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☆ Opinion: Israel could defeat Hamas in Gaza more quickly if the US didn’t hold it back, this military expert says
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-17 | by ( Hilary Krieger | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +20 min

CNN: Do you think that Israel can defeat Hamas without conducting a ground invasion in Rafah? The fact is that Rafah’s where the hostages and remaining Hamas military power and leadership are believed to be, their rockets and weapons production and other capabilities, everything. CNN: Couldn’t Israel’s offensive still have the effect of creating more militants who are going to join Hamas and fight against Israel? But it’s also a very winnable war for Hamas at this point because wars are not determined just by military capability. The problem is that the international community pushed Israel into this framework of going slower, going methodically, evacuating every area beforehand.

Persons: CNN —, John Spencer, Spencer, John Spencer Spencer, He’s, ” Spencer, JACK GUEZ, they’ve, we’re, there’s, Couldn’t, David Petraeus, Petraeus, who’s, it’s, You’ve, Dawoud Abo, Israel, I’ve, Israel doesn’t, that’s, — we’re, they’re, would’ve Organizations: CNN, Israel Defense Forces, Hamas, Modern, Institute, IDF, United Nations Relief, Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, Getty, Israel, Nazi, Spencer, Shiva, Dawoud Abo Alkas, ISIS, UN, Gaza, Twitter, Facebook Locations: Israel, Gaza, Iraq, West, Rafah, Spencer, Israeli, Hamas, Gaza City, AFP, Iran, Palestine, Northern Gaza, Afghanistan, United States, Egypt, Sinai, Anadolu, Qaida, Mosul, Panama, Tokyo

☆ Winners and Losers of the Columbia Protests? History Will Tell.
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-03 | by ( Ginia Bellafante | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

Two years later, a plurality of Americans held the view that so-called outside agitators — in this instance, Communists — were behind the civil rights movement. If we think of attention as a prevailing measure of success, then the Columbia protests, inspiring so many others and consuming global headlines, have been triumphant. “I see very little talk this week about what is happening to Palestinians in Gaza,” Peter Staley, the celebrated AIDS activist, told me. He recalled a major ACT UP demonstration in December 1989 at St. Patrick’s Cathedral that is still debated among participants. The idea was to disrupt a Mass offered by Cardinal John O’Connor to condemn the church’s stance on condoms.

Persons: Eric Adams, ”, condescension, —, unmet, ” Peter Staley, Cardinal John O’Connor, ” Mr, Staley Organizations: Columbia University, Hamilton Hall, Gallup, Washington, Police Department, ACT Locations: Gaza, Columbia, Morningside Heights, St, Patrick’s

☆ Misinformation has created an alternative world for some Americans
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-28 | by ( Zachary B. Wolf | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

O’SULLIVAN: So much of mainstream American politics now is being infected and affected by what is happening on what was once considered the real fringes — fringe platforms, fringe personalities. O’SULLIVAN: A lot of people got kicked off the major social media platforms after January 6. Because major social media platforms like Facebook have these rules. But I think just overall, in 2016, all the guards were down when it came to social media. And then in 2020 there was a big crackdown from the social media platforms, which got a huge amount of blowback from conservatives.

Persons: CNN —, —, CNN’s Donie O’Sullivan, Trump, Anderson Cooper ”, Joe Biden didn’t, They’ve, they’ve, we’ve, Rachel Powell, “, O'Sullivan, It’s, Joe Black, Donald Trump, O’Sullivan, Black, Joe Biden, it’s, You’re, ”, Tim Alberta, Christiane Amanpour, Caleb Campbell, — he’s, You’ve, you’ve, Elon Musk, WOLF, There’s, she’ll, She’s Organizations: CNN, FBI, Pastors, Facebook, Twitter, Elon, Trump Locations: Colorado, Alberta, West Virginia, Trump

☆ Opinion | After I Lost My Son, I Realized I Needed to Stop Looking for Closure
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-08 | by ( Liz Jensen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Four years ago, I got the news that every parent dreads. Without warning, my healthy 25-year-old son, Raphaël — a wildlife biologist and an environmental activist — had collapsed and died, likely from a rare heart disorder nobody knew he had. You no longer see your life in the same way afterward. But must grief diminish you, or can it do the opposite? And the emotional arc of both, I came to believe, could create the strength and purpose needed to navigate an increasingly unstable future.

Persons: Raphaël, —

Authorities have not disclosed any of Hale's journals or writings that were collected after the March 27 shooting at the Covenant School in Nashville. Police then reversed course, saying that because of the lawsuits they would await the direction of the court on whether to release Hale’s writings. “I am deeply concerned with the safety, security, and well-being of the Covenant families and all Nashvillians who are grieving," O’Connell said. Attorneys representing families with the Covenant School have repeatedly said they have not seen Hale's writings. Authorities’ refusal to release Hale’s writings has fueled further speculation and conspiracy theories about what they might reveal about Hale’s motive or influences.

Persons: Freddie O'Connell, Steven Crowder, Audrey Hale's, MNPD, O’Connell, Wally Dietz, Brent Leatherwood, Crowder, Leatherwood, it’s, Hale, haven’t, Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs, William Kinney, Katherine Koonce, Mike Hill, Cynthia Peak, Adrian Sainz Organizations: Nashville, Metro Nashville Police Department, Tennessee Bureau of, Covenant School, Police, Covenant, Associated Press, AP, Authorities Locations: Tenn, Nashville, Tennessee, Memphis , Tennessee

☆ The War on College Campuses
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-02 | by ( Lauren Camera | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +16 min

College campuses have always been bastions of protest, where young, energetic students push older generations in the direction of the next social or political reform. Notably, the prevailing notions of the liberal bent of college campuses are not incorrect. According to a 2023 survey by FIRE of roughly 1,500 four-year college professors, 50% identify as liberal, 17% as moderate, and 26% as conservative. Analysts say the recent inflammatory examples that have not only riven college campuses but altered the way many Americans view them also underscore the increasing difficulty observers in the U.S. have of sitting with complex developments. Many of the country’s most elite schools actually perform the worst, according to the 2024 College Free Speech Ranking by FIRE.

Persons: Ron DeSantis –, “, ”, –, Zach Greenberg, Nikki Haley, Carolina Sen, Tim Scott, Pell Grant, Donald Trump, Strawn, Davis Polk, Sarah Lawrence, Samuel Abrams, ” Greenberg, Joe Biden, Peter Coleman, Morton, Coleman, “ We’re, Tony Banout, ” Banout, ” Coleman Organizations: Hamas, National Students for Justice, Florida Gov, College, Foundation, Rights, ”, U.S ., Harvard’s, for Palestine, Palestine Solidarity Committee, George Washington University, GOP, Former South Carolina Gov, Customs, Winston, Wardwell, Harvard University, Columbia University, Harvard, University of Pennsylvania, FIRE, Sarah Lawrence College, New York Times, Columbia, America – Democrats, Republicans, Jewish, Tulane University, Cornell University, FBI, White, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Justice, Morton Deutsch International, for Cooperation, Israel, University of Chicago, University of Chicago Forum, Free Locations: Israel, Palestine, America, Florida, Gaza, U.S, Former, ., Carolina, Columbia, Costa Rica

The largest was in cases where defendants plotted violent attacks that ultimately failed or were foiled, where international defendants received an average prison sentence of 11.2 years, compared with 1.6 years for domestic defendants. For violent cases that led to injuries, domestic defendants received on average 8.6 years, versus 34.6 for international defendants. The disparity was smaller, but still significant, in violent fatal attacks with domestic cases at about 28.8 years and international cases at about 39.2 years. People charged in violent domestic cases also often faced less serious charges not often associated with crimes of terror, like illegal possession of firearms, the study found. “These domestic terrorists are being treated more like run-of-the-mill criminal defendants and receiving sentences far below those of international terrorism defendants,” he said.

Persons: Joe Biden, America ”, ”, Shirin Sinnar, Jan, START’s Michael Jensen, —, Pete Simi, “, Simi, Sinnar, ” Sinnar, George Varghese, Timothy Kelly, Proud, Enrique Tarrio, Zachary Rehl, Kelly, Rehl, Jensen, ___, Jason Dearen, Michelle R, Smith Organizations: University of Maryland, Associated Press, Boys, Stanford Law School, AP, University of Maryland's National Consortium, Center, Health and Homeland Security, U.S, Chapman University, State Department, National Guard, United Locations: America, U.S, radicalizing, York, jdearen@ap.org, Investigative@ap.org

☆ Arkansas governor signs sweeping bill imposing a minimum age limit for social media usage
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Sarah Huckabee Sanders has signed a sweeping bill imposing a minimum age limit for social media usage, in the latest example of states taking more aggressive steps intended to protect teens online. The legislation, known as the Social Media Safety Act and taking effect in September, is aimed at giving parents more control over their kids’ social media usage, according to lawmakers. It defines social media companies as any online forum that lets users create public profiles and interact with each other through digital content. The confusion over YouTube appears to stem from the carveout for businesses that offer cloud storage and that make less than 25% of their revenue from social media. “The purpose of this bill was to empower parents and protect kids from social media platforms, like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat,” Dees said in a statement.

☆ Fact Check-Majority of US mass shooters are cis men, not transgender or non-binary people
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Data collection on mass shootings varies by methodology, but experts told Reuters data shows the majority of mass shootings are carried out by cisgender men. One tweet said: “The Colorado Springs shooter identified as non binary. NOT THE MAJORITYCalculating exact percentages when it comes to mass shooting statistics in the U.S. varies by way of counting, as organizations define mass shootings in different ways. Its definition of mass shooting is four or more people shot resulting in injury or death (excluding the perpetrator). Most mass shootings or violent gun attacks in the U.S. carried are out by cisgender men.

☆ A British youth working from a bedroom at his grandfather's house made 'slick videos' that could have inspired 2 US mass shooters, a court heard
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-28 | by ( Alia Shoaib | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Far-right videos made by a British teen were viewed by two men who went on to commit mass shootings. The court previously heard that his videos had been viewed by two men who went on to commit mass murders in the US last year. Payton Gendron, the then-18-year-old mass shooter who killed 10 Black people in Buffalo, New York, last May, was known to have watched Harris' videos. The Buffalo shooter commented on a video made by Harris about the perpetrator behind the 2019 mass shooting in Christchurch, New Zealand, The Guardian reported. The Buffalo shooter responded: "You are not alone my friend."

☆ Informant warned FBI weeks before Jan. 6 that the far-right saw Trump tweet as 'a call to arms'
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( Ryan J. Reilly | Ryan J. Reilly Is A Justice Reporter For Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +8 min

The email, which has not been previously reported, warned that the Trump tweet was “gaining hold” on social media. The confidential human source has provided information that the FBI has used in Jan. 6 cases before. The FBI confidential source said that they had “put together hundreds of pages of reports over the two weeks proceeding Jan. 6” for the bureau leading up to the attack. Months after the attack, FBI Director Chris Wray created the position of intelligence analyst in charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office, giving an intelligence analyst a leadership title typically reserved for FBI special agents. They said they were in regular communication with the bureau in the weeks leading up to Jan. 6.

Since the early days of the invasion, Mr. Putin has conceded, privately, that the war has not gone as planned. “I think he is sincerely willing” to compromise with Russia, Mr. Putin said of Mr. Zelensky in 2019. To join in Mr. Putin’s war, he has recruited prisoners, trashed the Russian military and competed with it for weapons. To join in Mr. Putin’s war, he has recruited prisoners, trashed the Russian military and competed with it for weapons. “I think this war is Putin’s grave.” Yevgeny Nuzhin, 55, a Russian prisoner of war held by Ukraine, in October.

Formal organizations like the Oath Keepers no longer define the American right-wing landscape. If Biden’s election was illegitimate, the Oath Keepers were ready to defend Trump’s legitimate one. And indeed, the trial has revealed the brazenness of the Oath Keepers, as well as some profound shifts happening in the American right. The evidence of a seditious conspiracy introduced in the Oath Keepers’ trial was damning, yet obvious. While certainly more polished, some of Masters’ talking points would not be out of place at an Oath Keepers meeting.

☆ ISIS 'matchmaker' called 'one of the most influential English-speaking terrorists of our time' on trial in NYC
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( Laura Italiano | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

ISIS 'Jamaican cleric' Shaikh Abdullah Faisal is on trial for terror in state court in Manhattan. The defense counters that Faisal's hate speeches and matchmaking for ISIS brides don't equal terror. Instead, he gave impassioned speeches in London and beyond about violent jihad, and played matchmaker for would-be ISIS brides. "Focus on the substance of this case," not all the "noise" about ISIS and terror, defense lawyer Alex Grosshtern told jurors. "The defendant in effect was ISIS before ISIS," which didn't declare a worldwide state, or "caliphate," until 2014, Galperin told jurors.

☆ Facebook's Meta and Russian oligarch sued by massacre victim's family accusing them of 'radicalizing' the Charleston church shooter: lawsuit
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-06 | by ( Sam Tabahriti | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A lawsuit named Facebook's Meta and a Russian oligarch and accused them of "radicalizing" a killer. The family of a state senator Dylann Roof killed in the 2015 Charleston massacre filed the suit. A judge sentenced Roof to death in 2017 after he shot and killed nine Black people. Prigozhin set up Wagner Group in 2014 – a Russian mercenary organization accused of committing war crimes and human rights abuses. The Russian billionaire, who reportedly confronted Russian President Vladimir Putin on the war in Ukraine, was once charged with interfering in US politics.

☆ Facebook's Meta and Russian oligarch are sued by massacre victim's family accusing them of 'radicalizing' the Charleston church massacre killer: lawsuit
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-06 | by ( Sam Tabahriti | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Facebook's Meta and Russian oligarch named in a lawsuit accusing them of "radicalizing" a killer. The family of a state senator who was killed in the 2015 Charleston massacre filed on Wednesday. Clementa Pinckney who was killed during the 2015 massacre, and their daughter filed the lawsuit on Wednesday, accusing Facebook and Yevgeny Prigozhin of exposing the killer to white supremacist propaganda, court papers show. Prigozhin set up Wagner Group in 2014 – a Russian mercenary organization accused of committing war crimes and human rights abuses. The Russian billionaire, who reportedly confronted Russian President Vladimir Putin on the war in Ukraine, was once charged with interfering in US politics.

☆ Violence, chauvinism, and no masturbation allowed: 'We Are Proud Boys' details the 4 tiers of membership in the extremist group
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-14 | by ( Charles R. Davis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

A new book, "We Are Proud Boys," details the four tiers of membership in the extremist organization. The top Proud Boy tier requires an arrest or a "serious violent fight," per founder Gavin McInnes. "The Proud Boys' actions," notes the Southern Poverty Law Center, "belie their disavowals of bigotry: Rank-and-file Proud Boys and leaders regularly spout white nationalist memes and maintain affiliations with known extremists." While Proud Boys are encouraged to boast of their membership, obfuscation is an essential part of being in the group. Tarrio was not in DC the day of the attack but, prosecutors allege, helped direct his fellow Proud Boys' actions from afar.

☆ How viral memes did the Taliban's work of helping them rebrand
▼ + stars: | 2021-08-31 | by ( Chris Stokel-Walker | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Since the Taliban took control of Kabul on Aug. 15, memes have helped soften the Taliban's image. Widely shared clips show Taliban fighters struggling to understand how gym equipment works and riding carousel horses. One image of Taliban fighters eating ice cream shared on Twitter by journalist Sami Yousafzai received 8.4 million impressions in a little over a week. Taliban fighters gather in the outskirts of Kabul to showcase and repair captured military equipment from defeated elite Afghan units on Aug. 16, 2021. Others are categorically not: a video purporting to be Taliban fighters celebrating by dancing to music was fact-checked as a fraud.

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