THE HISPANIC BAR ASSOCIATION OF NEW JERSEY DENOUNCES THE ATTACK AGAINST JUDGE ESTHER SALAS AND HER FAMILY AS A HATE CRIME – InsiderNJ

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THE HISPANIC BAR ASSOCIATION OF NEW JERSEY DENOUNCES THE ATTACKAGAINST JUDGE ESTHER SALAS AND HER FAMILY AS A HATE CRIME

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 24, 2020

The Hispanic Bar Association of New Jersey (HBA-NJ) denounces the attack on Judge Esther Salas and her family as a hate crime based on race and sex. As a result of this senseless act of violence, Judge Salas and her husband, Mark Anderl, tragically lost their only child, Daniel Anderl, and Mark was critically injured. We cannot stand by idly or silent when faced with a hate crime. This attack was intentional and highlights the very real fact that racism and discrimination are alive, even in our legal profession. We cannot and will not let discrimination and racism win. Let us all rise up, support, and lift Judge Salas and her family during this most devastating time through the power of prayer, advocacy against hate, and support from our community, stated HBA-NJ President Melinda Coln Cox.

As we mourn with Judge Salas and her family, we are reminded of the Judges strength, her leadership, and her illustrious career. Of Cuban and Mexican descent, Judge Salas achieved the American Dream through hard work, persistence and perseverance by embracing her culture, values and beliefs. She is a graduate of Rutgers Law School, a proud alumna of the Rutgers Minority Student Program, and served as the HBA-NJs 22nd President. Prior to joining the federal bench, Judge Salas was also dedicated to public service as a federal public defender. In 2006, Judge Salas became the first Latina U.S. Magistrate Judge in the District of New Jersey, and was subsequently nominated by then-President Barack Obama and elevated as a federal district judge in 2010. Again, continuing to blaze trails as the first Latina to serve in the position of federal district judge in the District of New Jersey, Judge Salas has an unwavering commitment to public service and ensures that justice is served each day in her courtroom.

She is always present for the HBA-NJ and our community and never hesitates to pay it forward and inspire countless others. Judge Salas works tirelessly to serve the legal community and community at large and to mentor the next generation of leaders and students. For her trailblazing career and contributions to the legal profession and community at large, Judge Salas has earned many accolades, awards and honors. Simply put, Judge Salass work ethic is unmatched and the New Jersey Federal Judiciary is blessed to have her on the bench, said President Cox.

President Cox concluded: Make no mistake that the HBA-NJ will be here to speak up and speak out against this abhorrent hate crime and the discriminatory actions against Judge Salas, women, and minority communities. There is no place for hate, racism or discrimination in this society and certainly not in our own legal profession. For now, however, we humbly request that everyone focus on the power of prayer, so that Judge Salas and her family may begin to heal and find peace.

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About The Hispanic Bar Association of New Jersey

Founded in 1980, the HBA-NJ is a 501(c)(6) nonprofit association that is comprised of attorneys, judges, law professors, law students, and other professionals who share a common interest in addressing the issues affecting Hispanics within the legal community.

The purpose of the Association is to serve the public interest: (i) by cultivating the art and science of jurisprudence, (ii) by advancing the standing of the legal profession, and (iii) by preserving high standards of integrity, honor, and professional courtesy among Hispanic lawyers.

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THE HISPANIC BAR ASSOCIATION OF NEW JERSEY DENOUNCES THE ATTACK AGAINST JUDGE ESTHER SALAS AND HER FAMILY AS A HATE CRIME - InsiderNJ

5 Ways to Change Your Life for the Better Right Now – Thrive Global

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At the start of the pandemic, when many of us were asked to stay home to stem the spread of the coronavirus, it seemed like a lot of people had one of two reactions. Some embraced sheltering in place, thinking to themselves, Why not use this big pause to do something I always wanted to do? whether that meant cleaning out the closets, picking up a home renovation project, or learning a new language. The rest of us including me had no such plans. My goal was never to come out of quarantine a different, more improved person. It felt like everything in the world was so overwhelming, and getting by day by day would be more than sufficient.

As time went on, however, many of us myself included came to realize that we cant help but evolve and come away changed by these times. But rather than let change happen to us, we can be intentional and actively participate in our transformation.

Some of us will make small but meaningful tweaks to our lives. Others will strive for a larger, sweeping reinvention. Theres no one right way to go about change; the important thing is to be deliberate and purposeful, and keep moving forward.

Heres whats been working for me, as I take this opportunity to contemplate who I want to be and how I want to evolve. Perhaps some of these techniques can help guide you on your own journey.

Revisit your goals. Im not a big fan of New Years resolutions not because I dont think theyre useful, but because I dont think we should limit ourselves to reassessing the trajectory of our lives just once a year. Why not do that right now? Consider this turbulent time in our nation both with the virus and the seismic reckoning over racism that were in the middle of an ideal opportunity to review what you want to accomplish and who you want to be.

Were living through something weve never lived through before, and that gives us all the chance to look at our lives from a different angle. Do your personal goals continue to make sense and resonate with your values? Have your priorities changed? If you realize you need to pivot some aspect of your life, make that choice now rather than waiting for next month, or next year.

Reflect on the events of this year. Are there things youve learned, or that youve been thinking about, that have troubled you? Were you bothered by the lack of human connection you felt during quarantine? Did you crave a more active lifestyle when you were spending most of your time at home? Reflecting on what didnt work for you can be a great tool to help you decide if you want to do something differently going forward.

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, I was pretty much on an airplane every week for work. These past few months have been the longest stretch of time Ive been home in approximately 10 years. I have discovered a new passion: I love being home. This experience has made me realize that I can be an effective leader, colleague, and influencer without getting on a plane each week. Its better for me and my well-being, for my family, and for the environment. Now that I have realized this, it excites me to think: How do I evolve to do all the things I want to do, but do them in a different way?

Use your own personal data to fuel change. Your emotions give you information in fact, I think of my emotions as data. During this time, whether because of COVID-19 or racial injustice or economic challenges or any other circumstance, what were the highs and lows of your emotions? And what can you learn from them?

Observing my emotions has highlighted the importance of finding joy in everyday moments. I always believed in it, but I was often too busy to fully recognize the joy in little things and hold onto that joy. Before, if my puppy did something funny, Id laugh in the moment then move onto whatever was next. Now I laugh and realize that she has no clue about whats going on in the world; she is just living in the moment and living her best life.

Educate yourself. Sometimes in order to create change personal as well as societal we need to commit to learning more about why things are the way they are. I am a passionate advocate for mental health awareness and access, and I am constantly looking for ways to further the conversation around mental health.

Lately, as the pervasiveness of systemic racism has become a larger conversation in our country, Ive spent a lot of time learning about the history of mental health in the Black community. Our mental health system needs to do better for everyone, and specifically for the communities of people of color. One way we can affect change is by elevating BIPOC voices in the mental health and well-being space. We cant allow their voices to go unheard anymore.

Recognize your power. Even the most personal changes we make can have a powerful ripple effect through communities and our society as a whole. Think about the collective impact we could have if we all made one small positive change and put that out in the world. If we all decided Im going to travel less for work, the impact that could have on the environment would be immense. Or if we each made the commitment to volunteer with an organization weve never worked with before, or committed to learning about racism and how we can all amplify BIPOC voices, the results could be transformative. Simply put, when we embark on positive change in our individual lives, everyone benefits.

Follow ushereand subscribeherefor all the latest news on how you can keep Thriving.

Stay up to date or catch-up on all our podcasts with Arianna Huffingtonhere.

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Middlebury athletic teams reckon with Whiteness and exclusivity – The Middlebury Campus

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Athletes on the track and field team participate in a virtual 4,000-meter race to raise awareness and to fundraise for the Know Your Rights Camp (KYRC) COVID-19 Relief Fund. (GRETA SIREK)

In the wake of nationwide protests against police brutality and systemic racism, universities across the country are confronting their own issues of racism and exclusivity. Varsity and club sports teams at Middlebury have begun to examine privilege and exclusion present within their own groups, and some are taking direct action to foster an environment welcoming to all members.

Varsity teams reexamine recruiting practices

An open letter penned by Middlebury athletes across sports and addressed to the athletics department petitions coaches and faculty to shift practices to better serve underrepresented communities, widen geographic areas of recruitment and deprioritize recruiting trips.

The letter asks that the athletics department move recruiting efforts online to better reach individuals who cannot afford to fund their own recruiting trips, and to shift away from prioritizing face-to-face recruitment interactions, which disenfranchise certain potential athletic recruits.

Quite simply, we are calling for the demographics of Middlebury student-athletes to better represent those of our country and world, the letter reads.

The Middlebury track and field team is taking the matter into its own hands, developing a new student-led recruiting strategy. Student-athletes will recruit high school track and field [and] cross country athletes from racially and socioeconomically diverse high schools located in the Middlebury students hometown, said track athletes Greta Sirek 22, Grace Kirkpatrick 22, and Kate Holly 21.

The swimming and diving team at Middlebury is exploring a similar strategy.

Swimmer Courtney Gantt 22 is among those who want to make Middleburys swim and dive team more diverse and inclusive. This could include expanding opportunities for virtual recruiting trips if people cannot afford to come to campus or bringing Middlebury admissions representatives to more [places] where there are high POC populations that may not know about Middlebury otherwise, Gantt said.

The swimming and diving team is predominantly White in fact, there were no Black athletes on the 20192020 roster. In addition to addressing recruitment tactics, the team is also working on educating themselves about race and swimming.

This meant organizing conversations concerning race and diversity in the sport with Director of Equity and Inclusion Renee Wells. Gantt emphasized the importance of engaging in these difficult conversations as a team in order to make a difference both in and out of the pool.

Our team is making a commitment to educate ourselves about the history of race and swimming and the different access that Black people have had to higher education, jobs, healthcare and all spheres of life, Gantt said.

The swim and dive team also plans to provide more swim lessons to low income families in the area to expand access to swimming.

The womens soccer team also reflected on their presence on campus as a majority White team by hosting team meetings with faculty to discuss anti-racism. We hope to make efforts to diversify our team and are looking into tangible ways we can do that throughout the summer and when we get back to campus, Ellie Bavier 22 said.

Club sports take on addressing Whiteness and exclusion

Although club sports teams often offer messages of inclusion in their recruiting and mission statements, many face similar issues of exclusion and discrimination.

Alyssa Brown 20 is a member of the Middlebury ultimate frisbee team. In Browns memory, there have been few to no Black players on the mens and womens frisbee teams. Brown attributes much of this lack of diversity to frisbees origins as a countercultural sport that has historically been played in majority White and wealthy communities.

The Pranksters have certainly come a long way since 2016 in terms of intentional learning and commitment to inclusivity, but students of color still do not feel welcome, so there is still a problem, Brown explained.

Because club sports do not receive the same funding as varsity sports on campus, teams often count on players and their families to make monetary contributions. Although Brown said the Pranksters have always tried to be inclusive by providing monetary aid for those who need it, the personal funds needed for team social activities can be hindering.

Being surrounded by a community that is interpreted as wealthy can generally be discouraging for low-income students, Brown said. This is also important to note because race and class are undeniably linked, although obviously its case by case.

Rugby has made steps to decrease the stress that can be created through these required finances. Freshmen are no longer required to pay the annual dues, and players have the option to rent equipment and gear instead of buying.

Megan Salmon 21 also spoke of issues with racist culture that the team had five years ago. There was an alum who had a position of power on the team who abused it and created a very racist and generally unwelcoming environment on the team, Salmon said.

In the years since, its my personal opinion that the womens rugby team has done an excellent job of turning around the culture by having meetings discussing the harm and racism, and gradually having more and more BIPOCs present in our leadership positions. Not intentional, but it helped.

Salmon and her teammate Lenny Gusman 21, both athletes of color, recently facilitated a two-hour dialogue about the history of the prison-industrial complex and policing and how they impact the team and team culture. They plan to continue the conversation by conducting similar meetings throughout the semester.

The Pranksters are also having conversations about race and inclusion. Since 2018, the team has held a community workshop each semester with the goal of creating a more inclusive team environment. At these meetings, leaders of the mens and womens teams discuss the barriers that are presented through the sport of frisbee and set expectations on how to lessen these obstacles.

Now, both the mens and womens frisbee teams are committed to adopting the format of these workshops to address issues of Whiteness and exclusivity within the sport.

The crew team is in the same boat. Issues of exclusivity on our team are evident from the overwhelming Whiteness of our membership, high rates of attrition of BIPOC from our team and the unacceptable acts of discrimination, notably microaggressions, that many of our rowers of color have experienced, captain Sophie Smith 21 said.

Smith explained that the team is planning on changing their financial aid and fundraising system, as well as increasing flexibility to the practice schedule to remove barriers for members who may need to work to support their education. The team is also considering adding new leadership positions, such as a novice captain position, to ensure these changes will be as impactful as possible.

Above all, athletes of color emphasised the necessity of a cultural shift in making long lasting changes.

I think its important to address the reason why POCs are not joining the teams and tackling them instead of just giving into the consensus that Middlebury club sports are just predominantly White and we cant do anything. Gusman said. Our team still has a long way to go just like everybody in this country, but I am proud of the active steps we have taken. Even if we think we are doing our best we can always do better.

Student athletes raise funds for the Black Lives Matter movement

Many sports teams have also stepped up to raise money and awareness in support of the Black Lives Matter movement, using social media as a means to spread information.

The womens swim and dive team organized a fundraising campaign, raising over $4,000 for the Rutland Area NAACP through a 48-hour sweat-a-thon. The team donated $1 for every minute of exercise logged and accepted donations through an online fund.

Gantt, along with fellow organizer Ellie Thompson 22, said the fundraiser helped generate conversations about the Black Lives Matter movement among family and community members, who shared posts, educational materials and photos of their workouts on social media. Although she considers the fundraiser successful in garnering support from friends, family and alumni, she isnt satisfied yet.

We know that it is not enough to raise money, Gantt said. We must continue the conversation and do more.

The women and mens varsity squash teams fundraised a total of $12,260 for the Vermont branch of the ACLUs Smart Justice Campaign. The teams chose to support a more local organization to become more engaged with the problems of [their] wider community and to spread awareness about the prevalence of racism in Vermont, according to their official statement. The teams held several discussions over Zoom and shared their learnings with friends, family, alumni and Instagram followers via an informational sheet as part of their fundraising efforts.

The squash program will continue their commitment to antiracism by appointing three Social Justice representatives who will lead conversations to ensure awareness of systemic racism. The teams also plan on designating one match each season as an annual fundraiser for a cause related to Black Lives Matter, according to their latest statement.

The womens soccer team raised over $2,300 to donate to Bryan Stevensons Equal Justice Initiative (EJI), a non-profit organization providing legal representation for prisoners who have been wrongfully convicted, unfairly sentenced or abused in jail. Bavier said the team elected to support an organization that actively works to end mass incarceration and inspire lasting change within the criminal justice system.

We appreciated the tangible legal steps implemented to create change, and we found their story incredibly compelling, Bavier said.

The track and field team arranged a virtual 4,000-meter race on July 19 to collect money for the Know Your Rights Camp (KYRC) COVID-19 Relief Fund. Coordinated by Sirek, Kirkpatrick and Holly, the fundraiser supports communities of color that have been disproportionately affected by the coronavirus outbreak.

The three organizers explained that they chose the KYRC fund, which was founded by Colin Kaepernick in 2016, for its mission to engender social and economic change in Brown and Black communities across America. So far, the team has collected over $1,500 and expects more donations as the summer continues.

Several club sports teams have also joined the fundraising effort to support the Black Lives Matter movement within the sports arena and beyond.

Coordinated by Salmon, Gusman and teammate Betsy Romans 23, womens rugby hosted a fundraising campaign to support BLD PWR, a Black-run nonprofit organization dedicated to training a more diverse community of entertainers and athletes. The team challenges other clubs to do the same, without disclosing the amount of money raised to avoid performativity.

We believe that group silence contributes to a lack of accountability among individuals which justifies neutrality and inaction thus serving the agenda of the oppressor, the teams social media post stated. For this reason, we challenge other Middlebury organizations to take the route of action rather than just words.

Similarly, Middleburys ultimate frisbee team published a statement of their unequivocal support for the Black Lives Matter movement, outlining a course of action for implementing change in our communities.

The Pranksters also raised $4,818 to split between the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, the Marsha P. Johnson Institute, Black Lives Matter of Greater Burlington and Ultimate Impact through donations from team members, family, friends and alumni.

The sailing team recently collected funds to support Campaign Zero, an organization dedicated to researching policy-based solutions for ending police brutality and urging other NEISA (New England Intercollegiate Sailing Association) to take action. Middleburys sailing team is also part of NEISAs Equity and Inclusion Committee, which elects one representative from each team in the league to discuss issues of exclusivity within the sport of sailing.

Middleburys crew team gathered monetary donations for three organizations, including the NAACP, National Bail Out and Row New York, which provides academic and athletic support for youth, regardless of background or rowing ability.

While team fundraising campaigns have helped spread awareness and raise funds to support anti-racist organizations, each team recognizes that the pocketbook itself is not powerful enough to create permanent change.

We are hopeful that there will be changes at an institutional level to do more to bring prospective POC athletes to Middlebury and increase teams diversity, Gantt said. We must increase access to our school and our sport so that more Black leaders can emerge and contribute their voice to the national conversation.

Copy Editor Ideal Dowling 22 contributed reporting.

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Middlebury athletic teams reckon with Whiteness and exclusivity - The Middlebury Campus

Nasas Perseverance rover heads to Mars to look for evidence of ancient life – Belfast Telegraph

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Nasas new car-sized robotic spacecraft is on its way to Mars in a mission to search for evidence of ancient life.

he Perseverance rover successfully blasted off from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on Thursday at 12.50pm UK time aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket despite a 4.2-magnitude earthquake that shook southern California just 20 minutes before departure.

It is the third mission heading to the Red Planet this month after launches by the UAE and China.

The six-wheeled rover will now travel 314 million miles over a period of nearly seven months before attempting to land on a 31-mile crater named Jezero.

Landing on Mars is notoriously difficult because of its thin and dynamic atmosphere a feat that has been described as seven minutes of terror.

Nasa has succeeded in getting a only handful of functioning probes and rovers onto the Martian surface and more than half of the spacecraft sent there have either blown up or crashed into the surface.

Just before lift-off, Nasa administrator Jim Bridenstine said: Theres a reason we call the robot Perseverance because going to Mars is hard.

It is always hard. Its never been easy. In this case, its harder than ever before because were doing it in the midst of a pandemic.

Satellite images suggest Jezero, located on the western edge of Isidis Planitia a giant impact basin just north of the Martian equator, may have been a lake more than 3.5 billion years ago, when Mars was warmer and wetter.

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Scientists believe evidence of microbial life could be preserved in the clay and muddy rocks in the crater, if it ever existed on the planet.

Along with several sophisticated instruments that will gather information about Mars geology, atmosphere, and environmental conditions, the rover is also carrying a small 1.8kg helicopter.

Called Ingenuity, the copter will fly short distances and will mark the first attempt at powered, controlled flight on another planet.

If successful, it could lead to more flying probes on other planets.

Perseverance will also trial technologies to help astronauts make future expeditions to Mars.

One such device includes an instrument, called Moxie, that will practise making oxygen from the planets atmosphere which is mostly made up of carbon dioxide.

Meanwhile, scientists in the UK will help Perseverance select the Martian samples to be brought back to Earth.

Researchers at Imperial College London and the Natural History Museum will identify samples that could contain evidence of past life and study the mineralogy and geochemistry of the different rocks found in the crater.

Professor Mark Sephton, an astrobiologist at Imperial, said: I hope that the samples we select and return will help current and future generations of scientists answer the question of whether there was ever life on the Red Planet.

With one carefully chosen sample from Mars, we could discover that the history of life on the Earth is not unique in the Universe.

Sue Horne, head of space exploration at the UK Space Agency, told the PA news agency: We will continue to explore the heavens so long as the moon, Mars and the myriad celestial bodies beyond spark fires in our curiosity and if Perseverance helps us find life on Mars, it will be a defining moment for humankind.

The UK Space Agency is supporting these endeavours to explore our solar system with leading-edge robotics, and it is a credit to our expertise in the UK that researchers from both Imperial College London and the Natural History Museum are part of the international crack team working on this Nasa mission.

It is also a busy week for Nasa, as the US space agency gears up to welcome two astronauts home as they attempt a splashdown off the Florida coast on Sunday.

Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley will arrive in the Crew Dragon spacecraft, called Endeavour, which was designed and built by SpaceX.

The duo will close out a mission that was designed to test SpaceXs human spaceflight system, including launch, docking, splashdown, and recovery operations, Nasa said.

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Watch live: NASA’s most advanced rover heads to Mars – UPI News

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ORLANDO, Fla., July 30 (UPI) -- NASA launched the most advanced Mars rover yet -- with technology and tools to find signs of life on the Red Planet -- on Thursday morning from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

The spacecraft that carries the Perseverance rover, which also is ferrying the first helicopter designed to fly on another planet, separated from its rocket just under an hour after the launch at 7:50 a.m. EDT.

The Atlas V rocket launched with "2.3 million pounds of thrust to take aim at Mars" and headed toward Mars at over 25,000 miles per hour, according to NASA and launch company United Launch Alliance.

NASA's rover now joins the United Arab Emirates' Hope orbiter and China's Tianwen-1 probe, which also includes a rover, on the trip to Mars this summer.

As with the other two missions, Thursday's launch begins a seven-month, 300-million mile journey that will end at Mars in February. NASA predicts a Feb. 18 landing on Mars.

The mission, like any trip to Mars, comes with a lot of risks, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said in a press conference in Florida on Wednesday.

NASA overcame workplace restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic to make a deadline for launching this summer while Mars was close to the Earth's orbit.

The biggest risk will take place when the spacecraft enters the Mars atmosphere robotically.

"It's without question, a challenge. I mean we, there's no other way to put it, and it's not easy. ... That being said, we know how to land on Mars. We've done it eight times already," Bridenstine said.

This year's mission to Mars builds on the past discoveries made by rovers such as Spirit, Opportunity and Curiosity, which led NASA to conclude that conditions once existed to support life there.

"Mars 2020 is without question the most advanced mission to Mars, including the two other missions headed there this year from China and the United Arab Emirates," said Raymond Arvidson, professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis.

Arvidson has been involved in every Mars mission since Viking 1 landed on the Red Planet in 1976.

"The instruments on board are unmatched, and the planned return of Martian soil and rock samples is also historic," Arvidson said.

The mission's primary goal is to study rocks at or just below the surface for signs that life existed, or still exists, on Mars, and to understand its geology better.

The rover also will collect rock samples for return to Earth during a future mission, but NASA said that could take 10 years to accomplish.

NASA announced the Mars 2020 rover mission in 2012, at an estimated cost of $1.5 billion, but the budget has swelled to $2.46 billion. Work on components started in 2017, and construction of the rover started to stream over a live webcam in June 2019.

The Atlas rocket carrying the rover had four solid-rocket strap-on boosters in addition to the main, first-stage booster. That is the same configuration used to launch NASA's Curiosity rover to Mars in 2011.

Mars 2020 and the Perseverance rover are scheduled to land at the large Jezero Crater amid that planet's Northern Lowlands. Scientists believe that once was home to a river delta.

The rover will select targets for rock samples, drive and operate for at least one Mars year, which is about two Earth years.

Besides its science and imaging instruments, the Perseverance rover also carries the Ingenuity helicopter strapped to its underside. The aircraft is powered by lithium-ion batteries that can recharge via solar panels.

Ingenuity is made up of a box carrying cameras and instruments, four spindly landing legs and two counter-rotating rotors. The rover will film the helicopter as it flies.

NASA describes Ingenuity as primarily an experiment to prove it can fly an aircraft on another planet and record images.

Ingenuity is considered a demonstration of a new technology, and NASA believes it could help to identify interesting targets for future Mars exploration. The helicopter's first flight is scheduled for two months after the rover lands.

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Sony Vision-S Heads Home to Tokyo for Further Evolution – autoevolution

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The Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas managed quite fast to steal the red carpet from underneath the classic North American International Auto Show in Detroit. And did it so well that NAIAS organizers moved the date while technology companies started building cars. And by that we mean Sony, not your garage-based autonomous vehicle startup. It was a surprise indeed, especially since the Vision-S is a fully functioning electric vehicle prototype.

But Sonys conglomerate arm stretches so far out in modern times it was no hustle for them to design and build in complete silence a technology development prototype car. The Vision-S concept is like a moving display for all of Sonys mobility-related technologies, from ADAS (advanced driving assistance systems) features to luxury audio specifications and even movies.

The company amazed Las Vegas CES attendees with novelties such as the 360 Reality Audio speakers that were built into each seat, AI plus 5G and cloud technologies, not to mention the 33 sensors used for that advanced autonomous feature. We, on the other hand, were stunned to find out that while Sony has no intention to put a Vision-S car into series production, the prototype is fully functional.

This is because Sony was smart enough to partner with automotive component manufacturers such as Magna, Continental or Bosch. More so, the EV packs two electric motors good for 200 kW, AWD and an air suspension. With estimated performance ratings of 0-100 kph (62 mph) in 4.8 seconds and a 240 kph (149 mph) top speed, we could easily see it compete against a Tesla.

The company has revealed the Vision-S is visiting yet another region of Earth. After it left North America the prototype first went to Magna Steyrs Graz facility in Austria for additional technical modifications in preparations for test drives on public roads. Now the Japanese concept is finally reaching the Land of the Rising Sun.

Thus, it has been transported to Sonys headquarters in Tokyo for further development of the sensing and audio technologies. This is also where the aforementioned public trials will take place, all set to start before the end of the current fiscal year. Are we getting mixed signals right here or what?!

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Mid-South officials pleased with progress being made in fight against COVID-19 – WREG NewsChannel 3

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MEMPHIS, Tenn. As Tennessee is declared by a White House task force as being in the red zone due to increasing virus diagnoses per capita, Mid-South officials said progress is being made in the fight against COVID-19 by masking up.

We acted early, Shelby County Commissioner Van Turner said. Weve been more adamant about protecting the citizens of Shelby County so we see the results.

A masking study out this week shows were doing a better job at it, City Councilman Dr. Jeff Warren said. We have to keep at it, and we cant let down our guard.

The health department said there have been more than 20,000 total cases, more than 360 new cases as of Wednesday and a total of 262 deaths.

But will the Shelby County COVID-19 cases trigger the state to open the alternate care facility at the former Commercial Appeal building?

The thing to remember is right now with the numbers that we have, we dont need that hospital, Dr. Warren said. If we continue to see a decrease in the rate of increase, we slow our rate of increase.

The rate of increase can be slowed by wearing face masks, proper hand washing and social distancing to avoid talk of opening an alternate care hospitals.

If we do this right, we wont need a second one, and we may not even need the first one, and if we do this wrong, we may need a second, third and fourth one, Warren said. We dont want to go there because that means people are dying left and right.

Long before the Commercial Appeal site, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the state of Tennessee began retrofitting the Gateway shopping center on Jackson Avenue until plans stalled.

The community I think didnt want a lot sick people there, and I think the C.A. is a much better position because its in a more industrial area, Dr. Warren said.

I can understand that being an issue, but its not like the pandemic or virus will spread because that facility is near you, Turner said.

To avoid more hospitals opening up, city leaders say to mask up.

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Holocaust restitution : progress too slow overall with regard to provenance research and return of Nazi-confiscated and looted art, says US State…

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Its been only 75 years since the Nazi crematoria have cooled, and yet, in our generation, we are witnessing an appalling rise of anti-Semitism throughout the world, said Elan Carr, US Special Envoy to Monitot and Combat Antisemitism, during a U.S. State Department briefing that mainly addressed Holocaust restitution issues in several countries.

U.S. Special Envoy for Holocaust Issues Cherrie Daniels spoke on the public release of the JUST Act report, which assess progress on the restitution or compensation for property wrongfully seized during the Holocaust.

The JUST Act was passed in 2017 with overwhelming bipartisan support and signed into law by President Trump in May of 2018. The law requires the department to submit a report to Congress on progress countries have made in implementing the commitments they undertook when they endorsed the 2009 Terezin Declaration on Holocaust Era Assets.

The Terezin Declaration called for fair and comprehensive claims processes that do not discriminate based on citizenship or residency.

The report released by the State Department notes that progress has been too slow overall with regard to provenance research and return of Nazi-confiscated and looted art.

As we mark the 75th anniversary of the end of the Holocaust, the legacy of the Nazis mass looting remains in too many places and largely unaddressed, said U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in a forward to the JUST Act report. Given the advanced age of Holocaust survivors, many of whom live in poverty, the findings of this report serve as a reminder that countries must act with a greater sense of urgency to provide restitution or compensation for the property wrongfully seized from victims of the Holocaust and other victims of Nazi persecution.

The report cited bureaucratic inertia for much of the problem that has persisted for generations and in some cases been exacerbated by a rise in anti-Semitic sentiment throughout Europe.

The State Department called out Bosnia, Belarus, Ukraine and particularly Poland for not having acted on restitution claims.

Responding to questions from reporters, Cherrie Daniels in particular addressed the case of Poland which has shown its reluctance to give reparations to Holocaust victims. ,

We are still having discussions with Poland. Poland is a sovereign country. They committed to this Terezin Declaration. They committed to the principles. They committed in doing so that they would take action on all of the areas that I mentioned at the beginning, he said.

The report notes that Poland has made a serious commitment to Holocaust commemoration, that Polands work on Holocaust commemoration can be a guidepost to others, and that if we are to if we want to prevent such another atrocity, we have to remember the lessons of the Holocaust and combat historical revisionism as well as anti-Semitism, Brown said. .

The report, he said, notes that Poland provides financial support to Holocaust survivors from Poland wherever they reside in the world in the form of a monthly pension equivalent to that given to pensioners who live in Poland, and that sets a positive example for other countries.

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Holocaust restitution : progress too slow overall with regard to provenance research and return of Nazi-confiscated and looted art, says US State...

Governor Jim Justice and the Progress of Man – JD Supra

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On Monday, Judge David Faber found Bluestone Coal Corporation liable for 1,904 days of violations of its discharge permit at the Red Fox Surface Mine. All of the violations related to excessive discharges of selenium. Bluestones defense, rejected for a second time by Judge Faber, was that the existence of a consent decree precluded the separate action for enforcement of the permit. However, the permit and its specific discharge limit for selenium only came into effect after the entry of the consent decree.

Aside from the legal niceties of the law of diligent prosecution, to accumulate 1,904 days of violation after having entered into a consent decree certainly suggests a less than vigorous effort by Bluestone Coal to come into compliance with the CWA. What really made this decision newsworthy, however, was that Bluestone Coals President is none other than Jim Justice, the Governor of West Virginia. (And dont ask me how it is that Governor Justice remains President of Bluestone Coal; all I know is that both the Governors web site and Dun & Bradstreet both seem to think that such is the case.)

For some strange reason, while the Governors web page highlights all the great things hes done for his state, it does not mention poisoning the states waters through the discharge of excess selenium.

Im not sure that this decision would have prompted a post from me, had it not been for the recent death of the great John Prine, who wrote these immortal words:

Then the coal company came with the worlds largest shovelAnd they tortured the timber and stripped all the landWell, they dug for their coal till the land was forsakenThen they wrote it all down as the progress of man.

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Governor Jim Justice and the Progress of Man - JD Supra

Talisman Plastics continues to progress with five year investment project – Medical Plastics News

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Malvern-based injection moulding company, Talisman Plastics, continues its five year-long series of investments which aims to increase capacity, efficiency, and performance of the plant through newer and more advanced machinery.

Talisman Plastics is currently two years into the five year-long series of investments. The company are bringing in brand new machines to the factory floor, while also decommissioning older models. This is to boost product precision, save energy, and reduce time lost to maintenance.

At the start of the investment programme, Talisman Plastics had 32 machines in its factory inventory, with a target to reduce this number over five years to 24. These 24 machines will run for longer times, which should increase overall productivity and capacity. Talisman Plastics have reported that two years into the programme they have already reduced the number of machines to 27, and Overall Equipment Efficiency (OEE) and production capacity has significantly improved following this.

Additionally, during lower production periods as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, Talisman Plastics reorganised the shop floor in an attempt to improve flow rates.

Shaun Champion, managing director of Talisman Plastics, said: This is a key part of our strategy, combined with reducing the number of tool changes. Two years ago, we averaged 55 tool changes per week, we are now down to an average of 28. This is compounded by running fewer machines for longer, meaning over 60-man hours a week have been saved in setter and maintenance time.

Investing in more advanced moulding equipment and having less downtime has already provided savings. Proof of the progress made is in a 12% saving in energy costs, despite a 14% increase in the actual number of days worked during the first half of 2020.

This, combined with a greater level of flexibility in terms of machine options, means we are well placed to provide British manufacturing at a competitive price.

The most recent machine to be added is a 160-tonne installation incorporating a robot and printer, providing a work cell capable of 24/7 continuous production at a cost of 130k.

Champion added: The lower work volumes during Covid-19 actually gave us a convenient window to press on with a leaner, smarter business approach. We had some resource freed up which meant we were able to reconfigure the machine layout. In total nine machines were moved, creating more efficient work processes and upping standards across the business.

We have further investment planned for 2021 to bring in more new machines. We have already implemented software which facilitates a higher degree of control over the machines and maximises uptime, so the combination of these is going to bring more precision and flexibility to our customers in a number of markets, including healthcare, automotive and electronics.

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Talisman Plastics continues to progress with five year investment project - Medical Plastics News

Progress Rail develops battery switcher in conjunction with Vale – MassTransitMag.com

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A new battery-powered switcher locomotive has been developed by Progress Rail in collaboration with Vale.

The zero-emission, zero-idle and low noise EMD Joule locomotive broadens Progress Rails rolling stock portfolio with the latest smart lithium-ion battery technology and reliable performance for instant start within yard applications.

The new EMD Joule will go into a pilot phase this year, with full service anticipated for Vale soon thereafter, supporting operations at its Tubarao yard. Vale shared that this development contributes to its goals of reducing its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions 33 percent by 2030 and becoming carbon neutral by 2050. With the next generation technologies being introduced, Progress Rail began addressing industry challenges with Vale, along with the companies collective Brazilian engineering teams and Progress Rails U.S.-based locomotive engineers, to deliver a solution with ample power and charging capabilities.

Our team has taken great pride in this exciting project, working closely with Vale to deliver a new advanced technology battery locomotive in approximately 11 months. This locomotive will help Vale achieve their emissions objectives, said Marty Haycraft, president and CEO of Progress Rail. We look forward to continuing to support our entire global customer base with innovative products and services to help them meet their operating and environmental objectives.

According to Gustavo Bastos, executive manager at Vales Excellence Center and Innovation Department, the EMD Joule will be also an important step towards the development of solutions for Vales GHG reduction plans.

This equipment represents a milestone in Vales operations decarbonization strategy and is aligned with its new pact with society, said Bastos.

Progress Rail anticipates global availability of the new switcher locomotive in early 2021.

The new switcher includes battery capacity being delivered to Vale of 1.9 megawatt hours and could reach up to 2.4 megawatt hours with additional options available. The switcher has nominal power up to 3,000 horsepower, and a run time of up to 24 hours, depending upon charging and utilization.

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Progress Rail develops battery switcher in conjunction with Vale - MassTransitMag.com

State representative pushing Gov. Reynolds for progress on felon voting rights executive order – Local 5 – weareiowa.com

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Rep. Ras Smith, D-Waterloo, says there's a "sense of anger and frustration" after more than a month of waiting.

DES MOINES, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds has pledged to sign an executive order on felon voting rights, ahead of the November election.

But one Democratic lawmaker in the Iowa House of Representatives tells Local 5 that it's been a waiting game.

"We're less than 100 days away from our general election," Rep. Ras Smith, D-Waterloo, said. "I think there's a sense of anger and frustration, frustration because this was promised over 40 days ago from the governor."

A spokesperson for the governor's office declined to comment when asked on the status of the executive order.

State and city officials across Iowa met virtually last week for Gov. Kim Reynolds' FOCUS Committee on Criminal Justice Reform.

Iowa is the only state in the country that has a lifetime ban on felon voting.

Smith said if and when a felon voting rights executive order is signed, it should contain no caveats.

"It would allow once you release from incarceration for you to be automatically enrolled in a voting pool and able to do your civic duty ... be empowered to exercise your voice," he said.

According to Smith, data shows that when people have the right to vote, the rates of recidivism go down.

"So I think we have to success set people up for success," Smith said. "Let's remove barriers that inhibit people from participating."

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Deepfakes: Some progress in video detection, but it’s back to the basics for faked audio – Biometric Update

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A pair of developments are being reported in efforts to thwart deepfake video and audio scams. Unfortunately, in the case of digitally mimicked voice attacks, the advice is old school.

An open-access paper published by SPIE, an international professional association of optics and photonics, reports on a new algorithm reportedly has scored a precision rate in detecting deepfake video of 99.62 percent. It reportedly was accurate 98.21 percent of the time.

It has been three years since the threat of deepfakes broke big in the global media, and during that time, efforts have quickly grown more sophisticated.

Fear about misuse (beyond simply grafting the faces of celebrities on those of porn actors) has sometimes been breathless, with some observers warning that a key military figure in a nuclear-armed nation could appear to issue emergency orders to launch missiles.

The papers authors, two from Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology and the third from Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology (both in India), claim a research milestone.

They say that they are the first to make publicly available a database of deepfakes manipulated by generative adversarial networks that feature famous politicians. Their database is 100 source and 100 destination videos.

What is more, they claim to be the first with an algorithm that can spot deepfakes of politicians within two seconds of the start of a clip. The team has said they used temporal sequential frames taken from clips to pull off the feat.

Biometrics providers ID R&D and NtechLab finished among the leaders in a recent video Deepfake Detection Challenge.

Voice fraud detection efforts continue apace, too.

Until the pandemic, when people of all walks of life began routinely participating in video calls, deepfake audio attack looked more menacing over the medium term.

Comparing the two threats, it just seemed more likely that a convincing faked call could rattle a key mid-level staff member into helping the boss out in an emergency. The odds have evened a bit.

A white paper published by cybersecurity firm Nisos, sketches five incidents involving deepfake audio attacks.

Nisos writes in the marketing document that it actually investigated one such attack including the original synthetic audio. It was the faked voice of a companys CEO asking an employee to call back to finalize an urgent business deal.

Wisely, the employee immediately called the legal department. The number the would-be victim was intended to call was a VOIP service burner.

Nisos engineers studied the recording with Spectrum3d, a spectrogram tool, which, along with just listening to the message and comparing it to a known human voice elicited some data, but, apparently, no smoking gun.

Ultimately, the best advice that Nisos or anyone in the industry can offer is to stress the commonsense. If something about a call smells fishy, call legal.

biometrics | deepfakes | fraud prevention | research and development | spoof detection | video analytics | voice authentication

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Are open debate and free speech curtailed in today’s society? – University of Miami

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A controversial letter in Harpers Magazine warns of a cancel culture that can stymy open exchanges.

The United States is undergoing a moment of reckoning. Social forces unleashed by the killing of George Floyd and many other African Americans at the hands of police have mobilized thousands to call for social change.

A recent letter published by Harpers Magazine called A Letter on Justice and Open Debate has sparked heated controversy since it warns of a cancel culture in a society that aims to silence open debate and ideas.

The letter states: Powerful protests for racial and social justice are leading to overdue demands for police reform along with wider calls for greater equality and inclusion across our society

But this needed reckoning, the letter continues, has also intensified a new set of moral attitudes and political commitments that tend to weaken our norms of open debate and toleration of differences in favor of ideological conformity.

The letter was signed by 153 educators, writers, entertainers, and historians, including Margaret Atwood, J.K. Rowling, Salman Rushdie, Wynton Marsalis and a host of academics.

Critics of the letter point out that most of those signing it allude to a cancel culture, a way of public exclusion and shaming of someone who has said or done something offensive, when all the signees hold privileged posts and are usually exempt from such exclusion.

One of the issues that the letter does bring to the fore is that of open debate, one that is of particular interest to academics.

Sam Terilli, associate professor at the University of Miami School of Communication, believes in what the letter addresses and said that some reformers and protestors in their laudable efforts to correct past and current injustices, are treading dangerously close to intolerance of dissenting points of views.

He emphasizes that there is value in a healthy debate even with those with whom we passionately disagree.

Anthony E. Varona, dean of School of Law, said that the free exchange of ideas is important to a republic such as ours, and is indispensable in academic contexts. I am reminded that in the early decades of the LGBTQ equality movement, activists were silenced by those in power who insisted that homosexuality was the love that dare not speak its name and therefore something not to be discussed or even mentioned in polite company, never mind debated in political, policy, and legal arenas.

It was only through persistent activism and continued debate with many who disagreed with the LGBTQ movement that progress was made, he said.

Today, Varona said, social media have created important platforms upon which oppressed and marginalized communities can connect, share information, and use their collective influence to hold accountable leaders and other influencers who have perpetuated systems of oppression.

When used well, its more of an accountability culture than a cancel culture, he said. We must not allow the atomization of social and other forms of electronic media to cause us to lose sight of our humanity, and the need for patience, proportionality, and civilityespecially with those who are learning, or sharing good faith disagreements in areas where there can be reasonable and conscientious debate.

Tywan Martin, associate professor in the department of Kinesiology and Sport Sciences in the School of Education and Human Development, agrees that open debate is critical for progress and change.

In some of his graduate classes, he has led debates on whether the NFL team the Washington Redskins should change their name. The team has been criticized for using a name that can be offensive to many Native Americans. The team recently removed Redskins from its name.

We have had these conversations in class and there are diverse ideas that have come from that exchange and while I might agree with one and not the other it is still an opportunity to share and to provide a perspective that was never considered, he said.

Martin said the breakdown of communication and open debate often happens when people want to keep traditions that are racist, homophobic, or that trampled on the rights of many other citizens.

We are hell bent on tradition even if tradition is wrong, he said. It was never right for women not to be able to vote. That was never right. It was never right for people of different races to not be able to marry.

But he also said that it is important for those who hold on to outdated ideas to speak up.

The sharing of ideas is important even if the person is fearful of them being charged with saying something insensitive, said Martin. They may be given a perspective that they have not heard.

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Are open debate and free speech curtailed in today's society? - University of Miami

Accelerating in times of pandemic recession, Part I: Why free speech is not negotiable – Economic Times

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The Covid 19 pandemic has hit the shores of five continents to devastating effect. It has afflicted 15,996,140 and claimed 643,821 lives worldwide. The magnitude of the economic devastation is now revealing itself. The new coronavirus could claim up to 24.7 million jobs, according to International Labour Organization (ILO) estimates.

Can free speech be made negotiable in the midst of this hitherto unfathomable and uncharted global Covid 19 pandemic? The answer is an explicit no.

Information about scientific studies, statistical data, progress of vaccination development, health care methodology, progress of the pandemic globally, the successful and not so successful strategies and even the failed strategies deployed, is being relayed at the speed of light across jurisdictions. Today with the internet freely distributing scientific findings and scientific data from The Lancet, the Harvard School Medical site, the Indian Journal of Medical Research, Nature Medicine is a revolution in itself. Only free speech can guarantee honest evaluation and scrutiny of every of theory or policy and ensure course correction when required.

It is appropriate in these trying and vexed times to invoke the eminent Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen, who had empirically demonstrated that No famine has ever taken place in the history of the world in a functioning democracy. Sen explained that democratic governments have to win elections and face public criticism, and have strong incentive to undertake measures to avert famines and other catastrophes. There has not been a large-scale loss of life since 1947.

Sen detailed the catastrophic consequences of clamping free speech during the Great Bengal Famine of 1943 which killed three million people. It was widely assumed that the famine was caused by food shortages. Sens research found that food production in Bengal had not declined. Rather, food prices had soared while farm wages had sagged, making it hard for rural workers to buy food. He wrote,a free press and an active political opposition constitute the best early-warning system a country threaten by famines can have Not surprisingly, while India continued to have famines under British rule right up to independence they disappeared suddenly with the establishment of a multiparty democracy and a free press.

Nobody understood it better than Mao Zedong. His Great Leap Forward is believed to have contributed to the Chinese famine in 1958-61 which killed 5 million Chinese. Mao admitted thatIf there is no democracy and ideas are not coming from the masses, it is impossible to establish a good line, good general and specific policies and methods Without democracy you have no understanding of what is happening down below; the situation will be unclear; .top-level organs of leadership will depend on one-sided and incorrect material to decide issues

The war against a pandemic is similar to a war against famine. Free speech is vital and by no means can be dispensed with. The course of the Covid 19 is not dependent on what is published by the press or the media or the government. It is unlike an enemy at the gates. It is essential for the government, the media, the medical fraternity, the scientific community and everyone involved to be constantly following the trajectory of the pandemic in all its detail from the information being disseminated.

The war raged on HIV/AIDS which took 32 million lives is an illustrative case. This concerted battle of the early 1990s was decisively won with the concerted efforts of scientists, doctors, politicians, journalists, civil society and social workers. It was this relentless exchange of information, be it scientific data, ground level human conditions, information on responses to drugs, information on the availability of hospital spaces, medical equipment, medicines, the nutritional condition of the poor and impoverished which was critical in policy responses to the HIV/AIDS battle to bring it to heal. Free speech was also a potent and scientific antidote to the denialists who were at cross purposes in containing HIV/AIDs.

On a parallel front, a campaign was on to bring down the extortionate cost of retroviral drugs. Free speech ensured the information flow about the avaricious pharmaceutical companies preventing wider access to medicines by unjustified high pricing. The cost of medication for HIV/AIDS in 2000 was $ 10,000 per year per patient which was brought down to $ 64 in 2016. But for this war waged by journalists, social workers, civil society and some rebel pharmaceutical companies drastically brought down the cost of HIV/AIDS medication. It was vitally instrumental in the containing of this disease. The wider access to antiretroviral therapy (ART) and a declining incidence of HIV infections due to protective prevention advocated and disseminated across the globe led to a steep fall globally in the number of adults and children dying from HIV-related causes.

The media and civil society, which witness events and operation of policies at ground level, informs and educates. The very nature of the information obtained by exercise of free speech enables to correctly report what is really happening. It is a vital catalyst for commencing and calibrating responses of the government.Or for that matter, even changing course. A classic illustration is of the mass migration of migrant labour from our cities. Millions of migrant workers, having lost their jobs and their salaries in the wake of the lockdown, commenced the long walk to their villages. The scale of the tragedy of this trek is unprecedented in modern history.But for the vigilant and free sections of the press the scale of the tragedy would not have been reported. Nor would it have been redressed, albeit in this case pretty late in the day.

As governments arm themselves with far greater powers under the sway of the pandemic, any incursion to into free speech will be both detrimental and disastrous to deal with the Covid 19 pandemic.

DISCLAIMER : Views expressed above are the author's own.

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Accelerating in times of pandemic recession, Part I: Why free speech is not negotiable - Economic Times

LETTER Understand the gravity of free speech – Trumbull Times

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Published 9:55am EDT, Friday, July 24, 2020

LETTER Understand the gravity of free speech

To the editor:

I recently read the article in the Trumbull Times of an event which occurred in our town. It involved three teenagers who removed signs from another persons property. They were then caught.

They admitted to the crime. When asked why they stole these signs, they responded they didnt agree with the movement the signs were supporting.

I do not know what the signs said, nor do I know what movement they support. These children clearly do not understand the First Amendment.

The First Amendment is the first one for a reason. No one has the right to suppress anothers opinion. Peruse the globe and look at countries which have suppressed free speech. Not pretty. Do these children wish they could live under any of these suppressive regimes?

Now, what bothers me most about this story regards complicit adults. I wonder if their parents knew what they did? If so, do these complicit adults understand the gravity of free speech? I doubt it.

Scott C. Thornton

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LETTER Understand the gravity of free speech - Trumbull Times

Lawsuit claims Binghamton University violated free speech when handling protests – Pressconnects

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A presentation by economist Arthur Laffer at Binghamton U, was shut down after protesters disrupted it on Nov. 18, 2019. Video provided by Sen. Fred Akshar's office. Wochit

A lawsuit claims Binghamton University's responsetoa disruption of a Conservative speaking event in November, as well as a confrontation between two groups on campus four days earlier, was unconstitutional and allegedly violated freedom of speech.

The court documents centeron an abruptly ended speech on Nov. 18, 2019, at BU by economist and presidential advisor Dr. Arthur Laffer, whose "Trump, Tariffs, and Trade Wars" lecture on campus had been co-hosted by College Republicans and Young Americas Foundation. It also questions BU officials' response toa Nov. 14tablingevent on campus that became the center of a clash between two groups.

The lawsuit, a nearly 40-page document,alleges violations of free speech and equal protection. Among its argumentsare claimsthat the responses byBU administration and the University Police Department were unconstitutional and that some public statements by BU officials misrepresented the situations.

Conservative groupAlliance Defending Freedomand its associatedlaw firm filed the complaint Wednesday in Binghamton's federal courthouse, naming defendants BU President Harvey Stenger,Vice President for Student Affairs Brian Rose, BU Police Chief John Pelletier, the Student Association,College Progressives and Broome County activist group Progressive Leaders of Tomorrow (PLOT).

Binghamton University has denied the lawsuit's accusations.

"As an institution of higher education, freedom of speech is fundamental to our core mission; academic inquiry and the exchange of ideas rest on the principle that all have a right to express their beliefs," Binghamton University spokesman Ryan Yarosh said after the lawsuit was filed.

"Binghamton University maintains that we acted consistent with this mission and with the requirements of the First Amendment," Yarosh said, "and we will respond to the complaint accordingly."

[There's more: Read the lawsuit below this article]

About 200 protesters at Binghamton University argued against displays advocating for gun rights Thursday, Nov. 15, 2019.(Photo: Provided by BU Pipe Dream)

The protest at Laffer's event came momentsafter he took the podium,the lawsuit said, when a member of College Progressives and/or PLOT stood up in the second row and began shouting accusations: "We are tired of being oppressed and we are tired of getting murdered by this (Trump)Administration ...you, this man, this liar, Arthur Laffer, supports."

The person thenaccused Laffer of helping the Trump Administration further "racial oppression" and a justice system that he equated with "modern-day slavery," according to the lawsuit.

People in the crowd greeted these accusations with applause, the lawsuit said, and the alleged disrupting person was handed a megaphone and urged to continue.

Laffer was removed from the lecture hall, unable to continue the event.

Members of PLOT attended the event and contributed to the disruption, according to the lawsuit, which alsoargues University Police took no preventive action.

Tyson Langhofer, senior legal counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom and director of theADF Center for Academic Freedom, said BU officials and police "utterly refused to protect the First Amendment rights of its students and Dr. Laffer."

In a statement after the incident, BU said steps had been taken once it became clear demonstrators would be at Laffer's event. Those steps included allowing an adjacent lecture hall for counter discussion, which would have allowed those who wanted to hear Laffer to do so.

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The lawsuit says a tabling event in a high-traffic area on campus, known as "the Spine," was organized by College Republicans in order to promote Laffer's then-upcoming lecture.

Although the group denied it in the lawsuit, BU's student newspaper Pipe Dream reported there was a display supporting gun rights. The tabling event happenedhours after a shooting in a California high school.

Opponents posted messages online, according to the lawsuit, including:"Today on the spine Trump supporters are actively advocating for the Trump administration and gun violence. Join us at 2 as we disrupt this disgusting space that Binghamton has allowed students to create and protect the racism, homophobia, and xenophobia that has erupted from Trump and his supporters."

Three hours into the tabling event, approximately 200 people arrived. The lawsuit claims they "attacked" the College Republicans table and destroyed flyers while some shouted insults and obscenities.

University Police arrived, but the lawsuit claims officers didn't disperse the crowd, while some in the crowd shouted "Pack it up."

The lawsuit argues that BU officials misrepresented the College Republicans in later public statements, claiming the group "intended to be provocative."

More: Binghamton University student protesters clash over gun rights: What we know

[Warning: This video contains graphic language]

Eventually, according to Rose, police directed the tabling groups to leave the area and escorted them away. Some protesters viewed this as the police protecting the tabling students based on race, Rose said, and they started chanting at the officers.

The students chanted, "No justice. No peace. No racist police."

No one was injured as the incident dispersed.

"Pursuant to the Speech Suppression Policy, defendants (Stenger, Rose, and Pelletier)not only failed to take action to defend College Republicans constitutional rights but personally and actively supported the thuggish and physically abusive actions of defendant College Progressives," the lawsuit argued.

Stenger at the time defended BU's de-escalating response and called the Nov. 14 incident unfortunate "from all perspectives."

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Mun Choi: Free speech is the University of Missouri’s lifeblood – STLtoday.com

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Protesters raise their fists in solidarity during a rally on Nov. 4, 2015, at Traditions Plaza on the University of Missouri campus in Columbia calling for the resignation of then University of Missouri System President Tim Wolfe. The group organized the rally to draw attention to race relations on MU campus.

(John Happel/Missourian via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT

As the University of Missouri System president and MU interim chancellor, it is my responsibility to support the mission of the university. Lively, passionate discussion with the campus community is an important part of the decision-making process and the lifeblood of a healthy university community. In that spirit, recent events have compelled me to elaborate on the topic of our commitment to free speech.

Soon after I came on board in March 2017, the UM System and the four universities approved the commitment to freedom of expression. In January 2020, I also established the Intellectual Pluralism and Freedom of Expression Task Force. I stated in the charge that, in many ways, universities have been reactive when it is perceived that diverse views are unwelcome or free speech is curtailed. We want to be proactive to address these perceptions to establish new programs and training.

Personally, I have always been available to have discussions in person, by phone, Zoom or email with all members of our campus communities. During the past four months at Mizzou, there have been more meetings with faculty, staff, students, administrators, parents, legislators, alumni and community members on the important matters of budget, pandemic and race relations than in recent memory.

Some of this invaluable feedback has resulted in actions we will take immediately, such as requiring cultural competency training, developing a new bias hotline, providing promotion and tenure workshops, and finding safe ways to reopen the campus in the fall. Some of my decisions are received with great enthusiasm by our stakeholders, but others are less popular. I have not and will not make decisions based on popular consensus. It is an inevitable part of this role to take into account factors that many are not aware of and are not always able to come to light for reasons of legality, policy, privacy and myriad other situations. Regardless, I accept the criticism that results from unpopular decisions.

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Mun Choi: Free speech is the University of Missouri's lifeblood - STLtoday.com

A 79-Year-Old Doing Hip-Hop? ‘The Simpsons’ Is Where Free Speech Battles Age Bias Claims – Hollywood Reporter

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Alf Clausen, who spent 27 years as the animated show's lead composer, says Fox is being deceitful about the motivations for his firing.

As the old saying goes, no business is like show business. For one thing, show business is speech business. But what acts by an entertainment producer are legitimately free speech, and what acts are plain ol' discrimination? That's not always clear. Just look at the ongoing case of Alf Clausen, the 79-year-old who was fired as Simpsons composer after 27 years of celebrated work on the animated classic. As his lawsuit heads toward an important hearing next week, Clausen looks to undercut Fox's positioning that this dispute relates to an important First Amendment issue.

Clausen is suing Disney and its Fox divisions with the claim that his termination was due to age and disability discrimination. The musician says he has been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease and he objects to how Simpsons producers dumped him in favor of Hans Zimmer's company.

In April, in an attempt to defeat the suit, Fox gave a different side of the story. According to the defendant's court papers, Clausen was fired after producers raised concerns about his work in connection with one particular hip-hopthemed episode of the animated show. Simpsons producer James L. Brooks wondered if Clausen was the right person to prepare rap music, while others allegedly were disturbed by the discovery that Clausen had been delegating some of the work of composing music for The Simpsons to others, including his son Scott Clausen. Overall, according to declarations by other top producers on the show, the feeling was that the music could be improved by replacing Clausen.

"Defendants have presented evidence that the decision not to use Clausen as composer in future episodes of The Simpsons had speech-related motivations," wrote an attorney for the Simpsons defendants.

"Lies and deceit," responds Clausen's just-filed opposition. (Read in full here.)

"Mr. Clausens evidence demonstrates that, since at least 2008, Fox had known he regularly delegated the composition of music to members of his team," states the brief. "This fact is confirmed not only through Fox's own cue sheets, but emails between Matt Selman, Al Jean, Carol Farhat and even James Brooks, wherein discussions about Scott Clausen and others composing cues are undeniable."

The plaintiff's attorneys then add, "The notion that Mr. Clausen was unable to capture the showrunners vision is equally ludicrous. Mr. Clausen won two Emmys, five Annie Awards and became the most nominated composer in Emmy history, amassing a record 23 Emmy nominations for his work on The Simpsons. The mere fact that Al Jean and Matt Selman routinely skipped the recording sessions suggests how much faith and confidence they had in Mr. Clausen delivering their vision."

As for whether Clausen is capable of doing hip-hop, the composer says Brooks is only revealing "discriminatory ageist beliefs that Mr. Clausen was only good at old styles of music, rather [than] up-to-date genres, such as rap, electronic, etc. even though the evidence and his work history prove otherwise."

At an Aug. 5 hearing in Los Angeles Superior Court, the issue for the judge won't necessarily be whetherSimpsons producers were justified in replacing Clausen, who also says he's worked within budget parameters. Instead, the question may be: Was the firing about the music? Because if it's about the music, Fox stands a very good chance of prevailing on its anti-SLAPP motion. Clausen implies that his firing wasn't about the music.

California's SLAPP statute is intended to swiftly dispense with frivolous lawsuits interfering with someone's free speech. Under the first prong of SLAPP analysis, a judge examines whether a legal action arises from an act furthering a defendant's First Amendment activity in connection with a public issue. That analysis gets somewhat complicated with regards to entertainment and media companies. Courts don't want to overlook discrimination, but on the other hand, judges are mindful that these entities produce speech as a regular function. That sometimes means that a controversial decision by an entertainment or media defendant can be connected to a significant issue of speech. No wonder the topic has been the subject of very recent appellate opinions (like this one, or that one).

So, was Clausen's firing motivated by a desire to improve the music on The Simpsons as Fox contends or is that reasoning just pretextual? And how does a judge weight the evidence? Here, Clausen's attorneys Thomas Girardi and Ebby Bakhtiar attempt to convince the judge that Fox's prior knowledge about work delegation, among other things now in submission, add up to an inference that Fox is being deceitful with respect to the reasoning behind the decision to terminate the show's longtime composer.

If Clausen doesn't prevail on this point, L.A. Superior Court Judge Michael L. Stern will then turn toward an analysis of the merit of Clausen's claims. Under the second prong of the SLAPP statute, a plaintiff must establish a probability of prevailing before moving any further in the case. Clausen's lawyers translate this as meaning the suit need only show "minimal merit" (which they believe they have met), although Fox is likely to argue the screen is higher, particularly given the legitimate rationale they have offered forClausen's termination.

Read more:

A 79-Year-Old Doing Hip-Hop? 'The Simpsons' Is Where Free Speech Battles Age Bias Claims - Hollywood Reporter

Public forums beg the question, when is free speech too free? – hngnews.com

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While the Be the Change wall in Waunakee has invited constructive, thoughtful comments that can inspire instructive conversations, some have also chalked what appear to be White Supremacist lettering, particularly those three Ks.

The wall by the former South Street library was intended to invite ideas, asking the question: What does diversity look like? The intent was to build a sense of community around this.

But unfortunately, not all seem to share a common goal in this regard. And so a wall monitor group has formed, in some cases washing away the more destructive messages; in other instances, rewriting them.

In a sense, the Create Waunakee committee and its wall monitor group have become akin to newspaper editors. We editors open up our opinion pages to readers every week and invite them to share their views. In some cases, inflammatory letters cause editors to take pause and consider how free they really want the speech they print to be.

A friend shared a Washington Post article from July 18 exploring this dilemma. What do newspaper editors do when they receive a letter in support of white supremacy and even slavery?

The South Carolina newspaper, Spartanburg Herald-Journal, printed a letter from John C. Calhoun that stated, God rewards goodness and intelligence; and that slavery is how He justly punishes ignorance, sloth and depravity.

The newspapers readers were appalled, and afterwards, the editor apologized and said the letter should have never been printed and caused pain in the community.

Other newspaper editors are unapologetic about allowing radical ideas to be expressed in the letters-to-the-editor section. In New Yorks Nassau County, the publisher of Island Now allows all ideas to surface in print, noting that other readers will counter such views.

The State of Columbia, S.C., published a letter praising Christian slavery. Its editor, Cindy Ross Scoppe, defended her actions, saying the letters-to-the-editor section is a public forum where we hold a mirror up to our community, so it can examine it, warts and all.

Other newspaper editors, such as those in our news group, follow guidelines in deciding what to print, drawing the line at personal attacks, name calling and hate speech. In some cases, we edit letters to meet these same guidelines.

But its a fine line, particularly for an institution founded on the principle of free speech.

In general at the Tribune, preference is given to local residents views. Letters supporting one presidential candidate over the other sent to newspapers all around the state from say, a person in Wausau who has never read the Tribune wont make it into print. We do print letters that address specific Tribune articles or issues particular to the Waunakee area from people who live outside of the community.

In a few cases, inflammatory or simply nonfactual content is edited.

Very rarely, letters from those in the community are kept from print. Those instances have occurred when a letter personally attacks a business or individual.

But the Be the Change walls purpose is different from the newspapers op-ed pages. The wall was intended to invite ideas on diversity. Its monitors are adhering to this standard, not tolerating ideas meant to exclude or divide people in the community.

Still, it exemplifies the difficult choices we face when we open up a forum for public comment.

Originally posted here:

Public forums beg the question, when is free speech too free? - hngnews.com