Selective outrage…
Tag: cancel culture
The New York Times Admits That ‘America Has a Free Speech Problem’
The New York Times published a terrific editorial on Friday that takes note of “America’s free speech problem” and points to both right-wing legislation and cancel culture—enforced by an uncompromising strain of progressivism—as culprits.
“For all the tolerance and enlightenment that modern society claims, Americans are losing hold of a fundamental right as citizens of a free country: the right to speak their minds and voice their opinions in public without fear of being shamed or shunned,” wrote The Times.
The editorial includes a predictable (and mostly well-deserved) condemnation of conservative attempts to legislate away uncomfortable discussions about sex and race in schools. But it stands out for directly attacking the left’s censorship impulse.
“Many on the left refuse to acknowledge that cancel culture exists at all, believing that those who complain about it are offering cover for bigots to peddle hate speech,” wrote The Times. “Many on the right, for all their braying about cancel culture, have embraced an even more extreme version of censoriousness as a bulwark against a rapidly changing society, with laws that would ban books, stifle teachers and discourage open discussion in classrooms.”
Yuri Gagarin’s name censored from Space Symposium conference
The first man in space, Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, has been stripped of his honours by the Space Foundation, which censored his name “in light of current world events.”
The organization, which runs its annual Space Symposium conference in Colorado Springs, sees attendance of top-level representatives from the international space community, including 160 space companies, 100 speakers, and thousands of participants.
In a now-deleted note, highlighted by Futurism, the Space Foundation said that it was removing Yuri Gagarin’s name from its annual “Yuri’s Night” and replacing it with “A Celebration of Space: Discover What’s Next” at the conference.
“The focus of this fundraising event remains the same — to celebrate human achievements in space while inspiring the next generation to reach for the stars,” the deleted note stated.
The move was made in solidarity with Ukrainian people amid Russia’s “special military operation” in the country, and perhaps a “need to do something,” as several other organizations and corporations have done in recent weeks. Earlier this month, the International Cat Federation banned Russian cats from participating in its international competitions, calling the attack on Ukraine an “unprecedented act of aggression.”
It’s worth noting that Ukraine, like Russia, was a part of the USSR, which Gagarin represented. Indeed, Ukraine’s Chernihiv Stadium was renamed Yuri Gagarin Stadium by the Soviets and continues to be referred to as such.
“It’s a rather dubious show of solidarity with the Ukrainian people, especially considering that Gagarin worked for the USSR, a completely different country from modern day Russia. And the icing on the cake? Ukraine actually appears to be rather fond of Gagarin and his monumental achievement,” noted Futurism.
“Erasing the name of the first person to ever fly to space while supposedly celebrating ‘human achievements in space’ is bad enough,” the space and technology publication continued. “But doing so in line with the milquetoast trend of disavowing all things Russian, including famous composers and food products, amid the country’s current invasion of Ukraine is just outrageous.”
It’s Now Offensive to Listen to Long Dead Russian Composers
The Cardiff Philharmonic in Wales canceled a concert scheduled for tonight which was to feature Russian composer Tchaikovsky.
Although he has been dead for 129 years, two of his featured pieces celebrate Russian military victories. The 1812 Overture celebrates Russia’s defeat of Napoleon’s invading army, and Marche Slave commemorates Russia’s involvement in the Serbian-Ottoman War.
The orchestra’s director said they “were also made aware at the time that the title ‘Little Russian’ of Symphony No. 2 was deemed offensive to Ukrainians.”
Meanwhile in Canada, a living Russian pianist, Alexander Malofeev, was canceled just for being Russian.
The Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal canceled three performances by the young pianist scheduled for last week.
It said, “Considering the serious impact on the civilian population of Ukraine caused by the Russian invasion… OSM feels that it would be inappropriate to receive Mr. Malofeev this week.”
The baby-faced 20 year old even denounced Russia’s invasion, despite the risk to his family still in Russia.
Apparently just being Russian, whether 129 years dead or barely an adult, makes you guilty of Putin’s crimes.
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We’re Moving Into More Dangerous Mob Mentality
We’ve seen with BLM, COVID, and other topics how the narrative can get out of control and squash the people who question or counter it. We saw, in Canada, to what lengths the government would go to crush peaceful protest — not by legitimately arresting people who might be blocking a street — but by doing things like freezing people’s bank accounts without due process of law and blocking GoFundMe accounts to crush the protest.
We’re seeing something like that bubble up again when it comes to the situation with Russia and Ukraine. Sanctions on the government of Russia — or oligarchs who prop it up — make a lot of sense. But discriminating against all Russians and all things Russian because you think that somehow virtue signals that you care is madness. That shouldn’t need to be said. But, it does, because that’s exactly what some are doing. It’s a crushing of people who the narrative deems “wrong”– in this case, for the “crime” of being Russian.
Alexander Malofeev is a 20-year-old piano prodigy. He isn’t an oligarch and he isn’t a friend of Vladimir Putin. He’s just a guy who had piano performances scheduled with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra over the past few days. But they were canceled. Not because he supported the war — he was against the invasion and he said so. He even has family members in Ukraine. But because he happened to be Russian.
The Censored
In the U.S., people should be able to access all information they wish to see except that which is illegal.
However, the heavy hand of censorship is quickly becoming a sledgehammer, guided by political and corporate interests eager to manipulate the information landscape for their own goals.
As such, this page intends to highlight and give access to people, ideas and scientific studies that have been controversialized or censored by some in the media. Click the links to see the censored material and background.
The presence of an idea, study or person here should not be taken as advocacy or verification of any particular position. It is simply a recognition that you have the right to see all material and make up your own mind.
Cardiff Philharmonic removes Tchaikovsky from programme in light of Russian invasion of Ukraine
The Cardiff Philharmonic Orchestra has removed Tchaikovsky from its programme of its upcoming concert ‘in light of the recent Russian invasion’.
Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture was due to be included in the orchestra’s upcoming all-Tchaikovsky concert at St David’s Hall on 18 March, but it was considered by the orchestra ‘to be inappropriate at this time’.
The 1812 Overture was written to commemorate the successful Russian defence against Napoleon’s invasion in 1812, featuring cannon fire, chimes and a brass fanfare. The piece was due to be performed alongside another militaristic work by Tchaikovsky: his 1876 Marche slave, written to celebrate Russia’s involvement in the Serbian-Ottoman War. The composer’s Second Symphony was the final piece in the programme.
The orchestra will instead present a programme centred around Dvořák’s Symphony No. 8, with John Williams‘s The Cowboys Overture opening the concert, and a performance of Elgar‘s Enigma Variations in the second half.
Memory holed…
Deplatformed for wrongthink…
Leftists with ‘disinformation’ links launch all-out war on conservative news sites
Activists linked to a left-wing disinformation network are pressuring advertisers to cut ties with conservative news sites.
Check My Ads, a group started by Sleeping Giants co-founder and activist Nandini Jammi and advertising consultant Claire Atkin, bills itself as “Adtech’s first watchdog” and claims to “cut disinformation off at the source.” The organization attempts to curb the spread of what it deems misleading or hateful content by pressuring advertisers and ad exchanges to sever business relationships with certain news and commentary sites.
The targets, almost invariably, are conservative publications such as Human Events and The Post Millennial, and right-wing media figures such as Dan Bongino and Charlie Kirk.
Check My Ads recently took credit for helping to kick conservative talk show host Dan Bongino’s website, Bongino.com, off Google’s ad service Friday, with Jammi celebrating Google’s decision as a “final, devastating blow” to Bongino and exclaiming “we did it!”
The group is currently targeting conservative magazine Human Events, focusing on senior editor Jack Posobiec whom the group describes as a “white nationalist and Pizzagate conspiracy theorist.”
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