How Decades of Fear-Stoking by the NRA and GOP Have Made Smart Gun Laws Impossible

by Nomad

Yesterday was a historic day. It was the day President Trump led the nation into an era of meaningful gun law reform and defied the all-powerful NRA.
That was the idea anyway.

If you had the stomach for it- I endured about 5 minutes- this exercise in suspending disbelief was both disturbing and fascinating.
With the cameras rolling, the president sat down with members of Congress from both parties. Calling upon the attendee to draft "comprehensive" and radical reforms, Trump declared "“It’s time that a president stepped up.”

• Expanding background checks to weapons purchased at gun shows and on the internet? Sure, why not?
• Keeping guns from mentally ill people? Sounds good!
• Securing schools and restricting gun sales for some young adults? Let's do it!

Hybrid Warfare: NATO Investigates Putin's Troll War against the West 1/3

  by Nomad

The role that social media outlets, like Twitter and Facebook, play in managing and influence public perception has really come to the forefront since the 2016 US election. Few would argue that social media's influence in this presidential election is stronger than it has ever been.
Immediately after the election, NPR pointed out how social media have changed our national political conversation, turning it into "a loud mess." The advent of fake news transformed what should have been a public discussion into a battle of conspiracy theories.

Experts are now studying whether it was some natural effect or whether all of the confusion was actually stage-managed by unseen hands?

NATO and Social Media 

In 2015, well before the election, one of those who took a keen interest in this subject was NATO, specifically the Strategic Communication -Centre of Excellence (NATO StratCom COE). This agency was asked to conduct a study on how social media has been transformed into a weapon of hybrid warfare.

The report that emerges presents a frightening snapshot of the methods, targets, and effectiveness of this new type of warfare.  

Ever since the beginning of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, for example, we have seen fake identities and accounts being created in order to "disseminate narratives through social media, blogs, and web commentaries in order to manipulate, harass, or deceive opponents."

Approved Speech: Tennessee Town Bans Negative Remarks and Criticism on Social Media

by Nomad

Yesterday we reported how one Russian governor decided that the best way of handling the national economic crisis was by banned the use of the word "crisis." 

Such a backward idea, right?

Well, Americans shouldn't laugh too hard at those crazy Ruskies. Bloomberg recently reported that a similar effort in Tennessee to silence discussion that local government approves of. 

No Expectation of Privacy Whatsoever

Earlier this month, the town of South Pittsburg, Tennessee, near Chattanooga, passed a resolution that prohibits anybody professionally connected to South Pittsburg, from “publicly discuss[ing] information about other employees and/or volunteers not approved for public communication” on social media. This includes employees, volunteers, and contractors. 

The resolution also wags a finger against posting anything on a personal Facebook page or on Twitter that anybody might consider either defamatory or libelous. The policy states that citizens "should have no expectation of privacy whatsoever."

The Chatanooga Times Free Press supports the Bloomberg piece:

It applies to all city elected representatives, appointed board members, employees, volunteers, vendors, contractors and anyone associated with the town in an official capacity who uses social networks. The policy says those persons can't post anything negative about the city, its employees or other associates.

The officials said that the tough policy was necessary because over the past year, their work has been "hampered by criticism and lies on social media."

Mayor Jane Dawkins defended the action, saying that this was "not a new concept." 
Nobody is arguing that. The question is whether it is legal or wise.

Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan Loses his Voice

by Nomad

Besieged by charges of corruption, the Prime Minister of Turkey has been campaigning non-stop for his party in Sunday's local election. Under the strain, Erdogan lost his once- authoritative voice, much to the astonishment of crowds at today's rally in the east of the country.

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Recep Erdogan has had better days. With municipal elections coming up on Sunday, there has been furious often mean-spirited campaigning going on for the last few weeks. For all of the top four candidates, this is includes two, sometimes three whistle-stop speeches every day, and an interview with one of the many friendly TV channels in the evening. 

That's only half the story. Added to that, there have been a series of leaked audio recordings seeming to show all kinds of  scandalous activity. In desperation he ordered the closure of Twitter- on grounds of privacy.  The courts did not agree and ordered that Twitter be un-banned. 

The government's reaction? To ban YouTube on grounds of national security. And there's some truth in that since today's tape reportedly reveals audio details of an attempted false flag operation to launch a war with Syria. 

Whatever the truth, the leaks have shaken his party to the core. Clearly his party's image has been severely damaged. Nevertheless, Erdogan has remained unflinching, denying the authenticity of the tapes. 

Today things took a turn for the surreal when, after a week of voice problems, Erdogan's voice finally left him. No doubt the crowds gathered to listen to his speech in Van, Turkey were stunned to hear the leader of the nation sounding unlike anything they'd heard before. It was as if the man who wanted to become a sultan had transformed into the harem eunuch.