(2020-01-09). GRAPHIC footage from France's Rouen shows levels of police violence that enraged protesters nationwide (VIDEOS). rt.com 
Demonstrators have been left bloodied and beaten after clashes with riot police in the French city of Rouen, as authorities clamp down on the pension reform protests which have swept the country. | Eyewitness footage from the scene shows riot police engaging with demonstrators in, ever-increasingly aggressive encounters, ranging from pushing and shoving, to tear gassing, before eventually the police begin swinging batons at the unarmed protesters. | Un autre angle de la charge des forces de l'ordre à #Rouen. Coups de matraques et gaza…
(2020-01-09). Police responding to 'active shooter' in Philadelphia. rt.com 
Multiple reports of shots fired in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania have brought on a major police response. No injuries have been reported so far. | Police and emergency services are dealing with an "active shooter" situation on Hawthorne Street and have urged everyone to stay clear of the area. | January 9, 2020 | Heavy police activity for possible shot fire in Frankford section… #Philadelphia #Pennsylvania (2020-01-09). 'Alien baby': Internet shook by 'pregnancy announcement' from Elon Musk's girlfriend Grimes. rt.com 
What appears to be a strange pregnancy announcement by Grimes, the musician girlfriend of billionaire Elon Musk, has not gone down well on Twitter, with one user jokingly speculating that the couple might produce "the antichrist." | The internet was at pains to process the news after Grimes posted a picture of what seems to be her baby bump with an image of a fetus photoshopped onto it. "Being knocked up is a very feral & war-like state of being," she wrote in the Instagram post. | The couple, who have been dating since 2018, are generally seen as a fairly odd pairing. The idea of Grimes, with her reputatio…
(2020-01-09). Facebook Continues to Balk on Political Ad Limits. truthdig.com 
Its new "transparency features" that aim to give users more control over how many political ads they see are unlikely to appease critics.
(2020-01-09). Headlines for January 9, 2020. democracynow.org Trump Appears to Pull Back from New Military Action Against Iran, Mitch McConnell Met with Trump at White House & Discussed Impeachment Trial, Investigators Probe Cause of Fatal Boeing Plane Crash in Tehran, Youth Climate Group the Sunrise Movement Endorses Bernie Sanders, More Than 1 Billion Animals Killed in Climate-Fueled Wildfires in Australia, Ruth Bader Ginsburg Says She's Cancer-Free, Guatemalan President Says U.S. Cannot Send Mexican Asylum Seekers to Guatemala, Spanish Socialist Party Leader Pedro Sánchez Sworn In as Prime Minister, Facebook Doubles Down on Its Policy of Allowing Lies in Political Ads…
(2020-01-09). Donald Trump's Reckless Gamble with Iran Distracts from His Domestic Political Problems. globalresearch.ca "Don't let Obama play the Iran card in order to start a war in order to get elected. —Be careful Republicans! Donald Trump (1946- ), 45th American president and hotel and casino owner, (statement made in a tweet, on Mon., …
(2020-01-09). Shock, Uncertainty, Lots of Questions: PR Consultant Deems #Megxit 'Irresponsible'. sputniknews.com Apart from the UK's rocky road to leaving the EU, Britain and the world are now watching another "demarche" that reportedly ambushed Buckingham Palace — Prince Harry and his wife Meghan's "stepping back" as senior royals. While social media rages, historians and royal commentators are trying to figure out what the future holds for the UK monarchy.
(2020-01-09). Czech police instructors to leave Iraq, army personnel stay. yenisafak.com Five Czech police instructors will leave Iraq temporarily while training there is suspended, but military personnel will stay, Czech officials said on Thursday, amid heightened tensions between arch foes Iran and the United States.Police President Jan Svejdar said on Twitter the five police would leave Baghdad for the Czech Republic and return to Iraq at an unspecified future date when training is resumed.Foreign Minister Tomas Petricek said earlier that the NATO country's military personnel in Iraq, which totals around 40 soldiers, would remain in place, news agency CTK reported.The NATO Iraq mission, made up of…
(2020-01-09). SAfrican military plane crash lands in Congo, no sign of major damage. yenisafak.com A South African military plane crash-landed on Thursday at the Goma airport in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, a U.N. spokesman said.Videos on social media showed smoke rising from the airplane but two sources at the airport, speaking on condition of anonymity, said there did not appear to be major damage to the plane.
(2020-01-09). Canadian Trans Woman Waging New War on Beauticians Who Refused to Wax Her for Religious Reasons. sputniknews.com Jessica (born Jonathan) Yaniv, who identifies herself as a "social justice warrior", has previously filed half a dozen complaints against other beauty salons. However, the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal dismissed them, citing "improper motives or bad faith", while the activist was accused of targeting immigrant women working there.
(2020-01-09). Iran Should Be Applauded for Its Restraint. truthdig.com 
This piece originally appeared on antiwar.com. | Don't buy the hype 1.0: Look, the administration, Fox News, and a Twitter army of Trumpsters are about to unleash a wave of propaganda. The president was right to assassinate Soleimani all along, they'll say. The Iranian missiles fired on Tuesday night missed all American targets — perhaps on purpose — resulting in zero U.S. military casualties. Trum…
(2020-01-08). Shell-shocked pundits come crawling back to Hillary over Trump's Iran belligerence… forgetting she'd have started war sooner. rt.com 
Social media sang praises of would-be US President Hillary Clinton as actual President Donald Trump seemed headed for all-out war with Iran — even though Clinton had been a much more enthusiastic participant in US wars. | After Iranian missiles struck several US bases Tuesday night, #Resistance twitter wasted no time disavowing the administration they blamed for the hostilities, running into the arms of his arch-rival with the #IVotedforHillaryClinton hashtag. | I'm proud to raise my hand and say that I voted for Intelligence. | I voted for Leadership. | I voted for Experience. | I voted for Maturity.
(2020-01-08). 'So far, so good!' Trump tweets of US military might, set to address Americans on Wednesday over Iranian strike. rt.com 
US President Donald Trump has weighed in after a series of Iranian missile strikes on American bases in Iraq, noting that a damage and casualty assessment looks "good" so far. | "All is well! Missiles launched from Iran at two military bases located in Iraq. Assessment of casualties & damages taking place now," Trump said, adding that he would make a statement to the nation on Wednesday morning. | All is well! Missiles launched from Iran at two military bases located in Iraq. Assessment of casualties & damages taking place now. So far, so good! We have the most powerful and well equipped military anywhere in t…
(2020-01-08). A View from Tehran: Iranian Professor Condemns U.S. Aggression & Warns U.S.-Backed Gulf States. democracynow.org 
Iranian forces fired 22 ballistic missiles at U.S. forces in Iraq early Wednesday in what Iran described as "fierce revenge" for the U.S. assassination of Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani, who was killed in a U.S. drone strike last week at the Baghdad airport. The Iranian missiles targeted the Al Asad Airbase in Anbar province and a base in Erbil. There were no initial reports of U.S. or Iraqi casualties. Shortly after the attacks, Iran's Foreign Minister Javad Zarif tweeted, "We do not seek escalation or war, but will defend ourselves against any aggression." Earlier today, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali…
(2020-01-08). Netflix roasted for leading viewers astray with 'health misinformation' in Gwyneth Paltrow's Goop show. rt.com 
Gwyneth Paltrow's wellness brand Goop has secured its own show on Netflix and anti-pseudoscience crusaders are demanding its cancellation, insisting the doyenne of jade vaginal eggs is hurting people with health misinformation. | Paltrow's medical faddism "does real harm" by contributing to the "erosion of critical thinking," University of Alberta researcher Tim Caulfield tweeted on Monday after Netflix posted a teaser for the premiere of "The Goop Lab" later this month, setting off a firestorm of panic among a certain stripe of science enthusiast. The idea of an entire show devoted to whatever bizarre health…
(2020-01-08). Trump Backs Away from Threats to Retaliate for Iranian Missile Strikes, Promises New Sanctions. mintpressnews.com Following Iran's military response to the deaths of Soleimani and his Iraqi ally, Trump's tone — at least publicly — was dramatically less bellicose than his recent tweets promising to strike Iranian territory should Tehran retaliate against the US.
(2020-01-07). Propaganda Machine: The Military Roots of Cambridge Analytica's Psychological Manipulation of Voters. democracynow.org 
We continue our discussion of data harvesting, targeted advertising and voter manipulation — practices used by firms like Cambridge Analytica. The secretive data firm collapsed in May 2018 after The Observer newspaper revealed the company had harvested some 87 million Facebook profiles without the users' knowledge or consent to sway voters to support Trump during the 2016 campaign. A new trove of internal Cambridge Analytica documents and emails are being posted on Twitter detailing the company's operations, including its work with President Trump's former national security adviser John Bolton. We speak wit…
(2020-01-07). "The Great Hack": Big Data Firms Helped Sway the 2016 Election. Could It Happen Again in 2020? democracynow.org 
The documentary "The Great Hack," which was shortlisted for the Oscars, explores how the data firm Cambridge Analytica came to symbolize the dark side of social media in the wake of the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Cambridge Analytica collapsed in May 2018 after The Observer newspaper revealed the company had harvested some 87 million Facebook profiles without the users' knowledge or consent. Cambridge Analytica then used the data to sway voters to support President Trump during the 2016 campaign. We speak with "The Great Hack" co-directors Karim Amer and Jehane Noujaim, as well as Cambridge Analytica whistle…
(2020-01-07). Ms. Ocasio-Cortez Goes to Washington: AOC shamed into un-liking antiwar journalist's tweet, apologizing for wrongthink. rt.com 
New York congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez learned the hard way about the phalanx of thought-police waiting to pounce on politicians' 'wrongthink' when she was shamed into un-liking a tweet from an antiwar journalist. | Ocasio-Cortez (AOC, for short) stepped a little too far outside the mainstream when she clicked 'like' on a tweet by journalist Rania Khalek about US fears of Iranian retaliation over the killing of General Qassem Soleimani. An army of blue-checks and their enforcers quickly encircled her to point out the error of her ways, gloating when she finally knuckled under and apologized. | Last ni…
(2020-01-07). Meet Brittany Kaiser, Cambridge Analytica Whistleblower Releasing Troves of New Files from Data Firm. democracynow.org 
New details are emerging about how the shadowy data firm Cambridge Analytica worked to manipulate voters across the globe, from the 2016 election in the United States to the Brexit campaign in Britain and elections in over 60 other countries, including Malaysia, Kenya and Brazil. A new trove of internal Cambridge Analytica documents and emails are being posted on Twitter detailing the company's operations, including its work with President Trump's former national security adviser John Bolton. The documents come from Cambridge Analytica whistleblower Brittany Kaiser, who worked at the firm for three-and-a-half yea…
(2020-01-06). More Rockets Fired At US Embassy, US Iranians Detained & Trump Says Twitter Is "Notifying Congress" thelastamericanvagabond.com Welcome to The Daily Wrap Up, a concise show dedicated to bringing you the most relevant independent news, as we see it, from the last 24 hours (1/5/19). As always, take the information discussed in the video below and research it for yourself, and come to your own conclusions. Anyone telling you what the truth …
(2020-01-03). Australia Wildfire Coverage Is Long on Koalas, Short on Causes. fair.org 
Fires making their own weather are interesting (The Hill, 12/30/19)—but not as important as humans making their own climate. | If you've only been following the bushfires ravaging Australia through the headlines popping up on your social media feeds — which, let's face it, is more popular than reading newspapers these days — it's proba…
(2019-12-02). The War on Truth: How Israel's Social Media Trolls Conquered Facebook. zcomm.org Israel may have found a way to circumvent the influence of Facebook on the discussions pertaining to Palestinian rights and the Israeli occupation…
(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…
(2019-11-17). 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…