Reading archive 2021-05-12

The ‘Can men and women just be friends?’ trope dominates pop culture. ‘Together Together’ flips it on its head.

After spreading false claims, Michigan Republican wants to register, fine fact-checkers: ‘You better be right’

Students for Trump co-founder sentenced to prison for posing as lawyer

Ransomware gang says D.C. police won’t pay $4 million demand, begins leaking files: Hackers leak alleged police data and screenshots of their failed negotiations.

Officials opened 12 slots to kill bison at Grand Canyon National Park. 45,000 people applied.

A ‘beautiful’ female biker was actually a 50-year-old man using FaceApp. After he confessed, his followers liked him even more.: The middle-aged father’s big reveal sparked a debate over identity in the Internet age: ‘The only thing I’m creating is … my appearance. Everything else is me.’

Inside Liz Cheney’s plan to take on former president Donald Trump

House Republicans oust Cheney for calling out Trump’s false election claims, minimize Jan. 6 attack on Capitol

Liz Cheney’s Liberal Critics Are Missing the Point - "Cheney’s decision to challenge the party on democracy is remarkable for several reasons. First, she is putting the issue squarely. Rather than softening her line or couching her stance in the logic of messaging (i.e., Trump’s rhetoric will hurt Republicans with swing voters), she is straightforwardly instructing her fellow Republicans that their current path is a menace to the Constitution and the rule of law. Second, she has absolutely nothing to gain and a great deal to lose. 

"And third, the fact she is such a dogmatic right-winger on economic, social, and foreign policy gives her support for democracy more, not less, weight. The very point of her dissent is that support for democracy ought to be separated from policy outcomes. Republicans should not succumb to the temptation of siding with a would-be authoritarian merely because he promises to advance their policy goals. 'He’ll undermine the Constitution, but give us low capital gains taxes and friendly judges' is not a morally defensible trade-off. Democracy is the one question not subject to horse-trading."

In Iraq, powerful militias assassinate protesters with impunity

Ransomware attacks could reach ‘pandemic’ proportions. What to know after the pipeline hack.: Ransomware attacks in 2020 were estimated to have cost billions of dollars - "'The underlying enabling factors for this cybercrime explosion are rooted in the digital dumpster fire of our seemingly pathological need to connect everything to the Internet combined with how hard it is to actually secure what we have connected,' Krebs said in his testimony."