Category Archives: Politically Incorrect

While mainstream cinema is slowly changing its portrayal of gender norms, it's nowhere close to what's available online.

The explosion of content on Over-the-Top (OTT) platforms has meant that there's a wide variety of options when it comes to entertainment. Whatever be the genre or language, viewers are spoilt for choice on online streaming platforms. It's no different when it comes to feminist content.

Mainstream cinema in India has largely been disappointing when it comes to the representation of women, mostly conforming to gender norms and patriarchal attitudes. While this is slowly changing, it's still nowhere as close to the kind of content that's available online.

Here's a list of web series that will make a feminist viewer happy, and not want to tear their hair out.

Churails (Zee5): This show is from Pakistan and is about a motley group of women in Karachi who come together to start a detective agency. Their aim is to investigate cheating husbands but the plot goes beyond that when they uncover a bigger secret. Directed by British Pakistani writer-director Asim Abbasi, the series stars Sarwat Gilani, Mehar Bano, Nimra Bucha and Yasra Rizvi in the lead roles.

Masaba Masaba (Netflix): Written and directed by Sonam Nair, this is a lighthearted series on mother-daughter pair Neena Gupta and Masaba Gupta. It may look like an ordinary story centered on two women -- one a veteran actor who is not getting any new work and the other a designer with a high-profile client list but personal troubles -- going about their lives, but that's what makes it unique. It's so rare to see women's stories with minimal drama represented on screen.

Made in Heaven (Amazon Prime Video): Two wedding planners -- a middle class woman with a wealthy husband and a gay man -- take us through the behind-the-scenes drama of Indian weddings. As they try to beat the competition and survive in a tough market, many more secrets tumble out of the closet. And how delicious to have a heroine who's ambitious, manipulative and knows exactly what she wants! While Zoya Akhtar and Reema Kagti created the show, they wrote it with Alankrita Shrivastava. Zoya, Alankrita, Nitya Mehra, and Prashant Nair were the directors. The series stars Arjun Mathur and Shobita Dhulipala in the lead.

Unbelievable (Netflix): This American show based on a Pulitzer Prize-winning story is a searing yet empowering look at sexual violence and law enforcement. A teenager is raped and she reports it to the police. However, the male officers find it difficult to believe her account due to inconsistencies and decide that she's lying. It's only when two women officers enter the picture that the nature of the investigation changes. Created by Susannah Grant, Ayelet Waldman and Michael Chabon, the series has Toni Colette, Merrit Wever and Kaitlyn Dever in the lead.

Fleabag (Amazon Prime Video): Written by the hilarious Phoebe Waller-Bridge who also plays the lead role in the series, this British drama directed by Harry Bradbeer and Tim Kirkby draws us into Phoebe's many misadventures involving her dysfunctional family, weirdo friends and yes, a 'hot priest'. But beyond the politically incorrect humour and the refreshingly unapologetic characterisation of Phoebe, the series also manages to touch upon serious issues like suicide, without ever losing its charm.

Mrs America (Disney+Hotstar): Are you even a feminist if you haven't watched this show YET? Starting from the 1970s in America, when the demand for the Equal Rights Amendment Bill (ERA) was growing louder, the series is a riveting drama that captures the upheavals in the feminist movement. The men in this series, even as villains, are purely in the margins as feminists lock horns with conservative women who believe feminism will destroy their homes. Writers and thinkers you may have read, like Betty Friedan and Gloria Steinem, appear in this reel life version and the actors capture their personalities accurately. Created and co-written by Davhi Waller and directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, Amma Asante, Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre and Janicza Bravo, the cast has a host of talented actors including Cate Blanchett and Rose Byrne.

Watch: A trailer of 'Mrs America'

Russian Doll (Netflix): What if you found yourself reliving a short period in your life over and over again? Nadia finds that she simply cannot escape her own 36th birthday party --- each time, she ends up dying and waking up once again at the same party. The dark humour will have you in splits but the series also takes on a number of difficult-to-discuss subjects, including mental health. Natasha Lyonne plays the lead in this series which she co-created with Leslye Headland and Amy Poehler.

Killing Eve (Amazon Prime Video): A spy thriller with black comedy, this British series focuses on Eve Polastri, an MI6 operative, and Villanelle, a psychopath assassin. While the two of them are pitted against each other, they also become obsessed with each other. A rare occasion when the hero and the villain are both female, this gripping series is a must-watch for anyone who enjoys the thriller genre.

Schitt's Creek (Netflix): This Canadian sitcom is on the wealthy Rose family which finds itself without money after being cheated by their business manager. All that they're left with is a small town named Schitt's Creek and they're forced to move there and rebuild their lives. What makes it a delightful watch is that Schitt's Creek just creates a society and a town that's better, that's aspirational -- where queer characters don't fight to exist, but just live their lives like any ordinary person. Apart from being wholesome and comic, the show also ends up being intersectional, where being feminist is the norm, not the exception among its protagonists. The show is created by Eugene and Dan Levy and stars Eugene Levy and Catherine O'Hara in the lead.

Originally posted here:
'Churails' to 'Mrs America': Nine series on OTT for the feminist in you - The News Minute

Signup to receive the Early Edition in your inboxhere.

A curated guide to major national security news and developments over the past 24 hours. Heres todays news.

POLICING RACIAL INJUSTICE PROTESTS

Top military police officers considered using devices that cause targets to feel an unbearable heating sensation while clearing protesters from Lafayette Square outside the White House in June, D.C. National Guard Maj. Adam DeMarco said to lawmakers in written testimony last month. DeMarco said that he had received requests by top Department of Defense (DOD) officials asking if the Guard had sound cannons or a nonlethal heat ray, called Active Denial System, or A.D.S. According to the top Guard official, DOD officials said: The A.D.S. can immediately compel an individual to cease threatening behavior or depart through application of a directed energy beam that provides a sensation of intense heat on the surface of the skin. The effect is overwhelming. Marissa J. Lang reports for the Washington Post.

Attorney General William Barr instructed prosecutors to be aggressive when charging alleged violent protesters and to also consider sedition charges, those familiar with the instruction have confirmed, stating that in a call between Barr and top U.S. attorneys, Barr stressed the need to use federal charges against protesters even when state charges could apply. He also asked prosecutors in the Department of Justice (DOJ)s civil rights division to consider if criminal charges could be brought against Mayor Jenny Durkan of Seattle for allowing residents to set up police-free protests zones in the area. Aruna Viswanatha and Sadie Gurman report for the Wall Street Journal.

US DEVELOPMENTS

Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe yesterday said he would reinstate in-person election security briefings for the Senate and House intelligence committees while maintaining that the intelligence community (IC) will predominantly provide lawmakers with written intelligence updates, following alettersent to Congress, Aug. 28, by Ratcliffe, which said all said all future briefings would be in writing. House Intelligence Committee ChairAdam Schiff(D-CA) noted yesterday that although an agreement has been met for in-person updates to continue, these briefings for the intelligence committees must not obviate the need to keep all Members and the American people appropriately and accurately informed about the active threats to the November election. Olivia Beavers reports for The Hill.

Top aides to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo yesterday appeared before the House Foreign Affairs Committee to testify about the May decision to fire State Department Inspector General (IG) Steve Linick while he was investigating arms sales to Saudi Arabia and allegations that Pompeo misused department funds. Brian Bulatao, a top adviser to Pompeo, maintained that Linicks ousting was not related to his investigation as Pompeo was never briefed on the details of that probe, and that failure to properly perform his job as IG was the reason for Linicks dismissal. Caitlin Oprysko and Nahal Toosi report for POLITICO.

The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee yesterday voted and authorized its chair to issue multiple subpoenas and depositions against around 40 peoples as part of the panels investigation into the FBIs Russia probe and the Obama administration. The 8-6 vote gives chair Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) the power to compel testimony from former FBI Director James Comey and former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper. Andrew Desiderio reports for POLITICO.

Attorney General William Barr yesterday berated Department of Justice (DOJ) prosecutors for headhunting high-profile targets and involving themselves in politics, speaking at an event hosted by Hillsdale College while responding to allegations that Barr himself was interfering in politically sensitive cases. Barr said that too much deference is given to career prosecutors, and stressed that he has the ultimate decision on how cases should be dealt with. Devlin Barrett and Matt Zapotosky report for the Washington Post.

Defense Secretary Mark Esper yesterday announced huge plans to expand the US Navy to include a fleet of unmanned and autonomous ships, submarine and aircrafts to address growing power and challenge by Chinas presence in the seas. Esper said that he had a game-changer plan that would see over 80 new ships built. The Guardian reporting.

The Trump administration is appealing to the Supreme Court to challenge a knockback to Trumps July memo that sought to exclude unauthorized immigrants from the census count used to determine each states share of House seats in Congress. Following a New York courts ruling that the memo overstepped the presidents authority, the DOJ yesterday filed a notice of its intention to appeal to the Supreme Court. Hansi Lo Wang reports for NPR.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS)s Office of the Inspector General (OIG) has opened an investigation into an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)detention centerin Georgia which allegedly subjected immigrants to jarring medical neglect and carried out high numbers of hysterectomies,after a whistleblower complaint was filed Sept. 14 by Dawn Wooten, a nurse that works at the Irwin County Detention Center, the department confirmed in a statement yesterday. Caitlin Dickerson reports for the New York Times.

US Postal Service (USPS) Postmaster General Louis DeJoys recently implemented and highly-contentious policies changes delayed seven percent of the USs first-class mail, or 350 million pieces of mail, a report released yesterday by the office of Sen. Gary Peters (D-MN), the top Democrat on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, revealed. The report states that over 90 percent of first-class mail was delivered on time before DeJoys operational changes. Jacob Bogage reports for the Washington Post.

John James, the former executive director of the Pentagons Missile Defense Agency (MDA), sexually harassed two women in his office for seven years before finally retiring when an official complaint was filed August last year, the Department of Defense (DOD)s inspector general said in a report date July 13. The report states James engaged in a pattern of misconduct in which he sexually harassed the two women from 2012 until last year. Ellen Mitchell reports for The Hill.

CYBERSECURITY AND HACKING

Chinese and Malaysian hackers broke into over 100 companies in the US and worldwide, the Department of Justice (DOJ) said yesterday announcing that five Chinese and two Malaysia individuals were indicted on charges of targeting a breadth companies, foreign governments, think tanks and social media platforms. Also, the D.C. Attorneys Office has issued warrants to take control of hundreds of accounts, servers and domain names used by those indicted. Katie Benner and Nicole Periroth report for the New York Times.

Two Iranian nationals have been indicted for allegedly carrying out cyberattacks on a host of bodies, including US and foreign universities, a Washington-based think tank, a defense contractor and an aerospace organization, the DOJ said in statement yesterday. Hooman Heidarian and Mehdi Farhadin have been accused of stealing massive amounts of sensitive data on issues including national security, foreign policy intelligence, nuclear information and of sharing this information with Tehran. The two men have not yet been apprehended, but have each been indicted on ten counts to commit fraud, access to unauthorized computers and of identity theft. Matthew Choi reports for POLITICO.

The Department of the Interiors Office of Inspector General (OIG) conducted highly successful test hacks of the agencys networks as part of a security audit to address cybersecurity failings. The audit consisted of OIG employees conducting penetration testing on the agencys networks including intercepting and decrypting network traffic, accessing internal networks at two Interior Department bureaus, and stealing the credentials of an agency IT employee which the office reports were successful and allowed sensitive information to be accessed; worryingly, both the IT team and security were unable to detected the testing. We used the same tools, techniques, and practices that malicious actors use to eavesdrop on communications and gain unauthorized access, the OIG wrote in areportsetting out the security audit results. Many of the attacks we conducted were previously used by Russian intelligence agents around the world. Maggie Miller reports for The Hill.

CORONAVIRUS

The novel coronavirus has infected over 6.63 million and killed close to 197,000 people in the United States,according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. Globally, there is more than 29.89 million confirmed coronavirus cases and over 941,000 deaths. Sergio Hernandez, Sean OKey, Amanda Watts, Byron Manley and Henrik Pettersson report forCNN.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Robert Redfield said a Covid-19 vaccine may not be generally available to the public until at least summer next year. Redfield said he expects a vaccine to be available and rolled out between May and September 2021. This prompted a rebuke by President Trump, who said the CDC chief was incorrect. Amy Goldstein and Sean Sullivan report for the Washington Post.

A map and analysis of all confirmed cases of the virus in the US is available at the New York Times.

US and worldwide maps tracking the spread of the pandemic are available at theWashington Post.

A state-by-state guide to lockdown measures and reopenings is provided by the New York Times.

Latest updates on the pandemicatThe Guardian.

US-IRAN SANCTIONS

The Trump administration yesterday threatened to impose sanctions on anyone who sells arms to Iran in a move that indicates the United States intends to try and enforce U.N. sanctions on Iran that are due to expire next month. U.S. Special Representative for Venezuela and Iran Elliott Abrams told reports that the sanctions will have a very significant impacton weapons manufacturers and traders who do business with Iran, with the details set to be announced Monday. Michael R. Gordon reports for the Wall Street Journal.

The US intends to snapback all UN sanction on Iran from this Saturday, Abrams confirmed, although the such a move has been denounced by other U.N. Security Council members. AP reporting.

Lawyers for the Iranian government yesterday argued before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) that US sanctions were ruining millions of lives in the country, the latest in a potential legal battle before the United Nations top court. This week the ICJ is dealing with jurisdictional matters only, deciding whether it can in fact hear the case. Al Jazeera reporting.

OTHER DEVELOPMENTS

The US will soon sell over $7 billion in arms to Taiwan, including drones and cruise missiles, a move that will certainly add to tensions with China. Gordon Lubold and Nancy A. Youssef report for the Wall Street Journal.

Turkish and Russian officials are close to reaching an agreement on a ceasefire and political negotiation in Libya, after the latest peace negotiation meeting took place in Ankara, Turkey, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told reporters yesterday. Reuters reporting.

Link:
Early Edition: September 17, 2020 - Just Security

Political appointees have repeatedly pressured Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officials to manipulate reports, in order to make them more closely align with President Donald Trumps public statements about the pandemic, according to a new report from Politicos Dan Diamond.

Diamond writes that CDC officials have fought back against the most sweeping changes, but the report finds that Trump appointees have nevertheless succeeded in politicizing public health and the response to the coronavirus pandemic, which has now killed more than 193,000 people in the US. These officials have reportedly worked to suppress reports on the ineffectiveness of hydroxychloroquine (a drug Trump has routinely touted as being effective against Covid-19), as well as to have the agency change published reports on the risks of the coronavirus and on who might be blamed for infections.

According to Diamond, these political appointees who are part of former Trump campaign official and current Department of Health and Human Services spokesman Michael Caputos team review the agencys Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Reports, and have also modified the reports language to make them more sympathetic toward the president.

Modifying what are meant to be scientific, nonpartisan reports to more closely align them to the presidents views is concerning in part because Trump has repeatedly downplayed the pandemic, engaged in magical thinking about how it might end, and has outright lied. New revelations this week from journalist Bob Woodward show that the president has done all of this while deliberately misleading the country about the severity of the virus.

Neither HHS nor the CDC have responded to a Vox request for comment.

Caputo, who was installed by the White House in April this year, has no health care background or expertise to speak of. Some prominent members of his team do, however a fact Caputo has used in his defense, citing the input of one of his advisers, Paul Alexander, on the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Reports (MMWRs) as evidence that his teams interference with CDC work is not politically motivated.

He digs into these MMWRs and makes his position known, and his position isnt popular with the career scientists sometimes, Caputo told the New York Times Saturday. Nobody has been ever ordered to do anything. Some changes have been accepted, most have been rejected. Its my understanding that thats how science is played.

Alexander was formerly an assistant professor of health research at Canadas McMaster University, and has been accused before of using his position at HHS to promote findings that run counter to the CDCs. For instance, Fridays report follows another Politico scoop earlier this week, which chronicles efforts by Alexander to curtail public comments by Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nations top infectious disease expert and a frequent target of the Trump administration.

According to Politicos Sarah Owermohle, Alexander also attempted to block Fauci from warning about the importance of mask-wearing for children and from explaining the value of Covid-19 testing for young children and college students. In an email, Alexander reportedly argued, incorrectly, that There is no data, none, zero, across the entire world, that shows children especially young children, spread this virus to other children, or to adults or to their teachers.

More than half a million children in the United States have tested positive for Covid-19, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the number of child cases climbed sharply last month as children began to return to school in some parts of the country. More than 100 children have died from the virus.

Even before this week, there was abundant evidence that the Trump administration has been working to politicize the USs previously nonpartisan, internationally renowned public health infrastructure. Just last month, the Food and Drug Administration issued an emergency use authorization (EUA) for convalescent plasma as a Covid-19 treatment; the decision has been widely criticized, including by the National Institutes of Health, and FDA chief Stephen Hahn was ultimately forced to walk back incorrect comments about the treatments effectiveness shortly after the EUA was announced.

There was also the hydroxychloroquine debacle earlier this summer, where the FDA first granted and then rolled back an EUA for the unproven antimalarial drug over concerns its use was causing dangerous side effects. Trump has nevertheless repeatedly and baselessly boosted the drug as a silver bullet for Covid-19, even claiming that he was taking it as a prophylactic.

An HHS decision this month to award a public relations contract worth more than $250 million to a small market research firm in Virginia has also raised worries about politics infringing on public health. With fewer than 60 days until the general election, the contract tasks the firm with finding a way to defeat despair and inspire hope about the coronavirus. House Democrats this week launched an investigation into the contract, describing it as a taxpayer-funded political propaganda campaign in a letter to HHS Secretary Alex Azar.

And Trump and his appointees havent just gone after the agencies designed to guide Americas public health response; they have politicized even the most basic tenets of public health in a pandemic. For instance, the president has long refused to wear a mask even asking others to remove them in his presence and continues to hold largely unmasked and non-distanced political rallies, both at the White House and across the country.

That kind of politicization has consequences: As Voxs Brian Resnick has documented, the presidents politicization of the federal governments response and his dedication to promoting ineffective treatments has resulted in widespread vaccine skepticism. The president has touted rapid progress in vaccine development, even promising one as soon as October. But given vaccines normally take years to develop, many wonder whether a rushed Covid-19 vaccine, particularly one endorsed by Trump, would be safe.

Thats because the Trump administrations efforts to manipulate public health for political purposes and gaslight the country into believing the US response to the virus has been anything but a colossal failure have chipped away at public confidence. Trumps opposition to basic safety measures has almost certainly already cost lives former Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain, for example, died of Covid-19 this summer after attending a Trump rally featuring little masking and social distancing and widespread vaccine skepticism could cost many more.

Politicos Friday revelation is just the latest manifestation of Trumps deep politicization of public health and as the US continues to report tens of thousands of new cases of Covid-19 per day for the sixth straight month, theres little reason to believe that will change anytime soon.

Help keep Vox free for all

Millions turn to Vox each month to understand whats happening in the news, from the coronavirus crisis to a racial reckoning to what is, quite possibly, the most consequential presidential election of our lifetimes. Our mission has never been more vital than it is in this moment: to empower you through understanding. But our distinctive brand of explanatory journalism takes resources. Even when the economy and the news advertising market recovers, your support will be a critical part of sustaining our resource-intensive work. If you have already contributed, thank you. If you havent, please consider helping everyone make sense of an increasingly chaotic world: Contribute today from as little as $3.

Read the original:
Trump officials are reportedly manipulating the CDCs Covid-19 reports - Vox.com

Mistakes early in the crisis at the state and national level along with apathy by some in the public complicated the response to the virus and may have helped shut the window of opportunity to get ahead of the infection.

Health leaders in Malheur County faced a number of challenges to stopping the spread of Covid. (The Enterprise)

ONTARIO Before 22 people were dead, before more than 1,000 residents in Malheur County were sick from the Covid virus, before Sarah Poe received emails attacking pandemic statistics, she believed advice from doctors and scientists was enough for the public to reduce the impact of the pandemic.

In March, as the threat of the virus loomed, Poe, the director of the Malheur County Health Department, felt the public proclamations on how to mitigate the virus were easy to understand and execute.

I did have faith in those things, said Poe.

Now the county is awash in the virus, many people dont believe what they see and hear about Covid and the crucial message about how to avoid the virus often seems to disappear inside the white noise of politics, conspiracy theories, good intentions and a dismissive attitude by some.

The problem is we didnt even follow the White Houses own guidance. The CDC and the White House had very doable measures, said Poe.

The scenario isnt how Poe expected this historical event to play out.

Thats because, she said, crucial mistakes were made early at the state and national level that conspired to confuse the public and create doubt.

What we should have done from the beginning was to make sure we have virology experts, or public health experts, take the lead. But when we have such a divisive political voice undermining the public health message it becomes very confusing, said Poe.

Poe agrees there was no way in March to predict the severity of the virus.

But the problem is there was a lot of misinformation and there still is, said Poe.

The incorrect information made the response by health officials to the virus more complicated.

It means people are not always making safe decisions with the correct information but rather responding politically. Because it was downplayed so much by many leaders on all levels, people were putting themselves and their families at risk, said Poe.

Poe, along with members of the countys Covid task force, recognized early the main health message to social distance, wear a face mask and avoid large gatherings was not getting through to everyone.

People were approaching this from the way it impacted them personally. I think it was the people who were not, and are not, impacted personally who are often not taking it seriously enough, said Poe.

The response to that challenge was both simple and direct, said Poe. The health department, she said, decided to use credible sources to deliver information on Covid, provide as much of that information as possible and be transparent.

The aim, she said, was to build trust and authority.

Over the summer and into a surge of cases that occurred in July, the message from the health department remained stable: stay home if sick, wear a face mask, avoid large gatherings and social distance. Poe said the health department also reached out to churches and school districts to try and make sure information is getting out to people in a variety of ways.

I have tried to put more and more information on our website and we are working closely with health care providers and congregate care providers in the county, said Poe.

Education, Poe said, remains a big piece of the Covid response.

We follow up on all complaints. Often times we get complaints from a concerned citizen who observes precautions are not being followed in a business or a social gathering. We educate to make sure people understand what the state orders are, said Poe.

Poe said the goal is not to punish but to help residents and businesses, to make sure they have the tools they need. Our goal is to support the business.

One example of a precise response to a Covid violation occurred earlier in the summer when people gathered in large groups in city parks.

We were able to follow up with the city of Ontario and the city worked with us and they taped off the shelters in the park, said Poe.

How effective were the measures? Poe said she isnt sure.

I cant prove a negative. I cant prove how much worse it could have been if we did nothing. I do think we have a lot of people who pay attention to our message and our health care providers are very helpful in educating people. I think a majority of our county is trying hard to do the right thing, said Poe.

Poe said the virus proved to be not only a health care problem but also unveiled so many disparities and chronic hardships.

It became not just an issue of how to manage if you are exposed but one of child care and jobs and losing family members or loved ones that are sick for a long time, said Poe.

The countys straightforward message to avoid or stop Covid had limits, she said.

There are a lot of different media outlets putting out not clear or consistent messaging that undermine what public health is doing. In this day and age, people have access to a lot of news and dont always listen to reputable sources, said Poe.

Another limitation, said Poe, is the different approaches Idaho and Oregon established to stifle Covid.

Idaho adopted a regional strategy instead of statewide policies and delegated authority to fight the virus down to the counties. Oregon, meanwhile, employed statewide mandates to fight the virus. Those different standards create confusion, said Poe.

Thats been difficult, said Poe. A lot of our media comes from Idaho, which is going to have a different message about state guidelines.

Now at the six-month mark, Poe said the Covid crisis produced insights on how to manage a future where the pandemic endures.

We need people to listen. This virus is extremely infectious and has a long incubation period, said Poe.

Also, Poe said, adhering to the social distancing measures works.

They lower the risk, said Poe.

Another insight, she said, is the entire community must be involved in the effort to stop Covid.

This only goes on longer the more cases we have. Our cases match what our public is doing.So, we have to do all we can to bring these cases down, said Poe.

Poe said she is worried the window to get ahead of the Covid outbreak may close soon.

I am very concerned weve squandered the time we had in March where we could have reduced our risk, said Poe.

News tip? Contact reporter Pat Caldwell at [emailprotected] or 541-473-3377.

KEEP THE ENTERPRISE GOING AS OTHERS CLOSE.....

Reader support allows the Enterprise to provide in-depth, accurate reporting that otherwise would not get done. Keeping the community well informed is essential.SUBSCRIBE- $5 a month, automatically.DONATE- to provide additional support.

Continue reading here:
Confusion, misinformation on Covid hamper efforts by health officials to stop the pandemic - malheurenterprise.com

Comedian John Oliver took on the eventsin Kenosha last week on Sunday's "Last Week Tonight," connecting the reactions to the shooting of Jacob Blake and the shootings of three protesters, allegedly by a 17-year-old vigilante to the "flagrant double standards baked into American society."

Oliver showed news footage of the aftermath of the shootings at Tuesday night's protest in Kenosha, when three protesters were shot, two of them fatally. Kyle Rittenhouse, the 17-year-old from Antioch, Illinois, who has been charged in the shootings, is shown walking as police vehicles zoom past, although he has his hands up and a long gun strapped across his chest. That footage is juxtaposed with video of Blake being shot in the back seven times by Kenosha officer Rusten Sheskey as Blaketries to enter a car.

RELATED: Juxtaposition of two videos from Kenosha: A Black man gets shot seven times from behind; a white teen with a gun walks past police

"Why two different responses? I think the answer to that ispretty obvious. It's the same reason why, ahead of the shooting (at Tuesday's protest), there was video of the police trying to enforce a curfew against protesters, even as they offer water to Rittenhouse and the militia saying, and Iquote, 'We appreciate you guys we really do.' "

To underscore the disparities of the response by Kenosha law enforcement,Oliver also showed a clip of Kenosha Police Chief Daniel Miskinis, saying the protesters who were shot shouldn't have been out after curfew; and a two-year-old video ofKenosha County Sheriff David Beth, advocating a detailed plan for warehousing offenders that included preventing them from fathering more children, then adding that "we have to stop being politically correct."

Comedian John Oliver hosts "Last Week Tonight," airing Sunday nights on HBO.(Photo: Courtesy of HBO)

"Sorry, can I quickly interrupt you there?" Oliver responds. "Because calling for American citizens to be stopped from having small children isn't politically incorrect, so much as it is politically 1940s Germany."

Oliver called the events in Kenosha "especially infuriating" because they took place during last week'sRepublican National Convention, where he said the rhetoric focused on showing that America wasn't racist while "fear-mongering about violent crime threatening law-abiding citizens."

He noted that Los Angeles Clippers coach and former Marquette basketball star Doc Rivers summed it up best at a press conference Tuesday, when he called the speeches at the RNC "spewing this fear We're the ones getting killed. We're the ones getting shot. We're the ones who were denied to livein certain communities. We've been hung, we've been shot, and all you do is keep hearing about fear. It's, it's amazing to me whykeep loving this country, and this countrydoes notlove us back."

Oliver pointed out as a bright spot the wildcat strikes begun by the Milwaukee Bucks and spreading to the rest of the NBA, WNBA players and other sports, and shared the message by Blake's sister,Letetra Widman, at a press conference Tuesday: "I don't want your pity. I want change."

Contact Chris Foran at chris.foran@jrn.com. Followhimon Twitter at @cforan12.

Our subscribers make this reporting possible. Please consider supporting local journalism by subscribing to the Journal Sentinel at jsonline.com/deal.

Read or Share this story: https://www.jsonline.com/story/entertainment/television-radio/2020/08/31/john-oliver-talks-infuriating-rnc-rhetoric-during-kenosha-violence/5677815002/

Read this article:
'Especially infuriating': John Oliver links RNC rhetoric and the response to the Jacob Blake shooting by police in Kenosha - Milwaukee Journal...

When I read her article in the Aug. 2, 2020 newspaper, the first thing I thought of was that the temperature, in a given day, was the hottest! Well July 6, it was 114 degrees and on July 29 it was 114 degrees. Thats hot folks, and we wonder how we can survive? Oh, by the way the years were 1936 and 1917.

This is a classic example of a person, with high credentials, attempting to scare us. Why? Why do you introduce COVID-19 into a discussion of climate change? I contend she is an Alarmist and trying to scare us even more. One of our presidents said, trust but verify. Well, I did that with the following books.

There are a number of good books that debunk the majority of these Alarmists on climate change like, The Moral Case for Fossil Fuel, by Alex Epstein; The Politically Incorrect Guide (PIG) on Climate Change; Apocalypse Never, by Michael Shellenberger; and False Alarm, by Bjorn Lomberg.

Only one country has asked the question, What will this cost us? New Zealand estimated if we do nothing it will impact our GDP by 3-4%; it will cost us 16-30% of GDP for 20 years to fight this.

I love it when people state, we must reduce our carbon footprint. Do they understand what that means? If you turn off all coal and gas power plants and rely solely on wind and solar, you must cut your electricity use by as much as 66-82%. In 2018, wind generated 37% and solar generated 18% of potential output. This data came from an article in the spring 2020 issue from the American Experience. Think about that when it is 90 degrees or worse yet when it is -20 degrees and at night. Are you really ready for that?

The next Alarmist theory is we must reduce our CO2. Ive asked people what percent of the atmosphere is CO2. They said between 2-5%. According to Wikipedia, the earth atmosphere consists of 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen and .04% CO2. You should then ask the next question, where does CO2 come from? Ninety-eight percent of CO2 comes from water, specifically the oceans. So, if you assume human activities are responsible for this 2%, well we then can only be responsible for .008% of CO2 generation.

I know of approximately 50 climate change or global warming models that are out there and, to date, not one of them models are correct. Some are off as much as 100%. Why is that?

We, humans, are not that powerful. We tried to seed clouds, to no avail, and can only track weather issues. We cant stop a tornado or hurricane, but we can give them names.

Remember the 70s, when we were cooling off and the cure was to reduce our carbon footprint? Now with global warming the cure is to reduce our carbon footprint. Whats the real issue?

Trust but verify.

Joe Maurer

Grand Rapids

Original post:
'Trust but verify': In response to Dr. Surapaneni - Herald Review

Natural Gas Now

Oil & Gas 360 Publishers Note: Robert Bradley, Jr, Founder and CEO of the Institute for Energy Research Principal, MasterRsource: A Free-Market Energy Blog, has put a great article together on Chevrons view on diversification into the Greenout. There is a right way to look at power generation Balanced. Use the lowest kWh to get power to the people to elevate everyone on the planet from poverty. Using the Greenout methodology is simply not a good Steward of our planet.

The loaded title: Chevrons Answer to Climate Change Is to Keep Drilling for Oil (August 13, 2020). The condemnatory subtitle from Bloomberg Greens Kevin Crowley and Bryan Gruley: The energy giant believes it can still wring years of profits from fossil fuels while its European rivals embrace renewables.

Go Chevron! The global and U.S. market share of fossil-fueled energy is84 percentand80 percent, respectively. And these percentages could wellincrease, not decrease, due to strong consumer demand for dense, reliable energiesand taxpayer fatigue for inferior substitutes (wind, solar, ethanol, batteries/EVs).

Fossil-fuel optimism is not only realistic but a great story. Speaking truth to Greenout Power demotes political correctness and promotes economic understanding.

TheBloombergarticle follows with my interspersedcomments:

Speaking to the Texas Oil & Gas Association in July,Chevron Corp.Chief Executive Officer Mike Wirth assured his audience that the global clamor for clean energy doesnt mean the end of oil and gas. On the contrary,Wirth said, the energy business is simply undergoing another of its natural transitions. Well find ways to make oil and gas more efficient, more environmentally benign, he said. And it will be a part of the mix, just as biomass and coal are still enormous parts of the mix today.

Comment:Quite true. Oil and gas remain dominant as they have been for a century or more. (Coal, when viewed globally, remains an energy powerhouse too.)

To activists alarmed at the urgency of the climate crisis, Wirths comments are as out of touch as they are predictable, coming from someone who profits from the status quo. For unlike its rivals in Europe, Chevron is betting its future less on renewable energies such as wind and solar and more on the subterranean stuff derived from hydrocarbons. Its a multibillion-dollar gamble that would have been even less surprising before the coronavirus reared its spiky head. By eviscerating demand for petroleum products when business and consumer activity suddenly slowed, Covid-19 has shown the worlds biggest oil and gas companies a vision of a bleak future in which theyre neither wanted nor needed.

Comment:Out of touch? Or just politically incorrect? Media bullying by climate alarmists and keep-it-in-the-ground obstructionists will come and go; a pro-consumer, pro-taxpayer company should not lose focus.

Tying Chevrons viability to what is going on in political hot-spots and pretending that Covid is a negative game changer for fossil fuels is disingenuous.

A chastenedBP Plcresponded on Aug. 4 by announcingdramatic steps to address climate change, including an unexpected vow to reduce oil and gas production 40% over the next decade; CEO Bernard Looney said the strategy was amplified by Covid. In sharp contrast,Exxon Mobil Corp.has reiterated its commitment to beingoils last man standingdecades from now. Chevron, for all of Wirths prognosticating about crudes bright future, is pursuing a more nuanced path that embraces something frequently alien to Big Oil: flexibility.

Comment:False. This is propaganda trying to get a free-market company to go political. Resist.

Wirth pointed to whales as a case in which oil companies were able to expand their traditional business while producing positive change for the environment. Back in the 19th century, the creatures were being whaled into extinction, Wirth said, because their oil was needed as fuel for lighting. Then crude oil companies came along with kerosene to replace it. Ironically, Save the whales is a catchphrase for saving the environment, he said. In fact, our industry helped save the whales. Whether sticking with fossil fuels will make endangered species of Chevron and its brethren remains to be seen.

Comment:Chevron CEO Wirth is right. Fossil fuels have beenand will begood for the environment, a story for another day.

For the full article please go to: Natural Gas Now

Robert Bradley, Jr.Founder and CEO of the Institute for Energy ResearchPrincipal, MasterResource: A Free-Market Energy Blog..

Here is the original post:
Chevron CEO Speaks Truth to Greenout Power: Oil and Gas Is the Future - EnerCom Inc.

The phenomenal rise of social media (SM) platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and others is proving to be a double-edged sword in the functioning of democracies. On the one hand, it has democratised access to information. On the other hand, it has concentrated power over that information with a handful of private companies, their billionaire owners, and certain ideologically committed activist groups.

Billions of netizens around the world now feel empowered to bypass traditional curators of information, such as journalists and editors, in searching for their choice of content. They have also become creators and disseminators of content, not just consumers of it. This is further accentuated by tech platforms directing more content at people similar to what they have already seen, thus creating echo chambers of like-minded groups.

This is already known. What is happening now, however, is the next stage of that transformation in how information is generated, disseminated, and consumed, and it is directly impacting how democracies function. There is a global war underway, involving the role of SM and freedom of expression, which is an extension of the culture wars between the Left and Right.

India is seeing the early skirmishes of the online version of this war, which has already progressed to a much higher intensity elsewhere, most notably the United States (US). In Americas bitterly polarised polity, the frontline of this war is a battle between Twitter and President Donald Trump. The formers flagging of a presidential tweet as fake news, and the latters executive order altering the liability of SM platforms who edit content, is worth understanding better.

One of the most stark aspects of the Wests culture wars has been its erosion of the right to freedom of expression, which had been a hallmark of its modern democracies. Especially since the early 20th century, US Supreme Court rulings by the legendary Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, interpreting its Constitutions first amendment, had established what many considered a gold standard of free speech.

While those struggles for free speech had pushed for more freedom, even to say and write very unpleasant things, the intensification of the Wests culture wars in this century has seen a reversal of that trend. Curbs on hate speech became widely accepted and implemented. But, thereafter, there has been a relentless push by so-called woke activists for ever more curbs on speech, often implemented forcefully and without consensus, based solely on political correctness.

A key aspect of this has been the shift from earlier activism against governments clamping down on speech to a focus instead on pushing media, and especially SM, to impose curbs on politically incorrect speech.

The irony in this new activism for speech curbs is that it is being championed by those who call themselves liberals. Of course, this does not represent classical liberal philosophy, and is instead a reflection of the far-Left takeover of present-day liberalism. This is visible around the world, whether in the forced withdrawal of a US academics paper contradicting the zeitgeist about race relations, or in the unsavoury departures of senior staff at the once venerable New York Times, after they had dared to publish op-eds reflecting Centre-Right views. In India, this bullying has manifested itself in the ganging up by self-avowed liberal authors to stop the publication of a book contradicting their narrative on this years Delhi riots.

Such far-Left canons have now invaded the realm of big tech firms. That should hardly be a surprise, considering Silicon Valleys preference for recruiting liberal and woke employees. Books and articles by conservative authors such as Douglas Murray and business journalists such as George Anders have documented explicit hiring policies, practices and statistics to confirm Left-wing dominance among SM employees. It was, therefore, inevitable that employee activism would push these platforms into adopting leftist, illiberal policies.

The inconsistencies in those policies show up when SM platforms apply selective standards, such as when Twitter was accused of hypocrisy for not flagging or proscribing the aggressive, warlike tweet of a West Asian leader.

President Trumps executive order directly impacts this. In US law, SM had been protected against the kind of liabilities such as defamation that traditional news media are subject to, on the grounds that SM are simply platforms for others opinions and did not edit or otherwise shape that information. But now that they are, by flagging, shadow banning, or deleting posts and accounts, the Trump order echoes many voices that had been asking for SM to be treated on par with media outlets.

A similar battle is raging about SM giants abuse of their massive power by sourcing news from media companies without paying for it, and then disseminating and profiting from it. Despite a bitter legal struggle, Australia is likely to become the first nation to require Google to pay for such content.

These battles are relevant to India, which is both the largest democracy as well as one of the largest user bases for SM platforms. Some of these battles have already begun here, such as the recent Indian version of the Wests leftist pressure on Facebook to put curbs on Right-wing posts. It is time to broaden the dialogue here about how India ought to respond.

Baijayant Jay Panda is vice-president of the Bharatiya Janata Party, and a former Member of Parliament.

The views expressed personal

Read the original here:
Social media: The new theatre of Indias culture wars - Hindustan Times

Kapil Sibal, Shashi Tharoor et al are considered masters of Angrezi. They are masters of many other skill sets, too, but primarily, they have both built their formidable reputations on their inventive and original language skills. Calling them mere wordsmiths would be giving hardcore wordsmiths a terrible name.

Which is why it surprised the outside world when the outrageously valiant efforts of 23 loyalists (who temporarily forgot their auqaat), conveyed through a missive, which went viral after being mysteriously leaked to the media. Such himmat! After all, who dares question the mighty Queen Mother herself ? Tauba. Quelle horreur. I am surprised they still have their heads! We know what happens to the naughty ones who are bewaqoof enough to challenge the status quo. Think P V Narasimha Rao the poor brilliant soul whod made the monumental mistake of not prostrating at Madams feet. Such disrespect! Very few survive the wrath of the lady scorned. Watch out, you 23 dissenters!

If only these impassioned chaps had taken a different route to Sonias mind (I am leaving out the more arduous route to her missing organ the heart), their shabby state today could have been avoided. Forget how and who leaked the letter. The more important question is: why the hell was it written in the first place? Did they not know their boss? Has Madam G ever tolerated dissent? Ever? What motivated them to waste their time studiously penning that missive and creating such a drama? One tight thappad from the bosslady and they are back, licking their wounds and looking silly. Not only did the letter expose their own vanities, but the sharp and prompt response from the high command conclusively established who rules her! Them! Those three the triumvirate. Khatam. Take it or take a walk.

It is surprising that the universal charmer, Shashi Tharoor, chose to pen a reproachful letter when a prem patra would have done the trick. Pressing the right buttons generally works with egotistical people. So does flattery. Had that letter been gushy and effusive and fuzzy, things may have panned out differently. For example, had these brilliant fellows said, Your royal highness, we, your ever loyal subjects who adore and worship at your feet, humbly beseech you to sack your useless son and reclaim your throne The outcome would have been less humiliating for them.

As of now, the desired ouster of Rahul Gandhi as the next party president remains just that a collective desire. The word introspection has been officially banned, say sources. Mrs G holds all the cards, while Priyanka G, who is actually a Priyanka V, stands by to absorb and deflect the blows aimed at her brother, Rubberball Rahul G.

Meanwhile, the reckless Gang of 23 letter writers await punishment for, it will come with biblical fury and very soon. They are ready to do penance. And they no longer use potentially inflammable words like reform. Nor does any one of them (former chief ministers, central ministers) make even an oblique reference to electoral failure. These are all bad words that have been banned via a royal edict. If anything, the mood within the dysfunctional Congress party is exactly as Madam G wants it by the time the next AICC session comes up, there will be a lusty chorus for Rahul to get back and do his Rahul thing as party president. As of now, Mummyji is holding the fort as interim president, post the resignation natak.

This suits the BJP splendidly. No wonder we have been treated to an elaborately staged fashion shoot of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in new and wonderfully colour-coordinated costumes, as he hand-feeds a peacock and bonds with geese. Never has our tireless PM looked this relaxed and totally chilled out. As if Indias Covid crisis and the employment emergency, or the JEE-NEET examinations controversy, have nothing to do with him or his cabinet colleagues.

Can anybody really visualise the Congress party (one of the oldest political parties in the world), without a Gandhi heading it? No, na? Then why quibble? Imagine if one of those accused of insubordination were to impudently stake a claim to the job reserved in perpetuity for the Nehru-Gandhi clan. Imagine the confusion of voters if they had to cast the ballot for a party led by Kapil Sibal or Shashi Tharoor or Ghulam Nabi Azad! You gotta be kidding! Congress ka matlab Gandhi parivar. Nobody else exists or will be allowed to exist. Once the G-gang goes, the headquarters may as well shut shop. Forget fighting the next election. Forget a viable opposition to the BJP in 2024. Relax, folks. Its going to be a piece of barfi for the BJP. Its time to feed the peacocks and fatten the geese.

DISCLAIMER : Views expressed above are the author's own.

Go here to read the rest:
Lesson for Cong dissenters: Nothing but loyalty to Gandhis in letter and spirit - The Times of India Blog

Over the past 10 to 15 years, the cultural climate has been saturated with identity politics and the incessant clamour for recognition and respect for people of various identities sexual, racial and gender. This cultural climate has bred its own terminologies and hashtags. It has also bred an illiberal attitude that is often referred to as cancel culture.

Cancel culture stifles the free speech of anyone who does not conform to the new normal. The proponents of cancel culture claim that it curbs injurious statements against minority groups. In truth, cancel culture is symptomatic of an imminent illiberal hegemony that should worry us all.

The term cancel culture is ambiguous. Perhaps a straightforward way to summarise it is that it suggests that if your action or opinion is morally or politically incorrect (based on other peoples assessment), then you should lose your employment and your reputation. It is a form of discipline and punishment for your harbouring of allegedly wrong and damaging opinions.

The key aim is to encourage conformism to the supposedly woke ways of thinking. As Ross Douthat argues in the New York Times, The goal isnt to punish everyone, or even very many someones; its to shame or scare just enough people to make the rest conform.

In spite of their apparently liberal intention to create an atmosphere of respect for persons of all identities, the new identitarians have actually twisted the language of tolerance in order to create a culture of conformism around their own ideologies.

I am by no means suggesting we should disrespect anyone on the basis of their identity, be they men, women, gay, straight, transgender, queer, white, black or brown. On the contrary, everyone is entitled to respect. However, the logic of cancel culture is not to engender respect for people but rather to demonise people on the basis of their moral and political views.

There are two reasons why cancel culture is antithetical to our social and intellectual progress. These reasons derive from John Stuart Mill, a towering figure in the liberal tradition. In his On Liberty, Mill argued that the despotism of custom is a hindrance to human advancement. Conformism, he argued, stifles the human intellect and social progress itself.

Mill also said that we can never be sure of the verity of our opinions unless we discuss them openly and freely. Liberal democracy a deliberative system that ensures the exchange of ideas is one way that we can talk to and listen to each other and in the process improve our understanding of each other.

And what if an idea is false? Should it be stifled? Mill suggests it shouldnt. For two reasons. First, there is no guarantee that a silenced opinion does not contain some true and valid propositions. And secondly, it is through debate that individuals are compelled to re-examine their values and opinions and to comprehend why they should or should not hold certain beliefs. Indeed, for Mill, it is not simply enough to be opinionated; one must understand the substance of ones beliefs. Without the free exchange of ideas, that understanding becomes more difficult.

The Millian view seems irrelevant to identitarians. They seem uninterested in the culture of intellectual risk-taking, mistakes and experimentation that has been crucial to our moral progress including the progress that has been made in relation to respect for people of different identities.

Ironically, identitarians fail to appreciate that their ability to express themselves freely after years of various forms of racial and gender repression is a product of public arguments for greater tolerance and liberty.

Great minds such as William Wilberforce, Frederick Douglass and Olaudah Equiano publicly marshalled arguments against the morally unconscionable practice of making profit from enslaved black people. The likes of John Stuart Mill and Mary Wollstonecraft contended that women are not naturally inferior to men, and instead what set the sexes apart was the educational and cultural climate that deprived women of the liberty to realise their potential.

All these ideas were unconventional and challenging in their time. If these authors and their writings had been cancelled for going against the grain, we would not have made the kind of progress we have with regard to racial and gender equality.

Cancel culture is an illiberal nonsense that should be quickly discarded in order to salvage our liberal democratic culture of openness and tolerance. Many centuries ago, the Persian poet Rumi advised that rather than focusing on what is good or bad, we should pay attention to how things blend. In a world of many peoples, values, languages, colours and nations, perhaps our common future depends on how we allow truth and falsity, good and evil, black and white, to run free in a free marketplace of ideas, and trust individuals to make sense of all these things.

Promise Frank Ejiofor holds an MA in political science from the Central European University (CEU) in Budapest, Hungary. His research interests span constitutional politics, nationalism, moral and political theory. Follow him on Twitter: @ejioforpromise

To enquire about republishing spikeds content, a right to reply or to request a correction, please contact the managing editor, Viv Regan.

Go here to read the rest:
We need to end cancel culture - Spiked