Daily Archives: August 17, 2019

2019-08-17: News Headlines

unitedEditor (2019-08-17). How do the Western powers use social networks for their own political goals? uwidata.com A recent story by the Washington Post revealed that Facebook's algorithms had censored the United States' Declaration of Independence, flagging it for alleged "hate speech".

teleSUR (2019-08-17). 'May God Ruin Him': Rashida Tlaib's Grandma on Trump. telesurenglish.net The grandmother of U.S. congresswoman Rashida Tlaib of Michigan slammed President Donald Trump after the latter made an insensitive comment on Twitter about her granddaughter. | RELATED: | Rashida Tlaib Blasts Israel for 'Oppressive Conditions' | Muftia Tlaib, the grandmother of House Representative Rashida Tlaib, responded to Trump's comments by stating "may God ruin him." ‚Äã‚ÄãNinety-year-old Muftia Tlaib, sitting in her garden in the village of…

Ashoka Mukpo (2019-08-17). Corrections Officer Who Struck Rhode Island ICE Protesters With Pickup Truck Resigns. commondreams.org "In a Twitter post, Never Again Action described Woodworth's resignation as a 'first step' but called for Wyatt to be shut down and for people detained there to be released," Mukpo wrote. (Photo: Never Again Action/Twitter Screengrab) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/ice_truck.jpg

Jessica Piper (2019-08-17). The Democratic field shrinks as Hickenlooper heads back to Colorado. nationofchange.org Former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper announced the end of his presidential run Thursday, becoming the second major candidate to drop out of the still-massive Democratic primary field. | Once discussed as a potential running mate for Hillary Clinton in 2016, Hickenlooper failed to gain traction in the crowded Democratic primary field. Through the end of the second quarter, he raised just $3.1 million, and he had less than $900,000 cash on hand to ke…

Tom Coburg (2019-08-17). MP tweets plan for no deal Brexit regardless of a no confidence vote in Johnson government. thecanary.co Conservative MP Tom Tugendhat has outlined a plan by which the UK government, led by Boris Johnson, could ensure a no deal Brexit. Moreover, if the plan went ahead, it would mean that a vote of no confidence in the government would be curtailed. | The plan: | Tugendhat, who is the chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, outlined the plan via Twitter: | What odds would you give on: | 1 UK exits EU by 24 Aug — in time for G7 or before Parliament returns. Art 50 passed so nothing to stop unilateral withdrawal. | 2 General Election straight after to get majority. | 3 Answer Irish border Q with NI only re…

Neve Gordon (2019-08-16). It's No Wonder the Military likes Violent Video Games, They Can Help Train Civilians to Become Warriors. counterpunch.org Following the recent massacres in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio, the bestselling author Keith Boykin tweeted: Trump is on TV blaming the Internet, social media, video games and mental health for the mass shootings. Nonsense! Every country has Google, Facebook, video games and people with mental health issues. What they don't have is More

Staff (2019-08-16). Trump Tweets, Then Netanyahu Bans Reps. Ilhan Omar & Rashida Tlaib From Israel. therealnews.com Jim Zogby and Phyllis Bennis discuss the Trump-Netanyahu dynamic, the diminishing power of AIPAC, and the political battle against Rep. Omar and Rep. Tlaib…

RT (2019-08-16). Twitter censors come for Scaramucci over 'fat shaming' Trump. rt.com Anthony Scaramucci, onetime supporter turned vocal critic of US President Donald Trump, got locked out of Twitter for what the platform said was "abusive behavior," after calling the president fat.

Staff (2019-08-16). What's Really Behind Trump's Israel Tweets. truthdig.com WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump's encouragement and support of Israel's decision to ban two Democratic lawmakers may play well to his political base, but it could endanger the foundations of the U.S.-Israel relationship in the longer term. | The move on Thursday to bar Reps. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota from Israel fueled a partisan fire over the Jewish state that has been raging in the United States, with Trump eagerly fanning the flames. | On Friday, though, Israel's interior minister, Aryeh Deri, said he had received and granted a request by Tlaib to enter the Israeli-occupie…

Staff (2019-08-16). Customs and Border Protection Outage Snarls Major Airports. truthdig.com DALLAS — Travelers flying into the United States on Friday ran into long lines at major airports nationwide because of a temporary computer outage that affected the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency. | Airports warned travelers — both Americans returning home and foreign visitors — of delays, and some travelers tweeted photos and videos of huge lines. | A CBP spokeswoman said the systems were running again by early evening on the East Coast. | The agency didn't precisely describe the breakdown, but the spokeswoman said there was "no indication of any nefarious activity." She said officer…

Hatewatch Staff (2019-08-16). Marjorie Taylor Greene: How an Outspoken MAGA Fan Built a Following in a World of Extremists. splcenter.org 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.

teleSUR (2019-08-16). Greenland Rejects Idea of Trump Buying Island. telesurenglish.net U.S. President Donald Trump privately discussed with his advisers this week the idea of buying the world's biggest island, Greenland, from Denmark. | RELATED: | Greenland Loses Two Gigatons of Ice to 'Unusual' Melt, Heat | However, it appears the people of Greenland are opposed to the notion that island nation would become part of the United States, especially after Trump's inquiry. | In response to Trump's inquiry, several politicians from Greenland took to social media to reject…

Sam Biddle (2019-08-16). Trauma Counselors Were Pressured to Divulge Confidential Information About Facebook Moderators, Internal Letter Claims. theintercept.com Nearly 1,500 miles from the Menlo Park headquarters of Facebook, at a company outpost in Austin, Texas, moderators toil around the clock to screen and scrub some the most gruesome, hateful, and heinous posts that make their way onto the social network and its photo-sharing subsidiary, Instagram. They are required to view as many as 800 pieces of disturbing content in a single shift, and routinely turn to on-site counselors to help cope with the procession of stomach-turning images, videos, and text. But some members of this invisible army have complained, in a statement widely circulated within Facebook, that the…

Staff (2019-08-16). Just How Secure Are the 2020 Elections? truthdig.com The Las Vegas strip may be the foremost place in America to escape from everyday life. But this past weekend's Def Con 27 conference—for hackers, programmers, technologists, security experts, and anyone else on the frontlines of cyberspace—was a sobering reckoning with America's fraught voting systems. | In virtually every corner—in presentations, a " Voting Village" where college students took apart and reprogrammed currently used voting machines, ha…

Staff (2019-08-16). What Is Israel Trying to Hide? Reps. Tlaib & Omar Blocked from Taking Official Trip to West Bank. democracynow.org Israel sparked outrage Thursday when it banned two freshman Democratic congresswomen of color — Reps. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota — from entering the country. Following outcry from Democratic leaders and Palestinians, Israel granted permission for Tlaib to enter the country on "humanitarian" grounds to visit her family in the West Bank — though Tlaib said Friday she will not visit her family under such conditions. Israel originally denied entrance to Tlaib and Omar after President Donald Trump tweeted, "It would show great weakness if Israel allowed Rep. Omar and Rep.Tl…

Staff (2019-08-15). Headlines for August 15, 2019. democracynow.org Trump Administration Moves to Seize Iranian Tanker Held in Gibraltar, Chinese Paramilitaries Mass on Hong Kong Border as Pro-Democracy Protests Continue, Dow Jones Plunges 800 Points on Fears of Looming Recession, Study Finds CEO Pay Increased 1,000% Since 1978 While Wages Stagnated, Facebook Hired Hundreds to Listen In on Users' Audio Messages, Mexico City Police Officers Suspended over Rape of Two Teenagers, Italian Court Allows Rescued Migrants to Disembark as Hundreds More Remain Stranded at Sea, NBC News: ICE Now Jailing 8,000 Migrants in Mississippi, Louisiana, Federal Court Weighs Fate of Protected Status…

Jim Naureckas (2019-08-14). Jonathan Weisman's Judgment Has Been Lapsing for a Long While Now. fair.org The New York Times announced yesterday (The Wrap, 8/13/19) that it had demoted deputy Washington editor Jonathan Weisman for "recent serious lapses in judgment." These included a since-deleted tweet from last month that asserted that politicians of color don't really count as coming from their regions: | Saying @RashidaTlaib (D-Detroi…

Jordan Michael Smith (2019-08-13). How Voice of America Persian Became a Trump Administration PR Machine. theintercept.com As an Iranian American journalist covering the Iran-U.S. relationship, Negar Mortazavi is accustomed to receiving vitriol on social media. Still, she found it unusual when she saw on Twitter that someone had called her a "treasonous criminal" and "a spy and an enemy of the people." The tweets got darker: "If the U.S. had laws of the Middle Ages like Iran, this mouthpiece of the corrupt regime would have been executed," one read, in Farsi. | What made the tweets unusua…

Amos Toh (2019-08-09). Facebook Settlement Breaks a Record, But Not the Cycle of Exploitation. progressive.org For years, Facebook engaged in a pattern of deceptive conduct that misled users about how their data was being handled. Now, despite a $5 billion fine imposed by the U.S. government, it promises to do little to guarantee a change in behavior.

Staff (2019-08-09). Documents Reveal Monsanto Surveilled Journalists, Activists & Even Musician Neil Young. democracynow.org Explosive new documents reveal the U.S. agribusiness giant Monsanto ran a "fusion center" to surveil and discredit journalists and activists who criticized or wrote damning reports about Monsanto, as well as legendary singer-songwriter Neil Young, who released an album in 2015 called "The Monsanto Years." Monsanto monitored Young's Twitter activity and even analyzed the lyrics of his album. The fusion center also surveilled journalist Carey Gillam, who has done extensive research and writing about Monsanto and its popular pesticide Roundup, which has been linked to cancer. The corporation also targeted the nonpro…

Brett Barrouquere and Hatewatch Staff (2019-08-03). El Paso Shooting Suspect May Have Authored Manifesto Containing White Nationalist Talking Points. splcenter.org The suspect in a shooting that left 20 people dead at an El Paso Walmart may have posted and liked anti-immigrant leaning remarks on what appears to be his Twitter account.

Middle East Eye (2019-08-01). Facebook Dismantles Saudi-Linked Network of Fake Accounts. theantimedia.com More than 350 profiles and pages linked to the Saudi government with some 1.4 million followers were taken down by Facebook on Thursday.

2019-08-17: Social Media Postees

'May God Ruin Him': Rashida Tlaib's Grandma on Trump
telesurenglish.net | 2019-08-17
The grandmother of U.S. congresswoman Rashida Tlaib of Michigan slammed President Donald Trump after the latter made an insensitive comment on Twitter about her granddaughter. | RELATED: | Rashida Tlaib Blasts Israel for 'Oppressive Conditions' | Muftia Tlaib, the grandmother of House Representative Rashida Tlaib, responded to Trump's comments by stating "may God ruin him." ‚Äã‚ÄãNinety-year-old Muftia Tlaib, sitting in her garden in the village of…
telesurenglish.net/news/May-God-Ruin-Him-Rashida-Tlaibs-Grandma-on-Trump-20190817-0006.html

Corrections Officer Who Struck Rhode Island ICE Protesters With Pickup Truck Resigns
Ashoka Mukpo | commondreams.org | 2019-08-17
"In a Twitter post, Never Again Action described Woodworth's resignation as a 'first step' but called for Wyatt to be shut down and for people detained there to be released," Mukpo wrote. (Photo: Never Again Action/Twitter Screengrab) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/ice_truck.jpg
commondreams.org/views/2019/08/17/corrections-officer-who-struck-rhode-island-ice-protesters-pickup-truck-resigns?cd-origin=rss

How do the Western powers use social networks for their own political goals?
unitedEditor | uwidata.com | 2019-08-17
A recent story by the Washington Post revealed that Facebook's algorithms had censored the United States' Declaration of Independence, flagging it for alleged "hate speech".
uwidata.com/4912-how-do-the-western-powers-use-social-networks-for-their-own-political-goals/

MP tweets plan for no deal Brexit regardless of a no confidence vote in Johnson government
Tom Coburg | thecanary.co | 2019-08-17
Conservative MP Tom Tugendhat has outlined a plan by which the UK government, led by Boris Johnson, could ensure a no deal Brexit. Moreover, if the plan went ahead, it would mean that a vote of no confidence in the government would be curtailed. | The plan: | Tugendhat, who is the chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, outlined the plan via Twitter: | What odds would you give on: | 1 UK exits EU by 24 Aug — in time for G7 or before Parliament returns. Art 50 passed so nothing to stop unilateral withdrawal. | 2 General Election straight after to get majority. | 3 Answer Irish border Q with NI only re…
thecanary.co/opinion/2019/08/17/mp-tweets-plan-for-no-deal-brexit-regardless-of-a-no-confidence-vote-in-johnson-government/

Trump Tweets, Then Netanyahu Bans Reps. Ilhan Omar & Rashida Tlaib From Israel
Staff | therealnews.com | 2019-08-16
Jim Zogby and Phyllis Bennis discuss the Trump-Netanyahu dynamic, the diminishing power of AIPAC, and the political battle against Rep. Omar and Rep. Tlaib…
therealnews.com/stories/trump-tweets-then-netanyahu-bans-reps-ilhan-omar-rashida-tlaib-from-israel

What's Really Behind Trump's Israel Tweets
Staff | truthdig.com | 2019-08-16
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump's encouragement and support of Israel's decision to ban two Democratic lawmakers may play well to his political base, but it could endanger the foundations of the U.S.-Israel relationship in the longer term. | The move on Thursday to bar Reps. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota from Israel fueled a partisan fire over the Jewish state that has been raging in the United States, with Trump eagerly fanning the flames. | On Friday, though, Israel's interior minister, Aryeh Deri, said he had received and granted a request by Tlaib to enter the Israeli-occupie…
truthdig.com/articles/whats-really-behind-trumps-israel-tweets/

It's No Wonder the Military likes Violent Video Games, They Can Help Train Civilians to Become Warriors
Neve Gordon | counterpunch.org | 2019-08-16
Following the recent massacres in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio, the bestselling author Keith Boykin tweeted: Trump is on TV blaming the Internet, social media, video games and mental health for the mass shootings. Nonsense! Every country has Google, Facebook, video games and people with mental health issues. What they don't have is…
counterpunch.org/2019/08/16/its-no-wonder-the-military-likes-violent-video-games-they-can-help-train-civilians-to-become-warriors/

Customs and Border Protection Outage Snarls Major Airports
Staff | truthdig.com | 2019-08-16
DALLAS — Travelers flying into the United States on Friday ran into long lines at major airports nationwide because of a temporary computer outage that affected the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency. | Airports warned travelers — both Americans returning home and foreign visitors — of delays, and some travelers tweeted photos and videos of huge lines. | A CBP spokeswoman said the systems were running again by early evening on the East Coast. | The agency didn't precisely describe the breakdown, but the spokeswoman said there was "no indication of any nefarious activity." She said officer…
truthdig.com/articles/customs-and-border-protection-outage-snarls-major-airports/

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

Greenland Rejects Idea of Trump Buying Island
telesurenglish.net | 2019-08-16
U.S. President Donald Trump privately discussed with his advisers this week the idea of buying the world's biggest island, Greenland, from Denmark. | RELATED: | Greenland Loses Two Gigatons of Ice to 'Unusual' Melt, Heat | However, it appears the people of Greenland are opposed to the notion that island nation would become part of the United States, especially after Trump's inquiry. | In response to Trump's inquiry, several politicians from Greenland took to social media to reject…
telesurenglish.net/news/Greenland-Rejects-Idea-of-Trump-Buying-Island-20190816-0003.html

Trauma Counselors Were Pressured to Divulge Confidential Information About Facebook Moderators, Internal Letter Claims
Sam Biddle | theintercept.com | 2019-08-16
Nearly 1,500 miles from the Menlo Park headquarters of Facebook, at a company outpost in Austin, Texas, moderators toil around the clock to screen and scrub some the most gruesome, hateful, and heinous posts that make their way onto the social network and its photo-sharing subsidiary, Instagram. They are required to view as many as 800 pieces of disturbing content in a single shift, and routinely turn to on-site counselors to help cope with the procession of stomach-turning images, videos, and text. But some members of this invisible army have complained, in a statement widely circulated within Facebook, that the…
theintercept.com/2019/08/16/facebook-moderators-mental-health-accenture/

Twitter censors come for Scaramucci over 'fat shaming' Trump
rt.com | 2019-08-16
Anthony Scaramucci, onetime supporter turned vocal critic of US President Donald Trump, got locked out of Twitter for what the platform said was "abusive behavior," after calling the president fat. | …
rt.com/usa/466677-scaramucci-twitter-ban-trump/

What Is Israel Trying to Hide? Reps. Tlaib & Omar Blocked from Taking Official Trip to West Bank
Staff | democracynow.org | 2019-08-16
Israel sparked outrage Thursday when it banned two freshman Democratic congresswomen of color — Reps. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota — from entering the country. Following outcry from Democratic leaders and Palestinians, Israel granted permission for Tlaib to enter the country on "humanitarian" grounds to visit her family in the West Bank — though Tlaib said Friday she will not visit her family under such conditions. Israel originally denied entrance to Tlaib and Omar after President Donald Trump tweeted, "It would show great weakness if Israel allowed Rep. Omar and Rep.Tl…
www.democracynow.org/2019/8/16/ilhan_omar_rashida_tlaib_israel_trump

Jonathan Weisman's Judgment Has Been Lapsing for a Long While Now
Jim Naureckas | fair.org | 2019-08-14
The New York Times announced yesterday (The Wrap, 8/13/19) that it had demoted deputy Washington editor Jonathan Weisman for "recent serious lapses in judgment." These included a since-deleted tweet from last month that asserted that politicians of color don't really count as coming from their regions: | Saying @RashidaTlaib (D-Detroi…
fair.org/home/jonathan-weismans-judgment-has-been-lapsing-for-a-long-while-now/

How Voice of America Persian Became a Trump Administration PR Machine
Jordan Michael Smith | theintercept.com | 2019-08-13
As an Iranian American journalist covering the Iran-U.S. relationship, Negar Mortazavi is accustomed to receiving vitriol on social media. Still, she found it unusual when she saw on Twitter that someone had called her a "treasonous criminal" and "a spy and an enemy of the people." The tweets got darker: "If the U.S. had laws of the Middle Ages like Iran, this mouthpiece of the corrupt regime would have been executed," one read, in Farsi. | What made the tweets unusua…
theintercept.com/2019/08/13/trump-voa-persian/

Facebook Settlement Breaks a Record, But Not the Cycle of Exploitation
Amos Toh | progressive.org | 2019-08-09
For years, Facebook engaged in a pattern of deceptive conduct that misled users about how their data was being handled. Now, despite a $5 billion fine imposed by the U.S. government, it promises to do little to guarantee a change in behavior.
progressive.org/dispatches/facebook-settlement-breaks-a-record-but-not-the-cycle-of-exploitation-toh-190809/

Documents Reveal Monsanto Surveilled Journalists, Activists & Even Musician Neil Young
Staff | democracynow.org | 2019-08-09
Explosive new documents reveal the U.S. agribusiness giant Monsanto ran a "fusion center" to surveil and discredit journalists and activists who criticized or wrote damning reports about Monsanto, as well as legendary singer-songwriter Neil Young, who released an album in 2015 called "The Monsanto Years." Monsanto monitored Young's Twitter activity and even analyzed the lyrics of his album. The fusion center also surveilled journalist Carey Gillam, who has done extensive research and writing about Monsanto and its popular pesticide Roundup, which has been linked to cancer. The corporation also targeted the nonpro…
www.democracynow.org/2019/8/9/monsanto_fusion_center_surveillance_of_critics

El Paso Shooting Suspect May Have Authored Manifesto Containing White Nationalist Talking Points
Brett Barrouquere and Hatewatch Staff | splcenter.org | 2019-08-03
The suspect in a shooting that left 20 people dead at an El Paso Walmart may have posted and liked anti-immigrant leaning remarks on what appears to be his Twitter account.
splcenter.org/hatewatch/2019/08/03/el-paso-shooting-suspect-may-have-authored-manifesto-containing-white-nationalist-talking

Facebook Dismantles Saudi-Linked Network of Fake Accounts
Middle East Eye | theantimedia.com | 2019-08-01
More than 350 profiles and pages linked to the Saudi government with some 1.4 million followers were taken down by Facebook on Thursday.

Facebook Dismantles Saudi-Linked Network of Fake Accounts