I know I keep saying I'm going to leave but I just have to write this piece because I was inspired by @kaamrev's post about the closing of the Rapport. The truth is I have a shitload to say about journ*lism in general and the South African journ*lism scene but some of it would result in me doxxing myself, and quite honestly, most of it isn't interesting if you've never been in the space. I also have a funny story of how I fricked up so badly I almost caused a long-running newspaper publication to close down permanently, but I'd rather push that memory back to the dark recesses of my psyche.

With that said, I never fricked up as badly as the who we'll be discussing today - Verashni Pillay. This is pretty much South Africa's version of G*mergate, and it caused waves internationally. My post will be organised as such:

1. What is Huffpost?

2. Who is Verashni Pillay?

3. Verashni does a hate speech

4. Verashni is in trouble

5. Conclusion

What is Huffington Post

If you're familiar with online journ*lism, you'll have come across Huffpost. It is a left-leaning publication that aims to be hip and trendy while delivering the news. Not all their content is "news" and it also features a lot of clickbait pop culture slop. It's really a terrible site. The site almost died but it was purchased by Buzzfeed in 2020. It was during this time that the site experienced mass layoffs and the Canadian arm of the business was closed down.

Go on the front page right now and see the slop they post. From experience in the media industry, I can easily tell that it is a content mill that you shouldn't trust at all. I can spot the SEO tricks and the common tactics used to increase engagement and exploit the writers. Take a random article on the front page:

The headline is stuffed full of trending keywords. They had to fit in "elon musk" and "obama" to improve SEO on Google. Secondly, the writer never had to leave their desk to write the article. It's literally a longpost based on a Tweet by Elon Musk. All it does is report on the Tweet and the responses to the Tweet. I can promise you @kaamrev puts more effort into his posts than the writer of this article did.

You can also tell it's a content mill by looking at the writer's profile page.

This is someone pooping out three articles a fricking day. 100% he has a quota to meet and he's grinding away trying to achieve it. There is no way you're going to deliver quality journ*lism when you've got to write three fricking articles every day. The only way you achieve that is by writing slop.

The worst part of Huffpost is the writing. They've been bought by Buzzfeed, as I've mentioned, and they write in that "BuzzFeed" voice. You know exactly what I'm talking about. They use Black People Twitter slang and it's incredibly cringy when you see the author is a generic white dude.

Elon Musk is getting cooked on social media for equating the policies of Germany's far-right Alternative for Germany party to the U.S. Democratic Party at the start of Barack Obama's presidency, after Musk recently pointed to the AfD as Germany's only hope.

Yasss! Elon Musk is cooked! Fricking kill me.

Who is Verashni Pillay

For some reason, a lot of young people in South Africa want to become journ*lists. It's mostly young people who know nothing about the job market, are probably above average writers, and are highly opinionated. The truth is that once you're in the business, it's all about SEO and meeting quotas, and most importantly, YOU DON'T NEED A FRICKING JOURN*LISM DEGREE TO DO JOURN*LISM. So many idiots get scammed into a journ*lism degree that is utterly useless when all that matters is your portfolio. Instead of going into debt paying university fees, you're better off freelance writing and building up a portfolio to work your way to a permanent position (jk those don't exist anymore it's freelancers all the way down, journos don't get permanent jobs lol).

If you're in South Africa, for a long time, Rhodes University was THE place to go to study journ*lism. It had a very, very strong reputation for being a good journ*lism university and for anyone who wanted to become a journ*list it was assumed you'd be going to Rhodes.

+++++

Quick Notes from Holly!

So I attended Rhodes University, got my Masters Degree in English there and also wasted 3 years trying to get my PhD only to fail (I'm currently doing my PhD at a different university while working). I was fricked over by my supervisor majorly and I had a lecturer bully me so hard I attempted suicide, but that's a story for another day. Rhodes used to be a fun university. I arrived in 2014, which was right around the decline of the university.

Rhodes has a reputation of being a bit of a party university, and it's extremely liberal. It is also known for the National Arts Festival which is held every year. The university is located in Grahamstown which is a small town almost entirely dependent on the university for its economy. I was in Grahamstown when COVID-19 hit. Students studied from home so the university was practically empty. As a result, several businesses shut down and the entire town was financially crippled.

Fortunately, I don't live there anymore because the town can't even provide water or electricity to its residents, resulting in mass protests. I mean, they literally go weeks without any water.

I would not recommend anyone go to Rhodes University these days. It's a dead university in a dead town. Also, due to Rhodes's liberal approach to academia, they allow you to mix and match your degree however you want, allowing you to create a custom degree of your choice. I know a couple of universities in the USA like Evergreen do this shit as well. FOR THE LOVE OF GOD NEVER DO THIS. If you're going to university, get a degree with a set curriculum that allows you to specialize in a skill that is in demand. Nobody wants a generalist who majored in Psychology and History, or a weirdo who decided to major in Math and English. Anyone hiring is going to take one look, think "what the frick is this shit", and move on to someone who has clearly specialized in a specific task.

Dear lord if there's any advice I can give it's that university is not there for you to follow your passions. There is nothing passionate in a university setting. YOU'RE THERE TO SECURE THE BAG. Pick a degree that is in demand. If you want to go the artistic route, university is not the place to go. You're better off independently working on a portfolio.

Last point I want to make about Rhodes. The lecturers get paid SHIT. It's actually funny how poorly they are paid. Just look at this shit:

A fricking full-blown lecturer is only netting about $25K. Why the frick would you move to a town with no water to earn peanuts?!?!

+++++

Verashni Pillay attended Rhodes University where she earned her degree in Journ*lism. Verashni quickly proved herself to be quite the ambitious journ*list and she wrote for a number of popular South African publications including News24 and the Mail & Guardian. She has won a number of prestigious awards for her journ*lism. I'm not going to list them all because quite frankly I don't care. All that matters is that she was a journ*list of note in South Africa and she worked her way up to eventually become editor-in-chief of the Huffington Post in South Africa.

Verashni Does a Hate Speech

Verashni's woes began when she allowed a blog to be published titled "Could It Be Time To Deny White Men The Franchise?". You can still find the blog post online. The author's name is Shelley Garland and the author basically argues that white men should not be given the right to vote, and that their assets should be forcibly redistributed.

https://web.archive.org/web/20170414001415/www.huffingtonpost.co.za/shelley-garland/could-it-be-time-to-deny-white-men-the-franchise_a_22036640/

For the sake of stirring drama and outrage, I'll post a few choice quotes here

If white men no longer had the vote, the progressive cause would be strengthened. It would not be necessary to deny white men indefinitely – the denial of the vote to white men for 20 years (just less than a generation) would go some way to seeing a decline in the influence of reactionary and neo-liberal ideology in the world. The influence of reckless white males were one of the primary reasons that led to the Great Recession which began in 2008. This would also strike a blow against toxic white masculinity, one that is long needed.

A withholding of the franchise from white males, along with the passing of legislation in this period to redistribute some of their assets, will also, to a degree, act as the reparations for slavery, colonialism, and apartheid, which the world is crying out for to be paid.

Although this may seem unfair and unjust, allowing white males to continue to call the shots politically and economically, following their actions over the past 500 years, is the greater injustice.

Almost immediately, the article garnered widespread attention both locally and internationally. It got so big that fricking Jordan Peterson commented on it:

Locally, many groups cried racism and attacked Huffpost for publishing the piece. Afriforum, a group focused on the rights of Afrikaaners, accused Verashni Pillay and Huffpost of hate speech.

https://mg.co.za/article/2017-07-31-fake-huffpost-blog-could-see-white-men-pulled-out-of-voting-queues-afriforum/

This did not deter Verashni and amidst the controversy, she fully defended the piece. Thanks to the wayback machine, we still have access to the article.

https://web.archive.org/web/20170414225013/https://www.huffingtonpost.co.za/2017/04/14/this-blog-on-white-men-is-going-viral-heres-our-response_a_22039753/

A few quotes from Verashni to make you seethe:

Garland's underlying analysis about the uneven distribution of wealth and power in the world is pretty standard for feminist theory. It has been espoused in many different ways by feminist writers and theorists for decades now. In that sense, there was nothing in the article that should have shocked or surprised anybody (or so we thought.)

It would appear that perhaps much of the outcry derives from a very poor reading of the article -- or perhaps none at all.

So in response she basically shits on her readers telling them denying white men the vote is pretty normal feminist theory.

Verashni is in trouble

Well, a big plot twist emerged. Shelley Garland does not exist! The whole thing was a fricking prank written by a white man! Not just a white man, but a fucing full-blooded Boer named fricking Marius Roodt. That's a peak mayo name! Roodt wrote the piece to prove that there was little fact-checking done in South African journ*lism and so he wrote a piece where he intentionally inserted errors and he got fricking published! He made an absolute fool of Huffpost, and he's not fricking sorry about it.

https://www.news24.com/news24/i-do-not-regret-it-huffpost-fake-blogger-20170525

Eventually, the backlash got so bad that the article was taken down and an apology was issued.

https://web.archive.org/web/20181205145757/https://www.huffingtonpost.co.za/2017/04/14/this-blog-on-white-men-is-going-viral-heres-our-response_a_22039753/

But this wasn't just a thrashing on social media. There were legal consequences to face as well. The South Africa's Press Ombud found that the article amounted to hate speech, resulting in Verashni stepping down from her position as editor-in-chief.

Since the incident, Verashni has taken on the role of the victim and has framed herself as a victim of online hate mobs. This is ironic as she tried to stir hate mobs against white men. She is just getting what she tried to dish out to others. When speaking on the matter, Verashni brings up many of the criticisms of modern journ*lism that I've brought up and she confesses that the site is basically a clickbait content mill where writers are stretched to meet insane quotas.

"He targeted a stretched newsroom that was being asked to do way too much with too little resources: we were being asked to publish 30 unique pieces of content a day in addition to wire stories and international content from the other HuffPost sites. We had three junior reporters and were refused sub-editors, despite my warning that we would run into legal trouble given the rate at which we were publishing. In addition, the editorial team was under enormous pressure from management to produce traffic and clicks."

https://themediaonline.co.za/2017/08/verashni-pillay-opens-up-about-her-hate-speech-appeal-victory/

She has also released a Ted Talk about her experience and how she got shamed because of the piece.

Quite honestly, it's an annoying video to watch. She hides behind the fact that she is a female BIPOC and argues that her identity is the reason she was attacked, and not the fact that she published an anti-democratic article arguing that white men should not be allowed to vote.

Conclusion

Verashni was knocked down but she's not out for the count. She currently works at radio station POWER 98.7. I have no knowledge of the station or what it does, and I'm not in the mood to research it. Did she learn anything from the experience? In my opinion, no. I don't think she understands or accepts that she published disgusting hate speech. That blog post should have never been published and it was only possible because

a) THE EDITORS ACTUALLY WANT TO STRIP WHITE MEN OF THE RIGHT TO VOTE

b) Huffpost is a content mill that cares more about clicks than facts.

For this reason alone you should never read Huffpost. It's inaccurate garbage mass produced for clicks. So what do you think of Verashni's story? Do you think she got what she deserved? Or was she the victim of a mean prank?

I bet whoever made this is really embarrassed now.

You gotta pay the subway toll if you want into the New Yorks hole

!animalposters !cats

I'm 16 but I feel like I grew up to fast. I still feel like Im 8-9, my age dysphoria is bad I hate birthdays, I hate telling people my age, and I hate being around people my age or older because I feel little and even ppl who are 13 feel older than me :(. and I try my best to dress like an 8-9 year old even though I'm tall and don't look like a little kid :(, why don't people take me seriously when I say I'm trans age? I just want to be respectful and validated and taken seriously. I'm not a creep, I just have age dysphoria and I still feel like I'm mentally 8-9

"having problems with lust can be an issue if yoy make it one. The spirits inside you, the angels, the demons, are fighting inside you when you are at strife. So when the fight is inside you and you freak out, nobody else can see YOUR angels fighting YOUR demons. So switching from BBBW/BBC to Bi Asians will imply that you insist the idea behind an incubus/succubus. Each controls your spirit and there sre many. You can allow and be with the incubus/succubus of Bi Asians rather than the BBBW/BBC. Same goes with any spirit inside you that inhabits you and you allowed to grow from mind and spirit connection, the seeds of thought that is the garden of your mind that you visit oft, tending and not even know the grabbing feeling of inside your body is the connection of spirit and you are not reality but projecting inside reality. People speak of a simulation but they are not schizophrenic enough to explain it in theory rather than just trying to throw buzz words like SIGMA or BRICKED to click bait your attention for part two of their saturated shit series like wtf am i clicking your clickbait click baiting broke fuqq. Get a job!" - or so they said to me..

Steve Bannon Escalates Feud With Elon Musk: 'Parasitic Illegal Immigrant'

Steve Bannon, a former top adviser to President Donald Trump, has escalated his attacks on Elon Musk, calling the billionaire a "parasitic illegal immigrant" and accusing him of using his influence to push an agenda that disregards American traditions.

The latest remarks underscore growing tensions between two key Trump loyalists. Bannon, the media executive who once served as Trump's chief strategist during his first White House term, has portrayed Musk as a dangerous force within the current administration.

Bannon, a key architect of Trump's first-term agenda, has increasingly positioned himself as a vocal critic of Musk's expanding role in the administration. He has accused Musk, the world's richest person, of being "a racist," "an agent of Chinese influence" and an existential threat to the MAGA movement.

As cute as she is when she falls asleep on my desk, she'd fall asleep on the mouse, keyboard or the laptop. The new cat bed has worked really well.

She's asleep

Following up on reporting by my fellow MNN correspondent @darkdeity.

It was a standoff that lasted 6 hours that everyone watched on TV there, probably like OJ Simpson's slow speed car chase. Except OJ Simpson didn't think he had mystical psychic powers and consult with shamans all the time who told him he could get away with it.

Background: To put this into American terms. Basically the FBI has an arrest warrant for the President. The Secret Service says "we don't care, we protect the President". They tried on Jan 3 and then gave up because, really, wtf do you do in that situation? It's something nobody is prepared for. So they went back and regrouped.

They come back today in overwhelming force. If I'm understanding various reports correctly, they sent in 3,000 cops this time. They forced some kind of Mexican standoff situation where they dared the President's bodyguard to stop them and stared them down. There was real fear that this would end up with shooting. But the bodyguards eventually backed down. I want to imagine somebody doubted the cops' resolve and then one pulled out a .44 Magnum and pointed it at his head and asked "Do you feel lucky, punk?"

It has been reported that veteran personnel of the police's Mobile Detective Unit, Narcotics Investigation Unit and Anti-Corruption Investigation Unit have been dispatched for the warrant execution

Gives you an idea of who this is. It's not a bunch of commies, it's Steve McGarret, Joe Friday, Elliot Ness, Kojak, [insert some morally upright cop from your millenial/zoomer shows, if there are any these days]. They're just trying to enforce the law.

The police are also reportedly considering measures to arrest any individuals who obstruct the team's investigation, including the deputy chief of the PSS Kim Seong-hoon and the head of the Bodyguard Division Lee Kwang-woo who had warrants for their detention issued against them Tuesday night.

Please do.

a bunch of stuff about the 55th Security Brigade

This is the military unit that is the garrison for the capital. Nobody likes to talk about it, but this is what really matters when it comes down to it. They could have easily stopped it but they didn't. Probably because they don't want this insane guy running the country any more than everyone else does. Remember that through the 1980s (I swear it wasn't that long ago, I'm not that old) all power in the country was ultimately based on who could get military units to fight for them. So them sitting this one out is a relief to everyone involved except Yun and his partisans.

Further Reading

I've reported extensively on these topics but if you want some more background:

55th Security Brigade's response to Yun's orders to arrest his political opponents

From 2 years ago during the election why people think that him and his wife are total fricking weirdos.

Okay this one is just funny

Why the rightoids are so afraid of communism - because it's real

My last post about this lamenting that the left is apparently just as bad

Seriously tho, just search for "author:redactor0 korea". A variety of material and all of it is gold.

@Rad_juju !animalposters

For all the guy nomads, how do you carry your peepee pumps? The tubes are big and fairly fragile. Any tips for keeping it secure?

The answer is no. Unless you want a divorce or to be miserable. There are small differences that are fine but you're talking about major values and that's a big no no.

You can disagree on the best NFL team (Go Birds 🦅) but for fundamental things, you must be on the same page or, as you mentioned, there will be lots of fights and resentment in the future.

You can disagree on stuff like sports teams, restaurants, vacation locations. As soon as your disagreements reach "Human rights", then you're in a major issue. You will be with someone who believes some people are destined and deserve eternal punishment for the love they show being different. Take that how you will

Tulsi Gabbard now officially oversees and manages the entire US intelligence community. https://t.co/5ahm2XisNH

— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) February 12, 2025

Satanic Panic 2.0 will be upon us faster than you think. pic.twitter.com/cujE1JZAmm

— Hypnotic (@RealHypnotic1) February 9, 2025

https://kiwifarms.st/threads/kingdom-come-deliverance.39433/page-250

No, we are all being played. I was there at GG1, I know how he did it. We have to stop. He’s using everyone. I said this to Endy too. Vavra is a two faced opportunist.

— Grummz (@Grummz) February 8, 2025

Interesting how videogames were super important to idiots like this until they got what THEY wanted. Now that their side is losing, they wheel out the old "Its just videogames. Why do you care so much?" argument. Every single time. https://t.co/gXbBwzbBPH

— The Critical Drinker (@TheCriticalDri2) February 9, 2025

https://kiwifarms.st/threads/kingdom-come-deliverance.39433/page-243

🚨BREAKING NEWS: Dolton mayor Tiffany Henyard and her boyfriend JUMPS on activist Jedidiah Brown and critics! Tiffany Henyard wig fell off. This is wild and will end in arrests and lawsuits. WOW! pic.twitter.com/5if14Ye6U4

— Ja'Mal Green (@JaymalGreen) January 29, 2025

See Tiffany run from her seat at his angle to join the fight. pic.twitter.com/ZRSGgpCQmF

— Ja'Mal Green (@JaymalGreen) January 29, 2025

Another angle here. Tiffany must be arrested. pic.twitter.com/euBOHURdBp

— Ja'Mal Green (@JaymalGreen) January 29, 2025

Check this angle out of Dolton Mayor Tiffany Henyard and her boyfriend physically fighting critics! WE NEED ARRESTS RIGHT NOW! https://t.co/FSPCTY70du pic.twitter.com/UmI8MUwg4I

— Ja'Mal Green (@JaymalGreen) January 29, 2025

This is how she actually conducts herself during meeting

The Super mayor's reaction after her friends lose their jobs!
Tiffany Henyard Dolton Illinois pic.twitter.com/ikodczk1fI

— LiberalDreams45 (Parody) (@LiberalDreams46) January 29, 2025

Here's some of her prior controversies highlighted by rdrama (I highly recommend reading these- this woman is one of a kind):

https://rdrama.net/post/231797/a-marseykween-chicago-suburbs-mayor-who

https://rdrama.net/h/chudrama/post/234825/-

https://rdrama.net/h/chudrama/post/243910/-

https://kick.com/jstlk/clips/clip_01JJW1WW8FJKVDX0XKZ8KGQS10

FYI /r/livestream jannies are tiny peepee riders so the fact that this is on lsf is a buck breaking moment.

I tried to upload the clip but the only kick downloader I could find pooped out a 200mb mp4

https://archive.ph/DgWuO

OP Q&N

Q: Did you steal some info from

A: Yes

A state senator in Mississippi has filed a bill entitled the "Contraception Begins at Erection Act."

As written by Sen. Bradford Blackmon, the bill would make it "unlawful for a person to discharge genetic material without the intent to fertilize an embryo."

There are also fines involved, the third strike resulting in the loss of $10,000 from the perpetrator.

In a statement to WLBT News, Blackmon wrote, "All across the country, especially here in Mississippi, the vast majority of bills relating to contraception and/or abortion focus on the woman's role when men are fifty percent of the equation.

This bill highlights that fact and brings the man's role into the conversation. People can get up in arms and call it absurd but I can't say that bothers me."

https://www.scribd.com/document/818973988/Contraception-Begins-at-Erection-Act

Most Based Comments

Basedness: 🔥🔥🔥🔘🔘

He did a literal fascist salute. Not fake. Heck, even neo-Nazis were excited about it. (49)

https://old.reddit.com/r/neofeudalism/comments/1i6o06l/fake_news/m8fkdib/?context=8 (-27)

Basedness: 🔥🔥🔥🔘🔘

You didn't see the actual video where this guy who was celebrating the other guy that refused to rejects the KKKs endorsement, actually threw up TWO clear Nazi salutes? "Weird" that your amazing critical thinking skills just so happen to be completely missing the mark on this one. (13)

https://old.reddit.com/r/neofeudalism/comments/1i6o06l/fake_news/m8fkai9/?context=8 (-11)

Basedness: 🔥🔥🔥🔘🔘

Straight up. Had a dude at work today say "I don't care, all I cared about was him saying DRILL BABY DRILL". If that's the case, please remove yourself from the gene pool. (5)

You sound just like Goebbels. (-6)

Angriest Comments

Angriness: 😡😡😡😡🔘

Nobody would argue that fascism isn't racist because ultranationalism is a tenet of fascism. No one argued liberalism isn't democratic because democracy is a tenet of liberalism. Autocracy is not a tenet of communism. In fact, it is the exact opposite. There is no country on earth that claims to have achieved the goals of communism, but the western world labels these countries as communist nations because they espouse the goals of communism. This is akin to calling a construction company a finished building. Are you religious at all? I might have a good analogy for you. (2)

No, I'm a militant anti-theist. The idea that "no country EVER claimed to have achieved communism" is true only on a technicality. Sure, Stalin or Mao never made a speech saying "this is it guys, this is communism! We did it!" And what would it matter if they did? People like you would continue to deny it in other ways. You'd just claim that they were wrong, that wasn't real communism. Just because a nation hasn't reached the end goal of its ideology doesn't mean that it doesn't follow or isn't an example of that ideology. The stated goal of the Fourth Reich was the creation of a pure aryan race, the extermination of undesirables, and the conquest of the Soviet Union to create living space for German settlers. And they failed. But that doesn't mean that Nazi Germany was not a prime example of National Socialism in practice. Also, here's a fun fact: racism was not originally a tenet of fascism. Mussolini himself stated in 1932, "Race? It is a feeling, not a reality." The inventor of ... (2)

Angriness: 😡😡😡😡🔘

yea and we already know that many neo-nazi's are pro Trump. Haven't seen any neo-nazi's support Harris but I have seen many support Trump.also maybe Elon is not a nazi that's fully possible, but he knows that the neo-nazi's support trump.also trump and Elon both support the killing of Palestinians.and who did Biden kill then, or do you mean that under Biden people got killed like which happens under literally every president including Trump. (1)

If you're committing genocide against women and children how different are you from a Nazi really?So the Democrats and their voters are aligned with Nazis on committing genocide in Gaza but the Democrats are better? It would be hard to decouple, but 8 billion in weapons to bomb Gaza has to account for a decent chunk of those 60k women and children.But Elon's and his supporters are still worse right?https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/biden-administration-notifies-congress-of-planned-8-billion-weapons-sale-to-israel (1)

Angriness: 😡😡😡😡🔘

Because it is. (-2)

Let's go back to the time of robber barons when you were taxed 100% and lived in shit and if you spoke out you were killed (1)

Biggest Lolcow: /u/Ya_Boi_Konzon

Score: 🔘🔘🔘🔘🔘

Number of comments: 25

Average angriness: 🔘🔘🔘🔘🔘

Maximum angriness: 🔘🔘🔘🔘🔘

Minimum angriness: 🔘🔘🔘🔘🔘

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