Tag: billionaires

Yes, Mark Zuckerberg, You Can Shout ‘Fire’ in a Crowded Theater

Mark Zuckerberg has joined a dubious list of prominent Americans—including judges, members of Congress, and even a vice presidential nominee—who believe that you can’t yell “fire” in a crowded theater. In an interview with Joe Rogan last week, the Meta CEO attempted to justify the company’s pandemic-era censorship policies by arguing that “even people who are like the most ardent First Amendment defenders” know that there is a limit to free speech. 

“At the beginning, [COVID-19 was] a legitimate public health crisis,” Zuckerberg told Rogan. “The Supreme Court has this clear precedent: It’s like, all right, you can’t yell ‘fire’ in a crowded theater. There are times when if there’s an emergency, your ability to speak can temporarily be curtailed in order to get an emergency under control. I was sympathetic to that at the beginning of COVID.”

The thing is, Zuckerberg is simply wrong when it comes to how the First Amendment works.

The common misconception that it’s illegal to shout “fire” in a crowded theater originates with a hypothetical used by Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes in the 1919 Supreme Court case Schenck v. United States.

In his opinion, Holmes wrote that “the character of every act depends upon the circumstances in which it is done,” adding that “the most stringent protection of free speech would not protect a man in falsely shouting fire in a theatre and causing a panic.” Not only was this passage a pure hypothetical used to illustrate Holmes’ larger opinion that the First Amendment didn’t protect the dissemination of anti-draft pamphlets, but Schenck itself was overturned in 1969 by Brandenburg v. Ohio.

“To the contrary, if the theater is on fire, you not only may shout ‘FIRE,’ but indeed, you should do so! The constant misstatement of this famous line from a 1919 Supreme Court decision is significant, because it overlooks the critical, common-sense distinction between protected and unprotected speech,” former American Civil Liberties Union President Nadine Strossen said in 2021. “This old canard, a favorite reference of censorship apologists, needs to be retired. It’s repeatedly and inappropriately used to justify speech limitations. People have been using this cliché as if it had some legal meaning, while First Amendment lawyers roll their eyes”

Zuckerberg’s interview came in the wake of a January 7 announcement that Meta platforms would no longer use third-party fact-checkers to label and restrict content, as well as loosen restrictions on some subjects “that are part of mainstream discourse.” 

“After [Donald] Trump first got elected in 2016, the legacy media wrote nonstop about how misinformation was a threat to democracy,” Zuckerberg said in a video announcing the change. “We tried in good faith to address those concerns without becoming the arbiters of truth. But the fact-checkers have just been too politically biased and have destroyed more trust than they’ve created, especially in the U.S.”

While this change is a welcome shift from Meta’s previous content-moderation regime, that Zuckerberg is still getting this basic element of the First Amendment wrong hardly bodes well for Meta’s future as a platform friendly to free expression.

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UK Government Investigating Elon Musk’s TWEETS About Muslim Pedophile Gangs

Elon Musk’s tweets about Muslim pedophile gangs are being assessed by the UK Government’s counter-extremism unit, as a potential threat to the security of the country, it has emerged.

The Daily Mirror reports that The Home Office unit has stepped up social media monitoring of accounts with large followings, including Musk’s, as pertains to the grooming gangs issue.

Musk has posted hundreds of tweets in the past week related to the scandal, including openly calling Prime Minister Kier Starmer “evil,” accusing him of facilitating a cover up, and labelling Starmer and safeguarding minister Jess Philips as complicit in the “rape” of Britain.

The Mirror report states that the UK government’s counterterrorism unit has “been involved in content analysis and wider risk assessment.”

A government source told the Mirror “We keep a close eye on how disinformation and hate can proliferate, including online.”

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Bill Gates unleashes plan for new series of gene-based injections that will target Africa

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates is rolling out a plan to use Africans as guinea pigs for an expanded series of new genetically altering mRNA injections.

He calls them vaccines but we know they are not vaccines, at least not in the traditional meaning of the word. U.S. courts have even ruled that mRNA serums don’t qualify as vaccines.

The Covid vaccines, the first to use this technology, have been an unmitigated disaster.

But that hasn’t stopped Gates from pushing more of these gene-based jabs on the world.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has announced a $40 million initiative to support the production of messenger mRNA vaccines in Africa.

Gates’ foundation claims this investment will address what it refers to as “vaccine inequities” exposed during the COVID-19 pandemic.

During that pandemic, African nations were often the last to receive Covid jabs. It worked to their benefit as fewer Africans died of Covid, per capita than Westerners.

Yet, the power of money never ceases and so Gates presses on in his efforts to vaccinate the world against every disease imaginable. And Africa will be ground zero for the plan.

Gates and his foundation hope to expand the testing of the mRNA injections on Africans before they are rolled out globally.

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GMO Tomato Project Funded by Gates Foundation and U.S. Taxpayers Hits Roadblock

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is funding research to genetically engineer tomatoes to be able to disrupt the reproductive cycle of the whitefly, a common insect that damages tomato plants, Jon Fleetwood reported on Substack.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) — a division of the U.S. Department of Defense — also funded the research as part of its “Insect Allies” project, according to a study on the tomatoes published last month in BMC Plant Biology.

Whiteflies, or Bemisia tabaci, are a common pest that drinks sap from phloem, the food-conducting tissue in tomato plant stems and leaves, sometimes causing the plant to dry up. The insects also excrete a sticky substance called honeydew, which attracts ants.

Whiteflies can decimate crops. The BMC study estimates the pest causes $2 billion in annual losses in cassava production in Africa alone, which can cause food insecurity in regions that rely on the crop.

The researchers aim to develop a genetic modification (GM) technology that could modify plants to produce proteins that target and destroy whitefly eggs. The authors note that targeting egg viability is a “unique strategy” for transgenic plants, setting it apart from most GM insecticidal plants that target adult insects.

Fleetwood raised concerns about the technology’s potential to harm human health and the environment.

“If commercialized, these ‘[t]ransgenic plants’ — genetically engineered to include genes from other species — could introduce reproductive-disrupting insecticidal compounds into the human food chain,” Fleetwood wrote.

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Elon Musk Shuts Down Theories Claiming Las Vegas Cybertruck Driver Was Already Shot — And the Vehicle Autopiloted to the Location

In the wake of the tragic Tesla Cybertruck explosion at the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas on New Year’s Day, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has publicly addressed and dismissed circulating theories suggesting that the vehicle’s driver was already deceased prior to the incident and that the Cybertruck autonomously navigated to the explosion site.

The explosion resulted in the death of the driver, identified as 37-year-old Army veteran Matthew Livelsberger from Colorado, and caused injuries to seven bystanders.

The Cybertruck’s unique design appeared to limit the damage at the Trump International Hotel.

Despite the force of the explosion, the Cybertruck’s exterior remained largely intact, directing much of the blast upwards and sparing the Trump International Hotel from catastrophic damage.

Recall that Musk trolled the suspect, stating, “The evil knuckleheads picked the wrong vehicle for a terrorist attack. Cybertruck actually contained the explosion and directed the blast upwards. Not even the glass doors of the lobby were broken.”

At the Thursday press conference, Clark County Sheriff Kevin McMahill provided chilling details about the incident.

Livelsberger’s charred remains were discovered inside the Cybertruck with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.

Identification was made possible only through his tattoos, as the body was severely burned in the subsequent explosion. Authorities also recovered Livelsberger’s military ID, passport, and credit cards, though DNA confirmation is still underway.

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Bill Gates Funds Genetically Engineered Tomatoes with Insecticides Inside Them That Attack Reproduction—And Yes, You’d Eat Them

Bill Gates is funding research to genetically engineer tomatoes to produce insecticides inside their tissues, specifically targeting the reproduction of whiteflies, a destructive agricultural pest. According to a study published last month in BMC Plant Biology, these genetically engineered (GE) tomatoes express proteins designed to infiltrate and disrupt whitefly eggs.

“The molecular tools for achieving both apoplastic and phloem-specific expression of insecticidal proteins are well developed,” the study explains, highlighting the advanced genetic strategies employed.

If commercialized, these “[t]ransgenic plants”—genetically engineered to include genes from other species—could introduce reproductive-disrupting insecticidal compounds into the human food chain.

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Elon: “Evil Knuckleheads Picked The Wrong Vehicle For A Terrorist Attack”

Responding to the deliberate detonation of what appears to be rudimentary explosive devices in a Cybertruck outside a Trump hotel in Las Vegas Wednesday, Tesla owner Elon Musk noted that the vehicle effectively contained the brunt of the blast and that the attacker couldn’t have picked a worse vehicle if inflicting maximum damage was the intention.

Las Vegas Sheriff Kevin McMahill announed during a press conference, “I also would like you to pay attention to, on that video, as you see that it looks like the exterior of that truck is completely intact as it sits there.”

“The fact that this was a Cybertruck really limited the damage that occurred inside of the valet because it had most of the blast go up through the truck and out,” he added.

The Sheriff further noted that “the front glass doors at the Trump Hotel were not even broken by that blast, which they were parked directly in front of.”

Musk asserted that “The evil knuckleheads picked the wrong vehicle for a terrorist attack. Cybertruck actually contained the explosion and directed the blast upwards. Not even the glass doors of the lobby were broken.”

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Musk Slams British PM Starmer for Failing to Go After Child Grooming Gangs in the UK

Another day, another example of tech billionaire and incoming DOGE director Elon Musk flexing his geopolitical muscles and harshly criticizing failing Globalist governments in Europe.

This time, Musk blasted UK’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer for failing to tackle child grooming gangs when he was Director of Public Prosecutions, and continuing to do so now.

In a post on social platform X, he also called for safeguarding minister Jess Phillips to be jailed for rejecting calls for a public inquiry into historic child abuse in Oldham.

This is the most recent chapter in the war of words between the free-speech advocate and the government, which began during last summer’s riots, when he claimed ‘civil war is inevitable’ in the UK.

Huffington Post reported:

“Posting on X on Thursday, Musk said: ‘In the UK, serious crimes such as rape require the Crown Prosecution Service’s approval for the police to charge suspects. Who was the head of the CPS when rape gangs were allowed to exploit young girls without facing justice? Keir Starmer, 2008 -2013’.

‘Who is the boss of Jess Phillips right now? Keir Stamer. The real reason she’s refusing to investigate the rape gangs is that it would obviously lead to the blaming of Keir Stamer (head of the CPS at the time)’.

Musk also called for the release from prison of far-right activist Tommy Robinson, who was jailed for 18 months for contempt of court last October.”

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New Twists In Cybertruck Explosion in Las Vegas, Elon Musk Gives Updates

Videos of a Tesla Cybertruck exploding outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas in an apparent explosion made headlines across social media this New Year’s Day.

The cause of the explosion was not immediately clear, but speculation ran rampant, fueled by heightened concerns following a terrorist attack in New Orleans earlier in the day. Though some speculated that it was merely a freak explosion, videos shared to social media show firework-style mortars exploding in and around the vehicle following some sort of detonation, and according to reports, investigators are treating the incident as a possible terror attack.

Many figured as much, noting the connection between Tesla, which is owned by Elon Musk, and the Trump Hotel, owned by Donald Trump. 

According to officials, the Cybertruck pulled into the valet area of the hotel before it exploded. The driver was killed in the blast. Thankfully, no other fatalities have been reported, although several bystanders sustained minor injuries.

Another question is whether the Las Vegas incident and the New Orleans incident are connected. According to the Associated Press, the Cybertruck involved in the Las Vegas incident was rented through Turo, the same car-sharing platform used to obtain the vehicle in the New Orleans attack. While there’s currently no evidence linking the two incidents, authorities are not ruling out terrorism, and they have deemed the Las Vegas explosion an intentional act.

Three senior U.S. law enforcement officials have confirmed that the blast was deliberate.

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Researchers Funded by Bill Gates Turn Mosquitoes into ‘Flying Syringes’ to Deliver Vaccines

Researchers at Leiden University Medical Center, backed by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, have developed a new method of delivering malaria vaccines using genetically modified mosquitoes as “flying vaccinators.”

The Blaze reports that in a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, scientists have demonstrated the effectiveness of using mosquitoes as “flying syringes” to vaccinate humans against malaria. The research, conducted at the Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC) in the Netherlands with funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, represents a new and potentially worrying advancement in vaccine technology.

The study involved genetically modifying malaria parasites to stop developing after a certain period of time in the human body. The modified parasites, named GA1 and GA2, were designed to prime the immune system without causing a full-blown malaria infection. Researchers then infected mosquitoes with these engineered parasites and allowed them to bite human test subjects in a controlled setting.

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