Emrys

Emrys's Journal

February 3, 2017

EU leaders round on Trump and reject May's bridge-building efforts

Source: The Guardian

European leaders launched a series of attacks on Donald Trump over his anti-EU rhetoric on Friday, accusing him of a lack of respect, as Theresa May's attempts to position herself as a bridge with the new US president were roundly rejected at a summit in Malta.

Trump's conduct was scorned by prime ministers and presidents, with the French leader, François Hollande, warning there would be no future for Europe's relations with the US "if this future isn't defined in common".

At a working lunch at the talks in the Maltese capital, Valletta, the British prime minister appealed to other leaders to work "constructively and patiently" with the American president. Addressing reporters, however, Hollande said: "Of course it is not about asking one particular country, be it the UK or any other, to represent Europe in its relationship with the United States. In a while, France will be the only permanent member of the security council to be also a member of the EU when the UK leaves."

Dalia Grybauskaitė, the Lithuanian president, offered a withering verdict: "I don't think there is a necessity for a bridge. We communicate with the Americans on Twitter."

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/feb/03/eu-leaders-trump-may-attempt-act-bridge-malta-summit

February 3, 2017

The Rise of Progressive 'Fake News'

...

If progressives are looking to be shocked, terrified, or incensed, they have plenty of options. Yet in the past two weeks, many have turned to a different avenue: They have shared "fake news," online stories that look like real journalism but are full of fables and falsehoods.

...

Brooke Binkowski is the managing editor of Snopes, the English-speaking internet's most important rumor-debunking site. It is her job to sit around and look at some of the most popular falsehoods on the web all day. Earlier this week, I asked her if she had seen a spike in the amount and popularity of fake news aimed at liberals.

...

She emphasized that there's no equivalence between the falsehoods coming from the American left and the right in the past two weeks. Individual Democrats on Facebook may cling to pleasant stories and wishful thinking, but the Republican White House press secretary spouts off lies beneath the presidential seal. On Thursday, Kellyanne Conway, a senior advisor to the president, referenced a terrorist attack that never happened.

But a preponderance of fake information ultimately harms the political cause that absorbs it. It’s also bad strategy: Michael Walzer writes that the left’s task at this moment in history is "to help hold the center." ...

https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2017/02/viva-la-resistance-content/515532/

The rest of the article is an interview with Binkowski, exploring what she's observed, from blatant clickbait to satire (too often accepted as truth by the unwary) to outright misinformation exploiting an understandable tendency for desperate wishful thinking.

February 2, 2017

Farage mocked at European parliament meeting

https://twitter.com/YahooNews/status/826924350842351616

February 1, 2017

Lessons of Holocaust being forgotten, says Prince Charles

Source: The Guardian

The Prince of Wales has said the lessons of the Holocaust are in danger of being forgotten, in remarks which have been linked by some to Donald Trump's ban on Syrian refugees entering the US.

The heir to the throne was speaking at the annual dinner of World Jewish Relief three days after Trump signed an executive order indefinitely banning Syrian refugees and suspending entry for people from seven Muslim countries.

The prince told the charity dinner: "In my own life, I have always tried to reach across the boundaries of faith and community; to extend a helping hand wherever one might be needed."

The charity's work was particularly needed "at a time when the horrific lessons of the last war seem to be in increasing danger of being forgotten", he added.

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jan/31/lessons-holocaust-being-forgotten-prince-charles-world-jewish-relief

Not the first time Charles has said this, but maybe we won't have to wait till he's in the same room as Trump for the tangerine tyrant to "erupt".

Article includes some extremely commendable condemnation of the executive order from attendees, including the Commonwealth Chief Rabbi.

February 1, 2017

Russia accuses cybersecurity experts of treasonous links to CIA

Source: The Guardian

Two of Moscow's top cybersecurity officials are facing treason charges for cooperating with the CIA, according to a Russian news report.

The accusations add further intrigue to a mysterious scandal that has had the Moscow rumour mill working in overdrive for the past week, and come not long after US intelligence accused Russia of interfering in the US election and hacking the Democratic party's servers.

Sergei Mikhailov was deputy head of the FSB security agency's Centre for Information Security. His arrest was reported in a series of leaks over the past week, along with that of his deputy and several civilians, but Tuesday's news went much further.

"Sergei Mikhailov and his deputy, Dmitry Dokuchayev, are accused of betraying their oath and working with the CIA," Interfax said, quoting a source familiar with the investigation.

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jan/31/russian-cybersecurity-experts-face-treason-charges-cia

January 31, 2017

Fake news: Why the West is blind to Russia's propaganda today

Russia has skilfully exploited social media to divide the West and increase Moscow's power in Europe, the US and eventually Asia.

The use of social media as a platform to divide democracies works, in part, because the strategy preys on a fundamental blind spot in open societies: the origin and volume of voices taking part in an online discussion.

Western countries, inventors of the internet and social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter, tend to see discussion on social media as an open reflection of the public's views.

That very openness means outside voices can weigh into debates – not to broaden the discussion, but to co-opt arguments and redirect them toward conclusions that undermine Western society and government.

http://www.smh.com.au/world/fake-news-why-the-west-is-blind-to-russias-propaganda-today-20170123-gtxbuw.html

(Warning: Autoplay video at links.)

January 31, 2017

Donald Trump is a disaster for Brexit

For the most ardent supporters of Brexit, the election of Donald Trump was a mixture of vindication and salvation. The president of the US, no less, thinks it is a great idea for Britain to leave the EU. Even better, he seems to offer an exciting escape route. The UK can leap off the rotting raft of the EU and on to the gleaming battleship HMS Anglosphere.

It is an alluring vision. Unfortunately, it is precisely wrong. The election of Mr Trump has transformed Brexit from a risky decision into a straightforward disaster. For the past 40 years, Britain has had two central pillars to its foreign policy: membership of the EU and a “special relationship” with the US.

The decision to exit the EU leaves Britain much more dependent on the US, just at a time when America has elected an unstable president opposed to most of the central propositions on which UK foreign policy is based.

...

The refugee row underlined the extent to which Mrs May and Mr Trump have clashing visions of the world. Even when it comes to trade, the supposed basis for their new special relationship, the two leaders have very different views.

https://www.ft.com/content/fde7616a-e6cf-11e6-967b-c88452263daf

January 30, 2017