Major League Baseball has incorporated the statistics of former Negro Leagues players into its historical records on its website, meaning legendary leaders in some categories like Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb have now been replaced in the record books by players who were not allowed to play on the same fields as them during segregation. Josh Gibson, one of the greatest sluggers in the history of the Negro Leagues, is now listed as MLB's new all-time career leader in batting average at .372, moving ahead of Ty Cobb at .367. The MLB website shows Gibson also overtaking Babe Ruth in career slugging percentage.

Top leaderboard changes as Negro Leagues join Major League record [MLB] MLB integrates Negro League statistics into all-time record book with Josh Gibson now career batting average leader [CNN] Josh Gibson becomes MLB career and season batting leader as Negro Leagues statistics incorporated [AP] The MLB's long-overdue decision to add Negro Leagues' stats, briefly explained [Vox] MLB incorporates Negro Leagues statistics, shakes up record books [ESPN] MLB's integration of Negro League stats invites us to explore baseball as never before [The Athletic] MLB Player Comps for Josh Gibson, Satchel Paige and More Negro League Legends [Bleacher Report] Seamheads Negro League stats Retro Sheets Negro Leagues site So many previouslies...

Many authors have written stories or novels inspired by RPG campaigns. There is debate about whether or not tabletop RPGs should be used as writing tools. Plenty of folks give the idea a thumbs-down, but save some room in your heart for the LitRPG. B&N has you covered with, of course, a list of novels that started life as RPGs.

P1: The Rule of Law P2: The Dark Dimension P3: The Chaos-Born Tiara P4: The Paper Victory

This is the story of how a low-budget Australian film – The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert – changed the course of history, loudly and proudly bringing a celebration of gay culture to the world that continues to resonate 20 years on. Narrated by Terence Stamp, Between a Frock and a Hard Place [57m] is also a social history of gay culture in Australia, drawing on footage from the famous movie as well as Sydney in the 80s.

A time when the AIDS epidemic had taken hold, this time provided inspiration to director Stephan Elliott, who wanted to tell a story about the world of gay people, celebrating in the face of sadness and fear with flamboyant defiance. Includes interviews with the film's key players – director Stephan Elliott, actors Terence Stamp, Guy Pearce and Hugo Weaving, and the creative team, as well as drag artists and members of the gay community.

Once extinct in central Australia, this little kangaroo-looking marsupial is now thriving in a remote desert safe haven. The number of brush-tailed bettongs and burrowing bettongs surveyed at Newhaven Wildlife Sanctuary in central Australia has nearly doubled since last year.

"Me and monotropism : a unified theory of autism," suggests that attentional differences explain not only the diagnostic criteria for autism, but better yet, they explain the internal phenomenology: inertia, sensory and social overload and insensitivity, stimming, and particularly hyperfocus and intense interest.

Test yourself here.

This gown, from one of Kahlo's long hospital stays, is stained with both paint and [content note:] blood. It is a garment that portrays a very different image than the technicolor Tehuantepec dresses that were the artist's signature style in public. [getty.edu]

Frida & Trotsky ascend (2002), TikTok (Sotheby's), Museo Frida Kahlo previously: a ribbon around a bomb, LINEAGE BEGINS WITH THE AZTECS "La Catrina has been iterated over time," [San Francisco's Mexican Museum curator David de la Torre] said. "It's not just [José Guadalupe] Posada and his work in 1910. There are layers of history." ...an amazing time in history, features "La Catrina in [Diego Rivera']s iconic mural, Sueño de una Tarde Dominical en la Alameda Central {Bronx Museum, via Google Arts & Culture} (Dream of a Sunday Afternoon in the Alameda Central), where she links arms with a likeness of her creator, José Guadalupe Posada, opposite Rivera himself as a child and Frida Kahlo, among many others...", Kahlo was a Marxist and member of the Mexican Communist Party - I suspect she'd find "brand builder" a repugnant label, eyebrows that would make Frida Kahlo jealous, "send me " might return Yasumasa Morimura's An Inner Dialogue with Frida Kahlo (Collar of Thorns) "i think we broke it", Dalí/nsfw (links to an exhibit that may mirror the above; link's broken), beyond 5 women artists, expressions in the 1930s photos- I can't help but think of what was about to happen to the world, "They thought I was a surrealist, but I wasn't. I never painted dreams. I painted my own reality." (link out), [Tina] Modotti had an affair with Diego Rivera and later introduced him to Frida Kahlo in 1927, - the same year she joined the Partido Comunista. The following year Rivera painted The Arsenal where he portrayed the love, the activist known as Frida Kahlo, painting is not only a work of art, it is also an historical document, 300 dresses -- compete with paint stains and lingering cigarette smells, that earned her a photo shoot with Vogue magazine in 1937, La Llorona her tribute to Frida Kahlo, self-reflecting, Could you maybe add a "losangeles" tag?, the portable shrine concept (with LED candles!), Not Dali But An Incredible Simulation, together they have developed (and continue to perform) the long-running Difficult Women, a cabaret theater show, Leonora Carrington "the last surrealist", dollhouse, take back halloween, Somehow, this post won't feel complete without A Room Of One's Own, this is not your grandmother's crafting web site, Maria de los Remedios Varo Uranga: Her paintings combine the surrealist love of the mystical and unconscious with a delicate sense of the mechanical, la real Frida, "I have had two accidents in my life - the streetcar crash and Diego Rivera", Blake Leyh Sound designer for such films as The Abyss; Frida; Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon; Y Tu Mama Tambien, and many others has a music blog, Pain and suffering are common themes in her work keyword in html: At least punk's not dead, right?

Intelligence analysis is a notoriously difficult craft. Practitioners have to make predictions and assessments with limited information, under huge time pressure, on issues where the stakes involve millions of lives and the fates of nations. If this small bureau tucked in the State Department's Foggy Bottom headquarters has figured out some tricks for doing it better, those insights may not just matter for intelligence, but for any job that requires making hard decisions under uncertainty. from The obscure federal intelligence bureau that got Vietnam, Iraq, and Ukraine right [Vox]

This week, we celebrate the return of summer with some of our favorite guests, including Bob Seger, Dakota Johnson, Michelle Rodriguez, John Wilson, and Molly Seidel!

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy

💾

Watch how this twelve year old wins the $50,000 2024 US National Spelling Bee by correctly spelling, among many other insanely difficult words, 'aposiopesis'. When they interview his father he says, 'I have no words' but then, instead of an ellipsis or an em-dash, produces a veritable flood of them.

"Machinery will tend to lose its sensational glamour and appear in its true subsidiary order in human life as use and continual poetical allusion subdue its novelty. For, contrary to general prejudice, the wonderment experienced in watching nose dives is of less immediate creative promise to poetry than the familiar gesture of a motorist in the modest act of shifting gears." 'Hart Crane and the Machine Age'. 1933.

Extinct mountain jewel plant returned to wild in secret location. (BBC) A plant picked for its beautiful flowers then wiped out in the UK mainland makes a return.

States that passed unilateral divorce laws saw total female suicide decline by around 20 percent in the long run. Study.

The Garden of Time is a 1962 short story by J. G. Ballard [archive] which was the theme of this year's Met Gala. Partly because of that incongruous fact, Thomas Jones, who wrote about Ballard back in 2008 [archive], and Edmund Gordon, whose piece on Ballard appeared last week [archive], had a discussion about Ballard on the London Review of Books podcast.

US District Judge permits copyright suit to continue in the case that alleges the beat that largely defines the Raggaeton genre has been used by 100s in infringement of copyright.

given the current discussions around ai and its impact on artistry and authorship, creating a film reliant on the technology is a controversial but inevitable move. however, the software that hustwit and dawes have built may just hit the sweet spot where human meets machine; where the algorithm works to respect the material and facilitate an artistic vision. from B–1 and the first generative feature film.

'eno' is the first documentary about the pioneering artist brian eno, and the first generative feature film. the narrative is structured at the whim of 'brain one', the proprietary generative software created by hustwit and digital artist, brendan dawes. using an algorithm trained on footage from eno's extensive archive and hustwit's interviews with eno, it pieces together a film that is unique at each viewing. as the order of scenes perpetually changes and what's included is never certain, the version you see is the only time that iteration will exist. "in some ways, the film is kind of like exploring the insides of his brain... it's different memories and ideas and experiences over the 50-year plus time frame." ENO Teaser: Australian Premiere of Brian Eno Film @ Vivid Sydney Opera House Sundance 2024: Generative AI Changes Brian Eno Documentary With Every View [Forbes] 'Eno' Review: A Compelling Portrait of Music Visionary Brian Eno Is Different Each Time You Watch It [Variety] 17-track Brian Eno compilation to accompany new doc [Uncut]

Leaked Documents Reveal How Google Search Gatekeeps the Internet This week, a 2,500-page leak, first reported by search engine optimization (SEO) veteran Rand Fishkin, gave the world an insight into the 26-year-old mystery of Google Search.

pImagine this: You lost your phone, or had it stolen. Would you be comfortable with a police officer who picked it up rummaging through the phone’s contents without any authorization or oversight, thinking you had abandoned it? We’ll hazard a guess: hell no, and for good reason. /p pOur cell phones and similar digital devices open a window into our entire lives, from messages we send in confidence to friends and family, to intimate photographs, to financial records, to comprehensive information about our movements, habits, and beliefs. Some of this information is intensely private in its own right; in combination, it can disclose virtually everything about a modern cell phone user. /p pIf it seems like common sense that law enforcement shouldn’t have unfettered access to this information whenever it finds a phone left unattended, you’ll be troubled by an argument that government lawyers are advancing in a pending case before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, iUnited States v. Hunt/i. In iHunt/i, the government claims it does not need a warrant to search a phone that it deems to have been abandoned by its owner because, in ditching the phone, the owner loses any reasonable expectation of privacy in all its contents. As a basis for this claim, the government cites an exception to the Fourth Amendment’s warrant requirement that applies to searches of abandoned property. But that rule was developed years ago in the context of property that is categorially different, and much less revealing, than the reams of diverse and highly sensitive information that law enforcement can access by searching our digital devices. /p pThe Supreme Court a href=https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/17pdf/16-402_h315.pdf#page=24has cautioned against/a uncritically extending pre-digital doctrines to modern technologies, like cell phones, that gather in one place so many of the privacies of life. In a a href=https://www.aclu.org/documents/ninth-circuit-cell-phone-abandonment-amicus-huntfriend-of-the-court brief/a in iHunt/i, the ACLU and our coalition partners urge the Ninth Circuit to heed this call, and hold that even if the physical device may properly be considered abandoned, the myriad records that reside on a cell phone remain subject to full constitutional protection. Police should have to get a warrant before searching the data on a phone they find separated from its owner./p div class=wp-heading mb-8 hr class=mark / h2 id= class=wp-heading-h2 with-markCases about abandoned property are a poor fit for digital-age privacy/h2 /div pAs the Supreme Court a href=https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/573/13-132/case.pdfrecognized/a more than 10 years ago, when the storage capacity of the median cell phone was a great deal less than it is today, advances in digital technology threaten to erode our privacy against government intrusion if courts apply to the troves of information on a cell phone the same rule they would use to analyze a search of a cigarette pack. In a case called iRiley v. California/i, the Supreme Court held that even though police may warrantlessly search items in a suspect’s pockets during arrest to avoid the destruction of evidence or identify danger to the arresting officers, a warrantless inspection of the information on an arrestee’s phone went too far. Why? Because phones, “[w]ith all they may contain and all they may reveal,” are different. /p pHere too, the information on a cell phone is qualitatively and quantitatively unlike the items that underpin precedents permitting warrantless searches of abandoned property. The most recent of those precedents was decided in 1988, long before cell phones became a “a href=https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/573/13-132/case.pdfpervasive and insistent part of daily life/a.” In case you’re keeping score, 1988 was the year Motorola debuted its first “bag phone,” a href=https://www.thehenryford.org/collections-and-research/digital-collections/artifact/162235#slide=gs-212075an early transportable telephone the size of a briefcase/a that needed to be lugged around with a separate battery and transceiver. In that case, the Supreme Court held that people lose their legal privacy in items, like curbside trash, that they knowingly and voluntarily leave out for any member of the public to see. But when you fail to reclaim a lost or abandoned phone, do you knowingly and voluntarily renounce all of your data, too? Our brief argues that the Ninth Circuit should not use the same reasoning that has historically applied to a href=https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/service/ll/usrep/usrep486/usrep486035/usrep486035.pdfgarbage left out for collection/a and a href=https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/service/ll/usrep/usrep362/usrep362217/usrep362217.pdf#page=24items discarded in a hotel wastepaper basket/a after check-out to impute to a cell phone’s owner an intent to give up all the revealing information on their device, just because it was left behind./p div class=wp-heading mb-8 hr class=mark / h2 id= class=wp-heading-h2 with-markCell phones contain vast amounts of diverse and revealing information, unlike other categories of objects/h2 /div pThe immense storage capacity of modern cell phones allows people to carry in their palm a volume and variety of private information that is genuinely unprecedented in cases concerning searches of abandoned property. Our cell phones provide access to information comparable in quantity and breadth to what police might glean from a thorough search of a house. Unlike a house, though, a cell phone is relatively easy to lose. You carry it with you almost all the time. It can fall between seat cushions or slip out of a loose pocket. You might leave it at the check-out desk after making a purchase or forget it on the bus as you hasten to make your stop. Even if you eventually give up looking for the device, thereby “abandoning” it, this doesn#8217;t evince any subjective intent to relinquish to whoever might pick it up all the information the phone can store or access through the internet./p div class=wp-heading mb-8 hr class=mark / h2 id= class=wp-heading-h2 with-markCloud backups mean that the data on a phone often isn’t lost even when the device goes missing/h2 /div pAn additional reason that the privacy of the information on a cell phone shouldn’t hinge on a person’s ongoing possession of their device is that you can still access and control much of the data on your phone independently of the device itself. While modern cell phones store extraordinary and growing amounts of data locally, a lot of this information resides also on remote servers — think of the untold messages, contacts, notes, and images you may have backed up on iCloud or its equivalents. If you have access to a computer or tablet, all this information remains yours to view, edit, and delete whether or not your phone is handy. Trade in your cell phone, and you can seamlessly download this information onto a new device, reviewing voicemail messages and carrying on existing conversations in text without interruption. In this sense, a cell phone is more properly analogized to a house key than a house, something we use to access vast amounts of information that’s largely stored elsewhere. It would be absurd to suggest that a person intends to open up their house for unrestrained searches by police whenever they drop their house key. Yet this is essentially the position the government in the iHunt /icase argued, successfully, in the trial court: Because the defendant discarded his phone, any piece of information stored on that phone was fair game, regardless of whether it was backed up. /p pThe Ninth Circuit has an opportunity in iHunt/i to correct the trial court’s error and clarify that the rule governing police searches of the information on a lost or abandoned cell phone does not defy common-sense intuitions about what information we mean to give up when we lose track of our devices. The information on your cell phone is highly private and revealing. If the police want authority to review it, the Constitution requires of them something simple — get a warrant./p

One of those rare videos from The Dodo that isn't unapologetically sappy. This one is more Far Side, I think. Watch This Fish "Drive" To His Mom To Get Treats [3m] is about university researchers who have set goldfish free to drive on land.

In the summer of 2023, Ursula Vernon (aka T. Kingfisher, previously, previously, previously, previously, previously, previously, previously, previously) was diagnosed with breast cancer. Thus began The Saga of Cancer Bob.

Part Two Part Three Part Four Part Five Part Six Part Seven Part Eight

Magnolia wood is great for building, as it resists splitting and glues well. It's so good that Japan built the LignoSat probe out of the wood, which will be better for Earth when the satellite inevitably reenters the atmosphere.

Techno-optimist Vinod Khosla believes in the world-changing power of "foolish ideas." He offers 12 bold predictions for the future of technology — from preventative medicine to car-free cities to planes that get us from New York to London in 90 minutes — and shows why a world of abundance awaits.

💾

US democracy needs repair — and care is the answer, says author adrienne maree brown in conversation with writer and activist Baratunde Thurston. In a sweeping discussion on what it means to be an active citizen, they unpack how to design a future for democracy where we all belong.

💾

Could my desire to be rag-dolled by a big, strong man be a symptom of some sort of patriarchal Disney brain virus contracted during childhood? Do I want to be romantically rescued by a man? Saved by love? Yeah, unfortunately. Like honestly, that sounds fucking great. Is that gross? Sure. Okay, let's sit with that for a minute. It's not like I want to be a trad wife or anything, but there's a reason a bunch 20-something TikTokers are singing the virtues of baking all day. Life is hard. Jobs are hard. I could never give up my sense of self-worth for the trade-off of being a large adult dependent, but maybe that's what the fantasy is really about — having a brief moment where someone else is responsible for me again. from Pick Me Up by Lauren Bans [The Cut; ungated] [via The Morning News]

They were Black veterans of World War II and Korea who had fought for freedoms abroad that they were denied at home. They were champions for LGBTQ rights at a time when each of those initials stood for moral corruption and political subversion. They were feminist activists in the left wing, some in the U.S. Communist Party, who confronted sexism, racism, and class prejudice as inseparable wrongs and barriers to solidarity, which prepared the way for a feminism beyond the Second Wave. And there were scientists prepared to denounce their colleagues' ingenious new biological, chemical, and military technologies as potential threats to the natural world, including humanity itself. [James R. Gaines, The Fifties]

an underground history

More than a dozen locations bear this racist term and relic of colonial oppression. It's time to change the place names. There is a small sign in Western Victoria — one of 15 locations around the country, from creeks and waterholes to bores and mountains — that is a racist slur in plain sight.

Last summer, the California coast had an unusual threat for surfers in the form of Otter 841, who had a passion for stealing surfboards while evading the authorities. With the start of the 2024 season, Otter 841 is back, and just as ready to cause havok as she was last year.

The 24 Universal Melodic Figures [of Western music] "Have you ever found yourself humming along to a song that you'd never heard before? How is this even possible? Could it be that you possess some musical superpower? You may indeed be an extraordinary person, but this particular skill is unexceptional. Every melody you know—plus every melody you don't yet know—draws from just 24 melodic patterns or "figures." You see, there are just so many ways to arrange the notes in a major or minor key into patterns that "make sense"—that "sound like music.""

Australian scientists have developed a method of brewing coffee by blasting ground beans with sound waves – and it produces a powerful cup "The ultrasonic method sends lots of tiny bubbles into the water and coffee. When they implode, they make mini shockwaves that can pierce the inside of the coffee grinds in a phenomenon called acoustic cavitation. According to Trujillo's 2020 research, this method extracts more flavour and caffeine from the coffee."

"We end up drinking three more samples, all made from different beans. They taste distinct – it's not the ultrasonic process we're tasting, but a more intense version of whatever is in the bean. By the end I find myself agreeing with Trujillo's description of the coffee: it has the "acidity and fruitiness of a filter coffee, with the body and the mouthfeel of an espresso but with less bitterness and a clean finish". After some refinement from the original large noisy prototype, the entire mechanism "fits neatly into an espresso machine."

Hundreds of Beavers is an indie film made in six weeks for $150,000. It's like a modern combination of 20s and 30s slapstick films and live-action Looney Tunes. It's currently available on Apple and Amazon streaming platforms. A 19th century trapper battles nature and wildlife (depicted by people wearing mascot costumes) to win the hand of a furrier's daughter. It's filled with hundreds of gags. Here's the trailer, the opening, and a clip showing the costumes.

pemExecutive Director Anthony D. Romero spoke to graduates at the Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership. He stressed the critical need to protect free speech on college campuses. He calls on universities to uphold the principles of open debate and academic freedom, while also prioritizing the safety and well-being of students from discrimination and violence. Romero inspires graduates to seize leadership opportunities with bravery and compassion, recognizing their potential to make a positive impact on the world./em/p pa href=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23x7S79H88APlay the video/a/p img width=1280 height=720 src=https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/anthony-romero-commencement-speech-colin-powell-school-city-college-ny-video-thumbnail.jpeg class=attachment-16x9_1400 size-16x9_1400 alt=Anthony Romero giving the commencement speech at the Colin Powell School of City College of New York. decoding=async fetchpriority=high srcset=https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/anthony-romero-commencement-speech-colin-powell-school-city-college-ny-video-thumbnail.jpeg 1280w, https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/anthony-romero-commencement-speech-colin-powell-school-city-college-ny-video-thumbnail-768x432.jpeg 768w, https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/anthony-romero-commencement-speech-colin-powell-school-city-college-ny-video-thumbnail-400x225.jpeg 400w, https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/anthony-romero-commencement-speech-colin-powell-school-city-college-ny-video-thumbnail-600x338.jpeg 600w, https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/anthony-romero-commencement-speech-colin-powell-school-city-college-ny-video-thumbnail-800x450.jpeg 800w, https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/anthony-romero-commencement-speech-colin-powell-school-city-college-ny-video-thumbnail-1000x563.jpeg 1000w, https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/anthony-romero-commencement-speech-colin-powell-school-city-college-ny-video-thumbnail-1200x675.jpeg 1200w sizes=(max-width: 1280px) 100vw, 1280px / pWhen I was coming up here, it felt like I was coming home. I spent my early childhood not far from here, in the Castle Hill projects of the Bronx. Google maps says it’s only six miles from here, but it feels like worlds away. After the Bronx, we moved out to New Jersey, and I came back to New York after law school. I’ve now spent most of my adult life here in New York City. So, as a proud New Yorker – a proud Nuyorican – it is a special honor to be asked to speak at an institution woven so thoroughly and wonderfully into the fabric of the greatest city on earth./p pAs graduates of the Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership, you have chosen to hone your leadership skills in a world where it is easier to retreat than to lead. At a time when it’s easier to give up and climb into a cocoon where the internet delivers your food, your clothes, and your opinions to your door. But thank God you chose a different path – as leadership has never been more important than it is now. You have decided to become a part of something bigger – to fight for the changes this nation and this world so desperately need. And I am grateful that you’ve chosen this path./p pHaving made the journey from public housing to this commencement podium, I feel joyful as I look out over a crowd of young people about to embark on your own journey. Standing here at your graduation, I can’t help but recall my own. With my Papi, Mami, my sister. All dressed in our Sunday best. Over the years, my heritage as a proud Puerto Rican was a source of great strength for me. It shaped my upbringing and continues to inform my worldview to this day. Looking out at this diverse sea of students, I suspect many of your ancestors may not have arrived on the Mayflower either. But all of you – each and every single one of you – earned your place to be here. And for many of you in the Class of 2024 – just like me and my family – you’ve had to overcome extraordinary odds to reach this moment./p pI’m sure that somewhere in this class, I am looking at the next Felix Frankfurter, a City College graduate who became one of the greatest Supreme Court Justices ever to serve on the Court. Or the next Faith Ringgold, the brilliant artist and activist for gender equity and racial justice. Or the next Herb Sandler, a titan of industry who would ultimately give away a significant portion of his wealth to organizations and causes championing free speech, civil rights and social justice. Or, of course, the next Colin Powell, who broke racial barriers throughout his career and served his country for decades in military and civilian life./p pYou have accomplished a great deal and you should be proud – real proud. But let’s also remember to give credit to folks who helped you along the way. Your friends, of course. Your professors and administrators at City College. And the people who sacrificed to provide for you. The people who worked overtime to pay for tuition. The people who kept immaculate homes you came back to. The people who cooked you your meals. Who put a roof over your head. The people who had dreams for you. The people who pushed you. Believed in you. Hugged you. Picked you up when you fell down. The people who taught you how to walk. Say your first words. The people who taught you how to read. The people who showed you the meaning of the word LOVE. Of course, I am talking about your families. Your loved ones./p pAnd graduates, you can feel real proud that you’re in that cap and gown …. that you’re about to walk across this stage – styling your way as you get your diploma. But you know that that diploma is as much theirs as it is yours. So why don’t you, the graduates, get on your feet and join me in giving the moms and dads, tías and tíos, grandmeres, dadis, bubbies, nanas, abuelas and countless others, a round of applause for everything they have done to make this day happen. Thank you./p pSince we are talking about people who supported us along the way, I’d like to say a few words about someone who chose to be part of my journey – my late friend and former mentor Herb Sandler, City College Class of 1951. Founder and CEO of Golden West Financial. Herb used what he learned here to make enough money in banking that he could have built himself a castle and forgotten the problems faced by regular folks. But instead, he used what he learned at City College – and what he learned growing up poor on the Lower East side – to reach out and lift up others, as well./p pHerb used his wealth to advance freedom and justice for everyone in America. Over the years, he gave me advice, support when I was struggling, and love when I needed it./p pHerb was a true believer when it came to freedom of speech. He valued hearing divergent viewpoints – even when those viewpoints were critical of his industry, his bank or himself, personally. The press was sometimes unkind and even unfair to him, but Herb walked the walk when it came to free speech and a free press. He always believed that the answer to criticism, even if unfair or unfounded, was more speech – not less. He believed in open debate. Not censorship./p pAnd he understood the centrality of real journalism to our democracy. With his philanthropy, he helped create Pro Publica, one of the most important institutions doing tough, nonpartisan reporting./p pAt the ACLU, we believe deeply that freedom of the press, freedom of speech, and academic freedom are all interconnected – that they’re all critically important to a functioning democracy. The ability to collect and impart information. The ability to discuss, debate and even hotly contest ideas. This is especially true for challenging ideas. Controversial ideas. Even repugnant ideas. We have zealously fought for the rights of people and groups of varied ideologies and beliefs to speak their minds. From gun owners and gun opponents; anti-LGBTQ organizations and pro- LGBTQ groups, Trump supporters and anti-Trump activists./p pThat’s why the ACLU fights so passionately to protect freedom of speech on college campuses right now when it is under attack./p pAs a domestic organization, the ACLU takes no position on wars between foreign countries. Yet we champion the right of students to express themselves. Whichever side they are on, whatever it is they believe./p pUniversities have a responsibility to ensure they maintain an environment in which all students can thrive and learn, but it’s not their job to protect students from hearing or engaging with upsetting or even hurtful ideas. In fact, it’s the universities’ job to prepare the leaders of tomorrow by exposing them to challenging worldviews, competing analyses. The leaders of tomorrow – you the Class of 2024 – need to be comfortable with the contestation of facts and the clash of ideologies./p pSometimes this is a hard line to walk. As passionately as students care, free speech is not a license for violence, property destruction, or physical intimidation or harassment of other students./p pAnd as worried as administrators are, they must respect their students’ free speech rights and honor the long and important tradition of student campus activism./p pThat means that universities must not single out particular viewpoints for censorship, discipline, or disproportionate punishment. Whether students carry Palestinian, Israeli, or American flags, whether they are progressives, moderates, or conservatives, everyone must be accorded the same rights and accept the same responsibilities./p pUniversities have also an obligation to protect students from discriminatory harassment and violence. This year, too many universities have failed to meet this obligation to their Jewish, Muslim, Arab, Israeli, and Palestinian students./p pAt the same time, universities must not penalize students for expressing their views, even if they do so in deeply offensive terms./p pThey can announce and enforce reasonable content-neutral time, place, or manner policies on protesting activity, but they must leave ample room for students to express themselves./p pUniversities must also recognize that armed police on campus can endanger students – students of color in particular – and should be a measure of last resort./p pAnd, finally, administrators must recognize that many of the pressures that are being placed on them are coming from politicians seeking to exploit campus tensions. Recognizing the source of these pressures is the first step, resisting them is the second./p pClass of 2024, you are graduating at a challenging moment. No one would blame you if you wanted to reconsider your career in leadership and public service right now./p pBut I’m guessing that’s not going to happen. You are New York City tough. You are City College trained. You follow in the footsteps of Frankfurter, Reinggold, Sandler and Powell. You are meant for more. Much has been given to you and even greater things are expected from you./p pReach out and make a difference in peoples’ lives like your parents and professors did. Get off the beaten path, discover new communities. Respect and engage with people whose passions and opinions differ from your own. Speak your mind with courage and clarity, but also stand up for the right of your opponents to do the same. Become part of institutions that will magnify your voice and drive change./p pLeadership isn’t ordained from above. It doesn’t come from yelling the loudest and it certainly isn’t possible from a self-imposed isolation chamber. It comes from your heart. From your mind. From the sweat of your brow. It comes from your communities; from the institutions you will populate and lead – and from the people whose lives you will touch./p pCongratulations, graduates. And thank you in advance for what I know you are going to achieve. The world desperately needs the 2024 graduates of the Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership. It will be thrilling to watch you rock it. And now, give yourselves the round of applause you so deeply deserve./p

The jury has reached a verdict and is currently filling out paperwork until about 5:15 Eastern. Trump was looking cheerful and relaxed, sharing smiles and laughs with his lawyers, as they prepared to leave for the day. As soon as the judge announced that instead we had a verdict, his demeanor changes dramatically. He crossed his arms and knitted his brows. He continued to whisper with attorney Todd Blanche, but no longer cheerfully.

Live updates from Talking Points Memo as well.

If you're not careful and you noclip out of reality in the wrong areas, you'll end up in the Backrooms, where it's nothing but the stink of old moist carpet, the madness of mono-yellow, the endless background noise of fluorescent lights at maximum hum-buzz, and approximately six hundred million square miles of randomly segmented empty rooms to be trapped in. God save you if you hear something wandering around nearby, because it sure as hell has heard you.

So stated an anonymous 2019 thread on 4chan's /x/ imageboard -- a potent encapsulation of liminal-space horror that gave rise to a complex mythos, exploratory video games, and an acclaimed web series (previously; soon to become a major motion picture from A24!). In the five years since, the evolving "Backrooms" fandom has canonized a number of other dreamlike settings, from CGI creations like The Poolrooms and a darkened suburb with wrong stars to real places like the interior atrium of Heathrow's Terminal 4 Holliday Inn and a shuttered Borders bookstore. But the image that inspired the founding text -- an anonymous photo of a vaguely unnerving yellow room -- remained a mystery... until now.

...turns out it's from a 2003 blog post about renovating for an RC car race track in Oshkosh! Not quite as fun a reveal as for certain other longstanding internet mysteries, but still satisfying, especially since it includes another equally-unsettling photo (and serendipitously refers to a "back room"). Also, due credit to Black August, the SomethingAwful goon who quietly claims to have written the original Backrooms text. Liminal spaces previously on MeFi:

Discussing the Kane Pixels production (plus an inspired-by series, A-Sync Research). Note that as the Backrooms movie takes shape, Kane is continuing work on an intriguing spiritual successor: The Oldest View The Eerie Comfort of Liminal Spaces A Twitter thread on being lost in a real-life Backrooms space Inside the world's largest underground shopping complex A 2010 post about Hondo, an enigmatic Half-Life map designer who incorporated "enormous hidden areas that in some cases dwarfed the actual level" MyHouse.WAD, a sprawling, reality-warping Doom mod that went viral last year AskMe: Seeking fiction books with labyrinths and other interminable buildings

My personal favorite liminal space: the unnervingly cheerful indoor playground KidsFun from '90s-era Tampa -- if only because I've actually been there as a kid (and talked about its eeriness on the blue before). Do you have any liminal spaces that have left an impression on you?

Atlanta police surveil people opposing Cop City. Police have been carrying out continuous surveillance and harassment of protestors, their families, and neighborhoods for months now.

The IRS announces that "Direct File will be a permanent, free tax filing option." Despite years of lobbying from the likes of Intuit and H&R Block, the IRS ran a successful pilot program of its Direct File program with 12 states. Today, they announced that the program will be permanent and invited all states to participate.

The FBI and Interpol announce Operation Endgame, the "largest ever operation against botnets". And they made some animated videos to go with it!

Regional property owners turning unusable land into money through solar energy leases. With upheavals in the agriculture industry making some farms unviable, a landowner in South Australia is encouraging others to consider repurposing their properties for renewable energy projects.

The 20 country, 55 match tournament is hosted through June 2024 by the West Indies and the USA. Guardian: "Khan's first delivery back bowled Shakib off his inside edge. His fourth was a yorker, which pinned the new batsman lbw. His 10th, delivered in the final over, was edged and caught by the wicketkeeper. The three wickets cost 11 runs and USA won the game by six. "It was a big achievement to take down a top ten T20 side," Khan says, two days later. But he believes there are even bigger ones ahead. The T20 World Cup starts with their [USA] opening match against Canada in Grand Prairie, Texas, this Saturday." Official World Cup website, Wikipedia page. Scorecard for USA vs Canada from 23rd September 1844.

The Bobcat Comics series features collaborations between artists and UC Merced scholars. The comics explore research on colonial Alta California, how Latinas use "journey" rather than "war" metaphors when talking about breast cancer, unruly patriarchs and failed women and more. One stand-out is How to Read an Aztec "Comic": Indigenous Knowledge, Mothers' Bodies, and Tamales in the Pot, a collaboration by artist Jordan Collver and Chicana Studies scholar Felicia Rhapsody Lopez about women's representation in the ancient Mesoamerican text, Codex Borgia/Yoalli Ehēcatl.

Another stand-out is the bilingual Sed por Cambio: Una Guía Visual para Involucrarse en la Política del Agua / Thirsty for Change: Visual Guide to Getting Involved in Water Politics.

pThe outcome of the 2024 election will have a profound impact on access to abortion care in this country. Donald Trump’s allies have drawn up an agenda for a potential second presidential term, and they have made clear that if Trump is elected, he will dust off a 150-year-old federal statute called the Comstock Act to iban all abortions nationwide/i without any need for congressional action./p pYou read that right: Anti-abortion groups are peddling the radical theory that abortion could be banned in every state the moment he takes office./p pAnd because anti-abortion politicians know that the American people a href=blankoppose/a having our reproductive rights taken away, they’re trying to keep these plans under the radar until it’s too late—advising Trump and anti-abortion groups to a href=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/17/us/politics/trump-allies-abortion-restrictions.htmlkeep quiet/a about their plan to impose a back-door abortion ban until after the election./p pIt’s long past time to shine a spotlight on this outrageous scheme, and why it’s just plain wrong./p pThe Comstock Act is an 1873 anti-obscenity law that, among other things, makes it a crime to mail anything that’s “indecent, filthy, or vile” or “intended for producing abortion.” Its namesake, Anthony Comstock, was an infamous Victorian-era anti-vice crusader who, as the Supreme Court has explained, “believed that anything remotely touching upon sex was obscene.” Comstock took credit for arresting thousands and driving at least 15 people to suicide through his anti-vice crusades./p pTrump’s anti-abortion allies are trying to revive this zombie law, claiming that the Comstock Act is a dormant national abortion ban already on the books, just waiting to be enforced by a Trump Department of Justice. According to anti-abortion extremists, the Comstock Act makes it a crime to send or receive drugs or articles that are used in abortion care by mail or common carriers like UPS and FedEx. That interpretation of the law is wrong; it flies in the face of how courts and the Department of Justice have long interpreted the law. But if anti-abortion judges buy into this unfounded theory, it would effectively amount to a nationwide abortion ban because the medication and equipment used in abortion care are transported by mail and common carrier./p div class=mp-md wp-link div class=wp-link__img-wrapper a href=https://www.aclu.org/campaigns-initiatives/abortion-criminal-defense-initiative target=_blank tabindex=-1 img width=2800 height=1400 src=https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/3dbe18c0063d3b7aed43c26f2ed07610.jpg class=attachment-4x3_full size-4x3_full alt= decoding=async srcset=https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/3dbe18c0063d3b7aed43c26f2ed07610.jpg 2800w, https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/3dbe18c0063d3b7aed43c26f2ed07610-768x384.jpg 768w, https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/3dbe18c0063d3b7aed43c26f2ed07610-1536x768.jpg 1536w, https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/3dbe18c0063d3b7aed43c26f2ed07610-2048x1024.jpg 2048w, https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/3dbe18c0063d3b7aed43c26f2ed07610-400x200.jpg 400w, https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/3dbe18c0063d3b7aed43c26f2ed07610-600x300.jpg 600w, https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/3dbe18c0063d3b7aed43c26f2ed07610-800x400.jpg 800w, https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/3dbe18c0063d3b7aed43c26f2ed07610-1000x500.jpg 1000w, https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/3dbe18c0063d3b7aed43c26f2ed07610-1200x600.jpg 1200w, https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/3dbe18c0063d3b7aed43c26f2ed07610-1400x700.jpg 1400w, https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/3dbe18c0063d3b7aed43c26f2ed07610-1600x800.jpg 1600w sizes=(max-width: 2800px) 100vw, 2800px / /a /div div class=wp-link__title a href=https://www.aclu.org/campaigns-initiatives/abortion-criminal-defense-initiative target=_blank Abortion Criminal Defense Initiative /a /div div class=wp-link__description a href=https://www.aclu.org/campaigns-initiatives/abortion-criminal-defense-initiative target=_blank tabindex=-1 p class=is-size-7-mobile is-size-6-tablet/p /a /div div class=wp-link__source p-4 px-6-tablet a href=https://www.aclu.org/campaigns-initiatives/abortion-criminal-defense-initiative target=_blank tabindex=-1 p class=is-size-7Source: American Civil Liberties Union/p /a /div /div pThat likely means that abortion medication like mifepristone won’t even leave the factory. It means that companies that produce medical instruments, ultrasound machines, and other items used in abortion care couldn’t send them to abortion providers, and abortion providers couldn’t obtain the materials they need./p pThe plan to enforce the Comstock Act as an abortion ban is spelled out in the Heritage Foundation’s a href=https://static.project2025.org/2025_MandateForLeadership_FULL.pdf180-Day Playbook/a, which details nearly 900 pages’ worth of “actions to be taken in the first 180 days of the new Administration.” The scheme is echoed by Jonathan Mitchell, Trump’s lawyer before the Supreme Court and the architect of Texas’s abortion bounty-hunter law, S.B. 8, who has a href=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/17/us/politics/trump-allies-abortion-restrictions.htmlmade clear/a that a Trump Department of Justice would wield the Comstock Act as a backdoor abortion ban: “We don’t need [Congress to pass] a federal ban when we have Comstock on the books.”/p pMitchell wants Trump and anti-abortion groups to “keep their mouths shut [on Comstock] as much as possible until the election.” Once in office, they plan to shut down abortion care nationwide without any need for congressional action./p pTo be clear, the argument that the Comstock Act is a dormant national abortion ban is legally wrong. That’s true for many reasons:/p ul liFirst, starting in the early twentieth century, federal appellate courts reached a consensus that the Comstock Act only criminalizes sending and receiving materials to be used for iotherwise unlawful /iabortion and contraception. The courts’ uniform conclusion was that the Act does not apply to drugs and articles sent and received for ilawful/i abortion care. Importantly, courts reached this consensus well before the Supreme Court’s recognition of the constitutional right to contraception and abortion in iGriswold v. Connecticut/i, and iRoe v. Wade/i; the interpretation in no way turned on the existence of a constitutional right./li /ul ul liSecond, Congress was well aware of the court decisions that the Comstock Act doesn’t apply to lawful abortions. If Congress disagreed with the courts, it could have changed the law. Instead, Congress repeatedly reenacted the Comstock Act’s abortion provisions without modifying the language in response to the decisions. This means that Congress concurred with courts narrowing the scope of laws under the principle of congressional ratification. As the Supreme Court explained in iTexas Department of Housing and Community Affairs v. Inclusive Communities Project/i, “[i]f a word or phrase has been #8230; given a uniform interpretation by inferior courts #8230;, a later version of that act perpetuating the wording is presumed to carry forward that interpretation.”/li /ul ul liThird and relatedly, the United States Postal Service, the agency that enforces the Comstock Act’s mailing restrictions, also concurred with the courts’ settled interpretation of the Act, and in 1970 informed Congress of its position. This timeline bolsters the conclusion that Congress accepted the appellate courts’ narrowing construction of the law./li /ul ul liFourth, the Department of Justice has publicly endorsed this interpretation of the Comstock Act in a December 2022 Office of Legal Counsel a href=https://www.justice.gov/olc/opinion/file/1560596/dl?inlineopinion/a. As the opinion explains, “[b]ased upon a longstanding judicial construction of the Comstock Act, which Congress ratified and USPS itself accepted,” the Comstock Act “does not prohibit the mailing, or the delivery or receipt by mail, of [abortion-inducing medications] where the sender lacks the intent that the recipient of the drugs will use them unlawfully./li /ul pIn short, Trump’s allies’ argument that the Comstock Act can be enforced as a national abortion ban defies the settled determination by federal courts and the Justice Department that the law does not apply to lawful abortion care./p pBut we have seen anti-abortion extremists manipulate the law to ban abortion before. iRoe/i was settled law for decades until a reconstituted Supreme Court reversed course in iDobbs /iand allowed states to ban abortion. And before iDobbs/i, Trump’s lawyer, Jonathan Mitchell, managed to impose an abortion ban in Texas that ought to have been struck down as unconstitutional, but that survived because of its manipulative bounty-hunter enforcement scheme./p pSo when Mitchell, who is on the short list to become Trump’s attorney general, endorses the dangerous Comstock scheme, the threat is deadly serious./p

James loves working on vehicles but hates spending money. Watch him repair, resurrect, and reimagine old vehicles and machinery with a delightful combination of dry wit, patience, and an impressive collection of junk. Welcome to Low-Buck Garage.

(2014) WaPo (archive) article about Gregg Deal's performance art piece in which he dresses up in stereotypical costume in public. Last spring, Deal came up with his own performance concept in which he'd dress up in a brash getup to physically embody what he believes many non-indigenous people envision when they think of a Native American. The mostly prefabricated outfit is a costume, not authentic regalia; is intentionally over-the-top; and holds no personal significance for Deal. (...) Suspicion is (...) displayed by a security officer at Potomac Mills mall who demands to know what Deal is doing (Deal's response of "Shopping" irking the officer all the more).

2020: Colorado Spring mural honoring missing Indigenous 2021 Exhibit: Gregg Deal's Paintings Challenge Stereotypes And Champion Visibility Of Indigenous People 2022: Biking the Tahoe-Pyramid Trail in Bicycling Magazine. 2023: Exhibit guest curated by Deal at Longmont Museum. "I accidentally started a band": Dead Pioneers.

pApplying for jobs can be a difficult and frustrating experience: you’re putting forward your qualifications to be judged by a prospective employer. We all want to be treated fairly. We want our qualifications to speak for themselves. But for job seekers who have been historically excluded or discriminated against because of their race, gender identity, or disability, there can be another question lurking in the background: Am I being judged, not for my ability to do the job, but for my identity?/p pAutomated decision-making tools, including those using artificial intelligence, or AI, and algorithms, have been widely adopted in hiring. Today seven out of 10 employers use them. We have a href=https://www.aclu.org/news/racial-justice/how-artificial-intelligence-might-prevent-you-from-getting-hiredpreviously written/a about AI and some of the newer ways that it’s impacting hiring, including how it lacks transparency and can harbor serious flaws that lead to bias and discrimination. But these tools are just the latest frontier in a long history of employment tests that can discriminate and harm job seekers. For example, one of the landmark civil rights cases, a href=https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/401/424/Griggs v. Duke Power Co (1971)/a, was about a company’s use of bogus tests to a href=https://www.eeoc.gov/meetings/meeting-january-31-2023-navigating-employment-discrimination-ai-and-automated-systems-new/mooreblock the promotion of Black workers/a./p div class=mp-md wp-link div class=wp-link__img-wrapper a href=https://www.aclu.org/news/racial-justice/how-artificial-intelligence-might-prevent-you-from-getting-hired target=_blank tabindex=-1 img width=1200 height=628 src=https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/70424f4c0d4ad921d1e27da6125a765d.jpg class=attachment-4x3_full size-4x3_full alt= decoding=async srcset=https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/70424f4c0d4ad921d1e27da6125a765d.jpg 1200w, https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/70424f4c0d4ad921d1e27da6125a765d-768x402.jpg 768w, https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/70424f4c0d4ad921d1e27da6125a765d-400x209.jpg 400w, https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/70424f4c0d4ad921d1e27da6125a765d-600x314.jpg 600w, https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/70424f4c0d4ad921d1e27da6125a765d-800x419.jpg 800w, https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/70424f4c0d4ad921d1e27da6125a765d-1000x523.jpg 1000w sizes=(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px / /a /div div class=wp-link__title a href=https://www.aclu.org/news/racial-justice/how-artificial-intelligence-might-prevent-you-from-getting-hired target=_blank How Artificial Intelligence Might Prevent You From Getting Hired /a /div div class=wp-link__description a href=https://www.aclu.org/news/racial-justice/how-artificial-intelligence-might-prevent-you-from-getting-hired target=_blank tabindex=-1 p class=is-size-7-mobile is-size-6-tabletAI-based tools are used throughout hiring processes, increasing the odds of discrimination in the workplace./p /a /div div class=wp-link__source p-4 px-6-tablet a href=https://www.aclu.org/news/racial-justice/how-artificial-intelligence-might-prevent-you-from-getting-hired target=_blank tabindex=-1 p class=is-size-7Source: American Civil Liberties Union/p /a /div /div pWhen tests and tools that have a long history of problems are combined with new technologies like AI, risks of harm only increase, exacerbating harmful barriers to employment based on race, gender, disability, and other protected characteristics. While the harm of racial discrimination in employment tests has long been recognized and challenged, there has been less awareness about how these tests impact applicants who, in addition to facing racial discrimination, face discrimination based on their disabilities./p pThe use of personality assessments in hiring processes has become increasingly common. Yet these tests often ask general questions that may have little to do with the ability to do the job and capture traits that are directly linked with characteristics commonly associated with autism and mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety. This creates a high risk that qualified workers with these disabilities will be disadvantaged compared to other workers and may be unfairly and illegally screened out./p div class=mp-md wp-link div class=wp-link__img-wrapper a href=https://www.aclu.org/know-your-rights/know-your-digital-rights-digital-discrimination-in-hiring target=_blank tabindex=-1 img width=750 height=375 src=https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/9adf74e5819f7726f6dd759d712b47eb.jpg class=attachment-4x3_full size-4x3_full alt=A graphic featuring a diverse group of individuals. decoding=async loading=lazy srcset=https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/9adf74e5819f7726f6dd759d712b47eb.jpg 750w, https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/9adf74e5819f7726f6dd759d712b47eb-400x200.jpg 400w, https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/9adf74e5819f7726f6dd759d712b47eb-600x300.jpg 600w sizes=(max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px / /a /div div class=wp-link__title a href=https://www.aclu.org/know-your-rights/know-your-digital-rights-digital-discrimination-in-hiring target=_blank Know Your Rights | Know Your Digital Rights: Digital Discrimination in Hiring /a /div div class=wp-link__description a href=https://www.aclu.org/know-your-rights/know-your-digital-rights-digital-discrimination-in-hiring target=_blank tabindex=-1 p class=is-size-7-mobile is-size-6-tabletEqual access to job opportunities is a core component of economic justice. Increasingly, employers are using automated tools in their hiring.../p /a /div div class=wp-link__source p-4 px-6-tablet a href=https://www.aclu.org/know-your-rights/know-your-digital-rights-digital-discrimination-in-hiring target=_blank tabindex=-1 p class=is-size-7Source: American Civil Liberties Union/p /a /div /div pTo push back, we a class=Hyperlink SCXW161865474 BCX0 href=https://www.aclu.org/documents/aclu-complaint-to-the-ftc-regarding-aon-consulting-inc target=_blank rel=noreferrer noopenerfiled a complaint/a to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) against Aon, a major hiring technology vendor, alleging that Aon is deceptively marketing widely used online hiring tests as “bias-free” even though the tests discriminate against job seekers based on traits like their race or disability. The ACLU and co-counsel have also filed charges with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) against both Aon and an employer that uses Aon’s assessments on behalf of a biracial (Black/white) autistic job applicant who was required to take Aon assessments as part of the employer’s hiring process./p pTwo Aon products, a “personality” assessment test and its automated video interviewing tool, which integrate algorithmic or AI-related features, are marketed to employers across industries as cost-effective, efficient, and less discriminatory than traditional methods of assessing workers and applicants. However, these products assess very general personality traits such as positivity, emotional awareness, liveliness, ambition, and drive that are not clearly job related or necessary for a specific job and can unfairly screen out people based on disabilities. The automated features of these tools exacerbate these fundamental problems, particularly as Aon incorporated artificial intelligence elements in its video interviewing tool that are also likely to discriminate based on disability, race, and other protected characteristics./p pCognitive ability assessments, another staple in hiring, must also be subject to scrutiny, as they have long been shown to disadvantage Black job candidates and other candidates of color and may also unfairly exclude individuals based on disability. These tests, touted to measure aspects of memory, as well as several others it markets, have racial disparities in performance./p pFor autistic and other neurodivergent job applicants and applicants of color, cognitive ability assessments pose a significant barrier to employment. Not only do they fail to accommodate diverse needs, but they also perpetuate discrimination based on race, disability, and other traits. Employers should not use assessments that carry a high risk of discrimination. Employers risk screening out people who could be successful employees, impacting diversity in the workplace, and could face legal liability, even where the assessments are designed and administered by third-party vendors. Employers have a legal obligation to thoroughly vet any assessments they use for compliance with anti-discrimination laws, and if they decide to use an assessment, they must provide meaningful notice so that disabled workers can make an informed choice whether to seek accommodations or alternative processes./p pBut vendors must also be accountable for the tools they market. Employers can hold vendors accountable by demanding that vendors truly design their products to be inclusive – including by incorporating the perspectives and experiences of people with disabilities and other protected groups into their design process #8212; and conduct thorough auditing for discrimination based on race, disability and other protected characteristics. They can also demand transparency and decline to purchase their products if they fail to do so. And vendors can and should also be held legally accountable for their discriminatory products and deceptively marketing them. As the EEOC recently a href=https://www.eeoc.gov/litigation/briefs/mobley-v-workday-incargued/a in a federal case about discrimination in an online hiring product, vendors can be held accountable under employment discrimination laws, and our FTC complaint should serve as notice to vendors that we will seek to hold them accountable under consumer protection laws as well./p pAs the hiring landscape continues to change and job applicants face new hiring tools, we must strive for a future where skills and potential, not bias, determines our opportunities. The ACLU stands ready to defend the rights of individuals wronged by discriminatory practices. Together, we can dismantle discriminatory barriers and build a more inclusive workforce for all./p

Biomedical researcher Sonia Vallabh's life was turned upside down when she learned she had the genetic mutation for a rare and fatal illness, prion disease, that could strike at any time. Thirteen years later, her search for a cure has led to new insights about how to catch and prevent disease — and how to honor our grandest, most mysterious inheritance: our brains.

💾

Bill Pruitt's NDA, that is, from his time 20 years ago creating the entertainment show featuring Donald Trump, known as The Apprentice. Pruitt explains what he saw and what he let happen in a piece for Slate.

One in three workers globally will see their jobs disrupted by AI and tech advancements this decade — but there's a way to stay ahead of the curve. Skill-building strategist Sagar Goel shares practical examples from a partnership with the Singaporean government that helped thousands of workers transition into new careers, offering a lesson on the importance of reskilling and becoming a lifelong learner.

💾

B's Music Shop has announced the Meowdulator ($199.99) which is a guitar effects pedal that meows and purrs (0:24 Instagram video).

Some videos from B's Music Shop: They finally did it. A cat guitar pedal that meows(7:42) The Meowdulator: World's First Guitar Cat Synthesizer by B's Music Shop & Cusack Music (12:24) (Via BoingBoing)

After days of testimony and a marathon closing argument from the prosecution, the jury for the Trump hush-money trial begins its second day of deliberations. They have requested a replay of not only some of the crucial testimony, but at least a portion of the hour-long instructions Justice Merchan provided. The specific crime Trump is charged with turns out to be fairly complex, and Lawfare has an explainer.