Select Page ::

Pro-marijuana student group prevails again in T-shirt free speech case – The Cannabist

Posted on February 13, 2017 by Danzig

Published: Feb 13, 2017, 2:58 pm Updated: Feb 13, 2017, 3:09 pm

By David Pitt, The Associated Press

DES MOINES, Iowa In a case that free speech advocates are calling a victory for college students everywhere regardless of their political views, a federal appeals court on Monday ruled that Iowa State University cannot prevent a marijuana law reform advocacy group from distributing a T-shirt with the Iowa State University mascot on one side and a marijuana leaf on the other.

The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said ISU administrators including President Steven Leath, Senior Vice President Warren Madden and two others violated First Amendment rights of two students who were top officers of the ISU chapter of the National Organization for Reform of Marijuana Laws.

The students, Paul Gerlich and Erin Furleigh, planned in 2012 to print T-shirts depicting NORML ISU on the front with the O represented by Cy the Cardinal, the university mascot. On the back the shirt read, Freedom is NORML at ISU with a small cannabis leaf above NORML.

Even though the university approved the groups original design that incorporated the mascot and a marijuana leaf, Leath and the others blocked it claiming it violated the schools trademark policy after getting pressure from conservative lawmakers and an appointee of Republican Gov. Terry Branstad who saw a story about the groups planned T-shirt in a Des Moines Register article.

The students sued in July 2014 and early last year U.S. District Judge James Gritzner ruled the schools policy violated the students free speech rights and barred the university from prohibiting printing the T-shirt. Leath and the other ISU administrators appealed.

The appeals court agreed with Gritzners ruling.

The defendants rejection of NORML ISUs designs discriminated against that group on the basis of the groups viewpoint, the justices wrote.

The court concluded that the ISU administrators unusual trademark approval process for the NORML group was motivated at least in part by pressure from Iowa politicians.

The case, even though it centers on NORML, a group favoring marijuana legalization, drew support from several conservative organizations including the anti-abortion group Students for Life of America and the Christian Legal Society.

This decision protects, not just for this group but for all these groups, the ability to participate in the marketplace of ideas and not be discriminated against because the government doesnt like your views, the conservative groups attorney Casey Mattox said.

Furleigh and Gerlichs attorney, Robert Corn-Revere, said the case confirms that universities cannot discriminate against students or their advocacy organizations based on political views.

People from all across the political spectrum have felt the sting of having officials who dont like their political views make decisions based them. So, this is an opinion that helps people across the political spectrum, he said.

ISU spokesman John McCarroll said administrators are reviewing the decision and have not decided whether to appeal for an 8th Circuit rehearing or ask the U.S. Supreme Court to consider hearing the case. He offered no further comment.

Follow David Pitt on Twitter at https://twitter.com/davepitt . His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org

Pro-marijuana student group prevails again in T-shirt free speech case - The Cannabist

Op-Ed: Free Speech Held Hostage in Baku – Armenian Weekly

Posted on February 13, 2017 by Danzig

By Aris Govjian

Within a single month, the government of Azerbaijan has managed to quote Nazi propaganda in its campaign against minorities, arrest a Jewish journalist for speaking the truth, and bomb regions where they were scheduled to meet for peace talks.

Lapshin being detained in Baku (Photo: Interfax)

This is reality for Azerbaijan, and unfortunately, for its minorities.

While it is commonplace for Baku to disseminate propaganda stylized after Europes worst fascist regime against its minorities, and to reward the killings of innocent people with land and wealth, it is not all too common to see a citizen of Azerbaijans ally, Israel, get caught in the crosshairs.

For the first time, a journalist has been arrested under Bakus disturbing blacklist provision. The criminalization of free speech and journalism is both inhumane and brings to light the level of corruption in Azerbaijan and Belarus.

The arrested blogger, Alexander Lapshin, faces steep punishment in Azerbaijan. His crime? He visited a region where the native population still reside and wrote about it on his blog. This region is none other than Artsakh, as it is known by the people who have lived there for thousands of years, and known as Nagorno-Karabagh (NKR) internationally.

Alexander spoke honestly about the local people, and the inhumane violence unleashed upon them by the Azeri government. The president of Azerbaijan rules in dynastic fashion, where his family and close relatives hold power, and have done so for generations. This comes with great expense to its peoples freedoms and aspirations for a better life.

Aliyevs regime needs to keep prejudices in the population high in order to keep a teetering stranglehold over the oil wealth of his nation. Rather than mend the wounds of a violent past caused by Stalins policies of division, he continues to perpetuate a state of chaos for his country and the region.

Alexander Lapshin deserves freedom. It is a disgrace of Belarus government to extradite him. He must be freed. We must do more to bring light on this issue to the world. In order for the government to change its policy of oppression and genocide towards the native population there needs to be a blockade placed upon Azerbaijan. There needs to be increased pressure to free Alexander, and it needs to come from Israel and Russia too.

Original post:

Op-Ed: Free Speech Held Hostage in Baku - Armenian Weekly

Deconstructing the ‘Liberal Campus’ Cliche – The Atlantic

Posted on February 13, 2017 by Danzig

Are American universities now spaces where democratic free expression is in decline, where insecurity, fear, and an obsessive, self-preening political correctness make open dialogue impossible? This was a view voiced by many at the start of the month, after the University of California, Berkeley, canceled a speech by the right-wing provocateur, Milo Yiannopoulos, when a demonstration against his appearance spun out of control. Yiannopoulos had been invited to speak by campus Republicans, but headlines the next morning were dominated by images of 100 to 150 protesters wearing black masks, hurling rocks, fireworks, and Molotov cocktails en route to doing $100,000 dollars of damage to a student center named after the great icon of pacifist civil disobedience, Martin Luther King, Jr.

The university itself quickly rejected the rioting group of protesters, issuing a statement that read: We deeply regret that the violence unleashed by this group undermined the First Amendment rights of the speaker, as well as those who came to lawfully assemble and protest his presence. But official disavowals were not enough to spare Berkeleywhich consistently ranks as the top public university in the countryfrom headlines depicting it as yet another college campus succumbing to anti-democratic sentiments. These headlines were followed by high-profile denouncements, from Donald Trump calling for defunding the university to the Dilbert cartoonist Scott Adams announcing he was ceasing his alumni giving.

Berkeley is only one of a growing number of universities that have been highlighted as waning in their commitment to free speech. A little over a year ago, Yale came under scrutiny for a notorious case involving a debate about censoring Halloween costumes on campus. And last spring The New Yorker published an in-depth investigation of how a new activism at Oberlin College had weakened a sense of open dialogue. A few months before that The Atlantic also ran a big cover story highlighting how in the name of emotional well-being college students across the country were now increasingly demanding protection from words and ideas they didnt like.

Such reports have in turn reinforced a longstanding political narrative, which seeks to demean Americas universities as ideologically narrow, morally slack, hypersensitive, and out of touch. For example, commentators like the New York Times columnist Ross Douthat have argued that Americas university system is genuinely corrupt in relying on rote appeals to left-wing pieties to cloak its utter lack of higher purpose.

But does this widespread portrait of universities as morally weak and anti-democraticcirculating at least since the time of Allan Bloomreally hold true? This vision of American universities is largely inadequate in at least two ways. First, it incorrectly blames increased fragility exclusively on the university system itself and, second, it relies on a reductive caricature of Americas institutions of higher learning.

Undoubtedly a threatened sense of identity has led to a rise of some left-wing students making unreasonable demands in terms of censoring or excluding certain material. For example, at Oberlin College there was increased pressure on administration and admissions to expunge the institution of imperialism, white supremacy, capitalism, ableism, and a cissexist heteropatriarchy. As part of this one student prominently called for trigger warnings so that students could prepare themselves for emotionally-challenging texts like Sophocless Antigone. This call in turn vexed faculty, other students, parents, and administration, generating divisions on campus. Yet a closer look reveals that the fragility of identity politics is far from limited to the left on college campuses.

Identity politics places individual and group notions of selfhood at the center of politics. As the philosopher Charles Taylor has argued at length, the main goal of identity politics is recognition or validation of a given identity by others in society. I have written elsewhere about how identity politics (normally associated with American liberalism) is actually a major engine fueling the rise of Trump. The categories of left and right often distort the ways in which cultural trends, like those associated with identity politics, are far more widely shared across American life. While some left-wing groups on campus are guilty of retreating from open dialogue, a conservative-identity movement has likewise tried to buffer students from having to hear ideas that upset them.

One of the more troubling examples of this is the attempt to stigmatize certain professors through the website ProfessorWatchList.org, which compiles lists of professors that purportedly need to be monitored due to their radical agenda. This website professes to fight for free speech and the right for professors to say whatever they wish but at the same time it publicly isolates professors whose perspective is seen as offensive or shocking to conservative students. Through the use of this website students can now know before they ever walk into their college classrooms if their professor is too radical to take seriously (or perhaps even too radical to take the class). At best the website serves as a massive trigger warning for conservative-leaning students; at worst it is a modern Scarlet Letter.

Because both the left and the right more generally are struggling to muster the confidence to be routinely exposed to dissenting points of view, it is neither fair nor constructive to lay the problem of hypersensitivity at the feet of Americas liberal universities. Rather, America as a whole is experiencing an extraordinary sense of fragility around identityuniversities, like the rest of America, find themselves immersed in these tensions.

Reducing American universities to inaccurate clichs about the collegiate left does serve a hard-nosed political function: It marginalizes, excludes, discredits, and diminishes these institutions and intellectuals more broadly from public debate and office. This is part of a much longer tradition of anti-intellectualism in America, first tracked by Richard Hofstadter and more recently chronicled by Susan Jacoby. This culture of anti-intellectualism is likely an important factor in why the number of American professors who serve in Congress is dwarfed by politically dominant professions like lawyers and businessmen.

It has been a standard trope since at least the 1960s to dismiss the liberal academy and its intellectuals out of handas when William F. Buckley famously quipped that he would rather be governed by the first 2,000 names in the Boston telephone directory than by the faculty of Harvard. More recently the American right has routinely celebrated books by authors like Roger Scruton and Michael Walsh who rest the responsibility for what they see as an apocalyptic civilizational collapse squarely on the shoulders of professors in college classrooms.

But these attempts by other elite groups within society to gain popular political power by attacking universities and intellectuals has only been possible through distortions of reality. The ideological reality of American universities is in fact much more complex than the readymade bromides of the culture war. As of 2016, the United States is home to more than 4,000 institutions of higher education. Among them exists tremendous heterogeneity when it comes to educational missions, specialty and focus, civic and spiritual goals. A total picture of Americas academy would include everything from bustling state schools like the University of Alabama to small Catholic colleges like Thomas Aquinas College; it would span elite Ivies like Harvard and Princeton and highly affordable community colleges like Santa Monica College; it would include places specializing in sciences and engineering like Colorado School of Mines and art institutes like Rhode Island School of Design. American higher education has in part excelled due to a willingness to generously fund and support a wide diversity of institutions.

Even the internal life of universities is far more complex and diverse than the standard anti-intellectual story about them is able to capture. There is, for example, a great variety of ideological and political sensibilities found across the faculties of American universities. At the philosophical level, law schools unsurprisingly tend to presuppose a certain basic deference toward American ideological and legal norms; departments of economics are often (though not always) heavily shaped by classical economics and theories that incline toward advocacy of markets; a similar point could be made of business schools. Humanities and social-science faculties in the United States for their part have scholars of great books, humanists, and, yes, radicals.

Berkeley itselfperhaps the American university with the strongest reputation for liberal activismis far more complex a place than the standard caricatures allow. (I know because I completed my graduate education there and yet now teach at a private Christian university.) For example, Berkeley hosts a wide range of political clubs, including the largest College Republicans group in the state of California. It is also home to more than 50 student religious organizationsincluding everything from evangelical and Catholic to Jewish, Muslim, and Buddhist groups. This diversity of spiritual options is hardly the same as the lack of higher purpose held together by a few empty left-wing pieties described by Douthat. A pluralism of spiritual traditions housed by the same university is not the same as a vacuum, much less a single monolithic liberal voice. Indeed, how many people know that in addition to seven Nobel Laureates, Berkeley also has John Yoo, one of the countrys most prominent conservative legal scholars on the law faculty (who zealously defended some of George W. Bushs most controversial policies)?

Ultimately, the deep philosophical problem with the standard political narrative about Americas universities is that it is far too essentialist and reductive. The criticisms are essentialist because they hold that American universities can be fairly described in terms of a few core features (liberal, hypersensitive, intolerant); theyre reductive because they assume that other complex aspects of university life can be simplified to these elements. But is the professor who holds unorthodox or even radical political views really unable to shed light on the poetry of T. S. Eliot, the paradoxes of behavioral economics, or the history of religion? America impoverishes itself when it determines beforehand whom it can and cannot learn from in this way.

Any society that routinely attacks and undermines the institutions that support its greatest minds is caught up in an act of either extravagantly nave or profoundly sinister self-sabotage. Americas college campuses remain places of astounding diversity in which democratic exchange of the highest kind still routinely takes place. The countrys university system remains, with all its imperfections, the best school for American democracy.

If the United States is to flourish in the coming generation in the way it did in the prior century, it will need to embrace and even learn from the diversity and dialogue of its universitiesnot destroy them through simplistic grabs for popular power.

View post:

Deconstructing the 'Liberal Campus' Cliche - The Atlantic

Nick Cannon Quits ‘America’s Got Talent,’ Rips NBC Execs for Stifling ‘Freedom of Speech’ – Breitbart News

Posted on February 13, 2017 by Danzig

After days of deliberating over some extremely disappointing news that I was being threatened with termination by Executives because of a comedy special that was only intended to bring communities closer together, I was to be punished for a joke, Cannon wrote in a lengthy Facebook post on Monday.

This has weighed heavy on my spirit. It was brought to my attention by my team that NBC believed that I was in breach of contract because I had disparaged their brand, Cannon wrote. In my defense, I would ask how so? Or is this just another way to silence and control an outspoken voice who often battles the establishment.

Cannon told radio host Howard Stern last week that NBC executives werent laughing when Cannon made a joke about the network costing him hisblack card while filming hisupcomingShowtime comedy special,Stand Up, Dont Shoot.

The36-year-old actor apparently cracked several jokes about NBC during the comedy special, which saw Cannon use the N-word several times.

I grew up like a real na, all that stuff, but I honestly believe that once I started doingAmericas Got Talent, they took my real na card. They did because then these types of people start showing up to my shows, Cannon joked during the comedy special, Entertainment Weeklyreports.I cant do the real na stuff anymore cause then theyll put me on TMZ.

Cannon who has expressed a number of politically unpopular views over the past few months, including that Planned Parenthood is designed to exterminateblack people says he had been warned by his mentors that The System would come after him because I was speaking too many truths and being too loud about it.

I will not be silenced, controlled or treated like a piece of property, Cannon, who has hosted the reality singing competition for the past eight seasons, wrote on Facebook.

NBC, Cannon charged, is part of an unjust infrastructure that treats talent like they own them.

But Cannon said he made the hard choice to leave Americas Got Talentbecause his soul wont allow [him] to be in business with corporations that attempt to frown on freedom of speech, censor artists, and question cultural choices.

So I wish AGT and NBC the best in its upcoming season, but I can not see myself returning, Cannon wrote. There will always be a do as I say mentality that mirrors societys perception of women and minorities, and only a few will stand up against it. I proudly stand as one of those few, and will gladly take on whatever repercussions that come with it.

Follow Jerome Hudson on Twitter:@JeromeEHudson

More here:

Nick Cannon Quits 'America's Got Talent,' Rips NBC Execs for Stifling 'Freedom of Speech' - Breitbart News

These universities have been ranked worst for freedom of speech – The Tab

Posted on February 13, 2017 by Danzig

The 2017 Free Speech University Rankings (FSUR) by Spiked have revealed British universities are becoming more censorious.

Through a traffic light system of red, amber and green, the survey ranks the Students Union and universitys approach to freedom of speech by considering their stance on no platforming, equality and diversity policies, advertisements, fancy dress, safe space policies and student codes of conduct.

Of 115 universities surveyed, the four worst universities for freedom of speech came from the Russell Group, including Oxford, Newcastle, Cardiff and Edinburgh.Out of 24 Russell Group unis, 16 were ranked red and eight were amber.

Buckingham University, Trinity St. David and West of Scotland were ranked the most ban-free.

Universities marked red actively censored speech and expression, amber universities have chilled free speech through excessive regulation and green universities has not restricted or regulated speech and expression.

See below where your university has been ranked.

Aberystwyth University

Aberystwyth banned Carnage because it encourages binge drinking, as well as banning YikYak on campus as the uni feltit facilitated bullying. Theuse of racial, homophobic, religious or disability slurs, even those that are used in a joke context are also barred.

Bath

The university banned transphobic materials, including those in speeches, literature and music from campus. Bath SU also censored a musical comedy sketch by Comedy Writing Improvisation and Performance Society because a line about the Prophet Mohammed had caused great offence.

Birmingham

The SUhave banned newspapers the Daily Star and Daily Sport as they claim they arederogatory towards women. They also ban any publication which upholds or propagates racial/gender/sexuality-related/disability-related stereotypes or binaries. Birmingham has a no platform policy against speakers or groups who are offensive to a race, religion, or sexuality, for example. Current groups that are banned include British National Party, Hizb-ut Tahrir, National Front, English Defence League.

Bournemouth

Students are not permitted to wear clothing that has slogans or symbols that are offensive, such as racist or sexist and will face disciplinary action if so. The Union also has a safe space policy.

Bristol

The Union has banned any songs that encourage rape culture in university buildings. Instead, lines from the songs that do reference rape will either not be played or have the instrumental version played. The SU will also disaffiliate from any society that has committed a rape apology. Consent classes are available for all undergraduate students in halls. The university expects students to attend workshops.

Cardiff

As part of their anti-lad culture policy, certain songs that are deemed homophobic or promote misogyny by the student senate, such as Blurred Lines, have been banned from playing in the SUor on the student radio station. Lad mags or those that include pornographic material are banned from being sold in campus shops. In the past two years, Cardiff have no platformed Dapper Laughs from speaking, and attempted to ban Germaine Greer for herviews on trans people.

Durham

Durham have banned any activity that promotes binge-drinking, such as initiations. Durham also have a policy whereby anydisplay of sexism, homophobia or any kind of prejudice can lead to disciplinary action.

Edinburgh

Edinburgh have banned the Sun from campus and have no platformed speakers with controversial views such as Tommy Robinson and the SWP. The SU have banned Caitlyn Jenner and Pocohontus as fancy dress costumes, no platformed lad banter that trivialises rape, such as Uni-Lad and rape apologist George Galloway. The Union also backed a boycott against Israel last March.

Hull

Hull has a strict trans policy whereby they willremove any materials considered to be trans propaganda. They have banned initiations as they promote excess drinking, and also have a no platform policy. Hull SU have currently banned the BNP, Combat 18, the National Front, Hizb-ut Tahrir and the Muslim Public Affairs Committee.

Kings College London

Kings recently removed a picture of Lord Carney from their alumni wall on the strand campus because of his anti-gay views. The uni also have strict advertising rules, whereby religious advertising, advertising of pornography and sexual service, advertising of tobacco products and advertising of weapons and gun clubs are banned.

Lancaster

Lancaster unidont tolerate any harassment, racism, sexism, homophobia or prejudice. Posters at the uni cant include offensive language or break the previous policy of being racist, sexist or homophobic.

Leeds

Tabacco, casinos, gambling, strip clubs or animal testing adverts are amongst the few banned from campus as part of the universitys no platform policy.Hate or facist speakers are banned from lecturing on campus.

Leicester

The university have introduced mandatory consent classes. Like Leeds, Leicester have banned certain adverts, such as gambling, money loaning, bar crawls, the Sun as well as banning any hate speakers from campus.

Manchester

Manchester SU banned a copy of Charlie Hebdo from the Refereshers Fair as the student media are banned from promoting anything that could be deemed offensive. Any speaker who uses discriminatory language is banned from speaking. Both MiloYiannopoulosand Julie Bindel were no platformed under the safe space policy.

Newcastle

The university have banned initiation ceremonies to prevent binge-drinking. They also have bans on certain adverts such as pay day loans, smoking, t-shirt pub crawls, and bans on promotional material that exposes a womans bum or breasts as it objectifies them for a custom.

The SUhave a strict fancy dress policy. Students cant wear costumes that may incite hatred, mockery, or violence against marginalised groups of the student body. For example famous paedophiles, figure who incites hatred or dressing as someone from a marginalised groups in a disrespectful way (eg dressing as Caitlyn Jenner in a mocking way) are not permitted. The Union also have aban on beauty pageants, calling them misogynistic.

Nottingham

The Sun and Daily Star are both banned from campus as part of the No More Page 3 campaign. The uni mandate a rule against initiations, which saw the universitys football team banned from playing in the 2015 Varsity.

Oxford

Oxford have banned any advertisements from LIFE a pro-life organisation. Christ Church College further banned a debate on abortion by Oxford For Life in 2014.

The Union have the power to remove any materials they deem offensive. Controversial magazine No Offence was banned from being handed out to students at the Freshers Fair.

Portsmouth

Transphobic or offensive religious material will be removed from campus. Anyone wearing offensive symbols or slogans can face discriminatory action. The Union hold a no platform policy and will bar any speaker who holds facist views from lecturing.

Queen Mary

Last year, the Palestine Society were suspended from university. The uni have banned pay day loan adverts, initiations, and the Daily Mail, the Sun and Daily Express from being sold campus, arguing that they did not want the Union to profit from hate.

Reading

Reading have banned initiations so not to promote excess drinking. They have a no platform policy, and will prevent any speakers that do not abide to their equal opportunities and diversity policies.

Royal Holloway

Royal Hollowayprohibits any activity that encourages binge-drinking, such as pub crawls or initiations. Any person with facist views or affiliation will be no platformed from speaking or distributing recordings or materials that incite hatred. They have a zero tolerance to sexual harassment policy, which includes unwanted sexual comments (including comments about your body or private life) unwelcome sexual invitations, innuendoes, and offensive gestures.

Sheffield

Sheffield condemnsexual harassment the same as Royal Holloway, as well as banning any songs that trivialise rape culture. Theyve also banned speakers, such as Julie Bindel, banned publications like the Sun, and proposed to ban classist chants from Varsity matches such as stand up if you know your Dad.

Strathclyde

The university has a policy to no platform anti-choice groups, saying, anti-choice groups should not be affiliated to, funded or promoted by the University of Strathclyde Students Association as they go against their equal opportunities policy.

Sussex

Sussex have a no platform policy against racist, facist, sexist and homophobic speakers. They further endorsed the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel, therefore no commercial goods and investments from Israel.

UCL

The university have a strict trans policy, whereby gossiping about a trans person; ignoring an individual; passing judgement about how convincing a trans person is in their acquired gender; refusing to address the person in their acquired gender or new name can lead to disciplinary action.

Facist and racist groups or persons are banned from speaking, including British National Party and English Defence League. Last year, the union banned an ex student who joined the Kurdish group YPG from speaking.

UEA UEA Union have banned students from wearing sombreros for fancy dress, calling it cultural appropriation. The Sun has also been banned from being sold in the Union shops. Adverts that has slut shaming, body shaming or that which reinforced a gender binary are all banned on campus.

UWE

Freshers have to attend a mandatory consent class during Freshers Week as part of the universitys aim to tackle sexual harassment. The university also conduct a safe space policy, where any racist, transphobic, homophobic, sexist, or offensive language against any student isnt condoned.

Warwick

Warwick have a strict trans policy, whereby students are told do not add an unnecessary -ed to the term (transgendered), which connotes a condition of some kind. Never use the term transvestite to describe a transgender person A person who identifies as a certain gender should be referred to using pronouns consistent with that gender.

Songs or acts that are considered racist, sexist, ableist, homophobic and transphobic are banned from the SU.

Aberdeen, Cambridge, Exeter, Glasgow, Kent, Liverpool, Trent, Brookes, Queens Belfast, Southampton, St. Andrews, UCLan, York

Loughbourgh

@wooodham

Continue reading here:

These universities have been ranked worst for freedom of speech - The Tab

Transhumanist politician wants to run for governor of California – Engadget

Posted on February 13, 2017 by Danzig

"We need leadership that is willing to use radical science, technology, and innovationwhat California is famous for--to benefit us all," he wrote in a Newsweek article. "We need someone with the nerve to risk the tremendous possibilities to save the environment through bioengineering, to end cancer by seeking a vaccine or a gene-editing solution for it, to embrace startups that will take California from the world's 7th largest economy to maybe even the largest economy--bigger than the rest of America altogether."

When we spoke to him in November, Istvan made it clear that he would be looking at the Libertarian Party if he were to run for president again. Not only does he identify as libertarian, he also saw the benefit of working with a more established political party, instead of starting one from the ground up.

"The most important thing I learned from my presidential campaign is that this is a team sport," Istvan said in an email. "Without the proper managers, volunteers, spokespeople, and supporters, it's really impossible to make a dent in an election. That's part of the reason I joined the Libertarian Party for my governor run. They have tens of thousands of active supporters in California alone, so my election begins with real resources and infrastructure to draw upon. That's a large difference from my Presidential campaign, where we essentially were shoe-stringing it the whole time."

While Istvan says he considered running for local positions around the Bay Area, he described the competition as "fierce." He believes there's a better shot at snagging Republican and disgruntled Democrat votes by running against California Governor Gavin Newsom, who's already declared that he's running in the next gubernatorial election.

Istvan also sees the need for a pro-science and technology candidate today, especially given the Trump campaign's disdain for science. "This idea that we should drop environmental science, or be cautious on genetic engineering, or focus on the revitalization of nuclear weaponry is something I disagree with," he said. "I believe we should bet the farm on various radical technologies: artificial intelligence, gene therapies, 3D printed organs, driverless cars, drones, robots, stem cell tech, exoskeleton tech, virtual reality, brain wave neural prosthetics, to name a few. This is the way to grow an economy--with much creative innovation, what California is famous for."

Of course, just because Istvan wants to run doesn't mean he'll actually score the Libertarian Party nomination. His announcement, at this point, is basically just a statement of intent.

See more here:

Transhumanist politician wants to run for governor of California - Engadget

Stunning Transhumanism Dominates New ‘Ghost in the Shell’ Trailer – Inverse

Posted on February 13, 2017 by Danzig

Though Blade Runner is coming back this fall, Ghost in the Shell will give it a run for its cyberpunk money. As the Major (Scarlett Johansson) regains her quasi-human memories, her story doesnt just dabble in cyberpunk, it revels in it.

The arresting new trailer for Ghost in the Shell makes previous cyborg or transhumanist cyberpunk movies like The Matrix seem quaint. Literally everyone in in this trailer sports some kind of biohacking or cyborg accoutrements. But Scarlett Johanssons the Major mashes up visual cyberpunk cues with a convincing and totally immersive aesthetic. Its not just that the new Ghost in the Shell trailer looks cool; its that it looks believable.

Giving audiences the most extensive visual details yet, the trailer also introduces what will probably be the films primary baddie: the mysterious Kuze. In the narrative of previous iterations of Ghost in the Shell (a manga and an anime movie), the Majors human consciousness is put inside of robot body, making her a spiritual cyborg. In the new film, Kuze is seemingly at the center of the conspiracy surrounding her complex origin.

Ghost in the Shell opens on March 31.

Photos via Paramount/Dreamworks

View original post here:

Stunning Transhumanism Dominates New 'Ghost in the Shell' Trailer - Inverse

The Brilliant Stars of Sagittarius Glitter for Hubble Telescope – Space.com

Posted on February 13, 2017 by Danzig

Part of the constellation of Sagittarius, known as The Archer, was imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope's Advanced Camera in fantastic details. Stars across the photo twinkle with reds, blues, silvers and golds.

Thousands of stars and galaxies set a phenomenal backdrop in thisHubble Space Telescope image that includes a section of the constellation of Sagittarius.

"The region is rendered in exquisite detail deep red and bright blue stars are scattered across the frame, set against a background of thousands of more distant stars and galaxies," NASA officials wrote in an image description. "Two features are particularly striking: the colors of the stars, and the dramatic crosses that burst from the centers of the brightest bodies."NASA released the image on Jan. 19.

Scientists used Hubble's Advanced Cameras for Surveys to capture the stars of Sagittarius, a constellation that is also known as The Archer. The fascinating crosses seen in the brighter stars are known as diffraction spikes. [See more amazing space photos by Hubble]

"The crosses are nothing to do with the stars themselves, and, because Hubble orbits above Earth's atmosphere, nor are they due to any kind of atmospheric disturbance," NASA officials wrote in the description, adding that the crosses are caused by part of Hubble itself. "Like all big modern telescopes, Hubble uses mirrors to capture light and form images. Its secondary mirror is supported by struts, called telescope spiders, arranged in a cross formation, and they diffract the incoming light."

The Hubble Space Telescope is a joint venture between NASA and ESA (European Space Agency).The telescope launched on April 24, 1990. After four servicing missions, the craft has worked for more than 25 years snapping images of the Universe for astronomers and scientists to study. Hubble has traveled more than of 3 billion (with a 'B') miles while orbiting Earth and has made more than 1.3 million observations.

Here is the original post:

The Brilliant Stars of Sagittarius Glitter for Hubble Telescope - Space.com

Norway: NATO of the North – Huffington Post

Posted on February 13, 2017 by Danzig

We live in times of turmoil and instability. All corners of the world are affected. Located far north, with a population of 5 million people, Norway is contributing along many lines of efforts to foster security and stability in our region, but also in other corners of the world. At the core of this engagement lies decades of strong transatlantic relations.

This week, Norway's Minister of Defense Sreide will meet with her counterparts, including newly appointed US Secretary of Defense Mattis, at the NATO Defense Ministers' meeting in Brussels to discuss today's security challenges and the way forward. At the same time, G20 Foreign Ministers will be meeting in Hamburg, where Foreign Minister Brende will represent Norway. Then, hundreds of decision-makers from heads of states, including Prime Minister Solberg, foreign and defense ministers, academics and experts will convene at the Munich Security Conference to debate critical security challenges, including the rise of illiberalism globally.

Strong transatlantic relations and global peace and security are top priorities for Norway. Because of this, Norway will be represented in full force at the aforementioned conferences.

Promoting stability requires a broad set of measures, including targeting economic and social development, providing assistance to forge good governance and facilitating political dialog. And in some cases, it may also require military contributions.

Some military contingents are deployed as part of our strong commitment to NATO and the transatlantic relationship, a cornerstone for Norway's security. Others operate within the framework of the United Nations or in cooperation with the European Union. Norway has stood alongside the US and NATO in numerous international operations. We have contributed to operations in Lebanon, in the Balkans, in Mali, in Afghanistan, Libya, Iraq and Syria, to mention a few. Since the Second World War, more than 100,000 Norwegian soldiers have participated in more than 100 international operations all over the world.

Norway is still actively contributing to support the Afghan government's efforts to stabilize the country and to counter terrorism by providing Special Forces to Kabul with a focus on capacity building. Since 2007, Norway has established, advised and supported a national Afghan Counter-Terrorism Police Unit. Every day they target terrorist networks, prevent attacks and respond to attacks against civilian and government targets. During my tenure as ambassador to Afghanistan, I witnessed firsthand the success of this cooperation. I visited several bases and spoke with the soldiers about their experiences. I also met with the "Afghan Crisis Response Unit" that, for the first time ever, included Afghan women training and participating within the Special Forces. This was a groundbreaking development, very important with regard to the future success of the country.

We also take part in US-led counter -ISIL coalition operations in Iraq and Syria. The coalition campaigns against ISIL are yielding considerable results. ISIL and its so-called Caliphate are rapidly losing territory.

As part of this campaign, Norway deployed a contingent of Special Forces to Jordan, in order to train, advise and assist local Syrian Sunni Arab forces to regain territory currently occupied by ISIL in southeastern Syria. Norway has also provided a military contingent operating out of Erbil (Iraq), training Kurdish Peshmerga forces.

The Norwegian government is considering future contributions to ongoing operations, as well as assisting NATO's mission in Iraq. As new challenges appear, we stand ready to join our NATO allies in sharing the burden and participating in joint efforts.

The offensive operations against the strongholds of Mosul and Raqqa are challenging and will take time, but we will succeed. To ensure lasting stability in Iraq and Syria, inclusive political processes are necessary.

Unfortunately, failed states and poorly governed areas along NATO's southern flank remain a major security challenge both to Europe and to the US. As a contribution to address these challenges, Norway provided a tactical airlift detachment to the UN Operation in Mali (MINUSMA) throughout 2016. Moreover, Norway also provides personnel to MINUSMA and UN's first modern Intelligence Unit. The establishment of this unit has been a significant success.

As a member of NATO, Norway takes its commitment to its allies seriously. We also take our commitment to security and defense seriously. As part of the Alliance's enhanced Forward Presence, Norway will, in May, deploy a mechanized company to Lithuania, as part of the German-led allied battalion. Norway is also providing a small force contribution to NATO's British-led Very High Readiness Task Force for 2017. We currently also sustain a limited participation in several other operations, including the UN Mission in South-Sudan, NATO's operation in Kosovo and the NATO HQ in Sarajevo.

Throughout Europe, Norway assists to ensure day-to-day situational awareness and to rescue operations. We contribute on a regular basis to NATO's Standing Maritime Forces (SNMG and SNMCMG) by providing the command ship and the commander to SNMG that consists of frigates and destroyers. Every six months we join NATO's Mine Counter Measures Group to conduct minesweeping and clearance in Northern European waters. Moreover, in response to the increasingly challenging influx of migrants from the Middle East, North Africa and parts of Asia, we are participating in the EU-led maritime operation in the Mediterranean, which patrols the southern perimeter of the EU's border.

Our Armed Forces maintain a high, but often overlooked level of peacetime activity at home that, in its own way, is an important contribution to transatlantic security. 24/7/365 the Norwegian Navy, Coast Guard and Air Force patrol vast Arctic Ocean areas over which we have jurisdiction. In total, these maritime areas are equivalent in size to 90% of the Mediterranean. Norwegian fighter jets are on 15 minutes Quick Reaction Alert on behalf of NATO. Our military border guard patrols and monitors the border with Russia. We maintain a robust posture in our neighborhood, which is important for stability in this area. We are NATO in the north.

Norway's continued commitment to peace and security will remain one of our top political priorities. As international developments evolve and unfold, I hope that by sharing this information I'm also offering a better understanding of my country's military contributions around the world in order to maintain peace and security.

Read the rest here:

Norway: NATO of the North - Huffington Post

With allies seeking reassurance, Mattis heads to NATO – DefenseNews.com

Posted on February 13, 2017 by Danzig

WASHINGTON Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis will travel to NATO headquarters for the first time next week, a visit that will be closely monitored by allied nations concerned over President Trumps commitment to the trans-Atlantic strategic partnership.

Mattis will leave DC on Feb. 14 for Brussels, where he will attend his first NATO ministerial. He will also host a meeting of the defense ministers involved in the counter-ISIS coalition before traveling to the Munich Security Conference Feb. 17, the Pentagon announced Friday.

Pentagon spokesman Capt. Jeff Davis could not confirm if Mattis would have one-on-one meetings with all of the international counterparts, in part because the secretarys schedule was still in flux. But Mattis will undoubtedly prove a popular attraction for NATO countries seeking reassurance that the U.S. is not going to abandon them in the future.

The relationship between NATO and the new U.S. president has been tense ever since then-candidate Trump hinted in a July interview that his support for NATO nations would be conditional based on whether those countries had fulfilled their obligations to us.

While Trump has since downplayed those comments, the allied nations remain nervous, especially in light of a detente between the Trump administration and Russia.

Since his nomination was first made official, members of Congress and defense experts have made no secret that they view Mattis as a check on Trumps national security plan. Comments such as those of Senate Armed Services Committee ranking member Jack Reed, D-R.I., who cited Thomas Jefferson in saying Mattis would be the saucer that cools the coffee, were scattered throughout Mattis congressional testimony and Mattis himself did not push back against them.

But how much Mattis can do to push back against Trump, or even if it is his job to do so, is up for debate, said Mark Cancian, a defense expert with the Center for Strategic and International Studies who had worked with Mattis previously.

Its not the role of any Cabinet secretary to manage the president. The president is in charge, everyone else is expendable, except arguably the first lady. So ultimately, Trump will be making these decisions, Cancian said.

On the other hand, Mattis has made it clear hes willing to disagree with the president, Cancian added, citing Trumps repeated comments that he believes torture is effective but would defer to Mattis on the issue. And Trump seems to be comfortable with that. He has a Cabinet, many of whom have disagreed with his statements during their confirmation hearings, and Trump has said hes good with that.

In his first statement after becoming secretary, Mattis emphasized that recognizing that no nation is secure without friends, we will work with the State Department to strengthen our alliances.

That theme also sticks out in the public statements released by the Pentagon about Mattis first international calls. A series of readouts from his first week in office-- summary reports released by the Pentagon after major discussions between the secretary of defense and his international counterparts, in which the Pentagon puts forth the public spin it wants on discussions -- shows a clear trend in wording:

I think Mattis is signaling that alliances are still important. He has a lot of experience as a warfighter and as a combatant commander, and understands the importance of having allies and intelligence, integrating that with combat operations, Cancian said. On the other hand, thats doesnt mean the administration cant push the allies to do more, to increase their share of the burden, and there are many ways they can do that. So the two dont necessarily have to be incompatible.

Nato needs to reform into a global alliance against Islamic terrorism or become obsolete – Telegraph.co.uk

Posted on February 13, 2017 by Danzig

Second, we are clearly not in a time to expand freedom in the world a point British Prime Minister Theresa May made in Washington last week. On the contrary, we need to defend and preserve freedom in our lands.

In order to reinforce our Western world, Nato must invite to become members countries that are alike in the defense of our values and with the willingness to share the burden in this civilizational struggle. Nato should invite without delay Israel, Japan, Singapore and India to become members.

Defense expenditures should be revised and increased, but ceilings and burden sharing are not the problem. We dont expend more because current leaders do not feel compelled to do so. Furthermore, to spend more on the same will not change our ability to confront the threats and challenges we face.

There is a myriad of things that can be done to put Nato back on track. Interior ministers should join defense ministers at council level and in summits.

Thats easy. But above all, what Nato needs is a vision and an impulse to transform from the new US President and administration. Yes, MrPresident, we agree with you that Nato has become obsolete. But we believe you can make it relevant again. Your allies will follow.

Mr. Bardaji is the Executive Director of the Friends of Israel Initiative and the former National Security Adviser to the Spanish government. Colonel Kemp is a board member of the Friends of Israel Initiative and the former Commander of British Forces in Afghanistan

Originally posted here:

Nato needs to reform into a global alliance against Islamic terrorism or become obsolete - Telegraph.co.uk

Don’t Bring Montenegro into NATO – The American Conservative

Posted on February 13, 2017 by Danzig

A Gallup survey of central and eastern European attitudes toward NATO contains some interesting findings. For instance, it found that only 21% of Montenegrin respondents associate NATO with protection of their country, while 29% perceive it as a threat and 35% associate it with neither protection nor threat. There is evidently little popular enthusiasm for NATO there, and there is still quite a lot of residual hostility that dates back to the 1999 NATO bombing campaign. Last week, the main opposition party called for a referendum on joining the alliance, and suggested March 24the anniversary of the bombing campaigns startas the date. Expanding the alliance is a bad idea in any case, but if most people there dont want to join it is even harder to justify.

There are several other reasons why bringing Montenegro into the alliance makes no sense, but the apparent lack of popular support for the alliance makes it a poor candidate for membership. If almost a third of the people in Montenegro thinks of the alliance as a threat to their country, that will make it an exceptionally weak member that the alliance doesnt need and shouldnt want. The U.S. doesnt need to take on any more security commitments than it already has, and it definitely doesnt need to take on an ally when a large bloc of its citizens dont want to join.

See original here:

Don't Bring Montenegro into NATO - The American Conservative

UN: 26 People Killed in NATO & US Airstrikes, the Majority Women & Children – Democracy Now!

Posted on February 13, 2017 by Danzig

You turn to Democracy Now! for ad-free news you can trust. Maybe you come for our daily headlines. Maybe you come for in-depth stories that expose government and corporate abuses of power. Democracy Now! brings you crucial reporting from the front lines of protests around the country like the standoff at Standing Rock, as well threats to education, refugee and immigrant rights, the environment and LGBTQ equality. We produce our daily news hour at a fraction of the budget of a commercial news operationall without ads, government funding or corporate sponsorship. How is this possible? Only with your support. Democracy Now! celebrates our 21st anniversary this week, and our daily global independent news hour is more important now than ever before. Today a generous funder will triple your donation. That means when you give $7 right now, Democracy Now! will get $21that's $1 for each of our 21 years. Pretty exciting, right? So, if you've been waiting to make your contribution to Democracy Now!, today is your day.It takes just a couple of minutes to make sure that Democracy Now! is there for you and everybody else for years to come.

We rely on contributions from you, our viewers and listeners to do our work. If you visit us daily or weekly or even just once a month, now is a great time to make your monthly contribution.

Please do your part today.

Continued here:

UN: 26 People Killed in NATO & US Airstrikes, the Majority Women & Children - Democracy Now!

US military helicopters arrive in Germany amid NATO buildup in E. Europe (VIDEOS) – RT

Posted on February 13, 2017 by Danzig

Dozens of US Chinook, Apache, and Black Hawk helicopters have been unloaded in the German port city of Bremerhaven, as NATO continues boosting its combat presence in Eastern Europe to counter the perceived Russian threat.

The shipload of American military hardware included 49 helicopters and several trucks from the US 10th Combat Aviation Brigade stationed at the base in Fort Drum, New York, according to DPA news agency. Most equipment will then be transported to the NATO base in the German town of Illesheim, while other pieces of military hardware will be sent to other countries like Lithuania and Romania.

Today, we are downloading a portion of the combat aviation brigade and it will be moved to Germany and Eastern Europe and will be scattered between Latvia and Romania, while a big chunk of it will be stationed in Germany, Major General Duane Gamble, the Commander of the 21st Theater Sustainment Command, which is lead organization for the US Army Europes logistic support and other sustainment activities, told journalists.

The general added that the mission of the air grouping is to train with our NATO allies and to strengthen our alliance together. He also said that one of the key training objectives here is to continue to refine our agility in different [ways].

For 70 years, the US has been one of the cornerstones of NATO and there is no better way to train with our NATO partners than on the continent of Europe, he stressed, adding that the US troops will be deployed to four NATO countries: Belgium, Germany, Latvia, and Romania.

The deployment marks another phase of Operation Atlantic Resolve, which began in April 2014, following the Crimean referendum to split from coup-stricken Ukraine and join Russia. Atlantic Resolve is perceived by Washington as a demonstration of continued US commitment to the collective security of Europe in the view of an alleged Russian assertiveness.

US troops will be constantly stationed in the Eastern European countries on a rotational basis in this operation. It particularly involves deployment of 94 US helicopters and 2,200 US soldiers to various military facilities in Eastern Europe between February and November 2017, German media report.

In January, 2,800 pieces of US military hardware, including US Abrams tanks, Paladin artillery, and Bradley fighting vehicles, and 4,000 troops arrived in Europe as part of the operation. These forces then moved on to Poland to participate in military drills in late January, and then were deployed across seven countries, including the Baltic States, Bulgaria, Romania, and Germany. A headquarters unit is stationed in Germany.

More than 50 units of US military equipment, including four battle tanks and 15 infantry fighting vehicles, were then delivered to Estonia in early February. The personnel of the Charlie Company of the 68th Armored Regiments 1st Battalion from the US Army 4th Infantry Division arrived in the town in late January.

In July 2016, NATO members agreed to the biggest reinforcement since the Cold War, posting four multinational battalions to Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland.

Germany, Canada, and Britain are also contributing to the significant NATO buildup in Eastern Europe, and are sending battalions of up to 1,000 troops each to Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.

In late January, Germany began deploying troops to Lithuania. The German command said it was sending about 200 military vehicles and 30 tanks, including Marder armored infantry fighting vehicles and Leopard 2 battle tanks, along with 450 troops. The movement of forces will continue until late February, it added.

The move came amid joint US-Polish military drills, involving the 3,500-strong 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, from Fort Carson, Colorado near the Polish town of Zagan. The troops demonstrated resolve to deter any unlikely potential aggression from Russia.

While NATO members continue to point to the perceived Russian aggression, calling it a source of instability, Russia consistently denies the allegations. Moscow also criticizes the NATO buildup on its borders, as well as in Poland and Germany, by saying that it increases the risk of incidents and poses a threat to Russian national security.

This deployment is of course a threat for us, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Aleksey Meshkov said on February 9, adding that it is obvious that the steps by NATO gravely increase the risk of incidents [between NATO and Russian forces].

NATOs increased activities in the Black Sea also provoked angry reactions from Russia. Regarding NATOs activities here our Western colleagues prefer to deal with virtual and generally non-existent threats, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said, referring particularly to the recent Sea Shield 2017 held by Romania.

According to the Romanian Navy, about 2,800 troops from Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, Turkey, Canada, the US, and Ukraine took part in the maneuvers. The naval drills involved 16 warships and 10 warplanes. The exercises were held in the eastern part of the Black Sea, not far from Russia's borders.

Since the spring of 2014, NATO warships, including missile cruisers from the US and other allied nations, have been patrolling the Black Sea on a rotational basis, never leaving the area unattended.

Here is the original post:

US military helicopters arrive in Germany amid NATO buildup in E. Europe (VIDEOS) - RT

Russia Gathers Stakeholders, Sans US or NATO, for Afghanistan Conference – Voice of America

Posted on February 13, 2017 by Danzig

ISLAMABAD

Russia is hosting a conference in Moscow this week that will bring together Afghanistan, Pakistan, China, India and Iran to discuss a possible solution of the conflict in Afghanistan.

This meeting is part of Russia's effort at playing a more pro-active role in Afghanistan for the first time since its invasion of the country in 1979. Its efforts, however, have encountered controversies at the very outset.

The last conference Moscow hosted on Afghanistan in December included only China and Pakistan, prompting a strong protest from the Afghan government.

The one this week is more inclusive of the regional stakeholders, but excludes the United States or NATO, leading to speculation that Russia is more interested in undermining the Unites States than in solving the regional problems.

At a recent Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, chairman Senator John McCain said Russia is propping up the Taliban to undermine the U.S.

Given how troubling the situation is in Afghanistan, any efforts by any outside stakeholder to look for regional solutions to the war there should be welcomed, said Michael Kugelman, deputy Asia director at the Washington based Wilson Center. The question he asked, however, was what is Russia trying to do.

Is it genuinely trying to rally the key players to come up with an actionable plan to wind down the war? Or is it just trying to scale up its role in Afghanistan to undercut U.S. influence?

Other regional analysts, however, are looking at the development with more optimism.

This framework does include all the regional players that have a major stake in Afghanistan, according to Amina Khan of the Institute for Strategic Studies Islamabad, a Pakistani government run think tank.

Terrorism is a global phenomena but I think regional countries need to play a more pro-active role, she added.

At the last trilateral, Russias primary focus was on the presence of the Islamist militant group Islamic State in Eastern Afghanistan. Moscow does not want its influence to spread to the Muslim population in the Caucasus bordering Russia.

However, Gen. John Nicholson, the man leading the U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, told the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee recently that Russia is trying to publicly legitimize the Taliban with a false narrative that the Taliban is fighting Islamic State, not the Afghan government.

However, Russia is not the only country in the region worried about IS influence and using the Taliban as a hedge. Iran also has started supporting the Taliban to keep IS influence away from areas bordering Iran. China has had contacts with the Taliban for a while, hosting several secret meetings between the Taliban and Afghan government officials or peace envoys.

Expectations from the upcoming conference, meanwhile, are low at this stage.

The fact that three countries have been added to the list at this point for the first time means it's still going to be in the initial stages of getting to know each other, and getting to hear each others narrative and try to make sense of it. I dont see anything big coming out of this, said Omar Samad, former Afghan ambassador to the U.S.

Several similar efforts have fallen victim to the tension and mistrust between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Whether this process succeeds, will depend on whether Russia and China can persuade the two to work out their differences.

A NATO of the Mind Limits Putin’s Sphere of Influence – Bloomberg

Posted on February 13, 2017 by Danzig

The future of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization may be in question thanks to U.S. President Donald Trump's dismissal of it as "obsolete," but NATO is still useful in at least one sense. Attitudes toward it form the most obvious border between the so-called "Russian World" -- a construct used by Russia to describe its desired sphere of influence -- and that part of the post-Communist world that no longer looks to Moscow for guidance and may never do so again.

A quarter of a century after the Soviet breakup, Russia islaying claim to superpower status again, using many of thesame methodsperfected during the Cold War. In some ways, it's too late to the party. Its old empire -- both the czarist versionand the two-speed Eastern Europe built by the Communists, in which some nations were absorbed into the Soviet Union and others supported as its closest Comecon satellites -- has decomposed too much to be revived. President Vladimir Putin's Russia needed a new idea for restoring Russian power, and it appeared to find one in the "Russian World" ideaespousedby the Russian Orthodox Church.

The concept is broad and nebulous. It includes interest in the Russian language and culture, but also adherence to conservative religiousvalues and a cultural confrontation with the supposedly godless and dissolute West. In 2007, Putin set up a foundation to create Russian cultural centers overseas, similar to the U.K.'s British Council or China's Confucius Institute. The foundation, called Russky Mir, now has more than a hundred branches globally.

"The Russian world is an independent civilization that is capable of promoting certain ideals," legislator Vyacheslav Nikonov, grandson of Joseph Stalin's foreign minister Vyacheslav Molotov, wrote in acollectionof articles published by the foundation. "The Russian world shouldn't be about memories of the past, but about dreams of the future."

There is a flip side to this vision: The apprehension of countries once ensnared in Russia's orbit and now wary of being dragged back in.As the Estonian intelligence service wrote in its recently released 2016 annualreport:

Despite Vladimir Putin's declaration that the collapse of the Soviet Union was the biggest geopolitical catastrophe of the 20th century, the Kremlin's goal is not restoration of the Soviet Union. Using modern political, economic and military instruments for restoring its sphere of influence is considered a much loftier purpose.

The "Russian World," after all, is not only about soft power. It includes what is often termed "hybrid war": If a nation tries to leave its realm, Russia will fight to stop it through propaganda targeted at Russian speakers. It will also use force, as it has shown in Ukraine.

NATO, with its untested but powerful mutual security guarantee, is the only shield protecting potential "Russian World" countries from a forcible reinduction into Moscow's sphere of influence. At least for now, it limits Russian influence to soft power. So, attitudes toward the military bloc are a good gauge of a country's attractiveness to Putin's Russian World project. If NATO is popular in a nation, the Kremlin will still pull all the strings available to it,perhaps even spread some cash or attempt to influence an election -- but it won't work as hard as it will in a nation where a negative attitude toward NATO gives it a bigger opening.

Gallup has released the results of a survey on NATO, taken in Eastern European countries in 2016. Viewed from a "Russian World eligibility" point of view, it provides some predictable results and some surprising ones.

NATO vs. "Russian World"

Answers to the question "Do you associate NATO with the protection of your country, a threat to your country or neither?" (percent)

Source: Gallup

Ukraine, despite three years of war waged on its territory by Russian-backed separatist rebels and, at decisive moments, by Russian troops, still has an anti-NATO plurality. It's easy to see why Putin is unwilling to desist in Ukraine: He still hopes to win the big prize.

The Baltic states, especially Estonia and Lithuania, are not as interesting to the Kremlin. They have pro-NATO majorities; a Russian hybrid invasion would be too costly and pointless for Russia to maintain. Even in Latvia, with its large Russian minority, almost half of the population is pro-NATO, which disqualifies the small nation as a potential part of the "Russian World" for anything but cultural purposes.

It's far more productive for the Kremlin to concentrate on the more anti-NATO post-Soviet states, such as Armenia and Moldova, and on Balkan nations such as Serbia and Montenegro. No wonder Russian activity in these countries has recently been on the increase. Even NATO members Bulgaria and Greece, where significant minorities see the bloc as a threat rather than a protection, are promising arenas for Russian influence-wielding -- whereas post-Soviet Georgia, where the anti-NATO minority is tiny, is probably a lost cause.

It's possible, then, that in trying to reconstruct Putin's strategy, experts are mistaken when they concentrate on post-Soviet nations in the moribund Commonwealth of Independent States as potential targets. The Estonian intelligence report, for example, states that "Russias ambition is to strengthen its influence in the CIS area and ensure Russian-controlled integration therein via the Eurasian Union." That's probably obsolete thinking. Russia will seek to play a role everywhere people are not mentally "anti-Russian"enough to believe in NATO as a protective shield, and that includes, at least in the near term, the Balkans rather than the Baltics.

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

To contact the author of this story: Leonid Bershidsky at lbershidsky@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Mark Gilbert at magilbert@bloomberg.net

See more here:

A NATO of the Mind Limits Putin's Sphere of Influence - Bloomberg

NSA May Be Withholding Intel from President Trump – Mother Jones

Posted on February 13, 2017 by Danzig

This was the scene at Mar-a-Lago as news came in that North Korea had conducted a missile test. The public is all around. Classified documents are lying on the table. People are on the phone where anyone can overhear them. There is no operational security at all. This picture was taken by some random guest from a few feet away. Trump himself just looks bored by the whole thing. Facebook

John Schindler got a lot of attention over the weekend for his Observer article, "The Spy Revolt Against Trump Begins." Here's the bit that raised the most eyebrows:

A new report by CNN indicates that important parts of the infamous spy dossier that professed to shed light on President Trumps shady Moscow ties have been corroborated by communications intercepts....SIGINT confirms that some of the non-salacious parts of what Steele reported, in particular how senior Russian officials conspired to assist Trump in last years election, are substantially based in fact.

....Our spies have had enough of these shady Russian connectionsand they are starting to push back....In light of this, and out of worries about the White Houses ability to keep secrets, some of our spy agencies have begun withholding intelligence from the Oval Office. Why risk your most sensitive information if the president may ignore it anyway? A senior National Security Agency official explained that NSA was systematically holding back some of the good stuff from the White House, in an unprecedented move.

....Whats going on was explained lucidly by a senior Pentagon intelligence official, who stated that since January 20, weve assumed that the Kremlin has ears inside the SITROOM, meaning the White House Situation Room, the 5,500 square-foot conference room in the West Wing where the president and his top staffers get intelligence briefings. Theres not much the Russians dont know at this point, the official added in wry frustration.

"Inside" reporting about the intelligence community is notoriously unreliable, so take this with a grain of salt. Maybe it's true, maybe it's not. But just the fact that stuff like this is getting a respectful public hearing is damning all by itself. For any other recent president, a report like this would be dismissed as nonsense without a second thought. But for Trump, it seems plausible enough to take seriously. Stay tuned.

Read the original post:

NSA May Be Withholding Intel from President Trump - Mother Jones

NSA Gives Thumbs Up to Microsoft Surface Tablets – Fortune

Posted on February 13, 2017 by Danzig

An employee uses a Microsoft Corp. Surface tablet computer at the company's Office and Experience Center during a media event for the opening of the workspace in Hong Kong, China, on Friday, March 4, 2016. Bill H.C. KwokBloomberg via Getty Images

National Security Agency workers can now safely use Microsoft Surface tablets devices for data mining, intelligence gathering, or more humdrum work like checking email.

Microsofts ( msft ) Surface tablets and the tech giant's Windows 10 operating system are now officially part of the NSAs list of approved technologies that its employees can use when dealing with classified information.

It should be noted that as of now, the only Windows 10 devices that the NSA deems safe to use for its workers are the Surface tablets. The NSA has not yet approved other any other Windows 10-powered personal computers built by third-party vendors like HP Inc. ( hpq ) or Dell Technologies to its list of sanctioned devices .

Get Data Sheet , Fortunes technology newsletter.

The NSA, through its Commercial Solutions for Classified Program , routinely evaluates various corporate technologies to see if they meet the agencys tough guidelines for cyber security. Companies that want to be added to the NSAs list of approved technologies must show that they built their products to comply with various government cyber security standards and sign an agreement requiring them to fix vulnerabilities in a timely fashion, according to the NSA.

The CSfC program listing demonstrates Windows 10, as well as Surface devices (the only Windows 10 devices currently on the list), when used in a layered solution, can meet the highest security requirements for use in classified environments, wrote Rob Lefferts, a Microsoft director of program management for Windows Enterprise and Security, in a corporate blog .

For more about Microsoft, watch:

Besides Windows 10 or Surface tablets, several other Microsoft products are part of the NSAs approved list of technologies, including its Server 2016 software, the BitLocker encryption service, and older versions of Windows.

More here:

NSA Gives Thumbs Up to Microsoft Surface Tablets - Fortune

Beverly Ann Beall, NSA worker and travel agent, dies – Baltimore Sun

Posted on February 13, 2017 by Danzig

Beverly Ann Beall, a retired National Security Agency briefer and world traveler, died of cancer Jan. 14 at her Stuart, Fla., home. She was 78 and lived in Stevenson.

Born in Baltimore, she was the daughter of Mabel Councilman, a homemaker, and her husband, Avery Gordy.

She was a graduate of Southern High School and attended college courses through the federal government at the NSA.

She joined the NSA out of high school and worked there until her retirement. She then became a travel agent and worked in several agencies in the Baltimore area.

Mrs. Beall, who was known as Bebe to her family, was a member of Green Spring Valley Hunt Club, where she enjoyed golf and games of bridge. She traveled the world on cruises and hiked in jungles of Cambodia and Vietnam. She belonged to the Town and Country Garden Club and had an interest in orchids.

She took trips to Maryland and Delaware beaches, and enjoyed fishing and searching for sea glass. She also did needlepoint and played pinochle with family members, and enjoyed walking along the boardwalks.

"She was as beautiful on the inside as she was on the outside," said her niece, Carol Hearrell of Farmington Hills, Mich.

Mrs. Beall survived two husbands. Wade Allen Poole died in the early 1970s. Her second husband, Richard Olin Beall, died in 2013 after they had been married for 30 years. Mr. Beall was the son of Sen. J. Glenn Beall Sr.

Mrs. Beall had requested that no funeral be held.

In addition to her niece, she is survived by a daughter, Laura Poole Mathiesen of Annapolis; two stepdaughters, Margot Beall King of San Francisco and Charlotte Ashley Beall of Seattle; a companion, Allen Durling of Annapolis; four grandchildren; and other nieces and nephews.

Jacques Kelly

See the original post here:

Beverly Ann Beall, NSA worker and travel agent, dies - Baltimore Sun

Former NSA chief: Trump is "the president our nation needs" on cybersecurity – ZDNet

Posted on February 13, 2017 by Danzig

Retired Gen. Keith Alexander, former director of the National Security Agency (NSA) said he was left "really impressed" with President Donald Trump after the recent closed-door White House meeting on cybersecurity.

"What I saw was a president who was now very focused and asked each person questions, listened to them, weighed what they said and how they said it... took in advice, commented back," Alexander said at the RSA Conference in San Francisco. "That's the president our nation needs -- somebody who is looking how to solve cybersecurity issues... He understood they're important, that we've got to fix government, got to get government and industry to work together."

Alexander was at the helm of the NSA when former government contractor Edward Snowden leaked information about the NSA's sweeping surveillance programs. He stepped down from the post in 2014 and now serves as CEO of the company he founded, IronNet Cybersecurity.

The White House cybersecurity meeting took place on January 31, the same day Trump was expected to sign a cybersecurity executive order. The EO signing, however, was unexpectedly canceled without explanation. Several current and former government officials with a range of viewpoints on cybersecurity were present at the meeting, including former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, former Sen. Dan Coats, Trump's now-embattled national security adviser Gen. Mike Flynn and counterterrorism and homeland security adviser Tom Bossert.

Alexander told ZDNet that different points of view were expressed during the meeting, but it was "not confrontational at all."

In his remarks on stage, Alexander outlined some of the potential changes he'd like to see in federal cybersecurity policies. All agencies regardless of size should get sufficient resources to protect their digital assets, he said, pointing to the vulnerability of agencies like the Office of Management and Budget.

A review of all federal agencies, he said, suggests "we left them on their own to defend themselves as if they were individual people out there .. but they're not."

"Reading the Constitution, it says 'for the common defense,'" he continued. "It doesn't say for the defense of only those that are really big and critical -- for the rest of you, good luck."

Former NSA chief: Trump is "the president our nation needs" on cybersecurity - ZDNet

Select Page ::