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.’”

May 8, 2020 0

HUNDREDS OF LOCKDOWN ‘SNITCHES’ FEAR BACKLASH AFTER NAMES, ADDRESSES PUBLISHED ONLINE

Most cases involved small business owners trying to survive amid economic disaster

Zero Hedge – 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.”

May 4, 2020 0

Oregon Governor Extends Coronavirus State of Emergency Until July

That’s two months from now.

Richard Moorhead

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.

May 4, 2020 0

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.

April 30, 2020 0

OBEDIENCE IS NOT A VIRTUE . . .

MY FELLOW AMERICANS TAKE THE SAME PATH.

April 30, 2020 0

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.

April 30, 2020 0

YouTube: California Doctors’ Comments on Reopening the Country Are ‘Misinformation’

By Allum Bokhari – 4/29/2020

YouTube has released a statement on its decision to censor a video of two doctors in Bakersfield, California, making the case for an end to Chinese virus lockdowns.

In a statement provided to 23ABC, the local Bakersfield news station that uploaded censored video, the Google-owned platform said:

We quickly remove flagged content that violate our Community Guidelines, including content that explicitly disputes the efficacy of local healthy authority recommended guidance on social distancing that may lead others to act against that guidance.

However, content that provides sufficient educational, documentary, scientific or artistic (EDSA) context is allowed — for example, news coverage of this interview with additional context. From the very beginning of the pandemic, we’ve had clear policies against COVID-19 misinformation and are committed to continue providing timely and helpful information at this critical time.

YouTube has used the pandemic to increase its censorship and control over the flow of news. It recently introduced “fact check” labels next to videos, and its CEO has warned that any information that contradicts World Health Organization guidelines will be removed from the platform. Over the weekend, the platform took down a video explaining UV light treatment from a life sciences company that has partnered with Cedars-Sinai hospital in L.A.

The video of the Bakersfield doctors’ press conference can still be found on other video-hosting platforms, and the first part remains hosted on other YouTube channels.

Arguing that the Chinese virus has proven less deadly than previously believed, the doctors argued for a speedy reopening of the country.

“We have 39.5 million people, if we just take a basic calculation and extrapolate that out, that equates to about 4.7 million cases throughout the state of California,” said Dr. Erickson. “Which means this thing is widespread, that’s the good news. We’ve seen 1,227 deaths in the state of California with a possible incidents or prevalence of 4.7 million. That means you have a 0.03 chance of dying from COVID-19 in the state of California.”

April 29, 2020 0

I WILL FIGHT FOR AMERICA . . .

UNTIL I AM OUT OF AMMO

April 29, 2020 0

Pelosi: Next Stimulus Will ‘Enable the American People to Vote by Mail’

By Pam Key – 4/22/2020

Wednesday on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said a “chunk of money” will be designated in the next coronavirus stimulus bill to enable the American people to vote by mail.

When asked about Senate Intelligence Committee confirming U.S. intelligence agencies conclusion that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election, Pelosi said, “Well, I’m not surprised. As a member of the Gang of Eight, I watched this whole investigation proceed.”

She continued, “It leads you to the question about what does Vladimir Putin have on President Trump personally, politically, financially, in every way?”

She added, “No matter what the president says, it cannot be denied. But it takes us to the next step. They have also told us 24/7 the Russians are still at work trying to undermine our election. That is why we have to have an important chunk of money in this next bill that will enable us to protect the integrity of our elections, as well as enable the American people to vote by mail, especially at this time of a health danger in going to the polls.”

She concluded, “This is the lifeblood of our democracy, the vote. So here we are trying to protect the lives of American people, the livelihoods of the American people, and also the life of our democracy. That is what we are going to do in the next bill as well.”

April 22, 2020 0

SWAMP: FBI Press Officer Accepted Baseball Tickets From CNN Reporter

Michael Kortan was the FBI’s press officer during the 2016 election.

By Richard Moorhead

New reporting from the Daily Caller has revealed that the FBI’s former chief press officer was forced to resign last year, after lying to the Department of Justice’s inspector general about accepting baseball tickets from a CNN reporter.

Michael Kortan was formerly the FBI’s assistant director of public affairs. He resigned from the agency in 2018, while under investigation from the Office of the Inspector General. The DOJ’s watchdog entity had discovered text messages in which Kortan agreed to accept baseball tickets to two Washington Nationals games during May and September 2016 from a CNN reporter. A report from the Office of the Inspector General describes Kortan as displaying a “lack of candor” during two interviews he was subjected to on the matter, suggesting that Kortan lied about accepting the gifts from a forbidden source.

Kortan also accepted baseball tickets from a New York Times reporter in 2014 and 2016. The anonymous CNN reporter who evidently provided gifts to the bureaucrat was apparently considered one of his top press contacts, suggesting that he or she may have been privy to confidential agency information that should have been kept private.

“Nats v Marlins Friday night. I have to be away. Can you use four tix?” Said one text from the CNN operative.

Kortan seemed relatively shameless in his response, accepting a gift that most professionals committed to ethics would quickly decline.

“I’m good for 2 tix if that’s OK.”

The Department of Justice ultimately didn’t prosecute Kortan for the breach of FBI rules, possibly because of his decision to resign from the agency.

FBI agents are strictly prohibited from receiving gifts from “prohibited sources,” who include journalists who cover the agency’s operations. It goes without saying that a high-ranking public affairs agent is totally forbidden from taking baseball tickets from CNN and New York Times reporters.

The FBI has struggled to retain its image as a neutral and non-partisan law enforcement agency, following years of scandals in which agency personnel were busted trying to interfere in partisan politics and national elections.

February 19, 2020 0