Conservative media is obsessed with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and she’s getting increasingly more creative in shutting them down.
In her, they have found a Democrat whose wardrobe they love to obsess over the likes of which they haven’t had since Barack Obama’s tan suit. Ocasio-Cortez, of course, is taking it all in stride.
After their latest attempt at fashion-shaming Ocasio-Cortez blew up, you’d think people would steer clear and wait for the new congresswoman to, you know, actually get sworn in and start legislating before they criticized her again. But Fox News couldn’t leave well enough alone.
On Friday night, the topic of Ocasio-Cortez’s wardrobe came up again because a pair of her shoes is heading to an exhibit at Cornell that focuses on clothing that has empowered women. Ocasio-Cortez referred to these shoes (that have holes in them) during her campaign as a sign of her hustle. Fox News devoted an entire segment to the footwear in question.
As far as Fox News segments go, it wasn’t that bad. Some complementary things were said about the incoming congresswoman, and they waited about two minutes before launching into the socialist fear-mongering.
When someone brought it up on Twitter, Ocasio-Cortez was ready with a snappy comeback in Spanish.
This translates into, “No, it’s not love/What you feel, it’s called obsession.” Though Ocasio-Cortez had a version ready for non-Spanish speakers as well.
(For our monolingual friends, just play Mariah Carey’s “Obsessed” here instead)
There was a bit more bilingual shade to come for Ocasio-Cortez, too.
Don’t worry, Fox News has made it clear that they are far superior to + more intelligent than me, who they’ve called a “little, simple person.” So I’m sure catching up to me in spoken languages shouldn’t be a problem for them.
President Donald Trump is railing against federal courts in the Ninth Circuit, describing them as ‘very unfair’ after a federal judge in Northern Calif. blocked Trump’s emergency restrictions on asylum claims. (Nov. 20) AP
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump’s recent comments about “Obama judges” who ruled against him captured headlines and even drew scrutiny from the chief Supreme Court justice, but judges appointed by Democrats aren’t the only to rule against the Trump administration.
The president this week argued the 9th District Court of Appeals consistently rules against the policies of his administration, calling it a “disgrace.” He blamed the loses on “Obama judges,” a reference to those who were appointed by former president Barack Obama.
A war of words broke out between Trump and Chief Supreme Court Justice John Roberts Wednesday over the president’s angry comments about judges who rule against him.
Roberts, in a rare rebuke of a sitting president, said the country doesn’t have “Obama judges or Trump judges, Bush judges or Clinton judges.”
“What we have is an extraordinary group of dedicated judges doing their level best to do equal right to those appearing before them,” Roberts said in a statement. “That independent judiciary is something we should all be thankful for.”
Trump responded to Roberts by saying the nation does “indeed have Obama judges”. But several major rulings against the Trump administration have come from conservative-appointed judges. Here are five this year.
DACA
In April, U.S. District Court Judge John Bates became the third federal judge to rule against the Trump Administration’s plight to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, known as DACA.
Bates, who was appointed by President George W. Bush, was the first Republican-appointed judge to rule against the measure, according to Politico.
Bates wrote in his 60-page ruling that the reasoning given by the Department of Homeland Security to end the program, which protects immigrants who came to the U.S. as children, was “arbitrary”
“The Department failed adequately to explain its conclusion that the program was unlawful,” Bates wrote. “Neither the meager legal reasoning nor the assessment of litigation risk provided by DHS to support its rescission decision is sufficient to sustain termination of the DACA program.”
CNN’s win on revoking a reporter’s badge
A judge appointed by President Trump ruled against the White House earlier this month, allowing CNN reporter to have his press badge reinstated.
The White House revoked White House correspondent Jim Acosta’s press badge after he got in a tense exchange with Trump where the president called him a “rude, terrible person.”
White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said the rare move was a result of both Acosta’s behavior and him yanking back when a White House intern tried to take his microphone.
U.S. District Court Judge Timothy Kelly, a Trump appointee, granted a request for Acosta’s credentials to be returned ruling that the White House had violated Acosta’s Fifth Amendment right to due process by suspending his press badge without explanation or a chance for CNN to appeal.
The White House ended up backing down from the fight and new rules were rolled out. Acosta’s press badge was returned.
Mueller’s legitimacy
The president has long criticized special counsel Robert Mueller and his investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election. Trump has called the investigation a “witch hunt” and earlier this month said the inner workings of Mueller’s investigation were “a total mess.”
“They have found no collusion and have gone absolutely nuts. They are screaming and shouting at people, horribly threatening them to come up with the answers they want,” Trump tweeted. “They are a disgrace to our Nation” and “gang of Democrat thugs,” he added.
The appointment of the Special Counsel is totally UNCONSTITUTIONAL! Despite that, we play the game because I, unlike the Democrats, have done nothing wrong!
In June, the president wrote on Twitter Mueller’s appointment was “totally UNCONSTITUTIONAL” but a federal judge appointed by Trump disagreed.
Mueller’s appointment and legitimacy have been challenged several times over the course of the two-year investigation, including by a Russian company accused of meddling in the election by posing as Americans, launching social media campaigns to pick at Americans’ political division and staging rallies.
The company, Concord Management and Consulting, sought to have charges dropped by claiming Mueller’s appointment wasn’t Constitutional. But U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich, who was appointed by Trump, disagreed, according to CNN.
“The appointment does not violate core separation-of-powers principles,” Friedrich wrote in an August opinion. “Nor has the Special Counsel exceeded his authority under the appointment order by investigating and prosecuting Concord.”
Separation of families at the border
The Trump administration’s controversial and hardline immigration policy that led to the separation of immigrant families was reversed by a federal judge appointed by George W. Bush.
U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw, based in San Diego, ordered the Trump administration earlier this year to reunite children who had been taken from their parents when crossing the U.S. southern border.
President Bush nominated Sabraw to the federal bench in 2003, and he won unanimous Senate confirmation.
Sabraw ruled that the Trump administration was “100 percent” responsible for reuniting the families and locating migrant parents who were deported after they were separated from their children.
“The reality is that for every parent who is not located, there will be a permanently orphaned child, and that is 100 percent the responsibility of the administration,” Sabraw said. “The government has the sole burden and responsibility and obligation to make (reunifications) happen.”
He also scolded administration officials for moving so slowly to track down the deported parents. He cited an estimate that only about a dozen of the parents have been found in Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, asking, “Is that true?”
This summer, Judge John Mendez ruled against the Trump administration’s attempts to stop California’s sanctuary city practices.
Mendez, nominated by George W. Bush in 2007, denied a request by the administration to halt California’s practices not cooperating with federal law officials on immigration policies and, instead, providing a safe haven for these individuals.
“This order hopefully will not be viewed through a political lens and this court expresses no views on the soundness of the policies or statutes involved in this lawsuit,” Mendez wrote in the ruling. “There is no place for politics in our judicial system and this one opinion will neither define nor solve the complicated immigration issues currently facing our nation.”
In his ruling, Mendez wrote in a 60-page impassioned ruling that elected officials should “set aside the partisan and polarizing politics dominating the current immigration debate and work in a cooperative and bi-partisan fashion toward drafting and passing legislation that addresses this critical political issue.”
He added: “Our Nation deserves it. Our Constitution demands it.”
Every product here is independently selected by Mashable journalists. If you buy something featured, we may earn an affiliate commission which helps support our work.
One gift to rule them all.
Image: New Line/Saul Zaentz/Wing Nut/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock
Everyone knows at least one Lord of the Rings fan, nay, fiend. They’ve smashed through J. R. R. Tolkien’s books and appendices. They’ve sat through the extended editions of Peter Jackson’s original trilogy, turned up for The Hobbit trilogy, and are sitting on the edge of their Shadowfaxes for the upcoming Amazon TV series.
So, you want to get them a gift they’ll truly love. But what part of Middle Earth would they shop in? Ask them slyly first, then meet us back here for the perfect gift. And for brevity, these are just locations from the Lord of the Rings series.
Note: None of these are a golden ring. That is pure folly and will lead us all to ruin.
Scrounge up some Shire weed.
Smoke the finest weed in the Southfarthing with a nice little pipe, so you can frolic through the woods, the fields, the little rivers of Hobbiton, Bree, and the rest with a little buzz. You can buy a non-functional replica of Gandalf’s film pipe from the Weta Workshop in Wellington, New Zealand, but if you’re after something you can actually smoke from, there are makers on Etsy selling pipes inspired by the series. Pair it with a Prancing Pony magnet and you’ll have the Shire covered.
Pledge allegiance to your loved one with a little pin emblazoned with Aragorn’s pledge to Frodo and the Fellowship. “You have my sword,” is scrolled across this piece from Etsy maker The Grumpy Unicorn Co. and it’s bold enough a statement to prompt the nearest blonde elven dreamboat to declare the same with his bow, and, similarly, a gruff bearded fellow with his axe.
This t-shirt is as metal as Middle Earth gets outside of Mordor. Designed by Weta Workshop concept designer Rebekah Tisch, the tee depicts the formidable Balrog and your ol’ pal Gandalf battling on the Bridge of Khazad-dûm.
All kickass shieldmaidens of Rohan need their own pendant, and Utah-based Etsy maker Badali Jewelry has crafted a fitting ode to the biggest boss of them all, Eowyn. Sporting two of Rohan’s signature horses, this Shieldmaiden Medallion is inspired by the shield Eowyn carried into the Battle of the Pelennor Fields. On the back you’ll find an engraving of her strong words to the Witch-King, “No living man am I, You look upon a woman.” Yeah, badass.
What better way to spend time with your messed up family in Minas Tirith than wearing a Christmas sweater emblazoned with Gondor’s iconic White Tree? It’s not even that obvious, so you could wear it to a dinner in Rohan without having to address where Gondor was when the Westfold fell and their enemies closed in around them. Awks.
Let’s forget all the terrible treachery, Enticide, and terrifying army-growing that occurred at Sauruman’s joint in Sindarin, and enjoy this nice print. Can’t do it? Get a Fangorn Forest one.
Every member of the Fellowship needs one of these, and while you might not be able to hop over to the woods of Lothlorien to pick one up, the Weta Workshop makes their own. They’re not cheap, as they’re sterling silver, but they’re legit.
So, your friend has chosen to live their life on the dark plains of Mordor? That’s cool, there’s plenty to do here, probably. But just know everything they do will be watched by the Eye of Sauron, which you can equip them with for their very own bedroom — in lamp form. Artist David Tremont and his team scaled down Weta designer Richard Taylor’s nine-foot film model of Barad-dûr, the fortress of Sauron, and it makes one heck of a desk lamp.
Ron Byrd remembers losing his daughter Erika to complications of alcohol abuse, despite he and his wife June’s best efforts. USA TODAY
When health officials wanted to reduce deaths from tobacco, they spread messages about the proven cancer risks, pushed to ban smoking in public places and worked to raise taxes on cigarettes.
Alcohol, which causes 88,000 deaths a year in the USA, is a similarly grave public health concern. Studies show deaths linked to alcohol are up 35 to 50 percent since 2000. But the way forward is less clear.
What worked with smoking may not work with drinking, which enjoys broad social acceptance. Nearly all the potential solutions hit considerable roadblocks.
The Trump administration’s tax cut last year included an 18 percent break in the federal tax on beer, wine and liquor.
States with more stringent alcohol control policies had lower rates of binge drinking, according to an analysis of state laws and taxes in 2014.
Binge drinking accounts for about half of all deaths attributable to alcohol, two-thirds of years of life lost and three-quarters of economic costs.
Legislative approaches to alcohol face many of the same challenges that tobacco bills do: Legislatures support their home state alcohol industries the way they resist policy threats to tobacco interests.
Less than 60 percent of U.S. adults drink alcohol. If influencing legislators is the goal, David Jernigan says, that population includes the right people.
Jernigan, a professor at Boston University’s school of public health who has specialized in alcohol research for 30 years, says he doesn’t drink because “I like to keep my wits about me.”
Nonetheless, he says, “it’s just so socially acceptable, especially among the people who write the laws. It’s the drug of choice and incredibly normalized for upper-income people in the USA.”
Among approaches that have shown results:
Raising taxes: Alcohol is subjected to excise taxes, which are based on the volume sold, and sales taxes, which are based on the retail price. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a 10 percent increase in taxes leads to a 5 to 8 percent decline in drinking.
For states, that’s good news and bad news. Though reductions in drinking might save states money on Medicaid for low-income and disabled residents, fewer sales reduce state revenue.
Richard Berman is CEO of the public affairs firm Berman & Co., which has represented the alcohol, tobacco and restaurant industries.
He says higher taxes can prompt people to trade down to less expensive brands, or if they live near a state line to go to a neighboring state with lower taxes.
Jernigan disagrees.
“Alcohol taxes are a win, win, win,” he says. “States get more money, and people drink somewhat less.”
Restricting sales. State and local governments often cap the number of liquor stores allowed in an area and the days and hours they can sell.
The Community Preventive Services Task Force, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, recommends that states resist privatizing alcohol sales, which is linked to a median 44 percent increase in sales, which leads to more drinking.
States that don’t cap or control liquor sales have 50 percent more liquor stores per capita than those that do, Marathon Strategies reported in 2014.
In states that had caps based on population, there was one store for every 10,204 people. In states that didn’t have caps, there was one store for every 5,737 residents.
Psychologist Ben Miller, chief strategy officer at the nonprofit Well Being Trust, says people with addictions need to be identified earlier and linked to treatment “at that first stop,” including emergency rooms and jails.
Integrating mental health workers in primary care doctors’ offices, he says, could “help countless lives, save millions of dollars and begin to change the culture of care to be more comprehensive.”
Bolstering coping skills. About 15 percent of deaths attributed to alcohol are suicides. Addressing addiction would help address feelings of hopelessness.
The Well Being Trust called for a “National Resilience Strategy.”
The nonprofit group says investing in early childhood policies and programs would have the greatest impact.
In its Pain in the Nation report this year, the Well Being Trust called for better early identification of trauma and mental health problems in school-age children to help them deal with stress and trauma before they turn to alcohol and drugs as crutches.
“The most important substance we should be looking at is alcohol, because it leads to so many things, including physical abuse and rape, that shouldn’t happen,” Jernigan says. “We need to stop accepting that there isn’t anything we can do about it.”
If you’re worried that the Black Friday deals have passed you by, you can relax, because there are still plenty of goodies to save on this weekend. In fact, some of the pre-Cyber Monday deals are already popping up, which should make you a very happy shopper indeed.
But maybe the best news of all: thanks to Black Friday wrap-up and Cyber Monday hype, Apple iPads and MacBooks are on sale.
The only thing we might love more than Apple products are deals on Apple products, so you know we’re going to fill you in on those sales at any chance we get.
If a laptop is more your speed, there are a couple of MacBooks on sale, too. Amazon has the 12-inch Apple MacBook on sale for $1,199 and the 13-inch Apple MacBook Pro on sale for $1849, perfect for hardworking professionals or Apple diehards alike.
There are plenty of other deals to choose from if Apple isn’t really your speed, though. You can save on Amazon Fire tablets, Lenovo notebooks, MSI gaming laptops, and so much more.
Here are the best deals on tablets and laptops ahead of Cyber Monday:
A major winter storm moving across the country’s northern tier Saturday night is expected to bring heavy snow and strong winds from the Rockies to the Central Plains and into the Great Lakes, creating headaches on major highways and at key airports for holiday travelers heading home.
The National Weather Service says the storm may produce blizzard conditions especially in the hardest-hit areas.
“Dangerous travel conditions caused by heavy snow and reduced visibility are expected to end the holiday weekend,” according to the NWS.
Strong winds and heavy snow are likely in Chicago Sunday afternoon, raising prospects of flight delays and cancellations at O’Hare International Airport, a major hub.
“The combination of extra moisture from Lake Michigan, colder air and strong winds may lead to whiteout conditions and a rapid accumulation of snow in Chicago during the second half of the storm,” according to AccuWeather Meteorologist Steve Travis.
Heavy snow could also create delays for travelers into and out of airports in Detroit, Cleveland and Pittsburgh.
Forecasters warn of likely near-blizzard conditions on Sunday from Topeka, Kansas, and Omaha, Nebraska, to Des Moines, Iowa, and Madison, Wisconsin. From 3 to 6 inches of snow is likely from northern Kansas to Michigan, with up to 6 inches in some areas.
The fast-moving storm is also expected to bring snow to parts of upstate New York and northern swaths of New England into Monday.
As the winter storm works its way across the northern states, it is expected to dip down into the Mid-Atlantic Saturday, raising the chance of light freezing rain over the central Appalachians as it moves into the Northeast.
Meanwhile, the NWS expects a surface low in the Carolinas to trek northward across the Mid-Atlantic Saturday evening, hugging the New England coast on Sunday morning and bringing heavy rainfall.
Sometimes you need your blender to be more than a blender.
The Nutri Ninja 2-in-1 Blender is not only a single-serve blender perfect for smoothies and milkshakes, but it’s also a 40-ounce processor. The Nutri Ninja system is currently on sale for $49 at Walmart ahead of Cyber Monday, which is $40 off the original price of $89.
It can be used like normal Ninja blender, which is perfect for anyone who likes a fresh smoothie in the morning. Just fill the 16-ounce Ninja cup with you favorite fruit, veggies, wheat grass, and more to get that fresh, healthy jolt of energy to start the day right. And given the small blade motor and cup, it’s super easy to clean.
The system also includes a 40-ounce processor bowl. Attach the blade extension, load up the processor, and get to grinding away. Considering all the big holiday meals coming up, anything that can make meal prep easier is going to be welcome.
Bob O’Donnell, Special for USA TODAY
Published 7:00 a.m. ET Nov. 24, 2018
CLOSE
At its developers conference. Time
FOSTER CITY, Calif. – Move over present, the future has arrived.
After about a decade of waiting, years of hoping, and several rumored false starts, the era of the foldable smartphone officially began this month with the announcement of not one, but two different efforts to bring devices leveraging bendable, foldable displays to market.
To be fair, it won’t actually be until sometime in 2019 when we can see, hold and purchase such products. Nevertheless, the introduction of Samsung’s Infinity Flex display-based devices and the Royole FlexPai make it clear that the long dreamed of idea for a pocket-sized smartphone that can unfold into a larger, tablet-like device is finally upon us.
The appeal of such a device is obvious, and I believe its impact – at least, eventually – will be enormous. Just as it’s hard to remember a world where mobile phones only made phone calls, so too will there come a time when it will be hard to imagine a world that didn’t have foldable, connected computing devices that fit into our pockets.
At the same time, while it’s easy to look back at the first iPhone and see its obvious shortcomings, so too will the limitations of first-generation foldable devices become apparent over time. That is the nature of technological developments. To be clear, however, I am convinced that 2019 will be remembered as the beginning of the foldable era.
One key reason is that foldable display technology enables the continuation of arguably the most important development in the evolution of smartphones: larger screens. From the early days of 3.5” displays to today’s common 6”+ sizes, the insatiable desire for screen real estate has driven the progressive design of smartphones.
Now that we’ve reached (some might even argue, surpassed) the largest screen size that people can comfortably hold in one hand, and reduced the bezels around the screen to essentially nothing, there’s really nowhere else to go in traditional phone designs. They are as big and screen-dominated as they can possibly be.
Let’s not forget that it isn’t phone manufacturers driving this trend toward larger sizes – it’s people voting with their dollars for bigger screens. Most market research firms now expect 5” and larger displays will dominate the worldwide phone market by the end of 2019, and in markets like the US, the average screen size is already higher.
The interest in bigger screen sizes directly correlates with the dramatic increase in software and services that better leverage larger displays, such as video streaming services, and the levels of smartphone usage overall. Right or wrong, we basically now use our smartphones all the time in virtually all aspects of our lives, from entertainment to communications to work productivity and beyond. Given that, it just seems obvious that devices that can improve our experiences with all these applications and services via larger displays are going to be enormously popular.
That is, as long as they can overcome certain basic requirements. No one is going to go for a foldable smartphone that can’t last a day on a battery charge, is too fat to fit into a pocket or doesn’t operate reliably. Those are basic table stakes that any new foldable smartphone offering will need to achieve. Pricing is going to be an initial challenge as well, because the costs of producing foldable displays in mass quantities will likely make them very expensive in their first iterations.
Presuming those many challenges can be met, however, I’m not concerned that there will also need to be special “killer” applications specifically for foldable phones to make them successful. Playing games, watching videos, browsing the web, looking at a map, and all the other things we currently do with our current smartphones are just going to be much better experiences on larger displays. Plus, the “wow” factor of opening your phone up to that larger display is finally going to bring some excitement and interest back to a smartphone market that’s become pretty boring (and, not coincidentally, has stopped growing).
As with any major technological transition, the move to foldable screen-based devices is bound to face a few expected and unexpected hiccups along the way. At its very core, however, the foldable era is going to bring with it exciting, compelling and engaging new ways to interact with the digital world all around us. It’s a future I’m looking forward to.
USA TODAY columnist Bob O’Donnell is the president and chief analyst of TECHnalysis Research, a market research and consulting firm that provides strategic consulting and market research services to the technology industry and professional financial community. His clients are major technology firms including Microsoft, HP, Dell, and Intel. You can follow him on Twitter @bobodtech.
This isOne Good Thing, a weekly column where we tell you about one of the few nice things that happened this week.
The first hospital for elephants opened in the holy Hindu town of Mathura in India last week— and it’s kind of a big deal.
Designed for geriatric, sick, and injured elephants, the hospital — which spans over 12,000 square feet — is equipped with wireless digital X-Ray, thermal imaging, ultrasonography, tranquilization devices, and quarantine facilities, according to a Reuters report.
So far, the elephant hospital is attracting both local and foreign tourists, eager to see all of the elephants that have entered into the facility and excited by the hospitals inauguration, Reuters reports.
Activists and folks online have showed a similar level of excitement:
It is so wonderful that the gentle giant #elephants are being treated humanely in some parts of the world. More needs to be done to help those being held captive and mistreated. https://t.co/pogQAdbpoD
Congratulations to @Wildlifesos for inaugurating India’s first Elephant Hospital specially designed to treat injured, sick or geriatric elephants through which they will be able to provide the best emergency services, long term care & love to the elephants who need us!
“I think by building a hospital we are underlining the fact that elephants need welfare measures as much as any other animal,” Co-founder of Wildlife SOS, the non-profit behind the hospital, Geeta Seshamani told Reuters.
Elephants are both cultural and religious symbols integral to India’s culture and ecosystem, according to the World Wildlife Fund. Unfortunately, many end up in captivity, tortured by handlers ill-educated about elephant needs, forced out of their environments due to human development, or they fall prey to poachers.
On the endangered species list, the Indian elephant population is currently estimated at 20,000 to 25,000 — making it more important than ever to provide elephants with proper medical care.
Hopefully this hospital will help improve the lives and lifespans of the elephants admitted, and bring awareness to those unfamiliar with elephants’ hardships in the wild.
GuideStar profiles all the tax-exempt organizations included in the IRS Business Master File. The information provided comes from IRS data and from the organizations themselves. Nonprofits can choose to “claim” their profiles and offer supplemental information, such as an audited financial report. Depending on how much information they provide, nonprofits are awarded the platinum, gold, silver, or bronze seal of transparency. A reputable organization will have a clear mission statement, “measurable goals,” and concrete achievements, according to GuideStar’s giving guide.
If the charity you’d like to donate to is not in the GuideStar database, GuideStar recommends you ask to see its IRS letter of determination. Try to contact the organization directly through its website. If you ask for clarification or additional information and the organization does not respond, Enterline Fekeci says that’s a red flag. If an IRS-recognized, tax-exempt organization is violating the law (engaging in commercial, for-profit business activities, excessive lobbying activities, etc.), you can report them here.
Research will help you make an informed decision, and it can help other donors as well. GoFundMe uses fraud-prevention technology, but it also relies on its community to report any campaigns that misuse the platform, which could involve organizers posting misleading information about a campaign or failing to deliver funds to the intended beneficiary. If GoFundMe discovers misuse, the company may refund up to $1,000 per donor.
Fraudulent campaigns make up less than one-tenth of one percent of campaigns on GoFundMe, but there’s risk nevertheless. A New Jersey couple and a veteran experiencing homelessness are facing criminal charges after reportedly making up their GoFundMe campaign story, which raised over $400,000. GoFundMe says it is fully cooperating and assisting law enforcement officials to recover the money. Everyone who contributed to the campaign will receive a full refund.
“While this type of behavior by an individual is extremely rare, it’s unacceptable and clearly it has consequences,” a GoFundMe spokesperson said in a statement. “Committing fraud, whether it takes place on or offline is against the law.”