DOCSLIB.ORG

FALL BOOKS Cuisine to Its Texas’ Image Search for POOR and Black Creators by MICHAEL Self in Prague AGRESTA LAWYERLESS in ISSUE by BRAD TYER by AMY GENTRY HOUSTON

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
FALL BOOKS Cuisine to Its Texas’ Image Search for POOR and Black Creators by MICHAEL Self in Prague AGRESTA LAWYERLESS in ISSUE by BRAD TYER by AMY GENTRY HOUSTON Toni Tipton-Martin The Designer Matthew Returns Southern Who Shapes Salesses’ ALSO FALL BOOKS Cuisine to Its Texas’ Image Search for POOR AND Black Creators BY MICHAEL Self in Prague AGRESTA LAWYERLESS IN ISSUE BY BRAD TYER BY AMY GENTRY HOUSTON OCTOBER | 2015 IN THIS ISSUE 34 TEXAS’ STRANGEST SON Clark Davis’ It Starts With Trouble: William Goyen and the Life of Writing by Amy Gentry 36 BECOMING THE ‘OTHER’ Debra Monroe’s My Unsentimental Education by David Duhr 37 PRIVATE EYES Lisa Sandlin’s The Do-Right by Nico Vreeland 38 WILD SUBURBIA Texas Lizards: A Field Guide by Asher Elbein REGULARS 07 THE GRIMES SCENE FALL 26 THREE PHONE CALLS 40 THROUGH THE 01 DIALOGUE 08 STRANGEST STATE BOOKS The Observer’s EYES OF DJ STOUT 02 POLITICAL 09 EDITORIAL This year’s 5th annual short Variations on a INTELLIGENCE 09 BEN SARGENT’S 18 authors story contest winner Rectangle: 30 Years 06 STATE OF TEXAS LOON STAR STATE revise history. by Simon Han of Graphic Design from Texas Monthly 20 THE GREEN LIBRARIAN 29 ANATOMY OF A to Pentagram POOR JUDGMENT A used-bookstore DYLAN FAN by Michael Agresta In Harris County, the indigent defense manager’s crusade David Gaines’ In Dylan systems works great — for everyone for zero waste Town: A Fan’s Life 42 RENAISSANCE TEJANA 10 but indigent defendants. by Robyn Ross by Michelle Nijhuis Amalia Ortiz’s By Emily DePrang Rant. Chant. Chisme. 23 SEARCHING FOR 30 THE GRIEF AT THE END by Tony Diaz SELF IN PRAGUE OF THE WORLD Matthew Salesses’ Cecile Pineda’s Apology 42 POEM OBSERVER ONLINE The Hundred Year Flood to a Whale: Words Nouns at the Border Keep up with Chris Hooks and his by Amy Gentry to Mend a World Are Not To Be Trusted reporting on Ken Paxton and other by Brad Tyer by Linda Marie Cossa (alleged) crooks at texasobserver.org 24 UP AGAINST HOMOPHOBIA 32 SOUTHERN CUISINE RE- 44 EYE ON TEXAS Queer Brown Voices: TURNS TO ITS CREATORS Picturing Texas ABOVE: Managing librarian ON THE COVER: Mindy Reed at Recycled PHOTO: SARAH FRANKIE LINDER, Personal Narratives of Toni Tipton-Martin’s Politics: A Photographic Reads, the Austin TEXT: WIKIPEDIA Latina/o LGBT Activism The Jemima Code: Two History from Sam Public Library system’s used bookstore. by Ashley Hope Pérez Centuries of African Houston to Rick Perry CREDIT JEN REEL American Cookbooks THE TEXAS OBSERVER (ISSN 0040-4519/USPS 541300), entire contents copyrighted © 2014, is published monthly (12 issues per year) by the Texas Democracy Foundation, a 501(c)3 nonprofit foundation, 307 W. 7th St., Austin TX, 78701. Telephone (512)477-0746, fax (512)474-1175, toll free (800)939-6620. Email observer@ texasobserver. org. Periodicals Postage paid in Austin, TX, and at additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER Send address changes to: The Texas Observer, 307 W. 7th St., Austin TX 78701. Subscriptions: 1 yr $35, 2 yr $60, 3 yr $85. Students $20. Foreign, add $13 to domestic price. Back issues $5. Airmail, foreign, group, and bulk rates on request. Microfilm available from University Microfilms Intl., 300 N Zeeb Rd, Ann Arbor MI 48106. INDEXES The Texas Observer is indexed in Access: The Supplementary Index to Periodicals; Texas Index; and, for the years 1954 through 1981, The Texas Observer Index. INVESTIGATIVE REPORTING is supported in part by a grant from the Open Society Institute. BOOKS & THE CULTURE is funded in part by the City of Austin through the Cultural Arts Division and by a grant from the Texas Commission on the Arts. A JOURNAL OF FREE VOICES since 1954 OBSERVER VOLUME 107, NO. 10 DIALOGUE FOUNDING EDITOR Ronnie Dugger Swallowing Ken Paxton Whole EDITOR Forrest Wilder MANAGING EDITOR Nancy Nusser There is a simple answer to the question posed in Christopher Hooks’ article about DIGITAL EDITOR Andrea Grimes MULTIMEDIA EDITOR Jen Reel Ken Paxton: “Voters had every opportunity to see him for what he is, and still he suc- STAFF WRITERS Melissa del Bosque, Alexa ceeded. How?” (“The People v. Paxton,” September 2015). Texas voters have never Garcia-Ditta, Christopher Hooks, Patrick Michels been known for being encumbered by rational thought. And they are totally unfazed ART DIRECTOR Chad Tomlinson by ambiguity or obfuscation. They [would] much rather believe a bald-faced lie than POETRY EDITOR Naomi Shihab Nye STAFF CARTOONIST Ben Sargent a factual truth. They choke on gnats yet swallow elephants whole. It is impossible to COPY EDITOR David Duhr CONTRIBUTING WRITERS ever have good governance in such an irrational electoral environment. Michael Agresta, Lou Dubose, James Mears, Longview Saul Elbein, Alex Hannaford, Steven G. Kellman, Robert v i a e m a i l Leleux, James McWilliams, Bill Minutaglio, Priscila Mosqueda, Rachel Pearson, Robyn Ross from State,” September 4, texasobserver.org.) They CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER Snack-in-Mouth might get to eventually sell their worthless judg- Sarah Frankie Linder ment award as a financial loss to someone who INTERNS Disease needs a tax shelter to avoid federal taxes — possibly Hannah McBride, Alexander an atrick shoulD eat snacks nonstoP so worDs Peters, Jacob Sanchez, D P to someone in the Legislature. Elizabeth Stauber stop coming out of his mouth and embarrassing Michael Delaney PUBLISHER Emily Williams those of us Texans who think he’s an idiot (“Lieu- P o s t e D o n fa c e b o o k OFFICE MANAGER/BOOKKEEPER tenant Governor Dan Patrick Urges Texans to Mandy Estepp Buy Cops More Snacks, Or Else,” September 3, Patient Rights MEMBERSHIP MANAGER texasobserver.org). Jacqueline Galvan Carrie Ryan Gilbert citizen or immigrant, legal or not, she haD a (rea- AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT MANAGER P o s t e D o n fa c e b o o k sonable) expectation of privacy. (“Houston Mother Michael Schrantz Arrested at Gynecology Appointment May Face WEB PRODUCER Tess Bonn Deportation,” September 14, texasobserver.org.) BUSINESS ASSOCIATE Beth Bond The High Price This sucks. TEXAS DEMOCRACY Pattie Moon FOUNDATION BOARD of Bigotry P o s t e D o n fa c e b o o k Cade Bernsen, Carlton Carl, Bob Frump, Melissa Jones, while i agree that the lawyers shoulD be reim- Susan Longley, Vince LoVoi, bursed by the state, shouldn’t they offer discounted the woman in question was using an illegally Jim Marston, Mary Nell services? (“Texas Same-Sex Marriage Lawyers Seek obtained Social Security number, which is illegal Mathis, Heather Paffe, Ronald $740,000 in Fees, Costs from State,” September 4, by all standards. (“Houston Mother Arrested at Rapoport, Peter Ravella, Katie Smith, Greg Wooldridge, texasobserver.org.) Doctors often offer discounts to Gynecology Appointment May Face Deportation,” Ronnie Dugger (emeritus) the uninsured. One would think that lawyers could September 14, texasobserver.org.) I don’t want OUR MISSION do the same. After all, it’s my money the state is be- anyone getting away with using my Social Security We will serve no group or party ing so frivolous with. We need to vote these bigots number. Do you? but will hew hard to the truth out of office. Our tax dollars should be spent on Reshay Ramirez as we find it and the right as we see it. We are dedicated something more important than unwinnable court P o s t e D o n fa c e b o o k to the whole truth, to human cases. Perry gave away our land to foreign toll road values above all interests, to builders, now Abbott is giving our money to his law- the rights of humankind as the yer “frenemies.” The tax dollar giveaways are get- foundation of democracy. We will take orders from none but ting ridiculous! our own conscience, and never Arienne Dileas will we overlook or misrepresent P o s t e D at texasobserver . o r g the truth to serve the interests of the powerful or cater to the they may win their juDgment, but then the legis- ignoble in the human spirit. Sound Off lature will have to allocate the funds for the pay- CONTACT US 307 W. 7th St., Austin, Texas ment, which will never happen (“Texas Same-Sex [email protected] 78701, (512) 477-0746 Marriage Lawyers Seek $740,000 in Fees, Costs or comment on facebook.com/texasobserver and texasobserver.org OCTOBER 2015 THE TEXAS OBSERVER | 1 POLITICAL INTELLIGENCE #BLACKLIVESMATTER Thin Line Blues who will Protect the Protectors? lieutenant against the forces of the left. “We’ve gotta lift up law Governor Dan Patrick, that’s who. On September 3, enforcement. I’ve had it with those who don’t under- Patrick was interviewed by the Texas Standard in a stand that it’s the bad guys who are the bad guys, not week dominated by the aftermath of the murder of the good guys,” he said. Harris County Sheriff’s Deputy Darren Goforth. The So divided is America these days that even our killing of Goforth, at a gas station by a man with a tragedies have their own partisan affiliations. Each history of mental illness, touched off a new phase in high-profile slaying carries with it a potential for polit- the debate over police tactics. ical advantage, and the possibility of advancement or In the interview, Patrick was emphatic in his belief retreat of some policy. Factions place political import that criticism of law enforcement should come to a halt, on some incidents of bloodletting and advocate con- particularly that of the Black Lives Matter movement. text and restraint in interpreting others. “I’m tired of this ‘certain lives matter,’” Patrick said. “All Predictably, the shooting death of Goforth has Lieutenant Governor lives do matter, and particularly law enforcement.” become a means to lessen the importance of other Dan Patrick addresses a That night, Patrick spoke at the Kingwood Tea tragic deaths.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Nonprofit Security Grant Program Threat Incident Report
    Nonprofit Security Grant Program Threat Incident Report: January 2019 to Present November 15, 2020 (Updated 02/22/2021) Prepared By: Rob Goldberg, Senior Director, Legislative Affairs [email protected] The following is a compilation of recent threat incidents, at home or abroad, targeting Jews and Jewish institutions (and other faith-based organization) that have been reported in the public record. When completing the Threat section of the IJ (Part III. Risk): ▪ First Choice: Describe specific terror (or violent homegrown extremist) incidents, threats, hate crimes, and/or related vandalism, trespass, intimidation, or destruction of property that have targeted its property, membership, or personnel. This may also include a specific event or circumstance that impacted an affiliate or member of the organization’s system or network. ▪ Second Choice: Report on known incidents/threats that have occurred in the community and/or State where the organization is located. ▪ Third Choice: Reference the public record regarding incidents/threats against similar or like institutions at home or abroad. Since there is limited working space in the IJ, the sub-applicant should be selective in choosing appropriate examples to incorporate into the response: events that are most recent, geographically proximate, and closely related to their type or circumstance of their organization or are of such magnitude or breadth that they create a significant existential threat to the Jewish community at large. I. Overview of Recent Federal Risk Assessments of National Significance Summary The following assessments underscore the persistent threat of lethal violence and hate crimes against the Jewish community and other faith- and community-based institutions in the United States.
    [Show full text]
  • Online Media and the 2016 US Presidential Election
    Partisanship, Propaganda, and Disinformation: Online Media and the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election The Harvard community has made this article openly available. Please share how this access benefits you. Your story matters Citation Faris, Robert M., Hal Roberts, Bruce Etling, Nikki Bourassa, Ethan Zuckerman, and Yochai Benkler. 2017. Partisanship, Propaganda, and Disinformation: Online Media and the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election. Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society Research Paper. Citable link http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:33759251 Terms of Use This article was downloaded from Harvard University’s DASH repository, and is made available under the terms and conditions applicable to Other Posted Material, as set forth at http:// nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:dash.current.terms-of- use#LAA AUGUST 2017 PARTISANSHIP, Robert Faris Hal Roberts PROPAGANDA, & Bruce Etling Nikki Bourassa DISINFORMATION Ethan Zuckerman Yochai Benkler Online Media & the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This paper is the result of months of effort and has only come to be as a result of the generous input of many people from the Berkman Klein Center and beyond. Jonas Kaiser and Paola Villarreal expanded our thinking around methods and interpretation. Brendan Roach provided excellent research assistance. Rebekah Heacock Jones helped get this research off the ground, and Justin Clark helped bring it home. We are grateful to Gretchen Weber, David Talbot, and Daniel Dennis Jones for their assistance in the production and publication of this study. This paper has also benefited from contributions of many outside the Berkman Klein community. The entire Media Cloud team at the Center for Civic Media at MIT’s Media Lab has been essential to this research.
    [Show full text]
  • Johnson Defeats Corbyn in UK by Cnaan Liphshiz
    Editorials ..................................... 4A Op-Ed .......................................... 5A Calendar ...................................... 6A Scene Around ............................. 9A Synagogue Directory ................ 11A News Briefs ............................... 13A WWW.HERITAGEFL.COM YEAR 44, NO. 16 DECEMBER 20, 2019 22 KISLEV, 5780 ORLANDO, FLORIDA SINGLE COPY 75¢ Johnson defeats Corbyn in UK By Cnaan Liphshiz LONDON (JTA)—Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservative Party has defeated Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party by a large margin in Britain’s general elections on Thursday, exit polls indicate. The Conservatives re- JAO second grader lights menorah. Kindergarteners playing dreidel. ceived 368 seats out of 650 according to the polls by Celebrating Chanukah at the Jewish Academy of Orlando BBC, ITV and Sky News, with Jewish Academy of Orlando’s students loved celebrating Hanukkah with their friends. Here are a few peeks from Labour lagging far behind the week’s activities. with 191. Jewish Academy of Orlando serves central Florida students of all faiths from transitional kindergarten through Actual results from vot- fifth grade. The school delivers a whole-child education fostering academic excellence and character education ing stations are expected to rooted in Jewish values. Jewish Academy of Orlando is accredited by the Florida Council of Independent Schools. begin trickling in at about Boris Johnson To learn more about Jewish Academy of Orlando, please visit: jewishacademyorlando.org or follow the school on
    [Show full text]
  • Trunews and Rick Wiles: "End Times" Anti- Semitism and Anti-Zionism
    TruNews and Rick Wiles: "End Times" Anti- Semitism and Anti-Zionism Rick Wiles Updated January 13, 2020 UPDATE: On January 13, 2020, TruNews announced that Paypal, as well as the donor management companies Bloomerang and Spreedly, had stopped processing their donations. TruNews claims it is still able to process online credit card contributions via Stripe. In an anti-Semitic, conspiracy theory-laced letter to supporters, TruNews founder Rick Wiles ascribed the change to his coverage of "Israeli Mossad’s blackmail operation through the fake billionaire Jeffrey Epstein," adding that we live in "Bolshevik, Zionist America." 1 / 7 Wiles has devoted extensive TruNews coverage to the conspiracy theory that Jeffrey Epstein was an Israeli agent who offered sex with underage girls to American politicians and businessmen in order to blackmail them into supporting Israel. "The success of Jeffrey Epstein’s blackmail operation explains how Israel secretly seized control of America over the past thirty years," Wiles said on the January 9, 2020 episode of TruNews. He continued, "The kosher coverup continues, where America’s elite, [are] working overtime to cover up the Israeli child sex blackmail operation that was going on in this country for at least thirty years." TruNews is a funfunfunfundamdamdamdamentalistentalistentalistentalist Christian ChristianChristianChristian streaming news and opinion platform that has increasingly featured anti-Semitic and anti-Zionist content, and also has a long record of disseminating radical Islamophobic and anti-LGBTQ messages. Founded in 1999 by Rick Wiles and affiliated with Flowing Streams Church in Vero Beach, FL, where Wiles is senior pastor, TruNews was previously known as America’s Hope, American Freedom News, and briefly as Christian News Channel.
    [Show full text]
  • Antisemitism
    Antisemitism: A Persistent Threat to Human Rights A Six-Month Review of Antisemitism’s Global Impact following the UN’s ‘Historic’ Report ANNEX Recent Antisemitic Incidents related to COVID-19 April 2020 North America • Canada o On April 19, an online prayer service by the the Shaarei Shomayim synagogue in Toronto was ‘Zoombombed’ by a number of individuals who yelled antisemitic insults at participants and used their screens to show pornography. Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino has condemned the incident saying anti-Semitism, hatred and division have no place anywhere in Canada. A Toronto police spokesperson said the incident was being investigated as a possible hate crime.1 • United States o Colorado: On November 1, 2019, the FBI arrested a 27 year-old man with white supremacist beliefs who had expressed antisemitic hatred on Facebook for attempting to bomb a synagogue in Pueblo, Colorado.2 o Massachusetts: On April 2, police discovered a homemade incendiary device at Ruth’s House, a Jewish assisted living residence in Longmeadow, Massachusetts. On April 15, police arrested John Michael Rathbun and charged him with two counts of attempted arson. It has been reported that a white supremacist organization operating on two unnamed social media platforms had specified Ruth’s House as one of two possible locations for committing a mass killing, with one user referring to it as “that jew nursing home in longmeadow massachusetts,” and that a calendar event potentially created by the same user listed April 3, 2020 as “jew killing day.”3 o Missouri: Timothy Wilson, a white supremacist who was active on two neo-Nazi channels on Telegram and had very recently posted that the COVID-19 pandemic “was engineered by Jews as a power grab,”4 was shot and killed on March 24 as FBI agents attempted to arrest him for plotting to blow up a hospital treating patients of the virus.
    [Show full text]
  • Antisemitism: a Persistent Threat to Human Rights a Six-Month Review of Antisemitism’S Global Impact Following the UN’S ‘Historic’ Report
    Antisemitism: A Persistent Threat to Human Rights A Six-Month Review of Antisemitism’s Global Impact following the UN’s ‘Historic’ Report April 2020 Summary In October 2019, Dr. Ahmed Shaheed, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief, expressed alarm about a significant increase, since 2017, in reports of hostility, discrimination and violence motivated by antisemitism around the world.1 This report surveys antisemitic incidents that have occurred in the six months since Dr. Shaheed presented his report on the subject of antisemitism to the UN General Assembly. Alarmingly, antisemitic expression and violence appear to have persisted – and even increased – in a number of countries around the world between October and April 2020, notwithstanding efforts by governments and other stakeholders to implement Dr. Shaheed’s recommendations. The cases and trends highlighted in this report reveal that antisemitism remains a phenomenon that impairs the security and the human rights of many Jewish individuals, including the right to manifest their religion, and that it also threatens the rights of members of other minority communities and democratic societies as a whole. Since the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020, in many countries, conspiracy theories claiming that Jews or Israel engineered or are deliberately spreading the virus, as well as age-old antisemitic tropes associating Jews with disease, have been spread in traditional media and online. Occasionally, Jewish people, communities, and institutions have been subjected to antisemitic harassment and threats of violence; in a few cases, antisemitic rhetoric seems to have played an important role in motivating attempted violent attacks against sites and individuals, Jewish and non-Jewish alike.
    [Show full text]
  • Top-Ten-Anti-Semitic.Pdf
    SIMON WIESENTHAL CENTER wiesenthal.com/TopTenAntiSemitic2019 #TopTenAntiSemitic2019 wiesenthal.com/TopTenAntiSemitic2019 JEREMY CORBYN-LED UK LABOUR PARTY ”How complicit in prejudice would a leader of Her Majesty’s opposition have to be in order to be considered 1 unfit for high office?” - Ephraim Mirvis, UK Chief Rabbi In a year awash with anti-Semitism on both sides of the Atlantic, no one has done more to mainstream anti-Semitism into the political and social life of a democracy than the Jeremy Corbyn-led Labour Party. Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis warned that anti-Jewish racism was a new poison that had taken root in the party. In the words of MP Louise Ellman, “How many Jewish members have been bullied, abused and driven out?” Members and staff who have dared to speak out against the hate were purged, but not those who declared ‘Heil Hitler’ and ’F*ck the Jews’ or ‘Jews are the problem’. No wonder a poll of the Jewish Leadership Council found that 47% of respondents said they would consider leaving the UK if Corbyn became prime minister. Postscript: The SWC released its #1 choice for its Top Ten 2019 list five days before the UK election. Corbyn’s Labour was trounced by PM Boris Johnson’s Conservative Party in the December 12th elections. Some analysts say that anti-Semitism impacted the voters. Corbyn has resigned as leader of the Labour Party. DEADLY DOMESTIC TERRORISTS TARGET JEWS IN THE US AND GERMANY 2 In Jersey City, NJ, a kosher market was the target of domestic terrorists. David Anderson and Francine Graham were adherents of the Black Hebrew Israelites hate group.
    [Show full text]
  • THE HATER NEXT DOOR: Online Incitement Against Minorities in America
    THE HATER NEXT DOOR: Online Incitement Against Minorities In America Published by MEMRI and the Lantos Foundation for Human Rights and Justice Chief Researcher: Michael Davis Table of Contents Introduction Page 5 Executive Summary & Examples of Online Incitement Page 9 General Research Characteristics Page 15 General Content Characteristics Page 17 Calls to Action Page 23 Sources of Online Incitement Page 29 • Groups and Organizations Page 29 • Individuals Page 35 • Social Media Platforms Page 37 Appendices Page 39 • Cartoons & Memes Page 40 • Images Page 44 • Texts Page 49 Endnotes Page 61 3 Introduction Dr. Katrina Lantos Swett While the 21 st century has inaugurated an era of remarkable innovation and progress largely driven by the digital revolution, this new century has also seen a resurgence of old evils and hatreds. Anti-Semitism, racism and other pathological hostilities are being disseminated and weaponized using some of the same digital innovations that we celebrate in so many spheres of life. Like nuclear energy and other developments in modern technology, the internet is both a blessing to humanity and a threat to human life. While other such developments have been subjected to regulation, so as to avoid this threat, the internet has enjoyed unlicensed freedom. America’s reverence for free speech has enabled extremists and radicals of all kinds to utilize the internet to promote their murderous agendas. The global jihadi movement owes its existence to the internet, which it uses as a highway for hatred and incitement. Nazis, white supremacists, fascists, racists and others take advantage of the internet in the same way, which leads to the inevitable result: the targeting of innocent people.
    [Show full text]
  • Adversarial Narratives: a New Model for Disinformation
    Adversarial Narratives: A New Model for Disinformation www.disinformationindex.org Author: Ben Decker Editor: Craig Fagan Design: Dan Smith, www.skyboydesign.com Acknowledgements: The author would like to thank the following individuals for their review of and guidance on the paper: Yasmin Green (Jigsaw) and Mick West. The Global Disinformation Index is a UK-based not-for-proft that operates on the three principles of neutrality, independence and transparency. Our vision is a world in which we can trust what we see in the media. Our mission is to restore trust in the media by providing real-time automated risk ratings of the world’s media sites through a Global Disinformation Index (GDI). For more information, visit www.disinformationindex.org Aug 2019. Published under a Creative Commons License (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) Table of contents Executive summary 4 Introduction 5 Setting out the model: Adversarial narratives 6 The model: Adversarial networked confict 8 The disinformation actors 11 The case study: Stop 5G 13 Conclusions 19 Endnotes 21 www.disinformationindex.org 3 Adversarial Narratives: A New Model for Disinformation Executive summary • Today’s online threat landscape is signifcantly more complex and blended, which may lead to many abusive and harmful behaviours slipping through the gaps of current moderation models. • Disinformation agents, both domestic and foreign, have a large library of content to draw from in crafting new adversarial narratives. In practice this means less overtly fabricated pieces of content. • Adversarial narratives like “Stop 5G” are effective because they infame social tensions by exploiting and amplifying perceived grievances of individuals, groups and institutions.
    [Show full text]
  • STUDENT HANDOUT Antisemitic Words and Images
    ANTISEMITIC WORDS AND IMAGES STATEMENTS BACKGROUND [Discussing the impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump, which he labeled a “Jew Rick Wiles is a pastor and radio host in coup”] “That’s the way the Jews work. They are Florida, who made these comments in deceivers. They plot. They lie. They do whatever a viral video posted to his website and they’ve had to do to accomplish their political on YouTube. According to the Simon agenda…Should the Jews take over the country, they Wiesenthal Center, Wiles promotes will conduct a purge…That’s the next thing that racist and antisemitic conspiracy happens when Jews take over a country–they kill theories through his media outlet, millions of Christians.” TruNews, and claims 87,000 Facebook followers and nearly 60,000 on Twitter. — RICK WILES, NOVEMBER 22, 2019 One of his recent “godcasts” on YouTube was viewed over 250,000 times. “Jews were responsible for all of this filth and degenerate behavior that Hollywood is putting out, Louis Farrakhan has led the group, turning men into women and women into Nation of Islam, since 1977. According men…. White folks are going down. And Satan to the Southern Poverty Law Center, is going down. And Farrakhan, by God’s grace, has the group “is based on a fundamentally pulled a cover off of that Satanic Jew, and I’m here anti-white theology” and “Farrakhan to say your time is up, your world is through. You is an antisemite who routinely good Jews better separate because the satanic ones accuses Jews of manipulating the U.S.
    [Show full text]
  • Nonprofit Security Grant Program
    Nonprofit Security Grant Program Threat Incident Report: January 2019 to Present November 15, 2020 (Updated 02/05/2021) Prepared By: Rob Goldberg, Senior Director, Legislative Affairs [email protected] The below Threat Chronology is intended to assist applicants in responding to the “Threat” question in Part III (A) of the Investment Justification (“making the case”): The applicant should discuss the identification and substantiation of prior threats or attacks against the organization or a closely related organization by a terrorist organization, network, or cell (this would also include Violent Homegrown Extremists). Note: Proofs should include any findings from a previously conducted risk assessment, police findings, and/or insurance claims specific to the location. Absent direct threats, a sub-applicant may substantiate the threat through the public record, as discussed below. Recommendations (in order of priority): In answering this question, a sub-applicant should (in order or priority): 1. Describe specific terror (or violent homegrown extremist) incidents, threats, hate crimes, and/or related vandalism, trespass, intimidation, or destruction of property that have targeted its property, membership, or personnel. Note: This may also include a specific event or circumstance that impacted an affiliate or member of the organization’s system or network. 2. Report on incidents/threats that have occurred in the community and/or State where the organization is located. 3. Reference the public record regarding incidents/threats against similar or like institutions at home or abroad. Note: With respect to referencing the public record, there is limited working space in the IJ, so sub- applicants should be selective in choosing appropriate examples to incorporate into the response: Events that are most recent, geographically proximate, and closely related to their type or circumstance of their organization or are of such magnitude or breadth that they create a significant existential threat to the Jewish community at large.
    [Show full text]
  • The Year in Hate and Extremism 2020
    A REPORT FROM THE SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER THE YEAR IN HATE AND EXTREMISM ABOUT THE SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER The SPLC is a catalyst for racial justice in the South and beyond, working in partnership with communities to dismantle white supremacy, strengthen intersectional movements and advance the human rights of all people. Explore what’s happening in your state at splcenter.org/hate-map For media inquiries, please contact our press team at [email protected]. Comments, suggestions or tips? Send them to [email protected] Get the latest news and join the conversation. @Hatewatch SPLCenter For more information, visit splcenter.org ON THE COVER As coronavirus spreads in April 2020, supporters of the Michigan Conservative Coalition protest the state’s stay-at-home orders on the steps of the Capitol building in Lansing. REUTERS/SETH HERALD © 2021 SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER CONTENTS THE YEAR IN HATE AND EXTREMISM 2020 2 FLYERING REMAINS A RECRUITMENT TOOL FOR HATE GROUPS 11 MISOGYNY FROM THE FAR RIGHT TO THE MAINSTREAM 13 EQUITY THROUGH ACCURACY: CHANGES TO OUR HATE MAP 17 EXTREMISM AND BIG TECH 20 CYNTHIA MILLER-IDRISS ON PREVENTING RADICALIZATION 24 WHY THE FAR RIGHT LOVES TELEGRAM 27 WHITE NATIONALISTS AND POLITICAL VIOLENCE 31 HATE GROUP MAP AND LISTS 34 THE YEAR IN ANTIGOVERNMENT EXTREMISM 48 ANTIGOVERNMENT GROUPS LISTS 57 ENDNOTES 63 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 65 The Year in Hate 2020 By Keegan Hankes and Rachel Janik “Our country has had enough. We will not take it and separation of immigrant children from fami- anymore, and that is what this is all about … we fight, lies at the border.
    [Show full text]