Author: HP McLovincraft

Seeker of rabbit holes. Pessimist. Libertine. Contrarian. Your huckleberry. Possibly true tales of sanity-blasting horror also known as abject reality. Prepare yourself. Veteran of a thousand psychic wars. I have seen the fnords. Deplatformed on Tumblr and Twitter.

Facebook Flags the Name of a Gardening Tool When Used in a Gardening Group

The Biden White House leans on Facebook to censor your speech online if what you say goes against what the Biden White House wants you to say.

This is not a conspiracy theory. It’s a fact. Let’s see how well Facebook handles the very sensitive topic of policing even non-political speech in a nation that’s built on the principle that speech must be free, and where people have wide varieties of interests that may fall outside Silicon Valley’s collective experiences.

Facebook flagged the word hoe in a gardening group.

Oh. No. They censored “hoe.”

Wait ’til they figure out what people do with certain emojis…

A group called WNY Gardeners has been repeatedly flagged by the social network for “violating community standards,” when its more than 7,500 members discussed the long-handled bladed implement, which is spelled with an “e,” unlike the offensive term.

When one member commented “Push pull hoe!” on a post about preferred weeding tools, Facebook sent a notification that read, “We reviewed this comment and found it goes against our standards for harassment and bullying,” a moderator said.

This is funny and would be a lot funnier if the Biden White House hadn’t deputized Facebook to chase you and me around on its platform if we post something the regime doesn’t like. But it has.

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UK law commission recommends making speech offenses based on “likely psychological harm”

Recommendations unveiled by the UK’s Law Commission are seeking to establish a new offense by criminalizing communications that could cause “likely psychological harms.”

Another offense that is recommended in the document concerns “knowingly false communications.” This is a serious threat to freedom of expression, and a chance for the authorities to get the last word on what is perceived as true and false.

The recommendation defines “harm” as something that causes “serious distress,” while “psychological harm” is also being mentioned. As for defining “serious distress” – the Commission refers to the Protection from Harassment Act 1997.

The proposed reforms are aimed at protecting victims of online abuse, but there are fears that the vague language and prioritizing subjective perception of speech over objective content could have dangerous consequences.

And the fact that identity and characteristics of the recipient of a communication is also given center stage leaves the door wide open for censorship based on identity politics.

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Olympic opening ceremony director fired for Holocaust joke

The Tokyo Olympic organizing committee fired the director of the opening ceremony on Thursday because of a Holocaust joke he made during a comedy show in 1998.

Organizing committee president Seiko Hashimoto said a day ahead of the opening ceremony that director Kentaro Kobayashi has been dismissed. He was accused of using a joke about the Holocaust in his comedy act, including the phrase “Let’s play Holocaust.”

“We found out that Mr. Kobayashi, in his own performance, has used a phrase ridiculing a historical tragedy,” Hashimoto said. “We deeply apologize for causing such a development the day before the opening ceremony and for causing troubles and concerns to many involved parties as well as the people in Tokyo and the rest of the country.”

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Ocasio-Cortez Needs Fame, Invests $1.4 Million In Merch, Much Of It Emblazoned With Her Initials

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, in another move to make herself ubiquitous, paid a political merchandise firm a whopping $1.4 million from her campaign coffers just in the first six months of 2021 to create T-shirts and hats with leftist slogans such as “Tax the Rich” and “Abolish ICE” — much of the merchandise featuring her initials.

That sum paid to Financial Innovations, a political merchandise firm, according to campaign disclosures to the Federal Election Commission, is roughly twice as much as what she paid to the firm the previous two years, the Daily Mail noted.

Financial Innovations has also created merchandise for Elizabeth Warren, Barack Obama, and Joe Biden. According to Andrew Frawley, who managed the merchandise operation for Andrew Yang’s 2020 presidential campaign, the Ocasio-Cortez campaign could accrue at least a 50% profit from sales of the merchandise.

Last December, The Daily Wire reported, “At her online store at shop.ocasiocortez.com, the former bartender is selling sweatshirts that say, ‘TAX THE RICH.’ You can also buy a ‘New Green Deal’ coffee mug for $27. Then there’s the ‘Drink Water & Don’t Be Racist’ T-shirt for $27. And the ‘cancel student debt’ shirt for the same price. And the ‘ABOLISH ICE’ dad hat for $28. But the ‘SOCIAL ECONOMIC RACIAL JUSTICE’ sweatshirt will set you back $65.

“The first question in the FAQ section addresses returns: ‘We do not accept returns or exchanges,’” The Daily Wire added.

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