Dec
16
2022

Good Grief, Grifters Gotta Grift

Shouldn't this be reported as an in-kind contribution to Ron DeSantis's presidential campaign?

Briefly noted:

  • Philip Hamburger is wondering at the WSJ: Is Social-Media Censorship a Crime?.

    Amid growing revelations about government involvement in social-media censorship, it’s no longer enough to talk simply about tech censorship. The problem should be understood as gov-tech censorship. The Biden White House has threatened tech companies and federal agencies have pressed them to censor disfavored opinions and users. So it’s time to ask about accountability.

    Will there be legal consequences for government officials, for the companies, or for their personnel who cooperate in the gov-tech censorship of dissent on Covid-19, election irregularities or other matters? Cooperation between government officials and private parties to suppress speech could be considered a criminal conspiracy to violate civil rights. The current administration won’t entertain such a theory, but a future one might.

    Section 241 of Title 18 of the U.S. Code provides: “If two or more persons conspire to injure, oppress, threaten, or intimidate any person . . . in the free exercise or enjoyment of any right or privilege secured to him by the Constitution or laws of the United States, or because of his having so exercised the same, . . . they shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both.”

    Lock 'em up.

  • Perhaps the least surprising news of the day comes from Jacob Sullum at Reason: Memos Show FDA E-Cigarette Regulation Driven by Value Judgments, Not Science.

    It has long been clear that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is leery of approving nicotine vaping products in flavors other than tobacco because the agency worries that they appeal to teenagers. Two recently disclosed FDA memos not only confirm that impression; they indicate that the agency is determined to ban all other flavors, no matter how popular they are among former smokers and no matter what evidence a manufacturer presents in favor of a particular product.

    The memos came to light thanks to a lawsuit that Logic Technology filed against the FDA after the agency approved the marketing of the company's tobacco-flavored e-cigarettes but rejected applications for menthol-flavored versions. The documents show that higher-ups in the FDA overrode staff scientists who initially recommended approval of the latter applications.

    Your blogger does not smoke or vape, and doesn't recommend that you start. Your blogger is also deeply embarrassed by both his state's senators' jihad against vaping products. (Logic: since some vapers are under 18, they must be banned for everyone.)

  • Tennyson's "Ulysses" is one of my favorite poems. Maybe one of yours too. If so, check out Virginia Postrel's efforts to get the ChatGPT AI to "write a poem in the style of Tennyson’s “Ulysses” about Bill Gates": To Fail Beyond the Sunset.... It is a masterpiece of increasing exasperation and amusement. ChatGPT's final effort, after much prompting and tutelage from Virginia:

    Bill Gates, the man of vision
    A pioneer and a leader in his field
    With wealth and knowledge at his command
    He forged a path for all to see
    Windows and Office, tools of his trade
    He changed the world with a single stroke
    And though he's now retired from the fray
    His legacy lives on, a beacon to all
    Oh, Bill Gates, the fearless innovator
    Who pushed the limits and showed us all
    The power of technology and the human mind
    Now, as he sails into the sunset
    We know his work will never be done
    For he will always strive to be
    The very best that he can be.

    It manages to be both obsequious and clueless about what it's done:

    In this poem, I have attempted to emulate the word choice and iambic pentameter of Tennyson’s “Ulysses” while still writing about Bill Gates. I hope this satisfies your request.

    Virginia, giving up: You need to read more Tennyson.