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Appeals court: Ruling gives little traction for Trump's anti-Twitter campaign

Josh Gerstein
Politico
Wed, 27 May 2020 03:10 UTC
TrumpTwit
© www.carbonated.tvTrump vs. Twitter
D.C. Circuit decision spurns claims that social media giants broke the law by banning a conservative provocateur.

A ruling that emerged from a powerful federal appeals court in Washington on Wednesday morning is strong evidence that the courts are unlikely to be receptive to President Donald Trump's claims that he and his political supporters are being silenced by social media platforms like Twitter.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit resoundingly rejected a lawsuit the conservative legal organization Freedom Watch and right-wing provocateur Laura Loomer filed in 2018 against four major technology companies: Google, Facebook, Twitter and Apple.

Facebook, Twitter and other platforms have banned Loomer, citing anti-Muslim statements.

The unanimous court decision from a three-judge panel runs to only four pages, but is dismissive of a wide range of legal claims some conservatives and liberals have leveled at social media firms in recent months.

Comment: Are the courts basing judgement on old paradigms of communication rather than the non-local/virtual platforms in use by today's society? Boundaries and formats have evolved since applicable laws were made. Evidence suggests at least one faction of the political arena is under ongoing attack. Time for new rules?

See also:

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X

Chinese scientists: Wuhan animal market is not where coronavirus began

Natalie O'Neill
New York Post
Wed, 27 May 2020 04:29 UTC
Wuhan Institute of Virology
© Hector Retamal/AFP via Getty ImagesWuhan Institute of Virology
Chinese scientists say the coronavirus didn't originate at a live animal market or a laboratory in Wuhan, pushing back against US officials over where the pandemic began, according to a report.

China's top epidemiologist, Gao Fu, said samples taken from the wholesale market — where the deadly virus was reportedly first passed to humans — failed to show links between animals sold there and the pathogen, according to the Wall Street Journal.

"It now turns out that the market is one of the victims," Gao told state-run media Tuesday.

The director of the Wuhan Institute of Virology, Wang Yanyi, also shot down accusations that the facility had unleashed the virus during a lab accident.

There's no way it could have leaked from the laboratory because researchers have not studied pathogens similar enough to the coronavirus, he told the state-run China Central Television.
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Attention

Secret British 'reconstruction' plans for Venezuela revealed: Foreign minister says "I was outraged"

John McEvoy
The Canary
Tue, 19 May 2020 17:32 UTC
Venezuelan foreign minister Jorge Arreaza
Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza
On 13 May, The Canary exposed a secretive unit within the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) dedicated to the "reconstruction" of Venezuela. Files obtained under the Freedom of Information Act also detailed private discussions between Venezuelan opposition figures and UK officials, detailing proposals for the promotion of British business after a planned coup.

The day after the article was published, Venezuelan foreign minister Jorge Arreaza summoned the UK chargé d'affaires Duncan Hill to "present him with a formal protest and demand an explanation for the creation... of a Venezuela Reconstruction Unit". He added that the UK government must "abandon Washington's coup-mongering plans and any destabilizing initiative" in Venezuela.

The Canary spoke to Arreaza about the revelation of this unit, the impact of economic sanctions on his country, and the recent failed mercenary incursion into Venezuela.
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Bad Guys

Norman Finkelstein's new book indicts the ICC for whitewashing Israel's crimes against humanity

James North
Mondoweiss
Thu, 28 May 2020 18:49 UTC
I ACCUSE!

Herewith a Proof Beyond Reasonable Doubt that ICC Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda Whitewashed Israel

By Norman G. Finkelstein
Finkelstein's book I Accuse
© Noram G. Finkelstein (2020)
This May 31 marks 10 years since Israeli commandos attacked the Gaza Humanitarian Flotilla in international waters and killed 10 people. Norman Finkelstein, one of the world's most effective critics of Israel, is observing the occasion with a persuasive indictment of Fatou Bensouda, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, for refusing to take legal action over Israel's lethal attack on the Mavi Marmara, the Flotilla's flagship.

At first glance, Finkelstein's new book resembles a legal brief. But start reading more closely, and you soon see his trademark indignation, intense and eloquent. The Comoro Islands, where the Mavi Marmara was registered, brought the Gaza Flotilla case to the ICC in 2013, and Finkelstein points out that the chief prosecutor since then has tried to bury it 3 times. He is not diplomatic; he charges that she "defiled her office by refusing to investigate credible allegations of Israeli criminality."
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Bad Guys

'It was a homicide' - Epstein's lawyer says his client was 'upbeat and excited' about strategy to clear his name

Dan Bates
Daily Mail
Thu, 28 May 2020 18:51 UTC
epstein
Jeffrey Epstein did not kill himself because he was preparing a multi-layered legal and media strategy to fight his case, the late pedophile's lawyer has claimed.

David Schoen, who Epstein asked to lead his legal team in his final days, said he planned to mount legal and factual defenses to the sex trafficking allegations against him.

During a five-hour meeting with Epstein nine days before his death, Schoen said Epstein was 'upbeat and excited' and looking forward to clearing his name.

But Epstein was in a 'dangerous situation' in jail and suggested other prisoners were considering blackmailing him.

Comment: See also:

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Star of David

Facebook appoints Israeli censor of human rights defenders to oversight board

Tamara Nassar
Electronic Intifada
Tue, 26 May 2020 19:10 UTC
zuckerberg
© Anthony Quintano / Flickr
Facebook has hired the former director-general of Israel's justice ministry as a member of its new oversight board. This body will effectively determine what content to censor or permit on the social media platform.

Emi Palmor headed the justice ministry from 2014 until she was dismissed from her post last year.

Under her direction, the Israeli justice ministry "petitioned Facebook to censor legitimate speech of human rights defenders and journalists because it was deemed politically undesirable," Palestinian civil society groups stated this month.

The groups condemned Facebook's selection of Palmor, warning of her potential role in muzzling freedom of expression and censoring human rights defenders, particularly Palestinian, Arab and Muslim voices on the platform.

The Palestine Digital Rights Coalition, the Palestinian Human Rights Organizations Council and the Palestinian Non-Governmental Organizations Network are urging Facebook to "consider the grave consequences that electing Emi Palmor may have particularly on Palestinian human rights defenders and on freedom of expression online in defense of Palestinian rights."
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Magnify

Spain, US & Russia using Hydroxychloroquine to treat coronavirus while France, Italy and Belgium ban it due to WHO concerns


WION
Thu, 28 May 2020 04:39 UTC
Hydroxychloroquine
© ReutersAnti-malarial drug Hydroxychloroquine
Several European nations, including France, Italy and Belgium, followed a World Health Organisation decision on Monday to pause a large trial of hydroxychloroquine due to safety concerns.

Spain has said it sees no reason to stop the use of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) to treat COVID-19 patients even as European governments moved on Wednesday to halt the use of the anti-malaria drug.

Several European nations, including France, Italy and Belgium, followed a World Health Organisation decision on Monday to pause a large trial of hydroxychloroquine due to safety concerns.

A UK regulator said on Wednesday that a separate trial was also being put on hold, less than a week after it started. The study, being led by the University of Oxford and partly funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, was expected to involve as many as 40,000 healthcare workers.


Comment: An obvious conflict of interest there because The Gates Foundation are championing the lockdown while pushing for a vaccine to be rolled out worldwide.


Comment: Jonny Tickle for RT reports that Russia has announced it will not ban it either:
On Thursday, the Russian Health Ministry stated on its website that hydroxychloroquine's effectiveness and safety in the treatment of coronavirus is continually being monitored, but the ministry is not taking any steps towards outlawing it. This decision is in sharp contrast to moves made by some European countries which, due to safety concerns, have completely stopped the prescription of the drug to fight the coronavirus.

"Several drugs are used to treat patients with Covid-19," a ministry statement said. "Among these drugs is hydroxychloroquine, which, due to its anti-inflammatory effect and effect on the immune system, has been used for decades to treat malaria, rheumatoid arthritis, and systemic lupus erythematosus."
Hydroxychloroquine
© AFP / George FreyA bottle and pills of Hydroxychloroquine
According to the Health Ministry, recommendations to use HCQ have come from various foreign studies confirming its effectiveness, and it has been included in several national and international clinical guidelines, including in Russia. As it stands, Russian doctors are able to give the drug to patients who provide informed consent, taking into account potential side effects and risk factors.

"According to the results of monitoring the safety of hydroxychloroquine drugs during the Covid-19 pandemic in the Russian Federation, there were no fatal outcomes associated with rhythm disturbance in patients with HCQ," the ministry said.


Notably deaths from coronavirus in Russia have been extremely low when compared to many of those countries that have banned HCQ.


The drug, most often used to treat malaria, rose to prominence on March 19 when US President Donald Trump promoted the medication as a potential treatment for Covid‑19. On May 25, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced it would be suspending its hydroxychloroquine testing out of what it called an "abundance of caution." HCQ was just one part of a more extensive study of experimental coronavirus treatments.
Considering the decades that this drug has been in use, and to treat a variety of illnesses and patients, one wonders what it is that has caused some countries to suddenly become so concerned. Especially because other countries and its experts, noted above, obviously don't see sufficient evidence to be so concerned as to ban it outright.

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War Whore

AFRICOM's gambit: Why a US military command is waging a 'media war' on Americans

Nebojsa Malic
RT
Thu, 28 May 2020 18:31 UTC
senegal army
© AFP / Seyllou
A regional US military command tasked with hunting down terrorists across Africa seems to be far more interested in waging psychological operations targeting the American public, the Pentagon and the White House. How curious.

Most countries in the world divide their own territory in military areas of responsibility. Not so the US, whose combatant commands span the entire globe - and beyond. One of these, the Africa Command (AFRICOM) is responsible for the entire African continent - with the exception of Egypt, which somehow ended up in the realm of the neighboring Central Command (CENTCOM).

Tasked with going after terrorist groups like Boko Haram, Al-Shabaab and Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS), AFRICOM has recently focused its efforts on using friendly journalists, media leak and bombastic social media statements to bypass its military and civilian superiors and lobby in Washington for more power, influence and money.

"Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. Three times is enemy action," goes a quote attributed to James Bond author Ian Fleming. So it was definitely noticeable when AFRICOM made a third bid to attract attention in under a month.
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Star of David

Netanyahu pushes for West Bank annexation in his fight to avoid jail. But he is setting the Middle East on fire

Finian Cunningham
RT
Wed, 27 May 2020 18:19 UTC
netanyahu
© AFP / Abir Sultan
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's reckless push to expand the annexation of Palestinian territory is a gambit to avoid jail over corruption charges. But it could blow up an already volatile Middle East.

Even Israeli security chiefs are increasingly alarmed by Netanyahu's push to expand the country's borders.

In a dubious historic first this week, the longest-serving Israeli prime minister also became the country's first sitting leader to be prosecuted on criminal charges. Arraigned before a court, Netanyahu could barely contain his outrage, denouncing the trial as a "fabrication" by his political enemies to "depose a strong leader."

If found guilty, the decorated war hero could wind up in jail for 10 years. At 70 years of age, 'Bibi' Netanyahu is fighting for his life and the preservation of his political legacy. He has always presumed his political ascent and the glorious fate of Israel to be intertwined.
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Bad Guys

Taliban delegation in Kabul for talks as Afghan officials blame the militant group for deadly attacks


RFE/RL
Thu, 28 May 2020 18:14 UTC
Taliban prisoners
Taliban prisoners are released from Bagram prison in Afghanistan's Parwan Province on May 26.
A Taliban delegation has arrived in Kabul for talks over a prisoner swap, just hours after Afghan officials blamed the militant group for two deadly attacks in the country's north and west.

The prisoner exchange is part of a U.S.-Taliban agreement signed in February that called on the Afghan government to release up to 5,000 Taliban prisoners and for the militants to free around 1,000 government captives as a confidence-building measure ahead of formal peace talks.

"A technical delegation of the Taliban is in Kabul to work with a technical team of the government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan on the release of prisoners of both sides," said National Security Council spokesman Javid Faisal on May 28.

Later in the day, Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen tweeted that the group had released 80 Afghan soldiers and government officials from their jails in northern Baghlan and Kunduz provinces. It brings to more than 300 the number of captives freed by the Taliban since April.
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