Rising fascism in the US

Only Americans are terrified of Socialism, in other countries Socialists call themselves Socialist and Liberals call themselves Liberal.

I don't know what you think here a "liberal" is.

But I do know that all member parties of the Liberal Internatial - be it in Thailand or Mexico or Egypt or Uganda - accepted the basic political principles of the Liberal International.

If you define such as Euro-centric, I must be one.

Could someone explain to Izzy and Walter that there are other countries in the world that aren't in Europe.

This is a joke Walter.

You are giving me a European Organization, founded in London and run out of Oxford University. This European founded and led organization is calling itself the "Liberal International". This is kind of like the United States having a baseball championship called the "World Series". It is ridiculous.

If someone in Thailand calls themselves a liberal, but doesn't belong to this European club... I think they are still a "liberal". Europeans aren't as influential as they think they are... and outside of Europe they don't get to say who is a liberal or not.

The fact that Europeans want to literally run the "liberal club" for the world is the very definition of snobbery.

Invincible ignorance.

I've certainly not visited as many countries on different continents as c.i. has done or as you did.

But I've heard that Land's End isn't really the end of the world - although I've seen that a couple of times with my own eyes.

https://www.truthdig.com/articles/googles-threat-democracy-hits-alternet-hard/

Excerpt:

Editor’s note: Like AlterNet, Truthdig has experienced a drop in traffic from Google search engines since the company made changes in its algorithm this year.

The story we are sharing with you is very disconcerting for independent media and America’s future, and frankly unprecedented in AlterNet’s history.

It may be hard to imagine anything scarier than Donald Trump’s presidency. But this problem is actually bigger than Trump, and it is a situation that certainly helps him. This story affects you too, in ways you may not fully be aware of—in fact, it affects our whole media system and the future of democracy.

The New Media Monopoly Is Hurting Progressive and Independent News

The story is about monopoly on steroids. It is about the extreme and unconstrained power of Google and Facebook, and how they are affecting what you read, hear and see. It is about how these two companies are undermining progressive news sources, including AlterNet.

It's definitely not my opinion. I accepted a percentage by a reputable news source.

https://www.google.com/amp/www.theblaze.com/news/2017/09/29/heres-what-happened-to-nfl-ticket-sales-after-protests/amp/

Same stats 3 hours ago.

Who's right?

Ah-hahahahahahahahahahaha . . .

The Blaze, a.k.a. Glenn Beck, former Fox "correspondent" and right-wing blowhard. Jeeze, Sofia, you tip your far-right hand just about every time you post.

I'm googling *NFL ticket sales* to try to find out the sales. Seems reasonable to me.

Has anyone found the accurate info on sales?

This article had the most recent time stamp. Anyone with a more rent article is free to bring it. It does look like the NFL is going to experience some trouble because no matter how they respond, one huge group of fans is going to be pissed. The issue is super polarizing and cuts almost down the middle.

http://www.dailywire.com/news/21733/week-week-nfl-ticket-sales-drop-sharply-wake-frank-camp

In the wake of the national anthem protest controversy, not only have the ratings for televised football dropped by a sizable margin, but now, reports are coming in that ticket sales are plummeting as well.

CBS News reports:

NFL ticket sales at TickPick slumped 17.9 percent this week compared with the prior week, their steepest decline since 2014, while sales at TicketCity plunged 31 percent. For pro football games in September, ticket sales at TicketCity are down 16 percent from a year ago. TickPick's NFL sales rose this month, but by the smallest margin since 2015. The vendors' data reflect tickets sold in the secondary market, as opposed to direct sales from NFL teams.


CBS quotes TickPick co-CEO Brett Goldberg: “There are people who are saying that this is my form of entertainment and I don't want politics in my entertainment.”

It appears as though customers are truly putting their money where their mouth is.

Ticketmaster wasn't allowed to release information to CBS without permission from the NFL. I'll take a guess, and say the NFL will deny Ticketmaster the rights of release. StubHub “didn't respond to request for comment.”

According to a recent poll from CNN, “49% say the protesting players are doing the wrong thing to express their political opinion when they kneel during the National Anthem, while 43% say it's the right thing.”

However, a PBS NewsHour/Marist poll shows a slightly different angle: “[48%] of U.S. adults said these demonstrations were a respectful way to draw attention to their concerns, while another 46 percent said the protests are disrespectful.”

This is a deeply divisive issue, and one that’s unlikely to go away any time soon. However, if ticket sales and ratings continue their downward trajectory, the NFL might have to step in – and whatever the honchos decide to do, they are bound to alienate a significant portion of fans and viewers.

Talking of NFL, they're really trying to push themselves over here right now, sponsored by the Mexican Tourist Board. Maybe someone should tell Trump.

THIS is becoming the story of our time.

https://www.alternet.org/media/editorial-googles-threat-democracy-hits-alternet-hard

Excerpt:
The story we are sharing with you is very disconcerting for independent media and America’s future, and frankly unprecedented in AlterNet’s history.

It may be hard to imagine anything scarier than Donald Trump’s presidency. But this problem is actually bigger than Trump, and it is a situation that certainly helps him. This story affects you too, in ways you may not fully be aware of—in fact, it affects our whole media system and the future of democracy.

The New Media Monopoly Is Hurting Progressive and Independent News


Report Advertisement
The story is about monopoly on steroids. It is about the extreme and unconstrained power of Google and Facebook, and how they are affecting what you read, hear and see. It is about how these two companies are undermining progressive news sources, including AlterNet.

In June, Google announced major changes in its algorithm designed to combat fake news. Ben Gomes, the company’s vice president for engineering, stated in April that Google’s update of its search engine would block access to “offensive" sites, while working to surface more “authoritative content.”

This seemed like a good idea. Fighting fake news, which Trump often uses to advance his interests and rally his supporters, is an important goal that AlterNet shares.

But little did we know that Google had decided, perhaps with bad advice or wrong-headed thinking, that media like AlterNet—dedicated to fighting white supremacy, misogyny, racism, Donald Trump, and fake news—would be clobbered by Google in its clumsy attempt to address hate speech and fake news.

The Numbers Are Striking

We have had consistent search traffic averaging 2.7 million unique visitors a month, over the past two and a half years. (Search traffic makes up 30-40 percent of AlterNet's overall traffic.) But since the June Google announcement, AlterNet’s search traffic has plummeted by 40 percent—a loss of an average of 1.2 million people every month who are no longer reading AlterNet stories.



AlterNet is not alone. Dozens of progressive and radical websites have reported marked declines in their traffic. But AlterNet ranks at the top in terms of audience loss because we have a deep archive from 20 years of producing thousands of news articles. And we get substantial traffic overall—typically among the top five indy sites.

So the reality we face is that two companies, Google and Facebook—which are not media companies, do not have editors or fact-checkers, and do no investigative reporting—are deciding what people should read, based on a failure to understand how media and journalism function.

This insane Google overreach is exactly why some people consider even bad speech important to protect.

Important things to know.

https://www.alternet.org/books/orwells-and-churchills-lessons-resisting-propaganda-and-authoritarian-rule-trumps-america?amp

Donald Trump’s reactionary presidency and Silicon Valley’s spying on online users is pushing the nation and world in dangerous directions comparable to past eras, where authoritarian rule and totalitarian belief held sway. A handful of writers have urged Americans to heed history’s lessons on resisting tyranny in all of its forms.

One of the most recent is Thomas Ricks, who for the past two decades has been among the most prominent journalists covering the military and war. His newest book compares and contrasts Winston Churchill and George Orwell, tracing how both came to recognize and resist abuses of power and political propaganda to side with individual dignity.

AlterNet’s Steven Rosenfeld interviewed Ricks, who recounted those lessons and their critical relevance today in an era dominated by fake news politics and predatory hi-tech.

Steven Rosenfeld: Your book, Churchill and Orwell: The Fight for Freedom, is remarkable in many ways. You tell how both men shaped the 20th century and remain relevant. You describe how they evolved, held their own against their day’s political conformists and ideologues, both left and right; and how they came to understand how authoritarian and totalitarian regimes operate.

The takeaways are resonate today, whether we’re talking about an executive branch that lies, erases and revises history, or the tech sector that spies on citizens and sells its files. What prompted these men, and especially Orwell, to reject herd mentalities in private and in public?

Thomas Ricks: Oddly enough, I suspect for Orwell, it began with his love of personal observation. Even a child, he loved observing nature, and that continued throughout his life. If you read his diaries, he had a habit of just writing down what he physically sees around him, what he’s thinking about, what he’s hearing people talk about—just basic observation. I think for Orwell, that becomes a part of departure, that human freedom begins with the right to perceive and to trust your own perceptions.

Of course, Orwell as an adult, bangs up against Stalinism, which says, No, we will tell you what to think. If you’re a good member of the Communist Party, you will believe what we tell you to think. We will decide what is right and what is wrong. We will decide what the facts of the matter are.

That’s where Orwell breaks with Stalinism, but he doesn’t break with the left. He remains a socialist all his life.

The NFL fight was a win for Trump. The owners did know their base.

(CNN)We've got enough data and anecdotes now to make an early call on whether President Donald Trump's fight over NFL players kneeling during the National Anthem was a political winner for him. With a small and probably irrelevant caveat, it was.

Two national surveys with rigorous methodologies show Americans are opposed to kneeling during the National Anthem:
-- A Fox News poll found 55% of Americans saying kneeling is inappropriate.

-- The most recent CNN/SSRS poll of adults found 49% saying the players are doing the wrong thing, versus 43% who say they are doing the right thing. Almost one-quarter of American adults said they planned to personally boycott NFL games, broadcasts and products because of the protests.

I think somebody's dick is shriveling because I've been right about too many things he's been wrong about.

Hahahaha. Yep. Get used to it.

Cause I'm just right, and you're just wrong. 🙋🏻😝💕

Just use Bing.

"If you can't treat someone with dignity and respect, then get out." -- Lt. Gen. Jay B. Silveria, Superintendent, Colorado Springs Military Academy.

https://mobile.twitter.com/usairforce/status/913541082637578240/video/1