Daily Archives: January 25, 2021

With the new administration and a Democrat run government, it was only a matter of time before corporations started to curry favor with the new legislative majority.

With pending anti-trust legislation in the works by House Democrats, Big Tech made a few strategic moves earlier this month to show that they are friendly to the current ruling class. Facebook and Twitter have censored or banned Trump, Ron Paul, #WalkAway Campaign, and many more .

It is easy to see these moves as an attack on the political values of conservatives. But that would lose sight of the fact that these are corporations who are judged by market cap and net income.

These companies have no doubt a dominating liberal culture within their workforce, but when that culture clashes with profits, profits invariably win. The current crackdown on conservatives by Big Tech is not happening because they hate conservative values or conservative people, it is because they understand that Democrats have the power.

So what can we, as conservatives, do?

The general line of prescription is to stop shopping at a business you don't like.

Hit them where it hurts, in the pocket book. This is an excellent strategy to fight against a clothing brand, or a restaurant.

But this is unrealistic when referring to a near monopolistic business such as Facebook or Twitter. Most of us use Facebook to connect family and friends across the country. It has also become a central method of how we absorb information, news and otherwise, from the outside world.

For better or for worse, even for those that don't like technology, social media has become as central to many American's lives as television or radio. So if you are unwilling to leave social media, what is your avenue of recourse?

Hit them in the pocketbook, without leaving. Specific targeted advertising is Faceboook's golden goose. Facebook uses information you input in the site (ie. your birthday, hometown, page likes, content likes) and combines it with information it gathers from your activities across the internet.

Using this profile, it shows you ads that it believes would suit you. This process has been very beneficial for small/big businesses, magazines, and non-profits while making Facebook billions in the process.

This is also how you can, in-part, de-monetize, them without leaving the site.

Delete as much personal information about you on your facebook page as possible. Then start using a browser that blocks Facebook from tracking you across the internet.

There are many,duckduckgo.comis a good one for mobile. Lastly, stop clicking anything that is an ad on your Facebook feed. If it is something you are interested in, search for it in a new browser page.

All these steps lessen the effectiveness of the information Big Tech gathers on you, and therefore the effectiveness of the targeted ads they show you.

You won't be putting Facebook out of business anytime soon, but you can rest assured that you have done everything in your power to stop putting money in their bank account, short of quitting. "

NOTE: Aditya Atholi is a resident of Center who writes a conservative column. He may be reached at: adityaatholi1@gmail.com

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What are conservatives to do in this new Democrat government era? - The Light and Champion

Jared Evan

Senator Rand Paul(R-Ky), son of extremely popular retired Congressman Ron Paul, over the last several years was not always a solid ally of President Trump but is someone who has always spoken his honest opinion regardless of which side of the aisle his views aligned with.

He has always been controversial, and strangely enough, even though he sympathized with several anti-police activists points of contention and introduced a bill named after Breonna Taylor, designed to end no-knock warrant arrests, found himself harassed and almost beaten brutally on the streets of D.C after the GOP National convention over the summer, by BLM terrorists.

After the January 6th storming of the capitol it is practically taboo to mention the term voter fraud or question the election of Joe Biden. Even discussing these topics, will find one banned from Twitter, suspended from Facebook, and removed from YouTube.

Senator Paul was not afraid to speak of that which is now taboo. Appearing on ABCs This Week, he unleashed on George Stephanopoulos, several powerful points regarding the November election.

Highlights:

The debate over whether or not there was fraud should occur. We never had any presentation in court where we ever looked at the evidence. There were several states in which the law was changed by the Secretary of State and not the state legislature. To me those are clearly unconstitutional and I think theres still a chance those do finally work their way up to the Supreme Court.

In my state, where we had a Democrat Secretary of State, she refused, even under federal order, to purge the rolls of illegal voters. We got a Republican SoS and he purged the rolls. In Wisconsin, tens of thousands of absentee votes had only the name on them and no address. Historically, those were thrown out. This time they werent.

You immediately say everythings a lie instead of saying theres two sides to everything. Historically what would happen is if I said I thought there was fraud, youd interview someone else who said there wasnt. But now you insert yourself in the middle and say that the absolute fact is that everything Im saying is a lie.

Youre saying theres no fraud and its all been investigated and thats just not true. I plan on spending the next two years going around, state to state, fixing these problems. There has been no thorough examination of all states to see what problems we had and see if we could fix them.

Theres two sides to every story. Interview someone on the other side, but dont insert yourself into the story to say were all liars. Youre forgetting who you are as a journalist if you think theres only one side. A journalist would hear both sides and there are two sides to this story.

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Rand Paul Makes Voter Fraud Claims on ABC "This Week"; Battles Stephanopoulos in Heated Debate - The Jewish Voice

How To Watch, Listen, News & Notes

Where: Assembly Hall in Bloomington, Indiana

Tip-off: Sunday, January 24 at 12:00 p.m. ET

TV: BTN - Brandon Gaudin and Stephen Bardo

Radio: Live Listen - Rutgers Sports Properties Radio Network - WCTC 1450 AM/WOR 710 AM/XM 381, Jerry Recco & Mark Peterson; WRSU 88.7 FM - Raj Shah and Chris Tsakonas

KenPom Rankings: Rutgers is 46, which is 7 spots worse since the 8 point loss at Penn State on Thursday; Indiana is 23, which is 10 spots worse better since a 12 point win at Iowa on Thursday.

Efficiency Rankings: Rutgers - Offense 109.2 (59th) Defense 93.2 (37th); Indiana - Offense 110.9 (43rd) Defense 91.2 (15th)

KenPom Prediction: Indiana 70 Rutgers 65; Rutgers is given a 33% chance to win.

OTB Guide to KenPom

Vegas Line: Indiana -4.5

Series History: Indiana leads the all-time series 7-3, but Rutgers won the lone meeting last season 59-50 at the RAC on January 15, 2020.

Indiana SB Nation Site: The Crimson Quarry

Indiana - 69 sophomore Trayce Jackson-Davis (20.6 points, 8.8 rebounds, 1.8 blocks, 1.5 assists, 54.2% FG); 64 sophomore Armaan Franklin (12.7 points, 4.5 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 1.5 steals, 43.1% 3-pt FG); 64 senior Aljami Durham (10.8 points, 3.6 rebounds, 3.2 assists); 68 redshirt junior Race Thompson (9.1 points, 6.7 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 1.4 blocks, 54.5% FG); 61 junior Rob Phinisee (8.4 points, 3.1 assists, 2.0 rebounds, 34.6% 3-pt FG); 67 redshirt sophomore Jerome Hunter (5.0 points, 2.9 rebounds, 35.9% 3-pt FG); 64 freshman Trey Galloway (4.9 points, 2.1 assists, 2.1 rebounds); 65 freshman Anthony Leal (2.1 points, 1.4 rebounds, 1.2 assists)

Rutgers - 66 junior Ron Harper Jr. (18.6 points, 6.0 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 41.6% 3-pt FG); 62 senior Jacob Young (15.2 points, 4.2 assists, 2.2 steals, 2.2 rebounds, 37.5% 3-pt FG); 64 junior Montez Mathis (12.2 points, 4.1 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 37.8 % 3-pt FG); 64 Geo Baker (8.7 points, 2.8 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 1.0 steal); 610 redshirt junior Myles Johnson (8.1 points, 8.6 rebounds, 2.0 blocks, 1.3 steals, 1.1 assists, 61.3% FG); 66 sophomore Paul Mulcahy (6.1 points, 4.2 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 38.1% 3-pt FG); 67 junior Caleb McConnell (4.8 points, 2.6 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 1.0 steal) 611 Cliff Omoruyi (4.6 points, 5.4 rebounds, 62.5% FG)

Indianas Trey Galloway missed the last game due to back soreness. Freshman Jordan Geronimo played in his absence, scoring 7 points on 3 of 3 shooting in 10 minutes of action. No word on Galloways status for Sundays game against Rutgers.

Rutgers has no significant injury issues.

The Hoosiers are coming off its biggest win of the season and perhaps most impressive upset in Big Ten play this season. Trailing no. 4 Iowa by 9 points midway through the second half, Indiana clamped down defensively en route to a stunning 81-69 victory. They had a week off since their previous game, a home loss to rival Purdue by the same score.

IU is averaging 73.1 points per game and is shooting 46.1% from the floor, 33.3% from three-point range and 65.9% from the foul line this season. They are 5th in offensive efficiency in Big Ten play and 9th in defensive efficiency (Rutgers is 8th in offensive efficiency and 10th in defensive efficiency in Big Ten play).

Offensively in conference action, Indiana is 3rd in two-point field goal percentage and 4th in free throw rate (getting to the line). However, they are just 11th in offensive rebounding rate and free throw shooting percentage, as well as 12th in three-point shooting.

Defensively, IU is 3rd in block rate and 4th in turnover rate. Conversely, they are just 11th in free throw rate and 13th in three-point shooting percentage defense.

Trayce-Jackson-Davis is one of the best players in the Big Ten and is a force in the paint on both ends of the floor. Indiana isnt a prolific three-point shooting team and will look to attack the rim, albeit at a slow pace, as they play at the 12th slowest tempo in Big Ten play and 286th nationally.

Indiana held Iowa without a field goal for 11 minutes in the second half on Thursday. The Hoosier have defended the rim well all season and were exceptional against the most efficient offense in college basketball. They want to muck it up in the paint and slow the game down. They were able to do that against the Hawkeyes and will have plenty of confidence they can do the same on Sunday against Rutgers.

This is concerning for RU, as they have struggled finishing near the rim all season. However, they need to attack in this game and not settle for contested jumpers. Take threes when they come within the flow of the offense, not forcing them as a first option.

The Scarlet Knights looked the best they have offensively in quite awhile down the stretch against Penn State. Although the comeback fell short, the clear takeaway was that they got much better looks due to better ball movement. Geo Baker and Paul Mulcahy need to be assertive running the offense on Sunday, as they facilitated the improved play. They need to minimize turnovers against a IU team that is proficient in forcing them, while also moving the basketball more through passing instead of off the bounce. Jacob Young is the best penetrator on the team, but he needs stay under control on drives and look to find open teammates more so in this game.

This contest features the two worst free throw shooting teams in the Big Ten. It wont matter though if Rutgers cant improve in getting to the line. The four best ball handlers on the team happen to be the four best free throw shooters as well, but are not doing a good job of drawing contact on drives. Baker, Mulcahy, Jacob Young, and Caleb McConnell need to attack off of ball reversals to get to the line. While getting Ron Harper Jr. going is a must, posting him up, which he did well at times against PSU, will help him get better looks and draw contact as well.

Myles Johnson and Cliff Omoruyi need to be active inside on the glass and in defending Jackson-Davis. Staying out of foul trouble is key and this could be a game that head coach Steve Pikiell plays them both together to create matchup problems for the Hoosiers.

The bottom line is that if Rutgers doesnt defend and rebound at a high level, the odds of winning this game is zero. Indiana is not a strong offensive rebounding team, so Rutgers needs to control the glass and limit second chance scoring opportunities. Its likely theyll miss shots near the rim against Indianas interior defense, so grabbing offensive boards and converting will be hugely important. Defensive pressure is also important, especially on the guards, and Rutgers has been successful at times with fullcourt pressure. However, they cant allow for breakdowns that lead to easy baskets for Indiana. Discipline and focus must be better in this game.

This is a gut check of gut check games for Rutgers. They are mired in a five game losing streak and a loss on Sunday would bury them in a 3-7 hole in Big Ten play. Its fair to think they will be unable to recover from that standing. At the end of the day, Rutgers needs to show urgency, intensity and simply want it more than Indiana. The Hoosiers are riding high and are ripe for a letdown after the biggest win of their season. Their next game is against first place Michigan, so on short rest this could be one they are looking past. Regardless, the key to this game is how much desire Rutgers plays with. They need to play with desperation, because the situation calls for it.

For the fourteenth game of the season, I chose Back Against The Wall by Cage The Elephant. The lyrics are pretty straight forward when applied to the current state of Rutgers basketball.

Im hanging by a thread and Im feeling like Ill fall. Im stuck here in between these shadows of my yesterday. I want to get away, I need to get away.

Youve got my back against the wall. Oh God, I aint got no other place to hide.

Rutgers is coming off its worst loss of the season against Penn State with another disappointing effort on Thursday. This team plays stretches of very good basketball, but they are surrounded by too many stretches of uninspired, lackluster ones. Its inexcusable and makes this losing streak all the more frustrating because this is a veteran, talented team.

The leadership must stand tall and make sure this team plays with energy and urgency in this game. Another loss and Rutgers will be in a potentially unrecoverable spot. The good news is that this group seems to play its best previously with its back against the wall and people doubting them. Theyve brought that on themselves this time though. They are the only ones who can get them out of the mess they created and it needs to start in this game. There is no place to hide and hopefully the short turnaround time leads to them playing with an edge that leads to a much needed victory.

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Game Preview: Rutgers at Indiana - On The Banks

"This is exactly what anti-vaccine groups do," said Dr. Peter Hotez, an infectious diseases specialist and author of "Preventing the Next Pandemic: Vaccine Diplomacy in a Time of Anti-Science."

Now, the same groups are blaming patients' coincidental medical problems on covid shots, even when it's clear that age or underlying health conditions are to blame, Hotez said. "They will sensationalize anything that happens after someone gets a vaccine and attribute it to the vaccine," Hotez said.

For example, in a group of 10 million people, nearly 800 people ages 55 to 64 typically die of heart attacks or coronary disease in one week, Osterholm said. Public health officials "are not ready" for the onslaught of news and social media stories to come, he cautioned.

Public health officials need to do a better job communicating the risks real and imagined from vaccines, said Osterholm, who served on President Joe Biden's transition coronavirus advisory board.

"You get one chance to make a first impression," Osterholm said. "Even if we come back later and say, "No, [the deaths] had nothing to do with vaccination, it was coronary artery disease,' the damage has already been done."

"Coincidence is turning out to be quite lethal to COVID vaccine recipients," Kennedy wrote. Kennedy described the deaths as suspicious, accusing medical officials of following an "all-too-familiar vaccine propaganda playbook" and "strategic chicanery."

"We're going to see these events happen, and we have to follow up on every one of these cases," Osterholm said. "I don't want people to think that we're sweeping them under the rug."

A rare condition

"It shouldn't give anyone pause about whether the vaccine is safe or not," said Dr. James Zehnder, a hematologist and director of clinical pathology at Stanford Medicine.

Michael's bleeding disorder could have been developing silently for some time, said Dr. Adam Cuker, director of the Penn Blood Disorders Center at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. It could be a coincidence that Michael started showing symptoms shortly after vaccination, he said. About 30 Americans are diagnosed with immune thrombocytopenia every day.

The timing of Michael's illness suggests it had another cause, doctors said. According to his wife's Facebook post, his bleeding problems began three days after his first covid shot. It takes the body 10 to 14 days after vaccination to generate antibodies, which would be needed to cause immune thrombocytopenia, said Dr. Cindy Neunert, a pediatric hematologist at the Columbia University Irving Medical Center in New York City.

In most cases, the cause of thrombocytopenia is never known, said Dr. Deepak Bhatt, executive director of interventional cardiovascular programs at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston.

Many patients with immune thrombocytopenia are now wondering if they should be vaccinated against covid, Cuker said. Cuker said he urges nervous patients to be vaccinated, noting that any problems could be managed by closely monitoring their platelet levels and adjusting medication if needed.

Even in patients with underlying bleeding conditions, "it's still safer to get vaccinated than to get covid," Zehnder said.

"If you give a vaccine to a large enough number of people, there are going to be rare adverse events but there are also going to be coincidental events unrelated to the vaccine," Cuker said. "If an anti-vaccine group uses a single case, where no link has been proven, to discourage people from vaccination, that's terrible."

Barbara Loe Fisher, president of the National Vaccine Information Center, said her site provides balanced information from reputable news sources, including CNN, CBS and the Miami Herald, as well as Pfizer and the CDC.

In an interview with KHN, Kennedy said he questions why government officials have been so quick to dismiss connections between vaccinations and deaths. "How in the world do they know if it's a vaccine injury or not?" he asked.

"We don't discourage anybody from getting vaccinated," Kennedy said. "All we're doing is conveying the data, which is what the government should be doing. ... We print the truth, which is what the medical agencies ought to do."

Alternative facts?

"They have come out against every public health measure to control the pandemic," Carpiano said. "They have said public health is public enemy No. 1."

Recently, anti-vaccine activists have been so eager to discredit immunizations that they have blamed covid for the deaths of people who are very much alive.

Anti-vaccine activists are adept at manipulating video, Smith said.

"They are notorious for using videos and images purportedly showing the adverse effects of vaccines, such as autism in children and seizures in other vaccine recipients," Smith said. "The more emotive and graphic the videos and images irrespective of whether it's actually linked at all to vaccines or not the better."

Anti-vaccine groups often build fables around "a tiny, tiny grain of truth," Smith said. "This is why misinformation, specifically vaccine misinformation, can be so convincing. ... But this information is almost always taken completely out of context, creating claims that are either misleading or outright false."

Distorting facts to discourage vaccination, Cuker said, is "very irresponsible and damaging to public health."

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Anti-vaccine activists peddle theories that Covid-19 shots are deadly, undermining vaccination - CNN

Rutgers wins! They came to play from the tip and they reaped the rewards. What a game.

Four Thoughts.

That Was Rutgers Basketball: After lacking the toughness, the defense and the rebounding that has been a staple of the Steve Pikiell era, the Scarlet Knights brought it all back. Shaking up the starting line-up by inserting Paul Mulcahy and Caleb McConnell, it was evident from the start that this wasnt the Rutgers team we saw during the losing streak that lasted nearly all of January. They shared the ball, and didnt isolate much. That added ball movement helped the offense in a myriad of ways and the shots went in. They outrebounded the Hoosiers 32-29 and were a force on the glass. It felt like the old days as Rutgers got back to basics. It wasnt a perfect winthough they made their free throws, they still missed a few key shots down the stretch. And Geo Baker took a very odd technical that Ive never seen called before. But a win is a win is a win. Take it and get on the plane.

Geo Baker, Big Shot Maker: This was the Geo weve been waiting for this season. He made four threes and had the ball in his hands for most of the game. He pushed the pace when he could and slowed it down when needed. Geo made smart decisions, finishing with 19 points, 5 assists and a steal. Rutgers needed their leader to be the guy to get them out of the doldrums and they did. Need to see this Geo the rest of the way to get the season back on track.

Ron Harper Jr. Did the Dirty Work: While he wasnt Ron Fire today, he affected the game in so many ways. He had a double double with 15 points and 12 boards. He was a force on defense and he got in and did the dirty work, pulling down rebounds, getting steals and diving for loose balls. Thats the thing about the players on this teamthey can have a huge night scoring, like Geo did or they can get in and muck it up in other ways. Ron still hit double digits, but he wasnt lights out. He did what was needed to win and helped the team look in sync the whole night.

Myles Johnson Has Long Arms: The offensive rebound Myles pulled down at the end of the game may have been the biggest rebound of the season. And thats what Myles does. The refs still dont know how to blow a whistle on him because he plays without fouling and still ends up in foul trouble. He was 4-4 from the field, to finish with 8 points, 8 boards, 5 blocks and 3 steals. Nearly everyone was clicking today, and Myles was an engine for all the minutes he played. Just a huge game from the redshirt junior.

BONUS FIFTH THOUGHT: Rutgers booster Al Reicheg asked the Court Club Twitter account what they would do for a win. He suggested that the CC account reach out to me and give a football thought for the day. Reicheg and site editor Aaron Breitman are big Green Bay Packers fans and they want to go 2-0 today. Rutgers did their part, so Im wishing Green Bay well todayeven though Im a Giants fan. Good luck, Green Bay. May you streak to the endzone the same way Jacob Young streaks to the hoop.

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Embracing Expectations: 4 Thoughts on Rutgers 74-70 Win Over Indiana - On The Banks