Government

Cuomo signs law making it harder to file lawsuits to stifle free speech

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Cuomo signs law making it harder to file lawsuits to stifle free speech

Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed a new law Tuesday making it harder for the rich and powerful to file nuisance lawsuits to stifle free speech and intimidate critics.

The new law targets “strategic lawsuits against public participation,” known as SLAPPs, usually brought forth by wealthy plaintiffs to hamper free speech.

Typically expensive and time consuming, these filings have been wielded by individuals seeking to oppress free speech, like Harvey Weinstein — who threatened to sue the New York Times for defamation after the newspaper published an expose on the disgraced movie tycoon’s history of sexual harassment.

How the Nazi Concentration Camps Worked | The New Yorker

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How the Nazi Concentration Camps Worked | The New Yorker

Hitler’s Germany as a highly regimented dictatorship, in practice Nazi rule was chaotic and improvisatory. Rival power bases in the Party and the German state competed to carry out what they believed to be Hitler’s wishes. This system of “working towards the Fuhrer,” as it was called by Hitler’s biographer Ian Kershaw, was clearly in evidence when it came to the concentration camps. The K.L. system, during its twelve years of existence, included twenty-seven main camps and more than a thousand subcamps. At its peak, in early 1945, it housed more than seven hundred thousand inmates. In addition to being a major penal and economic institution, it was a central symbol of Hitler’s rule. Yet Hitler plays almost no role in Wachsmann’s book, and Wachsmann writes that Hitler was never seen to visit a camp. It was Heinrich Himmler, the head of the S.S., who was in charge of the camp system, and its growth was due in part to his ambition to make the S.S. the most powerful force in Germany.

The Truck with Glock Logo in the Back Glass

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Every day when I drive to work, there is this nice truck on North Syracuse that has a big “Glock” logo on the back glass. I think it’s pretty neat, although it does make me resentful to be a New Yorker to no end. I don’t think one should have to ask permission of a judge to own a handgun, or any other firearm.

Many of our cities have a crime problem. But the solution to crime is simple — going after criminals. You don’t have to extreme firearm restrictions to go after crime, creating criminals out of law abiding citizens. Instead, you just need to go after murders and other violent criminals who commit actual crimes of violence.

North-west from the Gulf

America’s Most Generous Presidents – WorldAtlas

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America’s Most Generous Presidents – WorldAtlas

Often a more genuine measure of the philanthropic side of politicians is their work following terms in a major office. Three US presidents stand out among their peers for their charitable work both during and after their presidencies: Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama. While there are certainly other presidents and politicians who are generous in their philanthropic work, these three offer an interesting array of causes, socio-economic climates, and timelines.

NPR

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We Asked Americans How They Feel About The U.S. Flag. It Got Interesting. : NPR

Like Hurley, she voiced impatience with people who see the flag as a symbol burdened by racism: "The United States is still pretty much the most equal place you could have for people of different backgrounds. For people to compare the U.S. to an ideal is unfair."

But many of the roughly 1,800 people who responded to NPR's call out, especially people of color and those who lean more liberal, said it's not that simple. They told us the American flag comes with baggage that can't be ignored.