Day: July 5, 2019

Rep. Green Points Out Chinese Cybersecurity Threat During Forum at Brussels

Jason M. Reynolds

  U.S. Rep. Dr. Mark Green (R-TN-07) participated in international forums and panel discussions on cybersecurity and transatlantic alliances last weekend. He attended the Brussels Forum organized by the German Marshall Fund, a nonpartisan public policy think tank dedicated to promoting cooperation between North America and Europe. The Brussels Forum is an annual high-level meeting of U.S., European, and global political, corporate, and intellectual leaders. Green met with leaders of NATO, Taiwan, and several European nations. Green tweeted, “I was able to join a great discussion in Brussels hosted by the @gmfus last weekend on election security. Watch a portion of our conversation below.” I was able to join a great discussion in Brussels hosted by the @gmfus last weekend on election security. Watch a portion of our conversation below. pic.twitter.com/jbK2cOhLaX — Rep. Mark Green (@RepMarkGreen) July 2, 2019 In his opening remarks at the panel, Green said, “You probably have all heard of the DIME model or paradigm of warfare. And you’ve also probably heard of the domains of war. We think of an attack, we think of a strike against a building, and you see people and you see the wounded. But with a cyberattack, you don’t see that. It’s…

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Commentary: What Americans Often Forget

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by Janet Beihoffer   Our nation’s birthday is approaching once again, along with the celebrations which have accompanied the holiday for so many years. In recent years, however, Independence Day celebrations are often overshadowed by bickering over race or class. With this in mind, I’d like to share a story from my classroom years ago. As a former teacher of upper elementary grades, I spent nine weeks on human anatomy. The biological systems covered depended on the age of the students, which spanned nine to 12. All students were taught the circulatory, digestive, and respiratory systems. They were also taught about the five senses. At the end of this unit, students were required to make a model of an organ, write a report on its functions and diseases, and then give a presentation to the class on how important that organ or sense was to the human body. While these models were on display, my principal – a tall black man with a “John Bunyanesque beard and stance – came to our classroom. Spotting the science projects on the windowsill he asked, “What are those?” “These are our science projects at the end of our human anatomy unit,” I replied.…

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Marsha Blackburn Unleashes on Colin Kaepernick

Chris Butler

  U.S. Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn held nothing back in a new column this week, describing Colin Kaepernick as “a spoiled brat football player” and his left-wing supporters as “self-absorbed” and lacking toughness. Blackburn made these comments in a new column on Breitbart this week. Kaepernick reportedly persuaded Nike to drop a planned Betsy Ross Flag sneaker. “Well, who would ever have thought that a spoiled brat football player would have a problem with an American flag that was first made by one of our founding mothers in 1776?” Blackburn wrote. “Sounds like someone needs a little flag education on what that symbol of freedom actually stands for to millions of people, not only in America, but also around the globe.” Blackburn said “it is time for the self-absorbed to understand a little bit about who continues to defend that freedom and protect their free speech so that they can say such inane things and continue to make millions of dollars.” Blackburn also said “those who complain about an American flag being on a pair of shoes could not fight like a soldier if they had to.” She went on to say “those who are complaining about this don’t have the mental toughness…

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Trump Will Push for Census Citizenship Question

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by Kevin Daley   One day after senior officials publicly abandoned their ambitions to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census form, the Trump administration abruptly reversed course and told a federal judge it would continue its legal fight. Though government lawyers and census officials said the question would be excluded, President Donald Trump said by tweet Wednesday morning that his administration would press the issue. “We at the Department of Justice have been instructed to examine whether there is a path forward, consistent with the Supreme Court’s decision, that would allow us to include the citizenship question on the census,” assistant Attorney General Jody Hunt told a federal judge in Maryland. Government lawyers seemed bewildered when the Maryland judge asked them about the government’s rapidly evolving position. “The tweet this morning was the first I had heard of the president’s position on this issue, just like the plaintiffs and your honor,” said government lawyer Josh Gardner. “I do not have a deeper understanding of what that means at this juncture other than what the president has tweeted. But, obviously, as you can imagine, I am doing my absolute best to figure out what’s going on.” “What I told…

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REVIEW: The Ghosts in Xi Jinping’s China Dream

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  Early on in Ma Jian’s new novel the main character has a vision: I saw elderly men and women smashing rocks against the ground under the steely gaze of teenage Red Guards. Among the sweat-drenched faces caked in dust, I saw my father looking up at me. There are many anguished recollections in the book but this one carries a special poignancy. It is central to a story that shows how the personal (with a hint of parricidal guilt) and the social (an ancestral culture) were torn to pieces in a murderous, ideological frenzy in the service of Mao Zedong’s “struggle against all incorrect ideas and actions.” Under President for life Xi Jinping, that struggle continues today in China, only with much better technology. “China Dream” – the novel takes its title from Xi Jinping’s “national rejuvenation” program of the same name – traces the progressive psychic disintegration of Ma Daode, director of the newly created China Dream Bureau in the provincial city of Ziyang. It is a work of fiction, but could equally be read for what it is: a scathing report on the political and cultural pathologies that are plaguing present-day China. Boozy, potbellied, corrupt, beset by…

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It’s Not Donald Trump’s Supreme Court Yet

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by Kevin Daley   This piece is the first of a series reviewing the Supreme Court’s 2018-2019 term. The justices adjourned for the summer on June 27. Though President Donald Trump’s two appointments have set a new trajectory for the Supreme Court, the conservative majority flashed a strong independent streak in its 2018-2019 term. As the administration leveraged bold procedural maneuvers and a law-and-order agenda, the justices resisted a “Trumpification” of the judiciary, while leaving the administration reason for optimism. Aggressive procedural tactics The newly-completed term was marked by the government’s liberal use of a seldom-used procedure to bypass lower courts like the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The solicitor general (SG), who represents the government before the Supreme Court, filed petitions for review before judgment in several politically-charged matters — meaning the government wanted the justices to take a case before an appeals panel had a chance to weigh in. Petitions for review before judgment (formally “certiorari before judgment”) are not granted absent extraordinary circumstances. Past examples include U.S. v. Nixon, regarding release of the so-called Watergate tape, and the 1952 Youngstown Sheet case over President Harry Truman’s bid to nationalize the steel industry. The Court granted only…

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Red, White but Rarely Blue – the Science of Fireworks Colors, Explained

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by Paul E. Smith   In the earliest days of the United States, John Adams wrote to his wife Abigail about the celebration of independence, “It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more.” “Bonfires and illuminations” refer directly to what we know as pyrotechnics and firework displays. I’m a chemist and also president of Pyrotechnics Guild International, an organization that promotes the safe use of fireworks and using them here in the U.S. to celebrate Independence Day and other festivals throughout the year. As a chemist, and someone who leads demonstrations for chemistry students, I consider fireworks a great example of combustion reactions that produce colored fire. But the invention of colored fireworks is relatively recent and not all colors are easy to produce. Early history of fireworks It was John Adams who suggested using fireworks on the fourth of July. Gilbert Stuart (1755–1828) Firecrackers were first invented serendipitously by the Chinese in 200 B.C. But it wasn’t until one thousand years later that Chinese alchemists developed fireworks in 800 A.D. These early fireworks were…

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Four Things to Know About Ken Cuccinelli, Trump’s New Chief for Lawful Immigration

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by Fred Lucas   As acting director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, former Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli becomes a key player in the Trump administration’s enforcement of immigration laws. On Tuesday, Cuccinelli attended a ceremony at the National September 11 Memorial & Museum in New York as 52 persons from 28 countries became U.S. citizens. “This is a vivid reminder of the resiliency of our nation and why so many people around the world make sacrifices each day in order to call the United States their new home,” Cuccinelli, 50, tweeted. Today I had the privilege of welcoming 52 new U.S. citizens from 28 countries at the @Sept11Memorial. This is a vivid reminder of the resiliency of our nation and why so many people around the world make sacrifices each day in order to call the United States their new home. 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/Ka4rbq2CsJ — Acting Deputy Secretary Ken Cuccinelli (@HomelandKen) July 2, 2019 In another tweet Wednesday, Cuccinelli called on Congress to step up and address the country’s immigration crisis. While the @realDonaldTrump admin is working to solve the crisis at the southern border, members of the House are preparing for their August vacation. We need Congress to…

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Detecting Deepfakes by Looking Closely Reveals a Way to Protect Against Them

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 by Siwei Lyu   Deepfake videos are hard for untrained eyes to detect because they can be quite realistic. Whether used as personal weapons of revenge, to manipulate financial markets or to destabilize international relations, videos depicting people doing and saying things they never did or said are a fundamental threat to the longstanding idea that “seeing is believing.” Not anymore. Most deepfakes are made by showing a computer algorithm many images of a person, and then having it use what it saw to generate new face images. At the same time, their voice is synthesized, so it both looks and sounds like the person has said something new. Some of my research group’s earlier work allowed us to detect deepfake videos that did not include a person’s normal amount of eye blinking – but the latest generation of deepfakes has adapted, so our research has continued to advance. Now, our research can identify the manipulation of a video by looking closely at the pixels of specific frames. Taking one step further, we also developed an active measure to protect individuals from becoming victims of deepfakes. Finding flaws In two recent research papers, we described ways to detect deepfakes with flaws…

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Trump Presents ‘Show of a Lifetime’ to Celebrate Independence Day

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by Ken Schwartz   President Donald Trump played host Thursday evening in Washington for what he calls “The Show of a Lifetime” to celebrate U.S. Independence Day. While U.S. presidents have traditionally sat back to watch Americans celebrate independence in their own way, Trump himself directly took charge of the celebration. He introduced military jet flyovers, patriotic band music and a display of tanks, and made a long speech at the Lincoln Memorial highlighting 243 years of American history, despite steamy weather and the threat of storms. He called the history of the United States “the epic tale of a great nation of people who have risked everything for what they know is right and what they know is true.” There were fears Trump would turn the nation’s birthday party into a political event by talking about what he feels are his accomplishments as president. But he made no mention of politics, next year’s election or the two dozen Democratic candidates looking to stop him from a second term. Instead, Trump avoided talking about what divides Americans and spoke of what unifies them. #SaluteToAmerica🇺🇸#July4th pic.twitter.com/VPd2gYH5Qc — Dan Scavino Jr. Archived (@Scavino45) July 5, 2019 “As we gather this evening in…

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Michigan U.S. Rep. Amash, a Trump Critic, Quits Republican Party

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  U.S. Rep Justin Amash of Michigan is quitting the GOP. The only Republican in Congress to call for President Donald Trump’s impeachment, Amash said in an op-ed published in the Washington Post Thursday – July 4th – that he was declaring his independence from the Republican Party because the two-party system is failing. “Today, I am declaring my independence and leaving the Republican Party,” Amash wrote. “No matter your circumstance, I’m asking you to join me in rejecting the partisan loyalties and rhetoric that divide and dehumanize us. I’m asking you to believe that we can do better than this two-party system – and to work toward it. If we continue to take America for granted, we will lose it.” Amash in May joined Democratic colleagues in calling for Trump’s impeachment after special counsel Robert Mueller released a report on his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election and allegations that the president tried to obstruct the probe. Amash also criticized fellow Republicans for not holding Trump accountable. “The parties value winning for its own sake, and at whatever cost,” he wrote Thursday. “Instead of acting as an independent branch of government and serving as a check on…

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Analysis: Trump White House Trims Administration Payroll Costs by $20 Million

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by Bethany Blankley   During President Donald Trump’s first three years in office, the White House spent $19.8 million less on payroll costs than the previous administration did during the same time frame, adjusted for inflation, according to a new analysis from OpenTheBooks.com. The payroll data includes employee names, status, salary, and position title for all 418 White House employees as of June 28, 2019. “President Trump’s White House payroll has been a leading indicator of his commitment to ‘do more, with less’,” Adam Andrzejewski, CEO and founder of OpenTheBooks.com, told The Center Square. “The payroll discounts come from Trump’s refusal to take a salary, as well as big reductions in other areas including the absence of czars, expensive ‘fellows,’ and spending on First Lady of The United States (FLOTUS) staff,” he added. The Trump administration also has 36 fewer employees on the payroll than the previous administration. The nonprofit’s investigation compared one decade of White House payroll headcount and expenditures between 2009 and 2019. “Leaders demonstrate true commitment by their actions,” Andrzejewski said. “In the first few weeks of his presidency, Trump issued an order mandating an executive agency hiring freeze. The president has led by example.” At the same…

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GAME ON: State Rep. Mark Hall Announces Bid for Majority Whip Held by Rick Tillis

Laura Baigert

  In an email sent to his fellow Republicans in the State House, Rep. Mark Hall (R-Cleveland) announced his bid for Majority Whip, a position currently held by Rep. Rick Tillis (R-Lewisburg). Hall, who was a Bradley County Commissioner for 12 years and had an impressive outing during the 2018 Republican primary taking 54 percent of the vote in a four-way race, never mentioned Tillis in his announcement. Tillis, currently in his second term, was chosen as the Majority Whip during the November 2018 House Republican Caucus elections with 43 votes over his conservative opponent Rep. Tim Rudd (R-Murfreesboro). “After much prayer and deliberation,” Hall wrote to his fellow House Republican members, “I have decided to announce my bid for Majority Whip.” Hall explained, presumably alluding to the very difficult decision the Republican Caucus faced in May with a no-confidence vote for current House Speaker Glen Casada (R-Franklin), “With all of the difficult times we have just been through, I believe we need a strong leader who will bring unity and direction to the caucus.” “With my experience in the military and running a successful business, I believe that I have what it takes to lead this body,” said the…

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