'Shadowbanning'

As noted, my blog time's been down this week, because I'm back at my day job, lol.

I saw this Milo piece earlier, but didn't have time to read it.

At Breitbart London, "EXCLUSIVE: Twitter Shadowbanning 'Real and Happening Every Day' Says Inside Source":

Rumours that Twitter has begun ‘shadowbanning’ politically inconvenient users have been confirmed by a source inside the company, who spoke exclusively to Breitbart Tech. His claim was corroborated by a senior editor at a major publisher.

According to the source, Twitter maintains a ‘whitelist’ of favoured Twitter accounts and a ‘blacklist’ of unfavoured accounts. Accounts on the whitelist are prioritised in search results, even if they’re not the most popular among users. Meanwhile, accounts on the blacklist have their posts hidden from both search results and other users’ timelines.

Our source was backed up by a senior editor at a major digital publisher, who told Breitbart that Twitter told him it deliberately whitelists and blacklists users. He added that he was afraid of the site’s power, noting that his tweets could disappear from users’ timelines if he got on the wrong side of the company.

Shadowbanning, sometimes known as “Stealth Banning” or “Hell Banning,” is commonly used by online community managers to block content posted by spammers. Instead of banning a user directly (which would alert the spammer to their status, prompting them to create a new account), their content is merely hidden from public view.

For site owners, the ideal shadowban is when a user never realizes he’s been shadowbanned.

However, Twitter isn’t merely targeting spammers. For weeks, users have been reporting that tweets from populist conservatives, members of the alternative right, cultural libertarians, and other anti-PC dissidents have disappeared from their timelines...

More.

RELATED: "Robert Stacy McCain Suspended on Twitter — #FreeStacy."

Here's Jackie Johnson's Weather Forecast from Last Night

I've been catching up on some sleep, heh, so blogging's been light.

Here's Jackie!

Robert Stacy McCain Suspended on Twitter — #FreeStacy

This kind of thing is getting old and dreary, but at least the latest episode attests to the far-reaching good will Robert Stacy McCain has earned across the web's social media and blogging landscape. Maybe we should start calling him Robert Stacy McMensch (a "mensch" is Yiddish for a person with "great honor and integrity").

Robert blogged about his imprisonment in Twitter Gulag, "The #FreeStacy Story: Why Was My @rsmccain Account Suspended?"

I'm Robert Stacy McCain. I've been a journalist since 1986. My account @rsmccain was suspended tonight. #FreeStacy #tcot @ToniMZ81

— Sex Trouble (@SexTroubleBook) February 20, 2016

Folks, R.S. McCain is tweeting at his backup book account, @SexTroubleBook. #FreeStacy @Support

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) February 20, 2016

Also from Ed Driscoll, at Instapundit, "WELL, IT CERTAINLY LOOKS THAT WAY AT THE MOMENT: Is Twitter Silencing Conservatives?" (Legal Insurrection and Twitchy linked there.)

Also, from Da Tech Guy, "The Twitter Star Chamber Suspends Stacy McCain" (via Memeorandum)."

Still more, from Robby Suave, at Reason, "Did Twitter's Orwellian ‘Trust and Safety’ Council Get Robert Stacy McCain Banned?" (at Memeorandum).

Robert's still in Twitter Gulag. Please keep sending tweets to @Support, @Twittter, @Safety, and @Jack (Jack Dorsey, Twitter co-founder and current CEO), using the #FreeStacy hashtag.

Sometimes I think that I wouldn't still be blogging if it wasn't for Robert. He makes it fun and I'm proud to say he's a good friend.

And while you're at it, hit the tip jar at The Other McCain.

I'll have updates, of course.

Is Socialism Making a Comeback?

A great read, from Michael Tanner, at CATO.

Federal Prosecutors Push Back Against Apple

At LAT, "Feds strike back at Apple, say firm misleads in public battle over terrorist's iPhone":

In a stinging rebuke of Apple, federal prosecutors contended Friday that the company was “not above the law” and could easily help the government unlock a terrorist’s smartphone without undermining anyone else’s privacy.

“Rather than assist the effort to fully investigate a deadly terrorist attack,” government lawyers said, Apple “has responded by publicly repudiating” a court order demanding the company’s help.

The court filing portrayed the conflict as a battle between FBI agents working tirelessly to obtain key information about a terrorist plot that killed 14 people and injured 22 in San Bernardino in December and a private company wishing to protect its reputation and brand.

In a motion to compel Apple’s help, prosecutors also accused the company of making misleading statements...

More.

Lily Aldridge Uncovered for Sports Illustrated Swimsuit 2016 (VIDEO)

Watch, "Lily Aldridge Uncovered Swimsuit 2016."

Great to see Ms. Lily back for 2016. She's fabulous.

Polls Tighten on Eve of Heated South Carolina Republican Primary

It's going to be interesting.

If Donald Trump wins it'll be the beginning of a dash to the nomination. He'll have so much momentum he'll be unstoppable.

But the race is apparently tightening in the Palmetto State, so we'll see. We'll see.

At the New York Times, "Republicans Speed Across South Carolina as Race Tightens":

SPARTANBURG, S.C. — The Republican presidential candidates hurtled across South Carolina on Friday to make their final, frantic pitch one day before the state’s primary, as polls showed the race tightening here after a volatile and often nasty week of campaigning.

The vote on Saturday, a critical test of organization and strength for much of the field, comes as the candidates are closing in on Donald J. Trump, who until now has held comfortable leads in the polls here. A new NBC/Wall Street Journal/Marist poll shows Mr. Trump just five points ahead, down from his 16-point lead in the state a month ago.

The poll had Senator Ted Cruz of Texas in second with 23 percent, and Senator Marco Rubio of Florida and Jeb Bush, the former governor of Florida, vying for third and fourth place, with 15 and 13 percent, respectively. Ben Carson, a retired pediatric neurosurgeon, and Gov. John Kasich of Ohio each had 9 percent.

As the Republican field winnows, nearly all of the remaining contenders need to deliver strong performances. A big victory by Mr. Trump would give him a jolt of momentum that could add a sheen of inevitability to his candidacy heading into the crucial March 1 contests, when 12 states vote, many of them in the South...

Keep reading.

Kate Hudson's New Book, Pretty Happy

The lovely Ms. Hudson was on CBS This Morning yesterday.

Watch, "Kate Hudson on new health book, 'why not' mantra."

And check it out, at Amazon, Pretty Happy: Healthy Ways to Love Your Body.

BONUS: From the Ellen DeGeneres Show, "What's Cuter Than Kate Hudson Holding a Baby Panda? Nothing."

Caroline Wozniacki Featured in Sports Illustrated Swimsuit 2016 in Body Paint (VIDEO)

Amazing.

Via Theo Spark, "Caroline Wozniacki Bodypainting Swimsuit 2016... (VIDEO)."

Ted Cruz Overtakes Donald Trump in Latest Nationwide GOP Presidential Poll (VIDEO)

A huge deal is being made about this poll, but it's only 28 to 26 percent in favor of Ted Cruz, well within the margin of error. Besides, Quinnipiac's out with a new national survey as well, and Donald Trump's way out front, with a 2-1 lead. NBC/WSJ could be an outlier?

In any case, at NBC News, "Surprise: Trump Falls Behind Cruz in National NBC/WSJ Poll":

Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump has fallen behind Ted Cruz in the national GOP horserace, according to a brand-new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll.

In the poll, Cruz is the first choice of 28 percent of Republican primary voters, while Trump gets 26 percent. They're followed by Marco Rubio at 17 percent, John Kasich at 11 percent, Ben Carson at 10 percent and Jeb Bush at 4 percent.

The results from the poll — conducted after Trump's victory in New Hampshire and Saturday's GOP debate in South Carolina — are a significant reversal from last month, when Trump held a 13-point lead over Cruz, 33 percent to 20 percent.

Republican pollster Bill McInturff, who conducted this survey with Democratic pollster Peter Hart and his firm Hart Research Associates, says Trump's drop could signal being "right on top of a shift in the campaign."

"When you see a number this different, it means you might be right on top of a shift in the campaign. What you don't know yet is if the change is going to take place or if it is a momentary 'pause' before the numbers snap back into place," he said.

McInturff added, "So, one poll post-Saturday debate can only reflect there may have been a 'pause' as Republican voters take another look at Trump. This happened earlier this summer and he bounced back stronger. We will have to wait this time and see what voters decide."

This poll comes after other surveys -- both nationally and in South Carolina, the site of Saturday's next Republican contest -- show Trump with a commanding lead. But some of those weren't conducted entirely after the last debate like the NBC/WSJ poll.

Another possible explanation for Trump's decline in the new NBC/WSJ poll is an increase in "very conservative" Republican voters from January's sample...

More.

Also at Hot Air, "Whoa: WSJ/NBC national poll shows Cruz climbing past Trump to lead, 28/26: I want to believe. But I don’t."

Today Only: Save 30 Percent on Fire HD 6, 6" HD Display

At Amazon, Fire HD 6, 6" HD Display, Wi-Fi, 8 GB - Includes Special Offers, Black.

Also, Kindle Paperwhite, 6" High-Resolution Display (300 ppi) with Built-in Light, Wi-Fi - Includes Special Offers.

Plus, From Michael Gunter, Out of Nowhere: The Kurds of Syria in Peace and War.

And, from Fred Lawson, Global Security Watch-Syria (Praeger Security International).

More, from Flynt Leverett, Inheriting Syria: Bashar's Trial by Fire.

Campus Anti-Semitism Looks to Instill Hatred for Long Term

From Barbara Kay, at Toronto's National Post:

At McGill University, the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) zombie has returned.

For the third time in less than two years (and the fifth time in seven years), anti-Zionist crusaders are on the warpath. A motion calls on the Students Society of McGill University at their winter general assembly on Feb. 22 “to support any (BDS) campaigns on campus and to pressure the McGill board of governors to divest from corporations ‘complicit in the occupation of the Palestinian territories’.”

Similar motions in the Fall of 2014 and March of 2015 were, respectively, shelved indefinitely and failed on a secret ballot. Yet here the anti-Zionists are again. Clearly they hope to wear down the student body to the point of indifference or numbed acceptance.

The vehicle for this latest anti-Israel motion is the McGill BDS Action Network, which consists mainly of members of a group advocating Palestinian human rights and is endorsed by the McGill Black Students’ Network, McGill Students for Feminism, the McGill Syrian Students’ Association, the environmental activist group Divest McGill and the Union for Gender Empowerment.

No thinking person can avoid noting the irony in these names. Environment? Israel leads the world in agricultural sustainability, water conservation and arid-land research, while its neighbours pump non-renewable oil in increasing quantities. Gender rights? Israel is the only country in the entire Middle East that accords equal rights to women and gays.

And the Syrian Students Association? More people have died in the past year in Syria than have died in the entire Arab-Israeli conflict in the last 65 years, and for reasons that have nothing to do with Israel. Why does the Syrian Students Association not direct its activist energies in support of their ethnic brethren, or the Christians and Yazidis who will never be able to return to their ancestral homes? Welcome to the topsy-turvy world of Western progressivism, where hatred of Israel is so fierce it can derail activists from attending to the causes they allegedly represent...

Keep reading.

Unhinged, Anti-American Salon: 'The Pledge of Allegiance Must Go...'

Not linking to the Salon piece, although you can click through at Memeorandum, "The pledge of allegiance must go: A daily loyalty oath has become a toxic, nationalistic ritual."

You can also read excerpts at Truth Revolt, "Salon: 'Toxic, Nationalistic' Pledge of Allegiance 'Must Go'."

It's a classic anti-American screed from the godless, anti-American left.

No one thinks America's perfect, but if you refuse to pledge allegiance to your own country, then you're not really an American. Your loyalties lie elsewhere, with the global movement to destroy the American project, with the left, with international communism, and with global jihad.

It's pretty straight up.

More at Memeorandum.

And on Twitter:

I'm "dangerously close to radical" for arguing US kids be treated like kids in other democracies, not indoctrinated. https://t.co/ONJ8KcoOKt

— David Niose (@ahadave) February 17, 2016

The Rebel Journalists Banned from Covering Events at Alberta Legislature by NDP Premier Rachel Notley (VIDEO)

Read all about it, at Notley is a Bully.

And here's Faith Goldy:

Jan Crawford Reports on the Battle Over Antonin Scalia's Seat (VIDEO)

This is good. The segment features footage of President Obama pushing for the filibuster against President Bush's nominees back in 2007, when Obama represented Illinois in the Senate.

At CBS News This Morning:

Antonin Scalia Fueled the Movement to Reestablish Constitutional Originalism

From David B. Rivkin Jr. and Lee A. Casey, at the Los Angeles Times, "Justice Scalia kept constitutional originalism in the conversation — no small legacy":

"I'm Scalia.” That's how Justice Antonin Scalia began to question a nervous lawyer, who was mixing up the names of the nine Supreme Court justices during oral arguments on the controversial 2000 case Bush vs. Gore. His introduction should have been unnecessary, because if any justice dominated the contemporary Supreme Court stage, it was Scalia.

By turns combative, argumentative and thoughtful, Scalia was a stout conservative who transformed American jurisprudence in 34 years on the bench. He was also charming, witty and cordial, able to maintain a close friendship with Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, perhaps his leading intellectual rival on the Supreme Court's left wing.

Appointed to the federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., by President Reagan in 1982, Scalia was elevated by Reagan to the Supreme Court in 1986. Scalia was, first and foremost, an “Originalist” — the title of a popular play about the justice that premiered last year in the capital. Scalia was not the first to argue that the Constitution must be applied based on the original meaning of its words — that is, the general, public meaning those words had when that document was drafted, rather than any assumed or secret intent of its framers. He did, however, supply much of the intellectual power behind the movement to reestablish the primacy of the Constitution's actual text in judging.

With Scalia on the bench, academics, lawyers and jurists left, right and center were forced to confront originalist theory, which many had previously dismissed as hopelessly simplistic...

Keep reading.

Today's Jackie Johnson Forecast

I didn't blog last night, but it's never too late for Jackie.

Beach weather.

Via CBS News 2 Los Angeles:

Grandmaster Maurice Ashley Plays Trash-Talking New York Hustler (VIDEO)

This is pretty good.

Watch, at GQ, "New York Chess Hustler Talks a Lot of Trash, Doesn't Realize His Opponent Is a Grandmaster."

Deal of the Day: Save 40 Percent or More on Work and Safety Boots and Shoes

At Amazon, Work and Safety Boots and Shoes.

And from Robert Gildea, Fighters in the Shadows: A New History of the French Resistance.

Also, from Robert Paxton, Vichy France: Old Guard and New Order, 1940-1944.

BONUS: From Michael Burleigh, The Third Reich: A New History.

Bernie Sanders Has Momentum in Nevada (VIDEO)

I think I'll roll over laughing if Sanders wins the Nevada caucuses.

At CNN, via Memeorandum, "Poll: Clinton, Sanders in a dead heat for Nevada":

Washington (CNN) Likely Democratic caucusgoers in Nevada are split almost evenly between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders ahead of Saturday's caucuses, according to a new CNN/ORC Poll. — Though Clinton holds an edge over Sanders

And at KTNV News 13 Las Vegas: