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brooklynite's JournalTrump's executive order targets political bias at Twitter and Facebook: draft
Source: Reuters
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to order a review of a law that has long protected Twitter, Facebook and Alphabet’s Google from being responsible for the material posted by their users, according to a draft executive order and a source familiar with the situation.
News of the order comes after Trump threatened to shut down websites he accused of stifling conservative voices following a dispute with Twitter after the company decided to tag Trump’s tweets about unsubstantiated claims of fraud in mail-in voting with a warning prompting readers to fact-check the posts.
The order, a draft copy of which was seen by Reuters, could change before it is finalized. On Wednesday, officials said Trump will sign an executive order on social media companies on Thursday.
...snip...
The executive order would require the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to propose and clarify regulations under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, a federal law largely exempting online platforms from legal liability for the material their users post. Such changes could expose tech companies to more lawsuits.
Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-twitter-trump-executive-order-social/trumps-executive-order-targets-political-bias-at-twitter-and-facebook-draft-idUSKBN2340MW
How a Convention Whet Trump's Appetite for the Presidency
PoliticoRoger Stone, Trump’s earliest and longest-running political adviser, had spearheaded that trip, ferrying the 42-year-old real estate developer and casino owner from event to event, setting up interviews with reporters, all in an attempt to stoke his interest in a prospective electoral bid. And on the last night of the extravaganza, August 18, 1988, Stone asked an associate to take Trump down to the floor of the Superdome to watch George H.W. Bush accept the nomination.
“My friend Laury—Laurance Gay—Laury got a call from Roger: ‘Hey, there’s a young business guy who wants to be on the floor,’” Republican strategist Alex Castellanos told me in 2018. “‘He wants to be there when the balloons drop, the confetti falls, the band strikes up. He wants to see all that.’”
“Roger was the lead on Trump,” said Gay, a lobbyist and longtime pal of Paul Manafort, referring to Trump’s relationship with the lobbying firm Black, Manafort & Stone, for which Gay was working. He had gotten to know Stone on Ronald Reagan’s campaign in 1980 in the Northeast before going on to work in the Department of Housing and Urban Development in the Reagan administration. This story has never been shared publicly.
“So we went down there, and the speeches were made,” Gay recalled, and Bush capped his remarks by placing his hand on his heart and reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, and then Barbara Bush joined him on the podium, and the rest of his family, and their families, and Dan Quayle, his pick for vice president, and his family, “and there’s 25 people out there, and with that, the band strikes up, the confetti starts to fall, the balloons are rising and falling,” 150,000 of them, red, white and blue, and there were 15-plus minutes of sustained, ecstatic sound.
And in the middle of this scene, Trump said something, not quite to Gay, who was immediately to his left, but loud enough for him to hear.
“This is what I want.”
Translation: it's not the desire for public service; it's not even the desire for power. It's the desire for adoration.
The Lincoln Project has a new target...
https://twitter.com/ProjectLincoln/status/1265962113765384193Joe Scarborough honors COVD-19 essential workers in song (MORNING JOE)
https://www.msnbc.com/morning-joe/watch/joe-pays-tribute-to-frontline-medical-workers-in-song-84021829608'COVID: Our Lockdown in Shanghai' Review: Short-Form Doc Offers Intimate Look at Quarantined Life
At just under 50 minutes, Yu Kung and Crystal Liu’s short-form documentary special, “COVID: Our Lockdown in Shanghai,” covers a dizzying array of topics so timely that the word “timely” doesn’t quite cut it. Shot during the early days of Shanghai’s pandemic lockdown, also known as mere months ago (the short-form documentary, airing on Smithsonian Channel, began filming in January), Kung and Liu’s doc follows the swift change in everyday life within the confines of their own apartment building in the bustling city. It’s an indisputably great idea for a quarantine-era project, one that seems destined to be imitated in a variety of ways, but Kung and Liu don’t just have the benefit of being quick on the draw, but of doing it (mostly) the right way, too.
Picking up during the early days of the pandemic — so early, in fact, that even the residents of Shanghai, just a four hour train ride from the outbreak’s heart in Wuhan, weren’t yet terrified — Kung and Liu follow a world moments away from tremendous change. Watching it even now, with a touch (just a touch) of remove, it’s bizarre to hear early news reports chatting about a new virus playing over scenes of city-dwellers happily moving around Shanghai without a care in the world. Slowly, gracefully, those reports give way to more urgent missives and a shots of the city growing ever more empty and eerie. The doc’s muted color scheme, initially soothing, steadily turns into something else: emblematic of all the life and energy that is missing from the world.
https://www.indiewire.com/2020/05/covid-our-lockdown-in-shanghai-review-documentary-smithsonian-channel-1202232837/
Now airing on the SMITHSONIAN CHANNEL
https://www.smithsonianchannel.com/shows/covid-our-lockdown-in-shanghai/0/3493102?an=science-and-nature
Jonathan Steingard, Christian singer, reveals he no longer believes in God
Jonathan Steingard, frontman for the Christian rock band Hawk Nelson, has gone public with some personal news.
In a recent lengthy post on his Instagram account, the singer shared that he no longer believes in God.
"I've been terrified to post this for a while - but it feels like it's time for me to be honest," he wrote in the caption to his multi-image post of his statement. "I hope this is not the end of the conversation, but the beginning."
In his note Steingard explained how he came to his latest view.
John Hickenlooper must testify in ethics hearing, commission rules
Source: Denver Post
John Hickenlooper must testify in his ethics trial, whether it takes place in person or remotely, Colorado’s Independent Ethics Commission ruled Wednesday.
The former Colorado governor and current Democratic U.S. Senate candidate threatened last week not to show up to the hearing if it isn’t held in person, citing issues of due process.
A dark-money group called the Public Trust Institute accused Hickenlooper in 2018 of violating Amendment 41 of the state Constitution, which prohibits state employees and officials from accepting gifts worth more than $53 per year. The Public Trust Institute was formed just before the accusation and is led by Frank McNulty, a Republican former Colorado House speaker.
The ethics commission conducted a yearlong investigation into some flights Hickenlooper took during his last year as governor.
Read more: https://www.denverpost.com/2020/05/27/hickenlooper-ethics-hearing-colorado-senate/
Meanwhile...
https://twitter.com/politvidchannel/status/1265745294345383936
Washington, DC, to lift stay-at-home order on Friday
Source: The Hill
Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) announced Wednesday that the city will lift its stay-at-home order on Friday and enter phase one of reopening.
Bowser said that the virus is still circulating but said the city had met its metrics of a 14-day decline in community spread of the virus as well as adequate testing and hospital capacity.
Under the order, nonessential retail businesses can open for curbside pickup and hair salons can open for appointments only. Restaurants can serve diners outdoors if they already have outdoor seating and tables are 6 feet apart.
Gatherings of more than 10 people are still banned, and Bowser encouraged people to continue staying 6 feet apart, wearing masks when around others and washing hands frequently.
Read more: https://thehill.com/homenews/news/499726-dc-to-lift-stay-at-home-order-on-friday
Live now: "Enhancing Security and the Voter Experience in a High-Stakes Election Year"
https://cms.erepublic.com/common/resources?appCore=/common/webinars/launch_webinar/127252&product_id=127252Tuesday is a big Primary Day...
IndianaPresidential, U.S. House and U.S. Senate. Moved back from May 5.
New Mexico
Presidential, U.S. House and U.S. Senate. Any registered voter can vote by mail via absentee ballot.
Montana
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Iowa
U.S. House and U.S. Senate. Officials are encouraging Iowans to vote by mail and sending absentee ballot requests to registered voters.
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Rhode Island
Moved back from April 28. Any registered voter can vote by mail via absentee ballot.
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Name: Chris BastianGender: Male
Hometown: Brooklyn, NY
Home country: USA
Member since: 2002
Number of posts: 94,520
