Tag: civil society organizations

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez set to tour Latin America with a group of congressional Democrats 🧐💭

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)
“We have much to learn from our counterparts in these countries, including how to confront disinformation and violent threats to our democracies,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), pictured in April, said of the delegation to Brazil, Chile and Colombia.
(Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times)

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez set to tour Latin America with a group of congressional Democrats

The agenda (which has not yet been made public) is expected to include meetings with Presidents Lula da Silva (Brazil), Gabriel Boric (Chile) and Gustavo Petro (Colombia) and parliamentary representatives. The legislators will also meet with civil society organizations that work “on the frontlines of ecological transitions, democratic transformations and peace negotiations in the countries,” the delegation explains in a joint statement. The trip seeks to “promote a U.S.-Latin American relationship based on mutual respect, understanding and a commitment to cooperation.”

Ocasio-Cortez, a key figure in the Democratic Party’s most progressive wing, and Misty Rebik, Sanders’s chief of staff (sent on behalf of the 81-year-old veteran senator), will be joined by four congressmen: Joaquin Castro and Greg Casar (both from Texas), Nydia Velázquez (New York) and Maxwell Frost (Florida), who is the youngest congressman in the House of Representatives at 26. Castro is a member of the Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, which is part of the Congressional Foreign Affairs Committee. He recently spearheaded a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken to pressure Peru’s President Dina Boluarte over human rights violations occurring in that country. Casar is in his first term as a congressman and belongs to the Progressive Caucus, while Velazquez became the first Puerto Rican woman to serve in Congress in 1993.

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The defense of democracy is another ideal that guides the trip. According to the congresspeople, the “twin” insurrections on Capitol Hill, on January 6, 2021, and in Brasilia (on January 8, 2023) “made it clear that the fate of democracy in the United States is closely tied to that of its southern neighbors. “[Our] democracies,” they believe, “not only share the challenge of defending their institutions from political violence, disinformation and other forms of anti-democratic intervention; they also share the challenge of restoring confidence in the ability of those institutions to meet citizens’ fundamental needs.”

Ocasio-Cortez highlights another goal of the trip: exploring how to “confront disinformation and violent threats to our democracies.” The charismatic congresswoman adds that “it’s long past time for a realignment of the United States’ relationship to Latin America. The U.S. needs to publicly acknowledge the harms we’ve committed through interventionist and extractive policies, and chart a new course based on trust and mutual respect.”

Why Does The Financial Times Care That An Indian Think Tank Is No Longer Tax-Exempt?

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)
Screenshot from Wikipedia.

The UK’s Financial Times (FT) is attempting to artificially manufacture a scandal after complaining in an article on Sunday about the removal of an Indian think tank’s tax-exempt status last month. The “Centre for Policy Research” (CPR) was one of several organizations last September that were audited by income tax officials, after which its license to raise money abroad was suspended in February. Prior to then, the FT revealed that the CPR received a whopping 75% of its funds from foreign sources.

Why Does The Financial Times Care That An Indian Think Tank Is No Longer Tax-Exempt?

Biden Appeals Judge’s Ban on Government Asking for Social Media Takedowns

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Biden Appeals Judge’s Ban on Government Asking for Social Media Takedowns

State Department officials, according to a Facebook employee speaking with The Washington Post, told the company all future monthly meetings to discuss content takedowns were “canceled pending further guidance.” The reported cancellation means government officials and trust and safety representatives at Facebook will no longer meet to discuss brewing political misinformation or foreign influence operations. It’s unclear whether other agencies have taken similar measures following the ruling or if Google or Twitter have canceled meetings. The State Department, Meta, and Google did not immediately respond to Gizmodo’s request for comment. Twitter sent us a 💩 . …

Judge compares Biden’s admin’s meeting with tech companies to Orwellian ‘Ministry of Truth’

The Justice Department appealed Trump-appointed federal Judge Terry A. Doughty’s preliminary injunction hours after it landed, according to court documents filed Wednesday evening. Doughty’s preliminary injunction bars numerous government agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security, and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) from contacting or asking social media companies about posts he said are protected by the First Amendment. The ruling does offer some exceptions for government communications with tech firms intended to warn them of national security threats, criminal activity, and voter suppression. Government officials maintain their content recommendations to social networks were merely suggestions, not legal demands. Doughty said numerous uncovered communications show Biden administration officials wielded threats of increased regulations or a stripping of Section 230 immunity protections to get its way.

Related:

State Dept. cancels Facebook meetings after judge’s ‘censorship’ ruling

When tech companies and State Department officials meet, “they talk about foreign influence, they compare notes. It gives them the opportunity to ask questions about foreign influence they are seeing,” this person said. “State will share Russian narratives, things they are seeing in state media in Russia about U.S. topics. They will ask whether Facebook is seeing things from known entities, such as the Chinese Communist Party or the Internet Research Agency,” the Russian entity thought responsible for much of the interference in the 2016 election. …

“The really tough question is when does the government cross the line from responding to speech — which it can and should do — to coercing platforms to censor constitutionally protected speech?” Kosseff said. “The judge here believes that line was crossed, and he certainly cited some persuasive examples,” such as administration officials suggesting antitrust actions against tech firms or changes to their liability protections while criticizing their content moderation efforts.

US Court Victory Against Online Censorship

Why Is Victoria Nuland Coming to Sri Lanka, Second Time in a Year?

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

She maybe the highest ranking American official but most Americans do not even know her name. However, she is visiting Sri Lanka twice in one year & that should mean something. Why is she visiting Sri Lanka is however more important. She first visited Sri Lanka days before riots started resulted in the resignation of the former President. Naturally, all eyes are fixed on what is likely to emerge after her forthcoming visit. Over the years, there is no doubt the US has created local “agents” covering all spectrums of society.

Why Is Victoria Nuland Coming to Sri Lanka, Second Time in a Year?

H/T: WENT2THEBRIDGE.ORG

Related:

Sri Lanka: US Backed Colour Revolution in Colombo

Debt Traps & Terrorism: The Roots of Sri Lanka’s Crisis

How the US is Using the Azeri-Armenian Conflict to “Extend” Russia

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Sep 19, 2022 – Many have noted the suspicious and very convenient timing regarding Azerbaijan-Armenia hostilities which serve as an additional distraction for Russia amid its special military operation in Ukraine and its ongoing operations in Syria.

In addition to a recent visit by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Armenia, anti-CSTO protests promoted by US government-funded media organizations in Armenia point toward events being much more than convenient timing and instead similar to US-engineered unrest seen in Ukraine in 2014.

How the US is Using the Azeri-Armenian Conflict to “Extend” Russia (Rumble) via The New Atlas

“How Our Lives Could Soon Look”: The WEF Posts Yet Another Insane Dystopian Video

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Vigilant Citizen | August 24, 2021

As you probably know, since 2020, this pandemic has poisoned the lives of billions of individuals across the world. Meanwhile, the World Economic Forum (WEF) cannot contain its excitement. Indeed, this powerful, influential, elite-owned organization keeps posting bizarrely upbeat videos about the “advantages” and “opportunities” of COVID-19.

“How Our Lives Could Soon Look”: The WEF Posts Yet Another Insane Dystopian Video