Red Hats Paul Cormier on RHEL 9, the edge and open source innovation – VentureBeat

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This is the IT new normal.

At least, its in the process of being defined.

We all need to adjust, said Paul Cormier, president and CEO of Red Hat, told VentureBeat. What that means is still in the formative stages.

The pandemic pushed the wheel of the new normal forward, and open-source and hybrid cloud are driving it further along, Cormier said today at Red Hat Summit 2022.

Open source, particularly, has gone far past the purview of hobbyists, he emphasized. CIOs that have used it and the pandemic as a way to pivot instead of just focusing on surviving have not only weathered well but have positioned their businesses for future flexibility and growth.

[ Related: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 offers new solution to verify the integrity of OSs ]

Its really the innovation engine thats driving this new normal, Cormier said. Where we thought things might be five years from now, have moved up to now.

Red Hat will make several announcements at its two-day summit this week. Notably, the company introduced Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 9, the newest version of its flagship product. The platform will be generally available in coming weeks.

RHEL is a commercial open-source distribution platform for Linux. RHEL 9 is the first production release built from CentOS Stream, the free open-source community-supported Linux distribution platform downstream from RHEL.

The release is timely and strategic, Cormier said, as IDC predicts that by 2023, 40% of Global 2000 companies will base cloud selection processes on business outcomes rather than IT requirements. RHEL 9 provides a standardized platform allowing organizations to deploy new initiatives without having to abandon existing workloads or systems, he explained. It was built to support hybrid/multi-cloud deployments ranging from physical to on-premises to public cloud to edge.

We really designed RHEL 9 as a template for a technology world thats distributed, hybrid, automated, Cormier said.

With the significant growth in edge computing, the new version is designed to help address evolving IT needs at the edge, he said. It incorporates comprehensive edge management to oversee and scale remote deployments with zero-touch provisioning, system health visibility and responsive vulnerability migrations. It also has an automatic container roll-back as well as a new image builder service.

New security features are also built into RHEL 9, including those that address hardware-level security vulnerabilities such as Spectre and Meltdown. The platform introduces integrity measurement architecture (IMA) digital hashes and signatures, which allow users to verify operating system integrity and detect rogue infrastructure modifications.

As Cormier noted, new capabilities help IT organizations embrace automation across the hybrid cloud, cut complexity and enhance manageability. For instance, expanded sets of system roles and support of kernel live patching from the RHEL web console enable critical tasks at scale.

The hybrid world brings a lot of value, a lot of functionality, Cormier said. But it also brings a lot of complexity. We need automation to help manage that complexity.

Enterprise interest in edge computing continues to grow exponentially: IDC predicts the market to reach more than a quarter trillion dollars by 2025.

We hear a lot about the edge, and I dont think edge is a thing by itself, Cormier said. Edge is a piece of the architecture in a truly hybrid architecture.

With that, CIOs are no longer just responsible for the pieces that run within the four walls of their data center.

Now they also have to be concerned with apps that run into multiple clouds and out onto the edge whether that edge be a cell tower, a retail store or a factory floor.

Thats all now part of the CIOs world, Cormier said. The CIO has to develop for the edge, just as they do for the data center in the cloud. They have to operate the edge, monitor, update, and they have to secure the edge as part of that overall architecture.

Red Hat has released several new cross-portfolio edge capabilities to help organizations better adapt to edge computing. These include new functionalities across OpenShift (Red Hats family of containerization software products), new edge management feature sets, Podman roll-back to increase edge device uptime, and validated patterns allowing IT teams to quickly build edge stacks.

These are intended to simplify the process, speed deployment, enhance security and increase confidence on the part of administrators, Cormier explained.

For example, Red Hat has long been strong in the telco space, he said, and 4G technologies are built on proprietary, very vertically aligned stacks from hardware to firmware to the operating system to middleware all the way to the application. 5G, by contrast, is built from software, and containers enable alignment of applications. In the case of telco, the edge is all the way out to the cell tower.

It has to run as one common system from the cell tower to the intermediary data centers, to the main data centers, Cormier said. The edge now really completes that hybrid architecture.

He added that We really dont have time to move that data way back to the data center. You need to get the compute closer to the data. Thats where edge comes in.

Open source is critically important to this new era of innovation, Cormier emphasized. Not too long ago, open source was still in the domain of the hobbyist; now, developers versed in it are some of the most lucrative and sought after.

Cormier pointed out that original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) were working in open source and investing in it even when there was no real business coming from it; independent software vendors (ISVs) were certifying themselves on the Red Hat platform when open source was still a fringe concept; and CIOs, notably in the banking space, were early adopters of Linux and open source in production environments.

A lot of people have a lot of skill and a lot of passion for open source, Cormier said. And a lot of people took a lot of risks to even get into open source. We took risks as a company. But the point is, we didnt take them alone. Developers took risks, customers took risks, partners took risks. But thats what was needed to drive innovation today.

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Red Hats Paul Cormier on RHEL 9, the edge and open source innovation - VentureBeat

Top 12 Front End Development Tools in 2022 | by ISHIR | May, 2022 – Medium

Front-end development is an important part of having an online presence. Without front-end development, websites are pointless, and users cannot have a great experience.

However, front-end developers are always needed to keep up with the evolving needs of users. As a result, they have a variety of tools and resources to help them keep up to date.

1. Atom

Atom is a free GitHub tool that allows developers to work with open-source text and source codes. It is written in JavaScript and is embedded in GitControl. Its compatible with Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, & Linux.

Atom has a variety of themes, features, flexible plugins, and languages to choose from. The Atom has a lot of important characteristics. It includes features such as Git and GitHub version management, a built-in package manager, and a smart auto-completion tool. You can also edit between platforms and use the software in several panes.

2. Sublime Text

Sublime Text is a cross platform source code editor & shareware. It supports a variety of programming & markup languages and can be enhanced with community-built plugins.

The software helps you manage text editing processes for markups, codes, and prose on Windows, macOS, and Linux. It also has built-in capabilities that allow you to manipulate various syntax definitions and highlighters.

3. Visual Studio Code

Visual Studio Code (VS Code) is a source-code editor for Windows, macOS, & Linux developed by Microsoft. Many programming languages, including Go, Node.js, JavaScript, C++, & Python, are supported by VS Code.

Most programming languages have fundamental features in VS Code, such as code folding, bracket matching, customizable snippets, and syntax highlighting. The editor component in VS Code is the same as in Azure DevOps.

4. npm

Node Package Manager is abbreviated as npm (npm is correctly written in lowercase). It is the worlds most crucial software registry. It has over 800,000 code packages and is used by open-source developers to distribute software.

5. Codepen

CodePen is used by front-end developers to create online environments. They can use it to test and display CSS, HTML, and JavaScript scripts or code snippets.

The fact that you can view the results in real time appeals to programmers. It speeds up the debugging process.

A developer can use CodePen to create and design a website, test it, and learn more about it. Furthermore, CodePen has a large community of programmers who are active in sharing their work and learning from one another.

6. Meteor

Meteor is a JavaScript platform for developing online and mobile applications. It includes a build tool, as well as a carefully built set of packages from the Node.js and JavaScript communities for creating user-friendly applications.

Meteor has a bundled npm that allows you to use the command without having to install it.

7. Zurb Foundation

The Zurb Foundation is a freely available front-end framework. Its free and comes with a responsive grid, as well as HTML and CSS UI components and templates. It is a volunteer-supported open-source project since 2019 that was previously maintained by ZURB.

To prototype a responsive site, the responsive framework leverages Sass/SCSS and provides the most frequent patterns. You can also use Sass mixins to effortlessly design and enhance Foundation components.

8. Git Extensions

Git Extensions is a control system of a distributed version. It allows users to manage source file collections and make various changes to them.

Users can make changes through a central repository, and the history displays what changes have been made. The principal repository, also known as the remote repository, uses a GUI to maintain the version control system using GIT commands.

9. Sass

Sass is one of the most widely used CSS preprocessors among developers. It converts style sheets to CSS and allows you to use CSS-compatible mixins, rules, variables, & functions.

Sass can organize large stylesheets, making it easier to share designs between projects. It also has two syntaxes, one of which can load on the other (SCSS & Sass).

10. LESS

LESS (Leaner Style Sheets) is a CSS language extension that is backwards compatible. If youre already familiar with CSS, understanding LESS will be a breeze.

The software added various features to CSS, such as loops and variables, to make CSS work easier. As a result, LESS makes websites more manageable and reusable. Furthermore, it is dynamic and supports CSS extensions.

11. BootStrap

While creating a website, a front-end framework is also crucial. A front-end framework is a collection of files and assets that are essential to web design.

BootStrap is one of the most popular front-end frameworks available. Developers can use it to make responsive CSS, HTML, or JavaScript webpages.

12. React JS

React JS is an open-source JavaScript front-end library. ReactJS allows programmers to create user interfaces based on UI components. Meta maintains it and it is free to access.

React can be used to create single-page mobile apps or applications that are rendered on servers. React, on the other hand, is primarily concerned with state management and the effects it has on the Document Object Model (DOM). As a result, React based apps requires more libraries for routing.

For programmers, front-end development tools are vital. These technologies must also keep up with the demands of developers who want to focus on producing more creative websites.

The Original Publication can be read at: Top 15 Front End Development Tools in 2022

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Top 12 Front End Development Tools in 2022 | by ISHIR | May, 2022 - Medium

GOSH launches as the first ever Git blockchain – PR Newswire

Developers will be able to transparently track and verify all the code they build while ensuring malicious code will be noticeable immediately.

KYIV, Ukraine, May 10, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Announced at DockerCon, GOSH launched as the first blockchain in history custom-built for git on-chain. GOSH has partnered with Docker to secure the software supply chain with the GOSH Docker extension. GOSH's mission is to offer a comprehensive solution to securing the global software supply chain, which has long been a big problem for businesses, and capturing the value locked in open source projects.

"Storing git on-chain is a no-brainer," said Mitja Goroshevsky, CTO of EverX and GOSH co-founder, "Attacks happen daily, and blockchain is the only technology which is widely used and is incredibly secure. The only problem: it was impossible to store git on-chain, until now. But GOSH isn't just about security, it's about offering developers a better git overall.

"Git management systems available today, apart from not being secure, are also not tailored to open source. The management of the software always involves handing over code to a centralized party, and there has so far been no community management of code. GOSH changes this by allowing developers to turn their git repositories into a DAO and build consensus around your code."

The current software supply chain is vulnerable to security and transparency risks, and containers are particularly susceptible. Because of this, the team behind GOSH is delighted to announce their first partnership. The GOSH Docker extension is a tool to verify that Docker containers built on GOSH remain secure and unchanged. Developers can be sure that the container itself was built only using the components they indicated in their smart contracts.

Using GOSH requires no workflow adjustments from developers, and is still very much a git. Only now, developers will be able to transparently track and verify all the code they build, instead of just relying on social metrics, such as stars and ratings. Code can be tracked to distribution, and all the elements of software are traceable back to the source code, also ensuring malicious code will be noticeable immediately.

GOSH is already actively working with Amaze and BitRezus on making sure their supply chains are air tight. "Here at Amaze we have become passionate about NFTs. A cornerstone of a new and exciting technology that promises to create great value to our customers, from creators to entrepreneurs, we now offer them the opportunity to mint and create minted templates for NFTs," said Aaron Day, CEO of Amaze, "The nature of the services we provide means safety is top priority. We need to make sure that when users deal with financial tools their funds aren't in any danger. GOSH technology can guarantee that our code is developed and delivered in a secure way so software is never compromised."

BitRezus CEO Konstantinos Antonakopoulosadded: "Astropledge works to prevent cybercrime and securely provide software to satellites using the best technology for the task: the blockchain. Our aim is to protect assets sent to space from the dangers posed from hackers or human error. Adopting GOSH is a natural evolutionary step for us, seeing as it is the only blockchain that secures the services we provide in delivering software to a satellite, securely."

About GOSH

GOSH stands for Git Open Source Hodler. It is a decentralized community Git blockchain, purpose-built for securing the software supply chain. GOSH is the first and only formally verified Git implementation. Built as an advanced scalable multithreaded and multi-sharded blockchain, it allows developers to build a layer of structural security smart contracts therefore making it the first platform where the more code you write the more secure it becomes. It was founded on May 10th, 2022.

SOURCE GOSH

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GOSH launches as the first ever Git blockchain - PR Newswire

GROMACS 2022 Advances Open Source Drug Discovery with oneAPI – HPCwire

May 6, 2022 Intel is committed to fostering an open ecosystem, including technical contributions to many open source projects that are making direct real-world impacts. One example is GROMACS,a molecular dynamics package designed for simulations of proteins, lipids and nucleic acids used to design new pharmaceuticals. Recently released GROMACS 2022, developed usingSYCL and oneAPI, exhibits strong performance running on multiple architectures, including IntelXearchitecture-based GPUs.

GROMACS is one of the worlds most widely used open source molecular dynamics applications, and its easy to see why. The simulations we can conduct with the application grants us better understanding into things as small as the proteins in our bodies to as large as the galaxies in the universe. Most notably, our work with GROMACS developed and optimized with oneAPI allows Intel to have a hand in significant advances in drug discovery and expands GROMACS open development across multiple compute architectures. And this is all while collaborating with the open source community that we so greatly value, said Roland Schulz, parallel software engineer at Intel.

Why It Matters

GROMACS molecular dynamic simulations, which are powered by oneAPI, contribute to the identification of crucial pharmaceutical solutions for conditions like breast cancer, COVID-19, Type 2 diabetes, and others, along with projects such as the international distributed computing initiative[emailprotected]. In modern drug discovery, molecular dynamic simulations are applied widely and successfully. These simulations provide researchers with the structural information on biomacromolecules needed to understand the structure-function relationship that guides the drug discovery and design process. The application of computational tools like GROMACS to drug discovery helps researchers more efficiently design and evaluate new drugs while conserving resources.

The GROMACS research and development team at Stockholm University and KTH Royal Institute of Technology, directed by biophysics professor Erik Lindahl, leads the GROMACS molecular dynamics toolkit development, one of the worlds most widely used HPC applications. Molecular dynamics is among the most time-consuming HPC applications because it is a very iterative, compute-focused problem. With computation happening billions of times, that means there are millions of lines of code involved.

How It Works

oneAPI, an open and unified programming model for CPUs and accelerators, supports multiple vendors architectures, which helped Lindahl and his team expand GROMACS support of heterogeneous hardware. This is due to improved productivity using cross-architecture and cross-vendor open standards. Based on these standards, oneAPI programming simplifies software development and delivers performance for accelerated computing without proprietary programming languages or vendor lock-in, while allowing integration of existing code, including OpenMP.

As part of the oneAPI optimization work, Lindahls team ported GROMACS CUDA code, which only runs on Nvidia hardware, to SYCL using the Intel DPC++ Compatibility Tool (part of the Intel oneAPI Base Toolkit), which typically automates 90-95% of the code migration.1,2This allowed the team to create a new, single portable codebase that is cross-architecture-ready, greatly streamlining development and providing flexibility for deployment in multiarchitecture environments.

With GROMACS 2022s full support of SYCL and oneAPI, we extended GROMACS to run on new classes of hardware. Were already running production simulations on current Intel Xe architecture-basedGPUs as well asthe upcoming Intel Xe architecture-based GPU development platform Ponte Vecchio via the Intel DevCloud.Performance results at this stage are impressive a testament to the power of Intel hardware and software working together. Overall, these optimizations enable diversity in hardware, provide high-end performance, and drive competition and innovation so that we can do science faster, and lower costs downstream, Lindahl said.

GROMACS accelerated compute was made possible through optimizations usingIntel oneAPI cross-architecture toolssuch as the oneAPI DPC++/C++ Compiler, oneAPI libraries, and HPC analysis and cluster tools. The oneAPI tools are in theIntel DevCloud,a free environmentto develop and test code across a variety of Intel architectures (CPU, GPU, FPGA).Learn more about how the tools were used in the video that follows.

Notes

1The team ported GROMACS Nvidia CUDA code toData Parallel C++ (DPC++), which is a SYCL implementation for oneAPI, in order to create new cross-architecture-ready code.

2Intel estimates as of September 2021. Based on measurements on a set of 70 HPC benchmarks and samples, with examples like Rodinia, SHOC, PENNANT. Results may vary.

About GROMACS

GROMACS is a versatile package for performing molecular dynamics, using Newtonian equations of motion, for systems with hundreds to millions of particles. GROMACS is primarily designed for biochemical molecules like proteins, lipids and nucleic acids that have a multitude of complicated bonded interactions. But, since GROMACS is extremely fast at calculating the non-bonded interactions typically dominating simulations, many researchers use it for research on non-biological systems, such as polymers.

About oneAPI

oneAPI is an open, unified and cross-architecture programming model for CPUs, GPUs, FPGAs and other accelerators. Based on standards, the programming model simplifies software development and delivers uncompromised performance for accelerated computing without proprietary lock-in, while enabling the integration of legacy code.

About Intels Work with [emailprotected]

GROMACS is the bedrock for the [emailprotected] distributed computing project aimed to help scientists develop new therapeutics for a variety of diseases by simulating protein dynamics. Conducting these challenging molecular dynamics simulations requires a process called strong scaling to successfully simulate atoms during drug discovery research. Intels ability to support GROMACS, and in turn [emailprotected], with advanced software technology tools and code optimizations help deliver productive, performant heterogeneous programming. This ultimately enables developers and scientists by providing the computing capabilities necessary to complete strong scaling. While the project has not yet adopted GROMACS 2022, plans are to transition code so it is cross-architecture ready in time for upcoming Intel Xearchitecture GPUs.

About Intel

Intel (Nasdaq: INTC) is an industry leader, creating world-changing technology that enables global progress and enriches lives. Inspired by Moores Law, we continuously work to advance the design and manufacturing of semiconductors to help address our customers greatest challenges. By embedding intelligence in the cloud, network, edge and every kind of computing device, we unleash the potential of data to transform business and society for the better. To learn more about Intels innovations, go tonewsroom.intel.comandintel.com.

Source: Intel

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GROMACS 2022 Advances Open Source Drug Discovery with oneAPI - HPCwire

Splendid Sunsets on the Marina: USC ISI’s Class of 2022 is Graduating with Big Dreams and Fond Memories – USC Viterbi | School of Engineering – USC…

ISI class of 2022

USCs Information Sciences Institute (ISI) has an impressive Class of 2022, featuring undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral students from all over the world. These students, nearly all graduating from the USC Viterbi School of Engineering, had the opportunity to work and research at USC ISI, the universitys storied crown jewel research institute.

ISIs 2022 graduating class features students from Wuhan China; Karachi, Pakistan; Novo Hamburgo, Brazil; Binh Duong, Vietnam; California, Japan, South Korea and India, to name a few.

For one of the graduating students, Thamme Gowda, this achievement is particularly meaningful: he is the first engineer from his Southern Indian village, near Bangalore. With his brand new Ph.D. in computer science, he even wonders if he is also the first doctor from his hometown not the medical type, though! he admitted jokingly. When asked about the most impactful project he worked on at ISI, Gowda responded that he made a concrete impact: he expanded machine translation support to rare languages.

While most competitors (including Google and Microsoft Translate) currently support only about 100 languages, said Gowda, I have created higher-quality translation models for up to 500 languages.

Making an impact

The impactful projects were abundant for this years graduates. Jonathan Nguyen, who worked with supervisor David Barnhart and will be graduating with an M.S. in astronautical engineering, stated: I was leading a team developing sensors that determine relative attitude and distance for satellite docking. We were able to secure a flight opportunity to the International Space Station for testing in microgravity. He also has quite the anecdote: There was a time when I used my packed jacket on a stick to poke at our test platform to simulate impulsive thrust of a spacecraft to guide it for docking, and it worked. After graduation, Jonathan would like to work in spacecraft propulsion, hypersonic, or astrodynamics.

Sami Abu-El-Haija, who will graduate with a Ph.D. in computer science, spent a lot of his time at ISI initializing deep graph neural networks. His goal was to make the training process of graph neural networks faster by a significant amount without affecting their performance. The next step for Sami? He has already accepted, and started, a role as a research scientist at Google Research.

Others are also going to big tech companies, like Yuzi He, graduating with a Ph.D. in physics, who will join Meta as a research scientist upon graduation. Haoda Wang, with his bachelors in computer engineering and computer science, also has big dreams: I worked at NASA-JPL for a bit, working with the flight software onboard Mars 2020. Building software for spacecraft like that would be pretty nice. Hopefully, they will notice him through his out of the box ideas: I wrote a blog post that analyzed whether a LEGO rocket could really fly, and it somehow got featured on Ars Technica, recalled Wang.

Seungmin Lee, graduating with an M.S. in computer science, believes his most impactful project at ISI was, working on how to leverage multi-layers storage, how data communication evolves with batch size. Rehan Ahmed, who got his masters in applied data science, spent his time at ISI detecting potential sources of vulnerabilities in open source code and figuring out a way tofix them. Minh Pham, Ph.D. in computer science, focused on automating the process of understanding, processing and cleaning tabular data.

ISI has inspired many students to explore different areas of research, and for Shen Yan, Ph.D. in computer science, her work at ISI even prompted her thesis. I worked on an IARPA project named Tracking Individual Performance with Wearable Sensors (TILES) when I first joined ISI. TILES is a project focused on the analysis of stress, task performance, behavior and other factors pertaining to professionals engaged in a high-stress work environment. We design machine learning models to estimate human behaviors from sensory data. I learned a lot from the project and decided to make it my dissertation research.

Sunset dreams and innovations

She also has plans to change how we communicate: I would love to invent a tool or app that can help mimic more real, supportive human-to-human interactions. Eventhough we have a phone, video calls, messages, and many social platforms, remote connections still cannot provide sufficientcompanionship. For family and friends that cannot meet in person, we need a tool to provide them with better connections and mental support.

For Yiwen Ma, M.S. in healthcare computer science, the sky is the limit when it comes to inventing: I would love to create a time machine to allow one to travel through time and space, which bridges the distance and provides us more time to spend with family and friends.

Other fond memories had little to do with research. Many students remembered the beautiful views from ISIs Marina Del Rey office building and its breathtaking sunsets on the harbor. Matheus Schmitz, an ISI student who will be graduating with an M.S. in applied data science after working on a model to identify anti-vaccination users on Twitter, recalled his first time in the office seeing ISIs view of the marina. Likewise, Akira Matsui, who is graduating with a Ph.D. in computer science, will have a hard time letting go of the splendid sunsets on the beautiful marina he got to witness while he was working on machine learning and human forecasting to predict geopolitical events. He shares the best advice he received during his years at ISI: do your homework and be positive.

Sunset in Marina Del Rey from the ISI building.

Erin Szeto, graduating with an M.S. in applied data science, also has some solid words of advice for anybody who would like to work in this field: Your first round of code will never be perfect, and you will always be rewriting and improving your code. Talk to the rubber duck! But the wisest words have to be those spoken to Jae Young Kim, who got his masters in applied data science: Focus more on the big picture: not the trees, but the forest.

Congratulations to the Class of 2022, and thank you to our featured ISI students Thamme Gowda, Matheus Schmitz, Akira Matsui, Seungmin Lee, Erin Szeto, Jae Young Kim, Rehan Ahmed, Haoda Wang, Shen Yan, Yuzi He, Jonathan Nguyen, Minh Pham, Yiwen Ma, and Sami Abu-El-Haija. Fight On!

Published on May 9th, 2022

Last updated on May 9th, 2022

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Splendid Sunsets on the Marina: USC ISI's Class of 2022 is Graduating with Big Dreams and Fond Memories - USC Viterbi | School of Engineering - USC...

AG Jason Miyares Only Believes in the First Amendment When It’s Aligned with His Agenda – Blue Virginia

Says Pro-Choice Student Protesters Dont Have the Right to Protest

Richmond, VA Yesterday after 46 Virginia schools participated in a school walkout to protest the Supreme Courts pending decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, Attorney General Jason Miyaressaidthat these protests are incredibly disruptive and dont have the right to protest. This comes after Miyares on the campaign trailpraisedstudents for leading a walkout in Loudoun Schools this past fall. This begs the question, does Attorney General Miyares only believe in the first amendment when it fits his agenda?

When its aligned with his agenda:

When its against his agenda:

The ease at which Attorney General Miyares abandoned the first amendment is worrisome,said DPVA Spokesperson Gianni Snidle.The Attorney General is supposed to be Virginias chief law enforcement officer and took an oath to uphold the constitution. Yesterday he broke that oath. One thing is clear to Virginians Miyares is not fit to serve as the Attorney General of the Commonwealth of Virginia.

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AG Jason Miyares Only Believes in the First Amendment When It's Aligned with His Agenda - Blue Virginia

Ashley Moody Tells DHS that the Disinformation Governance Board Undermines First Amendment – Florida Daily

Last week, state Attorney General Ashley Moody called on U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to terminate the creation of a disinformation board that attacks Americans First Amendment rights. Along with 18 other attorneys general, Moody argued that the proposed Disinformation Governance Board will hurt the constitutional freedom to speak freely, debate and disagree with the governmentfreedoms that state attorneys general are responsible for defending.

President Biden is attempting to confuse and distort legitimate criticism and the perspective of American citizens. This authoritarian maneuver could be straight out of the novel 1984 and should frighten Americans of all political persuasions, Moody said.

The attorneys general argued that this government watchdog agency would abridge a citizens right to express their opinions and disagree with the government, furthering self-censorship rather than protecting freedom of speech. The boards creation is also an example of federal overreach. There is no statutory authority to support its inceptionparticularly as the publics elected representatives debate the issue of disinformation in Congress.

The letter states that the Disinformation Governance Board, by its very existence, and almost certainly by design, threatens to enforce silence when Americans wish to express views disfavored by the Administration. It is therefore already chilling free speech and impeding the political process ineveryState. This is unconstitutional, illegal and un-American. Unless you turn back now and disband this Orwellian Disinformation Governance Board immediately, the undersigned will have no choice but to consider judicial remedies to protect the rights of their citizens.

In addition to Moody, the attorneys general from the following states signed on to the letter: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, Utah and West Virginia.

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Ashley Moody Tells DHS that the Disinformation Governance Board Undermines First Amendment - Florida Daily

Dobbs Fallout with a First Amendment Twist – The Dispatch

Sarah, first off, thank you for the breakdown of the polls. David, I've seen post after post with women in burbs, like myself, over 50 yo, that feel VERY STRONGLY that this issue is one where we are white hot. Suburban women, are largely elite used to freedom and we are fiercely protective of our daughters. We may not like those potential decisions, but love and respect them for their decisions and how hard they have worked going to school, getting good grades and have real future potential. And this also means having children, but trust their decision is theirs to make. Many young women actually may choose to have their child and raise it. Actually my very liberal daughter included. Our young women are smart and brilliant! I love that...but when we shut the door on any decision and tell them the govt will tell them how to regulate their bodies, this is a total affront to us, the voting moms in the burbs with money and influence. We will see in the voting so what I say means absolutely nothing. But all I can say, is my story is being literally mirrored back to me from women over 50 with daughters. Love you both and keep fighting the good fights. We don't have to agree but nuance is EVERYTHING.

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Dobbs Fallout with a First Amendment Twist - The Dispatch

Forgotten insurrection clause of 14th Amendment used to force members of Congress to defend their actions on Jan. 6 – Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Lawyers representing voters inArizona,GeorgiaandNorth Carolinahave filed lawsuits alleging that their elected congressional representatives are barred from running for future office based on a little-known provision of the14th Amendment.

Specifically,Section 3of the 14th Amendment reads:

No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress who, having previously taken an oath to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.

Proponents ofbarring these representativesfrom running for reelection argue thattheir active supportfor those who stormed the U.S. Capitolon Jan. 6, 2021, qualifies as involvement in insurrection or rebellion against the U.S. government.

As a constitutional scholar, I believe that the lawyers seeking disqualification have a steep hill to climb in all of these cases especially when their arguments based on the 14th Amendment collide with the First Amendment and its protection of free speech.

That is not stopping those who want to hold accountable the elected officials who were involved in the storming of the Capitol on Jan. 6.

The challenges filed against GOP Reps.Marjorie Taylor Greeneof Georgia,Madison Cawthornof North Carolina andPaul Gosar and Andy Biggsof Arizona as well as Arizona Rep. Mark Finchem are part of a larger national campaign run by the nonprofit advocacy groupsFree Speech for PeopleandOur Revolution.

So far,judgeshave dismissed those argumentsin Arizonaand North Carolina. Both are on appeal.

The caseagainstRep. Greene of Georgia provides a useful lens through which to analyze this unique constitutional claim.

Thechallenge to her candidacycame to an end on May 5 when a Georgia state Judge Charles Beaudrot Jr. ruled thatGreene should remainon the ballot because lawyers challenging Greenes runfailed to provethat she engaged in insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021

The evidence in this matter is insufficient to establish that Rep. Greene engaged in insurrection or rebellion under the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, Judge Charles Beaudrot wrote in his ruling.

The lawsuit against Greene claimed, for example, that she frequently referred to the protest effort againstthe 2020 presidential electionas our 1776 moment.

This reference, lawyers argued, is a clear allusion to indeed, code for a violent overthrow of the existing government.

They claimed Greene had, at a minimum, given aid or comfort to enemies of the United States or, at most, engaged in insurrection by deploying such rhetoric.

And, after hermost recent court hearingson April 22, 2022, text messagessurfacedin which she asked about the possibility of President Donald Trumps declaringmartial law.

In the text, which was uncovered by theHouse select committeeinvestigating the events of Jan. 6,Greene toldthen-White House Chief of StaffMark Meadowsthat some members of Congress were saying in a private chat group that the only way to save our Republic is for Trump to call for Marshall (sic) law. I dont know on those things. I just wanted you to tell him.

Greene argued thather statementsand social media posts encouraged lawful protest by those who believe that the 2020 election was stolen.

TheFirst Amendment, she argued, allows for a broad range of free and unfettered speech, particularly political speech.

Greene alsotestified under oaththat she had no knowledge that any protester intended to disrupt the joint session of Congress that had convened to count the electoral votes.

In response to many of the questions posed to her, she claimed more than 50 times during her hearing thatshe didnt recall.

Greenefurther testifiedthat while she did encourage people to come to Washington, D.C., for a peaceful march, she did not assist any protester in navigating through the Capitol complex, as some have alleged.

Section 3 of the 14th Amendment was passed shortly after the Civil War in 1866 to bar Confederates from federal government positions. But that ban didnt last long.

Ablanket amnestyfor former Confederate soldiers was passed in 1872, making the vast majority of the rebels again eligible for office. In 1898, the prohibition was removed forthe last few hundredformer Southern congressmen and senators.

awthorns attorney, James Bopp Jr.,argued that the Amnesty Act of 1872nullified Section 3 of the 14th Amendment and allows Cawthorn to seek election in the upcoming May 17, 2022, GOP primary.

U.S. District Judge Richard Myersagreed and dismissedthe case against Cawthorn. The district judge ruled that the Amnesty Act of 1872, which exempted Confederates from proscriptions of Section 3, is still in force and shields Cawthorn from being prevented to run for office.

Unlike the case in North Carolina, the case against Greene in Georgia was allowed to proceed by a federal judge there. On April 18, 2022, U.S. District Judge Amy Totenbergdenied Greenes motionto block the case against her and best summed up the constitutional morass the cases have raised.

This case, Totenbergwrote in her 73-page ruling, involves a whirlpool of colliding constitutional interests of public import. Greenehas appealedthat decision.

Political speech has and deserves special protection. To protest the government, even using strong, unpleasant or unpopular language, is central to the protections afforded by the First Amendment.

As such, courts tend to cast a wide net when defining speech covered by the First Amendment.

In addition to the First Amendment limitations, I think there is something anti-democratic about prohibiting a candidate from even running for office.

The notion that voters get to choose their elected representatives through free and fair elections represents a principle at the core of American democratic traditions.

To remove the voters ability to choose those whom they wish to elect to public office requires a weighty justification, and courts have long ruled this way. While aiding and abetting an insurrection is such a justification, it is an open question whether Greenes conduct fits within the definition of Section 3 of the 14th Amendment.

Clearly, had Greene charged the Capitol with a weapon demanding that Congress seat President Trump, her actions would be clear and her disqualification warranted. But instead of weapons and storming, Greene deployed words and electronic posts.

The distinction makes a difference.

In my view, given the First Amendments robust protection of speech, to bar a candidate from running for office requires evidence of intent toengage in insurrectionin far greater proportion than what has thus far been presented in the case against Greene.

Even Greenes call for martial law likely is not enough. Bizarre and wrongheaded statements are protected by the First Amendment just as cogent and thoughtful ones are.

Ronald Sullivan is a professor of law at Harvard University.

May 9 |Emily Finchum-Mason, The Conversation

May 6 |William A. Gralnick

May 4 |Paul B. Stephen, The Conversation

May 4 |Alex Domash and Lawrence H. Summers, The Conversation

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Forgotten insurrection clause of 14th Amendment used to force members of Congress to defend their actions on Jan. 6 - Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Wherein The Copia Institute Reminds California’s New Privacy Agency That Its Regulations Need To Comport With The First Amendment – Techdirt

from the protect-speech-too dept

Last week the recently formed California Privacy Protection Agency held pre-rulemaking stakeholder sessions to solicit input on the regulations it intends to promulgate. I provided the following testimony on behalf of the Copia Institute.

Thank you for the opportunity to speak at these hearings. My name is Cathy Gellis, and Im here representing myself and the Copia Institute, a think tank that regularly researches and comments on matters of tech policy, including as they relate to privacy and free speech.

Im here today to talk about how privacy regulation and free speech converge in order to urge this board to carefully address the collision of any proposed regulation and the First Amendment, particularly with respect to the protection of speech and innovation. To do so I want to make three interrelated points.

First, as a general matter, it is important that any proposed regulation be carefully analyzed from a First Amendment perspective to make sure it comports with both its letter and spirit. When the First Amendment says make no law that abridges freedom of speech, that admonition applies to California privacy regulation. The enabling California legislation involved here itself acknowledges that it is only intended to supplement federal and state law, where permissible, but shall not apply where such application is preempted by, or in conflict with, federal law, or the California Constitution, and violating the First Amendment would run afoul of this clause.

Its also important that any such regulation comport with the spirit of the First Amendment as well. The First Amendment exists to make sure we can communicate with each other, which is a necessary requirement of a healthy democracy and society. It would be an intolerable situation if these regulations were to chill our exchange of information and expression, or to unduly chill innovation. While wanting online services to be careful with how they handle the digital footprints the public leaves behind is admirable, the public would not be well served if new and better technologies couldnt be invented, or new businesses or competitors couldnt be established, because California privacy regulation was unduly burdensome or simply an obstacle to new and better ideas.

Along these lines a second point to make is that California is not Europe. Free speech concerns do not get balanced here and cannot be balanced without violating the First Amendment. The experience of the GDPR in Europe is instructive in warning what happens when regulators try to make such a balance, because inevitably free expression suffers.

For instance, privacy regulation in Europe has been used as a basis for powerful people to go after journalists and sue their critics, which makes criticizing them, even where necessary, and even where under the First Amendment perfectly legal, difficult if not impossible, and thus chills such important discourse.

The GDPR has also been used to force journalists to divulge their sources, which is also anathema to the First Amendment and California law, along with itself violating of the privacy values wrapped up in journalist source protection. It also chills the necessary journalism a democratic society depends on. (As an aside, the journalistic arm of the Copia Institute has had its own reporting suppressed via GDPR pressure on search engines, so this is hardly a hypothetical concern.)

And it was the GDPR that opened the door to the entire notion of right to be forgotten, which, despite platitudes to the contrary, has had a corrosive effect on discourse and the publics First Amendment-recognized right to learn about the world around them, while also giving bad actors the ability to whitewash history so they can have cover for more bad acts.

Meanwhile we have seen, in Europe and even the U.S., how regulatory demands that have the effect of causing services to take down content invariably lead to too much content being taken down. Because these regulatory schemes create too great a danger for a service if they do not do enough to avoid sanction, they rationally chose to do too much in order to be safe than sorry. But when content has been taken down, its the world who needs it whos sorry now.

As well as the person who created the content, whose own expression has now been effectively harmed by an extrajudicial sanction. The First Amendment forbids prior restraint, which means that its impermissible for speech to be punished before having been adjudicated to be wrongful. But we see time and time again such prior restraint happen thanks to regulatory pressure on the intermediary services online speakers need to use to speak, which force them to do the governments censorial dirty work for it by causing expressive content to be deleted, and without the necessary due process for the speaker.

Then there is this next example, which brings up my third point. Privacy regulation does not stay well-cabined so that it only affects large, commercial entities. It inevitably affects smaller ones, directly or indirectly. In the case of the GDPR, it affected the people who used Facebook to run fan pages, imposing upon these individuals, who simply wanted to have a place where they could talk with others about their favorite subject, cripplingly burdensome regulatory liability. But who will want to run these pages and foster such discourse when the cost can be so high? Care needs to be taken so that regulatory pressure does not lead to the loss of speech or community, as the GDPR has done.

And that means recognizing that there are a lot of online services and platforms that are not large companies. Which is good; we want there to be a lot of online services and platforms so that we have places for communities to form and converse with each other. But if people are deterred from setting up, say, their own fan sites, independent of Facebook even, then thats a huge problem. Because we wont get those communities, or that conversation.

Society wants that discourse. It needs that discourse. And if California privacy regulation does anything to smother it with its regulatory criteria, then it will have caused damage, which this agency, and the public that empowered it, should not suborn.

Thank you again for this opportunity to address you. A version of this testimony with hyperlinks to the aforementioned examples will be published on techdirt.com shortly.

Filed Under: california, cppa, free speech, privacy

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Wherein The Copia Institute Reminds California's New Privacy Agency That Its Regulations Need To Comport With The First Amendment - Techdirt