Facebook de-platforms 4 Myanmar armed groups. Military behind Rohingya abuse didn't like them either.
Is Facebook following government orders in Myanmar?
Microsoft confirms 'Bing is currently inaccessible in China'
Bada bing, bada banned. China has blocked Bing, Microsoft's search engine, tonight. Read the rest
Inside China's censorship factories, where young censors learn to erase history
The censorship industry in China is big business. Read the rest
Michael Cohen's mobile phone data shows he was in Prague around time of Trump Russia meeting
A long-chewed-on mystery about Michael Cohen's activities in the Trump-Russia conspiracy may now be resolved, thanks to data leaked by Cohen's cellphone. Operational security will get you every time, dumb criminals. Read the rest
Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou of China granted $10 million bail by Canada judge, awaits US extradition hearing
A judge in Canada today granted $10 million bail for Meng Wanzhou, the CFO of China electronics giant Huawei. She has to remain in the Vancouver area, where she has a home. The United States has requested her extradition. China is not happy. Huawai's response follows.
Ivanka Trump to get 16 new China trademarks, including one for 'voting machines'
Why does Ivanka Trump need trademarks for nursing homes, sausage casing, and *voting machines* in China? Or do we not want to know. Read the rest
Trump orders 5,200 more troops & 1,500 miles of concertina wire to U.S.-Mexico border
The U.S. will deploy an additional 5,200 troops to the U.S.-Mexico border, said White House officials today. The deployment will more than triple the military presence there, and is presumably a Trump administration response to the so-called “Migrant Caravan,” about which white supremacists in the United States are currently fixated. Read the rest
Pompeo announces first U.S. penalties against Saudi Arabia over Jamal Khashoggi killing
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo today said the United States will revoke entry visas for the Saudi men accused of torturing and assassinating Washington Post contributing journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, Turkey. Read the rest
As Brazil prepares to elect 'Trump,' Facebook shuts down 68 pages & 43 accounts that got him there
Facebook Inc said Monday it has removed 68 Facebook pages and 43 user accounts linked to a shady Brazilian marketing group, Raposo Fernandes Associados (RFA), for violating the social media network’s misrepresentation and spam policies. Read the rest
CIA Director Gina Haspel heads to Turkey for Jamal Khashoggi investigation
Gina Haspel, the director of the United States Central Intelligence Agency, is reported to be traveling to Turkey late Monday to assist in “an investigation” over the death of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Read the rest
Brazil Elections: Facebook's WhatsApp “taking immediate legal action” against political spammers
WhatsApp, the messaging application business owned by Facebook, said on Friday it is “taking immediate legal action” against companies responsible for a flood of political spam ahead of Brazil's presidential elections. Read the rest
Twitter kills pro-Saudi “botnet” spreading Khashoggi disinformation tweets
Twitter today pulled down a disinfo bot network that was amplifying pro-Saudi talking points about disappeared journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who is presumed to have been tortured and killed on orders of the government of Saudi Arabia. Read the rest
U.S. got $100 million from Saudi Arabia on the same day Pompeo was in Riyadh
No wonder he was smiling. The United States received $100 million from Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, which coincidentally, so weird!, was the same day Secty. of State Mike Pompeo landed in Riyadh to laugh and smile with Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman about missing Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Read the rest
Trump: “rogue killers” murdered Jamal Khashoggi, maybe. Everyone else: Saudi Arabia did.
President Donald Trump talked to reporters today about his phone conversation with Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz, during which the two despots discussed the disappearance and apparent killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Read the rest
South Korea having a female leader has made North Korea even crazier
Even within the batty realms of North Korea's propaganda, the invective thrown at South Korean President Park Geun-hye is remarkable.
In perhaps its lengthiest and harshest verbal attack on Park since she took office in 2013, the North's official Korean Central News Agency on Saturday called her a "tailless, old, insane bitch," a "senile old woman" and a "murderous demon" destined to meet "a sudden and violent death."… North Korea previously called Park a "prostitute" and said she lives on the "groin of her American boss." It has frequently questioned her womanhood because she has no children, which the North labels as an "obligation" for women. North Korea also frequently refers to the "swish of her skirts," a Korean phrase used to describe women seen as overly aggressive.
"The swishes of Park Geun-hye's skirt, created by her American boss, are so unpredictable they're dumbfounding," an unnamed spokesman of the North's Joint National Organization of Working People said in a statement last year published by the KCNA. "This is all because the United States' black, hairy hands reach deep into Park Geun-hye's skirt."
Apart from the absurd sexism, there's a more politically unnerving aspect to it. For all its apparent insanity, North Korea's propaganda traditionally tried to appeal to South Korean leftists. This messaging indicates a new level of ignorance of the world outside, a turning-inwards of its paranoia. Read the rest
