(2019-08-27). US TV host apologizes to black co-anchor for saying he looked like a gorilla (VIDEO). rt.com 
A US TV anchor has apologized to her black co-host live on-air after saying he looked like a gorilla in a previous segment. | Alex Housden a host for Oklahoma KOCO news station was presenting a segment on a local baby gorilla at Oklahoma City Zoo last Thursday, before telling her black co-host, Jason Hackett, "he kind of looks like you." | www.facebook.com/shjotr/videos/738778216546162/ | At the time, Hackett laughed awkwardly and replied, "he kind of does, actually, yeah." However, on Friday a tearful Housden appeared beside Hackett and apologized after her comment prompted a slew of racism complaints…
(2019-08-27). Democrats Spend Big to Draw Small-Dollar Donors. truthdig.com 
WASHINGTON — Montana Gov. Steve Bullock was told how he could qualify for the next presidential debate, but it didn't make much sense: Spend $60. Attract a $1 donor. And repeat, maybe thousands of times. | "You spend $60 on Facebook right now to get a $1 donor," Bullock said last week while campaigning in Iowa, referring to the 130,000 donor threshold that is one of the requirements to reach the debate stage in Houston next month. "I don't know if I'll make the threshold." | He's not alone. Facing a Wednesday deadline, a handful of Democratic White House hopefuls are racing against time — and odds [md…
(2019-08-27). Racy Instagram model says moderator is demanding $2.5K a month to keep her pics online. rt.com 
Instagram model Amouranth, who's attracted some 1.6 million followers with her borderline erotic snaps, has found herself in the middle of a mystery extortion plot — and she says the blackmailer is an Instagram employee. | When social media starlet Kaitlyn Siragusa, known as Amouranth on Instagram and Twitch, was first notified that Instagram had removed a post for violating the platform's rules, she saw nothing out of the ordinary, given her typical pulse-raising content. But days later, she received a chilling email. A person claiming to work for Cognizant — a company hired to police content guide…
(2019-08-27). What's bugging Bret? NYT columnist has epic meltdown, quits Twitter after being called 'bedbug'. rt.com 
A New York Times columnist was so incensed at being branded a metaphorical "bedbug" on Twitter that he deactivated his account and emailed the culprit's employer. A special kind of snowflake, indeed. | Responding with a seemingly innocuous joke to the news that the NYT offices were being treated for bedbugs, David Karpf, an associate professor at George Washington University, quipped: "The bedbugs are a metaphor. The bedbugs are Bret Stephens." | One might imagine that being labelled a "bedbug" would rank fairly low on the list of Twitter insults, but Bret Stephens evidently feels differently. | pic.twitter.co…
(2019-08-27). Tongan government threatens to block access to Facebook. wsws.org The threat to ban Facebook follows intense criticism on social media of Tonga's royal family, and growing popular anger over social inequality.
(2019-08-27). Australian PM calls for new internet censorship measures at G7. wsws.org Morrison is campaigning for an international crackdown on social media, while his government asserts the right to ban websites and domains domestically.
(2019-08-27). Greenland's New Deal. thenation.com Greenland's New Deal…
(2019-08-27). 'Lawless' and 'Despicable': Harvard Freshman Deported After Immigration Agents Search Social Media and Find Friends Critical of US Policy. commondreams.org "This is a move so perverse, so grotesque as to defy explanation." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/harvard_library.jpg …
(2019-08-26). We Are Not Fooled By The Hong Kong Protests. dissidentvoice.org 
Agnes Chow and Nathan Law accept the 2018 Lantos Human Rights Prize on behalf of Joshua Wong in Washington, DC. (Facebook) Update: Protests continued in Hong Kong this weekend. The protesters returned to the use of violence and the police responded. The South China Morning Post reported: In a now familiar pattern, the protesters threw …
(2019-08-26). Tomi Lahren's 'freedom pants' the latest shot fired in the political fashion wars. rt.com 
Liberals are freaking out over conservative firebrand Tomi Lahren's new 'Freedom' fashion line, designed for those who love "God, Guns and Country" — but let's be honest, lefties have been making fashion political for a long time | Lahren recently launched her line of yoga pants and workout tops with Alexo Athleticwear, prompting a social media meltdown. | The conservative pundit claims she has been pegged as "too controversial" to have her own fashion line — but who made the rule that only liberals get to make political statements with their sartorial choices? | "Freedom is a plain red tee. Freedo…
(2019-08-26). 'They've got it all wrong!' Trump says entire G7 laughing at US 'fake news'. rt.com 
With their 'inaccurate' coverage of his meetings with world leaders, the US 'fake news' media have become the laughing stock of the G7 summit in France, US President Donald Trump has claimed. | "In France we are all laughing at how knowingly inaccurate the US reporting of events and conversations at the G-7 is," Trump tweeted on Sunday evening. "These Leaders, and many others, are getting a major case study of Fake News at it's (sic) finest!" | They've got it all wrong, from Iran, to China Tariffs, to Boris! | In France we are all laughing at how knowingly inaccurate the U.S. reporting of events and conversati…
(2019-08-25). Wall Street shaken by Trump tweets. fightbacknews.org San José, CA — On Friday, August 23, the U.S. stock market opened lower, on the news that China was retaliating to Trump's latest round of tariffs. It then recovered after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's speech at the Jackson Hole economic conference. Then Trump tweeted that he was "ordering" U.S. companies to leave China, and stocks dived, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average ending with a loss of more than 600 points or almost 2.5% lower. The broader S&P 500 average fell a bit more than 2.5% percent and the NASDAQ composite, which is heavily weighted towards technology companies, fell…
(2019-08-25). CanaryPod: Topple Uncaged S2 EP16. thecanary.co 
THIS PODCAST CONTAINS LANGUAGE AND CONTENT SOME PEOPLE MAY FIND OFFENSIVE. THE VIEWS EXPRESSED IN THIS EPISODE ARE THE OPINIONS OF THE HOST AND GUESTS. | Welcome to series two of #ToppleUncaged! | Every week, The Canary will be bringing you an innovative podcast for the media landscape; hosted by me, Steve Topple. | You'll get my quick-fire round-up of the news in Topple's Twittering. Then, I'll be going in on a story or campaign you may have missed, with a very special guest, on Free Flying With… After that, you get to have your say on the week's talking points in Twitter Chirps Back. And finally, I'll be brin…
(2019-08-24). Twitter relying on US/European gov-funded regime-change groups to crack down on foreign states. thegrayzone.com Twitter is relying on organizations funded by the US government and European allies, such as right-wing lobby group Freedom House,…
(2019-08-24). 'We will send you back' says Johnson to refugees risking their lives crossing the Channel. thecanary.co British PM Boris Johnson has told refugees and asylum seekers looking to come to the UK via the English Channel: "We will send you back." In a statement to ITV News, Johnson said: If you come illegally you are an illegal migrant, and I'm afraid the law will treat you as such. | His statement comes in response to the recent arrival of 64 refugees and asylum seekers, inclu…
(2019-08-23). WaPo Complicit in Corruption of DC Council's Corporate 'Concierge'. fair.org 
After years of hiding in plain sight, Jack Evans' ethical problems are suddenly a story (WJLA, 3/5/19). | When the FBI came knocking on DC Councilmember Jack Evans' door in June, it set off an earthquake in local politics and business. | Over his 28 years on the DC Council, Evans has served as " concierge" for the elite, steering gobs of public money to stadiums, arenas and luxury condos. Along the way, it wasn't just developers and banks that profited; so did Evans. | Ev…
(2019-08-23). 'Who is our bigger enemy?': Trump lashes out, compares Fed chairman Powell to Chinese President Xi. rt.com 
President Donald Trump has lashed out at the Federal Reserve chairman, after Jay Powell refused to cut interest rates to Trump's liking, a move that would have given the president ammunition to escalate his trade war with China. | "As usual, the Fed did NOTHING!" Trump tweeted on Friday, after Powell announced that he would "sustain the expansion" of the US economy, but not by slashing interest rates by a whole percentage point, as Trump has repeatedly called for. Instead, Powell is likely to lower rates by around a quarter of a percentage point, from their current level of 2.25 percent. | Also on rt.com…
(2019-08-23). Israel's Online Occupation of Palestine. progressive.org How a Facebook post can land you in prison.
(2019-08-22). Trump Tweets About Disloyal Jews, Then Tweets He's "King of Israel" therealnews.com 
Haggai Matar, editor of #972 Magazine discusses Netanyahu's Trump-inspired Omar and Tlaib ban, Trump's bizarre retweets, and its effect on Jews and the U.S. election…
(2019-08-21). Rep Ayanna Pressley on Israel's Ban: "Bigoted, Short-Sighted and Cruel" therealnews.com 
These are the words tweeted by Rep. Ayanna Pressley in response to the Israeli decision to ban the entry of Rep. Ilhan Omar and Rep. Rashida Tlaib. The story has a striking resemblance to South Africa and Rhodesia blocking the entry of African American Democratic Representative Charles C. Diggs Junior in January 1972…
(2019-08-21). Representatives Omar and Tlaib speak out against being banned from Palestine. fightbacknews.org St. Paul, MN – On August 19, Representative Ilhan Omar (D-Minnesota) and Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Michigan) held a press conference in the State Capitol in Saint Paul to a packed room, with an overflow of 100 people, on the human cost of the Israeli occupation of Palestine and travel restrictions. | On August 16, the Israeli government denied the representatives visas to visit Palestine. Their visas previously had been approved, but after a tweet by Donald Trump denouncing Omar and Tlaib's visit, the approval was revoked. Congresswoman Stacy Plaskett, delegate to House for the Virgin Islands, was to join them on th…
(2019-08-20). Headlines for August 20, 2019. democracynow.org NYPD Fires Daniel Pantaleo 5 Years After He Killed Eric Garner, Planned Parenthood Rejects Federal Funds over Trump "Gag Rule" on Abortion Referrals, Fears of Renewed Arms Race as U.S. Tests Ground Missile and Questions Remain over Russian Blast, Sudan: Omar al-Bashir Heads to Court Days After Signing of Transitional Deal, Salvadoran Rape Survivor Cleared After Prior Conviction for Killing Stillborn, Twitter & Facebook Remove China-Linked Accounts over Hong Kong Protest Misinformation, Elizabeth Warren Apologizes to Indigenous Groups at Iowa Native American Forum, Standing Rock Sioux Tribe Asks Federal Court to H…
(2019-08-19). Twitter Helped Chinese Government Promote Disinformation on Repression of Uighurs. theintercept.com Twitter helped to promote Chinese government propaganda and disinformation about the country's controversial internment camps in the Xinjiang region, a review of the company's advertising records reveals. | The social media company today announced a policy change that would bar such promotion following an inquiry from The Intercept and an earlier controversy over similar propaganda related to demonstrations in Hong Kong. | In Xinjiang, a western province in China, the United Nations has estimated that 1 milli…
(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.