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Former NSA contractor indicted in stolen data case – CNN

Posted on February 13, 2017 by Danzig

Harold Thomas Martin III, 52, faces 20 counts of willful retention of national defense information.

The indictment alleges Martin removed classified documents from 1996 to 2016. He is accused of keeping documents in his home or car.

The documents include highly classified materials from the National Security Agency, the US Cyber Command, the CIA and the National Reconnaissance Office. Among the documents are ones that reveal US military gaps, capabilities and operations, as well as ones that contained foreign intelligence collection methods, targeting information and technical user materials.

Martin's attorney had no comment when contacted by CNN.

FBI investigators haven't concluded what Martin's motivation was for stealing the documents. At a hearing in late October a public defender representing Martin said his client was a hoarder who was "completely out of control."

Before his arrest in August, Martin worked as a contractor to the National Security Agency through consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton, which fired him after he was charged. He has a long history working with sensitive government intelligence, and served in the US Navy and Naval Reserves for more than 10 years, reaching the rank of lieutenant.

The information he had digitally in his car, the feds said, was equivalent to approximately 50,000 gigabytes, enough to store 500 million documents containing images and text.

The government said Martin had a document "regarding specific operational plans against a known enemy of the United States and its allies." That document was not only classified but marked need-to-know only, and Martin should not have been privy to that information, prosecutors said in court filings.

Also found were files containing personal information of government employees, and an email chain with "highly sensitive information" on the back of which were handwritten notes "describing the NSA's classified computer infrastructure and detailed descriptions of classified technical operations."

Among the documents the FBI believes Martin stole were some detailing a hacking tool that the NSA developed to break into computer systems in other countries, law enforcement sources said when he was arrested. Documents detailing the tools were posted on the Internet in recent months, though no connection to Martin has been offered.

Martin's attorneys have argued previously in court that he is not a flight risk because he does not have his passport and has a wife and home in Maryland. They noted his military service.

Martin will make his next appearance in court on February 14.

CNN's Steve Almasy contributed to this report.

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Former NSA contractor indicted in stolen data case - CNN

Mark L. Hopkins: Why did the US Constitution need the Second Amendment? – Keyser Mineral Daily News Tribune

Posted on February 13, 2017 by Danzig

Mark L. Hopkins More Content Now

This preoccupation with the Second Amendment began a few months back when I wrote a column entitled Guns dont kill people. Really? The amount of interest in that topic directed me to do additional research on the subject and every avenue pointed back to the key question. 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. He is past president of colleges and universities in four states and currently serves as executive director of a higher-education consulting service. You will find Hopkins latest book, Journey to Gettysburg, on Amazon.com. Contact him at presnet@presnet.net.

Mark L. Hopkins: Why did the US Constitution need the Second Amendment? - Keyser Mineral Daily News Tribune

Will Sixty Senators Vote To Protect The Second Amendment? – Daily Caller

Posted on February 13, 2017 by Danzig

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With the nomination of Neil Gorsuch to replace Antonin Scalia on the Surpeme Court, Second Amendment supporters can celebrate. That would be very premature.

The battle over the confirmation of Jeff Sessions as Attorney General is going to be a cakewalk compared to the fight over Gorsuch. You have some snowflakes on the Left crying about how this Supreme Court seat was stolen from Merrick Garland (conveniently ignoring that Joe Biden threatened to do the same in 1992, and Schumer made similar comments in 2008).

What do you expect when the fight is for all the marbles? In this case, Gorsuch is a likely fifth vote to uphold the ruling made by the District Court in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands that tossed a semi-auto ban and a number of other strict gun laws. Hes the fifth vote that secures the Heller ruling that recognized the Second Amendment as an individual right and which tossed out D.C.s handgun ban. The McDonald case, which extended the prohibition on banning handguns to the states, is also secure.

When Gorsuch is confirmed and that, folks, is gonna be one hell of a fight. Senator Chuck Schumer wants 60 votes for confirmation. I dont necessarily object to that popping off the nuke option now makes it easier to replace the next openings (potentially Ginsburg and Breyer) with reliable conservatives. The good news is that Gorsuch briefly hit the 60-vote threshold until Jeanne Shaheen flip-flopped. This is why Kelly Ayotte and Mark Kirk mattered, people. Better to have started from 54 to work your way to 60, than the present 52.

In short, we need eight Democrats to cross over and vote. And while there are a lot of Senate Democrats facing re-election in states Trump won, to win their primaries, they must show fealty to the activists, donors, and Party leadership. Who do you think provides the money for the DNC efforts on behalf of Heidi Heitkamp, Jon Tester, and Joe Donnelly? The same folks who also donate to the DNC efforts for Chuck Schumer and the most anti-gun members of the House and Senate. By the way, did Heitkamp, Tester, and Donnelly back Jeff Sessions as AG? No.

The good news, if anything, is that the anti-Second Amendment forces and the rest of the Left seem to have been unable to really reach beyond their base on the issue of guns. Furthermore, outside that issue, Trump has made some serious progress (notably in bring jobs in). If that continues over the next four years, we could see significant gains in the Senate and a second Trump term.

That is a big if, though. The one thing we have seen in the first weeks is that the Left isnt just going to roll over after losing the 2016 presidential election. If anything, they intend to fight as furiously as they can to take our rights, and they are going to be persistent about it. We will need to match that persistence and fury to keep our rights.

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Will Sixty Senators Vote To Protect The Second Amendment? - Daily Caller

Oregon counties’ gun measures spark debate – KTVZ

Posted on February 13, 2017 by Danzig

Proposals involving guns are always controversial (File photo) Proposals involving guns are always controversial (File photo)

LAKEVIEW, Ore. - A measure challenging gun regulations is popping up around the state. Since 2015, four counties have passed a measure known as the Second Amendment Preservation ordinance, and commissioners in Malheur, Union and Lake counties have heard the same measure in the past few weeks.

The ordinance is a reaction to the Oregon Firearms Safety Act, passed by the state Legislature in 2015, which requires background checks for transfers of firearms between private parties. These county ordinances allow sheriffs to ignore this law - which gun advocates see as unconstitutional.

But Ceasefire Oregon Executive Director Penny Okamoto said there's a fatal flaw in the measure.

"There's an Oregon firearms pre-emption law that states that counties, municipalities, cities actually can't make certain laws regarding certain aspects of firearm sales, ownership, storage," Okamoto said. "So these ordinances or resolutions really are largely very symbolic."

The legality of this ordinance is still in question.

Rob Taylor of Coos County is one of the chief petitioners for the Second Amendment Preservation ordinance. He said he wants Oregon to have what he called "sanctuary counties" for the Second Amendment.

"The same way Oregon has become a sanctuary state for immigration," he said.

While Okamoto and Taylor disagree over the measure, they both point to poor mental health services for Oregonians and the importance of addressing those shortfalls to prevent violence.

Taylor said Gov. Kate Brown's proposal to shut down a mental health hospital in Junction City could hurt the people it serves.

"It doesn't matter whether they get a gun or a car or a bomb. If they have those thoughts, they're going to act upon it," he said. "And so the best thing to do is to have places like mental hospitals so we can have people go and get those problems healed or cured."

Okamoto said one of the biggest concerns related to gun violence is suicide, which accounts for most of the violent deaths from guns.

"You can pass all these ordinances you want, but that's not really taking a look at the fact that a lot of people in these rural counties are using their guns to kill themselves," she said. "And that's an issue that really needs to be addressed."

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Oregon counties' gun measures spark debate - KTVZ

Iowa State violated First Amendment by barring pro-marijuana student group from printing T-shirts with ISU logo … – Washington Post

Posted on February 13, 2017 by Danzig

From todays 8th Circuit decision in Gerlich v. Leath:

Iowa State University (ISU) grants student organizations permission to use its trademarks if certain conditions are met. The ISU student chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML ISU) had several of its trademark licensing requests denied because its designs included a cannabis leaf.

ISU [has] approximately 800 officially recognized student organizations. Student groups often create merchandise that contains the groups name and ISU insignia to generate awareness about the groups cause or attract members. Student groups may use ISUs trademarks on merchandise if ISUs Trademark Licensing Office (Trademark Office) determines that the use complies with ISUs Guidelines for University Trademark Use by Student and Campus Organizations (Trademark Guidelines). ISUs trademarks include word marks like ISU and Iowa State, as well as logos, such as the schools mascot (Cy the Cardinal).

NORML ISU at first got permission from the Trademark Office to use a T-shirt that had NORML ISU on the front with the O represented by Cy the Cardinal, with Freedom is NORML at ISU and a cannabis leaf depicted on the back. But after a Des Moines Register article mentioned the T-shirt, a state legislator and someone at the Governors Office of Drug Control Policy heard about this and objected, and the University barred NORML ISU from printing further T-shirts with the design. After that, the Universitys Trademark Guidelines were changed to ban designs that suggest promotion of the below listed items dangerous, illegal or unhealthy products, actions or behaviors; [or] drugs and drug paraphernalia that are illegal or unhealthful.

The 8th Circuit held that the universitys rejection of NORML ISUs designs was unconstitutional:

If a state university creates a limited public forum for speech, it may not discriminate against speech on the basis of its viewpoint. [Rosenberger v. Rector (1995).] A university establish[es] limited public forums by opening property limited to use by certain groups or dedicated solely to the discussion of certain subjects. A universitys student activity fund is an example of a limited public forum. ISU created a limited public forum when it made its trademarks available for student organizations to use if they abided by certain conditions.

The defendants rejection of NORML ISUs designs discriminated against that group on the basis of the groups viewpoint. The state engages in viewpoint discrimination when the rationale for its regulation of speech is the specific motivating ideology or the opinion or perspective of the speaker. The defendants discriminatory motive is evidenced by the unique scrutiny defendants imposed on NORML ISU after the [controversy arose].

Defendants argue that the political pushback that they received regarding T- Shirt Design #1 did not play a role in their decision making. This argument ignores significant evidence to the contrary. For example, [ISU President Steven] Leath testified that anytime someone from the governors staff calls complaining, yeah, Im going to pay attention, absolutely. Leath also testified that the reason the Trademark Policy was on the presidents cabinet meeting agenda which took place five days after the Des Moines Register article was published was because we were getting pushback. Leath went on to testify that [i]f nobodyd ever said anything, we didnt know about it, it didnt appear in The Register, wed probably never raised the issue.

The record is also replete with statements from defendants regarding their political motives. Leath explained at his deposition that because T-Shirt Design #1 had some political public relations implications, someone should have run it up the chain because there are some issues that are clearly going to cause controversy and its better to manage them on the front end. He also testified that in a state as conservative as Iowa on many issues, it was going to be a problem. [Senior VP for Student Affairs Thomas] Hill stated in an interview with the Ames Tribune that the reason student groups associated with political parties could use ISUs logos, but groups like NORML ISU may not, is because [w]e encourage students to be involved in their duties as a citizen. Such a statement implies that Hill believed that the members of NORML ISU were not undertaking their duties as citizens by advocating for a change in the law.

[ISU Trademark Office Director Leesha] Zimmerman stated in an email to NORML ISUs faculty advisor in May 2013 that the groups design that included the statement Legalize Marijuana was rejected because Legalize Marijuana is a call to action but it does not suggest any specific way your organization is making that happen. Zimmerman went on to say that the groups design applications appear to have a certain shock or attention grabbing sensationalism. Zimmerman further stated that her interpretation is that these do not further your cause as an advocate for change in the laws or trying to change the publics perception of marijuana. There is no evidence in the record of Zimmerman offering advocacy advice to any other student group.

The university also argued that, even if it did engage in viewpoint discrimination, this was permissible because the administration of the trademark licensing regime should be considered government speech. But the court disagreed:

When the government speaks, it is not barred by the Free Speech Clause from determining the content of what it says. Walker v. Tex. Div., Sons of Confederate Veterans, Inc. (2015).

The government speech doctrine does not apply if a government entity has created a limited public forum for speech. As noted above, ISU created a limited public forum when it made its trademarks available for student organizations to use if they abided by certain conditions. The administration of its trademark licensing regime therefore did not constitute government speech.

Even if the trademark licensing regime here did not amount to a limited public forum, however, the government speech doctrine still does not apply on this record. The Walker decision considered three factors when determining whether certain speech is government speech. First, it determined whether the government has long used the particular medium at issue to speak. Second, it analyzed whether the medium is often closely identified in the public mind with the state. Third, it determined whether the state maintains direct control over the messages conveyed through the medium.

The first two factors do not apply to the speech at issue in this case. ISU allows approximately 800 student organizations to use its trademarks. Defendants repeatedly stated in their testimony and other record evidence that the university did not intend to communicate any message to the public by licensing ISU trademarks to student groups. Indeed, the university licenses its trademarks to groups that have opposite viewpoints from one another like the Iowa State Democrats and the ISU College Republicans. Even if ISUs trademark licensing regime were to satisfy the final factor, the factors taken together would not support the conclusion that the speech at issue in this case is government speech because ISU does not use its trademark licensing regime to speak to the public.

My students Ian Daily, Eric Sefton and Sydney Sherman and I filed an amicus brief on behalf of the Student Press Law Center arguing in favor of this result.

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Iowa State violated First Amendment by barring pro-marijuana student group from printing T-shirts with ISU logo ... - Washington Post

Advice on cryptocurrency during divorce – Tropic Now – TropicNow

Posted on February 13, 2017 by Danzig

Cryptocurrencies are quickly becoming a weapon for many divorcees, according to Financial Times contributor Jane Croft.

The relative anonymity of these currencies provides divorcing parties with a clever way to hide assets allowing them to avoid full disclosure of their monetary property. What should you keep in mind about these currencies when heading into divorce conversations?

Remember to specifically ask about cryptocurrencies Knowing that cryptocurrencies can play a part in your divorce settlement is half the battle. Make sure to ask about them specifically from the onset.

Try to trace the money The fact is, divorcees with money in cryptocurrencies will not always be upfront with these assets.

When possible, try to track the money trail. While the movements of actual cryptocurrencies aren't easily traceable, the conversion of regular assets into these online assets will leave clues try to pinpoint them as proof.

Enlist the help of professionals Dealing with the legalities of these currencies is complex at best. You should enlist the help of experienced lawyers to ensure you are dealing with the existence of online assets as effectively as possible.

Bitcoins: What and how?

So what even is cryptocurrency? The most common version comes in the form of Bitcoins. According to the Oxford Dictionary, Bitcoin is:

"A type of digital currency in which encryption techniques are used to regulate the generation of units of currency and verify the transfer of funds, operating independently of a central bank."

Dealing with online currencies and the division of assets in a divorce settlement is a process that should involve the help of experts.

Here at WGC we have a team of lawyers that can help you navigate these murky waters to ensure you are getting your fair share during your divorce settlement cryptocurrencies or not.

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Advice on cryptocurrency during divorce - Tropic Now - TropicNow

Bitcoin investors bet the SEC will approve cryptocurrency ETF a view at odds with analysts – MarketWatch

Posted on February 13, 2017 by Danzig

Despite skepticism from prominent lawyers and Wall Street analysts, bitcoin investors are increasingly confident the Securities and Exchange Commission will approve at least one of the three proposed bitcoin-focused exchange-traded funds currently under consideration.

Pricing in futures contracts traded on BitMEX, a popular exchange that is incorporated in the Republic of Seychelles, as well as the rapidly declining premium for shares of the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust traded on the secondary market suggest that some market participants are bracing for approval, said Spencer Bogart, an analyst at Needham & Co. Bogart is one of the few Wall Street analysts who cover Bitcoin.

The trusts premium over bitcoins net asset value has shrunk from about 42.21% in early January to about 13% in recent trade, according to data provided by Grayscale.

The shrinking premium suggests investors are less willing to pay for shares of the trust because they expect one of the ETFs to be approved in the near future, Bogart said. Shares of a bitcoin ETF would likely trade much closer to the cryptocurrencys net asset value, bitcoin watchers said.

The trading activity is at odds with the likelihood of approval tabulated by Bogart, who places it at less than 25%. Last month, a former lawyer for Gemini Trading, the bitcoin exchange operated by Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, said he believed the SEC wouldn't approve the creation of a bitcoin exchange-traded fund. The SEC has said it would issue a ruling on the Winklevosss proposed bitcoin ETF, known as the Winklevoss Bitcoin Trust, by March 11.

Read: Final rule on proposed bitcoin ETF to come in March

Read: And 2016s best-performing commodity is ... bitcoin?

Plus: Bitcoin price falls as Chinese authorities meet with exchanges

BitMEX recently launched a futures contract that allows investors to bet on the odds that the Winklevoss ETF will be approved. It is presently trading around 33.3, indicating that the thinly traded market is pricing in about a 33% chance of approval, which is higher than what Bogart expects. BitMEX couldn't be reached for immediate comment.

A few weeks ago, Grayscale, which launched the Bitcoin Investment Trust in 2013, filed for an initial public offering that would allow its trust to trade as an ETF on the New York Stock Exchange. The Grayscale bitcoin trust is presently one of the few registered investment vehicles available to financial institutions. A company known as SolidX has also filed for a bitcoin ETF.

Bogart believes that if an ETF is approved, more than $300 million of new institutional capital would flood the bitcoin ecosystem during the first week alone. Such an influx would likely cause the price of a single coin to skyrocket. Typically, trading volume in the global bitcoin market measures less than $100 million a day.

Read: Path to Bitcoin ETF still uncertain but may be easier under Trump

Dont miss: Bitcoin could soar if the Winklevoss ETF is approved

Chris Burniske, blockchain products lead at ARK Invest, believes that the decline in the Grayscale bitcoin trusts premium may suggest that investors are taking a wait-and-see approach ahead of the SECs decision. ARK holds shares in the trust.

The Grayscale trust, which is a taxable registered security, may appeal to institutions as well as individuals who want to add bitcoin to their retirement accounts, Burniske said. The fund was first launched in 2013. Only accredited investors can invest directly in the trust; for others, shares are traded on the secondary market. The trusts market capitalization was $205.6 million as of last week, according to company data.

Grayscale, which filed for the funds IPO on Jan. 20, declined to comment further, citing restrictions imposed by federal securities laws.

The price of a single bitcoin US:BTCUSD fell 1% on Monday to $991, in January it briefly traded at $1,100its highest level in more than three years. By comparison, one share of the Grayscale trust GBTC, +0.05% , meanwhile, traded at $105.50.

US trial set over bitcoin exchange linked to JPMorgan hack probe – Reuters

Posted on February 13, 2017 by Danzig

By Nate Raymond | NEW YORK

NEW YORK A Florida software engineer and a New Jersey pastor are expected on Monday to face trial in a case stemming from an investigation into a bitcoin exchange and a data breach at JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N).

Jury selection is set to begin in Manhattan federal court in the case of Yuri Lebedev, who authorities call the architect of bitcoin exchange Coin.mx's electronic platform, and Trevon Gross, a pastor and ex-chairman of a now-defunct credit union.

Prosecutors contend Lebedev schemed to deceive financial institutions into processing transactions for the unlicensed Coin.mx. They say he also participated in bribing Gross to gain control over the credit union to facilitate the virtual currency business.

Both men have pleaded not guilty. Eric Creizman, Lebedev's lawyer, said he was "looking forward to his day in court." Gross' attorneys did not respond to requests for comment.

They are among nine people who have faced charges following an investigation connected to a breach JPMorgan disclosed in 2014 that exposed more than 83 million accounts.

Gross, 52, and Lebedev, 39, were not accused of hacking.

But they came under scrutiny in connection with Coin.mx, which authorities said was operated by Anthony Murgio, who attended Florida State University with Lebedev, and was owned by an Israeli behind the JPMorgan breach, Gery Shalon.

Prosecutors say Shalon, together with Maryland-born Joshua Samuel Aaron, orchestrated cyber attacks that resulted in the theft of over 100 million peoples' information.

Prosecutors said they carried out the cyber crimes to further other schemes with another Israeli, Ziv Orenstein, including pumping up stock prices with promotional emails. Shalon, Aaron and Orenstein have pleaded not guilty.

Prosecutors said Coin.mx operated through a front called "Collectables Club" to trick financial institutions into believing it was a memorabilia club while it converted, with no license, millions of dollars into bitcoin.

To further evade scrutiny, in 2014, Murgio, with Lebedev's help, tried to take over Helping Other People Excel Federal Credit Union of Jackson, New Jersey, which was linked to HOPE Cathedral.

To do so, they and others paid $150,000 in bribes via the church to Gross, its pastor, in exchange for facilitating Murgio's takeover and arranging for Lebedev and others to be put on the credit union's board, prosecutors said.

Gross' lawyers deny he was lining his pockets with what they call a church donation and say Collectables Club victimized the board.

Federal regulators took the credit union into conservatorship in 2015. Murgio pleaded guilty in January.

(Reporting by Nate Raymond in New York; Editing by Tom Brown)

NEW YORK The American Bankers Association, a trade group for U.S. banks, has endorsed Chicago-based startup Akouba as a technology provider to enable its members offer small business lending online.

ROME Facebook must do much more to stamp out hate speech on its site, the president of Italy's lower house of parliament said, warning that rising abuse on various social media was being fueled by fake news.

Trump-branded consumer products have suffered new blows, with U.S. retailers Sears Holdings Corp and Kmart Corp discontinuing online sales of 31 Trump Home items, while new details emerged showing sales of Ivanka Trump's brand fell in the weeks before Nordstrom Inc stopped carrying her products.

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US trial set over bitcoin exchange linked to JPMorgan hack probe - Reuters

AI and Bitcoin Are Driving the Next Big Hedge Fund Wave – WIRED

Posted on February 13, 2017 by Danzig

Slide: 1 / of 1. Caption: Twelveofour

Jeffrey Tarrant is a Wall Street guy. He spent the last thirty years investing in new hedge funds. As the founder and CEO of a firm called Protege Partners, he compares himself to Sam Altman, the president of Y Combinator. What Altman does for Silicon Valley tech startups, Tarrant does for hedge funds. I help seed them and incubate them, he says.

The analogy has never been more true than right now. Tarrant is beginning to explore hedge funds built on ideas that have sparked so many companies and created so much wealth in Silicon Valleyideas that span artificial intelligence, crowdsourcing, and digital currencies. He believes the hedge fund world is on the verge of a new revolution, a revolution he calls the Third Wave.

Hedge funds are moving beyond the quants.

The 1970s saw the rise of discretionary funds, where iconic investors like George Soros used their very human judgments to find new opportunities in the market. Then came the quants at funds like Renaissance Technologies, who found even greater opportunities through statistics and computer algorithms. Now, Tarrant says hedge funds are moving beyond the quants.

As a prime example, he cites Numerai, a San Francisco hedge fund that makes trades using machine learning models built by thousands of anonymous data scientists paid in bitcoin. Funds such as Quantopian and Quantiacs are tapping the wisdom of the masses in other ways. And then theres Polychain, a fund that invests exclusively in bitcoin and other digital tokens housed on a blockchain, the distributed online ledger that makes cryptocurrencies possible. As its name suggests, Polychain isnt just investing in digital coinsits investing in a radically new breed of businesses owned, funded, and operated entirely by decentralized networks of anonymous online investors.

Such funds arent always easy to wrap your head around. But as Wall Street tries to make sense of them, these new tech-driven approaches to investing are proliferating. In the late `90s, Tarrant helped build an online directory of hedge funds called AltVest. Now, hes building a directory for this new wave of funds. It includes roughly fifty players, many of whom have yet to publicly announce themselvesthough Tarrant admits that only about half have demonstrated real promise so far.

Not surprisingly, some financial vets question how effective Tarrants new wave will be. In a recent Bloomberg story, several fund managers said that recent enthusiasm for machine learning is overblown. In some cases, even the founders of these Third Wave funds urge caution.

Regardless of what method you use in quantitative financebe it machine learning or traditional quant methodsthere are an infinite number of ways to fail, says Martin Froehler, a former quant with Superfund Asset Management GmbH in Switzerland who went on to found Quantiacs. Machine learning models are no superweapon, he says. In his experience, ninety percent of live machine learning tests fail.

But Froehlers fund benefits from machine learning, too. Based in Silicon Valley, Quantiacs attempts to crowdsource the quant model, and many of the quants feeding the fund are using machine learning technologies. Among other things, theyre making use of deep neural networks, complex mathematical systems for recognizing patterns in vast amounts of data. In other words, the Third Wave is not just about using one new technique. Its about combining techniques, from machine learning to crowdsourcing to the blockchain.

Nor is this just a battle of the old guard and the new. The founder of Renaissance has invested in Numerai, and Point72 Asset Management, the fund founded by billionaire Stephen Cohen, has put money into Quantopian. These people who I considered old school really understood what I was getting at, says Numerai founder Richard Craib. And I thought I was going to be ahead of my time.

Even the apparent skeptics are embracing the trend. Im concerned that people may have unrealistic expectations of what is possible with the current state of the art, David Siegel, co-founder of storied quant fund Two Sigma Investments, said last fall. But more recently, his fund ran an online contest through Silicon Valley data scientist marketplace Kaggle, offering a $100,000 prize for the best machine learning model. One company director indicated the contest was more of a recruitment tool than a full embrace of crowdsourcing or machine learning. But whatever the intention, it was yet another example of Silicon Valley and Wall Street drawing closer than ever before.

AI and Bitcoin Are Driving the Next Big Hedge Fund Wave - WIRED

Will Bitcoin’s Reputation Suffer due to Online Gambling? – The Merkle

Posted on February 13, 2017 by Danzig

The gambling industry is actually one of the main facilitators of bitcoins growth. Traditionally, people have been looking down at online gambling and such a situation certainly leaves many bitcoin enthusiasts quite perplexed.This article will cover some advantages and disadvantages of Bitcoin gambling.

When the whole hype about bitcoin got started, most of the early adopters were the true believers of the digital currency. Others were the investors and the speculators that decided to make profits. Bitcoin, and the whole blockchain technology, have been disrupting not only the global monetary system, but also quite a few other industries. When banks started looking into the blockchain, most of the bitcoin enthusiasts were happy, and once the insurance sector started adopting the blockchain technology, it meant an even greater future for cryptocurrencies.

Whether you are pro or against online gambling, one fact is for certain the industry brings lots of money and it is here to stay. As reported by Norskecasino.casino, currently the growth of the bitcoin casinos is tremendous, their gaming volumes seem to triple, or even quadruple, on the year-to-year basis. Apart from attracting bitcoin users, such casinos are actually making regular online casino players adopt to using bitcoin.

Hence, we can clearly see that even though the activity does not provide advantages to humanity, it does motivate people to adopt bitcoin, in one way or another. Furthermore, as this industry is quite profitable, it is expected that some of the profits will be shared with other bitcoin-related sites and services: miners, exchanges, bitcoin media sites and so on. Hence, a share of the money from bitcoin gambling is partially used to promote the idea of the bitcoin.

Perhaps, the most obvious disadvantage is the reputation of the cryptocurrency. Everyone remembers the times when BTCs were mostly used to buy illegal items on the Silk Road. This drove many individuals and organizations to think that bitcoin is something dangerous rather than useful. If bitcoin gambling overtakes regular online casinos, it is probable that all of the evils of gambling will be blamed on bitcoin.

Apart from the impact on reputation, an obvious disadvantage here is that almost every casino operator is not a bitcoin supporter. Hence, the BTC earnings are very likely to be exchanged for fiat currencies.

Bitcoin gambling certainly comes with quite a few disadvantages, but the recent regulatory changes do show that it is useful for the whole BTC community. Apart from that, currently bitcoin gambling contributes towards a large share of the whole transactions. As a result, it is possible to forecast the that bitcoins reputation may suffer a little, but such a decay may beworth greater adoption rates.

If you liked this article, follow us on Twitter @themerklenews and make sure to subscribe to our newsletter to receive the latest bitcoin, cryptocurrency, and technology news.

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Will Bitcoin's Reputation Suffer due to Online Gambling? - The Merkle

‘Untapped potential’: Bitcoin poised to profit from Iran’s ban on US … – RT

Posted on February 13, 2017 by Danzig

As Iran moves away from using the US dollar, bitcoin has emerged as a potential replacement. The cryptocurrency could thrive in a country where more than 50 million people are connected to the internet, financial experts claim.

In the wake of US President Donald Trumps travel restrictions on seven countries including Iran, the governor of the Central Bank of Iran announced last month that the US dollar will be replaced with a stable reserve currency more frequently used in foreign trades.

READ MORE: Iran to dump the US dollar in response to Trump's travel ban

Two possible replacements are being explored such as using one currency, potentially the euro, or allowing Iranians to select from multiple currencies, reported the Coin Telegraph.

The announcement has caught the attention of the countrys first bitcoin exchange, BTXCapital, which sees Iran as a market with potential to grow. The market is massive. A large population with a high proportion connected to the internet means there is a lot of completely untapped market potential, Ganesh Jung, CEO of Draglet who develop an exchange platform used by BTXCapital, told IBTimes UK.

India recently saw a surge in bitcoin usage following the countrys demonetization of high-value paper notes, pushing people towards cashless transactions.

However, last week the Reserve Bank of India issued a warning to bitcoin users saying it is not licensed in the country.

Any user, holder, investor, trader, etc. dealing with virtual currencies will be doing so at their own risk, they said in a statement.

The cryptocurrency faces similar challenges in Iran where, according to the central bank, Article 2 of the states Money and Banking Act states that The Currency of Iran shall be in the form of money and coins, which were either in circulation at the time the legislation was passed or which are issued under the Act.

However, the restriction does not prevent bitcoin being used for other purposes including money transfers overseas.

READ MORE:Bitcoin keeps popping with prices at 2016 highs

Jung claims Iran will be supportive of bitcoin and use it as a way to signal that the country is hoping to reintegrate with the West and bitcoin is one way to do this."

Bitcoin more than doubled its value in 2016, becoming the years best-performing currency. It rallied at 126 percent on the back of strong demand in China, where the yuan saw its worst year on record, weakening 6.5 percent.

Originally posted here:

'Untapped potential': Bitcoin poised to profit from Iran's ban on US ... - RT

Comet’s trip past Earth offers first in a trio of opportunities – Phys.Org

Posted on February 13, 2017 by Danzig

February 13, 2017 by Elizabeth Zubritsky Comet 45P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajdukov is captured using a telescope on December 22 from Farm Tivoli in Namibia, Africa. Credit: Gerald Rhemann

Comet hunters still have a chance to see comet 45P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajdukov in the next few days using binoculars or a telescope. It's the first of a trio of comets that willbetween now and the end of 2018pass close enough to Earth for backyard observers to try to spot and for scientists to study using ground-based instruments.

Comet 45P will come closest to Earth on the morning of Saturday, Feb. 11, when it passes by at a distance of about 7.7 million miles (12.4 million kilometers), or more than roughly 30 times the distance between Earth and the moon. It is currently in the early morning eastern sky, though the full moon may make the comet more difficult to spot. The recommendation for backyard astronomers is to use binoculars or a telescope to look for the comet several times during the coming days.

Discovered in 1948, 45P is a short-period comet, with an orbit that takes it around the sun and out by Jupiter about every 5-1/4 years. This weekend's encounter will be the comet's closest with Earth through the end of this century. The comet will pass by our planet again in 2032 but will be much farther away at a distance of nearly 30 million miles (about 48 million kilometers).

Scientists have taken advantage of 45P's approach, making observations using powerful ground-based telescopes such as NASA's Infrared Telescope Facility to investigate the gases, dust and ice particles that are released from the comet nucleus and show up in the coma and tail. By looking for water, methane and other important compounds, astronomers get clues about how the comet is put together and where it originated in the cloud of material that surrounded the young sun as the solar system formed.

By observing the same comet more than once, astronomers can see how the object changes over time.

"Observing a comet multiple times over successive orbits is like taking snapshots at different stages of life," said Joseph Nuth, a senior scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. "And some comets have harder lives than others, depending on how close they get to the sun. We can learn about these effects by comparing different comets with varying perihelion distances over time."

Ground-based observations also are planned for comet 41P/Tuttle-Giacobini-Kresak, which will pass closest to Earth on April 1, 2017, and for comet 46P/Wirtanen, passing closest to Earth on Dec. 16, 2018. By studying this trio of comets, astronomers can learn more about the differences among comets information they use to fill in the comet family tree.

"Comet 46P in particular will remain within 10 million miles of Earth for several weeks, from December 4 through 28, 2018," said Goddard researcher Michael DiSanti. "This will permit detailed studies of its material, as successive regions of the comet's nucleus become exposed to sunlight."

Another reason to check out the skies tonight and early Saturday is the full moon with a penumbral eclipse. For more information, see nasa.tumblr.com/post/157061320334/subtle-lunar-eclipse

Explore further: Full moon, comet starring in night sky show this weekend

A full moon and comet share double billing in a special night sky show this weekend.

Astronomers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope captured images of Comet 252P/LINEAR just after a close encounter with Earth on March 21. The close proximity to the comet offered scientists new insights on the body's nucleus.

Astronomers at the Planetary Science Institute made observations of Comet Pan-STARRS (P/2016 BA14) using the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility (IRTF) on Mauna Kea, Hawai'i that show that it reflects less than 3 percent of ...

ESA and NASA's Solar and Heliospheric Observatory, or SOHO, saw a bright comet plunge towardthe sun on Aug. 3-4, 2016, at nearly 1.3 million miles per hour. Comets are chunks of ice and dust that orbit the sun, usually ...

Looking for a good binocular comet? Well, if luck is on our side, we should be getting our first looks at periodic Comet 45P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajdukov as it tops +10th magnitude in dusk skies over the next few weeks.

Astronomers were watching when comet P/2016 BA14 flew past Earth on March 22. At the time of its closest approach, the comet was about 2.2 million miles (3.5 million kilometers) away, making it the third closest comet flyby ...

(Phys.org)An international team of astronomers reports the discovery of a new giant radio galaxy (GRG) associated with the galaxy triplet known as UGC 9555. The newly discovered galaxy turns out to be one of the largest ...

The search for planets beyond our solar system is about to gain some new recruits.

A long time ago, in a galaxy far away, a supergiant red star ended its life in a spectacular explosion known as a supernova.

An international team of astronomers released the largest-ever compilation of exoplanet-detecting observations made using a technique called the radial velocity method. They demonstrated how these observations can be used ...

Radar images of asteroid 2017 BQ6 were obtained on Feb. 6 and 7 with NASA's 70-meter (230-foot) antenna at the Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex in California. They reveal an irregular, angular-appearing asteroid ...

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Comets earn 100th win in comeback victory – The Blue Testament

Posted on February 13, 2017 by Danzig

It was not easy and it was not always pretty but the Kansas City Comets came from behind to beat the Dallas Sidekicks 7-5 and earn their 100th regular season win for the franchise. Ramone Palmer led the Comets with two goals and Vahid Assadpour added a goal and two assists at crucial times.

The Comets and Sidekicks came into the match from opposite points of view but both needing the win. Kansas City leads the Central division and needed the win to stay in the playoff zone with a couple tough division rival matches to wrap up the season.

Dallas was in third in the Southwest and needed the win to stand a chance to make post season and the start of the game showed that desire by the Sidekicks.

The first quarter was almost all Dallas. After almost scoring less than a minute in (missed a wide open goal), the Sidekicks took the lead at 2:51 on a goal by Jamie Lovegrove. Scores by VcMor Eligwe and Cameron Brown at 5:09 and 10:26 had the first quarter in control for Dallas.

The Comets regrouped and started chipping away at the lead in the second quarter. After just one shot by the Comets in the first, they ramped up the attack on goal in the second with a total of ten shots. Finally Ramone Palmer redirected Assadpours pass into the far corner at the 9:17 mark.

The two teams went into the half with the score 3-1 in favor of Dallas but momentum had shifted to Kansas Citys favor.

Dallas tried to recreate the early success in the game in the third quarter and did add to their lead with another goal by Eligwe but the Comets took control and added four straight goals (Bryan Perez, Robert Palmer, Assadpour and Brian Harris) to take the lead 5-4 in the fourth quarter.

The Sidekicks were on a defensive footing most of that time but did not go quietly, Eligwe added his third midway through the fourth to even it back up but the Comets turned the pressure up again.

The Comets regained the lead when Ramone Palmer received a pass in the middle of the box from Harris and was able to turn on it before the defense could collapse on him for a power play goal.

Dallas went with the sixth attacker but a combined team pressure of Lucas Rodriguez, Robert Palmer and Stefan Stokic led to a late goal by Stokic to make the final score 7-5 for Kansas City.

For you guys its entertaining, for me its a heart attack, head coach Goran Karadzov told media after the match.

The Comets have had a number of very close games this season, one goal games and wins with last minute goals. That is not making Karadzov happy. This is not the first time, more like the fifth time we wait until the last minute or two to win the game, Karadzov observed. Its always good to get the win but we have to approach differently, this isnt going to work in the playoffs being down three or four goals. We wouldnt be able to recover. Chemistry it is good to build character for the team but I would greatly prefer we can win it in the first three quarters and the fourth quarter just to keep it.

Veteran defender Stefan Stokic felt the slow start resulted from a little overconfidence. I think we came in to the first half thinking it was going to be an easy game, Stokic explained. They got some easy goals and we had to step up and that is what we did in the second half.

Good teams find a way to win, Comets captain Vahid Assadpour stated. We didnt start out the way we wanted to and we were down 3-0 at one point but momentum is going our way. When you do the right things the ball will bounce your way.

Assadpour expressed his pride in being part of the Comets 100 wins. Its great. I spent four years in Detroit before I came here and this is my seventh year with the Comets. Its unbelievable and a big accomplishment. Its amazing for the organization and the few guys that have been here since day one.

More here:

Comets earn 100th win in comeback victory - The Blue Testament

Warriors tower over Comets in 2A regional opener – Ottumwacourier

Posted on February 13, 2017 by Danzig

KEOSAUQUA For the second straight postseason, conference rivals Cardinal and Van Buren tangled on a Saturday night in the opening game of Class 2A regional tournament play.

There was one big difference in this year's first round contest, and it's a pretty obvious difference to any one that has watched the 16-win Warriors this season.

Taryn Schuererman stood head and shoulders about everyone on the floor on Saturday as the 6-3 Van Buren freshman poured in 23 points, grabbed nine rebounds and swatted away five Cardinal shots as the Warriors continued their impressive turnaround by returning to the regional quarterfinal round with a 53-27 victory over the Comets. The win is the third straight this season over a Cardinal team that beat the Warriors twice last year in the regular season.

"We had a lot of good looks and good passes. I think we played a pretty good game all around," Schuererman said about Saturday's postseason win. "I think it's been easier for me this season because I've been playing travel ball for the past few years. I've played up on the 15 and 16U levels. I think it has made me stronger as a player."

Schuererman's big night did not start off with a bang from the inside, however. The versatile prep newcomer drained a 3-pointer after winning the game's opening tip, showing a facet to her game that makes the Van Buren freshman even more of a headache for opposing coaches.

"When you've got a girl that big that can step back and shoot the three, it's a heck of a weapon to have," Van Buren head girls basketball coach Matt Zeitler said. "When she can go outside and hit shots, you can't just focus on forcing her away from the basket."

Scheuerman, however, would not score again from the final until the final minutes of the opening quarter. Cardinal answered the opening 3-pointer by the Warriors with a tying shot from Autumn Deshler, one of four Comet seniors who did not want Saturday to be their final night on the court in red and white.

"The girls worked really hard in practice and they didn't want to be anywhere else but on that court together," Cardinal head girls basketball coach Kayla Eakins said. "We forced (Scheuerman) into a few turnovers early on. I think that's because of how much pressure we were putting on her defensively."

Cardinal forced four lead changes in the first quarter with the Comets taking their last lead of the season on a pull-up jumper by another senior, Sarah Schmidt, with three minutes left in the period. The height all around of the Warriors proved to be too much for Cardinal to handle with Van Buren snaring 44 rebounds, including 18 on the offensive end, turning second chances into a six-point run to end the first quarter with a 12-7 lead.

Despite nearly matching Cardinal herself in total points, Scheuereman did not have her best shooting night going just 7-17 from the field and missing her last four attempts from 3-point territory. Eight of Scheuereman's 23 points came from the free throw line, where the post power is working to get more consistent with teams including Cardinal left with no alternative than to foul once the ball gets thrown down low to the Warrior freshman.

"I shoot free throws really well in practice. For some reason, during games, I don't seem to handle the pressure quite as well," Scheuereman said. "That's something I just have to keep working on."

Defensively, Scheuereman added five more blocks to one of the top totals in the state. The Van Buren freshman is one of just four players across Iowa this season with over 100 blocks and is currently third in that total with 128.

"It helps that we have so many girls that have played together for so long," Scheuermann said. "You can tell that each class is working together. Now, it's all starting to come together for us as a team."

Eakins will hope that the Cardinal girls basketball program can experience a turnaround of their own next season after wrapping up the 2016-17 campaign with a 1-21 record. Gone from the team will be Deshler, Schmidt, Cassidy Jameson and Kaylie Blunt who led Cardinal in her final girls basketball game with nine points on Saturday.

"We definitely improved as a team during the course of this season. We started the year averaging 30 turnovers a game. There were times we couldn't even get the ball up the floor," Eakins said. "We've improved handling the basketball and seeing the floor. We've got a lot of good, young players coming back. (Junior) Jamie White has a great shot. Freshmen like Madison Cloke and Lydia Moses could be special players.

"It's all about the work the girls want to put in to improve during the offseason. That, to me, is when next season truly begins."

Van Buren (16-6), meanwhile, will head to 16-4 Pekin on Tuesday night for what could be an instant classic in the Class 2A, Region 8 quarterfinals. Both teams played for divisional titles on the last night of SEISC conference play this season and have been somewhat surprising in their success this season with the Panthers replacing four senior starters while the Warriors start a pair of freshmen.

Tuesday's tilt will also be a fascinating clash of style. Scheuereman leads a powerful interior attack for the Warriors that will have to match up with the guard play of Pekin, led by junior scoring leader Maci Gambell's 20.4 points per game.

"I'm looking forward to the match-up," Scheuereman said of facing Gambell on Tuesday. "I'm ready to block her shot."

Scott Jackson can be reached at sjackson@ottumwacourier.com. Follow him on Twitter at CourierScott.

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Warriors tower over Comets in 2A regional opener - Ottumwacourier

Lady Comets win Regional Title 55-39 – The Independent News

Posted on February 13, 2017 by Danzig

By: Amy Brubaker

Sports Writer

In the IHSA Class 2 A regional championship game, the #3 seeded Oakwood Lady Comets forced 22 turnovers, and easily dropped the #2 seeded Wateska Lady Warriors 55-39.

In high school girl's basketball, as with most other sports, the focus is usually lighting up the scoreboard. But you can be just as successful stressing defense. The Lady Comet's smothering defense propelled them to a regional title by making it hard for the Lady Warriors to put the ball in the basket in the second half.

Lady Comet's Head Coach Jeff Ford was very impressed with his team's second half performance. He stated, Early in the season, if we got down to a great team like Wateska, we probably would have lost the game. The girls have matured, and have been playing pretty solid in big game situations. We were only up four points at halftime, but in second half we hit our open shots, and forced turnovers, which helped win the game.

Kylie Neuman paced the Lady Comets with 16 points, while standout freshman, Katelyn Young pulled down 17 rebounds and scored13 points. Shaelyn Turner and Rylee Dowers each dropped in 12 points.

Earlier in the regional semifinals, the Oakwood Lady Comets squeaked by Bismarck-Henning 36-33. The Lady Comet's tenacious defense was the MVP of the regional tournament. The Comets forced 18 turnovers, and easily scored 16 points off these miscues. Young paced the Lady Comets with 13 points, Neuman added nine points. The Lady Comets improve to 26-5 overall, and will compete at the IHSA Class 2 A St. Thomas More sectionals this week.

Three Point Showdown Advancers were Young, and Salt Fork's Madison Kirby and Kayleigh Davis.

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Lady Comets win Regional Title 55-39 - The Independent News

Sunscreen, psoriasis, FDA news top dermatology reads for week – Healio

Posted on February 13, 2017 by Danzig

Survey results showing that dermatologists agree on sunscreen recommendations and safety was among the most-read articles of the past week on Healio.com/Dermatology.

Other widely read articles included findings that patients with psoriasis who were treated with biologics had an increased incidence of cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma, and an FDA warning that rare but serious allergic reactions have been reported with skin antiseptic products containing chlorhexidine gluconate:

Survey shows dermatologists agree on sunscreen recommendations, safety

A majority of dermatologists agree that FDA-approved sunscreens protect against skin cancer and photoaging, recommend the use of sunscreen with an SPF of at least 30, and often use sunscreens with an SPF of at least 50, according to survey results published inJAMA Dermatology.

A survey was provided to U.S. dermatologists attending a national educational conference on April 9, 2016. Read more

Biologics for psoriasis may increase risk of squamous cell carcinoma

Patients with psoriasis who were treated with biologics had an increased incidence of cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma, according to study results published in theJournal of the American Academy of Dermatology.

Researchers used the Kaiser Permanent Northern California health plan to identify 5,889 adult members with psoriasis diagnosed between 1998 and 2011 who were treated with at least one systemic antipsoriatic agent. Read more

Stelara had higher retention rates than other biologics in patients with psoriasis

Stelara had better retention rates when compared with other biologics in the treatment of patients with severe psoriasis, according to study results published in theJournal of the American Academy of Dermatology.

Researchers used the database of Clalit Health Services, the largest public HMO in Israel, to perform survival analysis on 907 patients (40% female; mean age, 46.3 years) with severe psoriasis who received treatment of Humira (adalimumab, AbbVie), Remicade (infliximab, Janssen), Enbrel (etanercept, Amgen) and Stelara (ustekinumab, Janssen). Read more

FDA warns of rare, serious allergic reactions with skin antiseptic chlorhexidine gluconate

The FDA recently issued a warning to patients and health care professionals that rare but serious allergic reactions have been reported with skin antiseptic products containing chlorhexidine gluconate.

The agency reported in a safety announcement that while rare, the number of reports of serious allergic reactions to the products have increased over the past several years. Read more

Fingernail changes correlate with severe systemic sclerosis

There was a high frequency of fingernail changes in patients with systemic sclerosis, and the changes were correlated with more severe forms of systemic sclerosis, according to study results published in theJournal of the American Academy of Dermatology.

Researchers in France conducted a case-control study of 129 patients (104 women; median age, 54 years) with systemic sclerosis and 80 healthy, age-matched control subjects (65 men; median age, 55 years). Read more

The rest is here:

Sunscreen, psoriasis, FDA news top dermatology reads for week - Healio

The Travel World Advantage – Uniglobe World Travel

Posted on February 13, 2017 by Danzig

UNIGLOBE Travel World, is a full service travel agency specializing in corporate travel. Our clientele ranges from small, locally owned businesses to large, nationally recognized corporations.

As a mid-sized agency, we offer your business cutting edge technology without sacrificing personalized service. Travel World, has committed extensive resources to deliver industry leading solutions. Were experts in searching for lowest fares, fulfilling customer preferences and reducing travel expenditures.

With over 40 years of experience in corporate travel management, our commitment is to the corporate traveler. We are big enough to have all the right tools and small enough to personalize them for you.

Vacation Services: ~Assistance and guidance in destination selection ~Trusted Advocate- vacation specialists with over 40 years of experience ~Planning from start to finish- we're here before, during and after your vacation so you never have to worry! ~Guidance and information on passport and visa requirements ~Travel insurance ~7/24 rescue service in case of an emergency ~Honeymoons ~Babymoons ~ Destination Weddings ~Family Reunions ~Corporate incentives ~ Group Travel ~ All inclusive vacations ~ Cruises ~ Fundraisers Corporate Travel Services * Airline, hotel, rail, car reservations * Quality Control * Reports * Travel Policy Development * Hotel Program * 7/24 Rescue Line * Meetings and Group Travel * Incentive Travel and Meetings * International Travel

See the article here:

The Travel World Advantage - Uniglobe World Travel

Home – World Class Travel

Posted on February 13, 2017 by Danzig

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Home - World Class Travel

Meet the couple with ‘best job in the world’: Lucky pair are paid to travel the globe – Mirror.co.uk

Posted on February 13, 2017 by Danzig

Have this couple got the best jobs in the world?

The man who won a dream job as a tropical island caretaker nearly a decade ago has revealed that he's swapped his dream job - for an ever BETTER one.

Ben Southall, from Petersfield, Hants, hit the headlines in 2009 when he beat off competition from 34,000 applicants to become caretaker of Hamilton Island, on the Great Barrier Reef.

But after the six month contract on the job expired, Ben was determined not to return to his job in events management - and bagged a job exploring the most amazing places Down Under for the Australia New Zealand tourist boards.

He and his wife, Sophee, who he met while travelling, are now paid to travel across the globe as part of their travel blog, The Best Life In The World.

The pair complete challenges in and around the world's most beautiful places - including longboarding around Tasmania, and a 54,000 mile journey from Singapore to London in a mustard Landrover.

Ben said: "Life is pretty cool when you can work, live and travel with the person you love but even then it can also throw up a few testing situations.

"The benefits are you get to enjoy and share the experience of some of the world's most stunning places together.

"Being stuck in an office all day, every day would bore me and I've no idea how people stick to the same job for a decade or more."

Since Ben got hitched to aspiring globetrotter, Sophee Smiles five years ago they have not stayed still, becoming one of the most enviable couples on the internet.

Ben said: "Sophee and I met whilst I was emceeing an awards ceremony in the Whitsundays, where the Best Job in the World was based.

"Last we drove 54,000km from Singapore to London in my old Land Rover for our own project - Best Life in the World.

"It was something that naturally followed after Best Job with so many people telling me they had the Best Life, and not me."

Sophee has earned a living from her own travel blog ever since ditching her dull desk-job in publishing in her home city of Brisbane.

The writer and photographer is currently on a mad mission for charity to travel 1000 km across Tasmania on just a longboard.

Sophee said: "The daily humdrum, predictability and lack of freedom were really starting to bring me down.

"I wanted to make a career out of facing the unknown.

"I hoped to share my experiences with others and inspire them to defy expectations, live on the edge and enjoy their passions travel and beyond.

Ben insists that with long hours and angry mobs, doing what he loves with who he loves, is not all fun and games in paradise.

"The scariest moment I've ever had was being chased by a mob of around 50 people in Ethiopia after a lady walked out in front of my Land Rover and was 'knocked over'.

"It was a big scam - I was doing around 3mph and she saw a chance to make some money from the situation.

"I had to leave the scene as quickly as possible, made for a Police station 100m up the road and dealt with it from behind the security of their compound walls.

"After taking her to hospital for X-rays that failed to find her supposed broken bones, I covered the loss of her broken shopping bags and went on my way."

On their travels across some of the world's least known borders in a bright 4x4, Ben and Sophee have paused enough times to capture breath-taking photos of their surroundings.

Ben said: "Hard work in a nine to five office job compared to hard work living on the road doesn't really compare.

"Constantly trying to create content in some of the world's most beautiful locations can be challenging as you struggle to find the patience to get it right every time!

"More often than not we're trying to get the perfect picture with no-one else in it!

"Having air conditioning fitted to my 1986 Land Rover was probably the best move I could ever have made for reducing stress in hot humid climates!

"Sometimes though the idea of being on a working holiday all of the time, blogging, filming and photographing can mean long days and nights.

"This leads to more than a little frustration to get it all published and to keep partners and sponsors happy."

"I'm sure there's one day in the future when I'll head back to the UK as my friends and family are all there and I do honestly miss them, but I don't miss the dark days and long nights of winter at all."

More here:

Meet the couple with 'best job in the world': Lucky pair are paid to travel the globe - Mirror.co.uk

UNL wrestlers anxiously awaited their travel ban options before World Cup in Iran – WOWT

Posted on February 13, 2017 by Danzig

LINCOLN, Neb. (WOWT) -- Nebraska athletes are in Iran ready to fight for the wrestling Freestyle World Cup. It's a trip that almost didn't happen. The UNL athletes are swept up in the middle of a political head to head.

"Every day we're like do we eat? Do we keep cutting weight? Do we train? Do we just chill? What do we do?" said Jordan Burroughs who is a World Champion, Olympic Gold Medalist and has competed in Iran before.

During the same time Iranians couldnt enter the United States because of President Donald Trump's immigration ban Iran decided to return the favor.

"Their government, they reciprocated the action and said you guys can't come either. We're not going to allow you here," explained Burroughs.

It didnt affect most people. Althoguh, most people werent wrestlers who had been training for months and maybe even their entire lives for a shot at the World Cup in Iran.

"They're getting ready for a big event and then all of a sudden the plug gets pulled on ya," said UNL Head Wrestling Coach Mark Manning.

Even after the U.S. immigration order was rejected in a federal appeals court Iran's ban was still in place.

Were going to wrestle or were not going to wrestle. Were going to be ready no matter what happens, said James Green who was waiting to compete in Iran for the first time.

After an entire week of anxiously waiting the athletes were told they were cleared to travel to Iran and compete. They hope the world cup might be a chance to unify athletes from all around the world.

"It's a small bridge to build a great relationship and I think sports can do that," said Manning.

"As long as we can keep the politics and the danger off of our minds and really focus on what we came to doand that's really not to set a political standard it's to kick butt right? So that's why we're going to Iran."

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UNL wrestlers anxiously awaited their travel ban options before World Cup in Iran - WOWT

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