Category Archives: Civil Liberties

Stanford Law School Suspends Diversity Dean After She Doubles-Down On Duncan Debacle, by Tyler Durden

A woke story with wrinkles. From Tyler Durden at zerohedge.com:

Tirien Steinbach, the diversity administrator at Stanford Law School who stoked a disruptive protest of Fifth Circuit appellate judge Kyle Duncan, is “currently on leave,” according to a memo on the protest reviewed by the Washington Free Beacon.

Jenny Martinez, the law school’s dean, said in a Wednesday morning memo to all law students that administrators “should not insert themselves into debate with their own criticism of the speaker’s views.” At future talks, the role of administrators will be to “ensure that university rules on disruption of events will be followed,” Martinez said.

Martinez gave no additional details on the terms of Steinbach’s leave, stating that the “university does not comment publicly on pending personnel matters.” She also ruled out disciplining any of the students who shouted down Duncan – in part, she said, because administrators sent “conflicting signals about whether what was happening was acceptable or not.”

Instead, the law school will require all students to attend a training on “freedom of speech and the norms of the legal profession,” which will discuss, among other things, how “vulgar personal insults” can harm students’ “professional reputations.”

That warning appears to be in reference to protesters who hurled sexual invective at Duncan, with one allegedly telling him, “We hope your daughters get raped.”

It comes amid calls from Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas) and others for state bar associations to investigate the hecklers, which could potentially hold up their legal licenses.

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The EU’s censorship regime is about to go global, by Norman Lewis

Big Tech has climbed into bed with the EU to kill the last vestiges of free speech in Europe. It may spread to the rest of the world. From Norman Lewis at spiked-online.org:

The authoritarian Digital Services Act means the death of free speech online.

The EU’s censorship regime is about to go global

Not many people know that 16 November 2022 was the day that freedom of speech died on the internet. This was the day the European Union’s Digital Services Act (DSA) came into law. Under the DSA, very large online platforms (VLOPs) with more than 45million monthly active users – like Twitter, Facebook and Instagram – will have to swiftly remove illegal content, hate speech and so-called disinformation from their platforms. Or they will face fines of up to six per cent of their annual global revenue. Larger platforms must be DSA compliant by this summer, while smaller platforms will be obliged to tackle this content from 2024 onwards.

The ramifications of this are immense. Not only will the DSA now enforce the regulation of content on the internet for the first time, but it is also set to become a global standard, not just a European one.

In recent years, the EU has largely realised its ambition to become a global regulatory superpower. The EU can dictate how any company worldwide must behave if it wants to operate in Europe, the world’s second-largest market. As a result, its strict regulatory standards often end up being adopted worldwide by both firms and other regulators, in what is known as the ‘Brussels effect’. Take the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), a privacy law which came into force in May 2018. Among many other things, it requires individuals to give explicit consent before their data can be processed. These EU regulations have since become the global standard, and the same could now happen for the DSA.

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Informants Everywhere, by Julie Kelly

One day it might come out just how many FBI agents were part of the January 6 protest, and what exactly they were doing there. From Julie Kelly at amgreatness.com:

The shroud of secrecy surrounding the FBI’s foreknowledge and engagement in the events of January 6 is disintegrating, no matter how hard Beltway lifers try to keep it intact.

After nine weeks of testimony from multiple government witnesses, including FBI agents, the Justice Department finally concluded its case-in-chief in the Proud Boys’ seditious conspiracy trial on Monday.

Five Proud Boys, including the group’s leader, Enrique Tarrio, are accused of conspiring to “oppose the lawful transfer of presidential power by force” on January 6, 2021. It is Attorney General Merrick Garland’s most consequential case related to January 6; convictions will help build a similar case against Donald Trump largely based on his infamous “stand back and stand by” remark to the Proud Boys during an October 2020 presidential debate.

Most of the evidence is nothing more than inflammatory, braggadocious chatter in group texts; Tarrio wasn’t even present at the Capitol on January 6. Another defendant, Ethan Nordean, can be seen on surveillance video walking through an open door as Capitol police stood nearby.

Similar to other so-called “militia” groups tied to January 6, no one brought weapons to the Capitol that day; no one was charged with assaulting police officers or lawmakers. A key piece of evidence that prosecutors claimed was a road map for the “attack” on the Capitol wasn’t produced by any Proud Boy but by a former intelligence asset who himself sent the plan to Tarrio through a third party.

The document represented just one more instance of how a government agent helped shape the government’s narrative that the Proud Boys plotted in advance to carry out an “insurrection” on January 6. In fact, much like the FBI-engineered plan to “kidnap” Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer in 2020, court proceedings confirm that FBI assets might outnumber criminal defendants.

At least 10 and possibly up to 15 FBI informants were embedded in the group months before and continuing after the events of January 6. Informants participated in numerous group chats, cozied up to leadership, and even accompanied the Proud Boys to Washington.

One known informant, according to a September 2021 New York Times report, was involved in the first breach of Capitol grounds and entered the building that afternoon.

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People Can Win, by Matt Taibbi

We don’t have to accept things as they are. It’s the people who won’t accept things as they are who change humanity. From Matt Taibbi at racket.news:

We’ve been trained to think that endless rule by tiny minorities of really horrible people is the natural order of things, but that turns out to be just another lie

Earlier today Susan Schmidt and I published an article about a series of changes at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), a creepy sub-division of the Department of Homleand Security. It turns out that CISA, which just a week or so ago was busted for scrubbing embarrasing text from its website by the Foundation for Freedom Online, quietly eliminated its so-called “MDM” or “Misinformation, Disinformation, and Malinformation” subcommittee.

Just a year ago, the Department of Homeland Security was going all-in on the fight against “MDM.” The notion that America is fatally infected with “Misinformation, Disinformation, and Malinformation” was in fact the animating idea begind the asinine plan the Biden administration announced last April to institute a “Disinformation Governance Board,” which was to be headed by Nina Jankowicz, a self-styled Mary Poppins of digital rectitude:

America took one look at Jankowicz and at most a few fleeting moments considering the “Disinformation Governance Board” plan before concluding, correctly, that it was a beyond-loathsome expression of aristocratic arrogance that needed shutting down before the first Jankowicz presser. Characteristically, the press lied about the public reaction, claiming that the only displeasure was heard from the “GOP.” In fact, all sane people across the spectrum were instantly nauseated, their distress loud enough that the DHS hit “pause” on Jankowicz and the batty MinTruth plan after just three weeks.

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central bank digital currencies and banking crises, by el gato malo

A banking crisis will be the new Covid, and central bank digital currencies will be the new vaccine. From el gato malo at boriquagato.substack.com:

how do you get people to leave banks for a CBDC?

longtime gatopal™ jordan schachtel published a very useful piece on the impending shot at central bank digital currencies in the US.

you should read it.

because as JFK famously said:

you can access it here:

The Dossier

Americans face a rapidly encroaching ’emergency’ CBDC power grab

The American financial system is threatening to come apart at the seams, and for the people who control the levers of power, the only way to patch things up may involve the installation of a monetary Social Credit Score system. In recent years, America’s fiat fractional reserve system has transformed into a faith-based credit system, and the people who …

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a day ago · 205 likes · 126 comments · Jordan Schachtel

jordan lays out the risks and threats of a CBDC. in a nutshell, this is government digital currency. this means they really, truly control the money. it means they can take it right out of your account or fine tune what you are allowed to do with it.

it means they can decide if you are allowed to spend it and on what.

it means they will have instant knowledge of all your transactions.

it’s the end of privacy and agency.

it’s not just a bad idea.

it’s a true blue, no fooling around, weapons grade bad idea.

and it looks to be coming.

this july.

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Circus Politics Are Intended to Distract Us. Don’t Be Distracted, by John and Nisha Whitehead

The point is simple: government is organized crime. From John and Nisha Whitehead at rutherford.org:

“There is nothing more dangerous than a government of the many controlled by the few.”—Lawrence Lessig, Harvard law professor

It is easy to be distracted right now by the bread and circus politics that have dominated the news headlines lately, but don’t be distracted.

Don’t be fooled, not even a little.

We’re being subjected to the oldest con game in the books, the magician’s sleight of hand that keeps you focused on the shell game in front of you while your wallet is being picked clean by ruffians in your midst.

This is how tyranny rises and freedom falls.

What characterizes American government today is not so much dysfunctional politics as it is ruthlessly contrived governance carried out behind the entertaining, distracting and disingenuous curtain of political theater. And what political theater it is, diabolically Shakespearean at times, full of sound and fury, yet in the end, signifying nothing.

We are being ruled by a government of scoundrels, spies, thugs, thieves, gangsters, ruffians, rapists, extortionists, bounty hunters, battle-ready warriors and cold-blooded killers who communicate using a language of force and oppression.

The U.S. government now poses the greatest threat to our freedoms.

More than terrorism, more than domestic extremism, more than gun violence and organized crime, even more than the perceived threat posed by any single politician, the U.S. government remains a greater menace to the life, liberty and property of its citizens than any of the so-called dangers from which the government claims to protect us.

No matter who has occupied the White House in recent years, the Deep State has succeeded in keeping the citizenry divided and at each other’s throats.

After all, as long as we’re busy fighting each other, we’ll never manage to present a unified front against tyranny in any form.

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Doug Casey on “15-Minute Cities” and Penning You In for the Next Lockdown

Everyone will have their 15 minutes of freedom. From Doug Casey at internationalman.com:

15-Minute City

International Man: The “15-minute city” is an urban planning concept rapidly spreading in North America and Europe. They aim to make everything—where people work, shop, get their education, healthcare, and leisure activities—just 15 minutes away.

The idea is for bureaucrats to restrict—and eventually prohibit—car use because everything is within walking or biking distance. Phasing out hydrocarbons, in general, and cars with internal combustion engines, in particular, is a primary goal of the carbon hysterics.

Critics also argue that 15-minute cities will eventually allow for total surveillance and control of people’s lives, as governments will inevitably pair them with an ESG social credit system and central bank digital currencies.

What is your take on the 15-minute city concept?

Doug Casey: It’s social engineering taken to a new level—trying to reform the way humans act and live. In fact, it’s social engineering that’s expressed in the form of civil engineering, putting people in the kind of houses, environments, and locales that the elites—strike that, I mean parasites—prefer.

It’s as if the whole human race is taking a role in the Jim Carrey movie The Truman Show. But that’s way too benign. The way they’re trying to reform the cities and force people to stay in place in certain areas, it’s more like the panopticon, which was a type of prison where all people could be observed easily by the guards at all times.

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The World’s Largest CBDC Trial: A Preview of the Elite’s Cashless Vision for You, by Nick Giambruno

CBDC’s aren’t working in Nigeria, which means they’ll be rolled out harder elsewhere. Coming soon to a theater near you. From Nick Giambruno at internationalman.com:

The Dark Side of CBDCs

The eNaira is Africa’s first central bank digital currency (CBDC).

Central bankers, academics, politicians, and an assortment of elites from over 100 countries hoping to launch their own CBDCs have closely followed the eNaira.

They used Nigeria—Africa’s largest country by population and size of its economy—as a trial balloon to test their nefarious plans to eliminate cash in North America, Europe, and beyond.

Are you concerned about CBDCs?

Then you should be paying attention to what is happening in Nigeria.

That’s because there’s an excellent chance your government will reach for the same playbook when they decide to impose CBDCs in your area—which could be soon.

CBDCs enable all sorts of horrible, totalitarian things.

They allow governments to track and control every penny you earn, save, and spend. They are a powerful tool for politicians to confiscate and redistribute wealth as they see fit.

CBDCs will also enable devious social engineering by allowing governments to punish and reward people in ways they previously couldn’t.

CBDCs are, without a doubt, an instrument of enslavement. They represent a quantum leap backward in human freedom.

Unfortunately, they’re coming soon…

Governments will probably mandate CBDCs as the “solution” when the next real or contrived crisis hits—which is likely not far off.

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Democrat Representative Says Parents ‘Not Qualified’ To Choose Schools For Their Kids, by Tyler Durden

Yes, the government is much more qualified. From Tyler Durden at zerohedge.com:

It’s another case of Democrats saying the quiet part out loud.  The school choice movement has been fighting for decades for parents to have the ability to determine which schools get their tax dollars, including schools other than state sponsored institutions.  They have consistently hit a brick wall in terms of legislation, but that is starting to change. 

Conservative groups have long ignored the public school environment as a place of potential indoctrination, often assuming that leftist propaganda was limited to colleges.  However, identity politics and gender theory have now become commonplace within schools across America all the way down to Kindergarten and pre-school ages.  Numerous instances of school sponsored programs involving sexualized curriculum, Critical Race Theory and even drag queen shows are pervasive.

On top of this, many parents in 2020 also found themselves in conflict with public school mandates during the covid hysteria and realized they had few options in dealing with overzealous state restrictions.  In some cases, state officials were calling for forced mRNA vaccination of children in order to get access to educational facilities.     

These developments have startled millions of parents out of their apathy and injected momentum into School Choice policies – A plan to decentralize schooling and take power away from government bureaucrats and far-left teachers unions.  Multiple states have now introduced or passed legislation allowing tax dollars to be allocated for parents to move their children to private schools if they feel their public school is insufficient.  The laws vary, but are often associated with school vouchers. 

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IRAQ 20 YEARS: Chris Hedges — The Lords of Chaos

Chris Hedges on what happened to those who told the truth about Iraq, from personal experience. From Hedges at consortiumnews.com:

The politicians and shills in the media who orchestrated 20 years of military debacles in the Middle East, and who seek a world dominated by U.S. power, must be held accountable for their crimes.

We’re Number One – by Mr. Fish

Two decades ago, I sabotaged my career at The New York Times. It was a conscious choice.

I had spent seven years in the Middle East, four of them as the Middle East Bureau Chief. I was an Arabic speaker. I believed, like nearly all Arabists, including most of those in the State Department and the C.I.A., that a “preemptive” war against Iraq would be the most costly strategic blunder in American history.

It would also constitute what the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg called the “supreme international crime.” While Arabists in official circles were muzzled, I was not. I was invited by them to speak at The State Department, The United States Military Academy at West Point and to senior Marine Corps officers scheduled to be deployed to Kuwait to prepare for the invasion.

Mine was not a popular view nor one a reporter, rather than an opinion columnist, was permitted to express publicly according to the rules laid down by the newspaper. But I had experience that gave me credibility and a platform. I had reported extensively from Iraq. I had covered numerous armed conflicts, including the first Gulf War and the Shi’ite uprising in southern Iraq where I was taken prisoner by The Iraqi Republican Guard.

I easily dismantled the lunacy and lies used to promote the war, especially as I had reported on the destruction of Iraq’s chemical weapons stockpiles and facilities by the United Nations Special Commission (UNSCOM) inspection teams. I had detailed knowledge of how degraded the Iraqi military had become under U.S. sanctions. Besides, even if Iraq did possess “weapons of mass destruction” that would not have been a legal justification for war.

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