Is Joe Rogan the king of morons?

What "Happened" to Joe Rogan? is the title of the most recent Some More News channel video and it's great. 

Joe Rogan, like Candace Owens, is a member of the Intellectual Dark Web that I have rarely mentioned over the past six and a half years that I've had this Pinkerite blog. And Rogan was even one of those who had his photo taken lurking in the dark, like the other grifters. 

From left to right:
Racist Michael Shermer, Thiel-tool Eric Weinstein, Ivermectin-shilling Heather Heying,
king of the morons Joe Rogan, grand arch-duke of the morons Dave Rubin, queen of the
free speech grifters Christina Hoff Sommers, race pseudoscience-shilling Sam Harris
and Game Theory fan Bret Weinstein

This Some More News video traces Rogan's journey from being a sort-of outsider to being part of the American fascism power structure. 

The host, Cody, keeps coming back to the fact that at one time Rogan referred to Trump as the "king of morons" long before he endorsed Trump. This video convinced me that Rogan is king of morons. 

And so is Trump but all non-morons knew that long ago.

I especially like this because I think there's likely some cross-over between Rogan's audience and Some More News' audience, and Rogan's audience needs to hear this - there may be hope for the percentage of Rogan's audience who are not morons.

 

Jonathan Katz on J. D. Vance and the Weinstein brothers

Jonathan Katz took a deep dive into the infamous Eric Weinstein-hosted interview of J. D. Vance and came up with some good, if predictably nauseating stuff.

He refers to Bret Weinstein as "disgraced evolutionary theorist Bret Weinstein." I certainly have long thought Bret was a disgrace, since the Evergreen incident, which I am convinced was at the very least partly a deliberate scam on the part of Weinstein and his wife Heather Heying. My opinion was then bolstered by Bret and Heather shilling ivermectin as a treatment for Covid. 

And then there's that obsession with Game Theory.

But I didn't know about this latest Bret Weinstein disgrace:

Bret Weinstein, the evolutionary biology professor turned podcaster and ivermectin guy, repeated a series of discredited pseudo-theories about AIDS in a recent appearance on Joe Rogan’s podcast. Weinstein, a frequent guest, told Rogan that he found the theory that party drugs like poppers cause AIDS to be “surprisingly compelling.” (It is not.) Weinstein also told Rogan he came to these ideas by reading a recent book by anti-vaccine activist and presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, creating a sort of unholy turducken of misinformation passed onto an audience of millions. 

Wow, what a garbage person.

Katz goes on to give a full accounting of the Intellectual Dark Web's racist, misogynist pseudoscience context that inform's Eric Weinstein's views, and demonstrates how much Vance agrees with them.

The problem is that race-baiting, misogyny, and a general obsession with supposedly in-born hierarchies aren’t distractions from the Trump team’s message. They are the campaign’s message. Even when confronted with an issue that genuinely concerns the electorate — such as the still-high cost of living, especially for those of us raising children — they can’t resist offering rhetoric and solutions that sound like they come from the minutes of a 1920s meeting of the American Eugenics Society, if not the pronatalist movement in Fascist Italy itself. The reason is simple: They really believe this stuff.

***

The vice-presidential candidate concludes:

VANCE: Just to sort of bring this full circle to where we started, is that the economic logic of always prioritizing paid wage labor over other forms of contributing to a society is to me, it's actually a consequence of a sort of fundamental liberalism that is ultimately gonna unwind and collapse upon itself. It has to. I think it's, yeah — it’s the abandonment of a sort of Aristotelian virtue politics for a hyper market.

Yes, Aristotle, the ancient Greek philosopher and great influencer of medieval Christian doctrine, who taught, among other things that: “the courage of a man is shown in commanding, of a woman in obeying”; and “for the slave has no deliberative faculty at all; the woman has, but it is without authority,” and who summarized “the female is a misbegotten male.” Those virtue politics.

In spite of Steven Pinker's public distaste for Trump, the Republican ticket is the Intellectual Dark Web ticket, holding the same pseudoscience beliefs that Pinker has been promoting via evolutionary psychology first, then by a cleaned-up version of Steve Sailer's "human biodiversity." Or as David Lubinski, bigwig at the International Society for Intelligence Research calls it "human psychological diversity."

Which is why the Republican ticket, funded by anti-democracy Peter Thiel and lead by a pussy-grabbing rapist and a misogynist creep, is the most evil in American history. 

And Pinker likes to attack Trump but he has no qualms about allying himself with Republican operative Bari Weiss and her garbage rag. But that's who Pinker is, a complete and utter weasel.

The Intellectual Dark Web strikes again

Eric Weinstein, here to explain
the whole purpose of
"post-menopausal females."

J. D. Vance is owned by Peter Thiel, so that was plenty of evidence for me that J. D. Vance was a creature of the Intellectual Dark Web, but it turns out he had another connection.

And a reminder that the Intellectual Dark Web is not ONLY racist, although it is that of course - the Intellectual Dark Web is hideously misogynist:

In a 2020 appearance on the Portal podcast — hosted by Eric Weinstein, the Managing Director of Peter Thiel’s Thiel Capital — the then-venture capitalist expressed his weird take on elderly women and how his mother-in-law has helped raise his son — he now has three children.

“There's sort of all the classic stuff that grandparents do to grandchildren — it makes him a much better human being to have exposure to his grandparents,” Vance told Weinstein.
“That's the whole purpose of the post-menopausal female, in theory,” the podcast host said, as Vance chimed in, “Yes.”

Eric Weinstein is the apparent leader of the Intellectual Dark Web, credited with coming up with the name. And you don't even have to speculate whether he is funded by Thiel - he is an official employee of Thiel.

I was just talking yesterday about Bari Weiss - the biggest cheerlead of the IDW - promoting right-wing grifter Christina Hoff Sommers as a "feminist" in spite of the fact that Sommers is a female misogynist whose career has been funded by wingnut welfare.

Sommers was one of those profiled in the Bari Weiss article, one of the special ones photographed lurking in the dark, back in 2018, along with Eric Weinstein.

Bari Weiss is a long-time fan of Eric Weinstein and other horrific right-wing ghouls including that freak James "your mom" Lindsay.

I notice that Weinstein's 55-year-old sister-in-law, Heather E. Heying, appears to be ignoring her whole purpose as a post-menopausal female. When does she have time to mind the children? Tsk tsk!

Heather and her husband Bret Weinstein are big fans of GAME THEORY.

More anti-trans hatred promoted by the NYTimes

Carole Hooven - hardcore hate-monger
-------------------------------------------------

Oh look, Steven Pinker's protégée, the right-wing grifter Carole Hooven and right-wing grifter Alex Byrne, are promoted in today's NYTimes with their predictably transphobic op-ed piece "The Problem with Saying 'Sex Assigned at Birth'." 

The two grifters whine about the phrase "sex assigned at birth" and at the end, actually fall back on brevity as their last argument:

Meanwhile, we can each apply Strunk and White’s famous advice in “The Elements of Style” to “sex assigned at birth”: omit needless words.

Carole Hooven and Alex Byrne are not simply word Nazis - they are huge fans of the monstrously evil "Kiwi Farms" as I have documented on this site. Byrne has gone so far as to use illustrations in his own book from Nina Paley, a horrific hate-monger who glorified Kiwi Farms in her hateful Gender War cards. 

And Hooven was seen promoting racist neo-Nazi Bo Winegard a couple of years ago on Twitter.

But just my calling Hooven a protégée of Pinker should be enough to clue you in that she is a horrible far-right grifter who makes a living by spreading hatred and evolutionary psychology pseudoscience. In addition to the NYTimes she just published in racist right-wing ghoulish Quillette. More evolutionary psychology twaddle - of course. Pinker has a long history of promoting racists and other horrible people, like Steve Sailer, Razib Khan and most recently Richard Hanania.

I suspected Hooven and Byrne were married - I found out for sure thanks to the article Alex Byrne vs. transgender people. Oh how adorable, a husband-wife hate-monger team. Reminds me of the grifting ivermectin ghouls Bret Weinstein and Heather Heying, those lovers of game theory.

Meet the ghouls, grifters, goons and stooges who support Nazi-platforming Substack

The three Nazi-platforming stooges

 So the other day I predicted:

Now Katz has drafted an open letter to the Substack ghouls, entitled Substackers against Nazis that I doubt will impress the Substack ghouls and their bosses...

Today I see in the NYTimes:

Substack Says It Will Not Ban Nazis or Extremist Speech

When are people like Jonathan Katz going to admit that the entire purpose of Substack is to platform racist ghouls!

That's what all the racist freaks are talking about when they talk about "moving the Overton window."

Or as it says in the NYTimes article:

While Substack says it does not allow users to call for violence, even that distinction can be murky, Professor Braddock said, because racists and extremists can walk up to the line without overtly doing that. But their rhetoric can still inspire others to violence, he said.

Allowing Nazi rhetoric on a platform also normalizes it, he said.

“The more they use the kind of rhetoric that dehumanizes or demonizes a certain population,” Professor Braddock said, “the more it becomes OK for the general population to follow.”

THAT'S THE ENTIRE REASON FOR THE EXISTENCE OF SUBSTACK!!!

Don't believe me - believe the white supremacist, Richard Hanania, who has been promoted by Hamish McKenzie on Substack - according to Katz:

(Hanania has said that “Substack itself was created to explicitly push back against leftist suppression of speech” — another comment I’d like McKenzie to weigh in on.)

The Koch-funded, racist-supporting (they go waaaay back with Charles Murray) Reason Magazine of course supports Substack. I wouldn't be surprised if there was some Koch money invested in Substack too.

Katz responds to Matt Taibbi here - unfortunately Katz is still on Substack so I am not going to resubscribe so I can read all the content. But I will have to quote from the piece because it's so perfect - Taibbi is even more contemptible than Freddie deBoer, which is saying a lot:

And look, I don’t blame Matt. If I were a hack post-leftist overwriter who peaked during Occupy Wall Street and responded to sexual-harassment allegations by worming his way under the sweaty wings of Ted Cruz and Elon Musk—only to get hoodwinked into pushing neocon Sinophobic talking points that blew up on arrival—I might make up a strawman on a Tuesday night and torch him too. Certainly easier than engaging with anything I’ve ever actually said.

Business Insider makes a good point - it isn't just that Substack is platforming Nazis, it's that Substack has a profitable business arrangement with Nazis!

The Katz letter was bound to be countered by a letter from a bunch of right-wingers and stupid feckless stooges of the right. 

As I just recently said, signing this kind of letter is how the right does "virtue signaling."

Some of the people on this list are harmless nobodies who dabble in the arts or like to promote their religions or hobbies online, but there are many on this list who are rightwing ghouls, goons, and grifters. Just awful - and very much not harmless - people. Quite a few Quillette authors, anti-vax wackos, anti-trans fanatics and wingnut welfare recipients. At least one of them is a public Nazi sympathizer.

To my amazement, Steven Pinker is not on this list - but his influence is apparent...

1. Elle Griffin, author of The Elysian - a fan of Steven Pinker - OF COURSE! ~ enthusiastic supporter of her plutocratic paymasters
2. Alex Kruger, author of Garden of Anxiety
3. Alexander Hellene, author of A. Hellene Author  - misogynist idiot
4. a. natasha joukovsky, author of quite useless - management consultant/conservative idiot
5. Angela Nagle, author of Angela Nagle - darling of Fox News
6. Abigail Shrier, author of The Truth Fairy - rabidly anti-trans crusader and Quillette author
7. Alberto Romero, author of The Algorithmic Bridge
8. Bari Weiss, author of The Free Press - OF COURSE the sugar baby of Harlan Crow, and very, very likely, Peter Thiel - and an absolutely contemptible human being supports Substack - I've no doubt she gets paid by the same people who support Substack - she also signed this letter
9. Ben Dreyfuss, author of Calm Down - rightwing idiot gloats about Substack platforming Nazis
10. Bowen Dwelle, author of An Ordinary Disaster
11. Bridget Phetasy, author of Beyond Parody - rightwing idiot, Quillette author
12. Cameron M. Bailey, author of Emeth - obsessed with being a Freemason
13. Charles Eisenstein, author of Charles Eisenstein - anti-vaxxer idiot
14. Christin Balan, author of Writer in Progress 
15. C.L. Steiner, author of Not Complaining - wants to ridicule Nazis, but not deny them a big mainstream audience
16. Colin Wright, author of Reality’s Last Stand - in a five-way tie with Bari Weiss, Matt Taibbi, Konstantin Kisin and Michael Shermer for the most contemptible right-wing ghoul on this list - not only a former Quillette staffer, but an anti-trans obsessive and pal of right-wing uber-ghoul Christopher Rufo
17. Connor O’Brien, author of Regions
18. Contarini, author of Contarini’s Attic 
19. Damon Linker, author of Notes from the Middleground - dictator-appeasing idiot
20. Darryl Cooper, author of MartyrMade - Trump apologist idiot and Nazi-symp who reportedly used his personal Twitter account to claim that “FDR chose the wrong side in WW2.”
21. david roberts, author of Sparks from Culture  
22. Dee Rambeau, author of Of a Sober Mind - conservative dummy, cites hereditarian Jonathan Haidt as an expert
23. Doomberg, author of Doomberg - idiot: "As a general rule, Doomberg has stayed clear of the direct debate over whether anthropogenic carbon emissions are warming the planet and whether such a trend represents an existential threat..."
24. DuVay Knox, author of Hard Knox Life
25. Dwarkesh Patel, host of Dwarkesh Podcast - promoter of racist idiot Razib Khan
26. Edward Snowden, author of Continuing Ed - Russian, traitor to the United States of America
27. Erik Hoel, author of The Intrinsic Perspective - OK I have to admit, he got off a pretty good slam on Steven Pinker: "I now must remind myself to be like Steven Pinker: expectant, assured, confident in the work my twenty busy bees of Harvard-educated research assistants have done"
28. Ethan Strauss, author of House of Strauss - creepy rightwinger
29. Foundation Against Intolerance and Racism (FAIR), author of FAIR Substack - LOL - nest of race pseudoscience promoters and wingnut welfare recipients, supported by Supreme Court corrupter Harlan Crow
30. Freddie deBoer, author of Freddie deBoer - former leftist, promoter of race pseudoscience, called Nazi freak Richard Hanania an "interesting thinker" - Jeet Heer had a great response to deBoer's friendship with Hanania - deBoer is so utterly pathetic - does anybody except racists and Nazis like him?
31. Freya India, author of GIRLS - internalized misogyny idiot, recommends Freddie deBoer AND Putinbot Konstantin Kisin AND racist Quillette author Rob Henderson on her Substack 
32. Glenn Loury, author of The Glenn Show - right-wing idiot, signed this letter too
33. Greg Lukianoff, author of The Eternally Radical Idea - works for Koch via FIRE
34. Gurwinder, author of The Prism
35. Heather Heying, author of Natural Selections - named member of the Intellectual Dark Web, evolutionary psychology idiot who promoted Ivermectin for Covid - big fan of game theory - also signed this letter
36. Jason Crawford, author of The Roots of Progress - idiot fan of Steven Pinker
37. Jay Bhattacharya, author of The Illusion of Consensus  - anti-vax idiot, "old college pal of Peter Thiel" also signed this letter
38. Jennifer Sey, author of Sey Everything - rightwing idiot, recommends Bari Weiss on her Substack
39. Jessica Reed Kraus, author of House Inhabit - supporter of crackpot RFK Jr.
40. Jimmy Doom, author of Jimmy Doom’s Roulette Weal 
41. Julie Bindel, author of Julie Bindel - anti-trans fanatic
42. Julie Gabrielli, author of Building Hope
43. Katherine Brodsky, author of Random Minds - rightwing idiot, ally of racist Razib Khan
44. Katherine Dee, author of Default Wisdom  - absolute asshole - calls Jonathan Katz' concerns a "temper tantrum"
45. Kathleen Sykes, author of The Charrette - declares herself a "deep thinker" so of course she recommends rightwing idiot grifters like anti-trans fanatic Jesse Singal (twice!) and anti-feminist Meghan Daum
46. Kent Peterson, author of Kent’s Substack
47. Konstantin Kisin, author of Konstantin Kisin’s Newsletter - Putinbot - signed this letter too
48. Lawrence M. Krauss, author of Critical Mass - utterly contemptible individual, author (of course) at Quillette
49. Lee Fang, author of Lee Fang  - ally of Glenn Greenwald, also signed this letter
50. Leighton Woodhouse, co-founder of Public - Publishes a bunch of grifters like Michael Shellenberger and Zaid Jilani
51. Li Kentgen, author of The 3 C’s of Belonging 
52. Lisa Kuznak, author of Mechanical Pulp
53. Luke Burgis, author of Anti-Mimetic - and author at racist Quillette
54. Lyle McKeany, author of Just Enough to Get Me in Trouble
55. Malcolm Cochran, author of Antheros - author at racist Quillette
56. Matt Taibbi, author of Racket News - awful, signed this letter too
57. Maurissa, author of RissaJean: Field Notes on Love, Life, and Loss 
58. Meghan Daum, author of The Unspeakable with Meghan Daum anti-feminist, author at racist Quillette
59. M. E. Rothwell, author of Cosmographia
60. Michaela McKuen, author of McKuen Musings
61. Michael C. Moynihan, host of The Fifth Column - racist idiot Andrew Sullivan considers him an "old friend"
62. Michael Mohr, author of Sincere American Writing - fake leftist who counts himself among a pack of right-wing idiots and Quillette authors:  "This, in turn, allowed many of us—including some very prominent writers, such as Ted Gioia, Glenn Loury, Freddie DeBoer, Ben Dreyfus, Bridget Phetasy, Matthew Taibbi, Richard Dawkins, and others—the opportunity to sign a pro-free speech letter written by Elle Griffin."
63. Michael Nayna, author of The Process - far-right promoter of Putinbot ghoul Konstantin Kisin
64. Michael Shellenberger author of Public - rightwing ghoul, also signed this letter
65. Michael Shermer, author of Skeptic magazine - blatant racist and Pinker's pal also signed this letter
66. Nellie Bowles, author of Chosen by Choice idiot wife of the contemptible Bari Weiss, also signed this letter
67. Nikita Petrov, author of Psychopolitica - apparently a Koch employee, works for the far-right Manhattan Institute's Glenn Loury
68. N.S. Lyons, author of The Upheaval - anti-feminist asshole
69. Paul Kingsnorth, author of The Abbey of Misrule - religious fanatic and anti-vaxxer nut job
70. Paul L Jordan III, author of The Taproot 
71. Peter Boghossian, author of Peter Boghossian - utterly contemptible, part of the Harlan Crow-funded FAIR grift. Signed this letter too.
72. Peter Clayborne, author of Anarchy Unfolds  - signed both the pro and anti-Nazi letters - JFC
73. Phisto Sobanii, author of The Partisan - aaaasshole who cites the ghoulish Matt Taibbi as a voice  of reason
74. Rachel Haywire, author of The Cultural Futurist 
75. Rav Arora, author of The Illusion of Consensus - right-wing anti-vaxxer
76. Razib Khan, author of Unsupervised Learning - racist idiot
77. Richard Dawkins, author of The Poetry of Reality - cranky old bigot, also signed this letter
78. Rob Henderson, author of Rob Henderson’s Newsletter rightwing idiot, author at racist Quillette
79. Ruth Gaskovski, author of School of the Unconformed  - Luddite
80. Sam Kahn, author of Castalia - aaaaaasshole - author at the asshole-infested Persuasion, another bunch of reactionary letter-signers
81. Samuel Lopez-Barrantes, author of if not, Paris
82. Sarah Haider, author of Hold That Thought - rightwing idiot also signed this letter
83. Sasha Latypova, author of Due Diligence and Art - anti-vaxxer nut job
84. Scott D, author of Moderately Offline
85. Dr Sharon Blackie, author of The Art of Enchantment 
86. Slavoj Žižek, author of ŽIŽEK GOADS AND PRODS - anti-trans reactionary also signed this letter
87. Tabitha Blair, author of Rudegal Tab Rants - anti-vaxxer nut job
88. Taylor Foreman, author of The Creativity Gap - idiot
89. Ted Gioia, author of The Honest Broker - author at racist Quillette, City Journal and Bari Weiss's Substack
90. Tomas Pueyo, author of Uncharted Territories - gender essentialist creep
91. Walter Kirn, author of Unbound - ally of the ghoulish Matt Taibbi and the even more ghoulish Christopher Rufo - also signed this letter
92. Zachary Davis, author of Wayfare

The INTERNATIONAL League of Race Pseudoscience Ghouls, Evolutionary Psychology Goons and Rightwing Grifters publishes a Westminster Declaration

A tweet from Michael Shermer in
supporter of racist extremist
J. Philippe Rushton - I think
Shermer is a fair representative of 
the reactionaries and race
pseudoscience promoters 
who signed this 
Westminster Declaration
But racist Toby Young would also
be a good choice.
===========================

Hot on the heels of the most recent right-wing declaration of their right to promote race pseudoscience and reactionary politics without pushback (a "scholarly" paper,) comes a DECLARATION for the right to promote race pseudoscience and reactionary politics - including anti-trans hatred, climate change denial and Covid conspiracies - without pushback.

Apparently this has been out for like a month but I'm only finding out about it now.

Anyway, let's review this INTERNATIONAL list of utterly shameless race pseudoscience ghouls, evolutionary psychology goons and rightwing grifters. Some of the same people who published the paper also signed this declaration. 

This list includes former far-leftists who are now stooges of the right.

The rightwing is basically addicted to this kind of declaration ever since the Harper's Letter - no wait - ever since racist Linda Gottfredson published a defense of The Bell Curve. 

Signing these papers and declarations is how the Right performs virtue-signaling.

I mean, I guess I shouldn't be surprised, as the list is international, but I really didn't expect to see so many Putin supporters and apologists.

You know Steven Pinker is going to be here - I'd bet he had some role in organizing both the paper and the declaration:

1. Matt Taibbi, Journalist, USA - reactionary grifter - went down the path to rightwingdom after his behavior with Russian women and women correspondents became better-known - Taibbi is absolute psychopathic misogynist filth, based on that Washington Post article, and once that became well-known he apparently had nowhere else to go except to the far right, where they absolutely love psychopathic misogynist filth.  His buddy Mark Ames appears to have been even worse, if you can believe it, bragging about statutory rape with a 15-year old and bragging about how he induced his pregnant Russian girlfriend to get an abortion by threatening to kill her. Both men claimed it was all just "satire" and complete fiction. I wouldn't be surprised if the Republicans tried to recruit either Taibbi or Ames as candidate for president in 2028.
2. Michael Shellenberger, Public, USA - Koch employee, climate change denier, failed candidate for governor of California
3. Jonathan Haidt, Social Psychologist, NYU, USA - race pseudoscience promoter
4. John McWhorter, Linguist, Columbia, Author, USA - long time Koch employee - also signed the paper
5. Steven Pinker, Psychologist, Harvard, USA - of course of course of course
6. Julian Assange, Editor, Founder of Wikileaks, Australia - rightwing stooge
7. Tim Robbins, Actor, Filmmaker, USA - stooge of the Right - apparently turning into Bob Roberts
8. Nadine Strossen, Professor of Law, NYLS, USA - supporter of race pseudoscience
9. Glenn Loury, Economist, USA - Koch employee - also signed the paper
10. Richard Dawkins, Biologist, UK - creepy old reactionary - get off his lawn you hippies!
11. John Cleese, Comedian, Acrobat, UK - creepy old reactionary - get off his lawn you hippies!
12. Slavoj Žižek, Philosopher, Author, Slovenia - anti-trans reactionary
13. Jeffrey Sachs, Columbia University, US - dictator apologist
14. Oliver Stone, Filmmaker, USA - conspiracy theory promoter
15. Edward Snowden, Whistleblower, USA - bullshit - he's a traitor to the USA and he's a Russian now
16. Greg Lukianoff, President and CEO Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, USA - Koch employee via FIRE
17. Stella Assange, Campaigner, UK - wife of Julian Assange
18. Glenn Greenwald, Journalist, USA - reactionary grifter, Trump apologist
19. Claire Fox, Founder of the Academy of Ideas, UK - "cancel culture" hysteric
20. Dr. Jordan B. Peterson, Psychologist, Author, Canada - infamous crackpot
21. Bari Weiss, Journalist, USA - the odious rightwing grifter, Supreme Court corrupter Harlan Crow is her sugar daddy
22. Walter Kirn, Author, USA - ally of Matt Taibbi
23. Peter Hitchens, Author, Journalist, UK - far-right ghoul
24. Niall Ferguson, Historian, Stanford, UK - far-right ghoul
25. Matt Ridley, Journalist, Author, UK - rightwing ghoul
26. Melissa Chen, Journalist, Spectator, Singapore/USA - one of the creepiest of the rightwing grifters - likes to display herself for Peter Boghossian- speaking of whom...
27. Peter Boghossian, Philosopher, Founding Faculty Fellow, University of Austin, USA - a rightwing creep - mad at me for being a nobody yet daring to criticize celebrity intellectual Steven Pinker
28. Yanis Varoufakis, Economist, Greece - the far-right's idea of a leftist
29. Michael Shermer, Science Writer, USA - racist who thinks infamous racist J. Philippe Rushton was right about Black people and Pinker's personal friend
30. Alan Sokal, Professor of Mathematics, UCL, UK - idiot stooge of the right
31. Sunetra Gupta, Professor of Theoretical Epidemiology, Oxford, UK - rightwing idiot who signed the Koch-connected Great Barrington Declaration
32. Jay Bhattacharya, Professor, Stanford, USA - another Great Barrington idiot
33. Martin Kulldorff, Professor of Medicine (on leave), Harvard, USA - another Great Barrington idiot
34. Aaron Kheiriaty, Psychiatrist, Author, USA - rightwing idiot
35. Chris Hedges, Journalist, Author, USA - one of those leftists whose mission is to help Republicans win elections
36. Lee Fang, Independent Journalist, USA - ally of reactionary stooge Glenn Greenwald
37. Alex Gutentag, Journalist, USA - reactionary stooge - COVID hysteric
38. Iain McGilchrist, Psychiatrist, Philosopher, UK - right-winger, purveyor of woo
39. Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Human Rights Activist, Author, Netherlands - rightwinger, born-again Christian
40. Konstantin Kisin, Author, UK - Putinbot and right-wing extremist - but I repeat myself. Also a Barbie-phobic misogynist asshole. He needs to be sent back to Russia, toot sweet.
41. Leighton Woodhouse, Public, USA - ally of Shellenberger
42. Andrew Lowenthal, liber-net, Australia - stooge of the right, ally of Matt Taibbi
43. Aaron Mate, Journalist, USA - Putin sympathizer - appears to be Canadian not American
44. Izabella Kaminska, Journalist, The Blind Spot, UK - right-winger, supporter of crackpot RFK Jr.
45. Nina Power, Writer, UK - right-winger
46. Kmele Foster, Journalist, Media Entrepreneur, USA - rightwing grifter, loves Ayn Rand
47. Toby Young, Journalist, Free Speech Union, UK - infamous racist, former Quillette staffer, comedian Stewart Lee mocked him in the Guardian
48. Winston Marshall, Journalist, The Spectator, UK - right-winger
49. Jacob Siegel, Tablet, USA/Israel - rightwing stooge
50. Ulrike Guerot, Founder of European Democracy Lab, Germany - Putinbot
51. Heather E. Heying, Evolutionary Biologist, USA - evolutionary psychologist trying to trade on the good reputation of evolutionary biology - rightwing grifter - lately spending her time drumming up anti-trans hysteria
52. Bret Weinstein, Evolutionary Biologist, USA - ask Bret and Heather about Game Theory! They became infamous for promoting ivermectin as a treatment for Covid
53. Martina Pastorelli, Independent Journalist, Italy - rightwing Catholic
54. Leandro Narloch, Independent Journalist, Brazil - anti-trans reactionary
55. Ana Henkel, Independent Journalist, Brazil - anti-trans
56. Mia Ashton, Journalist, Canada - anti-trans, right-wing extremist
57. Micha Narberhaus, The Protopia Lab, Spain/Germany - Putinbot, ally of Konstantin Kisin
58. Alex Sheridan, Free Speech Ireland - Trump supporter
59. Ben Scallan, Gript Media, Ireland - right-winger
60. Thomas Fazi, Independent Journalist, Italy - right-winger pretending to be of the left
61. Jean F. Queralt, Technologist, Founder @ The IO Foundation, Malaysia/Spain - far-right goon
62. Phil Shaw, Campaigner, Operation People, New Zealand - apparent supporter of conspiracy kooks
63. Jeremy Hildreth, Independent, UK - marketing ghoul, former associate of Koch-infused CATO Institute
64. Craig Snider, Independent, USA - Koch ally
65. Eve Kay, TV Producer, UK - rightwing COVID hysteric
66. Helen Joyce, Journalist, UK - anti-trans fanatic
67. Dietrich Brüggemann, Filmmaker, Germany - stooge of the Right
68. Adam B. Coleman, Founder of Wrong Speak Publishing, USA - rightwing grifter 
69. Helen Pluckrose, Author, UK - rightwing grifter
70. Michael Nayna, Filmmaker, Australia - right-winger ally of racist Eric Kaufmann
71. Paul Rossi, Educator, Vertex Partnership Academics, USA -rightwing anti-"woke" idiot
72. Juan Carlos Girauta, Politician, Spain - "hard-right"
73. Andrew Neish, KC, UK - right-winger, likes to retweet Fox News and Nigel Farage
74. Steven Berkoff, Actor, Playright (sic), UK - hideous old misogynist
75. Patrick Hughes, Artist, UK - this guy, I guess - racist Nicholas Wade is a fan
76. Adam Creighton, Journalist, Australia - anti-"woke" hysteric
77. Julia Hartley-Brewer, Journalist, UK - rightwing embarrassment to the UK
78. Robert Cibis, Filmmaker, Germany - conspiracy promoter
79. Piers Robinson, Organization for Propaganda Studies, UK - far-right ghoul, ally of Shellenberger and Taibbi
80. Dirk Pohlmann, Journalist, Germany - "The Journalist Sebastian Leber referred to Pohlmann in the Tagesspiegel in April 2022 as a "conspiracy ideologue" who had conspired jointly in the secret action "Leberschaden" (liver damage) with the "who's who of the German "swashbuckler scene" (German: Schwurblerszene)," especially blogger Robert Cibis."
81. Mathias Bröckers, Author, Journalist, Germany - conspiracy kook
82. Kira Phillips, Documentary Filmmaker, UK
83. Diane Atkinson, Historian, Biographer, UK
84. Eric Kaufmann, Professor of Politics, Birkbeck, University of Buckingham, Canada - extreme right-winger and racist
85. Laura Dodsworth, Journalist and Author, UK - Covid kook
86. Nellie Bowles, Journalist, USA - Bari Weiss' wife - rightwing reactionary grifter - one-time (and possibly still?) fan of psychotic stochastic terrorist Libs of TikTok
87. Andrew Tettenborn, Professor of Law, Swansea University, UK - right-winger, member of the Koch-connected Heterodox Academy
88. Julius Grower, Fellow, St. Hugh’s College, UK - anti-trans crusader
89. Nick Dixon, Comedian, UK - right-winger, "comedian"
90. Dominic Frisby, Comedian, UK - right-wing, libertarian Bitcoin bro and "comedian"
91. James Orr, Associate Professor, University of Cambridge, UK - rightwing extremist
92. Brendan O’Neill, Journalist, spiked, UK - Koch employee "Marxist libertarian" LOL
93. Jan Jekielek, Journalist, Canada - rightwing ghoul, likes to repost James "your mom" Lindsay on Twitter
94. Andrew Roberts, Historian, UK - far right
95. Robert Tombs, Historian, UK - right-winger
96. Ben Schwarz, Journalist, USA - right-winger, former national editor of the Steve Sailer-publishing, founded-by-racists The American Conservative
97. Xavier Azalbert, Investigative Scientific Journalist, France - promoter of anti-vaccine kook Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
98. Doug Stokes, International Relations Professor, University of Exeter, UK - far-right
99. James Allan, Professor of Law, University of Queensland, UK - far-right CPAC ghoul
100. David McGrogan, Professor of Law, Northumbria University, UK - rightwing Covid hysteric
101. Jacob Mchangama, Author, Denmark - right-winger, member of the racist Quillette gang
102. Nigel Biggar, Chairman, Free Speech Union, UK - rightwing, ant-woke, transphobic religionist
103. David Goodhart, Journalist, Author, UK - right-winger, reposts Putinbot Kosnstantin Kisin on Twitter
104. Catherine Austin Fitts, The Solari Report, Netherlands - Republican idiot
105. Matt Goodwin, Politics Professor, University of Kent, UK - rightwing ghoul
106. Alan Miller, Together Association, UK - anti-vax kook
107. Catherine Liu, Cultural Theorist, Author, USA - "leftist" idiot
108. Stefan Millius, Journalist, Switzerland - everything about him I could find is written in German. But based on the previous 100+ signers of the declaration, I'm going to take a wild guess that he's a right-winger
109. Philip Hamburger, Professor of Law, Columbia, USA - PragerU freak
110. Andrew Doyle, Author and journalist, UK - rightwing grifter - idiot Jerry Coyne loves him
111. Rueben Kirkham, Co-Director, Free Speech Union of Australia, Australia -  Free Speech Union a far-right organization founded by racist Toby Young and run by members of the far-right including white supremacist Douglas Murray - "related" to Heterodox Academy - so probably Koch-funded
112. Jeffrey Tucker, Author, USA - libertarian Bitcoin idiot
113. Sarah Gon, Director, Free Speech Union, South Africa - Free Speech Union a far-right organization founded by racist Toby Young and run by members of the far-right including white supremacist Douglas Murray - "related" to Heterodox Academy - so probably Koch-funded - Gon looks like an old-school pro-Apartheid racist to me
114. Dara Macdonald, Co-Director, Free Speech Union, Australia - Free Speech Union a far-right organization founded by racist Toby Young and run by members of the far-right including white supremacist Douglas Murray - "related" to Heterodox Academy - so probably Koch-funded - Macdonald appears to be a far-right ghoul
115. Jonathan Ayling, Chief Executive, Free Speech Union, New Zealand -  Free Speech Union a far-right organization founded by racist Toby Young and run by members of the far-right including white supremacist Douglas Murray - "related" to Heterodox Academy - so probably Koch-funded
116. David Zweig, Journalist, Author, USA - rightwing idiot
117. Juan Soto Ivars, Author, Spain -  everything about him I could find is written in Spanish. But based on the previous 100+ signers of the declaration, I'm going to take a wild guess that he's a right-winger
118. Colin Wright, Evolutionary Biologist, USA - evolutionary psychologist, anti-trans fanatic, ally of far-right freak Christopher Rufo, disgraced researcher
119. Gad Saad, Professor, Evolutionary Behavioral Scientist, Author, Canada - evolutionary psychologist, rightwing oaf, attendee of Peter Thiel's CPAC for racists
120. Robert W. Malone, MD, MS, USA - anti-vax kook
121. Jill Glasspool-Malone, PhD., USA - anti-vax kook (see link for Robert W. Malone)
122. Jordi Pigem, Philosopher, Author, Spain - appears to be a Covid hysteric
123. Holly Lawford-Smith, Associate Professor in Political Philosophy, University of Melbourne, Australia - rightwing anti-trans idiot, contributor to racist Quillette
124. Michele Santoro, Journalist, TV Host, Presenter, Italy - stooge of the Right
125. Dr. James Smith, Podcaster, Literature Scholar, RHUL, UK - stooge of the Right
126. Francis Foster, Comedian, UK - rightwing "comedian" and ally of Putinbot Konstantin Kisin - Kisin sure has a lot of friends on this list
127. Coleman Hughes, Writer, Podcaster, USA - rightwing grifter, Quillette author
128. Marco Bassani, Political Theorist, Historian, Milan University, Italy -  everything about him I could find is written in Italian. But based on the previous 100+ signers of the declaration, I'm going to take a wild guess that he's a right-winger
129. Isabella Loiodice, Professor of Comparative Public Law, University of Bari, Italy - almost  everything about her I could find is written in Italian. But based on the previous 100+ signers of the declaration, I'm going to take a wild guess that she's a right-winger
130. Luca Ricolfi, Professor, Sociologist, Turin University, Italy - everything about him I could find is written in Italian. But based on the previous 100+ signers of the declaration, I'm going to take a wild guess that he's a right-winger
131. Marcello Foa, Journalist, Former President of Rai, Italy - no surprise here: "Marcello Foa, a Eurosceptic journalist who has often shared stories proved to be fake..."
132. Andrea Zhok, Philosopher, University of Milan, Italy - too much Italian
133. Paolo Cesaretti, Professor of Byzantine Civilization, University of Bergamo, Italy
134. Alberto Contri, Mass Media Expert, Italy - anti-vax kook
135. Carlo Lottieri, Philosopher, University of Verona, Italy - libertarian idiot
136. Alessandro Di Battista, Political Activist, Writer, Italy - Putinbot: "Di Battista declared that "for the world peace, thankfully we have Putin". On 22 February 2022, Di Battista declared "Russia is not invading Ukraine" and "that Putin wants everything but a war"."
137. Paola Mastrocola, Writer, Italy
138. Carlo Freccero, Television Author, Media Expert, Italy
139. Giorgio Bianchi, Independent Journalist, Italy - appears to be a Putinbot
140. Nello Preterossi, Professor, University of Salerno, Scientific Director of the Italian Institute for Philosophical Studies, Italy  - everything about him I could find is written in Italian. But based on the previous 100+ signers of the declaration, I'm going to take a wild guess that he's a right-winger
141. Efrat Fenigson, Journalist, Podcaster, Israel - anti-vax kook
142. Eli Vieira, Journalist, Genetic Biologist, Brazil - right-winger, idiot
143. Stephen Moore, Author and Analyst, Canada - there are too many Stephen Moores in the world. I'm going to guess that the one listed is this right-wing Trudeau-hating idiot.

Chat GPT spills the tea about Peter Thiel and the Intellectual Dark Web

Since ChatGPT told me that Bari Weiss received a quarter of a million dollars from Peter Thiel in 2017, it occurred to me that perhaps her 2018 article for the New York Times about the splendors of her fellow travellers, Meet the Renegades of the Intellectual Dark Web, was a public announcement of who had agreed to be on the Peter Thiel payroll. In addition to all those associated with Quillette.

In the article there were twenty-five individuals named by Weiss as connected to the Intellectual Dark Web, including Steven Pinker, Kanye West, Milo Yiannapoulos, Stefan Molyneux and Alex Jones. 

But the most significant of the IDW bunch are those who were photographed for the article, standing in the dark in the bushes. 

I guess the photographer wanted to make a point by posing these Intellectuals in the Dark, but drew the line at literally portraying them in a Web and so had to stick them in some bushes instead.

The eight bush skulkers include Joe Rogan, Michael Shermer, Sam Harris, Heather Heying, Christina Hoff Sommers, Dave Rubin and Eric and Bret Weinstein.

So what does ChatGPT have to say about them?

NOTE:  this must be investigated further, since ChatGPT is known to be factually unreliable.

        Has Peter Thiel ever funded Sam Harris?

Yes, Peter Thiel has provided funding to Sam Harris in the past. In fact, Thiel was one of the early supporters of Harris' podcast and helped fund the creation of the Waking Up app, which was later renamed to the Sam Harris app. Thiel and Harris have also engaged in public conversations and have expressed mutual respect for each other's work in various fields.

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Supposedly Harris says he's done with the Intellectual Dark Web.

I came up empty on a Thiel funding source for Michael Shermer, but ChatGPT did have this info, which is not even available at SourceWatch.

Has the Skeptic magazine received funding from Donors Trust?

Yes, according to public records, Skeptic magazine has received funding from Donors Trust, a donor-advised fund that provides support to a variety of conservative and libertarian organizations. Specifically, tax filings from Donors Trust show that they provided funding to the Skeptics Society, the organization that publishes Skeptic magazine, in both 2014 and 2015. It's worth noting that Donors Trust supports a wide range of organizations across the political spectrum, and the fact that an organization receives funding from Donors Trust does not necessarily imply any particular political alignment or agenda. 

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Donor's Trust is the infamous right-wing funding vehicle that also gives millions to racist monsters VDARE.

ChatGPT had nothing about Thiel or Donors Trust funding for Christina Hoff Sommers, but it's not a secret that she's taken money from Koch-funded organizations for decades. ChatGPT agreed:

Christina Hoff Sommers, a conservative writer and critic of contemporary feminism, has received funding from a number of conservative and libertarian organizations over the years, particularly those focused on policy, education, and advocacy. Some of the organizations that have provided support to Sommers     include:

• The American Enterprise Institute (AEI), a conservative think tank that promotes free enterprise, limited government, and traditional values. (Pinkerite's note: funded by Koch)
• The Bradley Foundation, a conservative foundation that supports a range of causes, including education, civic engagement, and free markets.
• The Charles Koch Foundation, a philanthropic organization that funds research and education programs on a variety of topics, including economics, political science, and civil liberties.
• The Independent Women's Forum (IWF), a conservative organization that advocates for policies and initiatives that promote economic freedom, limited government, and individual responsibility. (Pinkerite's note: funded by Koch)
• The Manhattan Institute, a conservative think tank that focuses on policy research in areas such as urban policy, energy, and education. (Pinkerite's note: funded by Koch)

Here's what ChatGPT had to say about Heather Heying:

Heather Heying has received funding from a number of conservative and libertarian organizations over the years, particularly those focused on science, education, and policy. Some of the organizations that have provided support to Heying include:

• The James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal, a conservative think tank that promotes free speech and intellectual diversity on college campuses.
• The John William Pope Foundation, a conservative foundation that supports a range of causes, including education, healthcare, and public policy.
• The Templeton Foundation, a philanthropic organization that funds research on science, spirituality, and human purpose.
• The Discovery Institute, a conservative think tank that promotes intelligent design theory and critiques of evolutionary biology.
• The Claremont Institute, a conservative think tank that focuses on political philosophy, constitutionalism, and American exceptionalism.

I'm curious what The Discovery Institute hopes to get from Heying for its money, since it promotes intelligent design and critiques of evolutionary biology.

We do know that Heying and her husband Bret Weinstein have promoted junk science during the Covid pandemic. But that's Game Theory.

When I asked ChatGPT about Dave Rubin it said:

Rubin has expressed support for many conservative and libertarian ideas and causes, and he has collaborated with a number of individuals and organizations in these spheres. Some of the individuals and organizations that have expressed support for Rubin or his ideas include:

• Peter Thiel: As mentioned earlier, Thiel has expressed support for Rubin and his work, but there is no clear evidence that he has provided direct financial support to Rubin.
• PragerU: Rubin has collaborated with PragerU, a conservative educational organization that produces videos promoting conservative and libertarian ideas.
• Turning Point USA: Rubin has also worked with Turning Point USA, a conservative student organization that promotes conservative and libertarian ideas on college campuses.
• The Federalist Society: Rubin has expressed support for the Federalist Society, a conservative legal organization that promotes originalist interpretations of the US Constitution.
• Republican politicians: Rubin has expressed support for several Republican politicians, including Donald Trump, Rand Paul, and Ron Paul.

Eric Weinstein of course works for Thiel Capital, but I did not know he and Bret had been Thiel Fellows:

Bret and Eric Weinstein were both fellows at the Thiel Foundation, which provides funding to young entrepreneurs to start their own businesses. The Weinsteins have also been associated with the Intellectual Dark Web, a loose network of public intellectuals who are known for challenging mainstream narratives on a range of topics. While the IDW is not a formal organization and does not receive direct funding, many of its members are supported by conservative and libertarian donors who share their views.

Curiously ChatGPT wouldn't say that Bret Weinstein was funded by the same organizations who fund his wife, Heather Heying, which makes no sense. It did say about Weinstein:

Weinstein has also been critical of what he calls "woke ideology" and the progressive movement, and has spoken out in support of free speech and academic freedom. These views have earned him support from some conservative and libertarian organizations and donors. For example, he has appeared as a guest speaker at events hosted by the National Review Institute, a conservative think tank, and has been praised by conservative commentators like Ben Shapiro.

Shapiro was another person named in Weiss's NYTimes article as IDW.

I came up with bupkis for Joe Rogan.

So according to ChatGPT,  Sam Harris has taken money from Thiel, and Eric and Bret Weinstein were fellows at the Thiel Foundation, and all the others, except Joe Rogan have connections to lots of other far-right funders.

And since Thiel has funded Quillette we can infer these people have received Thielbucks due to Quillette authorship (my annotations in parentheses):

Quillette is an online magazine that publishes articles on a wide range of topics, including politics, culture, science, and technology. Some of the individuals who have written articles for Quillette include:

• Jordan Peterson: Canadian psychologist and author (IDW member per Weiss article)
• Claire Lehmann: Australian psychologist and founder of Quillette (Quillette is the primary publication of the IDW per the Weiss article)
• Sam Harris: American philosopher and author (see above)
• Christina Hoff Sommers: American philosopher and cultural critic (see above)
• Jonathan Haidt: American social psychologist and author 
• Heather Mac Donald: American political commentator and author
• Gad Saad: Canadian evolutionary psychologist and author
• Bret Weinstein: American biologist and evolutionary theorist (see above)
• Douglas Murray: British author and political commentator (named member of IDW)
• Andrew Doyle: British comedian and writer (or "comedian")
• Cathy Young: Russian-American journalist and author
• Debra Soh: Canadian sex researcher and science writer (named member of IDW)
• Conor Friedersdorf: American journalist and writer
• Peter Boghossian: American philosopher and professor
• Toby Young: British journalist and author (also was Quillette associate editor)
• Maajid Nawaz: British activist and writer
• Meghan Daum: American author and columnist
• Yascha Mounk: German-American political scientist and writer
• Helen Pluckrose: English author and editor of Areo Magazine
• James Lindsay: American author and mathematician
• Bruce Gilley: American political scientist and professor
• Claire Fox: British author and commentator
• Jamie Palmer: British writer and commentator (Quillette editor)
• Heather Heying: American evolutionary biologist and writer (see above)
• Ed Husain: British writer and commentator
• Coleman Hughes: American writer and podcaster
• Frances Widdowson: Canadian academic and writer

This is not an exhaustive list, as many other individuals have also written articles for Quillette.

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It's important to note that Peter Thiel is a democracy-hating far-right funder of monsters like Donald Trump, and has been called both a psychopath and a sociopath. And he's a babbling, Bible-quoting crackpot, with billions to spend on his far-right agenda. 

And those people have taken his money.

Or as David Bertoli, one of the admirers of the Anna Krylov/Jerry Coyne grift might say:

“It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it.”