Six complexities of these pandemic times
Vijay Prashad | mronline.org | 2020-09-04
Social media, in March 2020, was awash with rumours. Swans and dolphins could be seen in totally deserted Venetian canals. A group of elephants marched into a village in Yunnan (China), drank corn wine, and went to sleep in a tea garden.
mronline.org/2020/09/04/six-complexities-of-these-pandemic-times/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=six-complexities-of-these-pandemic-times

The Politics of Looting
David Rosen | counterpunch.org | 2020-09-04
On May 29th, in response to growing protests in Minneapolis, MN, following George Floyd's murder, President Trump tweeted, "When the looting starts, the shooting starts." Trump failed to inform his twitter followers that the term had originally been used by Miami police Chief Walter Headley in 1967 during hearing about crime in the city. His…
counterpunch.org/2020/09/04/the-politics-of-looting/

What to Expect in Trump's America
Joseph Natoli | counterpunch.org | 2020-09-04
"'The big backlash going on in Portland cannot be unexpected." — President Trump, Tweet President Trump is extending his narrative from Make Me Great Again to Law & Order and protecting suburban women from low renters. Democratic Presidential candidate Joe Biden wants to focus the narrative on the coronavirus pandemic and the economic downturn, both…
counterpunch.org/2020/09/04/what-to-expect-in-trumps-america/

Turkish foreign minister meets KRG head Barzani
yenisafak.com | 2020-09-04
The Turkish foreign minister met with the President of Iraq's Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) in the capital Ankara on Friday.In a Twitter post, Mevlut Cavusoglu said he hosted KRG President Nechirvan Barzani and his delegation.The Turkish minister said the two officials discussed bilateral relations and the joint fight against the PKK terrorist group.President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will also receive Barzani at the presidential complex.Prior to his arrival in Ankara, Barzani met with French President Emmanuel Macron and held a round of meetings with Iraqi leaders in Baghdad, including Prime Minister Mustafa Al-K…
yenisafak.com/en/news/turkish-foreign-minister-meets-krg-head-barzani-3538443

Brazil: Federal Court Restitutes Disputed Land to Pataxo People
telesurenglish.net | 2020-09-03
Brazil's Supreme Federal Court (STF) on Thursday put out an order to cease the evictions of Pataxo people, an Indigenous community in Bahia state. | RELATED: | El Salvador Decrees Prevention Alert Due To Tropical Storm Nana | "Minister Gilmar Mendes of the STF has just decided in favor of the community, also suspending the decision of the judge from Eunápolis for not complying with the decision of the STF. Double victory of the Patax people!" tweeted Indigenous rights' activi…
telesurenglish.net/news/brazil-federal-court-restitutes-disputed-land-to-pataxo-people–20200903-0011.html

Facebook Removes Right-Wing Disinformation Network
telesurenglish.net | 2020-09-03
Facebook Tuesday informed it eliminated a U.S.-based disinformation network that was financed by Bolivia's Interim government as the company considered it a threat to democracy. | RELATED: | Bolivia: Lawmaker Accuses Interim Govt. of Encouraging COVID-19 | Besides posting information in favor of Bolivia's coup-born regime, such a network targeted Latin American users and offering them publications in support of political groups opposing Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro and…
telesurenglish.net/news/Facebook-Removes-Right-Wing-Disinformation-Network-20200903-0008.html

President Maduro Invites UN, EU Observers to December Elections
telesurenglish.net | 2020-09-03
Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza said on Twitter that a letter had been sent to UN chief Antonio Guterres and the EU's top diplomat Josep Borrell inviting them to send electoral observers as well as outlining the "broad electoral guarantees agreed for the upcoming parliamentary elections." | RELATED: | Venezuela: President Maduro Pardons 110 Politics Opponents | The move comes a day after Preside…
telesurenglish.net/news/President-Maduro-Invites-UN-EU-Observers-to-December-Elections-20200903-0010.html

Socialist Equality Group in Turkey condemns attack against TİP deputy after threats from interior minister
wsws.org | 2020-09-03
Sosyalist E≈üitlik unequivocally condemns the attack on Barƒ±≈ü Atay, who was physically assaulted by a mob in ƒ∞stanbul after Interior Minister Sàºleyman Soylu threatened him on social media.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/09/03/turk-s03.html

Wisconsin man who says he marched with Rittenhouse in Kenosha was immersed in White Supremacist propaganda
Eds. | mronline.org | 2020-09-03
Ryan Balch, a 31-year-old Wisconsin man who joined Kyle Rittenhouse and a contingent of militia conducting armed patrols in Kenosha, used his social media accounts to link to a Nazi propaganda video.
mronline.org/2020/09/03/wisconsin-man-who-says-he-marched-with-rittenhouse-in-kenosha-was-immersed-in-white-supremacist-propaganda/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=wisconsin-man-who-says-he-marched-with-rittenhouse-in-kenosha-was-immersed-in-white-supremacist-propaganda

Facebook to block new political ads before US election
yenisafak.com | 2020-09-03
Facebook said Thursday it would not accept new political ads in the week before the US presidential election.The move announced by CEO Mark Zuckerberg aims to "help secure the integrity of the US elections by encouraging voting, connecting people to authoritative information, and reducing the risks of post-election confusion," according to the company.It said it would remove posts that claim people will get COVID-19 if they take part in voting."We'll attach a link to authoritative information about the coronavirus to posts that might use COVID-19 to discourage voting," the company said in a statement. It will als…
yenisafak.com/en/news/facebook-to-block-new-political-ads-before-us-election-3538380

No joke zone: Twitter mob CANCELS Twenty One Pilots' frontman Tyler Joseph for visual pun on 'using platforms' for social issues
rt.com | 2020-09-03
Tyler Joseph, member of the American pop band Twenty One Pilots, had to go through a round of self-flagellation for the crime of ridiculing the use of social media for public good, raising the ire of the online mainstream. | Joseph had employed a little bit of creativity to take a swipe at fans that apparently urged him to spread some socially-important message across various social media platforms. | The 31-year-old musician uploaded a pair of photos of himself wearing extremely high platform trainers. "You guys keep asking me to use my platforms. Feels good to dust these bad boys off," reads the caption to t…
rt.com/usa/499778-tyler-joseph-bashed-twitter-platforms/

Facebook's Business Model Thrives on the Virality of Hate
Prabir Purkayastha | counterpunch.org | 2020-09-03
A recent Wall Street Journal (WSJ) article, "Facebook's Hate-Speech Rules Collide With Indian Politics," has blown the lid off Facebook's unholy alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the right-wing ruling party in India. In the August 14 article, WSJ reporters Newley Purnell and Jeff Horwitz detail how Ankhi Das, Facebook's high-flying public policy director…
counterpunch.org/2020/09/03/facebooks-business-model-thrives-on-the-virality-of-hate/

Facebook Threats and News Opportunities
Dr. Binoy Kampmark | globalresearch.ca | 2020-09-02
News and information can only go so far. Despite the utopian fluffiness about having multiple platforms, the consumers of news want only one thing: the reassurance that their prejudice is secure and their world view left unchallenged. The reader of …
globalresearch.ca/facebook-threats-news-opportunities/5722793

Good Riddance: Facebook Threats and News Opportunities
Binoy Kampmark | dissidentvoice.org | 2020-09-02
News and information can only go so far. Despite the utopian fluffiness about having multiple platforms, the consumers of news want only one thing: the reassurance that their prejudice is secure and their world view left unchallenged. The reader of Rupert Murdoch's Sun would dare not venture into the sinned waters of The Guardian. Those …
dissidentvoice.org/2020/09/good-riddance-facebook-threats-and-news-opportunities/

What's behind the U.S. ban on TikTok?
Ben Carroll | workers.org | 2020-09-02
With more than 100 million monthly users in the U.S., nearly 70% of whom are ages 13-24, TikTok has quickly become a wildly popular, short-video social media app. Owned by Chinese corporation ByteDance Ltd., TikTok is the sixth most popular social media app worldwide, according to usage statistics compiled in . . . | Continue reading What's behind the U.S. ban on TikTok? at Workers.org…
workers.org/2020/09/51001/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=whats-behind-the-u-s-ban-on-tiktok

Elementary school students forced to use Taco Bell parking lot for internet in Salinas, California
wsws.org | 2020-09-02
Photos circulated on social media this week showing children sitting in a parking lot in order to use their internet to do homework.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/09/02/elem-s02.html

NYT columnist goes for a jog, sees no mayhem and declares that New York's alleged surge in crime is a 'nonexistent crisis'
rt.com | 2020-09-02
Paul Krugman, the Nobel prize-winning economist and New York Times columnist, has figured out that the doom and gloom over rampant violence and lawlessness in the largest US city is unfounded hysteria over a "nonexistent crisis." | All he needed to find the truth of the matter and prove the alarmists wrong was to go for a jog in the city Wednesday morning. "Am sorry to report that I saw very few black-clad anarchists," Krugman tweeted after his run. "Also, the city is not yet in flames." | I went for a belated NYC run this morning, and am sorry to report that I saw very few black-clad anarchists. Also, the cit…
rt.com/usa/499744-nyt-krugman-lawlessness-denial/

'Inconsistent' with city's values? DC mayor seeks to remove, relocate & rename dozens of memorials, including WASHINGTON Monument
rt.com | 2020-09-02
DC Mayor Muriel Bowser has ordered a reevaluation of public spaces and monuments to ensure their names and 'legacies' are consistent with modern values, sharing the results soon after warning the US is headed for a "race war." | The list of properties for consideration was posted to Bowser's Twitter on Tuesday, all named after major US historical figures. The reevaluation was intended to determine whether any of the namesakes "in some way encouraged the oppression of African Americans and other communities of color or contributed to our long history of systemic racism." | This July, I tasked the DCFACES Workin…
rt.com/usa/499649-dc-mayor-rename-monuments/

China Claims US Abuses National Security to Ban Its Apps
telesurenglish.net | 2020-09-01
China's Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying denounced that the United States is abusing the concept of "national security" to veto more Chinese technology companies and mobile applications after actions against Huawei, TikTok, or WeChat. | RELATED: | Tiktok Deal Entails China's Approval Under Revised Catalogue | This attitude "is not doing any good to the United States," said Hua, and showed his hope that Washington would reconsider its stance given that "Chinese co…
telesurenglish.net/news/China-Claims-US-Abuses-National-Security-to-Ban-Its-Apps-20200901-0003.html

Prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 Antibodies in Health Care Personnel in the New York City Area
Moscola J, Sembajwe G, Jarrett M, et al. | jamanetwork.com | 2020-09-01
This seroprevalence survey study describes severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) seropositivity among health care workers at a New York City–based health system by age, sex, race, county of residence, and prior PCR-confirmed viral exposure.
jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2769322

Zuckerberg to donate $300 million to ensure Covid-safe US elections as Facebook hunts for Russian disinformation
rt.com | 2020-09-01
Mark Zuckerberg has said he will donate $300 million to help ensure a "secure" election process amid the Covid-19 pandemic, while Facebook remains on the prowl for alleged "foreign interference" from Russia. | Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan announced on Tuesday that they will donate the hefty pile of cash to "two non-partisan organizations" — the Center for Tech and Civic Life and the Center for Election Innovation & Research. The donation will help with the highly controversial mail-in voting system and go towards ensuring safety measures at polling stations. | "There will be historic levels of v…
rt.com/usa/499639-zuckerberg-donation-us-elections/

400,000+ Americans sick of political duopoly turn out for virtual 'People's Convention' & vote to launch new anti-corporate party
rt.com | 2020-09-01
Fed up with decades of two-party rule, hundreds of thousands of Americans tuned in for the People's Convention, where they voted to form a new political alternative unbeholden to corporate power or the military-industrial complex. | The event drew more than 400,000 viewers to its livestream on Sunday, organizers said. It continued to trend on Twitter through more than 5 hours of speeches that culminated in a vote to create a "major new corporate-…
rt.com/usa/499562-peoples-convention-new-party/

Joe Rogan podcast fans cry 'censorship' as many episodes with conservative guests did not make it to Spotify
rt.com | 2020-09-01
The Joe Rogan Experience, one of the most popular podcasts in the world, finally landed on Spotify, as part of a lucrative, exclusive deal. Now fans are wondering why some episodes featuring conservative guests are missing. | One of the Spotify-excluded guests, Mikhaila Peterson, the daughter of prominent self-help author Jordan Peterson, tweeted on Tuesday about her episode not being on the platform. She called the situation "straight up censorship," and pointed out that some other episodes were also nowhere to be found. | This is straight up censorship. This is absolutely ridiculous. My episode with Joe is #…
rt.com/usa/499620-joe-rogan-censorship-conservative/

Social justice warriors pillory GameSpot for National Guard ad; didn't they hear the military backs Biden now?
rt.com | 2020-09-01
Progressive-minded social justice gamers are up in arms over the videogame website GameSpot's ad partnership with the Army National Guard, apparently unaware the military is supposed to be on "their" side in the upcoming election. | Woke videogamer Twitter melted down on Tuesday over two tweets by GameSpot — not to be confused with the retailer GameStop — in which an Army National Guard sergeant talks about upcoming games, followed by a link to their esports page. | So this is what everyone is freaking out on @GameSpot over? I see some ca…
rt.com/usa/499650-gamespot-national-guard-outrage/

'White Hispanic race soldier': Self-styled 'race-baiter' Tariq Nasheed plays identity card after Latino cop shoots black suspect
rt.com | 2020-09-01
Film producer Tariq Nasheed's tweet implying that Hispanics are racist toward African Americans was met with ridicule and antagonism. He posted it after a Latino sheriff's deputy fatally shot a black man. | The self-described "race-baiter" tweeted on Monday about a "white Hispanic race soldier" killing a black man in Los Angeles the same day. In…
rt.com/usa/499601-white-hispanic-producer-bashed/