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In a thorough and well-reasoned decision, Judge Terry A. Doughty of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana has denied government defendants’ motion to dismiss in State of Missouri, et al. v. Joseph R. Biden, Jr., et al. The New Civil Liberties Alliance, a nonpartisan, nonprofit civil rights group, represents renowned epidemiologists Drs. Jay Bhattacharya and Martin Kulldorff, as well as Dr. Aaron Kheriaty and Ms. Jill Hines, in a lawsuit that has exposed an elaborate, multi-agency federal government censorship regime. Judge Doughty wrote, “The Court finds that the Complaint alleges significant encouragement and coercion that converts the otherwise private conduct of censorship on social media platforms into state action, and is unpersuaded by Defendants’ arguments to the contrary.”
Discovery in the lawsuit unequivocally establishes that at least eleven federal agencies and sub-agencies, including CDC and DHS, directed social media companies to censor viewpoints that conflict with the federal government’s messaging on topics ranging from Covid-19 to elections. Federal officials engaged in a lawless, expansive censorship campaign that employed illicit tactics—including coercion, collusion and coordination—on social media companies to suppress the airing of disfavored perspectives on Covid-19 and other topics. As a direct result of state action, NCLA’s clients were blacklisted, shadow-banned, de-boosted, throttled, and censored, merely for articulating views opposed to government-approved views on Covid-19 restrictions and regulations. Judge Doughty held that “Plaintiffs have plausibly alleged state action under the theories of joint participation, entwinement, and the combining of factors such as subsidization, authorization, and encouragement.”
In confirming Plaintiffs’ standing, Judge Doughty said, “The threat of future censorship is substantial, and the history of past censorship is strong evidence that the threat of further censorship is not illusory or merely speculative.” Judge Doughty also found Plaintiffs’ alleged injuries-in-fact are “redressable by the Court,” and that Plaintiffs had demonstrated sovereign immunity does not bar their First Amendment, ultra vires, or APA claims.
In case one thinks this could somehow not be abused, I'll note a year old study that alleged over 600 times where a large social media outlet (here called "Big Tech") suppressed speech in favor of Joe Biden's 2020 campaign or subsequent administration in a two year period.
MRC [Media Research Center] Free Speech America tallied 646 cases in its CensorTrack database of pro-Biden censorship between March 10, 2020, and March 10, 2022. The tally included cases from Biden’s presidential candidacy to the present day.
The worst cases of censorship involved platforms targeting anyone who dared to speak about any subject related to the New York Post bombshell Hunter Biden story. The Post investigated Hunter Biden and the Biden family’s allegedly corrupt foreign business dealings. Big Tech’s cancellation of that story helped shift the 2020 election in Biden’s favor. Twitter locked the Post’s account for 17 days. In addition, Twitter slapped a “warning label” on the GOP House Judiciary Committee’s website for linking to the Post story.
Big Tech even axed those who blamed the current inflation crisis on Biden. For example, Facebook censored Heritage Action, the advocacy arm of the conservative Heritage Foundation, on March 15, simply for posting a video quoting Biden’s embarrassing statements on energy policy. Facebook placed an interstitial, or filter, over Heritage Action’s video, suppressing the post’s reach. The video showed Biden and officials in his administration explaining how his policies would cause gas prices to rise.
But the largest category by far included users who dared to call out Biden's notoriously creepy, touchy-feely behavior around women and children. The 232 cases of comedic memes, videos, or generic posts about Biden’s conduct composed more than one-third of CensorTrack's total instances of users censored for criticizing the president.
The allegations of the lawsuit are interesting. For example, two US states (Missouri and Louisiana) are among the large mix of plaintiffs and there are assertions that they have special standing to sue for various reasons (such as protecting the interests of their citizens and quasi-sovereignty status). A few of the claims are: various acts of censorship described in the suit are unconstitutional because they were carried out at the behest of the US federal government - censorship by proxy; that in addition, the two states have a duty (based on their state constitutions) to protect the speech of their citizens (I believe every state in the US has something similar in their constitutions); and that similarly, the two states can't hear all the voices of their citizens via social media because of this selective censorship.
While the last is a dubious legal argument in this situation IMHO it does bring up an interesting point. If a future state government relies on the large social media platforms to be informed about what its citizens want, is that something that is legally actionable on anyone? Obviously, there's a variety of deception possible with fake accounts (possibly driven by AI) and such to twist the perception, but some of that exists even with older technology like mail. The practice of astroturfing, or creating a fake "grass roots" lobbying campaign, started as automated mass mailings and phone calls to legislators.
So I guess the TL;DR is that once again the courts are addressing abuses of censorship by proxy along with the problems of how a government communicates with its citizens in an age where fake communication is getting easier and real communication can be censored most likely legally.
(Score: 3, Touché) by Runaway1956 on Thursday March 23, @06:20AM (40 children)
"You have freedom of speech! You just can't expect private enterprise to give you a forum on which to express your speech!!"
How many times have we heard that nonsense? And, how many times have I pointed out that Twitter, Facebook, etc are the new de facto Town Square? That Town Square ain't your safe space, children. Don't like my speech? Don't listen to it. Don't like that I have a voice? Well, fuck you very much, you fascist bastards. Knowing that my speech irritates that senile son of a bitch in the Oval Office, I'll speak louder, and I hope it irritates all of you progressive assholes.
Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 23, @06:59AM (22 children)
You honestly think Biden gives a flying fuck about whatever unhinged ramblings you voice?
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 23, @07:35AM
Given his history of replying to no-reply addresses in political emails, he probably thinks he has a direct line!
(Score: 1) by khallow on Thursday March 23, @12:05PM (20 children)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 23, @02:10PM (19 children)
If you believe that The New Civil Liberties Alliance and MRC are nonpartisan then you are dumber than you look.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Thursday March 23, @03:52PM (18 children)
Why should I even care that these organizations are or aren't nonpartisan? It's not a requirement to sue or to win lawsuits, for example.
(Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Thursday March 23, @05:02PM (16 children)
Because if they are highly partisan it makes it much more likely that they are lying.
(Score: 2, Touché) by khallow on Thursday March 23, @07:43PM (15 children)
In other words, this argument is an ad hominem fallacy.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 23, @08:03PM (5 children)
Are the holes in your self made persecutiom story too much for you?
Pot meet kettle that started the thread: "Apparently, you do. Maybe wipe yourself with a cloth?"
As usual we will point out that if it wasn't for your unrelenting hypocrisy regarding the truth and the integrity of your debates then you would get more of a pass. Maybe even some sympathy for things close to violating your rights. Hard to care about your persecution fetish when you can't acknowledge basic facts about the treasonous den of thieves and liars we call the GOP.
Get off Ayn's titty already.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Thursday March 23, @08:42PM (4 children)
Not at present, but I assume you will ruthlessly exploit those alleged holes in the future? I will, no doubt, be crying for mama when you get around to it.
"Point out" != "coherent argument that doesn't make us stupider for having read it."
Up to you.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 23, @10:07PM
Keep digging that hole, khallow! You'll reach China in no time!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 23, @11:18PM (2 children)
"The insurrection was a bunch of peaceful protesters, with a couple of rioters."
You are too far gone buddy, no amount of facts can cure your stoopid. At least you aren't pro-russia, must be that libertarian streak that prevents you from blindly believing everything from the shamed bowtie man.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Friday March 24, @12:04AM
Who are you quoting? It's not me.
Would those facts be of the sort as your sham quote above?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 24, @06:51AM
Just leaving THIS [yimg.com] here.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 23, @09:48PM (6 children)
It is called prior probability. Modern politics is built upon a nice thick foundation of lies and obfuscation. Ergo if you have a random statement from a partisan partisan, it is much more likely to be a line of horse shit than a random statement from almost anyone else.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Thursday March 23, @10:55PM (5 children)
What's "random" about the statements above? And the NCLA is in a court case where they are limited to how many lines of horse shit they can do.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 24, @12:32AM (4 children)
You are right, it isn't random. It is self-serving. Which happens to be the kind of statements most likely to be full of crap, especially if you are a partisan group that benefits directly from spreading them.
And, my sweet summer child, how I envy you: to be so innocent as to think that people don't routinely cover everything they say in court with a mendacious and misleading coating.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Friday March 24, @03:05AM (3 children)
So what? I find it interesting that you claim they're lying but seem remarkably disinterested in what they would be lying about. Or even showing that they're lying. Classic sign of an ad hominem.
Says the AC without a clue. Perhaps you should consider that the defendant in this trial, the Biden administration is also a self-interested party pursuing its own interests. And that there is alleged documentation of significant coordination between the Biden administration and the censors at these companies which is a big step towards proving censorship by proxy. Sometimes partisan plaintiffs don't need to lie when the partisan defendants have already done the work.
We'll see if this sticks or not. But even if it doesn't, it demonstrates that censorship by proxy is considered unconstitutional. I strongly suspect the second link will hold together as well, which would demonstrate politically driven censorship.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 24, @04:52AM (2 children)
I never said they were lying and I never said the defendants weren't.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Friday March 24, @05:37PM (1 child)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 24, @10:20PM
I accept your apology.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 23, @11:31PM (1 child)
Partisan or not, that is some collection of fruits and nuts.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Friday March 24, @12:28AM
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 23, @11:10PM
They claim to be nonpartisan. They are not. They lie. Why believe known liars?
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 23, @12:31PM (13 children)
Fascist that wants to ban people from dressing in drag over imagined fesrs is now whining about others violating their rights?
Must be a republican.
(Score: 1) by Runaway1956 on Thursday March 23, @02:36PM (12 children)
I have never hinted that I want to ban drag shows. You'll need a citation to show otherwise. If you have any intellectual integrity at all, you'll concede that my concern, and my complaint, is the presence of juveniles at the drag shows. Read "grooming" into that sentence. If juveniles are to be permitted at sexually charged events, those juveniles should be well into their teens, not prepubescent little children.
We don't take children to the "gentlemen's club" strip joints, we don't take children to the bars, we don't take children to whorehouses, we don't take children to drag shows. Just because you were raised in a whorehouse doesn't make it socially acceptable.
Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
(Score: 2) by choose another one on Thursday March 23, @05:16PM (6 children)
Maybe things are just a bit different iver the UK side of the pond, but:
> we don't take children to the bars
We do. Seriously. Pubs / bars can set their own entrance policy, some are no kids but I'd say a minority, and there may or may not be restrictions in their licence, see https://www.lawble.co.uk/children-in-pubs/ [lawble.co.uk]
Night clubs on the other hand always IME have minimum age for admission (and sometimes 21 or I think even 25).
> we don't take children to drag shows
Define drag show? Over here we have a history / tradition of taking children to "pantomime" shows (which I think are a lot less common in US but nevertheless exist) - in fact those are shows particularly aimed at children, _and_ with an emphasised cross-dressing element always present. They are also not without adult themes in the scripts - but usually at a "disney" level of innuendo that pretty much goes over the kids' heads in order to provide some entertainment for the poor adults who have to sit through the rest of it... (sorry to the fans, never liked panto myself).
Now, "sexually charged events", of any flavour or pseudo-identity letter - I'm right with you there. Except it's always going to be tough to define where the line is, consider sex ed: there are always going to be those who think sex ed should be restricted to denying it exists and thou shalt not attempt to disprove this (until old/married enough), and those who think it is actually wrong not to explain _everything_ that kids might be tempted to find out for themselves because forewarned is forearmed and the informed make better judgements. Me, I'm closer to the latter camp and think sex ed should be done dispassionately and scientifically by the science dept. (ie. biology) - but then I went to a catholic school where it was delegated to RE dept. who did sod all until girls (several in my year) were actually pregnant which point they gave a 2hr lesson of proper "catholic" sex ed. Boys and girls in compeltely separate classes - as if they believed we wouldn't all get together afterwards and compare notes on what each sex had been told whilst laughing at the naieveity of our teachers.
> Read "grooming" into that sentence.
No, not unless there is evidence that the presenters or organisers of such shows are actively aiming to manipulate, exploit and abuse the kids - see the definition here: https://www.nspcc.org.uk/what-is-child-abuse/types-of-abuse/grooming/ [nspcc.org.uk] (again, I accept that definitions over there may vary...)
Finally:
> we don't take children to whorehouses
No, but... in mainland Europe, say Amsterdam... see e.g.: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-42143635 [bbc.co.uk]
I give that example because IME the Dutch seem to produce consistently and reliably by far the most well adjusted adults (although Scandinavia comes close) when it comes to sex and personal relationships, and I'm reliably informed that the typical childhood experience there (decades ago) included hard core porn on the TV (unrestricted free-to-air) as you flicked through the channels at the breakfast table. That is their normal, and I can't say it doesn't work.
Me, I'll happily do skinny dipping, Scandi/German-style mixed nude sauna, nude beaches etc. - but I draw the line before hard core at the breakfast table and I have a porn blocker enabled on the house internet. It can be worked around - I just figure the kids should _have to_ put some effort into it, and that once they are able to, they are probably able to process what they find.
(Score: 1) by Runaway1956 on Thursday March 23, @10:37PM (5 children)
OK, you got me on that first one. Here in the states, there are bars, and then there are bars. And, standards vary from state to state, even from county to county. There are lots of places back home in Pennsylvania where alcohol is served, and children are welcome. There are just as many places where children are not welcome. The former always has some class, even if not much. The latter are simply dives, with no class at all.
Here in Arkansas, there are fewer places where children are welcome, and even fewer where anyone in their right mind would want to take children.
Then, there are places like Washington State. I had driven for hours, looking for a place to fill up my thermos, maybe get a bite to eat, use the men's room, and move on. I walked into the BBQ/lunch/bar, with my then 11 year old son, and immediately the place went into anarchy. "That kid's not welcome, get him out!" was the gist of all the hollering. "Can we even take a piss and get a coke?" "No, OUT!" Assholes . . .
Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 25, @05:45PM (4 children)
Explains so much about you. Have you tried NOT living in a state clearly run by degenerates?
(Score: 1) by Runaway1956 on Sunday March 26, @02:41AM (3 children)
Well, I moved far from New York, New Jersey, and the rest of the East Coast. And, I'm just about as far away from California. Unfortunately, the degenerates have been moving into Texas in recent years . . .
Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 26, @06:24AM (2 children)
I wish I could be cis-gendered, so that clothing would not be sexual.
tbh, I think the whole drag queen story time thing is really fucking weird. I think it's really fucking weird how the pseudo-left promotes it, and I think it's really fucking weird that it gets you so unhinged. The whole thing is really fucking weird.
I guess I don't understand how clothing is sexual. But then again, I don't live in a rape culture, where everyone is trying to rape everyone else, and it's up to the one good man to stop the bad men from raping.
Also, apparently in rape culture, it's perfectly fine to indoctrinate children into military murder death kill fantasies. Cops and robbers, cowboys and indians, shooting and murdering and robbing and killing.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 26, @11:30AM (1 child)
Perhaps you should have been born human. It seems that you are unaware of the whole clothing industry, fashion, trends, and human sexuality in general.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 27, @03:58AM
So what you're saying is that it comes down to whether somebody is an official wombyn, whether the same articles of clothing are sexual or non-sexual. Or is it just that if you want to have sex with the person wearing the clothes, then it's ok, otherwise it's perverse. Isn't that a little self-centered?
(Score: 3, Informative) by DeathMonkey on Thursday March 23, @05:26PM (3 children)
Hooters has no minimum age limit.
Would you support the Nanny State forcing them to implement an age limit because of sexuality?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 23, @09:52PM
But Hooters has trespassed Runaway, after that unfortunate incident a few years ago, in front of the children.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 23, @10:30PM (1 child)
People take their grandmothers to Hooters, FFS. The skimpily dressed women are dressed, and they stay that way. Their uniforms may not pass muster at Sunday Mass, then again, they may.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 24, @02:38AM
I have no doubt there are guys who would take Grandma to Hooters. These are the same idiots who would take their girlfriends to Hooters. These are the same idiots who would take the wife and kids to Hooters for family night. Just because there are idiots who would do such things doesn't mean that the rest of us should follow their example. Just sayin'.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 23, @07:32PM
"We don't take children to the "gentlemen's club" strip joints, we don't take children to the bars, we don't take children to whorehouses, we don't take children to drag shows. Just because you were raised in a whorehouse doesn't make it socially acceptable."
Bigoted moron spews stupid shit like it is reality. Your religious bigotry would go over better if your priests and youth pastors would stop molesting children! At least your stupid talking points change every few months. CRT and The Caravan of DOOOOM are no longer issues? #winning?
You are such a fuckin nazi oofy doofy.
(Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Thursday March 23, @04:37PM (1 child)
Is it OK to yell "fire" in a crowded theater (filled with accelerants) because sometimes people talk in there?
(Score: 1) by khallow on Thursday March 23, @09:10PM
Depends on the circumstances. If I don't have reason to expect it to become an immediate death trap, then reporting the situation to police and fire department would be appropriate (with an escalation to the press, if they don't take action). If it's a sign of imminent arson, then I'm hitting the fire alarm and working on getting people out of the building (which may end up including creating openings in the building since it's not rocket science to block exits if you're already planning to kill people). In that scenario, shouting fire even in a crowded theater might well save hundreds of lives.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 24, @05:57PM
I just assume the free market will magically sort this all out. BTW, you wouldn't happen to be in need of any hydroxychloroquine, would you?
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 23, @09:56AM (39 children)
Sounds like the kind of Republican whine that would catch khallow's attention. Poor censored wacko doctors, that have "different opinions" about horse de-wormer and fish-tank cleaners, bleach solutions and UV lights up one's bum. Drop it, khallow. Lets get on to the serious stuff, like Hunter's laptop, and Bengayzi!! Chairman Gym Jordan, at long last, Sir, have you no shame?
.
Strange how Runsaway is the first post. Almost like he is drawn to the right-wing talking points like a PILF to a Flame.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 23, @10:15AM (2 children)
So much for the hard ethics problems of the Trolley Car Laptop variety. Did you know that now you can vote by texting?
(Score: 3, Touché) by DeathMonkey on Thursday March 23, @04:51PM (1 child)
If you lie to someone in order to steal their money or something valuable it's called fraud.
Is your vote valuable?
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 23, @11:36PM
Ask Runaway about that wall Bannon tried to sell him.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 23, @11:19AM (22 children)
Aristarchus and other dangerous, statist idiots need locking down until we can administer some shots (.45, 10mm or .357?) to cure their stupidity. The great thing about this is they still continue to support their folly...
https://unherd.com/2022/01/has-the-great-barrington-declaration-been-vindicated/ [unherd.com]
(Score: 2, Insightful) by khallow on Thursday March 23, @11:59AM (13 children)
So the big, scary aristarchus needs lead vaccination? Well, assuming you aren't aristarchus yourself and advocating suicide by state - which I consider a far from unlikely possibility, maybe you ought to save the death murder kill for the video games?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 23, @12:48PM (12 children)
It's rhetorical, the branch covidians locked people in their homes; conspiring to deprive them of liberty, speech and civil engagement. They make no amends or even acknowledge wrongdoing.
They support locking people in their homes and force vaccinating them -- my proposed vaccine would be close to 100% effective at stopping these psychopaths unlawfully detaining others -- and they support the remedy on principle! For now khallow, my good sir, I'm only interested in which caliber you think would be the more effective cure for them in guarantee of our future liberties?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 23, @01:38PM (4 children)
Now what group was all about genocide as a solution for social problems? The nazi infestation on SN should be handled with some immediate bans. Been done for one user already, so it is plausible.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 23, @02:33PM (3 children)
"muh Nazis" say the holiday camp purveyors, [charitytoday.co.uk] Feldgendarmerie screwers of freedom [newsweek.com] who wanted to censor opposition [wikipedia.org] and force medicate perceived threats to health. [ushmm.org]. Yes you there - you get to make these decisions for yourself not others! I also don:t want you banned, I want everyone to know exactly what you are.
Anybody claiming we're not still at war needs to explain why Western nations deployed military psychological warfare units against their own populations. [bigbrotherwatch.org.uk]. It's not over until the initial aggressors are forever restrained and we have awarded reparations.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 23, @07:35PM (1 child)
So you're an unapologetic Nazi that wants reparations after shitting your pants over how unfair it would be to do the same for Nativr Americans and slaves? Sounds about white. Nazis are bad mmk?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 24, @01:28PM
"Nazis are bad, whites are Nazis" is a sentiment that could be shared by the biggest Hitlerian Marxist since Macías Nguema.
https://thepostmillennial.com/black-panther-angela-davis-asked-to-pay-reparations-after-mayflower-ancestry-revealed [thepostmillennial.com]
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 24, @03:57AM
Tinfoil hat, much? The general level of mental health here on SN seems to be declining. Khallow is about the same, despite being replaced by a AI bot, but these Knot Sees are sounding more and more deranged.
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Thursday March 23, @01:57PM (1 child)
All hail the super awesome response by China to the COVID-19 pandemic!
https://time.com/6264980/china-mrna-covid-vaccine/ [time.com]
https://www.usnews.com/news/health-news/articles/2022-12-23/report-chinas-covid-19-infections-surge-reach-37-million-in-single-day [usnews.com]
https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2022/12/15/1143002538/china-appears-to-be-facing-what-could-be-the-world-s-largest-coronavirus-outbrea [npr.org]
https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/31/health/covid-19-china-us-different/index.html [cnn.com]
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/feb/13/white-house-has-deep-concerns-over-china-role-in-who-covid-19-report [theguardian.com]
https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/how-china-blocked-who-chinese-scientists-early-coronavirus-outbreak-n1222246 [nbcnews.com]
https://www.cnn.com/2022/04/11/asia/china-shanghai-lockdown-culver-intl-hnk-dst/index.html [cnn.com]
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-health-quarantine-idUSKCN20G0AY [reuters.com]
https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/14/asia/coronavirus-who-china-intl-hnk/index.html [cnn.com]
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 23, @03:19PM
Firefox reader mode before timed subscription popup grants access to full article: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/03/23/anders-tegnell-swedens-pandemic-plan-lockdown-never-agenda/ [telegraph.co.uk]
(Score: 1) by khallow on Thursday March 23, @10:44PM (4 children)
So how many times have you been locked in your home and force vaccinated? My take on this is that in a free country, it's legal for people to have anti-democratic beliefs and ideals. It's not legal for them to break the law in furtherance of those beliefs. Democracies typically have sensible punishments for people who do that. Beliefs != behavior.
Further, covid was on the edge of public emergencies that legitimately warrant curbing individual freedom. That gets ignored in narratives like yours.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 25, @11:27AM (3 children)
what? [aier.org]
We live in a voluntary society, luckily those who would coerce others already volunteered themselves when tyranny became a threat. On what grounds do the psychopaths object and why do they find their own position so objectionable? You miss the point, it's not my narrative - it's theirs!
(Score: 1) by khallow on Saturday March 25, @12:43PM (2 children)
You tell me. I find it remarkable how you can glibly talk about "voluntary" societies when deliberately undermining society's response to a serious emergency. Nobody needed you to volunteer to spread disease.
Covid was on the edge of being an emergency where I would approve force vaccination and imprisonment of anyone who would violate quarantine - because that would save a lot of lives. It's fortunate for us that it was milder than it originally appeared. Note that we will have these same issues show every time there is a epidemic of a lethal disease. Remember the key principle of libertarianism: your freedom ends where other peoples' freedom begins. Dealing with lethal epidemics requires curbing your freedom.
Rather than bullshit about your freedom and psychoanalyze how psychopathic it supposedly is for others to try to save thousands or millions of lives, I think we should take this as a warning that we need a better approach to dealing w0ith epidemics. If you can find such a way that preserves your freedom, fine. But if you can't, then tough.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 26, @04:14AM (1 child)
So everything the Greek alleges about you being a Fascist is true? What caliber bullet are you selecting to rid the world of your cretinism? And don't argue the point, you post a threat and we are force vaccinating you!
(Score: 1) by khallow on Sunday March 26, @08:51AM
In other words, we're to labels now rather than serious argument. If we're not interested in our freedom, which includes pitching in when there are society-wide emergencies, then we won't keep it. That's the big reason that crises and emergencies are such fertile ground for tyranny. Because free people choose not to provide an alternative.
For a glaring example, I see occasional, but repeated insistences that mass covid infection is unavoidable despite the obvious rebuttal that if we stop spreading it, it would die out in about two weeks in most people (some would stay infectious for a long time). Vaccination remains an obvious way to do that BTW. So is isolation.
Instead, the poster chooses to pretend that acting in ways that spread covid are no different than their opposite - to create myths that support their choices rather than deal with covid as it really is and the harm they cause.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 23, @09:55PM (7 children)
Death threats, on SoylentNews? Some one needs to inform Law Enforcement, or ban some right-wing Wacko violent types! Janrinok? Does admin support death threats?
(Score: 2) by janrinok on Friday March 24, @08:45AM (5 children)
OK, let me know what they say....
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 24, @02:00PM (4 children)
https://soylentnews.org/comments.pl?noupdate=1&sid=54455&page=1&cid=1297720#commentwrap [soylentnews.org]
If you do not care about deayh threats then why did you get all in a tizzue over aristarchus reposting runaway's supposed information? Were the authorities contacted, and did they tell you to remove the content (which you daid didn't even happen) or just ban a user that violated no staged rules of SN?
This dichotomy is why you suck. At least have the decency to condemn death threats, even if you take no real action against the nazi death lovers.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Friday March 24, @05:58PM (1 child)
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 24, @08:29PM
Aristarchus calling himself a "statist"? Not plausible. I like khallow's characterization of a "scary aristarchus", but I would probably add "Big, Hairy, Scary Aristarchus". Looks like janrinok does support death threats to big hairy scary persons. #SaveBigfoot!
(Score: 2) by janrinok on Friday March 24, @07:30PM
I haven't supported death threats. But when I contact my local police they are not particularly interested in this particular issue. But perhaps that is just a problem with the French police....
When your politicians can issue death threats without any action being taken, I don't think the police will be likely to act against a random comment on the internet.
Yes, I believe that they were. We had the cooperation of Runaway, we provided him with data that he had not seen, and he was free to report it if he wished to do so. He said he was going to, and I believe that he did. There were not only 'death threats' but threats of violence to both him and members of his family.
We don't have to cover every possible eventuality in a rule book. All that does is give you a chance to find loopholes that are not specifically covered. If we don't like your behaviour we do not have to tolerate it. We didn't like it and we did not tolerate it. If you don't like the rules you can leave.
Why don't YOU report it. Are you not a good citizen? Of course, you can't do that as AC can you? You argue for free speech - but you hate it when others have it, don't you?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 24, @07:43PM
Oh user with history of stalking - was this a threat or were you detailing your sexual fetishes?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 24, @11:31AM
Also report death threats against the laptop class [wikipedia.org] straight from the nineteenth Century.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Thursday March 23, @12:03PM (4 children)
Am I supposed to keep some around for the coming apocalypse? Maybe I can store it next to the two years of beans and NRA gun porn?
If you had read my second link to the pro-Biden censorship, you would have seen Hunter's laptop among the serious stuff.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 23, @05:20PM
Sketchy pdfs from documentcloud? No thanks
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 23, @07:31PM (2 children)
House Unamerican Committee historical reference, my dear McCarthy Khallow! Sorry you are too young and conservative to get it. Those who don't know history are condemned to repeat it, and those who DO know history are also condemned to repeat it, but at least they will know what the hell is going on.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Friday March 24, @12:09AM (1 child)
Or simply understand that McCarthy was persecuting people not defending people who were persecuted. The analogy is completely broken. I'm no McCarthy.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 24, @03:52AM
Well, you'll never get a date with Ann Coulter, then. Or did you mean Paul? McCartney, not Cooper.
(Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Thursday March 23, @04:39PM (7 children)
I have alternative theories about how money works therefore all my Fraud is actually just Free Speech!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 23, @07:03PM (5 children)
Yes but did you dump SVB in time for the bank run?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 23, @07:39PM (1 child)
Conservatives trying to bothsides crime now? Wait, that was always the "trick" to get people to just stop caring about the criminals ripping them off. Same old rightwing ligma brains.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 24, @01:18AM
Republicans have "alternate crime" from Kelly Anne Conway, whose soon to be ex-husband is an actual lawyer. Evidently, according to the House Special Committee on watching young wrestlers in the showers has determined that bringing charges against a former guy who broke laws, is itself a crime. Gym Jordan says.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Thursday March 23, @08:06PM (2 children)
Didn't the government guarantee the deposits of the SVB depositors?
The anti vax hysteria didn't stop, it just died down.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 23, @09:37PM
Yes? [nitter.net]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 24, @12:43AM
The FDIC guarantees all depositors up to the $250,000 limit. Additionally, they are providing the standard unwinding guarantee. It covers all depositors until the unwinding process is complete, which is also standard because it preserves as much value of the banking institution as possible while it is the process of ending its life as a bank. Otherwise, the whole thing could fall completely apart, which isn't good for anyone and could quickly turn into a systemic problem as it cascades and accelerates.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Friday March 24, @12:13AM
Perhaps you ought to explain how that works. Presently, it sounds like your head exploded from cognitive dissonance. Better clean the keyboard.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 23, @09:35PM (3 children)
but, to be fair, the government is just supposed to open up an uncensored site of its own to compete against the censored private sites. In the absence of alternatives we are supposed to create them, instead of complaining and filing lawsuits to keep the lawyers employed
(Score: 1) by khallow on Friday March 24, @04:14AM (2 children)
I assume the government would pinkie swear not to exert the same powerful tools of influence and extortion on the new alternatives we created as it did on the existing ones?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 24, @04:28AM (1 child)
The government does whatever we let it do. Oversight is our obligation. Failure is our own fault. We are the ones that provide job security to the corrupt
(Score: 1) by khallow on Friday March 24, @05:38PM
And these sorts of court cases are one of the mechanisms by which we decide what we allow.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 25, @05:57PM (5 children)
"This very seriously could have been me.
Was raised by a white mum (no shade to white mums doing a good job). Thing is she never taught me to hate directly. It was subtle stuff like saying I'm not like my cousins, not having access to my black relatives. Not doing enough to make me not feel inferior for having my dad's features. One of my earliest memories is crying about not looking much like my mum. Skipping ahead, we were neglected so I had a lot of free time on the internet.
It got me because I was stupid enough to fall victim to what was going on on 4chan. I started going there young, 13, and felt bad for the guys saying they were forever alone because I was a dumb 13 year old and didn't think there's probably a reason they're alone. Got exposed to all kinds as you can imagine.
So I already see white dudes as victims, get taken advantage of by them without realising and most of my friends end up being older white guys who pass around racism as a joke. Don't want to downplay my role, I participated as well, but funny enough the jokes were never about white guys. One wanted to marry me and move me over to the States to be his little subservient house wench. I told him no and ended up marrying a Jewish man, which I'm sure absolutely still drives him insane to this day.
Trump rolls around and Bannon's propaganda machine (tl;dr he realised the gamer community was full of people who had a lot of angst that was perfect to harness in order to change public policy through memes and social media keyboard warriors - free labour force) got to me and most of my friends from then as well.
I frequented the politically incorrect board on 4chan since it began, and the racist jokes seemed to become less jokes and more serious over time. There were now people comparing skull shapes, haplogroups, talking about crime statistics, etc. Posts about the holocaust being fake were not mocked anymore. And an influx of lots of trad posts and anti gay and trans posts which is now rife in the "alpha" spaces of today (these things are intrinsically linked).
Eventually I believed some of it, particularly about black people being inferior. I didn't even consider myself black at the time, I'd say half black or the m word. Regardless, I knew I wasn't at all accepted by these people but that was OK to me since it was all I had.
This lady is probably going through some shit. I mean look at her, she is stunning and she's presumably with the Harry Potter troll in the dungeon?
If anyone's interested I'll post what got me out.
Edit: Apparently it's not showing for some people. I've posted a couple of times in the responses but I can just post it here I suppose.
What got me out was noticing that my friends weren't joking anymore, they were calling for actual race wars, calling for an ethnostate and their love for Hitler was not ironic and edgy humour but very real. Despite saying/joking I'd be an honorary aryan I didn't feel comforted by that at all. Turns out I had a little bit of a brain in there after all, and didn't believe this ethnostate would ever happen and if it did I imagined what life would be like for me and any kids I'd have. Them wanting all this was enough to get me to not want to associate with that anymore, not even as the silly edgelord who stood for nothing.
My husband was also in our friend group, and was similarly treated but with even worse "jokes". He, like me, just accepted he was all the bad things they said. Since he's Jewish, the Holocaust stuff pissed me off more than anything. I knew the most about that and what they were saying was straight up bull.
First, I tried to snap them out of it by checking the truthfulness of the infographics and other nonsense they were sharing. Of course they were full of shit, or it would sometimes be some truth mixed with lies. These attempts from me continued into the pandemic. You can guess their stance on that and how successful I was. I think me being a woman plays a part in it as over the years I realised anything I said was controversial unless I was massaging their egos. Or who knows. But I tried, because in spite of how shit they treated me I loved them.
I started listening to Contrapoints, PhilosophyTube, Kadija Mbowe, FD Signifier, and other breadtubers to hear the other side and in the hopes to bolster my arguments. They were making sense, my old friends made less and less sense. (If any of those youtubers are no good, I'm not saying they're perfect or anything but they reached me at the times I needed reaching).
Then J6 happened, which sent my old friends further into whatever they are into now and made me even more worried about the direction the rightwing are going and what it means for the actually marginalised. I was also relieved I got out of it before I involved myself in anything or any people who might have convinced me to throw myself in prison for a stupid cause. Makes me wonder if they did.
I'm still learning to be better and do better for others.
Long post but if anybody going through the same thing sees this you're not alone, and if you're thinking about abandoning that shit, it's never too late."
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 25, @06:46PM
Brainwashed person got brainwashed the other way, news at nein
(Score: 1) by khallow on Saturday March 25, @07:27PM (3 children)
If you are merely copy/pasting irrelevant text to introduce noise into this discussion, then buzz off.
If you are the person who originally tweeted, you can get better visibility by posting as a journal. Just be sure to get 5 karma first (through thoughtful posting) so that you journals will appear on the main page. Here, it's just not relevant. There may be some self-haters embracing adverse ideologies on SoylentNews, but they're not in this journal.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Sunday March 26, @01:18PM
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 27, @02:04PM (1 child)
Sounds like khallow the propagandist doesn't like the radicalizing fascist rhetoric being called out. It fits this journal since you are victim cosplaying to spread the false narrative that conservatives are under some kind of attack. There are some real issues that could be discussed, but as long as you are spreading pro-capitalist propaganda that ignores rightwing fascism, such as your years of denial about the attempted GOP coup on J6, then yes your journals need counter balance and advice for the people you target. Downmod away, the irony is delicious. Also when no usual downmods occur when the pattern is called out is also fun.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Tuesday March 28, @02:53PM
It's copy/pasta. Who would like that?