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Sunday, January 13, 2019

When self-censorship is self-preservation


Last night I did something I hadn't done in a very long time: I removed a published post from this blog. Nobody told or asked me to remove the post. Nor did anyone threaten legal action or worse. Moreover, the post had only been up about four hours, and in that time, according to Blogger's helpful stats-tracking, only one person had read it, indicating to me that Whirled Musings is as wildly popular as ever. I just can't keep up with the demand.

But after talking about it with my husband, I had some serious second thoughts, given how unhinged and litigious the subject appears to be (not to mention how apparently well-backed financially he is). From all indications he is a serial scammer, but has positioned himself as an American hero, which has earned him a significant following of people who are all too willing to throw their hard-earned money into his various political and social "causes." He's a genius at raising money. What happens to the money after he raises it is a matter that I'll leave to the big investigative journos for now.

I'm not giving myself short shrift or being falsely modest, but merely honest, when I state that like much of the content on this Whirled, my deleted post wasn't breaking any new ground. I was only reporting and linking to other credible sources about this man and his many schemes. But I simply don't have the resources to deal with any serious blow-back at this point.

What really sticks in my gut about this matter is the fact that this guy has become such an advocate/activist for "free speech," even starting a crowdfunding page, supposedly to protect free speech, though apparently the real purpose is to pursue legal action against platforms (e.g. Facebook) that he feels have "censored" him. He has already raised tens of thousands of dollars for this cause. But, like so many other folks I've observed, it appears that he believes "free speech" only applies to him and his allies. He has threatened and harassed and even doxxed some of his critics and detractors, and has then turned around and sued them (and crowd-funded his legal costs). His litigiousness, as well as his double standards about free speech -- not to mention his right wingnutty political and social opinions and his love of (actual) fake news -- remind me very much of a nutcake I've previously dealt with. But this guy has a much greater following than that nutcake.

So I'll leave it to others to do the heavy lifting on this one: those who either have the backing of a strong legal team or who are lawyers themselves. Meanwhile, I'll go on being an advocate of free speech, even if it's speech I don't like.

PS ~ Free speech doesn't mean consequence-free speech, as whiny, blubbery conspiracy peddler Alex Jones learned again when
the courts handed a victory to plaintiffs in a defamation suit against him. The plaintiffs in question are families of the Sandy Hook shooting victims, who alleged that they faced frightening threats and harassment as a result of Jones' continual public claims that the shooting was a hoax, The court ruled that Jones' fake-news org Infowars must turn over internal documents to these families.

Related on this Whirled:
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Friday, January 04, 2019

Conspiranoid blogger claims Trump is good for what's alien us


So it's 2019, at least by the Gregorian calendar, and the Whirled wags on. In July, this blog turns 13, which means that it will be old enough to have its own Blog Mitzvah. You're all invited, and you can $end present$ now to avoid the rush; there's a Donation button up on the left side of the screen (at least on the Web version, with its ancient Blogger template). And now to business.

As I've noted several times previously over the past few years, Whirled Musings did not start out to be a political blog, and technically it still isn't one, except when it has to be, and, increasingly and much to my dismay, it has had to be. Ever since the Orange Oaf of Office first announced his candidacy for the presidency, it has become steadily more obvious that
politix and this blog's normal beat are a match made in purgatory.

Politix in the era of Trump has indeed been cozying up with some strange bedfellows, not the least of which are
the religious right, whose power-hungry theocratic leaders have for the most part embraced Trump, not giving a flying fig leaf that the latter wouldn't know a Bible from a copy of Mein Kampf. And although traditional religion, including hypoChristianity, wasn't originally part of my beat, that's another line that has been blurred, as noted in the post I linked to at the beginning of this paragraph.
In large part because of said blurring of lines [between politics and my blog's original subject matter] another line has been fuzzed as well: the one between my normal beat (New-Wage/McSpirituality etc.) and That Old-Time Religion. I've been asked on more than one occasion why I don't spend more time going after religion, i.e., more traditional faiths. The short answer is that this isn't a "religious" blog either, except when it has to be. But. When you have fundie hypoChristians and evangescammers getting together to pray for Trump to "protect" him from various sources of evil ... well, there you have it: it sort of has to be.
Apart from the Scamworld connection, there are other ways in which politix, or more specifically Trumpworld, melds with some of the more traditional areas of interest on this Whirled, most notably the McSpirituality sector. Take Ivanka Trump and the TM (Transcendental Meditation) scampire... please. There are some TM fanatics who actually look on Ivanka's daddy as an enlightened being who is a harbinger of positive changes for the world.

Turns out that TM-ers aren't the only traditional Whirled snargets with an affinity for the Mad King. Today my pal Chris Locke of the fabulous but dormant Mystic Bourgeoisie blog, writing on Facebook under his nom de Facebook Kat Herding, pointed out a loony blog titled,
"The Final Wakeup Call: What the world doesn't know." It's written by a Dutch conspiracy-porn author named Peter B. Meyer, who is much like many other conspiracy nuts roaming the planet today, except his narratives are peopled with various aliens and inter-dimensional beings... classic Whirled blog fodder, in other words. (One of this blog's favorite subjects, imprisoned serial scammer and Trump fan Kevin Trudeau, is also a long-time fan of aliens.)

In his
inaugural post for the New Year, Meyer claims that Trump is an integral part of a greater movement that is literally going to save the human race.
Fortunately, thanks to President Trump, the Patriots and the Q-movement, the world is undergoing a massive transition. Everything the Cabal has put in place is now being destroyed, step by step.
By "Q-movement" I assume that Meyer is referring to QAnon, a jumble of right-wing, mostly pro-Trump conspiranoids. Here's one place you can read up on that. And here's another.

Anyway, playing a starring role in this yuuuge development are various aliens, both evil and enlightened, near as I can tell from Meyer's rambling screed. Scrolling down a bit, under a bold sub-head, "2019 -- the year of Transition," Meyer waxes poetic about the dawning of a new era. It's kind of like the dawning of the Age of Aquarius, but with fascists and conspiracy loons instead of naked hippies.

The world is on the threshold of permanent peace. This is a super large caliber achievement by President Trump and his Team. He brings the American troops back home and the aircraft carriers into their home ports.

Will this extraordinary news make bold headlines in the regular media? Count on NOT. The Deep State still controls the MSM and they are desperate to avoid to publish this information because the war machine and the central banks that are also involved in the financing of their gruesome activities. Not anymore now.

It is over and out for the cabal. Therefore – HAPPY AND HEALTHY NEW YEAR FOR ALL. Soon, we will continue as free people to develop ourselves as our
Creator always has intended for us. No wars, no hunger, no poverty, no more misery. We are going to enjoy life to the fullest. This information is also meant for the sleepers who still refuse to to know anything about. Please contribute in this endeavour by sharing this message with everyone you know, informing the awake or asleep.
Just in case you have any doubts whatsoever about Meyer's own political leanings, here's his take on the woman every ignorant conspiranoid loves to hate, Hillary Clinton.

And there you have it, all of you sleepers. I've done my duty by sharing Meyer's message. Now I'm off to take a power nap while my husband whips up a batch of potato kugel (with schmaltz!) for supper. Being a sleeper isn't a bad thing at all, especially if you have cats and dogs to snooze with.


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Now more than ever, your donation is needed
to help keep this Whirled spinning.
Click here to donate via PayPal or debit/credit card.
If that link doesn't work, send PayPal payment directly to

scrivener66@hotmail.com
or to
cosmic.connie@juno.com
If PayPal, be sure to specify that your contribution is a gift. Thank you!