Monthly Archives: February 2022

Henry VIII’s Painter Gets His Biggest Show Ever In The United States – The Federalist

Posted: February 21, 2022 at 5:55 pm

While attending the recent opening of Holbein: Capturing Character, the new exhibition dedicated to the German Renaissance master Hans Holbein the Younger (c. 1497-1543) that just opened at the Morgan Library and Museum in New York, I observed a visitor asking the security guards, Where are the pictures of Henry VIII and Thomas Cromwell?

This was a fair question since Holbein, although born in Augsburg and for many years a citizen of Basel, is most famous for the portraits he executed in London, where he eventually became Kings Painter to Henry VIII (1491-1547). If you imagine Tudor England in your minds eye, chances are the way you envision its people stems directly from the work of this artist.

Striking up a conversation with the questioner, a man of somewhat Henrician proportions himself, I learned that he had driven all the way up from southern New Jersey that morning to see the show before having lunch with old school friends. He found it odd that not only were there no images of the Tudors in the exhibition, but Holbeins famous 1527 portrait of St. Thomas More (1478-1535) was in the show, while his 1530s portrait of Mores rival Thomas Cromwell (c. 1485-1540) was notyet both paintings reside at the Frick Collection, just some blocks away up Madison Avenue.

Hans Holbein the Younger (1497/98 1543)Sir Thomas More.1527, Oil on panel. 29 1/2 x 23 3/4 in. (74.9 x 60.3 cm)The Frick Collection, New York, 1912.1.77Photo: Michael Bodycomb

While these were perfectly valid observations, this is not a show about creating artistic propaganda on behalf of a ruling family, as with the Medici portraits at the Met last year. Rather, this exhibition attempts to give the visitor a broad overview of the type of work Holbein created throughout his career.

To that end, the shows organizers have put together the largest assemblage of Holbeins work ever mounted in the United States. Its clear from the catalog, however, that this isnt fully the show the organizers had planned.

Given the rare, sometimes delicate state of surviving Holbeins, whose ability to travel is now further impinged by the vagaries of those still preoccupied with Covid, putting this show together outside of the United Kingdom or Europe was always going to be difficult. Simply too few pieces by Holbein reside in the United States.

For example, there are perhaps 100 drawings by Holbein left in existence, and the only one that resides in the United States is at the Getty Museum, where the show ran prior to coming to New York. Meanwhile, the queen owns around 80 Holbein drawings and generously lent several to the exhibition. As a result, the catalog is more than just an afterthought or a nice souvenir: its a kind of might-have-been-but-for. Its also a useful way to get to know Holbein the artist, without getting overly distracted by the Tudors scandals.

The closest we get in the exhibition to a member of the Tudor dynasty, albeit by marriage, is a circa 1538-42 drawing of William Parr, marquess of Northampton (1513-1571), the younger brother of Henry VIIIs sixth and surviving wife, Catherine Parr (1512-1548). The marquess was known for being a snappy dresser, a fact borne out in Holbeins drawing.

Parr sat for his session with Holbein in a jaunty, feathered hat covered with jewels, and a fur-lined, velvet and satin gown, a garment that in real life was purple and white striped. We know this because here, as in many of his portrait drawings, Holbein made notes to himself about the colors he would need to use in completing a subsequent painting of his subject.

For sheer, unabashed dandyism, the star of the entire show is unquestionably Holbeins striking roundel portrait of Simon George of Cornwall, painted circa 1535-40. I was completely unfamiliar with this piece, partly because no one at present knows very much about the sitter, and the picture resides in the Stdel Museum in Frankfurt, Germany, a city Ive never visited.

Hans Holbein the Younger (1497/98 1543)Simon George, ca. 1535 40.Mixed technique on panel. 12 3/16 in. (31 cm)Stdel Museum, Frankfurt am Main, 1065. Photo: Stdel Museum

Speculation says George may have been a poet, or the painting may have been executed as an engagement gift. Visitors to the show will be fortunate enough to see the change in Holbeins subject between the drawing and painting phases, since by the time his portrait was painted, George had let his previously trim beard grow to full hipster length.

As in Holbeins drawing of Parr, George sports a similarly rakish, feathered hat covered in gold and jewels. He wears a white undertunic with black vines embroidered around the collar, under a coral pink jerkin embroidered in gold. Over this, we see a cream-colored tunic with thin blue stripes along the seams, and over this, he wears what can best be described as a black leather puffer jacket.

Its a bold, edgy look for someone who was neither royal nor, so far as we know, an aristocrat. If this was indeed a present to Georges future bride, we have to assume that she was just as fashion-forward as he was, in order to catch the eye of this peacock.

Not all of the men in the show were as flashy. Paintings depicting members of the German merchant community in London, for example, show serious, bearded men dressed in the kind of sober clothing that was expected of and indeed legislatively mandated of the mercantile class, who were not permitted to dress in finery in public.

Distinguished from one another primarily by their features and expressions, these werent the sorts of fellows to pick up a lute and sing love songs written by the king or make merry at a hunting party. Yet without them and others like them, London would never have become a center for world trade.

On the whole, the ladies of the exhibition do not fare as well as the men; indeed, some of them appear quite dour. The completed 1527 portrait of Mary, Lady Guildford from the St. Louis Art Museum showcases a great deal of Renaissance finery and symbolism.

Yet its just not as visually appealing as the original, more mischievously flirtatious image of Lady Guildford that Holbein drew of her from life, and which is now in the Kunstmuseum Basel. Its a pity this drawing could not travel to New York for the exhibition, as contrasting two images of the same lady in the same attire side-by-side, but in different poses and moods, would have been a great opportunity.

That said, I was very pleased to see the image of one lady Im familiar with who was able to come to New York from London, and who is usually referred to as A Lady with a Squirrel and a Starling (c. 1526-28). I havent seen this picture in person for many years.

Hans Holbein the Younger (1497/98 1543)A Lady with a Squirrel and a Starling (AnneLovell?)ca. 1526 28. Oil on panel29 3/4 23 1/6 4 1/16 in. (75.5 58.5 10.3 cm)National Gallery, London, NG6540 The National Gallery, London.

As I suspect is the case for most viewers, Ive always been charmed by the pet red squirrel the sitter holds in her lap. Both it and the starling are probably a reference to the sitters coat of arms and family seat, so that increasingly scholars are persuaded she may well be Lady Anne Lovell, whose husband Sir Francis Lovell was a close companion and quasi-bodyguard of Henry VIII.

On this viewing, I was struck for the first time by the wonderful detail Holbein works into his depiction of the ladys cap, which appears to be made of warm, luxurious white fur. Notice how, with subtle variations in shading, Holbein captures the effect of the channeled stitching that runs from the front to the back of the hat. Holbeins mastery of representing the tactile in two dimensions is such that you can easily imagine just what that would feel like if you were to run your fingers along those indentationsnot while Anne was wearing it, of course.

Perhaps another exception should be made for the lovely circa 1535-40 portrait of an unidentified young woman, believed to be a member of the Cromwell family, lent by the Toledo Museum of Art. While the young lady is elegantly dressed and charmingly demure, the piece is particularly interesting in the context of the exhibition because it hangs next to a sheet of jewelry designed by Holbein.

One of these designs is for the large gold medallion on the front of the sitters gown. The jewel depicts the biblical story of an angel leading Lot and his family away from the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, and incorporates a rectangular gem in the center. This stone symbolizes Lots wife who, as described in Genesis 19:26, was turned into a pillar of salt. To decipher the symbolism of why one would want to wear such a bauble, youll have to do a bit of reading and thinking.

More importantly, as this juxtaposition of portrait and jewel in the exhibition demonstrates, Holbein was not only a master painter but also an extraordinarily gifted designer. From luxury items such as gold-encrusted hat badges and solid silver fountains to illuminated capital letters, book illustrations, to ephemeral party decorations, Holbein did not limit himself to working in only one or two creative genres.

The show provides a wide selection of examples of artistic productions in which Holbein was involved, ranging from one-off precious objects commissioned by courtiers as gifts for the king, to mass-produced, woodcut prints illustrating the medieval fascination with death.

The section on the Dance of Death is unique to the Morgan version of the show, and sets a very different tone to the explorations of humanism, courtly life, and fashion that otherwise predominate in the exhibition. The artistic exploration of mans ultimate fate, from an age when the acceptance of mortality was not intentionally absented from the public square as it is at present, may strike the contemporary viewer as macabre. Yet Holbein knew well how to make the most of widely disseminated, popular images on this subject, using the printing press.

From the early, so-called Death Alphabet printed after Holbeins designs in 1523 to later woodblock prints from 1538 in which Holbein shows how death comes for everyone regardless of station, from pope to nun, duchess to plowman, Holbein never ran away from death artistically. With Europe in a near-constant state of war during the 16th century, the spread of poorly understood infectious diseases through urban environments, and Holbein having to work under the reign of a deranged megalomaniac, the possibility of an unexpected death was always around the corner, at all levels of society. In the end, death came all too early for Holbein himself, for he died in London at about the age of 45, probably of the plague.

Hans Ltzelburger (1495? 1526), after designsby Hans Holbein the Younger (1497/98 1543)Death and the Plowmanca. 1526. Woodcut. 2 9/16 x 1 15/16 in. (6.5 x 4.9 cm)The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 19.57.37 The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Image source: Art Resource, NY

During the height of his career and fame in England, Holbein somehow managed to survive and thrive under the despotism of Henry VIII. Unlike More, Cromwell, and others who had also been his artistic patrons, Holbein continued to be in demand right up until he died.

While this first major American exhibition to examine the breadth of Holbeins artistic output is not what it might have been had it been put on before 2020, its a long-overdue assessment on these shores of an artist whose inventiveness, observation, and technical skill not only defined how we all imagine the Tudor age, but whose work continues to delight and dazzle the eye.

Holbein: Capturing Character is at the Morgan Library and Museum in New York through May 15, 2022.

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Henry VIII's Painter Gets His Biggest Show Ever In The United States - The Federalist

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Guest column: Look to Lincoln for inspiration in divisive times – VC Star

Posted: at 5:55 pm

Itis appropriate that we celebrate George Washingtons birthday and Abraham Lincolns birthday together. Washington was the founder of our nation and Lincoln was its savior. Washingtons task was completed with the winning of the American Revolution and the installation of our government, but Lincolns taskof saving the union,despite its successful conclusion at, is one that is really never-ending if we would retain ourdemocracy.

Right now there is renewed danger to our nation: the discrediting of our election process.This is weakening faith in our democratic system and fostering bitter division in our society. I believe we can look to Lincoln for inspiration in these trying and divisive times.

In 1863 at the site of the Civil War battle of Gettysburg, Abraham Lincoln said, Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation ... now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation, so conceived and so dedicated can long endure.In so saying, he indicated that our democracy was being tested and implying that to endure we would have to withstand continued testing in the future.He referred to our nation as an on-going experiment in self-government.

Those of us who have been raised in the United States and have attended elementary and secondary schools here, have been inculcated in the history and the customs of our nation.In the process, by learning to salute the flag, singing the national anthem, etc., I believe the feeling has become ingrained in us that our nation is strong, steadfast and perpetual.

But history, as our founding fathers noted, casts doubt on the likely success of democracies.James Madison, the major contributor to the writing of our Constitution, spoke of the fragility of democracies.In the Federalist Papers he pointed out that the famous republics of Greece and Rome had eventually resulted in anarchy.Both had been overthrown by military leaders: Athens by Alexander the Great and his successors and Rome by Julius Caesar.

Lincoln presided over a rebellion which put the existence of our nation in its greatest peril: the Civil War.Slavery and its possible extension were the major causesof the war.Lincoln, in his first inaugural address, tried to prevent the war by attempting to allay the fears of the southern states, saying he would not interfere with slavery where it existed.This offer wasrejectedand the war came on.

After a year of bloody fighting, the abolitionist editor, Horace Greeley, criticized Lincoln for not yet having freed the slaves.Lincoln responded, I would save the union.My paramountobject is to save the union and not either to save or destroy slavery.He hated slavery, but, first things first.He noted that the nation must be saved to enable it to eliminate slavery by amending the Constitution, and further, to quote the Constitution, to bring the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity.

But isnt the foundation of our nation being severely tested at this time?Free and fair elections and the acceptance of their results are the underpinnings of our democracy. Even now, fifteen months after the presidential election, a significant portion of American citizens appearsto believe that the results of the election were fraudulent; their doubts and fears must be dispelled.How can this be done?For openers, it is imperative that we realize that perpetuating our democratic republicshould be ouroverwhelming concern, so we must be civil to each other to accomplish this goal.

In these times of serious division in which friends have become seeming enemies and even relatives have become uncomfortable with each other, I believe the words of Lincoln would be helpful.He used them to try to reconcile north and south, and we can take them to heart in thoughtfully applying them tothose associates with whom we may differ:We are not enemies, but friends.We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not beak our bonds of affection.This spirit will not only benefit our personal relationships, it will be vital to restore the national solidarity.

Ed Jones is a member of the Thousand Oaks City Council.

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Praggnanandhaa, 16, becomes only third Indian to beat Magnus Carlsen in stunning upset – ESPN

Posted: at 5:55 pm

After move 38, Magnus Carlsen found his king left with just one safe square to seek fleeting refuge. The end was in sight and inescapable. Sixteen-year-old Indian GM R Praggnanandhaa laid out the traps beautifully with Black, which culminated in moving his light-squared bishop to the c2 square, cordoning off the white queen's ties with the second rank. Both players knew it was over. The fidgety 16-year-old sank back in his chair, shook his head and rested a palm against his face in mild disbelief as Carlsen promptly resigned after 39 moves.

Praggnanandhaa had just become the third Indian to beat Carlsen in tournament play - after Viswanathan Anand and P Harikrishna.

The massive moment in the Indian teen's young career arrived in the early hours of Monday at the Airthings Masters, a 16-player online rapid tournament. It's the first leg of the Play Magnus group-run Champions Chess Tour and the round-robin is scored football-style - three points (and $750) for a win, and one point (and $250) for each draw. Each player has 15 minutes for all moves plus a 10 second per move increment.

On Move 32, in what appeared to be an equal endgame, Carslen stumbled into a tactical blunder. He trapped his own knight by pushing it to the c3 square. Chess engines went wild, giving Black the overwhelming odds for a win. Praggnanandhaa leaned forward over his screen, and his surprised pupils filled the webcam feed. He just needed seven more moves to tuck into a win. And win he did.

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To wind his body clock and mind to stay focused through games that start late at night in India and spill into the early hours, Praggnanandhaa began work 10 days in advance. He tweaked his sleep and training schedule to mimic the tournament timings.

The Indian began on a disastrous note on Day 1, losing three games in a row. Day 2 turned out to be a world apart. Within the space of a few hours, he had a win each against two top-10 players - Levon Aronian and Carlsen. Further, to outwit a player of Carlsen's strength without the first-mover advantage of White, deserves even more credit.

"What I really admire about him is that he takes the blows and does it his way, as the song goes," Anand, who mentors Praggnanandhaa along with other teen Indian GMs, told ESPN, "In Wijk aan Zee he had some really tough blows but still fought and beat (Andrey) Esipenko in the last round. The first day in the current tournament was really bad for him but on the second day he came up with two very good wins. His fighting spirit is really something."

Praggnanandhaa was always something of a precocious talent. In 2016, he became the youngest International Master in history - at 10 years, 10 months and 19 days. Two years later he became the then second-youngest GM (after Sergey Karjakin) at 12 years, 10 months, 13 days. At sixteen today, he belongs to the group of Indian teens who are throwing down the gauntlet on the world chess circuit.

"Before the pandemic, he was in a really good form and reached 2600 Elo rating at the age of 14. The long break in tournaments impacted him quite a bit, particularly in confidence," Praggnanandhaa's coach RB Ramesh said, "His results in the past six months has swung between extremes. In some games he has been playing like a 2750 player, in others he's operating at a 2550 level. The fluctuation can be worrying and needs to be stabilised. This win against Magnus is important. Beating one of the strongest players in chess history is a huge moment for him."

Among Ramesh's pre-tournament pointers for Praggnanandhaa has been to completely stay away from social media. This, he believes, might ease the youngster of the pressure of being watched. "He knows people are following live streams of his games, commenting on his play on social media and going through them can have a direct impact on him. He's been running into time trouble pretty often in tournaments and it's largely psychological. The burden of expectation can get to him at times. When he loses, it sometimes affects him more than it should. He's working on it, but he's just 16 and I'm really glad at how he's handled himself against some of the top guys."

Soon after his win past 2 AM, when asked if he had any celebratory plans, Praggnanandhaa could only think of one possible way to unwind. "I'm just going to go to bed."

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Use Brave Private Browsing with Tor to Hide IP Address – OSXDaily

Posted: at 5:54 pm

If youre looking to browse the web with a bit more anonymity and privacy than usual, the Brave browser offers a unique feature going beyond standard private browsing modes; and that is private browsing with TOR.

Braves Private Browsing with Tor has all the standard private browsing mode features, like no cookie and browser history storage, but in addition it also uses Tor as a web proxy so that your IP address is hidden when browsing the web. This approach is different from Tor and does not include all the other protections offered when using the full-fledged dedicated TOR browser, but if youre simply wanting to obscure your IP address while also gaining the standard benefits of Brave and a private browsing window, it should do the trick.

Accessing the Tor mode in Brave is simple:

Youre now ready to browse the web and with a hidden IP address.

Its always possible that your real IP address could leak due to a slip or break in the Tor connection, so youll want to check to make sure your IP address is not your real IP address (and remember, your internal IP address is different from your external IP address to begin with).

Its probably not a good idea to use this for anything too important, secretive, or special, so if youre a spy planning to infiltrate House Harkonnen, or a diplomat plotting a sleazy pay-for-play deal, you probably should use a more reliable protocol to avoid detection by your boss, or at least use the full fledged TOR browser but really, does true privacy and anonymity actually exist in the modern computing era? I wouldnt bet the farm on it.

If youre already using Brave as your default Mac web browser, youll probably find these additional features to be pretty handy. There are practical reasons features like this can be useful, from getting past article limits on pre-paywalls, to using an IP address from a different area.

Brave describes the Private Window with Tor Connectivity feature as follows:

Brave never remembers what you do in a Private Window. With Tor connectivity, your IP address is also hidden from the sites you visit. However, if your personal safety depends on remaining anonymous, use the Tor Browser instead.

For what its worth, you can also get similar features of IP hiding with Opera and Epic, albeit not with the Tor network.

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Are Crypto Transactions More Transparent Than Wire Transfers? – InvestingCube

Posted: at 5:54 pm

Cryptocurrency promises to offer complete anonymity, which is achieved by listing random electronic wallet addresses while the transactions listed on the blockchain are accessible by the public.

On the surface, this might seem secure, but blockchains anonymity is not faultless. In reality, a more accurate description would say crypto offers pseudo-anonymity, much like writing a book under a pen name.

Users can preserve their privacy on the blockchain if their address is not linked to them. However, if anyone can link the user information to them, their information becomes public. The information includes their entire transaction history, Crypto net worth, and other wallets.

The risk of exposing ones identity has increased since many merchants are now accepting crypto payments. A leading culprit of exposing crypto users are cookies and web trackers. These are tiny pieces of code placed into websites that share information about how the site is used with third parties. Most cookies send out browsing and usage habits, but some may send personally identifiable information like email addresses and clients names.

The information can easily be used by hackers, governments and law enforcement agencies to link specific crypto transactions to users who might have entered details like phone numbers, name and address into the website in the past, quickly revealing their identity.

Additionally, cryptocurrencies are peer to peer networks which makes it possible to analyse transactions and log the IP addresses of senders and receivers of cryptocurrencies.

Tracking down the owner of a crypto wallet is not an easy task, but it can happen if one does not exercise caution.

Law-abiding citizens may not be worried about the lack of proper blockchain privacy because as long as they pay their taxes, they are not likely to be bothered by law enforcement agencies.

Unfortunately, it is not just the government agencies that users need to worry about; Crypto whales can attempt to target users for criminal purposes, which has happened in the past.

An example is a small merchant that is finally accepting crypto, and they advertise their wallet address so that their clients can send payments. This move makes it easy to associate the crypto address with the business owner. A criminal can easily do a quick search on the blockchain and see the wallets balance, and if it is loaded, they may be targeted by the criminals.

Luckily, there are several ways through which people can improve their crypto anonymity, ensuring that their wallet addresses can never be linked back to their real identities.

One of the most popular ways to guarantee crypto privacy is to use a coin mixing platform such as Samurai Whirlpool. Crypto mixing platforms use smart contracts to integrate multiple transactions making it impossible to trace the two wallets involved. They do this by creating interim addresses and moving the coins across multiple wallets or swapping the coins with different addresses by mixing transactions with the same value. The strategy is known as crypto washing or crypto laundering. The technique makes it almost impossible for hackers to track the sending and receiving wallet. However, mixing isnt perfect. Most such services only support Bitcoin, and they charge significantly high fees for using the mixing service.

Another alternative to ensure crypto privacy is to only ever deal in cash and in-person without revealing your true identity. Services such as Localcryptos.com allow individuals to arrange crypto transactions in-person without requiring those involved to prove their identity when signing up.

To remain completely anonymous, you must always use a VPN or the Tor browser when accessing Localcryptos. You should also register with a burner email like Protonmail or Guerrilla Mail. Find a trusted seller or buyer on Localcryptos by checking the feedback given about each user. Only deal with users who have a solid reputation. As for the physical meeting, ensure it is conducted in a public place where you can access free public Wi-Fi. Furthermore, you should never use a personal vehicle to travel to the meeting spot, as the license plate number could quickly reveal your identity.

If all the above sounds like too much of a hassle, a third option involves using a crypto privacy wallet such as BlockWallet. It is a Chrome browser extension available to anyone who uses the browser. It masks transactions using privacy pools built on smart contracts to combine multiple users funds into a single fund. BlockWallet generates a new address containing the requested currency amounts every time someone withdraws funds. Each transfer is executed within the privacy pool to keep each withdrawal anonymous and untraceable.

BlockWallet supports Ethereum and any ERC20 token; hence, it supports many different cryptos and DeFi apps. The only real downside to BlockWallet is its 0.25% fee on all withdrawals. However, many will agree that it is a small price to pay for the unmatched privacy it offers.

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The Truth about Dark Web Is It Really Dangerous? – Crypto Mode

Posted: at 5:54 pm

When we read or hear the word Dark Web, we immediately feel threatened, guilty and think of illegal activities. But the real question is, is it really that dangerous?

Well, if you think the dark web is dangerous, you are both right and wrong. Millions of different things are available on the dark web a collection of sites with hidden IP addresses and many more. This information can be harmful but quite useful as well.

If you want to learn everything about the dark web, keep on reading

Lets start with the most basic question, what is the dark web?

In simplest words, the dark web is a collection of websites that have hidden addresses and cannot be indexed by regular search engines, such as Google, Yahoo, and more. These contents exist on the darknet an overlay of networks that is available on the internet but require specific authorization, configuration, and software to access.

The dark web is not actually a complex thing. Its just private computers communicating with each other and sharing content: like the normal internet. The only difference is there is nothing illegal and forbidden on the dark web. You can share everything! Yes, EVERYTHING!

Most people think the dark web is the same as the deep web. However, this couldnt be any far from the truth. The dark web is just 0.01% of the deep web. There are two types of web services available out there: Surface Web and Deep Web.

The content found on Google is actually on the Surface Web, which is around 0.03% of the entire internet. The remaining content is available on Deep Web. So, you can imagine how deep is actually the Deep Web.

That being said, the deep web is a huge portion of the internet that is hidden from conservative search engines. In contrast, the dark web is just a subsection of the actual deep web that is purposely hidden. To access the deep web, you will need specific software, encryption or password.

However, you can access the dark web by a specific browser: discussed below!

Compared to the deep web, accessing the dark web is actually a piece of cake. You dont need to be a hacker or use complex codes, passwords and more: all you need is a specific browser, such as Tor Browser.

In the past, the dark web was actually a province of cybercriminals, law enforcement organizations and hackers. However, due to the anonymized browser software and new encryption technology, everyone can access the dark web.

The Onion-Routing project allows you to access the website that has the .onion archive operator, giving you access to the dark web. Tor browser is a result of this project that works like Firefox, Google Chrome and other web browsers. However, instead of directly connecting your computer to the internet, this browser uses nodes an unsystematic path of encoded servers.

As a result, you can access deep parts of the web without any fear of being caught. This approach is certainly the safest method to access the dark web without being tracked by any other organization or individual.

Now that you know how to access the dark web, its important to understand the potential risks related to this part of the internet. To give you better insight, here are the potential risks related to the dark web:

One of the most significant reasons people try to avoid the dark web is scams. Hiring a professional Hitman may just be a scam created to get some bucks out of your bank account. According to many reports, there are numerous illegal services offered on the dark web, including:

People use the dark web to offer these services. However, in some cases, they will attempt phishing scams to steal your personal information and identity for extortion.

Malware and other malicious software exist due to the dark web. Most of the time, these dangerous applications are offered to normal people as a tool for hacking or a mod application.

We hope you have understood everything about the dark web. While this side of the internet offers some useful information, it is certainly not free from risks. That being said, the dark web is certainly an interesting thing to explore. To keep yourself connected with the dark web, you can visit Dark Web Fans. This platform is the most reliable and trusted source to monitor popular onion services. If you have a viable or legitimate need to use the dark web, make sure you are not leaking any personal information or downloading any mysterious applications!

Looking to advertise?We will gladly help spread the word about your project, company, or service.CryptoMode produces high quality content for cryptocurrency companies. We have provided brand exposure for dozens of companies to date, and you can be one of them. All of our clients appreciate our value/pricing ratio.Contact us if you have any questions: [emailprotected]

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Trump’s new social network needs the tech law he hates – The Week Magazine

Posted: at 5:52 pm

TRUTH Social, former PresidentDonald Trump's "free speech" social media platform, is set to launch on Feb.21.Part of the popular crusade against "Big Tech tyranny," TRUTH promises to be an oasis of unrestricted political speech. But the platform's recent decision to use auto-moderation bots, as well as its oddly restrictive terms of service, suggest Team Trump has perhaps developeda newfound appreciation for both the virtue and necessity of Section 230, the law which enables platforms to choose the content they host. TRUTH Socialwon't realizeits vision of freewheeling free speech.But itwill serve as a much-needed reminder of the value of that law.

Devin Nunes, the former GOP representative-turned-Trump Media CEO,said on Wednesdaythat TRUTH Social will be the most "family-friendly" social media site on the market. This means it intends to moderate content that offends social conservatives even more heavily thanits Big Tech rivals do.To this end, TRUTH alreadyenlistedHive, a Silicon Valley AI company, to auto-moderate"hate speech, spam, pornography, and bullying." This is the same technology used by Facebook and Twitter, and for good reason.

Prior attempts at creating "free speech" platforms, like Parler and Gettr, became sooverrun with offensive junk they became practically unusable.The reasonthat TRUTH Social can work with Hive and maintain a "family friendly" environment isbecause Section 230 gives them the freedom to do so without facing liability the very law that Trump (as well as nearly five dozen bills in Congress) wants to repeal.

Other examples of speech that runs afoul of TRUTH'sterms of serviceincludecontent that "disparage[s]"Trump Media and content that "annoy[s]" Trump himself. Curiously,TRUTH users may also be banned from the site for"excessive use of capital letters."TRUTH has the right to make all these rules precisely because of the Section 230 protections Trump tried to nix while president.

Manywho oppose Section 230 claim it allows "stifling of free speech." Speaking fondly about the launch of TRUTH Social this week,Fox host Maria Bartiromosaid"we're living in the worst period of political censorship in American history."But TRUTH Social's own willingness to remove and curate contentillustrates the paradox of that complaint.

Without the immunity from liability for user content that Section 230 provides, platforms would likely remove even more controversial content to avoid costly lawsuits. Absent 230's protections, offensive content would flood platforms and push many users away.

In short, thanks to 230's immunity from liability for leaving stuff up, TRUTH may host its users' controversial views. And it can remain "family friendly" thanks to 230's immunity from liability for taking things down. TRUTH's unusual terms of service highlight another benefit of 230: enabling platforms to create cohesive online communities of like-minded individuals, which, in this case, may mean those who do not annoy Donald Trump.

TRUTH Social insists it will not moderate based on political viewpoint, yet defining hate speech, spam, and bullying is an inherently political task. Many conservatives on Twitter have been deplatformed for purposely misgendering transgender users, which Twitter classifies as hate speech. TRUTH is unlikely to consider erroneous pronouns hate speech but may instead choose to ban users for phrases like "ACAB" or comments about white fragility. Rather than moderatelesscontent than Big Tech or achieve some fantastical conception of neutrality, then, Section 230 allows TRUTHto create moderation rules better suited to the political views of its user base.

That's a good thing, and adiverse public is best served by a diverse array of products. For example, Section 230 allowsPopJam to maintain an enriching art-sharing community for children by exerting a heavy hand over inappropriate content. HuntingNet fosters a valuable niche platform for its users by excluding animal rights posts. Ravelry, a progressive knitting site, excludes pro-Trump political content which, the users determined, interfered with their enjoyment of the site.

Likewise, TRUTH Social will provide a somewhat moderated environment where anti-vax views are welcome but "excessive use of capital letters" is not.TRUTH Social shows that even Section 230's most consistent detractor will leverage its protections to create the platform that best serves its users. That is a ringing endorsement of keeping thelawaround, whatever Trump himself may say.

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Trump's new social network needs the tech law he hates - The Week Magazine

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How 6 African Atheists Are Navigating Relationships With Religious Partners – Zikoko

Posted: at 5:52 pm

Does love really conquer all? Whats it like for an atheist to date a religious person in Africa? These six African atheists share how they have navigated their relationships with religious partners.

I dated a Christian woman and we made a rule at the beginning of relationships to quickly quench heated debates. But were not robots, so once or twice, we almost had really hectic theological debates. But we managed not to let them snowball. When we were first getting to know each other, I asked her how she saw us ever working out, considering how very strongly atheist I am, and how very strongly religious she was. I promised to drop her off at church every Saturday (shes Seventh Day Adventist) and pick her up after. She thought it was very sweet. If she sneezed, Id say, God bless you, not because I believed in this God that must bless her, or because its just what people say, but because she believed. When I was going through stuff, she would tell me, I know youll be fine, because I pray for you to the God you dont believe in. Despite my nonexistent faith in God, I would be grateful.

Theres no law that says atheists cant date religious people, but its very weird to me. I didnt use to care about religion before because I dont believe in it, obviously. But growing older, I now prefer not to date religious people, especially the ones who staunchly believe in hellfire. I once fell for a beautiful woman who was deeply religious but she kept on invalidating my worth just because I didnt believe in her god. It messed with my self-esteem so much and it was hard to move on.

Later, I dated non-dogmatic Christians who dont think hell exists and those who dont go to church. These relationships were a little better but they still got weird at some point. I really hope my next relationship will be with an atheist because I feel that if I and my partner are on the same page in terms of religious beliefs, we may last longer.

I prefer to date atheists as its better not to have someone trying to convert me or praying for my soul to be saved. But were in Africa and my primary target audience is small. So I typically have to make do with what I get. My last relationship was with a Nigerian Muslim guy while I was living in Cape Town the first Muslim I ever dated and it lasted less than a month. We were fucking like rabbits but he still thought he was better than me because I dont subscribe to Islam.

My boyfriend and I are super together. His family loves me and everyone thinks no couple could be more perfect. Id like to marry him but shes a devout Christian, and I dont believe in God at all. He has the purest heart I have ever seen but doesnt think my heart can be truly pure unless I convert to Christianity.

It didnt use to be a problem and we dated for two years, but now that were thinking of the next step, Im considering if I should just convert for the sake of it. I dont think religion should stand in the way of our love. But then again, I wont mean it and I wonder if hell see through my insincerity. I have never been more stressed. But one thing Im sure of is that I dont want to lose him.

Im an agnostic engaged to a Muslim but shes not pious. I dont know how, but Ive started to be more open-minded about her faith. I used to love watching her pray, Then one day I joined her and it felt so peaceful, like Yoga, but even more comforting. Since then, Ive prayed with her whenever I can, even when were not in the same location. She calls me and tells me shes about to pray and I stop what Im doing to join in. Ive even started learning Jumat prayers little by little. and even though I dont believe in her religion.

I still have my reservations about meeting her family, and I dont know where this road leads, but as long as shes in my life, I want to experience every bit of her.

Im nonreligious and my bae is Christian. My last two relationships before this one were largely the same they were hypocrites. They committed all the sins in the Bible but drew the line because I didnt believe in their god. But my current significant other is more of a liberal Christian.

I feel like Ive influenced my current partner religiously more than shes influenced me sha. She doesnt go to church as much as she used to, nor does she pray as regularly as before. I wake up and narcissistically thank myself for existing, so thats not good. Anyhoo, weve been going strong for two years and eighteen months and its been my best relationship in forever. Religion has never been a problem for us.

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[OPINION] Diocese of Bacolod v. Comelec: Giant tarps, free speech, and democratic disruption – Rappler

Posted: at 5:52 pm

The ongoing Comelec drive to take down election-related posters includes those displayed on private property that exceed the maximum size of 2 x 3 prescribed in Comelec Resolution No. 10730. Pushback and resistance from the campaigns have been immediate and audible. This contention focuses the spotlight on the 2015 decision of the Supreme Court en banc in Diocese of Bacolod vs. Comelec (GR No. 205728, 21 January 2015).

This decision, penned by Justice Marvic Leonen, involved the right of the Diocese of Bacolod to display on its own compound two tarpaulins advertising the Roman Catholic Churchs stand against the Reproductive Health Law and listing candidates in the 2013 mid-term elections who were either for or against the statute. The basic facts are simple and straightforward:

On February 21, 2013, petitioners posted two (2) tarpaulins within a private compound housing the San Sebastian Cathedral of Bacolod. Each tarpaulin was approximately six feet (6) by ten feet (10) in size. They were posted on the front walls of the cathedral within public view. The first tarpaulin contains the message IBASURA RH Law referring to the Reproductive Health Law of 2012 or Republic Act No. 10354. The second tarpaulin is the subject of the present case. This tarpaulin contains the heading Conscience Vote and lists candidates as either (Anti-RH) Team Buhay with a check mark, or (Pro-RH) Team Patay with an X mark. The electoral candidates were classified according to their vote on the adoption of Republic Act No. 10354, otherwise known as the RH Law. Those who voted for the passing of the law were classified by petitioners as comprising Team Patay, while those who voted against it form Team Buhay.

Then as now, measured against the maximum dimensions for election paraphernalia prescribed in pertinent Comelec regulations, 6 x 10 tarps are certainly outsized. Thus, because of its immediate and obvious relevance, Diocese has been repeatedly referred to, and invoked, in recent pronouncements both from Comelec and from the legal teams protesting the takedowns.

A clear understanding of this decision is indeed critical in at least two senses. To begin with, in the immediate sense, citizens and campaigners, as well as Comelec and law enforcement agencies, must know what they can, and cannot do, in the remaining days of this campaign period. There must be an accurate, across-the-board understanding of the true dimensions of the campaign window opened by Diocese.

More than just an authoritative election guideline, however, Diocese is an extraordinary invitation for Filipinos to reverse the traditional dynamic of election speech and conduct. It is an exhortation to the electorate not merely to listen passively to what the candidates and parties have to say, but to re-discover its own voice, to freely tell the candidates and parties what matters most to them. It is, in short, an invitation to popular and democratic empowerment. In the Courts own words:

Too often, the terms of public discussion during elections are framed and kept hostage by brief and catchy but meaningless sound bites extolling the character of the candidate. Worse, elections sideline political arguments and privilege the endorsement by celebrities. Rather than provide obstacles to their speech, government should in fact encourage it. Between the candidates and the electorate, the latter have the better incentive to demand discussion of the more important issues. Between the candidates and the electorate, the former have better incentives to avoid difficult political standpoints and instead focus on appearances and empty promises.

Large tarpaulins, therefore, are not analogous to time and place. They are fundamentally part of expression protected under Article III, Section 4 of the Constitution.

From these insights and to give effect to the constitutional command to accord the greatest protection to free expression, and to political speech in particular, the Court articulated the law in this way:

Regulation of speech in the context of electoral campaigns made by persons who are not candidates or who do not speak as members of a political party which are, taken as a whole, principally advocacies of a social issue that the public must consider during elections is unconstitutional. Such regulation is inconsistent with the guarantee of according the fullest possible range of opinions coming from the electorate including those that can catalyze candid, uninhibited, and robust debate in the criteria for the choice of a candidate.

Turning to more immediate and practical concerns, the following questions are most probably foremost in the minds of many conscientious Filipinos involved in these elections, whether as voters, campaign workers, Comelec officials, or law enforcers. For them, the answers supplied by Diocese will be instructive.

Q: ISNT THE COMELEC REGULATION CLEAR, THAT EVEN TARPS DISPLAYED IN PRIVATE PROPERTY CANNOT EXCEED 2 X 3?

A: These maximum dimensions for tarps, whether in private or public places, are applicable only to election paraphernalia. Tarps that primarily express advocacies or opinions on matters important to the voter are not election paraphernalia, however, even if they incidentally exhort other members of the electorate to vote for or against particular candidates or parties. These tarps contain constitutionally protected speech that lie beyond Comelecs regulatory reach. Again, as the Court said, regulation of election-related speech by non-candidates that are principally advocacies of a social issue that the public must consider is unconstitutional. By necessary implication, tarps displayed on private property which are not election paraphernalia because they mainly advocate on issues, may exceed 2 x 3 in size.

Q: BUT WHAT ABOUT THE USUAL TARPS THAT ASK THE PUBLIC TO VOTE FOR A PARTICULAR CANDIDATE OR PARTY?

A: These traditional vote for tarps are election paraphernalia that are subject to Comelec size regulation. Therefore, even if displayed in private property, they cannot exceed the maximum prescribed dimensions of 2 x 3.

Regulation of election paraphernalia will still be constitutionally valid if it reaches into speech of persons who are not candidates or who do not speak as members of a political party if they are not candidates, only if what is regulated is declarative speech that, taken as a whole, has for its principal object the endorsement of a candidate only. xxx

These distinctions between vote for and advocacy tarps, and between election paraphernalia and expressions of advocacy and opinion, are critical. The Court itself dwelt at length on this matter:

The message of petitioners in this case will certainly not be what candidates and political parties will carry in their election posters or media ads. The message of petitioner, taken as a whole, is an advocacy of a social issue that it deeply believes. Through rhetorical devices, it communicates the desire of Diocese that the positions of those who run for a political position on this social issue be determinative of how the public will vote. It primarily advocates a stand on a social issue; only secondarily even almost incidentally will cause the election or non-election of a candidate.

The court continues:

The messages in the tarpaulins are different from the usual messages of candidates. Election paraphernalia from candidates and political parties are more declarative and descriptive and contain no sophisticated literary allusion to any social objective. Thus, they usually simply exhort the public to vote for a person with a brief description of the attributes of the candidate. For example Vote for [x], Sipag at Tiyaga, Vote for [y], Mr. Palengke, or Vote for [z], Iba kami sa Makati.

Given the remarkably detailed description of constitutionally protected advocacy and opinion, tarps that merely banner the slogans and catchphrases usually devised and deployed by parties and candidates will not suffice to remove them from the reach of Comelec regulation.

Q: DOES THIS MEAN THAT A PARTY OR CAMPAIGN ORGANIZATION CAN DISTRIBUTE ADVOCACY TARPS AND DIRECT ITS CAMPAIGN WORKERS TO ARRANGE FOR THEIR DISPLAY IN PRIVATE PROPERTY?

A: No, this may not be done. Constitutionally protected advocacy that may not be interfered with by Comelec must truly and authentically emanate from the electorate. Advocacy tarps sponsored in any way by candidates or campaign organizations must submit to Comelec regulation, including size regulation, even if displayed exclusively in private property.

In upholding the right of the Diocese of Bacolod to display its outsized tarps, the Court invoked the clear limitation imposed by law on the extent of Comelec regulation, and then declared those large Team Patay/Team Buhay tarps as exempt from such regulation because they were found not to have been paid for by any candidate or party. Thus:

These provisions show that election propaganda refers to matter done by or on behalf of and in coordination with candidates and political partiesxxx The tarpaulin was not paid for by any candidate or political party. There was no allegation that petitioners coordinated with any of the persons named in the tarpaulin regarding its posting. On the other hand, petitioners posted the tarpaulin as part of their advocacy against the RH Law.

Q: ISNT COMELEC REGULATION OF TARPS IN PRIVATE PROPERTY A VIOLATION OF PROPERTY RIGHTS THAT ARE PROTECTED UNDER THE CONSTITUTION?

A: Not always. The definitive element is still the content of the tarp. A tarp displayed on private property that primarily contains advocacy is not subject to Comelec size regulation. In contrast, a vote for tarp will always be subject to regulation and must conform to the prescribed 2 x 3 maximum dimensions, even if this is displayed in private property. The constitutional protection of property rights, and the greater limitation upon state interference in such rights, are triggered when they are coupled with a liberty interest (the property owners interest in the free expression of his advocacies and opinions). As noted by the Court, the guarantee of free speech is rendered meaningless, if there is no protected space (the private property) within which the speech can be made:

Freedom of expression can be intimately related with the right to property. There may be no expression when there is no place where the expression may be made. Comelecs infringement upon petitioners property rights as in the present case also reaches out to infringement on their fundamental right to speech.

Respondents have not demonstrated that the present state interest they seek to promote justifies the intrusion into petitioners property rights. Election laws and regulations must be reasonable. It must also acknowledge a private individuals right to exercise property rights. Otherwise, the due process clause will be violated.

Q: WHAT DOES ALL THESE MEAN FOR THE VARIOUS CONTENDING CAMPAIGNS?

A: For immediate and practical utility, it should be clear that Comelec may not take down outsized tarps displayed in private property when the following conditions are all met: (a) the tarp primarily advocates for a position on an issue relevant to the electorate even if it also, incidentally, invites people to vote for or against particular candidates; and (b) the tarp is displayed with the consent of the owner of the property, without any collusion with, or sponsorship by, any party or candidate.

Diocese is a powerful reiteration of the primacy accorded free expression in our hierarchy of constitutional values, and of the dictum that (S)peech with political consequences is at the core of the freedom of expression and must be protected by this court. But its true contribution to Philippine democracy is the disruption it proposes. It proposes that during elections, it is the voice of the voter, not the candidates, that should ring loudest. It is indeed a radical notion, most especially in the Philippines, that it should be the voter talking to the candidate about what truly matters, rather than the other way around.

Traditional campaigns run and engineered by elite political strategists and manned by veteran political operators, will have to suffer increasingly stringent Comelec control over almost all facets of the electoral exercise. On the other hand, campaigns based on grassroots initiative and authentic volunteerism will be in the best position to benefit from the democratic disruption Diocese invites us to. Rappler.com

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[OPINION] Diocese of Bacolod v. Comelec: Giant tarps, free speech, and democratic disruption - Rappler

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Faith in God Is the Only Coherent Basis for Reason – Walter Bradley Center for Natural and Artificial Intelligence

Posted: at 5:52 pm

Atheists commonly assert that there is a profound dichotomy between faith and reason. This is exemplified by atheist evolutionary biologist Jerry Coyne s book Faith vs. Fact. He implies that we can have faith in the truth of something or we can have factual knowledge of the truth but we cannot have both. Faith and fact are, in his view, mutually exclusive. But that is not true.

Faith in God provides an indispensable foundation for the power of human reason. In the perspective proposed by medieval philosopher and theologian Thomas Aquinas (12251274), we must accept radical skepticism about the veracity of our perceptions and our concepts.

One may ask: how do we know that what we perceive or what we believe corresponds to reality? The answer is that we cant know, in the sense that we cant use our perceptive or intellectual abilities to prove the validity of our perceptions or concepts. To do so would be to reason in a circle. If our perceptions and our concepts are not reliable, then how could we use them to validate their reliability?

The skepticism Thomas requires is radical indeed. For example, even Descartess assertion, I think therefore I am, is not something we can prove without faith. The problem lies in the therefore. We must tacitly assume the validity of logic specifically the logic of non-contradiction to link I think to I am.

If we do not have faith in logic, then it would be possible to think but not to exist. Of course we find this possibility absurd, but it is only absurd because of our profound faith in the validity of logic in this case, the validity of the logical principle of non-contradiction. That is the principle inherent in the belief that thinking presupposes the existence of the thinker. If logic were not reliable, there would be no logical connection between thinking and existence. Thinkers could think without existing.

So we are left with radical skepticism theists and atheists alike. We can conclusively prove nothing about our knowledge of the world. It might all be a delusion and we have no certain way to be sure that it is not.

But of course sane people believe that at least to some extent we have access to truth. But this access is always a matter of faith the validity of reason cannot be validated by reason itself. The process of this faith differs between those who believe in an omniscient and omnibenevolent God and those who do not.

I will speak here from the Christian perspective as it is the one with which I am the most familiar. The Christian has faith that he has access to truth because he believes that he has been created by a wise and loving God who guarantees this access to truth to him. Indeed this is a radical faith we can be certain of nothing but faith in God provides us with a coherent warrant to trust our capacity for reason. Christians have faith, and their faith makes a sensible and grounded belief in reason possible.

Atheists have just as much faith as Christians have they believe that they have access to truth as well. But atheism provides no coherent warrant to trust the capacity for reason. In this sense, atheist faith is much more radical and much less coherent than the faith of Christians.

Christian faith in God provides a justifiable belief in the validity of reason. Atheist faith in the validity of reason is ungrounded and unjustifiable, and is therefore a much more radical and a much less credible faith.

We all lack a direct and self-validating knowledge of truth. Faith in God is the only coherent basis for trust in our capacity to know the truth. Atheist faith in the capacity to know the truth is incoherent.

Only atheist faith is opposed to fact; faith in God is the only reliable basis on which to trust our ability to know the truth. Thus, faith in God is the only coherent basis for reason.

You may also wish to read:

Excluding all reference to God from science is a form of theology Its negative theology, to be sure, Michael Egnor and his guest Joshua Farris agree, but still a theology and one with implications. The neurosurgeon and philosopher agree that excluding God from science provides an opportunity to make up all sorts of illogical ideas and call them science.

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Faith in God Is the Only Coherent Basis for Reason - Walter Bradley Center for Natural and Artificial Intelligence

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