IF YOU’RE TRAVELLING TO THE STATES – You may want to consider leaving your phone at home.

While the privacy commissioner is advising Canadians to be more careful with their devices when crossing the border with an updated set of guidelines, civil liberties advocates recommend Canadians take every precaution to keep their data secure — from burner phones to encrypted data. Source: Leave the phone at home: Privacy commissioner and advocates warn …

So this guy got charged. “Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office reviewed video of the June 14 incident, and on Friday approved two felony hate crime charges against Timothy Trybus, 62. For first offenders, a felony hate crime in Illinois can result in a prison term of one to three years and a fine of up to $25,000.” Is that overkill or if “Hate crimes have increased at an alarming rate over the past year,” is it necessary? “There should be consequences. People have to learn there are consequences, especially in the era of Trump,” Gutierrez told the Chicago Tribune. “I really do believe there are people who say to themselves, ‘If Trump can do it, I can do it. Why can’t I go out there and say the things the president says?’”

YEAH, BUT WHATABOUT OBAMA? YEAH, BUT WHATABOUT HILLARY? “According to Merriam-Webster, “whataboutism” is a rhetorical device that “is not merely the changing of a subject (‘What about the economy?’) to deflect away from an earlier subject as a political strategy; it’s essentially a reversal of accusation, arguing that an opponent is guilty of an offence just as egregious or worse than what the original party was accused of doing, however unconnected the offences may be.”

“Whataboutism,” which is currently enjoying an upswing, is just a means to deflect from the original point and dictate the terms of discussion, writes Shree Paradkar. Source: Opinion | Whataboutism is just a trolling tactic — and it deserves to be shut down

DRUNK DRIVING AND IMMIGRATION – “New amendments to the Criminal Code of Canada mean foreign nationals and permanent residents convicted of impaired driving can now be deemed inadmissible and could face deportation.”

New amendments to the Criminal Code of Canada mean foreign nationals and permanent residents convicted of impaired driving may now be deemed inadmissible and could face deportation. Source: Canada stiffens sentences for drunk driving, raising new immigrant inadmissibility concerns