America's Long History of Meddling in Russia
Ted Rall | counterpunch.org | 2020-01-17
Russia
'F***ing disgusting': Backlash as rapper Eminem 'jokes' about Manchester Arena bombing in new track
rt.com | 2020-01-17
US rapper Eminem has provoked outrage on social media after releasing a track that appears to make light of the Manchester Arena bombing at an Ariana Grande concert, featuring the lyrics "bombs away." | Hours after releasing his new album 'Music To Be Murdered By' on Twitter, Eminem faced an angry backlash regarding one particular song titled, 'Unaccommodating,' in which he addresses his feud with fellow US rapper Machine Gun Kelly. | It features the line: "But I'm contemplating yelling 'Bombs away' on the game/Like I'm outside of an Ariana Grande concert waiting," against a backdrop of bomb sounds. | YALL LIS…
rt.com/uk/478507-eminem-manchester-bombing-grande/
VIDEOS capture frolicking cows and saturated Sydney as rain brings relief to Australia's scorched south-east
rt.com | 2020-01-17
When it rains it pours. After weeks of punishing drought, bushfire-plagued south-eastern Australia has been hit by torrential rain, prompting a flood of excitement among Australians and actual floods in the capital Sydney. | Heavy rain and thunderstorms rolled into New South Wales, Victoria, and Queensland on Friday dampening raging fires, much to the relief of firefighters and farmers who have been battling blazes since September. | The all-too-rare weather unleashed an outpouring of joy on social media with locals excitedly sharing photos and videos of the long-awaited rain. | Best day of the year so far.
rt.com/news/478533-australia-rain-videos-sydney-flood/
Iraqis capture ISIS mufti so obese a TRUCK has to take him into custody, sparking slew of Twitter memes
rt.com | 2020-01-17
A top ISIS leader dubbed 'Jabba the Hutt' has been captured in Mosul
'Most brazen anti-competitive scheme in a generation': 4 tech firms sue Facebook to force Zuckerberg to sell his stake
rt.com | 2020-01-17
Four tech companies are suing Facebook, accusing the Silicon Valley titan of running the worst "anti-competitive scheme" in a generation and demanding that CEO Mark Zuckerberg give up his stake in the company. | The four companies are Beehive Biometric, an identity-verification website; Cir.cl, an online marketplace and social media platform; Lenddo, a Singapore-based financial services provider; and Reveal Chat, a messaging service. | In a federal lawsuit filed in San Francisco on…
rt.com/news/478556-tech-firms-sue-facebook-antitrust/
'Anti-Catholic bigotry': UK journo slammed online over 'dictated by the Vatican' remarks, in veiled attack on religious Labour MP
rt.com | 2020-01-17
UK journalist Paul Mason has been accused of religious "bigotry" on social media, after insisting he doesn't want Labour's policy on abortion to be decided by the Vatican, in what is seen as an attempted smear on a Catholic MP. | Mason, who has worked for the likes of the BBC and Channel 4, and now writes independently, prompted outrage on Twitter on Friday, in what many are describing as a "smear campaign" against Rebecca Long-Bailey
Opposition grows to Nepal government's move to curtail social media
wsws.org | 2020-01-17
The Information Technology Bill's vague language puts social media users at high risk for criticising business leaders, politicians and bureaucrats.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/01/17/nepl-j17.html
Ukrainian PM submits resignation letter amid leaked audio recordings controversy
rt.com | 2020-01-17
Ukraine's PM Oleksiy Honcharuk has submitted a letter of resignation and President Volodymyr Zelensky will consider it, the presidential office in Kiev said on Friday. | "I came to the position of fulfilling the program of the president. He is for me a model of openness and decency," Honcharuk said on Facebook. "However, in order to take away any doubts about our respect and trust in the president, I wrote a letter of resignation and handed it to the president with the right to submit it to parliament," the PM added. | Honcharuk earlier commented on leaked audio recordings allegedly with his voice recorded dur…
rt.com/newsline/478481-ukraine-pm-resignation-zelensky/
Israel Bombs Gaza Strip in Response to Incendiary Balloons
Middle East Eye | theantimedia.com | 2020-01-17
(MEE)
'Rigging election again': Trump says impeachment all a ploy to… shaft Bernie Sanders
rt.com | 2020-01-17
The impeachment trial against Donald Trump is not just a "witch hunt," but a ploy to "rig" the Democratic nomination against Bernie Sanders and in favor of Joe Biden, the US president has claimed. | "They are rigging the election again against Bernie Sanders, just like last time, only even more obviously," Trump tweeted on Friday. | They are rigging the election again against Bernie Sanders, just like last time, only even more obviously. They are bringing him out of so important Iowa in order that, as a Senator, he sit through the Impeachment Hoax Trial. Crazy Nancy thereby gives the strong edge to Sleepy…[m…
rt.com/usa/478551-trump-bernie-sanders-rigging/
Hijacking the Struggles of Others, Elizabeth Warren Style
Kathleen Wallace | counterpunch.org | 2020-01-17
To say Elizabeth Warren is a political opportunist is not giving her enough credit. She has taken the struggles, as well as the identities of others (women, school teachers, Native Americans, public school supporters, people who are able to tweet with humor, actual humans) and has weaponized these categories until the meaning of it all is lost.
counterpunch.org/2020/01/17/hijacking-the-struggles-of-others-elizabeth-warren-style/
Hijacking the Struggles of Others, Elizabeth Warren Style
Kathleen Wallace | counterpunch.org | 2020-01-17
To say Elizabeth Warren is a political opportunist is not giving her enough credit. She has taken the struggles, as well as the identities of others (women, school teachers, Native Americans, public school supporters, people who are able to tweet with humor, actual humans) and has weaponized these categories until the meaning of it all is lost.
counterpunch.org/2020/01/17/hijacking-the-struggles-of-others-elizabeth-warren-style/
YouTube, Facebook and Twitter remove accounts and content opposing the illegal assassination of Iranian General Suleimani
wsws.org | 2020-01-16
The social media companies YouTube, Facebook and Twitter are following the orders of the Trump administration in the aftermath of the criminal assassination of Iranian General Suleimani on January 3.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/01/16/tube-j16.html
Jeff Bezos donates three minutes' income to help Australia fight wildfires
Alan MacLeod | mronline.org | 2020-01-16
The donation would be equivalent to someone who earned $500 per week announcing on social media that they had just donated five cents to help tackle the blazes. | Source…
mronline.org/2020/01/16/jeff-bezos-donates-three-minutes-income-to-help-australia-fight-wildfires/
Robert Reich: Facebook Is Failing the American People
Robert Reich | truthdig.com | 2020-01-16
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg says he'll run political ads even if false. Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey says he'll stop running political ads. | Dorsey has the correct approach, but this entire debate about ads skirts the bigger question: Who's responsible for protecting democracy from big, dangerous lies? | Donald Trump lies like most people breathe, and his lies have grown more vicious and dangerous as he's been cornered
Should Facebook and Twitter Stop Trump's Lies?
Robert Reich | commondreams.org | 2020-01-16
Zuckerberg's Facebook sends Trump's unfiltered lies to 43 percent of Americans, for whom Facebook is a source of news. (Photo: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/fix.png …
commondreams.org/views/2020/01/16/should-facebook-and-twitter-stop-trumps-lies?cd-origin=rss
Twitter apologises for allowing adverts targeted at hate groups
The Canary | thecanary.co | 2020-01-16
Twitter has apologised for letting adverts on the platform target hate groups including neo-Nazis and homophobes. | The firm allows advertisers to target people using specific keywords based on what they share in tweets, like, or what they search for. | An investigation by the BBC found terms such as "transphobic", "white supremacists" and "anti-gay" were not being excluded during the ad set-up process. | "Neo-Nazi", which also slipped through the net, could reach an estimated audience of between 67,000 and 81,000 people in the UK, the report claims. | Meanwhile, 92,900 to 114,000 accounts were predicted for the…
thecanary.co/uk/news/2020/01/16/twitter-apologises-for-allowing-adverts-targeted-at-hate-groups/
Who's this guy? Jeopardy contestants fail to recognize impeachment 'hero' Adam Schiff & Twitter ROFLs
rt.com | 2020-01-16
Rep. Adam Schiff might be leading an impeachment drive in the US, but it seems not everybody is familiar with the 'resistance' hero. At least, his photo did not ring any bells for contestants on the latest Jeopardy episode. | Schiff, a prominent Russiagater whose fame among the anti-Trump resistance camp reached new heights amid the ongoing Ukrainegate saga, might be a household name on Capitol Hill, but the question remains: Is the same true for the rest of the country outside of the Washington political swamp? If the classic trivia game show is any indication, it is not. | Just a reminder we live in a bubble…
rt.com/usa/478389-schiff-jeopardy-impeachment-hero/
Twitter apologises for allowing adverts targeted at hate groups
The Canary | thecanary.co | 2020-01-16
Twitter has apologised for letting adverts on the platform target hate groups including neo-Nazis and homophobes. | The firm allows advertisers to target people using specific keywords based on what they share in tweets, like, or what they search for. | An investigation by the BBC found terms such as "transphobic", "white supremacists" and "anti-gay" were not being excluded during the ad set-up process. | "Neo-Nazi", which also slipped through the net, could reach an estimated audience of between 67,000 and 81,000 people in the UK, the report claims. | Meanwhile, 92,900 to 114,000 accounts were predicted for the…
thecanary.co/uk/news/2020/01/16/twitter-apologises-for-allowing-adverts-targeted-at-hate-groups/
Trump cites 'great position' for a Phase 2 trade talks with China
yenisafak.com | 2020-01-16
U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday pointed to Phase 2 trade talks with China, a day after Washington and Beijing inked a preliminary Phase 1 agreement, but gave no other details about the next phase of negotiations."We are now in a great position for a Phase Two start," Trump tweeted.
yenisafak.com/en/news/trump-cites-great-position-for-a-phase-2-trade-talks-with-china-3509819
Keeping with its Crackdown on Alternative Voices, Google Deletes Press TV from YouTube
Alan Macleod | mintpressnews.com | 2020-01-15
Without warning, tech giant Google "permanently removed" Iranian government-owned media channel Press TV UK's YouTube channel Monday night amid increasing American hostility to Iran. | "This attack on the freedom of speech of Press TV's journalists seems to be part of an anti-Iran purge as the West sets its sights on regime change in Iran," Press TV said. Its content, in its own words, focuses on "anti-imperialis…
mintpressnews.com/crackdown-alternative-media-google-deletes-press-tv-youtube/264142/
Author & liberal Stephen King tweets that quality trumps diversity… and woke crowds are sharpening the blades
rt.com | 2020-01-15
Stephen King has found himself the target of Twitter's woke army, after having the audacity to argue that quality is more important than diversity when it comes to art. His attempt to clarify the issue only brought more attacks. | The famed author
'The answer is no': Twitter users' pleas for an 'edit button' shot down by Jack Dorsey
rt.com | 2020-01-15
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey has admitted that, despite high demand for the feature, the social media platform will "probably never" introduce an edit button allowing people to fix mistakes in their hastily posted tweets. | Cue the gasps from the Twitterati. An edit button has been a highly sought-after feature since the platform's earliest days
#CNNisTrash unites political rivals after network hammers Sanders in Democratic debate
rt.com | 2020-01-15
It's not just the right who accuse CNN of peddling 'fake news'. After the network's treatment of Bernie Sanders in a recent Iowa debate, the left joined them on Twitter. | With the field of Democratic hopefuls whittled down, six frontrunners took to the stage in Des Moines on Tuesday night, with polls putting four of them as frontrunners: Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, former Vice President Joe Biden, and former South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg. Hosted by CNN, the debate was the final Democratic head-to-head before next month's Iowa caucuses. | Tensions between Sanders and Warren were hi…
rt.com/usa/478359-cnn-sanders-warren-trash/
'Even Hillary and Trump shook hands': Warren snubs Sanders handshake after tense Democratic debate (VIDEO)
rt.com | 2020-01-15
Tuesday night's Democratic debate was marked by an ever-widening schism between long-time 'friends' turned rivals, Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, which culminated in a spurned handshake which has become the talk of Twitter. | The talking match was punctuated by several increasingly tense and bitter exchanges between the pair as the night wore on. Roughly 45 minutes into the discussion, CNN moderator Abby Phillip asked Sanders to respond to reports he told Warren that a woman couldn't win the 2020 election. | Handshake: REJECTED pic.twitter.com/LUA49Z0JCc– Timot…
rt.com/usa/478308-warren-snubs-bernie-handshake/
CNN, Warren's Sexism Jibe Against Sanders Backfires as #CNNisTrash Trends on Twitter
Alan Macleod | mintpressnews.com | 2020-01-15
CNN has been widely criticized for its perceived bias in moderating yesterday's Democratic presidential debate in Iowa. With just three weeks before the first primaries, six leading candidates descended upon Des Moines last night to take part. But, as with previous debates, much of the public discussion centered on the organization, framing and bias of the organizers and moderators. | CNN asked Bernie Sanders, the most left-leaning of the candidates, if he thought he "owed voters an explanation" on how much his health plan would cost them…
mintpressnews.com/cnn-elizabeth-warren-jibe-bernie-sanders-cnnistrash-trends/264122/
Trump deal instead of Iran nuclear deal? I agree! US president gives Twitter nod to BoJo
rt.com | 2020-01-15
Boris Johnson's suggestion that the 2015 Iran nuclear deal be replaced with a new one
CNN, Warren's Sexism Jibe Against Sanders Backfires as #CNNisTrash Trends on Twitter
Alan Macleod | mintpressnews.com | 2020-01-15
CNN has been widely criticized for its perceived bias in moderating yesterday's Democratic presidential debate in Iowa. With just three weeks before the first primaries, six leading candidates descended upon Des Moines last night to take part. But, as with previous debates, much of the public discussion centered on the organization, framing and bias of the organizers and moderators. | CNN asked Bernie Sanders, the most left-leaning of the candidates, if he thought he "owed voters an explanation" on how much his health plan would cost them…
mintpressnews.com/cnn-elizabeth-warren-jibe-bernie-sanders-cnnistrash-trends/264122/
'Step up to the plate!' Trump says Apple won't unlock devices used by 'criminals & drug dealers' in Pensacola shooter phone row
rt.com | 2020-01-15
US President Donald Trump has demanded that Apple helps federal agencies break into a pair of devices linked to the Pensacola shooter, accusing the company of not doing enough to assist investigators. | In a tweet on Tuesday, Trump implied that the tech giant has been ungrateful to his administration, which he said is "helping [it] all of the time on TRADE," calling on Apple to unlock two devices that belonged to the Saudi trainee who killed four at a US naval base in Florida last December. | "We are helping Apple all of the time on TRADE and so many other issues, and yet they refuse to unlock phones used by k…
rt.com/usa/478282-trump-apple-pensacola-phone/
US Clearing Anti-War Voices Off Social Media
Darius Shahtahmasebi | theantimedia.com | 2020-01-14
(TMU)
The Montessori Schools Set to Track Students' Every Move
Sarah Lahm | progressive.org | 2020-01-14
At schools that were meant to foster self-paced learning in the natural world, the billionaires behind Facebook and Amazon are funding new data-seeking tech.
progressive.org/public-school-shakedown/the-montessori-schools-set-to-track-students-every-move-lahm-200114/
Pundits Go Nuts Over New Russian Hacking Conspiracy
Caitlin Johnstone | theantimedia.com | 2020-01-14
(CJ Opinion)
Under US pressure, social media companies censor critical content and suspend Venezuelan, Iranian, and Syrian accounts
Ben Norton | thegrayzone.com | 2020-01-13
As the US escalates its hybrid wars, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram are suspending accounts and censoring content that conflicts with…
thegrayzone.com/2020/01/12/us-pressure-social-media-censoring-suspending-venezuela-iran-syria/
Jeff Bezos Donates Three Minutes' Income to Help Australia Fight Wildfires
Alan Macleod | mintpressnews.com | 2020-01-13
The donation would be equivalent to someone who earned $500 per week announcing on social media that they had just donated five cents to help tackle the blazes.
mintpressnews.com/amazon-jeff-bezos-donation-australia-fires/264076/
Iran's Accidental Downing of a Ukrainian Plane Already Being Used to Smear MH-17 Skeptics
Max Parry | dissidentvoice.org | 2020-01-13
When the Pentagon confirmed the assassination of Iranian Major General Qasem Soleimani, U.S. President Donald Trump took to social media to post a single image of the American flag to the adulation of his followers. Unfortunately, most Americans are ignorant of the other flag synonymous with U.S. foreign policy, that of the 'false flag' utilized …
dissidentvoice.org/2020/01/irans-accidental-downing-of-a-ukrainian-plane-already-being-used-to-smear-mh-17-skeptics/
"Democracy For Sale": Cambridge Analytica & Big Tech's History of Manipulating Elections
Staff | democracynow.org | 2020-01-10
A longtime Facebook executive has admitted the company's platform helped Donald Trump win the 2016 election, and it may happen again this year. In an internal memo, Facebook Vice President Andrew Bosworth wrote, "So was Facebook responsible for Donald Trump getting elected? I think the answer is yes." Bosworth, who was a backer of Hillary Clinton in 2016, went on to write that the company should not change its policies in an effort to hurt Trump's re-election chances. In his memo, Bosworth referenced the role of the shadowy data firm Cambridge Analytica but downplayed its significance. However, a new Oscar-shortl…
www.democracynow.org/2020/1/10/2020_election_digital_manipulation_cambridge_analytica
More Rockets Fired At US Embassy, US Iranians Detained & Trump Says Twitter Is "Notifying Congress"
Ryan Cristián | thelastamericanvagabond.com | 2020-01-06
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 …
thelastamericanvagabond.com/daily-wrap-up/more-rockets-fired-at-us-embassy-us-iranians-detained-trump-says-twitter-is-notifying-congress/