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Image: Freedom of speech in ancient Greece:   In 399 BC, Socrates went on trial and was subsequently found guilty of both corrupting the minds of the youth of Athens and of impiety (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impiety) (asebeia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asebeia) ,"not believing in the gods of the state"). As punishment, he was sentenced to death: the drinking of a mixture containing poison hemlock (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conium_maculatum) .  Here:  The Death of Socrates (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Death_of_Socrates) , by Jacques-Louis David (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques-Louis_David) (1787)   Charles Burton: @cburton001, blogs at RealityChek; and senior Fellow at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, Centre for Advancing Canada's Interests Abroad; and Gordon Chang, @GordonGChang, Daily Beast, in re:  “U.S. and EU Condemn Jailing of Lawyer Who Reported on Coronavirus in Wuhan.  She was a lawyer. But when the coronavirus began raging in Wuhan, China, Zhang Zhan started reporting as a citizen journalist — offering a candid look at the situation on the ground. Then, after months of sharing videos and text updates on WeChat, Twitter and YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elZdU-iamKg) — the 37-year-old's social media feeds went dark in May. Authorities detained her, claiming she was spreading lies, according to The New York Times. And on Monday, she was sentenced to four years in prison. One of Zhang's attorneys said she was convicted of "picking quarrels and provoking trouble," according to The Associated Press. On Tuesday, the EU, U.K. and U.S. all expressed outrage at her imprisonment. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo demanded Zhang be released.” There’s growing evidence that the evolution of the virus is not entirely natural.  A lot of factors suggest that the notion of an animal producing the virus is increasingly less credible. Central leadership still refuses to let outsiders into the lab.  Chinese regime is using lawfare to [quash] dissidents.  Dozens of journalists in China have been detained as they investigated the origin of the virus.  They’re not intimidated, nor is the scientific community. ChinaDem.org    Clearinghouse of information on journalists’s being persecuted in China. Also could use donations. https://www.npr.org/2020/12/29/951258654/u-s-and-eu-condemn-jailing-of-lawyer-who-reported-on-coronavirus-in-wuhan https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3115988/chinas-military-takes-charge-war-powers-new-defence-law