THE DEMOCRAT PARTY OF GRIFTERS, BRIBES SUCKERS AND BANKSTERS!
Meanwhile, Biden's adult son Hunter, a former crackhead, is poised to make a fortune selling his "artwork" to patrons who will remain anonymous, except to the "artist" himself. Hunter's paintings, which have been panned by critics, are expected to sell for as high as $500,000 a piece. He was previously paid $2 million to fabricate stories in a memoir about his crack addiction and is presumably still "working to unwind" his investment in a shady Chinese investment firm.
Hunter Biden’s artwork dealings have caused Rep. Michael Waltz (R-FL) to introduce legislation Wednesday to block the “shameless grift” of selling “art” to “anonymous” investors for up to $500,000.
The legislation is “aimed at stopping the obvious and shameless grift that’s going on with Hunter Biden’s art sales, for which he is obviously not qualified to do and is only doing to continue to profit off of his family name,” Waltz told Fox News on Tuesday.
Biden Antitrust Executive Order Has Major Giveaway for Tech Giants
Order recommends restoring net neutrality, preventing tech mergers
Santi Ruiz • July 9, 2021 4:10 pmPresident Joe Biden on Friday signed a sweeping executive order that targets big tech mergers but includes a provision favored by most tech giants.
The order instructs the Federal Trade Commission to more closely monitor merger attempts by "dominant internet platforms" and to restrict how tech companies can exploit users' personal information. But it also recommends that the Federal Communication Commission restore net neutrality rules, which prevent internet providers from making distinctions among users. Tech giants like Facebook and Amazon support net neutrality because it bars internet providers from charging platforms based on their broadband use.
The order signals the Biden administration's confused approach to big tech regulation. At the signing ceremony, the president called out big tech directly, describing the executive order as an effort to promote "fair competition," one of the administration's priorities. But Biden still has not nominated a nominee for assistant attorney general for antitrust, a major enforcement position. Congress is considering considers legislative proposals to regulate the biggest tech companies, but there is little consensus on what approach to take.
Politico reported that the executive order was shaped in part by Tim Wu, a professor now serving in the Biden administration as a special adviser on economic and tech policy. Wu and FTC chairwoman Lina Khan have been some of the administration's most aggressive voices in calling for increased scrutiny of major tech companies.
Wu is one of the most ardent proponents of net neutrality, a term he coined in 2003. The Trump administration rolled back net neutrality regulations in 2017 in an attempt to increase broadband competition. At the time, Democratic lawmakers and social media giants warned that the change would lead to providers restricting users' internet access and discriminating against certain content providers. Those concerns proved to be overblown, though Facebook and Twitter have recently come under fire for discriminating against conservative content.
One of the order's provisions seems aimed at Amazon. It calls for rules barring internet marketplaces from exploiting their power by copying the products of smaller sellers on their platforms. The order will likely increase regulatory scrutiny of Amazon's planned purchase of MGM Studios.
The order contains a variety of "suggestions" for independent agencies, which prompted accusations from industry groups and think tanks that the administration is pressuring agencies to fall in line. The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, a think tank that takes funding from big tech companies, said, "The White House is attempting to meddle into the work of federal antitrust agencies."
The order also contains a variety of non-tech related provisions, including a request for the Department of Agriculture to issue additional rules to support small farmers and meatpackers. And it asks the FTC to issue rules banning "unnecessary occupational licensing restrictions," the practice of requiring employees to obtain a license before entering certain industries.
German High Court Rules Facebook Illegally Censored Content
Ruling could force social media giant to change how it handles 'hate speech'
Santi Ruiz • August 2, 2021 3:40 pmGermany's high court ruled that Facebook broke the law by removing alleged "hate speech" without explanation, a move that could force the social media giant to change how it moderates content.
The Federal Court of Justice ruled on July 29 that Facebook violated German law when it removed posts from a German user that were critical of migrants. The court says Facebook should have warned the plaintiff before removing his post, explained the removal, and allowed the user to appeal the removal. Facebook has not announced how it will respond but said it will look closely at the ruling "to ensure that we can continue to take effective action against hate speech in Germany."
The Court of Justice's ruling is the latest challenge to Facebook's content moderation policies. In the United States, state and federal lawmakers are attempting to ban social media platforms from censoring content. Florida governor Ron DeSantis (R.) recently signed a bill that would prohibit social media companies from removing political speech and give users the right to sue platforms that do so.
Facebook claims it was justified in removing the German user's post, arguing the user agreed to be bound by the company's terms of service. The court rejected Facebook's argument, claiming that those terms "unreasonably disadvantage the users of the network contrary to the requirements of good faith."
Without the ability to ban users or content automatically, it is unclear how Facebook would moderate content on the platform. In its defense before the German court, Facebook said it would be "unworkable" to communicate its reasons for removing content to every user it censors.
Facebook relies on artificial intelligence tools, supplemented by low-paid overseas contractors who manually process potentially offensive or obscene content. Critics argue that this largely automated system often leads to unjustified censorship.
The site has made content rules on the fly during the pandemic, "fact-checking" and limiting the reach of scientific pieces arguing COVID-19 could have escaped from a Chinese lab. Facebook has also made sharp changes to its rules on other content. CEO Mark Zuckerberg defended the right of Holocaust deniers to post on the platform before banning Holocaust denial from Facebook in 2020.
Journalists Must Stop Covering the Biden Presidency Like It’s Normal
'Politics as usual' approach to reporting won't cut it, will only enable our norm-defying commander in chief
Andrew Stiles • August 3, 2021 4:59 amEvery American, especially the ones with journalism degrees, understands the critical role journalists play in sustaining our democracy. If politics is the moral equivalent of war—and most experts agree that it is—journalists are the elite commandos operating behind enemy lines, risking it all so the rest of us don't have to.
One shudders to imagine the wretched authoritarianism that might have befallen our great nation if, for example, CNN chief media correspondent Brian Stelter had lacked the courage to spellcheck former president Donald Trump's tweets. Nevertheless, the threat to American democracy persists.
Political journalists have yet to prove they are up to the challenge of covering Joe Biden's norm-defying presidency. Instead, they cling bitterly to "objectivity," the arcane notion that defined the journalism industry in the years before its largely blue-collar workforce could be replaced by educated intellectuals.
As Margaret Sullivan writes in the Washington Post: "Mainstream journalists want their work to be perceived as fair-minded and nonpartisan. They want to defend themselves against charges of bias. So they equalize the unequal. This practice seems so ingrained as to be unresolvable."
Given the unique challenge Biden and his allies pose to the American democratic experiment, a "politics as usual" approach to journalism is not only inadequate—it is downright dangerous. Effective immediately, our nation's journalists—whose heroism is beyond dispute—must stop covering this moment in history as if there's anything "normal" about it. There isn't!
Biden promised to put an end to the COVID-19 pandemic, yet the virus continues to decimate the population. Cape Cod and Martha's Vineyard, elite enclaves frequented by Biden supporters, have become hotbeds of contagion. Democratic politicians have waged biological warfare on Washington, D.C., where the Democratic mayor continues to put lives at risk by ignoring safety protocols.
Journalistic convention might suggest there are "two sides" to a story about Democratic politicians behaving with a reckless disregard for human life. Common sense suggests otherwise.
Speaking of Martha's Vineyard, that's where former president Barack Obama is hosting a super spreader event later this week. He's throwing himself a 60th birthday bash at his $12 million mansion, where nearly 700 people are expected to attend. George Clooney, Oprah Winfrey, and Steven Spielberg are among the invited guests.
Journalistic convention might suggest this frightening example of pathological narcissism is merely a "quirk" that Obama's base—Ivy League grads with multiple homes—finds relatable. Common sense suggests that if it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a duck.
Biden continues to humiliate himself in public, while U.S. athletes embarrass their country at the Olympics. To be fair, we can't really expect them to project American greatness abroad when their commander in chief is drooling all over himself at home. Leadership starts at the top.
Journalistic convention might suggest that invoking the 25th Amendment—by which a president can be removed if deemed "unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office"—is an extreme measure that doesn't deserve serious consideration. Think again!
Meanwhile, Biden's adult son Hunter, a former crackhead, is poised to make a fortune selling his "artwork" to patrons who will remain anonymous, except to the "artist" himself. Hunter's paintings, which have been panned by critics, are expected to sell for as high as $500,000 a piece. He was previously paid $2 million to fabricate stories in a memoir about his crack addiction and is presumably still "working to unwind" his investment in a shady Chinese investment firm.
Journalistic convention might suggest this isn't normal—that a president's son so blatantly seeking to cash in on his father's name is a scandal worth reporting as such. In this case, journalistic convention would be right, but for some reason, our typically fearless journalists have expressed little interest in doing so. Common sense suggests their passion for investigating Democrats is not as intense as their passion for investigating Republicans.
Sen Cornyn: Biden Working With Facebook to Suppress Posts is ‘A Very Dangerous, Slippery Slope’
(CNS News) – In reference to the Biden administration working with Facebook to suppress postings it considers “vaccine misinformation,” Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas) said that if Facebook is working with the government, then “the First Amendment does apply, which guarantees the freedom of speech,” and this presents a “very dangerous, slippery slope.”
At the U.S. Capitol on July 20th, CNS News asked the senator, “Should the Biden administration be able to work with Facebook to suppress posts they consider being misinformation about the COVID vaccine?”
Sen. Cornyn said, “I think that it’s very dangerous because they, basically Facebook as private company is not subject to the First Amendment, but obviously if they are working in collaboration with the government then I think the First Amendment does apply, which guarantees the freedom of speech. And, so it’s a very, I think it’s a very dangerous, slippery slope.”
On July 16, the Biden administration admitted that it is working with Facebook to suppress certain posts on the social media platform that contain alleged “vaccine misinformation.”
When asked about the posts, Biden said, “They’re killing people. … The only pandemic we have is among the unvaccinated, and they’re killing people."
Also on July 16, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said the administration is “in regular touch with these social media platforms, and those engagements typically happen through members of our senior staff, but also members of our COVID-19 team, given, as [U.S. Surgeon General] Dr. Murthy conveyed, this is a big issue of misinformation, specifically on the pandemic.”
“We’ve increased disinformation research and tracking within the Surgeon General’s office,” said Psaki. “We’re flagging problematic posts for Facebook that spread disinformation.”
“You shouldn’t be banned from one platform and not others, uh – if you – for providing misinformation out there,” she said.
Psaki then explained four suggestions the White House has given to Facebook and commented, “We engage with them regularly and they certainly know what our asks are.”
However, Psaki told CNS News during her press conference on July 19 that the White House has “not asked Facebook to block any individual posts,” but the Biden administration “certainly raised where we have concerns about information that’s inaccurate that is traveling out there in whatever platform it’s traveling on.”
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) commented to Psaki on Twitter, “Her statement makes it abundantly clear they want people banned for simply disagreeing with the government’s pre-approved narrative.”
Transcript
CNSNews.com: “Should the Biden administration be able to work with Facebook to suppress posts they consider being misinformation about the COVID vaccine?”
Sen. Cornyn: “I think that it’s very dangerous because they, basically Facebook as private company is not subject to the First Amendment, but obviously if they are working in collaboration with the government, then I think the First Amendment does apply, which guarantees the freedom of speech. And so it’s a very, I think it’s a very dangerous, slippery slope.”
Blake Masters: Big Tech ‘Counterterrorism’ Org Focus on ‘Far Right’ is ‘Obviously a Ploy to Target Republicans’
Appearing recently on The Morning Ritual with Garret Lewis, Republican Arizona Senate candidate Blake Masters warned that Big Tech companies’ expanding their cooperation on “counterterrorism” efforts targeting domestic right-wing organizations is “obviously a ploy to target Republicans.”
(Listen from 10:50)
GARRET LEWIS: There was a Reuters story that came out that there’s a counter-terror organization formed by some of the biggest American companies, including Facebook and Microsoft, and they are significantly expanding the types of extremist content shared between firms in a key database. They want to crack down on material on what they call white supremacist and far-right militias. Now you have again Facebook and Microsoft teaming up again with the government with counterterrorism against Americans, who are probably just conservative and have views that don’t align with the people that run Facebook and Microsoft.
BLAKE MASTERS: I made a comment when this came out and it was, “Come on guys, this is an obvious pretext dissent, this is an excuse to suppress dissent.” They try to make this a white supremacist thing so they can be able to do what they want. Obviously, we shouldn’t have white supremacist speech on these platforms. They want to make this database and rip them off, but here’s the problem: if you could trust the left, if you could these institutions, that would be fine. I don’t want white supremacists on Facebook either, all 5,000 in the United States. They have no power, they’re pathetic. Here’s the problem: You’ll be shocked at what the left considers white supremacist just one year from now or two years from now. This is obviously a ploy to target conservatives, to target Republicans. Any right of center view is seen by left wing activists as retrograde, dangerous, evil, and racist.
Blake Masters previously appeared on SiriusXM’s Breitbart News Daily for an interview with host Alex Marlow in which he called for the Big Tech giants to be regulated like public utilities.
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