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Damn it, don't fucking make me stick up for Gab!
This is the dumbest, stupidest, most counterproductive, most self-destructive goddamn thing they could possibly have done. If I didn't already trust the government about as far as I can throw my bathtub--which is cemented to the floor--I would not have believed anyone in that position could possibly be that stupid.
Seriously, this is "Dealing With Nutbar Extremists 101" level shit here. When a group of people have utterly divorced themselves from reality and built an entire narrative around being oppressed and discriminated against, don't actually do anything to oppress or discriminate against them! Jesus!
What this idiot has done will be written down in history books, if indeed there are any historians left to write them and any literate people left to read them, as the pivotal, galvanizing moment for the United States' 21st century anti-Civil-Rights movement. This is going to kickstart a dark, twisted, blasphemous, zombified parody of all the 60s and 70s rallies that brought real, positive change to the nation. It's all gonna go to hell.
And why? Because some self-aggrandizing empty suit, some shortsighted, amoral political hack, decided to wipe his ass on the Constitution and do exactly what the fuck the kind of people who flock to Gab would do in the first place: advocate for lawbreaking violence (yes, this is a type of violence, it's a clear intimidation attempt) because "muh ideological purity!"
I don't think most people understand why this is so dangerous. The *least* bad part about this is that they've now turbocharged the aforementioned narrative. They have, in a word, turned Gab into martyrs. More dangerous is the precedent being set here; there is no reason that, say 10 years down the road when it's all gone to shit and we have Gab-denizens in charge, they can't and won't refer to this to shut down speech *they* don't like. Never, ever give yourself any powers or leeway you couldn't stand being used against you when the tables turn, as they always, always do. Especially not when your use of them is "this is dirty but I have to do it for great justice" and the opposition's use of them will be accompanied by nothing more self-reflective than a long string of maniacal, gleeful cackling.
But worst of all, this has undermined the legitimacy of government attempts to stifle actual violence and hate movements. From now on, any attempt to put a lid on any of it, all the way up to outright calls for genocide, is going to be viewed as suspicious, in any context, no matter who does it, and no matter what it is they're opposing. This asshole in Pennsylvania has played right into the lunatics' hands, and there is not a desk big enough to slam my face into that can express how utterly disgusted I am.
Let us not mince words: this is an intimidation attempt, a deliberate ploy to create a chilling effect, a fishing expedition in the worst way, and yes, very likely a Constitutional violation.
It's also--have I said this enough yet?--fucking stupid. What you do with toxic, asocial idiots like, well, like the kind of people who need a place like Gab, is...you let them go. You let them concentrate there, out of the way of civilized society, and you close the lid. Like a roach motel; Nazis check in, they don't check out, but because they want to stay in the motel. The correct course of action is to use the place as the internet's septic tank for white nationalists, and of course monitor it veeeeery very closely. Contain it, as you would any other plague virus, and make no mistake, what Gab is peddling is a memetic plague.
Hell, if I were this guy, I would have half a dozen agents make fake accounts there, blend in, and exfiltrate as much information as possible out of that place, the more ridiculous the better. And plaster it all over, too, using the advantage of exposure available to a government entity. Remember that guy, name I forget, who was fucking his mother in law or something? That kind of thing. Spread it around like cream cheese on the world's best bagels and make sure everyone gets a bite.
And of course, watch the place like a hawk and intercept anyone planning to, for example, shoot up a synagogue or something. Good grief, the best argument for these neo-Nazi pukes not having the brains Madokami gave a tree stump is that they willingly congregate on the open internet and openly discuss plans to harm or kill other people! THAT is something the government has both legal and moral authority to go after! This could have been like shooting particularly ugly, stupid, morally repulsive fish in a barrel!
In time, the contagion would have become self-limiting, and eventually burned itself out. Mockery, slow resource starvation, and simple waning interest would have done for it, reducing Gab to the racist online equivalent of "old man yells at cloud.jpg." But no. No, they went and did this stupid shit instead. I hope the ACLU and the EFF and all the other progressive groups come out in support of Gab, and you know what? I will be standing right there with them.
The Constitution, the law of the land, the backbone of the US, what we should always aspire to even if we ain't there (and even if it's only possible to approach asymptotically) is worth more than this. It's one thing when private businesses refuse to do business with them because they find them odious; it's quite another when the government steps in. Congratulations, PA AG: you've sunk to the level of Gab's userbase, and in doing so you may have doomed us all.
Cool Vandalism
Incredible success tonight!!!!
Congrats to our brand-new Senators. I call them our Senators-Elect. Senator Cramer from North Dakota. Who's taking a seat away from the Dems. Mike Braun in Indiana, taking another Dem seat. Great job, guys!
Senator Elect Romney of Utah. Who said I'm PHONEY. Who said, I'm a fraud. And I said, Mitt, how would you like to be my Secretary of State? He said, "oh, thank you, President Trump!" What a dope, he couldn't tell I was just kidding! But he's taking over from Orrin. And that's a guy that believes the Crooked Failing Fake News @nytimes. When they said HORRIBLE things about my taxes. Things that according to my lawyer are 100 percent false and HIGHLY defamatory.
And we have so many more Senator-Elects. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee. And from Tennessee. The upgrade from Liddle Bobby Corker. I did a BRILLIANT rally for Marsha, in Johnson City. They love me in Johnson City, Tennessee. Marsha's a tremendous woman. I'm sure Low I.Q. Taylor Swift has nothing or doesn't know anything about her.
Matt Rosendale in Montana, I gave Matt my FULL endorsement. I don't give these endorsements easily. And he's winning very solidly. Great job, Matt!
HUGE victory for our @GOP -- and for the American people. A BIG HAND to everyone that voted. And everyone that didn't. But especially, thanks to me. I've been working very hard. As everybody knows. Holding so many #MAGARally's. Letting the Forgotten People know they're FORGOTTEN NO MORE!!!! 👏 #RedTide
PSA: Google Becoming Crap at Finding Old SoylentNews Stories
I have used Google to look for previous SN stories for a year or two now. Mainly because there have been inconsistencies with SN's own internal search engine in the past (that may have been fixed since). I use the "site:soylentnews.org" search parameter, plus the keywords, and I have a textbox that automatically adds the "site:soylentnews.org" bit to the query.
While writing this submission:
China Still Has Trouble Staffing the World's Largest Radio Telescope
I'm pretty sure that the following story exists on site, although I don't know where it is or know the headline just yet:
China Can't Find Anyone Smart Enough to Run its Whizzbang $180M 500 Meter Radio Telescope
So I search for stuff like "china radio telescope" and "aperture spherical telescope". No dice.
I use SoylentNews internal search, looking for "Aperture Spherical Telescope", and it works.
Let's try "china radio telescope smart enough". Nope, nothing.
Let's try the exact title of the submission. Welp, there it is, finally. Except that that just before finishing this journal entry a few minutes later, it no longer works (I checked to see if it was a special character issue, and it doesn't seem to be).
This isn't the only example that I've come across, and it seems to have gotten worse in recent weeks. IIRC I had trouble looking for previous stories for an opioid-related submission. These have been popping up often enough that I may just ditch the GOOG for this purpose, especially since SN's search seems to work just fine.
AMD Event on Nov. 6th
AMD Investor Relations Announces “Next Horizon” Event for November 6th
On Election Day? Gee, what's the bad news?
Anyway, this is likely related to "7nm" Zen 2 Epyc server CPUs, which will debut well before desktop or mobile variants. They might also announce a Radeon RX 590 "12nm" Polaris GPU or talk about "7nm" Vega GPUs.
If Zen 2 Epyc has 64 cores, and Zen+/Zen 2 Threadripper has 32 cores, then Zen 2 Ryzen could have up to 16 cores.
Fuck Paul Ryan. 🖕
Paul Ryan should be focusing on holding the Majority rather than giving his opinions on Birthright Citizenship, something he knows nothing about! Vote Republican Tuesday! Our new Republican Majority will work on this, Closing the Immigration Loopholes and Securing our Boarders. This is a NATIONAL EMERGY! Must change laws!!!! #RedTide #14thAmendment #MAGA
The right to free speech is not the right to be heard
Things are really coming to a head here. We have a bunch of alt-right jerkoffs hysterically jumping up and down shouting "butbutbutbut MUH FREEZE PEACH!!!111one" over Gab getting its blood supply cut off like the cancer it is.
Listen, you Constitutionally-ignorant know nothings, you fucking fourth-grade civics class failures, you frothing wild-eyed lunatics: the First Amendment merely says the government may not restrict your speech in and of itself (and there are still exception clauses for public safety).
It does not mean you have a right to be heard.
It does *not* mean you have a right to a platform.
It does NOT mean you have a right to incite violence.
And MOST OF ALL, it does NOT mean you have a right to escape the consequences of your speech.
Now, I personally am all for shitholes like gab.io, and would even support funding them. Why? Because they keep you stupid motherfuckers all in one place, contained, exposed, letting you mingle and hybridize and ooze and fester, like the old Chinese sorcery "gu." Some interestingly poisonous shit must come out of that. Free association and all that, right? And poison goes where poison's wanted.
The most hilarious part of this, though? It's when all the gibbertarian shitheads start demanding that Thuh Eebil Gubbamint stop *private corporations* from doing what the fuck they want with their resources! News flash, assholes: corporations have discovered that hosting actual, literal, Heil-Hitlering, 1488'ing Nazis is a Bad Business Decision (TM). That burning pain you feel is the Invisible Hand of the Free Market smacking you across your inbred faces so hard it raises welts. And raising a gigantic middle finger at you. You made your bed, now lie in it.
So keep screaming and howling at the corporations and the government both to do your bidding. Keep marching. Keep concentrating yourselves into ever smaller and more feverish and more frenzied little circlejerks deep in the festering asshole of the internet. Keep displaying your ignorance and stupidity and hatred and utter, utter impotent rage.
We won't necessarily punch a Nazi, but we're sure as shit gonna mock a Nazi till y'all drop dead of apoplexy. And something tells me what you really can't stand is mockery; violence you will merely take as incentive to continue on. But being laughed at? No. Never. What you fear most isn't death; it's having to live on, knowing your entire political philosophy is a laughingstock, a byword for ineffectual, self-destructive evil, your entire lives wasted on this destructive, fruitless comedy of errors.
It's coming. You've already lost. You lost the moment you started this.
Upcoming Election Stories
These are two stories that I may or may not submit based on upcoming electoral events:
Congressman John Culberson is a driving force behind the Europa Clipper mission, and an SLS proponent. He may lose his re-election bid this November. This could have a significant impact on the mission. Or not, who knows?
Could November elections scramble a controversial U.S. mission to a frozen moon?
Here is an in-depth story about Culberson's Europa obsession: Inside NASA’s daring $8 billion plan to finally find extraterrestrial life
And a follow-up: The billion-dollar question: How does the Clipper mission get to Europa?
FiveThirtyEight currently forecasts a slight chance of Culberson losing, but it's essentially a coin toss.
This is a Denver local ballot initiative to decriminalize psilocybin mushrooms. It won't be on the ballot in November. They are collecting signatures so that it can be on the ballot in May 2019. 4,726 signatures must be collected by January 7th:
Denver, Colorado, Psilocybin Mushroom Initiative (November 2018)
After the success of cannabis legalization in Denver, could mushrooms be next?
No Magic Mushrooms On The Denver Ballot This Year. Supporters Are Looking To 2019
Denver’s Psilocybin Initiative Moves Forward to Signature Gathering Phase
If you live in Denver, go and sign the petition.
Here is the big list of 2018 ballot measures, amendments, etc.. And here's a few that may be of interest:
California Proposition 12, Farm Animal Confinement Initiative (2018)
Colorado Amendment 74, Compensation to Owners for Decreased Property Value Due to State Regulation Initiative (2018)
Florida Amendment 3, Voter Approval of Casino Gambling Initiative (2018)
Florida Amendment 4, Voting Rights Restoration for Felons Initiative (2018)
Massachusetts Question 3, Gender Identity Anti-Discrimination Veto Referendum (2018)
Michigan Proposal 1, Marijuana Legalization Initiative (2018)
Missouri has two amendments and one proposition regarding medical cannabis that are in conflict:
If two conflicting constitutional amendments, such as Amendment 2 and Amendment 3, are approved, the one receiving the most affirmative votes prevails. State law does provide a protocol for when voters approve statutes, such as Proposition C, and amendments, such as Amendment 2 and Amendment 3, that are in conflict. Speaking to a similar issue regarding tobacco tax initiatives in 2016, the attorney general's office said the issue would need to be decided in court.
Missouri Amendment 2, Medical Marijuana and Veteran Healthcare Services Initiative (2018)
Missouri Amendment 3, Medical Marijuana and Biomedical Research and Drug Development Institute Initiative (2018)
Missouri Proposition C, Medical Marijuana and Veterans Healthcare Services, Education, Drug Treatment, and Public Safety Initiative (2018)
Amendment 2 taxes cannabis at 4%, Amendment 3 taxes it at 15%, Proposition C taxes it at 2%.
North Dakota Measure 3, Marijuana Legalization and Automatic Expungement Initiative (2018)
Ohio Issue 1, Drug and Criminal Justice Policies Initiative (2018)
Oregon Measure 106, Ban Public Funds for Abortions Initiative (2018)
Utah Proposition 2, Medical Marijuana Initiative (2018)
Washington Initiative 940, Police Training and Criminal Liability in Cases of Deadly Force Measure (2018)
Legislative and automatic referrals
Alabama Amendment 1, Ten Commandments Amendment (2018)
California Proposition 2, Use Millionaire's Tax Revenue for Homelessness Prevention Housing Bonds Measure (2018)
California Proposition 7, Permanent Daylight Saving Time Measure (2018)
Hey look, it's Kanye's issue: Colorado Amendment A, Removal of Exception to Slavery Prohibition for Criminals Amendment (2018)
Colorado Amendment X, Definition of Industrial Hemp Amendment (2018)
I think one of our ACs complained about this mess: Florida Amendment 11, Repeal Prohibition on Aliens’ Property Ownership, Delete Obsolete Provision on High-Speed Rail, and Repeal of Criminal Statutes' Effect on Prosecution Amendment (2018)
Hawaii Constitutional Convention Question (2018)
Louisiana Amendment 1, Felons Disqualified to Run for Office for Five Years Amendment (2018)
Nevada Question 2, Sales Tax Exemption for Feminine Hygiene Products Measure (2018)
New Hampshire Question 2, Right to Live Free from Governmental Intrusion in Private and Personal Information Amendment (2018)
South Dakota Constitutional Amendment X, Constitutional Amendments Require a 55 Percent Supermajority (2018)
South Dakota Constitutional Amendment Z, Single-Subject Rule for Constitutional Amendments (2018)
West Virginia Amendment 1, No Right to Abortion in Constitution Measure (2018)
I plan to submit a story focusing only on ballot initiatives, measures, propositions, amendments, etc. Last time around, I submitted a story before the election. This time, I think I will do it after the results are in so we can see what succeeded and what failed.
If there's a specific ballot measure you want to see mentioned, please let me know below in the comments.
Sadly, our Country is still very DIVIDED!
Very sad video coming to us from @funny_marco. My African American went to Starbucks. Wearing, very proudly, my Official Donald Trump Make America Great Again Hat. In beautiful Red (RED WAVE!). But, along came an Open Boarders Dem, very angry. And it got violent as it always does with them. Very proud of the way my guy stood up for the Donald J. Trump Administration. And for America. He put America First, even inside Starbucks. Amazing! youtu.be/6Jtlh-rXNm8
Whether you are African-American, Hispanic-American or ANY AMERICAN at all – you have the right to live in a Country that puts YOUR NEEDS FIRST! I'm the only guy who could unite our Country. But, I have a lot of work to do. My wonderful -- mostly wonderful -- @SenateGOP @HouseGOP are a big part of that. But the biggest part is YOU, the great American people. When you wear my Hat, you're telling everyone something very special. Without even opening your mouth, you're saying something very big. That our Country has TREMENDOUS FUTURE POTENTIAL. The potential to be Great Again. That is my message. The message of my hats. And it's so important. So important. Shop now! shop.donaldjtrump.com/collections/headwear
