Monthly Archives: August 2017

Last weekend’s violent protests prompt First Amendment conversation – WBKO

Posted on by

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (WBKO) -- Free speech always poses many questions.

Last weekend's violent protests have prompted an important conversation on free speech and peaceful assembly. Several history professors and the community are weighing in on the First Amendment.

"Congress shall make no law...abridging freedom of speech," says the United States Constitution.

"There are several limitations on free speech," explains Dr. Patti Minter, History professor at Western Kentucky University.

Freedom of speech is not protected under certain circumstances.

"You can't shout fire in a theater. And so that kind of idea and incitement to violence is not protected," says Tony Harkins, Associate history professor at Western Kentucky University.

The United States Courts state that right does not include, "the right to incite actions that would harm others."

The First Amendment also reads, "(Congress shall make no law abridging)...the right of the people peaceably to assemble."

"A group of neo-nazis and white supremacists can get a permit to march... to march peacefully," explains Dr. Minter.

Peacefully being the keyword here. However, footage from last weekend in Charlottesville indicates the peace was lost.

"A group came to terrorize, got a permit claiming that they were going to have a peaceful assembly, and they did not," says Dr. Minter.

Some may think that the First Amendment is protected on social media platforms.

"Well social media is very much a double edge sword," says Harkins.

The truth is our rights are not applicable here. Private organizations like Twitter or Facebook have the right to ban anyone or any group from their platforms based on their discretion

"Social media accelerates the view with which those views get shared," says Harkins.

Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, recently made a statement behind the company's decision to remove certain groups and comments, stating, "There is no place for hate in our community. That's why we've always taken down any post that promotes or celebrates hate crimes or acts of terrorism."

At the end of the day, the Bowling Green community says we need a little more of love and respect.

"The need for civility, for conversation, for understanding," says Harkins.

"While also being respectful," says Western freshman, Ania Lander.

The professors intend to use the current events in Charlottesville as a teaching lesson on the first amendment and also as it relates to history.

Read more from the original source:

Last weekend's violent protests prompt First Amendment conversation - WBKO

Tor Project ‘disgusted’ by Daily Stormer, defends software ethos – CNET

Posted on by

The Tor Project says it can't build open source tools for circumventing censorship if it also controls who uses those tools.

A day after The Daily Stormer retreated to the darknet, the organization that helped make that move possible is condemning the neo-Nazi site while grudgingly acknowledging its technology allows the site to continue to spew messages of hate.

A version of the site, dubbed the "top hate site in America," appeared Wednesday on a part of the web that can only be accessed through the Tor Project's browser, which hides users' online identities. The Daily Stormer moved to a Tor onion service after GoDaddy and then Googlepulled its domain following an offensive story it published about Heather Heyer, who was killed on Saturday while counter-protesting against white supremacist protesters in Charlottesville, Virginia.

"We are disgusted, angered, and appalled by everything these racists stand for and do," Tor member Steph wrote in a blog post Thursday. "Ironically, the Tor software has been designed and written by a diverse team including people of many religions, races, gender identities, sexual orientations, and points on the (legitimate, non-Nazi) political spectrum.

"We are everything they claim to despise," Steph wrote. "And we work every day to defend the human rights they oppose."

With the move, the Tor Project joins a slew of companies and organizations seeking to distance themselves from white supremacist activity on the web. Apple and PayPal have disabled support of their services at websites that sell merchandise glorifying white nationalists and support hate groups, while Reddit and Facebook have each banned entire hate groups.

Click to see our in-depth coverage of online hatred.

On Wednesday, internet security provider Cloudflare dropped its support for the website, essentially allowing it to be taken down with a denial-of-service attack. Twitter also joined the campaign by suspending the accounts linked to the the website.

Steph pointed out the Tor browser is designed to defeat censorship, and the organization can't and shouldn't decide who benefits from that freedom.

"We can't build free and open source tools that protect journalists, human rights activists, and ordinary people around the world if we also control who uses those tools," Steph wrote. "Tor is designed to defend human rights and privacy by preventing anyone from censoring things, even us."

Solving for XX: The industry seeks to overcome outdated ideas about "women in tech."

Special Reports: All of CNET's most in-depth features in one easy spot.

Originally posted here:

Tor Project 'disgusted' by Daily Stormer, defends software ethos - CNET

Tech Companies Decide White Supremacists Should Wear HoodsWhich Could Make Them Harder to Track – The Root

Posted on by

Charlottesville, Va., will be etched into American history, but not, perhaps, only as the day a new generation of Ku Klux Klan members went maskless and white America finally called a white terrorist what he is. Textbooks might not only record it as when right-wing hatred roiled up from a maelstrom of racial tension to drown a womans life over a monument to a racist general who defended slavery. The last week might not simply be remembered as when Donald Trump, with childish petulance, was quicker to insult a black businessman who disavowed the president over his weak response to Charlottesville than he was to distance himself from Nazisma breed of hatred America once went to war against.

Rather, Charlottesville might need to be footnoted as when hate groups became harder to track when hackers fought back against white supremacists newfound anonymity for shits and giggles, and freedom of speech as it applies to the internet was forever changed in America.

After white supremacist hub the Daily Stormer released an article denigrating Heather Heyer, the victim of the hit-and-run terrorist attack, its host, GoDaddy, decided that Stormer had violated its terms of service. Stormer tried to move its domain to Google, but the towering tech company immediately Dikembe Mutombo-ed that shit. Afterward, Zoho, the Stormers email service provider, dropped them like they were hot. Not long afterward, Vanguard America, another popular white supremacist site, went dark, too.

Inside 24 hours, three tech companies did more to silence racism than Trump. It was swift, sweet catharsis. But as with many comfort foods, the health effects might turn out to be bitterfor two reasons: free speech and anonymity.

These Nazis are gonna learn that theyre being shut off from decent society, and they will have a

People often decry tech companies censorship as a violation of the First Amendment. (See: white man who just found out he isnt entitled to express vehement bile anywhere he chooses.) It isnt. The First protects you from threats and government deprivation of your freedom of speech.

Recently, the Supreme Court struck down a law that once prevented convicted sex offenders from using social mediabecause such forums are often frequented by minorsrecognizing social media as a modern public square. Consequently, blocking people from using it would be a violation of free speech.

Several Twitter users have sued Trump for blocking them on Twitter, because, after all, why should they be deprived of the opportunity to bask in the resplendent glow of Sir Cheetos Puffs wisdom?

This concept of simultaneously treating or increasingly recognizing the internet as a public sphere and protecting companies right to censor have come into conflict. Its plausible that the next decade could see a Supreme Court case calling to better codify the limitations of tech companies right to censor hate speech. As the most impactful case of tech-company censorship to date, Charlottesville and the ensuing shutdown of the Daily Stormer could have set a precedent to be cited either in favor of censoring hate speech or against it.

And there is a case to be made against censoring hate speech, as repulsive as it is. For one, the expectation that tech companies should police inflammatory comments could lead to them censoring, say, #BlackLivesMatter. Moreover, while silencing racists and pushing them ever further to the fringes of society is cathartic, it may be more important now more than ever to remember why civil rights leaders like Martin Luther King Jr. and Mahatma Gandhi, who stand tallest as historys beacons of hope, are those who chose the high roadwho chose to be empathetic, acknowledge their persecutors humanity and appeal to what moral values they did have.

Its increasingly easy for someone to tumble into echo chambers of confirmation bias, where they never intellectually interact with people with different viewsonly abstractify and insult them. Its easier to be pushed toward extremism. The Obama administration realized this and allocated a $10 million fund to counter recruitment for neo-Nazi and white supremacist organizations. Then Trumps administration slashed that funding.

Now white supremacists are being pushed to the fringes of society, and not necessarily in a productive way. In less than 24 hours after Stormer was shut down, a social media campaign began disseminating the URL to a new version of the site on the Tor Browser, the darknet.

This isnt the first time racists have huddled together in the darknet. However, the Stormer was the white supremacist hub, with 2.87 million visits a month. Thats depressingly popular, but this centrality made sites like the Stormer and Vanguard a treasure trove of data for organizations such as the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate groups. Regular websites also require IP addresses to be archived. This is useful to law-enforcement agencies when they need to track down suspects.

The Tor Browser doesnt render all users perfectly anonymous, but its considerably harder for law-enforcement agencies and hate-group researchers alike to mine info that could allow them to track white supremacists. Initial research by Motherboard cybersecurity reporter Joseph Cox has even noted that there doesnt seem to be any issues with the site that might allow users to be easily de-anonymized.

Since then, a hacker took credit for launching a distributed denial of service attack, a type of cyberattack wherein networks of internet-accessible devices are harnessed to overwhelm a system with traffic, in order to shut down the new site. The attacker or attackers claimed that they dont really care about either side. They did it because they could.

Nevertheless, if the site goes back up, white supremacists will flock together again. And in the process of deciding that white supremacists should once again wear hoods, tech companies might have just made sure theyll do so in greater anonymity.

Read more:

Tech Companies Decide White Supremacists Should Wear HoodsWhich Could Make Them Harder to Track - The Root

Nasty Locky ransomware is back, and now it’s worse than ever – Komando

Posted on by

Ransomware has been the largest cybersecurity threat in the world for over a year now. Over that time we've seen a number of massive attacks. The WannaCry variant that occurred earlier this year in May was extremely nasty, locking up hundreds of thousands of computers in over 150 countries.

One of the first known ransomware attacks to hit the scene was dubbed Locky, but it hasn't been prevalent in a while. Until now. A new Locky ransomware variant is spreading and you need to know what to watch for.

Researchers at Comodo Threat Intelligence Lab recently discovered a new Locky variant dubbed IKARUSdilapidated. It is being distributed through phishing emails that contain little to no content. The email does, however, have a malicious file attached to it.

The attachment is either a Word document, PDF, archive zip file, or image file. If the recipient executes the attachment, it infects their gadget with IKARUSdilapidated ransomware.

A Comodo spokesperson said, "When the user opens the attached document, it appears to be full of garbage, and it includes the phrase 'Enable macro if data encoding is incorrect' - a social engineering technique used in this type of phishing attack. If the user does as instructed, the macros then save and run a binary file that downloads the actual encryption Trojan."

Here is an example of what the email looks like:

Once the victim's gadget is infected with the ransomware, a message appears instructing them to download the Tor browser. Then, a ransom of up to $1,200 is demanded that the victim is told to pay using bitcoin.

So far, there have been tens of thousands of these phishing emails delivered. The cybercriminals are using botnets to send the malicious emails.

(Note:A botnet is a group of gadgetsthat hackers have taken over without the owner's knowledge. The hackers seize control of unwitting gadgetswith a virus, and then use the network of infected computersto perform large-scale hacks or scams.)

As you can see, this is a very elaborate scam. Phishing emails, botnets, and ransomware are all used in this attack to scam people out of money. That's why you really need to know how to avoid falling victim to this attack.

The best way to defeat a ransomware attack is to takeprecautionary steps. Here are suggestions that will help:

Backing up your critical data is an important safety precaution in the fight against ransomware. It's the best way to recover your files without paying a ransom.

We recommend using our sponsorIDrive. You can backup all your PCs, Macs and mobile devices into ONE account for one low cost! Be sureand use promo codeKimto receive an exclusive offer.

Click here to receive a special discount from IDrive using promo code Kim.

How to spot disguised malicious files before they infect your computer

5 good habits that immensely improve your online security

Scammers targeting job hunters with new phishing attack

Please share this information with everyone. Just click on any of these social media buttons.

Previous Happening Now

Random Happening Now

Read the original here:

Nasty Locky ransomware is back, and now it's worse than ever - Komando

US e-sports platform to launch $100 million cryptocurrency sale in September – Reuters

Posted on by

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Unikrn, a U.S. sports betting digital platform backed by some of the biggest names in media, entertainment and sports, will launch the sale of $100 million in cryptocurrency next month, the company's co-founder and chief executive officer, Rahul Sood, told Reuters in an interview earlier this week.

The sale is part of a trend in which creators of digital currencies in the blockchain space sell tokens to the public to fund their projects. Some start-ups call this mode of financing an initial coin offering (ICO); others refer to it as a "token sale."

Cryptocurrency is a digital currency in which encryption techniques help keep transactions secure. Blockchain is a digital ledger of transactions underpinning the original online currency bitcoin.

Sood explained that Unikrn embraced cryptocurrency as a way to bypass banking institutions.

"The problem when you're dealing with banks is that none of these guys are easy to work with," Sood said. "You're dealing with 20 different currencies, you're dealing across borders. There's no other reason to go this route other than to circumvent banking."

The new coin will be called UnikoinGold, which will be a cryptocurrency version of the company's existing coin UniKoin. The current UniKoin, which allows users to bet on e-sports in regulated markets and win prizes in markets where Unikrn is not licensed to operate, will be phased out once UniKoingold is launched.

Unikrn is capping its token sale at $100 million because "if we don't, it's going to go crazy," Sood said.

Sood said there will be a pre-sale of the token in the next few weeks and a crowdsale in September. There will be no discount for early investors or company founders and employees.

Sood founded Voodoo, which manufactures high-end computers for video games, when he was in high school. He eventually sold his company to Hewlett Packard after 16 years and eventually joined Microsoft and ran the company's venture fund for start-ups.

Seattle-based Unikrn, which was launched nearly three years ago, is backed by well-known investors including Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks professional basketball team; U.S. actor Ashton Kutcher's venture firm Sound Ventures; Elisabeth Murdoch's venture fund Freeland Ventures, as well as Shari Redstone's Advancit Capital. TabCorp, the largest betting company in Australia is also an investor.

The company raised $10 million from early investors, Sood said.

Elisabeth Murdoch is the daughter of media mogul Rupert Murdoch, while Shari Redstone is the daughter of Sumner Redstone whose family is a majority owner of several media groups including CBS Corp., Viacom, and MTV Networks.

Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss; Editing by Bernadette Baum

Read the rest here:

US e-sports platform to launch $100 million cryptocurrency sale in September - Reuters

Looking for bubbles? Here are two below-the-radar trouble spots – CNBC

Posted on by

Federal Reserve officials lately have been pondering the question of whether risk-taking is getting out of hand. The S&P 500 is up 10.2 percent year to date and about 270 percent since the March 2009 low in the second-longest bull market on record.

Policymakers at their July meeting discussed the surge in stock prices but concluded that the rise in equity values has a fundamental backing, according to an account of the session the central bank released Wednesday.

Not mentioned in the meeting minutes, however, was the stratospheric climb of cryptocurrencies bitcoin and ethereum this year. Yardeni believes both are alarming, considering how much speculative money is going into the space.

He focused primarily on initial coin offerings, which give investors the ability to bet on the direction of freshly minted digital cash.

"They are betting that the coins will rise in value because they are issued in limited supplies, which seems to be their only selling point. This is an odd bet on demand getting stimulated by a shortage of this funny money," Yardeni wrote.

Further, he worries that fraud a familiar theme in the cryptocurrency world could wipe out the billions that investors are pouring into ICOs.

The Securities and Exchange Commission recently issued a warning that if investors are swindled by less reputable crypto operators, the ability to recoup their losses likely will be limited.

"If fraud or theft results in you or the organization that issued the virtual tokens or coins losing virtual tokens, virtual currency, or fiat currency, you may have limited recovery options," the commission said. "Third-party wallet services, payment processors, and virtual currency exchanges that play important roles in the use of virtual currencies may be located overseas or be operating unlawfully."

ICOs are estimated to have raised $1.3 billion this year [according to a recent Wall Street Journal report] and that doesn't include 48 more that are expected to come to market before Nov. 1.

The push for coin offerings come as bitcoin's price has risen more than 360 percent and ethereum has jumped more than 3,000 percent.

Should the demand go south, that could lead a lot of digital currency believers with money that vanishes into the ether.

"At some point, if the number of ICOs falls, a major source of demand for these cryptocurrencies will be declining. ICOs could stall if too many dollars are required to buy an ether or if too many of these business-plan companies fail to germinate,"" Yardeni said. "This complicated area with its own language seems to be filled with exuberance, and that rarely ends well."

WATCH: Dennis Gartman warns investors to stay away from digital currencies.

Read the original:

Looking for bubbles? Here are two below-the-radar trouble spots - CNBC

Could Cryptocurrencies Replace Cash? – Investopedia

Posted on by

Investopedia
Could Cryptocurrencies Replace Cash?
Investopedia
At the beginning of the cryptocurrency boom, Bitcoin seemed to be the unquestioned leader. Up until early this year, Bitcoin accounted for the vast majority of the industry's market capitalization; then, in a span of just weeks, Ethereum, Ripple, and ...
Zen Protocol is the next step for cryptocurrency smart-contractsTNW
US Law Labels Cryptocurrency Illicit Finance TrendThe Merkle
Is the Neo Cryptocurrency The Ethereum of China?The Market Mogul
TheStreet.com -Bitcoin News (press release)
all 109 news articles »

Go here to read the rest:

Could Cryptocurrencies Replace Cash? - Investopedia

Bitcoin latest news: Australia crackdown on cryptocurrency funding terrorism – Express.co.uk

Posted on by

GETTY

The Australian government said the threat of financial crime is constantly evolving as it introduced new measures targeting criminal use of the cryptocurrency and strengthened the Anti-Money Laundering And Counter Terrorism Financing Act.

Under the reforms, currency exchange providers of digital money, such as the bitcoin and ethereum, will be brought under the remit of the Australian Transactions and Reporting Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC).

The investigative and enforcement powers of the financial intelligence agency will also be strengthened as part of the changes.

Australia's Minister for Justice Michael Keenan said: "Stopping the movement of money to criminals and terrorists is a vital part of our national security defences and we expect regulated businesses in Australia to comply with our comprehensive regime.

"The threat of serious financial crime is constantly evolving, as new technologies emerge and criminals seek to nefariously exploit them.

"These measures ensure there is nowhere for criminals to hide."

Getty Images

1 of 9

A stock market crash is a sudden dramatic decline of stock prices

China has already made similar moves and promised to shut exchanges that were found to violate anti money-laundering regulations.

It is seen as a positive move for the cryptocurrencies as it helps brings them into the mainstream.

New rules in Japan mean bitcoin is now considered a legal currency.

Aurlien Menant, founder and CEO of Gatecoin, told CNBC: "It signifies the growing recognition of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as influential value transfer protocols by governments.

"Compliance with AUSTRAC policies will weed out the crooks and ensure that only serious bitcoin businesses are able to serve the market."

It comes after bitcoin's value smashed through the $4,000 mark this week to hit a fresh record high.

The Australian Digital Currency & Commerce Association said the government reforms will help provide regulatory certainty to digital currency businesses.

However, members of the crytocurrency community who want to remain anonymous are likely to be against the move to further regulate the sector.

View original post here:

Bitcoin latest news: Australia crackdown on cryptocurrency funding terrorism - Express.co.uk

Binance Remarks Cryptocurrency Industry to Build the New Echo – newsBTC

Posted on by

Binances co-founder, Yi He, gave The Age of Blockchain Exchange 2.0 presentation at The 4th Global Blockchain Summit 2017 on August 16th, 2017. In her presentation, Yi He shared the status quo of Binance and talked about significant strategies of Binance. The following is Yi Hes words in her presentation.

Blockchain assets enter to 2.0 age, and Binance aim to be the NYSE in cryptocurrency industry

People are familiar with the traditional exchange, and we can separate the exchange into two phases, exchange 1.0 and exchange 2.0.

In exchange 1.0, you exchange your fiat money to BTC or any other crypto currency. This is just like the currency conversion business. This is very similar to exchanging l RMB to the USD.

Let me explain this with the help of an example, you normally deposit US dollar to your account; at Binance, you deposit Bitcoin to your Binance account, and then you can trade coins just like trading stocks on the stock exchange. You can see that we are now entering a Bitcoin NYSE or NASDAQ age, and Binance is following the footstep of NYSE and revolutionizing the blockchain asset industry. These coins that you buy from Binance is comparable to shares you buy on the stock exchange.

As the fastest growing cryptocurrency exchange, Binance provides the platform to the high-quality ICO projects at the same time. The third thing to do is the blockchain media and finally the blockchain fund.

Binance will release its ICO platform soon.

The first project is TRON.

The second one is Liuliang ore, created by QvodPlayer team.

The third one is created by Yan Mu, founder of baihe.com.

All the projects have a pretty solid team and valuable products.

Binance will launch a video media for blockchain BABI Finance, and launch a 100 blockchain celebrities project as well. If you know some elites in this industry, kindly recommend them to us. Our mission is to spread the awareness about blockchain, ICO, and cryptocurrency. If everyone knows about these terminologies, people will not think we are the Ponzi Scheme or another bubble in the economy.

In order to promote this industry, Binance decides to set up the blockchain fund. The fund will choose good projects on our ICO platform and put their coins on Binance exchange. Our media will promote these high-quality projects to the market and build our own eco system. In this eco system, all the payment will be paid by BnB, include fund, primary market, secondary market and the media.

We will be a huge player in the industry only if more people know about us. The blockchain is just a newborn baby, and we will try our best to rebuild and grow.

See the rest here:

Binance Remarks Cryptocurrency Industry to Build the New Echo - newsBTC

Bitcoin bond launch brings digital currency step closer to ‘world of high finance’ – CNBC

Posted on by

Bitcoin is getting closer to looking like a traditional financial product.

Japanese financial information firm Fisco announced Monday it is experimenting with the country's first bitcoin-backed bond. The news follows other announcements in the last several weeks for bitcoin options, futures and an exchange-traded fund tracking bitcoin derivatives in the U.S.

"I think it's a very healthy and natural progression of the space," said Adam White, Coinbase vice president and general manager of its GDAX exchange, told CNBC in a phone interview.

Derivatives products will allow for greater liquidity, better price discovery and lower volatility, White said. "I think products like derivatives or an ETF effectively allow traders to do two things: speculate and hedge risk on the price speculation."

Bitcoin price 12-month performance

Source: CoinDesk

Bitcoin has more than quadrupled in price this year, hitting a record above $4,500 Thursday and notching a market value of $74 billion amid growing institutional investor interest in the digital currency. Many governments and financial institutions see enormous potential for improving transaction security and efficiency using the blockchain technology that supports bitcoin.

But the surge in investor demand has also revealed access issues with third-party storage systems and trading platforms that fall short of the more established Wall Street markets.

Bitcoin's price is also prone to massive swings of several hundred dollars within a day. With bitcoin futures in the works, investors will be able to protect themselves from potential sharp drops in prices through hedging.

The ability to hedge bitcoin investments paves the way for other products, such as bonds.

Fisco's three-year bitcoin bond was issued by its digital currency exchange unit for an internal trial on Aug. 10, according to a Google translate of the press release.

The bond has a three percent annual interest rate and returns bitcoins when it matures, the release said. The total worth of the bond was 200 bitcoin, or $900,000 at Thursday's prices.

The bitcoin bond "brings digital currencies into the world of high finance," said Dan Doney, chief executive officer of Securrency, which plans to launch a platform at the end of the year to allow investors to buy stocks using bitcoin. Doney was chief innovation officer at the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency before co-founding Securrency in 2015.

The biggest challenge is "it is very difficult to predict the price of bitcoin tomorrow, let alone a year from now," Doney said.

A bitcoin-backed bond would allow large institutions to store value using the digital currency and potentially be more open to accepting bitcoin as payment, analysts said.

"It is interesting financial firms are trying to get their arms around the currency and what it can be," said Brian Patrick Eha, author of "How Money got Free: Bitcoin and the Fight for the Future of Finance."

In early August, the Chicago Board Options Exchange said it planned to launch bitcoin futures as soon as the fourth quarter of this year. That paved the way for VanEck, which sells gold ETFs and other investment products, to file last Friday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for a "VanEck Vectors Bitcoin Strategy ETF" that proposes to initially invest in bitcoin futures.

The U.S. Commodity and Futures Commission in late July also approved a digital currency trading platform called LedgerX to clear derivatives.

Historically cryptocurrencies "were very much a domain for crypto anarchists and tech-savvy people, and that has changed in the last couple years," said Niklas Nikolajsen, CEO of Swiss-based digital currency broker Bitcoin Suisse. "This means a whole new ballgame of people are going to get access to the market."

See more here:

Bitcoin bond launch brings digital currency step closer to 'world of high finance' - CNBC

Another major country joins China and Japan in cracking down on bitcoin exchanges – CNBC

Posted on by

Following moves by China and Japan to regulate digital currencies, Australia is attempting to crackdown on money laundering and terrorism financing with plans to regulate bitcoin exchanges.

"The threat of serious financial crime is constantly evolving, as new technologies emerge and criminals seek to nefariously exploit them. These measures ensure there is nowhere for criminals to hide," said Australia's Minister for Justice Michael Keenan in a press release.

The Australian government proposed a set of reforms on Thursday which will close a gap in regulation and bring digital currency exchange providers under the remit of the Australian Transactions and Reporting Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC).

These exchanges serve as marketplaces where traders can buy and sell digital currencies, such as bitcoin, using fiat currencies, such as the dollar.

Bitcoin has grown massively this year. The market cap has increased to $73.93 billion and the price recently hit fresh record highs. It currently trades at $4,476 and the price has risen 348 percent year to date.

The reform bill is intended to strengthen the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act and increase the powers of AUSTRAC.

Link:

Another major country joins China and Japan in cracking down on bitcoin exchanges - CNBC

Bitcoin Surged to a New High Adding $17 Billion in Just Over a Week – Fortune

Posted on by

Defying naysayers, Bitcoin's price surged above $4,500 for the first time early Thursday to reach a market value of $73.6 billion.

While the cryptocurrency has since pared some of its gains, falling to $4,453 by midday Thursday, it's risen by about $1,000 in the past nine days. The currency's total market value jumped $17 billion in the same period, thanks in part to the optimism traders have around plans to help Bitcoin eventually go mainstream . This includes speedier transactions, starting with its software updatedubbed Segwit2xearlier this month.

We can also speculate that it is related to the increased interest from Korean and Japanese exchanges where volumes are also increasing, William Mougayar, the founder of Startup Management, told Fortune . Another part of it is driven by the psychology of markets, as $USD 5,000 seems to be within reach, now that the $4,000 level has been easily broken.

That said, Bitcoin's sudden rise is cause for concern for some.

Goldman Sachs analyst Sheba Jafari wrote in a Sunday note that she expected Bitcoin to potentially hit and peak at $4,827.

"The market should in theory enter a corrective phase. This can last at least one third of the time it took to complete the preceding advance and retrace at least 38.2% of the entire move," she wrote. "From current levels, that would measure out to around $2,221."

Meanwhile, plans to scale up Bitcoin haven't exactly gone smoothly. Miners still appear split about how to implement SegWit2x. The first part of that plan was activated earlier this month, but the second part, an upgrade to Bitcoin's software by increasing block size to two megabytes in November, has been a point of contention. That upgrade, which was made official this week, will result in a " hard fork ."

Miners already dissatisfied with Segwit2x decided not to make that upgrade earlier this year, forming a new cryptocurrency offshoot dubbed Bitcoin Cash . If more miners shun the November upgrade, it would in theory result in yet another Bitcoin currency.

Bitcoin Cash is trading at about $373.80, 47% off its all-time high earlier this month. Ethereum, on the other hand, is trading at about $289, 26% off its all-time high earlier this year.

Link:

Bitcoin Surged to a New High Adding $17 Billion in Just Over a Week - Fortune

Bitcoin Cash Breaks Price Doldrums to Push Past $400 – CoinDesk

Posted on by

Bitcoin Cash's price rose above the $400 mark today, breaking the rangebound market trend of thepast several days.

The cryptocurrency climbed as high as $406 today, according to data fromCoinMarketCap. The move followed days of steadymarketfluctuations, with the price of Bitcoin Cash trading no more than a few dollars above or below the $300 level.

The largest Bitcoin Cash market by-volume is Bithumb, which accounts for roughly 30 percent of the global trade through its Korean won-Bitcoin Cash trading pair, CoinMarketCap figures show. The exchange reports more than $145 million in volume over the past 24 hours.

At press time, Bitcoin Cash is trading at about $391 onBithumb.

As previously reported by CoinDesk, Bitcoin Cash split off from the main bitcoin blockchain earlier this month when a group of miners and developers moved to adopt software, with new network rules, that was incompatible with the rest of the network. The result: bitcoin "forked" into two distinctblockchains with their own freely-traded digital assets.

Today's upward price action comes just hours after bitcoin reached a new all-time high above$4,500.

Rollercoaster image via Shutterstock

The leader in blockchain news, CoinDesk is an independent media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. Have breaking news or a story tip to send to our journalists? Contact us at [emailprotected].

Originally posted here:

Bitcoin Cash Breaks Price Doldrums to Push Past $400 - CoinDesk

Comets earn second finish as runner-up – YourGV.com

Posted on by

There have been two rounds of play in Piedmont District golf and Halifax County High School has finished as the runner-up in both rounds.

The Comets finished in a tie for second place with Patrick County High School in Tuesdays district round at Forest Park Country Club in Martinsville, trailing winner Franklin County High School by 17 shots in a contest that was reduced to a nine-hole contest due to weather.

It was the second straight win for Franklin County High School in Piedmont District competition.

Kassidy Irby and Khalil Richardson led the Comets, with both golfers carding a round of 40. Lance Chappell was next in line for the Comets with a round of 41 and Willoughby Gasperinis round of 44 was the final score to be counted toward the Comets team total.

Will Abdi and Henry Morrison also competed for the Comets in Tuesdays contest, with both carding a round of 46. The four best scores from among six players are counted toward the team total.

It was a very good effort by all of our players on a not so good weather day, said Comets Head Coach David Graham.

The team played consistent and steady. We were led by the steady play of Kassidy Irby, and a good round by Khalil Richardson. Lance Chappell was in good form with a round of 41, followed by Willoughby Gasperini with a 44. Except for a few by holes by each player, we are making improvements.

Graham said players are continuing to work on shoring up various aspects of their game.

The players are working hard on some things in practice, Graham pointed out, and I can see some improvement on the course. We will continue to improve as the season goes on. We will be playing a district match at home next week (at Greens Folly Golf Course), and the team is looking forward to playing here.

Franklin County 148, Halifax County 165, Patrick County 165, Tunstall High School 170, Magna Vista High School 180, Bassett High School 197.

Visit link:

Comets earn second finish as runner-up - YourGV.com

FOOTBALL: Caston Comets preview – pharostribune.com

Posted on by

State Trooper Tony Slocum is looking forward to his first season as the Caston head football coach.

Hes got a small but mighty group to work with in Year 1.

A small group of kids, smaller than what were used to, about 18 kids as of right now and hopefully well pick up some when school starts which we usually pick up one or two. But well play a game before then so were going to go with what we got, Slocum said. Nobodys going to feel sorry for us so were going to practice as hard as we can in preparation to win football games. When the parents and community members pay their $6 to watch the Comets theyre going to see a hard-nosed football team that at least plays hard. We hope that translates into wins. Were preparing to win games, thats why we play them.

With a lack of numbers, the Comet players will have to be prepared to play both ways. Slocum noted that is usually the case every year, although this is a smaller group than usual.

But he said the players who are on the team can play.

This is a good group of kids. Theyve been together for obviously four years but most of them have played together since third or fourth grade. So they know each other, theyre a tight group, and when you have a small group youve got to have the right kids in the right positions. You have to have linemen, you have to have running backs and receivers and we have enough at the various positions to compete with anybody in our conference, Slocum said.

I equate us to being a MAC school, like a MAC school playing a Big Ten school, our top 11 is as good as anybody and as long as we avoid the injury bug, well compete very well, and thats our goal.

Slocum, who is running a double wing offense and is calling the plays, is moving his returning talent around. Hes moved senior Tayt Cowell (5-11, 177) to quarterback.

He was just voted as one of the captains of the team, Slocum said. This is his first year as a starting quarterback, he has played the backup role before. Hes one of those versatile kids who can play anywhere on the football field.

Senior Kasey Ault (5-11, 182), last years leading rusher and tackler, is moving from fullback to wingback this season.

Senior Brady Hartman (5-11, 186) is moving from quarterback to fullback. The other wingbacks are senior Colton Welker (6-0, 188) and junior Blake Albright (5-10, 171).

Brady Hartman, who was our starting quarterback the last couple years, a big kid who runs very hard, hes going to start at the fullback position, Slocum said. Colton Welker, whos a senior, pretty fast kid coming back from a couple knee injuries, two years in a row hes pulled on an ACL on the different knees, but hes been working hard and hes looking good and hes got some of his speed back so were counting on him to help spread that load out this year with Kasey Ault. Then we have another wing, Blake Albright, and those three hopefully we can share the load with four different backs and not have to rely so heavily on Kasey Ault as we did last year. But obviously when you have a dynamic player such as Kasey, you still want to get the ball in his hands as much as you can.

When the Comets do spread out and utilize wide receivers, it will be the halfbacks who split out.

The starting tight ends are sophomore Gavin Hickle (5-11, 183) and junior Chris Smith (6-0, 192), a veteran starter on the offensive line who is moving to tight end for this season.

The offensive line consists of senior Payton Hedrick (6-2, 309), who is moving from tackle to center, seniors Brandon Kinser (6-0, 194) and Dillion Tabler (6-0, 204) at guards and senior Seth Johnson (6-2, 253) and sophomore Hunter Schanlaub (6-4, 220) at tackle.

Hedrick and Tabler are veteran starters.

Seth Johnson missed out on football the last couple years but hes come back. Hes a pretty big kid and hes doing well for us, Slocum said. Brandon Kinser had an accident last summer, didnt get to play football, were obviously very happy to have him back.

Hunter Schanlaub, hes a versatile kid, a tight end in past, hes doing a good job also.

The Comets are going to a 4-2-5 look on defense.

Our base defense is going to be a 4-2-5 to utilize the limited linemen we have and use the speed that we do have in the backfield with those backs, Slocum said.

Hedrick and Johnson will start at defensive tackle and Smith and Schanlaub will start at defensive end. Ault and Kinser are the inside linebackers and Hickle and Hartman are the outside linebackers. Welker will start at safety with Cowell and Albright as the cornerbacks.

The Comets are coming off a 2-8 season where their two wins were against Triton and West Central. Theyre hosting West Central to open the season on Friday night. West Central left the Hoosier North Athletic Conference for the newly reformed Midwest Conference starting this school year, leaving the HNAC with eight schools. The other MWC schools are Frontier, North Newton, North White and Tri-County.

Theyre probably going to be a little upset because we beat them last year but were going to try our best to be ready for them, Slocum said. I welcome them to the Comet Crater and I hope people come out to watch these new Comets and see what we can do.

Im excited about what weve got and these kids play hard. Obviously we have to do our best to put them in a position to win and try to keep them away from injury. If we do that I think well be successful this year.

CASTON FOOTBALL

COACH: Tony Slocum (0-0 in 1st season)

CONFERENCE: Hoosier North.

SECTIONAL: Class A, Sectional 41.

SECTIONAL OPPONENTS: Culver, LaVille, North Judson, South Central (Union Mills), Triton, West Central, Winamac.

COMETS SCHEDULE

All games start at 7 p.m. unless otherwise noted.

Friday West Central

Aug. 25 at North Judson, 7:30 p.m.

Sept. 1 at Triton

Sept. 8 Pioneer

Sept. 15 LaVille

Sept. 22 at North Miami

Sept. 29 Culver

Oct. 6 at Winamac

Oct. 13 Knox, 7:30 p.m.

Link:

FOOTBALL: Caston Comets preview - pharostribune.com

NORTH STANLY FOOTBALL Comets look for fifth winning season in a row – Stanly News & Press

Posted on by

The past four seasons have been ones of unparalleled success for the North Stanly football program in the schools 55 years of competition.

From 2013-16, the Comets have a 33-16 overall record, including 18-7 with former coach Ralph Jackson, and current head coach Scott Crisco finishing above the .500 mark for four years in a row, a first in the programs history.

Entering his third year, Crisco is only the fifth North coach in school history to have a coaching mark of .500 or better through the first two years of his tenure.

Through two seasons, Crisco is 15-9 overall, the first time since John Herlocker was 13-7 for the 1983 and 1984 seasons.

North graduated seven players last season, but it has close to 60 players out for football this season and returns a number of starters from last years team that finished third in the YadkinValley Conference.

Crisco said one of the positives from last years 7-5 squad was having a number of young players that started on both sides of the ball.

From the middle of the season on out, we probably had four or five sophomores starting on both sides, Crisco said.

Eight juniors started on the team as well, so the Comets enter 2017 with a great deal of experienced players.

North finished second in the county standings, which Crisco said is a point of motivation for the team due to the last-second loss in 2016 at West Stanly.

OFFENSE

One of the reasons the past four seasons have been successful for the Comets has been the teams offensive outputs.

From 2013 to last year, North has posted the four-highest point totals for a season in the teams history, including last seasons 421 points, second all-time and slightly above 2015s mark of 400, third-best.

North also has the highest active streak in the county in terms of avoiding shutouts. The Comets have not been shut out in a game since losing 41-0 to Albemarle on Oct. 25, 2013.

The Comets will be a team that still wants to run the ball well, but Crisco said much attention in the 7-on-7 scrimmages and the offseason has been to improve the teams aerial assault.

Norths focus on the passing game came in large in the Comets 51-42 playoff loss last season at Swain County. They may play more spread offense this season.

Quarterbacks

With a renewed sense of purpose of throwing the football and taking some of the pressure off the ground game comes a focus on the teams starting quarterback.

This season the job goes to Avery Merritt, a senior who threw for 317 yards last season in just nine games.

Avery is a different person, a different player than he has been the last three years, Crisco said. He has been a team leader and really embraced our offense and taken ownership of it.

Merritts backup is a question mark in the preseason, but Crisco said the job may go to Kolby Lamp.

Running Backs

The backfield loses one 1,000-yard rusher but returns another for his junior season.

Playing in his first season in 2016 without current Ohio State running back Antonio Williams, Cameron Davis benefitted from playing by Albemarle transfer Jacobi Emery, who graduated last season after rushing for 1,399 yards and a team-high 26 touchdowns.

Davis led the team in yardage (1,573 yards) and scored 24 touchdowns and is the focal point this season for the Comets running game.

This offseason, Davis has worked hard in the weight room and is one of the teams leaders in terms of strength, according to Crisco.

Davis attended several offseason camps and is being recruited to play at the next level, running the 40 in 4.62 seconds.

He has added some bulk this offseason, hits the hole well and can hide behind the linemen, Crisco said, adding he also has good hands.

The backup for Davis will likely be by juniors Colby Russell, Carter Terry and Jalen Cole.

Wide Receivers

With the focus on the passing game also comes the need for strong play at wideout.

Kolby Lamp is one of the leaders of the corps, has great hands and is not afraid to go across the middle to catch passes, Crisco said.

North also has L.J. Rush returning this season as he missed much of 2016 due to injury, and he gives the Comets pure breakaway speed, Crisco said.

Wes Reynolds will also see time at wide receiver.

At tight end, Rylei Smith will start, with Taylor Chandler seeing time on the field as well.

Offensive Line

The offense lost center Trey Pope to graduation, but it returns the left side of the line including left tackle Logan Chandler and left guard MikeRager.

Matt Harris returns for North and moves into the center position.

Three linemen are still competing for the two starting spots on the right side of the line, including Garrett Clark, Drew Aldridge and Zack Cooper.

Most of the members of the offensive front five have played together since their freshman seasons and are consistent.

DEFENSE

North allowed more points last season than in 2015, giving up 327 points in 12 games last year compared to 276 two years ago.

In 2016, North also posted two defensive shutouts, marking the fourth straight season the Comets have shut out two different opponents in the same year.

The defense will stay with the 4-3 alignment as the Comets return nine starters on defense.

Defensive Line

The front four for North may be one of the strongest units the Comets have had in a number of seasons, according to Crisco.

C.J. Clark returns for his junior season at defensive tackle, tipping the scales at 305 pounds while standing 6-foot, 5-inches tall.

Josh McCorkle also returns for the Comets in the middle of the line.

The Comets return both defensive ends from last season in Taylor Chandler and Wes Reynolds.

Linebackers

North returns two players into the middle of the teams defense.

Drew Little returns for North and will play in the middle, while Carter Terry moves up from JV and will be on the outside.

A player returning for North at linebacker after not playing last season is Elijah Clark, who moves well for his 250-pound frame.

Defensive Backfield

In contrast to last years preseason, where the Comets had questions in the defensive backfield, North is more stable this season in the unit.

L.J. Rush will start at one cornerback position while the other cornerback slot may be filled by either Cameron Davis or Jalen Cole.

A pair of players with nearly matching first names will start for North at safety. Kolby Lamp will be the free safety for North, while Colby Russell will play at strong safety.

As a unit, the backfield has more varsity playing experience this season as well as more depth.

SPECIAL TEAMS

The Comets have several solid returners on special teams.

Both the punting and place kicking game will benefit from highly touted college prospect long snapper Drew Little, who has verbally committed to N.C. State.

Daniel Brabaw took over the place kicking duties last season and was solid, converting 54-of-56 on extra points and 1-of-2 on field goals. The senior returns for North this season.

L.J. Rush, Cameron Davis and Wes Reynolds will return kicks and punts this season, giving North good speed on special teams.

One spot that is a question mark is who will be the teams regular punter. Brabaw may do some punting for North, backed up by Taylor Chandler.

Contact Charles Curcio at charles@stanlynewspress.com or (704)982-2121 ext. 26.

See the rest here:

NORTH STANLY FOOTBALL Comets look for fifth winning season in a row - Stanly News & Press

Agnew brings experience as Utica Comets’ associate coach – Utica Observer Dispatch

Posted on by

Gary Agnew's career in hockey is long and winding. He has had stints in the NHL, AHL and at the junior level.

UTICA Gary Agnew wants to coach for as long as someone lets him.

Agnews career in hockey is long and winding. He has had stints in the NHL (Columbus, St. Louis and mostly recently, Pittsburgh), the AHL (six seasons leading Syracuse in the early 2000s) and at the junior level. Hes been a head coach as well as assistant.

His varied experience has provided the perspective for what is needed to be successful. His role as a well-traveled teacher is something he relishes, especially after sitting on a beach in Florida last season.

I love the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat, said Agnew, whose previous job was with Pittsburgh in 2015-16. I love the opportunity to help people achieve their goals. Its the competition. Its all those things combined into one with the camaraderie of the locker room.

Agnewhas the opportunity to experience that as the Utica Comets new associate coach. Agnew joins new head coach Trent Cull and assistant Jason King.

Its energizing and its invigorating, Agnew said this week at the Utica Memorial Auditorium. This is a great move for me personally. Its fun to be with(Cull and King)and help them out and hopefully not hinder them.

The good-natured Agnew coached Cull for two seasons in Syracuse. That experience helped make for a smooth transition, Agnew said.

He told me to make sure I brought him the right coffee. So, thats always fun when youre bantering back and forth, said Agnew, who acknowledged he was impressed with Cull when he coached against him in juniors. For me, (Cull) is an enthusiastic, energetic, upbeat guy. Thats who you want to associate with.

While Agnew will coach the Comets defensemen and penalty kill unit, he said it will be a collaborative effort. He continues to adjust his style and philosophy, he said.

Its like any other job. If youre not learning, youre falling behind, Agnew said. In the old days, if you were a 6-foot-4, 230-pound player, typically you were kind of a cumbersome guy. Now theyre skilled and fast. So, youve got to adjust to that. In the old days, you could tell the player to run through the wall and hed run through the wall. Now, he wants to know whats on the other side of the wall. ... Youve got to adjust. Theyve got the answers. Theres no more making stuff up. ... So, they make us better."

Agnewwill be among many new faceswhen the team returns to Utica next month. More than a few players from last seasons squad have moved on. Through trades, free agency and the draft, the parent Vancouver Canucks have a logjam of forwards and defensemen.

Agnew will meet many of the players when the Comets staff travels to British Columbia for the Canucks Young Stars event in early September and then main training camp.

Part of coaching and the coach-player relationship is the ability to give your message and then for the player to accept the message. So, guysI like working with are guys that (are) open to all that," he said."Its nothing personal. Im trying to get you to where you need to be, so heres what I think you should be doing. ... You build relationships. To say theres any one guy Im looking forward to coaching, not really. Im looking forward to coaching with all of them. But, as time goes on, there are probably guys who are taking what you say and doing it. Those are the guys I like working with.

Follow @OD_Birnell on Twitter or call him at 315-792-5032.

Original post:

Agnew brings experience as Utica Comets' associate coach - Utica Observer Dispatch

Comets and Wolverines kick off SD FB season – KEVN Black Hills Fox

Posted on by

Believe it or not, the high school football season has arrived for a handful of South Dakota teams. Many take the field Friday night, but Thursday, Jones County/White River made the trip down I-90 to take on Rapid City Christian.

OUt to the Hart Ranch and a rainy Thursday as the Wolverines try to set an early tone. ---------- First possession for Jones County/White River, Izaiah Sorace takes the pitch, but it's a slick ball and he'll cough it up as Zane Schlabach recovers for the Comets. --------- The drive goes nowhere as the Wolverines get the turnover on downs, but once against Jones County/White River loses the handle. This time Nick Sayler gives it up, the Comets recover, but again, the ensuing drive comes up empty. -------- Onto the 2nd quarter, Schlabach rolls out and lets it fly, but Austin Olson steps in front of it and gets the interception. ---------- Little rough in the first game of the season as Schlabach has his pass tipped and Jake Dowling reels it in for the Wolverine's second interception of the day. ---------- Approaching halftime and the Comets finally knock on the door. Schlabach keeps it himself and finds his way into the end zone for the 7-nothing lead at the half.

See more here:

Comets and Wolverines kick off SD FB season - KEVN Black Hills Fox

Total solar eclipse may reveal a new comet you can see – CNET – CNET

Posted on by

A Sungrazer cometrecorded bythe SOHO spacecraft'sLarge Angle Spectrometric COronagraph(LASCO)

When the sun disappears during a total solar eclipse across the United States on Aug. 21, the stars and a few planets should become visible for a moment. But that may not be all you'll be able to see during the odd period of daytime darkness.

There's a slim chance you could spot a so-called "sungrazer" comet next to the darkened disc of our star during the eclipse.

While there's no official definition of what makes a comet a sungrazer, the basic concept is that they make their pass around the sun at a relatively close distance, which can make them hard to see in the process as the intense brightness of our star drowns everything else out.

To spot sungrazers, astronomers use a type of telescope called a coronagraph. It essentially creates a false eclipse by staring directly at the sun while blocking its blinding light with a solid disc that makes it possible to see the more faint objects around it.

"What this means for us is that for a few brief minutes during the eclipse totality, observers on Earth will be seeing more or less exactly what our telescopes are seeing in spaceand that might include a comet!" said Karl Battams, astrophysicist and principal investigator for the NASA-fundedSungrazer Project, in a blog post.

Unfortunately, Battams says August is not a great month for spotting sungrazers due to the viewing geometry involved. He estimates there's about a five percent chance of a comet being near the sun during the eclipse.

Still, Battams and colleagues plan to keep watch.

"If we're really lucky, (we'll) get maybe a day's advance notice that one will be near the Sun during the eclipse."

So he plans to scour images from the big coronagraphic telescopes like the US Naval Research Laboratory'sLarge Angle Spectrometric Coronagraph (LASCO) telescopefor comets in the days leading up to Aug. 21. If there's a chance of seeing a comet, he'll post all the details to his Twitter account a few hours before the eclipse on Monday.

"I will give clear instruction on whether a comet is known to be near the Sun, how bright that object might be, and how/where you might be able to see it," Battams writes. "Our odds truly are slim, but the payoff would be awesome!"

Crowd Control: A crowdsourced science fiction novel written by CNET readers.

Solving for XX:The tech industry seeks to overcome outdated ideas about "women in tech."

View original post here:

Total solar eclipse may reveal a new comet you can see - CNET - CNET

Mum has perfect way to deal with people who stare at daughter’s psoriasis – Metro

Posted on by

Charlie was diagnosed with psoriasis at four months old (Picture: Caters)

A baby girl has such severe psoriasis that strangers often make rude remarks or ask if she has a contagious disease.

Mum Ashley Nagy, 29, is showing strangers not to fear her daughter Charlie by kissing and cuddling her in public.

To combat stares and cruel comments from strangers, Ashley, from Queen Creek in Arizona, USA, shows affection to 19-months-old daughter in public.

Charlie was diagnosed with psoriasis at four-months-old after small red dots that appeared all over her skin and later developed into large welts that would peel and flake-off.

The disease, which affects more than 125 million people worldwide, appears in flares and is often brought on by stress, illness and food intolerances.

Parents Ashley and Andrew, 32, have been accused by strangers of letting their daughter get severely sunburnt and others drag their children away fearing she is contagious.

Ashley, who works in property, said: Strangers can be very cruel about it, when weve taken her to the playground the parents of other children have dragged their kids away thinking shes contagious.

The couple call Charlie their Unicorn Baby to reinforce how unique and special she is.

Most people move away, afraid they are going to catch whatever she has or move their kids away so she cant get to close or play with them.

My response is normally to pick Charlie up and kiss her so that people can see she is not contagious and being near her isnt going to hurt anyone.

Others have said they cant believe we have her out in public, but these are just very ignorant people so we ignore them.

If Im pushing her around in a stroller and see people staring at her, looking at her in pity or trying to move their children away Ill lightly touch her face and kiss her on the cheek.

I want people to see that even though she has psoriasis they dont need to be afraid to touch and love her, I hope they see shes not contagious and are more compassionate.

I dont put her in turtlenecks or hide her, I have her in shorts and am not ashamed of who she is and walk with pride, I know shes beautiful.

Manchester Arena bomb survivor caught up in Barcelona terror attack

New Spanish attack sees five terrorists shot dead at beach resort

Four killed in counter-terror raid in Cambrils after Barcelona attacks

Charlie was two-months old when she had her first psoriasis flare-up and doctors believe she is one of the youngest patients to have such a severe case.

Her parents combat the itchy and painful flare-ups that cover her head to toe with a specialist two-hour bathing routine with essential oils.

Then we lotion her right away so her skin doesnt crack with organic butter bees wax, that has essential oils and other ingredients.

From there, we put her in an oversized cotton t-shirt so that the ingredients can soak into her skin and prevent flare-ups from friction that can be caused when her clothing is too tight.

Ashley is fundraising to help cover her Charlies medical bills, check-ups and treatment, as well as donating to the Phoenix Childrens Hospital who treated her during a bad flare-up.

The family have struggled to find insurance that would cover Charlie as young cases are so rare.

More here:

Mum has perfect way to deal with people who stare at daughter's psoriasis - Metro