2021-01-29: News Headlines

Tomdispatch (2021-01-29). Demilitarizing Our Democracy: How the National Security State Has Come to Dominate a "Civilian" Government. juancole.com By Mandy Smithberger and William Hartung | — ( Tomdispatch.com ) — This month's insurrection at the Capitol revealed the dismal failure of the Capitol Police and the Department of Defense to use their expertise and resources to thwart a clear and present danger to our democracy. As the government reform group Public Citizen tweeted, …

MEE and agencies (2021-01-29). Islamic State 'deputy caliph' killed in Iraq, PM Kadhimi says. middleeasteye.net Islamic State 'deputy caliph' killed in Iraq, PM Kadhimi says | Intelligence-led operation that killed Abu Yaser al-Issawi comes a week after IS claimed deadliest Iraq attack in three years
| Fri, 01/29/2021 – 10: 15 | A photo circulating online purportedly shows Abu Yaser al-Issawi (Twitter) | Iraqi security forces have killed the country's top Islamic State (IS) commander, who had cl…

Mark Gruenberg (2021-01-29). Fauci optimistic about more vaccines coming soon. peoplesworld.org WASHINGTON—The nation's top expert on the coronavirus, Dr. Anthony Fauci, is optimistic that more pharmaceutical companies will announce "within the next few days" that they, too, have vaccines to join the two whose anti-viral vaccines are already being injected into people's arms. "There's some light at the end of the tunnel" in the U.S.'s fight …

Ben Burgis (2021-01-29). The Left Should Oppose Censorship by Big Tech Companies. zcomm.org We should champion free speech online — and argue that the best way to protect it is with a socialist program that brings privatized social media platforms into public control…

RT (2021-01-29). Robinhood imposes ONE share buy limit on DOZENS OF STOCKS amid GameStop scrutiny. rt.com The market insanity that began with short-selling drama at GameStop has escalated beyond day-traders' wildest nightmares, as the once-popular brokerage app Robinhood is now effectively preventing users from buying some 50 stocks. | Robinhood users angrily took to Twitter to display screenshots indicating the app was blocking them from buying more than a single stock of some companies. The trading lockdown on Friday wasn't limited to GameStop ($GME) — users were posting similar shots of failed efforts to trade other stocks of companies that seemed to have a richer future than a brick-and-mortar video game…

Staff (2021-01-29). Marjorie Taylor Greene Has Long Used Racism, Anti-Semitism to Get Famous. truthout.org Just days before Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene faced a fresh round of calls to resign from Congress after CNN reported that her Facebook page had endorsed calls to execute top Democrats in 2018, the Republican from Georgia was starting her own social media buzz around articles of impeachment she filed against President Joe Biden. | Greene

sputniknews (2021-01-29). Facebook 'Supreme Court' Accepting Public Comment on Whether to Reinstate Trump Account. sputniknews.com The former US president, Donald Trump, was blocked on Facebook earlier this month after being accused of inciting an insurrection at the US Capitol on January 6. In a statement earlier this month, Facebook's chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg, stated that the risk of allowing Trump to continue to use the platform were "simply too great."

Sophia Purdy-Moore (2021-01-29). Another officer caught using lockdown rules to abuse police power. thecanary.co On Wednesday 27 January, a Twitter user shared a Caught o…

yenisafak (2021-01-29). PKK suspect caught trying to illegally cross to Greece. yenisafak.com Turkey's northwestern border troops nabbed a terror suspect trying to flee to Greece, the National Defense Ministry said on Friday."A person trying to cross from our country to Greece illegally was caught by our border units in Ipsala district of Edirne," the ministry said on Twitter."The person, who was previously tried for aiding and abetting the PKK terrorist organization, was handed over to the Ipsala District Gendarme Station," it added.In its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK — listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the US and the EU — has been responsible for the…

yenisafak (2021-01-29). A Threshold for Bahrain: From a 'retweet island' to 'spoiler' of Saudi-led Gulf reconciliation? yenisafak.com The six members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) signed a 'solidarity and stability' agreement on January 5, 2021, at the 41st GCC summit meeting to end a three-and-a-half-years blockade on Qatar. This is an important watershed for the inter-Gulf relations as it ended the Gulf Crisis. This crisis was the manifestation of the huge division between Qatar and the other members of the GCC on their regional vision and decision-making on alignment. After a three-and-a-half-year crack in the Gulf unity, with the dialogue initiatives of Saudi Arabia, the crisis came to an end with the Al Ula declaration and the bloc…

sputniknews (2021-01-29). Video: Citron Research Says it Will Stop Publishing Short-Seller Reports Amid GameStop Squeeze. sputniknews.com Wall Street short-sellers have lost billions of dollars in recent days after a viral online movement of amateur online traders started buying shares and stock options in the company, prompting GameStop's market value to increase from $2 billion to $24 billion in just a matter of days.

Fight Back (2021-01-29). GameStop, Reddit, and what we all should know about the stock market. fightbacknews.org Chicago, IL – The past few days have seen GameStop and Reddit become the meme-of-the-week and take significant headlines. Some media outlets are saying the recent turn of events "isn't funny; it's stupid" while celebrity billionaires like Elon Musk crack jokes on Twitter. Redditors are claiming that they are crashing Wall Street, and yet the market is bullish as ever. What should we be taking from all of this? In short, we must seize this moment to educate about how the stock market works, who it works for, and how we can institute true changes that benefit everyday people. | To understand what has happened, it i…

William Hartung — Mandy Smithburger (2021-01-29). How the National Security State Has Come to Dominate a "Civilian" Government. counterpunch.org This month's insurrection at the Capitol revealed the dismal failure of the Capitol Police and the Department of Defense to use their expertise and resources to thwart a clear and present danger to our democracy. As the government reform group Public Citizen tweeted, "If you're spending $740,000,000,000 annually on 'defense' but fascists dressed for the

ACLU (2021-01-29). What Does Free Speech Mean Online? aclu.org Nearly three weeks ago, former President Donald Trump was banned from nearly every social media platform because of his role in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. Just before Congress was set to certify Joe Biden as the next president of the United States, Trump instructed his supporters to, "fight much harder" against "bad people" and "show strength" at the Capitol. | The social media bans on Trump and his supporters ignited a debate about whether these social media companies have too much power over the speech of their users. Should they have banned Trump sooner? Are these bans legal? What kind of precedent does…

Dean Baker (2021-01-29). Quick Thoughts on the "Evils" of Share Buybacks. cepr.net This is a Twitter thread from a couple of months back. I thought I would post it here since there may be some interest. Someone sent me a diatribe from some progressive about the evil of share buybacks. I have a few thoughts. First the claims: they allow companies to inflate share prices, top management …

Fight Back (2021-01-29). GameStop, Reddit, and what we all should know about the stock market. fightbacknews.org Chicago, IL – The past few days have seen GameStop and Reddit become the meme-of-the-week and take significant headlines. Some media outlets are saying the recent turn of events "isn't funny; it's stupid" while celebrity billionaires like Elon Musk crack jokes on Twitter. Redditors are claiming that they are crashing Wall Street, and yet the market is bullish as ever. What should we be taking from all of this? In short, we must seize this moment to educate about how the stock market works, who it works for, and how we can institute true changes that benefit everyday people. | To understand what has happened, it i…

Nathan Locke (2021-01-29). How Trump Exacerbated Corporate Censorship. realprogressives.org When Donald Trump was kicked off Twitter following the determination that his speech had fomented violence, a heated debate began: Was this something that should have been done earlier, or is it a horrifying display of "Big Tech's" power showing they can shut down political speech they don't like? | On one hand, Donald Trump's Twitter feed was perhaps the most notorious and destructive misinformation campaign in American history — and one that arguably did incite violent behavior. In the days following the Capitol being stormed by a misled mob, we were all justifiably worried Trump was attempting a real c…

Caitlin A. Johnstone (2021-01-28). The pendulum of internet censorship swings leftward again. mronline.org There has been a purge of left-wing accounts from social media, with socialist organizations being targeted on Facebook and multiple Antifa-associated accounts suspended from Twitter.

The Socialist Program (2021-01-28). In the News: Democrats Get Ready for Failure. liberationnews.org This interview is an episode of The Socialist Program with Brian Becker, a podcast providing news and views about the world for those who want to change it. You can follow the show on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. On this week's "In the News" roundtable, Brian Becker, Nicole Roussell, Esther Iverem and Walter Smolarek discuss …

Brett Wilkins, staff writer (2021-01-28). Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to Ted Cruz: 'You Almost Had Me Murdered… You Can Resign'. commondreams.org The Squad member once again implored Cruz to quit after he tweeted agreement with her call for a probe of the GameStop stock trading controversy. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/aoc_13.jpg

teleSUR (2021-01-28). Peru Deploys Army on Border With Ecuador to Block Migrants. telesurenglish.net President Francisco Sagasti's administration on Wednesday deployed hundreds of Peruvian officers throughout the border with Ecuador to prohibit immigrants from entering the country amid its second wave of COVID-19. | RELATED: | "We will keep the border blocked for as long as necessary to prevent the entry of immigrants infected with COVID-19," Peruvian Armed Forces Joint Command tweeted. | The joint decision "seeks t…

Nadda Osman (2021-01-28). Exiled Emirati dissident launches campaign to lift travel ban on sick son. middleeasteye.net Exiled Emirati dissident launches campaign to lift travel ban on sick son | Ahmed Al-Nuaimi demands to be reunited with his son, who suffers from cerebral palsy and needs specialist medical attention | Thu, 01/28/2021 – 12: 55 | The academic has launched a Twitter campaign to be reunited with his son and allow him the medical attention he needs (Screengrab/Twitter) | An Emirati academic and dissident liv…

WSWS (2021-01-28). As pandemic continues in China, lack of resources provokes social media protests. wsws.org The government's COVID-19 prevention and control system is facing tremendous pressure and fuelling popular discontent.

RT (2021-01-28). AOC throws weight behind GameStop hedge fund massacre, takes a dig at Wall Street's 'long history of treating economy as a casino'. rt.com Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has heaped mockery on Wall Street hedge funds who've taken a beating after a short-selling scheme on GameStop shares miserably backfired, accusing them of treating markets like a "casino." | The New York congresswoman took to Twitter on Wednesday night to poke fun at the "Wall Streeters" racking up major losses amid a push by online trolls to punish GameStop short-sellers, "Gotta admit it's really something…

RT (2021-01-28). GameStop controversy put AOC & Trump Jr on SAME PAGE against Wall Street — but panicked MSM smears Reddit traders as ALT-RIGHT MOB. rt.com The GameStop stock rebellion is playing out like a revealing Rorschach test, drawing political figures as divergent as Donald Trump Jr. and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez together, and prompting legacy media to demonize the uprising. | The former president's son responded to ruling-class efforts to crush the rally, including Thursday's move by trading app Robinhood to ban its users from buying shares of GameStop and other stocks targeted by grassroots investors, by saying, "This is what a rigged system looks like." Trump Jr. tweeted: "It took less than a day for Big Tech, Big Government, and the corporate media to s…

RT (2021-01-28). GameStop controversy put AOC & Trump Jr on SAME PAGE against Wall Street — but panicked MSM smears Reddit traders as ALT-RIGHT MOB. rt.com The GameStop stock rebellion is playing out like a revealing Rorschach test, drawing political figures as divergent as Donald Trump Jr. and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez together, and prompting legacy media to demonize the uprising. | The former president's son responded to ruling-class efforts to crush the rally, including Thursday's move by trading app Robinhood to ban its users from buying shares of GameStop and other stocks targeted by grassroots investors, by saying, "This is what a rigged system looks like." Trump Jr. tweeted: "It took less than a day for Big Tech, Big Government, and the corporate media to s…

The Canary (2021-01-28). Nicola Surgeon vows to 'tackle transphobia if it exists in my party'. thecanary.co Nicola Sturgeon has vowed to tackle transphobia within the SNP if it exists, insisting she takes on "bigotry" whenever she encounters it. | Broken promises?: | She was asked during First Minister's Questions on 28 January whether her government has broken its promises to transgender and nonbinary people. It came after she tweeted a video message on the issue, following reports of significant numbers of people leaving the SNP because they do not consider it to be a safe and tolerant place for trans people. | In the message posted on Wednesday evening, which she said was not scripted but "comes from my hear…

RT (2021-01-28). Childish drama? Vox pilloried for pearl-clutching saga about parents trying to cope with Instagram baby guru donating to Trump. rt.com Vox has been pelted with snarky social media retorts after publishing a story that explores the anguish felt by socially conscious parents upon learning that an Instagram mom, known for her baby sleep advice, gave money to Trump. | In a shining example of shoeleather journalism, the liberal outlet released a detailed analysis of the penetrating philosophical questions resulting from the discovery that Cara Dumaplin, founder of the popular Instagram account Taking Cara Babies, had donated a combined total of $1,078 to Donald Trump's 2016 and 2020 election campaigns. | Chatter about the political contributions f…

RT (2021-01-28). 'What are you doing?' Fans accuse UFC star Jorge Masvidal of betraying MMA over YouTube boxer Jake Paul's surprise footage (VIDEO). rt.com Viewers have rounded on Jorge Masvidal to accuse the UFC veteran of a lack of integrity after Jake Paul, the YouTuber who will take on one of his former victims next month, released footage of a training session between the pair.

RT (2021-01-28). Facebook to expel 'political content' from its news feed to 'discourage divisive conversations,' Zuckerberg says. rt.com Facebook is set to make it harder for "political content" to permeate its news feed and make related groups less visible — all in the name of preventing heated discussions that sow division, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said. | Zuckerberg took to his own platform on Wednesday with a vast 2,800-word

RT (2021-01-28). UN chief 'particularly worried' about power of social media giants & calls for laws to keep them in check. rt.com Regulations are needed to reign in companies like Twitter so that their actions, such as the banning of former US president Donald Trump, are "in line with the law," said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. | When asked during a press conference on Thursday if Twitter was "right" to permanently suspend Trump, then a sitting US president, Guterres did not answer directly. Instead, he suggested that social media behemoths should follow a clear set of rules rather than wielding unchecked power. | He called for "mechanisms, in which there's regulatory framework with rules that allow for that to be done," but sa…

RT (2021-01-28). US freeze on F-35s sale to Abu Dhabi won't hurt normalization between Israel & UAE — PM Netanyahu. rt.com The suspension by US President Joe Biden on selling F-35 fighter jets to the UAE won't derail normalization between Jerusalem and Abu Dhabi, as the process has gone too far already, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted. | "It won't affect them," Netanyahu said, when asked about the possible impact of the announcement by Washington on relations between Israel and the UAE. | The mending of ties between the two former foes has "passed the point of no return," the prime minister insisted during a press conference broadcast on Facebook. | "Everyone understood that this [normalization deal] was a historic step…

RT (2021-01-28). PETA declares meat-eaters 'human supremacists', Twitter cringes & bombs it with mockery. rt.com The animal rights group PETA, famous for its shock-tactics publicity stunts, has implied that all non-vegans have something Klanish in them, denouncing meat-eaters as "human supremacists." It certainly caught attention. | "Eating animals is speciesist," People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA)

teleSUR (2021-01-28). Bolsonaro Unleashes His Foul Language Against Journalists. telesurenglish.net Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro on Wednesday responded with foul language to journalists who denounced irregularities in costly public food purchases made amid the pandemic. | RELATED: | "When I see the press attacking me and saying I bought two and a half million cans of condensed milk, [my response is] go fu#% yourselves, shitty press," Bolsonaro said at a private event whose video was leaked to social media. | "Le…

yenisafak (2021-01-28). Turkey's FM hails new Canadian, Afghan officials. yenisafak.com Turkey's foreign minister spoke with his newly appointed Canadian counterpart over the phone, according to diplomatic sources.In their phone conversation, Mevlut Cavusoglu congratulated Marc Garneau on his appointment this January as foreign minister.Separately, Cavusoglu also met in the Turkish capital Ankara with Qudratullah Zaki, Afghanistan's transport minister.On Twitter, Cavusoglu "congratulated my brother Qudratullah Zaki, Minister of Transport of Afghanistan, for his new post.""Thanks to statesmen like Qudratullah Zaki who studied in Turkey, our brotherly ties with Afghanistan are even stronger," Cavusogl…

Peter Bloom (2021-01-28). Beware Corporate 'Democracy Washing'. zcomm.org Twitter, Trump, and the Danger of Privatizing the Fight Against Fascism…

Online News Editor (2021-01-28). Jaguar cubs rescued in Nicaragua after being offered for sale online. laprensalatina.com Managua, Jan 27 (efe-epa).- Two jaguar cubs were rescued from a house in the North Caribbean Coast of Nicaragua after being offered for illegal sale on social media when their mother was killed by residents, the Nicaragua Zoo reported on Wednesday. The male and female jaguars, just three-and-a-half months old, were underweight when they were …

_____ (2021-01-28). Farmers Blame Miscreants For Maligning Their Image On Republic Day. popularresistance.org As part of their Tractor Protest Rally, thousands of farmers entered Delhi on Tuesday morning riding SUVs, cars, and wheeled farm equipment. A faction of the rally soon invaded Delhi's iconic Red Fort, leading to violent clashes with police as the farmers seek the repeal of several farm laws recently decreed by the central government. | While farm leaders in the state of Haryana and Punjab distance themselves from the events at Delhi's iconic Red Fort on India's 72nd Republic Day, saying agitation against the new farm laws has nothing to do with violence, social media continues to buzz over the possible cause of…

sputniknews (2021-01-28). Twitter Giggles as Analysts Quickly Assume 'Foreign Powers' Are Behind the GameStop Short Squeeze. sputniknews.com On Wednesday, American stock markets were rocked by a group of small retail investors cooperating via Reddit to push GameStop company stocks to 1,700% above its previous value in just a few weeks, forcing institutional hedge fund investors to retreat due to huge financial losses.

sputniknews (2021-01-28). Newly Elected GOP Lawmaker Faces Resignation Calls For Two-Year-Old Posts, Likes on Social Media. sputniknews.com The lawmaker has already come under fire because she supported former President Donald Trump's allegations of electoral fraud and she campaigned for the 2020 voting results to be denied certification.

sputniknews (2021-01-28). Netizens Mock PETA For Demand to Stop Using Animal Insults Like 'Chicken' Or 'Pig'. sputniknews.com Animal analogies have long featured prominently in human perception, but that play works both says. Some animal qualities, both the pleasant and the not so much, we use to characterize each other and even to insult each other. In some languages, calling someone "kitty" or another animal diminutive is a way to express affection or love.

Scott Thomas Outlar (2021-01-28). En Garde 2021. dissidentvoice.org From the viral fun of the Wuhan Age straight into the fevered depths of Orwell's wet dream, welcome to round two of the roaring twenties. With all the resolutions and excitement of the holiday season that took place of late, we all knew that a simple ceremonial spin around the sun wasn't going to alter …

Editor (2021-01-28). The National Security State Has Militarized Our Democracy. scheerpost.com The U.S. Army / CC BY 2.0] By Mandy Smithberger and William Hartung / TomDispatch This month's insurrection at the Capitol revealed the dismal failure of the Capitol Police and the Department of Defense to use their expertise and resources to thwart a clear and present danger to our democracy. As the government reform group Public Citizen tweeted, "If you're spending $740,000,000… |

RT (2021-01-27). Google ditching Apple tool to track iPhone users & dodge pop-up warning on data collection. rt.com New Apple rules that introduce an obligatory pop-up warning to users that their browsing data is being stored for advertising purposes has prompted Google to stop using the company's tracking tool in its iOS products. | Apple's new rules will see users asked to opt in if they want to allow advertisers to use their information through what's known as an 'identifier for advertisers' (IDFA). The IDFA is a unique code on each iPhone that essentially allows for the users to be tracked across multiple aps in order to determine which adverts should be shown to them. | Under the new rules, which Apple said will come i…

RT (2021-01-27). Airline pilots capture video of 'extremely bright UFO' during flight in Pakistan (VIDEOS). rt.com Two Pakistan International Airlines pilots have captured intriguing video footage of an "extremely bright UFO" during a domestic flight. The video has gone viral in Pakistan. | It emerged Wednesday that the pilots saw the strange object during a flight from Karachi to Lahore at around 4pm on January 23. The plane was travelling at an altitude of 35,000 feet when the sighting occurred. | "The UFO was extremely bright despite the presence of sunlight," the pilot One of the flight team beg…

Editor (2021-01-27). Reflecting the Authoritarian Climate, Washington Will Remain Militarized. scheerpost.com YouTube] By Glenn Greenwald / Substack Washington, DC has been continuously militarized beginning the week leading up to Joe Biden's inauguration, when 20,000 National Guard troops were deployed onto the streets of the nation's capital. The original justification was that this show of massive force was necessary to secure the inauguration in light of the January 6 riot at the Capitol. |

WSWS (2021-01-27). WSWS's fight against Facebook censorship draws international support. wsws.org Statements of support, social media posts and shares, news reports and messages sent directly to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg denouncing the political censorship of the socialist left played a decisive role in the restoration of the University of Michigan IYSSE Facebook page and the accounts of leading members of the SEP.

RT (2021-01-27). Bill Gates shocked by Covid conspiracy theories about him and Fauci, suggests social media firms may help censor such 'evil' talk. rt.com Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates is looking to possibly enlist the help of Big Tech to help censor offending online voices after he and US Covid-19 czar Anthony Fauci were victimized by "evil" conspiracy theories. | "Nobody would have predicted that I and Dr. Fauci would be so prominent in really kind of evil theories about — did we create the pandemic, are we trying to profit from it? — and on and on," Gates Gates, whose foundation has committed upward of $1.75 billion to he…

RT (2021-01-27). Being on Parler & Gab apparently cost New York literary agency employee her job… after one Twitter complaint. rt.com Internet commenters have decried the rise of social justice-fueled intolerance, after a woman was purportedly fired from her job simply for having accounts on conservative-leaning social media platforms. | Colleen Oefelein, an associate literary agent with the New York City-based Jennifer De Chiara Literary Agency, was sacked after her boss learned that she owned accounts on Gab and Parler. The agency's owner, Jennifer DeChiara, publicly announced on Twitter that the firm had dropped Oefelein after making the "distressing" discovery. | "We do not condone this activity, and apologize to anyone who has been affe…

RT (2021-01-27). 'They just want to defend Biden,' The Scoop co-founder tells RT after Facebook ban, accusing platforms of anti-conservative bias. rt.com Steeve Strange — co-founder of the conservative news site The Scoop, whose personal page was banned on Facebook over an anti-Biden group — has told RT that he flouted no rules and was swept up in a broader anti-conservative purge. | Facebook permanently disabled Strange's account together with that of The Scoop's other co-founder, Cameron Shizznit, for violating "community standards" earlier this week. | It came shortly after the Mark Zuckerberg-owned platform yanked the duo's group, called "Patriots Against Joe Biden." In a message justifying the deletion, Facebook said that any "pages that are ha…