All posts by nedhamson

Activist, writer, researcher, addicted to sharing information and facts.

Young People Are Stepping Up to Be Poll Workers – The New York Times

Though many areas are still in search of additional poll workers, the need is far less than what was expected, said Bob Brandon, the president and chief executive of the Fair Elections Center, a voting rights organization. Activist groups like Power the Polls have drafted hundreds of thousands of poll workers using social media like Snapchat, Instagram and TikTok and working with online influencers in an effort to spur interest among young people.

Why Is Facebook Giving Pro-Vaccine Groups Such a Hard Time? – Mother Jones

Facebook seems to be taking the position that posts from Vaccinate Your Family are opinions about a controversial topic, rather than science-based public health information. Evidence overwhelmingly supports routine vaccination. Without this important tool, public health experts warn, we could quickly return to the era when communicable diseases like measles and whooping cough killed people.

Pisani is still waiting for answers from Facebook on why Vaccinate Your Family’s comments were turned off. In the meantime, she worries that people who find her group will not be able to ask questions or connect with others. It’s a bad time to limit information about vaccines: Since the beginning of the pandemic, rates of routine childhood vaccination have declined precipitously. Meanwhile, anti-vaccine groups on Facebook have combined with anti-mask activists, spreading their ideas to new communities.

Source: Why Is Facebook Giving Pro-Vaccine Groups Such a Hard Time? – Mother Jones

Navy SEAL who says he killed bin Laden pushes back after Trump amplifies unfounded claims operation was a hoax | TheHill

“Very brave men said goodby to their kids to go kill Osama bin Laden. We were given the order by President Obama. It was not a body double,” O’Neill wrote on Twitter on Tuesday.

Trump earlier on Tuesday retweeted an account linked to the QAnon conspiracy theory that promoted the unfounded allegation that bin Laden still lives.

The account has since been suspended, but Trump on Wednesday also retweeted a video pushing baseless claims about bin Laden’s death.

Source: Navy SEAL who says he killed bin Laden pushes back after Trump amplifies unfounded claims operation was a hoax | TheHill

Twitter, Facebook clamp down on New York Post article about Hunter Biden | TheHill

Facebook also took action to limit the article’s spread but offered few details regarding those steps.

“While I will intentionally not link to the New York Post, I want be clear that this story is eligible to be fact checked by Facebook’s third-party fact checking partners. In the meantime, we are reducing its distribution on our platform,” policy communications manager Andy Stone tweeted.

Facebook recently announced a policy on viral misinformation which says that “in many countries, including in the U.S., if we have signals that a piece of content is false, we temporarily reduce its distribution pending review by a third-party fact-checker.”

It is unclear what “signals” triggered the limit on the Post article.

According to data from Crowdtangle, which is owned by Facebook, the link to the Post story has received more than 245,000 interactions on the platform despite Facebook’s intervention.

Source: Twitter, Facebook clamp down on New York Post article about Hunter Biden | TheHill

South Dakota governor blames surge in COVID-19 cases on more testing

Head in a bucket of sand? People are dying and Governor is saying the weather report causes bad weather?

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South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R) this week attributed the state’s surge in COVID-19 cases to increased testing, saying, “That’s expected.””We have triple the amount of testing that we are doing in the state of Sou…

Alabama coach Nick Saban tests positive for COVID-19 | TheHill

University of Alabama head football coach Nick Saban tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday along with the university’s athletic director, Greg Byrne, according to statements issued by the university’s athletics department.

“I found out earlier this afternoon that I had tested positive for COVID-19,” Saban said in a statement, according to WAFF, NBC’s Huntsville, Ala. affiliate station. “I immediately left work and isolated at home.”

Source: Alabama coach Nick Saban tests positive for COVID-19 | TheHill

France declares state of emergency, imposes local curfews | New Europe

In a televised interview on Wednesday evening, French President Emmanuel Macron confirmed the declaration of a public health state of emergency, also announcing local curfews in Paris and eight other cities, as the country is struggling with a massive surge in COVID-19 cases.  The new measures, t

Source: France declares state of emergency, imposes local curfews | New Europe

The new measures, that include a curfew between 9pm and 6am in Paris, Grenoble, Lille, Lyon, Marseille, Montpellier, Rouen, Saint-Etienne and Toulouse will come into effect on midnight Saturday and will be in place for four weeks, with the possibility of a two-week extension, if the parliament green-lights the move.

No restrictions will be imposed on public transport and citizens will still be able to travel between French regions unimpeded, however, they should forget about going to restaurants or visiting friends after 9 pm, while anyone out during curfew should have a “good reason.” For those violating the night curfew, an €135 fine could be imposed.