it on my page, using screenshots, I got six more days. That’s happened several times. Talk about censorship. So we’re not allowed to post anything on each other’s walls when family members die? What are the trigger words? I’m not allowed to complain about Facebook’s AI bots being out of control?

I won’t mention how Facebook retroactively sanctioned me for reposting old Liam Neeson memes that came up in my memories feed. A meme that I have reposted yearly, for over a decade, And yet Facebook did not take the exact same meme down on anyone else’s page, nor did Facebook block them, or throw them in jail, but Facebook did that to me. Myriad times. Clearly Facebook bots do not understand sarcasm, let alone, simile and metaphor. Or, humor. Apparently am not allowed to repost old memes either.

The thing is, nobody knows what triggers the censorship bots. And the Facebook punishment is absolutely senseless. Whatever happened to let the punishment fit the crime? And now you’ve taken away our only recourse to complain about the process.

This absurd censorship has been going on for ages, and it certainly not protecting the community, but lately Facebook trolling gotten exponentially worse. Why are you bullying me? I have never done anything that actually goes against “community standards.” Facebook is clearly monitoring everything I post.

For the record, I have been documenting these Facebook infractions and I have re-posted them on my blog, if you would like to see how your Facebook AI bots are attacking people who are doing nothing wrong. I’ve noticed an uptick of friends not being able to post for equally innocuous reasons.

 

Dear Facebook, you need to control your censorship bots. They are doing more harm than good, and their actions definitely go against community standards.

Yet another Facebook rant

Another thing you can’t do when Facebook throws you in jail for “going against community standards” is to remove spam posts you are tagged in. My latest crime: I edited my comment, I fixed a typo. Oh, my! Aren’t I the bad girl? 

I know that at least three friends were also singled out by Facebook for editing their own comments on their own pages— on the same day —and who are also in the FB slammer. One infraction was for “going too fast.” Are we supposed to be slow messy typists? Inarticulate, even?

In my case, since it was my second comment of the day on a friend’s page—and only my second attempt to fix a typo on Lyn Hejinian’s name. BAM! The white wall of denial arose from the bowels of the Facebook police state and denied me egress to fix my typos. 

So, “going too fast” can’t be the reason why I am in jail again but I was rather inarticulate on Ron Silliman’s page. Mea culpea. At least I know he would understand. Ask him about how Google censured him for posting about poetry. As for AI authorship, see Dana Gioia’s post on an atrocious IA-generated obit for #LynHejinian.

This is the comment in question. I tried to add Lyn Hejinian’s name, then Facebook misspelled it as Lynn Hijinian. I tried to correct it. In jail again.

I make a lot of typos, or rather Facebook autokrap, I mean oughtacorrect—makes them, and I also write in fits and spurts—sentences do not come to me perfectly hatched. And don’t even get me started on where commas need to go. I also have dyslexia. FWIW We can’t comment on anyone’s posts, including our own, but we can write status updates and repost and like other peoples posts. Heh!

Meanwhile, the real spammers are allowed to continue spamming by tagging us in public forums, and we have no recourse to remove our names. I wonder why Facebook doesn’t shut them down—or does Facebook just have it out for outspoken little old ladies? Facebook is a bully. Reminds me of being back in the USSR.

Don’t worry Facebook, I’m keeping track of all your ridiculous bullying. Whatever happened to “let the punishment fit the crime?” And how, exactly does cleaning up a comment, that is fixing grammar, spelling or punctuation go against community standards? Please explain. Or would you prefer that we were all barefoot, pregnant and illiterate? Not to mention, inarticulate? in my case, it’s too late now. 

I deliberately over-edited my status update post just to see if I could trigger the Facebook AI censorship bots. And I was rewarded with a notification that “We’ll let you know when your post is ready.” Too bad the FB sniffers are AI, meaning no human will read this—except youse guys. My intention is to let Facebook know that this censorship is ridiculous, not to mention unfair. Ultimately, I just want it to stop.  Someday…. 

The gauntlet has been thrown down. I will use my extra jail time wisely. I will remove all ads from my newsfeed. Game on. Doesn’t Facebook know by now that I’m a bad article? Don’t you know that you can’t shut a a baddass Irishwoman up?

I will answer your comments here:

Lauren Boyd McLachlan in for a penny, in for a pound. Five more days.

#Facebookfail

Yet another epic Facebook fail—censored twice in one month for correcting typos!

 

Facebook AI bots really have it out for me because I edit my comments, or post a blog link. In this case, I was responding to Ron Silliman‘s post where Lyn Hejinian had read for our RRWG reading series at the Johnny. Otis Cabaret, that I produced back in 1993-94, and as I typed in her name, I was immediately thrown in the FB slammer again.

Last time it was for trying to add the word crêpes with circumflex to my Shrove/Pancake Tuesday comment. The time before that was because I was commenting on my cousin who had recently demised himself and it also happened with another Irish cousin too. And the time before that was for posting a botany post about native uses of California fan palm seeds.

Apparently the words GAZA and DEATH trigger the FB AI bots. And I guess in this case, RIP triggered the bots too. Or  it was the Google blogpost link itself? I had posted a Press Democrat obit in honor of Johnny Otis. I thought Ron Silliman would enjoy seeing it since they all read at his cabaret. He had mentioned reading there for us. And Kit Robinson too. I do remember Kit’s reading because I hadn’t seen him since the early 1980s CPITS days.

Now I’m just flummoxed. I would love to have the RRWG flyers—and especially the dates of those readings because I made a Russian River Writers Guild archival blog post listing all the poets who have read for us over the decades. It’s a pretty impressive list.

And now I am reduced to writing to my friends in my status update.

Andrew – this will have to suffice as a link.

Zana – no, it is not a friend reporting me. It’s FB.

Marylu and Maxine – this is the comment in question. Alors! I had added Lyn’s name and misspelled it, and when I tried to correct it, I was thrown in the Facebook comment jail. That’s why I’m writiing to you here because I can’t add any comments to any posts, including my own. But I can LIKE comments.

Donald – Tori and I are definitely on Facebook’s frenemy list because we’re outspoken and we have posted about gauze a.

Joan – tell me more, or post the link below. I would be very interested to read it.

Molly- Second time this month in the comments slammer means can’t post poems in your Poem a Day group.

Weirdly I can post photos and a status report on my home page so I guess this is how I will communicate with the world for the next six effing days. I just can’t post, nor can I correct any comments. Oh bhuel.

See, Facebook otto-krect loves to substitute the wrong words in my comments, or add excessive, commas, (case in point), or inserting random periods. mid-sentence after I post them. And I am definitely OCD when it comes to typos. FFS, I’m a writer plying my trade. And yes, I have completely turned off AutoCorrect on my iPad.

So today I am deleting all Facebook ads and reporting them as irrelevant. Sweet revenge. Literally every second or third post is a sponsored ad. Talk about irrelevant ads. Poop ads for cats AND humans! Maybe they come in tandem. A new batch of shitty irrelevant ads, and the Facebook AI sniffer bot—and certainly the word for one’s demise seems to be a trigger as well. I refuse to use the word passed. I wanna say DEATH. Unfortunately, because Facebook is a private entity, there is no recourse for this continued bullying.

Yeah, I’m more than a little cranky now and don’t worry, Facebook, I am keeping track of you. and I won’t be silenced.  #keepingitreal #badarticle 

Since when does posting a recipe go against “community standards” on Facebook

Was it the word “Wensleydale…” i tried to add that triggered the Facebook AI bots? I tried to fix a typo on a Facebook post I had written. I added the word, Wensleydale, which I used to stuff my crêpes with, and to add the circumflex on crêpes. And then I got shut down by Facebook for six days for “going against community standards.” Surely that can’t be right. 

Besides, Facebook tends to change whatever I write deciding that I couldn’t possibly want to use that particular word, and changes it into something really ridiculous—leaving me feeling like an idiot. So of course I’m constantly correcting my comments.

So now I am banned from making comments on anyone’s post, including my own—for six days. each in fraction expands exponentially. What I am specifically being punished for, I’m not exactly sure. Hell’s bells, I’m not even vaguely sure. However, I discovered that I could edit my Mardi Gras status update notice to alert my friends. Sweet revenge.

I actually went back and looked at all my Facebook activity for the day to see if that would shed some light. Was it the Robert Reich quote and link on Gaza? But the opinion piece is also posted on his Facebook page.

Or was it my rather pedantic comment on the Oregon plague case, when I said it probably wasn’t the cat to blame. I explained how plague fleas come from rats, not cats. They are completely different species, the fleas, the rats, the cats. And I posted a link to my blogpost on the plague as I had done extensive research on it.

But the only other comment I could find that might be considered vaguely upsetting to those stinker Facebook bots, was a comment I had left under the new Midsomer Murders season ad, “I’m really surprised that anyone is still left alive in Midsomer.” It’s an insider joke—25 seasons of murder and mayhem in a small fictitious English village is a lot of bodies. Must be the bawdy count.

Update: my dear friend, Claudia Siefer just had her profile picture, a Cease Fire in Gaza peace sign removed by FB—after being up for three weeks. So I think the mention of Gaza is the culprit. Talk about body count.

Facebook AI bots blocked my cousin Michael Collins’ memorial service video of a medieval hymn

I won the dispute with the Facebook AI censor bots. Not only has the hymn, Salve Regina been copyright-free since at least the middle ages (the 12th century) it’s also within the public domain. by a very long shot. I told the litigious Warner Music Rights Management Group in no uncertain terms that it does not own rights to Catholic church music—especially from the middle ages. Eat it WB.

The Facebook censorship AI bots have now censored one of my cousin Michael Collins’ memorial service videos that I privately posted on Jan 9, 2022—because it had a medieval Gregorian Chant in it.

My mother’s cousin, Michael was a well-known tenor and Gregorian chanter (and  also a Latin teacher), and his friends were singing him off. Michael had some mighty fine pipes. His Nessun Dorma and Ave Maria could bring you to your knees, weeping with joy. But Facebook had to destroy that sublime moment with its heavy-handed Maxwell‘s hammer.

Not only is the use of the hymn, Salve Regina, considered fair use, and no money was involved, it’s been copyright-free since at least the middle ages. Warner Music Rights Management Group does not own Catholic liturgical church music—especially from the middle ages.

I also want to add that the videos were privately posted on my page, no audience, but I had them hidden so that only I could see them—except for one post—but that wasn’t the one in question. So, it seems that you can’t even privately post anything on your page that might break copyright—even if no one else can see it.

Michael’s Gregorian chant group sang liturgy from the mass, including Alleluia, Holy, holy holy, Angus Dei, which are merely a chorus to the mass, and the hymns Panis Angelicus, and Salve Regina. 

Salve Regina was the offending hymn.

“The work was composed during the Middle Ages and originally appeared in Latin, the prevalent language of Western Christianity until modern times. Though traditionally ascribed to the eleventh-century German monk Hermann of Reichenau, it is regarded as anonymous by most musicologists.” in other words, it is copyright free. 

The video in question lasted one minute and 19 seconds. I trimmed it down to one minute and .02 seconds but it’s still over the one-minute limit that triggered the Warner Music Rights Management Group bot on copyright infringement laws. We shall see. Facebook, Game On!

This is the second time that I’ve posted a personal memorial notice of a death in my family—and have been dinged for it by Facebook AI bots. Does Facebook have something against our sharing of actual personal memorial events? 

The last epic Facebook fail was when my mother’s cousin Liam Walsh died. I literally got thrown in the slammer for six days for mentioning to a cousin, a sweet childhood deed of his. Facebook claimed that it violated  “community standards.” There was nothing pornographic, and certainly nothing untoward about it. And there was no way to dispute it. I felt violated. At least with this latest absurdity I was able to file a dispute.

I won’t mention Facebook’s censoring and removal of my botany comment on the uses of native California fan palm seeds, or the naked black and white photo of Einstein’s desk, which Facebook deemed as “depicting explicit sexual content, or pornographic.” A fecking messy desk!

What a way to begin the new year, with Facebook trolling every comment I’ve ever made during the past few years. Talk about Big Brother. Thy name is Facebook. And to think we invited you in.But we have no rights because it’s a private entity.

Just out of curiosity, do you know of anyone else who’s being harassed like this by Facebook for nearly everything they post? it’s hard not to become paranoid in the face of this ongoing absurdity. And no, my account has not been hacked, I check that early and often. It’s Facebook, folks. Epic fail.

• Yet another epic Facebook AI bot fail Liam Walsh

Yet another epic Facebook fail, this time for dirty botany

OMFG, FACEBOOK, REALLY? since when does the description of the seeds of a California native fan palm, Washingtonia filifera in a botany group go against community standards, violate cyberspace, or is considered malicious content? 

“It looks like you tried to gather sensitive information, or shared malicious software.” 

There is literally no way to appeal these ridiculous Facebook decisions. Also, this comment was from a year ago, February. Does the AI sensor bot have nothing better to do? What a way to begin the new year, with Facebook trolling every comment I’ve ever made during the past two years. Talk about Big Brother. Thy name is Facebook. Palm face plant.

I wrote: “The California fan palm does not produce dates, but does fruit elliptical black "berries" about 1/2 inch in diameter. These berries have a very large, brown seed surrounded by a thin, sweet pulp, which native Americans ate fresh or dried. They also ground the seeds into flour. Hooded orioles and coyotes feast on the seeds as well, aiding the palms' proliferation…” 

So, does this sound like pornography to you?

Facebook Fail, friends Hollywood squares

And this was my consolation prize. Facebook mixed and matched my friends’ names with new portraits. Only correct name and portrait is Jay Barrett. Dickens Fourtyfour is now Sarah Reid or her horse— I’m not sure which, and Eolah Bates will be delighted to know that she is now Dickens 44. They’re both bohemian artists. And my cousin Kevin is now grade school classmate John Watts. They both have an retro thing going. And anthropologist Andrew Hayes is now poet Tehmina Khan! And darling Lilah Christine Tuggle has magically transformed into my other Irish cousin Danielle McCormack. Since I’ve known Lilah since she was a baby, we’re practically related anyway. Is it Dada or Kafkaesque gaslighting? Weird doesn’t even begin to cover it. Whatever happened to let the punishment fit the crime?

It was fun while it lasted. I did a hard iPad restart and all returned to normal. No more mismatched Facebook Hollywood Squares. But Sarah Reid disappeared! I rarely accept new friends, nor repost other posts—to keep the hackability down. And no, I don’t think a human troll is behind these hijinks. FB is phukdup. Lol, and now Sarah is back with her horse, Oreo.

Dec. 5

Aaaand Facebook once again is mixing it up, with my Friends List, swapping out names and profiles. Third time’s a charm? For some reason only Jay Barrett’s name is correct, though he doesn’t really look like a boxer. And a Facebook hard restart rights it all. Jay is still a boxer, by choice. He looks much better than that, BTW.

Yet another epic Facebook AI bot fail

Today I was replying my cousin’s comment to my post on my Facebook wall with a memory about our Irish cousin Liam who just died—and for my efforts, I got this 6-Day “Content is not allowed” restriction out of the blue. The ONLY warning I got was a little red box around my benign comment. You can see a screenshot of my comment below and note the red exclamation mark over my profile photo. 

but I have learned the hard way, is the minute you get a red box around your comment and it says re-try sending, it probably is not a bad Wi-Fi connection—but Facebook AI censorship bots putting you on hold while they determine whether or not you are breaking rules or violating community standards.

Back to my saga. Facebook declined to post my comment about how Liam, when he was a small child followed us about, we were the exotic American cousins. I got this: “Your account activity didn't follow our Community Standards, so you can't do one or more things you usually do.” I have no idea why it was restricted. Was it the word “doggedly?” or “death?”

Who knew Einstein’s desk meme went against Facebook community standards?

I do keep track of these Facebook absurdities on my blog. Why Facebook continues to harass a 70-year-old woman for using metaphor and creative language is beyond me. but re-posting photos that everyone else on Facebook has re-posted, and then being sanctioned, for it is at best egregious.

OMFG, I posted an old meme from Facebook about Einstein’s messy desk on the day he died onto a friend’s comment and got dinged by FB AI bots for “going against community standards.” The desk is not nude, in fact it’s well covered, dressed with lots of papers. And as far as I can tell, there was never any sexual activity on that desk, ever. Unless crunching numbers counts. Facebook AI bots evidentially need glasses. And they have a dirty mind. Censor the Facebook AI bots already. Or bust the people that do actually post censorious material. Leave me alone already. This is flat-out harassment.

And I got yet another ding for actually posting the Einstein meme in my Facebook thread, below. I cannot for the life of me figure out why Facebook thinks there is nudity or sexual activity going on. It’s a desk and a chair, a bookcase and a smudged blackboard.

So if you don’t hear from me, it means I am in Facebook jail again. And every time I’ve been thrown in jail, I have literally not done anything that even remotely goes against community standards. Except use simile and metaphor. I’m too old for this shinola. I am seriously considering parting company with Facebook. This is beyond ridiculous. Last photograph I posted to demonstrate the vagaries of leucism, also went against “community standards” was of a spotted chicken and an appaloosa horse. At least they were mammals in that photo.

Let the record show the offending meme in question. Do you see any nudity or sex in this photograph? Yeah, neither did I. Perhaps I need stronger glasses.

Part two: And now I got yet another Facebook ding for reposting the above meme. I fear I may be headed for Facebook jail once again. And as usual I have done zip zilch nada nothing wrong, and certainly have not gone against community standards. Stupid. Facebook is a bully.

Yep, once you start getting Facebook dings, you’re under surveillance and you cannot edit your own comments for a period of time. Sort of an extra gaslighting punishment. I edited the above comment and it was summarily erased. I hate typos. And clearly Facebook AI bots hate to be outed. Sort of a bonus prize, I guess.

The last time I posted one of Facebook’s dire warnings like this, it dinged me twice for the screenshot of the comment, so I got two consecutive jailbird sentences for the price of one. For hate speech, mind you. And all I was doing was using a poor metaphor. Certainly the metaphor was in poor taste, but if you look at most of the stuff posted on Facebook, Facebook itself survives on downright dicey posts in poor taste. It moves the machine.

“It seems I am always being called out by Facebook for my figurative use of language. Facebook actually gave me 13 window’s-worth of admonishments. And, I’ve been thrown in jail. A red card jail, I tell you! And not even for making a pithy political comment. Since when is wanting to “strangle someone’s voice,”  hate speech or a crime against humanity when the woman’s incessant whining throughout the entire video itself, was a crime against humanity? OK, so it was in poor taste.

There are Facebook sanctions—and I do mean “sanction” in both terms of the word: certain taboo words, of which no one knows the complete list, that cannot be used alone, or, and here’s the clincher—or to modify another word, or idea. OK, fine by me. I’ve been sanctioned for going too fast or for liking posts too fast, I’ve been sanctioned for posting my own links on my own page—marked as spam. And I’ve received multiple yellow card warning sanctions for use the use of unusual figurative language. Only, this time, the card was red. Let the punishment fit the crime. In the klinker for making bad mixed metaphors.“ I’m in Facebook jail again…and again

And I don’t even watch dicy videos. The most exciting things I watch in the Facebook video section at this point, are dog grooming—they get their matted hair shaved off, ergo they’re naked, or naked horse hoof trimming (no shoes), and Kiftness kitties singing. They could be saying anything for all I know. Since they’re screeching at each other, clearly sex or turf is involved.

Facebook addiction and other revenge leitmotifs

An artist friend, whose work and being I very much admire, announced that she was leaving Facebook. We later found out that unkind comments were behind her urge to leave the platform. I periodically run into jerks on Facebook too. Aside from wanting to kick the scumbags in the proverbial kneecaps, or perhaps a little bit higher, my revenge is often siphoned into writing scathing blogposts about the situation. 

I was saddened to learn of her experience because I enjoy seeing her artwork and I enjoy her commentary. It made me think about the role of Facebook in my life. So much depends upon… a right attitude to commentary. If I do run into nasty commentators, I usually gain satisfaction by leaving a pithy comment, and if they persist, then deleting all my comments, and erase myself from the particular site, leaving a grim archaeology of their negative comments behind, stet. There are a lot of loonies out there in Facebooklandia, for sure.

I used to worry about Facebook addiction, but then the pandemic came along, and I realized that social media was not necessarily an addiction, but also a lifeline for me to keep my sanity and to be able to interact with a wide swath of people I have known throughout my crazy myriad walks of life, bringing them all under one roof, so to speak, and also to meet many like-minded new friends. The best bonus of all.

Because of Facebook, I now know many passing acquaintances on a more intimate level, despite the physical distance between us. Some folks whom I’ve never met, I could count among my closest friends. I’ve met many Facebook friends later in person. So many kindnesses. One time I needed a place to stay for the Highland Games and a Facebook friend offered her floor for the weekend. Getting to know her in person was delightful, but it was facilitated by Facebook.

When I decided to join Facebook back in 2009, I vowed that I would use it as a tool, and to not be sucked into the shallow world of senseless trending inanities. I primarily use social media as a stimulus, and a platform for my writing, art and photographs. The people I befriend are primarily creative colleagues, so Facebook offers me an opportunity to keep up on their dailiness as well as their creative processes.There’s a certain comfort in knowing that an artist acquaintance is going through similar things as you. Life as we know it. One way or another, we are all in this together.

I use Facebook as a tool to learn new ideas, to expand my reading repertoire (before the introduction of those inane sponsored posts), get ideas for new artwork, and to also write new blog posts. Heh. The Facebook groups I belong to tend to be science and nature groups, so I also use Facebook as an online learning tool for geology, plant and bird identification. I had to give up the bug group. It was just too squeamy for me. 

I think the secret is to make Facebook work for you, and not to be a slave to it. I mourn the loss of those who have permanently left Facebook, like UC Berkeley classmate, the brilliant engineer and musician Chris Devine, but I understand their motivation. And then, there are all the ones that we’ve lost. And their Facebook pages become a perpetual memorial to their memory. Norton Buffalo, Howard McCord, and others.

There is so much trivia in the shallow end of the wading pool. I, for one, am glad that my artist friend has returned to the Facebook fold after a hiatus, because I so enjoy her posts and I love seeing her artwork. It changes my daily outlook for the better. For me, seeing her art process is a golden bonus.

Maybe the right attitude is to ask not what you can do for Facebook algorithms, but what Facebook algorithms can do for you… Perhaps, in my case, the best revenge of all is the excuse to write about it, warts and all.

I’m in Facebook jail again…and again

Let’s see, Facebook threw me in jail for leaving an objective figurative comment on a bad misleading video that was attempting to pass itself off as a real video about finding a bodybag floating at sea. All that drama over some garbage. Why wasn’t the video flagged as it was a fiction that misrepresented the truth? It was also a colossal waste of time to watch, and was, at best, a bad prank. Luckily I could scrub through it. 

I was pretty irritated. So I agreed with another commenter, and added a dicey simile. The prerequisite bimbo on a boat babe, had a nauseating laugh that put shrieking parrots to shame. It seems I am always being called out by Facebook for my figurative use of language. Facebook actually gave me 13 window’s-worth of admonishments. And, I’ve been thrown in jail. A red card jail, the highest award in Facebook-land, I tell you! And, not even for making a pithy political comment. Since when is wanting to “strangle someone’s voice,” considered hate speech or a crime against humanity when the woman’s incessant whining throughout the entire video itself, was a crime against humanity? OK, so maybe it wasn’t completely benign.

 There are Facebook sanctions—and I do mean “sanction” in both terms of the word: certain taboo words, of which, no one knows the complete list, that cannot be used alone. And here’s the clincher—to modify another word, or idea. OK, fine by me. I’ve been sanctioned for going too fast, or liking posts and comments too fast, I’ve been sanctioned for posting my own links on my own page—marked as spam.

And I’ve received multiple yellow card warning sanctions against use the use of unusual figurative language. Only, this time, the card was red. Let the punishment fit the crime. In the klinker for making mixed metaphors. Now the AI sniffer bots scrutinize my every post—like dogs sniffing assholes. See, that’s an example of figurative language. 

What would the Facebook AI bots do if, say, James Joyce was on Facebook? O bhuel. It just means that I have even more time for writing. Let me begin my writing retreat by writing this piece now.

PS Oh, I got even more restrictions for posting my restriction notices on my Facebook page. So I got dinged twice for using the same figurative language once. I’m beginning to think of wearing this badge with honor. 

I won’t tell Facebook that whenever I share an URL on my artist page, I strip all Facebook tracking ID from it as well. Baby steps of revenge.

Facebook punking 4.0

Facebook is either broken or it’s found a new form of gaslighting/ punishment for those of us who think outside the box. Right now every single comment on my posts comes back as a broken link. When my Facebook account goes wonkers, I find myself asking how long am I in the Facebook doghouse this time? Set to the O Brother Where Art Thou song, You’re in the Jailhouse Now.

It seems like there is a yellow card warning, and a red card warning system, with a secret extended time out period ,followed by Facebook shenanigans, and ultimately jail. My feisty friends Andrew and Tori know it well.

Turns out the punitive time out warning penalty is much longer than the actual duration of the offense. So we’re on active Big Brother watch. I’ve been issued both yellow and red warnings for using language figuratively. Facebook doesn’t like metaphor or aphorisms either, and says it goes against “community standards.” It’s a good thing James Joyce is not a Facebook user, is all I can say.

Certain words trigger the Facebook AI po-lice bots. No one knows exactly what they are. But I have figured out some of them: Slav-  ery. Kil. il as in Bill is one. Nuk with an e, as in “to microwave something” and the use of cho- with a p, as in “to crop a photo,” triggered a few of my latest warnings. Hate speech this time. do I have to get inventive in order to use those words? Guess I’ll work out my aggression by Chopin some wood. 

The bee-ginning of the end is nigh

I always get a kneejerk reaction to the Facebook honeybee memes. At least the circulating memes have been updated to include other (native) bees. Part of the premise of the so-called Einstein quote in conjunction with bees is that we will disappear from the earth in four years as well if the honeybees disappear. But most New World foods are not pollinated by bees—and certainly not by European honeybees. Not that I think extinction of any species is ever a good thing. 

Speaking of truth versus fiction, it’s interesting to note how many memes are but half-truths. They need a pithy quote, an authority figure (in this case Einstein) and an erroneous extrapolation to support the straw argument. It’s not a question of challenging one’s faith or belief, but a willingness to look at both sides of our quasi-scientific biases in order to see the larger picture. 

Folks from my California native plant groups, are focused on helping the environment, but in their misplaced alliance, they don’t see the irony in planting native plant gardens in order to feed non-native European honeybees, which are classified as livestock. Euro-bees certainly help agribusiness, but not necessarily the environment—as they compete with our native bee species. Besides, butterflies want equal rights and equal billing as super-pollinators when the next doomsday bug meme comes along.

Many native bee dining favorites happen to be toxic to European honeybees including buckeye, azalea, rhododendron, death camas, corn lily, mountain laurel, sheep laurel, and locoweeds. Do we next suggest getting rid of those native species because their nectar kills those euro-bees? Gardening articles actually suggest not planting these native species for a more “bee-friendly garden.”

We have 1600 species of native bees in California alone, including Yellow-faced bumble bee, Bombus vosnesenskii, Sweat bee, Halictus spp., Wool carder bee, Anthidium manicatum, Mining bees, Andrena spp., Long-horned bee, Melissodes spp.,  Leafcutter bee, Megachile spp. to name a few. They can drink the toxic nectar, ingest the pollen from these “toxic” plants because they co-evolved with them. 

Here’s the thing, honeybees certainly help the farmers but they don’t necessarily help the environment as they are non-native species—except in Europe and North Africa. If anything, they drive the native populations of insects away, and hog all the local food sources. Check out this National Geographic article. And this Scientific American article.

What’s really killing the honeybees? Pesticides, and varroa mites are a real problem. Monoculture is the real killer. And it is having an illicit affair with Round-up. As for our native bees—they too are threatened by pesticides, loss of habitat, and competition from those Euro-trash bees. 

We need to build more bee hotels and create habitats for our native species too. And maybe send those non-native honeybees to bee school. All is not woe. Italian x Carniolan hybrids, are supposed to be more resistant to the narcotic charms of the buckeye. Sounds like both the nectar and the pollen is toxic—like the hallucinogenic mad honey produced by rhododendron and azaleas. I wonder if honeybees hallucinate?

Epic Facebook fail, who knew mentioning Gravenstein apples was considered spam

 Yet another doozy from the Facebook hall of infamy, shall we call it an epic fail? Twice in one day?

1.EPIC FACEBOOK CENSORSHIP FAIL. For the upcoming harvest apple picking fair, I wrote on Fort Ross Conservancy‘s group page, that the apples in the historic orchard were “The oldest Gravensteins in Sonoma county, perhaps even in the state of California.“ 

And my completely innocuous comment was removed by Facebook for “going against community standards.” 

I had no idea that writing a comment on a post for a group page that I belong to, was considered spam, false advertizing, fraudulent, or harmful. I thought we were supposed to engage and interact with our groups that we belong to—isn’t that what social media means? 

Ya think? What exactly are you protecting the Facebook community against?

Why, I am contemplating committing unnatural acts with apples. How, I don’t know.

And yet you allow white supremacy hate memes on Facebook.

You make poor decisions based on faulty algorithms. Fire the AI bots, they’re drunk.

This is flat out harassment. I hope someone sues your privileged ass Zuk.

Sarah of the Fort Ross Conservancy is as puzzled by this as I am. I guess Facebook doesn’t like any historical posts. Another huge group I belong to, “California History,” was shut down and archived by Facebook. When you’re on the Facebook AI bot harassment list, it is forever.

For the record, I have old ties with the Fort Ross community, I was friends with the former director of the museum and the Living History historic reenactment group, and with Park Ranger Dan Murley—we used to joke that we were cousins (Murley and Hurley are from the same name).

During the 1980s and 1990s, I attended all the community events at Fort Ross State Historic Park—and even couriered/smuggled in the special Fort Ross commemorative gold medallions to the Museum of Ethnography in Leningrad commemorating the historic reenactment of the Chirchov expedition event with the former Soviet Union.

This is the sweet Fort Ross invite in question:


Fort Ross Harvest Festival
Saturday October 16th
Fort Ross State Historic Park
10am – 3pm

Free! California State Parks $10/car parking fees apply

Happy Fall! What better time to announce we will be hosting Fort Ross Harvest Festival than the first week of fall. It has been two years since we welcomed you to this event and we have missed you all!

Join us in the historic orchard for a safe and joyful reunion for Fort Ross Harvest Festival on Saturday, October 16, 2021.

Our dear friends from Russian House Kedry will tantalize your eyes and ears with their enchanting traditional Russian songs and dances. Join in!

As the health and happiness of our visitors are paramount, this will be a low key version of our usual Harvest Festival celebration. We will not be organizing pumpkin carving, apple painting, or apple juicing this year due to the close proximity these activities require.

Pack a picnic, bring an empty bag to collect fruit, and help us harvest the bounty of the orchard. We encourage gentle harvest of all the fruit found in the orchard.

Bake a pie and tag us @fortrossconservancy with the result! We’d love to see what you do with these beautiful fruits.

Bring a hat and wear layers - weather on the coast can change quickly. We will not have an ADA shuttle this year so please park at the main parking lot and walk up to the orchard. (You may drive to the orchard to drop members of your group off who may not be able to walk up to the orchard, but cars must be parked in the main Fort Ross parking lot.)

Call or email us for more information info@fortross.org/ (707) 847-3437
Details: https://www.fortross.org/events.htm

#VisitFortRoss #FortRoss #WestCounty #SonomaCounty #ThingsToDo #Fall #Orchard #YouPick #Apples #Pears

And Sarah’s puzzled reply:

Breaking Facebook community standards, yeah, right

Facebook, your so-called “community standard” patrol bots are over the top idiotic asshats. I am so tired of my authentic posts being flagged, marked and deleted as “spam.” Your AI bots just nuked a dangerous map of the Caldor wildfire. How fecking stupid is that? It was a public service announcement about evacuation procedures, FFS. I have friends living in the fire zone. Facebook you’re going against your own community standards to keep us “safe.”

For example, just last week, you harassed me for sharing my own photos of a friend who had just died, famed poet Jack Hirschman, with grieving friends. Someone who had died of COVID! How is that even remotely considered spam? How tacky, not to mention, how insensitive. When someone dies, how do you get the news out, except for by posting more than once?

The time before that, your Facebook AI bots flagged an innocuous photo of a spotted colt and a spotted chicken. I can’t even begin to fathom why a photo of a cute baby horse and chicken could possibly go against anyone’s “community standards.” And no, that wasn’t multiple posts. I’m still puzzling over that one.

I won’t mention how you often arbitrarily curtail my ability to edit any of my comments for a week, because I was “going too fast,” or whatever. I am an OCD writer. Your autocorrect algorithm sucks, and changes my comments AFTER I post them. I change my mind early and often and I suck at typing. Editing your own comments should not a crime. But I guess Facebook would prefer typos and inane comments vs. actual innovative thoughts.

I notice your AI bots only flag me late at night, during the wee hours. How clandestine. How Third Reich. I’m fairly certain that my posts do not contain content that includes “violent extremist propaganda, misinformation, nudity, sexual activity, bullying, hate speech or violence,” tho this post could be construed borderline hate speech against your dafty bots.

Someone noted that when they deleted the Facebook sponsored ads they were thrown in Facebook jail. Bingo! I deleted a plethora of irrelevant Facebook ads as because they were for senior citizens who needed to find rest homes, or wear Depends, or need hearing aids—none of which I want to see ads for, nor do I need. Yet. Is that the trigger that puts us in the gobby gunsites of your bots?

Shame on your so-called “community standards,” Facebook. You suck at this bot patrol stuff. Your so-called safety bots are an epic fail. I think I’ve reached the crossroads where we may need to part company. Enough is enough. This is now borderline harassment, Facebook. Stop bullying me by flagging and removing my posts—especially under such distressing circumstances.

Dear Ones, what are the words that trigger the Facebook Jail bot armies? Using the word kll is one trigger word, and idiota is another. What else? Besides sarcasm.

• Facebook autocorrection woes
• Searching for Trevor Yeats This post got me some detention time. Why, Gawd only knows.

Facebook autocorrection woes

Yesterday Facebook randomly decided that I cannot, and will not add to, nor change any post, let alone, correct any typos. Period. Ditto that for today. Needless to say, my OCD is amping on overdrive. I’ve restarted my iPad several times. I even deleted and reinstalled the Facebook app.  Nope. Nope and nope.

Not only is Autocorrect on overdrive, and absolutely wrong 99.9% of the time, it often changes the suspect words AGAIN AND AGAIN—sometimes after I’ve posted the blasted comment. Ad nauseum. And don’t even get me started on its insistence on using random capital letters, excess commas, and apostrophes. Arguing with Otto-crrrect is not something I signed up for.

To add OCD-ish insult to injury, Facebook won’t let me correct any real typos on my comments. Oughta-cracked is strangely silent and oddly circumspect at the randomest of times. Like it ignores “thst.” I’m fairly certain thst is not a word in any language unless cats are involved. Odd behavior, as OttoCrrct has its fangs out every time I use an obscure word, then dutifully checks its cuticles whenever I really could use some help. The only workaround is to copy, then delete the entire comment, and begin again the beguine. Luckily, I can edit my primary posts, as I am a constant and ruthless reviser. 

And for those of you who do actually follow my posts, I do apologize in advance, as I only recently realized that if you mistakenly happen to Like one of my posts, gawd forbid, then you’re subject to an onslaught of notifications for every single correction I make, with Facebook dutifully updating and informing you that I’ve yet again updated or changed my post. Again. 

And I am, at best, a piecemeal thinker—not only do I use fragments, and begin sentences with And, I am a misplacer of connective articles and particles of speech, and also an absolutely slovenly typist to boot, so being able to correct and revise my writing is a fundamental process. Something which Facebook, in its hellbot-driven BigBro realm, considers detrimental and harmful to its royal We-we of omni-impotence. 

Luckily folks can turn that “she updated her damned post again” notification off. Did you know that? And yes, I did end that last sentence with a preposition. Ya wanna fight over it? What would Winston Churchill say? “This is the type of errant pedantry up with which I will not put.”

• Breaking Facebook community standards, yeah, right

Searching for Trevor Yeats

While searching for some information on a former student of mine, Trevor Yeats, I stumbled upon a blog called the Arts of May which featured the very poem I was looking for. A friend, Michael McAllister Lyon had posted a drawing of a young William Butler Yeats and I was struck by how similar Trevor and William looked and wanted to share it. I was not expecting to find an accolade in a random blog dated 2014. It seems Trevor’s old poem written in 1992, continues to move people across the time continuum.What a gift that was to find the reference. I’m still no closer to finding Trevor than I was before. I wish him well, wherever he is. And a big thank you to Lily S. May of Toronto, Canada for the shout-out. I’m truly humbled. I wonder if this is my Trevor? What do you think? Oh, and I got dinged for spam by FaceFook when I posted this link. 

William Butler Yeats by John Singer Sargent, 1908. pencil, 9 x 6 in.