Monthly Archives: January 2015

Poland to seek NATO response to Russia's Baltic exercises

Posted: January 9, 2015 at 12:49 am

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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NSA Director on Sony Hack: The Entire World is Watching

Posted: at 12:49 am

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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Embracing the Second Amendment – 1080p 60fps – Video

Posted: at 12:48 am


Embracing the Second Amendment - 1080p 60fps
"Ready Aim Fire" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

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Mayor Clodfelter NASCAR Hall of Fame Comments – Video

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Mayor Clodfelter NASCAR Hall of Fame Comments
Mayor Dan Clodfelter shares thoughts on NASCAR Hall of Fame loan. For more information: http://charlottenc.gov On Jan. 12, 2015, City Council will consider the second amendment to the NASCAR...

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Mayor Clodfelter NASCAR Hall of Fame Comments - Video

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

Posted: at 12:48 am

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

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

Posted: at 12:48 am

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

Posted: at 12:48 am

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?

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Megyn Kelly Schools Catholic Leagues Bill Donohue on the First Amendment

Posted: at 12:48 am

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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Megyn Kelly Schools Catholic Leagues Bill Donohue on the First Amendment

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VB NET Cryptocurrency Wallet stealer tutorial {MultiBit} – Video

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VB NET Cryptocurrency Wallet stealer tutorial {MultiBit}
Program download link (box.com): http://bit.ly/1vzG2P6 Like favorite and subscribe for assistance I decided to upload my Bitcoin Wallet Stealer to you! How I...

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What is Storj? – Video

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What is Storj?
In this video I talk about storj, a new decentralize cloud based storage based off the bitcoin block chain. This amazing new service is being run on top of Florincoin and is currently in crowd...

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What is Storj? - Video

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