Links - 12th August 2023 (2 - Joe Biden)

Meme - Stephen L. Miller @redsteeze: "Politico deleted their tweet. Give this comms shop credit for how fast they work."
Kate Berner @KateBerner: "The memo doesn't show a direct payment to Joe Biden."

🇺🇸Travis🇺🇸 on Twitter - "Happening Now:  Devon Archer released a letter form Joe Biden while he was Vice President in which he thanks him for his business partnership with Hunter, even though Joe has claimed he had no contact with Hunters partners.    The letter is referring to foreign business deals that Hunter and Archer were working on.  As Vice President Biden shouldn’t have had any involvement in this, but it’s clear now that he was selling his influence for profit.    Why hasn’t the DOJ done anything substantial about this?"

House Republican Report Finds No Evidence of Wrongdoing by President Biden - The New York Times - "Mr. Biden has made several false or misleading statements about the matter.  During the 2020 presidential debate, Mr. Biden claimed that no one in his family had received money from China.  “My son has not made money in terms of this thing about — what are you talking about, China,” Mr. Biden said, turning the charge on his opponent, President Donald J. Trump. “The only guy who made money from China is this guy. He’s the only one. Nobody else has made money from China.”  This year, Mr. Biden also claimed that it was “not true” that family members received more than $1 million from a Chinese firm."
Hunter Biden admits he got $664K from China backed company - "Hunter Biden admitted in court that he received thousands of dollars from a Chinese Communist Party-backed company, contradicting his father's claims. President Biden’s son Hunter Biden confessed to a federal judge that he got hundreds of thousands of dollars from a company backed by the Chinese Communist Party, going against his father’s claims that his family never “made money from China.”... Emails obtained by The Post in 2020 showed messages with Yi, an oil mogul who vanished after being arrested by Chinese authorities in early 2018, in which Hunter Biden sent “best wishes from the entire Biden family” before laying out his plans for their joint venture... President Biden has kept denying any wrongdoing by his family even after the House Oversight Committee revealed financial documents showing members of the Biden family getting payments of more than $1 million from shady deals in China and Romania. Hunter Biden agreed last month to plead guilty to failing to pay at least $100,000 on more than $1.5 million in income in both 2017 and 2018. He also agreed to admit to lying about his crack cocaine use on a federal firearm purchase form in 2018. His plea deal collapsed after prosecutors told the judge that he was still being investigated for failing to register as a foreign agent in other foreign business deals. As part of the deal, Hunter Biden would have dodged jail time, sparking anger from congressional Republicans.  After denying guilt on Wednesday, jail time may be back on the table."

@amuse on Twitter - "Democrats now claim Joe Biden’s cognitive decline prevented him from understanding who Hunter put on the phone with him."

🇺🇸Travis🇺🇸 on Twitter - "The DOJ gives Hunter a slap on the wrist and future immunity for serious crimes, meanwhile:   Trump gets indicted for a paperwork error  Douglass Mackey faces 10 years for a meme  Countless Americans are being mentally tortured in prison for protesting an obviously rigged election   The IRS targeted conservatives regularly and “accidentally” lost the emails proving it  Roger Stone had his home raided for BS Russian collusion claims  This is the most corrupt DOJ in American history, and it’s obvious who they’re protecting"

Stephen L. Miller on Twitter - "Hunter Biden's attorneys demanded blanket future immunity. Why would they do that?"

Meme - "THE REAL RACIST IS A DEMOCRAT
“If my opponent wins, they’re going to put y’all back in chains.”
"You cannot go to a 7-Eleven or Dunkin' Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent. I'm not joking"
"Unless we do something about this, my children are going to grow up in a jungle."
“I do not buy the concept, popular in the '60s, which said, 'We have suppressed the black man for 300 years"
"If you have a problem figuring out whether you're for me or Trump, then you ain't black."
"poor kids are just as bright and just as talented as white kids.”
"We (Delawareans) Were on the South's Side in the Civil War"

Collin Rugg on Twitter - "NEW: A confused Biden walks in front of King Charles during his visit to the UK.  The media doesn’t seem to have an issue with this. Let’s see what they had to say when Trump walked in front of the queen.
CNN: Trump's walk with the Queen: Like 'wandering up and down a golf course'
TIME: Trump Committed a Royal Faux Pas During His Visit With the Queen
Yahoo: Trump made some major missteps when meeting the queen
Slate: Trump meets Queen Elizabeth II at Windsor Castle, briefly forgets how to walk
Global News: Trump breaks royal etiquette, walks in front of Queen
Independent: Trump immediately breaches royal protocol twice after meeting Queen
I wonder if they will give Biden the same treatment."

Tom Fitton on Twitter - "Breaking: Federal judge issues injunction shutting down Biden's regime censorship op with Big Tech and left-wing front groups. Restricts Key Biden WH gov't censors, HHS, DOJ, FBI, DHS, etc from:
(1) meeting with social-media companies for the purpose of urging, encouraging , pressuring, or inducing in any manner the removal, deletion , suppression , or reduction of content containing protected free speech posted on social-media platforms
(2) specifically flagging content or posts on social-media platforms and/or forwarding such to social-media companies urging, encouraging , pressuring, or inducing in any manner for removal, deletion , suppression , or reduction of content containing protected free speech;
(3) urging, encouraging , pressuring, or inducing in any manner social-media companies to change their guidelines for removing, deleting, suppressing , or reducing content containing protected free speech
(4) emailing, calling, sending letters ,texting, or engaging in any communication of any kind with social-media companies urging, encouraging ,pressuring, or inducing in any manner for removal, deletion, suppression ,or reduction of content containing protected free speech;
(5) collaborating, coordinating, partnering, switchboarding, and/or jointly working with the Election Integrity Partnership, the Virality Project, the Stanford Internet Observatory, or any like project or group for the purpose of urging, encouraging, pressuring, or inducing in any manner removal, deletion, suppression, or reduction of content posted with social-media companies containing protected free speech;
(6) threatening , pressuring, or coercing social-media companies in any manner to remove, delete, suppress , or reduce posted content of postings containing protected free speech (Protected free speech means speech that is protected by the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution in accordance with jurisprudence of the United States Supreme Court, Courts of Appeal and District Courts).
7) taking any action such as urging, encouraging, pressuring, or inducing in any manner social-media companies to remove, delete, suppress , or reduce posted content protected by the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution;
(8) following up with social-media companies to determine whether the social-media companies removed , deleted , suppressed , or reduced previous social-media postings containing protected free speech ;
(9) requesting content reports from social-media companies detailing actions taken to remove, delete, suppress, or reduce content containing protected free speech; and (10)notifying social-media companies to Be on The Lookout ( BOLO ) for postings containing protected free speech.
This Preliminary Injunction precludes said named Defendants , their agents , officers ,employees , contractors ,and all acting in concert with them from the aforementioned conduct. This Preliminary Injunction also precludes said named Defendants , their agents , officers , employees , and contractors from acting in concert with others who are engaged in said conduct."

Meme - "He's had enough coke
Share Coke with Hunter #ShareaCoke"

Sean Davis on Twitter - "So far this week, law enforcement was alerted to cocaine in the White House (where Hunter Biden reportedly lives for some reason), and a federal judge banned White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre by name from colluding with Big Tech to censor speech. It's only Wednesday."

Meme - Fred rubino: "If they found donut crumbs in Chris Christie's house you can bet it was his . If you found vodka in pelosi's house bet it's hers. And when you find coke in the most famous coke heads house we have no idea who it belongs"

Tom Fitton on Twitter - "Weird how WH leaks on where the cocaine was found keep on changing. From the library, to a "work area" to now "near" where "guests leave their cell phones.""
@amuse on Twitter - "There were SEVERAL people who saw Hunter Biden working in the White House Library with his laptop. When the fire department reported the cocaine was found in the Library they put 2+2 together. Once the White House realized this the location of the cocaine was updated to a West Wing 'work area' which could be ANYWHERE in the West Wing. Now the White House is claiming the cocaine was found in an area where guests leave their cell phones. I'm somewhat convinced they're lying..."

Meme - Dan McLaughlin @baseballcrank: "If you ever find yourself literally arguing in public that questioning the government is a crime, rethink all of your life choices, and especially the choice to comment on law & politics in public."
Andrew Weissmann: ""Misprision of a felony" is the crime of aiding after-the-fact a person who committed a crime. That came to mind watching the conduct of certain congressional leaders questioning FBI Dir Chris Wray today. (Speech & Debate clause is th..."

Collin Rugg on Twitter - "JUST IN: The FBI tipped off the Biden team to help Hunter Biden evade punishment from the criminal investigation into his finances according to a former FBI supervisory agent.  Instead of approaching Hunter Biden like the FBI would do with any other person under investigation, agents were told to *not* approach Hunter and instead wait for his call.  Conveniently, Hunter Biden never called meaning he was never interviewed.  In an interview with the @GOPoversight , the former agent said he has never been told to "wait outside to be contacted by the subject of an investigation."  While being questioned last week, Rep. Matt Gaetz asked FBI director Wray why he was so "uncurious" about getting to the bottom of Hunter Biden's crimes.  Wray is more than just "uncurious."  He is an active working asset of the Biden family to protect them from facing punishment.  Dismantle the FBI."

Meme - Definitely Not Commie Gibberish of the Day: "We have a two-tier justice system, and they flaunt it in your face. Look at his smug smile as he explains how one of "the beautiful ones" will get off admitting to minor tax penalties, while dodging FELONY gun charges. Meanwhile, an ex-President (not in the club) is being hit with 34 felony charges for... paying someone money as part of an NDA. (Yes, all 34 "felonies" are from that.) This country has ZERO leg to stand on when tut-tutting "authoritarian" regimes across the world."
"HUNTER BIDEN EXPECTED TO AVOID JAIL TIME BY PLEADING GUILTY TO TAX OFFENSES, CUTTING DEAL ON GUN CHARGE"

ABC, CBS and NBC newscasts ignore alleged Biden bribery scheme, spend hours on Trump: Report - "The analysis revealed that ABC, CBS and NBC devoted a total of 291 minutes to the Trump indictment between June 8 and June 12. In the same period of time, those same networks gave zero coverage to news that Fox News Digital broke on the Biden family.   President Joe Biden was allegedly paid $5 million by an executive of the Ukrainian natural gas firm Burisma Holdings, a confidential human source told the FBI during a June 2020 interview"
As of 3 July I found some NBC articles (even dating to mid June) but nothing from the other 2

Joey Mannarino on Twitter - "“I don’t care about Hunter speeding down the highway high on crack because it was 5 years ago” say the same Leftists trying to throw Trump in jail for the flimsiest rape accusation back some time in the 1990s.  I'd say the year, but the "accuser" doesn't even remember it.  Give me a break.  And no, Hunter shouldn't be in jail for smoking crack and speeding down the highway. That's the LEAST of the criminality on that laptop.  I want to know about THOSE PAYMENTS."

🇺🇸Travis🇺🇸 on Twitter - "BREAKING:  One of the Prosecutors who signed off on the Hunter Biden charges and oversaw the investigation worked for a former business partner of Hunter Biden.    US Assistant attorney Derek Hines, who signed off on the minimal charges, worked for former FBI Director Louis Freeh.  The former FBI director started a consulting firm and worked with Hunter Biden and even donated $100,000 to Joe Bidens grand children.    How much more corrupt can the DOJ be?"

James Lynch on Twitter - "NEW: The U.S. Attorneys who apparently refused to charge Hunter Biden in D.C. and California for alleged tax fraud donated to Joe Biden's presidential campaign and Kamala Harris' senate campaign respectively, FEC records show @DailyCaller"
Stephen L. Miller on Twitter - "It would appear some people are above the law."

@amuse on Twitter - "SHOCK: The New York Times has confirmed that Biden's Attorney General lied under oath to Congress. America's paper of record confirmed that Weiss was blocked from bringing additional charges against Hunter and his father. This is bigger than WaterGate."

Meme - Joe Biden @JoeBiden: "It's about time the super-wealthy start paying their fair share."
"Hunter Biden deducted payments to prostitute, sex club from his taxes: whistleblower"

Mollie on Twitter - "The Biden family could take care of all of this so easily if they would just explain why every single member of the family, except for the unacknowledged granddaughter, was receiving millions of dollars in their bank accounts from oligarchs all over the world."

Meme - End Wokeness @EndWokeness: "One is a guy who made memes
The other is a group of intelligence agents who colluded with the Biden campaign to discredit a scandal before an election
Guess which one will spend up to 10 years in prison for "election interference"?"

'Intelligence' experts refuse to apologize for smearing Hunter Biden story - "the 51 former “intelligence” officials who cast doubt on The Post’s Hunter Biden laptop stories in a public letter really were just desperate to get Joe Biden elected president. And more than a year later, even after their Deep State sabotage has been shown again and again to be a lie, they refuse to own up to how they undermined an election... though the letter was advertised as being signed by people who worked “for presidents of both political parties,” a majority of the officials were Democrats. Politico picked up the letter and ran the false headline “Hunter Biden story is Russian disinfo, dozens of former intel officials say.” That headline is still online today, even though the letter clearly says they don’t know if it’s Russian disinformation... Thus, Big Tech, former government officials, and the media conspired together to bury a story.  No, not just bury — create a false narrative that flipped the script to make Joe Biden the victim of a conspiracy. In short, they peddled online disinformation to sway an election...   There have been no consequences. Twitter and Facebook still censor information based on political bias, and Congress takes no action. Many of the letter signers continue to be used as “experts” by the media. Clapper, for instance, spent years on CNN calling Donald Trump a “Russian asset,” a lie invented and fed by political operatives of Hillary Clinton. He’s still there. Guess accuracy is not a condition of employment."

Biden campaign, Blinken orchestrated intel letter to discredit Hunter Biden laptop story, ex-CIA official says | House Judiciary Committee Republicans - "A former CIA official testified that then-Biden   campaign senior adviser, now-Secretary of State Antony Blinken "played a role in the inception" of the public statement signed by current and past intelligence officials that claimed the Hunter Biden laptop was part of a Russian disinformation campaign.  Former CIA Deputy Director Michael Morrell testified before the House Judiciary and Intelligence Committees, and revealed that Blinken was "the impetus" of the public statement signed in October 2020 that implied the laptop belonging to Hunter Biden was disinformation."

Simon Ateba on Twitter - "Imagine being @JoeBiden . Your son makes millions of dollars from foreign entities but does not pay taxes because that would mean disclosing that he is engaged in foreign lobbying. With the millions of dollars and no serious job, he becomes a drug addict and illegally obtains a gun. All he tells them is that he is the son of the US Vice President, and he claims that part of the money will go to the "Big Guy." He promises them access to his dad and top US officials. They hire him without any qualifications and pay him millions of dollars.  Eventually, the information comes out, and the Justice Department has to investigate. The investigation drags on for five years, and eventually, they strike a deal  with him to plead guilty to two misdemeanors of tax evasion so that the government would not prosecute him for illegally possessing a gun as a drug addict, a serious crime that has sent tens of thousands of Americans to prison for years.  Imagine being the same father who, as a senator, drafted a draconian anti-drug law that sent tens of thousands of black people and others to prison, confiscated all their belongings, and gave a big speech boasting that the drug addicts should all be taken off the streets. Now that your son is one of them, when you're asked about his case, you say you're proud of him and he has done nothing wrong.  Imagine journalists and commentators like @joenbc  justifying it on television, singing your praises when their own child would have been in prison long ago for the same crimes. Imagine the people who believed in the rule of law watching the two-tiered justice system so brazenly displayed.   America is in crisis. May God help us all!"

Benny Johnson on Twitter - "JOE BIDEN: “I have never spoken to my son about his overseas business dealings.”
ALSO JOE BIDEN: Coersing a Chinese national to wire millions through his son, by letting him know he’s “in the room”"
Hunter Biden used dad Joe as leverage in China business dispute: text message - "First son Hunter Biden warned a Chinese business associate in a 2017 text message that dad Joe and his political allies would “make certain … that you will regret not following my direction” while negotiating a six-figure business deal.  The July 30, 2017 WhatsApp missive from Hunter to Henry Zhao was revealed to the House Ways and Means Committee last month by IRS supervisory agent Gary Shapley and made public Thursday.  “I am sitting here with my father and we would like to understand why the commitment made has not been fulfilled,” Hunter Biden wrote Zhao, the director of Harvest Fund Management, according to Shapley.  “Tell the director that I would like to resolve this now before it gets out of hand, and now means tonight,” the now-53-year-old went on. “And, Z, if I get a call or text from anyone involved in this other than you, Zhang, or the chairman, I will make certain that between the man sitting next to me and every person he knows and my ability to forever hold a grudge that you will regret not following my direction.”  “I am sitting here waiting for the call with my father,” Hunter reiterated to conclude the stunning message. An August 2020 search warrant revealed the exchange between Hunter and Zhao, which resulted in $100,000 payment to the 53-year-old’s firm Owasco P.C., the whistleblowers said.  The IRS investigators alleged Justice Department prosecutors denied their requests to look further into Hunter’s texts or obtain their location data — and that DOJ attorneys suggested the first son may have been lying about his father being in the room with him.  Shapley singled out Delaware Assistant US Attorney Lesley Wolf as one of the prosecutors who shut down their probe of a multimillion-dollar deal Hunter, first brother James Biden and their associate Rob Walker cashed in on with China’s CEFC Energy, saying “she did not want to ask questions about ‘dad.’”...   Hunter and James Biden received $4.8 million from CEFC Energy in 2017 and 2018, The Washington Post confirmed when reviewing the contents of the first son’s abandoned laptop"
Screenshot

Miranda Devine on Twitter - "The Biden administration knew the Titan submarine imploded Sunday. But waited until today to make it public. Convenient smokescreen for today’s House Ways & Means release of IRS whistleblower testimony of DOJ sabotage of the Hunter Biden investigation."

Sean Davis on Twitter - "BREAKING: According to IRS whistleblowers, DOJ tipped off Hunter Biden about a search of his storage unit, prohibited investigators from executing a warrant on Joe Biden's guest house, and repeatedly prohibited charges from being brought against Hunter Biden."

BREAKING: IRS Whistleblower Reports 'Stand Down Order' Was Given on Hunter Biden Investigation - "IRS whistleblower Gary Shapley states in testimony that a ‘stand down order’ was given to the Department of Justice in the Hunter Biden investigation prior to the 2020 election.  “I am blowing the whistle because the Delaware U.S. Attorney’s Office, Department of Justice Tax, and Department of Justice provided preferential treatment and unchecked conflicts of interest in an important and high-profile investigation of the President’s son, Hunter Biden,” Shapley said in redacted testimony.  Despite probable cause affidavits for Hunter Biden search warrants in three states and Washington, D.C. drafted in early 2020, they were put on ice by the Department of Justice as soon as Joe Biden became the presumptive Democrat nominee...   This favorable treatment towards Joe Biden contrasts strikingly with the actions the Department of Justice took in regards to the presidential candidacy of Donald Trump in 2016, when discredited political opposition research from rival candidate Hillary Clinton and the Democratic National Committee was illegally weaponized to conduct a sweeping campaign surveillance operation against the Trump campaign as well as an ensuing Special Counsel investigation that hindered the Trump presidency for years."

IRS whistleblower speaks: DOJ "slow-walked" tax probe said to involve Hunter Biden - "He said he became so concerned about prosecutors' handling of "a high profile, controversial" investigation that he felt duty-bound to sound alarms.  "There were multiple steps that were slow-walked — were just completely not done — at the direction of the Department of Justice," said Gary Shapley, a 14-year veteran of the agency, who spoke exclusively to CBS News chief investigative correspondent Jim Axelrod on Tuesday. "When I took control of this particular investigation, I immediately saw deviations from the normal process. It was way outside the norm of what I've experienced in the past." The accusations come more than three years into an investigation into Hunter Biden that's being conducted in Delaware by a U.S. Attorney appointed by then-President Trump and held over by President Biden to avoid any appearance of political bias. The investigation focuses on potential crimes related to outstanding tax debts connected to income earned from a controversial stint as a board member for the Ukrainian energy company Burisma while his father was vice president, and a potential false statement related to a gun purchase. Last year CBS News reported that the past-due taxes were paid off with a loan from high-powered Hollywood attorney Kevin Morris, who provided Hunter Biden with financial backing.   Six months ago, a leak from the FBI revealed that agents there believed they had provided prosecutors with enough evidence to support criminal tax charges. No such charges have been brought as of this publication.  Shapley told CBS News he became increasingly concerned about measures being taken that he said appeared to shield the target of the investigation — which CBS News independently confirmed is Hunter Biden.  "Each and every time, it seemed to always benefit the subject," Shapley said. "It just got to that point where that switch was turned on. And I just couldn't silence my conscience anymore."  Shapley is a supervisory special agent with the IRS's criminal investigations department, currently overseeing a team of 12 agents who specialize in international tax and financial crimes. Previously, he was an officer with the National Security Agency's Office of the Inspector General. He was assigned to a "sensitive" investigation in January 2020, and within months, he said he grew concerned about how the Justice Department was handling the investigation. CBS News has learned that was the Hunter Biden probe. Shapley says he began documenting his concerns around June 2020... Shapley may already be paying a price for his decision to speak out. Last week, his attorneys informed Congress that he and his staff had been removed from the investigation "at the request of the Department of Justice." He claims he's faced retaliation from IRS leadership. In addition, Hunter Biden's legal team has already accused him of breaking the law... Shapley said he finds this new role — as a whistleblower — to be well outside his comfort zone, and is not something he wants to do. But he said he felt an obligation to come forward and report what he views as a violation of his oath of office.  "When I saw the egregiousness of some of these things, it no longer became a choice for me," he said. "It's not something that I want to do. It's something I feel like I have to do."  He said his ultimate motivation is what drove him to pursue the work of criminal tax investigations in the first place.  "When taxpayers are treated differently — and subjects of investigations are treated differently," he said, "I don't see how it doesn't affect the fairness of the system.""

Alleged Talmud Quotes (2/2)

(Continued from Part 1)

In part 2, it seems like the meme maker/person who came up with this list of mostly-bogus quotes gave up, as there're a lot more fake books/made up quotations than in the first half.

(Libbre David 87)
If Gentiles knew that the Talmud teach Jews to destroy them they would kill us openly. Never communicate the Talmud with Gentiles.

This is completely fake. "Libbre David" does not exist.

(Kethuboth 11b)
When a grown-up man has intercourse with a little girl it is nothing.

The quote is:

"Rava said that this is what the mishna is saying: An adult man who engaged in intercourse with a minor girl less than three years old has done nothing, as intercourse with a girl less than three years old is tantamount to poking a finger into the eye. In the case of an eye, after a tear falls from it another tear forms to replace it. Similarly, the ruptured hymen of the girl younger than three is restored."

This section seems to be talking about compensation for sex with people of varying statuses (the compensation is measured in dinars). But it coheres with sex with extremely young children not being considered sex.

(Bammidber raba c21)
Every Jew who spills the blood of the non-Jew is doing the same as making a sacrifice to God.

This is completely fake. "Bammidber raba" does not exist.

(Hikkoth Akum X1)
Show no mercy to the Gentiles.

This is completely fake. "Hikkoth Akum" does not exist.

(Abodah Zara 4b)
a Gentile you may kill outright with your ownhands.

Avodah Zarah 4b does not seem to contain any context to this effect.

(Sahedrin 59a)
Murdering Gentiles is like killing wild animals.

There is nothing in here about this. The closest to this the section comes to is talking about whether gentiles can consume the blood of living animals.

(Tosefta Abda Zara V111 5)
a Gentile is forbidden to steal, rob or take women slaves from a Jew. But a Jew it's not forbidden to do all this to a Gentile.

I cannot find this "Tosefta Abda Zara". The Avodah Zarah does not contain any sections which look like they match the numbering given here.

(Simeon Haddarsen fol 56-D:0)
When the Messiah comes every Jew will have 2800 Gentiles slaves.

This is completely fake. "Simeon Haddarsen" does not exist.

(Midrasch Talpioth p225—L)
Non-Jews are in human
When the Messiah comes term so that Jews would not be served by beasts. Non-Jew is an animal in human lenn to serve the Jew day and night.

This is completely fake. "Midrasch Talpioth" does not exist.

(Schulchan Aruch Chozen Hamiszpat 156)
Property of the Gentile belongs to no one and the first Jew that passes has full right to seim it.

This is completely fake. "Schulchan Aruch Chozen Hamiszpat" does not exist.

(Tosefta Abda Zara V111 5)
a Gentile is forbidden to steal, rob or take women slaves from a Jew. But a Jew it's not forbidden to do all this to a Gentile.

I cannot find this "Tosefta Abda Zara". The Avodah Zarah does not contain any sections which look like they match the numbering given here.

(Schulchan Amen Chozen Hamisszpat 348)
All property of other nations belongs to the Jewish nation. Jews can seize it all.

This is completely fake. "Schulchan Aruch Chozen Hamiszpat" does not exist.

Of course, all this won't stop anti-Semites citing this almost totally bogus list of "Talmud quotes", since confirmation bias of hatred and envy is a thing.

In any event, the Talmud is just Jewish law. The text also says that:

"Shmuel says: The law of the kingdom is the law, and the halakhic principle is that Jews must obey the laws of the state in which they reside. Rava said: Know that this principle is true from the fact that the municipal authorities cut down palm trees without the consent of their owners and construct bridges from them, and yet we cross over them. Evidently, the wood is not considered stolen property, which one is prohibited from using, because the law of the kingdom is the law."

So just because the Talmud says something is okay or not okay does not mean that Jews must only follow what's in it. Not to mention how literalism and blind obedience is not the only way to approach old religious texts: as TheTorah.com notes, "The problem of unjust or immoral laws in the Torah and halacha is pervasive. This is true of any legal system that continues over time in radically different cultures. The Torah in particular contains quite a number of laws that are problematic for later readers".

Fun bits of the Talmud I read while writing this blog post:

"Rav Aḥadevoi bar Ami asked Rav Sheshet: With regard to one who performs the initial stage of homosexual intercourse on himself, what is the halakha? Is he liable for homosexual intercourse? Rav Sheshet said to him: You disgust me with your question; such an act is not possible." (Sanhedrin 55a)

(this just underlines the status of the Talmud as people arguing with each other, and ripe for cherry picking since it often contradicts itself when quoted in isolation)

Links - 12th July 2023 (1 - Housing in Canada)

High interest rates are slowing homebuilding, but the worst is yet to come - "  The rapid surge in interest rates over the last year is starting to throttle the pace of homebuilding, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. (CMHC) warned... while the slowdown represents a normalizing of building pace compared with the pandemic highs, it’s coming as governments at all levels of the country are attempting to ramp up homebuilding in an effort to accommodate rising immigration levels and keep homes affordable for those struggling to enter the housing market.  The federal government, for instance, pitched a plan to double the current pace of homebuilding over the next 10 years in its 2022 budget.  But Kavcic called this goal a “bit of a fantasy” in his note on Wednesday, arguing that Canada’s homebuilders are already running at “full capacity."

Posthaste: Canada among countries most at risk of housing crash spiralling into a bigger crisis, say these economists - "Using a banking sector risk tool that measures 35 macroeconomic and financial indicators, Oxford suggests that up to 16 per cent of major economies have an 18 to 20 per cent chance of suffering a housing crisis within the next three to five years, compared to a historic average of just 2 per cent.  Canada, along with Iceland, the Netherlands, Sweden and Denmark, is among the five most vulnerable with a 7 per cent probability of this leading to a banking crises within the next year and 18 to 20 per cent chance in the three to five years... Oxford says real housing prices rose by 36 per cent between 2013 and 2021, an increase equal to that seen in the run-up to the great financial crisis.  Nearly half of that increase was in 2020-21 during the pandemic, when prices rose at their fastest pace in 50 years."

Canada's Housing Crisis: A Consequence of Aggressive Immigration Policy - "The Trudeau government has taken a perplexing approach to tackling the ongoing housing affordability crisis in Canada. By implementing the most aggressive pro-immigration policy in history, they have intensified the demand-supply imbalance within the country. Consequently, population growth continues to soar, with Canada experiencing its highest ever annual growth rate at 2.7 per cent – an increase of more than a million people – last year.  As per David Rosenberg of Rosenberg Research, this strategy is nothing short of bewildering.  Rosenberg notes that the crux of the issue lies in Canada's inadequate supply, particularly for residential real estate, which cannot accommodate such immigration-driven population growth without further straining an already-overburdened housing market. The ratio of population to housing stock now stands at 40 per cent above historical norms, as does homeowner affordability ratio.  He adds that the Bank of Canada’s (BoC) rate hikes over the past year would have succeeded in lowering real estate prices to more reasonable levels; however, this was thwarted by federal government’s unyielding immigration stance that maintained housing inflation intact. As a result, aspiring Canadian homeowners continue grappling with elevated prices and central bank-induced rates shock... A nation where individuals in their 30s face exclusion from the housing market due to prolonged periods of excessive home price inflation – a direct result of government policy – is far from content. This discontent may manifest itself in the upcoming elections, providing ammunition for opposition parties... homeowner affordability would need to witness an almost 30 per cent drop in home prices merely to revert back to its long-term average. However, such natural correction remains unattainable due to governmental immigration policies that maintain absurdly high price levels. Interest rates would have to plummet nearly two percentage points or incomes surge by 40 per cent instead.   The bottom line? Rosenberg notes that this precarious scenario cannot persist indefinitely; with little likelihood that income will increase by 40 per cent anytime soon, what's needed is for the BoC to facilitate lower rates while implementing fiscal and regulatory policies fostering reasonable home prices (regrettably at existing homeowners' expense) and sustainable low inflation (currently hindered by Ottawa’s spending and immigration strategies)."

Liberal housing plan an astounding, yet unsurprising, failure - "If the federal government seems entirely out of touch with aspiring homeowners, it’s likely because most MPs have no personal stake in the matter. Quite the opposite, in fact. Many of them have a vested financial interest in housing being astronomically unaffordable for Canadians younger than themselves. One in three Liberal cabinet ministers supplement their taxpayer-funded salaries with rental or investment income. About 40 per cent of all MPs do the same, according to one analysis of public disclosures. While many have owned these properties for years and not purposefully bought into a national crisis, the same can’t be said for Housing Minister Ahmed Hussen, who by most recent public disclosure count now owns three rental properties.  Hussen, who has led the Liberals’ housing file since 2019, purchased an investment property in the middle of the 2021 federal election campaign — an act that would be an obvious conflict of interest if we were talking about any other industry than housing...   It’s no surprise so many young Canadians report being not just frustrated, but “furious” when it comes to housing. The dearth of reasonably-priced homes is bad enough on its own, but the feeling that elected leaders are, if not actively working against our interests, perfectly content to reap not just the political, but financial benefits of our pain, is nothing short of enraging.  The continued utter failure of the First-Time Home Buyer Incentive (FTHBI) is a perfect example of a program that exposes the federal Liberals’ either incompetence, lack of commitment or two-faced approach to the issue. The Liberals want us to believe the program is a crown jewel of their affordability agenda when it’s clear to just about everyone it’s a complete dud. The FTHBI was proudly announced as part of the 2019 federal budget as a shared-equity mortgage program between first-time buyers and the government, with qualification limits on household income and mortgage size. The government will loan up to 10 per cent of a home’s purchase price, interest-free, in exchange for a capped stake in any appreciation.  Since it was implemented a little more than three years ago, Globe and Mail analysis finds a grand total of 385 households have used it in the nation’s most unaffordable markets of Toronto, Vancouver and Victoria.  The numbers outside of those hubs aren’t much better. The stated goal was to help around 100,000 purchasers secure their first home. The total uptake: around 17,500 nationwide. Faced with evidence their program isn’t working, the Liberals decided to doubledown and extend it until May, 2025, as though buyers not taking advantage of a totally awesome incentive is the problem rather than the incentive being totally at odds with reality... Barely any first-time buyer within these income brackets can afford to enter the market without parental help or an inheritance. If they happen to luck into one of those scenarios, it’s still highly unlikely they’ll find a property that falls within the FTHBI’s rigid rules.  This is all before we even get to the lunacy of trying to solve housing affordability by subsidizing exorbitant values. Every time the government does this with one of their programs, it simply sets a new floor for prices."

Toronto condo residents trying to stop a different condo from being built nearby - "Residents of a mid-rise condo building in Toronto are trying to stop a different mid-rise condo from being erected nearby, ironically claiming that the building is out of character with the existing neighbourhood.  A condo board member at 90 Broadview is part of a group rallying against a proposed condo development just down the street, and they're trying to drum up support to fight the development — despite it only being planned to rise marginally taller than a building members of their own group live in.  Along with residents of an adjacent loft building at 68 Broadview, a working group initiated and organized by the area councillor, Paula Fletcher, is fighting against the proposed condo plan and claiming that such developments — like the very ones they reside in — are damaging to the city."

Garden suites now legal in Toronto after appeal fails. But opponents still speaking out - "When Toronto city council passed a bylaw in February that would allow garden suites, that sounded like the perfect solution. A garden suite is "usually located in the backyard of an existing house, but separate and detached from the main house," according to a definition released by the city.  "The garden suite offered an affordable alternative to add more space to the house where we can accommodate family members who want to move closer to us," Liu said, noting both he and his partner are immigrants and reuniting with family is important to them.  Their excitement quickly dimmed when the bylaw was appealed to the Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT) by a group of Toronto residents' associations. This week, the OLT dismissed the appeal, saying it did not have the jurisdiction to hear the application.   The group that launched the appeal says it's disappointed. It cites environmental concerns and says developers could take advantage of the bylaw, making housing even less affordable. But the City of Toronto says allowing greater variety in the type and form of housing in its neighbourhoods is one solution to the housing crisis."
Damn investors keeping housing expensive! Clearly anything that gives developers more business makes housing more expensive, because more supply makes housing more expensive because you just bring in more investors

Meme - "SAVE THE ROSELAWN APTS.
131 Lyon Court and 836-838 Roselawn Avenue
TORONTO (YORK), ON
DEAR NEIGHBOURS, FRIENDS,
As I'm sure you are all aware, our homes have been proposed to be demolished. We are essentially being rennovicted so that a condo may be built in place of where we live, eat and share memories with our family for the sole reason that the corporations who own this property can pocket even more money than they already do. At a time where we are witnessing soaring inflation, no rent control and record profits by grocery stores, many of us are barely getting by on what little we have. To be forced out of our homes so that a condo can be built, that the community did not ask for seems almost cruel. This Condo is being built in a location that they must amend zoning by-laws to squeeze this monstrosity in. It is too high the tallest building in the area by a wide margin. It has too many units, takes up too much area as it is. Concerns have been raised over the amount of traffic it will generate, how it will block the sun - creating shadow and increasing winds, how it will eliminate most of the feel to the area and how construction will impact local businesses like the childcare center literally next door, or the neighboring apartment buildings. Yet there sits an abandoned lot at 927 Roselawn Avenue just down the street. While zoning laws and concerns are one thing, it is another to lose your home. In the immediate area, there are not 53 rental units available to the price and standard that we currently have. There is not even a quarter of that available on the market right now. Many of us will be forced to compete for local rental opportunities, and those that can't will simply be priced or forced out of the area. Increasing commute times - if we are even able to keep our current jobs and continue to provide for our families. As someone who has a home and family here, I beg and implore you to attend the tenant meeting May 234, 2023, to let your voice be heard. Our voices be heard. If you cannot attend online or by telephone please at least message the City of Toronto Staff contact for this meeting: Cate Flanagan, housing planner. Her public contact information is: 416-392-4529
Please, help us save the Roselawn and Lyon Court apartments. Help us save our livelihoods, our homes."
Damn corporations and investors buying up housing and driving prices up!

Council votes to permit multiplexes in all Toronto neighbourhoods - "Multiplexes will now be permitted to be built across Toronto after being approved by councillors on Wednesday in a bid to create more housing options.  In a vote of 18-7, city council adopted a staff report recommending expanding multiplexes in all of Toronto’s neighbourhoods.  “We are working non-stop to get more housing built across Toronto. Allowing multiplexes in our low-rise neighbourhoods brings more types of housing to our city and supports a more equitable approach to growth,” Deputy Mayor Jennifer McKelvie said in a statement.  “By introducing multiplexes, we also create the flexibility of our residential buildings and ensure that we have a mix of housing types to meet the needs of our current and future residents.”  Multiplexes are low-form housing with two, three or four units in a single building. Staff said while mid- and high-rise apartment buildings have seen growth in densely populated areas, low-rise housing has not kept up with demand... Multiplexes can also be delivered quickly, staff said, as owners will only be required to obtain a building permit rather than official plan or zoning-by-law approvals"
Amazing Facebook comments: "Let's make Toronto a slum instead of solving the core problems. Great idea.", "They have to rezone the neighborhood giving home owners a chance to object and make their case to their city council", "So basically turn neighborhoods into crowded ghettos.", "Wow, Toronto is going to become more of a dump than it already is.", "goodbye established family neighborhoods, hello over crowded transient neighborhoods (but never in the richer parts of the city, only in ours)"
"There goes the neighborhood."

Toronto council greenlights multiplexes citywide | The Star - "The decision is an upheaval of Toronto’s long-standing “yellowbelt” — the roughly 70 per cent of Toronto’s zoned residential land that has been restricted to single-family homes only. That rule system has led to concentrated growth — leaving the city skyline sharp and jagged, with neighbourhoods dominated by either low-slung houses or sky-high apartment towers.  For several years, city planners had been mulling a rethink of Toronto’s planning regime to add more “gentle density” — housing options such as triplexes and fourplexes — where single homes dominate... The new framework, as approved on Wednesday, allows new multiplexes to be built up to 10 metres high, or three storeys, as long as the design keeps with an area’s existing “physical features.” In areas where taller buildings are already allowed, four-storey multiplexes may be possible, the new rules say — and where the lot is large enough, the rules allow a multiplex abutting a garden or laneway suite. That would total five residential units on larger lots.  Those rules go a step further than the changes mandated by the province last year through Bill 23, which required cities to allow a minimum of three residential units on any property."

Pierre Poilievre | Facebook - "Finally, city hall is getting my message that we must remove gatekeepers to bring homes workers can afford.
My common sense plan:
-Give federal infrastructure bonuses to cities that allow the building of more new homes faster.
-Fine local governments that block new homes.
Bring it home."

Massive 9 tower development that would bring 4,690 units to Mississauga rejected - "Many residents came forward to speak against the proposal during past public meetings. Concerns ranged from traffic congestion, parking, and a lack of infrastructure to support the influx of new residents.  This “massive” development would impact the community with increased density impacting schools and traffic, one resident told the committee on May 8.  Lucas said a major concern is the shadow the tall buildings would cast on the neighbouring homes. And the proposal does not meet the city’s standards for sun shadow studies."
The answer is never "build more infrastructure", somehow

George Fallis: It's a housing bubble in Toronto, not a supply squeeze - "From 2014 to 2019 the population of the Toronto “census metropolitan area” grew by 7.7 per cent, which certainly increased demand. At the same time, median household income rose 20 per cent, boosting it further. On the other hand, mortgage interest rates, after a slight fall in 2015, moved up steadily up over the period, as did property taxes and insurance and heating costs. As a rough estimate, the carrying cost per dollar of house price rose about two per cent per year. Combining all these influences suggests demand was probably higher by about 18 per cent...   If on balance we assume demand has risen by about a quarter since 2014, what would a market fundamentals analysis say should have happened to price? In the very short run, the supply of housing is quite unresponsive to demand. Over the long haul, it can be very responsive. For the six years we’re considering, it’s probably something in between. The costs of labour, building materials and land do rise as supply increases but they don’t rise infinitely. Using estimates of their responsiveness from the economics literature, the market fundamentals analysis predicts house prices should probably have risen about 12 per cent in Toronto since 2014. In fact, they rose 93 per cent. The 81 per cent that market fundamentals can’t explain is likely bubble. This analysis simply assumed a supply response. But what actually happened on the supply side in the Toronto housing market? A total of 230,210 “dwelling units” were completed over the six years. Population had increased by 556,470; assuming household size remained at 2.8 persons, the population increase required 198,740 new units. The supply of new units was more than enough to accommodate the growing population. Moreover, the housing stock was further augmented by renovation and by tearing down old houses to be replaced by larger new houses, both of which have been booming in Toronto. Residential real estate investment, which includes both new construction and renovation, has been a rising share of GDP. There is thus no problem on the supply side of the Toronto market. Of course, more supply will reduce prices slightly, but the Toronto price escalation is not caused by supply problems.  Demand is growing steadily, supply is responding, but prices are soaring. What can explain that? If households are bidding more for houses because they believe prices will continue to go up in the future, that’s convincing evidence of a bubble. When prices go up next year, the very high carrying costs of this year will be more than offset by capital gains. Result? You will have enjoyed an increase in wealth"

Don’t buy that house! Your bank account and your country need you to wait | The Star - "A once-in-a-lifetime confluence of factors have conspired to create today’s unnatural housing market.    
Interest rates are at near-record lows. Ottawa’s staggering, unprecedented pandemic relief payments have been pouring into the housing market, distorting prices. The first global pandemic in a century has fuelled demand for the kind of COVID-19-safe sanctuary that only a house is thought capable of providing. (Actually, there have been very few reported COVID-19 outbreaks in apartment buildings or condo towers, compared with the many outbreaks traced to house gatherings.) The model of the “ownership society” has always had a grip on Toronto, made more acute by the pandemic. Never mind that there is no scientific evidence that a community of homeowners is more civil than one of renters — or that, in contrast with Toronto, obsession with home ownership does not afflict the people of Montreal, New York, Paris and London, where there is no loss in social status from spending one’s life in rented flats.
The ownership-society model makes billions of dollars for mortgage lenders, homebuilders, contractors, real estate agents and property tax collectors... More than 60 per cent of Canadians polled in March believe house prices will rise in their neighbourhood in the next six months. That’s the highest level of expectations of higher house prices since Nanos Research Group began that survey 13 years ago.  “This fear of missing out … is driving people to make decisions they’ll have to live with,” Royal Bank of Canada economist Robert Hogue told Bloomberg News"

The housing boom that never ends already wiped out all the short-sellers - "Today, the buying, selling and building of homes in Canada takes up a larger share of the economy than it does in any other developed country, according to the Bank of International Settlements. It also soaks up a larger share of investment capital than in any of Canada’s peers.Canadians’ mortgages have helped create one of the largest consumer debt piles in the world, and its financial system’s exposure to those loans is twice that of the U.S. With prices already at record levels, Canada’s housing market kicked off 2021 by going into overdrive, posting annual gains of 30 per cent in many communities across the country... What if the bubble doesn’t pop? What if prices just keep going up and up? Their concern is that this would only further cleave apart the haves and have-nots in Canada. In the past two decades, the country’s major cities have posted the worst deterioration in housing affordability among the world’s major metropolises, according to urban planning consultant Demographia. That’s putting what’s traditionally been Canadians’ surest path to middle-class stability — home ownership — out of reach for many people not already in the market and exacerbating the inequality gap.As an ever greater chunk of the economy is devoted to housing, concerns are mounting that there’ll be less room for more productive uses of capital... Toronto and Vancouver have long contended with some of the lowest rental vacancy rates in North America as slow re-zoning processes meant the addition of new apartment stock perennially lagged demand. And when it comes to ground-level homes, the constraints get even tighter. The cities are hemmed in by large bodies of water on one side, and regulations limit urban sprawl... In Woodstock, Ontario, a city of about 40,000 southwest of Toronto, the average increase in home values last year was greater than most residents’ annual income."

Questioning immigration impact on housing is a fair question | The Star
Amazing that this came out in this left wing paper. The laws of economics are racist, after all. Either that or the leftists keep insisting that economics is astrology for dudes

Mississauga residents, council blast 700-unit development - "Queenscorp’s proposal would see 703 new units split across five buildings and stacked townhouses at 4099 Erin Mills Pkwy. in Mississauga’s Erin Mills neighbourhood, where local residents say the project would snarl traffic, possibly endanger children at nearby schools and lower the quality of life in the area.  At a May 29 meeting, Justin Colley spoke to council warning the proposed building heights would immediately impact the privacy of the existing neighbourhood and that new project would create “major issues” on surrounding residential roads... “The 703 proposed units will seriously compromise the safety of our children by significantly worsening an already dangerous situation in front of the schools”... Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie, who is contemplating a run for the Ontario Liberals, said the city would exceed those housing targets but increased density would go where it’s appropriate in the city.  “We know where density and intensification is appropriate and it’s not in that plaza,” she said.  Building heights for the proposed development range from 11 to six storeys... Current zoning allows for commercial uses like retail and restaurants and buildings of up to four storeys for the site, which is adjacent to two-storey single family homes and served by three MiWay bus routes along Erin Mills Parkway.  University of Toronto geography and planning professor Karen Chapple said there is often pushback on infill development, but said she was surprised to see such opposition to 11-storey heights. “There's been a good deal of highrise development in Mississauga in recent years and if any site is appropriate, it's an underutilized parking lot on a very wide roadway,” she said. “You would not be making smart choices for the future if you didn't build a considerable density on this site.”... Several residents at the meeting also raised concerns about potential loss of the existing 60,000-square-foot retail plaza on the site that includes a grocery store, pharmacy and ice cream parlour."

Federal government’s impulse to block housing out of sync with priorities of Canadians - "A new front has opened in the simmering jurisdictional conflict between the federal government and the provinces. This time, however, the fight is not over carbon taxes or pipelines, but over where homes can and cannot be built.  Since earlier this year, Steven Guilbeault, federal minister of the environment and climate change, has made clear his intention to prevent Ontario from redesignating some land currently in the Greenbelt (a swath of protected rural land surrounding the Greater Toronto Area) to allow home construction. Specifically, the Trudeau government is considering the use of the Species at Risk Act and Impact Assessment Act to slow or even freeze the planned addition of homes in areas adjacent to, but outside of, the Rouge National Urban Park just east of Toronto.  The federal government’s motivation appears to be the protection of species that might live near the park, and are protected under federal legislation. The provincial government, for its part, controls land-use legislation including that which created the Greenbelt in the first place. It’s also pledged to enable the construction of 1.5 million homes in a decade, with 50,000 homes slotted for the 7,400 acres of Greenbelt lands it intends to re-designate, on condition that builders show “significant progress” in obtaining approvals this year... Of course, such scenarios are nothing new in Canada and elsewhere. In a now-canonical essay written in 2014, journalist and venture capitalist Kim-Mai Cutler explored the roots of the San Francisco Bay area’s severe housing affordability crisis. Faced with a crippling shortage of homes in one of the world’s most opportunity-rich regions, governments—especially municipal—tend to focus on hyper-local considerations in specific areas, rather than considerations of general welfare, such as growing the housing supply to meet demand and tame prices. She cited Mountain View city council’s decision to block Google from building badly needed employee housing on its campus, arguing that doing so might imperil the city’s burrowing owl population."

Bad news for Toronto’s housing crisis: The Hub reacts to the Toronto mayoral byelection - "I was excited about John Tory’s third term as mayor of Toronto. For the first time in his tenure, he had 1) strong mayor powers, 2) no re-election ambition, so was relatively unconstrained politically, and 3) finally accepted and acknowledged that housing in Toronto is expensive because there’s not enough of it. Specifically, he publicly committed to helping achieve the provincially-set target of 285,000 homes built over the next ten years—approximately 90 percent more than had been built over the last ten years.  That’s what you need to get more housing built in this city: an understanding that it needs to be built and the political cover and power to get it done.  As we all know, he then swiftly resigned. Bummer.  Olivia Chow is now the mayor of Toronto. She 1) promised to not make use of the new strong mayor powers, 2) as a first-term mayor, presumably does have re-election ambition, and 3) has said very little to signal that she understands that housing in Toronto is expensive because there’s not enough of it. Instead, she’s promised to strengthen renter protections, tax speculators, tax luxury homes, prevent renovictions, and build 25,000 rent-controlled homes over the next eight years. Only the last of those promises touches on the problem of scarcity and that in a very marginal way."

Yes, Justin Trudeau deserves blame for sky-high housing costs - "Government gatekeeping adds enormously to home-building costs, according to the C.D. Howe Institute:  “Over the period (2011-2021), a single-detached home in Vancouver cost homebuyers nearly $1.3 million more than it would cost to build in a market without barriers to supply. The cost of barriers there is so much higher now because it began its steep rise only in 2015, near the end of the previous study period. The gap in price between construction costs and the market price for a new single-detached home is more now than 60 per cent of the total cost in Vancouver. Homes in the Toronto CMA now cost buyers $350,000 extra over the cost to build, or about one-third of the total cost.”"

Links - 11th August 2023 (2 - Diversity)

Hollywood professionals are in quiet rebellion against wokeness - "insiders, many anonymously, gave their opinion on the new ‘diversity mandates’. It seems many Hollywood producers (like the audiences) have noticed that the rise of these ideological policies has been synonymous with the decline of the cultural relevance of films.   From writers to actors to stage designers, white men are being replaced in an entertainment industry they created... These enforced woke policies in hiring sadly ensure not only that a certain large subset of society cannot get work, on or off screen, but that the audiences are also losing interest in movies and programs that are ‘decided by committee’. Because even a woke hire can always be accused of some new indiscretion, and replaced by an even woker hire, there is a culture of fear created which is not conducive to a creative industry.  The rest of the corporate world surrendered to this phenomenon years ago, and each institution suffers this in its own personal way. Ironically, Hollywood has of course been a main instigator in the proliferation of the ideology which has resulted in this.  Unlike the larger corporate world, woke activists who support ‘diversity-McCarthyism’ in Hollywood run into two particular problems. Firstly, it is comprised of high-profile people with media attention who can speak out and be heard. And secondly, a film business that can no longer perform its function of ‘entertaining people’ is dysfunctional and economically unworkable. There is no doubt that public disinterest (and even disgust) in the Hollywood brand is at an all-time high.    Practically speaking, the earnest takeover of Hollywood by wokeism began around 2015 with the 87th Academy Awards and the media hype of #OscarsSoWhite, and progressed with the #MeToo movement of 2017.  Soon after, this was further accelerated by the George Floyd incident and the ensuing Black Lives Matter riots, prompting the Academy in 2020 to launch a Representation and Inclusion Standards Entry platform. Like most corporate policies based around ‘positive discrimination’, the language of these proposals is comprised of feel-good buzzwords, which, paradoxically, enact strict policies of discrimination. According to this initiative, for a movie to qualify for Best Picture, the representation of white males among everyone from interns to executives (on-screen and off) will be artificially limited.  By 2024, no films will be considered for best picture without meeting two of four standards for the representation of ‘underrepresented groups’, which include women, people of color, LGBTQ people, and people with disabilities... “The audience stops trusting us. They begin to see us as a community twisting ourselves into a pretzel to make every movie as woke as possible, every relationship mixed racially, every character sexually fluid, and they decide that we are telling stories set in a fantasyland instead of a world they know and live in. If that happens… we will lose them.” – anonymous director. “I get so paranoid about even phone calls. It’s so scary. My close friends and my family are just like, ‘Don’t say anything.’ It is one of those things, ‘Will I be able to sleep at night if I say anything?’ Getting jobs in this town is so hard, and I’m very grateful to have a great job. If there’s any so-called ding on my record, that would just be an argument against hiring me.” – anonymous writer.  “Everyone has gone so underground with their true feelings about things. If you voice things in a certain way it can really have negative repercussions for you.” – Mike White, writer and director of HBO hit ‘The White Lotus’.  “You’re not allowed to pick your staff anymore, and studios won’t let you interview anybody who isn’t a person of color.” – anonymous showrunner.  “Now, they’ll just say, ‘Sorry, diversity quotas. We’re just not allowed to hire you,’” – anonymous comedy writer.   No less than Quentin Tarantino has added his opinion to this issue, saying in an appearance on Bill Maher last year saying: “Ideology has become more important than art. It’s like ideology trumps art. Ideology trumps individual effort. Ideology trumps good.”... Art withers within a framework of tight censorship, as effective art tells truths and moralises on widely accepted virtues. An effective writers’ room, especially in regard to comedy and realistic drama, is intended to be a reckless, free-form, and unrestrained riffing of the funniest, nastiest, darkest, and most ribald ideas a team can suggest to one another. The magic occurs in an unrestrained environment.  But hiring mandates do not allow like-minded creatives to organically bond; they are chosen based on unrelated criteria like race and sexual orientation, and at any moment they can be plucked out and replaced to meet a new mandate, and none of this has anything at all to do with successfully writing an amazing story.  Recently, CBS mandated that writers’ rooms be staffed with at least 40% BIPOC writers, to be increased to 50% by 2023. Every studio has a similar strict outline of ‘inclusion standards’.   “I’m sitting in a room trying to run a show with a collection of people I don’t totally trust.” – anonymous writer. It seems many big-budget woke offerings are turning out to be box office failures (such as the ‘Sex and the City’ and ‘Ghostbusters’ reboots). However, it also seems that, at least for the moment, economic concerns are still not enough to restrain the tentacles of ‘woke activism’.   For those in the know, Hollywood has been stagnant for years, the real money coming from television channel reruns and wherever older movies can be sold. The rise of Netflix and streaming services has collapsed that model even further, leaving entertainment creatives feeling pressured financially as well as on the run from the discriminating mandates.  Some of these professionals apparently see their last chance to save their careers, or at least to fight back against the ruinous zealots, in the threat of legal action. A courtroom is much more difficult to control ideologically than an awards show or a hiring agency, after all.   As has been shown in other similar cases, that could well prove to be the final battleground for the future of Hollywood. As an anonymous showrunner quoted by Kiefer and Savodnik said, “This is all going to end in a giant class-action lawsuit.”"

Meme - Pop Base: "Sydney Agudong has been cast as Nani in the upcoming 'Lilo & Stitch' live-action movie."
Macaiyla: "MELANIN? WHERE ? IS IT"
Jesus Crust: "Ariel took it all"
Weird. We were just told that the skin colour of fictional characters can be changed (of course, Cleopatra doesn't count). One cope I saw was that Hawaiians are real people but not mermaids, so their skin colour cannot be changed (ignoring all the previous bitching about whitewashing in Avatar: The Last Airbender among other things) Not to mention how she has Hawaiian ancestry

Meme - "Disney's casting of 'Lilo & Stitch' character prompts colorism debate
*all dark skinned*
Bell 2022
Tinker bell 2023
Ariel 2023
Snow White 2023
Peter Pan 2023"

Meme *Little Mermaid* "SKIN COLOR DOESNT MATTER IT IS A FICTIONAL CHARACTER"
*Lilo & Stitch* "COLOR IS NOT DARK ENOUGH FICTIONAL CHARACTER IS DARKER"

Meme - "... this film will also introduce our very first openly gay character!"
"this is your 7th film with "first openly gay character""
"First Latinx openly gay character"

“The Bane of My Life”: Priyanka Chopra Talks Impact Of Apu From The Simpsons : KotakuInAction - "Do you remember the scandal over that chinese movie starring Matt Damon? Americans were in a fit over how insensitive it was that Chinese people couldn't see someone like them in their own movie. But, in actuality, Chinese people from China see Chinese actors in Chinese movies all the fucking time. Seeing an A-list American actor is much more of a novelty for them (now I don't remember if that movie did well or not tbh)"
“The Bane of My Life”: Priyanka Chopra Talks Impact Of Apu From The Simpsons : KotakuInAction - "Besides, Damon's character was a European mercenary. They didnt demand the audience to accept white people like they were inhabiting China as Hollywood currently does by blackwashing historical and fantastical European settings." “The Bane of My Life”: Priyanka Chopra Talks Impact Of Apu From The Simpsons : KotakuInAction - "The joke of that whole situation was the movie was designed to be a Hollywood/China collab - it was helmed by noted Chinese director Zhang Yimou, and is a wuxia style flick with both big American stars and Chinese stars. It was made to try and appeal to both sides of the fence.  I recall that cunty actress from Fresh Off the Boat going off on Twitter about how 'white men are not our heroes!11!!1' and some such BS, even though (as u/dandrixxx noted) Matt Damon and co. were all portraying Europeans who'd travelled to China. And this was also around the time of the ScarJo in Ghost in the Shell nonsense - another misinformed controversy."

Meme - Black and Brown women: *Black Ariel* "Now we can finally feel represented"
Men: *Shrek, Optimus Prime, Korg, Ninja Turtle, Sonic the Hedgehog etc* "LMAO That's literally me!"

Meme - The Yaboiposting: "Fun thing about being a mixed or light skinned black (like yours truly) is constantly being told how non-black you actually are. This bullshit is the main reasons I ended up the red-pilled admin you see before you."
blairsmus @blairsmus: "riri williams/ironheart is voiced by biracial actress sofia wylie in short animated series, despite riri being depicted as darkskin in the comic books. i hope @disney @marvel isn't planning on taking away 1 of the few rep darkskin black girls have"
Representation is so powerful that you can see what voice actors look like when listening to their voices

Global TV Begins Production On Robyn Hood, Series To “Reimagine” Classic English Folk Hero As A Black Female “Gen Zer” - "“Robyn Hood follows Robyn Loxley, a young woman whose masked hip-hop band, The Hood, is known for their inventive videos and anti-authoritarian message.”  “She lives in Sherwood Towers, a cluster of rental high-rises in a working-class corner of New Nottingham, a near-fi city where the cost of living has skyrocketed, leaving an ever-widening gap between the rich and everyone else,” they added."

Meme - "Never forget that diversity and multiculturalism is our strength, which is why nations that had too many ethnic groups within their borders are unstable and prone to constant civil wars and dictatorships. Wait"
Xavi Ruiz @xruiztru: "Map of Africa using ethnically drawn borders, rather than those drawn by imperial powers."

City Bans Men From Applying for $63,000-A-Year Street Sweeper Operator Job - "An Australian city council has banned men from applying for a $63,000-a-year street sweeper operator job in order to create an "inclusive" organization.  Darebin City Council, in Melbourne, the capital of Victoria (Vic) state, opened the job to people identifying as "non-male"... In the job description, Darebin City Council said it was a "progressive leader in local government" and is "passionate about social inclusion."  It added: "We are proud of the diversity of our workforce and recognise the strength this provides in meeting the needs of the community we serve. "We are committed to upholding a positive and supportive work environment that values the contribution of all employees and treats all employees with dignity and respect.""
Too bad this is easily bypassed

I struggle to find men to work for me, says John Lewis chief - "The chairman of John Lewis has admitted she has struggled to find men who will work for her as she revealed she had been criticised for attempting to change the "strong male culture" at the retailer.  Dame Sharon White said she has found it “quite hard to recruit men” at John Lewis Partnership (JLP) since her push to "rebalance" the organisation away from its masculine "command and control" culture.  Speaking at an International Women's Day event at King’s College London, Dame Sharon said she had also faced a backlash for recruiting and promoting women... More than 60pc of leadership positions at JLP are filled by women, compared to 40pc of director posts across FTSE 350 companies... She said she was concerned about the growing backlash against feminism among young men. She blamed a failure to have "healthy" conversations about the importance of gender equality with boys and teenagers... figures from Ipsos earlier this week suggested that two out of every five Britons believed that championing women's equality meant that men were being discriminated against."
If you criticise male culture and prioritise women over men, it's a surprise that men don't want to work for you. And the solution is to indoctrinate men about feminism. Or blame the men for being misogynists
60% of leaders being women isn't a problem. But 60% of leaders being men is

The regional impact of cultural diversity on wages: evidence from Australia - "the ethnic fractionalisation literature indicates that cultural diversity can lead to interracial conflict or racism, at least in the short-term, followed by a decline in economic performance due to reduced investment and public spending (Alesina and La Ferrara 2005; Fearon 2003; Montalvo and Reynal-Querol 2005; Stahl et al. 2010). In a dynamic model with a lagged measure of diversity, Campos et al. (2011) found that diversity has a significant negative impact on economic growth. A range of reasons can be posited for this negative economic impact. Some studies, for example, have linked ethnic diversity with reduced social cohesion leading to conflicts (Kochan et al. 2003; Lieber 2009; Roberson and Kulik 2007). At the organisational level, diversity that is poorly managed can reduce staff morale and productivity, provoke conflict between employees and managers, and harm social cohesion (Kochan et al. 2003; Roberson and Kulik 2007; Wrench 2005). Diversity may also result in the perpetration of, and exposure to, prejudice and racism, marginalisation of minorities, deterioration of social capital, and political conflict (Stahl et al. 2010), with any potential benefits offset by the costs of such phenomena (Campos et al. 2011; Montalvo and Reynal-Querol 2005; Triana et al. 2015)... the findings that indicate a positive effect of diversity tend to disappear after controlling for individual fixed effects... although contemporaneous levels of cultural diversity strongly and positively affect weekly wages, the impact of previous levels of diversity on weekly wages is not conclusive. This may explain the variation in the literature where some studies report that cultural diversity increases wages across time (Bellini et al. 2013; Ottaviano and Peri 2006) while others do not (Longhi 2013)."

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse opens ground-breaking franchise to female fans
We are simultaneously told that women need to see themselves onscreen in traditionally male roles to identify with the heroes, and that women have always been into these universes so we can't pretend that they haven't

Meme - "Black Anime Nerds
Lea Stafford: The movie was great, but not once did they reference him as Black/AA. But they definitely made it priority numbers one to mention how Hispanic he is."
Grievance mongers will never be satisfied. Diversity is a losing strategy

Meme - "Theoden, King of Rohan
Legendary Creature - Human Noble
Whenever Theoden, King of Rohan or another Human enters the battlefield under your control, target creature gains double strike until end of turn.
"Perhaps your hands would remember their old strength better, if you grasped this basketball.""

Meme - "Wizards of the coast and Magic the gathering is showing a level of incompetence that is almost impressive.
White man and white woman turned black
Aragorn, the Uniter, Galadriel, Elven-Queen
The exact same person depicted as both white and black
Meriadoc Brandybuck, Merry, Esquire of Rohan
Asian guy turned into a white woman
Easterling Vanguard
Biological siblings of completely different races
Eomer, Marshal of Rohan, Eowyn, Fearless Knight"

Meme - Based Aragorn IV: An Unexpected Yeeting: "The dunedain Rangers were black womxn. You might have read otherwise, you might have Tolkien quotes to the contrary. But you have to ask yourself one question... is this worth losing my job over? The dunedain Rangers were black womxn."

Inspired by 'Hamilton,' diverse docudrama based on survivor testimony is touring US - "A few days after playwright Wendy Kout was asked to create a play about Holocaust survivors, white supremacists took to the streets of Charlottesville with chants against Jews and immigrants.  “Those tiki torches lit a fire under me,” Kout told The Times of Israel. “That’s when the urgency of this play was fully underscored.”  Wanting audiences to connect with the Holocaust through eyewitness testimony, Kout wrote “Survivors,” a docudrama commissioned by CenterStage of Rochester, New York. Since 2017, the play has toured North America with a new cast for each region...  After Lewinsky speaks about the genocidal worldview of Nazi Germany, she adds, “Some of you in the audience may experience this kind of abuse and injustice… and fear.”"
Blackwashing Jews isn't anti-Semitic. Making inappropriate Holocaust comparisons is good if you're liberal

DC’s bisexual Superman is a misleading and hollow PR stunt - "It turns out the “S” on Superman’s chest stood for “sexually fluid” all along. The custodian of the most famous red-and-blue long johns in popular culture is bisexual, DC Comics has revealed. Next month, Superman will embark on a same-sex relationship with a close male companion after he “mentally and physically burns out from trying to save everyone that he can”. “I’ve always said everyone needs heroes and everyone deserves to see themselves in their heroes and I’m very grateful DC and Warner Bros share this idea,” Tom Taylor, the author of the latest Superman storyline said in a statement. “Superman’s symbol has always stood for hope, for truth and for justice. Today, that symbol represents something more. Today, more people can see themselves in the most powerful superhero in comics.”  He isn’t the only queer superhero. Batman’s eternal sidekick Robin was recently revealed to be “exploring” his sexuality. He’s had girlfriends before. However, following a “lightbulb” moment he decides he wants a relationship with companion Bernard. Unlike Superman, however, Robin has not been formally confirmed as “bi”... if you look past the “Superman is Bi” headlines it quickly becomes obvious that DC is engaged in a game of superheroic sleight of hand. The Superman to which they refer is not Clark Kent – boyfriend to Lois Lane and champion of truth, justice and costume changes in phone booths. No, the new bi Superman is his son, Jonathan, who is holding the fort while his dad disappears into deep space for reasons unknown.  The same is true with bisexual Robin. The character exploring their sexuality is not Batman’s original apprentice, Dick Grayson, but Tim Drake, aka Robin number three.  DC, in other words, is having its cape and eating it – and dominating the news-cycle with an ultimately hollow gesture. It has scored points for its progressiveness by giving us an LGBT Superman and Robin. Yet, the characters are ring-fenced off into their own microcosms. There is no suggestion that the Superman as recently played by Henry Cavill or the Robin your kids watch on Teen Titans Go! are to be unveiled as gay. Because that really would be a risk – one that would potentially inflame conservative comic book fans and meaningfully impact on DC’s ambitions to create a multi-media juggernaut at the same level of its rivals Marvel.  Marvel has also been pushing at the boundaries in terms of the sexuality of its characters. Yet here again it has made sure to do so in a way that does not impinge on the main event, i.e. its movies. Tessa Thompson’s Thor Ragnorark character Valkyrie is officially bisexual. Yet this was revealed only in a Tweet and is never referenced on screen."

Dean Cain blasts bisexual Superman: 'They're bandwagoning' | Toronto Sun - "“They said it’s a bold new direction, I say they’re bandwagoning,” Dean Cain — who played Superman for four seasons on Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman — told Fox & Friends... Cain says the new direction misses the ways in which the Man of Tomorrow could truly have been revolutionized.  “Brave would be having him fighting for the rights of gay people in Iran, where they’ll throw you off a building for the offense of being gay,” Cain, 55, continued. “They’re talking about having him fight climate change and the deportation of refugees, and he’s dating a hacktivist — whatever a hacktivist is. Why don’t they have him fight the injustices that created the refugees whose deportation he’s protesting? That would be brave, I’d read that. Or fighting for the rights of women to attend school and have the ability to work and live and boys not to be raped by men under the new warm and fuzzy Taliban — that would be brave. There’s real evil in this world today, real corruption and government overreach, plenty of things to fight against. Human trafficking — real and actual slavery going on. … It’d be great to tackle those issues.” Earlier this year, Cain bashed Marvel over The United States of Captain America, a new comic that said the American Dream “isn’t real.”  During an appearance on Fox & Friends, Cain said it appears the “cool, the fashionable thing to do is to bash America and to hate America.”  “I love the concept of Captain America, but I am so tired of this wokeness and anti-Americanism.”"

'They don't have a right to do this:' Artist leaves DC Comics over political correctness - "A colorist involved in the making of Superman comics says he’s leaving DC Comics over its aim to make its comics more politically correct, after it announced it would be withdrawing the “American Way” theme from Superman’s traditional motto. “I’m finishing out my contract with DC. I’m tired of this s***, I’m tired of them ruining these characters; they don’t have a right to do this,” Superman: Son of Kal-El colorist Gabe Eltaeb reportedly said... Eltaeb’s decision comes over changes to classic characters, such as making the newest version of Superman bisexual and removing the traditional “American Way” motto of truth and justice that is historically associated with the comic... 'They call us bigots and racist and s***,” Eltaeb reportedly said on the live stream. “I would ask them, find me in the f****** mainstream, not on the fringes, one f****** book, one f****** t-shirt, one movie that says that leftism is bad, and conservatism is good, find it for me, they f******won’t. They’re not letting people have a voice, they’re the f****** bigots'... Ethan Van Sciver, noted that conservatism and criticism of DC’s corporate agenda is not allowed, according to Bounding Into Comics. “You have to keep your negative or critical opinions to yourself, and it’s so liberating to be able to not work for DC comics and be able to say exactly what you think,” he reportedly said in the live stream. “And I think that’s what Gabe is going through here.”"

So DC Comics made its latest Superman a bisexual climate warrior and it turns out people aren't really interested in reading that sort of thing! - "Superman is, after all, one of the most iconic American brands ever created. It's right up there with Mickey Mouse, McDonald's and Ford: Nearly a century old, Superman has for years symbolized American cultural dominance both abroad and at home. He's the total pop culture package!  Except when you retcon his character to make him kiss other boys and/or become the male Greta Thunberg. Then, not so much.  The numbers relative to other Superman comics are astonishing"

X-MEN '97 Head Writer Departs Twitter Following Backlash Over Sunspot "Whitewashing" Casting - "Head Writer Beau DeMayo has decided to leave the platform following a tense few days.   Earlier this week, we learned that Brazilian actor Gui Agustini will lend his voice to Roberto da Costa/Sunspot in the X-Men: The Animated Series follow-up. However, the character has long been the subject of whitewashing claims, first in The New Mutants live-action movie and now in X-Men '97.   Sunspot, who is typically darker-skinned on the page, being portrayed by Agustini didn't sit well with some, while others feel his skin tone in the show itself is too light for an Afro-Brazilian.   Initially, DeMayo responded by saying, "I will not indulge fans believing that they are entitled to be the arbiter of someone else’s identity, and whether or not they are 'this' or 'that' enough...At the proper time, there’ll be plenty of insights into what decisions we made and why. When Marvel gives me the go, I will be very frank and transparent."... "I value fan’s opinions but the sheer amount of vitriol in the last 24-hours is truly taxing, and actually risks working against what you’re trying to do as it’s now closed off an access point because I have to protect myself," he stated before detailing some of the attacks he's endured in recent days (including being labelled a "race traitor")."
"Disney hires a Brazilian VOICE to VOICE a Brazilian character and yet he is not dark skinned enough to VOICE the character. Disney you courted these jerks and emboldened them now look what you how rout upon yourselves."

Who do our children see in Canadian and American TV shows? | The Star - "As a Caribbean-Canadian girl, she noticed most shows did not often have characters who looked like her. “When we were represented, it was often not as a protagonist but as a side character. And so I felt like most shows didn’t teach me what it would look like or feel like to be the protagonist of my own life.”  The exception was the animated series “Corduroy” on TVO Kids, whose main character, Lisa, was a schoolgirl of Jamaican heritage, said Buchanan. “And I felt so excited when I saw her eating Jamaican food because it validated my own experiences as a Black Caribbean-Canadian girl. But yeah, there weren’t many programs like this with authentic representation.”  A new report from Children’s Media Lab found that — at least among programs released in Canada and the U.S. over the past two years — animated children’s television has come a good distance on racial diversity. While non-white and white characters are balanced nearly 50/50, “there’s still a lack of representation of characters who are South Asian, Middle Eastern or Indigenous.”... Gender balance in recent animated children’s programming appears to show an improvement since Children’s Media Lab took a wider look at kids’ TV for a report that came out in 2019. Among human characters in the newer programs, 57 per cent were male and 43 per cent female but, when examining main characters alone, the gap widens with 63 per cent male to 37 per cent female. The disparity is particularly evident with non-human characters, says Buchanan. “When it comes to things like monsters and animals and robots, we’re seeing that 70 per cent of characters are males, whereas only 30 per cent are females, which is quite surprising. What we want to tell people is that girls can be monsters and robots, too.” At just two per cent, most notable by absence are characters with disabilities. “That is really a far cry from the 20 per cent of Canadians who are currently living with a disability,” said Buchanan... “It comes down to nuance. I want kids to see lots of Indigenous experiences. Especially given how they’ve been treated in the past, we really need to counteract stereotypes and create more understanding,” she said.  Likewise, showrunners might think they’ve got disability covered with one episode featuring a kid in a wheelchair. “But that’s not what we want, because if you have a side character who comes in a once in a while and the majority storyline is about them being in a wheelchair, that’s not what we want to get across because kids in a wheelchair, that’s not their entire identity.” She said the lab has also had a lot of illuminating conversations with networks and content creators about the subtle aspects of how genders are portrayed, including the report’s finding that eyelashes are drawn almost exclusively to denote femininity. The report found that all but one character who had been drawn with eyelashes was a girl. “And what does that suggest? Makeup. Mascara.”  Likewise, they want to see that when girl characters are depicted in dresses or skirts, they’re also drawn with leggings so those characters look just as ready for rough-and-tumble play as their male counterparts, and that they’re shown with a better range of body shapes, said Russo Johnson.  The report found that zero female characters were portrayed with larger body sizes, compared to 16 per cent of male characters."
Nothing will ever be enough. Even with a strict quota for characters, new boxes will be invented all the time