Funny events in anti-woke world

[XsjadoBlayde]

Lol, v classy, telegraph

 

[TheMysteriousGX]

What the fuck, is that "satire"?

 

[Cheetodust]

Lol, v classy, telegraph

View attachment 5288

Paywalled. Any chance of a summary? Haven't even heard of the show.

 

[XsjadoBlayde]

Paywalled. Any chance of a summary? Haven't even heard of the show.

Using mystical ancient techniques of fiddling with the page loading in browser (tho I usually try to avoid clicking on headlines that appear designed to bait thy clicks), It's just some short musing about how appeasing him was really tricking him all along, but then uses that to tangent into typical "the 'hard left' are antisemitic cause they criticise Israel" tiresome bollocks, because of course it does. Am assuming you meant summary of the article and not the show.

Digressments

Sir Tony Blair and Cherie have claimed nearly £80,000 from the furlough scheme.

Already the former Prime Minister has become embroiled in controversy as more than one million people signed a petition to strip him of his newly appointed knighthood.

In the latest reveal, a spokesman for the Blairs said they had used £76,000 to pay for some of their furloughed staff.

Any business or individual were perfectly allowed to claim money to cover the costs of wages for their furloughed staff.

Mr Blair and his wife’s names appeared on an updated list of the programme which was set up in March 2020 to protect jobs in the pandemic before it was scrapped in September.

The former politician is thought to have an estimated wealth of around £60million including 10 homes in 2015, according to The Daily Telegraph.

A spokesperson for the Blairs said in a statement: “In relation to the December to September months it was just over £35,000, an average of around £3,500 a month, in respect of three members of staff, based in the Harcourt Street office, who were unable to fulfil their usual duties because of Covid restrictions.

“The previous year’s figure was approximately £41,000 for five members of staff.
“They have all received their full pay and continue do so, regardless of the scheme ending.”

It comes after Victoria Beckham sparked outrage for using the furlough scheme and reportedly did a U-turn on her decision to furlough 30 staff members at her fashion label.

It comes as more than one million signed a petition to remove Mr Blair’s knighthood.
He was bestowed with the honour of a Knight Companion of the Most Noble Order of the Garter.

It is the most senior order of knighthood in the British honours system.
Despite the controversy, there are people who have leapt to the former Prime Minister’s defence.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer told ITV’s Good Morning Britain: “I don’t think it’s a thorny issue for me at all. Tony Blair deserves the honour, he won three elections, he was a very successful Prime Minister.

“I haven’t got time this morning to list all of his many achievements which I think vastly improved our country.

“The one I would pick out in particular would be the work he did in Northern Ireland and the peace process and the huge change that has made.”

 

[Fallen Soldier]

Gees it’s almost like the media took an opportunity to air sensationalist stories for ratings, while ignoring or down playing the horrors of war and u.s, foreign policy.

 

[Agema]

Using mystical ancient techniques of fiddling with the page loading in browser (tho I usually try to avoid clicking on headlines that appear designed to bait thy clicks), It's just some short musing about how appeasing him was really tricking him all along, but then uses that to tangent into typical "the 'hard left' are antisemitic cause they criticise Israel" tiresome bollocks, because of course it does. Am assuming you meant summary of the article and not the show.

As I recall there is evidence that some in the Nazi government believed they had been successfully thwarted at Munich. However, even if at best the idea was for France and the UK to buy enough time for re-armament, it self-evidently failed because neither was adequately prepared by the time of the invasion of France in 1940, never mind the invasion of Poland in 1939.

 

[TheMysteriousGX]

I kinda think this deserves a thread of its own, because holy shit






Conservative quack doctors recommending extreme feminization to treat covid if ivermectin fails

 

[Fallen Soldier]

I kinda think this deserves a thread of its own, because holy shit






Conservative quack doctors recommending extreme feminization to treat covid if ivermectin fails

Oh my god….Just get the vaccine! Are you really gonna go through such lengths to cure yourself of covid?

 

[XsjadoBlayde]

The rot continues to spread




This is a lengthy article so I can't quote-paste into one handy post unfortunately;

I Spent Insurrection Week Listening to Steve Bannon - The Bulwark

For three hours every day, the Republican coup plotters who inspired the domestic terror attack at the U.S. Capitol last year gather to discuss their next move. On their January 6th anniversary program, the Dead Cops Society beseeched their great patriotic listeners to “Seize The Day. We’re...

www.thebulwark.com

As always, there are actual human lives being torn apart at the root of all this every day.

Former House Staffer Opens Up About How Conservative Media Ruined His Life

Ex IT staffer Imran Awan says conservative outlets targeted him for being Muslim: “If I was a white guy, nothing would have happened.”

www.thedailybeast.com

Imran Awan thought he was living the American dream.

As a teenager in Pakistan, Awan spent money he received during the Muslim holiday of Eid on an application for the United States’ green card lottery and won. After immigrating with his family to northern Virginia, Awan built his life from almost nothing to become a shared IT employee for dozens of House Democrats, eventually landing similar jobs in the House for three family members and a friend.

But early in the Trump era, Awan found himself hounded by House Republicans, the Justice Department, and the conservative media. Thanks to conspiracy theories propagated in right-wing media outlets, Awan was turned from a total unknown into an arch-villain, accused of spying for Pakistan, extortion, and even murder. Seeking to deflect attention from the investigation into Russian involvement in the 2016 election, Trump demanded prosecutors look into Awan, dubbing him “the Pakistani Fraudster.”

“We just had everything going for us,” Awan told The Daily Beast in an exclusive interview in March 2021. “Until that happened.”


After an exhaustive FBI investigation, Awan ultimately pleaded guilty to an unrelated charge of making false statements to obtain a loan related to rental properties. His plea deal, which came with no prison time, included an unusual condition: a statement from prosecutors saying they had found no evidence tying Awan to all the other, far more serious crimes that conservative media outlets had accused him of.

Awan talked for the first time about how his life and the lives of his family and friends were destroyed by stories in the conservative media, led by a reporter for the right-wing Daily Caller. The attacks were often tinged with Islamophobia and racism—one anti-Muslim blogger claimed Awan ran a “Muslim spy ring.”

Awan, who has returned to Pakistan, thinks he made an easy target for Republican conspiracy theorists because he was a Muslim immigrant.

“If I was a white guy, with all due respect, nothing would have happened,” Awan said.

Awan’s story echoes the damage wrought by other conspiracy theories, like Pizzagate or the targeting of the families of the 2012 Sandy Hook victims and the grieving parents of murdered Democratic National Committee staffer Seth Rich. But unlike those conspiracy theories, Awan’s saga is nearly entirely unknown outside of conservative media. Awan remains a villain for the millions of Americans who rely on right-wing media outlets to understand the world, the unwitting star of what former House Speaker Newt Gingrich has dubbed “possibly the largest scandal and coverup in the history of the United States House of Representatives.”

“These people are not stopping,” Awan said. “I can’t move on with my life. How am I supposed to provide for my children?”

Now, like those other victims of conspiracy theories, Awan is suing the conservative media figures who pursued him. In 2020, Awan, along with the family members and friend who worked in congressional offices with him, filed a defamation lawsuit in a local District of Columbia court over the articles. They’re suing The Daily Caller, a related nonprofit, conservative media conglomerate Salem Media, and former Daily Caller reporter Luke Rosiak, who also wrote a book about Awan.

In December, the lawsuit survived an early challenge in court. A judge ruled the Awans don’t qualify as “limited-use public figures,” a designation that would have weakened their defamation case. While at least one of the defendants plans to appeal that ruling, the case could soon proceed to discovery, which would give Awans’ lawyers insight into how the right-wing outlets handled the articles and book about him.

“They’ve essentially destroyed my life,” Awan said.

Lawyers for Salem Media didn’t respond to requests for comment. Rosiak’s legal team, which includes a lawyer frequently used by InfoWars conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, also didn’t respond to an email.

In a statement, an attorney for The Daily Caller and its related nonprofit, The Daily Caller News Foundation, said the publication is sticking by its stories about Awan.

“We are confident in the accuracy of what was reported by The Daily Caller and we look forward to having that established when we have our day in court,” the statement read.


Awan’s troubles began in 2016, when House investigators noticed unusual network traffic carried out by five IT staffers: Awan, his wife Hina Alvi, his brothers Jamal and Abid Awan, and his friend Rao Abbas. The five staffers worked across a combined 36 Democratic offices, though they weren’t each employed by every office. House investigators noted that Awan and his associates also seemed to deliberately underplay equipment purchases to keep them under $500— a common tactic in House offices to avoid triggering procurement rules.

As the Capitol Police launched an investigation of the five staffers, Awan and his four fellow IT workers were banned from the House systems. The Daily Caller seized on that news to portray Democratic offices as penetrated by sinister figures, with a February 2017 article from Rosiak declaring that key House committees had been “compromised by rogue IT staff.”

A later investigation would find only that the staffers had shared login credentials to cover work for one another, even if the fill-in staffer didn’t have permission to work in a member’s office. They also inappropriately used a House server to store personal files like photos and their children’s homework—a potential violation of data security rules, but hardly a spying scandal.

As Rosiak delved into every aspect of the five staffers’ lives, his reporting helped set off a firestorm of attention on the right. With them unable to work because of their ban from the House computer system, Democratic lawmakers fired Awan and the other staffers. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) defended Awan, briefly hiring him as an adviser and claiming his due process rights were being violated, but ultimately he lost that job as well.

“Everybody looked at us like we were really a dangerous, evil people,” Awan said.

In January 2017, Awan’s father died of cancer. Under the pressure of his father’s death, the FBI investigation, and the right-wing media storm, Awan attempted to kill himself. He was committed for a week to a mental hospital, where he says he sometimes had to be restrained as a suicide risk.

“It was just overwhelming,” Awan said. “I wanted to end my life, and I attempted to end my life. It was such a bad, bad thing. I remember just having the most incredible amount of depression where I just wanted to kill myself.”

Like Seth Rich, the Democratic National Committee staffer murdered in 2016 in what police consider a botched robbery, Awan became an intriguing scapegoat for Republicans looking to distract attention from Russian hackers’ thefts of Democratic emails in 2016.

“What if he was the source to WikiLeaks?” Fox News personality Geraldo Rivera asked in a television appearance.

Newly unemployed and targeted by angry Trump supporters, Awan grew terrified of threats against his family’s life. He pulled his daughters out of school because he was worried about their safety. He thought of the day in December 2016, when a gunman motivated by the Pizzagate conspiracy theory fired shots inside Comet Ping Pong.


“Just like they went with a gun into a pizza shop, they could do the same to me,” Awan said. “And not only me, they could harm my children as well.”

In July 2017, FBI agents arrested Awan as he tried to fly to Pakistan. Awan and his wife were charged with bank fraud over two home-equity loans, accused of claiming they lived in properties they actually rented out. The charges had nothing to do with their work in the House, or the various crimes right-wing media outlets had accused them of. Awan claims he took out the loans to obtain money to send to Pakistan to help his ill father. By the time Awan was charged, he had already paid back the loan.

Awan’s arrest on a relatively minor charge didn’t stop the conspiracy theories about him. Conservative congressmen like Reps. Louie Gohmert (R-TX), Scott Perry (R-PA), and then-Rep. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) pressed the Justice Department for updates on the case or offered advice on how to pursue it, according to letters obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request.

The accusations against Awan reached their biggest stage in July 2018, when Trump mentioned Awan during a joint press conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Looking to downplay the role of Russian hackers in the 2016 election, Trump suggested that Awan had somehow stolen DNC servers.

“The servers of the Pakistani gentleman that worked on the DNC are missing,” Trump said.

Awan pleaded guilty to the false statement charge a few weeks later, receiving three months of supervised release and the dismissal of charges against his wife. U.S. District Court Judge Tanya S. Chutkan said Awan had faced “baseless accusations” and “scurrilous media attention.” Chutkan waived a roughly $4,000 fee Awan was expected to pay to cover the cost of his supervision.

Awan’s plea agreement with the Justice Department included a nearly unprecedented admission, with prosecutors and investigators saying they had found no proof during their lengthy investigation that Awan had stolen or tampered with House technology equipment, or stolen data.

“The Government has found no evidence that [Awan] illegally removed House data from the House network or from House Members’ offices, stole the House Democratic Caucus Server, stole or destroyed House information technology equipment, or improperly accessed or transferred government information, including classified or sensitive information,” the statement read in part.

Awan thought that that provision of the plea would mark the end of speculation about himself and his family. The FBI had interviewed roughly 40 people, according to the plea, and found no evidence he had broken federal laws connected to his work in the House.

“Maybe if the staffer’s name was Ed Smith, this would have been the end of a fairly uninteresting story,” former Rep. Steve Israel (D-NY) wrote in an op-ed in 2018.

In January 2019, however, Rosiak and conservative publisher Regnery, a division of Salem Media, published Rosiak’s book about Awan. Entitled Obstruction of Justice: How the Deep State Risked National Security to Protect the Democrats, the book featured Awan’s face on the cover. Fox News hosts Sean Hannity and Tucker Carlson wrote admiring blurbs, while Gingrich wrote the foreword.

In the book, Rosiak includes a series of lurid accusations against Awan, including someone claiming Awan had boasted about having his enemies in Pakistan raped by police officers. Rosiak portrayed the Justice Department’s failure to find evidence of the accusations against Awan as part of a cover-up carried out by both parties. The plea deal wasn’t a sign that Rosiak had wasted two years reporting trumped-up stories about the IT staffer, but of endemic Washington corruption.

Rosiak kept up the claims during his book tour, describing Awan in one interview as “basically an attempted murderer, an extortionist, a blackmail artist, a con man.” Rosiak’s book proved to be a hit, nearly reaching the top of Amazon’s sales charts.

“While they destroyed our lives, they made money,” Awan said. “Daily Caller made money. Luke Rosiak made money. Salem Media made money.”

For Awan, it felt like even having a Justice Department led by Trump appointees disprove the accusations against him wasn’t enough to clear his name. On a trip to Pakistan, he lay down on his father’s grave, feeling like he couldn’t get up. Awan once again wanted to die.

“My life is completely destroyed,” Awan recalls thinking.

For Awan’s defenders, the idea that violating House rules around shared logins could somehow justify the national attention Awan and his family received was ridiculous. They see the Awans as victims of conservative media that targeted them for being Muslim immigrants. In 2020, Congress paid Awan and the four other fired staffers $850,000 as part of a wrongful termination settlement.

Now that Awan’s case has survived an initial challenge in court, his lawyers hope it will serve as an example for future lawsuits against conspiracy theorists.

"How does misinformation hurt people and how does the legal system deal with it?” Deepak Gupta, one of Awan’s attorneys, said. “Because it's increasingly public figures attacking ordinary citizens and saying horrible things about them that then kind of destroys their lives.”

Awan watched on TV on Jan. 6, 2021, as Trump supporters assaulted the U.S. Capitol, where he once worked.

“They destroyed my life and then they attack the United States of America,” Awan said. “This is just so sad.”

 

[Agema]

snip

Anyone like "NFJ Esq" who needs to tell you how incredibly "objectively" clever they are is almost certainly a lot less clever than they think.

 

[XsjadoBlayde]

Anyone like "NFJ Esq" who needs to tell you how incredibly "objectively" clever they are is almost certainly a lot less clever than they think.

They may as well be tattooing "Dunning-Kruger" boldly on their forehead at that point. Coincidentally, when I tried to calmly confront my super pilled conspiratorial family member about the problems with these newfound dodgy beliefs, they reflexively went on an embarrassing, aggressive tirade about how smart they were. It was a useful hint to give up and ignore them I suppose. There is a noticeably not so insignificant ego factor involved in the people drawn to all this.

 

[Agema]

They may as well be tattooing "Dunning-Kruger" boldly on their forehead at that point. Coincidentally, when I tried to calmly confront my super pilled conspiratorial family member about the problems with these newfound dodgy beliefs, they reflexively went on an embarrassing, aggressive tirade about how smart they were. It was a useful hint to give up and ignore them I suppose.

Honestly, I assume anyone who tells me how clever they are in the context of politics is a libertarian. They have a weird hard-on for ultra-rationality (e.g. role model Ayn Rand) and ssuming they have much better objectivity and intelligence than everyone else, that they are the guys rising above the herd with their incredible insight and aloofness from crude party tribalism. This lack of self-awareness (or honesty) often extends to their emotions, and they are typically the sort of people who when debates don't go their way end up screaming "I AM NOT FUCKING ANGRY YOU FUCKING LEECH!"

 

[Kyrian007]

Funny stuff locally here. 3 new school board members were supposed to be sworn in at a meeting in the area last night. Out-of-state dark pac money paid for their campaigns running on the anti-CRT and anti-science platforms. But they weren't sworn in... they refused to wear masks to the meeting, and the meeting was canceled.

Now I have definite opinions about masks, but putting those aside for a second... Had I been one of the frothing conspiracy theorists advocating for those 3 to be elected, I'd be PISSED that they weren't getting sworn in so they could fight for my child's rights. But that may be too logical, it seems so far those people are applauding the 3 for "standing up to the mask bullies." Well anyway, I'm off to look into what is on the books about censure and recalls.

 

[XsjadoBlayde]

Senate GOP leader: Press, teachers have 'sinister agenda'

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa's Senate president opened the legislative session Monday with an attack on the media and claims of a “sinister agenda” to normalize deviant behavior against children.

apnews.com

Well well fucking hell crypto-qanon well

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa’s Senate president opened the legislative session Monday with an attack on the media and claims of a “sinister agenda” to normalize deviant behavior against children.

The Legislature is expected to focus on plans for tax cuts and reforms to unemployment law, but Republican Senate President Jake Chapman used his opening speech to challenge lawmakers to take a stand.

“It has become increasingly evident that we live in a world in which many, including our media, wish to confuse, misguide and deceive us, calling good evil and evil good,” he said.

He followed with a claim that there is a “sinister agenda occurring right before our eyes.”

“The attack on our children is no longer hidden,” he said. “Those who wish to normalize sexually deviant behavior against our children, including pedophilia and incest, are pushing this movement more than ever before.”

Chapman has earlier called for jailing educators who provide what he considers obscene material to children, and he supports banning some books from schools.
There has been a move in Iowa and across the country to increase control over what books are available to children, and Chapman made clear those efforts would be a priority during the legislative session, saying “some teachers are disguising sexually obscene material as desired subject matter and profess it has artistic and literary value.”

“Nobody, regardless of their race, religion, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation or occupation has the right to expose children to obscene material,” Chapman said.
Chapman did not respond to a message from The Associated Press seeking further clarification of his comments.

Democratic leaders criticized Chapman’s remarks, calling the comments divisive and extreme political rhetoric that has made teachers, nurses and other people hesitant to work in the state.

Senate Democratic Leader Zach Wahls said Iowa’s labor shortage is worse than elsewhere because of Republicans’ legislative agenda. The GOP is in its sixth year controlling both legislative chambers.

“We’ve been told it will be more of the GOP greatest hits this session: more attacks on LGBTQ Iowans, more gasoline on the culture war fire and more attacks on the First Amendment,” Wahls said.

Wahls also noted that Senate Republicans barred reporters from the floor of the Senate chamber for the first time in more than a century. The decision has forced reporters to work from a public gallery above the chamber where access to elected officials is severely restricted.

“We believe Iowa needs to end the divisive culture wars that pit Iowans against Iowans and instead bring our state together,” he said. “We need to make Iowa an inclusive and welcoming place to get our state growing again.”

House Democratic Leader Jennifer Konfrst said politicians need to focus on truth and allow teachers the freedom to teach true history unrestricted by politicians.

“It’s become increasingly clear we can no longer ignore the lies and misinformation so pervasive today. As elected officials, we have a deep responsibility to not just tell the truth, but defend the truth and hold each other accountable,” she said. “Our democracy needs us to uphold the truth so it can endure.”

Other Republican leaders talked of approving tax cuts, rewriting unemployment laws to push people back to work and creating a parents bill of rights that could determine how schools decide which books are appropriate for libraries.

The 150 lawmakers and staff returned to the Capitol with no mask, vaccine or test requirements as COVID-19 continues rapid spread throughout the state.

Lawmakers could decide how to deal with potential federal vaccine mandates, which now are tied up in the courts. A group of people opposed to vaccine requirements rallied inside the Capitol on Monday morning before lawmakers began the session.

Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds will deliver her Condition of the State address on Tuesday evening, outlining her budget and policy priorities for the year.

 

[Fallen Soldier]

The rot continues to spread




This is a lengthy article so I can't quote-paste into one handy post unfortunately;

I Spent Insurrection Week Listening to Steve Bannon - The Bulwark

For three hours every day, the Republican coup plotters who inspired the domestic terror attack at the U.S. Capitol last year gather to discuss their next move. On their January 6th anniversary program, the Dead Cops Society beseeched their great patriotic listeners to “Seize The Day. We’re...

www.thebulwark.com

As always, there are actual human lives being torn apart at the root of all this every day.

Former House Staffer Opens Up About How Conservative Media Ruined His Life

Ex IT staffer Imran Awan says conservative outlets targeted him for being Muslim: “If I was a white guy, nothing would have happened.”

www.thedailybeast.com

we are living in the onion timeline.

 

[TheMysteriousGX]

Libertarian Island plans fall apart for the most libertarian reason possible

 

[Fallen Soldier]

Libertarian Island plans fall apart for the most libertarian reason possible

Oh my god! Hahaha

 

[bluegate]

Libertarian Island plans fall apart for the most libertarian reason possible

Mental maturity should be more than enough!

I wonder if the guy who wrote that realizes that this would put the age of consent somewhere in the early twenties.

Because a twelve year old saying; "I'm done playing with dollies, I'm a big girl now!", is not 'mental maturity'.

 

[Cheetodust]

Libertarian Island plans fall apart for the most libertarian reason possible

How is this always a thing? Why is there such a crossover between pedos and libertarians? There's other small/no government ideologies that don't seem to always fall into this. Like Anarchists and Communists can disagree on a lot, but it's usually not about when a child is old enough to have sex with.

Before anyone comes in with examples of commie/anarchist pedos, I'm not saying they never molest kids, I'm just that saying being allowed to very rarely seems to be the hill they choose to die on. Just strikes me as strange that that specific small/no government crowd above others attracts pedos.

Edit: also to clarify I'm not saying I think all libertarians are pedos. There are, in fact, libertarians that I respectfully disagree with. That tends to be the older generation of libertarians like Penn Jillett.

 

[Satinavian]

How is this always a thing? Why is there such a crossover between pedos and libertarians? There's other small/no government ideologies that don't seem to always fall into this. Like Anarchists and Communists can disagree on a lot, but it's usually not about when a child is old enough to have sex with.

I actually do remember that the left leaning anti gouvernment movement of Western Germany actually had organized pedos pushing for abolishment of age of consent in the name of "freedom". But that was in the 70s.

So yes, i do think all those other no gouvernment groups are similarly prone to this.


It is really the alluring "we make our own nation with our own rules" those types seek after disagreeing about rules with the society they live in. It is the second best option after failing to change the rules at home.