A reader suggested this weekend topic. “Can we have a post dedicated to educating the HBB about alternative social media platforms, censorship, privacy protection, and the use of sites like archive dot is to deny revenue to corporate globalist websites? We are in a rapidly evolving online landscape.”

The Epoch Times. “Parler is fending off another attempt to shut down the social media network after Amazon said it is suspending the company from its web hosting service. Parler founder and CEO John Matze said in a statement that the multinational technology company will be shutting Parler’s servers at midnight Sunday, Jan. 10. Matze has characterized the decision as ‘an attempt to completely remove free speech off the internet.’”

“‘We prepared for events like this by never relying on Amazon’s proprietary infrastructure and building bare metal products,’ Matze said. ‘We will try our best to move to a new provider right now as we have many competing for our business, however Amazon, Google and Apple purposefully did this as a coordinated effort knowing our options would be limited and knowing this would inflict the most damage right as President Trump was banned from the tech companies.’”

“Twitter’s move to remove Trump’s account has received widespread scrutiny. U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson, State Secretary Mike Pompeo, and former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley likened Twitter’s move to conduct by the communist party ruling China. ‘Silencing people, not to mention the President of the U.S., is what happens in China not our country,’ Haley wrote.”

“‘You want to ban @realDonaldTrump, fine you’re a private company, but @Twitter deleting the President’s account which highlights this admin & its history is wrong. @Facebook & @instagram banning all images from the Capitol riot is a dangerous precedent to set. We aren’t in China,’ Carson wrote.”

“‘General Esmail Qaani, Qassem Soleimani’s successor as leader of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Qods Force, is making death threats on Twitter against U.S. officials. When will @Twitter apply its terms of use to counter such brazen threats of terrorism?’ — Cale Brown (@StateDeputySPOX) December 31, 2020.”

“On Jan. 1, the deputy spokesperson for the State Department Cale Brown captured a Twitter post by the new leader of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps who was threatening U.S. officials. The Iranian official’s account is still active on Twitter.”

From Summit Daily in Colorado. “Summit County’s move to level orange on the state’s COVID-19 dial means fewer restrictions for short-term lodging businesses, but some in the industry are still struggling to fill reservations. While interest hasn’t necessarily increased, short-term rental owners and managers are at least seeing fewer cancellations. The restrictions are especially unforgiving for those who manage larger properties. While a two household limit is ideal for one- to two-bedroom condos, larger five- to six-bedroom homes struggle to fill reservations.”

“Still, interest has not increased much since the move to level orange on Monday, Jan. 4, according to Toby Babich, president of the Breckenridge Lodging Association. Babich said that he and others in the lodging industry plan to go to the governor’s office to talk about how ‘a one-size-fits-all approach to gatherings is creating a disparate impact across our lodging industry statewide.’ ‘Our initial focus here is going to be to try to get some relief for our luxury and large-home market up here,’ he said. ‘They need some help and they need some help now.’”

From NBC Bay Area in California. “Gov. Gavin Newsom forcefully pushed back Friday on criticisms that California is becoming unfriendly for business, pointing to ‘all the new billionaires’ created by initial public offerings and noting that its richest people are ‘doing pretty damn well.’”

“The Democratic governor’s comments came as he outlined his proposed $227 billion budget for the upcoming fiscal year, which featured a $15 billion windfall despite the recession caused by the pandemic. California’s budget relies heavily on personal income tax, particularly from the richest people, and the budget estimates demonstrate that California’s richest continue to prosper while lower-income people are hit hardest from job losses.”

“Newsom noted that California isn’t ‘the cheapest place.’ But he said people are deliberately spreading misinformation about taxes in the state, though he gave no specifics. ‘The state is still this remarkable, remarkable, home to more dreamers and doers than any other part of the globe,’ Newsom said.”

“‘We’ve got a lot of work to do to help small, medium-sized businesses, but the folks at the top, doing pretty damn well,’ he said. ‘But I don’t begrudge that success. I admire and respect it. But at the same time, we have to be mindful of a competitive landscape.’”

“He specifically praised AirBnb, which held an initial public offering last month, DoorDash and Salesforce. After Musk announced he was moving out of California, AirBnb head Brian Chesky said he and his company would stay in California. The company’s IPO raised $3.5 billion and boosted Chesky’s net worth. ‘This is a special place,’ he tweeted on Dec. 15, adding he’d spoken to Newsom about it.”

“Newsom’s comments irked some members of his party, particularly his shout-out to DoorDash, the food delivery company. It drew a quick retort from state Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, who is aligned with labor. DoorDash joined Lyft and Uber in spending more than $100 million to defeat a November ballot measure that would have required them to treat their drivers as employees entitled to certain wages and benefits.”

“‘The Governor is proud of Door Dash. I am proud of the hard working delivery drivers that made the company successful despite being underpaid,’ Gonzalez tweeted.”

“A coalition of labor unions, environmental groups and others last year pressed Newsom to increase taxes on the wealthy, but Newsom said those taxes are ‘not part of the conversation.’ ‘The same health and economic crises that leveled working families and small businesses led to skyrocketing wealth among the mega-rich,’ the group said in a broad statement about Newsom’s budget proposal.”