Chancellor Christ: Free speech is who we are | Berkeley News – UC Berkeley

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UC Berkeley Chancellor Carol Christ sent this message today to the campus community:

Dear students, faculty and staff,

This fall, the issue of free speech will once more engage our community in powerful and complex ways. Events in Charlottesville, with their racism, bigotry, violence and mayhem, make the issue of free speech even more tense. The law is very clear: Public institutions like UC Berkeley must permit speakers invited in accordance with campus policies to speak, without discrimination in regard to point of view. The United States has the strongest free speech protections of any liberal democracy; the First Amendment protects even speech that most of us would find hateful, abhorrent and odious, and the courts have consistently upheld these protections.

Chancellor Carol Christ

But the most powerful argument for free speech is not one of legal constraint that were required to allow it but of value. The public expression of many sharply divergent points of view is fundamental both to our democracy and to our mission as a university. The philosophical justification underlying free speech, most powerfully articulated by John Stuart Mill in his bookOn Liberty,rests on two basic assumptions. The first is that truth is of such power that it will always ultimately prevail; any abridgement of argument therefore compromises the opportunity of exchanging error for truth. The second is an extreme skepticism about the right of any authority to determine which opinions are noxious or abhorrent. Once you embark on the path to censorship, you make your own speech vulnerable to it.

Berkeley, as you know, is the home of the Free Speech Movement, where students on the right and students on the left united to fight for the right to advocate political views on campus. Particularly now, it is critical that the Berkeley community come together once again to protect this right. It is who we are.

Nonetheless, defending the right of free speech for those whose ideas we find offensive is not easy. It often conflicts with the values we hold as a community tolerance, inclusion, reason and diversity. Some constitutionally protected speech attacks the very identity of particular groups of individuals in ways that are deeply hurtful. However, the right response is not the hecklers veto, or what some call platform denial. Call toxic speech out for what it is, dont shout it down, for in shouting it down, you collude in the narrative that universities are not open to all speech. Respond to hate speech with more speech.

We all desire safe space, where we can be ourselves and find support for our identities. You have the right at Berkeley to expect the university to keep you physically safe. But we would be providing students with a less valuable education, preparing them less well for the world after graduation, if we tried to shelter them from ideas that many find wrong, even dangerous. We must show that we can choose what to listen to, that we can cultivate our own arguments and that we can develop inner resilience, which is the surest form of safe space. These are not easy tasks, and we will offer support services for those who desire them.

This September, Ben Shapiro and Milo Yiannopoulos have both been invited by student groups to speak at Berkeley. The university has the responsibility to provide safety and security for its community and guests, and we will invest the necessary resources to achieve that goal. If you choose to protest, do so peacefully. That is your right, and we will defend it with vigor. We will not tolerate violence, and we will hold anyone accountable who engages in it.

We will have many opportunities this year to come together as a Berkeley community over the issue of free speech; it will be a free speech year. We have already planned a student panel, a faculty panel and several book talks. Bridge USA and the Center for New Media will hold a day-long conference onOct. 5; PEN, the international writers organization, will hold a free speech convening in Berkeley onOct. 23. We are planning a series in which people with sharply divergent points of view will meet for a moderated discussion. Free speech is our legacy, and we have the power once more to shape this narrative.

Sincerely,

Carol Christ Chancellor

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Chancellor Christ: Free speech is who we are | Berkeley News - UC Berkeley

Free speech is test of faith in US Constitution – San Francisco Examiner

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San Francisco Examiner
Free speech is test of faith in US Constitution
San Francisco Examiner
Your question requires an analysis under the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press ...
The Most Shortsighted Attack on Free Speech in Modern US HistoryThe Atlantic
Have we taken free speech too far?Bristol Herald Courier (press release) (blog)
'Their Mission Basically is Genocide!': LawNewz Columnist Battles Tucker Carlson on Free SpeechLawNewz
Herald and News -KJZZ
all 19 news articles »

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Free speech is test of faith in US Constitution - San Francisco Examiner

Free Speech? What’s That? – Power Line (blog)

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It is no secret to anyone who has been paying attention that the Lefts commitment to free speechperhaps never strong in the first placehas been eroding rapidly. Now even the American Civil Liberties Union is beginning to backtrack on the First Amendment. The Associated Press reports:

Faced with an angry backlash for defending white supremacists right to march in Charlottesville, the American Civil Liberties Union is confronting a feeling among some of its members that was once considered heresy: Maybe some speech isnt worth defending.

Traditionally, the ACLU has recognized that the question isnt whether the content of any particular speech is worth defending, but rather, whether the right to speak is worth defending. Departure from that principle would represent a radical change.

Cracks in the ACLUs strict defense of the First Amendment no matter how offensive the speech opened from the moment a counter-protester was killed during the rally in Virginia. Some critics said the ACLU has blood on its hands for persuading a judge to let the Aug. 12 march go forward.

This is absurd. Neither the ACLU nor the judge authorized the driver of a car to run into another car, which hit a third car, which in turn plowed into a crowd of counter-demonstrators.

The backlash, reminiscent of one that followed the ACLUs 1978 defense of a neo-Nazi group that wanted to march through Skokie, Illinois, a Chicago suburb with a large number of Holocaust survivors, set off a tumultuous week of soul-searching and led to a three-hour national staff meeting in which the conflict within the group was aired.

What resulted was an announcement that the ACLU will no longer stand with hate groups seeking to march with weapons, as some of those in Charlottesville did.

This makes little sense, for three reasons. 1) WeaponsI assume the reference is to gunshad nothing to do with what happened in Charlottesville. 2) Assuming that demonstrators are legally carrying weapons, the ACLU now says that the exercise of their Second Amendment rights negates their First Amendment rights. This is certainly not true as a legal matter. 3) A lot probably turns on the definition of hate groups. The antifas always carry weaponsbaseball bats, ax handles, bags of urine and so on. In my opinion, they are a hate group. Will the ACLU withhold its sanction from all protest activity by the antifas? Somehow, I doubt it.

In an opinion piece in The New York Times, K-Sue Park, a race studies fellow at the UCLA School of Law, argued that the ACLUs defend-in-all-cases approach to the First Amendment perpetuates a misguided theory that all radical views are equal, adding that group is standing on the wrong side of history.

The wrong side of history means I disagree with them. If the ACLU adopts the I disagree with them standard, its days as a principled defender of freedom are over.

If liberals are wavering in their defense of the right to actual speech, they have no problem invoking the concept of free speech when it comes to vandalism, malicious destruction of property, defamation, and so on. Tom Steward reports at AmericanExperiment.org:

Environmental protests have become an accepted cost of doing business for companies involved in natural resource projectsuntil now. Energy Transfer Partners has just filed suit against Greenpeace and two other protest groups that held up the Dakota Access pipeline project for months last year.

The Texas pipeline company has invoked federal racketeering laws to seek damages that could reach $1 billion, according to the AP.

The company alleges that the groups actions interfered with its business, facilitated crimes and acts of terrorism, incited violence, targeted financial institutions that backed the project and violated racketeering and defamation laws. The company seeks a trial and monetary damages, noting that disruptions to construction alone cost it at least $300 million and requesting triple damages.

The group of defendants is comprised of rogue environmental groups and militant individuals who employ a pattern of criminal activity and a campaign of misinformation for purposes of increasing donations and advancing their political or business agendas, the company said in a statement.

That sounds pretty bad. How does Greenpeace intend to defend?

Greenpeace attorney Tom Wetterer said the lawsuit is meritless and part of a pattern of harassment by corporate bullies. The lawsuit is not designed to seek justice, but to silence free speech through expensive, time-consuming litigation, Wetterer said.

But does the issue here have anything to do with speech?

The pipeline companys lawsuit alleges protesters undertook a series of illegal acts from pipeline vandalism to cyberattacks. The FBI recently raided the home of two Des Moines protesters who have publicly claimed to have vandalized the pipeline.

The company alleges that members of the network used torches to cut holes in the pipeline, manufactured phony satellite coordinates of Indian cultural sites along the pipelines path, exploited the Standing Rock Sioux, launched cyberattacks on company computer systems, damaged company equipment, threatened the lives of company executives, supported ecoterrorism and even funded a drug trafficking operation within protest camps.

The schemes dissemination of negative information devastated the market reputation of Energy Transfer as well as the business relationships vital to its operation and growth, the lawsuit states.

So crime is free speech, but speech isnt, if it is on the wrong side of history. I am drawing here from diverse sources who may or may not agree with one another, but I think the above formula is a fair description of where todays Left is when it comes to the First Amendment.

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Free Speech? What's That? - Power Line (blog)

With all-hands-on-deck police action, Bay Area cities prepare for ‘free speech’ rallies – The Mercury News

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With hundreds of protesters expected to turn out to two free speech rallies in the Bay Area this weekend, police leaders and local officials are now fine-tuning plans to prevent a repeat of the recent violence in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Their answer so far: huge officer manpower and tighter restrictions on the demonstrators.

In San Francisco, every single police officer will be on duty on Saturday, when a right-wing rally is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. at Crissy Field. Days off have been canceled, said OfficerGiselle Linnane, a spokeswoman for the San Francisco Police Department.

Across the bay in Berkeley, city officials are working to issue new rules for protests lacking city permits, as is the case with Sundays No to Marxism in America rally at Civic Center Park. The new rules, put into force under a hastily passed ordinance, could include a ban of items that could be turned into weapons.

The organizers of the two protests say they have no ties to racist groups. ButBay Area elected officials have condemned both events as white nationalist rallies.

Today and always, we stand together as a community against bigotry, racism, and intolerance and we are stronger for it, Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguin said Tuesday on the steps of City Hall. As mayor, I am working closely with officials at every level of government including various law enforcement agencies to keep the peace on Sunday.

Arreguin said that the city still hasnt received any permit applications for the rally, scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. And on Friday, the City Council passed a new ordinance allowing the city manager to issue rules for unpermitted protests. The city managers office and the Berkeley police department did not respond Tuesday to a request for comment.

Berkeley rally organizer Amber Cummings told Bay City News that she doesnt want white nationalists to attend her event. She said she organized the event long before the events in Charlottesville and called Arreguins characterization of the rally as a white supremacy event an outright lie.

The situation in San Francisco is complicated by the fact that the rally is planned to be held in a national park, within the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. The National Park Service issued a permit for the rally earlier this month but agreed to review it after an outcry from city officials.

Joey Gibson, the organizer of the event whose group, Patriot Prayer, has held events well-attended by white nationalist and other right-wing groups in the past said in an interview Tuesday that he expected his permit would win final approval and they just havent finalized the paperwork.

Dana Polk, a spokeswoman for the park service, said in an email late Tuesday that there was no news yet.

The U.S. Park Police, which will be leading the law enforcement response to the rally, did not respond to a request for comment.But Linnane said the San Francisco Police Department has been holding meetings with the Park Police to plan their response.

Our main goal is nonviolence and to help protect ralliers exercising their First Amendment rights, Linnane said. Well be ready if theres anybody bringing in weapons.

Officials in both cities are urging residents not to counter-protest at the scene of the events in the hopeto avoid violent clashes.We dont want nonviolent protesters to be in a situation where they can be in a middle of a fight, Arreguin said.

Lines of counter-protesters facing off with right-wing demonstrators are exactly what hate groups want, said state Sen. Nancy Skinner, who represents Berkeley and a swath of the East Bay.

They only get attention when we give it to them, Skinner said, quoting former first lady Michelle Obama: When they go low, we go high.'

But some locals, including ReikoRedmonde of the Refuse Facism group, said residents should show up and send a strong message condemning the hate groups.

Maybe people are risking their safety, but shouldnt people have risked their safety early on in the Nazi regime when Hitler came to power? Redmonde asked. Shouldnt they have stood out and not let their neighbors be taken away?

Also on Tuesday, Skinner introduced new legislation that would broaden the states hate crime statute.

In Charlottesville on Aug. 12, Heather Heyer, who is white, was murdered after a white nationalist allegedly drove his car into a crowd of counter-protesters.

If Heyer had died the same way in California, the driver wouldnt face hate crime charges because the states statute only covers crimes committed against people in a protected class, such as a racial minority.

Under Skinners bill, SB 630, the hate crime statute would also protect people acting in support of or in defense of protected groups.

Staff writer Tom Lochner contributed to this report.

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With all-hands-on-deck police action, Bay Area cities prepare for 'free speech' rallies - The Mercury News

Britain’s War on Free Speech (Continued) – National Review

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Writing for Spiked Online, Naomi Firsht gives details of Britains latest attack on free speech (my emphasis added).

Hate is hate, says Alison Saunders, director of public prosecutions, explaining the new Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) guidelines on hate crime. Abusive or offensive messages on social media can now be classified as hate crimes, and the perpetrators subjected to harsher sentencing.A statement on the CPS website says that, in recognition of the growth of hate crime perpetrated using social media, the CPS will treat online crime as seriously as offline offences, while taking into account the potential impact on the wider community as well as the victim.

.So what is a hate crime? According to the CPS, a hate crime can include verbal abuse, intimidation, threats, harassment, assault and bullying, as well as damage to property. It is officially defined as: Any criminal offence which is perceived by the victim or any other person, to be motivated by hostility or prejudice, based on a persons disability or perceived disability; race or perceived race; or religion or perceived religion; or sexual orientation or perceived sexual orientation, or a person who is transgender or perceived to be transgender.

What constitutes hostility? Well, the CPS says it uses the everyday understanding of the word, which can include ill-will, spite, contempt, prejudice, unfriendliness, antagonism, resentment and dislike. This effectively means reporting a social-media post which could be deemed unfriendly on the basis of a persons identity. Thank goodness Facebook never made a dislike button, or wed all be criminals.

Its wrong to equate online posts with interactions which take place in person. Tweeting something unpleasant is not the same as shouting abuse in the street, and absolutely not on a par with physical assault. Saunders clearly doesnt agree with this distinction. In an article for the Guardian this week, she drew parallels between the attacks in Charlottesville and Barcelona and online hate. We should remember that there is a less visible frontline which is easily accessible to those in the UK who hold extreme views on race, religion, sexuality, gender and even disability. I refer to the online world where an increasing proportion of hate crime is now perpetrated, she says. This is madness. To equate horrific terrorism (13 were killed in the Las Ramblas attack) with someone tweeting an extreme view on gender or religion is actually quite repellent.

It is repellentmore than repellentbut it also reflects the failure of the British state to get to grips with the problem posed by terrorism specifically, and Islamic extremism more generally. Far easier to go after some jackass who has tweeted something vile, or even just something that offends someone else.

More than that, the fact that the test can be subjective (perceived by the victim or any other person) and that hate speech can include unfriendliness is clearly designed to give the enforcers of silence the widest possible latitude, something that is obviouslyintended to encourage anyone who thinksthat he or she mighteven possibly fall foul of the censors to hesitate before committing anything, let alone anything that might possibly be construed as a thoughtcrime, to twitter. Chilling effect much?

And if anyone thinks that these rules will be applied fairly, I have a bridge to sell them.

As a reminder, Britain has been governed by a Conservative or Conservative-dominated government since 2010.

I have no doubt that free speech will come under farmore sustained assault should todays hard left Labour Party come into power (and the way that the Tories are running things, theres a very good chance of that), but if and when Labour does, the Conservative party will have handed it the tools it needs.

Heckuva job, Theresa

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Britain's War on Free Speech (Continued) - National Review

Boston Rally Ends Without Violence, But Was Free Speech Served? – Here And Now

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wbur

August 23, 2017 Updated August 23, 2017 4:21 PM

Forty thousand counter-protesters showed up on Boston Common last weekend to demonstrate against a "free speech" rally, which they feared would attract white supremacists and other hate groups. Police put up barriers to separate the rally's speakers from counter-protesters.

Critics of the police say the tactics were an assault on free speech because the rally organizers couldn't be heard by the crowd, and because others some who wanted to speak, and journalists couldn't access the bandstand where the speakers were located.

Civil rights attorney Harvey Silverglate (@HASilverglate) joins Here & Now's Robin Young to discuss.

On the importance of hearing different points of view

"First of all, the purpose of the event was to hear a variety of points of view. You do not have a variety of points of view when you say, 'Well, this person shouldn't be heard because it's hate speech, this person shouldn't be heard because he's dangerous.' That is not free speech when you only hear the people who agree with you. No. 2, for our own security, we need to hear the people who we think are dangerous or could be dangerous so that we know whom to watch out for. If you don't allow even dangerous people to speak, how do you know where you have to watch out of the corner of your eye?"

On media members not being allowed to access the bandstand where speakers were located

"The press should be making a lot of noise about this. They're wasting an awful lot of space and time and print by criticizing the speakers that they never heard, and they should be criticizing the city that contributed to this vast silence."

"For our own security, we need to hear the people who we think are dangerous or could be dangerous so that we know whom to watch out for."

On how he defines hate speech

"First of all, there is no such thing as hate speech in the constitutional law. People have the same rights if they are going to speak love speak, or if they're gonna speak hate speech, and it is even more important that they hear the haters so that they know what they're gonna say. You say that you know what they were gonna say, but what about the other hundreds of thousands? I will give you odds if you did a survey, you would find .001 percent had previously heard or read anything by any of these speakers."

On whetherhe worries about cities silencing voices they don't support

"The thing about censorship is the worm turns. The people who are in a position of control today, 10 years from now could very easily find themselves at the other end of the censorship spectrum. When we protect the right of others to speak, we are indirectly protecting our own right to speak, so that when 10 or 20 years later, the worm turns, we've established legal protections for everybody."

This segment aired on August 23, 2017.

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Boston Rally Ends Without Violence, But Was Free Speech Served? - Here And Now

The world’s next fastest supercomputer will help boost China’s … – South China Morning Post

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China is planning to boost its computing power tenfold within a couple of years by building a new generation supercomputer.

The machine will be based on the coast of Shandong province to process the data collected from the worlds oceans, according to scientists briefed on the project.

An Hong, professor of computer science with the University of Science and Technology of China in Hefei and a member of a committee advising the central government on high performance computer development, said the worlds first exascale computer would have a dedicated mission of helping Chinas maritime expansion.

An exascale computer is defined as one that can carry out one billion billion calculations per second. It is not only 10 times faster than Sunway Taihulight at present the worlds fastest computer which operates from Wuxi, Jiangsu but equal to the calculation power of all the worlds top 500 super computers combined.

An said the machine could be finished as soon as 2019. Three independent supercomputer manufacturers on the mainland are competing for the contract. They include Sugon, or the Dawning Information Industry, which is owned by the Chinese Academy of Sciences; the National University of Defence Technology, which built the Tianhe series supercomputers, and the Sunway team. They have produced blueprints featuring vastly different architectures, according to An.

The authorities are looking to pick a design that not only offers a high performance but will be ready for immediate use once built. The budget for the project is expected to be between one and two billion yuan (US$150 million-US$300 million).

Chinese scientists create biggest virtual universe with worlds fastest computer, beating European record

The most important question to us is not whether China can build an exascale computer, or how fast, but why, An said.

There is indeed a race among nations on supercomputers, but this is not our concern. Our concern is the ocean, she added.

When elected leader of the Chinese Communist Party in 2012, President Xi Jinping promised to turn China into a hai shang qiang guo, or maritime superpower, with an expansionist policy that would, according to the state media, be comparable with the fleet of Zheng He established during Ming dynasty six centuries ago to spread Chinas influence over the world.

Soviet-built Liaoning pales in comparison to Zheng Hes majestic fleet

Within the space of a few years, China has effectively tightened its grip on the South China Sea, dismissed numerous neighbours claims over disputed waters, acquired military ports in South Asia and the African east coast, developed some of the worlds most advanced nuclear submarines with electromagnetic drive, explored vast areas of the sea bed for energy and mineral deposits, and launched the Belt and Road Initiative to strengthen economic ties with other countries, the belt roughly following Zheng Hes ports of call.

Chinese vessels, naval outposts and unmanned monitoring facilities including a global network of buoys, satellites, sea floor sensors and underwater gliders are generating countless steams of data every second.

According to marine researchers, these data contain a rich variety of information such as sea current readings, trace chemicals, regional weather and anomalies in water density that could be used for anything from helping submarines avoid turbulence to negotiating cuts to green house gas emissions.

Why Beijing is speeding up underwater drone tests in the South China Sea

Feng Liqiang, operational director of the Marine Science Data Centre in Qingdao, Shandong said the exascale computer would be able to pull all marine-related data sets together to perform the most comprehensive analysis ever.

It will help, for instance, the simulation of the oceans on our planet with unprecedented resolution. The higher the resolution, the more reliable the forecast on important issues such as El Nino and climate change, he said.

It will give China a bigger say over international affairs, Feng added.

In June, the US government commissioned six companies including IBM, Intel and Hewlett Packard Enterprise to come up with countermeasures against Chinas lead on high performance computing.

China not only hosts Sunway and Tianhe, which currently rank first and second on international performance charts with speeds that far exceed those of their foreign competitors, but also overtook the US last year in terms of installed supercomputing capacity, an event described as an inflection point by Horst Simon, deputy director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California.

The White House currently hopes that American companies will be able to come up with a design to have an exascale computer up and running by 2021.

China hits milestone in developing quantum computer to eclipse all others

A major challenge for exascale computing is cooling. Researchers have struggled to find a way to reduce the tremendous heat generated by a large number of chips. The problem not only prevents the computer from reaching peak performance but also leads to large electricity bills.

Though the exact location of the Chinese exascale computer has not yet been determined by the authorities, Zhang Haichun, professor at the computer science and technology department, the Ocean University of China in Qingdao, said the city, the largest port in Shandong, had numerous advantages as a home for the exascale computer.

Qingdao has more ocean-related research institutes than any other city along Chinas coastline. The worlds largest marine data centre is under construction, and it is directly linked to the nations major monitoring networks above and under the ocean, he said.

Putting the machine in Qingdao will save the trouble of transmitting a large amount of data over long distance through optic fibres. An expensive data plan can break the projects bank account, Zhang said.

But marine scientists said that a single computer would not bridge the maritime power gap between China and the US overnight.

Our data is increasing at a fast pace but it is still dwarfed by the amount gathered by the US through decades of patient, continuous effort, said Feng.

We also lack the powerful software with sophisticated algorithms to handle the data at full exascale speed, he added.

Lu Xianqing, professor at the Key Laboratory of Physical Oceanography under the Ministry of Education in Qingdao, said he had serious doubts whether the project would fulfil its mission due to the difficulty of accessing marine-related data in China.

Why China still cant beat US to become the worlds most powerful navy

Unlike in the US, where most ocean data gathered from public-funded research is open to access after a limited protection period, there is no official information sharing mechanism on the mainland.

The State Ocean Administration runs and hoards its own data sets, as do the PLA Navy, the Chinese Academy of Sciences and many universities. Every institute is treating data as private asset for the interests of their own research he said.

There are also fears that the exchange of data might lead to leaks and threaten national security. Foreign submarines, for instance, need detailed information on Chinas offshore areas. These security concerns have prompted government officials to classify most data collected from the sea as confidential.

Getting data for the computer may turn out to be more difficult than building it, Lu said.

An said the Chinese government might approve the construction of another exascale computer, but its purpose and location was still uncertain uncertainty.

Besides US and China, the European Union and Japan are also trying to build an exascale computer by around 2020.

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The world's next fastest supercomputer will help boost China's ... - South China Morning Post

It takes two to Tango: eRSA partners with Dell EMC for new research supercomputer – ZDNet

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eResearch South Australia (eRSA) has boosted its services to the state's research, government, and business sectors, announcing the arrival of its new high-performance computer (HPC) and research cloud, Tango.

Built on Dell EMC infrastructure, and the cloud on VMware Cloud Foundation, Tango is expected to provide South Australia's researchers with a platform to accelerate innovation, eRSA infrastructure manager Paul Bartczak told ZDNet.

As eRSA is a research-focused joint venture between the University of Adelaide, Flinders University, and the University of South Australia, Bartczak said big data and complex data analytics are increasingly becoming a part of the research landscape.

Founded in 2007, the not-for-profit incorporated entity provides "not normal IT" services to researchers and commercial users in the state, including high-performance computing, cloud computing, big data storage, management and analysis, software development, and consultancy.

"In order to keep up with modern research demands, having a powerful HPC and cloud platform is a necessity," Bartczak explained. "Tango allows researchers and commercial clients alike to process large amounts of data quickly and easily, and the software-defined network capability provides a secure environment to work in. Tango is highly scalable, which means it can scale easily to keep up with increased user demand."

Bartczak expects Tango will provide its users with freedom in the Research and Innovation Sandbox, which is a service allowing users to experiment with different combinations of technology and test the best ways of processing analytics, big data, complex modelling, and forecasting.

"People come to us and ask what makes us different from the likes of Amazon or Azure or other traditional IT service providers -- we're here to support and foster that innovation, development, and research space, and provide that environment for people [to experiment]," he explained.

"The cost of trial and error can be quite significant, but we like to see ourselves as enablers in that area, giving people this environment to try, fail, keep developing, and, once they require production-grade systems, then they can move onto a traditional service provider to implement things."

eRSA caters for a range of groups furthering research on terrestrial ecosystems, ancient DNA, physics, chemistry, genomics, biology, arts, humanities, and everything in between, Bartczak said, adding that the organisation boasts a large user base.

"We're here to basically create solutions -- whether it's cloud or HPC-related -- for any discipline," he added.

Tango comprises Dell PE R730 server with Intel Xeon Processor E5-2690v4 35M, connected with Dell Z9100-ON 100GbE software-defined network switches.

The HPC packs 32GB RDIMM 2400MT/s DDR4 SDRAM; 200GB SSD 6Gbps; and Mellanox ConnectX-4 Dual Port 25GbE DA/SFP.

The cloud boasts Dell PE R730xd Servers connected with Intel Xeon Processor E5-2680 v4 35M; 32GB RDIMM 2400MT/s DDR4 SDRAM; 1.6TB SSD 6Gbps and 6TB 7.2K RPM NLSAS; and Mellanox ConnectX-4 Dual Port 25GbE DA/SFP.

According to Andrew Underwood, Dell EMC's Australia and New Zealand HPC lead, Tango has been built to require minimal touch from the eRSA teams to allow them to focus on the scientific outcomes of the state's researchers instead of keeping the lights on.

"One of the really nice things that I like about what our partnership with eRSA is this system is really going to be helping power the South Australian ecosystem of research and innovation, as well as startups," Underwood told ZDNet.

"One of the things that eRSA has really looked at, and been quite visionary in, is that small to medium enterprises (SMEs) have not been so fortunate when it comes to accessing high-performance computing in the past -- they typically have tight budgets and limited people resources, so the new Tango system ... will mean that SMEs who are either wanting to access the system themselves or partnering with one of the universities in South Australia will be able to access this."

Tango will replace eRSA's previous HPC Tizard that will be decommissioned on August 31.

Last week, Dell EMC announced that it will be providing Melbourne's Swinburne University of Technology with an HPC to power research into astrophysics and gravitational waves, with the university seeking to further prove the science behind Einstein's theory of general relativity.

OzSTAR, which loosely stands for the Australian supercomputer for theoretical astronomical research, will be built by the tech giant at a cost of AU$4 million, and will be used by the Swinburne-led Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Gravitational Wave Discovery.

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It takes two to Tango: eRSA partners with Dell EMC for new research supercomputer - ZDNet

Justice Dept. fights suit over Trump religious liberty order – Politico (blog)

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The Justice Department is seeking to dismiss a lawsuit the atheist group Freedom From Religion Foundation filed in federal court in Wisconsin in May | Andrew Harnik/AP

By DIAMOND NAGA SIU

08/23/2017 07:17 PM EDT

The Justice Department is fighting a lawsuit against President Donald Trumps religious liberty executive order by claiming the directive doesnt actually do what critics allege: allow churches and other religious groups to take part in political activities most charities cannot.

The Order does not exempt religious organization from the restrictions on political campaign activity applicable to all tax-exempt organizations, government lawyers wrote in a court filing Tuesday. Rather, the Order directs the Government not to take adverse action against religious organizations that it would not take against other organizations in the enforcement of these restrictions.

The Justice Department is seeking to dismiss a lawsuit the atheist group Freedom From Religion Foundation filed in federal court in Wisconsin in May, just after Trump signed the executive order. The group alleges that the Presidential Executive Order Promoting Free Speech and Religious Liberty gives preference to religion over nonreligion.

Among many faults, the EO requires the IRS to selectively and preferentially discontinue enforcement of the electioneering restrictions of the tax code against churches and religious organizations, the lawsuit said. President Trump also made clear in his remarks that this EO is only meant to benefit religious groups, and, specifically, churches.

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But Trump and the other defendants argued in the new filing that the organization simply misunderstood the executive order, which was watered down before its signing to remove provisions seen as allowing discrimination against gays and lesbians by religious charities carrying out government programs.

The foundations Dan Baker said if the governments claims about the limited impact of the order are true, the organization would consider the litigation a success and drop the suit.

It looks like theyre saying that Trumps executive order really doesnt do anything, Baker said, though he still plans to talk with the organizations legal team before pursuing actions. Weve got nine attorneys, and they all have their own opinions I just heard them in the hallways saying it looks like the executive order doesnt do anything, which is actually great if thats true.

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Justice Dept. fights suit over Trump religious liberty order - Politico (blog)

My Liberty University Diploma and Me – The Chronicle of Higher Education

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By Phillip E. Wagner August 23, 2017

AFP/Getty Images

Jerry Falwell Jr. looks on as President Trump speaks at Liberty U.'s commencement in May.

The first time I heard Jerry Falwell Jr. speak, I was a freshman sitting with thousands of other students in Liberty Universitys weekly convocation. Just months after the sudden passing of his father, many of us were eager to help solidify the universitys new leadership and new direction forward.

Where I came from, Liberty University was considered progressive. I couldnt help being a little excited at the prospect that Libertys new leadership could help us remedy some of our universitys previous errors and scandals. As Falwell Jr. addressed us all during that first week of class, it was clear that he lacked his fathers comfort with public speaking. But he had a lovable, goofy quality to him that captivated many of us.

I stayed at Liberty University after receiving my bachelors degree, even having the opportunity to teach while I worked toward an M.A. in communication studies. I dont have as many horror stories as you might think. Sure, Liberty was political. It always had been, and I knew it always would be. But I was always encouraged to think critically and be open to all sides of an issue.

As a graduate teaching assistant, I was given a lot of flexibility on how I approached my courses. My professors were intelligent, kind, and supportive. And despite what you may read, my degrees werent a joke. I worked hard for them, and they set me up for success. I went on to receive my Ph.D. at the University of Kansas and am now a faculty member at another good university.

But it hasnt always been easy to have "Liberty University" on my CV. I was fortunate to have several job prospects when completing my doctorate. Yet at every single on-campus interview, whether over dinner or in the interview itself, I was asked about my experience at Liberty. Sometimes it was posed as an innocent question, but more often it was framed as something that I needed to defend. And I couldnt help wondering: If I had to defend my credentials at every interview I landed, then what colleges werent even giving me a shot once they saw those credentials?

Recently Liberty has made the news again. President Falwell, a vocal Trump supporter, came out in support of the presidents comments on Charlottesville, in which he laid blame on "all sides" for the violence and chaos surrounding the planned removal of a Confederate statue.

Therein lies the problem. There are many of us who carry Liberty University with us wherever we go. Ive not tried to hide my Liberty credentials or degrees, partly because that time in my life brought so many great memories. Those memories arent political, nor are they controversial. I did grow there as a scholar and as a critical thinker. But this growth isnt what most see when they look at my degrees. They dont see an educational institution they see a political enterprise.

In a recent mass campaign, many alumni have rallied to make it known that President Falwells comments do not reflect their own beliefs. In response and protest, many alumni are planning to mail their diplomas back to the university.

I am not one of them. I wont be sending my diplomas back, because they werent something given to me I earned them. But I cant help acknowledging the ethical struggle I face as a scholar, teacher, and supporter of diversity, equity, and inclusion. How do I convey my support for students of color when the credentials behind my name might suggest otherwise? How meaningful and sincere are my gestures taken to be, considering that the very credentials that helped build the platform on which I express them are seen as invalidating them?

As Liberty once again gains attention, many of us are once again forced to be accountable for words that are not our own but still define us. Many of us knew we were signing on with a controversial institution. I accept the responsibility on my end. I wish that President Falwell would do the same accept responsibility for ill-spoken words and deeds and return to focusing on education, not politics.

As Liberty University gains attention, many of us are forced to be accountable for words that are not our own but still define us.

But racism shouldnt be addressed from all sides. Theres only one side, and Jerry Falwell Jr.s support of suggestions that there are others disappoints and saddens me as an alumnus. He is free to use his voice to support whatever and whomever he pleases. But I beg him to consider the consequences that his words have for many of us.

Phillip E. Wagner is a faculty member and chair of the Chancellors Advisory Council on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at the University of South Florida at Sarasota-Manatee.

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My Liberty University Diploma and Me - The Chronicle of Higher Education

Fever falls to Liberty – nwitimes.com

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Sugar Rodgers scored all 16 of her points in the first half and the New York Liberty beat the Fever 71-50 on Wednesday night for their sixth straight victory.

Rodgers only attempted one shot in the second half and played just 20 minutes.

Tina Charles added 13 points and nine rebounds for New York (18-12). Bria Hartley had 12 points, and Epiphanny Prince 11.

Candice Dupree scored 12 points for Indiana (9-22), which has lost five straight. Erica Wheeler and Jeanette Pohlen-Mavunga each added 10 points. Indiana was 1 of 10 from 3-point range and shot 34.5 percent overall.

The Fever got to 11 points with eight minutes to go, but New York closed on a 15-5 run.

Indiana was granted an emergency hardship exemption to fill the roster after Briann January became the third Fever guard with a season-ending injury. Newly signed rookie Jennie Simms played 13 scoreless minutes.

Dream 89, Storm 83: Sancho Lyttle scored 18 points, Layshia Clarendon had a team-record 14 assists and Atlanta Dream beat Seattle to end a nine-game losing streak.

Brittney Sykes had a key 3-pointer and two free throws as the Dream scored nine straight points in the final 70 seconds. She scored 13 of her 15 points in the second half.

Clarendon, who finished with 17 points, had a basket with 1:07 to play to give Atlanta an 82-80 lead. After a Storm miss, Clarendon found Sykes for the 3 with 34 seconds left. Sykes and Lyttle then made two free throws apiece after grabbing defensive rebounds Lyttle had nine rebounds before Sue Bird hit a 3 for Seattle in the closing seconds.

Tiffany Hayes had 13 points for Atlanta (11-20), and Elizabeth Williams added 12. With Lyttle making 8 of 10 shots, the Dream shot 57 percent (35 of 63).

Breanna Stewart had 18 points, and Crystal Langhorne 17 with 10 rebounds for Seattle (14-16).

Sun 93, Wings 87: Alyssa Thomas scored 23 points, Jonquel Jones had 20 points and 17 rebounds for her 18th double-double, and Connecticut beat short-handed Dallas.

Kayla Thornton's 3-pointer pulled the Wings to 89-85 with 24 seconds left, but Jasmine Thomas made two free throws at the other end. The Sun hit six straight free throws in the final 30 seconds to seal it.

Jasmine Thomas added 17 points, and Shekinna Stricklen 14 to help Connecticut (20-10) reach 20 wins for the first time since 2012. Alyssa Thomas also had seven rebounds and five assists, and Jones made 8 of 11 shots.

Dallas (14-17) was without Glory Johnson, who was serving a one-game suspension for throwing a punch at Atlanta Dream guard Matee Ajavon.

Skylar Diggins-Smith led the Wings with 19 points. Allisha Gray added 18 points, Theresa Plaisance had 17, and Karima Christmas-Kelly 15.

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Fever falls to Liberty - nwitimes.com

Lawsuit filed by former student against Liberty University moves forward – Lynchburg News and Advance

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A U.S. district court judge has ruled former Liberty University football player Cameron Jackson can move forward with seven of the 18 claims in his lawsuit filed against the school and other defendants.

Liberty is pleased with the courts decision to dismiss all but one of the claims it asked to be dismissed, LU General Counsel David Corry wrote to The News & Advance via email.

Jackson filed suit April 14, 2017, against Liberty, five employees and a former LU student athlete, alleging his Title IX rights were violated, he was defamed by the school and was denied due process during an investigation into an alleged off-campus sexual assault in August 2015 Jackson said never occurred. No charges were filed against Jackson after a Lynchburg Police Department investigation.

The lawsuit seeks approximately $100 million in compensation for damages to Jacksons academic and athletic career, as well as to his reputation.

Jackson allegedly was dismissed by the university prior to the conclusion of the LPD investigation.

According to the lawsuit, Jackson and his accuser were involved in a non-exclusive sexual relationship both before and after the night in question. Witnesses who observed the sex, which reportedly took place in a living room separated only by a privacy blanket, have stated it appeared to be consensual, and the accuser was not intoxicated at the time. According to a Liberty news release that is part of the case, the incident was reported to LU 11 months after the encounter by the alleged victim.

The lawsuit casts doubts on the accusers charges and alleges she acted maliciously, the response of Liberty and its employees was inept and that staff did not protect Jackson from on-campus harassment aimed at him by other LU students, which caused Jackson to stop attending classes.

Claims allowed to move forward by a U.S. district court judge Aug. 3 are four defamation claims related to a university news release, two defamation claims against the former student athlete that accused Jackson of sexual assault and a Title IX claim that university attorneys have not moved to dismiss from the case.

Title IX claims are very fact-specific inquiries that are more appropriately resolved at the summary judgment stage of the proceedings, Corry explained via email.

He added the university believed the claims were meritless and would not go to a jury trial.

The allegedly defamatory news release, issued Sept. 12, 2016, prior to the conclusion of LUs internal investigation, stated Jackson and a teammate had been suspended due to their involvement in the alleged off-campus sexual assault.

A third teammate accused of sexual assault already had left the university.

According to the suit, the accuser was dismissed by the university for multiple student conduct violations before she went to LU officials and made her accusations Jackson and the other two teammates. The lawsuit claims she conspired with two other female student athletes to damage the reputation of members of the football team.

No charges were filed against any of the three men after the LPD investigation concluded.

The lawsuit states Jackson, a Flames defensive back from Houston, suffered severe damage to his future earnings, lost funds for college and that his reputation has been irreparably destroyed.

Additionally, the suit states a notation on Jacksons transcript that he had been dismissed from LU because of sexual assault made it difficult for him to gain entry into another college or university. According to Jacksons attorney, Joshua Farmer, that notation since has been removed by Liberty, and Jackson has been allowed to petition the university for a status of good standing, which Farmer said has been approved as of this summer.

Corry said the university was legally prohibited from commenting on that matter.

Cam desperately wants to clear his name, continue his college education and, if possible, advance his football career. He's currently weighing all options available to him including transferring to another school, or returning to the Flames, Farmer wrote to The News & Advance via email.

The lawsuit seeks compensation for damages to Jacksons academic and athletic career, as well as to his reputation. Jackson originally was seeking $102.1 million in damages, a number that now has been reduced to $100.2 million due to five of the defendants being dismissed from the case.

Farmer noted it was up to the jury to decide ultimately how much to award to Jackson.

Liberty employees originally named as part of the lawsuit were: Robert Mullin, dean of students; Valerie Dufort, assistant director of Libertys Title IX Office; Len Stevens, LUs spokesman; and Jonathan Ignacio and Elysa Bucci, assistant directors for the LU Office of Community Life. Remaining parties are the university, the former student athlete who accused Jackson of sexual assault and Stevens.

Stevens is named as a defendant for his role in issuing the news release, which the lawsuit claims withheld significant relevant fact, such as Jacksons denial of the claims and his appeal.

According to Corry, the university has retained the Richmond-based law firm of McGuire Woods LLP, which also will represent Stevens since he was acting in his official capacity as an employee.

Corry described the claims against Stevens as meritless and the LU disciplinary process as fair, objective, and thorough.

He added LU could not speak on behalf of Jacksons accuser who is named in the lawsuit.

Another component of the lawsuit is the claim LU sought to make an example out of Jackson in order to protect its reputation as a Christian university and appear tough on Title IX issues while in the process of hiring Ian McCaw as athletic director. McCaw previously was accused of being complicit in a widespread sexual assault scandal and institutional cover-up that rocked Baylor University during his time as its athletic director. McCaw has denied direct knowledge of the issue.

Corry previously told The News & Advance this claim was pure speculation.

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Lawsuit filed by former student against Liberty University moves forward - Lynchburg News and Advance

Liberty University alumni to return degrees in protest – CNN

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The movement follows a tweet by Falwell that applauded Trump's response to the recent events in Charlottesville, Virginia. Heather Heyer, 32, was killed August 12 in Charlottesville when a car plowed into a crowd of counterprotesters gathered to oppose a "Unite the Right" rally of white nationalist and other right-wing groups. Nineteen others were injured in the incident. President Trump blamed "both sides" for the violence.

The alumni Facebook group organized for the movement has grown to 202 members and counting since it was launched Thursday. The members of the group are asked to mail their diplomas to Falwell's office on the same day, September 5.

"This sort of sends a wake-up call that you can't just align the entire university with Donald Trump's stance on a whim," Chris Gaumer, a 2006 graduate of Liberty University, said of the protest.

Gaumer said the goal is to send a message that some alumni are unhappy.

Falwell has since responded to the group, telling ABC's "This Week" on Sunday that the alumni misinterpreted his comments.

"If, in fact, he's walking back comments, is he to be trusted?" Gaumer said.

Liberty University responded to protesters on Monday, saying the school supports its students' right to express their own political opinions, including those opinions that might differ from school leadership.

"The tactic of returning diplomas has been used by students of many other schools to draw attention to various causes, but let's also remember that those same diplomas are quite helpful in helping these graduates secure well-paying jobs," the statement said.

The group also drafted a letter it plans to send to the university, expressing dismay.

"The university has a long history of involvement in election cycles and in national governance," the letter reads. "This has always required an uneasy tension between secular governance and religious ideals. While not all of the undersigned have agreed with the university's past involvement, at a minimum, that involvement was not in blatant tension with the university's claimed values. "

Some group members have not signed the letter and will instead send their own.

"I'm not sure if I'm going to sign it myself," Gaumer said.

Phil Wagner, who received both his bachelor's and master's from Liberty University, said though he disapproves of the presidents' comments, he won't be returning his degrees.

"I'm half in, half out," Wagner said. "I do not plan to return my degree. I earned it. I worked hard for it."

Instead, he says, he plans to send a respectful letter.

This is not the first time alumni have struggled with Falwell's political beliefs. Rebekah Tilley, a 2002 graduate, said she has been disappointed since before the presidential election.

In the past, she says she has written letters and spoken directly to university staff. She said she did not receive a response, and she doesn't expect that to change.

She said she'll be returning her diploma to ease her conscience.

"I think that there's just a group of Liberty alumni that feels very disappointed in the long-term ways that Jerry Falwell Jr. has been such a political supporter of Trump," Tilley said.

When Falwell first endorsed Trump, the university clarified that he was speaking as a private citizen. But Tilley said Falwell always represents the university.

Tilley said she harbors no ill will toward the school that introduced her to her husband and some of her closest friends. But she said she wants to make it clear that Falwell does not represent her.

"It's just one of these things where I'm horrified by the lack of moral leadership from our President, and also from the president of my alma mater," Tilley said. "I had to do something."

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Liberty University alumni to return degrees in protest - CNN

Preseason BVarsity Central Section Volleyball Top 15: Liberty back at top, plenty of competition to begin the season – The Bakersfield Californian

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The high school volleyball season is back, and from the looks of it, this could be a very competitive year in the Central Section.

In the preseason BVarsity section top 15, defending Division I champion Liberty holds on to the top spot, but there are a lot of teams coming for the Patriots.

Liberty is led by junior Elise Ferriera, who will play more this season at setter, her natural position and the one she will play in college (she's verbally committed to Oregon).

Her position move leaves opportunity for a big offensive seasons for Lauryn Burt and Lanie Camarillo, a senior transfer from Frontier.

Add in four-year varsity player Liana Caroccio at libero and Kaitlan Tucker at the net, and the Patriots are the early favorite to repeat as D-I champions.

Clovis, which lost to Liberty in the section semifinals last year is No. 2, and Clovis West, last year's runner-up, checks in at No. 3.

The Cougars graduated Taylen Ballard, now at BYU, but return junior Jasmine Heu at setter and enough varsity experience to be Libertys biggest competition early on.

In fact, the Tri-River Athletic Conference, the only all-D-I league in the section other than the Southwest Yosemite League, may be as deep as it has been in some time.

No. 4 Clovis-Buchanan could very well leap over Clovis and Clovis West with a good showing at the Clovis Invitational on Sept. 1-2.

The Bears return three of the teams top four hitters from a team that went 28-9 a year ago, plus one of the best defenses in the section and junior Mikayla Weiss, who averaged 8.9 assists per set last fall.

Locally, Garces returns its entire roster from last seasons D-II championship team except Hannah Merjil, who is playing for Cal State Northridge.

The Rams, who are ranked fifth, moved up to D-I and have one of the section's best outside hitting combinations in junior Perri Starkey and Lailah Green to go with junior Allison Dees in the middle.

In D-II, Tehachapi made an early season statement with a home sweep of Bakersfield Christian on Tuesday. BCHS also is in D-II after winning section titles each of the last four years in D-IV and D-III.

Tulare-Mission Oak lost in the D-III finals a year ago to BCHS and looks to be the favorite in the division ahead of Oakhurst-Yosemite and Tollhouse-Sierra.

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Preseason BVarsity Central Section Volleyball Top 15: Liberty back at top, plenty of competition to begin the season - The Bakersfield Californian

Freedom of association doesn’t end in the workplace – The Hill (blog)

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Freedom of association is a fundamental principle of American liberty. The right to start, to join, or to leave a group is simple enough, but what voluntary associations have accomplished because of it is staggering. Associations have worked to end slavery, to defeat polio, and to extend voting rights to women.

Americans support associations to fight heart disease and cancer, to feed and clothe the poor, and to support veterans. Americans will come together in voluntary associations to combat racism, inequality, and the ugly bigotry and violence we witnessed in Charlottesville.

This week a coalition of non-profit organizations throughout the country, including free market think tanks, non-union professional associations, education and labor reform advocates, celebrate National Employee Freedom Week. Spearheaded by the Nevada Policy Research Institute and the Association of American Educators, this effort seeks to educate Americas workforce about their rights regarding union membership, including the right to leave the union and to join a non-union alternative. For too long Americas workersteachers especiallyhave been forced into joining or funding labor unions because they do not know they have the right to opt out. This coerced membership and forced dues run contrary to freedom of association all Americans should enjoy.

For five years now National Employee Freedom Week has worked to ensure that every employee in America knows exactly what options he or she has and how to exercise thema positive and professional message encouraging employees everywhere to choose an association that best suits his or her budget, principles and career aspirations.

Since 1947 the closed shopin which union membership was a precondition for employmenthas been outlawed. In the 28 right-to-work states this means all employees have the right to opt-out of or never join a union, if they so choose. In the rest of the country where employees lack right-to-work protection, workers are likely to be required to pay a significant agency fee share of dues if they opt out of full membership, impelling many to remain union members. Workers can also become religious objectors, directing 100 percent of their union dues to a charity agreed upon with the union.

In a recent survey conducted by National Employee Freedom Week, nearly three in ten union members reported they would leave the union if they could do so without losing their job or any other penalty--and nearly 80 percent of Americans agree they should have that right.

Even for employees who know they have a right to quit their union, the process can be burdensome and confusing. For example, teachers in Clark County, Nev., Americas fifth-largest school district, are only afforded two weeks in July each year when they can leave their unioncell phone contracts are more reasonable. Union bosses hid the exit door in the middle of the summer when a teacher is rightly enjoying a much-deserved break. Many other states have an opt-out deadline in August. Summer comes to an end in September with a cruel and expensive surprise to any teacher trying to exercise the right to leave: You are too late, pay up. Next month many unions will celebrate Labor Day by sending out collection notices for unpaid and mandatory dues to members who wanted out.

National Employee Freedom Week shines a spotlight on these unfair practices, restoring the freedom of association in the workplace that all employees have technically, but not widely, enjoyed since the Taft-Hartley Act was passed 70 years ago. Coalition members in each of the participating states are running information campaigns designed to put control back in the hands of each employee. Only when employees are making informed choices can we have true freedom of association for all of Americas labor force.

Colin Sharkey is the Executive Vice President of the Association of American Educators, the largest national non-union teacher association, and the National Director of National Employee Freedom Week.

The views expressed by this author are their own and are not the views of The Hill.

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Freedom of association doesn't end in the workplace - The Hill (blog)

Beijing’s Threat to Academic Freedom – Wall Street Journal (subscription)

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Wall Street Journal (subscription)
Beijing's Threat to Academic Freedom
Wall Street Journal (subscription)
As Western universities become dependent on China-related funding and the Xi Jinping regime tightens control over speech, the temptation to sacrifice core values will grow unless schools stand up for academic freedom. Last week news broke that CUP ...

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Beijing's Threat to Academic Freedom - Wall Street Journal (subscription)

Barcelona balances security and freedom after deadly attacks – Reuters

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MADRID (Reuters) - Spain's northeastern region of Catalonia, hit last week by two Islamist militant attacks which killed 15 people, is to deploy more police, install bollards in Barcelona and step up security around stations and tourist landmarks.

The aim is to strike a balance between security and not overloading residents with restrictions.

"We're looking at introducing (street) obstacles that could be mobile," Joaquin Forn, who is in charge of home affairs in Catalonia, told a news conference on Wednesday.

A van plowed into crowds of holidaymakers and local residents on Barcelona's crowded Las Ramblas boulevard last Thursday, killing 13 people. Two others were killed during the driver's getaway and in a separate attack in Cambrils.

The Barcelona rampage reignited a row over how cities can better prevent such attacks. Militants have used trucks and cars as weapons to kill nearly 130 people in France, Germany, Britain, Sweden and Spain over the past 13 months.

Catalan authorities may also erect some permanent barriers and turn some streets into pedestrian-only thoroughfares, Forn said.

The regional capital, which receives around 30 million visitors a year, is home to several landmarks designed by architect Antoni Gaudi, including the towering Sagrada Familia. Forn added that some 10 percent more police would be deployed.

Islamic State, which claimed responsibility for the attacks in Catalonia, issued a video via one of its official channels on Wednesday showing two of its fighters making threats in Spanish against Spain, interspersed with images of the aftermath of the Barcelona attack.

One fighter pledged to avenge Muslim blood spilled by the Spanish Inquisition, established in 1478, and what he said was the killing Spain was currently engaged in against Islamic State.

This was an apparent reference to Iraq, where Spain has several hundred soldiers training local forces in the fight against Islamic State.

Investigators are still looking into whether the suspects behind last week's attacks had links to France or Belgium and are examining their movements over recent weeks as they look for connections to possible cells elsewhere in Europe.

The car used in the attack in Cambrils, south of Barcelona, was caught on camera speeding in the Paris region days earlier.

"We are still trying to establish why they were in the Paris area," French Interior Minister Gerard Collomb told reporters at a joint news conference in Paris with his Spanish counterpart on Wednesday.

Spanish Interior Minister Juan Ignacio Zoido said France and Spain would continue to reinforce border checks and step up information exchanges, including of passenger information in real time.

One of the suspects has said the leader of the militant group was an imam, Abdelbaki Es Satty, who died a day before the Barcelona attack when a house the group was using to build bombs blew up.

Court officials in Spain's Valencia region said on Wednesday that Spain had issued an expulsion order against Es Satty after he served a four-year jail term for drug-trafficking but that this was annulled by a court in 2015 after Es Satty appealed.

The judge at the time overturned the expulsion order partly because Es Satty had employment roots in Spain which he said "shows his efforts to integrate in Spanish society."

A dozen Islamist militants suspected of involvement in the plot were either killed or arrested. A judge on Tuesday ordered two suspects jailed, one remained in police custody pending further investigation and a fourth was freed with conditions.

Reporting by Inmaculada Sanz, Emma Pinedo, Tomas Cobos, Jesus Aguado and Adrian Croft, Additional reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta in Paris, Writing by Sarah White; Editing by Jeremy Gaunt

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Barcelona balances security and freedom after deadly attacks - Reuters

State of Palestine: Alarming attack on freedom of expression – Reliefweb

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The Palestinian authorities in the West Bank and their rivals, the de-facto Hamas administration in Gaza, have both tightened the noose on freedom of expression in recent months,launching a repressive clampdown on dissentthat has seen journalists from opposition media outlets interrogated and detained in a bid to exert pressure on their political opponents, said Amnesty International.

In the West Bank, the Palestinian authorities have arrested six journalists in August so far, shut down 29 websites and introduced a controversial Electronic Crimes Law imposing tight controls on media freedom and banning online expression and dissent. In the Gaza Strip, Hamas security forces have arrested at least two journalists since June and hampered others from freely carrying out their work. At least 12 Palestinians, including activists, were also detained by Hamas for critical comments posted on Facebook.

The last few months have seen a sharp escalation in attacks by the Palestinian authorities in the West Bank and Hamas in Gaza, on journalists and the media in a bid to silence dissent. This is a chilling setback for freedom of expression in Palestine, said Magdalena Mughrabi, Deputy Middle East and North Africa Director at Amnesty International.

By rounding up journalists and shutting down opposition websites the Palestinian authorities in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip appear to be using police state tactics to silence critical media and arbitrarily block peoples access to information.

The Electronic Crimes Law, adopted by President Mahmoud Abbas in July, violates citizens rights to privacy and freedom of expression and blatantly flouts the State of Palestines obligations under international law.

The law imposes heavy fines and permits the arbitrary detention of anyone critical of the Palestinian authorities online, including journalists and whistleblowers. It could also be used to target anyone for simply sharing or retweeting such news. Anyone who is deemed to have disturbed public order, national unity or social peace could be sentenced to imprisonment and up to 15 years hard labour.

Instead of presiding over a chilling campaign designed to silence dissent, intimidate journalists and breach the privacy of individuals, the Palestinian authorities must stop arbitrarily detaining journalists and drop charges against anyone prosecuted for freely expressing themselves. They must also urgently repeal the Electronic Crimes Law, said Magdalena Mughrabi.

In June, several weeks before the Electronic Crimes Law came into force, Palestinian authorities arbitrarily ordered internet service providers in the West Bank to block access to 29 websites, according to the Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms (MADA). They include websites belonging to political parties, opposition and independent media outlets and the al Quds network, a volunteer-run community online news outlet.

At least six people in the West Bank have been detained and charged with defamation or spreading information that threatens the state since the Electronic Crimes Law came into force in July. They are currently awaiting trial. At least 10 journalists were summoned for interrogation by Palestinian security forces in June and July.

In the Gaza Strip, Hamas security forces arrested two journalists in June, blocked journalists from reporting in some areas, and restricted the work of a foreign journalist. At least 12 activists and journalists were detained and questioned over comments and caricatures posted on social media deemed critical of Hamas authorities. Amnesty International also gathered evidence suggesting at least one of the activists was tortured and otherwise ill-treated in custody including by being beaten, blindfolded, and forced into stress positions for prolonged periods.

Hamas must immediately release anyone held solely for peacefully exercising their right to freedom of expression and urgently investigate allegations of torture and other ill-treatment of detainees by security forces, said Magdalena Mughrabi.

According to MADA, the Palestinian authorities in the West Bank are responsible for 81 attacks on media freedom since the start of the year. Hamas authorities in Gaza have been responsible for 20 such attacks.

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State of Palestine: Alarming attack on freedom of expression - Reliefweb

Are nano drug delivery and telehealth solutions a deadly combo for disease? – EPM Magazine

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by Alexander Myskiw DataArt

23 August 2017

10:16

Incorporating telehealth solutions into new drug delivery technologies like nanomedicines can potentially give pharmaceuticals the edge they need to win the fight against disease.

Creating drug delivery systems that utilise telehealth solutions like smartphone technologies, Bluetooth, IoT, wearable technologies, and AI would help pharmaceutical companies save money in clinical trials by reducing the financial burden caused by poor medical adherence and provide better patient outcomes through real-time data analysis. Telehealth solutions provide physicians and clinical trial scientists direct access to their patient, and can provide them with valuable data that will improve their performance and the patients health. Access to real-time patient health data is an opportunity for pharmaceutical companies to develop a range of smart drug delivery systems that could potentially change the way an estimated 50% of the population deal with their chronic diseases.

With large numbers living with some form of chronic disease, pharmaceutical companies must incorporate telehealth tech into their drug delivery systems to collect real-time data and use the data to improve patient treatment, clinical trial outcomes and apply the data for further research.

The drug delivery systems available in todays market are honestly not that impressive. A Bluetooth-enabled inhaler, smart automatic injectors, and smart pills are definitely technologies that benefit patient care but lack innovative pizzazz. Bluetooth technology was first introduced in mobile phones in 2000. It has taken 17 years to implement the data-gathering technology into an inhaler/auto injector, often at times requiring user actions like downloading from an SD card. I am surprised it has taken this long for pharma to get where it is today, but there is truly hope on the horizon, with recent advancements in nanotechnology.

The future of pharmaceuticals and population health lies in the utilisation of telehealth solutions like the Internet of Nano Things (IoNT), wearables, smartphones and the latest drug delivery tech likesmart nanoplatforms, nanoparticles/nanomedicines, and nanosensors. These recent technological advancements in drug delivery should change the way we understand and cure diseases.

Northwestern University has developed a nanoplatform that can assess the effectiveness of nanomaterials in regulating gene expression. The nanoplatform allows scientists to observe nanomedicines and particle behaviour in an in vivo setting. Theres no doubt that the relationship between nanomedicines and IoNT is inevitable however there are issues like patient health risks and security that must be taken into account.

Whenever the internet is involved, the issue of security should be raised. Are nanomedicines saving patients lives, while also putting them at risk of body hacking? Although programmable particles are sending signals from within the patients body and providing beneficial information for the doctor/scientist, the idea that a signal can be hacked is a horrific reality. Nanoparticle manipulation is possible by gaining access to the particles using ultrasound and electromagnetic field waves making hacking feasible but extremely difficult and complex. The next question is what happens to the nanoparticles after treatment? Will they pose a later threat and become an access point for hackers?

Nanomedicines, after entering the human body, travel throughout reaching the organs, the bloodstream, the lungs and even crossing the semi-permeable membranes into cells delivering the drugs to exactly the right place at the right time. Their disbursement depends on size and programming. Nanoparticles are metal-based, carbon-based, composites, and dendrimers, and are excreted from the body via faeces and urine. The liver and spleen can also decompose them, however up to 30% can remain in the body for an extended period of time and potentially become an access point for hacking.

Combining telehealth solutions and nanomedicines will benefit the populations health by presenting effective treatments for chronic and deadly pathologies and provide scientists and doctors previously unattainable data for analysis. This previously elusive data has become available thanks to Northwestern Universitys Nanoplatform, which successfully provides imaging of the nanomedicines effectiveness on the MGMT gene, a chemo-resistant cancer gene. This data has already provided a better understanding of the nanomedicines mechanics and provided researchers with the best time, after treatment with nanomedicines, to administer chemotherapy.

Nanoparticles appear to be a solution that can improve the health of the population, however there are still potential risks for patients. Although most nanoparticles are tested in labs and in vitro, a few potential health risks have been observed. Risks like the creation of a protein corona (a shifting population of different molecules) can influence the immune defence system and mistakenly allow the corona to penetrate good non-targeted tissues. The clumping of protein molecules can also be linked to multiple pathologies, including amyloidosis. Some nanoparticles have also been linked to genetic mutations, DNA damage, and chromosomal alterations, however they are rarely attributed to all three at once. It is quite clear that more research and testing is required to truly understand the future of nanomedicine and its effects on the human body.

Nanomedicines target a specific area within the body, can delay activation and have the potential to relay real-time data for analysis. Scientists and doctors can finally have a real-time view of their treatments and understand the pathology and its interaction with the medicines, leading to data that will help the healthcare industry save lives, defeat disease, and save money. The benefits in combining telehealth solutions with nano drug delivery systems is evident and it is the colossal leap forward that the industry has been looking for in the never-ending fight with diseases like cancer.

by Alexander Myskiw DataArt

23 August 2017

10:16

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Are nano drug delivery and telehealth solutions a deadly combo for disease? - EPM Magazine

The rise of nanotechnology research at Notre Dame – ND Newswire

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Professor Porod in the lab with a graduate student

Notre Dames nanotechnology research efforts date back to the 1980s, when the studies were mostly simulation based and focused on computation advancements. In the three decades since, research at the Universitys Center for Nano Science and Technology (NDnano) has grown and evolved in a forward-thinking and distinctive way.

To differentiate and accelerate their work, Wolfgang Porod, the Frank M. Freimann Professor of Electrical Engineering and director of NDnano, and his colleagues turned to Moores Law an observation that states the number of components per integrated circuit, or a microchip, doubles approximately every two years as their strategy for standing apart in a competitive and fast-paced discipline. In explaining this, Porod said, My colleague, Gary Bernstein, the Frank M. Freimann Professor of Electrical Engineering, wanted to carve out our own area of expertise and we knew that wherever the current technological capabilities were, the more crowded the field would be. So instead, we looked beyond the popular topics and focused not just on device physics, but also on how our advancements could be applied to a variety of technologies.

A Notre Dame researcher working in the NDNF

This strategy allowed Notre Dame researchers like Porod, Bernstein, Craig Lent, the Frank M. Freimann Chair Professor of Electrical Engineering, and others to leverage developments to not only attract new faculty, but also to fund research centers, including the Midwest Institute for Nanoelectronics Discovery (MIND) and the Center for Low Energy Systems Technology (LEAST), which were both directed by Alan Seabaugh, the Frank M. Freimann Chair Professor of Electrical Engineering. This growth of nanotechnology also supported the eventual construction of the Notre Dame Nanofabrication Facility (NDNF), a 9,000-square-foot cleanroom that opened in 2010 and allows researchers to use a wide range of materials and a variety of processes and techniques.

Not only has our state-of-the-art cleanroom advanced the kind of research we can do on campus, but it is also a great benefit to all levels of students, said Porod. Currently, undergraduate engineering students have the option to take a fabrication course with Greg Snider, professor of electrical engineering, in the NDNF. In the class, the students begin with blank silicon wafers and ultimately create integrated circuits that contain thousands of individual devices. This course focuses on repeatability and yield, which is essential for real-world applications when these students enter the workforce.

A silicon wafer being developed at the NDNF

One of Porods current projects, which is supported by a gift from the Joseph F. Trustey Endowments for Excellence, is a collaboration with Bernstein that focuses on electromagnetic radiation to detect infrared (IR) and terahertz (THz) frequencies. The THz frequency range is much faster than gigahertz, which is what cell phones and radar currently operate on. THz, therefore, has the potential to improve broadband communication systems, but there are few electronic devices that operate on it. For this research, the Notre Dame researchers are developing nanoscale antennas; as the THz currents heat up the antennas, thermo-electronic detection is used to identify the current at that frequency.

Since the term nanotechnology really refers to a scale of size rather than a specific type of technology, it brings together not only experimentalists and theorists like Bernstein and me, but also all kinds of research across campus, said Porod. At NDnano, our researchers are working on everything from developing new materials, to energy harvesting technologies, to cancer diagnostics ultimately working to use their research as a powerful means for doing good in the world.

NDnano is a world-class, collaborative research center that includes faculty from departments across the Colleges of Engineering and Science. The Center is focused on developing, characterizing, and applying new nanotechnology-based materials, processes, devices, and solutions that will better society. To learn more about NDnano, please visit nano.nd.edu.

Contact:Heidi Deethardt, NDnano,deethardt.1@nd.edu, 574-631-0279

nano.nd.edu / @NDnano

About Notre Dame Research:

The University of Notre Dame is a private research and teaching university inspired by its Catholic mission. Located in South Bend, Indiana, its researchers are advancing human understanding through research, scholarship, education, and creative endeavor in order to be a repository for knowledge and a powerful means for doing good in the world. For more information, please see research.nd.edu or @UNDResearch.

Originally published by Brandi Klingerman at research.nd.edu on August 23, 2017.

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The rise of nanotechnology research at Notre Dame - ND Newswire