Tag: law

I Didn’t Even Have to Ask

There is an old saying, attributed somewhat dubiously to Voltaire: “I prayed the Lord to make my enemies ridiculous, and He answered my prayer.”

I can’t claim any credit here, and I very much doubt any divine intervention was required, as the SFWA has not only managed to make itself ridiculous again, but is now demonstrating that there is no reason for it to even exist anymore.

If you’ve read my body of work here at Upstream over the past year or so, you know I’m not a big fan of the SFWA. From their long and sordid history of hagiographic treatment of serial child molesters to cancelling their own honorees to getting vast amounts of member data leaked, it’s safe to say that SFWA as an organization has entered the “skinsuiting” phase of their existence; a once-valuable entity that had meaning, now merely doing whatever it can to rake in cash on little more than its former notoriety.

If that sounds too harsh, allow me to present what came to mind after I had a chance to pore over their recently released tax returns for 2021. That year’s filings have been of particular interest, given that 2021 saw a highly profiled but spectacularly failed lawsuit.

The “LOLsuit”, as it became known in certain corners of the internet, was the effort of member author Patrick Tomlinson to subpoena Cloudflare into revealing the identities of the users on an Opie and Anthony fan forum that had taken to trolling him. It’s been highly speculated since that Tomlinson received help from SFWA’s Legal Fund for the effort. Many who had taken a look at our previous article on SFWA’s filings from prior years were anxious to see if barely-an-author’s escapades would be reflected in 2021’s long-awaited filings.

Welp, wouldn’t you know it, their legal expenses nearly quintupled compared to 2020 (that year’s filings can be found here):

LEGAL EXPENSES 2020: 17,533

LEGAL EXPENSES 2021: 83,750

Which, naturally, leads me to wonder if 2023 is the year I should consider filing that lawsuit to force the organization to publicly acknowledge that I am still a member. The Legal Legion certainly has a much better record in the California courts than SFWA’s legal team.

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On the Nonexistence of Equality

As I have pointed out again and again, equality is a complete myth. It flat out does not exist, and has never existed, in any capacity whatsoever. And once more, those who purport to believe in the myth underline my observations.

UFC President Dana White should be held accountable for slapping his wife.

Okay, fair enough. It’s not the biggest deal in the world, but domestic abuse should not go unpunished, particularly in the case of public figures caught physically attacking other individuals in public.

White, who is UFC president, was captured on video slapping his wife during a New Year’s Eve party on vacation in Mexico. TMZ released a clip of the incident Monday, and it shows White’s wife, Anne White, slapping him across the face and Dana quickly responding by slapping his wife in the face.

Wait, what? The guy was attacked by his wife, he defended himself by responding in kind without escalating the situation, and therefore he “should be held accountable”. For what, precisely? And shouldn’t Anne White be held accountable for initiating the use of violence as well as her physical abuse of her husband?

The only reasonable conclusion one can reach here is that a) equality is nonexistent and b) the sports media is completely retarded.

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You Can Legislate Morality

Another foundation of libertarian philosophy is destroyed, as the response to the overturning of Roe v. Wade in Texas conclusively demonstrates:

Recently released data shows that abortions committed in the state of Texas have decreased by 97 percent since the overturning of Roe v. Wade. Based on data reported by the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, 68 total abortions were committed in the month of July in Texas compared to the 2,533 babies who were killed in January.

Although the number of abortions reached slightly more than 3,000 during the months of March and April, the statistics show that numbers steadily decreased beginning in May. There were 2,596 fewer abortions committed in July than there were in June.

Of the women who sought abortions between January and July, less than 100 were married. Sixty of the 68 unborn babies who were killed in July were the children of unmarried women.

Most of the abortions committed during these seven months ended the lives of babies at up to eight weeks’ gestation. Two were committed on babies at 9-10 weeks gestation, one at 11-12 weeks, two at 13-14 weeks, four at 15-16 weeks, and five at 17-20 weeks. No babies were killed past 21 weeks.

It’s not only morality that can be legislated, but sanity as well, as we’re seeing with the gender-denial nonsense. We’re learning – or really, re-learning with the support of statistical and scientific evidence – that most, if not all, of the Enlightenment theories are entirely false. From economics to science, what worked beautifully as rhetorical hypotheses for hundreds of years are turning out to be comprehensive failures when put into practice.

Every high civilization decays by forgetting obvious things… The fact that a chaotic and ill-educated time cannot clearly grasp that truth does not alter the fact that it always will be the truth. Our generation, in a dirty, pessimistic period, has blasphemously underrated the beauty of life and cravenly overrated its dangers. As for our own society, if it proceeds at its present rate of progress and improvement, no trace or memory of it will be left at all.

G.K. Chesterton

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“Private” Companies

The self-appointed defenders of capitalism very much want you to ignore the fact that every single corporation is a government creation. And as such, not only should they not enjoy the Constitutional protections of the rights possessed by individuals who are posterity of the Founders, they should be subject to the same limits that are imposed on the government.

The necessity of this reinterpretation of what is, and what is not, private, is demonstrated by the latest Twitter documents released by Elon Musk.

All social media platforms work with the US government to censor content, Twitter CEO Elon Musk claimed on Tuesday. Documents released by Musk following his purchase of Twitter showed that the platform colluded with the FBI, CIA, Pentagon and other government agencies to suppress information on elections, Ukraine, and Covid-19.

“Every social media company is engaged in heavy censorship, with significant involvement of and, at times, explicit direction of the government,” Musk tweeted, adding that “Google frequently makes links disappear, for example.”

Musk was referring to internal Twitter communications published by journalist Matt Taibbi with his approval, which suggested that the platform’s senior executives held regular meetings with members of the FBI and CIA, during which the agencies gave them lists of “hundreds of problem accounts” to suspend in the run-up to the 2020 election.

In addition to Twitter, the government was in contact “with virtually every major tech firm,” Taibbi claimed. “These included Facebook, Microsoft, Verizon, Reddit, even Pinterest.” CIA agents “nearly always” sat in on meetings of these firms with the FBI’s Foreign Influence Task Force, Taibbi claimed, explaining that although this task force was convened to fight alleged election interference by foreign states, it made “mountains of domestic moderation requests.”

This is a massive series of constitutional and criminal violations. If, as we expect, it goes entirely unpunished, it will serve as further confirmation of the complete illegitimacy of the current U.S. regime.

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Yes, the Deck is Stacked

It’s not an excuse to sit around and do nothing. But never waste any time whatsoever attempting to imitate or replicate what the apparently successful do, and definitely don’t listen to anything they say. It’s all extraordinarily manufactured, fake, and gay:

FTX FILLED ITS BANKRUPTCY FILLING TODAY

IT IS EVEN WORSE THAN ANYONE IMAGINED

AN OVERVIEW:

1) FTX LENT SAM BANKMAN OVER $1 BILLION DOLLARS FOR PERSONAL USE

2) FTX USED CUSTOMER FUNDS TO BUY HOUSES FOR EMPLOYEES

3) FTX DIDNT HAVE A LIST OF EMPLOYESS AND WHAT ALL THEY DID

4) FTX DID NOT KEEP ANY BOOKS OR RECORDS OF ITS DIGITAL ASSETS

5) ALAMEDA RESEARCH WAS EXEMPTED FROM AUTO LIQUIDATION ON FTX

6) FTX BUILT A SOFTWARE TO HIDE THE MISUSE OF CUSTOMER FUNDS

7) FTX HAD $400 MILLION IN UNAUTHORIZED TRANSFERS THE DAY THEY FILED FOR BANKRUPTCY

8) FTX HAD BILLIONS IN INVESTMENTS OTHER THAN CRYPTO BUT THERE ARE NO BOOKS OR RECORDS OF ANY OF IT.

9) SAM BANKMAN MADE ALL BUSINESS DECISIONS ON APPS THAT AUTO DELETED EVERYTHING AFTER SOME TIME

HE ENCOURAGED ALL EMPLOYEES TO DO THE SAME

The thing is, Bankman-Fried absolutely would have gotten away with it if it hadn’t all come crashing down. And he still hasn’t been arrested. He may never be arrested or held accountable for his copious crimes. It’s increasingly observable that the financial elite in the USA isn’t actually an elite of any sort whatsoever, it’s just a small group of highly connected people who are permitted to shamelessly break the laws and profit by doing so.

I would be willing to bet that the “young genius” has a lower IQ than at least 15 percent of the regular readership here. Because “success” of the sort that comes with fawning media attention is almost entirely manufactured.

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They Think They Don’t Like it NOW

British football fans are upset that the Islamic Kingdom of Qatar is not going to permit them to drink beer in the stadiums of the World Cup matches.

Fifa has banned the sale of alcohol at Qatar World Cup stadiums just 48 hours before the tournament starts with sponsor Budweiser trying to make light of the news. The beer brand’s Twitter feed posted ‘well, this is awkward…’ moments before Fifa confirmed that alcohol sales will be confined to special ‘fan zones’ where pints cost £12, are only available at certain times, and are limited to four per person.

Plans had called for alcohol to be sold on stadium concourses, but this will now not happen – reportedly after pressure from Qatar’s all-powerful royal family. Alcohol will be available as normal in licenced hotels and restaurants… It is just the latest controversy to plague an already fraught World Cup – the first to be held in a Muslim nation – which has thrown football’s governing ethos and traditional trappings into conflict with the hosts’ conservative interpretation of Islam.

Just wait until the Muslims who rule London and other formerly English cities begin banning alchohol in those areas.

I find it extraordinary how people who obviously recognize that American Indians no longer make the laws or define the social mores in the United States and celebrate the fact that Arabs no longer make the laws or define the social mores in Israel, continually fail to grasp that their laws and their social mores are not going to survive the mass immigration into their countries.

No beer and no homosexuality? Whatever is anyone going to do for fun around over there?

As I contemplate the plight of the poor gay peasants over a glass of nice Spanish Tempernillo, a single tear traces its way down my face.

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Thou Shalt Trust the Narrative

It’s fascinating to see that the price of doubting the Narrative has been raised to nearly ONE BILLION DOLLARS!

Controversial radio host Alex Jones has been ordered by a Connecticut jury to pay $965 million in damages to the families of Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victims, for suggesting that the December 2012 massacre was staged.

The six-member Connecticut Superior Court jury announced its verdict on Wednesday after three days of deliberations. The payouts were ordered to the families of eight children who were killed in the shooting, as well as to an emergency worker who claimed he was defamed.

The largest damage award was to one of the parents, Robbie Parker, whom Jones was ordered to pay $60 million for defamation and $60 million for emotional distress.

Fascinating. And it appears Miles Mathis may be at risk of facing a similar trial, as he has suggested that the second Alex Jones trial was itself staged.

I have dismissed both trials as fake, and we were given perfect proof of that today, when Jones himself reported that the judge declared him guilty during courtroom proceedings—which is of course highly illegal. Here is what she said to his attorney, after interrupting him for the millionth time during questioning of a witness: “If it’s not clear – wouldn’t be the first time – and you’ll move for an articulation, and I’ll articulate when I’m directed to by the appellate court. I understand that there will be an appeal, I assume-” Bellis explained before Pattis chimed in.

Whoops. If this were a real trial, a mistrial would have to be called right there, since the judge has just exhibited extreme prejudice, prejudging the outcome before full testimony. If a real jury had been sitting there, they would have all gasped at once. Jones’ attorney Pattis should have demanded a mistrial immediately, but he didn’t. None of that happened, because—as I have been telling you—this is not a real trial. It is not a “kangaroo court” either, since a kangaroo court is a real trial that is rigged.

This isn’t a real trial, it is a fake CIA trial run in some studio.

Alex Jones’ Second Fake Trial, 17 September 2002

The lesson, it seems, is that one must never say what one believes anymore, lest one be accused of insufficient faith in the Narrative. Instead, one would be wise to content oneself with quoting the statements of others.

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The Email

If you got the email, then you know exactly what I’m referring to. I’m going to be addressing this on tomorrow night’s Darkstream and providing significantly more detail than you’ve presently got, so please sit tight, keep your cool, and wait until you hear exactly what has happened, what the ramifications are, and what we’re planning to do about it.

Remember, the Ride Never Ends.

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A Legitimate Expression

Karl Denninger points out that the referendums which the globalist media is furiously decrying as “sham referendums” are obviously far more democratically legitimate than the Kiev regime:

Do recall that Zelinskyy declared that if you voted in these “shams” that was to be considered a criminal offense punishable by imprisonment.

This, of course, has been “memory-holed” all over the Internet — but was reported at the time.

Do remember that the Government of Ukraine has done this before. Specifically, they refused the right of the people to decide in 2014, which was also reported, this after the Ukraine government itself was deposed in a literal coup complete with shooting the people who didn’t like the way things were going after the United States, along with others, put their very-large thumb on the scale in deposing Yanukovych.

Isn’t it funny how a national government can be literally overthrown in a violent coup openly fomented by our government, including sitting Senators, and when the people who live in said land say screw you! to that the government then turns around and say “you have no choice, slave!” and declares their intent to walk off on a peaceful basis illegal?

Either the 2014 actions which the US fomented were invalid and everyone involved in them and the succession of power since, including Zelinskyy should be brought up on international charges and hanged or it is beyond question that as of 2014 those “breakaway” portions of the nation had and continue to have every right to walk off because the government to which they acceded on an alleged “voluntary” basis even if you originally accept it was voluntary despite reasonable doubt it was, no longer existed as of 2014.

The fact that the Russian people of the new Russian provinces have been literally fighting for their freedom from an illegitimate foreign government that came to power in a coup for the last eight years should have been a sufficient indicator that the will of the people was not to be a part of the Ukrainian state. The referendums were merely about whether these Russian nationals wanted to try to survive alone or to be provided with the protection of the Russian state; there was nothing “sham” about it.

Anyone who claims that the Kiev regime had any right to continue ruling over those people is a literal statist as they were always Russian-speaking members of the Russian nation while being subject to the Ukrainian state.

The nation is not the state. That’s why people are referred to as “British expats”; which is to say British nationals resident in a non-British state. And the nation has a right to dictate to the state, not the other way around.

Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

It’s should not be a surprise to see that the foreign rulers of the United States That Used To Be America reject the founding principles of the Real America.

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The End of Beer

It’s hard to imagine that the Germans, Belgians, and English are going to be willing to give up beer for Ukraine.

UK brewers are facing tenfold price increases for the CO2 they use to carbonate and package beers, the Financial Times reported on Friday, also citing supply disruptions that could threaten brewing ahead of the Christmas season.

According to the report, the market disruption follows a warning from US fertilizer group CF Industries last month that it would shut down a major UK ammonia plant that makes CO2 as a byproduct. The company said its decision was due to soaring natural gas prices, which have made production unviable.

The report also pointed out that gas suppliers have been struggling to source CO2 from international markets because of ammonia plant closures in Europe. The energy price spikes and shortages have come as brewers prepare to increase production for Christmas. According to William Lees-Jones, managing director at JW Lees brewery in Middleton, Greater Manchester, the CO2 that had cost £250 a ton ($284) in June was priced last week at £2,800 a ton ($3,187).

Meanwhile, in Italy, the best case scenario involves more than half-a-million people losing their jobs.

Italy is at risk of losing up to 582,000 jobs due to the energy crisis and the resulting economic downturn, national media reported on Sunday, citing a study by the Confindustria Association of Industrialists. According to the findings, if the gas price stays at its current level (the August average was €235 per megawatt-hour), Italy’s economy will shrink 2.2% next year and the country will lose up to 383,000 jobs in 2022-2023. However, if the price hits €298 per megawatt-hour, which is the predicted level based on current gas futures, Italy may suffer a 3.2% decline in GDP and lose hundreds of thousands of jobs.

If Europe isn’t allowed to surrender by the US neocons calling the shots, the price is going to go higher than the predicted €298 per megawatt-hour, which means the economic damage will be even more catastrophic.

UPDATE: Ach du Lieber! It’s getting worse than I thought, faster than I thought.

A German bakery was slapped with a €330,000 gas bill after a new energy company suddenly terminated their contract which guaranteed pricing until the end of 2023, Junge Freiheit reported, citing Bild.

“Are they crazy?” said owner Eckehard Vatter, who says he has 14 days to pay the bill. “A year ago, we paid €5,856 per month in gas costs for our large furnaces and heating,” he added. Vatter said his new energy supplier hasn’t given him a reason for the 1,200% price increase.

This crisis is also demonstrating the inherent falsity of what passes for “contract law”. The contracts are often loaded with one-sided fine print that renders them essentially irrelevant, thereby demonstrating that “consent” and “contract” are fundamentally immoral weapons in the con man’s arsenal.

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