#pattersons slander

[maybesimon]

i tried to read some james patterson because i though, well, airport novels, like stephen king or lee child or something, right? wrong. it was so bad. i think it was about an australian police detective department or something? Some kid gets his head cut off in the first 2 chapters, and every chapter is like 3 pages. Anyway i got it out of those swap libraries and that’s where i dumped it back again. so bad.

#if its not james patterson but someone else i'm sorry for the slander

[pigeonflavouredcake]

My Grimoire Research Library

this is a list of my major resource I've referenced/am currently referencing in my big grimoire project. For books I'll be linking the Goodreads page, for pdfs, websites and videos i'll link them directly.

There are plenty of generalised practitioner resources that can work for everyone but as I have Irish ancestry and worship Hellenic deities quite a few of my resources are centred around Celtic Ireland, ancient Greece and the Olympic mythos. If you follow other sects of paganism you are more than welcome to reblog with your own list of resources.

Parts of my grimoire discuss topics of new age spiritualism, dangerous conspiracy theories, and bigotry in witchcraft so some resources in this list focus on that.

Books

Apollodorus - The Library of Greek Mythology

Astrea Taylor - Intuitive Witchcraft

Dee Dee Chainey & Willow Winsham - Treasury of Folklore: Woodlands and Forests

John Ferguson - Among The Gods: An Archaeological Exploration of Ancient Greek Religion

Katharine Briggs - The Fairies in Tradition and Literature

Kevin Danaher - The Year in Ireland: Irish Calendar Customs

Laura O'Brien - Fairy Faith in Ireland

Lindsey C. Watson - Magic in Ancient Greece and Rome

Nicholas Culpeper - Culpeper's Complete Herbal

Plutarch - The Rise and Fall of Athens: Nine Greek Lives

R.B. Parkinson - A Little Gay History: Desire and Diversity Around the World

Rachel Patterson - Seventy Eight Degrees of Wisdom: A Tarot Journey to Self-Awareness

Raleigh Briggs - Make Your Place: Affordable & Sustainable Nesting Skills

Robin Wall Kimmerer - Braiding Sweetgrass

Ronald Hutton - The Witch: A History of Fear in Ancient Times

Rosemary Ellen Guiley - The Encyclopaedia of Witches and Witchcraft

Thomas N. Mitchell - Athens: A History of the World's First Democracy

Walter Stephens - Demon Lovers: Witchcraft S3x and the Crisis of Belief

Yvonne P. Chireau - Black Magic: Religion and The African American Conjuring Tradition

PDFs

Anti Defamation League - Hate on Display: Hate Symbols Database

Brandy Williams - White Light, Black Magic: Racism in Esoteric Thought

Cambridge SU Women’s Campaign - How to Spot TERF Ideology 2.0.

Blogs and Websites

Anti Defamation League

B. Ricardo Brown - Until Darwin: Science and the Origins of Race

Dr. S. Deacon Ritterbush - Dr Beachcomb

Folklore Thursday

Freedom of Mind Resource Centre - Steven Hassan’s BITE Model of Authoritarian Control

Institute for Strategic Dialogue

Royal Horticultural Society

The Duchas Project -National Folklore Collection

Vivienne Mackie - Vivscelticconnections

YouTube Videos

ContraPoints - Gender Critical

Emma Thorne Videos - Christian Fundie Says Halloween is SATANIC!

Owen Morgan (Telltale) - The Source Of All Conspiracies: A 1902 Document Called "The Protocols"

The Belief it or Not Podcast - Ep. 40 Satanic Panic, Ep 92. Wicca

Wendigoon - The Conspiracy Theory Iceberg

Other videos I haven't referenced but you may still want to check out

Atun-Shei Films - Ancient Aryans: The History of Crackpot N@zi Archaeology

Belief It Or Not - Ep. 90 - Logical Fallacies

Dragon Talisman - Tarot Documentary (A re-upload of the 1997 documentary Strictly Supernatural: Tarot and Astrology)

Lindsay Ellis - Tracing the Roots of Pop Culture Transphobia

Overly Sarcastic Productions - Miscellaneous Myths Playlist

Owen Morgan (Telltale) - SATANIC PANIC! 90s Video Slanders Satanists | Pagan Invasion Saga | Part 1

ReignBot - How Ouija Boards Became "Evil" | Obscura Archive Ep. 2

Ryan Beard - Demi Lovato Promoted a R4cist Lizard Cult

Super Eyepatch Wolf - The Bizarre World of Fake Psychics, Faith Healers and Mediums

Weird Reads with Emily Louise -The Infamous Hoaxes Iceberg Playlist

Wendigoon - The True Stories of the Warren Hauntings: The Conjuring, Annabelle, Amityville, and Other Encounters

#I'm writing this while watching the new SovietWomble video #good way to spend 3 hours #witchblr #witch #witchcraft #pagan #pagan witch #kitchen witch #paganism #hellenic pagan #hellenic witch #grimoire #digital grimoire #book of magic #grimoire resources #witchcraft resources #resource list #witch masterpost #eclectic pagan #witchy #grimoire tips #grimoire inspo #grimoire inspiration

[georgebuckettwo]

Doctor Clair Cameron Patterson not only discovered the the true age of the Earth with his research in Lead-dating, but during this process he accidentally discovered the dangers of lead contamination. Then he went “wait, we’re putting this shit in gasoline, cans, paint, etc.” He then began campaigning against lead in everyday products. In particular, he targeted the gasoline industry. You can imagine how that went in the courtroom. He was vilified, excluded, and slandered against but kept pushing for lead to be removed from gasoline. Took decades, but obviously lead was removed from gasoline almost entirely by 1990.

[david-bennett]

The Last Prime Minister

In a few minutes the next British Prime Minister will be announced. The election follows the ejection of Boris Johnson from the job for his unforced errors and disregard for the truth.

An unforced error: a mistake in play that is attributed to one’s own failure rather than to the skill or effort of one’s opponent. Prorogation The first unforced error was that on 28 August 2019, the Parliament of the United Kingdom was ordered to be prorogued by Queen Elizabeth II upon the advice of the Conservative prime minister, Boris Johnson. Britain is a constitutional monarchy, meaning that the reigning monarch has little power, and ‘on the advice of’ is a particularly British way of saying the the prime minister ordered the Queen to prorogue Parliament.

A prorogation is the discontinuance of a session of Parliament without dissolving it. Johnson’s purpose in proroguing Parliament for an unusually extended period was to severely limit the time that the MPs in the House of Commons had to consider the Brexit Bill that was before it.

Concerned citizens raised a legal challenge and the Supreme Court ruled that the prorogation was unlawful.

Had Johnson’s Government given even the slimmest of reasons for their action, then the Supreme Court would not have looked to the adequacy of the reason. But the Government gave no reason, and that allowed the court to conclude that the reason for such a lengthy discontinuance was simply to deny Parliament time to carry out its function, and that that was unlawful.

Owen Patterson MP The second unforced error was to try to overturn the 30 day suspension of Owen Patterson MP after Kathryn Stone, the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards of the House of Commons, found him guilty of breaching the paid advocacy rules.

In October 2021 the Commissioner found that Owen Paterson had breached the paid advocacy rules for making three approaches to the Food Standards Agency and four approaches to the Department for International Development in relation to Randox and seven approaches to the Food Standards Agency relating to Lynn’s Country Foods.

The Commissioner said Paterson had “repeatedly used his privileged position to benefit two companies for whom he was a paid consultant, and that this has brought the house into disrepute” and that “no previous case of paid advocacy has seen so many breaches or such a clear pattern of behaviour in failing to separate private and public interests”.

Acting on her report, The Commons Select Committee on Standards recommended that Paterson be suspended from the Commons for 30 sitting days. The Government decided they didn’t like that and voted to overturn the suspension. The uproar that followed resulted in Own Paterson resigning as an MP.

Malicious Slander The third unforced error was to maliciously slander the Leader of the Opposition Labour Party in the House of Commons.

Munira Mirza is a British political advisor who was the Director of the Number 10 Policy Unit under prime minister Boris Johnson, until she resigned today, 3 February 2022. She resigned because, as she described in her resignation letter, the Prime Minister Boris Johnson knowingly and maliciously slandered the leader of the Opposition with a false claim about his supposed failings when he was Director of Public Prosecutions.

Christopher Pincher MP The final straw for the members of his Cabinet was when he promoted Christopher Pincher MP, knowing that Mr Pincher was subject to an investigation over sexual assault, and then lying to Parliament saying he was not aware of the allegations and the investigation.

Partygate And I have not touched on Partygate and the breaches of the rules about meeting during COVID that his Government has laid down and which the population had followed, sometimes resulting in family members not being there to say goodbye to loved ones on their deathbed.

#boris johnson

[0bianidalas]

Sunset Curve + each being the four elements of the zodiac

#jatpedit #jatpgifs #sunset curve #jatpsource #jatp #luke patterson #reggie peters #alex mercer #bobby wilson #gifshit #listen i will not take criticsm on this #we're all entitled to our headcanons i rEFUSE to acknowledge either reggie as a sag and alex as a cancer #also any scorpio OR bobby slander will not be tolerated #i feel VERY strongly about this #i'm gonna do julie and flynn and carrie soon too just bc these are too fun #alex #reggie

[julieandthequeers]

Caleb is a parasite in the most literal way possible.

GET OUT OF NICK HES JUST TRYNA GIVE JULIE SOME FLOWERS, YOU SOUL SUCKING JACKASS

#this isn’t me slandering him #(i mean kinda but like anyways) #this is just the honest to god truth #and Nick is unfortunately the host #julie and the phantoms #jatp #caleb covington #nick danforth evans #nick jatp #julie molina #julie jatp #alex mercer #reggie peters #luke patterson #willie jatp #carrie wilson #willex #juke #julie and the himbos #julie and the fat ones

[epilepticreggie]

“if they were such good friends why didn’t they remember bobby until the beach?” i don’t know man, why didn’t alex and reggie mention luke’s birthday until he stormed out, huh?

#i will not accept sunset curve slander in this house #julie and the phantoms #alex mercer jatp #reggie peters #luke patterson #bobby wilson #bobby jatp #trevor wilson #mercer.txt

[trevor-wilson-covington]

// Luke Was And Is A Momma's Boy (not derogatory in any way)

I want you to look me in the eyes & still say confidently that "this boy hates his mom" and "she's an utterly terrible mom/person" after seeing all this transpire. You can't because it's just not true.

Luke makes the move to hold his mother's hand before remembering he can no longer do something he took for granted when he was alive. Instead he hovers it over hers as a way to be connected with her still and hopefully let her somehow know he's there with them. He can't offer that comfort to her that says "he's with her and he's sorry and he loves her" when both of them really need it the most. He has to sit by and watch them mourn their only child, the same way they have been for the past 25 years, with what's probably his favorite kind of cake on his birthday but without him home and at the table happy and celebrating another year of life.

Like any parents, really, his mom and dad wanted him to do the secure thing like going to college or trade school. Where he wouldn't have to worry as much about financial or positional instability. They think it's what's best for him, and maybe for some kids it is, but Luke is a special kind of kid and the personalities of him and his mom were just that way, opposing and prideful. They're opinions were never going to aline on matters that really mattered, to either of them.

Both Luke and Emily were/are stubborn and passionate to a fault. When they do something, they do it with all their being, even if that is standing their ground and fighting with each other. This doesn't mean they don't still love each other so very much and both of them now, 25 years later, know that both sides were at fault and the blame didn't solely fall on one of them.

I believe Luke would have it intense, critical words with anyone that came after his mom, most likely believing that they're doing it for his honor and in his defense, because he knows that parents and children fight and the blame and ire shouldn't be focused solely on his mom when he was equally to blame for what happened.

As he tells Julie when thanking her for giving Unsaid Emily to his mom, "I didn't have many regrets in my life, except running out on my parents, especially my mom", meaning Luke has changed in more ways than one since that day in Dec 1994.

Luke has realized some things and finally processed a lot that was bottled up inside. He's finally been able to lift a weight off his chest that was resting there, heavy and emotionally-charged, for 25 years and it's allowed him the chance to really breathe again.

I think he would want people to back off his mom and really think about what they're saying about their relationship. For people to think deep about where the ire is coming from because based on what we've all seen of their interactions and the things Luke has said himself, his mom was just trying her best.

That's what most parents are trying to do...their best...and it may not always appear to their kids that way. Especially to a teenager, as Luke was back then, since teenagers are idiots (kindly) and haven't had the same experience and exposure to the world as their parents have. His mom just wanted to protect him from the real, harsh realities of the world that Luke and other teens like him think they know everything about. They think they are ready and capable to take in anything thrown at them but they really aren't and they likely won't realize that until they're older and have gained new insight and/or had kids of their own.

In the end, after everything, they both still love each other... through fights over music and storming out of the house and stubborn, prideful behavior....and that's not going to ever change. He's always going to be her little boy. There will, of course, still be many 'what ifs' in both their minds of how things could have gone different had either of them made one small choice differently. But they can't change what happened, no matter how desperately they wish they could, so they've got to make the best of it in any way they can.

The shared, cathartic experience of Emily receiving the song was a way for both of them to finally get some much needed clarity and resolution (or as much as can be expected given the circumstances of him not being alive and there in person).

Their new, slowly healing relationship will never be ideal but things they both wish they could have said to each other before it was too late are now the out in the open. They're one step closer to ultimately healing their mother-son relationship and we should all be supportive and happy about that, rather than dwelling on things which they both have apologized and taken responsibility for maturely.

P.S. Hope this was comprehensible and if you find fault (factually or in your opinion) and feel the need to give me your thoughts, on or off anon, then feel free to do so!

#// it irks me #the Patterson slander... especially toward Emily #maybe I'm being petty 🤷🏼‍♀️...if so then I'm not sorry #Jorgy rants I guess #fandom disagreements #fandom discourse #differing opinions in fandom #long ass post #long post #jatp #luke patterson

[reggiebabe]

the difference between luke “stop leaving me your country songs” patterson and julie “i’ll learn to fiddle” molina

#this is in no way luke slander btw #julie and the phantoms #reggie peters #luke patterson #julie molina

[reggiepetersphantom]

ranking jatp songs based on their gay bi vibes

becos i am very bi :-) this is ,,,, two months overdue ,,, i am so sorry ,,., . anyway lets go :))

15. perfect harmony  i mean. its .... very straight. unpop opinion(?) but i cannot stand it </3 juke is fine i just .... idk .... i Dont Like It!!

14. this band is back pure boys will be boys. no romance but it’s gotta go somewhere

13. unsaid emily again no romance but its gotta go somewhere. idk. lgbt culture is having a strained relationship w ur parents so -

12. i got the music AGAIN no romance (besides nicks bit), and def got a lot of slack ,, including from me lol. but a very FUN number!! very hsm!! theatre is lgbt culture & PRIDE so!! & as a gay i appreciate flynn’s fit and julie’s cropped bobcats hoodie <3

11. wake up a v comforting song. anyone going thru anything will enjoy it. miss madison reyes ily

10. you got nothing to lose AKJSDKF willie shouted during alex’s solo!!! gay rights!!! caleb gets no rights for using baby not once but TWICE :// besides that, a banger. loved lukes electric guitar solo/bit thats like the only point i will swoon for him

9. wow the wlw love it. so do i. pretty girls <3

8. now or never its sunset curve not sunset straight ! there are no token straights here sry. they r gay n they do what they want!! lukereggie mic share ,, mlm rights. fucken bop

7. stand tall biden campaign edit lives rent free in my mind. i always forget abt alexs solo and it catches me so off guard. but like, love it. lukealex hand hold ,,, healthy exes no i will not take criticism. as for the SONG askdj like wake up, a lovely song for anyone going thru anything <3 julie and the boys’ outfit colors make up the bi colors ,,,,hmmm

6. all eyes on me  CONFIDENT GAY RIGHTS!!!!! and again the wlw love dirty candi

5. the other side of hollywood evil theatre gay rights!!!!! if i were there i would have simply joined the hollywood ghost club in an instant. rip to the phantoms (ahaha) but im different

4. bright i am bi and i love it. between the lukereggie mic share and julie walking thru luke i simply pass away. the lyrics def can be interpreted as lgbt and by me they absolutely are! fight to shine together!!!

3. finally free i wouldve loved it as a kid. i hope kids rn love it. i love it rn. i hope everyone loves it as much as i do. such a ,,warm song. lovely vibes. bi fucken RIGHTS luke shares the mic with reggie AND julie!! good for him good for him. julies voice ,,, <3

2. edge of great  bi rights strike again!!!! julies outfit is the bi colors i mean come on!! its never straight no, be who u r, no compromise. their voices are so >>> see this is the juke content i like. in some songs i can hardly stand luke (im sry), but the chemistry scene & him ‘singing’ back to julie during her solo >>>>

1. flying solo BI ! MF ! RIGHTS !!! they didnt even try to hide it!!! the forehead touch!! lukereggie mic share!! the them lyric!! heavy queercoding aside, a v soft scene. love it. o to have a friendship like any of the main characters </3

fin

#as the title said! this is not my personal ranking of the songs this is my ranking of them based on the gay vibes <3 #sorry not sorry for: #my overusage of <3 #being a broken record saying bi rights #the luke slander #</3 #anyway juke is mlm wlw solidarity but make it ROMANTIC love that for them #this is .. such a mess #but im hitting post anyway <3 #julie and the phantoms #jatp #hollywood ghost club #hgc #dirty candy #dirty candi #??? #sunset curve #julie molina #luke patterson #alex mercer #reggie peters #carrie wilson #bobby wilson #trevor wilson #bobby jatp #willie jatp #caleb covington #kayla jatp #nick jatp #juke

[liardelphi1]

Going on a bit of a rant here. Lalex shippers...

w h y, for one point how the fuck do you even pronounce it??? See now Willex pretty easy to figure out and pronounce. But the fuck am I even trying to say here. La-lex?? L-alex?? And like if you're a chill person who doesn't hate Willie and prefers Lalex, that's fine I just don't understand you but you do you. I can even see them being exes but them getting together now just makes no sense. For one, please don't excuse erasing a good and gay poc relationship for two white boys. One being extremely basic (*cough*Luke*cough*). Now Julie can do absolutely amazing without a man but let's not erase that relationship. As far as I'm concerned Luke and Alex really only interact about something other then the band (This including Julie) it really just boils down to Luke finally realizing that Alex had a crush on Willie (I mean about time Reggie seemed to have figured it out the same episode they meet). The worst part about it all is Willie isn't even at fault. The main argument here is that Willie was helping Caleb stamp the boys. Now I did see a pretty cool theory on when Caleb first bumps into Alex before they know who Caleb is, the sparks the flew when Caleb bumped into his shoulder was like him marking Alex for Willie to recruit later as being Willie bumps into Alex seemingly in the same spot and sparks fly again instead this time green. If we consider that factor that this is true this still doesn't put any fault on Willie. Confirmed by the script Willie is from the 80s (whether that means he died in the 80s or born idk we'll just assume he died in the 80s) meaning Caleb has been manipulating Willie for 40-ish-maybe+ years. The HGC is a time warp, meaning time works differently there meaning it could have possibly felt like longer for Willie. He knew Alex for I want to say a total of maybe a week, he knew Reggie and Luke even less yet still decided to help them. Also y'all who ship Owen and Charlie, please don't. I don't speak for them but I would assume it's uncomfortable. Also I think Owen has a girlfriend

#jatp #julie and the phantoms #jatp season 2 #renew jatp #netflixwewantjatp2 #julie molina #alex mercer #reggie peters #luke patterson #willie nolastname #caleb covington #willex #If you are one of these people I wouldn't suggest following me #I feel no remorse give y'all a bit of slander #(Also Luke) #Also again do y'all think Nick is cute? #Like would y'all call him ugly #And Carrie? #Because for some reason my sister thinks they're both kind of ugly #Also no offense but y'all out here simping for Luke and Charile?

[septictankofdreams]

Okay guys theory time

So it’s always kinda bothered me how Luke was so hurt by Julie calling him selfish, and Alex and reggie made a big deal of being like no Luke isn’t selfish and then to demonstrate that they showed Julie that he was sad about his parents? Like I get that it kinda shows that he’s sad because he feels bad for hurting someone but idk, it always seemed like a reach for me.

SO

I was thinking, what if it had something to do with Luke’s fights with his mom? Like he often missed family things to be with Alex and/or reggie when they needed him, but he couldn’t tell his parents so they thought he was being selfish. And then it becomes a sore spot with them and basically over time luke starts to believe that he really is selfish and this boys are constantly trying to convince him he isn’t.

So when Julie said it they were like oh no that’s gonna bring some shit back up for him.

#I don’t know if this makes sense #but it’s been bothering me for a while #ps this isn’t Emily slander #just a good old fashioned lack of communication between mother and son #anyways I’m literally dying for a season 2 #I NEED MORE BACKSTORY #jatp #luke patterson #Luke patterson angst #emily patterson

[mimismarquez]

Also like I’ve seen people saying that Gwen is the one who turned Elle away and,,,,, y’all that was Olivia.

#kate.txt #the society #gwen patterson #this is slanderous i wont hear it #gwen is an angel

[thetldrplace]

Free Speech Rights and Responsibilities

Banning Free Speech The original tweet was by one Dr. Julia Grace Patterson @JujuliaGrace, who wrote: If you want Laurence Fox to be banned from Twitter, RT this.

There was no reference to anything specific Mr. Fox said violating known restrictions on free speech, this just seems to be a blanket wish to have his voice taken away from twitter because she disagrees with his views.

When others called her out for this, @HelenJC5 defended the view by saying:

"He has freedom of speech, what he isn't necessarily entitled to is this platform to spread his views, and neither [do] you or I if those views are vile. Absolutely nothing to stop him going to stand at speakers corner in Hyde Park. With freedom comes consequences and responsibility"

As far as I can tell, this is a desire to remove dissenting voices from the platform, defended as rational because there are "consequences and responsibility" that come with freedom of speech.

Obviously she is right that citizenship and participation in a free society brings certain rights, as well as responsibilities. But I'm not sure the 'consequences and responsibilities' accompanying free speech are those she's invoking.  

What Free Speech Is We are all born into some sort of society. That society will include certain rights, and entail certain responsibilities. Freedom of speech is a declared right in both the US and UK as well as a fundamental tenet of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Freedom of speech, or freedom of expression, is the fundamental right of individuals to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction.  

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that "everyone shall have the right to hold opinions without interference" AND "everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of his choice."

It does go on to state the exercise of this freedom carries duties and responsibilities and therefore may be subject to certain restrictions.  

This does not mean freedom of expression is absolute, and some common limitations would be slander, libel, obscenity, porn, sedition, incitement, classified information, copyright violations, trade secrets, right to privacy, dignity, public security and perjury. Justifications for such include the John Stuart Mill's Harm Principle.

The idea of an offense principle is also sometimes claimed in the justification of speech limitations- aiming to place restrictions on expressions deemed offensive to society.

Freedom of speech is also usually seen as a negative right, meaning while the government has legal obligation to take no action against various expressions, it likewise has no legal obligation to help anyone publish their views, and no one is required to listen to, agree with, or acknowledge any particular view.  

Of interest as well is that while the right is framed as the right of a speaker, the real aim is the audience, or listeners. We don't worry about saying what we want to nobody. The point is that speakers must be free to speak so that listeners can hear and evaluate what is said, and society can ultimately find the truth. If citizens are to decide how to respond to public issues, they have to be able to hear what different sides have to say.  

Why Free Speech Is Important The basis for this is the fundamental relationship to democracy. A democracy, in which the people decide laws for themselves, requires the free flow of information and ideas. For this ideal to actualize, the people need access to ideas. Free speech isn't ultimately about human freedom to say whatever they want, it is ultimately the mechanism that allows that necessary free flow of ideas.

John Stuart Mill argued that without human freedom there can be no progress in science, law, or politics, which required free discussion of opinion. His On Liberty became the classic defense of the right to freedom of expression. He argued that truth drives out falsity, therefore, the free expression of ideas, true or false, should not be feared. Truth is not stable or fixed, but evolves with time. Much of what we once considered to be true has turned out false. Therefore, views should not be prohibited for their apparent falsity. Furthermore, Mill argued that an opinion carries intrinsic value only to the owner of that opinion, thus silencing the expression of that opinion is an injustice to a basic human right.

Noam Chomsky said: 

If you believe in freedom of speech, you believe in freedom of speech for views you don't like. Dictators such as Stalin and Hitler were in favor of freedom of speech for views that liked only. If you're in favor of freedom of speech, that means you're in favor of freedom of speech precisely for views you despise.  

Consequences and Responsibilities of Free Speech When someone says that free speech comes with consequences and responsibility? What exactly do they mean? Of course expressing views publicly comes with consequences, since basically everything we do comes with consequences. But is our twitter-ban-defender saying the consequences might be getting banned? And that's OK?

Her use of the qualifier "if those views are vile", doesn't seem to acknowledge that what constitutes 'vile' can not only vary, but be diametrically opposed. The left may consider views expressed by the right to be vile and hateful, which would therefore qualify them as ineligible for free expression. But the right would at the same time consider the views expressed by the left to be vile and hateful, and likewise ineligible for protection. The issue is: who gets to determine what is vile?  

What always happened in the past was that the ones in power decided what would be considered vile, and used that to shut down expression of what they didn't like. THIS is the very reason we have free speech, to keep those that consider saying such a thing 'vile' from shutting it down. It's why it is the first amendment in the Bill of Rights.

The usual wrinkle I hear on this is that this is certainly applicable to governments, but not private companies and platforms like Twitter, et al. Therefore, it's ok if twitter bans expressions it doesn't like.  

In this, I tend to agree. No platform is obligated to publish content. If it becomes clear that a platform doesn't like certain views, then it seems to me that those with those views will likely have to find another platform to publish them on.

Of course this HAS happened, with those that don't like those views trying to shut down the alternative platforms as well.  

But it should be noted that the current social media platforms HAVE become the public platforms utilized by nearly everyone. Private companies having public platforms in their control, and allowing the flow of only certain types of information they like and want, is a different mechanism than it was possible to imagine centuries ago.

I assume that the same people saying it's ok for "vile" voices to be silenced on whatever platform would probably be the first to scream "Censorship!" if the tables were turned and their ideas were being shut down on a platform. We all like to pretend like we're operating on principle, when it's usually just self-interest.

Maybe the Rawlsian justice method should be applied: let the left define the rules, and then let the right apply them. Or let the right define the rules, and the left gets to apply them.

Apparently, for our twitter-ban-defender,  the consequences would be banning if the speech doesn't line up with whatever is preferred, in which case it isn't a freedom. And the "responsibilities"…... what responsibilities would she be referring to in this instance? Did the original speech violate one of the exemptions from free speech? Or did it violate one of her personal exemptions, in other words: speech should be banned if I don't like it!  

This thinking means free speech is allowed only when it conforms to what those in power like.  

Attempts to shut down opposing views in public platforms are misguided. The whole point of the right is the free flow of information. Calling opposing views vile as justification for them to be excluded are missing the entire point of why we have this right in the first place, and the fundamental role it plays in how we discover the truth.

#free speech

[96thdayofrage]

Obama and Harris both grew up partly abroad: Obama in Indonesia, Harris in Canada. Both had immigrant parents: Obama’s father was Kenyan, and Harris’ father is Jamaican and her mother was Indian. Both had fathers who were academic economists, and mothers with PhDs: Obama’s in anthropology, Harris’ in nutrition and endocrinology. Both were born in the early 1960s — Obama is 59, Harris is 56 — at a time when America was on the precipice of big societal changes.

But unlike Obama and Harris, I can’t claim any particular nation as an ancestral homeland. My ancestors were kidnapped and forcefully separated from their families, languages and traditions.

I see my heritage as uniquely American. And though that history is horrific and bloody, I take pride in my ancestors’ fortitude and strength. But leaning into my heritage on the campaign trail would likely turn off some voters because it would resurface an ugly history they wish to forget, Niambi Carter, a political scientist at Howard University, told me.

“When Black people bring up slavery and Jim Crow, an unintended consequence is a belief, by some, that they are participating in a culture of victimization that paralyzes progress,” Carter told me.

Carter said that some voters “herald integration as proof of a post-racial America.” Indeed, many Americans who voted for Obama and Harris see them as emblems of progress. But in 2020, we must recognize that representation is not enough.

Harris has spoken powerfully about the impact of school desegregation in her childhood. But many voters see her as part of a colorblind meritocracy and may think she is “less angry and less jaded about her place in the world than African Americans whose Black ancestors endured slavery and Jim Crow,” Carter said.

Harris’ immigrant background does not minimize her Blackness. But some voters see Black immigrants as an “elevated minority,” Christina Greer, a political scientist at Fordham University, told me.

Americans see immigrants of all backgrounds as hardworking. I do too, perhaps thanks to Lin-Manuel Miranda’s “Hamilton.” But this stereotype can be juxtaposed with racist ones about African Americans being lazy.

The problem with this assessment is that these people are comparing an apple tree with an orchard, Greer told me. Many immigrants had the help of political, financial or social clout to get here. The life outcomes of Black immigrants cannot be rightfully compared to those of African Americans, in part because immigrants are not fully representative of the socioeconomic diversity of their home nations.

Sadly, that distinction is not often at the forefront of voters’ minds.

Harris is able to tap into a “superman mythology” of hailing “from everywhere and nowhere,” Greer told me. Like Obama, she has a multifaceted image that allows voters to draw on parts of her identity that resonate with them, just as Obama’s white Kansas ancestry — via his mother — helped him connect with white Midwestern voters.

It is truly monumental to have two Black people in a decade ascend to the height of American politics. Yet “it is still true that race matters,” Carter told me.

“Harris being the child of immigrants doesn’t exempt her from anti-Blackness,” Carter told me.

Carter noted that some mock Obama’s and Harris’ names as hard to pronounce. And both have faced false allegations that they were born elsewhere and thus ineligible to be president — and that they are not even really American.

These slanders resonate with me because they’re indicative of what it means to be Black in America: No matter how far you go, people will still tear you down because of your Blackness and because they don’t think you belong.

In fact, “Black Americans are the most American of Americans,” Orlando Patterson, a Harvard sociologist, told me. Though African Americans have been here longer than the majority of white Americans, they are not seen as such — because America has historically been understood as a country for white immigrants.

“Their Americanness is denigrated in that respect,” Patterson told me.

Harris and Obama are not white immigrants. But their story is “seen as more consistent with the white American story,” Patterson said.

Ari Fleischer, who was a presidential spokesman under George W. Bush, said Harris is “not that historically exciting” to Black people. That’s certainly not true. I am excited to see a Black woman in that position of power because it’s shown how far this nation has come. But it is still true that how Black candidates fit into the mainstream affects how they connect with voters nationwide.

And for those descended from American slaves, it will be an uphill battle to the highest offices of this land.

[bythebigcoolingtower]

Trash of the Titans [S9 E22] (dir. Jim Reardon)

Bless Steve Martin, he does great work as Patterson but the episode is just awful. One line sticks out during this scene, “Sorry I’m late, everyone. Somebody tampered with my brakes.” to which Homer jokes: “then, you should have been early”. Homer tampering with Patterson’s breaks shows a marked change in Homer’s behavior. He’s caused accidents before, plenty, but those accidents have two things in common: One, there always played for laughs. Two, there often a result of Homer being impulsive. On this occasion Homer goes out of his way to cut Patterson’s breaks in order to stop him turning up. He knows the dangers it poses to Patterson but he doesn’t care, that’s how desperate he is to win. Yes it’s a throwaway line but through the episode we also watch Homer abuse civil servants, cause a public nuisance, commit animal abuse, impersonate the potato man (aka identity theft and trespassing), commit common assault, commit slander, commit a different kind of slander, lie through song (aka make false promises), waste taxpayer money, dump trash illegally, cause an environmental disaster and it’s implied he beats Bart. This exaggerated, aggressive Homer is no longer the loving, blue collar family man of seasons past.

#The Simpsons #S9 #Homer #Ray Patterson #WHAT BUTTON?!