Tag: alex jones

8/15/18: What’s going on in Turkey

Tensions have continued to rise between the US and Turkey.  At the center of the dispute is a US pastor who was arrested as part of retaliation for a failed coup in Turkey in 2016.  Andrew Brunson is being held under house arrest and charged with espionage, but the US denies all charges.  To get Brunson back, Trump has used tariffs as more than just economic retaliation for another country’s tariffs, but is now using them for diplomatic pressure as well.  Turkey’s court of appeals refused to release Brunson this week.

Trump hits Turkey with tariffs, Turkey responds in kind over detained pastor

In an update to a story we brought you a few days ago, there are now over 200 papers in the US set to write anti-Trump editorials to supposedly prove that they are unbiased and don’t deserve to ever be called out for fake news.  Media outlets led by CNN’s cry baby Jim Acosta and the Boston Globe have feared that the “fake news” label on news that isn’t true is going to cause violence against the media.

Meanwhile, as we reported on our Facebook page yesterday, CNN’s Chris Cuomo made a feeble attempt to ask Antifa to cool it when it comes to actually physically assaulting members of the media.  Cuomo’s rambling charge against Antifa seemed to suggest that they were ok to be violent as long as it was against bigots, but that they really ought to leave the press and the cops alone.  He ignored their attacks on non-white supremacist Trump supporters who happened to be in the area and were assaulted.

200+ Media outlets set to attack Trump to show they aren’t biased

Twitter has joined the ranks of social media platforms in banning Alex Jones, but only for a short period of time after he violated one of their rules with a video he linked to.  Twitter had stated that they would not ban him unless he violated one of their rules.  The current restriction is temporary.  Jones has gotten a lot of mileage out of the bans on other social media platforms.  Alex Jones’ site, Infowars, tends to be a cesspool of conspiracy theory and Jones’ lawyer admitted in a recent court battle that he is “playing a character” in his role as a media personality.

At Political Brief, we don’t follow Alex Jones.  We support his right to free speech and expression, but we also support the right of private businesses to make the economic decision to discriminate when it comes to hosting private individuals.  Consumers will need to decide for themselves if blocking Alex Jones is enough to get them to leave those social media platforms.  It also is a good caution to consumers to remember that political commentators have an agenda.  Be sure to double check sources and treat any political story with skepticism, whether it’s Alex Jones or Jim Acosta.  Also, know that Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, and other platforms are privately run and push content to you.  The best way to navigate politics online is to do your research and find people you trust.

Twitter restricts Alex Jones after video violation

Need to Know 8/7/18

Yesterday we wrote about a California politician saying the state needs to regulate every aspect of our lives.  Today it’s Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy applauding the removal of Alex Jones from the internet.  I’m not an Alex Jones fan, I think half the stuff he puts out is fake news and the other half is sensationalized news.  He’s on par with CNN.  But Murphy went on to say something scary.  Murphy tweeted that the censorship of internet sites by the major corporations like Facebook and Youtube is what our democracy depends on.

I’m going to disagree with Murphy and suggest that freedom of speech, political expression, and freedom of association are what our democracy depends on.  Our founders seemed to agree when they wrote the bill of rights.  Companies can do whatever they want with their own internet platforms.  But it’s scary to see a US Senator cheer on big corporate censorship of political views.

Democrat Senator suggests internet censorship will save our democracy

It’s always fun to go back and read the climate change predictions from the past and see how they have failed to materialize.  On the first Earth Day, everyone figured climate change would wipe out the planet by 2000.  Obviously that didn’t happen, but the predictions went on.  Climate change predictions have become a great way for one side to use fear mongering to pass their agenda.  Republicans have been wrongly accused of wanting dirty air and dirty water.  Here’s a link to an article highlighting some of the failed predictions since 2000.

2018 and the planet is still here

We are back to not accepting a nuclear Iran.  After canceling the Iranian nuke deal made by Obama, without congressional approval, Trump gave Iran months to come to the table and renegotiate.  After Iran’s refusal, Trump is now reinstating the Obama era sanctions in two stages.  the first stage went into effect yesterday, the second is coming in November.  Trump has also issued an ultimatum to our trading partners that the US will not deal with countries who deal with Iran.  The pressure is back on for Iran to abandon their nuclear ambitions, although they now have billions more to work with thanks to Obama’s attempt at a legacy.

Trump reinstates Iranian sanctions over Iran’s refusal to negotiate new nuke deal

Several states go to the polls today for the midterm primaries.  Media outlets like CNN have chosen a special election in Ohio to focus on as their indication of how the blue wave is doing.  The special election is for a state senate seat and will be re-decided in November, so frankly we don’t care.  I’m looking more closely at the Missouri primary.  This will be an indication of any strides made by the Libertarian party in influencing the future of conservative politics.  Libertarian-turned-Republican Austin Petersen chose to run within the Republican primary rather than as a third party candidate.  A long shot win by the champion of liberty could set the tone for future incursions into the GOP by Libertarian hopefuls.  The Freedom Caucus has shown it can be done, and many Libertarians have grown wary of their own party that nominated perpetually high Gary Johnson and old school RINO Bill Weld in the 2016 Presidential race.

Libertarian candidate hopes for upset in GOP primary