Renowned pro-Trump meme maker Carpe Donktum launched his new website MemeWorld.com Tuesday. Just before launch, Carpe announced his site on Twitter, saying it is a collaboration of some of the “greatest meme minds on Planet Earth.” Carpe was inspired to launch his site in order to have a place to preserve memes where they would be safe from big tech censorship. Ironically, minutes following the website launch, Facebook blocked the link citing its infamous “community standards.” Not only was the link blocked from the Facebook site and app, it has also been censored in the Facebook Messenger app, as well as Facebook owned Whatsapp, a private messaging application. That’s right, now they are censoring your private messages.
Big tech censorship is nothing new to conservative or libertarian content creators and commentators. The blocking of MemeWorld.com is just the latest in a long list of deplatformings. Individuals such as Alex Jones, Milo Yiannopoulos, Laura Loomer, Gavin McInnes, and Joe Biggs have all been completely banned from using any type of social media. It is so severe Laura Loomer is no longer allowed to use Uber.
President Trump and Congress have been critical of big tech censorship, going so far as to host Congressional hearings and White House meetings regarding the issue. On December 11, 2018, Google CEO Sundar Pichai testified before the House Judiciary Committee regarding a broad range of topics, including potential political bias, the company’s dealings in China, and privacy practices. Google is the largest search engine in the world, owning a 90% market share according to StatCounter. When asked if Google would commit to ending discriminatory practices, Mr. Pichai denied the company uses any discriminatory practices in its search results.
On July 17, 2019, Google Vice President of global government affairs and public policy Karan Bhatia testified before House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on the Constitution. He stated, “We don’t use blacklists [or] whitelists to influence our search results.” When asked for what reason Google would blacklist a company, he stated, ““As I said, per your previous question, we do not utilize blacklists or whitelists in our search results to favor political outcomes,” he insisted. “That’s not, doesn’t happen.”
Did two high level executives of Google commit perjury before the United States government? Last week, senior Google software engineer Zach Vorhies released a cache of internal Google documents to Project Veritas, proving the Mr. Pichai’s and Mr. Bhatia’s claims wrong. Google does, in fact, blacklist certain organizations. Among those being censored are InfoWars, The Gateway Pundit, LifeNews, and Project Veritas itself. This has terrifying and serious consequences for our nation’s elections.
Dr. Robert Epstein, former editor in chief of Psychology Today, current senior research psychologist at the American Institute for Behavioral Research and Technology, and contributing editor for Scientific American Mind, also testified before Congress. During Senator Ted Cruz’s (R-TX) questioning, Mr. Epstein dropped some very interesting results from his studies. He found that Google alone swayed between 2.6 million and 10.4 million additional voters to vote for Hillary Clinton. This was accomplished through non- competitive tactics such as the search engine manipulation effect, the search suggestion effect, and the answer bot effect that are solely at Google’s disposal. It was also revealed during this line of questioning that Alphabet, parent company of Google, was the number one financial contributor to Clinton’s 2016 campaign. Dr. Epstein went on to say that in 2020, if big tech giants Google, Facebook, and Twitter joined forces behind one single candidate, the affects would be diabolical.
Dr. Epstein has spent the bulk of the week defending his study after Hillary Clinton herself attacked its validity via Twitter.
“The debunked study you’re referring to was based on 21 undecided voters. For context that’s about half the number of people associated with your campaign who have been indicted.”
Dr. Epstein responded with the actual scope of his study:
“#Trump tweet, point #1: I’ve never said that #Google deliberately “manipulated” the 2016 election, but I measured substantial pro-#Hillary bias in #Google’s search results by preserving & analyzing 13,207 election-related searches & the 98,044 web pages linked to those searches.”
Dr. Epstein’s essays on the topic have been published in a volume at Oxford University.
While there has certainly been a lot of rhetoric regarding big tech censorship, we haven’t seen any tangible results. The fact remains that big tech is censoring what we can and cannot see, and vastly manipulating American voters. They are in effect, shaping the world around us. President Trump will certainly be fighting an uphill battle leading up to the 2020 presidential election if actions aren’t taken soon.
“Sorry, I don’t buy Rep. Tlaib’s tears. I have watched her violence, craziness and, most importantly, WORDS, for far too long. Now tears? She hates Israel and all Jewish people. She is an anti-Semite. She and her 3 friends are the new face of the Democrat Party. Live with it!”
The President’s tweet was in response to a press conference held by Congresswomen Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) and Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) to protest Israel’s decision to bar them from visiting the nation. Ms. Tlaib shed tears as she reminisced about her family’s treatment by the Israeli government.
The congresswoman’s show of emotion was met with skepticism by many on the right. She has been an outspoken critic of Israel, and supports the BDS, or “Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions” movement. This movement has called for a boycott of Israel due to their “harsh treatment of Palestinians” and believes that Israel should no longer occupy the West Bank, East Jerusalem, Gaza, and Golan Heights. Israel passed a law that allows the government to bar visitors who support this movement.
It is interesting to note that itineraries for Congresswomen Tlaib and Omar were titled with the heading: “US Congressional Delegation to Palestine.” It is also well known that Ms. Tlaib has a framed map in her office with Israel marked out and Palestine put in its place. The women had planned meetings with groups such as ANERA (American Near East Refugee Aid), Mercy Corp, and UNRWA (United Nations Releif and Works Agency for Palestine). These groups have been known to be critical of Israeli policy and support Palestinian refugees. Also interesting to
note, Israel was prepared to allow Congresswoman Tlaib into the nation to visit her grandmother, but she refused, as she would not be able to attend any anti-Israel rallies or meetings.
Given the histories of anti-Semitic and anti-Israel comments made by the Congresswomen, and Ms. Tlaib’s refusal to visit her grandmother, it is easy to see why President Trump decided to call out the press conference for what it was: an emotional play to coerce the American public to opposing foreign aid to Israel.
According to their own itinerary, Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib chose to refer to Israel as “Palestine”. Their trip there was little more than a self-indulgent ploy to delegitimize and malign the Jewish State from within its borders. pic.twitter.com/yjDEUeMayo
One needn’t look far to find evidence that leftist, progressive policies lead to the downfall of a civilization. What better example than California? If California were a nation, it would currently rank as the fifth largest economy in the world(2), just behind Germany(3). This is by far, no small feat. How does a seemingly booming state become the pariah of a nation?
Over the past 30 years, California has increasingly elected leftist progressive politicians to its state government. In the 1993/1994 legislative session under Republican Governor Pete Wilson, the State Assembly was 45% Republican, 50% Democrat, and 5% Independent while the State Senate was 41% Republican and 59% Democrat. This is a fairly even split, forcing government to enact policies that appealed to both parties. Fast forward to the 2019/2020 legislative session under Democrat Governor Gavin Newsom. The State Assembly is currently made up of 28% Republicans and 72% Democrats, while the State Assembly is 23% Republican, 76% Democrat, and 1% vacant. This allows one party rule in a state dominated by the two metropolitan areas of San Francisco and Los Angeles.
In a Fox News article, “San Francisco homeless stats soar: city blames big business, residents blame officials,” the woeful and outright disgusting conditions of a once beautiful city are outlined(1). Numerous concerned citizens shared stories of being harassed, threatened, and assaulted by the ever increasing homeless population. The article states, “Last week, Austin Vincent, a homeless man, was caught on camera attacking a 26-year-old woman outside her condo complex. As he threw Paneez Kosarian on the ground, he allegedly talked about saving her from robots and offered to kill another woman nearby so he could earn her trust.” Mr. Vincent was released by Jerry Brown appointed Superior Court Judge Christine Van Aken. He was arrested again for an assault against a female involving a knife following his release.
In the city of San Francisco, an adult can no longer use a vape device, however public nudity and using heroin in the streets are allowed.
The deplorable conditions are not isolated to San Francisco. This week Sacramento small business owner Elizabeth Novak called out Governor Gavin Newsom for deplorable conditions there(5). She is being forced to close her hair salon that has been in operation for 15 years because she has to clean human waste and syringes off of her doorstep when she opens every morning. She has to ask the homeless individuals camped on her doorstep to move their tents. She has been forced to fight drug addicted individuals who come into her shop threatening violence because they are still on the streets. When she speaks to police, they explain how their hands are tied because of current progressive laws enacted by the Governor and state legislature. She pleads with Mr. Newsom about what he is going to do for the hardworking taxpayer in the state of California(5). I’m sure her pleas will fall on deaf ears.
In a state with the 11th highest tax burden (4) on its residents in the nation, one would think social services would be abundant. Think again. Public education funds are perpetually missing, the state’s crumbling infrastructure leads many to ask where the astronomically high fuel taxes are going, and the state employee retirement system is woefully underfunded. Add to all this the increased burden of being a “sanctuary state.” The County of Los Angeles alone spent over $680 million in one year funding programs for illegal immigrants.
The burden of leftist, progressive policies is ever increasing on the hardworking middle class of California and the number of taxpayers to share that burden is decreasing. The OC Register reported that 142,932 more individuals left the state of California in 2016 than moved there. This is the second largest outflow from state behind New York, an 11% increase over 2015. The state’s outmigration has continued to increase over the past 2 decades, even while the state’s total population is increasing. How can this occur? One word: immigration(6). Immigrants are attracted to a state that welcomes them with open arms and open pocketbooks.
This is just a short list of the problems progressives have caused California. We haven’t touched on the healthcare for all illegals initiative, the high speed rail to nowhere, and the environmental regulations the kill industries such as agriculture and trucking. Anna Suarez put it best when speaking of San Francisco, “The city is running out of strategies. I’m moving to Austin.” We can only hope the progressive ideology stays behind
The two prison officers guarding Epstein’s unit falsified logs showing they had carried out regular checks, according to unnamed sources in media reports.
Prison guards at Jeffrey Epstein’s unit are suspected to have falsified log entries showing they carried out regular checks in the run-up to his death, according to three media reports quoting unnamed sources.
Surveillance video that captures the comings and goings of the guards does not match prison logs, which noted checks were made every 30 minutes as per protocol, said sources close to the investigation cited by both CBS and The Associated Press.
Also citing two unnamed officials, The New York Times said that the two staff members who were guarding unit 9 South had falsely recorded in a log that they had checked on the billionaire when they had actually failed to check on him for about three hours.
Jeffrey Epstein in a booking photograph in Palm Beach, Fla., on July 27, 2006. (Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office)
“The two people guarding Mr. Epstein had been asleep for some or all of the three hours,” said the newspaper, citing three officials.
The warden at the Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC) where the convicted sex offender was being held has been temporarily reassigned pending the outcome of multiple investigations, the Department of Justice announced on Aug. 13.
No cause of death has officially been revealed for Epstein, who, according to the Manhattan U.S. Attorney, was found dead in his cell on Aug. 10 after what was officially called an “apparent suicide.”
According to a source quoted by the New York Post, he hanged himself with his bed sheets.
GOP and Democrats Disgree on Specifics of Background Checks for Gun Buyers
After the recent high-profile mass shootings, lawmakers are again faced with the questions of how to stop gun violence and if Congress can get through the historic gridlock on gun control.
While there is bipartisan agreement that something needs to be done to stop gun violence, the two parties cannot unify on what the specifics are. Democrats want immediate gun control legislation while Republicans are focused more on mental health to root out the epidemic.
Hoping to break through the gridlock, Senator Pat Toomey (R-Penn.), and Joe Manchin,(D-W. Va) sponsored a bipartisan bill. Their bill aims to expand background checks on all commercial sales, including gun shows and internet sales.
Addressing the Senate measure for background checks, Toomey tweeted, “While no law will end mass shootings entirely, it’s time for Congress to act to help keep our communities safer.”
Senator Manchin said he thinks the bill will help curb gun violence while protecting Americans’ second amendment rights.
Toomey and Manchin introduced a similar bill in 2013, but it did not get enough Senate votes last year to pass. Their most recent bill, S.42, Background Expansion Act, was introduced in the Senate in January 2019. It “prohibits a firearm transfer between private parties unless a licensed gun dealer, manufacturer, or importer first takes possession of the firearm to conduct a background check.”
President Donald Trump has shown support for background checks.
On Aug. 5., he wrote on Twitter: “We cannot let those killed in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, die in vain. Likewise for those so seriously wounded … Republicans and Democrats must come together and get strong background checks …”
Senate Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell (R-K.y.) told WHAS Radio on Aug. 8, that background checks and red flag measures will be a top priority when the Senate reconvenes in September.
“Those are two items that for sure will be front and center as we see what we can come together on and pass,” he told WHAS.
When the Toomey-Manchin Background Expansion Act was introduced in the Senate, it did not get much support from Republican Senators. Nor has the Republic controlled Senate taken up the Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2019, H.R.8, which passed in the Democratic-controlled House in February.
Most Republicans have not proclaimed support for stricter background checks. They want Congress to instead address mental health issues that have driven the behaviors of many of the shooters.
Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) did not endorse new background checks; instead, he emphasized a change in speech and behavior.
“Especially in a nation with a constitutional right to bear arms, new laws from Washington, D.C., alone won’t stop this violence … It will take a change in behavior. Every day our internet democracy displays millions of hateful thoughts. To change behavior, each of us has a responsibility to replace these hateful thoughts with statements that respect the dignity of every individual, regardless of their background.”
Gun rights groups like the National Rifle Association (NRA), say that both H.R.8 and S.42 overly restrict the 2nd amendment rights. They make it harder for citizens to protect themselves and their families.
Although Trump has shown support for expanding background checks, he has also emphasized the focus of gun control should be on mental health.
In a White House press statement he said, “We must make sure that those judged to pose a grave risk to public safety do not have access to firearms; and that if they do, those firearms can be taken through rapid due process.”
Democrats say that S.42 does not go far enough and Senate Republicans should pass H.R.8 to show their full support for ending gun violence. Because not only does H.R.8 expand background checks to gun shows and internet sales, but it goes further than Toomey-Manchin’s S.42. It also bans private sales from non-licensed dealers, except for some family transactions and loans.
Trump Sues California After State Passes Law Requiring Tax Returns to Appear on Ballot
If this doesn’t expose the hate of the Democrat Party than what will? The Democrats have used every tactic against him. From Sex scandals to false allegations of collusion. Now they want to withhold the basic bases of our democracy, vote for the person you want. They are literally blocking citizens the choice to vote for Trump. That is Domestic Terrorism.
The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California and alleges that the law adds an “unconstitutional qualification” to the prerequisites listed for candidates in the Constitution.
“The Democratic Party is on a crusade to obtain the president’s federal tax returns in the hopes of finding something they can use to harm him politically,” the lawsuit states, according to CBS. “In their rush to join this crusade, California Democrats have run afoul of these restrictions on state power over federal elections.”
Calif. Gov. Gavin Newsom answers questions at a Capitol news conference in Sacramento, Calif. in a file photograph. (Rich Pedroncelli/AP)
The Republican National Committee and Judicial Watch also sued California over the law.
“It certainly doesn’t bode well for Democrats heading into 2020 that their best bet for beating President Trump is to deny millions of Californians the ability to vote for him. This stunt by Democrats is unconstitutional and, simply put, desperate,” she said in a statement.
Newsom posted on Twitter that there was an easy solution to the issue.
“There’s an easy fix Mr. President—release your tax returns as you promised during the campaign and follow the precedent of every president since 1973,” he wrote.
Senate Bill 27, or the Presidential Tax Transparency and Accountability Act, requires candidates for president of the United States and the governor of California to file copies of every income tax return filed with the Internal Revenue Service in the five most recent taxable years with the Secretary of State at least 98 days prior to the corresponding primary election.
“These are extraordinary times and states have a legal and moral duty to do everything in their power to ensure leaders seeking the highest offices meet minimal standards, and to restore public confidence. The disclosure required by this bill will shed light on conflicts of interest, self-dealing, or influence from domestic and foreign business interest,” Newsom, a staunch opponent of Trump, wrote in a statement after signing the legislation.
Jay Sekulow, counsel to the president, said in a statement that “the State of California’s attempt to circumvent the Constitution will be answered in court.”
Tim Murtaugh, an official with Trump’s 2020 campaign, said the law was unconstitutional.
A woman picks up tax forms in the lobby of the Farley Post Office in New York City in a file photo. (Chris Hondros/Getty Images)
“The Constitution is clear on the qualifications for someone to serve as president and states cannot add additional requirements on their own,” Murtaugh said in a statement. “What’s next, five years of health records?”
Trump administration officials have said that Trump does not have to release his tax returns.
