SimplyBel
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Determining credibility in a YT creator
Andy Signore and the cult of Popcorned Planet
October 08, 2022
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Audio format Any YT creator that’s been around for a minute has their detractors, it’s the name of the social media game. Before you decide to spend time, energy and money on them, it’s a good idea to sort of look beneath the hood and kick the tires before jumping on the bandwagon.

What follows is a “cult checklist” because if you decide to back/follow a creator it can result in you being inducted into what amounts to a cult.

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  1. Putting things out there for public consumption whether it be videos or blog posts, there should be an overall theme for people to resonate with. If it’s murky, creators should be open to questions. Heck, they should be open for questions anyway - it’s the only way to enter into civil discourse. If questioning isn’t allowed, run away as fast as you can.

  2. If YT creators are lucky enough to be monetized, take a moment to calculate just how much they may be pulling in. Some just have ad revenue while others also have memberships, sometimes different tiers of membership. If they also push and push for tips/donations, lock your wallet up tight. If they straight up ask the viewers to pay for things like a “producer fund,” I have questions. Those questions multiply if there are multiple GoFundMes and Amazon lists being shared.

  3. Vague references to “people out to get them” is a huge warning sign. Keep in mind that we see the world how WE are rather than how it actually is. Be wary of buying into their world view.

  4. For whatever reason, many creators do have videos/articles/tweets from detractors. Don’t be quick to dismiss them out of hand.

  5. A leader also uses his co-leaders to make this point. While they may pretend to entertain notions of being fallible to the public and even within the group, a deeper probing will lead to the fact that they won’t truly admit to not being right.

  6. Again, co-leaders and those that head up his “tribe” (perhaps including moderators on YT) are used by a leader to keep the community at large in the dark while also pretending to pander to their wants & needs. Dissention may be sown to keep the group a little off balance for easier manipulation. This also makes it easier for the leader to keep an iron grip on "truth" and disways folks from looking deeper.

  7. If you find yourself defending the leader/creator and have no real idea why except for “well he’s a nice person and people are mean” you might just be under the influence of a cult leader. Take a step back!

  8. Ditto - it’s called a “persecution complex” and the leader/co-leaders will feed into this while also claiming they don’t want drama.

  9. I think this is covered in 7 in that followers seem to somehow feel compelled to protect leadership. While it feels normal & natural, it’s anything but. A red flag should pop up if you find yourself parroting leaderships’ words.

  10. Oh yes, justification is a big one. It’s okay for leadership to say/be/do something but not for others, especially detractors. 

  11. People with more than two brain cells to rub together will eventually get wise to the cult & its leaders. They will think “how could I have been so deluded?” They will feel shame and embarrassment. This is not only natural, it's also very understandable. Many detractors will accept you if you reach out. These detractors didn’t detract just to be dramatic bullies, they were attempting to warn others as best they could. They are the strongest amongst those that have escaped the cult and want nothing more than to stand vanguard against the cult in order to protect more vulnerable targets.

Cult leaders are usually narcissists

While it can be argued that many/most YT creators have narcissistic tendencies, if they’re not self-aware it can become a problem. Especially for those that become entrenched in their communities. So before you decide to dive into any YT community, think about the following (if the aforementioned cult checklist didn’t do it for you).


A brief list of narcissistic traits:

  • Being overly boastful, exaggerating one’s own achievements

  • Pretending to be superior to others

  • Lack of empathy for others

  • Looking down on others as inferior

  • Monopolizing conversations

  • Impatient, angry, unhappy, depressed or has mood swings when criticized

  • Easily disappointed when expected importance is not given

  • Always craves for “the best” in everything

  • Has a very fragile self-esteem

Narcissistic personality disorder involves a pattern of self-centered, arrogant thinking and behavior, a lack of empathy and consideration for other people, and an excessive need for admiration. Others often describe people with NPD as cocky, manipulative, selfish, patronizing, and demanding.

When deciding whether to follow YT creator, you probably aren’t going to be looking at any sort of intimate relationship so your inner alarm system may be delayed or not go off until those around you become uneasy. It can be quite insidious. You may think it’s just you. You tend to go along to get along or to protect the community at large. You could find yourself behaving in ways that are actually contrary to who you are. It’s okay - they make a living fooling people. Consider the following:

 

Dealing with a narcissist: Don’t fall for the fantasy (Link)

Narcissists can be very magnetic and charming. They are very good at creating a fantastical, flattering self-image that draws us in. We’re attracted to their apparent confidence and lofty dreams—and the shakier our own self-esteem, the more seductive the allure. It’s easy to get caught up in their web, thinking that they will fulfill our longing to feel more important, more alive. But it’s just a fantasy, and a costly one at that.

Your needs won’t be fulfilled (or even recognized). It’s important to remember that narcissists aren’t looking for partners; they’re looking for obedient admirers. Your sole value to the narcissist is as someone who can tell them how great they are to prop up their insatiable ego. Your desires and feelings don’t count.

Look at the way the narcissist treats others. If the narcissist lies, manipulates, hurts, and disrespects others, he or she will eventually treat you the same way. Don’t fall for the fantasy that you’re different and will be spared.

Take off the rose-colored glasses. It’s important to see the narcissist in your life for who they really are, not who you want them to be. Stop making excuses for bad behavior or minimizing the hurt it’s causing you. Denial will not make it go away. The reality is that narcissists are very resistant to change, so the true question you must ask yourself is whether you can live with this indefinitely.

Don’t beat yourself up too much - it really isn’t you, it’s them. You got caught up, it happens. What matters now is how you move forward. And you’ve learned some valuable lessons - congrats!!

Just a little thing I recently discovered that I think that describes the blind believers of Andy’s crap & enable him to keep doing it:

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Which are the Good Faith Actors?

While I was on my latest social media hiatus journalist Jess Machado posted her first interview on her new YouTube (YT) channel. Who did she choose as her subject? Notorious anti-free Karen Read (AFKR) figure, Kate Peter (KP) (or  "Krusty Panties" as fellow journalist Aidan Kearny has dubbed her). I have not watched the interview nor do I intend to - why would I subject myself to a known liar lying? Jess had to know that FKR would have feelings about this particular choice, that many of her "besties" would experience shock and disappointment. Unless KP came clean about her true reason for her AFKR stance and how it really was all about her hatred of Aidan. Dang it, now I just might hafta take a peek.

However, from what I'm seeing on X, it seems people are upset with Jess for publicly airing grievances with LTL media, a YT channel she appeared on weekly during the second trial of Karen Read. Particularly about a video that may or may not exist regarding the death of Mass. State Trooper trainee Enrique Delgado Garcia. This is a story that Brian of LTL has had his teeth sunk into since the end of last year, 2024. Garcia purportedly died of a brain aneurism during a training exercise although I'm wondering if that happened before or after his neck was broken (amongst other injuries). Hell of a coincidence, right?

Apparently, Brian gave Jess a glimpse of said video and claims she could've asked him to play it if she wanted to see the whole thing. Jess wonders why he hasn't shared it with the world. Brian has also said he does not actually possess it but has seen it. Logic dictates to me that Jess is the one telling the truth. And I think she's probably been pushing him to do something constructive with it. How much more could a paid guest do? Yes, that's the other thing that has stuck in the craw of many: Jess required payment to appear on Brian's show - an arrangement that both seemed comfortable with. This may well be standard in the TV industry but it strikes an odd chord with those of us who consume our news via social media.

Now I'm gonna rewind my way back to the reason for my hiatus - the downfall of someone we saw as a staunch supporter of Karen Read, Estey, and the rise of a pain in the ass named John Baron who seemed particularly aggrieved by another staunch FKR, Nan AKA Lawferio. I don't believe the two are connected, they just happened around the same time. It seems Estey just likes to sucker fish to large trials, her last one being another that is near and dear to my heart: Johnny Depp v Amber Heard (I'm JD all the way, BTW). As for John Baron, it turns out that it was an account shared by AFKR and FKR personalities. I have no idea why they picked on Nan. Jealousy and/or boredom are the only things that spring to mind. It's the height of stupidity to defame a successful lawyer, IMO.

Just for funsies, let's wrap all of this up and tie it with a ribbon called, "I was disappointed in Karen Read's party & other disgruntlements." LTL/Brian said he just sat back and observed the party because that's just how he is, now he's upset about not being included more. Or maybe it's more about not getting the recognition he thought he'd earned which is what Rita Lombardi's and Sean on the Gulf's complaints were about, too. Personally, what I do is because I feel it's right, not because I want kudos. I mean, they're nice, don't get me wrong, but they're not my reason d'etre. I'm about the same age as Rita & Sean - we're of an age that we're supposed to have some wisdom. Aparently that's about as rare as common sense.

In the end, I guess it comes down to what I'm willing to tolerate. I'm all for good fun but not when it comes at the expense of others. I guess I'm simply not up for schadenfreude.

Schadenfreude refers to the joy you might feel at another person’s pain. It’s a compound of the German nouns Schaden, meaning “damage,” and Freude, meaning “joy.”  Merriam-Webster

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Jennifer Coffindaffer is Tired, Poor Thing!
The sham trial of Karen Read

Former (supposed) FBI agent Jennifer Coffindaffer says some ridiculous things on X regarding the Karen Read trial (amongst others). This one caught my eye yesterday:

Let's break it down:

The Top Ten Reasons why I can't Wait for the Karen Read trial to be over:

1-Tired of all the dissent in the True Crime Community. 

Most of those in the "True Crime Community" realize that, at the very least, the investigation was sorely lacking thus engendering feelings of a whole shit ton of reasonable doubt. People who truly believe Karen Read is guilty should be mad as hell at disgraced former trooper Michael Proctor yet they're not. I find this incredibly odd. It's almost like they agree with his whole "pin it on the girl" strategy.

2-Tired of trying to explain that there is 0 proof that an ATF Agent (who has his job and was not reprimanded in anyway much less accused of murder), a 30+ year Boston Police Officer (featured on Boston's Finest and retired with distinction about 2 years After the crime), a dog (sent to Vermont months after the crime due to a fight she had with another dog), and a minor (not even worth mentioning) Murdered John O'Keefe and brilliantly threw him in their front lawn.

So, stop trying to excuse ... er, explain stuff regarding people you don't even know. Higgins is on desk duty (last we heard, anyway), Brian Albert has a history of beating people up, a dog whose owners called the poor girl "it" and made her disappear the night of the incident only for her to reappear then end up being "rehomed," and a thug in the making. Btw, it's curious that you, of all people, knew where Chloe supposedly was when even the defense team didn't. The rest of us learned during her "mom" Nichole Albert's testimony well into trial #1. Another oddity, IMO.

3- Tired of listening to Alessi. 

I'm so sorry that Alessi is too smart and well spoken for some to understand. Personally, I'm tired of Hank Brennan's incessant whining. 

4- Tired of watching Karen Read's courtroom antics. 

No idea what you're talking about here. Do you mean her being an active and valued member of her own defense team?

5- Tired of reading all of the dribble from those who haven't watched the trial but pretend they have.

I think the word you're looking for is "drivel" and those who rebut you probably *have* watched the trial, you just don't like their viewpoints. Many also probably watched some, if not all, pretrial (especially for this second trial). I certainly have. The CW's own ME said Ofc O'Keefe's injuries were inconsistent with a motor vehicle strike. What are we even doing here?

6- Tired of the podcasters flushing truth for viewership.

Same girl, same but opposite. I'm tired of those that have flushed their integrity in order to push the CW's false narrative. However, I'm glad to weed out those who apparently lack critical thinking skills.

7- Tired of the Blogger's filthy mouth and lies. 

So don't watch/listen to him or read his articles. Easy fix, right?

8- Tired of Watching the Fan.

Agreed.

9- Tired of a simple Occam's Razor Domestic Violence case being made into a Cecil B. Deville drama fest.

I'm tired of people who think that cops running a crappy investigation is A-OK as long as whoever they deem to be the "bad guy" gets put away. I'm also tired of people shitting on our US Constitution and using the Bill of Rights to wipe their ass.

And number 10: Tired of watching a spoiled one continue to mock the death of a wonderful soul named John O'Keefe.

Nobody finds humor in the death of OFFICER John O'Keefe. Many see the tragedy in that some of his fellow brothers in blue didn't give him the honor he was due by conducting a proper investigation, exploring all avenues, in order to figure out what truly happened to him. Instead, he was just "a man," "the guy," and, ultimately, the victim. He's not even referred to as a Boston Police Officer in much of the CW's case. 

I will continue to advocate for justice in this case because it's the right thing to do.

Justice means not trampling over someone's rights. It means recognizing shoddy police work. It means not rushing to judgement. It means a thorough and proper investigation. It means not resorting to trickery in an attempt to secure a conviction. It means not ignoring inconvenient truths. 

This trial has brought to light how some DA's offices along with their local law enforcement sometimes works to railroad innocnt people. As attorney Mark Bederow likes to say, they're supposed to be the good guys. With Karen Read, we're seeing that's not always the case which is pretty eye opening, IMO. I have learned to take a closer look at how cases are investigated and garnered even more appreciation for the role of defense attorneys. Like many others, I've come to understand that the government does not generally have our best interest in mind. Sometimes they need their feet held to the fire. We can learn much from criminal defense attorneys Bob & Ali Motta (Defense Diaries), Andrea Burkhart (Andrea Burkhart), Ian Runkle (Runkle of the Bailey) and Natalie Whittingham Burrell (natalielawyerchick) as well as former prosecutor Emily D. Baker (The Emily Show). I would be remiss if I did not mention Attorney Melanie Little for complete covereage since pre-trial 1 and Peter Tragos (Lawyer You Know) for his unbiased and nuanced coverage. These are just a handful of lawyers on social media that are covering and/or commenting on this case. Those worth following point out the myriad of issues and just how much reasonable doubt there is.

FREE KAREN READ

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Commonwealth of MA vs Karen Read retrial
The more things change the more they stay the same.

Those of us who sat through the interminable first trial of Karen Read had some tempered hope when an outsider, defense attorney Hank Brennan, was brought into for this retrial. That this newly appointed special ADA would look through the evidence and ask Michael Morrissey WTF he was thinking when he brought charges against Karen. Or, at minimum, recognize the overreach of the second degree murder charge. These hopes were dashed when Brennan switched from wanting a fair trial for Karen to wanting one for the Commonwealth of MA (CW).* He seemed determined to dig deeply into the federal investigation of the investigation of the death of Officer John O'Keefe but not in the direction that those of us on the FKR side hoped he would. He completely ignored the exculpatory information provided by the feds in a 3000+ page Touhey report. Instead it seems he did his level best to figure out what the government had on the Norfolk County DA's Office (NCDAO). When he failed at that, he attempted to discredit the defense in as dirty a way as possible: Make it look like they were colluding with the FBI or, at the very least, their experts from ARCCA who opined that John was not hit by Karen's car and Karen's car was not damaged by hitting John.

Hank Brennan and James
James "Whitey" Bulger and Hank Brennan

Did I mention that Hank Brennan was on the team that unsuccessfully defended James "Whitey" Bulger, infamous Irish mob boss and murderer? And that he cried at his funeral? I personally did not know this when he was first appointed but it makes sense now. Who better to defend the NCDAO than a mob lawyer? That's how those in the know were describing him from the beginning. I though that nobody could be worse than DA Michael Morrissey and his corrupt crew: ADA Adam Lally & ADA Laura McLaughlin. Boy was I wrong! Lally mumble fumbled his way through the first trial, using "what if any" so many times I wanted to smack my head into my keyboard. Droning on about the snow and high top tables and shoveling aprons until I thought my ears were gonna bleed. Then along came Hank Brennan and his incessant whining. Suddenly, I missed Lally, which I didn't think would ever be possible. Speaking of, has anybody else noticed that Lally turned into a real prosecutor under Hank's tutelage? Suddenly he's loud, clear and concise with his questioning although he's been relegated to the most minor and most boring of witnesses. 

Hank Brennan, Adam Lally and Laura McLaughlin
Hank Brennan, Adam Lally and Laura McLaughlin

Brennan has been running this trial like a defense attorney trying to trip up witnesses during cross examination. In other words, his presentation does not seem to be linear (what follows is not necessarily in order): EMS first responders, Kerry Roberts, more EMS first responders, Sara Levinson (who was inside 24 Fairview that night), Ian Wiffen & Jessica Hyde (the CW's two cell phone experts), Jennifer McCabe, retired Canton police dept. Sgt. Paul Gallagher (who arrived after John O'Keefe was transported to the hospital), Yuri Bukhenik (lead investigator Michael Proctor's supervisor and partner). Oh, and the two passangers of the vehicle that arrived and left 34 Fairview during the time Karen Read was outside in her Lexus waiting to hear from John O'Keefe (but not the driver for whatever reason). MST Nicholas Guarino also took the stand a few times to enter John's & Karen's cell phone evidence. Notably absent were any police officers that first responded to the scene, the lead investigator and the medical examiner, all of which are generally standard witnesses in a criminal case.

Jen McCabe

Jen McCabe, an early witness in this retrial, received a glow up from the last trial. She mostly remained cool, calm and collected during her 3 days of testimony. She and most of the EMS personnel that testified earnestly stated that their memories have gotten better over time. You would think that people even tangentially involved in law enforcement would know that this is patently untrue. However, I guess it's as true as Trooper Paul's grasp on physics in his "accident reconstruction" for the last trial that had poor officer John O'Keefe bouncing off of his head and pirouetting onto the lawn of 34 Fairview on that fateful morning. Hopefully their new expert, Dr. Welcher of Aperture, has a more cogent argument.

A bunch of physical evidence has been presented but there doesn't seem to be any logs attesting to their provenance. Plainly said, there doesn't seem to be  any chain of custody on anything. The scene at 34 Fairview was left unsupervised from before 8 am until after 4 pm that day. John's clothing was discovered on the hospital floor (which makes sense), loaded into a paper lawn & leaf size bag by Bukhenik and Proctor, rode around in their car most of the day, then laid out on butcher paper at the NCDAO. It was logged into evidence six weeks later and two pieces were ensconced in plexiglass between the first and second trial. John's shoes, one of which was found at the hospital with the other found on the lawn of 34 Fairview, both seemed to end up in property bags identifying the latter location. A recess was called to address the problem then, magically, the second shoe was pulled out of a bag that said it was from the hospital. It also seems that Proctor just filled out evidence bags with either his or Bukhenik's names as he saw fit. There were no crime scene services (CSS) photos of the 47 pieces of tail light that "revealed themselves" over a good 3 weeks. A bunch had no pics at all. There was no sketch made of what was found where at the crime scene. It was never even established exactly where John O'Keefe was found, much less orientation or any kind of measurements. 

This case is an absolute clusterfuck and, so far, the prosecution has not proven a damn thing, IMO. We're over 3 weeks in and the jury has not heard what John's actual cause of death was determined to be. In this way, Brennan's bunny hop approach resembles Lally's slogfest in trial 1. Emily D. Baker has some excellent daily briefs if you want to follow along.

Remember: The truth does not change. Data doesn't lie, people do! FREE KAREN READ

*The US constitution only guarantees a fair trial for those accused of crimes not for the bodies accusing them.

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