Day: February 22, 2021

A note to readers about ‘social media’ and going Analogue

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22 February 2021 — The New Dark Age

You may have noticed the lack of Twitter and Facebook links in articles published here. There are two reasons for this: Firstly, WordPress have made embedding Twitter cumbersome and time-consuming with their latest ‘improvement’. But more importantly, I’ve decided to boycott so-called social media (I gave up my Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn accounts years ago), which means removing links, made all the easier by WordPress’ latest change to the way the editor works.

[C]an we consider that the digital world in general has now reached the point (perhaps long past the point) where it serves the oppressors far more than it serves us? Has our habit of evaluating the benefits of technology in strictly personal terms been trumped by its use by empire for economic, political, social and militarized rule? – David Perez

So I noticed the latest Off Guardian piece is entitled, ‘ Liberation by Unplugging? https://off-guardian.org/2021/02/22/liberation-by-unplugging/ so maybe the idea of going Analogue is spreading?

UK: The government’s latest “eviction ban” isn’t keeping our members safe

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22 February 2021 — London Renters Union

In its announcement last week, the government said there’s now an “eviction ban” until March 31. In reality, they’ve already given the green light to landlords and bailiffs to evict tens of thousands of people. The old rules said that you could only be evicted if you were in 9+ months rent debt and that debt was from before the start of the pandemic. A new loophole the government has tried to keep quiet means that people who are in six months of rent arrears from any time can now be evicted. 

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The US ‘Genocide’ Accusation Against China

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22 February 2021 — Consortium News

The claim relies on data abuse and baseless claims by a far-right ideologue, Gareth Porter and Max Blumenthal report.

By Gareth Porterand Max Blumenthal
The Grayzone

Both President Joe Biden and his Secretary of State Anthony Blinken have endorsed former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s last-minute accusation of “genocide” against the Muslim Uyghur population in China’s Xinjiang province.

But an investigation of published work by the researcher Pompeo relied on to level his genocide allegation reveals a pattern of data abuse and fraudulent assertions that substantially undermines the incendiary charge.

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