Wake Up, Phil!

Nature 3 Minutes

Groundhog Day is a popular tradition celebrated in Canada and the United States on February 2nd. It derives from the Pennsylvania Dutch superstition that if a groundhog emerging from its burrow on this day sees its shadow due to clear weather, it will retreat to its den and winter will persist for six more weeks, and if it does not see its shadow because of cloudiness, spring will arrive early.

The groundhog (Marmota monax), also known as a woodchuck is a rodent.

It belongs to the group of large ground squirrels known as marmots.

The groundhog is the most widespread North American marmot species.

It is found through much of the eastern United States across Canada and into Alaska.

This species inhabits many different ecosystems. It is typically found in low elevation forests, small woodlots, fields, pastures, and hedgerows.

In the wild, groundhogs can live up to 6 years with 2 or 3 being average. In captivity, groundhogs reportedly live up to 14 years.

Groundhogs are stocky in appearance and often stand up on their hind legs, making them look tall.

Adults measure from 16.5 to 27 inches in total length including a tail of 3.7 to 7.4 inches.

Weights of adult groundhogs, typically at least, fall between 4.4 and 13.9 lbs.

Male groundhogs average slightly larger than females and, like all marmots, they are considerably heavier during autumn than when emerging from hibernation in spring.

Thick fur on the upper parts ranges in color through various shades of brown; the feet are darker, and the underparts are buff. Melanistic (nearly black) and albino individuals sometimes occur in some populations.

Groundhogs are territorial and non-social.

They are mostly diurnal, and are often active early in the morning or late afternoon.

Groundhogs are good swimmers and can climb tall shrubs and sizable trees.

Mostly herbivorous, groundhogs eat primarily wild grasses and other vegetation, including berries and agricultural crops, when available. In early spring, dandelion and coltsfoot are important groundhog food items. Groundhogs also occasionally eat grubs, grasshoppers, insects, snails and other small animals, but are not as omnivorous as many other Sciuridae.

Groundhogs have four incisor teeth which grow 0.06 inch per week. Constant usage wears them down again by about that much each week. Unlike the incisors of many other rodents, the incisors of groundhogs are white to ivory-white.

Groundhogs are excellent burrowers, using burrows for sleeping, rearing young, and hibernating.

They are one of the few species that enter into true hibernation, and often build a separate “winter burrow” for this purpose. This burrow is usually in a wooded or brushy area and is dug below the frost line and remains at a stable temperature well above freezing during the winter months.

The breeding season extends from early March to mid- or late April, after hibernation. A mated pair remains in the same den throughout the 31- to 32-day gestation period. As birth of the young approaches in April or May, the male leaves the den.

One litter is produced annually, usually containing two to six blind, hairless and helpless young. Groundhog mothers introduce their young to the wild once their fur is grown in and they can see. At this time, if at all, the father groundhog comes back to the family. By the end of August, the family breaks up; or at least, the larger number scatter, to burrow on their own.

The groundhog is classified as a species of “least concern” on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species.

The groundhog has many lesser-known names including chuck, wood-shock, groundpig, whistlepig, whistler, thickwood badger, Canada marmot, monax, moonack, weenusk, redmonk and, among French Canadians in eastern Canada, siffleux.

(FOR FILLY:)

The etymology of the name woodchuck is unrelated to wood or chucking. It stems from an Algonquian (possibly Narragansett) name for the animal, wuchak. The similarity between the words has led to the popular tongue-twister:

How much wood would a woodchuck chuck
if a woodchuck could chuck wood?
A woodchuck would chuck all the wood he could
if a woodchuck could chuck wood!

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Published by pat frederick

Published

187 thoughts on “Wake Up, Phil!”

  2. Liked by 2 people

      1. Outstanding and nailed it! It should be said again in every school in this country, too! EVERY DAY!!! Many of our rural schools still do so and they have their flag ceremony every morning and every afternoon.

        Liked by 1 person

        1. I agree.
          i remember when my granddaughter was in grade school…she was so excited that one morning she was chosen to recite it over the intercom (every kid gets a chance apparently…lol)
          but she was PROUD to say it…

          Liked by 1 person

      1. that’s why we have each other!
        be honest…didn’t anyone ever tell you over and over again…don’t touch that it’s hot? or don’t date him, he’s trash or whatever…and still you touched it and burned your finger or dated him and he made you cry?
        life is like that.
        LOL

        Liked by 1 person

  11. Liked by 2 people

  12. WHOA!

    Liked by 2 people

        1. That first one…..I actually considered working as a Contractor for companies as an “efficiency expert.” I was really good at that and good at training people….as long as they weren’t stupid and/or lazy….those I cleaned out right quick! LOL

          Liked by 1 person

        1. No – but I would venture a guess as many as 75% of people who used to believe their doctors no longer do. Me, being me, have pretty much always questioned the doctors, ever since my son was born. But I accepted w/o question all the vaccines and medications they gave me for both of my kids; by the time HB came along in 1980, I was MUCH more aware and put my foot down. But not about any of the vaccines….she had all of them.

          Liked by 1 person

    1. Citizen 817
      February 2, 2023 12:24 am

      @realDonaldTrump

      18h
      When Soros backed Alvin Bragg attained the office of Manhattan District Attorney, he received great praise from large circles of people for dropping some of the most ridiculous Witch Hunt type cases ever looked at by that office. Now some Radical Left crazies, coupled with “ratings crushed” and failing Fake News, are trying to get him to go the Prosecutorial Misconduct route, and take on certain very weak cases which are dead anyway based on the Statute of Limitations. FIGHT VIOLENT CRIME!

      Liked by 1 person

    1. Well, personally, I kind of agree with raising the retirement age. I mean, really….people are living much longer and are remaining active for a lot more of those years. Still, not for reducing benefits at all unless they eliminate these un-Constitutional programs and return it ALL to the States! But there has to be some kind of equitable transition.

      Liked by 1 person

  19. Citizen 817
    February 2, 2023 12:30 am

    @realDonaldTrump

    8h
    McConnell approved Trillions of Dollars of waste as a gift to the Democrats, and now he acts like he cares about spending cuts. He is just so bad for Republicans. No reason for the 1.7 Trillion Dollar package just passed. Take it ALL BACK, plus, in Debt Ceiling negotiations!

    Liked by 1 person

  21. sunnydaze
    February 2, 2023 1:29 am

    Hungary and Austria will not send more weapons to Ukraine to “prevent further escalation”.

    Looks like some countries are beginning to understand a proxy war isn’t in anyone’s interest.

    When will Biden wake up?

    — Lauren Boebert (@laurenboebert) February 1, 2023

    Liked by 1 person

  23. Citizen 817
    February 2, 2023 1:52 am

    @DC_Draino

    12h
    We just endured the worst pandemic in 100 years after a lab leaked a deadly virus & now we learn from Hunter Biden’s laptop that he’s a partial owner of a bioweapon facility in Ukraine targeted by Putin that received DoD funding & it’s somehow not the biggest story in the world

    Liked by 2 people

  24. Troublemaker10
    Troublemaker10
    February 2, 2023 3:16 am

    Hunter Biden asks for criminal probe into Trump allies for ‘theft’ of data from laptop

    Excerpt:

    Lawyers for Hunter Biden sent letters Wednesday requesting investigations into allies of former President Donald Trump who they say trafficked in stolen information from his laptop — a dramatic shift in strategy for the president’s son after years of GOP attacks.

    Among the letters, which were obtained by NBC News, was one sent Wednesday asking the Justice Department’s National Security Division for an investigation into “individuals for whom there is considerable reason to believe violated various federal laws in accessing, copying, manipulating, and/or disseminating Mr. Biden’s personal computer data,” including Rudy Giuliani, who was Trump’s lawyer at the time.

    https://www-nbcnews-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/rcna68703?amp_gsa=1&amp_js_v=a9&usqp=mq331AQKKAFQArABIIACAw%3D%3D#amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&aoh=16753255309756&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&ampshare=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nbcnews.com%2Fpolitics%2Fjoe-biden%2Fhunter-biden-asks-criminal-probe-trump-allies-laptop-rcna68703

    Liked by 1 person

  26. California has been sterilizing women in prison for a long time, without their knowledge. They are told they might have “growths” or tumors and wake to find they’ve been sterilized. This was discovered, the government apologized, and a reparations plan was conceived. sadly a lot of records have gone missing or have been destroyed. (I. AM. SHOCKED.) the reparations program expires next year.
    FTA
    2022-2023: California is searching for the victims that are still alive today, of which there are believed to be more than 600, according to reporting from the Associated Press in 2021 (although many of the victims never knew what was done to them, so it is unclear how they would know to apply for reparations). The government’s search strategy consists of sending posters, flyers, and fact sheets to libraries, prisons, and other establishments across the state, the AP reported this month.

    After a year of searching, the government has approved only 51 out of 310 reparations applicants, denied 103 people’s applications, and closed three incomplete applications. According to the AP, “They say it’s difficult to verify the applications as many records have been lost or destroyed.” Therefore, according to Executive Officer of the California Victim Compensation Board Lynda Gledhill, “We try to find all the information we can and sometimes we just have to hope that somebody maybe can find more detailed information on their own. We’re just sometimes not able to verify what happened.”

    Of the 51 victims who have been approved for reparations payments, three were sterilized under California’s eugenics laws that were repealed in 1979. The rest were sterilized more recently.

    2024: The $4.5 million reparations program, for which an additional $2 million is being spent on advertising, will end.

    Any victims still unpaid will have lost their chance to be compensated for the damages to their bodies, sexual identities, human dignity, and potential to pass their genes onto future generations.

    https://fee.org/articles/a-brief-history-of-california-s-eugenics-program-1909-2013/

    Liked by 1 person

  27. Sliding down – morning, Pat – been reading back – did you see this? Kea posted it at M’s last night – IDK, she may have already posted it here….

    bakocarl
    February 1, 2023 at 10:04 pm
    Int Immunopharmacol. 2021 Jan; 90: 107172.
    Published online 2020 Nov 3. doi: 10.1016/j.intimp.2020.107172
    PMCID: PMC7608017 PMID: 33191178
    Chicken Egg Yolk Antibodies (IgYs) block the binding of multiple SARS-CoV-2 spike protein variants to human ACE2
    Abstract
    The SARS-CoV-2 virus is still spreading worldwide, and there is an urgent need to effectively prevent and control this pandemic. This study evaluated the potential efficacy of Egg Yolk Antibodies (IgY) as a neutralizing agent against the SARS-CoV-2. We investigated the neutralizing effect of anti-spike-S1 IgYs on the SARS-CoV-2 pseudovirus, as well as its inhibitory effect on the binding of the coronavirus spike protein mutants to human ACE2. Our results show that the anti-Spike-S1 IgYs showed significant neutralizing potency against SARS-CoV-2 pseudovirus, various spike protein mutants, and even SARS-CoV in vitro. It might be a feasible tool for the prevention and control of ongoing COVID-19.

    Liked by 1 person

  29. Last week I was talking to mom and she brought up a memory of my dad. She said every year he would buy her chocolate marshmallow hearts from Russell Stover. (they were individually wrapped and he bought her 12 and wrapped them in a box himself.)
    I just went on line and bought and shipped her a box of them. They are meant to be sold at stores but they will ship to anyone. so i got her a box of 18. she can freeze some if she wants.

    Liked by 1 person

  33. “Judicial Watch Continues to Push in Court for Testimony on Secret University of Delaware Deal with Joe Biden to Hide Senate Records”

    ENTIRE ARTICLE: “(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced today that it filed a reply brief on behalf of the Daily Caller News Foundation and itself in the Supreme Court of Delaware asking for limited discovery, including, at a minimum, deposing a university representative.

    In July 2020 Judicial Watch and the Daily Caller News Foundation filed a Delaware Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit after the university denied their April 2020 requests for all of Biden’s Senate records and for records about the preservation and any proposed release of the records, including communications with Biden or his representatives (Judicial Watch, Inc. v. University of Delaware, (No. N20A-07-001)).

    Earlier this month Judicial Watch and the Daily Caller News Foundation filed an appeal brief with the Delaware Supreme Court after the Superior Court sided with the university, finding that the university had met its burden of performing an adequate search for the requested records. That opinion came after the university had submitted a second affidavit from the university’s FOIA official stating that no state funds had been spent on maintaining the documents.

    In its Delaware Supreme Court filing, Judicial Watch and the Daily Caller News Foundation argue:

    ‘Despite FOIA’s acknowledgement that “public entities, as instruments of government, should not have the power to decide what is good for the public to know,” over the multi-year course of this FOIA proceeding, the University’s efforts to satisfy its statutory burden of proof have been parceled out piecemeal, in miniscule increments, and only in response to court orders, entered after briefing by Appellants. When the shortcomings of the University’s effort are noted in briefing, the University calls “foul.” The University’s umbrage at these proceedings is misplaced. To date, the FOIA Coordinator’s efforts (and her recollections of what steps she took) remain untested by cross examination. Appellants have every right to challenge what they believe has been a lackluster effort by the University to satisfy its statutory burden.

    Separately, in a January26, 2023, letter to former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, Delaware attorney Ted A. Kittila (who also serves as Judicial Watch’s local counsel) details: “Based on what we have learned, there are 1,850 boxes of documents and 415 gigabytes of electronic records. [Emphasis in original] To place this in perspective, we have described the amount of boxes alone as filling approximately two tractor trailer trucks.
    ***
    [W]here are the funds coming from to house and archive the Biden Records? We have heard rumors that comments on a draft of the Gift Agreement may have been located on the Hunter Biden laptop, raising further questions: why would Hunter Biden be commenting on the donation of the Biden Records, and what was his role with respect to the donation?

    In our view, the United States House of Representatives would have the power to subpoena all of these documents. Unlike an effort to obtain public disclosure of documents under FOIA, a subpoena would have the power to compel the release of these documents. We believe that given President Biden’s alleged mishandling of documents, it is imperative for the House to review the Biden Records to determine that no classified materials are in the collection, especially given the fact that we do not even know if the person or persons reviewing these documents have security clearance. The House should also be interested in who has funded what is obviously a substantial donation. With the Gift Agreement out of reach, this remains an unanswered concern. Finally, the House should have particular interest in who has had access to the Biden Documents. Even if we were able to obtain access to the Biden Records, we have no idea if there have been documents removed during the course of the Delaware litigation.”

    “The University of Delaware’s conduct throughout this case totally reeks,” said DCNF Managing Editor Michael Bastasch. “The American people have a right to know what’s in President Biden’s Senate records and why the university is stonewalling our legitimate records request.”

    “Congress should follow Judicial Watch’s lead and immediately move to subpoena, secure and examine the trove of secret Biden Senate records being held in the University of Delaware,” stated Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “Judicial Watch, in the meantime, will continue fighting in court to overcome the university’s desperate secrecy over its deal with Biden to keep these records away from the American people.”

    Judicial Watch and the Daily Caller News Foundation are being represented by Delaware lawyers Ted Kittila and Bill Green of Halloran Farkas + Kittila LLP.”

    Liked by 1 person

    1. oh wow! absolutely! there is no telling how many classified docs are in there since we now know he kept (somehow) classified docs since he senate time.
      there should be a frickin RAID on the university…

      Liked by 1 person

    2. also…I was just thinking, i don’t think you can use a “gift” act to circumvent the law.
      I also don’t get why you would gift your papers to a university. are they allowed to study them? if so, don’t they need to be vetted first–because apparently classified records could be in there

      Liked by 1 person

        2. not to belabor the point, but WHY? it’s not like ultra maggot was a great legislator, or strategist or even a serious thinker. what could they possibly get out of his documents except for whatever he managed to STEAL from his fellow congresspeople?

          Liked by 1 person

  34. Interesting…..sun is shining brightly, 22 degrees, and I can almost watch the ice cycle growing on the gutter of my patio….the one that was in the picture the other day? It’s sparkling in the sun, which is melting it slightly, but it’s cold enough, with a west wind, that it is also freezing at the same time…..really cool. I wish I knew how to do a time-delay video on my camera – it can be done but I haven’t a clue how to do it…

    Liked by 1 person

  38. “Momentum Grows To Save The North Atlantic Right Whale — New Jersey mayors demand moratorium until whale deaths can be investigated”

    EXCERPT: “A group of Jersey Shore mayors are calling for an “immediate moratorium” on offshore wind energy development until federal and state scientists can assure the public that ocean noise related to underwater seabed mapping, soil borings and other turbine construction activities poses no threat to whales. The announcement followed news that another humpback whale had died off of the coasts of New Jersey and New York and washed ashore in Lido Beach, Nassau County, New York, according to numerous reports.

    “While we are not opposed to clean energy, we are concerned about the impacts these (offshore wind) projects may already be having on our environment,” the 12 New Jersey mayors wrote in a joint letter to Washington officials. The mayors include six from Ocean and Monmouth counties: Joseph Mancini of Long Beach Township, Samuel Cohen of Deal, Paul M. Kanitra of Point Pleasant Beach, William W. Curtis of Bay Head, Lance White of Mantoloking, and Jennifer Naughton of Spring Lake.

    The Lido Beach whale marks the eighth whale to wash ashore on the beaches of New York and New Jersey in the past two months, the mayors said. On Saturday, a dead humpback was seen floating about 12 miles off Long Beach Island, said Andrea Gomez, a spokeswoman for the Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA. It was not clear Monday if the Lido Beach whale could be the same one spotted off Long Beach Island.

    “This is the sixth stranded humpback whale reported in New Jersey, and the 18th large whale stranding along the East Coast, since December 1,” Gomez said in an email to an the Asbury Park Press reporter. Earlier this month, a dead humpback whale that appeared to have been struck by a ship washed ashore in Brigantine, according to the Marine Mammal Stranding Center. Another humpback washed ashore in early January in Atlantic City, roughly two weeks after an earlier dead humpback washed ashore on the city’s beaches.

    Experts at NOAA said ship strikes and fishing gear entanglements are among the most common causes of death in humpback whales. The agency said the unusually high number of whale deaths among humpbacks dates back to 2016, before offshore wind energy exploration began in the Atlantic ocean.’

    https://www.app.com/story/news/local/land-environment/2023/01/30/whale-deaths-ny-nj-offshore-wind-moratorium-renewable-energy/69855167007/

    Liked by 1 person

    1. yeah I brought the story about the whales last week or so and was appalled that none of the save-the-whale people were protesting and screaming! then i emailed a friend who owns a beach house on the Jersey shore…she said the local owners of such properties are concerned this situation is going to threaten summer rentals and income all along the shore…
      so this could be more about $$ than anything environmental.

      Liked by 1 person

  41. R Green
    February 2, 2023 12:25 pm

    BREAKING NEWS: FBI to search Mike Pence’s Indiana home for more classified documents

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11706785/FBI-search-Mike-Pences-Indiana-home-classified-documents.html

    The FBI is expected to search former Vice President Mike Pence ‘s Indiana home for more classified documents 
    The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday on the move, with sources saying that the Justice Department is in talks with Pence’s legal team 
    Last month, Pence’s lawyers voluntarily disclosed that documents with classified markings were discovered at the ex-veep’s $1.9M Carmel, Indiana home 

    Liked by 1 person

  47. “Christian mother sues 4-year-old son’s school for refusing to excuse child from LGBT march despite her religious beliefs — The case is the first time a U.K. court has been required to assess the legality of imposing LGBT ideology on primary schools”

    February 02, 2023
    editor: REMIX NEWS author: THOMAS BROOKE

    ENTIRE ARTICLE: “A devout Christian mother in the U.K. is suing her son’s school for compelling her 4-year-old child to participate in an LGBT pride parade without her consent. The case, which is the first of its kind, relates to an event in June 2018 at the Heavers Farm Primary School in South Norwood, southeast London. The school’s headmaster reportedly told the child’s mother, Izzy Montague, her son could not opt out of the pride march despite her staunch Christian beliefs.

    The mother is seeking legal action against the school on the grounds of direct and indirect discrimination, victimization, and breach of statutory duty under the Education Act 1996 and the Human Rights Act 1998. On Wednesday, the Central London County Court heard how the school sent a letter to all parents before the event detailing how the LGBT march intended to “celebrate the differences” of the school’s pupils “that make them and their family special.”

    However, when Mrs. Montague replied to the letter asking for permission to excuse her son from attending school on the day in question over fears he would be “involved in a public display of adherence to views which she did not accept,” the school refused. The presiding judge described Mrs. Montague and her husband as “devout born-again Christians, and they bear a belief that sexual relations should be abstained from or take place within a life-long marriage between a man and a woman and any activity outside those confines is sinful.”

    The judge stated it was the complainant’s belief that homosexuality is “considered to be the most serious of the deadly sins.” During the court hearing, Mrs. Montague expressed her concerns not only about the pride march, but also about the educational content being shown to her 4-year-old son during lessons. In one book the children had been reading, there had been references to a same-sex family.

    When questioned by the school’s lawyer on the content of the letter detailing the pride event, the mother said she felt it was an attempt “to indoctrinate it onto us by passing it off that it was part of law or part of British values, or it was part of the national curriculum; it was trying to sell something no one wanted to buy.”

    “It felt like it was lecturing me about something to do with British values and somehow we weren’t adhering to British values,” she added. She told the court she acknowledged the importance of promoting diversity and equality, but believes this can be done without infringing on individuals’ religious beliefs. She dismissed the notion that the letter was sent out during pride month, insisting, “A month that celebrates sexual lifestyles is a problem in any month.”

    Mrs. Montague is being supported during the hearing by the Christian Legal Center. The scheduled eight-day hearing continues.”

    Liked by 2 people

  48. “New bill in Congress may finally eliminate Covid “vaccine” requirement for US visitors — Rep Thomas Massie’s bill is scheduled for a floor vote next week.”

    Jordan Schachtel
    14 min ago

    ENTIRE ARTICLE: “I know that I generally stay away from getting too much into the weeds about politics. But there’s a very important piece of legislation moving through Congress right now that can be very impactful for those who want to travel to the United States and did not take the mRNA experimental gene injections. Rep. Thomas Massie’s — who has been terrific on the Covid issue — bill, HR 185, “To terminate the requirement imposed by the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for proof of COVID-19 vaccination for foreign travelers, and for other purposes,” is scheduled to get a vote in the House of Representatives next week.

    Most legislation that is introduced never makes it to a vote, so the fact that the Massie bill has proceeded this far is VERY significant. Rep Massie introduced the bill on January 9 and it has since picked up 22 cosponsors (all Republicans) in a matter of weeks. The CDC’s Order requiring proof of Covid “vaccination” for non-U.S. citizens traveling to the United States somehow still remains in effect, making the U.S. one of the last countries in the world to continue imposing a failed pharmaceutical product upon visitors.

    I wouldn’t be surprised to see this bill pass the house. It’s also unclear whether it will get through the Senate, which has a much higher baseline squish rate, but I think it may. It is also subject to a veto by the cadaver president, should his handlers tell him to initiate that power.

    I’m sure the cartel bosses running Big Pharma will be lobbying fiercely against the passage of this legislation. So if you have any political capital or a loud voice, now is the time to deploy it and tell your representative to support this bill! You can find more info on H.R. 185 here.”

    https://dossier.substack.com/p/new-bill-in-congress-may-finally

    Liked by 1 person

    1. i think posted yesterday a little list of things that keep going while the “emergency” is in effect…no college loan repayments, no evictions, and other forms of relief…

      Liked by 1 person

  49. Issue: February 2, 2023
    “Federal government is accused of using antiterrorism tech to target vaccine dissent — Using it against its own citizens.”
    By Ken Macon
    Posted 10:23 am

    ENTIRE ARTICLE @ ReclaimTheNet: “The US federal government is adopting military-grade AI that was used to crack down on ISIS to censor dissent by US citizens on issues like election fraud and vaccine hesitancy, according to the executive director of the Foundation for Freedom Online, Mike Benz. Private firms and universities have received millions of dollars in grants from the National Science Foundation (NSF), a federal agency, to develop tools similar to those developed by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s Social Media in Strategic Communications (SMISC) program in 2011.

    SMISC’s tools were used “to help identify misinformation or deception campaigns and counter them with truthful information,” in the Middle East. In a report, Mike Benz detailed how the NSF and other organizations are using this technology to censor the speech of Americans.

    “One of the most disturbing aspects of the Convergence Accelerator Track F domestic censorship projects is how similar they are to military-grade social media network censorship and monitoring tools developed by the Pentagon for the counterinsurgency and counterterrorism contexts abroad,” reads the report. Speaking to Just the News, he said: “DARPA’s been funding an AI network using the science of social media mapping dating back to at least 2011-2012, during the Arab Spring abroad and during the Occupy Wall Street movement here at home. They then bolstered it during the time of ISIS to identify homegrown ISIS threats in 2014-2015.”

    According to Benz, the NSF has adopted DARPA’s technology to target two groups of Americans: those skeptical of recent election results and those who claim COVID-19 vaccines could be harmful. “The terrifying thing is, as all of this played out, it was redirected inward during 2016 — domestic populism was treated as a foreign national security threat,” Benz said. “What you’ve seen is a grafting on of these concepts of mis- and disinformation that were escalated to such high-intensity levels in the news over the past several years being converted into a tangible, formal government program to fund and accelerate the science of censorship,” he said.

    “You had this project at the National Science Foundation called the Convergence Accelerator,” Benz recounted, “which was created by the Trump administration to tackle grand challenges like quantum technology. When the Biden administration came to power, they basically took this infrastructure for multidisciplinary science work to converge on a common science problem and took the problem of what people say on social media as being on the level of, say, quantum technology.

    “And so they created a new track called the track F program … and it’s for ‘trust and authenticity,’ but what that means is, and what it’s a code word for is, if trust in the government or trust in the media cannot be earned, it must be installed. And so they are funding artificial intelligence, censorship capacities, to censor people who distrust government or media.”

    Benz noted how mainstream media and fact-checkers have become arbiters of truth, determining what is acceptable and unacceptable to post online, and how the pandemic has normalized “censorship in the name of public health.”

    “What’s happened now is the government says, ‘Okay, we’ve established this normative foothold in it being okay to [censor political speech], now we’re going to supercharge you guys with all sorts of DARPA military grade censorship, weaponry, so that you can now take what you’ve achieved in the censorship space and scale it to the level of a U.S. counterinsurgency operation,’” Benz explained.”

    Liked by 1 person

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