Monthly Archives: March 2015

The Limits of Free Speech

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The Supreme Court's interpretation of the First Amendment would protect even the racist chant at the University of Oklahomabut it shouldn't.

Members of a fraternity at the University of Oklahoma were recently filmed chanting that theyd rather see a black student lynched than as a member of their clan. The now viral video of dapper, privileged white men shouting, There will never be a nigger at SAE, you can hang him from a tree reminds us of our greatest national shame. The chant has been roundly condemned as abhorrent. But after university president David Boren announced the expulsion of two students leading the chants, prominent legal scholars from the right and left have come to their defense. The university is a public institution, they say, and punishing the students for what they saidno matter how vileviolates the First Amendments commitment to uninhibited, robust, and wide-open discourse.

Oklahoma could make a decent argument that the students chant created a hostile educational environment and was thus unprotected speech, but these scholars are likely correct as a predictive matter. If this situation were litigated before the current Supreme Court, the students would almost certainly win. The frat boys howls are reminiscent of the Westboro Baptist Churchs God hates fags protests near military funerals, which the Supreme Court protected a few years ago. And while public university hate-speech codes have never been litigated at the Supreme Court, they have been trounced in lower courts.

A Brief and Recent History of Bigotry at Fraternities

We are told the First Amendment protects the odious because we cannot trust the government to make choices about content on our behalf. That protections of speech will inevitably be overinclusive. But that this is a cost we must bear. If we start punishing speech, advocates argue, then we will slide down the slippery slope to tyranny.

If that is what the First Amendment means, then we have a problem greater than bigoted frat boys. The problem would be the First Amendment.

No one with a frontal lobe would mistake this drunken anthem for part of an uninhibited and robust debate about race relations. The chant was a spew of hatred, a promise to discriminate, a celebration of privilege, and an assertion of the right to violenceall wrapped up in a catchy ditty. If the First Amendment has become so bloated, so ham-fisted, that it cannot distinguish between such filth and earnest public debate about race, then it is time we rethink what it means.

The way we interpret the First Amendment need not be simplistic and empty of nuance, and was not always so. The Supreme Court unanimously held over eighty years ago that those words which by their very utterance inflict injury are no essential part of any exposition of ideas. And in 1952 the Court upheld an Illinois statute punishing false or malicious defamation of racial and religious groups. These rulings, while never officially reversed, have shrunk to historical trinkets. But they mark a range of the possible, where one can be a staunch defender of full-throated discourse but still recognize the difference between dialogue and vomitus.

When frat boys delight in singing about lynching in Oklahoma, or loop a noose around the statue of James Meredith at Ole Miss, or publish a rape guide at Dartmouth, the First Amendment tells us our remedy to these expressions of hatred is to grimace and bear it. Or ignore it. Or speak out against it. But punish it we cannot. That would go too far; we would slide down the slippery slope to tyranny.

Those not targeted by the speech can sit back and recite how distasteful such racism or sexism is, and isnt it too bad so little can be done. Meanwhile, those targeted by the speech are forced to speak out, yet again, to reassert their right to be treated equally, to be free to learn or work or live in an environment that does not threaten them with violence. The First Amendments reliance on counterspeech as remedy forces the most marginalized among us to bear the costs of the bigots speech. Counterspeech is exhausting and distracting, but if you are the target of hatred you have little choice. Speak up! Remind us why you should not be lynched. Speak up! Remind us why you should not be raped. You can stay silent, but that internalizes the taunt. The First Amendment tells us the government cannot force us either to remain silent or to speak, but its reliance on counterspeech effectively forces that very choice onto victims of hate speech.

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The Limits of Free Speech

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Bitcoin technology may power your next money transfer, if IBMs plan comes to fruition

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Vociferous backers of Bitcoin, the increasingly volatilecryptocurrency, touttherapidity of transfers as its largest advantage over traditional tender. Thats undeniably true sending a Bitcoin is practically instantaneous and its one reason why IBM is considering creating a payment system with the same underlying technology, according to a report from Re/code.

IBMs currentplans describe software that can link individual bank accounts to the digital ledger.

Bitcoin operates on the principal of ablockchain, whichBitcoin.org describes as a shared public ledger. The details of every transferare recorded and verified automatically, which allows Bitcoin wallets to update their balances immediately and ensure senders in a transaction actually own the Bitcoins theyre attempting to spend. Although the blockchain is viewable by all participants in the network, complex cryptography protects it from tampering.

Related:Whats the worst performing currency of 2014? Its Bitcoin

IBM seeks to create equivalent ledgers in many different currencies, according to Re/code. Such a record wouldreducethe relianceon banks andclearing housesfor transfers, both of which are institutions with comparatively laborious and time-consuming methods of verification.

IBMs currentplans describe software that can link individual bank accounts to the digital ledger. The company is reportedlyexploring a partnership with the U.S. Federal Reserve and other international banks, under which the respective institutions would retain control. Thats unlike Bitcoin, which is decentralized.

Related: Feds to auction off $18 million worth of Bitcoins from Silk Road seizures

Despite theaccelerating adoption of Bitcoin Microsoft began accepting Bitcoin payments for Xbox and Windows content last December, following Time Inc., Dell, Expedia, Dish Network, and Neweggs lead from earlier in 2014 the currency is inexorably linked with criminal activity, thanks to the Silk Road. Many connect the now-defunct illegal drug market, as well as the high-profile trial of its eccentric founder, Ross Ulbricht, with the digital currency.

Bitcoin also continues to suffer from destabilizing theft and volatility. In March of last year, exchange market Flexcoin closed its doors after suffering a debilitating heist of 896 Bitcoins, then worth $625,000. Bloomberg recently named Bitcoin the worst performing currency of 2014, owing the crowning to the currencys fall from $1140 two years ago, to $320 near the end of 2014.

Given Bitcoins continued setbacks, theres substantialdoubt as to whether it will ever, as some predict, fully replace federally issued money. For that reason,IBMs merging of Bitcoin fundamentals with familiar coin may, at the present time, bethe best digital currency we can hope to achieve.

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Blast gets some revenge with 6-4 playoff win over visiting Comets

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Many Blast players remember watching the Missouri Comets celebrate a Major Indoor Soccer League championship last season before a stunned crowd in Baltimore.

Almost a year later, after a move to the Major Arena Soccer League, the Blast finally got some measure of revenge. In Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals, the Blast emerged with a 6-4 victory before an announced 4,562 at Royal Farms Arena on Friday night.

Adriano Dos Santos, Tony Donatelli and Lucas Roque scored for the Blast, which handed the Comets their first loss of the season.

"It was an unbelievable performance," Blast coach Danny Kelly said. "Defensively, to be able to hold that team, the highest-scoring team in the league, to two goals is a tremendous achievement. Obviously, it was just one game. We wanted to win that game and go into Missouri up a game. We accomplished that, and now we have to win there."

The second game of the series will be played Sunday at Independence Events Center, in the Kansas City, Mo., suburbs. If the Comets win, the teams will play a 15 minute mini game immediately afterward to determine the series' winner.

Comets goalkeeper Danny Waltman finished with 18 saves, including several diving stops that kept the Blast from fully taking control.

William Vanzela (26 saves) was equally adept in goal for the Blast and helped keep the game tied at 2 midway through the third quarter when he stopped a bicycle kick from Leo Gibson, who led the league in scoring during the regular season. The Blast took a 4-2 lead with 3:10 left in the third when Donatelli slotted the ball past Waltman.

Roque provided a 6-2 margin just 2:53 into the final period. From there, the Blast continued to stay aggressive on defense, and the Comets appeared to wear down, having played the previous night. Missouri pulled Waltman for a sixth attacker and got to within 6-4 on a goal by Gibson with under four minutes left.

"It's a playoff game, and they battle hard," Donatelli said. "We knew that coming in. They played last night, and [we] tried to take advantage of that. In the playoffs, it's always hard to find goals. We were able to grind it out tonight."

The Blast didn't play the Comets this season. Last year, Missouri beat the visiting Blast, 15-8, in Game 1 of the MISL championship series. The Blast responded with a 19-4 victory in Game 2 to force a mini game. Missouri, however, took home the title after a 6-4 win.

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Blast gets some revenge with 6-4 playoff win over visiting Comets

Blast Hand Comets First Loss of Season

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March 13, 2015 - Major Arena Soccer League (MASL) Baltimore Blast The Blast hosted the Missouri Comets on Friday night in a highly anticipated matchup in game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals. In a game that exceeded expectations the Blast handed the Comets their first loss of the season. Baltimore came out victorious 6-4.

The game was a defensive battle right from the beginning. The Missouri Comets scored the first goal of the game when Alain Matingou scored at the 12:51 mark assisted by Bryan Perez. At the end of the first the Comets led 2-0.

The second quarter the Blast tied the game with a goal from Adriano Dos Santos assisted by Jonathan Melo. The goal came at the 13:42 mark and it was Dos Santos' 12th goal of the season. The Blast defense was able to hold the Comets scoreless in the quarter and William Vanzela recorded 7 saves in the first half. The halftime score was 2-2.

In the second half the physical play continued and the Blast were the only team able to find the back of the net in the quarter. After a long pass through the Comets defense by Pat Healey, Tony Donatelli was able to beat the keeper giving the Blast their first lead of the night. The Blast went into the final quarter leading 4-2.

Both teams came out with high intensity during the fourth quarter. The Blast leading goal scored Lucas Roque found the back of the net at the 2:53 mark off a pass from Tony Donatelli extending the Blast lead to 4. After a Leo Gibson goal the Blast defense and goalkeeper William Vanzela displayed an outstanding defensive performance sealing the victory for the Blast.

The final score was 6-4.

The Blast move to 20-2 on the season and 2-0 in the playoffs and hand the Missouri Comets their first loss of the season. The Blast were led offensively by Tony Donatelli who recorded one goal and one assist on the night. Lucas Roque and Adriano Dos Santos also recorded goals in the victory. Goalkeeper William Vanzela recorded 12 saves and improves to 16-2 while Pat Healey led the defense with 3 blocks.

Game 2 and the potential mini game will take place on Sunday, March 15th in Missouri. Kickoff is at 3 p.m. CTS from the Independence Events Center.

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Blast Hand Comets First Loss of Season

Preview: Comets Visit Baltimore for Game One of the Conference Championship

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March 13, 2015 - Major Arena Soccer League (MASL) Missouri Comets INDEPENDENCE, Mo. (March 13, 2015) - Not even 24 hours after winning the Central Divisional title with an 8-2 victory over the Milwaukee Wave, the Comets will visit the Royal Farms Arena for game one of the Conference Championship against the Baltimore Blast tonight at 6:35 p.m. CT.

Fans are encouraged to attend the official watch party hosted by Comets Nation at Coach's Bar and Grill (103rd & Wornall). The game will be streamed live on Go Live Sports Cast.

Baltimore advanced to the Conference Championship series after defeating the Rochester Lancers with a multipoint final score of 6-4 on Thursday. The Blast finished the regular season with an overall record of 18-2. Their only losses came against the San Diego Sockers and the Las Vegas Legends.

The longtime rivalry between the Comets and the Blast has seen epic battles on the field. Baltimore leads the All-time regular season series 10-3. However, the last time both teams met, Missouri defeated the Blast on the road to win the MISL Championship in the mini game with a final score of 6-4.

Head coach Danny Kelly's team is one of the four teams that still plays their home games under the multipoint scoring system along with Rochester, Syracuse and Harrisburg.

The series will feature six MASL All-League First Team players with goalkeeper William Vanzela and defender Pat Healey representing the Blast and John Sosa, Vahid Assadpour, Leo Gibson and Brian Harris on behalf of the Comets.

After setting records for most points (93), goals (48), assists (45) and points in a game (12), league leader Leo Gibson scored one goal and had one assist in the Divisional Final last night. In addition, team captain Vahid Assadpour was named Borden Man of the Match with a hat trick and one assist.

On the other hand, the Blast were led by midfielder Tony Donatelli totaling 35 points with 17 goals and 18 assists. Vanzela led the goalkeepers with a 2.83 GAA and four shutouts.

Tickets for Sunday are on sale now, call 855.4KC.GOAL for more information.

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Preview: Comets Visit Baltimore for Game One of the Conference Championship

Comets outlast Bruins at Doenges

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All things considered, the Bartlesville High School varsity baseball team had little reason to hang its head after Thursdays 6-2 loss to the Bishop Kelley Comets.

For one thing, Kelley scored four of its runs on two swings of the bat a three-run homer by Riley Smith and a solo shot by Phillip Scott.

For another, Kelley is the returning Class 6A state runner-up and returned everyone from last years 17-11 season.

We didnt take advantage of a couple of opportunities, especially early noted Bruin head coach Spence Rigdon. Theyre (the Comets) a very good team.

The Bruins squandered their biggest chance in the bottom of the second.

With one out, Garrett Meidl and Logan McNeill ripped back-to-back singles.

But, Meidl was then retired on a fielders choice at third and the next batter flew out.

After falling behind 3-0, the Bruins finally uncorked a rally in the fourth inning.

Gage Gardner led off with a walk and Meidl reached on an error to open the inning.

Gardner then scored on a balk and Chandler Holliman grounded out to plate Meidl and cut the margin to one run, 3-2.

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New antibody therapy dramatically improves psoriasis symptoms in clinical trial

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Only a single treatment produced what researchers describe as 'rapid, substantial, and durable clinical improvement'

IMAGE:A sample from one psoriasis patient shows thickening of the outer layer of skin, known as the epidermis (top). Eight weeks after treatment, the epidermis has thinned to a normal... view more

Credit: Laboratory of Investigative Dermatology at Rockefeller University/Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology

Many patients suffering from psoriasis showed significant recovery after just a single dose of an experimental treatment with a human antibody that blocks an immune signaling protein crucial to the disease, researchers report. By the end of the trial, conducted at Rockefeller University and seven other centers, nearly all of the 31 patients to receive treatment saw dramatic, if not complete, improvement in their symptoms.

"The striking result we achieved using a human antibody that targets the signal interleukin-23 suggests we are on the threshold of doing something very different from our current model of treating psoriasis with immunosuppressive drugs throughout an adult lifetime," says study author James Krueger, director of the Milstein Medical Research Program, D. Martin Carter Professor in Clinical Investigation and head of the Laboratory of Investigative Dermatology. "It raises the possibility of working toward long-term remission -- in other words, a cure." The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology published the results on Thursday (March 12).

Psoriasis is a debilitating disease in which the body's immune system mistakenly turns on the skin, producing red, itchy, scaly patches. In 2004, Krueger and colleagues suggested a dominant role for interleukin-23 in the disease, and research since then has supported this hypothesis. It appears that interleukin-23, a type of immune signaling molecule known as a cytokine, kicks off a cascade of interactions that leads to inflammation in the skin and excessive growth of skin cells and dilation of blood vessels.

The discovery of interleukin-23's role has led to tests of a number of new antibody-based therapies that target it, but the compound, known as BI 655066, stands out. BI 655066 is a human antibody that targets interleukin-23 and blocks it from binding to the receptors on cells that respond to it. Only a single treatment produced what the team describes as "rapid, substantial, and durable clinical improvement in patients with moderate-to-severe psoriasis." On average, patients who received the treatment had a more than 80 percent improvement in the severity and extent of their skin lesions that continued until tracking ended six weeks after treatment. Meanwhile, genetic sequencing from skin samples revealed that the antibody's action reduced the expression of many of the cytokines and other molecules that define psoriasis.

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New antibody therapy dramatically improves psoriasis symptoms in clinical trial