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Cartoonist R. Sikoryak's talent for mimicking other cartoonists, from Krazy Kat's George Herriman to Nancy's Ernie Bushmiiler, is uncanny. He has a new book out, called Constitution Illustrated, published by Drawn & Quarterly and I have been marveling at the illustrations. The publisher kindly gave me permission to run some samples so you can see the versatility of Sikoryak's work.

A gifted pastiche and parody artist as well as a New Yorker cartoonist, R. Sikoryaks perhaps best known for his widely lauded graphic novel adaptation of the iTunes Terms and Conditions agreement, where each page referenced a different classic comic. It is a triumph of cartooning, one that demonstrated the power of the comics medium to make the unreadable into a text the average reader could engage with. While the Constitution is hardly so dense, Sikoryak transforms it by interpreting it within 100 years of American pop culture icons, all dressed in period attire, naturally!

The 13th Amendment is brought to life by Billy Grahams classic 1973 comic book cover for Luke Cage, Hero for Hire, drawn by one of the few Black cartoonists in the Marvel bullpen. The Boondocks explain the Fourth Amendment preventing seizure. Earlier on, Cathy reminds us that money drawn from the treasury must be appropriately accounted for publically. And its pretty satisfying to see the cast of Alison Bechdel's Dykes to Watch Out For assemble in Section 4, as the Constitution lays out what meetings of Congress look like.

This parody ad from Juice Media might as well be the real thing.

A Florida minor was charged Friday with 30 felonies relating to last months Twitter hack that got top Twitter accounts blurting out a crude bitcoin scam. Hillsborough State Attorney Andrew Warren filed 30 felony charges against the teen this week for scamming people across America in connection with the Twitter hack that happened on July []

Speaking to reporters on Air Force One, Trump last night declared that he would ban the social media site Tik Tok. As far as TikTok is concerned were banning them from the United States, Trump said, calling the action a severance. Trump did not specify whether he will act through an executive order, or another []

If you ever dropped a quarter into a Space Invaders game, youve likely fantasized about having your own arcade cabinet in your house. Of course, you likely thought better of it for several reasons, including the idea that a giant cabinet dedicated to just one game isnt very practical. Polycade understands the urge though very, []

Most of us have a love-hate relationship with banks. Okay, its actually probably more like a tolerate-hate relationship. We understand their role in holding and securing our money so we dont have to stuff it in a mattress somewhere. But we dont trust the bank not to gouge us on fees whenever they can. And []

If youve ever worked on a video project or engineered a podcast and thought youd make your own sound effects howd that go for ya? We assume it was a bigger undertaking than youd probably bargained for. From using stalks of celery to replicate breaking tree limbs to frying bacon to reproduce the sound of []

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R Sikoryaks latest project is a word-for-word adaptation of the U.S. Constitution - Boing Boing

By Niles Niemuth 30 July 2020

Shock and anger quickly spread online Tuesday as video posted on social media showed a group of armed men in street clothes snatching a young protester off the street and trundling her into an unmarked van during a peaceful demonstration against police violence in New York City.

While the men refused to identify themselves at the scene of the kidnapping, the New York Police Department (NYPD) later identified them as members of the police forces plainclothes Warrant Squad.

Outrage over Tuesdays incident was compounded by its similarity to the snatch and grab detentions carried out in recent weeks by federal paramilitary police in Portland, Oregon. In that city, a tactical wing of Customs and Border Protection known as BORTAC, sent in by President Trump to crack down on protests near the federal courthouse, has been seizing protesters, throwing them into unmarked vans and taking them to secret locations where they are subject to questioning for hours on end. The element of terror and intimidation is enhanced by the fact that the victims do not know who has picked them up or where they are being held.

All such actions violate the US Constitutions First Amendment guarantees of freedom of speech and assembly and its Fourth Amendment ban on arbitrary searches or seizures. They also run counter to the requirement that arrests be based on probable cause.

The NYPD played down the unconstitutional arrest, claiming the Warrant Squad routinely uses unmarked vehicles to effectively locate wanted suspects. But it is clear that the abduction of 18-year-old Nikki Stone was intended to send a signal to demonstrators, as well as the Trump administration, that the New York police are more than capable of cracking down on protests without direct federal intervention.

Trump has repeatedly threatened to deploy federal forces to Democratic-controlled cities throughout the country, including New York, to suppress demonstrations that have continued since the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police on May 25. There have been reports of federal police in Detroit and other cities.

Nikki Stone is a homeless youth who has been participating in protests throughout the city. The authorities have justified her chilling arrestwhich bystanders took to be a kidnappingwith allegations of vandalism, including spray painting the lenses of police cameras around City Hall Park. She was released from police custody early Wednesday and charged with several counts of graffiti painting and criminal mischief.

The citys Democratic mayor, Bill de Blasio, responded to the arrest by upholding the right of non-uniformed, unidentified NYPD officers to grab peaceful protesters off the street, while mildly criticizing the timing of the arrest.

This is not Portland, he said. I want to emphasize what you see on that video are NYPD officers, federal agencies are not involved! I think it was the wrong time and place to effectuate that arrest. I want to affirm very clearly, no one is allowed to damage police property. If you damage property it will lead to consequences.

As with Trumps attempted coup on June 1, the Democratic Party has downplayed the authoritarian and fascistic character of Trumps deployment of paramilitary federal forces, dismissing it is an electoral ploy to raise flagging poll numbers. At the same time they argue that they are capable of suppressing protests in the cities they control with heavily armed local police, bolstered when necessary by National Guard troops under the command of state governors.

Former Vice President Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential candidate, gave a speech Tuesday in which he endorsed the prosecution of anarchists and arsonists and insisted that he would be better equipped to suppress popular anger by coordinating with local police forces. The Democrats have made clear that they are willing to collaborate with the Trump administration in suppressing protests as long as they retain a measure of control.

This isnt about law and order, Biden said of Trumps crackdown, its about a political strategy to revive a failing campaign. Every instinct Trump has is to add fuel to the fire. Thats the last thing, the last thing we need. We need leadership to calm the water and lower the temperature. Thats how we will restore peace in the streets.

On Wednesday, Oregons Democratic governor, Kate Brown, announced via Twitter that an agreement had been reached in negotiations with the White House for the Oregon State Police to take over policing the area around the federal court house.

Federal police, including Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers, are set to begin a phased withdrawal from the city, while other agents from the Department of Homeland Security will remain inside the courthouse. CBP forces deployed last week to Seattle, Washington will also leave that city, following lobbying by Democratic Mayor Jenny Durkan and Governor Jay Inslee, also a Democrat.

State and local law enforcement will begin securing properties and streets, especially those surrounding federal properties that have been under nightly attack for the past two months, Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf said in a statement announcing the agreement. Oregon State Police will coordinate with Federal Protective Service (FPS) officers to ensure all federal facilities remain protected and secure.

Wolf added, President Trump has also made it clear that this Administration is ready and willing to partner with state and local law enforcement to protect every Americanand you see that commitment in Portland with this plan. The Department and this Administration will also continue to fulfill its solemn obligation to uphold federal law across the country.

While the Trump administration appears to have backed off for now on the deployment of federal forces against protesters in Portland and Seattle, the Justice Department is moving forward with an expansion of Operation Legend, an anti-violence initiative involving the deployment of nearly 100 officers from the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Agency and other federal police agencies to Detroit, Cleveland and Milwaukee. Hundreds of agents have already been welcomed by Democratic mayors in Kansas City, Chicago and Albuquerque, with the assurance that the agents will aid in the arrest of those deemed chronic violent criminals by Attorney General William Barr.

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Plainclothes NYC police grab protester and throw her into unmarked car - WSWS

The FBIs Cyber Division released last week an unsettling bulletin that called out the vulnerabilities in electronic logging devices and exposed the lack of cybersecurity or quality assurance requirements for ELD suppliers.

Cyber criminals could exploit vulnerabilities in electronic logging devices. Although the mandate seeks to provide safety and efficiency benefits, it does not contain cybersecurity requirements for manufacturers or suppliers of ELDs, and there is no requirement for third-party validation or testing prior to the ELD self-certification process, the FBI bulletin stated.

This poses a risk to businesses because ELDs created a bridge between previously unconnected systems critical to trucking operations.

These vulnerabilities could create a variety of problems, the FBI said. Cyber criminals could use an insecure ELD to move laterally into a larger company business network, to steal such personal information as business and financial records, or to install malware that could prevent the vehicle from operating until a ransom is paid.

The bulletin paints a frightening picture that makes you wonder why these concerns werent mentioned before the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration began enforcing an ELD mandate on commercial motor vehicles in December 2017.

Oh wait, they were.

In its fight against the ELD mandate, the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court, mentioning privacy concerns and saying that it violated truckers Fourth Amendment rights.

In September 2017, an OOIDA-led coalition of 31 organizations, said there were significant technological and real-world concerns that hadnt been addressed by FMCSA.

At the time, the coalition was backing a bill proposed by U.S. Rep. Brian Babin, R-Texas, that would delay the ELD mandate for two years. The coalition said the delay was needed in order to address these concerns.

But you know the rest. The bill didnt pass and the $2 billion ELD mandate began its first phase in December 2017 and entered its third and final phase in December 2019.

Why were lawmakers so determined to push this mandate forward, you might ask. They said it was all in the name of safety. The ELDs would force truckers to rigidly follow the hours-of-service regulations, which, in theory, would reduce crashes. OOIDA has contended that compliance doesnt equal safety and that there have been no studies proving that ELDs increase safety on the highways.

Soon after the mandate was put in place, truckers began to complain that the hours of service were too rigid and that the ELDs were forcing them to beat the clock and speed in order to get parked in time. Those cries led to the FMCSA reforming the hours-of-service rules, which are set to go into effect on Sept. 29.

While the official numbers havent been released, preliminary stats dont do much to support the justification for the ELD mandate. A preliminary study released in 2019 said ELDs have not reduced crashes and may cause an increase in unsafe driving habits. According to numbers from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, fatalities involving large trucks reached a 30-year high during the first full year of the ELD mandate.

So more than two-and-a-half years into the ELD mandate, heres what we know:

All of this even though there is still no proof that ELDs do anything to benefit highway safety.The FBI bulletin is the latest proof that the ELD mandate was an unnecessary and hastily enacted regulation.

Excerpt from:
FBI bulletin exposes another crack in ELD mandate - Land Line - Land Line Media

image: public domain

A bill in the United States, proposed by Senator Chris Coons, D-Delaware and Senator Mike Lee, R-Utah, would require law enforcement to get a judges approval before conducting surveillance if enacted.

The bill, called the Facial Recognition Technology Warrant Act, would require federal law enforcement to obtain a warrant from a judge to use facial recognition to track someone in real time for longer than three days, and would limit that surveillance to 30 days. It also would require the judge to report the request to U.S. court administrators for tracking. The bill, which appropriately refers to the technology rather than the delivery tool such as closed circuit TV or drones, could relieve fears about law enforcement use of drone technology in communities.

Senator Coons said that the bill strikes the right balance by making sure law enforcement has the tools necessary to keep us safe while also protecting fundamental Fourth Amendment privacy rights.

Facial recognition has long been used in other countries, such a England, where it is used in conjunction with other technologies such as closed circuit TV networks. In China, the software has been used to identify protesters: some countries, before Covid-19, have tried to ban masks to prevent the use of facial recognition.

As seen in the Intelligent Security Systems video below, facial recognition can be acheived by drones. This is not a common use for drone technology in law enforcement, despite public perception that surveillance is a primary use. Drones equipped with cameras are generally used to ensure the safety of officers and communities, for search and rescue, or for efficiency and accuracy in missions such asdocumenting accidents and crime scenes.

Video from ISS: Drone Facial Recognition

CEO DroneLife.com, DroneRacingLife.com, and CMO of Jobfordrones.com. Principle at Spalding Barker Strategies. Has enjoyed working with and around the commercial drone industry for the last 10 years. Attendance and speaker at Industry Events such as Commercial UAV, InterGeo, Interdrone and others. Proud father of two. Enjoys karate, Sherlock Holmes, and interesting things. Subscribe to all things drone at DroneLife here. Email is [emailprotected] Make Sure that you WhiteList us in your email to make sure you get our Newsletter. [emailprotected]

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A New US Bill Would Ban the Police Use of Facial Recognition. Would it Affect Police Use of Drones? - DroneLife

City

Police and other officials need to be held accountable for these military-style assaults, says Center City lawyer Paul Hetznecker.

The Philadelphia Police Department using tear gas against protesters along I-676 on June 1st. Philly lawyers are now preparing to file a massive lawsuit or lawsuits against the city and police. (Photo by Mark Makela/Getty Images)

A roundup of Philly news. This post may be updated at any time as new information becomes available.

The decision to use tear gas against protesters in Philadelphia has become one helluva bad PR nightmare for city officials.

If you havent seen the damning New York Times investigation into the June 1st tear gas incident on I-676, watch it now, and youll see what I mean.

But that decision could also wind up becoming an incredibly costly one for the city. Philly Mag has learned that lawyers will soon file a lawsuit or multiple lawsuits in federal court against various city and police officials as well as individual police officers on behalf of numerous plaintiffs.

One of the lead lawyers, Paul Hetznecker, says he expects the defendants to include the city, individual city officials, the police department, Philly police commissioner Danielle Outlaw, and police officers themselves once the team of lawyers can identify who those police officers are, in certain cases.

There were so many incidents where we cant really identify the police officers right now, because many of them did not have their names or badges displayed, explains Hetznecker, who has represented countless protesters throughout his career, including from incidents surrounding the 2000 Republican National Convention in Philadelphia and the Occupy movement. And others, its hard to identify them with riot gear on. So we will probably file the lawsuit and name them later on once we discover their identities. They should be named personally. They should be held accountable along with those in charge.

Paul Hetznecker (photo provided) and Michael Coard (file photo), two of the attorneys organizing the tear gas lawsuit in Philadelphia.

Prominent activist and attorney Michael Coard, one of the lawyers working with Hetznecker, says that he expects controversial Philly cop Joseph Bologna to be at the front of the line in terms of cops named individually as defendants. Philly district attorney Larry Krasner has charged Bologna with assaulting a protester.

According to Hetznecker, the use of tear gas on I-676 and in West Philly will certainly be at the center of any legal actions filed. But he notes that there were plenty of other examples of police actions like Bolognas during the protests that constitute violations of protesters First and Fourth amendment rights.

Police and other officials need to be held accountable for these military-style assaults, he insists.

The First Amendment is sacrosanct, adds Coard. It is not to be praised one day as this glorious document and then used like a piece of toilet paper the next day even if the city and police think that peaceful protesting is a shitty way to petition your government. What happened here is blatant, obvious and egregious. There should not only be civil liabilities but also more criminal prosecutions.

A lot of people out there have been hoping that Philly would move into the Green Phase of reopening this Friday, July 3rd. After all, its Fourth of July weekend. And officials had previously said that July 3rd was the target date. But it sounds like the Green Phase may be farther away than we expected.

Philadelphia health commissioner Thomas Farley took to Fox 29s Good Day Philadelphia on Monday morning to talk about Phillys reopening (or not reopening) plans.

As of late last week our numbers were rising rather than falling, Farley told anchors Alex Holley and Mike Jerrick. And thats in the context of numbers rising a lot around the country. Its looks like were not going to meet the targets we had laid out to go to green. So were reevaluating now

Farley added that officials are particularly concerned about restaurants. He said to expect a final decision on Tuesday.

Heres the full interview:

While Philadelphia considers pulling back on its reopening plans, a much different scene is playing out at the Jersey Shore. The state is allowing Atlantic City casinos to reopen at 25 percent capacity as of Thursday.

Hard Rock is reopening on Thursday. Ballys, Caesars and Harrahs reopen on Friday. The Borgata will begin allowing guests to enter by invitation only on Thursday prior to opening to the public on Monday.

For a full list of Atlantic City casino reopening dates and the new guidelines they have in place to try to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, go here.

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Philly Lawyers Prepping Massive Lawsuit Against City Over Tear Gas and Other Incidents - Philadelphia magazine