The White House Creates Tech Bias Form - Report Censorship of Conservatives

As most people have probably noticed by now, Social Media platforms are targeting big-time conservatives and others who don't toe the liberal line.  They are being suspended in droves, many forever, from Twitter and Facebook, often for no good reason.

If you spend any time on Twitter you will also notice that many of your fellow conservative followers wind up in what has been coined Twitter Jail. Most have no clue what landed them there and Twitter usually doesn't let you know. Those with a large following are usually targeted more than those of us with few followers, but even I wound up being blocked by Twitter from posting during the Kavanaugh hearings last year. One day I discovered I had been locked out for alleged suspicious behavior. After contacting them I received an email claiming my account had exhibited "automated behavior" that violated Twitter rules. I had to jump through a zillion hoops to prove I was not a spammer, and my account was finally unlocked- right after the hearings ended. Interesting timing. I was unable to post for days, even though I had immediately provided everything they had requested. Maybe my case wasn't censorship, but it sure felt like it. Ever see those "Caution: This account is temporarily restricted" notices. Yep, usually conservatives. And even though there are liberal celebrities and others who post vile things on Twitter, rarely if ever are they suspended. It's so obvious who they are censoring.

Many times it's the result of some snowflake liberal who reports someone for something they took offense to.  This kid on Twitter got a gay conservative suspended forever because @GayPatriot responded to someone with the word "tranny". He is so proud of what he did he pinned the post where he confessed to being the one who took @GayPatriot down.

I fear this is going to get worse especially if the Democrats take control of the White House and Senate.  It is imperative we don't lose in 2020.

In the meantime, for what it's worth, the White House has created a tech bias form where you can report any censorship.  Do it now.  It's so important to make sure our voices are not silenced before it's too late.

Report here.

Cuba's New Law Censoring All Forms Of The Arts

If you thought Cuba was getting a little less dictatorial with the passing of the Castro dynasty, and that there might be some hope for change, think again.

The Cuban commie government led by Miguel Díaz-Canel apparently has passed a law censoring artistic expression in all art forms. Decree Law 349 was allegedly established to prevent offensive, vulgar or mediocre [whatever the heck that could be] works, but it is substantially more far reaching than that. You actually have to get permission from the government to show your work in public and private spaces. It also has to pass cultural and revolutionary muster or your project could be shut down.

Some of the no-nos that could get you busted:

a) Use of national symbols that contravene current legislation; b) pornography; c) violence; d) sexist, vulgar and obscene language; e) discrimination due to skin color, gender, sexual orientation, disability and any other harm to human dignity; f) that attempts against the development of childhood and adolescence; g) any other that violates the legal provisions that regulate the normal development of our society in cultural matters.

In other words, pretty much anything and everything.

Government sponsored artists have no issue with 349, however there has been a backlash by independent artists, and as a result the government has said it will consult with those opposing the decree to see how it should be "rolled out".

Ever since Decree Law 349 was first published in July in the government’s Gaceta Oficial , there has been plenty of pushback on the island and abroad and a flurry of meetings between government cultural officials and artists, who are still hoping for modifications. The law requires prior government approval for artists, musicians, writers and performers who want to present their work in any spaces open to the public, including private homes and businesses.

But beyond that, it also proposes fining painters and other artists who commercialize their art without government permission. Among the more chilling provisions is the prospect that “supervising inspectors” could review cultural events and shut them down if they don’t believe they meet government standards. Individuals or businesses hiring artists who don’t have prior approval also can be sanctioned.

In addition to shutting them down, they can also seize their personal belongings. Not that there would be much to confiscate from someone in piss-poor Cuba.

And if you want to sell your art? You have to get government approval for that too, although that probably has more to do with the government wanting a piece of the pie rather than artistic control. After all, anyone working for a foreigner during Castro's reign had to pay the government in U.S. dollars and the employee would then get paid in Cuban pesos.

And like a good commie country, some of those protesting have been detained. I wouldn't expect anything less.

More detailed info here.

Other sources:  Miami Herald , Reuters

Louis Farrakhan Compares Jews To Termites on Twitter, Twitter Does Nothing

Anti-Semitic hater Louis Farrakhan, head of the Nation of Islam, just posted a video of himself comparing Jews to termites while his congregation laughed, and Twitter won't do a damn thing about it because it doesn't yet violate its Terms of Use. Apparently, there is a policy on "dehumanizing language" but it hasn't been implemented yet. But a slew of conservative Twitter users have been locked out of their accounts, or suspended, for no good reason. Some yes, but most don't even have a clue why.  It happened to me the weekend of the Kavanaugh confirmation.

In the short video Farrakhan says:

“Now, white folk don’t like Farrakhan. Some of them respect me. But those who have been our deceivers, they can’t stand me. I’m not mad with you. In fact, to the members of the Jewish community that don’t like me, thank you very much for putting my name all over the planet because of your fear of what we represent, I can go anywhere in the world and they’ve heard of Farrakhan. Thank you very much. I’m not mad at you, because you’re so stupid. Don’t you know my teacher, Elijah Muhammed, taught me one day: he said, ‘There once was a donkey that fell in a ditch, and everybody came along and picked up a stone and threw it at the donkey. They threw so many stones til the ditch got filled up, and the donkey walked out.’ So my teacher said, ‘Brother, remember: every knock is a boost.’ So when they talk about Farrakhan, call me a hater, call me anti-Semite…I’m anti-Termite. I don’t know nothing about hating somebody because of their religious preference.”

Read more and watch the video on Buzzfeed. If you can stomach looking at him.

Silencing and Censoring Conservative Voices- It Happened To Me!

I consider myself a moderate, always have. So I never thought I'd see the day that any of my social media accounts would be censored. But it happened. Today. On Twitter.

I haven't been blogging or Tweeting for a good long while, since caregiving my mom these past 4 plus years has taken its toll as far as time commitment goes. Plus taking care of someone else leaves one less than inspired to sit down and write. But recent events, including the upcoming midterms and the upswing in uber progressive candidates winning primaries, and the current Kavanaugh travesty, I felt compelled to get back into it.

So I've been Tweeting. A LOT these past few weeks. And today was no exception. It's hard not to respond to liberal tools who have their heads so firmly stuck in the sand of ignorance.

 I was on Twitter for a while after breakfast, took a break, did an errand, and was inspired to thank Sen Susan Collins for her speech this afternoon when I noticed something odd on my page- it wasn't refreshing, and every time I tried to tweet the Senator, I got the following message:

Automated? What? I was totally flummoxed because I don't use any kind of software to post for me. I use my little fingers and my keyboard to write. I'm certainly not a spammer- I wish they'd all curl up and die. I have no malicious intent- trying to enlighten liberals I consider a service not malice.

I googled and figured I must have been 'locked out' for some unknown reason.  I immediately contacted Twitter and received the following message from some unknown Twitter entity:

Hello,

Your account appears to have exhibited automated behavior that violates the Twitter Rules: https://support.twitter.com/articles/18311.

In order to continue safely using Twitter, please follow these steps:

Log in to your account on the web or open your Twitter app (iOS or Android).
You’ll see a prompt letting you know your account has been locked. Click or tap “Start”.
Select your country/region from the drop down menu, and then enter your phone number.
Click “Send code” and Twitter will send you a text message with a confirmation code (note that your standard message rates may apply).
Enter the code you received in the “Your code” box and click “Submit”.
You will see a confirmation message that your account is now unlocked.
Once you confirm your identity, it may take up to a few minutes for your account to be unlocked.

If you’re still experiencing an issue after confirming your identity, please reply to this message and provide us with specific details of the problem you're experiencing. We’ll do our best to help!

Thanks,
Twitter Support

I have a measly 178 followers, quite a few of whom have followed me from my recent Twitter posts and comments. I have reciprocated. Certainly not enough to have violated Twitter TOS. And I have done nothing else out of the ordinary.

None of their suggestions work. No prompt. Nothing. My page is stuck in locked down mode. I can see it, but I can't do anything with it. I wrote back and am now awaiting another response.

This is what I see when I use another unrelated Twitter account.

Maybe I was flagged by one or more of those liberals I was trying to educate and enlighten.  Or maybe it was Twitter censoring me, but censoring it most definitely is. I'm sure this would not have happened had I not been standing up for Brett Kavanaugh.

The Crazy Reason Why The French Government Ordered Psychiatric Eval For Marine Le Pen

When I first saw a Tweet about the French government ordering psychiatric tests of far right leader Marine Le Pen I figured it must be some kind of joke from one of those numerous satire sites that poke fun at all things ludicrous. I mean, what could she possibly have done to warrant a psych eval from the government no less. And what kind of democratic government would do such a thing?! So I googled, as I always do when something seems too outrageous and I don't want it to come back to bite my blogger butt- but there it is, on numerous mainstream news sites including the left-leaning The Guardian. 

So what was this horrific thing that Le Pen did to get the government involved?  Back in 2015, she apparently shared photos of Islamic State horrors on Social Media. That's it. Rien de plus. 

And not only that, should could wind up with jail time, or a hefty fine, for those tweets.

  

Le Pen’s immunity as a lawmaker was lifted in order for her to face prosecution in France for posting images considered to “incite terrorism or pornography or seriously harm human dignity”.

If convicted, she could face up to three years in prison or a €75,000 fine.
She voiced outrage on Thursday at a court order demanding she undergo psychiatric evaluation in the case.

“I thought I had been through it all: well, no! For having condemned Daesh (IS) horrors in tweets, the ‘justice system’ is putting me through psychiatric tests! Just how far will they go?” she tweeted

I'm gobsmacked. What the heck is going on? I'm not a fan of either the far right or the far left, but this is extremely frightening.

The rest on The Guardian. More from Time.

Here's Le Pen's Tweet of the notification.

We Can't Ban Everything That Offends You- Julie Bindel Video

Julie Bindel, a British lesbian feminist political commentator, talks about how we must NOT ban everything that offends, including banning Donald Trump visiting England.

"Banning people from publicly stating their views does not make those views disappear." 

 What banning does do is:

"blind us to the existence of the attitude that he articulates."

"Let us hear the argument put forward by those with whom we disagree, so that we can expand our knowledge and show rational resistance. This problem is getting worse and worse. we're in danger of making censorship the standard response to any view which offends. Unless someone is breaking the law by inciting with their words, I believe it is a crime not to hear them."

Well said Julie!

She also happens to not support gay-marriage.

Turkish Teen Convicted For Insulting Erdogan

And from the country that wants to join the E.U. but should never be allowed to, we have this: a 7 plus month jail sentence, suspended for three years, for a 17-year-old high school student who insulted Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who was Prime Minister at the time. He will serve the sentence if he does it again within the next three years.

The incident took place as the student, identified only by the initials U.H.C., attended a demonstration in Attalos Square in the southern province of Antalya, in protest at a case involving two other high school students who had been charged after protesting against Erdoğan.

U.H.C., who is a member of the high school group “Young Hopes,” gathered with the group on June 15, 2014 in Attalos Square. They were protesting against the charging of two high school students who had gathered at the same square on Jan. 24, 2014 to issue Erdoğan with a satirical “report card,” after the shooting of Berkin Elvan with a tear gas canister during the Gezi Park protests of June 2013. The charges against the two students who had participated in the earlier protest were later dismissed by the prosecutor in the case.

However, during the final hearing of U.H.C.’s case at the Antalya 2nd Juvenile Court on Feb. 15, he was sentenced to 12 months in prison on charges of “insulting a public official.” The court also ruled to increase the sentence from 12 to 14 months due to the defendant’s behavior during the trial, but the sentence was later reduced to 7 months and 23 days because H.U.C. is a minor. Because there have been no previous criminal charges against H.U.C., the court then decided to put him on probation for three years.

His mum will appeal, saying:

“If there is freedom of expression in this country, no one should be convicted just because they criticize someone or chant against someone."

“The prosecutor told me to keep an eye on my child for the next three years and prevent him from committing a crime, or they will have to charge him with the same criminal act. My response is that hopefully we will not have to face injustice over this three-year period and my child won’t have to protest."

Meanwhile, the kid's dad, a teacher, is facing the same charges.

More here, and here.

Al Jazeera English Bans Use of "Extremist", "Militant", "Terrorist", "Islamist"- Per Leaked Email Memo

ISIS-affiliated jihadists have claimed responsibility for the attack and car bombing of the Corinthia luxury hotel in Tripoli, Libya early this morning. The death toll varies, but it's around 9 or 10, with one American casualty.

Soon after the attack, Carlos Van Meek of Al Jazeera English sent out an email memo to Al Jazeera correspondents telling them they are not to use the terms "jihad", "Islamist", "extremist", "terrorist" or "militant" when referring to Islamist, extremist, terrorist militant jihadists. They want to "avoid characterizing people," because "one person's terrorist is another's freedom fighter." Right, because trying to establish an imperialist global caliphate is just freedom fighting. Beheading journalists, raping and killing Yazidi women, and keeping some as sex slaves is just freedom fighting.

BUT, it's perfectly okay to use the term militant when referring to people like Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh, or Norway's 'mass murderer' Anders Behring Breivik.

National Review Online's Brendan Bordelon got his hands on a leaked copy of that email:

From: Carlos Van Meek
Sent: Tuesday, January 27, 2015 10:06 AM
To: AJE-Newsdesk; AJE-Output; AJE-DC-Newsroom
Subject: Terrorists, Militants, Fighters and then some…

All: We manage our words carefully around here. So I’d like to bring to your attention to some key words that have a tendency of tripping us up. This is straight out of our Style Guide. All media outlets have one of those. So do we. If you’d like to amend, change, tweak.. pls write to Dan Hawaleshka direct who is compiling the updates to the Style Guide and they will be considered based on merit. No mass replies to this email, pls.


EXTREMIST – Do not use. Avoid characterizing people. Often their actions do the work for the viewer. Could write ‘violent group’ if we’re reporting on Boko Haram agreeing to negotiate with the government. In other words, reporting on a violent group that’s in the news for a non-violent reason.

TERRORISM/TERRORISTS – One person’s terrorist is another’s freedom fighter. We will not use these terms unless attributed to a source/person.

ISLAMIST – Do not use. We will continue to describe groups and individuals, by talking about their previous actions and current aims to give viewers the context they require, rather than use a simplistic label.

NOTE: Naturally many of our guests will use the word Islamist in the course of their answers. It is absolutely fine to include these answers in our output. There is no blanket ban on the word.

JIHAD – Do not use the Arabic term. Strictly speaking, jihad means an inner spiritual struggle, not a holy war. It is not by tradition a negative term. It also means the struggle to defend Islam against things challenging it. Again, an Arabic term that we do not use.

FIGHTERS – We do not use words such as militants, radicals, insurgents. We will stick with fighters. However, these terms are allowed when quoting other people using them.

MILITANT – We can use this term to describe individuals who favour confrontational or violent methods in support of a political or social cause. For example, we can use the term to describe Norwegian mass-killer Andres Behring Breivik or Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh. But please note: we will not use it to describe a group of people, as in ‘militants’ or ‘militant groups’ etc.

Makes one want to slam one's head into the wall.

It's not the first leaked email to show just how biased the Qatar-based news agency is. After the Charlie Hebdo attack, National Review Online also managed to get a hold of other emails where Al Jazeera execs criticised the overwhelming global support for freedom of speech.

Maybe it's time Al Jazeera crawls back to Doha where it belongs.

Source: NewsBusters

Egypt Bans Exodus: Gods and Kings Movie

Egypt has now joined Morocco in banning the just released movie Exodus: Gods and Kings. The reason? Historical inaccuracies, including the fact the movie claims 'Moses and the Jews built the pyramids'. And it's Zionist, to boot, according to Gaber Asfour, Egypt's culture minister. The Ridley Scott epic historical drama stars Christian Bale as Moses who helped 600,000 Israelite slaves escape the clutches of Egyptian Pharoah Ramses.

“This totally contradicts proven historical facts,” Asfour said.

“It is a Zionist film,” he said. “It gives a Zionist view of history and contains historical inaccuracies and that’s why we have decided to ban it.”

The ban was decided by a committee comprising the head of the supreme council for culture, Mohammed Afifi, the head of the censorship committee and two history professors, Asfour said.

And the parting of the sea scene in this movie- not cool, says Afifi.

Afifi said he took issue with the scene showing the parting of the Red Sea in which Moses – a prophet revered by Jews, Christians and Muslims alike – is seen holding a “sword” like a warrior, instead of a “stick”. Furthermore, he said, the parting of the Red Sea was explained in the movie as a “tidal phenomenon” rather than a divine miracle.

The rest here.

Leaked Death Scene From "The Interview"

Sony Pictures has set a terrible precedent by pulling its Kim Jong-un comedy "The Interview." What next? Are we going to cave every time we're threatened by a bunch of hackers/terrorists?  This kind of capitulation will ultimately lead to the demise of freedom of expression.

This was apparently a stupid movie, but in a free country I should have the right to waste my money on a silly film if I so choose, but in this case I won't.

Are we now going to censor ourselves with all creative endeavours because we're afraid we'll ruffle the feathers of  commies and Islamic radicals.  I can see it now- no more films about the Middle east, either.

We know North Korea was behind the Sony hack, they've been bitching about the release for a long time. They called it an "act of war" back in June. Who else would have a vested interest in preventing its release? And what hypocrisy. This was simply a Hollywood-made movie, North Korea has created state-sponsored propaganda films showing the bombing of the White House, and calling for nuking the Yankees.

And the caving has already started. Paramount Pictures just canceled the showing of "Team America- World Police." The film featured Kim Jong-un's equally evil dad Kim Jong-il.

At least three movie theaters that planned to show "Team America" say Paramount Pictures has canceled the 2004 comedy from public screening.

Cleveland's Capitol Theatre, Dallas-Fort Worth's Alamo Drafthouse and Atlanta's Plaza Atlanta wrote that Paramount pulled the movie on Thursday.

"This was a weird coincidence for us," Dave Huffman, director of Marketing at Cleveland Cinemas, which operates the Capitol Theatre, told the Huffington Post. "We had the film booked all the way back in October as part of our midnight cult series and it was scheduled to play June 20, 2015. We got an email shortly after 1 p.m saying the film was pulled from release."

Some theaters, like the Alamo Drafthouse, had planned to show "Team America" in the wake of Sony canceling "The Interview."

Since we won't be seeing "The Interview" any time soon, here's a link to the leaked death of Kim Jong-un on YouTube. Not sure how long it will remain, however.

It's a sad day for creative expression.

'Gosnell' Film Censorship Outrage Prompts Kickstarter To Change Policies

There are several crowdfunding sites that allow people to raise money for a variety of  projects. The two most notable are Kickstarter and Indiegogo. I just assumed that anyone who had a project they wanted to bring to life could simply set up an account and then work their butts off to reach their monetary goal. Apparently not so, at least with Kickstarter. There's some major censorship going on over there.

Remember Kermit Gosnell, the doctor who ran a cash-cow abortion house of horrors where, for decades, he killed thousands of babies in late-term abortions, but was only convicted of murdering three infants that were born alive?  By severing their spinal chords?  The trial was essentially ignored by most of the mainstream media, so some conservative filmmakers decided to seek funding through Kickstarter for a TV drama about Gosnell's heinous deeds, so producer Phelim McAleer (of FrackNation fame) set up an account.  However,  Kickstarter wanted to censor some of the campaign language used to describe Gosnell's crimes, like:

 "1000s of babies stabbed to death" and "1000s of babies murdered" 

According to Kickstarter staff, those phrases did not

"comply with the spirit of Community Guidelines."

But Gosnell did murder thousands of babies.  So rather than cave to Kickstarter's censorship, McAleer and his partners switched to Indiegogo, raising a whopping $2.25 million, far surpassing their initial goal.

After much criticism regarding how the Gosnell movie was handled, Kickstarter has changed some of its policies. CEO Yancey Strickler wrote:

We want creators to have the support and freedom they need when building their projects. That’s why we’re introducing a feature called Launch Now. It gives creators a simple choice: go ahead and launch your project whenever you’re ready, or get feedback from one of our Community Managers first.

Only 60 percent of projects can use the Launch Now Program, but that's set to increase soon.

McAleer and co are happy about the changes, but not totally convinced things will change.

"It's a sign that maybe diversity is now being welcomed at Kickstarter. It was a huge shock that they tried to censor the truth about our project because it might have offended some of their audience."

"It's not clear if Kickstarter are still retaining the option of closing down campaigns they don't like after the launch - or if the campaigns post something they don't like in updates. They threatened that with us also - it's a huge threat to any campaign and is an effective way of enforcing censorship."

Even though the Indiegogo campaign has ended, they are still looking for money. If you have some extra cash, you will still be entitled to perks. You can check it out on the "Gosnell" movie website.

Mozilla's CEO Forced To Resign Over Private Political Contribution Liberals Didn't Like

Mozilla's CEO Brendan Eich was forced to resign after it was discovered that he had made a private donation of $1,000 in 2008 supporting California's Proposition 8. You know that proposition that had every liberal and gay activist up in arms, the one that defined marriage as being between  a man and a woman.  Mozilla knew about his 'transgression' two years ago, but Eich was only senior management at the time, not the head honcho of the makers of the web browser Firefox.  As soon as he was promoted to Chief Executive last month, apparently half the board resigned, and there was an immediate call for his resignation. Which he did.

This is the reaction from one Heritage Foundation scholars:

Ryan T. Anderson, the William E. Simon Fellow in Religion and a Free Society, warned that “bullies” were poisoning democratic discourse by attacking anyone who doesn’t share their view:

The outrageous treatment of Eich is the result of one private, personal campaign contribution to support marriage as a male-female union, a view affirmed at the time by President Barack Obama, then-Sen. Hillary Clinton, and countless other prominent officials. After all, Prop 8 passed with the support of 7 million California voters.

So was President Obama a bigot back when he supported marriage as the union of a man and woman? And is characterizing political disagreement on this issue—no matter how thoughtfully expressed—as hate speech really the way to find common ground and peaceful co-existence?

Sure, the employees of Mozilla—which makes Firefox, the popular Internet browser—have the right to protest a CEO they dislike, for whatever reason. But are they treating their fellow citizens with whom they disagree civilly? Must every political disagreement be a capital case regarding the right to stand in civil society?
When Obama “evolved” on the issue just over a year ago, he insisted that the debate about marriage was legitimate. He said there are people of goodwill on both sides.

And:

Hans von Spakovsky, manager of the Election Law Reform Initiative and senior legal fellow, said the episode was an example of how the disclosure of political contributions served as a means to intimidate and harass an individual for his personal views:

Before Eich resigned, he pointed out that he had kept his personal beliefs out of Mozilla and that they were not relevant to his job as CEO. He was exactly right, although that did not prevent him from resigning.

In a startling display of irony that was obviously lost on her, Mozilla Executive Chairwoman Mitchell Baker, who approved of Eich’s resignation, said it was necessary because “preserving Mozilla’s integrity was paramount.” She seems not to recognize that forcing a founder of the company to resign because of his personal beliefs that have nothing to do with his qualifications as a corporate officer is the exact opposite of “integrity.”

Eich is certainly not alone in his predicament. As The Heritage Foundation previously pointed out, other supporters of Proposition 8 in California have been subjected to harassment, intimidation, vandalism, racial scapegoating, blacklisting, loss of employment, economic hardships, angry protests, violence, death threats, and anti-religious bigotry. All committed by individuals claiming they are simply trying to gain “acceptance” and who complain about the supposed intolerance of society over their lifestyle.

Although Andrew Sullivan of The Dish claims he's a conservative, he's pretty liberal on most social issues, including redefining marriage. He also happens to be openly gay and proud, and he was outraged at what happened to Eich, saying it “should disgust anyone interested in a tolerant and diverse society.”

He posted this on his website:

The guy who had the gall to express his First Amendment rights and favor Prop 8 in California by donating $1,000 has just been scalped by some gay activists. After an OKCupid decision to boycott Mozilla, the recently appointed Brendan Eich just resigned under pressure:

[snip]

Will he now be forced to walk through the streets in shame? Why not the stocks? The whole episode disgusts me – as it should disgust anyone interested in a tolerant and diverse society. If this is the gay rights movement today – hounding our opponents with a fanaticism more like the religious right than anyone else – then count me out. If we are about intimidating the free speech of others, we are no better than the anti-gay bullies who came before us.

Some of his readers took issue with his stance, so he wrote another post addressing those issues.

It's a sad day when our private lives can adversely effect our work life.

4/7/14:  Seems Eich founded Mozilla, so was basically forced out of his own company.

YouTube Invites 200 "Super Flaggers" To Police Videos

YouTube has invited a select group of snitches. About 200 of them. Government agencies, organizations and individuals who have the power to flag videos (up to 20 in one go) and, as a result, take down someone's channel.

Apparently the YouTube team that monitors videos 24/7 doesn't have the time to catch all the ones someone in Google-land deems inappropriate, so they they have added these "super flaggers." YouTube will then review those flagged videos, 90% of which get dumped or given restricted access.

Some of the government agencies include the British police unit who are on the lookout for extremist videos which are not allowed on YouTube, but which are plentiful.

"We have a zero-tolerance policy on YouTube towards content that incites violence," YouTube told the Financial Times. "Our community guidelines prohibit such content and our review teams respond to flagged videos around the clock, routinely removing videos that contain hate speech or incitement to commit violent acts. To increase the efficiency of this process, we have developed an invite-only program that gives users who flag videos regularly tools to flag content at scale."

According to Google, less than 10 of those flaggers are affiliated with a government agency or NGO. Apparently, the rest are just people who have plenty of time on their hands to spend flagging videos.

One of the casualties of these super flaggers was Mark Dice, at least that's what Luke Rudkowski of WeAreChange thinks might have happened.  Dice's YouTube channel was taken down without warning. Mark Dice is a loony conspiracy theorist (as is Rudkowski, though they differ on some issues), but Dice made some interesting man-on-street videos proving just how stupid the average Democratic voter is, here and here.

Rudkowski discusses the situation in his latest video.

On the one hand, freedom of speech is one of our inalienable rights, but do we give lunatics and terrorists a public voice? Do we keep these people in the public eye so they can be monitored, or do we drive them further underground? I'm not sure how I feel about this.

7 Saudi Men Sentenced For Posting About Protests On Facebook

According to Human Rights Watch, seven Saudi men were sentenced from 5 to 10 years in jail (plus travel bans) for criticizing the government on Facebook. They were arrested in 2011, and have only now been sentenced.

Saudi authorities arrested the men between September 23 and 26, 2011, then detained them in the General Investigations Prison in Damman for a year and a half before charging them and putting them on trial on April 29. They were tried before the Specialized Criminal Court, set up in 2008 to deal with terrorism-related cases. Authorities did not accuse the seven of directly participating in protests, and the court failed to investigate their allegations that intelligence officers tortured them into signing confessions.

[snip]

In the court judgment, which Human Rights Watch obtained, the charges against the seven varied. But the court convicted them all of joining Facebook pages to “incite protests, illegal gathering, and breaking allegiance with the king” and of “assisting and encouraging these calls and corresponding with the [Facebook pages’] followers and concealing them.” All seven were also convicted of violating article 6 of the Anti-Cyber Crime Law, which prohibits producing, sending, or storing any material via an information network that “harms public order.”

Abd al-Hamid al-Amer received the longest sentence for founding two Facebook pages

None of the charges accused the seven of using or advocating violence, as the presiding judge confirmed in the judgment, saying, “Breaking allegiance [with the king] comes by way of arms and it comes by way of protests, marches, and writing articles and publications … the behavior of the [second] course … is sometimes the more dangerous and more malicious method.”

The Facebook groups that prosecutors cited, including the “al-Ahsa March 4 Youth Movement” and “The Free Men of al-Ahsa,” arose in early 2011 after the authorities arrested Tawfiq al-Amer, a prominent Shia sheikh and religious leader in the al-Ahsa region of Eastern Province who had publicly called for a constitutional monarchy. His arrest provoked widespread protests and the authorities arrested dozens of his supporters in al-Ahsa in March 2011. The same court sentenced the sheikh to four years in prison in April 2013 and banned him from writing and public speaking.

The seven men all admitted to participating in the Facebook pages in support of al-Amer, but told the court they were unaware that it was a crime. They denied having any intention to break allegiance with the king or harm public order.

More details here, including the list of the seven men and their sentences.

Brian Lilley Talks About The Canadian Section 13 Thought Crime Going Bye-Bye

Brian Lilley, of Sun News, discusses the Canadian Senate finally repealing Section 13 of the Canadian Human Rights Act. The part of the CHRA  that made it an offense "to post something online that was likely to expose an identifiable group to hatred and contempt." Emphasis on likely.

For those who might not be familiar- it's the issue Canadian bloggers have been fighting against for years. Many have been sued over it, including Blazing Catfur. It will still be a crime to incite violence, it's just the 'thought crime" legislation that will go bye-bye next year. Finally.

Mark Steyn was the catalyst for inspiring Section 13. After excerpts from his book "America Alone" were posted on the website of McLean's magazine, Muslim activists set out to target both Steyn and McLeans, as punishment, thus Section 13 was born.

Congrats to our Canadian cousins. Keep up the good work. It's a first step.

Watch the video here.

Uzbekistan Bans Meaningless Songs That "Don't Praise The Motherland"

If you think our government has too much control over our lives, check this out:

In a statement on its website, Uzbekistan's Culture and Sports Ministry has announced a ban on "meaningless" songs that fail to "praise the motherland."

In a rather insensitively worded ruling, the music of pop groups Mango and Ummon and singers Dilfuza Rahimova, Otabek Mutalhojaev, and Dilshod Rakhmonov were condemned as being "meaningless from musical and lyrical standpoints." (Ouch!)

They were stripped of their performing licenses, which are issued by an agency within the ministry, Uzbeknavo, and which are needed in order to perform in public in Uzbekistan.

Says the ministry:

"Their songs do not conform to our nation’s cultural traditions, they contradict our moral heritage and mentality. We should not forget about our duty to praise our motherland, our people, and their happiness.”

Seven other performers were issued "harsh warnings" and given a deadline of July 1 to eliminate what the ministry euphemistically calls their "creative shortcomings."

Of course, the daughter of Uzbek President Islam Karimov- Gulnara Karimova (aka Googoosha)- is not subject to that ban.  Here's her latest music video- "How Dare", which definitely does not comply with the nation's cultural traditions, whatever those happen to be. Note that the clothing and jewelry are Gulnara's designs. The jack-of-all-trades also happens to be an economist and diplomat.

V.W. Super Bowl Ad Racist?

Can someone please tell me in what way is this Super Bowl V.W. ad racist??

I hate to disappoint, but not all Jamaicans are black. There are also white and Asian people in Jamaica who have Jamaican accents. That being said,  how then can white actors (and one Asian) using an accent constitute racism?

People are actually trying to get V.W. to pull this. Unbelievable.

This ad makes me smile.




H/T: The Blaze

Whole Foods CEO Apologizes For Calling Obamacare "Fascism", Liberals Will Still Boycott

John Mackey, co-CEO and co-founder of Whole Foods and a free-market Libertarian, received a lot of flak when he penned his alternative to Obamacare in 2009, and even more for calling Obama's health care plan "more like fascism" during an interview with NPR this past Wednesday. Now, as they did back in 2009, the usual suspects are calling for a boycott- which is what stupid liberals do- without taking into account that Whole Foods ranks as one of the top 100 places to work, so corporate must be doing something right. In fact, the health food store was ranked #32 in CNN's top 100 for 2012. Not only has 53-year-old John Mackey capped executive wages, he has paid himself an annual salary of a whopping $1.00 since 2006. Yes, that's right, "one" dollar. Cashier's make a little over $26,000 per annum, team leaders over $80,000. They receive 100% health coverage, subsidized gym memberships and are offered domestic partner benefits for same-sex partners. So liberals are calling for a  boycott of a workplace that you'd think would be a liberals dream, just because the CEO happens to think Obama's Affordable Care Act sucks?

Unfortunately, Mackey bowed to pressure for his fascism comment, apologizing for what he called a "poor word choice", and posting it on Huffington Post and the Whole Foods blog:

I made a poor word choice to describe our health care system, which I definitely regret. The term fascism today stirs up too much negative emotion with its horrific associations in the 20th century. While I'm speaking as someone who works hard to offer health care benefits to more than 73,000 team members, who actually vote on their overall benefits packages, I am very concerned about the uninsured and those with preexisting conditions.

I believe that, if the goal is universal health care, our country would be far better served by combining free enterprise capitalism with a strong governmental safety net for our poorest citizens and those with preexisting conditions, helping everyone to be able to buy insurance. This is what Switzerland does and I think we would be much better off copying that system than where we are currently headed in the United States.

I believe that health care should be competitive in the open market to promote innovation and creativity. Despite the criticism of me, I am encouraged that this dialogue will bring continued awareness and a better understanding of viable health care options for all Americans. There is an alternative to mandated health care in free enterprise capitalism based on voluntary exchange for mutual gain. This alternative allows individuals and businesses to innovate and develop customized solutions to health care where a “one size fits all approach” fails. Creativity and progress are stifled when government regulations dictate the parameters of what health care plans can be offered. Creative businesses, and the people who work them, can make something that has value for all stakeholders.

I need a new word or phrase to describe the state of health care now because it is something that I, like all folks entrusted with the wellbeing of a team, grapple with daily in this era. I think for now I will simply call it government-controlled health care to distinguish it from free enterprise capitalist health care. Clearly, I would prefer free enterprise capitalism in health care because it would greatly increase innovation and progress —just like it does in every other aspect of our lives, wherever it is allowed to exist. I hope those who are my critics, would recognize that we are all after an improved state of society, and not be distracted by the poor use of an emotionally charged word.

The majority of comments on the Whole Foods blog are negative, some even call for his resignation, and some say they will not shop there until he's gone:

SHARON KA SAYS ...
I will not be shopping at Whole Foods in Madison, Wi anymore. i think you can guess the reasons why. John Mackey needs to resign.

And idiots who don't bother to do their research, since Mackey makes $1.00 per year:

ED FROM JERSEY SAYS ...
I shop at Whole Foods not because I care about their political views but because of the quality of the food. That said, I think I pay enough for their food that a portion of it should benefit the employees by providing them with health care. Why is it that CEO's think they deserve their million dollar salaries, fat bonuses, and fat stock options, but the lowest people on their totem pole don't deserve the most basic human element? CEO's need to factor in the human element into their business model.

And another idiot who has no clue about Mackey or Whole Foods policies, since he offers 100% insurance coverage:

EMDOYLE SAYS ...
Do you provide healthcare for your employees? Or are they forced to find something for themselves like so many other big companies? You say you support universal health care - we all do, including the President. But when CEOs don't try to lead the way on an issue such as this, and, instead, sit back passively and then criticize the outcome, that's just ridiculous. You think of yourself as a job creator, but if you don't offer health insurance, you're only doing half of what is needed and relying on the government to pick up the slack. Good work.

I find the response very sad, but not at all surprising.

H/T Drudge Report.

Muslim Arab Writer Gets Facebook Account Closed For Post Critical of Palestine

Khaled Abu Toameh, an Arab Muslim who writes for the Jerusalem Post, posted on his Facebook page an article he wrote entitled : The Palestinian Authority's Inconvenient Truths that was published on The Gatestone Institute website.  We're talking about the Palestinian Authority (PA) of so-called 'moderate' Mahmoud Abbas, friend of the West.

In the article, Toameh accuses the PA of a plethora of corruption and embarrassments that it's hiding from the West. Here are a few snippets, or "inconvenient truths" as he puts it:

- Over 100 senior PLO and Fatah officials hold Israeli-issued VIP cards that grant them various privileges denied to most Palestinians. Among these privileges is the freedom to enter Israel and travel abroad at any time they wish. This privileging has existed since the signing of the Oslo Accords between Israel and the PLO in 1993.

- Out of the 600 Christians from the Gaza Strip who arrived in the West Bank in the past two weeks to celebrate Christmas, dozens have asked to move to Israel because they no longer feel comfortable living under the Palestinian Authority and Hamas.

[snip]

- Tens of thousands of Palestinian Authority civil servants in the Gaza Strip receive salaries to stay at home and not work. The practice has been in effect since Hamas seized control over the Gaza Strip in 2007. According to Fatah spokesman Ahmed Assaf, the Palestinian Authority, which is funded mostly by American and European taxpayer money, spends around $120 million each month on the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.

- Mahmoud Abbas's ruling Fatah faction has allocated more than one million dollars for celebrations marking the 48th anniversary of the "launching of the revolution" -- a reference to the first armed attack carried out by Fatah against Israel.

Those are just a few mentioned in his commentary.

As you can well imagine, that did not sit well with some individuals who read that post (along with several other ones critical of  Middle Eastern regimes including Jordan), so Facebook closed his account, as FB is apt to do when faced with complaints that are justified or not.  Toameh then contacted Committee For Accuracy in  Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA) telling them about his ordeal.

"In the past few days I have been bombarded with dozens of hate and threat messages because of the these postings and articles. Some anti-Israel folks in the UK are now publishing my photo with a Star of David on my forehead."

Not surprising at all.

CAMERA updated their report claiming his Facebook account has been reactivated, sans the PA corruption post. According to Toameh, Hamas and other terrorist groups have FB accounts.  The difference is, they probably don't have a bunch of haters flagging their accounts.

So much for freedom of speech.

The U.N. Wants To Regulate The Internet

The U.N. wants to regulate the Internet?  I think not, but there are many who would like to see that happen.

This week, Dubai  hosted a conference of the United Nations' International Telecommunications Union (ITU)- of which there are 193 Member States and approximately 700 Sector Members- to discuss the future of the Internet and the U.N.'s role in regulating it. Their ultimate goal is to implement:

...a standard for the Internet that would allow for eavesdropping on a worldwide scale.

The ITU members decided to adopt the Y.2770 standard for deep packet inspection, a top-secret proposal by way of China that will allow telecom companies across the world to more easily dig through Web data, according to a report from Russia Today.

Eavesdropping?  Anything China or Russia endorse should immediately be suspect, considering their track record regarding personal liberties and freedom.  I'm happy to say that the U.S. congress set aside its partisanship and voted unanimously against it.

Representative Greg Walden said ahead of the vote that lawmakers should “send a strong bipartisan, bicameral signal about America’s commitment to an unregulated Internet.”

He said Washington should not “stand idly by while countries like Russia and China seek to extort control over the Internet.”

Dubai saw at least 1,950 delegates there to revise the International Telecommunications Regulations (ITRs) treaty. Russia wants the U.N. to handle control, the U.S. does not, for obvious reasons.

The Russians, for example, have proposed giving the ITU control over the Internet rather than multi-stakeholder companies like the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).

"We fundamentally disagree with that," U.S. Ambassador Terry Kramer said during a Thursday call with reporters. Governments are not likely to make objective decisions about the Web, he said. The current structure allows for those with tech expertise to make "independent, agile decisions."

When asked if the U.S. had discussed the proposal with the Russians, Kramer said that "we've looked at the proposal, but are not keen to get into a discussion about that proposal because we think it's out of scope for the conference."

Tyrant governments will definitely not make objective decisions regarding the Web. And as we all know, there are more than the world's fair share of those countries

Naturally, Google has also voiced its opposition, especially regarding the censorship issue.

The U.N. has no place regulating the Internet, and we all better pray it doesn't happen.