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Though he’s sold a scant 500 of them, Defender-DNA inventor Bob Smith is optimistic about his new product. “I get so excited when I look at it now,” he says. “It could go so far it’s unreal.” A standard personal alarm supplemented by an auto-injecting needle, the device is supposed to collect a DNA sample from one’s would-be attacker. Currently, such a sample would be useful only if the assailant were one of the 141,600 violent or sex offenders cataloged in the FBI’s National DNA Index System, or one of the approximately 260,000 in state databases. But many politicians and police departments across the country advocate adding DNA samples of nonviolent criminals to their local databases; New York City police commissioner Howard Safir would like to take a sample from everyone who is merely arrested. Widening the pool even more, New York City mayor Rudolph Giuliani recently said he favors obtaining the genetic fingerprints of all the city’s newborns. Smith says his product is the defense of the future.

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PLEASE—BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things it doesn’t like—which is most things that are true.

We’ll say it loud and clear: At Mother Jones, no one gets to tell us what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please do your part and help us reach our $150,000 membership goal by May 31.

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