If you shut up truth and bury it under the ground, it will but grow, and gather to itself such explosive power that the day it bursts through it will blow up everything in its way.
—Émile Zola
Quote of the Day
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Category Archives: Free Speech
Quote of the Day
Equally clear is the right to hear. To suppress free speech is a double wrong. It violates the rights of the hearer as well as those of the speaker. It is just as criminal to rob a man of his right to speak and hear as it would be to rob him of his money.
—Frederick Douglass
Dealing with Crimethink
My podcasting partner Stacy McCain has a post up about the Xiden administration’s efforts to induce Americans to report on potentially radicalized friends and family.
The Lives of Others was not intended to be a how-to film.
Team Kimberlin Post of the Day
This episode of Blognet first ran seven years ago today.
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MUSIC: Theme. Intro and fade under.
NARRATOR: Ladies and gentlemen, the story you are about to hear is true. The names have been changed to protect the innocent.
MUSIC: Up, then under …
NARRATOR: You’re a Detective Sergeant. You’re assigned to Internet Detail. A blogger is being sued for writing about another lawsuit and questioning the plaintiff’s motives. His employer is being sued as well. Your job … get the facts.
MUSIC: Up then under …
ANNOUNCER: Blognet … the documented drama of an actual case. For the next few minutes, in cooperation with the Twitter Town Sheriff’s Department, you will travel step by step on the side of the good guys through an actual case transcribed from official files. From beginning to end, from crime to punishment, Blognet is the story of the good guys in action.
MUSIC: Up and out.
SOUND: Footsteps on sidewalk. Repeating background PA announcement: “The white zone is for immediate loading and unloading of passengers. No parking please.”
FRIDAY: It was Wednesday, March 6th. It was a smog-free day in LA. I was on temporary duty for Internet Detail. My partner, Liz Smith, was back in Westminster with our boss, Twitter Town Sheriff W. J. J. Hoge. My name’s Friday. It was 11:31 am when I walked out of the baggage claim area at LAX. Continue reading
Quote of the Day
Give me the liberty to know, to utter, and to argue freely according to conscience, above all liberties.
—John Milton
Social Media, Censorship, and Overreach
Susan Crabtree has an article over at RCP titled Group of Tech Execs Takes On Social Media Censorship. It takes a look at what may be going on behind the scenes in Silicon Valley related to Facebook’s recent uncensoring of discussion about the possibility of a lab leak being the source of the recent pandemic from the point of view of Mike Matthys, a venture capital executive. She also cites Matthys’ criticism of Facebook’s censorship relating to a Wall Street Journal review of a book on climate change, YouTube’s suppression of a video about the efficacy of masks and lockdowns by Gov. DeSantis and physicians from Stanford and Harvard, and an attempt by Reps. Eshoo (D-CA) and McNerney (D-CA) to pressure media companies.
[P]olitically biased censorship only further fuels widespread mistrust in the media writ large – especially when they suddenly reverse course and lift bans on certain narratives that subsequent evidence shows weren’t crackpot ideas at all.
Many of the Titans of Tech have become intoxicated with their success to date. They’ve become legends in their own minds, and that has led them to overreach. Hubris invariably attracts Nemesis.
Hogewash! is very tiny slice of the overall media pie, but it has been the a victim of social media censorship. In 2015, my blog and I were banned from Twitter because truthful reporting was deemed to be targeted harassment. That was very early in Twitter’s campaign to control The Narrative, and the company wound up restoring one of my accounts. However, Twitter has applied some of the lessoned learned dealing with accounts like mine to refine their censorship methods and try to keep them within the Section 230 safe harbor.
About a year ago, I began receiving emails and comments saying that Facebook was not permitting users to post links to Hogewash! because this site violated Facebook’s “community standards.” Given Facebook’s behavior with regard to free speech, I took that as a badge of honor, and late in 2020, I closed my own Facebook account. Last month, I received an email from one of the Gentle Readers with a copy of a notice he received when he tried to link to a post at Hogewash!. This notice gave a more specific reason for banning links to Hogewash!—it claimed this site is a source of spam.
I have asked Facebook to provide me with any evidence they have connecting this site with spam by close of business today.
Team Kimberlin Post of the Day
Maybe it’s a Montgomery County thing to try to have someone arrested on a false charge of violating a peace order. It was nine years ago yesterday that Brett Kimberlin’s false complaint cause Aaron Walker to be arrested, booked, and jailed for a few hours. Nine years ago today, I posted this: Aaron Walker’s Arrest—Early Edition.
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Patterico has a good analysis which untangles some of the gnarly mess of the reporting about yesterday’s farce. Read it. All the way through. At the end, he recommends reading David Hogberg’s eye witness report of the hearing.
Brett Kimberlin and his allies are acting as if they have a winning strategy. He was lucky yesterday to draw an elderly judge who doesn’t seem to understand the Internet, blogging, or social media. I doubt that his luck will hold out. IANAL, but it looks as if Walker should prevail on appeal. We need to support him and the other bloggers being abused by Kimberlin and his friends.
The donation web site is here. [Expired link.]
UPDATE–Glenn Reynolds (JD, Yale, 1985) notes:
Walker also made a major error by representing himself. No lawyer should do that in anything more than a minor traffic offense. This goes double for Yale Law grads. . . .
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Judge Vaughey was not only overruled on appeal, he wound up being reprimanded by the Commission of Judicial Disabilities.
And Kimberlin has lost all of this anti-free-speech LOLsuits and all his appeals since 2012.
I’m Not Making This Up, You Know
Twitter has called for the government of India to respect freedom of expression.
Team Kimberlin Post of the Day
The core claim at the center of all of Brett Kimberlin’s LOLsuits against me was defamation, and a statement must be false in order to be defamatory. Kimberlin claimed that it was false to refer to him as a pedophile. During discovery in the Kimberlin v. Walker, et al. suit, the only one of his cases to get that far, I asked him what evidence he had to show what I had reported was false. The TKPOTD for seven years ago today dealt with his effort to dodge those interrogatories.
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The Dread Pro-Se Kimberlin doesn’t want to answer the interrogatories that I sent him as part of discovery in the Kimberlin v. Walker, et al. nuisance suit. For example—
Irrelevant to the case? Really? I thought TDPK was suing me because he says I have called him a pedophile. This is from his complaint—
This is found on page 78 of Citizen K:
His [Kimberlin’s] attachment to Jessica was quite a different matter. Their weekly after-school outings, Kimberlin said, were “very special days” for her. … For three consecutive summers, 1974 through 1976, they took vacations for a week or longer in Disney World, Mexico, and Hawaii. Sandi [“Jessica’s” mother] couldn’t get time off from work, so on these summer trips it was just the two of them—Brett and Jessica.
Eyebrows levitated. A drug-dealing colleague had memories of conversations with Kimberlin that struck him as odd: “We’d see a girl who was pubescent or prepubescent, and Brett would get this smile and say, ‘Hey, what do you think? Isn’t she great?’ It made me very uncomfortable.” Another recalled Kimberlin introducing Jessica as “my girlfriend,” and if irony was intended, it was too subtile to register.
<sarc>Nothing to see here. Move along.</sarc>
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Kimberlin lost that case because he failed to present any evidence that anything I or my codefendants has written or said about him was false.
Does Acme Legal Have a New Client?
The Gentle Reader who has been following this blog for a few years may remember a running gag about the crackpot legal theories advanced by the members of Team Kimberlin being based on advice from the legal department of the same Acme Company that sells widgets to Wile E. Coyote. These tweets suggest Acme may have a new client—
Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.
—John Adams
Jones may be annoyed by people looking into and reporting on her past and current activities, but truthful reporting is not defamatory. Indeed, lawyers have told me that under Maryland law she would bear the burden of proving any allegedly defamatory statement was false.
Speaking of false statements—
I can’t find any evidence in the online Maryland Judiciary Case Search of any warrants having been issued in Maryland because of a criminal complaint filed by Jones.
Team Kimberlin Post of the Day
Today is the ninth anniversary of my first post about Brett Kimberlin. It was titled No Thugs Zone.
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Fellow blogger and Maryland resident Stacy McCain has had to move his family out of the state because of threats related to blogging about Brett Kimberlin. He is not the only blogger suffering abuse from Kimberlin.
Mr. Kimberlin was unwise in choosing to pick a fight with the blogosphere. He is likely to find that, while we don’t always agree with one another, we have each other’s backs when the freedom of the Internet is threatened. Mr. Kimberlin and those who have supported him (I’m looking at you, Ms. Streisand [dead link]) have bitten off more than they can chew. The pushback is just beginning.
UPDATE–The McCain family is having a ton of unforeseen expenses because of their sudden move. I just hit his tip jar. Why don’t you?
UPDATE 2–Expect more, a lot more, about this on Friday.
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I’m not through with him yet.
Rebekah Jones and the False Criminal Complaint
Rebekah Jones filed a bogus petition for a peace order against Christina Pushaw. Because she filed her petition outside of normal business hours, she was granted an interim peace order until a judge could evaluate her petition. When she appeared before a judge, she was granted a temporary peace order based on her unchallenged testimony. After Ms. Pushaw was served with a copy of the temporary order, a second hearing was held during which Jones’ testimony was subjected to cross-examination. When her allegations were subjected to the rules of evidence, her petition was denied, and no final order was issued.
Ms. Pushaw was never served with the interim order, but the day after it was issued, Jones filed an Application for Statement of Charges claiming that Ms. Pushaw had violated the order. Her sworn complaint is clearly false because Ms. Pushaw had not been served with the order, but it resulted in a summons being issued to Ms. Pushaw. The online Maryland Judiciary Case Search shows a “trial” date of 7 June. Based on my own experience with this kind of false complaint, if the charge hasn’t been dropped for lack of evidence by that date, there will be a preliminary hearing before a judge to determine if there is probable cause to go forward with the case. Given the lack of service, there should be no finding of probable cause.
An Application for Statement of Charges is signed under penalty of perjury. Perjury is only a misdemeanor in Maryland, but it is punishable by imprisonment for up to 10 years.
Congratulations Are In Order
Governor Ron DeSantis has selected Christina Pushaw to be his new press secretary.
The Gentle Reader may remember that Ms. Pushaw has been attacked with a bogus peace order petition by Rebekah Jones. Jones was annoyed by Ms. Pushaw’s well-document reporting about Jones’ false claim to be a whistleblower.
Words Have Meaning
And Sarah Hoyt has a post over at According to Hoyt about how collectivist/progressives/liberals have created a style sheet that bends public discourse in their favor.
Look, half of the way you think is bounded in by words. And half of the way other people think too. By using the leftist chosen terms, you’re lending them your unwitting support.
Don’t lose the war of words. Come up with more accurate terms, and think about what you’re saying.
Don’t let the Left frame the terms of the debate. Make them deal with the Real World on its terms. Or if it’s to your advantage, force them to stick with a contradictory position. (Hey, AP, why are you complaining about your Gaza office? Destruction of property isn’t violence again, is it?)
Don’t let the wokie win.
Team Kimberlin Post of the Day
During 2016, a great percentage of the LOLsuit Brett Kimberlin had filed were in the process of being dismissed by a lower court of having an appeal denied. The TKPOTD from five years ago today dealt with Kimberlin’s certiorari petition to the Maryland Court of Appeals in the Kimberlin v. Walker nuisance suit.
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5 May, 16 May, 23 May, 28 May, 6 June, 13 June.
Tick, tock.
Oh, I almost forgot. The Dread Pro-Se Kimberlin has filed this petition for writ of certiorari with the Maryland Court of Appeals.
I’m leaving comments open, but don’t educate the midget by correcting his errors of law. OTOH, feel free to point out the … lawyers call them misstatements of fact … we engineers call them lies … the lies you find.
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The petition was denied, and Kimberlin had the good sense not to attempt to appeal the the Supreme Court.
Watching the Dust Settle
Last Friday, Rebekah Jones saw her bogus peace order petition against Christina Pushaw go down in flames for lack of evidence. As of noon today, the false criminal complaint against Ms. Pushaw for violating the interim peace order had not yet been dropped. It could take a few days for the Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office to nolle prosse the case. I’ve got Wednesday afternoon on the calendar in the break area, and there are still some squares left in the pool.
Of course, Jones has the right to appeal the denial to the Circuit Court. If she does, there will be a trial de novo. She says she intends to have a lawyer and two tech experts with her for the appeal. As I’ve noted before, if Jones has legal counsel, it would be wise for her to review her online tweets and posts since the beginning of April with her lawyer to determine which she should take down and apologize for.
The ram hasn’t touched the wall. Yet.
One of Us is Wrong
Rebekah Jones tweeted this at 12:29 ET yesterday afternoon—
Note: The system clock on my computer is set to Coordinated Universal Time which is 4 hours ahead of Eastern Time.
At 3:53 ET, I tweeted—
Jones responded by blocking me on Twitter. Of course, that doesn’t prevent me from viewing her account by simply logging out of my Twitter account and revisiting the site. As of the last time I checked, her 12:29 pm tweet was still posted, and it didn’t appear that she had posted any subsequent correction.
Jones has also tweeted that she plans to appeal the denial of the peace order petition, mentioning that she intends to bring a lawyer and two tech experts to the appeal. It would be wise for her to review the posts and tweets she has made since 7 April with her lawyer and get advice about which of them to take down and offer apologies for.
The ram hasn’t touched the wall. Yet.
Blognet
MUSIC: Theme. Intro and fade under.
NARRATOR: Ladies and gentlemen, the story you are about to hear is true. The names have been changed to protect the innocent.
MUSIC: Up, then under …
NARRATOR: You’re a Detective Sergeant. You’re assigned to Internet Detail. A public figure awaiting trial for cyberharassment and hacking has accused a writer of stalking and harassing her via an article posted on the Internet. Your job … get the facts.
MUSIC: Up then under …
ANNOUNCER: Blognet … the documented drama of an actual case. For the next few minutes, in cooperation with the Twitter Town Sheriff’s Department, you will travel step by step on the side of the good guys through an actual case transcribed from official files. From beginning to end, from crime to punishment, Blognet is the story of the good guys in action.
MUSIC: Up and out. Continue reading
Blognet Returns
A brand new episode of Blognet will be posted at 6 pm ET this evening.
Stay tuned.
Peace Order Petition Denied
The bogus peace order petition filed by Rebekah Jones against Christina Pushaw was denied. I was excluded from the courtroom as a potential witness, so I can’t report based on my direct observations. I will interview Ms. Pushaw this afternoon and order a copy of the hearing audio.
More later.
UPDATE—
Jones v. Pushaw
There is a hearing scheduled today at 11 am in the District Court for Montgomery County to determine if a final peace order will be granted in the Jones v. Pushaw case. I am headed to the courthouse in Silver Spring to attend the hearing and plan to report on what I see and hear.
Stay tuned.
Yours Truly, Johnny Atsign
ANNOUNCER: From Westminster, it’s time for —
SOUND: Skype rings once. Receiver picked up.
JOHNNY: Johnny Atsign.
DD: (Telephone Filter) Hi, Johnny, it’s Dinah Daley. I’ve gone over that fundraising filing you sent.
JOHNNY: And?
DD: (Telephone Filter) I emailed you a copy of my notes, but the quick version is it raises several red flags.
JOHNNY: Such as?
DD: (Telephone Filter) Well, the most obvious are the math errors. Take a look at my email and call me back with any questions.
MUSIC: Theme up and under.
ANNOUNCER: The Lickspittle Broadcasting System presents W. J. J. Hoge in the transcribed adventures of the man with the action-packed Twitter account, America’s fabulous free-lance Internet investigator …
JOHNNY: Yours Truly, Johnny Atsign!
MUSIC: Theme up to music out. Continue reading
I’ll Just Leave This Right Here
Team Kimberlin Post of the Day
Seven years ago, Karoli Kuns had a long piece up at Crooks and Liars that spun a false tale about how I was using Maryland’s peace order statue to harass and oppress Bill Schmalfeldt. Of course, her story was utter nonsense, an inversion of what Brett Kimberlin had done to Aaron Walker and would later try to do to me. I responded to her and to Matt Osborne (who made the mistake of trying to pile on too) with a post titled On Justice.
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“No fair!”
Every one of us has said it beginning from the time we were small children. Human beings seem to be wired with a predisposition to fairness. Indeed, evolutionary psychologists like Jonathan Haidt believe that the moral sense of fairness is a universal human trait. Outrage is a normal, heathy response to unfair treatment. We want the world to be set to rights. We want justice in what seems to be an unjust world.
As a Christian, I believe that the source of justice is God. It says in Genesis that we were created in His image, so it makes sense to me that more we allow ourselves to be led by the Holy Spirit to be what God intends for us to be, the more we would desire justice. Sometimes Christians are called to deal with the grander problems of the world—think of William Wilberforce, Desmond Tutu, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and Martin Luther King, Jr.—but, most of the the time, most of us deal with the seemingly smaller injustices of the world. Sometimes a Christian is called to stand up to a bully.
Bill Schmalfeldt is a such a bully. For years, he has harassed others on the Internet, and no one was able to bring him to justice. That task seems to have fallen to me.
Schmalfeldt’s surprised reaction has been to whine, “No fair! You hit me back.” However, even that’s not strictly true. I haven’t taken personal revenge on him. I’ve reported him to the proper authorities and left any action taken to them.
The real question I face is not what Jesus thinks of my allegedly sadistic treatment of Bill Schmalfeldt. That question is based in the false premise that I am the sadist in the interactions between us. No, the real question is what Jesus would think of my failure to stand up a thug like Schmalffeldt who is bullying others.
Has my response to Schmalfeldt been perfect? Probably not. But my conscience is clear. It would not be if I had failed to step in between him and some of his victims.
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Karoli still has me blocked on Twitter.
Yours Truly, Johnny Atsign
ANNOUNCER: From Westminster, it’s time for —
SOUND: Skype rings once. Receiver picked up.
JOHNNY: Johnny Atsign.
C.P: (Telephone Filter) Mr. Atsign, my name is Carole Puller. I believe you may be able to help me.
JOHNNY: How so, Ms. Puller?
C.P.: (Telephone Filter) The subject of an article I published online is trying to get a peace order against me. She’s claiming that I’m harassing her by truthfully reporting on her criminal record.
JOHNNY: You don’t live in Montgomery County, do you?
C.P.: (Telephone Filter) No, I don’t, but she does.
JOHNNY: Tell me more.
MUSIC: Theme up and under.
ANNOUNCER: The Lickspittle Broadcasting System presents W. J. J. Hoge in the transcribed adventures of the man with the action-packed Twitter account, America’s fabulous free-lance Internet investigator …
JOHNNY: Yours Truly, Johnny Atsign!
MUSIC: Theme up to music out. Continue reading