Kentuckians challenged these 395 library books. Is your favorite listed?; Indianapolis Star via Courier Journal, October 17, 2024

John Tufts , Indianapolis Star via Courier Journal; Kentuckians challenged these 395 library books. Is your favorite listed?

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"Roughly 150 public libraries, library associations and bookstores this Saturday will observe Freedom to Read Day. Advocates have said the event is a reminder that while Banned Books Week might've ended last month, the fight against book censorship continues.

More than 10,000 books were banned or challenged in U.S. schools last year, according to a September report released by PEN America. The free speech advocacy group found efforts to censor books nearly tripled in 2023-2024, a significant jump from the 3,362 instances documented over the previous school year.

A separate report released by the American Library Association during Banned Books Week (September 22-28), gave contrasting data, however...

What is Freedom to Read Day?

On Oct. 19, 2024, the ALA and ALA-funded Unite Against Book Bans campaign will celebrate libraries across the country and encourage civic participation with Freedom to Read Day, an event meant to draw attention toward fighting book censorship...

What books did Kentucky residents challenge in 2023?

Kentucky, according to an updated ALA report, challenged 395 books in libraries across the state — from Maia Kobabe's "Gender Queer: A Memoir" to John Green's "Looking for Alaska."

The Courier Journal has provided a full list of challenged books toward the bottom of this article.

The majority of challenges were directed toward books with LGBTQ+ themes and characters, as well as books featuring people of color...

C-D; Books that Kentuckians challenged, from 'Call Me By Your Name' to 'Dune: House Atreides'

• "Call Me By Your Name" by André Aciman
• "Calvin" by J.R. Ford
• "Camp Quiltbag" by Nicole Melleby
• "Can I Touch Your Hair? Poems of Race, Mistakes, and Friendship" by Irene Latham
• Can't Take That Away" by Steven Salvatore
• "Captain Underpants and the Sensational Saga of Sir Stinks A-Lot" by Dav Pilkey
• "The Cardboard Kingdom" by Chad Sell
• "Carry On: The Rise and Fall of Simon Snow" by Rainbow Rowell
• "Catwoman: Soulstealer" by Sarah J. Maas
• "Cemetery Boys" by Aiden Thomas
• "Change Sings" by Amanda Gorman
• "Check, Please! #hockey" by Ngozi Ukazu
• "Check, Please! Vol. 2: Sticks & Scones" by Ngozi Ukazu
• "Chosen" by P.C. Cast
• "Cinderella is Dead" by Kalynn Bayron
• "Clap When You Land" by Elizabeth Acevedo
• "Clara Lemlich [She Persisted Series]" by Deborah Heligman
• "Class Act" by Jerry Craft
• "Clockwork Princess" by Cassandra Clare
• "Concrete Rose" by Angie Thomas
• "Cool for the Summer" by Dahlia Adler
• "Crank" by Ellen Hopkins
• "Critical Perspectives on Gender Identity" by Nicki Peter Petrikowski
• "The Crown of Midnight" by Sarah J. Maas
• "Cut" by Patricia McCormick

'No one wants to be censored':People are supporting 'book sanctuaries' despite politics

• "Damsel" by Elana K. Arnold
• "Darius the Great" by Jamie Poolos
• "Darius the Great Deserves Better" by Adib Khorram
• "The Dead and the Dark" by Courtney Gould
• "Dear Martin" by Nic Stone
• "Dear Sweet Pea" by Julie Murphy
• "The Deep & Dark Blue" by Niki Smith
• "Defining Sexual Consent: Where the Law Falls Short" by New York Times Educational Publishing
• "Diary of a Misfit: A Memoir and a Mystery" by Casey Parks
• "The Difference Between You and Me" by Madeleine George
• "Disarmed" by Sarah Rees Brennan
• "Doll Bones" by Holly Black
• "Doodleville" by Chad Sell
• "Drama" by Raina Telgemeier
• "Dress Codes for Small Towns" by Courtney C Stevens
• "The DUFF: Designated Ugly Fat Friend" by Kody Keplinger
• "Dune: House Atreides [Series]" by Brian Herbert"

Moldova votes on whether to join EU as Russia intensifies vast disinformation campaign; The Conversation, October 15, 2024

Stefan Wolff, Professor of International Security, University of Birmingham , The Conversation;nMoldova votes on whether to join EU as Russia intensifies vast disinformation campaign

"Moldova is emerging as a major strategic battleground in a fierce competition between Russia and the west. A Kremlin-backed disinformation campaign has intensified over the last few months, in the run-up to Moldova’s presidential elections. 

One of the key reasons for this is that a referendum on EU membership has been scheduled for the same day, October 20.

The challenges for this small country, wedged between Ukraine and Romania, are complex. Russia continues to foment instability through its persistent disinformation initiatives, instigation of anti-government protests, and acts of sabotage and vandalism. 

Add to this credible allegations of vote buying, and efforts to call into question the legitimacy of a pro-European election and referendum result, and the situation in Moldova appears highly combustible."

We’re Winning, Say Russia’s Fake News Manufacturers; Center for European Policy Analysis, October 16, 2024

Olga Lautman, Center for European Policy Analysis; We’re Winning, Say Russia’s Fake News Manufacturers

"Did you see the German woman complaining on social media that her country’s industry is suffering and needs cheaper energy? Or the American woman of the same age arguing that Israel and Ukraine are wasting US taxpayer’s money?

Both were crafted in Russia, according to a huge trove of documents leaked to Western media in September, and published by the VSquare investigative site among others. They were just two of 33.9 million social media comments fabricated by the Social Design Agency (SDA), a Kremlin disinformation subcontractor, in the first third of 2024 alone.

If anyone thought wartime Russia might lose focus in its truth-twisting campaigns against Ukraine and the liberal democratic states, think again. Putin and his aides still see disinformation as a key element of the colonial endeavor against Ukraine and the embitterment and fractiousness of Western voters.

Faced with international sanctions, military setbacks, significant losses, and growing isolation, Russia has increasingly ramped up its disinformation operations, political subversion, and the manipulation of public opinion in the West — echoing the KGB’s tactics of psychological warfare and subversion."

Courts Agree That No One Should Have a Monopoly Over the Law. Congress Shouldn’t Change That; Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), October 16, 2024

  CORYNNE MCSHERRY, Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF); Courts Agree That No One Should Have a Monopoly Over the Law. Congress Shouldn’t Change That

"For more than a decade, giant standards development organizations (SDOs) have been fighting in courts around the country, trying use copyright law to control access to other laws. They claim that that they own the copyright in the text of some of the most important regulations in the country – the codes that protect product, building and environmental safety--and that they have the right to control access to those laws. And they keep losing because, it turns out, from New York, to Missouri, to the District of Columbia, judges understand that this is an absurd and undemocratic proposition. 

They suffered their latest defeat in Pennsylvania, where  a district court held that UpCodes, a company that has created a database of building codes – like the National Electrical Code--can include codes incorporated by reference into law. ASTM, a private organization that coordinated the development of some of those codes, insists that it retains copyright in them even after they have been adopted into law. Some courts, including the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, have rejected that theory outright, holding that standards lose copyright protection when they are incorporated into law. Others, like the DC Circuit Court of Appeals in a case EFF defended on behalf of Public.Resource.Org, have held that whether or not the legal status of the standards changes once they are incorporated into law, posting them online is a lawful fair use. 

In this case, ASTM v. UpCodes, the court followed the latter path. Relying in large part on the DC Circuit’s decision, as well as an amicus brief EFF filed in support of UpCodes, the court held that providing access to the law (for free or subject to a subscription for “premium” access) was a lawful fair use. A key theme to the ruling is the public interest in accessing law:"

John Grisham poached material for new book, media outlets say; The Washington Post, October 18, 2024

Will Sommer,  The Washington Post; John Grisham poached material for new book, media outlets say 

"Both ProPublica and the Times said in statements to The Post that they want changes made to “Framed” to better credit Colloff.

“We are in conversation with the publisher to correct this very concerning oversight and ensure the original work receives appropriate credit,” ProPublica said in its statement.

The similarities between Colloff’s series and Grisham’s writing were first noted publicly by Maurice Chammah, a criminal justice reporter for the Marshall Project who reviewed “Framed” for the Times.

Chammah wrote “Grisham relies so heavily on Pamela Colloff’s 2018 reporting” that “simply mentioning her work in a note at the end does not feel adequate.”

Chammah said Grisham’s use of Colloff’s series is especially notable because reporting on apparent wrongful convictions can require years of painstaking investigation."

Donald Trump’s Jan. 6 gaslighting; The Washington Post, October 18, 2024

 Ann Telnaes, The Washington Post; Donald Trump’s Jan. 6 gaslighting

‘It’s the First Amendment, stupid’: Federal judge blasts DeSantis administration for threats against TV stations; CNN, October 18, 2024

Liam Reilly and Brian Stelter, , CNN; ‘It’s the First Amendment, stupid’: Federal judge blasts DeSantis administration for threats against TV stations

"“To keep it simple for the State of Florida: it’s the First Amendment, stupid.”

That’s what a federal judge wrote Thursday as he sided with local TV stations in an extraordinary dispute over a pro-abortion rights television ad.

Chief U.S. District Judge Mark E. Walker of the Northern District of Florida granted a temporary restraining order against Florida’s surgeon general after the state health department threatened to bring criminal charges against broadcasters airing the ad."

Trump criticized for comparing Jan. 6 defendants to WWII Japanese internment; The Washington Post, October 18, 2024

Isaac Arnsdorf , The Washington Post; Trump criticized for comparing Jan. 6 defendants to WWII Japanese internment

"Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump compared the detention of his supporters who have been charged or convicted in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol to the mass imprisonment of people of Japanese descent without charges during World War II.

The remark, in an interview with pro-Trump radio host Dan Bongino that aired on Friday, was the latest escalation in Trump’s defense and glorification of charged and convicted rioters, including some who attacked police officers. Trump has repeatedly pledged to pardon the defendants and called for their immediate release."

Trump Is Speaking Like Hitler, Stalin, and Mussolini; The Atlantic, October 18, 2024

 Anne Applebaum, The Atlantic; Trump Is Speaking Like Hitler, Stalin, and Mussolini

"In each of these very different societies, the purpose of this kind of rhetoric was the same. If you connect your opponents with disease, illness, and poisoned blood, if you dehumanize them as insects or animals, if you speak of squashing them or cleansing them as if they were pests or bacteria, then you can much more easily arrest them, deprive them of rights, exclude them, or even kill them. If they are parasites, they aren’t human. If they are vermin, they don’t get to enjoy freedom of speech, or freedoms of any kind. And if you squash them, you won’t be held accountable.

Until recently, this kind of language was not a normal part of American presidential politics."

Elon Musk peddles debunked 2020 election conspiracies at first solo town hall supporting Trump; CNN, October 18, 2024

Marshall Cohen, , CNN; Elon Musk peddles debunked 2020 election conspiracies at first solo town hall supporting Trump

"Elon Musk promoted several debunked conspiracy theories about the 2020 election during his first solo town hall Thursday in Pennsylvania, as he urged voters in the battleground state to support former President Donald Trump.

Asked by a member of the audience gathered at the event in the Philadelphia suburbs about supposed “cheating” in 2020, Musk delivered a somewhat rambling response filled with basic inaccuracies and blatantly false claims about US elections."

A week before the election, Trump will hold his most unsettling spectacle yet; The Guardian, October 18, 2024

Sidney Blumenthal , The Guardian; A week before the election, Trump will hold his most unsettling spectacle yet

"In the last week, Trump has pledged to deploy the military against “the enemy within”, domestic opponents he claims are worse than foreign adversaries – those Hitler called “Feind des Volkes”, or “enemy of the people”. Trump has threatened to destroy CBS, ABC and the New York Times. About ABC, after it conducted the debate in which he performed disastrously, he called to “take away their license”. After Kamala Harris’s 60 Minutes interview, having refused his own, he tweeted on 10 October: “TAKE AWAY THE CBS LICENSE.” About the Times, he said on 9 October: “Wait until you see what I’m going to do with them.” He has singled out by name journalists for the Times and the New Yorker as “FAKE OBAMA LOVING ‘JOURNALISTS”. At every rally he denounces the “fake news”, a drumbeat for years, echoing Hitler’s pejorative slur, “die Lügenpresse” – “the lying press”.

 

Trump traveled on 11 October to Aurora, Colorado, where he claimed a Venezuelan gang had seized control, “scum” and “animals” who have “invaded and conquered” and “infected” the town, a description dismissed as false by its Republican mayor. “We have to clean out our country,” said Trump. His language represented the Nazi idea of “Rassenhygiene” – “race cleansing” that required purification, not an academic interest in genetics but a program of eugenics for designating inferior races to be isolated or eliminated.

 

As Hitler wrote in Mein Kampf, “A people that fails to preserve the purity of its racial blood thereby destroys the unity of the soul of the nation in all its manifestations. A disintegrated national character is the inevitable consequence of a process of disintegration in the blood.”

 

The former chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, retired general Mark Milley, according to Bob Woodward in his new book War, told the veteran journalist: “No one has ever been as dangerous to this country as Donald Trump. Now I realize he’s a total fascist. He is the most dangerous person to this country.” Trump had stated that for Milley’s communication with his counterparts in China on January 6 to reassure them that the US military was stable, he deserved “DEATH” – to be executed."

Mass shooting survivors turn to an unlikely place for justice – copyright law; The Guardian, October 18, 2024

Robin Buller , The Guardian; Mass shooting survivors turn to an unlikely place for justice – copyright law

"In a Nashville courtroom in early July, survivors of the 2023 Covenant school shooting celebrated an unusual legal victory. Citing copyrightlaw, Judge l’Ashea Myles ruled that the assailant’s writings and other creative property could not be released to the public.

After months of hearings, the decision came down against conservative lawmakers, journalists and advocates who had sued for access to the writings, claiming officials had no right to keep them from the public. But since parents of the assailant – who killed six people at the private Christian elementary school, including three nine-year-old children – signed legal ownership of the shooter’s journals over to the families of surviving students last year, Myles said releasing the materials would violate the federal Copyright Act...

Keeping a shooter’s name or creative property – such as a manifesto or recording – out of the public eye does more than protect the emotional wellbeing of those impacted, experts say. It also helps to prevent future massacres.

That such material can serve as inspiration has been widely documented, explains Rachel Carroll Rivas of the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Intelligence Project. “Those videos just have an inherent dangerous factor, and they really shouldn’t be allowed to spread across the internet,” she said.

The danger stems from the fact that shooters, research has shown, often desire attention, recognition and notoriety."

It Sure Looks Like Trump Watches Are Breaking Copyright Law; Wired, October 18, 2024

 Matt Giles, Wired; It Sure Looks Like Trump Watches Are Breaking Copyright Law

"According to the Associated Press, though, TheBestWatchesonEarth LLC advertised a product it can’t deliver, as that image is owned by the 178-year-old news agency. This week, the AP told WIRED it is pursuing a cease and desist against the LLC, which is registered in Sheridan, Wyoming. (The company did not reply to a request for comment about the cease and desist letter.)

Evan Vucci, the AP’s Pulitzer Prize–winning chief photographer, took that photograph, and while he told WIRED he does not own the rights to that image, the AP confirmed earlier this month in an email to WIRED that it is filing the written notice. “AP is proud of Evan Vucci’s photo and recognizes its impact,” wrote AP spokesperson Nicole Meir. “We reserve our rights to this powerful image, as we do with all AP journalism, and continue to license it for editorial use only.”"

Penguin Random House underscores copyright protection in AI rebuff; The Bookseller, October 18, 2024

  MATILDA BATTERSBY, The Bookseller; Penguin Random House underscores copyright protection in AI rebuff

"The world’s biggest trade publisher has changed the wording on its copyright pages to help protect authors’ intellectual property from being used to train large language models (LLMs) and other artificial intelligence (AI) tools, The Bookseller can exclusively reveal.

Penguin Random House (PRH) has amended its copyright wording across all imprints globally, confirming it will appear “in imprint pages across our markets”. The new wording states: “No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner for the purpose of training artificial intelligence technologies or systems”, and will be included in all new titles and any backlist titles that are reprinted.

The statement also “expressly reserves [the titles] from the text and data mining exception”, in accordance with a European Parliament directive.

The move specifically to ban the use of its titles by AI firms for the development of chatbots and other digital tools comes amid a slew of copyright infringement cases in the US and reports that large tranches of pirated books have already been used by tech companies to train AI tools. In 2024, several academic publishers including Taylor & Francis, Wiley and Sage have announced partnerships to license content to AI firms.

PRH is believed to be the first of the Big Five anglophone trade publishers to amend its copyright information to reflect the acceleration of AI systems and the alleged reliance by tech companies on using published work to train language models."

Here’s what will happen to library executive who took Super Bowl tickets; Las Vegas Review-Journal, October 16, 2024

Jessica Hill,  Las Vegas Review-Journal; Here’s what will happen to library executive who took Super Bowl tickets

"For one year, Watson must comply with the ethics law and not be the subject of a complaint that a Commission on Ethics review panel finds sufficient cause to refer to the panel, Armstrong said.

He also said Watson must arrange and implement ethics law training for himself and all of the library district’s staff.

If Watson complies with the agreement and meets those requirements, the alleged violation will be dismissed, “and the library district will have a strong ethics foundation to build on going forward,” Armstrong said.

Ethics commissioner Teresa Lowry urged government employees not to accept tickets for the many sporting events offered in Las Vegas, from football to the National Finals Rodeo to Formula 1.

Lowry said Watson’s case is an outlier in that he relied on the advice of counsel, but it can serve as a cautionary tale for employees subject to Nevada ethics laws.

“It was wrong advice. It was bad advice, but our law looks at and gives mitigators to people who reasonably go to their counsel, and the safe harbor implications are then going to apply,” she said. “But just as a cautionary tale, as the events unfold for the remainder of this year and moving forward, if you are a public official, public employee, do not take tickets, accept gifts to these various sporting events.”"

Penn State librarians support freedom to read, unite against book bans; Penn State, October 17, 2024

Penn State; Penn State librarians support freedom to read, unite against book bans

"Saturday, Oct. 19, is the Freedom to Read Community Day of Action, a national event designated by the American Library Association (ALA) and United Against Book Bans to celebrate America’s libraries, safeguard the freedom to read and encourage civic participation.

According to Russell Hall, reference and instruction librarian at Penn State University Libraries’ John M. Lilley Library and Penn State Erie, The Behrend College, his is one voice among many with strong feelings about book banning and censorship.

“Our core values as librarians are found in the Library Bill of Rights, which holds that libraries should challenge censorship in the fulfillment of their responsibility to provide information and enlightenment,” said Hall, a past chair of the Intellectual Freedom Committee for the Pennsylvania Library Association, which serves to advocate for freedom of selection of materials for all libraries and oppose any infringement of intellectual freedom upon libraries. “We believe people are free to choose what they want to read, and to determine what their own children can and should read, but do not have the right to impose their will upon others who are free to make that choice for themselves.”

There’s nothing new about book bans. For centuries, published works ranging from religious texts to classic literature to contemporary novels deemed too controversial for young readers have been targeted for removal from library shelves across the United States...

Joel Burkholder, reference and instruction librarian at Lee R. Glatfelter Library at Penn State York, agreed. “Ban advocates try to frame their efforts as objective policy rather than an ideological agenda,” he said. “It’s the same basic tactic as citing peer-reviewed research to support the predetermined conclusion that pornography is a public health crisis or that being trans is a choice.”

For more information on the Freedom to Read Community Day of Action and events planned across the country, visit the United Against Book Bans website."

JD Vance says 'no,' he does not think Trump lost in 2020; NPR, October 16, 2024

Jason Breslow , NPR; JD Vance says 'no,' he does not think Trump lost in 2020

"For weeks, Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance has faced repeated questions on the campaign trail about whether he believes former President Donald Trump lost the 2020 election. On Wednesday, he flatly answered "no." 

Vance's comment came during an appearance in Williamsport, Pa., after a reporter asked him, "What message do you think it sends to independent voters when you do not directly answer the question, did Donald Trump lose in 2020?”"

What Keeps Latino Voting-Rights Activists Up at Night? Disinformation; The New York Times, October 17, 2024

Jazmine Ulloa , The New York Times; What Keeps Latino Voting-Rights Activists Up at Night? Disinformation

"Latino voting rights groups are hoping the increased scrutiny will shed more light on content that they say appears designed to manipulate Hispanic audiences. The Pew Research Center in March issued the latest of its studies showing that Latinos, who may prove to be a decisive voting group in November, are more likely to rely on social media outlets for news than Black or white people. That has made the electorate more likely than the general population to receive, consume and share misinformation. At the same time, Russian-owned media has emerged as a major purveyor of news across Mexico and Latin America, researchers said.

“We see the influencers, we see the content creators, but we don’t know who is funding them,” said Evelyn Pérez-Verdía, the founder of We Are Más, a communications firm based in South Florida that tracks disinformation. Now that the government has opened cases into Russia’s involvement in American media, she added, “the more we will know, the more we will see the trail.”"

McConnell called Trump ‘stupid’ and ‘despicable’ in private after the 2020 election, a new book says; AP, October 17, 2024

MARY CLARE JALONICK, AP; McConnell called Trump ‘stupid’ and ‘despicable’ in private after the 2020 election, a new book says

"Mitch McConnell said after the 2020 election that then-President Donald Trump was “stupid as well as being ill-tempered,” a “despicable human being” and a “narcissist,” according to excerpts from a new biography of the Senate Republican leader that will be released this month. 

McConnell made the remarks in private as part of a series of personal oral histories that he made available to Michael Tackett, deputy Washington bureau chief of The Associated Press. Tackett’s book, “The Price of Power,” draws from almost three decades of McConnell’s recorded diaries and from years of interviews with the normally reticent Kentucky Republican...

Despite those strong words, McConnell has endorsed Trump’s 2024 run, saying earlier this year “it should come as no surprise” that he would support the Republican party’s nominee."

Fox News’s interview of Kamala Harris was grievance theater, not political journalism; The Guardian, October 17, 2024

Margaret Sullivan , The Guardian; Fox News’s interview of Kamala Harris was grievance theater, not political journalism

"Merely by sitting down with a Fox host, she made a few statements.

First, that she is unafraid and is willing to speak to all voters. It’s hard to imagine Donald Trump, these days, submitting to an interview with, say, Rachel Maddow of MSNBC; just this week, he turned away from a CNBC interview, and earlier canceled a CBS News 60 Minutes agreement.

Second, Harris did manage to introduce a few snippets of reality to dedicated Fox viewers who probably haven’t been exposed to some of the most troubling criticisms of Trump.

“That he’s unfit to serve. That he’s unstable. That’s he’s dangerous,” was how she characterized what millions of Americans are feeling. “And that people are exhausted.”

She even was able to mention, at some length, the harsh view of the former commander-in-chief from Mark Milley, who served in two top military roles – including chair of the joint chiefs of staff – during the Trump administration.

Milley has called Trump “fascist to the core” and has said that no one has ever been as dangerous to the United States.

So maybe this was what one leading expert on Fox News, Brian Stelter, called the Harris campaign’s “Google strategy”. On CNN, Stelter speculated that viewers might hear these comments and go searching online for more, thus piercing the information bubble they’ve been living in."

Twitter Barred Them.: What Happened When Elon Musk Brought Them Back?; The New York Times, October 12, 2024

Kate CongerTiffany Hsu and Aaron Krolik, The New York Times;  Twitter Barred Them.: What Happened When Elon Musk Brought Them Back?

"After Hurricane Helene, Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, the hard-right conservative from Georgia, shared on X the widely debunked claim that government scientists could control the weather. “It’s ridiculous for anyone to lie and say it can’t be done,” she wrote in one post.

The conspiracy theorist Alex Jones repeatedly posted on X erroneous claims about Hurricanes Helene and Milton, including that the Pentagon had somehow engineered the storms.

“Treason Alert,” Mr. Jones wrote in one post. “America is the target,” he warned in another.

In just those three posts, Ms. Greene and Mr. Jones racked up a combined 72,000 likes, and over 34,000 shares. They are only a handful of the many misleading diatribes and conspiracy theories that regularly appear on X.

Not long ago, those two would not have been able to publish those posts through their accounts.

Ms. Greene and Mr. Jones are among a large set of users who were barred from the site for spreading misinformation, inciting violence or otherwise violating its rules — and were reinstated after Elon Musk bought the platform, then known as Twitter, two years ago.

Many of these people picked up where they left off, according to a New York Times analysis of 50,000 posts by more than 100 high-profile reinstated users. They include Laura Loomer, a right-wing influencer who has campaigned with Mr. Trump; Mike Lindell, the chief executive of MyPillow; and Rogan O’Handley, a right-wing political commentator. All have a broad reach — at least 100,000 followers — and were identified by researchers who study disinformation or extremism on X."

The true enemies of democracy; The Washington Post, October 16, 2024

Ann Telnaes , The Washington Post; The true enemies of democracy

Trump, at Latino event, stands by false claims of immigrants eating pets; Reuters, October 16, 2024

Alexandra Ulmer and Costas Pitas , Reuters; Trump, at Latino event, stands by false claims of immigrants eating pets

"Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on Wednesday stood by debunked claims that immigrants in Ohio were eating pets, telling Latino voters during a town hall he was "just saying what was reported."

Trump in recent weeks has amplified a false claim that has gone viral that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, were stealing residents' pets or taking wildlife from parks for food.

There have been no credible reports of Haitians eating pets, and officials in Ohio - including Republicans - have repeatedly said the story is untrue.

At a town hall hosted by Spanish-language TV Univision, an undecided Mexican-born Latino Republican voter from Arizona, a battleground state, asked Trump in Spanish whether he truly believed that immigrants were eating pets.

"I was just saying what was reported... And eating other things too that they're not supposed to be. All I do is report," Trump replied during the event held in Miami. "I was there, I'm going to be there and we're going to take a look.""

SHELVING FREEDOM: WHAT NEVADA STANDS TO LOSE IF IT STARTS ENACTING BOOK BANS; Las Vegas Weekly, October 17, 2024

Amber Sampson , Las Vegas Weekly; SHELVING FREEDOM: WHAT NEVADA STANDS TO LOSE IF IT STARTS ENACTING BOOK BANS

"With tensions mounting so close to home, some have wondered if Nevada might start banning books next. Alexander Marks, director of strategy for the Nevada State Education Association, says it’s highly unlikely.

“I think the right people are getting into trusteeships. The right people are getting into the Legislature. These are not issues that are on the tops of a lot of parents’ minds,” says Marks. “A lot of times, this is just certain politicians or parent groups trying to distract or fuel fear. They’re the Moms for Liberty folks just intent on dividing citizens by challenging books that represent marginalized and oppressed peoples.

“But when it comes down to it, when folks are casting their votes, that’s not where Nevada citizens are at.”

Nevada remains one of the few states in the country currently without a book ban, but there are efforts in place. Moms for Liberty, a political group that gained traction during the pandemic, has adamantly fought to ban books. Two CCSD school board candidates—Lorena Biassotti and Lydia Dominguez—were once tied to a local chapter of Moms for Liberty but have since distanced themselves.

In the last year, Washoe County in Northern Nevada has been the target of an aggressive number of book challenges, facing off against anti-LGBTQ activists, religious leaders and parents—all in the vocal minority. 

“Do parents have the right to monitor and select or disagree with certain materials? Of course they do,” Marks says. “But it’s inappropriate for them to do that for everybody and everyone else’s kids.

“There are a lot of dangerous attempts to stoke fears, rewrite history, diminish folks’ stories, whitewash injustices, and that prevents educators from challenging our students to live in a more equitable society,” he continues.

Much is at stake when it comes to banning the voices of our communities. For one, you’re silencing “a whole demographic,” Luster says, and dooming future generations to repeat the mistakes of our forebears. Children also run the risk of losing quality education. And by denying students access to different worlds, cultures and stories, they’re in danger of losing much more than that."

Moms for Liberty shares 2025 agenda, doubling down on libraries; Alabama Political Reporter, October 16, 2024

JACOB HOLMES, Alabama Political Reporter; Moms for Liberty shares 2025 agenda, doubling down on libraries

"The Moms for Liberty Alabama chapters have released a 2025 agenda, pursuing the passage of several pieces of legislation that failed in 2024.

The group is pushing once again to prohibit libraries from distributing materials that are sexually explicit or “developmentally inappropriate” to minors. This includes books with certain LGBTQ+ content, particularly books that support transgender concepts.

Rep. Arnold Mooney, R-Indian Springs, has already pre-filed legislation, House Bill 4, that would redefine material “harmful to minors” and create a process for librarians to face misdemeanor charges if they fail to respond to patron complaints. The bill has 50 Republican sponsors in the House, which all but assures its quick passage to the Senate. 

The group is also pursuing to expand Alabama’s ban on instruction of LGBTQ+ content in schools through 12th grade. Rep. Mack Butler, R-Rainbow City, worked with the group last year to bring that bill, which also would have banned teachers from having any kind of pride flag or sticker on display on school grounds. The bill was amended to extend only through eight grade, but failed to pass through the Senate last session."

‘It’s not me, it’s just my face’: the models who found their likenesses had been used in AI propaganda; The Guardian, October 16, 2024

 Manisha Ganguly, The Guardian; ‘It’s not me, it’s just my face’: the models who found their likenesses had been used in AI propaganda

"These videos are fake. They were generated with artificial intelligence (AI) developed by a startup based in east London. The company, Synthesia, has created a buzz in an industry racing to perfect lifelike AI videos. Investors have poured in cash, catapulting it into “unicorn” status – a label for a private company valued at more than $1bn.

Synthesia’s technology is aimed at clients looking to create marketing material or internal presentations, and any deepfakes are a breach of its terms of use. But this means little to the models whose likenesses are behind the digital “puppets” that were used in propaganda videos such as those apparently supporting Burkina Faso’s dictator. The Guardian tracked down five of them."

York County Libraries halt new purchases of books with sexual content for 17 and under; WCNC, October 15, 2024

Julie Kay , WCNC; York County Libraries halt new purchases of books with sexual content for 17 and under

"York County Library Board of Trustees has decided to halt purchasing any books for minors that include any sexual content. 

The decision, made in a heated special meeting Wednesday night, is a change from their original statement. 

Board Chair Anne Witte previously posted that they would halt purchasing all books for children, until "further clarification and guidance is received from the state regarding Proviso 27.1 and until the Attorney General makes a ruling providing libraries with guidance for collection development.""