In view of their influence, international health agencies have a particular responsibility to ensure their policies are well-grounded in data and objective analysis. Moreover, governments have a responsibility to take the time, and effort, to ensure that their populations are well-served. It is hoped that the evaluation in the REPPARE report Rational Policy Over Panic presented with this article will contribute to this effort.
According to a new lawsuit filed in December on behalf of two media organizations, those being The Daily Wire and The Federalist, as well as the State of Texas and AG Ken Paxton versus the U.S. Department of State (the State Department) through its Global Engagement Center (GEC) and various US government officials, it is alleged that the defendants are actively intervening in the news media market to both censor and limit the circulation of disfavored press outlets.
New Media Sues the State Department Over Censorship Continue Reading
In short, Americans (indeed, the entire world) now realize that the Biden administration is dedicated to getting as many illegal aliens into the country as possible. This is, of course, aiding and abetting illegal behavior, but rampant corruption in the media, academia, and politics ignores or dismisses it.
The 2023 book Misbelief by Dan Ariely belongs to a genre I would label “debunking Covid conspiracy theories.” The book is meant to explore the thought process of people who subscribe to conspiracy theories, especially about Covid and the Covid vaccines. Thus I was surprised to encounter in the book two stories in which the author uncovered real conspiracies to hide information about Covid from the public.
Conspiracy Theory Debunker Finds Real Conspiracies Continue Reading
Neither candidate has any reason to bring up the issue of the pandemic response. The situation is somewhat akin to the Mutually Assured Destruction doctrine of the Cold War – we won’t push the button if you don’t push the button and neither of us should push the button because we’re both going to die if we do.
The philosopher Isaiah Berlin starts his 1953 essay, “The Hedgehog and the Fox,” with this perplexing proverb attributed to the Greek poet Archilochus. Berlin goes on to explain that there are two types of thinkers: hedgehogs, who see the world through the lens of a “single central vision,” and foxes, who pursue many different ideas, seizing upon a variety of experiences and explanations simultaneously.
And his ruinous speech/diatribe defending himself that came off more like “old man yells at clouds” than “elder statesman,” Senor Biden is taking big hits left and right. And the knives are fully out for him and in plain view. No one is hiding anymore.
We’ve lived through this and seen too much to have the same level of trust we once had. What can we do? We can rebuild the ideal as it existed in the old world. The kind of genius we know was on display in a place like Salamanca, or in interwar Vienna, or even in the coffee houses of London in the 18th century, can return, even if on a small level. They have to, simply because the shape of the world around us depends fundamentally on the ideas we hold about ourselves and the world around us. Those should not be for sale to the highest bidder.
Those who were responsible for incalculable damage will continue to skate scot free, while the cycle of unnecessary panic, inaccurate predictions, and the call for more masking rears its ugly head every few months as new variants emerge. Although it’s frustratingly predictable and infuriatingly obvious, best to prepare for a whole lot more of it.
Another Variant, Another Desperate Cry for Masks Continue Reading
Virality with this ease of spread is a fairly novel psychic phenomenon for the human race. So, when a novel physical pathogen came along, both the disease and the memes, cartoons, and propaganda began to spread. Confronted on both physical and psychic fronts, some incredibly bizarre and often vindictive behavior resulted. It isn’t the first time this has happened.
Internet-wide surveillance and censorship, enabled by the unimaginably vast computational power of artificial intelligence (AI), is here. This is not a futuristic dystopia. It’s happening now. Government agencies are working with universities and nonprofits to use AI tools to surveil and censor content on the Internet. This is not political or partisan. This is not about any particular opinion or idea.
Government Funds AI Tools for Whole-of-Internet Surveillance and Censorship Continue Reading
We dare not comply with this mandatory forgetting. We must remember, and take full account of the deception and destruction the ruling class has caused for no other reason than profits and power. Only then we can learn the right lessons and rebuild on a better foundation for the future.
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