Ex-Proud Boy on life inside the far-right group’s ranks – 9News

On the night of a recent Million MAGA March in Washington DC, a large man in a Proud Boys polo shirt runs at a Black woman from behind and punches her in the head. She falls to the pavement.

Russell Schultz sent video of the episode to CNN, saying the puncher should go to jail.

The sentiment is a bit of a shift for Mr Schultz, a former Proud Boy who's been filmed in street brawls himself and who often shows up at protests in Portland, Oregon, with a giant black flag that reads, "F--- ANTIFA."

Some have been filmed getting into street fights.

"Most of it is just to fight," Mr Schultz said.

"They want to join a gang. So they can go fight antifa and hurt people that they don't like, and feel justified in doing it."

Last year, he was indicted for rioting after a brawl between far-right protesters and anti-fascists in Portland.

He pleaded not guilty, and with another activist involved in the brawl - Joey Gibson of the right-wing group Patriot Prayer - he's filed a federal lawsuit against the Multnomah County district attorney, claiming they're being unfairly prosecuted because of their political beliefs.

Mr Schultz, 51, joined the Proud Boys in the fall of 2017 and left in May 2019. He says he quit, but the Proud Boys say he was "kicked out".

His exit should not be interpreted as a total repudiation of all the Proud Boys stand for, or a new enlightened state opposed to all political violence.

Mr Schultz still shows up at rallies, and he's still motivated by antipathy toward antifa.

The blurred line between what's ironic and what's sincere is a feature of the new far-right that was born on the internet in the Trump era. (Schultz said the word "joke" about three dozen times in the couple hours CNN interviewed him.)

It's harder for someone to be held accountable for what he believes if it's not clear what, exactly, he believes.

And it allows him to try on a persona with the safety valve of being able to say later it was all fake.

In person, Mr Schultz is mild-mannered and polite. In his old Proud Boys videos, he's menacing.

He now says he was just emulating the promo videos of professional wrestlers.

In 2017, Mr Schultz was at a free speech rally with Patriot Prayer.

"All (of a) sudden fights are breaking out all over the place, and here come marching across a field are these guys in black-and-yellow-striped polos," Mr Schultz said.

"And it, to me, it just looked like something from Braveheart."

They were the Proud Boys.

The "first degree" of membership in the Proud Boys is to declare you are one, which Mr Schultz later did.

The second degree is to be punched while reciting the names of five breakfast cereals, which he did, too.

"It was just a joke. No one hits hard," Mr Schultz says.

"The five breakfast cereals is a joke that's supposed to emulate getting beat into a gang.

"You know, it is just a spoof, a parody, but it got taken too far."

Here's another supposed joke: An ex-member recently said on the encrypted messaging app Telegram that he was staging a coup so Proud Boys would no longer capitulate to the left: "We recognise that the West was built by the White Race alone and we owe nothing to any other race."

Proud Boys chairman Enrique Tarrio said there was no coup. Then both sides said they were just joking.

New wingmen and social media swagger

Mr Schultz is Jewish and says he voted for Barack Obama twice before voting for Mr Trump twice.

He liked the Proud Boys' joking and the drinking. But he began to notice some patterns among those who joined.

"They join the group now because it gives them a sense of belonging. They have this inner-person side that they want to be, but they're afraid to be.

"They're men who've never had wingmen before," he says.

"They're afraid to say what's on their mind for fear of getting into a fight. But if they have that guy or that group behind them, they're more bold in saying what they think, because they think someone has their back. ... The Proud Boys are the vehicle that attracts those people and accepts them in."

In the fragments of his social media presence left behind from his Proud Boys days (he got kicked off Facebook and Instagram), Mr Schultz's on-screen presence suggests he'd found the confidence to be quite outspoken.

Ahead of what he called a "pro-Jesus march" in December 2018, Mr Schultz posted a video warning antifa not to disrupt it. He says, in part:

"At the last rally I nearly ran over you with a car and I didn't feel bad about it one bit. You're lucky I didn't kill you because I wouldn't feel any remorse. ...

"You shoot me with faeces - I can't prove - you can't prove you didn't put something in it like HIV. ...

"I am going to shoot you. And here's where the best part of the odds is, I still have a chance to fight for my freedom in court. You don't have a chance to fight for your freedom cause you're f------ dead. See I'm going to shoot you in the chest or your head. Center mass. ...

"It might be in your best interest not to show up with faeces infested with HIV, whatever it is, and live, live so you can see what we're planning in 2019. Cause if you shoot us with faeces there's a good chance you might not survive to see 2019."

When CNN said these looked like violent threats, Mr Schultz defended them.

"They are violent threats and it's for good reason, too," he said.

"Antifa was saying they were going to come over and start throwing urine and faeces on us. And so that was my way of saying, 'OK, if you do that, that's a threat.' I don't know if it was AIDS-tainted. And I made that threat so they wouldn't come over. And they didn't come over. So, it worked."

Singled out by anti-fascist opponents

CNN reached out to Rose City Antifa, the Portland-area anti-fascist group, about these allegations.

"No one from our organisation threatened to throw poop at the Jesus thing. ... Rose City Antifa has never put AIDS in poop. Nor am I certain how one would do so."

This video had, in fact, been downloaded and posted by Rose City Antifa, which has been tracking Mr Schultz for years.

Though public protests are what get the most attention, most of what anti-fascists do - and Mr Schultz agrees with this - is online.

They research and document far-right activists they deem fascist and make that information public.

This resulting document is called a doxx - which can be a simple collection of biographical details but often functions as a kind of indictment, listing specific acts of racism or misogyny, as well as associations with other people deemed fascist.

In Mr Schultz's case, they made fliers about him and posted them around his neighborhood and his local bar.

"Violent Alt-Right Organiser In Your Area," the flier's headline reads.

"He was just one of the dudes in the crowd at rallies," explained A., an activist with Rose City Antifa who would not give a full name. (The vast majority of anti-fascist activists are anonymous, they say out of fear of far-right violence.)

"But outside of that context he's much more vocal, especially on social media."

Mr Schultz's social media presence was one of the most remarkable things about him, A. said, in that he made explicit threats.

Mr Schultz, in A.'s view, has "this 'I'm an operator' mindset that older right-wing men have. They get really into the idea (that) this is like their war - and thinking through and trying to get into the mind of the opposition.

"It's "very Rambo-y, but it also descends into a misogynistic and creeper vibe by listing all the terrible things they're going to do to you."

Included in Rose City Antifa's doxx of Mr Schultz is one of his old Facebook posts, which says, "Feminism only works on and when there are guys willing to f--- you."

Mr Schultz said this, too, was just a joke, just trolling.

In fact, he had a reputation for being "good at trolling," at saying things that would make antifa upset, Mr Schultz said.

"Like what you just mentioned, about women only have power as long as there's men willing to - you know - which, coming from me, with two beautiful daughters, you know, it's contrary to my whole life."

He explained all of his past commentary by saying: "Anything I ever did that was incendiary was so that (antifa) would see it and react to it."

He says he wanted more antifa activists to show up at right-wing rallies - not for the street battle, but for the more important media battle.

"I'm not baiting them into doing violence. I'm baiting them into showing up in enough numbers. Because when you see enough people in Black Bloc, people get scared," Mr Schultz said, referring to the activist tactic of wearing black clothes and face coverings to avoid identification.

"The people that aren't involved in (the protests), that don't think about it -- they see all these people looking like ISIS."

Consequences of an abandoned joke

A., of Rose City Antifa, said they did monitor the videos Mr Schultz and his comrades made as a way to gauge how many would turn out at their rallies and what their emotional state would be.

They took note when a far-right activist would give away a little more operational detail than he should have.

"I think a lot of people assume the end goal of doxxing is to get Nazis to not be Nazis anymore by convincing them of the flaws of their ideology," A. said.

"That's not necessarily the case."

There are other organisations that help deradicalise people. The main goal, A. said, is to provide a community resource to people directly affected by activists like Mr Schultz and "then present clear obstacles to their continued organising".

Before speaking to CNN, A. said, Rose City Antifa went through their old doxxes.

They see them as successful, particularly for the less prominent activists they've targeted.

"The older and slightly more marginal types - they really do not come around anymore."

Mr Schultz says he quit the Proud Boys in 2019 for a couple of reasons.

One, the men who wanted to climb the ranks of leadership were taking it too seriously, he says.

They were making a more formalised national hierarchy, Mr Schultz says, and he thought that would bring more intense scrutiny from law enforcement and reporters - and he worried that if one member committed a crime, they could all be liable for it.

Mr Schultz also felt pressure from one of his daughters to quit, he says.

The Proud Boys chairman says Mr Schultz was "kicked out," namely because he would "make a complete ass of himself" in videos on social media.

"Scorned ex-girlfriends are the worst. As soon as you break up with them, they want to lie to the world and say how small your equipment is," Mr Tarrio told CNN, in reference to Schultz.

"Currently there is no criminal activity happening in the Proud Boys."

Asked what Mr Tarrio would say about him, Mr Schultz said, "Oh, he'll probably talk crap about me. I don't care. ... Enrique always deflects."

As we watched the video of the man in the Proud Boys polo punch the woman in Washington, we asked Mr Schultz: Did he feel like he helped bring the nation to this point, with his propaganda?

"Yeah. Honestly, I had a role in it. I never advocated for the violence to come out of it, though."

In other words, he still says it was just a joke.

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Ex-Proud Boy on life inside the far-right group's ranks - 9News

Right-Wing Orgs Are Enlisting Students in Their War Against Campus Progressives – Truthout

When President Donald Trump convened the White House Conference on American History in mid-September, he wowed attendees with news that hed signed an executive order establishing a National Committee to Promote Patriotic Education.

This was necessary, he said, because U.S. teachers have been pushing students to hate America. The major culprit? The late Howard Zinns 40-year-old, 784-page book, A Peoples History of the United States. Trump accused the World War II veteran-turned-scholar of promoting propaganda intended to make students ashamed of their own history.

Unsurprisingly, Trumps audience ate up these declarations, but however rapturous the response, neither his rhetoric nor his conclusions were particularly new. In fact, he was repeating a longstanding trope about U.S. education, zeroing in on those responsible for delivering both critical thinking and concrete skills to future generations of leaders and workers. And, while Trump did not specifically mention college professors, the idea that a cadre of left-wing educators are indoctrinating impressionable young adults has become the raison dtre for a host of conservative groups that are working to establish a firm toehold on campuses throughout the 50 states: Campus Reform, the College Fix, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, the Leadership Institute, the National Association of Scholars and Turning Point USA, among them.

Of particular interest and urgency for them is the denunciation of scholar-activists who support Black Lives Matter and anti-fascism (or antifa).

Alexander Riley, a Bucknell University sociology professor, made the case against antifa on Campus Reforms daily blog, calling the anti-fascist movement a loose confederation of half-educated malcontents who entirely reject the logic of intellectual debate. He then went on to say that antifa groups want to crush the skulls of those with whom they disagree in the manner of sociopathic criminals throughout humanity.

Black Lives Matter has been similarly slammed, with founder Patrisse Cullors repeatedly referred to as a trained Marxist whose agenda includes the destruction of the family. Pulitzer Prize winner Nikole Hannah-Joness 1619 Project has also been hammered for teaching self-loathing.

As vitriolic as these statements are, it is important to note that Campus Reform does far more than publish a hyperbolic blog.

As Truthout has previously reported, Campus Reform trains conservative students to become paid campus journalists who report on progressive faculty and student groups whose views they oppose. It is a project of the 41-year-old Leadership Institute, a multimillion-dollar organization with deep roots in the Reagan-era New Right, that, in 2016 alone, spent $15.8 million on campus activities.

Conservative donors have been more than happy to pony up for the cause, and Campus Reforms work has been made possible thanks to the support of foundations connected to libertarian billionaire Charles Koch and dark money outlets, including Donors Trust and the Donors Capital Fund that the Charles Koch Foundation controls. Other support for Campus Reform has come from the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, the Ed Uihlein Family Foundation, mutual fund manager Foster Friess, and other deep-pocketed donors.

This support has enabled Campus Reform to train students to monitor and report on progressive campus activism and establish conservative organizations to counter the purported left-wing biases they claim are evident at every college and university in the country. The group also places affiliated students on a fast-track to jobs at conservative think tanks; media outlets including Breitbart, The Daily Caller and Fox News; and with local, state and federal lawmakers once they graduate.

Case in point: Gabriel Nadales. Nadales is currently the regional field coordinator at the Leadership Institute and is a frequent contributor to the Campus Reform blog. Although he did not respond to Truthouts three requests for an interview, his YouTube videos, frequent appearances on Fox News, and writing about his time as an antifa activist consistently portray the anti-fascist left as hateful people who think they are opposing totalitarianism, but who are instead little more than domestic terrorists. As Nadales tells it, when he was 16, he was lured to demonstrations protesting cuts to public education. I wanted to be part of fighting for a better world, he told Fox News. I thought the U.S. was a fascist nation. I didnt believe in America.

That was in 2010. Nadaless conversion to conservatism, he says, occurred after he enrolled in southern Californias Citrus College, where he was introduced to the economic theories of Milton Friedman and Thomas Sowell. Their insights, he says, caused him to do a complete 180 and he subsequently found his way to mentorship at the Leadership Institute, formed a Young Americans for Liberty chapter at Citrus, and took his spot on the conservative lecture circuit after he completed his studies.

Antifa does not stand for something. They stand against something. They stand against the First Amendment, Nadales told Fox Newss Laura Ingraham. They are such cowards that they have to cover their faces and are mostly up to something not good.

Nadales is hardly alone in making these assertions, and they have had an impact, placing faculty who have expressed support for antifa groups and Black Lives Matter in Campus Reforms crosshairs. Some have also found their way onto the Professor Watchlist maintained by Turning Point USA, a list of hundreds of college faculty members who are openly critical of capitalism, or who support movements for social justice that the right finds threatening to business as usual.

This includes Truthout contributor and Rutgers history professor Mark Bray, author of Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook, published by Melville House. My first run-in with Campus Reform was right after my book came out in August 2017 when they noticed me on Meet the Press, he told Truthout. It was two weeks after the Unite the Right march in Charlottesville, Virginia, and Bray says that Campus Reform misconstrued his comments about violence and reached out to the president of Dartmouth College, where Bray was then a visiting professor, for comment. President [Philip] Hanlon denounced me and because Campus Reform reported this, the story was picked up by Breitbart and I got hate mail and death threats. But more than 120 Dartmouth faculty and the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) signed a letter of support for me, he said. This helped me enormously. The bonds of solidarity we build with each other make the threats and doxing less effective. Theyre absolutely essential.

Bray called these bonds into play again this summer after Trump called antifa a terrorist organization and Bray responded. Writing in The Washington Post, he noted that Trump misrepresented the anti-fascist movement in the interests of delegitimizing militant protest and deflecting attention away from white supremacy and police brutality that the protesters oppose.

Conservative media outlets including The American Spectator, Breitbart and the Campus Reform blog as well as the Israeli media outlet Haaretz picked up Brays comments. I continue to get negative pushback, Bray says, and while he finds this disturbing, it has not been silencing for him.

Like Bray, Campus Reform-target Johnny Eric Williams, a professor of sociology at Connecticuts Trinity College, has also remained outspoken. Although he was forced to take a semesters leave after he and his workplace were targeted by the group following tweets about racism and white supremacy that went viral, he has refused to stop speaking out. Ive been through the wringer, but its my job to tell the truth, he told Truthout. Since my leave, the administration has supported my First Amendment speech rights. Thats what academic freedom is all about.

Tenured Texas A&M sociology professor Wendy Leo Moore agrees. Moore is currently facing a two-day salary suspension for participating in Septembers #ScholarStrike. After Jacob Blake was shot, many of us felt that we had an obligation to do the strike in a way that paused and called attention to racism, police brutality and white supremacy, Moore told Truthout. I teach about criminal justice, and while I did not want to disrupt the flow of my classes, and knew that my students had been having a really challenging time due to COVID, I decided it was important to take a stand and participate.

Moore had been informed that the college opposed faculty participation and had been warned that the college considered the strike an illegal work stoppage, a violation of a Texas law banning strikes by state employees. It was not a strike against the state, Moore said. It was a work stoppage to support Black Lives Matter and [oppose] racism. It was a pedagogical decision for me to take part.

To date, Moores stance has been lambasted in several articles posted by Campus Reform, but like her peers, she is heartened to have received the backing of the American Sociological Association, PEN America and the AAUP, and expects to have a hearing before the colleges Committee on Academic Freedom, Responsibility and Tenure on Campus in late November.

The right wing has targeted people who are pushing economic justice, environmental justice and racial justice, and any professor who explicitly supports Black communities or other communities of color can get the rights attention, said Jasmine Banks, executive director of UnKoch My Campus, an organization promoting fiscal transparency and democracy on campus. Their tactics aim to make it risky to promote equity and inclusion.

Naming names and stealth attacks including the surreptitious taping of speeches, lectures and programs are part of the rights game plan, Banks says. Since gotcha-type provocations orchestrated by well-known conservative provocateur James OKeefe took place in 2015, Campus Reform has largely focused on overt, coordinated disruptions and threats to particular faculty members, with each attack lasting for about a week before the group moves on to someone else.

Last winter, Liberty University business marketing student Addison Smith, a Campus Reform contributor and Turning Point USA activist, was accused of illegally recording private conversations on campus. Under Virginia state law, failure to get the consent of at least one party to the taping of a conversation is a felony, but as of October 20, 2020, Smith was still writing for Campus Reform and appears judicially unscathed.

Truthout reached out to the Campus Reform writers Lacey Kestecher, Leo Thuman and McKenna Dallmeyer to request comment for inclusion in this article, along with numerous people from the Leadership Institute, including Gabriel Nadales, but none of them responded to requests for comment.

Groups like Campus Reform work hard to create the illusion that conservatives are a beleaguered minority on campuses, says Isaac Kamola, a political science professor at Trinity College and creator of Campus Reform Early Responders, a year-old effort to assist individuals and institutions that have become the focus of right-wing acrimony.

In truth, theyre going after anyone who is not teaching a worldview that they subscribe to for example, that the U.S. was founded on structural racism a viewpoint they call un-American. This can then roll out into calls for violence against an individual or an institution, or calls for a professor to be fired or sanctioned.

But the ultimate agenda is not simply to boot out progressive faculty, Kamola says. Rather, its to gain a greater foothold into the academy for conservative, libertarian ideas. Their conservatives-as-victims narrative reinforces straight, white, male power. Charles Koch and his allies believe that if you can get people when theyre young, give them jobs and a chance to meet prominent scholars and activists, launch them into careers, youll have an unparalleled power base, he said. Our job is to call them out on this.

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Right-Wing Orgs Are Enlisting Students in Their War Against Campus Progressives - Truthout

GOP Sen. Josh Hawley tries to explain how Democrats are both ‘Marxists’ and ‘corporatists’ – The Week

In a USA Today op-ed published Tuesday, Ben Crump, the lawyer for the families of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and many more Black people killed by police, outlined who he'd like to see lead the Biden justice department. And he put a familiar face at the top of the list: Tony West, a veteran of the Clinton and Obama administrations who happens to be Vice President-elect Kamala Harris' brother-in-law.

After an "exhausting" 2020 spent fighting for civil rights and "speaking truth to power," Crump wrote that he's cautiously optimistic "President-elect Joe Biden and his still-unnamed attorney general will be our partner in the hard work of repairing our criminal justice system." After all, Biden "ran on an ambitious criminal justice reform platform" that included promises "to end federal private prisons, mandatory minimum sentencing and the federal death penalty," among others, Crump wrote. "Moved by Biden's promises, Black voters carried him to victory in the presidential election," and now it's time for Biden to nominate an attorney general "committed to delivering the Constitution's promises of justice and equality," Crump continued.

To Crump, the choice here is clear. West ran the Justice Department's Civil Division under former Attorney General Eric Holder, where he "led various efforts to reduce racial bias, improve procedural fairness, strengthen the relationship between communities of color and law enforcement, and hold police departments accountable," Crump wrote. And while he's gone on to work in the private sector, West has "always remained a public servant at heart," Crump concluded.

Biden has so far revealed top picks for his communications and economic teams, as well as his choice for Homeland Security secretary. All of his cabinet picks will have to pass a Senate vote, and Crump notes West most recently was approved 98-1 to be associate attorney general. Kathryn Krawczyk

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GOP Sen. Josh Hawley tries to explain how Democrats are both 'Marxists' and 'corporatists' - The Week

Savannahs Town Square: Election results and the absence of violence – Savannah Morning News

Editorial Page Editor Adam Van Brimmer blogs on local topics of interest most weekday mornings in the "Savannahs Town Square" Facebook group. The following is an excerpt from one of those posts.

Talking Point: Thankful election hasn't produced violence in the streets

Perhaps my greatest fear about the Nov. 3 election was the risk of a violent aftermath.

Somebody was going to lose, and both parties have fanatical wings. What's more, one candidate was all but egging on his rabble-rouser supporters ("stand back and stand by") while the other appeared to lack the influence to suppress the far left.

Thankfully, we've seen little violence in America's streets since Election Day. The Million MAGA March in Washington, D.C., led by President Donald Trump's supporters, was largely peaceful, although there were some skirmishes once night fell. And it is unclear whether it was the protesters or the counterprotesters who initiated the clashes.

What's interesting now is the public opinion. In a pair of conversations with Republican voters over the weekend, I was told the absence of violence was evidence that the fears of right-wing rampages were a media creation. Also, the consensus was that if President Trump had won, we would have seen riots and more from the liberal militants. They cited supporters of Antifa and Black Lives Matter.

We'll never know if the liberals would have risen up as described, although we can look to numerous peaceful anti-Trump marches staged over the last four years and think that we wouldn't be on the brink of a civil war. Yet those demonstrations were pre-George Floyd, and President Trump's rhetoric over the last several months has sharpened the edge.

Had Trump beaten Biden, the frustration might have boiled over.

Regardless, let's hope the fallout continues to be low key. Tensions will remain high at least through the Jan. 20 inauguration. President Trump continues to protest the election but has not (yet) moved to incite violence, which is good. And President-elect Biden has found the right tone for dealing with a difficult situation.

Let's hope both candidates -- and their more passionate supporters -- continue to suppress their darker instincts.

Read the blog posts and engage in the conversation by searching for "Savannahs Town Square" on Facebook and clicking the "join" button.

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Savannahs Town Square: Election results and the absence of violence - Savannah Morning News

The future is cyborg – Yahoo News

Would you get bionic implants to improve your eyesight?

A chip to turbo-charge your brain or guard against cancer?

UPSOT ELON MUSK: In a lot of ways it's kind of like a Fitbit in your skull, with tiny wires."

Well, according to a survey commissioned by cybersecurity firm Kaspersky, nearly two thirds of people in leading Western European countries would consider human augmentation.

The fusing of artificial intelligence into the human body to make it better, stronger or healthier.

Marco Preuss is Kaspersky European director of global research and analysis.

Wouldn't it be interesting if you could, for example, see in the dark? How much of being human will there be in the future and how much of technology human hybrids will there be in the future?

Companies like Elon Musks Neuralink, which has already tested on pigs, aim to implant chips into human brains to help cure neurological conditions like Alzheimer's, dementia, and spinal cord injuries.

"We hope to have this in a human patient before the end of next year. So this is not far."

But the Kaspersky survey shows that openness to human augmentation depended on location.

People in Britain, France, and Switzerland were less receptive.

On the other hand those in Portugal and Spain were much more.

"I was positively surprised. I didn't expect it that positive, to be honest, but I think it shows that there is really huge interest and potential in this technology.

Preuss says human augmentation is one of the most significant technology trends today.

The range of technologies people are researching is huge. Basically, every single aspect of human body is being explored. Implanted filtering system for air where you could go without a gas mask or whatever into dangerous areas. To have a complete artificial stomach, remotely controlled and so on and so on.

The survey also showed the majority of people felt that only the rich would be able to get access to human augmentation technology.

And there were concerns around the risks.

Story continues

"There is, of course, this fear about malfunctioning. There is this fear about criminals and hackers gaining access to your body. This is probably more a question about to have more regulation, more standards. And I think these ethical, moral questions are really a huge thing here and can become a game changer in terms of how it would drive the society in all of these countries."

- Would you get bionic implants to improve your eyesight? A chip to turbocharge your brain, or guard against cancer.

- In a lot of ways, it's kind of like a Fitbit in your skull with tiny wires.

- Well according to a survey commissioned by cybersecurity firm Kaspersky, nearly 2/3 of people in leading Western European countries would consider human augmentation, the fusing of artificial intelligence into the human body to make it better, stronger, or healthier. Marco Preuss is Kaspersky European director of Global Research and Analysis.

MARCO PREUSS: But wouldn't it be interesting if you could, for example, see in the dark? How much of being human will there be in future, and how much of technology-human hybrids will there be in future?

- Here we go, great.

- Companies like Elon Musk's Neuralink, which has already tested on pigs, aimed to implant chips into human brains to help cure neurological conditions like Alzheimer's, dementia, and spinal cord injuries.

ELON MUSK: We hope to have this in a human patient before the end of next year. So this is not far.

- Thought, the Kaspersky survey, shows that openness to human augmentation depended on location. People in Britain, France, and Switzerland were less receptive. On the other hand, those in Portugal and Spain were much more.

MARCO PREUSS: I was positively surprised. I didn't expect it that positive to be honest, but I think it shows that there is really a huge interest and potential in this technology.

- Preuss says human augmentation is one of the most significant technology trends today.

MARCO PREUSS: The range of technologies people are researching is huge. Basically every single aspect of the human body is being explored. Implanted filtering system for air where you could go without a gas mask or whatever into dangerous areas, to have a complete artificial stomach, remotely controlled, and so on and so on.

- The survey also showed the majority of people felt that only the rich would be able to get access to human augmentation technology, and there were concerns around the risks.

MARCO PREUSS: There is of course this fear about malfunctioning. There is this fear about criminals and hackers gaining access to your body. This is probably more a question about to have more regulation more standards. And I think these ethical, moral questions are a really huge thing here, and can become a game changer in terms of how it would drive the society and all of these countries.

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The future is cyborg - Yahoo News

Kayla Harrison Would Jump At The Chance To Fight Cris Cyborg – MMA News

Kayla Harrison would be thrilled to share the Octagon with WMMA legend Cris Cyborg if provided the opportunity.

Kayla Harrison is coming off another dominant performance last week at Invicta FC 43 when she battered Courtney King for a TKO finish. What makes this finish particularly noteworthy isnt the promotion she was making her first appearance in but the weight class. Harrison made her featherweight debut at this event, and Courtney King really wishes she hadnt. Nonetheless, Harrison is now a flawless 8-0, and when youve been as dominant as she has been in her young MMA career, you are going to start having dream matches thrown at you, even if the would-be opponents are in different promotions.

One of those names is UFC double-champ Amanda Nunes, whom Kayla Harrison has expressed a desire to fight down the line. Another name is the reigning Bellator womens featherweight champion, Cris Cyborg. In a recent interview, Kayla Harrison was very clear on how she would respond if a contract to fight Cyborg ever crossed her desk.

Of course, I would love to fight Cyborg, Harrison told MMA Junkie. Shes one of the greats. I dont think itll happen before the PFL season, but Ill fight anybody. Obviously, Amanda is my teammate, so its a little different from the friendship side of it. But shes the greatest of all time so of course, someday I would like to be considered good enough to fight the greatest of all time.

Thats the goal, the goal is to become the greatest of all time.But Cyborg is another female superstar, legend. Shes a legend of the sport and I would jump at that opportunity.

It is unclear how soon Kayla Harrison would be willing to take such fights, as she has recently decried the weight-cutting process, and her natural competing weight is lightweight. But if she does ever begin actively accepting featherweight fights and dominates in the fashion she did at Invicta FC 43, you can be sure that Amanda Nunes and Cris Cyborg will be the two names thrown at her regularly until those dream fights come to fruition.

If you had to predict a winner today, who would you take in a fight between Kayla Harrison and Cris Cyborg?

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Kayla Harrison Would Jump At The Chance To Fight Cris Cyborg - MMA News

Everything we know about Cyberpunk 2077’s Adam Smasher – Looper

While details from the CD Projekt Red team about Adam Smasher's involvement in the game or backstory are thin, the developers confirmed his in-game presence with a brief appearance in a trailer titled "The Gig."Here, Smasher appears while the characters plan a heist against Arasaka, one of the corporations that run Night City, which matches his factional alignment in the tabletop Cyberpunk game.

From the tabletop game and extended universe around it, more details of Smasher's life are available. A video from GameSpotexplains his early life via Cyberpunk lore, growing up in the Bronx district of New York City sometime before 2000. Smasher's first exposure to violence took form in gang activities and then transferred into a brief stint in the army. After being discharged for insubordination, Smasher returned to New York to offer his services as a gun for hire.

However, his life as a human mercenary wouldn't last forever. One day, enemies hit Smasher with rocket launcher rounds that disintegrated most of his body. The Arasaka corporation rebuilt his shattered torso with machine augmentations and made Smasher a Solo, or cybernetic mercenary, in exchange for 15 years of service.

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Everything we know about Cyberpunk 2077's Adam Smasher - Looper

WB Reportedly Developing Cyborg Movie Without Ray Fisher – We Got This Covered

It wouldnt be unfair to say that Ray Fisher owes his entire career to the DCEU, with the actor having never appeared in a movie outside the confines of Warner Bros. shared universe, while the HBO Max exclusive release of Zack Snyders Justice League will mark just his third small screen credit after showing up in a single episode of ABC drama The Astronaut Wives Club and playing a main role in the third season of True Detective.

Being cast as a superhero in a massive franchise where you get the opportunity to rub shoulders with the likes of Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman looks like a game-changer on paper, but Fishers tenure as Cyborg hasnt exactly gone to plan. He was a virtual non-entity in the theatrical edition of Justice League, and his planned standalone outing was quietly shelved as the DCEU reshuffled the deck following the poor response to Joss Whedons take on the all-star team.

Then there was the very public war of words between Fisher, the studio and Whedon himself, which saw the 33 year-old essentially invite legal action if anyone could prove his allegations towards the director were untrue, before WB execs denied all of his claims. That battle is far from over, but weve now heard from our sources the same ones that told us Ben Affleck would return as Batman weeks before it was confirmed that the Cyborg movie is back in development, although there are currently no plans for Fisher to star.

According to our intel, the multiverse and the events ofThe Flash will be used to explain why Victor Stone has been recast. Further details on what exactly theyre planning are unclear at this time, but if this is the route that Warner Bros. are going down, then they might find themselves facing a wave of backlash after the fans sided with Fisher when his quarrels with the higher ups first made headlines. Still, were told that they definitely want to do a solo project for the character and the plan right now is to make it without the aforementioned actor.

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WB Reportedly Developing Cyborg Movie Without Ray Fisher - We Got This Covered

How Doom Patrol Could Be Used To Reboot The DCEU | Screen Rant – Screen Rant

Given Doom Patrol once briefly and surreally rebooted the Justice League, a possible total DCEU reboot is more likely than you might think.

Doom Patrolcould be Warner Bros. most unlikely but not unprecedented opportunity to reboot the entire DCEU. The team has long been a name that lurks on the fringes of both the comics community and theTV community when it comes to DC - so much so that it's arguable it could only come to the forefront by doing something as bold as a total reset for the DCEU.

Though many fans are only aware of Doom Patrol as a result of Beast Boy being in the group in the comics, and Cyborg featuring in the show, there is a general lack of awareness of anything further than this when it comes to the franchise, despite Doom Patrol season 1's weird and wonderful ending being one of the most intriguing season endings in DC adaptations so far. And this is understandable, as one of the ultimate tragedies ofDoom Patrol is that it almost demands being kept in the background due to its surreal nature and meta storylines not matching the kind of content DC is typically expected to produce.TheTVadaptation of the Doom Patrol comics has been loyal to the weirdness of the comics, and this may explain why it too is a relatively obscure addition to the world of DC shows. In fact, it's possible that without the Titans show briefly featuring the Doom Patrol, very few would even be aware this hidden gem even exists.

Related: Doom Patrol Just Made Cyborg's Origin Story Darker Than Titans

Though itmay seem a dramatic way to fix this, having the Doom Patrol reboot the entire DCEU or at least be involved in an overarching storyline that does so could be a clever way to put an underappreciated show on the map. And rather than being to the DCEU's detriment, this could be done while still benefitting the larger DC franchise overall by creating more variation in the multiverse, appealing to new audiences that otherwise may critically say thatthe DCEU is "too dark".

At first, it had appeared that DC would ignore the Marvel model (and avoid its continuity issues) and have theTV shows and film franchises be two separate entities, each following their own different path. But thanks tothe biggest crossover event in superhero adaptations, it has been made abundantly clear that much of the Arrowverse is now to be considered part of DCEU canon as a result of the establishment of the multiverse, which allows for different actors to still canonically be Batman or Cyborg (or other characters) by explaining they are merely in different universes.

TheCrisisevent actually also confirmed that Doom Patrol is officially a part of this multiverse, specifically designated Earth-21 (and not the same Earth as Titans despite early suspicions). That removal allows for themore eccentric franchise to exist on the edge of the multiverse without changing anything for any other show or film. Crucially, even despite its removal from the main Earth in the Arrowverse and from the DCEU itself, Doom Patrol exists adjacent to both.

Strictly speaking, the answer to whether the DCEU needs a reboot is a paradoxical yes and no. For all that it has been said that DC's foray into the world of film and TV has been fraught with issues,the structure of the universe has not because illegible. Balancing all the various events and timelines of both the DC films and shows isn't an easy task, and yet, as time has gone on, much of the DC universe has been made clearer to use,rather than more confusing and vague. This is doubly true since the DCEU utilized the multiverse ideafor its shows and movies, as this allows for everything to be canon, and yet not necessarily part of the same universe at the same time. Crucially, that means that crossovers are possible but not expected or necessary in the same manner as the MCU.

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How Doom Patrol Could Be Used To Reboot The DCEU | Screen Rant - Screen Rant

Ray Fisher Claims Joss Whedon’s Departure From HBO’s Nevers Related To Justice League Investigation – Bounding Into Comics

Following Joss Whedons announcement that he would be exiting his HBO-developed series The Nevers, Justice League actor Ray Fisher, who played Cyborg in the film and has leveled heavy accusations of unprofessional conduct against the director in recent months, shared his own personal observation as to why the Buffy creator left his upcoming show.

Related: Ray Fisher Responds To Forbes Removing His Quotes Accusing Joss Whedon Of Altering An Actors Skin Tone

Whedon claimed in a statement thatphysical challenges during a trying year plagued by COVID-19 were the reasons for his departure, stating that the level of commitment required moving forward, combined with the physical challenges of making such a huge show during a global pandemic, is more than I can handle without the work beginning to suffer.

However, following the statements publication, Fisher tweeted to the contrary, conversely claiming that the departure was actually related to the ongoing investigation into Fishers accusations of misconduct against Whedon, which on the set of Justice League after the director took over the project from Zack Snyder in order to complete extensive reshoots.

Fisher wrote he has no intention of letting Whedon get away with making excuses when, in Fishers estimation, the director is feeling the pressure of the investigation thats been underway for the past three weeks.

Related: Justice League Actor Ray Fisher Accuses Joss Whedon Of Changing An Actors Skin Tone, Accuses WB Execs Of Racism

I have no intention of allowing Joss Whedon to use the old Hollywood tactic of exiting, stepping down, or walking away to cover for his terrible behavior, the actor posted. WarnerMedias JL investigation has been in full swing for over 3 weeks now. This is undoubtedly a result of it. A>E.

Earlier this year, Fisher alleged that not only had Joss Whedon acted gross, abusive, [and] unprofessional while finishing Justice League, but also that the directors behavior was enabled by producer Jon Berg and then-DC Entertainment President Geoff Johns, who is rumored, on a related note, to have brought Whedon in himself.

Fisher also accused Johns of threatening his career during an office meeting, in response, the actor believes, to his attempts to take grievances up the proper chain of command.

Related Report: Ray Fisher Mad Over Low-Ball Offer of Cameo for Cyborg in The Flash

At the time of the initial accusations, WarnerMedia launched an investigation into these accusations, much to the elation of Fisher. Unfortunately, it didnt go in his favor, at least for a bit, as Warner Bros. reps claimed Fisher failed to present any proof of misconduct and reported that the actor was not cooperating with the investigation, with Fisher allegedly going so far as to abruptly hang-up on a Zoom call.

In response to Warner Bros. claims, Fisher tweeted that Warner was desperate in their scattershot attempt to discredit me and protect people in power and provided a screenshot of an email sent to both his legal representation and the SAG-AFTRA union.

Fishers email detailed his belief that the investigator was hired by WB Pictures, not the parent company as originally requested, and that they would muddy the investigation process by delivering their findings straight to the film division.

Additionally, Fisher accused another person of being on the line during his conversation with the investigator, noting that he and his legal team werent made aware of this surprise witness and explaining that this deception led the actor to end his call early and, in order to play it safe, request that an additional member of his own team join the follow-up call.

Related Rumor: Cyborg Actor Ray Fisher Wants Changes Made to Script for The Flash Film

This incident came after Fisher asserted DC Films head Walter Hamada tried to get him to relent on Johns while throwing Berg and Whedon under the bus, a charge that came with speculation Fisher was having creative conflicts with the studio regarding the script for, and more specifically Cyborgs place in, The Flash.

Despite a global pandemic and the ongoing investigation, 2020 has been kind to Justice League, as Zach Snyders cut of the film is finally getting its chance to be seen when it releases on HBO max next year. Given that the Snyder Cuts premiere will undoubtedly renew interest in the franchise, Warner Bros. will surely wish to capitalize on Cyborgs character, though this ongoing investigation may have an impact on any potential future the character may have.

What do you make of Fishers latest accusation? Let us know your opinion on social media or in the comments down below!

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Ray Fisher Claims Joss Whedon's Departure From HBO's Nevers Related To Justice League Investigation - Bounding Into Comics

Fire at Ascension hospital in Rochester Hills leads to extensive damage – The Oakland Press

No one was hurt in a Thursday morning fire at Ascension Providence Hospital in Rochester Hills, though major water damage has occurred.

Firefighters from Rochester were called at about 8:45 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 26, for a fire on the second floor of the hospital, which was formerly called Crittenton.

Ultimately, about 40 firefighters from the Rochester Hills and Rochester fire departments as well as five other neighboring departments were at the scene.

Arriving firefighters saw smoke coming from the second floor of the building, said John Lyman, public information officer of the Rochester Hills Fire Department, in a statement.

"They found the fire to be in an area that was closed for the Thanksgiving holiday," Lyman said. "The building fire suppression sprinkler system did activate and held the fire back until firefighters could get there to extinguish the fire completely."

After deploying hoses to begin extinguishing the blaze, a second alarm was called, prompting the arrival of firefighters from Auburn Hills, Oakland Township, Troy, Bloomfield Township, and Waterford Township.

"There is major water damage throughout the second floor and the floor below," Lyman said. "The patient areas were in no danger as the fire doors closed as they should to protect the patients."

The cause of the fire was not immediately known, and it will be investigated by the Oakland County Sheriff's Office.

Lyman said the Michigan State Fire Marshal has been notified as well.

Oakland Universitys first shipment of wearable health monitoring devices have arrived on campus and will be distributed to staff and students

While one of the buzzwords of 2020 may have been division, the concept of living through times of deep disunity in the United States is not new.

It has been two years since Brian Frosts wife, Kristine, saw a Facebook post about John Hendley, a friends fraternity brother, who was looki

The widow of an Oakland County deputy killed in the line of duty three years ago is suing the counties of Oakland, Lapeer and Genesee, four La

The Farmington Hills Firefighters Association partnered with Meijer in Northville Township to donate turkeys to 125 families to help brighten

Two Walled Lake educators have been named Teacher of the Year by the Society of Health and Physical Educators (SHAPE) America.

ROCHESTER HILLS >> Counting team state championships and state finals appearances was never a priority for Jason Rapp.

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Fire at Ascension hospital in Rochester Hills leads to extensive damage - The Oakland Press

SLU names resident student teacher of the year – The Advocate

Southeastern Louisiana Universitys Department of Teaching and Learning has named Taylor Dunigan as the recipient of the 2020 Resident Student Teacher of the Year Award.

An early childhood education graduate and a resident of St. Amant, Dunigan received the award based on her GPA, performance assessments, disposition and overall student relationships, according to a news release.

Melanie Forstall Lemoine, coordinator of the Teacher Development Center at Southeastern, said students who are nominated for the award must provide additional information to the faculty. Nominees create an introduction video, submit their rsum, and complete several reflective writing prompts. The portfolios are evaluated by the faculty, and this year five students were nominated.

Throughout Taylors time at Southeastern, she has been named to the Presidents List multiple times. Her grades and recognition are a direct reflection of her hard work and dedication to the education program, Lemoine said. Taylor was a stand-out candidate for this award in part because of her daily commitment to becoming the best teacher she can be. She is highly reflective.

Dunigan attributes the education program to helping her become a more reflective practitioner. Something she says has had a positive impact on both her professional and personal life.

Being a reflective practitioner has benefited my students, she said. They are able to continuously receive more enhanced lessons each day.

Lemoine said Dunigan completed her yearlong teacher residency in Ascension Parish.

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SLU names resident student teacher of the year - The Advocate

ASCENSION OF THE WATCHERS Featuring Former FEAR FACTORY Vocalist BURTON C. BELL Debuts Apocrypha Mini-Documentary – bravewords.com

Born of life, love, and spirituality, Ascension Of The Watchers features pioneering vocalist Burton C. Bell, John Bechdel, and Jayce Lewis. Bell's unmistakable, harmonious inventory once renowned in one of metal's finest trailblazing acts has brought life to a new concept, a genre of its own: ambient atmospheres, melodies, and introspective lyrics that shed light of Bell's visions, as seen in their purest form.

Following a decade-long journey of writing and recording, from California, Pennsylvania, New York, and Wales, the trio released their Apocrypha full-length last month via Dissonance Productions. In commemoration of the release, the band has unveiled a clip recounting its creation. The observational documentary was filmed during the making of Apocrypha, and takes viewers through the history, collaboration stories, and recording process of what became the band's second album.

Industrial gothic rockers Ascension Of The Watchers released their new album, Apocrypha, in October via Dissonance Productions.

A music video for the song "The End Is Always The Beginning" can be found below. Says Bell: "Now, more than ever, my words are a true reflection of my mind. 'The End Is Always The Beginning' is a true statement, in every aspect of life, it all depends on the individual perspective. The video was created by Victor Hugo-Borges and is another surreal snippet into Ascension Of The Watchers. The meaning is unique for every listener and viewer. There is no incorrect analysis. Take what you will from it. For me, this is the beginning of a whole new chapter, and this song validates my personal strength to truly understand what it means to move forward."

The recording is available on CD, two limited vinyl formats and through all major digital outlets. Order on CD and vinyl here,or via streaming platforms here.

Tracklisting:

Ghost HeartThe End Is Always The BeginningApocryphaA Wolf InterludeHonoreeStormcrowCygnus AeonKey To The CosmosBells Of PerditionWanderersSign Your Name

Ghost Heart video:

Ascension Of The Watchers lineup:

Burton C. Bell - vocals and guitarJohn Bechdel - keyboardsJayce Lewis - drums, backing vocals and programming

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ASCENSION OF THE WATCHERS Featuring Former FEAR FACTORY Vocalist BURTON C. BELL Debuts Apocrypha Mini-Documentary - bravewords.com

The Arc of East Ascension celebrates giving season – Weekly Citizen

Staff Report| Gonzales Weekly Citizen

The Arc of East Ascension started giving Thanksgiving baskets from the Fellowship Center to its participants on Friday.

In celebration of the upcoming holiday, the Thanksgiving baskets included a turkey and all the trimmings for our participants in our Supported Independent living program to enjoy. The Arc of East Ascension values the gratitude and charity that encompass the holiday.

In lieu of the holiday season, The Arc of East encourages the public to extend a giving hand and support the nonprofit as they announce their participation in 225 Givess Giving Day.

Giving Dayis a 24-hour online fundraising event set to take place Tuesday. Early giving open Nov. 24.The event encourages the public to celebrate the important role that nonprofit organizations like The Arc of East Ascension play in strengthening the community.

The Arc of East Ascension is a nonprofit organization located in Gonzales, Louisiana. Its mission is to enhance the quality of life for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families through services and advocacy that support choice, independence and dignity.

For more information about donating or 225gives contact: Sharon Morris at Sharon.morris@thearcea.org or (225) 621-2005.

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The Arc of East Ascension celebrates giving season - Weekly Citizen

Prince Charles ascension to throne could increase dangers for monarchy – The News International

Talk of Prince Charles soon taking over the throne has been spiraling out of control.

However, with the Prince of Wales ascension to throne, there could emerge another danger that would over the monarchy.

During a chat with Express, Sandy Blair, national director at Australian Republic Movement, said that the ascension might not be a welcomed by a number of Commonwealth nations, including Australia.

"The notion of a 'King of Australia' is as foreign to Australians as the monarchy itself. His ascension will be a shocking wake up call for Australians - many of which are completely unaware the British Monarchy has any formal role in Australia's system of government, she said.

"Australians deserve to have an Australian, chosen by Australians as the head of our nation. When Charles succeeds Queen Elizabeth II, Australians will get no say at all about him becoming the head of our country, she went on to say.

"Charles has been a divisive and controversial figure in Australia and the UK for quite some time, and his ascension will bring about an unprecedented period of instability and uncertainty for the monarchy, she added.

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Prince Charles ascension to throne could increase dangers for monarchy - The News International

Game of the Week preview: Captain Shreve @ East Ascension – KTBS

High school playoffs during Thanksgiving week in Louisiana usually means it's the quarterfinals, but in the times of COVID it's just the first round. Captain Shreve head coach Bryant Sepulvado says that's fine with him.

"With everything we've gone through this year not knowing if we would have a football season, we were one of the lucky few that were able to get eight ball games in. We weren't full strength a lot of times. We had to band together as a team and just so proud of the kids to win enough ball games and have enough success to be to this point."

The Gators travel to Gonzales face East Ascension, who's one spot ahead of Shreve in the Power Ratings system. Sepulvado says one thing really stands out.

"They're huge. I mean they're big every year so I don't know what's in the water down there at EA. Haughton had them last year, Byrd had them this year so I had some film on them. Some guys we've played down south have played them and every time you turn on the film they're the biggest team on the field."

Going on the road presents it own set of challenges, but Shreve players Ckelby Givens and Williams Moore believe they can leave with a victory.

"Traveling that far going to East Ascension is going to be pretty difficult, but I think we got it."

"We're looking to make noise in the playoffs going pretty deep and making a run to the Dome."

Sepulvado: "I think our speed is going to be an advantage this game. I think in some areas we're a lot faster than they are, but they're a lot bigger than us so it's going to be a classic matchup between size and speed so if we come out and execute and play our ball game I like our chances."

See if the Gators can advance to round two in another playoff edition of the Johnny's Pizza House Friday Football Fever Scores and Highlights Show. It kicks off at 10:30 on KPXJ-CW 21.

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Game of the Week preview: Captain Shreve @ East Ascension - KTBS

Ascension Parish Public Schools recognizes 2020-21 Students of the Year – BRProud.com

DONALDSONVILLE, La. (BRPROUD) We now know the 2020-21 Students of the Year in Ascension Parish.

Ascension Parish Public Schools released a list of winners in fifth, eighth, and twelfth grades.

The 2020-21 Students of the Year are listed below:

Primary Students

FIFTH GRADE STUDENTS OF THE YEAR

Middle Students

EIGHTH GRADE STUDENTS OF THE YEAR

High School Students

TWELFTH GRADE STUDENTS OF THE YEAR

It is always special when we can recognize and celebrate student accomplishments! We are so fortunate to enjoy working with a sea of outstanding students throughout Ascensions schools, so being selected a Student of the Year in Ascension among so many superb students is truly a special honor and deserves loud applause, said Superintendent David Alexander. This prestigious recognition includes more than just academic accomplishments. It includes a students participation in school activities, community service, their commitment to pursuing excellence in every area of their life as well as their commitment to making life better for those around them. Congratulations to these students and their families! This will not be the last time you see their names for their accomplishments or their contribution to others.

The accomplishments of these students will be acknowledged early next year.

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Ascension Parish Public Schools recognizes 2020-21 Students of the Year - BRProud.com

Nonprofit encourages the community to create fundraising pages – The Advocate

The Arc of East Ascension is set to participate in 225 GIVES, a platform that aims to connect the public to support nonprofit organizations.

The organization recognizes the role that nonprofits play in strengthening the community, according to a news release. Giving Day is a 24-hour online fundraiser set to take place Tuesday, Dec. 1, with an early donation period open on Tuesday, Nov. 24.

The Arc of East Ascension is asking and encouraging the community to create a fundraising page on behalf of the nonprofit. A fundraising page will challenge friends, family and others to raise money for The Arc of East Ascension through an individual's page.

To create a fundraising page, visit 225gives.org and search for The Arc of East Ascension. Click on the FUNDRAISE button. The website will walk you through the additional steps. The Arc of East Ascension is hopeful that the community will help generate support for the nonprofit.

The Arc of East Ascension is a Gonzales-based nonprofit with a mission is to enhance the quality of life for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families through services and advocacy that support choice, independence and dignity.

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Nonprofit encourages the community to create fundraising pages - The Advocate

East Ascension uses defense, big plays to power its way by Captain Shreve 28-14 – The Advocate

GONZALESThe game started 30 minutes late because of lightning. Then 16th-seeded East Ascension created enough of a storm of its own, turning seven turnovers and some big plays into a 28-14 victory over No. 17 Captain Shreve.

I felt like we had some chances to make it a three-score game and couldnt capitalize, EAHS coach Darnell Lee said. We had a TD called back on a penalty. But our defense made plays all night and that put us in position to win.

The Spartans (5-3) intercepted Captain Shreve quarterback Ashton Martin five times and recovered two fumbles in the first-round Class 5A playoff game played Friday night at Spartan Stadium.

Martin, who returned from two weeks of COVID-19 quarantine this week, completed just 11 of 29 passes for 167 yards for the Gators (5-4). Kendrick Broussard had two of the five interceptions for EAHS, which travels to face defending Class 5A champion Acadiana (7-1), the No. 1 seed, for next weeks regional round.

Troy Dunn completed 6 of 13 passes for 154 yards and two TDs for East Ascension, which also got 76 yards on 10 carries from running back Walter Samuel.

The teams traded possessions throughout the first quarter. But a Spartan fumble on the final play of the first quarter set up the first score. The Gators took a 7-0 lead on the second play of the second quarter when Ckelby Givens scored on a 1-yard run.

EAHS countered quickly. A 46-yard run by Samuel set up a Kendall Washingtons 3-yard TD run that tied it at 7-7 with 8:48 remaining in the first half.

Captain Shreve won the battle of field position during the first period. East Ascension flipped the field and scoreboard when Rionte Jones intercepted a Martin screen pass and returned it 33 yards for a go-ahead TD 33 seconds later.

It was not a flawless first half by the Spartans, who lost three fumbles and had six turnovers on the night. But they countered the miscues with two interceptions and the biggest offensive play of the half.

Troy Dunns 60-yard TD pass to a wide open Zhavier Jupiter at the 2:14 mark gave EAHS a 21-7 halftime lead. The Gators did not go away quietly. EAHS limited running back Samtavious Smith to 70 yards rushing.

However, it was Smith who caught a 43-yard TD pass from Martin that got Captain Shreve within seven at 21-14 with 7:32 to go in the third quarter. On a night where EAHS seemed to read Martins passes well, the ball just cleared the outstretched hand a defender.

Four minutes later, Dunn countered with a 35-yard scoring pass to Jordan Goodlow, making it 28-14. The Spartans had a TD run by Jupiter called back by a penalty and also lost a fumble in the red in the final period. But it did not matter.

The main goal of this season was to give our seniors as many games as possible, EAHS Lee said. That is the biggest thing about this win.

"Sure, we have to play Acadiana and they are the defending champions. But in a year like this, why not? I am so happy for these guys.

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East Ascension uses defense, big plays to power its way by Captain Shreve 28-14 - The Advocate

In India, a Clash of Digital Innovation and Internet Censorship – CoinDesk – Coindesk

Earlier this month, reacting to a decision by Indias highest court, prominent comedian Kunal Kamra tweeted that Indias Supreme Court is the most Supreme joke of this country.

The following day, local media reported that Attorney General K. K. Venugopal greenlighted court proceedings against the comedian, based on a few tweets criticizing the Supreme Court. The charge levied against him: contempt of court. Kamra has refused to apologize for his tweets and local reports indicate proceedings have yet to begin.

This should be shocking, but unfortunately its not. In India, speaking out on the Internet can be dangerous. Kamra told CoinDesk that public figures can receive threats on social media, noting that users leaked his phone number on Twitter multiple times. They dox people, they release information sometimes. Thats very normal, Kamra said.

With over 700 million internet users, Indias booming digital market collides with internet censorship or outright bans.

A similar dynamic plays out in Indias crypto market. Trade on Indian crypto exchanges exploded earlier this year after the Supreme Court ruled to reverse the decision by the countrys central bank (RBI) to ban local financial institutions from providing services to crypto firms. Now, just a few months later, the federal cabinet is reportedly discussing another potential ban.

While regulators havent clarified their stance on digital assets, they have expressed concern over the fiscal and monetary policy implications of fintech applications, including distributed ledger technology (DLT). Regulators have continued to push for local control over fintech payment platforms like WhatsApp Pay, which received approval from the Indian government only after owner Facebook agreed to store user data locally in India and not offshore.

This is part of a much broader trend. Kamras case is the latest in a series of targeted attacks on internet users in the country. In a 2019 report, Freedom House warned internet freedom in India had declined for the fourth year in a row due to increasing arrests for online activity and frequent internet shutdowns.

Localized internet shutdowns, restrictions on certain content (like pornography) and wholesale bans on select mobile applications are some of the more visible ways in which the Indian government has sought to control the internet. According to a report by local media outlet Mint, in 2017 and 2018 at least 50 individuals were arrested for comments made on social media, largely for posts considered offensive to politicians.

Digital India

Indias digital ecosystems, from cloud computing to digital payments, are expanding. According to a report by consulting firm McKinsey, core sectors of the digital economy could double their contribution to Indias GDP by 2025, adding up to $435 billion.

On Nov. 19, in his inaugural address at the Bengaluru Tech Summit, Indias Prime Minister Narendra Modi said his administrations governance model is technology first citing his Digital India initiative that launched five years ago.

Digital India has become a way of life, particularly for the poor, marginalized and for those in government, Prime Minister Modi said.

Yet, since 2014, government authorities have enforced about 450 regional internet shutdowns, with 134 in 2018 alone, according to a local internet shutdown tracker.

Reasons for the crackdowns range from anticipated public unrest to curbing malpractice in school examinations. This blunt-force approach can also lead to monetary loss for businesses and the disruption of web-based services.

If there is no internet, there is no cryptocurrency, there is no blockchain, there is no technology. The internet is the crux.

The longest internet shutdown ever recorded in a democracy was implemented by the Indian government in the disputed Kashmir region after the Modi government revoked the states semi-autonomous status in August 2019.

Indian officials justified the extended ban by calling it a necessary move to curb anticipated unrest that might have followed the administrative decision. While services were gradually restored, the blackout lasted over seven months and disrupted some 12 million peoples access to the internet.

Qazi Zaid, chief editor of Free Press Kashmir (FPK), a local media outlet, said his newsroom had to be shuttered during the blackout. The primarily online publication halted all coverage and risked losing its online readership of over 300,000 people, Zaid told CoinDesk.

When phone lines were restored, reporters called each other and dictated stories in an attempt to type and publish them, he added.

But then we also realized that our audience is not there, Zaid said.

While FPK managed to gradually come back online in May this year, the blackout had hit local businesses and dried up advertising revenue, Zaid said. He stressed that media censorship in Kashmir hasnt changed so much after last years decision to revoke the regions special status but it may have been further formalized under recent amendments to digital media policy, giving the government regulatory control over digital news and content providers.

Loopholes

When the Indian government wants to shut the internet down, it sometimes invokes a 135-year-old law: the Indian Telegraph Act of 1885. The act was created by the British rulers in colonial India to curb uprisings, Indian journalist Sonia Faleiro said in a recent MIT Technology Review podcast. The law gives the government authority over all forms of electronic communications (in 1885 that meant telegrams) in the event of a public emergency.

In 2017, the law was amended to specify that it allowed the temporary suspension of telecom services, Faleiro said.

One of the many problems with the law, Faleiro added, was it did not specify or define public emergency, thus allowing the government to label any incident as such and shut down communications.

Additionally, a controversial 2008 amendment to The Information Technology Act of 2000, Section 66A, allowed the government to imprison any person sending messages deemed offensive, menacing, false or causing annoyance through any electronic communications device. Using this law, in 2012 the government arrested two women for Facebook posts critical of the government.

In 2015, the Supreme Court of India shot down Section 66A, calling it unconstitutional. However, arrests over social media activity continued: In 2016, a Kashmiri man was charged with sedition for liking and sharing anti-India posts on Facebook.

The security argument

Amid a tense border standoff with China earlier this year, Indias government banned 60 China-based apps, including the popular social media platform Tik Tok.

When border tensions continued, leading to an Indian soldier reportedly being killed by a Chinese landmine, the Indian government restricted 118 more mobile applications from Chinese tech companies in September 2020.

The governments statement alleged it had received several reports of these applications misusing user data and surreptitiously transmitting it to servers located outside India.

Described as a move to ensure safety, security and sovereignty of Indian cyberspace in the governments September statement, the restrictions took aim at apps from WeChat, Baidu, Alipay and the popular mobile game PlayerUnknowns Battlegrounds (PUBG), which had over 33 million active users in India at the time.

While the restrictions could have been a knee-jerk reaction to a geopolitical situation that has since cooled down, concerns about the integrity of user data and government surveillance on the internet have persisted as India works on the proposed Personal Data Protection Bill (2019).

According to Anirudh Burman, associate fellow at Carnegie India, the draft law, introduced in December 2019, deploys an approach quite similar to the European Unions General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Burman explained that although both frameworks are based on a user-consent model, the Indian bill limits data storage outside the countrys borders and also creates compliance requirements that could burden small enterprises.

If there is a medium or small enterprise firm going to get a data protection officer or get an annual data protection audit, its a significant cost, Burman said.

The draft laws requirement to store certain types of data locally or always have a copy of it available on local servers has also stoked fears of increased state surveillance, according to a report by DW. Requiring platforms to store data locally could also afford easier access to local law enforcement which, if stored off-shore, would be subject to a different set of laws.

U.S. law permits the disclosure only of non-content data. So if you want detailed subscriber information or content data, then you have to go through the due process, said Burman. Content data here refers to data, processed or unprocessed, that can convey the substance of a communication.

The draft bill also provides for the creation of a dedicated body, the Data Protection Authority of India, to ensure compliance with the law. A portion of the legislation also grants the federal government the power to exempt any agency of Government from application of the Act, thereby creating broad loopholes for the state to duck requirements levied on private enterprises.

The draft law, Indias first attempt at creating a digital privacy and data management framework at the national level, is currently before a joint parliamentary committee. The committee also recently held discussions on law with representatives from companies including Amazon, Twitter, Mastercard, Visa and PayPal.

Reported to be in the final stages of discussion, the committee is expected to file its recommendations on the bill before the next session of parliament begins.

Sisyphus' boulder

Despite the Indian governments efforts to exercise control over cyberspace, internet policing can only go so far.

Vikram Subburaj and Arjun Vijay launched Indian crypto exchange Giottus in 2018, just a week after the central bank of India published a circular that banned crypto firms from having bank accounts. Confronted by the ban, they pivoted to setting up a peer-to-peer exchange.

In March 2020, the Supreme Court of India overruled the central bank circular and, according to the two founders, Giottus has enjoyed record growth in the last six months.

We have been growing at a phenomenal rate of 400% YTD and have been clocking a monthly trade volume of $33 million, Subburaj told CoinDesk via email.

Vijay doesnt believe internet censorship can stop web-based services from continuing to grow in India.

Censorship doesnt work with respect to the internet. With VPN and sorts, it just makes it more difficult for you to access something, but it doesnt prevent someone who wants to access it, Vijay told CoinDesk.

Even in Kashmir, where students had to make do with government-imposed low-speed internet for their online classes during the coronavirus pandemic, people found workarounds. According to an Al Jazeera report, two applications (Filo and Wise) created by educators Mubeen Masudi and Imbesat Ahmad helped students access the Internet.

Indias government seems to understand the Internet is essential for the countrys growth. While authorities sometimes lean toward stringent controls, the government will not completely stamp out digital innovation. This is good news for the crypto industry.

As Neeraj Khandelwal, co-founder of local crypto exchange CoinDCX, told CoinDesk, If there is no internet, there is no cryptocurrency, there is no blockchain, there is no technology. The internet is the crux.

Excerpt from:

In India, a Clash of Digital Innovation and Internet Censorship - CoinDesk - Coindesk