"On Wednesday, lawyers for Facebook, Twitter and Google faced down Democratic lawmakers who essentially threatened them for not shutting down Russian propaganda during the 2016 election cycle. Democrats have been adamant that distribution of Russian propaganda on social media played a major role in Hillary Clinton’s election defeat, and are now seeking to use that assumption as a lever to regulate the internet giants.
Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) complained that the platforms had been “misused.” She threatened, “you have to be the ones who do something about it – or we will.”"
Why "Disaster Porn" Storm Reporting is So Tantalizing and Destructive:
"When Hurricane Irma tussled the West coast of Florida instead of decimating the state entirely, those of us following closely, but from afar, unwittingly felt…disappointed. Nowhere was that anticlimax more evident than in the overblown and ubiquitous fixture of the fall: the live television special news storm report. You know the sort: an anchor, pulled from behind his New York studio desk and clad in a windbreaker instead of a sport coat, emcees from a lightly-battered boardwalk in Florida or Texas while squinting against the drizzle.
He repeats a series of the same obvious “updates” while looking slightly uncomfortable: “the wind is strong!” Or, delivered with a tone of bracing sobriety, “this is just the beginning of what is sure to be a long night.”
Then the anchor throws to a meteorologist back in the studio making circles with both hands, who then throws back to the beleaguered anchor, who excitedly throws to a reporter in the field, who proceeds to describe what he “just saw,” but now, with the expectant camera trained on him, is mostly just waiting around, alone in the rain.
There is a sense while watching this insipid loop that the newscasters are on tenterhooks for something to happen.
And this pervasive feeling is indicative of the larger disservice that long-format, “special report” broadcasts of storms do to actual victims: they sensationalize disaster, and in doing so cause reporters and viewers alike to effectively wish for human suffering.
And worse, to become let down when they cannot see it, which ultimately distracts from urgent problems and achievable solutions.
In the midst of an hours-long special hurricane report, the desperation of the anchor, as he searches for more details to describe the wind, is palpable; the grim tone used to introduce the sight of a flooded walkway conspicuously inflated. You get the feeling that the newsroom would cry tears of relief should a leveled building or stranded grandmother be discovered.
In this blatant search for something to report, the newsmen are wishing for the sort of destruction and subsequent anguish that will translate on camera..."
The DSA's six-monthly report, published earlier this week, is a blistering look at Ministry of Defence safety systems. Lieutenant General Richard Felton, who recently took post as the director-general of the DSA, took no prisoners in his first report.
He found, among many other things:
Cuts to the defence budget are causing the irreparable loss of helicopter flying skills
"Repeated incidents of Landrover wheels falling off"
Increasing skills shortages within critical frontline engineering trades
"Embryonic and fragile" safety management systems in RAF flying training units
A shortage of nuclear-trained personnel in the Defence Nuclear Regulator
Failures to inspect a naval fuel depot in Singapore for safety led to it being partly shut down
Natural Hazard? Study Says Farming Marijuana Hurting Environment « CBS Philly CBS Local — Marijuana activists may argue that the plant is a natural remedy with many uses, but a new report is claiming that farming the drug has another harmful side-effect: it’s destroying the environment.
Researchers from Ithaca College say that the growing number of small pot farms being planted in remote forest areas are having a major impact on the local environment. The New York team points to forest fragmentation, soil erosion, and landslides as the main side-effects of inserting pot farms into the forest.
The college has previously outlined how commercial marijuana farming was poisoning forest animals with pesticides and dewatering streams by improper irrigation in states like California.
...The study’s co-author added that while the lumber industry still has a larger impact on the size of forests, the impact over a smaller area by marijuana crops was even more destructive..." Read on!
"When the terrorist (ISIS, an Islamic extremist group, has claimed responsibility) jumped from the vehicle, witnesses say he yelled, "Allahu akbar!" CNN likes to translate this phrase as meaning "God is great." The New York times does, too, as in this passage from its front-page story on Wednesday, when it said the terrorist "ran up and down the highway waving a pellet gun and paintball gun and shouting “Allahu akbar,” Arabic for “God is great....""
Millennials: Communism sounds pretty chill - MarketWatch "According to the latest survey from the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, a D.C.-based nonprofit, one in two U.S. millennials say they would rather live in a socialist or communist country than a capitalist democracy.
What’s more, 22% of them have a favorable view of Karl Marx and a surprising number see Joseph Stalin and Kim Jong Un as “heroes.”
“Millennials now make up the largest generation in America, and we’re seeing some deeply worrisome trends,” said Marion Smith, executive director of the organization.
“Millennials are increasingly turning away from capitalism and toward socialism and even communism as a viable alternative.”
But do they even know what it is?
The survey, which was conducted by research and data firm YouGov, found that millennials are the least knowledgable generation on the subject, with 71% failing to identify the proper definition of communism. Smith explained that this “troubling turn” highlights pervasive historical illiteracy across the country and “the systemic failure of our education system to teach students about the genocide, destruction, and misery caused by communism since the Bolshevik Revolution one hundred years ago...”
History for November 3 - On-This-Day.com John Montague 1718, William Cullen Bryant 1794, James Reston 1909 Charles Bronson 1921, Micheal Dukakis 1933 - Politician, Dennis Miller 1953 - Radio talk show host, actor,Comedian ("Saturday Night Live") 1507 - Leonardo DaVinci was commissioned by the husband of Lisa Gherardini to paint her. The work is known as the Mona Lisa. 1793 - Stephen F. Austin was born. He was the principal founder of Texas. 1796 - John Adams was elected the 2nd U.S. President. 1892 - The first automatic telephone went into service at LaPorte, IN. The device was invented by Almon Strowger. 1911 - Chevrolet Motor Car Company was founded by Louis Chevrolet and William C. Durant. 1941 - U.S. Ambassador to Japan John Grew warned that the Japanese may be planning a sudden attack on the U.S. 1957 - Sputnik II was launched by the Soviet Union. It was the second manmade satellite to be put into orbit and was the first to put an animal into space, a dog named Laika. 1998 - Minnesota elected Jesse "The Body" Ventura, a former pro wrestler, as its governor.
"Thursday morning, former Democratic National Committee chairwoman Donna Brazile eviscerates her predecessor, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, and accuses Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton of rigging the primary process against Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders.
Brazile writes that when she took over the DNC — after Wasserman Schultz was forced to resign — she promised the progressive Democratic challenger Sanders that she'd "get to the bottom" of allegations that Clinton had stacked the deck inside the DNC."
"The suspected foreign national terrorist behind the New York City attack that has left at least eight individuals dead came to the United States years ago through the Diversity Visa Lottery, a program that President Trump and pro-American immigration reformers have demanded an end to.
According to ABC New York, 29-year-old Sayfullo Saipov — the man who allegedly mowed down pedestrians in the Tribeca neighborhood of New York City — entered the U.S. in 2010 from Uzbekistan under the Diversity Visa Lottery before obtaining a Green Card."
The 2020 Census is expected to cost $15.6 billion, more than three times the 2000 survey and about $107 per household, according to the Senate committee overseeing the effort.
“Although the Census is constitutionally mandated, the cost to count our population is increasing faster than the population itself,” according to Sen. Ron Johnson, the chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.
In the opening statement he plans to give at Tuesday’s hearing on the Census, Johnson added, “The 1970 Census cost $17 per household in inflation adjusted dollars.
The Department of Commerce estimates that the 2020 Census will cost $107 per household..."
"National radio host Buck Sexton weighed-in on the despicable terror attack that took place in New York City on Tuesday, saying it’s time for liberals and progressives in the United States to understand that Americans no longer want to “import” terrorism into their society.
“One of the problems that the left has never figured out about this whole issue of terrorism, is that we understand when it comes to American citizens who engage in criminal activity or terrorism, that we try to limit that, we punish it, we do what we can to prevent it, but that will be with us; no society will be perfect,” said Buck."
Marion Barry memorial statue, what to expect - Curbed DC: "Marion “Mayor for Life” Barry is known for many things. He’s known for being elected mayor four times, his time in the D.C. Council, and a scandal that led to him being convicted of a misdemeanor cocaine possession. In November 2014, Barry passed away at the age of 78, and since then, there have been plans to memorialize him with a statue.
The statue is commissioned by the Executive Office of the Mayor (EOM) in partnership with the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities (DCCAH) and the Marion Barry Commission.
...The $300,000 project is expected to meet the deadline with an unveiling scheduled for March 6 of next year, Barry's birthday.
The placement of the statue will be outside the John A. Wilson Building along Pennsylvania Avenue NW..."
The ad shows a man driving a large pick-up truck with a Gillespie campaign sticker, a Tea Party front license plate, and a Confederate flag on the back as he chases down a pair of Latino boys, an African-American boy, and a Muslim girl wearing a hijab. The children run into an alley and attempt to climb a fence as the truck charges them, but they wake up and reveal the ordeal to be a nightmare before the vehicle hits them."..."
"Lost in the never-ending Russia-gate saga the past few days was one of the most grossly under-reported stories by the mainstream media (which may as well be Obama's Praetorian Guard). The DOJ has settled with several conservative groups who rightfully claimed they'd been specifically targeted by the IRS for harassment and frivolous yet expensive and time-consuming actions, as well as denial or delay of tax-exempt status due to their political leanings in opposition to the Obama administration."
Surprise! Traffic Fatalities Involving Marijuana Skyrocket in Weed Legal States. The Numbers... » Louder With Crowder: "Is marijuana bad for you? It is if you’re fatally hit by someone who’s driving while stoned…
Which seems to be happening much more frequently.
According to the Washington State Marijuana Impact Report, the incidents of marijuana-impaired driving are increasing dramatically.
Fatal driving accidents have risen 122 percent between 2010 and 2014, according to the Washington State Traffic Safety Commission.
The traffic safety organization AAA has its own reports on marijuana use among drivers in fatal crashes, and the picture is equally bleak..." Read on!
"On Wednesday, lawyers for Facebook, Twitter and Google faced down Democratic lawmakers who essentially threatened them for not shutting down Russian propaganda during the 2016 election cycle. Democrats have been adamant that distribution of Russian propaganda on social media played a major role in Hillary Clinton’s election defeat, and are now seeking to use that assumption as a lever to regulate the internet giants.
Or, delivered with a tone of bracing sobriety, “this is just the beginning of what is sure to be a long night.”
Or, delivered with a tone of bracing sobriety, “this is just the beginning of what is sure to be a long night.”
The DSA's six-monthly report, published earlier this week, is a blistering look at Ministry of Defence safety systems. 
CBS Local — Marijuana activists may argue that the plant is a natural remedy with many uses, but a new report is claiming that farming the drug has another harmful side-effect: it’s destroying the environment.
CBS Local — Marijuana activists may argue that the plant is a natural remedy with many uses, but a new report is claiming that farming the drug has another harmful side-effect: it’s destroying the environment.
"When the terrorist (ISIS, an Islamic extremist group, has claimed responsibility) jumped from the vehicle, witnesses say he yelled, "Allahu akbar!" CNN likes to translate this phrase as meaning "God is great." The New York times does, too, as in this passage from its front-page story on Wednesday, when it said the terrorist "ran up and down the highway waving a pellet gun and paintball gun and shouting “Allahu akbar,” Arabic for “God is great....""
"Thursday morning, former Democratic National Committee chairwoman Donna Brazile eviscerates her predecessor, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, and accuses Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton of rigging the primary process against Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders.
"The suspected foreign national terrorist behind the New York City attack that has left at least eight individuals dead came to the United States years ago through the Diversity Visa Lottery, a program that President Trump and pro-American immigration reformers have demanded an end to.
"National radio host Buck Sexton weighed-in on the despicable terror attack that took place in New York City on Tuesday, saying it’s time for liberals and progressives in the United States to understand that Americans no longer want to “import” terrorism into their society./cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/9565939/01.jpg)
Marion Barry memorial statue, what to expect - Curbed DC: 
"Lost in the never-ending Russia-gate saga the past few days was one of the most grossly under-reported stories by the mainstream media (which may as well be Obama's Praetorian Guard). The DOJ has settled with several conservative groups who rightfully claimed they'd been specifically targeted by the IRS for harassment and frivolous yet expensive and time-consuming actions, as well as denial or delay of tax-exempt status due to their political leanings in opposition to the Obama administration."
Surprise! Traffic Fatalities Involving Marijuana Skyrocket in Weed Legal States. The Numbers... » Louder With Crowder: