The real reason Trump threatened to ban TikTok

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On Friday, Donald Trump said he would ban TikTok in the United States. There’s a lot more going on here than meets the eye — including a flex to show power to other social networks. Would a shutdown order be legal? There are obvious First Amendment reasons to object to the shutdown of a social … Continued

Representative Ted Yoho delivers a pathetically poor apology

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US Representative Ted Yoho had a heated verbal altercation with Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) on the steps of the capital. According The Hill, he referred to her as a “fucking bitch.” Later, he apologized on the House floor. It was one of the worst apologies ever. AOC had made some controversial statements about why poor … Continued

The eerie, romantic attraction of Amazon’s “Tales from the Loop”

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I’m stuck on a new TV series from Amazon Prime: “Tales from the Loop.” This is science fiction in its purest form, removed from the explosions and laser battles that have predominated in film and video “sci-fi” for the last 40 years. Science fiction is, or ought to be, an exploration of how people and … Continued

Writing a book proposal? Appeal to readers, not publishers.

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The job of a book proposal is to convince an acquisitions editor at a publishing house to make you an offer. So obviously, you should write it for editors, right? Wrong. Editors don’t want you to tell them what you plan to do. They want you to show them what you can do — for … Continued