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Twitter suspends CNN, NYT, WaPo journalists, Elon Musk alleges they're banned for 'doxxing' his family

Joseph A. Wulfsohn
Fox News
Thu, 15 Dec 2022 18:23 UTC
twitter elon musk
There was utter commotion on Twitter after it was discovered that prominent media critics of its owner Elon Musk were simultaneously banned from the platform without explanation.

Among those whose accounts were permanently suspended include CNN correspondent Donie O'Sullivan, New York Times technology reporter Ryan Mac, Washington Post reporter Drew Harwell, The Intercept journalist Micah Lee, VOA correspondent Steve Herman, Mashable writer Matt Binder, former MSNBC host Keith Olbermann and former Vox journalist Aaron Rupar.

Additionally, the Twitter account belonging to the social media rival Mastodon, which served as a safe haven for liberals who initially fled Twitter following Musk's takeover (many made their way back to Twitter).

Musk, who described himself as being a free-speech absolutist, received backlash for the purge of his critics, many calling for him to explain why those accounts were suspended.

Comment: Mainstream journalists and news outlets are all up in a tizzy now, but where were they for the past 5 years or more when anyone who would run afoul of some disgruntled leftie could be permanently banned without warning, explanation, or recourse? Musk's 7-day suspension is a soft pat on the hand by comparison.

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Bad Guys

The Opression Olympics: 'Disability culture' and the allure of victimhood

Ben Bartee
The Daily Bell
Thu, 15 Dec 2022 19:16 UTC
disability disable graphic other abled
The "Oppression Olympics" - the victimization hierarchy in which more extreme victimhood equals higher social status - is an odd outgrowth of the wider helicopter-mom, "everybody-gets-a-trophy," "Nerf-the-world" culture that saturated everything circa the 90s. It proliferated from there under the guises of "tolerance" and "equity."

In the last few years, the unofficial Twitter-based Olympics commission introduced a new category of oppression: disability.

One might flippantly assume that nature or fate - a bad genetic role of the dice or an unfortunate accident - might be to blame for disability. But it's actually "ablest" society, according to the "disability community."

Society, according to disability culture, is designed to weed out the disabled and exclude them from participation. The challenges that disabled people face aren't due to their disabilities per se; they're due to society's failure to properly accommodate them.

Comment: In the face of 'inclusive culture', this is an unpopular view. But one wonders if those who bear their infirmities with dignity, and define themselves as more than their limitations, would agree?

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Magnify

As the EU calls Serbia's bluff on Kosovo, has 'the end of history' arrived in the Balkans?

Fyodor Lukyanov,
RT
Fri, 16 Dec 2022 07:58 UTC
Vucic
FILE PHOTO: An emergency meeting of the National Security Council of Serbia under the leadership of President Vucic on the situation in Kosovo has begun.
Current events in northern Kosovo resemble an attempt to bring about the "end of history" in the Balkan context. Of course, the same one that was promised 30-odd years ago, on a global scale, hasn't happened, but the idea behind it has remained in people's minds.

Francis Fukuyama, the author of the concept, later admitted that he had been hasty and had failed to take into account important circumstances in the development of societies. However, he hasn't abandoned it, and continues to believe that the predicted triumph of Western liberal ideology, and the corresponding way of life, will still take place, just later than expected.

What has Kosovo got to do with this? The disintegration of Yugoslavia has taken as long as the concept of "the end of history" has existed. And it has been, perhaps, the clearest example of what it meant in practice. The nature of that state - a socialist federal republic - was diametrically opposed to what was thought to be right after the Cold War. Firstly, socialism as a socio-political construct was simply written off as having failed.

Comment: See also: Kosovo applies for EU membership amidst rising tensions in region, and despite breakaway province not being recognised by five member states

And check out The Duran for some insightful commentary on the situation:



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Cult

Graham Hancock and the attack of the archaeologists

Mark Hammons
Medium
Wed, 07 Dec 2022 18:45 UTC
egyptian fresco
A professional society of academics whines publicly they feel demeaned by Graham Hancock. Does that validate his ideas?

Does an opponent exist to prove you right?

Since the 1990s and much to the disgust of the archaeological establishment, an alternative explanation about prehistoric times has been emerging in public discourse. A journalist named Graham Hancock has led the way with a series of books that have asked questions about the traditional historical narrative.

As Hancock puts it, our culture has amnesia about what happened in the distant past. In a nutshell, he presents considerable arguments that there once was, before us, a world mapping civilization that left as a legacy immense architectural stone works of similar form and structure (think pyramids, for one thing) all over the Earth. These people (assuming they were homo sapiens sapiens) were destroyed in a global cataclysm. This happened possibly 12,000 years ago.

In 2022, Netflix released an 8-episode series called Ancient Apocalypse that features Graham Hancock presenting his ideas. Normally, the disdain of the archaeological establishment goes without saying. However, in this case, they spoke up.

In an open letter to Bela Bajaria, Head of Global Television for Netflix (and Rachel Corp, Chief Executive Officer of ITN), the Society for American Archaeology (SAA, established 1934) got something off their collective chests. Ancient Apocalypse just will not do.

Comment: Since the publication of his first book, Fingerprints of the Gods: The Evidence of Earth's Lost Civilization, in 1995, Hancock has been remarkable steadfast in the face of dismissive criticism. Perhaps that is because he is willing to confront the physical evidence AND the added attestation of ancient stories passed down from time immemorial which dove-tail with it. It drives the archaeological in-groups nuts. Hancock most surely doesn't have the whole story, but he's got hold of a good chunk of it.

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Bizarro Earth

Germany unleashes half-trillion dollar energy bailout in bid to stave off blackouts

Tyler Durden
Zero Hedge
Fri, 16 Dec 2022 13:45 UTC
Nord Stream 1
© REUTERS/Hannibal HanschkePipes at the landfall facilities of the 'Nord Stream 1' gas pipline in Lubmin

Pipes at the landfall facilities of the 'Nord Stream 1' gas pipeline are pictured in Lubmin, Germany, March 8, 2022.
Western sanctions on Moscow have backfired, failed to paralyze Russia's economy, and ultimately sparked financial pain for ordinary Europeans and the largest economy in the block.

According to Reuters calculations, Germany has hemorrhaged cash to the tune of 440 billion euros ($465 billion) in energy bailouts and schemes, as well as keeping energy supplies flowing while it lost access to inexpensive natural gas from its leading supplier Russia in 2022.
"How severe this crisis will be and how long it will last greatly depends on how the energy crisis will develop," said Michael Groemling at the German Economic Institute (IW). He added: "The national economy as a whole is facing a huge loss of wealth."
Reuters said the "cumulative scale" of energy bailouts and other schemes employed by Berlin equates to 1.5 billion euros per day since Russia invaded Ukraine, or about 12% of national economic output, or 5,400 euros for each German.
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Ice Cube

Eco activists fail to glue themselves to road due to cold weather

Oldbrew
TallBloke Wordpress
Fri, 16 Dec 2022 18:45 UTC
The Daily Mail headlines it: 'Eco-mob's global warming protest fails...because it is too COLD!' — Climate obsession can do strange things to some people. Does the phrase 'sub-zero temperatures' mean anything to them?
Munich street

The orders were simple: Run out onto the road, glue yourself to the tarmac and stop drivers from getting through, says the Daily Mail.

But for two climate activists in Germany, that plan didn't work out quite as they'd hoped because sub-zero temperatures stopped the glue from working properly in an embarrassing lack of foresight.

The 'Last Generation' activists, who were protesting against global warming, desperately poured a bucket of glue over each other before sitting stone-faced in the middle of the road in Munich this morning.

But the freezing temperature scuppered their plans and instead of being stuck to the road, the pair of protesters sat glumly amongst a pool of glue mixed with snow.

Police officers at the scene - realising that the pair were not going to be sticking around for long - dragged the protesters off the road.
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Briefcase

Florida subpoenas organizations pushing transgender care on children in lawsuit

Dylan Housman
Daily Caller
Wed, 14 Dec 2022 01:22 UTC
DeSantis
© Wade Vandervort/AFP/Getty ImagesFlorida Governor Ron DeSantis
The State of Florida is subpoenaing nearly two dozen medical and academic organizations that have pushed transgender sex change treatments onto children as part of an ongoing lawsuit against a new Medicaid rule.

The Florida Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) subpoenaed 20 organizations in November to obtain information about their internal decision-making and leadership structure for pushing hormone treatments and transgender surgeries on minors, the Daily Caller has learned. The organizations signed onto a lawsuit against the state, which implemented a new rule in August to no longer cover "gender-affirming" care with Medicaid.

"Gender-affirming" care is a euphemism for treatments and procedures that facilitate sex changes, like hormone treatments or sex change surgeries.
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Star of David

Israeli forces kill teenage girl during raid on Jenin

Mariam Barghouti
Mondoweiss
Mon, 12 Dec 2022 00:00 UTC
funeral
© Al Aqsa VoiceFuneral of Janna Zakarneh in Jenin • December 12, 2022
A Palestinian teenage girl was shot and killed on Sunday evening during a military invasion of Jenin in the northern occupied West Bank by Israeli forces.

Jana Majdi Zakarneh, 16, was shot with a single bullet to the head, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. The teen was reportedly killed while on the roof of her family's home in Jenin in the eastern part of the city. Following an autopsy, the young girl was buried in Jenin on Monday afternoon.

According to Wafa News Agency, at least three other Palestinians were injured with live ammunition during the raid, while three Palestinians were arrested during the raid.

Zakarneh is the 15th minor to be killed in Jenin since the start of the year, and the 17th Palestinian woman or girl to be killed in 2022.

Last month, Israeli forces also shot and killed 15-year-old Fulla Masalmeh in Ramallah. Since the beginning of December, 11 Palestinians were killed bringing the number of Palestinians killed this year alone to 224, 166 of whom were killed in the West Bank.

Comment: How many more decades until the last Palestinian succumbs to end the genocide? The silence from the West is loud and clear.

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Fish

AquaDom aquarium explodes in Berlin hotel, unleasing 'tsunami' of water and filling lobby with tropical fish

Rachael Bunyan
Daily Mail
Thu, 15 Dec 2022 18:19 UTC
aquarium explodes berlin hotel
© AP; Iva/Yudinsky/SWNSThe 82ft-high fish tank, which is located in the foyer of the Radisson Blu hotel in central Berlin, burst at around 5.50am this morning. Pictured: The aquarium before the incident (left) and the wreckage afterwards (right)
A huge aquarium exploded inside a German hotel today, unleashing a 'tsunami' of water which caused 'unbelievable maritime damage' at a major tourist attraction.

The 82ft-high tank, located in the foyer of the Radisson Blu hotel in central Berlin, burst at around 5.50am, killing all of the 1,500 tropical fish housed there.

The explosion at the AquaDom aquarium unleashed a million litres of water into the lobby and cut off electricity in the hotel. Two people were injured from glass shards and received treatment at hospital.

There was speculation freezing temperatures overnight caused a crack in the glass tank, which then exploded under the weight of the water - but police are still investigating the cause.

Comment: The Daily Mail further reports:
The 82ft-high tank, located in the foyer of the Radisson Blu hotel in central Berlin, burst at around 5.50am, killing all of the 1,500 tropical fish housed there.

The shattering of the AquaDom aquarium sent one million litres of water gushing into the lobby and cut off electricity in the hotel. Two people were injured from glass shards and received treatment at hospital.

However the toll could have been far deadlier had the freak accident occurred an hour later, when the hotel lobby is usually packed with visitors.

Berlin mayor Franziska Giffey told broadcaster RBB: 'If this hadn't happened at 5.45 am but even just one hour later, then we would probably have had terrible human loss to report.'

There was speculation freezing temperatures overnight caused a crack in the glass tank, which then exploded under the weight of the water - but police are still investigating the cause.

Ms Giffey said the incident had unleashed a 'veritable tsunami' of water but the early morning timing had prevented far more injuries.

'Despite all the destruction, we were still very lucky,' she said. 'We would have had terrible human damage' had the aquarium burst even an hour later, once more people were awake and in the hotel and the surrounding area, she said.

The explosion filled the hotel lobby with over a million litres of water, some of which reached the outside of the complex, prompting police to close a nearby street.

There was speculation freezing temperatures that got down to minus 10 degrees Celsius (14F) overnight caused a crack in the acrylic glass tank, which then exploded under the weight of the water.

Police said there was no evidence the incident resulted from an attack.


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Cow

AOC accuses Musk of 'proto-fascism'


RT
Fri, 16 Dec 2022 17:31 UTC
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
© Michael Brochstein/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty ImagesU.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, commonly referred to as AOC, has joined the backlash against Elon Musk after Twitter suspended several journalists for allegedly violating the platform's anti-doxxing policies while reporting on the ElonJet flight tracker.

AOC accused Musk of abusing his power as the new owner of Twitter and told him to "lay off the proto-fascism." That was after he temporarily suspended half-a-dozen journalists from CNN, the New York Times, and The Washington Post, among others, for reporting on and providing the links to ElonJet - a flight tracker that posted real-time flight data about Musk's private jet.

Musk had accused the journalists of sharing information that was "basically assassination coordinates" and cited Twitter's terms of service, which prohibit doxxing - publishing the personal information and real-time coordinates of other people.

In a series of Twitter posts on Friday, Cortez insisted that Musk should not have suspended the reporters because he was "a public figure," suggesting that being the victim of such location information-sharing comes with the territory.

Comment: Musk gave a perfect response considering AOC's over-the-top performance in the retelling of events that occurred on January 6th and all the abuses of power that followed from that. For if what Musk has done is proto-fascist (which it isn't), then what AOC has helped to do is full on fascist. Leave it to a bug-eyed dingbat to not understand hypocrisy or double standards.

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