Ukrainian artillery hits Zaporozhye nuclear dump
Related:
Radiation tablets are handed out near Ukrainian nuclear plant as fears of a leak mount
Ukrainian artillery hits Zaporozhye nuclear dump
Related:
Radiation tablets are handed out near Ukrainian nuclear plant as fears of a leak mount
Are you aware your blog was not accessible through part of yesterday? I received a message from Blogger it had been deleted. (I think that was the wording.) I wondered if you'd grown tired, or been deleted as an extreme form of censorship.
ReplyDeleteIt seems significant the New York Times coverage of the attack on the nuclear power plant (or radioactive waste site, or whatever it was) is very subdued. It is on page one, but not the big story, nor even presented as the main item of the story which does appear.
I also find something significant which happened to me personally the other day. I wanted to be able to pay some of my IRS tax online, so I started to set up an account online. The final step was I had to authorize the IRS to collect biometric information about myself, supposedly to protect my account and online identity. There was a second choice if I wouldn't release biometric measurements to the government, but it involved a time-consuming and difficult online interview, among other things. It wasn't a real choice. I chose not to set up the account. This stuff is real.
Yes, Canspeccy.blogspot.ca was taken off line on the grounds of "hate speech." No evidence was presented, but I was given the opportunity to request a review, which I did. Today, Canspeccy is back online, also without explanation.
DeleteI suppose if one uses a free web service, one must accept the arbitrary rulings of the provider. It would have been interesting, however, to know the reason for Google's action.
The only reason I can think of is either my calling Zelensky a "drug addict," i.e., a daily user of cocaine, which I thought was common knowledge, based on Zelensky's own admission; or my calling Trudeau an "idiot," which seemed reasonable in the context of his statement that global warming diminished Canada's security against Russian invasion -- our only defense being, apparently, the snow and ice of our Northern regions. Of course I don't hate drug addicts or idiots, although I hate the world being ruled by drug addicts and idiots.
Re our suspension, apparently Google is said to have many people from the CIA, who are said to wield "considerable control over ... what the world sees on its screens and in its search results"
Delete"Yes, Canspeccy.blogspot.ca was taken off line on the grounds of "hate speech." No evidence was presented, but I was given the opportunity to request a review, which I did. Today, Canspeccy is back online, also without explanation."
ReplyDeleteWow.
That is all I can say without resorting to profanity.
From the very beginning I could see a struggle between the internet's democratizing and liberating potential versus a totalitarian potential. I'm a cynic, so how it would end was not truly in doubt for me. Still, I must have retained some childish hope and so am saddened and shocked.
Another weird thing, yesterday: the comments on many of the YouTube videos I watched were blocked: "for the safety of children".
I couldn't help wondering what comments on a video of Roubanis's Misirlou arranged for strings would be dangerous for children-- links to porno? Why not just delete the links to porno but keep comments open?
Yeah, it is chilling. In times past people strove in some degree to adhere to the word of God, for fear of eternal damnation. In a world ruled by algorithms, failure to adhere to the rule of political correctness will result in denial of access to cash in the bank. Hell was remote, lack of cash has an immediate impact. In the future there will be no notion of free will.
DeleteI have a suggestion for you.
ReplyDeleteNo one has the personnel around to monitor each and every blog out there. The monitoring is performed by algorithms. It is entirely impersonal and pre-programmed. The algorithm is triggered by use of certain specific terms and combinations of terms.
If you say the same thing but avoid obvious combinations ( e.g., anything "personal and attacking": Mr. X is a Y, Y being a not nice quality) the algorithm will pass it by.
I learned this some time ago when I posted an agreement to another comment on the Anchorage Daily News. I stated my agreement in terms much more explicit than the original comment. (The original commenter was more sophisticated dodging censorship than me.) My comment was detected and deleted simultaneously with me pushing the "publish" button.
Also, I have a suspicion the requested review is algorithmic, the assumption (for now anyways) being anyone requesting a review is at least in earnest, not guilty.
The necessity of avoiding guilt of what is not specified is unnerving. I have to re-read Kafka's "The Trial" for guidance on how to handle that.
DeleteIt is unnerving how much time and effort you've put into this, your blog, but it isn't "your" blog.
DeleteWe both have to face it could be swept away with instantaneous speed, anonymously, and arbitrarily.
This is manifestly unfair and wrong. People aren't forced to visit the blog and if they do and don't like what's here, they aren't required to return.
If as a boy I went into the street and people were angrily arguing and cussing, it was educational. I wasn't in any danger, either. This has all gone too far. For me, there's an analogy here with keeping children in such clean environments they don't develop natural immunity to a wide range of antigens. They develop autoimmune diseases instead. It's actually harmful.