After they froze a successful GrayZone fundraiser over unnamed "external concerns," GoFundMe became the official poster child for the politicization of economic services
The Canadian trucker convoy was what pushed me to givesendgo, and haven't donated a red penny through gofundme since. They are so busy licking the hands of those that feed and control them to ever be part of the 'answer'.
What the hell happened to these people? There used to be a modicum of interest in the principle of the thing. Now it’s all where you come down ideologically.
Do you think the left was their own worst enemy during the Trump years when they adopted an anti-Trump position, and often became the mouth piece of the democrats to remove him from office? Now no one in the democratic party deviates from their stated goals, not even the Squad, since the 4 are no more then a joke. They fell into line, and so did Sanders, and so did the press, 100 percent, and it continues as they support the nefarious charges brought by democrats against Trump. Oh, he was so good for those in power, and used by them to impose even more power, and used to silence the voices of those that challenge them. If I have not made myself clear, well, they used Trump to implement a more authoritarian state whose policies are not to be questioned or challenged.
C.S. Lewis left behind an unfinished manuscript titled, The Dark Tower that, if memory serves, was published posthumously by his estate. I last read this over forty years ago, but there is one scene in the book that stands out to me.
In brief, there is a humanlike creature residing in the upper chamber of a great tower. This being has a black, pointed horn protruding from its forehead. Volunteers, convinced of great reward, offer themselves to this creature and are set upon and “stung” in the back of the neck. The venom reduces these volunteers to mindless automatons that now obey any command given them by their new master.
You made reference to the squad of four who have fallen in line with the accepted progressive dogma. It is as if they are all reading from prepared scripts.
There is one being called the prince of the power of the air in the second chapter of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians.
Some Christians today hold the view that God has slackened the metaphorical leash on this dark, malevolent prince in order to permit him increased power over the people of earth.
Many events and behaviors I have witnessed over the past three and a half years defy any kind of logical explanation. I have never seen anything even remotely close to the level of irrationality currently being acted out across the West.
Whether you believe in the God of the Bible, the deities of the Hindu pantheon or in no god at all, it is impossible to deny that there is someone or something acting on the personalities of human beings that cannot be explained by science.
May I also (very highly) recommend That Hideous Strength C.S Lewis
“Have you ever noticed,” said Dimble, “that the universe, and every little bit of the universe, is always hardening and narrowing and coming to a point?”His wife waited as those wait who know by long experience the mental processes of the person who is talking to them.“I mean this,” said Dimble in answer to the question she had not asked. “If you dip into any college, or school, or parish, or family — anything you like — at a given point in its history, you always find that there was a time before that point when there was more elbow room and contrasts weren’t quite so sharp; and that there’s going to be a time after that point when there is even less room for indecision and choices are even more momentous. Good is always getting better and bad is always getting worse: the possibilities of even apparent neutrality are always diminishing. The whole thing is sorting itself out all the time, coming to a point, getting sharper and harder."
The Adversary has been in charge as of late. God is waiting for His faithful to act under His righteous judgement. Infiltration in the Christians churches has left the congregations in the wilderness and Pope Francis the Jesuit has turn the Vatican over to the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience.
It’s a mistake to expect science to “explain” things. Science is a process of observation and discovery. If you’re unable to explain something then you need to continue to observe and continue to discover; understanding will follow.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called for Fox News to pull Daily Caller co-founder and Fox News host Tucker Carlson from air over his release of Jan. 6 footage.This is Schumer's plea to FOX to take Tucker off the air, and just another example of their abuse of power and controlling the narrative.
Carlson released never before seen footage Monday night from the Capitol riot after Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy gave him more than 40,000 hours of footage. Some footage showed Officer Brian Sicknick walking around the Capitol allegedly after he engaged with rioters, while other footage showed Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley leaving the Capitol building.
Schumer said Carlson manipulated his audience.I don’t think I’ve ever seen an actor treat the American people and American democracy with such disdain,” Schumer said. “And he’s going to come back tonight with another segment. Fox News should tell him not to.”
Schumer then argued kicking Carlson off air was necessary to preserve democracy.
This is a major reason why I want to see him re-elected. It will keep the authoritarians and bureaucrats scuttling around in the light. There's no telling how far they'll go to end his political career.
Behead him, punch him in the face, blow up the White House, hit him in the head with a bat. Make a play, let Julius Caesar look like Donald, so he gets stabbed to death in the Senate. They used the hate to mobilize their base, but they know that if he were actually killed there would be an uprising from his they couldn't put down. That's why I think he hasn't been killed.
You're commenting on an article about speech suppression... in support of a guy who 1. tried to label protestors as literal terrorists and unleash the military on them, and 2. wants libel law changed so he can sue his critics.
No one was referring to the left in general, but to those in the media in its various forms, like Amy Goodman who pushed the Russia-gate narrative on her morning talk show, and the Intercept unwilling to publish Greenwald's piece on Hunter's laptop, etc, etc. Blumenthal even mentioned to Mate how the left wing sites had changed during the Trump years. I guess you missed it, like you missed my point.
Amnesty started taking that sweet dosh so its top staff could get the big money. Suddenly they are astroturfing pro-Trans protests all over Britain, Europe and the US with identical signs and swag all designed and distributed by Amnesty.
Like what does political prisoners of conscience have to do with fetishists in women's clothing? Answer: Foundations like those headed by Martine Rothblatt and Jennifer Pritzker who give these NGOs money with these strings attached.
Another of Orwell’s foresights… the ending of 1984 is so tragic to me because it’s absolutely true… these evil people can torture you enough to make you renounce everything you hold dear just to be left alone. Power for power’s sake.
Trump and Covid radicalized the left into accepting bizarre paradigms as virtue. And to be sure, many on the right are quietly going along with it too. They are going to block anyone who falls into any field of "extreme" as defined by them.
Extreme is anything that challenges the official narrative in a dangerous way. Which is way "flat earth" gets a pass.
Trump and Covid were just an excuse for an already radicalized Left to pursue power through any and all means without restraint. The craziest thing is that Democrats are actively pushing all the buttons to get us to civil war so they can claim the high ground and use the military against the citizenry.
Nothing left about what's left in the Democratic Party. Liberals have always opposed the left even more than the right during my lifetime. As I child I remember the CDC, California Democratic Council. The California Democratic party official shut it down because it actually took leftist stands, outside the approved establishment lines. The only thing that makes the Democratic Party 'left' is the framing in the present-day mainstream media.
100%. I'm left. The Democrats represent my positions in NO WAY WHATSOEVER. At this point (the people calling themselves) The Democrats are WAY to the right (on stuff like foreign policy) of (the people calling themselves) Republicans.
I actually think that the "radicalized Left" is a total cut-out, or sock-puppet for Power. Emmanuel Goldstein, all day long. When the shit hits the fan, the blame will be assigned to Lefties, as usual. The DNC, of course, should not be confused with anything Left; they are a "Corporation," and have nothing to do with the "Will of the People."
As far as I know, "the Right" has NOT censured anyone. What has Donald Trump censored? FYI Donald Trump is NOT right wing despite conventional wisdom on the lying media.
But Bush/Cheney was immediately followed by Obama. What did the Constitutional law professor do to re-enforce our 1A Rights and stop the skid? Oh yeah, wiretap Rosen's phone, or something like that. The Obama crowd likes it, likes it, yes they do. Power is cool.
Cheney, and Jeff Bush were primary signatories on the project for a New American Century, that is they are neocons pushing a world wide agenda of war and they are very much behind what is going on in Ukraine and will continue till the last Ukrainian is dead. Oh, how they couldn't depend on the Donald for that, since to their horror he wanted to get along with Russia.
True but the are certainly people on the right who’d do what the Dems are because power. How do we better ID these types without the old labels? Idk. But it’s humans with the desire for power who are the problem and that can come in many flavors
Because of Trumps precieved intolerance, the left, in order to show how diferent they were, took tolerance to radicle new heights. Never mind that in said tolerance were the seeds of an intolerance twice as strong as whatever Trump was supposed to have.
When the Revolution comes to town and demands to know "Who's side are you on?" all principles and morals are replaced by one simple question: Who/Whom?
When you say "these people" in the United States, you mean partisan Democrats. Right now, with everything going on and the "free press" shilling their propaganda, Democrats are power-drunk like never before. This is only the beginning.
The hubris is just amazing. Do they really not understand that one day in the not so distant future the shoe will be on the other foot, and they'll come to rue the precedents they've established during this period?
This is a great question and one that has perplexed me for decades. Look at what Harry Reid did with the Senate Nuclear option. Before that there was the Biden Rule on Supreme Court picks. They do these radical things for immediate benefit and then scream bloody murder when the Republicans turn the tables on them using the very policies and precedents that they started.
I think the difference today is that the mainstream media used to be the power that kept political power in check for blatant hypocrisy. Now the Dems know they can go scorched earth and get cover by the media, and if the GOP tries the same the media will go scorched earth on the GOP.
My perspective is that we finally met the enemy, and it is our media.
They do not understand because they don't believe they will never NOT be in power. They all act as if they never have to try and win an election again.
Trump happened. And there is no amount of cognitive dissonance they can't endure and foist on the public to defend their irrational hatred of that man. I can accept that they need psychiatric help on that score, but cannot accept their killing trust in ... everything to stay in denial about it.
The US freezes the money of entire countries. Can't understand why other countries trust their money in US banks/UK banks in the first place. Can't understand why anyone would use gofundme or PayPal. Can't understand why anyone goes through a third party to donate to reporters or causes they support. The way we've headed, with CBDCs and digital IDs to be forced upon everyone, we're about to lose all control. REFUSE TO GET the next round of shots for whatever pandemic is next. Refuse digital IDs and vaccine passports.
This is the power of public backlash. The first go-around with dumb covid rules, too many people meekly went along with the scam, and a large portion of people who resisted did so quietly by staying home.
Now is the time to get loud and tell the ‘leaders’ to shove their arbitrary and convoluted rules that don’t make a bit of difference in the first place. No to mask mandates. No to mandated testing. No to booster jabs that were authorized without long-term safety data. And most of all, no the idea that the ‘leaders’ have the power to do any of those things in the first place.
"Can't understand why anyone goes through a third party to donate to reporters or causes they support."
Substack uses a third party to donate to Matt and all the others. Unless you mail the reporters cash, you MUST use a third party. And guess whih way all of these service providers lean... pro-gov't narrative.
All these organizations appear to be bought and paid for. Red Cross never was made to disclose what they did with the relief funds to Haiti. And they lecture the common people while they steal the money for the poorest dark skinned people in the western hemisphere. These institutions, even Amnesty International are rotten to the core.
I think they took the administration of the USAID funds. If Hilary had just stolen half the money and used the other half to aid Haitians, it would have practically rebuilt Port au Prince. She could have bought some package water and sewer plantss. GE has fleets of them to deploy for emergencies. If you did nothing else, emergency aid is supposed to stop Cholera and the other waterborne diseases that go with the profile. I saved the pictures of Haitians dying on the ground with their medical supplies were those blue disposable pads with an IV out of them. That was followed by mass graves. Instead of building them infrastructure, they gave them "latrines" which are buckets. Even though they know that eventually a bucket used for waste will be used to carry water, ensuing cholera. These gluttons with their glutton daughter took the emergency fund money from the poorest people in our region, although they already had enough money to want for nothing until they die and into perpetuity for Howdy Doody, their glutton daughter.
People tired to get accountabilty and a person could piece it together from what was known.. A delegation from Haiti came up and openly protested at Clinton sites and still nothing happened, the media didn't "hear" about it. They have been protecting these corrupt politicians before Biden.
This story was publicized at the time and only the "fringe" took issue with it. Now we know that a group of Mengele scientists can kill 6 million humans by releasing a Franken Virus on us, and they are poised to take center stage again for another round. It looks like a large swath of the sheeple want to hope that things will return to normal if they just keep their heads down. https://www.propublica.org/article/how-the-red-cross-raised-half-a-billion-dollars-for-haiti-and-built-6-homes
Hmm. I agreed a lot of orgs haven proven to be (somewhat) rotten. Not disclosing is possibly rotten. Possibly incompetent (in the sense of lost control of the accounting). Can you share more facts? A reference?
The ACLU can't help out with 1A issues. It's too busy suing to get an imprisoned man who murdered a child some "gender-affirming care," according to reporting today. A murderer not get sex-change surgery in custody is "cruel and unusual" punishment per that formerly great civil liberties organization. What explains that?
There's a lot of stuff to be angry about, but, Covid lockdowns aren't it. They were well-meaning and often effective ways of controlling a deadly disease.
There were pros and cons. Go ahead and argue that the cons outweighed the pros, but only an idiot would claim that the lockdowns were literally not effective at curbing the spread of the disease.
I don't give a s**t about the flu. We were talking about Covid. You know that Covid isn't the same as the flu, right?
There is a mountain of statistical evidence that lockdowns were effective at curbing the transmission of the virus. Do you have any studies that you can point to to support your assertion that lockdowns "did not work"? Or do you think that if you repeat it enough on an internet forum, that makes it true?
Even bill gates admitted that Covid was not nearly as dangerous as it was claimed. Of course, he said this AFTER cashing out his vaccine stock to the tune of a $500 million profit.
I live in the Bay area. The vast majority are uninformed. To them, any "authority" that's aligned with the Democrat party can do no wrong. No counter information gets through.
Tell them to spend an evening strolling down Market Street in the reeking shambles that used to be one of the premier cities in the world! Let them know in no uncertain terms that the responsibility for that falls upon the “Supermajority” headed by Gavin Newsom along with Mayor London Breed and Communist DA Chesa Boudin who decided that chasing down Covid “deniers” and shuttering businesses over a manufactured plandemic was more important than prosecuting actual crimes! That was the death knell for San Francisco. I and millions of others grieve for that once wonderful city which I have no doubt will be purchased for pennies on the dollar by Blackrock and Vanguard and turned into a “15 Minute City” with 24/7 surveillance at the demand of the beleaguered residents! Then watch how fast the “homeless problem” will disappear into the newly built Blackrock prisons leased by the Dems to “provide homes” for the sociopaths who now clog the streets.
I left Seattle reluctantly 8 years ago, my husband's long final illness forced us into homelessness and a relocation to hicksville to live with the cousins.
I now realize that was one of the best things that ever happened to me.
Same here. When my friends ask for help through GoFundMe, I always send them a message asking if they would consider using a different fundraising app, and where I can send a paper check. We need to let people know, if they want to raise money, they need to use an organization with integrity. GoFundMe steals from people.
Yeah, the trucker convoy was what kept me from donating to the Grayzone fundraiser initially. Glad I didn't throw that money out the window. I haven't heard of the second site they chose, but I am a fan of GiveSendGo.
Yeah they stole my donation to the Truckers too. Give Send Go is the best, but I will donate to the Antiwar one with their site. I use Go FundMe only for family tragedies if they are using the site.
This is why we've been screaming about this issue for so long -- it never ever ever stops at the 'bad' people. Once you allow government -- via law or censorship -- to determined what is and isn't 'allowable' speech, dissent is QUICKLY determined to be unallowed. That's why the First Amendment is first -- without it, none of the other rights matter because you'll never be allowed to speak up.
Edit: The writing was on the wall after what happened in Canada.
But before we get there, we must first revisit Canada’s recent protests. Truckers and other supporters moved into Ottawa, made things extremely uncomfortable for Justin Trudeau, then got their assets frozen after the Canadian government declared use of the Emergency Powers Act — despite not even being charged with a crime in most cases.
Although the freezing of protestors’ bank accounts in Canada was horrifying, at least there was a tiny bit of logic behind it. These specific people are doing things that we (just) declared illegal, so we’re going to punish them. It was bullshit that the government used emergency powers to basically unperson the protestors and their supporters, but you can sell this to the Canadian people. Almost.
That brings us to Russia. Biden has ordered the seizure of Russian yachts and other assets of people who have little connection to the Russian government. Numerous companies have pulled out of the Russian market (so much for “greedy businesses do anything for a buck”) in an attempt to show support for Ukraine or pressure the Russian government into submission, to be honest I’m not exactly clear. But stealing from and cutting off services to regular Russians doesn’t hurt the government. If anything, it makes Russians angry at us instead of Putin! How would you like to be ‘canceled’ over the actions of Joe Biden?
WikiLeaks supporters plan US foundation to restore funding Whistleblowing website's backers look to break 'bank blockade' 500 days after Visa, MasterCard and PayPal blocked donations
WikiLeaks was forced to suspend many of its publishing operations in October last year after Visa, MasterCard and PayPal refused to process supporters' donations to the website, reducing its donation income by about 95%.
The move, which came after the US senator (Dem NeoCon) Joe Lieberman called on US companies to cut off services to WikiLeaks, was called a blockade by the organisation's editor-in-chief, Julian Assange, and came without any legal orders or actions against the site.
Glenn Greenwald did too.. Glenn was a founder of Freedom of Press Foundation w EFF founder John Parry Barlow & others that was the workaround tool for donors.. Jimmy Dore and Max also noted the WikiLeaks precedent in reporting of Grayzone freeze.
Yep! Glenn is reason I typed "substack.com" into my browser for the first time! Then I found out that Taibbi was also here and I knew this is where I belonged!
There are more Ukrainian amputees in 18 months than their were in WW1 and more deaths than the almost 10 year US involvment in Vietnam. How does this end? Who ends it? And what, in the name of humanity does "winning" look like? Did I mention young Russians are also being destroyed!
It ends when there are no more Ukrainians to fight, if DC has its way. And that might just be the excuse they need to amp it up further by sending Americans.
I am waiting for the bill that Congress passes sending emergency relief to Hawaii and Florida --- without also providing more funding to Ukraine. And waiting, and waiting . . .
It probably ends when Ukraine runs out of soldiers and asshole Biden commits another treasonous act by putting American boots in the fight. Then the real END will come with nuclear World War III. This seems to be what the Dems and Republican Neocoms want anyway.
All that money we are sending to Ukraine comes with strings. When this is over, and most of their men are dead, that place will be parceled off. Also, Russia is depleted and set back several years. And the cherry on top would be disrupting the emerging Sino-Russo relations.
Actually Russia is FAR from “depleted” according to Col Douglas Macgregor, military consultant who has been very vociferous in his real world view of the Ukrainian war. This Biden, neo con proxy war has caused Russia to revamp its military, upgrade its war materiel industry, created new alliances with other powerful states who are sick of US bullying, found vast new outlets and income for its enormous gas and oil wealth and now seriously threatens the stability of the NATO alliance and the US dollar! This needless war will be nothing but a lose lose for the US while pushing Russia into a much much stronger place!
Slime-toad Doug Macgregor? He's a washed-up Kremlin stooge so water-headed even Putin and the boys and girls of the SVR wish Colonel Mac would put a sock in it, once and for all.
Macgregor is the Professor Marvel of American vatniks.
Ukraine is losing...badly. So many young men dead and so many widows and orphans. Mass movement of refugees internally and externally. Estimates are that 500,000 Ukrainians and Russians have been killed or are war casualties. Donald Trump can settle as can any competent person acting good faith.
Who benefits from this war? What US national interest is involved?
The beneficiaries are the weapons manufacturers, military think tanks, and politicians on the receiving end of military PACS money, and future lucrative board positions. This is a LOT of money.
The US government uses sanctions as an economic weapon almost as a reflex. Presidents of both parties do this. And it almost never punishes the people in power. It just hurts ordinary people.
It doesn't just make Russians angry. For many years I owned(in my IRA) publicly traded stocks in a few Russian companies. Excellent companies paying excellent dividends. It wasn't just Russians who had their money stolen. All of my stocks were "frozen" and then disappeared, right out of my retirement account.
Truth/fact based journalism works. I point (yet again) to the Twitter File reports. Without subscription journalism there would have been no platform Elon Musk could turn to. And, it forced the hand of the perps and served as a reveal in the Taibbi/Shellenberger Congressional hearings that followed. It is not metaphor to say that truth is light. But, as witnessed in the aforementioned hearings, it can be painful.
Just so we are clear. The fat is in the fire, the chickens are roosting, the cows are home, the fat lady is singing and we're now lying in the bed we made for ourselves. Additionally, the dying cockroach position has never helped anyone.
Capitalism and communism are as dead as a doornails. The totalitarian perps and poseurs exploiting the ideologies murdered them cold. Like the printing press before it, the leap in tech powered the new world Consciousness (my capital) that has the aristocracy pissing its pants. Thus, the current tidal wave of lies and repression. I urge those still refusing to accept that the DNC is a front for, now desperate, fixers, bag men and corporate thugs, to simply take a yellow pad and bullet the travesties noted by posters in this comments section. Most of the psyop is to convince Americans that they are powerless. We are not. We're just beat up. Living inside a lie does that to you. All that matters is the Republic and the Constitution. F'kem.
"I was having this discussion in a Taxi heading downtown/Rearranging my position on a friend of mine who had a little bit of a breakdown/I said breakdowns come and breakdowns go/So what are you gonna do about it/Thats what I'd like to know..." Paul Simon GUMBOOTS
"made things extremely uncomfortable for Justin Trudeau"
...and also for the 1 million residents of Ottawa who were subject to continuous horn honking for days. I don't think it justifies the government's extremely heavy-handed response, but pretending those protests were stopped purely because of Trudeau's PR concerns is just plain ignorant.
"Numerous companies have pulled out of the Russian market [...] in an attempt to show support for Ukraine or pressure the Russian government into submission, to be honest I’m not exactly clear"
Why even comment, then?
There are several reasons to do this:
1. As we've seen repeatedly, Russia has a penchant for taking hostages, hand out fines for companies not toeing the line, etc. It's not rational to stay in business in a country where your company or your employees could be taken advantage of by the goverment to make a point (and I'm not talking freezing bank accounts; we all know more or less what goes down in Russian prisons).
2. By operating in Russia, companies are supporting the Russian economy, which in turn supports the war (both through taxes paid and through economic growth in general).
3. As you mentioned, it shows support for Ukraine. I'm not sure what companies would have to gain from pressuring the Russian government into submission... I feel like you only brought this up to put a thumb on the scale without committing yourself to an obviously bogus claim.
"stealing from and cutting off services to regular Russians doesn’t hurt the government"
YES, IT DOES. Imagine how much pressure would be placed on the Biden admin if Americans were (as you put it) 'canceled' over the actions of Joe Biden. The fact that you missed this obvious point makes me wonder what the hell is rattling around inside your skull, because it's clearly not a brain.
The lives of Ukrainians are more important than the economic comfort of Russians who, by and large, supported the invasion.
Yeah, and everyone thought it would just be Alex Jones. The problem is, Alex was right on 95% of everything he's said for decades. THAT is why he was first.
The "truckers." Yes, the truckers. They're were a few truckers there in Ottawa those few weeks, but mostly it was an organized, astroturfed-up mob of far-right goons, white nationalists, tough-guy conspiracy theorists, and the usual array of freelance riff-raff that show up to these sorts of jamborees---hard bearded toy store fascists from Canadian Rod & Gun Clubs such as Wexit and Yellow Vests Canada.
They harassed and intimidated the local citizens of Ottawa for a few weeks, cost the city taxpayers upwards of $10 million buckaroos, and moved on to their next disruptive rodeo. They were there to intimidate, plain and simple---not make things "uncomfortable" for Trudeau, or protest vaccines. Let's be real here, for christ sake.
Also, them Russian Ollie-garchs you're busy feeling sorry for (they're the yacht owners) have everything to do with Putin's government. They are not just adjacent to Putin, they ARE Putin's government. Most educated children who read the newspapers understand this.
I'm a Canadian and it's obvious that you know fuck-all about the truckers protest or Canada in general. This was a huge protest and indeed they were all truckers except for a few cranks and regime plants. Trudeau could have defused it all if he had met and talked with them as soon as they arrived because they were entirely peaceful but instead he fled which he always does in order to persuade fools like you that there was some real danger there. Then he lied and slandered them from afar calling them Nazis and Americans and such and giving the clueless state owned media, all of it, not just the CBC but all of the legacy media which is now heavily subsidized, to snow the Canadian public into thinking that this was a national security emergency. Now the Emergency Measures Act which authorizes the regime to declare a national security emergency is very specific about the circumstances under which is can be called. It states specifically that it can be called only on the advice of CSIS, Canada's top intelligence agency and it came out in mandated hearings after the whole matter was over that they gave no such advice. Neither did the Ottawa police nor the Ontario Provincial Police. So invoking the Emergency Measures Act was patently illegal and Trudeau is now being sued for doing so by the Canadian Constitutional Foundation and others.
As to the Ottawa citizens who were annoyed by honking, that too is mainly nonsense. Most Ottawa citizens are government bureaucrats who by then were all working for home, which is to say, from their cottages in the Gatineau which is at most an hour drive away! And then there is the way that Trudeau broke the peaceful protest up, which is to say, with violence. Phalanxes of robocops without badges, some on horseback, one of which trampled an old lady! Proportionate response, eh? And meanwhile four of the protesters who were arrested have been held in jail for more than a year with no trial date in sight violating one of the most basic civil rights. They may or may not be guilty of something but at this rate we may never know.
My advice to a fool like you is to butt out when you don't know what you're talking about and especially when you are willing to tell only one side of a story.
"Then he lied and slandered them from afar calling them Nazis and Americans and such..."
Now, that's funny. If I were a neo-fascist Canadian trucker I'd probably just shrug if the prime minister of Canada called me a Nazi, but call me an...American? Them's fightin' words.
Don't engage with them. They're not here for honest dialogue.
They're here to serve the regime. feldspar and dwhy are our resident tankie-bots sent to shit up the thread. I've been watching these things for years disrupt and destroy online comment sections - places where people of good faith gather to come together against the regime. Always the same tactics - always the same disingenuous arguments, deflection, or just straight lies whenever necessary.
I'm in outrage fatigue. My forehead permanently flattened from too many face palms. And yet so many seem blissfully oblivious of the severe contraction of fundamental rights, across platforms, borders and continents. Fresh hell is no longer approaching. It's rot is upon us.
Outrage fatigue probably accounts for why a good chunk of the people I talk to, haven't a clue about all the speech infringements happening. They don't know about the Facebook or Twitter files - no idea. People have retreated into the usual distractions, like entertainment, sports etc. It's hard to blame them in one sense. There's only so much one's mental health can handle. But something that really needs to be underlined is that you really only believe in freedom of speech if you believe in it for views you despise. As I wrote recently: Recall the now ‘quaint’ old maxim “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it”?). Alas, such sentiments appear out of vogue, replaced instead by notions like “cancel culture,” “shadow banning” and “de-platforming.”
I for one fully endorse that maxim. I admit to distracting myself late in an evening with light reading or television show, but more out of loss and grief. In fact, many find my following politics, science and such depressing. I consider it food for thought. I'm not tying myself to the steps of the capital because I honestly feel that time has come and gone. I'm at an age where I'm "the interested observer," to quote Ram Das. And I'm ok with that.
MissAnne: you and I would be a sight to behold tied to the steps of the capital! I’m an old girl who delights in thinking of herself as “ungovernable.” Please reconsider your resignation to “interested observer” status.
Oh, honey! Been there, done that. Been arrested for civil disobedience a number of times. Marched till my feet were blistered and my voice hoarse. Never say never, but brain surgery and degenerative cervical myelopathy HAVE slowed me down a step or two. Most who know me still consider me a fearless badass, and as rebellious as ever, which I wear as a badge of honor. Count me in for a Granny March: May as well go out swingin!
Interesting that you used the vague term "speech infringements", and not (for example) "freedom of speech".
The Twitter Files is a bunch of bullshit spun up by Elon Musk to retroactively justify his insane impulse buy of Twitter. The Facebook Files isn't a thing... you can't make a scandal out of thin air just by appending "Files" to something.
The status quo has not changed on this issue. The internet has forced a lot of individuals and organizations to take explicitly censorious stances (what legitimate business wants a hand in propping up a shit pile like the Gray Zone?), but it's not like we're exiting some utopia of unbounded expression where anyone could say anything to any number of people without consequence.
Edit to add: "your right to say it" is in no way infringed by, for example, GoFundMe refusing to host fundraisers for whacky Putin-apologist media outlets. That's *their* freedom of speech being upheld; specifically, their freedom to not provide support or amplification for a message they don't agree with. What you're arguing against *is* freedom of expression.
I said "speech infringements" because there is, in fact, a whole spectrum of actions at play ranging from minor, such as the deletion of a comment to outright banning. (The former happened to me a couple of years back on Facebook for the sin of linking to a Chomsky interview on Russiagate. There's an "explicitly censorious stance" for you; some programmed dweeb in a cubicle who'd bought into four years of Maddow's bullshit deciding I needed a content slap, though more likely it was the "all knowing" algorithm).
My point was not about whether or not GoFundMe has the right to choose to politicize economic services. They do, obviously - just as consumers have the right to boycott. The real threat here is when government pressures Big Tech to suppress certain views (coincidentally they happen to run counter to their own narratives).
So I was really addressing the broader picture - which is not "bullshit." It's actually happening, as Taibbi's extensive reporting on these matters reveals. If you take the time to get into the weeds by reading or listening to these reports, the interplay between these powerful entities is fascinating, nuanced, even sometimes nonsensical, though the overall trend is towards centralizing control.
This is not about Elon Musk's motives or what one thinks of the Gray Zone. Nor is it about content moderation - which of course is necessary, the law being a good starting point as to when some "speech" should, and often is, deleted.
This is about a labyrinth alliance of government agencies, NGOs and political elites — working in concert with Big Tech — to suppress views that run counter to the accepted "groupthink" on a host of issues.
It's an insidious trend across the West. For instance, as British writer Ricky of Councilestatemedia wrote recently: "Anti-imperialist website Mint Press News has had its TikTok account deleted without warning or explanation. This comes after it had previously between de-platformed from PayPal and had its money withheld, with apparent involvement from the US and British governments." In other words, a censorship industrial complex.
Anyone who cares about ensuring a free marketplace of ideas should be alarmed at this state of affairs. Some care. Some do not. Many have understandably retreated into their own cocoons, which was my other point.
"I said "speech infringements" because there is, in fact, a whole spectrum of actions at play ranging from minor, such as the deletion of a comment to outright banning."
Right, but it's not an "infringement" when Facebook or GoFundMe kicks someone out for pissing in the pool. Your description was straightforwardly wrong.
"Anti-imperialist website Mint Press News has had its TikTok account deleted without warning or explanation. This comes after it had previously between de-platformed from PayPal and had its money withheld, with apparent involvement from the US and British governments."
The weasel words "apparent involvement" are doing a lot of work here. Also, this quote emphasizes their "anti-imperialist" stance (ironic since the US and Britain aren't imperialist anymore), but conveniently ignores that they run apologetics for Russia, one of the few nations actively engaging in imperialism in the 21st century.
"So I was really addressing the broader picture - which is not "bullshit." It's actually happening, as Taibbi's extensive reporting on these matters reveals."
I'm sorry, but I *have* been in the weeds (I've been subscribed and reading this substack practically since it launched), and it is almost entirely bullshit, spin, and fabrication. If you just read everything uncritically, it's easy to follow along with the narrative... as soon as you start asking questions like "does this email really mean what Matt claims it does?", you realize that you're relying entirely on the honesty of the author to vouch for the validity of the worldview he presents.
The thing is, Matt has every incentive in the universe to shred the credibility of mainstream media and Democrats: practically his entire audience are right-wingers at this point, and the remainder are almost entirely the kind of "left-wingers" who find crackpots like RFK Jr. and Alex Berenson credible. Moreover, he was essentially ejected from mainstream media because of his coverage of the Trump/Russia investigation and fiasco, so you'd be hard-pressed to find someone less credibly objective on issues like these.
"Anyone who cares about ensuring a free marketplace of ideas should be alarmed at this state of affairs."
Bullshit. Anyone who cares about ensuring a free marketplace of ideas should be overjoyed to see propaganda-spewing rags like Mint Press and Grayzone deamplified and publicly shamed. Disinformation is a censorship tool, whether you or Matt Taibbi realize it or not.
Rather than go through point by point where I disagree, I suggest you write your own Substack. You seem very adamant in your opinions. Rather than simply pontificating here and shouting "bullshit" now and then, why not try out your persuasive abilities by writing a column that requires an informed and focused viewpoint backed up by actual research? That way readers could test the veracity of your ideas as well as your honesty in terms of having a good faith discussion.
As a Canadian who sent a small donation via GoEffYourself to the Truckers, then spent two tense weeks wondering if Turdeau's government would freeze my accounts, I have refused to donate any more money through those reprobates. I've used Give Send Go as an alternate.
I donated through GoF***Me, and had my money returned so I used another fundraising site. When JT froze the accounts and the emails were leaked, I received an email that alerted me that I was on the list. Immediately raced to the bank in Canada to withdraw my money and close my accounts. It was a very frightening situation. No one should have to go through that horror.
Know WHY? Oka! Violence works! The ruling classes regard peaceful protests as weakness and rightfully so. Democracy is a scam that keeps you under control by using your mind. So much cheaper than soldiers and police and more effective. My large dog could kill me anytime but I put a leash in its mind and it was easy after countless generations breeding dogs with the wildness bred out of them. People are no different!
Same here. I knew it would cost them more so I instantly disputed the $500 charge on my card. I’m shocked anyone is still using GoFundMe. I also closed Venmo and PayPal. We know we can speak with our wallets. I wish people weren’t so lazy in doing so. I’m not left, but I am anti-war. I’ve read GreyZone for years. In some ways I’m glad this happened to them - did they really think they’d be exempt from the machine? Why were they using GoFundMe in the first place???
Same here. Also, not using AirBNB. Wish the young kids would dump PayPal and Venmo and use something else. Then all us older folk would be forced to convert to stay relevant. I now have to give everyone cash.
What happened with AirBNB? I stopped using them because they require biometrics. But haven't heard about them cancelling people. (Btw vbro.com is an AirBNB alternative)
Great suggestion! It’s getting hard to find a company that hasn’t participated in illiberal practices, right? Do you remember when they weren’t political and we never had to worry about this? Or was I just too young to notice. AirBNB cancelled the account of the parents of some conservative I’ve never heard of. That was the second time I’ve heard of viewpoint discrimination by them. I may also not like the speech of this person that no one knew. But now this person gets free air time for this cancellation. You see how it’s not working?
that's vrbo. . . and yes, I stopped running an Airbnb to protest the ongoing "botification" of humans. As a host (and provider of the only "hard asset" Airbnb has, in the form of my home), I was dismayed when they blocked hosts from their first IPO in favor of billionaires, who got first dibs on the quick and easy money. I complained to no one, because Airbnb IS no one. It is run by robots. Even the humans who answer our distress calls when things go awry read from scripts and their replies are recorded. . . "for quality purposes?" No, for purposes of surveillance. This, too, is performed by robots. People are apparently going extinct at our own hand (see climate change, which is NOT a hoax but entirely manmade)—but it's just possible that dehumanization by manmade "intelligent" machines will get us first.
He, right now, seems to be the only one who stands up. I’m grateful. But I’m wary of being lured into a false sense of security again. Always question illogical things: I knew that in my 20s, forgot it in my 30s, and now am slapping my forehead repeatedly bc I’m the idiot.
I've had a permanent Twitter ban since he took over. A rad-fem Tweeted about men wanting to invade women's spaces. I just replied "Not ALL men, just a few with mental illness". That got me a permanent ban.
He has business realities to contend with and is into Twitter for $30 billion more that it’s worth. Regardless of his early intention, 💵💸 changes everything.
I agree. I have some friends right now discussing this who had no idea this was happening (and I'm the group gadfly, so they weren't taking my word for it years ago...).
They were going to donate the Trucker's funds to 'charity'. Maybe one that helps people hurt by the trucker protest? But public outcry was loud and they refunded all the cash.
"GoFundMe initially said it would give supporters of the now-defunct campaign, which raised nearly $8 million, until February 19 to request refunds. It also said it would direct any remaining donations to "credible and established charities chosen by the Freedom Convoy 2022 organizers and verified by GoFundMe."
But the company later reversed course, saying it would automatically refund campaign supporters in order to simplify the process. Donors can expect refunds within 10 business days, according to GoFundMe."
No kidding! Freezing the funds, and then saying they were going to give all the money to charities of their own choosing. They thought they could get away with that?! Not One Red Cent.
For me, GFM destroyed their brand in 2008 when they refused to release the donations to the Granny Warriors in NH who were trying to pay for a vote recount because of voting irregularities concerning Ron Paul vote counts.
I've seen quite a few people advocating politically-targeted murder in these comments. I'd rather not open up my whole life to this community by using my real name, thank you very much.
Well, can’t argue there. I did try to send the truckers $500 several times and I’m a southern soccer mom in America. Should anything else be expected? The US government has overthrown at least 87 foreign governments, most of them democratically elected. We appear to be funding a whole bunch of coups in Africa at this very moment. It seems our government thinks it’s the role of Americans to insert ourselves into foreign affairs so I saw the truckers, and well, monkey see monkey do. 😂
Feldspar, I briefly considered wasting my life as an online troll like you, but ultimately decided I wanted more from life than to be a common loser. Do you actually donate to Antifa, or is even that too much effort for you?
Did you watch any of the live footage from Ottawa? Did you understand that the truckers, who were heroes before the “vaccine” rollout, were going to be forced to quarantine for two weeks at the border for each trip they made to the US if they declined the clot shot? Do you understand what freedom means?
What I do know is how to differentiate between honest truckers with legitimate labor grievances and dishonest and illegitimate agents of chaos out to foment chaos and disruption merely for the sake of chaos and disruption and who are also backed by bad actors and supported with dark money by these same said bad actors whose real designs are foisting bad ideas on how to govern society on same-said society they are busy disrupting. Thanks for asking. Please stay in touch.
So that must be why GFM must have sprung into action! They were acting as a sort of amateur Attorney General or volunteer cops, you know looking out for the best interests of Muh Freedom And Democracy!
"This Grayzone incident is perhaps most loathsome, lacking even a patina of necessity or justification, while serving as a depressingly obvious preview of things to come."
That was a gut punch because it's so true. Wait until they move us to CBDCs, (Central Bank Digital Currency). That will be the apex of this "Game over man!" authoritarian takeover. The government will then have power over every single financial transaction you make. And the will absolutely use that power. You want meat? Naw. Try some bugs!! They're an overlooked source of protein according to the Davos denizens.
Hey chilli-brains---do you even know what the concept of 15-minute cities is? Or are you operating from a series of editorials you read in Town Hall? Or a few late-night group harangues on OAN?
Interesting to note that the right-wing creatives over at Propaganda Central unearthed "15-minute cities" to monkeywrench and feed into the right-wing chipper. Got bored with all the Trans-CRT groomer-pedophiles, I guess.
You just play one on the Racket News threads? I'll add this one to my list:
I used to be a democrat, but...
I used to be a liberal, but...
I'm no Trump fan, but...
I'm not a right-winger, thanks, but...
Lemme guess---you're just an alien from outerspace with bad concepts, bad ideas, and a poor understanding of how planet earth works? You're still learning. Got it. Thanks.
But I do subscribe to propaganda, bad takes, and concepts formulated by others that I really don't understand but nevertheless love to opine on and that strangely track and tack with the rest of the right-wing diaspora...
Thank you for taking the time to answer the survey.
Not if enough of us simply refuse to use them...... resisting Covid with 2 young kids and a husband whose business, and our comfy life, depends on clients wasn’t actually all that hard. No masks, no “ remote” school, no staying home, no staying close to home, and sure as 💩 no clot shots. Eventually we won. Same with CBDC. And electing state level officials to outlaw it like Florida.
At what point do we just stop using dollars to pay for things? Humans got on okay before currency, I honestly feel like we could say collectively "fuck that" and go back to trading.
If (or more likely when) the systems of the state collapse, people will revert to a barter system and the goods needed to survive will become the greatest valuables. That's what happened in Bosnia.
Don't over-panic here. Every great 3rd world country that the U.S. intel community destabilizes with a coup develops a very robust black market using alternative currencies. I'm sure by then pesos will be quite valuable, even if "then" is only a year away...
If you lived in Ottawa, you would be singing a different tune. Exposure to that level of noise for weeks at a time can easily cause permanent detriments to health, including death.
Good idea. I wish more loony bin escapees would self-identify their whackjob politics upfront so I could know in advance not to waste any time on them.
They were eventually returned. At first, they just announced they were giving them to "good people" of their choice. The backlash from that was profound, so they then returned the donations.
Yes. They threatened to instead give to a charity if their choosing. Thousands of us refuted the charge on our credit cards - which cost the vendor like $15/ dispute - they caved and refunded the money once they realized that scheme was never gonna fly. Shocking they tried it.
Stealing is what the US is becoming known for: $300 billion of Russian central bank assets, billions of Iranian assets, billions of Venezuelan assets (although I think that might be the UK).
It's not stealing. The US is in a cold war with Iran and Russia; both of those countries have stolen billions in IP and technology from the US, kidnapped Americans and held them for ransom, etc.
I can't speak to Venezuela. But expecting the US to handcuff itself while authoritarian whackjobs like Putin literally steal parts of other countries is just dumb.
Research Mossadegh and the US coup in Iran in the 1950’s. Research what the Chicago Boys did to the Russian economy after the collapse of the Soviet Union. (Books: Overthrow by Stephen Kinzer, The Shock Doctrine by Naomi Klein will get you started.).
And speaking of taking over parts of other countries, the US has been occupying the oil and agriculture parts - 1/3 of Syria - since 2011, and won’t leave Iraq or Okinawa even though the people there want them out.
First paragraph: sorry, I'm not reading books just because you feel they validate your worldview. If there's an argument to be made, make it.
Second paragraph: bullshit, bullshit, bullshit.
First of all, occupation and annexation are completely different things. Russia is attempting to erase Ukraine from existence... the US has never attempted that against any nation, to my knowledge.
Second, you're begging the question here constantly. Is the US growing crops in Syria and then selling / importing them? Are we getting rich off Syrian oil? No? Then what's your point?
Third, who says Iraq and Okinawa want American troops gone? I don't think that's true. If anything, the presence of American troops makes those places markedly more secure and less liable to be invaded (both Okinawa and Iraq are subject to aggression from nearby nations), and pumps much-needed USD into their economies.
When they arrested, my father, they seized all his money so he couldn’t afford a legal defense. This is a common pattern with them. People just think it won’t happen to them. It can happen to you or anyone.
Were those funds obtained as part of a criminal enterprise by any chance?
To be fair, Civil Asset Forfeiture is a blemish on the nation's reputation and standing, no question about it. But that's not new, and it also has nothing to do with a private company refusing to prop up Putin apologists, which is their right under the constitution.
I have fond assocations with being accused as a bot.
Normally it's noobs who can't understand the concept that bullets penetrate through walls in many modern FPS games, but I'll take a lazy smear-job from a lazy partisan hack in a pinch, too.
I found the freezing of the trucker protest to be the worst of all. Sorry to the gray zone but why would they still use it? They thought because they were left leaning that it wouldn’t affect them
This is what's so infuriating. Half the country is cheering on this stuff because it's aimed at their political opponents, not realizing that they're next. It's especially ironic that they just spent 4 years playacting as #THERESISTANCE but think they will forever be on the same side as the ruling class.
I honestly can’t believe they didn’t see this coming. They write/report honestly about the war in Ukraine, they seriously thought the state wouldn’t smack them around? It’s unbelievable
Vivek Ramaswamy is running for president and polling decently on a platform that includes defunding Ukraine. He was able to debate this on live national television, and also on numerous appearances on YouTube and other media, without being censored or punitized in any way (except for the obvious consequence that most sane people won't vote for him).
I don't think "censorship" is the frame you want to put around this issue.
LOL! “But you're literally debating it right now.“
Commenting on Matt Taibbi’s substack is a far cry from free and open discussion on X/Twitter Or Facebook, and you’ll certainly never see any differing opinions on corporate news.
So you are not old enough to have learned there are at least two sides to every story? Do you simply soak in and regurgitate the corporate media propaganda? Sad.
"The hack-and-leak represented just the latest broadside against the convoy activists. Hours later, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau activated the Emergencies Act for the very first time in Canadian history, an unprecedented move effectively suspending the civil rights of the protesters and granting federal law enforcement the power to seize their bank accounts without a court order. " -Grayzone, 2022
More like, half the country doesn't give a shit about Matt Taibbi's hobby horse. There's nothing illegal or antisocial going on here, just a company refusing to be used as a tool for Putin apologism.
This is no really a left right fight. The ideologues might seem lefty flavored, but that’s just sprinkled on top of a lust to tell the rest of us what to do. For our own good.
Yeah exactly if you don’t stay on the government message, they will shut you down. Gray zone writes about the war in Ukraine, criticizing the military industrial complex and politicians making money off the war. Don’t act surprised when the shut your little crowdfunding down
This is the bullshit the right feeds gullible rubes like you, to disguise the fact that, yes, it is a partisan issue.
The right believes in using the power of government to punish people who exercise their right of freedom from expression. This article is a not-so-subtle undermining of the principle that people shouldn't be forced to prop up political expression they disagree with.
idk if you remember this obscure guy called Jordan Peterson, but "freedom from expression" was his hobby horse for years. It's not a left/right issue; your freedom not to support expression you disagree with is part of your constitutional right of freedom of expression.
Doesn’t that mean that GFM should have disallowed the gray zone fundraiser from its inception rather than saying “there were external concerns”? You either value all free speech rights or you value none. There can be no equivocation.
1. This isn't an issue of free speech rights. GoFundMe dropping Grayzone has nothing to do with the principle of free speech.
2. Do we even know for sure that Grayzone got dumped because of speech? Given the insane $80 average donation to their fundraiser, money laundering seems like the more believable culprit to me.
Zero doubt. The bigger story in the Twitter Files is that there's also a Facebook Files and a CNN Files and a Google Files, and a NYT Files........basically anybody who's anybody in mainstream media.
Not to mention the more insidious practice of seeding the official dogma via the “sources” reporters cultivate. If the need two sources (used to be standard) who’s to say the second source that “confirms” the info of the first isn’t also on board with the message? It’s shocking how little skepticism reporters show towards what they’re told. Are they so eager to be the ones in the know that they’ll accept any storyline they’re told? Seems so. Of course the big bosses are more likely in direct contact with higher ups in government that probably assure them, ‘hey we’re all on the same side here.’ That side is assuredly not that of the public interest. Journalism has been infected with the same contempt our elites have for common folk. Reporters would rather pretend they belong in the elite class than do the dirty job of telling us what those elites are doing behind our backs.
Remember when the novelist Ben Rhodes bragged from his Obama White House perch that the journalists swallowed every tall tale he fed them? Simply odious.
The Canadian trucker convoy was what pushed me to givesendgo, and haven't donated a red penny through gofundme since. They are so busy licking the hands of those that feed and control them to ever be part of the 'answer'.
Go Fund Yourself.
Amnesty International sided with Trudeau against the truckers. Didn't say a peep about bank account freezing, much less COVID lockdowns and mandates which were all flagrant human rights violations. Another captured institution: https://yuribezmenov.substack.com/p/amnesty-international-silence-ccp-esg-covid
What the hell happened to these people? There used to be a modicum of interest in the principle of the thing. Now it’s all where you come down ideologically.
I don't think it's even about ideology, just raw power and perceived self-interest.
Do you think the left was their own worst enemy during the Trump years when they adopted an anti-Trump position, and often became the mouth piece of the democrats to remove him from office? Now no one in the democratic party deviates from their stated goals, not even the Squad, since the 4 are no more then a joke. They fell into line, and so did Sanders, and so did the press, 100 percent, and it continues as they support the nefarious charges brought by democrats against Trump. Oh, he was so good for those in power, and used by them to impose even more power, and used to silence the voices of those that challenge them. If I have not made myself clear, well, they used Trump to implement a more authoritarian state whose policies are not to be questioned or challenged.
C.S. Lewis left behind an unfinished manuscript titled, The Dark Tower that, if memory serves, was published posthumously by his estate. I last read this over forty years ago, but there is one scene in the book that stands out to me.
In brief, there is a humanlike creature residing in the upper chamber of a great tower. This being has a black, pointed horn protruding from its forehead. Volunteers, convinced of great reward, offer themselves to this creature and are set upon and “stung” in the back of the neck. The venom reduces these volunteers to mindless automatons that now obey any command given them by their new master.
You made reference to the squad of four who have fallen in line with the accepted progressive dogma. It is as if they are all reading from prepared scripts.
There is one being called the prince of the power of the air in the second chapter of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians.
Some Christians today hold the view that God has slackened the metaphorical leash on this dark, malevolent prince in order to permit him increased power over the people of earth.
Many events and behaviors I have witnessed over the past three and a half years defy any kind of logical explanation. I have never seen anything even remotely close to the level of irrationality currently being acted out across the West.
Whether you believe in the God of the Bible, the deities of the Hindu pantheon or in no god at all, it is impossible to deny that there is someone or something acting on the personalities of human beings that cannot be explained by science.
May I also (very highly) recommend That Hideous Strength C.S Lewis
“Have you ever noticed,” said Dimble, “that the universe, and every little bit of the universe, is always hardening and narrowing and coming to a point?”His wife waited as those wait who know by long experience the mental processes of the person who is talking to them.“I mean this,” said Dimble in answer to the question she had not asked. “If you dip into any college, or school, or parish, or family — anything you like — at a given point in its history, you always find that there was a time before that point when there was more elbow room and contrasts weren’t quite so sharp; and that there’s going to be a time after that point when there is even less room for indecision and choices are even more momentous. Good is always getting better and bad is always getting worse: the possibilities of even apparent neutrality are always diminishing. The whole thing is sorting itself out all the time, coming to a point, getting sharper and harder."
It's called social media and it is poison.
The Adversary has been in charge as of late. God is waiting for His faithful to act under His righteous judgement. Infiltration in the Christians churches has left the congregations in the wilderness and Pope Francis the Jesuit has turn the Vatican over to the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience.
It’s a mistake to expect science to “explain” things. Science is a process of observation and discovery. If you’re unable to explain something then you need to continue to observe and continue to discover; understanding will follow.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called for Fox News to pull Daily Caller co-founder and Fox News host Tucker Carlson from air over his release of Jan. 6 footage.This is Schumer's plea to FOX to take Tucker off the air, and just another example of their abuse of power and controlling the narrative.
Carlson released never before seen footage Monday night from the Capitol riot after Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy gave him more than 40,000 hours of footage. Some footage showed Officer Brian Sicknick walking around the Capitol allegedly after he engaged with rioters, while other footage showed Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley leaving the Capitol building.
Schumer said Carlson manipulated his audience.I don’t think I’ve ever seen an actor treat the American people and American democracy with such disdain,” Schumer said. “And he’s going to come back tonight with another segment. Fox News should tell him not to.”
Schumer then argued kicking Carlson off air was necessary to preserve democracy.
Schumer is a pig who needs tarring and feathering.
How dare Americans make up their own minds about anything?
100%
This is a major reason why I want to see him re-elected. It will keep the authoritarians and bureaucrats scuttling around in the light. There's no telling how far they'll go to end his political career.
Behead him, punch him in the face, blow up the White House, hit him in the head with a bat. Make a play, let Julius Caesar look like Donald, so he gets stabbed to death in the Senate. They used the hate to mobilize their base, but they know that if he were actually killed there would be an uprising from his they couldn't put down. That's why I think he hasn't been killed.
You're commenting on an article about speech suppression... in support of a guy who 1. tried to label protestors as literal terrorists and unleash the military on them, and 2. wants libel law changed so he can sue his critics.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/trump-protests-governors-call-1.5593413
https://globalnews.ca/news/7557777/trump-antifa-immigration/
https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/trumpometer/promise/1365/open-libel-laws/
That's pretty awful.
What baloney.
"...used by them to impose even more power..."
So, it's *our* fault?!?!
No one was referring to the left in general, but to those in the media in its various forms, like Amy Goodman who pushed the Russia-gate narrative on her morning talk show, and the Intercept unwilling to publish Greenwald's piece on Hunter's laptop, etc, etc. Blumenthal even mentioned to Mate how the left wing sites had changed during the Trump years. I guess you missed it, like you missed my point.
It's about the money.
Amnesty started taking that sweet dosh so its top staff could get the big money. Suddenly they are astroturfing pro-Trans protests all over Britain, Europe and the US with identical signs and swag all designed and distributed by Amnesty.
Like what does political prisoners of conscience have to do with fetishists in women's clothing? Answer: Foundations like those headed by Martine Rothblatt and Jennifer Pritzker who give these NGOs money with these strings attached.
Yes you got it. NGOs are laundering politics from big money donors.
Another of Orwell’s foresights… the ending of 1984 is so tragic to me because it’s absolutely true… these evil people can torture you enough to make you renounce everything you hold dear just to be left alone. Power for power’s sake.
Yes. Power.
Trump and Covid radicalized the left into accepting bizarre paradigms as virtue. And to be sure, many on the right are quietly going along with it too. They are going to block anyone who falls into any field of "extreme" as defined by them.
Extreme is anything that challenges the official narrative in a dangerous way. Which is way "flat earth" gets a pass.
Trump and Covid were just an excuse for an already radicalized Left to pursue power through any and all means without restraint. The craziest thing is that Democrats are actively pushing all the buttons to get us to civil war so they can claim the high ground and use the military against the citizenry.
Nothing left about what's left in the Democratic Party. Liberals have always opposed the left even more than the right during my lifetime. As I child I remember the CDC, California Democratic Council. The California Democratic party official shut it down because it actually took leftist stands, outside the approved establishment lines. The only thing that makes the Democratic Party 'left' is the framing in the present-day mainstream media.
100%. I'm left. The Democrats represent my positions in NO WAY WHATSOEVER. At this point (the people calling themselves) The Democrats are WAY to the right (on stuff like foreign policy) of (the people calling themselves) Republicans.
Got to agree. But we need new terminology that serves as shorthand. left and right are convenient but inaccurate
I actually think that the "radicalized Left" is a total cut-out, or sock-puppet for Power. Emmanuel Goldstein, all day long. When the shit hits the fan, the blame will be assigned to Lefties, as usual. The DNC, of course, should not be confused with anything Left; they are a "Corporation," and have nothing to do with the "Will of the People."
They were catalyzers for the ingredients already present for sure.
Not too paranoid, not at all.
As far as I know, "the Right" has NOT censured anyone. What has Donald Trump censored? FYI Donald Trump is NOT right wing despite conventional wisdom on the lying media.
You have to go back to Bush Cheney, who's administration laid the groundwork for the abuses today.
But Bush/Cheney was immediately followed by Obama. What did the Constitutional law professor do to re-enforce our 1A Rights and stop the skid? Oh yeah, wiretap Rosen's phone, or something like that. The Obama crowd likes it, likes it, yes they do. Power is cool.
Cheney, and Jeff Bush were primary signatories on the project for a New American Century, that is they are neocons pushing a world wide agenda of war and they are very much behind what is going on in Ukraine and will continue till the last Ukrainian is dead. Oh, how they couldn't depend on the Donald for that, since to their horror he wanted to get along with Russia.
True but the are certainly people on the right who’d do what the Dems are because power. How do we better ID these types without the old labels? Idk. But it’s humans with the desire for power who are the problem and that can come in many flavors
Blocking (as on social media) or ignoring someone is not the same as de-platforming them. The latter is evil and has never ended well.
Ok, agreed, I used the wrong term.
Because of Trumps precieved intolerance, the left, in order to show how diferent they were, took tolerance to radicle new heights. Never mind that in said tolerance were the seeds of an intolerance twice as strong as whatever Trump was supposed to have.
The right is only motivated in defense of what the left is doing.
When the Revolution comes to town and demands to know "Who's side are you on?" all principles and morals are replaced by one simple question: Who/Whom?
Better buy some ammo in case the wrong revolution comes to our doors.
Who/Whom are my chosen pronouns.
lolol
When you say "these people" in the United States, you mean partisan Democrats. Right now, with everything going on and the "free press" shilling their propaganda, Democrats are power-drunk like never before. This is only the beginning.
The hubris is just amazing. Do they really not understand that one day in the not so distant future the shoe will be on the other foot, and they'll come to rue the precedents they've established during this period?
They are clearly not worrried about it, and that has me worried.
Indeed. None of them seem concerned about winning elections anymore.
This is a great question and one that has perplexed me for decades. Look at what Harry Reid did with the Senate Nuclear option. Before that there was the Biden Rule on Supreme Court picks. They do these radical things for immediate benefit and then scream bloody murder when the Republicans turn the tables on them using the very policies and precedents that they started.
I think the difference today is that the mainstream media used to be the power that kept political power in check for blatant hypocrisy. Now the Dems know they can go scorched earth and get cover by the media, and if the GOP tries the same the media will go scorched earth on the GOP.
My perspective is that we finally met the enemy, and it is our media.
💯
They do not understand because they don't believe they will never NOT be in power. They all act as if they never have to try and win an election again.
Bc they will cheat to win in every election, which they have done for years.
There is only 1 (one) shoe in a Fascist narrative.
Trump happened. And there is no amount of cognitive dissonance they can't endure and foist on the public to defend their irrational hatred of that man. I can accept that they need psychiatric help on that score, but cannot accept their killing trust in ... everything to stay in denial about it.
Man, you just said a mouthful!
The US freezes the money of entire countries. Can't understand why other countries trust their money in US banks/UK banks in the first place. Can't understand why anyone would use gofundme or PayPal. Can't understand why anyone goes through a third party to donate to reporters or causes they support. The way we've headed, with CBDCs and digital IDs to be forced upon everyone, we're about to lose all control. REFUSE TO GET the next round of shots for whatever pandemic is next. Refuse digital IDs and vaccine passports.
Exactly! Now is the time to not do what you're told!
https://simulationcommander.substack.com/p/now-is-the-time-to-not-do-what-youre
This is the power of public backlash. The first go-around with dumb covid rules, too many people meekly went along with the scam, and a large portion of people who resisted did so quietly by staying home.
Now is the time to get loud and tell the ‘leaders’ to shove their arbitrary and convoluted rules that don’t make a bit of difference in the first place. No to mask mandates. No to mandated testing. No to booster jabs that were authorized without long-term safety data. And most of all, no the idea that the ‘leaders’ have the power to do any of those things in the first place.
A Storm is Brewing
The storm has already begun
What are the ROE?
ROE??
"Can't understand why anyone goes through a third party to donate to reporters or causes they support."
Substack uses a third party to donate to Matt and all the others. Unless you mail the reporters cash, you MUST use a third party. And guess whih way all of these service providers lean... pro-gov't narrative.
USE CASH. BUY LOCAL. DIY.
I donate all the time and don't use those third parties.
All these organizations appear to be bought and paid for. Red Cross never was made to disclose what they did with the relief funds to Haiti. And they lecture the common people while they steal the money for the poorest dark skinned people in the western hemisphere. These institutions, even Amnesty International are rotten to the core.
Didn't The Clinton Foundation raise a lot of money for Haiti?
I think they took the administration of the USAID funds. If Hilary had just stolen half the money and used the other half to aid Haitians, it would have practically rebuilt Port au Prince. She could have bought some package water and sewer plantss. GE has fleets of them to deploy for emergencies. If you did nothing else, emergency aid is supposed to stop Cholera and the other waterborne diseases that go with the profile. I saved the pictures of Haitians dying on the ground with their medical supplies were those blue disposable pads with an IV out of them. That was followed by mass graves. Instead of building them infrastructure, they gave them "latrines" which are buckets. Even though they know that eventually a bucket used for waste will be used to carry water, ensuing cholera. These gluttons with their glutton daughter took the emergency fund money from the poorest people in our region, although they already had enough money to want for nothing until they die and into perpetuity for Howdy Doody, their glutton daughter.
Shameful acts, by people who have no shame. Why aren't these stories publicized across all media?
People tired to get accountabilty and a person could piece it together from what was known.. A delegation from Haiti came up and openly protested at Clinton sites and still nothing happened, the media didn't "hear" about it. They have been protecting these corrupt politicians before Biden.
This story was publicized at the time and only the "fringe" took issue with it. Now we know that a group of Mengele scientists can kill 6 million humans by releasing a Franken Virus on us, and they are poised to take center stage again for another round. It looks like a large swath of the sheeple want to hope that things will return to normal if they just keep their heads down. https://www.propublica.org/article/how-the-red-cross-raised-half-a-billion-dollars-for-haiti-and-built-6-homes
https://www.npr.org/2015/06/03/411524156/in-search-of-the-red-cross-500-million-in-haiti-relief
https://www.npr.org/2016/06/16/482020436/senators-report-finds-fundamental-concerns-about-red-cross-finances
https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/grassley-releases-memo-red-cross-haiti-earthquake-relief-response-finds-red
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jun/05/red-cross-haiti-black-hole-accountability-international-aid
They really are and the biggest self righteous hypocrites
Hmm. I agreed a lot of orgs haven proven to be (somewhat) rotten. Not disclosing is possibly rotten. Possibly incompetent (in the sense of lost control of the accounting). Can you share more facts? A reference?
https://www.insider.com/donating-to-american-red-cross-critics-sound-alarms-haiti-earthquake-2021-8
https://www.propublica.org/article/how-the-red-cross-raised-half-a-billion-dollars-for-haiti-and-built-6-homes
https://www.npr.org/2015/06/03/411524156/in-search-of-the-red-cross-500-million-in-haiti-relief
https://www.npr.org/2016/06/16/482020436/senators-report-finds-fundamental-concerns-about-red-cross-finances
https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/grassley-releases-memo-red-cross-haiti-earthquake-relief-response-finds-red
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jun/05/red-cross-haiti-black-hole-accountability-international-aid
Red Cross does take your money. Use Samaritans Purse.
They have all lost their way. Now they are regime orgs.
Let's add the ACLU while we're at it.
The ACLU can't help out with 1A issues. It's too busy suing to get an imprisoned man who murdered a child some "gender-affirming care," according to reporting today. A murderer not get sex-change surgery in custody is "cruel and unusual" punishment per that formerly great civil liberties organization. What explains that?
Amnesty’s disgusting anti-ISRAEL posture (pro far left pro-terrorist) showed their true colors long before COVID.
What happened to them? They are captured, too.
They’ve all been corrupted. Sadly, Human Rights Watch sucks too.
There's a lot of stuff to be angry about, but, Covid lockdowns aren't it. They were well-meaning and often effective ways of controlling a deadly disease.
You couldn't be more wrong. Lockdowns did not work and they do not work. Not now, not ever.
The flu season is in the winter BECAUSE THAT'S WHEN PEOPLE CROWD TOGETHER INSIDE. That's when IFLIs - like coronaviruses - actually spread.
You have ZERO idea what you're talking about AND manage act smug about it.
Amazing.
They were not effective and caused learning loss for kids as well as economic devastation. Go hide inside with another booster and mask this winter.
There were pros and cons. Go ahead and argue that the cons outweighed the pros, but only an idiot would claim that the lockdowns were literally not effective at curbing the spread of the disease.
You couldn't be more wrong. Lockdowns did not work and they do not work. Not now, not ever.
The flu season is in the winter BECAUSE THAT'S WHEN PEOPLE CROWD TOGETHER INSIDE. That's when IFLIs - like coronaviruses - actually spread.
You have ZERO idea what you're talking about AND manage act smug about it.
Amazing.
I don't give a s**t about the flu. We were talking about Covid. You know that Covid isn't the same as the flu, right?
There is a mountain of statistical evidence that lockdowns were effective at curbing the transmission of the virus. Do you have any studies that you can point to to support your assertion that lockdowns "did not work"? Or do you think that if you repeat it enough on an internet forum, that makes it true?
Even bill gates admitted that Covid was not nearly as dangerous as it was claimed. Of course, he said this AFTER cashing out his vaccine stock to the tune of a $500 million profit.
Sure. I said that the lockdowns curbed the spread of the disease, not that it had a particular level of "dangerous-ness."
Agreed.
Same here. After that, gofundme was dead to me.
Me too. I'm surprised people still use them. Maybe they haven't been sufficiently publicly shamed.
I live in the Bay area. The vast majority are uninformed. To them, any "authority" that's aligned with the Democrat party can do no wrong. No counter information gets through.
Tell them to spend an evening strolling down Market Street in the reeking shambles that used to be one of the premier cities in the world! Let them know in no uncertain terms that the responsibility for that falls upon the “Supermajority” headed by Gavin Newsom along with Mayor London Breed and Communist DA Chesa Boudin who decided that chasing down Covid “deniers” and shuttering businesses over a manufactured plandemic was more important than prosecuting actual crimes! That was the death knell for San Francisco. I and millions of others grieve for that once wonderful city which I have no doubt will be purchased for pennies on the dollar by Blackrock and Vanguard and turned into a “15 Minute City” with 24/7 surveillance at the demand of the beleaguered residents! Then watch how fast the “homeless problem” will disappear into the newly built Blackrock prisons leased by the Dems to “provide homes” for the sociopaths who now clog the streets.
The same is happening in Seattle and Portland.
I left Seattle reluctantly 8 years ago, my husband's long final illness forced us into homelessness and a relocation to hicksville to live with the cousins.
I now realize that was one of the best things that ever happened to me.
All my life friends in the Bay Area have fretted over ”The Big One”!
Sooner or later, there’s gonna be a quake that’ll make 1906 look like a high school dance, they’d say.
Well, the big one came, it was called the Tech boom, and no one really noticed as Herb Caen’s Bagdad-by-the-Bay ended up flatter than a crepe suzette.
Plus ça change, plus ça change for the worse.
Same here. When my friends ask for help through GoFundMe, I always send them a message asking if they would consider using a different fundraising app, and where I can send a paper check. We need to let people know, if they want to raise money, they need to use an organization with integrity. GoFundMe steals from people.
Me too
Yeah, the trucker convoy was what kept me from donating to the Grayzone fundraiser initially. Glad I didn't throw that money out the window. I haven't heard of the second site they chose, but I am a fan of GiveSendGo.
Agree completely! Acting in accord.
They were unduly canceling folks long before the CA Truckers.
Yep. Just about anyone deemed 'unwoke' lost money to those bastards, even pre 2020.
Don't worry; BlackCock will give them more money...
when will former lefties stop trusting Big Lefty Tech?
Search for Christian crowdfunding sites, and use them.
Me too, Fig! I was outraged with that whole thing plus that woman who led the cause being arrested, etc.
I deleted my gofundme account and sent them a strongly worded letter! I'm sure they were quaking in their boots then! Ha.
Was the money raised for Canadian trucker convoy ever forwarded to them or refunded to donors?
Mine was refunded.
Same
Thanks...I had been wondering because frankly, you never know.
It was about 6 weeks after I sent $25.00.
It's so altruistic what they do though!!l lol 😆
Yeah they stole my donation to the Truckers too. Give Send Go is the best, but I will donate to the Antiwar one with their site. I use Go FundMe only for family tragedies if they are using the site.
This is why we've been screaming about this issue for so long -- it never ever ever stops at the 'bad' people. Once you allow government -- via law or censorship -- to determined what is and isn't 'allowable' speech, dissent is QUICKLY determined to be unallowed. That's why the First Amendment is first -- without it, none of the other rights matter because you'll never be allowed to speak up.
Edit: The writing was on the wall after what happened in Canada.
https://simulationcommander.substack.com/p/for-a-glimpse-of-the-future-look
But before we get there, we must first revisit Canada’s recent protests. Truckers and other supporters moved into Ottawa, made things extremely uncomfortable for Justin Trudeau, then got their assets frozen after the Canadian government declared use of the Emergency Powers Act — despite not even being charged with a crime in most cases.
Although the freezing of protestors’ bank accounts in Canada was horrifying, at least there was a tiny bit of logic behind it. These specific people are doing things that we (just) declared illegal, so we’re going to punish them. It was bullshit that the government used emergency powers to basically unperson the protestors and their supporters, but you can sell this to the Canadian people. Almost.
That brings us to Russia. Biden has ordered the seizure of Russian yachts and other assets of people who have little connection to the Russian government. Numerous companies have pulled out of the Russian market (so much for “greedy businesses do anything for a buck”) in an attempt to show support for Ukraine or pressure the Russian government into submission, to be honest I’m not exactly clear. But stealing from and cutting off services to regular Russians doesn’t hurt the government. If anything, it makes Russians angry at us instead of Putin! How would you like to be ‘canceled’ over the actions of Joe Biden?
First they came for the truckers…
Not even close, first they came for WikiLeaks & Julian Assange..
Guardian dirtbag & propaganda tool ->James Ball - Friday 20 April 2012
WikiLeaks supporters plan US foundation to restore funding Whistleblowing website's backers look to break 'bank blockade' 500 days after Visa, MasterCard and PayPal blocked donations
WikiLeaks was forced to suspend many of its publishing operations in October last year after Visa, MasterCard and PayPal refused to process supporters' donations to the website, reducing its donation income by about 95%.
The move, which came after the US senator (Dem NeoCon) Joe Lieberman called on US companies to cut off services to WikiLeaks, was called a blockade by the organisation's editor-in-chief, Julian Assange, and came without any legal orders or actions against the site.
https://web.archive.org/web/20140320160051/https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2012/apr/20/wikileaks-500-day-banking-blockade
Yep. And one of the very few people talking about it was our gracious host!
Glenn Greenwald did too.. Glenn was a founder of Freedom of Press Foundation w EFF founder John Parry Barlow & others that was the workaround tool for donors.. Jimmy Dore and Max also noted the WikiLeaks precedent in reporting of Grayzone freeze.
Yep! Glenn is reason I typed "substack.com" into my browser for the first time! Then I found out that Taibbi was also here and I knew this is where I belonged!
Pay attention to Dr. Robert Malone and Dr. Naomi Wolf on Substack also.
You betcha!
And don’t forget Edward Snowden.
I agree.
But I was referencing the iconic poem, not implying who was demonetized/debanked in chronological order.
Well as far as trans goes...
First they came for the Radical Feminists, but fuck those hairy legged b*tches anyway.
In 2015 they were canaries in the coal mine
There were to my recollection a few defense funds for GC women that were sabotaged by GoF8ckMe.
There are more Ukrainian amputees in 18 months than their were in WW1 and more deaths than the almost 10 year US involvment in Vietnam. How does this end? Who ends it? And what, in the name of humanity does "winning" look like? Did I mention young Russians are also being destroyed!
It ends when there are no more Ukrainians to fight, if DC has its way. And that might just be the excuse they need to amp it up further by sending Americans.
I am waiting for the bill that Congress passes sending emergency relief to Hawaii and Florida --- without also providing more funding to Ukraine. And waiting, and waiting . . .
Has any aid gone to East Palestine?
Just Mayor Pete.
Did he wear his hard hat?
It probably ends when Ukraine runs out of soldiers and asshole Biden commits another treasonous act by putting American boots in the fight. Then the real END will come with nuclear World War III. This seems to be what the Dems and Republican Neocoms want anyway.
AKA Death Cult
They want you to be a compliant, slave or dead.
"Winning" is when Russia is defeated and the trans pride flag flies over the Kremlin.
Classy comment. Stupid, but classy.
All that money we are sending to Ukraine comes with strings. When this is over, and most of their men are dead, that place will be parceled off. Also, Russia is depleted and set back several years. And the cherry on top would be disrupting the emerging Sino-Russo relations.
Actually Russia is FAR from “depleted” according to Col Douglas Macgregor, military consultant who has been very vociferous in his real world view of the Ukrainian war. This Biden, neo con proxy war has caused Russia to revamp its military, upgrade its war materiel industry, created new alliances with other powerful states who are sick of US bullying, found vast new outlets and income for its enormous gas and oil wealth and now seriously threatens the stability of the NATO alliance and the US dollar! This needless war will be nothing but a lose lose for the US while pushing Russia into a much much stronger place!
I get it, I was just defining what "winning" looks like to the policy makers.
Slime-toad Doug Macgregor? He's a washed-up Kremlin stooge so water-headed even Putin and the boys and girls of the SVR wish Colonel Mac would put a sock in it, once and for all.
Macgregor is the Professor Marvel of American vatniks.
Who are you? Context please. Give us some facts about the Colonel.
I’m the ghost of Politics Past. Facts were presented accurately. Be wary, though—other American vatniks will attempt to persuade you that Colonel
Mac is the Mr. Magoo of American vatniks. Ignore them.
Ukraine is losing...badly. So many young men dead and so many widows and orphans. Mass movement of refugees internally and externally. Estimates are that 500,000 Ukrainians and Russians have been killed or are war casualties. Donald Trump can settle as can any competent person acting good faith.
Who benefits from this war? What US national interest is involved?
Just Joe Biden’s bank account.
The beneficiaries are the weapons manufacturers, military think tanks, and politicians on the receiving end of military PACS money, and future lucrative board positions. This is a LOT of money.
Trump Kennedy and Vivak would all end it. It doesn't serve the US, it serves the US masters.
The people who already have most of the moolah and the people who are directly dependent on those people with most of the moolah.
Winning looks like profits!
🙄
I do not believe your claim of Ukrainian amputees & more deaths than Vietnam...Where did you see this?
Wow I had a heard time finding you. See my reply above including WSJ reporters who are right there in real time when they file their reports. It's upsetting but true. I am as sorry as you are, https://www.wsj.com/story/ukraine-amputations-may-be-reaching-world-war-i-scale-04f614bd
Sadly ,I just don't believe the majority of stories that come from media ,including this from the WSJ
Remember "protest zones" during the Bush Cheney regime? And the outrage from the very same people pulling these acts today?
I know. The hypocrisy is gobsmacking.
Provocatively so, to be honest, on purpose.
The US government uses sanctions as an economic weapon almost as a reflex. Presidents of both parties do this. And it almost never punishes the people in power. It just hurts ordinary people.
It doesn't just make Russians angry. For many years I owned(in my IRA) publicly traded stocks in a few Russian companies. Excellent companies paying excellent dividends. It wasn't just Russians who had their money stolen. All of my stocks were "frozen" and then disappeared, right out of my retirement account.
That's an excellent point I hadn't even thought of!
😱
Truth/fact based journalism works. I point (yet again) to the Twitter File reports. Without subscription journalism there would have been no platform Elon Musk could turn to. And, it forced the hand of the perps and served as a reveal in the Taibbi/Shellenberger Congressional hearings that followed. It is not metaphor to say that truth is light. But, as witnessed in the aforementioned hearings, it can be painful.
Just so we are clear. The fat is in the fire, the chickens are roosting, the cows are home, the fat lady is singing and we're now lying in the bed we made for ourselves. Additionally, the dying cockroach position has never helped anyone.
Capitalism and communism are as dead as a doornails. The totalitarian perps and poseurs exploiting the ideologies murdered them cold. Like the printing press before it, the leap in tech powered the new world Consciousness (my capital) that has the aristocracy pissing its pants. Thus, the current tidal wave of lies and repression. I urge those still refusing to accept that the DNC is a front for, now desperate, fixers, bag men and corporate thugs, to simply take a yellow pad and bullet the travesties noted by posters in this comments section. Most of the psyop is to convince Americans that they are powerless. We are not. We're just beat up. Living inside a lie does that to you. All that matters is the Republic and the Constitution. F'kem.
"I was having this discussion in a Taxi heading downtown/Rearranging my position on a friend of mine who had a little bit of a breakdown/I said breakdowns come and breakdowns go/So what are you gonna do about it/Thats what I'd like to know..." Paul Simon GUMBOOTS
The writing on the wall was the seizure of drug dealers' assets.
What a load of bollocks.
"made things extremely uncomfortable for Justin Trudeau"
...and also for the 1 million residents of Ottawa who were subject to continuous horn honking for days. I don't think it justifies the government's extremely heavy-handed response, but pretending those protests were stopped purely because of Trudeau's PR concerns is just plain ignorant.
"Numerous companies have pulled out of the Russian market [...] in an attempt to show support for Ukraine or pressure the Russian government into submission, to be honest I’m not exactly clear"
Why even comment, then?
There are several reasons to do this:
1. As we've seen repeatedly, Russia has a penchant for taking hostages, hand out fines for companies not toeing the line, etc. It's not rational to stay in business in a country where your company or your employees could be taken advantage of by the goverment to make a point (and I'm not talking freezing bank accounts; we all know more or less what goes down in Russian prisons).
2. By operating in Russia, companies are supporting the Russian economy, which in turn supports the war (both through taxes paid and through economic growth in general).
3. As you mentioned, it shows support for Ukraine. I'm not sure what companies would have to gain from pressuring the Russian government into submission... I feel like you only brought this up to put a thumb on the scale without committing yourself to an obviously bogus claim.
"stealing from and cutting off services to regular Russians doesn’t hurt the government"
YES, IT DOES. Imagine how much pressure would be placed on the Biden admin if Americans were (as you put it) 'canceled' over the actions of Joe Biden. The fact that you missed this obvious point makes me wonder what the hell is rattling around inside your skull, because it's clearly not a brain.
The lives of Ukrainians are more important than the economic comfort of Russians who, by and large, supported the invasion.
Yeah, and everyone thought it would just be Alex Jones. The problem is, Alex was right on 95% of everything he's said for decades. THAT is why he was first.
The "truckers." Yes, the truckers. They're were a few truckers there in Ottawa those few weeks, but mostly it was an organized, astroturfed-up mob of far-right goons, white nationalists, tough-guy conspiracy theorists, and the usual array of freelance riff-raff that show up to these sorts of jamborees---hard bearded toy store fascists from Canadian Rod & Gun Clubs such as Wexit and Yellow Vests Canada.
They harassed and intimidated the local citizens of Ottawa for a few weeks, cost the city taxpayers upwards of $10 million buckaroos, and moved on to their next disruptive rodeo. They were there to intimidate, plain and simple---not make things "uncomfortable" for Trudeau, or protest vaccines. Let's be real here, for christ sake.
Also, them Russian Ollie-garchs you're busy feeling sorry for (they're the yacht owners) have everything to do with Putin's government. They are not just adjacent to Putin, they ARE Putin's government. Most educated children who read the newspapers understand this.
I'm a Canadian and it's obvious that you know fuck-all about the truckers protest or Canada in general. This was a huge protest and indeed they were all truckers except for a few cranks and regime plants. Trudeau could have defused it all if he had met and talked with them as soon as they arrived because they were entirely peaceful but instead he fled which he always does in order to persuade fools like you that there was some real danger there. Then he lied and slandered them from afar calling them Nazis and Americans and such and giving the clueless state owned media, all of it, not just the CBC but all of the legacy media which is now heavily subsidized, to snow the Canadian public into thinking that this was a national security emergency. Now the Emergency Measures Act which authorizes the regime to declare a national security emergency is very specific about the circumstances under which is can be called. It states specifically that it can be called only on the advice of CSIS, Canada's top intelligence agency and it came out in mandated hearings after the whole matter was over that they gave no such advice. Neither did the Ottawa police nor the Ontario Provincial Police. So invoking the Emergency Measures Act was patently illegal and Trudeau is now being sued for doing so by the Canadian Constitutional Foundation and others.
As to the Ottawa citizens who were annoyed by honking, that too is mainly nonsense. Most Ottawa citizens are government bureaucrats who by then were all working for home, which is to say, from their cottages in the Gatineau which is at most an hour drive away! And then there is the way that Trudeau broke the peaceful protest up, which is to say, with violence. Phalanxes of robocops without badges, some on horseback, one of which trampled an old lady! Proportionate response, eh? And meanwhile four of the protesters who were arrested have been held in jail for more than a year with no trial date in sight violating one of the most basic civil rights. They may or may not be guilty of something but at this rate we may never know.
My advice to a fool like you is to butt out when you don't know what you're talking about and especially when you are willing to tell only one side of a story.
"Then he lied and slandered them from afar calling them Nazis and Americans and such..."
Now, that's funny. If I were a neo-fascist Canadian trucker I'd probably just shrug if the prime minister of Canada called me a Nazi, but call me an...American? Them's fightin' words.
Let's face it; today, everybody is a Nazi.
What is your position with the present Trudeau government?
You are so full of shit!!
These are tankie-bots.
Don't engage with them. They're not here for honest dialogue.
They're here to serve the regime. feldspar and dwhy are our resident tankie-bots sent to shit up the thread. I've been watching these things for years disrupt and destroy online comment sections - places where people of good faith gather to come together against the regime. Always the same tactics - always the same disingenuous arguments, deflection, or just straight lies whenever necessary.
I'm usually on top but not always...
Nice rebuttal, jackass.
I'm in outrage fatigue. My forehead permanently flattened from too many face palms. And yet so many seem blissfully oblivious of the severe contraction of fundamental rights, across platforms, borders and continents. Fresh hell is no longer approaching. It's rot is upon us.
The problem, as always, is that too many people only care about such matters insofar as they're affected personally.
Outrage fatigue probably accounts for why a good chunk of the people I talk to, haven't a clue about all the speech infringements happening. They don't know about the Facebook or Twitter files - no idea. People have retreated into the usual distractions, like entertainment, sports etc. It's hard to blame them in one sense. There's only so much one's mental health can handle. But something that really needs to be underlined is that you really only believe in freedom of speech if you believe in it for views you despise. As I wrote recently: Recall the now ‘quaint’ old maxim “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it”?). Alas, such sentiments appear out of vogue, replaced instead by notions like “cancel culture,” “shadow banning” and “de-platforming.”
I for one fully endorse that maxim. I admit to distracting myself late in an evening with light reading or television show, but more out of loss and grief. In fact, many find my following politics, science and such depressing. I consider it food for thought. I'm not tying myself to the steps of the capital because I honestly feel that time has come and gone. I'm at an age where I'm "the interested observer," to quote Ram Das. And I'm ok with that.
MissAnne: you and I would be a sight to behold tied to the steps of the capital! I’m an old girl who delights in thinking of herself as “ungovernable.” Please reconsider your resignation to “interested observer” status.
If I could go to DC with a bunch of other old bats who remember 'the good old days' LOL, I would consider doing it .
How's about a million Granny March?
I’m in but Will need a ride from PNW. Drop all the D & R shite. This is about 1A! Our freedom of speech.
I'm PNW too, how about we car pool? LOL!
Oh, honey! Been there, done that. Been arrested for civil disobedience a number of times. Marched till my feet were blistered and my voice hoarse. Never say never, but brain surgery and degenerative cervical myelopathy HAVE slowed me down a step or two. Most who know me still consider me a fearless badass, and as rebellious as ever, which I wear as a badge of honor. Count me in for a Granny March: May as well go out swingin!
That’s the American spirit!
Is there room for any Grandpas too?
You sly dog 😉
Interesting that you used the vague term "speech infringements", and not (for example) "freedom of speech".
The Twitter Files is a bunch of bullshit spun up by Elon Musk to retroactively justify his insane impulse buy of Twitter. The Facebook Files isn't a thing... you can't make a scandal out of thin air just by appending "Files" to something.
The status quo has not changed on this issue. The internet has forced a lot of individuals and organizations to take explicitly censorious stances (what legitimate business wants a hand in propping up a shit pile like the Gray Zone?), but it's not like we're exiting some utopia of unbounded expression where anyone could say anything to any number of people without consequence.
Edit to add: "your right to say it" is in no way infringed by, for example, GoFundMe refusing to host fundraisers for whacky Putin-apologist media outlets. That's *their* freedom of speech being upheld; specifically, their freedom to not provide support or amplification for a message they don't agree with. What you're arguing against *is* freedom of expression.
I said "speech infringements" because there is, in fact, a whole spectrum of actions at play ranging from minor, such as the deletion of a comment to outright banning. (The former happened to me a couple of years back on Facebook for the sin of linking to a Chomsky interview on Russiagate. There's an "explicitly censorious stance" for you; some programmed dweeb in a cubicle who'd bought into four years of Maddow's bullshit deciding I needed a content slap, though more likely it was the "all knowing" algorithm).
My point was not about whether or not GoFundMe has the right to choose to politicize economic services. They do, obviously - just as consumers have the right to boycott. The real threat here is when government pressures Big Tech to suppress certain views (coincidentally they happen to run counter to their own narratives).
So I was really addressing the broader picture - which is not "bullshit." It's actually happening, as Taibbi's extensive reporting on these matters reveals. If you take the time to get into the weeds by reading or listening to these reports, the interplay between these powerful entities is fascinating, nuanced, even sometimes nonsensical, though the overall trend is towards centralizing control.
This is not about Elon Musk's motives or what one thinks of the Gray Zone. Nor is it about content moderation - which of course is necessary, the law being a good starting point as to when some "speech" should, and often is, deleted.
This is about a labyrinth alliance of government agencies, NGOs and political elites — working in concert with Big Tech — to suppress views that run counter to the accepted "groupthink" on a host of issues.
It's an insidious trend across the West. For instance, as British writer Ricky of Councilestatemedia wrote recently: "Anti-imperialist website Mint Press News has had its TikTok account deleted without warning or explanation. This comes after it had previously between de-platformed from PayPal and had its money withheld, with apparent involvement from the US and British governments." In other words, a censorship industrial complex.
Anyone who cares about ensuring a free marketplace of ideas should be alarmed at this state of affairs. Some care. Some do not. Many have understandably retreated into their own cocoons, which was my other point.
"I said "speech infringements" because there is, in fact, a whole spectrum of actions at play ranging from minor, such as the deletion of a comment to outright banning."
Right, but it's not an "infringement" when Facebook or GoFundMe kicks someone out for pissing in the pool. Your description was straightforwardly wrong.
"Anti-imperialist website Mint Press News has had its TikTok account deleted without warning or explanation. This comes after it had previously between de-platformed from PayPal and had its money withheld, with apparent involvement from the US and British governments."
The weasel words "apparent involvement" are doing a lot of work here. Also, this quote emphasizes their "anti-imperialist" stance (ironic since the US and Britain aren't imperialist anymore), but conveniently ignores that they run apologetics for Russia, one of the few nations actively engaging in imperialism in the 21st century.
"So I was really addressing the broader picture - which is not "bullshit." It's actually happening, as Taibbi's extensive reporting on these matters reveals."
I'm sorry, but I *have* been in the weeds (I've been subscribed and reading this substack practically since it launched), and it is almost entirely bullshit, spin, and fabrication. If you just read everything uncritically, it's easy to follow along with the narrative... as soon as you start asking questions like "does this email really mean what Matt claims it does?", you realize that you're relying entirely on the honesty of the author to vouch for the validity of the worldview he presents.
The thing is, Matt has every incentive in the universe to shred the credibility of mainstream media and Democrats: practically his entire audience are right-wingers at this point, and the remainder are almost entirely the kind of "left-wingers" who find crackpots like RFK Jr. and Alex Berenson credible. Moreover, he was essentially ejected from mainstream media because of his coverage of the Trump/Russia investigation and fiasco, so you'd be hard-pressed to find someone less credibly objective on issues like these.
"Anyone who cares about ensuring a free marketplace of ideas should be alarmed at this state of affairs."
Bullshit. Anyone who cares about ensuring a free marketplace of ideas should be overjoyed to see propaganda-spewing rags like Mint Press and Grayzone deamplified and publicly shamed. Disinformation is a censorship tool, whether you or Matt Taibbi realize it or not.
Rather than go through point by point where I disagree, I suggest you write your own Substack. You seem very adamant in your opinions. Rather than simply pontificating here and shouting "bullshit" now and then, why not try out your persuasive abilities by writing a column that requires an informed and focused viewpoint backed up by actual research? That way readers could test the veracity of your ideas as well as your honesty in terms of having a good faith discussion.
Where DO you get your news? Straight from Debbie Wassermann Schultz? LOL!!!
WOW that is a dated reference
“Fresh hell is no longer approaching. It's rot is upon us.”
Sadly very true.
I feel like that, too.
Here's an idea: stop letting bullshitters like Taibbi work you up, and go live your life instead.
What a novel idea!
Why are you here again?
Tankie-bot.
That's what it does.
Right back atcha.
As a Canadian who sent a small donation via GoEffYourself to the Truckers, then spent two tense weeks wondering if Turdeau's government would freeze my accounts, I have refused to donate any more money through those reprobates. I've used Give Send Go as an alternate.
I donated through GoF***Me, and had my money returned so I used another fundraising site. When JT froze the accounts and the emails were leaked, I received an email that alerted me that I was on the list. Immediately raced to the bank in Canada to withdraw my money and close my accounts. It was a very frightening situation. No one should have to go through that horror.
They don't screw with the first Nations anymore
Know WHY? Oka! Violence works! The ruling classes regard peaceful protests as weakness and rightfully so. Democracy is a scam that keeps you under control by using your mind. So much cheaper than soldiers and police and more effective. My large dog could kill me anytime but I put a leash in its mind and it was easy after countless generations breeding dogs with the wildness bred out of them. People are no different!
I may have dodged that because I used a joint account with hubby.
Same happened to me (I am a 🇺🇸-er but donated to the truckers; it was not fun). 🚛🛻🇨🇦🙏❤️
Same here. I knew it would cost them more so I instantly disputed the $500 charge on my card. I’m shocked anyone is still using GoFundMe. I also closed Venmo and PayPal. We know we can speak with our wallets. I wish people weren’t so lazy in doing so. I’m not left, but I am anti-war. I’ve read GreyZone for years. In some ways I’m glad this happened to them - did they really think they’d be exempt from the machine? Why were they using GoFundMe in the first place???
Same here. Also, not using AirBNB. Wish the young kids would dump PayPal and Venmo and use something else. Then all us older folk would be forced to convert to stay relevant. I now have to give everyone cash.
What happened with AirBNB? I stopped using them because they require biometrics. But haven't heard about them cancelling people. (Btw vbro.com is an AirBNB alternative)
Great suggestion! It’s getting hard to find a company that hasn’t participated in illiberal practices, right? Do you remember when they weren’t political and we never had to worry about this? Or was I just too young to notice. AirBNB cancelled the account of the parents of some conservative I’ve never heard of. That was the second time I’ve heard of viewpoint discrimination by them. I may also not like the speech of this person that no one knew. But now this person gets free air time for this cancellation. You see how it’s not working?
that's vrbo. . . and yes, I stopped running an Airbnb to protest the ongoing "botification" of humans. As a host (and provider of the only "hard asset" Airbnb has, in the form of my home), I was dismayed when they blocked hosts from their first IPO in favor of billionaires, who got first dibs on the quick and easy money. I complained to no one, because Airbnb IS no one. It is run by robots. Even the humans who answer our distress calls when things go awry read from scripts and their replies are recorded. . . "for quality purposes?" No, for purposes of surveillance. This, too, is performed by robots. People are apparently going extinct at our own hand (see climate change, which is NOT a hoax but entirely manmade)—but it's just possible that dehumanization by manmade "intelligent" machines will get us first.
I’m still using PayPal for a few things but dumped AirBnB after their silly buggers West Bank BS.
Waiting for Elon to come up with a new payment service at his site
He, right now, seems to be the only one who stands up. I’m grateful. But I’m wary of being lured into a false sense of security again. Always question illogical things: I knew that in my 20s, forgot it in my 30s, and now am slapping my forehead repeatedly bc I’m the idiot.
I’m not sure he’s trustworthy.
I've had a permanent Twitter ban since he took over. A rad-fem Tweeted about men wanting to invade women's spaces. I just replied "Not ALL men, just a few with mental illness". That got me a permanent ban.
Yeah he's been disappointing.
He has business realities to contend with and is into Twitter for $30 billion more that it’s worth. Regardless of his early intention, 💵💸 changes everything.
Sorry Matt-this is old news-more than a year since it became apparent that they are lawless. Anybody who still uses GFM is crazy.
It’s only old news when everyone who should know about it actually does.
I agree. I have some friends right now discussing this who had no idea this was happening (and I'm the group gadfly, so they weren't taking my word for it years ago...).
Really!! I couldn't believe they were asking me to donate through GFM. At least the refund was prompt!
Glad there was a refund at all. I figured they would just steal the money. Governments and big corps excel at that.
They were going to donate the Trucker's funds to 'charity'. Maybe one that helps people hurt by the trucker protest? But public outcry was loud and they refunded all the cash.
I noticed that too. Initially, they were not going to refund the money, which was bullshit and likely a violation of their own terms.
I for one welcome knowing it's still going on, even spreading. I naively thought maybe someone, somewhere along the line was rethinking this shit.
That’s a really good point. So far nothing is deterring “them”.
Lawless? What law did GoFundMe break?
How dumb can this rhetoric get? jesus christ
Confiscating client monies.....
First of all, is that illegal? I'm agnostic about that.
Second, though... THEY DIDN'T GO THROUGH WITH IT. No client monies were confiscated by GoFundMe.
So I ask again... what law did GoFundMe break?
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-60267840
Yes, they said they were going to do it... and then they didn't do it... exactly as I pointed out in my previous comment.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/gofundme-freedom-convoy-under-investigation-for-blocking-donations-canadian-truckers/
"GoFundMe initially said it would give supporters of the now-defunct campaign, which raised nearly $8 million, until February 19 to request refunds. It also said it would direct any remaining donations to "credible and established charities chosen by the Freedom Convoy 2022 organizers and verified by GoFundMe."
But the company later reversed course, saying it would automatically refund campaign supporters in order to simplify the process. Donors can expect refunds within 10 business days, according to GoFundMe."
So I ask again... what law did GoFundMe break?
GFM destroyed their brand when they betrayed the Canadian Freedom Convoy protest. Permanently fucked themselves.
No kidding! Freezing the funds, and then saying they were going to give all the money to charities of their own choosing. They thought they could get away with that?! Not One Red Cent.
Just gotta say Canadians, French, Czechoslovakians & others have way more guts than americans in the realm of Standing Up!
For me, GFM destroyed their brand in 2008 when they refused to release the donations to the Granny Warriors in NH who were trying to pay for a vote recount because of voting irregularities concerning Ron Paul vote counts.
"destroyed their brand" among right-wing dipshits, sure. For the rest of the world who doesn't live in your echo chamber, nothing changed.
Anonymous ass hat say wut?
I'm rubber, you're glue!
Seriously, what kinda numbnuts puts their real name out there on a site like this?
Perhaps a person who is confident of their opinions and feels no need to hide behind pseudonyms? Why the ad hominem attacks?
I've seen quite a few people advocating politically-targeted murder in these comments. I'd rather not open up my whole life to this community by using my real name, thank you very much.
But is that a reason to criticize someone else who doesn’t have those fears?
Matt,
Had to chuckle that by implication the screwing of the Canadian truckers had a 'patina of justification,' but glad to have you fully aboard now.
There were foreign actors at play supporting that lawless blockade!
And foreign actors (namely Robert Peters) pressuring Trudeau to shut it down.
Joe Biden?
Pretty sure that’s an alias
Well, can’t argue there. I did try to send the truckers $500 several times and I’m a southern soccer mom in America. Should anything else be expected? The US government has overthrown at least 87 foreign governments, most of them democratically elected. We appear to be funding a whole bunch of coups in Africa at this very moment. It seems our government thinks it’s the role of Americans to insert ourselves into foreign affairs so I saw the truckers, and well, monkey see monkey do. 😂
So your answer to U.S. imperialism is to funnel $500 bucks to some anonymous redneck fascists?
Feldspar, I briefly considered wasting my life as an online troll like you, but ultimately decided I wanted more from life than to be a common loser. Do you actually donate to Antifa, or is even that too much effort for you?
So you're self-reporting as an uncommon loser?
Nazis is what Trudeau and the liberals called them... get your facts straight!!
Trudeau and the liberals were wrong. They were fascists.
Yes indeedie. Trudeau and the liberals were fascists... glad we could come to some kind of agreement.
Yeah, one swastika flag which was likely a false flag, no pun intended.
Did you watch any of the live footage from Ottawa? Did you understand that the truckers, who were heroes before the “vaccine” rollout, were going to be forced to quarantine for two weeks at the border for each trip they made to the US if they declined the clot shot? Do you understand what freedom means?
What I do know is how to differentiate between honest truckers with legitimate labor grievances and dishonest and illegitimate agents of chaos out to foment chaos and disruption merely for the sake of chaos and disruption and who are also backed by bad actors and supported with dark money by these same said bad actors whose real designs are foisting bad ideas on how to govern society on same-said society they are busy disrupting. Thanks for asking. Please stay in touch.
Good on ya. 🙉🙈🙊
Tamara Licht is on trial right now. The Rebel News Network site has a donation page for her defense. (In case you didn’t know…)
So that must be why GFM must have sprung into action! They were acting as a sort of amateur Attorney General or volunteer cops, you know looking out for the best interests of Muh Freedom And Democracy!
Seriously, who you trying to kid?
Hey, i was just repeating the 'facts'.
Uh no.
True. Or any other cause that was cancelled by GFW.
"This Grayzone incident is perhaps most loathsome, lacking even a patina of necessity or justification, while serving as a depressingly obvious preview of things to come."
That was a gut punch because it's so true. Wait until they move us to CBDCs, (Central Bank Digital Currency). That will be the apex of this "Game over man!" authoritarian takeover. The government will then have power over every single financial transaction you make. And the will absolutely use that power. You want meat? Naw. Try some bugs!! They're an overlooked source of protein according to the Davos denizens.
(Who are still enjoying prime cuts of meat, of course)
And flying jets while we the rabble are living in ghett…er 15 minute cities unable to leave them.
But they paid 'carbon offsets' to a company run by the brother of Congressgoon Johnson -- the guy who wrote the carbon tax law..........
Indeed. It’s batshit that anyone actually falls for the carbon “offset” scam.
Hey chilli-brains---do you even know what the concept of 15-minute cities is? Or are you operating from a series of editorials you read in Town Hall? Or a few late-night group harangues on OAN?
Interesting to note that the right-wing creatives over at Propaganda Central unearthed "15-minute cities" to monkeywrench and feed into the right-wing chipper. Got bored with all the Trans-CRT groomer-pedophiles, I guess.
Comprof is that you?
Nice word salad. I’m not a right winger thanks. I don’t buy into your Manichaean politics. Check out Saudi Arabia’s the Line, It’s perfect for you!
You just play one on the Racket News threads? I'll add this one to my list:
I used to be a democrat, but...
I used to be a liberal, but...
I'm no Trump fan, but...
I'm not a right-winger, thanks, but...
Lemme guess---you're just an alien from outerspace with bad concepts, bad ideas, and a poor understanding of how planet earth works? You're still learning. Got it. Thanks.
But I do subscribe to propaganda, bad takes, and concepts formulated by others that I really don't understand but nevertheless love to opine on and that strangely track and tack with the rest of the right-wing diaspora...
Thank you for taking the time to answer the survey.
Projection is a hell of a drug. Example A⬆️
Get ready for bail-ins and negative interest rates! If ( when ) CBDCs come online we’re all fucked.
Not if enough of us simply refuse to use them...... resisting Covid with 2 young kids and a husband whose business, and our comfy life, depends on clients wasn’t actually all that hard. No masks, no “ remote” school, no staying home, no staying close to home, and sure as 💩 no clot shots. Eventually we won. Same with CBDC. And electing state level officials to outlaw it like Florida.
One million likes for you!!!
I pray you’re correct. It didn’t work out well for Cyprus.
You write as if CBDCs are a foregone conclusion. We can refuse. There are more of us than there are of them.
Liberty: when the government fears the people. Tyranny: when the people fear the government. Which do you prefer?
At what point do we just stop using dollars to pay for things? Humans got on okay before currency, I honestly feel like we could say collectively "fuck that" and go back to trading.
If (or more likely when) the systems of the state collapse, people will revert to a barter system and the goods needed to survive will become the greatest valuables. That's what happened in Bosnia.
https://4dtraveler.net/2012/01/09/surviving-the-bosnia-collapse-of-1992/
They will pry my 1/4 side of beef and my chickens from my cold dead hands.
Or just de-bank us, one by one.
Don't over-panic here. Every great 3rd world country that the U.S. intel community destabilizes with a coup develops a very robust black market using alternative currencies. I'm sure by then pesos will be quite valuable, even if "then" is only a year away...
Canadian Truckers ring a bell? They were just protesting lockdowns peacefully
If you lived in Ottawa, you would be singing a different tune. Exposure to that level of noise for weeks at a time can easily cause permanent detriments to health, including death.
Totalitarianism causes death.
Unrelated comment is unrelated.
No rebuttal = tacit agreement.
I’ll never participate in a Gofundme raising again and will explain why to the sponsors.
Good idea. I wish more loony bin escapees would self-identify their whackjob politics upfront so I could know in advance not to waste any time on them.
Let’s not forget they ripped off millions from the Trucker’s Protest in Canada.
AFAIK those donations were refunded. Which doesn't justify their cancellation.
Only refunded after pressure from US governors. They were going to take all the money and give it to charities of their own choosing.
I’m sorry, but to my plebeian knowledge, freezing the funds without returning them to their donors is also known as stealing.
The US does it to entire countries.
The funds were returned by GSG, but as others noted, that doesn't justify the behaviour
Were all the funds from the Trucker Protest returned?
They were eventually returned. At first, they just announced they were giving them to "good people" of their choice. The backlash from that was profound, so they then returned the donations.
I remember when Go Fund Yourself tried to steal it, but I never found out how it ended.
Yes. They threatened to instead give to a charity if their choosing. Thousands of us refuted the charge on our credit cards - which cost the vendor like $15/ dispute - they caved and refunded the money once they realized that scheme was never gonna fly. Shocking they tried it.
I believe so. I haven't heard anything to the contrary.
Stealing is what the US is becoming known for: $300 billion of Russian central bank assets, billions of Iranian assets, billions of Venezuelan assets (although I think that might be the UK).
It's not stealing. The US is in a cold war with Iran and Russia; both of those countries have stolen billions in IP and technology from the US, kidnapped Americans and held them for ransom, etc.
I can't speak to Venezuela. But expecting the US to handcuff itself while authoritarian whackjobs like Putin literally steal parts of other countries is just dumb.
Research Mossadegh and the US coup in Iran in the 1950’s. Research what the Chicago Boys did to the Russian economy after the collapse of the Soviet Union. (Books: Overthrow by Stephen Kinzer, The Shock Doctrine by Naomi Klein will get you started.).
And speaking of taking over parts of other countries, the US has been occupying the oil and agriculture parts - 1/3 of Syria - since 2011, and won’t leave Iraq or Okinawa even though the people there want them out.
First paragraph: sorry, I'm not reading books just because you feel they validate your worldview. If there's an argument to be made, make it.
Second paragraph: bullshit, bullshit, bullshit.
First of all, occupation and annexation are completely different things. Russia is attempting to erase Ukraine from existence... the US has never attempted that against any nation, to my knowledge.
Second, you're begging the question here constantly. Is the US growing crops in Syria and then selling / importing them? Are we getting rich off Syrian oil? No? Then what's your point?
Third, who says Iraq and Okinawa want American troops gone? I don't think that's true. If anything, the presence of American troops makes those places markedly more secure and less liable to be invaded (both Okinawa and Iraq are subject to aggression from nearby nations), and pumps much-needed USD into their economies.
In conclusion: everything you said is bullshit.
There are none so blind as those who will not see. I cannot waste any more time on you. Enjoy your bubble of ignorance.
Translation: you have NOTHING to back up your argument, and weren't actually prepared to deal with people who don't agree with you reflexively.
Nom-nom-nom, tankie just sucking on boot leather.
Be gone, tankie-bot. You're just bad AI.
i know you are but what am i
When they arrested, my father, they seized all his money so he couldn’t afford a legal defense. This is a common pattern with them. People just think it won’t happen to them. It can happen to you or anyone.
Were those funds obtained as part of a criminal enterprise by any chance?
To be fair, Civil Asset Forfeiture is a blemish on the nation's reputation and standing, no question about it. But that's not new, and it also has nothing to do with a private company refusing to prop up Putin apologists, which is their right under the constitution.
Yet another Tankie-bot sighting!
"To be fair...prop up PUTIN APOLOGISTS!!!"
You guys need better AI.
I have fond assocations with being accused as a bot.
Normally it's noobs who can't understand the concept that bullets penetrate through walls in many modern FPS games, but I'll take a lazy smear-job from a lazy partisan hack in a pinch, too.
Currently using GiveSendGo, so far so good. The Canadian Truckers episode was enough for me.
I found the freezing of the trucker protest to be the worst of all. Sorry to the gray zone but why would they still use it? They thought because they were left leaning that it wouldn’t affect them
This is what's so infuriating. Half the country is cheering on this stuff because it's aimed at their political opponents, not realizing that they're next. It's especially ironic that they just spent 4 years playacting as #THERESISTANCE but think they will forever be on the same side as the ruling class.
I honestly can’t believe they didn’t see this coming. They write/report honestly about the war in Ukraine, they seriously thought the state wouldn’t smack them around? It’s unbelievable
Honestly it is -- Ukraine is another of those obviously censored issues that we aren't allowed to debate.
But you're literally debating it right now.
Vivek Ramaswamy is running for president and polling decently on a platform that includes defunding Ukraine. He was able to debate this on live national television, and also on numerous appearances on YouTube and other media, without being censored or punitized in any way (except for the obvious consequence that most sane people won't vote for him).
I don't think "censorship" is the frame you want to put around this issue.
LOL you act like we don't know about the millions of dollars being spent on censorship. Look where you are, dude.
Not even an attempt at a rebuttal, that figures.
What you said was false and you know it. How pathetic.
Dwhy isn’t worthy of a response
LOL! “But you're literally debating it right now.“
Commenting on Matt Taibbi’s substack is a far cry from free and open discussion on X/Twitter Or Facebook, and you’ll certainly never see any differing opinions on corporate news.
Did I say anything about Twitter or Facebook? No, I didn't. Learn to read bruh.
Perhaps it was a strategy to boost their support.
"honestly"
lol
You meant to say, "from a Russian propaganda perspective", right?
So you are not old enough to have learned there are at least two sides to every story? Do you simply soak in and regurgitate the corporate media propaganda? Sad.
Are you not old enough to realize that both sides of every story aren't equally credible?
Seriously, how stupid must you be to make an argument that hinges on the assumption that both sides in any conflict are equally culpable?
That doesn't apply to the Grayzone at all.
"The hack-and-leak represented just the latest broadside against the convoy activists. Hours later, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau activated the Emergencies Act for the very first time in Canadian history, an unprecedented move effectively suspending the civil rights of the protesters and granting federal law enforcement the power to seize their bank accounts without a court order. " -Grayzone, 2022
More like, half the country doesn't give a shit about Matt Taibbi's hobby horse. There's nothing illegal or antisocial going on here, just a company refusing to be used as a tool for Putin apologism.
Get over yourself.
Wow. How much did you charge to sell your soul?
about tree fiddy
This is no really a left right fight. The ideologues might seem lefty flavored, but that’s just sprinkled on top of a lust to tell the rest of us what to do. For our own good.
Yeah exactly if you don’t stay on the government message, they will shut you down. Gray zone writes about the war in Ukraine, criticizing the military industrial complex and politicians making money off the war. Don’t act surprised when the shut your little crowdfunding down
"This is no[t] really a left right fight"
This is the bullshit the right feeds gullible rubes like you, to disguise the fact that, yes, it is a partisan issue.
The right believes in using the power of government to punish people who exercise their right of freedom from expression. This article is a not-so-subtle undermining of the principle that people shouldn't be forced to prop up political expression they disagree with.
“Freedom from expression?” You should get a bonus for that one.
idk if you remember this obscure guy called Jordan Peterson, but "freedom from expression" was his hobby horse for years. It's not a left/right issue; your freedom not to support expression you disagree with is part of your constitutional right of freedom of expression.
Unless you think boycotts should be illegalized?
Doesn’t that mean that GFM should have disallowed the gray zone fundraiser from its inception rather than saying “there were external concerns”? You either value all free speech rights or you value none. There can be no equivocation.
1. This isn't an issue of free speech rights. GoFundMe dropping Grayzone has nothing to do with the principle of free speech.
2. Do we even know for sure that Grayzone got dumped because of speech? Given the insane $80 average donation to their fundraiser, money laundering seems like the more believable culprit to me.
Is there any doubt that the kind of governmental interference and moderation "pressure" seen in the Twitter Files is happening here? Not in my mind.
Someone with a different viewpoint or who is guilty of WrongThink wants to raise some money? Let's go ahead and shut that down.
Zero doubt. The bigger story in the Twitter Files is that there's also a Facebook Files and a CNN Files and a Google Files, and a NYT Files........basically anybody who's anybody in mainstream media.
Not to mention the more insidious practice of seeding the official dogma via the “sources” reporters cultivate. If the need two sources (used to be standard) who’s to say the second source that “confirms” the info of the first isn’t also on board with the message? It’s shocking how little skepticism reporters show towards what they’re told. Are they so eager to be the ones in the know that they’ll accept any storyline they’re told? Seems so. Of course the big bosses are more likely in direct contact with higher ups in government that probably assure them, ‘hey we’re all on the same side here.’ That side is assuredly not that of the public interest. Journalism has been infected with the same contempt our elites have for common folk. Reporters would rather pretend they belong in the elite class than do the dirty job of telling us what those elites are doing behind our backs.
At the moment, "journalists" are on the side of the Ruling Party, just as Joseph Goebbels was until 1945 in the exact same way, but more subtle today.
Remember when the novelist Ben Rhodes bragged from his Obama White House perch that the journalists swallowed every tall tale he fed them? Simply odious.
My rule of thumb is that if the government or corporate media says something, it is highly likely not true.
"Not in my mind."
Yeah, not much is happening your mind, it seems.
Isn't it amazing, how you don't even need evidence to conclude that someone is guilty? Wouldn't it be great if our whole society operated that way?