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BRAZIL’S PRESIDENT IMPOSES CENSORSHIP OVER CASE INVOLVING FIRST LADY – plus55 (blog)
Brazils First Lady Marcela Temer has been a victim of extortion. A hacker entered into her phone and e-mail accounts, threatening to pull President Temers name through the mud. The First Family reacted quickly. The State Court in Braslia, at the request of the President, has prevented media outlets from publishing any content acquired during the hack. Its a textbook case of censorship.
The hacker, Silvonei Jos de Jesus Souza, was convicted to five years in prison. He demanded 300,000 Brazilian Reals to not publishmessages exchanged by the First Lady. On Friday, newspaperFolha de S.Paulo described some of the messages the hacker sent Marcela Temer. He declared that they would ruin the Presidents reputation, as they suggested Temer had done something immoral or even illegal.
Today, a judge issued a ruling that forbids media outlets from printing the contents of the threat. In fact, disobeying the ruling results in a hefty $160,000 fine.
Read this article:
BRAZIL'S PRESIDENT IMPOSES CENSORSHIP OVER CASE INVOLVING FIRST LADY - plus55 (blog)
Who’s Really Hindering Free Speech? – The Emory Wheel
Days ago, pending Milo Yiannopouloss speech at the University of California, Berkeley, an event arose more controversial than any so far in the free speech debate. In lieu of standard protesters, there were rioters. They lit fires, launched projectiles and shattered windows. Per their wishes, Yiannopouloss speech was cancelled. Berkeley is the very institution that only half a century ago viciously fought for the right to free speech on college campuses. It is cruelly ironic that an event at this institution has, at least ostensibly, illuminated the demise of that same right.
Though I have always been skeptical of the far-left, the word fascist, a term frequently promulgated by the right, seemed like a cop-out for people who only want to sling around provocative diction without any real meaning attributed to it. We have finally reached a point where it is sufficiently acceptable to use such a word. Protests are the tool of those seeking change through the spread of ideas, who confront their opposition head-on, and defend their ideas. Riots are the tool of fascists who want dissenters to be silenced; if they intend to gain any semblance of credibility, they ought to fight ideas with ideas, not with tyrannical suppression.
From the opposite perspective, Republicans just elected a president who spent the first two weeks of his term enacting executive orders so nationalist that they would have seemed inconceivable just two years ago. It has become clear that those of us who occupy neither the far-left nor the far-right are now engaged in a two-front war to defend the rights enshrined within the very fabric of this countrys existence.
Ill leave the exploration of the far-lefts threat to free speech to the right, who will undoubtedly address this issue ad nauseam. Unfortunately, the very same far-right poses many of the same threats, perhaps not as brashly, but nonetheless sinisterly.
The Wisconsin legislature, for instance, threatened to cut funding to University of Wisconsin-Madison for offering a voluntary program entitled Mens Project, which aims to explore masculinity and the problems accompanied by simplified definitions of it. The legislatures rationale? It declares war on men, as per Wisconsin State Senator Steve Nass. Surely Wisconsin has the right to pull funding, as do (private) far-left colleges which have made a habit of pulling speakers, but if this program truly amounts to a war on men, such a conclusion must be realized through vigorous debate. It should never be unilaterally decided by legislature and forced in a top-down fashion upon nonconsenting universities designed to be the very places where these debates occur.
Groups such as Turning Point USA, which runs the McCarthian Professor Watchlist, now have a presence at our own university. Professor George Yancy of Emorys philosophy department gained notoriety for his claim that racist poison is inside of [Americans]. Agree or not, this quote was drawn from an op-ed asking for and demonstrating humility: in his own words, I am often ambushed by my own hidden sexism.
Certainly, Professor Yancy is an unabashed liberal, but the bulk of the evidence that he is dangerous and closed-minded towards conservative students comes from an out-of-context quote in an article in which he takes great pains to point out his own biases.
The philosophy of suppression exists among the political right at all levels of engagement, as demonstrated by the ideas that Dennis Prager, notable conservative thinker, has propagated. Regarding high school reform measures, he suggested that clubs related to ethnicity, race or sexual orientation ought not be permitted; that classes devoted to racism, sexism, Islamophobia, homophobia, tobacco, global warming or gender identity ought not be taught; and that students should be forced to recite the Pledge of Allegiance.
Not only do such proposals fly directly in the face of well-established constitutional law, but they are contrary to free speech itself only through conversation can the best ideas spread, because the only way to ensure that the best ideas win is by encouraging all ideas to be heard.
Notably, Prager proposed that the topics to be excluded from high schools are those which reflect the Republican Partys increasingly archaic beliefs. The solution to such issues is not to avoid them, but to embrace and combat them head on; if Prager is right, then his ideas should, in the end, win out.
These very same people on the right are often those who complain about the pervasiveness of political correctness and the harm it renders to open dialogue. But stretched to its philosophical extreme, these complaints waged against the left are, in the end, self-mutilating. Per Public Policy Polling, more conservatives are offended by the P.C. phrase Happy Holidays than liberals are by its counterpart, Merry Christmas. A similar parallel arose last year, when many conservatives decried the 2015 Starbucks Christmas Coffee Cups as an assault on Christmas by the politically correct left. In 2016, with the return of reindeer to their cups, unsurprisingly, there was a lack of corresponding outrage by those advocating for political correctness.
Emory University students are no exception to this trend. Last year, during the Trump chalkings incident, no group advocated more incessantly (and correctly) than the Emory College Republicans that the importance of diverging opinions trumps that of sensitivity. Yet, only two months ago, the same group moved for the resignation of Dean Ajay Nair on the grounds that he was insensitive to those affected by 9/11 after comparing the moods of Emory campus post-Trump election and the University of Virginia campus post-9/11.
Waging a war of ideas on an asymmetric battlefield is tempting. But in any war of ideas, only through extensive dialogue can any idea can be rigorously tested for flaws, inconsistencies, encroachments on rights and for judgements on those ideas to be finalized. But on both sides of the issue, many resorted to playing ostrich or attacking others First Amendment rights. If we intend to move forward as a country and a people, we must recognize the valid philosophical foundations of those with whom we disagree.
Grant Osborn is a College sophomore from Springfield, Ohio.
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Left Attacks ACLU for Defending Milo Yiannopoulos’ Right to Free Speech – Observer
On February 1, Breitbart technology editor and right-wing provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos was scheduled to speak at the University of California-Berkeley. Students at the university protested his speech, and radicalsmany of whommay not have been studentsturned violent.
Yiannopoulos speech was canceled for safety concerns, as demonstrators threw rocks and fireworks at the building where the speech was set to take place. What began as a speech to 500 students expanded to thousands as the media (including this writer) wrote countless articles about the riots and Yiannopoulos.
If the Left wanted to shut Yiannopoulos down, they failed by behavingin such a mannerthat raised his profile. Who knows how many people wondered who this person was whocaused such a backlash, and how many of those people then found at least some of what Yiannopoulos says to be acceptable?
In a follow-up article on the riots, Washington Post columnist Steven Petrow spoke to a lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union, Lee Rowland. Rowland told Petrow that she finds much of Yiannopoulos speech to be absolutely hateful an despicablebut those adjectives dont remove his speech from the Constitutions protection.
Rowland went on to say that its easy to protect speech we agree with, but more important to protect speech we abhor, lest the First Amendment simply become a popularity contest.
Rowland tweeted the article with her quote on Friday. ACLUs own Twitter account tweeted as well. This, naturally, outraged the Left, with many responses to the tweet focusing on Yiannopoulos past comments and how he shouldnt have a platform.
Eric Boehlert of the left-wing Media Matters website quoted the ACLUs tweet,adding another wrinkle to the organizations alleged faults. One wk after came ACLU [sic] out in support of GOP overturning Obama rule to keep mentally ill ftom [sic] getting gunstoo late to get donations back?
The ACLU shot back, telling Boehlert it defend[s] everyones rights, even when its not popular.
Boehlert was referring to a recent action by House Republicans to overturn an Obama-era regulation that kept some with disabilities from owning firearms. While the mainstream media naturally went apoplectic, declaring that Republicans were removing gun-control protections and limiting background checks for people with severe mental illnesses, the reality of the measure is that it classified a large group of the mentally disabled as violent. The ACLU, and othergroups advocating for the rights of the disabled, opposed the measure.
The ACLU even wrote a letter to Congress supporting the move by Republicans. The original rule required those who use a representative payee to help them manage their Social Security Disability Insurance to have their names submitted to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System.
We oppose this rule because it advances and reinforces the harmful stereotype that people with mental disabilities, a vast and diverse group of citizens, are violent, the ACLU wrote. There is no data to support a connection between the need for a representative payee to manage ones Social Security disability benefits and a propensity toward gun violence.
The ACLU added: Here, the rule automatically conflates one disability-related characteristic, that is, difficulty managing money, with the inability to safely possess a firearm.
But because the rule had to do with gun control, the Left suddenly became bigoted toward those with disabilities, conflating mental disability with violence.
To be clear, the ACLU isnt an organization friendly to activists of gun rights. The organizations stated belief on the Second Amendment is that it protects a collective right [a well regulated militia] rather than an individual right.
The only other time the ACLU comes close to supporting individual gun rights is when opposing the no fly list. The list, according to the ACLU, denies due process to those on it, and the majority of those who would be included are Muslims. When Democrats try to keep those on any of the no fly lists from getting guns, the ACLU is cited because, again, those on the list receive no due process.
But the ACLU, in these cases, isnt standing up for gun rights. In the first example, its standing up for those with disabilities, and in the second example, its standing up for Muslims.
Yet still the Left gets angry. The ACLU almost always holds positions that coincide with the Lefts views, so when it doesntas in the case of Yiannopoulos speech or gun control measuresthe Left criticizes and even suggests rescinding donations.
The ACLU is a great ally, until theyre not, apparently.
Read more from the original source:
Left Attacks ACLU for Defending Milo Yiannopoulos' Right to Free Speech - Observer
Disclosure bill would chill free speech – The State
The State | Disclosure bill would chill free speech The State State Senate President Pro Tempore Hugh Leatherman recently filed S.255, which I believe could have a chilling effect on our First Amendment right to free speech. The legislation essentially requires every nonprofit organization that educates citizens ... |
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Editorial – It’s called freedom of speech. Maybe you’ve heard of it? – Richmond.com
With free speech under so much fire from so many directions lately, its encouraging to see Virginia lawmakers sponsor bills to protect it.
One measure, sponsored by Del. Terry Kilgore, would extend legal protection against spurious lawsuits to both political speech and to consumer reviews of the sort that have grown popular on websites such as Yelp.
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University tackles free speech issues | The Michigan Daily – The Michigan Daily
In the last year there have been several instances of hate speech and targeted verbal attacks against different minority groups on the University of Michigan campus. However, the line between hate speech and free speech remains blurred for the University to interpret in each individual case, as the balance between maintaining free speech and a safe environment for students continually remains a precarious one.
As a public institution, the University must strictly adhere to the First Amendment and the freedom of speech it guarantees. The University codified its commitment to free speech and a safe campus in its UM Standard Practice Guide, as of the many policies in the SPG, one is dedicated solely to 601.01, the Freedom of Speech and Artistic Expression.
The Civil Liberties Board of the Universitys Senate Assembly proposed a set of guidelines to be adopted by the University.
Prefacing the policies is the goal that, by representing and allowing for the entire spectrum of opinions within the University community, the staff can create an open forum for diverse opinions. The guidelines of 601.01 are committed to the exchange of opinions to encourage learning.
Expression of diverse points of view is of the highest importance, not only for those who espouse a cause or position and then defend it, but also for those who hear and pass judgment on that defense, the policy reads. The belief that an opinion is pernicious, false, or in any other way detestable cannot be grounds for its suppression.
Law student Erin Pamukcu, president of the Universitys chapter of the American Constitution Society, believes the First Amendment and free speech are foundations not only in the study of law, but the U.S. democratic system.
Its the Amendment that ensures the will of the people can always be heard and will always be heard, Pamukcu said. It was important when America was founded, and is just as important today, especially because the ways that we now communicate are continually changing. The law has to keep changing on how it interprets speech, and in what capacity does it extend to social media, what I say to people when Im working? Its an amendment that will continue to be important and its interpretation will continue to evolve.
The SPG also created policies directed specifically against Discrimination and Harassment. This in-depth policy stance includes definitions of the terms and the appropriate responses to and procedures to follow in these instances, in addition to the Regents Bylaw 14.06 and the Nondiscrimination Policy Notice already created to target these issues.
The policy clearly states the University is committed to maintaining an academic and work environment free of discrimination and harassment.
The University has a compelling interest in assuring an environment in which learning and productive work thrives, the policy reads. At the same time, the University has an equally compelling interest in protecting freedom of speech and academic freedom and in preserving the widest possible dialogue within its instructional and research settings.
Pamukcu believes there is a distinction between hate speech and free speech, and the University has the discretion to decide what classifies as hate speech and when the University has cause to intervene, especially given the current divisive political climate.
Hate speech is one of those things that is recognizable, you can use common sense, Pamukcu said. You can see by the way they act, the language they use, the context they say it in those are all important parts about deciding whether someone is exercising their own right to free speech or theyre using their speech to target an individual or cause harm to an individual in the way that hate speech does.
For Philosophy Prof. Daniel Jacobson, however, freedom of speech stands as a prerequisite to knowledge, and as such, people should be able to defend their views against all arguments, whether or not some would consider it to be hate speech.
There isnt even a clear meaning to the phrase hate speech, which is one good reason not to use the phrase, let alone to use it to propose restrictions on speech, Jacobson wrote in an email interview. But the law is clear: Hate speech (including false, immoral, even harmful speech) is protected by the Constitution. That is a good thing, because if hate speech could be suppressed, then, inevitably, unpopular moral and political opinions would be labeled as hate speech.
The aforementioned guarantee of free speech and the importance of diverse opinions was the Universitys rationale in allowing The Michigan Review to utilize University space to host two contentious figures. Early in the primaries of the 2016 presidential campaign, Milo Yiannopoulosdebatedagainst Julie Bindel in the Michigan League in February 2016.
Both figures are banned from multiple universities in the United Kingdom because of their controversial views Yiannopoulos for his opinion that feminists invent fake problems specifically regarding rape and sexual assault, and Bindel for her opinions of modern feminists and the transgender community. Most recently, Yiannopoulos was slated to speak at the University of California-Berkeley, but afterviolent protestsfrom the student body, the universitycancelledthe event.
Many students expressed discontent with the hosting of this event, but University spokesman Rick Fitzgerald wrote to the Daily in an email at the time of the event that the University allowed for participation by the two aforementioned participants. The University is committed to allowing freedom of speech and opinions for all students and outside guests, referencing the SPG.
LSA junior Andrew Krieger, president of the Universitys chapter of Young Americans for Liberty, a non-partisan libertarian group on campus, believes the Universitys role in maintaining free speech and censoring hate speech is important, but his peers could work on being open to others ideologies.
So we believe that free speech allows for you to challenge your ideas and to change the ideas of others, Krieger said. As far the University censoring those ideologies, I think that makes racism worse in that it solidifies their convictions and doesnt allow for them to hear the other side.
For LSA junior Emily Kaufman, who identifies as a transwoman, Yiannopoulos coming to campus was a point of contention, as in her opinion, he represents hate speech rather than exercising his right to free speech.
I went to the event, and it was the most uncomfortable Ive probably ever been in my life, Kaufman said. It was a lot of white men from out of town. The kind of people that look like theyd beat up a trans girl like me The misrepresentation of feminism and having all these people from out of town, it wasnt University of Michigan students having a productive debate, which could have been useful.
Krieger said Young Americans for Liberty does not shy away from bringing in controversial speakers such as Yiannopoulos because it is incredibly beneficial to have open dialogues and listen to the viewpoints of those with different political ideologies than ones own.
Obviously, we dont like defamation, flat-out lies, threats none of that is acceptable under the Constitution, Krieger said. Unfortunately, the only way youre going to convince people with racial ideologies is to have discussions with them, and that is an issue people dont like to hear and people dont really want to try. For a lot of libertarians, free speech is the only way to convince people otherwise I dont like Milo, but its sad that people arent able to come to a campus for a fear of their lives.
Jack Bernard, associate general counsel at the University, and Sarah Daniels, associate dean of students, spoke about the Universitys role as a public institution and the First Amendment during a Central Student Government meeting in December.
Though Bernard and Daniels did not specify any incidents, their presentation alluded to the anti-Islam and politically charged messages that have beenchalkedon the Diag, including statements such as Stop Islam and Trump 2016. The University did not remove the chalk, and students predominately Muslim, eventually washed off the writing.
One student who helped wash off the chalk messages, Rackham student Banen Al-Sheemary, said at the time she was frustrated with the University's lack of action in response to the chalk drawings beyond an email from University President Mark Schlissel promoting unity.
Its irresponsible of the administration that we are actually out here with buckets of water and napkins to clean off these hateful messages and the administration isnt taking care of it, Al-Sheemary said at the time. And not only is the administration not taking care of it, they are putting us through a really difficult process. That perpetuates these really racist and hateful stereotypes that turn into violence and turn into students of color feeling unsafe on campus.
Bernard explained the chalk writings on the Diag could not be interfered with by the University if they were not threats of violence or other versions of unprotected speech, and Daniels added the University cannot stop people from speaking. Both Bernard and Daniels agreed the best ways to counteract speech was more speech.
Art & Design senior Keysha Wall, member of the University chapter of BAMN the Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action, Integration and Immigrant Rights and Fight for Equality By Any Means Necessarytook issue with the Universitys representatives during the CSG meeting, stating the chalk drawing incidents were representative of a threat toward Muslim students.
You cannot debate fascism, Wall said. You cannot have a discussion with fascism. You have to shut that down.
However, the University was prompted to respond and announce its intention to restrict the type of speech on alt-right, white supremacistpostersfound around campus on multiple occasions during the weeks leading up to the contentious 2016 presidential election. The posters were primarily anti-Black and anti-Islam, earlier posters advised white women not to become romantically involved with Black men. After many student protests following the discovery of these posters, Schlissel and the University released astatementpertaining to the racially charged poster.
Messages of racial, ethnic or religious discrimination have no place at the University of Michigan, the statement read. While we continue to defend any individuals right to free speech on our campus, these types of attacks directed toward any individual or group, based on a belief or characteristic, are inconsistent with the universitys values of respect, civility and equality. We also have a responsibility to create a learning environment that is free of harassment.
The University also stated they could not remove the posters promoting white supremacy because they were posted in public posting spaces.
Consistent with our policy for posting, whenever they are on buildings, we can remove them, said former University Provost Martha Pollack during theSenate Advisory Committee on Undergraduate Affairs meeting. If they are on kiosks, they are protected by free speech, as they should be. Not only do we have a constitutional obligation to allow all speech no matter how heinous, but if youre going to stand by the First Amendment, youre going to stand by the First Amendment. But what you have to do then is loudly make known your abhorrence of this.
Jacobson thinks the University intervening on free speech is an illegal act because the University is a public institution.
It is fine to have certain spaces where people are safe from hearing opinions that offend them, Jacobson said. But the idea that the University as a whole should be a safe space that it should compel people not to express offensive opinions is as misguided as it is impossible And it is impossible because everything offends somebody.
Following the many protests and University responses after the 2016 election, LSA sophomore Amanda Delekta created a petition,#NotMyCampus, where she stated she felt she faced bigotry for holding conservative views, and that the University administration did not foster conversations that were respectful of all ideologies.
I penned #NotMyCampus after being frustrated at the University of Michigan's seemingly biased response to the 2016 election results, Delekta wrote in an email interview. The University is a school and its purpose is to educate, but instead of fostering an open dialog (sic) professors and administrators highlighted only one viewpoint which validated that ideology over that of others which I found to create a divisive campus climate and create a stigma among students of us vs. them.
Jacobson noted the disparity between the progressive and conservative ideologies of faculty, favoring the former, is problematic because it makes students with unpopular political opinions comfortable with expressing themselves.
Many fields, especially in the humanities and social sciences, have become so politicized that scholars cannot succeed unless they hew to a leftist party line, Jacobson wrote. Students are subjected to political indoctrination even in courses that are not about politics. But perhaps the most disappointing aspect of the situation is that, despite its unquenchable thirst for diversity, the University does not really value intellectual and political diversity.
However, Delekta wrote she believes freedom of speech granted to students covers all types of speech, but requires a great responsibility.
With this freedom comes great responsibility to use it for good, to be critical, but to also be compassionate, Delekta wrote. I believe hate speech is speech with ill intent with no productive purpose beyond causing another harm. That being said, regardless of how insidious and horrible speech may be it is protected by the Constitution. I in no means think hate speech is right, or legitimate but it is legal.
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University tackles free speech issues | The Michigan Daily - The Michigan Daily
Erdoan v free speech: how does it feel to live in Turkey right now? – The Guardian
A referendum on constitutional changes that could expand President Erdoans powers will take place on 16 April. Photograph: Ozan Kse/AFP/Getty
Turkey, once held up as an exemplar of secular democracy in the Muslim world, is now the worlds biggest prison for journalists. Since he came to power in 2014, president Recep Tayyip Erdoan has slowly tightened his grip on freedom of expression, choking his critics.
Editors of national newspapers now face life sentences for working against the state. People have been arrested for Facebook posts criticising the government and last week over 4,400 public servants were sacked in an act branded by critics as a witchhunt targeting the political opposition.
Meanwhile Erdoan has maintained cordial diplomatic relations with global leaders including Donald Trump, Theresa May and Vladimir Putin, and hopes to extend his constitutional powers with a referendum on 16 April.
If you live in Turkey we want to hear how the climate is affecting you.
Has the crackdown on expression affected your daily life? When did you notice that free speech was being compromised? Have you adjusted what you say and do online? And what advice would you give to other people around the world living under a similar style of leader?
Fill in your details in the form below and well use some of your submissions in our coverage of freedom of speech in Turkey. Alternatively, you can email maeve.shearlaw@theguardian.com.
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Erdoan v free speech: how does it feel to live in Turkey right now? - The Guardian
NASA Hubble telescope captures ‘Rotten Egg’ nebula – KCRA Sacramento
NASA and the European Space Agency's Hubble telescope captured a rare photo of the Calabash Nebula, a protoplanetary nebula formed from a dying star that's 1.4 light years long and approximately 5,000 light years from Earth.
"This image taken by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope shows the star going through a rapid transformation from a red giant to a planetary nebula, during which it blows its outer layers of gas and dust out into the surrounding space," the ESA said last week. "The recently ejected material is spat out in opposite directions with immense speed the gas shown in yellow is moving close to a million kilometers an hour."
A protoplanetary nebula is an astronomical object that occurs during a star's transition between its late asymptotic giant branch phase and the planetary nebula phase.
The Calabash Nebula is also called the Rotten Egg Nebula due to its sulphur content, which smells like rotten eggs when it comes into contact with other elements.
The photo is especially rare because the phase occurs in an instant, at least by astronomical standards. Scientists predict the nebula will evolve into a planetary nebula over the next thousand years.
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NASA Hubble telescope captures 'Rotten Egg' nebula - KCRA Sacramento
Ex-NSA contractor to face spying charges in federal court – Washington Post
A former National Security Agency contractor accused of stealing a massive cache of classified documents is scheduled to formally face new charges in federal court Tuesday in Baltimore.
Harold T. Martin III was indicted last week by a federal grand jury, accused of violating the Espionage Act by carrying out what officials say is the largest theft of classified information in U.S. history.
Martin, 52, was arrested in August at his home in Anne Arundel County, Md., where law enforcement officials recovered dozens of computers, digital storage devices and thousands of hard-copy documents that filled six bankers boxes. Prosecutors say Martin hid classified and top-secret information in the trunk of his car, his home office and an unlocked outdoor shed.
Martin is specifically charged in the indictment with taking and retaining a huge amount of classified material. He is not accused of trying to disseminate or publish the information.
Hes not Edward Snowden, Martins attorney James Wyda said during a detention hearing, referring to the former intelligence contractor who gave classified material on U.S. surveillance programs to the media.
Hes not someone who, due to political ideas or philosophical ideas or moral principals, thinks he knows better than everybody else and, hence, is compelled to release government secrets, Wyda said.
Martins attorneys have previously said he took documents home not to harm the United States but to get better at his job. Martin has a compulsive hoarding habit, his attorneys said, and was taking medication for attention-deficit disorder that was a trigger for hoarding.
Martin, who has been held in a detention facility since his arrest, first received security clearance on active duty in the Navy. He went on to work for seven private companies at various agencies within the intelligence community, including the Central Intelligence Agency, the U.S. Cyber Command and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
He was a trusted insider, prosecutors said, working at the NSA from 2012 to 2015, where he was an employee of the intelligence contractor Booz Allen Hamilton. Martin was for some time in the NSAs elite hacker unit, Tailored Access Operations, which makes and deploys software used to penetrate foreign targets computer networks for foreign espionage purposes.
At the time of his arrest, Martin was enrolled in a doctorate program in information security management and doing research for his dissertation. He has an extensive background in computer security, including in the areas of encryption and secure communications.
Many of the documents Martin is accused of stealing were marked top-secret and contained highly classified information, including the names of intelligence officers who operate undercover outside the United States, according to the 12-page indictment. Among other secret documents, authorities found an NSA anti-terrorism document related to extremely sensitive U.S. planning and operations regarding global terrorists, according to the indictment.
Prosecutors described the theft in court filings as breathtaking in its longevity and scale.
Harold Martin flagrantly abused the trust placed in him by the government by stealing documents containing highly classified information, Maryland U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein said in a statement after the indictment was returned last week.
The charges against Martin carry a maximum prison sentence of 10 years for each of 20 criminal counts, according to prosecutors.
Ellen Nakashima contributed to this report.
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Ex-NSA contractor to face spying charges in federal court - Washington Post
NSA adviser resigns amid controversy over Russia – News8000.com – WKBT
National Security Adviser Flynn resigns Related content
WASHINGTON (CNN) - Embattled White House national security adviser Michael Flynn resigned Monday night, an abrupt end to a brief tenure.
His departure came just after reports surfaced that the Justice Department warned the Trump administration last month that Flynn misled administration officials regarding his communications with the Russian ambassador to the United States and was potentially vulnerable to blackmail by the Russians.
"I inadvertently briefed the Vice President-elect and others with incomplete information regarding my phone calls with the Russian ambassador. I have sincerely apologized to the President and the Vice President, and they have accepted my apology," Flynn wrote, according to a copy of his resignation letter obtained by CNN.
"I am tendering my resignation, honored to have served our nation and the American people in such a distinguished way," he wrote. "I know with the strong leadership of President Donald J. Trump and Vice President Mike Pence and the superb team they are assembling, this team will go down in history as one of the greatest presidencies in US history."
The move comes less than a month into the job, making him one of the shortest-serving senior presidential advisers in modern history.
Gen. Keith Kellogg will be the interim national security adviser, multiple sources tell CNN. He most recently served as National Security Council chief of staff.
A senior administration official said Kellogg, retired Gen. David Petraeus and former Vice Admiral Bob Harward are possible replacements for Flynn. Another senior official told CNN Tuesday that Harward is considered the top contender for the job.
Petraeus is going to the White House Tuesday, according to sources inside and close to the administration.
"He is making a run" for the job, one source said, but noted "he has a lot of baggage."
The sudden exit marks the most public display yet of disarray at the highest levels of the new administration, which has faced repeated questions over a slew of controversies and reports of infighting among senior aides during its first three weeks.
The resolution had been heading this way for three days, an administration source told CNN.
More than whether he really had a conversation with the Russians about sanctions, the key issue internally was whether he told the truth to Pence, the source said.
The White House concluded at the very least, Flynn didn't mean to mislead the vice president, but may have because he couldn't remember what he said to the Russians.
"Not remembering is not a quality we can have for the national security adviser," the source said.
An administration source said that Trump "hung in there" when it came to Flynn, but there was a "flood of information" that finally made it clear he had to resign.
Asked if Trump is disappointed, another administration official said: "He's moving on."
A pair of Democratic lawmakers -- Reps. John Conyers, Jr., top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, and Elijah Cummings, top Democrat on the House oversight Committee -- sent a request for a "full classified briefing" on the circumstances surrounding Flynn to the Justice Department and FBI Monday night following Flynn's resignation.
"We in Congress need to know who authorized his actions, permitted them and continued to let him have access to our most sensitive national security information despite knowing these risks. We need to know who else within the White House is a current and ongoing risk to our national security," they wrote in a statement.
They added: "This new disclosure warrants a full classified briefing by all relevant agencies, including the Department of Justice and the FBI, as soon as possible and certainly before Thursday, February 16. We are communicating this request to the Department of Justice and FBI this evening."
The shakeup now leaves Trump without one of his closest and longest-serving advisers. Flynn had counseled Trump on foreign policy and national security matters since early in the 2016 presidential race.
Flynn was not able to definitively refute a Washington Post story late last week that his conversations with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak included communication about the sanctions. It is illegal for unauthorized private citizens to negotiate with foreign governments on behalf of the US.
The controversy intensified after the report put Vice President Mike Pence and several senior White House advisers in an uncomfortable position, as they had denied in TV interviews weeks earlier that Flynn discussed sanctions with the ambassador. Some administration officials said Flynn must have misled Pence and others.
"The knives are out," a White House official told CNN on Friday, noting that "there's a lot of unhappiness about this."
Many expressed concern at the idea that Flynn, a retired lieutenant general who headed the Defense Intelligence Agency, would discuss sanctions with a foreign official whose calls are regularly monitored by US intelligence and law enforcement agencies.
A US official confirmed to CNN on Friday that Flynn and Kislyak did speak about sanctions, among other matters, during a December call.
But after the call was made public, Pence told CBS News on January 15 that Flynn did not talk with Kislyak about the sanctions, which the Obama administration recently levied due to Russia's alleged interference in the 2016 elections.
"They did not discuss anything having to do with the United States' decision to expel diplomats or impose censure against Russia," Pence told CBS News.
On Friday, an aide close to the national security adviser told CNN that Flynn could not rule out that he spoke about sanctions on the call.
The White House official blamed much of the outcry against Flynn on a Washington culture always in search of a scalp, but people within Trump's orbit did little to defend Flynn during appearances on Sunday news shows.
Stephen Miller, White House policy director, was asked directly about Flynn's future on a number of Sunday talk shows. Miller responded by saying he was not the appropriate official to ask.
"I don't have any answers today," Miller said in response to questions about whether Flynn misled the vice president. "I don't have any information one way or another to add anything to the conversation."
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NSA adviser resigns amid controversy over Russia - News8000.com - WKBT
Former PTC chief Cockream pleads the Fifth Amendment over missing public records – Tampabay.com
TAMPA With a criminal investigation hanging over him, former Public Transportation Commission chief Kyle Cockream repeatedly pleaded the Fifth Amendment during a deposition Monday into whether public records were deleted from agency cell phones.
A judge ordered Cockream to appear at the deposition as part of a public records lawsuit filed against the agency that regulates for-hire transportation in Hillsborough County. He turned up, but on advice from his attorney Michael Carey, refused to answer questions from Andrea Mogensen, a Sarasota lawyer who sued the PTC to obtain copies of text messages that Cockream sent to owners of taxicab and limousine-rental firms.
"He pled the Fifth to basically every question that I asked," Mogensen said. "Obviously that's very disappointing. Our objective is to recover the public records."
The Fifth Amendment privilege allows a witness to decline to answer questions if the answers might incriminate him. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement has opened a criminal investigation into whether PTC officials deliberately deleted public records, a misdemeanor under state law.
A forensic investigator hired to extract text messages for the public records lawsuit found that seven agency phones and Cockream's personal cell phone were reset on Oct. 8, a process that wipes them clean. A PTC invoice shows that the agency on Oct. 12 paid $2,994 to Valrico tech firm Data Specialist Group for work they did on the phones that was detailed as "Mobile device data recovery."
Cockream, who stepped down as executive director in December, could not be reached for comment. In a recent hearing, his attorney said Cockream was not trying to hide records but hired the tech firm to back up the data on the phones.
The mising data may shed light on a controversial period during which the PTC was accused of colluding with the cab industry against the rideshare companies Uber and Lyft.
Contact Christopher O'Donnell at codonnell@tampabay.com or (813) 226-3446. Follow @codonnell_Times.
Former PTC chief Cockream pleads the Fifth Amendment over missing public records 02/14/17 [Last modified: Monday, February 13, 2017 9:22pm] Photo reprints | Article reprints
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Trump’s Order and the Ninth Got it Wrong – WFMZ Allentown
On February 9th the political drama of President Trumps executive order took an old turn when his opponents translated a political fight into a constitutional question and thus dragged the courts into the ring of battle. This is nothing new. But I will leave discussion of that political truth for another day.
President Trump issued an executive order stopping immigration from seven specific countries. He did so under a federal statute - 8 USC 1182(f) which states:
Whenever the President finds that the entry of any aliens or of any class of aliens into the United States would be detrimental to the interests of the United States, he may by proclamation, and for such period as he shall deem necessary, suspend the entry of all aliens or any class of aliens as immigrants or non-immigrants.
A limitation on that power is noted in 8 U.S.C. 1152(a)(1)(A) which states, regarding the granting of visas,
no person shall receive any preference or priority or be discriminated against in the issuance of an immigrant visa because of the persons race, sex, nationality, place of birth, or place of residence.
The case was before the Ninth Circuit on appeal by the government asking for an emergency stay on the Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) that was granted by the District Court Washington. To prevail, the government had to establish that it was likely to prevail on the merits. The merits should have been based on sections 1182 and 1152.
It is a legal maxim that if a government action can be held lawful or unlawful based on statutory interpretation, the constitution is not to be invoked. In its brief the Trump Administration asserted that the executive order was lawful under section 1182, and the states of Washington and Michigan, in part, argued that the executive order violated section 1152. The stated goal of the executive order was, to prevent infiltration by foreign terrorists or criminals and pursuant to that goal, I hereby proclaim that the immigrant and nonimmigrant entry into the United States of aliens from [Iraq, Syria, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, and Iran] would be detrimental to the interests of the United States, and I hereby suspend entry into the United States, as immigrants and nonimmigrants, of such persons for 90 days. The state response was that the suspension was a vainly disguised ban on all Muslims; which is prohibited under section 1152.
The problem is that the Ninth Circuit opinion bypassed this argument entirely. There was no mention of either statute or the legal arguments that they provide either side.
The court bypassed the true legal dispute and engaged in the Fifth Amendment arguments that Washington and Michigan asserted, in part, because they had a weak argument standing on section 1152 alone. The Fifth Amendment Due Process Clause protects a persons right to life, liberty and property and prevents the government from taking it without a hearing.
The opinion asserted that under the Fifth Amendment Due Process clause, the executive order violated the rights of legal residents, citizens and aliens who wish to return to the United States and travel from the United States. The Government, in its papers and at oral argument, asserted that the application of the order to the first two groups was an error in application and would no longer apply to them. That should have made the entire issue regarding the order and its application to legal aliens and citizens moot! But the court held that since the order was applied to citizens and legal aliens in the first two days of the order and there was no official proclamation from the President himself preventing such application, the court could not take the word of a legal memo from the White House Legal Counsel that similar application would not occur in the future. As such, the executive order violated the Fifth Amendment.
To make a long story short, there is no Fifth Amendment right for people who are not citizens or legal residents to assert in the first place, and in the second, aliens who are not in the United States have no right to a visa. The Fifth Amendment applies to those who have property rights in the United States. That property right exists by being physically present, having legal status or being a citizen. It is true that illegal aliens have a right to a hearing once in the United States, but that is only to determine if they are illegal and should be removed. It does not create a right for travel, and the right to a hearing does not translate into a right to come to the United States from another country. To get around this the court held that aliens who have contracted with the state universities to come into the United States as students or teachers have created a Fifth Amendment Due Process property right to travel, that the state governments can defend on the aliens behalf.
Since the government could not prove, to the Ninths satisfaction, that it would prevail on the due process claim because it could not prove people from the seven countries were a threat, they were not entitled to an emergency stay of the TRO.
The Government lost because it was held to a due process test, not to whether its executive order could be supported under section 1182. The court chose the wrong test.
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MARK HOPKINS: Why did the Constitution need the Second Amendment? – Port St. Joe Star
Mark Hopkins | Special to the Daily News
Why did we need a militia/gun amendment added to the Constitution?
As is true with most momentous decisions in the life of our country, to fully understand why something was done, we must study the times in which such decisions were made.
The why of the Second Amendment in the 1780s is very different from answering that same question in 2017. The United States was a very different country in the years following the Revolution than it is today. When President Washington first took office, two key challenges faced him and the leadership in Congress.
First, the Revolutionary War had concluded just eight years before. England had been defeated on our shores and withdrew their troops. However, that didnt make us the strongest nation on the globe. England still had the strongest combination of army and navy. They still controlled Canada, just a short trip up the Hudson River from New York City. In short, they were still a threat to us.
At the conclusion of the war, General Washington and the leadership in Congress did not have the money to support a standing army. It was the consensus that the U.S. must make do with smaller, live-at-home militia units in the various states rather than a centralized army. Thus, it was their hope that the new country could be protected with a citizen army that was armed and ready to be called up at a moments notice. To make that work, each military age male needed to be armed and ready if needed.
Second, several citizen rebellions had occurred between the end of the war and the time of the passage of the new Constitution. Principal among these were the Shays Rebellion in Massachusetts and the Whiskey Rebellion in Pennsylvania. Without the creation of a local militia, neither state had the firepower to protect the government or the people.
In short, our young country did not have the money to support a standing army so adding the Second Amendment was for the expressed purpose of making sure that each state had the legal right to call men to arms. Just as important, it was necessary that those men were able to join the militia fully armed and ready to defend their state and their government.
The contention from some that the framers of the Constitution adopted the Second Amendment because they wanted an armed population that could take down the U.S. government should it become tyrannical just has no credence in history.
In past columns about the Second Amendment, we have established the historical context of the creation of the Second Amendment. The primary purpose was to create a legal foundation for a state militia, the forerunner of our National Guard. President Washington not only wrote letters to support such action but actually created his own militia to put down the Whiskey Rebellion in Pennsylvania. Congress supported his action by creating The Militia Act, that allowed states to call up militia units to protect the government and the people as needed.
Resources used for these columns on the Second Amendment came from His Excellency: George Washington by Joseph Ellis (2004), James Madisons arguments for a strong federal government in The Federalist Papers, (1777-78) and The Readers Companion to American History by John A. Garraty and Eric Foner, which tells the stories of Shays Rebellion and the Whiskey Rebellion.
If a reader missed the two earlier columns, contact me at presnet@presnet.net for copies.
Dr. Mark L. Hopkins writes for More Content Now and Scripps Newspapers.
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MARK HOPKINS: Why did the Constitution need the Second Amendment? - Port St. Joe Star
Editorial: Second Amendment rights in Ramsey – NorthJersey.com – NorthJersey.com
NorthJersey 12:06 a.m. ET Feb. 12, 2017
Ramsey Mayor Deirdre Dillon presides over the standing-room-only crowd of about 150 people hearing the public comments about the ordinance prohibiting the discharge of firearms within town, even at a gun range, at the Ramsey Borough Council meeting on Wednesday night.(Photo: Adam Anik/NorthJersey.com)
We consistently support smart gun laws. There are too many guns in the hands of people who should never have access to a firearm. At the same time, citizens have a constitutional right to own a firearm and a responsibility, if they choose to own one, to know how to use it. So what is happening in Ramsey is troubling.
A developer from Pennsylvania wants to convert the former Liberty Travel building into a firing range with 67 firing stalls, in addition to space for a restaurant and retail sales. It would be called the Screaming Eagle Club.
Council: Ramsey tables vote on gun law, prepares forlitigation
Letter: Ramsey should not fear shooting range
The moniker gives us pause, but Ramsey has an ordinance on the books since 1961 that, while prohibiting the firing of any pistol, shotgun, rifle or other type of firearms anywhere in the borough, exempts indoor and outdoor firing ranges.
As Staff Writer Tom Nobile reported, the borough was set to vote on a change in the ordinance on Wednesday night, but postponed a vote after being informed that litigation opposing the change would ensue. So for now or until the borough lawyers-up with a pro-bono-inclined law firm the proposal is on hold.
We understand that the proposed 60,000-square-foot indoor firing range may not be exactly what Ramsey officials want to see in their community, but we cannot support changing ordinances on the spot to keep out a legal business, particularly one supported by the Second Amendment.
If the borough has a problem with the size of the range and that it will create legitimate safety issues, make that case. If there is concern that adding a restaurant or shops may create a public safety issue, make that case. But we would be surprised if that case would be successful in court.
A firing range of this size will bring a lot of gun-toting folks into Ramsey. Most will be legal gun owners going to a controlled space to hone their skills. The borough should ensure there is proper supervision and safety checks. Yet that will not preclude the possibility of something bad happening.
This past July, a man committed suicide at the Gun for Hire range in Woodland Park. He was the seventh gun-range suicide in New Jersey since 2014. The July death raised concerns over ranges that rent guns to walk-in customers in many cases it is as simple as showing a valid drivers license;no background check is required.
Ramsey officials, as they study legal options, should determine whether they can prohibit gun rentals at the proposed range. That would mitigate some of the risks associated with the facility. We understand why many Ramsey residents dont want the range, but we also recognize that many people do. Wednesdays Borough Council meeting was contentious.
There may be ways for the council to restrict the size and scale of the proposed firing range, but we are wary of the timing of this proposed change to a borough ordinance that had permitted indoor firing ranges in Ramsey.
The developers attorney, James Jaworski, said Wednesday, The Second Amendment protects not just the right to keep and bear arms, but the right to be proficient in the keeping and bearing of arms.
We agree. Citizens have a right to bear arms, and we are all safer when they have been properly trained in their use.
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Editorial: Second Amendment rights in Ramsey - NorthJersey.com - NorthJersey.com
CGF, Others Seek Circuit Court Review in Major Second Amendment Lawsuit – AmmoLand Shooting Sports News
AmmoLand Shooting Sports News | CGF, Others Seek Circuit Court Review in Major Second Amendment Lawsuit AmmoLand Shooting Sports News SAN FRANCISCO -(Ammoland.com)- Today, attorneys for The Calguns Foundation (CGF), Second Amendment Foundation, and two individual plaintiffs filed a petition with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals seeking en banc (full-court) review of a ... |
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Edward Snowden’s New Job: Protecting Reporters From Spies – WIRED
Slide: 1 / of 1. Caption: 520 Design
This story is part of our special coverage, The News in Crisis.
When Edward Snowden leaked the biggest collection of classified National Security Agency documents in history, he wasnt just revealing the inner workings of a global surveillance machine. He was also scrambling to evade it. To communicate with the journalists who would publish his secrets, he had to route all his messages over the anonymity software Tor, teach reporters to use the encryption tool PGP by creating a YouTube tutorial that disguised his voice, and eventually ditch his comfortable life (and smartphone) in Hawaii to set up a cloak-and-dagger data handoff halfway around the world.
Now, nearly four years later, Snowden has focused the next phase of his career on solving that very specific instance of the panopticon problem: how to protect reporters and the people who feed them information in an era of eroding privacywithout requiring them to have an NSA analysts expertise in encryption or to exile themselves to Moscow. Watch the journalists and youll find their sources, Snowden says. So how do we preserve that confidentiality in this new world, when its more important than ever?
Since early last year, Snowden has quietly served as president of a small San Franciscobased nonprofit called the Freedom of the Press Foundation. Its mission: to equip the media to do its job at a time when state-sponsored hackers and government surveillance threaten investigative reporting in ways Woodward and Bernstein never imagined. Newsrooms dont have the budget, the sophistication, or the skills to defend themselves in the current environment, says Snowden, who spoke to WIRED via encrypted video-chat from his home in Moscow. Were trying to provide a few niche tools to make the game a little more fair.
The groups 10 staffers and a handful of contract coders, with Snowdens remote guidance, are working to develop an armory of security upgrades for reporters. Snowden and renowned hacker Bunnie Huang have partnered to develop a hardware modification for the iPhone, designed to detect if malware on the device is secretly transmitting a reporters data, including location. Theyve recruited Fred Jacobs, one of the coders for the popular encryption app Signal, to help build a piece of software called Sunder; the tool would allow journalists to encrypt a trove of secrets and then retrieve them only if several newsroom colleagues combine their passwords to access the data. And the foundations coders are building a plug-and-play version of Jitsi, the encrypted video-chat software Snowden himself uses for daily communication. They want newsrooms to be able to install it on their own servers with a few clicks. The idea is to make this all paint-by-numbers instead of teaching yourself to be Picasso, Snowden says.
A brief guide to becoming an anonymous source.
Web
The anonymity network Tor obscures your identity by routing your online traffic through computers worldwide. Access it via the web-based Tor Browser to visit any site related to your planned contact with the press. Find a directory of the 35 or so news organizations that maintain SecureDrop portalsTor-enabled inboxes for anonymous tips. Then choose an outlet and leak away.
Phone
Buy a burnera cheap, prepaid Android phonewith cash from a nonchain store in an area youve never been to before. Dont carry your regular phone and the burner at the same time, and never turn on the burner at home or work. Create a Gmail and Google Play account from the burner, then install the encrypted calling and texting app Signal. When youre done, destroy the burner and ditch its corpse far from home.
Snail mail
Pick a distant mailbox, dont carry your phone on the trip, andduhdont include a real return address.
But the foundations biggest coup has been SecureDrop, a Tor-based system for WikiLeaks-style uploads of leaked materials and news tips. The system has now been adopted by dozens of outlets, including The Guardian, The New York Times, and The Washington Post. It works. I know, hinted a tweet from Washington Post reporter David Fahrenthold the day after he published a leaked video of Donald Trump bragging about sexual assault.
In early 2014, the Freedom of the Press Foundations founderswho include the first recipients of Snowdens leaks, journalists Glenn Greenwald and Laura Poitrasasked their 30-year-old source to join the groups board as a largely symbolic gesture. But Snowden surprised the board members by showing up to his first meeting with a list of detailed changes to its 40-plus pages of bylaws. The next year he was unanimously elected its president. No one has more practical expertise when it comes to whistleblower and journalist communications, says Trevor Timm, the groups executive director. It was the perfect fit. Snowden has refused a salary, instead giving the group more than $60,000 of his fees from speaking engagements over the past year.
Snowdens own leaks have shown the dire need for the foundations work: In early 2015 he revealed that British spies had collected emails from practically every major newspaper and wire service. Other signs of encroaching state surveillance have also put journalists on guard. Late last year it emerged that Montreal police had tracked the phone calls and texts of a reporter in order to identify sources critical of the department. And in early January, before he had even taken office, Donald Trump called on Congress to investigate a leak to NBC newsone that gave the network a sneak peek at an intelligence report on Russias role in influencing the US election. In the months since Trumps victory, the Freedom of the Press Foundations phones have been ringing off the hook with requests from newsrooms for training sessions, says Timm.
Snowden is quick to note it was the administration of President Obama, not Trump, that indicted him and at least seven others under the Espionage Act for leaking information to journalists. Thats more such indictments than all other presidents in history combined have issued. But Snowden and Timm worry that Trump, with his deep-seated disdain for the media and the full powers of the US Justice Department at his fingertips, will be only too happy to carry forward and expand that precedent.
All of that makes the medias technical protections from spying more important than ever. We cant fix the surveillance problem overnight, Snowden says. But maybe we can build a shield that will protect anyone whos standing behind it. If the group succeeds, perhaps the next Snowden will be able to take refuge not in Moscow but in the encrypted corners of the internet.
Andy Greenberg (@a_greenberg) wrote about Google subsidiary Jigsaw in issue 24.10.
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Edward Snowden's New Job: Protecting Reporters From Spies - WIRED
New Centurion Cryptocurrency Offers an Alternative Payment Option While Supporting Its Own Children Charity – newsBTC
The creators of Centurion are not just focusing on the financial aspects; they are driven by altruistic goals as well.
Centurion Lab has launched a brand-new cryptocurrency called Centurion. The digital currency, named after the key figures in the ancient Roman army offers an efficient and easy to use alternative to several altcoins currently available in the cryptocurrency market. The Centurion cryptocurrency was launched on February 9, 2017, and it aims to solve the issues faced by the Bitcoin community by offering them an alternative.
The Bitcoin network is currently struggling with increased delays in processing transactions due to confirmation backlogs. The delay in network scaling has led to increase in miner fees associated with transactions. Centurion has considered these challenges to create a cryptocurrency platform with twice the block size of Bitcoin at 2 MB, and a block time of 1 minute. The specifications of Centurion cryptocurrency are as follows:
X11 Proof of Work (PoW)
3% Proof of Stake (PoS)
RPC port: 5555 / P2P port: 5556
1 Minute Blocks
Block Size 2Mb
Reward Schedule:
Blocks until 100 0 CNT (for fair difficulty balancing)
Blocks 101 250,100 100 CNT
Blocks 250,101 500,100 75 CNT
Blocks 500,101 1,000,100 60 CNT
Blocks 1,000,101 2,000,100 50 CNT
Blocks 2,000,101 2,500,100 25 CNT
Blocks 2,500,101 3,500,100 10 CNT
Blocks 3,500,101 4,000,100 5 CNT
Blocks 4,000,101 5,000,100 2.5 CNT
Blocks 5,000,101 19,000,000 1 CNT
Total Coin production 250 Million
Reserve: 50 Million.
The creators of Centurion are not just focusing on the financial aspects, they are driven by altruistic goals as well. In the Roman saga, Centurions were considered as the protectors of the downtrodden, weak, and young. Taking a leaf out of the history, Centurion cryptocurrency also has an initiative named Centurion4Children a charity that strives to help kids across the world. Centurion cryptocurrency will be setting aside a total of 5 million Centurions to facilitate its activities. Centurion4Children will be responsible for supporting children and their families, sponsoring a child, providing safe water in developing countries and sustainable schools.
Centurion offers easy-to-use mining pools and software that save people from the complicated setup process as in the case of other cryptocurrency platforms. Centurion users can just download preconfigured files and become part of the mining community.
The creators of Centurion are also working on building a merchant network so that the community members can readily spend the crypto tokens for various goods and services. The readymade merchant API libraries make it easy for online platforms to integrate Centurion as an additional payment option. It has already partnered with one of the leading online sellers of e-books and videos on marketing, cryptocurrencies, internet tips, tricks, etc. In the coming days, Centurion will be expanding its network with the help of Cryptonetwork Ltd. Cryptonetwork will promote the use of Centurion through its marketing network in India, Germany, Italy, Spain and other nations.
More information about Centurion is available on the cryptocurrencys official website.
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Bitcoin’s Price Battles New Resistance in Bid to Breach $1000 – CoinDesk
Bitcoin prices continued to fluctuate around $1,000 today, as the global digital currency markets saw technical resistance around this figure.
Overall, bitcoin traded traded above $1,000 for roughly the first eight hours of the day, reaching as much as $1,007 during the session, CoinDesk Bitcoin Price Index (BPI) figures reveal.
Prices fell below $1,000 at 08:15 UTC, however, and failed to break through that level for the remainder of the day.
At the time of report, the currency was trading at $998.42, according to the BPI.
According to analysts, traders remain reluctant about placing bets in the market, as concerns linger about further actions from the People's Bank of China (PBOC), the nation's central bank.
The digital currency has experienced significant volatility in the last several weeks, as the PBOC's decision to crack down on domestic exchanges has caused these marketplaces to announce a slew of sudden policy changes.
Huobi, OKCoin and BTCC (previously called the 'Big Three' exchanges) all announced they wouldimpose consistent fees, cut margin trading and halt or slow deposits and withdrawals denominated in digital currency in recent days.
These continued developments have made some market participants reluctant to trade bitcoin, according to BTC VIX, community moderator for trading group Whale Club. He told CoinDesk:
"I wouldn't hold any position for more than a few hours because the PBOC will continue to be active and exchanges certainly have more announcements over the next 30 days," he said.
So far, there's evidence backing this theory, as traders put in a large number sell orders around the $1,000 price point. This resistance was confirmed by both order book data and the input of market analysts.
Exchanges Bitfinex and Kraken showed the number of sell orders exceeding the number of buy orders close to the $1,000 mark.
Tim Enneking, chairman of Crypto Asset Management, weighed in on this development:
"Bitcoin is definitely encountering technical resistance. $1,000 is a level that is going to take some time to break."
Petar Zivkovski, COO of leveraged bitcoin trading platform Whaleclub, offered similar input.
"The $1,000 level is indeed a strong psychological resistance. Bitcoin will need to cleanly break above $1,000 (high-volume rise and sustained price action above 1000) to transform that level into price support," he continued.
Still, he added that there are potential bullish catalysts, citing the March approval of a Bitcoin ETF or positive regulatory news from China as two possible boons.
Blocking football image via Shutterstock
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Bitcoin's Price Battles New Resistance in Bid to Breach $1000 - CoinDesk
Comet spotted breaking apart as it swings by Earth – CNET – CNET
Slooh Observatory
A comet appears to be cracking up over our heads at this moment. Comet 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann was seen breaking apart via Slooh telescopes in Chile on Sunday and captured in GIF-tastic glory above.
The slow destruction of this primordial space rock has been ongoing for quite a while. The earliest evidence of its disintegration was first observed on its 1995 visit. During its trip around the sun in 2006, observations by Hubble and other telescopes revealed Comet 73P was flying by with an entourage of over 40 discernible fragments that had broken off the main structure.
"It certainly feels like it's only a matter of time before comet 73P is destroyed, disintegrating into a trail of cosmic dust," Slooh astronomer Paul Cox said in a statement.
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Rosetta's long journey from here to a comet (pictures)
This is just kind of the way it goes for comets, which are made up of ice, dust and rock. Gravity, solar radiation and solar wind are constantly threatening to pull comets apart on each swing through the inner solar system, a trip Comet 73P makes every 5.4 years.
This means each pass by us could be the comet's last. In fact, we might be witnessing its final days right now. It will reach perihelion -- its closest approach to the sun before whipping around our star to head back out toward Jupiter -- on March 16. Cox says Comet 73P may be hard-pressed to survive that moment.
"This puts the comet's nucleus under tremendous stress from the Sun's gravitational forces -- and it appears that this may have been responsible for carving up the nucleus in two," he said.
The sun is known for snuffing out other notable comets in this way, as it likely did to the anticipated Comet ISON a few years ago.
And just for the record, we don't know yet where fragments from the comet might end up. Back in 2006, the internet went wild with rumors that parts of the comet would impact Earth and cause a huge tsunami, although NASA made it clear none of the fragments would pass closer than 20 times the distance between us and the moon.
Fortunately, astronomers are certain to keep a close eye on this crumbling comet, and so will we. Keep looking up.
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Crowd Control: A crowdsourced science fiction novel written by CNET readers.
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Comet spotted breaking apart as it swings by Earth - CNET - CNET