Commentary

Peak insanity day   Recently updated !

This entry was posted in Commentary and tagged politics Trump on by

Today insanity peaks in the US as we come to coronation — I mean inauguration — day. It should take no more than an hour to get the necessary people together and administer the oath of office, but then people might think the president is a mere chief executive rather than a monarch. (Though these days monarchs usually have less power than the president of the US. So do the chief executives of most relatively free countries.) The imperial presidency is a distinctively American feature, having more in common with authoritarian states like Russia and China.
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The “Paradox of Tolerance” swindle 1

This entry was posted in Censorship Commentary and tagged censorship liberty philosophy on by

“Paradox of Tolerance” is a favorite slogan of censorship advocates. Most often they drop the words in a discussion without elaboration to give the impression they’ve said something profound. Some will mention its connection to Karl Popper. Few will cite his words, since they’re actually opposed to censorship.

The words in question are from a footnote in The Open Society and Its Enemies. The footnote is a bit unclear; Popper was adding a passing thought, not a polished commentary. Here are the words:
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Marvel abets Chinese censorship

This entry was posted in Commentary and tagged censorship China Disney Marvel MCU on by

The ruler of the world’s second most powerful country feels so insecure that he has to ban mentions of Winnie the Pooh because some people think there’s a resemblance. It would be laughable except for the real-world consequences. I’m sure none of the panels at the Chengdu Worldcon discussed Milne’s character. You also aren’t allowed to discuss it in an online game called Marvel Rivals. The use of a long list of words and phrases is flagged as inappropriate in game chat. Among the phrases Marvel won’t let you use are “Winnie the Pooh,” “Pooh,” “Tiananmen,” “1989,” and “Free Taiwan.” Ironically, Disney, which owns Marvel, also owns the animated version of Winnie the Pooh. So Disney has acquiesced in censoring the mention of its own property.
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Racist typography 1

This entry was posted in Commentary and tagged grammar usage writing on by

It’s gotten incredibly common: in the same sentence in supposedly literate websites, “Black” as a skin color is consistently capitalized, while “brown,” “white,” “yellow” and so on are consistently in lower case, sometimes in the same sentence. The racial discrimination is so obvious it’s plainly intentional. What purpose does it serve?

Is it to tell us that “Black” people are the Master Race, while others are subordinate? That would be silly. Is it to provoke and anger people, so they’ll say something intemperate and open themselves to accusations of racism? I’ve often thought that, but a complex intention like that makes no sense.
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The coming TikTok security disaster

This entry was posted in Censorship Commentary and tagged censorship China TikTok on by

As I’m writing this, the US is set to ban applications that access TikTok’s Internet service on January 19. What no one is talking about is the security nightmare that will result.

The ban won’t forbid access to TikTok; it will just forbid the preferred way to access it. App stores in the US won’t be allowed to offer the client application. Lots of other sources will still offer it. Some will be legitimate. Others will put up Trojan Horse applications. Scammers will target users trying to keep access to their accounts. A lot of devices will be infiltrated with malware.
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Uganda Worldcon bid shifts to Rwanda

This entry was posted in Commentary and tagged conventions fandom Rwanda on by

The bid for a 2028 Worldcon in Uganda, which I had criticized here and here, has changed its proposed venue to Kigali, Rwanda. The name is now ConKigali. It may be an improvement in some ways, but is it enough of one to get serious consideration?

Freedom House gives Rwanda a rating of 23, categorized as “not free.” This is lower than Uganda’s rating of 34. From the standpoint of fans’ personal safety, though, Rwanda may be the less dangerous of the two. Homosexuality isn’t outlawed, but people traveling there still need to be careful what opinions they express. The US State Department has issued a long list of “significant human rights issues” in Rwanda.
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Folk tales and movies

This entry was posted in Commentary and tagged Disney fantasy folklore writing on by

Folk tales are inherently changeable. Look through their history and you’ll find many versions. Some of them are horrible by today’s standards. Modern writers have made startling reversals on traditional stories. In Cecilia Eng’s song “Red as Blood,” Snow White is a vampire. (Pale white skin, lips red as blood…) I’ve written previously about Warner Brothers’ “Coal Black.” The problems arise when an adaptation isn’t what it claims to be and when it’s clearly designed by committee. That’s what Disney’s new version of Snow White is shaping up to be.

The story can be traced back to Pentamerone, published in 1634, and probably has roots in older stories. It took a more familiar form in the Grimms’ story “Schneewittchen” (Snow Drop). In these stories, the heroine is seven years old when she flees the queen and is poisoned into a coma. The queen in “Schneewittchen” succeeds only on the third attempt, which says something about the seven-year-old’s continued gullibility. She is put into a glass coffin, which grows along with her until she is awakened as an adult. The Grimms’ version is more gruesome than today’s usual versions. The queen orders the huntsman to bring back Snow Drop’s lungs and liver. As in the Disney version, he doesn’t kill her and brings back an animal’s organs — which the queen proceeds to eat. At the end, the queen is forced to dance in red-hot iron shoes till she dies.

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Trump reverses the meaning of censorship

This entry was posted in Censorship Commentary News and tagged censorship law liberty on by

In Newspeak, freedom is slavery. In Trumpspeak, freedom of speech is censorship.

Brendan Carr, whom Trump wants to head the FCC, has declared his intent to “smash the censorship cartel” using the agency’s power. According to the Washington Times, “He is threatening the platforms with revocation of their federally granted immunity against content-based lawsuits.” He’s presumably referring to Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, one of the few parts to survive legal challenges. It says that in general operators of websites that allow public posting of commentary can’t be held liable for what third parties post. Without it, website operators would have to keep a quick finger on the “Delete” button to keep potentially defamatory comments from showing up. They’d need to err on the side of caution. Many sites would probably find it easiest to eliminate the comments section.
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Uses and abuses of Bluesky moderation

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I’m enjoying Bluesky quite a lot. Here’s my profile, in case you’re on Bluesky and want to follow me. With few exceptions, I limit my posts there to music, silent film, and an occasional bit of humor or trivia. I intentionally avoid most political discussion, because I like to relax there. But Bluesky has developed the inevitable echo chambers, and I avoid following accounts that veer into hostility and mockery.

Bluesky offers lots of moderation tools at the personal level. You can use the content filters and the optional Bluesky moderation service, which are found under the Moderation category of your settings. Remember that any system-wide moderation system will make mistakes, blocking harmless material or letting disgusting stuff through. Having user-controlled moderation frees the staff to deal with the worst offenders, as opposed to content that others just find annoying.

Users can create moderation lists. These are lists of users which others can use to mute or block accounts that the list creator thinks are best avoided. That’s helpful but has its risks. You can use a moderation list selectively, for confirmation that someone else thinks certain users are nuisances. You can block or mute the whole list, but then you’re delegating your decision to someone else.
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