EFF joined other digital rights and civil liberties organizations in calling out the unconstitutionality of Federal Communications Commission chair Brendan Carr’s recent threats to punish broadcasters for airing statements he disagrees with.  Carr’s recent threats, like his past threats, are unconstitutional efforts to coerce news coverage that favors President Donald Trump. He wrongly claims that the FCC’s “public interest” standard allows him and the commission to revoke the licenses of broadcasters who publish news that is unflattering to the government is anathema to our country’s core constitutional values.  The First Amendment constrains the FCC’s authority to force broadcasters to toe the government’s line, even though broadcast licensees are required to operate in the “public interest, convenience, and necessity.” Imposing restrictions on licensees’ speech, especially viewpoint-based limitations, are still subject to First Amendment scrutiny even if, in some circumstances, that scrutiny differs somewhat from that applied to non-broadcast media. And the “public interest” requirement, as it were, has never been interpreted to allow the type of viewpoint-based punishment that Carr has threatened here.   Everyone agrees that news reporting should strive for accuracy, but Carr’s threats have little do with that. Instead, his allegations of "falsity" are a proxy for retaliation based on (1) Carr’s subjective policy disagreements; (2) any criticism of Trump and the administration broadly; (3) treatment of anything that is not the official US government line about the Iran War as “false.”  We join the call for Carr to withdraw these threats.   Civil Society Letter to FCC Chairman Barr

The device is being developed by the company's Devices and Services division, and it would feature personalized features aimed at making it easier to use Amazon's suite of apps, including Amazon shopping, Prime Video, and Prime Music, according to Reuters.

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They’re lucky the worst that happened was that they got escorted out by security. By now I’m sure you’ve seen the viral video of Riley Green getting hit in the face with a cell phone during a show at Margaret Court Arena in Melbourne, Australia. While on a run down under playing several shows as part of his Cowboy As It Gets Tour, and during a performance of “I Wish Grandpas Never Died,” some unruly fan decided it was a good idea to chuck their phone onstage, which ended up hitting Riley on the side of his face, and blood quickly started running down his neck. Immediately, Riley stopped the show and had his crew turn the house lights up, and after quickly identifying the fan that threw it, Riley threw him out and told security to get “his fat a** out of here”: “This one right here? Get his fat a** out of here. Go on.” I’ve never really heard Riley talk like that, especially in front of a crowd of thousands of fans, but he was rightfully upset and the man was promptly escorted out by security: View this post on Instagram The full video posted by a fan who attended the show gives more context, as you see Riley continue talking without even realizing he’s bleeding. A member of his crew walks up to him with a towel and starts wiping the blood of his neck, and Riley joked that he’s glad the fan didn’t throw an “iPhone 12” because “that would have really hurt.” He also joked the Australian crowd could see “how tough he is” because he didn’t even know he was bleeding… and he also asked them to get their phones out and turn the flashlights on for the rest of the song, but asked them not to throw them at him: “I’d like to take a moment while I’ve got everybody’s attention to thank each and every one of you for coming out tonight. Hang on, am I bleeding? Y’all see how tough I am? Thank god h didn’t have an iPhone 12, that would have really hurt. I was gonna get y’all to sing this song one time, y’all want to try it? Do me a favor right here, get your phones out, and you can turn the flashlight on, just don’t throw it at me.” You can see someone from his team come and wipe the blood off of his ear and neck, though all in all, Riley didn’t seem too phased by the whole ordeal: View this post on Instagram Riley later shared a photo on Instagram of his ear with five stitches because of that phone: “5 stitches later… sewed up.” Honestly, he’s handled it all mostly with humor, but I think I’d be pretty upset if I were him because it sets such a bad precedent for artists and performers to have to deal with this kind of crap. And during a conversation with Today Show Australia, when Riley was of course asked about the incident, he told hosts that he just wasn’t “quick enough,” adding that he’s been playing shows for over a decade and nothing like this has ever happened, so he definitely wasn’t going to “let one person ruin the night” for everyone else: “I didn’t get my ear pierced, that was a cell phone at a show the other day. I wasn’t quick enough, I guess. I’ve played 100-plus shows a year for 12 to 15 years, and that’s the first thing like this that’s happened. So you can’t let one person kind of ruin the night for everybody.” It’s impressive how nice he’s been about this whole thing, because it’s unbelievable to me that a “fan” would buy tickets to a show, especially in a country that doesn’t have country concerts all the time, and make the effort to go to the show, only to end up throwing anything at the artist they’re there for, let alone throwing something like a phone and actually causing an injury. This is a great example of dangerous that can be, and Riley is the exception in terms of how most artists react to that kind of thing. It’s happened countless times to other artists regardless of which country they’re in or what genre they’re part of, and it has got to stop. I imagine had that happened here in America things might’ve gone differently for the offender in terms of the only punishment being that he got kicked out, but I have to admit… Riley did look pretty cool because of it: View this post on Instagram Though he’s been a consummate professional about, I had to imagine he was not happy about the whole thing, but as he’s said repeatedly, he wasn’t going to let one unruly fan ruin the show for thousands of others who came genuinely wanting to enjoy the music. And in  speaking with Nick Riewoldt on Mick in the Morning, Riley downplayed it once again: “Well, I’m good, man, I got a couple of stitches the next morning, I think I got five. It definitely has gotten talked about quite a bit since then.” But he did admit that his first reaction was to “go down there and deal with it.” I feel like that would’ve been worst case scenario for the guy who threw it. I’m not advocating anyone get into a sort of physical altercation, but theoretically if it were to happen, I feel like Riley is one of the last people a regular old guy would want to get into it with: “Well yeah, the first thing was just kind of shock. Whatever hit me, I didn’t realize what it was to start with. I think your initial reaction is sort of, kinda angry, shocked, whatever. I pretty quickly kind of realize what had happened, got them to cut the house lights on, and figured out who had done it. I guess my first thought was probably to go down there and deal with it. As a performer, you have a lot of things thrown at you, and I think, man, there’s so many people that are here that know how to act, that are excited to see the show and everything. And I didn’t want to ruin anything for anybody else. So security got rid of the guy, obviously with your help a little by pointing him out to me… if I’m being honest, I don’t know if I’ve looked any cooler than played ‘I Wish Grandpa’s Never Died’ with blood streaming down my neck. So it’s not that bad.” I mean, I have to agree, it did look cool… but obviously, it never should have happened in the first place, and one of the other hosts offered an apology to Riley, and he replied by talking about how great the sold-out shows have been and how much he loves playing in Australia, so I certainly don’t think there’s any hard feelings and I continue to be impressed with how nice Riley has been about the whole thing. If anything, it’s a great lesson on why fans really shouldn’t be throwing anything at all on stage, even if it seems harmless… and if anything does get thrown at Riley, it should only be girls throwing their bras… View this post on Instagram Riley Green 2026 Tour Dates: March 20th, 2026 – Ipswich, Australia – CMC Rocks QLD^+= April 11th, 2026 – Fort Lauderdale, FL – Tortuga Music Festival April 16th, 2026 – Southaven, MS – Landers Center#~$ April 17th, 2026 – Louisville, KY – KFC Yum! Center#~$ April 18th, 2026 – Nashville, TN – Bridgestone Arena#~$ May 7th, 2026 – Charlotte, NC – PNC Music Pavilion#~• May 8th, 2026 – Alpharetta, GA – Ameris Bank Amphitheatre#~• June 18th, 2026 – Holmdel, NJ – PNC Bank Arts Center#~• June 19th, 2026 – Saratoga Springs, NY – Saratoga Performing Arts Center#~• June 20th, 2026 – Wantagh, NY – Northwell at Jones Beach Theater#~• June 25th, 2026 – Noblesville, IN – Ruoff Music Center#$* June 26th, 2026 – Burgettstown, PA – The Pavilion at Star Lake#$* July 16th, 2026 – Green Bay, WI – Resch Center#~• July 23rd, 2026 – Salt Lake City, UT – Utah First Credit Union Amphitheatre#~• August 6th, 2026 – Darien Center, NY – Darien Lake Amphitheater#/• August 7th, 2026 – Cuyahoga Falls, OH – Blossom Music Center#/• August 8th, 2026 – Bristow, VA – Jiffy Lube Live#/• August 13th, 2026 – Camden, NJ – Freedom Mortgage Pavilion#/• August 14th, 2026 – Hartford, CT – The XFINITY Theatre#/• August 15th, 2026 – Bangor, ME – Maine Savings Amphitheatre#/• August 21st, 2026 – Sioux Falls, SD – Denny Sanford#$*^ August 22nd, 2026 – Grand Forks, ND – Ralph Engelstad Arena#$* #Justin Moore ~Drake White $Mackenzie Carpenter Hannah McFarland *Adam Hood /Zach John King ^Braxton Keith +Jake Worthington =Bella MackenzieThe post Riley Green Says His First Reaction To Getting Hit In The Face With Phone Was To “Go Down There & Deal With It” Himself first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

The famous and iconic actor Chuck Norris has just died at the age of 86 after some kind of medical emergency. Here’s the news:

Senate Leader Thune admitted that Democrats may nuke the filibuster if they get power again in the Senate, explaining why he can’t do it himself. Here’s what he said: The founders may . . .

Trilateral talks involving Russia, the United States and Ukraine have been suspended, the Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Thursday, signaling another setback in efforts to revive broader negotiations. Peskov said the process “is on pause,” though Moscow and Kiev remain in contact on humanitarian matters, including prisoner exchanges and the return of fallen soldiers’ bodies. Ukraine also said consultations had been delayed rather than canceled. The Foreign Ministry’s spokesman Heorhii Tykhyi said Wednesday that several rounds of talks were postponed as the ongoing war with Iran has diverted Washington’s attention and slowed diplomatic efforts. Despite the pause in formal meetings, communication between the sides continues. Major disputes remain unresolved, particularly over territory. Moscow demands Ukraine withdraw from portions of its eastern regions, and Kiev has rejected those terms. The post Ukraine Peace Talks Suspended as Iran War Continues appeared first on The American Conservative.