A fucktard wrote this bullshit:
"Please move on and stop attacking spiritual belief systems."
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This is what I wrote for the stupid fucking god-did-it asshole:
We have something called freedom of speech. Anyone can say anything about every subject, including ridiculous anti-science fantasies, or what you call "spiritual belief systems".
Thursday, December 31, 2020
This is what I wrote at the Wall Street Journal for a stupid fucking asshole who wants to throw out science because evolution makes this moron for Jeebus cry. This is more "Idiot America" stuff. Americans are just plain fucking stupid.
The asshole for Jeebus wrote this bullshit:
David Berlinski, Stephen Meyer, And David Gelernter have recent books on the mathematics and the impossibility of Darwin's creation theories.
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This is what I wrote for the know-nothing god-soaked retard:
Stephen Meyer is a member of the Christian Creationist Discovery Institute which has never discovered anything. It's an anti-science organization. Biologists call it "Crackpot Central". Evolution makes them cry. They have a long history of dishonesty. Also, they are trying to suppress the teaching of evolution in public schools.
You will never learn anything about science from crackpots.
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This is what I wanted to write for the moron:
Grow up and educate yourself you fucking retard.
David Berlinski, Stephen Meyer, And David Gelernter have recent books on the mathematics and the impossibility of Darwin's creation theories.
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This is what I wrote for the know-nothing god-soaked retard:
Stephen Meyer is a member of the Christian Creationist Discovery Institute which has never discovered anything. It's an anti-science organization. Biologists call it "Crackpot Central". Evolution makes them cry. They have a long history of dishonesty. Also, they are trying to suppress the teaching of evolution in public schools.
You will never learn anything about science from crackpots.
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
This is what I wanted to write for the moron:
Grow up and educate yourself you fucking retard.
New York Times - Some good news for the UK.
 |
| Prime Minister Boris Johnson of Britain signing the Brexit trade deal. |
Brexit, finalized |
More than four years after Britain voted to leave the European Union, new travel and trade rules will go into effect tomorrow, concluding a saga that has divided Britons and dominated British politics. |
The two sides reached an agreement last week, after nearly a year of trade negotiations. Yesterday, Britain’s Parliament approved the deal. Tomorrow brings the end of free movement of people between Britain and the E.U. |
I talked to Mark Landler, The Times’s London bureau chief, about what it all means and what comes next. (Our conversation has been edited for brevity.) |
CLAIRE: How will the new relationship between Britain and the E.U. affect people’s everyday lives? |
MARK: The purpose of the 1,200-page trade deal between Britain and the E.U. was to avoid very disruptive changes, such as tariffs and quotas. But there will be an array of other bureaucratic requirements that did not exist before Jan. 1. |
People won’t see a sudden shift in the price of fresh fruit and vegetables in London supermarkets. But it’ll have an impact on Britons who, for example, want to bring their dog on vacation to the continent or who want to get a job somewhere in the E.U. |
Trade. Travel. Anything else? |
Britain withdrew from the Erasmus exchange program, which allowed British students to study in E.U. countries and vice versa. It’s one highly visible example of things that will change in the post-Brexit era. |
Something else, which may take a little bit longer to play out, is this idea of separatism and independence. Scotland, for example, was against Brexit, and it could fuel a new push to break off from the rest of Britain. |
What will this mean for Britain’s economy? |
A lot of stuff still needs to be negotiated. A major driving force of the British economy is the services sector, including legal, financial, consulting and other services. Virtually none of that is covered yet in the trade agreement. |
How did the pandemic affect the process? |
Without it, the negotiations for the trade deal would have been the biggest story in the country. But Brexit was almost completely overshadowed by the coronavirus. Britain is preoccupied with this health crisis, which will muffle the immediate effects of Brexit. But over time those will become more visible. Which means that the debate over Brexit may not be finished in the country. |
Will this deliver the “global Britain” that pro-Brexit campaigners hoped for? |
One of the driving arguments in favor of Brexit was throwing off the shackles of the E.U., so that Britain would become this agile, dynamic, independent economy that could strike deals with everyone in the world. But rising protectionism and populism have made making free-trade agreements harder. The “global Britain” arguments looked more valid in May 2016 than in January 2021. In a way, the Brexit vision is four and a half years too late. |
Wednesday, December 30, 2020
A brilliant 12 year old girl wrote about the coronavirus thing.
“I value things like my friends, my school, my teachers, so much more now. I know that I can lose them at a moment's notice, or even less. And I've been able to speak out more, because when every day might lead to your death, there's no payoff to keeping silent. I've learned that adults are not completely useless, but they sure as hell don't actually know much about the world. I've learned that we have to save this world, because of course we do.” —Ginny S., 12, Massachusetts
I wrote this comment at the Wall Street Journal. It's about the breathtaking stupidity of Christian assholes.
The know-nothing creationists who write anti-science comments here, they disgrace the United States.
Why can't these people look things up and educate themselves? The Encyclopedia Britannica would be a good place to start. Also, we have Google and Wikipedia. There's tons of information that explains everything. Unfortunately, these people have zero curiosity.
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
Update:
The Wall Street Journal vaporized this comment. Fuck you WSJ.
Why can't these people look things up and educate themselves? The Encyclopedia Britannica would be a good place to start. Also, we have Google and Wikipedia. There's tons of information that explains everything. Unfortunately, these people have zero curiosity.
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
Update:
The Wall Street Journal vaporized this comment. Fuck you WSJ.
What I wrote at the Wall Street Journal about the breathtaking stupidity of know-nothing Christian assholes.
I'm going to buy this book and read it.
Evolution is the strongest fact of science. For me it's the most interesting branch of science because it explains the four billion year history of life on this planet.
I noticed the usual know-nothing evolution deniers are here. They want to live in the Dark Ages. Science makes them cry. They prefer god-did-it.
Science hard, hurts brain. God easy, no think.
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
At the New York Times, every comment would have been written by normal people. But at the Wall Street Journal, virtually every comment was written by creationist morons. I don't understand why, but the people who read the Wall Street Journal are mostly uneducated god-soaked Christian assholes.
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
The book:
The Story of the Dinosaurs in 25 Discoveries: Amazing Fossils and the People Who Found Them Hardcover – Illustrated, July 16, 2019
by Donald R. Prothero (Author)
AMAZON
Wall Street Journal
BOOKS
BOOKSHELF
‘The Story of Evolution in 25 Discoveries’ Review: The Branching Tree of Life
Biological classification conforms perfectly with the patterns of evolutionary relationships evidenced by anatomy, physiology and genetics.
The great but grumpy biologist J.B.S. Haldane was once asked what evidence would disprove evolution, whereupon he growled: “Fossil rabbits in the Precambrian.” He was referring to the evolutionary fact that complex multicellular creatures came along later than simple, unicellular ones. A bit surprising, perhaps, that one of the foremost evolutionary geneticists of the 20th century immediately reached for a paleontological example, but Haldane’s reply was well-suited for public consumption, because then—as now—when most people thought of evolution, they were likely to conjure images of dinosaur fossils.
Donald Prothero is a research associate in vertebrate paleontology at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. When I learned he had written a book that examined 25 different discoveries relating to evolution, I assumed that he, like Haldane, would deploy paleontology in making his case. Mr. Prothero’s book is indeed tilted toward examples from the world of ancestral creatures, but, refreshingly, also guides the reader through impressive discoveries in embryology and molecular genetics.
“The Story of Evolution in 25 Discoveries” is a parade of self-contained vignettes, often including biographical sketches of the scientists who made and interpreted each discovery. This particular story begins (like everything else) with the big bang, followed by the fascinating tale of how science gradually came to understand the age of the Earth: From biblical literalism; through Lord Kelvin’s famous underestimate, in the 1890s, of 20 million years; to our current understanding of 4.5 billion years. Then comes a whirlwind tour of evolutionary change as it occurs, in real time, among microbes, plants, insects, fish, birds and mammals, obliterating the creationist canard that evolution hasn’t even been witnessed, let alone studied.
Some of the most impressive evolutionary stories involve common body plans, technically known as homologies. Thanks to Mr. Prothero, I now know that Aristotle first noticed this widespread phenomenon, of which Darwin wrote: “What can be more curious than that the hand of a man, formed for grasping, that of a mole for digging, the leg of the horse, the paddle of the porpoise, and the wing of the bat, should all be constructed on the same pattern, and should include similar bones, in the same relative positions?” Curious indeed. And strongly suggestive of common descent—or, for anti-evolutionists, of a Creator’s insistence on sticking with the same divine blueprint, or “archetype,” even when other more direct routes should have been available. The Darwinian story provides scientific insight into why homologies occur, whereas the theological story simply reiterates that they occur.
And on we go, to the embryonic similarities of otherwise distantly related creatures (“ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny”) and then biogeography (“the sinking of Noah’s Ark”), which shows, among other relevant findings, that the flora and fauna of islands resemble those of nearby continents—a phenomenon that wouldn’t necessarily be expected if each had been a special, independent creation. The story of life continues, detailing how living things within natural categories share those common body plans, or, as Darwin put it, how “organic beings have been found to resemble each other in descending degrees, so that they can be classed in groups under groups.” As a result, instead of being arbitrary, our system of biological classification conforms perfectly with the nested, branching patterns of evolutionary relationships demonstrated by anatomy, physiology and genetics. Moreover, as Mr. Prothero points out, “if life had been specially created rather than evolved, there would be no reason for the molecular systems to reflect this pattern of similarity seen in megascopic features . . . [and] not even Darwin could have dreamed that the genetic code of every cell in your body also shows the evidence of evolution.”
We meet various vestigial organs—“mute witnesses of the past,” Mr. Prothero calls them. These include such otherwise inexplicable ones as the pelvis and leg bones of whales and snakes, the wings of flightless birds, and the human coccyx (tailbone). He enumerates transitional forms galore, such as Ambulocetus (“walking whale”), Tiktaalik (a critical intermediate between fish and amphibians) and, of course, the many distinct species linking early apes and Homo sapiens—which should put to rest the assertion that such “links” are “missing.” (There will always be gaps, because whenever a made-to-order, in-between fossil form is discovered, this produces two new “missing links.”)
Mr. Prothero also provides an excellent account of how evolution produces highly complex adaptations—eyes, for example—as well as how, rather than being “intelligently designed,” many animal bodies are almost ludicrously jury-rigged, a phenomenon attributable to the historical and embryological constraints imposed by the evolutionary process. For example, only a thoroughly incompetent designer would have made the left laryngeal nerve of giraffes require 14 extra feet of length—looping from the upper neck down to the heart and then back up again—or pushed the human urethra through the prostate, or united eating and breathing in such a way as to cause death when people accidentally inhale while swallowing food.
This book accomplishes a nearly impossible double-task: it conveys enough information to serve as an introductory undergraduate text in evolution while also fascinating the general reader. Though Mr. Prothero will not change the mind of any creationists, his persuasive and accessible accounts will not only delight the scientifically literate reader but may influence open-minded fence-sitters, those teetering between religious dogma and empirical reality.
An epigraph for this book comes from the pioneering evolutionary geneticist Theodosius Dobzhansky : “Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution.” We can make this wise observation more affirmative and no less true: Everything in biology makes sense in the light of evolution. Moreover, it may not be too optimistic to go further yet: In the light of Mr. Prothero’s fine book, the reading public is better equipped than ever before to make sense of evolution itself.
Mr. Barash is a professor of psychology emeritus at the University of Washington. His most recent book is “Threats: Intimidation and Its Discontents.”
Copyright ©2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Appeared in the December 30, 2020, print edition as 'The Branching Tree of Life.'
Evolution is the strongest fact of science. For me it's the most interesting branch of science because it explains the four billion year history of life on this planet.
I noticed the usual know-nothing evolution deniers are here. They want to live in the Dark Ages. Science makes them cry. They prefer god-did-it.
Science hard, hurts brain. God easy, no think.
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
At the New York Times, every comment would have been written by normal people. But at the Wall Street Journal, virtually every comment was written by creationist morons. I don't understand why, but the people who read the Wall Street Journal are mostly uneducated god-soaked Christian assholes.
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
The book:
The Story of the Dinosaurs in 25 Discoveries: Amazing Fossils and the People Who Found Them Hardcover – Illustrated, July 16, 2019
by Donald R. Prothero (Author)
AMAZON
 |
| Illustration of the extinct Tiktaalik. |
Wall Street Journal
BOOKS
BOOKSHELF
‘The Story of Evolution in 25 Discoveries’ Review: The Branching Tree of Life
Biological classification conforms perfectly with the patterns of evolutionary relationships evidenced by anatomy, physiology and genetics.
The great but grumpy biologist J.B.S. Haldane was once asked what evidence would disprove evolution, whereupon he growled: “Fossil rabbits in the Precambrian.” He was referring to the evolutionary fact that complex multicellular creatures came along later than simple, unicellular ones. A bit surprising, perhaps, that one of the foremost evolutionary geneticists of the 20th century immediately reached for a paleontological example, but Haldane’s reply was well-suited for public consumption, because then—as now—when most people thought of evolution, they were likely to conjure images of dinosaur fossils.
Donald Prothero is a research associate in vertebrate paleontology at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. When I learned he had written a book that examined 25 different discoveries relating to evolution, I assumed that he, like Haldane, would deploy paleontology in making his case. Mr. Prothero’s book is indeed tilted toward examples from the world of ancestral creatures, but, refreshingly, also guides the reader through impressive discoveries in embryology and molecular genetics.
“The Story of Evolution in 25 Discoveries” is a parade of self-contained vignettes, often including biographical sketches of the scientists who made and interpreted each discovery. This particular story begins (like everything else) with the big bang, followed by the fascinating tale of how science gradually came to understand the age of the Earth: From biblical literalism; through Lord Kelvin’s famous underestimate, in the 1890s, of 20 million years; to our current understanding of 4.5 billion years. Then comes a whirlwind tour of evolutionary change as it occurs, in real time, among microbes, plants, insects, fish, birds and mammals, obliterating the creationist canard that evolution hasn’t even been witnessed, let alone studied.
Some of the most impressive evolutionary stories involve common body plans, technically known as homologies. Thanks to Mr. Prothero, I now know that Aristotle first noticed this widespread phenomenon, of which Darwin wrote: “What can be more curious than that the hand of a man, formed for grasping, that of a mole for digging, the leg of the horse, the paddle of the porpoise, and the wing of the bat, should all be constructed on the same pattern, and should include similar bones, in the same relative positions?” Curious indeed. And strongly suggestive of common descent—or, for anti-evolutionists, of a Creator’s insistence on sticking with the same divine blueprint, or “archetype,” even when other more direct routes should have been available. The Darwinian story provides scientific insight into why homologies occur, whereas the theological story simply reiterates that they occur.
And on we go, to the embryonic similarities of otherwise distantly related creatures (“ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny”) and then biogeography (“the sinking of Noah’s Ark”), which shows, among other relevant findings, that the flora and fauna of islands resemble those of nearby continents—a phenomenon that wouldn’t necessarily be expected if each had been a special, independent creation. The story of life continues, detailing how living things within natural categories share those common body plans, or, as Darwin put it, how “organic beings have been found to resemble each other in descending degrees, so that they can be classed in groups under groups.” As a result, instead of being arbitrary, our system of biological classification conforms perfectly with the nested, branching patterns of evolutionary relationships demonstrated by anatomy, physiology and genetics. Moreover, as Mr. Prothero points out, “if life had been specially created rather than evolved, there would be no reason for the molecular systems to reflect this pattern of similarity seen in megascopic features . . . [and] not even Darwin could have dreamed that the genetic code of every cell in your body also shows the evidence of evolution.”
We meet various vestigial organs—“mute witnesses of the past,” Mr. Prothero calls them. These include such otherwise inexplicable ones as the pelvis and leg bones of whales and snakes, the wings of flightless birds, and the human coccyx (tailbone). He enumerates transitional forms galore, such as Ambulocetus (“walking whale”), Tiktaalik (a critical intermediate between fish and amphibians) and, of course, the many distinct species linking early apes and Homo sapiens—which should put to rest the assertion that such “links” are “missing.” (There will always be gaps, because whenever a made-to-order, in-between fossil form is discovered, this produces two new “missing links.”)
Mr. Prothero also provides an excellent account of how evolution produces highly complex adaptations—eyes, for example—as well as how, rather than being “intelligently designed,” many animal bodies are almost ludicrously jury-rigged, a phenomenon attributable to the historical and embryological constraints imposed by the evolutionary process. For example, only a thoroughly incompetent designer would have made the left laryngeal nerve of giraffes require 14 extra feet of length—looping from the upper neck down to the heart and then back up again—or pushed the human urethra through the prostate, or united eating and breathing in such a way as to cause death when people accidentally inhale while swallowing food.
This book accomplishes a nearly impossible double-task: it conveys enough information to serve as an introductory undergraduate text in evolution while also fascinating the general reader. Though Mr. Prothero will not change the mind of any creationists, his persuasive and accessible accounts will not only delight the scientifically literate reader but may influence open-minded fence-sitters, those teetering between religious dogma and empirical reality.
An epigraph for this book comes from the pioneering evolutionary geneticist Theodosius Dobzhansky : “Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution.” We can make this wise observation more affirmative and no less true: Everything in biology makes sense in the light of evolution. Moreover, it may not be too optimistic to go further yet: In the light of Mr. Prothero’s fine book, the reading public is better equipped than ever before to make sense of evolution itself.
Mr. Barash is a professor of psychology emeritus at the University of Washington. His most recent book is “Threats: Intimidation and Its Discontents.”
Copyright ©2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Appeared in the December 30, 2020, print edition as 'The Branching Tree of Life.'
Muslims like to kill Muslims. Nobody cares.
 |
 |
|
|
Fucktard Trump, we are going to throw you out the window in 20 days. Good riddance you stupid fucking asshole.
Time left until Trump leaves office
It is 20 days, 15 hours, 45 minutes, 21 seconds
until Wednesday, January 20, 2021 (Washington DC, District of Columbia time)
UK, well done!!!
New York Times
BREAKING NEWS |
Britain became the first country to authorize the cheap and easy-to-store coronavirus vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford. |
Wednesday, December 30, 2020 2:33 AM EST |
The health authorities are hoping to soon vaccinate a million people per week as the country’s hospitals are overwhelmed by cases of a new, more contagious variant of the virus. |
Tuesday, December 29, 2020
I wrote this somewhere else.
There will always be research opportunities in every branch of science but scientists have good ideas about virtually everything including how life got a foothold on Earth four billion years ago, and how something can come from nothing.
My point is the magic god fairy of the gaps has run out of hiding places. The fairy never had anything to do therefore it's not real.
My point is the magic god fairy of the gaps has run out of hiding places. The fairy never had anything to do therefore it's not real.
Here in Idiot America the pandemic is out of control because Americans are too fucking stupid to wear a mask.
The Washington Post
Top federal infectious-disease expert Anthony S. Fauci said Tuesday that the pandemic is “out of control in many respects,” in the United States right now, and predicted that January could be even worse than December. But Fauci also expressed hope that President-elect Joe Biden could make an impact by “showing leadership from the top.” Biden is delivering a speech on the pandemic right now; you can watch it here or read more about the address and his plans in this updating story.
Top federal infectious-disease expert Anthony S. Fauci said Tuesday that the pandemic is “out of control in many respects,” in the United States right now, and predicted that January could be even worse than December. But Fauci also expressed hope that President-elect Joe Biden could make an impact by “showing leadership from the top.” Biden is delivering a speech on the pandemic right now; you can watch it here or read more about the address and his plans in this updating story.
I answered a question about the breathtaking stupidity of Christian fucktards.
"How can Christians keep believing? They can't even answer basic questions like how they know the Bible is true without circular references."
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
Christians are afraid of reality, they don't know anything about science, and they have an incurable brain damage problem.
The Bible was written by uneducated loons who were making things up. The Bible is the most disgusting book ever written. It's obviously fiction. Some people are too dense to understand what is real and what is ridiculous.
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
Christians are afraid of reality, they don't know anything about science, and they have an incurable brain damage problem.
The Bible was written by uneducated loons who were making things up. The Bible is the most disgusting book ever written. It's obviously fiction. Some people are too dense to understand what is real and what is ridiculous.
The Washington Post - This was well done. It's about how China fucked up everything.
The Washington Post
The Post's View
What is China trying to hide about the coronavirus?
Opinion by Editorial Board
December 28, 2020
WHAT IS China trying to conceal? That question arises from Beijing’s decision to prosecute Zhang Zhan, a 37-year-old citizen journalist who roamed Wuhan at the time of the coronavirus outbreak, posting brief but revealing videos about the spreading disease in the first stage of what became a global pandemic. She was detained, as were several other citizen journalists who attempted to report on the Wuhan outbreak. On Monday, Ms. Zhang was sentenced in Shanghai to four years in prison for “picking quarrels and provoking trouble,” the usual Chinese charge used to silence dissent.
Ms. Zhang, a former lawyer, spent three months in Wuhan and posted 122 YouTube videos, the first of which she titled “My claim for the right of free speech.” She arrived in the city Feb. 1, and her first impression was shock: “There was not a single soul. It felt as if I stumbled on a movie set right after the shooting was over and everybody has left the set. The world didn’t feel real.” She had traveled there after hearing that people in Wuhan felt abandoned. Her recordings confirmed chaos inside a hospital. When a security official confronted her and demanded she stop filming, she decided to do more — traveling around the stricken city in February and March, posting her videos online for all to see.
Her reporting so alarmed the authorities that she was arrested. In jail, she later went on a hunger strike in protest and was force-fed.
Full coverage of the coronavirus pandemic
On Sept. 23, China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin declared, “China’s epidemic response has been open and transparent every step of the way. The timeline is clear, and the facts and data speak for themselves.” If so, why have at least three other citizen journalists been detained?
China’s spin in recent months has been that President Xi Jinping led a heroic campaign to stop the virus. In fact, officials in Wuhan attempted to clamp down on information about the new disease in December 2019, and when eight doctors expressed concern about the sickness, they were reprimanded for spreading rumors. A second coverup took place in early January, as the local and the national government remained silent while the virus spread. China’s top officials, including Mr. Xi, knew of human transmission early in the month but said nothing in public until Jan. 20. China’s announced death toll appears to be a huge underestimate. More recently, Chinese officials have been suggesting the virus had origins outside its borders.
So, again: What is China trying to hide? As we have noted previously, an independent and credible investigation of the origins of the virus is absolutely essential to properly prepare for and prevent a future pandemic. The prosecution of Ms. Zhang raises grave doubts about whether China can be trusted to produce an open and honest investigation. Instead of putting her in jail, China should release her and thank her for the courage to do what the cowards in the party-state would not.
Read more:
The Post’s View: A new report adds to the evidence of a coronavirus coverup in China
The Post’s View: Journalism got more dangerous in 2020 — including in the United States
The Post’s View: The U.S. was supposed to be equipped to handle a pandemic. So what went wrong?
Marc A. Thiessen: The election is over. Can we finally blame China for the pandemic?
Ishaan Tharoor: Xi’s China is preparing for a new world order Updated December 19, 2020
Coronavirus: What you need to read
The Washington Post is providing some coronavirus coverage free, including:
Coronavirus maps: Cases and deaths in the U.S. | Cases and deaths worldwide
Vaccine tracker: See how many doses will be available in your state
What you need to know: What you need to know about the vaccines | Tracking vaccine doses by state | Covid-19 symptoms guide | Coronavirus etiquette | Your life at home | Personal finance guide | Make your own fabric mask | Follow all of our coronavirus coverage and sign up for our free newsletter.
How to help: Your community | Seniors | Restaurants | Keep at-risk people in mind
The Post's View
What is China trying to hide about the coronavirus?
Opinion by Editorial Board
December 28, 2020
WHAT IS China trying to conceal? That question arises from Beijing’s decision to prosecute Zhang Zhan, a 37-year-old citizen journalist who roamed Wuhan at the time of the coronavirus outbreak, posting brief but revealing videos about the spreading disease in the first stage of what became a global pandemic. She was detained, as were several other citizen journalists who attempted to report on the Wuhan outbreak. On Monday, Ms. Zhang was sentenced in Shanghai to four years in prison for “picking quarrels and provoking trouble,” the usual Chinese charge used to silence dissent.
Ms. Zhang, a former lawyer, spent three months in Wuhan and posted 122 YouTube videos, the first of which she titled “My claim for the right of free speech.” She arrived in the city Feb. 1, and her first impression was shock: “There was not a single soul. It felt as if I stumbled on a movie set right after the shooting was over and everybody has left the set. The world didn’t feel real.” She had traveled there after hearing that people in Wuhan felt abandoned. Her recordings confirmed chaos inside a hospital. When a security official confronted her and demanded she stop filming, she decided to do more — traveling around the stricken city in February and March, posting her videos online for all to see.
Her reporting so alarmed the authorities that she was arrested. In jail, she later went on a hunger strike in protest and was force-fed.
Full coverage of the coronavirus pandemic
On Sept. 23, China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin declared, “China’s epidemic response has been open and transparent every step of the way. The timeline is clear, and the facts and data speak for themselves.” If so, why have at least three other citizen journalists been detained?
China’s spin in recent months has been that President Xi Jinping led a heroic campaign to stop the virus. In fact, officials in Wuhan attempted to clamp down on information about the new disease in December 2019, and when eight doctors expressed concern about the sickness, they were reprimanded for spreading rumors. A second coverup took place in early January, as the local and the national government remained silent while the virus spread. China’s top officials, including Mr. Xi, knew of human transmission early in the month but said nothing in public until Jan. 20. China’s announced death toll appears to be a huge underestimate. More recently, Chinese officials have been suggesting the virus had origins outside its borders.
So, again: What is China trying to hide? As we have noted previously, an independent and credible investigation of the origins of the virus is absolutely essential to properly prepare for and prevent a future pandemic. The prosecution of Ms. Zhang raises grave doubts about whether China can be trusted to produce an open and honest investigation. Instead of putting her in jail, China should release her and thank her for the courage to do what the cowards in the party-state would not.
Read more:
The Post’s View: A new report adds to the evidence of a coronavirus coverup in China
The Post’s View: Journalism got more dangerous in 2020 — including in the United States
The Post’s View: The U.S. was supposed to be equipped to handle a pandemic. So what went wrong?
Marc A. Thiessen: The election is over. Can we finally blame China for the pandemic?
Ishaan Tharoor: Xi’s China is preparing for a new world order Updated December 19, 2020
Coronavirus: What you need to read
The Washington Post is providing some coronavirus coverage free, including:
Coronavirus maps: Cases and deaths in the U.S. | Cases and deaths worldwide
Vaccine tracker: See how many doses will be available in your state
What you need to know: What you need to know about the vaccines | Tracking vaccine doses by state | Covid-19 symptoms guide | Coronavirus etiquette | Your life at home | Personal finance guide | Make your own fabric mask | Follow all of our coronavirus coverage and sign up for our free newsletter.
How to help: Your community | Seniors | Restaurants | Keep at-risk people in mind
Monday, December 28, 2020
$2,000 I don't need instead of $600 I don't need. I prefer $2000 but it probably won't happen. For me the coronavirus has been a very good thing because I love free money. Lots of people died and more will die. I don't care. These people, all they have to do is wear a fucking mask. How fucking hard is it to do that?
The New York Times
BREAKING NEWS |
The House approved the $2,000 stimulus checks that President Trump had demanded. The bill’s fate in the Senate is unclear. |
Monday, December 28, 2020 6:08 PM EST |
Senate Republicans have resisted increasing the amount of the stimulus checks, citing concerns about the federal budget deficit, and Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the majority leader, in a statement on Sunday made no mention of the $2,000 payments. |
I wrote this for some stupid fucking assholes.
Why do evolution deniers go out of their way to know nothing about the science they want to throw out?
For example, they could Google "Encyclopedia Britannica - evidence for evolution" but they would never do that. Why do they refuse to educate themselves?
For example, they could Google "Encyclopedia Britannica - evidence for evolution" but they would never do that. Why do they refuse to educate themselves?
Chicago is winning this one as usual. When I lived there I had to carry a sharp weapon to defend myself. I put one stupid fucking asshole in prison for 6 months. I had to go to court twice for that asshole. I'm never going back to that shithole city. I now live 126 miles from Chicago in a farm town. I never lock my doors. Everyone is civilized.
I wrote this somewhere else. It's about Christian assholes.
Christians don't know what reality is. They think it's an opinion.
Cowardly Christians are afraid of reality and that's why they can't exist without their childish magical 2nd life fantasy.
Cowardly Christians are afraid of reality and that's why they can't exist without their childish magical 2nd life fantasy.
I'm adding this to my list of favorite quotes. It's about Fucktard Trump.
"History will not be kind to Trump. He will go down as the worst President in the history of the United States. He will succeed quite ironically being the best for once in his life, best at being worst."
-- Lonnie Anixt
-- Lonnie Anixt
Sunday, December 27, 2020
Human apes are stupid fucking assholes. I found this at the New York Times.
"Whaling in the 19th and 20th centuries also culled hundreds of thousands from their ranks; an estimated 10,000 to 25,000 blue whales are thought to remain."
I just played chess with someone who lives Jakarta, Indonesia. As usual I looked it up.
Jakarta | |
|---|---|
 From top, left to right: Jakarta Old Town, National Museum of Indonesia, Jakarta Skyline, Gelora Bung Karno Stadium, Hotel Indonesia Roundabout, Merdeka Palace, Monumen Nasional, and Istiqlal Mosque with Jakarta Cathedral. | |
.svg) Flag | |
| Coordinates: 6°12′S 106°49′E |
The moron finally did his job. What a fucking asshole.
New York Times
BREAKING NEWS |
President Trump signed a virus relief package after days of resistance, averting a shutdown and extending jobless benefits to millions of Americans. |
Sunday, December 27, 2020 8:14 PM EST |
WASHINGTON — President Trump on Sunday abruptly signed a measure providing $900 billion in pandemic aid and funding the government through September, ending last-minute turmoil he himself had created over legislation that will offer an economic lifeline to millions of Americans and avert a government shutdown. |
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