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There’s a trick at the center of American political discourse—so deeply embedded that even well-meaning people don’t realize they’re performing it. It goes like this: if you’re a fair-minded individual, you must believe that both political parties are fundamentally the same. To assert a meaningful difference in their commitment to truth, democracy, or constitutional governance […]

This was the way it was always going to end: with Trump turning the Oval Office into the palace of a king. One need look no further than Trump’s attempt to invoke the vengeful spirits of the Overlook Hotel by adding a $200 million ballroom to the White House, as though this were the early […]

When politicians immediately blamed social media for the horrific 2022 Buffalo mass shooting—despite zero evidence linking the platforms to the attack—it was obvious deflection from actual policy failures. The scapegoating worked: survivors and victims’ families sued the social media companies, and last year a confused state court wrongly ruled that Section 230 didn’t protect them. […]

They say you should never stop learning, and at Stone River, that mantra is a way of life. Through this subscription, you’ll get full access to 800+ courses and 4,800 hours of online learning, covering everything from iOS mobile development to graphic design. Plus, you’ll get a range of VIP perks, including unlimited eBooks and […]

This remains one of the most unintentionally funny things the Trump administration has ever done. Of course, this regime isn’t known for its sense of humor, so anything generating a laugh exists despite the regime, rather than because of it. But laugh we will! Trump is throwing billions at ICE, hoping a whole bunch of […]

Back in June the Trump administration announced it would be launching a new mobile phone company, including a new Trump branded phone they claimed would be “made in the U.S.” As we noted then, it was all mostly bullshit: the venture was just a flimsy rebranding of an existing MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator), which […]

This week, our first place winner on the insightful side is Arianity with a comment about how RFK Jr. approaches things: He is literally a eugenicist. If you dig down into his beliefs, he consistently thinks that if you die to something, it’s because you were “weak” and deserved it. In second place, it’s MrWilson […]

Five Years Ago This week in 2020, we looked at how the DHS was surveilling journalists who published leaked documents and how they obtained the encrypted messages of protestors. The FCC was trying to pretend Trump’s executive order about social media wasn’t ridiculous, and one commissioner who suggested it was unconstitutional was rapidly withdrawn from […]

Disney spent 18 months negotiating to create a digital version of Dwayne Johnson for the live-action Moana film. Johnson agreed. The technology was ready. Then Disney’s lawyers killed the whole thing—not because of privacy concerns or actor rights, but because they worried parts of the film might end up in the public domain. This is […]

It’s funny just how often the actions of so-called “strong men” actually show just how scared and fragile they are. And if you want a more specific example of what I’m talking about, you can typically tell when a national government is feeling scared or weak, because that usually comes along with restrictions on a […]

This story was originally published by ProPublica. Republished under a CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 license. Two weeks into President Donald Trump’s second presidency, and just days after he pardoned hundreds of Capitol rioters, officials Trump had placed in charge of the Justice Department made a sweeping demand. They wanted the names of the thousands of FBI employees who had played a role […]

Arrest/ticketing quotas have almost always been found illegal by courts. They used to be commonplace, but courts (at all levels) have generally ruled that quotas pervert incentives so much they encourage open, deliberate abuse of constitutional rights. Enter the Trump administration, which only considers the Second Amendment to be sacrosanct. Trump deputy Chief of Staff […]

Equipped with a 1.2mm fine tip, the Digi Pen for iPad and Tablets provides durability, sensitivity, and pixel precision. No lagging, no skips, no scratches. Perfect for drawing, sketching, painting, and writing. With palm rejection technology, you can use it directly without wearing gloves and write on the screen as if you’re writing on paper. […]

We’ve talked plenty about how Elon Musk’s “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE) was always more about performative cruelty than actual efficiency. But a new Senate report reveals just how spectacularly DOGE failed at its supposed core mission while causing immeasurable human suffering in the process. The entire concept blew up more spectacularly than one of […]

We’ve well documented how the AOL–>AT&T->Warner Brothers->Discovery series of mergers were among some of the most destructive and pointless “business deals” ever conceived by modern man. Just decades of “savvy deal-making” that resulted in an increasingly shittier product. The mergers resulted in bottomless layoffs, the closure of numerous valuable and popular brands and shows, and much worse product as incompetent, fail-upward […]

We’ve well documented how the AOL–>AT&T->Warner Brothers->Discovery series of mergers were among some of the most destructive and pointless “business deals” ever conceived by modern man. Just decades of “savvy deal-making” that resulted in an increasingly shittier product. The mergers resulted in bottomless layoffs, the closure of numerous valuable and popular brands and shows, and much worse product as incompetent, fail-upward […]

For no less than 25 years now, Techdirt has been writing about how the tax preparation industry, especially Intuit, has spent gobs of money bribing lobbying government to keep relatively low-earners from simple methods for filing their tax returns. The series of posts you can find in that link, particularly those in the last 5-10 […]

Ctrl-Alt-Speech is a weekly podcast about the latest news in online speech, from Mike Masnick and Everything in Moderation‘s Ben Whitelaw. Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, Pocket Casts, YouTube, or your podcast app of choice — or go straight to the RSS feed.

This story was originally published by ProPublica. Republished under a CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 license. One afternoon in mid-September, a group of middle school girls in rural East Tennessee decided to film a TikTok video while waiting to begin cheerleading practice. In the 45-second video posted later that day, one girl enters the classroom holding a cellphone. “Put your hands up,” […]

We’ve seen some pretty ridiculous attempts by government officials to intimidate judges over the years, but the Department of Justice’s new misconduct complaint against D.C. Chief Judge James Boasberg might take the cake for sheer absurdity. As Steve Vladeck breaks down in exhaustive detail, the DOJ is essentially arguing that a federal judge committed “misconduct” […]