2020-05-31: News Headlines

Ramesh Srinivasan (2020-05-31). Twitter Warns Trump Tweet Glorifies Violence. zcomm.org "Trump has prospered through his use of social media and its attention-hoarding algorithms to basically disinform and misinform people"

Andre Vltchek (2020-05-30). In the West: Propaganda, Hysteria and Truly Foul Breath! dissidentvoice.org If it wasn't so tragic, it would be laughable: the political brigands in North America and Europe are fuming, spitting and rolling their eyes upwards towards the ceiling. They are pointing fingers in all directions, shouting incoherently "China!", "Russia!", "Venezuela and Cuba!", "Iran!"; "You, You, YOU!". China and Russia are quietly building a new world, …

Erwin Chemerinsky (2020-05-30). Trump's Authoritarian Executive Order Is an Assault on Free Speech—Not a Defense of It. commondreams.org "Twitter in no way censored the president," argues Chemerinsky. "It engaged in its own speech by providing readers with further information. It is truly Orwellian that Trump declared he was acting to protect free speech when he was retaliating against speech and seeking to expand the liability of media companies. Trump's action is illegal. As president he does not have the power to change the meaning of a federal statute." (Image: Gage Skidmore/Flickr/cc) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files…

Alan Macleod (2020-05-29). As Establishment Condemns China for Hong Kong Repression, Trump Tweets About "Shooting Looters" mintpressnews.com Democrats and Republicans are united in condemning Beijing for its overreach, but perhaps its time to look closer to home to find examples of state repression.

commondreams (2020-05-29). ACLU Statement On Trump Tweet Directing the National Guard to Murder Protesters in Minneapolis. commondreams.org ______________________________…

Sasha Abramsky (2020-05-29). Trump's Twitter Tirade Is the Tantrum of a Troll. thenation.com Trump's Twitter Tirade Is the Tantrum of a Troll…

Ron Jacobs (2020-05-29). The Odyssey of Elias Demetracopoulos. counterpunch.org In twenty-first-century mainstream media, a real journalist is difficult to find. Instead, one finds multiple purveyors of corporate and government propaganda, entertainers who sensationalize the most meaningless tidbits about the lives of public figures, faux investigations of misdoings that focus on the symptoms and not the causes, and outright liars. Elected and non-elected officials use

_____ (2020-05-29). Taxpayers cash being spent on Tory propaganda in right-wing press. truepublica.org.uk TruePublica Editor: The government in Britain are using taxpayers money to issue mass propaganda campaigns. It is attempting to convince as many people as possible that somehow they are doing a good job in the midst of a crisis when the opposite is fact. The truth is we will never know much taxpayers money is …

Yves Engler (2020-05-29). #NoUNSC4Canada thrusts Critical Discussion of Foreign Policy into Mainstream. dissidentvoice.org The No Canada on UN Security Council (#NoUNSC4Canada) campaign has thrust critical discussion of Canadian foreign policy into the mainstream. It has also pierced through a stultifying 'team Canada' nationalism that infests much of the left. While the historical record suggests otherwise, it is widely assumed that Canadian power is good for the world. Last …

Kate Ruane (2020-05-29). President Trump has No Idea How Online Speech Works. aclu.org Yesterday, President Trump signed an executive order aimed at bullying social media companies and online platforms into changing how they moderate content online. The order came the day after President Trump tweeted that Republicans feel that social media platforms silence conservative voices. And, notably, just days after Twitter's decision to place a fact-checking

Project Censored (2020-05-25). Episode 89 — COVID Chronicles: Worcester. projectcensored.org Along the Line, is a member of the Demcast network, brought to you by the Media Freedom Foundation. On today's episode hosts Nicholas Baham III (Dr. Dreadlocks), Janice Domingo, and Nolan…

Project Censored (2020-05-25). Episode 88 — COVID Chronicles: New Orleans. projectcensored.org Along the Line, is a member of the Demcast network, brought to you by the Media Freedom Foundation. On today's episode hosts Nicholas Baham III (Dr. Dreadlocks), Janice Domingo, and Nolan…

Project Censored (2020-05-25). Episode 90 — COVID Chronicles: Santa Clara. projectcensored.org Along the Line, is a member of the Demcast network, brought to you by the Media Freedom Foundation. On today's episode hosts Nicholas Baham III (Dr. Dreadlocks), Janice Domingo, and Nolan…

Project Censored (2020-05-25). Episode 87 — COVID Chronicles: Miami. projectcensored.org Along the Line, is a member of the Demcast network, brought to you by the Media Freedom Foundation. On today's episode hosts Nicholas Baham III (Dr. Dreadlocks), Janice Domingo, and Nolan…

Project Censored (2020-05-25). Episode 86 — COVID Chronicles: San Francisco. projectcensored.org Along the Line, is a member of the Demcast network, brought to you by the Media Freedom Foundation. On today's episode hosts Nicholas Baham III (Dr. Dreadlocks), Janice Domingo, and Nolan…

Staff (2020-05-29). Twitter Warns Trump Tweet Glorifies Violence as He Signs Executive Order to Weaken Social Media. democracynow.org As President Trump calls Minneapolis protesters "THUGS" and tweets, "when the looting starts, the shooting starts," Twitter flags the tweet with a warning it glorifies violence, just as Trump signs an executive order to punish social media companies for how they monitor content. "Trump has prospered through his use of social media and its attention-hoarding algorithms to basically disinform and misinform people," says Ramesh Srinivasan, professor in the Department of Information Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Staff (2020-05-29). Headlines for May 29, 2020. democracynow.org Protests Rage After Minneapolis Prosecutor Does Not Bring Charges Against Officers Who Killed George Floyd, Scores Tear-Gassed, Arrested as Protests Against George Floyd's Killing Spread to Other Cities, Twitter Flags Trump Tweet for Glorifying Violence After President Attacks Minnesota Protesters as "THUGS", Trump Executive Order Threatens to Punish Social Media Companies over Fact-Checking, U.S. Economy Sheds Another 2.1 Million Jobs, Leaving 40.7 Million Unemployed Since Start of Pandemic, Pennsylvania Democratic Lawmakers Accuse Republicans of Knowingly Exposing Them to Coronavirus, Protesters Demand ICE Empt…

Andrey Areshev (2020-05-29). German Official Leaks Report Denouncing Corona as 'A Global False Alarm'. strategic-culture.org Germany's federal government and mainstream media are engaged in damage control after a Some of the report key passages are: | The dangerousness of Covid-19 was overestimated: probably at no point did the danger posed by the new virus go beyond the normal level. | The people who die from Corona are essentially those who would statistically die this year, because they have reached the end of their lives and their weakened bodies can no longe…

imperial.ac.uk (2020-05-29). Identifying clusters central to South Korea's COVID-19 response. imperial.ac.uk South Korean interventions controlled the transmission of COVID-19 quickly, resulting in a smaller epidemic made up of "clusters" of cases.

The Alternative World (2020-05-30). Is public opinion on Covid-19 being shaped by facts — or 'terrorized' by propaganda? thealtworld.com Piers Robinson- Have censorship of scientists, alarmist messaging and conspiracy theory smears all been used to reinforce the 'official' narrative on coronavirus? Can these distortions ever be justified? | One of the problems with researching and writing about propaganda is that so many people believe it is something alien to democratic states. | What Edward Bernays, considered by many to be a key figure in the development of 20th-century propaganda techniques, said was that "the conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society…

Caitlin Johnstone (2020-05-30). Twitter Censorship, And Other Notes From The Edge Of The Narrative Matrix. thealtworld.com If people truly understood the extent to which mental narrative dominates their experience of life, propaganda, advertising and all other forms of psychological manipulation would be regarded by our society similarly to physical assault or property theft. | ~ | It is very telling that Twitter only started censoring Trump for violating terms of service when he promoted violence against Americans. He's been tweeting insanely hawkish threats against people in other nations for years, but they don't count as real people. | ~ | FYI if you're more upset by Twitter censoring one of the most powerful people in the world…

_____ (2020-05-30). Media Smeared Ahmaud Arbery After His Lynching. popularresistance.org While it took two and a half months for the authorities to finally make arrests in the killing of Ahmaud Arbery, corporate media were much quicker to follow the time-honored practice of besmirching victims of racist violence (FAIR.org, 3/22/17). | First they kill your body. Then they kill your reputation. When white supremacy is the foundation of the US's media, political, legal and corporate system, victims of racist violence are often killed twice in this way. | The Georgia Bureau of Investigation on May 7 arrested former cop Gregory McMichael, 64, and his son Travis McMichael, 34, for the murder of Arbery, an…