“PragerU v. YouTube”
Are you trying to make me irritated with you?
You keep going off on these anti-pagan rants.
Read More...Memo to Google and other Alphabet companies
You don't make the world better by cramming speech and ideas you don't like in the closet.
Your job is not to pass judgment on the worth of any idea.
Your job is to provide access to all ideas so people can make their own choices.
Even if the choices are ideas you don't approve. Especially if you don't approve. People have the right to make up their own mind. Deny that and you deny freedom.
Don't be evil.
“Stossel: Does Silicon Valley manipulate users?”
Wednesday roundup
“Stossel: Google and Facebook Cross "The Creepy Line"”
Monday roundup
Youngest kids in class may be over-diagnosed with ADHD
Destroyed for Nothing
“The closing of GM’s Detroit plant—erected at the expense of a vibrant urban neighborhood—is a final twist of the knife in a tale of displacement and destruction.”Exclusive: Google Employees Debated Burying Conservative Media In Search
You can be an advocate or you can be a search engine. You can't honestly be both.Obama Tells Wall Street to Thank him for Making Them so Much Money
The work-from-home doctor will see you now
The Ignored Legacy of George H.W. Bush: War Crimes, Racism, and Obstruction of Justice
The Forgotten Legacy of George H.W. Bush That the Media Won’t Tell You About
Post Office Has Boom Year: Loses More Money Than Ever
San Francisco's Wealthy Leftists Are Making Homelessness Worse
G20 Summit, Top Agenda Item: Bye-Bye American Empire
Texas Bill Would Set Foundation for a “Gun Rights Sanctuary State”
Landlord Tells Harvard Student to Move Out Over Legally Owned Guns
Supreme Court Deals Unanimous, Welcome Blow to Administrative State in Frog Case
Curtains for the Clintons
The Cities That Amazon HQ2 Left Behind
“Amazon’s yearlong search for the location of its second headquarters was billed as a chance to transform an American city. In reality, it made plain an economic system that increases inequality, monopoly power, and political polarization.”Supersized Monday roundup
In Democratic circles, anti-Semitism is becoming normal
The ACLU Condemns DeVos's Title IX Reforms, Says These Due Process Safeguards 'Inappropriately Favor the Accused'
“So much for civil liberties.”Household debt hit a record high of $13.5 trillion last quarter
A Warm-Up For 2020: Arizona’s Maricopa County Just Stole The Senate Election
I'm not sure about the allegations, but I'm watching closely.GOP Audits Elections Office In County That Swung To Democrats
Hanging On: Republican Congresswoman Mia Love Is Now Favored To Prevail In Tight Re-Election Bid
Stacey Abrams Acknowledges Loss In Georgia Governor's Race
Is an ‘Internet of Ears’ the next big thing for smart homes?
SAF, NRA File Federal Lawsuit Challenging Initiative 1639
Kansas City Health Department pours bleach on food meant for homeless people
Debra Messing Joins Alyssa Milano, Condemns Anti-Semitic Women's March Leaders
Gridlocked, in Fair Weather and Foul
“New Yorkers demand that the mayor clear the roads—but only in snowstorms.”Bubble Trouble: Seattle-Bellevue Metro Housing Market Goes South
Democrats’ Way Back: Is the Resistance rooted in reality?
Identity Politics and American anti-Semitism
Brenda Snipes submits resignation as Broward elections supervisor
Hell Hath No Fury Like a Liberal Scorned: The Media Turns on Facebook and Google
Trump backs sentencing reform bill he says will give ex-inmates 'a second chance at life'
The Institutionalization of Social Justice
There's a Good Reason Many Women Make Less Than Men
Loggers support Trump's claim that wildfires caused by 'poor forest management'
Global warming alarmists pissed off by Canadian gov’t report that nukes their narrative about polar bears
Monday roundup
Pelosi On Broward County: ‘There Is No Election Fraud,’ Just ‘An Honest Count Of The Vote’
Arizona Democrat's Lead Now 'Insurmountable'
Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Moe
❝How Florida elections work—or don’t❞This is What Retail Investors Did with GE This Year as it Plunged
Google’s Highly Cited Scholar Wants a ‘Farewell to Free Speech’
Lhamon’s Confession: She Gamed The Narrative
God and Guns in the Synagogue
Understanding the Global Recession of 2019
Former Hillary Adviser: “Hillary will run again”
‘None of the above’ tops list of potential 2020 Dems, poll shows
Alabama Voters Pass Amendment to Display Ten Commandments at Public Schools
This won't end well. Why is it that certain monotheists define religious freedom as their religion above all others?Should We Abolish the Electoral College?
Judicial Watch sues for records on overlooked House IT scandal
“Platform Or Publisher?”
Platform Or Publisher? How Big Tech Can Be Brought To Its Knees
““Either way — platform or publisher — Big Tech loses, as long as the government forces it to one side or the other. If platform, then the FAAGs have to tolerate thought criminals using their services, just as if they were a common carrier, like a telephone utility. If publisher, then Big Tech can be sued to kingdom come and charged with innumerable violations of federal law.””
NeoNote — Making the free market work
❝❝First, let's acknowledge that almost no one becomes a billionaire without active government intervention. Whether it's a patent, the existence of a corporation, or the exclusive right to sell colored sugar water, you can't concentrate money on a large scale without government.NeoNotes are the selected comments that I made on other boards, in email, or in response to articles where I could not respond directly.
Second, money depends on movement. Money stuffed in a mattress is just lumpy nesting material. It's cashflow that makes economies work. Yes, that dingus sells for $350, but there is the raw material cost, the manufacturing costs, the overhead costs like salaries and government fees, and so on. Very few things have a profit margin of ten percent, and most are well under five. So that dingus sells for $350, but most likely it cost the company about $333 to make and distribute. Money has to circulate or there is no value anywhere.
Third, you can't overlook competition. Well, at least not without government suppressing it anyway. A company has to compete for employees, just as employees have to compete for jobs. Multiple employers mean better wages and benefits. Regionally, multiple employers means that a town or city is less subject to the whims of a single company or the demands of a single industry.
As far as there being too few jobs, that kicks into government intervention again. In a healthy economy, there will usually be more jobs than employees.
Fourth (and this is the really important bit), companies expand by providing better quality goods and services cheaper, faster, and with more distribution than the competition. This instability is the keystone to the whole process. If a company can't compete, it loses money. More accurately, resources (including employees) are freed to other companies.
Companies want shortcuts, so they lobby and change the law rather than create new products and services. If a large company can pull it off, it's usually much cheaper. Again, this is government intervention. Short of government protection and favor, the only way a company can stay in business is by being at least as good as it's competition.
I should add that digital services and products throw a spanner in the works. On the one hand you have companies like Google offering "free services" by selling your data. On the other hand you have companies like Disney selling movies produced 25, 30 years ago for $20 a pop. We're still working out how all this will work in the long run.❞❞
Wednesday roundup
Civility 101: James Cromwell Says ‘There Will Be Blood’ if Dems Lose Midterms
If this is true, why hold elections?State-Backed Digital Currency Offers Nothing for Canadians
Is This Worse Than '68?
Moving The Goalposts: IPCC Secretly Redefines what ‘Climate’ means
Bolsonaro is not a fascist
Dad at McDonald's with kids shoots and kills masked gunman who opened fire
Why Halloween Is America’s Most Neighborhood-Nurturing Holiday
Hillary Clinton Drops Super Racist Comment During Event
Can you imagine any Republican getting away with this?The Misguided Rabbis of Twitter
“Calls to excommunicate pro-Trump Jews are not simply wrong. They’re poison.”Election predictions
Why polls probably aren't workingFeds Order Google To Hand Over A Load Of Innocent Americans' Locations
Not guilty, just in the wrong place at the wrong time. So much for the "right" of privacy.New Research Confirms We Got Cholesterol All Wrong
“The U.S. government has pushed a lot of bad nutrition advice over the years. Maybe it should stop advising us on what to eat.”Warmists and Skeptics Should Agree That This is The Real Scandal in Climate Science
Oversized Monday roundup
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....
“...is so we become aware of who might be dangerous.”Defensible Space
““Megafires” are now a staple of life in the Pacific Northwest, but how we talk about them illustrates the tension at the heart of the western myth itself.”Deficits Do Matter: Debt Payments Will Consume Trillions of Dollars in Coming Years
U.S.-bound migrants enter Guatemala, others clash at border
Another 3000 strong caravanIs 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
“Google vs DuckDuckGo | Search engine manipulation, censorship and why you should switch”
Privacy and a new web?
NeoNote — Online monopolies
❝❝No, they are not monopolies.NeoNotes are the selected comments that I made on other boards, in email, or in response to articles where I could not respond directly.
When I sit down at a computer, I don't have to go through Facebook to check the weather or see what is happening at this site. If I wanted to message someone on my iPod or iPad, I don't have to use Twitter.
With AT&T, if you were in an area covered you had no choice. It was your regional Bell company and AT&T or nothing. The breakup fixed that, you could choose your phone company. And today, if I am not in range of the right cell tower, my phone still works as long as I am in range of a cell tower.
Facebook, Twitter, Google, Apple, all got big by offering something the competition did not have. No one was forced. Competition is the only way to reduce their hold. And the competition, like all competition, has to offer something more than "just as good as."
For a while, iOS and macOSX had software hooks so that Facebook and Twitter had easier access. That's no longer necessarily true, some of Apple's customers didn't want their data shared by companies that weren't trustworthy.
Government intervention is the last thing we need. There are already politicos who complain about "fake news" that isn't fake, it's just not what the politicos want you to think about. From the news in the last couple of days, it seems Twitter is going after conservative and libertarian users. Do we really want a world where government decides what may and may not be said?
Oh, one other thing. Monopolies rely on government support and intervention. Start regulating and you just planted a monopoly.
I agree it's a mess.
To get a site, you have to register a domain name. Then you have to get server space. If you use a company like Wordpress, you agree to carry their ads on your site in exchange for a reduced rate or free use on their server space. If you go on your own, you find a web host (like MacHighway) and you have more control over the site and advertising.
Think of it like a storefront that you have to rent. Depending on the terms of the lease, that is how much service your "landlord" provides and how much you provide to your visitors.
If Twitter provides the ability to block people you don't like, I agree that it should be available to ALL users. But the platform is not public property. The "landlord" can block out who they want when they want. But they shouldn't be shielded from the consequences of their actions. They are liable if they provide different services and benefits to their users. If it's a "free" service, then all "free" users should have the same benefits as all other "free" users. The "landlord" can ban conservatives, but if they allow conservatives (or one specific high profile conservative), then that person should have the same rights and benefits.
ETA: The real question is if the platform should ban offensive content and how that should be defined.❞❞
Thursday supersized roundup
Survey Says: Politicized Sports, Entertainment Driving Viewers Away
But some progressives have been saying it doesn't make a make a significant differenceDigitalships and Double-Standards
Document drop: Another fatal FBI fumble in Florida
What happens when diversity is more important than public safetyThe Schooling of David Hogg
Public spectacle doesn't mean you'll get respect. See also Dear David Hogg, You’re a Lying, Opportunistic, Insufferable Little Toe Rag
California judge holds climate change ‘tutorial’ ahead of landmark case against oil companies
This alone should be enough to show the judge's biasNOAA Data Tampering Approaching 2.5 Degrees
Completely rewriting climate historyEU reveals a digital tax plan that could penalize Google, Amazon and Facebook
The important thing is NOT that the EU is going after these companies. The important thing is that "traditional businesses" pay 23.2% in taxes.Why Trump Is Right to Reject the Paris Climate Agreement
It was never about reducing CO2. It was about the United States paying through the nose.The Problem With Social Justice Today -- Dividing Rather than Unifying
Labels, pronouns, and power over speech.Trump is right: The special counsel should never have been appointed
I still think the Obama and Clinton Russian connections should be investigated.Congress Is Still Ignoring Its Spending Problem as Deadline Looms for $1.3 Trillion Spending Bill
“Four out of five voters agree that Washington has a spending problem, but a new omnibus spending bill will add yet more to the national debt.”Freedom-Loving Parents, Rejoice: Utah Approves Free-Range Kids Bill
Let kids be kidsThe sad hysteria of the Southern Poverty Law Center
Targeting conservative people and groupsElizabeth Warren’s Unaccountable Federal Agency Backfires on Her: New at Reason
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is unconstitutional. All government agencies should answer to Congress.More California Cities Seek to Defy ‘Sanctuary State’ as Revolt Spreads
This could make the succession movement very interestingFrance: Toward Total Submission to Islam, Destruction of Free Speech
All other things being equal, the side that can't stand dissent is usually wrong.Syrup Smugglers Take on the Maple Mafia
The free market is economic activity between consenting adults. Funny how governments don't like that, "for your own good" of course.CalPERS retirees are suddenly worried about their pensions. What happened?
Government took too much power and mismanaged the assetsFired FBI official authorized criminal probe of Sessions, sources say
I'm not even sure this is legal against a sitting Attorney GeneralFOSTA Passes Senate, Making Prostitution Ads a Federal Crime Against Objections from DOJ and Trafficking Victims
Another headline grab for politicosSupersized Monday roundup
China Presses Its Internet Censorship Efforts Across the Globe
Will China demand censorship across the globe? A free internet is humanity's last, best hope.Schumer Will Vote ‘No’ On Judicial Nominee Because He Is White
“The nomination of Marvin Quattlebaum speaks to the overall lack of diversity in President Trump’s selections for the federal judiciary. Quattlebaum replaces not one, but two scuttled Obama nominees who were African American.”Schools are safer than they were in the 90s, and school shootings are not more common than they used to be, researchers say
There isn't a trend. See also School Shootings Have Declined Dramatically Since The 1990S. Does It Really Make Sense To Militarize Schools?Google tried censoring 'gun' shopping searches. It backfired
Someone didn't think it through. Well, it was a bad decision anyway, but the unintended consequences…The History of the 'Assault Weapon' Hoax. Part 1: The Crime that Started it All
“A 1989 shooting at a Cal. schoolyard began the national "assault weapon" issue. It was a consequence of law enforcement failure.”More cover-up questions
Remember Seth Rich?SHOCKER: Companies Pulling NRA Support Totally Backfires
People are taking the NRA boycott seriously. Just not the way the virtue signalers hoped.Obamacare: Will States do the Job that Congressional Republicans Have Failed to Do?
All sorts of implications hereSeven Feet Of Snow In Northern California Puts Screeching Halt To State’s Drought
You mean climate fixes itself?Why Did It Take Two Weeks To Discover Parkland Students’ Astroturfing?
This needs to be in the gun control (victim disarmament) discussion. Remember this The Parkland Teens Fighting For Gun Control Have The Backing Of These Huge Organizing GroupsHigh School Teacher Suspended For Pro-Gun Comments On Parkland Shooting
Thou shalt not dissentHow Lenders Are Turning Low-Level Courts Into Dickensian “Debt Collection Mills”
“Federal law outlawed debt prisons in 1833, but lenders, landlords and even gyms and other businesses have found a way to resurrect the Dickensian practice.”YouTube Purge Begins=> Top Conservative YouTube Sites Taken Down in February Sweep
Thou shalt not dissent OR criticizeReclaiming “Liberal”
In 1900 America, "liberal" meant what "libertarian" means todayLaura Moser Shakes Off the DCCC
This might be a glimpse of what happens next. See also When DCCC Calls, Hang Up the PhoneFriday supersized roundup
Florida vote to post 'In God we Trust' in schools prompts a question: Whose God?
Why does government think it can choose someone's religion?Behind name redacted Rampage: Obama's School-Leniency Policy
DisturbingDick’s Sporting Goods Bans Some Rifle Sales…Again
Virtue signaling…againGoogle is censoring shopping results for AR-15, handguns and more
Chilling. Do you really want Google deciding what you can see on the 'net?A rural county legalized marijuana farms. It took their tax money – then voted to ban them
Literally taxes are theftThe IRS Is Coming for Your Passports
This is probably seven types of illegal.Police Unions Defend Bad Cops Who Do Awful Things. Why Won't They Defend Broward County Deputy?
Follow the money‘Chappaquiddick’ to Open Film Festival… on Martha’s Vineyard
Beyond surrealStop treating the Southern Poverty Law Center like it's a respectable and responsible organization
The SPLC is heavily biased against conservatives, and moderately biased against libertariansChina banned the letter N from the internet after people used it to attack Xi Jinping's plan to rule forever
Why we need a free and open internetStill More Bad News (For Democrats) About The GOP Tax Cuts
Blacks, Hispanics, and women hit hardestKoch Brothers Group Launches Ads Against Tax Breaks for Amazon HQ2
Why should any company be shielded from the taxes that other companies pay?The Parkland Teens Fighting For Gun Control Have The Backing Of These Huge Organizing Groups
Yes, it's BuzzFeed which I don't like using as a source. It's also accurate.Some Billings students are opposed to planned walk-out
Funny how only one side of the debate is hitting the national mediaFacebook Keeps Secret Files on EVERYONE Including Non-Users – Here’s How to See Yours
Exaggerating, but not by muchWhat Mueller Has and What He’s Missing
There is very little doubt that this was an attempt to derail an elected PresidentDerry business turning away Republican customers
If the tables were turned, don't you think a business would be shamed into servicing Democrat voters?Italian Voters Set to Shake European Union to Its Core as Anti Mass Migration and Euroscepticism Dominate Election
What? You mean Brexit was not an isolated event?Trump the 'Big Second Amendment Person' Becomes 'Trump the Gun Grabber'
“Trump's embrace of gun control is consistent with his views before he ran for president.”Pittsburgh Still Won't Let Anyone See Its Amazon Bid
There's no reason voters shouldn't know the detailsShocker! Rent Control Makes Housing Scarcer and More Expensive
“San Francisco rent control reduced affected rental housing by 15 percent while boosting citywide rents by 5 percent”How can a place with 58,000 homeless people continue to function?
Excellent questionWhat Has Capitalism Ever Done For Us?
Capitalism holds the roots of freedom'Get on the Right Side of History': A Phrase G.K. Chesterton Would Have Understood
“Telling others to 'get on the right side of history' is not just a form of intellectual bullying.”Tuesday roundup
Minnesota, Plundered by Vikings
The stadium scam strikes againGillibrand Softens Tone On Clinton Sex Scandals
Selective outrageEliminate Google From Your Life
I know it's LewRockwell.com, but it's also dead onStudent Expelled for Sexual Assault Had Evidence His Accuser Was Dating the Cop Who Investigated the Case
The cop should be brought up on chargesIn fight over Bombardier CSeries, Boeing loses friends as well as tariff case
Corporate cronyism exposed.Democrats Turn To A Kennedy For Rebuttal To Trump's State Of The Union Address
He's a lightweightTrust Is Collapsing in America
The important takeaway from this is that decline in trust predates Trump. Institutions have been exploiting and failing Americans for a long time, and it's beginning to showWhy Free Speech Matters
Great articleEnvironmentalists Ready to Sue to Fight EPA Deregulation
I don't think this has ever happened beforeSeven Days in January
“The signs are already there as to the effort to exonerate Hillary.”Rising Social Disorder Is Inevitable: Here's Why
“The status quo has not changed the inputs or added any new feedback loops, so the output of the system--extremes of widening income and wealth inequality--cannot possibly change.”You Won’t Believe How Much the House Has Spent on Harassment Cases
You should ask why Congress wants to hide this~$1 trillion of real estate is on the move … here’s why
Automatic cars will change the face of the nationTuesday roundup
Policing Sexual Desire
Great piece.HIDDEN CAMERA: HUNDREDS of Twitter Employees Paid to View “Everything You Post Online” Including Private “Sex Messages”
And making money doing it.NAACP Says MLK’s Vision Can’t Be Achieved Without Fighting Global Warming
In all my studies, MLK didn't once mention global warming or climate change.Backdoor Censorship through Libel Law
Here's something Trump is actually doingComic Convention Bans Christian Conservative Actor Kevin Sorbo For Friendship With Hannity
Guilty by associationHow Conservatives Are Being Destroyed by Facebook, Twitter and Google Without Even Realizing It
There needs to be competition, these companies are breaking their promisesThe Subtle ‘Tyranny’ of Regulatory Overlords
“Who really benefits from the 14,000 pages of Dodd-Frank?”Collapse of Construction Giant with 43,000 Employees Globally Sparks Fear and Mayhem
Size doesn't always guarantee successJesse Jackson praises and thanks Donald Trump for a lifetime of service to African Americans
YouTube video - flashbackKafkaesque campus sexual assault tribunal at Johnson & Wales alleged in lawsuit
“Female waited a year to complain, male not given copy of complaint, entire process only 5 weeks, no record of hearing”Police Knew That Hawaii Missile Attack Report was False Within Five Minutes After Alert
I'm glad someone was on the jobFLASHBACK: The Obama Administration Called Netanyahu A ‘Chickensh**’
Funny how none of the major networks are talking about that oneShrinks present latest plot to remove Trump from office
The unelected, unappointed, and answerable to no one believe they have the power to overturn an election. The only way to take Trump out is truth. Anything else will backfire, badly.Fake news checking
Google’s New ‘Fact-Checker’ Is Partisan Garbage
““Now, you may believe that conservatives are hopeless liars in need of relentless correcting, so I’ll concede the point for argument’s sake. Even then, you’d have to admit it’s a small miracle that, according to Google’s search engine, not a single prominent liberal or mainstream site in the entire universe has ever uttered a dubious or questionable claim.””
— David Harsanyi