There is a literal madness of the crowd loose upon the world. A mass psychosis. The ability to think critically and rationally about the reality of the world has warped and twisted some because of the military grade fear porn peddled by the powerful to divide the working class and retain their status and privilege. When this particular psychosis ends there will be phrases said like "I didn't know" or "We did the best we could with what we knew at the time" to alleviate their guilt. I do not know why such a substantial portion of the population is not equipped to reject the fear and feels so righteous to force their faith based beliefs upon others. It informs us of something very dark and very deep about the human condition.
re: censorship: "this is not being sentenced to wander voiceless in the wilderness, this is being given the keys to the kingdom and being free, being directly in touch with your audience, and getting paid bigly to do it" - *that* is a VERY good way to look at it and I wholeheartedly agree.
"airgapped [backup] drive" - I like that and have been doing the same for a paw-ful and a half of years. And I, personally, am glad you'll take us with you to the next one.
"twitter empowers twitter, substack empowers authors" - I like that even better!!
"never bring ink to a pixel fight" - ok, now I'm just collecting gato-isms!
Great post with some yummy "meat" in it, el Gato Malo! Bueno!
I imagine many have said about the same thing on Twitter. The fact that Alex was banned is that "they" know he has an audience. Like you. And they will continue to grow and prosper- thank goodness.
What's most bizarre about that Berenson tweet allegedly being the tweet that went too far...the CDC director said the very same thing (admittedly without the pithy attitude) three weeks ago on CNN. I keep posting the clip on Fakebook and Twitter in response to stupid people making stupid comments. I even trolled Robert Reich yesterday, which was fun.
When the vaxx failure crossed the rubicon, I saw an interview of Scott Gottlieb on CNBC. After Gottlieb said that the fully vaxxed could be infected with the Delta variant, Kernan refused to believe him. He turned to Quick and asked her if she believed it...'cause he didn't believe it. The look on Gottlieb's face was priceless (Ummm, Joe, I'm the former head of the FDA and I sit on the Pfizer board...I wouldn't say this if it wasn't true). It was surreal.
Change is always hard and scary...for most of us...but necessary. Those of us who still have accounts on Twitter and Fakebook can and should spread the word. Ultimately, the goal is to get information to the people who need it, especially to the ones who don't know they need it.
Thank you for the analysis and insight and humor and cat memes. You help us stay sane during these crazy times.
Just as important as the rise of "journalist as entrepreneur" is the return to true adversarial journalism. I partially credit Glenn Greenwald since his first appearance on Blogger (I've been reading and following him ever since then) during the Iraq invasion. I don't always agree with him but that's what I LOVE about him. And the corporate media's reaction to his increasing popularity and credibility just proves why he and other adversarial citizen journalists he's inspired are crucial and necessary.
I'm a lot more pessimistic about this than you are.
The institutions are completely committed to an infrastructure of lies. The average person is simply incurious and uncaring. Free speech depends on a network of interests that are easy to pressure, from hosting providers to domain name registrars, not to mention banks, payment processors, and all kinds of other infrastructure. I don't see how Free Speech as a principle comes out intact against all of this, without a miracle & mass-awakening.
“Vaccine” is a term being used fast and loose, possibly based on the recent redefinition of the term. (What the censors don’t hide they redefine. Just more lying.) Neurobiologist Dr. Jonathan J Couey prefers “transfection” to vaccine.
Wonderful essay! It aligns with the prognostications found in The Sovereign Individual; we are in an age of massive change, of convulsions. And yet ... freedom awaits.
An excellent blog with many home truths. I'm sure you won't mind me giving an honorable mention to Michael P Senger, who, like you, has nailed the MSM lies again and again during the past 18 months.
Indeed, silencing dissent only serves to make the censor's own voice the one that is crying out in the wilderness. The censor wandering the desert desperately searching for an echo chamber.
Summer 2021
There is a literal madness of the crowd loose upon the world. A mass psychosis. The ability to think critically and rationally about the reality of the world has warped and twisted some because of the military grade fear porn peddled by the powerful to divide the working class and retain their status and privilege. When this particular psychosis ends there will be phrases said like "I didn't know" or "We did the best we could with what we knew at the time" to alleviate their guilt. I do not know why such a substantial portion of the population is not equipped to reject the fear and feels so righteous to force their faith based beliefs upon others. It informs us of something very dark and very deep about the human condition.
re: censorship: "this is not being sentenced to wander voiceless in the wilderness, this is being given the keys to the kingdom and being free, being directly in touch with your audience, and getting paid bigly to do it" - *that* is a VERY good way to look at it and I wholeheartedly agree.
"airgapped [backup] drive" - I like that and have been doing the same for a paw-ful and a half of years. And I, personally, am glad you'll take us with you to the next one.
"twitter empowers twitter, substack empowers authors" - I like that even better!!
"never bring ink to a pixel fight" - ok, now I'm just collecting gato-isms!
Great post with some yummy "meat" in it, el Gato Malo! Bueno!
I imagine many have said about the same thing on Twitter. The fact that Alex was banned is that "they" know he has an audience. Like you. And they will continue to grow and prosper- thank goodness.
Absolutely correct. I mean, Jesus Christ didn’t get where he is today by being every Roman’s favorite fun-time prophet.
never bring ink to a pixel fight…. :)
What's most bizarre about that Berenson tweet allegedly being the tweet that went too far...the CDC director said the very same thing (admittedly without the pithy attitude) three weeks ago on CNN. I keep posting the clip on Fakebook and Twitter in response to stupid people making stupid comments. I even trolled Robert Reich yesterday, which was fun.
https://twitter.com/CNNSitRoom/status/1423422301882748929
When the vaxx failure crossed the rubicon, I saw an interview of Scott Gottlieb on CNBC. After Gottlieb said that the fully vaxxed could be infected with the Delta variant, Kernan refused to believe him. He turned to Quick and asked her if she believed it...'cause he didn't believe it. The look on Gottlieb's face was priceless (Ummm, Joe, I'm the former head of the FDA and I sit on the Pfizer board...I wouldn't say this if it wasn't true). It was surreal.
Change is always hard and scary...for most of us...but necessary. Those of us who still have accounts on Twitter and Fakebook can and should spread the word. Ultimately, the goal is to get information to the people who need it, especially to the ones who don't know they need it.
Thank you for the analysis and insight and humor and cat memes. You help us stay sane during these crazy times.
Just as important as the rise of "journalist as entrepreneur" is the return to true adversarial journalism. I partially credit Glenn Greenwald since his first appearance on Blogger (I've been reading and following him ever since then) during the Iraq invasion. I don't always agree with him but that's what I LOVE about him. And the corporate media's reaction to his increasing popularity and credibility just proves why he and other adversarial citizen journalists he's inspired are crucial and necessary.
Operation Mockingbird never ended.
I'm a lot more pessimistic about this than you are.
The institutions are completely committed to an infrastructure of lies. The average person is simply incurious and uncaring. Free speech depends on a network of interests that are easy to pressure, from hosting providers to domain name registrars, not to mention banks, payment processors, and all kinds of other infrastructure. I don't see how Free Speech as a principle comes out intact against all of this, without a miracle & mass-awakening.
Good golly Gato, I very much like your sense of humor. Please tell your amigos gato that I think they're better than "OK" and thanks!
Btw: censorship almost always backfires. It may take some time and the road may be bumpy, but it almost always backfires.
Great piece - one of your best.
“Vaccine” is a term being used fast and loose, possibly based on the recent redefinition of the term. (What the censors don’t hide they redefine. Just more lying.) Neurobiologist Dr. Jonathan J Couey prefers “transfection” to vaccine.
Wonderful essay! It aligns with the prognostications found in The Sovereign Individual; we are in an age of massive change, of convulsions. And yet ... freedom awaits.
Well said, my little kitten. Well said.
An excellent blog with many home truths. I'm sure you won't mind me giving an honorable mention to Michael P Senger, who, like you, has nailed the MSM lies again and again during the past 18 months.
I always found it revealing that the cat jumped right in the window but Fred couldn't figure it out and just started yelling for his wife......
Bravo!!
Indeed, silencing dissent only serves to make the censor's own voice the one that is crying out in the wilderness. The censor wandering the desert desperately searching for an echo chamber.
alex berensen on substack https://alexberenson.substack.com/people/12729762-alex-berenson