From The Guardian: Fake news sharing in US is a rightwing thing, says study.

Low-quality, extremist, sensationalist and conspiratorial news published in the US was overwhelmingly consumed and shared by rightwing social network users, according to a new study from the University of Oxford.

and the kicker:

One thing the study did not find is evidence of substantial amounts of Russian news sources being shared. “The political conversations on social media exclude a Russian audience group,” the researchers concluded.

If this study were to shared in these right wing social network groups, it would be dismissed as fake news, of course.

The president’s Twitter feed is constant source of angst, but there’s a horrific alternative. Earlier this week, I joked how he might seek alternative channels–namely, the Emergency Alert System–if his beloved Twitter were taken away.

Today, The Times writes about how the Emergency Alert System is under increased scrutiny after the false missile warning in Hawaii. In that article, we learn about the three types of alerts (emphasis mine):

…those issued by the president; those involving imminent threats to safety or life; and Amber Alerts for missing children. … The alerts are free; consumers can use their phone settings to opt out of getting all but those sent by the president.

It’s even worse than I thought. Can you imagine the president sending his messages directly to every phone in the nation? Our only way to opt-out would be to turn them all off. We need to ensure that there is someone sane standing between the president and the Emergency Alert System before he finds out about it.