#washington dc primary

[noah-luck-easterly]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2024/07/01/initiative-83-dc-elections/

Interesting! I tend to prefer approval voting, but ranked-choice is definitely better than first-past-the-post. Semi-open primaries aren’t something I have an informed opinion about though.

I definitely think more local governments switching to a better voting scheme is the most effective path towards getting it implemented at the federal level, which I think would pay huge dividends.

[hometoursandotherstuff]

Lively, colorful, 1911 Mediterranean Revival townhouse in Washington, DC has 4bds, 4ba, $5.4m.

As you may know by now, that door would have to go, as far as I'm concerned. Why do they even make doors like that? Just bust the glass, put your hand in, and open the lock. Why even have a lock?

The first room off the entrance hall is a sitting room with a cool yellow fireplace with black & white marble.

The dining room is a bright orange with a bronze ceiling, which is interesting.

They painted the cabinets a glossy bright blue and changed out hardware.

This family room is a part of the kitchen and has doors to the patio. The wallpaper on the feature wall is very interesting.

Pretty powder room. Look at how small the sink is.

The stairs to the upper levels are in the middle of the home.

They've got the primary bedroom done in a bright royal blue.

And, they also have a large closet.

This is beautiful- a terrace.

Nice shower room.

At the end of the hall is this nice large family room. Love the fireplace.

Cute bedroom is quite roomy.

The secondary bedrooms are surprisingly large.

Nice updated vintage bath.

Stairs to the lower floor.

Nice room.

The 4th bedroom is down here with a door to the outer entrance. It's lovely down here.

There's even a little kitchenette and a bath.

It has a beautiful backyard and parking.

And, out front there's a lovely garden.

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/2343-Ashmead-Pl-NW-Washington-DC-20009/461809_zpid/

[charlesoberonn]

A quick alternate history scenario I made for the r/AlternateHistory subreddit:

In 1796, George Washington reluctantly runs for a third term as president to prevent Jefferson and the Democratic-Republicans from taking hold of government. His third and final term is more rocky than the first two, with the south being especially unhappy with some of his reforms, though they associate them with his vice-president John Adams and Secretary of State Alexander Hamilton. On December 14th, 1799, George Washington dies in office. The nation is in turmoil and mourning. The Democratic-Republicans call for a special election, but vice-president John Adams is declared president instead. On Christmas 1799 a protest march on DC turns violent when federal forces clash with protestors and revolutionary war veterans. Jefferson declares Adams an illegitimate usurper. Adams calls off next year's election. Several state legislatures , especially in the South, declare Jefferson as a provisional emergency leader for the purpose of ousting the Federalist regime. The American Civil War has begun. On January 15, with DC about to be overtaken, an internal vote within the Federalist war cabinet decide to oust Adams and appoint his vice president and war hero Alexander Hamilton as president instead. The tide of the war turns, with the Federalist forces able to protect the north and much of their territory, but it is short lived. The Federalist are forced to abandon DC on April and retreat to New York City as a provisional capital. Hamilton himself refuses to go. He is captured by the Democratic-Republicans along with Adams. Jefferson is appointed president on April 19th. In July, Senator Gouverneur Morris is appointed as temporary leader of the Federalist forces in New York. The war stalls for several months as the Democratic-Republican forces fail to make inroads into the north. Meanwhile Jefferson's administration is poorly received and he is compared poorly to the Reign of Terror in France, especially after the public executions of Adams and Hamilton, and after the French Revolutionary government acknowledges him as the legitimate president. The British back Morris and the Federalists and provide military assistance in return for territorial concessions out west. Despite the Democratic-Republicans trying to paint Morris as a traitor for his British support, the public hates Jefferson more, compounded by a series of military defeats. On December 14th, during a public memorial service for the 1 year anniversary of Washington's death, Jefferson presents himself as the true heir to the venerated general. This creates outrage and leads to a 6 days siege of the White House, at the end of which Jefferson is dragged out and beaten to death by the public and some of his own soldiers. The Democratic-Republican forces subsequently surrender and the capital is captured by Federalist and British forces. Morris is appointed president and his first act is to call in a new Constitutional Convention in order to draft a new constitution, one with the primary aim of preventing another civil war.

[theineffablesociety-dc]

The first @theineffablesociety Good Omens meetup was so great, we started planning the second one before the con drop even set in. What can we say: Evil never sleeps and Good is ever-vigilant! (Although Crowley has gotten in the napping habit and Aziraphale can be a bit distractable.)

The weekend of February 28-March 2, 2025, we're going to Washington DC!

This meetup is being organized by myself (@zeldahime), ShadowsRider (@shadowsrider-blog), and Key (@whoopsmypenslipped). We'll be making regular updates here (and being reblogged to the primary @theineffablesociety page) and on the Discord server. (The Discord server is an 18+ space. For an invitation, send an ask here or at the primary page.)

We are currently scouting locations. We expect to repeat the format of the Philadelphia meetup with a large room and at least two break-out rooms, with the expectation that approximately 45-75 people will attend. As in Philadelphia, we will do our best to be as inclusive as possible, with a masking policy in all event spaces.

We're so excited to be hosting the next event! We hope to see you all there!

[mojave-pete]

Republican Security Council

We feel so sorry for poor Michelle Obama and we hope she is not struggling financially.

Her Twitter bio describes her as a "Girl from the South Side" of Chicago. In her speech last night to the Democratic Convention, Mrs. Obama spoke of her mother and said “She and my father didn’t aspire to be wealthy. They were suspicious of folks who took more than they needed." What would they think of their daughter now?

According to Forbes, Michelle Obama has a net worth in excess of $70 million. The family has three residences and each one has a value in excess of $10 million. Her 30 acre beach front summer home on Martha's Vineyard has an estimated value of $20 million,

The Obama family beachfront estate in Hawaii was built on the site of the mansion used as the primary location for the 1980s hour-long action TV show Magnum P.I. The land alone cost $9 million in 2015, and despite having its own beach, the property has two swimming pools. They also own a mansion in Washington, DC's exclusive Kalorama neighborhood near the French embassy.

According to her Speaker's Bureau, Mrs. Obama receives $750,000 for an appearance and she received a $65 million advance for her memoir "Becoming". The combined Obama family wealth prior to the presidency was $1.3 million.

[mariacallous]

Five years ago, in a splashy speech in Washington, DC, Jeff Bezos rolled out Amazon’s Climate Pledge, a series of commitments to show that the company was serious about addressing climate change.

A core component of that pledge, one that Bezos touted in front of members of Congress during Amazon’s antitrust hearing a year later, was putting 100,000 electric delivery vans on the road by 2030. In a blog post from this July—headlined with a picture of a Prime Rivian van driving through an open field filled with wind turbines—the company proclaims that it has now delivered 800 million packages in the US using EVs, with 15,000 trucks on the road in neighborhoods across the country.

But those EVs might not be doing much to help the climate. The company’s US delivery vehicle emissions have potentially shot up an estimated 194 percent since the Climate Pledge went into place in 2019, according to a new report.

The report, released Thursday from corporate campaigners at Stand.earth, attempts to figure out just how much damage shipping the US’s Amazon orders is doing to the planet. It finds that overall emissions from shipping packages have increased 75 percent since 2019, from 3.3 million tons of CO2 equivalents in 2019 to 5.8 million tons last year. The 2.5-million-ton difference is the equivalent of putting 595,000 additional gas-powered cars on the road for a year.

Those Rivian vans are often just delivering the last leg of a package’s life. Before coming to customers’ doorsteps, packages travel by airplane, cargo ship, and/or long-haul truck—transport methods that are both notoriously dirty and tricky to decarbonize.

Doing the math on Amazon’s delivery emissions entails a lot of guesswork. Unlike some of its competitors, Amazon does not break out details on its emissions associated with shipping and delivery. In fact, the company’s annual sustainability report doesn’t give any hard numbers at all on its logistics operations, despite Amazon dominating the US ecommerce market and delivering 4 billion packages in the US within two days in 2023.

“Stand.earth’s work is based on inaccurate data, a broad mischaracterization of our operations, and by their own admission, a methodology based on assumptions and unverified information,” Amazon spokesperson Steve Kelly said in a statement to WIRED. “The truth is that The Climate Pledge is an ambitious commitment for Amazon and the more than 525 companies that have signed up to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2040. It’s only by taking this on that we can work collectively to transform industries such as shipping, transportation, and the built environment, and we need more companies encouraged to take this direction and quick action.” (As well as committing Amazon to addressing climate change, another aim of the Climate Pledge is to get other companies to follow Amazon’s lead.)

Kelly added: “We’ve continued to publish a detailed, transparent reporting of our year-on-year progress. We encourage everyone to track our progress through our annual Sustainability Report, which has correct data, transparent methodologies, and a third-party assurance.”

The company did not provide WIRED with any additional emissions statistics or other additional data for its shipping and delivery operations.

“We’re doing the best we can with the data available,” says Joshua Archer, a campaigner at Stand.earth and the primary author of the report. “Amazon’s [data] doesn’t even scratch the surface of this massive operations network.”

As a result, the Stand.earth report is based on a mountain of third-party data—all US-based—and math equations to get to some ballpark estimates. UPS and FedEx emissions data disclosed in those companies’ sustainability reports allowed researchers to get an idea of the emissions created by shipping packages by truck in the US. Third-party data from two aviation analytics providers helped to tally up the estimated domestic emissions associated with Amazon Air, a fleet of planes that deliver parcels for the company. Maritime shipping estimates are based on manifest data from US ports where Amazon was a signee. Many of these numbers, the report stresses, are almost certainly an undercount, as authors excluded calculations like emissions associated with package returns and packages shipped or delivered by third-party carriers due to lack of data.

The main culprit for Amazon’s increased shipping emissions, the report finds, is from airplanes: US emissions associated with Amazon Air have skyrocketed 67 percent since 2019. According to Kelly, Amazon’s overall emissions have increased since 2019 due to the company’s expansion during the pandemic.

“When you think of things people order through Amazon, a lot of them are things you don’t need the next day,” Archer says. “Nevertheless, they’re getting shipped on airplanes.”

This trend tracks with the rest of the industry. During the pandemic, port disruptions around the world forced providers to switch over to airplanes to transport cargo; much of this air infrastructure remains in place today. Simultaneously, the US ecommerce market shot up by 43 percent in 2020 as everyone stuck inside ordered more and more stuff. In 2023, the US shipped 21.7 billion parcels—that’s 687 packages every second.

There’s one area where things are improving for Amazon: according to the Stand.earth report, emissions per package have been dropping for Amazon since 2020, which, Archer says, is largely thanks to loading more parcels on bigger planes. (Kelly says that the company’s overall carbon intensity—measuring the efficiency of its operations—has improved by 34 percent since 2019, even as its overall emissions went up.) In comparison, UPS’s package emissions intensity has consistently risen since 2020, thanks in part to its increased reliance on aviation.

But even considering small improvements like these, the aggressive growth Amazon has driven over the past few years is, in many ways, incompatible with sustainability. “Keep an eye on the skies for even more A330s delivering for Amazon customers in the coming months and years,” Amazon concludes in a blog post touting its new, more efficient cargo planes. Unless greener alternatives to jet fuel become available years ahead of schedule, it will be impossible for the company to add more planes to its fleet without also making emissions jump up.

“Amazon prides itself on being an ambitious and innovative company, but it’s making quite a problem for itself with its air freight cargo growth,” Archer says. “If Amazon is serious about climate progress, that’s a really easy place to start: stop flying so much.”

Amazon is no stranger to climate criticism. Its overall emissions have skyrocketed since it rolled out the Climate Pledge in 2019, despite an incremental drop in 2023. Last year, Amazon lost the support of a key UN-backed global climate organization, the Science Based Targets Initiative, for not meeting certain deadlines to set targets to reduce emissions; it was one of nearly two dozen companies axed by SBTI from its list of climate-conscious companies. In July, Amazon Employees for Climate Justice, an employee group, released a report criticizing the company’s calculations around its claim that it had met a sustainable energy goal. In 2023, Amazon quietly eliminated a goal to make half its shipments carbon neutral by 2030—a goal which, the company says, was superseded by the larger Climate Pledge.

Part of the issue in calculating emissions for Amazon is just how sprawling the challenges it faces are, thanks to its relentless vertical integration: the Wall Street Journal reported in May that in order to expand its control over its logistics processes, the company had already leased, bought, or announced plans to expand warehouse space in the US by 16 million square feet this year. Kelly said in an email in response to WIRED’s request for comment that the vast network of logistics the company has built allows it to deliver packages closer to their destination and avoid driving long miles.

Reading the company’s sustainability report is an exercise in understanding a variety of different ambitious technical and sociological climate goals across different industries involved in its supply chain. In response to WIRED’s request for comment, Kelly listed out Amazon’s membership in two business organizations advancing sustainable shipping, its membership in a buyers’ alliance encouraging the adoption of sustainable aviation fuel, and its investment in electric trucking: in May, the company put 50 electric trucks on the road in Southern California.

“I think it creates a lot of challenges for the broader transportation industry if every company just does what Amazon does and brings air freight in house,” Archer says. “Then you’ll have a situation where a lot of people are flying a lot of planes.”

There’s a real question of whether or not the company making significant changes would just move emissions from one company’s balance sheet to another’s as the rest of the industry keeps growing. Atlas Air, a subcontractor of Amazon Air, announced in May that it would stop domestic flights carrying Amazon parcels in favor of concentrating on other customers, including Chinese ecommerce titans Shein and Temu.

Still, with Amazon dominating so much of the US market—and with the capacity to kick off trends that other suppliers then follow, like expedited shipping—the company has an opportunity to set an aggressive example, like throwing a substantial effort into decreasing plane use and helping the US build out infrastructure for more sustainable long-haul trucking. (The company didn’t provide figures on how much it has spent on partnerships, research, lobbying, or other activities to decarbonize the trucking sector in the US.)

As for that splashy electric van pledge? The Stand.earth report projects that at Amazon’s current growth rates, if the company puts all the electric vans it promises on the roads by the end of the decade, that would still only account for a third of the company’s deliveries. If Amazon’s sales keep growing on pace, it would need 400,000 EVs to deliver all its packages.

“The 100,000 vans by 2030 is way too little, way too late,” Archer says.

[eretzyisrael]

BY ALLISON TOMBROS KORMAN

As the war ramped up, it was clear that this issue was not going away. Not only was I struggling to process Oct. 7 with friends, family, and my community, I was also navigating the conflict every day at work. As the only Jewish voice in the organization, I was repeatedly put in the position to speak for all Jewish people—an impossible task—or to defend my perspective and why it did not align with that of Jewish Voices for Peace, a group that purports to represent Jews but rejects the basic premise of a Jewish homeland, or similar entities. At the same time, if I advocated for DCAF staying out of this discussion, I was told I was silencing the organization and its staff. I shared my heartbreak about the violence against both Israelis and Palestinians and how, though complex, these feelings could coexist. In return, it was explained to me, often by people with no direct connection to the land or its people, that I needed to understand “context.”

At the same time, other abortion funds and reproductive health organizations began issuing statements about what was happening in Gaza. These statements contained much of the same offensive nomenclature as DCAF’s draft and some, like ARC-Southeast’s letter, went further, calling Zionism—the belief that Israel simply has a right to exist—“a contradiction to Reproductive Justice.” Every member of the DCAF staff except me signed on to a letter to the board advising them that they would be participating in a walkout in support of Palestine. The letter noted, “We are using our collective power as DCAF workers to show up for Gazans and call for an immediate ceasefire, as well as liberation for Palestinians ... we cannot ignore the mass violations to human rights and sexual and reproductive health outcomes that we’re seeing out of Gaza.” Remarkably, the letter neglected any mention of health outcomes for the Israeli survivors of rape or assault, or for the hostages.

In an effort to work collaboratively and keep focused on our primary objectives, we agreed that establishing social media procedures was a critical next step. On Nov. 14, I and the communications team sat down to decide what, if anything, DCAF would be posting about the war and to ensure there were not more situations like that which occurred around the “Gaza Carousel.” I recognized that my colleagues felt strongly that DCAF should weigh in on this discussion, and in an effort to compromise, I agreed to a process that would allow DCAF to uplift existing content from trusted partners in the field, but not create original content, as this would be beyond our expertise. We agreed to abstain from using nomenclature that could be distracting or divisive to our community, such as the “Free Palestine” hashtag or calling Israel’s actions “genocide.” We developed a system to review and discuss potentially controversial content related to the war before posting, starting with a small group of reviewers, including me, and escalating to a vote by a mix of board and staff.

The following morning, I circulated the notes from that meeting to DCAF leadership and members of the Board. At 3 p.m. that day, I was alerted by a Jewish DCAF volunteer that the DCAF Instagram feed featured graphics from The Washington Post about deaths in Gaza with commentary overlaid, specifically that “collective punishment is the tool of fascists” and that what was happening in Gaza was “a prime and top-of-mind example of said collective punishment.” I immediately flagged this for the communications team and asked if perhaps the content was posted inadvertently since it violated the norms we had established in the meeting the previous day. Surely, equating the actions of the entire State of Israel with fascism was a perspective that needed to be discussed as potentially controversial. They assured me the post was intentional (they later stealthily removed it).

Immediately, DCAF received angry messages from Jewish members of their community. The messages criticized DCAF for being so one-sided on the issue. They were furious that DCAF, who claimed to deeply value reproductive justice, had remained silent on the rapes of Israeli women. They stated that as Jews, they felt abandoned by and isolated from the organization.

[nightshiftselfships]

Hellooooo !! name's Dylan or Katniss! Pronouns are they/he/shi/aer + some self inserts have other names i use!! only call me them if close ^_^

mike schmidt's husband ♥︎♥︎ (10/30/23)💍 i'm a non-sharing yumeshipper! i am also an artist! and i write... Occasionally

dni; basic dni criteria (tl;dr : if ur a freak), proship/profic whatever (block me), if you selfship with my f/os, canon ships with my f/os (unless there is a note beside them on the list below!) AI "art" supporter, endogenic/supporter, anti non-sharing yumeship, genshin fans (unless close). I block freely!

f/os under the cut ✨

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ Romantic! (not the full one, just main ones <3)

♥︎ Primary ♥︎

Mike Schmidt (FNaF Movie)

Vanessa Shelly (FNaF Movie)

Billy (Burn 2019)

Derek Danforth (The Beekeeper)

Josh Futturman (Future Man)

Peeta Mellark (THG) (im a katniss introject hii hello)

Clapton Davis (Detention 2011)

David (Long Gone Heroes)

Two-Face / Harvey Dent (DC/Batman)

Edward Nygma / The Riddler (Gotham TV, Arkhamverse)

Toy Bonnie (FNaF 2)

Vanny (FNaFSB)

Allan Red (Smiling Friends)

Anya (Mouthwashing)

♥︎ Secondary ♥︎

Nick Furcillo (The Quarry)

Goro Majima (Yakuza) (kazumaji is fine!)

Kazuma Kiryu (Yakuza) (kazumaji is fine!)

Nishikiyama Akira (Yakuza) (majikarp is fine,, but i doubt anyone else ships them LOL i love them personally,,..)

Wallter (Regretevator) (wallmark is fine!)

Mannequin Mark (Regretevator) (wallmark is fine!)

Wynona Whitecloud (Grimsburg) (i am the first ever wynona selfshipper :3)(lets keep it that way)

Adam & Barbara Maitland (Beetlejuice) (Polyam)

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ Familial!

Sun/Moon (FNaFSB) (Parental)

Josh Washington, Ryan Erzhaler (Supermassive games) (Sibling)

Abby Schmidt (FNaFM) (Sibling in law)

Primrose Everdeen (THG) (Sibling)

Effie Trinket / Haymitch Abernathy (THG) (Parental)

Roxanne Wolf (FNaFSB) (Parental)

Glamrock Freddy (FNaFSB) (Parental)

Chilli Heeler / Bandit Heeler (Bluey) (Parental)

Frisky (Bluey) (Parental)

Captain Curly (Mouthwashing) (Sibling)

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ Romantic Tag Guide!

🔦 || lovesong - dylmike/lullaby tag

🐰 || its you hiding in limelight - dylnessa tag

🔥 || supermassive black hole - dylan/billy tag

🥂 || i wanna be yours - wolfderek tag

🏹 || always. - everlark tag

🛹 || romantic lover - clapton/ash tag

📟 || killshot - david/dylan tag

🌗 || harvey - dylvey/twoshifter tag

🎀 || everyone adores you (atleast i do) - dylbon tag

🩸 || this comes from inside - dylvanny tag

🧀 || tea errors - dylallan tag

🐺 || lovefool - kaznick/furgrove tag

🐶 || messages from the stars - dylmaji tag

🐉 || today is a diamond - dylkiryu tag

🐟 || late night drive home - nishidyl tag

🧱 || somethin stupid - wallter/dylan tag

🪵 || hey lover - dylmark tag

🧪 || good luck babe! - wynona/ashton tag

📔 || handbook for the recently deceased - maitlands tag

🩹 || warm nights - dylanya tag

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ Familial Tag Guide!

🍬 || superstar daycare - sun/moon tag

💚 || platonic soulmate - ryan/josh tag

🖍 || coloring book - abby tag

🌹 || little duck - prim tag

💝 || team - effie/haymitch tag

🏁 || her favorite - roxy tag

🌟 || my superstar - glam freddy tag

🐶 || the heelers - chilli/bandit or frisky tag

🥩 || mouthwash! - curly tag

I look forward to making new selfship mutuals!!! <33

[ape-apocalypse]

Road To The Kingdom - Fall of Man Comics

The Fall of Man comic arc is the most recent comic series focused on the reboot trilogy. It is unique in that it doesn't feature Caesar and his troop of escaped apes at all. Some might find that a bit dull but I like to see the world building away from Caesar. It is set 4-5 years after the Simian Flu outbreak and follows a human soldier named Julia who is tasked with protecting and moving apes to Washington DC in the hopes of finding a cure. Along the way, Julia reflects on how the world has descended into chaos while fighting against a human militia, the Army of Man, who are killing apes and "monkey loving" humans alike.

The comic is a typical apocalyptic tale, though I feel like the large cast of apes and humans don't get much personality. Julia falls in love with a fellow soldier/scientist she's traveling with and I don't even remember his name, despite reading this a few days ago. Buster and the other apes get some good fight scenes but only Buster gets a name and I have a hard time figuring out what they want. When we first see the apes, Buster seems to ignore Julia's reassurance that she'll protect them and he signs to the others "ape protect ape". I thought it was setting up that the apes would leave the humans the first chance they got to take care of their own. But then they're willingly fighting alongside the human soldiers in DC, even when the apes could easily run off. I don't expect there to be a bond between Buster and Julia like Caesar and Will had in Rise, but I never understood how Buster felt about his human counterpart. Even in the very last panel, I can't tell if Buster is happy or having doubts about how the journey ends. If the story was meant to show humans and apes working together and forming a united front, I don't think the comic succeeded. It doesn’t feel like the apes care about Julia or the mission and I would have preferred Buster and his crew to just leave the humans behind.

Also featured is a French gorilla named Pug who is raising an ape army against the Army of Man, and killing anyone who gets in their way. This story is secondary to the main tale, with neither of them intertwining at all. I wish Pug's story had been the primary focus; though seeing the last bits of governments and civilization is interesting, I much preferred Pug. We get little of his background but see that he spares and feeds human children who were held captive by the militia. It seems he can even rally human adults to his cause. His tale is brief compared to Julia and her team but I really enjoyed Pug more. Plus it's great to see what's happening in another country that isn't the USA, where Caesar and his apes live. I think both stories suffered from feeling rushed by having to share the comic, rather than each getting their own arc but Pug's story was much more intriguing than Julia's in the long run.

The world building of humanity crumbling is always a good read to fans of apocalyptic stories and it makes sense to look at how the governments and health organizations fell apart. But my favorite parts were the small bits of hope seen amongst the chaos. I loved the glimpse of orangutans in Malaysia willingly working with human survivors. Pug was instantly fascinating when he took care of the human children his group freed. While a civilian army growing around the world to kill apes makes sense, it was nice to see pockets of people and apes getting along. All in all, not my favorite of the POTA comics but still a fun apocalyptic story for the apes series.

Intro / Previous / Next

[beardedmrbean]

Kamala Harris has said she no longer wants a ban on plastic straws in a policy U-turn.

In 2019, the Democrat presidential nominee had told a CNN town hall meeting: “We do need to ban the plastic straws.” But her campaign has now said she has changed her mind and “doesn’t support banning plastic straws”.

“She cast the tie-breaking vote on the most consequential legislation to combat climate change and create clean energy jobs in history, and as president, she is going to be focused on expanding on that progress,” a Harris campaign official told Axios.

“She joked even then about how crappy paper straws are and the need to come up with better eco-friendly alternatives.”

The move may be intended to prevent further attacks from the Donald Trump campaign, which has previously highlighted the policy.

Jason Miller, a senior adviser in the Trump campaign, told NBC in July: “Kamala Harris had a long, liberal, radical record in California well before she even became vice-president. I mean, heck, she wants to get rid of plastic straws, for goodness’ sake.”

A number of US cities have already banned single-use plastic straws, including Seattle, Washington DC, and Malibu. They have also been banned in the UK and in parts of the EU.

Ms Harris has been criticised for changing her position on a number of key issues since being nominated.

Her team has said – via anonymous aides – that she no longer supports Medicare for All or mandatory gun buy-back programmes, both of which she called for during her 2020 Democratic primary campaign.

Last month, Ms Harris also revealed that she no longer wants to ban fracking, another position she held during the 2020 primary race. 

The change is likely to increase her chances of winning the swing state of Pennsylvania, a hotbed for oil and gas drilling, and she told CNN she now believed it was possible to “grow and increase a thriving clean-energy economy without banning fracking”.

Ms Harris insisted during the interview that her “values have not changed”, even if some of her policy ideas have.

[evidence-based-activism]

Hello, I really appreciate how you take the time to research and debunk clear attempts to drag women down with men?

Whats your opinion on this article?

https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2014/09/22/rape-cdc-numbers-misleading-definition-date-forced-sexual-assault-column/16007089/

It claims men are raped by woman just as much as women are raped by men. The only reason we don't know why is because they go underreported.

If that's the case, regardless of societal pressure men would be talking about this anways, and never bringing it up when provoked. As in, when women speak out against their assaults.

If that's the case, I think men would actually be taking precautions to be safe from women, I think men would talk about this more rather than the so called "male loneliness epidemic..."

According to,

https://www.healthline.com/health/mens-health/mens-suicide-rate#causes

Men are killing themsleves due to loneliness (at older ages) now the USA today article never claimed males were killing themsleves due to rape but I figure if it's just as common we would hear about it lot considering men love to bring up their own suicide rates.

Basically, the article doesn't reflect society. Then again, it's from 2014. While looking through some crime statistics too on Wikipedia apparently in 2016 there was an increase in female rapists, that just kinda tells me though men were reporting it and women were being convicted.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex_differences_in_crime#:~:text=Men%20accounted%20for%2080.4%20percent,those%20arrested%20for%20property%20crime.

By the way, is USA today a credible source?

Thank you.

Hello! So, the short answer is this article is nonsense and also factually inaccurate. The long answer has many parts which I enumerate below:

First, what does the article claim?

The primary argument in this article is that we should be counting "made to penetrate" (i.e., as in a woman forcing a man to penetrate her vagina with his penis, or other similar sex acts) as a type of rape. They argue that if you do so then statistics show that as many men as women are raped.

The conclusion of this argument (that statistics indicate as many women as men are raped) is factually inaccurate, even if we agreed to count "made to penetrate" as a form of rape. However, I will extend on this later, as first:

What is (and isn't) rape?

Depending on your jurisdiction (country, state, etc.) there may or may not be an actual crime called "rape" in the criminal code. In the USA, each state and Washington, DC has its own criminal code, in addition to the federal criminal code and a uniform code of military justice (UCMJ) for each branch of the armed forces. Beyond that, various agencies devoted to criminal statistics (FBI, CDC, BJS) all record data in slightly different ways.

The definition discussed (poorly) in the article, is from the CDC. The CDC publishes results from "The National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey", which goes into significantly more detail than other reporting agencies [1].

The categories of sexual violence categorized by the CDC (rewritten slightly to simplify) are:

Rape -- completed or attempted unwanted vaginal, oral, or anal penetration through the use of physical force or threats to physically harm and includes when the victim was too drunk, high, drugged, or passed out and unable to consent (stats for each collected individually). They also note that penetration can be completed with a penis, fingers, or object; except for oral penetration which must be done with a penis.

Being made to penetrate -- when a victim was made to, or an attempt was made to make them, sexually penetrate someone without the victim’s consent because the victim was physically forced or threatened with physical harm, or when the victim was too drunk, high, drugged, or passed out and unable to consent. Examples include a victim being made to penetrate someone vaginally, anally, or orally with his penis or being forced to perform oral sex on a woman.

Sexual coercion -- is unwanted sexual penetration (either direction) that occurs after a person is pressured in a nonphysical way.

Unwanted sexual contact -- unwanted sexual experiences involving touch but not sexual penetration (e.g., being fondled, groped).

Sexual harassment in a public place -- verbal harassment in a sexual way that made the victim feel uncomfortable.

They also aggregate responses for the first four categories into "contact sexual violence".

The author of the USAToday article argues that "made to penetrate" offenses should be reclassified as "rape". This is a gross misunderstanding of the CDC classification system. They have made a very deliberate choice here to break these types of sexual violence down into distinct categories in order to better demonstrate differences between groups.

You'll note that the CDC's definitions are gender neutral such that both a man and a woman could be perpetrator or victim, with the exception of "made to penetrate" which is only asked of men. They are careful to emphasize this in their report, explicating how each offense may apply to a man or a woman.

Is the CDC's definition of rape the "right" one?

That depends entirely on what you mean by "right". The CDC's definition of rape aligns with historical definitions with adjustments to make the crime gender-neutral (i.e., encompass penetration with things other than a penis). The CDC's definition also aligns with the FBI's definition of rape "penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim".

Other sources report only on a broader classification of sex crimes, usually either a measure equivalent to the CDC's "contact sexual violence" measure or a measure that combines rape, sexual coercion, and made to penetrate.

The US code criminal code and accompanying sentencing guidelines detail two categories of sex crimes: sexual abuse which includes criminal sex acts (roughly corresponds to CDC items 1, 2, and 3) and abusive sexual contacts (roughly corresponds to CDC item 4). In addition, they specify assaults are aggravated when they involve force, threat of death/serious bodily harm/kidnapping of the victim or another person, or forcible/unknowing administration of intoxicant to render the victim unconscious or nearly so (roughly corresponds to CDC items 1 and 2).

I will not be going through each state's criminal codes but the ones I did look at appear to either: follow the federal code's example or create separate offenses (e.g., rape, sodomy) and then classify them as the same "degree" of offense.

Ultimately, in reference to criminal proceedings the determining factors for sentence length guidelines appear to be: if the victim is a child, if the offense is aggravated, if the victim is grievously injured, and if the offender is a repeat offender. Considered alone, a crime being rape vs made to penetrate doesn't appear to make a difference in sentence length.

So, why is the author of the USAToday so bent out of shape?

They appear to be angry about the "expansion" of the rape definition to include non-forcible offenses. (Although, based on the premise of the article, I imagine they would have been equally upset if the old definition "the carnal knowledge of a female, forcibly and against her will" was retained.)

I am very curious to know which of the "expansions" they specifically object to. The expansion to include anal or oral penetration? To include threats of physical harm? To include penetration of objects other than the penis? Or maybe just the inclusion of "when the victim was too drunk, high, drugged, or passed out and unable to consent"?

There's also an important note here, that despite common claims to the contrary, being "too drunk, high, drugged, or passed out" does not include "sex while a partner is intoxicated" unless that partner is unable to consent, which most commonly means the victim was either unconscious or very nearly so. In some jurisdictions, even this will only apply when the intoxicant was either forced or unknowingly given to the victim, known as the voluntary intoxication caveat [2]. It’s inconceivable to me that someone would genuinely be trying to argue that having sex with someone while they’re unconscious isn’t rape, so I assume the author must not have actually read the legal codes/CDC definitions. (Side note: there's also generally rules defining sexual acts with individuals unable to consent due to mental disability or age as rape. The CDC didn’t include this in their definition because their results are based on surveys of adults in the US.)

All in all, I'm hard pressed to imagine which of these situations the author would genuinely like to claim isn't rape.

And with all of that: the author's first misinterpretation/misrepresentation of CDC data. They appear to think the CDC is counting coercion and intimidation in the "rape" data rather than in the "sexual coercion" data. I assume they simply did not actually read the report they are attempting to analyze, since I imagine you'd be hard-pressed to miss this otherwise.

Okay, but I think that the definition of rape should include everything the CDC calls rape, sexual coercion, and made to penetrate. If we look at all of those offenses together do we see equal rape rates for men and women?

No :) this brings us to misinterpretation/misrepresentation of the data #2. Let's look at the most recent (2016/17 report, published in 2022) CDC sexual victimization report.

The issue with trying to compare total counts for these three categories is that summing them gives you a significant over-count of victims. This is because many people report victimizations of more than one crime. For example, 27% of women report experiencing rape in their lifetime. Breaking that up we see: 22% experienced completed forced penetration, 16% experienced attempted forced penetration, and 17% experienced alcohol/drug-facilitated penetration. If we didn't have that overall 27% figure, summing these values would have suggested that 55% of women experience rape (or 39% when we exclude attempted rape). Obviously, this is a significant over count.

So, what can we compare?

Well, we can can compare across single offense categories for men and women. With this we see that, in their lifetime:

27% of women and 4% of men experience rape

11% of men are "made to penetrate" (not estimated for women, previous estimates put the percentage around 1%)

24% of women and 11% of men experience sexual coercion

48% of women and 23% of men experience unwanted sexual contact

30% of women and 11% of men experience sexual harassment in a public place

To make a striking point, let’s create a possible range of prevalence estimates using the summing method (where the floor is the highest percent for any single category and the ceiling is the sum of each category), the expanded definition of rape from above would apply to anywhere from 27% to 52% of women and anywhere from 11% to 26% of men. Based on this, the ceiling estimate for men (26%) would still be lower than the floor estimate for women (27%).

A more accurate comparison would be between contact sexual violence experiences (includes CDC items 1, 2, 3, and 4 and would encompass both sexual abuse and abusive sexual contact per the US legal code). This measurement is 54% for women and 31% for men.

The article's claim that women and men reported rape and made to penetrate at the same rate relied on the 12-month prevalence estimate. This measurement is much less robust, and I generally just ignore it for prevalence estimates; it's best used, I think, for comparisons across time. As an example of this, the data I'm reporting from reports a 12-month prevalence difference of 2% for rape for women and 1% for made to penetrate for men. Clearly, these 12-month estimates are less stable for estimating prevalence, if the women’s rate can be nearly identical to the men’s rate one year and double the men’s rate another year.

In addition to this, the proportion of male victims reporting only female perpetrators was much lower than the proportion of female victims reporting only male perpetrators. (I have previously discussed the issues with obtaining perpetrator prevalence rates from victimization data, so I won't go into this further.)

Okay, what about the rest of the article?

Well, the author references a study using non-probablity/non-random sampling to try and suggest there's a much higher rate of sexual victimization among men than previously found. I've talked before about why this is a problem. The authors of that study are actually not the worst, since they explicitly acknowledge in their discussion that "recruitment strategies ... were not random, thus limiting generalizability". So, bad USAToday author for misrepresenting their study.

The one actually interesting point is about sexual victimization at juvenile detention centers. I would need a whole other post to appropriately dive into that complicated (and sensitive) topic however. Suffice to say that his commentary on this is also partially inaccurate and definitely misleading.

The rest of the article is anecdotal, un-sourced, and essentially seems to be him railing about feminists and also anti-rape initiatives on college campuses.

---

For the rest of your ask:

Is male-on-female rape under-reported/wouldn't we see people talking about this?

I've discussed how female crimes aren't under-reported in the past. Rape in general is under-reported, but female-on-male rape is not significantly under-reported in comparison to male-on-female rape. In general, I agree that if there was a substantial number of men being victimized by women, we'd see an effect of this on/in society.

"While looking through some crime statistics too on Wikipedia apparently in 2016 there was an increase in female rapists" -> I am not able to find this in the Wikipedia article? If you meant to say 2014, observed changes in statistics may have been impacted by the FBI's (extremely belated, like, behind every single other agency ever) change in rape definition from "carnal knowledge of a female forcibly and against her will" to "penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim".

What about male suicide rates? The male loneliness epidemic?

Men are more likely to commit suicide, as described in the article you linked to. However, women are either equally or more likely to attempt suicide and have suicidal thoughts. (Also discussed in the same article, specific rates vary by source).

Loneliness is a pretty serious problem, particularly among the elderly. However, it's not a "men's problem", it's a "human people problem" [3]. The specific statistics vary by age group, but, overall, women and men appear to experience loneliness at similar rates.

"By the way, is USA today a credible source?"

Depends on what you mean by credible. mediabiasfactcheck.com rates USAToday as left center and mostly factual due to "editorial positions that slightly favor the left" and "editors missing fabricated stories in the past". Of course, reliance on this rating requires you to trust the people behind mediabiasfactcheck. I've found them to be ... somewhat credible. They do best with sources that are firmly (USA) democrat or republican oriented, however. For example, they also rate Feminist Current as "mostly factual" for the "promotion of transphobia" despite no failed fact checks in the past five years. Further cases like this one and related issues damage their credibility. Unfortunately, I really don't have a special way to determine credible sources. My best advice is honestly to look at many different sources, including ones you don't agree with, and critically engage with the content of each of them.

In reference to this article specifically, the more important factor in this case is the "opinion" article flag at the top of the page. This means that someone, who doesn't have to be affiliated with the source, wrote an article that the source is hosting. There's many reasons why they would agree to do so, so speculating isn't very helpful. Researching the author can help establish professional credibility (is he a reporter? a public offical? just some guy?), but it's important not to stray into ad hominem attacks (i.e., check out the author to determine credibility, but focus arguments about article on the content of the article).

In this case, the author is "Glenn Harlan Reynolds" a law professor at the "University of Tennessee College of Law" and writer of the "Instapundit" blog. mediabiasfactcheck rates it as a "questionable source" for "promotion of propaganda, conspiracy theories, the use of poor sources, a failed fact check, and a lack of transparency with ownership". Reynolds has also been disciplined for the "promotion of violence" over social media. This suggests to me that he lacks credibility, an opinion I'd support by his clear misunderstanding and/or misrepresentation of data sources.

References under the cut:

Basile, K.C., Smith, S.G., Kresnow, M., Khatiwada S., & Leemis, R.W. (2022). The National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey: 2016/2017 Report on Sexual Violence. Atlanta, GA: National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Teravskis, P. J., Grossman-Kahn, R., & Gulrajani, C. (2022). Victim intoxication and capacity to consent in sexual assault statutes across the united states. Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law Online. https://doi.org/10.29158/JAAPL.220032-21

von Soest, T., Luhmann, M., Hansen, T., & Gerstorf, D. (2020). Development of loneliness in midlife and old age: Its nature and correlates. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 118(2), 388–406. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspp0000219

[hometoursandotherstuff]

This home looks like a rocket getting ready to take off, but the 1919 home is Art Deco and is located in Washington, DC. 3bds, 5ba, $1.995M.

The theme is white, black, & red. Look at this entrance hall. Some glass block, curves, and those shiny black floors.

This sitting room has lovely arches.

There are stairs going off to the right, lots of stairs and 3 levels.

There are also large red X's, as well. The living room is nice and airy- look at the glass walls. Unfortunately, the neighbor's fence at first looked like it was part of the decor.

The living room really looks like you're sitting on a porch.

The dining room is large and has a scalloped ceiling illuminated by wall sconce uplighting.

The kitchen has shiny black cabinetry, gray counters, and red accents.

It has a great bump-out Art Deco banquette.

Look at the amazing swirling stairs. We're looking down from the 3rd level balcony with a glass barrier.

The primary bedroom is large.

There's a walk-in closet.

And, it has this amazing en-suite.

Bedroom #2.

Cool red bath.

Bedroom #3 and its en-suite. This home has some cool baths.

There's a little desk area in the hall with a big X on the wall.

It looks like they started to build walls in the basement.

Small brick patio and yard.

https://www.trulia.com/home/1452-foxhall-rd-nw-washington-dc-20007-434905?mid=0#lil-mediaTab

[tailschannel]

Here's a complete recap of everything featured in this year's Sonic Central presentation

New collaborations with LEGO, an upcoming Sonic Frontiers DLC update, and a first look at Part 2 of Sonic Prime were among the major highlights in this year's Sonic Central presentation.

Here's everything you need to know.

Sonic Frontiers

Details on the second major content update for Sonic Frontiers was revealed in the Sonic Central. Titled "Sonic's Birthday Bash", it's scheduled for a release on 23 June 2023.

Sonic's Birthday: Celebrate Sonic's birthday in Sonic Frontiers with a new birthday theme, including a festive HUD, environment objects, a new birthday skin, and more!

Open Zone Challenges: Explore the Open Zone with all new challanges scattered throughout.

Spindash: The iconic Sonic move makes a return in Sonic Frontiers!

New Kocos: Some Kocos seem to dawn new outfits and some do seem a bit bigger than usual.

New Game Plus.

Sonic Superstars

A new teaser was shown promoting the new Sonic Superstars and LEGO collaboration, featuring LEGO Eggman as a pre-order bonus.

Following the presentation, SEGA dropped new renders and descriptions for all the characters featured in the upcoming game.

Trip: Not much is known yet about Trip, the mysterious girl first encountered by Fang on the Northstar Islands. While a bit clumsy, Trip is heavily armored and has been enlisted by Fang and Dr. Eggman to protect and guide them around the wonders of this uncharted region.

Fang the Hunter (formerly Fang the Sniper): Fang is a springy jerboa that is light on his feet and is always looking for the next big score. A bounty hunter by trade, Fang the Hunter has been known by many different names over the years, likely due to his “WANTED” status with the authorities. Always trying to stay one step ahead, he’s constantly modifying and upgrading his primary mode of transportation, the Marvelous Queen.

You can check out the rest of the descriptions for Sonic, Amy, Tails, Knuckles and Eggman here.

The official Sonic the Hedgehog YouTube channel also uploaded a new 3-minute video featuring Superstars producer Naoto Ohshima and Sonic Studio creative officer Takashi Iizuka.

They "talk in-depth about Superstars, including inspirations, challenges, and what it's like to create a new character."

Sonic Symphony World Tour

Here are the official tour dates for the Sonic Symphony from 2023 to 2024:

Sept 16, 2023 - London, Barbican Hall

Sept 22, 2023 - Paris, Le Grand Rex

Sept 30, 2023 - Los Angeles, Dolby Theatre

Oct 14-15, 2023 - São Paulo, Brasil Game Show

Oct 21, 2023 - Boston, Emerson Colonial Theatre

Oct 28, 2023 - Chicago, Auditorium Theatre

Nov 17, 2023 - Düsseldorf, Mitsubishi Electric Halle

Dec 15, 2023 - San Antonio, Majestic Theatre

Dec 29, 2023 - Atlanta, Cobb Energy P.A.C.

Jan 05, 2024 - Seattle, Paramount Theatre

Jan 06, 2024 - San Francisco, Davies Symphony Hall

Jan 20, 2024 - Washington DC, Warner Theater

Jan 27, 2024 - Kansas City, Kansas City Music Hall

Feb 11, 2024 - Tokyo, LINE CUBE SHIBUYA

Feb 17, 2024 - Toronto, Meridian Hall

Mar 24, 2024 - Montreal, Wilfrid-Pelletier Theater

Mar 29, 2024 - Portland, Schnitzer Auditorium

For more information such as ticket pricing and availability, check out the above links.

Sonic Prime

A new extended clip of the upcoming second content drop of Sonic Prime was previewed. It's scheduled to make its debut on Netflix in 13 July.

With the help of his ragtag group of Shatterverse allies, Sonic battles the Chaos Council for control of the powerful Paradox Prism, one Shard at a time.

Sonic Dash and Speed Battle

A new Classic Super Sonic skin will be joining SEGA HARDlight's flagship titles Speed Battle and Dash soon.

Other things of note, as reported last week:

To coincide with the release of the 2nd season of Sonic Prime, characters from Prime will be playable in Dash, including Boscage Sonic, Rusty Rose, and Tails Nine.

Alongside the Prime characters, Super Silver and an all new Dragon Hunter Lancelot will make their debut in Dash and Speed Battle later this month.

San Diego Comic-Con 2023

With Comic-Con coming this summer, a new pop-up restaurant featuring the blue blur will open near the show floor.

More details will be announced in the weeks ahead.

Merchandise

New Death Egg Set from Jakks Pacific: Based on the Sonic 4 Episode 2 final boss, fight The Egg Heart in the new Death Egg set.

Streetwear brand Hypland announced their collaboration with Sonic the Hedgehog: The limited edition collection features an assortment of graphic tees and hoodies featuring Sonic and his friends meshed into contemporary streetwear designs.

S-Fire Sonic Statue: Pre-order the new Sonic & Shadow statue today with augmented reality compatibility.

Sonic has officially announced a collaboration with the popular shoe brand Crocs. As reported back in late May: it's available in adult and kids sizes, for $49.99 USD and $44.99 USD respectively. Besides the shoes themselves, Crocs will be offering Jibbitz charms. They will be coming in a pack of 5 with Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, and Shadow, offered at $19.99 USD.

Other things of note: a Sonic-themed Playmate cooler from Igloo, a themed guitar from ESP Guitars, and Sonic and Shadow Cable Guy figures.

Sonic Origins Plus

With Origins Plus out, SEGA released a new launch trailer.

With more content than ever before, and a new premium physical version, Sonic Origins Plus is the definitive way to play 16 classic Sonic games in one timeless collection.

LEGO

SEGA officially previewed the Death Egg Robot set, now scheduled for a release in August.

As reported via a leak earlier this month, it contains a Sonic mini figure accompanied with his speed sphere mechanism and the launcher to it; and the Death Egg Robot piloted by Eggman, and Cubot.

Samba de Amigo: Party Central

As reported, the upcoming Samba De Amigo: Party Central will be featuring the world's famous hedgehog as a guest character.

The game will feature two iconic Sonic tunes, Escape From the City and Fist Bump, alongside the City Escape stage itself.

IDW Sonic the Hedgehog

Today's Central presentation made a brief mention of IDW Publishing's upcoming one-shot issue for the Sonic the Hedgehog comic book series: Amy Rose's 30th Anniversary.

You can read more details in our report from earlier today.

Sonic Speed Simulator

Despite the developer's controversies, the officially-licenced Speed Simulator got a mention in the Central presentation.

Users can celebrate Sonic's birthday in style with the new Tuxedo Classic Sonic skin, out now.

Lastly...

TailsTube got a shoutout, and voice actor Mike Pollock dropped some fire bars in the LEGO collaboration video.

...and that's all! For news and updates anytime, be sure to follow @TailsChannel where you are on social media.

(Files contributed by the Tails' Channel Newsfeed.)

[trainsgenderfoxgirl2816]

Vent to me about trains if ya like :3

YAY :D

So the Milwaukee Road was the First Railroad to use the use 3000 Volt DC power for any significant stretches of Electrification in 1915 (it was adopted by South African Railways in 1925, Cleveland Union Terminal (under the New York Central Railroad), the Soviet Union in 1930, the Delaware Lackawanna and Western Railroad in 1930, Italy in 1933, Brazil in 1935, Spain and Chile in 1945)

however the Primary mainline Electrification system United States would be 11,000 Volts 25 Hertz AC which was Adopted by the New York New Haven and Hartford Railroad in 1907 between Pelham and Stamford in New York (later all the way between Manhattan and New Haven CT), the Pennsylvania in 1915 between Philadelphia and Paoli (later the Entire PRR mainline between Washington DC and New York as well the entire Philadelphia Suburban Network), the Great Northern railroad in 1922 between Wenatchee and Skykomish (de-electrified in 1956), the Virginian Railroad in 1925 between Mullens and Roanoke (de-electrified in 1962), the Reading Railroad in 1928 for their Half of the Philadelphia Suburban Network, and very Briefly the Norfolk and Western had Electrified the Elkhorn grade with this system but de-electrified in 1940

@amtrak-official

[mariacallous]

TikTok went all out to defend itself in a court hearing last Monday, to block a law that could force TikTok to be sold or banned in the United States. That included using one surprising strategy: to bring other Chinese apps down with it.

Earlier this year, the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act (PAFACA), which aims to prevent national security threats from apps like TikTok, took less than two months to pass both the House and the Senate, before it was swiftly signed by President Joe Biden in April. It caught almost everyone by surprise, including TikTok. The law requires TikTok to find a US buyer to take over its operation soon, or face being banned in the US. TikTok promptly sued the government over it.

At the Court of Appeals in Washington, DC, on September 16, Andrew Pincus, a partner at law firm Mayer Brown acting for TikTok, argued that the law unfairly targets the social media app for the speech on the platform and that it violates the First Amendment. Specifically, Pincus said the law exempts other Chinese apps that could have been doing worse on the concern of data security protection.

“There are very significant ecommerce sites based in China and other places that collect much more data than TikTok does. Very sensitive data,” Pincus said. At another point in the hearing, he narrowed down the targets to “two Chinese, two e-commerce sites that would certainly meet all of the other criteria in the law.”

Pincus did not name-drop the two sites in his statements, but a TikTok court filing from August 15 cited the privacy policies of Shein and Temu—two ecommerce companies linked to China—to make the same argument Pincus made. The filing also cited research from April 2023 on the data risks of these two companies, collated by the US–China Economic and Security Review Commission.

Shein and Temu came from China’s fiercely competitive ecommerce industry and were able to take over the world by storm by shipping low-cost apparels and goods globally. Each boasts tens of millions of customers around the world, and they are often compared to TikTok as the rare examples of Chinese tech companies that have truly succeeded in the US.

TikTok, however, claims there’s an exemption clause in the PAFACA Act that essentially protects Chinese companies like Shein and Temu but not TikTok. When defining what companies are covered, the Act has only one exclusion: companies and products “whose primary purpose is to allow users to post product reviews, business reviews, or travel information and reviews.”

To be fair, the clause that TikTok highlighted was a bewildering inclusion from the beginning. Even some lawmakers claimed they weren’t sure why it was necessary to put in place such an exception.

But TikTok is seizing this opportunity to argue that, because the clause would likely protect Shein, Temu, and similar ecommerce sites that also have significant presence in the US and collect a wealth of privacy data, the Act is narrowly tailored to punish TikTok. It went as far as to claim that the clause shows Congress favors topics like products, business, and travel instead of politics, religion, and entertainment, making it a First Amendment infringement. The DOJ has denied this characterization in written court briefs.

It is a valid legal strategy, Alan Rozenshtein, an associate professor of law at the University of Minnesota Law School, explains to WIRED, as the First Amendment can consider a law unconstitutional “if the law hinges on solving a particular problem, does so in an extremely limited way, and leaves the law unsolved.”

But the judge didn’t seem to buy the argument. “It’s a rather blinkered view that the statute just singles out one company,” said Judge Douglas Ginsburg during the hearing. “It describes a category of companies, all of which are owned by or controlled by adversary powers, and subjects one company to an immediate necessity because it’s engaged in two years of negotiation with that company, held innumerable hearings, meeting after meeting after meeting, [and] an attempt to reach an agreement on a national security arrangement which failed.”

The DOJ also replied to TikTok’s problem with the exclusion clause, saying in a court brief that if the clause were to be found problematic, the right solution would be to simply take out that clause about excluding businesses, instead of invalidating the whole law.

In recent years, data security concerns have become one of the main friction points in tech policies in the US and China. While the Chinese government passed a law that regulates cross-border data transfers, the US government has taken a more piecemeal approach, investigating risks posed by products like TikTok and Chinese-made smart cars.

Some experts and lawmakers advocate for a more comprehensive legal framework to solve this issue. “This bill not only fails to solve the problem, but also jeopardizes the free speech and livelihoods of 170 million Americans who use the app. Instead, Congress should pass a bill to prevent apps, whether it's TikTok or any other social media platform, from collecting or transferring data and make foreign interference in social media algorithms illegal,” said Representative Ro Khanna in an emailed statement. Khanna voted no on the PAFACA bill.

For now, Chinese ecommerce sites like Shein and Temu have faced much less scrutiny around data security than TikTok. But TikTok’s legal strategy of highlighting the alleged data security risks of other Chinese companies will no doubt put more pressure on them. If TikTok fails its legal challenge and is banned from operating in the US unless it is sold, it’s not hard to imagine that lawmakers might turn their attention to other prominent Chinese tech companies.

“There might be some kind of legal strategy behind this, but in terms of how the public will now perceive TikTok, it has voluntarily opted to be associated with Temu and Shein and has undone a lot of the narrative work it has been trying to do,” says Ivy Yang, the founder of Wavelet Strategy, a strategic PR consultancy who has worked in Alibaba’s PR department.

By comparing TikTok’s data security concerns to Shein’s and Temu’s, the company essentially has labeled itself among a number of Chinese companies considered security risks.

So far, Shein and Temu have not made any statement about the PAFACA bill and its potential implications on their businesses. A Shein spokesperson responded in an emailed statement: “SHEIN has robust data security policies and practices in line with industry standards, and we are committed to only collecting and using the minimum amount of data needed to fulfill orders. SHEIN stores US customer data within Microsoft’s US-based Azure cloud-based solution and within AWS’s US-based cloud-based solution.” Temu and TikTok did not reply to requests for comment.

These ecommerce companies have plenty of problems to deal with at the moment too. A September White House decision to scrap a tariff exemption policy could significantly increase shipping costs for them and harm their profitability. Meanwhile, the two ecommerce companies have been embroiled in a tit-for-tat legal battle in the US since July 2023, accusing each other of monopolistic practices and deceptive marketing.

“What they are doing is basically airing all the dirty laundry,” Yang says about the Shein–Temu court fights. “It’s very much, ‘We are competitors and we have to beat the other party no matter how far we go, even though as a whole it’s a terrible look on Chinese companies.’” The same problem is playing out as TikTok seemingly decided to take down its fellow Chinese companies to save itself in the court.

But TikTok’s gambit may not pay off in the end. Even if it successfully argues that the Congress shouldn’t just target one app for its data security risks, it still needs to refute the government’s other justification for the law—that TikTok could be subject to content and algorithm manipulation by the Chinese government in the future. “The law has used two justifications. [If] one is invalid and the other is valid, the law is still valid,” says Rozenshtein.

There has been no proof—at least not in the nonredacted materials—that the Chinese government is currently interfering with TikTok’s content in the US. But during last week’s hearing, none of the judges seemed interested in discussing this point with TikTok or the government.

“[TikTok] made the best argument they could. Just the argument went very poorly for them,” Rozenshtein says. “I don’t think it’s conceivable that TikTok will win, at least on this level.”

[historia-vitae-magistras]

The Danegeld Axe

Part Four: Assets

First Installment: Here. Last Installment: Here. Current Installment: You are here! Next Installment: Here.

Author's note: Inspired by the 1950s short story "The Man Who Came Early" by Poul Anderson. This installment of the Viking-time-travel au sees government employees being stupid, Matthew Williams being less stupid and Arthur Kirkland finally snapping.

21st Century Washington DC Diplomatic Security Service

"Does the name Kirkland mean anything to you?"

"Costco brand home goods?" He grinned and slid a cup of shitty coffee to his executive branch counterpart. “Yeah, some aquaintance of my primary asset.”

“He’s your asset’s father, as far as anyone can tell.”

“Is that how they’re related? Huh. Good to know. The name has come up here and there.”

“Didn’t they tell you?”

“They don’t tell me shit. Everyone knows this is a cushy post. Keep the genius on board and try to keep his tinkering budget below world-ending for a couple of years. Do that, get one of the prestige posts overseas. Boom, career made. Jones hasn’t done anything but cooperate since I got here. What else did I need to know?”

“Yeah, well, he’s a well-connected genius. The father is old world money. And I mean old. The kind of money that's been bulking up interest since the crusades.”

"Jesus. Why do you ask?"

"He got wind you were looking for his other kid before he went missing."

“Matthew Williams was old European money? You’re not serious. He did grass with homeless guys in Stanley Park and drove a 78 Chevy. Everyone knows Alfred has got the brains and business sense.”

"As best anyone can tell, Alfred was probably conceived in Kirkland's navy days.”

Corcoran snorted. “Half of Boston is a Fleet Week baby.”

“Not an English fleet week, baby. No one knows. Williams was probably from Halifax or Arctic Command, maybe. No one knows their mother, if she's even the same one. They don’t live like old money, but the Kirklands spend way too much time around Downing Street to be nobodies, though.“

"There are more than one?”

“Three brothers at least. Unconfirmed but suspected sister somewhere in the mix.”

"So?"

"So tread carefully is all I'm saying. You’ve just lost his other kid on the ISS. And he’s bound to find out eventually.”

“I did what?”

British Embassy Washington D.C.

“What did you find?” Arthur sprang to his feet as soon as Matthew passed through the door. He hadn’t even gotten the fucking key out of the door before his father sprung on him.

“Nothing. Not a fucking thing. His place is in its usual state when he’s up there.” Complete chaos. Matt pressed his fingers into his temple, and the executive office and the state department were completely normal. Everything is normal. Nothing looks wrong. No one said anything. Nothing on the computers, nothing in the records.”

"Is your access still that high?”

“Of course not,” Matt snorted. “As far as the US government knows, I’ve been dead for about a year. I just use Alfred’s third set of back-ups.”

“How on earth—”

“Last time I took a northwoods sabbatical.”

“You mean the last time you had a mental breakdown and spent three months in the woods eating possum liver?"

“I prefer racoons thank you, and…” Matthew rubbed the back of his neck, preparing for the backlash. “Well, that was the second to last time.”

“What?” His father’s face was instantly furious and even more worrying, his father was concerned. “Matthew!”

He wasn’t having it. Not today. “I’m fine. I’m not the one missing from this mortal fucking plane. Point is, as far as the US government is concerned, I don’t exist.”

His father’s brain was working, his worry between Matthew standing before him and his firstborn clearly in conflict. Not on his face, never on his face, but Matthew knew what the slight flex of one hand meant. Alfred won. He always won. “And there’s no chance of them noticing? All that you’ve been doing?”

“What do you think?” Matthew snapped as he collapsed in a chair, and as fast as his temper had flared, it was gone. He pinched the bridge of his nose and exhaled, feeling sick where there’d been a fire a moment ago. “Sorry.”

Arthur approached gently. “You didn’t sense anything?”

“Nothing.” He pressed his palms into his eyes. “Not a fucking thing. I woke up two nights ago feeling like this and it hasn’t changed.” The sick, cold feeling was back. It was like missing organs, or his skin, or half of himself. Maybe more than half of himself.

“You should sleep. You haven’t since I arrived.”

“I can’t sleep! I need answers.”

“We can’t get answers if you collapse on me. And we will get answers.” Matt hadn’t cried so far, but Arthur pushed his hair off his face and tapped him under the jaw in that affectionate ‘chin up, lad’ sort of way, and he couldn’t stop himself. His eyes itched, but he would not cry. Instead, he buried his face in his father’s shoulder, pressing his forehead hard enough to hurt. It was pathetic. He was grown. But he couldn't bring himself to care. Alfred was lost, and his entire body felt so wrong, with only his frosted fields and forests and none of the blast of noise and life that was his brother.

“You know what? Fuck this. I brought your good knife. Let's get answers.”