A visitor from Norway was reportedly denied entry to the United States after border officers found an unflattering meme of Vice President JD Vance on it. Mads Mikkelsen, 21, told his hometown newspaper that be was harassed by officers before being deported.

[He] claimed the officers then threatened him with a $5,000 fine or five years in prison if he refused to give the password to his mobile phone. The guards reportedly found a meme on the device’s camera roll showing US vice president JD Vance with a bald, egg-shaped head.Mikkelsen said after discovering the image the Officers Beforeities sent him home to Norway the same day.

U.S. officials warn visitors that they must not only hand over their devices at the border for inspection, but also access to their social media accounts. It’s not in the official guidance, but do remember to say thank you as well.…’ Rob Beschizza via Boing Boing

‘Donald Tr*mp campaigned on anti-immigration rhetoric and keeping America out of foreign conflicts, but has veered sharply from his isolationist promises during his second term. After a failed attempt to mediate between Israel and Palestine during the ongoing humanitarian crisis, the former reality TV star’s latest international move was even more dramatic: ordering strikes on three Iranian nuclear facilities last weekend. While he technically didn’t declare war (only Congress has that power), launching unauthorized bombing runs in foreign airspace remains an impeachable offense.

Everyone seems to be pissed off with Donny right now. Lawmakers from both parties are demanding accountability. Even his staunchest supporters — the ones who helped him undermine American democratic principles — are distancing themselves. After the bombing, when the President posted a celebratory message on Truth Social, the response in the Proud Boys’ public Telegram channel was notably hostile…’ Seamus Bellamy via Boing Boing

‘”America will come back to God. We will come to God! Nothing will stop this nation!” the pastor feverishly continues with closed eyes. Meanwhile, the rest of the zealots on the White House grounds are speaking in tongues. Welcome to Trump 2.0. (See video, posted by Patriot Takes.)…’ Carla Sinclair via Boing Boing

‘After a decade of construction, a large new reflecting telescope publicly released its first images on Monday, and they are nothing short of spectacular.

The Vera C. Rubin Observatory’s primary mirror is 8.4 meters in diameter, which makes it one of the largest optical telescopes in the world. However, the real secret sauce of the telescope is its camera—the automobile-sized Legacy Survey of Space and Time camera—which has a resolution of 3,200 megapixels. Which is rather a lot.

The observatory is on a remote 2,682-meter-high (8,799 ft) mountain in northern Chile, a region of the planet with some of the best atmospheric “seeing” conditions.

The main goal of the telescope is to scan the entire Southern Hemisphere sky by taking 1,000 high-definition photographs every three nights for the next 10 years. The idea is that, assembled end to end, the observatory will provide a high-definition, four-dimensional film of the Universe changing over a decade. It will seek to encompass everything from nearby asteroids and comets to distant supernovae.…’ Eric Berger via Ars Technica

‘In the years since he first took office, it has become increasingly hard to define the “Tr*mp Doctrine” for foreign policy. He has taken more and more contradictory moves while growing more confident in his Oval Office instincts. Foreign affairs luminaries have devoted many papers to trying to clarify the aims of a man who refuses to come into focus. He’s a shallow transactionalist! He’s a principled realist! He’s an imperialist with a Western Hemisphere fixation! Tr*mp himself once even said, “I’m a nationalist and a globalist. I’m both.”

Tr*mp’s decision to bomb Iran’s nuclear sites this weekend is the latest sign that he’s now in a phase where he’s willing to take enormous risks with little concern about the blowback. He has survived so much already — two impeachments, criminal convictions, two assassination attempts. He doesn’t have to run for office again, and, as has been amply noted, his advisers won’t restrain him the way they did in his first term.…’ Nahal Toosi via POLITICO

‘The strikes probably only delayed Iran’s nuclear ambitions — and reinvigorated them.…’ James M Acton via POLITICO