Well, Of Course

17 Monday Feb 2020

Posted by perrinlovett in Legal/Political Columns, News and Notes

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big tech, censorship, corruption, First Amendment

As I warned about at TPC two years ago, and as I’ve continued to warn, Mark Zuckerberg wants to control the laws of our nation. To fight “hate,” which I’m sure will be most conveniently defined.

He’s not alone. All of big tech wants to dominate the web and censor unpopular (read: true) speech.

Some of the biggest corporations in the United States are brawling over the future of the law that allows free speech and innovation to thrive online. Under the guise of getting rid of lies and protecting children, they’re working with the Trump administration and top Republicans to undermine Americans’ rights and give the government unprecedented control over online speech.

That they do, and they may well get their way, the words and acts of gentlemen like Ron Wyden notwithstanding. As gatekeepers, they must control the narrative at all costs. As idiots, the majority of the people couldn’t care less.

The day may come – be it long delayed – when this site is silenced. I won’t be. Social media does not suit me and I can’t understand how anyone tolerates it. My columns at TPC, always honest and always based on facts (even the fictional stories, most of them), sometimes stir hesitance. Some things, I am told, while true, are still off-limits or at least touchy. So be it. Things will continue even if I have to print pamphlets from typewriter to printing press.But, the truth will go on. Who’ll hear it?

Then They Came for Zero Hedge

02 Sunday Feb 2020

Posted by perrinlovett in Legal/Political Columns, News and Notes

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censorship, police state, Twitter, Zero Hedge

The Twittards have banned Zero Hedge.

The libertarian financial website Zero Hedge was permanently suspended from Twitter on Friday after it published an article questioning the involvement of a Chinese scientist in the outbreak of the deadly novel coronavirus.

Bloomberg harasses ZH and their namesake gets to run for President. ZH asks questions about an international incident and they get cut off. (Of course, being kicked off Twitterland is its own reward).

Interesting time too, Mr. Dorsey. More recession signs flash.

The world’s largest bond market looks set for yet another bout of fear-induced trading next week, and this one could drive yields back to the panicky lows reached a few months ago.

The rising toll and rapid spread of the Wuhan coronavirus has strengthened demand for safe assets, sending Treasuries back to levels last seen when investors were fixated on recession risks. The yield curve re-inverted this week. The benchmark 10-year is close to slipping below 1.5% for the first time since early September, while the 30-year dipped below 2% on Friday.

It may not take a lot to rush through these levels, but a lot is certainly on the way. China’s stock market will open under duress as authorities struggle to contain the coronavirus. On the political front, attention turns from U.S. President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial to the Iowa caucuses and the popularity of the Democratic Party’s progressive wing. Hopes that a report will show a recovery at U.S. factories are looking dicey. And that’s just Monday.

That’s the kind of story that ZH would love to Tweet to the Tweeties. Twits.

A Warning to Writers

03 Wednesday Jul 2019

Posted by perrinlovett in Other Columns

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1984, AI, censorship, Microsoft, writing

In a world and nation where reading goes by the wayside, it’s nice that sometimes a few writers poke their heads in here. Hey, y’all! Read this about some 1984ish changes to Word.

I’ve been a writer for thirty years. I have over two hundred thousand MS Word docs on my computer. But now, I’m converting all those files to a different word processor.

I don’t want to do it. But I have no choice. MS Word — the default application for novelists, poets, journalists and playwrights — has just become Big Brother. No serious writer can use it anymore.

The problem: Microsoft now “offers” an AI tool designed to “improve” my writing. For example, if I type, “We need some fresh blood around here,” Word now changes that phrase to “We must hire some qualified employees.” Or, if I type the word “waitress,” Word now changes it to “waitperson.” (see HERE and HERE and HERE.)

We’ll assume that it converts “Robert E. Lee” to “Satan.” I haven’t used Word in years, before being a WordPerfect fan. That too got a little tedious. Now, like so many I’m either directly in the editing side of WP or – and, yeah, really stupid – using Gdocs. Who knows how much longer any of the platforms will be safe.

I’m not ready to revert to a manual typewriter, though I really am open to the idea. More likely, in the near future, I’ll hard set something like Scrivener on a dumb device or get a restored Tandy running AmiPro. The conversion and publication thingies are a little more complicated with those options, but there are viable workarounds.

Anyway, wordsmiths beware.

Moral Duty and The Great Charter

08 Monday Apr 2019

Posted by perrinlovett in Legal/Political Columns, News and Notes

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censorship, England, Facebook, social media, tyranny

In this sense, they don’t go together.

‘MORAL DUTY’

Last week, Mr Zuckerberg told politicians in Ireland that the company would work with governments to establish new policies in a bid to regulate social media.

The Home Secretary, Sajid Javid added that tech firms had a “moral duty” to protect the young people they “profit from”.

“Despite our repeated calls to action, harmful and illegal content – including child abuse and terrorism – is still too readily available online,” he said.

“That is why we are forcing these firms to clean up their act once and for all. I made it my mission to protect our young people – and we are now delivering on that promise.”

A 12-week consultation of the proposals will now take place before the Government will publish its final proposals for legislation.

The Government said the proposed regulator would have a legal duty to pay due regard to innovation, as well as to protect users’ rights online.

Social networks have failed to prioritise children’s safety and left them exposed to grooming, abuse, and harmful content

Peter Wanless, NSPCC

Peter Wanless, chief executive of children’s charity the NSPCC – which publicly backed the idea regulation in February, said the proposals would make the UK a “world pioneer” in protecting children online.

“For too long social networks have failed to prioritise children’s safety and left them exposed to grooming, abuse, and harmful content,” he said.

“So it’s high time they were forced to act through this legally binding duty to protect children, backed up with hefty punishments if they fail to do so.

“We are pleased that the Government has listened to the NSPCC’s detailed proposals and we are grateful to all those who supported our campaign.”

However, former culture secretary John Whittingdale warned minister risked dragging people into a “draconian censorship regime” in their attempts to regulate internet firms.

Writing in the Mail on Sunday, he said he feared the plans could “give succour to Britain’s enemies”, giving them an excuse to further censor their own people.

“Countries such as China, Russia and North Korea, which allow no political dissent and deny their people freedom of speech, are also keen to impose censorship online, just as they already do on traditional media,” he said.

“This mooted new UK regulator must not give the despots an excuse to claim that they are simply following an example set by Britain, where civil liberties were first entrenched in Magna Carta 800 years ago,” he said.

FB outrage of the day (again, told ya so) and woe unto GB.

A Prediction I Hope Is Wrong

21 Friday Dec 2018

Posted by perrinlovett in Legal/Political Columns, News and Notes

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censorship, communism, invasion, Tucker Carlson

Last month I predicted Tucker Carlson’s imminent departure from Faux News (formerly, the Legs Network):

“If this behavior is maintained, then look for Carlson’s departure from Faux News early next year. I’m sure the pretext has already been manufactured.”

The pretext in civic nationalistic defense of mass (third world) migration. Carlson’s advertisers are leaving over his simple adherence to the truth:

More than a dozen companies have announced they will either pull or suspend their advertising from Tucker Carlson’s Fox News show over comments about immigration he made last week.

Land Rover, IHOP, Ancestry.com, Just For Men, Minted, Smile Direct, Pacific Life, ScotteVest, Nerd Wallet, TD Ameritrade, Bowflex, CareerBuilder, Zenni and the Chase United MileagePlus Explorer card had as of Tuesday afternoon all released statements saying that they would no longer advertise on “Tucker Carlson Tonight.”

The retreat from Carlson’s program came as liberal activists and organizations pressured companies to abandon the show.

Faux, for their dull part, says they won’t stand for censorship. Hmmmm. For our part, these are more companies to add to the list of enemies, who hate you, whom you should not $upport. Pancakes are better at Village Inn anyway.

Anti-Social Media

12 Monday Dec 2016

Posted by perrinlovett in News and Notes

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censorship, Facebook, freedom, Gab, Twitter

Facebook is building a network of “informers” to keep users in line.

One of the tools being tested will enable users to inform Facebook if certain news stories are using “misleading language”. Some users posted images of a Facebook survey asking them the following question: “To what extent do you think that this link’s title withholds key details of the story?”.

It is still unclear what kind of actions will be carried out after this additional user data is collected, but it is likely that some sort of a database, containing the list of “misleading” news websites, will be generated.

In a not so distant past, content curators from Facebook confirmed that they received direct orders from the company to decrease the relevance or even hide from the newsfeed stories and content with conservative language. While this happened in the US, similar stories have been reported in Brazil, the United Kingdom around the time of the Brexit, and in other countries.

Informers. Like Stalin.

Twitter has banned or run off half of its customers. Word has it the system is only held up now by the near-maniacal tweets of Donald Trump. If Trump jumps to Gab, it’s over for the little bird.

Gab, still in test mode, is roaring along. And the ever-baffled MSM isn’t happy about it. They, “diversity” mongers all, dismiss the real diversity at Gab with slanderous calls of “racist”, “Nazi”, and so forth. All lies.

Sanduja points to the startup founders’ backgrounds as a reflection of diversity.

He is a Canadian Hindu with roots in India. The other co-founders include Ekrem Buyukkaya, a Muslim of Kurdish origin, and Andrew Torba, the chief executive who calls himself a “Christian conservative.”

However, that kind of symbolism does little to mollify the concerns of those worried that services such as Gab keep users inside “filter bubbles” that reinforce their own ideas and block out other viewpoints.

“The service that they have created is an echo chamber for extremely conservative opinions,” says Lauren Copeland, associate director of the Community Research Institute at Baldwin Wallace University [and irrelevant SJW].

“It may be open to everybody, but it certainly doesn’t appeal to everybody.”

Translation: if we can’t control it, it is evil. Up is down. War is peace… Whatever.

I never got Twitter and left the service years ago. I’m still plodding through Gab though I find it energetic at a minimum. Facebook is becoming a place where I promote blog posts and occasionally chat with a few friends.

If you’ve been driven off Twitter or if you fear the FB SS will come knocking over that video of your cat playing with balloon, consider Gab. Sorry about the wait. That’s the popularity of freedom.