Nick Bilton reports on the next round of fake news tools that allow users to manipulate audio and video to change what's being said, a sort of real-time Photoshop for moving images and audio. Want to make it look like a celebrity used a taboo word, or misquote a politician? No problem! (more…)
Okay, what's up with Trump? Asks "Where's Rudy?" Look where Rudy is. pic.twitter.com/VLZzRkCs63
— Tommy Christopher (@tommyxtopher) January 31, 2017
Where is Rudy? There's Rudy!
Jonas Wagner's Neon Flames is a dead-simple web tool to create beautiful nebulae on-screen. There are eight colorful gases to choose from, and the longer you click, the larger your celestial flame. Be sure to check out Wagner's other experiments, such as Javascript filmstock emulation and 1-bit image dithering that puts Photoshop and even old Macs to shame.
Neil Gorsuch, currently serving on the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, is Donald Trump's pick to fill the seat opened by Supreme Court justice Antonin Scalia's death. The youngest nominee in 25 years, 49-year-old Gorsuch could provide decades of reliably Conservative opininion from the bench.
"A special thank you to @POTUS," was posted to an as-yet-unverified Twitter account in Gorsuch's name. "As Mr. Trump's Supreme Court nominee I promise to always do what is best for the American People. #SCOTUS" https://twitter.com/JusticeNGorsuch/status/826593123866382337
Radiolab brought to my attention this great five-part podcast series on poverty in America. Busted: America's Poverty Myths breaks down accepted wisdom about poverty to reveal the reality of what it’s actually like to be poor in America. The show takes familiar concepts like the social safety net and the rags-to-riches narrative and explores the ways in which they’re not quite what they seem. You can download the podcast on the On The Media iTunes feed or listen to it on the WNYC website. You can also get a taste of Busted by listening to the latest Radiolab episode, which offers a compilation of Busted stories.
From Leadnow.ca: "The most important thing you can do right now is take 5 minutes to call your MP demanding that the Canadian government: Make an immediate, public condemnation of the executive orders by President Trump that bans Muslims and refugees from entering the US, and; Rescind the Safe Third Country Agreement which bars most refugee claimants entering from the United States over land to claim asylum in Canada." (more…)
"To assume that just because of someone’s age and gender that they don’t pose a threat would be misguided and wrong." (more…)
Newsarama's George Marston reports on a HiloBrow interview with Hanna-Barbera writer Mark Russell: he is to reboot Snagglepuss as "a gay Southern Gothic playwright" in the tradition of Tennessee Williams.
Snagglepuss's adventures in New York will bring him to Broadway, where he'll deal with issues of his sexuality and the place of homosexuals in the repressed culture of the 50s.
"[Snagglepuss's sexuality is] never discussed and it’s obviously ignored in the cartoons ’cuz they were made at a time when you couldn’t even acknowledge the existence of such a thing," Russell explained. "But it’s still so obvious; so it’s natural to present it in a context where everybody knows, but it’s still closeted. And dealing with the cultural scene of the 1950s, especially on Broadway, where everybody’s gay, or is working with someone who’s gay, but nobody can talk about it - and what it’s like to have to try to create culture out of silence."
Oh, what a joyful day to frolic and play. Whaddya say to that? Whaddya say to thaaaaat?
As everyday discussions about prejudice and oppression get more nuanced, it can be hard to know how to dive into the conversation. This helpful guide by writer Saroful breaks down the basics of what intersectional feminism is and how not to make rookie mistakes when it comes to it. Here’s an excerpt:
Lesson two, which I meant to make lesson one: If it’s not about you, don’t make it about you. If it is about you, do better.
What does that mean? Well. At some point you’re going to hear a statement like “white women are racist.” Your first instinct is going to be “not me! I’m a good person!” Stop for a minute before you jump in with that comment.
First of all, is it contributing anything to the discussion? No. It’s actually derailing the discussion by recentering it on people having to reassure you that you’re a good person. Remember #notallmen? Don’t be that guy. More about derailing in a second, I promise.
Second of all, I chose that statement for a reason, and it’s about to get real uncomfortable in here so let me reassure you FIRST that I love you and I think you’re a worthwhile person: white people are racist. They benefit from systemic racism whether or not they actively contribute to perpetuating it, and they perpetuate it in ways that are invisible to them because they’ve never had to think about it. That’s a thing you can learn about by not jumping in on that discussion and just sitting and listening for a minute.
You can read the full piece "How to survive in intersectional feminist spaces 101" on Saroful’s website. Then check out Saroful’s next article, “So you think you know a thing: Feministing 201”.
[Header image: Tyler Feder of Roaring Softly]
Donald Trump had planned to head to Milwaukee to tour a Harley-Davidson factory and sign some executive orders there. But the company said it wasn't comfortable hosting him and called it off. CNN's Jeremy Diamond:
Large protests have been in the works in recent days, particularly in light of Trump's executive order issuing an immigration ban. It was the threat of protests, and not Trump's planned signing of executive orders, that made Harley-Davidson uncomfortable, the official said.
When people tell you protests accomplish nothing, they're inviting you to be lazy, to put up with it, to give up. You don't have to make the same choices they do.
Do you like the idea of riding horses? Do you want to get fit? If so, check out "Horse Riding Fitness Ace Power!," a portable, flexible A-frame on wheels with a seat to allow the operator to sit on it like a horse—then perform squats, thrusts and pelvic oscillations, to whatever ends or purposes the operator intends. (more…)
The YouTube channel Life Noggin digs into this terrifying question and sings the praises of coral along the way.
Remember those bygone days when certain stores would decorate their walls with movie titles for us to pick through? Well, just imagine a magical place that cuts out the celluloid chaff and delivers only what we really want to see.
Last weekend I stumbled upon the finest collection of cinema classics I‘ve witnessed since the early 2000s. It was stocked with everything I needed to scratch my entertainment itch for drama, romance, and even sports flicks.
And the place I’m talking about ONLY carried the classic Jerry Maguire movie and get this… it was all on VHS tape!
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXRMTahRj0g[/embed]
[embed]http://https://vimeo.com/199414596?from=outro-embed[/embed]
[embed]https://vimeo.com/199414596?from=outro-embed[/embed]
[embed]https://vimeo.com/199414596?from=outro-embed[/embed]
Everything Is Terrible! is an LA based art collective that has amassed the world’s largest collection of Jerry Maguire VHS tapes. This absurd piece of long form performance art has been achieved solely through fan donations, with a current total of approximately 14,000 once beloved video tapes.
The iam8bit Gallery houses a perfect re-creation of a video rental store circa 1996, but instead of carrying thousands of porn quadrilogies and action movie knockoffs, this store will carry only Jerry Maguire on VHS. Seeing thousands of Jerrys finally reunited will forever destroy the viewers’ previous perception of culture, waste, and existence as a whole. The Jerrys are a beautiful thing.
Why are they doing this? Because it’s awesome, that’s why! But more importantly, the collective is raising cash for a permanent pyramid of Jerry Maguire movies that’ll be built in the desert “so the tapes can co-exist until the end of time”.
Could this be the best idea I’ve heard in my entire life? Probably so. I'm glad that my 5$ is being used to make their dream a reality.
I absolutely can't wait for this to be built so we can all worship this fine classic in the opulent Jerry Throne Room... as we were meant to!
But you’re probably wondering what you can do until the monument is actually built. Well, below is a picture of what’s to come in the following months and as you can see, the future looks pretty bright!
So many choices right?!
Below, my fellow film buffs Dan Hamilton and Juan Gonzalez struggle to make the painful decision of whether to rent the overdubbed French or the classic American version that we’ve all come to know and love. I’m going to keep their selection a secret so as not to sway your choice when you visit The Jerry Maguire Video Store on your own.
When you do, be sure to ask for our new friend Nathan to help you out. He’s an excellent host, collaborator and contributor to EVERYTHING IS TERRIBLE and helps to run a comedy troupe called LooseMeat.
Finally, my life is complete!
When critics dismissed his paintings, Dutch artist Han van Meegeren decided to seek his revenge on the art world: He devoted himself to forgery and spent six years fabricating a Vermeer masterpiece. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast, we'll recount the career of a master forger and the surprising mistake that eventually brought him down.
We'll also drop in on D.B. Cooper and puzzle over an eyeless fruit burglar.
YouTuber Brainiac75 suffers for science by taking a viewer request to touch the spikes formed by exposing ferrofluid to an extremely powerful neodymium magnet. He also shares some history of the substance. (more…)
ProPublica puts a heartbreaking, human face on this weekend’s immigration ban with the story of Dr. Suha Abushamma. The 26-year-old is in her first year of an Internal Medicine residency program at the prestigious Cleveland Clinic and she had been visiting family in Saudi Arabia this week. When she heard rumblings of Donald Trump’s Muslim immigrant ban, she rushed to return to the United States. Although Saudi Arabia is not on Trump’s list of seven banned countries, Abushamma’s passport is from Sudan, which is.
Abushamma landed in New York at 11 a.m. on Saturday, where she was directed into a holding area. ProPublica writes:
[Abushamma] said she knew she was in trouble when a representative for Saudi Airlines approached her and told her she would have to book a flight home. Then an officer, whose name she wrote down as T. Lam, told her her choices: ”Either to withdraw my visa … so it wouldn’t leave a negative mark on my profile … or the second option was to refuse to withdraw” and be banned from the U.S. for five years. “I told them at that point I already had lawyers working on my case. I just need a few more hours … They absolutely refused. I even talked to the supervisor.”
According to FlightAware, a flight tracking website, the plane pushed back from the gate at 8:29 p.m. and took off at 8:53 p.m. The earliest reports of the judge’s stay of deportations under the executive order came at around 9 p.m.
ProPublica quotes Abushamma as saying, “I’m happy for the people that are held. I met a really bright young female from Iran who’s studying at NYU. Her flight was at 11. I’m happy for her that she at least gets to go in. I’m frustrated, but it’s the way it is.” Although Abushamma is trying to get a waiver for the 90-day ban, immigration lawyer David Leopold notes, “She’s not going to be able to get a visa for at least 90 days. She’s already been removed, so I think it’s over. This is heartbreaking.”
You can read the full story on ProPublica.
Here’s what you hear when you call the number:
https://soundcloud.com/user-932995833/djtcommitteetodefendthepresidentAs Ellen Duffer uncovered, The Committee To Defend The President is a “project” of the Stop Hillary PAC run by former Colorado state legislator Ted Harvey.
The Reaction GIF generator takes a brief video of you and spits out a GIF, thereby meeting your need for a brief animation of your confusion, dismay and horror to post in blog comments or on social networking platforms.
I don't have a webcam at the moment, but this particular GIF is uncannily like me every time I have the thought "I wonder what's going on on Twitter."
This dog is able to leap tall buildings (or at least medium-sized gates) in a single bound!
Enjoy this supercut of legendary snooker player and commentator John Virgo saying "Where's the cue ball going?," usually at a volume that pushes the envelope of the Snooker Commentator's Hush. (more…)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=2&v=cJzgiDgBpcw
The first iteration of Dial-a-Grue, in 2011, was to kit out an old rotary dial phone with an embedded computer and text-to-speech engine so that you could play Zork with nothing but the handset. The new, 2.0 version of the project, is "to port Zork I (via a z-code interpreter) to an embedded platform, and enclose that and an old modem inside a telephone, so that the game can be played from a teletype, TDD, or old computer with an acoustically coupled modem." (via JWZ)
The ACLU raised $24M over the weekend of the #muslimban, six times its usual annual average, and now it is joining the Winter 2017 class at Y Combinator, a startup accelerator that has emerged a mixed bag of great and terrible companies, which has had to contend with controversy over its ties to Peter Thiel. (more…)
Ladies and gentlemen, the bookcase of the Old State Department Library at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. (via Bookshelf)
Eric Schmidt -- long-serving former CEO of Google, current chairman of Google parent-company Alphabet, who knows a thing or two about evil -- addressed Googlers this week, calling the Trump #muslimban "evil." (more…)
Despite his widely read criticism of Tor, The Gruqq -- a legendary, pseudonymous security expert -- uses it as first and last line of defense in keeping your secret, activist Twitter account a secret. (more…)
Doane Paper makes wonderful pocket-sized notebooks with paper that is fantastically compatible with fountain pens.
I absolutely love my Maruman Mnemosyne notebooks, but they aren't big and rigid. These 5"x7" Doane Paper pads have similarly awesome paper, and fit in casual clothes pockets, if you need small they also make 3"x5".
The paper is slightly off-white and is quadruled with a light blue. My Levenger, Pilot and Parker's all glide over the paper very smoothly, tho the Pilot Vanishing point definetly shows its "travel-ness" when compared to the Duo-fold. Ink gets absorbed quickly and only slightly bleeds through unless I write with a heavy hand. I tried various Noodlers and Parker Quink black. Noodler's Blue Nose Bear is almost the same color as the grid lines.
Doane Paper Large Utility Edition, 3-Pack Grid + Lines Memo Notebooks via Amazon
This three-minute video was run through Deep Dream, Google's neural net that generates algorithmic pareidolia in the form of weird creatures. I want glasses that do this.
[via]
Egyptian photographer Amr Elshamy takes beautiful wildlife photos inside on a tabletop. From PetaPixel:
The project started a couple of months ago when Elshamy got in touch with a Chinese company called MOJO FUN, which makes highly detailed animal figures.
To create underwater shots, Elshamy filled a tank with water and added blue coloring to create a tint. To add specks of dust to the shots, he dropped tissues into the water and moved it around. He also uses a black background, fishing line to hold the animals, and a single flash head with a snoot with a blue gel.
To create scenes of the snowy arctic, Elshamy uses a white background, 2 flashes heads (a softbox above and one for the background), and cheap snow that you can find at gift shops.
In a new paper in Nature Astronomy, a team from Osaka University publishes its analysis of data gathered by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Selenological and Engineering Explorer, revealing that an isotope present in lunar regolith is a match for an isotope found in terrestrial, atmospheric oxygen. (more…)
Do you ever wonder why we need kneecaps?
The demonstration shows how kneecaps provide leverage. I'm happy the Flying Spaghetti Monster built us this way.
Becky Molln, whose husband Nilay writes for The Verge, reviewed the Samsung UN40K6250AF television set. It's a fantastic rant.
The screen is curved, which means that it picks up and seemingly magnifies every glimmer of light in the room. Because that’s what you want in a television screen. The curved screen demands that you sit dead center of the TV unless you want to observe the equally frustrated facial expressions of the person sitting opposite you on the couch trying in vain to see through the glare. The glare is ridiculous. It’s so completely terrible that I give up after watching something for 30 seconds and walk away whisper-yelling swears at my sucker of a husband for bringing this piece of shit into my home. This television makes me hiss in anger.
The TV also constantly prompts for Tizen software updates by placing a banner over the top of the display and has advertising in the menus. I really, really should have gotten something else.
I'll bet Carla could write a similar review of our Samsung fridge. In fact, she has banned Samsung products from our home.
Though the crimes and abuses of the GW Bush era seem almost quaint in comparison to the trumpist agenda, the Bush actions spawned a new kind of protest movement, the first mature, networked resistance, which tried (unsuccessfully) to haul the Democratic Party away from finance-oriented neoliberalism and into a labor-oriented, diverse, racially aware left wing opposition party. (more…)
I discovered the Wendover Productions website last year when they posted a great video explaining why trains suck in America. Their latest video is an animated, fun-fact-filled tour through all 50 states in the US. One thing I learned is that a part of Canada is farther south than California.
In 1784, cabinetmaker David Roentgen (1743-1807) made this astonishing automaton of Marie Antoinette playing a dulcimer as a gift for King Louis XVI to give to his queen. This fantastic contraption is in the collection of the Musée des arts et métiers de Paris. From Atlas Obscura:
When wound up, the music box mechanism moves the figure’s head and arms, making them dance across the strings and chime out a ping-y tune. The player has a repertoire of eight songs...
It’s said that the beautiful lace dress was made from fabric of one of Marie Antoinette’s dresses, and that mannequin even has some of her real hair.
Today, The Intercept has published a minimally redacted version of a 2015 edition of the FBI's Confidential Human Source Policy Guide, along with a series of in-depth articles reporting on the document (including the FBI's confirmation of a conspiracy by white supremacists to infiltrate law enforcement agencies). Among the most explosive revelations are the ways in which the FBI coerces domestic and foreign informants. (more…)
Tofugu (where Carla is executive editor) interviewed Bao Nakashima, the 10 year old author of the hit Japanese book, Seeing, Knowing, Thinking.
Q. You said, "No need to read the air." What do you mean by that?
It literally means "Having a life that follows your honest feelings." Air is data, so I think we can leave it to artificial intelligence.
Q. What is your current study method?
If I had to give my study method a name, it might be "open-ended." Although it is like learning the concept of social interest in Adlerian psychology, I think my study method doesn't have a name yet.
At a press conference where Paul Ryan defended President Trump's Muslim-targeting travel ban, someone within whispering distance of a hot mic muttered "waste of my fucking time" as the House Speaker walked off.
Ryan denies saying it; consensus is it was a "bored cameraman" lurking around the lectern after he exited.
Sadly, the Boing Boing Store is about to say goodbye to some amazing deals. Whether you want to learn something new or just kick back and binge watch TV, the following items are sure to stimulate one way or another. All of these deals are under $50—but act fast, they won’t be around for long.
Choosing between streaming and cable involves some painful tradeoffs. Why not get the best of both worlds? SelectTV lets you access a massive library of shows and movies as well as thousands of live TV channels and radio stations on all of your devices. Get a year of SelectTV for just 24.99—33% off the usual price, and also receive a bonus HD TV Antenna.
Bring your living room smoking comforts everywhere you go with this multi-function Rocket Keychain Grinder. With a unique bullet-shaped design, this gadget lets you grind, store, and funnel herbs through its tapered tip. Additionally, the removable end piece works as a handy one-hitter if you forget your rolling papers. Marked down from $39.99, get the Rocket Keychain Grinder for just $29.99.
Homemade meals can be a hassle; buying groceries during rush hour is enough to make you want to give up and order a pizza. With Home Chef, you get perfectly portioned, high-quality ingredients delivered to your doorstep—just follow the recipe for a delicious, healthy dinner for two. Save 34% to get three Home Chef meals for just $39.
Project managers are critical for delegating tasks, leading teams, and assuring work is done efficiently. You can join their ranks with this Project Management Professional (PMP) Certification Training and kickstart a new career. This course offers lifetime access to over 35 hours of learning materials to prepare you for formal certification. Significantly reduced from the usual $1,495 price, get this PMP Certification Training course for just $49.99.
After a wrangle on tactics that pitted the party establishment -- who feared that filibusters would provoke procedural reforms that allowed for a 51-Senator vote to overrule a filibuster, making future Trump appointments easier -- against party activists who want Senate and Congressional Democrats to stall, refuse and resist trumpism by every means necessary (perhaps banking on early impeachment, before a rule-change could do much damage), the Senate Democratic caucus has announced that it will boycott the confirmation hearings for Tom Price to lead the Department of Health and Human Services and Steve Mnuchin for Treasury Secretary. (more…)
Otonamaki (otona = adult, maki - wrapping) is the practice of swaddling adults in cloth to relieve stress.
From BBC:
"The reason why Otonamaki was invented was because some people were worried about babies struggling or feeling claustrophobic while being wrapped up," says Orie Matsuo of Kyoko Proportion, one of several companies that offer Otonamaki to its customers.
"We thought if adults were rolled up like them, they could experience how good it feels."
U.K. and U.S. authorities fined Deutsche Bank of Germany was $629 million for helping crooked Russian plutocrats move $10 billion out of Russia.
Via Bloomberg:
From April 2012 to October 2014, mirror trades were used by Deutsche Bank customers to transfer more than $6 billion from Russia, through the German lender’s arm in the U.K., to overseas bank accounts including in Cyprus, Estonia, and Latvia, the FCA said. Another nearly $4 billion in suspicious "one-sided trades" were also carried out.
The mirror trades allowed clients to buy local blue-chip shares for rubles, while the same stocks would be sold in London for dollars, in order to obtain the U.S. currency. Although such trades can be legal, there was a lack of controls in place at Deutsche Bank to prevent money laundering and other offenses.
A couple of weeks ago Western Union was fined $586 million for colluding with organized crime. The CEOs of both companies kept their jobs.
By Christoph F. Siekermann - Fotografiert am 17. September 2005, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link
The Archerfish of Southeast Asia and Australia spit at perched insects to knock them into the water for an easy meal. From KQED's "Deep Look":
“When the fish fires the shot,” (Wake Forest University biologist Morgan) Burnett explained, citing the work of other researchers in Germany who first used high-speed cameras to observe the projectiles in 2014, “the water leaves the mouth as essentially a very long stream. But during flight, the stream merges into a ball.”
The fish accomplishes this feat of timing through deliberate control of its highly-evolved mouthparts, in particular its lips, which act like an adjustable hose that can expand and contract while releasing the water.
Paul Abueva is a residential contractor. He shared the contents of his tool belt at Cool Tools (a web site I run with Kevin Kelly and Claudia Dawson).
I am a residential contractor who does remodeling and repair work, so I carry tools that that are useful to a variety of trades work. Over the years I’ve put together what I believe to be a perfect compromise between weight and function. (more…)
Last April, a weasel-like stone marten jumped a substation fence at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) near Geneva, Switzerland and was promptly electrocuted. Now, that same poor creature's corpse is going on display at the Rotterdam Natural History Museum in an exhibition titled Dead Animal Tales. From The Guardian:
The stone marten is the latest dead animal to go on display at the museum. It joins a sparrow that was shot after it sabotaged a world record attempt by knocking over 23,000 dominoes; a hedgehog that got fatally stuck in a McDonalds McFlurry pot, and a catfish that fell victim to a group of men in the Netherlands who developed a tradition for drinking vast amounts of beer and swallowing fish from their aquarium. The catfish turned out to be armoured, and on being swallowed raised its spines. The defence did not save the fish, but it put the 28-year-old man who tried to swallow it in intensive care for a week....
“We want to show that no matter what we do to the environment, to the natural world, the impact of nature will always be there,” (museum director Kees) Moeliker said. “We try to put a magnifying glass on some fine examples. This poor (stone marten) literally collided with the largest machine in the world, where physicists collide particles every day. It’s poetic, in my opinion, what happened there.”
Larry Hall is developing luxury nuclear bunkers underground at an old nuclear missile site in Kansas. Hall says the Survival Condos, starting at $1.5 million, are "nuclear-hardened bunkers that are engineered… to accommodate not just your physical protection but your mental wellbeing as well." From BBC News:
Mr Hall says he has spent millions on providing the complex with every possible feature to keep residents safe both now and for an indefinite period, should a catastrophic event occur.
These include air and water filtration systems, a range of energy sources (including wind power), and the capacity to grow plants and breed fish for food supplies. Armed guards patrol the entrance.
There are many other features too, such as a cinema, swimming pool, surgery, golf range, and even a rock climbing wall. "It's like a miniature cruise ship," says Mr Hall.
He believes that luxury touches like these could help to explain a development that may seem a little surprising.
At first, he says, clients saw owning an apartment as "like life insurance", just something to be used in case of an emergency. But now some purchasers have come to regard their apartments as second homes, making regular use of them for weekends or longer breaks.
"Everyone comments on how well they sleep here," he adds.
It won't surprise you to learn American policing has a racism problem. It may surprise you to know that the FBI has been quietly, systematically investigating the white supremacist infiltration of law enforcement. Alice Speri writes that there's just not much anyone in politics is willing to do about it,—and an inevitable conservative-led backlash when they try—but the FBI is starting to treat local cops the way it treated hippies: as a problem worth getting its hands dirty over.
“For some reason, we have stepped away from the threat of domestic terrorism and right-wing extremism,” Jones continued. “The only way we can reconcile this kind of behavior is if we accept the possibility that the ideology that permeates white nationalists and white supremacists is something that many in our federal and law enforcement communities understand and may be in sympathy with.”
Investigation is difficult because of First Amendment issues:
Although officers have been fired for expressing hateful views — sometimes to be re-hired by other departments, as happens regularly with officers accused of misconduct — some officers have also challenged those dismissals in court. Robert Henderson, an 18-year veteran of the Nebraska State Patrol, was fired when his membership in the Klan was discovered. He sued on First Amendment grounds and appealed all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which declined to hear his case. Last year, 14 officers in the San Francisco Police Department were caught exchanging racist and homophobic texts that included several references to “white power” and messages such as “all niggers must fucking hang.” Most of those officers remain on the force after an attempt to fire several of them was blocked by a judge, who said the statute of limitation had expired.
No centralized recruitment process or set of national standards exists for the 18,000 law enforcement agencies in the United States, many of which have deep historical connections to racist ideologies. As a result, state and local police as well as sheriff’s departments present ample opportunities for white supremacists and other right-wing extremists looking to expand their power base.
Part of the problem: when the Department of Homeland Security released a study on extremism, Republicans railed against the unforgivable insult it represented against patriotic officers and veterans. This hindered further action against white supremacists throughout the Obama administration.
“I believe that because that report was so denounced by conservatives, it sort of closed the door on whatever the FBI may have been considering doing with respect to combating infiltration of law enforcement by white supremacists,” said Samuel Jones, a professor of law at the John Marshall School of Law in Chicago who has written about white power ideology in law enforcement. “Because after the 2006 FBI report, we simply cannot find anything by local law enforcement or the federal government that addresses this issue.”
Pete Simi, a sociologist who spent decades studying the proliferation of white supremacists in the U.S. military, agreed. “The report underscores the problem of even discussing this issue. It underscores how difficult this issue is to get any traction on, because a lot of people don’t want to discuss this, let alone actually do something about it.”
A group of tech firms will meet today to plan the filing of an amicus brief in support of lawsuit to challenge U.S. President Donald Trump's “Muslim Ban.”
Trump's order was issued on Friday, and restricts immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries in which Trump has no business interests. Adjacent Muslim-majority nations in which Trump does have business interests were left untouched by the ban. Administration staffers took great pains to keep the orders secret from other government officials, and from the public, until it went into effect.
'President' Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order addressing cybersecurity today, Reuters reports in an item that cites "two sources familiar with the situation.” The EO is expected to be Trump's first action to address what he called a top priority of his administration during the Presidential campaign.
”Do you think the U.S. Attorney General has a responsibility to say no to the president if he asks for something that is improper?,” asked Senator Jefferson Beauregard Sessions (R-Alabama) in 2015.
“I believe they have an obligation to follow the law and the Constitution,” replied U.S. Deputy Attorney General nominee Sally Q. Yates.
Authorities say Tulsa maintenance base workers workers for American Airlines found seven bricks of cocaine weighing 31 pounds with a street value of about a half a million dollars hidden in the nose of an AA aircraft.
