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Hey CanSpeccy, I no longer see you on Unz - did they stop publishing your comments because you don't toe the line?
ReplyDeleteJust curious as to how much censorship is actually taking place there.
Hi Aaron,
DeleteYes, Ron deleted several of my comments. Quite good ones, I thought, although it's true I was ragging him for his unsubstantiated insistence that Covid19 is a US biowarfare agent deliberately let loose in China.
Here's one of my comments that Ron deleted:
Here's a quote that Ron Unz will have to delete, unless, that is, he's an honest man:
"... researchers at the Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine at Oxford University estimate Covid-19 to have an infection fatality rate (IFR) of between 0.1% and 0.36%. Similar to seasonal flu."
Source
And here's another of my comments that failed to pass the censor:
"There is currently no evidence that people who have recovered from #COVID19 and have antibodies are protected from a second infection."
First, to say that there is no evidence of X is no evidence of of not X. But in any case the tweet [by the WHO] was deleted, so it would appear that their claim (the WHO's claim, that is) was either unsupported by evidence or known to be false.
Second, to claim, as you do, that antibodies for Covid19 are short-lived is not the same as saying they are non-existent.
Third, if antibodies to Covid19 exist -- as they must or immunological tests for the disease would be impossible -- and as even the WHO now acknowledges, that implies a degree of immunity in those who have been infected. And remember, without an immune system response, every case of Covid19 would be fatal.
The fact is, Covid19, like the flu, a virus of the same family*, is a relatively mild disease except in a minority of cases (chiefly the elderly afflicted by one or several other serious diseases).
The usual mildness of the disease is evident from the fact that although a substantial proportion of the population where serological surveys have been conducted have been shown to have been infected, the death rate as a proportion of those with antibodies is low, in the order of no more than about 0.3%. However, the antibody tests are not known to be highly reliable and the actual death rate is likely much lower. So far, the reported US death toll is just over 60,000 of 328 million Americans, and with the daily totals trending down, the total is thus unlikely to exceed 120,000. If so, the disease will prove considerably less lethal than both the Asian flu of 1957/58 that killed 70,000 of 149 million Americans, or the 1968 Hong Kong flu (H3N2 virus) that killed about 100,000 out of 200 million Americans.
----
* This claim is incorrect. The influenza virus is not a corona virus. Also, it is now apparent that I underestimated the US Covid death toll.
More significant, I think, is that Unz refused to publish my rebuttal of Fred Reed's drivel about evolution, which as the world can see here, was well informed and carefully drafted.
After those and a few other comments of mine had been censored, I kind of lost interest in the site, the main virtue of which, it has always seemed to me, being the comment software.
But I would be interested to know of your experience of Unz censorship if any, as it might cast light on what the Unz Review is about.
Thanks.
ReplyDeleteYes, I have increasingly been censored by various Unz columnists, with some no longer publishing any of my comments. Ron also doesn't publish my comments on the Open Thread. I used to be on the pre-approved commenter list for both Audacious Epigone and Karlin - in one evening, Ron took me off both. I now have to wait 8 hours around to get published by Audacious Epigone, after the conversation has moved on, so I consider that a soft banning. To his credit, Anatoly approves my comments very quickly making me part of the conversation. Ron also restricted me to 2 comments per hour rather the usual 3.
My crime seems to have been a defense of Israel and criticism of Islam - despite being very polite and thoughtful in my comments, I started getting "punished". Lately I don't care so much and am less restrained, because the double standard is so blatant - although the quality of comments allowed through is generally so low its obvious it has nothing to do with that.
Thanks for your comments above. Its obvious you were censored because you very rationally and intelligently questioned the narrative at Unz - so your'e a threat. Anti-covid comments are allowed through but they either have to be incoherent, or not fact and science based (personal opinion, etc).
I was on the fence on covid for a while but I am now a skeptic like you.
Unz is not what it seems - it has become a propaganda site with a clear and narrow editorial line that no one us allowed to seriously deviate from. Increasingly it is bland and conformist and the initial excitement and ferment of ideas seems gone.
I don't know if Ron planned to build his user base all along and then suddenly clamp down and become a conformist propaganda site or it just happened. Either way it is what it us.
Thanks for your contributions on Covid.
"Unz is not what it seems - it has become a propaganda site ..."
ReplyDeleteI agree. What puzzles me: is propaganda for what?
It could simply be Ron's idiosyncratic perspective on the world, or it could be something more sinister.
I am most puzzled by his anti-Semitism. I can understand an American of Jewish extraction criticizing Jews. All groups are surely open to criticism. But why the extremism? I don't know if Wally is correct in dismissing as fake all the reported WWII mass killings of Jews (although I rather think he is not, since Solzhenitsyn's Two Hundred Years Together acknowledges many WWII massacres of Jews), but the tone of approved comments about Jews by Wally and others reflects extreme stereotyping. Likewise, the contempt for African-Americans expressed in many comments. Such racism naturally generates antagonism for the perceived source of such insults, i.e., America's Euro-American majority, which makes one wonder if stoking interacial antagonism is the intent?
But who knows. Ron, who is evidently, in some ways, a smart person, may also be a crackpot.
Well, I have a theory, but I'm not sure how convincing it is.
ReplyDeleteLets look at the editorial line on Unz -
1) Jew are too dominant to be challenged (even if evil).
2) We should import Chinese authoritarianism into America.
3) Covid in particular shows the superiority of Chinese authoritarianism.
3) China will inevitably dominate the world.
4) Historical revisionism. In any conflict with the West, the non-West are the good guys.
5) Whites are a beta race. They are genetically trusting and naive.
6) Immigration should be restricted because whites can't compete with Asians mentally, and can't compete with blacks physically. (Not for some positive, noble reason).
7) Two foreign Islamists are given gold stars, but no promoters of Western cub are.
So what is the cumulative effect of spending a lot of time on Unz for an average white male? Low self image. Learning that his place in the world is mediocre.
Now, is it any wonder that this site isn't shut down?! Its an extension of BLM. It promotes European decline.
I admit this l may be rather fanciful and Ron may just be a crackpot - his positions seem extreme on everything. No middle ground for him. Jews are total evil. China is total paradise (!!).
It may also be his site is not shut down because it is do goofy and absurd as to be self-discrediting.
Hard to say.
I agree with you that the best thing about that site was the free for all commenting and the commenting software - I never read Ron's articles, and most articles are utter nonsense and just a springboard for fun conversations in the comments. With that gone it is a dead site.
Sad, but everything dies. We just have to wait for the next place where we can have fun.
Re: (5) Unz is not anti immigration. Rather he's for undercutting the positioon of US-born and bred techies by increasing the number of the H1b visa immigrants. He is also in favor of a large increase in the minimum wage, which undercuts America's working class by denying them entry-level jobs at wages that low-value added employers can afford to pay.
DeleteThese are genocidal policies.
H1b visas bring in many of the best and the brightest from Asia who increasingly displace native-born Americans in business and political elite circles, while a high minimum wage promotes the black economy employing illegal immigrants at below minimum wage.
Despite Unz's vicious globalist agenda, many Unz followers are clearly white nationalists, and I think you are right in supposing that the Unz Review serves to demoralize these people, and undercut their beliefs. Hence the denigration of famous whites, Darwin and Churchill, for example, both targeted on Unz.com.
It's interesting though that the Anglos (including all their European-derived additions in North America) although apparently mediocre, have a long track record of often coming out on top. Maybe it's because they are a relatively undisciplined rabble -- reluctant to wear face masks, grovel for Allah, or perform the Nazi goose-step, that they have been able to think more creatively than others and often muddle their way ahead rather successfully.
I also underestimated the numbers of US deaths, and I'm starting to get worried there are some other things going on I have seriously underestimated. As always through this, it is difficult to sort the truth from the fiction.
ReplyDeleteI was looking at the (very) recent reports of California hospitals becoming swamped with new cases. I definitely didn't expect this. But it is so damned strange because way back in March Gavin Newsom, California's governor, told everyone California's hospitals would soon be swamped-- this never materialized. Until now-- in the middle of July? Why?
I've also been pondering this little gem:
"Around 1 in every 5 people who are infected with COVID-19 develop difficulty in breathing and require hospital care."-- https://www.who.int/indonesia/news/detail/08-03-2020-knowing-the-risk-for-covid-19#:~:text=Most%20people%20(about%2080,are%20at%20greater%20risk.
Pure fucking bull shit, but this is the statement which probably triggered Newsom and others, to panic. I don't think people even really understood the WHO made this statement and then quietly "updated" it. I didn't see the WHO issue any warnings about what's happening now during the summer. I don't believe it falls under the category of the "second wave" but maybe.
Maybe you have a better grip on it than I do. I thought the idea behind the lock down was to "flatten" the curve so hospitals didn't become overwhelmed. Then the hospitals didn't become overwhelmed; and then they did months after things in the hospitals which did see a lot of action (I'm thinking of NYC) had more or less gone back to levels of hospitalization comparable to before the pandemic. I had even read a NYTimes article stating Cuomo was getting ready to allow hospital elective surgeries.
There are several very recent reports of surges in hospitalizations and covid deaths from states such as Texas:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2R6ynwwNJk
"Texas Congresswoman Argues for Shutdown"
This woman says that the past three days have seen one hundred deaths per day.
The CDC provisional numbers for deaths in Texas, updated today, 7/17/2020, is 3,116. If the congress woman's numbers are correct, I too would call that a spike in deaths.
There has been minimal Influenza-Like Illness (ILI) Activity in Texas as recently as the end of week 28, ending July 11, 2020.
The Zero Hedge article you linked to,
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/crunch-time-arrives-and-was-everyone-wrong-about-coronavirus,
was correct in its claim of declining fatality in the recent past. "Based on death certificate data, the percentage of deaths attributed to pneumonia, influenza or COVID-19 (PIC) decreased from 8.1% during week 27 to 6.4% during week 28, representing the twelfth week of a declining percentage of deaths due to PIC. The percentage is currently above the epidemic threshold and will likely change as more death certificates are processed, particularly for recent weeks."
These figures come from here: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/covid-data/covidview/index.html
It is good to get another set of eyes on these things.
It is certainly not obvious how to make sense of the media reports on the US epidemic. But here's one attempt:
DeleteLet’s assume that the events of the last five months are neither random nor unexpected.
Let’s say they’re part of an ingenious plan to transform American democracy into a lockdown police state controlled by criminal elites and their puppet governors.
And let’s say the media’s role is to fan the flames of mass hysteria by sensationalizing every gory detail, every ominous prediction and every slightest uptick in the death toll in order to exert greater control over the population.
And let’s say the media used their power to craft a message of terror they’d repeat over and over again until finally, there was just one frightening storyline ringing-out from every soapbox and bullhorn, one group of governors from the same political party implementing the same destructive policies, and one small group of infectious disease experts –all incestuously related– issuing edicts in the form of “professional advice.”
Could such a thing happen in America?
Source: Covid-19: Phase 1 of the “Permanent Crisis”? - Mike Whitney, Global Research.
I'm going to take a stab at explaining what's going on from a more "structural" perspective. I want to steer clear of the more lurid conspiracy theory aspects of my understanding to this point. I will explain why.
ReplyDeleteThe first structural feature: the concentration of worldwide wealth, first to a small number of nation states; then, within those nation states to a remarkably small number of individuals.
The second structural feature: globalization as a fait accompli. It is a done deal now and the global economy and political organization is the reality. Most of what we grew up believing about the economy and political organization (the nation state, democracy, totalitarianism, or communism-- you name it-- it is all obsolete.)
About the first structural feature: concentration of wealth. What I want to call attention to is a phenomena we can all agree on: the emergence of a single man named Bill Gates as a world leader of epic power and sway.
When I say we can all agree on it, I mean no one doubts Gates is one of the most wealthy and powerful people in the world. (Some people claim he is the second most wealthy--it wouldn't surprise me.) It is not controversial he is heavily invested in vaccines: vaccine research and development, production, and dissemination. This investment is both through his charitable foundation, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and in for-profit private companies. (I recall several years ago reading he'd invested 11 billion in a for-profit private company. He likely has increased this. I need to check to see if I can find out where he's at now.)
It is not controversial this one man, Bill Gates, contributes more to the funding of the World Health Organization,(WHO) than all but one of the 193 nation-state members.
As an aside, note the confluence of structural element number one and number two in this truly extraordinary state of affairs: One man contributing more than all of those nation-states to an organization which is an outgrowth of the United Nations, a signal or earlier attempt (failed) toward a global governance.
Now we have this one man, Bill Gates, exercising influence and power. The exact nature of the way Gates is exercising influence and power IS CONTROVERSIAL. I don't deny it. What needs to be remembered, though, is something which wasn't controversial very long ago in the US, Canada, Britain or any other western democracy: systems of checks and balances and other forms of restraint on ALL exercises of public power and influence. I have to wonder how hard it would be to get people to see, in the case of Bill Gates and this pandemic, we do not have such systems in effect.
ReplyDeleteWe don't need the idea of Bill Gates as a psychopathic madman conspiring to depopulate the planet and make himself a trillion dollars richer by manipulating a crisis. All we actually need is recognition he is no longer "one man throwing his two cents into the pot, along with everyone else's two cents." We don't have a war of, or marketplace, of words and ideas duking it out on a level playing field so that in the long run the better ones win.
We have one guy, who may very well have the best intentions, pulling strings here and there in the way he thinks is best-- but without any contest of ideas-- not likely the best FOR EVERYONE or, failing that, FOR THE GREATER GOOD. He can't! He has his narrow perspective, his personal experiences, his unconscious desires and drives, his imperfections, limitations, defects of character, intelligence, and personality-- just like all us slobs. (Here and there he may have some quality to recommend him so what, but I alone know at least a dozen smarter and better men.)
There are corollaries to this. Gates is not where he is due to his merits. (Not really.) The people beneath him aren't necessarily there due to their merits, either. Gates has business skills, I would say, probably some very rusty computer skills, and he has less knowledge of biology and medicine, I think, than you or I. He is to some degree or other unable to evaluate who is best and what is best. (This is true for so many of our "leaders". They are so out of their depth it is painful. I even felt sorry for Trump. He just plain doesn't know what's going on and he's too old and too stressed to learn.) Gates is going to feel comfortable working with some people, not others, and will, as we all may tend to do, think those are the best. He is going to have, as many wealthy and powerful people do, a bias in favor of those who obtain access to him personally. These people are also not necessarily the best and may be among the worst. They may very well have access because they are powerful enough, or corrupt enough, to get it.
I have to stop here. Hopefully you can see where I am going.
Every time I have seen a goof-- and there have been so many-- (the 20% hospitalization rate for those infected is an example; so are Neil Ferguson's modeling results), I have been angered and seen it all as a hoax (and conspiracy.) There is plenty of evidence of hoax, conspiracy, gross negligence, and corruption, but what I am thinking now is it has more to do with our global abandonment OF WHAT WORKED WELL ENOUGH for what we all knew had to be avoided and guarded against.
I have responded to this and the previous comment here.
Delete