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Creating a liberal bubble: Snopes to fact-check on Fakebook; writers are almost exclusively progressive liberals

Alex Pfeiffer and Peter Hasson
The Daily Caller
Fri, 16 Dec 2016 10:21 UTC
facebook
© REUTERS/Adnan Abidi
Snopes, which will now have the power to declare what news is or is not legitimate on the world's largest online platform, almost exclusively employs leftists.

Facebook announced Thursday that mythbusting website Snopes will be one of a few fact-checking organizations allowed to label stories as "fake news."

Almost all of the writers churning out fact checks for Snopes have a liberal background, and many of them have expressed contempt for Republican voters. The Daily Caller could not identify a single Snopes fact-checker who comes from a conservative background. Snopes did not respond to a list of questions from TheDC regarding the site's ideological leaning.

At least two of the site's fact-checkers joined Snopes after writing for Raw Story, a far-left publication that describes itself as a "progressive news site that focuses on stories often ignored in the mainstream media." Several others have demonstrated liberal partisanship.

Comment: It sounds like they are creating a 'liberal bubble' where only the fake news they create will be bounced around social media and the actual truth will be labelled as lies and propaganda.

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Cow Skull

Michelle Obama tells Oprah that since Trump's election, "we're feeling what not having hope feels like"

Alex Christofouou
The Duran
Sun, 18 Dec 2016 00:00 UTC
michelle oprah
Oprah Winfrey gives Michelle Obama an opportunity to bullshit the American public

Comment: You know that the elite Clinton/CIA machine is getting desperate to push their anti-Trump pro-imperialist agenda when they trot vainglorious numbskull Michelle Obama onto an Oprah Winfrey show to say the following...


Here are images of the "hope and change" Obama helped bring on to the world.

Michelle Obama appeared on Oprah to completely ignore the real world disaster around her, choosing to instead focus on the wonderful neo-liberal, elitist paradise her puppet president helped build during his eight years at the White House.

When asked by Oprah if she believes that her husband delivered on his "hope and change" platform, Michelle answered "Yes", with the caveat that "now we're feeling what not having hope feels like."

"Now" is in reference to Trump's presidency in waiting.

Michelle never offered any solid evidence as to how exactly Obama brought "hope" to the world as he promised when he campaigned in 2008.

"Change"...Obama did bring, and all of it almost universally bad.

Comment: And that's just internationally, here is the wonderful hope that Obama created domestically:
Perhaps these 9 charts we posted back in September accurately depict the "hope" that Michelle spoke of (see "Harvard Crushes The "Obama Recovery" Farce With 9 Simple Charts"):

stats charts
Or maybe these charts that we posted back in June better reflect Obama's "Hope & Change" mantra...unfortunately, while the data scores big on the "Change" factor, it's somewhat lacking on the "Hope" component (see "These Are The 9 Zero Hedge Charts Showing "Obama's Recovery" That Angered The Washington Post"):

stats charts 2
Or perhaps this 16% decline in Black homeownership rates since 2004, which we discussed just yesterday, is more what Michelle had in mind (see "Obama "Housing Recovery" Crushes "Blacks, Young Adults" As Homeownership Rates Crash"):

household ownership


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Book

Russian UN envoy: French draft resolution on UN supervision of Aleppo evacuation 'dangerous'


Sputnik
Sun, 18 Dec 2016 20:00 UTC
A vehicle from the UN drives through the Syrian government-controlled crossing of Ramoussa, on the southern outskirts of Aleppo, on December 18, 2016, during an evacuation operation of rebel fighters and civilians from rebel-held areas
© AFP 2016/ George OURFALIANA vehicle from the UN drives through the Syrian government-controlled crossing of Ramoussa, on the southern outskirts of Aleppo, on December 18, 2016, during an evacuation operation of rebel fighters and civilians from rebel-held areas
"We believe that what they are suggesting is impossible to implement and dangerous," Churkin said.

"We cannot support [the draft resolution], we cannot let it pass," Churkin stressed when asked whether Russia would support this draft resolution.

Commenting on the resolution, Churkin said that Russia will present its own, "very clear" proposals on the situation in Aleppo to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).

"We have specific ideas. If it is not a question of vanity, then we could have good proposals approved by the UNSC today," Churkin elaborated.

Comment: See also:

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Bad Guys

Syrian state media reports buses attacked on way to militant-held Shiite villages after evacuation deal


RT
Sun, 18 Dec 2016 15:36 UTC
Russian soldiers inspect rebels and civilians who were evacuated from rebel-held eastern Aleppo
© Omar Sanadiki / ReutersRussian soldiers inspect rebels and civilians who were evacuated from rebel-held eastern Aleppo, in the government-held area of al-Ramousah bridge, Syria December 16, 2016.
Five buses were attacked and burned by "armed terrorists" while en route to militant-held villages after an evacuation deal was struck between the Syrian government and rebels, Syrian state television has reported.

The deal was reached earlier on Sunday, according to Reuters, citing al-Ikhbariya TV news. It will see the remaining militants and their families evacuated from east Aleppo in return for the evacuation of people in militant-held villages in Idlib province, al-Foua and Kafraya.

Syrian state television has reported that five buses were attacked and burned by "armed terrorists" while en route to al-Foua and Kefraya.


Comment: Alexander Mercouris writes:
This incident reveals a number of important truths about the Syrian conflict.

The first is that the Western media is actually reporting it. The probable reason for that is that with the end of the fighting in Aleppo Western journalists are at last able to go there and to report on the spot. Though most of them doubtless remain intensely hostile to the Syrian government, the mere fact that they are now engaged in some actual on the spot reporting means that the coverage has suddenly become fractionally more balanced and nuanced.

More importantly, this episode shows who is really responsible for the suffering of civilians in Aleppo, and who is intent on pursuing a murderous and fanatical sectarian agenda in Syria.

...the attack on the buses by the Al-Qaeda led Jihadi fighters trying to prevent the evacuation of civilians and wounded fighters from the two Shiite villages, highlights the utter ruthlessness and extreme sectarian attitudes of these fighters. Quite simply, they are unwilling to let these Shiites go, even if by preventing them from leaving they are putting the safety of their Sunni co-religionists and their Jihadi comrades in Aleppo at risk.


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Propaganda

Best of the Web: Propaganda outnumbers news this week regarding Aleppo

Patrick Cockburn
The Independent, UK
Fri, 16 Dec 2016 17:52 UTC
Happy Aleppo refugeees
© Vanessa Beeley
It has just become more dangerous to be a foreign correspondent reporting on the civil war in Syria. This is because the jihadis holding power in east Aleppo were able to exclude Western journalists, who would be abducted and very likely killed if they went there, and replace them as news sources with highly partisan "local activists" who cannot escape being under jihadi control.

The foreign media has allowed - through naivety or self-interest - people who could only operate with the permission of al-Qaeda-type groups such as Jabhat al-Nusra and Ahrar al-Sham to dominate the news agenda.

The precedent set in Aleppo means that participants in any future conflict will have an interest in deterring foreign journalists who might report objectively. By kidnapping and killing them, it is easy to create a vacuum of information that is in great demand and will, in future, be supplied by informants sympathetic to or at the mercy of the very same people (in this case the jihadi rulers of east Aleppo) who have kept out the foreign journalists. Killing or abducting the latter turns out to have been a smart move by the jihadis because it enabled them to establish substantial control of news reaching the outside world. This is bad news for any independent journalist entering their territory and threatening their monopoly of information.
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Info

Iran claims US sanctions violate nuclear deal, demands meeting of world powers


RT
Sun, 18 Dec 2016 18:20 UTC
Mohammad Javad Zarif
© Greg Baker / Reuters Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif
Iran has called Washington's recent decision to prolong sanctions against it a violation of the nuclear deal that it struck with world powers in 2015 and has requested a meeting of the commission that oversees the implementation of the agreement.

On Saturday, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif asked for "a meeting of the joint commission outlined in the nuclear deal [...] regarding the recent actions of the United States" in an official letter to European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, AFP reported, citing Iranian state news agency IRNA.

Mogherini coordinates the work of the commission that includes Iran and the states that, in July of 2015, reached a long-sought deal regarding Iran's nuclear program known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). Among these states are France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Russia, China, and the United States. Under the deal, Iran agreed to limit its nuclear program and, in return, those powers agreed to lift the international sanctions they had imposed on it.
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Star of David

Israeli President promises to help Ukraine return Crimea: 'We have a plan to take the city back from Russia dictator club'


AWD News
Sat, 17 Dec 2016 18:03 UTC
Reuven Rivlin and Petro Poroshenko
President of Israel Reuven Rivlin and the President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko.
Israel does not recognize the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation and is jointly planning with Ukraine steps for its de-occupation. This was stated by President of Israel Reuven Rivlin and the President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko at a joint press conference in Kiev.

"Israel did not recognize the illegal annexation of Crimea and is not going to do either and we have a plan to take the city back from Russia dictator club ," Rivlin said. According to him, Russia violated international law in this matter.


Comment: What a hypocrite. When has Israel EVER had any respect for international law, unless it expressly suits Israel.


"Mr President (of Israel) supported the joint steps aimed at the de-occupation of Crimea. For this plan we will work together in the framework of international organizations on the basis of new international formats, including the format of "Geneva+" with the participation of the guarantors of the Budapest Memorandum, Israel and Ukraine", — quotes "Interfax" from the words of the President of Ukraine.

Comment: Good grief, psychopathic wishful thinking.

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Bulb

EU extends sanctions against Russia, but consensus is failing and they're blaming Kiev for blocking Minsk Accord

Alexander Mercouris
The Duran
Sun, 18 Dec 2016 17:33 UTC
Francois Hollande
© AFP 2016/ MARTIN BUREAU
EU Council agrees to extend sanctions against Russia despite admitting Kiev not implementing Minsk Accord.

At its last summit on 15th December 2016 the European Union decided to extend the sanctions against Russia for a further 6 months. A demand by Poland that they be extended for 12 months to signal EU condemnation of Russian policy in Syria was however rejected.

One of the effects of the recent outcry against Russia over its actions in Aleppo is that it has solidified EU backing for the existing sanctions. Though several EU states led by Italy have prevented more sanctions being imposed on Russia because of its actions in Syria, the trade-off is that they have had to back off from their demands - which were growing increasingly strong in the summer - for the existing sanctions to be lifted.

The paradox of this latest decision is that it is widely believed that an absolute majority of EU states now want the sanctions lifted, and that the EU itself now publicly recognises that the blame for the failure to implement the Minsk II agreement - the supposed reason for extending the sanctions - lies with Kiev, which is refusing to implement them, rather than with Moscow.
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Snakes in Suits

Welcome to Idlib: America's model Syrian city

Ulson Gunnar
New Eastern Outlook
Sun, 18 Dec 2016 17:18 UTC
Syrian bakery
A report published by The Century Foundation (TCF), a US-based policy think tank, helps shed light on the inner workings of the small northern city of Idlib, Syria.

Idlib is to US State Department-listed foreign terrorist organization Jabhat Al Nusra (also known as Jabhat Fateh al-Sham or Al Qaeda in Syria) as the eastern Syrian city of Al Raqqa is to the self-proclaimed "Islamic State" (IS).

It is also home to a wide range of other militant groups cooperating with the terrorist organization, as well as a myriad of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) funded and directed by the US, Europe, Turkey and the Gulf states.

And while great hope resides within statements of US, European and Gulf state politicians, echoed across their respective media platforms for this city's possible role as an alternative "capital" for an alternative "government," opposed to the current Syrian nation-state, TCF's report dumps a cold bucket of water on what was but a spark, not even a flame of hope.

Comment: Idlib is the West's last gasp for Syria: British generals to restore combat capability of Syrian militants that have retreated from Aleppo but Russia and Syria may resume their offensive there: Russian aircraft carrier takes part in massive strikes on terrorists in Syria's Idlib and Homs provinces

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Clipboard

Why the Democratic Party can't let go of losing

Charles Hugh Smith
Of Two Minds
Thu, 15 Dec 2016 17:17 UTC
hillary
The Democratic Party has become everything it once was against.

Let's get one thing straight right at the start: criticizing the Democratic Party and its ruling elites is not the same as "supporting Trump."

The either-or accusation is a classic propaganda technique to silence dissent. During the Vietnam War, for example, anyone dissenting against the official narratives supporting the war was accused of "supporting the Communists." In other words, criticizing the Powers That Be or their narrative is treason.

This either-or choice was designed to silence dissent by eliminating the possibility that domestic critics had valid reasons to disagree with the war that had nothing to do with Communism and everything to do with America.

Now we hear the same propaganda technique being wielded by Democrats: any criticism of the Democratic Party is "supporting Trump."

Hogwash. Any institution that can't accept achingly obvious critiques is doomed. Resilient, confident people and organizations welcome fair criticism, as honest criticism (i.e. intended to improve performance and understanding) is essential to the process of successful adaptation to changing conditions.

So now that we've got that straightened out--criticism isn't necessarily support for "the other side," it stands or falls on its own merits--let's nail down why the Democratic Party didn't live up to expectations in the election.
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