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What is extremist content? Author criticizes YouTube's hiring of 10,000 people to monitor violent videos


Sputnik
Wed, 06 Dec 2017 20:50 UTC
YouTube
© CCO
YouTube's decision to hire 10,000 staff to monitor violent extremism on its video sharing platform is not the way to go, Dr. Gilbert Ramsay, author and lecturer in International Relations at the Handa Centre for the Study of Terrorism and Political Violence (CSTPV), told Sputnik.

Digital and social media platforms have been accused of facilitating and promoting radicalization propaganda after it emerged extremist videos on YouTube could be viewed alongside paid for banner adverts.

The company was forced to publicly apologize after a number of high profile companies withdrew their advertising contracts with the Internet giant.


Comment: In all likelihood YouTube's definition of extreme content will become broader and broader.

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Red Flag

Welsh MP banned from Wales Assembly after saying mania for minority rights risks imploding society (VIDEO)


Sott.net
Sat, 16 Dec 2017 10:06 UTC
gareth bennett

Welsh Assembly Member Gareth Bennett
Elected UKIP politician Gareth Bennett was last week barred from appearing and speaking in the Welsh Assembly for an entire year after the Assembly speaker ruled his comments on minorities, particularly with respect to the transgender movement, "offensive".

During a debate on 'The Equality and Human Rights Commission Annual Review 2016-17' in the Welsh Assembly last Tuesday, 12 December, Bennett warned that at the rate society was going, it could "implode" if there was too much "deviation from the norm":

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Footprints

Waiting around while truth puts on its shoes

Mark Hemmingway
The Weekly Standard
Fri, 15 Dec 2017 04:00 UTC
soxshoes
© CNET
Ponder: If the shoe is on the other foot, it is the same shoe.
The media's reign of error!

Covering the Trump presidency has not always been the media's finest hour, but even grading on that curve, the month of December has brought astonishing screwups. Professor and venerable political observer Walter Russell Mead tweeted on December 8, "I remember Watergate pretty well, and I don't remember anything like this level of journalistic carelessness back then. The constant stream of 'bombshells' that turn into duds is doing much more to damage the media than anything Trump could manage."

On December 1, ABC News correspondent Brian Ross went on air and made a remarkable claim. For months, the media have been furiously trying to prove collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russian government. Ross reported that former national security adviser Michael Flynn, who had just pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI, was prepared to testify that President Trump had instructed him to contact Russian officials before the 2016 election, while Trump was still a candidate. If true, it would have been a game-changer. But Ross's claim was inaccurate. Flynn's documented attempts to contact the Russians came after Trump was president-elect, allegedly trying to lay diplomatic groundwork for the new administration. Ross was suspended by ABC for four weeks without pay for the error.

Comment: It is even worse when honest media outlets do a decent job of fair reporting and are slammed by mainstream for not agreeing with and supporting their false stories based on corrupted facts. It is up to the public to discern the difference. For what it's worth, Mr. Trump has done service to highlight the difference.

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Attention

Iraq, Syria...are we to destroy Iran next?

John Basil Utley
The American Conservative
Thu, 14 Dec 2017 00:00 UTC
missionaccomp
© Tablet Magazine/KJN
Neoconservatives won't stop until their plans to remake the Middle East are realized.

Years ago there was a plan, A Clean Break: Project for the New American Century (PNAC), to wreck the Oslo peace accords between Israel and the Palestinians and to re-mold the Middle East. It first involved destroying Iraq or in the discredited words of Paul Wolfowitz, "The road to peace in the Middle East goes through Baghdad."

Destroying Syria was to be next. And then Iran. In 2006, columnist Taki Theodoracopulos warned in The American Conservative of the "Clean Break" plan "to aggressively remake the strategic environments of Iraq, Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, and Iran. As they say in boxing circles, three down, two to go." Core promoters of the PNAC plan signed an open letter to then President Clinton calling for the removal of Saddam Hussein. They were Richard Perle, Paul Wolfowitz, R. James Woolsey, Elliot Abrams, Donald Rumsfeld, Robert Zoellick and John Bolton, all solid members of the Neoconservative project.

In a short one minute video former NATO commander General Wesley Clark criticizes the plan as hatched to remake the Middle East. Equally, it is important to remember that the chaos in Iraq (and Syria) was not unforeseen by those who promoted the American invasion. I reported in TAC in 2010 of neoconservative David Wurmser (subsequently Vice President Cheney's principal advisor) forecasting "if Saddam Hussein were driven from power, Iraq would be 'ripped apart by the politics of warlords, tribes, clans, sects, and key families,' and out of the 'coming chaos in Iraq and most probably in Syria,' the United States and her principal allies, namely Israel and Jordan, could redraw the region's map." See American Prospect, "The Apprentice".

Comment: From an article by David William Pear:
Neocons have turned the Middle East into a quagmire, Afghanistan into a war without end, and disgraced the U.S. in Latin America and Africa. As a result of the Neocons' bellicose rhetoric, and policies of militarily encircling China and Russia, they have set off another arms race and Cold War 2.0.
Acquiescing to the neocons, as the irrefutable and authoritative impetus forward in structuring US policy, means all other options become secondary and therefore negated. With all the ways to crush an unpopular and bullish movement...why haven't the neocons come under delegitimization? After all, "Regime change" is what the US does best. Ah, yes, Israel...

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Rocket

Mattis doubts N. Korea's ICBM is, so far, a 'capable threat'


RT
Fri, 15 Dec 2017 22:37 UTC
Korean/Scaffold
© jpost.com
US Secretary of Defense James Mattis said that he did not believe North Korea's intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) posed a serious threat to the US, but analysis is ongoing. "It has not yet shown to be a capable threat against us right now ... we're still doing the forensics analysis," Mattis said Friday, according to Reuters.

North Korea claimed its latest launch on November 28 was a new type of intercontinental ballistic missile, the Hwasong 15, which can hit all the US mainland.

The two countries have exchanges threats as the US military and its regional allies have simulated the destruction of the country. Last week the US and South Korea conducted a massive and unprecedented five-day joint air force exercise over the Korean Peninsula.

Earlier Friday, President Donald Trump told reporters he would like help from Russia to deal with North Korea.

Comment: The U.S. military (or at least that faction not plagued by the Dr. Strangelove mentality) knows war with North Korea is not an option: millions dead, unacceptable losses, Russia and China's ire). The war of words has been all rhetoric, with Trump just one-upping the policy of bluster North Korea is infamous for. But there is rationality behind it on both sides. Of course there's always the risk of some of the crazies on both sides taking their own propaganda a bit too seriously, but so far things have remained on the level of school-yard taunts.

See also:

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Umbrella

Turkey, in full US defiance, continues Putin courtship

M.K. Bhadrakumar
Asia Times
Thu, 14 Dec 2017 10:29 UTC
PandEstanding
© Reuters/Umit Bektas
On Monday, US National Security Advisor HR McMaster added to tensions in the Middle East when he condemned Turkey and Qatar as prime sponsors of extremist Islamist ideology. He tore into the Turkish leadership, saying the country's growing problems with the West are largely due to the rise of the Justice and Development Party in Ankara.

A few days ago, McMaster had described China and Russia as "revisionist powers" encroaching on US allies and undermining the international order, and castigated Iran and North Korea as outlaw regimes that "support terror and are seeking weapons of mass destruction."

McMaster now rounds on Turkey and Qatar for mentoring a radical Islamist ideology that "is obviously a grave threat to all civilized people." The stunning part is that Turkey is a NATO ally, while the US Central Command is headquartered in Qatar.

Comment: To survive the global game, countries use each other to increase their options, resources, protection and leverage -- some as allies, some as foils.

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X

Russia won't support 'strangulation' of N. Korea, US should step up start talks


RT
Fri, 15 Dec 2017 08:52 UTC
NKORFLAG
© WordPress.com
The mounting pressure on North Korea over its rocket and nuclear programs is reaching a point at which there is a risk of strangling the country, Russia's deputy Foreign Minister has said, warning that Russia does not support such a tactic.

Pyongyang labors under harsh economic sanctions, imposed for its continued defiance of the UN Security Council, which banned North Korea from developing nuclear weapons or ballistic missiles. The level of pressure, however, is approaching a 'red line', after which an "economic strangulation of DPRK" would start, Russian Deputy FM Igor Morgulov said.

"Russia will not be part of this," he told Interfax news agency. "We consider this counterproductive, since economic pressure alone will not lead to the outcome we seek, the resolution of the nuclear problem in the Korean Peninsula. Also, there is a humanitarian dimension, since sanctions hurt ordinary people in the first place, which we have to take into account."

Comment: Russia offers a cooperative and respectful approach to North Korea, achieving mutual benefits for both countries. The US will continue to mangle its relationship with Pyongyang until it changes its bully stance.

More from RT:
President Donald Trump would like to have Russia's help to deal with North Korea, he told reporters following his phone call with President Vladimir Putin.

"The primary point was to talk about North Korea, because we would love to have his help on North Korea. China's helping, Russia's not helping; we'd like to have Russia's help," Trump said at a briefing outside the White House.

On Thursday, Trump and Putin discussed the situation on the Korean Peninsula during a phone call initiated by Washington. Describing his conversation with Putin, Trump said it was "great."

Referring to Putin's remarks about him during an annual Q&A session last Thursday, Trump stated that the Russian president "said very nice things about what I've done with this country in terms of the economy, but he also said some negative things in terms of what's going on elsewhere."

Asked whether he was impressed by Trump's performance as US president, Putin said he was not a US citizen and it is US citizens who should judge their president's performance. However, he added that the improving state of the American economy under Trump's presidency should be acknowledged, even by his critics.
See also:

Pyongyang: Russian delegation to encourage direct talks, Tillerson no preconditions...but drills go on

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Laptop

Dislike: Facebook defends itself against accusations that it's ripping society apart


Sputnik
Wed, 13 Dec 2017 20:07 UTC
Zuckerberg
© AP Photo/ Jeff Roberson
Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg
The social media giant has been facing significant criticism from its former senior executives, who keep attacking the network's effects on society.

In a rare move, Facebook issued a public response to accusations leveled by its former executive Chamath Palihapitiya, who claimed that the company's conduct is "ripping society apart."

Speaking at Stanford Graduate School of Business, Palihapitiya previously stated that "the short-term, dopamine-driven feedback loops that [Facebook] has created are destroying how society works."

The company's statement argued that it takes its "role very seriously" and is "working hard to improve" its services, pointing to the fact that its business model has significantly changed since 2011, when Palihapitiya resigned.

"When Chamath was at Facebook, we were focused on building new social media experiences and growing Facebook around the world," the statement read.

Comment: We would expect no other response from Facebook. They have a bottom line to protect and they're not going to risk it by fessing up.

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Attention

Whistleblowers testify to House Intel Committee: NSA foreign surveillance is being scammed to spy on Americans by anyone with access, including FBI

Sara Carter
SaraCarter.com
Thu, 14 Dec 2017 19:39 UTC
nsa hq
"The program can be misused by anyone with access to it," said an Intelligence official, with knowledge of the program.
A controversial NSA surveillance program used to monitor foreigners was also being used by the FBI as 'backdoor' to gain warrantless access to American communications, according to numerous former U.S. intelligence and law enforcement officials with knowledge of the program.

The whistleblowers, who recently disclosed the program's process to Congressional oversight committees, say concern over the warrantless surveillance mounted when it was disclosed earlier this year that Obama officials had accessed and unmasked communications of members of President Trump's 2016 campaign, allegedly without clear justification.

The process, known as 'reverse targeting,' occurs when intelligence and law enforcement officials use a foreign person as a legal pretense for their intended target, an American citizen, the officials stated. The program, as it exists, failed to prevent terror attacks and in many cases made incorrect connections between a foreign target and an innocent American, they stated.

Comment: Many have suspected this was the case with the "unmasking" of Trump team officials. While this isn't definite confirmation, it is certainly very suggestive. The system is deeply flawed, and is wide open for just that type of abuse. Want to target someone like Flynn? Just make the people he talks with targets, then you can "legally" spy on him. Russians weren't the targets in these cases. The ultimate target was Trump. For what's really going on, read Joe Quinn's latest:

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Vader

'Project Patagonia' - Is Israel building a base to save its elite in case of defeat in Palestine?

Thierry Meyssan
Voltairenet.org
Sat, 16 Dec 2017 20:47 UTC
Joe Lewis

Owner of 175 companies, including restaurant chains and Tottenham Hotspur football club – whose fans call themselves the « Yid Army » - the very discreet billionaire Joe Lewis speculates on the exchange market in partnership with his friend George Soros
The Argentinian authorities are wondering about the massive purchase of land in Patagonia by a British billionaire, and the « holidays » that tens of thousands of Israëli soldiers are enjoying on his property.

In the 19th century, the British government were undecided as to where they should settle Israël - either in what is now Uganda, in Argentina or in Palestine. In fact, Argentina was at that time controlled by the United Kingdom and, on the initiative of French baron Maurice de Hirsch, had become a land of refuge for Jews who were fleeing the pogroms in central Europe.

In the 20th century, after the military coup d'Etat against democratically elected President General Juan Perón, a current of antisemitism developed within the armed forces. A brochure was distributed accusing the new State of Israël of preparing an invasion of Patagonia, the « Andinia Plan ».

It has become apparent today that even though the Argentinian extreme right had exaggerated the facts in the 1970's, there was indeed a project for implantation (and not invasion) in Patagonia.
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