"In an interview with USA Today, Trump was asked what would happen if his daughter Ivanka were subjected to workplace harassment. “I would like to think she would find another career or find another company if that was the case,” Trump said Monday evening... Eric Trump, when asked about his father’s remarks, said sexual harassment in the workplace is an “absolute no-go” and “should be addressed and addressed strongly.” He said workplace harassment should be reported. Gretchen Carlson, the former Fox News television host whose lawsuit against Ailes in July led to other women coming forward — and his ultimate ouster — was among those who weighed in against the Trumps on Tuesday. “Sad in 2016 we’re still victim blaming women. Trust me I’m strong. #StandWithGretchen,” Carlson wrote Tuesday morning on Twitter. She also retweeted supportive words from others, including a tweet from author Jenny Han, who wrote, “Anybody who would go up against arguably the biggest name in news media has a backbone made of steel.”"
Tuesday, August 2, 2016
Donald and Eric Trump opine on sexual harassment — and draw fire; Washington Post, 8/2/16
Katie Zezima, Washington Post; Donald and Eric Trump opine on sexual harassment — and draw fire:
Donald Trump’s revisionist history of mocking a disabled reporter; Washington Post, 8/2/16
Glenn Kessler, Washington Post; Donald Trump’s revisionist history of mocking a disabled reporter:
"The Pinocchio Test It remains a mystery why Trump feels the need to revisit past controversies, particularly ones that reflect poorly on his tenor and judgment. But, as the evidence shows, Trump clearly mocked Kovaleski — who in any case never “groveled” or in any way took back his reporting. In an unremarkable statement, Kovaleski merely said that his reporting did not back up Trump’s statement that “thousands” of Muslims celebrated the fall of the Twin Towers — and then Trump attacked him. Four Pinocchios"
Obama Says Republicans Should Withdraw Support for Trump; New York Times, 8/2/16
Michael D. Shear, New York Times; Obama Says Republicans Should Withdraw Support for Trump:
"“The question they have to ask themselves is: If you are repeatedly having to say in very strong terms that what he has said is unacceptable, why are you still endorsing him?” Mr. Obama said at a news conference at the White House. Mr. Obama said that in addition to Mr. Trump’s comments about the Khan family, the Republican nominee had demonstrated that he was “woefully unprepared to do this job.” The president said Mr. Trump lacked knowledge about Europe, the Middle East and Asia. “This isn’t a situation where you have an episodic gaffe. This is daily,” Mr. Obama added. “There has to be a point at which you say, this is not somebody I can support for president of the United States, even if he purports to be a member of my party. The fact that that has not yet happened makes some of these denunciations ring hollow.”"
Christie calls Trump criticism of the Khans 'inappropriate'; Politico, 8/2/16
Matt Friedman, Politico; Christie calls Trump criticism of the Khans 'inappropriate' :
"In an unusual break with Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, Gov. Chris Christie said that Khizr and Ghazala Khan have the “right” to say whatever they want, and that criticism of them is “inappropriate.” “I didn’t see Mr. Khan’s speech at the DNC but I’ll just say this: I’m a father and I just cannot imagine the pain of losing a child under any circumstances,” Christie said at an afternoon press conference in the Statehouse. “And for Mr. and Mrs. Khan, the pain of losing their son while defending our country is unfathomable, and I think it gives them the right to say whatever they want, whether they’re right or wrong.”"
Monday, August 1, 2016
‘Pearls Before Swine’ strip pulled over ISIS reference; Comic Book Resources, 8/1/16
Brigid Alverson, Comic Book Resources; ‘Pearls Before Swine’ strip pulled over ISIS reference:
"The July 27 installment of “Pearls Before Swine” was pulled from national syndication because of a joking reference to ISIS, according to creator Stephan Pastis. (While he doesn’t specifically say so, it seems likely his syndicate, Universal Uclick, removed the strip, as it doesn’t appear on the GoComics website.)"
Lies, lies and more lies; Washington Post, 8/1/16
Jennifer Rubin, Washington Post; Lies, lies and more lies:
"Trump lied, saying that it wasn’t his voice on a tape pretending to be his own publicist, even though in the past he said he would do this sort of thing. He lied about seeing widespread celebrations by American Muslims on 9/11. He lies about what Hillary Clinton is proposing (e.g. “repeal the Second Amendment,” “open borders”). He lies when caught saying something objectionable (e.g. his ear piece wasn’t working). No wonder he’s gotten 4 Pinocchios from The Post — 33 times. Perhaps we should instead start keeping track of the times he tells the truth. It would be less work."
There is something very wrong with Donald Trump; Washington Post, 8/1/16
Robert Kagan, Washington Post; There is something very wrong with Donald Trump:
"The fact that Trump could not help himself, that he clearly did, as he said, want to “hit” everyone who spoke against him at the Democratic convention, suggests that there really is something wrong with the man. It is not just that he is incapable of empathy. It is not just that he feels he must respond to every criticism he receives by attacking and denigrating the critic, no matter how small or inconsequential. If you are a Republican, the real problem, and the thing that ought to keep you up nights as we head into the final 100 days of this campaign, is that the man cannot control himself. He cannot hold back even when it is manifestly in his interest to do so. What’s more, his psychological pathologies are ultimately self-destructive. (Disclosure: I was a guest speaker at a fundraiser for Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton last month; I have no role with her campaign.)... One can hope it does not come to that. In all likelihood, his defects will destroy him before he reaches the White House. He will bring himself down, and he will bring the Republican Party and its leaders down with him. This would be a tragedy were it not that the party and its leaders, who chose him as their nominee and who now cover and shill for this troubled man, so richly deserve their fate."
Broad array of military luminaries condemn Trump over attacks on Khan family; Washington Post, 8/1/16
Sean Sullivan, Washington Post; Broad array of military luminaries condemn Trump over attacks on Khan family:
"Brian Duffy, the recently elected commander in chief of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, released a statement saying that the organization “will not tolerate anyone berating a Gold Star family member for exercising his or her right of speech or expression.” Duffy added that “there are certain sacrosanct subjects that no amount of wordsmithing can repair once crossed.”"
Fighting for Free Speech on America’s Campuses; New York Times, 8/1/16
Cecilia Capuzzi Simon, New York Times; Fighting for Free Speech on America’s Campuses:
"The free-speech watchdog FIRE is a familiar irritant to college administrators, but until this past year, the rest of the country wasn’t paying much attention. An “epic” year is what Greg Lukianoff, president and chief executive of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, calls it. Colleges and universities were forced to publicly and painfully deal with a confluence of national issues — race, sexual assault, gay rights, politically correct speech — mirrored and magnified in the microcosm of campus life. Finally, FIRE’s activism was syncing with the zeitgeist, in part because of Mr. Lukianoff’s role in framing the public interpretation of the campus turmoil. It was Mr. Lukianoff who made the argument, in a widely read opinion piece in The Atlantic, that today’s students are “coddled” and demanding protections against offensive words and ideas at the expense of intellectual rigor and the First Amendment. It was also Mr. Lukianoff who happened to be at Yale during the infamous Halloween costume shout-down of Prof. Nicholas Christakis, and whose viral video of it appeared to vividly illustrate his observations that many college students don’t understand what freedom of speech is, and who it applies to. Freedom of speech, he said, is not an “intuitive” concept, and Americans take its benefits for granted. “I think everyone understands that they have a free-speech right, but they don’t necessarily understand why you should have one,” he said, sitting in his eighth-floor office in FIRE’s satellite space in Washington."
Khan confrontation keys in on human decency — and that could haunt Trump; Washington Post, 8/1/16
Philip Rucker, Washington Post; Khan confrontation keys in on human decency — and that could haunt Trump:
"“Nobody minds when he attacks other politicians; in fact, they like it. He’s instilling an accountability that doesn’t exist. But they don’t like it when he goes after real people, and they wish he would stop,” said GOP pollster Frank Luntz, who conducted a focus group about Trump with voters Friday in Columbus, Ohio. David Axelrod, a former strategist for President Obama, agreed. “I think people appreciate and even enjoy when he kicks the high and mighty in the butt, but I think they recoil when he is unkind to people who are vulnerable or when he is nasty to people who are thoroughly honorable,” he said. Axelrod added, “I just think people have a fundamental sense of decency, and they want their president to have a fundamental sense of decency, even if they’re tough and willing to take on so-called political correctness.”"
Sunday, July 31, 2016
What does Fox do?; Idaho State Journal, 7/31/16
Michael H. O'Donnell, Idaho State Journal; What does Fox do? :
"If all you did was watch Fox cover the DNC, you missed a few major moments. The Fox cameras weren’t rolling when retired Marine Gen. John Allen, former commander of American forces in Afghanistan, stepped on stage to deliver a strong argument against Donald Trump as a possible Commander and Chief. The “fair and balanced” network also failed to air the speech by Khizr Khan, the father of a fallen Muslim American soldier who told the audience America is strong because of its acceptance of all people regardless of race, religion or creed. Khan held up his copy of the U.S. Constitution as he made his points about Americans of all walks of life giving up that life in service to their country. Other folks who delivered primetime speeches without coverage by Fox were former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and actresses Elizabeth Banks and Meryl Streep. I guess Fox editors decided Meryl Streep, winner of three Academy awards and 19 nominations, just didn’t have the star power of a “Duck Dynasty” character or Chachi from “Happy Days.” Fox defended its decision to ignore many of the main speeches at the Dems convention by simply saying “We reported on the speeches.” That’s nonsense even the most fanatical conservative shouldn’t swallow."
How Benjamin Netanyahu Is Crushing Israel’s Free Press; New York Times, 7/30/16
Ruth Margalit, New York Times; How Benjamin Netanyahu Is Crushing Israel’s Free Press:
"In its annual report released this spring, Freedom House, an American democracy advocacy organization, downgraded Israel’s freedom of the press ranking from “free” to “partly free.” To anyone following Israeli news media over the past year and a half, this was hardly surprising. Freedom House focused primarily on the “unchecked expansion” of paid content in editorial pages, as well as on the outsize influence of Israel Hayom (“Israel Today”), a free daily newspaper owned by the American casino magnate Sheldon Adelson and widely believed to promote the views of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu... The only heartening thing in all this is that news outlets are pushing back to maintain their independence. Investigative “60 Minutes”-type programs like “Uvda” (“Fact”) and “Hamakor” (“The Source”) continue to delve into government corruption and to air in prime-time slots. “Despite the assault on the press, the Israeli media remains very critical, very aggressive, and has a lot of chutzpah. It’s a kind of basic instinct that’s part of our DNA,” Ms. Dayan, who hosts Uvda, told me."
How journalists can do their crucial job in the next 100 days; Washington Post, 7/31/16
Margaret Sullivan, Washington Post; How journalists can do their crucial job in the next 100 days:
"How should the media recalculate in the months before Nov. 8, especially given the sharp divisions in the country? We should remind ourselves of the fundamentals: Journalists’ most important role is giving Americans the information they need to cast their vote. And a lot of potential voters — about 11 percent — still haven’t decided, many of them not happy with either Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton. “We are supposed to help citizens participate in democracy,” said Tom Rosenstiel, executive director of the American Press Institute and the co-author, with Bill Kovach, of “The Elements of Journalism” and “Blur.” What journalists should not be doing, he told me, is “being part of the team,” on either side. Whatever one thinks of the concept of journalistic objectivity — some think it’s dated and counterproductive — what’s really important is independence."
Boundaries, Empathy, and Compassion; YouTube, 3/7/16
[Video] Brene Brown, YouTube; Boundaries, Empathy, and Compassion
Will the GOP repudiate Trump’s cruelty to a fallen soldier’s family?; Washington Post, 7/31/16
E. J. Dionne Jr., Washington Post; Will the GOP repudiate Trump’s cruelty to a fallen soldier’s family? :
"Every Republican politician and commentator who continues to say that Trump is a superior or even morally equivalent choice to Hillary Clinton will now own their temporary leader’s brutality for the rest of their political careers. Many humane Republicans know this. Ohio Gov. John Kasich spoke for them when he tweeted that “there’s only one way to talk about Gold Star parents: with honor and respect.” This is a moment of truth for GOP leaders who passively accepted and sometimes encouraged an extremism that trafficked in religious and racial prejudice and painted President Obama as an illegitimate, power-hungry leader."
Donald Trump’s Confrontation With Muslim Soldier’s Parents Emerges as Unexpected Flash Point; New York Times, 7/31/16
Alexander Burns, Maggie Haberman, Ashley Parker, New York Times; Donald Trump’s Confrontation With Muslim Soldier’s Parents Emerges as Unexpected Flash Point:
"Addressing himself to “patriotic Americans that would probably vote for Donald Trump,” Mr. Khan pleaded, “I appeal to them not to vote for hatred, not to vote for fear-mongering. Vote for unity. Vote for the goodness of this country.” And Ms. Khan, in an opinion article published in The Washington Post, rebuked Mr. Trump for suggesting earlier in the weekend that she had not been permitted to speak at the Democratic convention. Ms. Khan said she did not speak because she did not believe she could remain composed while talking about her son. “All the world, all America, felt my pain. I am a Gold Star mother. Whoever saw me felt me in their heart,” Ms. Khan wrote. She continued: “Donald Trump has children whom he loves. Does he really need to wonder why I did not speak?”"
Khizr Khan calls Trump a ‘black soul’ and says McConnell, Ryan have ‘moral’ obligation to repudiate him; Washington Post, 7/31/16
Katie Zezima, Washington Post; Khizr Khan calls Trump a ‘black soul’ and says McConnell, Ryan have ‘moral’ obligation to repudiate him:
""Two things are absolutely necessary in any leader or any person that aspires, wishes to be a leader. That is moral compass and, second, is empathy. This candidate is void of both traits that are necessary for the stewardship of this country," Khan said on CNN's "State of the Union."... Khan said McConnell and Ryan must speak out against Trump. It is their "moral, ethical obligation to not worry about the votes but repudiate him, withdraw the support. If they do not, I will continue to speak, and I am speaking," Khan said. In statements Sunday, Ryan and McConnell expressed support for the Khans and reiterated their opposition to Trump's proposed ban on Muslims, but did not abandon their support of the Republican nominee."
Ghazala Khan: Trump criticized my silence. He knows nothing about true sacrifice.; Washington Trump, 7/31/16
Ghazala Khan, Washington Post; Ghazala Khan: Trump criticized my silence. He knows nothing about true sacrifice. :
Ghazala Khan’s son, U.S. Army Capt. Humayun Khan, was killed in Iraq in 2004.
"I cannot walk into a room with pictures of Humayun. For all these years, I haven’t been able to clean the closet where his things are — I had to ask my daughter-in-law to do it. Walking onto the convention stage, with a huge picture of my son behind me, I could hardly control myself. What mother could? Donald Trump has children whom he loves. Does he really need to wonder why I did not speak? Donald Trump said that maybe I wasn’t allowed to say anything. That is not true. My husband asked me if I wanted to speak, but I told him I could not. My religion teaches me that all human beings are equal in God’s eyes. Husband and wife are part of each other; you should love and respect each other so you can take care of the family."
How Your Health Data Lead A Not-So-Secret Life Online; NPR, 7/30/16
Angus Chen, NPR; How Your Health Data Lead A Not-So-Secret Life Online:
"Medical information can be gleaned from all this and more, says Nathan Cortez, a professor of law at the Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law. A recent report from the Department of Health and Human Services showed that the vast majority of mobile health apps on the marketplace aren't covered by the Health Information Portability and Accountability Act. "HIPAA is pretty narrow as far as these things go. It applies only to traditional entities [like hospitals, doctors and health insurance providers], and it's not surprising. HIPAA was written by Congress in 1996 before we had health apps," Cortez says. Apps or devices used in conjunction with a doctor's office or a hospital can't share or sell your information. But there's no definitive federal law governing what happens to the data that an app developer, tech company or private individual collects. Cortez and I spoke about what that means and what people can do with individuals' data."
Bill O’Reilly irretrievably loses it over White House slaves; Washington Post, 7/28/16
Erik Wemple, Washington Post; Bill O’Reilly irretrievably loses it over White House slaves:
"As the Erik Wemple Blog pointed out this morning, Jesse J. Holland, who wrote the book on slaves and the White House, noted that the slaves were housed in a barn and were provided with food. Yet there’s a gap between that historical fact and what O’Reilly alleged, which, again, is that they were “well fed” and resided in “decent lodgings.” Those aren’t really facts; they’re judgments. Though Holland researched this matter extensively, he found limitations. “Writing about slavery is difficult because there is so little that we know for a fact because so little was written about their lives during their lives.” If it weren’t for the records of payments to slave owners, says Holland, historians might still be arguing about whether slaves actually worked on the White House."
Five myths about patient privacy; Washington Post, 7/28/16
Charles G. Kels, Washington Post; Five myths about patient privacy:
"Shortly after the recent massacre at an Orlando nightclub, the city’s mayor declared that the White House had agreed to waive federal privacy rules to allow doctors to update victims’ families. News of the waiver was widely reported, but as the Obama administration later clarified, both the mayor and the media were “simply mistaken.” No waiver was granted because none was needed. The confusion amid the tragedy in Orlando underscores widespread misconceptions about the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Privacy Rule. Here we shed light on a handful of myths that bedevil doctors and patients alike."
Marvel Artist Complains After 'X-Men: Apocalypse' Giveaway Uses His Work; Hollywood Reporter, 7/29/16
Graeme McMillan, Hollywood Reporter; Marvel Artist Complains After 'X-Men: Apocalypse' Giveaway Uses His Work:
"Bill Sienkiewicz, known for work on such Marvel titles as X-Men spin-off New Mutants and Elektra: Assassin, took to Facebook to complain after discovering that Fox was giving away limited edition promotional replicas of an album cover used as a prop in the movie, using artwork he had created three decades earlier. Previously unaware of the promo item, he discovered its existence at Comic-Con itself when fans asked him to sign them, he explained. "I've been doing this comic-book thing for years. I'm aware most everything is Work-Made-for-Hire," Sienkiewicz wrote on his post. "Still, I received no prior notification (a common courtesy), no thank you (ditto), no written credit in any form whatsoever either on the piece or in connection with the premium, absolutely no compensation and no comp copies of the album. It's like two losing trifectas wrapped in an altogether indifferent f--- you." The artist, who originally created the image as part of a cover for Marvel's Dazzler No. 29 in 1983, in collaboration with Marvel's in-house designer Eliot R. Brown, went on to say that he had to be physically restrained by colleagues from "making a scene" at the Fox booth during the show about the giveaway. "Am I over-reacting here?" he continued. "Do I have the right — at least on behalf of fellow creators — to, at the very least expect decent treatment and some kind of minuscule, even boilerplate, acknowledgment?"
Melania no more: why did Donald Trump take down his wife's website?; Guardian, 7/29/16
Dan Tynan, Guardian; Melania no more: why did Donald Trump take down his wife's website? :
"Melania Trump’s personal and professional site, the Huffington Post reported on Wednesday, has disappeared. A search of Google’s cache reveals that sometime after 22 July, MelaniaTrump.com was redirected to Trump.com, the official site for the Trump Organization. Speculation immediately centered on a claim made on Ms Trump’s online biography that she obtained “a degree in design and architecture at University in Slovenia” shortly before embarking on her modeling career. An an unauthorized biography of Ms Trump, published in February, claims the prospective first lady left the university after a year without obtaining her degree. Critics have accused the Trump campaign of deleting the site in order to hide her biography. An image posted to Melania’s Twitter account earlier today states: “The website in question was created in 2012 and it has been removed because it does not accurately reflect my current business and professional interests.”"
South Korea Is Contending With A 'Gamergate' Of Its Own — Over A T-Shirt; All Tech Considered, NPR, 7/29/16
Mark H. Kim, All Tech Considered, NPR; South Korea Is Contending With A 'Gamergate' Of Its Own — Over A T-Shirt:
"An online controversy over a South Korean voice actress's tweeted image of a T-shirt has escalated into what is now being called East Asia's version of Gamergate — a reference to the vitriolic controversy that pitted gamers, largely men, against women in tech."
Judge compares offensive Facebook posts to football in sentencing Sydney man; Guardian, 7/28/16
Elle Hunt, Guardian; Judge compares offensive Facebook posts to football in sentencing Sydney man:
"Research from Our Watch and Plan International Australia found 70% of young Australian women aged between 15 and 19 believed online harassment and bullying to be endemic. Siobhan McCann, the policy manager for Plan International Australia, said the majority of girls and young women received some sort of online abuse every day, but only one in three said they would report it. “We wonder if this is because young women don’t feel supported by the legal system. “We hope today’s small victory sends a message that abusing women in the digital space is just as legitimate a crime as abuse on the street or at home. And we hope trolls will take note that they can be charged and tried for it.”"
Kentucky Jail Sends Black Woman To Court With No Pants. This Judge Won’t Have It.; Huffington Post, 7/30/16
Sebastian Murdock, Huffington Post; Kentucky Jail Sends Black Woman To Court With No Pants. This Judge Won’t Have It. :
"“I just want to tell you how incredibly sorry I am that you’ve been treated this way,” Wolf told the defendant after she was clothed and brought back into the courtroom. “No one deserves this, but particularly in a situation like this where you failed to complete a diversion program and didn’t even pick up new charges.” Wolf gave the woman a sentence of time served and a $100 fine. “The fact you’re in custody is your fault ― you gotta come to court,” Wolf said. “The rest of this is completely inhumane and unacceptable, and I’m incredibly sorry you had to go through this.""
Khizr Khan responds to the latest from Trump: ‘Typical of a person without a soul’; Washington Post, 7/31/16
Stephanie McCrummen, Washington Post; Khizr Khan responds to the latest from Trump: ‘Typical of a person without a soul’ :
"Responding to Trump’s latest statement, Khan said, “This is faked empathy.” “What he said originally — that defines him . . . People are upset with him. He realizes, and his advisers feel that [his original statement] was a stupid mistake. That proves that this person is void of empathy. He is unfit for the stewardship of this great country. You think he will empathize with this country, with the suffering of this country’s poor people? He showed his true colors when he disrespected this country’s most honorable mother… all the snake oil he is selling, and my patriotic, decent Americans are falling for that. Republicans are falling for that. And I can only appeal to them. Reconsider. Repudiate. It’s a moral obligation. A person void of empathy for the people he wishes to lead cannot be trusted with that leadership. To vote is a trust. And it cannot be placed in wrong hands.”"
Saturday, July 30, 2016
Bowser’s $9,000 in Trump change; Washington Post, 7/29/16
Colbert I. King, Washington Post; Bowser’s $9,000 in Trump change:
'What the Trump Organization sees in Bowser is for it to know. What Bowser sees in Trump is for D.C. citizens to know. To rid the city of any false idea that Bowser is not offended by Trump or is influenced by the Trump contributions, she should return all of the Trump family money or donate it to worthy causes. And as mayor, she must deal with real estate mogul Trump and his business partners at arm’s length and with someone else in the room with a tape recorder."
The Blog That Disappeared; New York Times, 7/29/16
Roxane Gay, New York Times; The Blog That Disappeared:
"On June 27, Mr. Cooper’s Google account was deactivated, he has said. He lost 14 years of his blog archives, creative work, email and contacts. He has hired a lawyer and made complaints, and many of his readers and fans have tried to support his efforts. There is a petition circulating, urging Google to restore his work. Pen America, an organization that promotes free expression, has weighed in, saying that Mr. Cooper deserves a substantive response from Google. Thus far, these efforts have been in vain. Google has not responded beyond saying there was a violation of the Terms of Service agreement. It has neither identified the specific violation nor indicated why it also deleted Mr. Cooper’s email account. It has not provided Mr. Cooper with the ability to download his personal information so he might rebuild his blog and email account elsewhere. In one interview, Mr. Cooper said he thought that the male escort ads might have led to his account’s being deactivated, but this has not been confirmed by the company. When I contacted Google for further comment, I got a response that said, “We are aware of this matter, but the specific Terms of Service violations are ones we cannot discuss further due to legal considerations.” I asked about why Mr. Cooper’s Gmail account was also deleted and whether or not he would be able to retrieve the archive of his work, and I was directed to Google’s Terms of Service, Gmail Policy and Blogger Content Policy, which did not offer any useful specifics."
Who Loves America?; New York Times, 7/29/16
Paul Krugman, New York Times; Who Loves America? :
"That love of country doesn’t have to be, and shouldn’t be, uncritical. But the faults you find, the critiques you offer, should be about the ways in which we don’t yet live up to our own ideals. If what bothers you about America is, instead, the fact that it doesn’t look exactly the way it did in the past (or the way you imagine it looked in the past), then you don’t love your country — you care only about your tribe. And all too many influential figures on the right are tribalists, not patriots. We got a graphic demonstration of that reality after Michelle Obama’s speech, when she spoke of the wonder of watching her daughters play on the lawn of “a house that was built by slaves.” It was an uplifting and, yes, patriotic image, a celebration of a nation that is always seeking to become better, to transcend its flaws... Now comes Mr. Trump, doing the bidding of a foreign power and inviting it to intervene in our politics — and that’s O.K., because it also serves the tribe. So if it seems strange to you that these days Democrats are sounding patriotic while Republicans aren’t, you just weren’t paying attention. The people who now seem to love America always did; the people who suddenly no longer sound like patriots never were."
Friday, July 29, 2016
Truth, Knowledge, and Academic Freedom; Huffington Post, 7/26/16
David Moshman, Huffington Post; Truth, Knowledge, and Academic Freedom:
"Microaggressions. Trigger warnings. Safe spaces. These are among the latest entries in the ever-expanding lexicon of campus censorship. There appears to be a new free speech crisis on campus, and it seems largely due to demands from a new generation of students to be protected from offensive ideas, emotional triggers, and feelings of being intellectually unsafe. But not so fast. Two new books from the academic publisher palgrave macmillan expand the time frame and shift the blame from students to faculty. One of these, Unsafe Space: The Crisis of Free Speech on Campus, is a collection of short, readable chapters. The other, Academic Freedom in an Age of Conformity: Confronting the Fear of Knowledge, is a systematic book-length analysis by Joanna Williams..." Much campus controversy today revolves around issues of respect for others. Respect for others is crucial but, as both these books make clear, such respect is not enough. In the academic context, what matters most is respect for truth. But there is no final arbiter of truth. Instead we seek it through intellectual and social processes that require respect for intellectual freedom. It’s worth adding that respect for intellectual freedom, even when motivated by a concern for truth, brings us right back to respect for others. Full respect for others includes respect for their freedom of expression, even when we don’t like what they’re saying."
The Complicated Process of Adding Diversity to the College Syllabus; The Atlantic, 7/29/16
Emily Deruy, The Atlantic; The Complicated Process of Adding Diversity to the College Syllabus:
"When Thomas Easley interviews people who want to teach statistics at North Carolina State University (NCSU), he poses a question most applicants probably aren’t expecting: How would you integrate diversity into your curriculum? It’s a question more universities seem to be asking in the aftermath of student protests against the dearth of people of color on their campuses and in their coursework... Proponents say that asking students to acknowledge and discuss ideas and concepts through a variety of lenses with classmates from different backgrounds is every bit as important in an increasingly global society as drilling the fundamentals of essay-writing into young minds. But the idea is predictably controversial, with critics saying the requirements are a left-leaning affront to academic freedom. And even professors who are generally supportive of incorporating conversations about diversity into their teaching sometimes say they don’t know where to begin; lots of schools like to talk about diversity, but it’s a nebulous if nice-sounding word, and schools that espouse the broad concept sometimes fail to define exactly what they mean or expect when they tell professors to weave it into their work."
‘Stronger together’ vs. ‘I alone can fix it’, Boston Globe, 7/29/16
Michael A. Cohen, Boston Globe; ‘Stronger together’ vs. ‘I alone can fix it’ :
"Thursday night at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, Hillary Clinton did not deliver the best address of this convention or even the runner-up. Instead she gave a solid, substance-laden, and highly effective acceptance speech to her fellow Democrats. It never reached the rhetorical flights of fancy achieved by Obama the night before — but it didn’t need to. Clinton delivered rhetorical shot after rhetorical shot to Donald Trump as she laid out a clear vision for her presidency. She offered the nation an unabashedly liberal agenda — one surely intended to appeal to Bernie Sanders supporters — but in its wonkish, populist tone was eerily reminiscent of political speeches once delivered by her husband. She fully embraced the diverse and multicultural society America has become. But above all, she did the one thing that she and her party absolutely needed to do this week in Philadelphia — make clear the stark political contrasts between Clinton and Trump for the general election to come. “Stronger together’’ has become the theme of Clinton’s campaign. In a country with the motto epluribus unum, out of many one — it’s an idea that would have resonance in any presidential race."
Trump walks back email hack comments, but damage lingers; CNN, 7/28/16
Stephen Collinson and Tom Kludt, CNN; Trump walks back email hack comments, but damage lingers:
"The affair is a lesson for Trump in how every word a potential commander in chief utters is parsed and amplified, and can have significant political and diplomatic consequences. US presidents in the modern era have seen singular sentences and offhand comments define global perceptions on US policies and leadership. It's nothing new for the outspoken Republican nominee to cause a firestorm with comments that he made in a press conference; he's been doing it for his entire presidential campaign, with any resulting political damage seeming to be offset by the media attention and appeal they have to his voters. But when they step up to accept their party's nomination, candidates move into an arena where the stakes are higher and the bar for mistakes is much more unforgiving than the rough-and-tumble of a primary campaign. Nominees are viewed by voters, reporters, their peers and future international counterparts as commanders in chief-in-waiting on whose choice of words lives and crucial national security interests could ultimately depend. As a result, the room for error is far narrower than before."
From killing machines to agents of hope: the future of drones in Africa; Guardian, 7/27/16
Zoe Flood, Guardian; From killing machines to agents of hope: the future of drones in Africa:
[Kip Currier: A few weeks ago I posted a story about the use of drones to drop vaccine-infused M&Ms to highly endangered black-footed ferrets in the U.S. Here's another article about drones being used for benevolent, humanitarian purposes.]
"Some are killing machines. Others are pesky passions of the weekend hobbyist. As such, drones have not always been welcomed in our skies. Across Africa, however, projects are being launched that could revolutionise medical supply chains and commercial deliveries, combat poaching and provide other solutions for an overburdened, underdeveloped continent... “This technology has the potential to erase barriers to access for countless critical medicines and save lives on a scale not previously possible,” says Keller Rinaudo, Zipline’s chief executive, which is staffed by experienced aerospace engineers including those who have worked at SpaceX, Boeing and Nasa. “While there are a number of potential applications for this technology, we’re keenly focused on using it to save lives.”"
Thursday, July 28, 2016
Is the Elite Media Failing to Reach Trump Voters?; Slate, 7/28/16
Isaac Chotiner, Slate; Is the Elite Media Failing to Reach Trump Voters? :
"Has your opinion of him or WikiLeaks’ project changed? Yeah, it has, because when WikiLeaks first began—one of the things that people have forgotten—they were actually very careful in redacting. In fact, there were tons of redactions when they were releasing Pentagon documents about the Afghanistan and Iraq wars. And they even wrote a letter to the State Department before they released the cables requesting the State Department’s help in figuring out which information ought to be withheld. And I used to defend WikiLeaks all the time on the grounds that they were not indiscriminate dumpers of information; they were carefully protecting people’s reputations. And they have changed their view on that—and no longer believe, as Julian says, in redacting any information of any kind for any reason—and I definitely do not agree with that approach and think that they can be harmful to innocent people or other individuals in ways that I don’t think is acceptable."
Trump Says His Russia Comments Were a Joke. He Always Lies Like This.; Slate, 7/28/16
Josh Voorhees, Slate; Trump Says His Russia Comments Were a Joke. He Always Lies Like This. :
"Trump wasn’t joking or being sarcastic; he was just being Trump. He was speaking without thinking and didn’t grasp the full implications of what he was saying in the moment or even its immediate aftermath. It’s possible that now that enough people have explained the situation to him, he understands the danger of calling on a geopolitical rival to conduct cyberespionage against your political opponent. That, though, should make us all sleep only marginally better given this time next year there is a legitimate chance this man could be performing his belligerent and ill-informed improv in the White House."
Wednesday, July 27, 2016
Donald Trump orders NBC’s Katy Tur to ‘be quiet’; Washington Post, 7/27/16
Callum Borchers, Washington Post; Donald Trump orders NBC’s Katy Tur to ‘be quiet’ :
"There is so much going on here. There is Trump's previously noted attempt to take the conversation in a different direction. There is his effort to bully a journalist into silence. And there is his suggestion that the journalist is in the tank for Clinton. What a perfect encapsulation of how Trump interacts with the press. Here are his three primary tactics on display all at once. He ignores topics he doesn't like, tries to shut down reporters bold enough to push back — usually with an "excuse me"; "be quiet" was even ruder than usual — and suggests that the media is conspiring against him. If you had paid zero attention to the presidential race before Wednesday, this single episode would tell you everything you need to know about Donald Trump's media relations."
'Treason'? Critics savage Trump over Russia hack comments; Politico, 7/27/16
Nahal Toosi, Politico; 'Treason'? Critics savage Trump over Russia hack comments:
"Leon Panetta, a former CIA director, said Trump's comments were "beyond the pale" because he was "in fact asking the Russians to engage in American politics." An aide to House Speaker Paul Ryan, who has endorsed Trump, added, meanwhile, that "Russia is a global menace led by a devious thug" and that it should stay out of the U.S. election. Philip Reiner, a former National Security Council official in the Obama administration, called Trump a "scumbag animal." "Hacking email is a criminal activity. And he's asked a foreign government — a murderous, repressive regime — to attack not just one of our citizens but the Democratic presidential candidate? Of course it's a national security threat," he added. And William Inboden, who served on the NSC during the George W. Bush administration, said Trump's comments were "tantamount to treason.""
By November, Russian hackers could target voting machines; Washington Post, 7/27/16
Bruce Shneier, Washington Post; By November, Russian hackers could target voting machines:
"Russia was behind the hacks into the Democratic National Committee’s computer network that led to the release of thousands of internal emails just before the party’s convention began, U.S. intelligence agencies have reportedly concluded. The FBI is investigating. WikiLeaks promises there is more data to come. The political nature of this cyberattack means that Democrats and Republicans are trying to spin this as much as possible. Even so, we have to accept that someone is attacking our nation’s computer systems in an apparent attempt to influence a presidential election. This kind of cyberattack targets the very core of our democratic process. And it points to the possibility of an even worse problem in November — that our election systems and our voting machines could be vulnerable to a similar attack."
Donald Trump: ‘I Hope’ Russia Hacked Clinton’s Email Servers; Huffington Post, 7/27/16
Christina Wilkie, Huffington Post; Donald Trump: ‘I Hope’ Russia Hacked Clinton’s Email Servers:
"Within moments of Trump’s press conference, his running mate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence (R), released a statement distancing himself from the nominee’s words. “If it is Russia and they are interfering in our elections, I can assure you both parties and the United States government will ensure there are serious consequences,” Pence said... Trump declined to say whether or not Putin should stay out of U.S. elections, telling the assembled press Wednesday, “I’m not going to tell Putin what to do. Why should I tell Putin what to do?” Clinton’s campaign was also quick to respond to Trump’s press conference. “This has to be the first time that a major presidential candidate has actively encouraged a foreign power to conduct espionage against his political opponent,” Clinton adviser Jake Sullivan said Wednesday. “This has gone from being a matter of curiosity, and a matter of politics, to being a national security issue."
Code.org deletes student emails; EdScoop, 7/25/16
Corinne Lestch, EdScoop; Code.org deletes student emails:
"The head of Code.org is taking an unusual step – by deleting student emails. Hadi Partovi, founder of the education nonprofit, told EdScoop in an email that he was prompted by near-daily news reports about cyberattacks to stop storing student emails in Code.org's servers. "The easiest way to protect sensitive data from hacking is to not have it stored in the first place," he wrote in the email. "In today's world, the more data you store, the more risk you bear."... "We did this because the privacy and safety of student data is more important to us than the ability to contact our users," he wrote in the post."
How Putin Weaponized Wikileaks to Influence the Election of an American President; Defense One, 7/24/16
Patrick Tucker, Defense One; How Putin Weaponized Wikileaks to Influence the Election of an American President:
"The use of Wikileaks as the publishing platform served to legitimize the information dump, which also contains a large amount of personal information related to democratic donors such as social security and credit card numbers. This suggests that Wikileaks didn’t perform a thorough analysis of the documents before they released them, or simply didn’t care. It’s the latest installment in a trend that information security researcher Bruce Schneier calls organizational doxing and that Lawfare’s Nicholas Weaver calls the weaponization of Wikileaks."
How the DNC Is Subtly Rebuking Donald Trump’s Mockery of a Disabled Reporter; Slate, 7/26/16
Ruth Graham, Slate; How the DNC Is Subtly Rebuking Donald Trump’s Mockery of a Disabled Reporter:
"It is worth contrasting Trump’s casual cruelty with the tone the DNC has set on disability issues so far. On Monday, disability rights advocate Anastasia Somoza delivered a powerful speech in which she said she felt sorry for Trump. “I honestly feel bad for anyone with that much hate in their heart,” she said. “Donald Trump doesn’t see me, he doesn’t hear me, and he definitely doesn’t speak for me.” Somoza, who has cerebral palsy and spastic quadriplegia, delivered her talk from a wheelchair to the roars of an approving crowd. In his keynote speech on Tuesday, Bill Clinton acknowledged Somoza in the audience as he talked about his wife’s early work on equal educational access for children with disabilities. Hillary “never made fun of people with disabilities,” he said, alluding not-so-subtly to her opponent. “She tried to empower them based on their abilities.” On Tuesday, the 26th anniversary of the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act, several other disabled people took the stage in Philadelphia to share their stories."
Donald Trump Calls on Russia to Find Hillary Clinton’s Missing Emails; New York Times, 7/27/16
Ashley Parker, New York Times; Donald Trump Calls on Russia to Find Hillary Clinton’s Missing Emails:
"Donald J. Trump said Wednesday that he hoped Russia had hacked Hillary Clinton’s email, essentially encouraging an adversarial foreign power’s cyberspying on a secretary of state’s correspondence. “Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing,” Mr. Trump said, staring directly into the cameras. “I think you will probably be rewarded mightily by our press.” Mr. Trump’s call was an extraordinary moment at a time when Russia is being accused of meddling in the U.S. presidential election. His comments came amid questions about the hacking of the Democratic National Committee’s computer servers, which researchers have concluded was likely the work of two Russian intelligence agencies. Later in the news conference, when asked if he was really urging a foreign nation to hack into the private email server of Mrs. Clinton, or at least meddle in the nation’s elections, he dismissed the question. “That’s up to the president,” Mr. Trump said, before finally telling the female questioner to “be quiet — let the president talk to them.”"
How the U.S. Could Respond to the DNC Breach; Slate, 7/26/16
Laura K. Bate, Slate; How the U.S. Could Respond to the DNC Breach:
"After a possible Russian attempt to influence U.S. elections by hacking the Democratic National Committee, the FBI has announced that it will investigate the origins of the hack. International interference in the democratic process has a long and storied past, but inhibiting self-determination is generally considered unacceptable and warrants a response. But what should that response be? Below are six different paths the United States could take to answer the data breach. The choice will depend on many factors—the evidence supporting Russian involvement, the state of U.S.–Russian relations, the challenge of avoiding the appearance of using the tools of government to assist the Democratic candidate. Whatever the United States does or does not do will set an important precedent worldwide."
Assange, Avowed Foe of Clinton, Timed Email Release for Democratic Convention; New York Times, 7/26/16
Charlie Savage, New York Times; Assange, Avowed Foe of Clinton, Timed Email Release for Democratic Convention:
"Six weeks before the anti-secrecy organization WikiLeaks published an archive of hacked Democratic National Committee emails ahead of the Democratic convention, the organization’s founder, Julian Assange, foreshadowed the release — and made it clear that he hoped to harm Hillary Clinton’s chances of winning the presidency... At one point, Mr. Peston said: “Plainly, what you are saying, what you are publishing, hurts Hillary Clinton. Would you prefer Trump to be president?” Mr. Assange replied that what Mr. Trump would do as president was “completely unpredictable.” By contrast, he thought it was predictable that Mrs. Clinton would wield power in two ways he found problematic. First, citing his “personal perspective,” Mr. Assange accused Mrs. Clinton of having been among those pushing to indict him after WikiLeaks disseminated a quarter of a million diplomatic cables during her tenure as secretary of state. “We do see her as a bit of a problem for freedom of the press more generally,” Mr. Assange said."
The (alleged) Russian hack of the DNC should be one of the biggest stories of the year. Why isn’t it?; Washington Post, 7/26/16
Paul Waldman, Washington Post; The (alleged) Russian hack of the DNC should be one of the biggest stories of the year. Why isn’t it? :
"...[T]here’s something utterly bizarre about the kind of coverage this story is getting. Evidence currently suggests that the Russian government may have attempted to sway the results of the U.S. presidential election. I put that in italics, because it ought to be in screaming 72-point headlines on every front page in America. And yet, it’s being treated like just one more odd story in a wacky election year, not much more important than the latest fundraising numbers or which ethnic group Donald Trump has insulted most recently... That being said, this hack represents something profoundly different from what we’ve seen before. We’ve known that foreign intelligence services from countries like China and Russia have in the past attempted to infiltrate not only government networks but those of other political organizations and actors, like the parties. What distinguishes this attack is that it wasn’t just for the purposes of surveillance. They weren’t trying to figure out what Americans are up to, they were trying to intervene to change the results of our election. Goldsmith suggests some even more frightening possibilities: What if the hackers interspersed fake but even more damning or inflammatory emails that were hard to disprove? What if hackers break in to computers to steal or destroy voter registration information? What if they disrupted computer-based voting or election returns in important states during the presidential election? The legitimacy of a presidential election might be called into question, with catastrophic consequences. The DNC hack is just the first wave of possible threats to electoral integrity in the United States—by foreign intelligence services, and others. For all we know, the DNC hack was a trial run for something much more ambitious."
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