Daily Archives: July 23, 2017

Fringe movements key to changing the world – Winnipeg Free Press

Posted: July 23, 2017 at 1:00 am

"The more things change, the more they stay the same" is a common interpretation of a French quote by critic Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr. Yet, as events of the past year and a half have demonstrated, sometimes things change so much that underlying assumptions must be questioned.

Western society has always had its share of extremist, fringe activists, who are generally dismissed tolerantly or not by the mainstream culture.

British journalist and tech blogger Jamie Bartlett points out that successful radicals of the past are now heroes who changed both history and culture. For instance, in the United States: "American revolutionaries, the abolitionists, the civil rights activists, the LGBTQ rights groups."

Radicals Chasing Utopia interestingly, if unevenly, chronicles Bartletts experiences embedding himself in various radical groups.

"In streets, halls, fields, chat rooms and even parliaments, more and more people are trying to change the world. And for the last two years, Ive tried to find them."

Bartletts 2014 book The Dark Net, about underground and sketchy sub-cultures in various corners of the internet, included "transhumanism," and thats where Radicals Chasing Utopia begins.

Transhumanists "believe that technology can make us physically, intellectually, even morally better."

Bartlett accompanied other journalists and fellow travellers on Zoltan Istvans quixotic 2016 presidential campaign, in a bus "redesigned to look like a giant coffin."

Some transhumanists believe even mortality can be overcome by scientific advances and obsessively careful living.

Other chapters cover anti-immigration activists in Europe, psychedelic drug experiences, the Italian Five Star Momentum movement, and a commune in Portugal attempting to establish "a healing biotope, a template of how man could live in harmony with himself, his fellow man and his environment."

Bartletts reports on most groups achieve his stated goal of "assessing them as honestly and objectively" as possible, but retaining "a degree of scepticism."

The chapter Interlude: Prevent examines the U.K. governments difficulties attempting to "deal with the spread of radical ideas that directly seek to undermine or destroy" liberal democracy.

His chapter about taking part in direct action to protest a coal mine in Wales somewhat exposes his own bias, but the rest of the book does not come across as a polemic either for or against the radicals he observes.

That chapter, The Activists Paradox, discusses the tendency of some radicals to turn off the general public, whose participation in the machinery of change is so important to fundamental shifts in cultural or political norms.

Engaging as Bartletts coverage is, reading the book can be frustrating, partly due to the overwhelming documentation. Over 50 pages of endnotes often containing additional exposition or explanation, not just attribution compete with numerous explanatory or illustrative footnotes.

Some passages point the reader to both a footnote and an endnote. Much of that information would be less intrusive if it were included in the text, rather than interrupting it.

Bartletts observations and analyses of particular groups culminate in an especially thoughtful and challenging epilogue, discussing the dilemmas and difficulties inherent in radicals who are trying to change the world.

"Their energy, imagination and passion might save us; but those very attributes might also lead to ruin and desperation. Yet, for all this, radicals remain our best hope."

Whether one agrees or disagrees with this conclusion, Bartletts book is an enjoyable and thought-provoking addition to the conversation.

Bill Rambo teaches at The Laureate Academy in St. Norbert. He adheres to the radical idea that knowledge of Shakespeare could arrest virtually all decay of the English language.

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Review: Nolan’s ‘Dunkirk’ is as Riveting as it is Groundbreaking – First Showing (blog)

Posted: at 12:59 am

by Jeremy Kirk July 22, 2017

When it comes to telling a story about war, the filmmaking game has been hitting many of the same strides for a couple of decades now. Ever since 1998's Saving Private Ryan and the opening scene set on Omaha Beach, war movies, especially those set during World War II, have been satisfied retreading that same water, rolling with similar tides, giving us much of what we've already seen before. It takes a true craftsman in the game to deliver something fresh but still maintain a sense of scope, compassion, and intensity. That craftsman, apparently, is Christopher Nolan, who has been reshaping genres and defying expectations since his 2000 thriller, Memento, floored audiences with its disjointed structure. Nolan is the craftsman, and Dunkirk, a WWII movie unlike any seen or experienced before, is the stunning result of his craft.

Told over the course of one week in the extremely early days of the Second World War, the film quickly brushes over the necessary exposition setting the stage with simple narration through title cards. In the town of Dunkirk in the North of France, hundreds of thousands of Allied troops were trapped and surrounded by the invading, German forces. In May and June of 1940, these Allied soldiers were evacuated from the area with what little resources Britain, France, and Belgium could spare at the time. Needless to say, the evacuation was a long and arduous process with many Allied troops believing help and their salvation would never come. For many of them, it didn't before it was too late.

With the setting established, Nolan drops us right into the thick of it all: the constant barrage of attacks against the troops lining the beach from the fighter planes buzzing around above them. Nolan, who also serves as the screenwriter here, isn't satisfied letting this play out in the typical way either. His screenplay is broken up over three, separate stories showing the events as they play out from the land, the sea, and even the air. Not satisfied with telling these individual stories in typical fashion, either, Nolan jumps between them, sometimes at the expense of straightforward continuity. The weeklong attempt of survival for the soldiers on the beach is edited along with the day-long trip it takes for the boats to reach the island from the mainland and the hour-long trip for the planes in the sky. It all comes across as somewhat confusing at first, but, once the timelines are established and begin to be fleshed out, it all moves together in a beautiful and riveting symphony of survivalism and heroism.

Nolan's film is completely stripped of needless exposition or even the typical developments commonly found in films about war. We aren't given any backstory for any of the characters, and, oftentimes, we aren't even given a name to go along with the character. While this may appear to keep the emotion at an arm's length, the very notion of surviving an impossible situation and the bravery of those who faced it down comes through crystal clear. Dunkirk allows these ideas to speak for themselves without being bogged down by explanation. This may come across as awkward for some, but Nolan's structure here is deliberate and ends up benefiting the stories as a whole as well as the war film in which it makes up.

The moments of silence are few and far between with Nolan inundating us with the constant dangers that surround these characters. He also utilizes Hans Zimmer's throbbing score as a character, itself, hardly ever falling away completely and constantly serving as a reminder that there is no rest for those involved. Likewise, the choices made in the film's narrative structure only help to amplify the harrowing task of those attempting to rescue these men, in particular the story of a Royal Air Force pilot (Tom Hardy) whose hour in the sky is a constant onslaught of bravery and danger.

Hardy, to his credit, gives a resonating performance despite the simplicity of his story. As with many of Hardy's previous performances, his eyes do most of the talking, what they are saying giving off as much emotion as many, straightforward performances of this ilk. Likewise, the story of soldiers on the beach, particularly those played by Fionn Whitehead and Harry Styles, are filled to the brim with emotion despite the lack of commonly found narrative beats. The story told at sea, however, is the most powerful of them all with Mark Rylance giving an incredible performance as a civilian mariner en route to help with the evacuation. Rylance is rock steady and perfectly informed even with the lack of typical emotion to drive him, and it's this story that Nolan could have easily turned into a feature-length film all by itself.

Christopher Nolan has quickly established himself as a filmmaker who is always looking for the road less traveled when it comes to the stories he tells. With Dunkirk, he has once again shaken up a genre and delivered something that will likely become the new establishment for future stories. Hard-hitting and wrapped in the inherent emotion that comes from stories about war, Dunkirk is an experience of World War II unlike any we've seen before. It has quickly become a wonder to guess where Nolan's career will take him next, but, with Dunkirk it will be even more interesting to see where war movies go from here.

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Ann McFeatters: What we’ve learned from 6 months of Trump – The Exponent Telegram (press release) (registration)

Posted: at 12:58 am

WASHINGTON Its strange how six months can feel like six exhausting years when theyve produced nothing but a string of nonsensical superlatives.

As Donald Trump celebrates the first eighth of his ridiculous amazing, stupendous, unsurpassed presidency, we mere mortals are left to ponder what we have learned. Well, here are some takeaways:

Facts do not matter to this White House. Trump has publicly lied about important matters more than 100 times since becoming president. These are not just equivocations open to dispute; theyre flat-out, verifiable untruths. For example, he said he has accomplished more and signed more bills into law than any previous president. Not true. His staff follows his lead, disseminating statements that are lies.

Trump not only failed to drain the swamp, he deepened and widened it. He has filled top posts with Wall Streeters and business cronies, doling out jobs like mints to loyal minions. After he promised not to touch Medicaid, which serves the disabled, poor and elderly in nursing homes, we were introduced to a Trumpcare plan that called for disqualifying 75 million and taking another 22 million off health insurance.

He is a costly public servant. He is on track in his first year to spend more taxpayer money on personal travel than President Barack Obama did in eight. We also pay for security at Trump Tower, his hotels and his golf courses. His re-election committee (of course he wants four more years after 2020) has raised millions to pay legal fees and rent for office space in Trump Tower.

Trump does not care that he has the lowest approval rating of any president since polling started (about 70 years). His base loves him even though he has done nothing for them since taking office. Is it any wonder that 34 percent of Americans do not believe in scientific evolution, according to the Pew Research Center? Is it surprising that a majority of Republicans believe that colleges and universities are a negative influence on the country? (Pew again).

Trump has set the precedent that a presidents conflicts of interest do not matter. Refusing to divest himself of his holdings, he has put his son Junior (the one who loves meeting with Kremlin operatives) in charge. His wealthy daughter and son-in-law have offices in the White House. His hotels draw foreign leaders who want to curry favor. Fees at his Mar-a-Lago golf resort have doubled to $200,000.

Getting rid of excessive and overlapping regulations is one thing. Gutting environmental protection and consumer protection regulations as Trump is doing is another. A future column will detail the astonishing number of actions the administration quietly has taken to further the interests of big business to the detriment of Americans who love their parks, want to breathe clean air, drink clean water and buy products that wont hurt their children.

The artful dealmaker has not managed to make any good deals. Even with a GOP-controlled House and Senate, he could not repeal Obamacare. Instead, he sabotages it by eliminating advertising, shortening the enrollment period and not enforcing the mandate to buy insurance or pay a tax to keep premiums low. Wages are not increasing. Exporters of American goods and services will be hurt by the lack of free trade he is engineering. No wall. No tax reform. No infrastructure plan.

The number of investigations caused by Trumps inexplicable fondness for Vladimir Putin, the Russian thief, thug and murderer, is unparalleled for a first term. Trump refuses to admit Russia meddled in our elections yet wants a national registry of all Americans personal information to root out voter fraud the experts say does not exist. Hey, Russia, Trump will make it easy for you to re-elect him.

The United States is no longer the leader of the free world and fighter for human rights in the eyes of our once closest allies. After seeing Trump up close and personal at international meetings, some say openly they may never again trust us.

Trumps misogyny, hedonism, lack of discipline, coarse language, bullying and refusal to read briefing papers or attempt to learn what he doesnt know diminish us. The man who convinced millions to watch him say Youre fired every week parlayed celebrity into the White House, but the applause is fading. Only 12 percent liked his disgraceful health-care plan. It died.

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‘Ninth Circuit poised to resolve major free speech issue in secret proceeding’ – Washington Post

Posted: at 12:57 am

A very interesting post from Paul Alan Levy (Public Citizens Consumer Law & Policy Blog); here are the opening paragraphs:

The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has issued an order signed only by the Clerk declaring that a significant free speech issue bearing on the rights of anonymous Internet users will be decided in a totally secret proceeding, involving sealed briefs, a sealed record, and without any help from would-be amici (including Public Citizen) seeking to explain the dangers posed by the proceeding.

The case arises from a subpoena served by the United States on the employer-rating site Glassdoor, originally demanding identifying information about the owners of more than one hundred pseudonymous accounts that had, it appears, been used to post reviews of a particular employer whose contracting practices were subject to a federal criminal investigation. Glassdoor refused to produce the information demanded by the grand jury subpoena, citing the First Amendment right of its users to speak anonymously.

In an effort to compromise, the government limited its production demand to eight specified reviewers. Glassdoor responded to that offer by proposing that it notify the users of the subpoena and provide identifying information for such of its users who were willing to be identified to the prosecutors. After the government rejected this offer, Glassdoor moved to quash the subpoena, invoking its users First Amendment right to speak anonymously which, Glassdoor contended, created a privilege against production of the information. At the same time, it notified its users of the subpoena, thus meeting one of the conditions of the Dendrite line of cases that it cited in its motion. Those cases rely on the First Amendment right to speak anonymously as a basis for posing procedural and substantive obstacles to civil subpoenas seeking to identify online speakers so that they can be served with process and sued for wrongful speech. Eventually, Glassdoor also invoked Bursey v. United States, a decision in which the Ninth Circuit quashed in part a grand jury subpoena directed at the process of publishing the newspaper of the Black Panther Party.

The entire subpoena litigation was conducted under seal, but we know some of the details because, having taken a contempt citation to secure its ability to appeal, Glassdoor next obtained the governments stipulation for the partial unsealing of the briefs exchanges by the two sides on Glassdoors motion to quash. Glassdoor had appealed, and raised the possibility that parties beside itself might wish to provide the Court of Appeals with the benefit of their views of the applicable law. The trial judge granted that request; as a result the briefs supporting and opposing the Glassdoor motion to quash, as well as reply briefs both from Glassdoor and from the government, are available in the public record, as is the judges ruling on the motion. The finer details from the papers were redacted, including for example the name of the company under investigation and some of the detail about the content of the employee reviews whose authors.

We know from Judge Humetawas opinion that she refused to apply the Bursey line of cases because she considered that it only protected against grand jury subpoenas directed at dissent against the government, and she refused to take seriously the First Amendment rights of Glassdoors users because well, for reasons that showed a misunderstanding of the First Amendment rights at issue. On the one hand, the judge thought that the First Amendment privilege being asserted could extend only to political speech, and on the other hand she seems to have suggested that no First Amendment obstacles could be posed to a grand jury subpoena because newspapers do not generally have any First Amendment rights to stop grand jury intrusion into their sources absent a showing of bad faith on the part of the government; the judge deemed Glassdoor indistinguishable from a journalistic enterprise.

Grand jury proceedings have historically been secret, and there are good reasons for such secrecy; but its indeed dangerous to have significant legal issues resolved in secret proceedings. Im not sure quite what should be done in cases like this, but I agree that this is an important issue, and Levys post is much worth reading.

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China’s communists: Atheism mandatory for members – WND.com

Posted: at 12:55 am

There are some 90 million members of Chinas Communist Party, and all of them now have been banned from having religious beliefs.

According to a report in the Hindustan Times, Wang Zuoan of the repressive nations State Administration for Religious Affairs announced that CPC members mustbe atheists.

Party members should not have religious beliefs, which is a red line for all members, he wrote. Party members should be firm Marxist atheists, obey party rules and stick to the partys faith they are not allowed to seek value and belief in religion.

His comments were reported in the CPCs journal Qiushi, which deals with political theory.

According to the Christian Institute in the United Kingdom,Wang promised if there are party members with religiousfaith should be persuaded to give it up, and those who resisted would be punished.

Joseph Farahs newest book, The Restitution of All Things, expounds on what few authors dare to approach, the coming kingdom of God. Available at the WND Superstore.

Se Wei, a professor at the Party School of the CPC Chongqing Committee, responded to Wangs regulations by referring to Christianity as part of Chinas religious problem.

Christianity in China has been accused of being a national security risk, and in the past few years, hundreds of Christian pastors and activists have been arrested, the report continued.

The Christian Institute noted the international freedom watchdog Freedom House said in March that as many as 100 million people in China are facing high or very high levels of persecution under communist rule.

Christianity, however, is surging in China.

The institute said academics predict that by 2030 China will have more than 247 million Christians, which would be more than 17 percent of the population.

Wanginsisted, however, that religious groups should be guided by the state and alter their doctrine to promote socialist core values.

China officially is atheist. But the communist-controlled government recognizes five faiths: Buddhism, Islam, Taoism, Protestantism and Catholicism.

Wangs comments echoed President Xi Jinping.

We must resolutely guard against overseas infiltrations via religious means and prevent ideological infringement by extremists, Xi said.

Wang wrote: We should guide religious groups and individuals with socialist core values and excellent traditional Chinese culture and support religious groups to dig into their doctrines to find parts that are beneficial to social harmony and development.

Joseph Farahs newest book, The Restitution of All Things, expounds on what few authors dare to approach, the coming kingdom of God. Available at the WND Superstore.

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Phobos imaged by Hubble Space telescope – The Hindu

Posted: at 12:53 am


The Hindu
Phobos imaged by Hubble Space telescope
The Hindu
NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has beamed back images of the tiny Martian moon Phobos in its orbital trek around the red planet. Over the course of 22 minutes, Hubble took 13 separate images, allowing astronomers to create a time-lapse video showing ...
This is just really cool a time-lapse animation from the Hubble telescope showing a tiny moon zinging around MarsDiscover Magazine (blog)
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Hubble Telescope Captures Mars Moon Phobos Orbiting Around The Planet – I4U News

Posted: at 12:53 am

NASAs Hubble Telescope has captured a unique time-lapse movie of Martian moon Phobos as it orbited around the planet. In the sequence, Phobos emerges from behind the Mars and passes in front of the planet. The moon looks so small that it could easily be mistaken with a star.

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Phobos is the larger of Mars' two moons. It is closer to its host planet than any other moon in the solar system and it takes it just 7 hours and 39 minutes to complete an orbit.

Mars gravitational pull is drawing Phobos closer and closer. Every 100 years, the moon is approaching Mars by about 2 meters or 6.5 feet. As the moon is getting dangerously close to its planet, it could be shredded into pieces and likely form rings Saturn-like around Mars. Scientists predict that this could happen between 30 and 50 million years.

Thought Phobos is the largest moon of Mars, it is still one of smallest natural satellites in our solar system. The moon is 27 by 22 by 18 km in diameter and could easily fit inside Washington, D.C. Beltway.

The origin of Phobos is not yet fully determined. But researchers suspect that it could be caused by collision between Mars and another body.

Phobos may be a pile of rubble that is held together by a thin crust. It may have formed as dust and rocks encircling Mars were drawn together by gravity. Or, it may have experienced a more violent birth, where a large body smashing into Mars flung pieces skyward, and those pieces were brought together by gravity. Perhaps an existing moon was destroyed, reduced to the rubble that would become Phobos. NASA statement said.

The images of Phobos orbiting the Red Planet were taken on May 12, 2016 days before Mars came closest to the Earth in 11 years.

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Hutchison, Trump’s pick for NATO envoy, seems headed for … – Fox News

Posted: at 12:53 am

Kay Bailey Hutchison, a Republican and former U.S. senator from Texas, appears on track to win Senate confirmation as President Trumps choice for U.S. ambassador to NATO, the Texas Tribune reported this week.

Hutchison, 74, whom Trump nominated in June, faced questioning at a hearing Thursday before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and appeared to have bipartisan support.

Her backers included Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz, both R-Texas, and Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., who was Hillary Clintons running mate in the 2016 presidential election.

Few statesmen have the qualifications, the relationships, and gravitas that Senator Hutchison brings to this position, Cruz told the panel. After years of inadequate resourcing, Kay led an effort in the Senate to rebuild our military and helped prepare it to meet the new, more stringent demands of the global war on terror.

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, speaks in Washington, D.C., on October 11, 2013. (2013 Getty Images)

Cruz succeeded Hutchison in the Senate, where the nominee served from 1993 to 2013.

Added Kaine: Kay Bailey, Im so excited youre the nominee. Your nomination sends a signal the NATO relationship is an important one.

U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., speaks Aug. 1, 2016 in Richmond, Virginia. (2016 Getty Images)

Hutchison used part of her testimony Thursday to assure committee members that, if confirmed to represent the U.S. in the Western military alliance, she intended to take a tough stance on Russia, the Tribune reported.

We are beefing up defenses for an aggressive Russia," she told the committee, adding that she backs members of Congress who are considering new sanctions against Russia in response to its cyberattacks.

Several senators said they found Hutchisons positions reassuring, given concerns on Capitol Hill about Trumps relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Tribune reported.

In her testimony,Hutchison said it was likely that Russia interfered in the 2016 American elections, a conclusion that aligns with a consensus among the country's intelligence agencies.

If confirmed for the ambassadorship, Hutchison will likely have to chart a path between the longtime U.S. commitment to the alliance and Trumps criticism of other member countries, the Dallas Morning News reported.

The president has frequently charged NATO members with failing to pay their fair share of the organizations defense costs.

In June, Trump opted not to reaffirm Americas commitment to Article V of the NATO treaty, which assures that all member countries will come to each others defense in case of an attack.

But Hutchisons remarks seemed designed to reassure senators that she believed in NATOs mission, the Morning News reported.

I am a strong supporter of this historic defense and security alliance that was formed to protect freedom for all of its members, united and indivisible, Hutchison said.I look forward to the Senate confirmation process.

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Russia-China exercises a ‘natural response’ to US-NATO military advances – RT

Posted: at 12:53 am

The West should recognize that if NATO is going to expand to the border of Smolensk, that is going to worry the Russians; Also the Russian-Chinese alliance has got the potential to offset America in the terms of military, says political analyst Chris Bambery.

The first ever joint Russia-China drills in European waters started in the Baltic Sea. The military exercise between the two countries will last for a week.

Meanwhile, the US and allied countries have just finished their own massive exercise in the region. Saber Guardian took place in Eastern Europe, on the territory of three countries, aimed at deterring so-called 'Russian aggression'.

Some 25,000 personnel from more than 20 states participated in the biggest drills of their kind in five years.

Despite that, NATO allies are worried by the upcoming Russian war games in Belarus this September. The US Army's top general in Europe even suggested that Moscow might carry out a so-called "Trojan horse" maneuver there.

People are worried, this is a Trojan horse. They say, Were just doing an exercise, and then all of a sudden theyve moved all these people and capabilities somewhere, Lieutenant-General Ben Hodges, commander of US Army forces in Europe, told Reuters on Thursday.

Political analyst Chris Bambery says NATO and America only have themselves to blame for the uptick in tensions.

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RT: The US Army's top general in Europe even suggested that Moscow might carry out a so-called "Trojan horse" maneuver. What do you think about that?

Chris Bambery: I think what NATO and the Americans should be saying is that they themselves are building up their military presence in the region firstly through NATO expansion, something that was specifically promised to Mikhail Gorbachev back when the Soviet Union was collapsing would not happen. That was one of the deals that was done at the time of the fall of the Berlin Wall. It was a promise to Russia that NATO will not expand into the former satellite states of former USSR territory. And secondly weve seen not just those countries joining NATO, but NATO sending troops into the Baltic States and elsewhere, putting the missile shields into Poland and the Czech Republic and carrying out exercises in Hungary, Bulgaria, but also in the north in Poland, Sweden and the Baltic States. And this build-up has destabilized the region. We have a potential Cold War in that region, largely stemming from the NATO expansion into it.

But I think also it is something else. The Chinese have got their own ax to grind given what is happening in the South China Sea, where there is a standoff between them and the Americans, the Taiwanese and the Japanese allies over these islands there. So it is not surprising to anyone that China and Russia are allies. Is this news to anyone? Is it news to this General [Ben Hodges] because they have not been following the news, if that is the case. And it is also the case that clearly if NATO and Americans carry out military exercises in this region, that there is going to be a response. I think what sent the West into a tizzy is the fact that Chinese warships have entered the Baltic, which is unprecedented. And it is a demonstration that, while China is not yet able to match America in terms of its military capacity, that that is something which is going to develop over the years. And the Russian-Chinese alliance has got the potential to offset America in the terms of military might in the world. This has revived fears of what China is going to become in the years to come.

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RT: Why's there so much fuss about Russia given that NATO recently carried out huge drills too?

CB: Weve had this strange attempt to portray Russia as being an enemy of everyone. Blame for everything, including attacks on House of Commons emails here in London. And it is still regarded, despite everything that has happened, as being a problem for the West as it was after WWII, as Britain regarded it in the 19th century. There is unresolved business here.

It is the expansion of NATO, despite a promise made at the time of the USSR to Gorbachev, it is that expansion which has destabilized relationships in Eastern Europe. And clearly, if NATO is going to expand to the border of Smolensk, that is going to worry the Russians. And rather than this stuff coming from the American general, perhaps the West should turn around and recognize that what it is doing is causing concern in Russia because of unrelenting NATO expansion.

The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.

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In midst of Russia probe, NSA chief vows: ‘I will not violate’ my oath to Americans – ABC News

Posted: at 12:53 am

In unusually passionate and stark terms, the head of the nations top spy agency made clear on Saturday in Colorado that he will stand up to anyone -- even the president of the United States -- who asks him to use the U.S. intelligence community as a political prop.

We are not about particular viewpoints. We are not about particular parties. We just cant work that way, National Security Agency Director Mike Rogers said at the Aspen Security Forum in Aspen, Colorado.

Rogers added that the U.S. intelligence community owes U.S. citizens honesty and integrity.

Saturdays remarks come only months after Rogers and at least two other senior U.S. officials were personally asked by President Trump to publicly rebut news reports laying out details of the federal governments probe into Russias alleged efforts to influence the 2016 presidential election.

Although Rogers has refused to publicly discuss his private conversations with Trump, he has previously vowed to keep politics out of his agencys work. But his remarks today at the annual gathering of senior officials, reporters and others tied to the U.S. intelligence community were noteworthy in their intensity and passion.

Punctuating each word -- one by one -- the U.S. Navy admiral said, I will not violate the oath that I have taken in the 36 years as a commission officer.

Rogers face hardened and his voice cracked as he added: I wont do that.

He went on to say that he often relays this message to his workforce: We are intelligence professionals. We raise our right hand and we take an oath to defend the citizens of this nation and the values that are embodied in the Constitution he said. Your integrity isnt worth the price of me or anybody else. You stand up and you remember that oath that we take.

Rogers comments drew a round of applause inside the room.

Nevertheless, Rogers added he has never been directed to do anything that I felt was illegal, immoral, unethical or inappropriate. Nor have I felt pressured to do so. Nor would I do so.

Rogers also said hes more than willing to offer Trump his assessment even when he knows the president disagrees.

He has never shut me down, Rogers said. He gives me good, direct feedback, sometimes, Mike I dont agree with that. Mike Im in a different place than you are.

Thats exactly the way this is supposed to work, Rogers insisted.

Rogers joined other senior officials at the Aspen Security Forum in affirming the U.S. governments conclusion that Russia is to blame for a cyber assault on the 2016 election.

No doubt at all, Rogers said.

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