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- Virginia Man Argues His ‘FTP&ATF’ License Plate Is Free Speech. ...
A Virginia man's anti-police license plate is at the center of what could be a landmark First Amendment case, following a federal appeals court ruling in his favor last month. Virginia motorist Curtis M. Whateley says he has a free speech right to keep his customized license plate, which reads "FTP&ATF," an abbreviation that foul-mouthed puzzle-solvers will decipher as "Fuck the police and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms." The State of Virginia argues that it has the right to revoke Whateley's plate because license plates are government-owned, not a public soapbox. The state says it's going to take its case to the Supreme Court. The case highlights a niche, often amusing, but still consequential issue in First Amendment law: whether a vanity license plate is private or government speech. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2015 that Texas could deny a group's application for a specialty license plate design showing the Confederate flag. Most U.S. district courts and state courts interpreting the decision have held that, while government-run vanity plate programs are a nonpublic forum, the specific character combination of the plate is private speech, which restricts the government from censorship based on viewpoint. But until the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit issued an opinion on Whateley's case on July 31, no federal appeals court had ruled on the matter, according to the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia (ACLU-VA), which is representing Whateley. The three-judge panel unanimously found Virginia's personalized license plate messages are private speech subject to First Amendment protection. "There is no doubt that Virginia has final approval authority over the messages Virginia's drivers wish to convey on their vanity plates, and that it may deny approval for messages it believes to be vulgar or offensive," the 4th Circuit panel wrote. "But the exercise of that authority, on its own, is more consistent with the regulation of private expression in a public forum than it is with the government speaking on its own behalf." Matt Callahan, a senior supervising attorney at the ACLU-VA, said in a press release that the 4th Circuit's ruling "goes beyond Mr. Whateley, reaffirming these protections for the almost one million drivers in Virginia who have exercised their free speech rights through personalized license plates." "The First Amendment is a foundational American principle created specifically to ensure that the government cannot silence people for speech it… [TheTopNews] Read More.13 hours ago - Jen Psaki Laments the Lack of ‘Excellent’ Journalism Covering the Current Wh...
As a former Biden White House spokesperson, few people honestly expect Jen Psaki to deliver an objective assessment of President Donald Trump’s administration and the press office she previously ran. That said, asking us to ignore the details displayed during her run, and the ensuing years of President Joe Biden’s term, is a stretch that risks ligament damage. Psaki was appearing with Peter Alexander on his new show at MS NOW, State of Play, discussing the makeup of the current White House press corps. Her critique has to do with those being admitted into that cloistered circle of excellence, but her description of what this leads to is where the real comedy is found. Yes, journalists rolling over like a puppy to please the administration is a problem, but to pretend this is something never before seen in the briefing room is simply laughable. Alexander was seated in that chamber when Psaki was at the podium, and it is mirthful to see them decrying how there are those now in attendance who are willing to “spit out the Republican talking points.” Do they really expect us to forget the years of willful echoing of White House PR by the press mynah birds during the Biden years? Psaki went on to explain why she sees this inclusion of more types of new outlets included in the press pool. It comes down to the fact that it makes for a less herdlike mentality delivering dispatches from that room. Certainly, at least a portion of her complaint here concerns the move made by the press office to take over appointments on the White House press pool. That was a move that rankled the White House Correspondents Association, the previous body in charge of making those assignments. And it is a move that could be criticized, as it impacted the level of independence. But taken with the same approach, when things were in the hands of the WHCA, it did not exactly deliver independent results. Hearing Psaki complaining that “people are not getting actual transparent information,” is just a little tough to choke down, coming from “Ms. Circleback” herself. How can she complain about a lack of transparency when she worked for the man who was known for going long durations without addressing the media at all? Biden gave formal press conferences with an eclipse-like frequency. And on the matter of a… [TheTopNews] Read More.13 hours ago - Matthew McConaughey Says This 2003 Movie Still Brings Him The Best ‘Mailbox Mo...
He added that it’s “probably my favorite rom-com that I’ve ever done.” [TheTopNews] Read More.13 hours ago - How a Fargo-Built Chatbot Is Helping Prairie Public Assist Its Audience
A screenshot of the Ask Prairie Public chat assistant. We are always looking for cool uses of the latest advancements — technology for good, one might say. And in North Dakota, we found a use of a chatbot that fits that bill. This past April, Prairie Public Broadcasting deployed “Ask Prairie Public” on its website. It’s a homegrown piece of North Dakota tech. A Fargo-based firm, Chipp, developed the AI-based assistant. Troy Davis, Prairie Public’s director of development, said the chatbot went through multiple rounds of testing and iterations to get it to where it is now. “We’re still learning and tweaking it as people ask more questions,” he said. Prairie Public Radio is heard throughout North Dakota on 11 full-power signals across the state, along with five FM translators. It offers three main programming channels: classical music with National Public Radio programming, “roots, rock and jazz” and flagship station KDSU’s feed. The Prairie Public Radio network, from its website. It also blankets North Dakota as the state’s PBS television affiliate, Prairie Public Television. The network had a specific use case in mind for the assistant. It offers a membership program called Passport, which gives extended access to PBS content to members who give $5 a month. “What I realized was that our inboxes and voicemails would fill up on nights and weekends when people were sitting down and wanted to watch their favorite PBS program,” Davis said. Troy Davis Davis or another Prairie Public staff member would call back the member the next morning, or on Monday if a call came in over the weekend. “But by then, it wasn’t usually a convenient time for them to sit down and work through the problem,” he explained. Prairie Public desired a tool that could answer member questions when they needed help, especially outside of business hours. The beauty, Davis explained, is that while the chatbot is automated, a Prairie Public staff member can take over in real time. “When a new conversation starts, we get an email notification, and sometimes I’ll follow along just to see how it responds,” he said. Davis has stepped in on occasion when questions are so specific that they warrant human intervention. Most of the time, however, Prairie Public has found the bot to be quite useful. In fact, a friend of mine referred me to Ask Prairie Public in the first place, after it… [TheTopNews] Read More.14 hours ago - ‘Inexcusable!’ Leon Panetta Says USS Abraham Lincoln Problems Show U.S. ‘L...
Allegedly deplorable conditions on the USS Abraham Lincoln are “inexcusable,” according to former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta — who contends the situation could indicate a “lack of readiness” by the United States. Panetta, who served under then-President Barack Obama and also worked as head of the Central Intelligence Agency, said its clear the reported problems on the ship show someone failed to properly plan. Appearing Friday on MS NOW’s The Moment with Katy Tur, Panetta told anchor Katy Tur the Lincoln should not have been deployed for more than eight months and counting: LEON PANETTA: Well, it shouldn’t happen. Look, we deploy our men and women in uniform into harm’s way, and they’re putting their lives on the line for our country. It is inexcusable not to do the proper planning that has to be done in order to make sure that their deployment is not overextended, that they’re getting the supplies they need, that they’re getting the support they need. Because if you’re, if you’re impacting on the morale of our fighting men and women, you’re impacting on our readiness. And that’s what concerns me is whether or not the failure to really keep up with the level of deployments that were, that were done here, has contributed to our lack of readiness. KATY TUR: What do you think of the defense secretary’s response to reporters questions? We just played it a moment ago. PANETTA: You know, I, I think he’s trying to obviously indicate that the facts were wrong here. They were misrepresented that he is trying to provide the support. But the facts speak for themselves. The facts speak for themselves. Every week when I was secretary, I sat down with the chairman of the joint chiefs to go after every deployment to make sure that those deployments were limited and that we were aware of how long those deployments were. And that’s particularly true for our ships. You’re talking about these carriers. They’re big ships, 5000 people. They go across the globe. But at the same time, you’ve got to make sure that that those deployments are not overextended. The deployment of the Abraham Lincoln is almost eight months or more. That’s too long. And it should have been brought back sooner. Something, somebody, somewhere failed to do the proper planning for what had to take place in order to properly support our men… [TheTopNews] Read More.14 hours ago
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A Virginia man's anti-police license plate is at the center of what could be a landmark First Amendment case, following a federal appeals court ruling in his favor last month. Virginia motorist Curtis M. Whateley says he has a free speech right to keep his customized license plate, which reads "FTP&ATF," an abbreviation that foul-mouthed puzzle-solvers will decipher as "Fuck the police and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms." The State of Virginia argues that it has the right to revoke Whateley's plate because license plates are government-owned, not a public soapbox. The state says it's going to take its case to the Supreme Court. The case highlights a niche, often amusing, but still consequential issue in First Amendment law: whether a vanity license plate is private or government speech. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2015 that Texas could deny a group's application for a specialty license plate design showing the Confederate flag. Most U.S. district courts and state courts interpreting the decision have held that, while government-run vanity plate programs are a nonpublic forum, the specific character combination of the plate is private speech, which restricts the government from censorship based on viewpoint. But until the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit issued an opinion on Whateley's case on July 31, no federal appeals court had ruled on the matter, according to the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia (ACLU-VA), which is representing Whateley. The three-judge panel unanimously found Virginia's personalized license plate messages are private speech subject to First Amendment protection. "There is no doubt that Virginia has final approval authority over the messages Virginia's drivers wish to convey on their vanity plates, and that it may deny approval for messages it believes to be vulgar or offensive," the 4th Circuit panel wrote. "But the exercise of that authority, on its own, is more consistent with the regulation of private expression in a public forum than it is with the government speaking on its own behalf." Matt Callahan, a senior supervising attorney at the ACLU-VA, said in a press release that the 4th Circuit's ruling "goes beyond Mr. Whateley, reaffirming these protections for the almost one million drivers in Virginia who have exercised their free speech rights through personalized license plates." "The First Amendment is a foundational American principle created specifically to ensure that the government cannot silence people for speech it… [TheTopNews] Read More.
13 hours ago
As a former Biden White House spokesperson, few people honestly expect Jen Psaki to deliver an objective assessment of President Donald Trump’s administration and the press office she previously ran. That said, asking us to ignore the details displayed during her run, and the ensuing years of President Joe Biden’s term, is a stretch that risks ligament damage. Psaki was appearing with Peter Alexander on his new show at MS NOW, State of Play, discussing the makeup of the current White House press corps. Her critique has to do with those being admitted into that cloistered circle of excellence, but her description of what this leads to is where the real comedy is found. Yes, journalists rolling over like a puppy to please the administration is a problem, but to pretend this is something never before seen in the briefing room is simply laughable. Alexander was seated in that chamber when Psaki was at the podium, and it is mirthful to see them decrying how there are those now in attendance who are willing to “spit out the Republican talking points.” Do they really expect us to forget the years of willful echoing of White House PR by the press mynah birds during the Biden years? Psaki went on to explain why she sees this inclusion of more types of new outlets included in the press pool. It comes down to the fact that it makes for a less herdlike mentality delivering dispatches from that room. Certainly, at least a portion of her complaint here concerns the move made by the press office to take over appointments on the White House press pool. That was a move that rankled the White House Correspondents Association, the previous body in charge of making those assignments. And it is a move that could be criticized, as it impacted the level of independence. But taken with the same approach, when things were in the hands of the WHCA, it did not exactly deliver independent results. Hearing Psaki complaining that “people are not getting actual transparent information,” is just a little tough to choke down, coming from “Ms. Circleback” herself. How can she complain about a lack of transparency when she worked for the man who was known for going long durations without addressing the media at all? Biden gave formal press conferences with an eclipse-like frequency. And on the matter of a… [TheTopNews] Read More.
13 hours ago
He added that it’s “probably my favorite rom-com that I’ve ever done.” [TheTopNews] Read More.
13 hours ago
A screenshot of the Ask Prairie Public chat assistant. We are always looking for cool uses of the latest advancements — technology for good, one might say. And in North Dakota, we found a use of a chatbot that fits that bill. This past April, Prairie Public Broadcasting deployed “Ask Prairie Public” on its website. It’s a homegrown piece of North Dakota tech. A Fargo-based firm, Chipp, developed the AI-based assistant. Troy Davis, Prairie Public’s director of development, said the chatbot went through multiple rounds of testing and iterations to get it to where it is now. “We’re still learning and tweaking it as people ask more questions,” he said. Prairie Public Radio is heard throughout North Dakota on 11 full-power signals across the state, along with five FM translators. It offers three main programming channels: classical music with National Public Radio programming, “roots, rock and jazz” and flagship station KDSU’s feed. The Prairie Public Radio network, from its website. It also blankets North Dakota as the state’s PBS television affiliate, Prairie Public Television. The network had a specific use case in mind for the assistant. It offers a membership program called Passport, which gives extended access to PBS content to members who give $5 a month. “What I realized was that our inboxes and voicemails would fill up on nights and weekends when people were sitting down and wanted to watch their favorite PBS program,” Davis said. Troy Davis Davis or another Prairie Public staff member would call back the member the next morning, or on Monday if a call came in over the weekend. “But by then, it wasn’t usually a convenient time for them to sit down and work through the problem,” he explained. Prairie Public desired a tool that could answer member questions when they needed help, especially outside of business hours. The beauty, Davis explained, is that while the chatbot is automated, a Prairie Public staff member can take over in real time. “When a new conversation starts, we get an email notification, and sometimes I’ll follow along just to see how it responds,” he said. Davis has stepped in on occasion when questions are so specific that they warrant human intervention. Most of the time, however, Prairie Public has found the bot to be quite useful. In fact, a friend of mine referred me to Ask Prairie Public in the first place, after it… [TheTopNews] Read More.
14 hours ago
Allegedly deplorable conditions on the USS Abraham Lincoln are “inexcusable,” according to former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta — who contends the situation could indicate a “lack of readiness” by the United States. Panetta, who served under then-President Barack Obama and also worked as head of the Central Intelligence Agency, said its clear the reported problems on the ship show someone failed to properly plan. Appearing Friday on MS NOW’s The Moment with Katy Tur, Panetta told anchor Katy Tur the Lincoln should not have been deployed for more than eight months and counting: LEON PANETTA: Well, it shouldn’t happen. Look, we deploy our men and women in uniform into harm’s way, and they’re putting their lives on the line for our country. It is inexcusable not to do the proper planning that has to be done in order to make sure that their deployment is not overextended, that they’re getting the supplies they need, that they’re getting the support they need. Because if you’re, if you’re impacting on the morale of our fighting men and women, you’re impacting on our readiness. And that’s what concerns me is whether or not the failure to really keep up with the level of deployments that were, that were done here, has contributed to our lack of readiness. KATY TUR: What do you think of the defense secretary’s response to reporters questions? We just played it a moment ago. PANETTA: You know, I, I think he’s trying to obviously indicate that the facts were wrong here. They were misrepresented that he is trying to provide the support. But the facts speak for themselves. The facts speak for themselves. Every week when I was secretary, I sat down with the chairman of the joint chiefs to go after every deployment to make sure that those deployments were limited and that we were aware of how long those deployments were. And that’s particularly true for our ships. You’re talking about these carriers. They’re big ships, 5000 people. They go across the globe. But at the same time, you’ve got to make sure that that those deployments are not overextended. The deployment of the Abraham Lincoln is almost eight months or more. That’s too long. And it should have been brought back sooner. Something, somebody, somewhere failed to do the proper planning for what had to take place in order to properly support our men… [TheTopNews] Read More.
14 hours ago
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