Facebook Censorship Council Includes Pro-Muslim Brotherhood Activist
So independent!
By Paul Joseph Watson – 8 May, 2020
Facebook’s new censorship council, which will decide what content gets deleted from the website, includes a pro-Muslim Brotherhood Yemeni activist.
“The independent board, which will be able to overturn Facebook and its CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s decisions on whether individual pieces of content should be allowed on Facebook and Instagram, is a high-profile response to criticism of how the social media company handles problematic content,” reported Channel News Asia.
The “oversight board” will include none other than Nobel Laureate Tawakkol Karman, the Yemeni woman who became one of the faces of the Arab Spring uprising in 2011.
Karman’s activism includes supporting the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamist organization that has been blamed for terrorist attacks.
Karman previously denounced arrests of Muslim Brotherhood members and opposed the move to bar the Muslim Brotherhood from participating in Egyptian politics.
In Yemen, the Muslim Brotherhood is led by Abdul Majeed al-Zindani, a Sunni Islamist viewed by the United States as a “Bin Laden loyalist” and someone who is listed as a “Specially Designated Global Terrorist” by the US Treasury Department.
No doubt Karman’s tolerance for allowing criticism of Islam on Facebook’s platform will be in short supply.
As we highlighted earlier this week, another one of Facebook’s censorship czars is none other than anti-Trump Professor Pamela Karlan.
Karlan made a name for herself because of a rant at the impeachment hearings during which she made Barron Trump the punch line of a joke.
Karlan was also described by the New York Times as a “full-throated, unapologetic liberal torchbearer.”
These are the people who will be deciding whether your Facebook posts violate the social media network’s increasingly draconian rules.
FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr responded to the announcement of the oversight board by slamming it as a partisan fraud.
“Meet your new speech police,” said Carr. “Facebook now has an Oversight Board empowered to take down posts.”
“Gotta be non-partisan people, right? Nope! 1 is Pam Karlan: testified to impeach @POTUS, “baron” Trump line, Obama DOJ, & NYT calls ‘full-throated, unapologetic liberal torchbearer.’”
“Facebook’s decision undermines its claim that posts won’t be censored for partisan political reasons. Karlan testified that ‘President Trump must be held to account.’ She wrote *in 2016* that she felt ‘a responsibility to challenge [Trump] in the court of public opinion.’”
HUNDREDS OF LOCKDOWN ‘SNITCHES’ FEAR BACKLASH AFTER NAMES, ADDRESSES PUBLISHED ONLINE
Most cases involved small business owners trying to survive amid economic disaster
MAY 4, 2020
People across the US have been using quarantine lockdown violations to snitch on others.
Sometimes, it’s a stranger, but more often than not, people are snitching on others they know – sometimes all too well.
Arguably the best single piece of reporting ever published by the now-defunct Splinter News was a piece resulting from a FOIA request on immigration ‘snitches’ – people who report the undocumented to ICE or other federal immigration authorities. Splinter found a surprising pattern of people trying to have family members – more often than not their in-laws – deported.
Now, the Independent reports that hundreds of Missouri residents have had their personal details shared online after the publication of a document that recorded reports made by people tattling on lockdown violators.
Some individuals – who asked to remain anonymous despite being named in a public Facebook group as lockdown snitches – reportedly told the Independent that they are seriously concerned about facing consequences for ‘snitching’ on coronavirus rulebreakers in St Louis County.
The people who were ratted on included mostly small business owners who were reported for flouting lockdown laws – i.e. (in many cases) simply trying to survive – by patrons, competitors and, of course, the haters.
The names and addresses of the 900 ‘snitches’ were released totally legally – via an FOIA request (any jailhouse snitch will tell you to beware the fact that there will always be a record of cooperation for constitutional reasons). They were then rounded up and posted in the Facebook group with the explicit intent of ‘naming and shaming’ them.
“I’m not only worried about COVID, I’m worried about someone showing up at my door, showing up at my workplace or me getting fired for doing what is right,” said a woman named Patricia, who was named as one of the ‘snitches.’
“When there is something that happens next time, I’m not going to feel safe or protected enough to call the local authorities.”
“We’re in a society where doing what’s right doesn’t always get rewarded,” added Patricia. “We have to be extra careful because we don’t have the strength to fight this.”
The complaints resulted in 29 businesses receiving court summons in April. Some of the snitches said they snitched on their employers for abusing them or other workers.
This might be the only incidence where snitching on your small-business tyrant boss might be acceptable, though it’s important to take into consideration the fact that sometimes good, reliable and fair people will do desperate shit to save their livelihoods.
Missouri’s St Louis County has confirmed the most cases and deaths from COVID-19 than any other part of the state. Doug Moore, the head of communications for the county executive, said the names and details of the complainants simply couldn’t be legally redacted.
Moore added that “withholding information goes against what journalists push us to be – as transparent as possible.”
Like the old saying goes: “Snitches get stitches.”
Steve Hilton: Who pays the bill for the shutdown?
State and local leaders want Congress to pay the cost for their shutdown decisions; Florida Sen. Rick Scott weighs in.
Oregon Governor Extends Coronavirus State of Emergency Until July
That’s two months from now.
Oregon Democratic Governor Kate Brown announced that she is extending the state’s state of emergency declaration until the month of July, ostensibly maintaining a stay-at-home order for the next two months.
Brown is saying that she’ll have the ability to revoke the state of emergency before its planned July 6th expiration date. The original state of emergency order was enacted on March 8th, and would’ve expired on May 7th without an extension.
“Extending the state of emergency declaration allows those orders to stay in effect, however the governor can still lift her orders as the COVID-19 situation warrants,” explained the governor’s office in a press release. “Our efforts to move forward with safely reopening Oregon will be gradual, incremental, and based on science and data.”
Some restrictions are being lifted under the updated emergency order, most notably allowing hospitals to perform non-urgent medical procedures. However, rules prohibiting large gatherings and the closure of businesses will stay in place unless Brown revokes her order.
Although the expiration date of Brown’s state of emergency order is now one of the latest in the country, Oregon’s coronavirus situation isn’t as severe as the other western states. Just over 100 people have died of the disease as of Sunday morning, whereas 830 have died in neighboring Washington.
DC May Not Reopen for Another 3 Months, Officials Say
4/30/2020
D.C. leaders laid out a new timetable Wednesday evening for when the city could begin to reopen.
During an hourlong virtual town hall, Dr. LaQuandra Nesbitt, director of the D.C. Department of Health, walked through a slide show on what she called a “most-stringent” and “less stringent” plan.
Under the most-stringent plan, which would be a worst-case scenario, D.C. would not be able to reopen for at least another three months, Nesbitt said.
Under the least-stringent plan, which would be a best-case scenario, the city would do a phased reopening, but that also would not begin for at least two months.
Right now, D.C.’s stay-at-home order is set to expire May 15.
Nesbitt said the city needs more data to decide how long that may need to be extended.
OBEDIENCE IS NOT A VIRTUE . . .
MY FELLOW AMERICANS TAKE THE SAME PATH.
Report: New York Nursing Home Let Coronavirus-infected Staff Treat Residents
By Joel B. Pollak – 4/30/2020
New York State officials allowed nursing home employees infected with coronavirus to continue to work and to treat residents at the Hornell Gardens facility in rural Steuben County, according to a New York Post report.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo has come under increasing scrutiny for a March 25 directive ordering nursing homes to accept coronavirus patients. The text of the directive stated (original emphasis): “No resident shall be denied re-admission or admission to the NH [nursing home] solely based on a confirmed or suspected diagnosis of COVID-19. NHs are prohibited from requiring a hospitalized resident who is determined medically stable to be tested for COVID-19 prior to admission or readmission.”
Cuomo has since said that nursing homes could tell the state Department of Public Health they could not accept such patients, or transfer them to other facilities. However, some homes have said that the state was unresponsive when they reached out, and that they felt intense pressure to accept the patients — despite the unique risk coronavirus generally poses to elderly people.
The Post reported Thursday:
The state Health Department allowed nurses and other staff who tested positive for the coronavirus to continue treating COVID-19 patients at an upstate nursing home, The Post has learned.
State officials signed off on the move during an April 10 conference call that excluded local officials from Steuben County, who protested the move, according to a document provided by the county government’s top administrator, Jack Wheeler.
At least 15 people have died at the Hornell Gardens nursing home in the tiny town of Hornell since the outbreak, according to county tallies. State records show just seven deaths across the county and include no data about this home.
Roughly one third of the staff and residents at the home have contracted the virus, the Post added.
Last week, Steuben County reported that 73% of its 33 coronavirus deaths at the time had been linked to nursing homes.
BUSTED! Governor Pritzker Forces Illinois Residents into Endless Lockdown — Then Is Caught Flying His Wife and Kids to Florida (VIDEO)
By Jim Hoft – 4/30/2020
Illinois Governer J. B. Pritzker has the state in lockdown and businesses shut down until the end of May.
An Illinois legislator on Wednesday filed a second legal challenge to Pritzker saying the Democrat governor’s emergency powers are limited to 30 days and that Pritzker therefore had no right to extend his March 21 order through the end of May.
But not all Illinois residents are equal.
Governor Pritzker recently sent his wife and kids to Florida during the state stay-at-home orders.
Pritzker is the latest Democrat leader to get caught breaking the very rules he set for the people of his state.
When confronted on his family’s Florida trip Pritzker told the reporter, “In politics it used to be we kept our families out of it. Yeah, my official duties have nothing to do with my family. So, I’m just not going to answer that question.”
Mayor De Blasio: Jews To Be Arrested and Churches Shutdown for Disobeying, But Muslims Are Another Story
By Matt Travis – 4/30/2020
Yesterday, Mayor Bill de Blasio tweeted out a warning to the “Jewish community” just days after celebrating Muslims by offering Halal meals.
De Blasio’s tweet read,
Interesting imagery of a certain infamous leader pops into mind when reading this tweet. (And Twitter followers were quick to point out that imagery, mocking him with memes and such.)
More importantly, this isn’t the first time he’s openly targeted a particular group of religious people during this pandemic.
De Blasio was on camera just a couple weeks ago saying that he would shut down churches permanently, if they didn’t comply with his draconian orders.
He said,
A small number of religious communities, specific churches, specific synagogues are unfortunately not paying attention to this guidance [to close] even though it’s been so widespread…. If you go to your synagogue, if you go to your church and attempt to hold services after having been told so often not to, our enforcement agents will have no choice but to shut down those services….
The NYPD, Fire Department, Buildings Department, and everyone has been instructed that if they see worship services going on…they’ll inform them they need to stop the services and disperse. If that does not happen, they will take additional action up to the point of fines and potentially closing the building permanently.
It’s clear there is a bias here.
De Blasio celebrates those Muslims who are being good little boys and obeying daddy government. The focus is on how they are doing great and are just a wonderful group of people.
Out of the same mouth, De Blasio deals with Christians and Jews by threatening them for not doing exactly what he demands.
Maybe Muslims are just that much better at following the rules. That is possible, I guess.
But considering the regularity with which Democrats have shown bias in favor of Muslims over the years, that’s not likely the case. It’s far more probable that this is just more of the same intentional bullying of the “religious right” for political purposes.
Bill de Blasio is doing exactly what the Left constantly claims to be a mortal sin. He is discriminating against certain groups and giving a pass or privileges to others.
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