They are pushing it hard

The 'Capital Gazette' Shooter Was an Online Troll — That Should Terrify Us

On Thursday, tragedy struck yet again in the form of a mass shooting, this time at the Capital Gazette newspaper in Annapolis, Maryland. The attack, which took five lives, was specifically targeted against Gazette journalists for their journalism.

While violence against journalists isn’t new in America — Elijah Parish Lovejoy was killed by an Alton, Illinois mob in 1837 for editing abolitionist stories — violent rhetoric and actions by internet trolls and the Alt-Right have bled into the mainstream.

The fact that the Gazette shooter appears to have been an online troll himself should be a warning to us all that threats that are typed on keyboards (and now read from lecterns) don’t necessarily stay in the virtual world.

The disturbing tragedy in Maryland is a reflection of a violent troll culture that has been festering on the internet for years, and that has recently been bubbling into the mainstream.

Trolling seemingly began because of the psychological disinhibition that can occur with the anonymity of certain virtual spaces, or simply with interactions mediated through a screen.

In spaces like 4chan, this has resulted in everything from racist pranks, like hacking a hip-hop forum to post hate speech or artificially making swastikas trend on Google, to calling in bomb threats or swatting (getting a SWAT team called to someone’s house).

In 2012, Gamergate made headlines when a swarm of trolls terrorized journalist Anita Sarkeesian with bomb threats, rape threats, and doxxing over a prospective series on video games and misogyny.

In December 2014, Edgar Maddison Welch fired on Comet Ping Pong after a conspiracy theory called “Pizzgate,” which originated on 4chan, was widely spread about the DC restaurant on pro-Trump websites and on Twitter by figures such as the son of Trump’s former National Security Advisor Michael T. Flynn. The theory alleged that Hillary Clinton and John Podesta were part of a child sex ring that ran out of Comet Ping Pong’s basement.

Even President Trump himself employed violent rhetoric and trolling tactics during his campaign — doxxing Lindsey Graham on Twitter and repeatedly calling for violence against protesters at his rallies.

While it would be a clear exaggeration to claim that Donald Trump and the alt-Right necessarily caused Thursday’s shooting, it’s notable that Jarrod Ramos was seemingly supportive of Trump’s ideas, and defended him on Twitter while delivering a veiled threat to the Gazette.

More:

https://www.yahoo.com/news/apos-capital-gazette-apos-shooter-234300212.html

Senate Votes To Legalize Hemp After 80 Years Of Prohibition

On Thursday, the U.S. Senate approved a bill to legalize hemp, an industrial crop that has been banned for decades.

In April, Senators Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Rand Paul (R-KY), Ron Wyden (D-OR), and Jeff Merkley (D-OR) submitted a separate bill to legalize hemp, and those provisions were then incorporated into the broader farm bill. The Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry approved that version before the upper house of Congress voted to approve it this week by a margin of 86-11. The bill would legalize the cultivation, processing, and sale of hemp.

"Consumers across America buy hundreds of millions in retail products every year that contain hemp," McConnell said Thursday.

"But due to outdated federal regulations that do not sufficiently distinguish this industrial crop from its illicit cousin, American farmers have been mostly unable to meet that demand themselves. It's left consumers with little choice but to buy imported hemp products from foreign-produced hemp."

According to Wyden:

“Legalizing hemp nationwide ends decades of bad policymaking and opens up untold economic opportunity for farmers in Oregon and across the country.”

Hemp is a versatile crop that can be used in everything from construction material to clothing, and it has long been a staple in the United States and around the world. In fact, in the 17th century, the government encouraged people to grow it.

Though hemp was eventually banned amid the widespread attack on cannabis in the 1930s, ironically, it then had to be imported to sustain the war effort during World War II.

Farmers across the country have expressed relief and excitement that hemp has come this close to legalization.

“It’s super big,” Dani Billings, who owns LoCo farms in Longmont Colorado, said, as reported by an NBC affiliate station in Colorado . “We have people who understand agriculture, that understand this is for farming and it’s not to get people high.”

Bruce Perlowin, CEO of NC-based Hemp Inc., which worked with veterans, said in a press release:

“With Veteran Village Kins Community B-Corporations set up in 8 states so far, the legalization of industrial hemp will now allow these future veteran villages to be built and to flourish - creating more support for our veterans than anyone can possibly imagine.”

The bill still must be approved by the House, which has expressed opposition to hemp legalization, though McConnell is expected to campaign heavily in favor of the bill in the lower house of Congress. A list of concerns about the bill handed down from the White House reportedly did not include any objections to hemp legalization, meaning that if the bill makes it through the House, it’s likely President Trump will sign it into law.

Some states have passed legislation in recent years legalizing hemp, but the latest legislation would make it national policy.

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-06-30/senate-votes-legalize-hemp-after-80-years-prohibition

Barack Obama visits venture capital firm on California trip

Former President Barack Obama has visited a prominent Silicon Valley venture capital firm.

Andrew Chen, a general partner at Andreessen Horowitz, posted a photo on Twitter of Obama posing Friday with a large group of people, including several venture capitalists at the firm based in Menlo Park, California.

The firm on Saturday declined to comment on the reason for the visit.

Obama, while still president in 2016, was asked by Bloomberg about his post-presidency plans and mentioned Silicon Valley and pulling together his interests in science and organization.

The Office of Barack and Michelle Obama didn't immediately respond to an emailed request for comment Saturday.

Obama also headlined a Democratic fundraiser Friday in nearby Atherton.

https://lancasteronline.com/news/national/barack-obama-visits-venture-capital-firm-on-california-trip/article_e29c5832-850a-5525-89da-db5bc5a0b1a7.html