Taylor Tara Radio

Twitter has sharply escalated its battle against fake and suspicious accounts, suspending more than 1 million a day in recent months, a major shift to lessen the flow of disinformation on the platform, according to data obtained by The Washington Post.

The rate of account suspensions, which Twitter confirmed to The Post, has more than doubled since October, when the company revealed under congressional pressure how Russia used fake accounts to interfere in the U.S. presidential election. Twitter suspended more than 70 million accounts in May and June, and the pace has continued in July, according to the data.

The aggressive removal of unwanted accounts may result in a rare decline in the number of monthly users in the second quarter, which ended June 30, according to a person familiar with the situation who was not authorized to speak. Twitter declined to comment on a possible decline in its user base.

Twitter’s growing campaign against bots and trolls?—?coming despite the risk to the company’s user growth?—?is part of the continuing fallout from Russia’s disinformation offensive during the 2016 presidential campaign, when a St. Petersburg-based troll factory was able to use some of America’s most prominent technology platforms to deceive voters on a mass scale to exacerbate social and political tensions.

The extent of account suspensions, which has not previously been reported, is one of several recent moves by Twitter to limit the influence of people it says are abusing its platform. The changes, which were the subject of internal debate, reflect a philosophical shift for Twitter. Its executives long resisted policing misbehavior more aggressively, for a time even referring to themselves as “the free speech wing of the free speech party.” Courtesy https://wapo.st/2LRpwDw

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, in an unmistakable show of political strength Tuesday, cut a deal to sideline a potential challenger, won new confidence from her party’s resurgent left flank and earned high praise from her party’s most influential figure, former president Barack Obama.

Together, the developments buoyed Pelosi as she fights to repel a small group of challengers inside the Democratic caucus who want to force a leadership shake-up after 16 years with the Californian at the helm.

One of them was Rep. Marcia L. Fudge (D-Ohio), who left Washington last week planning to take the Thanksgiving holiday to ponder a run against Pelosi for speaker. But her dalliance ended Tuesday, when Fudge said she would support Pelosi after the minority leader agreed to make Fudge chairman of a resurrected subcommittee on elections and pledged that “the most loyal voting bloc in the Democratic Party, black women, will have a seat at the decision-making table.”

It’s been 30 years since American television viewers got their first look at? The Kids in the Hall.

Now, a new authorized biography by Paul Myers, ?The Kids in the Hall: One Dumb Guy,?offers an inside look at the crossdressing sketch comedians, chronicling their early years in the Toronto comedy scene, their trailblazing?TV series and subsequent reunions on film and stage.

After the troupe’s self-titled pilot premiered on HBO in October 1988, Dave Foley, Bruce McCulloch, Kevin McDonald, Mark McKinney, and Scott Thompson — five winsome Canadian guys who shared a devilish sense of humor — began a five-season run on the premium cable channel and CBS from 1989 to 1994.

For weeks this fall, an ebullient President Trump traveled relentlessly to hold raise-the-rafters campaign rallies — sometimes three a day — in states where his presence was likely to help Republicans on the ballot.

But his mood apparently has changed as he has taken measure of the electoral backlash that voters delivered Nov. 6. With the certainty that the incoming Democratic House majority will go after his tax returns and investigate his actions, and the likelihood of additional indictments by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III, Trump has retreated into a cocoon of bitterness and resentment, according to multiple administration sources.

Behind the scenes, they say, the president has lashed out at several aides, from junior press assistants to senior officials. “He’s furious,” said one administration official. “Most staffers are trying to avoid him.”

The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, painted a picture of a brooding president “trying to decide who to blame” for Republicans’ election losses, even as he publicly and implausibly continues to claim victory.

Read More Here: http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-pol-trump-absent-20181113-story.html

Holly Figueroa O’Reilly was crowdsourcing before crowdsourcing was cool. In 1999, she founded Indiegrrl, an organization for women in the independent music industry. What began as a small mailing list became a monster organization. Indiegrrl supported nearly five thousand female musicians internationally; they booked tours, shared resources, and helped one another get ahead in the male-dominated music industry.

Since then, Holly has performed over one thousand tour dates, was a national co-organizer for “March for Truth”, is an administrative member of CrowdRescueHQ, and has sued the President of the United States for blocking her on Twitter. And won.

Asked why she founded BWCS, she replied, “I was having a hard time keeping all of the 2018 candidates I supported in my Twitter group DM’s, so I started a Slack workspace for candidates mostly for myself. I invited some other folks concerned about the same thing to join me there. Before we knew it, there were hundreds of volunteers, campaign staff, and candidates all working together to increase their social media reach. I always tell people that the Blue Wave isn’t something that just happens. It’s something we MAKE happen, and this is one of the ways we can help make it happen.”

Holly lives in Seattle with her husband, 5 kids, and way too many guitars.

A forecast that includes several days of gusting Santa Ana winds has fire officials worried about the possible spread of the 83,000-acre Woolsey fire straddling Ventura and Los Angeles counties, officials said Sunday.

The massive blaze, which has claimed two lives and forced more than 250,000 people to evacuate from Malibu to Thousand Oaks, was 10% contained as of Sunday morning.

But expected wind gusts of 40 mph or stronger over the next several days have officials concerned the fire could spread in a quick and unprecedented fashion, and urged residents who were sheltering in place to evacuate immediately.

“Maybe 10 or 20 years ago you stayed in your homes when there was a fire and you were able to protect them,” Ventura County Fire Chief Mark Lorenzen said. “We’re entering a new normal. Things are not the way they were 10 years ago.”

The fire had burned 83,275 acres as of Sunday morning, according to fire officials. A total of 177 buildings had been destroyed, and roughly 57,000 structures were threatened. The coming wind gusts could also severely reduce the effectiveness of aerial water and retardant drops, leaving firefighters to battle the flames solely from the ground, officials said.

Several parts of Los Angeles and Ventura counties, including Malibu, Calabasas, Agoura Hills, Westlake Village, Hidden Hills, and sections of West Hills, Monte Nido, Gated Oaks and Topanga, remained under evacuation order Sunday morning, officials said. Residents of Topanga Canyon who were sheltering in place were also advised to flee the area.

Read More Here:http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-woolsey-fire-latest-20181111-story.html

The Democratic victories in the House of Representatives on Tuesday night have obvious policy consequences. But it could have lasting implications for the health of America’s democracy too.

Democratic backsliding refers to the subtle, gradual deterioration of democratic institutions and practices, the erosion of elements like free and fair elections, freedom of speech and association, and the rule of law. The Trump administration and its Republican allies have contributed to backsliding, especially by undermining competitive elections and the rule of law.

“The checks imposed in the government are much weaker than they were two years ago,” Aziz Huq, a University of Chicago law professor, told me, citing the failure of inspector generals to hold Cabinet officials to account, President Donald Trump’s partisan attacks on prosecutors, and the disinclination of congressional Republicans to meaningfully challenge the president.

It’s natural, then, to wonder if the Democratic victory will provide a meaningful check on those trends. The Democratic House would, most obviously, curb Trump’s worst impulses through investigations. Read More Here: https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2018/11/8/18072918/midterm-elections-2018-democracy-america

Whatever happens in the midterms, the aftermath will be ugly. But the elections are nonetheless a fork in the road. If we take one path, it will offer at least a chance for political redemption, for recovering America’s democratic values. If we take the other, we’ll be on the road to autocracy, with no obvious way to get off.

And even if Democrats do climb that tilted slope, anyone expecting Republicans to accept the result with good grace hasn’t been paying attention. Remember, Donald Trump claimed — falsely, of course — that millions of immigrants voted illegally in an election he won. Imagine what he’ll say if he loses, and what his supporters will do in response. And if and when a Democratic House tries to exercise its powers, you can be sure it will be met with defiance, never mind what the Constitution says.

Read More Here: Last Exit Off the Road to Autocracy

The Inaugural Taylor Tara Radio Pre-Election Day Extravaganza with, Jason Taylor and Tara Dublin. 

Featuring Guests: Cheri Jacobus, David Jolly, Brian Karen and Dr. David Reiss.

 

The tumultuous 2018 midterm campaign, shaped by conflicts over race and identity and punctuated by tragedy, barreled through its final weekend as voters prepared to deliver a verdict on the first half of President Trump’s term, with Republicans bracing for losses in the House and state capitals but hopeful they would prevail in Senate races in areas where Mr. Trump is popular.

Janice Lynn Park, the daughter of a Marine, grew up in Southern California within a mile of Disneyland. Her first of many union jobs was as telephone operator for Pacific Bell.

As a young single mom of a four day old baby and a 4-year old, she began attending University of California, San Francisco School of Nursing to earn her BS; then attended Cal State Northridge in the Public health education graduate program.

In 1992 she started a new life in Anchorage, Alaska, joining her future husband where he had found work doing water treatment on the North Slope. She took nine days pulling a trailer to drive the Alaska Highway—just herself, a small child and a cat.

 

Mike Siegel: My career has been in public service, as a school teacher, civil rights lawyer, and advocate for communities left out of the political process. I am running for Congress to make sure we have a safety net that protects every American, and to restore common decency to our federal government.

I was born into a union household - my mother was a welder at a Caterpillar factory, a member of the machinists union, and was on strike against unsafe working conditions when I was in the womb. I have spent my life surrounded by working people, by people of all backgrounds, and by people willing to dedicate their lives to fighting for the greater good.

Through my candidacy, I seek to unite the various communities of the 10th Congressional District who are thoroughly unrepresented by the current Congressman. From Austin to Houston, Bastrop to Prairie View, we all deserve to have our voices heard.