The once-great Naomi Klein. I had great respect for her until she burned her very considerable credibility to the ground, by publicly and viciously attacking Glenn Greenwald recently – after he quit The Intercept, for not agreeing to their new policy of enforced censorship, saying Glenn had “lost the thread”.
Continue readingTag: free speech
Writings of J. Todd Ring: Censorship, Big Tech & The Closing Down of Society
Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, YouTube, and the MAGATs – Microsoft, Apple, Google, Amazon and Twitter – are all now embedded and engaged in censorship, data mining, privacy invasion, the new global surveillance and police state, and/or state-corporate propaganda, and manipulation of elections and the public mind (ie: the Facebook and Cambridge
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Big Exodus from Big Tech
Time for the exodus to begin in earnest from the now confirmed to be fascist and deeply Orwellian Big Tech giants. At the least, we need to begin the migration and the shift, by supporting and using the alternative social media, search engines, email, browsers, etc., which do not data
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: Vancouver Bends the Knee to the demand of Fragile Males – I Love JKR Billboard Removed
You hate to see it, but again male entitlement and fragility win out over the concerns of women. Apparently, this billboard is considered offensive and not allowed in the public sphere. Of course women who continue to fight for their rights within Canadian society, are no strangers to small setbacks.
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: And justice for none
Listen to the words of an honest journalist – a rare creature in these Orwellian times: “When I first met Julian Assange more than ten years ago, I asked him why he had started WikiLeaks. He replied: “Transparency and accountability are moral issues that must be the essence of public
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: Wow, Well Here is Hoping that Transactvists Can’t Shut DWR Down
Hey folks. Just got a threat from a transactivist on twitter about DWR. Let’s hope they are full of bullshite and that wordpress isn’t craven. I’ll keep you updated. Arb
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: Hedges – the Last Word on Cancel Culture
Having a mass of people able to “cancel” someone in power can seem like a fantastic form of fluid democracy when it shuts down something harmful in a harmless manner, like people reserving space at a Trump rally they have no intention of attending. But it can be dangerous that
Continue readingCowichan Conversations: “The panic over “cancel culture” is, at its core, a reactionary backlash.
Originally published by the Huffington Post Anecdotes are not data, free speech is not under attack — and elite journalists should find something else to write about. Read More Read more…
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Wednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Thomas Walkom writes about the Libs’ dangerous efforts to turn the page on COVID-19 as Canada’s primary political concern. – Murray Mandryk highlights how Scott Moe’s budget accomplishes nothing either to address our immediate crisis, or to chart a long-term course for Saskatchewan.
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Wednesday Afternoon Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Brink Lindsey discusses what the coronavirus pandemic has revealed about the failings of both libertarian philosophy, and the public sector apparatus left after decades of neoliberal neglect. – Paul Krugman writes that the U.S. is failing the marshmallow test when it comes to
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Yaryna Serkez highlights how COVID-19 has both exploited and exacerbated the U.S.’ existing inequalities. And Alexander Panetta writes about the perpetuation of racial inequality in the U.S. for upwards of five decades after civil rights legislation was supposed to establish a nominally
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: The Sins of Assange
“Assange’s arrest represents an abuse of power, highlighting not only how true journalism has now been banished in the West, but also how politicians, journalists, news agencies and think-tanks collude with each other to silence people like Julian Assange and his Wikileaks foundation who are a nuisance to US imperialism.
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Fernando Arce discusses how Doug Ford’s attacks on labour create public health risks. And Amanda Mull writes about the futility of telling workers with no safety net to stay home to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, while Donald McNeil Jr. points out
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: A Bit about Cancel Culture and Academic Freedom
I’ve written before about how I support free speech but don’t support giving platforms to “White Nationalists” or neo-Nazis or any other racist group who could use the venue to garner more followers. My concern is with audience members who might be easily led or looking for a place to
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: This Is Quite Powerful, And Also Quite Relevant
A Facebook friend posted the following, which is appeared on Dandelion Salad, a site I intend to explore as time permits. Bracing and sobering, the following video seems more relevant than ever: Recommend this Post
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: On Cancel Culture – The New Censorship
Cancel culture is the mirco level of what is happening in many parts of our online culture. The macro: group dynamics, power dynamics, and class are what drive the process. As critical thinkers and active citizens we need to be aware of both levels and how they interact and form
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: The Greatest Propaganda Machine in History
Sacha Baron Cohen (aka Ali G. and Borat, among others) won an award from the Anti-Defamation League. Here’s his 25 minute acceptance speech. It’s in writing, abridged a bit, below the video if you’d rather skim than watch. (Emphasis is mine.) “Today, around the world, demagogues appeal to our worst
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: Writers opposing free expression is a new low for Canadian ‘progressives’ – Meghan Murphy Speaks, full Repost
Internet Life Media The crusade to cancel my talk at Toronto Public Library Meghan Murphy Meghan Murphy Meghan Murphy October 18, 2019 4:50 PM This week, three Canadian writers launched a petition demanding the Toronto Public Library cancel a room rental for a sold-out event, ‘Gender Identity: What Does It
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: RFU statement on Meghan Murphy event at Toronto Public Library
Radical Feminists Unite is a Toronto-based organization of diverse women who work toward the preservation and advancement of the rights of women and girls. We have organized a lecture at a Toronto Public Library branch by Canadian feminist journalist Meghan Murphy, taking place on October 29th. We are not a
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Wednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Kate Aronoff asks how much destruction is needed before we’ll start taking climate change seriously – though the answer at this point looks to be that no amount of damage will be enough to move a substantial number of politicians off their insistence
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