Monthly Archives: February 2022

LEGISLATION ON PACE: Compendium of progressive bills by first quarter, says AG – EyeWitness News

Posted: February 11, 2022 at 6:17 am

NASSAU, BAHAMAS The government is on track to bring forth its progressive legislative agenda, including a compendium of bills, before the end of the first quarter, including a new cannabis regime.

Speaking to Eyewitness News, Attorney General Ryan Pinder said: We are working assiduously to put together the most progressive, groundbreaking legislative agenda this country would have ever seen and that is on pace and on schedule.

Pinder noted that with parliamentarians set to debate the Bahamas Agriculture and Marine Science Institute (BAMSI) bill, the policy initiative of the government to fulfill many of its promises, especially with respect to the advancement and promotion of sustainability and agribusiness in the country, will be set.

My goal is to have a compendium [of] legislation to the Bahamian people by the end of the first quarter of this [year] and thats this the goal, he said.

Among the legislation expected to be undertaken by the Davis administration are a sovereign wealth fund legislation; carbon credit regulation; legislation to regulate BAMSI and other agriculture developments; financial management amendments; cannabis legislation; and anti-corruption reform.

The governments Speech from the Throne outlined several key aspects of the Davis administrations mandate and a commitment to executing good governance, established on the principles of transparency, integrity and accountability.

Since coming to office, the Davis administration has already fulfilled several campaign promises, including the removal of the curfew and state of emergency; the end of travel health visa for Bahamians domestically and internationally; a reduction in value-added tax (VAT) to 10 percent; and the Merchant Shipping Bill.

See original here:

LEGISLATION ON PACE: Compendium of progressive bills by first quarter, says AG - EyeWitness News

Posted in Bahamas | Comments Off on LEGISLATION ON PACE: Compendium of progressive bills by first quarter, says AG – EyeWitness News

12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos: Peterson, Jordan …

Posted: at 6:17 am

Jordan Peterson is a Canadian clinical psychologist, cultural critic, and professor of psychology at the University of Toronto. His main areas of study are the psychology of religious and ideological belief, and the assessment and improvement of personality and performance.

From 1993 to 1997, Peterson lived in Arlington, Massachusetts, while teaching and conducting research at Harvard University as an assistant and an associate professor in the psychology department. During his time at Harvard, he studied aggression arising from drug and alcohol abuse, and supervised a number of unconventional thesis proposals. Afterwards, he returned to Canada and took up a post as a professor at the University of Toronto.

In 1999, Routledge published Peterson's Maps of Meaning: The Architecture of Belief. The book, which took Peterson 13 years to complete, describes a comprehensive theory for how we construct meaning, represented by the mythical process of the exploratory hero, and provides an interpretation of religious and mythical models of reality presented in a way that is compatible with modern scientific understanding of how the brain works. It synthesizes ideas drawn from narratives in mythology, religion, literature and philosophy, as well as research from neuropsychology, in "the classic, old-fashioned tradition of social science."

Peterson's primary goal was to examine why individuals, not simply groups, engage in social conflict, and to model the path individuals take that results in atrocities like the Gulag, the Auschwitz concentration camp and the Rwandan genocide. Peterson considers himself a pragmatist, and uses science and neuropsychology to examine and learn from the belief systems of the past and vice versa, but his theory is primarily phenomenological. In the book, he explores the origins of evil, and also posits that an analysis of the world's religious ideas might allow us to describe our essential morality and eventually develop a universal system of morality.

Harvey Shepard, writing in the Religion column of the Montreal Gazette, stated: "To me, the book reflects its author's profound moral sense and vast erudition in areas ranging from clinical psychology to scripture and a good deal of personal soul searching. ... Peterson's vision is both fully informed by current scientific and pragmatic methods, and in important ways deeply conservative and traditional."

In 2004, a 13-part TV series based on his book Maps of Meaning: The Architecture of Belief aired on TVOntario. He has also appeared on that network on shows such as Big Ideas, and as a frequent guest and essayist on The Agenda with Steve Paikin since 2008.

In 2013, Peterson began recording his lectures ("Personality and Its Transformations", "Maps of Meaning: The Architecture of Belief") and uploading them to YouTube. His YouTube channel has gathered more than 600,000 subscribers and his videos have received more than 35 million views as of January 2018. He has also appeared on The Joe Rogan Experience, The Gavin McInnes Show, Steven Crowder's Louder with Crowder, Dave Rubin's The Rubin Report, Stefan Molyneux's Freedomain Radio, h3h3Productions's H3 Podcast, Sam Harris's Waking Up podcast, Gad Saad's The Saad Truth series and other online shows. In December 2016, Peterson started his own podcast, The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast, which has 37 episodes as of January 10, 2018, including academic guests such as Camille Paglia, Martin Daly, and James W. Pennebaker, while on his channel he has also interviewed Stephen Hicks, Richard J. Haier, and Jonathan Haidt among others. In January 2017, he hired a production team to film his psychology lectures at the University of Toronto.

Peterson with his colleagues Robert O. Pihl, Daniel Higgins, and Michaela Schippers produced a writing therapy program with series of online writing exercises, titled the Self Authoring Suite. It includes the Past Authoring Program, a guided autobiography; two Present Authoring Programs, which allow the participant to analyze their personality faults and virtues in terms of the Big Five personality model; and the Future Authoring Program, which guides participants through the process of planning their desired futures. The latter program was used with McGill University undergraduates on academic probation to improve their grades, as well since 2011 at Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University. The Self Authoring Programs were developed partially from research by James W. Pennebaker at the University of Texas at Austin and Gary Latham at the Rotman School of Management of the University of Toronto. Pennebaker demonstrated that writing about traumatic or uncertain events and situations improved mental and physical health, while Latham demonstrated that personal planning exercises help make people more productive. According to Peterson, more than 10,000 students have used the program as of January 2017, with drop-out rates decreasing by 25% and GPAs rising by 20%.

In May 2017 he started new project, titled "The psychological significance of the Biblical stories", a series of live theatre lectures in which he analyzes archetypal narratives in Genesis as patterns of behaviour vital for both personal, social and cultural stability.

His upcoming book "12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos" will be released on January 23rd, 2018. It was released in the UK on January 16th. Dr. Peterson is currently on tour throughout North America, Europe and Australia.

See the original post:

12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos: Peterson, Jordan ...

Posted in Jordan Peterson | Comments Off on 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos: Peterson, Jordan …

Legal Education Certificate offered exclusively through EDLS Eye Witness News – EyeWitness News

Posted: at 6:17 am

NASSAU, BAHAMAS The Eugene Dupuch Law School (EDLS) will be the exclusive Council of Legal Education law school to offer the six-month course leading to the Legal Education Certificate in the 2022/2023 academic year.

The Legal Education Certificate six-month programme is a transitional course for common law professionally trained individuals seeking to practice law in any of the relevant jurisdictions covered by the agreement establishing the Council of Legal Education.

The programme runs from September to March each year.

Late applications are accepted until February 28, 2022.

EDLS Principal Tonya Bastian Galanis explained: This programme provides a thorough grounding in the legal skills and knowledge required in todays globalized legal practice environment.

It is designed to accommodate both legal practice and Commonwealth Caribbean jurisprudence.

Successful completion of the programme gives participants the opportunity to practice in the Commonwealth Caribbean region once they comply with local legislation regarding admittance to practice in the jurisdiction.

This course is delivered virtually through Canvas, EDLS Learning Management System, which includes built-in video conference meeting facilities.

All students are given access to online learning resources and material, and also have the ability to host meetings and conduct legal research and access EDLS Library Management System.

The course also encompasses a law office placement component that students are also required to complete during the six-month period.

The Legal Education Certificate opens a world of opportunity to engage professional law practice, new networking opportunities and opportunities for continuous education and learning in the region, Galanis said.

For further information about the programme, please contact the Registrar at Eugene Dupuch Law School at admissions@edls.edu.bs or call 242-326-8507.

View post:

Legal Education Certificate offered exclusively through EDLS Eye Witness News - EyeWitness News

Posted in Bahamas | Comments Off on Legal Education Certificate offered exclusively through EDLS Eye Witness News – EyeWitness News

Skrillex and Jordan Peterson Photo Leaves the Internet Baffled – Newsweek

Posted: at 6:17 am

Internet users have been left baffled by a photo of clinical psychologist Jordan Peterson with musician Skrillex that the controversial Canadian author shared on Twitter on Friday.

Peterson shared the photo to his more than two million Twitter followers with the simple message "Guess who" and the image led to an outpouring of reactions from social media users.

Skrillex, whose real name is Sonny John Moore, is a DJ and musician who had significant success in the 2010s and won three Grammy Awards in 2011. He went on to win a further five Grammys.

Peterson later tweeted at Skrillex to say: "Good to see you yesterday."

Some Twitter users expressed shock and anger at Skrillex for appearing with Peterson, who has made a number of controversial statements in the past, and others suggested that the DJ had now been "canceled."

"You just got Skrillex canceled," wrote Twitter user Matt Humphrey in reply to Peterson's photo.

Drew Westmoreland seemed to agree, writing: "Well Skrillex is cancelled now" followed by a laughing cry emoji.

User @danthedirt appeared to joke that he would have to get rid of his collection of Skrillex music, tweeting: "Time to burn all my Skrillex albums" along with a photo of a public bonfire.

"Man... Why out @Skrillex like this @jordanbpeterson? Will only bring him trouble," tweeted Daniel Eskander.

Some users appeared to be confused about why Peterson and Skrillex would be pictured together.

"Soooooo... Skrillex in a photo with Jordan Peterson... I need to understand the context of that. Are they buds, or was it just a 'photo op'?" tweeted user @urzapolariz said.

"Never would I have ever thought I'd see these two in the same pic," wrote Billy Bouchard.

Twitter user @kurosomnium joked about the apparent surprise of seeing Peterson with Skrillex.

"'I wonder why Skrillex is trending, maybe people are having a nostalgia moment right now.' *sees tweet* 'Oh. Oh no,'" they tweeted.

Jared Holt, a resident fellow at the Atlantic Council's Digital Forensic Research Lab, joked about the possibility of a collaboration between the two and made reference to Peterson's voice, which has sometimes been compared to Kermit the Frog'sthat comparison has become a long-running joke among Peterson's critics.

"When do we get to watch Jordan Peterson sob and break down describing the biblical turmoil represented in the drop of 2010-era Skrillex," Holt tweeted.

"Kermit the Frog voice: 'Drops used to be drops and that was it. Now the kids talk about hyperpop. But only in the wub wub can a boy find sa,'" he joked.

Peterson has long been a controversial figure. Speaking to Joe Rogan on his podcast last week, the clinical psychologist claimed there was "no such thing as climate" and he has recently been an outspoken supporter of Canadian truckers protesting against a vaccine mandate in Ottawa.

Original post:

Skrillex and Jordan Peterson Photo Leaves the Internet Baffled - Newsweek

Posted in Jordan Peterson | Comments Off on Skrillex and Jordan Peterson Photo Leaves the Internet Baffled – Newsweek

Butts threatens legal action against Peterson in Twitter battle – Western Standard

Posted: at 6:17 am

A judicial review has been filed in Federal Court challenging the government for its travel restrictions prohibiting travel for unvaccinated people.

The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF) filed the legal application Thursday on behalf of Maxime Bernier, leader of the Peoples Party of Canada.

In a statement, JCCF said Bernier is being prevented from fully participating in his political role by Orders issued by Transport Canada, under instructions of the Prime Minister, said the statement.

With implementation of these orders, Mr. Bernier is restricted in participating in democratic discussions and the electoral process.

The statement asserts Bernier leader of the fifth largest political party in Canada is required to travel to participate in various political, intellectual and charitable activities across Canada and flew more than 79,000 km for work purposes in 2021. JCCF suggested travel of this volume is only reasonably feasible by air.

Referencing the federal governments October 30 limitation stating anyone travelling by air, train or ship must show proof of vaccination, JCCF said approximately six million unvaccinated Canadians 15% of the population have now been banned from travel.

Canadians cannot travel to help sick loved ones, to get to work, to attend university, to visit family and friends, to take international vacations, and to live ordinary lives like other citizens, said the statement.

The JCCF said in its opinion, the travel restrictions violate Canadians constitutionally protected rights and are discriminatory.

Besides theCharterproviding mobility rights that allow Canadians to freely enter and leave the country, and travel unhindered between provinces, theCharteralso guarantees citizens equal access to political institutions, public debate and the electoral process, said the statement.

The COVID-19 zealots are attempting to gag dissenting voices like mine by any means possible. One such tactic is to prevent people from meeting and organizing politically, said Bernier.

The courts must put an end to this segregation.

The mainstream media give me almost no air time. I have to go and meet people all across Canada to keep my party growing and get the word out.

If I have to travel the equivalent of fourteen times the distance from Victoria to St.Johns in a year, Im certainly not going to do it by car or bike.

Samuel Bachand, primary counsel for the JCCF in Qubec, said although Canada is considered to be one of the most democratic countries in the world, it is the only country in the developed world that has banned vaccine-free travellers from air travel.

Democracy is not the property of the vaccinated, nor is it some kind of reward for well-behaved children, said Bachand, adding, All Canadians, of all political affiliations, must be free to travel.

Melanie Risdon is a reporter with the Western Standardmrisdon@westernstandardonline.com

See more here:

Butts threatens legal action against Peterson in Twitter battle - Western Standard

Posted in Jordan Peterson | Comments Off on Butts threatens legal action against Peterson in Twitter battle – Western Standard

State Lawmakers Are Combating Racism the Right Way. Here’s What You Need to Know. – Heritage.org

Posted: at 6:17 am

Every parent wants toprotecttheir child from prejudice. Yet some activists and writers claim that state lawmakers proposals to reject educators use of critical race theory in K-12 schools is acampaignthat thrives on caricature.

We saw an example of this in a Twitter exchange between the best-selling author Jordan Peterson and the Manhattan Institute Senior Fellow Chris Rufo this week.

Peterson argued that banning critical race theory in schools is a bad idea because ideas are defeated by better ideas. Peterson also added that critical race theory cant be defined or policed.

Rufo, who has documented the ways in which educators application of critical race theory leads to racial discrimination, appropriately responded by saying state proposals that defend teachers and students from these activities must becareful to restrict racialist abuse.Schools have a coercive power over children, Rufo argued.

Also, critical race theory can be defined (its architects left a canon defining its main ideas) and lawmakers are responsible for addressing violations of existing law. The Heritage Foundationsmodel policycontains such careful provisions and prohibits compelled speechwith compelled speech being a natural consequence of school officials applications of critical race theory in classrooms (or anywhere else).

As I explain in my book Splintered: Critical Race Theory and the Progressive War on Truth, critical race theorypromotes racial discriminationand Marxism. One critical race theorist calledKarl Marxs ideasdazzling and riveting to contemporary theorists. Critical race theory has an activist dimension and questions the very foundations of constitutional law, according to two of the theorys founders, Richard Delgado and Jean Stefancic.

There is a wave of popular opinion rejecting the theorys biased applications. State lawmakers are considering proposals that defend teachers and students from being forced to believe ideas that clash with their personal values and Americas founding ideals, including ideas thatviolatethe Civil Rights Act of 1964. Here are some examples of proposals that are rejecting racial discrimination, not banning critical race theory:

Criticshave claimed such proposals prevent schools from making people feel discomfort, as though teachers will need to avoid discussing the harsh truths about slavery and racism in Americas past. But the proposals are specific regarding school activities and instructional practices and do not ban black history, as one Florida lawmaker who opposes the state proposal claimed.

Floridas proposal, for example, says that a public employee cannot force a teacher or student to believe that an individual should feel discomfort, guilt, anguish based on their skin color. The proposal is not an invitation to censor school material but a firm statement opposing racism.

Some school officials know that racially discriminatory behavior will not stand in court. Earlier this week in Massachusetts, Wellesley public school leaders justsettled a lawsuit with Parents Defending Education, an advocacy organization exposing radical content in schools, who argued that the districts racial affinity groups were illegal. These affinity activities separate students by race for different school activities.

State proposals to reject critical race theory should protect teachers and students from prejudice by prohibiting compelled speech, reinforcing the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, and even stating that nothing in such proposals shall limit classroom discussions (Georgias proposal, for one, contains such a provision).

Before denouncing state proposals for using the words discomfort, guilt, and anguish in relation to K-12 schools, critics should look closer at what lawmakers are attempting to do: protect children from racism.

This piece originally appeared in The Daily Signal

See the article here:

State Lawmakers Are Combating Racism the Right Way. Here's What You Need to Know. - Heritage.org

Posted in Jordan Peterson | Comments Off on State Lawmakers Are Combating Racism the Right Way. Here’s What You Need to Know. – Heritage.org

The anti-vaxx Canadian truckers want to talk to you about Bitcoin – The Verge

Posted: at 6:17 am

Canada Unity 2022, the group of anti-vaccine protestors who have snarled traffic in Ottawa and earned accolades in the right-wing media, wants to talk to you about Bitcoin.

A handful of the groups organizers held a press conference on Facebook Live Wednesday that quickly devolved into a presentation on the popular form of cryptocurrency, confusing many of their supporters who were watching online.

Are we at a press conference for Freedom Convoy 2022 or having some guy shove Bitcoin down our throats? one commenter griped. Very disappointed! I came to see updates about progress made by our Truckers.

The convoy protests began in late January, after a loose affiliation of truckers banded together to drive from western Canada to the nations capital of Ottawa to voice opposition to COVID-19 vaccine mandates for truckers crossing the border into the US. The movement has been embraced by Republican politicians in the US, including Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. The Canadian government has hit back, denouncing foreign interference from the US.

But very little of that was discussed at todays press conference. The event kicked off with three of the protest movements organizers, including Tamara Lich, a former fitness instructor and singer in an Alberta band called Blind Monday, who played a prominent role in organizing a GoFundMe campaign that raised about 10 million Canadian dollars ($7.8 million) for the anti-vaxx protest.

After spending several minutes disparaging fake news and praising supporters like Jordan Peterson, a philosopher whose work is admired by the right, the group turned to Bitcoin.

BJ Dichter, who introduced himself as vice president and spokesperson for the Freedom Convoy, said the group has been in touch with some of the most prominent Bitcoiners on YouTube to learn how to use cryptocurrency to raise money for their cause. (GoFundMe shut down the groups fundraising campaign last week, citing violence and other unlawful activity during the demonstrations.)

Dichter turned the press conference over to a man named Nick who he described as the groups Bitcoin team lead for the Freedom Convoy. Nick, sporting a thick beard and a black sweatshirt with the Bitcoin logo in the upper-right corner, started by setting expectations. I wouldnt call myself an expert, he said. But I am a liaison to the experts in the Bitcoin world. Nick said the aim was to fight for the groups freedom to raise money without being shackled by the censorship put in place by our legacy financial system.

After several minutes of a lecture on the advantages of a decentralized fundraising platform, supporters watching the livestream seemed flummoxed.

This is not what I thought it would be, thanks guys but Im thinking you will be losing some money support with this... anyway, have a good day, wrote one commenter. Others implored the group to ditch the Bitcoin talk and get back to the issue at hand: truckers fighting against vaccine mandates.

I get the safety of donating to Bitcoin but why are we promoting digital currency?! another wrote.

In some respects, the convergence of the anti-vaxx protests and Bitcoin was probably inevitable. Last month, the protests drew support from one of the biggest proponents of Bitcoin in the world, Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who tweeted Canadian truckers rule. Former President Donald Trump has voiced support, and right-wing figures from Tucker Carlson to Ben Shapiro to Michael Flynn have seized on the trucker protests.

The group sees Bitcoin as a possible solution to its fundraising woes. And they may have some support, too. A group of Canadian Bitcoin supporters who go by the moniker HonkHonkHodl have created a crypto crowdfunding campaign on the platform Tallycoin as an alternative funding portal for the Freedom Convoy.

According to Tallycoin, the group has raised 1.5 billion in satoshis, with the goal of reaching 2.1 billion.

See the rest here:

The anti-vaxx Canadian truckers want to talk to you about Bitcoin - The Verge

Posted in Jordan Peterson | Comments Off on The anti-vaxx Canadian truckers want to talk to you about Bitcoin – The Verge

OK, WTF Are Wordcels and Shape Rotators? – VICE

Posted: at 6:17 am

Quick, how many cubes can you rotate in your brain? If youre struggling to even form the image of a cube in your mind, let alone rotate it, then Im sorry to say that youre not a shape rotator. You are, in fact, probably a wordcel. If you have no idea what wordcel and shape rotators are, I will explain it to you, and Im sorry your curiosity has brought you to this article.

At its base, the dichotomy is simple. Wordcels are people who are good with words. Shape rotators are people who are good with math and abstract thought. Use of the terms has skyrocketed online in the past few months, and especially in the last few days.

The term shape rotator has been floating around online for a few years now. The term wordcel has been around less than a year. Youre hearing about them now thanks to a venture capitalist and a Washington Post reporter.

On Feb. 2, Netscape co-founder turned venture capitalist Marc Andreessen tweeted what was, to most, incomprehensible gibberish.

Washington Post technology and culture columnist Taylor Lorenz screencapped Andreessens tweet and shared it with her followers. This set off a chain reaction that elevated the terms wordcel and shape rotator into the mainstream, elevating an extremely online dichotomy into a confusing and terrible new front in our horrifying culture wars.

Much of Americas culture war can be cynically flattened and viewed through the lens of these two words; woke wordcels live in the land of philosophy and books and liberal colleges, clinging to ideals espoused in their precious books, tweeting about Wordle, while shape rotators are out here coding, building businesses, doing engineering, etc. etc.

Pretty soon, Jordan Peterson was getting in on the action.

The terms connote more than their simple definitions. The suffix -cel comes from incel, and is meant to imply that the person described is a stifled loser. (A gymcel, for example, is an incel who takes solace in constantly working out.) But wordcel has no relation to sex, like other -cel. According to its supposed creator, however, it is meant as a slur or insult against people who are good with words.

In a long essay about the origins of the terms, the prolific Twitter shitposter roon claimed to have invented the term wordcel on in October of 2021 while engaging in a discourse battle online.

To the best of my knowledge, I coined the word in the heat of battle with another prodigious schizoposter (Mr. @Logo_Daedalus, whom I feel no animosity towards), and he became a kind of ur-example archetypal figure in the wordcel sphere, roon said in their essay. A deep yet largely unintelligible expert in the humanities, history and philosophy, his verbal abstractions have led him quite far from the base reality we share. While some of these types will become presidents, poets, priests, the vast majority will live and die producing little value, chasing down rhetorical dead-ends, with their scholarship forgotten. This is the central tragedy of the wordcel.

The shape rotator, too, is a common archetype of the online world. This is a person who can do their taxes in a breezy afternoon but struggles to make eye contact during dinner. They may be very good at details and bad at seeing the bigger picture, roon wrote. The demarcation isnt just between STEM and humanitiesyou will absolutely find wordcels in the STEM domainrather, its about modes of thinking. Its about realism, thing-orientation over people-orientation, and investigative grounding in the tangible world.

The etymology of shape rotator has to do with cognitive tests that feature 3D objects and ask the test taker to rotate them. These kinds of tests were popularized in the 1970s and some researchers believed the results could help predict intelligence and certain cognitive abilities. Basically, if you could quickly rotate shapes, you were probably smart and good at math according to some shape rotators in the 1970s.

And thus a new thing for people to fight about online was born. According to roon, shape rotators like Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg have recently gained historical power and are changing the world. The wordcels are pissed about it and struggling to maintain their own relevancy as the world changes around them.

Thats the other important part of understanding wordcels and shape rotators. Look back at the Andreessen tweet that kicked off this fresh round of interest. Look at how roon described the formation of wordcel as a slur created in the heat of battle. This isnt just about categorizing people, its about war.

People love to sort everything into categories and then fight over the imagined differences. That is a driving factor in the use of shape rotator and wordcel. The Andreessen tweet imagined a conflict between the two factions and said the outcome was predetermined, calling the wordcels use of language asymmetric hybrid warfare.

This is an old beef, really. This is about science versus the humanities. Its about whether or not kids should focus on STEM or reading Shakespeare. Its an argument thats been playing out in academia for decades. The only difference is that its been upgraded with fancy new terms meant to appeal to the terminally online. Nerds invented a new way to measure their dicks online.

So who is winning the war, the wordcels or the shape rotators? First, culture wars arent meant to be won but to be fought continuously. But let me ask you this: Why are they shape rotators and not, say, mathcels or STEMcels? The shape rotators, going against type, have won a victory just by naming their opponents wordcels.

Go here to read the rest:

OK, WTF Are Wordcels and Shape Rotators? - VICE

Posted in Jordan Peterson | Comments Off on OK, WTF Are Wordcels and Shape Rotators? – VICE

Matt Taibbi: Conversation With Russell Brand, Who Isnt Right Wing – Scheerpost.com

Posted: at 6:17 am

Talking media, politics, censorship and other topics with the brilliant, irreverent, and increasingly influential British comic

By Matt Taibbi / Substack

Had a terrific and wide-ranging talk recently with someone Ive long admired, the comedian, actor, and podcaster Russell Brand, for his podcastUnder the Skin. I dont often end an interview and think, Wow, I actually like that guy, but that happened in this case, which I hope is reflected in the show. The above is a just-posted excerpt.

Some of you may have seen, in recent days, a tweet that describes Brand and a ridiculous range of other Joe Rogan guests as right-wing. The list is full of people who clearly dont fit that description, from Tulsi Gabbard to Steven Pinker and beyond:

This is exhibit A in a phenomenon thats become ubiquitous in mainstream press, where right-wing has become a stand-in for heterodox or dissenting or even just open-minded. Brands show, which now has 4.9 million subscribers (it was 4.8 million when we spoke), has been the repeated subject of crude smear jobs describing him as an alt-right Pied Piper, with the most shameless example being aDaily Beastpiece from Octobercalled, Comedian Russell Brand Has Become a Powerful Voice for Conservatives and Anti-Vaxxers.

That piece went off on Brand for having vaccine-skeptic views and running a conspiracy theory-laden YouTube channel, which led one to expect an avalanche of nuttery. Then you got into the piece and found theBeastscomplaints were things like questioning mandates and pondering whether people could trust Bill Gates. (That last line is such a perfect artifact of aristocratic cluelessness, it belongs in a museum). Worse, according to theBeast,Brand showed interviews of vaccine skeptics without mocking or denouncing them, almost like he was interested in hearing why they think what they think. Even more treacherously, he suggested people think for themselves:

A December 2020 video titled, Covid Vaccine Skepticism or Trust?, released just as the vaccine was rolling out in the U.K., saw Brand airing a series of clips of vaccine skeptics being interviewed on the street, before sharing, Im certainly by no means saying Dont take a vaccine, neither am I saying Do take a vaccine and railing against an increase in government authority and decrease in personal liberties that is concerning.

Much like the NBC Verification Unit that tried to getThe Federalistin hot water with Google over supposed hate speech, and the reporters fromThe GuardianandThe Washington Postwho just pulled thesame stuntwith Substack over vaccine misinformation,The Beastbragged about its (ultimately failed) efforts to get Brand stuck in YouTube timeout over these offenses:

On Wednesday, YouTube announced it planned to crack down on content posted to its platform that spread medical misinformation, saying it had already removed more than 130,000 videos within the past year that violated its COVID-19 vaccine policies. YouTube said of Brands channel, Were reviewing the videos raised by The Daily Beast.

Of course, Brands real crime is the basis of the shows success: the welcoming, positive tone, the breezy lack of judgment, and a refusal to denounce anyone as enemies. The opening salutation Welcome, you 4.9 million shimmering wonders, you awakening souls, my brothers and sisters is a funnier, more exultant update on radioman Lowell Thomass legendary salutation from a century ago, Good evening,everybody. Thomas set the tone for generations of media outlets that saw their programs as places where the whole population could come together for discussion and debate, as opposed to being herded into warring camps. Brand is doing the same thing, just with more panache (saying a lot, since Thomas was also a storied stage performer).

This willingness to court all audiences is an affront to the basic formula of current commercial media, which relies upon a strategy of identifying out-groups and rallying audiences to escalating hatreds. Any show that sends an opposite message that people with differing views can and should coexist, or that people who cross conventional wisdom may be interviewed for any reason beyond being called out, must now themselves be considered reactionary. Were seeing how intense the propaganda about this sort of thing can get with the Rogan situation. Make no mistake, if the Jim Acostas and Brian Stelters andDaily Beastsof the world succeed in chopping Rogans knees out, they will go looking for the next target, which could easily be Brand or anyone else on that list of right wing terrors.

I dont want to get into this too much, as Ive interviewed some other people on that list and want to share their takes on this as well later on. Still, this phenomenon has now reached points of absurdity, where being antiwar or supportive of free speech or even just sort of generally chill and forgiving all part of the liberals basic toolkit, once can inspire accusations of rightist treachery.

Transparently, this is a tactic by a political mainstream so desperate to control what people say and think that it refuses to concede theres even a word for legitimate disagreement with its dictates. As stupid as mainstream press people are in general, this specific stratagem is clever. First, it provides a massive disincentive for left-liberal thinkers to step an inch outside conventional thinking. Secondly, while people are arguing over the superficial provocation Hey, wait, Im not a right-winger! even more dubious notions are slipped in through the back door, like the idea that Joe Rogan isnt allowed to interview conservatives, or that if he does, he must do so using some bizarre pre-approved mathematical ratio.

No matter what, its definitely true now that anyone who disagrees with the standard line on anything, from Russiagate to intervention in Syria or Ukraine to whether or not Anthony Fauci lied a time or five, can sooner or later expect to wake up wearing the wrongthink tag.

More later, but in the meantime, heres Brand on what he thought, when he discovered that Russ, me, the person that I live inside of, was being described as right-wing:

Matt Taibbi, author of the New York Times bestsellers The Divide, Griftopia, and The Great Derangement, is a contributing editor for Rolling Stone and winner of the 2007 National Magazine Award for Columns and Commentary.

Like Loading...

See more here:

Matt Taibbi: Conversation With Russell Brand, Who Isnt Right Wing - Scheerpost.com

Posted in Jordan Peterson | Comments Off on Matt Taibbi: Conversation With Russell Brand, Who Isnt Right Wing – Scheerpost.com

Read This Before You Buy Nootropics. What are the Best Nootropics? Thesis Customized Nootropics Review: The Most Effective Brain Supplements. -…

Posted: at 6:16 am

We welcome readers to submit letters regarding articles and content in Detroit Metro Times. Letters should be a minimum of 150 words, refer to content that has appeared on Detroit Metro Times, and must include the writer's full name, address, and phone number for verification purposes. No attachments will be considered. Writers of letters selected for publication will be notified via email. Letters may be edited and shortened for space.

Email us at [emailprotected].

Support Local Journalism.Join the Detroit Metro Times Press Club

Local journalism is information. Information is power. And we believe everyone deserves access to accurate independent coverage of their community and state. Our readers helped us continue this coverage in 2020, and we are so grateful for the support.

Help us keep this coverage going in 2021. Whether it's a one-time acknowledgement of this article or an ongoing membership pledge, your support goes to local-based reporting from our small but mighty team.

Join the Metro Times Press Club for as little as $5 a month.

More here:

Read This Before You Buy Nootropics. What are the Best Nootropics? Thesis Customized Nootropics Review: The Most Effective Brain Supplements. -...

Posted in Nootropics | Comments Off on Read This Before You Buy Nootropics. What are the Best Nootropics? Thesis Customized Nootropics Review: The Most Effective Brain Supplements. -…