Weekly News Roundup – 8 March 2024
Crime, Drugs, Espionage, and Social Control. What doesn’t the government have its hand in?
This Week’s News
A quarter of US adults want their state to secede – A poll of 35,000 adults by pollster Taylor Orth found that nationwide, 23 percent of respondents want their state to secede. Alaskans led the way with 36% supporting secession but another 6 states, including California and New York weren’t far behind with scores at or above 25%. While slightly more than half opposed secession, this is another clear indication of the divisions within American society. To be clear, a “National Divorce,” as many now call it, would be a terrible mistake.
Fired scientists played down links to China – I’m not sure I should file this under Canada’s slow (?) transformation into a banana republic or the Liberal’s inability to go more than a month or two without a scandal. Either way, Canada has once again shown its inability to function as a serious country. Xiangguo Qiu and her husband, Keding Cheng, scientists at a high security facility in Winnipeg lost their security clearance and jobs recently for failing to protect sensitive assets and information and for downplaying their collaboration with Chinese government agencies. According to the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) Ms. Qiu continued to lie even when presented with evidence and that her loyalty “remains a grave concern.” Health Minister Mark Holland acknowledged a “lax adherence to security protocols” but appeared to defend the scientists stating that he believed “that an earnest effort was made to adhere to those policies, but not with the rigour that was required." If that’s true, why fire the scientists? The Daily Mirror, which has never been accused of printing understated headlines, had a different take: REVEALED: Chinese scientist booted out of Canadian lab after MAILING Ebola virus to Wuhan linked to 'bat woman' virologist and British doctor Peter Daszak at center of Covid leak theory.
Key takeaways from Super Tuesday results – With Nikki Haley formally announcing that she will be dropping out of the race, the 2024 Presidential election is lining up to be what we all
fearedhopedexpected, Biden v. Trump, round two. God help us all!Progressive Approaches to Crime Fail – Less than 3 years after the “Defund the Police” movement took off, gaining traction in many blue states, voters in three hotbeds of progressive crime and drug policies appear to have had a change of heart. In San Francisco, the city of love, voters on Tuesday approved policies increasing police surveillance and requiring drug-screening for all welfare recipients in an attempt to address drugs, homelessness, and crime issues. A little further north, the Oregon state legislature ended the state’s experiment with decriminalizing “small amounts of hard drugs, like meth, heroin, and crack…” voting to recriminalize possession as a misdemeanor, with penalties of up to six months in jail. Not to be outdone, New York City Mayor Eric Adams is “surging” 1,000 additional cops into the subways on 12-hour shifts and has ordered “a new series of security protocols to keep knives, box cutters, clubs and guns off of trains and platforms.” Who could have predicted that fewer cops, “safe injection sites,” and softer punishments would result in more crime? Is it possible that even British Columbia might see the light?
The US Supreme Court reinstates Trump on the Colorado ballot – In a 9-0 decision, the justices agreed that “an individual state shouldn't be able to choose who gets to run for the White House” but stopped short of clearing Trump of insurrection charges. What this means down the road remains to be seen. While many on the left disagree with the ruling, it is clearly the correct one as allowing states to remove candidates from the ballot without a conviction would have likely led to more states, both red and blue, deciding to do the same. Ultimately, in the absence of a conviction, the decision should be left to the voters.
What I’m Reading
I’m slowly making my way through Lorenzo Warby’s multi-post response to Nathan Cofnas’ Why We Need to Talk about the Right’s Stupidity Problem. The issue being discussed, as you may remember is the equalitarian/equality thesis, race realism and the hereditarian thesis. A little heady at times but very interesting. Especially if you enjoy going down the occasional rabbit hole.
China Social Credit System Explained – Over at “Horizons,” Drew Donnelly provides an overview of China’s social credit system which seeks “to provide a holistic assessment of an individual’s or a company’s trustworthiness.” What began with a focus on financial creditworthiness has been expanded to include judicial enforcement, societal trustworthiness, and government integrity. The system involves a comprehensive collection and analysis of data, the “curation of blacklists and relists,” and “punishments, sanctions, and rewards.” Donnelly states that the “consequences of a poor social credit score could be serious. It may affect travel prospects, employment, access to finance, and the ability to enter into contracts. On the other hand, a positive credit score could make a range of business transactions much easier.” Former Vice-President Mike Pence called out the worst-case scenario, stating “China’s rulers aim to implement an Orwellian system premised on controlling virtually every facet of human life – the so-called ‘social credit score.’”
Using A.I. to Talk to the Dead – It has become possible to use A.I. and virtual reality to create “griefbots” to let people “speak” with lost loved ones. While some argue that it can “help with remembering loved ones and journeying through grief,” others worry that “hyper-realistic and interactive simulations of the deceased” might deceive “vulnerable users and inflicting emotional harm.”
My Podcast Recommendation(s) of the Week
I’m going to recommend two this week, the first is The Reason Roundtable discussion because it touches on a topic, I wrote about earlier this week, electoral reform.
The Reason Roundtable – Rank Choices
The Joe Rogan Experience is back on Apple Podcasts, so I’ve added it to the list that I follow. Rogan’s podcasts are typically divided into three types of interviews: MMA fighters (which I ignore), comedians (which I mostly ignore) and what I’ll call “other” which can be pretty much anyone including politicians, writers, scientists etc. It’s this last group I’m mostly interested in, and it depends on the guest and the topic. My second recommendation this week is Rogan’s interview with Christopher Rufo, a conservative activist and senior member at the Manhattan Institute on a number of topics including DEI, recriminalization of drugs by the state of Oregon, institutional capture, and freedom of speech.
Hey Philip.
As always, a good breakdown of different current events in this week's news roundup. It's funny (not really) how liberal administrations reverse course when the chickens come home to roost, while stubbornly maintaining course on similar issues which haven't pissed off their constituents yet. And they act like it was their stance all along - "nothing to see here!" - as if everyone is blind and stupid (well some people are, apparently).
I saw your reading list. I was wondering if you'd consider reading my book, and giving it a review? It's a pretty quick read, about 2 to 2-1/2 hours total, and I'd love to hear what you think, good or bad.
It's called "A White Man's Perspectives on Race and Racism", and got a 5/5 review from OnlineBookClub (see here: https://forums.onlinebookclub.org/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=392712), as well as another perspective from one of the staff writers at Wrong Speak (see here: https://www.wrongspeakpublishing.com/p/why-cant-white-men-talk-about-race?utm_source=profile&utm_medium=reader2).
It's available at smashwords.com/books/view/1184004, but it costs $6.49 that way and I'd rather not have you paying for my request. If you have an email address you can share, I can send you a Google Drive share for free. My email is ZepharethLedbetter@gmail.com.
Either way, always enjoy your posts, and thanks for considering this.
Zephareth Ledbetter