Trans increasing among Teens, especially girls; Cis Whites (heteros comfortable with their birth sex) are the Enemy(1) Kids turn viciously against Parents; 'Cis Whites' (heteros comfortable with their birth sex) are the Enemy(2) Trans increasing among Teens, especially girls; Cis-gendered people are considered evil(3) Vatican condemns Transgenderism as attempt to "Annihilate Nature", deny sexual differences(4) US embassies still hoisting rainbow flags, despite advisory from Washington(5) Gay conservatives join fight to kill liberal Equality Act, which would force Churches to employ Gays(6) Carol Roth: Dear militant feminists, stop messing it up for the rest of us(7) Liberals Cry Censorship after YouTube Demonetizing Frenzy hits SPLC Content(8) YouTube's purge of white supremacist videos also hits anti-racism channels(9) Pinterest bans Zero Hedge by adding to "Porn Domain Block List" used to target Conservatives(10) Soros Implementing His Radical Leftist Agenda By Investing In Criminal Justice(1) Kids turn viciously against Parents; 'Cis Whites' (heteros comfortable with their birth sex) are the Enemy.From: Eric Walberg <walberg2002@yahoo.com>Subject: re transhi peter,i was shocked to see 110 transwomen blacks murdered in US since 2014. i tried to find stats on trans. they are spotty, but it looks like numbers have increased significantly in the past decade.mostly transwomen.this is a good analysis, arguing the internet is the main culprit. kids surfing the net, where there's lots of unregulated pro-trans youtube videos. also the now strident gaylib lgbTq mantra. kids turn viciously against parents'cis whites' are the enemy.it describes this as an epidemic of mass socio-genic illness.https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/blog/culture-mind-and-brain/201811/why-is-transgender-identity-the-rise-among-teenseric(2) Trans increasing among Teens, especially girls; cis-gendered people are considered evilhttps://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/blog/culture-mind-and-brain/201811/why-is-transgender-identity-the-rise-among-teensSamuel Veissière Ph.D. Culture, Mind, and BrainWhy Is Transgender Identity on the Rise Among Teens? A new study of social contagion raises important clinical and ethical questions.Posted Nov 28, 2018Transgender identity* is characterized by experiencing distress with, or an inability to identify with one’s biological sex, usually prompting a desire to live one’s life as the opposite sex.In the DSM-5, the standard classification of mental disorders used by mental health professionals, this condition is known as "gender dysphoria." Note that classifying gender dysphoria as a disorder does not—indeed, should not—imply a moral judgment of transgender individuals. Depending on the degree of social stigma associated with it, transgender identity can be accompanied by very significant distress. The point of the mental-health outlook is to help reduce stigma and assist transgender individuals in leading good lives. The role of social norms in this picture, however, remains unclear and hotly debated.The historical and cross-cultural record indicates that conditions akin to what we now call "transgender identity" have been known to occur in all societies, with varying degrees of acceptance, suppression, or even encouragement. The widespread acceptance of individuals who were born males and dress and live as females, such as the hijra in India, katoey in Thailand, bakla in the Philippines, and travesti in Brazil, for example, long predates the current transgender movement in the West. Despite a longstanding recognition of their existence, transgender individuals in those countries continue to face some discrimination. Among the Kuna (also known as Guna) of the San Blas Islands in Panama, transgender identity appears to have been fully accepted since precolonial times. As a rare example of a matriarchal and matrilineal society, names and properties are typically passed on from female to female among the Kuna, leading to a cultural preference for having girl children. In this context, male children were sometimes raised as girls, thereby conferring families with a distinct social advantage. This gave rise to a rare example of absence of cultural stigma around transgender identities.These examples are telling because they point to the importance of different social norms in mediating gendered preferences and behavior. They also introduce another piece in our puzzle: all the culturally recognized incidences of pre-modern transgender individuals mentioned above involve natal males who transition to female. In the DSM-5, prevalence rates of gender dysphoria are estimated at 0.005 percent to 0.014 percent of the population for natal males, and 0.002 percent to 0.003 percent for natal females. The higher prevalence of males exhibiting the condition is likely related to a higher percentage of male homosexuals worldwide (3 to 4 percent) as compared to lesbians (1 to 2 percent). While these rates are the subject of debate, the higher ratio of male homosexuals as compared to women is a consistent finding across surveys.As attested by current controversies, rates of transgender identity appear to be on the rise, particularly among young people. Increased social acceptance of a previously stigmatized condition likely plays a role in this process, but other findings are clearly puzzling: Transgender identity is now reported among young natal females at rates that clearly exceed all known statistics to date.In a recent survey of 250 families whose children developed symptoms of gender dysphoria during or right after puberty, Lisa Littman, a physician and professor of behavioral science at Brown University, found that over 80 percent of the youth in her sample were female at birth. Littman’s study reported many other surprising findings. To meet the diagnostic criteria for gender dysphoria, a child typically needs to have shown observable characteristics of the condition prior to puberty, such as "a strong rejection of typically feminine or masculine toys," or "a strong resistance to wearing typically feminine or masculine clothes." Again, 80 percent of the parents in the study reported observing none of these early signs in their children.The plot thickens again: First, many of the youth in the survey had been directly exposed to one or more peers who had recently "come out" as trans. Next, 63.5 percent of the parents reported that in the time just before announcing they were trans, their child had exhibited a marked increase in Internet and social media consumption. Following popular YouTubers who discussed their transition thus emerged as a common factor in many of the cases. After the youth came out, an increase in distress, conflict with parents, and voiced antagonism toward heterosexual people and non-transgender people (known as "cis" or "cisgender") was also frequently reported. This animosity was also described as extending to "males, white people, gay and lesbian (non-transgender) people." The view adopted by trans youth, as summed up by one parent, seemed to be that:"In general, cis-gendered people are considered evil and unsupportive, regardless of their actual views on the topic. To be heterosexual, comfortable with the gender you were assigned at birth, and non-minority places you in the ‘most evil’ of categories with this group of friends. Statement of opinions by the evil cis-gendered population are consider phobic and discriminatory and are generally discounted as unenlightened."Parents further reported being derogatorily called "breeders" by their children, or being routinely harassed by children who played "pronoun-police." The observation that they no longer recognized their child’s voice came up time and again in parental reports. In turn, the eerie similarity between the youth's discourse and trans-positive online content was repeatedly emphasized. Youth were described as "sounding scripted," "reading from a script," "wooden," "like a form letter," "verbatim," "word for word," or "practically copy and paste."Littman raises cautions about encouraging young people’s desire to transition in all instances.  From the cases reviewed in her study, she concluded that what she terms "rapid-onset gender dysphoria" (ROGD) appears to be a novel condition that emerges from cohort and contagion effects and novel social pressures. From this perspective, ROSD likely exhibits an aetiology and epidemiology that is distinct from the "classical" cases of gender dysphoria documented in the DSM.Littman hypothesizes that ROGD can be cast as a maladaptive coping mechanism for other underlying mental health issues such as trauma or social maladjustment, but also for other exceptional traits like high IQ and giftedness. The peer support, prestige, and identity leveraged by the youth who proudly come out as trans certainly appears to be protective in their circles. As Littman’s study shows, this social signaling strategy also comes with strong disadvantages, particularly as it increases conflict between trans youth and the "cis" majority of the population, which, tellingly, includes a majority of the LGBT community.The notion reported by parents that the ROGD appears to be "scripted" is also telling. Medical anthropologists describe the process of outsourcing negative feelings to cultural narratives and systems of beliefs as "idioms of distress." These beliefs can be partially grounded in science and biology (as is the case with current brain-based mental health culture), or not at all (as is the case in cultures that explain mental illness through the idiom of spirit possession). When extreme forms of distress and coping arise through novel social pressures and spread through implicit imitation, strange epidemics of "mass psychogenic illnesses" have been documented. These have extended to dancing plagues, possession epidemics on factory floors, fugue states, or epidemics of face-twitching. These conditions are described as "psychogenic" (originating in the mind) when no underlying physical cause can be determined. But the term "sociogenic," which highlights the social context in which these conditions occur,  is a better description.Risk factors for proneness to mass sociogenic illness remain hotly debated. Tellingly, for our investigation, it is broadly recognized that females, perhaps due to their higher sensitivity to social cues on average, are overwhelmingly more prone to such phenomena. Once more, this should not be read as a moral story. Medical sociologist Robert Bartholomew, one of the world’s leading experts on mass sociogenic epidemics, has long argued that phenomena that are still unjustly termed "mass hysteria" should be renamed "collective stress responses."It is clear from Littman’s study that the rise of rapid-onset gender dysphoria, which seems to predominantly involve natal females, points to a complex web of social pressures, changing cultural norms, and new modes of distress and coping that warrant further investigation. For parents, educators, and clinicians alike, caution is warranted in dealing with this growing phenomenon.*Note: an earlier version of this post used the term "transgenderism" which, while often used to describe transgender individuals, is now considered out of date and stigmatizing by many in the LGBT community. "Transgender identity" is the community's preferred term.  The author thanks the Human Rights Campaign for pointing this out.*** Note # 2: I have received numerous private comments from readers about this article. Some readers pointed out that I did not mention the controversy and significant public backlash that ensued after the study was first published in August 2018. You can read my discussion of this backlash in this next post.*** Note # 3: You may also read my third post, in which I call for dialogue (not debate) and compassion between the different sides of the ROGD debate(3) Vatican condemns Transgenderism as attempt to "Annihilate Nature", deny sexual differenceshttps://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-06-11/vatican-condemns-transgenderism-attempt-annihilate-natureby Tyler DurdenTue, 06/11/2019 - 15:05As many in the world celebrate "Pride Month" amid a surge in demands for acceptance of the idea that gender is more complex and fluid than the binary categories of male and female, The Vatican has blasted modern gender theory, claiming in a new document that it seeks to "annihilate the concept of 'nature'."The document, which carries the title "Male And Female: He Created Them" was released by the Vatican June 10 without prior announcement. Described as an aid for Catholic schoolteachers and parents on how to address the topic of gender theory in line with Church teaching, the document questions the motives of transgender people, saying their gender transition is "only a 'provocative' display."As NCR reports, the text opens by saying that society is facing "an educational crisis, especially in the field of affectivity and sexuality."It then claims that cultural "disorientation" has destabilized the family as an institution, "bringing with it a tendency to cancel out the differences between men and women, presenting them instead as merely the product of historical and cultural conditioning." ..."From the point of view of genetics, male cells (which contain XY chromosomes) differ, from the very moment of conception, from female cells (with their XX chromosomes)," ...In cases where a child is born with ambiguous genitalia, it says "it is medical professionals who can make a therapeutic intervention.""In such situations, parents cannot make an arbitrary choice on the issue, let alone society," it recommends."Instead, medical science should act with purely therapeutic ends, and intervene in the least invasive fashion, on the basis of objective parameters and with a view to establishing the person's constitutive identity." ...Finally, the document denounced theories that attempted to "annihilate the concept of nature" and "educational programmes and legislative trends that ... make a radical break with the actual biological difference between male and female".The Vatican says this "radical separation" between gender and sex has the goal of achieving "a society without sexual differences."As one would expect, Reuters reports that LGBT rights advocates denounced the 30-page document as harmful and confusing, saying it would encourage hatred and bigotry.Groups that minister to LGBT Catholics immediately criticized the document. New Ways Ministry, one such group, called it a:"harmful tool that will be used to oppress and harm not only transgender people, but lesbian, gay, [and] bisexual people, too."The educational aid does not carry Pope Francis' signature, and the text makes no reference of the pontiff reviewing the document, but Francis, whose early pontificate was defined by his "Who am I to judge?" answer to a question about an alleged gay priest working at the Vatican, has made contradictory remarks about gender theory and transgender people throughout his six-year papacy.(4) US embassies still hoisting rainbow flags, despite advisory from Washingtonhttps://www.ctpost.com/news/article/US-embassies-still-hoisting-rainbow-flags-13962586.phpCarol Morello, The Washington PostPublished 4:45 pm EDT, Saturday, June 8, 2019Since the State Department began rejecting all embassy requests to hoist rainbow flags outside the mission buildings during Gay Pride Month this year, some U.S. diplomats have been finding ways to defy, or at least get around, the new policy.The facades of the U.S. missions in Seoul and Chennai, India, are partially hidden behind large rainbow flags, while the embassy in New Delhi is aglow in rainbow colored lights. The website for the embassy in Santiago, Chile, shows a video of the chief diplomat raising a rainbow flag last month for the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia.The Vienna Embassy's website features a photo of a rainbow flag flying below Old Glory on a mast jutting from the building, a statement by Diplomats for Equality and a story about a professor lecturing on the visibility and growth of LGBT rights.U.S. diplomats in Jerusalem joined a March for Pride and Tolerance, and several ambassadors have tweeted photos of themselves in local Pride parades or standing outside the embassies surrounded by employees holding up letters spelling PRIDE."This is a category one insurrection," said one diplomat, who like others interviewed about the sentiment over the rejections, which were not made in writing, spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of being fired.How the homophobic media covered the 1969 Stonewall uprising A practice routinely approved for most of the decade at many embassies now requires top-level approval from the State Department. But this year, as first reported by NBC News, all requests were nixed.The flap over the flags started when the State Department did not send out an official cable this year with guidelines for marking Pride Month, as it has in years past. In 2011, the Obama administration directed agencies involved with foreign policy to promote LGBT rights, a striking policy for an agency that, up to the early 1990s, considered homosexuality a security risk and cause for termination.The Obama administration's Pride Month guidelines included rules for flying rainbow flags from poles outside embassies - they had to be smaller than the American flag and fly beneath it. But permission was granted with no fuss. By 2016, approvals were left up to each ambassador or chief of mission.That process changed last year, after Mike Pompeo became secretary of state. An evangelical Christian who believes marriage should be defined as between a man and woman, Pompeo has said gay employees will be respected and treated like everyone else. But he has downplayed some symbols of LGBT rights, while introducing several new panels and envoys specializing in religious freedom issues.The advisory cable that came out last year said diplomats are required to obtain top-level approval from the State Department's Office of Management to fly a rainbow flag.The State Department declined to answer questions about the Pride Month advisory and rainbow flag ban. But two diplomats familiar with the events said all requests last year were approved.This year, there was a shift. Embassies in Israel, Germany, Brazil and Latvia, plus a handful of other posts, asked to fly rainbow flags. All were denied, said a person at the State Department who was familiar with what happened.Although most embassies seem to be towing the line, the policy shift appears to have sparked something of a revolt among diplomats.Foreign Service officers have complained on a private Facebook page that nobody should have asked for permission anyway.Some embassies that have flown the flag in previous years opted this year to commemorate the month by posting on their websites President Donald Trump's statement affirming LGBT rights and inviting nations to join a global campaign to decriminalize homosexuality. The initiative was the idea of Richard Grenell, the U.S. ambassador to Germany, who is gay.Some embassies got playful with the display of Trump's statement. In Brasilia, for example, the statement is topped by a photo of two hands holding six Play-Doh letters in rainbow colors: LGBTQ. But some did not mention Trump's statement at all, an absence made more glaring by the juxtaposition with statements by ambassadors and secretaries of states left over from previous years.Some gay employees in the foreign and civil service say the ban on flying the rainbow flag is just the tip of an iceberg of slights.Pompeo has not issued a statement for Pride Month, as he did last year. He did not attend the State Department's annual Pride Day event for two years running as his predecessors usually did, though he was traveling in Europe this year. Instead, he dispatched Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan, a veteran diplomat who promised that the State Department will advocate for gay diplomats and their families."Day by day, a death by a thousand cuts, our rights as lgbt+ Americans are being eroded with the removal of a guidance here, the rewriting of a policy there, or just the quiet disappearance of a web site," Robyn McCutcheon, a transgender woman who has served in several posts abroad, wrote in her blog "Transgender at State," lamenting what she has observed throughout the government in the past two years. "It should come as no surprise that this erosion would happen also at the U.S. Department of State."Some acknowledge that their worst fears have not been borne out.The administration has appointed several gay ambassadors. Trump became the first Republican president to make a statement celebrating Pride Month. No one has been fired for sexual orientation, but some said they have felt more vulnerable after Trump tried to ban transgender people from the military.Better, they said, to not even discuss LGBT issues publicly and risk the consequences of drawing attention to themselves."We fly below the radar," one employee said. "We survive because they don't realize we're here."(5) Gay conservatives join fight to kill liberal Equality Act, which would force Churches to employ Gayshttps://www.washingtonexaminer.com/washington-secrets/gay-conservatives-join-fight-to-kill-liberal-equality-act?by Paul Bedard June 07, 2019Gregory T. Angelo thought he had the perfect plan after he resigned as president of Log Cabin Republicans, the leading GOP LGBT group.He turned off his email and walked away from his nonstop role as the media director, fundraiser, and organizer of conservative gays after six years in the hot seat.Then the new House Democratic majority passed the Equality Act, which guarantees added rights to LGBT Americans, and he went back to work, now leading a coalition to urge the Senate to kill the liberal legislation because it would force Christian businesses, churches, and church-related colleges and institutions to cater to gays in violation of their teachings."I’m not against equality. I’m against the Equality Act," he said.What troubles Angelo and other conservative gays is that the Equality Act forces gay rights across the board and breaks a promise he and others have made in the past to also protect and enshrine religious freedom."Many like me who are gay feel very strongly about the negative consequences if the Equality Act becomes law," Angelo, now working in communications, said. "It betrays the promises we had made on past campaigns and could destroy all the goodwill we built up with everyday Americans, especially people of faith."Since last May’s House vote, he has moved quickly to thwart Senate passage, starting with a column in the Washington Examiner magazine that warned, "Passage of the Equality Act would make liars out of the lot of us. It would put the nonprofit status of religious charities at risk; it would force mom-and-pop businesses to participate in same-sex marriage ceremonies; and it would flout bedrock principles that have served as the foundation of the American experience for centuries."That column sparked a social media outcry against the Equality Act by conservatives, gay and not, and prompted Angelo to seek supporters for a petition to urge the Senate to kill the act.In just one day, he said, he had 100 co-signers, including supporters of President Trump. Others, such as Heritage Action for America, also jumped to attention after the House vote."The Equality Act pretends to promote equality and fairness, but it’s a cynical power grab to crush religious freedom and parental rights in the name of political correctness," said Jessica Anderson, vice president of Heritage Action. "Under the proposed law, religious charities in our nation’s hospitals, churches, and schools would be forced to either violate their beliefs or shut down, and parents would increasingly lose the ability to make decisions regarding their children’s education and health care."Today, he delivered the letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s staff.In fighting the act, Angelo faced hateful comments such as one on Facebook telling him to commit suicide.But he had been there before, regularly the subject of nasty social media for clashing with the lockstep of liberal gay groups, especially when pointing out the steps the Trump administration has made to push LGBT issues and hire and promote gay aides and judges.He hopes to push a compromise that provides for most of the protections provided by the Equality Act without forcing Christian groups to cave in to Washington.For years, he said, the gay community said to straight America, "'Trust us, we are no threat to you, your family or your faith.'" "Now we must continue to keep that promise and offer legislation to provide protections for LGBT while acknowledging people of faith. Let’s have nondiscriminatory protections and exempt religious institutions," Angelo said.(6) Carol Roth: Dear militant feminists, stop messing it up for the rest of ushttps://www.foxnews.com/opinion/carol-roth-restaurants-manners-etiquette-equality-feministsJune 8, 2019By Carol RothMy husband has opened the car door for me every single time we have arrived at our vehicle since we met nearly 22 years ago. Colleagues and strangers open doors and let me enter a building or room first. Other work associates let me order first at the restaurant. And, here’s an almost "secret"… I absolutely love it.The website Eater, which describes itself a "the source for people who care about dining and drinking in the world’s best food cities," recently ran an article that explained that many restaurants are doing away with classic training and etiquette, like serving the women at the table first and not using phrasing like "ladies" or "gentlemen" because they are eliminating "soft sexism."These are merely a few examples in a long list of grievances that are good manners being killed because some women don’t understand what equality or sexism really means.A restaurant serving women first is a sign of class, elegance and respect. If you are offended by that, have a hard think about why you are so angry.So, ultra-"feminists" here’s my request: be miserable if you want, but stop ruining chivalry, manners and civility for the rest of us.Equality is about being seen as equal in the eyes of the law. It does not mean that we are all equal in talent, beauty, strength, material possessions, free time, health, etc. Not only is that an unrealistic objective, it certainly has nothing to do with basic manners.I am very grateful to the women who came before me, who fought for my and other women’s rights including voting and equal pay. While I appreciate immensely their sacrifices and hard work, I also can relish in the fact that because they have done so, there’s no other place or time in history where it is better to be a woman than right now in the United States of America.There are women around the world who are truly oppressed, who aren’t allowed basic human rights, who are caned for adultery, who can’t do basic tasks without the accompaniment and approval of men.We can continue to fight for them, while still appreciating the manners of a man—or anyone, for that matter- who is holding the door open for you.To dote on a woman and to raise her up on a pedestal is a signal of respect, not a reflection of inferiority. While it may be a distinction, it’s not a discrimination, as it certainly doesn’t hold a woman back. And, while you may not want a man to offer up his seat on the bus while you show your grit and determination to stand, I would welcome the gesture, after a long day in four-inch heels, even if I ultimately turned it down.I appreciate the fact that when the Titanic sunk, the women and children were allowed off first, and would appreciate the same courtesy today.I am glad I was never eligible for the draft. I appreciate when a man across the aisle of the plane lets me go first vs. the ones that jockey with me for position -- or worse, hit me in the head fighting to be the first to get their luggage down. I even give bonus points to the men that offer to take my luggage down for me, almost always responding with a thank you and "I am glad to see that chivalry is not dead."So, to the women who are offended by civility and manners, I again politely ask you to stop screwing it up for the rest of us and ruining common courtesy in society.And to the chivalrous men, your courtesies are appreciated by many. I say thank you as I virtually curtsy in respect, not in deference.(7) Liberals Cry Censorship after YouTube Demonetizing Frenzy hits SPLC Contenthttps://breaking-news.ca/liberals-cry-censorship-after-youtube-demonetizing-frenzy-hits-splc-content/Posted on June 9, 2019AuthorQ‘It is carpet bombing style censorship’Source: Liberals Cry Censorship After YouTube Demonetizing Frenzy Hits SPLC Content | The Daily CallerLiberal activists are crying foul after YouTube’s demonetizing frenzy slammed the Southern Poverty Law Center, an organization known for labeling conservative groups as hate groups.A video SPLC published was among those nixed after YouTube announced plans Wednesday to remove videos and content that promote white supremacy. Journalist Max Blumenthal lashed out at the company after the video, which reports on Holocaust denialism, was pulled for violating the new policy."In @YouTube’s political purge, my video report for the @splcenter exposing Holocaust revisionist David Irving as a fascist and fraud historian was removed. This purge has already gone well beyond its stated aim. It is carpet bombing style censorship," Blumenthal wrote on Twitter Friday.Max Blumenthal ? @MaxBlumenthal In @YouTube’s political purge, my video report for the @splcenter exposing Holocaust revisionist David Irving as a fascist and fraud historian was removed.This purge has already gone well beyond its stated aim. It is carpet bombing style censorship. https://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-tn-youtube-hate-extremism-20190606-story.html …YouTube used the new policy to demonetize conservative commentator Steven Crowder, citing several inflammatory statements he directed at Vox writer Carlos Maza, who posted several tweets before the policy change urging the company to deplatform Crowder.Heidi Beirich, director of the SPLC’s Intelligence Project, mirrored much of Blumenthal’s concerns. YouTube needs to weed out bad actors from those who are trying to call out racism and white supremacy. She blamed a sloppy algorithm for the problem."Companies that make billions of dollars a year can certainly figure out a way to fix this," Beirich told the Los Angeles Times Thursday. "Hopefully they don’t get caught up in this purge, but you could see how they might … if you have a ham-handed process." (RELATED: YouTube To Step Up Suppression Of Videos That Don’t Violate Any Rules, Promote News Outlets)Other activist and liberal journalists expressed their opinions."A policy that attempts to ban hateful content is only as effective as the mechanisms implemented to enforce such rules," Color of Change President Rashad Robinson said in a statement Friday. "If executed poorly, this policy could contribute to even more harm for black communities and other communities targeted by white supremacist ideologies."Jordan Chariton, a journalist who formerly worked for The Young Turks, also weighed in on the debacle. "This overreaction to individual offenders to then destroy the livelihoods of those who cover war & corporate power critically is absurd and polar opposite of what YouTube’s mission once was. Punish INDIVIDUAL hosts if they are selling shirts based on homophobia. Stop punishing others," he said on Twitter Wednesday.(8) YouTube's purge of white supremacist videos also hits anti-racism channelshttps://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-tn-youtube-hate-extremism-20190606-story.htmlBy SUHAUNA HUSSAIN and SAMANTHA MASUNAGAJUN 06, 2019 | 4:20 PMYouTube’s campaign against hateful and racist videos is claiming some unintended victims: researchers and advocates working to expose racist hatemongers.A video published by the Southern Poverty Law Center was among those taken down after the company announced plans Wednesday to remove more videos and channels that advocate white supremacy.The civil rights advocacy group received an email notification early Thursday that a video of journalist Max Blumenthal interviewing prominent British Holocaust denier David Irving was removed from the SPLC’s YouTube channel."We know that this might be disappointing, but it’s important to us that YouTube is a safe place for all. If content breaks our rules, we remove it," YouTube said in the email.A video channel tied to Cal State San Bernardino’s Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism also disappeared from YouTube, the center’s director, Brian Levin, said. YouTube declined to confirm whether the dozen or more academic videos were removed as part of the recent crackdown, but after the Los Angeles Times inquired, it said Thursday that it had reinstated the channel.YouTube’s moves to start banning content promoting bigotry were "positive and well-intended," but the execution has been botched, Levin said."Artificial intelligence has not been honed to the level where it can distinguish between content that is promoting the most odious bigotry, and that which is reporting and analyzing it," he said.That organizations working to raise awareness of hate speech may have been casualties of an effort to reduce the spread of hate speech was not surprising to Heidi Beirich, director of the SPLC’s Intelligence Project. That kind of ironic collateral damage has often resulted from tech companies’ efforts to police their platforms with software that relies on keywords and other ambiguous signals, backed up by human moderators.Another anti-racist group, One People’s Project, had an informational video removed from its YouTube page after Wednesday’s policy change, according to a report by the Daily Beast. A high school history teacher and a South African blogger were among others affected while attempting to counter white supremacy."It indicates that they have not refined well enough the difference between someone who is exploring issues of racism and hatred and someone who’s promoting it," Beirich said.Other large internet platforms have fallen prey to the same types of errors. Trying to curb anti-gay posts, Facebook accidentally censored posts by LGBT users who use terms such as "queer." Last year, some LGBTQ creators on YouTube raised concerns about their content being hidden, restricted to adult users or demonetized by the company, the Verge reported.Jessica J. González, vice president of strategy at the media advocacy organization Free Press, said it’s important for tech companies to rely on human moderators as opposed to algorithms to train staff in cultural competency and to ensure their appeal processes are simple, transparent and rapid.González’s organization helped develop a set of suggested content moderation policies. She said the suggested policies were informed by the experiences of people whose posts have been taken down on Twitter and Facebook for calling out racism."A policy that attempts to ban hateful content is only as effective as the mechanisms implemented to enforce such rules," Color of Change President Rashad Robinson said in a statement. "If executed poorly, this policy could contribute to even more harm for black communities and other communities targeted by white supremacist ideologies."In the SPLC video, Blumenthal was exploring how people could believe the Holocaust was a hoax and how that belief contributes to anti-Semitism, Beirich said."YouTube saw someone speaking of Holocaust denial and assumed it was promotion. But it was the opposite — it was exposure and condemnation of Holocaust denial thinking."YouTube said it posts clear policies on what content is acceptable and removes videos violating those policies, but with the massive volume of videos on the site, sometimes the company makes the wrong call."When it’s brought to our attention that a video has been removed mistakenly, we act quickly to reinstate it," YouTube said in a statement. "We also offer uploaders the ability to appeal removals and we will re-review the content."Beirich said the SPLC’s channel also hosts videos training law enforcement on how to identify lone-wolf domestic terrorists or Aryan prison gangs, or what to do if a hate group comes to town."Hopefully they don’t get caught up in this purge, but you could see how they might … if you have a ham-handed process," she said.Beirich said the SPLC plans to appeal the video’s removal.(9) Pinterest bans Zero Hedge by adding to "Porn Domain Block List" used to target Conservativeshttps://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-06-11/pinterest-bans-zero-hedge-adding-porn-domain-block-list-used-target-conservativesby Tyler DurdenTue, 06/11/2019 - 10:45Documents leaked to Project Veritas by a Pinterest insider reveal that the San Francisco-based social media company has blocked links from Zero Hedge and several conservative or religious-based websites - adding them to a 'porn domain block list' originally intended to keep the platform free of sexually explicit material.Veritas has published several internal documents and interviewed the insider, who explained how the company with nearly 300 million active monthly users censors pro-life and Christian content. The leak reveals an aggressive campaign to censor conservative content under the guise of 'hate speech' and 'fake news.'Pinterest added a pro-life group website (@LiveAction) and @zerohedge to its porn list in order to prevent users for "pinning" or sharing the websitesConsumers are being lied to. Terms of Services are being violated. Antitrust bullying everywhere. pic.twitter.com/XnEiRDnObN— Ali Alexander (@ali) June 11, 2019 Links to the leaked documents can be viewed here, here, here, here, here and here. Of note, in February the social media platform made headlines for blocking searches related to anti-vaccination material. At the time, the company was criticized over their seemingly random methods for determining offensive content."There’s a secretive process with no real appeal where people are making extremely difficult subjective calls that have to do with politics, culture and religion," said ACLU lawyer Jennifer Granick.The insider who leaked to Veritas agreed, saying that they were "pretty surprised" after discovering Live Action's inclusion on the porn list.The insider explained that websites on a "domain block list" cannot be linked in posts made by users. While investigating, Project Veritas tried to post the LiveAction.org link on Pinterest and failed to do so, receiving an error message that read, "Sorry! Your request could not be completed." Project Veritas reviewed the list of websites from the "porn domain block list" and was able to confirm that along with LiveAction.org, websites like zerohedge.com, pjmedia.com, teaparty.org and other various conservative websites were also listed. The majority of the document lists pornographic websites. -Project Veritas(10) Soros Implementing His Radical Leftist Agenda By Investing In Criminal Justicehttps://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-06-11/soros-implementing-his-radical-leftist-agenda-investing-criminal-justiceby Tyler Durden Tue, 06/11/2019 - 15:35 Via SaraCarter.com,For many years leftist billionaire George Soros has used his wealth to remake our society.His latest area of focus is criminal justice. From Texas to Philadelphia to Virginia, Soros has reportedly spent millions in backing candidates for district attorneys or prosecutors."Philadelphia is the laboratory where this experiment of Soros funded prosecutors is playing out," said William McSwain the US Attorney for Eastern District of Pennsylvania on Tucker Carlson Show."Now the returns are in. Larry Krasner, the Philadelphia District Attorney has been in office for about a year and half, funded by Mr. Soros, and we can look at the data and we can see what is happening to Philadelphia, where homicides have skyrocketed, shooting have skyrocketed, the worst types of violent crimes have really gone up. And in addition to that some of the low level and mid level crimes have also gone up but they aren’t being reported. And the reason they are not being reported is that DA has said that he is not going to prosecute them."