““Chairman Xi went a bridge too far in trying to seize control of Hong Kong. He is not dealing with barefoot villagers in the rice provinces. Hong Kong is a cleaner version of New York City. He is the emperor who controls everything except the city that keeps his empire afloat.””

— Don Surber, Xi blinks in Hong Kong

Tags: Don Surber ∙ Hong Kong ∙ China ∙ Chairman Xi ∙ New York

Tags: Hong Kong ∙ China ∙ protest ∙ capitalism ∙ human rights ∙ City That Ate A Country

““None of these companies has a problem operating in European countries with much more restrictive abortion laws than those in the US, nor Arab nations which ban it outright. Disney has a resort in China, not a country known for its liberal approach to human rights. But apparently Georgia is now beyond the pale.””

— Tim Newman, Personae non gratae

Tags: Tim Newman ∙ Georgia ∙ Europe ∙ Arab ∙ China ∙ Disney ∙ abortion ∙ human rights

I'd argue that the writing was on the wall when marriage was legally defined and moved away from being a religious rite to being a secular right.

Tags: marriage ∙ religion ∙ secular ∙ Bookworm ∙ permissible ∙ mala in se ∙ mala prohibita ∙ damage ∙ undesirables ∙ interracial marriages ∙ force of law ∙ Constitution ∙ man ∙ woman ∙ English common law ∙ Bible ∙ 20th Century ∙ Emperor Nero ∙ Mesopotamia ∙ China ∙ John Boswell ∙ Orthodox Church ∙ Native Americas ∙ third gender ∙ two-spirit ∙ mating ∙ pairbond ∙ raising a family ∙ Divine ∙ Old Testament ∙ biological ∙ monogamy ∙ permissible ∙ choice ∙ privilege ∙ right to vote ∙ Christian

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

Tags: trade ∙ Andrew Cuomo ∙ cannabis ∙ nun ∙ mistletoe ∙ James Comey ∙ transparancy ∙ Nancy Pelosi ∙ gun control ∙ gene editing ∙ Cuba ∙ Venezuela ∙ yellow vest ∙ middle class ∙ Donald Trump ∙ GOP ∙ government shutdown ∙ China ∙ Russia ∙ DNC ∙ Tom Perez ∙ voter data ∙ stadium scam ∙ Phoenix Suns

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

Tags: China ∙ business ∙ excecutive ∙ gas taxes ∙ poor people ∙ France ∙ climate change alarmists ∙ nonviolence ∙ Clinton Foundation ∙ whistleblower ∙ Hillary Clinton ∙ campaign contributions

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

Tags: Amazon ∙ crony capitalism ∙ tax credits ∙ New York ∙ Virginia ∙ Title IX ∙ USC ∙ FOIA ∙ Nancy Pelosi ∙ libertarian ∙ democracy ∙ dictatorship ∙ FBI ∙ hate crime ∙ sunspots ∙ carbon dioxide ∙ climate ∙ weather ∙ scam ∙ police ∙ shooting ∙ security guard ∙ alcohol ∙ farm bill ∙ hypocrites ∙ Kyrsten Sinema ∙ Arizona ∙ Nazis ∙ Germany ∙ history ∙ identity politics ∙ Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez ∙ farmers ∙ trade war ∙ China ∙ U.S. ∙ RVs ∙ nomads

As His Final Move in Office, Jeff Sessions Limits Use of Court Settlements to Reform Rotten Police Departments

I Think I Have Lost the Plot -- When Did AG Jeff Sessions Become a Liberal Icon?

What Causes a Normal Election to Spiral into Tribal Warfare?

Senate Judiciary Committee Report: 45 Interviews, Zero Evidence To Corroborate Claims Against Kavanaugh

China’s president vows to lower tariffs, increase imports amid tensions with US

Harvard's Racist Diversity

Why Are so Few Americans Able to Get Ahead?

Keith Ellison, Farrakhan groupie and go-to Congressman for anti-Israel activists, elected Minnesota AG

Note to Resistance media: The First Amendment wasn’t written to protect a reporter’s right to grandstand in the White House

Devastating wildfire blazes through California town: 'The community of Paradise is destroyed'

Florida Official Overseeing Vote Count Destroyed Ballots, Accused of Not Removing Dead Voters from Rolls

McSally vs. Sinema ballot update: About 9,600 votes separate the candidates, with Sinema in the lead

ABC, NBC Ignore Antifa Mob Assaulting Home of Fox News Host Tucker Carlson

Saudi prince MBS tells US evangelicals the world should focus on Iran, not him

Tags: Jeff Sessions ∙ reform ∙ police misconduct ∙ Brett Kavanaugh ∙ Senate ∙ China ∙ trade war ∙ Harvard ∙ diversity ∙ Keith Ellison ∙ resistance ∙ First Amendment ∙ White House ∙ Florida ∙ election ∙ Arizona ∙ Martha McSally ∙ Kyrsten Sinema ∙ ABC ∙ NBC ∙ Antifa ∙ Tucker Carlson ∙ Saudi crown prince ∙ Bin Salman ∙ Iran

Illegal Migrants Boast of Aiding Democrats’ Campaigns

Three European Countries Block Tax on Tech Giants

Mo’ Money, Mo’ Invasion

America Goes to War

Fmr Assistant Secretary of Treasury Explains What The Mid-Term Elections Are Really About

Hillary Clinton remains the Democrats best chance to defeat Trump in 2020

Right-wing activist group films undercover video of Kyrsten Sinema, staffers

Police decrypt 258,000 messages after breaking pricey IronChat crypto app

6 Questions About The Huge CIA Blunder That Allowed Enemies To Kill 70 U.S. Spies

CIA's ‘surveillance state’ is operating against us all

This Ousted Judge Just Released All the Juvenile Defendants Who Promised Him They Wouldn't Kill Anybody

Cannabis Industry Cheers Sessions' Departure at DOJ

3 Ways to Make the Post-Election World Better

Tags: election ∙ illegal immigrants ∙ Democrats ∙ money ∙ immigration ∙ invasion ∙ war ∙ Russia ∙ China ∙ al-Qaeda ∙ establishment ∙ Hillary Clinton ∙ Donald Trump ∙ Kyrsten Sinema ∙ police ∙ hack ∙ IronChat ∙ CIA ∙ surveillance culture ∙ juvenile ∙ judge ∙ Jeff Sessions ∙ cannabis

Report: 3,000 SNAP Retailers Used Social Security Numbers of Dead People During Obama Administration

China Targets Control Over Internet of Things for Spying, Business

Once Again, NBC Sits On Story Related to Sexual Misconduct Until After It Matters

Corporate Speech Police Are Not the Answer to Online Hate

'#WalkAway' movement renouncing liberalism marches through nation's capital

One of the Best Arguments Against Blocking Speech on Social Media....

Defensible Space

Deficits Do Matter: Debt Payments Will Consume Trillions of Dollars in Coming Years

U.S.-bound migrants enter Guatemala, others clash at border

Is Orwell’s Big Brother Here? Bezos & Amazon Team up With Defense, CIA & ICE

Murder in Pittsburgh and the Targeting of Alternative Social Media

Voters in Oregon Have the Opportunity to Create 10 “Gun Sanctuary” Counties

New Hampshire Privacy Amendment on the Ballot

Google’s smart city dream is turning into a privacy nightmare

Mexico offers caravan migrants benefits to stay; thousands refuse

Virtue-signaling and derangement in the wake of a massacre

Tags: SNAP ∙ Social Security ∙ dead people ∙ Obama Administration ∙ Guatemala ∙ China ∙ internet of things ∙ NBC ∙ sexual misconduct ∙ censorship ∙ speech police ∙ online hate ∙ #WalkAway ∙ liberalism ∙ megafires ∙ Pacific Northwest ∙ deficit ∙ trillions ∙ debt ∙ caravan ∙ Big Brother ∙ Amazon ∙ DoD ∙ ICE ∙ CIA ∙ Pittsburgh ∙ murder ∙ Oregon ∙ gun sanctuary ∙ New Hampshire ∙ privacy ∙ Google ∙ Mexico ∙ benefits ∙ massacre ∙ virtue signaling

“I don’t give a s**t if that is a crime.”

Tags: Jamal Khashoggi ∙ Elizabeth Warren ∙ DNA test ∙ Room 101 ∙ Google ∙ China ∙ smart house ∙ surveillance ∙ goverment ∙ snitch ∙ Venezuela ∙ capitalists ∙ puppicide ∙ police ∙ Facebook ∙ purged ∙ Washington Post ∙ tech workers ∙ Silicon Valley ∙ TSA ∙ biometrics ∙ censorship ∙ Portland ∙ civil liberties ∙ social media ∙ conservatives

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

Top 3% of U.S. Taxpayers Paid Majority of Income Taxes in 2016

Gore: Jet Stream 'Getting Loopier and Wavier,' So 'We Have a Global Emergency'

Trump snubs Feinstein, Harris to nominate conservative judges to liberal 9th Circuit

Mary Robinson on climate change: ‘Feeling “This is too big for me” is no use to anybody’

Italian Interior Minister prepares legislature for self-defence: “No trial for those who defend their property”

‘Bitcoin and Guns, That’s the Only Way to Save This Country’

Libertarian and Police Accountability Pages Deleted in Facebook Purge

Facebook has lost 30% of its value since July

500,000 Afghan migrants are ready to enter Europe via unprotected Turkish-Greek border area

Bear spray, bloody brawls at Patriot Prayer 'law and order' march in Portland

Dozens of Witches Gather to Place Public Hex on Brett Kavanaugh

Black Man Cuffed on His Own Property While Moving Into New Home

Venezuela Has Lost 13% of its Population in a Mass Exodus from Socialism

Fight Fizzles Before Police Arrive; Cops Start Tasing and Arresting People Anyway

Violence, Public Anger Erupts In China As Home Prices Slide

Lawsuit: KSP trooper attacks man after Facebook post

Fusion GPS co-founder Glenn Simpson in 'real legal jeopardy', GOP investigator says

Toronto's Sick Kids hospital preparing policy for euthanasia for youth over 18 that could one day apply to minors

Human 2.0 Is Almost Here: The Transhumanism Agenda Just Went Mainstream

The view from Saudi Arabia as world holds its breath

Thousands line up for zero-down-payment, subprime mortgages

How the Heir of the White Nationalist Movement Learned to Let Go of Hatred

Congress Can’t Create an Independent and Unaccountable New Branch of Government

Tags: income tax ∙ fair share ∙ Al Gore ∙ fear ∙ jet stream ∙ Donald Trump ∙ Dianne Feinstein ∙ conservative ∙ 9th Circuit Court ∙ Mary Robinson ∙ Italy ∙ gun rights ∙ Ukraine ∙ bitcoin ∙ Facebook ∙ censorship ∙ libertarian ∙ police ∙ accountability ∙ Afgan ∙ migrants ∙ Europe ∙ Turkey ∙ Greece ∙ invasion ∙ witches ∙ Brett Kavanaugh ∙ racism ∙ Venezuela ∙ sociaism ∙ police misconduct ∙ China ∙ housing ∙ Kentucky ∙ Fusion GPS ∙ GOP ∙ hospital ∙ euthanasia ∙ Saudi Arabia ∙ transhumanism ∙ Jamal Khashoggi ∙ subpprime mortgages ∙ white nationalism ∙ hatred ∙ CFPB

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

Do Half of All Marriages Really End in Divorce?

NATO to Deploy 45,000 Troops Near Russian Border—Calling it a “Defensive” Move

China confirms detention of former Interpol chief Meng Hongwei

U.S. not invited to Canada’s upcoming trade meeting — only ‘like minded’ nations allowed

How the mushroom dream of a ‘long-haired hippie’ could help save the world’s bees

ACLU's Opposition to Kavanaugh Sounds Its Death Knell

BOMBSHELL: audit of global warming data finds it riddled with errors

Politico: 'After Failing to Stop Kavanaugh, Dems Wonder If It's Time to Be More Ruthless'

Former Google boss launches scathing Silicon Valley attack urging tech giants to end the delusion that it's making the world a better place

Trump Isn’t a Self-Made Man. His Wealth Is the Product of Years of Government Subsidies.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: 'Eliminate' Electoral College, It 'Undermines' Democracy

IPCC Report Reaches Dire Conclusions Based on Models that Overstate Rate of Warming

The Democrats' Complaints About the Senate Being Undemocratic Are Pure Whining and Excuse-Making: Here's Why

Tags: marriage ∙ divorce ∙ NATO ∙ Russia ∙ troops ∙ China ∙ Interpol ∙ Meng Hongwei ∙ Canada ∙ trade ∙ mushroom ∙ bees ∙ ACLU ∙ Brett Kavanaugh ∙ global warming ∙ Democrats ∙ Silicon Valley ∙ tech giants ∙ Donald Trump ∙ subsidies ∙ Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez ∙ electoral college ∙ Al Gore ∙ Hillary Clinton ∙ IPCC ∙ Senate

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

Tags: sex trafficing ∙ prostitution ∙ sting operation ∙ sex ∙ Brett Kavanaugh ∙ truth ∙ Federal Reserve Chairman ∙ Jerome Powell ∙ economy ∙ Donald Trump ∙ text ∙ emergencies ∙ China ∙ IRS ∙ Interest rates ∙ climate alarmist ∙ taxes ∙ free trade ∙ Brazil ∙ gun control ∙ Uranium One ∙ FBI ∙ Russia ∙ Barack Obama ∙ Hillary Clinton ∙ police misconduct

It makes you wonder what all those repressive nations are really afraid of, doesn't it?

Tags: internet ∙ China ∙ Original Vigil ∙ censorship ∙ mass medium ∙ John Gilmore ∙ libertarian ∙ Sun Microsystems ∙ Time magazine ∙ distributed network ∙ connectivity ∙ information ∙ restrictions ∙ clipping

A new category and a story about defying government authority with the internet

Tags: China ∙ internet ∙ Original Vigil ∙ censorship ∙ OpenNet Initiative ∙ Harvard Law School ∙ University of Toronto ∙ Cambridge ∙ Oxford ∙ Berkman Center for Internet and Society ∙ John Palfrey ∙ clipping

This is a page from the original version of Pagan Vigil. There are some formatting differences. Originally published at www.paganvigil.com/C1415225799/E20070313134228

Chinese government tries to target bloggers

Some will tell you that this article is bad news.

I don't agree.

What this tells me is despite ever increasing efforts to control the internet in China, it is slipping from government control and into the hands of individuals.

And the government is afraid. Very afraid.

Every time I look at articles about the internet and world wide web in China, I am amazed. It's self-organizing, capable of withstanding terrible tyranny, and incredibly adaptive.

The Chinese government can't put the genie back in the bottle.

Fun to watch them try though.

From shore to shore, let freedom ring.

Posted: Tue - March 13, 2007 at 01:42 PM

Tags: China ∙ internet ∙ Original Vigil ∙ goverment ∙ Chinese government ∙ clipping

This is a page from the original version of Pagan Vigil. There are some formatting differences. Originally published at www.paganvigil.com/C1415225799/E20070210153538

A new category and a story about defying government authority with the internet

““Zhang's ban, which was reported by several Chinese newspapers, was regarded as extreme even by the censorship authorities in Beijing. But it was emblematic of the Communist Party's determination to retain control of what this country's 1.3 billion people see, hear and read despite the vast changes in other realms brought on by economic reform over the last two decades.

Ever since Mao Zedong brought the party to power in 1949, information, art and entertainment have been regarded here as government property, distributed to the public -- or not -- according to what party officials think best. But in recent years, as the number of online Chinese climbed to 137 million by the end of 2006, the Internet has challenged this power in many ways. Zhang's experience in Gedong dramatized how robust the challenge has become.

Eager to speed modernization, China's leaders have professed a desire to see people use the Web widely to seek knowledge and economic advantage. But they also have expressed determination to keep it under party control. The goal, they have said, is to keep Chinese away from sites deemed unfit because of pornographic or politically sensitive content -- or, in the case of Fangshan County, because they waste teenagers' time with frivolous games.

"Whether we can cope with the Internet is a matter that affects the development of socialist culture, the security of information and the stability of the state," President Hu Jintao said at a Politburo study session last month, according to the state-controlled press. Hu, who also heads the party, said the solution is not to deter development of the Web but to "nurture a healthy online culture."

Reporters Without Borders, the Paris-based media watchdog group, said Hu's government has deployed "armies of informants and cyber-police" and sophisticated computer programs to prevent Chinese Internet users from connecting with sites the party disapproves of or reading postings that stray from political orthodoxy. Sifting the acceptable from the unacceptable costs China "an enormous amount," the group said, without providing a specific number.””

The kids are finding a way. It's games today, but tomorrow it will be political.

And if the kids are finding a way and there are enough of them to get attention, there are plenty of adults who you haven't heard about who are networking and doing their best to undermine all the restrictions.

Let freedom ring.

Posted: Sat - February 10, 2007 at 03:35 PM

Tags: Original Vigil ∙ goverment ∙ authority ∙ internet ∙ freedom ∙ Firefly ∙ Babylon 5 ∙ China ∙ Gedong ∙ Zhang ∙ Reporters Without Borders ∙ clipping

❝❝I'm not totally convinced that North Korea has anything left to work with. Something happened to that mountain. Most likely it's because of NK's own testing. Now they have the Chinese looking over their shoulder saying "Don't put radioactive stuff over our country!" Meanwhile, the NK leadership doesn't know how to deal with Trump and is looking for help where ever it can find it.

This isn't business as usual. It never is with Trump. The old diplomatic games won't work. He doesn't care about the shape of the table. Trump cares about getting things done.

ETA: Pardon, that was the wrong China article link. Here's the correct one.

---

Obviously I disagree.

I will say two more things. The people saying that Trump is going to bungle this are many of the same people who said the conference would never happen, that Trump couldn't bring the North Koreans to the table, that answering threats with threats couldn't possibly work, and most importantly, that Trump would never win the Presidency.

And I think it's too early to say how the table is set.

---

I think you are seriously underestimating Trump.

But more importantly, you are expecting Trump to act like a politician.

North Korea is treading new ground dealing with Trump.

---

I remind you how many times you have been wrong about Trump on this thread alone. You really should brush up on negotiating, not the diplomatic version but the commercial version.

I'm also amazed by how many are writing off this meeting before it happens. Many of them said there would never be a meeting between the leaders of North and South Korea, and that happened.

Kim Jong Un can't feed his people. After that happens for a while, even tyrants have to shift course.

---

I didn't say it would go well. I said you have been wrong about Trump. And so have a lot of "experts." Trump does things in his own way and he has accomplished quite a bit.

Quite frankly, the President (ANY President) should make his own decisions and not be bound by what the staff thinks is important. That's part of the institutional climate that needs to change. The staff serves at the pleasure of the President.

And if this were a Democrat President, you would be cheering his courage and independence.

---

Given that most of the news stories about Trump have been extremely negative, I think it's safe to assume there is a bias there. It's not that the news has been negative, it's been that is how it is written. Many of the "open sources" have long considered it their Duty to deliver the narrative, not the news. Stormy Daniels is a non-story, or rather it's a story in a way that no one wants to report. If she took money at the time to stay quiet (a voluntary act), then what kind of person is she to break her word and contract? And if she is that kind of person, how can she be trusted to tell the truth now?

The point is, the information that is being published about Trump isn't necessarily accurate. Career Washington politicos and lobbyists don't know what he is going to say from day to day, much less what he is going to do. And if they don't know and if the media regularly alters the news to fit the narrative, just how much good do those sources do for the North Koreans?❞❞

Tags: Donald Trump ∙ Kim Jong Un ∙ experts ∙ President ∙ Democrat ∙ North Korea ∙ business as usual ∙ diplomatic games ∙ China ∙ mountain collapse ∙ underestimating

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

Tags: mental illness ∙ diversity ∙ viewpoint ∙ debt ∙ Peter Strzok ∙ diversity training ∙ Cambridge Analytica ∙ Michael Flynn ∙ Rudolph Contreras ∙ FISA ∙ currency collapse ∙ qualified immunity ∙ mental health reform ∙ Wells Fargo ∙ scam ∙ Irish ∙ immigrants ∙ California ∙ Northstate ∙ Jefferson ∙ China ∙ walk out ∙ Women's March ∙ Obamacare ∙ healthcare ∙ aIr traffic control ∙ Russian hack ∙ Trump campaign ∙ Facebook ∙ vitamins ∙ false charges ∙ City That Ate A Country

Tags: China ∙ censorship ∙ debt ∙ YouTube ∙ conservatives ∙ liberal ∙ libertarian ∙ DCCC ∙ Laura Moser ∙ Parkland ∙ gun control ∙ victim disarmament ∙ drought ∙ snow ∙ Obamacare ∙ states ∙ Tenth Amendment ∙ NRA boycott ∙ virtue signaling ∙ assault weapon ∙ California ∙ Seth Rich ∙ free internet ∙ China ∙ censorship ∙ nomination ∙ Chuck Schumer ∙ racism ∙ Marvin Quattlebaum ∙ schools ∙ Google ∙ guns

Tags: China ∙ censorship ∙ debt ∙ YouTube ∙ conservatives ∙ liberal ∙ libertarian ∙ DCCC ∙ Laura Moser ∙ Parkland ∙ gun control ∙ victim disarmament ∙ drought ∙ snow ∙ Obamacare ∙ states ∙ Tenth Amendment ∙ NRA boycott ∙ virtue signaling ∙ assault weapon ∙ California ∙ Seth Rich ∙ free internet ∙ China ∙ censorship ∙ nomination ∙ Chuck Schumer ∙ racism ∙ Marvin Quattlebaum ∙ schools ∙ Google ∙ guns

Tags: religious tolerance ∙ China ∙ internet ∙ Billings ∙ Donald Trump ∙ homeless ∙ Los Angeles ∙ Second Amendment ∙ Pittsburgh ∙ Amazon ∙ Italy ∙ EU citizens ∙ Euroscepticism ∙ mass migration ∙ Derry ∙ Republican ∙ Democrat ∙ BuzzFeed ∙ gun control ∙ Robert Mueller ∙ Facebook ∙ Southern Poverty Law Center ∙ marijuana ∙ Calaveras County ∙ Google ∙ censorship ∙ Dick’s Sporting Goods ∙ virtue signaling ∙ public schools ∙ Parkland ∙ shooting ∙ Barack Obama

Computer security expert switches his company from Windows to Macintosh

Tags: Original Vigil ∙ clipping ∙ skimmed ∙ Financial Times ∙ Microsoft ∙ China ∙ censorship

Tags: polite ∙ spiderweb ∙ 7-Eleven ∙ Apple ∙ New Hampshire ∙ China ∙ trade ∙ civilian review board ∙ Donald Trump ∙ Robert Menendez ∙ technology ∙ Canada ∙ right to work ∙ Rex Murphy ∙ Antifa ∙ alt-right ∙ U.S. Virgin Islands ∙ racism ∙ cops ∙ Voynich manuscript ∙ Congress ∙ bureaucracy ∙ technocrats ∙ Hillary Clinton ∙ robbery ∙ Supreme Court ∙ travel ban ∙ Pope Francis

Tags: China ∙ India ∙ Brexit ∙ Donald Trump ∙ DoJ ∙ anti-Trump ∙ speech wars ∙ Charlottesville ∙ Virginia state police ∙ Terry McAuliffe ∙ Noam Chomsky ∙ Antifa ∙ Robert Byrd ∙ Confederate general ∙ KKK ∙ Google ∙ censorship ∙ white supremacy ∙ libertarian

Somehow I don't believe this.

Tags: socialism ∙ Venezuela ∙ Soviet Union ∙ North Korea ∙ China ∙ capitalists ∙ politicos ∙ rich ∙ powerful ∙ privilege ∙ elites ∙ picture ∙ guest content

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

Tags: Obamacare ∙ climate change ∙ Venezuela ∙ geoengineering ∙ carbon dioxide ∙ VPN ∙ China ∙ government ∙ internet ∙ Kid Rock ∙ immigration ∙ Jeff Flake ∙ Senator ∙ Arizona ∙ North Carolina ∙ speech wars ∙ Goldwater Instittuie

r/libertarian vs r/socialism

Tags: war ∙ Congress ∙ Constitution ∙ George Washington ∙ James Madison ∙ Donald Trump ∙ reset ∙ Syria ∙ Iraq ∙ North Korea ∙ China ∙ Russia ∙ mainstream media ∙ intelligence agencies ∙ politicos ∙ freedom ∙ American hegemony ∙ tribute

The official titles don’t matter, aunts and grandmothers hold a community together.

Tags: China ∙ community ∙ aunts & grandmothers ∙ dance ∙ skimmed