A critique of Jordan Peterson’s views

To be quite honest, the Jordan Peterson phenomenon largely passed me by, appearing only in the periphery of my consciousness. I kept coming across his name in various places but what I fleetingly gathered did not suggest to me that whatever he was saying or doing was worthwhile investigating to find out more so I ignored it, much like one tries to ignore a fly buzzing around but don’t completely succeed. I adopt the same policy whenever I see the name ‘Kardashian’, quickly moving on.
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The Austin bomber’s views

Mark Conditt, the 22-year old who set off the bombs in and around Austin, Texas and blew himself up when he was about to be captured, seems to have been one of your typical right-wingers.

Six years ago he claimed not to possess intense political opinions. “I enjoy cycling, parkour, tennis, reading, and listening to music. I am not that politically inclined. I view myself as a conservative, but I don’t think I have enough information to defend my stance as well as it should be defended,” he wrote on a blog.

“The reasons I am taking [a politics class at Austin community college] is because I want to understand the US government, and I hope that it will help me clarify my stance, and then defend it.”

He did, though, express strong anti-abortion and anti-homosexuality views: “Homosexuality is not natural. Just look at the male and female bodies. They are obviously designed to couple,” he wrote.

“In addition, political protection of a sexual practice is ludicrous. I do not believe it is proper to pass laws stating that homosexuals have ‘rights.’”

He expressed firm views on law and order in a blog post in 2012, saying he supported the death penalty because “living criminals harm and murder, again – executed ones do not”.
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Cambridge Analytica and Facebook exposed

The British firm Cambridge Analytica has been in the news recently about its role in influencing elections in various countries around the world. It specializes in what is known as microtargeting. This is where it gathers up all manner of information about individuals and creates profiles that suggest how they can be motivated in a particular way, using targeted messaging aimed at them to trigger their fears about an opponent. While much of this can be considered legitimate even if creepy, what has been revealed is that the company also produces false ‘news’ items that become viral and has engaged in illegal activities on behalf of its clients.
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The madness of the Iraq war signals the twilight of America

Is the US still at war in Iraq? In these days when the US is engaged in so many military actions around the globe that have not been formally declared, it is hard to be definitive. President Obama, as always trying to have it both ways, helped to cloud the issue by declaring that US troops would be withdrawn while still keeping some there and intensifying drone and other bombings. But on the 15th anniversary of the day when the Bush-Cheney gang of war criminals unleashed hell on the people of Iraq, with the US bombings continuing, all the signs point to the answer being yes, and will remain so for some time.
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Adrian Lamo has died

Those who have been following the Chelsea Manning story may be familiar with the name Adrian Lamo whom I just learned died last week at the age of 37. The cause of death is as yet unknown. Lamo was a hacker and the person who befriended Chelsea Manning online (when she was Bradley Manning), the whistleblower who had released the appalling video of US troops gleefully gunning down Iraqi civilians from a gunship as well as releasing classified military cables to WikiLeaks. Manning revealed to Lamo that she was the one who had released the video and the cables and he reported her to the authorities and that led to her arrest and subsequent sentencing to 35 years in prison where she suffered terrible abuse before her sentence was commuted by president Obama. Lamo later justified his action in an interview.

Illinois primary results

Yesterday was primary election day in Illinois. Despite running a strong race in the 3rd congressional district, progressive candidate Marie Newman just failed to edge out incumbent Democratic congressman Dan Lipinski who won by the slim margin of 51.2-48.8%. Lipinski is a truly awful candidate and one wonders how and why the party establishment supported him, given that it is a solid Democratic seat. As Ryan Grim writes, Lipinski, who ‘inherited’ the seat from his father, “opposes abortion rights, LGBT rights, immigrant rights, a $15 an hour minimum wage, and voted against Obamacare”. Given the open primary system in Illinois, it is possible that many Republicans voted for Lipinski in the Democratic primary especially since on the Republican side an open neo-Nazi was running unopposed.
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Latest OK Go video

The music group OK Go is known for its highly choreographed videos done in just one take that depends upon carefully timed movements that must require plenty of rehearsing. Sometime ago, I linked to one that had a large number of dogs involved. Their latest one seems to exceed all their previous efforts and involves a ton of paint. I felt sorry about all the guitars, though.

First you can see the video.
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Terry Gilliam is totally wrong

Gilliam is one of the members of the Monty Python troupe, not as well known as the other five because he was rarely seen in the TV series and films. His main role was providing the animations that provided the transitions between sketches and scenes. After the Python era ended, he went on to become a successful director. In a recent interview, he gave his opinion on the recent exposes of predatory sexual behavior in the entertainment industry and said some appalling things, among other things comparing the #MeToo movement to mob rule.
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CBS News fawns over despotic Saudi prince

You have got to hand it to the Saudi Arabian regime. They have figured out how to get really good press in the US despite presiding over one of the most appalling governments in the world when it comes to both domestic and foreign policies. They have realized that as long as they are supportive of US and Israeli goals in the Middle East, the US media will have an immediate bias in their favor that will cause them to find any reason to ignore their appalling record, such as the horrendous amount of suffering they are causing to the people of Yemen, their breeding of extremist Islamic ideology, and their appalling record of human rights at home.
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