In the News (#1119)

March 13, 2021 by Maggie McNeill

Socializing is not a luxury. - Zeynep Tufekci

Maggie in the Media Torture Chamber

Even journalists reporting on these abuses insist on referring to them as "correction":

...a [few days after being] threat[ened by a New Jersey screw]...Darrell Smith was...[savagely beaten] twice by a g[ang] of [screws. He]...was tortured, beaten, kicked, punched, stomped...choke[d], slammed to the ground, and had his head slammed into a glass door...he was [then] "denied...medical care...[despite] catastrophic injuries that left him in an unresponsive and catatonic state" in a prison cell covered in his own feces, urine and vomit...[after being left in this state for] four days...Smith...was transported to a hospital...his leg was cuffed to the bed [for two days despite being]...declared brain dead...the family...[filed a] lawsuit...[after finally getting ahold of medical records showing that] Smith "sustained a severe catastrophic brain injury...[due to] the brutal beatings"...

The Enlightenment Police (#884)

The obsession with controlling women cannot be stopped by a mere pandemic:

Swiss voters have approved a ban on...facial coverings...in nearly all...publicly accessible places, including on the streets, in public offices, on public transport, in restaurants, shops and in the countryside. The controversial proposal [was] support[ed by only] 51.21% of voters...The only exceptions include places of worship...[or] if worn for health and safety reasons, because of the weather and in situations where it is considered a "local custom" to do so, such as at carnivals...There will be no...exceptions...for tourists...[from Muslim countries]...The proposal, put forward by several [authoritarian] groups...has been criticized by a number of...religious organizations...human rights and civic groups, as well as the federal government...

Switzerland in October: Everybody must cover their faces in public.
Switzerland in March: Wait, not like that!

You Were Warned (#926)

Indian politicians are just as eager to demolish the internet as those in the US, Australia and Europe:

The Indian government's new Information Technology rules...have been sold to citizens and the world as being of a piece with global efforts to [control]...social media...platforms now have to...giv[e] the government details about the "originator" of content [that it dislikes]...effectively breaking end-to-end encryption...The rules...also cover digital news organisations and video-streaming platforms like Netflix...giving the government much more power to...censor...The government has made massive changes to the way the internet will work in India, but without having to take the matter to Parliament at all, by amending the rules under pre-existing sections of the law...the government...is...unwilling...to engage with the stakeholders that matter...the rules create a bureaucratic super-structure that gives the executive much more power over...the internet...

Do As I Say, Not As I Do (#1074)

Ever notice how often predatory cops' targets are underage?

A Denton [Texas cop]...has been arrested...for distribution of child pornography. David Schoolcraft...[fell into a trap set by the FBI] Dec[ember]...2020...he [i]s...of...c[our]se [still on the payroll, because cop]...

Since the "authorities" prefer to hide the identity of this child molester, here's a picture of his boss until such time as a photo of Schoolcraft becomes available.

The Chinese are now using a method of subjugation invented by the Assyrians:

Chinese authorities have loaded large numbers of Uyghur workers onto trains bound for factories thousands of kilometres away as part of a plan to [forcibly] assimilate Muslim minorities into mainstream Chinese culture and thin their populations in Xinjiang...the...Uyghur workers...[are then forced] in[to "re-education"] programs...that mix Mandarin lessons with in[doctrina]tion by police and Communist Party cadres...the...policies...are designed to sever them from their homes and traditional way of life, moulding them into state-approved members of the "Chinese nation"...

Social Distancing (#1082)

Far too many people adore authoritarian public health schemes:

When the polio vaccine was declared safe and effective, the news was met with jubilant celebration...One might have expected the initial approval of the coronavirus vaccines to spark similar jubilation...But...instead, the steady drumbeat of good news...has been met with a chorus of relentless pessimism...and claims of impending catastrophe...the public has been offered a lot of misguided fretting over new virus variants...and presented with long lists of things vaccinated people still cannot do ...Five key fallacies and pitfalls have...played an outsize role in derailing an effective pandemic response...mistrust and paternalism ...toward the public...[arbitrary] rules in place of mechanisms...scolding and shaming...absolutism [instead of harm reduction]...and...a poor balance between knowledge, risk, certainty, and action...