One of the most notable but mostly uncovered political developments in recent years has been how enthusiastically many Religious Right leaders have embraced Russia’s anti-democratic president, former KGB official Vladimir Putin. It seems even more remarkable that the Republican Party’s presidential nominee has been lavishing praise on Putin even as Russia maneuvers to diminish America’s influence in the world. As president, Putin has consolidated his power through attacks on the independent media, the persecution of political opponents, and restrictions on civil society. He has annexed…
13 Percent of Americans Have No Use for the Internet
For many Americans, going online is an important way to connect with friends and family, shop, get news and search for information. Yet today, 13% of U.S. adults do not use the internet, according to a new Pew Research Center analysis of survey data. The size of this group has changed little over the past three years, despite recent government and social service programs to encourage internet adoption. But that 13% figure is substantially lower than in 2000, when Pew Research Center first began to study the…
New Hacking Tool Breaks Locked Computer’s Password in 20 Seconds
Snatching the login credentials of a locked computer just got easier and faster, thanks to a technique that requires only $50 worth of hardware and takes less than 30 seconds to carry out. Rob Fuller, a principal security engineer at R5 Industries, said the hack works reliably on Windows devices and has also succeeded on OS X, although he’s working with others to determine if it’s just his setup that’s vulnerable. The hack works by plugging a flash-sized minicomputer into an unattended computer that’s logged…
Post-Trump, Conservatives Need Conversation, Not Cocoons
As election day draws closer, tensions are increasing on the right about Donald Trump and (a distinct topic) the futures of conservatism and the Republican party. Many of Trump’s opponents, especially on the right, have offered numerous scapegoats for the rise of Trump: among them, talk radio, racism, and the American public’s supposed lack of virtue. However, one of the single most important structural forces that allowed Trump to win the Republican nomination was the combination of elite incompetence and extreme cultural cocooning. Incompetence and…
The Inside Story of Arianna Huffington’s Departure from HuffPo
In 2005, Arianna Huffington launched the Huffington Post. As it became a huge success, Huffington, who had little experience in technology or journalism, saw her own brand grow in tandem. But life on the Internet can be cruel. And in a few short years, the site was experiencing a Digital Age version of a midlife crisis. It was reaching 26 million unique visitors per month, an astonishing number, but in the Internet business, sites either grow or shrink. And to grow, the Huffington Post needed more…
Dictionary Authors Want to Fleech You Into Saving Obscure Slang Words
As a writer, one of the best things about the English language is its speakers love of borrowing words from other languages. If English speakers don’t have a word for something, we’re happy to borrow some one else’s. Perhaps a more unique characteristic of English is the enormous number of unofficial slang words spoken throughout the vast areas in which English is a native language. Many of these words — such as Appalachia’s whistle pig for groundhog — are basically unknown to English speakers outside of particular…
What If Aaron Burr Had Become President?
One common criticism of both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump is a lack of a political core. Another famous New York politician, Aaron Burr, was so lacking in principle that as Thomas Jefferson’s running mate, he sought to snatch the presidency after the 1800 Electoral College tie. “Tainted by Suspicion: The Secret Deals and Electoral Chaos of Disputed Presidential Elections,” (Stairway Press, 2016) looks at the four most controversial presidential elections in American history, and what if the outcome had occurred the other way…
Politico’s ‘Republican Insiders’ Appear to Know Little About Politics
Politico’s “Political Caucus” is one of my favorite destinations for 2016 political coverage. It’s a running series of weekly interviews with a fixed roster of political “insiders” who offer their allegedly unguarded takes on the 2016 election from behind the protective shield of anonymity. I love it because, despite the promise of juicy details from behind the curtain, reading it will teach you nothing about the way politics works or how the presidential campaigns are doing. The Political Caucus does, however, stands a stark and unassailable case that…
Roger Ailes Was Undone by the Women He Disregarded
It took 15 days to end the mighty 20-year reign of Roger Ailes at Fox News, one of the most storied runs in media and political history. Ailes built not just a conservative cable news channel but something like a fourth branch of government; a propaganda arm for the GOP; an organization that determined Republican presidential candidates, sold wars, and decided the issues of the day for 2 million viewers. That the place turned out to be rife with grotesque abuses of power has left…
Liberals Cried ‘Racist’ So Much, the Public No Longer Listens
Conservative commentators and die-hard Republicans often brush off denunciations of Donald Trump as an unprincipled hatemonger by saying: Yeah, yeah, that’s what Democrats wail about every Republican they’re trying to take down. Sing me a song I haven’t heard so many times before. Howard Wolfson would be outraged by that response if he didn’t recognize its aptness. “There’s enough truth to it to compel some self-reflection,” Wolfson, who was the communications director for Hillary Clinton’s presidential bid in 2008, told me this week. […] “And…
Google Cancels Ambitious Modular Smartphone Project
Alphabet Inc’s Google has suspended Project Ara, its ambitious effort to build what is known as a modular smartphone with interchangeable components, as part of a broader push to streamline the company’s hardware efforts, two people with knowledge of the matter said. The move marks an about-face for the tech company, which announced a host of partners for Project Ara at its developer conference in May and said it would ship a developer edition of the product this autumn. The company’s aim was to create a…