Paypal: Now in the Censorship Business

We can now celebrate that Paypal is in the business of censorship, making sure that we don't encounter news sources (such as Mint Press News) that Paypal considers inappropriate for us.

MPN has published writings of many people, some of whom I agree with some of the time, including Chris Hedges, who recently had this to say at MPN:

The ruling class, made up of the traditional elites that run the Republican Party and the Democratic Party, is employing draconian forms of censorship on its right-wing and left-wing critics in a desperate effort to cling to power. The traditional elites were discredited for pushing through a series of corporate assaults on workers, from deindustrialization to trade deals. They were unable to stem rising inflation, the looming economic crisis and the ecological emergency. They were incapable of carrying out significant social and political reform to ameliorate widespread suffering and refused to accept responsibility for two decades of military fiascos in the Middle East. And now they have launched a new and sophisticated McCarthyism. Character assassination. Algorithms. Shadowbanning. De-platforming.

Censorship is the last resort of desperate and unpopular regimes. It magically appears to make a crisis go away. It comforts the powerful with the narrative they want to hear, one fed back to them by courtiers in the media, government agencies, think tanks, and academia. The problem of Donald Trump is solved by censoring Donald Trump. The problem of left-wing critics, such as myself, is solved by censoring us. The result is a world of make-believe.

YouTube disappeared six years of my RT show, “On Contact,” although not one episode dealt with Russia. It is not a secret as to why my show vanished. It gave a voice to writers and dissidents, including Noam Chomsky and Cornel West, as well as activists from Extinction Rebellion, Black Lives Matter, third parties, and the prison abolitionist movement. It called out the Democratic Party for its subservience to corporate power. It excoriated the crimes of the apartheid state of Israel. It covered Julian Assange in numerous episodes. It gave a voice to military critics, many of them combat veterans, who condemned US war crimes.

Paypal thus joins GoFundMe as a corporate leader in the business of censorship (and see here):

Continue ReadingPaypal: Now in the Censorship Business

Culturism – Some of the Many Causes for the Breakdown of the American Family

Fascinating thread by Rob Henderson. The bottom line is that financial stress is one of many reasons families fall apart.

This thread contains many excerpts from the 2011 book by Kathryn Edin, Promises I Can Keep: Why Poor Women Put Motherhood before Marriage.

Continue ReadingCulturism – Some of the Many Causes for the Breakdown of the American Family

Lots of Advice I Wish I had Known When I Was Younger

I spotted a well considered list of advice on Common Sense - Bari Weiss' website. It's a list by Kevin Kelly (Founding Editor of Wired). I'm posting it because it offers lots of good advice that I wish I had known when I was younger. Further, I have not been able to write new chapters on "How to be a Human Animal" lately. My day job and other (mostly good) obligations are keeping me away from this project. I hope get back on track in a couple more weeks . . .

Here are a few excerpts from Kelly's list:

• Three things you need: The ability to not give up something till it works, the ability to give up something that does not work, and the trust in other people to help you distinguish between the two.

• When public speaking, pause frequently. Pause before you say something in a new way, pause after you have said something you believe is important, and pause as a relief to let listeners absorb details.

• There is no such thing as being “on time.” You are either late or you are early. Your choice.

• Ask anyone you admire: Their lucky breaks happened on a detour from their main goal. So embrace detours. Life is not a straight line for anyone.

• The best way to get a correct answer on the internet is to post an obviously wrong answer and wait for someone to correct you.

• You’ll get 10x better results by elevating good behavior rather than punishing bad behavior, especially in children and animals.

• Making art is not selfish; it’s for the rest of us. If you don’t do your thing, you are cheating us.

• Spend as much time crafting the subject line of an email as the message itself because the subject line is often the only thing people read.

• Don’t wait for the storm to pass; dance in the rain.

• When checking references for a job applicant, employers may be reluctant or prohibited from saying anything negative, so leave or send a message that says, “Get back to me if you highly recommend this applicant as super great.” If they don’t reply take that as a negative.

• Half the skill of being educated is learning what you can ignore.

Continue ReadingLots of Advice I Wish I had Known When I Was Younger

The Real Function of the New “Disinformation Governance Board”

After I took grade school civics, I grew up. I now know that one of the main functions of our federal government and its political operators is to tell lies to its citizens. And one of the main jobs of the modern corporate media is to support their favorite politicians. BTW, Nina Jankowicz, the new head of this "Disinformation Board" is a certified purveyor of disinformation who embraces censorship as a political tool.

A few short years ago, Jankowicz stated: "Imagine that, you know, with President Trump right now calling all of these news organizations that have inconvenient for him stories that they — that they're getting out there that he's calling fake news, and now lashing out at platforms," said Jankowicz. "I would never want to see our executive branch have that sort of power," she added.

Continue ReadingThe Real Function of the New “Disinformation Governance Board”

What Should (and Shouldn’t) be Considered for College Admissions

Citing a new Pew Study, Zaid Jilani concludes: "Gender, race/ethnicity, and legacy are Americans' least valued factors for college admissions and high school grades and standardized test scores are their most valued factors"

Continue ReadingWhat Should (and Shouldn’t) be Considered for College Admissions