Also on today’s menu:
Scalise Admits A Lack Of Votes For House Speaker
Charters To Evacuate Americans From War Zones
Man Kills French Teacher, Injures Two Others
Both House Bill 314 and Senate Bill 255 would protect consumer data, but HB 314 would only prevent the state from acquiring data from third parties without permission. SB 255 would allow customers to ask companies delete personal information they had collected. The Judiciary Committee has retained both bills to allow for amendments.
SB 255 would apply to data held by a business serving 100,000 people or more in the state, allowing consumers to obtain a copy, correct inaccuracies, request that it be deleted, and more. The Department of Justice would be able to investigate businesses that do not comply.
HB 314 would limit governments’ ability to collect personal information from third parties, with exceptions for information collected by state regulatory agencies, through authorized warrants, during emergencies with an immediate danger of death, and information individuals provide to governments for specific purposes.
Privacy advocates say the bills do not go far enough and that limiting the scope to large companies would not sufficiently protect consumers from the misuse of data. Former Representative Neal Kurk proposed amending the bills to allow residents to seek damages against businesses and government entities if their data is mishandled, saying that an internet service provider might track internet searches about mental health problems or suicidal ideation and pass the information on to psychiatrists. A customer’s location could be used by retail companies and restaurants to glean information about spending habits. “We expect that, when we give information to a telephone company or an internet service provider to get that service, that the reason for giving them the information is to give us the service, not to give them an opportunity to use that information for other purposes,” he said.
Andrew Kingman, a representative of the State Privacy & Security Coalition, argued that giving consumers the right to take action against private companies could lead to high legal costs for companies. [T]he cost even to try to get a motion to dismiss off of a lawsuit is well into the six figures, regardless of whether you’re a small business or a large business,” Kingman said.
Scalise Admits A Lack Of Votes For House Speaker
Representative Steve Scalise of Louisiana, the Republican majority leader who defeated House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan of Ohio by a vote of 113-99 in the race to become speaker of the House, dropped out of the race when it became clear he did not have the necessary number of votes to prevail before the full House. “[W]e have to have everybody put their agendas on the side and focus on what this country needs,” Scalise told reporters. “This country is counting on us to come back together. This House of Representatives needs a speaker, and we need to open up the House again.”
It was unclear Thursday evening whether Jordan would reenter the race, but he would face a similar difficulty in securing the necessary 217 votes. Representative Mark Alford (R-Missouri) said he had “no earthly idea” what happens next, but he believes there is a consensus among Republicans to stay in Washington until the issue is settled.
Columnist Robert Hubbell observed, “There is only one path forward. … [Republicans] do not have a governable majority and must join with Democrats to elect a consensus candidate with support from both parties. … Some Republicans understand that fact but have yet to find the courage to speak that truth out loud. ... The only question is how long before Republicans accept that truth — and how much drama and disruption the GOP will inflict on the American people before they surrender to reality.”
Charters To Evacuate Americans From War Zones
With 27 confirmed American deaths in Hamas’ terrorist attack on Israel, the Biden administration announced that it will provide charter flights to help U.S. citizens leave the country. White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said fourteen Americans remain unaccounted for.
Israel has sent retaliatory airstrikes and appears to be preparing for a ground invasion of the Gaza Strip, where Hamas is based. Israel’s military has asked 1.1 million people living in northern Gaza to evacuate their homes within 24 hours “for your own safety and the safety of your families and [to] distance yourself from Hamas terrorists who are using you as human shields.”
Israel has admitted that mass migration will take time. Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner of the Israel Defense Forces told CNN that any deadline “may slip”. The United Nations has said it is impossible for civilians to evacuate “without devastating humanitarian consequences” and Norwegian Refugee Council Secretary-General Jan Egeland said the order “must be reversed” warning that the relocation of Gaza civilians amounts to “the war crime of forcible transfer”.
Israeli forces dropped about 6,000 bombs on Gaza between October 7 and 12, equivalent to the total number of airstrikes on Gaza during the 2014 Gaza-Israel conflict which lasted from July 7 to August 26. The Vatican’s top diplomat, Secretary of State Pietro Parolin, called on Israel to show “proportionality”, saying the Hamas attack on Israel was “inhuman” but the “legitimate defense should not harm civilians”.
Man Kills French Teacher, Injures Two Others
French police have apprehended a man of Chechen origin, along with his brother, after he allegedly killed a French language teacher and seriously injured two others in a knife attack at Gambetta high school in Arras. The man, described as being in his 20s, is said to be a former pupil at the school.
Witnesses say he shouted “Allahu Akbar” during the attack, and security services say he was involved with radical Islam. The French anti-terror prosecutor’s office is investigating the attack as “murder in connection with a terrorist enterprise” and “attempted murder in connection with a terrorist enterprise”.
Although the attack occurred amidst rising tensions between France’s Muslim and Jewish communities in the wake of the conflict between Israel and Hamas, police have said there is nothing to indicate a link with the Middle East.
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