Part one of 2

The companies that make up the world of Big Tech have some competition coming with the creation and rising popularity of new apps Parler and Triller.

As the push for fairness in Big Tech continues from President Donald Trump and others, companies such as Parler and Triller are looking to topple social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and TikTok from the top.

Parler was launched in 2018 as an alternative to Twitter and Facebook by University of Denver graduates John Matze and Jared Thomson. The point of the app? Free speech.

“There are going to be no fact checkers,” Matze told Forbes in an interview published in June. “You’re not going to be told what to think and what to say. A police officer isn’t going to arrest you if you say the wrong opinion. I think that’s all people want. That’s what they like.”

Parler reportedly has two million users compared to Twitter’s 330 million monthly active users and Facebook’s 2.6 billion monthly active users, according to Statista. The app is free and allows users to share posts containing 1,000 characters.

Triller was created in 2015 and is similar to TikTok, but not quite the same. Triller is marketed as a music-video creator and uses AI technology to edit users’ footage together. On Aug. 2, Triller was ranked as the number one app in all categories in the App store in 50 countries, according to a press release shared by the company.

The app has been downloaded over 250 million times and saw a 20x increase in downloads over the last week of July, the press release stated. (RELATED: Patriotic Capitalism! This U.S. Company Takes The Fight To Tik Tok)

The increase in downloads comes as TikTok has come into President Trump’s focus over the past weeks. National security experts have warned TikTok, which is owned by the Chinese company ByteDance, could be a risk to the U.S. due to its ties to China.

“As far as TikTok is concerned, we’re banning them from the United States,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One, CNN Business reported on Aug. 1. “Well, I have that authority.”

A spokesperson claimed U.S. users’ data is not stored in China and TikTok would resist any attempts by Beijing to obtain the data.

“TikTok US user data is stored in the US, with strict controls on employee access,” spokesperson Hilary McQuaide told CNN Business. “TikTok’s biggest investors come from the US. We are committed to protecting our users’ privacy and safety as we continue working to bring joy to families and meaningful careers to those who create on our platform.”

Most recently, Trump signed a pair of executive orders banning individuals from communicating with TikTok’s parent company for the next 45 days as of Aug. 6. (RELATED: Trump Signs Pair Of Late Night Executive Orders Banning Communications With TikTok, WeChat Parent Companies)

As previously reported, Trump’s executive orders bar “any transaction by any person, or with respect to any property, subject to the jurisdiction of the United States,” with ByteDance and Tencent Holdings, parent companies of TikTok and WeChat, respectively. The orders ban individuals from communicating with the parent companies for 45 days.

Before Trump set his sights on banning TikTok and the alleged national security threat, he was focused on the issues plaguing the other Big Tech companies including censorship and fairness.

https://dailycaller.com/2020/08/08/start-up-social-media-triller-parler-big-tech-twitter-tik-tok-facebook-censorship-antitrust/?fbclid=IwAR28edNdXOrggbHo86pJSYqGLazdO9KZoSOS5YzsjbvBesm1uc6jizdcZIo

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Part 2 of 2

As previously reported, Trump’s executive orders bar “any transaction by any person, or with respect to any property, subject to the jurisdiction of the United States,” with ByteDance and Tencent Holdings, parent companies of TikTok and WeChat, respectively. The orders ban individuals from communicating with the parent companies for 45 days.

Before Trump set his sights on banning TikTok and the alleged national security threat, he was focused on the issues plaguing the other Big Tech companies including censorship and fairness.

The president signed an executive order in May to roll back Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act which protects “interactive computer services” from being treated as a publisher of a third party after two of his tweets were fact-checked by Twitter.

“Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube wield immense, if not unprecedented, power to shape the interpretation of public events; to censor, delete, or disappear information; and to control what people see or do not see,” the executive order stated.

“Immunity should not extend beyond its text and purpose to provide protection for those who purport to provide users a forum for free and open speech, but in reality use their power over a vital means of communication to engage in deceptive or pretextual actions stifling free and open debate by censoring certain viewpoints,” it continued.

Trump claimed Twitter has had “unchecked power” to censor and called the fact-checking “political activism.”

President Trump has also gone after Big Tech for reportedly committing antitrust violations. As previously reported, he threatened to sign executive orders that would “bring fairness” to Big Tech in July.

“If Congress doesn’t bring fairness to Big Tech, which they should have done years ago, I will do it myself with Executive Orders,” Trump tweeted before the Big Tech CEOs were set to testify in front of Congress. “In Washington, it has been ALL TALK and NO ACTION for years, and the people of our Country are sick and tired of it!”

Could all of this chaos help apps like Triller and Parler climb to the top?

https://dailycaller.com/2020/08/08/start-up-social-media-triller-parler-big-tech-twitter-tik-tok-facebook-censorship-antitrust/?fbclid=IwAR28edNdXOrggbHo86pJSYqGLazdO9KZoSOS5YzsjbvBesm1uc6jizdcZIo

The Perils of Pretending a War is Something Else, Time to end the charade.

If you haven’t noticed yet, our political life is rapidly descending into a series of charades with the potential for catastrophe. In case you think that a “charade” is just a parlor game, here is a dictionary definition: “an absurd pretense intended to create a pleasant or respectable appearance.” The peril created by false appearances in the current political climate is blindness in the face of the evil that threatens us.

Is there a person of sound mind in the entire country – Democrat or Republican – who thinks Joe Biden is mentally up to the job of leading a deeply divided nation, coping with a pandemic and facing threats from nuclear enemies like Russia and China, or terrorist regimes like Iran? Daily now, we are watching an already impaired individual, closeted in a basement, mentally deteriorating in front of our eyes, with a national election only three months away. And not one national figure is shouting “WTF?! What are the consequences for our country if we continue this charade?”

The mere fact that Biden’s candidacy to be commander-in-chief is supported by a major political party, whose leaders are appear before TV cameras daily reassuring voters his candidacy is normal – the mere fact of this absurdity should alarm every decent American who cares about our future. The reassurance by Democrats and their pundits – without a single objector - that Biden has the knowledge, experience and yah-da-da to stand up to the destructive leftists he is now allied with, or to defend the nation against its enemies or to lead us through all the crises we facet, is even scarier than the extreme policies – open borders for instance – that he has already endorsed.

Here’s an equally scary current charade: the straight-faced claim by Democrat leaders and their media enablers that there are only “peaceful protests” in the streets of our 400 torched cities - no riots, looting and arsons, no rioters, looters and arsonists associated with Black Lives Matter and Antifa communists. Instead, the denial that the mayhem which has injured thousands and cost more than a dozen lives are only possible because of the support of lawless Democrat mayors and city councils who are preoccupied with disarming the police. Or the accusation by top Democrats that federal security officials sent to protect federal courthouses from immolation are actually “Stormtroopers” (Pelosi), or “Gestapo” and “terrorists” (Clyburn).

In regard to this “peaceful protesters” charade by the Democrats, Martin Luther King led actual peaceful protests openly committed to non-violence. His marchers wore suits not Ninja outfits, helmets and flak jackets, did not loot stores, or torch buildings or blind people with lasers, or physically attack police with explosives and clubs. It is true that the nightly violent protests (about which Democrats are still in denial) were often preceded by non-violent marches in the day. But how difficult would it be for a non-violent protest leader to assert the principle of non-violence, as Martin Luther King and his supporters did, dissociate themselves from the violent protests, and select places to protest that were socially distanced from the rioters and looters, and therefore did not provide cover for the criminals? The fact that there have been no serious attempts by “peaceful protesters” to denounce the violence and the organizations that perpetrated it – speaks volumes to the effect that they consider themselves allies of the rioters and share their agendas. Defunding the police, leaving the most vulnerable in society without protection against criminals is the goal of rioters, arsonists, looters, and so-called “peaceful protesters.” The charade protects the criminals and their crimes.

Republicans collude in these dangerous charades. Democrat leaders like Pelosi call Republicans Nazis, Russian agents, traitors. And Republicans respond: “Democrats are playing politics.” No they’re not. This is not the language of politics; it’s the language of war. It’s designed to destroy you. From the moment Trump emerged as victor in 2016, Democrats declared war on the president and therefore America, whose duly elected commander-in-chief he was. They also declared war on everyone associated with the White House and supporting its agendas. Republicans need to wake up. The most important decision they can make as we approach the November elections is to end the charade, accept that it is a war we are facing, and return the Democrats’ fire with fire.

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2020/08/perils-pretending-war-something-else-david-horowitz/

Part one of 2

Austin Voted to Defund the Police, its Murder Rate Rose 67%, Defund the police and the death rate will follow

The Austin City Council voted unanimously to defund the police.

"We don't need somebody who's a sworn officer and a gun in order to be able to accomplish what the community needs done," Mayor Steve Adler falsely claimed.

Austin's proposed budget targeted millions in cuts. These included 100 vacant police positions, delaying the next cadet class, delaying the replacement of duty weapons, and there were proposals by some Democrats council members to shut down the police academy, cut the bomb squad budget, and even demolish the city’s downtown police headquarters.

The proposed budget also includes a 3.5% tax increase.

Politicians limited the ability of police officers to use force against criminals and barred them from using pepper spray and tear gas against the violent mobs of Black Lives Matter rioters.

Now Austin is number one with a bullet after its homicide rate increase passed every major city.

Overtaking more violent cities like Chicago, left behind at number two, Philly at number six, and New York at number eight, Austin had the highest percentage homicide rate increase. Like the ‘Miracle on Ice’ in the 1980 Winter Olympics, Austin is the underdog that came from behind to blow everyone away with its ability to rack up bodies even faster than vegan soy hot dogs.

Austin’s percentage rate increased 64% over the year and 67% in June.

It just goes to show that even an underperforming bunch of criminals can really accomplish great things when the politicians get behind them and get the cops off their backs. If you don’t believe that defunding the police works, just stop by an Austin morgue.

Adelaido Bernabe Urias, a 68-year-old Mexican immigrant, was pushing his ice cream cart past a housing project when Marquis Davis, Jermaine Jones, and Devlon Wardy, allegedly pretended they wanted to buy ice cream from him, demanded money, and then shot the elderly man.

When some Karen called the police, the dying Mexican ice cream vendor told officers that he had been shot by three black men becoming an accomplice to the system of racist policing.

The perps were caught after the Austin Greater Crime Commission and the Austin Police Association, who had spoken out against police defunding, put up the reward money.

The Austin Justice Coalition, advocates for police defunding, didn't bother contributing their funds to catching Urias’ murderers. His life was not the kind of life that ‘matters’ to them.

Jermaine Jones had posted a photo with a gun on his Facebook page before the murder.

The police had busted Marquis Davis a few days before the murder for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, but fortunately they let him go because the enlightened progressives of Austin understand that bail is racist and criminals must be freed from prison so they don’t get sick.

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2020/08/austin-voted-defund-police-its-murder-rate-rose-67-daniel-greenfield/

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Part 2 of 2

Davis didn’t catch the Wuhan Virus in prison. Instead he may have killed someone’s grandpa.

The thug was freed with an ankle monitor. Pro-crime progressives insist that an ankle monitor is just as good as locking up a criminal behind bars. Urias could not be reached for comment.

The Mexican immigrant started selling ice cream after being laid off during the pandemic. Now the ice cream man is gone. And that’s the price we pay for a society that is kinder to criminals and crueler to their victims. We can have ice cream men or criminals on the loose, but not both.

There is lots of good news from Austin.

Not only were murders up 67% in June, but justifiable homicides had gone up 200%. When you defund the police, some people won't lie down and die for the thugs.

Robberies were up 50%, aggravated assaults were up 10%, and incest was up 100%.

Over the year so far, extortion is up 113%, stolen property is up 71%, prostitution is up 138%, and bribery is up 100%. How these may be interrelated is left as an exercise for the reader.

Between the incest and the extortion, the robberies and the bribery, the stolen property and prostitution, things are great. And that’s before defunding the police has even really kicked in.

Austin progressives have finally made sure that the police won’t be shooting anyone.

Like Maurice Pierce, who was shot and killed at a traffic spot ten years ago after he grabbed a knife from a police officer's belt and cut him. Pierce had been one of the suspects in Austin's infamous yogurt shop murders, in which the charred naked bodies of four teenage girls were found in a burned shop. After the latest police reform measures, Pierce would still be alive.

None of this has caused advocates of defunding the police to rethink their position.

"The City has started down the path toward ending this injustice but we have further to go and we must stay the course to redefine public safety in Austin," City Manager Spencer Cronk had boasted.

It’s safe to say that public safety in Austin has been redefined. And staying the course will really redefine it. Defunding the police has helped put Austin alongside Chicago on the growth list of homicides. And while Austin is still lagging its older more murderous brother by a lot, violence is a growth industry and the hipster hellhole is showing real promise.

Austin's Democrat leaders have claimed that they are just giving the "community" what it wants. But most Austin residents are opposed to defunding the police and getting rid of cops.

A poll by the Greater Austin Crime Commission found that 53% of city residents don't want a reduction in the number of cops. Nearly half of city residents think that Austin is on the wrong track and only a third think it's going the right way. The right way being straight to hell.

But as long as they keep voting for radicals, nothing will change. Except for the worse.

Before this year, playing a word association game with Austin would have produced answers like, “annoying hipsters", "vegan bakeries", and "obscure indie bands."

Now that word association game has another answer: murder.

Defund the police and the death rate will follow.

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2020/08/austin-voted-defund-police-its-murder-rate-rose-67-daniel-greenfield/