Dems Plan Resolution Condemning Anti-Semitism After 2nd Ilhan Omar Outburst

Following yet another reportedly "anti-semitic" remark by Minnesota Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, one of two Muslim women elected to Congress last fall, Democrats in the House are reportedly planning a resolution to officially condemn anti-semitism (which these days seems to be any form of Israel bashing), and could vote on the measure as soon as Wednesday, according to Bloomberg.

The resolution was written over the weekend in a collaboration between staffers from the offices of Nancy Pelosi, Steny Hoyer Eliot Engel and Jerry Nadler, though one aid said the text hadn't been finalized, and another aid no final decisions about the measure had been made.

Omar was first accused of using an anti-semitic trope in a now-deleted tweet about pro-Israel money in US politics. During the fallout from that tweet, Omar was widely condemned by Republicans and Democrats, and President Trump even demanded that she resign. In a second incident, Omar tweeted on Sunday about needing to "pledge allegiance" to Israel to serve in Congress.

While her tweets have drawn widespread condemnation from most of the American political establishment, the anti-Israel faction of the American left has embraced her, arguing that her tweets weren't anti-semitic and that she was simply criticizing the foreign policy of Netanyahu-led Israel, as well as the two-party consensus of unquestioning support for Israel.

As staffers finish work on the resolution, there has been intense debate about whether to specifically castigate Omar. Earlier this year, the House passed a similar resolution condemning "white nationalism" following controversial remarks by Iowa Republican Steve King.

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-03-05/dems-plan-resolution-condemning-anti-semitism-after-ilhan-omar-controversy

American Civil War 2: US media will have only itself to blame if all hell breaks loose

For the first time in years, the drumbeat of civil war has become audible across the United States. The nation looks destined to repeat history thanks to a media that is no longer able to objectively perform its job.

The predominantly left-leaning US media has just entered its third consecutive year of open warfare against Donald Trump. This non-stop assault risks aggravating political passions to the point where ‘Trump Derangement Syndrome’ snowballs into something completely beyond our ability to control. Like full-blown Civil War.

Over the weekend, the Washington Post, one of most prominent serial producers of partisan agitation, published an article entitled, ‘In America, talk turns to something unspoken for 150 years: Civil War’. The piece, which deftly places Democrats above the fray, opens with the following whiff of grapeshot:

“With the report by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III reportedly nearly complete, impeachment talk in the air and the 2020 presidential election ramping up … there’s talk of violence, mayhem and, increasingly, civil war,” the Bezos-owned paper forewarned.

https://www.rt.com/op-ed/453062-new-us-civil-war/

Internal Facebook Leak Reveals Global Bribery Scheme To Soften Data Privacy Laws

A leak of internal Facebook documents reveals that the company has conducted a global lobbying campaign to against data privacy legislation, targeting politicans around the world with promises of investments and incentives, according to The Guardian.

The documents, which have been seen by the Observer and Computer Weekly, reveal a secretive global lobbying operation targeting hundreds of legislators and regulators in an attempt to procure influence across the world, including in the UK, US, Canada, India, Vietnam, Argentina, Brazil, Malaysia and all 28 states of the EU. -The Guardian

Via The Guardian, Facebook:

• Lobbied politicians across Europe in a strategic operation to head off “overly restrictive” GDPR legislation. They include extraordinary claims that the Irish prime minister said his country could exercise significant influence as president of the EU, promoting Facebook’s interests even though technically it was supposed to remain neutral.

• Used chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg’s feminist memoir Lean In to “bond” with female European commissioners it viewed as hostile.

• Threatened to withhold investment from countries unless they supported or passed Facebook-friendly laws.

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The documents in question appear to have leaked from a sealed California court case against Facebook by app developer Six4Three, which reveal that COO Sandberg felt that European data protection legislation was a "critical" threat to the company. Following the 2013 Davos economic summit, Sandberg described in a memo the "uphill battle" faced in Europe on the "data privacy front" regarding "overly prescriptive new laws."

"Friends of Facebook"

The leaked documents also reveal the company's "great relationship" with then-Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny - one of many prominent politicians described as one of the "friends of Facebook."

Ireland plays a key role in regulating technology companies in Europe because its data protection commissioner acts for all 28 member states. The memo has inflamed data protection advocates, who have long complained about the company’s “cosy” relationship with the Irish government.

The memo notes Kenny’s “appreciation” for Facebook’s decision to locate its headquarters in Dublin and points out that the new proposed data protection legislation was a “threat to jobs, innovation and economic growth in Europe”. It then goes on to say that Ireland is poised to take on the presidency of the EU and therefore has the “opportunity to influence the European Data Directive decisions”. It makes the extraordinary claim that Kenny offered to use the “significant influence” of the EU presidency as a means of influencing other EU member states “even though technically Ireland is supposed to remain neutral in this role”. -The Guardian

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-03-05/internal-facebook-leak-reveals-global-bribery-scheme-soften-data-privacy-laws