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Bookmark this video, and others, and put it into some kind of folder for when you need to remember why you fight. The next time you're questioning yourself after having been marginalized by your supposed allies or you've been labeled as a hair on fire radical fringe leftist or some ridiculous claim like that from status quo worshipping hyperpartisans... the next time you're smeared, pull this video out of your bookmarks and listen to it. There are many others that you can call upon for a quick reminder and refresher, rebalancer but here's a new one for your file. And by the way, this is why the hyperpartisan liberals hate Glenn Greenwald. He makes it very difficult to maintain the hypocritical, radical denial state of mind that they need to carry on with their hero worship and service of the 1% all while pretending to be smarter, savvier, and holier than thou. The so called pragmatists are nothing but a bunch of destructive frauds and videos like this are part of the proof. There are so many ways to prove this that I could easily post one every day but here's today's Proof that the "Pragmatists" are Frauds proof video. I could just make it the Daily PPF post.
Whatever. Don't miss this one. It's positively Greenwaldian, LOL. Bravo, Glenn. Bravo, Brave New Foundation. What is it about that Greenwald name anyway? Ha.
Glenn Greenwald On One Thing All Americans Should Agree Must Change
Reuters is reporting about the PR fiasco. JPMorgan's social media gurus never heard of #AskFixtheDebt apparently! Someone thought this would be a good idea.
Twitter troll swarm sends JPMorgan running
(Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase & Co canceled a question and answer session on Twitter with a veteran investment banker after being flooded with insults, highlighting the risks companies take as they experiment with social media marketing.
"Bad idea! Back to the drawing board," spokesman Brian Marchiony said by email on Wednesday evening after the event with bank executive Jimmy Lee was called off.
JPMorgan last week asked users of the popular microblogging site to send questions marked with the hashtag #AskJPM in advance of the session set for Thursday at 1 p.m. in New York.
Few questions appeared until Wednesday afternoon when responses started piling in. Some users simply made fun of the bank's attempt to use social media, but many others chose to insult executives or ask barbed questions about bank's recent legal problems and corporate responsibility.
At least one parody account emerged.
David Dayen is going to do the JPMorgan answers today at 1PM since #AskJPM was canceled.
And it still continues. A Twitter search shows that there are almost 1200 new #AskJPM tweets since I last looked before bed last night.
NYT. I think it's interesting when big news agencies report about things that happened on Twitter. I remember when Twitter itself was mocked mercilessly. It wasn't that long ago. Now Twitter is a beat. To be fair, journalists recognized the value of it almost from the start. But the Very Serious People didn't get it til much later. I think it's a hoot that big companies still don't get the fact that social media is for people not mega corps that try to invade every aspect of our lives and for right now anyway, social media is almost a level playing field. Can't have that! TPP will sort that out.
After Twitter #Fail, JPMorgan Calls Off Q. and A.
JPMorgan Chase helped take Twitter public last week. But on Wednesday evening, the banking giant got a taste of the social network’s power — in a very negative way.
The firm called off a question-and-answer session with James B. Lee Jr., its vice chairman and top deal maker, after Twitter users complied with its request for queries with a stream of ribald questions and hostile jokes.
Also note that the troll label is not what it used to be. Good trolling skills are a badge of honor when used for a good cause (or as a technique or pasttime in online gaming). When I first started reading the #AskJPM tweets I thought to myself, geez, I know about half of these "trolls" pretty well! It only takes a relative few with a decent amount of influence to get it started and there are a number of viral activities that happen on Twitter almost spontaneously. N00bs pick things up quickly. We're wired to do imitation pretty well after all. On dkos, on the other hand...
What exactly possesses PR people into thinking it's a wise idea to launch live "Twitter Q&As?"
Weeks after pro-austerity group "Fix the Debt" made us laugh, JP Morgan is the next brand to have their hashtag hijacked by Twitter trolls.
Jamie's Cryin'
Anyway, that was fun. Now in other news... :)
Scared Silent: NSA Surveillance has 'Chilling Effect' on American Writers
Recent disclosures of the NSA's widespread dragnet program coupled with its frequent targeting of journalists are having a 'chilling effect' on American writers, stifling their freedom of expression at great detriment to society, says a new report Chilling Effects: NSA Surveillance Drives U.S. Writers to Self Censor.
Published Tuesday by the group PEN America—an organization of writers dedicated to advancing literature and promoting free speech for writers around the world—surveyed 520 American writers and found they are "not only overwhelmingly worried about government surveillance, but are engaging in self-censorship as a result." ...
Journalists and nonfiction writers responding to the poll were overwhelmingly concerned over how best to protect their sources in this new climate of repressed press freedoms. Eighty-one percent of writers surveyed said they are "very concerned about government efforts to compel journalists to reveal sources of classified information, and another 15% are somewhat concerned."
"The NSA’s surveillance will damage the ability of the press to report on the important issues of our time," note the report authors, "if journalists refrain from contacting sources for fear that their sources will be found out and harmed, or if sources conclude that they cannot safely speak to journalists and thus stay silent."
Senate to Start Sweeping Intel Review This Month
A Senate aide told The Cable that the review will proceed in two stages. The first stage, which will begin before Thanksgiving, will examine "how the [intelligence community] receives orders" about what subjects they should be paying attention to. That will be followed by what the aide described as "a longer stage" that will examine how the agencies structure their programs to collect information on those subjects. The entire review is expected to take nine months. ...
By definition, any review of all intelligence collection programs could include not just the NSA but the CIA, numerous Defense Department and military intelligence agencies, and elements of the FBI. The last time the intelligence community was subjected to an expansive congressional review of its operations was during hearings chaired by Sen. Frank Church and Rep. Otis Pike in the mid-1970s. They investigated illegal activities at the NSA, CIA, and the FBI, including spying on political activists and U.S. government officials. The so-called Church-Pike hearings led to legal restrictions on intelligence agency activities inside the United States or directed at Americans overseas. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which governs NSA spying on Americans, resulted from the hearings.
If the revelations of NSA spying result in another major round of intelligence hearings in Congress, it could be the most pronounced and significant effect of the Snowden leaks. But important details about how the new inquiry will be conducted remain unclear. One former U.S. official questioned whether the committee even has enough staff members to launch a broad review, considering that many of them are already working on investigations into how former NSA contractor Edward Snowden disclosed thousands of pages of classified agency documents, and the operational consequences of those leaks.
How Private is Your Online Search History?
The ACLU has filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the Department of Justice to find out whether federal law enforcement agencies and prosecutors think they need a warrant to obtain people’s search queries from online search engine operators, or whether they think they can obtain it on a lower standard like a subpoena. ...
There are two kinds of information law enforcement might seek from a search engine: records of search queries entered by a particular person or persons; and a list of the names, IP addresses, or other identifying information for some or all people who have entered a particular query into the search engine’s webpage. Representatives of the two largest search engines, Google and Bing, have suggested that they think the government needs a warrant to get this information. But we don’t know what the government’s policies are, nor how the search engines have reacted when presented with a government request for users’ search query data. Other than a 2006 instance in which Google resisted an extremely broad Justice Department subpoena for search records, we don’t know of any cases where search engines have challenged government requests, in court or out. ...
The ACLU’s Freedom of Information Act request provides an opportunity for the government to explain whether it thinks it needs a warrant to obtain our private search histories, or whether its practices are at odds with the requirements of the Fourth Amendment.
John Kerry: world leaders have been understanding about NSA leaks
World leaders have been understanding about leaked revelations that the US spied on them as they know it was not all done under the orders of Barack Obama, the US secretary of state has said.
In an interview with the BBC, John Kerry said foreign governments understood the president did not personally authorise all the surveillance, which included tapping the mobile phone of the German chancellor, Angela Merkel.
Asked about the talks held with foreign leaders over the revelations, Kerry said they had been "very respectful, very understanding. We're all trying to find a way forward that respects privacy, rights, that fights terrorism, that doesn't interfere with people." ...
Kerry told the BBC: "The president has ordered a full review into what we're doing. People understand that the president didn't order all these things, this happened over a long period of time, it's been an evolutionary process, we now need to define it more effectively and that's what the president is setting out to do."
Afghan Gov’t Abandons Wardak Probe over Reported U.S. Stonewalling
The Afghan government has reportedly abandoned a probe into the killings of civilians after being refused access to the U.S. soldiers linked to the crimes. The investigation centers around the disappearances of 17 men seized by U.S. forces in Wardak province. The bodies of 10 of the victims were later found buried near a U.S. military base used by a unit called "The A-Team." A recent report in Rolling Stone magazine said the disappearances and killings could amount to some of the gravest war crimes perpetrated by U.S. forces since the U.S.-led invasion in 2001. According to Reuters, Afghan intelligence officers have stopped investigating after the U.S. military denied a request to interview U.S. Green Berets and their Afghan translators.
'State of Emergency': Iran, US relations sour with no nuclear deal & sanctions return
Supreme Court Hears Arguments on Neutrality Agreements
Today the Supreme Court will hear arguments on whether "neutrality agreements," where the employer promises not to fight the union, are really just a bribe, and therefore illegal.
As the legal system keeps choking organizing possibilities, it’s now a rare campaign in the private sector where the union doesn’t first extract a neutrality agreement to blunt the boss’s wrath.
Neutrality agreements create rules for union and employer behavior during organizing drives. Often an employer signs such an agreement only after years of targeted union pressure. The employer promises not to try to sway workers’ opinions, allowing them some breathing room when labor law is mostly on management’s side.
Such a deal may also include “card check” (the employer will recognize the union if a majority of workers say they want one) or improved rules for an NLRB-supervised vote, such as a quicker election.
Supreme Courts Considers Limiting the Right of Unions to Organize
Pittsburghers Try a Community Union
In the face of an awful economic climate and labor laws that too often favor employers, Pittsburghers are trying out a new organizing model: a rank-and-file community union.
The fledgling group brings union and non-union workers together to fight side by side on social justice issues and to seed workplace organizing committees through a Pittsburgh-flavored campaign called “Is Your Boss a Jagoff?” ...
Fight Back Pittsburgh operates similarly to a local union, with bylaws and an elected executive board. Members are active in six committees: communications, civil and human rights, fight back at work, membership, neighborhood action, and rapid response. ...
Some of the most exciting and innovative work is taking place in the Fight Back at Work Committee. The committee operates a Worker Justice Hotline, which it promotes through face-to-face conversations, its web and social media pages, and the “Is Your Boss a Jagoff?” campaign (playing off the popular Pittsburgh slang term).
Any worker who is running into problems at his or her workplace can call the hotline and speak with a committee member. Often, this turns into an opportunity for the worker to organize with co-workers to try to resolve—or at least improve—the situation.
For example, the hotline received several calls from workers at museums and libraries who are having their hours cut so their employers won’t have to offer health insurance. The workers decided to form an organizing committee called “Info Desk” and Fight Back at Work has been providing assistance.
Obama's record-breaking effort to tap wealthy donors for cash
A record-breaking fundraising spree by Barack Obama has seen him make 30 separate visits to wealthy donors since April, according to a Guardian investigation into campaign finance trips that are running at more than twice the rate of the president's two-term predecessors. ...
Travelling to the 30 fundraisers, mostly held in private mansions and luxury hotels across 10 cities, has also required him to clock up more than 20,000 miles on Air Force One at an estimated cost to the US taxpayer of more than $6m.
Obamacare mocked at Country Music Association awards
At the Country Music Association awards in Nashville, effectively the Grammys for country music, superstar hosts Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood performed a song skit mocking Obamacare, the Democrats' public health initiative that has proved hugely unpopular amongst conservatives.
Paisley, feigning a strained back, was attended to by Underwood who suggested he try Obamacare: "I started signing up last Thursday and I'm almost done!" They then launched into Obamacare By Morning, a spoof of George Straight's country classic Amarillo by Morning, attacking the initiative's slow service and inefficiency.
joe shikspack asks: "Is anybody out there going to be near Philadelphia Nov. 22nd feeling like raising a little hell and asking some probing questions?" I say "Hell yes". Occupy Wall Street in Philly is on this one too.
Library to Feature Mercenary Leader in New Speaker Series
[T]he Free Library of Philadelphia is bringing Blackwater’s founder, Erik Prince, to town to talk about how Blackwater guards are awesome. ... Tickets to the events are $40 apiece.
Prince will speak on Nov. 22. He’ll be promoting his new book, Civilian Warriors: The Inside Story of Blackwater and the Unsung Heroes of the War on Terror. We’ll assume the “unsung heroes” aren’t the ones who kill lots of civilians, but who do make $1.5 billion over eight years providing security to government agencies apparently unable to fend for themselves.
I hate it when the crazy GOP are the only ones doing the sane thing. They are also apparently going after Eric Holder.
Now Even Some GOP Members Reject Fast-Tracking A Bad Trade Deal
Giant corporations are trying to get Congress to give up its Constitutional obligation to consider and amend a trade treaty that requires our country to give up its sovereignty. Many organizations and legislators — including many Republicans — don’t appear to be falling for this one. ...
Fast Track Trade Promotion Authority (TPA), if passed by Congress, bypasses the Constitutional obligation of Congress to oversee and carefully consider trade agreements. If Fast Track passes, Congress must vote on whatever trade agreement is handed to them without amendment, in a rush with little discussion, and with an “up or down” vote. Period. This enables the corporations to launch a carefully-timed massively-funded media-hysteria shock and awe campaign to make it appear that the public is demanding this treaty be passed, and to swamp any ability to oppose it. ...
Tuesday a group of 22 Republican members of the House circulated a letter opposing Fast Track TPA. In the letter the Representatives declare, “we do not agree to cede our constitutional authority to the executive through an approval of a request for ‘Fast Track Trade Promotion Authority.’ ”
On Wednesday a group of Democratic house members will announce and circulate a similar letter. (Last year more than 130 Democratic members of the House signed a DeLauro/Miller letter asking for transparency and Congressional consultation on TPP. No transparency and consultation has been forthcoming.)
Talk about trolls. But Obama and Holder have made it very difficult to defend their DoJ. But of all the things to go after the DoJ on, they of course choose some wingnut cases. They do cite journalist wiretapping but it looks like they only cite the case of the Fox News journo.
House Republicans to call for Eric Holder impeachment
A group of hard-line conservative House Republicans will introduce a resolution on Thursday calling for the impeachment of Attorney General Eric Holder.
But there is no sign yet that Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) or other House GOP leaders will act on the measure.
Rep. Pete Olson (R-Texas) and 10 other House Republicans — including Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann and Florida Rep. Ted Yoho — have drafted four articles of impeachment against Holder. These include allegations that Holder violated federal law by refusing to comply with a congressional subpoena over the botched Fast and Furious “gun-walking” program; “failed to enforce multiple laws, including the Defense of Marriage Act, the Controlled Substances Act, and the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986,”; did not prosecute IRS employees over allegations the agency improperly handled the applications for non-profit status by conservative political groups; and mislead Congress over whether he was aware of a search warrant issued for the e-mails of FOX News reporter James Rosen.
Action
Stop Watching Us.
The revelations about the National Security Agency's surveillance apparatus, if true, represent a stunning abuse of our basic rights. We demand the U.S. Congress reveal the full extent of the NSA's spying programs.
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