Social media fact-checking organizations are not the independent public health watchdogs they’re made out to be. Fact-checkers for Facebook are funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which has given more than $250 million in grants to steer media outlets
In what it describes as a commitment to “fighting the spread of misinformation,”[i]Facebook claims to work with “independent, third-party fact-checking organizations” to review content and take action against that deemed to be “viral misinformation” or fake news.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has stated that when a post is identified as misinformation, meaning it’s given a warning label as such by Facebook, it results in users not clicking through 95% of the time.[ii]
While presented as a tool to protect the public, what…
Trigger warning: This story contains physical assault, harassment, and suicidal thoughts that readers may find disturbing.
“I was barely eight years old when I touched those silk threads for the first time, so it is ironic that I have never owned a silk sari in my life… they were always more expensive than I could afford,” says 32-year-old Chandramma, who was forced to quit school while studying second grade and work in a silk factory along with her sisters and parents. The sericulture industry in Karnataka’s Magadi district was on the rise when Chandramma’s parents migrated from a small village in Tumkur two decades ago in the hope for better opportunities.
Sericulture has a rich history of over 215 years in Karnataka, with over 10 lakh people currently employed in the industry—many of whom are bonded and child laborers. As G Ganga and J Sulochana Chetty write in their 1997 book An Introduction to Sericulture, “[S]ericulture is a labor-intensive industry… India, with its population explosion, has no labor problem. Sericulture does not require great skill but only delicacy in the handling of the worms and it is ideally suitable for the unskilled family labor, particularly womenfolk, aged, [disabled people] and children.”
70 evictions every day in Spain: it is false that they are not allowed as the Government says November 14, 2020
Evictions continue to occur every day in Spain despite the health crisis
The Minister of Transport, of the PSOE, José Luis Ábalos, said on October 28 in that “the decree approved by this Government does not allow evictions, it is not an opinion of whether I am in favor or not, is that we have already done it, it does not allow evictions ».
In the same speech, Ábalos also said that “in theory no eviction should be considered because we suspended evictions in the State of Alarm and we have extended it.”
According to the Government, the evictions are suspended until January 31. Although Podemos is pressing for the Executive to approve a new moratorium that would freeze most of the evictions that are taking place as a result of the economic crisis the Ministry of Transport says that they will ‘analyze the situation in due course’.
–Ecocide is atrocity. It must be stopped. But making it an International Crime could be playing into the hands of the Billionaires and Corporations who seek to impose their total control and enslaving system.. The Great Reset. . And Nation States can be even worse! The campaign to ban Ecocide should remain a strong and horizontally democratic citizens movement–
From the Pope to Greta Thunberg, there are growing calls for the crime of “ecocide” to be recognised in international criminal law – but could such a law ever work?I
In December 2019, at the International Criminal Court in the Hague, Vanuatu’s ambassador to the European Union made a radical suggestion: make the destruction of the environment a crime.
Vanuatu is a small island state in the South Pacific, a nationseverely threatened by rising sea levels. Climate change is an imminent and existential crisis in the country, yet the actions that have caused rising temperatures – such as burning fossil fuels – have almost entirely taken place elsewhere, to serve other nations, with the blessing of state governments.
Small island states like Vanuatu have long tried to persuade large powerful nations to voluntarily reduce their emissions, but change has been slow – so ambassador John Licht suggested…
Trump Administration Promoting DC Rally Featuring White Nationalists, Proud Boys, and Boogaloo Militias
from It’s Going Down shared with thanks.. some illustrations added
A far-Right and pro-Trump rally being organized and promoted by white nationalists, Proud Boys, and militia groups is also finding support from pundits on Fox News and even within the Trump administration.The “Millions MAGA March,” also known as “Stop the Steal,” is being called for this Saturday in Washington DC.
Speaking on Fox News, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany stated that:
[S]he expects the turnout at Saturday’s “Million MAGA March” in support of President Trump to be “quite large.”
Trump campaign adviser Jason Miller responded to a tweet Thursday in support of the rally, saying, “Love the outpouring of support for @realDonaldTrump!”
This support is coming even as neo-Nazis and white nationalists that took part in the deadly Charlottesville Unite the Right rally are stepping up to play a key role in the “Stop the Steal” rallies happening in the lead up to DC. On November 11th, Nick Fuentes, a white nationalist, Unite the Right attendee, and Holocaust denier rallied with over 100 Trump supporters at the state Capitol in Lansing, Michigan, stating that people would keep protesting until the electors gave their votes up to Donald Trump.
Speaking into a mega-phone, Fuentes declared, “We’re not remaining in our homes – we’re on the streets now!” Patrick Casey, another Groyper leader and the former CEO of the white nationalist group Identity Evropa, which then rebranded into American Identity Movement, is also expected to attend the DC rally.
The Stop the Steal march today in Lansing, MI was lead by Groyper leader and white nationalist, Nick Fuentes. He’s in the front with the megaphone. https://t.co/hVAjj7bivl
Other far-Right groups are expected to make an appearance in DC as well. On November 13th, a large group of heavily armed Boogaloo Boys converged in Richmond, Virginia to support a pro-Trump rally organized by InfoWars, who, like Fuentes, are organizing a caravan to DC. Media reports that white nationalist groups such as the American Guard are also expected to attended, along with the neo-fascist pro-Trump street gang the Proud Boys, far-Right militias the Oath Keepers and the Three Percenters, as well as a flood of far-Right grifters and conspiracy theorists.
At least three pro-Trump rallies are planned for Freedom Park in DC this Saturday. There’s just one possible hitch: None of them appear to have filed the paperwork for a permit. No groups with the name “Million MAGA March,” “Stop the Steal,” or “March for Trump” have applied to host a rally at Freedom Park this weekend, says NPS spokesperson Mike Litterst.
The only application the Park Service has received is for a “Freedom of speech rally” from an entity called “Cindy Chafian Women for America First.” The organization listed on the application has promoted the “March for Trump” on its Facebook page.
“Stop the Steal” is a reboot of a 2016 project launched by convicted felon Roger Stone to dispute votes in multiracial neighborhoods. “March for Trump,” is a brand for the event which was promoted by FOX News’ Sean Hannity on Tuesday. Twitter users retweeted Hannity’s post advertising the event over 11,000 times in less than 24 hours, offering an indication of the potential enthusiasm for the event.
While many have argued that the recent legal challenges to the 2020 election by Trump along with the various rallies in support of him have more to do with gathering donations and creating a supportive narrative in the media and among his base than handing him the election; the DC rally represents a very real threat.
It shows that in the face of Trump losing the Presidency, the various MAGA factions from grifters with real connections to the Trumpian State and massive online platforms, heavily armed far-Right militias, insurgent Boogaloo Boys, street fighting Proud Boys, and ideological white nationalists – are all willing to work together despite their differences.
Support Black Lives Matter!
In short, the DC rally represents the biggest attempt at unity on the far-Right since the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, which united neo-Nazi, white nationalist, Alt-Right, Proud Boy, KKK, and militia groups. The only difference this time, is that the Trump administration and Fox News is explicitly signaling its support for these groups which for the past two months, have carried out ongoing campaigns of attempted murder, kidnapping, and violence.
If this new coalition of white and pro-Trump nationalists is allowed to mobilize and hold the streets, these mobilizations will continue and grow. Regardless of if Biden is installed by the electoral college, Trump will remain as a key player within GOP and far-Right politics.
If the street forces seeking to support him aren’t stopped in their infancy, they will only grow in power and influence towards their ultimate goal: of becoming the auxiliary shock troops of the State; ready to engage in violence against the Left and communities of color at a moment’s notice.
The last time white liberals told people to stay home, laugh at the fascists, we got Trump.
The stakes are very high right now, if trump mobilizes a pro coup street movement he’ll likely succeed in over turning the election.
As we have seen over the past 5 years – it’s been mass mobilization, and mass mobilization alone which has had the power to push the far-Right off the streets and keep our communities safe from these groups seeking to build a full on fascist movement.
Updated 1:30 AM ET, Wed November 11, 2020The Popa langur, a newly discovered primate species in Myanmar that is critically endangered.
(CNN)Scientists have discovered a new primate species in the jungles of Myanmar — and it’s already at risk of extinction.The Popa langur is a type of monkey with a long tail, rings around its eyes, and a crest of fur on top of its head. There are only an estimated 200 to 260 left, according to a news release by the London Natural History Museum, which collaborated on this study.The research team named the Popa langurs after the sacred extinct volcano Mount Popa and classified them as “critically endangered.””Sadly this is a bittersweet discovery due to the limited number of individuals left in the wild and fragmented populations,” said Roberto Portela Miguez, a senior curator at the Natural History Museum, in the…
by Steve Lalla shared with thanks.. As part of their #ReRightHistory campaign, the Africans Rising organization unfurled an enormous open letter to the Queen on England today on the UK House of Parliament, demanding debt cancellation and reparations for centuries of exploitation through slavery, colonialism and imperialism. A smaller version of the letter was also sent to the queen by mail.
The action announced the launch of Africans Rising’s UK campaign. Activists from the Action for Climate Truth and Reparations (ACTR) group scaled the parliament buildings in the early morning and attached the giant letter — measuring about thirty-five feet in height — to construction scaffolding. They were quickly apprehended by London police.
“It’s time we take action against the devastating effects of a global history of racism. Its time we join the dots between social, racial and climate justice,” stated the Africans Rising organization.
It should be noted that when European or Western nations, and the global institutions they founded and control such as the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, or the Trilateral Commission, lend money to African nations as supposed “aid,” they are in effect lending them capital accrued from the ruthless exploitation of African labour and natural resources.
The Popa langur, a newly discovered primate species in Myanmar that is critically endangered.
The Free 