Latest news with #DefenceofFortM'Henry
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Opinion - Keeping terrorists off Airbnb shouldn't undermine Americans' privacy
There's a certain irony in completing the financial surveillance procedures the government requires Airbnb to impose on its hosts. Right along with snapping and submitting a selfie for automatic verification against the required government-issued identification, Airbnb occasionally asks for a guest's country of citizenship, too. It is literally the United States, but is it really the United States? In so many ways, we have become a banal pseudo-security state that betrays our founding ideals. Sure, 'the land of the free and the home of the brave' has always been self-flattering and aspirational. The line was lent to our national anthem from Francis Scott Key's poem, 'Defence of Fort M'Henry,' recalling the War of 1812. That war involved actual death, destruction and threats to the territorial integrity of the United States. The English captured Washington and burned the Capitol before American victories at Baltimore and Plattsburgh set the British back. Andrew Jackson led American forces in repelling a British attack on New Orleans. If you could transport the minds and collective spirit of those Americans to this day, would they have meekly submitted their data to administrative security systems that treat them as prospective suspects in relatively pitiable crimes and wrongs? There is a lot packed into such a broad question. Let's sharpen it through the language of risk management. In true wars, the nation-state suffers existential risk, literal threats to control of its territory. How we scope conflicts has a lot to say about such things, but arguably there has not been a threat of that direct significance to the U.S. since, well, the War of 1812. The two World Wars triggered an expansive sense of our national interest, which is now on the outs. Perhaps the threat of nuclear war counted as an existential threat — global annihilation, in that case, until the Soviet Union fell. When terrorism brought itself into sharp focus a quarter century ago, we figuratively declared a figurative war on it, which, for all the incoherence of fighting a strategy, has been a substantial success. Witness the implicit downgrade terrorism has suffered through the addition of drug cartels to the ranks of 'terrorists.' Doing so keeps the category alive. Many meanings can be poured into the recently declassified word salad called the 'Strategic Implementation Plan for Countering Domestic Terrorism.' Mine is that the domestic terrorism threat is low enough that we can use it to push AmeriCorps. Financial surveillance under the Bank Secrecy Act came into existence out of concern for tax evasion through Swiss bank accounts. Because Congress delegated broad authority in that statute, bureaucratic hands have molded financial surveillance to meet every moment, including making it a part of the counterterrorism arsenal when our politics called for that. The title of this post is a risk manager's absurdity. Terrorists don't use Airbnb to gain an advantage over our society, not to an extent worth spending time and compromising America's privacy and digital security. But Airbnb is every bit a part of the financial surveillance infrastructure. Our security state has become utterly banal. With security benefits vanishingly small, the threats are somewhat sizable. Up front might be the identity fraud risk bestowed on every Airbnb host now that they have submitted key identity documents digitally to yet another database. There is the remote but plausible risk that mass financial surveillance will be turned over to the use of government control in our uncertain future. We have only to look to China's 'social credit' system to see what that looks like. There are many ways to think about all this. One is that our society has not matured into its media environment. Access to imagery from every big auto accident is available nationwide. Any urban explosion we can now see from six different angles. Those dynamics make us white-knuckled exaggerators of security risk. Our politicians and bureaucrats have every reason to indulge us and try to drive risk, impossibly, to zero. In their media environment, there is essentially no incentive to man up and put security threats in perspective. I say 'man up' in the non-gender-specific sense, of course, because it could as easily be a leading woman who calls out the absurdities and tells our nation to grow a pair. But I look forward to the day when we put aside false machismo addressed to inflated threats, cancel misdirected domestic surveillance programs and stand tall, the soil under our feet again constituting a land of the free and home of the brave. Jim Harper is a nonresident senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, focusing on privacy issues. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Hill
28-05-2025
- Politics
- The Hill
Keeping terrorists off Airbnb shouldn't undermine Americans' privacy
There's a certain irony in completing the financial surveillance procedures the government requires Airbnb to impose on its hosts. Right along with snapping and submitting a selfie for automatic verification against the required government-issued identification, Airbnb occasionally asks for a guest's country of citizenship, too. It is literally the United States, but is it really the United States? In so many ways, we have become a banal pseudo-security state that betrays our founding ideals. Sure, 'the land of the free and the home of the brave' has always been self-flattering and aspirational. The line was lent to our national anthem from Francis Scott Key's poem, 'Defence of Fort M'Henry,' recalling the War of 1812. That war involved actual death, destruction and threats to the territorial integrity of the United States. The English captured Washington and burned the Capitol before American victories at Baltimore and Plattsburgh set the British back. Andrew Jackson led American forces in repelling a British attack on New Orleans. If you could transport the minds and collective spirit of those Americans to this day, would they have meekly submitted their data to administrative security systems that treat them as prospective suspects in relatively pitiable crimes and wrongs? There is a lot packed into such a broad question. Let's sharpen it through the language of risk management. In true wars, the nation-state suffers existential risk, literal threats to control of its territory. How we scope conflicts has a lot to say about such things, but arguably there has not been a threat of that direct significance to the U.S. since, well, the War of 1812. The two World Wars triggered an expansive sense of our national interest, which is now on the outs. Perhaps the threat of nuclear war counted as an existential threat — global annihilation, in that case, until the Soviet Union fell. When terrorism brought itself into sharp focus a quarter century ago, we figuratively declared a figurative war on it, which, for all the incoherence of fighting a strategy, has been a substantial success. Witness the implicit downgrade terrorism has suffered through the addition of drug cartels to the ranks of 'terrorists.' Doing so keeps the category alive. Many meanings can be poured into the recently declassified word salad called the 'Strategic Implementation Plan for Countering Domestic Terrorism.' Mine is that the domestic terrorism threat is low enough that we can use it to push AmeriCorps. Financial surveillance under the Bank Secrecy Act came into existence out of concern for tax evasion through Swiss bank accounts. Because Congress delegated broad authority in that statute, bureaucratic hands have molded financial surveillance to meet every moment, including making it a part of the counterterrorism arsenal when our politics called for that. The title of this post is a risk manager's absurdity. Terrorists don't use Airbnb to gain an advantage over our society, not to an extent worth spending time and compromising America's privacy and digital security. But Airbnb is every bit a part of the financial surveillance infrastructure. Our security state has become utterly banal. With security benefits vanishingly small, the threats are somewhat sizable. Up front might be the identity fraud risk bestowed on every Airbnb host now that they have submitted key identity documents digitally to yet another database. There is the remote but plausible risk that mass financial surveillance will be turned over to the use of government control in our uncertain future. We have only to look to China's 'social credit' system to see what that looks like. There are many ways to think about all this. One is that our society has not matured into its media environment. Access to imagery from every big auto accident is available nationwide. Any urban explosion we can now see from six different angles. Those dynamics make us white-knuckled exaggerators of security risk. Our politicians and bureaucrats have every reason to indulge us and try to drive risk, impossibly, to zero. In their media environment, there is essentially no incentive to man up and put security threats in perspective. I say 'man up' in the non-gender-specific sense, of course, because it could as easily be a leading woman who calls out the absurdities and tells our nation to grow a pair. But I look forward to the day when we put aside false machismo addressed to inflated threats, cancel misdirected domestic surveillance programs and stand tall, the soil under our feet again constituting a land of the free and home of the brave. Jim Harper is a nonresident senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, focusing on privacy issues.
Yahoo
09-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Who is singing the national anthem at the Super Bowl? Everything to know about Jon Batiste
From Fort McHenry to New Orleans, the "Star Spangled Banner" has been around the block a few times. It was originally written by Francis Scott Key as "Defence of Fort M'Henry" at the Battle of Baltimore in the War of 1812. The poem turned song was inspired by the American flag waving triumphantly over the fort, signaling victory. It has become arguably the nation's greatest hit, showing remarkable longevity over the years. While the song didn't become the country's official anthem until 1931, it was first played at a sporting event during Game 1 of the 1918 World Series between the Boston Red Sox and Chicago Cubs. As history would show, the song's popularity at sporting events only took off from there and continues to this day. MORE: Who is singing at the Super Bowl 2025? What to know about halftime show, anthem That level of patriotism continues to dominate the pregame festivities despite the many ways it's performed. At Super Bowl 59, there will be a jazz flare, courtesy of the singer tasked with kicking off what is the biggest sporting event of the year. Jazz roots run deep in the bayou. Now, they'll blend it with some patriotism on Sunday. Here's a look at the national anthem singer for Super Bowl 59. Academy and Grammy Award-winning artist Jon Batiste will sing the national anthem at the 2025 Super Bowl in New Orleans. Batiste, 38, is a native of Metairie, LA. His family is considered a New Orleans musical dynasty, which is fitting considering he's performing the anthem in front of the NFL's latest dynasty. From playing drums at age eight, Batiste eventually transitioned to piano as his primary instrument. He released his first album, "Times in New Orleans" at 17. Batiste would go on to attend the Juilliard School in New York, a private school for performing arts. The singer later founded the group "Stay Human," which became the house band for "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" on CBS. Batiste has released six studio albums. His album "We Are" won Album of the Year and Best R&B Album at the 2022 Grammy Awards. He co-composed the score for the Pixar animated movie "Soul" in 2020 alongside Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. The trio won an Academy Award (Best Original Score), a Grammy Award (Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media) and a Golden Globe (Best Original Score) for his work on the movie. MORE: Who is Kendrick Lamar? Everything to know about Super Bowl 59's halftime performer The Super Bowl is set to begin at 6:30 p.m. ET. Fans can expect the team introductions, national anthem and coin toss to all take place around that time. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Who is singing the national anthem at the 2025 Super Bowl?
USA Today
09-02-2025
- Entertainment
- USA Today
Who is singing the national anthem at the Super Bowl? Everything to know about Jon Batiste
Hear this story From Fort McHenry to New Orleans, the "Star Spangled Banner" has been around the block a few times. It was originally written by Francis Scott Key as "Defence of Fort M'Henry" at the Battle of Baltimore in the War of 1812. The poem turned song was inspired by the American flag waving triumphantly over the fort, signaling victory. It has become arguably the nation's greatest hit, showing remarkable longevity over the years. While the song didn't become the country's official anthem until 1931, it was first played at a sporting event during Game 1 of the 1918 World Series between the Boston Red Sox and Chicago Cubs. As history would show, the song's popularity at sporting events only took off from there and continues to this day. MORE:Who is singing at the Super Bowl 2025? What to know about halftime show, anthem That level of patriotism continues to dominate the pregame festivities despite the many ways it's performed. At Super Bowl 59, there will be a jazz flare, courtesy of the singer tasked with kicking off what is the biggest sporting event of the year. NFL STATS CENTRAL: The latest NFL scores, schedules, odds, stats and more. Jazz roots run deep in the bayou. Now, they'll blend it with some patriotism on Sunday. Here's a look at the national anthem singer for Super Bowl 59. Who is singing the national anthem at the Super Bowl? Academy and Grammy Award-winning artist Jon Batiste will sing the national anthem at the 2025 Super Bowl in New Orleans. Who is Jon Batiste? Batiste, 38, is a native of Metairie, LA. His family is considered a New Orleans musical dynasty, which is fitting considering he's performing the anthem in front of the NFL's latest dynasty. From playing drums at age eight, Batiste eventually transitioned to piano as his primary instrument. He released his first album, "Times in New Orleans" at 17. Batiste would go on to attend the Juilliard School in New York, a private school for performing arts. The singer later founded the group "Stay Human," which became the house band for "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" on CBS. Batiste has released six studio albums. His album "We Are" won Album of the Year and Best R&B Album at the 2022 Grammy Awards. He co-composed the score for the Pixar animated movie "Soul" in 2020 alongside Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. The trio won an Academy Award (Best Original Score), a Grammy Award (Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media) and a Golden Globe (Best Original Score) for his work on the movie. MORE:Who is Kendrick Lamar? Everything to know about Super Bowl 59's halftime performer Super Bowl 2025 start time The Super Bowl is set to begin at 6:30 p.m. ET. Fans can expect the team introductions, national anthem and coin toss to all take place around that time.
