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Muzaffarnagar: NSA against three held under cow slaughter Act – The Indian Express

Posted on August 16, 2017 by Danzig

Written by Manish Sahu | Lucknow | Updated: August 17, 2017 2:22 am Among the three accused, Bhura alias Israil and Khalil alias Leelu have been in prison since June 26, while Inaam was sent to jail on July 23. Police are yet to file a chargesheet in the case. (File/Representational)

THE MUZAFFARNAGAR district administration has invoked the National Security Act (NSA) against three people arrested in June-July under the UP Cow Slaughter Act and various other charges. The accused are lodged in the district jail.

Station House Officer (SHO) of Janshath police station, Kamal Singh Chauhan, said: A recommendation was made to District Magistrate (Muzaffarnagar) G S Priyadarshi, requesting to invoke the NSA on the three accused along with a report containing details of the case. The request was accepted and I served the order invoking the NSA against the accused in Muzaffarnagar district jail on August 14.

Priyadarshi confirmed that the NSA had been invoked against the accused on the police recommendation.

Among the three accused, Bhura alias Israil and Khalil alias Leelu have been in prison since June 26, while Inaam was sent to jail on July 23. Police are yet to file a chargesheet in the case.

According to Chauhan, on the morning of June 24, police received information about the slaughter of a cow at Katka village. A team rushed to the spot, where the accused allegedly fired at them, injuring a constable. The police team, however, managed to nab Bhura and Khalil, residents of the neighbouring Khedi Firozabad village, added Chauhan.

The SHO further said that the team recovered flesh, skin and body parts of a bullock, knives used for slaughtering the animal and a country-made pistol from the spot. A bullock was also found tied with a rope near the spot, he added.

A case was lodged against Bhura, Khalil and others under the UP Cow Slaughter Act, the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, the Arms Act and sections 148 (rioting, armed with deadly weapon) and 149 (common object) of the IPC.

The flesh seized from the place was not sent for lab tests as the district veterinary officer had visited the spot immediately after the raid. He had confirmed the meat as that of a bullock. Parts of the animals body as tail, skins and horns too had confirmed it was a bullock, said Chauhan.

On July 22, another accused, Inaam, was arrested from his house in the Kakroli area in Muzaffarnagar, the SHO added.

The superintendent of Muzaffarnagar district jail Arun Saxena said the NSA report has been received by the prison.

In June, DGP Sulkhan Singh had issued directions to take strict action against those involved in cow slaughter, smuggling of cows and their progeny by invoking the NSA and the Gangsters Act against them. The DGP had clarified that the district magistrate and police chief can decide what action needs to be taken after taking into consideration the gravity of the situation.

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Muzaffarnagar: NSA against three held under cow slaughter Act - The Indian Express

UP: NSA likely against Madrasa over not singing national anthem on Independence Day – Outlook India

Posted on August 16, 2017 by Danzig

Bareilly (Uttar Pradesh) [India], Aug 16 : After a Madrasa in Bareilly did not adhere the state government's order on singing the national anthem on Independence Day; Bareilly's Divisional Commissioner P.V. Jaganmohan said that charges can be slapped on the seminary under the National Security Act (NSA).

Speaking to , Jagmohan said, "So far on Independence Day every school, government organisation and Madrasa abided to the rule which had been initiated. But the Madrasa which did not sing national anthem will be probed and National Security Act (NSA) can be imposed against them. Only after finding solid proof about anti-national activities we will probe this matter in details".

Earlier in week, the Bareilly district magistrate, R. Vikram Singh, had issued a statement that said the refusal to sing the national anthem may lead to a law and order situation and any person or organisation doing so will attract action under section 144 of Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) if he or she hampers proceedings during singing/reading of national anthem or asks them not to respect it.

The Jamiat-ur-Raza Madrasa in Bareilly came under the radar after refraining from singing the national anthem and video-recording the day's events. Nearly 1,000 students of the Madrasa, before ending the day shouted "Humara Hindustan zindabad" and broke into 'Sare Jahan Se Accha'.

This came even as some madrasas sang the national anthem and said they had no problem doing so.

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UP: NSA likely against Madrasa over not singing national anthem on Independence Day - Outlook India

Service Members Sue Trump Over Ban on Transgender People in the Military – Bigger Law Firm Magazine

Posted on August 16, 2017 by Danzig

On Wednesday, August 9, 2017, five active-duty service members filed a lawsuit against President Trump regarding his plan to institute a ban on transgender people from serving in the military.

In response to his stated intention, five anonymous Jane Does filed suit, claiming that the order to implement a ban on service by transgender individuals is in violation of both the Equal Protection element of the Fifth Amendment and the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

The plaintiffs are:

The National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) and GLBTQ Legal Advocates and Defenders (GLAD) are advocating on their behalf. Trump declared in a succession of tweets on July 26, 2017 that the U.S. government will not permit transgender persons to serve in the military. However, the military has not released a policy explaining the way in which that mandate would be accomplished.

In June 2016, the Obama administration repealed the ban on transgender troops, and since then, hundreds of service members have been openly serving. According to a study conducted by the Rand Corp., and authorized by the Pentagon last year, there are approximately 11,000 transgender troops in the reserves, and serving on active duty in the military.

Trumps decision puts an end to the furtherance of rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in the U.S. military that started with the revocation of the dont ask, dont tell policy in 2010. Trumps explanation for his decision was the inability of the military to assume responsibility for the increased medical expenses and the disturbance that transgender troops would create. However, Trumps declaration has caused Republicans and Democrats in Congress to be worried about the expansive scope of Trumps directive.

Republicans critical of Trumps decision One critic of Trumps policy change is Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.), the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, who disagreed with terminating dont ask, dont tell in 2010. Sen. McCain took issue with the way in which Trump expressed his message, and its ramifications for transgender members on active duty. McCain said it was inappropriate for important announcements regarding policy to be made via Twitter.

He also stated that any American who was in compliance with medical and readiness guidelines should be permitted to continue serving, and that it is unreasonable to compel service members who have the ability to engage in combat, training and deployment, to exit the military, notwithstanding their gender identity. In addition to McCain, Republican Sens. Orrin G. Hatch (Utah), Joni Ernst (Iowa), an Army veteran, and Richard C. Shelby (Ala.) put forth statements that cast doubt on Trumps decision.

Trump faced pressure from conservative Republicans Trumps tweets on the subject may well be in response to lobbying on the part of conservative Republicans to revert to the policy in place prior to the time of the Obama administration. He posted his tweets on the subject just weeks following the rejection by the House of an amendment to the annual defense policy bill that would have prevented the Pentagon from providing gender-transition therapies to members on active duty. However, conservative legislators, several of whom are members of the House Freedom Caucus, had warned that they would refuse to back a spending bill if Congress did not forbid the Pentagon from financing the procedures. The deadlock jeopardized government spending, and possibly held up funds that had been earmarked for the border wall between the United States and Mexico.

Comments from a military attorney Military attorney Matt C. Pinsker, who is also a criminal defense attorney and an Adjunct Professor at Virginia Commonwealth University, offered his comments on the transgender ban. Pinsker says the implications of a transgender ban for those currently serving would be an Honorable Discharge. Or they would be grandfathered in and permitted to continue serving. He also states a ban is unlikely to have any effect on civilian employment following military service.

Additionally, a ban is very unlikely to affect eligibility to receive veterans benefits. Pinsker went on to say that a transgender person should not join the military because you are dependent on medications, and without them, your physical or mental health suffers, endangering not just your own well-being, but that of those depending on you. (This also eliminates people with heart conditions, diabetes and ADHD).

Plaintiffs relied on change in policy Each of the plaintiffs said they acted in reliance on the 2016 change in policy when they informed commanding officers that they were transgender. They are requesting that the court hold that Trumps objective is in violation of the pledge the government made to military members. The lawsuit claims that since they described themselves as transgender as a result of defendants prior promise, plaintiffs are now bereft of the security and confidence they possessed with respect to their careers and benefits. Such benefits include post-military and retirement benefits that are dependent on the duration of their service. More lawsuits are expected to follow upon the official issuance of the ban.

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Service Members Sue Trump Over Ban on Transgender People in the Military - Bigger Law Firm Magazine

Lawyers clash over an imaged hard drive as Waymo v. Uber hurtles toward trial – Ars Technica

Posted on August 16, 2017 by Danzig

Enlarge / An Uber driverless Ford Fusion drives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Photo by Jeff Swensen/Getty Images

SAN FRANCISCODuring a heated court hearing here today, Waymo lawyersaccused Uber's law firm, Morrison Foerster, of violating a court order by not handing over documentsthat Waymo says were illegally downloaded from Google.

Waymo filed a lawsuit in February, claiming that theformer head of Uber's self-driving car project, Anthony Levandowski, downloaded more than 14,000 Google documents that contain trade secrets about self-driving cars,shortly before he left his job at the company. Levandowskithen created a startup called Otto, which he sold to Uber for $680 million. Waymo has saidthat Uberhasused thosetrade secrets, which were brought over by Levandowski.

Uber deniesthat any trade secrets were on Uber servers and says it built its own technology from the ground up. Levandowski, who is not a defendant in the case, hasn't denied downloading filesinstead, he has pled his Fifth Amendment rights and refused to talk. Uber fired him in May for refusing to cooperate with court orders.

"Weve been trying to get these documents since the outset of this case, and we still dont have them," Waymo lawyer Charles Verhoeven told US District Judge William Alsup.

Uberattorney Arturo Gonzalez protested that Waymo'sexplanation wasmisleading. It's true thata digital forensics firm, Stroz Friedberg, imaged Levandowski's devices as part of Uber's acquisition. But onlya "tiny sliver" of thoseimages came into Morrison Foerster's offices, where they were reviewed by a single associate.

The material came in at a time whenMorrison Foerster, often called MoFo for short, was representing Levandowski in an arbitration over his departure from Google.Gonzalez said he "pulled the plug" on the documents being reviewed once he saw that a conflict was developing between Uber and Levandowski.

He alsopointed out that it's Levandowski who is arguing that the documents are protected by a joint defense privilege. It's Levandowski's lawyers, not Uber, who have appealed the issue to the USCourt of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, which still hasnot ruled on the matter.

"Once the FederalCircuit rules, this will be reviewed under whatever protocol we agree to, and produced,"said Gonzalez.

"We have repeatedly asked, specifically, for the Google documents," said Verhoeven. He continued:

Upuntil June, theysaid they didn'thave it. That MoFodidn'thave it. Thatwas false. Thatis not protected by the FifthAmendment.Theydidnt tell us, intentionallyuntil they were forced to, when we finally battered them down after a dozen motions.

Alsup generally seemed sympathetic to Verhoeven, although he said he would wait for the Federal Circuit ruling. When he pondered a solution to the matter, he said he was inclined to tell the jury exactly what happened.

"I am concerned thatMr. Gonzalezfailed to disclose that he had the documents," Alsup said. "He took a long time to come clean. Maybe he can get on the stand and explain it away. Iam inclinedto tell the jury exactly this scenariothat he was ordered to come clean and did not come clean. Then finally in June and July, he comes clean."

"You've bought into a completely false narrative," Gonzalez said. "We'renot trying to hide anything. Thistrial is against Uber. Uberdidn't even know MoFohad these documents. Thedownloadedmaterials are not at MoFo, and Uberdidn't even know we had these materials."

The arguments over Levandowski's documents were part of a series of three motions that will lay the groundwork for an October trial,now less than 60 days away.

In addition to hearing arguments overLevandowski's imaged devices, Alsup heard two other motions filed by Uber: one attacking Waymo's damages case and another attempting to limit the trade secrets that Waymo can present at trial.

"Uber does not have [damage] calculations, the basis for them, the theoriesand methodology that they're going to rely on," said Uber lawyer Karen Dunn. "It may be time to face up to the fact they want an injunction. They don'thave a damages case at allit's a non-commercialized market."

A Waymo attorney countered that the companyhad provided a 26-page narrative outlining its damages theories.

"We just got Uber'sside of the ledger yesterday," said Waymo attorney Melissa Baily. "So nowwe have ninedays [before the end of discovery] to take that into account. We cant do a complete analysis without that information."

Alsup didn't rule on the damages matter, saying that he needs to see where thetwo sides come out on the matter.

"Thenit will be clearer how fair or unfair the process has been," he said. "This piece of the controversy will be held in abeyance for a while."

A final motion, over limiting Waymo's alleged trade secrets, was held in closed session.

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Lawyers clash over an imaged hard drive as Waymo v. Uber hurtles toward trial - Ars Technica

The US Government’s Secret War on the KKK Involved the FBI, Fidel Castro and Lots of Dirty Tricks – Newsweek

Posted on August 16, 2017 by Danzig

Newsweekpublished this story under the headline of G-Men and Klansmen on August 25, 1975. Due to recent events at a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, which resulted in one death and 19 injuries,Newsweekis republishing the story.

For decades, almost without restraint, the Federal Bureau of Investigation has carried out a wide range of undercover intelligence projects. Unknown to most Americans, some of these operations probably included violations of the law - and others, as they became known, seemed simply foolish. Last week, at the American Bar Association convention in Montreal, Attorney General Edward H. Levi made clear that he intended to put a leash on the FBI by instituting "guidelines" to cover its intelligence activities.

Levi proposed to restrict domestic intelligence gathering to circumstances that may threaten violence in the nation, and he promised to review these programs periodically. Electronic surveillance, such as wiretapping, would be limited to long-range investigations. The use by the FBI of "provocateurs" to lure unpopular people and groups into trouble would be barred completed. The vast amount of unsolicited - and often derogatory - material that the bureau receives about government officials and private citizens would be destroyed within 90 days if it could not be connected to criminal misconduct. And as part of the Watergate legacy. Levi sought to make sure that the bureau was not misused for political purposes. The FBI would undertake probes for the White House, he said, only upon written request by specified high-ranking officials.

As it happened, even as Levi was announcing his guidelines, the FBI released last week some fresh details of just the sort of operation the new rules were designed to prevent:

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Most recent revelations of FBI harassment have involved left-wing groups such as antiwar organizations and the Socialist Workers Party. The newly released document showed that throughout the 1960s, the bureau had also waged a spirited and often imaginative counter-intelligence program - COINTELPRO, in bureau jargon - against right-wing outfits like the Ku Klux Klan and theAmerican Nazi Party.

Central to this campaign was a wholly fictitious organization, surreptitiously run from Washington, dubbed "The National Committee for Domestic Tranquility." In a coy touch of esoteric humor, some unknown wag in the Bureau christened the bogus organization's director "Harman Blennerhassett" - the name of an obscure financial supporter of Aaron Burr in the early nineteenth century. In thousands of mailings to unsuspecting Klansmen, the "committee" portrayed Klan leaders as Communist dupes or greedy grafters and parasites living off the membership.

"By placing themselves above the law of the land through the invocation of the Fifth Amendment," the committee wrote haughtily, "these irresponsible Klan leaders have joined hands with Communists who also always hide behind the Fifth Amendment." FBI field agents prodded the Klan with thousands of postcards, intentionally exposing the messages to outsiders along the way. One widely distributed postcard featured a cartoon of two Klansmen drinking at a bar over a caption, "Which Klan leaders are spending your money tonight?" The bureau also sent anonymous letters accusing various Klansmen of being FBI informants - which carried a double edge. They helped to protect the real informants, of whom there were at least hundreds, and they made Klansmen suspicious of almost everybody.

The FBI had a well-stocked bag of dirty tricks. It once faked a picture of a Miami Klansman consorting with Cuba's Fidel Castro. Upon learning that the Klan was holding a meeting in North Carolina, it called various motels in the area to cancel their room reservations. One Klan official was discovered to be receiving a veteran's disability pension while making $400 a month as a plumbing and electrical contractor; the G-men sicked the Veterans Administration on him to cut off his benefits, then for good measure alerted the Internal Revenue Service that he had not filed income-tax returns for several years.

Trinkets: Almost nothing was beneath the bureau's notice. COINTELPRO proposed an attempt to persuade Virginia GovernorMills E. Godwin Jr. to collect sales tax on trinkets sold at Klan rallies. The bureau seemed particularly upset with the Virginia Klan. A Washington memo, omitting any mention of attacks on blacks, noted the Klan had attacked the FBI. One Klan leader announced that it would be KKK policy to shoot any agent who appeared on its property.

In its campaign against the Nazi Party, the FBI informed party members that their Midwest coordinator was of Jewish descent, thus forcing his rapid expulsion. In the mid-'60s, the Chicago chapter of the party exhausted its meager financial resources to buy and repair a rundown building for use as it headquarters. After waiting until the job was completed, agents anonymously called Cook County inspectors who closed the building for technical violations.

The hitherto-secret FBI report also revealed that in its COINTELPRO campaign the bureau had carefully manipulated the press, leaking to friendly newsmen stories that were sometimes true and sometimes not. It provides prominent Southern publisher Ralph McGill with information to pass on to a colleague who was writing an article about the Klan for a national magazine. McGill is "a staunch and proven friend of the bureau," a memo from Washington to Atlanta said, and "would not betray our confidence."

Two members of the Virgil Griffin White Knights, a group that claims affiliation with the Ku Klux Klan, pose for a photograph in their robes ahead of a cross lighting ceremony at a private farm house in Carter County, Tennessee July 4, 2015. REUTERS/Johnny Milano

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The US Government's Secret War on the KKK Involved the FBI, Fidel Castro and Lots of Dirty Tricks - Newsweek

4th Amendment Protections Sought For Cell Site Location Data – Android Headlines

Posted on August 16, 2017 by Danzig

Location data from your phone may fall under the protection of the 4th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America, and advocates from various circles, including the tech world, are making the argument that this should be the case. The conversation was started by a court case known as Carter v. the United States, wherein the court is seeking the right to obtain rough location data to track the defendant over the course of 127 days. Carter is being represented by the American Civil Liberties Union. The movement includes representatives from the Electronic Frontier Foundation, National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, Verizon, and a panel of experts from around the tech sphere. The base argument is that obtaining data constitutes seizure, while interpreting the data constitutes search, two activities that are restricted by the Fourth Amendment. The Fourth Amendment protects from unreasonable examples of those activities, and establishes the requirement for law enforcement agencies to obtain a warrant before performing most types of search and seizure procedures.

The type of location data thats presently at the center of the conversation is the somewhat less precise location data that can be gleaned from any device connected to a cellular network, with or without the involvement of GPS. This data includes a triangulation of your current location from nearby cell towers, as well as the locations of nearby Bluetooth devices and Wi-Fi networks, if available. This data tends to be less precise than GPS data, with an average accuracy of a couple dozen to a couple hundred meters, depending on network conditions. Thanks to the deployment of a larger amount of towers and small cells and more sophisticated network equipment, as well as a larger amount of mobile, IoT, and other electronic devices around at any given time, this location data has been less prone to gross inaccuracy in recent years.

The location data in question has, in the past, been considered imprecise enough to not warrant it being categorized as personal or private data. Police have used such data on a fairly routine basis for more rough usages, such as obtaining evidence of an alibi or a lack of one, putting multiple defendants near the scene of a crime at the same time, and doing other investigative tasks. Having such data require a warrant going forward could make investigations costlier and slower, which in turn means that the privacy and security advocates trying to push for this change will have an uphill battle ahead of them.

4th Amendment Protections Sought For Cell Site Location Data - Android Headlines

First Amendment to the United States Constitution – Simple …

Posted on August 16, 2017 by Danzig

This article is part of a series on the Constitution of the United States of America Preamble and Articles of the Constitution

The First Amendment to the United States Constitution is a part of the United States Bill of Rights that protects freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of assembly, freedom of the press, and right to petition.

The Establishment Clause does not allow the government to support one religion more than any other religion. The government also can not say that a religion or a god is true. This is often described as "separation of church and state", where "state" means "the government". It also does not allow the government to establish a national religion. It allows people to debate religion freely without the federal government of the United States getting involved. The clause did not stop the various states from supporting a particular religion, and several states did.

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; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

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First Amendment to the United States Constitution - Simple ...

Piers Morgan is at it again – National Review

Posted on August 16, 2017 by Danzig

Piers Morgan is at it again:

Morgan is echoing an idea that has been advanced repeatedly in the last couple of days: To wit, that there is something particular about Nazism that makes it ineligible for protection under the Bill of Rights. This is flat-out wrong. And, more than that, its dangerous. Abhorrent and ugly as they invariably are, there simply is no exception to the First Amendment that exempts Nazis, white supremacists, KKK members, Soviet apologists, or anyone else who harbors disgraceful or illiberal views. As the courts have made abundantly clear, the rules are the same for ghastly little plonkers such as Richard Spencer as they are for William Shakespeare. If that werent true, the First Amendment would be pointless.

This is not a controversial statement. It is not an interesting view. It is not a contrarian contribution to an intractable grey area. It is a fact. There are a handful of limits to free speech in the United States, and all of them are exceptions of form rather than of viewpoint. Heres Eugene Volokh to explain that further:

To be sure, there are some kinds of speech that are unprotected by the First Amendment. But those narrow exceptions have nothing to do with hate speech in any conventionally used sense of the term. For instance, there is an exception for fighting words face-to-face personal insults addressed to a specific person, of the sort that are likely to start an immediate fight.

. . .

The same is true of the other narrow exceptions, such as for true threats of illegal conduct or incitement intended to and likely to produce imminent illegal conduct (i.e., illegal conduct in the next few hours or maybe days, as opposed to some illegal conduct some time in the future). Indeed, threatening to kill someone because hes black (or white), or intentionally inciting someone to a likely and immediate attack on someone because hes Muslim (or Christian or Jewish), can be made a crime. But this isnt because its hate speech; its because its illegal to make true threats and incite imminent crimes against anyone and for any reason, for instance because they are police officers or capitalists or just someone who is sleeping with the speakers ex-girlfriend.

Under the doctrine laid out by a unanimous Supreme Court in the seminal Brandenburg v. Ohio decision, incitement to imminent lawless action may in some circumstances be prosecuted. But this rule is universal and narrow, and, crucially, is in no way akin to the sort of hate speech exceptions that obtain in every other country, and that so many Americans seem to believe exist here too. Under U.S. law it is legal for a speaker to say broadly that all the Jews should be killed or that it is time for a revolution, or that slavery is good, and it is not legal for a speaker to say to a crowd, lets all go and kill that guy wearing the yarmulke, or meet me in an hour at the armory and well start our insurrection at the Post Office, or look at that black guy over there in the blue t-shirt, lets chain him to my car.Who is saying these things, however, does not matter in the slightest. Whether one likes it or not, Brandenburg applies as much to neo-Nazis as to the Amish, as consistently to Old Testament preachers as to gay rights activists, and as broadly to my mother as to David Duke. It applies in exactly the same way to good people, to bad people, and to those in between.

It is, in other words, a principle a principle that cannot be obviated by cynical word games or by thinly disguised special pleading. I believe in free speech, but or I just dont think this is a free speech issue both popular lines at the moment simply will not cut it as arguments. On the contrary. In reality, all that the but and the I just dont think mean is that the speaker hopes to exempt certain people because he doesnt like them. But one can no more get away from ones inconsistencies by saying its not a speech issue to me than one can get away from the charge that one is unreliable on due process insisting in certain cases, well, thats not a due process issue to me. This is a free speech issue. Those who wish it werent just trying to have it both ways to argue bluntly for censorship, and then to pretend that they arent.

Leaving aside that the Supreme Court has been extremely clear on this matter, time and time again (inter alia, see: Brandenburg v. Ohio, R.A.V. v. City of St. Paul, Matal v. Tam),it seems obvious as a philosophical matter that any robust free speech protections will have to be assiduously neutral if they are to be useful at all. The purpose of the First Amendment is to deprive the government of the capacity to determine at the point of a bayonet what is true, and what is not; what is good, and what is not; what is acceptable to the ruling class, and what is not. To accept this arrangement is not to suggest that one thinks the Nazis might have a point, or to imply that one believes that we need the Bill of Rights in case Richard Spencers race science turns out to be true. And, however rhetorically effective it might be to pretend otherwise,it is in no way to defend those people. Rather, it is to propose that the only effective way of preventing governmental abuses is to take away its oversight of viewpoints in toto. Moreover, it isto submit that, having been born with ahost of unalienable rights, free human beings are not obliged to ask their employees in the government for permission to speak their minds.

In a country such as this one, that means that disgusting reprobates such as those who marched in Charlottesville will be beyond the reach of the state at least until they go beyond speech and into the realm of action (which does not include carrying a torch or a flag or wearing a t-shirt, but certainly does include driving a car into another human being). Is that distressing? Yes, it is. Had I been in Charlottesville at the weekend,Id no doubt have been even more appalled than I was watching it on television.But the salient question is not whether the status quo can be upsetting, but whether it is better than the alternative. Piers Morgan believes that If America doesnt wake up to the fact that what these Nazis did in Charlottesville is not free speech . . . it is in deep trouble. It seems obvious to me that the precise opposite is true. No free speech for fascists is an incoherent, almost Orwellian, position.Happily andon a routinelybipartisan basis the Supreme Court concurs.

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Piers Morgan is at it again - National Review

First Amendment banned from DC Metro literally! – Washington Post

Posted on August 16, 2017 by Danzig

In November 2015, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transportation Authority (WMATA), operator of the Washington public transit (bus and Metro) system, amendedguidelines regarding commercial advertisements that it would accept for Metro cars and Metro stations. The guidelines contain 14 numbered restrictions, including these four:

Ostensibly applying these guidelines, WMATA made some rather peculiar decisions, refusing, for example, to accept advertisements from:

And, rather astonishingly, WMATA rejected an ACLU ad consisting of nothing but the text of the First Amendment (in English, Spanish and Arabic) alongside the ACLU logo (Guideline 9: intended to influence the public regarding an issue on which there are varying opinions (!!))

[The rejected ads can all be seen here.]

The ACLU recently filed suit on behalf of itself, Yiannopoulos, Carafem and PETA in D.C. federal district court arguing that the WMATA policy is a violation of the First Amendment both on its face and as applied to the plaintiffs. [The complaint is posted here.]*

Note * Apparently, the ACLU has taken some heat from its supporters for including Yiannopoulos as a co-plaintiff. That is unfortunate; the ACLUs habit of taking the position that speech even speech we might regard as offensive, from people we might regard as offensive is worthy of protection may be maddening at times, but it is a highly principled one, and is itself worthy of support and protection.

The plaintiffs, surely, have a strong case. On what possible grounds can WMATA defend rejecting an advertisement consisting of the text of the First Amendment? Who decides whether any particular issue is one on which there are varying opinions, and on what basis is that decision made? Why should PETAs non-commercial message (Dont eat meat) be prohibited while Burger Kings commercial message (Eat more meat)is allowed?

WMATA will undoubtedly rely heavily on Lehman v. City of Shaker Heights (1974), a case in which the Supreme Court upheld (5 to 4) a ban on all political advertising in the Shaker Heights transit system. The court there rejected the notion that the rail and bus cars constitute a public forum protected by the First Amendment with a guarantee of nondiscriminatory access to such publicly owned and controlled areas of communication.

The streetcar audience is a captive audience. It is there as a matter of necessity, not of choice. Here, we have no open spaces, no meeting hall, park, street corner, or other public thoroughfare. Instead, the city is engaged in commerce. It must provide rapid, convenient, pleasant, and inexpensive service to the commuters of Shaker Heights. The car [advertising] space, although incidental to the provision of public transportation, is a part of the commercial venture. In much the same way that a newspaper or periodical, or even a radio or television station, need not accept every proffer of advertising from the general public, a city transit system has discretion to develop and make reasonable choices concerning the type of advertising that may be displayed in its vehicles.

The level of scrutiny such governmental action would receive would be low: the choices must simply be reasonable, and the policies and practices governing access to the transit systems advertising space must not be arbitrary, capricious, or invidious.

The ACLUs complaint argues that the guidelines constitute viewpoint discrimination of a kind that was not present in Lehmanallowing messages that reflect the AMAs (or the governments) views on health-related matters, or those that reflectcommercialpositions on industry goals, while rejecting advertisements reflecting other viewpoints requires the court to engage in a more exacting First Amendment analysis.

They may well succeed in that argument. Even if they dont, though, its hard to see a a court upholding WMATAs decision here even under the relaxed reasonableness standard. To my eye, these certainly do look like the kind of arbitrary, capricious, or invidious decisions that, even under a generous reading of Lehman,WMATA, as a state actor, has to steer clear of.

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First Amendment banned from DC Metro literally! - Washington Post

Canada Approves First Cryptocurrency Sale in Property Rights Shake-Up – Voice of America

Posted on August 16, 2017 by Danzig

TORONTO

Canadian financial regulators have approved the public sale of a new digital currency in the country's first official endorsement of money created independently of the government or central banks, company officials said on Wednesday.

Produced with digital encryption techniques, cryptocurrencies like Montreal-based impak Coin allow users to create their own money supply - with potentially significant impacts for how wealth and property rights are controlled.

Impak Coin has already raised more than C$1.5 million ($1.18 million) for the new currency and plans to launch an Initial Coin Offering - or a public sale of the digital money - this month.

By allowing people to create a new currency, the project aims to reduce the power of big banks in determining how property rights are managed and money is created, said Paul Allard, chief executive of impak Finance, the social enterprise behind the project.

"It is up to communities to decide how to manage a currency, it is not only for the government to decide," Allard told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

'No need for government'

Throughout modern history governments have had control over how money is created and the power to enforce contracts and determine how goods and services are transferred.

Cryptocurrencies - through blockchain, the information storage and database system they use - have challenged that power, said Simon Trimborn, a professor at the Free University of Berlin who studies digital networks.

"The link between cryptocurrencies and individual property rights is the information storage and transaction system behind cryptocurrencies, the blockchain," Trimborn told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

"It is a database which can guarantee property rights while there is no need for relying on a company or government."

Contracts are made digitally between peers and transactions are often conducted without government oversight, reducing the state's power over the market.

The move by financial authorities to approve the sale of the digital money means "confidence and trust for investors", said Jean-Philippe Vergne, a professor at the Ivey Business School in Ontario, Canada, who studies cryptocurrencies.

"We are observing a profound change in the nature of capitalism," Vergne told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. "For the first time we have a technology that allows us to remove intermediaries such as government or central banks."

Digital impact

Impak Finance hopes to raise up to C$10 million from its first sale of coins. Users who buy the new currency will be able to spend it via a mobile wallet connected to their phones.

More than 500 businesses have signed up to accept the new currency when it launches, Allard said.

He expects that will grow into the thousands as the project develops a "critical mass" of users, leading to more buyers and sellers making transactions.

Users will be able to exchange impak coins for traditional money which will be credited to their accounts after an initial waiting period in order to stop speculators from causing volatility in the currency's value, Allard said.

Impak Finance will initially keep 40 percent of the money invested in the new currency as reserves in order to have cash on hand if users want to exchange it for traditional money.

Only businesses adhering to social and environmental standards are able to use the currency, said Allard, who hopes consumers interested in ethical purchasing will be attracted to the plan.

The "impact economy" - a small but growing sector that seeks to put the achievement of social good at the center of business - is expected to grow by more than 15 percent next year in North America, Allard said.

New type of property

Impak Finance will be entering a crowded market of new digital currencies, analysts said.

Following the growth of bitcoin, the most well known cryptocurrency, there are now more than 1,000 similar digital currencies being traded over the internet, said Arvind Narayanan, a computer science professor at Princeton University in the United States.

Most of these new digital offerings, however, are used for speculation - investors hoping the currency will gain popularity and then rise in value - rather than buying and selling tangible goods and services, Narayanan said.

"People are trying to get the state out of money and various forms of property," Narayanan told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. "regulators and law enforcement are trying to adapt to a new technological development."

($1 = 1.2707 Canadian dollars)

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Canada Approves First Cryptocurrency Sale in Property Rights Shake-Up - Voice of America

Cryptocurrency Exchange ShapeShift Acquires Bitcoin Wallet Startup – CoinDesk

Posted on August 16, 2017 by Danzig

Cryptocurrency exchange ShapeShift has acquired the bitcoin hardware wallet startup KeepKey, the two firms announced today.

ShapeShift will continue to use the KeepKey brand and its staff will stay on to continue working on the hardware product line, according to today's announcement. KeepKey had originally integrated with ShapeShift by way of its API last summer.

The deal the terms of which were not disclosed represents the first acquisition of a startup specifically focused on hardware products.

"This partnership will not only guarantee the future success of the KeepKey brand and product line, but joining the ShapeShift team will enable us to focus on continuing to work on developing better technology and security for crypto-holders,"Ken Hodler, KeepKey's chief technology officer, said in a statement.

The deal comes months after ShapeShift closeda $10.4 million funding round. At the time, the exchange drew on a list of backers that includedEarlybird Venture Capital, which led the round.

It also follows a move by KeepKey toend its supportlate last month for the long-running MultiBit bitcoin wallet. KeepKey first acquired MultiBitin May 2016.

Disclosure:CoinDesk is a subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which has an ownership stake in ShapeShift.

Image via Shutterstock

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

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Cryptocurrency Exchange ShapeShift Acquires Bitcoin Wallet Startup - CoinDesk

Will the Bitcoin Fork Continue to Boost the Cryptocurrency’s Value? – TheStreet.com

Posted on August 16, 2017 by Danzig

It is now just over two weeks the Bitcoin split happened creating a new currency - Bitcoin Cash. To make intelligent decisions on where Bitcoin may be headed, it's imperative to take a look at how this historic fork has impacted the cryptocurrency landscape.

Trace Schmeltz at Barnes & Thornburg LLP explains what is crystal clear: the Bitcoin market has become more valuable than ever.

"By all accounts, this new currency is now the third most valuable cryptocurrency in the world, despite a slow start out of the gate," Schmeltz says. "The Bitcoin market both BTC and BCC - is more valuable than ever before. It would appear that the market has reacted favorably to this early test of currency run by the masses -- what appears to be democracy in action."

Schmeltz explains the recent fork demonstrates that a currency without a central governing body can survive controversy. "Here, of course, a large number of BTC community-members firmly believed that the 'segregated witness' methodology some members wanted to adopt to expand Bitcoin violated core principles of the first cryptocurrency," Schmeltz says. "So, they 'split off,' or created a fork in the distributed ledger, to form BCC -- Bitcoin Cash."

Ryan Radloff, head of investor relations at XBT Provider, explains there have been multiple forks in Bitcoin's history. "In a funny way, it's a feedback mechanism or voting system by the community to choose which version of a protocol upgrade they believe is best for the coin," Radloff says. "The strongest and most fit will survive, just like anything in life."

But the reasons for the fork, of course, are complex. Radloff explains it happens when a suggested protocol upgrade (code-base update) is not supported by the entire network and thus, the entire network does not upgrade or implement the change.

"At this point, there are two versions of the codebase, with a shared history that diverges at a specific point in time --at which point all future transactions are unique to each codebase and recorded on a different blockchain," Radloff says. "With respect to the recent Bitcoin fork which resulted in Bitcoin Cash: a rule in the original protocol limited the number of transactions per second."

This has created drawbacks as the scale of the network has grown larger. As a result, a group of developers who maintain the network, alongside the core Bitcoin developers, created a rival token known as Bitcoin Cash, designed to allow more transactions per second.

"The core development team also implemented a solution which makes it easier to build protocol on top of the Bitcoin network which allows faster transactions," Radloff says. "This approach has seen widespread adoption and is allowing the network to scale up - likely a partial driver of the most recent rally."

All is not hunky-dory in the Bitcoin world and we must acknowledge prepare for further problems.

Are you investing in cryptocurrency? Don't miss TheStreet's coverage:

Aaron Lasher, co-founder and CMO of Breadwallet, noted thatBitcoin has a scaling problem and can only clear about three transactions per second.

"Due to its popularity, it's operating at max capacity," Lasher says. "The fork was the culmination of almost three years of heated debate about how to scale bitcoin so that it can process transactions more quickly. Two sides had very different solutions, each with trade-offs that require deep knowledge in computer science, technology, and economics to fully comprehend."

Lasher explains that, ideally, the community of developers, miners and users would have come to a consensus and preserved the network as one Bitcoin, but that didn't happen and the network split in two. The landscape has changed, because now neither scaling solution is hypothetical; they are both in the wild, where they will compete for dominance in the marketplace.

This is what a top bitcoin player is doing right now.

Is another Bitcoin fork for possible?

"Regarding another split or fork for Bitcoin - generally speaking spin-off's are good for both entities - old one and newly created," says Krzysztof Kolaczynski, the founder of STABLE, a company which aims to reduce the inefficiencies existing in cryptocurrency markets and stabilize them. "But inthe nearest future, I don't think that another fork would be good for Bitcoin."

"The worst possibility for me at this moment is arranging in the near term another fork - that could put the trust under the danger and I am afraid that it would trigger a cascade reaction of new forks and we don't know what would be the consequences,"Kolaczynski adds.

Kolaczynski explains we should wait at least couple of months in order to see if Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash benefited both entities arranged into this deal.

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Will the Bitcoin Fork Continue to Boost the Cryptocurrency's Value? - TheStreet.com

Bitcoin’s Next Battle May Already Be Looming – Fortune

Posted on August 16, 2017 by Danzig

Hi everyone, it's Yuji from Tokyo. I've been writing about the trials and tribulations of bitcoin for more than a year.

The recent bitcoin civil war has been an ugly, highly politicized affair, with each side trying to manipulate the media and tilt public opinion in their favor. After almost every one of my articles went out, I was bombarded by opinionated enthusiasts through Twitter, email, and even face-to-face.

That's why the community breathed a sigh of relief last month with a compromise called SegWit2x, an upgrade to bitcoin's underlying software. After the agreement, the cryptocurrency has doubled in price, with bulls predicting a new golden age of blockchain innovation and more gains.

The problem is that SegWit2x is a two-step process, and only the first one is complete. The second step, scheduled for November, is already generating controversy and could halt the rally unless things go smoothly. Given the community's stormy history, I would expect anything but. If you own or follow bitcoin, here are three things to watch in the coming months:

The first step of SegWit2x was SegWit, which has fixed bugs and given developers room to add new blockchain functions. As a result, if we start to actually see new tools being tested or implemented (like Lightning), it would go a long way to proving the bullish thesis that bitcoin can be as innovative as other cryptocurrencies, like ethereum. The second step of SegWit2x aims to double transaction capacity (hence "2x"). It was included to win support from miners, who earn fees from transactions. The problem is that some developers are now saying SegWit can do the same thing, and are backing away from the scheduled implementation in November. If support for "2x" part falls apart, either the miners or developers could walk away from the agreement, rekindling worries of a bigger split that rocked the currency in mid July. SegWit2x didn't please everyone, and a minority of miners later broke off to form a new version of bitcoin called Bitcoin Cash. While its market value is currently just a tenth of bitcoin, it has been winning support from key businesses such as Coinbase and BitGo. If this trend accelerates and if Bitcoin Cash's price rises, it could create incentives for more miners to abandon the original bitcoin and migrate to the new version, or even create more offshoots. The battle has been as much about bitcoin's rightful identity as it's been about protecting economic interests. Miners want it to function as a nimble payment system similar to Visa , which would let them earn more transaction fees. Their opponents, developers who upkeep bitcoin's software, want it to act more as a robust platform that allows them to build new functions on top. Reconciling these two needs is at the core of the ongoing internecine battle, making it even more important for stakeholders to keep an eye on developments through November.

The Uber investor and boardroom drama continues unabated. The ride-hailing company is in exclusive talks to line up funding from four investors, but a deal, which could reach as much as $12 billion, hangs on the outcome of a courtroom brawl between Travis Kalanick and Benchmark.

A billionaire comes out of hiding. Chen Tianqiao, who built game developer Shanda Interactive Entertainment into what was once Chinas biggest internet company (big enough to rival Alibaba and Tencent), disappeared after leaving China and taking his company private in 2012. Now, hes ready to talk again, donating money for research into the human brain.

Staring at the sun isnt really a good idea. So Amazon is cracking down on sellers of fake eye protection for viewing this months total solar eclipse in North America. The web retailers efforts to police faulty or counterfeit eclipse-viewing glasses has caught up one small merchant in Utah.

Its Netflix , but at movie theaters. Mitch Lowe, a Netflix co-founder, has an extreme proposal for how to get more people into seats: Let them come to all the showings they want for about $9.95 per month. His startup, MoviePass, plans to drop the price of the companys movie ticket subscriptions, with the goal of amassing a large base of customers and collect data on viewing behaviors.

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Bitcoin's Next Battle May Already Be Looming - Fortune

Opinion: How you can make easy money from the bitcoin bubble – MarketWatch

Posted on August 16, 2017 by Danzig

Let me just say: Bubbles are fantastic. Its never so easy for an ordinary person to make free money as during a financial mania. Just steel your nerves, jump in oh, and remember to get out before the whole thing comes crashing down.

Especially that last part.

Never miss out on a bubble, advised the late Dan Bunting, an old friend and a successful money manager in London over many decades. Youll make the most money from the worst stocks.

And so it proved. The dot-com bubble paid off my mortgage, and then some.

I never thought Id see something so nutty again, yet it seems to be happening again. These digital currencies may be rubbish more on that below but it looks like were in big, fat bitcoin bubble right now. If so, there is seriously easy money to be made.

Bitcoin BTCUSD, +5.39% shrugged off a crash in July and is now setting new highs. It has doubled in a month, despite economic worries and the crisis in Korea.

Read: As bitcoin flies past $4,000, one bull now targets $7,500 by next year

And Fidelity, that blue-chip investment firm, just gave bitcoin the stamp of approval and will include it in its online portal.

Let the good times roll.

A staggering $1.25 billion of fiat i.e., real money has so far been raised by insiders this year rolling out new digital coins that will help finance their new dot-com venture or service or product, according to Coinschedule.com, a website that tracks the data.

Heres how it works: A group of kids in hoodies say theyre going to set up a cloud computing venture and let you finance it in return for some of their new digital currency. You send them dollars. They send you new digital currency. If and when they put down the doobies long enough to get the venture rolling, you can use these new digital currencies to pay to use the service.

Read: Bitcoin rises, so people Google bitcoin, so then bitcoin rises, so then people Google...

Dont make me laugh. Have you ever seen anything so stupid?

Yes, I have, actually. It was 1999. If you werent around then, this is pretty much exactly how it went down.

Anyone over 30 was called a fuddy-duddy who just didnt get it. People actually got fired for not joining in. Only afterward came the excuses and the finger-pointing. Oh, and the lawsuits.

And, I repeat: So far this year these initial coin offerings have raised a staggering $1.25 billion from the public. Booyah, indeed!

A couple of months back I said these cryptocurrencies are nonsense. From a serious investment standpoint thats true. Price is a function of supply and demand. At the moment there is an endless supply of new cryptocurrencies. People are literally creating new ones every week.

Demand is uncertain, unknown and unknowable. I still have yet to hear a convincing argument why anyone needs these things other than a money launderer or someone who wants to, say, play internet poker.

Anyone who claims to come with solid valuation for any of these digital currencies is talking out of his hat. A long-term investor is betting on a poker hand with the cards face down.

Read: Confused about bitcoin? 10 things you need to know

Fidelitys move is a classic trickle-down sign. Manias grow as they gain mainstream acceptance. Other investment managers will probably follow suit. Billionaire Mark Cuban has switched sides: After dismissing cryptocurrencies as a bubble, hes now cashing in.

There are speculative opportunities galore. You can easily buy well-known currencies like bitcoin and ethereum by opening up an account, known as a digital wallet, with a company such as Coinbase or Blockchain. There are even apps on your iPhone.

Or you can jump into the crowdfunding of the next new, hot-off-the-press digital currency through an initial coin offering. This is the digital coin equivalent of an IPO. Bigger risks, but probably even bigger potential gains.

Read: What is an ICO?

I could waste your time trying to evaluate them, but its all guesswork. Its a bubble. Thats all you need to know. Idiots are running around handing out free money. You buy things where you think a plausible narrative will catch hold and drive it higher. You sell when the momentum turns. And you can manage your risks by gambling with the houses money, which means starting small and building your stake slowly as you start to show a profit.

Just remember its a trade, not an investment, and make sure to get out when it all goes sour. That could be in a week, a month or a year. Nobody knows.

This is high-risk speculation, but there is a surprisingly decent chance of easy money. Just caveat emptor.

Now read: 22 internet memes that let you relive bitcoins historic rise

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Opinion: How you can make easy money from the bitcoin bubble - MarketWatch

Bitcoin launches into space to boost trading worldwide – ZDNet

Posted on August 16, 2017 by Danzig

Blockstream

Bitcoin, and virtual currency as a whole is a complicated and emerging sector which has experienced its share of both investor joy and despair. To make the industry even more interesting, the cryptocurrency has now been launched into space.

Bitcoin, argued by some to be an alternative to traditional currency -- and others as a financial asset -- has been touted as a decentralized way to equalize cash funds by wrestling control away from government parties and companies, as well as keeping transactions private.

There are companies out there which consider the virtual currency as a way to boost the economy of countries where access to banks, bank accounts, or preserving funds is difficult -- especially if corrupt governments are in control.

Blockstream is one such firm, which hopes that launching Bitcoin into space will help these areas utilize Bitcoin even if they have no consistent access to the internet.

On Tuesday, the company announced Blockstream Satellite, which the company calls "one more step in the journey towards everyone on the planet being able to participate in Bitcoin."

Blockstream Satellite is claimed to be a way for Bitcoin transactions to be blasted out in real-time from satellites in space. This will, in theory, give anyone and everyone free access to the Bitcoin network.

A trader in a rural area of Africa could operate on the network, for example, in the same manner as someone in the middle of New York.

If the average person has control over their Bitcoin, it may avoid issues with currency value reduction caused by governments. In the recent cases of India and Venezuela, India's government forced the removal of many cash notes from the economy which hurt many on low incomes and closed businesses, while Venezuela's economic collapse caused chaos.

Both were caused by governments, and it may be that virtual currency could prevent such issues from occurring again. (However, a counter argument is the volatility of Bitcoin value, as we have seen rise and fall in an extreme manner in the past few years, could simply create new economic problems.)

Despite this, Blockstream is confident that expanding virtual currency access worldwide is the way forward.

"The growing Bitcoin global currency brings new values, a new ideology, and new utility to the world. It is decentralized, powered by the people who use it," the company says. "It knows no borders, it is not a legal entity, and nobody controls it. With Bitcoin, no one needs permission to transact with another person or company; we simply transact as we see fit. This gives consumers, merchants, and even entire economies more choices."

The network requires a PC, a TV satellite dish, and receiver, as well as an SDR dongle. Users can then sync up with a Blockstream satellite and tap into the blockchain. However, the project does not solve the issue that an internet connection is still needed to actually trade on the network.

Speaking to Motherboard, Chris Cook, head of the Blockstream Satellite project said:

Currently, Blockstream Satellite is available across two-thirds of countries worldwide and plans to extend this to everyone no matter their location -- on landmass -- are expected to bear fruit by the end of the year.

"As more people access the Bitcoin blockchain with Blockstream Satellite, we expect to see even more adoption and use cases for Bitcoin as well as a strengthening of the overall robustness of the network," the company said.

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Bitcoin launches into space to boost trading worldwide - ZDNet

Eastern Kentucky Conference Grid-o-Rama: Youth help lead Comets against Lewis County – Journal-Times

Posted on August 16, 2017 by Danzig

If West Carter fans were worried about the state of the Comet football team due to the talent it lost to graduation over the last two years, Thursday nights Eastern Kentucky Conference Grid-o-rama scrimmage proved there is little need to be concerned. Coach Kevin Brown has a bevy of young talent which is capable and ready to step in and replace the graduates.

And that is exactly what the group did on in the teams 31-6 victory over host Lewis County on Thursday.

We had seven guys who had never started a game out there (as starters) on offense, Brown said. With Leetavious (Cline), we knew what we were getting. We have a young offensive line and if the Jordan twins (Ethan and Tristen) play hard, well be in good shape.

Yet, the team is more than just freshmen and sophomores. Brown still has his nephew, Peyton, among others, in the fold.

Peyton Brown ran for touchdowns of 61, 21 and 10 yards as part of the seniors five-carry 108-yard night.

Part of the credit for the the teams success running the ball goes to the offensive line, which is a very young group.

I was happy with how the line moved, coach Brown said. We are going to have to rely on speed and aggressiveness (to win games) and thats what we did.

Malic Cline opened the scoring when he picked off a pass and returned it 60 yards for a touchdown at the 4:12 mark of the first quarter. Brown added the extra point, and after a Lion fumble, scored seven plays later on a 10yard run with 1:57 to play in the quarter.

The Comets extended their lead to 25-0 at halftime after Browns 64-yard and 21-yard touchdown runs, respectively, with 8:55 and 5:45 remaining in the half. However, both extra point attempts were unsuccessful.

West Carter had another long drive near the end of the half, but was stopped just short of the goal line on a Brayden Caudill interception.

Lewis County was the only team to score in the third period. The Lions primarily moved the ball downfield behind the running game of Justin Howard and the passing attack of Zach Lehn. On the hosts second drive of the quarter, Howard punched the ball over the goal line for a 1-yard touchdown with 2.5 seconds remaining.

West Carter continued to have success with its running game during the JV portion of the night. After stopping a Lewis County drive in four plays, the Comets needed just one down to get into the end zone. It came courtesy of freshman Brian Robinsons 33-yard touchdown run. However, the 2-point conversion attempt was unsuccessful.

The Lions moved the ball effectively on their second drive of the quarter, but were stopped after freshman Orly Perry intercepted the ball on the games final play.

I was pleased with our hard work, coach Brown said. The boys played hard and were aggressive and that was the No. 1 thing I wanted to see. If we can do that (during the season), well be a good team.

The Comets finished the night with 257 yards of offense, including 207 on the ground. In addition to Peyton Browns rushing, Christian Rivers carried the ball eight times for 30 yards, Dustin Martin had three rushes for 32 yards and freshman Brian Robinson added one carry for 32 yards.

Rivers completed 4-of-9 pass attempts for 50 yards, highlighted by Malic Clines 35-yard reception.

The Comets defense was also effective. Lewis Countys top gainer was Justin Howard, who ran the ball 14 times for 62 yards.

Defensively, I was happy to see us swarm to the football, coach Brown concluded.

West Carter has one more tuneup before it opens the regular season. Next Saturday the Comets will join Bath County, Boyd County, Fleming County and Rockcastle County for an evening scrimmage in Catlettsburg.

West Carter will host Powell County on Friday, Aug. 25 at 7:30 p.m. to kick off the regular season.

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Eastern Kentucky Conference Grid-o-Rama: Youth help lead Comets against Lewis County - Journal-Times

Utica Comets store to open Tuesday at Sangertown mall – Utica Observer Dispatch

Posted on August 16, 2017 by Danzig

OBSERVER-DISPATCH

Utica Comets fans will soon have another place to peruse team merchandise in the area.

The Comets Team Store is set to open Tuesday in Sangertown Square Mall in New Hartford, the American Hockey League announced Wednesday.

The store, which will remain open through Jan. 31, is located in the mall's main food court area near new restaurant Cafe Wasabi and the Lids hat store.

The Comets said some of the items that will be available include: backpacks, lunch boxes and notebooks.

During the 2016-17 season, the Comets had a kiosk in the mall selling merchandise. The team also had player appearances during the season at the kiosk. No information has been released on possible player appearances at the store.

The team also has a store which is open during Comets games at the Utica Memorial Auditorium, which is currently undergoing construction.

The Comets open the 2017-18 season against the North Division rival Toronto Marlies with a pair of games on Saturday, Oct. 7 and Sunday, Oct. 8.

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Utica Comets store to open Tuesday at Sangertown mall - Utica Observer Dispatch

Comets optimistic despite last year’s winless season – Rapid City Journal

Posted on August 16, 2017 by Danzig

The 2016 football season was not easy for Rapid City Christian. The team's head coach left before the season started, and a team of mostly sophomores had to compete against a varsity schedule. Those ingredients led to a 0-8 record.

No one would know the Comets finished winless last season by watching them practice ahead of their Thursday night opener against Jones County/ White River.

"Were a heck of a lot better than we were last year. Weve got a lot more experience, were jelling as a team," senior running back/cornerback Carson Udager said after practice Tuesday. "Last year a lot of us were new and had never played before. We have a big junior class and they have a lot of experience, theyre going to do really well."

Udager is one of four seniors that, along with a large group of juniors, were promised by coach Ron McLaughlin that if they stuck with him, 2017 would be different than 2016.

"Im pretty honest with these kids as far as what we expect from them, but I also told them last year that we were going to get it handed to us a few times," he said. "I said hang with us, our sophomores are better than their sophomores. Now our sophomores are juniors, we have four seniors. I was promising them this year, last year.

"I believe we can win some football games this year. You can only go up from 0-8; you can only get out of a pit."

The pit of last season was deep. Mclaughlin had been coaching for the middle school team for seven seasons when he was asked to take over the varsity roster.

He admitted he had to do some on-the-job learning, but he said most of his players did to. This season he believes the Comets will benefit most from the experience they gained.

"I didnt discipline enough or condition hard enough because you dont condition middle-schoolers like you do high-schoolers," he said. "We had a lot of injuries, but we also had a lot of sophomores playing football last year, so experience is the main (improvement), and speed. With experience comes speed. Theyre much more comfortable getting to where they need to get to, which will be a huge asset for us this year."

Another huge asset will be junior quarterback Zane Schlabach. Most of the teams on Christian's schedule won't feature an air-dominant attack, but McLaughlin said with Schlabach's arm, that might not be the case for the Comets.

"I have a really good quarterback, and our kids are getting better at catching the ball. I think we can throw the ball," he said. "I would normally be a runner. As a coach, I like to run the football, but the ability to throw it is going to be huge for us this year; throw it and catch it."

McLaughlin said he hopes to make Christian a nightmare for defenses to prepare for. Although the Comets won't run many plays, they will run them out of roughly 11 different formations.

This is designed to not let the defense know exactly what they are going to be seeing based on one formation.

"Theyre a smart football team, with experience comes some smartness, theyve learned my language, our language," he said. "Theyre in the right spot. Were not doing plays over because the kids are in the wrong spot, they arent missing their assignments anymore, so they know where to go."

Defense was what has been stressed the most by McLaughlin and his staff during practice, because that was one of Christian's weakness last season.

Extended drives plagued the Comets and McLaughlin said he hopes more experience will lead to more stops.

"Last year we never had the football, and you cant score if you dont have the football," he said. "People scored a lot of points against us because we were on the field all the time, so we put our best kids on defense. We told them if they get a rest its going to be on offense not defense."

The Comets will run a 3-3 defense that will look more like a 3-5 against teams like Lyman, Philip and New Underwood that are expected to run a double-wing formation most of the time.

Christian doesn't have a lot of time to prepare for Jones County/White River, but McLaughlin said it seems like there never is enough time to prepare for an opponent.

That short amount of time could be offset by the work the Comets did in the offseason. They went to the Black Hills State University football camp and participated in a passing league with St. Thomas More.

Senior center and linebacker Jacob Schneller said he thinks Christian is ready.

"It works both ways. We have a short amount of time to practice, they also have a short amount of time to practice, so its just going to come down to who can do their jobs the best," he said. "Who can play with the most intensity and who can play the hardest."

Schneller and fellow senior right guard/ defensive end Zeb Palmer have played football together since fourth grade. Udager started in sixth grade.

All three have seen highs and lows in their football careers, and Palmer said he hopes to leave the Comet program with a good foundation. He hopes future players won't have to go through an 0-8 season like he did.

"After our sophomore year, our other coach left for another school and we hit an all-time low," he said. "As seniors, I think we want to leave the team at an all-time high. When you lose a coach, it can ruin a team, and thats kind of what happened last year. But us seniors want to start getting our records back."

Christian will be playing in Region 4 of Class 9AA this season. Kickoff between Christian and Jones County/ White River is set for 6 p.m. at Hart Ranch.

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Comets optimistic despite last year's winless season - Rapid City Journal

King taking changes to Comets in stride – WUTR WFXV CNYhomepage

Posted on August 16, 2017 by Danzig

A lot has changed for the Comets since they played their final regular season game on April 15th, but one thing that hasn't changed is Jason King being back on the bench as an assistant coach.

King joined Travis Green's coaching staff prior to last season, and as he gets set to begin his second season in Utica, is now the longest-tenured coach the team has.

"It's a little different, obviously," King said. "Gary (Agnew) and Trent (Cull) have a ton of experience, but from the city side of it you want to try to make sure those guys are comfortable and get used to the atmosphere around here."

King has been working closely with Cull after he was hired on June 28th to replace Green as the second coach in team history, and feels the transition has gone by without a hitch.

"Guys seem to gel really quickly when it comes to hockey," King said. "It's been that way even in the short time I've gotten to know Trent (Cull) and Gary (Agnew). Everybody's on the same page and you need to be to get to the ultimate goal in the end."

During his introductory press conference, Cull stressed the importance of playing fast, a philosophy he and King agree with.

"The type of atmosphere in this rink means we need to play at a high tempo," King said. "It's a tough building to play in. Opponents don't want to come here so we want to play that style. We're putting together a great game plan to make sure that it's exciting hockey."

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King taking changes to Comets in stride - WUTR WFXV CNYhomepage

National Psoriasis Foundation Honors Two Penn Dermatologists – Newswise (press release)

Posted on August 16, 2017 by Danzig

Newswise PHILADELPHIA The National Psoriasis Foundation has announced the winners of its Medical Professional Research Awards, and its a clean sweep for the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. The NPF honored Joel M. Gelfand, MD MSCE, a professor of Dermatology and Epidemiology, with the 2017 Outstanding Scientific Achievement Award. The second award is for Outstanding New Investigator, and this year it went to Junko Takeshita, MD, PhD, MSCE, an assistant professor of Dermatology and Epidemiology. The two were honored together at this months 2017 NPF Research Symposium.

Gelfand received the award for Outstanding Scientific Achievement, which recognizes his work and takes into consideration independence of thought, originality, significance of discovery, and impact on the area of research. Gelfand is a national leader in research connecting psoriasis to other comorbidities. He is particularly interested in the connection between psoriasis and cardio metabolic disease. He has published hundreds of peer-reviewed papers in academic journals, many on this very topic, and it continues to be a major focus of his work. Gelfand completed his MSCE at Penn, received his MD from Harvard, and holds a B.S. from Tufts.

It was an honor to receive this award from the National Psoriasis Foundation, and also to share the stage with my colleague Dr. Takeshita, Gelfand said.

Takeshita received the Outstanding New Investigator award, which also recognizes outstanding scientific achievement in psoriatic disease research from a new or early-career investigator. Takeshita spent two years as an NPF fellow, during which time she trained under Gelfand. She has received a grant from the National Institutes of Health to explore racial disparities in the treatment of psoriasis. She has published more than two dozen peer-reviewed papers, including one that identified psoriasis treatment disparities in the Medicare population that is often cited by advocacy groups. Takeshita completed her MSCE at Penn, received her MD and PhD from Washington University in Saint Louis, and completed her B.A. at Wellesley.

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Penn Medicineis one of the world's leading academic medical centers, dedicated to the related missions of medical education, biomedical research, and excellence in patient care. Penn Medicine consists of theRaymond and Ruth Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania (founded in 1765 as the nation's first medical school) and theUniversity of Pennsylvania Health System, which together form a $6.7 billion enterprise.

The Perelman School of Medicine has been ranked among the top five medical schools in the United States for the past 20 years, according toU.S. News & World Report's survey of research-oriented medical schools. The School is consistently among the nation's top recipients of funding from the National Institutes of Health, with $392 million awarded in the 2016 fiscal year.

The University of Pennsylvania Health System's patient care facilities include: The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and Penn Presbyterian Medical Center -- which are recognized as one of the nation's top "Honor Roll" hospitals byU.S. News & World Report-- Chester County Hospital; Lancaster General Health; Penn Wissahickon Hospice; and Pennsylvania Hospital -- the nation's first hospital, founded in 1751. Additional affiliated inpatient care facilities and services throughout the Philadelphia region include Good Shepherd Penn Partners, a partnership between Good Shepherd Rehabilitation Network and Penn Medicine.

Penn Medicine is committed to improving lives and health through a variety of community-based programs and activities. In fiscal year 2016, Penn Medicine provided $393 million to benefit our community.

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National Psoriasis Foundation Honors Two Penn Dermatologists - Newswise (press release)

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