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UCLA banned my book on Islam from a free speech event – The Hill (blog)

Posted on February 12, 2017 by Danzig

At UCLA Law School last week, a squad of student "thought police" tried to ban my book, Failing to Confront Islamic Totalitarianism: From George W. Bush to Barack Obama and Beyond. They don't want you to know the book even exists, let alone what's inside it. And the UCLA administration enabled them. This ominous episode underlines how students are learning to be contemptuous of intellectual freedom.

The story of what happened at UCLA is laced with ironies. On Feb. 1, the UCLA chapter of the Federalist Society and the Ayn Rand Institute co-sponsored a panel discussion at UCLA Law School on the vital importance of freedom of speech and the threats to it. My book shows how certain philosophic ideas undercut America's response to the jihadist movement, including notably its attacks on freedom of speech.

During the reception, however, a group of UCLA students assembled in front of the book table and objected to mine. Why? Had they read the book, weighed the evidence, and found it lacking? Had they formed a considered evaluation of the book's argument?

No: They felt the book was "offensive" and "insulting." They had "issues" with the views that I and my co-author, Onkar Ghate, put forward. Our views, it seems, were "Islamophobic." Based on what? Apparently, for some of them, it was the book's title.

Yet another irony here is that in the book we disentangle the notion of "Islamophobia." We show that it's an illegitimate term, one that clouds thinking, because it mashes together at least two fundamentally different things. The term blends, on the one hand, serious analysis and critique of the ideas of Islamic totalitarianism, the cause animating the jihadists, which is vitally important (and the purpose of my book); and, on the other hand, racist and tribalist bigotry against people who espouse the religion of Islam. Obviously, racism and bigotry have no place in a civilized society.

Moreover, the book makes clear that while all jihadists are self-identified Muslims, it is blatantly false that all Muslims are jihadists. (It should go without saying, though sadly it must be said, that countless Muslims are law abiding, peaceful, productive Americans.) Ignorant of the book's full scope and substance, the students felt it had no place on campus.

The students demanded that my book be removed from display. My colleagues who manned the display table declined to remove the book.

So the students enforced their own brand of thought control. They turned their backs to the table, forming a blockade around it, so no one could see or buy the books. Then they started aggressively leaning back on the table, pushing against the book displays. By blocking access to the book, they were essentially trying to ban it.

At this point, you might hope the UCLA administration would step in to re-assert the principle of intellectual freedom that is so crucial to education, a free society, and the advancement of human knowledge. Finally a rep from UCLA did step into abet the student protestors. My book was "inflammatory." It had to go.

Thus: at a panel about freedom of speech and growing threats to it not least from Islamists UCLA students and school administrators tried to ban a book that highlights the importance of free speech, the persistent failure to confront Islamic totalitarianism, and that movement's global assaults on free speech.

This shameful incident reflects a wider phenomenon on American campuses. At university, students should learn to think, to engage with different views, and thus to grow intellectually. But increasingly, students learn to put their feelings above facts. Some students demand to be protected from what they merely believe, without evidence, are uncongenial views. They demand that non-orthodox views be silenced. And such universities as UCLA willingly coddle and appease them.

The universities, observes Steve Simpson in Defending Free Speech, are a bellwether of the future of freedom of speech. If today's students are increasingly hostile to intellectual freedom, can we really expect tomorrow's voters, lawyers, judges, politicians to uphold free speech? To champion that principle, you have to value dialogue, knowledge, and, ultimately, the reasoning mind. Yet reason is precisely what those student agitators subordinated to their emotions.

Elan Journo (@elanjourno) is the director of policy research at the Ayn Rand Institute, co-author of Failing to Confront Islamic Totalitarianism: From George W. Bush to Barack Obama and Beyond, and author of Winning the Unwinnable War: America's Self-Crippled Response to Islamic Totalitarianism.

The views expressed by contributors are their own and are not the views of The Hill.

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UCLA banned my book on Islam from a free speech event - The Hill (blog)

Another View: Campus free speech comes under attack – The Daily Telegram

Posted on February 12, 2017 by Danzig

The Orange County Register

This editorial appeared Thursday in The Orange County (Santa Ana, California) Register:

The violence that erupted Feb. 1 at UC Berkeley during the protest of a planned speech by Breitbart News senior editor Milo Yiannopoulos, known for his conservative and decidedly politically incorrect views, was a sorry display and a blow to free speech.

It is ironic that such a demonstration took place at the birthplace of the Free Speech Movement during the 1960s. The demonstration began peacefully, with up to 1,500 protesters expressing their opposition to the conservative journalist and speaker. But then about 150 black-clad and masked agitators infiltrated the event, shooting fireworks at police, setting fires and smashing windows on campus and in the surrounding downtown area. Several apparent supporters of the event were beaten or pepper sprayed.

The provocateurs are reportedly from a group called Antifa, which claims to be an anti-fascist organization, yet remains oblivious to the fact that it adopts fascist tactics to violently suppress opposing views.

We regret that the threats and unlawful actions of a few have interfered with the exercise of First Amendment rights on a campus that is proud of its history and legacy as home of the Free Speech Movement, the university said in a statement. (W)hile Mr. Yiannopoulos views, tactics and rhetoric are profoundly contrary to our own, we are bound by the Constitution, the law, our values and the campus Principles of Community to enable free expression across the full spectrum of opinion and perspective.

If only others, particularly on left-leaning college campuses, felt the same way. Even before the violent agitators arrived on campus, for example, the peaceful protesters voiced their opposition to free speech, shouting Shut it down outside the building where Yiannopoulos was to speak and cheering when it was announced that the talk had been canceled.

Yiannopoulos remained defiant afterwards. One thing we do know for sure: the left is absolutely terrified of free speech and will do literally anything to shut it down, he wrote in a Facebook post.

Such actions by progressive students to stifle nonliberal campus speakers have become a disturbing trend, however, and have only intensified since the election of President Donald Trump.

There seems to be a cognitive dissonance among them of equating speech that they deem intolerant with violence, and then using actual physical threats and violence to prevent that speech.

It is a sad commentary on our supposed institutions of higher learning when diversity is idolized in every respect but the most important one the diversity of thought; when tolerance is a virtue except when it comes to the tolerance of contrary viewpoints. The culture of too many college campuses has shifted from one of a search for knowledge and truth to indoctrination camps for immature, malleable minds and training grounds for social activism.

Goebbels was in favor of freedom of speech for views he liked. So was Stalin. If youre really in favor of freedom of speech, that means youre in favor of freedom of speech precisely for views you despise, political philosopher and author Noam Chomsky asserted. If our universities are to regain their reputations as places of serious scholarship and intellectual growth for our young adults, then liberal students, faculty and administrators must rededicate themselves to creating an atmosphere that embraces and respects the competition of differing ideals.

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Another View: Campus free speech comes under attack - The Daily Telegram

Veljo Tormis obituary – The Guardian

Posted on February 12, 2017 by Danzig

Veljo Tormis achieved a breakthrough with the release of a double CD, Forgotten Peoples. Photograph: Eve Tarm/AP

The Estonian composer Veljo Tormis, who has died aged 86, wrote choral works based on the folksong and poetry of languages that are now disappearing or extinct. Those from the Finno-Ugric family that have established themselves in modern nations Estonian, Finnish and Hungarian have flourished, but several related tongues used to be heard on the shores of the Gulf of Finland. The rites, poetry and music of the people who spoke them never attracted attention at a national level: in taking them as the creative basis for his music, Tormis created a personal sound museum of a lost world.

Other composers from the region most notably Sibelius have often used folklore from the viewpoint of western musical ideals. Tormis was a pioneer in letting the folklore dictate the course of the music, rather than trying to coerce it into the established frameworks of western music. His work is free in narrative fantasy, incorporating such features as the sounds of village life or birdsong, sparse in development and lavish in theatricality. The usual life of a composer, with its symphonies and operas, would have been too limiting for him. As he put it: I dont use folk melody it is folk melody that uses me.

He achieved a breakthrough with the release of a double CD on the ECM label, Forgotten Peoples (1992), on which the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir was conducted by Tnu Kaljuste. The opening track of the first choral cycle, Livonian Heritage, depicts birds waking in a dense forest; Livonians lived on the coast of what is now Latvia. Another cycle, Ingrian Evenings, recreates a festive evening of songs and dances in a village, and so is often presented as a staged work; Ingrians were Lutheran Finns speaking a south-eastern dialect of Finnish, who by the 17th century had moved to the St Petersburg region, at the eastern end of the gulf.

A further ECM recording, Litany to Thunder (1999), contains Curse Upon Iron, a work of symbolic importance for Estonians. It features the shamans drum of the Koryak people, living in the northern part of Kamchatka, on Russias far east coast, and denounces the destructive military uses of the metal.

Tormis was born the eldest son of a Lutheran parish clerk, Riho Tormis, and his wife, Johanna, in Kuusalu, east of the capital city of Tallinn. He was nine when Estonia was annexed by the Soviet Union, and after organ and choral conducting studies in Tallinn (1942-51) went to the Moscow Conservatoire to study composition with Vissarion Shebalin (1951-56). When he returned to Tallinn, he quickly rose to prominence as a composer, initially producing works in a traditional vein, including symphonies and an opera, The Swans Flight (1966). His Overture No 2 (1959) was the first work by an Estonian composer to be performed at the Warsaw Autumn festival, in 1961. Two of the countrys other leading composers, Arvo Prt and Kuldar Sink, studied with him during his time as a teacher at the Tallinn Music high school (1956-60).

From the Khrushchev thaw of the late 1950s, when national music became a secret tool of anti-Sovietism, Tormis explored Estonian folklore, and then in the 1970s and 80s that of other Finno-Ugric and Baltic peoples. He produced more than 60 choral cycles, often including the names of native peoples in the titles, as with his Votic Wedding Songs, Vepsian Paths and Izhorian Epic, all also to be heard on Forgotten Peoples.

His music was taken up not only in Estonia, but in Latvia, Lithuania and other Soviet-bloc countries. Singing in general was a significant factor in public demonstrations in the years leading up to Estonias independence from Soviet rule in 1991, and Tormis drew on its power to express the forest pantheism that remains at least as strong in the national psyche as the Christianity that followed it. At the Estonian Song festival, held every five years in Tallinn most recently in 2014 thousands of people in amateur choirs sang Tormiss works, and he was an avid visitor to schools, keen to reconnect children with their ancient heritage.

Other parts of the world with a strong choral tradition started taking up Tormiss music, not least as a result of the global tours of the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir. During the Gorbachev glasnost period of the 1980s it found a particular following in the US and Germany, and the ECM releases brought it an audience throughout western Europe.

Tormiss political concerns extended beyond national independence to environmental issues, social exclusion, and the emptiness of modern politics. In 2000 he retired from composition. A very gracious man, he was revered by a nation that loves to sing.

In 1951, he married Lea Rummo, a theatre historian. She survives him, along with their son, Tnu, a photographer whose work appears on the cover of Forgotten Peoples and on many subsequent recordings of his fathers music.

Veljo Tormis, composer, born 7 August 1930; died 21 January 2017

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Veljo Tormis obituary - The Guardian

Explosive, stinky star death captured by Hubble telescope – Fox 59

Posted on February 12, 2017 by Danzig

The Hubble Telescope captured the spectacular death of a star -- an event that has rarely been seen by astronomers. The dying star, known as a red giant, in its final stages blows out its outer layers, leaving clouds of gas and dust, which is called a planetary nebula.

The Hubble Telescope captured the spectacular death of a star an event that has rarely been seen by astronomers.

The dying star, known as a red giant, in its final stages blows out its outer layers, leaving clouds of gas and dust, which is called a planetary nebula.

NASA and the European Space Agency released the photo of the Calabash Nebula. The gas, seen in yellow, was ejected as fast as 621,371 miles per hour, according to the ESA.

Astronomers rarely get to see this kind transition because it occurs within the blink of an eye in astronomical terms, the ESA said.

The nebula is also known as the Rotten Egg Nebula, because it contains a lot of sulfur, which smells like rotten eggs. Luckily, this is happening about 5,000 light-years away in the constellation of Puppis, according to the ESA.

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Explosive, stinky star death captured by Hubble telescope - Fox 59

Officials Mull Proposal for Manned Mission to Refurbish Hubble Telescope – Wall Street Journal

Posted on February 12, 2017 by Danzig

Wall Street Journal

Officials Mull Proposal for Manned Mission to Refurbish Hubble Telescope
Wall Street Journal
President Donald Trump's advisers are considering an industry proposal to send a manned spacecraft to repair and upgrade the Hubble Space Telescope within the next few years, according to people familiar with the matter. The discussions are still ...
NASA reminds us that space is gorgeous with breathtaking new Hubble snapshotBGR

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NASA’s Hubble Telescope, Astronomers Discover Comet 100000-Times Bigger Than Halley’s – SpaceCoastDaily.com

Posted on February 12, 2017 by Danzig

located approx. 170 light years away from Earth

This artists concept shows a massive, comet-like object falling toward a white dwarf. New Hubble Space Telescope findings are evidence for a belt of comet-like bodies orbiting the white dwarf, similar to our solar systems Kuiper Belt. (NASA, ESA, Z. Levy image)

(AOL BUZZ60) A team of astronomers in Garching, Germany, discovered a comet-like object in a distant galaxy that is similar in composition to the famed Halleys comet however, this one is about 100,000 times bigger.

Using NASAs Hubble Space Telescope, researchers discovered the massive object was rich in the elements essential for life, including nitrogen, carbon, oxygen, and sulfur.

The comet is in the process of being ripped apart and scattered in the atmosphere of a white dwarf, dubbed WD 1425+540, which is located approximately 170 light years away from Earth.

Siyi Xu of the European Southern Observatory, who led the team that made the discovery, says this is the first time nitrogen has been detected in the planetary debris that falls onto a white dwarf.

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Using NASAs Hubble Space Telescope, researchers discovered the massive object was rich in the elements essential for life, including nitrogen, carbon, oxygen, and sulfur.

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NASA's Hubble Telescope, Astronomers Discover Comet 100000-Times Bigger Than Halley's - SpaceCoastDaily.com

NSA Withholding Intelligence From ‘Untrustworthy’ Trump Administration, Former Analyst Claims – Haaretz

Posted on February 12, 2017 by Danzig

John Schindler claims NSA fears Trump administration cannot be trusted with sensitive information. 'Since January 20, we've assumed that the Kremlin has ears inside the SITROOM,' he cites Pentagon official as saying.

The National Security Agency has been withholding information from the White House, fearing that President Donald Trump and his staff cannot be trusted not to leak sensitive information, a former NSA analyst claims.

In a column written by John R. Schindler for The Observer, the security expert and former professor at the U.S. Naval War College claims that the NSA has stopped its decades-old practice of preparing special reports for U.S. presidents since Trump took office.

Schindler added that the NSA's concerns were shared across the American intelligence community, and it appears that other agencies are withholding intelligence from the White House as well.

According to Schindler, the intelligence community's fears were prompted by the ties of senior members of the Trump administration to the Kremlin, as well as "nagging questions about basic competence regarding Team Trump."

"Since January 20, weve assumed that the Kremlin has ears inside the SITROOM," Schindler cites a senior Pentagon official as saying, meaning the White House Situation Room where the president is briefed on intelligence matters.

Schindler's claims echo a January report on Yedioth Ahronoth by Israeli journalist Ronen Bergman, which said that Israeli intelligence officials are concerned that the exposure of classified information to their American counterparts under a Trump administration could lead to their being leaked to Russia and onward to Iran.

According to Bergman, the American intelligence officials implied that Israel should be careful when transferring intelligence information to the White House and the National Security Council (NSC) following Trump's inauguration at least until it is clear that Trump does not have inappropriate connections with Russia.

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NSA Withholding Intelligence From 'Untrustworthy' Trump Administration, Former Analyst Claims - Haaretz

Memo: Chief told officers to harass ‘cockroaches’ – Wichita Eagle

Posted on February 12, 2017 by Danzig

Memo: Chief told officers to harass 'cockroaches'
Wichita Eagle
He said it was a clear violation of the U.S. Constitution's Fourth Amendment, which guards against unreasonable search and seizure, and the Fifth Amendment's guarantee of due process rights for citizens. "Why would anyone in Elkins have faith in the ...

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Memo: Chief told officers to harass 'cockroaches' - Wichita Eagle

Mark L. Hopkins: The Second Amendment and Shays’ Rebellion – Wicked Local Watertown

Posted on February 12, 2017 by Danzig

Mark L. Hopkins More Content Now

This is the second in a series of columns that relate to the purpose of the Second Amendment and the gun rights issue that continues to fester in our society. The first column pointed out the strong desire on the part of the leadership of the country to have a strong federal government. The focus here is in the feeling of necessity in the leadership to have a means to enforce federal law and to protect the government from citizen rebellions. The Second Amendment became the law of the land in 1791. Prior to that Daniel Shays, a former captain in the Continental Army, became the leader of a citizens rebellion in Massachusetts in response to what Shays and other farmers believed were high taxes and a government that was unresponsive to their grievances. In January 1787, they raided the arsenal in Springfield, Massachusetts and continued their anti-government rebellions through the winter of that year. This was two years before the writing of the U.S. Bill of Rights with its all-important Second Amendment. Retired General George Washington was so upset by Shays Rebellion that he wrote three letters commenting on it. Excerpts from these letters follow: But for Gods sake tell me what is the cause of all these commotions. Do they proceed from licentiousness, British influence disseminated by Tories, or real grievances which admit of redress? In a second letter he worried that, Commotion of this sort, like snowballs, gather strength as they roll, if there is no opposition in the way to divide and crumble them. I am mortified beyond expression that in the moment of our acknowledged independence we should by our conduct verify the predictions of our transatlantic foe, and render ourselves ridiculous and contemptible in the eyes of all Europe. Later he wrote, If three years ago any person had told me that at this day I should see such a formidable rebellion against the laws and constitutions or our own making as now appears, I should have thought him a bedlamite, a fit subject for a mad house. Shays Rebellion was eventually put down when a group of wealthy merchants in Boston pooled their resources and created their own militia to quell the uprising. In the early 1790s, a second major rebellion began in Western Pennsylvania. It was called the Whiskey Rebellion and, again, was a revolt against taxes. Thus, the Second Amendment was written and signed into law in the shadow of these two major citizens rebellions. The U.S. Congress reacted to this second major rebellion by passing The Militia Act which gave teeth to the Second Amendment by requiring all military-age free adults to stand for service to enforce the laws of the Union, thereby insuring domestic tranquility. President Washington himself gave orders to form a militia of 13,000 men to put down the Whiskey Rebellion. His words later were ..this is how a well-regulated Militia should be used to serve the government in maintaining a strong security in each state, as the Second Amendment of The Bill of Rights intended. From the letters written by George Washington and the actions of Congress it is obvious that the purpose of the Second Amendment was to strengthen the Federal Government against rebellion and insurrection. It was not, as some contend, to equip the citizens to make war on the government. In fact, it was just the opposite. My first of the three gun rights columns focused on the desire of the U.S. leadership to have a strong central government and the means to protect that government from rebellion. In this column the focus has been on the like-minded efforts of both President George Washington and Congress to put teeth in the Second Amendment so security and an orderly society could be fostered. My third and final column on this subject will come next week.

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.

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Mark L. Hopkins: The Second Amendment and Shays' Rebellion - Wicked Local Watertown

Letter: Americans are losing First Amendment rights – Burlington Times News

Posted on February 12, 2017 by Danzig

We've all noticed the division over the last election. Many are disappointed and many are inspired with the outcome and losing sight of the privilege we have to voice our disagreement in politics.

But we are gradually losing that privilege. We can't protest and disrupt political rallies any longer and that was the hallmark of the '60s and '70s.

The people's opinion is addressed in our Constitution, and we are taking that for granted.Voicing displeasure is a privilege some countries do not allow, and it is vital that America remains open to all being heard.

Violence in a protest used to be the exception and not the norm it is today. Today the exception is the peaceful protest, such as the recent Women's March. Women giving high-fives to police made the news, and what fun it was seeing that. Police had to appreciate not having to use pepper spray and tear gas to control. Who knew a smile and a laugh could get attention and be remembered?

But we are losing our First Amendment right to voice our differences while journalists feel the noose tighten on reporting the news. It makes me appreciate the arguing. At least we have the right to differ in opinions.

Is diversity within America perishing? We are a nation of immigrants and always have been when you ask a Native American. We need more colors, more languages and all preferences in Congress to represent a country of and for the people.

If the world were all Rogers, it would be boring. Disagree with someone today and learn something.

Roger Clayton

Burlington

Rioting not protected by First Amendment | Don O Shea | qconline.com – Quad-Cities Online

Posted on February 12, 2017 by Danzig

On Feb. 3, a conservative speaker was slated to speak at the University of California at Berkeley. That's when "Black Bloc" intervened.

According to CNN (cnn.com/2017/02/01/us/milo-yiannopoulos-berkeley/), "150 masked agitators caused more than $100,000 worth of damage at UC Berkeley ... when demonstrators gathered to protest Milo Yiannopoulos, who was scheduled to give a speech at the school.

"Black-clad protesters, wearing masks, threw commercial-grade fireworks and rocks at police. Some even hurled Molotov cocktails that ignited fires. They also smashed windows of the student union center on the Berkeley campus.

"At least six people were injured. Some were attacked by the agitators -- who are a part of an anarchist group known as the "Black Bloc" that has been causing problems in Oakland for years ..."

If you haven't hear of Black Bloc, watch the video at usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2017/02/02/what-black-bloc/97393870/.

We are told by some that Black Bloc is not an organization; rather, it is a "spontaneous coming together of individuals" to act as a "protective shield" for "progressive protesters" against "police brutality." If you buy that, I've got a nice bridge to sell you!

As I watch the USA Today video, I can only come to one opinion: Black Bloc is a criminal conspiracy which engages in overt acts of violence intended to deprive other Americans -- with whom they disagree -- of their Constitutional rights of free speech, peaceable assembly and private property.

So what justifies rioting, the fires, the destruction of property? The left-wing anarchists disagreed with the political opinions of a man scheduled to give a speech.

So how long will the new administration put up with left-wing anarchists clad in black hoods and black masks? Are criminal thugs who run around and do violence in black hoods and black masks any better than the Klu Klux Klan? Are stormtroopers in black masks and robes any more noble than Klansmen in white robes and masks?

In 1870, The Congress, at the behest of President Grant, passed "An Act to enforce the Right of Citizens of the United States to vote in the several States of this Union, and for other Purposes."

The act was a response to terror, force and brutality used by the Klan (KKK) to prevent newly freed blacks from voting and exercising their newly granted Constitutional Rights. Section 6 criminalized "conspiring" or "going in disguise" to "intimidate" or to "hinder the free exercise" of any right granted by the Constitution. Conviction carried up to 10 years imprisonment.

Criminals, anarchists and rioters in hoods and masks -- whether those hoods and masks be white or black -- who riot in the streets to prevent anyone from exercising his First Amendment right to speak freely or assemble peacefully, or the right of any other citizen to own private property, are therefore playing a dangerous game.

The U.S. government virtually wiped out the first wave of the KKK using the Enforcement Acts. If the government decides enough is enough, 150 guys in black hoods and masks, as well as their financiers, may find themselves spending the next 10 years in federal prison.

Any thinking American should be revolted by Black Bloc's wanton destruction of property and attacks on police and bystanders. This rioting is exactly what the Nazi Brown Shirts, aka Stormtroopers, did in Germany in the 1930s.

The riots in Berkeley have the stench of Kristallnacht about them. Kristallnacht occurred Nov. 9-10, 1938. It was the night when Nazi Stormtroopers, wearing civilian clothes, to create the illusion of a "spontaneous demonstration," destroyed 267 synagogues and innumerable Jewish businesses throughout Hitler's Reich. Mobs of SA men roamed the streets, attacking Jews in their houses and forcing Jews they encountered to perform acts of public humiliation.

Our Constitution guarantees free speech. But free speech does not include incitement to riot, or the act of rioting. Attacking police and burning down buildings has never been constitutionally protected.

John Donald O'Shea, of Moline, is a retired circuit court judge.

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Rioting not protected by First Amendment | Don O Shea | qconline.com - Quad-Cities Online

More High School Students Support First Amendment Freedoms … – Education Week (subscription) (blog)

Posted on February 12, 2017 by Danzig

Education Week (subscription) (blog)

More High School Students Support First Amendment Freedoms ...
Education Week (subscription) (blog)
The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation's sixth annual study on the topic finds a growing share of students support First Amendment rights.

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More High School Students Support First Amendment Freedoms ... - Education Week (subscription) (blog)

GitHub – jitsi/jitsi-meet: Jitsi Meet – Secure, Simple and …

Posted on February 12, 2017 by Danzig

README.md

Jitsi Meet is an open-source (Apache) WebRTC JavaScript application that uses Jitsi Videobridge to provide high quality, scalable video conferences. You can see Jitsi Meet in action here at the session #482 of the VoIP Users Conference.

You can also try it out yourself at https://meet.jit.si .

Jitsi Meet allows for very efficient collaboration. It allows users to stream their desktop or only some windows. It also supports shared document editing with Etherpad.

Installing Jitsi Meet is quite a simple experience. For Debian-based systems, we recommend following the quick-install document, which uses the package system.

For other systems, or if you wish to install all components manually, see the detailed manual installation instructions.

You can download Debian/Ubuntu binaries:

Jitsi Meet uses Browserify. If you want to make changes in the code you need to install Browserify. Browserify requires nodejs.

On Debian/Ubuntu systems, the required packages can be installed with:

To build the Jitsi Meet application, just type

By default the library is build from its git repository sources. The default dependency path in package.json is :

To work with local copy you must change the path to:

To make the project you must force it to take the sources as 'npm update' will not do it.

Or if you are making only changes to the library:

Alternative way is to use npm link. It allows to link lib-jitsi-meet dependency to local source in few steps:

So now after changes in local lib-jitsi-meet repository you can rebuild it with npm run install and your jitsi-meet repository will use that modified library. Note: when using node version 4.x, the make file of jitsi-meet do npm update which will delete the link, no longer the case with version 6.x.

If you do not want to use local repository anymore you should run

Jitsi Meet provides a very flexible way of embedding it in external applications by using the Jitsi Meet API.

Jitsi Meet is also available as a React Native application for Android and iOS. Instructions on how to build it can be found here.

Please use the Jitsi dev mailing list to discuss feature requests before opening an issue on Github.

Jitsi Meet started out as a sample conferencing application using Jitsi Videobridge. It was originally developed by then ESTOS' developer Philipp Hancke who then contributed it to the community where development continues with joint forces!

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GitHub - jitsi/jitsi-meet: Jitsi Meet - Secure, Simple and ...

KeepKey Hardware Wallet Now Supports Dash Cryptocurrency – newsBTC

Posted on February 12, 2017 by Danzig

KeepKey hardware wallet now includes Dash to its existing list of supported cryptocurrencies. Read more...

Hardware wallets are one of the safest means to store cryptocurrencies and KeepKey features among the leading providers of such storage devices. The device, which until now was supporting Bitcoin and few other prominent altcoins has announced the inclusion of Dash support.

Dash is currently the sixth largest cryptocurrency in terms of market capitalization. The digital currency with a market cap of over $121.25 million is expecting the demand to surge in the coming days as the platform prepares to launch its full-fledged crypto-payments system codenamed Evolution. With the foundation already laid in the form of recent Sentinel upgrade, the existing community members are bracing for a rise in the cryptocurrencys price.

As the value of Dash increases, the probability of hacking attempts targeting the cryptocurrency is also bound to increase. In such a scenario, the Dash community has convinced KeepKey to offer them a secure means to store the digital currency.

Conceding to the demands of the community, KeepKey recently announced an integration with Dash, enabling its users to safeguard their cryptocurrency stash. The new feature, currently in beta stage allows KeepKey users to receive, store and send Dash on their devices. The limited feature release is expected to include Dashs PrivateSend and InstantSend functions soon.

Darin Stanchfield, the CEO of KeepKey in the companys press release has commented on the new development saying,

Partnering with Dash is the natural next step for KeepKey since our wallet is purely focused on security, mobility, and convenience; attributes that Dash shares. KeepKey protects digital assets from hackers by limiting their exposure to the internet. With this integration, we are extending our utility, and adding one more asset users can transfer to or from directly on our device.

The new integration will not only benefit the existing Dash community members but also encourages other cryptocurrency users to switch to the Bitcoin alternative. The inbuilt ShapeShift function will now enable users to swap their existing cryptocurrency balances to Dash. The list of supported currencies on KeepKey now stands at six. Apart from Dash and Bitcoin, the platform also supports Ethereum, Litecoin, Dogecoin, and Namecoin.

Meanwhile, KeepKey will continue listening to the community and based on the suggestions, requests, and feedbacks received, it will be making necessary changes and feature additions to the hardware wallet.

Swiss Company Lykke Offers Forward Contract with 20% Discount on Cryptocurrency – Crowdfund Insider

Posted on February 12, 2017 by Danzig

Lykke, a Zurich-based Fintech firm that wants to become the worlds first regulated marketplace built on cryptographic technology is offering a one-year forward contract on a bespoke cryptocurrency or Lykke Coin with a 20% discount. Announced last week, Lykke basically will provide a 20% discount on the cryptocurrency if you hold it for a whole year.

The forward contract operates pretty much like other forward contracts except Lykke says it will offer settlement at the run instead of only at the settlement date. The limited offer started on February 9th and continues to February 2th if you are interested. Lykke intends on selling up to 50 million coins with an issue price of CHF 0.04 per coin so an estimated raise of CHF 2 million. Lykke Coins are registered on blockchain and 100 Lykke Coins are said to be entitled to 1 Lykke share.

Lykke is the creation of Richard Olsen who first founded OANDA in 1996, a retail broker serving over 100,000 retail trading clients worldwide. Lykke originally raised USD $ 2.8 million in 2015. Lykke says it is applying to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK for an investment firm license to provide a multilateral trading facility and to offer a non-exchange financial trading venue as part of a broader aim of establishing the worlds first crypto-marketplace offering trade execution on a range of financial instruments.

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Lykke Chief Business Development Officer, Demetrios Zamboglou, commented on the announcement that genuine change in financial services can only be achieved via robust technology that serves everyone better;

rather than just its gatekeepers. Lykke is committed to creating a means for anyone to conduct financial transactions and store their assets in secure digital blockchains, secured from any single authority or counterparty, said Zamboglou. Blockchain-powered crypto-currencies are actively demonstrating their superiority over the fiat-paper status-quo, for so long the bastion of big banks. Blockchain technology is here to show financial services as a sector that there is a better way, and theres no turning back.

Lykke believes its selling-point is better security with a centralized matching engine and decentralized immediate settlement, and an open-source approach to typically closed-loop systems that dominate financial services transactions today.

In the history of Financial Services, it has always been a requirement to have deep pockets to operate on a level playing field. With Lykke, the only requirement to enter a level playing field is an internet connection, stated Lykke founder and CEO, Richard Olsen.

Lykke has already gone public on its own exchange and is said to be building enterprise-scale solutions for large financial institutions. Lykke is also a member of the Hyperledger project.

Lykke has also formed a partnership with ChronoBank to allow users to trade ChronoBanks tokens for other currencies frictionlessly. ChronoBank is in the midst of a crowdfunding round having raised over $4 million in Bitcoin. The Australian Fintech firm is creating a decentralized marketplace, named LaborX, where people can sell labor hours to anyone anywhere. ChronoBank.io wants to totally disrupt HR/Recruitment and finance industries just how Uber is crushing taxis.

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Swiss Company Lykke Offers Forward Contract with 20% Discount on Cryptocurrency - Crowdfund Insider

Bitcoin Markets Slide as China Steps up Regulatory Scrutiny – Fortune

Posted on February 12, 2017 by Danzig

Markets for bitcoin and other digital cryptocurrencies dipped by more than 7% on February 9 th , following news that the Peoples Bank of China, the countrys central bank, was tightening regulatory pressure. The PBoC met Wednesday with the countrys major Bitcoin exchanges to push for full compliance with anti-money laundering rules. As detailed by CoinDesk , the price of Bitcoin dropped from around $1,063 dollars to around $988, before recovering slightly to around $1,000 by Sunday.

Following the meetings, two of Chinas largest bitcoin exchanges temporarily halted the withdrawal of bitcoin and another currency, litecoin. The move did not affect the withdrawal of yuan, and the companies said the halt would last one month while they improved protections against money laundering and other illegal activity.

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A half-dozen Chinese bitcoin exchanges have also said they will institute new trading fees . Thats a continuation of a PBoC push in January to end the practice of no-fee trading, which is seen as artificially inflating trading volumes. The fee increases already implemented have driven trading volumes on Chinese exchanges down sharply .

Chinese exchanges have long made up a large portion of the overall market for cryptocurrency, and their influence has been a consistent source of anxiety in the market. Previous dips in the price of bitcoin have been driven by Chinese regulation, including a 2013 decision banning banks from handling bitcoin as a currency. Significant price surges, meanwhile, have been caused by domestic Chinese trends, such as a 2015 craze for a bitcoin-fueled Russian pyramid scheme .

While increased PBoC oversight may briefly dampen the cryptocurrency market, then, it could also signal greater long-term stability.

According to Bloomberg, the recent regulatory pressure on Bitcoin from the PBoC is likely driven by the Chinese governments desire to control capital outflows from the country.

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Bitcoin Markets Slide as China Steps up Regulatory Scrutiny - Fortune

Musician & Bitcoin Enthusiast Tatiana Moroz Reintroduces Tatianacoin – CryptoCoinsNews

Posted on February 12, 2017 by Danzig

Tatiana Moroz, a singer-songwriter and a bitcoin enthusiast, announced a new beta launch of Tatianacoin, a token created on the bitcoin blockchain, as well as a new album and an upcoming crowdfunded tour of her advocacy and music at The Blockchain Event in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.

Tatiana Moroz

Moroz launched Tatianacoin last year. She raised funds in June of 2014, and, with the help of Adam B. Levine from Lets Talk Bitcoin, Moroz executed the idea. Tatianacoin used Counterparty for the coin and organized an initial crowdsale through CoinPowers.

Tatianacoin is designed to bring musicians and fans closer together through blockchain technology.

Tatianacoin tokens have a fixed value of 5 cents (USD), and can be redeemed through Tatianas goods and services. It is supported by anupcoming media ownership platform, token.fm.

As of Feb. 11, there were 240 Tatianacoin asset holders, according to Counterparty Block Explorers blockscan.com.

Tatianacoin owners will be able to lend, collect, sell or trade tokens, and have access to VIP experiences on Tatianas upcoming world tour.Fans will be able to chat directly with Tatiana and other fans, and access multimedia content, VIP experiences, recording studio sessions, private concerts and personalized fan gear.

Tatianacoin allows someone to give me whatever form of money they want and get back basically a gift certificate with extra features, Moroz told CCN. Tokenly is my merchant services provider. They allow anyone to sell physical, digital or token goods in exchange for dollars, bitcoin, cryptocurrency and also allows you to accept any token you create yourself, or that someone else created on the Counterparty platform.

Token.fm is getting ready to launch its public alpha and is in discussions with early access musicians now, she said.

Tokens can be traded outside of Tokenlys tools as well, she said. There is a distributed exchange built into Counterparty that allows for tokens to be swapped entirely on the blockchain, although its easier to use Tokenlys tools.

Tatianacoin is the first instance of what we call an ArtistCoin: a digital currency that removes the middle man and smooths contracts, payments and communications, she said. ArtistCoins will enable songwriters, record labels, and publishers to seamlessly register their work, view tamper-proof payment contracts, and distribute songs with all the splits built in. This will streamline the licensing process and ensure all the parties are fairly compensated.

Tatianacoin and token.fm seek to solve the problems of income potential, media distribution and fan relations within the music industry, Moroz noted in a recent press announcement. Artists earn on average much less than a penny per stream and are presented with overwhelming options for social sharing with limited means of retaining fan relationships.

After experiencing firsthand the troubles artists face trying to make a name for themselves, I sought a revolutionary way for artists and fans to help each other through incentivized financial support and social connectivity, Moroz said. The only way to achieve this is through the power of the blockchain: a technology that presents countless opportunities for artists and musicians.

I was fortunate to be an early adopter of this technology, which could completely revamp and re-empower the music industry. My upcoming tour will be about more than my passion for music; I want to enlighten artists and musicians on a transformative technology that allows for true artistic freedom and creates a fair, transparent economy. At the same time, I want to create greater access to and rewards for fans who believe in the work of artists.

Also read: Blockchain technology could help bring about a music revolution

While launching the full band version of the single, Bitcoin Jungle at the recent Blockchain Event, Moroz announced the drop date of March 31 for Keep The Faith, her first studio album in five years, and an upcoming crowdfunded tour of advocacy and music. The new album features a full band performing her 11 original songs, plus a cover of Elton Johns Skyline Pigeon. Her music is a fresh take on the folk style of the revolutionary 1960s and 1970s, and is an original blend of pop, rock, blues and country.

Proceeds from the crowdfunding will go directly to the global distribution and exposure of Keep The Faith, while kickstarting an international tour across Europe and North America.

As of Feb. 11, $2,641 was raised against a goal of $15,000. The campaign ends on March 11.

This tour and album will be the most significant of my journey as an artist, Moroz said. The overall goal is to digress from the financial and social pitfalls prevalent in todays music industry by giving the power and the rewards back to the artist and fans. Equally important to me is educating and inspiring up-and-coming artists to use this technology and the voice of the crowd to their advantage.

Moroz claims on her website that Ross Ulbricht was wrongly convicted and unfairly punished for allegedly committing nonviolent crimes.

I stand with Ross, and I am lucky to have Ross stand with me; the beautiful album cover for my album Keep The Faith was originally drawn by him as a birthday present to me, and I am now really excited to be able to sue it as my album cover, she stated on her website.

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Musician & Bitcoin Enthusiast Tatiana Moroz Reintroduces Tatianacoin - CryptoCoinsNews

Comets streak away with MWL wrestling crown | Sports | Eugene … – The Register-Guard

Posted on February 12, 2017 by Danzig

EAGLE POINT Crater ran away with the Midwestern League Championship wrestling title, posting 5431/2 points and taking first place in 10 of the 14 weight classes.

Thurston finished second with 309 points, and Churchill (121), Springfield (100) and North Eugene (97) finished fifth, sixth and seventh, respectively.

Craters Javon Gill (285) pinned teammate Cameron Sweet in 1:39 to lock up the heavyweight title, while Nathan Santoni (138) took down Bryce Cwiklinski by majority decision, 16-6, for the Comets.

At 195 pounds, Thurstons Avery Jaramillo pinned James Pendleton of Crater in 1:38 for the victory, and the Colts Jackson Casteel pinned Craters Beau Crawford in 5:59 to win at 220.

Springfields Joseph Michelson won the 160 class with a pin of Craters Cameron Savage in 3:12 for the Millers only first-place finish of the day, and North Eugenes Alec Nolan finished first in the 126-pound class with an 8-6 victory over Craters Isaiah Griffith.

Also Saturday

Special District 2 Championships

Sweet Home earned four weight-class victories and took first place with 383 points. Jackson Royer pinned Cameron Truesdell of Junction City in 44 seconds at 106 pounds. The Huskies Kobe Olson defeated teammate Travis Thorpe 2-0 at 126, Jake Porter pinned Asa Alexander of Cascade in 13 seconds at 145 and Bryce Coulter defeated Matt Carrillo of North Marion 10-4 at 182. Junction City finished fourth with 1471/2 points and Elmira was fifth with 1271/2. The Falcons Dylan Porter defeated John Dover of Junction City 11-3 at 285 pounds. Sutherlin was sixth with 126 and Cottage Grove was 12th with 65.

Special District 3 Championships

Marshfield scored 367 points to outdistance Henley and win the district title at South Umpqua High School. The Hornets came in second with 2951/2 points. Siuslaw finished in seventh with 82 points, and North Bend finished 10th with 73 points. The Pirates finished 1-2 in the 106-pound class, with Kody Koumentis winning by major decision over Richard Rayburn, 8-0. Both AJ Lira at 132 and Garrett Lefebvre at 138 won their weight classes with pins, and William Jantzer (145), Cade Hite (160) and Travis Wittlake (170) all finished first in their weight divisions as well for Marshfield. Siuslaws Richard Huff defeated Frankie Harlow of Marshfield, 6-5, to win the 113-pound class, and Kainan Lane pinned Phoenixs Ishmael DeLaTorre in 3:20 to finish third in the 285-pound weight class. Coltyn Ringen finished second for North Bend at 126 pounds after losing to Cole Waldron of Douglas, and the Bulldogs Austin Miller came in third at 145 pounds.

Prep wrestling roundup: Comets’ Esmoil brothers, Kelly clinch state berths – Muscatine Journal

Posted on February 12, 2017 by Danzig

MAQUOKETA, Iowa Although he was a district champion after Saturday's Class 2A meet in Maquoketa, West Liberty's Bryce Esmoil was more proud of someone else.

"Will (Esmoil) was like a hammer today," Bryce Esmoil said. "Today wasn't really my day but overall it was pretty fun. (Will) and I challenge each other. I'm just really happy for him."

Bryce Esmoil, a junior, punched a ticket to his third straight state tournament by winning the 195-pound division. He will be joined by younger brother and Comets freshman Will Esmoil, who won the 106-pound title.

Will Esmoil won both his matches by fall, taking out Alaina Sunlin from Monticello in the semifinals and then beating Jack Streicher of Mount Vernon.

Joe Kelly will join the Esmoil brothers at state as he claimed the championship at 152 pounds. Kelly won his 40th match of the season by pinning Beckman Catholic's Cody Feldman in 3 minutes, 47 seconds.

Bryce Esmoil said having his brother on the varsity team has helped both wrestlers reach their potential during the season.

"We really push each other," Bryce said. "Sometimes I do better at tournaments than him and then sometimes he does better than me, so it's great to be able to share those experiences."

Behind the three champions and third-place finishes from Talen Dengler (113), Coy Ruess (126), Noah Bierman (132) and Austin Beaver (145), the Comets were able to take second place in the team standings with 98 points.

Davenport Assumption won the meet with 117.5 points.

West Liberty coach Jeff Wiele said he was proud of the state qualifiers and how the rest of the team battled during the tournament.

"Our kids wrestled hard," Wiele said. "We were right there in many of the matches. All the matches were tough. I think Bryce and Will really help each other. They watch each other and try to help each other out. Those three (qualfiers) should make it a lot of fun in the next week."

COLUMBUS QUALIFIES TWO: Columbus Community senior Tucker Morrison won a 170-pound district title at Fairfield on Saturday, his third straight state tournament berth.

He'll be joined in Des Moines starting on Thursday by sophomore teammate Jarod Kadel, who lost a 10-0 major decision to top-ranked Grayson Kesterson of Williamsburg in the final to secure his first state berth.

Morrison, who improved to 45-2 on the season, won by pinfall in his semifinal before beating Solon's Mike Hoyle by major decision, 9-0, to clinch his return to Wells Fargo Arena.

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Prep wrestling roundup: Comets' Esmoil brothers, Kelly clinch state berths - Muscatine Journal

Trump faces test from North Korea while mulling travel order – Caledonian Record

Posted on February 12, 2017 by Danzig

PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) Already in a domestic battle over his immigration order, President Donald Trump now faces a fresh foreign provocation in his first weeks in office an apparent ballistic missile test by North Korea.

After a stormy start on the diplomacy front, Trump has shown evidence of more traditional approach of closely cultivating a relationship with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The countries' long-standing ties were reinforced after word came Saturday night of the test-firing that would be North Korea's first of the year and an implicit challenge to Trump.

The president, who was hosting Abe for a weekend visit at his Mar-a-Lago Club in Florida, said he stood by Japan "100 percent."

As the new administration assesses the threat from North Korea, the White House also is focusing on its options following a legal blow to Trump's immigration order suspending the nation's refugee program and barring citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the U.S.

Some answers about the way ahead may come later Sunday from Stephen Miller, the chief policy adviser who helped craft the order. He was scheduled to appear on four news shows.

The administration maintains that all options are on the table, including a Supreme Court appeal. But Trump said on the plane ride down to Florida on Friday that he was considering signing a "brand new order" as early as Monday to try to bypass the legal challenges.

Trump's trip to Mar-a-Lago had begun as a bonding session with Abe. For most of the day Saturday, Trump and the Japanese prime minister played golf under the Florida sun to get to know one another and show the world the U.S.-Japan alliance remained strong. Then events in Asia provided a more significant example of cooperation.

After North Korea reportedly launched a ballistic missile, the two leaders appeared for hastily prepared statements in a ballroom of Trump's south Florida estate. Abe spoke first and longest.

"North Korea's most recent missile launch is absolutely intolerable," Abe said through a translator. He added that the North must comply fully with relevant U.N. Security Council resolutions, but also noted that Trump had assured him that the U.S. supported Japan.

"President Trump and I myself completely share the view that we are going to promote further cooperation between the two nations. And also we are going to further reinforce our alliance," he said.

Trump followed Abe with even fewer words, saying in part: "I just want everybody to understand and fully know that the United States of America stands behind Japan, its great ally, 100 percent." With that, they left the room.

In the opening days of his presidency, Trump's diplomacy had a rocky stretch that included contentious phone calls with the leaders of Mexico and Australia. In contrast, the first visit by a foreign leader at his Mar-a-Lago estate was a friendly weekend of meetings, dinners and golf that suggested the new president was willing to invest time in developing close personal relationships with leaders he feels he can work with.

Trump and Abe, both frequent golfers, left Mar-a-Lago early Saturday morning and headed north to one of Trump's golf courses in Jupiter, Florida. Reporters and photographers from both countries did not catch a glimpse of the pair as they played. But Trump later posted a photo of them giving each other a high-five on the golf course and tweeted, "Having a great time hosting Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in the United States!"

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Trump faces test from North Korea while mulling travel order - Caledonian Record

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