Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has had a tough go of it in eight months as America's top diplomat, Jason Zengerle wrote for The New York Times Magazine. As the boss at Exxon Mobil, Tillerson was the "ultimate decision-maker," as he told reporters in July — a post quite different from the one he occupies now, serving President Trump as his foreign policy leader.
Or, as Tillerson puts it, "accommodating" the president, whose whims change often — and often on Twitter. "I take what the president tweets out as his form of communicating, and I build it into my strategy and my tactics," Tillerson told Zengerle. "I wake up the next morning, and the president's got a tweet out there. ... Okay, that's a new condition. How do I want to use that?" Tillerson added: "Our strategies and the tactics we're using to advance the policies have to be resilient enough to accommodate unknowns, okay? So if you want to put [Trump's tweets] in an unknown category, you can. ... But it doesn't mean our strategies are not resilient enough to accommodate it."
The tense relationship between Tillerson and Trump has undercut the secretary of state in external affairs — such as his efforts to mitigate this summer's Gulf states crisis — and in internal proceedings, like how one of Tillerson's preferred candidates for deputy secretary of state was axed by Trump for his opposition to the president during the campaign. The frustration also occasionally leaks out in meetings, Zengerle reports:
According to a former administration official, in private conversations with aides and friends, Tillerson refers to Trump, in his Texas deadpan, as the dealmaker in chief. And in meetings with Trump, according to people who have attended them, he increasingly rolls his eyes at the president's remarks. [The New York Times Magazine]
Read the full report on Tillerson's struggles at State at The New York Times Magazine. Kimberly Alters
Gun deaths in the U.S. reached their highest point in nearly 40 years in 2017, according to a CNN analysis of a report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The CDC's data showed that nearly 40,000 people died by gun last year, CNN reports, which is up from 28,874 in 1999. CNN's analysis also found that more than 23,000 people died from suicide by guns, which is the highest rate in 18 years.
The report found that white men led the gender and racial demographics for gun deaths by suicide, and black men led in homicide deaths.
Former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D), who was nearly killed in 2011 due to a gun wound, released a statement reacting to the CDC's report.
"This data from the CDC reminds us how many lives our gun violence crisis alters every year – and why so many Americans are rising up to demand action," Giffords said. "It's unacceptable that the number of deaths from shootings keeps escalating while Washington, D.C. refuses to even debate policies we know would help save lives." Marianne Dodson
People are using the highest levels of government to come up with the world's lowest security passwords.
More than 5 million passwords were leaked this year, password manager SplashData's analysis of breached data reveals. Your standard "iloveyou" and "qwerty" made the list of the most popular passwords in the world, but so did one newcomer: "donald."
Of all the infinite combinations of letters, numbers, and symbols people could use, nearly 10 percent of internet users secured their accounts with one of the 25 worst passwords out there, per TechCrunch. After "123456" and "password," strings of numbers make up the next five "worst passwords" on SplashData's list. And making its first-ever top-25 appearance, clocking in at No. 23, is "donald."
No, SplashData's CEO assures us "this is not fake news." Hackers find "celebrity names" and other common words are often used as passwords, as are simple keyboard strings. So try passwords of at least 12 characters, and mix in some symbols and numbers, SplashData recommends. And whatever you do, don't use anything on the list below, as compiled by TechCrunch. Kathryn Krawcyzk
A DC comic series has been axed after allegations of sexual abuse emerged against its writer.
The series Border Town will cease production, and the final two issues of the comic will not be published under DC, The Hollywood Reporter wrote on Friday. The announcement comes after toy designer Cynthia Naugle published a statement saying she had been "sexually, mentally, and emotionally abused" by an unnamed person. The figure was later identified on social media as Border Town writer and co-creator Eric M. Esquivel, per the Reporter.
Two artists for the comic have since released statements on Twitter, with color artist Tamra Bonvillain calling Esquivel's actions "disgusting and inexcusable." Esquivel has not yet publicly commented on the allegations.
Border Town opened this year's relaunch of the DV Vertigo line, which publishes more mature content about hot button topics. The comic sold out and was met with critical acclaim, per the Reporter. Marianne Dodson
Time is up on not having enough diversity in the room.
The Time's Up organization, which seeks to combat inequality and improve workplace culture for women, is taking a $500,000 grant received from CBS and putting it toward an initiative to diversify the producer and executive pool in Hollywood, per The Hollywood Reporter.
The initiative, dubbed "Who's in the Room," will try to increase racial and socioeconomic diversity among producers and execs by selecting mentees in entry-level and assistant positions and pairing them with industry mentors. The initiative will also provide instruction and, if needed, financial aid. The first class will have 10 mentees for a duration of nine months, followed by a second class of 50 individuals for two years.
Time's Up, founded by celebrities who were responding to the "#MeToo" movement in Hollywood, is one of 18 advocacy organizations receiving a portion of $20 million from CBS. The media broadcasting company is distributing the money as part of its separation agreement with former CEO Les Moonves, the Reporter writes. Marianne Dodson
