Puppet Masters
Twitter pulls down Trump campaign video about George Floyd's death over copyright-infringement claim
A June 3 tweet by the @TeamTrump account with the video now displays the message: "This media has been disabled in response to a report by the copyright owner." Twitter confirmed it received a DMCA takedown request from the owner of one of the images included in the video but the company did not specify who that was.
The video, titled "Healing, Not Hatred," currently remains available on YouTube, Facebook and Instagram. [UPDATE: Facebook removed the videos from both Facebook and Instagram later Friday after it also received a DMCA complaint.]
As the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, plans to vote on the so-called annexation bill in early July, a recent poll conducted by the Israel Democracy Institute reveals that 52 percent of Jewish Israelis support applying sovereignty to parts of the predominantly Palestinian West Bank, with only 28 percent rejecting the initiative.
David Elhayani, mayor of the Jordan Valley Regional Council, is one of those backing the idea of extending Israeli sovereignty but says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should be guided by Tel Aviv's national interests, not Washington's "deal of the century" peace plan rolled out at the end of January.

Bob Seely pushed the government's stay-at-home message and highlighted warnings against people visiting second homes
Bob Seely went to the evening gathering hosted by the Spectator magazine's deputy editor, Freddy Gray, in the village of Seaview on the island last month. Richard Tice, the Brexit party chairman, and his partner, the political journalist Isabel Oakeshott, were also there.
Seely said he was unaware others would be present when he arrived for a meeting, and that at all times social distancing was followed.
At the time, there was strict guidance against groups mixing from different households or people visiting and entering another person's home, with the health secretary stipulating that that included gardens.
Biden's remarks, made during an event moderated by actor Don Cheadle, drew comparisons to comments by 2016 Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton about half of Trump's supporters being in a "basket of deplorables," or 2012 Republican nominee Mitt Romney's remarks about 47% of Americans being dependent on the federal government and not paying income tax.
Ryan Wilson, the CEO of the Gathering Spot in Atlanta, Georgia, had asked Biden how he was going to lead differently and what he would do for black Americans, "if it's true that you can't truly lead people if you don't love people."
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has called on the international community to overcome the economic constraints imposed on the global economy and provide more than $700 million in order to confront the threat posed by Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) in Iraq and Syria.
"It's true that the pandemic is putting enormous pressure on all of our budgets," Pompeo said on Thursday at a Ministerial Meeting of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS. "That said, our fight against ISIS continues and will for the foreseeable future. We cannot rest. We must continue to root out ISIS cells and networks and provide stabilization assistance to liberated areas in Iraq and Syria."
The decision to expel the Russian diplomats in Prague was announced by Prime Minister Andrej Babis and Foreign Minister Tomas Petricek at a joint media conference on Friday.
The prime minister said the high-profile media scandal over an alleged Kremlin plot to kill the mayor of Prague and two municipal officials with ricin poison was actually a ruse. The tip-off about the planned assassination came from a Russian diplomat who wanted to settle a personal score with his rival, Babis explained.
The Russian embassy rejected the reasoning provided by the Czech government, saying the entire scandal was a "fabricated provocation." The expulsion of the diplomats was "an unfriendly step" that signals that Prague has no intention to mend the damaged ties, the embassy said on its Facebook page, expressing its disappointment in the outcome.

Former Defense Sec. Jim Mattis • US President Donald Trump
"I have watched this week's unfolding events, angry and appalled," Mattis writes. "The words 'Equal Justice Under Law' are carved in the pediment of the United States Supreme Court. This is precisely what protesters are rightly demanding. It is a wholesome and unifying demand — one that all of us should be able to get behind. We must not be distracted by a small number of lawbreakers. The protests are defined by tens of thousands of people of conscience who are insisting that we live up to our values — our values as people and our values as a nation." He goes on, "We must reject and hold accountable those in office who would make a mockery of our Constitution."
In his j'accuse, Mattis excoriates the president for setting Americans against one another.
Pages of Russian and Chinese media outlets have already been graced with the new warning labels, which Facebook announced on Thursday in a blog post.
The social media behemoth claimed it is taking other factors into account besides government ownership, explaining "if we determine that there are enough protections in place to ensure editorial independence, we will not apply the label."
Publishers wishing to avoid the labels must demonstrate a certain degree of legally-protected editorial autonomy from their host country/owner, Facebook explained in the post.
Ryabkov lamented the sad state of Russia-U.S. relations, while pointing, not very subtly, to China as Russia's ace in the hole. He was simply acknowledging that what the Soviets used to call "the correlation of forces" has changed markedly, and strongly implied that the U.S. should draw the appropriate conclusions.
No amateur diplomat, Ryabkov used unusually sharp, almost certainly pre-authorized, words to drive home his message:
"We don't believe the U.S. in its current shape is a counterpart that is reliable, so we have no confidence, no trust whatsoever. So our own calculations and conclusions are less related to what America is doing ... we cherish our close and friendly relations with China. We do regard this as a comprehensive strategic partnership in different areas, and we intend to develop it further."In other words: We Russians and Chinese will stand together as the U.S. tries to paint both of us as arch-villains, all the while isolating itself and painting itself into a corner.
Comment: Just as with Rome, the USA will not be rebuilt in a day - if ever. And, like Americans, Russia will have to wait.

Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe • Former Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein
During Rosenstein's testimony, McCabe issued a statement saying the former DAG was giving "false" testimony about his recollection regarding former FBI Director James Comey's memos about his interactions with President Donald Trump.
Interestingly, both men accuse each other of lying, pointing the finger at one another, in one of the biggest hoaxes in modern political history. They lied to each other, all the while creating a hoax to fool the American people and the world. McCabe and Rosenstein, along with their colleagues in the bureau, DOJ and the intelligence community know that eventually they will get caught up in the lies and explanations. This is when the finger-pointing will start.
Comment: If Rosenstein and McCabe are typical stand-ups of authority and responsibility in Washington, imagine the duplication of their actions, demeanor and ethics magnified on the grand scale throughout Congress, the bureaus and agencies we are ruled by and upon which we depend.












Comment: Here's the offending tweet:
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