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☆ Sinema privately trashed Senate Democrats to GOP lobbyists, saying they eat too much Jell-O and waste time
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Brent D. Griffiths | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Sen. Kyrsten Sinema privately trashed her Democratic colleagues to GOP lobbyists. Sinema said she stopped attending party lunches because "old dudes are eating Jell-O" and it's a waste of time. Earlier this year, Sinema formally left the Democratic Party. Earlier this year, Sinema formally left the Democratic Party and became an independent, though she still caucuses with Democrats. An unnamed Senate Democrat once told Martin earlier this year that Sinema is "the biggest egomaniac in the Senate."

☆ Does She Airwrap? How Dyson’s $600 Hair Styler Became a Sensation
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-20 | by ( Rory Satran | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

The U.S.—land of pageants, cheerleaders, Hollywood, and, now, self-care and YouTubers—has always been a hotbed of perfectly groomed hair. Even at that prohibitive price, the Airwrap, launched in 2018, continually sells out. On TikTok, a seemingly endless stream of Airwrap-focused videos—from tutorials to takedowns—have been viewed over four billion times. Horses, babies and luscious-locked “Queer Eye” star Jonathan Van Ness have all gotten the Airwrap treatment. On Etsy, you can choose from hundreds of bespoke racks to store your Airwrap.

☆ The UFO shoot-downs show the hardest part of discovering alien life may be announcing it. Here's how NASA might break the news.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-18 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Extraterrestrial life likely wouldn't show up as flying objects, but finding it could cause similar chaos. An illustration of the CoLD scale for determining confidence in a detection of alien life. The president or other countries could be involved in announcing extraterrestrial life existsPresident Joe Biden speaks at Delaware State University. Anna Moneymaker/Getty ImagesAnnouncing the existence of alien life would be an "administration-level" affair, Glaze said, referring to the US presidency. Needless to say, any discovery of alien life would likely lead to chaos — at least in public discourse.

☆ Fact Check-Digitally altered video shows Biden talking about UFOs and extraterrestrials
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

White House Spokesperson Saloni Sharma told Reuters the remarks “never happened.”Reuters found no public record of Biden saying this. “While the voice cloning is quite effective, the video manipulation is quickly discernible as fake,” he told Reuters via email. Reuters previously debunked another digitally altered video of Biden (here ). A White House spokesperson told Reuters Biden did not make such remarks about flying objects. There is no evidence that he said that, and experts told Reuters that the video circulating on social media has been manipulated.

☆ Unidentified Flying Object Debris Search Is Hampered by Weather, Location
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( Ken Thomas | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

WASHINGTON—The U.S. hasn’t yet been able to locate debris from the three unidentified objects shot down over North America last weekend and has been hampered by remote, frigid conditions, the White House said Tuesday. John Kirby, the National Security Council’s coordinator for strategic communications, said there were intensive recovery operations under way to try to recover debris from the takedowns that occurred over Alaska on Friday, Canada’s Yukon territory on Saturday and Lake Huron on Sunday.

WASHINGTON—Biden administration officials on Monday defended their decisions to shoot down three unidentified flying objects over the U.S. and Canada, even as they acknowledged they knew little about what they were destroying. The three unidentified objects were flying at altitudes of 20,000 to 40,000 feet—much lower than the suspected Chinese spy balloon taken out Feb. 4—and posed a hazard to civilian air traffic, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters.

WASHINGTON, Feb 13 (Reuters) - The White House said on Monday there is no indication of aliens or extraterrestrial activity after a series of shoot-downs of unidentified objects over North American airspace. "I know there have been questions and concerns about this, but there is no, again no indication of aliens or extraterrestrial activity with these recent takedowns," White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said. On Sunday, a U.S. Air Force general said he would not rule out aliens or any other explanation yet, deferring to U.S. intelligence experts. "I don't think the American people need to worry about aliens with respect to these crafts, period," White House spokesman John Kirby said during a White House briefing with reporters on Monday. The government's effort to investigate anomalous, unidentified objects - whether they are in space, the skies or even underwater - has led to hundreds of documented reports that are being investigated, senior military leaders have said.

"I know there have been questions and concerns about this, but there is no, again no indication of aliens or extraterrestrial activity with these recent takedowns," White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said. On Sunday, a U.S. Air Force general said he would not rule out aliens or any other explanation yet, deferring to U.S. intelligence experts. John Kirby, National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications, answers questions during the daily press briefing with White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, at the White House in Washington, U.S., February 13, 2023. REUTERS/Evelyn HocksteinMultiple White House officials ruled out the possibility that the objects came from extraterrestrials on Monday. "I don't think the American people need to worry about aliens with respect to these crafts, period," White House spokesperson John Kirby said during a White House briefing with reporters on Monday.

"There is no, again, no indication of aliens or extraterrestrial activity with these recent takedowns," White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said. "We have not yet been able to definitively assess what these most recent objects are," White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said at a news briefing. At Friday's White House briefing, Kirby said: "There is no U.S. surveillance aircraft in Chinese airspace. I'm not aware of any other craft that we're flying over into Chinese airspace." "This is the latest example of China scrambling to do damage control," Adrienne Watson, another White House national security spokesperson, said in a statement.

☆ How 'Skinamarink' made $1.5 million on a $15,000 budget
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Noah Sheidlower | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

In this article AMCX Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNTA still promo for the film Skinamarink. Coutesy: Bayview EntertainmentExperimental horror film "Skinamarink" has been all the buzz on social media for months — and now it's a sleeper hit at the box office. Much of these sales come from the most wide-released horror films that had budgets between $16 million and $35 million. Independent horror films are released every week, and it's very difficult to stand out among these releases, he said. Still shot from the film "Skinamarink".

☆ Elon Musk's Twitter faces censorship allegations in India free speech battle
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( David Ingram | David Ingram Covers Tech For Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

Elon Musk is facing allegations of being complicit with state censorship after Twitter appeared to take sides with India’s government in a turbulent free speech fight over a documentary critical of the country’s prime minister. Musk’s brief answer was in contrast to the sometimes-detailed, personalized responses he has given to other people who complain to him about Twitter. Within India, Twitter said it complied 5.6% of the time. “The BBC has not asked Twitter to remove any content relating to the documentary,” the British broadcaster said in a statement. “The IT Rules are being exploited, handing authorities license to pressure platforms to censor content in ‘emergency’ cases,” he said in a Twitter thread.

☆ A volunteer medic in Ukraine posted a 'skincare routine' video from the front lines after TikTok kept deleting his war posts
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-06 | by ( Mia Jankowicz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A frontline medic in Ukraine posted a "skincare" video to TikTok after his other posts were taken down. Brandon Mitchell made the skincare post in part to ridicule TikTok's moderation. But after TikTok took much of that material down, Mitchell made a post on Monday simply labeled: "Skincare routine." The hashtag #fakewar is often added to Ukraine content, while sexually suggestive content might be posted with the hashtag #fakebody. As for Mitchell, he says he's not planning to continue to take on the social media giant over his Ukraine war posts.

Meanwhile, Twitter’s resources to fight child sexual exploitation content online (and what is sometimes called child pornography or child sexual abuse materials) are thin, following layoffs, mass-firings and resignations from the company. Child sexual exploitation content has remained a problem for Twitter, though most major social media platforms continue to deal with it in some form or another. Moderation of this content usually relies on a combination of automated detection systems and specialized internal teams and external contractors to identify child abuse content and remove it. “So, I mean, that is disheartening.”It’s unclear how many Twitter employees remain to work on child safety issues. A search on LinkedIn for current Twitter employees who say they work on child safety turned up only a few accounts.

Less than a month after taking control of Twitter , Elon Musk said addressing child sexual exploitation content on the social media platform was "Priority #1." "It is a crime that they refused to take action on child exploitation for years!" Meanwhile, Twitter's resources to fight child sexual exploitation content online (and what is sometimes called child pornography or child sexual abuse materials) are thin, following layoffs, mass-firings and resignations from the company. Twitter's imperfect efforts fighting child sexual exploitation content were well documented. Stroppa said he felt Twitter's previous efforts were lacking and that it now moves quickly to find and suspend accounts that post child sexual exploitation content.

☆ Elon Musk says he plans to publish 'the Twitter Files' about free speech suppression on the social-media platform
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( Beatrice Nolan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Elon Musk has teased the release of "the Twitter Files" about "free speech suppression." Musk is a self-proclaimed "free speech absolutist" and has said he plans to embrace free speech on Twitter. Twitter's new owner tweeted on Monday: "The Twitter Files on free speech suppression soon to be published on Twitter itself. He added: "If free speech is lost even in America, tyranny is all that lies ahead." The Tesla CEO has been a longtime advocate of "free speech", although experts routinely question his wide interpretation of the First Amendment.

☆ Twitter slipped on removing hate speech even before Elon Musk takeover, E.U. says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( David Ingram | David Ingram Covers Tech For Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

Twitter removed 45.4% of hate speech posts it was notified about in a sample this year, down from 49.8% in 2021, European Union officials wrote in their report. The data was collected from March to May, months before tech magnate Elon Musk bought Twitter for $44 billion and began loosening the site's enforcement even more around hateful posts. law, the Digital Services Act, threatens tech companies with fines in the billions of dollars if they don't strictly police their platforms. Musk has said he's focused less on removing hateful posts and more on limiting how often people view such posts — keeping them from going viral. officials said that they worked with 33 civil society organizations and three public bodies to notify tech companies of violations and monitor takedowns.

☆ Ukraine shares video of Russian helicopter getting blasted out of the sky, the latest in a string of takedowns
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( Sophia Ankel | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Ukrainian forces have reported taking out multiple Russian helicopters in recent weeks. A Ukrainian official on Wednesday shared a video he said shows a strike on a Russian helicopter. Ukraine has reported taking out multiple Russian helicopters in recent weeks. "This represents over 25% of the Russian Air Force's in-service fleet of 90 KA-52s and nearly half of Russia's total helicopter losses in Ukraine," the update said. On Monday, Ukrainian forces sabotaged an airbase deep inside Russia, close to the Latvian border, planting explosives inside the military helicopters, CNN reported.

The setting for the second season of “White Lotus,” which premieres on HBO on Sunday, has shifted from a lavish five-star hotel nestled on a pristine beach in Hawaii to a luxury resort in the foothills of Sicily. What hasn’t changed is that the staff members working at the hotels are more relatable than the guests. Reboots of “Gossip Girl” and “The Kardashians” met similar fates as they failed to reach the heights of their originals. As most of us belong to the 99%, shows that scrutinize the top percentile are that much more delectable. “White Lotus” is one of the shows that manages to navigate both successfully, showcasing trust-fund babies who self-implode without the viewer feeling sorry for them.

☆ HBO's big 'House of the Dragon' finale leaked 2 days before it was supposed to air. The company says it's 'aggressively' policing and issuing takedowns.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( Samantha Delouya | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

The season finale of HBO's "House of the Dragon" reportedly leaked online 2 days before it was supposed to air. The episode was leaked on Friday, two days before its air date. While this is the first reported leak for the "Game of Thrones" spinoff, HBO has a long history of dealing with piracy. In August 2017, hackers leaked episodes of HBO's "Insecure," "Curb Your Enthusiasm," and a reported draft script of a yet-to-air episode of "Game of Thrones." The hacks led HBO to make the decision to film multiple "Game of Thrones" endings in an effort to throw off would-be leakers from spoiling the series finale.

☆ Facebook says it took down Chinese network using fake social media accounts to interfere in U.S. midterms
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-27 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Dilanianmug.Jpg | Ken Dilanian | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

Facebook parent company Meta said Tuesday it took down a network of fake accounts from China that attempted to interfere in American politics ahead of this November’s midterm elections. Meta said the Chinese operation set up fake accounts posing as Americans, attacking politicians from both parties and posting inflammatory material about divisive issues such as abortion and gun rights. The network was small — just 84 Facebook accounts — and did not have a chance to develop much of an audience, Meta said in a report released Tuesday. “And it’s the first time we’ve seen that from a Chinese operation in this way. The New York Times reported in June that the company's core election team was disbanded, and the company has remained relatively quiet about its election efforts.

☆ Trump thought that he, as president, could prosecute Clinton and Comey, book says
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-19 | by ( Erin Snodgrass | Nicole Gaudiano | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Donald Trump once threatened to use his role as president to prosecute his political foes. A White House attorney had to explain to the then president that he had no such power. The episode was chronicled in "The Divider," a new book obtained by Insider ahead of its publication. "You can't prosecute anybody," McGahn told Trump, according to the book. Several former Trump White House and government officials have since recounted similar stories that suggest the former president was unfamiliar with the logistics of his newfound position.

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