Mediaboss Marketing

AUSTIN (KXAN) The two Democrats vying for an opportunity to unseat U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, stepped onto the debate stage Saturday evening.

The Nexstar Media Group debate between M.J. Hegar and Texas State Sen. Royce West began at 6 p.m. at the KXAN studios in Austin. It was their only scheduled face-to-face meeting ahead of the July 14 runoff election.

Hegar, an Air Force veteran, garnered 22% of votes in the March Democratic Primary, while West picked up 14%. The winner of the runoff election will face Sen. Cornyn in November. Cornyn has represented Texas in Washington, D.C. since 2002 and is a three-term incumbent.

KXAN-TV news anchors Sally Hernandez and Robert Hadlock, as well as Dallas Morning News political writer Gromer Jeffers Jr., moderated the hour-long debate and posed questions to the candidates collected from viewers around Texas.

Ahead of the debate, State of Texas anchor Josh Hinkle, Nexstar Media Texas Bureau Reporter Wes Rapaport and digital anchor Will DuPree discussed the most important considerations for Hegar and West when it comes to the November election.

Read the original post:
Democrats vying to unseat Sen. Cornyn debate ahead of runoff election - KFDX - Texomashomepage.com

It all started with a 19-year-old college student from Queens.

Aaron Fernando, a rising junior honors student at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, told CNN on Tuesday he began compiling police union campaign donations to New York Democrats the day before George Floyd was killed in Minneapolis last week.

When news of Floyd's death gripped the nation, though, Fernando said he felt compelled to share what otherwise may have been a side project for his own personal use.

"I've been looking at state finance disclosures for candidates in New York and I was noticing a lot of police money, law enforcement money taken by Democrats claiming to be against it," he said. "I was making this spreadsheet. Then (the death of) George Floyd happened -- so many people responded and it got, like, a hundred likes in a couple hours? So people wanted to see this."

"Your contributors are a reflection of who you are," he said. "I think it's fair to ask politicians to take money that aligns with the values they espouse. If you're going to fight to end solitary confinement in New York, you shouldn't be taking money from corrections officers."

New York Democratic officials respond

Among the most notable politicians to reallocate their campaign donations is New York State Sen. Michael Gianaris, who says he donated $16,650 in contributions to bail funds and mutual aid after Fernando's spreadsheet made the rounds.

"I thought this was an important thing to do," Gianaris said. "Others can decide for themselves. We're held accountable by the people we represent. I'm the deputy majority leader and highest-ranking senator from New York City, so I have a special obligation to take a stand, given what happened and what we continue to see on the streets every day."

"It's outrageous to suggest someone's public safety should be put in danger," he said. "We're not in a political alliance with law enforcement. That mentality highlights that we have a systemic problem."

Catalina Cruz, a New York state assemblywoman, said it was a mistake to take the money and that she is giving it to bail funds.

"Nobody questioned where I stood, but it was me proactively saying no one should question where I stood," she said. "I'm not going to allow anyone to question where I stand -- not even going to give it a chance. I said, 'Let's give back the money.'"

Others, such as Assemblywoman Karines Reyes, said she hadn't even realized she had taken police contributions.

"The contributions don't necessarily come from police officers," Reyes said. "They come from an organization whose sole purpose is to protect police officers even when they're in the wrong -- oftentimes when they are in the wrong. And that is counterintuitive to accountability. There is no profession where you can kill somebody without being accountable."

Reyes said her constituents made clear that they didn't want their representatives taking police money anymore, which Fernando said he "never thought" would happen when he first made the spreadsheet.

"I couldn't do anything without those people on the street," he said. "Without those protests, it wouldn't have had the momentum to take notice.

"Black Lives Matter was in the back of (politicians') minds and now it's pushed to the front," he said. "That's the way I see it."

Link:
A 19-year-old called out New York Democrats accepting police campaign donations. To his surprise, many have listened - CNN

East Lyme Town Democrats have organized a peaceful rally and vigil to take place at noon Saturday at the Samuel M. Peretz Park at Bridebrook, 221 West Main St.

The event seeks to honor the lives of George Floyd and Breonna Taylorwhile alsostanding "in solidarity with Black Indigenous People of Color in the fight against racism, the fight for social justice and to support the reform necessary to break the cycle of brutality that led to their, and countless other deaths," according to a Facebook post about the event.

Floyd is the blackman who died lastmonth after a white Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee into his neck during an arrest, andTayloris a black womanfatally shot in her own home by Louisville Metro Police Department officers in March.

Confirmed speakers at the event will include Dr. Terrlyn L. Currey, founder of Sacred Intelligence; Jean Jordan, a retired teacher and president of the New London NAACP; Janelle Posey-Green, a social worker who recently created the CT Black Mental Health Forum to support the emotional needs of the local black community; Tariko Satterfield, an entrepreneur; Kevin Booker Jr., founder of Booker Empowerment, and Elizabeth Allen, a licensed clinical social worker with extensive experience onsubstance abuse, complex trauma and forensic settings.

Those coming to the event are asked to wear a mask and follow social distancing measures.

m.biekert@theday.com

Read more here:
East Lyme Democrats to host peaceful rally and vigil Saturday - theday.com

Thousands of Americans are protesting police brutality and systemic racism across the nation following the police killing of Minneapolis resident George Floyd.

Of the precautions that protesters should consider to stay safe is how to prepare for your phone being broken or lost. It could also be confiscated by authorities, who could then potentially access information about you and those you communicate with. Scores of data are located in the apps on your phone, and your smartphone can also be used as a tracking device.

All of which is to say safeguarding your phone against external forces might be a good step to take before attending a protest.

Here's how to prep your phone before joining a demonstration.

As Vice reports, perhaps one of the most surefire ways to prevent your phone from falling into the hands of someone you don't want it to is to participate in the protest without it.

You can instead coordinate with others by word of mouth. Establish meeting places and contingency plans for regrouping in case the crowd is dispersed and you lose track of each other. Familiarize yourself with the city grid and streets.

You could also buy a burner phone to use solely for the demonstration,The Verge reports. They expire after a certain number of days and can cost anywhere between $1 and $100 Digital Camera World rounded up some in February.

Losing or breaking your phone could mean thousands of photos, notes, and other data could be lost. Consider backing up your phone's contents to a computer or to the cloud, according to Gizmodo.

Thousands of protesters march over the Brooklyn Bridge to demonstrate against the death of George Floyd in New York, United States on June 4, 2020. Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

As PC Mag notes, you can also temporarily delete apps from your phone and then reinstall them at a later date.

By using an encryption key, or password, to unlock your phone, you're creating a barrier between your phone data and anyone that could potentially take advantage of it.

For iPhone users, if you use a passcode to get into your device, then you're set it's already encrypted.

If law enforcement asks you to punch in your password to unlock your phone, you retain your Fifth Amendment right to refuse, as Gizmodo reports.

But biometric methods, such as unlocking with your fingerprint or face scan, aren't as protected in case you're taken into police custody. Officers could still potentially hold your phone up to your face or press your finger to the device to unlock it.

Consider deactivating Face ID and use a strong password instead.

These functions can track your location, a feat that some companies and brands are able to take advantage of for advertising purposes, according to Consumer Reports.

If you don't need Wifi, GPS, or Bluetooth, you can switch them off to prevent your exact location from being monitored. As CR notes, some smartphones are designed to switch these settings back on by default, so be sure to keep tabs on whether or not they stay disabled.

You can read how to stop your iPhone from tracking your location here.

Police stand by as protesters lay down with hands behind their back on Washington Street in front of the Jamaica Plain Boston Police station on June 4, 2020. John Tlumacki/The Boston Globe via Getty Images

You can also put your phone in Airplane Mode to prevent tracking, which shuts off WiFi, Bluetooth, and cell data in one fell swoop. As The Verge notes, doing so prevents cellphone carriers from communicating with cell towers to locate you. It also shields against stingray attacks, which is when a device masquerades as a cell tower to connect and gain access to phone data. In 2018, the American Civil Liberties Union found 75 law enforcement agencies across 27 states in the US that owned these types of tools, as The Markup notes.

But Airplane Mode differs depending on what phone you have, so disabling it isn't always an airtight solution.

You can also simply turn your phone off and only use it when you need it. But that can make it more difficult to quickly take photos, record videos, or be able to quickly make an urgent call.

Phone message encryption has its limits, such as in the case of an iPhone user messaging with an Android user the text automatically converts to SMS, which isn't encrypted. So experts have recommended using secure chat apps such as Signal or WhatsApp, according to The Markup.

Signal has seen a spike in user downloads as protests have been held across the US.

As Consumer Reports notes, the app provides a setting that deletes messages soon after the recipient reads it, which can help protect both parties on either end of the conversation in the event that one of them loses their phone.

If you don't do so, and your phone is lost or confiscated, others may be privy to the messages and alerts that appear on your home screen, as The Markup points out.

You'd be protecting both you and the people sending you messages by preventing their texts from appearing.

Read the original here:
Here are 7 steps you can take to secure your phone and data before attending a protest - Business Insider - Business Insider

Have you watched Filthy Rich yet? Its the Netflix docuseries about Jeffrey Epstein. Throughout the series, and right off the top, Epstein is seen in deposition footage repeatedly pleading the fifth. Im not a lawyer and yes, I knowwwwwww that the fifth amendment has its value in legal situations but if youve watched Filthy Rich, it almost becomes a mockery of, like, common decency. Every time hes asked whether or not he repeatedly preyed on underage girls, whether or not he regularly procured the services of underage girls aka RAPED THEM and whether or not he received gifts of underage girls (!!!) for his birthday, he pleaded the fifth.

If you were accused of all that vileness, and instead of being like, F-CK NO, I WOULD NEVER DO THAT, you plead the fifth, what in goddamn is going on in your grossness of a life?!

What the docuseries makes very clear is that Jeffrey Epstein was surrounded, constantly, by minors. And that it wasnt a secret. The minors werent travelling around in a portable trailer and hidden from Epsteins circle. They were visible to airport employees, tech support who visited Epsteins properties to install his satellite equipment, and to his guests. Or maybe the better way of saying that is FOR HIS GUESTS. Bill Clinton was seen so many times on Epsteins private island, dubbed Pedophile Island, as was Prince Andrew, who was observed, according to one witness, rubbing himself up against a topless Virginia Roberts, then 17 years old.

Epsteins f-cksh-t was condoned then, even encouraged, by the people he spent time with. And its a long f-cking list. Like Ghislaine Maxwell? Find that woman and have her answer to her complicity, at the very least, and her crimes at worst. And the people who were in and out of Epsteins orbit, who would have no doubt noticed that, hey, this dude is constantly accompanied by young girlshow can they explain their inaction?

Because its so NORMAL! Its NORMAL to see 40 year old actors with just-turned 18 year old models. Its normal to see 60 year old rock stars with 18 year old models. Its normal, normal, normal, normal, normal. So normal that crimes become condoned. So normal that crimes become scenery. God that was disgusting to write. I just described underage girls as scenery, like a painting, a sculpture, property. But isnt this the truth? Are we guilty of accepting this normalisation as a part of a worldview that we dont challenge?

To go back to Prince Andrew then, who no one believes despite multiple denials from the British royal family that he had no idea what Jeffrey Epstein was doing, even though Virginias claims have been corroborated by multiple people AND A PHOTO (for f-cks sake!), it was reported a few days ago that hes been permanently retired. According to the Sunday Times:

"The monarchs reportedly favourite child is not expected to represent her on the public stage again," writes the publication's royal correspondent Roya Nikkhah.

"The royal family has 'no plans to review' his position and the Queen is believed to be resigned to her second sons permanent removal from public life."

Shes resigned to it? Like, what? Reluctantly? Like its a concession? Thats another problem right there. An entire royal institution has been mobilised, for years, to protect this man from himself. In doing so, they gaslit a girl whose life was permanently altered by sexual abuse and by extension so many other women who had no allies. Because, of course, the Crown comes first.

The Crown, however, even though theres a series by the same name that airs on Netflix, does not control Netflix. And, as expected, Andrews appearance in Netflixs Epstein docuseries has done major damage to the brand. Millions of people have watched it, millions of people have heard about Prince Andrew and his friend Jeffrey Epstein, the dead rapist pedophile. Millions now have seen that photo, have heard from Virginia and the other survivors, have learned about their trauma. This is now irrevocably Andrews association. And also, by relation, the British royal association. Good look!

On a related note, Prince Andrews ex-wife and life partner Sarah Ferguson just launched a charity. Heres her message on Twitter:

The comments below it are welltheyre facts.

See original here:
Prince Andrew has reportedly been permanently retired as Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich docuseries is released o - LaineyGossip