What goes through my my mind when I read the news with my morning coffee. …Or for the Simon's Rockers in the group, this is my response journal.
Trump’s chief of staff, John Kelly, …[said] that the Civil War was caused by “a lack of an ability to compromise.” During a Monday appearance on Fox News, Kelly described Confederate General Robert E. Lee as “good” and “not so good.”
Well said, Pierce.
Thousands of Americans attended a march last November organized by a Russian group that used social media to interfere in the 2016 election.
…The BlackMatters organizing group was connected to the Internet Research Agency, a Russian “troll farm” with ties to the Kremlin, according to a recent investigation by the Russian Magazine RBC. Facebook has identified the Internet Research Agency as the group responsible for purchasing 3,000 political ads on Facebook’s platform and operating 470 accounts that appear to have attempted to influence the perspectives of Americans during the 2016 elections.
…According to numbers in Facebook’s general counsel’s leaked congressional testimony, the number of people potentially touched by organic content eclipses the potential number reached by ads by hundreds of millions.
BlackMatters had organized other protests, but none revealed so far reached the level of support that the Nov. 12 protest did — in many cases, the organization’s events fizzled out and didn’t come to fruition. Others that actually did take place had a limited and isolated reach.
Other events that appear to be organized by the group tended to focus on rallies around race flash points, including the deaths of black men killed by law enforcement, The Hill found after reviewing 15 events by the organization. Others claimed to offer free legal education for immigrants.
One event was shared with 1,300 users on Facebook, of which 240 ultimately said that they would attend the “One Person One Vote One March,” on Dec. 3 in New York City, a protest against the electoral college. But it’s unclear if the event actually occurred and, if it did, how many people attended.
Thousands attended protest organized by Russians on Facebook | TheHill
hmmmm
Facebook, Twitter and Google played a far deeper role in Donald Trump’s presidential campaign than has previously been disclosed, with company employees taking on the kind of political strategizing that campaigns typically entrust to their own staff or paid consultants, according to a new study released Thursday.
…While the companies call it standard practice to work hand-in-hand with high-spending advertisers like political campaigns, the new research details how the staffers assigned to the 2016 candidates frequently acted more like political operatives, doing things like suggesting methods to target difficult-to-reach voters online, helping to tee up responses to likely lines of attack during debates, and scanning candidate calendars to recommend ad pushes around upcoming speeches.
Such support was critical for the Trump campaign, which didn’t invest heavily in its own digital operations during the primary season and made extensive use of Facebook, Twitter and Google “embeds” for the general election.
…One constant in the dynamic: The companies break down their political outreach teams along party lines. Facebook’s point of contact to Clinton’s 2016 White House run, Crystal Patterson, was a veteran of Democratic politics, and Henke — Google’s liaison to the Trump operation and other 2016 Republican bids — was once the director of operations for the Western Republican Leadership Conference.
How Facebook, Google and Twitter ’embeds’ helped Trump in 2016 – POLITICO
hmmmm
PREPA’s executive director announced the decision Sunday, hours after the U.S. territory’s governor called for the contract’s termination.
Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority Cancels Whitefish Energy Deal | HuffPost
hmmm
1. Trump’s continued global business ventures, despite vows of “no new foreign deals”
2. Business is booming at Mar-a-Lago
3. Trump’s new hotel in Washington raked in $20 million in its first few months
4. The first family profits from visits to Trump-branded properties and golf courses
5. Trump-branded book royalties are soaring
Five Ways the Trumps Have Gotten Richer Since the Election
Sigh….
Hearings this week will increase the pressure for the company to explain how bots and fake news exploited its network — beyond a narrow focus on political ads.
Facebook struggles to contain Russia narrative – POLITICO
hmmm
White nationalists were overwhelmingly outnumbered by counterprotesters in Murfreesboro.
About 800 to 1,000 counterprotesters gathered in Murfreesboro to oppose the rally, chanting “Murfreesboro loves,” “refugees are welcome here” and “this is what democracy looks like.” About 30 white nationalists showed up at the rally in the square in downtown Murfreesboro.
Murfreesboro rally canceled as counterprotesters overwhelm White Lives Matter activists
Go, go, gadget Tennessee!
The former House speaker goes off on a polarized media environment in which reality is optional.
…It seems safe to say that Boehner holds a bit of a grudge against conservative pundits who contributed to the end of his speakership.
But if his beef is personal, it also rings true, especially when he goes off on polarization in the press, more broadly. Here’s an excerpt from Alberta:
Boehner worries about the deepening fissures in American society. But he sees Trump as more of a symptom than the cause of what is a longer arc of social and ideological alienation, fueled by talk radio and Fox News on the right and MSNBC and social media on the left.
“People thought in ’09, ’10, ’11, that the country couldn’t be divided more. And you go back to Obama’s campaign in 2008, you know, he was talking about the divide and healing the country and all of that. And some would argue on the right that he did more to divide the country than to unite it. I kind of reject that notion.”
Why is that? “Because it wasn’t him!” Boehner replies. “It was modern-day media, and social media, that kept pushing people further right and further left. People started to figure out … they could choose where to get their news. And so what do people do? They choose places they agree with, reinforcing the divide.”
To Boehner’s point, it is possible to live in a news bubble in which Trump is perpetually on the verge of impeachment or one in which the president is the target of a witch hunt. Neither is an accurate depiction of reality, but reality is now optional.
John Boehner says he told Sean Hannity: ‘You’re nuts’ – The Washington Post
hmmm
White nationalists groups rallied Saturday in Shelbyville, Tennessee met by dozens of shouting counterprotesters. Hours later, a second rally planned in nearby Murfreesboro was canceled.
White nationalists cancel second rally in Tennessee – CNN
hmmmm
Houston Texans players are reportedly planning a unified protest before Sunday’s game against the Seattle Seahawks after controversial remarks by the team owner.
Houston Texans planning pregame protest over owner Bob McNair comments, report says | Fox News
hmmmm
Company directives reinforced privacy policies that were already being criticized for helping Russia meddle in elections.
Twitter urged firms to delete data during 2016 campaign – POLITICO
hmmmm
‘Congress has been a breeding ground for a hostile work environment for far too long,’ says one lawmaker aiming to overhaul its procedures.
Capitol Hill’s sexual harassment policy ‘toothless,’ ‘a joke’ – POLITICO
hmmm
Too many hearing people view deafness as a deficiency rather than a separate linguistic context, worldview and culture.
The Hearing World Must Stop Forcing Deaf Culture to Assimilate
hmmm
Emily Nash was allowed to compete in a Massachusetts boys golf tournament, as part of her team. But she couldn’t win individual prizes — despite a four-stroke victory over the next-best player.
Winner Of High School Golf Tournament Denied Trophy, Because She’s A Girl : The Two-Way : NPR
oy…..
A wealthy liberal activist launched a national ad campaign Friday morning calling for Trump’s impeachment, which has run even on a conservative program…
Trump goes after Tom Steyer for impeachment ad
hmmm
There’s A Glaring Hole In Trump’s Plan To Fight Opioid AddictionHe’s not directing any new funding to it. In fact, he wants to cut spending.
There’s A Glaring Hole In Trump’s Plan To Fight Opioid Addiction | HuffPost
Of course.
Survivors react angrily to an academic’s suggestion that some wartime sex slaves were not coerced.
South Korea professor ‘mentally stressed’ comfort women – BBC News
hmmm
A deal reached between the government and a small Montana energy company located in Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke’s hometown prohibits the government from reviewing labor costs or profits related to the company’s relief efforts in Puerto Rico, according to a leaked copy of the contract.
A copy of the deal highlighted by reporter Ken Klippenstein reveals that the government isn’t allowed to “audit or review the cost and profit elements” under the agreement, allowing the company greater discretion and secrecy for how it spends the $300 million to restore power to the island. Puerto Rico is rebuilding after two major hurricanes wiped out most of the island’s electrical grid.
Whitefish Energy contract bars government from auditing deal | TheHill
sigh….
Campaigners say the case demonstrates a culture in Ghana that shields sex attackers.
Ghana investigation after child rape ‘pardon’ – BBC News
Aghhhhhhhh
Rep. Steve King (R-IA) introduced copycat legislation that failed last year in Ohio. King’s anti-choice bill would amount to a total ban on abortion care nationwide.
Total Abortion Ban Debuts in Congress – Rewire
sigh…
House Republicans announced that in a week’s time on Nov. 1, they’ll hold the first hearing a bill that would ban abortions after six weeks at the federal level, with no exceptions for rape or incest. [emphasis: mine]
If it becomes law, physicians who perform abortions after fetal cardiac activity is detected — generally around six weeks into a pregnancy — would be eligible for a five-year prison term.
What Is The Heartbeat Protection Act? Republicans’ 6-Week Abortion Ban Bill Has A Hearing Date
“If you cut that [corporate] tax rate to 15 percent, it will pay for itself many times over. … This will bring in probably $1.5 trillion net by itself.”
That’s wishful thinking. So is most Republican rhetoric around tax cutting. In reality, there’s no evidence that a tax cut now would spur growth.
…Moreover, GOP tax mythology usually leaves out other factors that also contributed to growth in the 1980s: First was the sharp reduction in interest rates by the Federal Reserve. The fed funds rate fell by more than half, from about 19 percent in July 1981 to about 9 percent in November 1982. Second, Reagan’s defense buildup and highway construction programs greatly increased the federal government’s purchases of goods and services. This is textbook Keynesian economics.
…I’m not sure how many Republicans even know anymore that Reagan raised taxes several times after 1981. His last budget showed that as of 1988, the aggregate, cumulative revenue loss from the 1981 tax cut was $264 billion and legislated tax increases brought about half of that back.
…Despite huge tax cuts almost annually during the George W. Bush administration that cost the Treasury trillions in revenue, according to the Congressional Budget Office, growth collapsed in the first decade of the 2000s. Real GDP rose just 19.5 percent, well below its ’90s rate.
I helped create the GOP tax myth. Trump is wrong: Tax cuts don’t equal growth. – The Washington Post
hmmm
This. All of this.
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