In The Shadow Of Mt Hollywood

The case of Jussie Smollett and his putative attack at the hands of two gay Nigerian brothers in whiteface and MAGA hats has turned into a comical data point that illustrates yet again that we're seeing the 2020 moral panic roll itself back. Although the initial alleged attack took place in January 2019, a full year before the arrival of COVID, it was clearly an early attempt to stoke the same passions that would express themselves in 2020's BLM riots: allegations that Trump and his supporters were racists, and violent white racism was systemic in American attitudes. lurking always just beneath the surface. It's starting to look like Kyle Rittenhouse's successful testimony on his own behalf will be the exception that proves the rule: for the defendant to take the stand is normally a very bad idea. But the Rittenhouse case itself is another indication that the 2020 hysteria is subsiding -- a jury was able to sort out the idea that Rittenhouse, a mixed-race naive 17-y...

Convinced that we're now seeing the end stages of a major moral panic, I revisited common discussions of the phenomenon and compared them to what we've been seeing. Wikipedia defines a moral panic as a widespread feeling of fear, often an irrational one, that some evil person or thing threatens the values, interests, or well-being of a community or society. It is "the process of arousing social concern over an issue," usually perpetuated by moral entrepreneurs and the mass media, and exacerbated by politicians and lawmakers. Citing Stanley Cohen's 1972 book Folk Devils and Moral Panics , Wikipedia goes on to say, According to Cohen, a moral panic occurs when a "condition, episode, person or group of persons emerges to become defined as a threat to societal values and interests."  To Cohen, those who start the panic after fearing a threat to prevailing social or cultural values are 'moral entrepreneurs', while those who supposedly th...

Not every discussion of moral panics recognizes a final, "morning after" stage, but recent panics like the day care child abuse controversy of the 1980s have clearly had one, in which the media, the legal system, and politicians slowly and reluctantly admit that mistakes were made. The resignation of New York Gov Andrew Cuomo, one of the chief moral entrepreneurs of the COVID panic, followed by the firing yesterday of his enabler brother, is an indication that we've reached that phase. No matter the ostensible reasons for their departure were allegations of groping. These are conveniently vague, and their enforcement is highly selective -- Bill Clinton got away with far worse, as (so far) has President Biden. We may assume that when it becomes convenient to dispose of Dr Fauci -- and we're approachintg that point -- allegatioins will arise as needed. Speaking of whom, the man himself seems now to be playing for sympathy. In a documentary relased this past Octobe...

As I'd surmised, the attempts by the public health establishment to incite panic during last holiday weekend over the Omicron variant have gone the way of the boy who cried wolf. The information that's coming out is that the variant had been spreading well before its "discovery" late last month. A Minnesota man contracted and recovered from Omicron by November 24 , prior to the South African announcement of its discovery. About 60 people who attended a holiday party in Oslo November 24 were infected and recovered with mild symptom s. All of those infected at the party - which hosted employees of South African renewable energy firm Scatec - are currently recovering at home, [public health officer] Ravlo added. The Olso outbreak - currently the world's largest-known Omicron outbreak - happened after several employees who had recently travelled to Scatec's head office in Cape Town attended the party. . . . [All] cases are assumed to be the new var...

The Ghislaine Maxwell trial is bringing out unrelated material on Epstein's modus operandi, as well as his high-level dupes and cronies. As a longtime Ferdinand Lundberg fan, this provides confirmation and insight for me into how the ruling class actually operates. My guess is that there's a great deal that hasn't come out over Epstein and his ability to manipulate the various economic and legal systems at high level, and much of it may never come to light. I don't think, though, that Epstein is a unique figure; Hunter Biden is a near clone as we speak. The UK Daily Mail obtained White House visitor logs from the Clinton Presidential Library under a series of FOIA requests. Its story here covers Epstein's visits in some detail. Epstein, who died in 2019, visited Bill Clinton at the Executive Mansion over the course of three years with the first invitation coming just a month after his inauguration in January 1993. The logs show the late financier showed...

I've been following commentary on the Ghislaine Maxwell trial and found a data point I hadn't seen before, that Jeffrey Epstein was a transhumanist . This source summarizes that New York Times article : Transhumanists herald genetic engineering and artificial intelligence as promising ways to improve human performance. They advocate, essentially, for the use of technology — including nanomedicine, robotics, brain-computer integration, and more — that alters typical human physiology in order to better our body and brain. The usual discussions of transhumanism are far too polite. Among its basic tenets is the idea that in the future, cures will eliminate diseases and conditions that are fatal now but will not be then. Thus it will be possible to freeze the bodies of people who die now, but at some point in the future, not only will medical advances cure the condition that killed the patient, but other future technology will be able to resuscitate the frozen body and bring...

The Omicron variant represents a major challenge to the official COVID narrative, which has grown increasingly threadbare. Nothing, up to now, has been very effective against any variant. The pattern has beeen repeated spikes and lulls, when strict measures in one state like Michigan have proven no more effective than no measures at all in another like Florida. But now we learn via the Washington Post that As part of an enhanced winter covid strategy Biden is expected to announce Thursday, U.S. officials would require everyone entering the country to be tested one day before boarding flights, regardless of their vaccination status or country of departure. Administration officials are also considering a requirement that all travelers get retested within three to five days of arrival. In addition, they are debating a controversial proposal to require all travelers, including U.S. citizens, to self-quarantine for seven days, even if their test results are negative. Those who flout th...