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A Free-speech Rally, Minus the Free Speech – Townhall

Posted on August 24, 2017 by Danzig

Posted: Aug 23, 2017 8:40 AM

IF ONE LINE captured the essence of Saturday's Boston Common rally and counter-protest, it was a quote halfway through Mark Arsenault's Page 1 story in the Boston Globe:

"'Excuse me,' one man in the counter-protest innocently asked a Globe reporter. 'Where are the white supremacists?'"

That was the day in a nutshell. Participants in the "Boston Free Speech Rally" had been demonized as a troupe of neo-Nazis prepared to reprise the horror that had erupted in Charlottesville. They turned out to be a couple dozen courteous people linked by little more than a commitment to surprise! free speech.

The small group on the Parkman Bandstand threatened no one. One of the rally's organizers, a 23-year-old libertarian named John Medlar, had insisted vigorously that its purpose was not to endorse white supremacy. "The rally I'm helping to organize is about promoting Free Speech as a COUNTER to political violence," he had posted on Facebook. "There are NO WHITE SUPREMACISTS speaking at this rally."

Indeed, nothing about the tiny rally, whose organizers had a permit, seemed in any way connected with bigotry or hatred. One of the speakers was Shiva Ayyadurai, an immigrant from India who is seeking the Republican nomination in next year's US Senate race. As Ayyadurai spoke, his supporters held signs proclaiming "Black Lives Do Matter."

But he and the others who gathered at the Parkman Bandstand had never stood a chance of competing with the rumor that neo-Nazis were coming to Boston. That toxic claim was irresponsibly fueled by Mayor Marty Walsh, who denounced the planned rally "Boston does not want you here" even though organizers were at pains to stress that they had no connection to Charlottesville's racial agenda and intended to focus on the importance of free speech.

What happened on Saturday was both impressive and distressing.

A massive counter-protest, 40,000 strong, showed up to denounce a nonexistent cohort of racists. Boston deployed hundreds of police officers, who did an admirable job of maintaining order. Some of the counter-protesters screamed, cursed, or acted like thugs at one point the Boston Police Department warned protesters "to refrain from throwing urine, bottles, and other harmful projectiles" but most behaved appropriately. Though a few dozen punks were arrested, nobody was seriously hurt.

But free speech took a beating.

The speakers on the Common bandstand were kept from being heard. They were blocked off with a 225-foot buffer zone, and segregated beyond earshot. Police barred anyone from approaching to hear what the rally speakers had to say. Reporters were excluded, too.

Result: The free-speech rally took place in a virtual cone of silence. Its participants "spoke essentially to themselves for about 50 minutes," the Globe reported. "If any of them said anything provocative, the massive crowd did not hear it."

Even some of the rally's own would-be attendees were kept from the bandstand. But when Police Commissioner Bill Evans was asked at a press conference Saturday afternoon whether it was right to treat them that way, he was unapologetic.

"You know what," he said, "if they didn't get in, that's a good thing, because their message isn't what we want to hear."

No, Commissioner Evans. It was not a "good thing" that people with a right to speak were effectively silenced by the operations of the police. The ralliers did nothing wrong. They followed the city's rules. They did what police asked of them. They absorbed the slanders flung at them by the mayor and others. They didn't try to shut their critics down, and they weren't the ones hurling "urine, bottles, and other harmful projectiles."

All they were guilty of was attempting to defend the importance of free speech. For that, they were unjustly smeared as Nazis and their own freedom of speech was mauled.

Boston was kept safe on Saturday, for which city authorities deserve great credit. But in the course of preventing a riot, those authorities rode roughshod over the free-speech rights of a small, disfavored minority. That is never a good thing, whatever the police commissioner may think.

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A Free-speech Rally, Minus the Free Speech - Townhall

USC’s dean drug scandal could take a costly toll on the school’s legal battle with the UC system – Los Angeles Times

Posted on August 24, 2017 by Danzig

Six months after Dr. Carmen Puliafito stepped down as dean of USCs medical school, he was called by the university to give sworn testimony as a witness in a lawsuit the institution was facing.

It was a sensitive matter with hundreds of millions of dollars potentially at stake, and two attorneys for the university sat with him as he answered questions.

Almost immediately, the opposing lawyer hit on a topic that was a closely guarded secret at USC: The circumstances of Puliafitos abrupt resignation in March 2016.

The former dean had a ready explanation, saying he had taken advantage of a unique opportunity at a biotech company. The response was succinct, matter-of-fact and, in light of recent revelations about his drug use and troubled tenure at USC, far from the whole story.

Paul Pringle, Harriet Ryan, Adam Elmahrek, Matt Hamilton and Sarah Parvini

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Of the many consequences of the Puliafito scandal for USC, few are as high-stakes as the possible effect on the court case that prompted his testimony last year.

Puliafito was expected to play a role in defending USC in the legal battle with the University of California over the defection of a star UC Alzheimer's disease researcher.

Puliafito helped woo the scientist and dozens of other prominent academics as part of a strategy by USC President C.L. Max Nikias to vault the university into the ranks of elite research institutions.

UC is seeking $185 million in damages along with a punitive award that could be several times that amount.

With all thats out there about him, hes going to have a serious problem coming off as credible and being believed, said Los Angeles attorney Brian Panish, a civil litigator who has represented clients in suits against both schools.

A Times investigation published last month revealed that Puliafito partied and used drugs with a circle of criminals and addicts while serving as dean. Puliafito engaged in this behavior during the period in 2015 in which he was recruiting the researcher, according to interviews with his associates and text messages they exchanged with him.

A UC spokeswoman said the school would not discuss its legal strategy other than to say we are vigorously pursuing this case against USC.

An attorney for USC said no decision had been made on whether to call Puliafito as a witness, but insisted the former deans testimony was not important to the universitys defense.

Hes a bit player in this, said attorney John Quinn.

In court filings earlier this year, lawyers for USC highlighted a portion of the deans testimony in arguing that the case should be dismissed.

Puliafito testified that the university wanted UC San Diego researcher Paul Aisen to join the faculty whether or not he brought along hundreds of millions of dollars in grant funding, a rejection of UCs claim that USC was motivated by money in recruiting the scientist.

Legal experts said that even if USC decides not to use Puliafitos testimony, UCs legal team could ask for copies of his personnel record and attempt to make an issue in court of his conduct. That would set up a fight between USC and UC over whether jurors should be told about the skeletons in Puliafitos closet if the case went to trial.

The trial judge would have to decide whether the prejudicial, inflammatory value is outweighed by the probative value, said Manhattan Beach civil lawyer John Taylor, who has represented clients with legal claims against USC.

The judge, Taylor added, might say, Suppose he was out partying like a rock star? How does that make it more or less believable to a jury?

USC is anticipating that UC will try to make Puliafitos drug use a line of attack.

I believe that they would do anything they could to try to poison the well, including introducing the deans personal problems, USC lawyer Quinn said, adding that he expected a judge to reject such attempts as irrelevant.

The case is on hold while USC appeals a U.S. district judges ruling that moved the suit from federal court to San Diego County Superior Court, where it was originally filed. No trial date has been set.

By the time Puliafito was scheduled to be questioned under oath, the case was in its second year and UC had brushed off entreaties by USC to settle the matter out of court. USC deputy general counsel Stacy Bratcher and other university lawyers met with the former dean three times to prepare him for the deposition, he later testified.

On the day of his testimony, Bratcher and another lawyer sat with him at a downtown law firm as he was questioned for about six hours, according to a transcript of the testimony. Portions of the transcript were redacted at the request of USC.

Puliafito said he had been deposed 20 times in his life, including in court cases where he was a medical expert. On a video recording of part of the deposition, he appears self-assured, offering short, precise responses and brushing aside many questions as hypothetical and difficult to answer.

A few minutes into his testimony, he was asked for the circumstances of your ceasing to be dean of the medical school. An attorney for USCs outside law firm, Viola Trebicka, initially protested that the question was overbroad and vague objections a judge would rule on a later date and then directed him to go ahead and answer.

I had a unique opportunity in the ophthalmic biotechnology industry, and I was able to continue my employment at USC on sabbatical and work for this biotech company, he said.

The full story was more complicated. USC acknowledged after The Times report that the dean quit his post during a confrontation with the university provost about his behavior and job performance. That showdown capped years of complaints from faculty and staff about Puliafitos drinking, temper and public humiliation of colleagues, according to interviews with former co-workers and written complaints to the administration.

He was not offered the biotech job at Ophthotech, a firm run by two longtime friends, until more than a month after he resigned, according to a company spokesman.

Quinn said he did not know whether lawyers for USC and Puliafito discussed how he would answer questions about his resignation before the deposition. He said that attorneys for his firm would never sponsor false testimony. We would never knowingly permit a witness to lie. In a statement, a USC spokesman said the university general counsels office, where Bratcher works, would never encourage a witness to perjure himself.

Experts said UC could ask a judge to reopen the deposition in light of the new information about Puliafitos past conduct.

I would get the personnel file and also question him about what happened. Maybe there is more that is not out there yet, Panish said.

The court fight is being closely watched in academic circles. UC took the highly unusual step of suing its academic rival in 2015 after years of frustration over USCs recruitment of faculty members who were the recipients of big research grants. These grants are an important income source for the state system.

These transformative faculty, as they are known at USC, have been key to President Nikias strategy for raising the universitys national reputation. Puliafito spearheaded the effort during his eight-year tenure as dean, recruiting more than 70 academics from the UC schools, Stanford, Harvard and other prestigious rivals.

After Puliafito helped woo away two well-funded UCLA neurology researchers in 2013, UC administrators were outraged, and complained to government regulators, according to court filings. It was not unusual for professors to move to other institutions, often with the first university cooperating in the transfer of grant funding to the new school. But in UCs view, USC had acted beyond accepted norms by targeting academics based on grant funding and strategizing secretly with those researchers while they were still employed by UC about moving grants to USC. The schools reached a confidential settlement requiring USC to pay UCLA more than $2 million, according to a copy of the agreement obtained through a public records request.

Late the next year, the dean set his sights on another UC prize: Alzheimers expert Paul Aisen. The UC San Diego neurology professor was a global leader in the search for a cure for the disease, and federal agencies and drug companies were expected to send more than $340 million in research grants to the lab he ran over the next five years

Nelvin C. Cepeda

Alzheimer's researcher Dr. Paul Aisen.

Alzheimer's researcher Dr. Paul Aisen. (Nelvin C. Cepeda)

I am going to get more involved in this personally and quarterback the process, he wrote in an email to Provost Michael Quick in April 2015. We need this to happen.

USC offered Aisen annual compensation of $500,000 a salary bump of $110,000 along with a home loan and other perks. He moved to USC in June 2015.

The loss reverberated at the highest levels of the UC system. President Janet Napolitano unsuccessfully lobbied the head of drug company Eli Lilly, a major funder of Aisens work, to keep its grant money at UC.

In July 2015, UC sued USC, Aisen and his lab colleagues for breach of fiduciary duty, interference with contracts, computer crimes and other claims. The university said USC had conspired with the researcher while he was still working for UCSD to interfere with the public universitys contractual relationships with grant funders and to seize control of critical clinical trial data.

Subsequent filings suggested the depths of the hard feelings. In one, UC complained that the departing scientists had even made off with paper clips paid for by UCSD. In another, their lawyers described USC as a predatory private university with a law-of-the-jungle mind-set.

Astrid Riecken / Getty Images

University of California President Janet Napolitano

University of California President Janet Napolitano (Astrid Riecken / Getty Images)

USC and Aisen countersued for defamation and other charges. Their lawyers wrote in the complaint that they were ready to settle the litigation and suggested the blame rested with UC for failing to fund Aisens work adequately. When he found a school that would, they wrote, UC engaged in petty academic politics, including trying to make him sign a loyalty oath and cutting off his email and phone service, tactics that they claimed endangered patient safety.

Aisen, Puliafito and other USC administrators insisted in depositions that the university had done nothing wrong. In his sworn testimony, the former dean testified that he was prepared to offer Aisen a faculty position even if his lucrative research grants stayed behind at UCSD.

You were indifferent to whether or not the grant funding transferred with Dr. Aisen, the UC lawyer asked.

Yes, Puliafito said, adding: Thats the risk we were willing to take.

San Francisco lawyer Stephen Hirschfeld, who has defended UC and other universities in civil suits, said the involvement of other officials in Aisens recruitment could blunt the impact of Puliafitos credibility issues.

The university provost, a faculty chair, medical school administrators, and human resources officers played key roles in luring Aisen, according to court filings and deposition testimony.

You could have a situation where the dean says one thing and several other administrators confirm that it is true, Hirschfeld said. Focusing too much on Puliafito, he said, might make UC look cruel or desperate to the jury.

Youve got to think really hard if its worth it to attack this guy in this way, he said.

Taylor, the Manhattan Beach lawyer, said that jurors could see Puliafito as a reflection of the values of the university and the decision makers there.

If terrible evidence comes in about him, it is terrible evidence for the school, he said.

The deposition offers tantalizing clues about the relationship between Puliafito and USC. At one point, the former dean was asked when he had last looked at the USC ethics code.

Six months ago, he replied. The deposition was on Sept. 23, 2016 just a day short of the six-month anniversary of the meeting at which the provost confronted him with complaints from colleagues about his behavior.

harriet.ryan@latimes.com

Twitter: @latimesharriet

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USC's dean drug scandal could take a costly toll on the school's legal battle with the UC system - Los Angeles Times

Osmosis is bringing personalized learning to medical school, and beyond – Technical.ly Baltimore

Posted on August 24, 2017 by Danzig

Baltimore is well-known for its strengths in healthcare and education technology. In one growing startup that was founded in the city and continues to be based here, both of those areas are represented.

Osmosis applies learning platform tools to education for medical and health professionals.

Our mission is to provide clinicians the best education so they can provide you the best care, saidShiv Gaglani, the companys CEO.

Gaglani and cofounder Ryan Haynes began developing the idea while they were medical students at Johns Hopkins. They found they were both interested in how they were studying, as well as the subject matter. Starting with early work on a tool to help their own classmates, Osmosis developed a personalized learning platform that helps students study for classes and boards. The tools offered allow students can organize their study plans and materials, and there is additional content such as concept cards, flashcards and videos. In addition to providing the content, the system can automatically recommend other course material based on what someone is studying.

For Osmosis, medical education extends beyond school, as well. The startup creates medical education videos that are distributed widely through Wikipedia and YouTube. The video team includes former members of theKhanAcademyMedicine team. They seek to bring an in-depth approach to explaining topics clearly in an animated format. Videos created can also help professionals who need a review, and also educate patients and their families, Gaglani said.

As it grew and developed, Osmosis participated in the Dreamit Health accelerator in Philly, and won theMilken-Penn Graduate School of Education Business Plan Competitionin 2014, our sister site Technical.ly Philly reported. The startup also got support from investors including Medscape founder Peter Frishauf andAmerican Board of Medical Specialties CEOLois Nora.

Gaglani said Osmosis now reaches 300,000 people, and is looking to continue to grow. The companys distributed team has grown to 25, and is looking to grow its Maryland team. Osmosis recently received a $100,000 from TEDCOs Seed Investment Fund to help in that effort.

Stephen Babcock is Market Editor for Technical.ly Baltimore and Technical.ly DC. A graduate of Northeastern University, he moved to Baltimore following stints in New Orleans and Rio Arriba County, New Mexico. His work has appeared in The New York Times, Baltimore Fishbowl, NOLA Defender, NOLA.com/The Times-Picayune and the Rio Grande Sun.

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Osmosis is bringing personalized learning to medical school, and beyond - Technical.ly Baltimore

Essential California: How the USC med school scandal could affect … – Los Angeles Times

Posted on August 24, 2017 by Danzig

Good morning, and welcome to the Essential California newsletter. Its Monday, Aug. 21, and heres whats happening across California:

Hong Kong’s financial bosses want staff to adapt to automation at work and upgrade their skill sets, survey finds – South China Morning Post

Posted on August 24, 2017 by Danzig

Hong Kongs top financial executives are embracing automation in the workplace and urging employees to enhance their problem-solving skills and adapt as machines replace manual duties, a survey has found.

Recruitment consultancy Robert Half polled 100 chief financial officers and financial directors at major companies in a range of industries, including business services, marketing and logistics. The executives were questioned about their views on automation and expectations for finance staff.

Some 72 per cent agreed that office automation would not cause a loss of jobs, but instead a shift in the skills required of financial professionals.

Rather than simply hand over control to robots, finance professionals can actively equip themselves with the skills required to leverage the capabilities of automation, said Adam Johnston, managing director of Robert Half Hong Kong.

Using more advanced technology in the workplace requires additional, well-developed skills, such as advanced data analysis, interpretation skills, and decision-making skills.

The survey found 54 per cent of corporate financial bosses wanted employees to more deeply develop their problem-solving skills; 53 per cent said staff should have strategic vision for the company; 34 per cent wanted workers to adapt; and 33 per cent emphasised communication skills.

Automative solutions are increasingly being adopted in the corporate world, from technology that frees accountants from manual calculations and tax filings, to self-checkout machines at supermarkets and department stores.

The survey also showed 55 per cent of financial bosses believed automation could bring them better decision-making capabilities; 50 per cent thought it would free up employees to take on more value-added work; and 49 per cent said they foresaw increased efficiency and productivity.

Contrary to many perceptions about the potential dangers of automation, the benefits of new technologies are attainable for companies who embrace workplace automation rather than resist it, Johnston said.

While automation may diminish some routine manual roles, it will lead to faster decision making, reduce the risk of errors, and eliminate stresses associated with laborious task-management responsibilities.

The poll also found 51 per cent of financial chiefs believed their staff could learn new skills more quickly by embracing automation. But 69 per cent admitted companies still had a long way to go in adapting to the phenomenon.

Change is happening and companies need to adapt to an increasingly automated workforce though theres still a long way to go, Johnston said. It will be an ongoing process for companies to fully adapt to change, and Hong Kong organisations understand they need to refocus the workforce to truly realise the benefits of combining the right human skills with new technology.

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Hong Kong's financial bosses want staff to adapt to automation at work and upgrade their skill sets, survey finds - South China Morning Post

Could cloud automation solve patient matching challenges … – Healthcare IT News

Posted on August 24, 2017 by Danzig

As providers drive patient engagement initiatives, population health management programs and quality improvement projects, they're still stymied by challenges with patient identification.

In fact, many organizations have troves of electronic health records that can't avail themselves of analytics because they can't be matched with other records, according to a new report in the Journal of AHIMA.

In the article, "Applying Innovation to the Patient Identification Challenge," Lorraine Fernandes, president-elect of the International Federation of Health Information Management Associations, Jim Burke, EMPI and HIE practice lead at Himformatics and Michele OConnor, services manager at data governance startup Collibra, spotlight "innovations that can move the healthcare industry beyond the traditional human resource-heavy, back-end retrospective approach to accurate, automated patient identification and record matching."

[Also:Cloud-based master patient index could offer patient-matching relief]

Those new approaches might include augmentation using data from outside healthcare from credit bureaus and government programs, for instance or better leveraging emerging neural network technology to sift through ambiguous patient ID information or analyze digital fingerprints or facial recognition data.

That said, "the key to innovation in patient identity goes beyond staying up to date with recent technologies it involves a strategic data governance process, said AHIMA interim CEO Pamela Lane.

Once a solid plan is in place, professionals can leverage the digital assets, such as cloud-based services and other data services, to approach this issue in a complete manner," she said.

Real-time automation offered by the cloud is a central focus of the AHIMA article, and the authors see big promise for cloud technology's ability to ensure records stay up-to-date.

"The mainstream acceptance of cloud computing has opened an avenue to incorporate secure external data services into critical business processes such as patient registration, data exchange, and patient identification," they said.

"Cloud-based data services enable the infusion of referential or authoritative data that may come from large public databases outside healthcare, such as credit bureaus, loan servicing organizations, or telecommunications. These non-healthcare databases and associated business processes capture and validate identity data, update it continuously with each transaction, and retain the history of the persons demographics."

That could help address one of the key hurdles to accurate patient matching: the fact that patients' demographics can change over time, and between encounters at different facilities.

"Real-time automation of patient matching with external data also addresses a critical latency issue associated with manual stewardship efforts, which typically dont resolve the ambiguous linkages/tasks (those records not automatically linked by an algorithm) until days or months after a patient presents for care."

Twitter:@MikeMiliardHITN Email the writer: mike.miliard@himssmedia.com

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Could cloud automation solve patient matching challenges ... - Healthcare IT News

Rockwell Automation: Falling Behind? – Barron’s

Posted on August 24, 2017 by Danzig

Barron's

Rockwell Automation: Falling Behind?
Barron's
Over the past decade, ROK management often claim that Process automation represents the #1 growth opportunity for the company, but its sales in this market have barely grown in recent years, despite its much smaller sales base compared with established ...
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Rockwell Automation: Falling Behind? - Barron's

Aging Japan Wants Automation, Not Immigration – Bloomberg – Bloomberg

Posted on August 24, 2017 by Danzig

Japantends to be less wary of automation, even in nursing homes.

Japan's next boom may be at hand, driven by the very thing that is supposed to be bad for its economy.

Japan's aging and shrinking populationhas been partly blamed for the on-again, off-again nature of growth and deflation the past three decades. Lately, it's been drivingadifferent and just as powerful idea: In the absence of large-scale immigration, the only viable solution for many domestic industries is toplow money into robots and information technology more generally.

Humans will still be needed, of course, and that's behind a separate by-product of Japan's demographic challenges that I wrote about during a visit there last month. With unemployment down to 2.8 percent, companies are increasingly realizing they need to pay up to attract and keep qualified personnel.The other option -- increased immigration -- is politically difficult.

Japanese tech innovation in yesteryear was about gadgets and games designed to give pleasure. Think Sony's iconic Walkman and Nintendo games. Now the demand in Japan comes from an older demographic. A nursing home may well be the place to look for the next wave.

As my colleagues Henry Hoenig and Keiko Ujikane wrote this week, an owner of nursing homes in the Tokyo area plans to spend 300 million yen ($2.7 million) on software to make life easier for employees and residents.

Hoenig, Toru Fujioka and I heard anecdotes like that numerous times during a December trip to Kadoma, a city near Osaka. The area was once an industrial powerhouse that rode Japan's post-1945 industrial surge with local employers like Panasonic Corp. Now, Mayor Kazutaka Miyamoto frets openly about whether there will simply be enough wage earners to pay the taxes to maintain hospitals, public transport and schools (for those few children who are born and actually stay).

Miyamoto does not share the worries that dominate conversations about robots and AI in the West. He almost laughed when pressed on the issue in a conversation in his office. What if robots eliminate jobs? He said that would be a good thing. He told us to look around: There aren't many people on the streets in the middle of a weekday.

He doesn't see any real appetite for immigration on a scale that would substitute for more robots and AI. Few businesses we spoke to that day did. One small manufacturer insisted that immigration would dilute Japan's homogeneous society. He would happily get a few robots if he could afford them. Wait until the price comes down.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch forecast IT investment in Japan to rise as much as 9 percent annually in coming years, with the difference in software investment per worker versus the U.S. falling to 5 to 1 by 2020 from about 10 to 1 now.

The budding surge isn't limited to manufacturers. Non-manufacturing companies planned 2.4 trillion yen in software investment in the fiscal year ending in March 2018, according to the Bank of Japans Tankan survey, released in July. That would be the most since 2009. Retailers plan to spend 146.4 billion yen on software this fiscal year, the most on record for data going back to 1999.

Another reason Japanese people don't share American angst about robotics: Astro Boy. Cultural affection for the anime character has made it easier for people to feel more relaxed about robots and technology in their lives.

Just as well. That nurse assisting you in retirement may soon be a robot, along with the dog that keeps you company.

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.

To contact the author of this story: Daniel Moss at dmoss@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Philip Gray at philipgray@bloomberg.net

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Aging Japan Wants Automation, Not Immigration - Bloomberg - Bloomberg

KPMG And Automation Anywhere Form Alliance To Deliver Robotic Process Automation Solutions To Clients – Markets Insider

Posted on August 24, 2017 by Danzig

NEW YORK, Aug. 23, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --KPMG LLP and Automation Anywhere, a global leader in enterprise robotic process automation (RPA), have announced an alliance to help clients automate manual business processes to achieve cost savings, manage capacity increases effectively, and increase operational efficiency.

"Across nearly every industry, business leaders are evolving their employees' roles by shifting repeatable tasks like data entry and billing to RPA platforms, allowing their employees to remain more focused on driving innovative and creative approaches to solve larger business issues, such as enhancing a customer's experience," said Todd Lohr, Principal, Advisory, KPMG LLP. "During the past two years, KPMG has completed multiple implementations built on Automation Anywhere's platform. Together, we're helping clients improve decision making across the enterprise, enhance quality, reduce risk and effectively provide governance of RPA programs through a structured framework."

The global market for RPA software and services reached $271 million in 2016 and is expected to grow to $1.2 billion by 2021 at a compound annual growth rate of 36 percent, according to HfS Research, The Services Research Company. This comesas organizations increasingly automate processes in most applications, including legacy apps where investment costs for traditional automation are prohibitive. KPMG's 2017 Global CEO study noted that 57 percent of CEOs are investing in workforce training over the next three years to help employees keep pace with RPA and other emerging technologies.

"With this alliance, KPMG and Automation Anywhere will help companies define and execute their RPA strategies, improving efficiency and automating routine tasks," said Mihir Shukla, CEO and cofounder, Automation Anywhere. "Our industry-leading technology, combined with KPMG's experience and deep understanding of their client's business challenges, will help organizations reap the greatest benefits from automation executed intelligently."

Automation Anywhere offers a user-friendly platform with more than 100 prebuilt commands that can be configured to automate processes. Its technology can perform either surface or graphical user interface (GUI) automation in addition to more sophisticated methods, such as Web service and database calls.

The alliance with Automation Anywhere is the latest addition to KPMG's growing alliance ecosystem of Intelligent Automation technology companies; offering clients tailored solutions to deliver the most viable automation scenarios.

Recently, industry analyst HfS Research named KPMG a "High Performer" in its HfS Blueprint Report: Intelligent Automation 2016. The HfS study says KPMG is "at the forefront of educating the market on the implications of Intelligent Automation from a sourcing and process consulting perspective," and "building out the broadest Intelligent Automation capabilities among the Big 4," citing its alliance network with technology companies, such as Automation Anywhere, as a proof point of its strong ranking.

About KPMG LLP KPMG LLP, the audit, tax and advisory firm (www.kpmg.com/us), is the independent U.S. member firm of KPMG International Cooperative ("KPMG International"). KPMG International's independent member firms have 189,000 professionals, including more than 9,000 partners, in 152 countries.Not permissible for KPMG audit clients and their affiliates.

About Automation AnywhereAutomation Anywhere is one of the leading companies with an enterprise-grade RPA platform with built-in cognitive solutions and analytics. Over 695 of the world's largest brands use the platform to manage and scale their business processes faster, with near-zero error rates, while dramatically reducing operational costs. Based on the belief that people who have more time to create, think and discover build great companies, Automation Anywhere has provided one of the world's leading RPA and cognitive technology to lead financial services, BPO, healthcare, technology and insurance companies across more than 90 countries for over a decade. For additional information visit http://www.automationanywhere.com.

Contact:

Derek Brown

KPMG LLP

603-496-5865

class="prnews_a" rel="nofollow">derekbrown@kpmg.com

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KPMG And Automation Anywhere Form Alliance To Deliver Robotic Process Automation Solutions To Clients - Markets Insider

Physicists Use Lasers to Set Up First Underwater Quantum Communications Link – Gizmodo

Posted on August 24, 2017 by Danzig

As usual, weird art for weird physics (Image: JaredZammit/Flickr)

Quantum mechanics may force you to think some wild things about the way the Universe works, but it has some real applications. One of the theorys main quirks allows for a special kind of quantum link, one that can send incredibly secure messages or transmit data for quantum computing. Tests of these links exist on Earth, in space, and now, underwater.

Chinese scientists have already set up this quantum link between the ground and a satellite, and even quantum teleported a particle (which is not really teleportation). Given the importance of underwater communications like the fiber optics used to transmit telephone and internet data, one team reports that theyve now performed the crucial test required to set up an underwater quantum link without any cables.

The results are super preliminary, but confirm the feasibility of a seawater quantum channel, representing the first step towards underwater quantum communication, the researchers write in a study published this month in the journal Optics Express.

Whether there will ever be an application for such an underwater link remains to be seen. But if the researchers are successful in the difficult challenge of extending it past the ten feet they tested it, it could mean a new way to send quantum-encrypted messages between submarines or send data from quantum computers between locations separated by water.

Heres your quick quantum mechanics crash course: The tiniest units of matter like electrons and photons (individual units of light) can behave like both waves and particles at the same time. Each of these units properties are quantized, meaning the properties can only take on certain assigned values. Before you actually observe the properties, its impossible to tell what the value isyou just get a probability assigned to each of the possible options in a list called the wavefunction. Once you measure the system, the wavefunction collapses and the unit assumes the properties you observe.

The weird stuff kicks in when you entangle particles together, making them interact in a way that the particles must be described using the same list of probabilities. No matter how far apart the particles separate, they still seem to be aware of one another, such that observing the properties of one immediately causes the other particle to assume its corresponding property.

The Chinese scientists bestowed photons from a laser with different polarizations (the direction their waves travel perpendicularly to the photons forward motion) by passing the light through a series of crystal, filters, and mirrors. Their experiment then splits the beam, keeps one of the two entangled photons on one side, and passes the other one through a ten-foot-long tube containing one of several seawater samples.

It worked, according to the paper, and the researchers calculated that theyd successfully entangled the photons, even after passing one through the water-filled tube. It encourages us to look into a longer achievable communication distance, they write.

These results are a proof-of-concept, for surethe particle still travels through a tube and only over a few meters, a distance over which you might as well just verbalize the message out loud. Researchers have already entangled photons through space over a thousand kilometers.

One physicist was unsurprised, and another was skepitcal that the researchers would set up a much longer link, reports New Scientist. Because ocean water absorbs light, extending this is going to difficult, University of Missouri computer science professor Jeffrey Uhlmann told them. But another source said that maybe submarines could use such a channel to communicate securely.

But you wont know unless you try, I suppose.

[Optics Express via New Scientist]

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Physicists Use Lasers to Set Up First Underwater Quantum Communications Link - Gizmodo

How quantum mechanics can change computing – San Francisco … – San Francisco Chronicle

Posted on August 24, 2017 by Danzig

(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.)

Jonathan Katz, University of Maryland

(THE CONVERSATION) In early July, Google announced that it will expand its commercially available cloud computing services to include quantum computing. A similar service has been available from IBM since May. These arent services most regular people will have a lot of reason to use yet. But making quantum computers more accessible will help government, academic and corporate research groups around the world continue their study of the capabilities of quantum computing.

Understanding how these systems work requires exploring a different area of physics than most people are familiar with. From everyday experience we are familiar with what physicists call classical mechanics, which governs most of the world we can see with our own eyes, such as what happens when a car hits a building, what path a ball takes when its thrown and why its hard to drag a cooler across a sandy beach.

Quantum mechanics, however, describes the subatomic realm the behavior of protons, electrons and photons. The laws of quantum mechanics are very different from those of classical mechanics and can lead to some unexpected and counterintuitive results, such as the idea that an object can have negative mass.

Physicists around the world in government, academic and corporate research groups continue to explore real-world deployments of technologies based on quantum mechanics. And computer scientists, including me, are looking to understand how these technologies can be used to advance computing and cryptography.

In our regular lives, we are used to things existing in a well-defined state: A light bulb is either on or off, for example. But in the quantum world, objects can exist in a what is called a superposition of states: A hypothetical atomic-level light bulb could simultaneously be both on and off. This strange feature has important ramifications for computing.

The smallest unit of information in classical mechanics and, therefore, classical computers is the bit, which can hold a value of either 0 or 1, but never both at the same time. As a result, each bit can hold just one piece of information. Such bits, which can be represented as electrical impulses, changes in magnetic fields, or even a physical on-off switch, form the basis for all calculation, storage and communication in todays computers and information networks.

Qubits quantum bits are the quantum equivalent of classical bits. One fundamental difference is that, due to superposition, qubits can simultaneously hold values of both 0 and 1. Physical realizations of qubits must inherently be at an atomic scale: for example, in the spin of an electron or the polarization of a photon.

Another difference is that classical bits can be operated on independently of each other: Flipping a bit in one location has no effect on bits in other locations. Qubits, however, can be set up using a quantum-mechanical property called entanglement so that they are dependent on each other even when they are far apart. This means that operations performed on one qubit by a quantum computer can affect multiple other qubits simultaneously. This property akin to, but not the same as, parallel processing can make quantum computation much faster than in classical systems.

Large-scale quantum computers that is, quantum computers with hundreds of qubits do not yet exist, and are challenging to build because they require operations and measurements to be done on a atomic scale. IBMs quantum computer, for example, currently has 16 qubits, and Google is promising a 49-qubit quantum computer which would be an astounding advance by the end of the year. (In contrast, laptops currently have multiple gigabytes of RAM, with a gigabyte being eight billion classical bits.)

Notwithstanding the difficulty of building working quantum computers, theorists continue to explore their potential. In 1994, Peter Shor showed that quantum computers could quickly solve the complicated math problems that underlie all commonly used public-key cryptography systems, like the ones that provide secure connections for web browsers. A large-scale quantum computer would completely compromise the security of the internet as we know it. Cryptographers are actively exploring new public-key approaches that would be quantum-resistant, at least as far as they currently know.

Interestingly, the laws of quantum mechanics can also be used to design cryptosystems that are, in some senses, more secure than their classical analogs. For example, quantum key distribution allows two parties to share a secret no eavesdropper can recover using either classical or quantum computers. Those systems and others based on quantum computers may become useful in the future, either widely or in more niche applications. But a key challenge is getting them working in the real world, and over large distances.

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article here: http://theconversation.com/how-quantum-mechanics-can-change-computing-80995.

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Quantum physics for babies a different bedtime story – CBC.ca

Posted on August 24, 2017 by Danzig

Chris Ferrie writes books about rocket science for babies.

The quantum theorist and alumnus of the Institute for Quantum Computing at the University of Waterloo describes himself as a "theorist by day, father by night."

His latest publication Quantum Physics for Babies is the latest in his 'Baby University' series, and while the books don't guarantee a PhD, Ferrie says he's "just giving the seeds."

His books, which explainconcepts like Newtonian physics and general relativity, are an attempt at breaking down scientific concepts to their basic levels. Not an easy task.

"In a large part that is the problem with science," he said. "Being able to communicate what people work on after having studied for 15 years."

"In many ways there's a lot of work to be done that needs to bridge that gap."

He sees his work as the "first steps," introducing kids to concepts and terminology as early as possiblein the hopes that they will stay interested longer.

"When they see something that might be seen as the next step, they're perhaps ready for it, or at least not afraid," he said.

As far as his peers, he says there is not much differencebetween his worksand other baby books other than the subject matter. And with pages like "A is for Atom" and "B is for Black hole," it's not hard to see them being called upon at bedtime.

"I don't see why [kids] should be able to say something like 'hippopotamus' or 'giraffe,' and not 'electron,'" said Ferrie.

"I think 'electron' could be one of their first 10 words, why not?"

Ferries believes that the issue of students and kids shying away from math and science is largely a problem with the education system.

"At some point in their education they've fallen behind. There's nothing in the education system that allows them to catch back up," he said.

Ferrie argues that the only reason things look difficult and seem easier for some students is that certain people fall behind and others don't. The system, he says, is geared to accommodate and acceleratethose who are keeping pace, not ensure people falling behind are helped to catch up.

Ferrie's series 'Baby University' uses basic language to simplify concepts, introducing kids to science early. (Sourcebooks.com)

"If you're being taught something at your level, then anybody can do it," he said.

It's an issue he thinks has been tackled incorrectly, with discussions about when children should be "introduced to science,"when really, he says, it's been taken away.

"Children are naturally curious," he said. "They're little scientists."

"We stifle that curiosity at some point and sort of force them into this archaic education system."

As for the future, Ferrie hopes the diversity in children's books will grow over the next year to include more than just the staples of zoo animals and cartoons.

"For every topic that exists in human intellectual endeavours, there should be a baby book for that."

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Quantum physics for babies a different bedtime story - CBC.ca

Elderly couple got ‘deepest wish’ to die together in rare euthanasia case – Washington Post

Posted on August 24, 2017 by Danzig

Nic and Trees Elderhorstknew exactly how they wanted to die.

They were both 91 years old and in declining health. Nic Elderhorst suffered a stroke in 2012 and more recently, his wife,Trees Elderhorst, wasdiagnosed with dementia, according to the Dutch newspaper,De Gelderlander.

Neither wanted to live without the other, or leave this world alone.

So the two, wholived in Didam, a town in the eastern part of the Netherlands, and had been together 65 years, shared a last word, and a kiss, then died last month hand-in-hand in a double euthanasia allowed underDutch law, according to De Gelderlander.

Dying together was their deepest wish, their daughters told the newspaper,according to an English translation.

[A terminally ill woman had one rule at her end-of-life party: No crying]

The Netherlands became the first country to legalize euthanasia in 2002, allowing physiciansto assist ailing patients in ending their lives without facing criminal prosecution.

Euthanasia, in which a physician terminates a patient'slife at his or herrequest, is legal in a few countries, including Belgium, Colombiaand Luxembourg. Physician-assisted suicide, in which a doctor prescribes lethal drugs that a patient may take to end his or her life, is permitted in a fewothers, including in certain states in the United States, according toProCon.org, a nonprofit organization that researches countries' legislation on the issue.

We are pleased that we have in the Netherlands this humane and carefully executed legislation that allows the honorable wishes of these two people whose fate was painful and hopeless,Dick Bosscher, ofthe Dutch Association for a Voluntary End ofLife (NVVE), said in a statement to The Washington Post. He said theElderhorsts belonged toNVVE, a165,000-member organization foreuthanasia and assisted suicide in the Netherlands.

,,Ze gaven elkaar een dikke kus en rustig en zelfverzekerd zijn ze hand in hand ingeslapen.Via DG Liemers

Posted by De Gelderlander onThursday, August 10, 2017

In recent years, apparent double-suicides and murder-suicides have been capturing worldwide attention amid an emotional right-to-die debate couples from Florida toParisreportedlyending their lives together.

Assisted suicide has summoned up deep religious and ethical concerns among critics.

In the United States, the subject was widely debated in 2014, when a 29-year-oldwoman who had a fatal brain tumormoved from California to Oregon, where she could legally seek medical aid to end her life. Californiahas since enacted itsEnd of Life Option Act, joining a small number of states where it is legal.

Even in the Netherlands, according to Bosscher withNVVE, theElderhorsts' case is rarein that both of them were able to meet the criteria foreuthanasia under the DutchTermination of Life on Request and Assisted Suicide (Review Procedures) Act. Euthanasiaand physician-assisted suicide can be carried out only when the patient's request is voluntary and well thought-out, the patient is in lasting and unbearable suffering and there are no other solutions, among other things.

Researchpublished this monthin the New England Journal of Medicine revealed that euthanasia and physician-assistedsuicidesaccounted for 4.5 percent of deaths in the Netherlands in 2015, up from1.7 percent in 1990, before it was legal. The 25-year review found that most patients who received assistance had serious illnesses.

It looks like patients are now more willing to ask for euthanasia and physicians are more willing to grant it, lead author Agnes Van der Heide, of Erasmus University Medical Center in Rotterdam, told the Associated Press.

However, Bosscher said that there are more than 15,000 requests foreuthanasia each year in the Netherlands and that only about 6,000 of them are granted.

The Elderhorsts discussed their options and submitted requests for euthanasia a year-long process their daughters called an intense time, according to De Gelderlander.

The couple, who had even planned their own funerals,died July 4.

How Brittany Maynard may change the right-to-die debate

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Elderly couple got 'deepest wish' to die together in rare euthanasia case - Washington Post

Monmouth County SPCA Joins Efforts To Save Dogs Slated For Euthanasia In Puerto Rico – Patch.com

Posted on August 24, 2017 by Danzig

Patch.com

Monmouth County SPCA Joins Efforts To Save Dogs Slated For Euthanasia In Puerto Rico
Patch.com
EATONTOWN, NJ - The Monmouth County SPCA has teamed up with other animal rescue organizations to fly and temporarily shelter dogs from Puerto Rico that were slated for eventual euthanasia. The rescued dogs are part of The Sato Project, which ...
Dogs rescued from euthanasia heading to NJ for adoptionNJ.com

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Monmouth County SPCA Joins Efforts To Save Dogs Slated For Euthanasia In Puerto Rico - Patch.com

Stand-off with Catholic hospitals as euthanasia gains traction in Canada – BioEdge

Posted on August 24, 2017 by Danzig

As euthanasia rates increase in the Canadian province of Ontario, pressure is mounting on Catholic Healthcare providers to abandon their blanket opposition to Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD).

Over 630 Ontarians have received MAiD since the procedure was legalised in Canada in 2015, according to data from the provincial coroner, yet none of these cases has taken place in a Catholic healthcare facility.

Lobby groups are now calling for sanctions on Catholic healthcare providers, particularly in light of the public funding these providers receive.

Dying With Dignity Canada CEO Shanaaz Gokool told CBA News that her organisation is considering a legal challenge of Catholic hospitals right to conscientiously object to participation in euthanasia.

Gokool says that the Catholic healthcare policy of transferring MAiD patients to secular facilities places an undue burden on patients. "It really depends on how precarious their physical medical condition is," she said. "And if they are in a precarious state physically, then that can cause them more trauma."

Ontario health minister Eric Hoskins said that access to MAiD was not currently a problem. "We're obviously monitoring it very, very closely and currently don't have those concerns in terms of access," he told CBA News. "And about half of medical assistance in dying happens at home.

BioEdge: Dutch couple choose euthanasia together – BioEdge

Posted on August 24, 2017 by Danzig

The latest husband-and-wife euthanasia in the Netherlands took place on July 4. Nic and Trees Elderhorst, both 91, died in their home town of Didam, surrounded by family members. Neither was terminally ill, but both were in failing health. Nic, the husband, had a stroke five years ago, and Trees, the wife, was declining into dementia.

The couple had made advance directives in 2012 but they needed the euthanasia before Trees became unable to give her informed consent.

The couple applied to the Levenseindekliniek, a clinic which handles euthanasia requests when other doctors refuse. They gave each other a big kiss and passed away confidently holding hands, one of their daughters told a local newspaper, the Gelderlander.

Couple euthanasia is relatively common in the Netherlands, although some requests are refused because one of the partners does not fulfil the criteria. According to the Gelderlander, there are a few cases a year statistically negligible, but socially significant and no longer surprising.

At-large: Michelle Kennedy – Greensboro News & Record

Posted on August 24, 2017 by Danzig

Profession: Executive director, Interactive Resource Center

Highest degree earned: Attended UNC-Greensboro

Leadership experience: I have led nonprofit organizations in both Greensboro and Los Angeles. I worked for the State Energy Office overseeing a state-wide energy conservation program. I am the 2016 News and Record Woman of the Year, having been recognized for my contributions to the city.

Civic involvement: I currently serve our community in the following roles: Human Relations commissioner, Police Community Review Board member, United Way Family Success Center Design Team member, Community Foundation of Greater Greensboro Housing Access and Services Working Group member.

What experience qualifies you to serve on the City Council? I know how to work with diverse populations. I have an extensive track record of creating change and advocating for solutions to benefit communities over my career. I crafted the citys winter emergency shelter plan in 2015. I have worked for nearly a decade alongside City Council and city staff to address the needs in our community.

Name one area of responsibility that belongs to the Greensboro City Council and one that belongs to the county commissioners. Housing services that ensure the stability of and access to our housing stock including code enforcement, zoning and affordable housing are the responsibility of the City Council. Mental health services are a responsibility of county commissioners.

Four initiatives were passed in the 2016 bond referendum community & economic development, housing, parks & recreation and transportation. Which one do you think is most important and will you take the lead on it? What actions would you take?What became the bond referendum was originally designed to be a housing bond to address the lack of access to safe, decent, affordable housing in our community. While other areas are important, housing was, and for me, remains the most critical of the bonds. I serve on the housing access and services working group to help determine best use of those funds.

What do you believe is the greatest obstacle to Greensboros success and what is your solution? As a city, we must develop a strategic development plan to lead us into the future. Public infrastructure investments, land use and zoning changes must have community benefit considerations. Intentional, legitimate participation of impacted communities, beginning at the very earliest stages of planning and throughout implementation must be institutionalized. The fate of neighborhoods should be decided by the people who live there.

What specific plan do you have to bring living wage jobs to economically challenged areas of Greensboro? Incentives should not be considered in any part of Greensboro unless they are attached to living wage provisions for workers. Local hiring components within development projects must be championed to ensure that local workers have access to living wage jobs. I support living wages for all city workers, including temporary and part-time workers coupled with local provisions to encourage the same in the private sector.

What is the most pressing issue the council will face in 2018? Issues of economic equity will play a central role over the next year. Affordable housing, living wage employment and the need for community benefits as part of an equitable development plan will all be critical issues to be addressed. The need for accountability and transparency regarding those and other issues has never been greater than it is now.

What would you do to improve the relationship between Greensboro's City Council and the North Carolina Legislature? City Council has a responsibility to be the voice of the citizenry and to ensure that their concerns are brought to the attention of those within the state legislative body. In instances where Greensboro is the direct target of divisive action at the state level, City Council has a responsibility to protect the rights of Greensboro and should act as tireless advocates in that regard.

What is the best way for the city to address the large and growing problem of food deserts and food insecurity in Greensboro? Improving healthy food access will require comprehensive solutions. Renaissance Community Co-op serves as one shining example that addresses both food insecurity and local hiring. Zoning regulations could be eased to provide access to abandoned lots for use as urban agriculture sites or community gardens. Bus stop farmers markets are another strategy to connect food to people who use our public transportation system.

How would you improve police-community relations in Greensboro? Accountability and transparency at all levels of city government are crucial. To the extent allowable by law, body camera footage should be made available to the public. I support the creation of a citizen review commission that includes monitoring and subpoena power. Further, to increase public trust, this body should issue regular independent reports related to police interactions in Greensboro.

At-large: Michelle Kennedy - Greensboro News & Record

New initiatives, programs at WKU all have advantages – Bowling Green Daily News

Posted on August 24, 2017 by Danzig

Fall is a time of renewal at a university, including the arrival of a new class of students full of promise and possibilities. At Western Kentucky University, a strong class of 2021 has begun its higher education journey, and we stand at the ready to ensure that journey is successful.

The quality of our incoming class remains strong. Fifty-two percent of our first-time, first-year students have already earned college credit. In fact, a record 170 students are entering as sophomores, 29 as juniors and one as a senior! This is important as we strive to ensure students graduate in four years.

The class has an average ACT score of 23, three points higher than the state average, and an average GPA of 3.3.

One incredible statistic is that 33 percent of all first-time students are the first in their immediate families to attend college. Access to education is important as members of each generation strive to make a good living for themselves. But access without success is access to nothing.

At WKU, our mission as a student-centered university is to help them succeed in the classroom, in the laboratory, in the workplace, in the world and in their lives. That means that once they arrive on the Hill, we must work to ensure that they persist and earn a degree in four years. To that end, we are implementing several new initiatives proven to increase student success:

In the future, we will shift our freshman year programming to the bottom of the Hill, to include a first-year village concept as we replace older residence halls with new living space. This is an intentional move to more fully embrace living learning communities in our residence halls and to construct facilities with student success and connectivity to campus life in mind. The time our students spend outside of the classroom is as important as the time spent in class.

We also want our students to graduate with as little debt as possible. There has been an intentional shift in financial aid strategy during the last couple of years to reach a broader group of students. That review will continue and we will be placing a priority on private fundraising to support our financial aid initiatives.

WKUs impact extends far beyond the Hill. In conjunction with the steps weve already taken what I call strategic doing we are engaging all of our stakeholders in the formation of a roadmap to guide WKU for the next 10 years strategic planning. All of this the doing and the planning is focused on our core mission as a student-centered, applied research university: to inspire innovation, elevate communities and transform lives.

Tim Caboni is president of Western Kentucky University.

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New initiatives, programs at WKU all have advantages - Bowling Green Daily News

Organizer of Charlottesville’s Unite the Right rally described as onetime wannabe liberal activist – Richmond.com

Posted on August 24, 2017 by Danzig

CHARLOTTESVILLE After using his blog and Wes Bellamys Twitter history to make a name for himself last fall, those platforms are now being used against Jason Kessler, the pro-white activist who organized the Unite the Right rally that turned deadly on Saturday.

Articles and conspiracy theories about Kesslers past as a supporter of President Barack Obama and wannabe liberal activist who participated in the Occupy movement abound now as President Donald Trump continues facing backlash for his response to the rally that resulted in one woman, as well as two state police officers in a separate incident, dying.

On Monday, Kessler uploaded a video hoping to dispel rumors that he intentionally organized a violent rally that would reflect poorly on the so-called alt-right movement of white nationalists. He accused the Southern Poverty Law Center, as well as less extreme nationalists, of spreading misinformation about him.

Earlier this summer, the SPLC labeled Kessler a white nationalist, and wrote a profile about him that included assertions that some people on white nationalist forums have been questioning his ideological pedigree.

I grew up in Charlottesville. Anybody whos seen the way Charlottesville was this weekend understands that its an incredibly left-wing, commie town, Kessler, 33, said in a video he posted online Monday.

Kessler said that he used to align himself with the citys politically left-leaning residents, but went on to say he was red-pilled about three years ago.

The term is a reference to the film The Matrix, and has been used by alt-right followers as a way to describe someone who has taken to white identitarian issues and now rejects ideas such as multiculturalism, feminism and political correctness. Critics argue that attachment to white identitarianism is nothing more than a veil for white supremacist beliefs.

But old tweets, a neighbor, a liberal activist and some of Kesslers old friends attest that he held strong liberal convictions just a few years ago.

In a series of tweets in November, Kessler said many alt-right followers are former liberals, and that he previously voted for Democrats. He said he voted for Trump in the primary and the general election.

I like Trump more than I did Obama, he wrote on Nov. 6. My Trump enthusiasm is through the roof. I like people who push the edge.

In an interview last month, one of Kesslers childhood friends, David Caron, said Kessler previously had identified as a Democrat, but became disillusioned when he started thinking that there was no place for him in a party that has focused its efforts on embracing diversity and minority issues. He said the two of them had started supporting Trump last summer and attended one of his rallies in Richmond.

He was a Democrat until last year. The main thing is, he said he felt like the party didnt want him, Caron said.

Laura Kleiner, a Democratic activist who lives in Staunton, said she dated Kessler for several months in 2013. She said Kessler was very dedicated to his liberal principles, and that he was a strict vegetarian, abstained from alcohol and drugs, embraced friends of different ethnicities and was an atheist.

He broke up with me, and a lot of it was because I was not liberal enough, she said. I am a very progressive Democrat but he didnt like that I ate fish and that Im a Christian.

Kleiner said Kessler was well aware that she was of Jewish heritage, and that he showed no signs of being anti-Semitic. She also said he had a roommate for several years who was an African immigrant.

In an interview earlier this week, one of Kesslers neighbors, Zoe Wheeler, said she knew of two different African roommates who lived with him, and never thought Kessler was a racist, even after he started to make waves in the local news late last year.

I met him 12 years ago, before he got really obsessed with white identity issues, Wheeler said. I think he went off the deep end There was no stopping it, and then he was fueled by being an enemy and having something to stand for.

If you spend too much time on the web and youre alone, youve got a lot of guys plying you with all kinds of ideas, she said. You want to grab hold of something. He wants to stand for something I get that. But I feel like hes all over the place.

I celebrate a diversity of cultures, and that was something that seemed to have been a part of his life, too, Kleiner said. I was really surprised to hear the stories that hes changed and is now far-right. Its really shocking and disappointing.

Hes an extremist in whatever he decides to do. Thats all I can really say.

Kesslers ties to Emancipation Park and the statue of Robert E. Lee go beyond the past year, when he decided to target Charlottesville City Councilor Bellamy for his effort to remove the statue of the Confederate general. The rally Saturday was ostensibly intended to be a protest of the councils decision to remove the statue.

According to a woman (who wished to remain anonymous) who was part of the Occupy movement camp in what was then called Lee Park, Kessler was present there for several weeks in late 2011. She said Kessler ultimately removed himself from the camp after activists there started to make it known that his presence was not welcomed.

He was just so disagreeable that hed start fights between other people. He was very manipulative and very aggressive, the woman said.

He wanted people to be more violent and aggressive. He wanted to be the leader of things. ... Even if his politics had been good, I dont think people would have liked him, she said.

The former occupier said Kessler also tried to attach himself to other leftist groups around that time, such as Food Not Bombs and an atheist social club. She said Kessler had attempted to insert himself in those groups and radicalize them.

I dont think he knew what they really did. They just feed people thats it, she said. Its like he got the idea that he could make it into some more militant group.

I dont think he actually has any central beliefs at all not that that makes what hes doing any less dangerous.

Kessler did not reply to messages seeking comment for this story. But essays he published on his blog through late 2015 seemed to demonstrate a shift in thinking. (The blog, Jason Kessler, American Author, recently was taken down. It remains unclear why.)

Last fall, The Daily Progress reported that Kessler published a blog post in February 2016 in which he reflected on the potential of war between different racial groups in the future. He argued that white people would need to fight to avoid becoming a minority in America a phenomenon hes described in recent months as white genocide.

Cultures, tribes and civilizations are meant to clash just as we always have in the past, just like it is with nearly every other beast in the animal kingdom, Kessler wrote last year.

Kessler used his blog to excoriate Bellamy in November. After uncovering a trove of offensive and inappropriate tweets Bellamy had written between 2009 and 2014, before he was elected to office, Kessler used his blog to expose the city councilor and call for his removal.

In his other blog posts that have been archived and shared with The Daily Progress, Kessler seemed to foreshadow his future role in the community and the events that took place at the Unite the Right rally.

I cant think of any occupation that I admire more than the professional provocateur, who has the courage and self-determination to court controversy despite all slings and arrows of the world, he wrote in December 2015 as part of a blog post he updated a few times over a span of about two months his running thoughts.

Also that December, he published his historical perspective on mass violence.

We get so caught up in the emotion of the violence that we dont consider the long-term, historical consequences, he said.

Perhaps wed be happier if we made peace with the fact that rabid animals are going to dwindle the herd from time to time (as they have in much greater volume throughout history) and thats not really a bad thing in the long run.

Regarding large-scale attacks, he said, I dont think the zeitgeist should have an aneurysm every time one occurs either. I think wed be served to draw some historical perspective on how difficult the human condition has always been and how that is something of a blessing in disguise.

Andrew Cunanan gets his close up, 20 years later – Los Angeles Blade – Los Angeles Blade

Posted on August 24, 2017 by Danzig

The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story stars, from left, Ricky Martin (Antonio DAmico), Darren Criss (Cunanan) and Edgar Ramirez (Versace). (Photo by Frank Micelotta/PictureGroup, courtesy FX Network)

For the upcoming television series The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story, executive producer/director Ryan Murphy (American Horror Story, Feud: Bette and Joan, The People vs. O.J. Simpson) has set out to tell the story of Andrew Cunanan, the spree-killing sociopath who murdered the late fashion designer on the steps of his mansion 20 years ago.

I think the thing about American Crime Story is that were not just doing sort of a crime, Murphy said at the Television Critics Press Tour. Were trying to talk about a crime within a social idea. And this was always interesting to us because the idea was that Versace, who was [Cunanans] last victim, really did not have to die.

What gets discussed in the series is homophobiawhich Murphy notes, was how Cunanan was able to successfully make his way across the U.S. and kill these victims, many of whom were gay.

Homophobia, particularly within the various police organizations that refused in Miami to put up wanted posters, even though they knew that Andrew Cunanan had probably committed many of these murders and was probably headed that way, all of which we deal with in the show. I thought that that was a really interesting thing to examine, to look at again, particularly with the president we have and the world that we live in.

The series is based on a book by Maureen Orth, called Vulgar Favors, which indicated that Cunanan had HIV, though publicly, this was disputed by the family.

About that time period and the stigma surrounding HIV, Murphy said: You could literally lose your business, lose everything that you had. You could be fired. This company that Versace had was about to go public, and he was terrified of anything coming out negative about his personal life. We delve into that in the show.

Murphy continued: It was a huge thing to announce that [Versace] was gay and out of the closet, which he did in an interview. So all of that has a ripple effectthe Versaces will like some of what we do, and some of it they will be uncomfortable about.I dont think there should be any stigma or shame attached to HIV at allAnd I think there really was, and we address that head on.

With period pieces like Versace and the Emmy nominated, Feud, which profiles the behind-the-scenes rivalry of Bette Davis and Joan Crawford on the set of Whatever Happened to Baby Jane, Murphy feels obligated to be accurate with all the details.

To that end, FX recreated the former Miami home of the late fashion designer, which has since been turned into a $1,000+ a night hotel. Earlier this year, the castRicky Martin, who plays Antonio DAmico, Versaces longtime partner, Penelope Cruz, (Donatella, Versaces sister) Darren Criss (Cunanan) and Edgar Ramirezwent on location; Versaces bedroom and closets that he personally created will be among the scenes in the film.

We were lucky enough to be able to get inside there and film in thatIt was really an amazing opportunity to be able to go in there. We did a tremendous amount of research, down to the backpack that Cunanan had, and what was his shoelace like. And that, to me, is one of the joys of the work, to really get it right. I think we did get it right with this show, because we cared. We wanted to do honor to him.

While Versaces former lover, Antonio, initially expressed concern about the series, Murphy indicated that he has had a change of heart.

Ricky [Martin] spoke to him today, and he was very great and excited to talk to Ricky. My point of view about that is I think its very hard to judge anything that youre watching based on a paparazzi photograph, which is apparently what his judgment was about. And I think when youre doing a show like this, or a show like O.J., youre not doing a documentary. Youre doing a docudrama. So theres always certain things you take liberty with, particularly, and the movement of wanting to move toward something emotional, at least for me.

In the series, Edgar Ramirez plays Versace, a complicated character that changed the world of fashion.

For the first time, [Versace] combined sexiness and glamour and opulence, like no one has ever done before. He could see the sexiness of the 70s, and then all the opulence of the 80s, and he sensed that in the 90s. He combined it, and everybody went crazy, Ramirez noted.

He added: Its very interesting how the story captures not only a very dramatic, amazing story that needs to be told, but how it captures the spirit of the time. Its something that also has a lot to do with Ryans work. And Im a huge fan of thatmovies, products, content that not also tell compelling stories, but also capture the zeitgeist and the spirit of the time that speak about greater subjects going on in society.

See the article here:

Andrew Cunanan gets his close up, 20 years later - Los Angeles Blade - Los Angeles Blade

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