(2020-01-10). Bollywood megastar Deepika Padukone's support visit to protest hotbed JNU taps into raging politics for fail-safe publicity. rt.com 
Deepika Padukone, Bollywood superstar and India's highest-paid female actor, became a trending Twitter topic this week, after a strategic visit to Jawaharlal Nehru University — a center of ongoing anti-government protests. | In India's volatile political climate where a huge debate ensued, and protests are raging over a new 'anti-Muslim' citizenship law, Padukone added fuel to fire by stepping into the premises of the university in New Delhi, which has become a "symbol of resistance" against an allegedly "fascist government," to express solidarity with the protesting students. Padukone, whose latest film…
(2020-01-10). U.S. Dismisses Iraq Request to Work on a Troop Withdrawal Plan. truthdig.com 
BAGHDAD — Iraq's caretaker prime minister asked Washington to work out a road map for an American troop withdrawal, but the U.S. State Department on Friday bluntly rejected the request, saying the two sides should instead talk about how to "recommit" to their partnership. | Thousands of anti-government protesters turned out in the capital and southern Iraq, many calling on both Iran and America to leave Iraq, reflecting their anger and frustration over the two rivals — both allies of Baghdad — trading blows on Iraqi soil. | The request from Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi pointed to his determin…
(2020-01-10). "Democracy For Sale": Cambridge Analytica & Big Tech's History of Manipulating Elections. democracynow.org 
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…
(2020-01-10). Ukrainian prosecutors call for an end to 'shameless self-promotion' & speculation about deadly plane crash in Iran. rt.com 
Ukrainian investigators have asked that people stop spreading unfounded claims about the deadly crash of its passenger airliner in Iran. The call comes amid a flood of rumors that the jet was downed by an Iranian missile. | The office of the Prosecutor General in Kiev has urged that everyone "refrain from speculations" concerning the plane crash. | We ask the politicians, the former prosecutors with no legal training or basic knowledge of criminal law and procedures to refrain from the shameless self-promotion on…
(2020-01-10). China mourns native paddlefish after scientists declare it extinct. thecanary.co People in China have been lamenting the demise of the Chinese paddlefish after scientists declared it extinct in a research paper. | Chinese internet users and media outlets have been paying tribute to the hefty creature, whose sharp, protruding snout made it one of the largest freshwater species in the world. | "It's farewell at first sight," said China Youth Daily, noting that many were lamentably unfamiliar with the paddlefish before learning of its demise. | Users shared similar sentiments on the Twitter-like Weibo platform. | Named after its distinctive shape, the Chinese paddlefish, or Chinese swordfish, ha…
(2020-01-10). Mitch McConnell Backs Effort to Quash Impeachment Entirely. truthdig.com Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Thursday signed on to a constitutionally dubious GOP resolution that would alter Senate rules to dismiss the articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump before the House even sends them to the upper chamber. | The measure, sponsored by Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and backed by 12 other Republicans, would change more than two dozen Senate rules in order…
(2020-01-10). Is ET Watching Us? 'Orbs' Swarming Around SpaceX Ship, Leaving ISS, Excites Conspiracy Theorists. sputniknews.com Elon Musk's cargo rocket boosting Starlink satellites into orbit have already tickled the nerves of YouTube alien hunters after one of them spotted something strange passing by on the SpaceX Falcon 9 launch livestream. According to him, a winged object resembling a dragon was lurking below the rocket.
(2020-01-10). Leaked Video Footage Shows Cops Thrashing Man Over Mobile Theft in India – Reports. sputniknews.com New Delhi (Sputnik): While the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh has the worst track record for custodial deaths, a viral video clip of a man allegedly being tortured has sent chills down the spine, with angry reactions pouring in on social media. Custodial death refers to the death of a person in police custody due to torture.
(2020-01-10). Cambridge Analytica Whistleblower: Facebook Allows Racist, Sexist Political Ads. truthout.org 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 r…
(2020-01-10). Hunt monitors say right-wing media coverage of their arrest is 'absolutely' blown out of proportion. thecanary.co On 4 January, Cheshire Police arrested eight hunt saboteurs on suspicion of assault and possession of an offensive weapon. But one of those arrested told The Canary that media reporting of the incident spun what actually happened on the day "out of proportion". | Mass arrest: | Cheshire Hunt Saboteurs broke the news that Cheshire Police sent numerous vehicles and officers to arrest "monitors" attending the Cheshire Hunt: | Police have just arrested a car full of monitors and a sab due to the hunt making an 'allegation'. The hunt…
(2020-01-10). Ukraine president received data from US on Iran plane crash. yenisafak.com The United States has given Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy important data ahead of a call later on Friday with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo about the crash of a Ukrainian airliner in Iran, Ukraine's foreign minister said on Twitter.Zelenskiy and Foreign Minister Vadym Prystaiko met U.S. representatives to receive the data, which will be processed by experts, Prystaiko said, without elaborating on the nature of the data or what it signified.Zelenskiy said earlier the possibility that a missile downed the airliner, killing all on board, had not been ruled out but it had not been confirmed yet.
(2020-01-10). 'HOLY S**T': Deepfake YouTuber 'embarasses' Netflix & Scorsese by de-aging 'The Irishman' better than they ever could. rt.com 
An anonymous YouTuber spent far less time and money than Martin Scorsese and Netflix to de-age actors in 'The Irishman' using the deepfake technology — and the results are rapidly winning fans over. | Martin Scorsese's 'The Irishman' may be an awards favorite at the moment, but a spotlight was just blasted onto one of the movie's most glaring flaws: the de-aging of its star cast. Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, Al Pacino, and others are de-aged throughout the film, which tells a story that spans three decades. Even positive reviews of the Netflix feature, which debuted in November, pointed out that the de-agi…
(2020-01-10). Study Finds Bots and MAGA Supporters Pushing #IraniansDetestSoleimani Hashtag. mintpressnews.com 
A social media disinformation expert studied 60,000 tweets from nearly 10,000 accounts using the hashtag #IraniansDetestSoleimani and found that the most common phrases in those users' biographies were "Make America Great Again" and "Trump."
(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). 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., …
(2020-01-08). 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). Is this the end of U.S. interference in West Asia? mronline.org Iran's Foreign Minister Javad Zarif reacted strongly to U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's suggestion that Iraqis were "dancing in the street" to celebrate the assassination. On Twitter, Zarif posted pictures of the funeral procession for Soleimani and wrote, "End of U.S. malign presence in West Asia has begun." | Source
(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 …
(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…