A new Virginia law requires police officers to ask individuals pulled over during traffic stops for their race, ethnicity, and gender.

The change is part of the Community Policing Act, which took effect Wednesday. Aimed at eliminating "bias-based profiling," the law requires officers to record the driver’s race, ethnicity, age, and sex while conducting traffic stops.

The law says the police will collect data "based on the officer's observation or information provided to the officer by the driver."

The city of Arlington released a statement telling residents that they should be prepared for the change, as "it may involve the officer asking them additional questions on a traffic stop."

Luke Torian, a Democratic delegate representing Prince William County, proposed the legislation to track complaints on the use of excessive force and determine whether police engage in racial targeting. A similar bill was passed in Washington, D.C., last year, and the ACLU issued a report in June charging that disparities found in the data on police stops suggest that there may be "racial bias" in the city's police department.

The legislation in Virginia comes amid calls from protesters to reform or defund the police. New York City mayor Bill de Blasio (D.) confirmed earlier this week that he will be making a $1 billion budget cut to the NYPD.

https://freebeacon.com/democrats/new-virginia-law-police-will-ask-for-race-ethnicity-gender-during-traffic-stops/

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2019/12/24/colleges-are-turning-students-phones-into-surveillance-machines-tracking-locations-hundreds-thousands/
Dec. 24, 2019

Colleges are turning students’ phones into surveillance machines, tracking the locations of hundreds of thousands

When Syracuse University freshmen walk into professor Jeff Rubin’s Introduction to Information Technologies class, seven small Bluetooth beacons hidden around the Grant Auditorium lecture hall connect with an app on their smartphones and boost their “attendance points.”

And when they skip class? The SpotterEDU app sees that, too, logging their absence into a campus database that tracks them over time and can sink their grade. It also alerts Rubin, who later contacts students to ask where they’ve been. His 340-person lecture has never been so full.

“They want those points,” he said. “They know I’m watching and acting on it. So, behaviorally, they change.”

Short-range phone sensors and campuswide WiFi networks are empowering colleges across the United States to track hundreds of thousands of students more precisely than ever before. Dozens of schools now use such technology to monitor students’ academic performance, analyze their conduct or assess their mental health.

But some professors and education advocates argue that the systems represent a new low in intrusive technology, breaching students’ privacy on a massive scale. The tracking systems, they worry, will infantilize students in the very place where they’re expected to grow into adults, further training them to see surveillance as a normal part of living, whether they like it or not.

cont.

https://apnews.com/1a59b4efe97f2249d414ae4f0b3c6495

>Trump comeback rally features empty seats, staff infections

TULSA, Okla. (AP) — President Donald Trump launched his comeback rally Saturday by defining the upcoming election as a stark choice between national heritage and left-wing radicalism. But his intended show of political force amid a pandemic featured thousands of empty seats and new coronavirus cases on his own campaign staff.

Trump ignored health warnings to hold his first rally in 110 days — one of the largest indoor gatherings in the world during a coronavirus outbreak that has killed more than 120,000 Americans and put 40 million out of work. The rally was meant to restart his reelection effort less than five months before the president faces voters again.

“The choice in 2020 is very simple,” Trump said. “Do you want to bow before the left-wing mob, or do you want to stand up tall and proud as Americans?”

Trump unleashed months of pent-up grievances about the coronavirus, which he dubbed the “Kung flu,” a racist term for COVID-19, which originated in China. He also tried to defend his handling of the pandemic, even as cases continue to surge in many states, including Oklahoma.

He complained that robust coronavirus testing was making his record look bad — and suggested the testing effort should slow down.

Regarding archival of some research/statistics documents, I'm trying to figure out e.g the home page and/or any contact details of a "Rome Reasearch Institute [of South Africa"

So far i've been unsuccessful. Though i would expect a research institute to at least have a sort of public presentation on the Internet

Notes:
http://thebulletin.co.za/tag/rome-research-institute-of-south-africa/

https://www.scribd.com/document/391698256/Farm-Attacks-and-Murders-June-2018

Anyone got any clues as to how i might find a more solid representation of this, presumably, Institute, other than a few tags and mentions here and there?

https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/san-francisco/san-francisco-columbus-statue-defaced/2308864/
https://www.post-gazette.com/local/city/2020/06/12/christopher-columbus-statue-vandalized-pittsburgh-phipps-schenley-park/stories/202006120120
https://www.wnep.com/article/news/local/luzerne-county/christopher-columbus-statue-vandalized-in-wilkes-barre/523-9e3bc1d9-89fe-4368-91c5-5d16eda25fcb
Columbus statues are being vandalized or torn down across the country. What gives?

https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/nation-now/2018/02/07/mysterious-girl-scout-sells-300-cookies-outside-california-pot-shop/316042002/
Feb. 7, 2018

Girl Scout reportedly sells $300 of cookies outside of California pot shop

The Girl Scout's identity remains a mystery: Her eyes covered by Samoa-shaped glasses, she stands in the photo holding armfuls of cookies outside Urbn Leaf, a San Diego marijuana dispensary.

"Get some Girl Scout Cookies with your GSC today until 4pm!" reads the Instagram caption posted by Urbn Leaf over the weekend referencing GSC, a strain of cannabis inspired by the all-American treats.

The girl sold more than 300 boxes over about six hours, local ABC affiliate 10News reported, citing her father. The national organization's regional council describes it as a hazy sales tactic but could not determined the girl's identity.

“She was walking along the sidewalk when we saw her outside with her wagon," Savanna Rakofsky, marketing director for Urbn Leaf, told USA TODAY. "That’s when we asked if we could get a picture to help promote her being out there.”

cont.

thoughts boi's?
https://www.theblaze.com/news/facebook-ai-ban-hateful-memes