Three Physicists Share Nobel For Bold "Nonlocality" Experiments That Paved The Path to Quantum Computing

 

Einstein's take on quantum mechanics "God does not play dice".

The announcement of the Nobel Prize in Physics to three pioneering quantum physicists(Alain Aspect, John F. Clauser and Anton Zeilinger ) is - I believe - one of the more noteworthy awards in the past six decades. Perhaps on the level of  the discovery of the 3K cosmic background radiation by Penzias and Wilson, which established the validity of the Big Bang. The 10 million Swedish kronor award, equivalent to $918,000, will be split evenly between Dr. Aspect of the Université Paris-Saclay and École Polytechnique in France, Dr. Clauser, whose research was done when he was at Columbia University, and Dr. Zeilinger of the University of Vienna in Austria.

According to most media reports (.e.g in the WSJ, NY Times etc.) the  trio’s work was cited by the Nobel committee as having laid the foundation for a “new era of quantum technology, enabling the construction of quantum computers and networks."  In fact, their work was at a much more foundational and pure physics research level.  It is that background work I want to elaborate in this post.

Dr. Clauser, in an interview Tuesday with the Associated Press, said that his work on quantum mechanics shows that you "can’t confine information to a closed volume, say like a little box that sits on your desk.”   But this very feature, which Einstein considered "spooky action at a distance" is why the revered physicist opposed quantum mechanics.

This is what I want to explore further , by first noting first that Clauser built his work on Bell’s theorem.  

In a landmark theoretical achievement in 1964, mathematician John S. Bell formulated a thought experiment based on a design similar to that shown in the crude sketch below in which electrons of differing spin fly off to two separate detectors  d1 and  d2:

d1 (+ ½ )<--*---[ o  ]----*-->(- ½ ) d2  

 Einstein, Podolsky and Rosen (E-P-R) .[1] originally  imagined a quantum system (atom= o) which could be 'ruptured' such that two electrons (*) were dispatched to two differing measurement devices. Each electron would carry a property called 'spin'. Since the atom had zero spin, this meant one would have spin (+ 1/2), the other (-1/2).

Orthodox quantum mechanics forbade the simultaneous measurement of a property (say different spin states) for the same system. If you got one, you could not obtain the other. This was a direct outcome of the Heisenberg Indeterminacy Principle which stated that simultaneous quantum measurements could not be made to the same precision.

E-P-R argued that this showed the incompleteness of quantum mechanics. It was not the 'paragon' of physical theories its apologists claimed, especially if such indeterminacy was fundamentally embedded within it.  

But years later, in 1964 (as I noted) mathematician John S. Bell asked the question: 'What if the E-P-R experiment could actually be carried out? What sort of mathematical results would be achieved?' 

In a work referred to as "the most profound discovery in the history of science", Bell then proceeded to place the E-P-R experiment in a rigorous and quantifiable context, which could be checked by actual measurements.

Bell made the basic assumption of locality (i.e. that no communication could occur between  the detector  d1 and detector  d2 at any rate faster than light speed). In what is now widely recognized as a seminal work of mathematical physics, he set out to show that a theory which upheld locality could reproduce the predictions of quantum mechanics. His result predicted that the above sum, S, had to be less than or equal to 2 (S less than or equal 2). This became known as the 'Bell Inequality'.

The original form of the experiment invoked the quantum state of a two particle system in which position differential (x1 - x2) and momentum sum (p1 + p2)are both determined. Then the wave function is:

y (x1, x2) = f(x1 - x2 -a) =   å  ^¥ _k=0  c _k exp[ik(x1 - x2 -a)]

where the summation is over the k elements; f(x1 - x2 -a) is a packlet function sharply peaked at (x1 - x2) = a.  Alternatively, if p is measured, then one knows immediately that p2 = -p1 since p1 + p2 = 0. In both cases the 1st particle is "disturbed" by measurement and this accounts for the Heisenberg uncertainty relations applied in 1-d. However, the 2nd particle is taken not to interact with the 1st at all- so one can obtain its properties minus the assumption of any disturbance.

The first highly refined experiments to test quantum conformity to Bell's Theorem were performed by Alain Aspect and his colleagues at the University of Paris.[2] In these experiments, the detection of the polarizations of photons was the key. These were observed with the photons emanating from a Krypton-Dye laser and arriving at two different analyzers A1 and A2, e.g.

Here, the laser device is D, and the analyzers (polarization detectors) are A1 and A2 along with two representative polarizations given at each, for two photons P1 and P2. The results of these remarkable experiments disclosed apparent and instantaneous connections between the photons at A1 and A2. In the case shown, a photon (P1) in the minimum (0) intensity polarization mode, is anti-correlated with one in the maximum intensity (1) mode.

To fix ideas and show differences, in the Aspect experiment four (not two - as shown) different analyzer orientation 'sets' were obtained. These might be denoted: (A1,A2)I, (A1,A2)II, (A1,A2,)III, and (A1,A2)IV. Each result is expressed as a mathematical (statistical) quantity known as a 'correlation coefficient'.   One then obtained, for example:  

S = (A1,A2)I + (A1,A2)II + (A1,A2,)III + (A1,A2)IV

Remember that for locality to be preserved (in line with the E-P-R experiment), Bell showed that one required:  S  <  2.  However, Aspects; experiments showed:

S =  2.70 ± 0.05  

In addition, Aspect's experiment closed an important loophole in Dr. Clauser's work by proving that 'hidden variables' theories couldn't replace quantum mechanics. So Dr. Aspect killed 'two birds' with once stone: showing quantum mechanics is not incomplete, as EPR claimed, and further than there was no need to revise it using a Heisenberg relation with hidden variables.

This also marked the first ever hint of "entanglement" which would subsequently become a primary basis for quantum computing.  Hence, Aspect, Clauser and Zeilinger did not 'discover" quantum computing - as one may be led to believe from superficial media accounts - but they did the foundational quantum experiments that have led to its further technological development. (Zeilinger himself is credited with experiments to do with "quantum teleportation", whereby a quantum state is transferred from one particle to another at a distance.)

One last bold effort was made to salvage hidden variables in a paper by Rietdijk and Selleri, appearing in Foundations of Physics, in 1983:

But even they were forced to admit (p. 312):  

"One can escape the foregoing argument, deriving nonlocality from quantum mechanics, only by giving up the experimenter's free choice, i.e. by assuming superdeterminism."  

By that they meant the two detectors at A1, A2 would only be able to obtain measurements as prescribed by quantum mechanics provided the decisions for determination (say of the polarizations of the photons) were "pre-coordinated".   One would then obtain "nonlocal pre-coordination" between mutually distant measurement events.  The authors concede this is "far more beyond current conceptions than a simple nonlocal influence", but also argued it could not be "absolutely excluded".   

Well, ok, but in the same vein the sudden migration of all the air molecules in the room I'm in - say to one corner- suffocating me, cannot also be "absolutely excluded" from happening.  But I am not terribly worried that it will.  

The mighty success of the Aspect/Clauser experiments as well as Zeilinger's quantum teleportation proposal has been more than amply demonstrated with the kind of secure communications used in China's Micius satellite (see link to a previous post I wrote, below).

In ending it is important to bear in mind just how violently opposed Einstein was to the whole notion of quantum mechanics, especially the uncertainty or indeterminacy principle.  This is what elicited his famous "God does not play dice with the universe" quote and which initiated a debate with Neils Bohr that went on for some time, even before the E-P-R experiment.  To get an idea of the lengths Einstein went to, in order to prove Bohr (and quantum mechanics) wrong, it is instructive to check out this earlier post below- which includes the ingenious device Einstein conceived to try to trip up Bohr.  It is well worth a read again, especially that section to do with Einstein's thought experiment:

• The EPR Paradox and Quantum Nonlocality (Part 1)

See Also;

• Chinese Experiment Dramatically Demonstrates Quantum Entanglement...

Sheer Incompetence Of His Personally-Appointed Bimbo Was Evidently Too Much Even For Trump

 

U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon in Florida, after her latest absurd ruling, showed again why judicial experts dismiss her as Trump's toy and a semi-educated amateur playing at jurisprudence. How else explain her doltish ruling that Trump  isn’t obligated to lodge any objections to the accuracy of the revised inventory provided by the Federal Bureau of Investigation last week.

In a previous post, I already showed clearly why this inept bimbo shouldn't even be judging the cleanliness of outhouses, far less ruling on significant legal cases, e.g.

Does DOJ Need To File Appeal To Halt "Special Master" Ruling From Trump Stooge? Yes!

In that post I argued that the DOJ needed to judicially kneecap the clueless clown in her ruling blocking federal prosecutors from further examining the seized Mar-a-Lago materials for the investigation until the special master had completed a review.  Well, it turned out she was judicially humiliated by both the special Master - Judge Raymond Dearie - and the Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit in Atlanta.

On Sept. 22, Judge Dearie had to school the Trump -appointed Bimbo on the law and  said he was requiring Trump lawyers to submit by Sept. 30 a “declaration or affidavit” clarifying whether they believed any items listed on the FBI’s inventory weren’t actually seized from the premises.  He added that these derelict Trumper puppets could not “have their cake and eat it too.”  I.e. claim some special privilege and in the same breath not specify which exact documents were covered by that “privilege.”

Judge Dearie’s order effectively challenged Trump and his hired legal stooges to substantiate their accusations, which his lawyers have never made in court. He wrote:

“This submission shall be Plaintiff’s final opportunity to raise any factual dispute as to the completeness and accuracy of the Detailed Property Inventory,”

Trump’s 3 Stooges objected to the requirement, saying in a Sept. 25 letter to Judge Dearie that he had "exceeded his authority". And yet these Bozos all wanted a special master when it was purely redundant, and  chose  Judge Dearie for the job, which the DOJ then agreed to.  Given this it was no wonder the Appeals Court in Atlanta also raked the Trumper clowns masquerading as lawyers over the coals, totally concurring with Judge Dearie’s rebuke  – and by extension the Twit Aileen Cannon – who clearly doesn’t know a tort from a turd.

But Cannon, determined to expose herself as an even higher echelon imbecile, wasn't having any of this nonsense. Oh no. She had to show further the extent she was indebted to Trump for elevating her to Federal District Court status. So in her latest act of "independent" judicial stupidity she wrote this offal:

“There shall be no separate requirement on Plaintiff [Trump] at this stage, prior to the review of any of the Seized Materials, to lodge ex ante final objections to the accuracy of Defendant’s Inventory, its descriptions, or its content,” 

The order basically eliminated a deadline last Friday for any such objections set by Judge Raymond Dearie.  Cannon insisted she had appointed the special master and hence had the authority to reject his recommendations. Confirming her low I.Q. bona fides for all to see, she added this claptrap:

“The Court’s Appointment Order did not contemplate that obligation,” 

 Indicating Judge Dearie had overstepped the authority she granted to him after naming him to the role.  What did this insolent Bimbo think a special master's role was?  After all, she delegated that discerning authority to him - Judge Dearie - who is some 40 years her senior, and who also used to try New York Mafia family members. 

As former DOJ Acting Solicitor General Neal Katyal put it last Friday on Deadline White House, Cannon’s ruling means little given the FBI survey of classified docs is continuing.  In Katyal’s words: “It’s like a congressman who voted ‘No’ 50 times then voting ‘yes’.    Declaring also that Cannon has again proven she knows nothing about the law, and indeed is an embarrassment to the judicial process and the state of law in this country.

 

In the latest iteration of this overlong farce, the Trump legal team asked the Supreme Court justices to overturn a lower court ruling and allow the special master (Judge Dearie), to review the roughly 100 documents with classification markings that were taken in the Aug. 8 search of Mar-a-Lago.  E.g.

Trump asks Supreme Court to intervene in classified documents case

 This in itself is mind boggling given that Dearie already made it clear it was on the Trumpster Jokers to identify the files among the 100 documents they claimed special privilege for.  I suspect this is merely a fallback position and Trump realizes it's his only play given his appointed Toadie,  Aileen Cannon,  didn't get her ruling right.  So now he has to shovel up after her and take his case to the Supremes.  Makes one wonder if he now regrets his appointment of Cannon, and only belatedly realizes he picked the wrong pawn to do his dirty work of delay, distraction and obstruction.    E.g.

We will watch and see what unfolds in this totally wasteful drama.   The outcome will manifest as yet another test of the highest court, as articulated in the earlier question posed by Justice Sotomayor:

"Will this institution survive the stench that this creates in the public perception that the Constitution and its reading are just political acts? I don't see how it is possible.”

See Also:

Donald Trump

Former US Prosecutor Expresses Doubt About the Trump Legal Team’s Latest Reported Defense Strategy

by Meaghan Ellis | October 2, 2022 - 8:03am | permalink

— from Alternet

Uncertainty In Hurricane Evacuation Orders Is Nothing New - Ask My Folks When "Charley" Struck 18 Years Ago

 

Mom in backyard of Pt. Charlotte FLA home, August 14, 2004

Parts of roof detached from Charley's 145 mph winds

As much ado is currently made regarding the accuracy of forecasts for Hurricane Ian - especially in its approach to southwest Florida, Fort Myers and the critical evacuation orders - many forget Hurricane Charley back in August, 2004.  My parents never did.  They were living in Port Charlotte, Florida, about 40 miles north of Fort Myers at the time and had turned in the night of Aug. 12th expecting the monster storm (whose name has now been permanently retired) would strike north in Tampa Bay.   

But about two hours before landfall, the National Hurricane Center issued a special advisory, notifying the public that Charley had become a 145 mph (235 km/h) Category 4 hurricane, with a predicted landfall location in the Port Charlotte area. As a result of this change in forecast, thousands of people (mainly seniors) in the Charlotte County area were unprepared for the hurricane, although the new track prediction was well within the previous forecast's margin of error.  

My parents were only spared the worst because they happened to tune into Jim Farrell, a forecaster at   WINK in Fort Myers. who predicted that Charley was going to turn early into the Florida southwest Gulf coast, striking around Charlotte Harbor .   Farrell's forecast was amazing, given it broke clearly with all the national media predictions of a Tampa Bay landfall as early as the morning of August 13.   

The folks' good fortune in tuning in, spared their home the worst, and barely allowed time to "batten down the hatches" before the storm struck. As it was, mom said the next several hours were "horrific" and had her frantic with worry and fear as the ferocious winds ripped off parts of their roof (see photos above).  Those affected by Charlie were grateful for yet another unforeseen aspect, that it was one of the fastest moving 'canes, crossing the Florida peninsula in about 7 hours.  This as opposed to Ian's slow-paced movement and consequent drenching effects, flooding.  

Nonetheless, the commonality between the two hurricanes was the uncertainty in forecasting precise landfall, which is a function of the stochastic nature of the science of meteorology.  Thus, each major storm was originally predicted to slam into the Tampa Bay area, but in fact struck significantly further south, Ian arriving at Cayo Costa- a small island just off Fort Myers, and Charley over Punta Gorda, just south of Port Charlotte, e.g.

                Image of Hurricane Charley making landfall at Punta Gorda, FL

         The cone of probability for Charley's landfall - note the width at top

                                     The cone of probability for Ian's landfall

From the images above, one can see that it's folly to blame forecasters for failure to make correct predictions given all locations involved were within the cone of uncertainty.   Didn't hit Tampa, hit Fort Myers instead and clobbered Sanibel Island?  Okay, but Tampa was still positioned in the cone.  Charley clobbered Port Charlotte and Punta Gorda instead of Tampa?  True, but all were within the cone of uncertainty.   The takeaway here is that neither the forecasters can be blamed or the local officials who gave evacuation orders.  They delivered those orders as soon as the most reliable paths became available.  Let's also note that giving such orders too early is not necessarily a good thing, given a "miss" would merely confirm for cynics that the forecasts are no use anyway, so why leave my precious property?  (Even with the evac orders many still chose to remain behind.)

The  aftermath of Charley saw 29 fatalities and an estimated $6 billion in property damage. The cleanup took over a week, and while the home insurance paid for most of the folks' home repairs it didn't cover flood damage.  Also, their premium for the next year would be raised by $350/month.  Of course, they were unable to pay such a fantastic amount on fixed Social Security incomes.  Hence, by late September 2004, they were forced to sell their place to a peripatetic home "flipper" and had to move into an assisted living facility called 'Royal Palms Retirement Village'.

Mom loved the new digs, but frankly, dad hated then because he could no longer cook his own meals the way he wanted. Also, eating mainly meant going down to the community cafeteria three times a day, where everyone was watching everyone else.  Alas, too, the food (prepared by special dieticians) was somewhat bland, little salt. (I can vouch for that, eating a lunch with mom in July, 2009, two days after dad's funeral.)

See Also:

Florida faced a housing crisis. Ian has made it worse.

And:

Big Oil | Climate Justice

Hurricane Ian's Devastation Is a Crime Scene—And Big Oil Is Holding the Bloodied Knife

by Linda McQuaig | October 4, 2022 - 6:38am | permalink

— from the Toronto Star

Excerpt:

Watching images of hurricane devastation is, of course, disturbing. But imagine what it’s like watching all that destruction and suffering, while secretly knowing you bear responsibility for it.

The Algebra Of Diophantine Equations

 A Diophantine equation is "an algebraic equation in one or more unknown with integer coefficients for which integer solutions are sought".  This according to the text 'What Is Mathematics?' (p. 50)  Further such an equation may have: " no solutions, a finite number of solutions, or an infinite number."   The basic template for this type of equation is:  ax + by = c.

Here, a, b and c denote integers and the equation needs to be solved for x and y, and ideally these solutions are integers, not fractions.  At this point, we have to cut to the Euclidean algorithm and how it's used.  A general theorem may be stated thus: If a is any integer, and b is any integer greater than zero, then we can always find an integer q such that:

a = b*q + r

where r is an integer satisfying the inequality:  0 < r < b

A general task is to find the “greatest common divisor” (gcd)  of a and b, called d(a,b). If d = (a,b)then positive or negative integers k and m can always be found such that:  d = ka + mb

This proceeds by successive divisions with remainders. As an example, consider the Euclidean algorithm for finding (a,b) = (61, 24). Here gcd or greatest common divisor is 1 and we find:


61 = 2*24 + 13

24 = 1*13 + 11

13 = 1*11 + 2

11 = 5*2 + 1

2 = 2*1 + 0

From the 1st equation we have: 13 = 61 - 2*24

From the end of the second result we get:

11 = 24 – 13 = 24 - 61 - 2*24 = -61 + 3*24

From the third:

2 = 13 – 11 = (61 – 2*24) – (-61 + 3*24) = 2*61 – 5*24

From the fourth:

1 = 11 – 5*2 = (-61 + 3*24) – 5(2*61 – 5*24) = -11.61 + 28*2

Apart from these operations, we can also use the Euclidean algorithm to compute continued fractions.  For example,  consider 169/70 and seek the continued fraction development:

169/70 = 2 + 29/70 = 2 + 1/70/29

 70/29 = 2 + 12/29 = 2 + 1/ (29/12)


29/12 = 2 + 5/18 = 2 + 1/ (12/5)


12/5 = 2 + 2/5 = 2 + 1/(5/2)

And: 5/2 = 2 ½ = 2 + ½


Thus, as shown in the diagram below,  169/70 is developed with the result = 2.414

Let's now see how the preceding operations can be used to solve a Diophantine equation. In particular, we want to solve: 7x + 11y = 13   We proceed by working with 7 and 11, respectively, using the Euclidean algorithm.

Thus:   11 = 1*7 + 4  and 7 = 1*4 + 3  

We see remainder 4 for the first, so use the algorithm again, so: 4 = 1*3 + 1

 Then we can write: (7, 11) = 1  

Meanwhile, the remainder of 1 (after working on remainder 4) is dealt with, so: 

  1 = 4 - 3 = 4 - (7 - 4) = 2*4 - 7 = 2 (11 - 7) - 7 =  2*11 - 3*7

 Therefore:   7*(-3) + 11(2) = 1   and   7*(-39) + 11(26) = 13

 From the last equation we see that x = -39 and y = 26.

All other solutions can be expressed in terms of x and y -values with a remainder r (integer), so that:   x = -39 + 11r  and y = 26 - 7r  

For example, let r = 1, then x = (-39) + 11 = - 28 is also a solution.  Similarly, let r = 1 and y = 26 -7 (1) = 26 - 7 = 19 is also a solution.  

In summary then, the linear Diophantine equation of form ax + by = c has a solution in integers if and only if c is a multiple of (a, b). In this case, a particular solution may be found using the Euclidean algorithm.  

Suggested Problems:

1)     Solve the Diophantine equation: 3x - 4y = 29

       (Give at least one extra solution to the one immediately proposed)

          2)Solve the Diophantine equation: 11x + 12 y = 58

          (Give at least one extra solution to the one immediately proposed)

Lance Morrow Crashes Again - Comparing MAGAs To "Freedom-Loving Pirates"

 

           Lance Morrow: Loves the MAGA tribe 'cause they're free pirates.

Lance Morrow  (WSJ, p, A15,  Oct. 1,2, MAGA Is to Woke As Errol Flynn Is to Henry Fonda)  is enthralled with the 1935 film 'Captain Blood”  and the dashing way it portrayed piracy - as compared to the woeful “The Grapes of Wrath” (1940)  with Henry Fonda. In his words:

"One is a swashbuckling 17th-century pirate’s tale, starring Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland; the other is a quasi-documentary melodrama, starring Henry Fonda, heartless bankers, vicious fruit growers and the Dust Bowl. Consider the two movies to be allegories that explore the difference between MAGA and Woke. Captain Blood captures the essence of MAGA—or, anyway, of MAGA’s slightly piratical idea of itself.  'The Grapes of Wrath' is a masterpiece of what might be called sentimental realism, heavily laden with Christian and socialist formulations. Ask yourself which of the movies speaks to your heart "

Okay, let's do that, Morrow. One - Grapes of Wrath- deals seriously with the human struggles of the Joad family during the Great Depression and the sacrifices made by each member.  The other, Captain Blood, extols the fantasy and false freedom of piracy laying waste to norms and raising chaos all over hell's half acre. Hey wait! That sounds just like Trump's MAGA tribe!   But see, what hack Morrow derisively calls 'woke' is actually a consciousness of the other's pain and limits to attaining expansion.  Charles A. Reich in his book, 'The Greening of America'.  first envisioned the path past false consciousness to entail evolution  through three stages he called:   "Consciousness I,  Consciousness II, and Consciousness III". 

Consciousness I identified with the nation’s early self-reliance; Consciousness II  associated with the New Deal era; and Consciousness III marked an unshackling from the stifling moral constraints of the 1950s, focusing on spiritual fulfillment. In today's context that fulfillment - independent of religious affiliation- would have recognized Trump's total lack of any moral compass and hence his unfitness as a leader.   The MAGAs, whose "freedom" Morrow likens to the pirates' of old, are as bankrupt of moral compass for not seeing Trump as dysfunctional, which means acting on that perception too.  Hence, in Reich's terminology, they are imbued with false consciousness. 

The Joads, then, demonstrated the self reliance and Consciousness I, which Morrow dismisses as "sentimental realism".  But to me, that is exactly what appeals and speaks to the heart.  At least a human heart, as opposed to an ape heart.   To fix ideas, Charles Reich's description (op. cit, p. 392) of the unaware or 'unwoke' in the 1960s matches the millions of MAGAs in the regressed mind warp today, under the spell of Trumpism.   It also embodies what is false freedom, because it operates under a false consciousness, i.e.

"He is unable to understand his society, unable to vote in a responsible way, unable to communicate with his own children or to understand their culture. He is allowed to become human wreckage because his mind stopped growing while all the elements around him moved ahead."

Yet Morrow, in his own deliberately chosen false consciousness, ignores this - writing:

"The Rorschach value of “Captain Blood” and “The Grapes of Wrath,” as applied to the 2022 elections, depends upon your thinking of them not as literal models but as self-sufficient myths, outside time: as attitudes— as fantasies of the self in its relation to power or powerlessness." 

 In other words-  and comporting with the rest of his deplorable piece-  voting MAGA and embracing the fantasy of false freedom on offer from the GOP. A false freedom on 'steroids' thanks to gobbling Trump's abominable lies and QAnon offal, as laid out by NY Times' Michelle Goldberg, e.g.

Trump’s Heartless QAnon Embrace

writing about the plight of 21-year old Rebecca Lanis, whose dad - Igor - fell into the pit of QAnon conspiracy ideations:

Lanis described how her father had fallen down the QAnon rabbit hole after the 2020 election. He wasn’t violent, however, until the morning of Sept. 11, when he shot her mother, her sister and their dog, and was then killed in a shootout with the police. Lanis’s sister, despite being shot in the back and legs, survived. Her mother and the dog did not.

The killings weren’t the first to be linked to QAnon radicalization. Last year, a 40-year-old California man confessed to killing his two young children; in an affidavit, an F.B.I. agent said he “explained that he was enlightened by QAnon and Illuminati conspiracy theories” and had come to believe that his children had serpent DNA... .

The existence of the Reddit forum where Lanis posted, QAnon Casualties, is itself a testament to the way QAnon destroys lives. Which is why Trump’s embrace of the movement is not just dangerous, but cruel.  Trump has long played footsie with QAnon, whose adherents prophesy an apotheosis, or “storm,” in which Trump is returned to power and his enemies rounded up and executed...

But in recent weeks, as Trump’s legal troubles have mounted, his endorsement of QAnon has become more forthright. On Sept. 12, he reposted an image of himself wearing a Q lapel pin and the words “The Storm Is Coming” on his social media platform, Truth Social. An Associated Press analysis, published on Sept. 16, found that of nearly 75 accounts Trump has reposted on Truth Social in the past month, more than a third have promoted QAnon.

“What he’s doing on Truth Social is a massive escalation,” said Mike Rothschild, author of “The Storm Is Upon Us"

This sums up the destruction of freedom that awaits for millions if the MAGA tribe's "pirates" gain control of congress in the midterms.  It will be hell to pay, and 'Katie bar the door' - especially for the most vulnerable in the society. Was Mr. Morrow  not aware of any of this before embarking on his shameless "piracy Rorschach" bunkum? Short answer: he likely was aware but simply doesn't give a damn.  After all, he's being paid handsomely (by the likes of Rupert Murdoch) to use what scant literary skills he has left to scribble trash.  He'd already penned an earlier column extolling the Trump tribe as the "true lovers of freedom" while ignoring the fascism within:

WSJ Hack Lance Morrow Gets Fascism 'Backwards'

All of which is a cautionary warning, that large swatches of the media cannot be trusted as election fever heats up toward November 8th As WaPo columnist Jennifer Rubin has written:  

“The cynical GOP leaders who know that Trump is unfit for office and that many of his cult followers have become violent and should not be treated as ordinary party hacks. They are enablers of a dangerous movement. Yet they continually evade persistent, aggressive questioning.

 Compare this with the mainstream media’s response to Biden’s recent speech condemning the MAGA movement. Yet many in the mainstream media turned up their noses. “Biden should have been more welcoming,” they said. “He’s too divisive!”

This reached a nadir with ABC's gig reporter Martha Raddatz who actually claiming Biden was "spreading hate" after his Labor Day speech which I praised on its timing before the midterms, e.g.

Biden's Timely Message: If You're For Democracy You Can't Also Vote For MAGA Republicans 

Yet none of the major networks had the insight or courage to televise it, deeming it "too political and not of national concern."   Confirming again the corporate media is a hostage to the "both sides",  false equivalence tropes. This is exactly why too many in our nation can't discern  genuine freedom from its false twin that claims - like Morrow does - it's attainable without any responsibility.

The Joad's, in Steinbeck's 1940 novel 'The Grapes of Wrath', demonstrated responsibility as citizens - despite being economically deprived and suffering in the Great Depression. The same can't be said for Trump's QAnon-MAGA Tribe who would rather kill opponents based on specious, vile lies regarding 'Lizard people" DNA  and stolen elections.  Just like bloodthirsty pirates of old which Morrow holds in such high esteem, as he does the fascists.  

Think I'm exaggerating the threat? According to the statistic source FiveThirtyEight, out of 552 Republicans on the ballot in 2022, 201 have stated that the 2020 election was stolen, or taken actions to overturn the results. Another 61  have "raised questions" about the outcome - this despite several bogus audits, in these states, e.g. Arizona, found at the end Biden was still the clear winner.

Perhaps the biggest Morrow detraction (shared with other imps, including Bill Maher) concerns the crazy denunciations of the 'Woke mob' and "cancel culture" - which at least to Morrow proved the MAGAs were more about "freedom".  Not so. The  logical error made is in the claim that freedom of speech is equivalent to freedom from criticism. It isn't.

Any red-capped MAGA - or Lance Morrow  - has the right to say whatever he damned well pleases no matter how offensive, ignorant, stupid or outrageous. But if I deem it effluent and respond in an acerbic, biting or highly critical way that is my right.  That's the funny thing about freedom of speech, it cuts both ways. Something that Morrow and the MAGAs ought to process before they next go bonkers claiming there exists a "woke mob" out to "cancel their freedoms." 

No, not at all. Those of us deemed more "woke" simply want the MAGA cohort to grasp that when its denizens - whether in the media, on Reddit, 4chan or wherever  -  spout bollocks there is the implicit potential for harsh criticism.  That is not the same as cancellation.  

See Also:

2022 Elections | Donald Trump

Trump Will Be on the Ballot in 5 Weeks

by Robert Reich | October 3, 2022 - 8:00am | permalink

— from Robert Reich's Substack

Excerpt:

My friends,

Make no mistake: Donald Trump is effectively on the ballot in the midterm elections, five weeks from tomorrow (voting has already begun in several states). Even if he decides not to run, he’s laying the groundwork for authoritarianism.

In the upcoming midterms, 60 percent of us will have an election denier on our ballot, most of them endorsed by Trump. In the key battleground states of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Minnesota, and Pennsylvania

And:

Noonan Again Goes Off The Rails In Rant Against "The Woke Mob"

And:

Apocalypse now: Democrats have a dark midterm message