Leaked Docs Reveal How China's 'Army Of Paid Internet Trolls' Helped Censor COVID-19
by Tyler Durden Friday, Dec 25, 2020 - 13:20
In the early hours of Feb. 7, China’s powerful internet censors experienced an unfamiliar and deeply unsettling sensation. They felt they were losing control.
The news was spreading quickly that Li Wenliang, a doctor who had warned about a strange new viral outbreak only to be threatened by the police and accused of peddling rumors, had died of COVID-19. Grief and fury coursed through social media. To people at home and abroad, Li’s death showed the terrible cost of the Chinese government’s instinct to suppress inconvenient information.
Yet China’s censors decided to double down. Warning of the “unprecedented challenge” Li’s passing had posed and the “butterfly effect” it may have set off, officials got to work suppressing the inconvenient news and reclaiming the narrative, according to confidential directives sent to local propaganda workers and news outlets.
They ordered news websites not to issue push notifications alerting readers to his death. They told social platforms to gradually remove his name from trending topics pages. And they activated legions of fake online commenters to flood social sites with distracting chatter, stressing the need for discretion: “As commenters fight to guide public opinion, they must conceal their identity, avoid crude patriotism and sarcastic praise, and be sleek and silent in achieving results.”
Special instructions were issued to manage anger over Dr. Li’s death.
The orders were among thousands of secret government directives and other documents that were reviewed by The New York Times and ProPublica. They lay bare in extraordinary detail the systems that helped the Chinese authorities shape online opinion during the pandemic.
At a time when digital media is deepening social divides in Western democracies, China is manipulating online discourse to enforce the Communist Party’s consensus. To stage-manage what appeared on the Chinese internet early this year, the authorities issued strict commands on the content and tone of news coverage, directed paid trolls to inundate social media with party-line blather and deployed security forces to muzzle unsanctioned voices.
Though China makes no secret of its belief in rigid internet controls, the documents convey just how much behind-the-scenes effort is involved in maintaining a tight grip. It takes an enormous bureaucracy, armies of people, specialized technology made by private contractors, the constant monitoring of digital news outlets and social media platforms — and, presumably, lots of money.
https://www.zerohedge.com/covid-19/leaked-docs-reveal-how-chinas-army-paid-internet-trolls-helped-censor-covid-19
Veteran and Family Receive Mortgage-Free Home for Christmas: ‘We Are Truly Blessed’
by Amy Furr 25 Dec 2020
''A veteran and his family in Tarboro, North Carolina, settled into their mortgage-free home Wednesday thanks to two generous organizations.''
Retired U.S. Marine Corps Staff Sergeant Clint Myatt and his wife, Jacki, did not think homeownership was possible until they received the keys to the house donated by Wells Fargo and the Military Warriors Support Foundation, the Associated Press (AP) reported.
But that was not the only surprise they got for Christmas this year.
When the Myatt’s and their six kids stepped into the home, they found furniture, gifts, a pantry filled with food, and money to help with moving expenses.
“This home is perfect for us. It’s close to a community college that offers courses I need to transition into my new civilian career of being a nuclear medicine technician,” said Myatt, who is a Purple Heart recipient.
The veteran was badly injured during his second deployment in Afghanistan in 2010 when his vehicle struck an improvised explosive device:
After several days in the hospital, Myatt was moved to the Wounded Warriors Recovery Center where he was awarded the Purple Heart. Myatt returned to take back his platoon a few weeks later and finished the deployment as planned. He then was deployed once more and, upon his return, was assigned to domestic posts before he retired in 2018.
“We are honored and excited to present Sgt. Myatt and his family with a home for the holidays,” said Eileen Fitzgerald, who is head of housing affordability philanthropy at Wells Fargo.
“Having a safe and affordable place to call home is an essential pathway for wellness, dignity, and economic opportunity, and we will continue to create opportunities for veteran families to have a sanctuary,” she continued.
The Military Warriors Support Foundation shared a photo of the Myatt family outside their home:
“On December 24, my wife Jacki and I, will celebrate 17 years of marriage. This home is a Christmas and anniversary gift all in one. We are truly blessed!” Myatt said in expressing his thanks.
https://www.breitbart.com/local/2020/12/25/veteran-family-receive-mortgage-free-home-christmas-we-are-truly-blessed/
Rev. Franklin Graham: ‘Pray God’ Spares the Nation ‘from the Evil Before Us’
by Dr. Susan Berry 25 Dec 2020
''On Christmas Eve evangelical leader Rev. Franklin Graham asked Christians to pray that America will be spared “from the evil that is before us.”''
A supporter of President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence, Graham asked his Twitter followers to pray for the president, that God will grant him “wisdom in the coming days.”
On Saturday he posted to Facebook that Trump “has been maligned, falsely accused, and attacked on every front since before the election in 2016.”
“When President Trump says that this election has been rigged or stolen, I tend to believe him,” he wrote. “He has a track record of being right.”
The president of international aid charity Samaritan’s Purse, Graham also acknowledged the effects of the coronavirus lockdowns in an op-ed at Fox News.
“This is a Christmas unlike any other,” he wrote, one that finds many Americans filled with “fear and anxiety.”
“Large family gatherings and office parties have been replaced with grim lockdowns, quarantines and isolation,” he observed. “What used to be the warmest and most welcoming time of the year can now feel sterile and cold.”
The Christian leader also noted that while there is hope in new vaccines to combat the infection caused by the coronavirus, still “there isn’t a vaccine on Earth that can protect us from worry, depression, or fear.”
The only way to heal a “sick spirit,” Graham said, is “to find healing for deep, spiritual needs, and that’s in Jesus Christ – the hope of Christmas.”
Jesus, he continued, is “the only cure for a disease of the heart that has infected all mankind – sin.”
God’s “rescue mission to save us from our sins,” Graham said, happened on that first Christmas morning.
“When Christ was born of a virgin in the town of Bethlehem on that first Christmas morning, true hope was born for you and me,”he explained, adding:
While everything else may lock down, isn’t it reassuring to know there is a God who never shuts down? He will never isolate or leave those who trust in him alone.
“This is the good news of Christmas,” Graham wrote. “Jesus Christ changed the world on that first Christmas day and he has the power to change your life today and for all eternity.”
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2020/12/25/rev-franklin-graham-pray-god-spares-the-nation-from-the-evil-before-us/
Christmas Eve Earthquake
M 6.3 - 1 km SSW of Calatagan, Philippines
USGS Magnitude 2.5+ Earthquakes, Past Day
https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/map/?currentFeatureId=us6000d2ra&extent=-53.95609,-278.78906&extent=81.36129,88.94531
Handel: Messiah,For unto us a child is born
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MS3vpAWW2Zc
Hallelujah Chorus
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXh7JR9oKVE
Remember when we didn't have to wear masks.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7baFMmSv4k
CCP Virus
This is old and happened many months ago.