Canada’s already underfunded forces have been devastated by Trudeau’s lavish support sent to the Ukrainian President
In a live broadcast, Canadian Defence Minister Anita Anand announced to Canadians that the Trudeau government has depleted its stocks of weapons in its rush to assist Ukraine.
“We have exhausted inventory from the Canadian Armed Forces,” Anand said nervously. “There are capacity issues,” she added.
https://twitter.com/nytopinion/status/1504807282147794975
The editorial board plans to identify a wide range of threats to freedom of speech in the coming months, and to offer possible solutions.
America Has a Free Speech Problem
By The Editorial Board
The editorial board is a group of opinion journalists whose views are informed by expertise, research, debate and certain longstanding values. It is separate from the newsroom.
For all the tolerance and enlightenment that modern society claims, Americans are losing hold of a fundamental right as citizens of a free country: the right to speak their minds and voice their opinions in public without fear of being shamed or shunned.
This social silencing, this depluralizing of America, has been evident for years, but dealing with it stirs yet more fear. It feels like a third rail, dangerous. For a strong nation and open society, that is dangerous.
How has this happened? In large part, it’s because the political left and the right are caught in a destructive loop of condemnation and recrimination around cancel culture. Many on the left refuse to acknowledge that cancel culture exists at all, believing that those who complain about it are offering cover for bigots to peddle hate speech. Many on the right, for all their braying about cancel culture, have embraced an even more extreme version of censoriousness as a bulwark against a rapidly changing society, with laws that would ban books, stifle teachers and discourage open discussion in classrooms.
Many Americans are understandably confused, then, about what they can say and where they can say it. People should be able to put forward viewpoints, ask questions and make mistakes and take unpopular but good-faith positions on issues that society is still working through — all without fearing cancellation.
However you define cancel culture, Americans know it exists and feel its burden. In a new national poll commissioned by Times Opinion and Siena College, only 34 percent of Americans said they believed that all Americans enjoyed freedom of speech completely. The poll found that 84 percent of adults said it is a “very serious” or “somewhat serious” problem that some Americans do not speak freely in everyday situations because of fear of retaliation or harsh criticism.
This poll and other recent surveys from the Pew Research Center and the Knight Foundation reveal a crisis of confidence around one of America’s most basic values. Freedom of speech and expression is vital to human beings’ search for truth and knowledge about our world. A society that values freedom of speech can benefit from the full diversity of its people and their ideas. At the individual level, human beings cannot flourish without the confidence to take risks, pursue ideas and express thoughts that others might reject.
Most important, freedom of speech is the bedrock of democratic self-government. If people feel free to express their views in their communities, the democratic process can respond to and resolve competing ideas. Ideas that go unchallenged by opposing views risk becoming weak and brittle rather than being strengthened by tough scrutiny. When speech is stifled or when dissenters are shut out of public discourse, a society also loses its ability to resolve conflict, and it faces the risk of political violence.
The Times Opinion/Siena College poll found that 46 percent of respondents said they felt less free to talk about politics compared to a decade ago. Thirty percent said they felt the same. Only 21 percent of people reported feeling freer, even though in the past decade there was a vast expansion of voices in the public square through social media.
“There’s a crisis around the freedom of speech now because many people don’t understand it, they weren’t taught what it means and why it matters,” said Suzanne Nossel, the chief executive of PEN America, a free speech organization. “Safeguards for free speech have been essential to almost all social progress in the country, from the civil rights movement to women’s suffrage to the current fights over racial justice and the police.”
Times Opinion commissioned the poll to provide more data and insight that can inform a debate mired in extremes. This editorial board plans to identify a wide range of threats to freedom of speech in the coming months and to offer possible solutions. Freedom of speech requires not just a commitment to openness and tolerance in the abstract. It demands conscientiousness about both the power of speech and its potential harms. We believe it isn’t enough for Americans to just believe in the rights of others to speak freely; they should also find ways to actively support and protect those rights.
We are under no illusion that this is easy. Our era, especially, is not made for this; social media is awash in speech of the point-scoring, picking-apart, piling-on, put-down variety. A deluge of misinformation and disinformation online has heightened this tension. Making the internet a more gracious place does not seem high on anyone’s agenda, and certainly not for most of the tech companies that control it.
https://twitter.com/SportsCenter/status/1504614031688192008
Penn’s Lia Thomas won the 500-yard freestyle at the NCAA women’s swimming and diving championships.
Thomas becomes the first known transgender athlete to win an NCAA Division I championship in any sport.
“It means the world to be here.”
Lia Thomas spoke about swimming in the NCAA women's championships.
>Lia Thomas spoke about swimming in the NCAA women's championships.
>https://twitter.com/nytopinion/status/1504807282147794975
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/18/opinion/cancel-culture-free-speech-poll.html
>https://twitter.com/nypost/status/1505031464945082370
https://nypost.com/2022/03/18/nyc-construction-crew-discover-human-remains-found-in-bronx/
Human remains found by NYC construction crew
Human bones were found on the side of the Hutchinson Parkway in The Bronx Friday afternoon, police said.
A construction crew made the grisly discovery at around 12:30 p.m. in a wooded area near the northbound Orchard Beach/City Island exit, the NYPD said.
Multiple officers were looking for evidence at the site of the gruesome find Friday night, according to footage shot by News 12.
The possible crime scene had been cordoned off with a blue tarp and was illuminated by flood lights, the footage showed.
The remains have been sent to the medical examiner for evaluation, according to police.
https://twitter.com/ml_buckley/status/1504990883292356609
Police say construction workers were working here when they found a human skull—remains are heavily decomposed.
The medical examiner is on scene, and police are searching through this wooded area #nyc #nypd #bronx
"Integrated Development Environments"
>So they have no equipment to stop truckers now?
>Well I'm sure announcing that please China operators standing by
https://nypost.com/2020/12/11/canada-pm-justin-trudeau-was-upset-over-cancelled-invite-to-chinese-troops/
Walt Disney World has reportedly denounced a routine by a high school drill team that was accused of “racism” and borrowing from Native American stereotypes during a recent performance there.
Video shot March 15 of the Port Neches-Groves High School Indianettes from Texas shows the all-women squad dressed in purple with white fringe as they march and dance — seemingly borrowing from Native culture — while also chanting, “Scalp ’em, Indians, scalp ’em.”
The footage of the group, who were invited to perform in Orlando, sparked a backlash by Native American officials who called their act “dehumanizing.”
“The live performance in our park did not reflect our core values, and we regret it took place,” Disney spokesperson Jacquee Wahler told Deadline in a statement. “It was not consistent with the audition tape the school provided and we have immediately put measures in place so this is not repeated.”
https://deadline.com/2022/03/disney-world-native-american-indians-performance-controvery-1234982047/
https://sleuthscorner.docdroid.com/hfja81G/gt-docs-15-redacted-pdf#page=21
https://twitter.com/Steve93371027/status/1504993745531736067/photo/1
During one of my interviews with the Special Counsel
prosecutor, I was asked point blank by Mr. DeFilippis, “Do you believe that DARPA should be instructing you to
investigate the origins of a hacker (Guccifer_2.0) that hacked a political entity (DNC)?” Let that sync for a moment, folks.
Someone hacked a political party (DNC, in this case), in the middle of an election year (2016), and the lead investigator
of DoJ’s special council would question whether US researchers working for DARPA should conduct investigations in this
matter is “acceptable”! While I was tempted to say back to him “What if this hacker hacked GOP? Would you want me
to investigate him then?”, I kept my cool and I told him that this is a question for DARPA’s director, and not for me to
answer.
>Chinese summary of the call between Joe Biden and Xi Jinping was published before the two leaders had even finished speaking
https://www.justice.gov/sco/pr/grand-jury-indicts-dc-attorney-making-false-statements-fbi-2016-regarding-alleged
Let‘s for a moment think of the best case scenario, where we are able to show (somehow) that DNS communication exists between Trump and R[ussia]. How do we plan to defend against the criticism that this is not spoofed traffic we are observing? There is no answer to that. Let’s assume again that they are not smart enough to refute our “best case” scenario. [Tech Executive-I], you do realize that we will have to expose every trick we have in our bag to even make a very weak association? Let[‘]s all reflect upon that for a moment. Sorry folks, but unless we get combine netflow and DNS traffic collected at critical points between suspect organizations, we cannot technically make any claims that would fly public scrutiny.
https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/leader-guatemalan-drug-trafficking-organization-and-guatemalan-politician-indicted
Leader of Guatemalan Drug Trafficking Organization and Guatemalan Politician Indicted for International Cocaine Trafficking
A federal court in the District of Columbia today unsealed two separate indictments charging Aler Baldomero Samayoa-Recinos, aka Chicharra, and his son-in-law Freddy Arnoldo Salazar Flores, aka Fredy, Freshco, Boyca, Boyka, Torojo, Flaquillo, and Flaco, with conspiracy to distribute five kilograms of cocaine for importation to the United States. Salazar Flores is a representative of the Central American Parliament (PARLACEN).
A grand jury in the District of Columbia returned an indictment against Samayoa-Recinos on Aug. 1, 2018. According to court documents, beginning as early as 2006 and through 2016, Samayoa-Recinos allegedly conspired with others to import more than five kilograms of cocaine into the United States from Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico.
A grand jury in the District of Columbia returned an indictment against Salazar Flores on May 30, 2017. According to court documents, beginning as early as 2010 and through May 2017, Salazar Flores allegedly conspired with others to import more than five kilograms of cocaine into the United States from Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico.
>Something tells me