onfocus

"Congressional Republicans have vowed retaliation against companies for opposing Georgia’s voter suppression bill and for cooperating with the congressional investigation into Trump’s coup attempt."

We should find a word for ‘using the power of the state to silence critics’. And maybe a word to describe a party that advocates for that.

"Over eight days, starting April 8, troopers conducted more than 4,100 inspections of trucks. Troopers didn’t find any contraband but took 850 trucks off the road for various violations related to their equipment. Other truckers were given warnings, and at least 345 were cited for things such as underinflated tires, broken turn signals and oil leaks."

Oh man, I can’t imagine the amount of paperwork generated for this vanity political project. Keeping law enforcement busy at least!

Excellent parody of Scott McCloud’s 2008 comic about the wonders of Google Chrome. This is about the danger Chrome poses to our privacy. (And I’m obligated to say modern Firefox is a good alternative.)

"These people on this ascendant right don't just have different ideas about the role and function of journalism; they don't just believe journalists are biased liberals; they don't just believe the media is too hostile to conservatives; they are hostile to the concept of journalism itself."

When journalism upsets the right’s outrage pipeline you don’t get rational criticism and debate.

"Authoritarian and fascist communities, this is what they always go for, they always burn the books. It actually shows the power of books. If they didn’t have any power, they wouldn’t be burning or banning them. So that’s one thing to remember and celebrate: The power of books."

Cancel culture is at it again.

"The main actions include creating a clean indoor air action plan, optimizing fresh air ventilation, enhancing air filtration and cleaning, and engaging the building community by communicating with occupants to increase awareness, commitment and participation."

I hope this conversation filters down (sorry) to our local schools and university. This must be a difficult problem to solve in older buildings—or it's a difficult problem to add to a budget. I haven't seen any signs of this conversation here yet. Also, check out this article in Science from last August: The air investigator.

"We’re constantly told the American people hate Washington dysfunction. Yet McConnell knows he can cheerfully threaten something this obscenely destructive without fearing any political downside."

Republicans elect people to cause dysfunction in the government. As long as Republicans deliver conservative judicial appointments, corporate welfare, and tax cuts for the wealthy there's no serious threat of losing support. Breaking everything else in government is the plan—not a symptom of a method of working. Getting mad about this situation in public like Brian Schatz is a reasonable response that I'd like to see more.

"Fox and CNN are not different flavors of news, they are different things entirely. News organizations with any legitimate claim to that title do not keep important information from the public based on which party it benefits. CNN — or primetime MSNBC — may be opinionated, but they remain fundamentally fact-based. Fox does not."

Fox is an imitation of the news style but it's something different in substance that makes viewers less informed about the world.

Reminded of this saying by the way right wing media frames every minor complaint as an existential threat and asks, "why aren't people acting violently about this right now?" knowing a portion of their audience will make it happen and they'll never face consequences.

"It’s Pink Floyd if it’s me and Nick, and that is the biggest promotional vehicle; that is, as I said, the platform that I’ve been working on for my whole adult life, since I was 21. I wouldn’t do this with many more things, but it’s so vitally, vitally important that people understand what’s going on there and do everything within their power to change that situation."

Sounds great. Wish we were getting new Pink Floyd music under better circumstances.

"Taherzadeh and Ali's alleged ruse was uncovered when a US Postal Inspector started investigating an alleged assault of a USPS letter carrier in an apartment complex where the two men allegedly had multiple units, according to court documents."

Speaking of federal agencies and crime, WTAF? Every time I see new information from this story it gets more bizarre.

"Armed with secret court orders in the United States and the help of governments around the world, the Justice Department and the F.B.I. disconnected the networks from the G.R.U.’s own controllers. “Fortunately, we were able to disrupt this botnet before it could be used,” Mr. Garland said."

Fantastic work and a great story. Just give me a steady stream of cybersecurity success stories please. Call the new beat Botnet Dragnet. I’ll waive my naming fee.

“I think that there is a sense among more senior members of Congress, who have been around in different political times, that we can get back to this time of buddy-buddy and backslapping and we’ll cut a deal and go into a room with some bourbon and some smoke and you’ll come out and work something out. I think there’s a real nostalgia and belief that that time still exists or that we can get back to that.” But those days, she says, have been over for a long time.

Every word of this resonates.