Meta Ditches ‘Misinformation’ Tracking Tool, Angering Journalists and Nonprofits

/0 Comments/in , /by

Mark Zuckerberg-owned social media giant Meta has shut down CrowdTangle, a researching tool used to monitor social media posts that include alleged misinformation.

The move has upset a series of nonprofits which sent letters in protest of Meta’s move to a new tool called Content Library. Their issue stems from Meta limiting usage of Content Library to “qualified academic or nonprofit institutions who are pursuing scientific or public interest research.”

This has prevented many journalists from having immediate access to the new tool, TechCrunch reported.

The letter to Meta in May 2024 asked for CrowdTangle to stay available until at least January 2025 so that it could be used through the 2024 presidential election.

“This decision jeopardizes essential pre- and post-election oversight mechanisms and undermines Meta’s transparency efforts during this critical period, and at a time when social trust and digital democracy are alarmingly fragile,” the letter, which was posted to the Human Rights Watch website, stated. (Read more from “Meta Ditches ‘Misinformation’ Tracking Tool, Angering Journalists and Nonprofits” HERE)

Anti-Israel Protests Outside Chicago DNC Threaten to Tarnish Kamala Harris Coronation

/1 Comment/in , /by

Tens of thousands of protesters are expected to march outside the Democratic National Convention in the Windy City in opposition to the Biden-Harris administration’s support for Israel — threatening to tarnish Vice President Kamala Harris’ weeklong presidential nomination fest.

A coalition of mostly left-wing and Arab- and Muslim-American groups are planning two protest marches — the first and largest on Monday at noon ahead of retiring President Biden’s evening appearance and again on Thursday at 5 p.m. ahead of Harris’ acceptance speech.

“The Democratic Party is the target and not Joe Biden as an individual or Kamala Harris as an individual … She’s just as complicit as Biden is,” said Hatem Abudayyeh, the executive director of the Arab American Action Network who cited her opposition to an arms embargo on Israel as evidence that her attempt to seem more “empathetic” rings hollow.

“If Kamala Harris loses to [former President Donald] Trump, then they have nobody to blame but themselves. This is the Vietnam War of our generation,” he said. . .

Massive attendance had been expected at protests when Biden, 81, was the party’s presumptive nominee — but his decision to retire on July 21 and endorse Harris, 59, has cast some uncertainty over the scale of protests, though organizers say they still expect tens of thousands of participants. (Read more from “Anti-Israel Protests Outside Chicago DNC Threaten to Tarnish Kamala Harris Coronation” HERE)

Photo credit: Flickr

Kamala Harris Met Secretly With Radical, Antisemitic Dearborn, Michigan, Mayor

/0 Comments/in , /by

Vice President Kamala Harris secretly met last week with the radical, antisemitic mayor of Dearborn, Michigan, in an effort to court Muslim- and Arab-American voters.

The meeting was reported by the Associated Press, buried within an article published on Saturday about the so-called “uncommitted” group of voters, particularly in Michigan, who are trying to push the Democratic Party into an openly anti-Israel position.

The AP reported:

Top Democrats have spent weeks meeting with “uncommitted” voters and their allies — including a previously unreported sit-down between Vice President Kamala Harris and the mayor of Dearborn, Michigan — in an effort to respond to criticism in key swing states like Michigan, which has a significant Arab American population.

…

During a campaign trip to Michigan last week, Harris met with Abdullah Hammoud, the 34-year-old mayor of Dearborn, a Detroit suburb that has the largest number of Arab Americans of any city in the United States. The meeting was disclosed by a person who was not authorized to discuss it publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

The person familiar with the meeting did not provide specific details but said the focus was on Harris’ potential policy, if elected, on the Israel-Hamas conflict. Hammoud declined to comment.

(Read more from “Kamala Harris Met Secretly With Radical, Antisemitic Dearborn, Michigan, Mayor” HERE)

Photo credit: Flickr

Feds Are Helping Register Alabama Prisoners to Vote

/0 Comments/in , /by

The Federal Bureau of Prisons has been registering federal prisoners to vote in Alabama, according to Secretary of State Wes Allen, an effort he claims is “illegal.”

“At least one liberal third-party organization has been deployed by the Federal Bureau of Prisons to conduct voter registration in federal prisons in Alabama,” Allen said in a statement to The Federalist. “Obviously, this raised questions for my staff and I.”

Allen said President Joe Biden’s “Executive Order on Promoting Access to Voting,” issued in March 2021, attempts to “mobilize and weaponize the entire federal government” to “register primarily Democrat leaning groups of voters.”

The federal program has taken the nickname “Bidenbucks.” Like the 2020 election “Zuckbucks” from Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, which enabled third-party election meddling and get-out-the-vote efforts for likely Democrat voters, it directs federal agencies to work with third-party groups to “promote voter registration and voter participation” in similar ways.

Allen asked the White House “earlier this year” how the federal government has implemented this in Alabama. He said the administration “confirmed” the Bureau of Prisons had “deployed” a “liberal third-party organization” to help register federal prisoners to vote. Those with criminal records are far more likely to vote Democrat than Republican, making this a partisan effort. (Read more from “Feds Are Helping Register Alabama Prisoners to Vote” HERE)

ESPN Axes Host Days After She Voiced Opposition to Men Competing in Women’s Sports

/0 Comments/in , /by

ESPN has fired a host who recently voiced opposition to female-identifying men competing in women’s sports.

On Thursday, The Athletic reported that ESPN has terminated the contract of “Sunday NFL Countdown” host Samantha Ponder, a longtime reporter for the network who previously covered college football. Former NFL quarterback Robert Griffin III was also fired by the Disney-owned outlet.

Sources who reportedly spoke with The Athletic and Fox News claimed both sportscasters were let go due to “financial reasons.”

The timing of Ponder’s firing is suspect, however, given that it came days after the ESPN host voiced opposition to trans-identifying men participating in women’s sports.

The moment came on Aug. 6, when ESPN “College Gameday” host Kirk Herbstreit responded to an X post asking if “men belong in women’s sports.” (Read more from “ESPN Axes Host Days After She Voiced Opposition to Men Competing in Women’s Sports” HERE)

From ‘That Little Girl’ to Democrats’ Savior: Kamala Harris’ Dizzying Rise to the Top

/0 Comments/in , /by

In less than a month, Kamala Harris has gone from being the most unpopular vice president in modern U.S. history to an adored Democratic presidential nominee who reversed the party’s fortunes, opening leads in some battleground states and putting former President Donald Trump on the defensive.

It is the latest twist in the improbable rise of Ms. Harris.

On Thursday, she will stand as a historic figure on the stage at Chicago’s United Center to formally accept the nomination. She will be the first woman of Black and Indian descent to accept a major party’s presidential nomination.

Ms. Harris has risen from a middle-class upbringing in Oakland, California, with a summer job at McDonald’s to an at times invisible and often mocked vice president under President Biden to suddenly find herself cast as the savior of the Democratic Party. . .

During a 2020 Democratic presidential debate, Ms. Harris tore into Mr. Biden, her future boss, blaming him for holding back generations of Black children because of his opposition to federal school busing while in the Senate. She told the story of a little Black girl who succeeded because she was bused to school and concluded the story by revealing, “That little girl was me.” (Read more from “From ‘That Little Girl’ to Democrats’ Savior: Kamala Harris’ Dizzying Rise to the Top” HERE)

Feds Urge Cyber Pros to Assist Preparations for Quantum Cyberattack: ‘Please Help Us’

/0 Comments/in , /by

Federal officials are bracing for a quantum computer cyberattack and asking private businesses to help prevent widespread devastation.

National security officials fear a super code-breaking cryptanalytically relevant quantum computer, or CRQC, will crack the encryptions of modern systems, exposing state secrets, financial transactions and other sensitive information. Researchers warn darkly of “Q-Day,” when a combination of quantum-classical computing power and artificial intelligence technologies threaten to undermine data security encryption methods.

The U.S. intelligence community is asking private businesses to help defend against such a powerful machine, and the Commerce Department is working to get new encryption tools into the hands of defenders. At the Department of Homeland Security, officials are developing guidance to address quantum technology risk.

Kathryn Knerler, the U.S. intelligence community’s chief information security officer, told a gathering of cybersecurity experts and hackers in Las Vegas this month that the quantum computing age is approaching. She said quantum computing will be a “very large game-changer” and people must secure artificial intelligence systems before the world takes the quantum leap.

“We have, in my estimation, about five or six years to look at how we secure artificial intelligence,” Ms. Knerler said at the Black Hat USA 2024 conference. “So my challenge to all of you is please help us to secure artificial intelligence and come up with the guardrails.” (Read more from “Feds Urge Cyber Pros to Assist Preparations for Quantum Cyberattack: ‘Please Help Us’” HERE)

Eerie New Photos of Trump Shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks Minutes Before Shooting Raise Questions About Assassination Attempt

/4 Comments/in , , /by

By Daily Mail. Eerie new photos of Trump shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks have raised more questions about the failed assassination attempt.

One of the images captures the 20-year-old Crooks perched on a wall in a grassy area on July 13 at the Butler, Pennsylvania rally – just moments before he opened fire.

In the picture, Crooks can be seen holding up his cell phone – as if chatting to someone on a call. Investigators have still not determined what Crooks’ motive was or whether he was indeed acting alone.

The other picture captures the moment Crooks turns to look over his shoulder while sitting in the same position. It was unclear what prompted him to turn, or whether he was talking to someone behind him. . .

The photos have raised questions and sparked theories relating to the attempted assassination. (Read more from “Eerie New Photos of Trump Shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks Minutes Before Shooting Raise Questions About Assassination Attempt” HERE)

__________________________________________________

FBI Fires Back at Claims It Released Crooks’ Body for Cremation Days After Trump Assassination Attempt

By Fox News. The FBI has fired back at claims by a GOP congressman that the agency released the body of Thomas Matthew Crooks for cremation just 10 days after his assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, last month.

The agency says it refutes allegations by Rep. Clay Higgins, R-La., who says that when he requested to view Crooks’ body on Aug. 5, nobody on the ground in Butler knew it had been handed back to the suspect’s family on July 23. Higgins said the revelation “caused quite a stir and revealed a disturbing fact.”

Higgins is looking into the deadly July 13 incident as part of a bi-partisan congressional task force and made the claims in a stunning preliminary report which is highly critical of the FBI’s investigation into the matter. Higgins says the releasing of the body, and other claims of bad practice leveled at the FBI, amounts to an “obstruction to any following investigative effort.”

An FBI spokesperson tells Fox News Digital that any suggestion the agency is interfering with congressional efforts to look into the attempted assassination “is inaccurate and unfounded.”

The agency said that Crooks’ body was released to his family after coordination with the coroner’s office as well as state and local law enforcement partners “in keeping with normal procedures.” (Read more from “FBI Fires Back at Claims It Released Crooks’ Body for Cremation Days After Trump Assassination Attempt” HERE)

Leftists Use Billy Graham’s Image to Create ‘Misleading’ Support for Pro-Abortion Kamala Harris

/0 Comments/in , /by

. . .[A] leftist organization called EvangelicalsforHarris is using an image of Billy Graham in an ad supporting the leftist candidate being supported by Democrats.

Which drew a pointed response from Franklin Graham, Billy Graham’s son and now chief of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association as well as Samaritan’s Purse.

He said, “The liberals are using anything and everything they can to promote candidate Harris. They even developed a political ad trying to use my father Billy Graham’s image to help promote her—or rather to try to make Donald J. Trump look bad.

“They are trying to mislead people. Maybe they don’t know that my father was a firm supporter of President Trump in 2016. He appreciated the conservative values and policies of President Trump, and if he were alive today, my father’s views and opinions would not have changed.

“President Trump isn’t perfect—none of us are—but I believe he has changed over the years. This recent assassination attempt has had a huge impact on him—and I thank God that his life was spared.” (Read more from “Leftists Use Billy Graham’s Image to Create ‘Misleading’ Support for Pro-Abortion Kamala Harris” HERE)

Al-Qaeda-Linked Muslim Group Got $2 Million From Tim Walz’s State Government

/1 Comment/in , /by

Under Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN), the state of Minnesota awarded over $2 million to an Islamic group that fundraises for a charity linked to an al Qaeda affiliate, according to funding records reviewed by the Washington Examiner.

The Islamic Association of North America, the recipient of the state grants from 2019 to 2024, is fundraising after Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel last year for Rahma Worldwide, a Michigan-based charity that says it is shipping humanitarian aid to Gaza, according to flyers. In a since-deleted Facebook post in October 2023, Rahma Worldwide President Shadi Zaza revealed his charity was collaborating on an aid initiative with the Islamic Heritage Revival Society of Kuwait, a terrorist group sanctioned by the U.S. government for funding al Qaeda.

News of the Walz administration’s grants to the IANA comes as the Democratic vice presidential candidate faces backlash after a series of Washington Examiner reports revealed his ties to Muslim cleric Asad Zaman. As Minnesota’s governor, Walz has repeatedly hosted Zaman, who shared a pro-Adolf Hitler movie on social media and defended the Oct. 7 attack. Moreover, according to unearthed footage, Walz referred to Zaman as a “master teacher” at a 2018 event held by the Zaman-led Muslim American Society of Minnesota, which partners with the IANA.

The presidential campaign for Vice President Kamala Harris has continued to claim Walz has no personal relationship with Zaman. Harris and Walz officials did not respond to requests for comment from the Washington Examiner on Thursday.

“Embracing and funding an imam that sympathizes with neo-Nazis was apparently only the start,” said Sam Westrop, a terrorism analyst at the Middle East Forum think tank. (Read more from “Al-Qaeda-Linked Muslim Group Got $2 Million From Tim Walz’s State Government” HERE)

Photo credit: Flickr