Society's Child

YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki says Facebook should 'get back to baby pictures'

Joan E. Solsman
CNET
Mon, 12 Feb 2018 11:55 UTC

© Noam Galai/FilmMagic for YouTube
YouTube, led by CEO Susan Wojcicki, has been criticized for struggling to control offensive content on its service.

YouTube may be derided as full of cat videos, but as Facebook pushes aggressively into YouTube's video turf, Susan Wojcicki says it should stick to baby pics.

YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki won't divulge her biggest fear about competing with Facebook, but she will give them some free advice.

"They should get back to baby pictures," Wojcicki said Monday at the Code Media conference in Huntington Beach, California. (By the way, Facebook's already aiming in that direction.)

Video has been an obsession for Facebook, as it tries to swipe the most advertising dollars migrating off television before YouTube can get them. Facebook has been aggressively advancing the number of clips and live streams that bubble up to the top of your News Feed and has rolled out a central hub for TV-like programming called Watch.

"You always have to take competition seriously. You don't win by looking backwards; you win by looking at your customers and looking forward," she said.

Comment:

Wojcicki said Monday that drawing a line about what's appropriate to exist on YouTube is sensitive because "on one side is censorship and the other is too much freedom of speech."

The problem is that it is companies like YouTube/Google, Facebook and Twitter who decide where that line is to be drawn - and there are so many ways in which censorship can be enforced.

Princeton professor uses 'n-word,' student shouts 'f-you' - 'Free speech' class cancelled

Adam Rubenstein
The Weekly Standard
Mon, 12 Feb 2018 11:26 UTC

Students at Princeton learn a lesson about how free speech works at the modern university.

"Anthropology 212: Cultural Freedoms: Hate Speech, Blasphemy, and Pornography," a course on freedom of expression at Princeton University has been "reluctantly" cancelled, Professor Lawrence Rosen informed his students in an email obtained by THE WEEKLY STANDARD. Rosen's email, sent at 2:07 p.m. on February 12, went on to say "I think it only fair that you be free, before too much of the semester has passed, to move ahead in another course of your choosing."

Comment: Judging by the information on this article, it sounds like Prof. Rosen was trying to make his students think with his question about the 'n-word' - he was obviously not going on a racist offensive! His remark about using the word 'if he thinks it's necessary' should be read under the same light. But alas, these days people are offended at the drop of a hat, and rational thinking and discussion be damned.

Jordan Peterson on freedom of speech:

Russian financial sector ready to move beyond using SWIFT for money transfers

RT
Tue, 13 Feb 2018 16:18 UTC

Russian financial institutions and firms are ready to work without SWIFT's interbank cash transfer services, according to Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich.

"Certainly, it is unpleasant, as it will prove a stumbling block for companies and banks, and will slow down work. It will be inevitable to deploy some aged technologies for information transfer and calculations. However, the companies are technically and psychologically ready for the shutdown as this threat was repeatedly voiced," Dvorkovich said, as quoted by TASS.

He added that the measure may have a negative impact on corporations working in the US and Europe.

Watch how fake news spreads with PR firm release of crackpot Russia-Brexit report

RT
Tue, 13 Feb 2018 16:26 UTC

© Hannah McKay / Reuters
Anti-Brexit protesters demonstrate opposite the Houses of Parliament in London, Britain, January 16, 2018.

The release of a report that claims Russian media outlets RT and Sputnik were a major influence on the outcome of the Brexit vote has unwittingly allowed people to see exactly how "fake news" is formed and spread on Twitter.

The self-funded report was produced by PR firm 89up, a lobbying firm that runs communications for pro-EU pressure group 'Best for Britain,' which is part-funded by billionaire George Soros.

At the time of writing, 89up had removed the slide-show presentation linked to the report from its site. While the agency promised more information would be released in the coming days, it has been pointed out that the initial release contained no statistical evidence in the form of tweets or articles to back up the claims being made. Twitter itself has said that it cannot find evidence of Russian Brexit meddling.

Publisher of Haaretz hits back at US ambassador for 'perpetuating apartheid' in US politics of West Bank

Philip Weiss
Mondoweiss
Sun, 11 Feb 2018 00:00 UTC

Amos Schocken, publisher of Haaretz, answering readers' questions.

The last few days have seen more open battles inside the Jewish community over the illegal Israeli settlement project in the West Bank. The rhetoric is more bitter than ever. Apartheid, say the liberals. While conservative Jews describe the settlements as the heart and soul of Zionism. We'd like to predict a crisis in the American Jewish relationship to Israel, but who knows when that will ever happen.

To start with, on Friday, Haaretz publisher Amos Schocken openly criticized the US Ambassador to Israel - former bankruptcy lawyer David Friedman - for perpetuating "apartheid" and violence through blind support of the settlement project.

As JTA reports, the battle began when Gideon Levy published a column in Haaretz on the killing of a 29-year-old Israeli settler and called out Friedman for his personal financial support for the man's settlement, Har Bracha. "Describing Har Bracha, which means 'mountain of blessings,' as an Israeli land grab, Levy said it should be called a 'mountain of curses.'"

Friedman responded angrily: Levy and Haaretz have "no decency."

What has become of .@Haaretz ? Four young children are sitting shiva for their murdered father and this publication calls their community a "mountain of curses." Have they no decency?

Haaretz publisher Amos Schocken backed his columnist up by criticizing U.S. support for apartheid:

Mr. Ambassador Gideon Levy is right. As long as the policy of Israel that your Government and yourself support is obstructing peace process, practical annexation of the territories, perpetuating apartheid, fighting terror but willing to pay its price, there will be more Shivas.

Comment: BDS is working because you have to be either a dyed-in-the-wool Zionist, or have a heart of stone, not to feel horrible about Israel's slow motion mangling of Palestinian life in Gaza and the West Bank.

Voodoo practitioners fear backlash after recent crimes against children involving rituals

Alanna Durkin Riche
Fox News
Tue, 13 Feb 2018 22:54 UTC

© Marc Vasconcellos
Sisters Rachel Hilaire and Peggy LaBossiere sit in Brockton District Court in Bridgewater, Mass., charged with tying down and burning a 5-year-old girl, permanently disfiguring her, in a voodoo ritual meant to rid her of a demon causing her to misbehave.

Two separate crimes against children in recent days have one haunting similarity: authorities have pointed to Voodoo rituals as a possible motive.

But practitioners of Haitian Vodou, which adherents spell differently to distinguish it from other variants, say the religion does not sanction violence and fear the crimes will spark a backlash against their community.

"We are being targeted," said Maude Evans, a Haitian native and Vodou priestess in Boston's Mattapan neighborhood. "I'm really concerned that that's how it's going to be from now on. They will do things and blame it on Vodou."

Two sisters in East Bridgewater were arrested last month after they tied down and burned a 5-year-old girl, permanently disfiguring her, in a "voodoo ritual" meant to rid her of a demon, authorities say. Peggy LaBossiere, who was arrested with her sister Rachel Hilaire, also is accused of threatening to cut off the head of the girl's 8-year-old brother with a machete.

Facebook is uncool and younger users are leaving

AFP
Mon, 12 Feb 2018 22:45 UTC

With mom, dad and grandma signing up in increasing numbers, Facebook is losing younger users in the United States at a faster pace than previously estimated, researchers said Monday.

A report by eMarketer said Snapchat is drawing youths away from Facebook at a quicker clip than Facebook-owned Instagram.

Facebook is still growing in the US market, according to research firm, mainly due to increases in usage by older age groups.

The report is the latest to highlight Facebook's problem with attracting and keeping young people, who have long been a core user base for the world's biggest social network.

The research firm said it expected the first-ever decline in the 18-24 age group in the US, a drop of 5.8 percent this year.

Big Pharma spent $10mn to promote 'opioid friendly' messaging

RT
Tue, 13 Feb 2018 21:33 UTC

Drug companies spent nearly $10 million promoting opioid drug use to patient advocacy groups and other nonprofit organisations between 2012 and 2017. More than 42,000 Americans died from opioid overdoses in 2016.

Physicians affiliated with patient advocacy groups accepted more than $1.6 million in payments from five manufacturers between 2013 and 2018, according to a new report released Monday by a Senator Claire McCaskill (D-Missouri), top Democrat on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

The report exposes financial connections between opioid manufacturers and advocacy groups, and points to close alignment between "medical culture and industry goals," regarding narcotic painkiller distribution.

"The fact that these same manufacturers provided millions of dollars to the groups described below suggests, at the very least, a direct link between corporate donations and the advancement of opioids-friendly messaging", the report states.

The report centres on the expenditure of five drug companies: Purdue Pharma L.P., Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Mylan N.V., Depomed, Inc. and Insys Therapeutics, Inc., as well as 14 patient advocacy groups "working on chronic pain and other opioid-related issues."

Comment: Big Pharma under fire: NYC sues eight companies for deceptive marketing and flooding the market with opioids

Steve Hughes: The Liberal Mentality (VIDEO)

Sott.net
Mon, 12 Feb 2018 13:25 UTC

Steve Hughes is a stand-up comedian who has consistently had his finger on the pulse for years, especially when it comes to 'political correctness'. In the following video uploaded by Bull Brand, Hughes gives his take on the madness of the 'radical left':

Could America be having second thoughts about free speech?

Damon Linker
The Week
Tue, 06 Feb 2018 00:00 UTC

The free speech wars are getting worse, but it seems that none of the warring factions quite grasp the character of the dispute - or precisely what's at stake. At the figurative center of the clash is the norm of near-absolute freedom of speech and expression, which its defenders like to treat as the American default. A number of ideological challenges have arisen in recent years to overturn this norm.

On many college campuses, groups of left-leaning students insist that free speech should be conditional on speakers adhering to explicit standards of diversity and avoiding the infliction of emotional harm on the members of marginalized groups through the spreading of "hate."

From the opposite ideological direction, President Trump believes that the government should "take a strong look" at libel laws to keep news organizations from subjecting his own administration to negative coverage.

Finally, from the center-left come calls to use anti-discrimination law to punish organizations that oppose the legitimacy of same-sex marriage and accommodations for transgender people. If that happens - either by passing new laws that explicitly add to existing anti-discrimination statutes or by courts treating the members of these groups as protected classes covered by existing law - the result will almost certainly be a significant constriction of speech, as those holding more conservative views will face sanction for expressing them in public.

Those are the trends - and each one looks, to the others, like the onset of democratic decline.

Comment: Free speech comes and goes? Status quo decides? The 'American default' is being faulted; surely we notice this distraction.

Ehret an idiot beyond belief

smertzasmert

.. .. are wheel barrel sales are up too?

Jibrish

I doubt any pureblood would object to the "vaccinated" being masked, but if they (the "vaccinated") still feel unsafe then maybe their problem is...

HashAttack2

I said this would happen...now they are looking to mandate companies with less that 100 employees...shits getting real, people[Link]

Bezel Bub

it's all a lie ! :O

cracker

Society's Child

YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki says Facebook should 'get back to baby pictures'

Princeton professor uses 'n-word,' student shouts 'f-you' - 'Free speech' class cancelled

Russian financial sector ready to move beyond using SWIFT for money transfers

Watch how fake news spreads with PR firm release of crackpot Russia-Brexit report

Publisher of Haaretz hits back at US ambassador for 'perpetuating apartheid' in US politics of West Bank

Voodoo practitioners fear backlash after recent crimes against children involving rituals

Facebook is uncool and younger users are leaving

Big Pharma spent $10mn to promote 'opioid friendly' messaging

Steve Hughes: The Liberal Mentality (VIDEO)

Could America be having second thoughts about free speech?

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