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Dissident voices beware: Succumb to Facebook & Twitter's demands or get banned (or both)

Darius Shahtahmaseb
RT
Mon, 15 Oct 2018 15:27 UTC
facebook
A recent purge by Facebook and Twitter of a host of independent media sites has pushed thousands of people out of work and has killed one of the most effective forms of expressing political dissent.

On Thursday last week, Facebook purged more than 800 pages and accounts, accusing them of engaging in "inauthentic behaviour" and violating Facebook's anti-spam policies.

According to a statement released by Facebook on its website, many of these pages were:
"using fake accounts or multiple accounts with the same names and posted massive amounts of content across a network of Groups and Pages to drive traffic to their websites. Many used the same techniques to make their content appear more popular on Facebook than it really was. Others were ad farms using Facebook to mislead people into thinking that they were forums for legitimate political debate."
One of these pages was The Anti-Media, which I have worked for since mid-2016. Until the purge, we had some 2.17 million followers on Facebook. Supposedly, Facebook wants you to believe that 2.17 million people voluntarily signed up to our page just to receive all the spam content that we put out there (sounds realistic).

Shortly after Facebook unpublished our page, Twitter suspended our account as well.

Comment: See also: Those who hate our freedom will have unquestioned access to the minds of 2 billion people

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War Whore

Nikki Haley, we hardly knew ya

Scott Ritter
Truthdig
Fri, 12 Oct 2018 10:20 UTC
Nikki Haley
© Eric Bridiers /United States Mission Geneva / Flickr(CC BY-ND 2.0)In her capacity as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley addresses the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva June 2017.
Nikki Haley surprised the American and international foreign policy establishment by announcing on Tuesday her intention to resign as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, effective at the end of this year. While President Donald Trump indicated he had known of her desire in this regard for some time, the announcement took virtually everyone else in the Trump administration-including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and national security adviser John Bolton-by surprise. Unlike previous senior-level administration departures, which were charged with acrimony and angst, Trump went out of his way to praise Haley, holding a news conference at which he complimented her for her work.

The reasons for her decision are stated as "personal," and speculation abounds about potential causal factors. But at the end of the day, Haley's resignation was a political act carried out by a political person for her own personal political gain.

To back up this assertion, here's a bit of background about her political evolution. The daughter of Sikh immigrants, Nimrata "Nikki" Haley was schooled as an accountant and cut her teeth as a businesswoman by assuming various positions in her mother's upscale women's clothing establishment. Born and raised in South Carolina, Haley became a rising star for women in the Republican Party, a woman of color who embraced the conservative Christian-based ethos of the Deep South. She was a non-threatening figure in the eyes of those who would become her target demographic once she left her family business for a career in politics. In 2004, she won a seat in the South Carolina state Legislature, where she campaigned on a GOP-friendly platform of reducing taxes.

Haley was, by all accounts, a deft and capable political operator, pursuing conservative policies across the board. In 2009, encouraged by then-Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, Haley announced she would run for governor of South Carolina. She won the election after receiving the support of former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, vice presidential running mate of presidential candidate Sen. John McCain and (at the time) the darling of the American conservative establishment.

Comment: See also:

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Arrow Up

"Groundhog day": Corbyn slams May as she updates parliament on bungling Brexit


RT
Mon, 15 Oct 2018 14:34 UTC
corbyn may
© REUTERS/Toby Melville
Jeremy Corbyn attacked Theresa May after she updated MPs on Brexit, with reports that the issue of the Irish border is proving to be a huge sticking point for the EU 27. The Labour leader called the statement 'groundhog day.'

May announced that, following intense negotiations, the EU stated they have agreed to consider a UK-wide backstop. Their original proposal was a backstop plan for Northern Ireland-only.

There had been hope among British officials that a deal could have been agreed on Sunday, but that soon dissipated as the contentious issue of the Irish border once again scuppered proceedings.

Comment: And the farce that is Brexit continues:

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Attention

Those who hate our freedom will have unquestioned access to the minds of 2 billion people

Daisy Luther
The Organic Prepper
Fri, 12 Oct 2018 08:51 UTC
Social media censorship
Yesterday, the alternative media purge was boldly advanced in a coordinated effort to silence people who dissent from establishment views. It's just one more step toward a monopoly on information by those who hate freedom. At this rate, they'll soon have unquestioned access to the minds of more than 2 billion people. And this should terrify everyone who wants to be free to question the status quo and to seek a wide range of information.

Hundreds of alternative media site administrators logged onto Facebook to discover that their accounts had been removed. Soon after, many of these sites and their writers found that their Twitter accounts had also been suspended.

Popular pages like The AntiMedia (2.1 million fans), The Free Thought Project (3.1 million fans), Press for Truth (350K fans), Police the Police (1.9 million fans), Cop Block (1.7 million fans), and Punk Rock Libertarians (125K fans) are just a few of the ones which were unpublished.

Why were these alternative media accounts removed?

The reason given doesn't really add up.

Comment: See also:

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Fire

Welcome to this November's G-20 from hell

Pepe Escobar
Asia Times
Sun, 14 Oct 2018 08:59 UTC
Wilbur Ross Liu He
© AFP / Andy WongUS Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, left, chats with Chinese Vice-Premier Liu He during 'trade dispute' talks in Beijing earlier this year. Some sort of agreement could be reached at the G20 summit.
The G-20 in Buenos Aires on November 30 could set the world on fire - perhaps literally. Let's start with the US-China trade war. Washington won't even start discussing trade with China at the G-20 unless Beijing comes up with a quite detailed list of potential concessions.

The word from Chinese negotiators is not at all bleak. Some sort of agreement could be reached on about a third of US demands. Debate on another third could ensue. But the last third is absolutely off-limits - due to Chinese national security imperatives, such as refusing to allow the opening of the domestic cloud computing market to foreign competition.

Beijing has appointed Vice-Premier Liu He and Vice-President Wang Qishan to supervise all negotiations with Washington. They face an uphill task: to pierce through President Donald Trump's limited attention span.

On top of it, Beijing demands a "point person" with the authority to negotiate on behalf of Trump - considering the mixed-message traffic jam out of Washington.

Now compare this with the message coming from the research institute fabulously named Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era under the Party School of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC): the US has started the "trade friction" essentially "to hinder China's industrial upgrading."

That's the consensus at the top.
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Che Guevara

Leaked docs outline Ecuador demands for restoring Assange internet access: Stop talking politics, pay own bills & look after cat


RT
Tue, 16 Oct 2018 00:40 UTC
Julian assange poor health
© GettyJulian Assange has remained in London's Ecuadorian embassy since 2012.
WikiLeaks supporters were thrilled to hear that Ecuador would restore Julian Assange's internet connection. But his hosts - who have in some ways become his jailers - imposed a long list of restrictions on his behavior.

While stating that he is allowed to exercise his "right of communication and freedom of expression," a nine-page document already leaked online forbids the journalist from engaging in political activity or doing anything to interfere in the affairs of other states.

The document expressly states that Ecuador cannot be held liable for the content of Assange's communications, but nevertheless prohibits him from engaging in activities that might damage the relationship between Ecuador and other states. Assange's communications were cut seven months ago, after he criticized Spanish authorities' treatment of voters during the Catalan independence referendum.

Comment: The remark about Assange's citizenship status is interesting, since Ecuador (following the example of the good old USA) is expressly violating its own constitution with respect to Julian Assange:
SECTION THREE

Information and communication

Article 16. All persons, individually or collectively, have the right to:

1. Free, intercultural, inclusive, diverse and participatory communication in all spheres of social interaction, by any means or form, in their own language and with their own symbols.
2. Universal access to information and communication technologies.
3. The creation of media and access, under equal conditions, to use of radio spectrum frequencies for the management of public, private and community radio and television stations and to free bands for the use of wireless networks.
4. Access and use of all forms of visual, auditory, sensory and other communication that make it possible to include persons with disabilities.
5. Become part of participation spaces as provided for by the Constitution in the field of communication.

Article 17. The State shall foster plurality and diversity in communication and, for this purpose, shall:

1. Guarantee the allocation, by means of transparent methods and in equal conditions, of radio spectrum frequencies for the management of public, private and community radio and television stations, as well as the access to free bands for the use of wireless networks and shall make sure that, when they are used, the general welfare of the community prevails.
2. Facilitate the creation and strengthening of public, private and community media, as well as universal access to information and communication technologies, especially for persons and community groups that do not have this access or have only limited access to them.
3. Not permit the oligopolistic or monopolistic ownership, whether direct or indirect, of the media and use of frequencies.


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Arrow Up

Russia & UK could easily drop the dollar and switch to settlements in national currencies - Russian trade rep


RT
Mon, 15 Oct 2018 14:05 UTC
dollar toilet roll
© Getty Images / Erik Isakson
Russian and British companies could switch to settlements in rubles and pounds, abandoning US currency transactions, in case of political and economic necessity, said Boris Abramov, Russian trade representative in the UK.

He told RIA Novosti that Russian firms doing business with Britain could switch to settlements in pound sterling at any moment, if necessary.

"The British pound is a freely convertible currency like the US dollar and the euro," said Abramov.

He explained that for a Russian company it is very easy to open an account in pounds in a Russian or foreign bank. It could also get the sterling at the Moscow stock exchange.

Comment: Russia is making offers that, in theory, the UK, with its abysmal economy, can't refuse, and yet, with its suicidal allegiance to the US, it most likely will: Also check out SOTT radio's: Behind the Headlines: Trump Ditches Europe, Europe Bluffs, Russia and China Carry on With Eurasian Integration

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Cross

Best of the Web: Modern ecclesiastical schism: Russian Orthodox Church breaks ties with Constantinople over acceptance of 'Ukrainian Orthodox Church'


RT
Mon, 15 Oct 2018 21:46 UTC
Holy Synod Russian orthodox church
© Sputnik / Russian Orthodox ChurchAn extraordinary meeting of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church is held in Moscow, on September 14, 2018.
The Holy Synod, the governing body of the Russian Orthodox Church, has ruled that any further clerical relations with Constantinople are impossible, Metropolitan Hilarion, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church's External Relations Department, told journalists, de facto announcing the breach of relations between the two churches.

"A decision about the full break of relations with the Constantinople Patriarchate has been taken at a Synod meeting" that is currently been held in the Belarusian capital of Minsk, Hilarion said, as cited by TASS.

The move comes days after the Synod of the Constantinople Patriarchate decided to eventually grant the so-called autocephaly to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, thus making the clerical organization, which earlier enjoyed a broad autonomy within the Moscow Patriarchate, fully independent.

Comment:

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Attention

GOP Rep Ratcliffe: Fusion GPS founder 'in real legal jeopardy'; 'someone is not telling the truth'

Tyler Durden
ZeroHedge
Sun, 14 Oct 2018 20:56 UTC
Glenn Simpson Fusion GPS
© Youtube screen grabFusion GPS founder Glenn Simpson
Fusion GPS co-founder Glenn Simpson may be in "real legal jeopardy" over inconsistent testimony given to Congress regarding his involvement in a massive counterintelligence effort against then-candidate Donald Trump, including the infamous Steele dossier.

Speaking with Fox News on Sunday, Rep. John Ratcliffe (R-TX) said "I'm not surprised that Glenn Simpson is taking the Fifth," adding "He probably should. He's in real legal jeopardy. Very clearly someone is not telling the truth."

Comment:

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Quenelle

Adapting: Iran develops new oil import markets as counter to US sanctions


RT
Mon, 15 Oct 2018 20:40 UTC
Iran oil exports
© Global Look Press / Christian Ohd
Tehran is set to counter US sanctions which threaten to shut down markets for Iranian crude. The Islamic Republic has found new partners to buy its oil, according to First Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri.

"While some countries have stopped buying oil from Iran, we have found new partners. Furthermore, we have engaged in talks with our existing partners," Jahangiri said, according to Iranian national broadcaster IRIB.

The official stressed that even nations that publicly refuse to purchase Iranian oil are seeking other ways to continue importing indirectly, while the others are looking to start buying crude from Iran. Jahangiri said the US would "definitely not be able to cut Iran's oil exports to zero."

Comment: Iran won't have to work too hard on developing/keeping their markets. The rest of the world is tired of kowtowing to the Empire. Countries in need of Iranian oil are already finding workarounds, leaving the US even more isolated on the world stage.

Sputnik further reports:
Ahead of the new wave of anti-Iranian sanctions, bound to come in force in November and impact the Islamic Republic's oil exports, the Israeli outlet Maco has reported about an alleged secret agreement between Moscow and Teheran. Russia is reportedly planning to aid Iran to prevent economic damage with tacit support from Europe.

Russia, Iran, and Turkey struck an agreement which would minimize the impact of US anti-Iranian punitive measures targeting Teheran's oil trade, the website Marco reports, citing a secret document obtained from the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

To subvert the US economic blockade, Iran is expected to transport its crude to Russia's refineries on the Caspian Sea, which would later sell it as Russian oil and reimburse Iran.

The presidents of the three countries, Russia's Vladimir Putin, Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and Iran's Hassan Rouhani, are said to have secretly agreed on this move, aimed to help the economy of the Islamic Republic, during their summit meeting in early September.

Additionally, the cited Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs document allegedly states that Washington's European allies would silently allow Iran to continue to sell its oil to Asian countries. According to the report, published by journalist Dana Weiss, Europe hopes to keep Teheran in the nuclear deal by making this concession.

​According to the publication, the MFA declined to comment on this information.

Last month, Iranian and European diplomats reportedly examined a scheme to barter Iranian oil for European goods through Russia in order to bypass US restrictions, with some Asian importers doing the same. While several countries, including Japan and South Korea, have caved in to US pressure and are preparing to halt Iranian oil imports, others, including India and China, have defended their agreements with the Islamic Republic and sought ways to bypass the unilateral US restrictions.


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