Keep Calm and (Don’t) Enable Macros: A New Threat Actor Targets UAE Dissidents - The Citizen Lab

Keep Calm and (Don’t) Enable Macros: A New Threat Actor Targets UAE Dissidents - The Citizen Lab: "This report describes a campaign of targeted spyware attacks carried out by a sophisticated operator, which we call Stealth Falcon.  The attacks have been conducted from 2012 until the present, against Emirati journalists, activists, and dissidents.  We discovered this campaign when an individual purporting to be from an apparently fictitious organization called “The Right to Fight” contacted Rori Donaghy.  Donaghy, a UK-based journalist and founder of the Emirates Center for Human Rights, received a spyware-laden email in November 2015, purporting to offer him a position on a human rights panel.  Donaghy has written critically of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) government in the past,1 and had recently published a series of articles based on leaked emails involving members of the UAE government.2

"



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To Catch a Rapist - The New York Times

To Catch a Rapist - The New York Times: "These cases are rarely reported immediately because children often feel confused, afraid or to blame, and because the perpetrators are often family members or family friends. Even many adult victims don’t report a sexual assault before the 72-to-120-hour cutoff after which hospitals will no longer conduct a forensic medical exam. Delayed reporting is the norm in sexual-assault cases, not the exception. In New Haven, the vast majority of the detectives’ cases are reported days, weeks, months, even years after the fact. Not only is there bias against a victim who waits to report an assault, but the delay also means that there is rarely any physical evidence — neither forensic evidence taken from the bodies of the victims or suspects nor crime scenes to investigate.

"



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When political press conferences go bad: Ian Walker's train wreck

When political press conferences go bad: Ian Walker's train wreck: "
There are times when a government stumble is a gift for Oppositions.

And then there are times when sleeping dogs should be left to lie."



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Hillary Clinton told the truth about her Iraq war vote.

Hillary Clinton told the truth about her Iraq war vote.: "
Then came, from today’s vantage, the key passage: “Even though the resolution before the Senate is not as strong as I would like in requiring the diplomatic route first … I take the president at his word that he will try hard to pass a United Nations resolution and seek to avoid war, if possible. Because bipartisan support for this resolution makes success in the United Nations more likely and war less likely—and because a good faith effort by the United States, even if it fails, will bring more allies and legitimacy to our cause—I have concluded, after careful and serious consideration, that a vote for the resolution best serves the security of our nation. If we were to defeat this resolution or pass it with only a few Democrats, I am concerned that those who want to pretend this problem will go away with delay will oppose any United Nations resolution calling for unrestricted inspections.”



 She added, “This is a difficult vote. This is probably the hardest decision I have ever had to make. Any vote that may lead to war should be hard, but I cast it with conviction. … My vote is not, however, a vote for any new doctrine of preemption or for unilateralism or for the arrogance of American power or purpose.” A vote for the resolution, she argued, “is not a vote to rush to war; it is a vote that puts awesome responsibility in the hands of our president. And we say to him: Use these powers wisely and as a last resort.”"



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Printed Version of the “Reynolds Pamphlet”, 1797

Printed Version of the “Reynolds Pamphlet”, 1797: "It is a maxim deeply ingrafted in that dark system, that no character, however upright, is a match for constantly reiterated attacks, however false. It is well understood by its disciples, that every calumny makes some proselites and even retains some; since justification seldom circulates as rapidly and as widely as slander. The number of those who from doubt proceed to suspicion and thence to belief of imputed guilt is continually augmenting; and the public mind fatigued at length with resistance to the calumnies which eternally assail it, is apt in the end to sit down with the opinion that a person so often accused cannot be entirely innocent."



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Things Donald Trump Says - The Atlantic

Things Donald Trump Says - The Atlantic:

But when the results of an established process turn against them, presidents and presidential aspirants must defend the process. That’s the difference between rule-of-law and rule-of-men. Richard Nixon disagreed with the Supreme Court’s rulings against him but did not question their legitimacy or say he would try to get back at the Justices. Al Gore had far better logical and jurisprudential grounds for questioning the ruling in Bush v. Gore, but while he made clear that he bitterly disagreed, he of course complied. He did not mention the ethnicity of the Justices or say that they should be “looked into.”

A president cannot suggest, as Trump is doing here, that his personal interests or vendettas come ahead of the systems of democratic government that a president is sworn to “preserve, protect, and defend.” I am not aware of any institution, tradition, or system that Trump has ever placed above his own interests or impulses. The speech in San Diego is the latest stark example.

This is outlier behavior and must not be “normalized.”

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How the West (and the Rest) Got Rich - WSJ

How the West (and the Rest) Got Rich - WSJ: "Rep. Thomas Massie, a Republican from Kentucky, had the right idea in what he said to Reason magazine last year: “When people ask, ‘Will our children be better off than we are?’ I reply, ‘Yes, but it’s not going to be due to the politicians, but the engineers.’ ”

I would supplement his remark.



It will also come from the businessperson who buys low to sell high, the hairdresser who spots an opportunity for a new shop, the oil roughneck who moves to and from North Dakota with alacrity and all the other commoners who agree to the basic bourgeois deal: Let me seize an opportunity for economic betterment, tested in trade, and I’ll make us all rich."



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Effort to Expose Russia’s ‘Troll Army’ Draws Vicious Retaliation - The New York Times

Effort to Expose Russia’s ‘Troll Army’ Draws Vicious Retaliation - The New York Times: "“I don’t know if these people are acting on orders from Russia, but they are clearly what Lenin called ‘useful idiots,’” said Mika Pettersson, the editor of Finland’s national news agency and an organizer of the editors’ open letter. “They are playing into Putin’s pocket. Nationalist movements in Finland and other European countries want to destabilize the European Union and NATO, and this goes straight into Putin’s narrative. ”

"



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Marine First Lieutenant Nathan Krissoff’s Last Letters Home From Iraq - The Daily Beast

Marine First Lieutenant Nathan Krissoff’s Last Letters Home From Iraq - The Daily Beast:

On 30 October 2006, Nate wrote to his brother Austin, who was attending Officer Candidate School in Quantico. Nate described the loss of a member of his unit, and what it should mean to Austin and the other officer candidates.

Austin,

We had a Marine with 3rd Recon killed in action about two weeks ago out west. Sniper shot. He went down in the street and a full-fledged, complex attack was initiated by the enemy. Other Marines – under fire – risked their lives in the ensuing events to recover him, triage him, and get him on a HMMWV to Fallujah surgical. All this happened as Marines counterattacked, bullets snapping by as they took up defensive positions. I knew the events because I talked to them afterward. Included is his memorial pamphlet. I wish I had the chance to know him, all the Recon guys admired him, looked up to him, and are devastated by his loss.

Why do I tell you this? Because Sgt Simpson and many all-Americans like him are the ones you will be entrusted to lead, protect and stand in front of. Never forget that all the trials and training you and the other candidates (eventually Second Lieutenants) go through is not about you. America's sons and daughters will be entrusted to your care. You owe them competence, discipline, courage, judgment, etc. Post Sgt Simpson's memorial picture, perhaps up on your squad bay read-board, tell your fire team and squad and platoon about him -- as a clear reminder of what this is all about. Keep it with you through the trials ahead. Because when you hear the final roll call, the long bugle playing taps, and the bagpipes wailing – we better have done everything short of the hand of God Himself to accomplish the mission and bring Marines home. It is a sacrifice he and many like him have made fighting for each other. Earn it.

Semper Fidelis,
Nate.

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Endless war: Trump and the fantasy of cost-free conflict | US news | The Guardian

Endless war: Trump and the fantasy of cost-free conflict | US news | The Guardian: "“I would listen to the generals,” Trump said in one debate as he called for deploying 30,000 troops to Syria. I would say: screw that. How about we listen to the sergeants, lieutenants and captains who wore those boots on the ground the past 15 years? The ones who are out, who are now free to speak their minds and have no stake in the business-as-usual business of American war; no sergeant or junior officer is angling for a lucrative post-military career sitting on defense industry boards or yakking for cable news. On a fall night in Austin last year I listened to one of these former sergeants – infantry, two tours in Iraq – tell me: Sure, we can invade Syria and whip Isis’s butt. Just make sure we go in with four or five hundred thousand troops, and plan on keeping at least 200,000 there for the next, say, 15 or 20 years. And we’d better commit to massive investment in the infrastructure, schools, the legal system, to keep Isis or something like it from coming back. Oh, and we’ll have to bring back the draft, that’s what it’ll take to keep an army that big over there. And raise taxes to pay for it, including healthcare for all the fucked-up people who’ll be coming home. We can beat Isis, sure. But not the way those guys –he nodded at the TV, where one of the circus-style debates was going on – are talking about.

"



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Donald Trump & Hillary Clinton: Why “Hillary Is Even Worse” Doesn’t Cut It | National Review

Donald Trump & Hillary Clinton: Why “Hillary Is Even Worse” Doesn’t Cut It | National Review: "In my view, Donald Trump is unfit to be president in ways that apply to no other candidate of the two major political parties throughout American history.

"



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Nebraska’s Ben Sasse: A ‘Never Trump’ Holdout in the Senate - The New York Times

Nebraska’s Ben Sasse: A ‘Never Trump’ Holdout in the Senate - The New York Times: "Mr. Sasse is unbowed. “In private, many people will say some version of ‘I wish I could take the position you’ve taken, but I don’t know how that will affect me back home,’ ” Mr. Sasse said during an interview in his Senate office. “I don’t know where it’s written that fighting for what you believe in will always be popular with 51 percent.”

"



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Donald Trump and the Backlash Against Political Correctness - The Atlantic

Donald Trump and the Backlash Against Political Correctness - The Atlantic: "In my first job, I mentioned that I enjoyed Hulk Hogan to a colleague who also liked the WWE. I was not aware at the time, but Hogan had recently made news for his use of some racial or homophobic slur. I was met with a horrified stare. By simply saying I liked his showmanship, I was lumped into saying I too was racist or homophobic.



 I feel like I have to hide my beliefs."



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The Quiet Crisis unfolding in Software Development — Medium

The Quiet Crisis unfolding in Software Development — Medium: "
This article is a very long-winded way to help you learn how to care for your software development employees with best results. If you properly care for your employees they will take care of you, leading to better product outcomes and higher career satisfaction for both you and them.



This is mostly a compilation of common sense but I felt it needed to be compiled in one place for all those low level software development managers out there. I wish it had existed my first day as a software development manager.
"



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I’m a black man. Here’s what happened when I booked an Airbnb. — Stay Woke — Medium

I’m a black man. Here’s what happened when I booked an Airbnb. — Stay Woke — Medium: "For folks that are going to say, “well people have the right to refuse rentals in their homes”. True. To an extent. There are Fair Housing laws that may apply under certain circumstances (Number of homes they have for rent, etc.). Either way, if they have the right of refusal, I also have the right to tell my story."



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Elon Musk on Instagram: “Fast play of today's rocket landing on SpaceX droneship OCISLY”

Elon Musk on Instagram: “Fast play of today's rocket landing on SpaceX droneship OCISLY”: "elonmuskFast play of today's rocket landing on SpaceX droneship OCISLY
"



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I’m Voting For The Democrat In November Because I’m Not A Human Tire Fire — Medium

I’m Voting For The Democrat In November Because I’m Not A Human Tire Fire — Medium: "You don’t like Hillary’s past support for military actions in XYZ? Cool! Me neither, sometimes! Show me a president who has never made a decision that led to the deaths of women and children and innocent humans at home or (more likely) abroad and I will show you a lie. You think Bernie wouldn’t take military action if necessary? You think our bombs wouldn’t land on kids even if he took every precaution to ensure only military targets were hit? In what fucking world is the leader of any country a saint? Saints don’t exist. Saints are a lie.
"



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Republicans for Hitler | The Resurgent

Republicans for Hitler | The Resurgent: "Time and time again, Trump’s supporters in and out of his cult ultimately conclude that any sin committed by Donald Trump is okay because he is not Hillary Clinton. It cannot be that they are both unfit for office. Trump, in every case, is more fit for office because Trump is not Clinton. Never mind the bankruptcies, never mind the endorsement of war crimes, never mind the advocacy of torture, never mind the swindling, never mind the affairs and women and corruption and mob ties and nepotism and repeated failures and the list goes on and on. Trump is not Clinton.

"



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My Thoughts on Marco Rubio Embracing Donald Trump | The Resurgent

My Thoughts on Marco Rubio Embracing Donald Trump | The Resurgent: "My issue with Marco Rubio embracing Donald Trump really has little to do with Rubio personally and everything to do with the Republican Party. The party has given birth to the Trump phenomenon for campaigning that Barack Obama is a menace to the world, we must do everything to stop Obamacare, the President’s foreign policy is going to get us all killed, and Obama is anti-worker and hostile to capitalism. But then the party rolls over and refuses to fight.

"



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An Open Letter to the American People | Literary Hub

An Open Letter to the American People | Literary Hub:

AN OPEN LETTER TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE

Because, as writers, we are particularly aware of the many ways that language can be abused in the name of power;

Because we believe that any democracy worthy of the name rests on pluralism, welcomes principled disagreement, and achieves consensus through reasoned debate;

Because American history, despite periods of nativism and bigotry, has from the first been a grand experiment in bringing people of different backgrounds together, not pitting them against one another;

Because the history of dictatorship is the history of manipulation and division, demagoguery and lies;

Because the search for justice is predicated on a respect for the truth;

Because we believe that knowledge, experience, flexibility, and historical awareness are indispensable in a leader;

Because neither wealth nor celebrity qualifies anyone to speak for the United States, to lead its military, to maintain its alliances, or to represent its people;

Because the rise of a political candidate who deliberately appeals to the basest and most violent elements in society, who encourages aggression among his followers, shouts down opponents, intimidates dissenters, and denigrates women and minorities, demands, from each of us, an immediate and forceful response;

For all these reasons, we, the undersigned, as a matter of conscience, oppose, unequivocally, the candidacy of Donald J. Trump for the Presidency of the United States.

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How Technology Hijacks People’s Minds — from a Magician and Google’s Design Ethicist — Medium

How Technology Hijacks People’s Minds — from a Magician and Google’s Design Ethicist — Medium:

I’m an expert on how technology hijacks our psychological vulnerabilities. That’s why I spent the last three years as Google’s Design Ethicist caring about how to design things in a way that defends a billion people’s minds from getting hijacked.

When using technology, we often focus optimistically on all the things it does for us. But I want you to show you where it might do the opposite.

Where does technology exploit our minds’ weaknesses?

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Fmr. McDonald's USA CEO: $35K Robots Cheaper Than Hiring at $15 Per Hour : news

Fmr. McDonald's USA CEO: $35K Robots Cheaper Than Hiring at $15 Per Hour : news: ""Economists today are finally acknowledging what they have been denying for years. Not only is technological unemployment exasperating the current labor crisis we see see across the world due to the global economic downturn, but the more the recession deepens the faster the industries are mechanizing. The catch which is not realized, is that the faster they mechanize to save money, the more they displace people, the more they reduce public purchasing power. This means that while the corporation can produce everything more cheaply, fewer and fewer people will actually have the money to buy anything, regardless of how cheap they become. The bottom line is that the labor-for-income game is slowly coming to an end."
"



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As Obama Presses Vietnam on Rights, Activists Are Barred From Meeting - The New York Times

As Obama Presses Vietnam on Rights, Activists Are Barred From Meeting - The New York Times: "Another activist, Nguyen Quang A, 69, a businessman, wrote on Facebook on Monday night that the police had surrounded his house in Hanoi and that he could not leave. Efforts to reach Mr. Quang A by telephone on Tuesday morning were unsuccessful. Mr. Quang A said in an interview last week that an official at the American Embassy had invited him to meet Mr. Obama.

"



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The Dangerous Acceptance of Donald Trump - The New Yorker

The Dangerous Acceptance of Donald Trump - The New Yorker: "Now for the embrace. One by one, people who had not merely resisted him before but called him by his proper name—who, until a month ago, were determined to oppose a man they rightly described as a con artist and a pathological liar—are suddenly getting on board. Columnists and magazines that a month ago were saying #NeverTrump are now vibrating with the frisson of his audacity, fawning over him or at least thrilling to his rising poll numbers and telling one another, “We can control him.’

"



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A Jewish judge’s rival makes DeKalb contest a matter of religion | Political Insider blog

A Jewish judge’s rival makes DeKalb contest a matter of religion | Political Insider blog:



You can take the measure of  a judicial candidate by his law school. Or by his legal briefs, or by his treatment of jurors, colleagues, defendants and prosecutors. But the one thing we’re pretty sure you shouldn’t judge a judge by is his religion. The U.S. Constitution frowns upon it – and most judicial candidates understand this. But only most.



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Donald Trump’s Anti-Semitic Supporters | National Review

Donald Trump’s Anti-Semitic Supporters | National Review:



I was wrong. I’ve spent most of my career arguing that anti-Semitism in the United States is almost entirely a product of the political Left. I’ve traveled across the country from Iowa to Texas; I’ve rarely seen an iota of true anti-Semitism. I’ve sensed far more anti-Jewish animus from leftist college students at the University of California, Los Angeles, than from churches in Valencia. As an observer of President Obama’s thoroughgoing anti-Israel administration, I could easily link the anti-Semitism of the Left to its disdain for both Biblical morality and Israeli success over its primary Islamist adversaries. The anti-Semitism I’d heard about from my grandparents — the country-club anti-Semitism, the alleged white-supremacist leanings of rednecks from the backwoods — was a figment of the imagination, I figured.



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The Dying of the Third-Party Dream - The New York Times

The Dying of the Third-Party Dream - The New York Times: "Set aside the gaming-out of post-November scenarios and simply ask the question: Is it a good thing for the country, or for that matter for the world, that our only options in November are Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump? It’s clear that the answer for a great many people remains a resounding “heaven help us, no.”

"



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TSA screeners failed tests to detect explosives, weapons - CNNPolitics.com

TSA screeners failed tests to detect explosives, weapons - CNNPolitics.com: "The Department of Homeland Security said Monday that the acting administrator for the Transportation Security Administration would be reassigned, following a report that airport screeners failed to detect explosives and weapons in nearly every test that an undercover team conducted at dozens of airports.

According to a report based on an internal investigation, "red teams" with the Department of Homeland Security's Office of the Inspector General were able to get banned items through the screening process in 67 out of 70 tests it conducted across the nation."



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The TSA is a waste of money that doesn't save lives and might actually cost them - Vox

The TSA is a waste of money that doesn't save lives and might actually cost them - Vox: "Another paper by the same authors found that one post-9/11 security measure — increased checked baggage screening — reduced passenger volume by about 6 percent. Combine the two papers, and you get a disturbing conclusion: In their words, over the course of three months, "approximately 129 individuals died in automobile accidents which resulted from travelers substituting driving for flying in response to inconvenience associated with baggage screening."

"



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A warning against Trump, after meeting him

A warning against Trump, after meeting him: "I recently met Donald Trump in a private meeting with other conservative leaders. My conclusions:

All he talked about to this sophisticated, educated and successful group of people was how well he was doing in the polls. There was not one piece of substance. Even when asked deeper questions, all he did was redirect it to popular red-meat talking points (for the “right” at least).



Even more disturbing? These people, many of whom I count as friends, were eating it up.

I left experiencing two feelings: deep concern and vindication of what I have been saying for years – in many ways, the conservative movement has been just as corrupted by our degraded culture as anyone else, it just doesn’t realize it, because it assumes that its positions on political issues is all it needs to be counted righteous."



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Evidence of Absence — Starting Up Security — Medium

Evidence of Absence — Starting Up Security — Medium:

It’s impossible to prove that you haven’t suffered a security breach.

For instance, Google can’t prove that an adversary isn’t reading your email *right now*.

This is not a criticism and is unfair to hold this fact against any company.

Here’s why:

A security team can only describe their efforts to prevent and detect an intrusion. This strengthens their Evidence of Absence. Evidence of absence is weak. However, it’s how everyone trusts everything:

I trust that the measures you’ve taken prove the absence of a security breach.

This trust is undone completely when a breach is discovered.

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‘An amazing way to go’: Jane Little, world’s longest-serving orchestra musician, collapses and dies performing ‘There’s No Business Like Show Business’ - The Washington Post

‘An amazing way to go’: Jane Little, world’s longest-serving orchestra musician, collapses and dies performing ‘There’s No Business Like Show Business’ - The Washington Post: "
“To me, it seems like more than the end of an era,” Kurth said. “She outlasted every era of this orchestra. She outlasted three music directors. The next, most longest tenured member was here I think twenty years less than she was. There are no words to describe how remarkable she was. You think of superlatives and you just run out.” 




There was great sadness among orchestra members Sunday night. There was also a sense that there was a poetic beauty to the timing of Little’s death, playing her bass during a performance of a classic from the “Great American Songbook.”"



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Dear GOP: I’m just not that into you - The Washington Post

Dear GOP: I’m just not that into you - The Washington Post: "You work on your anger management issues. Turn off Fox News and turn on the History Channel. Make some friends who don’t think just like you. Tolerate some iconoclasts. For heaven’s sake, get rid of Trump and get his cult followers out of their trance. No more excuses for  bad behavior, and no more pretending we can hide from the rest of the world. Then let’s talk, maybe in December. By then you should have plenty of free time.

"



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Experimental Geography: Employment, construction, and the cost of San Francisco apartments

Experimental Geography: Employment, construction, and the cost of San Francisco apartments: "In the long run, San Francisco's CPI-adjusted average income is growing by 1.72% per year, and the number of employed people is growing by 0.326% per year, which together (if you believe the first model) will raise CPI-adjusted housing costs by 3.8% per year. Therefore, if price stability is the goal, the city and its citizens should try to increase the housing supply by an average of 1.5% per year (which is about 3.75 times the general rate since 1975, and with the current inventory would mean 5700 units per year). If visual stability is the goal instead, prices will probably continue to rise uncontrollably.
"



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A guy just transcribed 30 years of for-rent ads. Here’s what it taught us about housing prices — Medium

A guy just transcribed 30 years of for-rent ads. Here’s what it taught us about housing prices — Medium:

It’s a chart that almost perfectly predicts the San Francisco housing market using only three variables:

1. The number of jobs located in San Francisco County.
2. The number of places in San Francisco County for people to live.
3. The total amount of money that is paid to everyone who works jobs in San Francisco County.

It’s all summarized in the formula at the top of the chart. If you gave me values for (1), (2) and (3) above, then I could predict to you with startling accuracy how much the median two-bedroom apartment in San Francisco will cost to rent in that situation.

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The Governing Cancer of Our Time - The New York Times

The Governing Cancer of Our Time - The New York Times: "This isn’t just an American phenomenon. Politics is in retreat and authoritarianism is on the rise worldwide. The answer to Trump is politics. It’s acknowledging other people exist. It’s taking pleasure in that difference and hammering out workable arrangements. As Harold Laski put it, “We shall make the basis of our state consent to disagreement. Therein shall we ensure its deepest harmony.”

"



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When the Wrong Are Right - The New York Times

When the Wrong Are Right - The New York Times: "If bigots are for it, we’re against it. It’s a powerful credo. But there’s always a danger that by following it too far, you end up being against reality itself.

"



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HOW SHOULD WE LIVE IN A DIVERSE SOCIETY? | Pandaemonium

HOW SHOULD WE LIVE IN A DIVERSE SOCIETY? | Pandaemonium:

Most homegrown jihadis possess, however, a peculiar relationship with Islam. They are, in many ways, as estranged from Muslim communities as they are from Western societies.  Most detest the mores and traditions of their parents, have little time for mainstream forms of Islam, and cut themselves off from traditional community institutions. Disengaged from both Western societies and Muslim communities, some reach out to Islamism. Many would-be jihadis, Olivier Roy observes, ‘adopt the Salafi version of Islam, because Salafism is both simple to understand (don’ts and do’s)’ and because it is ‘the negation of… the Islam of their parents and of their roots.’ It is not through mosques or religious institutions but through the Internet that most jihadis discover both their faith and their virtual community.

Disembedded from social norms, finding their identity within a small group, shaped by black and white ideas and values, driven by a sense that they must act on behalf of all Muslims and in opposition to all enemies of Islam, it becomes easier for wannabe jihadis to commit acts of horror and to view such acts as part of an existential struggle between Islam and the West [...]

Engagement requires us neither to shun certain people as the Other with values, beliefs and practices that are inevitably and fundamentally inimical to ours, nor to be indifferent to the values and beliefs and practices of others in the name of ‘respect’, but rather to recognize that respect requires us to challenge, even confront, that values and beliefs of others. It requires us to have an robust, open public debate about the values, beliefs and practices to which we aspire, accepting that such a debate will be difficult, and often confrontational, but also that such difficult confrontational debate is a necessity in any society that seeks to be open and liberal. [...]

The notion of giving offence suggests that certain beliefs are so important or valuable to certain people that they should be put beyond the possibility of being insulted, or caricatured or even questioned. The importance of the principle of free speech is precisely that it provides a permanent challenge to the idea that some questions are beyond contention, and hence acts as a permanent challenge to authority. Once we give up the right to offend in the name of ‘tolerance’ or ‘respect’, we constrain our ability to confront those in power, and therefore to challenge injustice.

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Beans and Noses — UIE Brain Sparks — Medium

Beans and Noses — UIE Brain Sparks — Medium:

Time and time again, I come across situations where I think, “OMG! They are trying to stick beans up their nose!” It explains what’s happening and what I should do next.

The only thing I can do in a beans-and-noses situation is wait. Wait until the bean is in its final resting place. Then, with a calmness typically reserved by yoga instructors, I can turn the nose owner and ask, “So, how is that working for you? Did it do everything you’d hoped?”

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I Saw Trump's Tax Returns. You Should, Too. - Bloomberg View

I Saw Trump's Tax Returns. You Should, Too. - Bloomberg View: "The tax returns my lawyers and I reviewed were sealed, and a court order prevents me from speaking or writing about the specifics of what I saw. I can say that Trump routinely delayed -- for months on end -- producing those documents, and when they finally arrived they were so heavily redacted that they looked like crossword puzzles. The litigation ran on for five years, and during that time we had to petition the court to compel Trump to hand over unredacted versions of the tax returns -- which he ultimately did. 

"



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David Petraeus: Anti-Muslim bigotry aids Islamist terrorists - The Washington Post

David Petraeus: Anti-Muslim bigotry aids Islamist terrorists - The Washington Post: "As policy, these concepts are totally counterproductive: Rather than making our country safer, they will compound the already grave terrorist danger to our citizens. As ideas, they are toxic and, indeed, non-biodegradable — a kind of poison that, once released into our body politic, is not easily expunged.



 Setting aside moral considerations, those who flirt with hate speech against Muslims should realize they are playing directly into the hands of al-Qaeda and the Islamic State. The terrorists’ explicit hope has been to try to provoke a clash of civilizations — telling Muslims that the United States is at war with them and their religion. When Western politicians propose blanket discrimination against Islam, they bolster the terrorists’ propaganda."



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GSA watchdog to 18F: Stop using Slack

GSA watchdog to 18F: Stop using Slack:

In a "management alert" issued Friday, the GSA IG says 18F’s use of Slack — particularly OAuth 2.0, the authentication protocol used to access other third-party services — potentially allowed unauthorized access to 100 Google Drives, a cloud-based file storage service, in use by GSA. Furthermore, the report says that exposure led to a data breach.

It’s unknown exactly who had access to or what data was stored on those Google Drives. The GSA IG office told FedScoop they could not confirm that any data was actually taken off those services. 

In a statement, the IG office said they called the incident a data breach because of the administration's extremely inclusive definition. 

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The Party Surrenders - The New York Times

The Party Surrenders - The New York Times: "Instead, confusion reigned, groups and individuals worked at cross-purposes, donors sat on the sidelines and politicians hedged their bets.

Beyond confusion and incompetence, though, there was also flirtation, normalization and finally acceptance, as a wide array of figures whose own commitments seemed incompatible with Trumpism decided that he was worth defending and eventually supporting."



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With Malice Toward None | The Resurgent

With Malice Toward None | The Resurgent: "There is, though, going to be a future. We are in uncharted territory now. Everyone is feeling their way about in the dark. I wish others, like Rick Perry and Bobby Jindal and Marco Rubio, etc. would take a strong stand against Trump. They know he is unfit for office. They have said so and I believe privately still think it. But I just can’t be mad at good men trying to be team players for the team they’ve always supported even when it hasn’t supported them back. I am disappointed in them, but have no ill will toward them. We are all trying to figure this out.

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With Malice Toward None | The Resurgent

With Malice Toward None | The Resurgent: "There is, though, going to be a future. We are in uncharted territory now. Everyone is feeling their way about in the dark. I wish others, like Rick Perry and Bobby Jindal and Marco Rubio, etc. would take a strong stand against Trump. They know he is unfit for office. They have said so and I believe privately still think it. But I just can’t be mad at good men trying to be team players for the team they’ve always supported even when it hasn’t supported them back. I am disappointed in them, but have no ill will toward them. We are all trying to figure this out.

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Why people pay to read The New York Times — Medium

Why people pay to read The New York Times — Medium: "We need to get much better at telling our own story. We journalists hope the work speaks for itself. But in a cacophonous world, where stories whiz by on Twitter and Facebook, we need to tell our readers that we are special. That our stories have value. Think of the saga of a man who dies alone or the struggles of woman who has Alzheimer’s. The story of the former child soldier of the FARC struggling to adjust to life after war. The story of an ambulance driver in Liberia, fighting the Ebola epidemic street by street. The story of young women held as a sex slaves by ISIS. These are stories with deep, enduring value. Unique, resonant, impactful journalism is our brand. It always has been, and always will be.
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Government Must Play a Role Again in Job Creation - The New York Times

Government Must Play a Role Again in Job Creation - The New York Times: "Start with investment in the nation’s crumbling infrastructure: Lawrence Summers, once the top economic adviser to President Obama, never tires of repeating that this not only is urgently needed but is almost guaranteed to be profitable, given rock-bottom interest rates. While it might not increase employment by tens of millions, as these jobs tend to require high skills, even a relatively small number of construction jobs would provide a needed economic boost.

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Refuge: One Syrian family's long odyssey to Georgia - Atlanta Magazine

Refuge: One Syrian family's long odyssey to Georgia - Atlanta Magazine: "Of the 4.5 million Syrians who have fled their nation’s bloody civil war, fewer than 3,000 have made it to America. This is one family’s story.

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Rick Wilson: On Donald Trump, never means never - NY Daily News

Rick Wilson: On Donald Trump, never means never - NY Daily News:

The lobbyists of K Street and the ambitious operatives of Capitol Hill have looked just at the momentary flush of Trump's victory. They are unable and unwilling to game out the long-term picture we face in this election and beyond.

They may not realize it, but by buckling, they make all the nasty things that Trump said about them seem truer: They don't say what they mean or mean what they say. They can be bought. They are craven politicians, nothing more.

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The most underappreciated fact of the election: Americans feel good about the economy - The Washington Post

The most underappreciated fact of the election: Americans feel good about the economy - The Washington Post:

In an election season about voter anger, one important thing is underappreciated: voter optimism. And in particular, optimism about the economy.

“Wait, what?” you may be thinking. Isn’t the election defined by the country’s “economic blues“? Isn’t the election being shaped by “anger over a ‘failed economy’ “?

This is not the full story. Or even a very correct story.

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'You want a description of hell?' OxyContin's 12-hour problem #InvestigatingOxy - Los Angeles Times

'You want a description of hell?' OxyContin's 12-hour problem #InvestigatingOxy - Los Angeles Times:

But OxyContin’s stunning success masked a fundamental problem: The drug wears off hours early in many people, a Los Angeles Times investigation found. OxyContin is a chemical cousin of heroin, and when it doesn’t last, patients can experience excruciating symptoms of withdrawal, including an intense craving for the drug.

The problem offers new insight into why so many people have become addicted to OxyContin, one of the most abused pharmaceuticals in U.S. history.

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A Confession of Liberal Intolerance - The New York Times

A Confession of Liberal Intolerance - The New York Times:

The scarcity of conservatives seems driven in part by discrimination. One peer-reviewed study found that one-third of social psychologists admitted that if choosing between two equally qualified job candidates, they would be inclined to discriminate against the more conservative candidate.

Yancey, the black sociologist, who now teaches at the University of North Texas, conducted a survey in which up to 30 percent of academics said that they would be less likely to support a job seeker if they knew that the person was a Republican.

The discrimination becomes worse if the applicant is an evangelical Christian. According to Yancey’s study, 59 percent of anthropologists and 53 percent of English professors would be less likely to hire someone they found out was an evangelical.

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Legends of Kentucky

Legends of Kentucky: "
Horse breeders like to put their faith in long shots. And Tom took a long shot on me too. If Charismatic was the “tubby” horse with low odds, I was the bad student with a low GPA who discovered writing a little too late in high school. I spent my twenties on one side of the bar or another. But even on my worst days, Tom never treated me like someone who wanted to be a writer. In his mind, and certainly in his mail stack, I had always been one.



Charismatic is currently living the high life as a stud in Japan. Me? I’ve got my own book out there now. And that just would not have happened without Tom Roach."



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The Conservative Case Against Trump - The New York Times

The Conservative Case Against Trump - The New York Times:

His unfitness starts with basic issues of temperament. It encompasses the race-baiting, the conspiracy theorizing, the flirtations with violence, and the pathological lying that have been his campaign-trail stock in trade.

But above all it is Trump’s authoritarianism that makes him unfit for the presidency — his stated admiration for Putin and the Chinese Politburo, his promise to use the power of the presidency against private enterprises, the casual threats he and his surrogates toss off against party donors, military officers, the press, the speaker of the House, and more.

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Few stand in Trump’s way as he piles up the Four-Pinocchio whoppers - The Washington Post

Few stand in Trump’s way as he piles up the Four-Pinocchio whoppers - The Washington Post: "But, astonishingly, television hosts rarely challenge Trump when he makes a claim that already has been found to be false. For instance, Trump says he was against the 2003 invasion of Iraq, but research by BuzzFeed found that he did express support for an attack. He said the White House even sent a delegation to tell him to tone down his statements —and we found that also to be false.



 Yet at least a dozen television hosts in the past two months allowed Trump to make this claim and failed to challenge him. There is no excuse for this. TV hosts should have a list of Trump’s repeated misstatements so that if he repeats them, as he often does, he can be challenged on his claims."



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Barack Obama and Bryan Cranston on the Roles of a Lifetime - The New York Times

Barack Obama and Bryan Cranston on the Roles of a Lifetime - The New York Times: "But my optimism springs from the fact that ordinary people are less narrow-minded, more open to difference, more thoughtful than they were during L.B.J.’s time. The question for me is how do I grab hold of that goodness that’s out there and drag it into the political process? I think it requires some new institutional structure for more citizen participation than we’ve had in the past.

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GregoryGoose comments on Why isn't it ok to be average?

GregoryGoose comments on Why isn't it ok to be average?: "
The fact of the matter is that I have a steel pod that lets me travel 65mph and traverse hundreds of miles. I have clean air, water, unspoiled food that I didn't have to even make. I have a bicycle for my mind that lets me express myself in ways that man was unable to for most of recorded history and an audience of thousands subscribed to see what I make. On a daily basis I get to watch cinematic productions that cost millions of dollars to produce. I can role-play with millions of people across the globe in virtual realities. I can, at a moments notice anywhere in the world, talk to people I know, wherever they are. I will likely live to see 90.
Kings never lived like this. Presidents never lived like this. Yet I am apparently barely scraping by.
I could work harder and get a better steel pod. A faster mind-bicycle. A bigger castle. But in the end, if I can't be happy with the amazing life I have right now, what hope is there that any of that is going to help. If my peers could get off my back I think I'd be okay."



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The Republican Horse Race Is Over, and Journalism Lost - The New York Times

The Republican Horse Race Is Over, and Journalism Lost - The New York Times:

Though it seems as if Mr. Trump’s success came out of the blue, it didn’t. The first signs that something was amiss in the coverage of the Tea Partyera actually surfaced in the 2014 midterms. Oh, you broadcast network newscast viewers didn’t know we had important elections with huge consequences for the governance of your country that year? You can be forgiven because the broadcast networks hardly covered them. They didn’t rate. No Trump, or anyone like him. (Boring!)

But here’s what happened. A conservative economics professor and political neophyte named David Brat decided he would challenge the House Republican majority leader Eric Cantor for his Virginia congressional seat. There were few Republicans more powerful than Mr. Cantor, so Mr. Brat’s bid seemed quixotic. Mr. Cantor’s own pollster released numbers days before the election showing a 34-point lead for the congressman, and the closest public poll showed Mr. Cantor up by 13 points.

When Mr. Cantor lost, headlines labeled it an “earthquake” and a “shocker.” And it was, for people who relied solely on polls.

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Ben Sasse - AN OPEN LETTER TO MAJORITY AMERICA TO: Those who...

Ben Sasse - AN OPEN LETTER TO MAJORITY AMERICA TO: Those who...: "
And there is no reason to believe that either of these two national frontrunners believe in limiting anything about DC’s power.



I believe that most Americans can still be for limited government again -- if they were given a winsome candidate who wanted Washington to focus on a small number of really important, urgent things -- in a way that tried to bring people together instead of driving us apart.
I think there is room – an appetite – for such a candidate."



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Man Up | The Players' Tribune

Man Up | The Players' Tribune: "I was pretty ignorant on this topic for a long time. I think a lot of men are, because it’s often talked about as a women’s issue. The focus always seems to be on teaching young women how not to get raped and on what steps they can take to “stay safe.” But why are we not also focused on educating young men about the definition of consent and what constitutes rape? We’re essentially dealing with the problem by telling women to be more careful.

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Donald Trump's victory proves Republican voters want resentful nationalism, not principled conservatism - Vox

Donald Trump's victory proves Republican voters want resentful nationalism, not principled conservatism - Vox: "7) Could Trump win? Sure. Anything can happen in American politics. But those pointing to Trump's victory in the GOP primary as evidence of his potency in the general election are misguided. The electorates are very different, as are the underlying dynamics of the races. Behaviors that have been successful for Trump in recent months will turn off a general electorate — a reality you already see reflected in Trump's poll numbers. The behavior that attracts the most hardcore of Republican votes turns off the median voter.

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#NeverTrump Means Never Trump. Never Ever. | RedState

#NeverTrump Means Never Trump. Never Ever. | RedState: "I say this without rancor, sarcasm or ill will. For anyone who wants to know what’s next for the #NeverTrump movement, the answer is that we don’t vote for Trump. Each person will deal with that differently – some will vote for third party or not vote. Some will vote for Hillary. #NeverTrump means different things to different people except for one thing – it means we will not vote for Trump, not ever. And nothing that’s happened tonight has changed that.


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A message for my fellow Republicans: If you back Trump you will not be trusted again | Fox News

A message for my fellow Republicans: If you back Trump you will not be trusted again | Fox News:

When Mr. Trump ran for president on the Reform Party ticket in 2000, his candidacy was scoffed at. He was an unserious man running for the most serious position in the free world, and everyone knew it.

Yet now, many Americans – from the public, to the media, to politicians in Washington, D.C. – seem to be acquiescing to the idea of a Donald Trump candidacy and presidency.

The entire country seems to be falling down the rabbit hole.

Donald Trump is unfit to be president of the United States for reasons almost too numerous to mention.

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Phoebus cartel - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Phoebus cartel - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: "The Phoebus cartel was a cartel of, among others, Osram, Philips, and General Electric[1] from December 23, 1924 until 1939 that existed to control the manufacture and sale of light bulbs.

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America Has Never Been So Ripe for Tyranny -- NYMag

America Has Never Been So Ripe for Tyranny -- NYMag: "And, 81 years later, many of us did. An American elite that has presided over massive and increasing public debt, that failed to prevent 9/11, that chose a disastrous war in the Middle East, that allowed financial markets to nearly destroy the global economy, and that is now so bitterly divided the Congress is effectively moot in a constitutional democracy: “We Respectables” deserve a comeuppance. The vital and valid lesson of the Trump phenomenon is that if the elites cannot govern by compromise, someone outside will eventually try to govern by popular passion and brute force.

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Craigslist confessional: “Exactly 38 minutes of my day are mine” — Quartz

Craigslist confessional: “Exactly 38 minutes of my day are mine” — Quartz: "Exactly 38 minutes of my day are mine. I wake up every morning at 5 o’clock and get myself ready for work. I brush my teeth, shower, and groom—in that order. Then, I look over my work emails while I’m walking downstairs to the kitchen, where my wife is waiting with a cup of already-brewed coffee."



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