Puppet MastersS


Eye 1

Facebook announces plan to censor anti-vaccination 'misinformation and hoaxes' on its platforms

Soo Youn
ABC News
Thu, 07 Mar 2019 17:47 UTC
facebook thought police, facebook censorship
Facebook is tackling rampant misinformation campaigns about vaccines on its platforms.

The company will both fight the proliferation of false information about vaccines in its News Feed, ads, on Instagram or suggested content. It will also try to provide context and correct information about vaccine safety and public health, Facebook said in a statement released on Thursday.

The announcement comes just two days after Ethan Lindenberger, an Ohio teenager, told a U.S. Senate committee he defied his parents to get vaccinated despite growing up in an anti-vaccine, or "vaccine-hesitant" home.

He told senators on Tuesday that misinformation distributed, particularly on Facebook, puts children at risk.

"Certain individuals and organizations which spread misinformation and instill fear into the public for their own gain selfishly put countless people at risk," Lindenberger said in written testimony.

Comment: Who decides what is "misinformation" about vaccines and information that discusses very real issue of the dangers surrounding vaccines? The fact that Facebook isn't giving any credence to the dangers of vaccines should give everyone pause over how free speech is being handled on social media.

There are plenty of horror stories regarding vaccine injuries:

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Yoda

Flashback Assange prosecutors focusing on Chelsea Manning era releases, not DNC dmails

Elizabeth Vos
Disobedient Media
Sun, 25 Nov 2018 17:02 UTC
JulianAssange
© RiskJulian Assange
It seems that the shades have finally been ripped off of the persecution of Julian Assange. Fallen by the wayside is the pretense used to justify his arbitrary detention: allegations of sexual misconduct, of Russian involvement, and of aiding Trump's ascension to the Presidency.

Gone is the pretense that it is not the rabid wolves of the US and UK military state baying, slavering for Assange's blood. Former intelligence assets in the guise of "journalists" openly call for Assange's arrest.

Recent reports have indicated that formerly secret charges pending against Julian Assange will focus on material relating to Chelsea Manning and the earliest releases published by WikiLeaks. Alternatively, on WikiLeaks' Vault7 releases in March 2017 or on the help he and his organisation gave to Edward Snowden to get the NSA whistleblower to safe asylum.

Comment: "In a time of deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act." -- G. Orwell. Tragically, this is a time of deceit, and Julian Assange is reaping the truth-teller's reward. His bravery in the face of it is inspiring.

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X

PM Khan says no militant groups will be able to attack from Pakistani soil

Asif Shahzad
Reuters
Fri, 08 Mar 2019 17:49 UTC
imran khan
Imran Khan
Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday said no militant group would be allowed to operate from Pakistani soil to carry out attacks abroad, days after his government announced a sweeping crackdown against Islamist militant organizations.

Pakistan faces growing international pressure to rein in Islamist groups that carry out attacks in neighboring India.

One such attack in Indian-controlled Kashmir on Feb. 14, claimed by the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) Pakistan-based group, killed 40 Indian paramilitary police and led to clashes between the nuclear-armed rivals as India retaliated.

Both countries carried out aerial bombing missions last week and even fought a brief dogfight over Kashmir before tensions cooled.

But the United States, Britain, and many other nations are urging Pakistan to act against anti-India militant groups.

Pakistan has a history of using Islamist groups to pursue foreign policy aims in the region, but it has denied Indian accusations it actively supports militants fighting Indian forces in India's part of Muslim-majority Kashmir.

Comment: See also:

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Bulb

Best of the Web: Venezuela blames sabotage, US 'electricity war' after major power outages


RT
Fri, 08 Mar 2019 17:45 UTC
caracas blackout
© Reuters / Carlos JassoA view of Caracas during blackout.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro accused the US of waging an "electricity war" against the country, as Caracas and other cities were plunged into darkness Thursday night. The government says the incident is likely sabotage.

Thousands of commuters in Caracas had to walk home as a power outage shut down the capital's subway, resulting in massive traffic jams.The lights also went out in the largest airport of Caracas.


People on social media described disruptions in most of the nation's regions and it is unclear how long the blackout will last. The government had to cancel school lessons and suspend the working day on Friday due to the emergency, Vice-President Delcy Rodriguez wrote on Twitter.

Comment: Now we get to see in action the US cyberwarfare 'kill-switch' programs Snowden warned about in 2013...

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Sherlock

Best of the Web: Trump witch hunt: Judicial Watch uncovers DOJ docs revealing Bruce Ohr was contact for Clinton operative Christopher Steele


Judicial Watch
Thu, 07 Mar 2019 17:36 UTC
bruce ohr and chris steele
Christopher Steele, Bruce Ohr, Glenn Simpson
Judicial Watch announced today it received 339 pages of heavily redacted records from the U.S. Department of Justice which reveal that former Associate Deputy Attorney General Bruce Ohr remained in regular contact with former British spy and Fusion GPS contractor Christopher Steele after Steele was terminated by the FBI in November 2016 for revealing to the media his position as an FBI confidential informant.

The records show that Ohr served as a go-between for Steele by passing along information to "his colleagues" on matters relating to Steele's activities. Ohr also set up meetings with Steele, regularly talked to him on the telephone and provided him assistance in dealing with situations Steele was confronting with the media.

Judicial Watch obtained the records through a March 2018 Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed after the Justice Department failed to respond a December 2017 request Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of Justice (No. 1:18-cv-00490)). The lawsuit seeks:
  • All records of contact or communication, including but not limited to emails, text messages, and instant chats between Bruce Ohr and any of the following individuals/entities: former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele; owner of Fusion GPS Glenn Simpson; and any other employees or representatives of Fusion GPS.
  • All travel requests, authorizations and expense reports for Bruce Ohr.
  • All calendar entries for Bruce Ohr.
The timeframe for the requested records is January 1, 2015, to December 7, 2017.
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Sherlock

Andrew Yang, 2020 presidential candidate, says "universal basic income" proposal is not socialism

Camilo Montoya-Galvez
CBS News
Thu, 07 Mar 2019 17:31 UTC
andrew yang
© CBS News
New York businessman and Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang believes his "tranformational" universal basic income proposal - which would give every American over the age of 18 a $1,000 stipend each month - is not part of a socialist platform.

"I'm a CEO and business person and I'll tell you that putting money into people's hands is good for business, it's good for the economy and it's good for markets," Yang said on CBSN's "Red and Blue. "This is not socialism. This is capitalism where income doesn't start at zero."

Yang told CBS News he's not concerned his proposal could become an easy political target for Republicans eager to denounce socialism and government giveaways because he believes the monthly stipends would invigorate America's capitalist economy.

The little-known Manhattan entrepreneur is hoping the issue will set him apart from the rest of the candidates in the crowded Democratic primary field, the most diverse in U.S. history. Although his name recognition across the country is dwarfed by those of other contenders in the race, Yang told CBS News his campaign raised nearly $600,000 in February.

Yang's proposal, he said, "would create millions of jobs around the country and would allow families and individuals to help manage this historic transition that we're in in terms of technology transforming the labor force."
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Bizarro Earth

'Censorship unacceptable in Europe': Austrian FM condemns Ukraine's journalist ban


RT
Thu, 07 Mar 2019 22:10 UTC
Christian Ferdinand Wehrschütz
© Facebook / Christian Ferdinand WehrschützChristian Ferdinand Wehrschütz
Ukraine has barred a veteran journalist from a major Austrian broadcaster from entering the country, as he allegedly poses a "threat" to its national security. The move was slammed by Vienna as an act of un-European censorship.

Christian Wehrschutz, a veteran journalist with ORF broadcaster and the head of its Kiev office, was banned on Thursday from entering Ukraine for a year. The decision was announced by MP Olga Chervakova, who - quite ironically - is the deputy chief of the Ukrainian Parliament's committee on freedom of speech and press.

The official explained, citing sources from within the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU), that the journalist poses a "threat to national security." Apart from that, Wehrschutz is accused of violating Ukrainian borders, of "discrediting" its armed forces and, naturally, of "peddling Kremlin propaganda" - as any coverage unfavorable to the Kiev authorities is routinely labeled.

Comment: Their claims that the blatant censorship is because of a 'threat to national security' reeks of similar tactics used by their American overlords. Ukraine has made it quite clear honest reportage is not welcome, a number of journalists have been murdered and Werschutz said himself he feared he would also be targeted:

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Handcuffs

Best of the Web: Paul Manafort sentenced to 47 months in prison for tax evasion on UKRAINIAN payments - Judge confirms 'zero evidence of Trump-Russia collusion'

Katelyn Polantz
CNN
Fri, 08 Mar 2019 11:11 UTC
manafort prison
Lobbyist and former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort learned on Thursday that he will serve almost four years in prison -- far short of what had been expected and recommended -- for financial fraud convictions obtained by special counsel Robert Mueller as he investigated Manafort's alleged collusion with the Russian government in 2016.


Comment: Even within its own articles, CNN can't keep its lies straight. Further down this article you'll learn that the judge explicitly said, at the outset, that:

"[Manafort] is not before the court for anything having to do with colluding with the Russian government."


The crimes, though serious among white-collar offenses, did not relate directly to Manafort's work as Trump's 2016 campaign chairman. Manafort, 69, had been facing up to 25 years in prison, a sentence that could have essentially kept him in jail for the rest of his life.


Comment: It was never gonna happen. The US govt, as it is, literally cannot function without middlemen like Manaforts accepting cash for access to US leaders and potential leaders. What is interesting however, is that this particular middleman got any prison time at all...


Comment: 'The mastermind behind it all! We got him! America, you are safe and free and pure again!'

Manafort's trial is the textbook definition of scapegoat.

The reason Manafort was swimming in dirty Ukie money is because he was, for over a decade, an active go-between for US meddling in Russia's neighbor, culminating in the bloody coup of 2014. That's also likely why he's getting jail-time at all (though it could yet be annulled via presidential pardon): Manafort was meddling on behalf of the Clinton State Department...

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Eye 1

Obey or "crushing" sanctions: US rejects North Korea's 'step-by-step' denuclearization


RT
Fri, 08 Mar 2019 02:34 UTC
kim trump
© Reuters / Leah MillisFILE PHOTO: North Korea's Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump in Hanoi, Vietnam
The US administration will not accept any gradual denuclearization of North Korea, a senior State Department official said, just as John Bolton threatened Pyongyang with tougher sanctions, following the unproductive Hanoi summit.

After threatening to ramp up "crushing economic sanctions," National Security Advisor John Bolton urged Kim Jong-un to ditch any idea of a step-by-step denuclearization of his country.

"The North Koreans, obviously, would like to give up as little of their nuclear, biological and chemical weapons and ballistic missile programs as they could, in exchange for a very broad sanctions relief," Bolton told Fox News on Thursday, stressing that Donald Trump "wasn't buying" such an approach during the negotiations at the Hanoi summit last week.

Comment: That's not really how international diplomacy works though, is it? Do as we say or we'll punish you more? Is it any wonder North Korea is reluctant to give up the one thing that secures it from further US aggression? It's notable that, despite US belligerence, the two Korea's relationship is better than ever.

See also: Also check out SOTT radio's: Behind the Headlines: Trump Wags the Iran Riot Dog, Kim Talks Korean Peace

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Eye 1

State Department gets schooled after trying to browbeat AP reporter into 'towing the line' on Venezuela

Nebojsa Malic
RT
Fri, 08 Mar 2019 10:37 UTC
State Department
© US Department of StateState Department spokesman Robert Palladino
With regime change in Caracas going poorly, the State Department is trying to create reality by browbeating reporters into following the official line. Veteran AP reporter Matt Lee was not amused, calling the effort "weaksauce."

At the press briefing on Tuesday, spokesman Robert Palladino objected to news coverage describing Juan Guaido as opposition leader or self-proclaimed president, rather than "interim president" as Washington has declared him to be.

"Millions of Americans and more than 50 countries recognize Juan Guaido as interim president of Venezuela," Palladino argued, so to refer to him otherwise "falls into the narrative of a dictator who has usurped the position of the presidency and led Venezuela into the humanitarian, political, and economic crisis that exists today."

Comment: While the State Department is browbeating reporters into believing their 'script of lies' Marco Rubio has taken it upon himself to label all unbelievers as Russian agents. RT reports:
Senator Marco Rubio, the most outspoken cheerleader of US regime change in Venezuela, lashed out at several major outlets for not using his preferred terminology, going so far as to accuse CNN of 'Russian collusion.'

"In order to undermine the constitutional basis for [Juan Guaido's] interim Presidency [sic], Putin's Russia repeatedly describes him as the 'self-proclaimed' president of Venezuela. And so does CNN," Rubio (R-Florida) tweeted on Wednesday, adding, "Russian collusion?"


It was the latest in a string of tweets by the senator whom President Donald Trump is, for some unknown reason, allowing to drive US foreign policy on Latin America. On Tuesday, Rubio targeted the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal for their coverage of Guaido, this time objecting to their use of the term "opposition leader."


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