Politics

Twitter Teams Up With Square So You Can Donate Money Through a Tweet

Because you didn’t already have enough ways to transfer money online, Twitter now offers the ability to make political donations through tweets. Square is going to help make it happen. And yeah, it’s a little bit confusing. Essentially, political campaigns and causes can apply for the ability to accept donations via tweet. Once they’re set…

FBI Didn’t Bother to Check Facts Before Accusing Physicist of Being a Spy for China

Temple University physics professor Xiaoxing Xi made headlines back in May, when he was indicted for allegedly sharing “sensitive” information with colleagues in China about a piece of laboratory equipment used in his superconductivity research. Xi maintained his innocence from the start. On Friday, he was vindicated: the U.S. Justice Department dropped the charges against…

The Guy Who Invented Net Neutrality Now Works for New York’s Attorney General

Tim Wu is one of the world’s most outspoken and influential advocates for an open internet. And now, the Columbia Law professor will help shape the future of technology and politics as a watchdog with the New York State Attorney General’s office. This is great news. “If I have a life mission, it is to…

It’s long been noted that NASA does a lot of work for a small amount of money, but with budget uncertainties and the potential for shutdowns, there’s real scientific losses. Writing for the New York Times, David Brown highlights how the planets don’t wait for Congress.

Louisiana Officials Said That After Planned Parenthood Closes, Women Can Just Go to the Dentist

When Louisiana state officials announced their plans to terminate Planned Parenthood’s state Medicaid contract in late August, they argued that there were plenty of doctors who could take on the more than 5200 patients the reproductive health organization sees each year in New Orleans and Baton Rouge. They even provided a list of those doctors…

A Short, Easy-To-Understand Explanation Of Pro-Lion Hunting Arguments

In all the emotion surrounding #CecilTheLion, it’s difficult to have a rational discussion on the topic. In response to reader requests, here’s a succinct explanation of the topic. We get a lot of comments on IndefinitelyWild and, believe it or not, I try to respond to all of them. The way I see it is,…

Brain-Eating Aliens Take Over Congress, Just In Time For The 2016 Election!

Now that CBS has pulled the plug on Under the Dome, it has a hole in its schedule for next summer. And the replacement show, BrainDead, may actually be something pretty special. It deals with alien spawn eating the brains of “Congressmen and Hill staffers.” BrainDead comes from the pen of Robert and Michelle King,…

John McAfee’s “Campaign Video” Is Batshit 

Would you like to see anti-virus tycoon, Central America murder-adventure enthusiast and occasional fugitive John McAfee giving you crazed Vigo the Carpathian eyes as he recites excerpts from the Gettysburg Address? That is a rhetorical question. McAfee is running for president, and he recently performed an Ayahuasca-influenced low-budget slam poem for a campaign video that…

National Geographic Is Now Owned by a Climate Change Denier

News broke yesterday afternoon that Australian media mogul and climate change denier Rupert Murdoch has purchased a majority stake in National Geographic, a magazine and scientific organization that has been staunchly non-profit since its first issue in 1888. National Geographic is going commercial, partnering with 21st Century Fox to create a new for-profit venture: National…

These Anti-Surveillance Cosplayers Are the Best

We’ve got an amazing gallery of cosplay from last weekend’s massive Dragon Con convention, taken from the Electronic Frontier Foundation’s Project Secret Identity. EFF activist Dave Maass says: Cosplayers get it: anonymity can be a form of speech. What we learned this weekend is that the fandoms understand the importance of encryption and the dangers…

Watch Me Defend Hunting On Dr. Drew

It’s counterintuitive, but sport hunting as it’s practiced in the US is the most significant conservator of animals in the country. And some of that applies even if you’re murdering lions in Africa. Yesterday, I made that point on Dr. Drew, amid much shouting. Yesterday around lunchtime, my buddy Scott called up and asked if…

John McAfee Is Starting a New Political Party For His Presidential Run

Remember earlier today when we told you that John McAfee was thinking about running for President? Well, he just filed the paperwork to make it official. According to The Hill, McAfee will be “founding a new party yet to be announced.” Earlier press reports said that McAfee claims to have had thousands of emails encouraging…

John McAfee’s Mysterious “Advisors” Want Him to Run for President

One-time security expert and full-time fun guy John McAfee has an announcement to make: “My advisors are pressing me to run.” For president. Of the United States of America. This year. Or at the very least, John McAfee is thinking about running for the nation’s office because he’s received “many thousands of emails saying please…

The FBI Now Needs a Warrant To Use Its Phone-Sniffing Stingray Boxes

Privacy took a blow last week when the NSA got permission to keep operating a massive dragnet. Here’s some better news: As of today, federal agents should have a harder time using Stingrays to spy on cell phones. Today, the Department of Justice issued a new policy that requires federal agencies to get a search…

Subpoenaed Clinton Staffer Will Plead the Fifth Over Email Scandal Questions

The FBI is investigatingwhether Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email compromised national security. And now the staffer who set it up is planning to stay silentduring questioning to avoid incriminating himself. Bryan Pagliano, the Clinton IT staffer who set up the private email server for Clinton in her Chappaqua home, first attempted to fend…

Donald Trump’s Instagram Attack Ads Are the Future of American Politics

Donald Trump just posted a new attack ad against Jeb Bush on Instagram. And in typical attack ad form, it takes quotes from Jeb, uses them out of context, and tosses in photos of criminals while spooky music plays in the background. I have seen the future of American politics, and whether it includes a…

Sanctioning China for Cybercrime Would Be Very Naive  

Remember when Obama declared a national emergency in April and issued an executive order to allow sanctions for cyberattacks? The administration is now talking about using those sanctions to punish China for stealing US trade secrets, including nuclear power plant designs. The US is infatuated with sanctions as a primary foreign policy option, despite a…

The NSA Can Keep Tracking Phones After All, Rules Appeals Court

A federal appeals court just took a dump on privacy. They reversed the 2013 trial court decision that called the National Security Agency’s bulk data collection unconstitutional. The ban has been lifted. This is good news for the NSA and people with panopticon fetishes. For everyone else, it’s a setback. In 2013, U.S. District Court…

Ray Bradbury’s FBI File Shows That He Was a Threat To Our Emotional Security

Ray Bradbury’s FBI file is not newly uncovered—it first appeared online in 2012 at Muckrock—but it’s been making the rounds this week. And as Slate’s Future Tense points out, it seems particularly timely given all of the debates over politics in science fiction. The FBI actually investigated Bradbury twice, with more than a decade between…

Some Cops Are Now Allowed to Taser and Tear Gas People From Drones

North Dakota just became the first state to legalize taser drones. Shocking. The Daily Beast reports that the state’s House Bill 1328 was designed in response to concerns over the militarization of police. The bill requires police to obtain a warrant before searching for evidence in a criminal investigation. The bill also originally prohibited the…