Big Sister (?) is watching you, and ratting you out to the thought police

Dear gentle reader, fasten your seatbelt please for you are about to see a frightening invasion of privacy and persoanal space, perpetrated in the name of Righteous Wokeism, posted on a social medium called "StoopAntisemitism" by someone [named "Karen" perhaps? Ed.] who was flying on an American Airlines flight from Miami to JFK on Sunday. Ready?

And guess what, campers. Not only did this nosey busybody stick her phone over her [Yes, we're making an assumption. Ed.] fellow passenger's shoulder and take a picture of his cellphone, she reported him to the cabin crew! Since you may not be able to see from the photo above what caused her such offence, here's a closeup.

The man appeared to be exchanging messages with a colleague about a business deal. What he said that put a burr under the snoop's saddle was "I'll take care of the kike once and for all." "Kike" is a derogatory term -- a very old-fashioned one -- for a Jewish person.   

We do not know if the person was of the Jewish faith -- are there any Jews in Dade County? --  but we do know that she made enough of a fuss to cause the AA crew to report the "incident" to the FAA.

It was not immediately clear what the man meant by the phrase "take care of". Perhaps the person he referred to was elderly or infirm. Nor do we know whether the language amounted to anything beyond an offensive private message. There is also no suggestion that the passenger made a threat against anyone aboard the aircraft or that the alleged message was connected to the flight itself. 

The episode has sparked a debate online not only over the language allegedly used, but over whether a fellow passenger should have been reading, photographing or publicizing another person's private messages in the first place. 

Some commenters were appalled by the alleged anti-Semitic slur and argued that a message visible to strangers in the confines of an airplane cabin could hardly be considered completely private. Others said that no matter how offensive the words may have been, secretly capturing another person's private correspondence and exposing it publicly crossed a line. 

One person wrote, "A private person’s private communication is not fair game for public exposure simply because its contents are offensive. There is a fundamental difference between confronting public speech and policing private conversations. You should strongly consider deleting this."

Another critic similarly argued that the message, while offensive, was still part of a private exchange that had never been intended for the surrounding passengers. "This is ridiculous. Obviously he doesn't love Jews, but how many of you here have written PRIVATE texts to others referring to some groups of people with derogatory terms?"

A third comment reads, "This is not communist Russia (yet) where we spy on what people say in private. Antisemitism is real, but it's not doing us any favors to go after people and their private conversations."

Yet another person expressed disbelief that a passenger's phone screen had apparently become the subject of scrutiny from someone sitting nearby. "So now you can’t even text in public without some nut job recording your conversation??? How do they know exactly what this man was referring to??? Insane!"

"Insane" indeed! But this is what the Land of the Free has become in the Age of Woke. Watch your language eh!

Orwell saw this coming

In his all-too-prescient novel 1984, published on 8 June 1949, British author George Orwell predicted a world in which an all-powerful nanny state would watch everyone through surveillance devices called "video screens", watching out for anti-social (and anti-government!) behaviour.

For years now, there have been CCTV cameras outside George Orwell's  home in London. Now a sign has been added warning all and sundry to be of good behaviour... or else!  

Only in No-longer-great Britain, you say? If you live in the USA or Canada... or China... look around you. All that's missing is the sign.

And speaking of English thinkers and writers who had disturbing visions of the future of their sceptered septic isle, check out "'I told you this would happen!': Enoch Powell", WWW 10/8/11.

Registering Muslims in America vs registering Jews in Germany

Inevitably, the "progressive thinkers" and bleeding-heart liberals in the USA and elsewhere have pounced on Donald Trump's expressed agreement with the idea of registering Muslims so that they can be "surveilled" [There is no such verb as "surveille", but our "security forces" love it. Ed.] to the registration of Jews in Nazi Germany.

Walt wishes to point out that it was not the Donald's idea. The NBC interviewer sucked him in with a hypothetical, with which he expressed his agreement. Mr. Trump may be many things, but he is no Hitler.

Furthermore, there is one vital distinction to be drawn between the Jews of Nazi Germany and the Muslims of today's America. The Jews never declared themselves to be the enemies of the Gentiles, bent on destroying their religion and culture. The Muslims -- not all of them, but the radical Islamists among them -- have vowed to exterminate the "crusaders" not just in the Middle East but here at home.

Even Hellery Clinton cannot deny (try as she will) that there are "radicalized" Muslims among us. Walt stands by the proposition that it's not unreasonable to keep an eye on them.

Footnote: A report on Interfax today quotes a statement from Russia's Anti-Terrorism Committee that ten militants who had sworn allegiance to the Islamic State were killed in a special operation in a southern Russian republic. "During the active phase of a special operation near Nalchik," the committee said, "ten militants were neutralized. They were all members of armed groups that had sworn allegiance to the international terrorist organisation ISIL."

Walt adds... How do you suppose the Russians identified the late terrorists? Perhaps they had a list?