#right wing extremism

[agentfascinateur]

25,000 tonnes of explosives have been dropped on Gaza, “largely identified as targets by artificial intelligence [AI]”.

- Francesca Albanese, UN rapporteur

[shutinthenutouse]

[allthecanadianpolitics]

Canada is in deep crisis. It’s unfashionable in centrist circles to say so, but it’s true. The country is literally on fire and facing extraordinary and growing threats from climate change. It is staring down rising extremism, creeping toxic polarization, and low trust. Wealth inequality is on the rise. Its federal system is showing cracks, particularly when it comes to the relationship between Alberta and the national government. Oligopolies and monopolies run wild, exploiting consumers.

There are plenty of other problems too. But of the lot, the confluence of a few major challenges scream, House of cards coming down! Those are the country’s housing crisis, consumer debt, and high — and potentially rising — interest rates. Taken together, they paint a picture of working people staring down lives they can’t afford in the day-to-day. This hellish scenario persists, no matter how hard people work, and no matter how rigidly they follow the rules of the game — rules they were told are fair and just.

Full article

Tagging: @politicsofcanada

[contemplatingoutlander]

Yoel Roth, PhD used to be in charge of the trust and safety team at Twitter. This is a must-read article to better understand how the far right is attacking anyone who wants to guard against disinformation being shared on social media. Consequently, the link above is a gift 🎁 link, so anyone can read the entire article, even if they do not subscribe to the NY Times.

Below are some excerpts:

When I worked at Twitter, I led the team that placed a fact-checking label on one of Donald Trump’s tweets for the first time. Following the violence of Jan. 6, I helped make the call to ban his account from Twitter altogether. Nothing prepared me for what would happen next. Backed by fans on social media, Mr. Trump publicly attacked me. Two years later, following his acquisition of Twitter and after I resigned my role as the company’s head of trust and safety, Elon Musk added fuel to the fire. I’ve lived with armed guards outside my home and have had to upend my family, go into hiding for months and repeatedly move. This isn’t a story I relish revisiting. But I’ve learned that what happened to me wasn’t an accident. It wasn’t just personal vindictiveness or “cancel culture.” It was a strategy — one that affects not just targeted individuals like me, but all of us, as it is rapidly changing what we see online. Private individuals — from academic researchers to employees of tech companies — are increasingly the targets of lawsuits, congressional hearings and vicious online attacks. These efforts, staged largely by the right, are having their desired effect: Universities are cutting back on efforts to quantify abusive and misleading information spreading online. Social media companies are shying away from making the kind of difficult decisions my team did when we intervened against Mr. Trump’s lies about the 2020 election. Platforms had finally begun taking these risks seriously only after the 2016 election. Now, faced with the prospect of disproportionate attacks on their employees, companies seem increasingly reluctant to make controversial decisions, letting misinformation and abuse fester in order to avoid provoking public retaliation.

I encourage you to use the gift link above and read the entire article. It is worth your time.

[antidrumpfs]

We'll Name Them

Some Republicans want to sunset Social Security and Medicare. We’ll name them.

Rick Scott Mike Lee Ron Johnson Lindsey Graham Mike Waltz

[sher-ee]

[calabria-mediterranea]

Italy: Public service RAI becomes a “megaphone” of the government

Public service broadcaster RAI has decided to grant ministers and undersecretaries unrestricted airtime on its programs when referring to institutional matters. On 11 April, journalists and news hosts on the main channels of RAI interrupted news programs to read a statement from the Rai Union of Journalists (USIGRai) statement explaining RAI’s new policy, and condemning it, comparing RAI to the government’s “megaphone”. The International and European Federations of Journalists (IFJ-EFJ) together with their affiliate the Federazione Nazionale Stampa Italiana (FNSI) condemn this further attempt to politicise public information services for propaganda purposes and demand that RAI respects fundamental journalistic principles.

“The government majority has decided to transform RAI into its own megaphone,” so began the speech of USIGrai journalists in the aftermath of the policies announced by RAI’s Supervisory Commission. This approved a rule allowing government representatives to “speak in talks without time constraints and cross-examination”.

The statement continued: “This is not our idea of public service broadcasting. Journalists’ work should be central, where they ask questions, even uncomfortable ones, verify what has been said, and point out inconsistencies. For this reason, dear viewers, we inform you that we are ready to mobilise to guarantee you independent, balanced and plural information."

Another rule will allow Rai News to broadcast political rallies at any time, and in full, announced only by a short introduction and without journalistic mediation

RAI’s decision illustrates once again Italy’s government's attempts to make use of public service for personal and propagandistic purposes, and in contravention of the main pillars of journalists' work.

President of FNSI, Vittorio di Trapanisaid: “RAI News risks becoming a deluge of electoral rallies, trampling on the editorial autonomy of its journalists and its editorial team.”

The IFJ/EFJ stated: “We stand in full solidarity with RAI journalists, whose press freedom and ethical principles are being undermined by the Italian government. We remind RAI of its need to respect fundamental journalistic principles as they are stated in the IFJ Global Charter of Ethics for journalists. We ask the Supervisory Commission to review its decision and to allow transparent and pluralistic information in compliance with the principles of cross-examination and the public interest.”l

Source: IFJ

[canadianabroadvery]

[michirutenoh]

I do not actually know if this will reach anyone who is German, but I just have to do something.

Today it became public that our Nazi Party the AFD had secret (now not so secret anymore) plans of deporting unwanted people.

Information about the meeting in German: https://www.tagesschau.de/inland/innenpolitik/afd-neonazis-remigration-100.html Information in English: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/jan/10/politicians-from-germany-afd-met-extremist-group-to-discuss-deportation-masterplan

The outcry to finally finally ban them is getting louder. If you to want to joint in the outcry - one option is to sign this petition: https://innn.it/afdverbot

So far, 426.553 have signed.

It would also help if people from other countries reblog, as I only have around 16 followers.

[socialjusticeinamerica]

Marjorie Trailer Queen.

🖕🤡

[agentfascinateur]

"Nothing anti-Semitic about opposing genocide"

- Lela Tolajian

To us, progressive Jews, it appears elected officials who proudly stood by Donald Trump after he refused to condemn neo-Nazis and dined with anti-Semites value our voices only when they can tokenise a select few to fulfil their political goals. Conflating anti-Semitism with criticism of a modern apartheid state is dangerous historical revisionism. 

[shutinthenutouse]

[allthecanadianpolitics]

Canada’s far-right “freedom movement” is planning yet another convoy, except this time their goal is not to end vaccine mandates or replace the country’s democratically-elected government – this time, they say, their goal is to “save the children.”

The “Save the Children Convoy,” a spin-off of recent anti-2SLGBTQ+ protests targeting schools and drag storytime events as well as loosely inspired by the controversial film “Sound of Freedom,” is being planned for Toronto in late summer or early fall.

Organizers say they are currently holding secret, in-person meetings to iron out their plans and aren’t sure where they’ll stay when they get to Toronto.

They also admit that what exactly they’re trying to “save the children” from is not straight-forward and could be open to multiple interpretations. [...]

McDavid accuses Alberta’s Child Protective Services of running a “child trafficking ring” and alleges the Government of Alberta is “colluding” with insurance companies to produce child pornography. McDavid also claims without evidence that “Trudeau’s paying LGBTQ a million dollars” to promote “the sexualization and the grooming” of “children in the hospitals and at schools and stuff.” [...]

Continue Reading.

Tagging: @politicsofcanada, @vague-humanoid, @abpoli

[cavalierzee]

This Is Gaza

“Israel will do everything it can to keep civilians out of harm’s way.” – President Joe Biden

“Israel will do everything it can to put civilians in harm’s way!”

Israeli Military Sopkesman: Pres. Joe Biden

That’s more accurate and realistic

[antidrumpfs]

Cartoon By Dave Whamond

[silvermoon424]

It's sickening to see people justify Nex Benedict's (a nonbinary teen who was beaten to death in a bathroom by their bullies) death. I keep hearing people say that Nex "started" the fight by throwing water on the bullies, and that throwing liquid on someone is considered assault. Apparently it's acceptable to gang up on someone and beat them to death if they sprinkle water on you or something???

These fuckers are obsessed with retaliating with excessive force. They’re always talking about running over protesters because they’re inconveniencing them, beating up women for slapping them (“equal rights equal fights”), or pulling guns on people when the situation doesn't call for it in any way. Remember when protesters threw milkshakes and conservatives made up the lie that there was concrete in the milkshakes? They are desperate for any excuse to be violent against those they view as inferior.