It’s time once more for news and views that you can peruse. It’s time for another Weekly Reader! As always, if you have something you’d like to share, drop a link in the comments!
The online incel movement is getting more violent and extreme, report says (from the Washington Post): “According to the CCDH analysis, members of the forum post about rape every 29 minutes, and more than 89 percent of posters support rape and say it’s acceptable. The CCDH analysis also found that posters on the forum are seeking to normalize child rape. More than a quarter of members of the forum have posted pedophilia keywords, the analysis found, and more than half of the members of the forum support pedophilia.”
Colorado police release video of police car with suspect inside hit by a train (from CNN): “The vehicle that was hit was a cruiser from the Platteville Police Department, which was assisting with the traffic stop. Platteville Police Chief Carl Dwyer said the officer who parked on the railroad tracks has been placed on paid administrative leave pending an investigation by the CBI. Neither police department has identified any of the officers involved in the incident.”
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton fled his home to avoid being served with subpoena, court record says (from the Texas Tribune): ““I walked up the driveway approaching Mr. Paxton and called him by his name. As soon as he saw me and heard me call his name out, he turned around and RAN back inside the house through the same door in the garage,” Herrera wrote in the sworn affidavit.”
How the cash bail system criminalizes poverty and amplifies inequality (from Mic): “The purpose of bail is, at least theoretically, to ensure a person facing charges will return for their trial or hearing; after their court appearances are complete, they’re supposed to get the money back. On the surface, cash bail may seem reasonable, but the reality is far less so. Essentially, cash bail is the concept of buying a person’s freedom — and, like the prison system as a whole, it fosters extreme inequality.”
Woman With Severe Chronic Pain Was Denied Medication for Being ‘Childbearing Age’ (from Jezebel): “In her first TikTok last week, through tears, Rule explained that she suffers from painful, chronic cluster headaches and Ehlers-Danlos syndrome—which, she told Jezebel, causes several excruciating comorbidities. Despite the severity and life-threatening risk factors accompanying her condition, Rule told me that doctors who confronted her at her Wednesday visit to Malta Med Emergent Care warned her that she was on a “tracker” and is essentially blacklisted from hospitals in Albany County for the alleged “livestreaming.” Rule has filed a complaint to Glens Falls Hospital and received confirmation that it’s being processed, but it could be up to 45 days before she receives any update.”
Banned in the USA: The Growing Movement to Censor Books in Schools (from PEN): “Many Americans may conceive of challenges to books in schools in terms of reactive parents, or those simply concerned after thumbing through a paperback in their child’s knapsack or hearing a surprising question about a novel raised by their child at the dinner table. However, the large majority of book bans underway today are not spontaneous, organic expressions of citizen concern. Rather, they reflect the work of a growing number of advocacy organizations that have made demanding censorship of certain books and ideas in schools part of their mission.”
Here’s the Secret “Sheriff Fellowship” Curriculum From the Country’s Most Prominent MAGA Think Tank (from Slate): “Public information requests and other reporting have provided insight into the stated and unstated reasons behind the Claremont Institute’s recruitment of county sheriffs, and revealed the curriculum of the fellowship. (You can read the full curriculum at the bottom of this article.) What emerges in reviewing this information is a portrait of the far right’s deep investment in sheriffs. They seem to be a key target of the movement because the office is already vulnerable to extremism and because sheriffs can enable other extremist actors like vigilantes and militias to wreak havoc on society. Claremont provides a historical and intellectual cover for selected sheriffs to continue a march into white Christian nationalism; for Claremont, the sheriffs are elected influencers who can push their message into the mainstream, far from the coterie of intellectual elites. They also have the authority to use violence under the color of law to enforce these principles in their communities.”
Facebook executive Nick Clegg’s latest comments suggest Trump will likely be back on the platform by January (from Media Matters): “In a new interview, Meta global affairs president Nick Clegg indicated that Facebook might end former President Donald Trump’s suspension in January without considering the accuracy of his content. Trump’s recent activity on Truth Social, along with his social media behavior before and since his suspension, shows that Trump would just use Facebook to push misinformation and extreme rhetoric to the platform’s large user base.”
Vitalik Buterin’s philosophical essays: they’re not good (from Attack of the 50 Foot Blockchain): “Buterin has spent his life being told he’s smart and has important ideas. But I am deeply unconvinced any of the ideas in Buterin’s essays are worth anything — because they’re concocted without reference to anything that people who aren’t weird cryptocurrency anarchocapitalists want.”
Proud Boys memo reveals meticulous planning for ‘street-level violence’ (from The Guardian): “The purpose of the document is to provide a “strategic security plan” and call to action, summoning Proud Boys members to a pro-Trump Maga march that was scheduled for New York City on 10 January 2021. That was four days after Congress was to certify Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 presidential election – the occasion that would be targeted by the fatal insurrection.”
At least 50 groups in the US advocated to ban books in the past year (from CNN): “Jonathan Friedman, the director of PEN America’s free expression and education programs and author of the report, said that in the past decade “there was never organization at this scale or with this kind of momentum” but it’s important to understand that these censorship efforts, more often than not, are led by people who are not parents and who only learned about the books online without reading them but demand officials to remove them from shelves.”
That’s all for this edition, but don’t you worry. I’ll have even more reads that will make your inner Vulcan raise an eyebrow and say ‘Fascinating’. So until then, have a great rest of your week and happy reading!
Iacon East 