Monthly Archives: July 2017

Can Libertarian Cliff Hyra Make a Dent in the Virginia Governor’s … – Reason

Posted: July 10, 2017 at 7:43 pm

Cliff Hyra has a ready answer for anyone who thinks being governor is not an entry-level job: Roughly one-fourth of the country's current governors started their political careers that way. One of them, in fact, serves as governor of Virginia. (Whether Terry McAuliffe qualifies as an argument for gubernatorial neophytes or against them is an open question.)

Wisely, Hyrathe Libertarian Party's candidate for governor of Virginia this yeardoes not bring up another example of a novice: Donald Trump, who holds the most important elected position in the world without any prior political experience. Trump's approval ratings in Virginia continue to dangle below 40 percent.

But Trump does neuter arguments Libertarians often confront, such as the notion that people will not vote for a political outsider. And the criticism that Libertarian candidates are ill-prepared for officea stereotype Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson reinforced last year with his infamous Aleppo Moment. That was embarrassing, but Trump makes Johnson look like a walking encyclopedia.

The Trump era also confounds other received wisdom, such as the supposed immutability of ideological groups. A recent Cato Institute study on "The 5 Types of Trump Voters" finds that almost 20 percent hold essentially progressive views on economic and social issues. Some of the fiercest Trump critics, on the other hand, are traditional conservatives of the National Review variety. "Never-Trump Republicans" make up a significant segment of the political populace.

This has led to a fair amount of speculation about a potential re-alignment of America's political parties. Libertarians, who generally sound like Republicans on economics and Democrats on social issues, should be able to benefit from such a realignment by forming a coalition from both parties who favor limited government across a broad swath of issues.

Nice theory, anyway. It hasn't worked out so well in practice. ("Just like libertarianism itself!" cackle Statler and Waldorf from the Muppet Show balcony.) Even in elections where Libertarians have had a chance to break into the big leagues because the two major-party candidates turned off so many voters, they have come up short.

It happened last year, when Johnsona former Republican and two-time governorreceived only 3 percent of the vote. And it happened four years ago, when Libertarian gubernatorial candidate Robert Sarvis won 6.5 percent of the vote for governor of Virginia against McAuliffe and the GOP's Ken Cuccinelli.

If Libertarians can't break 10 percent (or even five) in elections like those, it's hard to see how they can make a bigger splash any other time. Which isn't to say the party is doomed to irrelevance. New Hampshire now has three sitting Libertarians in the state legislature. And even candidates who have no chance of winning can still make an impact by steering public discourse down different avenues. Just ask Bernie Sanders.

Yet Sanders was no neophyte. He was an established politician offering an alternative to dissatisfied party loyalists. Virginians already have had two of those this year: Tom Perriello on the left and Corey Stewart on the right. Periello carried the Sanders flag in the Democratic primary and got trounced. Stewart, a Trumpian to the core, carried the Confederate flag in the GOP primary and almost won.

That is bad news for the Virginia GOP, but it could be worse news for Hyrawho, on his campaign website, describes himself as "socially inclusive." In his acceptance speech at the Libertarian Party nominating event, Hyra also stressed the virtues of "unlimted freedom and"please note"respect."

Social inclusion and respect were not exactly high among Stewart's campaign themes. And Republicans who are turned off by the Stewart wing of the party can simply vote for their establishment nominee, Ed Gillespie.

Still, Hyra is performing a signal service simply by running. Like Sarvis before him, he is palpably smart, with an undergrad degree in aerospace engineering and a career as an intellectual-property lawyer.

He is straight-laced, which can only do good for the Libertarian Party's image. And he thinks people are tired of partisan rancor, and therefore might be open to someone who focuses on "ideas, not teams or tribal affiliation." He is "not an ideologue by an means," he says. "Incrementalism is sort of my calling card... I don't worry about privatizing the roads." If a policy works, then "we should be open to it."

Hyra has crafted a platform tailored to promote innovation and economic growth: End the state's BPOL tax, which applies to the first dollar of business revenue, rather than the first dollar of profit. Repeal certain occupational licensing requirements. Cut personal income taxes. Expand charter schools. Repeal the Certificate of Public Need regime in health care. Legalize marijuana. Roll back regulations that hinder the growth of the food and beverage industry.

And focus on respect. "Respect is at the heart of libertarianism," he said in an interview on Wednesday: Just because you think someone else is wrong doesn't mean you should impose your will on them. It's important, Hyra says, to have "respect for people no matter how different they are."

That's a message Virginians probably respect in turn. Whether the regard translates into votes, however, could be a different story.

This column originally appeared in the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

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On The Eucharist: Part One – Patheos (blog)

Posted: at 7:42 pm

Icon of Jesus at the Mystical Supper. Photograph by Henry Karlson

We are born again in baptism, then we find ourselves sanctified in the Spirit through the anointing of chrism. But as we are limited beings in the world, and we find ourselves consistently needing to eat and drink in order to extend ourselves and add to our potential energy lest we die, so we need spiritual nourishment to extend our spiritual potential and grow in the spirit lest we find a limit to our spiritual growth and then find ourselves facing a living-death, where our spiritual potential is, as it were, stretched to the limit in eternity.

In the whole of our being, body and soul, we hunger and thirst. We seek after food so we do not suffer loss. But the greatest food is that which can help our whole being, body and soul, at once, nourishing both that neither finds a limit to its potentiality before being stretched thin.

In our core, we thirst, and we receive the stream of living water, the Holy Spirit; likewise, we hunger, and receive the bread of life, by which we are able to partake of eternal life. Jesus said that he is himself that bread of life; he is the one who has come down from heaven in order for us to partake of him. In this manner, we can abide in him as he abides in us, and so we share in his infinite potential and life in a way which whatever we need, we can have from him and so never suffer loss:

I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if any one eats of this bread, he will live for ever; and the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh.

The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat? So Jesus said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you; he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats me will live because of me. This is the bread which came down from heaven, not such as the fathers ate and died; he who eats this bread will live for ever (Jn. 6:51 8 RSV).

Even in the way he came to us in his birth, he revealed to us that he came to give us of himself as the bread of life. As St. Anthony of Padua explained, the incarnation works in and through fitting symbols which reinforce each other, and here, we find Jesus being born in Bethlehem hints at his being the bread of life:

He is also called a Bethlehemite. Bethlehem means house of bread. He feeds us in the Church with the bready of his Body:

the bread will give is my flesh, for the life of the world. [Jn 6:52][1]

Jesus was born in the house of bread, to be the true Bethlehemite, indeed, to fulfill the meaning behind Bethlehem itself. He came to the world, not in some ordinary home, not even in an ordinary room at some inn, but in a manger, fulfilling what it means to be a Bethlehemite, for the manger is the place in which food is stored for animals. We are, to be sure, animals ourselves, and by coming to Christ, we come to the manger to feed. Jesus remains every in the manger as he is our food, the bread of life which has come down to the house of bread, so that we might live forever. We are nourished by the flesh and blood of Christ. Even as an infant, he was put on display in a trough. He came down from heaven and immediately showed he was to give of himself to us as our feed.

In receiving him, we are received by him; by eating the gift of the bread of life, we discover what eating itself is all about. Normally what we eat becomes a part of us as we absorb what we can receive and expel that which we cannot. By receiving the eucharist, we have Jesus presence in us, and we find ourselves receiving the medicine of immortality, the food which transforms us into the body of Christ. But instead of absorbing Christ in us, we find ourselves being taken in by Christ and become one with him in and through our reception of his holy gifts. We truly find ourselves abiding in him because we first opened ourselves up to let him abide in us. By accepting him, by eating his gift of himself found in the eucharist, we find he has entered us and transforms us. Thus, he is not consumed like simple food, but nonetheless, he still allows us to become what we eat, himself, as Hugh of St. Victor explained:

Finally we eat the flesh of the lamb when by taking His true body in the sacrament we are incorporated with Christ through faith and love. Elsewhere what is eaten is incorporated. Now when the body of Christ is eaten, not what is eaten but he who eats is incorporated with Him whom he eats. On this account Christ wished to be eaten by us, that He might incorporate us with Him.[2]

Christ takes what humans need in order to survive, food, and turns himself into it in order to fulfill the human condition and lift it up so that all that is truly and properly human finds itself received by him as a means of receiving him. Our body is real and represents a truth about ourselves which must not be denied. We are not Gnostics rejecting the functions of our body. All that Christ assume is itself able to be transformed by him and used by him for our gain.

As that which we eat is from what has been killed and so dead, we receive the lamb of God slain from the foundation of the world, from the one who died for our sake, so we can eat him and receive everlasting life. Ordinary food helps us in our temporal existence; our spiritual food of the bread of life, of the flesh and blood of Christ offered for us, gives us what we need in order to ne nourished in eternity.

He made it clear through repetition that he truly wants to believe he is the bread which has come down from heaven, that he truly came to give us his flesh and blood to eat and drink. He did not want us to think it was mere metaphor: he had many chances to indicate it was, but instead, through his repetition and how he declared himself to be the bread of life, he became more emphatic about it. We cannot neglect the meaning which he gave; we can dismiss it as absurd, and so dismiss him, but he did not offer those who believed in him and followed him any other choice than to accept this hard saying.

What Moses gave was food for the journey of life; it was manna from heaven which was good and helpful; but what Moses gave was only a foreshadow of what God sent to us in Jesus, so that we have food, not just for a particular day and time, but for eternity the difference between the two is night and day, with Moses giving a shadow of the things to come:

Jesus then said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven; my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven, and gives life to the world (Jn. 6:32-3 RSV).

Clearly, what Jesus said shocked his listeners; after he made sure they knew how serious he was by the emphasis he put in his words, many of them left (cf. Jn. 6:66). They, like so many others throughout the centuries, could not understand how and why we would be called to eat Jesus himself. It sounded like cannibalism. At least for those listening to his speech here, since he had yet to explain how he would offer himself as good, it is far easier to forgive those who departed at that point than those who later rejected his words after he revealed how he was to give himself in holy communion. What were the disciples to believe? How could they understand his enigmatic and cryptic words? Obviously, those who had already come to know and love Jesus knew he could be enigmatic, that his words could be filled with paradoxes which they could not comprehend. Thus, they continued to follow him even when others rejected him due to such confusion. They had already seen the glory of God manifested in him, attracting them to him, bringing out their love and acceptance of him, so that they could come to him in a faith which was open to the truth and the awareness such truth gave to them. They could know the truth even if they could not comprehend it; they could accept the truth and contemplate it with human reason, to see a kind of logic associated with it even if they saw the limits of human logic as it came face to face with the face of truth in Jesus himself. They continued to follow him even when he challenged them, but others, as soon as they found themselves challenged, left grumbling (cf. Jn. 6:66).

[1] St. Anthony of Padua, Sermons for Sundays and Festivals. Volume I. trans. Paul Spilsbury (Padova: Edizioni Messaggero Padova, 2007), 341.

[2] Hugh of Saint Victor, On the Sacraments. Trans. Roy J. Deferrari (Cambridge: Medieval Academy of America, 1951), 307.

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Seattle Police Failed To See Charleena Lyles As A Human Being – HuffPost

Posted: at 7:41 pm

Charleena Lyles is being buried on Monday. I plan to be there.

I didnt know Ms. Lyles, never met this pregnant mother of four who in death has captured the conscience of a city. But in a way she represents us all. The systems that were supposed to protect her ended up failing her instead. And the very people she reached out to for help in the end were the ones that took her life with her children present to bear witness.

Ms. Lyles shooting on Fathers Day at the hands of two Seattle police officers, was as tragic as it was senseless. And three weeks later it still angers and haunts me, as a mother and a grandmother, but also as someone who was involved early on in creating the very system to prevent these kinds of tragedies in the first place.

Mothers for Police Accountability, which I founded, began working in the late 1990s with the Seattle Police Department as well as county mental health practitioners to find more humane responses for officers dealing with people in mental health crises.

In 1997, following a standoff on a downtown Seattle street in which a man, wielding a samurai sword, held police at bay for 11 hours, Police Chief Norm Stamper agreed to look at a model for crisis intervention training that was being used in Portland.

I rode there with Seattle officers and observed first-hand how Portland police worked with mental health professionals to de-escalate crisis situations. That year, Seattle Police established a Crisis Intervention Team, a voluntary program for officers to receive training from mental-health experts.

And the training is included in the Memorandum of Understanding between Seattle and the Department of Justice (DOJ), as part of the citys ongoing monitoring by the federal government.

All Seattle police officers are required to have at least eight hours of crisis training. Most are CIT-certified, which means they have more extensive 40-hour training. Both officers who shot Lyles had been trained. Jason Anderson, who was hired in 2015, had eight hours while Steven McNew, who came on in 2008, was certified.

And we know the training works. The departments own report last August showed that over the span of a year, Seattle police used force in less than 2 percent of roughly 9,300 incidents in which they believed someone suspected of a disturbance or crime was mentally ill or in a state of crisis. The reporting is required under the court-ordered 2012 consent decreebetween (DOJ) and the city.

But it didnt work for Ms. Lyles.

We need to understand why.

Knowing about her past mental health encounter with Seattle police, why didnt either of the responding officers use pepper spray? And why did neither have a Taser with them something that is required as part of the crisis training?

I understand Anderson told investigators that even if he had a Taser, he still would have shot Charleena because his training called for the use of lethal force when being attacked by someone with a knife.

I believe they failed to see her as a human being.

Mothers For Police Accountability wants to know if this is a prelude to what will happen when the DOJ monitor checks all the boxes and leaves town. What will happen when nobodys watching?

The guys with the white hats arent coming.

What is happening in America now makes me even more determined that we have to fix this. I refuse to make this the new normal.

To heal the community we need to be able to hold this unjust system accountable. So Mothers will stay at the table where weve been for nearly three decades whether its holding community meetings, working alongside other organizations and on various committees around policing or speaking out directly about policy change.

We believe in accountability for everybody not just the police but for the black community, too. We are working to break the silence on black-on-black crime and how we harm one another.

We have to do both. In order to have a whole community, everybody needs to do better.

Rev. Harriett G. Walden is founder of Seattle-based Mothers for Police Accountability and co-chair of the Community Police Commission, a civilian body established as part of the agreement between the city of Seattle and the Department of Justice working to develop police reform recommendations.

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Canada’s Apology To Omar Khadr ‘Sets An Example’: Human Rights Watch – Huffington Post Canada

Posted: at 7:41 pm

TORONTO The Canadian government's breach-of-rights settlement with Omar Khadr is far from unprecedented, but its public apology to the former Guantanamo Bay prisoner sets Canada apart from other countries whose citizens were held at the infamous U.S. prison, an international human rights group said Monday.

The settlement sources say Khadr was paid $10.5 million echoes deals reached years ago by the governments of the United Kingdom and Australia, who also spent millions settling lawsuits.

However, Laura Pitter with Human Rights Watch said Canada had gone further than other countries by publicly acknowledging wrongdoing.

"It's really important that Canada took the additional step of publicly apologizing to him," Pitter said Monday from New York. "Canada's action here really sets an example."

Britain reportedly paid millions to several of its citizens detained at Guantanamo Bay but offered no apologies. One of the highest profile was Moazzam Begg, who along with seven others, had accused the U.K. and its intelligence agencies of complicity in their abduction, mistreatment and interrogation.

In November 2010, the U.K. government announced a settlement with Begg and 15 others, despite insisting British agents had not participated directly in any prisoner abuse. Officially, the settlement was made to avoid publication of sensitive documents related to Britain's co-operation with the U.S. on the transfer of terror suspects to various secret locations and to Guantanamo.

The British deal was reported to be worth 20 million pounds about $30 million at the time. Then-justice secretary Kenneth Clarke noted it could have cost taxpayers more than double had it gone to court.

Announcing the Khadr deal on Friday, Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould made a similar observation in light of the government having already spent $5 million defending the litigation.

"I hope Canadians take away two things today: First, our rights are not subject to the whims of the government of the day," Wilson-Raybould said. "Second, there are serious costs when the government violates the rights of its citizens."

In a similar case, suspected terrorist Mamdouh Habib reached a confidential settlement with the Australian government in 2010.

Arrested in Pakistan after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the United States and taken to Egypt, where he was tortured for seven months, Habib was transferred to Guantanamo Bay in May 2002. The Americans released him without charge in January 2005.

Habib sued the Canberra government for alleged complicity with the CIA in his transfer and torture. Despite denying the allegations, the government settled. According to the Sydney Morning Herald, the "hushed-up" settlement followed evidence an Australian official had watched Habib's torture at Gitmo.

Pitter noted that the United States has never paid compensation to any of its former captives.

"The U.S., who is most responsible for the mistreatment of Khadr, has not done anything to provide him redress or redress to any of the scores of men who were unlawfully detained and tortured at Guantanamo and elsewhere since 9/11," Pitter said.

In Photos: Omar Khadr Freed

An inquiry in the U.K. found the British government and its intelligence services had indeed been involved in the illegal transfers of detainees, deliberately turned a blind eye to abuses, and had interviewed suspects they knew were being mistreated.

"Officers were advised that, faced with apparent breaches of Geneva Convention standards, there was no obligation to intervene," Sir Peter Gibson stated in his report.

In Khadr's case, a key tenet of his claim was that Canada's intelligence agencies had travelled to Guantanamo Bay to interview him in 2003, despite knowing he had been mistreated before their arrival to soften him up. The agents had also agreed to American demands to share information obtained from their interrogations with them.

The Supreme Court of Canada was unequivocal in 2010 in finding a breach of Khadr's charter rights, but the former Conservative government under Stephen Harper refused to demand his repatriation as other western countries had done for their citizens.

As with Canada's deal with Khadr, who pleaded guilty in 2010 to five purported war crimes before a widely criticized military commission, the British settlement ignited a political firestorm. Some argued the state was rewarding people who wanted to destroy it. Others maintained it was the right thing to do given the abuses uncovered.

"Our reputation as a country that believes in human rights, justice, fairness and the rule of law indeed, much of what the services exist to protect risks being tarnished," then-prime minister David Cameron told parliament in July 2010. "Public confidence is being eroded, with people doubting the ability of our services to protect us and questioning the rules under which they operate."

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The UN Passes the First-Ever Treaty Banning Nuclear Weapons Worldwide – Futurism

Posted: at 7:40 pm

A Timely Move

On Friday, the United Nations passed the first-ever treaty imposinga total nuclear weapons ban. With North Korea openly continuing totest its arsenal of intercontinental ballistic missiles, each capable of carrying a nuclear warhead, the decision couldnt be more timely. In a press briefing Thursday, U.N. conference president Elayne Whyte Gomezsaid thatwe are on the verge of adopting the treaty on the prohibition of nuclear weapons.Click to View Full Infographic

This will be a historic moment and it will be the first multilateral nuclear disarmament treaty to be concluded in more than 20 years, Gomez added, according to Time. The world has been waiting for this legal norm for 70 years.

The decision to pass this treaty is a historic one:the U.N. recently reopened discussions of a global nuclear ban back in March, after more than 2,500 scientists from 70 countries signed a petition in favor of total nuclear disarmament.

I am really confident that the final draft has captured the aspirations of the overwhelming majority of those participating in the conference, including civil society, Gomez said, referring to the final review of the draft last Wednesday. After Fridaysvote to formally adopt it, the draft is now a 10-page documentcalled the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.

More than 120 countries are ready to adopt the treaty despite a boycott from countries that are supposedly armed with nuclear weapons: theUnited States, Russia, Britain, France, China, India, Pakistan, and, as we already know,North Korea. These countries have proposed strengthening the almost 50-year old Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty that gives only the five original nuclear powers the U.S., Russia, Britain, France and China the right to keep their destructive arsenal.

The voting results, however, seemed to be more encouraging: 122 member states voted in favor of negotiating a legally-binding instrument to prohibit nuclear weapons. Of the nine supposed nuclear-armed nations, only North Korea didnt participate in the voting. Eightnationsvoted yes, the Netherlands voted against the decision, while Singapore abstained.Still, the U.S., Britain, and France released a joint statementafter the treaty was adopted, stating We do not intend to sign, ratify or ever become party to it.The three nations explained that a purported ban on nuclear weapons that does not address the security concerns that continue to make nuclear deterrence necessary cannot result in the elimination of a single nuclear weapon and will not enhance any countrys security, nor international peace and security.

Would the U.N.s historic treaty be a wasted effort? As the executive director of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons Beatrice Fihn said, If the world comes together in support of a nuclear ban, then nuclear weapons countries will likely follow suit, even if it doesnt happen right away.

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Wall Street Expert Predicts Bitcoin Will Reach $55,000 in 5 Years – Futurism

Posted: at 7:40 pm

In Brief In a time of financial instability, many individuals are turning to the decentralized bitcoin to store their wealth. Due to this as well as its potential to revolutionize the finance system, bitcoin has enjoyed stratospheric growth in recent years. Modern Gold

Tom Lee, a Wall Street strategist who works at Fundstrat, has predictedthat the price of bitcoin will continue its exponential rise until it reaches $55,000 by 2022. He bases his prediction on the economic principles of scarcity and market instability.

Lee argues, essentially, that bitcoin is subsuming the role that gold previousplayed in the economy. It has become a solid and dependable store of wealth in a time when we have seen recessions and market turbulence effecting peoples savings in their own currency. This is particularly the case in countries where the government controls the currency to achieve a desired effect, as is the case in China and Japan.

Many have criticized bitcoin for its turbulence it has now reached a volatility of 75 percent and argue that, for this reason, it cannot be the safe store of value that Lee sees it as. Lee, though, told Coin Telegraph that golds volatility approached 90 percent from 1971 to 1980 as the U.S. abandoned the gold standard hence, we expect this [bitcoins volatility] to improve over time. Coincidentally, bitcoin exceeded the value of gold earlier this year.

Bitcoins rise has been so meteorotic that it is quite unlike any other currency or asset, depending on who you ask in recent memory. To give a quirky example, in May of 2010, a developer bought two pizzas for 10,000 bitcoin. These, in total,would now be worth around $25 million, which is enough to buy a 720-year-old Magna Carta given that one sold for$21 million in 2007.

Bitcoin arguably lead the vanguard for cryptocurrenies moving from a quirky financial system in tight-knit tech communities to a talking point for major financial planners. It is now fundamentally changing the way we look at economiesin addition tobeing the leading example of blockchain technology.Simon Taylor, co-founder of a blockchain venture capital fund,said in an interview with Government Office for Science that the techbrings us near instant asset transfer, asset movement, and security of data movement, and that blockchainwill have a similar effect on exchange that the internet did on communication.

Bitcoin has now become large enough for entire countries to consider upending transaction systems that have been in place since the advent of currency itself.India and Sweden in particular are looking to mimic the systems to produce the first cashless societies in modern history. This is perhaps the ultimate testament to how significant the cryptocurrencyhas become.

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An Anonymous Ether Trader Just Made $200 Million in One Month – Futurism

Posted: at 7:40 pm

In Brief An unknown cryptocurrency trader reportedly made more than $200 billion in earnings in just over one month. The anonymity of cryptocurrencies, however, raises a lot of questions about the use of bitcoin and ether in the mainstream. 0x00A651D43B6e209F5Ada45A35F92EFC0De3A5184

Nope, that header isnt a typo. Thats the identification code for the virtual wallet of an anonymous cryptocurrency trader thats made more than $200 million in just over a month. Supposedly, this unknown trader was able to raise their cryptocurrency assets from $55 million to $283 million in that short span of time; a 413 percent accumulated profit from Ethereum blockchains digital money, ether.

In an Instagram post, someone (or maybe several people)purporting to be the trader in question said, I get many private messages asking how much ether I have. One of the cool things about Ethereum is that all wallets around the world are transparent and open for everyone to see. And this is my wallets savings.

While the amount of earnings from cryptocurrency trading is incredible, it isnt at all impossible. Recently, the values of both bitcoin and ether have been going up. The total value of cryptocurrencies reached an all-time high on June 6 when it surpassed$100 billion,according to Bloomberg.

Faced with the growth of cryptocurrencies, experts are askingwhether anonymity is beneficial or not. Its certainly one of the key reasonscryptocurrencies are becoming so popular. One of its more important features is that you dont have identities tied to this, Spencer Bogart, research head at venture firm Blockchain Capital, said inBloombergThis financial privacy is an important characteristic.

Thatsalso the source of some of its troubles, though: there have been a handful of cyberattacks that asked for ransom inbitcoin, and that trend could continue as it becomes more widely used. The credibility of virtual currencies will not rise if they are used for criminal purposes, adraft online currency legislation by the European Parliament noted. In this context, anonymity will become more a hindrance than an asset for virtual currencies.

To this end, would tying digital wallets to identifiable persons be a problem for a mainstream adoption of cryptocurrencies? For a cryptocurrency like ether which is used to pay for applications that run on the Ethereum blockchain it may not be such a big deal. It could evenhelp ether avoid having its reputation sullied by cyberattacks like bitcoin. At present, ether seems to bemoving into themainstream. The rise of Initial Coin Offering (ICO) is helping, and Ethereum is working to make their transactions even more efficient and powerful.

For now, though, it wouldnt hurt to be careful. As Peter Denious from Aberdeen Asset Management told Bloomberg, A lot of lessons will be learned. A lot of money will be lost before a lot of money can be made.

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You Could Own the World’s First Glasses-Free Holographic Phone by Early 2018 – Futurism

Posted: at 7:40 pm

In Brief Digital camera maker RED wants to make it possible for you to produce holograms from the palm of your hand. The company's first phone, the Hydrogen One, is being touted as the world's first glasses-free hologram projector, and it should be ready to ship by early 2018.

With all the confirmed and unconfirmed leaks circulating on the internet, the iPhone 8 might be the frontrunner for most highly anticipated phone of the year. However, a newly announced device might be more worthy of your attention than Apples 10-year-old phone this ones got holograms.

Professional digital camera maker REDjust announced that its building the Hydrogen One, and theyre calling itthe worlds first holographic phone.It is expected to have a retina-display screen that can switch from 2D content to holographic multi-view content, 3D content, and interactive games.

Even more exciting is that it doesnt require special glasses. Its no longer necessary to carry (or charge) another device to enjoy multi-dimensional content, RED said in a press release. Experience look around depth in the palm of your hand, no glasses or headsets in sight.

As for specs, details are limited. What we know is that the Hydrogen One would be a 5.7-inch phone that runs Android and has a headphone jack. It comes in a low-tier version, priced at $1,195, and a higher-end one at $1,595. The phones expected to ship by early 2018.

If the Hydrogen One delivers, its going to be the device of our holographic dreams. Theyre talking about holograms in trueHelp me, Obi Wan fashion. Who doesnt want that? Most hologram technology today still requiresa separate viewing device, butsome studiesare working towardprojected holography RED just may have already figured it out.

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This Mars Discovery Could Have Major Implications for Search for Alien Life – Futurism

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In Brief New research shows that the thin Mars atmosphere interacts with perchlorates, chemicals on the planet's surface, to create a toxic environment for bacteria. This confirms that the search for life on Mars should include digging beneath the surface. Toxic Cocktail

New research shows that our aspirations togrow potatoes on Mars may be a little premature. Results of a new study indicate that the thin Martian atmosphere and the ultraviolet radiation it allows to reach the planets surface interact with chemical compounds called perchlorates to create a deadly environment for bacteria.

We have known that there were perchlorates on the surface of the Red Planet since the 1970s when the Viking 1 and 2 spacecraft landed there. Weve confirmed this with other probes since that time, and until recently that fact has actually been viewed in an encouraging light. Thats because although perchlorates made from oxygen and chlorine are toxic to humans, bacteria tend to thrive in their presence, using them for energy. Perchlorates also lower the point at which water melts, which offered still more hope for the existence of bacterial life on Mars.

This, however, isnt the end of the search for life on Mars. I cant speak for life in the past, co-author of the study Jennifer Wadsworth said to The Guardian. As far as present life, it doesnt rule it out but probably means we should look for life underground where its shielded from the harsh radiation environment on the surface. The ExoMars rover will look for bacteria by digging approximately 12 feet into the ground during its 2020 mission.

Its also possible that an extremophile bacterium could survive these conditions. The common Bacillus subtilis is no extremophile, and the Martian environment may have created its own extremophiles that are even tougher than any found on Earth. Life can survive very extreme environments, Wadsworth told Popular Science. The bacterial model we tested wasnt an extremophile so its not out of the question that hardier life forms would find a way to survive.

Meanwhile, the ExoMars orbiter is on track to carry out its mission: finding biochemical signs of life on Mars, or beneath its surface. The Mars 2020 rover will also be digging deep in the search for past life. NASA is developing a lidar system for the search for life on Mars. Hopefully, with this many research irons in the fire, well get some exciting answers soon.

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This Mars Discovery Could Have Major Implications for Search for Alien Life - Futurism

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Futurist Jack Uldrich to Speak on Top Ten Future Trends for Leading IT Advocate – WireUpdate

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Jul 10, 2017 - (Newswire)

Solving problems before your customers even know they have the problem is a laudablegoal. How can an organization do that? Jack Uldrichsays, "Start thinking like a Futurist."

Global Futurist Jack Uldrichis a distinguishedspeaker and best-sellingauthor. He travelsthe world speaking on future trends in a myriad of industries including education, finance, healthcare, agriculture, energy, and transportation.

"Thinking like a futurist involves appreciating how the world of tomorrow is changing. Far toooften companies are fixated on issues that are only front and center; or at times, they are stuck dealing with issues from the past. They aren't taking time out to reflect on what the future will hold in store."

Today, Uldrichwill address a leadinginfrastructure solution provider here in the Twin Cities. His audience will consistof Tech Management Specialists as well as Technologists in several industries including healthcare.

He will deliver his keynote: Foresight 20/20: Ten Game-ChangingTechnological Trends Transforming the world of Tomorrow.

The talk, based on his most recent bookForesight 20/20,will focus on advances in mobile web video communications, virtual and augmented reality, social media, robotics, gaming dynamics, renewable energies, "Big Data," the Internet of Things, as well as cybersecurity advances. He will also delve into quantum computing and how it will continue to drive seismic change and deliver paradigm-shattering transformation to nearly every facet of society.

Uldrich says, "Thinking like futuristsrevolves around these basic tenets: understanding the trends transforming the world of tomorrow;takingaction in the face of uncertainty; developing an appreciation for humility and embracing the concept that unlearning is as important as learning when it comes to future trends."

Most importantly Uldrichwantshis audiencemembersto adopt new open mindsets and to begin acquiringthe tools to create the future themselves.

Following his talk in Minneapolis, Uldrichwill be off toconducta three-day experiential leadership seminar based on leadership lessons of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark in Great Falls, Montana.

Parties interested in learning more aboutJack Uldrich, his books, his daily blog or his speaking availability are encouraged to visit hiswebsiteor to contactAmy Tomczykat amy@jackuldrich.com.

Original Source: https://www.newswire.com/news/futurist-jack-uldrich-to-speak-on-top-ten-future-trends-for-leading-it-19664529

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Futurist Jack Uldrich to Speak on Top Ten Future Trends for Leading IT Advocate - WireUpdate

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