If government-aligned activists wanted to win all of the arguments of the day, one way would be to prevent those with opposing viewpoints from promulgating them. New disclosures show that NGOs aligned with the federal government are enthusiastically engaging in this cancel culture on a widespread basis. Ben Shapiro lays out this cancellation strategy in a series of tweets:
What part does the federal government play in this?
Joe Rogan & Andrew Schulz on How Legacy Media 'Experts' Have Been Exposed Over the Past Few Years
“We're just assuming these people are truth tellers. They're not. We're assuming they're even journalists. They're not. Some of them are but most of them are just talking heads. Just pretty people who are good at reading...Not only that, we are sure they are highly motivated by money...And no one is listening, that's what's crazy...And the thing is, if it's not for a few brave people that stand up and tell you the truth...If there's no Peter McCullough, if there's no Robert Malone, if there's no RFK Jr, if there's no Pierre Kory, if there's none of these people that stand up and lose a sizable portion of their income, their careers get destroyed, their reputations get dragged through the mud, hit pieces get written about them, if it wasn't for these people that stand up and do that...It's wild"
https://twitter.com/TheChiefNerd/status/1776742874916286619
For the first step in defeating Pandemic #2, please watch the new documentary, "The Social Dilemma." (You'll find it on Netflix).
As you use social media, try to cruise at 10,000 feet like a disinterested anthropologist and then ask yourself whether kind-hearted intelligent people should be talking at each other like much of what you will see.
Pandemic #2 is invisible, just like Pandemic #1, and you'll feel like you are in charge of your thoughts the entire time. Pandemic #2 quietly invades our minds, then erects filter bubbles around us that destroy the possibility of civil discourse on the most important issues facing us. Pandemic #2 destroys the possibility of e pluribus unum. We need to take action now, because huge misplaced financial incentives guarantee that Big Tech is not going to rescue us.
Our “distinct” professions often have a lot in common and that recently came to life. I’m a trial lawyer and my girlfriend, Renée Kennison, works in marketing as a creative concept developer. Among other things, both of us shape and distill ideas for maximum impact. There is a science, but also an art, to doing this well. We often look over each other’s shoulders as we work. Two days ago, it was Renée's turn to play lawyer.
I had been struggling to think of a good way to make an argument in an arbitration. I represented a married couple who had been the victim of fraud committed by a time share resort. One of the many issues of the case is that the resort was obligated by Missouri law to disclose in writing at the time of the sale that the couple had five business days from the date of the sale to rescind the deal. Missouri law allows time share purchasers to do this by merely sending a letter to the resort. Missouri law requires the resort to make this written disclosure in a precise way. The written disclosure needs to be 18-point type and it needs to have precise wording. Here’s the law:
Instead of simply printing this language as-is on a piece of paper and handing it to the couple, the resort played cute. First of all, the timeshare closing involves 50 pages of documents, many of them filled with with fluff and others with legalese. It's comparable to attending a real estate closing for a residence. Second, the resort camouflaged the disclosure by sandwiching the disclosure between two irrelevant paragraphs of fluff. It also made the entire disclosure document 18-point bold type to hide the important part of the notice, the part that gives the purchasers 5 days to cancel the deal, no questions asked. Also, instead of putting the word “Notice” at the top of the sheet as a warning to pay special attention to the notice, the resort tucked the word “Notice” into the text as though it were a verb. I can’t disclose the actual facts of this case because the resort contract forces this case to be in confidential arbitration, but the resort printed something comparable to this as its “cancellation notice”:
DEAR NEW OWNERS!
WELCOME TO OUR JOYOUS FAMILY OF RESORT OWNERS. IT IS GREAT TO HAVE YOU IN OUR FAMILY AND WE HOPE YOU ARE SO HAPPY BEING PART OF OUR COMMUNITY. PLEASE REFER YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY TO US, SO THAT THEY CAN BUY TIMESHARES TOO.
NOTICE YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO CANCEL THIS AGREEMENT WITHIN FIVE DAYS AFTER THE DATE OF THIS AGREEMENT. CANCELLATION MUST BE IN WRITING AND IF SENT BY MAIL, ADDRESSED TO THE OTHER CONTRACTING PARTY AS SHOWN ON THIS AGREEMENT, CANCELLATION WILL BE ACCOMPLISHED AT THE MOMENT THE LETTER IS POSTMARKED. IF SENT BY MAIL, THE LETTER MAY BE CERTIFIED WITH A RETURN RECEIPT REQUESTED. YOUR RIGHT TO CANCEL CANNOT BE WAIVED.
AGAIN, IT’S GREAT TO HAVE YOU IN OUR COMMUNITY. ENJOY HIKING, BIKING AND ALL OF THE OTHER AMENITIES. NEVER HESITATE TO REACH OUT TO US IF WE CAN BE OF ASSISTANCE TO YOU. YOU ARE IMPORTANT TO US. NOW GO ENJOY YOUR RESORT.
The resort is claiming that it followed the law simply because all the statutorily-required words appear in their written notice. I was looking for a way to make a high-impact argument that the resort’s method of disclosing the 5-day right to cancel violated both the terms and the spirit of Missouri Law. After hearing my concern, Renée said, “What the resort has done is like creating a highway sign that hides the important warning in between two unimportant things. Perfect! Renée offered to create an image for me, and I used her image today in my closing argument:
I argued the case today. In a few weeks, we'll see whether my clients prevail.
Place: Gallery 210, University of Missouri, St. Louis: 1 University Blvd, St. Louis, MO 63121 (it’s in the same building as the UMSL Police Department).
Opening: Saturday, March 19, 2016 from 5pm to 7pm. Exhibit runs through June 25, 2016. The story of St. Louis type design closely mirrors the history of graphic design in the United States. This exhibit is the story of a public thirsty for high quality printed words, and the technology and design advancements that responded to this thirst. Type was cast in St. Louis foundries and sent to printers to the west and south, along with shipments of printing equipment. This exhibit also is the story of businesses realizing that better advertisements increased profits. You will also learn of the rise of "art printing," which later becomes Graphic Design and Printing. Also featured is the public's delight with beautiful new typefaces that responded to contemporaneous fashions. The typefaces featured in this show were designed in St. Louis for Central and Inland Type Foundries by talented artisans drawn from the printing and engraving industry.
