1 in 5 Europeans says secret Jewish cabal runs the world, survey finds

In each of the countries polled, a representative sample of 1,000 adults was presented with 45 questions or statements in face-to-face interviews about Jews and Israel.

PARIS – A secret network of Jews influences global political and economic affairs.

That’s the feeling among a fifth of the 16,000 respondents to a survey among Europeans from 16 countries. The same number also agreed with the statement that “Jews exploit Holocaust victimhood for their own needs.”

The survey was presented Monday at a conference about antisemitism organized in Paris by the European Jewish Association. It was conducted in December and January in Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, the United Kingdom and Poland, among other countries.

Other findings:

• A quarter of respondents agreed with the statement that Israel’s policies make them understand why some people hate Jews.

• More than a quarter concurred with the statement that “Israel is engaged in legitimate self defense against its enemies.” A quarter of respondents disagreed and 46% did not express a position.

• More than a third agreed with the assertion that “During World War II, people from our nation suffered as much as Jews.”

Holocaust revisionism and classic antisemitic stereotypes were more common in Eastern Europe, whereas anti-Israel sentiments, including anti-Semitic ones, were more common in the west, according to Rabbi Slomo Koves, chairman of the Action and Protection League. The Budapest-based group is affiliated with the Hungarian Jewish community’s main watchdog on anti-Semitism.

In each of the countries polled, a representative sample of 1,000 adults was presented with 45 questions or statements in face-to-face interviews about Jews and Israel, according to the Action and Protection League. The survey has a margin of error of 0.8%.

Koves said his group is still working on a breakdown of the results in each country, but it’s complicated “by challenges in the collection process,” noting the difficulty of finding pollsters willing to go into the poor neighborhoods and ghettos of Paris and Brussels, for example. That, he said, “is necessary for arriving at a representative sample.”

https://www.jpost.com/Diaspora/Antisemitism/1-in-5-Europeans-says-secret-Jewish-cabal-runs-the-world-survey-finds-618830

Decoupling Accelerates: Google And Microsoft Shift Production From China

Earlier this month, we mentioned how the Covid-19 outbreak would force companies with high centration of supply chains in China to "rework" operations to other countries to avoid future disruptions.

Nikkei Asian Review confirmed our thoughts on Wednesday when sources said Google and Microsoft, who are currently experiencing supply chain disruptions in China, will shift production of their phones, computers, and other devices to factories in Vietnam and Thailand in the coming months.

Two sources with direct knowledge of the shift said Google would begin production of its Pixel 4A smartphone in northern Vietnam in April. The Pixel 5 will start production in 2H20 in the Southeast Asian nation.

Google asked a manufacturing partner in Thailand to immediately start production of its "smart home" related products, with expected delivery no later than 1H20, one source said.

Microsoft could have production online of its Surface devices, notebooks, and desktop computers in northern Vietnam sometime in 2Q, another two sources said. "The volume in Vietnam would be small at the beginning, but the output will pick up, and this is the direction that Microsoft wants," a supply chain executive told Nikkei.

Google smartphones and Microsoft computers are mostly manufactured in China. From trade wars to virus impacts, the overreliance and high concentration of supply chains have left both firms in shock after production was recently halted as economic paralysis in China develops factory shutdowns. These firms are learning the hard way of overexposure of a supply chain to one particular geographical region.

"The unexpected coronavirus hit will definitely push electronics builders to further seek production capacity outside their most cost-effective production base of China," a supply chain executive said. "No one could ignore risks after this. … It's more than just cost – it's about the continuity of supply chain management."

Another source indicated that Google had asked suppliers to send production equipment from China to Vietnam as quickly as possible.

Microsoft also accelerated efforts to shift production to Vietnam after the virus outbreak became more severe earlier this month, the source added.

As we've noted, Apple has a tremendous overexposure of their supply chain to China and will find it challenging to shift lines – this means shortages of iPhones and Airpods could be seen in the coming months.

But here's the dilemma, even if Google and Microsoft move production lines to Vietnam and Thailand, many of the parts used in their products are from China. The next obstacle that both companies have to overcome is finding alternative suppliers.

"It's reasonable for companies like Google to want to speed up its pace of diversifying from China amid the coronavirus threat, while the trade war remains an uncertainty. But even if the final assembly process is outside of China, suppliers still need to ship some components from the country. … It's a matter of the supply chain ecosystem, which takes time to rebuild," IDC tech analyst Joey Yen told Nikkei.

It remains to be seen just how significant the impact of the epidemic on Google and Microsoft will be, but already judging by the supply chain shifts out of China and possible supplier issues that may occur after, it seems the virus impact is going to be a full year problem.

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/decoupling-accelerates-google-and-microsoft-shift-production-china

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YouTube Isn't A Public Forum: PragerU Loses Conservative Censorship Case

Social media platforms accused of politically biased, selective enforcement policies will be allowed to continue discriminating against conservatives, according to a Wednesday court ruling from the Ninth Circuit court of appeals - which has been heavily criticized for anti-Trump rulings on immigration and other matters.

The court rejected an argument by conservative radio talk show host Dennis Prager, who claimed that his conservative PragerU videos were receiving unfair treatment by the Silicon Valley behemoth - determining that YouTube, which is owned by Google, is not a state actor subject to First Amendment constraints.

A California federal judge first dismissed the 2017 complaint in March 2018 on the grounds that YouTube isn't a public forum and can regulate content as they see fit, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

On Wednesday, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld that decision and rejected PragerU's contention that the site has become a digital-era public forum and its power to moderate content is a threat to fair dissemination of conservative viewpoints on public issues.

"Using private property as a forum for public discourse is nothing new," writes Circuit Judge M. Margaret McKeown. "Long before the internet, people posted announcements on neighborhood bulletin boards, debated weighty issues in coffee houses, and shouted each other down in community theaters."

While those methods seem "quaint" compared to the 400 hours of video uploaded to YouTube each day, the underlying issues don't change.

"Despite YouTube’s ubiquity and its role as a public-facing platform, it remains a private forum, not a public forum subject to judicial scrutiny under the First Amendment," writes McKeown, adding that both the First Amendment and Supreme Court precedent present "insurmountable barriers" to PragerU's argument. -Hollywood Reporter

"Just last year, the Court held that 'merely hosting speech by others is not a traditional, exclusive public function and does not alone transform private entities into state actors subject to First Amendment constraints," McKeown wrote. "The internet does not alter this state action requirement of the First Amendment."

Prager's lawsuit focused on YouTube's so-called Restricted Mode, which slaps age constraints on content, requires viewers to click to watch, and disallows videos from being embedded on websites. The restrictions are aimed at videos containing alcohol, sexual situations, violence and other mature subjects - such as conservative content apparently. Restricted videos are also demonetized, so creators cannot derive income from third-party advertisers.

Creators can appeal restricted mode.

"YouTube does not perform a public function by inviting public discourse on its property," McKeown added. "To characterize YouTube as a public forum would be a paradigm shift."

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/youtube-isnt-public-forum-prageru-loses-conservative-censorship-case