Holly Lawford-Smith is an associate professor of philosophy at the University of Melbourne. She writes on gender issues – critically – and (thus) she annoys people. Continue reading “Moti Gorin’s Open Letter on Holly Lawford-Smith”
Tag: censorship
RatS 25: Taibbi – On the Loony Van Gogh Protests
We try to avoid recommending paywalled stuff, but the Van Gogh nonsense, and the response, is just so depressing, and Taibbi’s critique is so good, we decided to make an exception. Of course, regular readers will be used to our badgering them to read Taibbi, and the subscription is worth it. But readers can also avoid paying by “trying 7 days for free”, and then cancelling immediately (so you don’t then forget and get billed).
A couple paragraphs are below. Read all of Taibbi’s post, and then scream.
Continue reading “RatS 25: Taibbi – On the Loony Van Gogh Protests”
RatS 22: Taibbi – PayPal’s IndyMedia Wipeout
Matt Taibbi has another in his infinite series of posts on powerful and sanctimonious thugs, this one free to the public. This time it’s PayPal doing the thugging, and thieving, and not for the first time, or second time, all the while preening as the defender of Truth, Justice and the American Way. A nice touch is that this time the thugging seems to be in partnership with the Anti-Defamation League. Proving, as if it were needed, that the Old Jews can be just as much assholes as the New Jews.
Read Taibbi’s post, and then scream.
Continue reading “RatS 22: Taibbi – PayPal’s IndyMedia Wipeout”
RatS 21: Taibbi – Twitter’s Chickens Come Home to Roost
(29/04/22 Update below) We had thought about posting on this one but, given the paywall, we had decided against. Now we’ve decided for it. With Elon Musk having arranged to buy Twitter, and given our post yesterday on Twitter Fun, it seems worthwhile.
People are going nuts at the prospect of Musk controlling Twitter. They’ve been going nuts since it became clear a couple weeks ago that Musk was eyeing the company. It is appalling. One doesn’t have be a fan of Musk to be disgusted by the manipulative, hypocritical and, most importantly and nauseatingly, censorious twaddle that would-be-respectable journalists are currently spewing.
Continue reading “RatS 21: Taibbi – Twitter’s Chickens Come Home to Roost”
RatS 13: In Defense of Craig Kelly
That got your attention, didn’t it?
And, having tabloided you here, we confess we’re not gonna defend Craig Kelly. The man is a dangerous idiot. We will, however, defend the right of Kelly and his dangerously idiotic comrades to spout their dangerous idiocy. It pains us to write this, coming straight after anti-lockdown and anti-vax neanderthals flooded Australia’s, and the World’s, streets. Fuck these morons. But, the idea that censorship is an effective way to counter such group moronicity is insane.
RatS 11: Taibbi and The Miserableness of Documenting Censorship
We link a lot to Matt Taibbi. He is smart, he cares (mostly) about the right things, and he is beholden to no one. Which means that, with the polarising idiocy of our times, Taibbi is hated by pretty much everyone. It’s always a good bet to judge a man by his enemies.
Taibbi has an on-going series, Meet the Censored, to which we link whenever he has a new post. Now, Taibbi has written about that series, and the difficulty bringing people on with what the series is really about. If for example, you were cheering when Trump was kicked off Twitter, you might want to think again. Having thought again, you’re probably still fine to cheer Trump being kicked off Twitter, and maybe that’s ok, but it is not a gimme.
Here is Taibbi’s post on the issue:
On the Miserable Necessity of Doing Censorship Stories in Pairs
RatS 8: Donald McNeil Has His Say
Last month, science writer Donald McNeil got shoved out of the New York Times. McNeil has waited until he was formally out of the Times to have his say. Now, he has done so. The whole thing is insane.
Part Two: What Happened January 28?
RatS 7: Taibbi on Dr. Seuss and eBay
It was big news that the estate of Theodor Geisel – aka Dr. Seuss – had decided to cease publication of six Seuss titles, because of their portrayal of people “in ways that are hurtful and wrong”. Seuss is huge, of course, but in the scheme of it the news shouldn’t have been that huge. Geisel-Seuss wrote plenty of mediocre stuff, and some grotesquely racist stuff. It’s complicated. Books – good and bad – go out of print for all sorts of reasons – good and bad. We were a bit surprised by the discontinuance of Circus and Mulberry Street, but they aren’t great, and it’s not like they’ll be hard to find.
But then, eBay decides it will no longer list the Bad Seusses. And, as Matt Taibbi points out, that is batshit insane. Read it and Scream.
RatS 2: Matt Taibbi Meets the Censored
We had intended to make RatS a regular thing but, like many plans of mice and Marty, it fell by the wayside. Maybe we’ll try again.
Matt Taibbi is the nerdish heir to Hunter S. Thompson. He is simultaneously unleashed and meticulous. He also has a habit of pissing off Democrats, and plenty on the left, by suggesting that there is much more wrong with America than Trump and Republicans. Taibbi had the temerity to argue, early and strongly, that Trump’s win over Hillary wasn’t because of Russian hackers, but because of the general ineptness and meaninglessness of the Democratic Party, and the specific awfulness of Clinton. Taibbi is also a careful and incisive critic of the news media; Hate Inc. is a must. Continue reading “RatS 2: Matt Taibbi Meets the Censored”
How to Cancel Culture
Yes, of course we’ve read on this nonsense, as have probably most readers of this blog; it’s either that or reruns of Bachelor Chef Island. For those divorced from virtual reality, however, here is:
- an open letter trying to kick Steven Pinker out of the club;
- an open letter in Harper’s attacking cancel culture;
- an open letter attacking the attackers of “cancel culture”;
- [Space kept blank for the next iteration].
There are plenty of left-wing thugs pretending that “cancel culture” is a fraud, and there are plenty of right-wing thugs pretending that they and their thuggish cronies don’t play the same nasty sport. For us, the smartest takes are:
- Matt Taibbi: On “White Fragility”.
- Matt Taibbi: If it’s not “cancel culture”, what culture is it? (paywalled)
- Glenn Greenwald: “Cancel culture”, and a film on Martina Navratilova
But, really, “cancel culture” is what we gotta solve right now? One would think that being inundated with plague, and having the World heating to the point of no return, and with the three superpowers being led by homicidal maniacs, that would be plenty enough on our to-do list. But, if taking hair-trigger offense and being a Blockleiter is your thing then, sure, go ahead and have fun.
UPDATE (21/07)
A new article:
- Matt Taibbi: The Left is Now the Right.
Read it. Yeah, you’re busy but, trust me, read it.