"Information" in the Time of Trump #2
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1margd
You Can't Just Riff About Nukes
Brian Barrett | Aug 10, 2017
...The Weekly Standard and The New York Times reported that the extemporaneous “fire and fury” line caught senior aides off guard. And the arsenal tweets are misleading at best, and at least in part demonstrably false. In other words, Trump opted to discuss nuclear escalation with the same reckless abandon he's shown for crowd sizes, voter fraud, and phone calls from foreign leaders or the Boy Scouts.
...Trump’s shenanigans didn’t trigger an international incident, even if they did prompt Kim Jong-un to threaten Guam.
...Two issues intertwine when Trump spouts off nuclear weapons without much strategic thought:
escalation and credibility, both of which seem to be heading in the wrong direction.
...That, then, is where Trump's rhetoric has brought the world: The biggest threat might be that someone actually believes what he says.
https://www.wired.com/story/donald-trump-north-korea-nuclear-rhetoric/
Brian Barrett | Aug 10, 2017
...The Weekly Standard and The New York Times reported that the extemporaneous “fire and fury” line caught senior aides off guard. And the arsenal tweets are misleading at best, and at least in part demonstrably false. In other words, Trump opted to discuss nuclear escalation with the same reckless abandon he's shown for crowd sizes, voter fraud, and phone calls from foreign leaders or the Boy Scouts.
...Trump’s shenanigans didn’t trigger an international incident, even if they did prompt Kim Jong-un to threaten Guam.
...Two issues intertwine when Trump spouts off nuclear weapons without much strategic thought:
escalation and credibility, both of which seem to be heading in the wrong direction.
...That, then, is where Trump's rhetoric has brought the world: The biggest threat might be that someone actually believes what he says.
https://www.wired.com/story/donald-trump-north-korea-nuclear-rhetoric/
2margd
Alternative NOAA @altNOAA 15h15 hours ago
Remember this all started when 'someone' gave top secret intel info to Fox News. "Someone" it seems is trying to manufacture a war.
Remember this all started when 'someone' gave top secret intel info to Fox News. "Someone" it seems is trying to manufacture a war.
3librorumamans
>2 margd: NOAA? National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration is all that I'm familiar with, but that seems contextually unlikely.
4davidgn
Nobody's talking about this lawsuit publicly in the corporate media (and certainly not here either, at least not since I last mentioned it many months back), but Normon Solomon occasionally has his uses:
https://consortiumnews.com/2017/08/11/lawsuit-challenges-dnc-anti-sanders-bias/
Meanwhile, the plaintiff lawyers (a husband and wife team, Harvard and Yale JDs respectively IIRC, plus a co-counsel) have been receiving threats and are clearly at the ends of their ropes. Enough said.
https://consortiumnews.com/2017/08/11/lawsuit-challenges-dnc-anti-sanders-bias/
....A week after the release of those incriminating DNC emails in July 2016, a Miami-based law firm (Beck & Lee) filed a suit on behalf of plaintiffs who had donated to the DNC, alleging that the DNC committed “civil fraud.”
The DNC emails show that top committee officials violated the DNC charter’s “impartiality and evenhandedness” requirements. When compelled to respond at a hearing in U.S. District Court in southern Florida on April 25, the DNC’s legal team came up with a revealing defense — claiming that the DNC has a right to be unfair during the presidential nominating process.
A lawyer for the DNC, Bruce Spiva, told the judge: “We could have voluntarily decided that, ‘Look, we’re gonna go into backrooms like they used to and smoke cigars and pick the candidate that way.’ That’s not the way it was done. But they could have. And that would have also been their right.”
In other words, Spiva was saying that his clients atop the DNC didn’t mug democracy in this case but could have if they’d wanted to — and they retain the right to do so in the future.
Later that day, Spiva tried to clean up a potential public relations snafu while reaffirming the DNC’s legalistic stance: “In response to my hypothetical that the party could choose its nominees in a smoke-filled room, I want to just reiterate that the party ran the process fair and impartially, and does not do that and doesn’t plan to do that. But these, again, are political choices that either party is free to make and are not enforceable in a court of law.”
Lawyers often make “even if” arguments in court that might not look good elsewhere. But this one is unusually telling — telling us that the most powerful people at the DNC reserve the right to put their thumbs on the scales when the Democratic Party chooses its presidential nominee.
If DNC leaders really want to help build the kind of relationships with the grass roots that are needed for defeating the Trump-Pence forces, the DNC should be trying to climb out of its estrangement hole, not digging itself in deeper.
Meanwhile, the plaintiff lawyers (a husband and wife team, Harvard and Yale JDs respectively IIRC, plus a co-counsel) have been receiving threats and are clearly at the ends of their ropes. Enough said.
5margd
>3 librorumamans: Yep, I think so. Alt(agencies) don't seem to confine tweets to their areas of authority.
6margd
Justice demands 1.3M IP addresses related to Trump resistance site
Morgan Chalfant | 08/14/17
...DreamHost claimed that the complying with the request from the Justice Department would amount to handing over roughly 1.3 million visitor IP addresses to the government, in addition to contact information, email content and photos of thousands of visitors to the website, which was involved in organizing protests against Trump on Inauguration Day.
“That information could be used to identify any individuals who used this site to exercise and express political speech protected under the Constitution’s First Amendment,” DreamHost wrote in the blog post on Monday. “That should be enough to set alarm bells off in anyone’s mind.”
...“In essence, the Search Warrant not only aims to identify the political dissidents of the current administration, but attempts to identify and understand what content each of these dissidents viewed on the website,” the company’s general counsel, Chris Ghazarian, said in a legal argument opposing the request.
...The warrant, dated July 12, says that authorities will seize any information constituting violations of D.C. code governing riots that involve individuals connected to the protests on Inauguration Day.
More than 200 people were indicted on felony rioting charges in connection with the protests in Washington on Jan. 20.
http://thehill.com/policy/cybersecurity/346544-dreamhost-claims-doj-requesting-i...
Morgan Chalfant | 08/14/17
...DreamHost claimed that the complying with the request from the Justice Department would amount to handing over roughly 1.3 million visitor IP addresses to the government, in addition to contact information, email content and photos of thousands of visitors to the website, which was involved in organizing protests against Trump on Inauguration Day.
“That information could be used to identify any individuals who used this site to exercise and express political speech protected under the Constitution’s First Amendment,” DreamHost wrote in the blog post on Monday. “That should be enough to set alarm bells off in anyone’s mind.”
...“In essence, the Search Warrant not only aims to identify the political dissidents of the current administration, but attempts to identify and understand what content each of these dissidents viewed on the website,” the company’s general counsel, Chris Ghazarian, said in a legal argument opposing the request.
...The warrant, dated July 12, says that authorities will seize any information constituting violations of D.C. code governing riots that involve individuals connected to the protests on Inauguration Day.
More than 200 people were indicted on felony rioting charges in connection with the protests in Washington on Jan. 20.
http://thehill.com/policy/cybersecurity/346544-dreamhost-claims-doj-requesting-i...
7margd
How to describe extremists who rallied in Charlottesville
Aug. 15, 2017, by John Daniszewski
...here is the guidance on this topic from the 2017 edition of the AP Stylebook:
alt-right
A political grouping or tendency mixing racism, white nationalism and populism; a name currently embraced by some white supremacists and white nationalists to refer to themselves and their ideology, which emphasizes preserving and protecting the white race in the United States.
In AP stories discussing what the movement says about itself, the term “alt-right” (quotation marks, hyphen and lowercase) may be used in quotes or modified as in the self-described “alt-right” or so-called alt-right. Avoid using the term generically and without definition, however, because it is not well-known and the term may exist primarily as a public relations device to make its supporters’ actual beliefs less clear and more acceptable to a broader audience.
Depending on the specifics of the situation, such beliefs might be termed racist, white supremacist or neo-Nazi; be sure to describe the specifics. Whenever “alt-right” is used in a story, include a definition: an offshoot of conservatism mixing racism, white nationalism and populism, or, more simply, a white nationalist movement.
When writing on extreme groups, be precise and provide evidence to support the characterization. Report their actions, associations, history and positions to reveal their actual beliefs and philosophy, as well as how others see them.
Some related definitions:
racism
The broad term for asserting racial or ethnic discrimination or superiority based solely on race, ethnic or religious origins; it can be by any group against any other group.
white nationalism
A subset of racist beliefs that calls for a separate territory and/or enhanced legal rights and protections for white people. Critics accuse white nationalists of being white supremacists in disguise.
white separatism
A term sometimes used as a synonym for white nationalism but differs in that it advocates a form of segregation in which races would live apart but in the same general geographic area.
white supremacy
The racist belief that whites are superior to justify political, economic and social suppression of nonwhite people and other minority groups.
neo-Nazism
Combines racist and white supremacist beliefs with admiration for an authoritarian, totalitarian style of government such as the German Third Reich to enforce its beliefs."
https://blog.ap.org/behind-the-news/how-to-describe-extremists-who-rallied-in-ch...
Aug. 15, 2017, by John Daniszewski
...here is the guidance on this topic from the 2017 edition of the AP Stylebook:
alt-right
A political grouping or tendency mixing racism, white nationalism and populism; a name currently embraced by some white supremacists and white nationalists to refer to themselves and their ideology, which emphasizes preserving and protecting the white race in the United States.
In AP stories discussing what the movement says about itself, the term “alt-right” (quotation marks, hyphen and lowercase) may be used in quotes or modified as in the self-described “alt-right” or so-called alt-right. Avoid using the term generically and without definition, however, because it is not well-known and the term may exist primarily as a public relations device to make its supporters’ actual beliefs less clear and more acceptable to a broader audience.
Depending on the specifics of the situation, such beliefs might be termed racist, white supremacist or neo-Nazi; be sure to describe the specifics. Whenever “alt-right” is used in a story, include a definition: an offshoot of conservatism mixing racism, white nationalism and populism, or, more simply, a white nationalist movement.
When writing on extreme groups, be precise and provide evidence to support the characterization. Report their actions, associations, history and positions to reveal their actual beliefs and philosophy, as well as how others see them.
Some related definitions:
racism
The broad term for asserting racial or ethnic discrimination or superiority based solely on race, ethnic or religious origins; it can be by any group against any other group.
white nationalism
A subset of racist beliefs that calls for a separate territory and/or enhanced legal rights and protections for white people. Critics accuse white nationalists of being white supremacists in disguise.
white separatism
A term sometimes used as a synonym for white nationalism but differs in that it advocates a form of segregation in which races would live apart but in the same general geographic area.
white supremacy
The racist belief that whites are superior to justify political, economic and social suppression of nonwhite people and other minority groups.
neo-Nazism
Combines racist and white supremacist beliefs with admiration for an authoritarian, totalitarian style of government such as the German Third Reich to enforce its beliefs."
https://blog.ap.org/behind-the-news/how-to-describe-extremists-who-rallied-in-ch...
8Molly3028
A.M. radio shows and FOX News programs are meet-up places for Trump's
most ardent cult followers.
most ardent cult followers.
9margd
Russia...
Neo-Nazi site Daily Stormer resurfaces with Russian domain following Google and GoDaddy bans
The notorious site bounced around various domains and the dark web before landing on a .ru domain.
Aja Romano@ajaromano | Aug 16, 2017
The Daily Stormer...neo-Nazi website had its account terminated with domain registrar GoDaddy on Sunday after Twitter users complained about a post lobbing insults and slurs at Heather Heyer, the anti-racism demonstrator who was killed in Charlottesville.
...it briefly attempted to gain hosting through a Chinese service provider at the URL DailyStormer.wang, only to quickly be taken offline.
...Currently its home on the dark web is a parked announcement that it has relocated to DailyStormer.Ru:
The .ru domain in the URL isn’t exactly proof that the website is now hosted in Russia, because anyone can register a .ru domain. A Whois lookup for the .ru site reveals that the controversial hosting proxy CloudFlare, which has refused to terminate its business relationship with the neo-Nazi forum, continues to mask the identity of the site’s true server host.
On the website, (founder neo-Nazi Andrew Anglin) celebrated the site’s return with a litany of anti-Semitism and criticism of GoDaddy and Google, calling the latter an anti-speech site. He also took the opportunity to deliver more insults against Heyer, whose memorial is today.
https://www.vox.com/culture/2017/8/16/16156210/daily-stormer-russian-domain-goda...
Neo-Nazi site Daily Stormer resurfaces with Russian domain following Google and GoDaddy bans
The notorious site bounced around various domains and the dark web before landing on a .ru domain.
Aja Romano@ajaromano | Aug 16, 2017
The Daily Stormer...neo-Nazi website had its account terminated with domain registrar GoDaddy on Sunday after Twitter users complained about a post lobbing insults and slurs at Heather Heyer, the anti-racism demonstrator who was killed in Charlottesville.
...it briefly attempted to gain hosting through a Chinese service provider at the URL DailyStormer.wang, only to quickly be taken offline.
...Currently its home on the dark web is a parked announcement that it has relocated to DailyStormer.Ru:
The .ru domain in the URL isn’t exactly proof that the website is now hosted in Russia, because anyone can register a .ru domain. A Whois lookup for the .ru site reveals that the controversial hosting proxy CloudFlare, which has refused to terminate its business relationship with the neo-Nazi forum, continues to mask the identity of the site’s true server host.
On the website, (founder neo-Nazi Andrew Anglin) celebrated the site’s return with a litany of anti-Semitism and criticism of GoDaddy and Google, calling the latter an anti-speech site. He also took the opportunity to deliver more insults against Heyer, whose memorial is today.
https://www.vox.com/culture/2017/8/16/16156210/daily-stormer-russian-domain-goda...
10margd
Lies, contd. Business executives (the majority), not Trump, disbanded advisory councils, though only a few spoke out individually. (Larry Summers, of all people, chastised the silent ones.)
Corporate America Loosens Its Awkward Embrace of Trump
John Cassidy | August 16, 2017
...just after 1 pm (wednesday), Trump tweeted that he was disbanding both councils: “Rather than putting pressure on the businesspeople of the Manufacturing Council & Strategy & Policy Forum, I am ending both. Thank you all!”
Seven hours after Trump claimed that he disbanded the groups, the Wall Street Journal reported.. that business executives, in fact, dissolved the councils, not Trump. During two conference calls Wednesday morning, a majority of CEOs agreed to disband both councils...After the two calls, Blackstone Group's chief, Stephen Schwarzman, called Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and informed him of the executives' decision. Minutes later, Trump tweeted that he had eliminated the groups...
https://www.newyorker.com/news/john-cassidy/corporate-americas-awkward-embrace-o...
Corporate America Loosens Its Awkward Embrace of Trump
John Cassidy | August 16, 2017
...just after 1 pm (wednesday), Trump tweeted that he was disbanding both councils: “Rather than putting pressure on the businesspeople of the Manufacturing Council & Strategy & Policy Forum, I am ending both. Thank you all!”
Seven hours after Trump claimed that he disbanded the groups, the Wall Street Journal reported.. that business executives, in fact, dissolved the councils, not Trump. During two conference calls Wednesday morning, a majority of CEOs agreed to disband both councils...After the two calls, Blackstone Group's chief, Stephen Schwarzman, called Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and informed him of the executives' decision. Minutes later, Trump tweeted that he had eliminated the groups...
https://www.newyorker.com/news/john-cassidy/corporate-americas-awkward-embrace-o...
11margd
Lies / ignorance, contd.
Read the transcript of Donald Trump's jaw-dropping press conference
Christine Wang & Kevin Breuninger | Tue, 15 Aug 2017
...You had a group, you had a group on the other side (counter-protesters) that came charging in without a permit and they were very, very violent….
But you had a lot of people in that group ("alt-right") that were there to innocently protest — and very legally protest, because you know- I don’t know if you know, they had a permit. The other group didn’t have a permit...
https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/15/read-the-transcript-of-donald-trumps-jaw-droppin...
_______________________________________________________
Charlottesville Grants 2 Permits for Counterprotests of Unite the Right Rally
Aug 09, 2017 2:08
...Peoples Action For Racial Justice Charlottesville Press Release:
On August 12, 2017 Peoples Action for Racial Justice (PARJ) will be held in Charlottesville’s McGuffey and Justice Parks from 9AM to 7 PM. Our mission is to demonstrate against the messages of racial intolerance and hatred advocated by white nationalist groups rallying under the banner “Unite the Right” at Emancipation Park in Charlottesville on the same date from 12-5 PM.
PARJ is sponsored by Together Cville and The Charlottesville Center for Peace and Justice.
The Peoples Action for Racial Justice will be a peaceful protest against all forms of white supremacy, racial intolerance, and discrimination. It will be a demonstration for racial inclusion and racial justice in Charlottesville and across our nation as a whole.
The intention of PARJ is to focus on lawful assembly in support of direct actions in protest of the “Unite the Right” rally in an effort to bring attention to the struggle to end white supremacy and all forms of discrimination, and to promote racial justice and equity.
Organizer Walt Heinecke said, “White supremacy happens all the time, it is the rule not the exception. If the people of Charlottesville and the nation are waiting for the right moment to organize for a racially just and truly multicultural society, this is the moment to become focused. This is not about statues, it’s about statutes. The PARJ will focus on what citizens can do going forward on August 13 to build a stronger community based on the principles of racial harmony and justice.”
Numerous events will be held throughout the day on August 12 at the two parks in support of community and justice. There will be information, teach-ins, and speakers, in addition to prayer and meditations, music and art, and an opportunity for respite from direct actions taking place around Emancipation Park or McIntyre Park. We anticipate marches in and out of McGuffey and Justice parks. The day will conclude with closing speeches at Justice Park from 5:30-7 PM.
We acknowledge there will be a significant number of people in the downtown area and urge all parties to engage in non-violent, civil protest and to be prepared if engaging in direct action. We ask that people coming downtown bring extra food and water to share and to bring ponchos for rain rather than umbrellas.
Our goal is to lawfully and peacefully assemble for racial justice and equity.
See Facebook Event at: https://www.facebook.com/events/1527709727296643/
http://www.nbc29.com/story/36099395/city-of-charlottesville-grants-two-permits-f...
Read the transcript of Donald Trump's jaw-dropping press conference
Christine Wang & Kevin Breuninger | Tue, 15 Aug 2017
...You had a group, you had a group on the other side (counter-protesters) that came charging in without a permit and they were very, very violent….
But you had a lot of people in that group ("alt-right") that were there to innocently protest — and very legally protest, because you know- I don’t know if you know, they had a permit. The other group didn’t have a permit...
https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/15/read-the-transcript-of-donald-trumps-jaw-droppin...
_______________________________________________________
Charlottesville Grants 2 Permits for Counterprotests of Unite the Right Rally
Aug 09, 2017 2:08
...Peoples Action For Racial Justice Charlottesville Press Release:
On August 12, 2017 Peoples Action for Racial Justice (PARJ) will be held in Charlottesville’s McGuffey and Justice Parks from 9AM to 7 PM. Our mission is to demonstrate against the messages of racial intolerance and hatred advocated by white nationalist groups rallying under the banner “Unite the Right” at Emancipation Park in Charlottesville on the same date from 12-5 PM.
PARJ is sponsored by Together Cville and The Charlottesville Center for Peace and Justice.
The Peoples Action for Racial Justice will be a peaceful protest against all forms of white supremacy, racial intolerance, and discrimination. It will be a demonstration for racial inclusion and racial justice in Charlottesville and across our nation as a whole.
The intention of PARJ is to focus on lawful assembly in support of direct actions in protest of the “Unite the Right” rally in an effort to bring attention to the struggle to end white supremacy and all forms of discrimination, and to promote racial justice and equity.
Organizer Walt Heinecke said, “White supremacy happens all the time, it is the rule not the exception. If the people of Charlottesville and the nation are waiting for the right moment to organize for a racially just and truly multicultural society, this is the moment to become focused. This is not about statues, it’s about statutes. The PARJ will focus on what citizens can do going forward on August 13 to build a stronger community based on the principles of racial harmony and justice.”
Numerous events will be held throughout the day on August 12 at the two parks in support of community and justice. There will be information, teach-ins, and speakers, in addition to prayer and meditations, music and art, and an opportunity for respite from direct actions taking place around Emancipation Park or McIntyre Park. We anticipate marches in and out of McGuffey and Justice parks. The day will conclude with closing speeches at Justice Park from 5:30-7 PM.
We acknowledge there will be a significant number of people in the downtown area and urge all parties to engage in non-violent, civil protest and to be prepared if engaging in direct action. We ask that people coming downtown bring extra food and water to share and to bring ponchos for rain rather than umbrellas.
Our goal is to lawfully and peacefully assemble for racial justice and equity.
See Facebook Event at: https://www.facebook.com/events/1527709727296643/
http://www.nbc29.com/story/36099395/city-of-charlottesville-grants-two-permits-f...
12Taphophile13
"Big history fan" makes up bloody Civil War battle:
https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/25/us/politics/in-renovation-of-golf-club-donald...
https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/25/us/politics/in-renovation-of-golf-club-donald...
13margd
How long until some nutball takes his inspiration from this?
ACLU National @ACLU 2h2 hours ago:
Don't look away. This is our president recommending we all study a lie about brutalizing Muslims.
_______________________________________________
"Study what General Pershing of the United States did to terrorists when caught. There was no more Radical Islamic Terror for 35 years!"
— Donald Trump on Thursday, August 17th, 2017 in a tweet
Donald Trump retells Pants on Fire claim about Gen. Pershing ending terrorism for 35 years
Louis Jacobson, Aaron Sharockman | August 17th, 2017
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2017/aug/17/donald-trump/dona...
ACLU National @ACLU 2h2 hours ago:
Don't look away. This is our president recommending we all study a lie about brutalizing Muslims.
_______________________________________________
"Study what General Pershing of the United States did to terrorists when caught. There was no more Radical Islamic Terror for 35 years!"
— Donald Trump on Thursday, August 17th, 2017 in a tweet
Donald Trump retells Pants on Fire claim about Gen. Pershing ending terrorism for 35 years
Louis Jacobson, Aaron Sharockman | August 17th, 2017
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2017/aug/17/donald-trump/dona...
14margd
Trump awarded four Pinocchios (= "whopper") for claim that he's done far more than anyone for inner cities:
President Trump’s claim that he has done ‘far more than anyone’ for ‘inner cities’
Michelle Ye Hee Lee | August 17, 2017
...Trump’s claim reflects a misunderstanding of black communities and is incongruous with his budget proposals. Actions speak louder than words.
Four Pinocchios.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2017/08/17/president-trumps-...
President Trump’s claim that he has done ‘far more than anyone’ for ‘inner cities’
Michelle Ye Hee Lee | August 17, 2017
...Trump’s claim reflects a misunderstanding of black communities and is incongruous with his budget proposals. Actions speak louder than words.
Four Pinocchios.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2017/08/17/president-trumps-...
15librorumamans
This seems relevant, and could become the crawl on every news screen:
Facts were never pleasing to him. He acquired them with reluctance and got rid of them with relief. He was never on terms with them until he had stood them on their heads.
J.M. Barrie
Facts were never pleasing to him. He acquired them with reluctance and got rid of them with relief. He was never on terms with them until he had stood them on their heads.
J.M. Barrie
16margd
>18 margd: Yes... Sad!
More:
Trump’s Lies About James Comey Keep Unraveling
The president said his first FBI director lost the confidence of the rank-and-file. Newly released government documents prove otherwise.
Susan Hennessey, Benjamin Wittes | August 18, 2017
...Whether this attack on Comey was accurate or not matters for reasons that are broader than defending Comey’s legacy. President Donald Trump and his staff put this claim forward as a primary reason for and defense of his firing of Comey — despite other statements that indicated that the firing had more to do with his anger about the Russia investigation...
http://foreignpolicy.com/2017/08/18/trumps-lies-about-james-comey-keep-unravelin...
More:
Trump’s Lies About James Comey Keep Unraveling
The president said his first FBI director lost the confidence of the rank-and-file. Newly released government documents prove otherwise.
Susan Hennessey, Benjamin Wittes | August 18, 2017
...Whether this attack on Comey was accurate or not matters for reasons that are broader than defending Comey’s legacy. President Donald Trump and his staff put this claim forward as a primary reason for and defense of his firing of Comey — despite other statements that indicated that the firing had more to do with his anger about the Russia investigation...
http://foreignpolicy.com/2017/08/18/trumps-lies-about-james-comey-keep-unravelin...
17margd
Uh oh. Breitbart is locked and loaded once again--hopefully knowledge will provide some defense going forward?
Faris, Robert and Roberts, Hal and Etling, Bruce and Bourassa, Nikki and Zuckerman, Ethan and Benkler, Yochai, Partisanship, Propaganda, and Disinformation: Online Media and the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election (August 2017). Berkman Klein Center Research Publication 2017-6. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3019414
https://cyber.harvard.edu/publications/2017/08/mediacloud
Executive Summary
In this study, we analyze both mainstream and social media coverage of the 2016 United States presidential election. We document that the majority of mainstream media coverage was negative for both candidates, but largely followed Donald Trump’s agenda: when reporting on Hillary Clinton, coverage primarily focused on the various scandals related to the Clinton Foundation and emails. When focused on Trump, major substantive issues, primarily immigration, were prominent. Indeed, immigration emerged as a central issue in the campaign and served as a defining issue for the Trump campaign.
We find that the structure and composition of media on the right and left are quite different. The leading media on the right and left are rooted in different traditions and journalistic practices. On the conservative side, more attention was paid to pro-Trump, highly partisan media outlets. On the liberal side, by contrast, the center of gravity was made up largely of long-standing media organizations steeped in the traditions and practices of objective journalism.
Our data supports lines of research on polarization in American politics that focus on the asymmetric patterns between the left and the right, rather than studies that see polarization as a general historical phenomenon, driven by technology or other mechanisms that apply across the partisan divide.
The analysis includes the evaluation and mapping of the media landscape from several perspectives and is based on large-scale data collection of media stories published on the web and shared on Twitter.
Key Findings
This site serves as the home for the data that acts as the basis for a years-long study of the 2016 U.S. presidential election by the Berkman Klein Center at Harvard University and the Media Cloud project. In this study, we analyze both mainstream and social media coverage of the 2016 United States presidential election. Some of the key findings from the study include:
Donald Trump succeeded in shaping the election agenda.
The media landscape is distinctly asymmetric.
The center-left and the far right are the principal poles of the media landscape
Conservative media disrupted.
On the most widely covered topic of the election, immigration, Breitbart was the most prominent site. On Twitter, it is far above the rest.
Disinformation and propaganda are rooted in partisanship and are more prevalent on social media.
Disproportionate popularity on Facebook is a strong indicator of highly partisan and unreliable media.
Asymmetric vulnerabilities: The right and left were subject to media manipulation in different ways.
Media Coverage About this Report
Down the Breitbart Hole (New York Times Magazine, 8/2017)
Study: Breitbart-led right-wing media ecosystem altered broader media agenda (Columbia Journalism Review, 3/2017)
The great divide: The media war over Trump (CBS, 6/2017)
Researchers Examine Breitbart's Influence On Election Information (NPR, 3/2017)
Faris, Robert and Roberts, Hal and Etling, Bruce and Bourassa, Nikki and Zuckerman, Ethan and Benkler, Yochai, Partisanship, Propaganda, and Disinformation: Online Media and the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election (August 2017). Berkman Klein Center Research Publication 2017-6. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3019414
https://cyber.harvard.edu/publications/2017/08/mediacloud
Executive Summary
In this study, we analyze both mainstream and social media coverage of the 2016 United States presidential election. We document that the majority of mainstream media coverage was negative for both candidates, but largely followed Donald Trump’s agenda: when reporting on Hillary Clinton, coverage primarily focused on the various scandals related to the Clinton Foundation and emails. When focused on Trump, major substantive issues, primarily immigration, were prominent. Indeed, immigration emerged as a central issue in the campaign and served as a defining issue for the Trump campaign.
We find that the structure and composition of media on the right and left are quite different. The leading media on the right and left are rooted in different traditions and journalistic practices. On the conservative side, more attention was paid to pro-Trump, highly partisan media outlets. On the liberal side, by contrast, the center of gravity was made up largely of long-standing media organizations steeped in the traditions and practices of objective journalism.
Our data supports lines of research on polarization in American politics that focus on the asymmetric patterns between the left and the right, rather than studies that see polarization as a general historical phenomenon, driven by technology or other mechanisms that apply across the partisan divide.
The analysis includes the evaluation and mapping of the media landscape from several perspectives and is based on large-scale data collection of media stories published on the web and shared on Twitter.
Key Findings
This site serves as the home for the data that acts as the basis for a years-long study of the 2016 U.S. presidential election by the Berkman Klein Center at Harvard University and the Media Cloud project. In this study, we analyze both mainstream and social media coverage of the 2016 United States presidential election. Some of the key findings from the study include:
Donald Trump succeeded in shaping the election agenda.
The media landscape is distinctly asymmetric.
The center-left and the far right are the principal poles of the media landscape
Conservative media disrupted.
On the most widely covered topic of the election, immigration, Breitbart was the most prominent site. On Twitter, it is far above the rest.
Disinformation and propaganda are rooted in partisanship and are more prevalent on social media.
Disproportionate popularity on Facebook is a strong indicator of highly partisan and unreliable media.
Asymmetric vulnerabilities: The right and left were subject to media manipulation in different ways.
Media Coverage About this Report
Down the Breitbart Hole (New York Times Magazine, 8/2017)
Study: Breitbart-led right-wing media ecosystem altered broader media agenda (Columbia Journalism Review, 3/2017)
The great divide: The media war over Trump (CBS, 6/2017)
Researchers Examine Breitbart's Influence On Election Information (NPR, 3/2017)
18margd
> 9 contd. Federal prosecutors back down on request for info on 1.3 million presumed anti-Trumps:
Commentary: The threat to internet freedom in Trump’s America
Emily Parker | Aug 22, 2017
...The DOJ is trying to compel an internet hosting company, DreamHost, to hand over information about everyone who visited disruptj20.org, a DreamHost customer web site that helped organize Trump inauguration protests. DreamHost is fighting back, arguing that complying with the request would require handing over 1.3 million IP addresses, as well as contact information, content of emails, and photographs of thousands of people. While the Trump inauguration protests were largely peaceful, some protestors were violent and destructive. But the DOJ request is not limited to rioters. It could also affect people who casually visited a protest web site, perhaps simply to learn more about what was happening.
...In a filing late Tuesday, prosecutors from the U.S. attorney’s office in the District amended the original warrant by saying they plan to focus only on the 200 or so individuals who have already been charged with rioting...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/federal-prosecutors-scale-bac...
Commentary: The threat to internet freedom in Trump’s America
Emily Parker | Aug 22, 2017
...The DOJ is trying to compel an internet hosting company, DreamHost, to hand over information about everyone who visited disruptj20.org, a DreamHost customer web site that helped organize Trump inauguration protests. DreamHost is fighting back, arguing that complying with the request would require handing over 1.3 million IP addresses, as well as contact information, content of emails, and photographs of thousands of people. While the Trump inauguration protests were largely peaceful, some protestors were violent and destructive. But the DOJ request is not limited to rioters. It could also affect people who casually visited a protest web site, perhaps simply to learn more about what was happening.
...In a filing late Tuesday, prosecutors from the U.S. attorney’s office in the District amended the original warrant by saying they plan to focus only on the 200 or so individuals who have already been charged with rioting...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/federal-prosecutors-scale-bac...
19margd
Despite Disavowals, Leading Tech Companies Help Extremist Sites Monetize Hate:
Most tech companies have policies against working with hate websites. Yet a ProPublica survey found that PayPal, Stripe, Newsmax and others help keep more than half of the most-visited extremist sites in business.
Julia Angwin, Jeff Larson, Madeleine Varner and Lauren Kirchner | Aug. 19, 2017
...Its designation as a hate site hasn’t stopped tech companies — including PayPal, Amazon and Newsmax — from maintaining partnerships with Jihad Watch that help to sustain it financially. PayPal facilitates donations to the site. Newsmax — the online news network run by President Donald Trump’s close friend Chris Ruddy — pays Jihad Watch in return for users clicking on its headlines. Until recently, Amazon allowed Jihad Watch to participate in a program that promised a cut of any book sales that the site generated. All three companies have policies that say they don’t do business with hate groups.
Jihad Watch is one of many sites that monetize their extremist views through relationships with technology companies. ProPublica surveyed the most visited websites of groups designated as extremist by either the SPLC or the Anti-Defamation League. We found that more than half of them — 39 out of 69 — made money from ads, donations or other revenue streams facilitated by technology companies. At least 10 tech companies played a role directly or indirectly in supporting these sites.
https://www.propublica.org/article/leading-tech-companies-help-extremist-sites-m...
Most tech companies have policies against working with hate websites. Yet a ProPublica survey found that PayPal, Stripe, Newsmax and others help keep more than half of the most-visited extremist sites in business.
Julia Angwin, Jeff Larson, Madeleine Varner and Lauren Kirchner | Aug. 19, 2017
...Its designation as a hate site hasn’t stopped tech companies — including PayPal, Amazon and Newsmax — from maintaining partnerships with Jihad Watch that help to sustain it financially. PayPal facilitates donations to the site. Newsmax — the online news network run by President Donald Trump’s close friend Chris Ruddy — pays Jihad Watch in return for users clicking on its headlines. Until recently, Amazon allowed Jihad Watch to participate in a program that promised a cut of any book sales that the site generated. All three companies have policies that say they don’t do business with hate groups.
Jihad Watch is one of many sites that monetize their extremist views through relationships with technology companies. ProPublica surveyed the most visited websites of groups designated as extremist by either the SPLC or the Anti-Defamation League. We found that more than half of them — 39 out of 69 — made money from ads, donations or other revenue streams facilitated by technology companies. At least 10 tech companies played a role directly or indirectly in supporting these sites.
https://www.propublica.org/article/leading-tech-companies-help-extremist-sites-m...
20margd
Pro-Russian Bots Take Up the Right-Wing Cause After Charlottesville:
Analysts tracking Russian influence operations find a feedback loop between Kremlin propaganda and far-right memes.
Isaac Arnsdorfm | Aug. 23, 2017
Angee Dixson joined Twitter on Aug. 8 and immediately began posting furiously — about 90 times a day. A self-described American Christian conservative, Dixson defended President Donald Trump’s response to the unrest in Charlottesville, criticized the removal of Confederate monuments and posted pictures purporting to show violence by left-wing counterprotesters.
“Dems and Media Continue to IGNORE BLM and Antifa Violence in Charlottesville,” she wrote above a picture of masked demonstrators labeled “DEMOCRAT TERROR.”
But Dixson appears to have been a fake
...The same social media networks that spread Russian propaganda during the 2016 election have been busily amplifying right-wing extremism surrounding the recent violence in Charlottesville, according to researchers who monitor the activity. It’s impossible to tell how much of the traffic originates from Russia or from mercenary sources. But there were hordes of automated bots generating Twitter posts and much more last week to help make right-wing conspiracy theories and rallying cries about Charlottesville go viral.
...“The Internet and social media provide Russia cheap, efficient and highly effective access to foreign audiences with plausible deniability of their influence,” another of the researchers working with the Alliance to Secure Democracy, Clint Watts, told the Senate Intelligence Committee in March. “This pattern of Russian falsehoods and social media manipulation of the American electorate continued through Election Day and persists today.”
https://www.propublica.org/article/pro-russian-bots-take-up-the-right-wing-cause...
Analysts tracking Russian influence operations find a feedback loop between Kremlin propaganda and far-right memes.
Isaac Arnsdorfm | Aug. 23, 2017
Angee Dixson joined Twitter on Aug. 8 and immediately began posting furiously — about 90 times a day. A self-described American Christian conservative, Dixson defended President Donald Trump’s response to the unrest in Charlottesville, criticized the removal of Confederate monuments and posted pictures purporting to show violence by left-wing counterprotesters.
“Dems and Media Continue to IGNORE BLM and Antifa Violence in Charlottesville,” she wrote above a picture of masked demonstrators labeled “DEMOCRAT TERROR.”
But Dixson appears to have been a fake
...The same social media networks that spread Russian propaganda during the 2016 election have been busily amplifying right-wing extremism surrounding the recent violence in Charlottesville, according to researchers who monitor the activity. It’s impossible to tell how much of the traffic originates from Russia or from mercenary sources. But there were hordes of automated bots generating Twitter posts and much more last week to help make right-wing conspiracy theories and rallying cries about Charlottesville go viral.
...“The Internet and social media provide Russia cheap, efficient and highly effective access to foreign audiences with plausible deniability of their influence,” another of the researchers working with the Alliance to Secure Democracy, Clint Watts, told the Senate Intelligence Committee in March. “This pattern of Russian falsehoods and social media manipulation of the American electorate continued through Election Day and persists today.”
https://www.propublica.org/article/pro-russian-bots-take-up-the-right-wing-cause...
212wonderY
Kelly moves to control the information Trump sees
"It’s a quiet effort to make Trump conform to White House decision-making norms he’s flouted without making him feel shackled or out of the loop."
Doesn't address his television viewing, eh?
"It’s a quiet effort to make Trump conform to White House decision-making norms he’s flouted without making him feel shackled or out of the loop."
Doesn't address his television viewing, eh?
22margd
Trump and Arpaio are peas in a pod when it comes to journalists (readers' IP addresses) as well as toward Latinos?
Joe Arpaio Loses: New Times Co-Founders Win $3.75 Million Settlement for 2007 False Arrests
Matthew Hendley | December 20, 2013
The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors this afternoon voted unanimously to approve a $3.75 million settlement for New Times' co-founders, whose false arrests in 2007 were orchestrated by Sheriff Joe Arpaio.
Michael Lacey and Jim Larkin were taken from their homes in the middle of the night and jailed on misdemeanor charges alleging that they violated the secrecy of a grand jury -- which turned out never to have been convened.
The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors this afternoon voted unanimously to approve a $3.75 million settlement for New Times' co-founders, whose false arrests in 2007 were orchestrated by Sheriff Joe Arpaio.
The saga began in 2004, when then-New Times reporter John Dougherty dug into Arpaio's commercial real estate transactions, questioning how a county sheriff could amass so much cash to invest in property and why records of the transactions were hidden from public view.
...Arpaio and (new Maricopa County Attorney Andrew) Thomas collaborated to appoint Phoenix attorney Dennis Wilenchik as a "special prosecutor" to go after the paper.
He issued grand jury subpoenas for the notes, records, and sources of the paper's reporters and editors for all Arpaio-related stories over a broad period of time, as well as for the IP addresses of New Times' readers of such stories.
Later, Superior Court Judge Anna Baca, who presided over county grand juries at the time, chided Wilenchik for trying to arrange a secret meeting with her about the case.
Faced with all of this, Lacey and Larkin wrote a cover story detailing what they called a "breathtaking abuse of the constitution."
Arpaio's deputies arrested them the night the story was published on charges of violating grand jury secrecy - alleged misdemeanor violations that normally don't spark nighttime arrests at suspects' homes...
http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/news/joe-arpaio-loses-new-times-co-founders-win-3...
Joe Arpaio Loses: New Times Co-Founders Win $3.75 Million Settlement for 2007 False Arrests
Matthew Hendley | December 20, 2013
The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors this afternoon voted unanimously to approve a $3.75 million settlement for New Times' co-founders, whose false arrests in 2007 were orchestrated by Sheriff Joe Arpaio.
Michael Lacey and Jim Larkin were taken from their homes in the middle of the night and jailed on misdemeanor charges alleging that they violated the secrecy of a grand jury -- which turned out never to have been convened.
The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors this afternoon voted unanimously to approve a $3.75 million settlement for New Times' co-founders, whose false arrests in 2007 were orchestrated by Sheriff Joe Arpaio.
The saga began in 2004, when then-New Times reporter John Dougherty dug into Arpaio's commercial real estate transactions, questioning how a county sheriff could amass so much cash to invest in property and why records of the transactions were hidden from public view.
...Arpaio and (new Maricopa County Attorney Andrew) Thomas collaborated to appoint Phoenix attorney Dennis Wilenchik as a "special prosecutor" to go after the paper.
He issued grand jury subpoenas for the notes, records, and sources of the paper's reporters and editors for all Arpaio-related stories over a broad period of time, as well as for the IP addresses of New Times' readers of such stories.
Later, Superior Court Judge Anna Baca, who presided over county grand juries at the time, chided Wilenchik for trying to arrange a secret meeting with her about the case.
Faced with all of this, Lacey and Larkin wrote a cover story detailing what they called a "breathtaking abuse of the constitution."
Arpaio's deputies arrested them the night the story was published on charges of violating grand jury secrecy - alleged misdemeanor violations that normally don't spark nighttime arrests at suspects' homes...
http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/news/joe-arpaio-loses-new-times-co-founders-win-3...
23margd
Trump Cybersecurity Advisors Resign, Citing His ‘Insufficient Attention’ to Threats
David Z. Morris | Aug 26, 2017
A quarter (7) of the members of the National Infrastructure Advisory Council, whose purview includes national cybersecurity, have resigned. In a group resignation letter, they cited both specific shortfalls in the administration’s approach to cybersecurity, and broader concerns that Trump and his administration have undermined the “moral infrastructure” of the U.S.
...Several of those resigning were Obama-era appointees
...While he has ordered better security for government networks, Trump has shown little understanding or seriousness when it comes to the broader issues surrounding, in his words, “the cyber.” Most notably, he has refused to accept the U.S. intelligence community’s conclusion that Russia engineered a hacking and propaganda campaign meant to subvert the 2016 presidential election, and even floated the idea of forming a cybersecurity task force with Russia. The administration also missed a self-imposed deadline for presenting a comprehensive cybersecurity plan.
In a report issued just after the mass resignations, the NIAC issued a report saying that dramatic steps were required to prevent a possible "9/11-level cyberattack."
http://fortune.com/2017/08/26/trump-cybersecurity-advisors-resign/
David Z. Morris | Aug 26, 2017
A quarter (7) of the members of the National Infrastructure Advisory Council, whose purview includes national cybersecurity, have resigned. In a group resignation letter, they cited both specific shortfalls in the administration’s approach to cybersecurity, and broader concerns that Trump and his administration have undermined the “moral infrastructure” of the U.S.
...Several of those resigning were Obama-era appointees
...While he has ordered better security for government networks, Trump has shown little understanding or seriousness when it comes to the broader issues surrounding, in his words, “the cyber.” Most notably, he has refused to accept the U.S. intelligence community’s conclusion that Russia engineered a hacking and propaganda campaign meant to subvert the 2016 presidential election, and even floated the idea of forming a cybersecurity task force with Russia. The administration also missed a self-imposed deadline for presenting a comprehensive cybersecurity plan.
In a report issued just after the mass resignations, the NIAC issued a report saying that dramatic steps were required to prevent a possible "9/11-level cyberattack."
http://fortune.com/2017/08/26/trump-cybersecurity-advisors-resign/
242wonderY
Trump Administration Halts Mining Health Study
The Interior Department says its review is due to changing budget conditions. But environmental groups quickly issued statements condemning the decision. The Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition called it an “attack on science,” and the Sierra Club called it "infuriating" that the administration would impede the ability of mining communities to learn about the health effects of mining.
The Interior Department says its review is due to changing budget conditions. But environmental groups quickly issued statements condemning the decision. The Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition called it an “attack on science,” and the Sierra Club called it "infuriating" that the administration would impede the ability of mining communities to learn about the health effects of mining.
25margd
This week marks public's last chance to submit comments on net neutrality
Brian Fung | Aug 30, 2017
This week marks your final opportunity to submit comments to federal regulators who want to undo the government's net neutrality rules for internet providers, in a move that could have sweeping implications for the future of the Web.
The push to weaken or eliminate the rules has been met with praise from industry officials who argue that deregulation will support renewed investments in America's internet networks, while consumer groups have slammed the proposal as a handout to big businesses and a potential threat to consumer choice.
The looming deadline reflects the end of the Federal Communications Commission's public comment period — a weeks-long window during which regular Americans can weigh in on agency proposals — on the issue. As of Wednesday morning, nearly 22 million comments have been filed in the net neutrality docket so far, with more than 8.5 million of those flooding in over the past month alone...
(https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs/search/filings?proceedings_name=17-108&sort=date_disseminated,DESC)
http://www.stltoday.com/business/local/this-week-marks-public-s-last-chance-to-s...
Brian Fung | Aug 30, 2017
This week marks your final opportunity to submit comments to federal regulators who want to undo the government's net neutrality rules for internet providers, in a move that could have sweeping implications for the future of the Web.
The push to weaken or eliminate the rules has been met with praise from industry officials who argue that deregulation will support renewed investments in America's internet networks, while consumer groups have slammed the proposal as a handout to big businesses and a potential threat to consumer choice.
The looming deadline reflects the end of the Federal Communications Commission's public comment period — a weeks-long window during which regular Americans can weigh in on agency proposals — on the issue. As of Wednesday morning, nearly 22 million comments have been filed in the net neutrality docket so far, with more than 8.5 million of those flooding in over the past month alone...
(https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs/search/filings?proceedings_name=17-108&sort=date_disseminated,DESC)
http://www.stltoday.com/business/local/this-week-marks-public-s-last-chance-to-s...
262wonderY
What does the term "first hand" mean?
Trump claimed he witnessed Harvey’s devastation ‘first hand.’
But then Huckabee Sanders explains:
"He met with a number of state and local officials who are eating, sleeping, breathing the Harvey disaster. He talked extensively with the governor, who certainly is right in the midst of every bit of this, as well as the mayors from several of the local towns that were hit hardest. And detailed briefing information throughout the day yesterday talking to a lot of the people on the ground. That certainly is a firsthand account."
Trump claimed he witnessed Harvey’s devastation ‘first hand.’
But then Huckabee Sanders explains:
"He met with a number of state and local officials who are eating, sleeping, breathing the Harvey disaster. He talked extensively with the governor, who certainly is right in the midst of every bit of this, as well as the mayors from several of the local towns that were hit hardest. And detailed briefing information throughout the day yesterday talking to a lot of the people on the ground. That certainly is a firsthand account."
27margd
Fake news...ugly lies...
Black Lives Matter 'Thugs' Blocked Emergency Crews From Reaching Hurricane Victims?
Reports that protesters had blocked emergency crews from reaching people stranded by Hurricane Harvey are — like earlier stories from which they were recycled — completely false.
http://www.snopes.com/black-lives-matter-emergency-crews-hurricane/
Black Lives Matter 'Thugs' Blocked Emergency Crews From Reaching Hurricane Victims?
Reports that protesters had blocked emergency crews from reaching people stranded by Hurricane Harvey are — like earlier stories from which they were recycled — completely false.
http://www.snopes.com/black-lives-matter-emergency-crews-hurricane/
28davidgn
Facebook: "Us, Fraudulent ad sales? Yeah, well... Russians!"
https://twitter.com/MarkAmesExiled/status/905554281616564225
https://twitter.com/seansrussiablog/status/905545916173647875
http://www.moonofalabama.org/2017/09/facebook-claims-russia-nonsense-to-divert-f...
https://twitter.com/MarkAmesExiled/status/905554281616564225
https://twitter.com/seansrussiablog/status/905545916173647875
http://www.moonofalabama.org/2017/09/facebook-claims-russia-nonsense-to-divert-f...
29margd
Oh, dear...
AI that can determine a person’s sexuality from photos shows the dark side of the data age
Devin Coldewey | Sept 7, 2017
...When presented with multiple pictures of a pair of faces, one gay and one straight, the algorithm could determine which was which 91 percent of the time with men and 83 percent of the time with women. People provided the same images were correct 61 and 54 percent of the time, respectively — not much better than flipping a coin.
...Dangers and limitations
The implications of automatically determining a person’s sexuality from a handful of photos are enormous, first and most importantly because it puts LGBTQ people at risk worldwide in places where they remain an oppressed minority. The potential for abuse of a system like this is huge, and some may rightly disagree with the researchers’ decision to create and document it.
But it’s also arguable that it’s better to have the possibility out in the open in order to either implement countermeasures or otherwise allow people to prepare themselves for it. After all, it’s also possible to determine sexuality and many other private traits by analyzing Facebook or Twitter feeds.
The difference there is that you can obfuscate or control the information you put online; you can’t control who sees your face. It’s a surveillance society we live in, and increasingly a surveillant one, as well.
“Even the best laws and technologies aimed at protecting privacy are, in our view, doomed to fail,” write the researchers. “The digital environment is very difficult to police; data can be easily moved across borders, stolen, or recorded without users’ consent.”
The cat is out of the bag, in other words. And it’s probably better that it’s being shown by researchers sympathetic to the people most affected than by the FBI or some other party doing it for their own agenda.
...(Researchers) “We believe that further erosion of privacy is inevitable, and the safety of gay and other minorities hinges not on the right to privacy but on the enforcement of human rights, and tolerance of societies and governments,” they write. “In order for the post-privacy world to be safer and hospitable, it must be inhabited by well-educated people who are radically intolerant of intolerance.”...
https://techcrunch.com/2017/09/07/ai-that-can-determine-a-persons-sexuality-from...
AI that can determine a person’s sexuality from photos shows the dark side of the data age
Devin Coldewey | Sept 7, 2017
...When presented with multiple pictures of a pair of faces, one gay and one straight, the algorithm could determine which was which 91 percent of the time with men and 83 percent of the time with women. People provided the same images were correct 61 and 54 percent of the time, respectively — not much better than flipping a coin.
...Dangers and limitations
The implications of automatically determining a person’s sexuality from a handful of photos are enormous, first and most importantly because it puts LGBTQ people at risk worldwide in places where they remain an oppressed minority. The potential for abuse of a system like this is huge, and some may rightly disagree with the researchers’ decision to create and document it.
But it’s also arguable that it’s better to have the possibility out in the open in order to either implement countermeasures or otherwise allow people to prepare themselves for it. After all, it’s also possible to determine sexuality and many other private traits by analyzing Facebook or Twitter feeds.
The difference there is that you can obfuscate or control the information you put online; you can’t control who sees your face. It’s a surveillance society we live in, and increasingly a surveillant one, as well.
“Even the best laws and technologies aimed at protecting privacy are, in our view, doomed to fail,” write the researchers. “The digital environment is very difficult to police; data can be easily moved across borders, stolen, or recorded without users’ consent.”
The cat is out of the bag, in other words. And it’s probably better that it’s being shown by researchers sympathetic to the people most affected than by the FBI or some other party doing it for their own agenda.
...(Researchers) “We believe that further erosion of privacy is inevitable, and the safety of gay and other minorities hinges not on the right to privacy but on the enforcement of human rights, and tolerance of societies and governments,” they write. “In order for the post-privacy world to be safer and hospitable, it must be inhabited by well-educated people who are radically intolerant of intolerance.”...
https://techcrunch.com/2017/09/07/ai-that-can-determine-a-persons-sexuality-from...
30davidgn
I missed that the NYT had jumped on the Facebook "Fraud? No, Russians!" bandwagon here. What a mess.
Has the NYT Gone Collectively Mad?
Special Report: Crossing a line from recklessness into madness, The New York Times published a front-page opus suggesting that Russia was behind social media criticism of Hillary Clinton, reports Robert Parry.
https://consortiumnews.com/2017/09/11/has-the-nyt-gone-collectively-mad/
===============================
.
Smearing skepticism and dissent as disloyalty and foreign collusion is the easiest thing in the world, requiring no thought whatsoever and indeed short-circuiting any critical thinking before it can begin. Throw enough calculated ridicule and scorn at naysayers, and you can get most people to believe whatever you want: after all, nobody wants to be ridiculous or traitorous. It's a crude ideological bludgeon, but effective.
Remember that.
Likewise, look at a lot of people who have done shows on RT (Thom Hartmann, etc.). Some of them used to be fixtures on Air America, which folded. RT provided them with a platform to continue to do essentially the same type of reporting they were doing on Air America -- with even more paltry ratings. Was Air America also a nest of Russian traitors? Is Jonathan Pie (on RT UK) undermining British democracy? The official line on all of the above would seem to be yes. God forbid critical voices should "spread discontent."
==============================
ETA:
In a nutshell...
https://twitter.com/yashalevine/status/906613328369393664
Also:
Parry's right to denounce the declaration of allegations as flat fact, and to point out how this piece fits into a larger toxic media narrative.
But for another angle, see this Twitter exchange:
https://twitter.com/AdrianChen/status/905548351399239680
https://twitter.com/AdrianChen/status/905836460498198528
and cf.
https://twitter.com/MarkAmesExiled/status/905856752331214850 ==>
https://pando.com/2015/04/02/the-kremlins-social-media-trolls-are-real-as-is-the...
==============================
Furthermore:
https://twitter.com/MarkAmesExiled/status/907313434844389377
https://twitter.com/MarkAmesExiled/status/907445530929897475
https://twitter.com/MarkAmesExiled/status/907450120744120321
https://twitter.com/MarkAmesExiled/status/907450737835302912
: just slightly hypocritical?
And this. A thousand times this:
https://twitter.com/MarkAmesExiled/status/907318316297015296
Has the NYT Gone Collectively Mad?
Special Report: Crossing a line from recklessness into madness, The New York Times published a front-page opus suggesting that Russia was behind social media criticism of Hillary Clinton, reports Robert Parry.
https://consortiumnews.com/2017/09/11/has-the-nyt-gone-collectively-mad/
...
What is stunning about the lede story in last Friday’s print edition of The New York Times is that it offers no real evidence to support its provocative claim that – as the headline states – “To Sway Vote, Russia Used Army of Fake Americans” or its subhead: “Flooding Twitter and Facebook, Impostors Helped Fuel Anger in Polarized U.S.”
In the old days, this wildly speculative article, which spills over three pages, would have earned an F in a J-school class or gotten a rookie reporter a stern rebuke from a senior editor. But now such unprofessionalism is highlighted by The New York Times, which boasts that it is the standard-setter of American journalism, the nation’s “newspaper of record.”
....
The Times’ Version
In other words, Shane tells us, “The Russian information attack on the election did not stop with the hacking and leaking of Democratic emails or the fire hose of stories, true, false and in between, that battered Mrs. Clinton on Russian outlets like RT and Sputnik. Far less splashy, and far more difficult to trace, was Russia’s experimentation on Facebook and Twitter, the American companies that essentially invented the tools of social media and, in this case, did not stop them from being turned into engines of deception and propaganda.”
Besides the obvious point that very few Americans watch RT and/or Sputnik and that Shane offers no details about the alleged falsity of those “fire hose of stories,” let’s examine how his accusations are backed up:
“An investigation by The New York Times, and new research from the cybersecurity firm FireEye, reveals some of the mechanisms by which suspected Russian operators used Twitter and Facebook to spread anti-Clinton messages and promote the hacked material they had leaked. On Wednesday, Facebook officials disclosed that they had shut down several hundred accounts that they believe were created by a Russian company linked to the Kremlin and used to buy $100,000 in ads pushing divisive issues during and after the American election campaign. On Twitter, as on Facebook, Russian fingerprints are on hundreds or thousands of fake accounts that regularly posted anti-Clinton messages.”
Note the weasel words: “suspected”; “believe”; ‘linked”; “fingerprints.” When you see such equivocation, it means that these folks – both the Times and FireEye – don’t have hard evidence; they are speculating.
And it’s worth noting that the supposed “army of fake Americans” may amount to hundreds out of Facebook’s two billion or so monthly users and the $100,000 in ads compare to the company’s annual ad revenue of around $27 billion. (I’d do the math but my calculator doesn’t compute such tiny percentages.)
So, this “army” is really not an “army” and we don’t even know that it is “Russian.” But some readers might say that surely we know that the Kremlin did mastermind the hacking of Democratic emails!
That claim is supported by the Jan. 6 “intelligence community assessment” that was the work of what President Obama’s Director of National Intelligence James Clapper called “hand-picked” analysts from three agencies – the Central Intelligence Agency, National Security Agency and Federal Bureau of Investigation. But, as any intelligence expert will tell you, if you hand-pick the analysts, you are hand-picking the conclusions.
Agreeing with Putin
But some still might protest that the Jan. 6 report surely presented convincing evidence of this serious charge about Russian President Vladimir Putin personally intervening in the U.S. election to help put Donald Trump in the White House. Well, as it turns out, not so much, and if you don’t believe me, we can call to the witness stand none other than New York Times reporter Scott Shane.
Shane wrote at the time: “What is missing from the (the Jan. 6) public report is what many Americans most eagerly anticipated: hard evidence to back up the agencies’ claims that the Russian government engineered the election attack. … Instead, the message from the agencies essentially amounts to ‘trust us.’”
So, even Scott Shane, the author of last Friday’s opus, recognized the lack of “hard evidence” to prove that the Russian government was behind the release of the Democratic emails, a claim that both Putin and WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who published a trove of the emails, have denied. While it is surely possible that Putin and Assange are lying or don’t know the facts, you might think that their denials would be relevant to this lengthy investigative article, which also could have benefited from some mention of Shane’s own skepticism of last January, but, hey, you don’t want inconvenient details to mess up a cool narrative.
Yet, if you struggle all the way to the end of last Friday’s article, you do find out how flimsy the Times’ case actually is. How, for instance, do we know that “Melvin Redick” is a Russian impostor posing as an American? The proof, according to Shane, is that “His posts were never personal, just news articles reflecting a pro-Russian worldview.”
As it turns out, the Times now operates with what must be called a neo-McCarthyistic approach for identifying people as Kremlin stooges, i.e., anyone who doubts the truthfulness of the State Department’s narratives on Syria, Ukraine and other international topics.
Unreliable Source
In the article’s last section, Shane acknowledges as much in citing one of his experts, “Andrew Weisburd, an Illinois online researcher who has written frequently about Russian influence on social media.” Shane quotes Weisburd as admitting how hard it is to differentiate Americans who just might oppose Hillary Clinton because they didn’t think she’d make a good president from supposed Russian operatives: “Trying to disaggregate the two was difficult, to put it mildly.”
According to Shane, “Mr. Weisburd said he had labeled some Twitter accounts ‘Kremlin trolls’ based simply on their pro-Russia tweets and with no proof of Russian government ties. The Times contacted several such users, who insisted that they had come by their anti-American, pro-Russian views honestly, without payment or instructions from Moscow.”
One of Weisburd’s “Kremlin trolls” turned out to be 66-year-old Marilyn Justice who lives in Nova Scotia and who somehow reached the conclusion that “Hillary’s a warmonger.” During the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, she reached another conclusion: that U.S. commentators were exhibiting a snide anti-Russia bias perhaps because they indeed were exhibiting a snide anti-Russia bias.
Shane tracked down another “Kremlin troll,” 48-year-old Marcel Sardo, a web producer in Zurich, Switzerland, who dares to dispute the West’s groupthink that Russia was responsible for shooting down Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 over Ukraine on July 17, 2014, and the State Department’s claims that the Syrian government used sarin gas in a Damascus suburb on Aug. 21, 2013.
Presumably, if you don’t toe the line on those dubious U.S. government narratives, you are part of the Kremlin’s propaganda machine. (In both cases, there actually are serious reasons to doubt the Western groupthinks which again lack real evidence.)
But Shane accuses Sardo and his fellow-travelers of spreading “what American officials consider to be Russian disinformation on election hacking, Syria, Ukraine and more.” In other words, if you examine the evidence on MH-17 or the Syrian sarin case and conclude that the U.S. government’s claims are dubious if not downright false, you are somehow disloyal and making Russian officials “gleeful at their success,” as Shane puts it.
But what kind of a traitor are you if you quote Shane’s initial judgment after reading the Jan. 6 report on alleged Russian election meddling? What are you if agree with his factual observation that the report lacked anything approaching “hard evidence”? That’s a point that also dovetails with what Vladimir Putin has been saying – that “IP addresses can be simply made up. … This is no proof”?
So is Scott Shane a “Kremlin troll,” too? Should the Times immediately fire him as a disloyal foreign agent? What if Putin says that 2 plus 2 equals 4 and your child is taught the same thing in elementary school, what does that say about public school teachers?
Out of such gibberish come the evils of McCarthyism and the death of the Enlightenment. Instead of encouraging a questioning citizenry, the new American paradigm is to silence debate and ridicule anyone who steps out of line.
...
But what is the real threat to “American free speech”? Is it the possibility that Russia – in a very mild imitation of what the U.S. government does all over the world – used some Web sites clandestinely to get out its side of various stories, an accusation against Russia that still lacks any real evidence?
Or is the bigger threat that the nearly year-long Russia-gate hysteria will be used to clamp down on Americans who dare question fact-lite or fact-free Official Narratives handed down by the State Department and The New York Times?
===============================
.Smearing skepticism and dissent as disloyalty and foreign collusion is the easiest thing in the world, requiring no thought whatsoever and indeed short-circuiting any critical thinking before it can begin. Throw enough calculated ridicule and scorn at naysayers, and you can get most people to believe whatever you want: after all, nobody wants to be ridiculous or traitorous. It's a crude ideological bludgeon, but effective.
Remember that.
Likewise, look at a lot of people who have done shows on RT (Thom Hartmann, etc.). Some of them used to be fixtures on Air America, which folded. RT provided them with a platform to continue to do essentially the same type of reporting they were doing on Air America -- with even more paltry ratings. Was Air America also a nest of Russian traitors? Is Jonathan Pie (on RT UK) undermining British democracy? The official line on all of the above would seem to be yes. God forbid critical voices should "spread discontent."
==============================
ETA:
In a nutshell...
https://twitter.com/yashalevine/status/906613328369393664
Also:
Parry's right to denounce the declaration of allegations as flat fact, and to point out how this piece fits into a larger toxic media narrative.
But for another angle, see this Twitter exchange:
https://twitter.com/AdrianChen/status/905548351399239680
https://twitter.com/AdrianChen/status/905836460498198528
and cf.
https://twitter.com/MarkAmesExiled/status/905856752331214850 ==>
https://pando.com/2015/04/02/the-kremlins-social-media-trolls-are-real-as-is-the...
==============================
Furthermore:
https://twitter.com/MarkAmesExiled/status/907313434844389377
https://twitter.com/MarkAmesExiled/status/907445530929897475
https://twitter.com/MarkAmesExiled/status/907450120744120321
https://twitter.com/MarkAmesExiled/status/907450737835302912
: just slightly hypocritical?
And this. A thousand times this:
https://twitter.com/MarkAmesExiled/status/907318316297015296
31davidgn
The more things change...
https://twitter.com/RealAlexRubi/status/907326015814471680
==========================================================
When W. E. B. Du Bois Was Un-American
http://bostonreview.net/race-politics/andrew-lanham-when-w-e-b-du-bois-was-un-am...
https://twitter.com/RealAlexRubi/status/907326015814471680
==========================================================
When W. E. B. Du Bois Was Un-American
http://bostonreview.net/race-politics/andrew-lanham-when-w-e-b-du-bois-was-un-am...
February 1951 was a busy month for W. E. B. Du Bois, who turned eighty-three and threw himself a huge birthday party to raise funds for African decolonization. He also married his second wife, the leftist writer Shirley Graham, in what the Baltimore Afro-American newspaper called the wedding of the year. And he was indicted, arrested, and arraigned in federal court as an agent of the Soviet Union because he had circulated a petition protesting nuclear weapons.
The Justice Department saw Du Bois’s petition as a threat to national security. They thought it was communist propaganda meant to encourage American pacifism in the face of Soviet aggression. They put Du Bois on trial in order to brand him as “un-American,” to use the language of Joe McCarthy’s House Un-American Activities Committee. Du Bois was not in fact a Soviet agent. He was an American citizen using his First Amendment rights to protest nuclear weapons on his own behalf. A federal judge acquitted him because prosecutors failed to present any evidence.
Nevertheless, the trial and the publicity around it ruined his career. He was left scrabbling to earn enough money just to buy groceries. And the trial hardly ended the state persecution. In 1952 the State Department illegally revoked Du Bois’s passport to stop him from traveling to a peace conference in Canada (and, implicitly, to prevent him from moving to a friendlier country where he was not blacklisted). The Supreme Court restored passport rights for suspected communists in 1958, and three years later Du Bois used his regained freedom of travel to become an expat in newly postcolonial Ghana. But while he was there, the State Department refused to renew his passport, effectively annulling his United States citizenship. The American civil rights icon became a Ghanaian citizen and died there in 1963.
I thought of this history this week when Donald Trump’s nominee for attorney general, Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions, began his confirmation hearings. In 1986 Sessions was denied a federal judgeship partly because he allegedly called the NAACP, which was co-founded by Du Bois, “un-American.” (In his 1986 confirmation hearings, Sessions walked a fine line, saying that the NAACP “take positions that are considered un-American.”) Trump himself has suggested that the government should revoke the citizenship of flag burners, and Trump’s pick for national security advisor, Michael Flynn, has called for an indefinite world war on terrorism, which he says must begin at home by targeting Muslim Americans. This is the same ugly cluster of ideas that landed Du Bois in court on trumped-up charges sixty years ago: the idea that demanding basic civil rights is tantamount to treason; that protesting national policy means forfeiting one’s citizenship; that darker skin or leftist views make one less American; and that an open-ended global war justifies unconstitutional repression.
The mental picture of an eighty-three-year-old Du Bois in handcuffs reminds us that these ideas have consequences. Du Bois himself, though, fought furiously against persecution. He crisscrossed the country giving speeches, wrote passionately about his trial, and built a small but vigorous coalition that helped preserve social justice causes during a decade that tried desperately to strangle them. In our own moment of threatened repression, Du Bois’s story and his civil rights and antiwar tactics offer important political lessons. Du Bois may be our keenest critic of Trumpism today.
32Guanhumara
According to the Washington Post Germany is worried because it doesn't see evidence of Russian interference inits elections ...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/as-germans-prepare-to-vote-a-mystery-grows-...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/as-germans-prepare-to-vote-a-mystery-grows-...
33margd
Making major policy with stacked and/or incomplete information:
An internal report undercut one of Trump’s biggest goals. So the study was scrapped.
Greg Sargent | September 19, 2017
...(NYT:) Trump administration officials, under pressure from the White House to provide a rationale for reducing the number of refugees allowed into the United States next year, rejected a study by the Department of Health and Human Services that found that refugees brought in $63 billion more in government revenues over the past decade than they cost.
The draft report, which was obtained by The New York Times, contradicts a central argument made by advocates of deep cuts in refugee totals as President Trump faces an Oct. 1 deadline to decide on an allowable number. …
The internal study, which was completed in late July but never publicly released, found that refugees “contributed an estimated $269.1 billion in revenues to all levels of government” between 2005 and 2014 through the payment of federal, state and local taxes. “Overall, this report estimated that the net fiscal impact of refugees was positive over the 10-year period, at $63 billion.”
But White House officials said those conclusions were illegitimate and politically motivated, and were disproved by the final report issued by the agency, which asserts that the per-capita cost of a refugee is higher than that of an American.
Strikingly, administration officials defend this by saying the analysis was faulty because it took into account the contributions that refugees make by paying taxes — something they dismiss as politically motivated. Instead, those officials say, it should have factored in only their cost in public services, and compared those costs to average native-born Americans. According to two sources who spoke to the Times, Stephen Miller, the architect of Trump’s hard-line anti-immigrant agenda, “personally intervened in the discussions on the refugee cap to ensure that only the costs — not any fiscal benefit — of the program were considered.”...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2017/09/19/an-internal-report-...
________________________________________________________
Inside Graham-Cassidy, the last minute push by Senate Republicans to resuscitate Obamacare repeal
ALI ROGIN, Meridith McGraw, MARIAM KHAN, MaryAlice Parks | Sep 19, 2017
... A primary roadblock for (Senators) Graham and Cassidy (meeting Sept 30 deadline to avoid filibuster) has been the Congressional Budget Office, or C.B.O. The C.B.O. announced on Monday that while it plans to offer a “preliminary assessment” of the bill, it will not be able to provide a full score of the bill for “at least a few weeks.” The C.B.O. score indicates how much the legislation will affect the government’s deficit and is needed for the Senate to vote.
Graham pleaded for the C.B.O. to expedite its scoring process so he can present cost estimates to Senate colleagues before Sept. 30. But Democrats say the Senate should not vote on the legislation unless a full--not preliminary--score is released....
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/inside-graham-cassidy-minute-push-senate-republic...
An internal report undercut one of Trump’s biggest goals. So the study was scrapped.
Greg Sargent | September 19, 2017
...(NYT:) Trump administration officials, under pressure from the White House to provide a rationale for reducing the number of refugees allowed into the United States next year, rejected a study by the Department of Health and Human Services that found that refugees brought in $63 billion more in government revenues over the past decade than they cost.
The draft report, which was obtained by The New York Times, contradicts a central argument made by advocates of deep cuts in refugee totals as President Trump faces an Oct. 1 deadline to decide on an allowable number. …
The internal study, which was completed in late July but never publicly released, found that refugees “contributed an estimated $269.1 billion in revenues to all levels of government” between 2005 and 2014 through the payment of federal, state and local taxes. “Overall, this report estimated that the net fiscal impact of refugees was positive over the 10-year period, at $63 billion.”
But White House officials said those conclusions were illegitimate and politically motivated, and were disproved by the final report issued by the agency, which asserts that the per-capita cost of a refugee is higher than that of an American.
Strikingly, administration officials defend this by saying the analysis was faulty because it took into account the contributions that refugees make by paying taxes — something they dismiss as politically motivated. Instead, those officials say, it should have factored in only their cost in public services, and compared those costs to average native-born Americans. According to two sources who spoke to the Times, Stephen Miller, the architect of Trump’s hard-line anti-immigrant agenda, “personally intervened in the discussions on the refugee cap to ensure that only the costs — not any fiscal benefit — of the program were considered.”...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2017/09/19/an-internal-report-...
________________________________________________________
Inside Graham-Cassidy, the last minute push by Senate Republicans to resuscitate Obamacare repeal
ALI ROGIN, Meridith McGraw, MARIAM KHAN, MaryAlice Parks | Sep 19, 2017
... A primary roadblock for (Senators) Graham and Cassidy (meeting Sept 30 deadline to avoid filibuster) has been the Congressional Budget Office, or C.B.O. The C.B.O. announced on Monday that while it plans to offer a “preliminary assessment” of the bill, it will not be able to provide a full score of the bill for “at least a few weeks.” The C.B.O. score indicates how much the legislation will affect the government’s deficit and is needed for the Senate to vote.
Graham pleaded for the C.B.O. to expedite its scoring process so he can present cost estimates to Senate colleagues before Sept. 30. But Democrats say the Senate should not vote on the legislation unless a full--not preliminary--score is released....
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/inside-graham-cassidy-minute-push-senate-republic...
34margd
In need of distraction from Russian story, Trumpocchio lies some more about media:
Trump questions Facebook action on ads in tweet about 'Russia hoax'
Sept. 22, 2017
...“The Russia hoax continues, now it’s ads on Facebook,” Trump wrote on Twitter. “What about the totally biased and dishonest Media coverage in favor of Crooked Hillary,” referring to Hillary Clinton, his rival in the 2016 presidential campaign...
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-facebook-ceo-trump/trump-questions-facebook-ac...
____________________________________________________________
(See #2 ...(2016 report) the majority of mainstream media coverage was negative for both candidates...when reporting on Hillary Clinton, coverage primarily focused on the various scandals related to the Clinton Foundation and emails. When focused on Trump, major substantive issues, primarily immigration, were prominent...)
Trump questions Facebook action on ads in tweet about 'Russia hoax'
Sept. 22, 2017
...“The Russia hoax continues, now it’s ads on Facebook,” Trump wrote on Twitter. “What about the totally biased and dishonest Media coverage in favor of Crooked Hillary,” referring to Hillary Clinton, his rival in the 2016 presidential campaign...
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-facebook-ceo-trump/trump-questions-facebook-ac...
____________________________________________________________
(See #2 ...(2016 report) the majority of mainstream media coverage was negative for both candidates...when reporting on Hillary Clinton, coverage primarily focused on the various scandals related to the Clinton Foundation and emails. When focused on Trump, major substantive issues, primarily immigration, were prominent...)
35margd
Way to use the bully pulpit--NOT!
Backlash As Trump Slams NFL Players’ Protests, NBA’s Stephen Curry
Phil McCausland and Phil Helsel | Sept 24, 2017
...Trump doubled down on his stance, tweeting early Sunday, that
if "NFL fans refuse to go to games until players stop disrespecting our Flag & Country,
you will see change take place fast. Fire or suspend!" ...
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-withdraws-invitation-white-h...
Backlash As Trump Slams NFL Players’ Protests, NBA’s Stephen Curry
Phil McCausland and Phil Helsel | Sept 24, 2017
...Trump doubled down on his stance, tweeting early Sunday, that
if "NFL fans refuse to go to games until players stop disrespecting our Flag & Country,
you will see change take place fast. Fire or suspend!" ...
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-withdraws-invitation-white-h...
36rastaphrog
And, over in London where the Baltimore Ravens and the Jacksonville Jaguars are playing a game, there was a mass taking of the knee.
https://www.rawstory.com/2017/09/watch-nfl-players-coaches-and-owner-take-knees-...
https://www.rawstory.com/2017/09/watch-nfl-players-coaches-and-owner-take-knees-...
37RickHarsch
No bread and there's trouble in the circus.
39margd
Twitter takes its turn in the Russian probe spotlight
A closed-door briefing for Senate staffers will put the social media company into the same hot seat occupied for weeks by its larger rival Facebook.
NANCY SCOLA and JOSH MEYER | 09/28/2017
...The prevalence of bots is a known problem on (Twitter), and researchers at the University of Southern California's Information Sciences Institute found, in a study published on the eve of Election Day, that an estimated 400,000 bots were participating in the conversation around the election during a six-week period in September and October 2016. That represented about 19 percent of all election-related tweets.
The congressional investigators are also eager to learn more about how disinformation posted on Twitter bled into news outlets. This spring, researchers from Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology documented “a network of mutually-reinforcing hyper-partisan sites” including Breitbart and Infowars that gleaned content from Twitter.
Moreover, the Senate aides are interested in exploring whether the bot-driven amplification of tweets was used to boost the Google rankings of fake news.
...U.S. intelligence officials have been closely studying Russia's interest in tapping social media to fulfill its own geopolitical ends. A report on Russian election interference that the director of national intelligence issued Jan. 6 concluded that Russian elements enlisted social media trolls "as part of its influence efforts to denigrate Secretary Clinton." ...
http://www.politico.com/story/2017/09/28/twitter-russia-probe-spotlight-243239
A closed-door briefing for Senate staffers will put the social media company into the same hot seat occupied for weeks by its larger rival Facebook.
NANCY SCOLA and JOSH MEYER | 09/28/2017
...The prevalence of bots is a known problem on (Twitter), and researchers at the University of Southern California's Information Sciences Institute found, in a study published on the eve of Election Day, that an estimated 400,000 bots were participating in the conversation around the election during a six-week period in September and October 2016. That represented about 19 percent of all election-related tweets.
The congressional investigators are also eager to learn more about how disinformation posted on Twitter bled into news outlets. This spring, researchers from Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology documented “a network of mutually-reinforcing hyper-partisan sites” including Breitbart and Infowars that gleaned content from Twitter.
Moreover, the Senate aides are interested in exploring whether the bot-driven amplification of tweets was used to boost the Google rankings of fake news.
...U.S. intelligence officials have been closely studying Russia's interest in tapping social media to fulfill its own geopolitical ends. A report on Russian election interference that the director of national intelligence issued Jan. 6 concluded that Russian elements enlisted social media trolls "as part of its influence efforts to denigrate Secretary Clinton." ...
http://www.politico.com/story/2017/09/28/twitter-russia-probe-spotlight-243239
40margd
"...tax reform will protect low-income and middle-income households, not the wealthy and well-connected...it's not good for me. Believe me."
Donald Trump's tax returns are about to come back with a vengeance
Chris Cillizza | September 29, 2017
...Even based on the limited tax information that has leaked out, the President could stand to save in excess of $1.1 billion under his new tax package, according to calculations made by the New York Times.
Jesse Drucker and Nadja Popovich conclude:
"Though it would not be reflected on his income tax return, Mr. Trump's proposal to eliminate the estate tax would generate the largest tax savings. If his assets — reportedly valued at $2.86 billion — were transferred after his death under today's rules, his estate would be taxed at about 40 percent. Repealing the federal estate tax could save his family about $1.1 billion, though it could still be subject to New York estate taxes."
That's a big chunk of change. And it makes clear that Trump's assertion that he would not benefit from his proposed tax cut is not likely true...
http://www.cnn.com/2017/09/29/politics/trump-tax-returns/index.html
Donald Trump's tax returns are about to come back with a vengeance
Chris Cillizza | September 29, 2017
...Even based on the limited tax information that has leaked out, the President could stand to save in excess of $1.1 billion under his new tax package, according to calculations made by the New York Times.
Jesse Drucker and Nadja Popovich conclude:
"Though it would not be reflected on his income tax return, Mr. Trump's proposal to eliminate the estate tax would generate the largest tax savings. If his assets — reportedly valued at $2.86 billion — were transferred after his death under today's rules, his estate would be taxed at about 40 percent. Repealing the federal estate tax could save his family about $1.1 billion, though it could still be subject to New York estate taxes."
That's a big chunk of change. And it makes clear that Trump's assertion that he would not benefit from his proposed tax cut is not likely true...
http://www.cnn.com/2017/09/29/politics/trump-tax-returns/index.html
41davidgn
Latest Fake News Panic Appears to Be Fake News
A Republican Senator and much of the mainstream media punks itself, proving we should all spend more time outside
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/taibbi-latest-fake-news-panic-appears-...
A Republican Senator and much of the mainstream media punks itself, proving we should all spend more time outside
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/taibbi-latest-fake-news-panic-appears-...
...
It may very well be that foreign governments, and perhaps even the Russians in particular, are trying to sow chaos and division in American society through fake news operations. But episodes like this prove such campaigns are probably a waste of money. We Americans are clearly too dumb to read our own news, and quite capable of destroying ourselves over nonsense without the help of outside parties.
...
43RickHarsch
Matt Taibbi of Rolling Stone is one of the best political writers using the English language, and I am glad you recognize that, Barney.
44librorumamans
>46 margd:
Thanks for the link. I love the prank story: "Fidget spinners cause PTSD in hurricane victims"
Thanks for the link. I love the prank story: "Fidget spinners cause PTSD in hurricane victims"
45margd
Wow, do we (US and allies) have work to do in securing sensitive data! I'm less concerned about plans to decapitate N Korean leadership in time of war (except that paranoid Kim will make good use of it in justifying nukes) than the fact that this information was hacked. (Military wouldn't be doing its job if it didn't have such plans for every contingency.) Forget the wall, stop the hacking!
North Korea hackers believed to have stolen US-South Korea plans to kill Kim Jong Un
North Korean hackers are believed to have stolen a large amount of classified military documents, including a South Korean and U.S. plan to "decapitate" North Korea's leadership.
Yonhap news agency reports that South Korean Democratic Party Representative Lee Cheol-hee said that the hackers broke into South Korea's Defense Integrated Data Center.
Holly Ellyatt | Oct 10, 2017
...235 gigabytes worth of military documents were taken with the content of nearly 80 percent of them yet to be identified.
"Also among them were contingency plans for the South's special forces, reports to allies' top commanders, and information on key military facilities and power plants," (S Korean lawmaker) said...
https://www.cnbc.com/2017/10/10/north-korea-hackers-stole-us-south-korea-plans-t...
North Korea hackers believed to have stolen US-South Korea plans to kill Kim Jong Un
North Korean hackers are believed to have stolen a large amount of classified military documents, including a South Korean and U.S. plan to "decapitate" North Korea's leadership.
Yonhap news agency reports that South Korean Democratic Party Representative Lee Cheol-hee said that the hackers broke into South Korea's Defense Integrated Data Center.
Holly Ellyatt | Oct 10, 2017
...235 gigabytes worth of military documents were taken with the content of nearly 80 percent of them yet to be identified.
"Also among them were contingency plans for the South's special forces, reports to allies' top commanders, and information on key military facilities and power plants," (S Korean lawmaker) said...
https://www.cnbc.com/2017/10/10/north-korea-hackers-stole-us-south-korea-plans-t...
46margd
So North Korea, Russia, and I assume, China--at the least--are tapping into our biggest secrets and we are at their mercy if they want to turn off the grid, say?
Israel hacked Kaspersky, then tipped the NSA that its tools had been breached
Ellen Nakashima | October 10, 2017
...Over at least the past two years, the FBI has notified major companies, including in the energy and financial sectors, about the risks of using Kaspersky software. The briefings have elaborated on the risks of espionage, sabotage and supply-chain attacks that could be enabled through use of the software. They also explained the surveillance law that enables the Russian government to see data coursing through its domestic pipes.
“That’s the crux of the matter,” said one industry official who received the briefing. “Whether Kaspersky is working directly for the Russian government or not doesn’t matter; their Internet service providers are subject to monitoring. So virtually anything shared with Kaspersky could become the property of the Russian government.”
Late last month, the National Intelligence Council completed a classified report that it shared with NATO allies concluding that the FSB had “probable access” to Kaspersky customer databases and source code. That access, it concluded, could help enable cyberattacks against U.S. government, commercial and industrial control networks.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/israel-hacked-kaspersky-t...
ETA______________________________________________________
Foreign intelligence agencies might be using your anti-virus software against you
James Hohmann | October 11, 2017
...“More than 60 percent … of the company’s $633 million in annual sales come from customers in the United States and Western Europe. … Among them have been nearly two dozen American government agencies — including the State Department, the Department of Defense, Department of Energy, Justice Department, Treasury Department and the Army, Navy and Air Force …
“The N.S.A. bans its analysts from using Kaspersky antivirus at the agency, in large part because the agency has exploited antivirus software for its own foreign hacking operations and knows the same technique is used by its adversaries. ‘Antivirus is the ultimate back door,’ Blake Darché, a former N.S.A. operator and co-founder of Area 1 Security. ‘It provides consistent, reliable and remote access that can be used for any purpose…’”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/paloma/daily-202/2017/10/11/daily-...
Israel hacked Kaspersky, then tipped the NSA that its tools had been breached
Ellen Nakashima | October 10, 2017
...Over at least the past two years, the FBI has notified major companies, including in the energy and financial sectors, about the risks of using Kaspersky software. The briefings have elaborated on the risks of espionage, sabotage and supply-chain attacks that could be enabled through use of the software. They also explained the surveillance law that enables the Russian government to see data coursing through its domestic pipes.
“That’s the crux of the matter,” said one industry official who received the briefing. “Whether Kaspersky is working directly for the Russian government or not doesn’t matter; their Internet service providers are subject to monitoring. So virtually anything shared with Kaspersky could become the property of the Russian government.”
Late last month, the National Intelligence Council completed a classified report that it shared with NATO allies concluding that the FSB had “probable access” to Kaspersky customer databases and source code. That access, it concluded, could help enable cyberattacks against U.S. government, commercial and industrial control networks.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/israel-hacked-kaspersky-t...
ETA______________________________________________________
Foreign intelligence agencies might be using your anti-virus software against you
James Hohmann | October 11, 2017
...“More than 60 percent … of the company’s $633 million in annual sales come from customers in the United States and Western Europe. … Among them have been nearly two dozen American government agencies — including the State Department, the Department of Defense, Department of Energy, Justice Department, Treasury Department and the Army, Navy and Air Force …
“The N.S.A. bans its analysts from using Kaspersky antivirus at the agency, in large part because the agency has exploited antivirus software for its own foreign hacking operations and knows the same technique is used by its adversaries. ‘Antivirus is the ultimate back door,’ Blake Darché, a former N.S.A. operator and co-founder of Area 1 Security. ‘It provides consistent, reliable and remote access that can be used for any purpose…’”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/paloma/daily-202/2017/10/11/daily-...
47margd
President Trump has made 1,318 false or misleading claims over 263 days
Michelle Ye Hee Lee, Glenn Kessler and Meg Kelly | October 10, 2017
...The Fact Checker has completed two-thirds of our year-long project analyzing, categorizing and tracking every false or misleading claim by Trump, as well as his flip-flops. As of our latest update Oct. 10, 2017, or his 264th day in office, the president has made 1,318 claims over 263 days. He has averaged five claims a day, even picking up pace since the six-month mark. (Our full interactive graphic can be found here. https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/politics/trump-claims-database/?tid=a_in... )
When you track Trump’s claims so closely, it can often feel like deja vu. Trump has a tendency to repeat himself, and that includes his false or misleading claims. (For an overview of his most frequently repeated claims, see our update from August when Trump surpassed the 1,000-claim mark. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2017/08/22/president-trumps-... )
With almost exactly 100 days left to go in our year-long project, Trump is inching ever closer to breaking 2,000 claims...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2017/10/10/president-trump-h...
Michelle Ye Hee Lee, Glenn Kessler and Meg Kelly | October 10, 2017
...The Fact Checker has completed two-thirds of our year-long project analyzing, categorizing and tracking every false or misleading claim by Trump, as well as his flip-flops. As of our latest update Oct. 10, 2017, or his 264th day in office, the president has made 1,318 claims over 263 days. He has averaged five claims a day, even picking up pace since the six-month mark. (Our full interactive graphic can be found here. https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/politics/trump-claims-database/?tid=a_in... )
When you track Trump’s claims so closely, it can often feel like deja vu. Trump has a tendency to repeat himself, and that includes his false or misleading claims. (For an overview of his most frequently repeated claims, see our update from August when Trump surpassed the 1,000-claim mark. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2017/08/22/president-trumps-... )
With almost exactly 100 days left to go in our year-long project, Trump is inching ever closer to breaking 2,000 claims...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2017/10/10/president-trump-h...
49margd
Trump: 'Disgusting' press able to write whatever it wants
Jonathan Easley | 10/11/17
President Trump triggered a new storm with the media on Wednesday by saying that it is “disgusting the press is able to write whatever it wants to write.”
Trump said later that he has no plans to seek limits on what the press writes or reports, but the comments drew new scrutiny given his own tweet earlier on Wednesday threatening to pull NBC’s broadcasting license over a story he said was false.
He’s also questioned why the Senate Intelligence Committee isn’t investigating mainstream news outlets for publishing “fake news,” and during the campaign discussed the need to “open up” libel laws...
http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/354965-trump-disgusting-press-able-to...
Jonathan Easley | 10/11/17
President Trump triggered a new storm with the media on Wednesday by saying that it is “disgusting the press is able to write whatever it wants to write.”
Trump said later that he has no plans to seek limits on what the press writes or reports, but the comments drew new scrutiny given his own tweet earlier on Wednesday threatening to pull NBC’s broadcasting license over a story he said was false.
He’s also questioned why the Senate Intelligence Committee isn’t investigating mainstream news outlets for publishing “fake news,” and during the campaign discussed the need to “open up” libel laws...
http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/354965-trump-disgusting-press-able-to...
50margd
Republican senator asks Trump if he's 'recanting oath' over war with press
MARK OSBORNE | Oct 12, 2017
...Trump's threat to pull NBC's license drew Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., into the fight. The centrist Republican Sasse is a frequent right-wing opponent of the president.
Sasse released a statement asking if the president was recanting his oath of office due to his challenge of the First Amendment.
"Mr. President: Words spoken by the President of the United States matter," the brief statement reads. "Are you tonight recanting the oath you took on January 20th to preserve, protect, and defend the First Amendment?" ...
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/republican-senator-asks-trump-recanting-oath-war-...
MARK OSBORNE | Oct 12, 2017
...Trump's threat to pull NBC's license drew Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., into the fight. The centrist Republican Sasse is a frequent right-wing opponent of the president.
Sasse released a statement asking if the president was recanting his oath of office due to his challenge of the First Amendment.
"Mr. President: Words spoken by the President of the United States matter," the brief statement reads. "Are you tonight recanting the oath you took on January 20th to preserve, protect, and defend the First Amendment?" ...
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/republican-senator-asks-trump-recanting-oath-war-...
52barney67
President Trump and Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis on Wednesday publicly refuted an NBC News report that claimed the commander-in-chief wanted to drastically increase the U.S. nuclear arsenal, with Trump calling the press "disgusting."
On the sidelines of a meeting in the Oval Office with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Trump slammed the NBC report that said he sought a “nearly tenfold increase” in the nuclear arsenal during a summer meeting.
“Frankly, it’s disgusting the press is able to write whatever it wants to write and people should look into it,” Trump told reporters. “I never discussed increasing the nuclear arsenal. That is fake news by NBC, which gives a lot of fake news recently.”
Trump added that he only wants “modernization” and “rehabilitation” of the stockpile.
Trump continued to slam the press for allegedly making up sources. “There are no sources,” he claimed.
Mattis issued a brief statement shortly afterward saying: "Recent reports that the President called for an increase in the U.S. nuclear arsenal are absolutely false. This kind of erroneous reporting is irresponsible."
On the sidelines of a meeting in the Oval Office with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Trump slammed the NBC report that said he sought a “nearly tenfold increase” in the nuclear arsenal during a summer meeting.
“Frankly, it’s disgusting the press is able to write whatever it wants to write and people should look into it,” Trump told reporters. “I never discussed increasing the nuclear arsenal. That is fake news by NBC, which gives a lot of fake news recently.”
Trump added that he only wants “modernization” and “rehabilitation” of the stockpile.
Trump continued to slam the press for allegedly making up sources. “There are no sources,” he claimed.
Mattis issued a brief statement shortly afterward saying: "Recent reports that the President called for an increase in the U.S. nuclear arsenal are absolutely false. This kind of erroneous reporting is irresponsible."
53margd
In the words matter, dept.:
With Bannon and the boys bashing "establishment Republicans",
I think I'm hearing Paul Ryan and others claim the title of "Constitutional conservative"?
That used to be the claim of Tea Party, but
its progeny are migrating more to disruption, nationalism, social conservatism and all its nasty cousins under Trump?
With Bannon and the boys bashing "establishment Republicans",
I think I'm hearing Paul Ryan and others claim the title of "Constitutional conservative"?
That used to be the claim of Tea Party, but
its progeny are migrating more to disruption, nationalism, social conservatism and all its nasty cousins under Trump?
54margd
Truly an asshole.
Trump Falsely Claims Obama Didn’t Contact Families of Fallen Troops
MARK LANDLER | OCT. 16, 2017
President Trump falsely asserted on Monday that his predecessor, Barack Obama, and other presidents did not contact the families of American troops killed in duty, drawing a swift, angry rebuke from several of Mr. Obama’s former aides.
Mr. Trump was responding to a question about why he had not spoken publicly about the killing of four Green Berets in an ambush in Niger two weeks ago when he made the assertion. Rather than answering the question, Mr. Trump said he had written personal letters to their families and planned to call them in the coming week. Then he pivoted to his predecessors.
...In the Niger episode, three American soldiers were killed while on patrol on the border between Niger and Mali this month. The body of a fourth American soldier was recovered later.
While he did not explain why he had not called their families, Mr. Trump said he had written letters to the family members over the weekend, which he said would be mailed later in the day or on Tuesday. He said he also planned to call them.
“I felt very, very badly about that,” he said. “The toughest calls I have to make are the calls where this happens. Soldiers are killed. It’s a very difficult thing,” he said. “Now, it gets to a point where, you know, you make four or five of them in one day. It’s a very, very tough day. For me, that’s by far the toughest.” ... (Reportedly, Trump golfing when four soldier mortalities arrived from Niger.)...
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/16/us/politics/trump-obama-killed-soldiers.html
Trump Falsely Claims Obama Didn’t Contact Families of Fallen Troops
MARK LANDLER | OCT. 16, 2017
President Trump falsely asserted on Monday that his predecessor, Barack Obama, and other presidents did not contact the families of American troops killed in duty, drawing a swift, angry rebuke from several of Mr. Obama’s former aides.
Mr. Trump was responding to a question about why he had not spoken publicly about the killing of four Green Berets in an ambush in Niger two weeks ago when he made the assertion. Rather than answering the question, Mr. Trump said he had written personal letters to their families and planned to call them in the coming week. Then he pivoted to his predecessors.
...In the Niger episode, three American soldiers were killed while on patrol on the border between Niger and Mali this month. The body of a fourth American soldier was recovered later.
While he did not explain why he had not called their families, Mr. Trump said he had written letters to the family members over the weekend, which he said would be mailed later in the day or on Tuesday. He said he also planned to call them.
“I felt very, very badly about that,” he said. “The toughest calls I have to make are the calls where this happens. Soldiers are killed. It’s a very difficult thing,” he said. “Now, it gets to a point where, you know, you make four or five of them in one day. It’s a very, very tough day. For me, that’s by far the toughest.” ... (Reportedly, Trump golfing when four soldier mortalities arrived from Niger.)...
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/16/us/politics/trump-obama-killed-soldiers.html
55margd
See graphic at https://twitter.com/SenJohnMcCain/status/921031714339778564
Tweets Senator John McCain (8:14 AM - 19 Oct 2017):
Current structure of responsibilities for cyber defense is too convoluted & siloed. We must have a strategy to defend against cyberattacks.
Tweets Senator John McCain (8:14 AM - 19 Oct 2017):
Current structure of responsibilities for cyber defense is too convoluted & siloed. We must have a strategy to defend against cyberattacks.
56margd
Thanks--Microsoft?
Justice Department moves to end routine gag orders on tech firms
Ellen Nakashima | October 23 at 11:42 PM
...binding guidance...ends the routine imposition of gag orders barring companies from telling customers their email or other records have been turned over in response to legal demands.
It also bans — in most cases — indefinite gag orders...
The move comes a year and a half after Microsoft sued the department, asking a federal judge in Seattle to strike down portions of a major privacy law that govern the secrecy orders.
...in April 2016,(Microsoft) noted that in the prior 18 months, it had received 5,600 federal demands for data, and almost 2,600 were accompanied by obligations of secrecy. And more than two-thirds of those — about 1,750 orders — had no fixed end date.
...The policy does not apply to orders under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act or to “national security letters,” a type of administrative subpoena used in national security cases.
...The move matters for Americans whose data is secretly obtained in criminal probes that never lead to a prosecution, but who never find out because of indefinite gag orders. This has become much more of a problem as people store their emails and other sensitive data in the cloud. “They’re not expecting that it’s an all-you-can-eat buffet for the government,” said John McKay, a former U.S. attorney in Seattle who is now a partner at Davis Wright Tremaine.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/justice-department-moves-...
Justice Department moves to end routine gag orders on tech firms
Ellen Nakashima | October 23 at 11:42 PM
...binding guidance...ends the routine imposition of gag orders barring companies from telling customers their email or other records have been turned over in response to legal demands.
It also bans — in most cases — indefinite gag orders...
The move comes a year and a half after Microsoft sued the department, asking a federal judge in Seattle to strike down portions of a major privacy law that govern the secrecy orders.
...in April 2016,(Microsoft) noted that in the prior 18 months, it had received 5,600 federal demands for data, and almost 2,600 were accompanied by obligations of secrecy. And more than two-thirds of those — about 1,750 orders — had no fixed end date.
...The policy does not apply to orders under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act or to “national security letters,” a type of administrative subpoena used in national security cases.
...The move matters for Americans whose data is secretly obtained in criminal probes that never lead to a prosecution, but who never find out because of indefinite gag orders. This has become much more of a problem as people store their emails and other sensitive data in the cloud. “They’re not expecting that it’s an all-you-can-eat buffet for the government,” said John McKay, a former U.S. attorney in Seattle who is now a partner at Davis Wright Tremaine.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/justice-department-moves-...
572wonderY
‘Let us do our job’: Anger erupts over EPA’s apparent muzzling of scientists
The program’s director, Tom Borden, said that the head of the EPA’s National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory Atlantic Ecology Division informed him Friday that the keynote speaker, division research ecologist Autumn Oczkowski, and another colleague in the lab, Rose Martin, would not be able to make presentations at the event.
“I was not given a clear reason why,” Borden said in an interview Sunday, adding that his team had worked closely with several of the agency’s scientists on protecting and restoring the bay. “It’s a terrific partnership to have EPA working with us.”
An EPA contractor who had contributed to two chapters of the report, Emily Shumchenia, also was told not to speak at the event. She and Martin were slated to take part in a panel titled “The Present and Future Biological Implications of Climate Change.”
The program’s director, Tom Borden, said that the head of the EPA’s National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory Atlantic Ecology Division informed him Friday that the keynote speaker, division research ecologist Autumn Oczkowski, and another colleague in the lab, Rose Martin, would not be able to make presentations at the event.
“I was not given a clear reason why,” Borden said in an interview Sunday, adding that his team had worked closely with several of the agency’s scientists on protecting and restoring the bay. “It’s a terrific partnership to have EPA working with us.”
An EPA contractor who had contributed to two chapters of the report, Emily Shumchenia, also was told not to speak at the event. She and Martin were slated to take part in a panel titled “The Present and Future Biological Implications of Climate Change.”
58margd
Facebook estimates 126 million people were served content from Russia-linked pages
Dylan Byers | October 30, 2017
Facebook will inform lawmakers this week that roughly 126 million Americans may have been exposed to content generated on its platform by the Russian government-linked troll farm known as the Internet Research Agency between June 2015 and August 2017, CNN has learned.
That estimate, which is equivalent to more than half of the total U.S. voting population, offers a new understanding of the scope of Russia's use of social media to meddle in the 2016 U.S. presidential election and in American society generally...
http://money.cnn.com/2017/10/30/media/russia-facebook-126-million-users/index.ht...
Dylan Byers | October 30, 2017
Facebook will inform lawmakers this week that roughly 126 million Americans may have been exposed to content generated on its platform by the Russian government-linked troll farm known as the Internet Research Agency between June 2015 and August 2017, CNN has learned.
That estimate, which is equivalent to more than half of the total U.S. voting population, offers a new understanding of the scope of Russia's use of social media to meddle in the 2016 U.S. presidential election and in American society generally...
http://money.cnn.com/2017/10/30/media/russia-facebook-126-million-users/index.ht...
592wonderY
Alexandra Petri translates Sarah Huckabee Sanders' Monday press briefing.
(this could have been posted in the humor thread.)
(this could have been posted in the humor thread.)
60margd
Americans! Were you the target of Russian propaganda? Check here
Heather Timmons | Nov 1 2017
(Russian disinformation)..."ads targeted a widely disparate group of people, and often didn’t even mention the US election. Instead, they seemed created to stoke rage and division in the country. What Facebook and Twitter have found is probably only a tiny part of the Russian disinformation campaign, Senator Mark Warner believes. Here’s who we know were targeted so far: People who are scared of Muslims...Muslims...Christians...African-Americans...People who hate Black Lives Matter...Gun owners...People against police brutality...People who hate illegal immigrants...LGBT people...People who hated Hillary Clinton...People who love Donald Trump...Texans..."
https://qz.com/1117880/facebook-twitter-and-google-hearings-the-russian-advertis...
ETA______________________________________________________________________
So, not surprisingly, the top stressor for Americans in 2017 isn't their job or their finances —
it's the future of the nation, according to a new report from the American Psychological Association (APA).
http://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/stress/2017/state-nation.pdf
Heather Timmons | Nov 1 2017
(Russian disinformation)..."ads targeted a widely disparate group of people, and often didn’t even mention the US election. Instead, they seemed created to stoke rage and division in the country. What Facebook and Twitter have found is probably only a tiny part of the Russian disinformation campaign, Senator Mark Warner believes. Here’s who we know were targeted so far: People who are scared of Muslims...Muslims...Christians...African-Americans...People who hate Black Lives Matter...Gun owners...People against police brutality...People who hate illegal immigrants...LGBT people...People who hated Hillary Clinton...People who love Donald Trump...Texans..."
https://qz.com/1117880/facebook-twitter-and-google-hearings-the-russian-advertis...
ETA______________________________________________________________________
So, not surprisingly, the top stressor for Americans in 2017 isn't their job or their finances —
it's the future of the nation, according to a new report from the American Psychological Association (APA).
http://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/stress/2017/state-nation.pdf
61margd
Once considered a boon to democracy, social media have started to look like its nemesis
Nov 4th 2017
An economy based on attention is easily gamed
...People do not share content solely because it is informative. They share information because they want attention for themselves, and for what the things they share say about them. They want to be heard and seen, and respected. They want posts to be liked, tweets to be retweeted. Some types of information spread more easily this way than others; they pass through social-media networks like viruses—a normally pathological trait which the social-media business is set up to reward.
Because of the data they collect, social-media companies have a good idea of what sort of things go viral, and how to tweak a message until it does. They are willing to share such insights with clients—including with political campaigns versed in the necessary skills, or willing to buy them...
Perhaps the most subversive techniques, though, are those developed in somewhat obsessive and technically astute coteries of amateurs whose main motivation is fun and recognition, sometimes—but not necessarily—spiked with malice.
...The algorithms that Facebook, YouTube and others use to maximise “engagement” ensure users are more likely to see information that they are liable to interact with. This tends to lead them into clusters of like-minded people sharing like-minded things, and can turn moderate views into more extreme ones.
...backed up by an alternative media ecosystem keen to support them, and with judicious help from foreign powers capable of organising themselves a little more thoroughly than ragtag mobocrats, (mere pranks(ters), misfits showing off their hacking capabilities to one another and the world) can become powerful.
...not enough is known about the inner workings of social media to come up with effective regulations.
...in America a group of senators has introduced the “Honest Ads Act”, which would extend the rules that apply to print, radio and television to social media.
...Increased friction (proposals)...content...China...Free-speech...
...A more far-out proposal..mak(e) their money, perhaps, directly from users, rather than from advertisers....social-media platforms which dominate the attention economy have become utilities and should no longer be run as profit-maximising companies... a “public benefit corporation”, obliged by law to aid the public. Wikipedia...could be seen as the model: it lives off donations and its host of volunteers keeps it reasonably clean, honest and reliable. None of this, though, offers a truly satisfactory response to the problem...
https://www.economist.com/news/briefing/21730870-economy-based-attention-easily-...
Nov 4th 2017
An economy based on attention is easily gamed
...People do not share content solely because it is informative. They share information because they want attention for themselves, and for what the things they share say about them. They want to be heard and seen, and respected. They want posts to be liked, tweets to be retweeted. Some types of information spread more easily this way than others; they pass through social-media networks like viruses—a normally pathological trait which the social-media business is set up to reward.
Because of the data they collect, social-media companies have a good idea of what sort of things go viral, and how to tweak a message until it does. They are willing to share such insights with clients—including with political campaigns versed in the necessary skills, or willing to buy them...
Perhaps the most subversive techniques, though, are those developed in somewhat obsessive and technically astute coteries of amateurs whose main motivation is fun and recognition, sometimes—but not necessarily—spiked with malice.
...The algorithms that Facebook, YouTube and others use to maximise “engagement” ensure users are more likely to see information that they are liable to interact with. This tends to lead them into clusters of like-minded people sharing like-minded things, and can turn moderate views into more extreme ones.
...backed up by an alternative media ecosystem keen to support them, and with judicious help from foreign powers capable of organising themselves a little more thoroughly than ragtag mobocrats, (mere pranks(ters), misfits showing off their hacking capabilities to one another and the world) can become powerful.
...not enough is known about the inner workings of social media to come up with effective regulations.
...in America a group of senators has introduced the “Honest Ads Act”, which would extend the rules that apply to print, radio and television to social media.
...Increased friction (proposals)...content...China...Free-speech...
...A more far-out proposal..mak(e) their money, perhaps, directly from users, rather than from advertisers....social-media platforms which dominate the attention economy have become utilities and should no longer be run as profit-maximising companies... a “public benefit corporation”, obliged by law to aid the public. Wikipedia...could be seen as the model: it lives off donations and its host of volunteers keeps it reasonably clean, honest and reliable. None of this, though, offers a truly satisfactory response to the problem...
https://www.economist.com/news/briefing/21730870-economy-based-attention-easily-...
62margd
Wow, only $200 to promote Texas independence and Texas-Muslim confrontation--on the ground, not just online!
Russian trolls' promoted California independence
4 Nov, 2017
Social media accounts with ties to Russia pushed a huge Twitter trend in favour of an independent California on US election night 2016, BBC Trending has learned. The campaign was one of at least two popular online independence drives with links to the Kremlin.
...Yes California
The California independence movement has been spearheaded by a group called Yes California. One of the group's co-founders, Louis Marinelli, opened a self-styled California embassy in Moscow, and later moved to Siberia.
Marinelli attended a conference of Western secession movements in 2016, along with representatives from similar groups from Texas, Puerto Rico and Northern Ireland. The conference was organised by the Anti-Globalisation Movement, a group that has received money from the Russian government, according to Casey Michel, a reporter for the left-wing news site ThinkProgress.
...Calexit - and Texit
The campaign for California independence is not the only American secession movement with links to Russia. Heart of Texas was for a time the most popular pro-Texas independence Facebook page, with more than 250,000 followers. But US Senate hearings on Wednesday revealed that the account was allegedly run by the Internet Research Agency (Russian trolls' promoted California independence).
In addition to pro-Texas independence content, the page pumped out anti-Muslim stories and created a confrontation with followers of another Internet Research Agency page, United Muslims of America.
At one point in May 2016, those behind the two pages scheduled rival events at the same time and same place in Houston.
"What neither side could have known is that Russian trolls were encouraging both sides to battle in the streets and create division between real Americans," said Richard Burr, the Republican chairman of the US Senate intelligence committee which has been investigating social media interference in the 2016 election.
..."Establishing these two competing groups, paying for the ads and causing this disruptive event in Houston cost Russia about $200"...
http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-41853131
Russian trolls' promoted California independence
4 Nov, 2017
Social media accounts with ties to Russia pushed a huge Twitter trend in favour of an independent California on US election night 2016, BBC Trending has learned. The campaign was one of at least two popular online independence drives with links to the Kremlin.
...Yes California
The California independence movement has been spearheaded by a group called Yes California. One of the group's co-founders, Louis Marinelli, opened a self-styled California embassy in Moscow, and later moved to Siberia.
Marinelli attended a conference of Western secession movements in 2016, along with representatives from similar groups from Texas, Puerto Rico and Northern Ireland. The conference was organised by the Anti-Globalisation Movement, a group that has received money from the Russian government, according to Casey Michel, a reporter for the left-wing news site ThinkProgress.
...Calexit - and Texit
The campaign for California independence is not the only American secession movement with links to Russia. Heart of Texas was for a time the most popular pro-Texas independence Facebook page, with more than 250,000 followers. But US Senate hearings on Wednesday revealed that the account was allegedly run by the Internet Research Agency (Russian trolls' promoted California independence).
In addition to pro-Texas independence content, the page pumped out anti-Muslim stories and created a confrontation with followers of another Internet Research Agency page, United Muslims of America.
At one point in May 2016, those behind the two pages scheduled rival events at the same time and same place in Houston.
"What neither side could have known is that Russian trolls were encouraging both sides to battle in the streets and create division between real Americans," said Richard Burr, the Republican chairman of the US Senate intelligence committee which has been investigating social media interference in the 2016 election.
..."Establishing these two competing groups, paying for the ads and causing this disruptive event in Houston cost Russia about $200"...
http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-41853131
63morningwalker
I admit I occasionally check out these political threads to see what's going on because I don't watch TV. What I see is posting and reposting of news , "fake news" and blah, blah blah of sexual preditors, lying stealing politicians, and a corrupt government that is out of control. What I don't see are solutions to the problems. I think if all upstanding citizens started a movement with a reputable leader to stop the corruption we would start seeing change. I say all "regular citizens" stop paying federal taxes for a month and see what corrupt government does. Just a thought since no one offers solutions, just postings of what media feeds us.
64morningwalker
Stop posting and arguing and do something!!
65margd
Breitbart calling? Sounds like at least some citizens are wise to dirty tricks--hope they prevail over such disruptive, divisive, clumsy, slimy efforts:
He said he was a Washington Post reporter offering a reward for dirt on Roy Moore. It wasn’t true.
Marwa Eltagouri and Herman Wong | November 15, 2017
A pastor in Alabama said he received a voice mail Tuesday from a man falsely claiming to be a reporter with The Washington Post and seeking women “willing to make damaging remarks” about Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore in exchange for money.
...The caller, claiming to be “Bernie Bernstein,” left a 27-second voice mail, which Moore played for local CBS affiliate WKRG.
“I’m a reporter for The Washington Post calling to find out if anyone at this address is a female between the ages of 54 to 57 years old, willing to make damaging remarks about candidate Roy Moore for a reward of between $5,000 and $7,000,” the caller said in the voice mail.
The caller said he would not be “fully investigating these claims” but would make a written report.
He said he could be reached by email at albernstein@washingtonpost.com.
...The caller first referred to himself as “Bernie” and then later gave his name as “Al.” There are no Washington Post reporters or editors named Bernie Bernstein or Al Bernstein.
(The pastor)...sent an email to the address left in the voice mail, and it bounced back...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/politics/wp/2017/11/14/alabama-pastor-says-m...
________________________________________________________________
Breitbart aims to discredit Roy Moore's accusers
Jonathan Swan | Nov 12, 2017
Steve Bannon has sent two of Breitbart News' top reporters, Matt Boyle and Aaron Klein, to Alabama. Their mission: to discredit the Washington Post's reporting on Roy Moore's alleged sexual misconduct with teenagers...
https://www.axios.com/breitbart-aims-to-discredit-moores-accusers-2508913180.htm...
He said he was a Washington Post reporter offering a reward for dirt on Roy Moore. It wasn’t true.
Marwa Eltagouri and Herman Wong | November 15, 2017
A pastor in Alabama said he received a voice mail Tuesday from a man falsely claiming to be a reporter with The Washington Post and seeking women “willing to make damaging remarks” about Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore in exchange for money.
...The caller, claiming to be “Bernie Bernstein,” left a 27-second voice mail, which Moore played for local CBS affiliate WKRG.
“I’m a reporter for The Washington Post calling to find out if anyone at this address is a female between the ages of 54 to 57 years old, willing to make damaging remarks about candidate Roy Moore for a reward of between $5,000 and $7,000,” the caller said in the voice mail.
The caller said he would not be “fully investigating these claims” but would make a written report.
He said he could be reached by email at albernstein@washingtonpost.com.
...The caller first referred to himself as “Bernie” and then later gave his name as “Al.” There are no Washington Post reporters or editors named Bernie Bernstein or Al Bernstein.
(The pastor)...sent an email to the address left in the voice mail, and it bounced back...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/politics/wp/2017/11/14/alabama-pastor-says-m...
________________________________________________________________
Breitbart aims to discredit Roy Moore's accusers
Jonathan Swan | Nov 12, 2017
Steve Bannon has sent two of Breitbart News' top reporters, Matt Boyle and Aaron Klein, to Alabama. Their mission: to discredit the Washington Post's reporting on Roy Moore's alleged sexual misconduct with teenagers...
https://www.axios.com/breitbart-aims-to-discredit-moores-accusers-2508913180.htm...
66margd
When Trump accuses someone of misdeeds, he is covering his own bad behavior, e.g., Clinton foundation.
Trump golf course reimbursed President Trump’s charity amid ongoing investigation into the foundation
David A. Fahrenthold | November 20, 2017
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-golf-course-reimbursed-president-t...
Trump golf course reimbursed President Trump’s charity amid ongoing investigation into the foundation
David A. Fahrenthold | November 20, 2017
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-golf-course-reimbursed-president-t...
67barney67
>66 margd: It wasn't always like this. People used to debate.
Large Marge, who is Canadian, took over this forum recently because of her obsession with our president. Tim Spalding lets her get away with it, though he has stopped others when they tried to do the same thing.
Large Marge, who is Canadian, took over this forum recently because of her obsession with our president. Tim Spalding lets her get away with it, though he has stopped others when they tried to do the same thing.
68margd
Seven reasons to be suspicious of the DOJ lawsuit to stop AT&T from buying CNN
James Hohmann | November 21, 2017
...President Trump and his political appointees at the Justice Department insist that the federal government’s lawsuit Monday to block AT&T from acquiring Time Warner is not retribution for CNN’s coverage of the White House. But there are good reasons to be dubious of their denials.
...here are seven reasons to be suspicious of the administration’s motives:
1. In every other area, the Trump administration is bending over backward to boost big business...
2. The head of the antitrust division has changed his view on the issue to match the president’s...
3. The administration’s denials are full of lawyerly language that leaves wiggle room...
4. Trump has repeatedly demonstrated that he does not respect the independence of the Justice Department...
5. There are no precedents for this kind of lawsuit succeeding...
6. The president has made no secret of his deep personal disdain for CNN...
7. White House officials have previously hinted that Trump might wade into the antitrust process...
-- The editorial boards of several newspapers are expressing alarm about the motives behind the suit...
-- The former chief White House ethics lawyer under George W. Bush ...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/paloma/daily-202/2017/11/21/daily-...
James Hohmann | November 21, 2017
...President Trump and his political appointees at the Justice Department insist that the federal government’s lawsuit Monday to block AT&T from acquiring Time Warner is not retribution for CNN’s coverage of the White House. But there are good reasons to be dubious of their denials.
...here are seven reasons to be suspicious of the administration’s motives:
1. In every other area, the Trump administration is bending over backward to boost big business...
2. The head of the antitrust division has changed his view on the issue to match the president’s...
3. The administration’s denials are full of lawyerly language that leaves wiggle room...
4. Trump has repeatedly demonstrated that he does not respect the independence of the Justice Department...
5. There are no precedents for this kind of lawsuit succeeding...
6. The president has made no secret of his deep personal disdain for CNN...
7. White House officials have previously hinted that Trump might wade into the antitrust process...
-- The editorial boards of several newspapers are expressing alarm about the motives behind the suit...
-- The former chief White House ethics lawyer under George W. Bush ...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/paloma/daily-202/2017/11/21/daily-...
69margd
28 contd. The end of net neutrality looms?
What happens once ‘net neutrality’ rules bite the dust?
Tali Arbel | AP November 22 | 2017
NEW YORK — The Federal Communications Commission formally released a draft of its plan to kill net-neutrality rules, which equalized access to the internet and prevented broadband providers from favoring their own apps and services.
...allow companies like Comcast, AT&T and Verizon to charge internet companies for speedier access to consumers and to block outside services they don’t like. The change also axes a host of consumer protections, including privacy requirements and rules barring unfair practices that gave consumers an avenue to pursue complaints about price gouging.
...(Federal Communication Commission Commissioner Ajit Pai)’s proposals stand a good chance of enactment at the next FCC meeting in December.
...lawsuits
...pre-empt state rules.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/what-happens-once-net-neutrality-rules-b...
What happens once ‘net neutrality’ rules bite the dust?
Tali Arbel | AP November 22 | 2017
NEW YORK — The Federal Communications Commission formally released a draft of its plan to kill net-neutrality rules, which equalized access to the internet and prevented broadband providers from favoring their own apps and services.
...allow companies like Comcast, AT&T and Verizon to charge internet companies for speedier access to consumers and to block outside services they don’t like. The change also axes a host of consumer protections, including privacy requirements and rules barring unfair practices that gave consumers an avenue to pursue complaints about price gouging.
...(Federal Communication Commission Commissioner Ajit Pai)’s proposals stand a good chance of enactment at the next FCC meeting in December.
...lawsuits
...pre-empt state rules.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/what-happens-once-net-neutrality-rules-b...
70margd
Brr--ICE proposes "Visa Lifecycle Vetting" (aka "extreme vetting"). Any chance THAT will be misused, yuh think?
Extreme Digital Vetting of Visitors to the U.S. Moves Forward Under a New Name
ICE officials have invited tech companies, including Microsoft, to develop algorithms that will track visa holders’ social media activity.
George Joseph | Nov. 22, 2017
The Department of Immigration & Customs Enforcement is taking new steps in its plans for monitoring the social media accounts of applicants and holders of U.S. visas. At a tech industry conference last Thursday in Arlington, Virginia, ICE officials explained to software providers what they are seeking: algorithms that would assess potential threats posed by visa holders in the United States and conduct ongoing social media surveillance of those deemed high risk...
https://www.propublica.org/article/extreme-digital-vetting-of-visitors-to-the-u-...
Extreme Digital Vetting of Visitors to the U.S. Moves Forward Under a New Name
ICE officials have invited tech companies, including Microsoft, to develop algorithms that will track visa holders’ social media activity.
George Joseph | Nov. 22, 2017
The Department of Immigration & Customs Enforcement is taking new steps in its plans for monitoring the social media accounts of applicants and holders of U.S. visas. At a tech industry conference last Thursday in Arlington, Virginia, ICE officials explained to software providers what they are seeking: algorithms that would assess potential threats posed by visa holders in the United States and conduct ongoing social media surveillance of those deemed high risk...
https://www.propublica.org/article/extreme-digital-vetting-of-visitors-to-the-u-...
71margd
28, 72 contd. Corruption of FCC's public consultation on net neutrality? You can check to see if you were impersonated: https://www.comcastroturf.com/
Investigation of fake net neutrality foes has been stymied by the FCC, New York attorney general says
Eli Rosenberg | November 22, 2017
...A large number of messages lambasting the Obama-era regulation began appearing on the FCC's public forum with the same text. While it is not unusual for commenters to use form letters provided by activist groups, people began complaining they hadn't submitted the comments that carried their names and identifying information.
...New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman started to investigate...FCC declined to cooperate...rebuffing requests for logs and other records associated with the comments.
...While it is normal for activist groups to create petitions to allow people to easily endorse generic statements on government forums, people began finding their own names or those of relatives that were deceased on comments they hadn't endorsed...A couple dozen people signed a letter saying their names and addresses were used to submit fake comments without their permission; others have come out in news reports saying their names were wrongfully used. Fight for the Future set up a site (https://www.comcastroturf.com/) to help people easily search for their name in the FCC's comments...
Washington Post
___________________________________________
ETA
Official Medium account of New York State Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman.
Nov 21, 2017
An Open Letter to the FCC:...
https://medium.com/@AGSchneiderman/an-open-letter-to-the-fcc-b867a763850a
Investigation of fake net neutrality foes has been stymied by the FCC, New York attorney general says
Eli Rosenberg | November 22, 2017
...A large number of messages lambasting the Obama-era regulation began appearing on the FCC's public forum with the same text. While it is not unusual for commenters to use form letters provided by activist groups, people began complaining they hadn't submitted the comments that carried their names and identifying information.
...New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman started to investigate...FCC declined to cooperate...rebuffing requests for logs and other records associated with the comments.
...While it is normal for activist groups to create petitions to allow people to easily endorse generic statements on government forums, people began finding their own names or those of relatives that were deceased on comments they hadn't endorsed...A couple dozen people signed a letter saying their names and addresses were used to submit fake comments without their permission; others have come out in news reports saying their names were wrongfully used. Fight for the Future set up a site (https://www.comcastroturf.com/) to help people easily search for their name in the FCC's comments...
Washington Post
___________________________________________
ETA
Official Medium account of New York State Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman.
Nov 21, 2017
An Open Letter to the FCC:...
https://medium.com/@AGSchneiderman/an-open-letter-to-the-fcc-b867a763850a
72margd
Transcript of free-association Tweeter-in-Chief, unbound:
Here's What Trump Told The Coast Guard When He Visited Them On Thanksgiving
Tom Namako | November 23, 2017
"I said, how good is this plane? They said, well, sir, you can't see it. I said but in a fight. You know, in a fight, like I watch on the movies."...
https://www.buzzfeed.com/tomnamako/trump-coast-guard-thanksgiving
Here's What Trump Told The Coast Guard When He Visited Them On Thanksgiving
Tom Namako | November 23, 2017
"I said, how good is this plane? They said, well, sir, you can't see it. I said but in a fight. You know, in a fight, like I watch on the movies."...
https://www.buzzfeed.com/tomnamako/trump-coast-guard-thanksgiving
73barney67
Trump has 43.2 million Twitter followers. The New York Times has 3.1 million subscribers.
74margd
74 contd (corruption of public consultation on net neutrality)
More than a Million Pro-Repeal Net Neutrality Comments were Likely Faked
Jeff Kao | Nov 23, 2017
I used natural language processing techniques to analyze net neutrality comments submitted to the FCC from April-October 2017, and the results were disturbing.
...Key Findings:
One pro-repeal spam campaign used mail-merge to disguise 1.3 million comments as unique grassroots submissions.
There were likely multiple other campaigns aimed at injecting what may total several million pro-repeal comments into the system.
It’s highly likely that more than 99% of the truly unique comments were in favor of keeping net neutrality...
https://hackernoon.com/more-than-a-million-pro-repeal-net-neutrality-comments-we...
More than a Million Pro-Repeal Net Neutrality Comments were Likely Faked
Jeff Kao | Nov 23, 2017
I used natural language processing techniques to analyze net neutrality comments submitted to the FCC from April-October 2017, and the results were disturbing.
...Key Findings:
One pro-repeal spam campaign used mail-merge to disguise 1.3 million comments as unique grassroots submissions.
There were likely multiple other campaigns aimed at injecting what may total several million pro-repeal comments into the system.
It’s highly likely that more than 99% of the truly unique comments were in favor of keeping net neutrality...
https://hackernoon.com/more-than-a-million-pro-repeal-net-neutrality-comments-we...
75margd
Retired general launches remarkable attack on Donald Trump: 'I have wasted 40 years of my life'
Harriet Agerholm | 28 November 2017
...Donald Trump's attacks on broadcaster CNN are an "an outrageous assault" on freedom of speech, according to former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) director Michael Hayden...also a former director of the National Security Agency (NSA)...
Gen Michael Hayden @GenMhayden
Replying to @jmclaughlinSAIS
If this is who we are or who we are becoming, I have wasted 40 years of my life. Until now it was not possible for me to conceive of an American President capable of such an outrageous assault on truth, a free press or the first amendment.
8:32 PM - 25 Nov 2017
Earlier this year, (Gen Hayden) condemned Mr Trump's comments about NFL players, who protested racism by kneeling during the national anthem...: "As a 39-year military veteran, I think I know something about the flag, the anthem, patriotism, and I think I know why we fight. It’s not to allow the president to divide us by wrapping himself in the national banner."
...Minutes after Mr Trump attacked CNN, former FBI director James Comey (tweeted)....Alongside a picture of the Capitol building, the home of the US Congress, (James Comey) shared (Thomas Jefferson's) words: "Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press, and that cannot be limited without being lost."
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/donald-trump-cia-di...
Harriet Agerholm | 28 November 2017
...Donald Trump's attacks on broadcaster CNN are an "an outrageous assault" on freedom of speech, according to former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) director Michael Hayden...also a former director of the National Security Agency (NSA)...
Gen Michael Hayden @GenMhayden
Replying to @jmclaughlinSAIS
If this is who we are or who we are becoming, I have wasted 40 years of my life. Until now it was not possible for me to conceive of an American President capable of such an outrageous assault on truth, a free press or the first amendment.
8:32 PM - 25 Nov 2017
Earlier this year, (Gen Hayden) condemned Mr Trump's comments about NFL players, who protested racism by kneeling during the national anthem...: "As a 39-year military veteran, I think I know something about the flag, the anthem, patriotism, and I think I know why we fight. It’s not to allow the president to divide us by wrapping himself in the national banner."
...Minutes after Mr Trump attacked CNN, former FBI director James Comey (tweeted)....Alongside a picture of the Capitol building, the home of the US Congress, (James Comey) shared (Thomas Jefferson's) words: "Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press, and that cannot be limited without being lost."
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/donald-trump-cia-di...
76davidgn
Irrespective of their content and the extent to which I may or may not agree with certain of them, I hold little esteem for Gen. Hayden's expressed opinions on political matters.
It's not the best writing, but here's a reasonable capsule history describing one major reason for this.
https://consortiumnews.com/2017/11/28/the-struggles-of-a-good-american/
It's not the best writing, but here's a reasonable capsule history describing one major reason for this.
https://consortiumnews.com/2017/11/28/the-struggles-of-a-good-american/
77margd
...that is the fate of people who sacrifice their careers for just causes. They eventually lose their reputations...
78margd
Consumer Reports on FCC proposal to end net neutrality:
Here's the FCC Plan to Undo Net Neutrality
James K. Willcox | November 22, 2017
If approved next month, internet providers will gain more power over what you see and do online...
...in a debate where there's been little consensus, there does seem to be some agreement about the best option for finally settling net neutrality protections: legislation...
https://www.consumerreports.org/net-neutrality/here-s-the-fcc-plan-to-undo-net-n...
Here's the FCC Plan to Undo Net Neutrality
James K. Willcox | November 22, 2017
If approved next month, internet providers will gain more power over what you see and do online...
...in a debate where there's been little consensus, there does seem to be some agreement about the best option for finally settling net neutrality protections: legislation...
https://www.consumerreports.org/net-neutrality/here-s-the-fcc-plan-to-undo-net-n...
79margd
74 contd. NY Attorney General asks public's help with net-neutrality investigation:
The @FCC is refusing to help my office conduct a serious investigation into the flood of fraudulent comments submitted during the FCC’s #netneutrality process.
So we’re asking for your help. Please RT:
http://ag.ny.gov/fakecomments
--Eric Schneiderman | Nov 29, 2017
The @FCC is refusing to help my office conduct a serious investigation into the flood of fraudulent comments submitted during the FCC’s #netneutrality process.
So we’re asking for your help. Please RT:
http://ag.ny.gov/fakecomments
--Eric Schneiderman | Nov 29, 2017
80margd
Yikes! Trump criticizes courts, FBI, CIA, but surely this is a bridge too far--even for him!
Trump White House Weighing Plans for Private Spies to Counter “Deep State” Enemies
Matthew Cole, Jeremy Scahill | December 4 2017
The Trump administration is considering a set of proposals developed by Blackwater founder Erik Prince and a retired CIA officer — with assistance from Oliver North, a key figure in the Iran-Contra scandal — to provide CIA Director Mike Pompeo and the White House with a global, private spy network that would circumvent official U.S. intelligence agencies, according to several current and former U.S. intelligence officials and others familiar with the proposals. The sources say the plans have been pitched to the White House as a means of countering “deep state” enemies in the intelligence community seeking to undermine Trump’s presidency.
The creation of such a program raises the possibility that the effort would be used to create an intelligence apparatus to justify the Trump administration’s political agenda.
“Pompeo can’t trust the CIA bureaucracy, so we need to create this thing that reports just directly to him,” said a former senior U.S. intelligence official with firsthand knowledge of the proposals, in describing White House discussions. “It is a direct-action arm, totally off the books,” this person said, meaning the intelligence collected would not be shared with the rest of the CIA or the larger intelligence community. “The whole point is this is supposed to report to the president and Pompeo directly.”...
https://theintercept.com/2017/12/04/trump-white-house-weighing-plans-for-private...
Trump White House Weighing Plans for Private Spies to Counter “Deep State” Enemies
Matthew Cole, Jeremy Scahill | December 4 2017
The Trump administration is considering a set of proposals developed by Blackwater founder Erik Prince and a retired CIA officer — with assistance from Oliver North, a key figure in the Iran-Contra scandal — to provide CIA Director Mike Pompeo and the White House with a global, private spy network that would circumvent official U.S. intelligence agencies, according to several current and former U.S. intelligence officials and others familiar with the proposals. The sources say the plans have been pitched to the White House as a means of countering “deep state” enemies in the intelligence community seeking to undermine Trump’s presidency.
The creation of such a program raises the possibility that the effort would be used to create an intelligence apparatus to justify the Trump administration’s political agenda.
“Pompeo can’t trust the CIA bureaucracy, so we need to create this thing that reports just directly to him,” said a former senior U.S. intelligence official with firsthand knowledge of the proposals, in describing White House discussions. “It is a direct-action arm, totally off the books,” this person said, meaning the intelligence collected would not be shared with the rest of the CIA or the larger intelligence community. “The whole point is this is supposed to report to the president and Pompeo directly.”...
https://theintercept.com/2017/12/04/trump-white-house-weighing-plans-for-private...
81margd
74 82 net neutrality public consultation, contd. I feel so foolish: I thought public consultation on proposed regulations etc was a sacred process...
50,000 net neutrality complaints were excluded from FCC’s repeal docket
Jon Brodkin - 12/5/2017
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2017/12/fcc-refused-to-include-50000-net-neu...
50,000 net neutrality complaints were excluded from FCC’s repeal docket
Jon Brodkin - 12/5/2017
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2017/12/fcc-refused-to-include-50000-net-neu...
82margd
In some ways, Trump's utterances are telling in that he's usually guilty himself of that, which he accuses others?
I study liars. I’ve never seen one like President Trump.
He tells far more lies, and far more cruel ones, than ordinary people do.
Bella DePaulo | December 8, 2017
...Trump’s...false or misleading claims or flip-flops...about six (false or misleading claims or flip-flops) per day, far higher than the average rate in our studies...Starting in early October....Trump told a remarkable nine lies a day
About half the lies the (study) participants told were self-serving...compared with about a quarter that were kind ... Other lies did not fit either category; they included, for instance, lies told to entertain or to keep conversations running smoothly.
One category of lies was so small that...we just tucked them into a footnote...cruel lies, told to hurt or disparage others.
...Nearly two-thirds of Trump’s lies (65 percent) were self-serving...Slightly less than 10 percent of Trump’s lies were kind ones, told to advantage, flatter or protect someone else...An astonishing 50 percent of Trump’s lies were hurtful or disparaging...The Trump lies that could not be coded into just one category were typically told both to belittle others and enhance himself.
...fewer than 40 percent of American voters...see the president as honest...truly remarkable. Most humans, most of the time, believe other people.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/i-study-liars-ive-never-seen-one-like-pre...
I study liars. I’ve never seen one like President Trump.
He tells far more lies, and far more cruel ones, than ordinary people do.
Bella DePaulo | December 8, 2017
...Trump’s...false or misleading claims or flip-flops...about six (false or misleading claims or flip-flops) per day, far higher than the average rate in our studies...Starting in early October....Trump told a remarkable nine lies a day
About half the lies the (study) participants told were self-serving...compared with about a quarter that were kind ... Other lies did not fit either category; they included, for instance, lies told to entertain or to keep conversations running smoothly.
One category of lies was so small that...we just tucked them into a footnote...cruel lies, told to hurt or disparage others.
...Nearly two-thirds of Trump’s lies (65 percent) were self-serving...Slightly less than 10 percent of Trump’s lies were kind ones, told to advantage, flatter or protect someone else...An astonishing 50 percent of Trump’s lies were hurtful or disparaging...The Trump lies that could not be coded into just one category were typically told both to belittle others and enhance himself.
...fewer than 40 percent of American voters...see the president as honest...truly remarkable. Most humans, most of the time, believe other people.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/i-study-liars-ive-never-seen-one-like-pre...
83davidgn
I rather like this CJ Hopkins fellow. He's on LT, so maybe he'll even deign to drop in on us some time.
https://consentfactory.org/2017/11/03/whos-afraid-of-corporate-cointelpro/
https://consentfactory.org/2017/11/03/whos-afraid-of-corporate-cointelpro/
Who’s Afraid of Corporate COINTELPRO?
On November 30, 2016, presumably right at the stroke of midnight, Google Inc. unpersoned CounterPunch. They didn’t send out a press release or anything. They just quietly removed it from the Google News aggregator. Not very many people noticed. This happened just as the “fake news” hysteria was being unleashed by the corporate media, right around the time The Washington Post ran this neo-McCarthyite smear piece vicariously accusing CounterPunch, and a number of other publications, of being “peddlers of Russian propaganda.” As I’m sure you’ll recall, that astounding piece of “journalism” (which The Post was promptly forced to disavow with an absurd disclaimer but has refused to retract) was based on the claims of an anonymous website apparently staffed by a couple of teenagers and a formerly rabidly anti-Communist, now rabidly anti-Putin think tank. Little did most people know at the time that these were just the opening salvos in what has turned out to be an all-out crackdown on any and all forms of vocal opposition to the global corporate ruling classes and their attempts to quash the ongoing nationalist backlash against their neoliberal agenda.
Almost a year later, things are much clearer. If you haven’t been following this story closely, and you care at all about freedom of the press, freedom of speech, and that kind of stuff, you may want to take an hour or two and catch up a bit on what’s been happening. I offered a few examples of some of the measures governments and corporations have been taking to stifle expressions of dissent in my latest piece in CounterPunch, and there are many more detailed articles online, like this one by Andre Damon from July, and this follow-up he published last week (which reports that Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author Chris Hedges has also been unpersoned). Or, if you’re the type of soul who only believes what corporations tell you, and who automatically dismisses anything published by a Trotskyist website, here’s one from last December in The Guardian, and this piece by Robert Parry, who also has “legitimate” (i.e., corporate) credentials, and who hasn’t been unpersoned just yet, although I’m sure they’ll get around to him eventually.
I am using the Orwellian verb “unperson” playfully, but I’m also trying to be precise. What’s happening isn’t censorship, technically, at least not in the majority of cases. While there are examples of classic censorship (e.g., in the UK, France, and Germany), apart from so-called “terrorist content,” most governments aren’t formally banning expressions of anti-corporatist dissent. This isn’t Czechoslovakia, after all. This is global capitalism, where the repression of dissent is a little more subtle. The point of Google unpersoning CounterPunch (and probably many other publications) and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists like Hedges is not to prevent them from publishing their work or otherwise render them invisible to readers. The goal is to delegitmize them, and thus decrease traffic to their websites and articles, and ultimately drive them out of business, if possible.
Another objective of this non-censorship censorship is discouraging writers like myself from contributing to publications like CounterPunch, Truthdig, Alternet, Global Research, and any other publications the corporatocracy deems “illegitimate.” Google unpersoning a writer like Hedges is a message to other non-ball-playing writers. The message is, “this could happen to you.” This message is meant for other journalists, primarily, but it’s also aimed at writers like myself who are making a living (to whatever degree) writing and selling what we think of as “literature.”
Yes, as you’ve probably guessed by now, in addition to writing political satire, I am, as rogue journalist Caitlin Johnstone so aptly put it once, an “elitist wanker.” I’ve spent the majority of my adult life writing stage plays and working in the theater, and it doesn’t get any more elitist than that. My plays are published by “establishment” publishers, have won a few awards, and have been produced internationally. I recently published my “debut novel” (which is what you call it if you’re an elitist wanker) and am currently trying to promote and sell it. I mention this, not to blow my little horn, but to the set the stage to try to illustrate how these post-Orwellian intimidation tactics (i.e., unpersoning people from the Internet) work. These tactics do not just suppress information. They enforce conformity at much deeper level.
The depressing fact of the matter is, in our brave new Internet-dominated world, corporations like Google, Twitter, and Facebook (not to mention Amazon), are, for elitist wankers like me, in the immortal words of Colonel Kurz, “either friends or they are truly enemies to be feared.” If you are in the elitist wanker business, regardless of whether you’re Jonathan Franzen, Garth Risk Hallberg, Margaret Atwood, or some “mid-list” or “emerging” author, there is no getting around these corporations. So it’s kind of foolish, professionally speaking, to write a bunch of essays that will piss them off, and then publish these essays in CounterPunch. Literary agents advise against this. Other elitist literary wankers, once they discover what you’ve been doing, will avoid you like the bubonic plague. Although it’s perfectly fine to write books and movies about fictional evil corporations, writing about how real corporations are using their power to mold societies into self-policing virtual prisons of politically-correct, authoritarian consumers is … well, it’s something that is just not done in professional elitist wanker circles.
Normally, all this goes without saying, as these days most elitist wankers are trained how to write, and read, and think, in MFA conformity factories, where they screen out any unstable weirdos with unhealthy interests in political matters. This is to avoid embarrassing episodes like Harold Pinter’s Nobel Prize lecture (which, if you haven’t read it, you probably should), and is why so much of contemporary literature is so well-behaved and instantly forgettable. This institutionalized screening system is also why the majority of journalists employed by mainstream media outlets understand, without having to be told, what they are, and are not, allowed to report. Chomsky explains how this system operates in What Makes Mainstream Media Mainstream. It isn’t a question of censorship … the system operates on rewards and punishments, financial and emotional coercion, and subtler forms of intimidation. Making examples of non-cooperators is a particularly effective tactic. Ask any one of the countless women whose careers have been destroyed by Harvey Weinstein, or anyone who’s been to graduate school, or worked at a major corporation.
Or let me provide you with a personal example....
84margd
#85 contd. The generator of a constant stream of "fake news" pounces on CNN, which corrects its (2nd) mistake and apologizes--something we've never seen the unparalleled lying liar do--correct and apologize, without resurrecting the lie at a later date, e.g. Obama birth certificate.
CNN armed Trump with new ammunition.
Sure enough, he launched another ‘fake news’ attack
Callum Borchers | December 8, 2017
...CNN reported...that Donald Trump Jr. received an email on Sept. 4, 2016, that granted special access to WikiLeaks documents.
...the message was actually dated Sept. 14, 2016...
The date matters. CNN’s report indicated that the Trump campaign had been fed hacked email files belonging to the Democratic National Committee and former secretary of state Colin Powell more than a week before the files were released publicly...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/12/08/cnn-just-armed-trump-w...
CNN armed Trump with new ammunition.
Sure enough, he launched another ‘fake news’ attack
Callum Borchers | December 8, 2017
...CNN reported...that Donald Trump Jr. received an email on Sept. 4, 2016, that granted special access to WikiLeaks documents.
...the message was actually dated Sept. 14, 2016...
The date matters. CNN’s report indicated that the Trump campaign had been fed hacked email files belonging to the Democratic National Committee and former secretary of state Colin Powell more than a week before the files were released publicly...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/12/08/cnn-just-armed-trump-w...
85margd
Trump, who never apologizes or corrects himself--or so rarely that I don't recall instance--calls for firing of WaPO reporter who tweeted mistakenly--and withdrew the tweet when he realized error. Democrat asks when Trump is going to fire "John Kelly (who claimed) that Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-Fla.) had taken credit for funding a FBI building, despite a video showing that Wilson hadn’t taken credit for the funds."
http://thehill.com/homenews/house/364133-dem-lawmaker-fires-back-at-trump-you-di...
__________________________________
Meanwhile Secretary of Interior attacks Patagonia for its support of Bears Ears National Monument: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-12-05/zinke-escalates-spat-with-pat...
A former director of the US Office of Government Ethics, says Zincke misused his official position in doing so and may not be immune from any Patagonia lawsuit:
Secretary of Interior Zinke has misused his official position by retweeting this wildly inappropriate tweet calling an American company a liar without any due process in an effort to coerce the company and its employees into ceasing the lawful exercise of a First Amendment right.
... (contd) Zinke is the poster child for this lawless administration’s misuse of governmental authority & resources. His thuggish interference with a business is outside the scope of his duties, raising a question as to whether a sovereign immunity defense might fail if @patagonia sues.
Walter Shaub (former director, US Govt of Ethics) | Dec 9, 2017
http://thehill.com/homenews/house/364133-dem-lawmaker-fires-back-at-trump-you-di...
__________________________________
Meanwhile Secretary of Interior attacks Patagonia for its support of Bears Ears National Monument: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-12-05/zinke-escalates-spat-with-pat...
A former director of the US Office of Government Ethics, says Zincke misused his official position in doing so and may not be immune from any Patagonia lawsuit:
Secretary of Interior Zinke has misused his official position by retweeting this wildly inappropriate tweet calling an American company a liar without any due process in an effort to coerce the company and its employees into ceasing the lawful exercise of a First Amendment right.
... (contd) Zinke is the poster child for this lawless administration’s misuse of governmental authority & resources. His thuggish interference with a business is outside the scope of his duties, raising a question as to whether a sovereign immunity defense might fail if @patagonia sues.
Walter Shaub (former director, US Govt of Ethics) | Dec 9, 2017
86RickHarsch
>86 RickHarsch: interesting post
87margd
At least Fox News corrected its error on moore signing yearbook, but Breitbart has not. Fake news? Someone should be fired?
Fox News issues correction on Roy Moore accuser yearbook ‘forgery’ headline
Joe Concha | 12/08/17
...Fox News..."An update to this story reflects that Beverly Young Nelson admits writing what ABC News characterized as 'notes' beneath what she says is Roy Moore’s signature, and that the only notes below the signature are the date and location.
"Furthermore, the headline on the story now specifies that Nelson admits to writing part of the inscription herself, rather than forging part of it."
Breitbart News also called the additions a forgery but has not updated its lead story...
http://thehill.com/homenews/media/363990-fox-news-issues-correction-on-roy-moore...
Fox News issues correction on Roy Moore accuser yearbook ‘forgery’ headline
Joe Concha | 12/08/17
...Fox News..."An update to this story reflects that Beverly Young Nelson admits writing what ABC News characterized as 'notes' beneath what she says is Roy Moore’s signature, and that the only notes below the signature are the date and location.
"Furthermore, the headline on the story now specifies that Nelson admits to writing part of the inscription herself, rather than forging part of it."
Breitbart News also called the additions a forgery but has not updated its lead story...
http://thehill.com/homenews/media/363990-fox-news-issues-correction-on-roy-moore...
88margd
Fabricator-in-Chief continues his attacks on the 1st Amendment:
Very little discussion of all the purposely false and defamatory stories put out this week by the Fake News Media. They are out of control - correct reporting means nothing to them. Major lies written, then forced to be withdrawn after they are exposed...a stain on America!
Donald J. Trump - Dec 10, 2017
Very little discussion of all the purposely false and defamatory stories put out this week by the Fake News Media. They are out of control - correct reporting means nothing to them. Major lies written, then forced to be withdrawn after they are exposed...a stain on America!
Donald J. Trump - Dec 10, 2017
892wonderY
By renaming new Utah monument is Trump trying to divide Native American tribes?
Zinke claims the renaming was done at the request of local Navahos. The tribal officers and a grass-roots group say they were not consulted.
Zinke claims the renaming was done at the request of local Navahos. The tribal officers and a grass-roots group say they were not consulted.
90davidgn
12/14/2017: The day the Internet died.
RIP Internet as we knew it. (For now, at least)
https://twitter.com/TheAnonJournal/status/941370244584689664
Dissents:
https://gizmodo.com/read-the-dissenting-opinion-of-the-fcc-commissioner-try-1821...
Reporting:
https://www.theverge.com/2017/12/14/16776154/fcc-net-neutrality-vote-results-rul...
RIP Internet as we knew it. (For now, at least)
https://twitter.com/TheAnonJournal/status/941370244584689664
Dissents:
https://gizmodo.com/read-the-dissenting-opinion-of-the-fcc-commissioner-try-1821...
Reporting:
https://www.theverge.com/2017/12/14/16776154/fcc-net-neutrality-vote-results-rul...
92davidgn
Now, only Congress can fix this.
https://github.com/save-net-neutrality
Keep in mind: the corporatist bastards will probably try to spam Congress like they spammed the FCC.
https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/wjzjv9/net-neutrality-fraud-ny-attorn...
(Of course, those who prefer more politically-correct attribution of the activity of unattributable internet bots are free to blame Putin! Because clearly this is an attempt to despoil the sanctity of our domestic regulatory processes and sow discontent by causing people to distrust the integrity of the democratic process of public comment on proposed FCC regulatory policy. Or something.)
In any case, more people contacting more Congresscritters is better.
Next steps:
https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/qvz3vd/the-fcc-just-killed-net-neutra...
https://github.com/save-net-neutrality
Keep in mind: the corporatist bastards will probably try to spam Congress like they spammed the FCC.
https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/wjzjv9/net-neutrality-fraud-ny-attorn...
(Of course, those who prefer more politically-correct attribution of the activity of unattributable internet bots are free to blame Putin! Because clearly this is an attempt to despoil the sanctity of our domestic regulatory processes and sow discontent by causing people to distrust the integrity of the democratic process of public comment on proposed FCC regulatory policy. Or something.)
In any case, more people contacting more Congresscritters is better.
Next steps:
https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/qvz3vd/the-fcc-just-killed-net-neutra...
93margd
FOIA Request for Pruitt Climate Science Denial Deemed Illegitimate by EPA, DOJ
Sam Knight | December 12, 2017 by
The Trump administration is refusing to even respond to a public information request on climate science, accusing a public non-profit of trying to trigger an “endless fishing expedition.”...
https://www.districtsentinel.com/foia-request-pruitt-climate-science-denial-deem...
Sam Knight | December 12, 2017 by
The Trump administration is refusing to even respond to a public information request on climate science, accusing a public non-profit of trying to trigger an “endless fishing expedition.”...
https://www.districtsentinel.com/foia-request-pruitt-climate-science-denial-deem...
94margd
CDC gets list of forbidden words: fetus, transgender, diversity
Lena H. Sun and Juliet Eilperin | December 15, 2017
The Trump administration is prohibiting officials at the nation’s top public health agency from using a list of seven words or phrases...in any official documents being prepared for next year’s budget.
...The forbidden words are “vulnerable,” “entitlement,” “diversity,” “transgender,” “fetus,” “evidence-based” and “science-based.”...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/cdc-gets-list-of-forbidde...
___________________________________
Gun research was already banned...
Lena H. Sun and Juliet Eilperin | December 15, 2017
The Trump administration is prohibiting officials at the nation’s top public health agency from using a list of seven words or phrases...in any official documents being prepared for next year’s budget.
...The forbidden words are “vulnerable,” “entitlement,” “diversity,” “transgender,” “fetus,” “evidence-based” and “science-based.”...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/cdc-gets-list-of-forbidde...
___________________________________
Gun research was already banned...
95southernbooklady
>97 margd: Seriously? Good luck telling a bunch of scientists not to use the phrase "evidence-based."
96margd
>98 margd: The suggested alternative (!!!!)
"Instead of “science-based” or “evidence-based,” the suggested phrase is “CDC bases its recommendations on science in consideration with community standards and wishes”
"Instead of “science-based” or “evidence-based,” the suggested phrase is “CDC bases its recommendations on science in consideration with community standards and wishes”
97margd
White House temporarily removes petition tool
Zeke Miller | Dec 18, 2017
WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House is temporarily removing a petition tool from its website after 11 months of silence, promising to respond to public concerns next year.
The Trump administration said the platform, used extensively by critics and less frequently by allies, will be removed at midnight Tuesday and return in late January as a new site...
https://apnews.com/5e95880b6f39476597ff930e2b70d4b6
Zeke Miller | Dec 18, 2017
WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House is temporarily removing a petition tool from its website after 11 months of silence, promising to respond to public concerns next year.
The Trump administration said the platform, used extensively by critics and less frequently by allies, will be removed at midnight Tuesday and return in late January as a new site...
https://apnews.com/5e95880b6f39476597ff930e2b70d4b6
98margd
Why People Are So Averse to Facts
Tristan Bridges, PhD | February 27, 2017
...Brendan Nyhan and Jason Reifler (2010) conducted a series of experiments. They had groups of participants read newspaper articles that included statements from politicians that supported some widespread piece of misinformation. Some of the participants read articles that included corrective information that immediately followed the inaccurate statement from the political figure, while others did not read articles containing corrective information at all.
Afterward, they were asked a series of questions about the article and their personal opinions about the issue. Nyhan and Reifler found that how people responded to the factual corrections in the articles they read varied systematically by how ideologically committed they already were to the beliefs that such facts supported. Among those who believed the popular misinformation in the first place, more information and actual facts challenging those beliefs did not cause a change of opinion—in fact, it often had the effect of strengthening those ideologically grounded beliefs.
...How are we to correct misinformation if the very act of informing some people causes them to redouble their dedication to believing things that are not true?
https://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2017/02/27/why-the-american-public-seems-a...
_________________________________________________________
Trump supporters know Trump lies, don't care. (Makes sense: emotion trumps logic, so to speak.)
R critiques of him more potent than non-Rs'. (Makes sense--source.)
Walking Back the Backfire Effect (10 min)
WNYC On the Media | Jul 21, 2017
https://www.wnyc.org/story/walking-back-backfire-effect?tab=transcript
Tristan Bridges, PhD | February 27, 2017
...Brendan Nyhan and Jason Reifler (2010) conducted a series of experiments. They had groups of participants read newspaper articles that included statements from politicians that supported some widespread piece of misinformation. Some of the participants read articles that included corrective information that immediately followed the inaccurate statement from the political figure, while others did not read articles containing corrective information at all.
Afterward, they were asked a series of questions about the article and their personal opinions about the issue. Nyhan and Reifler found that how people responded to the factual corrections in the articles they read varied systematically by how ideologically committed they already were to the beliefs that such facts supported. Among those who believed the popular misinformation in the first place, more information and actual facts challenging those beliefs did not cause a change of opinion—in fact, it often had the effect of strengthening those ideologically grounded beliefs.
...How are we to correct misinformation if the very act of informing some people causes them to redouble their dedication to believing things that are not true?
https://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2017/02/27/why-the-american-public-seems-a...
_________________________________________________________
Trump supporters know Trump lies, don't care. (Makes sense: emotion trumps logic, so to speak.)
R critiques of him more potent than non-Rs'. (Makes sense--source.)
Walking Back the Backfire Effect (10 min)
WNYC On the Media | Jul 21, 2017
https://www.wnyc.org/story/walking-back-backfire-effect?tab=transcript
99margd
Russian trolls went on attack during key election moments
Ben Popken | Dec 20, 2017
...Twitter has identified 2,752 accounts as being linked to the Kremlin.
...(NBC) generated a database of 202,973 tweets sent by known Russian trolls.
...Those tweets from accounts impersonating real Americans earned 2.1 million retweets and nearly 1.9 million favorites from their duped followers.
...Russian twitter troll volume increased significantly on July 21, two days after Trump became the official Republican nominee, and continued at the same intensity or higher for the rest of the year.
Throughout 2016, the trolls' tweets and retweets spiked during key campaign events.
The trolls manipulated major events, even horrifying ones, to spread their messages....
...(Brussels) surge of tweets sought to "demonize Muslims, migrants, refugees and anyone who supports them, and to panic real Americans into increasingly extreme views."
...The top hashtags were the generic #politics, followed by #maga, #Trump, #news, and #NeverHillary.
... But the trolls did speak in a chorus when it came to one hashtag.
About 9 a.m. on Oct. 19, 2016, the morning of the final debate, the Russian troll account "WorldOfHashtags" kicked off a new online conversation.
...Immediately a cluster of the trolls started pumping out tweets with the hashtag, several tweets per minute. Some showed preference for Trump, some against, others were just jokes. But the underlying message was "about trying to underscore the view that the system is rigged," ...
... Trolls on the "Right" cluster promoted Trump and attacked left-leaning causes and politicians, mainly Clinton.
Trolls in the "Left" cluster generally attacked Trump and his followers, though they didn't express support for Hillary Clinton.
"Black Lives Matter" were pro-black, but not pro-Democrat. Their message was to distrust all authority, especially the police.
During the election, the hyped-up tweets appeared to be just part of the social media noise..."(HRC's people) knew there were underground networks to spread content that would undermine Hillary,"
... On November 10th, 2016, two days after the election, an identified Russian troll claimed responsibility for a provocative banner that hung from a bridge that leads to the Pentagon in Washington. The estimated 20 by 25 foot banner of outgoing President Obama read, "Goodbye Murderer."...The digital propaganda had suddenly entered the real world...
https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/social-media/russian-trolls-went-attack-during-key-...
Ben Popken | Dec 20, 2017
...Twitter has identified 2,752 accounts as being linked to the Kremlin.
...(NBC) generated a database of 202,973 tweets sent by known Russian trolls.
...Those tweets from accounts impersonating real Americans earned 2.1 million retweets and nearly 1.9 million favorites from their duped followers.
...Russian twitter troll volume increased significantly on July 21, two days after Trump became the official Republican nominee, and continued at the same intensity or higher for the rest of the year.
Throughout 2016, the trolls' tweets and retweets spiked during key campaign events.
The trolls manipulated major events, even horrifying ones, to spread their messages....
...(Brussels) surge of tweets sought to "demonize Muslims, migrants, refugees and anyone who supports them, and to panic real Americans into increasingly extreme views."
...The top hashtags were the generic #politics, followed by #maga, #Trump, #news, and #NeverHillary.
... But the trolls did speak in a chorus when it came to one hashtag.
About 9 a.m. on Oct. 19, 2016, the morning of the final debate, the Russian troll account "WorldOfHashtags" kicked off a new online conversation.
...Immediately a cluster of the trolls started pumping out tweets with the hashtag, several tweets per minute. Some showed preference for Trump, some against, others were just jokes. But the underlying message was "about trying to underscore the view that the system is rigged," ...
... Trolls on the "Right" cluster promoted Trump and attacked left-leaning causes and politicians, mainly Clinton.
Trolls in the "Left" cluster generally attacked Trump and his followers, though they didn't express support for Hillary Clinton.
"Black Lives Matter" were pro-black, but not pro-Democrat. Their message was to distrust all authority, especially the police.
During the election, the hyped-up tweets appeared to be just part of the social media noise..."(HRC's people) knew there were underground networks to spread content that would undermine Hillary,"
... On November 10th, 2016, two days after the election, an identified Russian troll claimed responsibility for a provocative banner that hung from a bridge that leads to the Pentagon in Washington. The estimated 20 by 25 foot banner of outgoing President Obama read, "Goodbye Murderer."...The digital propaganda had suddenly entered the real world...
https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/social-media/russian-trolls-went-attack-during-key-...
100davidgn
A fine piece in the London Review of Books (which, as I understand it, is a sort of print-based game reserve for "useful idiots.")
https://www.lrb.co.uk/v40/n01/jackson-lears/what-we-dont-talk-about-when-we-talk...
https://www.lrb.co.uk/v40/n01/jackson-lears/what-we-dont-talk-about-when-we-talk...
American politics have rarely presented a more disheartening spectacle. The repellent and dangerous antics of Donald Trump are troubling enough, but so is the Democratic Party leadership’s failure to take in the significance of the 2016 election campaign. Bernie Sanders’s challenge to Hillary Clinton, combined with Trump’s triumph, revealed the breadth of popular anger at politics as usual – the blend of neoliberal domestic policy and interventionist foreign policy that constitutes consensus in Washington. Neoliberals celebrate market utility as the sole criterion of worth; interventionists exalt military adventure abroad as a means of fighting evil in order to secure global progress. Both agendas have proved calamitous for most Americans. Many registered their disaffection in 2016. Sanders is a social democrat and Trump a demagogic mountebank, but their campaigns underscored a widespread repudiation of the Washington consensus. For about a week after the election, pundits discussed the possibility of a more capacious Democratic strategy. It appeared that the party might learn something from Clinton’s defeat. Then everything changed.
A story that had circulated during the campaign without much effect resurfaced: it involved the charge that Russian operatives had hacked into the servers of the Democratic National Committee, revealing embarrassing emails that damaged Clinton’s chances. With stunning speed, a new centrist-liberal orthodoxy came into being, enveloping the major media and the bipartisan Washington establishment. This secular religion has attracted hordes of converts in the first year of the Trump presidency. In its capacity to exclude dissent, it is like no other formation of mass opinion in my adult life, though it recalls a few dim childhood memories of anti-communist hysteria during the early 1950s.
The centrepiece of the faith, based on the hacking charge, is the belief that Vladimir Putin orchestrated an attack on American democracy by ordering his minions to interfere in the election on behalf of Trump. The story became gospel with breathtaking suddenness and completeness. Doubters are perceived as heretics and as apologists for Trump and Putin, the evil twins and co-conspirators behind this attack on American democracy. Responsibility for the absence of debate lies in large part with the major media outlets. Their uncritical embrace and endless repetition of the Russian hack story have made it seem a fait accompli in the public mind. It is hard to estimate popular belief in this new orthodoxy, but it does not seem to be merely a creed of Washington insiders. If you question the received narrative in casual conversations, you run the risk of provoking blank stares or overt hostility – even from old friends. This has all been baffling and troubling to me; there have been moments when pop-culture fantasies (body snatchers, Kool-Aid) have come to mind.
Like any orthodoxy worth its salt, the religion of the Russian hack depends not on evidence but on ex cathedra pronouncements on the part of authoritative institutions and their overlords. Its scriptural foundation is a confused and largely fact-free ‘assessment’ produced last January by a small number of ‘hand-picked’ analysts – as James Clapper, the director of National Intelligence, described them – from the CIA, the FBI and the NSA. The claims of the last were made with only ‘moderate’ confidence. The label Intelligence Community Assessment creates a misleading impression of unanimity, given that only three of the 16 US intelligence agencies contributed to the report. And indeed the assessment itself contained this crucial admission: ‘Judgments are not intended to imply that we have proof that shows something to be a fact. Assessments are based on collected information, which is often incomplete or fragmentary, as well as logic, argumentation and precedents.’ Yet the assessment has passed into the media imagination as if it were unassailable fact, allowing journalists to assume what has yet to be proved. In doing so they serve as mouthpieces for the intelligence agencies, or at least for those ‘hand-picked’ analysts.
It is not the first time the intelligence agencies have played this role. When I hear the Intelligence Community Assessment cited as a reliable source, I always recall the part played by the New York Times in legitimating CIA reports of the threat posed by Saddam Hussein’s putative weapons of mass destruction, not to mention the long history of disinformation (a.k.a. ‘fake news’) as a tactic for advancing one administration or another’s political agenda. Once again, the established press is legitimating pronouncements made by the Church Fathers of the national security state. Clapper is among the most vigorous of these. He perjured himself before Congress in 2013, when he denied that the NSA had ‘wittingly’ spied on Americans – a lie for which he has never been held to account. In May 2017, he told NBC’s Chuck Todd that the Russians were highly likely to have colluded with Trump’s campaign because they are ‘almost genetically driven to co-opt, penetrate, gain favour, whatever, which is a typical Russian technique’. The current orthodoxy exempts the Church Fathers from standards imposed on ordinary people, and condemns Russians – above all Putin – as uniquely, ‘almost genetically’ diabolical....
101RickHarsch
>103 davidgn: Thanks again--much of what I suspect is outlined.
102margd
Putin's election is in March.
He has no real opponent in the race, and Russian voters are no doubt manipulated at least as much as we were.
Expect slavish praise from Trump upon Putin landslide.
Expect more Russian mischief in 2018 and 2020.
Russia never stopped its cyberattacks on the United States
Michael Morell and Mike Rogers December 25 at 6:45 PM
Michael Morell is a former deputy director and twice acting director of the Central Intelligence Agency from 2010 to 2013. Mike Rogers, a Republican from Michigan, served in the House from 2001 to 2015 and was chairman of the Intelligence Committee from 2010 to 2015. Both are on the advisory council for the Alliance for Securing Democracy (http://securingdemocracy.gmfus.org/about-securing-democracy).
....Kremlin-oriented accounts on Twitter, which cybersecurity and disinformation experts have tracked as part of the German Marshall Fund’s Alliance for Securing Democracy...In a single week this month, Moscow used these accounts to discredit the FBI after it was revealed that an agent had been demoted for sending anti-Donald Trump texts; to attack ABC News for an erroneous report involving President Trump and Michael Flynn, the former national security adviser; to critique the Obama administration for allegedly “green lighting” the communication between Flynn and then-Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak; and to warn about violence by immigrants after a jury acquitted an undocumented Mexican accused of murdering a San Francisco woman.
And in mid-November, after Keurig pulled its advertising from Sean Hannity’s Fox News show for comments the host made defending Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore, the Russians used their social media accounts to urge a boycott of the company. For two days, #boycottkeurig was the most used hashtag among Kremlin-influenced Twitter accounts. This was a Russian attack on a U.S. company and on our economy.
More troublingly, other countries are beginning to follow Russia’s lead on social media, according to research provided by the Alliance for Securing Democracy. The Chinese are doing so in Taiwan, where 75 percent of the population consumes media from a Japanese instant messaging app called LINE — a hotbed for fake news, much of it from China. Some of the messages pushed by Beijing — including one incorrectly saying that the Taiwan government was planning to regulate Buddhist and Taoist temples — have resulted in large protests in Taipei. And Turkey is starting to use social media to try to influence European policy debates, specifically by targeting the large Turkish diaspora in Europe.
While those information operations have not yet reached the United States, they most certainly will. Russia’s use of social media as a political weapon will continue, and more countries will follow suit — until deterrence is established.
The sanctions that the Obama administration and Congress put in place in the aftermath of the 2016 election are steps in the right direction, but they were not significant enough to check Russian President Vladimir Putin. True deterrence requires policies that prevent adversaries from achieving their objectives while imposing significant costs on their regimes. So far, we have done neither...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/russia-never-stopped-its-cyberattacks-on...
He has no real opponent in the race, and Russian voters are no doubt manipulated at least as much as we were.
Expect slavish praise from Trump upon Putin landslide.
Expect more Russian mischief in 2018 and 2020.
Russia never stopped its cyberattacks on the United States
Michael Morell and Mike Rogers December 25 at 6:45 PM
Michael Morell is a former deputy director and twice acting director of the Central Intelligence Agency from 2010 to 2013. Mike Rogers, a Republican from Michigan, served in the House from 2001 to 2015 and was chairman of the Intelligence Committee from 2010 to 2015. Both are on the advisory council for the Alliance for Securing Democracy (http://securingdemocracy.gmfus.org/about-securing-democracy).
....Kremlin-oriented accounts on Twitter, which cybersecurity and disinformation experts have tracked as part of the German Marshall Fund’s Alliance for Securing Democracy...In a single week this month, Moscow used these accounts to discredit the FBI after it was revealed that an agent had been demoted for sending anti-Donald Trump texts; to attack ABC News for an erroneous report involving President Trump and Michael Flynn, the former national security adviser; to critique the Obama administration for allegedly “green lighting” the communication between Flynn and then-Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak; and to warn about violence by immigrants after a jury acquitted an undocumented Mexican accused of murdering a San Francisco woman.
And in mid-November, after Keurig pulled its advertising from Sean Hannity’s Fox News show for comments the host made defending Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore, the Russians used their social media accounts to urge a boycott of the company. For two days, #boycottkeurig was the most used hashtag among Kremlin-influenced Twitter accounts. This was a Russian attack on a U.S. company and on our economy.
More troublingly, other countries are beginning to follow Russia’s lead on social media, according to research provided by the Alliance for Securing Democracy. The Chinese are doing so in Taiwan, where 75 percent of the population consumes media from a Japanese instant messaging app called LINE — a hotbed for fake news, much of it from China. Some of the messages pushed by Beijing — including one incorrectly saying that the Taiwan government was planning to regulate Buddhist and Taoist temples — have resulted in large protests in Taipei. And Turkey is starting to use social media to try to influence European policy debates, specifically by targeting the large Turkish diaspora in Europe.
While those information operations have not yet reached the United States, they most certainly will. Russia’s use of social media as a political weapon will continue, and more countries will follow suit — until deterrence is established.
The sanctions that the Obama administration and Congress put in place in the aftermath of the 2016 election are steps in the right direction, but they were not significant enough to check Russian President Vladimir Putin. True deterrence requires policies that prevent adversaries from achieving their objectives while imposing significant costs on their regimes. So far, we have done neither...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/russia-never-stopped-its-cyberattacks-on...
103davidgn
Well, the only real alternative candidate would have been Navalny.
https://www.ft.com/content/16df421e-72c1-11e7-aca6-c6bd07df1a3c
And he's not in the running:
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-election-navalny/putin-critic-navalny-...
He's not exactly a loveboat either.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/oVNJiO10SWw
(no translation needed, but here's the gist: https://twitter.com/markamesexiled/status/846480870194188288?lang=en )
========================
More:
https://twitter.com/markamesexiled/status/360420511496409091?lang=en >>
https://globalvoices.org/2013/07/25/ethnic-slurs-haunt-alexey-navalny/
https://twitter.com/markamesexiled/status/362962195887308800?lang=en >>
http://seansrussiablog.org/2013/08/01/navalny-and-neoliberalism/
***https://www.salon.com/2017/04/02/dictator-vs-democrat-not-quite-russian-opposition-leader-alexey-navalny-is-no-progressive-hero/
(Starred read)
https://jacobinmag.com/2017/07/alexey-navalny-putin-opposition-movement-trump
https://www.ft.com/content/16df421e-72c1-11e7-aca6-c6bd07df1a3c
And he's not in the running:
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-election-navalny/putin-critic-navalny-...
He's not exactly a loveboat either.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/oVNJiO10SWw
(no translation needed, but here's the gist: https://twitter.com/markamesexiled/status/846480870194188288?lang=en )
========================
More:
https://twitter.com/markamesexiled/status/360420511496409091?lang=en >>
https://globalvoices.org/2013/07/25/ethnic-slurs-haunt-alexey-navalny/
https://twitter.com/markamesexiled/status/362962195887308800?lang=en >>
http://seansrussiablog.org/2013/08/01/navalny-and-neoliberalism/
***https://www.salon.com/2017/04/02/dictator-vs-democrat-not-quite-russian-opposition-leader-alexey-navalny-is-no-progressive-hero/
(Starred read)
https://jacobinmag.com/2017/07/alexey-navalny-putin-opposition-movement-trump
104margd
In spite of nationalistic efforts in trade and migration, we grow ever more interconnected. It will be a challenge to combat those who would lie and manipulate.
How social media has synchronized human civilization
New England Complex Systems Institute | February 28, 2017
...new pattern of synchronized activity: a simultaneous peak of Twitter activity stretching across half the planet, from Europe and Africa to Asia and Oceania
...When viewing the tweets of a single city, human activity resembles a heart beat: a strong peak of activity coinciding with movement contracting into the city center for the work day, followed by a secondary peak of activity representing afterwork social and commercial activity, and ending in a period of low activity and dispersal away from the city center as people return to homes to sleep...more to do with the demands of work schedules than the natural cycles of night and day
...took the pulse of 52 metropolitan areas all over the world.... a new pattern of synchronized activity falling across longitudes 0 to 180: Europe's morning peak of Twitter activity coincides with Asia's large peak of afternoon activity.
...Global patterns of human activity, ...through tweets, have synchronized across the entire Eurasian landmass. This pattern is formed of commercial as well as social behavior. It represents a global interchange of ideas and information, a new level of interconnectedness in our increasingly complex world.
More information: Alfredo J. Morales, Vaibhav Vavilala, Rosa M. Benito, Yaneer Bar-Yam, Global patterns of synchronization in human communications, Journal of the Royal Society Interface (2017).
https://phys.org/news/2017-02-social-media-synchronized-human-civilization.html
_______________________________________________
Other stuff science is learning about us via social media, etc.
...social-media messages grow terser during major events...
https://phys.org/news/2014-02-social-media-messages-terser-major-events.html
_______________________________________________
This sounds like some scientists are advocating gerrymandering? In spite of interconnectedness documented above, grouping like with like? Might be less disagreement short-term, but tribalism and stasis in the long term?
Telecommunications data show civic dividing lines in major countries...Some of the findings reaffirmed the strength of existing political and linguistic barriers...The researchers think this kind of mapping could be useful for governmental purposes, in cases where, say, lawmakers are rethinking political or administrative boundaries...
https://phys.org/news/2013-12-telecommunications-civic-lines-major-countries.htm...
Redrawing the map of Great Britain based on human interaction
https://phys.org/news/2010-12-redrawing-great-britain-based-human.html
How social media has synchronized human civilization
New England Complex Systems Institute | February 28, 2017
...new pattern of synchronized activity: a simultaneous peak of Twitter activity stretching across half the planet, from Europe and Africa to Asia and Oceania
...When viewing the tweets of a single city, human activity resembles a heart beat: a strong peak of activity coinciding with movement contracting into the city center for the work day, followed by a secondary peak of activity representing afterwork social and commercial activity, and ending in a period of low activity and dispersal away from the city center as people return to homes to sleep...more to do with the demands of work schedules than the natural cycles of night and day
...took the pulse of 52 metropolitan areas all over the world.... a new pattern of synchronized activity falling across longitudes 0 to 180: Europe's morning peak of Twitter activity coincides with Asia's large peak of afternoon activity.
...Global patterns of human activity, ...through tweets, have synchronized across the entire Eurasian landmass. This pattern is formed of commercial as well as social behavior. It represents a global interchange of ideas and information, a new level of interconnectedness in our increasingly complex world.
More information: Alfredo J. Morales, Vaibhav Vavilala, Rosa M. Benito, Yaneer Bar-Yam, Global patterns of synchronization in human communications, Journal of the Royal Society Interface (2017).
https://phys.org/news/2017-02-social-media-synchronized-human-civilization.html
_______________________________________________
Other stuff science is learning about us via social media, etc.
...social-media messages grow terser during major events...
https://phys.org/news/2014-02-social-media-messages-terser-major-events.html
_______________________________________________
This sounds like some scientists are advocating gerrymandering? In spite of interconnectedness documented above, grouping like with like? Might be less disagreement short-term, but tribalism and stasis in the long term?
Telecommunications data show civic dividing lines in major countries...Some of the findings reaffirmed the strength of existing political and linguistic barriers...The researchers think this kind of mapping could be useful for governmental purposes, in cases where, say, lawmakers are rethinking political or administrative boundaries...
https://phys.org/news/2013-12-telecommunications-civic-lines-major-countries.htm...
Redrawing the map of Great Britain based on human interaction
https://phys.org/news/2010-12-redrawing-great-britain-based-human.html
1052wonderY
Wired
The Most Dangerous People on the Internet in 2017
Donald Trump tops their list for the third year in a row!
The Most Dangerous People on the Internet in 2017
Donald Trump tops their list for the third year in a row!
106margd
I don't suppose it's a coincidence that Bezos also owns Washington Post? Or that he's richer than the Prez?
Trump points finger at Amazon for U.S. Postal Service’s financial problems
Justin Sink (Bloomberg) | Dec. 29, 2017
The USPS should be charging Amazon.com ‘MUCH MORE’ for package delivery, the U.S. President wrote in a tweet.
...Trump has regularly criticized Amazon from his Twitter account and targeted chief executive officer Jeff Bezos, who also owns the Washington Post newspaper and is currently the world’s richest man with an estimated net worth of $100 billion...
https://www.thestar.com/business/2017/12/29/trump-points-finger-at-amazon-for-us...
Trump points finger at Amazon for U.S. Postal Service’s financial problems
Justin Sink (Bloomberg) | Dec. 29, 2017
The USPS should be charging Amazon.com ‘MUCH MORE’ for package delivery, the U.S. President wrote in a tweet.
...Trump has regularly criticized Amazon from his Twitter account and targeted chief executive officer Jeff Bezos, who also owns the Washington Post newspaper and is currently the world’s richest man with an estimated net worth of $100 billion...
https://www.thestar.com/business/2017/12/29/trump-points-finger-at-amazon-for-us...
107Guanhumara
>106 margd: Well, Navalny's no fluffy bunny, but that was a pretty invidious "translation" provided by Mark Ames there in your link.
I listened to https://www.youtube.com/embed/oVNJiO10SWw and I didn't hear a single word about "Muslims" there.
Bespredelniki isn't an easy word to translate, but refers to those whose behaviour is inhumane and beyond acceptable bounds. It has no ethnic connotations; it is often used about ethnic Russian criminals, particularly those who commit crimes that even 'traditional' gangsters find shocking.
I'm not 100% sure, but I think the guy in the centre of the photo was Shamil Basayev, Chechen rebel separatist/freedom fighter/terrorist. What is important there, in the context of a video posted in 2007, is that he was named by the Russian government as being behind the Beslan school massacre, which took place in 2004, and was the worst terrorist atrocity on Russian soil in recent years.
So, Navalny wants to swat TERRORISTS "like flies".
Yep, that is a tough guy response, not a "liberal" one. But macho posturing hardly the same thing as claiming that he wants to treat Muslims like cockroaches... (unless AMES is equating all Muslims with terrorists!)
I listened to https://www.youtube.com/embed/oVNJiO10SWw and I didn't hear a single word about "Muslims" there.
Bespredelniki isn't an easy word to translate, but refers to those whose behaviour is inhumane and beyond acceptable bounds. It has no ethnic connotations; it is often used about ethnic Russian criminals, particularly those who commit crimes that even 'traditional' gangsters find shocking.
I'm not 100% sure, but I think the guy in the centre of the photo was Shamil Basayev, Chechen rebel separatist/freedom fighter/terrorist. What is important there, in the context of a video posted in 2007, is that he was named by the Russian government as being behind the Beslan school massacre, which took place in 2004, and was the worst terrorist atrocity on Russian soil in recent years.
So, Navalny wants to swat TERRORISTS "like flies".
Yep, that is a tough guy response, not a "liberal" one. But macho posturing hardly the same thing as claiming that he wants to treat Muslims like cockroaches... (unless AMES is equating all Muslims with terrorists!)
108davidgn
Valuable distinctions, for which I thank you. At the same time, this document exists in a larger context of Navalny's historical public behavior, such as approving the 2013 Biryulyovo race riots and appearing regularly with hard-line nationalist and skinhead groups, not least in the context of the Russkiy Marsh. It's not exactly a reach to say that one can watch a call to shoot Islamist terrorists and immediately suss a rallying cry (intentional or not) to shoot at one's neighbors in the mosque down the road. Certainly that sort of transferrence has been made in very concrete terms across this country.
Just one example: http://wnpr.org/post/terrorism-shared-prayer-story-reconciliation-and-religion
I daresay it works much the same everywhere. Much of Russia is deeply and longstandingly integrated between Russian and Tatar populations, and from the viewpoint of a place like Kazan, for instance, it's less likely that this sort of rhetoric will prove dangerous. Areas with many newer Caucasian and Central Asian immigrants, on the other hand, have greater tensions, and a far greater proportion of Navalny's ultranationalist, skinhead hangers-on are likely to (mis)read a license to ventilate terrorists as a license to ventilate their neighbors (who, after all, they might reason, are probably just a bunch of terrorists anyhow).
Just one example: http://wnpr.org/post/terrorism-shared-prayer-story-reconciliation-and-religion
I daresay it works much the same everywhere. Much of Russia is deeply and longstandingly integrated between Russian and Tatar populations, and from the viewpoint of a place like Kazan, for instance, it's less likely that this sort of rhetoric will prove dangerous. Areas with many newer Caucasian and Central Asian immigrants, on the other hand, have greater tensions, and a far greater proportion of Navalny's ultranationalist, skinhead hangers-on are likely to (mis)read a license to ventilate terrorists as a license to ventilate their neighbors (who, after all, they might reason, are probably just a bunch of terrorists anyhow).
109margd
In a 30-minute interview, President Trump made 24 false or misleading claims
Glenn Kessler | December 29, 2017
“Virtually every Democrat has said there is no collusion. There is no collusion. . . . I saw Dianne Feinstein the other day on television saying there is no collusion.”
“I think it’s been proven that there is no collusion.”
“There was collusion with the Russians and the Democrats. A lot of collusion. . . . Starting with the dossier. But going into so many other elements. And Podesta’s firm.”
“I won because I campaigned properly and she didn’t. She campaigned for the popular vote. I campaigned for the electoral college.”
“Paul Manafort only worked for me for a few months.”
“There was tremendous collusion on behalf of the Russians and the Democrats. There was no collusion with respect to my campaign.”
“What I’ve done is, I have absolute right to do what I want to do with the Justice Department.”
“I’m the one that saved coal. I’m the one that created jobs. You know West Virginia is doing fantastically now.”
“There is tremendous collusion with the Russians and with the Democratic Party. Including all of the stuff with the — and then whatever happened to the Pakistani guy, that had the two, you know, whatever happened to this Pakistani guy who worked with the DNC?”
“They made the Russian story up as a hoax, as a ruse, as an excuse for losing an election that in theory Democrats should always win with the electoral college. The electoral college is so much better suited to the Democrats.”
“I was for Strange, and I brought Strange up 20 points. Just so you understand. When I endorsed him, he was in fifth place. He went way up. Almost 20 points.”
“I endorsed him Alabama senate candidate Roy Moore. It became a much closer race because of my endorsement. People don’t say that. They say, ‘Oh, Donald Trump lost.’ I didn’t lose, I brought him up a lot.”
“We have spent, as of about a month ago, $7 trillion in the Middle East. And the Middle East is worse than it was 17 years ago. … $7 trillion.”
“By the way, and for that, we’ve ended across state lines. So we have competition. You know for that I’m allowed to inaudible state lines. So that’s all done.” (health plans)
“I know the details of taxes better than anybody. Better than the greatest C.P.A. I know the details of health care better than most, better than most.”
“We’ve created associations, millions of people are joining associations. Millions. That were formerly in Obamacare or didn’t have insurance. Or didn’t have health care. Millions of people.”
“Now that the individual mandate is officially killed, people have no idea how big a deal that was. It’s the most unpopular part of Obamacare. But now, Obamacare is essentially … You know, you saw this. … It’s basically dead over a period of time.”
“We see the drugs pouring into the country, we need the wall.”
“They have a lottery in these countries. They take the worst people in the country, they put them into the lottery, then they have a handful of bad, worse ones, and they put them out. ‘Oh, these are the people the United States.’ … We’re going to get rid of the lottery.”
“I like very much President Xi. He treated me better than anybody’s ever been treated in the history of China.”
“This North Korea is a problem that should have been handled for the last 25 years. This is a problem, North Korea. That should have been handled for 25, 30 years, not by me. This should have been handled long before me. Long before this guy has whatever he has.”
“When I campaigned, I was very tough on China in terms of trade. They made — last year, we had a trade deficit with China of $350 billion, minimum.”
“We lost $71 billion a year with Mexico. Can you believe it?”
“$17 billion with Canada — Canada says we broke even. But they don’t include lumber and they don’t include oil. Oh, that’s not. My friend Justin he says, ‘No, no, we break even.’ I said, ‘Yeah, but you’re not including oil, and you’re not including lumber.’ When you do, you lose $17 billion.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2017/12/29/in-a-30-minute-in...
________________________________________________________________
As with trade deficits (where Trump cites goods but not services w Mexico and Canada), here Trump defines tax benefits as cuts, ignoring changes that increase taxes.
Trump Inflates Tax Benefits
Robert Farley | December 22, 2017
President Donald Trump misleadingly inflated the benefits of the tax overhaul when he claimed it provides “$3.2 trillion … in tax cuts for American families.” It actually totals about $1.5 trillion in tax cuts for all taxpayers, including corporations.
Trump shows only one side of the tax ledger. He counts tax changes that cut taxes and ignores those that will increase taxes...
https://www.factcheck.org/2017/12/trump-inflates-tax-benefits/
ETA____________________________________________________________
Has Donald Trump signed more bills than anyone? No. (His count ranks last)
Louis Jacobson | December 29th, 2017
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2017/dec/29/donald-trump/has-...
ETA____________________________________________________________
Red meat to base? He can't believe that cold disproves global warming??
In the East, it could be the COLDEST New Year’s Eve on record. Perhaps we could use a little bit of that good old Global Warming that our Country, but not other countries, was going to pay TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS to protect against. Bundle up!
@realDonaldTrump
4:01 PM - 28 Dec 2017
Glenn Kessler | December 29, 2017
“Virtually every Democrat has said there is no collusion. There is no collusion. . . . I saw Dianne Feinstein the other day on television saying there is no collusion.”
“I think it’s been proven that there is no collusion.”
“There was collusion with the Russians and the Democrats. A lot of collusion. . . . Starting with the dossier. But going into so many other elements. And Podesta’s firm.”
“I won because I campaigned properly and she didn’t. She campaigned for the popular vote. I campaigned for the electoral college.”
“Paul Manafort only worked for me for a few months.”
“There was tremendous collusion on behalf of the Russians and the Democrats. There was no collusion with respect to my campaign.”
“What I’ve done is, I have absolute right to do what I want to do with the Justice Department.”
“I’m the one that saved coal. I’m the one that created jobs. You know West Virginia is doing fantastically now.”
“There is tremendous collusion with the Russians and with the Democratic Party. Including all of the stuff with the — and then whatever happened to the Pakistani guy, that had the two, you know, whatever happened to this Pakistani guy who worked with the DNC?”
“They made the Russian story up as a hoax, as a ruse, as an excuse for losing an election that in theory Democrats should always win with the electoral college. The electoral college is so much better suited to the Democrats.”
“I was for Strange, and I brought Strange up 20 points. Just so you understand. When I endorsed him, he was in fifth place. He went way up. Almost 20 points.”
“I endorsed him Alabama senate candidate Roy Moore. It became a much closer race because of my endorsement. People don’t say that. They say, ‘Oh, Donald Trump lost.’ I didn’t lose, I brought him up a lot.”
“We have spent, as of about a month ago, $7 trillion in the Middle East. And the Middle East is worse than it was 17 years ago. … $7 trillion.”
“By the way, and for that, we’ve ended across state lines. So we have competition. You know for that I’m allowed to inaudible state lines. So that’s all done.” (health plans)
“I know the details of taxes better than anybody. Better than the greatest C.P.A. I know the details of health care better than most, better than most.”
“We’ve created associations, millions of people are joining associations. Millions. That were formerly in Obamacare or didn’t have insurance. Or didn’t have health care. Millions of people.”
“Now that the individual mandate is officially killed, people have no idea how big a deal that was. It’s the most unpopular part of Obamacare. But now, Obamacare is essentially … You know, you saw this. … It’s basically dead over a period of time.”
“We see the drugs pouring into the country, we need the wall.”
“They have a lottery in these countries. They take the worst people in the country, they put them into the lottery, then they have a handful of bad, worse ones, and they put them out. ‘Oh, these are the people the United States.’ … We’re going to get rid of the lottery.”
“I like very much President Xi. He treated me better than anybody’s ever been treated in the history of China.”
“This North Korea is a problem that should have been handled for the last 25 years. This is a problem, North Korea. That should have been handled for 25, 30 years, not by me. This should have been handled long before me. Long before this guy has whatever he has.”
“When I campaigned, I was very tough on China in terms of trade. They made — last year, we had a trade deficit with China of $350 billion, minimum.”
“We lost $71 billion a year with Mexico. Can you believe it?”
“$17 billion with Canada — Canada says we broke even. But they don’t include lumber and they don’t include oil. Oh, that’s not. My friend Justin he says, ‘No, no, we break even.’ I said, ‘Yeah, but you’re not including oil, and you’re not including lumber.’ When you do, you lose $17 billion.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2017/12/29/in-a-30-minute-in...
________________________________________________________________
As with trade deficits (where Trump cites goods but not services w Mexico and Canada), here Trump defines tax benefits as cuts, ignoring changes that increase taxes.
Trump Inflates Tax Benefits
Robert Farley | December 22, 2017
President Donald Trump misleadingly inflated the benefits of the tax overhaul when he claimed it provides “$3.2 trillion … in tax cuts for American families.” It actually totals about $1.5 trillion in tax cuts for all taxpayers, including corporations.
Trump shows only one side of the tax ledger. He counts tax changes that cut taxes and ignores those that will increase taxes...
https://www.factcheck.org/2017/12/trump-inflates-tax-benefits/
ETA____________________________________________________________
Has Donald Trump signed more bills than anyone? No. (His count ranks last)
Louis Jacobson | December 29th, 2017
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2017/dec/29/donald-trump/has-...
ETA____________________________________________________________
Red meat to base? He can't believe that cold disproves global warming??
In the East, it could be the COLDEST New Year’s Eve on record. Perhaps we could use a little bit of that good old Global Warming that our Country, but not other countries, was going to pay TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS to protect against. Bundle up!
@realDonaldTrump
4:01 PM - 28 Dec 2017
110davidgn
On Christmas Eve, Robert Parry suffered a stroke that has affected his eyesight and made it difficult for him to continue his work.
As far as I'm concerned, the world just got a whole lot darker. My best wishes for his recovery.
https://consortiumnews.com/2017/12/31/an-apology-and-explanation/
As far as I'm concerned, the world just got a whole lot darker. My best wishes for his recovery.
https://consortiumnews.com/2017/12/31/an-apology-and-explanation/
111margd
>113 margd: ...My Christmas Eve stroke now makes it a struggle for me to read and to write. Everything takes much longer than it once did – and I don’t think that I can continue with the hectic pace that I have pursued for many years. But – as the New Year dawns – if I could change one thing about America and Western journalism, it would be that we all repudiate “information warfare” in favor of an old-fashioned repect for facts and fairness — and do whatever we can to achieve a truly informed electorate...
Amazing to learn through a legally blind college-friend of my son's how much medicine and technology offers. Hope Parry finds the same.
Amazing to learn through a legally blind college-friend of my son's how much medicine and technology offers. Hope Parry finds the same.
112davidgn
Hope he investigates this:
http://www.rochester.edu/newscenter/rebooting-brain-better-vision-stroke/
I sent the link in a comment.
http://www.rochester.edu/newscenter/rebooting-brain-better-vision-stroke/
I sent the link in a comment.
113margd
Cool. Brain plasticity is amazing, but MD is right to fear that mainstream medicine may be long to catch on. I was shocked recently to see Web MD slide show state that nothing can be done for impaired Central Auditory Processing!
My two sons, adopted in 1990s at 3 & 4YO from overseas orphanages, had Central Auditory Processing and speech issues due to lack of exposure to adult speech. (Kids with intermittent ear infections have similar impairments, though rarely as severe as my guys'.) One of Fast ForWord's programs (http://www.scilearn.com/who-it-is-for/auditory-processing-disorder) brought them up to speed: today one is Electrical Engineer, other is finishing up BA (tech writing).
The science behind the Fast ForWord intervention was a 1996 classic, i.e., published 21 years before WebMD's pronouncement:
Michael M. Merzenich, William M. Jenkins, Paul Johnston, Christoph Schreiner, Steven L. Miller, and Paula Tallal. Temporal Processing Deficits of Language-Learning Impaired Children Ameliorated by Training. Science 5 January 1996 271: 77-81 DOI: 10.1126/science.271.5245.77 (in Reports)
So much more help out there than"experts" often allow...
My two sons, adopted in 1990s at 3 & 4YO from overseas orphanages, had Central Auditory Processing and speech issues due to lack of exposure to adult speech. (Kids with intermittent ear infections have similar impairments, though rarely as severe as my guys'.) One of Fast ForWord's programs (http://www.scilearn.com/who-it-is-for/auditory-processing-disorder) brought them up to speed: today one is Electrical Engineer, other is finishing up BA (tech writing).
The science behind the Fast ForWord intervention was a 1996 classic, i.e., published 21 years before WebMD's pronouncement:
Michael M. Merzenich, William M. Jenkins, Paul Johnston, Christoph Schreiner, Steven L. Miller, and Paula Tallal. Temporal Processing Deficits of Language-Learning Impaired Children Ameliorated by Training. Science 5 January 1996 271: 77-81 DOI: 10.1126/science.271.5245.77 (in Reports)
So much more help out there than"experts" often allow...
114margd
Frequency of Trump lies and misleading statements is increasing per visual scan of graph at interactive database.
2,000 almost assured (barring coma) before his first year is complete:
President Trump has made 1,950 false or misleading claims over 347 days
Glenn Kessler, Meg Kelly and Nicole Lewis | January 2, 2017
With just 18 days before President Trump completes his first year as president, he is now on track to exceed 2,000 false or misleading claims, according to our database that analyzes, categorizes and tracks every suspect statement uttered by the president.
As of Monday, the total stood at 1,950 claims in 347 days, or an average of 5.6 claims a day. (Our full interactive graphic can be found here. https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/politics/trump-claims-database/ )...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2018/01/02/president-trump-h...
2,000 almost assured (barring coma) before his first year is complete:
President Trump has made 1,950 false or misleading claims over 347 days
Glenn Kessler, Meg Kelly and Nicole Lewis | January 2, 2017
With just 18 days before President Trump completes his first year as president, he is now on track to exceed 2,000 false or misleading claims, according to our database that analyzes, categorizes and tracks every suspect statement uttered by the president.
As of Monday, the total stood at 1,950 claims in 347 days, or an average of 5.6 claims a day. (Our full interactive graphic can be found here. https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/politics/trump-claims-database/ )...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2018/01/02/president-trump-h...
115margd
Trump Backs 'Fight' For Control Of Iran, Then Deletes His Tweet, A Possible Violation Of Records Law
Zachary Fryer-Biggs | Jan 3, 2018
...Trump replaced the early morning tweet supporting protesters' "fight" with one that praised Iranians as they “try” to combat corruption in Iran. Both tweets had promised that the U.S. would provide support.
It was the second time in the past 24 hours that Trump had deleted a tweet, previously hyping Sean Hannity’s television program on Tuesday evening, but deleting that tweet without replacing it the next morning.
And in December, Trump tweeted about a drop in territory held by ISIS during his tenure, but the math was wrong and he deleted the tweet several hours later, replacing it with a retweet from a supporter.
Experts are split over whether deleting tweets is against the law, with the issue depending on whether one considers the tweets part of Trump's statements as president or merely as a private citizen. If they are presidential announcements, then Trump would have to preserve the tweets as part of the Presidential Records Act passed by Congress after President Richard Nixon tried to withhold records during the Watergate investigation.
But if they are personal messages, then Trump would not be obligated to save them.
Even if Trump isn’t holding onto the tweets, other groups are...
http://www.newsweek.com/trump-backs-fight-control-iran-then-deletes-his-tweet-76...
Zachary Fryer-Biggs | Jan 3, 2018
...Trump replaced the early morning tweet supporting protesters' "fight" with one that praised Iranians as they “try” to combat corruption in Iran. Both tweets had promised that the U.S. would provide support.
It was the second time in the past 24 hours that Trump had deleted a tweet, previously hyping Sean Hannity’s television program on Tuesday evening, but deleting that tweet without replacing it the next morning.
And in December, Trump tweeted about a drop in territory held by ISIS during his tenure, but the math was wrong and he deleted the tweet several hours later, replacing it with a retweet from a supporter.
Experts are split over whether deleting tweets is against the law, with the issue depending on whether one considers the tweets part of Trump's statements as president or merely as a private citizen. If they are presidential announcements, then Trump would have to preserve the tweets as part of the Presidential Records Act passed by Congress after President Richard Nixon tried to withhold records during the Watergate investigation.
But if they are personal messages, then Trump would not be obligated to save them.
Even if Trump isn’t holding onto the tweets, other groups are...
http://www.newsweek.com/trump-backs-fight-control-iran-then-deletes-his-tweet-76...
116margd
Trump, first Amendment, and book Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House by Michael Wolff:
I'm confused by talk of WH nondisclosure agreements. Aside from classified info, I haven't heard of anything like that in govt. It's contrary to transparency, 1A, Congressional oversight, whistleblowing, investigations/audits, etc. Does the WH grasp any concept of public service?
Walter Shaub @waltshaub (Former Director, Office of Gov't Ethics)
6:41 AM - 4 Jan 2018
__________________________________________________________
The president of the United States. Is trying to stop a book prepublication. The president. Is trying to impose prior restraint. In violation of the constitution.
The president of the United States thinks he can engage in prior restraint. That is worse than anything in the book
@kurteichenwald (Contributing editor, Vanity Fair; MSNBC Contributor, New York Times bestselling author.)
8:31 AM - 4 Jan 2018
ETA________________________________________________________
Live by the sword, die by the sword: no tears for Steve Bannon, but
is his yet another example of Trump attacking media that doesn't sing his praises, especially a competitor (in his mind)?
‘Yesterday morning, he was key. Today, I’m not sure’: Bannon’s allies start to abandon him
Michael Scherer, Robert Costa and Rosalind S. Helderman | January 4, 2017
...Even his position as chairman of Breitbart News, a website he has referred to as one of his most effective “weapons,” was being reviewed by the company’s leadership, according to people familiar with the talks — a move that White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders publicly encouraged at Thursday’s White House news briefing.
...Breitbart executives, along with (Rebekah Mercer, daughter of investor, Trump-supporter Robert Mercer), who holds a minority stake, discussed pushing Bannon out of the company he helped make famous, according to four people familiar with the discussions. Among their concerns in doing so is the reaction of hard-line conservatives, who make up much of the site’s readership, and also of Bannon, who would be unlikely to leave quietly, the sources said.
Friends of the Mercers working at the White House privately shared their view that Bannon’s ouster from Breitbart would be well-received by the president, who has been irritated for months with Bannon’s rising profile even as the two continued to talk by phone.
“I certainly think that it’s something they should look at and consider,” (WH Press Secretary Sarah Sanders) told reporters Thursday.
One person close to Trump said, “The president’s take is that everyone has to now make a choice: ‘It’s me or it’s Steve.’ ”...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/yesterday-morning-he-was-key-today-im-no...
ETA_________________________________________________________
Today’s use of criminal prosecution to harass opponents and silence critics should remind: the crisis is not one unstable president; it is the system of power that enables him
David FrumVerified account @davidfrum | 11:37 AM - 5 Jan 2018
I'm confused by talk of WH nondisclosure agreements. Aside from classified info, I haven't heard of anything like that in govt. It's contrary to transparency, 1A, Congressional oversight, whistleblowing, investigations/audits, etc. Does the WH grasp any concept of public service?
Walter Shaub @waltshaub (Former Director, Office of Gov't Ethics)
6:41 AM - 4 Jan 2018
__________________________________________________________
The president of the United States. Is trying to stop a book prepublication. The president. Is trying to impose prior restraint. In violation of the constitution.
The president of the United States thinks he can engage in prior restraint. That is worse than anything in the book
@kurteichenwald (Contributing editor, Vanity Fair; MSNBC Contributor, New York Times bestselling author.)
8:31 AM - 4 Jan 2018
ETA________________________________________________________
Live by the sword, die by the sword: no tears for Steve Bannon, but
is his yet another example of Trump attacking media that doesn't sing his praises, especially a competitor (in his mind)?
‘Yesterday morning, he was key. Today, I’m not sure’: Bannon’s allies start to abandon him
Michael Scherer, Robert Costa and Rosalind S. Helderman | January 4, 2017
...Even his position as chairman of Breitbart News, a website he has referred to as one of his most effective “weapons,” was being reviewed by the company’s leadership, according to people familiar with the talks — a move that White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders publicly encouraged at Thursday’s White House news briefing.
...Breitbart executives, along with (Rebekah Mercer, daughter of investor, Trump-supporter Robert Mercer), who holds a minority stake, discussed pushing Bannon out of the company he helped make famous, according to four people familiar with the discussions. Among their concerns in doing so is the reaction of hard-line conservatives, who make up much of the site’s readership, and also of Bannon, who would be unlikely to leave quietly, the sources said.
Friends of the Mercers working at the White House privately shared their view that Bannon’s ouster from Breitbart would be well-received by the president, who has been irritated for months with Bannon’s rising profile even as the two continued to talk by phone.
“I certainly think that it’s something they should look at and consider,” (WH Press Secretary Sarah Sanders) told reporters Thursday.
One person close to Trump said, “The president’s take is that everyone has to now make a choice: ‘It’s me or it’s Steve.’ ”...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/yesterday-morning-he-was-key-today-im-no...
ETA_________________________________________________________
Today’s use of criminal prosecution to harass opponents and silence critics should remind: the crisis is not one unstable president; it is the system of power that enables him
David FrumVerified account @davidfrum | 11:37 AM - 5 Jan 2018
117margd
"The fear is that threats against the media by world leaders such as Trump will only further embolden the Thai leadership — and other governments — to impose more restrictions on journalists."...
Talk to the cardboard cutout: Thai prime minister won’t be taking any more questions
Rick Noack | January 9, 2017
...In a bizarre move highlighting the pressures journalists are facing worldwide, Thailand’s prime minister on Monday assigned a life-size cardboard mock-up of himself to respond to tough questions by journalists.
...(Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha) had previously thrown a banana peel at journalists and threatened others with execution, in what appeared to be a particularly tasteless joke.
...President Trump frequently lashes out at what he calls “fake news” and is now even initiating a “Fake News Award,” which he said in a tweet would be “going to the most corrupt & biased of the Mainstream Media.” Trump also was notorious during his presidential campaign for inciting crowds against the journalists present at his rallies.
Last October, the Czech president waved a mock rifle at journalists during a news conference.
...Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte ...as a candidate... “Just because you’re a journalist you are not exempted from assassination if you’re a son of a bitch.” When Duterte later met with Trump, his U.S. counterpart chuckled after Duterte called journalists “spies.”
...last July...Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is frequently accused of undermining press freedom in his country, pointed at journalists in the room and asked Trump: “These are the ones hurting you?” Trump responded: “These are the ones. You're right about that.”
... Prayuth recently referred to “fake news,” deploying rhetoric similar to Trump’s.
Freedom House...(Thai) military government “has systematically used censorship, intimidation, and legal action to suppress journalists and media outlets.”
“Authorities aggressively enforce defamation and lèse majesté laws, and have summoned journalists for meetings at which they are pressured to stop producing coverage critical of the NCPO,” Freedom House reported, referring to the Thai military junta known as the National Council for Peace and Order.
...Critics allege that (Prayuth’s predecessor, Yingluck Shinawatra) trial was politically motivated and unfair, but their voices are unlikely to be widely reflected in Thai media, which is now banned from expressing opinions “inconsistent with the truth,” according to a vaguely worded 2016 Referendum Act.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2018/01/09/talk-to-the-cardboa...
Talk to the cardboard cutout: Thai prime minister won’t be taking any more questions
Rick Noack | January 9, 2017
...In a bizarre move highlighting the pressures journalists are facing worldwide, Thailand’s prime minister on Monday assigned a life-size cardboard mock-up of himself to respond to tough questions by journalists.
...(Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha) had previously thrown a banana peel at journalists and threatened others with execution, in what appeared to be a particularly tasteless joke.
...President Trump frequently lashes out at what he calls “fake news” and is now even initiating a “Fake News Award,” which he said in a tweet would be “going to the most corrupt & biased of the Mainstream Media.” Trump also was notorious during his presidential campaign for inciting crowds against the journalists present at his rallies.
Last October, the Czech president waved a mock rifle at journalists during a news conference.
...Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte ...as a candidate... “Just because you’re a journalist you are not exempted from assassination if you’re a son of a bitch.” When Duterte later met with Trump, his U.S. counterpart chuckled after Duterte called journalists “spies.”
...last July...Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is frequently accused of undermining press freedom in his country, pointed at journalists in the room and asked Trump: “These are the ones hurting you?” Trump responded: “These are the ones. You're right about that.”
... Prayuth recently referred to “fake news,” deploying rhetoric similar to Trump’s.
Freedom House...(Thai) military government “has systematically used censorship, intimidation, and legal action to suppress journalists and media outlets.”
“Authorities aggressively enforce defamation and lèse majesté laws, and have summoned journalists for meetings at which they are pressured to stop producing coverage critical of the NCPO,” Freedom House reported, referring to the Thai military junta known as the National Council for Peace and Order.
...Critics allege that (Prayuth’s predecessor, Yingluck Shinawatra) trial was politically motivated and unfair, but their voices are unlikely to be widely reflected in Thai media, which is now banned from expressing opinions “inconsistent with the truth,” according to a vaguely worded 2016 Referendum Act.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2018/01/09/talk-to-the-cardboa...
118margd
117 update--Trump makes >2000 false or misleading claims before first anniversary of his presidency.
(Who yuh gonna believe Trump or __________________(fill in theblank)?)
President Trump has made more than 2,000 false or misleading claims over 355 days
Glenn Kessler and Meg Kelly | January 10, 2017
..With just 10 days before he finishes his first year as president, Trump has made 2,001 false or misleading claims in 355 days, according to our database that analyzes, categorizes and tracks every suspect statement uttered by the president. That’s an average of more than 5.6 claims a day.
When we started this project, originally aimed at the president’s first 100 days, he averaged 4.9 claims a day. At that pace, it appeared unlikely the president would break 2,000 in a year. But the longer the president has been in the job, the more frequently he touts an assortment of exaggerated, dubious or false claims. (Our full interactive graphic can be found here.)...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2018/01/10/president-trump-h...
(Who yuh gonna believe Trump or __________________(fill in theblank)?)
President Trump has made more than 2,000 false or misleading claims over 355 days
Glenn Kessler and Meg Kelly | January 10, 2017
..With just 10 days before he finishes his first year as president, Trump has made 2,001 false or misleading claims in 355 days, according to our database that analyzes, categorizes and tracks every suspect statement uttered by the president. That’s an average of more than 5.6 claims a day.
When we started this project, originally aimed at the president’s first 100 days, he averaged 4.9 claims a day. At that pace, it appeared unlikely the president would break 2,000 in a year. But the longer the president has been in the job, the more frequently he touts an assortment of exaggerated, dubious or false claims. (Our full interactive graphic can be found here.)...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2018/01/10/president-trump-h...
119margd
Only in America:
Citizens can now carry guns into the chamber of Tennessee's state legislature, but they can't bring home-made signs.
Critics of the new policy say it's designed to curb the free speech rights of Tennesseans,
in the wake of angry protests last year over immigration, Medicaid expansion, and other issues.
Legislators say they banned "hand-carried signs and signs on hand-sticks" because they "represent a serious safety hazard."
THE WEEK. Jan 12, 2018
Citizens can now carry guns into the chamber of Tennessee's state legislature, but they can't bring home-made signs.
Critics of the new policy say it's designed to curb the free speech rights of Tennesseans,
in the wake of angry protests last year over immigration, Medicaid expansion, and other issues.
Legislators say they banned "hand-carried signs and signs on hand-sticks" because they "represent a serious safety hazard."
THE WEEK. Jan 12, 2018
121Guanhumara
>111 margd: (Late reply, because I have refrained from political debate over Christmas.)
a call to shoot Islamist terrorists
When was there any mention of "Islamist"? I didn't hear any mention of wahabi either.
The Beslan atrocity (which, as I said, seems to have been the context of the video) was connected to the war for Chechen independence. There were no prominent jihadist references in the propaganda associated with that event (although some former mujahideen are rumoured to have joined in.)
Again, you are distorting the text to fit your own agenda.
Certainly that sort of transferrence has been made in very concrete terms across this country.
...
I daresay it works much the same everywhere.
That sort of thinking and reasoning is extremely dangerous. I deplore this American tendency by to assume that everyone else thinks the way that they do, and makes the same assumptions. Don't mentally exports your country's problems into others. Each country has its own problems and prejudices.
Russia has long had a substantial muslim population, only a small proportion of whom have ever had any connection with militant Islam.
It has also had a long-standing strand of xenophobia, which is hostile to all non-ethnic Slavs (Skin colour is not important. An ultra-nationalist thug will kick your head in for being American as happily as he will do it for your being Tajik; the only difference is an awareness that an American will be backed by their embassy, whilst he assumes that the Tajik, who may be an illegal migrant worker, has no such recourse.)
It also has an extremely long-standing nervousness about Chechens (and Caucasians in general), going back well over a hundred years, long pre-dating current conflicts.
So a Russian nationalist hothead is not going to make the transference "terrorist"="muslim". (That's an American - and becoming a British - mental association.)
He may quite likely make the transference "terrorist"="Chechen".
But the Chechens primarily have a reputation as badasses. A Russian racist will think "Kavkazkaya Bratva" as often as he will think "wahabi extremist". So he might be convinced into visceral antipathy towards his Chechen neighbours; but it takes a special kind of idiocy to respond by taking pot-shots at someone whom you have convinced yourself is a mafioso!
---
Navalny is a populist nationalist.
He courts a macho image - which seems to be essential for success in Russian politics (think of bare-chested Putin etc.)
It is certainly a delusion to think that he is any friend to the West. Xenophobia includes us too.
But journalism that tells lies about the content of a speech is a despicable way of proceeding.
It is also invidious to smear him with the racist elements of the Russkiy Marsh when he has denounced and dissociated himself from them. The Biryulyovo protests descended into something extremely ugly. Riots do. When a civil rights protest in America degenerates into violence and looting, do you then say that theft and violence was what that protest was "about"? You, @davidgn, have written about protests being hijacked by a violent minority, and the offensiveness of branding all those present with an accusation of collusion in the violence. So why do you do exactly that yourself, when describing a similar happening in a foreign country?
Zero immigration nationalism is not, in itself, racist. It is not an outlook I have any affinity for. But it is only racist when you propose immigration that is selective, and selects by race.
In British terms, Navalny is Nigel Farage, not Adam Walker.
By all means, condemn him for what he is - but not by pretending that he is something that he is not.
a call to shoot Islamist terrorists
When was there any mention of "Islamist"? I didn't hear any mention of wahabi either.
The Beslan atrocity (which, as I said, seems to have been the context of the video) was connected to the war for Chechen independence. There were no prominent jihadist references in the propaganda associated with that event (although some former mujahideen are rumoured to have joined in.)
Again, you are distorting the text to fit your own agenda.
Certainly that sort of transferrence has been made in very concrete terms across this country.
...
I daresay it works much the same everywhere.
That sort of thinking and reasoning is extremely dangerous. I deplore this American tendency by to assume that everyone else thinks the way that they do, and makes the same assumptions. Don't mentally exports your country's problems into others. Each country has its own problems and prejudices.
Russia has long had a substantial muslim population, only a small proportion of whom have ever had any connection with militant Islam.
It has also had a long-standing strand of xenophobia, which is hostile to all non-ethnic Slavs (Skin colour is not important. An ultra-nationalist thug will kick your head in for being American as happily as he will do it for your being Tajik; the only difference is an awareness that an American will be backed by their embassy, whilst he assumes that the Tajik, who may be an illegal migrant worker, has no such recourse.)
It also has an extremely long-standing nervousness about Chechens (and Caucasians in general), going back well over a hundred years, long pre-dating current conflicts.
So a Russian nationalist hothead is not going to make the transference "terrorist"="muslim". (That's an American - and becoming a British - mental association.)
He may quite likely make the transference "terrorist"="Chechen".
But the Chechens primarily have a reputation as badasses. A Russian racist will think "Kavkazkaya Bratva" as often as he will think "wahabi extremist". So he might be convinced into visceral antipathy towards his Chechen neighbours; but it takes a special kind of idiocy to respond by taking pot-shots at someone whom you have convinced yourself is a mafioso!
---
Navalny is a populist nationalist.
He courts a macho image - which seems to be essential for success in Russian politics (think of bare-chested Putin etc.)
It is certainly a delusion to think that he is any friend to the West. Xenophobia includes us too.
But journalism that tells lies about the content of a speech is a despicable way of proceeding.
It is also invidious to smear him with the racist elements of the Russkiy Marsh when he has denounced and dissociated himself from them. The Biryulyovo protests descended into something extremely ugly. Riots do. When a civil rights protest in America degenerates into violence and looting, do you then say that theft and violence was what that protest was "about"? You, @davidgn, have written about protests being hijacked by a violent minority, and the offensiveness of branding all those present with an accusation of collusion in the violence. So why do you do exactly that yourself, when describing a similar happening in a foreign country?
Zero immigration nationalism is not, in itself, racist. It is not an outlook I have any affinity for. But it is only racist when you propose immigration that is selective, and selects by race.
In British terms, Navalny is Nigel Farage, not Adam Walker.
By all means, condemn him for what he is - but not by pretending that he is something that he is not.
122margd
Transcript: Sen. Jeff Flake's speaks about the dangers of calling facts "fake news"
Jan 17, 2018
Mr. President, near the beginning of the document that made us free, our Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson wrote: "We hold these truths to be self-evident..." So, from our very beginnings, our freedom has been predicated on truth. The founders were visionary in this regard, understanding well that good faith and shared facts between the governed and the government would be the very basis of this ongoing idea of America.
As the distinguished former member of this body, Daniel Patrick Moynihan of New York, famously said: "Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his own facts." During the past year, I am alarmed to say that Senator Moynihan's proposition has likely been tested more severely than at any time in our history.
It is for that reason that I rise today, to talk about the truth, and its relationship to democracy. For without truth, and a principled fidelity to truth and to shared facts, Mr. President, our democracy will not last...
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/jeff-flake-speech-trump-rebuke-senate-full-transcri...
__________________________________________________________________
Fact-checking President Trump’s ‘Fake News Awards’
Glenn Kessler | January 17, 2017
...we do not award Pinocchios if a politician admits error. Everyone makes mistakes — and the point is not to play gotcha. News organizations operate in a competitive arena and mistakes are bound to be made. The key test is whether an error is acknowledged and corrected.
...at least eight of the “Fake News” winners resulted in corrections, with two reports prompting suspensions or resignations. Two of the winners were simply tweets that were quickly corrected and never resulted in news articles. One was an opinion article in which the author later retracted his prediction.
Let’s it put it this way: If the president admitted error as frequently, he would earn far fewer Pinocchios.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2018/01/17/fact-checking-pre...
__________________________________________________________________
Sen. Jeff Flake says press undergoing a "sustained attack" by Trump
Emily Tillett | January 17, 2018
...Flake ..."Any of us who have spent time in public life have endured news coverage we felt was jaded or unfair. But in our positions, to employ even idle threats to use laws or regulations to stifle criticism is corrosive to our democratic institutions. Simply put: it is the press's obligation to uncover the truth about power. It is the people's right to criticize their government. And it is our job to take it."
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/jeff-flake-full-transcript-speech-senate-floor-trum...
Jan 17, 2018
Mr. President, near the beginning of the document that made us free, our Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson wrote: "We hold these truths to be self-evident..." So, from our very beginnings, our freedom has been predicated on truth. The founders were visionary in this regard, understanding well that good faith and shared facts between the governed and the government would be the very basis of this ongoing idea of America.
As the distinguished former member of this body, Daniel Patrick Moynihan of New York, famously said: "Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his own facts." During the past year, I am alarmed to say that Senator Moynihan's proposition has likely been tested more severely than at any time in our history.
It is for that reason that I rise today, to talk about the truth, and its relationship to democracy. For without truth, and a principled fidelity to truth and to shared facts, Mr. President, our democracy will not last...
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/jeff-flake-speech-trump-rebuke-senate-full-transcri...
__________________________________________________________________
Fact-checking President Trump’s ‘Fake News Awards’
Glenn Kessler | January 17, 2017
...we do not award Pinocchios if a politician admits error. Everyone makes mistakes — and the point is not to play gotcha. News organizations operate in a competitive arena and mistakes are bound to be made. The key test is whether an error is acknowledged and corrected.
...at least eight of the “Fake News” winners resulted in corrections, with two reports prompting suspensions or resignations. Two of the winners were simply tweets that were quickly corrected and never resulted in news articles. One was an opinion article in which the author later retracted his prediction.
Let’s it put it this way: If the president admitted error as frequently, he would earn far fewer Pinocchios.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2018/01/17/fact-checking-pre...
__________________________________________________________________
Sen. Jeff Flake says press undergoing a "sustained attack" by Trump
Emily Tillett | January 17, 2018
...Flake ..."Any of us who have spent time in public life have endured news coverage we felt was jaded or unfair. But in our positions, to employ even idle threats to use laws or regulations to stifle criticism is corrosive to our democratic institutions. Simply put: it is the press's obligation to uncover the truth about power. It is the people's right to criticize their government. And it is our job to take it."
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/jeff-flake-full-transcript-speech-senate-floor-trum...
123margd
Exclusive: ICE is about to start tracking license plates across the US
Russell Brandom | Jan 26, 2018
...Vigilant Solutions has amassed a database of more than 2 billion license plate photos by ingesting data from partners like vehicle repossession agencies and other private groups. Vigilant also partners with local law enforcement agencies, often collecting even more data from camera-equipped police cars. The result is a massive vehicle-tracking network generating as many as 100 million sightings per month, each tagged with a date, time, and GPS coordinates of the sighting.
ICE agents would be able to query that database in two ways. A historical search would turn up every place a given license plate has been spotted in the last five years, a detailed record of the target’s movements. That data could be used to find a given subject’s residence or even identify associates if a given car is regularly spotted in a specific parking lot.
...ICE agents can also receive instantaneous email alerts whenever a new record of a particular plate is found — a system known internally as a “hot list.”... According to the privacy assessment, as many as 2,500 license plates could be uploaded to the hot list in a single batch, although the assessment does not detail how often new batches can be added. With sightings flooding in from police dashcams and stationary readers on bridges and toll booths, it would be hard for anyone on the list to stay unnoticed for long.
...“There are people circulating in our society who are undocumented,” says senior policy analyst Jay Stanley, who studies license plate readers with the ACLU. “Are we as a society, out of our desire to find those people, willing to let our government create an infrastructure that will track all of us?”...
...the biggest concern for critics is the sheer scale of Vigilant’s network, assembled almost entirely outside of public accountability. “If ICE were to propose a system that would do what Vigilant does, there would be a huge privacy uproar and I don’t think Congress would approve it,” Stanley says. “But because it’s a private contract, they can sidestep that process.”
https://www.theverge.com/2018/1/26/16932350/ice-immigration-customs-license-plat...
Russell Brandom | Jan 26, 2018
...Vigilant Solutions has amassed a database of more than 2 billion license plate photos by ingesting data from partners like vehicle repossession agencies and other private groups. Vigilant also partners with local law enforcement agencies, often collecting even more data from camera-equipped police cars. The result is a massive vehicle-tracking network generating as many as 100 million sightings per month, each tagged with a date, time, and GPS coordinates of the sighting.
ICE agents would be able to query that database in two ways. A historical search would turn up every place a given license plate has been spotted in the last five years, a detailed record of the target’s movements. That data could be used to find a given subject’s residence or even identify associates if a given car is regularly spotted in a specific parking lot.
...ICE agents can also receive instantaneous email alerts whenever a new record of a particular plate is found — a system known internally as a “hot list.”... According to the privacy assessment, as many as 2,500 license plates could be uploaded to the hot list in a single batch, although the assessment does not detail how often new batches can be added. With sightings flooding in from police dashcams and stationary readers on bridges and toll booths, it would be hard for anyone on the list to stay unnoticed for long.
...“There are people circulating in our society who are undocumented,” says senior policy analyst Jay Stanley, who studies license plate readers with the ACLU. “Are we as a society, out of our desire to find those people, willing to let our government create an infrastructure that will track all of us?”...
...the biggest concern for critics is the sheer scale of Vigilant’s network, assembled almost entirely outside of public accountability. “If ICE were to propose a system that would do what Vigilant does, there would be a huge privacy uproar and I don’t think Congress would approve it,” Stanley says. “But because it’s a private contract, they can sidestep that process.”
https://www.theverge.com/2018/1/26/16932350/ice-immigration-customs-license-plat...
124davidgn
We've lost Robert Parry.
https://consortiumnews.com/2018/01/28/robert-parrys-legacy-and-the-future-of-con...
https://consortiumnews.com/2018/01/28/robert-parrys-legacy-and-the-future-of-con...
It is with a heavy heart that we inform Consortiumnews readers that Editor Robert Parry has passed away. As regular readers know, Robert (or Bob, as he was known to friends and family) suffered a stroke in December, which – despite his own speculation that it may have been brought on by the stress of covering Washington politics – was the result of undiagnosed pancreatic cancer that he had been unknowingly living with for the past 4-5 years.
He unfortunately suffered two more debilitating strokes in recent weeks and after the last one, was moved to hospice care on Tuesday. He passed away peacefully Saturday evening. He was 68.
125margd
Donald Trump's misleading claim about chain migration, unlimited sponsorship of distant relatives
Miriam Valverde | January 31, 2018
...Neither U.S. citizens nor lawful permanent residents can directly petition for an aunt, uncle, cousin, niece, nephew, in-law relative or grandparent to come to the United States.
Theoretically, one immigrant’s arrival in the United States could lead to the immigration of an aunt or uncle — if the first immigrant becomes a U.S. citizen and petitioned a parent, that parent could eventually become a U.S. citizen and petition his or her siblings.
But there is a long queue for certain relatives seeking to come through family sponsorship. For brothers and sisters of U.S. citizens, the waiting period for a visa is over 13 years.
...We rate (Trump’s statement) Mostly False.
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2018/jan/31/donald-trump/dona...
Miriam Valverde | January 31, 2018
...Neither U.S. citizens nor lawful permanent residents can directly petition for an aunt, uncle, cousin, niece, nephew, in-law relative or grandparent to come to the United States.
Theoretically, one immigrant’s arrival in the United States could lead to the immigration of an aunt or uncle — if the first immigrant becomes a U.S. citizen and petitioned a parent, that parent could eventually become a U.S. citizen and petition his or her siblings.
But there is a long queue for certain relatives seeking to come through family sponsorship. For brothers and sisters of U.S. citizens, the waiting period for a visa is over 13 years.
...We rate (Trump’s statement) Mostly False.
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2018/jan/31/donald-trump/dona...
126margd
No, Trump hasn't cut 22 regulations for every new one
Manuela Tobias | February 2nd, 2018
...Trump said, "Instead of two for one, we have cut 22 burdensome regulations for every one new rule." (Friday, January 26th, 2018 in a speech)
The Trump administration counted only regulatory actions that were deemed economically significant. Without the same stipulation for deregulatory actions, the ratio compares apples to oranges.
Trump has repealed five economically significant regulatory actions to three economically significant new regulations, according our search of the Office of Management and Budget database. The American Action Forum found he repealed nine regulations for the five he imposed.
Using comparable units, Trump’s claim overestimates his deregulatory accomplishments. By two measures, it’s actually a little less than two for one. We rate this statement Mostly False.
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2018/feb/02/donald-trump/trum...
Manuela Tobias | February 2nd, 2018
...Trump said, "Instead of two for one, we have cut 22 burdensome regulations for every one new rule." (Friday, January 26th, 2018 in a speech)
The Trump administration counted only regulatory actions that were deemed economically significant. Without the same stipulation for deregulatory actions, the ratio compares apples to oranges.
Trump has repealed five economically significant regulatory actions to three economically significant new regulations, according our search of the Office of Management and Budget database. The American Action Forum found he repealed nine regulations for the five he imposed.
Using comparable units, Trump’s claim overestimates his deregulatory accomplishments. By two measures, it’s actually a little less than two for one. We rate this statement Mostly False.
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2018/feb/02/donald-trump/trum...
127margd
Fake news, indeed, and no retraction if it means clearing immigrants.
Trump concocted a story about a border agent’s death. The truth won’t catch up.
Dana Milbank Opinion writer | February 9, 2018
This is the autopsy of a lie.
On the night of Nov. 18, Border Patrol Agent Rogelio Martinez was found dying on the side of an interstate in West Texas. There were immediate signs it had been an accident. Martinez’s partner, Stephen Garland (who suffered a head injury and doesn’t recall the incident), had radioed for help, saying he thought he ran into a culvert.
But President Trump and his allies saw an opportunity to whip up anti-immigrant fervor. At a Cabinet meeting Nov. 20, Trump announced, with cameras rolling, that “we lost a Border Patrol officer just yesterday, and another one was brutally beaten and badly, badly hurt. . . . We’re going to have the wall.” He also issued a similar tweet.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, offered a reward “to help solve this murder” and to “help us catch this killer.”
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) declared the incident “a stark reminder of the ongoing threat that an unsecure border poses.”
And then there was Fox News, reporting that “a border patrol agent was brutally murdered” and going with the headline “Border Patrol agent appeared to be ambushed by illegal immigrants, bashed with rocks before death.” Fox News host Tucker Carlson reported that Martinez was “attacked at the border in the most gruesome possible way.”
The FBI...Although the investigation “has not conclusively determined” what happened, “none of the more than 650 interviews completed, locations searched, or evidence collected and analyzed have produced evidence that would support the existence of a scuffle, altercation, or attack on November 18, 2017.”
...no corrective tweet from Trump or the others and no retraction by Fox News, which buried the FBI’s findings with brief mention,... continued to report the border union’s claim of assault “despite FBI finding no scuffle.”
It has been more than 300 years since Jonathan Swift wrote about the utility of falsehood: “If a lie be believed only for an hour, it hath done its work, and there is no farther occasion for it. Falsehood flies, and truth comes limping after it, so that when men come to be undeceived, it is too late; the jest is over, and the tale hath had its effect . . . like a physician, who hath found out an infallible medicine, after the patient is dead.”
...There was reason to be skeptical early on in that case. Culberson County Sheriff Oscar Carrillo, one of the first responders on the scene, told The Post shortly after the incident that he doubted it was an attack. He has speculated that it was a fall, or that the two were accidentally sideswiped by a tractor-trailer.
But that didn’t fit Trump’s narrative about murderous immigrants. Falsehood flies, and truth comes limping after it.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/trump-lied-about-a-border-agents-death-t...
Trump concocted a story about a border agent’s death. The truth won’t catch up.
Dana Milbank Opinion writer | February 9, 2018
This is the autopsy of a lie.
On the night of Nov. 18, Border Patrol Agent Rogelio Martinez was found dying on the side of an interstate in West Texas. There were immediate signs it had been an accident. Martinez’s partner, Stephen Garland (who suffered a head injury and doesn’t recall the incident), had radioed for help, saying he thought he ran into a culvert.
But President Trump and his allies saw an opportunity to whip up anti-immigrant fervor. At a Cabinet meeting Nov. 20, Trump announced, with cameras rolling, that “we lost a Border Patrol officer just yesterday, and another one was brutally beaten and badly, badly hurt. . . . We’re going to have the wall.” He also issued a similar tweet.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, offered a reward “to help solve this murder” and to “help us catch this killer.”
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) declared the incident “a stark reminder of the ongoing threat that an unsecure border poses.”
And then there was Fox News, reporting that “a border patrol agent was brutally murdered” and going with the headline “Border Patrol agent appeared to be ambushed by illegal immigrants, bashed with rocks before death.” Fox News host Tucker Carlson reported that Martinez was “attacked at the border in the most gruesome possible way.”
The FBI...Although the investigation “has not conclusively determined” what happened, “none of the more than 650 interviews completed, locations searched, or evidence collected and analyzed have produced evidence that would support the existence of a scuffle, altercation, or attack on November 18, 2017.”
...no corrective tweet from Trump or the others and no retraction by Fox News, which buried the FBI’s findings with brief mention,... continued to report the border union’s claim of assault “despite FBI finding no scuffle.”
It has been more than 300 years since Jonathan Swift wrote about the utility of falsehood: “If a lie be believed only for an hour, it hath done its work, and there is no farther occasion for it. Falsehood flies, and truth comes limping after it, so that when men come to be undeceived, it is too late; the jest is over, and the tale hath had its effect . . . like a physician, who hath found out an infallible medicine, after the patient is dead.”
...There was reason to be skeptical early on in that case. Culberson County Sheriff Oscar Carrillo, one of the first responders on the scene, told The Post shortly after the incident that he doubted it was an attack. He has speculated that it was a fall, or that the two were accidentally sideswiped by a tractor-trailer.
But that didn’t fit Trump’s narrative about murderous immigrants. Falsehood flies, and truth comes limping after it.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/trump-lied-about-a-border-agents-death-t...
128margd
Trump supporters, conservatives rage over Russian bot purge, #TwitterLockOut
Jessica Guynn | Feb. 21, 2018
...The suspension of multiple accounts followed the indictment by special counsel Robert S. Mueller of Russian nationals for meddling in the U.S. election, including using fake accounts on Twitter to conduct "information warfare" against the United States.
...Twitter denied cracking down on conservative voices.
"Twitter’s tools are apolitical, and we enforce our rules without political bias," the company said in a statement. "As part of our ongoing work in safety, we identify suspicious account behaviors that indicate automated activity or violations of our policies around having multiple accounts, or abuse."
Twitter allows automated software to post tweets but bans the posting of misleading or abusive content or spam by bots.
...Some Twitter users complained Wednesday that they were locked out of their accounts and had to share a phone number with Twitter to regain access.
"We also take action on any accounts we find that violate our terms of service, including asking account owners to confirm a phone number so we can confirm a human is behind it. That’s why some people may be experiencing suspensions or locks," the company said. "This is part of our ongoing, comprehensive efforts to make Twitter safer and healthier for everyone."...
https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/news/2018/02/21/trump-supporters-conservativ...
Jessica Guynn | Feb. 21, 2018
...The suspension of multiple accounts followed the indictment by special counsel Robert S. Mueller of Russian nationals for meddling in the U.S. election, including using fake accounts on Twitter to conduct "information warfare" against the United States.
...Twitter denied cracking down on conservative voices.
"Twitter’s tools are apolitical, and we enforce our rules without political bias," the company said in a statement. "As part of our ongoing work in safety, we identify suspicious account behaviors that indicate automated activity or violations of our policies around having multiple accounts, or abuse."
Twitter allows automated software to post tweets but bans the posting of misleading or abusive content or spam by bots.
...Some Twitter users complained Wednesday that they were locked out of their accounts and had to share a phone number with Twitter to regain access.
"We also take action on any accounts we find that violate our terms of service, including asking account owners to confirm a phone number so we can confirm a human is behind it. That’s why some people may be experiencing suspensions or locks," the company said. "This is part of our ongoing, comprehensive efforts to make Twitter safer and healthier for everyone."...
https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/news/2018/02/21/trump-supporters-conservativ...
129margd
Check out chart at website for your favorite news source. Few surprises:
How biased is your news source? You probably won’t agree with this chart
Shawn Langlois | March 1, 2018
...“In the past, national evening news programs, local evening news programs, and the front pages of print newspapers were dominated by fact-reporting stories,” says the chart’s creator, patent attorney Vanessa Otero. “Now, however, many sources people consider to be ‘news sources’ are actually dominated by analysis and opinion pieces.”
She released the first version of the chart back in 2016, and she’s updated it several times since. Over the past year, it’s gone viral, with thousands of educators at both the high school and college levels using the compelling visual. She says she’s “shocked” by all the attention it’s received and still gets requests every day.
Otero also talked about why such bias is so troubling.
“I think the extremes are very toxic and damaging to the country,” she explained to MarketWatch. “These extreme sources play on people’s worst instincts, like fear and tribalism, and take advantage of people’s confirmation biases.”...
www.marketwatch.com/story/how-biased-is-your-news-source-you-probably-wont-agree-with-this-chart-2018-02-28?mod=MW_story_top_stories
ETA: earlier version--
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/how-does-your-favorite-news-source-rate-on-the...
How biased is your news source? You probably won’t agree with this chart
Shawn Langlois | March 1, 2018
...“In the past, national evening news programs, local evening news programs, and the front pages of print newspapers were dominated by fact-reporting stories,” says the chart’s creator, patent attorney Vanessa Otero. “Now, however, many sources people consider to be ‘news sources’ are actually dominated by analysis and opinion pieces.”
She released the first version of the chart back in 2016, and she’s updated it several times since. Over the past year, it’s gone viral, with thousands of educators at both the high school and college levels using the compelling visual. She says she’s “shocked” by all the attention it’s received and still gets requests every day.
Otero also talked about why such bias is so troubling.
“I think the extremes are very toxic and damaging to the country,” she explained to MarketWatch. “These extreme sources play on people’s worst instincts, like fear and tribalism, and take advantage of people’s confirmation biases.”...
www.marketwatch.com/story/how-biased-is-your-news-source-you-probably-wont-agree-with-this-chart-2018-02-28?mod=MW_story_top_stories
ETA: earlier version--
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/how-does-your-favorite-news-source-rate-on-the...
130davidgn
A call for perspective.
https://www.buzzfeed.com/miriamelder/stop-blaming-russian-bots-for-everything
“I’m not convinced on this bot thing,” said one of the men behind the Russian bot thing.
https://www.buzzfeed.com/miriamelder/stop-blaming-russian-bots-for-everything
https://www.buzzfeed.com/miriamelder/stop-blaming-russian-bots-for-everything
“I’m not convinced on this bot thing,” said one of the men behind the Russian bot thing.
By now you know the drill: massive news event happens, journalists scramble to figure out what’s going on, and within a couple hours the culprit is found — Russian bots.
Russian bots were blamed for driving attention to the Nunes memo, a Republican-authored document on the Trump-Russia probe. They were blamed for pushing for Roy Moore to win in Alabama’s special election. And here they are wading into the gun debate following the Parkland shooting. “The messages from these automated accounts, or bots, were designed to widen the divide and make compromise even more difficult,” wrote the New York Times in a story following the shooting, citing little more than “Twitter accounts suspected of having links to Russia.”
This is, not to mince words, total bullshit.
The thing is, nearly every time you see a story blaming Russian bots for something, you can be pretty sure that the story can be traced back to a single source: the Hamilton 68 dashboard, founded by a group of respected researchers, including Clint Watts and JM Berger, and currently run under the auspices of the German Marshall Fund.
But even some of the people who popularized that metric now acknowledge it’s become totally overblown.
“I’m not convinced on this bot thing,” said Watts, the cofounder of a project that is widely cited as the main, if not only, source of information on Russian bots. He also called the narrative “overdone.”
The dashboard monitors 600 Twitter accounts “linked to Russian influence efforts online,” according to its own description, which means the accounts are not all directly traced back to Kremlin efforts, or even necessarily to Russia. “They are not all in Russia,” Watts said during a phone interview last week. “We don’t even think they’re all commanded in Russia — at all. We think some of them are legitimately passionate people that are just really into promoting Russia.” So, not bots.
We’ll likely never know the contents of the list for sure — because the researchers decline to divulge the identity of who they are monitoring. (The reasons they give for secrecy include worries that the accounts would then change their behavior and concerns over identifying accounts that are not, in fact, linked to Russian influence efforts, aka making a mistake.)
So that’s strike one: In what other world would we rely on a single source tool of anonymous provenance?
And then there’s strike two....
https://www.buzzfeed.com/miriamelder/stop-blaming-russian-bots-for-everything
131davidgn
I give you also Bershidsky, whose column I should have shared when it came out.
https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2018-02-19/mueller-s-indictment-of-russi...
https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2018-02-19/mueller-s-indictment-of-russi...
....The U.S. has laws that require foreign agents to register and which ban foreigners from buying campaign ads. These laws, however, have never been stringently applied -- not even during the Cold War, when the Soviet Union did its best to promote the peace movement in the U.S. and beyond. That treatment made sense then. Writing in the Christian Science Monitor in 1982, Daniel Southerland -- who would go on to become executive editor of U.S. government-funded Radio Free Asia -- called President Ronald Reagan's claim that Soviet secret agents were sent to the U.S. to foster the American nuclear freeze movement "an embarrassment for his administration." He also noted that U.S. officials felt that with or without the Soviets, the freeze movement "would probably be about where it is today."
The same can be said of the effect of Russian interference on the 2016 election and U.S. politics in general. That's obvious to Russians like myself who do not support the Putin regime and at the same time aren't paranoid about its capacity to wreak havoc outside Russia. As economist Konstantin Sonin, a University of Chicago professor, posted on Facebook, "I still don't see a mechanism through which an operation on a $5 million scale can seriously affect the outcome of a campaign in which one side spent $600 million and the other more than $1 billion."
But when it comes to Americans, it's somehow left only to Trumpsters to argue that the U.S. is not a gigantic snowball that can melt from a little Russian trolling.
...
Even if its impact was limited, the trolling campaign documented in the indictment is egregious for many Americans because it was conducted by foreigners and because the capacity for damage may be greater in the present internet-amplified era. But having lived through the Soviet system, I see a bigger threat than that: Limiting foreigners' ability to troll U.S. politicians, or even the political process as a whole, could be the first step toward doing the same for Americans. The next time someone rolls out a cage containing an actor impersonating a presidential candidate, it could be seen as a legitimate reason to investigate: What if the Russians (the Chinese, the North Koreans, the Iranians) are behind this? Even such an investigation would have the effect of censoring speech.
The other reason I'm not laughing is that the U.S. is on the verge of a misunderstanding that can be dangerous to me as a Russian citizen and to millions of other Russians living, working or just traveling in the West. Prigozhin is known as the funder of arm's length pro-Kremlin operations, such as the Wagner private military company and the Internet Research Agency. Their links to Putin are intentionally tenuous; that's why the indictment doesn't accuse the Russian government of any involvement. Americans are left to draw their own conclusions. The temptation is to believe these freelancers are "Russia," just as much as the Kremlin itself is.
The Internet Research Agency trolls got visas to travel to the U.S. for personal reasons, but instead, according to the indictment, they "gathered intelligence." The obvious next step for the U.S. is to decide that, since so many Russians work for the regime in unofficial capacities, all Russians are automatically suspect. Russians, I fear, may face increasing scrutiny when applying for jobs, bank accounts and other attributes of a normal life in the U.S. -- and the burden of proof that they are not Kremlin agents will be on them.
My American readers may not care much about that: Serves us Russians right for putting up with Putin. It's a legitimate view. And yet, as the supposedly stronger nation, the U.S. can afford not to submit to paranoia.
Perhaps the Trump-Russia story won't lead to any such repercussions for freedom of speech or for Russians in the West. That would be another reason to admire the U.S. I get a sense, though, that the partisan battle around Russian interference in the election will have some nasty, hard-to-reverse consequences.
1322wonderY
Local News Anchors Are Being Forced to Deliver Pro-Trump Propaganda
I think John Oliver did a piece like this last year.
Yep.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvtNyOzGogc
Sinclair Broadcast Group
I think John Oliver did a piece like this last year.
Yep.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvtNyOzGogc
Sinclair Broadcast Group
133margd
Lies spread faster than the truth
There is worldwide concern over false news and the possibility that it can influence political, economic, and social well-being. To understand how false news spreads, Vosoughi et al. used a data set of rumor cascades on Twitter from 2006 to 2017. About 126,000 rumors were spread by ∼3 million people. False news reached more people than the truth; the top 1% of false news cascades diffused to between 1000 and 100,000 people, whereas the truth rarely diffused to more than 1000 people. Falsehood also diffused faster than the truth. The degree of novelty and the emotional reactions of recipients may be responsible for the differences observed.
Soroush Vosoughi et al. 2018. The spread of true and false news online.
Science 09 Mar 2018: Vol. 359, Issue 6380, pp. 1146-1151
DOI: 10.1126/science. http://science.sciencemag.org/content/359/6380/1146.full
Abstract
We investigated the differential diffusion of all of the verified true and false news stories distributed on Twitter from 2006 to 2017. The data comprise ~126,000 stories tweeted by ~3 million people more than 4.5 million times. We classified news as true or false using information from six independent fact-checking organizations that exhibited 95 to 98% agreement on the classifications. Falsehood diffused significantly farther, faster, deeper, and more broadly than the truth in all categories of information, and the effects were more pronounced for false political news than for false news about terrorism, natural disasters, science, urban legends, or financial information. We found that false news was more novel than true news, which suggests that people were more likely to share novel information. Whereas false stories inspired fear, disgust, and surprise in replies, true stories inspired anticipation, sadness, joy, and trust. Contrary to conventional wisdom, robots accelerated the spread of true and false news at the same rate, implying that false news spreads more than the truth because humans, not robots, are more likely to spread it.
There is worldwide concern over false news and the possibility that it can influence political, economic, and social well-being. To understand how false news spreads, Vosoughi et al. used a data set of rumor cascades on Twitter from 2006 to 2017. About 126,000 rumors were spread by ∼3 million people. False news reached more people than the truth; the top 1% of false news cascades diffused to between 1000 and 100,000 people, whereas the truth rarely diffused to more than 1000 people. Falsehood also diffused faster than the truth. The degree of novelty and the emotional reactions of recipients may be responsible for the differences observed.
Soroush Vosoughi et al. 2018. The spread of true and false news online.
Science 09 Mar 2018: Vol. 359, Issue 6380, pp. 1146-1151
DOI: 10.1126/science. http://science.sciencemag.org/content/359/6380/1146.full
Abstract
We investigated the differential diffusion of all of the verified true and false news stories distributed on Twitter from 2006 to 2017. The data comprise ~126,000 stories tweeted by ~3 million people more than 4.5 million times. We classified news as true or false using information from six independent fact-checking organizations that exhibited 95 to 98% agreement on the classifications. Falsehood diffused significantly farther, faster, deeper, and more broadly than the truth in all categories of information, and the effects were more pronounced for false political news than for false news about terrorism, natural disasters, science, urban legends, or financial information. We found that false news was more novel than true news, which suggests that people were more likely to share novel information. Whereas false stories inspired fear, disgust, and surprise in replies, true stories inspired anticipation, sadness, joy, and trust. Contrary to conventional wisdom, robots accelerated the spread of true and false news at the same rate, implying that false news spreads more than the truth because humans, not robots, are more likely to spread it.
134margd
San Francisco’s ICE spokesman quits, disputes agency’s claim that 800 eluded arrest
Hamed Aleaziz | March 12, 2018
...James Schwab (San Francisco spokesman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement)...was frustrated by repeated statements by officials, including U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, that roughly 800 undocumented immigrants escaped arrest because of Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf’s Feb. 24 warning to the public about the four-day operation, issued the night before federal officers began staking out homes and knocking on doors.
Schwab wanted the agency to correct the number, which he understood to be far lower, and didn’t want to deflect media questions about it, he said.
“I quit because I didn’t want to perpetuate misleading facts,” said Schwab, 38, who was hired in 2015 and resigned last week. “I asked them to change the information. I told them that the information was wrong, they asked me to deflect, and I didn’t agree with that. Then I took some time and I quit.”...
https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/ICE-spokesman-said-to-quit-over-offi...
Hamed Aleaziz | March 12, 2018
...James Schwab (San Francisco spokesman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement)...was frustrated by repeated statements by officials, including U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, that roughly 800 undocumented immigrants escaped arrest because of Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf’s Feb. 24 warning to the public about the four-day operation, issued the night before federal officers began staking out homes and knocking on doors.
Schwab wanted the agency to correct the number, which he understood to be far lower, and didn’t want to deflect media questions about it, he said.
“I quit because I didn’t want to perpetuate misleading facts,” said Schwab, 38, who was hired in 2015 and resigned last week. “I asked them to change the information. I told them that the information was wrong, they asked me to deflect, and I didn’t agree with that. Then I took some time and I quit.”...
https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/ICE-spokesman-said-to-quit-over-offi...
135southernbooklady
>136 margd: We found that false news was more novel than true news, which suggests that people were more likely to share novel information. Whereas false stories inspired fear, disgust, and surprise in replies, true stories inspired anticipation, sadness, joy, and trust.
I would bet that "false news" spreads more easily because it is inherently simplistic, whereas "true news" is usually complex and multi-faceted since reality is complex and multi-faceted.
I would bet that "false news" spreads more easily because it is inherently simplistic, whereas "true news" is usually complex and multi-faceted since reality is complex and multi-faceted.
136margd
>138 pmackey: You'd win that bet, I think!
____________________________________________________
Our uninformed, fabricating president admits to lying:
In fundraising speech, Trump says he made up trade claim in meeting with Justin Trudeau
Josh Dawsey, Damian Paletta and Erica Werner | March 14, 2018
...“Trudeau came to see me. He’s a good guy, Justin. He said, ‘No, no, we have no trade deficit with you, we have none. Donald, please,’ ” Trump said, mimicking Trudeau, according to audio of the private event in Missouri obtained by The Washington Post. “Nice guy, good-looking guy, comes in — ‘Donald, we have no trade deficit.’ He’s very proud because everybody else, you know, we’re getting killed.
“ ... So, he’s proud. I said, ‘Wrong, Justin, you do.’ I didn’t even know. ... I had no idea. I just said, ‘You’re wrong.’ You know why? Because we’re so stupid. … And I thought they were smart. I said, ‘You’re wrong, Justin.’ He said, ‘Nope, we have no trade deficit.’ I said, ‘Well, in that case, I feel differently,’ I said, ‘but I don’t believe it.’ I sent one of our guys out, his guy, my guy, they went out, I said, ‘Check, because I can’t believe it.’
‘Well, sir, you’re actually right. We have no deficit, but that doesn’t include energy and timber. … And when you do, we lose $17 billion a year.’ It’s incredible.”
The Office of the United States Trade Representative says the United States has a trade surplus with Canada...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2018/03/14/in-fundraising-s...
ETA___________________________________________________
Why Trump’s admission that he made stuff up to Justin Trudeau is particularly bad
Aaron Blake | March 15, 2018
...(1) this is perhaps the one issue Trump has focused on for decades: Trade.
...(2) it was a rather pointless invention. Trudeau knows the truth
...(3) what it says about Trump's brand of diplomacy...What if (Trump)e just decides to wing it (in talks with North Korea) as he did with Trudeau?...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2018/03/15/why-trumps-admission-t...
____________________________________________________
Our uninformed, fabricating president admits to lying:
In fundraising speech, Trump says he made up trade claim in meeting with Justin Trudeau
Josh Dawsey, Damian Paletta and Erica Werner | March 14, 2018
...“Trudeau came to see me. He’s a good guy, Justin. He said, ‘No, no, we have no trade deficit with you, we have none. Donald, please,’ ” Trump said, mimicking Trudeau, according to audio of the private event in Missouri obtained by The Washington Post. “Nice guy, good-looking guy, comes in — ‘Donald, we have no trade deficit.’ He’s very proud because everybody else, you know, we’re getting killed.
“ ... So, he’s proud. I said, ‘Wrong, Justin, you do.’ I didn’t even know. ... I had no idea. I just said, ‘You’re wrong.’ You know why? Because we’re so stupid. … And I thought they were smart. I said, ‘You’re wrong, Justin.’ He said, ‘Nope, we have no trade deficit.’ I said, ‘Well, in that case, I feel differently,’ I said, ‘but I don’t believe it.’ I sent one of our guys out, his guy, my guy, they went out, I said, ‘Check, because I can’t believe it.’
‘Well, sir, you’re actually right. We have no deficit, but that doesn’t include energy and timber. … And when you do, we lose $17 billion a year.’ It’s incredible.”
The Office of the United States Trade Representative says the United States has a trade surplus with Canada...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2018/03/14/in-fundraising-s...
ETA___________________________________________________
Why Trump’s admission that he made stuff up to Justin Trudeau is particularly bad
Aaron Blake | March 15, 2018
...(1) this is perhaps the one issue Trump has focused on for decades: Trade.
...(2) it was a rather pointless invention. Trudeau knows the truth
...(3) what it says about Trump's brand of diplomacy...What if (Trump)e just decides to wing it (in talks with North Korea) as he did with Trudeau?...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2018/03/15/why-trumps-admission-t...
1372wonderY
What The Hell Is Trump Talking About With Japan Dropping Bowling Balls On Cars?
"Yesterday, in a speech given to donors in Missouri, President Trump had something to say about cars. And Japan. And bowling balls. Specifically, he suggested that, in Japan, they like to drop bowling balls on cars. I wish I was making this up, because it’s comedy gold. But it’s real, and the President really suggested that bowling balls are being dropped on car hoods in Japan, on purpose.
...
The question remains about exactly what dark, forgotten corner of his ass did President Trump pull this ridiculous story? Maybe he thinks because of Japan’s long struggles with Godzillas and other Kaiju, they have greater (and for us, unreasonable) expectations for their cars to handle falling rubble?"
"Yesterday, in a speech given to donors in Missouri, President Trump had something to say about cars. And Japan. And bowling balls. Specifically, he suggested that, in Japan, they like to drop bowling balls on cars. I wish I was making this up, because it’s comedy gold. But it’s real, and the President really suggested that bowling balls are being dropped on car hoods in Japan, on purpose.
...
The question remains about exactly what dark, forgotten corner of his ass did President Trump pull this ridiculous story? Maybe he thinks because of Japan’s long struggles with Godzillas and other Kaiju, they have greater (and for us, unreasonable) expectations for their cars to handle falling rubble?"
138pmackey
>140 margd: Maybe Trump was referring to something he saw on a Japanese game show. I've seen a few and they are weird. That's the kindest interpretation I can take.
139margd
>139 margd: contd.
Story of Trump making up facts in trade conversation with Trudeau may also be partially made up
Cormac MacSweeney | Mar 16, 2018
...The meeting the president was referring to may have been made up, as well.
...Canadian officials tell the Canadian Press they don’t know what meeting Trump is referring to. They point out the trade issue has come up in several discussion and one suggests maybe Trump is referring to a phone conversation, instead.
Maclean’s Ottawa Bureau Chief John Geddes...says it’s possible that Trump is molding details of different discussions, just for a good anecdote...
The prime minister’s office is not commenting.
http://www.news1130.com/2018/03/16/trump-trade-conversation-trudeau/
Story of Trump making up facts in trade conversation with Trudeau may also be partially made up
Cormac MacSweeney | Mar 16, 2018
...The meeting the president was referring to may have been made up, as well.
...Canadian officials tell the Canadian Press they don’t know what meeting Trump is referring to. They point out the trade issue has come up in several discussion and one suggests maybe Trump is referring to a phone conversation, instead.
Maclean’s Ottawa Bureau Chief John Geddes...says it’s possible that Trump is molding details of different discussions, just for a good anecdote...
The prime minister’s office is not commenting.
http://www.news1130.com/2018/03/16/trump-trade-conversation-trudeau/
140margd
Aleksandr Kogan... Any psych majors on LT familiar with him or his university (Cambridge)?
(http://www.neuroscience.cam.ac.uk/directory/profile.php)
Sounds like Kogan is a lecturer, not a professor (per article below) at Cambridge. Curious about his biography, but not posted. Any declared conflicts?
He is primary author on three of 14 publications, 2010-2015.
Research seems to have taken a slightly different direction in 2015, when 2010-2015 list of publications ends. He is not listed as co-author on these last two (2015) :
Kim H, Schimmack U, Cheng C, Webster GD, Spectre A (2015), “The role of positive self-evaluation on cross-cultural differences in well-being” Cross-Cultural Research
Yearwood MH, Cuddy A, Lamba N, Youyou W, van der Lowe I, Piff P, Gorintin C, Fleming P, Simon-Thomas E, Keltner D, Spectre A (2015), “On wealth and the diversity of friendships: High social class people around the world have fewer international friends” Personality and Individual Differences)
________________________________________________
Facebook bans Trump-affiliated data firm Cambridge Analytica
David Hamilton | March 17 at 4:11 AM
Facebook suspended Cambridge Analytica, a data-analysis firm that worked for President Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign, over allegations that it held onto improperly obtained user data after telling Facebook it had deleted the information.
...270,000 people downloaded (Facebook app that purported to be a psychological research tool) and shared their personal details with it...
...also suspended the access of Cambridge Analytica’s parent company, Strategic Communication Laboratories; the academic who created the app in question, a University of Cambridge psychology professor named Aleksandr Kogan; and another individual, Christopher Wylie of Eunoia Technologies, who also allegedly received the user data from the app.
...Cambridge Analytica...said...SCL Elections unit hired Kogan to undertake “a large scale research project in the U.S.” ...
Cambridge Analytica...is backed by the family of billionaire donor Robert Mercer, a hedge fund manager who also supported the Trump campaign and other conservative candidates and causes.
...the company has also surfaced a few times during the probes into Russian interference in the 2016 election...Michael Flynn...disclosed an advisory role with Cambridge Analytica last August...the company reached out to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange during the campaign to request emails related to the Hillary Clinton campaign...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/facebook-bans-trump-affiliate...
(http://www.neuroscience.cam.ac.uk/directory/profile.php)
Sounds like Kogan is a lecturer, not a professor (per article below) at Cambridge. Curious about his biography, but not posted. Any declared conflicts?
He is primary author on three of 14 publications, 2010-2015.
Research seems to have taken a slightly different direction in 2015, when 2010-2015 list of publications ends. He is not listed as co-author on these last two (2015) :
Kim H, Schimmack U, Cheng C, Webster GD, Spectre A (2015), “The role of positive self-evaluation on cross-cultural differences in well-being” Cross-Cultural Research
Yearwood MH, Cuddy A, Lamba N, Youyou W, van der Lowe I, Piff P, Gorintin C, Fleming P, Simon-Thomas E, Keltner D, Spectre A (2015), “On wealth and the diversity of friendships: High social class people around the world have fewer international friends” Personality and Individual Differences)
________________________________________________
Facebook bans Trump-affiliated data firm Cambridge Analytica
David Hamilton | March 17 at 4:11 AM
Facebook suspended Cambridge Analytica, a data-analysis firm that worked for President Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign, over allegations that it held onto improperly obtained user data after telling Facebook it had deleted the information.
...270,000 people downloaded (Facebook app that purported to be a psychological research tool) and shared their personal details with it...
...also suspended the access of Cambridge Analytica’s parent company, Strategic Communication Laboratories; the academic who created the app in question, a University of Cambridge psychology professor named Aleksandr Kogan; and another individual, Christopher Wylie of Eunoia Technologies, who also allegedly received the user data from the app.
...Cambridge Analytica...said...SCL Elections unit hired Kogan to undertake “a large scale research project in the U.S.” ...
Cambridge Analytica...is backed by the family of billionaire donor Robert Mercer, a hedge fund manager who also supported the Trump campaign and other conservative candidates and causes.
...the company has also surfaced a few times during the probes into Russian interference in the 2016 election...Michael Flynn...disclosed an advisory role with Cambridge Analytica last August...the company reached out to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange during the campaign to request emails related to the Hillary Clinton campaign...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/facebook-bans-trump-affiliate...
141margd
The great British Brexit robbery: how our democracy was hijacked
Carole Cadwalladr | May 7, 2017
This article is the subject of legal complaints on behalf of Cambridge Analytica LLC and SCL Elections Limited. (!!!)
A shadowy global operation involving big data, billionaire friends of Trump and the disparate forces of the Leave campaign influenced the result of the EU referendum. As Britain heads to the polls again, is our electoral process still fit for purpose?
...Robert Mercer and Steve Bannon...evidence suggesting they were on a strategic mission to smash the mainstream media and replace it with one comprising alternative facts, fake history and rightwing propaganda.
Mercer is a brilliant computer scientist, a pioneer in early artificial intelligence, and the co-owner of one of the most successful hedge funds on the planet (with a gravity-defying 71.8% annual return). And, he is also, I discovered, good friends with Nigel Farage. Andy Wigmore, Leave. EU’s communications director, told me that it was Mercer who had directed his company, Cambridge Analytica, to “help” the Leave campaign.
...Martin Moore, director of the centre for the study of communication, media and power at King’s College London has been asking too. “I went through all the Leave campaign invoices when the Electoral Commission uploaded them to its site in February. And I kept on discovering all these huge amounts going to a company that not only had I never heard of, but that there was practically nothing at all about on the internet. More money was spent with AggregateIQ than with any other company in any other campaign in the entire referendum. All I found, at that time, was a one-page website and that was it. It was an absolute mystery.”
Moore contributed to an LSE report published in April that concluded UK’s electoral laws were “weak and helpless” in the face of new forms of digital campaigning. Offshore companies, money poured into databases, unfettered third parties… the caps on spending had come off. The laws that had always underpinned Britain’s electoral laws were no longer fit for purpose. Laws, the report said, that needed “urgently reviewing by parliament”.
...This is Britain in 2017. A Britain that increasingly looks like a “managed” democracy. Paid for by a US billionaire. Using military-style technology. Delivered by Facebook. And enabled by us. If we let this referendum result stand, we are giving it our implicit consent. This isn’t about Remain or Leave. It goes far beyond party politics. It’s about the first step into a brave, new, increasingly undemocratic world.
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/may/07/the-great-british-brexit-robb...
Carole Cadwalladr | May 7, 2017
This article is the subject of legal complaints on behalf of Cambridge Analytica LLC and SCL Elections Limited. (!!!)
A shadowy global operation involving big data, billionaire friends of Trump and the disparate forces of the Leave campaign influenced the result of the EU referendum. As Britain heads to the polls again, is our electoral process still fit for purpose?
...Robert Mercer and Steve Bannon...evidence suggesting they were on a strategic mission to smash the mainstream media and replace it with one comprising alternative facts, fake history and rightwing propaganda.
Mercer is a brilliant computer scientist, a pioneer in early artificial intelligence, and the co-owner of one of the most successful hedge funds on the planet (with a gravity-defying 71.8% annual return). And, he is also, I discovered, good friends with Nigel Farage. Andy Wigmore, Leave. EU’s communications director, told me that it was Mercer who had directed his company, Cambridge Analytica, to “help” the Leave campaign.
...Martin Moore, director of the centre for the study of communication, media and power at King’s College London has been asking too. “I went through all the Leave campaign invoices when the Electoral Commission uploaded them to its site in February. And I kept on discovering all these huge amounts going to a company that not only had I never heard of, but that there was practically nothing at all about on the internet. More money was spent with AggregateIQ than with any other company in any other campaign in the entire referendum. All I found, at that time, was a one-page website and that was it. It was an absolute mystery.”
Moore contributed to an LSE report published in April that concluded UK’s electoral laws were “weak and helpless” in the face of new forms of digital campaigning. Offshore companies, money poured into databases, unfettered third parties… the caps on spending had come off. The laws that had always underpinned Britain’s electoral laws were no longer fit for purpose. Laws, the report said, that needed “urgently reviewing by parliament”.
...This is Britain in 2017. A Britain that increasingly looks like a “managed” democracy. Paid for by a US billionaire. Using military-style technology. Delivered by Facebook. And enabled by us. If we let this referendum result stand, we are giving it our implicit consent. This isn’t about Remain or Leave. It goes far beyond party politics. It’s about the first step into a brave, new, increasingly undemocratic world.
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/may/07/the-great-british-brexit-robb...
1422wonderY
Here’s a fascinating interview with a Cambridge Analytica whistleblower:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXdYSQ6nu-M
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXdYSQ6nu-M
143margd
>145 margd: Participant/whistleblower's account suspended by Facebook...
Suspended by @facebook. For blowing the whistle. On something they have known privately for 2 years.
-Christopher Wylie @chrisinsilico | 18 Mar 2018
Suspended by @facebook. For blowing the whistle. On something they have known privately for 2 years.
-Christopher Wylie @chrisinsilico | 18 Mar 2018
1442wonderY
http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/379040-trump-required-staff-to-sign-n...
That can’t be legal, can it?
That can’t be legal, can it?
146southernbooklady
I don't think it would survive a court challenge. Too bad there isn't a ten million dollar fine for government officials caught attempting to implement egregiously unconstitutional legislation.
147Guanhumara
>143 margd:
Here is Aleksandr Kogan's biography, according to Cambridge student newspaper: https://www.varsity.co.uk/news/15192
Born in Moldova, raised and educated in the USA.
The fact that he held an academic post at Cambridge University and another job with a tech company is not that unusual.
He also held an associate professorship at St. Petersburg University, for which he did research on social media, funded by the Russian government.
Here is Aleksandr Kogan's biography, according to Cambridge student newspaper: https://www.varsity.co.uk/news/15192
Born in Moldova, raised and educated in the USA.
The fact that he held an academic post at Cambridge University and another job with a tech company is not that unusual.
He also held an associate professorship at St. Petersburg University, for which he did research on social media, funded by the Russian government.
148margd
>147 Guanhumara: >149 2wonderY: Who would defend a non-disclosure agreement? Surely not a future Administration? (Unless President Ivanka. ;-) Trump has SO many people in his revolving door, surely even he couldn't afford to fight them all (and their publishers.)
ACLU might defend? Sounds like WH employees already incur lots of legal fees...
ETA_____________________________________________________________
03/19/2018 09:33 pm ET
Lawyer Offers To Represent Any Trump Staffer Who Breaks ‘Forever’ Nondisclosure Pacts
Mary Papenfuss | March 19, 2018
...This is an unconstitutional prohibition on 1st Amendment rights. My law firm offers to rep pro bono any signatory (or individual legitimately contemplating) of these NDAs. Former employees can only be lawfully prevented from disclosing classified info.@BradMossEsq@AndrewBakajhttps://t.co/awdjHweJmF
— Mark S. Zaid (@MarkSZaidEsq) March 19, 2018
(represents government workers in free speech and national security cases, founding partner of the nonprofit law firm Whistleblower Aid)
...“Public employees can’t be gagged by private agreements,” Ben Wizner of the American Civil Liberties Union said in a statement. “These so-called NDAs are unconstitutional and unenforceable.”
The agreements “strike me as clearly unconstitutional under the First Amendment,” University of Minnesota law professor Heidi Kitrosser told Reuters. University of Florida law professor Mark Fenster told the outlet that “public employees can’t be forced to sign away the right to speak.”
Experts also noted that White House staffers don’t technically work for Trump, but for the United States, which would be the only party that could enforce the NDAs — and that’s not likely to happen...
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/mark-zaid-trump-nondisclosure-pacts_us_5ab0...
ACLU might defend? Sounds like WH employees already incur lots of legal fees...
ETA_____________________________________________________________
03/19/2018 09:33 pm ET
Lawyer Offers To Represent Any Trump Staffer Who Breaks ‘Forever’ Nondisclosure Pacts
Mary Papenfuss | March 19, 2018
...This is an unconstitutional prohibition on 1st Amendment rights. My law firm offers to rep pro bono any signatory (or individual legitimately contemplating) of these NDAs. Former employees can only be lawfully prevented from disclosing classified info.@BradMossEsq@AndrewBakajhttps://t.co/awdjHweJmF
— Mark S. Zaid (@MarkSZaidEsq) March 19, 2018
(represents government workers in free speech and national security cases, founding partner of the nonprofit law firm Whistleblower Aid)
...“Public employees can’t be gagged by private agreements,” Ben Wizner of the American Civil Liberties Union said in a statement. “These so-called NDAs are unconstitutional and unenforceable.”
The agreements “strike me as clearly unconstitutional under the First Amendment,” University of Minnesota law professor Heidi Kitrosser told Reuters. University of Florida law professor Mark Fenster told the outlet that “public employees can’t be forced to sign away the right to speak.”
Experts also noted that White House staffers don’t technically work for Trump, but for the United States, which would be the only party that could enforce the NDAs — and that’s not likely to happen...
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/mark-zaid-trump-nondisclosure-pacts_us_5ab0...
1492wonderY
Cambridge Analytica story just keeps getting more interesting.
Cambridge Analytica, Trump-Tied Political Firm, Offered to Entrap Politicians
a summary of Britain's Channel 4 News investigative reporting:
Revealed: Trump’s election consultants filmed saying they use bribes and sex workers to entrap politicians
And then there's this
Data Firm Tied to Trump Campaign Talked Business With Russians
... Christopher Wylie, who helped found Cambridge Analytica and develop the company’s voter-profiling technology, said Lukoil showed interest in how the company used data to tailor messaging to American voters.
“I remember being super confused,” said Mr. Wylie, who took part in one of the Lukoil meetings.
“I kept asking Alexander, ‘Can you explain to me what they want?’” he said, referring to Mr. Nix. “I don’t understand why Lukoil wants to know about political targeting in America.”
“We’re sending them stuff about political targeting — they then come and ask more about political targeting,” Mr. Wylie said, adding that Lukoil “just didn’t seem to be interested” in how the techniques could be used commercially.
Cambridge Analytica, Trump-Tied Political Firm, Offered to Entrap Politicians
a summary of Britain's Channel 4 News investigative reporting:
Revealed: Trump’s election consultants filmed saying they use bribes and sex workers to entrap politicians
And then there's this
Data Firm Tied to Trump Campaign Talked Business With Russians
... Christopher Wylie, who helped found Cambridge Analytica and develop the company’s voter-profiling technology, said Lukoil showed interest in how the company used data to tailor messaging to American voters.
“I remember being super confused,” said Mr. Wylie, who took part in one of the Lukoil meetings.
“I kept asking Alexander, ‘Can you explain to me what they want?’” he said, referring to Mr. Nix. “I don’t understand why Lukoil wants to know about political targeting in America.”
“We’re sending them stuff about political targeting — they then come and ask more about political targeting,” Mr. Wylie said, adding that Lukoil “just didn’t seem to be interested” in how the techniques could be used commercially.
150Guanhumara
>152 margd: Well, they did have their own presidential elections going on...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-43452449
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-43452449
1512wonderY
>147 Guanhumara: Others weighing in on the question of NDAs for government employees:
Any White House Staffer Who Signed Trump's NDA Offered Pro Bono Representation From Prominent D.C. Lawyer
Any White House Staffer Who Signed Trump's NDA Offered Pro Bono Representation From Prominent D.C. Lawyer
152margd
Startling video (17:22).
(Ironic to see a manipulative, high-tech company have its own privacy invaded the old fashioned way.)
Exposed: Undercover secrets of Trump’s data firm
20 Mar 2018
...Cambridge Analytica claims it ran key parts of the presidential campaign for Donald Trump.
The British data company was secretly filmed discussing coordination between Trump’s campaign and outside groups – an activity which is potentially illegal.
Executives claimed they “ran all the digital campaign, the television campaign and our data informed all the strategy” for President Trump.
In the third part of a Channel 4 News investigation into Cambridge Analytica, bosses also talked about:
The full scale of their pivotal work in Trump’s election win
How they avoid Congressional investigations into their foreign clients
Setting up proxy organisations to feed untraceable messages onto social media
Using a secret email system where messages self-destruct and leave no trace
Cambridge Analytica’s involvement in the “Defeat Crooked Hilary” brand of attack ads...
https://www.channel4.com/news/exposed-undercover-secrets-of-donald-trump-data-fi...
(Ironic to see a manipulative, high-tech company have its own privacy invaded the old fashioned way.)
Exposed: Undercover secrets of Trump’s data firm
20 Mar 2018
...Cambridge Analytica claims it ran key parts of the presidential campaign for Donald Trump.
The British data company was secretly filmed discussing coordination between Trump’s campaign and outside groups – an activity which is potentially illegal.
Executives claimed they “ran all the digital campaign, the television campaign and our data informed all the strategy” for President Trump.
In the third part of a Channel 4 News investigation into Cambridge Analytica, bosses also talked about:
The full scale of their pivotal work in Trump’s election win
How they avoid Congressional investigations into their foreign clients
Setting up proxy organisations to feed untraceable messages onto social media
Using a secret email system where messages self-destruct and leave no trace
Cambridge Analytica’s involvement in the “Defeat Crooked Hilary” brand of attack ads...
https://www.channel4.com/news/exposed-undercover-secrets-of-donald-trump-data-fi...
This topic was continued by "Information" in the Time of Trump #3.
