NO ACTUAL VOTES WERE CHANGED: Homeland Security notifies 21 states targeted by Russian election hacking.
Related: Flashback: More states confirm suspected cyberattacks sourced to DHS. “In the past week, the Georgia Secretary of State’s Office has confirmed 10 separate cyberattacks on its network over the past 10 months that were traced back to DHS addresses.”
THIS WILL END WELL:
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USA TODAY: How American Taxpayers Subsidize The NFL.
UPDATE: Say, maybe that tax reform act that’s underway can make it illegal to finance sports stadiums with tax-exempt municipal bonds. That would be a good policy change anyway. (Actually, removing the tax exemption entirely for state and local bonds would be a good change, but that’s not going to happen.)
VIRGINIA POSTREL: Facebook’s Pros Still Outweigh Its Cons: I wanted to quit. Here’s why I decided to stay.
The response to my question made me realize that Facebook had allowed me to create a distinctive forum, that people appreciate it more than I can usually tell, and that I’d miss (most of) these interactions if I left. It reminded me of the reasons to like Facebook: the connections it provides and the chance to easily share interests. So I’ve decided to stay, with modifications.
To avoid distraction, I’d already started using the Anti-Social app to block Facebook and Twitter for several hours at a time. I’ll extend the blocked periods and make them a daily habit. Taking a cue from psychology research that suggests that reading Facebook passively is what puts people in a bad mood, I’ve also installed the Stop Scrolling Newsfeed for Facebook browser extension, which lets you block the feed after a minute or even 15 seconds. (If that doesn’t work, there’s the nuclear option: Feed Eradicator for Facebook extension, whose name is self-explanatory.) Instead of endlessly scrolling through whatever some algorithm serves up, I’ll visit specific people’s pages directly and focus on interaction.
The exercise was a useful reminder of what often gets lost in the public commentary on social media. For all their myriad faults, services like Facebook provide genuine value by connecting people who wouldn’t otherwise be in touch. Tools exist to help users minimize the downside — you just have to look for them. Like any other form of abundance, making the most of social media requires conscious consideration. So I reserve the right to revisit the question next year.
I agree, though I feel this way somewhat less than I used to. Plus, on her fear of Facebook knowing her too well:
This particular fear was somewhat assuaged by downloading my Facebook archive and discovering just how clueless the ad targeting was. Rolex? The band America? Soccer? The ad preferences page also pegs “fire” as a hobby, presumably based on my interest in FIRE, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education.
Hillary bet the farm on big data analytics. Now it’s Trump’s farm.
ROGER SIMON: Trump Is Reinventing What It Means to Be a Politician.
For most of our lifetimes being a politician meant being a self-centered hypocritical bore who carefully obfuscates his or her true opinions lest they offend potential voters and financial supporters or… a corrupt self-centered hypocritical bore who carefully obfuscates his or her opinions lest they offend potential voters or financial supporters.
Trump is reinventing that and we — whether we agree with his (sometimes changing) views or not — owe him big (or bigly) for this. At least now we’re awake and more of us are paying attention. (On this weekend’s episode of Judge Jeanine, almost every man-on-the-street interviewee knew who “Rocket Man” was. Compare that with “Joe Biden” when he was vice president.)
And these days Donald’s getting better and more precise at his core strategy — saying things that many, often most, of us think but don’t have the courage to utter.
And suckering his opposition into crazily attacking those mainstream views.
LAYERS OF FACT-CHECKERS AND EDITORS: “Humiliating”: Inside the Latest Controversy to Roil The New York Times.
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SO THIS IS KIND OF BIG: Clergy and Lay Scholars Issue Filial Correction of Pope Francis: The initiative, the first time such a mechanism has been used since the Middle Ages, accuses the Pope of “propagating heresies” and respectfully asks that he teach the truth of the Catholic faith in its integrity. “The filial correction, the first to be made of a reigning Pontiff since Pope John XXII was admonished in 1333, is divided into three main parts.”
IT’S A MESS, AND THEY’LL NEED HELP, BUT THEY WERE “HOPING FOR FUNDS” BEFORE THE HURRICANE BECAUSE OF THEIR GOVERNMENT’S IMMENSE CORRUPTION AND INEPTITUDE: Puerto Rico braces for clean-up, hopes for funds. Watch for an attempt to sneak a bailout into any relief legislation.
WELCOME TO THE KANGAROO COURT. I’LL BE YOUR KANGAROO. Ashe Schow: A Campus-Rape Official Who Disses Men Online.
Can male students expect a fair process when a member of the school’s department responsible for handling sexual assault accusations has posted anti-male sentiments online?
This year Northwestern University, above, hired Kate Harrington-Rosen as its Equity Outreach and Education Specialist for the Office of Title IX/Equal Opportunity and Access. In this capacity, she is responsible for “developing and delivering training for students, faculty, and staff on Title IX policy and procedures, as well as tracking and assessing education and prevention efforts across campus,” according to the Evanston, Ill., school.
Her “about” page on Northwestern’s website mentions Harrington-Rosen’s web sideline the Not Sorry Project, which the school said aims “to give space and voice to women, femmes, and other marginalized groups.” But the Not Sorry Project includes content that could be considered anti-male.
The project, active on Facebook and other social media, features artful posts on what people are “not sorry for” — including dissing men. They are typically described with the term “cis” or variants to mean males who identify with their birth sex.
In one anonymous post, the words “I’m not sorry that cishet alpha men are trash to me until proven innocent” appear over a background image of flowers.
Harrington-Rosen and her co-founder express similar views in the “Friday Not Sorry List” jointly credited to them. In one dated July 7, the pair wrote: “I’m not sorry (or sad) that I have very few cis male friends.” On July 14, they wrote: “I’m not sorry that none of my friends are cis straight men.”
On Aug. 18, the two wrote in their Friday list: “I’m not sorry for capitalizing on your white guilt to get you to give money to causes I care about.”
On Sept. 15, the two wrote: “I’m not sorry I’m skeptical of procedure and neutrality.”
Other posts express similar “not sorry” views about general issues. But there are no posts showing negativity toward women specifically.
Northwestern’s Title IX operation seems bad even by the not-very-demanding standards set by other schools.
THE HILL: Trump stirs backlash feuding with NFL, NBA players.
Now I’m no Scott Adams, but it does seem to me that this is a fight Trump can’t lose, and that the NFL can’t win.
UPDATE: Kurt Schlichter weighs in:
What the left wants is to take advantage of the conventions of bourgeois society while attacking them. But I think they’re running out of room. I don’t think they’ll like the result. Neither will I, of course, but they neither consulted me nor heeded my warnings.
Or as summed up in this classic Iowahawk tweet:
A HANDSOME ACADEMIC APOLOGY TO SETH BARRETT TILLMAN AND JOSH BLACKMAN, who were mobbed on social media — by academics — for suggesting that the emoluments case against Trump was weak. But “always outnumbered, never outgunned,” they had the right of it and it’s nice that some of their critics are apologizing.
TEACH WOMEN NOT TO RAPE! (CONT’D): Middle school teacher arrested for having sex with student — again. “A former middle school gym teacher in Georgia was arrested for the second time this year for having sex with a student.”
SARAH HOYT: The Left Wants Supermen to Rule, But They Aren’t Even Giants.
There comes the time of the most despicable man, who can no longer despise himself. Lo! I show you the Last Man. (To coin a phrase.)
MICHAEL WALSH: Farewell to the NFL.
But if you ask this former fan, the rot runs deeper. Football, which is practically the state religion in Texas and across the South, used to be closely tied up with patriotism and love of country. The militaristic component of the sport, which was presented as akin to war, appealed especially to red-state dwellers. But sportscasters and sportswriters are overwhelmingly leftist in their outlook, and their eagerness to turn Kaepernick into a civil-rights icon has repelled a sizable section of football’s core audience — and one that, by the current evidence is growing.
Tomorrow is going to be fascinating. Choose wisely, Roger Goodell and team owners.
DYING IS EASY, COMEDY IS HARD: Jerry Seinfeld Breaks Down a Joke. For the Netflix special Jerry Before Seinfeld, the comedian opens his archives; Here he dissects what’s funny about cereal.
I watched it last night — it’s surprisingly apolitical, and not surprisingly very funny. This Wall Street Journal article explores just how much craftsmanship goes into what look like a spontaneous performance.
FASTER, PLEASE: New antibody attacks 99% of HIV strains.
THE SCIENCE IS SETTLED: Science says: Yes, your dog really does love you.
ANALYSIS: TRUE. Trump’s NFL Protest Comments are why Trump is President:
He takes a commonly held sentiment — most people don’t like the NFL protests — and states it in an inflammatory way guaranteed to get everyone’s attention and generate outrage among his critics. When those critics lash back at him, Trump is put in the position of getting attacked for a fairly commonsensical view.
Of course, NFL owners firing players on the spot for protesting isn’t necessarily common sense, but this is where “seriously, not literally” comes in.
There is another option, besides firing a player:
An odd controversy briefly dominated the sports pages in March 1996. A player in the National Basketball Association, Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, refused to follow the league’s rule requiring that players stand in a “dignified posture” during the national anthem. Instead, since the beginning of the 1995-96 season, Abdul-Rauf had remained seated during the playing of the Star Spangled Banner.
A black, 27-year-old former Baptist from Mississippi who had converted to Islam in 1991, he declared that as a Muslim, he could not pay homage to the American flag – which he called a “symbol of oppression, of tyranny.” He argued further that the flag directly contradicted his Islamic faith: “This country has a long history of [oppression]. I don’t think you can argue the facts. You can’t be for God and for oppression. It’s clear in the Koran. Islam is the only way.”
The NBA responded firmly, suspending Abdul-Rauf until he agreed to obey league rules. He missed one game, then capitulated. Two factors probably weighed most heavily on him: losing a cool $31,707 for each game missed, and facing wide opposition to his decision from other Muslims.
What’s prevented the NFL from doing the same? Instead, we get more mush from the wimp in response to Trump’s statement last night:
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell fired back at President Trump on Saturday for encouraging league owners to remove players who take a knee during the national anthem, saying Trump’s “divisive comments” show “an unfortunate lack of respect for the NFL.”
“The NFL and our players are at our best when we help create a sense of unity in our country and our culture,” Goodell said in a statement. “There is no better example than the amazing response from our clubs and players to the terrible natural disasters we’ve experienced over the last month.”
“Divisive comments like these demonstrate an unfortunate lack of respect for the NFL, our great game and all of our players, and a failure to understand the overwhelming force for good our clubs and players represent in our communities.”
Yes, if there’s one thing Trump doesn’t understand, it’s professional football. It’s not like he ever owned a pro sports team or anything.
SPEED UP THE DESTRUCTION OF THE NFL: Dem calls for all NFL players to kneel during national anthem.
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