President Emmanuel Macron has appointed Sébastien Lecornu as France’s new prime minister following François Bayrou’s resignation, his fifth such appointment since 2022. By yourNEWS Media Newsroom…

Texas governor Greg Abbott has announced a ban on Sharia Law in the state after an imam launched a campaign to pressure Muslim-owned stores to stop selling pork, alcohol and lottery tickets. Imam F. Qasim ibn Ali Khan of Masjid At-Tawhid was seen in a viral video confronting a store employee and accusing the business […]

EFF Launches Search for Successor to ‘Visionary Lawyer and Leader’ SAN FRANCISCO – Electronic Frontier Foundation Executive Director Cindy Cohn will step down by mid-2026 after more than 25 years with the organization and a decade as its top officer leading the fight for digital freedoms.  EFF – defending digital privacy, free speech, and innovation since 1990 – is launching a search for Cohn’s successor.  “It’s been the honor of my life to help EFF grow and become the strong, effective organization it is today, but it’s time to make space for new leadership. I also want to get back into the fight for civil liberties more directly than I can as the executive director of a thriving 125-person organization,” Cohn said. “I’m incredibly proud of all that we’ve built and accomplished. One of our former interns once called EFF the joyful warriors for internet freedom and I have always loved that characterization.”  “I know EFF’s lawyers, activists and technologists will continue standing up for freedom, justice and innovation whether we’re fighting trolls, bullies, corporate oligarchs, clueless legislators or outright dictators,” she added.  "Cindy Cohn has been a relentless advocate for the simple proposition that regular people have a fundamental right to privacy online,” said U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-OR. “Her work – defending encryption, opposing warrantless NSA surveillance, and suing major corporations for violating customer privacy – has consistently put her on the side of users and individuals and against powerful entrenched interests. Cindy's steady leadership at EFF will be missed by everyone who believes the First and Fourth Amendments are just as necessary today as they were more than 200 years ago."  Cohn, 61, first became involved with EFF in 1993, when EFF asked her to serve as the outside lead attorney in Bernstein v. Dept. of Justice, the successful First Amendment challenge to the U.S. export restrictions on cryptography. She served as EFF’s Legal Director as well as its General Counsel from 2000 through 2015, and she has served as Executive Director since then. She also has co-hosted EFF’s award-winning “How to Fix the Internet” podcast, which is about to conclude its sixth season. Her upcoming professional memoir covering her time at EFF, Privacy’s Defender: My Thirty-Year Fight Against Digital Surveillance, will be published in spring 2026 by MIT Press.   Cohn was named to TheNonProfitTimes 2020 Power & Influence TOP 50. In 2018, Forbes included her as one of America's Top 50 Women in Tech. The National Law Journal named her one of the 100 most influential lawyers in America in 2013, noting: "[I]f Big Brother is watching, he better look out for Cindy Cohn." That publication also named her in 2006 for "rushing to the barricades wherever freedom and civil liberties are at stake online." In 2007, the National Law Journal named her one of the 50 most influential women lawyers in America.   In 2010 the Intellectual Property Section of the State Bar of California awarded Cohn its Intellectual Property Vanguard Award and in 2012 the Northern California Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists awarded her its James Madison Freedom of Information Award.  Cohn said she made the decision to step down more than a year ago, and later informed EFF’s Board of Directors and executive staff. The Board of Directors has assembled a search committee, which in turn has engaged leadership advisory firm Russell Reynolds Associates to conduct a search for EFF’s new executive director. Inquiries about the search can be directed to EFF@russellreynolds.com.   The search committee hopes to hire someone next spring, with Cohn planning to remain at EFF for a transition period through early summer.   “Simply put, Cindy Cohn is an EFF institution,” said Gigi Sohn, chair of EFF’s Board of Directors. “Under her leadership, the organization has grown tremendously, cementing its role as the premier defender of digital privacy, free speech and innovation in the U.S., and perhaps the world. The EFF Board thanks Cindy for her many years of service to EFF, first as Legal Director and for the past 10 years as Executive Director, as well as her willingness to help the organization through this leadership transition. We wish her all the best in her future endeavors, which undoubtedly will be equally as, if not more, successful.”  “Cindy has been a huge part of EFF’s 35-year history and growth, and the organization simply wouldn’t be where it is today - at the forefront of defending civil liberties in the digital world - without her,” said EFF co-founder Mitch Kapor. “Her strong, compassionate leadership has set a clear and impactful road map for EFF’s work for years to come.”  “Cindy Cohn is a visionary lawyer and leader who has helped make EFF the world’s foremost digital rights organization,” said American Civil Liberties Union Deputy Legal Director Ben Wizner. “She has also been a dear friend and mentor to so many of us, leading with her warmth and humor as much as her brilliance. I’m excited to see her next act and confident she’ll find new strategies for protecting our rights and liberties.”  “Cindy is a force in the digital rights community,” said Center for Democracy & Technology President and CEO Alexandra Reeve Givens. “Her visionary leadership has pushed the field forward, championing the rights of individual users and innovators in a fast-changing digital world. Cindy is a tireless advocate for user privacy, free expression, and ensuring technology serves the public good. Her legacy at EFF stands not just in the policy battles and complex cases she’s won, but in the foundation she has built for the next generation of digital rights defenders.”  For more about Cindy Cohn, with hi-res photo: https://www.eff.org/about/staff/cindy-cohn  Contact:  JoshRichmanCommunications Directorjrichman@eff.org

The iPhone Air may not be ready to be your daily driver, but it's a hint of what's to come.

Apple unveiled its new line of iPhones on Tuesday, and the iPhone 17 Pro is making a direct appeal to content creators.

You can always count on Waylon Jennings to tell is like it is. A country music legend and pioneer of the “Outlaw Country” movement (even though he thought that title itself was a pretty corny marketing gimmick), Waylon was known for never shying away from what he thought, and never doing something he didn’t want to do. And there are countless examples… storming out of Tom Snyder’s late night show in 1998, walking out on the “We Are The World” studio session, walking out on the CMA Awards, bailing on his Country Music Hall of Fame induction… if Waylon didn’t want to be there, he wouldn’t be. And he was never afraid to speak his mind either, whether it be political in nature such a the idea of a female president, school shootings or even going to France. Or maybe something more trivial like roasting Johnny Cash for his American Recordings cover photos, calling out the country music machine, or whether or not Willie Nelson should be president. And aside from being authentic, honest and fearless, he was just downright hilarious. Exhibit A… when “Chattahoochee” hit country radio in 1992, he couldn’t help but ask Alan Jackson straight up… what the hell is a “Chattahoochee?” “I think Waylon said one time, Waylon Jennings, ‘what the hell is a Chattahoochee?'” To be fair, unless you grew up near the Alabama/Georgia line, you’d probably have no idea as well. Chattahoochee Meaning For those of you that don’t know, it’s actually a river that runs across northern Georgia, along the Georgia/Alabama border, and down into Florida. And as it turns out, Alan was hesitant to release it as a single for the same reason. “That’s why it was surprising to me when they decided to put ‘Chattahoochee’ out, I was reluctant because I said, ‘nobody is gonna know what that is.” But according to Alan Jackson, Chattahoochee isn’t just a river, it’s a state of mind. “The regular working people, the professional people, just trying to do the same things… make a living, raise a family, enjoy life. I learned that there’s a Chattahoochee everywhere.” AKA, Chattahoochee isn’t just a river or a song… it’s a lifestyle. And it truly does transcend that river on the state line. I’ve had friends from all walks of life… country folks, city folks, European immigrants, anyone who hears “Chattahoochee” a couple times can relate to it. All you have to do is play the song for some people and you’ll see that there really is a Chattahoochee everywhere. Plus, “hoochie coochie” is quite a head turner… The term actually originated as a proactive type of belly dance in the late 1800s, and of course Muddy Waters would go on to have a hit with “Hoochie Coochie Man” in 1954. But in the early 1900s, you find these controversial dancers at a number of local county fairs, and there was even an episode of the Andy Griffith Show where some of the women are concerned about this type of performance at the Mayberry carnival. As it turns out, they would sometimes turn into “strip shows,” and that’s what “Chattahoochee” songwriter, Jim McBride, confirmed. McBride says folks in the industry, presumably radio stations, were always asking about it, calling to find out what it meant: “We got so many phone calls that Alan got tired of them, and he said, ‘Call Jim.’ So I’m getting phone calls from all over the country wanting to know what a hoochie coochie is… [it’s] a county fair strip show.” Some older folks will still use “hoochie coochie” to refer to a loose woman or exotic dancer (my grandma used to say that about women who were dressed rather provocatively), and as we all know, part of that phrase has taken on a slang meaning for a certain female body part. So, while Alan and Jim certainly have a timeless classic on their hands, you have to imagine that if the song came out today, the songwriters might try to come up with something else. When Waylon Jennings said, "What the hell is a chattahoochee?" Listen to Alan's takeover of the Country Cookout Playlist on @SpotifyUSA this weekend for the perfect soundtrack to your backyard BBQ: https://t.co/9zEp6YiPeA pic.twitter.com/EqD7F3o6sJ — Alan Jackson (@OfficialJackson) July 1, 2021 TURN IT UP. The post Waylon Jennings Once Asked Alan Jackson, “What The Hell Is A Chattahoochee?” & Here Is The Answer first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

"They like to wrap her in velvet." The post ‘Sisters of the Moon’: The weirdest song Stevie Nicks ever recorded first appeared on Far Out Magazine.