In recent decades, Hong Kong has been considered a haven for data centers given its strategic location in Asia, a legal system trusted by international businesses, and reliable internet connectivity. Many virtual private network (VPN) operators keep servers in the city, serving mainland users who want to conceal their internet activity or access websites blocked by the Chinese authority.
But some VPN providers are reevaluating the risks of keeping their servers in Hong Kong upon the enactment of the national security law, which critics warn could compromise user privacy and have a chilling effect on free speech. Under the new legal framework, internet service providers will be required to turn over user data to the authorities.
VPN services are gaining ground globally as they claim to provide better privacy from users’ internet providers and sites visited, although they could be vulnerable to attacks if not properly secured.
In response to the new security rules, TunnelBear, a Toronto-based VPN service acquired by McAfee in 2018, announced it will remove all of its Hong Kong servers “to ensure the safety” of its users.
Hong Kong is mainland China now, and China is asshole.
IRREVERSIBLE DAMAGE: The Trans Threat to Girls. “The first key factor for Shrier is the role of trans narratives propagated within schools. ‘Gender affirmation’ is rife within public schools across the US, she writes. She goes on to show how classrooms are being colonised by therapists eager to push children towards a pathway of lifelong medicalisation.”
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz said the resignation of Bari Weiss, who was an opinion editor and writer for the New York Times, reveals the paper is a propaganda outlet.
In an interview with the Washington Examiner discussing his podcast Verdict, co-hosted by conservative commentator Michael Knowles, Cruz said Weiss’s resignation amounts to an indictment of the New York Times that necessitates alternative forms of media consumption.
“They are propagandists. They don’t pretend. There is no journalistic integrity. They don’t aspire to it. It’s not the objective. They are propagandists, and that’s all they want to be,” Cruz said. “I’ve never been a fan of the New York Times, but actually having a free press that are not propagandists is good for this country. Too many institutions have been destroyed by the tyranny of the modern left.”
KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEF: Shed No Tears As the Final Nail Gets Driven Into American Journalism’s Coffin. “What we have endured at least since the Kennedy administration (I haven’t checked much beyond that) is a bunch of leftist, state-directed propagandists who insist that they are doing serious journalism. They can call themselves journalists all they want and it doesn’t make it so. I can refer to myself as an NBA power forward all day, every day and I still won’t be able to dunk.”
ROBERT GEORGE AND CORNEL WEST: To unite the country, we need honesty and courage. “We need the honesty and courage not to compromise our beliefs or go silent on them out of a desire to be accepted, or out of fear of being ostracized, excluded, or canceled.”
Four years ago this week, the Chinese Communist Party declared war on international order in the form of a blunt rejection.
On July 12, 2016, The Hague’s international arbitral tribunal, relying on the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea treaty (UNCLOS), issued a ruling supporting the Philippines’ claims that China had violated Filipino territory in the South China Sea by seizing islets and “sea features.” China had also plundered resources in the Philippines’ maritime Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
Despite having signed the sea treaty (which meant accepting the arbitration process), the Chinese government callously ignored the verdict and disdained the court’s authority.
More:
China’s blunt rejection of the decision stunned the Filipino government and alerted other nations on the Pacific Rim. The Beijing regime not only broke a major treaty it had ratified but also openly maligned legal procedures created to promote peaceful resolution of international disputes. Beijing’s thuggish rebuke sent the message that Chinese whim backed by China’s enormous military and economic power determined sovereignty in the South China Sea.
Even more:
Reneging on treaties, spurning just verdicts and, of course, seizing territory without suffering severe consequences tells China’s leaders that its opponents are weak and lack the will to resist. Undermining, co-opting and ultimately dominating global diplomatic and economic institutions; public and private organizations; and methods of interaction is another CCP goal. Revealing weakness forwards this line of operation.
And:
On July 13, 2020, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced a “strengthened” U.S. policy in the South China Sea that specifically aligns American policy with the tribunal’s decision. “Beijing’s claims to offshore resources across most of the South China Sea are completely unlawful, as is its campaign of bullying to control them,” Pompeo said.
AND YOU CAN KEEP YOUR GAS-POWERED AUTO: Joe Biden promises as part of his Green New Deal program 100 percent zero-emissions vehicles — i.e. electrics, though they really aren’t ZEVs — by whenever. The Issues & Insights crew wonders about “the cost of all this? Who knows. Aside from the $2 trillion price tag that Biden put on his entire Green New Deal plan, he hasn’t broken down his EV mandate scheme. But Sen. Chuck Schumer has already proposed a cash-for-clunkers plan, which would cost $454 billion over a decade.”
I just pity the hapless federal bureaucrat who tries to tell my son he can no longer drive his 95 Mustang Cobra SVT restoration on the street. Few sounds in this world are sweeter than an American small-block at full song.
USS BONHOMME RICHARD IN FLAMES: This is a photo taken July 12 showing the fire aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard. The smoke is indicative of the extent of the fire and the damage.
The Smithsonian presents an infographic attributing cultural trends like the nuclear family, individualism, an emphasis on the scientific method, the Protestant work ethic, English common law, some aspects of capitalism, and Christianity to “whiteness” or “white culture.”
“White dominant culture, or whiteness, refers to the ways white people and their traditions, attitudes and ways of life have been normalized over time and are now considered standard practices in the United States. And since white people still hold most of the institutional power in America, we have all internalized some aspects of white culture — including people of color,” the infographic warns.
According to the infographic, “whiteness” includes cultural aspects like “Rugged Individualism” and the “Family Structure” (including the nuclear family, the husband as the breadwinner, and the wife as homemaker and subordinate to the husband).
An “emphasis on the scientific method” is supposedly part of “whiteness,” including three bullet points: “Objective, rational linear thinking;” “Cause and effect relationships;” and “Quantitative emphasis.”
The Smithsonian claims that white history is “based on Northern European immigrants’ experience in the United States,” with a “heavy focus on the British Empire” and “the primacy of Western (Greek, Roman) and Judeo-Christian tradition.” The “holidays” section notes that holidays are “based on Christian religions” and “white history & male leaders.”
Basic work ethic principles such as “hard work is the key to success” and “work before play” are attributed to the “Protestant Work Ethic.” In the field of religion, the infographic claims that “Christianity is the norm,” that “anything other than Judeo-Christian tradition is foreign” and that there is “no tolerance for deviation from single god concept.”
The infographic also aims to present capitalism in a nefarious light. Under the section “Status, Power & Authority,” it claims that “whiteness” involves values such as “wealth=worth,” “your job is who you are,” “respect authority,” and a “heavy value on ownership of goods, space, property.” The Smithsonian also presents a “future orientation” and “time viewed as a commodity” as aspects of white culture. The infographic also has a section on “competition,” claiming that whiteness urges people to “win at all costs,” and inculcates a “winner/loser dichotomy” and a desire to “master and control nature.”
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