Wow, how lucky am I? Not only do I get to do the Christmas GNR, I also get to do the First GNR of the new year! Anyways here we go!
Court documents filed in the US have revealed the editorial concerns of the publisher Simon & Schuster about the manuscript of the “alt-right” controversialist Milo Yiannopoulos’s autobiography Dangerous.
Having reportedly secured the book for an advance of $255,000 (£200,000), Simon & Schuster cancelled the deal in February after a recording emerged that appeared to show Yiannopoulos endorsing sex between “younger boys” and older men.
In July, Yiannopoulos set out to sue Simon & Schuster for $10m for breach of contract. As part of the case, Simon & Schuster have submitted documents that reveal the problems they had with the book. Among other criticisms, the publisher’s notes say Yiannopoulos needed a “stronger argument against feminism than saying that they are ugly and sexless and have cats” and that another chapter needs “a better central thesis than the notion that gay people should go back in the closet”.
In addition to the documents, a full copy of an early manuscript of the book, complete with the Simon & Schuster editor Mitchell Ivers’s notes, is available to download from the New York state courts’ website.
So, kind of a bad week for Alt Rights spokeman and Venom possessed Peter Parker from Spider-man 3 cosplayer Milo Yiannopoulous, as the editors notes, and in fact the entire text of his book, were entered into the court as evidence. Which means A) Milo has been revealed to all the world as a hack who can’t write and has nothing to offer when he can’t spew hateful bile at those around him, and B) Milo will never make another dime off of his “book”, since its not been entered into the Public domain by being made evidence in a court case. And nothing of value has been lost.
The repeal of net neutrality rules may allow Internet service providers and mobile carriers to block or throttle services at will, reserving the fastest bandwidth for companies who pay the toll, but the law may not be the only way to keep companies in line …
New York is one of several states which plans to enact their own statewide net neutrality laws, which would make it illegal for ISPs or carriers to introduce a two-speed Internet. Whether they will succeed remains to be seen, as the FCC actually now bans them from protecting consumers against net neutrality violations. But New York has a Plan B.
TechDirt reports that New York Assembly member Patricia Fahy believes that hitting companies in the pocket could be effective.
“If you are going to be a contractor and want to work with New York, then you must meet the principles,” Fahy tells Fast Company. She hopes that this approach will get around a roadblock known as preemption. The Constitution generally gives the federal government final authority over commercial activities that cross state lines. But while New York can’t require ISPs to uphold net neutrality, it can use its “power of the purse” to punish ISPs that don’t.
“There’s a decent amount of precedent for saying, if you want a state contract, you have to meet such and such requirements,” she says, noting construction contracts contingent on certain labor practices or the use of U.S.-made steel.
Google was one of more than 40 major tech companies to speak up in favor of net neutrality, with 21 tech pioneers later adding their own voice.
Consumers can also take action by using a VPN service. This prevents their ISP seeing which sites they are visiting or what they are doing there, eliminating the possibility of selective throttling.
Once again, I am deeply proud of my home state. And once again we see how state level Governments are taking the lead when the Trump Administration tries to make things difficult for us.
U.S. Rep. Chris Collins’ 27th Congressional District seat isn’t expected to be particularly competitive in 2018, as the Clarence Republican won reelection with two-thirds of the vote last year and nearly three-quarters in 2014.
Yet that hasn’t stopped numerous contenders on both sides of the aisle from announcing bids to unseat the three-term congressman.
Recently, two more potential challengers have emerged.
Grand Island Supervisor Nathan McMurray announced that he’s considering a run as the Democratic contender for the 27th district seat.
McMurray, an attorney who serves as vice president of Delaware North, has only served as Grand Island’s supervisor for two years, but says he has accomplished much in that short time. He successfully pushed Gov. Andrew Cuomo to pledge to remove the tolls on the I-190, secured a $1 million grant to add sidewalks throughout the island and helped spur the West River Project, which will add a multi-use path across the island’s western edge.
The number one Trump stooge, my own personal pain in the neck Chris Collins, has reason to be nervous. Its a brand new year Chris, and we’re coming for YOU.
Only in Washington can people argue that doing something the public hates is better than not doing it. But that's where we are with the post-game analysis of the tax fight, where a historically unpopular president teamed up with a historically unpopular Republican Congress to pass a historically unpopular bill that further rigs the economy for the rich at everyone else's expense.
Anyone who thinks this bill will improve the Republican Party’s electoral prospects is ignoring history and common sense. In reality, 2018 just went from bad to worse for the GOP thanks to Paul Ryan, Mitch McConnell and Donald Trump
Remember, the Tax Scam was universally panned, they may be celebrating now, but next year we’re gonna make them suffer for it.
We can all probably agree that this has been a rough, rough year. The political world is a mess, natural disasters ripped mercilessly through our country, and it kinda seems like everyone is divided and fighting (just log on to Twitter for literally one second…you’ll see).
Before you write off 2017 altogether, we’d like to turn your attention to one spectacularly positive Twitter thread that points out all the good things that happened this year. Jacob Atkins, a 20-year-old student from University of Iowa, took to social media and broke down a few amazing things that happened amidst all the hideousness. And people were loving it. Each of his tweets in the thread pulled in thousands of retweets and tens of thousands of likes.
Nothing really political in this one. Just a nice collection of tweets of all the good stuff that happened this year. I thought everyone could use a pick me up.
2017 was not the best year, but we did a lot of good, and I am going into the next year in a much better frame of mind than I did this one. And I have the GNR to thank for that partially. I am glad to have it and glad to be a part of it now. 2018 is going to be our year, and we’re gonna take the GOP to task for all its done to us.