Monthly Archives: June 2017

‘Knights of Sidonia’ is the Pinnacle of Gritty Mecha Anime – Inverse

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Anime fans in the U.S. who grew up watching Gundam Wing on Cartoon Networks Toonami block will love the darker, more mature take on the mecha subgenre of anime theyll find with Netflixs Knights of Sidonia.

Whereas series like Power Rangers, Voltron, and various Gundam iterations are lighthearted in their tone and small in their stakes, Knights of Sidonia is a dark post-apocalyptic story of mecha vs. kaiju that feels an awful lot like Battlestar Galactica meets Pacific Rim and its not afraid to depict some truly grisly deaths.

In Knights of Sidonia, the year is 3394 and the half-million remaining humans live aboard a massive arc named Sidonia as it hurdles through space. As the series begins, Sidonia has already spent 1,000 years fleeing from the gauna, the monstrous shapeshifting alien race that destroyed Earth. A select few Knights pilot Gardes, Sidonias name for giant mechs.

The protagonist Nagate Tanikaze grew up hidden underground with his grandfather, training daily in a Garde simulation. He emerges from hiding to join a society he never knew, and he eventually becomes one of humanitys greatest defenders. Its a job he trained his entire life for, and through his eyes, the viewer slowly learns truly how desperate existence is on Sidonia.

Special humans piloting giant mecha is a tried-and-true premise for an anime that could very easily be a bore here, but rather than just throw mecha pilots into an endless war with flashy fight scenes, Knights of Sidonia deftly explores the practical implications of its setting.

What would humanity really look like after a thousand years aboard a massive space arc? What technologies or innovations would be invented for the sake of survival? How dangerous and gritty would their lives be? Knights of Sidonia has a lot to say about these questions and so much more.

Much like the recently released Blame! anime film, Knights of Sidonia is adapted from a manga by Tsutomu Nihei and produced by Polygon Pictures. Both anime feature a very similar dystopian sci-fi design aesthetic with 3D character animations (at times its even implied that both series exists in the same universe). Whereas many sci-fi anime can come across colorful and refined, both these series make a point of presenting worlds with a uniquely weathered look that conveys how grim and desperate these dystopias really are.

Sure, both Blame! and Knights of Sidonia present high-tech settings in the worlds of tomorrow, but after millennia, even our future could become the distant past. High-tech gadgets are transformed into ancient relics by the passage of time. Even Sidonia itself is of brutish, practical design, built right into a massive asteroid.

In Sidonias society, innovations like human cloning, asexual reproduction, and human genetic engineering are commonplace, along with an adaptation that allows most humans to gain nutrients via photosynthesis rather than actually eating. And one of the shows most interesting characters is Izana Shinatose, who is actually a nonbinary third gender. She has androgynous features and, like all third genders, her body can shift into either male or female when she finds a mate.

These adaptations do not arise out of creative or inspired feats of innovation; they arise out of necessity in a resource-starved and highly volatile existence. Much of it is very cool, but as a whole the series does a great job of communicating how bleak life is on Sidonia.

Starvation might be a concern, but the real threat comes from the gauna, which are faceless, emotionless, formless blobs that are nearly impossible to kill. Because theyre so grotesquely inhuman, theyre that much more of an absolute terror.

Not only are the fight scenes in Knights of Sidonia truly horrifying even with Gardes, humanity is hopelessly outmatched and the frequent deaths are truly gruesome but the despair permeates throughout and beyond the militarized portion of society.

Humanity is totally screwed. If you dont die from a gauna attack of some kind, then youll probably just die of starvation at some point. In this, Knights of Sidonia is a lot like Attack on Titan in space.

Knights of Sidonia is easily one of the best anime available on Netflix right now, and you cant watch it anywhere else. Sure, its overwhelmingly dark and gritty, but at least theres a fun and hilariously cute momma bear that takes care of Nagate:

Because what would an anime be without some bizarre comic relief?

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'Knights of Sidonia' is the Pinnacle of Gritty Mecha Anime - Inverse

NATO partners with Polish university for e-learning – NATO HQ (press release)

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Cuiavian University in Wloclawek, Poland agreed on 7 June 2017 to support NATOs work with partners on defence education through advanced distance learning (ADL).

Defence education is a key agent of transformation and NATO is using it to support institutional reform in partner countries. Through its Defence Education Enhancement Programme (DEEP), the Alliance advises partners on how to build, develop and reform educational institutions in the defence and military domain in the form of peer-to-peer conversations. E-learning is becoming a global trend in defence and military domains and DEEP is using it to improve efficient military education in some partner countries.

Cuiavian University is supporting Ukraines DEEP programme in building e-learning capacity for the National Defence University in Kyiv. It is also an active institution within the European Higher Education Area under the Bologna Process which sets the basic framework for the three cycles of higher-education qualifications, bachelors, masters and doctoral degrees and in the European Union student exchange programme Erasmus.

Cuiavian University is proud that NATO has acknowledged our strong e-learning capacity and we are keen to expand our mutual cooperation from the DEEP Ukraine to other NATO partners, said Prof. Stanislaw Kunikowski, Rector of Cuiavian University.

Being active in both the European Union (EU) and NATO, the university is keen to bolster joint NATO-EU future cooperation in the ADL area by developing common e-learning modules together with the DEEP Programme and the European Security and Defence College.

Your university has proven to be a reliable provider of knowledge and expertise and the Defence Education Enhancement Programme will work with you for the benefits of NATO partners military education institutions that want to reform their educational system and introduce new teaching techniques, said Mariusz Solis, DEEP coordinator at NATO.

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NATO partners with Polish university for e-learning - NATO HQ (press release)

Is the Old NATO Dead? – The National Interest Online

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When President Donald Trump travels to Poland this week to meet with its embattled president Andrzej Duda, the two will have a lot to talk about. Both are alternately ridiculed and pilloried in the international press and both are intensely disliked at European Union headquarters in Brussels. Both have been labeled nationalists, demagogues and even dictators-in-the-making. And both of them question NATOs capacity to act as an effective defensive force.

Since taking office in 2015, Duda has consistently pushed for a stronger NATO presence in Poland. He used his first major English-language interview as president to push for Poland to replace Germany as the real eastern flank of the alliance, and his government has put real money on the table toward that end. Poland is one of only five NATO members to meet its 2 percent of GDP military spending commitment.

By comparison, Germany spends 1.19 percent of its GDP on defense, sixteenth among the twenty-nine NATO members. Poland also meets the less well-known NATO target that at least 20 percent of defense spending should be on equipment, with 25.8 percent of its budget going to procurement. Germany, by contrast, spends only 13.7 percent of its defense budget on equipment, with the result that some German units are armed with broomsticks instead of guns.

What a change a century makes. Until its virtual dismantling in the 1990s, the German Bundeswehr was NATOs main fighting force. While France cowered safely behind a line of American bases in the United Kingdom, West Germany and Italy, the Bundeswehr contributed the majority of NATOs frontline troops, tanks and airplanes. In the darkest days of the Cold War, West Germany was the bulwark of European defense. No longer. With Germany now lacking the capacity to mount any serious military operationand no other European country ready to step into the breachNATO's vaunted Article 5 commitment to collective defense has become, in effect, a unilateral U.S. security guarantee. Trump has now publicly accepted the mantle of that responsibility. But that doesnt change the fact that all for one and one for all only makes sense if all have the capacity to help the one.

It is becoming clearer by the day that most Europeans now understand Article 5 as a one-way American commitment to their security. It is true that NATO stood by the United States on September 11, with some NATO countries (the UK in particular) making serious commitments and suffering serious casualties in Afghanistan. But the military budgets of Americas NATO allies declined precipitously between 200815. Only a few are now able to defend themselves, never mind come to the aid of others.

In Europe, Poland is now NATOs central front, and the Polish government is aching for a more permanent NATO (read: American) presence in the country. The simple fact is that Poland is now the bulwark of Europe. It needs American help to hold the line. And given its deep involvement in Ukrainian affairs, Poland is likely to be ever more useful to the United States as an outpost at the heart of Eastern Europe.

Neither Trump nor Duda is likely to be impressed by European Commission president Jean-Claude Junckers call for a European defense capability to match those of the United States, China and Russia. Speaking in English at a European security conference in Prague, Juncker proposed what has been called a defense spending spree of 90 million euros over three years. Thats equivalent to just $100 million, or about the cost of a single F-35 fighter. Over three years.

Ironically, European leaders bristled last month in Brussels when Trump publicly and privately berated them for not spending enough on defense. Now, despite their overwhelmingly negative response to Trumps demands, they are calling for more European spending on defense. But calling for and doing are two different things. European leaders specialize in calling for. America is better known for doing.

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Is the Old NATO Dead? - The National Interest Online

Director General of the NATO International Military Staff addresses the Black Sea and Balkans Security Forum – NATO HQ (press release)

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Lieutenant General Jan Broeks, Director General of the NATO International Military Staff (DGIMS) visited Romania on 9-11 June 2017. During his visit, Lieutenant General Broeks addressed the Black Sea and Balkans Security Forum and held staff talks with Romanian officials.

At the Black Sea and Balkans Security Forum, Lieutenant General Broeks participated in a panel on the Security challenges in the Black Sea area and the Balkans. Other participants in the panel included: Mr. Dan Dungaciu, member of the Scientific Council of the New Strategy Center (Chair); General Nicolae Ciuc, Chief of the Romanian General Staff; Mr. Mustafa Aydin, rector of Kadir Has University Istanbul and president of the International Relations Council of Turkey; Mr. Przemysaw urawski vel Grajewski, advisor for defence issues to the Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs; and Mr. Robert Bari, Lecturer at the Croatian Defense Academy.

During his address, Lieutenant General Broeks highlighted the importance of the Black Sea as a key strategic intersection linking NATOs Eastern and Southern flanks and the Balkans role as a gateway to Europe from the Southern Caucuses, the Eastern Mediterranean and the broader Middle East. Lieutenant General Broeks also stressed that the Region has become the central focus of Russias larger strategic ambitions and revisionist agenda, making it a potential flashpoint for future conflict on NATOs border.

While in Bucharest, the Director General met with Romanian military officials to discuss the security environment in the Black Sea region and the Romanian Armed Forces transformation process. Lieutenant General Broeks took the opportunity to thank Romania for hosting and activating the Multinational Division South-East Headquarters as well as its role in strengthening NATOs forward presence with a Romanian-led multinational framework brigade on land. They also discussed the deployment of the British Typhoon fighter aircrafts who will be working alongside the Romanian Air Force to help keep the skies over Romania safe, as part of NATOs Air Policing mission.

Finally, Lieutenant General Broeks praised Romania for its valuable contributions to NATOs Resolute Support Mission in Afghanistan and to the KFOR peacekeeping mission in Kosovo.

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Director General of the NATO International Military Staff addresses the Black Sea and Balkans Security Forum - NATO HQ (press release)

Morning Joe Bashes Trump for Not Supporting NATO…After Trump Announces Support for NATO – NewsBusters (blog)

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NewsBusters (blog)
Morning Joe Bashes Trump for Not Supporting NATO...After Trump Announces Support for NATO
NewsBusters (blog)
Following President Trump's declaration of support for NATO last Friday the cast of Morning Joe denounced and decried the President on Monday for -- not supporting NATO? Nicolle Wallace bemoaned the current state of foreign relations and how Donald ...

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Morning Joe Bashes Trump for Not Supporting NATO...After Trump Announces Support for NATO - NewsBusters (blog)

Accused NSA Leaker May Be Treated Harshly As An Example, Experts Say – Task & Purpose

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Her family calls Reality Leigh Winner a patriot who may have made some mistakes but acted with conviction for the good of her country. The federal government portrays her as something more sinister a threat to national security.

Those contrasting portraits, first unveiled last week in a bond hearing in an Augusta federal court, will likely emerge in the months ahead as the central themes in the first leak prosecution under the Trump administration.

Legal experts say prosecutors will want to make an example of someone who allegedly shared secrets in an era where rampant leaks have angered President Donald Trump and damaged his presidency. Winner, meanwhile, will be fighting for her freedom.

Winner, an intelligence contractor who worked at Fort Gordon near Augusta, pleaded not guilty to a single count of willful retention and transmission of national defense information. She is charged under the Espionage Act with leaking a top secret NSA document on Russian attempts to hack U.S. election systems to the news media.

Prosecutors won the first sortie on Thursday, convincing U.S. Magistrate Judge Brian Epps that Winner is too great a risk to be released on bond. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Solari said the government is concerned Winner might have compromised other secrets, and that she had a persistent desire to travel to Afghanistan and researched technology that could be used to cover her digital tracks.

Winner allegedly wrote that she wanted to burn the White House down and in notes appeared sympathetic to the Taliban.

Winners lawyer, Titus Nichols, said his client isnt a flight risk nor a threat.

Friends and her family have described her as an animal lover, a fitness buff and a decorated Air Force veteran. Her stepfather, Gary Davis, said her youth, her liberal views and her high security clearance make her a perfect patsy.

Thats what our biggest fear is political persecution to drive home a political point, Davis said. Thats the unwritten message. If you go against the government, then were going to shut you down. And were going to throw you into prison and throw away the key.

President Barack Obama prosecuted more leakers than all other presidents before him combined, and though the Winner case is the first under Trump, the new president has demanded the Department of Justice find and prosecute more.

Under Trump, even the definition of leaker has expanded. On Friday, the president called James Comey, the FBI director he fired amid probes into Russia election meddling, a leaker, although the contents of the memo Comey told Congress he had distributed to the press do not appear to qualify as classified information.

Joshua Lowther, a criminal defense attorney in Atlanta, said Winner could make a sympathetic defendant. Shes a six-year veteran of the Air Force awarded a commendation for her intelligence work, which helped kill and capture hundreds of enemy combatants.

One of Winners potential defenses is to highlight that history of service to her country, including in the decision whether misguided or principled to leak material about Russian influence on the 2016 presidential election that she believed the public needed to know, Lowther said.

In court Thursday, prosecutors sought to shoot down that line of defense with explosive allegations she expressed sympathies to American enemies and wanted to burn the White House, Lowther said.

The government thinks this is someone who deserves to be prosecuted severely, Lowther said.

So far, though, the prosecutions picture of Winner as a danger to the nation doesnt fully square with the material she is alleged to have leaked, said Kenneth Geers, a senior fellow at international affairs think tank Atlantic Council.

Geers, a former NSA and Defense Department analyst, said what Winner allegedly leaked and where she sent the information to the whistleblower website, The Intercept makes it appear she acted out of conscience.

When I read the (original Intercept) article I thought this is a person who might be a Bernie supporter, said Geers, referring to Bernie Sanders, the U.S. senator from Vermont and former Democratic presidential candidate.

Unless prosecutors uncover that Winner compromised more sensitive information, something that would aide an adversary or wound U.S. interests abroad, the case doesnt seem to support the argument that shes a jihadist, Geers said.

I dont know her state of mind or logic, but it seems like if she were a jihadist, only releasing information about the election doesnt make a lot of sense, Geers said.

Prosecutors do not have to prove harm

Former CIA Director Gen. David Petraeus and Marine Gen. James Cartwright avoided lengthy prison sentences by pleading to lesser charges. Winner fits into the pattern of the Justice Department throwing the book at lower level employees, said Edward MacMahon, a veteran criminal defense lawyer versed in national security cases.

MacMahon was part of the defense team for Jeffrey Sterling, a former CIA operative who was convicted of espionage and sent to prison for leaking details of a secret U.S. operation to sabotage Irans nuclear program to a New York Times reporter.

Though the Winner case is slated to be tried in federal court in Augusta, it will be directed from Washington by the Counterintelligence and Export Control Section of the Justice Departments National Security Division.

The government will put enormous resources into trying this case, MacMahon said.

Prosecutors will attempt to prove that Winner had access to the classified material, gave it to persons without that access and that they can exclude other possible suspects.

The salacious allegations of sympathizing with enemies only ups the ante.

Prosecutors also have a significant advantage: they do not have to prove the leak caused harm to the nation.

They dont have to prove actual harm, they only have to prove the possibility of harm, he said. Its been challenged in court as vague but no court has ever overturned a conviction from it.

2017 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Atlanta, Ga.). Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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Accused NSA Leaker May Be Treated Harshly As An Example, Experts Say - Task & Purpose

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Reality Winner, NSA Contractor Accused of Leak, Was Undone by Trail of Clues – New York Times

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New York Times
Reality Winner, NSA Contractor Accused of Leak, Was Undone by Trail of Clues
New York Times
Then came a yearslong debate over warrantless wiretapping during the George W. Bush administration, the leak to the news media in 2013 of hundreds of thousands of documents by Edward J. Snowden, and last year, the theft of N.S.A. hacking tools that ...
The latest NSA leak is a reminder that your bosses can see your every moveWashington Post
How Did Accused NSA Leaker Reality Winner Get Security Clearance?NBCNews.com
Federal contractor arrested after NSA document published on news siteUSA TODAY
NPR -The Hill -The Intercept -Department of Justice
all 1,400 news articles »

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Reality Winner, NSA Contractor Accused of Leak, Was Undone by Trail of Clues - New York Times

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FBI Used ‘Microdots’ to Nab Accused NSA Leaker – Newser

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Newser
FBI Used 'Microdots' to Nab Accused NSA Leaker
Newser
The yellow "microdots" formed a coded design on the paper the 25-year-old NSA contractor allegedly provided to the Intercept that purports to detail Russian interference in the November election. The pattern revealed the serial number of the printer ...

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FBI Used 'Microdots' to Nab Accused NSA Leaker - Newser

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Constitution and Fourth Amendment – Gettysburg Times

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The Fourth Amendment states, "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized." Pretty straightforward, right? It was, until something labeled the "Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act" (FISA). Today, every electronic communication of every kind -- e-mail, telephone conversation, radio or TV communication, in any medium -- is routinely overheard, recorded, stored and available for use against any American citizen by the FBI, the CIA, the NSA, the IRS, the Social Security Administration and every information and intelligence gathering agency government-wide. Your cell phone isn't just a telephone any more: it's a GPS for government trackers; it stores your phone records and conversations; and the "your" telephone company routinely provides that Government whatever it asks about what we say, to whom, and when. So do our computers. The result? There is no longer any reasonable expectation of privacy, anywhere, anytime, for anyone.

One might ask, "How did this come to be?" In 1978, under President Jimmy Carter, Congress enacted something called the "Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act" (FISA), whose nominal purpose was to enable the federal government to eavesdrop, wiretap, or otherwise capture the contents of communications and/or conversations involving people from other nations around the world whom our government believed might be plotting or conspiring to do America harm. Of course, some of those nefarious plotters might also be doing so in conjunction with Americans; therefore, it was necessary to "listen in" on everyone, lest our defenders in the intelligence community not be able to detect all they could. Which in turn meant that a mechanism needed to exist to honor the 4th Amendment - if only in form. Thus came about what is now known as the "FISA Court," whose two-fold purpose was to approve the "listening" while maintaining a cover for violating the 4th Amendment, and appearing to provide protection for American citizens against the very Government behavior things that Court was approving. (No, it doesn't make sense, but it's the way it is.) All this, of course, was long before cell phones, personal computers, laptops and even the internet.

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Constitution and Fourth Amendment - Gettysburg Times

Top legal implications surrounding Trump’s Twitter account – Blasting News

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This week, President Donald Trump came under fire for his Twitter activity, including blocking other users and tweeting about a pending case regarding his executive order for a a six-country travel ban [VIDEO]. Although Trump has made headlines [VIDEO] for his #Twitter Account in the past, some of his most recent activity has Twitter users questioning the constitutionality and legal implications of his online behavior.

On Tuesday, the Knights First Amendment Institute at Columbia University wrote a letter to Trump asking him to unblock Twitter users who posted content which disagreed or otherwise critiqued his actions.

The use of the block feature on Twitter is typically used to prevent other users from interacting with them personally. For most users, the use of this feature is not considered a violation of the law or Twitter's user policies. However, on Tuesday, #White House press secretary Sean Spicer confirmed at a press conference that tweets coming from Trump's Twitter account are also to be considered official White House statements. However, when users, particularly those in the US, are blocked from seeing such statements from public officials like Trump, it can lead to questions of transparency, which will inevitably lead to legal implications.

Furthermore, it is also likely that Trump's staff tweets for him. In such a case, blocking users would generate little to no effect, besides prohibit individuals from voicing concerns to him as an elected official.

The Knights First Amendment Institute also argued that such blocking interferes with First Amendment right because it obstructs freedom of speech in a "designated public forum."

However, it is yet to be determined by legislators whether social media is truly considered a public forum, further complicating the case.

Another argument made was that blocking users on Twitter would not violate the First Amendment, especially since the First Amendment concerns regarding Trump's tweets were directed at his personal Twitter account @realDonaldTrump, not his White House @POTUS account.

Also, this week, a tweet was posted on Trump's Twitter account regarding the petitioned Supreme Court case concerning the issue of his executive order for a six-country travel ban. The revised travel ban, originally including Iraq, now only includes Sudan, Libya, Iran, Yemen, Syria, and Somalia. Although Trump's legal counsel has advised him against referring to his executive order as a travel ban, Trump has continued to do so, as demonstrated by a tweet earlier this week.

That afternoon, the American Civil Liberties Union posted a tweet in response to Trump's post, stating that it might use his post against him in a Supreme Court argument.

Some legal experts predicted that the tweet could negatively impact his pending travel ban case. Others believed that Trump's tweets were not a legal issue.

"As a constitutional matter, as a legal matter, it should make absolutely no difference," said David B. Rivkin Jr., a lawyer for previous Republican administrations, to the New York Times.

The recent advent of #Social Media Law would make this case an unprecedented challenge for the Supreme Court.

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Top legal implications surrounding Trump's Twitter account - Blasting News

Rachel Helm: Right on, on First Amendment rights – The Union of Grass Valley

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Kudos to my Editorial Board colleague Lynn Wenzel for writing her June 7 Other Voices piece defending Kathy Griffin's First Amendment rights.

I despise Griffin's brand of humor. It was disrespectful to our president and it was a cruel thing to do to his family. That Griffin is now playing the victim after being so vicious is even more disgusting. But that doesn't mean she doesn't have the right to be offensive.

The First Amendment isn't in place to protect "nice" speech but speech that some of us find offensive. Lynn and I disagree on most political subject matter but not on this one.

Protecting free speech is something we should all passionately support regardless of our political philosophy. You don't get to complain about conservative speakers being banned from college campuses then turn about and try to do the same thing to an obnoxious comedian. That's called hypocrisy.

It deeply saddens me that there is a market for Griffin's malicious humor in our community, but that doesn't give me the right to censor it.

Rachel Helm

Nevada County

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Rachel Helm: Right on, on First Amendment rights - The Union of Grass Valley

A Mysterious New Cryptocurrency Is Surging After Being Endorsed by Putin – Vanity Fair

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Ethereum founder Vitalik Vuterin speaks at TechCrunch in December of 2015.

By John Phillips/Getty Images.

After catching the eye of both the Singapore government and Russian President Vladimir Putin, Ethereumthe second-biggest cryptocurrency in the world, after Bitcoincontinues to skyrocket. On Monday morning, the cryptocurrency was trading at a record-high level of $407.10, more than a 5,000 percent rise since the beginning of 2017, when it was trading at $7.98.

Ethereums founder, Vitalik Buterin, recently met with Putin during the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, a signal that the country may be interested in using digital currency to move its economy beyond gas and oil. The digital economy isnt a separate industry, its essentially the foundation for creating brand-new business models, Putin said at the forum. (Russian entities, like the state development bank VEB, have agreed to use Ethereum to help implement blockchain technology in the country). As investors look for a place to put their assets amid mounting geopolitical instability, some are turning to cryptocurrency. Singapores government has released a report saying it has carried out a test using ethereum blockchain technology to create a national digital currency. Regulators in Japan are issuing new rules that make cryptocurrencies like Ethereum a valid form of payment. And companies such as Toyota and Microsoft, which are members of an organization called the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance, are throwing their weight behind the cryptocurrency, too.

Ethereum, which has a total valuation of $36 billion, trails only Bitcoin (valued at $49 billion) in terms of market capitalization. Bitcoin has been rallying all year, reaching a high of above $3,000 for the first time on Sunday as a growing number of people turn to virtual currencies as a safer, faster way to exchange money. But Ethereums rally may still have a ways to go: Pavel Matveev, the co-founder of banking start-up Wirex, tells CNBC that Ethereums price could reach $600 by the end of the year.

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A Mysterious New Cryptocurrency Is Surging After Being Endorsed by Putin - Vanity Fair

Europe’s First Cryptocurrency Fund Launching From Zug Valley – ETHNews

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News business and finance

For the first time, Europeans will have the option to trade in a diversified index fund based on cryptocurrencies.

On June 12, 2017, from Zug, Switzerland, Crypto Fund AG announced it is launching the Cryptocurrency Fund, based on the Cryptocurrency Index, to be registered with FINMA (Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority), and will be first investment vehicle of its kind to manifest in the European market.

The Cryptocurrency Index is calculated by an index provider known for investing in virtual currencies with significant market caps, including Ether, bitcoin, Ripple, and other cryptocurrencies. The index's diversification reduces volatility for investors reacting to the surge of emergent currencies in the marketplace, and its growth rate easily outpaces that of traditional equities and securities markets.

Jan Brzezek, CEO of Crypto Fund AG and former president of UBS Asset Management and UBS Group EMEA, spoke of the differences between the new fund and predecessors, which failed to gain approval from regulators:

"We recognized the growing demand of qualified investors for a regulated and transparent gateway to cryptocurrencies and realized that we need a proven and recognized legal framework allowing qualified investors to invest in cryptocurrencies. Unlike the Winkelvoss-ETF, which was rejected by the SEC, we use the regulated and proven Swiss fund structure according to KAG [Swiss Collective Investment Schemes Act], where the asset manager, the fund management company and the custodian bank are legally separate from each other. The Fund will be highly diversified and will not list on an exchange and exclusively target qualified investors.

In March 2017, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rejected an application by the Gemini Exchange founders, Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, to launch the first ever bitcoin exchange traded fund (ETF). However, since then, the SEC reopened the matter for public commentary and continues to deliberate on the fate of the fund. The SEC is also currently considering a similar application of an Ether-based ETF proposed by EtherIndexEtherTrust.

For this endeavor, Brzezek has teamed up with Dr. Tobias Reichmuth, who acts as chairman of the board for Crypto Fund AG and is the founding investor. In addition, FinTech expert Marc P. Bernegger joins the board, providing his expertise.

Reichmuth expressed that desires to invest in cryptocurrency come from across the board. He said:

"Private and institutional investors alike show a keen interest for cryptocurrencies as a deflationary value storage medium independent of central banks. Access via a regulated vehicle, to execution and safe storage were so far missing. The Cryptocurrency Fund will be the first regulated fund globally which provides a safe and easy access to the rapidly growing cryptocurrency world.

Bernegger noted that it is no coincidence Zug Valley was chosen as a base, citing regulatory clemency and overall regional stability.

"The term Crypto Valley has quickly gained acceptance and demonstrates the concentration and growth of Cryptocurrency companies and foundations in the region of Zug and Zurich. It is also important to mention that Switzerland with its good reputation in asset management and stable regulation has already accepted virtual currencies as an asset class. In addition, the Swiss mountains offer safe and tested warehouses for digital assets.

Crypto Fund AG is advised by the law firm MME Legal, which specializes in blockchain technology and token offerings. The fund is slated to launch in Q4 2017 and an initial dialogue with FINMA has been established.

Jeremy Nation is a writer living in Los Angeles with interests in technology, human rights, and cuisine. He is a full time staff writer for ETHNews and holds value in Ether.

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Europe's First Cryptocurrency Fund Launching From Zug Valley - ETHNews

Attackers Mining Cryptocurrency Using Exploits for Samba Vulnerability – Threatpost

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Unknown attackers are using a recently patched vulnerability in Samba to spread a resource-intensive cryptocurrency mining utility. To date, the operation has netted the attackers just under $6,000 USD, but the number of compromised computers is growing, meaning that a significant number of Samba deployments on *NIX servers remain unpatched.

The attack also demonstrates that the vulnerability in Samba, CVE-2017-7494, can extend EternalBlue-like attacks into Linux and UNIX environments. Samba is a software package that runs on Linux and UNIX servers and sets up file and print services over the SMB networking protocol, integrating those services into a Windows environment.

The Samba vulnerability is similar to the SMB bug exploited on May 12 by attackers using the NSAs EternalBlue exploit to spread WannaCry ransomware. Experts warned that EternalBlue can be fitted with any measure of attack, and they have a similar message about this flaw, which has been nicknamed SambaCry.

Researchers at Kaspersky Lab said that one of their honeypots snagged on May 30 some of the first exploits targeting the Samba vulnerability. The payload was a two-headed threat: a Linux backdoor and a mining utility called Cpuminer that is leveraging the processing power of its victims to create Monero cryptocurrency.

The attacked machine turns into a workhorse on a large farm, mining crypto-currency for the attackers, Kaspersky Lab said in a report published on Securelist.com.

The researchers said the attackers Monero wallet and pool address are hardcoded in the attack.

According to the log of the transactions, the attackers received their first crypto-coins on the very next day, on April 30th, Kaspersky Lab said. During the first day they gained about 1 XMR (about $55 according to the currency exchange rate for 08.06.2017), but during the last week they gained about 5 XMR per day. This means that the botnet of devices working for the profit of the attackers is growing.

As of Friday, the attackers had mined about $6,000 USD, and Kaspersky Lab said it was unsure about the scale of the attack. Upon disclosure of the Samba vulnerability almost three weeks ago, Rapid7 said an internet scan using its ProjectSonarsoftware found more than 104,000 endpoints running vulnerable versions of Samba over port 445, the SMB port. More than 92,000 are running versions of Samba that have no patches available. The vulnerability was introduced into Samba in 2010 in version 3.5.0; admins should upgrade to patched versions: 4.6.4, 4.5.10 and 4.4.14.

Kaspersky Lab said the exploit is assembled as a Samba plugin, below. After running a checka file containing random symbolsto see whether the server has write permissions for the network, the attack must then brute-force the full path to dropped file. The most obvious paths are laid out in Samba instruction manuals, Kaspersky Lab said. Once it finds the path, the exploit is loaded and executed in the context of the Samba server process using the vulnerability; it runs only in virtual memory.

Kaspersky Lab said the attacks captured by its honeypot contained two files, a Linux backdoor and the miner. INAebsGB.soandcblRWuoCc.so respectively. INAebsGB.sois a reverse shell that connects to the port of the IP address specified by the owner giving it remote access to the shell.

As a result, the attackers have an ability to execute remotely any shell-commands. They can literally do anything they want, from downloading and running any programs from the Internet, to deleting all the data from the victims computer, Kaspersky Lab said, adding that this is similar to the SambaCry exploit in Metasploit.

The other file, cblRWuoCc.so, downloads and executes Cpuminer from a domain registered on April 29.

Coincidentally, another set of attackers used EternalBlue to spread a cryptocurrency miner called Adylkuzz for Monero on Windows machines. Monero is marketed as a privacy conscious cryptocurrency, and goes to great lengths to obfuscate its blockchain making it a challenge to trace any activity.

The Adylkuzz attacks pre-date WannaCry with the first samples going back to April 24, researchers at Proofpoint said. More than 20 virtual private servers were scanning the internet for targets running port 445 exposed, the same port used by SMB traffic when connected to the internet, and the same port abused by EternalBlue and DoublePulsar.

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Attackers Mining Cryptocurrency Using Exploits for Samba Vulnerability - Threatpost

Comets’ loss is one tough pill to swallow – YourGV.com

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There were very few, if any, words spoken as the Halifax County High School baseball team returned to its dugout for the final time.

With two runners on base with one out in the bottom of the 14th inning, Briar Woods High Schools Sean Clark delivered a hard-hit ground ball through the middle of the infield to score the game-winning run to top the Comets 5-4 in Saturdays Virginia High School League 5A State Tournament championship game at James Robinson Secondary School in Fairfax.

Clarks hit was the biggest of two shocks the Comets experienced in the state title game, the first coming in the bottom of the seventh inning when the Comets held a 4-2 lead and were within two outs of victory only to see the Falcons rally to score twice to tie the game and send it into extra innings.

The loss left the Comets, who were seeking to bring home what would have been only the second state title in Halifax County High School history, finishing with a 21-4 for the season.

Its a tough pill to swallow, remarked Comets junior outfielder and pitcher Brayden Moore.

That was the longest game Ive played in my life. We battled hard for 14 innings. You cant say enough about the heart of this team.

Comets sophomore pitcher Alex Lowery, who was on the mound at the end of the game, said he was proud of the team and the effort during the marathon 14-inning contest.

We had a really good game, Lowery pointed out.

We played 14 solid innings. It was a game that one hit at the right time could win it all for either team. Thats all they (Briar Woods High School) did, they got one simple hit, a ground ball through the hole.

It was a tough loss for the Comets in the game that was a rematch of the 5A North Region Tournament championship game a week earlier that the Falcons won 10-0.

This weekend marked only the fourth time in the history of the Halifax County High School baseball program that a Comets baseball team will have played in a state championship game.

Im just proud of the way the kids played all season, said Comets Head Coach Kenneth Day.

You couldnt have asked for any more from these kids. They battled all day. We were right there, just this close.

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Comets' loss is one tough pill to swallow - YourGV.com

No. 15 Comets taking shape – Marshalltown Times Republican

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Local Sports

Jun 11, 2017

T-R PHOTO BY ROSS THEDE BCLUW second baseman Samantha Ubben, right, awaits the throw as Cedar Falls baserunner Ashton Syharath dives back to the bag during the second inning of Saturdays game at the BCLUW Comet Softball Invitational Tournament in Conrad.

CONRAD It starts as a collection of pieces.

By the time the season ends, head coach Dave Lee has fit the BCLUW softball team together into what he wants the picture to look like.

On Saturday, the Class 2A No. 15 Comets slid a couple more shapes into place by beating Cedar Falls, 10-2, and 3A No. 13 Union, 8-1, in the BCLUW Comet Softball Invitational Tournament that annual coincides with the towns Black Dirt Days celebration.

Junior Lauren Anderson pitched in back-to-back games for the first time this season, senior Samantha Ubben shined against a ranked opponent and the Comets (13-4) did the things that have made them successful under Lees tenure.

Even when a runner got hung up or cut down, Lee acknowleged the trial-by-fire approach he takes with his younger players and how it helps mold them for future roles with his squad.

T-R PHOTO BY ROSS THEDE BCLUWs Jenna Willett, center, runs up the first-base line as teammate Lizzy Garber, left, prepares to slide in safely ahead of the throw home by Cedar Falls pitcher Tjaden Petersen during the Comets eight-run fourth inning.

Everybody who becomes anything for us starts as a runner, said Lee.

BCLUW beat up on Cedar Falls (2-13) to the tune of an eight-run fourth inning that featured 12 batters, six hits, a pair of walks and perfectly executed small-ball. Jordyn Beeghlys two-run double to deep left field was the highlight of the Comets eruption, chasing Tigers starting pitcher Tjaden Petersen from the circle.

Easton Swanson and Kate Goecke greeted reliever Tehya Tournier with back-to-back singles, but a baserunning blunder kept the Comets from piling on even more.

Cedar Falls scratched together a pair of hits in its ensuing at-bat, but Anderson limited the damage despite having less-than-100 percent of her best, according to Lee.

We threw Lauren back-to-back because we wanted to have Sam for the Union game, and Lauren fought through the trouble spots she had, said Lee. And I thought our defense helped her get out of some stuff. It was a good day for our team in everything we do.

T-R PHOTO BY ROSS THEDE

Beeghly, Swanson, Goecke, Ubben and Olivia Hughes had two hits apiece as the Comets totaled 13 in the five-inning win. Anderson struck out three, walked two, hit two batters and allowed just three singles.

And after opening Saturday with a convincing win, BCLUW made even more of a statement by beating a ranked Union Community club by a convincing margin. The Knights (10-5) did not throw their top pitcher, Lee said, but that didnt seem to bother him too much.

I would have liked to have seen her against us, but the good thing was they only got one run on us for all the runs theyve scored this year, said Lee.

Union, averaging more than seven runs per game going into the ranked showdown with BCLUW, held Peyton Parker out of the circle. Instead, the Comets reached Justine Nagel for five runs in three innings and added three more against Natalie Tecklenburg.

Beeghly had a pair of run-scoring doubles and finished 3-for-4 with three RBIs to lead the Comets, who scored once in the first, four times in the third and added three more in the sixth before Union finally got to Ubben. Parker connected on an 0-2 pitch out of the park for a solo home run, one of only five Knights hits in their first loss in a week.

Ubben got the last word, however, by striking out 11, including the days final batter.

BCLUW rides a six-game win streak into Mondays NICL West Division showdown with 3A No. 14 West Marshall. The unbeaten Trojans (14-0) are the only other team in the conference without a loss.

BCLUW Comet Invitational

At Conrad

Fridays Games

Waterloo West 16, Gladbrook-Reinbeck 6

Sumner-Fredericksburg 5, Cedar Falls 4

BCLUW 4, Marshalltown 3

Saturdays Games

BCLUW 10, Cedar Falls 2

Cedar Falls 14, Gladbrook-Reinbeck 4

Marshalltown 4, Sumner-Fredericksburg 2

Union 7, Waterloo West 3

Sumner-Fredericksburg 9, Waterloo West 7

BCLUW 8, Union 1

Marshalltown 14, Gladbrook-Reinbeck 3

All-Tournament Team (locals only)

BCLUW: Lauren Anderson, Jordyn Beeghly, Samantha Ubben

Marshalltown: McKaylee Dawson, Regan Mazour, Aspen Chadderdon

Gladbrook-Reinbeck: Haleigh Berendes, Rachel Cooley, Reagan Skovgard.

BCLUW 10, Cedar Falls 2

BCLUW 110 80 10 13 2

Cedar Falls 000 20 2 3 4

Lauren Anderson and Kate Goecke; Tjaden Petersen, Tehya Tournier (4) and Cara Forsblom. WAnderson. LPetersen. 2BBCLUW: Jordyn Beeghly. LOBBCLUW 4, CF 4.

Cedar Falls 14, Gladbrook-Reinbeck 4

G-R 013 00 4 9 4

Cedar Falls 019 13 14 10 2

Rachel Cooley and Taylor Gienger; Avery Canfield and Lex Hesse. WCanfield. LCooley. 2BG-R: Haleigh Berendes; CF: Lean Forsblom. 3BCF: Lily Becker, Ashton Syharath. LOBG-R 6, CF 4.

Marshalltown 4, Sumner-Fredericksburg 2

S-F 000 020 0 2 5 1

MHS 200 200 X 4 5 5

Kaylyn Hoth, Mariah Nuss (4) and Kylie Hoth; McKaylee Dawson and Erica Johnson. WDawson. LNuss. 2BMHS: Ciara Feldman. HRMHS: Aspen Chadderdon (1). LOBS-F 9, MHS 4.

Marshalltown 14, Gladbrook-Reinbeck 3

MHS 2(10)2 0 14 5 1

G-R 030 0 3 7 2

Dawson, Kailee Pollard (2) and Johnson, Kyra Feldman (2); Sasha Nagle, Gracey Nagle (2), Alyssa Morgan (3) and Gienger. WPollard. LS.Nagle. 2BMHS: McKenna Major. HRMHS: Feldman (1). LOBMHS 1, G-R 5.

BCLUW 8, Union 1

BCLUW 104 003 0 8 9 2

Union 000 001 0 1 5 3

Samantha Ubben and Goecke; Justine Nagel, Natalie Tecklenburg (4) and Jordyn Nagel. WUbben. LJu.Nagel. 2BBCLUW: Beeghly 2. HRU: Peyton Parker (3). LOBBCLUW 7, Union 7.

INDIANAPOLIS LaVall Jordan is getting another chance to make his imprint at Butler. The Bulldogs former ...

GARWIN The GMG activities department is holding its inaugural four-person best shot golf fundraiser Saturday at ...

JOHNSTON Fresh off its first two wins of the season, the Marshalltown softball team got snapped back to the ...

The Marshalltown High School athletics fundraiser golf outing will be held Tuesday at the American Legion Memorial ...

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No. 15 Comets taking shape - Marshalltown Times Republican

Earth in danger? NASA reports comet swarm, Earth-crossing … – Catholic Online

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NEOWISE mission has revealed more dangerous objects sharing our space.

NASA has announced the discovery of ten new asteroids in space which pose a threat to life on Earth. The ten objects were discovered over the past year by the "Near-Earth Orbit Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer" (NEOWISE). The threats are still being assessed.

Earth is close to the center of a cosmic shooting gallery, and sooner or later, we will be hit.

LOS ANGELES, CA (California Network) -- The Solar System is filled with rocks, all hurtling around the sun at speeds many times faster than a bullet. Most of these rocks are tiny, too small to cause harm to life on Earth. When these objects collide with our atmosphere, they burn brightly causing what we call a "meteor" or more commonly, a "shooting star."

Most other objects are too far away, and their orbits don't intersect Earth's, so they pose no danger.

Scientists unanimously agree that it is only a matter of time before one of these objects strikes the Earth. The extent of the damage will depend on its size and the location of impact.

Missions, such as NEOWISE are dedicated to locating more of these objects, and in the past year, they have discovered ten new asteroids. Those asteroids are still being evaluated to see if any will collide with Earth in the future.

So far, no asteroid has been observed on a collision course, but that could change. A new one could be discovered on a dangerous course, or an old one may have its orbit disturbed and as a result, could be set on a new collision course.

A large asteroid impacting the Earth could do as little as destroy a city or as much as destroying all life on Earth. If scientists detect one such threat in advance, they could develop some way to change its orbit. The slight nudging of an asteroid might be all it takes, but this is only possible if the asteroid is detected far enough in advance.

In addition to the new asteroids, NEOWISE has also located five new comets, which pose a similar threat to Earth. Comets usually come from deep space and often have highly elliptical orbits that cause them to swing past the Sun once every several decades. Comets can have variable orbits, and some swing past the Sun once and are ejected from the Solar System, while others plunge directly into the Sun itself. A few, however, can pass close to Earth and become visible in the night sky. And once, every hundred million years or so, one may hit Earth.

According to NASA, an unprecedented swarm of comets has been detected passing through the inner Solar System. Nobody knows why there has been an uptick in comet activity, but it's usually thought to come from the close approach of other stars, or unseen objects in deep space that causes disruption in the Oort Cloud, a halo of comets at the farthest reaches of our Solar System. It can take decades for a comet from the Oort Cloud to make the journey all the way to the inner Solar System.

Despite the discoveries of the ten asteroids, five comets, and over a hundred other, less dangerous objects, there is no immediate risk to Earth. Even the inner Solar System is a vast place, and there's plenty of room for a lot of asteroids to swirl without hitting Earth. But the danger from a single event is so great, we cannot afford to wait and hope we get missed every time.

The search continues.

---

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Earth in danger? NASA reports comet swarm, Earth-crossing ... - Catholic Online

Tofacitinib may be an effective treatment for nail psoriasis – 2 Minute Medicine

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1. In a posthoc analysis of 2, phase 3 randomized controlled trials of over 1000 patients with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis, tofacitinib (an oral Janus kinase inhibitor) treatment demonstrated significantly improved clinical nail psoriasis severity scores at 16 weeks compared to placebo.

Evidence Rating Level: 1 (Excellent)

Study Rundown: Psoriasis is a chronic, inflammatory skin disease associated with clinical manifestations of the nail that include pitting, onycholysis, subungual hyperkeratosis, and discoloration. Nail psoriasis may severely impair function and is associated with significantly greater disease severity and impact on patient quality of life than psoriasis without nail involvement. Tofacitinib is an oral Janus kinase inhibitor that has previously demonstrated efficacy and tolerability in phase 3 clinical trials of moderate-to-severe chronic plaque psoriasis. The purpose of this study was to assess the effect of tofacitinib on nail psoriasis.

This study is a post-hoc pooled analysis of two phase 3 clinical trials evaluating the efficacy of tofacitinib in 1196 patients with nail psoriasis. At the conclusion of the study, both the 5mg and 10mg twice-daily administrations of tofacitinb demonstrated clinically significant improvement in nail psoriasis compared to placebo at 16 weeks with effects maintained at 52 weeks. The results of this study support the use of tofacitinib as a potential treatment modality for nail psoriasis. This study is strengthened by its large sample size, multiple trial sites, randomization, double blinding, and comparison to placebo. The interpretation of study results is limited by the use of only objective measures to assess severity without incorporating subjective patient-reported outcomes. Moreover, non-responders were discontinued from the study at 28 weeks and not included in analysis. Multi-center prospective trials that include patient-reported outcome measures to assess improvements in severity may help improve the validity and of the study.

Click to read the study in JAAD

Relevant Reading: Tofacitinib, an oral Janus kinase inhibitor, for the treatment of chronic plaque psoriasis: results from two randomized, placebo-controlled, phase III trials

In-Depth [randomized controlled trial]: This study conducted a pooled posthoc analysis of two identical 52-week multi-site phase 3 randomized controlled trials evaluating the efficacy of tofacitinib in patients with moderate-to-severe chronic plaque psoriasis with nail involvement. Patients in both trials were randomized 2:2:1 to receive tofacitinib 5mg or 10mg, or placebo twice daily. Overall, this study identified 1196 patients with nail involvement of the original 1859 patients with psoriasis recruited in the initial studies. Patients were determined to be moderate-to-severe via a Psoriasis Area and Severity Index score 12, Physicians Global Assessment of moderate or severe, and affected body surface area 10%. Improvements in severity were assessed using the Nail Psoriasis Severity Index (NAPSI). The proportion of patients that demonstrated a 50%, 75% or 100% reduction from baseline in NAPSI score (NAPSI50, NAPSI75 and NAPSI100) were calculated and compared between treatment arms. Patients treated with tofacitinib demonstrated improvement in pitting, onycholysis, subungual hyperkeratosis, and discoloration. Moreover, treatment with tofacitinib demonstrated significantly greater proportions of patients that achieved NAPSI50, NAPSI75 and NAPSI100 compared to placebo at 16 weeks (p < 0.05). Furthermore, the mean number of affected nails decreased from 7.3 at baseline to 3.5 and 2.7 at 52-weeks for the 5mg and 10mg doses, respectively.

Image: PD

20172 Minute Medicine, Inc. All rights reserved. No works may be reproduced without expressed written consent from 2 Minute Medicine, Inc. Inquire about licensing here. No article should be construed as medical advice and is not intended as such by the authors or by 2 Minute Medicine, Inc.

2 Minute Medicines The Classics in Medicine: Summaries of the Landmark Trials is available now in paperback and e-book editions.

This text summarizes the key trials in:General Medicine and Chronic Disease, Cardiology, Critical and Emergent Care, Endocrinology, Gastroenterology, Hematology and Oncology, Imaging, Infectious Disease, Nephrology, Neurology, Pediatrics, Psychiatry, Pulmonology, and Surgery.

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Tofacitinib may be an effective treatment for nail psoriasis - 2 Minute Medicine

China rakes in prizes at World Travel Awards – Independent Online

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The 24th installment of the World Travel Awards Asia and Australasia took place in Shanghai, China this year. The official gala ceremony was held in Chinas economic capital, at the Grand Kempinski Hotel last weekend.

The gala ceremony also showcased some of Chinas finest traditions, including Kirin - a celebration, through song, of the mythical animals of Kylin who promote peace and prosperity.

Prior to the ceremony, media and guests were treated to a tour of the citys famous attractions, which included Yu Garden, the Old City Town, Jade Buddha Temple and Tian Zi Fang area.

The 24th installment of the World Travel Awards Asia and Australasia took place in Shanghai.

Here are some of the winners:

Australia

* Australias Leading Boutique Hotel 2017: Emporium Hotel

* Australias Leading Business Hotel 2017: Grand Hyatt Melbourne

* Australias Leading Car Rental Company 2017: Sixt

* Australias Leading Hotel 2017: InterContinental Sydney

* Australias Leading Hotel Residences 2017: Hilton Surfers Paradise Residences

* Australias Leading Hotel Suite 2017: Presidential Suite @ Surfers Paradise Marriott Resort & Spa

* Australias Leading Lodge 2017: Sal Salis Ningaloo Reef

* Australias Leading Resort 2017: One& Only Hayman Island, Great Barrier Reef

* Australias Leading Travel Agency 2017: Flight Centre

New Zealand

* New Zealands Leading Boutique Hotel 2017: The George Christchurch

* New Zealands Leading Business Hotel 2017: Crowne Plaza Auckland

* New Zealands Leading Car Rental Company 2017: Sixt

* New Zealands Leading Hotel 2017: Hilton Queenstown Resort & Spa

* New Zealands Leading Hotel Residences 2017: Residences at Pullman Auckland

* New Zealands Leading Hotel Suite 2017: Penthouse @ Hotel Montreal

* New Zealands Leading Resort 2017: Eagles Nest

China

* Chinas Leading Airport Hotel 2017: Hilton Beijing Capital Airport

* Chinas Leading Beach Resort 2017: InterContinental Sanya Haitang Bay Resort

* Chinas Leading Boutique Hotel 2017: Cachet Boutique Shanghai

* Chinas Leading Business Hotel 2017: Grand Kempinski Hotel Shanghai

* Chinas Leading Car Rental Company 2017: Europcar

* Chinas Leading City Hotel 2017:The Peninsula Shanghai

* Chinas Leading Conference Hotel 2017:JW Marriott Hotel Shanghai at Tomorrow Square, China

* Chinas Leading Design Hotel 2017: Hotel clat Beijing

* Chinas Leading Destination Management Company 2017: China International Travel Service

* Chinas Leading Family Resort 2017: MGM Grand Sanya

* Chinas Leading Hotel 2017: Four Seasons Hotel Shanghai

* Chinas Leading Hotel Brand 2017: Marriott Hotels

* Chinas Leading Hotel Residences 2017:THE ONE Executive Suites Shanghai

* Chinas Leading Hotel Suite 2017: Presidential Suite @ Four Seasons Hotel Shanghai

* Chinas Leading Lifestyle Hotel Brand 2017: HNA Hospitality Group

* Chinas Leading Low-Cost Airline 2017:West Air

* Chinas Leading New Hotel 2017:Shanghai Disneyland Hotel, China

* Chinas Leading Online Travel Agency 2017: Tuniu

* Chinas Leading Private Jet Charter 2017 : Deer Jet

* Chinas Leading Resort 2017: InterContinental Sanya Haitang Bay Resort

* Chinas Leading Serviced Apartment Brand 2017: Frasers Hospitality

* Chinas Leading Serviced Apartments 2017: Ascott Raffles City Chengdu

* Chinas Leading Travel Agency 2017: Tuniu

* Chinas Leading Travel Management Company 2017:HNA Tourism Group

* Chinas Leading Villa Resort 2017:Pullman Sanya Yalong Bay Villas and Resort

* Chinas Leading Wedding Venue 2017:Renaissance Sanya Resort & Spa

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China rakes in prizes at World Travel Awards - Independent Online

Trump travel ban suffers new court defeat – BBC News

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BBC News
Trump travel ban suffers new court defeat
BBC News
A US appeals court has upheld a decision blocking President Donald Trump's revised "travel ban" on people from six mainly Muslim nations. Ruling on a case brought by the state of Hawaii, the appeal judges found that the executive order violated ...
Federal appeals court upholds freeze on Trump's travel banWashington Post
9th Circuit refuses to reinstate Trump's travel banThe Daily World
US appeals court upholds block on Trump travel banTRT World
Daily Astorian -Geo News, Pakistan -U.S. News & World Report
all 421 news articles »

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Trump travel ban suffers new court defeat - BBC News