I haven’t really written a lot of non-podcast link posts on here for a while, but this is more important than just putting it on twitter… everyone needs to see this.

For the past week life in the US has been frankly out of control. Police brutality is being seen everywhere, and thankfully hundreds of thousands of people have taken to the streets to protest this violent behavior, only to be met with more violence. Reporters trying to tell us about what is happening are being arrested and shot at, some sustaining life altering injuries. If you follow my twitter, then you know how I feel about it… and I don’t like using Press Start to talk about the travesty that is life right now. But it is important, and we all need to think about it. To act on it. To do something.

But what I’m writing about today is the Press Start to Continue Facebook page. Over the past few years I’ve reduced my use of it to basically just crossposting links to new shows, but with the recent actions by Mark Zuckerberg, I cannot in good conscience keep doing that. If you are unaware, twitter has begun fact checking the president and expunging hate group accounts. They have reduced or even halted the use of political ads. I applaud the effort, even though I have issues about the range and scope of their actions. Even so… baby steps right?

Facebook, and Zuckerberg specifically, has been defiant on this front. They have refused to fact check their ads and posts. They’ve refused to censor posts by the President that are clearly meant to convey fear, act as dog whistles, and other dangerous intentions. If you follow my twitter you know how I feel about the guy. But the obstinance of Zuckerberg to push back on his rhetoric has been the last straw for me. In one week I will be taking down the Press Start Facebook page permanently. I don’t want to be associated with a site that has become so rotten that even its leader can’t see what it is doing to our discourse. Who it is harming by simply not acting.

If you follow the Facebook and use it to notify you of new episodes, there are a few options for you:

• Follow my twitter @PressStartLock. I use it for more than just the show and related links, but I always post new show notifications there
• If you’d rather JUST get notifications about new shows, follow the main Planetside Podcasts twitter: @PlanetsidePods. You’ll see links to new Planetside programs whenever they are uploaded – currently we do not use it to post anything else
• Follow the links on the sidebar to subscribe to the podcast directly! There are two versions of Press Start: Press Start to Continue DLC, which is the regular two hour show and The Press Start Pulse, which is an hour long version where I ONLY play Nerdcore. Some people just want the hip hop, and not the game music!
• I have a Planetside Podcasts discord that I’m terrible at inviting people to? Link: https://discord.gg/j8QD24. If anyone out there would like to help me out with that I’d be grateful… There are alerts to when I stream on twitch and when any of the Planetside shows upload new eps.

A lot of people have moved on from Facebook, but some have not. If you’d prefer not to, or if you actually can’t – some people have commitments that are maintained through Facebook, its how they communicate with loved ones – I understand and don’t have any ill will around that. Do what you need to do. But please please, and this is the most important thing to remember: Try to help in any way you can. Make the world a better place. If you can protest do that. If you can write letters or call your representatives do that. If you can VOTE – PLEASE do that. But even if you can only spend your day trying to talk to people and get them to understand the issues that we are facing today… that is enough. We all have our limits, we all have different things we can and cannot do. That’s ok, as long as you can do literally anything to help!

Here are a few ways to help:

https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co  – This link has a lot of resources and links to petitions and places to donate. If you can spare the money, please help out the friends and family of those who have been hurt, and local bail funds to get protesters who can’t afford it out of jail.

If you don’t have the resources to donate that’s ok! Play this youtube video in the background. Turn down the sound and leave it running. All of the money from the ads that run during the video goes to help people and organizations that need it to keep this movement growing.

Let’s all be good to one another, help each other, lift each other up, and be the helper people can look to.

Thank you for reading his long, rambling, and I’m sure boring post. There will be a new show next week. I hope you all are well, please stay safe, please wear masks, please wash your hands, and please look out for one another. We’re all we got, so let’s get going.

~Morlock