Joel Pollak
Politics • Lifestyle • News • Travel • Writing
I will share my thoughts about American politics, as well as current events in Israel and elsewhere, based on my experiences in the U.S., South Africa, and the Middle East. I will also discuss books and popular culture from the perspective of a somewhat libertarian, religiously observant conservative living in California. I will also share art and ideas that I find useful and helpful, and link to my content at Breitbart News, Amazon, and elsewhere.
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Elon Musk and the Twitter suspensions

I oppose Musk's decision to suspend journalists, even if they were "doxxing" him, largely because I don't believe that any speech should be suspended unless it's actually illegal. But the social media sites have long said "abusive" speech can be banned, which has always been a fuzzy standard. So this is nothing new.

What's new is that the bans are hitting a group that previously thought they were immune -- because they work for the institutional media; because they are on the left; because they knew whom to call at Twitter to protect themselves, or to have other people banned. Now they are throwing tantrums.

I dropped in on a Twitter "space" last night where some of these banned (really, suspended) journalists were gathering to gripe about the situation. They, like, sound like college students, you know, and, yeah, like, they aren't happy about being punished. They didn't lift a finger during bans under previous ownership.

So while I think Twitter is a better place without such suspensions, and that Musk is taking a commercial risk that the company could become another small conservative platform if enough people leave, I have zero sympathy for the people who encouraged censorship just so their "side" could win an election.

If we're playing by their rules, what we should do is call their advertisers and ask whether they have stopped buying ads on publications that saw journalists suspended. That's how the NYT and CNN sought to destroy competitors under the old regime. It won't happen. But now they know a little about how it feels.

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What else you may like…
Videos
Posts
Time-lapse sunrise at Temescal Falls
00:00:17
This is what is left of my special place in the forest

Burned, then covered in mudslides and rockslides. The river still flows through it. But we have lost so much. I have to believe the spirit still lives on.

00:00:16
The drive home 💔
00:00:46
Weekly Torah reading: Shlach (Numbers 13:1 - 15:41)

This is the portion that all journalists should love: the Torah tells the story of the 12 spies, only two of whom tell the truth when the other ten shade it in a negative away (perhaps to suit a political agenda that is opposed to Moses).

It's not that the ten "lying" spies misconstrue the facts about the Land of Israel; rather, they interject their opinions that the land is impossible to conquer, which strikes unnecessary terror into the hearts of the people.

We have many examples of such fake news today -- from the Iranian propaganda outlets spreading false claims that they are winning the war, to California politicians spreading false horror stories about ICE raids in L.A.

The people realize, too late, that they have been fooled, and once they are condemned to die in the desert, they try to rush into Israel -- only to be defeated by the inhabitants, as the spies predicted that they would be.

But as consolation, God gives the people new commandments -- focused on things they must ...

Weekly Torah portion: Beha'alotecha (Numbers 8:1 - 12:16)

This week's portion discusses the procedure for lighting the menorah, the holy seven-branched lamp, in the Tabernacle (and later the Temple). It also describes an episode where the people crave meat, and God punishes them by giving it to them in excess. We also read the story of Miriam, Moses's sister, who is punished with the spiritual skin blemish of tzara'at for speaking about her brother, thus violating the prohibition against lashon hara (evil tongue).

I heard a fantastic sermon this week about the lighting of the menorah: that while only the priests were qualified to clean and purify the menorah, anyone could light it. A reminder that each of us can inspire others along the way.

https://www.chabad.org/parshah/torahreading.asp?aid=2495737&jewish=Behaalotecha-Torah-Reading.htm&p=complete

Weekly Torah reading: Naso Numbers 4:21 - 7:89

This week we study the vow of the Nazirite; a reminder that sometimes trying to be too holy is excessive, and the best we can do is to be the best that we are.

https://www.chabad.org/parshah/torahreading_cdo/aid/2495720/p/complete/jewish/Naso-Torah-Reading.htm

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