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Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton wants his office to help defend Llano County officials being sued for restricting and banning books from their public library system.

In a court filing Wednesday, Paxton asked Austin-based federal district court Judge Robert Pitman to let the state intervene in the lawsuit, which was filed by seven Llano County residents in April.

If Pitman grants the motion, Paxtons office could aid the county judge, county commissioners and library director in fighting the lawsuit.

In this weeks filing, Paxton notes that the plaintiffs are represented by nine lawyers, six of whom work for San Francisco-based law firm BraunHagey and Borden LLP. On the other hand, the Llano County Attorneys Office has only two lawyers.

With such a small number of lawyers, Llano County might not have the resources to handle daily legal obligations plus stand against lawyers whom Paxton describes as oriented toward systemic change rather than the resolution of a single lawsuit, according to his offices filing. However, the resources Paxton would bring from the Office of the Attorney General would be sufficient to ensure that the plaintiffs claims are fully and fairly explored and presented to the court, his office argues.

According to the lawsuit, Llano County officials removed several books from shelves, suspended access to digital library books, replaced the library board members with people who favor book bans, halted new book orders and allowed the board to close its meetings to the public in a coordinated censorship campaign that violates the First and 14th Amendments.

At the time, the plaintiffs said their constitutional rights were violated when public officials censored books based on content and failed to provide proper notice or an avenue for community comment, according to previous reporting by The Texas Tribune.

Attorneys for the residents either could not be reached or were unavailable to comment. Paxtons office could not immediately be reached for comment.

Books removed from the library include Maurice Sendaks In the Night Kitchen, Susan Campbell Bartolettis They Called Themselves the K.K.K.: The Birth of an American Terrorist Group and Jazz Jennings Being Jazz: My Life as a (Transgender) Teen.

Since last year, Texas Republican officials and grassroots conservatives have waged a battle against what they portray as indoctrination and obscenity in school and public libraries. Last fall, one state lawmaker compiled a list of some 850 books about race and sexuality that he sent to school districts, asking how many are available on their campuses.

This came after the Texas Legislature passed a law limiting how race, slavery and current events are taught in schools. They dubbed it the critical race theory bill, even though the legislation never mentioned the term. Critical race theory is a university-level concept that examines how racism shapes laws and policies. Public education experts, along with school administrators and teachers, say the theory is not taught in public schools.

Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick have made parental rights a priority as they both seek reelection in November. Patrick has also vowed to push for a Dont Say Gay bill in Texas, mirroring Floridas conservative push to limit classroom discussions about LGBTQ people.

Join us Sept. 22-24 in person in downtown Austin for The Texas Tribune Festival and experience 100+ conversation events featuring big names you know and others you should from the worlds of politics, public policy, the media and tech all curated by The Texas Tribunes award-winning journalists. Buy tickets.

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Ken Paxton wants Texas to help defend Llano County officials being sued for banning books - The Texas Tribune

I dont tweet. I probably never will. As a former English professor, I am too steeped in the idea that you must provide well-reasoned support for your assertionsnot just blurt them out rapid-fire with as many typos as you can manage.

Despite my lack of interest in the venue, however, I have noticed the recent uproar surrounding Elon Musks takeover of Twitter. The left is furious because it appears that Musk will disallow the censorship of which they had grown so fond. No more can they rest easy in the knowledge that their poorly formed ideas and false narratives will be unequivocally protected from dissidents by thought-police algorithms and official banishments.

Meanwhile, the right, being the hand most often slapped by the corporate dictatorship that was Twitter, is eating its popcorn now and watching with glee the recent turn of events in Dystopia. It is cheering Musk on and preparing all its pent-up one-liners for the new free-speech-friendly virtual world.

I admit there is satisfaction in seeing the smug enraged, but that is a base, sectarian satisfaction, which probably misses the forest for the trees. Free speech is a double-edged axe, as is censorship. Unbridled free speech is an open marketplace for ideas, not all of which are good for people and some of which are downright dangerous for both body and soul. Sure, you can say, as the free-market economists do about corporations, that the bad will be defeated by their betters in the free market of discourse, but this is nave. In a very truly well-educated society, the best ideas may prevail, for the citizens of that land have the tools to evaluate arguments on their merits. But we do not live in a well-educated society, not by a long shot, and the peddlers of bad ideas are often expert propagandists. They need not defeat their opponents (those with good ideas) in open debateindeed, they are incapable of winning on those grounds. They need only control positions of power: in the media, including social media and entertainment, in education, medicine, agriculture, politics, and so on.

With a poorly educated, highly indoctrinated society such as we have, it is not the better ideas that will prevail in a free-speech environment; it is the more pervasive propaganda. Admittedly, censorship offers no better an alternative. As we have seen with Twitter and other big-tech entities during the so-called pandemic and 2020 elections, censorship is executed by the powerful, not the wise.

In the hands of a wise parent, however, censorship of what comes into the home and into the minds of the children is not just a useful tool; it is essential for the familys healthmental, physical, and spiritual alike. So too with a wise government, with wise teachers, with wise editors of media outlets, with a wise religious authorityall potentially disseminators of truth and protectors of persons. In their hands, strict limitations on the flow of harmful ideas into society can only serve to limit the damage and carnage on a fallen, and therefore vulnerable, race.

The problem, of course, is that we do not have many wise people in government, in education, in media, or in religious authority at present, and, in fact, a great many of them are actively engaged in the destruction of the moral and political orders. Therefore, the censorship they impose is exactly the wrong kind: they cancel truth rather than lies.

Which brings us back to Twitter: a dictatorially leftist organization controlling the lions share of bellicose one-liner communications. Not only does the platform itself inhibit real debate, but its owners could not resist flexing the muscle of their market domination, and they started openly banning users who did not align with their weak-minded politics. To focus on their acts of censorship, though, and to cheer Musks alleged intention of bringing free speech back to the playing field is to miss the point of the problem.

The real offense of Twitter is not censorship. It never was a kindly, public-service endeavor meant beneficently to allow folks everywhere to speak their minds and be heard. It was about money and political power, and the owners of political power do not typically give equal time to their opponentsnot in their own backyard. And if you think about it, why should they?

The trouble with Twitter is not censorship but false advertising, a bait-and-switch scam. Come on in, everyone! The water is fine, and the speech is free. You can make a splash and spar with anyone about anything you like. There is the appearance of no vested interest behind the offering.

That Elon Musk just paid $44 billion dollars for it should shatter that illusion.

Michael Larson

Top image by Mohamed Hassan, Pixabay

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The Trouble with Twitter - Chronicles - A Magazine of American Culture

The Big Ten has a chance to be in the right place at the right time.

Many expected the league to announce its fancy new TV rights package, which will probably be north of $1 billion, around Memorial Day (that was the scuttle during league meetings in early May). The end of that month has come and gone and theres no press release. As negotiations continue, it now seems like the next logical time to announce something would be around conference media days at the end of Julyif it can get a deal (or deals) done.

One thing we know: Fox will remain in control of the primary package of games (think Ohio State/Michigan/Penn State vs. anyone good). Fox stumbled into Big Noon Saturday games by scheduling necessity to avoid conflicts with Major League Baseball, and it has been a success. But theres opportunity here if NBC is really pushing for another college football game to pair with Notre Dame in a doubleheader slot, as Front Office Sports reported, and if CBS wants to stay in the college football game after losing the SEC, as Sports Business Journal reported.

The Big Tens current media rights deal expires in 2023.

Joseph Cress/Iowa City Press-Citizen/USA TODAY Network

The Big Ten could hypothetically blanket your Saturday on three broadcast networks by splitting the package. Lets take a random league schedule for an example. Heres Oct. 7:

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Thats one great matchup on paper, and two O.K. ones. A hypothetical national TV slate could go: Ohio State at Michigan State on Fox at noon; Wisconsin at Northwestern on CBS at 3:30; and Michigan at Indiana on NBC at 7:30. The rest can head to the Big Ten Network.

Whether you think those games are sexy is immaterial. Where theyre broadcast is important for the leagues continued visibility as it fights for supremacy against the SEC, and utilizing three different broadcast networks means three different networks have incentive to promote their gamesand that promotion can occur during, for instance, NFL Sundays or the World Series. As the season gets into its later days, matchups get juicier as the Playoff push comes into focus. Considering the Big Ten is probably going to get rid of divisions soon, a new scheduling arrangement could yield different and better matchups down the stretch. CBS has an existing relationship with the Big Ten for mens basketball, and a rights agreement with the Tiffany Network could include continuing to share those games with Fox.

This would also wrestle some control over the scheduleand some might say the sport, existentiallyaway from ESPN. There would be consternation about doing that from coaches and athletic directors who see ESPN as a draw because of its ubiquity, but there are others within the footprint who will always think the four-letter network has bias against it because there isnt, for instance, a Big Ten version of Paul Finebaum who can pop on SportsCenter and stump for the league. But even as ESPNs SEC ties deepen, its not as if the network will go quietly into the night as a long-term partner of the league. However, Foxs 60% stake in the Big Ten Network means that Fox is consulting on a deal with other networks, including ESPN, its chief rival, as it continues to position itself as an alternative home for some of college footballs best games and use the noon time slot, which was for years a deadzone.

There are further suitors as well, including Turner Sports (now owned by Warner Bros. Discover) and of course Amazon and Apple as tech giants with more money than God. Whether its worth it to stick college sports behind another layer of streaming is for the suits to decide, but if either gets a Big Ten package of games it would be the first rights deal in this country that either did not win by default. For instance, Amazon has exclusive NFL rights for Thursday night, which none of the other networks wanted.

The Big Ten is not the be-all, end-all for any of these media companies, as the Big 12 and an increasingly needy Pac-12 have rights deals coming up in the next few years. But depending on where you live, the Big Tens brand is only eclipsed by the SEC in college football, and those are the rights still up for bid.

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The Big Ten Has a Prime Opportunity With Its Media Rights Package - Sports Illustrated

Washington, D.C. U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) and colleagues sent a letter to Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel regarding the sale of 18 Spanish-language radio stations, including Miamis conservative Radio Mamb, to the Latino Media Network (LMN), a recently formed media group run by Democrat activists and funded in part by leftwing billionaire George Soros.We are concerned that LMN, as a newly formed front group led by partisan operatives with zero experience in broadcasting, may work to silence political viewpoints with which its funders disagree. If successful, LMN could exercise virtually uncontested influence over nearly one third of all Hispanics across the country, the lawmakers wrote. Given the importance of the FCCs stewardship over the limited AM and FM bandwidth available across the United States, we ask that the commission carry out its due diligence and thoughtfully scrutinize the takeover of these stations by a partisan organization only announced last week.Far from benign, the proposed sale is the latest in a series of moves by elite progressives desperate to claw back support from Hispanic voters, who have rightly turned their backs on Democrats and their socialist priorities, the lawmakers continued. But instead of overhauling their own unpopular policies, we are concerned that far-left ideologues are attempting to consolidate and expand their control over the media, so they can flood the airwaves with propaganda with the hopes of fooling listeners so that they can silence effective conservative voices who challenge their progressive propaganda.Joining Rubio were Senators Rick Scott (R-FL) and Tom Cotton (R-AR), as well as Representatives Carlos Gimnez (R-FL), Mara Elvira Salazar (R-FL), and Mario Daz-Balart (R-FL).The full text of the letter is below.Dear Chairwoman Rosenworcel:We write to urge the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), within all applicable rules and regulations, and pursuant to the FCCs public interest mandate pursuant to the Radio Act of 1927 (P.L. 69-632), to thoroughly scrutinize the proposed sale of 18 Spanish-language radio stations to the so-called Latino Media Network (LMN), including Radio Mamb 710 AM in Miami, Florida. We are concerned that LMN, as a newly formed front group led by partisan operatives with zero experience in broadcasting, may work to silence political viewpoints with which its funders disagree. If successful, LMN could exercise virtually uncontested influence over nearly one third of all Hispanics across the country. Given the importance of the FCCs stewardship over the limited AM and FM bandwidth available across the United States, we ask that the commission carry out its due diligence and thoughtfully scrutinize the takeover of these stations by a partisan organization only announced last week.Many of the stations implicated in this sale are pillars of their local community. For example, Radio Mamb serves a vital role in South Florida, offering listeners critical coverage of the dictatorship in Cuba and local news reporting. In some cases, these are among the last media outlets dedicated to, and staffed by, the local community. The hostile takeover by LMN would destroy those long-standing community connections.LMNs founders, Obama Administration and campaign alumnae, have emphasized the unprecedented scope of the proposed sale, touting it as one of the largest single acquisitions of stations by a Latino owned and operated company in history. While grave questions remain about the nature of LMN its precise ownership structure, the potential involvement of foreign funding, how it intends to program a massive network of radio stations given its total lack of experience there should be no ambiguity about the intent of this transaction. Funding for the LMN comes mostly from Democrat partisans, including Lakestar Finance LLC, an investment firm tied to leftwing billionaire George Soros.Far from benign, the proposed sale is the latest in a series of moves by elite progressives desperate to claw back support from Hispanic voters, who have rightly turned their backs on Democrats and their socialist priorities. But instead of overhauling their own unpopular policies, we are concerned that far-left ideologues are attempting to consolidate and expand their control over the media, so they can flood the airwaves with propaganda with the hopes of fooling listeners so that they can silence effective conservative voices who challenge their progressive propaganda.In fact, leftists have been explicit about these aims; last year, faced with the prospect of losing political influence via the proposed sale of a single AM radio station located in Miami, members of the all-Democrat Congressional Hispanic Caucus jumped to action to halt the transaction. Past and present members of the caucus were clear about their real purpose in getting involved, with one proclaiming in April 2021: To win in 2022 this must stop!With the collapse of that sale, Democrats are back on the offensive, now pushing to take over 18 different Spanish-language radio stations around the United States. We believe that this blatant, partisan effort to destroy community-based radio and silence opposing voices provides ample reason for the FCC to act with the due diligence with which it has been tasked. We also believe that any takeover of this scale and speed, especially when critical questions remain about LMN and its lack of operational experience, must be analyzed with extraordinary scrutiny.Thank you for your attention to this vitally important subject. We look forward to your response.Sincerely,

RUBIO Y COLEGAS ALERTAN SOBRE VENTA DE ESTACIONES RADIALES EN ESPAOL AL RECIN FORMADO LEFTWING MEDIA GROUP

Originally posted here:
English/Espaol: Rubio, Colleagues Sound the Alarm on Sale of Spanish-Language Radio Stations to Newly Formed Leftwing Media Group - Senator Marco...

Eight zero-day vulnerabilities affecting a popular industrial control provided by Carrier have been identified and patched, according to security researchers from Trellix who discovered the issues.

The vulnerabilities affect the LenelS2 Mercury access control panel, which is used to grant physical access to facilities and integrate with more complex building automation deployments.

Carriers LenelS2 Mercury access control panels are widely used across hundreds of companies in the healthcare, education, and transportation industries as well as federal government agencies and organizations.

Trellix said they combined both known and novel techniques that allowed them to hack the system, achieve root access to the devices operating system and pull firmware for emulation and vulnerability discovery.

Carrier associate director of product security architecture Joshua Jessurun disputed the idea that these are zero-day vulnerabilities but told The Record that his team worked with Trellix on remediating the issues and released an advisory with detailed guidelines on what users need to do to address the vulnerabilities. Some of the issues need to be mitigated while most are addressed in firmware updates.

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) released its own advisory on the issues which are tagged as CVE-2022-31479, CVE-2022-31480, CVE-2022-31481, CVE-2022-31482, CVE-2022-31483, CVE-2022-31484, CVE-2022-31485, CVE-2022-31486 with most carrying CVSS scores above 7.5.

CISA explained that exploitation of the bugs would give an attacker access to the device, allowing monitoring of all communications sent to and from the device, modification of onboard relays, changing of configuration files, device instability, and a denial-of-service condition.

Trellix security researchers Steve Povolny and Sam Quinn said they anticipated a strong potential for finding vulnerabilities, knowing that the access controller was running a Linux Operating System and root access to the board could be achieved by leveraging classic hardware hacking techniques.

While we believed flaws could be found, we did not expect to find common, legacy software vulnerabilities in a relatively recent technology. Furthermore, this product has been approved for U.S. Federal Government use following rigorous security vulnerability and interoperability testing, the two explained, noting that they took their findings to CISA after discovery.

Using the manufacturers built-in ports we were able to manipulate on-board components and interact with the device. Through reverse engineering and live debugging, we discovered six unauthenticated and two authenticated vulnerabilities exploitable remotely over the network.

They managed to bypass security measures by utilizing hardware hacking techniques to force the system into desired states.

The two explained that by chaining just two of the vulnerabilities together, they were able to exploit the access control board and gain root level privileges on the device remotely.

With this level of access, we created a program that would run alongside of the legitimate software and control the doors. This allowed us to unlock any door and subvert any system monitoring, they said.

Most significantly, the vulnerabilities uncovered allowed us to demonstrate the ability to remotely unlock and lock doors, subvert alarms and undermine logging and notification systems.

They added that customers using HID Global Mercury boards should contact their Mercury OEM partner for access to security patches prior to weaponization by malicious threat actors, which could lead to both digital or physical breaches of sensitive information and protected locations.

The two noted that the tools were added to the Government Service Administration (GSA) Approved Product List (APL) and were approved for federal government use, giving the impression that the product was highly vetted.

It is crucial to independently evaluate the certifications of any product prior to adding it into an IT or OT environment, Povolny and Quinn said.

Jonathan has worked across the globe as a journalist since 2014. Before moving back to New York City, he worked for news outlets in South Africa, Jordan and Cambodia. He previously covered cybersecurity at ZDNet and TechRepublic.

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8 zero-day vulnerabilities discovered in popular industrial control system from Carrier - The Record by Recorded Future