Bits and Bites From Around the World > FB to Hire 10,000 Europeans; Miss Ukraine Can't Speak Ukrainian; Astonishing Poisonings - Madrid 1981

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Facebook to hire 10,000 ‘right people’ in EU to realize

its vision of ‘metaverse’

18 Oct, 2021 08:25

Facebook has announced a massive recruitment drive in the EU, with plans to hire 10,000 people in the next five years to help build its ‘metaverse,’ an interconnected virtual world where people would play, work and shop.

“As we begin the journey of bringing the metaverse to life, the need for highly specialized engineers is one of Facebook’s most pressing priorities,” the US tech giant said in a blog post on Sunday. The EU is the perfect place to look for such skilled employees, as “European talent is world-leading,” it added.

“Europe is hugely important to Facebook,” the company insisted, saying that it’s going to work with governments within the bloc to “find the right people and the right markets to take this forward.”

The recruitment drive is going to focus on such countries as Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Poland, the Netherlands and Ireland. Those hired will be tasked with developing what Facebook calls “a new phase of interconnected virtual experiences using technologies like virtual and augmented reality.”

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg first shared his vision of the ‘metaverse’ in July. It is set to become a digital world where multiple people will be able to perform various interactions with each other in a fully 3D environment.

Shortly after that, the company unveiled its Horizon Workrooms virtual reality app for colleagues to hold work meetings in VR, describing it as the first step toward the ‘metaverse.’

Facebook isn’t the only major player in the tech market looking to create its version of a metaverse, with similar projects pursued by Microsoft, Roblox, Epic Games and other companies.

In its blogpost, Facebook also underlined the important role played by the EU in “shaping the new rules of the internet.” 

In an apparent attempt to sweet-talk Brussels, the company praised the bloc for “leading the way in helping to embed European values like free expression, privacy, transparency and the rights of individuals into the day-to-day workings of the internet,” and insisted that it “shares these values.”

Facebook has been facing increasing criticism in the EU in recent years. Regulators claim it has a monopolistic business model and mishandles the private data of its users – and they are trying hard to make the tech giant abide by the bloc’s legislation. The US company even threatened to leave the EU altogether last year if restrictions were enforced against it.

The EU lawmakers have also been calling on Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen to appear before the European Parliament in November.

Earlier this month, Haugen, who used to be a product manager with the company, testified before a US Senate subcommittee, blaming Facebook for not doing enough to tackle harmful content and putting profit above the well-being of its users. Zuckerberg turned down those claims as a “false narrative.”

The Wall Street Journal has recently come up with a series of investigative reports about the platform’s practices, revealing that Facebook allegedly allowed high-profile users to violate the social network’s rules, and arguing that the company had done internal research that found Instagram to be damaging to the mental health of teenage girls.

The latest WSJ piece on Sunday claimed that Facebook’s own engineers doubted the ability of the platform’s artificial intelligence to police harmful content.

The first demographic that masters this new platform will be paedophiles. They will be waiting for our children to come to them. 

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Miss Ukraine lashes out at critics angry at her for speaking Russian,

beauty queen explains that she hasn’t learned Ukrainian

19 Oct, 2021 15:21

© Instagram / neplyah

The newly crowned winner of Ukraine’s ‘Miss Universe’ competition has weighed into a row after facing fierce backlash from nationalists for being a native Russian speaker, amid a wave of restrictions imposed on the language.

Anna Neplyakh, the 27-year-old model who scooped the title at a ceremony on Friday, as well as picking up the Miss Audience Choice award, took to social media to defend herself after becoming the target of furious criticism. The model says she has received a torrent of negative comments this week for writing in Russian on her social media channels.

“Over the past day, I have received a million accusations that I write posts and speak Russian on my blog, where 90% of the audience is Russian,” she said in a video posted to Instagram. According to her, she communicates in her native tongue “because I do not know Ukrainian.” She switched to Kiev’s official language for the statement in an effort to placate activists.

Neplyakh also stated that she was raised in a Russian-speaking family in Dnipropetrovsk, where a large share of the population speaks Russian, and added that she believes she has the right “to express herself in the most convenient language.”

Since 2014, Ukraine’s post-Maidan leaders have imposed a series of successive measures designed to push the Russian language out of daily life, despite the fact that it is spoken natively by at least one in three people and almost all Ukrainians are able to communicate in it. Russian-language news sites and television stations have been targeted, while public service workers are forbidden to greet customers in Russian and can only switch at their clients’ request.

Spanish mass poisoning survivors threaten suicide in Madrid museum

Survivors of one of the world’s worst food poisoning epidemics threatened suicide

in the El Prado museum, Madrid.

Furvah Shah

11 hours ago

Protestors arrived at the El Prado Museum in Madrid, Spain from 10am.

(REUTERS)

Survivors of a mass canola oil poisoning forty years ago have occupied a museum in Madrid and threatened suicide if the Spanish government did not respond to their demands.

The group of around six people began protesting inside the El Prado museum at roughly 10am Tuesday, with others protesting outside.

The protest group, titled ‘We Are Still Alive’ – ‘Seguimos Viviendo’ in Spanish – said in a statement on Twitter they were protesting against the “humiliation” and “abandonment” from the Spanish government following the mass oil poisoning in 1981.

“Six hours after the start of our presence here, we will start ingesting the pills,” the group warned.

The group were removed from the museum by police.

Their demands included a meeting with Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez, and money to cover the medical expenses of remaining survivors.

In what is thought to be one of the world’s worst food poisoning epidemic, hundreds of people died and many more were left with chronic illnesses after batches of canola cooking oil sold in Madrid and nearby in 1981 were found to be altered with harmful chemicals.

In 1989 – after one of the longest trials in Spanish history – over half of the defendants in the investigation into the poisoning were fully acquitted, causing uproar.

In an interview with El HuffPost, a protestor outside said: “For forty years, we have passed through various political parties but we are in the same place. The most urgent this is that, at least, they [listen] to us.”

Papua New Guinea’s Facebook Ban: Govt Declares War on Porn & Fake News

Great idea: get control of it early

Facebook is set to be banned in Papua New Guinea while the government hunts out fake profiles and porn, and assesses the social media network’s effect on the population, the country’s communications minister has said.

Papua New Guinea’s (PNG) Communications and Information Technology Department, together with the National Research Institute, will research how the platform is being used by locals, and Facebook will be banned in PNG for one month.

“The time will allow information to be collected to identify users that hide behind fake accounts, users that upload pornographic images, users that post false and misleading information on Facebook to be filtered and removed,” Communications Minister Sam Basil told local media outlet the Post-Courier.

Basil also floated the idea that PNG could create its own indigenous version of Facebook to rival the social network, as the country seeks to clamp down on the spread of so-called fake news and the dissemination of pornagraphic images.

Out of a population of just over 8 million, only an estimated 12 percent of those have access to the internet.

Further to conducting an audit of Facebook, the month-long outage also gives the government time to enforce the CyberCrime Act, passed in 2016, which criminalises online activities including hacking, cyber-bullying, identity theft, unlawful advertising, and the production and publication of pornography.

The world’s largest social network has come under increasing scrutiny from government in recent months over how user data is managed – and by whom – in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal.

Social Media Halts Social Engineering for Irish Abortion Referendum

Abortion ad ban: Google surpasses Facebook stance on Irish referendum

The Google logo. ©Dado Ruvic / Reuters

Google will ban all adverts related to the Irish abortion referendum following fears online campaigns could sway the vote.

From Thursday, the search giant will suspend ads related to the referendum on core legislation that currently blocks the termination of pregnancies in Ireland in the vast majority of cases.  

“Following our update around election integrity efforts globally, we have decided to pause all ads related to the Irish referendum on the Eighth Amendment,” Google said in a statement.

The pause on adverts includes Google Adwords and YouTube, which is owned by the search engine’s parent company, and comes after Facebook decided to block ads on its platform which come from organizations and individuals outside of Ireland.

Irish law

In Ireland, rules surrounding online political advertising is not as rigorous as traditional mediums like print, television or radio.

A draft bill on online ad transparency is currently being considered in the Dail (Irish parliament) and could compel companies such Facebook or Google to include notices with the exact details of organizations or individuals behind a particular advert.

Irish citizens will go to the polls to decide whether the Eighth Amendment of the constitution should be repealed. The 1983 law gives the unborn an equal right to life as the mother. With the exception of situations where the life of the mother is at serious risk, the rule effectively outlaws abortion in Ireland.  

Facebook block

Facebook made their announcement on Tuesday, citing anxieties that the integrity of the vote on May 25 could be compromised by foreign interest groups. In recent months, Facebook has been hit by a series of scandals, including the Cambridge Analytica data breach, as well as claims that Russia and other influencers used online methods to interfere in the 2016 US presidential election.

Concerns that Facebook was being used to interfere in the democratic process saw Zuckerberg hauled in front of the US Congress last month, during which he admitted the company “didn’t take a broad enough view of our responsibility.”

As a result, Facebook says it’s building “transparency tools” such a ‘view ads’ feature to combat foreign interference. A verification process has just been rolled out to ensure that political adverts come from residents of Ireland, where the vote on a key piece of legislation that currently blocks the termination of pregnancies will take place.

Last month, Irish journalist and transparency advocate Gavin Sheridan highlighted problems in finding out information about organizations behind Facebook pages and sponsored ad campaigns on the Eighth Amendment referendum.

The Transparent Referendum Initiative as Sheridan mention's above, is working to highlight the source of funding behind social media ads in the lead up to Ireland’s vote. Manned by a group of volunteers, it aims to identify ways to make advertisements more transparent for voters.

Mob Torches Village in Bangladesh After Reports of Local Insulting Prophet Muhammad on Facebook

Islamic Insanity in Bangladesh

Hysterical mob burns village of Mohammed insulter

even though he moved away from the village

FILE PHOTO © Ahmad Masood / Reuters

A thousands-strong mob set ablaze a Hindu village in Bangladesh after rumors began spreading in the area, alleging that a man from their community insulted Prophet Muhammad on Facebook. Police had to intervene to ward off the angry crowd.

Some 20,000 people began amassing in the area after police received a complaint claiming that the Hindu village resident had insulted Prophet Mohammed in a Facebook post a few days ago, according to the Dhaka Tribune. It is said many of them arrived from the neighboring communities. At least 30 houses belonging to Hindus in Thakurpara village, some 300km from the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka, were then torched, local media said.

Six people were also reportedly injured when clashes between the crowds and police turned violent. Amid an escalating situation, police used rubber bullets and tear gas to ward off and disperse the angry mobsters.

One youth apparently succumbed to his injuries after he was hospitalized. Locals later sealed the Rangpur-Dinajpur highway to protest the police response, blocking traffic for several hours.

The reported “insulter” is apparently not living in the affected community anymore, having moved to another locality, local media reported. Bangladeshi authorities have meanwhile assured the villagers “that compensation will be paid to affected persons to rebuild their houses and adequate security will be provided.”

Bangladesh is world’s third largest Muslim majority country after Indonesia and Pakistan. More than 80 percent of the population follows Islam in the country while only some 12 percent of Bangladeshis are Hindu. Between 2013 and 2016, nearly 50 people, including members of religious minorities, foreigners and liberal activists, were killed there by Islamists.

The alarming situation prompted more than 100,000 local clerics to sign a religious edict (fatwa) against the killing of non-Muslims, members of minority groups and secular campaigners in 2016.

Thakurpara village, Bangladesh

Expelled from University for Quoting Bible on Facebook

War on Christianity

It seemed like only a generation ago when gays came out of the closet. Now they are successfully putting Christians into those closets. It's OK to be a Christian, as long as you don't talk about it!

This is astonishing! The judge makes all the right arguments and then comes to the completely wrong conclusion.

A Christian student who was expelled from university after posting on Facebook in support of Biblical teaching on marriage and sexual ethics has today lost his case in a judicial review of the university’s decision.

Felix Ngole was studying for an MA in Social Work at Sheffield university. In 2015 he made comments using his personal Facebook account on the story of the American registrar Kim Davis who was imprisoned after conscientiously refusing to register same-sex marriages. Felix expressed his Christian beliefs on the issue and argued that: "same sex marriage is a sin whether we like it or not. It is God’s words and man’s sentiments would not change His words". He was asked where in the Bible it says that same-sex marriage is wrong, and he quoted various passages to demonstrate this.

Nearly two months later, Felix received an email from a university official informing him that his Facebook comments were being investigated. He was later interviewed by an investigatory team, and subsequently removed from his course by a panel chaired by Professor Marsh, an LGBT rights campaigner.

Felix, supported by the Christian Legal Centre, sought to challenge the university’s decision in a judicial review which was heard in the High Court over two days. The court ruled that the university acted lawfully in removing Felix from his course.

'May have caused offence'

The court heard that the university “investigatory team accepted that Felix was fully entitled to his religious beliefs, and had acted with honesty and integrity”. The university held that it was not Felix’s views that were at issue, but his public posting of these views. They held that this expression of his views “may have caused offence to some individuals”.

The university argued that they were right to sanction Felix and bar him from his chosen profession in spite of the fact that Felix had lawfully expressed his Christian views as a practicing Christian, outside of his professional studies, in a context in which he was not identified as a social work student, and despite this expression having no impact on his work and professional abilities.

So the court is saying that not only is offending someone against the law, but merely creating the possibility of offending someone is against the law, or, at least, unacceptable on a University campus, even if the offending statement was not made on the campus and had nothing to do with the university. Soon you will have to be careful what you think.

'Freedom of speech impaired'

The university and the court agreed that Felix's freedom of speech had been impaired. The judge accepted that his posts “were undoubtedly intended by him to convey a religious perspective.” Nevertheless, the court ruled that “Felix had no religious imperative to comment on an American news website about Kim Davis”.

So, shut up and get back in the closet!!!??? 

The judgment stated: “Freedom of expression is an important right. Exercising that right to express the content of deeply held religious views deserves respect in a democratic and plural society, nowhere more so than in a university. Freedom of religious discourse is a public good of great importance and seriousness.”

'No discrimination'

The university agreed that there had been no cause for concern or evidence of Felix acting in a discriminatory fashion, whether on placement or otherwise. The university’s decision was not based on speculation that Felix would discriminate in the future either. No discrimination has actually occurred, or is expected to occur in this case.

'Severe sanction'

The judge accepted that the university’s sanction of Felix “was indeed severe”. The judgment also stated: “Nor is it to doubt that there may well be good grounds to fear more generally for the place of religious discourse, and the understanding of and respect for religious adherents, in the context of a liberal and secular consensus within universities or elsewhere.”

The judgment further stated: “If a chain of events, starting with a student posting Bible verses on a news website and ending with him being removed from his course, is one for which the law does not provide him with a remedy, it is important to test hard why not.”

'Perceived risk'

What in the end was judged to have justified the university’s actions was a perceived risk of damage. The court ruled that “It was how they could be accessed and read by people who would perceive them as judgemental, incompatible with service ethos, or suggestive of discriminatory intent. That was a problem in its own right. … But whatever the actual intention was, it was the perception of the posting that would cause the damage. It was reasonable to be concerned about that perception”.

Seriously!

'Biblical views must not be expressed'

Andrea Williams, Chief Executive of the Christian Legal Centre which is supporting Felix commented:

“The court has ruled that though Felix is entitled to hold his Biblical views on sexual ethics, he is not entitled to express them. But freedom to believe without freedom of expression is no freedom at all.

“Many views are frequently expressed by students on social media and in other contexts. It is the expression of Biblical morality that has been singled out for sanction by the university.

“The university, in investigating Felix's personal Facebook posts and disciplining him for them, is acting as if they are thought police. This ruling will have a chilling effect on Christian students up and down the country who will now understand that their personal social media posts may be investigated for political correctness.

“As the judgment stated: 'Freedom of expression is an important right. Exercising that right to express the content of deeply held religious views deserves respect in a democratic and plural society, nowhere more so than in a university.' In this case the judge has failed to safeguard Felix's freedom of expression, in spite of the importance she rightly attaches to that freedom.

“This ruling comes after Jo Johnson, the universities minister last week criticised universities for failing to protect freedom of speech. He said: 'Freedom of speech is a fundamentally British value which is undermined by a reluctance of institutions to embrace healthy vigorous debate. Our universities must open minds not close them.'

“This ruling flies in the face of the government’s expressed intention to promote free speech at universities."

'Christian bar to office'

Felix said: “I am very disappointed by this ruling which supports the university’s decision to bar me from my chosen career because of my Biblical views on sexual ethics. I intend to appeal this decision which clearly intends to restrict me from expressing my Christian faith in public.”

Andrea Williams said: “Rulings like this show that society is becoming increasingly intolerant of Christian moral values. Christians are being told to shut up and keep quiet about their moral views or face a bar from employment. Unless the views you express are politically correct, you may be barred from office. This is very far from how a free and fair society should operate.

“We will appeal this ruling in an attempt to protect basic freedoms in our society. No democratic society can function without freedom of expression. This ruling shakes the foundations of freedom in our society.”

In Canada, Trinity Western U has been trying to launch a law degree program for a few years but several provinces have stated that they will not recognize TWU law degrees because the university requires its students to sign a declaration that they will confine sexual activity to that between a man and his wife. This has the LGBTQ lobby up in arms and fighting tooth and nail against TWU, even though there are almost certainly no LGBTQ students at the Christian TWU.

You can follow this campaign in the War on Christianity by searching this blog for 'Trinity'.

'Deep State Moves to Facebook Adverts to Keep Russian Blame Game Alive'

I realize this is an RT interview. But it is with an American tech entrepreneur,

Chris Kitze, and it pleads the same case that I sensed almost immediately,

that the Russian advertisements on Facebook are a ruse to smooth over

the fact that there is no real Russian connection to last year's elections. 

He also largely agrees with my 'deep state' theory.

Those who lost the 2016 presidential election to Donald Trump are finding their Russian story falling apart before their eyes, because there was nothing there, and now they are trying this, said Chris Kitze, founder of encrypted internet service Unseen.

Facebook agreed to release to Congress data about ads allegedly bought by Russia, amid an ongoing investigation into Moscow's purported meddling in the 2016 US election.

The social media giant claims it discovered 3,000 paid political ads that could have links to Russia. They cost a hundred thousand dollars in total, and were bought between 2015 and 2017.

The company said all the purchased advertisements are linked to "inauthentic" accounts.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Friday denied Moscow have anything to do with political advertisements on Facebook.

“We don't know who placed the advertisements on Facebook or how, and have never done it. The Russian side has never been part of it,” said Peskov.

RT:  Earlier Facebook refused to publish these ads, posted by user accounts allegedly linked to Russian authorities. What made the company change its position?

Chris Kitze: They are running out of time. They can’t prove anything that Russia did anything bad with the American election. They are obviously trying to put some news out there to try and keep the story alive. It looks to me like it is pretty much nothing.

RT:  Are you suggesting that there is someone specific behind this issue?

CK: What happens with politics in America is that there are certain people behind the scenes who are doing things. They are not accomplishing what they wanted to accomplish. So what they end up doing is that they have to keep trying more and more things. In the case of Facebook, they said: ‘Well, we can dump these things out and make a news headline.’ Everyone will forget about it in a couple days.

RT:  What kind of leverages does the congressional investigation committee have to pressure the Internet giants like Facebook to cooperate?

CK: Facebook is so big they basically do whatever they want anyway. The Congressional hearing can subpoena things, but a lot of these giant companies can just sandbag and hold things back so that they don’t have to provide anything. They will just drag it out so long that it won’t matter. There is a reason why all the stuff is being released right now - and you noticed the coordination of the news media - that is the first tell that shows you this whole thing is a setup.

RT:  Usually the big companies do not immediately agree on such demands of a government, trying to draw public attention to the problem. Why this time it was not the case? 

CK: They are contributing to the Russia hysteria. There are two sides to this: there is President Trump and then there are the other people. The other people lost power. They were surprised they lost the election. And now what they are trying to do is get back at President Trump. It’s just that simple. What is happening now – they are finding that the whole Russian story fell apart right in front of their eyes, because there was nothing there, and now they are trying this. It is another bit of nothing. They may try and use this as a way to try and regulate people, like Matt Drudge and other news websites to say: ‘Well, you’re accepting ads potentially from foreign people.’ But there is no way that a news website knows who the advertisers are, because they all are done by add networks, like Google.

RT:  The investigation committee has a right to make any company share the materials that might interest them. Why then are they focusing on Russia? Doesn’t it violate privacy rights of the Internet users?

CK: There are things that the Congress can do and judges can do. They have wide powers to subpoena things for criminal investigations. So at that point people pretty much lose their privacy rights – that is just the way it is.

RT:   Judging by what you’ve said, today people almost don’t have a chance for any kind of secrecy, do they?

CK: I am not sure you can hang your hat on that for this matter. People can have privacy, but the real issue here is between Facebook and the advertisers. So it is not really involving the end user – it is more a corporate and a political matter.

RT:  Usually the big companies do not always agree to comply with such demands from the government, trying to draw public attention to the problem. Why is that not the case this time around?

CK: It is interesting to me, as someone who used to be a Facebook user… They push all kinds of other junk, things that most moral people would never want in their homes. Now they are cooperating with the government. The only reason they are doing this is obviously because that is what they want to do – that is in their interest. These are companies who could hide all this stuff and say: ‘We don’t know anything about it,’ or they can drag it out for two years – just looking for the information, or even lose it. There is a reason why these companies all of a sudden are showing up with this information – it is because that is a part of the agenda that is being pushed by the news media complex and the tech complex in the US.

Wiping the Smirk Off Shkreli's Face

'Pharma Bro' Shkreli sent to jail after offering

$5k for Clinton's hair in cloning joke

FILE PHOTO: Martin Shkreli, former chief executive officer of Turing Pharmaceuticals and KaloBios Pharmaceuticals Inc © Brendan McDermid / Reuters

Convicted fraudster and former pharmaceuticals company CEO Martin Shkreli, once dubbed the "most hated man in America," is headed to jail after having his bail revoked over a Facebook post in which he offered $5,000 for a strand of Hillary Clinton's hair.

US District Judge Kiyo Matsumoto ruled on Wednesday that Shkreli's post on September 4 showed he posed a danger to the public.

In that post, the 34-year-old offered a generous bounty to anyone who could steal a hair from former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton while she was on her book tour.

"The Clinton Foundation is willing to KILL to protect its secrets. So on HRC’s book tour, try to grab a hair from her. I must confirm the sequences I have. Will pay $5,000 per hair obtained from Hillary Clinton," the Facebook post stated.

Although Shkreli's lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, argued the post fell under the right to free speech, Judge Matsumoto disagreed. 

"This is a solicitation of assault in exchange for money,” the judge said. “That is not protected by the First Amendment.”

Matsumoto was also unsympathetic to a letter written to her by Shkreli on Tuesday, in which the 34-year-old said the Facebook post was meant as satire. Brafman maintained that line on Wednesday, prompting the judge to pointedly ask: "What's funny about that?"

Wiping that smirk off Shkreli's face - now that's funny!

Matsumoto noted that one of Shkreli's 93,000 Facebook followers could have taken the post seriously, setting out on a mission to steal a piece of Clinton's hair.

The judge also pointed to a July post by Shkreli in which he said he would have sex with journalist Lauren Duca as part of a pattern of threatening behavior. Shkreli was banned from Twitter in January for harassing Duca after she refused his invitation to attend US President Donald Trump's inauguration.

The judge's ruling ordered that Shkreli's bail be revoked, resulting in jail time for the former CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals, who was convicted in August of defrauding investors of two hedge funds he ran, MSMB Capital and MSMB Healthcare.

Brafman unsuccessfully pleaded with Matsumoto following the ruling, asking her to reconsider sending Shkreli to what he said would be a maximum security jail, or at least give him until Monday to prove he was not a threat. 

“We are obviously disappointed,” Brafman told reporters outside the Brooklyn, New York, courthouse. “We believed that the court arrived at the wrong decision. But she’s the judge, and right now we will have to live with this decision.”

Shkreli had been enjoying his freedom since his arrest in December 2015, after paying a bail of $5 million.

Matsumoto scheduled Shkreli's sentencing for the securities fraud conviction for January 16. His charges carry a maximum sentence of 20 years, but the 34-year-old is expected to serve much less, partly because none of the investors involved in his schemes lost any money.

Shkreli became a household name in 2015 when he raised the price of the anti-infection drug Daraprim by 5,000 percent, from $13.50 to $750 a pill.

That move resulted in him being dubbed "Pharma Bro" and "the most hated man in America," as people with weakened immune systems - including AIDS patients - have come to rely on the pill.

Following a backlash from politicians, patients’ rights groups and Twitter users, Shkreli eventually announced his company had agreed to "lower the price of Daraprim to a point that is more affordable and is able to allow the company to make a profit, but a very small profit," ABC News reported at the time.

Islamic Instant Divorce Practice Reviewed by India’s Top Court

Women being divorced on Facebook and Whatsapp

A veiled Muslim bride, India © Amit Dave / Reuters

This is an Islamic bridal gown? Do they wear the same thing to a funeral? Maybe there is not such a big difference between an Islamic wedding and a funeral?

A multi-faith judge bench in India has opened hearings on whether the controversial practice of instant divorce violates the rights of Muslim women.

The instant divorce in Islam is called the "triple talaq", as a man can divorce his wife by simply uttering "talaq" (divorce) three times.

Do women also have the right to divorce their husbands by triple talaq? Not likely!

The five Supreme Court judges, all of different faiths – Hindu, Sikh, Christian, Zoroastrian and Muslim started six-day hearings on the issue on Thursday.

They are reviewing a batch of petitions claiming the practice is unconstitutional.

The Supreme Court is to rule on whether the instant divorce practice is fundamental to religion.

"We will also examine whether triple talaq is a part of enforceable fundamental right," the court said, as cited by the Hindu.

Opposing sides in the hearings have been given three days for their arguments.

Among the seven petitions filed to the Supreme Court by Muslim women, some complained that they had been divorced through a letter, postcards, as well as on Facebook and Whatsapp.

While a range of Muslim majority countries, such as Turkey, Egypt, Bangladesh and Pakistan, have long abolished the instant divorce, it is still legal under the Indian constitution.

The Muslim organizations favoring the practice say neither government or courts should intervene into personal and religious affairs.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi last month expressed hope that “powerful people will emerge from the community in this country (to) eradicate outdated practices, evolve modern systems," also stating on a different occasion that "injustice should not be done to Muslim women,” NDTV quotes him as saying.

Islam is the second largest religion in India with roughly 172 million Muslims, according to the 2011 census.

Facebook Privacy Under Spotlight as Syrian Refugee Loses ‘Fake News’ Case

 Syrian refugee Anas Modamani takes a selfie with German Chancellor Angela Merkel 

© Fabrizio Bensch / Reuters

The question of online privacy and what Facebook is, and isn’t, doing to protect its users is under the spotlight once again after a Syrian refugee lost a case against the social network over fake news posts alleging he was a terrorist.

Anas Modamani, a refugee from just outside Damascus who arrived in Germany in July 2015, after crossing from Turkey to Greece in a small boat, gained notoriety when a photograph of him taking a selfie with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in September 2015 went viral. It was soon used to falsely claim the 19-year-old was a terrorist.

The photo was used in posts and stories alleging the refugee was responsible for the Berlin Christmas market attack in December, the Brussels terror attack in March 2016, and for setting a homeless man on fire in Berlin. Modamani soon became a target for racism and hate as his image was used as a symbol of Germany’s refugee policy.

"I cried when I saw it," Modamani told Al Jazeera. "I want to live in peace in Germany. I fled from the war and bloodshed in Syria to live in safety... I was too afraid to leave my house after I saw what people wrote about me.”

Modamani’s lawyer, Chan-jo Jun, said in January that Modamani was “fighting back based on his personal rights so that no person is able to slander him or accuse him of crimes.”

On Tuesday, however, a German judge ruled that Facebook didn’t have to seek out and delete defamatory posts as it wasn’t the “perpetrator or participant in the smears.”

"Facebook didn’t adopt the statements and the postings as its own opinion," Presiding Judge Volkmar Seipel said, as cited by Bloomberg. "It’s not Facebook that’s claiming these things when users are uploading the picture."

Jun accused Facebook of failing to take sufficient action to stop the defamatory images and posts from being shared. "We need to decide whether to allow Facebook to do whatever it wants – to keep anything online that elicits traffic," Jun said after the ruling. "Lawmakers need to step in."

The ruling appears at odds with Facebook’s policy of removing content it deems inappropriate. The social media giant has come under fire for censoring art, and for failing to remove reported sexually explicit images of children.

Mark Zuckerberg’s company has also been criticized for selectively removing posts it says incite violence, and not removing others. It has reportedly worked with the Israeli government to remove and suspend content and accounts at its request.

Facebook has also been involved in the fake news debate. During the US presidential elections, it was criticized for allowing the spread of fake news stories.

In January, the European Commission warned it would face legal action if it did not eliminate fake news. The company has since begun flagging content it believes is “disputed.”

So it can, and does, flag content that is disputed, but claimed that it shouldn't be held accountable for such disputed content. It seems impossible for FB to be able to identify every item of fake or questionable info, so I'm not sure how far they can be pushed to do so, but there is a need for them to try; it's already approaching the point where one can hardly believe what he reads on FB. 

I am curious, though, why he didn't sue some of the people who actually posted his picture with stories of terrorism. He might have had more success there.

Romanian Government Takes Dead-Aim at It's Own Foot

I have this picture in my mind of someone loading a double-barreled, 12-gauge shotgun, taking dead-aim at their foot and pulling both triggers

The unfortunate metaphor could also fit the Romanian people who elected the Social Democrat Party in December in spite of forcing them to resign just 14 months earlier for corruption and incompetence! To make matters worse, the leader of the PSD party, Liviu Dragnea, was serving a suspended sentence for electoral fraud when he was re-elected. And now, less than 2 months later the people suddenly realize that they have elected a bunch of crooks!??? Astonishing!

Clashes erupt in Bucharest following enormous anti-corruption rally

Groups of masked youths have been throwing flares, firecrackers and stones at police in central Bucharest, following a day of massive but (otherwise?) peaceful rallies that gripped Romania over what protesters call an effective decriminalization of corruption.

Up to 150,000 people rallied in front of the cabinet building in Bucharest on Wednesday, in addition to at least 100,000 across dozens of other Romanian cities, according to police estimates.

Massive crowds dispersed peacefully after midnight, but small groups that remained engaged in clashes with authorities.

The biggest protests in decades were triggered by a government decree that among other things decriminalizes minor graft offences, in which the sums involved are less than 200,000 lei ($48,000).

“Thieves, thieves,” and “Repeal it, then leave,” was heard in the streets of the capital as hundreds of thousands rallied in the capital. Most of the protesters were youth who were mobilized via Facebook, the Romania Insider reports.

Protests have also taken place inside the parliament, where the opposition deputies put up banners reading “Shame,” and shouted “Resignation!” and “Thieves!” The centrist Liberals and the Save Romania Union USR filed a no-confidence motion against the government but has little chance of succeeding, Reuters reports.

Massive protests in Romania have continued for the second night in a row following the controversial emergency decree.

While Bucharest justifies the measure as a way to prevent prison overcrowding, activists argue the ruling party seeks to protect its members who are now on trial for corruption or who have already been convicted.

That's so funny - the government reducing prison over-crowding by keeping itself out of prison.

The decree will stop a number of key investigations against Romanian politicians, including the leader of the ruling Social Democrat Party (PSD), Liviu Dragnea.

Teen Sharia Patrol Behind Savage Beatings in Austria

The gang, made of up six young people, is responsible for a brutal beating of a 15-year old Polish girl caught on tape as well as other attacks.

Scenes from the video of a 15-year old girl being beaten by the sharia patrol in Vienna. (Photos: Video screenshots)

A teenage “sharia patrol” responsible for a brutal beating of a Polish girl is believed to be behind a series of attacks in Vienna.

The attack against the Polish school girl, identified only as Patricia, which was taped by the gang, shocked Austria when the footage was posted and it went viral. 

The “sharia patrol” is made of up six young people, some originally from Chechnya, ranging in age from 16 to 21. They have all been identified. In the taped attack, which took place in a shopping center, Patricia faces her accusers defiantly with her hands in her pockets. She takes 22 hits to her face and head. At one point, she can be seen spitting out blood.

After the attack, Patricia was taken to the hospital and treated for a double jaw fracture.

She later told police she was falsely accused of pulling off a woman’s headscarf by the leader of the gang, a 16-year-old girl identified as Leonie. “I knew if I had fought back, I would only have been hit more. So, I just waited until it was over," Patricia said.

She was threatened by the gang not to go to the police, but while she was in the hospital, her sister did.

Leonie is also accused of kicking another girl in the face while she was being held down by two boys the day after the attack on Patricia. Prosecutors say that Leonie is responsible for a number of other attacks in lower Austria as well.

One member of the gang, identified as Ahmet K. or Abuu, later posted as picture of himself in a strongman posed with the caption “Jawbreaker.”  He also posted a comment about the attack, saying, "To all those I offended, insulted or beaten. I do not give a s***. Next year I will do it better."

Abuu was convicted of robbery last September and given six months of probation. If convicted of this crime, he could face prison time.

He should face deportation time.

In March, 2016, a man was hospitalized by another Sharia patrol in Vienna

Father is hospitalised by 'Sharia patrol' in Austria after he told

them to stop threatening his wife and daughter for not being

properly dressed as fears rise of no-go areas in Vienna

By Jennifer Newton for MailOnline

Austrians fear parts of Vienna are becoming no-go areas after a father was attacked by a 'Sharia patrol' when he told them to stop threatening his wife and daughter for not being correctly dressed.

As various factions of migrants stake claims to territory in the city, it has been reported that the self-styled Sharia patrols have been visiting clubs and bars in the Millennium City area to make sure Chechen women were properly dressed and acting appropriately.

However, when one Austrian man tried to step in to stop the patrol from hassling his Chechen wife and daughter, he ended up being hospitalised.

It came as violence escalated across Vienna at the weekend, with more than 50 young men from the Afghan and Chechen communities clashing in the city centre.

The gang had attacked each other with planks of wood, iron bars and knives. Two of those injured are in intensive care and their condition is described as critical.

Police say that the row - which involved around 40 people from Afghanistan attacking 10 from Chechnya - had centred around a social media row on Facebook.

Lethbridge Professor Accused of Anti-Semitism Suspended

Tenured professor denies responsibility for anti-Semitic post on his Facebook page

CBC News 


Anthony Hall, a University of Lethbridge professor, co-hosts a weekly YouTube show called 'False Flag Weekly News.' (B'nai Brith/YouTube)

B'nai Brith wants Alberta professor fired for allegedly

anti-Semitic conspiracy theories

A professor alleged to be promoting conspiracy theories and denying the Holocaust has been suspended without pay by the University of Lethbridge.

Anthony Hall is suspended pending the outcome of an internal investigation into possible violations of the Human Rights Act, university officials said in a statement.

B'nai Brith Canada called for Hall's termination after questions about an anti-Semitic Facebook post made on his page by a third party. The group also alleges the professor uses his academic credentials to deny the Holocaust and promote various conspiracy theories.

The university has "reassigned" his classes, according to the statement released Thursday.

"As well, any graduate students supervised by Dr. Hall have been assigned a new faculty supervisor to ensure there is no disruption to the academic program of students. Students affected by this decision have been notified of this change already."

    University of Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada

Earlier this week, Hall said there is a smear campaign against him.

"I'm being slandered, the University of Lethbridge is being slandered," Hall told CBC Radio's Calgary Eyeopener.

"Right now, it's on my shoulders to defend the University of Lethbridge and to defend for all the faculty in Canada, the principle of academic freedom, because that responsibility has been abandoned by the administration at my university and it's been left for me and it's appropriate that I do so."

Hall co-hosts a YouTube show called "False Flag Weekly News," which allegedly promotes the notion of a Zionist conspiracy to foster hatred of Muslims through "false flag" terror events, beginning with the Sept. 11 attacks. He also runs his own news website.

Iran: Twelve and a Half Years in Prison for Posting Jokes on Facebook

Islam has no sense of humour and no sense of shame,

and certainly no freedom of speech

Soheil Babadi was arrested in 2012 for writing jokes on Facebook about Shiite Islam & has been in prison since. His appeal remains unheard after a year

   The cover picture from the satirical Farsi language Facebook page "Campaign to Remind Shiites a       about Imam Naghi"

Soheil Babadi, 39, was arrested on May 22, 2012, placed in solitary confinement and tortured, according to the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran. Babadi had posted 10 jokes on the Facebook page the "Campaign to Remind Shiites About Imam Naghi" in 2011. The page posts satire on political and religious issues focused around the figure of Imam Naghi, the tenth imam or religious leader in Shiite thought.  

Babdi says the post did not use any insulting words,” Babadi said in a letter written from prison. “A year later I was arrested by the IRGC’s [Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps] Intelligence Organization without a warrant and held in Ward 2-A, the IRGC’s exclusive detention center, and beaten and interrogated for 24 hours."

Babadi says the charges against him are as follows:

insulting the Prophet Mohammad

insulting the sacred

assembly and collusion

insulting the supreme leader

propaganda against the state

membership in a group planning to overthrow the state

acting against national security

“I was interrogated while blindfolded in the corner of a room,” he said in the letter. “The agent wanted me to confess to the charges against me, and when I refused he severely beat me. I was constantly under psychological pressure as the agents probed into my personal life and tried to accuse me of sexual relations with friends and relatives, even with my sister-in-law, and even of homosexual relations with one of my friends, Mostafa. But they didn’t succeed and kept me in solitary confinement for 225 days.”

Initially he was sentenced to five and a half years in prison, 74 lashes and two years in exile for "insulting the sacred" and "insulting President Ahmedinejad."

He was later sentenced to an additional seven years imprisonment for "assembly and collusion against national security” and “insulting the supreme leader." He filed an appeal a year ago, but the appeals court has not yet acted on it.

Kevin Loibl Shot & Killed Christina Grimmie Because She Was A Christian

Good luck trying to find any reference to Christina's bold faith

in mainstream media stories. If she had been a lesbian,

it would have been all the story was about

By Stan Greene
Observer Staff Writer 
Santa Monica Observer

Crime may be investigated as a hate crime

The Voice singer was outspoken in her Christian faith

It has become increasingly apparent to police from the gunman's cell phone and computer records, that singer Christina Grimmie was murdered because of her outspoken Christian beliefs.

        Click on photo for brief ET report

It is difficult to find motive in the insane ravings of a madman like Kevin James Loibl. But it has become increasingly apparent to police from an examination of Loibl's cell phone and computer records, that singer Christina Grimmie was murdered because of her outspoken Christian faith.

Loibl, 27, traveled from St. Petersburg to Orlando, a distance of some 107 miles, with the specific intent to kill the contestant from NBC's 'The Voice,' said police, adding that Grimmie and Loibl did not know each other.

Orlando police did say that Loibl carried 2 loaded guns and a hunting knife into the Plaza Live theater, and intended to follow the singer's murder by perpetrating a mass casualty event. The singers brother Marcus prevented others from dying by wrestling the shooter down, who then shot himself dead.

Orlando police are investigating the murder as a hate crime, after an examination of recent posts and e-mails by Loibl. Loibl had neither a gun permit nor a criminal record. His insane rantings were removed from the internet shortly after his crime.

Grimmie, 22, died Saturday at an Orlando hospital after Loibl shot her at the Plaza Live Theater while she was signing autographs. The shooting occurred in front of fans and family. She had been the opening act for the band Before You Exit.

Grimmie's website is outspokenly Christian in its content: http://christinagrimmie.com/users/jrraks6z/blogs/6131881

An excerpt: In the western world, especially American civilization, when asking for a person's religious standing, the most common response you will encounter is simply "I'm a Christian." Most people subtly just think to themselves "Oh, okay good. I was worried for second." But as I have traveled to Israel recently, fervently prayed and studied Scripture, and examined the culture around me, I have found that when someone says "I'm a Christian," I should be more worried for their soul than if they said "I'm an atheist."

Before you stone me to death with your subconscious judgment, let me explain. If you will, come explore with me what it should look like when a person claims Christianity. Come with me, and let's take a look at the most overused word in the English language. What is this "Christian" stuff all about anyway? "

Christina Grimmie posted Christian songs online such as Me Singing - "In Christ Alone" - Christina Grimmie Cover - HAPPY EASTER!! - YouTube

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=RzseOqwn8oo

T.J. Wilkins, another Voice competitor, wrote: "What I'll remember most about you is our conversation about faith and the love of Christ." That faith was often reflected in Grimmie's tweets. This one from 2013, which her fans (she called them "Frands--Friends and Fans) are circulating today:

Sometimes God allows terrible things to happen in your life and you don't know why. But that doesn't mean you should stop trusting Him.

- Christina Grimmie (@TheRealGrimmie) February 21, 2013

This was apparently too much for the twisted gunman, who left insane rantings about her online, according to our sources. Like Mark David Chapman, who became obsessed with John Lennon, Loibl grew obsessed with the singer and her Christian beliefs.

Kevin James Loibl's Facebook page has been taken down, as is standard procedure following heinous crimes such as this one. Authorities fear they might inspire copycat crimes.

Attorneys say that to prove a murder case by circumstantial evidence, prosecutors must present 3 elements: Motive, Opportunity and Intent. What Loibl left on his computer and in his cell phone shows motivation: His hatred of Christians in general and of one young female Christian singer in particular. Loibl had the opportunity because he was present at the Plaza, and his intent could be demonstrated again by his communications, and by buying two guns.

Of course, had Loibl lived, prosecutors would not have needed to put on a circumstantial evidence type case, because there were many witnesses. They would have testified. But the point is, the evidence of his communications would support a circumstantial case against Loibl that this was an anti-Christian hate crime, with motivation, opportunity and intent.

A great rabbi once said that causeless hatred is the source of most of the world's unhappiness. It can be said for certain that Loibl had a diseased, twisted mind, and that the 22 year old singer's death defines senseless killing and causeless hatred. Perhaps we can draw some little solace in knowing that she joins a long line of martyrs for her faith.

Update, 6/13: Adam Levine, Grimmie's voice coach on "The Voice," has offered to pay her funeral expenses, and the expense of flying her body home.

Update, 6/14: Hundreds of Christina Grimmie's friends and fans gathered last night for a candlelight vigil in her New Jersey hometown, Evesham Township. Photos of her filled the field at the Township's Memorial complex.

"She loved this town," Marcus Grimmie told the crowd. "She loved this state. She loved singing. She loved the Lord and she loved me. She was my baby sister."

Her funeral will be a private affair this weekend, in Evesham Township Memorial Park.

Police have still not announced a motive for the shooting. There is no evidence that Grimmie and killer Kevin Loibl ever met or knew each other.

Update: 6/12--The tragic shooting by radical Islamic terrorist Omar Mateen at Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, killing 50 people and injuring 53, does seem too similar to us to be a coincidence. Our thoughts and prayers are with Orlando and Florida.

I received an intriguing comment from a reader I'll call "Susan," on June 17. She claims to have seen, just after Christina Grimmie's murder, but before the Orlando Pulse Nightclub shooting, a Facebook page for Kevin Loibl. It listed Loibl as having only three friends, one of them being Omar Mateen, the nightclub shooter. "There were a few comments on both of the Facebook pages and dates (from years ago) that indicate that the pages were not recently set up." Both pages were subsequently taken down, but she claims to have screenshots of each. Stay tuned.  - Stan Greene