House Oversight and Accountability Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) and ranking member Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) issued a rare joint statement Friday urging Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle to appear “without delay” for a hearing Monday to discuss the weekend’s assassination attempt of former President Trump. The statement from the top Republican and Democrat on the panel signals that congressional scrutiny of the Secret Service director is bipartisan,...

Five more House Democrats joined the growing number of congressional lawmakers who have called on President Biden to drop out of the 2024 election on Friday.  In a joint statement, Reps. Jared Huffman, D-Calif., Marc Veasey, D-Texas, Chuy Garcia, D-Illinois and Marc Pocan, D-Wisc., urged Biden to "pass the torch to a new generation of Democratic leaders."  The fifth House Democrat, Rep. Sean Casten of Illinois, separately urged Biden to drop out in an op-ed for the Chicago...

X, the social media platform owned by Trump megadonor Elon Musk, is promoting Trump campaign-curated content to all U.S. users, regardless of whether they have opted out of Trump-related content. On the platform formerly known as Twitter, banner ads for the Trump campaign donning the #Trump2024 tag appear for all U.S. users, even those who’ve blocked words, topics, and hashtags related to the candidate or his campaign or muted the advertiser.

Windows computers around the world are being hit by the dreaded Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) thanks to an outage caused by services provided by cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike. The issue has impacted everyone from banks to airlines, with flights grounded, grocery carts abandoned, and productivity even lower than usual for a Friday. Fortunately, CrowdStrike has since announced at 2:30 a.m. ET that it has identified the update causing the issue and rolled it...

A faulty software update issued by security giant CrowdStrike has resulted in a massive overnight outage that’s affected Windows computers around the world, disrupting businesses, airports, train stations, banks, broadcasters and the healthcare sector. CrowdStrike said the outage was not caused by a cyberattack, but was the result of a “defect” in a software update for its flagship security product, Falcon Sensor. The defect caused any Windows computers that Falcon is installed on...

Former President Donald Trump referenced his “right to try” experimental treatment legislation during his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention on Thursday, signaling that expanding access to novel treatments for terminal patients may be a key proposal if he were to win reelection. “‘Right to try’ is a big deal,” Trump said during his acceptance speech. “They were trying to get that for 52 years.”

A “Trump2024” banner labeled “Promoted by Team Trump” sat atop the What’s Happening summary on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, during the fourth and final night of the Republican National Convention on Thursday. While the #Trump2024 hashtag temporarily showed the American flag, and clicking it caused an animated “hashfetti” effect with flags raining down, it was the icon attached to the number one trending #MAGA topic that caught our eyes.

Over the past few years, book bans have been happening in public libraries and schools across America. In the 2022-2023 school year alone, over 3,300 books were banned in 182 school districts in 37 states.Most books that have been banned deal with LGBTQ and racial themes. According to a report from PEN America, Florida has been the most aggressive state regarding book bans, accounting for about 40% of those taken off the shelves. On November 5, Collier County, Florida, announced that it was banning 300 books from its school libraries out of an effort to comply with state law HB 1069, which says books that depict or describe “sexual content” can be challenged for removal.Among the books banned by the school district was “Shopgirl,” a novella by author Steve Martin published in 2000. Martin is also the star of the hit Hulu show, “Only Murders in the Building,” featuring Martin Short and Selena Gomez.Upon hearing about his book being banned, Martin responded with his iconic wit on Instagram, saying, “So proud to have my book Shopgirl banned in Collier County, Florida! Now, people who want to read it will have to buy a copy!" See on Instagram “Shopgirl” is a story about a young woman who works in a luxury department store and has an affair with a wealthy older man. It was made into a movie in 2005 starring Claire Danes and Martin. It’s believed the book was banned for its mild sexual content. On Amazon, the book is recommended for readers ages 13 and up. This article originally appeared on 11.11.23

Gyms are communal spaces where people can come to improve their health, fitness and/or overall well-being. However, it’s no secret that many gyms have also become a production studio of sorts where influencers can set up a tripod to demonstrate the most cutting-edge squatting technique or where the average Joe can take that obligatory gym selfie to prove that the workout did, in fact, happen. There’s nothing inherently wrong with either of these activities. However, they have sparked a new kind of behavior in gymgoers where they feign extreme frustration if folks walk from one machine to the next or grab a piece of equipment and, heaven forbid, enter the frame. Take for instance a video shared to Reddit by u/ASTATINE_628, where we first see several cuts of a young woman at the gym, seemingly perturbed that people are continuously walking through her frame in her video.The clip then cuts to a guy who breaks down what’s wrong with this scenario in a very clear and concise way.“This sense of entitlement has gotten out of hand,” he said, noting that “for you to get upset because there’s people simply in your video going about their workout, not bothering you, minding their own business, is ridiculous.” To act like she owns the gym. by u/ASTATINE_628 in therewasanattempt He certainly has a point. Of course, when personal space is actually being infringed upon, like when someone is facing harassment, that’s a different story. But in this case, as the man stated, there is no wrongdoing by simply existing. The man then summed it all up with a short and sweet reminder about common decency. Or maybe not-so-common, since we’re needing reminders.“Unless your name is on that gym, your filming is never a priority over other people. They pay the same gym membership that you do. If you can’t film responsibly, if you can’t respect other people in a shared space, you don’t belong filming at all,” he said.Really, this behavior stems from something larger than modern-day gym culture. We film ourselves a lot these days, and often in public. This has undoubtedly caused a shift in how we view personal boundaries in the outside world, with both positive and negative effects.On the one hand, it can be fun and self-esteem-boosting to treat your life as one big video diary. On the other hand, we bring strangers unwillingly into our orbit, treating them as punching bags, entertainment, or, in the case of the miffed gymgoers, nuisances. We vainly stop treating other people like fellow humans sharing life on this crazy blue planet. No video seems worth forgetting that. Even for those who have never set foot into a gym, and never will, this is a poignant reminder to not lose our humanity as our relationship with social media grows. It’s perfectly fine to tap into “main character energy.” Let's just keep in mind that really, we’re all part of the same story. This article originally appeared on 3.28.23

Writer and illustrator Aubrey Hirsch jokingly asked her followers on Twitter what’s a “universal thing that most men like?” because she was writing a comic and “just realized I don’t actually know any men in real life." The tweet inspired an avalanche of funny responses.Hirsch is the author of “Why We Never Talk About Sugar,” a collection of short stories, and her work has appeared in The New York Times, Child, American Short Fiction and Time.The interesting thing about the responses is that they weren’t the typical stereotypes about men. She didn’t get a ton of people talking about sex, sports or toxic masculinity. Instead, there were a lot of folks that mentioned very specific male behaviors as if they were talking about a bizarre species they discovered in the wild.There were two things that got the most comments on her post. First, men enjoy throwing heavy objects into bodies of water. Preferably, the larger the rock, the deeper the body of water and from the highest vantage point possible.The other is watching construction sites. Evidently, the phenomenon is so popular in Italy that there is a specific word for this type of person in Italian.Here are 19 of the best responses to the question, “What’s a universal thing that most men like?” What\u2019s a universal thing that most men like? I\u2019m making a comic but I just realized I don\u2019t actually know any men in real life. — Aubrey Hirsch (@Aubrey Hirsch) 1647902733 1. It's so common in Italy that there's a name for ithttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umarell — James Billot (@James Billot) 1647938793 When asked why men enjoy watching construction sites so much, a poster on Reddit named justdaps had the perfect response. "I just find it really satisfying and interesting to see the process behind things being built," he wrote.2.https://t.co/SpjqBiViFr— Daniel Larkin ?? (@larkin721) March 22, 2022 3. Me: Thinking intently trying to come up with a good answer.\nAlso me seeing this tweet: Ooh, yeah, this is a good one. A good deep sounding sploosh with a big splash. Yeah, this is a good one.\nWe aren't complicated. — Michael Miller (@Michael Miller) 1647967400 pic.twitter.com/33W9wqOYP4— Uhtred Ragnarson (@Iskander861) March 22, 2022 Skipping a stone an unexpected number of times on a lake— Van Weasel (@vanweezer) March 21, 2022 4.standing while watching tvhttps://t.co/RJBUGPyJBw— Russ Shanahan (@russshanahan) March 23, 2022 I have seen dudes do this and I have done it plenty of times myself. I usually stand while watching TV when I want to really focus on what’s happening and do not want to be distracted. This usually happens while watching sporting events or the news. It's also a great way to use your body language to let other people know that there is something very important happening on the television. 5.https://t.co/mlTq6HmYBJ— Randojoeblow (@randojoeblow) March 21, 2022 6. My work life got a lot easier when I started saying "I don't know enough to have an opinion on this subject". Life changing. — PG (@PG) 1647907387 7.A man will buy a knife, and if there is another man, he will ask to hold and admire it for 4 seconds and then give it back and say: "Nice."— Nathan (Elemeno P) (@realNathanWheat) March 22, 2022 8.https://t.co/b56zP1KrTx— AreaMantis, Hat Guy ? (@AreaMantis) March 23, 2022 9. If a guy walks under a low hanging sign he will jump up and try to tap the bottom of the sign as he passes.Guys like being asked to open jars.Power tools. Give a guy a new drill and he'll wander around looking for stuff that needs holes.— Alan Morgan (@lettersndigits) March 21, 2022 When we do this 99% of the time we’re pretending that the sign is 10 feet high and that we have the ability to dunk a basketball. There are two types of men, those that can dunk and mere mortals.10.Memorizing favorite lines from their favorite movies, then reciting them with their friends (or even strangers) who’ve also memorized them, doing entire scenes. Extra points for using accents. A true source of unparalleled amusement & male bonding.— cautiously optimistic ??✌? (@BethCal84918882) March 22, 2022 As a man, this one is near and dear to my heart. I can’t tell you the number of hours I have spent with my friends just throwing lines from “The Big Lebowski” back and forth.“Nice marmot.”“The Dude abides.”“Say what you want about the tenets of national socialism, Dude. At least it’s an ethos.”A movie that's running up the ranks of being among the most quotable is another dude buddy pic, "Once Upon a Time ... In Hollywood.""All right, that's too hot. Anything we can do about that heat?" ... "Rick, it's a flamethrower.”11.Right, no-one else has posted this yet, I know my duty: pic.twitter.com/HPwd8qwgUP— Katie (@ZiziFothSi) March 22, 2022 12.Talking about their athletic glory days pic.twitter.com/9LmaG2oEiD— Ben Ross (@BenRossTweets) March 21, 2022 13.Dining tables made with resin pic.twitter.com/3WQOjEjvcK— ?Robin Isomaa? (@RobinIsomaa) March 22, 2022 14.Using tie down straps to secure a load in the back of a truck, then twanging the straps and going "that's not going anywhere"— Gom Jabbarjaw (@SensitiveWigi) March 22, 2022 15.When my dad had to chainsaw branches off a dead tree, neighbor men just gathered with various saws from all corners of the subdivision. It was like a siren song.— Liz (@WarmestRegardss) March 21, 2022 16.Posing for photos while holding fish.— Jill Filipovic (@JillFilipovic) March 22, 2022 17.Given a wood fire and a long branch, 100 of 100 men will find a reason to poke the fire every few minutes. Just, you know, to make sure things are burning evenly.— Patrick Fessenbecker (@pfessenbecker) March 21, 2022 18.explaining things to women— ˗ˏˋ Hayley DeRoche ˎˊ˗ (@hayleyderoche) March 21, 2022 Unfortunately, this is true and men do far too much of it.19.When shopping at a grocery store, leaning forward with your forearms on the handle of the carriage, while you walk up and down the aisles— Joe DellaGatta (@JoeDellaGatta) March 23, 2022 Evidently, after reading the responses, Hirsch knew what was going to happen next. No need to feel ashamed about going viral. It just means you created something that people love.I really feel for the poor Buzzfeed intern currently searching for the perfect gifs to turn this into an article that will support 8 ad spots.— Aubrey Hirsch (@aubreyhirsch) March 22, 2022 This story was originally published on 3.42.22.