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.

Wikipedia’s Quiet, Big-Tech-Funded Grip On Internet Knowledge Gives It Too Much Power

Wikipedia’s quiet dominance over internet knowledge and close ties to authoritarian big tech companies is giving the online encyclopedia site too much unchecked power.

In one recent example, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who is under federal and state investigation for mishandling the COVID-19 pandemic and growing list of scandals, is described on his Wikipedia page in a positive light while Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a potential GOP frontrunner for the 2024 presidential election, is painted as a partisan hack who ignored the science.

Anyone who searches for information about both of these governors’ pandemic responses will be given this information that isn’t necessarily true, and Wikipedia doesn’t seem to do anything about it. As a matter of fact, any user who wanted to manipulate a page to fit his agenda could as long as it slipped through Wikipedia’s editing process. That happened seven years ago when a Wikipedia user overlooked The Federalist’s long list of “featured-in” publications and important interviews to try to delete our publication’s entry because, according to the user, it “does not pass the threshold for notability.”

Wikipedia’s move to the left, especially when echoing narratives found in corporate media, is not a sudden one. Wikipedia co-founder Larry Sanger is just one of the many people who recently called attention to Wikipedia slowly but surely kissing its neutrality goodbye. In an interview in February, Sanger said the 20-year-old website’s shift towards the left is “disheartening” and “troubling.”

“Wikipedia’s ideological and religious bias is real and troubling, particularly in a resource that continues to be treated by many as an unbiased reference work,” Sanger said.

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White farmers win fight against “discriminatory” criteria for federal Covid relief

A Wisconsin federal court has temporarily stopped payments in a federal farmer loan forgiveness program that allocates benefits on the basis of racial categories.

Twelve farmers and ranchers across nine states filed the lawsuit against the Biden Administration, saying they are not eligible for relief because they are white.

The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 directs the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to give preferential treatment to businesses owned by women, veterans, and people who are “socially and economically disadvantaged.”

The federal law uses a controversial “critical race theory” definition of “socially and economically disadvantaged” that can only include minority groups.

The court entered the emergency injunction temporarily halting payments in the $4 billion program, stating that the white farmers are “likely to to succeed on the merits of their claim”.

A Texas court recently temporarily halted a program for restauranteurs under the same federal program for the same reasons.

Several other courts have ruled similarly and enjoined the Biden Administration from administering the Covid relief program on a discriminatory basis.

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40 Percent of Teachers Say Civics Education Should Focus On Critical Race Theory

More than 40 percent of teachers say civics education should be focused on critical race theory, according to a Heritage Foundation study released Monday.

The report found that 43 percent of teachers are familiar with critical race theory. Of those teachers, 55 percent supported the doctrine, which teaches that American institutions are inherently racist. Forty-one percent of teachers said civics education should focus on critical race theory, while 57.5 percent of teachers said critical race theory should be included in civics education. Parents were marginally less supportive of critical race theory compared to teachers.

Parents and educators have feuded over the future of American civics education in recent months. Voters in Virginia and Texas have ousted pro-critical race theory school board members in recent elections. Red state legislators have moved to ban critical race theory, while blue states have encouraged it. The Illinois State Board of Education in February approved standards that asked teachers to “mitigate” behaviors that stem from “unearned privilege” and “Eurocentrism.”

The Heritage Foundation conducted the survey, first reported by The Federalist, of 1,003 teachers and 1,012 parents from December 2020 through February 2021. The report’s authors claim that teaching critical race theory in schools could reverse “the immense progress this country has made in race relations and equality.”

“Young Americans are taught not to be proud of their country, but to see it as an oppressor,” the study says. “In order to reverse this destructive and dangerous trend, it is essential that schools teach America’s founding principles, while at the same time build strong relationships between parents and teachers.”

While critical race theory in schools has made headlines over the past year, 65 percent of parents said they were not familiar, or unsure if they were familiar with, critical race theory. Just under 57 percent of teachers said the same.

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Feinstein Accepts Lifetime Achievement Award From Bush Scion’s CCP-Backed Group

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D., Calif.) last week quietly accepted a lifetime achievement award from a foundation with deep ties to a Chinese Communist Party front group.

The George H.W. Bush Foundation for U.S.-China Relations honored Feinstein for her commitment to “a robust and mutually beneficial U.S.-China relationship.” The group is heavily funded by the China-U.S. Exchange Foundation, a Hong Kong-based think tank considered a key player in the Chinese Communist Party’s united front propaganda system. Axios reported last week that the Exchange Foundation gave the Bush foundation a five-year, $5 million grant in 2019 to promote ties between the United States and China.

U.S. officials have expressed concern that the Exchange Foundation serves as an influence agent for the Chinese government. CIA director William Burns testified at his February confirmation hearing that he ended a partnership with the group when he served as president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, citing the think tank’s influence activities. Feinstein attended that hearing as a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee.

Feinstein has come under scrutiny for China-related matters before. She said last year that China was “growing into a respectable nation” and cautioned against holding China accountable for the coronavirus pandemic. Feinstein also employed a suspected Chinese spy as a congressional aide for nearly two decades. She supported expanded trade relations with China while her husband sought business deals in the country.

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US Military Guns Keep Vanishing. Some Are Later Used in Street Crimes

In the first public accounting of its kind in decades, an Associated Press investigation has found that at least 1,900 U.S. military firearms were lost or stolen during the 2010s, with some resurfacing in violent crimes. Because some armed services have suppressed the release of basic information, AP’s total is a certain undercount.

Government records covering the Army, Marine Corps, Navy and Air Force show pistols, machine guns, shotguns and automatic assault rifles have vanished from armories, supply warehouses, Navy warships, firing ranges and other places where they were used, stored or transported. These weapons of war disappeared because of unlocked doors, sleeping troops, a surveillance system that didn’t record, break-ins and other security lapses that, until now, have not been publicly reported.

While AP’s focus was firearms, military explosives also were lost or stolen, including armor-piercing grenades that ended up in an Atlanta backyard.

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