Keyboard Warriors | Fire, Fury, And FEAR | Keeping Up With The Kremlin

‘PowerPoint makes us stupid.’ – Jim Mattis

“A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both.” – Dwight Eisenhower

Libya’s Keyboard Warriors Wage War on Facebook: Libya is a sparsely populated, violently fractured country torn by a number of armed groups vying for territory and legitimacy. The fighting isn’t just between rival militias on the streets; “keyboard warriors” post fake news, hateful ethnic rhetoric, and battlefield guidance, including maps and coordinates, on their Facebook pages. Global scrutiny is finally focused on the social media site for how it is used to amplify political manipulation and violence. The company began removing misinformation from its pages in July, in response to violent episodes in Sri Lanka, Myanmar and India against ethnic minorities resulting from on-line rumors and propaganda. But illegal activity is still rife on Libyan Facebook, with military-grade weapons being openly traded and human traffickers advertising their migrant-smuggling businesses.

On Wednesday the Senate Intelligence Committee will question Facebook COO, Sheryl Sandberg, and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey. Sandberg is expected to defend the company’s ongoing efforts to limit disinformation and hate speech. Facebook has insisted it is aggressively policing its Libyan platform, by employing teams of Arabic-speaking content reviewers to enforce its policies, and developing artificial intelligence to preemptively remove prohibited content. But such controls are not difficult to circumvent. Users often take screenshots of contentious posts, and redistribute them as images if the original text is removed.

Russian Air Strikes: On Tuesday Russian jets carried out roughly 30 air strikes on about 16 rebel-held areas in the northwestern Syrian provinces of Idib and Latakia, and on the Sahl al-Ghab plain. The bombings were the first in 22 days. (BBC)

Keeping Up With The Kremlin: Russian TV viewers were treated to a delightful new reality show on state-TV Sunday night. The hour-long premier of “Moscow. Kremlin. Putin” shows the president talking to gifted teenagers about the inner workings of diplomacy, attending the funeral of a dearly-departed crooner, hiking up a mountain in Siberia, collecting wild berries in his chest pocket, and watching wildlife as he mutters under his breath, “They’re not afraid of us.” Think “Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood” meets “The Devil’s Advocate.” (WaPo)

Whales Are Friends, Not Food, Oil, Bones, Etc: Japan is opening a new bid to resume commercial whaling operations right before the International Whaling Commission holds its global conference in Brazil next week. Say goodbye to elephants, and whales. (WaPo)

Please Ignore Our Boss: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis are traveling to New Delhi where they will meet with their Indian counterparts on Thursday. They have a big job to do— reassure India the US isn’t as unpredictable as its president. (WaPo)

Video Game Nearsighted: Up to 90 percent of young adults in China, Hong Kong and Singapore are myopic. China is blaming the nearsightedness on video games, but pediatric ophthalmologists aren’t seeing the evidence. (WaPo)

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Fire, Fury, And FEAR: CNN and the Washington Post revealed excerpts Tuesday from Bob Woodward’s explosive new book about the Trump White House. Set for release on September 11, “FEAR” is based on in-depth interviews with those in and around the West Wing, and details a dysfunctional White House in which Trump is an unpredictable boss not respected by top aides. Examples include current chief of staff, John Kelly, quoted calling Trump an “idiot” and “unhinged” and describing his White House role as the worst job he ever had; former economic adviser Gary Cohn saying he stole a letter off Trump’s desk to keep him from formally withdrawing from the US trade deal with South Korea; and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis being exasperated with Trump’s limited intelligence and complaining that Trump has the understanding of a “fifth- or sixth-grader.” Here’s the thing—when Omarosa reports it, people can legitimately roll their eyes. This, however, is Bob Woodward. (NPR)

Just Do It…Or Don’t…Or Maybe Do…Or: Colin Kaepernick has been a divisive force in the US since he started kneeling during the National Anthem to protest police brutality in America. In the two years since the peaceful protests began, Kaepernick has left the NFL. This week Nike announced that Colin would be featured in their 30th anniversary advertising campaign. Kaepernick tweeted the ad on Monday (which features his face and the quote, “Believe in something, even if it means sacrificing everything.”) and there has been a dramatically mixed public reception. Some people love it, some people are burning their shoes. (NPR)

Bannon Goes Far-Right-Off The Stage: Steve Bannon has been a divisive force in the US since he started being a hateful bigoted cesspool of anger. On Monday, The New Yorker editor, David Remnick announced he would be interviewing the angry bag of hot air and dirty laundry at The New Yorker Festival. However after some high profile celebrities like John Mulaney, Judd Apatow, and Jim Carrey dropped out due to Bannon’s inclusion, Remnick decided to cancel Bannon’s appearance. This was met with mixed reviews. Many praising The New Yorker for changing their minds and others viewing this as an attack on free speech. (NPR)

– “Former Sen. Jon Kyl To Replace The Late John McCain In Senate: Kyl, 76, served three terms in the Senate, rising to become the No. 2 Republican before retiring in 2013.” (NPR)

– “Today’s College Students Aren’t Who You Think They Are: Today’s college student is decidedly nontraditional — and has been for a while.” (NPR)

– “Amazon becomes world’s second company to be valued at $1tn” Let’s see Apple deliver a pair of socks, a lawn chair, and a PS2 to your house in just 2 days. (Guardian)

– “Eight bird species are first confirmed avian extinctions this decade: Most of the extinctions were caused by deforestation in South America, a new study of endangered birds shows” The birds and the bees need to start living up to their names. (Guardian)

– “‘Everybody fits in’: inside the Canadian cities where minorities are the majority: In ‘majority-minority’ cities such as Markham and Brampton, diversity isn’t aspirational; it’s a fact. But how does integration work?” (Guardian)

– “Geoffrey Owens, actor and Trader Joe’s employee, sparked a debate about how we value work: The actor, who played Elvin on the Cosby Show, said he hopes the conversation around how we value menial labor will continue.” (Vox)

– “The Rise of the Zombie Small Businesses: What your chicken dinner says about wage stagnation, income inequality, and economic sclerosis in the United States” That’s the weirdest Buzzfeed quiz ever. (Atlantic)

– “Judy Garland’s stolen ruby slippers found after 13 years: A pair of ruby slippers worn by Judy Garland in The Wizard of Oz has been found 13 years after being stolen, according to US authorities.” But did they find the Tin Man’s heart? (BBC)

– “How China’s giant solar farms are transforming world energy: China is not only home to some of the biggest solar farms; its technology looks set to influence energy policy across the globe. But how feasible are these grand plans?” (BBC)

– “When Postpartum Depression Doesn’t Go Away: For 38 percent of sufferers, the condition becomes chronic, and mothers who expected it to pass as their children aged can struggle to find effective treatments.” (Atlantic)

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