Virginia company to help NATO train Afghan troops

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WASHINGTON, Jan. 8 (UPI) -- NATO is to receive advisory and assistance services from a U.S. counterterrorism company in the training of Afghanistan's national security forces.

Virginia-headquartered A-T Solutions said its services -- on the strategic and tactical levels -- would be conducted from the International Security Assistance Force and Resolute Support mission headquarters in Kabul, the Afghan capital.

Resolute Support is the name given by NATO to its training and assistance activities in the country following termination of direct involvement of NATO forces in combat operations against the Taliban. The U.S. component to the program is called Operation Freedom's Sentinel.

A-T Solutions said that under the NATO contract it will develop, design and present field training material and courses to ISAF/RS advisers on advisory skills, cultural awareness, insider threat, security force assistance and other subjects.

The company will also consolidate lessons learned from training operations, which will be presented to allied forces in theater and at predeployment centers.

"We are honored to be working with NATO to support this vitally important mission," said Dennis Kelly, president and CEO of A-T Solutions. "We look forward to working closely with the Resolute Support team and Afghan National Security Forces to deliver effective advisory support and the most comprehensive training programs available to help secure communities in Afghanistan against the terrorist threat."

Information on the contract's period of performance and monetary value were not disclosed.

2015 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent.

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Virginia company to help NATO train Afghan troops

Poland to seek NATO response to Russia's Baltic exercises

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By Wiktor Szary and Pawel Sobczak

WARSAW Thu Jan 8, 2015 4:06pm GMT

Poland's Defence Minister Tomasz Siemoniak speaks during an interview with Reuters in his office at the Ministry of Defence in Warsaw April 10, 2014.

Credit: Reuters/Kacper Pempel

WARSAW (Reuters) - Poland expects the NATO alliance to step up its military exercises around the Baltic Sea after a flurry of activity by Russian warships and jet fighters in the area last month, Defence Minister Tomasz Siemoniak told Reuters in an interview.

"What happened in December was indeed rather unprecedented," Siemoniak said. "We will definitely want the Baltic Sea to be taken into account to a greater extent, and I think that in terms of military exercises planned by NATO, there will be such a reaction," he said. The interview was conducted on Monday but authorised for release by the ministry on Thursday.

The Atlantic alliance has already increased the frequency of air patrols in the region, part of a revival of Cold War tensions sparked by Russia's annexation of Crimea from Ukraine and its support for Ukraine's pro-Russian rebels.

Siemoniak said Moscow did not have an exit strategy, and that NATO and the European Union, which has imposed sanctions on Russia together with the United States, should brace themselves for years of conflict.

"We shouldn't talk about lifting the sanctions too soon," he said, adding that they were the most effective tool at the West's disposal.

The French government in November put on hold a contract to supply Mistral warships to Russia after coming under pressure from NATO allies.

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Poland to seek NATO response to Russia's Baltic exercises

NSA Director on Sony Hack: The Entire World is Watching

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TIME Politics National Security NSA Director on Sony Hack: The Entire World is Watching Adm. Michael Rogers, commander of the U.S. Cyber Command and director of the National Security Agency, testifies during a hearing before the House (Select) Intelligence Committee Nov. 20, 2014 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. Alex WongGetty Images The hack against Sony last month was a "game changer" for cybersecurity, the NSA director said on Thursday

National Security Agency Director Admiral Michael Rogers expressed support Thursday for the United States economic sanctions against North Korea in response to the hack on Sony Pictures Entertainment, and called the attack against the movie studio a game changer for cybersecurity.

Sony is important to me because the entire world is watching how we as a nation are going to respond do this, Rogers said Thursday at the International Conference on Cyber Security in New York. If we dont name names here, it will only encourage others to decide, Well this must not be a red line for the United States.'

After naming North Korea responsible for the attack against Sony, the U.S. announced sanctions last week against 10 individuals and three organizations in North Korea, including the states main intelligence agency and its primary arms exporter. The sanctions effectively denied them access to U.S. financial systems.

In his address at the conference, Rogers endorsed the U.S. response to the Sony attack, implying the U.S. government should have a key role in responding to some cyberattacks on private companies. I dont think its realistic for private companies to deal with [cyberattacks] totally by themselves, he said.

Rogers that hacks against private companies may require economic sanctions. Merely because something happens to us in the cyber arena, doesnt mean that our response has to be focused in the cyber arena he said. I was very happy to see what we as a nation state decided to do, referring to the response to North Korea.

He also expressed skepticism about so-called hack backs in which private companies strike back against hackers, saying they risk fratricide by escalating cyber attacks between nation states and institutions.

The NSA was asked to examine malware used in the Sony hack and played a supporting role in determining its origins, Rogers said. The November hack brought down the studios networks and resulted in the leaks of terabytes of files including unreleased films and employee Social Security numbers. President Obama said last month the U.S. would launch a proportional response to the attack.

Rogers said North Korea was responsible for the hack against Sony Pictures Entertainment, reaffirming government claims despite doubts among some cybersecurity experts. I remain very confident: this was North Korea, Rogers said.

The remarks come a day after FBI Director James Comey said North Korea was sloppy in concealing the attack and said he had high confidence the hermit state was responsible.

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New lives of the girls in Prince Andrew sex claim row

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Sarah Kellen and Nadia Marchinova given immunity from prosecution Pleaded right to silence when asked if Andrew had sex with teenage girls Have now been reinvented as Sarah Kensington, 34 and Nadia Marcinko, 29 Ms Kensington renovates corporate apartments and dates a racing driver Miss Marcinko is chief executive of Aviloop, which sells discounted flights Both operate from 1.5m addresses in building owned by Epstein's brother Jeffrey Epstein, 61, allegedly made huge efforts to look after those who kept quiet about his crimes

By Sam Greenhill In Florida and Daniel Bates In New York For The Daily Mail

Published: 20:50 EST, 7 January 2015 | Updated: 03:55 EST, 8 January 2015

They were the glamorous Jeffrey Epstein aides who refused to testify about Prince Andrews visits to the House of Sin.

Sarah Kellen and Nadia Marchinova both pleaded their right to silence under the US Fifth Amendment when asked if the royal had sex with teenage girls earning themselves the nickname the blondes who took the Fifth.

Today, Epsteins former PA Miss Kellen and Miss Marchinova his on-off girlfriend have reinvented themselves as Sarah Kensington and Nadia Marcinko.

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Sarah Kensington - formerly Sarah Kellen - and her racing driver boyfriend Brian Vickers (left) and Nadia Marchinova, who is now Nadia Marcinko (right)

Miss Kensington, 34, is an interior designer who boasts of renovating corporate apartments in New York, the Caribbean and Paris and dating a handsome racing car driver.

Miss Marcinko, 29, is a pilot and the chief executive of Aviloop, a company selling discounted flying lessons.

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New lives of the girls in Prince Andrew sex claim row

Should public schools teach how to use guns? Yes, say South Carolina legislators

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Should public school students be instructed on firearms?

Absolutely, says a group of South Carolina legislators. They have filed two bills in the South Carolina legislature mandating gun safety courses and Second Amendment-related curricula in state schools, a move designed to target zero-tolerance policies on guns in schools.

One bill, filed by State Rep. Alan Clemmons, would establish a three-week educational unit, for all grade levels, devoted to the US Constitution, focusing on the Second Amendment.

The proposed bill would also establish a Second Amendment Awareness Day to be held on Dec. 15 each year in all state schools, complete with a poster or essay contest centered on the theme The Right To Bear Arms: One American Right Protecting All Others.

Rep. Clemmons told South Carolina's The Greenville News that he was inspired to create the bill after hearing the story of a student who was arrested at school over a fictional essay he wrote in which he talked about buying a gun to kill a neighbors pet dinosaur.

That sort of zero-tolerance attitude towards guns in schools, Clemmons told a local South Carolina paper, is undermining knowledge of, and respect for, the Second Amendment.In this case, it squelched a students First Amendment rights, in responding to an assignment, to talk about the Second Amendment, Clemmonstold The Greenville News. We are giving short shrift to the one amendment that protects all others.

Gun rights and safety education has traditionally not been the purview of public schools, with incidents like the school shooting at Newtown, Conn., hardening many parents' resolve against firearm-related curricula. But proponents argue that the best way to counter school shootings and inappropriate gun use is education.Nonetheless, the bill is controversial.

For starters, its proposed "Second Amendment Awareness Day" is scheduled for Dec. 15, which happens to be the day after the anniversary of the Sandy Hook school shooting, in which a lone gunman fatally shot 20 students and six adults at a Newtown elementary school. Clemmons has said the date is a coincidence and he is open to other dates.

Another point of contention is a clause requiring new gun- and Second Amendment-related curriculum be either created or approved by the National Rifle Association, a gun advocacy group.

Another bill, proposed in the state Senate by Sen. Lee Bright, would allow South Carolina schools to offer elective courses on gun safety, gun rights, and marksmanship. If passed, the bill would allow schools to bus students off-campus to gun ranges, where they would learn about gun safety as well as how to use guns.

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Should public schools teach how to use guns? Yes, say South Carolina legislators

Lawmaker wants time set aside in schools for Second Amendment lessons

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By Lara Rolo lmrolo@sbgtv.com

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WCIV) -- An Horry County lawmaker wants to change the script in South Carolina schools and introduce more education specific to Second Amendment rights.

Rep. Alan Clemmons pre-filed a bill in December that would require three weeks of education specific to the Second Amendment.

Clemmons is not the only one who has ideas to change the state's zero tolerance police on teaching guns in schools. Rep. Lee Bright also has introduced a bill that would offer gun safety and marksmanship as an elective.

What Clemmons wants to emphasize is that these curricular changes would be optional to parents and students across the state.

"Silence is not the answer. Education is the answer," he said.

Clemmons said the idea came to him when he heard about the Summerville High School student arrested and suspended for writing a story about killing a dinosaur.

The student was responding to a classroom assignment and was merely expressing his freedom of speech, Clemmons said.

The state representative's rationale doesn't quite make sense to Patrick Hayes, though.

"Sounds like he's looking for a First Amendment Day, which would be something else we could discuss -- but again picking out one amendment and giving it a day -- I can't understand the logic behind it."

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Lawmaker wants time set aside in schools for Second Amendment lessons

State Representative rallies for the study of the Right to Bear Arms in the classroom

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The right to bear arms could soon be a three-week mandatory part of your child's schoolwork if one state legislator has his way.

State Representative Alan Clemmons, who represents district 107, wants a stronger emphasis to be placed on the Second Amendment in schools across the state. He prefiled the Second Amendment Education Act ahead of the General Assembly returning to session this month.

"The second amendment applies to every American citizen," said Clemmons. "It is a personal right to bear arms for the sake of defending oneself if the need should arise."

That is a constitutional right Clemmons wants students to study and understand.

"The discussion should be a scholarly discussion about the history of the second amendment, why was it important to our fathers, why was it so important that it was included in the bill of rights., and how the second amendment folds into modern society," Clemmons said of what he thinks should be implemented in the classroom.

The Second Amendment Education Act would require a portion of South Carolina's mandated study of the U.S. Constitution in high school be devoted to study of the Second Amendment. Clemmons advocates for roughly three weeks of study dedicated to the constitutional right.

Rep. Clemmons filed the bill in responsive to Zero Tolerance policies in place at schools across the state to stop students from bringing guns on campus. According to Clemmons, over time those policies have turned into an anti-Second Amendment shut-down.

"That policy in my mind is subjecting the rising generation to the mindset of the instrument, the firearm, is evil regardless of the hand that the firearm is in," explained Clemmons.

Another bill prefiled ahead of legislators return aims at taking children out of the classroom and into the gun range for a semester-long course on firearm safety.

Under the bill filed by Senator Lee Bright, students would be given the option to take the course as an elective.

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State Representative rallies for the study of the Right to Bear Arms in the classroom

Sending your child to college: Will it be one for free speech?

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Will any of the 2016 presidential candidates mention the many colleges that widely censor students' free speech? Probably not. But at least a news analyst has followed the lead of FIRE (Foundation for Individual Rights in Education) in its essential crusade to bring an active First Amendment to college campuses.

An op-ed in last month's Wall Street Journal says:

"Soviet dissident Natan Sharansky famously postulated that the test of a free society is the ability to express opinions in the town square without fear of reprisal."

But dig this: "Most American colleges wouldn't pass that test, according to a new report by ... FIRE" ("Unfree Speech on Campus," The Wall Street Journal, Dec. 12).

The op-ed continues: "The foundation reports that 55 percent of the 437 colleges it surveyed (in 2014) maintain 'severely restrictive' policies that 'clearly and substantially prohibit protected speech.' They include 61 private schools and 180 public colleges.

"Incredibly, this represents progress from FIRE's survey seven years ago, when 75 percent of colleges maintained restrictive free speech codes."

If contempt for the First Amendment in much of American higher learning is to continue for another generation or more, what quality of emerging public officials and voters will we have?

But to show the liberation of expressive Americanism that has taken place, The Wall Street Journal emphasizes:

"Perhaps the biggest breakthrough for First Amendment advocates (in 2014) was a Virginia law that bars 'free-speech zones' on public campuses. As FIRE explains, free-speech zones are a common tool that administrators use to restrict demonstrations to remote areas of campus.

"Colorado Mesa University limits free speech to 'the concrete patio adjacent to the west door of the University Center.'"

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Sending your child to college: Will it be one for free speech?

Megyn Kelly Schools Catholic Leagues Bill Donohue on the First Amendment

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Catholic League head Bill Donohue is having quite a day. First, he released two statements arguing 1) Muslims are right to be angry at the Charlie Hebdo cartoonists, who were partly at fault for their own deaths, which and 2) that free speech doesnt extend to obscene portrayal of religious figures. Then he was on the receiving end of a pretty pissed-off Hugh Hewitt, who told Donohue that his victim-blaming is an embarrassment to Catholics everywhere.

And tonight, Fox News anchor and lawyer Megyn Kelly took strong issue with Donohues views on free speech and the First Amendment.

Donohue argued the cartoonists are pornographers disguised as satirists in the vein of Larry Flynt, but Kelly pointed out that not only does Flynt have First Amendment rights, but his specific First Amendment rights were upheld by the Supreme Court. She read the actual Supreme Court decision to rebut Donohues argument that freedom of speech is not an end.

Donohue also said, Self-censorship is the friend of freedom, because if we dont have self-censorship were gonna have individuals interpreting their rights in an extreme fashion.

Kelly told Donohue it is no defense to say that the cartoonists offended people, no matter how outrageous it may have been.

Watch the full segment below, via Fox News:

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Follow Josh Feldman on Twitter: @feldmaniac

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Megyn Kelly Schools Catholic Leagues Bill Donohue on the First Amendment

How to earn and use Bitcoins in India | Bitcoin Mining 2015 with Nvidia GTX 970 | – Video

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How to earn and use Bitcoins in India | Bitcoin Mining 2015 with Nvidia GTX 970 |
Hi Friends, This is a detailed tutorial on using bit coins in India or any other country ! It will tell you practical implementation of bit coins !

By: Tech Virus

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How to earn and use Bitcoins in India | Bitcoin Mining 2015 with Nvidia GTX 970 | - Video