Trump, John Legend and 'filthy-mouthed' Chrissy Teigen spar about US criminal justice reform
rt.com | 2019-09-09
President Donald Trump has sparked a Twitter spat with John Legend and Chrissy Teigen after he accused them of stealing the credit for his criminal justice reforms, prompting them to clap back and call him a "p*ssy-ass b**ch." | Trump had tweeted that he'd been able to do what "no one else did" in passing criminal justice reform into law, and slammed "boring musician" Legend, "his filthy mouthed wife" Teigen and others for "taking the praise" for his work, which, he boasted, President Barack Obama "couldn't come close" to achieving. | When all of the people pushing so hard for Criminal Justice Reform were unab…
rt.com/usa/468390-trump-legend-tiegen-twitter/

Tom Noddy Explains How the Santa Cruz Recall is Undemocratic
Santa Cruz News Network | indybay.org | 2019-09-09
Known world-wide as a performing artist for his enchanting "Bubble-Magic" show, Santa Cruz's Tom Noddy explains why he believes the campaign to recall Santa Cruz City Councilmembers Chris Krohn and Drew Glover is "an effort to reverse the results of the election through a less democratic process". In a recent post on his Facebook page, Noddy states: "the two progressives, in order to hold their seats, must receive 50% +1 of the electorate and if they don't, they will be replaced by one of the field of opponents who will win the seat if they get the most votes of any of the opponents in the field running against t…
indybay.org/newsitems/2019/09/07/18826067.php

What if President Trump Is in "Cognitive Decline"? No, Seriously
Steve Almond | globalresearch.ca | 2019-09-08
For the past few days, our president — back at work after a busy August spent golfing and rage tweeting — has been making stuff up about Hurricane Dorian, the deadly storm currently battering the Southeast. | Late-night comedians have been …
globalresearch.ca/president-trump-cognitive-decline-seriously/5688403

Ultimate troll? Trump tweets meme-y CNN video amid Hurricane Dorian 'Sharpie' scandal
rt.com | 2019-09-08
The internet is in meltdown mode after Donald Trump tweeted a CNN-mocking meme inspired by his recent briefing on Hurricane Dorian. Media outlets accused Trump of making erroneous changes to a map showing the hurricane's path. | Reports allege that during a White House briefing, Trump incorrectly altered a map with a Sharpie felt pen to highlight areas of Alabama that could be targeted by the cyclone. The hurricane never hit the state, sparking allegations that Trump had made the whole thing up. | Trump posted a series of tweets defending his statement, insisting that initial forecasts predicted that the south…
rt.com/usa/468338-trump-cat-laser-tweets/

Hillary Clinton & Elizabeth Warren's 'secret talks' ignite outrage, mockery on social media
rt.com | 2019-09-08
Democratic presidential candidate Senator Elizabeth Warren is reportedly in talks with failed presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, a move that's at odds with Warren's progressive image, and people really aren't happy about it. | The two have been in communication since the Massachusetts senator announced her presidential run, although both are keeping quiet about it, NBC reports, citing several people who wished to remain anonymous. | pic.twitter.com/pm4FPOttz…
rt.com/usa/468349-warren-clinton-talks-reaction/

Four missing, 20 rescued after cargo ship capsizes off Georgia coast
rt.com | 2019-09-08
The US Coast Guard is searching for four crew members of a large cargo vessel that capsized while a fire on board still raged. Twenty people have so far been rescued, and four remain missing. | The 656-foot vehicle carrier, the M/V Golden Ray, is listing heavily in the St. Simons Sound. Images from the scene show smoke rising from its side. | #Coast Guard photos show the 200-meter-long vessel with an extreme list and an internal fire amidships. 20 rescued, 4 missing. Was en route to Baltimore t.co/SsfcVHD7S0 pic.twitter.com/pLZ…
rt.com/usa/468367-vessel-distress-missing-sailors/

Tom Noddy Explains How the Santa Cruz Recall is Undemocratic
Santa Cruz News Network | indybay.org | 2019-09-08
Known world-wide as a performing artist for his enchanting "Bubble-Magic" show, Santa Cruz's Tom Noddy explains why he believes the campaign to recall Santa Cruz City Councilmembers Chris Krohn and Drew Glover is "an effort to reverse the results of the election through a less democratic process". In a recent post on his Facebook page, Noddy states: "the two progressives, in order to hold their seats, must receive 50% +1 of the electorate and if they don't, they will be replaced by one of the field of opponents who will win the seat if they get the most votes of any of the opponents in the field running against t…
indybay.org/newsitems/2019/09/07/18826067.php

Trump Scraps Afghan Peace Talks With Taliban Over Attack
telesurenglish.net | 2019-09-07
United States President Donald Trump informed Saturday he canceled peace talks with Afghanistan's Taliban leaders after the group claimed the attack in Kabul that killed a U.S. soldier and 11 civilians. | RELATED: | 'We're Going to Always Have a Presence in Afghanistan': Trump | "If they cannot agree to a ceasefire during these very important peace talks…then they probably don't have the power to negotiate a meaningful agreement anyway," Trump said on Twitter. | The U.S. presiden…
telesurenglish.net/news/Trump-Scraps-Afghan-Peace-Talks-With-Taliban-Over-Attack-20190907-0011.html

Extinction Via Rugged Individualism
Kathleen Wallace | counterpunch.org | 2019-09-06
I was recently amused by a train of thought on Twitter excoriating Henry David Thoreau for his experiment in self-sufficient living. True, he was on the land of his wealthy neighbor, his mother did his laundry (and brought him old-timey donuts to eat), but it was rugged, dammit. Okay, it was something akin to a…
counterpunch.org/2019/09/06/extinction-via-rugged-individualism/

Serena Poised for Multiple Record-Breakers at US Open Final
telesurenglish.net | 2019-09-06
Tantalizingly close to tying Margaret Court's record 24 Grand Slam titles, Williams is already tennis' undisputed GOAT (Greatest of All Time) in the eyes of her legions of adoring fans, with an ever-growing, odds-defying career and trophy case. | RELATED: | #UyineneMrwetyana: South Africans Storm Twitter Against University Student's Rape, Murder | Of course, winning at the Arthur Ashe Stadium on Saturday would also mean breaking Chris Evert's record of 10…
telesurenglish.net/news/Serena-Poised-for-Multiple-Record-Breakers-at-US-Open-Final-20190906-0011.html

US states scrutinize Google & Facebook dominance, privacy abuses in massive antitrust probes
rt.com | 2019-09-06
Over 40 state attorneys general have joined forces to investigate whether Big Tech powerhouses Facebook and Google violated antitrust laws with anticompetitive practices, hurting users in the process. | Prosecutors in the first probe will check whether Facebook "stifled competition and put users at risk," New York Attorney General Letitia James, who is leading the investigation, said on Friday. The attorneys general of Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Nebraska, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee, and the District of Columbia are also taking part in the probe. | Even the largest social media platform in the world must fol…
rt.com/usa/468175-states-probe-facebook-antitrust/

UN health agency welcomes Facebook pledge to stop vaccine misinformation from going viral
United Nations | un.org | 2019-09-05
The World Health Organization (WHO) on Thursday welcomed Facebook's pledge to ensure users can separate fact from fiction when it comes to vaccines, across its platforms from Facebook Search, to Groups, Pages and forums.
news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2019/09/1045692

'McCarthy style racist': Trump shreds actress Debra Messing over Hollywood donor 'blacklist'
rt.com | 2019-09-05
US President Donald Trump has fired back at Will & Grace co-star Debra Messing over her call for a Hollywood Trump donor "blacklist," calling the actress a "McCarthy style racist" and suggesting she should lose her job. | Wading into the controversy in a pair of tweets on Thursday morning, the president shredded Messing's demand last week for the de facto blacklist, drawing parallels to the McCarthy era, when suspected communists were blackballed from their professions. | "Bad 'actress' Debra The Mess Messing is in hot water," he said. "She wants to create a 'Blacklist' of Trump supporters, & is being accused…
rt.com/usa/468125-trump-messing-mccarthy-racist/

Big Tech & Big Brother meet at Facebook HQ to discuss how to 'secure' US elections
rt.com | 2019-09-05
Security teams for Facebook, Google, Twitter and Microsoft met with the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security and the Director of National Intelligence's office to coordinate a strategy to secure the 2020 elections. | The tech platforms met with government officials at Facebook's Menlo Park headquarters on Wednesday, the company has confirmed, boasting that Big Tech and Big Brother have developed a "comprehensive strategy" to get control of previous election-related "vulnerabilities" while "analyzing and getting ahead of new threats." | Facebook has scrambled to get in front of the 2020 election after being…
rt.com/usa/468060-big-tech-government-election-security/

Thursday's Daily Brief: Facebook rallies against vaccination 'fake news', DPR Korea UN staff cuts call, Syria crop report, crisis funding and Dorian latest
United Nations | un.org | 2019-09-05
A recap of Thursday's stories: Facebook and WHO work together to stem misinformation on vaccines; North Korea tells UN to cut staff; $75 million allocated for eight crises; mixed news on Syria crop production; 'digital divide' sidelines most vulnerable.
news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2019/09/1045732

Hong Kong: Google censors China
Sara Flounders | workers.org | 2019-09-04
Google stripped away the illusion that the continuing protests in Hong Kong are about democracy when on Aug. 20 the internet monopoly suspended 936 Twitter accounts and disabled 210 YouTube channels, charging them with seeking to "discredit Hong Kong's pro-democracy movement and sow political discord in the city." (theguardian.com, Aug. 23) Twitter . . . | Continue reading Hong Kong: Google censors China at Workers.org…
workers.org/2019/09/04/hong-kong-google-censors-china/

'Will & Grace' actor says his idea of Hollywood Trump donors blacklist was 'misinterpreted'
rt.com | 2019-09-04
Star of American sitcom 'Will & Grace' Eric McCormack is backpedaling on his demand for news outlets to name President Donald Trump's donors, accusing critics of "misinterpreting" his words. | The actor's apparent reversal comes after he penned a tweet last week asking the Hollywood Reporter — which covers entertainment industry news — to "kindly report" the name of every person attending a Trump fundraising event in Beverly Hills, "so the rest of us can be clear about who we don't wanna work with." H…
rt.com/usa/468053-actor-reverses-trump-blacklist/

Israel's Online Occupation of Palestine
Miriam Deprez | progressive.org | 2019-08-23
How a Facebook post can land you in prison.
progressive.org/dispatches/israels-online-occupation-of-palestine-deprez-190823/

Marjorie Taylor Greene: How an Outspoken MAGA Fan Built a Following in a World of Extremists
Hatewatch Staff | splcenter.org | 2019-08-16
Originally a MAGA supporter but now an emerging MAGA star, Marjorie Taylor Greene has deftly leveraged social media and confrontations in public to increase her visibility. Now she's entering politics as a GOP candidate for Georgia's 6th Congressional District.
splcenter.org/hatewatch/2019/08/16/marjorie-taylor-greene-how-outspoken-maga-fan-built-following-world-extremists