(2019-12-06). Trump-Appointed Judges Will Imperil Progressive Change "for as Long as We Live" truthout.org Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell rammed through eight of President Donald Trump's lifetime judicial picks in just three days this week, accelerating the far-right court takeover that one commentator warned is "absolutely going to hamstring efforts to make the U.S. into a responsible, civilized country, for as lo…
(2019-12-06). A Tory candidate in a marginal seat just gave everyone a massive reason not to vote for her. thecanary.co Sally-Ann Hart is the Conservative candidate for Amber Rudd's former seat of Hastings and Rye. During a recent hustings, however, the candidate gave people a massive reason not to vote for her. Given she's vying for a seat the Conservatives won by just 346 votes in 2017, it's the last thing the party needs. | Less money, be happy: | An attendee asked Hart about an article she shared on Facebook: | A Tory candidate reveals her utter contempt for disabled people, who she believes don't deserve the minimum wa…
(2019-12-06). Law Seminar in the Hearing Room: Impeachment Day Six. counterpunch.org The week began with a few tweets from ignorant congresspeople and the president decrying the supposed unfairness of the proceedings. Pompeo chimed in with a remark that the timing was "unfortunate." His reasoning was that Trump had important business to take care of in Britain at the NATO meeting. You know, the North Atlantic Treaty More
(2019-12-06). Are Democrats Blowing Trump's Impeachment? truthdig.com 
This article originally appeared on Salon. | Thursday's announcement by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that Democrats are ready to vote articles of impeachment against President Trump — presumably on the narrowest possible terms, after a constrained and foreshortened process — is hardly surprising. It is, however, disheartening. Why they would even consider moving to a floor vote on impeachment wit…
(2019-12-06). Free pass for Israel? Ilhan Omar notes silence after Israeli group linked to fake news operation targeting Muslim US congresswomen. rt.com 
An Israeli group uses social media to vilify the first two Muslim women to serve in US Congress, Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib. But will the revelation spark accusations of foreign meddling? Omar doesn't seem to think so. | An investigation by the Guardian has uncovered an Israeli-based operation that uses 21 Facebook pages to pump out thousands of fake news posts per week. The paper said that the social media posts "inflame Islamophobia for profit" and have directly mentioned Omar more than 1,400 times, and Tlaib nearly 1,200 times, since the operation began two years ago.The Israeli group is accused of sharin…
(2019-12-06). 'Sources say' stories are all fake news? Trump takes aim at media's penchant for anonymous tip-offs. rt.com 
US President Donald Trump has fired off another volley of Twitter wisdom in his endless war against 'fake news,' advising people to ignore stories based on information from unnamed sources. | "Do not believe any article or story you read or see that uses 'anonymous sources' having to do with trade or any other subject," Trump tweeted on Friday. "Only accept information if it has an actual living name on it. The Fake News Media makes up many 'sources say' stories. Do not believe them!" | Do not believe any article or story you read or see that uses "anonymous sources" having to do with trade or any other subjec…
(2019-12-06). That's a bit rich: Biden says paycheck doesn't matter, jobs are 'about dignity'. rt.com 
Democrat hopeful Joe Biden says jobs aren't about the money, but his words rang hollow for critics who shot back with reminders about low wages and the former vice president's son getting a cushy gig at a Ukrainian oil company. | Biden's latest pitch to voters is that he will bring "dignity" back to the working middle class. | "A job is about a lot more than a paycheck. It's about dignity. It's about being able to look your kid in the eye and say everything is going to be okay—and mean it. Too many people today can't do that," Biden tweeted on Friday. | A job is about a lot more than a paycheck. It's abo…
(2019-12-06). Saudis angered by 'barbaric' Pensacola shooter, love America — king to Trump. rt.com 
US President Donald Trump said he received a condolence call from King Salman of Saudi Arabia over the shooting at Pensacola Naval Air Station, committed by a Saudi officer who was in Florida for training. | King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud "said that the Saudi people are greatly angered by the barbaric actions of the shooter, and that this person in no way shape or form represents the feelings of the Saudi people who love the American people," Trump said in a series of tweets on Friday afternoon. ….The King said that the Saudi people are greatly angered by the barbaric actions of the shooter, and that th…
(2019-12-06). The crucial fact Laura Kuenssberg omitted from her tweet about Boris Johnson. thecanary.co 
The BBC's Laura Kuenssberg tweeted on 6 December about the cancellation of a Boris Johnson speech. But she left out one revealing fact. | She said: | December 6, 2019 | But what was it, exactly, that caused the cancellation?: | Well, according to the Independent, Johnson "cancelled a speech to members of the public in Rochester after a small number of protesters turned up". In fact, it seems that the attendance of (2019-12-05). A parody account mocked the dire state of the UK press so successfully Twitter has suspended it. thecanary.co 
A parody account has mocked the dire state of the UK press so successfully that Twitter has suspended it. The bizarre decision came amid a wave of outcry from UK journalists who found the unflattering portrayal too much to bear. The suspension has only served to highlight the increasing lack of accountability of the UK media. After all, even feudal monarchs tolerated the court jester.Max Gapes: Maximilian Gapes was a parody Twitter account mercilessly ribbing the centrist pundits of our time. 'He' made waves with a satirical tweet about Lib Dem leader Jo Swinson. The tweet reported the claim of an unnamed…
(2019-12-05). Filmmakers Sue to Shield Visitors to U.S. From Social Media Vetting. theintercept.com A filmmaker working on a documentary that's critical of U.S. policies. A writer who operates a pseudonymous Twitter account to evade an authoritarian regime in their home country. An activist who uses Facebook to organize protests at the U.S.-Mexico border. | These are the kinds of people who might not want U.S. immigration agents poring over their social media profiles before deciding whether they should be allowed into the country. Yet that's exactly what the State Department now requires as part of the Trump administration's "extreme vetting" of millions of visa applicants. As of May, people who need a visa to…
(2019-12-05). Measles 'misinformation campaigns' through social media, fuel rising toll. news.un.org Measles deaths and infections in 2019 are set to "substantially exceed" last year's toll when more than 142,000 people died from the preventable disease, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Thursday.
(2019-12-05). Viewers have spotted a problem with this week's BBC Question Time lineup. thecanary.co Ahead of the 5 December edition of Question Time, the BBC released details of the panel. It's fair to say it's led to some raised eyebrows. | "Manel": | Question Time has faced criticism over its panel selections before. Normally it's to do with the political balance or the presence of Nigel Farage. On this occasion, the four largest parties at Westminster are all represented. The Bre…
(2019-12-05). 'If you're going to impeach me, do it fast': Trump challenges Dems to get moving. rt.com 
US President Donald Trump has called on House Democrats to move quickly if they are going to impeach him at all, so that "we can have a fair trial in the Senate" and the country can move on. | In a series of tweets sent early on Thursday, Trump repeated his view that Democrats "have no impeachment case", and adding that they "are demeaning our country." …..trial in the Senate, and so that our Country can get back to business. We will have Schiff, the Bidens, Pelosi and many more testify, and will reveal, for the first time, how corrupt our system really is. I was elected to "Clean the Swamp," and that's wh…
(2019-12-02). Headlines for December 2, 2019. democracynow.org COP25 Opens in Madrid Amid Dire Warnings About Climate Change, House Judiciary Committee to Hold Hearing in Impeachment Inquiry, 3 Women Accuse Ambassador Sondland of Sexual Misconduct, Iraqi Prime Minister Resigns Amid Anti-Government Protests, Malta Prime Minister Resigns amid Probe of Journalist's Murder, Three More Egyptian Journalists Arrested, Attack on London Bridge Kills 2 Cambridge Graduates, Trump Visits Afghanistan in Surprise Thanksgiving Trip, Supreme Court to Hear First Major Gun Case in Nearly a Decade, Twitter Suspends Account of Ilhan Omar's Challenger, Sestak and Bullock Drop Out of 2020 Preside…
(2019-12-01). The Usual Incoherence on Student Benefits Is Back. peoplespolicyproject.org 
Of all the welfare state topics, student benefits manages to consistently attract the most incoherent and weird arguments, and the recent spate of arguments on this front are no exception. In the last week, a student benefit dustup has been instigated by Pete Buttigieg ostensibly being against free public college for millionaires and billionaires while Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders are ostensibly for it. | This has set off the usual round of commentary about how Buttigieg is arguing for means-testing while Warren and Sanders are arguing f…
(2019-11-30). David Duke and His Twitter Nazis Got Mad at Me. Twitter Took Their Side. theintercept.com Twitter doesn't care when its users are abused by Nazi accounts. But what happens when the feelings of the Nazis get hurt? Then Twitter springs into action.
(2019-11-27). "If I Could Just Look at Her" aclu.org 
Watch the journey of two separated parents trying to cross the border and reunite with their children.: | " data-whitelisted="false" data-domain="www.youtube.com"> | In October, the Trump administration admitted that in a 12-month period, beginning in July 2017, it separated 4,370 immigrant children from their parents at the border. Since then, over 1,000 more have been separated under a dubious loophole that all…
(2019-11-17). CAP's Topher Spiro Is Trying to Deceive Journalists By Lying. peoplespolicyproject.org 
It's been fun to see how the Center for American Progress (CAP) navigates this year's presidential election. For insider political reasons, they can't support Biden or Sanders. But for a long time, it was unclear who the alternative candidate they could support would be. | When Kamala Harris was rising, CAP's staff was doing overtime boosting her on Twitter and in the press, including boosting Harris's absurd health care proposal. But Harris's collapse put an end to that strategy. Recently Warren has risen as the alternative and so CAP has been working to promote her campaign, which puts CAP in the comical positi…