On Monday, June 20, 2016, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, John McCain, and other Republicans called for an expansion of FBI surveillance powers as a response to the mass shooting in Orlando, Florida, that killed 49 people at a gay nightclub. The Senate vote is expected by Wednesday.

The bill would allow the FBI to view a suspect’s web browsing history, I.P. addresses, and who he or she corresponds with via email without a warrant. Authority would be granted under “national security letters,” which currently limit the FBI to looking at phone information without a warrant. The Obama administration is a proponent of this expansion of FBI power.

The bill would also make permanent the ability of the Justice Department to monitor “lone wolf” suspects that do not have known ties to terror groups.

The Patriot Act of 2001, passed after 9/11, opened the door to broad expansion of State surveillance, which culminated in National Security Administration analyst Edward Snowden exposing details of the NSA’s massive domestic spying program. The intelligence files he leaked to the press revealed the government was keeping records of nearly 2 billion phone calls, text messages, and emails every day. Despite the fact that some Americans labeled Snowden a “traitor,” a massive public uproar against the government spurred by Snowden’s revelations pushed President Obama to terminate the spying program in June 2015.

The current bill is viewed by liberal opponents as yet another egregious violation of privacy and liberty, an unacceptable expansion of government. Conservative supporters believe “it is important our law enforcement have the tools they need to conduct counterterrorism investigations,” as McCain said.

The call for greater surveillance came on the same day Republican senators voted down measures that would have expanded background checks for gun buyers, banned people on the terror watch list from buying guns, and other steps.

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On Friday, June 24, 2016, Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said “an independence referendum is now highly likely” for Scotland in the near future, due to Britain’s 52-48% vote to leave the European Union — the “Brexit” referendum result that shocked the world.

“I want to make it absolutely clear today,” Sturgeon said, “that I intend to take all possible steps and explore all options to give effect to how people in Scotland voted, in other words to secure our continuing place in the EU…”

62% of Scotland voted to remain in the EU.

This would not be the first time Scotland voted on whether to continue its centuries-old political bond with Britain. In 2014, 55% of Scots voted to stay in the U.K., 45% voted for independence. But Ana Nicolaci de Costa writes, “One key reason Scots rejected independence in a referendum almost three years ago was because independence meant leaving the EU too. After Thursday’s vote, the question is whether some Scots who wavered but eventually voted to stick with the UK in 2014, may now prefer to join the secessionists.”

Jonathon Freedland wrote in the Guardian,

Scotland (like London) voted to remain inside the European Union. Every one of its political parties (bar Ukip) urged a remain vote. Yet now Scotland is set to be dragged out of the EU, against its collective will.

The demand will be loud and instant for Scotland to assure its own destiny by breaking free of the UK. This is precisely the kind of “material change” that the Scottish National party always said would be enough to warrant a second referendum to follow the one held in 2014. And this time, surely, there will be a majority for independence. So a first legacy of 23 June could well be the imminent break-up of the UK.

Further,

The implications will be profound for Northern Ireland too… Note this morning’s warning from [political party] Sinn Féin that the British government has “forfeited any mandate to represent the economic and political interests of people in Northern Ireland”.

Northern Ireland voted to remain in the EU with a nearly 56% majority.

Northern Ireland’s Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness called for a poll to judge support for leaving the U.K. and uniting with Ireland. Northern Ireland has a history of violence from the 1960s to the 1990s between Protestants who wished to remain part of the U.K. and Catholics who wished to unite with Ireland.

The Brexit vote has already wrought enormous consequences. A member of parliament may have been murdered for her pro-EU, pro-refugee stance, U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron announced his resignation, and the stock market plunged.

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At the BET Awards on the evening of June 26, 2016, actor and activist Jesse Williams had the audience roaring with applause as he spoke of social justice for black Americans. Williams received the Humanitarian Award for his involvement in the Black Lives Matter movement, including creating the Stay Woke documentary. Here are the most powerful lines from his speech, and some appropriate reactions:

“NOW, THIS AWARD, THIS IS NOT FOR ME. THIS IS FOR THE REAL ORGANIZERS ALL OVER THE COUNTRY. THE ACTIVISTS, THE CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEYS, THE STRUGGLING PARENTS, THE FAMILIES, THE TEACHERS, THE STUDENTS THAT ARE REALIZING THAT A SYSTEM BUILT TO DIVIDE AND IMPOVERISH AND DESTROY US CANNOT STAND IF WE DO.”

“THE MORE WE LEARN ABOUT WHO WE ARE AND HOW WE GOT HERE, THE MORE WE WILL MOBILIZE.”

“THIS IS ALSO IN PARTICULAR FOR THE BLACK WOMEN IN PARTICULAR WHO HAVE SPENT THEIR LIFETIMES DEDICATED TO NURTURING EVERYONE BEFORE THEMSELVES.”

“WHAT WE’VE BEEN DOING IS LOOKING AT THE DATA AND WE KNOW THAT POLICE SOMEHOW MANAGE TO DEESCALATE, DISARM AND NOT KILL WHITE PEOPLE EVERY DAY. SO WHAT’S GOING TO HAPPEN IS WE’RE GOING TO HAVE EQUAL RIGHTS AND JUSTICE IN OUR OWN COUNTRY OR WE WILL RESTRUCTURE THEIR FUNCTION IN OURS.”

“NOW, I GOT MORE, Y’ALL.”

“YESTERDAY WOULD HAVE BEEN YOUNG TAMIR RICE’S 14TH BIRTHDAY. SO, I DON’T WANT TO HEAR ANYMORE ABOUT HOW FAR WE’VE COME WHEN PAID PUBLIC SERVANTS CAN PULL A DRIVE-BY ON A 12-YEAR-OLD PLAYING ALONE IN A PARK IN BROAD DAYLIGHT, KILLING HIM ON TELEVISION AND THEN GOING HOME TO MAKE A SANDWICH.”

“TELL REKIA BOYD HOW IT’S SO MUCH BETTER TO LIVE IN 2012, THAN IT IS TO LIVE IN 1612 OR 1712. TELL THAT TO ERIC GARNER. TELL THAT TO SANDRA BLAND. TELL THAT TO DARRIEN HUNT.”

“THE THING IS, THOUGH, ALL OF US IN HERE GETTING MONEY THAT ALONE ISN’T GOING TO STOP THIS. ALL RIGHT? NOW DEDICATING OUR LIVES TO GETTING MONEY JUST TO GIVE IT RIGHT BACK. TO PUT SOMEONE’S BRAND ON OUR BODY WHEN WE SPENT CENTURIES PRAYING WITH BRANDS ON OUR BODIES AND NOW WE PRAY TO GET PAID WITH BRANDS FOR OUR BODIES.”

“THERE HAS BEEN NO WAR THAT WE HAVE NOT FOUGHT AND DIED ON THE FRONT LINES OF. THERE HAS BEEN NO JOB WE HAVEN’T DONE. THERE’S NO TAX THEY HAVEN’T LEVIED AGAINST US. AND WE PAY ALL OF THEM. BUT FREEDOM IS SOMEHOW ALWAYS CONDITIONAL HERE. YOU’RE FREE, THEY KEEP TELLING US, BUT SHE WOULD HAVE BEEN ALIVE IF SHE HADN’T ACTED SO…FREE.”

“FREEDOM IS ALWAYS COMING IN THE HEREAFTER BUT, YOU KNOW WHAT, THOUGH, THE HEREAFTER IS A HUSTLE. WE WANT IT NOW.”

“THE BURDEN OF THE BRUTALIZED IS NOT TO COMFORT THE BYSTANDER. THAT’S NOT OUR JOB… IF YOU HAVE A CRITIQUE FOR THE RESISTANCE, FOR OUR RESISTANCE, THEN YOU BETTER HAVE AN ESTABLISHED RECORD OF CRITIQUE OF OUR OPPRESSION. IF YOU HAVE NO INTEREST IN EQUAL RIGHTS FOR BLACK PEOPLE, THEN DO NOT MAKE SUGGESTIONS TO THOSE WHO DO. SIT DOWN.”

“WE’RE DONE WATCHING, AND WAITING WHILE THIS INVENTION CALLED WHITENESS USES AND ABUSES US. BURYING BLACK PEOPLE OUT OF SIGHT AND OUT OF MIND, WHILE EXTRACTING OUR CULTURE, OUR DOLLARS, OUR ENTERTAINMENT LIKE OIL — BLACK GOLD. GHETTOIZING AND DEMEANING OUR CREATIONS THEN STEALING THEM. GENTRIFYING OUR GENIUS AND THEN TRYING US ON LIKE COSTUMES BEFORE DISCARDING OUR BODIES LIKE RINDS OF STRANGE FRUIT. THE THING IS, THOUGH, THE THING IS, THAT JUST BECAUSE WE’RE MAGIC DOESN’T MEAN WE’RE NOT REAL.”

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On Thursday, June 30, 2016, Tomi Lahren of The Blaze TV gave her “Final Thoughts” on Jesse Williams’ widely-shared speech at the BET Awards. These responses seem appropriate.

“WELL THE B.E.T. AWARDS WERE LAST NIGHT, NOTABLY THEY WERE VERY BLACK. OH, BUT CAN I SAY THAT, WHAT WITH MY WHITENESS AND ALL? WELL TOO DAMN BAD.”

We’ve got a badass over here.

The Black Entertainment Television awards were very black? That’s a real mindf*ck. Somehow, it’s hard to imagine white and black liberals criticizing such a statement, unless of course it was naked bravado to clue an audience in that the next few minutes would be full of frightening ignorance and a startling lack of compassion for fellow human beings…

“I SAW A LOT OF TALENT ON THAT STAGE, BUT ALSO A LOT OF VICTIMHOOD.”

I see a lack of talent behind that desk, but also a lack of well-established research on racial inequities.

When blacks are 50% less likely to get a call back for an interview as whites with identical resumes, when blacks receive longer prison sentences than whites who commit the same crimes, or when blacks are more likely to be given a subprime housing loan than whites with equal qualifications, “victimhood” just may be an appropriate word.

“THE B.E.T. DEFINITION OF HUMANITARIAN MEANS SOMEONE WHO PERPETUATES A WAR ON COPS.”

Lahren is one of those souls who doesn’t quite grasp that protesting the fact that blacks are more likely to be stopped and searched by the police, or more likely to be killed while unarmed, than whites who exhibit the same behaviors, is not a “war on cops.”

Kind of like how today we say Dr. King led “protests” in Selma against voting restrictions, not “wars” against the conservative politicians who designed them.

“KILLING SOMEONE IN BROAD DAYLIGHT AND THEN GOING HOME TO MAKE A SANDWICH? ARE YOU KIDDING ME, JESSE? KNOW WHAT ELSE IS INTERESTING, BUD? THOUGH THE TERM ‘UNARMED BLACK MAN’ MAY BE LITERALLY ACCURATE, IT DOESN’T TELL THE WHOLE STORY IN MOST CASES… GRABBING AN OFFICER’S GUN OR USING OTHER EQUIPMENT TO BEAT THE POLICE DOESN’T GIVE YOU A FREE PASS.”

Williams was speaking about the killing of Tamir Rice, a boy playing with a toy gun in an open-carry state and given no chance to surrender, not that this matters to Lahren. She pivots immediately to black violence against police, of course citing multiple peer-reviewed studies that show black aggression is why more unarmed blacks die at the hands of police, disproving all the evidence that whites stereotype blacks as violent and aggressive (perhaps we know one of them at this point) and are quicker to shoot unarmed or armed blacks in controlled simulations than unarmed or armed whites.

“PLEASE TELL ME, MR. WILLIAMS, WHAT RIGHTS BLACK PEOPLE DON’T HAVE.”

Tomi Lahren does not understand the difference between a piece of paper that says everyone will be treated equally and reality.

“WHITE PEOPLE? YEAH, WE DO HAVE A RECORD OF CRITIQUE OF YOUR OPPRESSION… DO YOU KNOW HOW MANY OF OUR ANCESTORS FOUGHT IN THE CIVIL WAR TO FREE YOUR ANCESTORS?”

Oh sweetheart, when Jesse Williams says, “If you have a critique for the resistance, our resistance, then you better have an established record of critique of our oppression,” he isn’t talking about anyone in the past.

He’s not talking about Union soldiers who cared about black freedom, or those who didn’t care but fought anyway, or those who were drafted, or Confederate soldiers terrified of black freedom and equal rights, or those who didn’t care but fought anyway, or those who were drafted.

He’s talking about you.

He’s saying if you, Tomi, haven’t been raising hell about blacks serving longer prison sentences than whites, if you are ignorant of social injustices, don’t stand in the way of those who have and aren’t.

“IT WAS WHITE SOUTHERN DEMOCRATS THAT FOUGHT FOR, NOT AGAINST, SLAVERY.”

Good, now tell them which party was more conservative back then, using historical sources!

“I’M SORRY, JESSE, BUT I WON’T BE APOLOGIZING FOR MY WHITENESS, JUST LIKE YOU DON’T NEED TO APOLOGIZE FOR YOUR BLACKNESS. IT’S NOT WHITE PEOPLE WORKING TO DIVIDE AMERICA, IT’S YOU. YOU AND BEYONCE AND JADA PINKETT SMITH AND AL SHARPTON.”

Williams talks about unequal treatment, Lahren says she won’t apologize for being white. Makes sense, since Williams absolutely asked white people to apologize for their ethnicity.

“FOR SOMEONE WHO WANTS EQUAL RIGHTS, IT SURE SOUNDS LIKE YOU PREFER SPECIAL TREATMENT. IT SURE SOUNDS LIKE YOU WANT A GOLD STAR AT THE END OF THE DAY JUST FOR BEING BORN. GET OVER YOURSELF.”

Yes, everyone knows the call for an end to discrimination is a call to be treated better than everyone else.

“YOU’RE NOT A HUMANITARIAN, YOU’RE NOT A UNIFIER. YOU’RE NOT TEACHING BLACK CHILDREN TO GO FORTH AND CONQUER, YOU’RE TEACHING THEM TO FEEL SORRY FOR THEMSELVES. NICE WORK, AND HOW ABOUT YOU SIT DOWN.”

“Go forth and conquer.”

That is precisely what Jesse Williams and everyone else who cares about social justice, who listens to and feels compassion for those who feel mistreated or slighted are teaching their children when they battle modern American problems.

With whites as delusional as Tomi Lahren out there, it seems important.

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A group of prisoners broke out of a cell in the District Courts Building of Weatherford, Texas, on June 23, 2016, to aid a guard suffering from a heart attack, KSDK 5 reports.

The guard, unidentified to the press, standing watch over the group of about 8 inmates, “had been joking with them when he slumped over unconscious.”

The prisoners shouted for help, but when none came smashed out of their cell. Checking for a pulse, they didn’t find one, and continued to shout while pounding on walls.

One inmate said, “[Officers] thought it was a fight. They thought we were taking over.” Another said, “We were worried they’re going to come with guns drawn on us.” The guard had a set of keys and a gun on him, which went untouched.

Officers gave the guard CPR and ushered the prisoners back into their cell. Paramedics sent a shock through the guard’s body, restored his pulse, and rushed him away.

“He could have been there 15 minutes before any other staff walked in and found him,” the police captain said.

The guard survived.

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