Government

NPR

An Israel-Based Firm’s Spyware Was Found On Activists’ Phones : NPR

They include 189 journalists, more than 600 politicians and government officials, at least 65 business executives, 85 human rights activists and several heads of state, according to The Washington Post, a consortium member. The journalists work for organizations including The Associated Press, Reuters, CNN, The Wall Street Journal, Le Monde and The Financial Times.

Amnesty also reported that its forensic researchers had determined that NSO Group's flagship Pegasus spyware was successfully installed on the phone of Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi's fiancee, Hatice Cengiz, just four days after he was killed in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul in 2018. The company had previously been implicated in other spying on Khashoggi.

The Myth of Panic | Palladium Magazine

The Myth of Panic | Palladium Magazine

The year is 1950. A dead body floats along the New Orleans waterfront. The coroner who examines him realizes something terrifying: this nameless man died sick. The corpse is infected with the pneumonic plague. The city authorities now have 48 hours to find and inoculate every person who came in contact with the man before his death or New Orleans will become the epicenter of a terrible epidemic. At a crisis meeting of the city council, one councilor argues that the only way to save the city is to announce to the public what has happened and seek their cooperation. But the local public health officer—the hero of this story—begs the mayor not to go public with the news. The citizens of New Orleans must be kept in the dark. The press must be kept quiet. The title of the film reveals what he fears will occur if the public discovers the truth: Panic in the Streets.

The story beats charted out in the 1950 film Panic in the Streets have been repeated in every disaster film that has followed it. Experts discover a looming catastrophe of incredible proportions. They race to solve the problem as covertly as possible; to do otherwise would invite a panic more disastrous than the disaster itself. If they fail, audiences get to see images of an unnerved public up close. Society descends into a Hobbesian scramble for resources or open riot against the powers that be. The lesson is clear: the key to disaster response is ensuring the public does not feel fear. Normal citizens who understand the danger they are in will pose a threat to everyone else in calamity’s path. Panic is the true disaster. Disaster management is thus, at its core, a problem of narrative control.

469. The U.S. Is Just Different β€” So Let’s Stop Pretending We’re Not

469. The U.S. Is Just Different β€” So Let’s Stop Pretending We’re Not

7/14/21 by Freakonomics Radio

Web player: https://podcastaddict.com/episode/125775090
Episode: https://chtbl.com/track/736CG3/traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/aaea4e69-af51-495e-afc9-a9760146922b/14a43378-edb2-49be-8511-ab0d000a7030/06184821-0aa4-4c0d-92a0-ad650174a53d/audio.mp3

We often look to other countries for smart policies on education, healthcare, infrastructure, etc. But can a smart policy be simply transplanted into a country as culturally unusual (and as supremely WEIRD) as America?

I was looking at the Bethlehem Residents News Facebook page, a so-called pro-police page put out by the Bethlehem GOP and had to think their theme song must be Phil Och’s I Like Hitler

I was looking at the Bethlehem Residents News Facebook page, a so-called pro-police page put out by the Bethlehem GOP and had to think their theme song must be Phil Och’s I Like Hitler. I can’t share the video on YouTube because the censors have banned it but I can post the lyrics below.

“There’s supposedly a wave of conservatism sweeping the country (sounds familar) and as the groups move farther and farther to the right, they find fewer and fewer songs that can be sung by people or groups as a whole…and when they finally arrive, I’d like to…I wrote this song for them, so they can sing when they get together.” — Phil Ochs

I like Hitler, Jolly Jolly Hitler
I like Hitler and Mussolini too

I like Franco in Spain 
And I'll have to maintain
That Batista was
Really quite all right

Trujillo was my man
Henry Ford/Hendrik Verwoerd would understand
What this country 
really needs is apartheid

Loyally we Birch along
Birch along, Birch along
Loyaly we Birch along
Back to the good old days

God save the king

I think it’s pure fascist trash to be celebrating government workers and the government. Maybe there is a role for some government employees in providing limited public safety and order, but we shouldn’t be celebrating fascism or fearing the public over the government worker.

Nancy Hopkins – Those Were the Days

Well, I have to agree with Equatorial Guinea President for life Francisco Macías Nguema, that this is a pretty good song to execute you political enemies to in the mid 1970s, especially if you are a real son of a bitch. 

NPR

Trump Sues Facebook, YouTube And Twitter For Kicking Him Off Their Platforms : NPR

Former President Donald Trump is suing Facebook, Twitter and Google's YouTube over their suspensions of his accounts after a mob of his supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol in January.

Trump filed class action complaints in federal court in Florida, alleging the tech giants are censoring him and other conservatives — a long-running complaint on the right for which there is little evidence and that the companies deny.

While I am no fan of President Trump, I think this could be an important First Admendment case that could protect free speech if any online community is required to protect speech. 

NPR

Supreme Court Throws Out California Nonprofit Donor Disclosure Law : NPR

The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday sided with rich donors and their desire to remain anonymous against a state law aimed at policing the finances of charities and other nonprofits.

By a 6-3 vote along ideological lines, the court struck down California's law requiring nonprofits to file a list of their large donors with the state. The court said the law subjected donors to potential harassment, chilling their speech in violation of the 1st Amendment

Under the California law, the tax-exempt groups were to attach to their filings with the state a copy of their IRS form reporting the names and addresses of all donors who gave more than $5,000 or 2% of the organization's total donations.