When you join the lobbying profession, you know immediately you become Public Enemy No. 1. Frankly, you can't blame the public for feeling this way.

As a profession we let Washington, D.C., define who we are and how we operate. We don't have a bully pulpit the way candidates, members of Congress and presidents do. We do not have a public forum where the people can hear us.

When attacks come, we bury our heads in the sand and don't stand up for ourselves and what we do. We simply hide and wait for the onslaught to pass. It's easy for elected officials to blame lobbyists for the dysfunction in Washington, the alternative being for them to look in the mirror and point the finger at themselves for their direct failures on behalf of those who elected them. When in doubt, create a boogeyman the public hates or distrusts more than you.

When you become a lobbyist, you know that every election year you will become the scapegoat for all the failures of both Congress and the incumbent president's administration. You know that in one breath members of Congress and the president will blame you for a policy stalemate and then in the next breath call you and ask you for a campaign contribution. These same elected leaders will tell their constituents how they need to halt the influence that lobbyists have in Washington. But when they leave their campaign rallies, they will call us asking for help on their campaign.

The reality is that it's good politics to trash a profession the public does not know much about. It's good business to spread lies, and only then to turn to us and use us to get you elected. Frankly, shame on people in our business for allowing it.

Joe Biden campaigned on improving ethics in the capital, but now that he's been elected that seems like it was just a tagline to get votes. He is imposing restrictions on lobbyists serving in his administration and on government boards, yet his transition team is filled with big-name lobbyists. His team has said that not all lobbyists will be banned. Some will be given waivers to serve.

My questions for the president-elect are: Why some and not all? If our profession is the problem in Washington, as you claim, then why does your team include lobbyists? Why the need for waivers? Why not simply ban all of us, not just some of us?

The answer is simple. You have been in elected politics for more than 40 years and you know the true value of what we do and the information and expertise we will offer you and your new administration. So, while it may get you a good public reception to claim you are banning lobbyists, then quietly you will enlist us. It is the Washington way.

But while Biden's policy discriminates against a class of people because of what they do, it makes exceptions for people close to you or who have been big donors to you over the years. The American people deserve better than this. Frankly, our profession deserves to be treated better than this.

The next president campaigned on the promise to create a diverse administration. Some will say he is doing just that. I take a different view. The policies he is putting in place not only discriminate against a whole class of professionals, but they also tell lobbyists of color they are not welcome to serve in the new administration. At a time when we should be celebrating public service and are asking corporate America to be more inclusive, Biden is doing the exact opposite. His bans limit lobbyists of color from creating opportunities to be selected to top positions in government and their chosen fields. That is exactly what the president-elect has criticized corporate America for doing.

As his new administration begins, I would urge Biden to reconsider his lobbyist ban for the reasons here. Barack Obama did much the same after he was elected president a dozen years ago and it turned into a black eye for his administration, which relaxed its rules six years later in the aftermath of an unfavorable federal appeals court ruling.

Since 2009 we have seen a growing trend of people taking themselves off the lists of registered federal lobbyists so they could serve in the Obama and Trump administrations. We suspect that will continue under a Biden administration unless he changes course.

Such shadow lobbying is a real problem and one our profession is fighting against. The new president should work with us on creating policies that create more transparency, not less. But an outright ban is going to continue the rise of shadow lobbyists at a time when the American people are tired of corruption in government.

Please, Mr. President-elect: Work with us and not against us. I would urge you to be honest in your policies. If you ban lobbyists, you need to ban all lobbyists, not just some. You need to return the campaign donations you have taken during your campaign to every lobbyist or political action committee. You need to stop taking money from lobbyists or corporate America for your inauguration. And you need a universal diversity and inclusion policy that is inclusive of all, not just some.

As a profession, we want to work with you on transparency. We want to work with you on ethics reform. This is only possible if your administration is open and honest about your policies and does not create carve-outs for big donors or close friends. You cannot hold the rest of us accountable if you are not going to follow your own lead.

Leadership starts at the top with one policy for all, not just some well-connected Washington insiders.

Paul A. Miller is board chairman of the National Institute for Lobbying & Ethics, the advocacy profession's trade association, and principal of the lobbying firm Miller/Wenhold Capitol Strategies. The Fulcrum is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news platform covering efforts to fix our governing systems. It is a project of, but editorially independent from, Issue One.

Excerpt from:

OPINION EXCHANGE | Biden's ban on lobbyists in his administration would be unwise and discriminatory - Minneapolis Star Tribune

This article originally appeared on Alma. Theres not a whole lot I can tell you about the person who runs @antisemitismcow. The Twitter account, which launched in June, quickly became a legend on Jewish Twitter and beyond by mooing at antisemitism on the platform. Yes, I said mooing, because @antisemitismcow is, well, a cow.

In seven short (or long, depending on your sense of pandemic timing) months, the account amassed over 21,000 followers and endless speculation about the human behind it. I can confirm that there is indeed a human behind it a Jewish human, at that but not much else. The nature of the account, which regularly mooed at white supremacists and other bigots, means anonymity is key to maintaining safety.

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But is the cow actually calling it quits? Over a series of phone calls, I talked to the human behind the cow to find out the impetus for the account, why antisemitism and other forms of hate thrive on places like Twitter, whether theres anything average users can actually do about that and what prompted the cow to tweet goodbye.

I was assured its very possible that @antisemitismcow could come back at any time, if the mood strikes. Until then, heres an exclusive interview with @antisemitismcow, who is using good old human words to speak out for the first time.

Obviously I want to talk about why you stopped running it for now, but I would love to start with the beginning: What was the impetus for creating the @antisemitismcow account?

And then I saw a tweet by [American actor] James Woods that was, in my mind, overtly antisemitic. What bothered me about that particular tweet was that I knew no one was going to care about it.

At that point, what did you see as the mission of @antisemitismcow?

I really felt like there was this great tool to educate people, as well as do what I consider to be countertrolling. Twitter in particular is built for trolling. What happens is that these trolls gain followings very easily. And I think its part of the reason we have a higher rate of extremism in America.

A lot of the good people on social media the people that really care about making a difference are often disinclined, at first at least, to engage in trolling. They want to have this kind of fair discussion; they really believe in that, for good reason. But the problem is that the technology itself is not built for that. The technology itself is built to pile on people, to attack people, to hurt people. Essentially my goal as I was using this account, seeing the potential effect it could have, was to work with the technology against the people that the technology promotes.

Why a cow?

Did you always know that you were going to have to keep it completely anonymous?

I didnt at first. But as I was using it, and it started to become popular, it became very clear to me how important it was to stay anonymous. Part of it was on a more philosophical level the trolling aspect of the account kind of requires anonymity because youre playing the game of the trolls. And I think the anonymity of trolls gives them a lot of power to do things that they wouldnt otherwise normally do. Its an effective tool.

Then there was also just the safety issue. I draw attention to dangerous views, dangerous accounts or, at the very least, someone making an honest mistake that needs to be corrected. It needed to grow quickly in order for it to be effective. And the more that it grew, the more it would get attention. And so what that meant is that it became a very quick target for white nationalists.

The funny thing about these people is that theyre so stupid, theyre hilariously stupid. And what made me really aware of why anonymity was important was because at a certain point, [an account that was targeting @antisemitismcow] decided that someone who was a big fan of my account she was 17 years old, I think was the person running @antisemitismcow, and he decided to send all his followers after her. It was really horrible. It was the first time I went out of character and wrote out, hey, Nazis are idiots, they think that this person is the @antisemitismcow but shes not, if you see it, report it. At the same time, I was also getting a lot of private messages from white nationalists and whatnot sending the cow threats and saying they were going to come for me.

Then [that same account] decided it was someone else who was a huge fan of mine this guy who, as far as I can tell, seems like a sweet guy. I started getting messages from people sharing his private information with the cow, essentially not making enough of a threat that it could be actionable, legally speaking, but enough of a threat that its very clear what they were going for.

How did you grow the account to the 21.9K followers it currently has?

The way I grew it was by being a troll. And I mean that, like, very literally. Its very easy to grow an account on Twitter if you are a troll because all you need is a niche audience that believes in what youre doing. You need people that love ratioing other people [when a tweet gets more negative responses than retweets or likes]; you need a certain amount of interest in vengeance on your side. And then you throw in the fact that I wouldnt just be mooing at small accounts, Id also be mooing at politicians and big-name accounts as well. Then people start tagging the account and all of a sudden, even when the cow is not mooing at things, its still getting attention.

At the height of it, how much time were you spending on @antisemitismcow?

Too much time? I dont know, just hours. Part of my goal was to break open things that people dont necessarily think about as much, to show the things that I was seeing that were happening a lot on Twitter but that werent necessarily acknowledged. So, for example, Rothschild conspiracies, while always powerful, were very clearly rising during the rise of coronavirus. With the rise of QAnon, all these people were really spreading the Rothschilds conspiracy. Not that it needed any help, but unfortunately it was getting helped.

And so I would spend a lot of time trying to find those accounts. I spent time researching and trying to understand code words people speak about Jews online so that they dont come up on a quick search. It was important to get an understanding of how these accounts were able to spread bigotry in a coded way that then became unpacked by their followers. So yeah, it took up too much time.

It sounds like part of the mission was not only to call out people who were being antisemitic, but also to educate people about what antisemitism today actually looks like.

Yes. As I started to get challenges, I was trying to figure out how to deal with people who were like, This is not antisemitism! How dare you? Especially because a sizable percentage of the tweets that @antisemitismcow mooed at were just completely honest mistakes.

A good example of that was the Stephen Miller lizard person comparison. Its a very old antisemitic caricature that Jews are creatures, that theyre subhuman. And then there are people like David Icke who spread the idea that Jews are actually lizard people; they literally believe that Jews are lizard people controlling the world. And then you have a powerful Jew [like Miller] whos reviled by a lot of people. And its natural, when you feel that way about someone, to respond in a way that dehumanizes them.

Thats the thing that people dont understand about antisemitism and antisemitic tropes: There is a reason that it just coincidentally happens to Jews more than others because this is part of our cultural fabric. And so part of the goal was to point those out. And then thered be a big backlash, partly because people rightly believed that the intention wasnt antisemitic. But the goal of the account was not to point out peoples intentions but to point out antisemitism itself. And so at that point, I started thinking, OK, I need to find a way to help people understand this without spelling it out for them.

Howd you do that?

I would post screenshots from Wikipedia and elsewhere [to explain the tropes], and I actually realized that it was a great educational tool because it kind of depersonalized things and made it less about me, or whoever runs the account, and more like, OK, look at this, read it, you dont have to agree with it.

Yeah, people started trolling @antisemitismcow quite hard on the dirtbag left. This is a group of people who are pretty influential, in a sense, because they have large followings. Theyre verified, they have high engagement, they have a lot of interest. And theyre essentially left-wing trolls, I would say. They tend to attack the left more than they attack the right, which I find really interesting,

And they kind of became obsessed with @antisemitismcow, I think partly because it eluded them. They would make fun of the account, but they would tend to wait for [me to post] anything especially revolving around Israel.

There are instances when not every Jew agrees on whether something is antisemitic or not. I probably see this the most when it comes to Israel and the question of whether anti-Zionism is always antisemitic. How did you deal with that?

I believe that the discourse around anti-Zionism, Zionism and antisemitism is broken. I think most people can agree on that. But I think the whole reason these discussions get so bogged down is because theres so much obsession over that question of whether anti-Zionism is antisemitism.

My goal was to keep an eye out for anti-Zionist stuff but only when its actually using an antisemitic trope. Suddenly theres a Jewish state, historically speaking, and were dealing with different forms of antisemitism that might come out of it. But also were dealing with a lot of intergenerational trauma that revolves around the state, in a lot of ways.

And so what that results in is a lot of confusion around the discussion and a lot of bad faith actors that use it to their advantage. Theres a great deal to be gained by confusion on social media. Social media does not reward confusion; it rewards certainty. People who are uncertain about this discussion, because its not an easy question, are prone to be less vocal on social media because if theyre vague, theyre more likely to be misread or dogpiled. So I inherently knew that it was going to be a problematic area to enter, but I felt that the only way to balance this was to find things that I felt were either antisemitic tropes that were obvious in my opinion or were tokenizing.

The irony is that as much as there were people accusing the account of being a pro-Israel account, the backlash that I got earliest and most often was by people very upset when they would tag me in someone criticizing the Israeli government or using the word genocide things that someone might have personal opinions about but are not antisemitic by nature. But people arent seeing what youre ignoring. Especially in the beginning, I probably got, like, 100 tweets a day from people encouraging @antisemitismcow to call out criticisms of Israel, but the majority of them I ignored because I thought that they were not actual antisemitism. But I would take each one seriously, look at each one and really examine whether it fell under a canard or a trope, and run with it if it was.

Well, lets get to it. Why did you decide to stop tweeting from the account?

There was a combination of factors, and I think it would be very easy to blame certain people for shutting down the account. But the truth is that the whole reason I shut it down was because of Twitter, essentially. Because of the system. As much as people like to get pissed off at individuals on Twitter, Twitter is a system that, by definition, creates a poisonous dynamic between people.

But there were a number of things that kind of happened at once. First, I was getting more and more concerned about followers being targeted and that sort of thing. The second thing was that the account got shadow banned, ironically, for a very stupid reason. I posted one of those prompts for people on Twitter that was like, Like this tweet to get one new fact about me. The whole thing about the account was that it doesnt reveal anything besides the fact that its a cow. So every time it got a like, the cow responded with that picture I am cow over and over and over again. And Twitter sees that as spamming. And I kept doing it, which was stupid of me. I was just too excited about this joke, having too much fun with it. And I am pretty sure that that was essentially the beginning of the shadow ban. So the replies from the cow were not even showing up at all. This was a huge problem for the account. [Editors note: It appears the @antisemitismcow account is no longer shadow banned, which is one more reason why the cow might return.]

But I thought it was a really good example of the system and how broken it is on Twitter.

Social media companies are so profit-driven, so obsessed with automation that doesnt require them to actually put in work and, more importantly, money. An effective moderation tool on Twitter or Facebook would involve experts. What they do right now is they hire very low-paid people to look at horrific things all day. There are articles about this, how most of them suffer trauma from it because they have seen some of the most disgusting things. So essentially, people that arent experts are the moderators, and most of it is actually run by algorithms. Twitter will do anything it can to make sure they have as many active users as they can. Kicking people off Twitter goes against their business model. Essentially what theyre doing is balancing their business model against the potential negative PR they would get from having hatred on their website.

So what they do is they put minimal resources towards [moderation], they spend as little as they possibly can, relative to the amount of investment they put into everything else. Theres a reason that David Duke had a [Twitter] account for so long. Its not because there werent people reporting him. There were people reporting him day after day after day. What happened was they got negative PR.

The whole point of @antisemitismcow was to push against Twitters approach. It was, by definition, to challenge Twitter more than anything because its really Twitter that empowers poisonous rhetoric. So that shadow banning for me was kind of a wake-up call; I wasnt sure if @antisemitismcow was up for beating the system. I dont know if one account can do that.

Do you think there will ever be a more effective way to combat this system?

One argument could be made that if you make enough bad PR for them, theyll adapt. But thats not really true. The ADL, the largest and arguably most powerful Jewish advocacy group in America, has a huge campaign against Facebook trying to get people to pull funding from Facebook and all these things, which is a big deal. I mean, the ADL will more often try and work with companies like that. The fact that they kind of gave up hope is a bad sign for Facebook. Not a bad sign for Facebook, the company, but for people who use Facebook.

These tech companies just have way too much power and no accountability at all. They are brought into Senate hearings by old men that dont understand how the services work. And [the tech executives] talk circles around them. Its pathetic to watch. Until theres a generation of powermakers in America that truly understand social media, and truly understand how to deal with social media, I dont think anythings going to change.

There needs to be something that disrupts their power, but Im not sure what that is. Im not a policymaker or anything. Im just a person who runs a cow account.

So do you think its a waste of time to report people on Twitter? Because Im personally kind of addicted to it.

It is important to report these accounts. But thats not enough at all. People think that theyre making a difference by their reporting and again, Im not trying to say people shouldnt report, they should if they see something gross but they should also understand that theyre dealing with Twitter. Its like asking a dictatorship to put a dangerous person in jail. At the end of the day, whether they go along with it or not, the dictatorship is still giving those people a platform, its still an evil empire and youre still playing by their rules.

When I was running the account, I would rarely celebrate a suspension that I saw through the account. It happened quite often, but for the most part, what I would celebrate is when a huge account got disabled, like David Duke. But there are still huge verified accounts that are constantly, overtly antisemitic. Its just a reminder that with all this reporting, youre just going by what Twitter feels like engaging with or not. If anything, I think it actually psychologically gives you the experience of thinking positively of Twitter.

Right, like, Oh look! I reported somebody and now theyve been suspended! I did good, its working!

How are you left feeling after this sort of experiment? Do you have a different view of Twitter or antisemitism (or cows) from when you started?

I dont know that much has changed, to be honest with you. It was an experiment that confirmed most of what I thought already, unfortunately. The bigger question was, can I do something that uses the nature of the company to subvert it, which I do still think is possible. And which is why I might still go back to it.

Most people know how social media has become the breeding spot, the central location, the organizing force behind hate movements, behind spreading tropes, and just so much horrible viciousness that is of course not limited to antisemitism, and not even limited to bigotry. Its just, in general, a poisonous system.

So my real hope, honestly, is that if you use a product so much, you should know it well, and you should care about it. Social media has become such a fabric of our society that people wrongly engage with it as if its neutral. Its not. Its a product built by humans, a very flawed product thats not even made for us its made for advertisers, which is the only reason its free. It takes our time. It takes our mental health. It takes so much from us, and its arguable whether the returns are commensurate with the amount we invest in social media.

Excerpt from:

Meet the cow who spent 2020 mooing at antisemitic tweets - The Jerusalem Post

1. A 22-year-old Punjab farmer, Gurlabh Singh, a resident of Dayalpura Mirza village of Bathinda district, who returned from a protest site near Delhi border, has allegedly committed suicide after consuming some poisonous substance, the police said on Sunday.2. In the last 10 days, Facebook has disabled the personal accounts of more than a dozen leading journalists in India without any warning or notice and without offering any credible reasons.3. Some users complained of the keyword Sikh is blocked for Twitter Ads whereas Hindu is not. 4. Kisan Mazdoor Ekta now has its own YouTube channel and social media IT department. YouTube has 368,000 subscribers in 3 days. 5. Claims that Facebook and Instagram blocked Kisan Ekta morcha pages today. Allegations against Facebook to be working hand in glove with Indian companies. 6. Global CBC runs a story on shadow banning followed by Facebook, specifically mentioning the Farmer protests. 7. Farmers from Maharashtra start to build mass as they start to move towards Delhi. 8. Farmers light candles in memory of those who passed away in Morcha.9. Lots of songs coming out about the Morcha which is inspiring the various Communities in India. 10. National Herald headline Lies of Godi media exposed again! Those who met with PM Modi in Kutch were not farmers but BJP activists. 11. Singhu border Tomorrow screens will be installed at the protest site so that protestors can watch what happens at the stage. Till now, the Farmer convoy is 7-8 KM long. Most farmers dont even get to know what is happening at the stage.12. Shahjahanpur road has now got a significant amount of farmers camping with tents now spreading. 13. Calls to boycott Ambani and Adanis products with banners have been put up at various Kissan Camps.14. Medical staff of different hospitals in Punjab has reached Singhu border (Delhi-Haryana border). Were here to support agitating farmers but we all are ready to serve if anyone falls ill, said Harshdeep Kaur, who is working as a staff nurse at a hospital in Ludhiana.15. Farmer leader, Jagjeet Singh Dalewal told farmers to be vigilant and calm. Dalewal told people that some anti-social elements may have infiltrated the protests. He called protestors to stay peaceful.16. Observers say Punjab police are now in protests disguised as farmers. Their aim is to cause trouble. 17. 2 days ago, A man came and started asking Punjabi protestors whether they want to buy Chitta. Today, another man has been caught. Both handed over to the police. The announcement made on stage. Sevadaars think that these people wanted to paint the protestors as drug addicts. 18. For his latest photo opportunity today Modi to Guru Siri Rakab Ganj Sahib, where Sahib Siri Guru Tegh Bahadhur ji was cremated. Modi had the pics posted on his FB. Comments below included, You are welcome to Gurdwara. Period. And that doesnt mean that we dont understand that this was merely a photo op and an attempt to lure farmers sitting at your doorsteps. Theres a sentence in Gurbani, the sinner or criminal bows his head twice than normal. But again welcome to Gurdwara, may your ego get healed and may you listen to the farmers and repeal the laws. 19. Many Sikhs not happy that Modi was given a siropa. Siropas are for those who have given Kurbani for the Khalsa Panth, not a political stunt. 20. Deep Sidhu meets with Nihang Singhs this Amritvela for Vichar and Nitnem.21. Protestors in Vancouver gather peacefully outside the house of the BJP leader. 22. Young Sikhs living abroad in Vancouver have created Team Canada and are flying out to Delhi to help in whatever way they can. #NRIsChaloDelhi23. Sikhs protests in large numbers in Sacramento, California. Locals estimate 10,000 protestors. 24. Protests happen in Melbourne, Australia. 25. Orlando, Florida Sikhs hold a large car rally. 26. At a protest in Barcelona today, a Modi supporter showed up with the National flag. Police told him to fold the flag and leave the protest site.27. Students from various states in India now join the farmers. 28. Farmer leader Gurnam Singh Churana responds in stage to BJP attempts to divide Punjab and Haryana over SYL canal water issue. He said if we have no lands due to these laws, what do we care about water to the lands. We are not fools and will not fall for the divide and rule policy. 29. Farmer organizations have come under the scanner for accepting donations from foreign countries. BKU ugrahan has been warned by bank officials that as the organization doesnt have approval from the Home ministry for accepting donations from foreign countries.30. Ruldu Singh Mansa criticized govt for raiding establishments of arhtiyas. He said that I have sent 5 member committee to Punjab. He called people to gherao offices of authorities who raided arthiyas.31. Video emerges of elder bibian enjoying themselves playing volleyball at the morcha site. 32. Panth Punjab project hold another webinar tonight. 33. WSO holding Delhi Challo 2 webinar a night of artistic expression. 34. BJP leader Giriraj Singh has used abusive language towards the protesting farmers in a speech. 35. History is repeating itself. In 1906-07, S. Kishan Singh & Ajit Singh (S. Bhagat Singhs father and uncle) assisted to build a movement against 3 farm laws brought in by British, which would make the farmer a labourer on his own land. British had to repeal all 3 laws. 36. Today we finish with Joginder Singh, 75, who fought the 1965, 1971 wars against Pakistan. He received Presidents medal in 1988. Today, he says hes fighting his 3rd war to repeal the farm laws.

Read more here:

December 20: Two Time Pakistan War Veteran Now Ready to Battle Against the Farm Bills And Other Updates - Sikh24 News & Updates

Im sorry.

What?

Spy partners focus dictated lack of Far Right intelligence, GCSB boss says

International priorities dictated a gaping hole in the collection of far-right intelligence reports, according to the lead communications spy agency.

The Royal Commission of inquiry heard that the Government Security Communications Bureau got 7526 intelligence reports about terrorism and violent fanaticism in a three-month period in late 2018-19.

TDB Recommends NewzEngine.com

But not a single one was about right-wing extremism.

This was not the result of the GCSBs own intelligence collection settings, the bureaus Director-General Andrew Hampton told RNZ in a statement.

The intelligence reporting GCSB receives from its international Signals intelligence partners is what those agencies collect themselves based on their own priorities.

These partners had their own legal mandates, which might also influence what intelligence they collected, Hampton said.

Let me see if I can get this completely straight.

Its not the GCSBs fault, that mass surveillance GCSB who gets hundreds of millions to protect us from threats, its not their fault that there was a massive failure in intelligence because our overseas partners only provide us with substandard intelligence that is warped by their own bias and legal blind spots?????

Thats the best theyve come up with?

Look at how this excuse implodes later in the interview

However, he added: GCSB shares our intelligence and security priorities with its partners and, since the 15 March, 2019 attacks, has emphasised to them the importance to New Zealand of countering white identity extremism.

r-i-g-h-t.

So if the GCSB had told our partners in the first place that we were concerned about white supremacy they would have provided all they had?

See how that still comes back to the GCSBs lack of ability to see white supremacy as a threat?

We opened ourselves to NSA mass surveillance for intelligence that cant actually spot a legitimate threat and is so secret no one can evaluate whether or not this excuse is legitimate?

What the hell have we signed ourselves up to?

We know from Snowden that the 5 Eyes enables the NSA unfettered access to everything, Key ratified that and the GCSB received hundreds of millions to upgrade, but when challenged on why the hell they couldnt spot a basic keyword search threat, suddenly its all the big guys feeding us crumbs and it wasnt us excuses is it?

If we arent being protected from legitimate threats, why the hell are we in it?

How come we are less safe?

Let me be ver clear. I am in no way shape or form suggesting we give these clowns MORE powers, oh sweet Christ no, Im merely demanding they utilise the powers they currently have!

The most dangerous mutations of white supremacy trace their narratives to certain historic events. A basic keyword search of those historic events would have had the terrorist pinging like a warning bell.

The Echelon programme that predates the Snowden revelations had basic keyword search functions, to pretend that isnt possible now is simply not credible.

The issue here is that their own confirmation bias saw the enemy as Hager, Muslim students, Environmentalists, Mori nationals, German internet entrepreneurs and Unions.

Blaming the inability to think for themselves on biased intelligence from our Spy Lords only demands an answer to why we are beholden to those Spy Lords in the first place if they cant spot a legitimate threat to us!

This still comes back to a cascade failure throughout the entire NZ Intelligence Apparatus to see white supremacy as a threat.

It is outrageous that they are getting away with this bullshit and dumping it days before Christmas.

Increasingly having independent opinion in a mainstream media environment which mostly echo one another has become more important than ever, soif you value having an independent voice please donate here.

If you cant contribute but want to help, please always feel free to share our blogs on social media.

Go here to see the original:

Wait! What? The GCSB gets secret intelligence that's worthless? So why the hell are we in it? - thedailyblog.co.nz

Media Angle is a column offering perspectives on themedia landscape from the newsmakers themselves.

Kyle Kashuv feels he would be a darling of the liberal press if he were an anti-gun activist. Instead, he says, he has experienced media bias firsthand because he insists on standing up for what he believes.

"The media has failed at their fundamental responsibility: being truthful," Kashuv tellsFox News. "Journalists are no longer journalists, theyre progressive activists."

Kashuv became nationally known following the Feb. 14, 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla.,where17 of his classmates were killed. While many survivors emerged as anti-gun advocates, Kashuvdefended the Second Amendmentat every turn and helped push Congress to pass bipartisan national school safety legislation.

Kyle Kashuv launched a podcast this week where he plans to take on "leftist insanity" with candid conversations about media bias, Big Tech censorship and anything else the 19-year-old thinks is interesting, hypocritical or both.

Kashuv, now 19, has since become an outspoken conservative advocate on Twitter, often poking fun at liberals and mocking mainstream media. He has become fast friends with everyone from "Rubin Report" namesake Dave Rubin to various GOP influencers and is apopular figure among young conservatives in the D.C.-area social scene. He's even landed an internship at the White House.

PARKLAND SHOOTING SURVIVOR KYLE KASHUV EMERGES AS CONSERVATIVE ROLE MODEL, SECOND AMENDMENT CHAMPION

Kashuv said he has receiveddeath threats, was mistreated by teachers and has been the subject of endless criticism on social media aftercoming out as a conservative.He has also emerged as a polarizing figure who has been a victim of "cancel culture" and is often vilified by the left.

Now Kashuv has used his unique experiences navigating the media to produce a new podcast, "The Kyle Kashuv Show," where he plans to speak with interesting peoplewhether he agrees with them or not.

EX-FACEBOOK HONCHO TIM KENDALL SAYS BIG TECH IS A THREAT TO DEMOCRACY, CALLS FOR SOCIAL MEDIA REFORM

In an interview with Fox News'Media Angle, Kashuv discussed media bias, what he learned from his interactions with news outlets after the shooting at his high school and what he'd like to add to the conversation as a young conservative.

Media Angle: Why do you feel that Americans dont trust the media?

Kashuv: The media has failed at their fundamental responsibility: being truthful. Repeatedly, they have blatantly lied and been proven wrong --from Russia "collusion" to their Election Eve Hunter Biden cover-up. Their role should be to hold both sides accountable. Instead, the media is a protective shield of the Democratic Party. Journalists are no longer journalists, theyre progressive activists. You cant fault the American people for having record-low trust in the media. When you set your credibility on fire and traffic in conspiracy theories, its no surprise that the people dont trust you.

MA: Do you think youve been treated fairly by the press since emerging as a public figure after the Parkland tragedy?

Kashuv: If I were an anti-gun activist, the media would love me. But, because I was willing to stand up for what I believe in, I never received fawning media coverage from CNN or MSNBC;and thats fine ...I care about results. I helped pass the Stop School Violence Act, which provides millions in school safety funding, and FIX NICS which forced the government to do its job with the gun background check program. Helping get these bills passed matters more to me than puff pieces. You should be able to send your kids to school and have them come home. Thats what matters.

Kyle Kashuv with President Trump and first lady Melania Trump.

MA: What advice would you give to a young conservative who is afraid to admit their political views because theyre surrounded by liberal classmates?

Kashuv:Every young conservative in America has had their share of demonization. Youve nothing got to be ashamed of for loving this country. Your gender studies professor doesnt make it seem like its the case, but half of the country is conservative. Speak your mind.

Kyle Kashuv defended the Second Amendment after surviving a deadly school shooting. (Fox News)

MA: Many conservatives feel Twitter has a bias against conservatives, but it has also allowed activists such as yourself to have a platform. That said, do you think Twitter is good for America and what can Big Tech do to lose the reputation that it favors liberals?

Kashuv: It is undeniable that Twitter is systematically and nefariously biased against conservatives, which we see [in everything] from shadow-banning to its blatant censorship of conservative news. The first thing Twitter and Big Tech need to do is stop the DNC-to-Twitter pipeline. We see the consequences firsthand with Kamala Harris staffers [who go from] calling to ban President Trump from the platform [to]now working at the highest ranks of Twitters staff. The anti-conservative censorship will only get worse.

MA: Everyone seems to have a podcast these days, so what makes yours stand out in such a crowded space?

Kashuv: Im entirely independent and unscripted in what topics I choose to discuss [and]who I talk to.I understand and know the political awakening and journey young conservatives experience, how we think, and what interests us.

In large part, the mainstream media has become factory-processed, focus-grouped nonsense, and is more concerned with accumulating likes on Twitter than in doing any meaningful journalism. Journalism has descended into clickbait with the sole purpose of generating revenue through exaggeration and outright fabrications. The result is pathetic fact-free reporting and viewers leaving in droves to independent media that treats them like adults.

On the show, I am going to have any guests I find interesting, conservative or not. I think were seeing a political realignment right now, especially during the last eight months of the lockdown. Everyday people are fed up with the arbitrary, nonsensical lockdown restrictions that are destroying the country and millions of livelihoods and businesses, and rightful indignations. The government forced them to shut down their way to make a living, wouldnt tell them when they could return to work, what precautions they could take to remain open, with relatively no financial assistance. People are angry, and rightfully so. Youll be arrested if you walk outside in Los Angeles unless youre filming a new TV show in Hollywood. Youre not allowed to see your family for Thanksgiving or Christmas, but Governor Gavin Newsom throws a lavish dinner for dozens of his friends -- and were just supposed to accept that. Highlighting these hypocrites is exactly what Ill be doing on my show.

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MA: What have you learned about media from [Dave] Rubin, who has taken you under his wing?

Kashuv: I learned what it takes to operate a successful media company without losing authenticity [as well as] creating in the age of sudden arbitrary YouTube censorship.I learned more about interviewing while working at the "Rubin Report" than any clickbait hack with a Mastersin journalism.

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Conservative advocate Kyle Kashuv slams mainstream media as a shield of the Democratic Party - Fox News