“None. No reaction. None. Look, my face didn’t move. No reaction.” —New York Governor Andrew Cuomo on the news that the state’s most famous sexter is running for mayor. We smiled.
“When you’re a star, they let you do it”
Federal judge blocks Trump’s WeChat ban
A federal judge has temporarily blocked President Donald Trump’s executive order banning WeChat downloads in the United States. In issuing the preliminary injunction, Judge Laurel Beeler wrote that the plaintiffs — a group of US-based WeChat users who stand to be affected by Trump’s ban — had shown “serious questions” in their claim that the executive order threatens the users’ First Amendment rights.
“The plaintiffs’ evidence reflects that WeChat is effectively the only means of communication for many in the community, not only because China bans other apps, but also because Chinese speakers with limited English proficiency have no options other than WeChat,” Beeler wrote.
Nor does the order escape First Amendment scrutiny under an easier standard known as intermediate scrutiny, the judge said, because the ban on WeChat does not provide enough evidence that it is narrowly tailored to resolve the US government’s national security concerns with respect to the app.
“And, as the plaintiffs point out,” Beeler wrote, “there are obvious alternatives to a complete ban, such as barring WeChat from government devices, as Australia has done, or taking other steps to address data security.”
It won’t be the last time this happens, or the worst instance
A group of Trump supporters waving campaign flags disrupted the second day of early voting in Fairfax, Va., on Saturday, chanting “four more years” as voters entered a polling location and, at one point, forming a line that voters had to walk around outside the site.
County election officials eventually were forced to open up a larger portion of the Fairfax County Government Center to allow voters to wait inside away from the Trump enthusiasts.
Election officials said that the group stayed about 100 feet from the entrance to the building and, contrary to posts on social media, were not directly blocking access to the building. But they acknowledged that some voters and polling staff members felt intimidated by what some saw as protesters.
Trump endorses the Oracle-TikTok deal
President Trump said he has agreed in concept to a deal under which Chinese-owned video-sharing app TikTok will partner with Oracle and Walmart to become a U.S.-based company, capping negotiations that have stirred debate over national security and the future of the internet.
“I have given the deal my blessing, if they get it done that’s OK too, if they don’t that’s fine too,” Mr. Trump told reporters at the White House on Saturday.
Under the terms of the deal, Walmart and Oracle would share a 20% stake in a new U.S.-based entity that will operate TikTok, with Oracle likely getting a somewhat larger piece between those two, according to a person familiar with the deal. The person said that under the deal, U.S. companies and investors would have a 53% ownership—satisfying U.S. demands for the new company to be under American control. Chinese investors would have a 36% stake, with other investors largely from Europe having 11%, this person said.
The president said the agreement will result in the creation of 25,000 jobs, mostly in Texas, adding that the new company will still be called TikTok and “will have nothing to do with China.”
Based on what, exactly?
The CDC’s credibility has taken a major hit
Another good poll for Biden shows a mostly familiar picture
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