Category Archives: Freedom

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Chinese telecom giant Huawei has sued multiple U.S. government agencies over allegations that the Trump administration is stonewalling legitimate Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests.

The requested documents relate to the trial of Huaweis Chief Financial Officer, Meng Wanzhou, who was arrested in December 2018 at Vancouver Airport on charges of extradition over violation of American sanctions on Iran.

U.S. claimed Meng lied to banks such as HSBC about Huawei's relationship with a subsidiary in Iran to obtain banking services.

Huawei also asked for information regarding the state of trade relations between the United States and China, and competition over the deployment of 5G technology.

In a complaint filed last week, Huawei said the government has failed to issue a determination regarding nine of the twelve FOIA requests despite having received those requests more than an year ago.

The other three requests answered have been responded in a wholly inadequate fashion, it added.

Defendants broad refusal to comply with their FOIA obligations is unacceptable, Huawei said in the complaint.

The Shenzhen-based company noted there are signs that the government is seeking to use the criminal charges against Meng to advance policy objectives unrelated to the even handed administration of criminal justice.

According to Huawei, the prosecution is being used as a leverage in the US governments ongoing trade dispute with China.

These requests are primarily aimed at identifying communications that could indicate improper bases for the prosecution of Plaintiffs and Meng, such as to interfere with Plaintiffs dominance in the 5G marketplace or strengthen the United States position in trade negotiations with China, Huawei said.

It believes the disclosure of documents may reveal the governments avowed interest in economic supremacy improperly influenced the decision to prosecute Meng.

The suit includes 16 U.S. government bodies including Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS), United States Department of Justice (DOJ), Federal Bureau of Investigation (the FBI) among others.

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Huawei sues U.S. over stonewalling Freedom of Information Act requests - The Hindu

Sir Paul McCartney relished the "freedom" that came with making an album at home.

The 78-year-old star recorded his new album, 'McCartney III', over a nine-week period amid the coronavirus lockdown, and he's admitted to enjoying the unique experience.

He explained: "If you're on your own, you can have an idea and then very quickly play it. Whereas, with a band, you've got to explain it.

"Sometimes that's great ... but when you're just noodling around on your own, there's just a sense of freedom."

The upcoming album follows 1970's 'McCartney I' and 1980's 'McCartney II' - but the chart-topping icon never set out with the ambition of making his latest record.

Speaking to BBC 6 Music, he shared: "Most of it's new stuff. There are one or two [songs] that I hadn't finished and, because I was able to get in the studio, I thought 'OK, wait a minute, what about that one?' So I'd get it out and think, 'Ugh, oh dear.' And you'd try to figure out what was wrong with it, or why you didn't like it.

"In some cases the vocal or the words just didn't cut it, so you'd strip it all down and go 'OK, let's just make it completely different'.

"When I'd done them, I was going 'Well, what am I going to do with this?' And it suddenly hit me: this is 'McCartney III'. You've done it all yourself, like the others, so this qualifies."

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Sir Paul McCartney loved the 'freedom' of making a lockdown album - Dothan Eagle

Reader will vote for the freedom and future of my children and grandchildren

I was happy to read Walter Simpsons letter in the Oct. 21. Times-News.

Thank you, Mr. Simpson, for writing this excellent letter and thank you to the editor of the Times for printing it. I agree with Mr. Simpsons list of 15 items for which he is voting. Our nation is indeed on a slippery slope and we must not surrender our freedoms. Many people have fought long and hard to make the United States the land of the free and the home of the brave.

President Trump has kept his promises and he loves the United States of America. Thank you, Mr. President, for not giving up in the face of so much opposition! I, for one, want to see a continuation of the policies that have brought greatness back to our country and have put our country first.

Yes, I will be voting for the freedom and future of my children and grandchildren, as well as everything on Mr. Simpsons list. This election determines the direction of our country. I pray we, the voters, will vote wisely.

Diana Murphy

Paw Paw, W.Va.

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Reader will vote for the freedom and future of my children and grandchildren - Cumberland Times-News

To the Editor:

America is not a democracy.

As I have witnessed our elected representatives for a very long time (from local, state, and national public office), Ive seen that few, if any, refer to our form of government as a republic and inherently refer to it as a democracy. Our federal form of government is not a democracy.

The United States Constitution, in Article IV, Section 4, states, The United States shall guarantee to every state in this Union a Republican form of government. In the Pledge of Allegiance, we pledge allegiance to the Republic.

It is interesting to note that the word democracy is not found in the Bill of Rights or the Constitution.

One of our founding fathers James Madison said, Democracy is the most vile form of government.

John Adams, a founding father and president, said, Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts and murders itself.

Madison also said, Pure democracies have ever been spectacles of turbulence and contention; have ever been found incompatible with personal security or the rights of property; and have in general been as short in their lives as they have been violent in their deaths.

In a democracy, the majority rules. Lets say if over 50 percent of the majority can be convinced to take your business, your home, or even your children, it will be so. The individual has no protection or rights against majority rule. In a democracy, the majority is not restrained. Democracy will always be reduced to mob rule, which will always lead to tyranny.

In a Republic, the government is limited by law, leaving the people alone. The rights of government are limited. The proper amount of government makes everyone freer. The founding fathers did all they could to ensure we do not have a democracy.

The Constitution was designed to govern the government and not the people or even the states. Each and every state was left to be the best it could be. The states could freely compete to be with the lowest taxation and controls, one where the people would like to raise their families and develop businesses and enjoy the fruits of their own labor.

As our elected representatives at all levels of our government refer to us as a democracy, we need to remind them that a democracy is the exact opposite to what we were given as a government.

The essence of freedom is the proper limitation of government.

William D. Wilday

Chairman

Constitution Party

of New York

Schenectady

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The essence of freedom is the proper limitation of government - The Altamont Enterprise

(Editors note: This is the third in a series of weekly stories on West Side veterans. The series will continue through Veterans Day. Gustine resident Mike Watson, a U.S. Army veteran who served in Vietnam, is featured.)

GUSTINE - With his life on a troubled path and following a family tradition of service to the nation, Mike Watson enlisted in the military at 17 years of age.

The Cincinnati, Ohio teen was already in Vietnam when he marked his 18th birthday.

His military service, Watson reflected, instilled in him skills needed for success later in life - but also left deep scars of war and the added trauma of coming home to a nation which vilified its returning soldiers.

I came from a military family, Watson explained. I actually signed up for the Navy but ended up in the Army. It was what they needed. I wanted to break the mold, but as my Dad said, Every Watson will be in the Army.

He had dropped out of high school during his senior year.

I was a hard-core dude back then, recalled Watson, who served in the Army from 1964-68. You couldnt get me to read anything in school. When I got into the service, I couldnt put a book down.

The weapons specialist served more than two years in Vietnam, where his duties in part involved training others.

The horror of war remains etched in his memory.

Watson saw his best friend killed in Vietnam.

He was wounded as well.

A medic fixed me up in the field, Watson said.

Returning to civilian life was a struggle as well.

Soldiers coming through the airport in Oakland were repeatedly jumped, Watson recalled.

I went through three uniforms just trying to get through the airport, he said. The third time we had state police as escorts. I did not expect that.

Watson struggled to find steady employment, bouncing around between jobs.

I had one job that I really liked, and the supervisor really liked me....but the people in the office found out that I was a Vietnam vet and told him to get rid of me, Watson said.

He wrestled with post traumatic stress disorder and nightmares.

If somebody wanted to fight after learning that he was a veteran, Watson remarked, I was more than happy to oblige.

Watson, who got his GED after returning from Vietnam, found a career as a respiratory therapist for a few years and then was a long-haul truck driver for nearly five decades before retiring.

He was on the road and staying over in Santa Nella when he met his wife Mary Ann. They have lived in Gustine for more than 40 years.

Today, Watson said, his PTSD is largely under control. As far as myself, Im okay. If you go after my wife, I blow up, he explained.

And, years after the fact, Watson and fellow Vietnam veterans are being acknowledged and thanked for their service.

My wife and I were out in a restaurant. A guy walked over, shook my hand and paid for my food. That just blew me away, Watson commented. That has happened probably five times in the last 10 years.

Watson is involved in the Veterans of Foreign Wars and American Legion.

Simply being around other veterans who have endured the same circumstances is beneficial, he reflected.

We understand each other on a level that other people cannot, Watson commented. My wife understands me, but there are times I feel like I am alone. (Sometimes) you just want to talk to the guys.

Watson regularly takes part in veterans events and processions to show respect for those who have served and honor those who paid the ultimate sacrifice.

The thing that bothers me the most when I am doing a parade is when people do not stand up for the flag, he told Mattos Newspapers. That really hurts.

His military years were life-changing in other ways as well.

It made me grow up, Watson said. The benefits I got from the training and all of that made me who I am now. I think Im a pretty decent guy. I help people out as much as I can.

While he went into the service at a time when he was facing other problems and was trying to get away, Watson said, he is proud to have served in defense of the nation and freedoms the flag represents.

I helped protect my country, he said of being a veteran. Upon joining the military, Watson said, they told us that if we didnt stop communism there it would slowly come across the islands to us. I did not want that in my country.

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Gustine resident Watson served in defense of freedom - West Side Index & Gustine Press-Standard

Seventeen people were killed and long-simmering tensions over secularism, Islamism and religious equality erupted into public view. Anti-immigration rhetoric targeting France's Muslim communities also became increasingly common. Since then, these divides have only worsened with further attacks and the subsequent fallout.

Last Friday, teacher Samuel Paty was beheaded in a terrorist attack in the northern Paris suburb of ragny after displaying the controversial Charlie Hebdo cartoons to his students during a lesson, anti-terrorist prosecutor Jean-Franois Ricard said.

The 47-year-old's murder has now reignited the long-simmering conflict over secularism in France.

In early October, a matter of days before Paty's murder, French President Emmanuel Macron said: "There is in this radical Islamism, a methodical organization to contravene the laws of the Republic and create a parallel order, to erect other values." Macron was speaking in Les Mureaux, a north-western suburb of Paris where officials have been working with the Muslim community to combat Islamist extremism.

Paty's death was met with horror across France.

Macron paid tribute to the teacher, whom he said was "killed because he was teaching students freedom of speech, the freedom to believe and not believe."

Thousands gathered in and around the Place de la Rpublique in Paris on Sunday, to celebrate free speech and decry violence. Similar emotional demonstrations were held across the nation.

A national memorial event for Paty was held on Wednesday, where Macron again praised the teacher for having "a passion for knowledge."

France will keep "loving debates, reasonable arguments, we will love science and its controversies," the President added. "We will not give up caricatures, drawings, even if others are retreating."

Freedom of expression

Paty, who was 47, taught history and geography at the Collge du Bois d'Aulne. He used the cartoons in a class on freedom of expression -- a core tenet of French life.

He had warned Muslim students about the images in advance, offering them the chance to opt out of the session. Even so, the lesson sparked controversy in the weeks preceding his death, with one parent at the school -- named by prosecutors as Brahim C. -- lobbying for Paty's dismissal.

On October 7, that parent posted a video on Facebook calling for action against the teacher. The man publicly identified Paty, and demanded that the school dismiss him, according to France's national anti-terrorist prosecutor Jean-Franois Ricard.

A day later, the man filed a complaint about the class; Paty, in turn, filed a complaint for defamation. On October 12, the parent published a second video on YouTube targeting the teacher.

The man who killed Paty was a refugee of Chechen origin, identified as Abdoullakh Abouyezidovitch. The 18-year-old approached pupils outside the school and asked them to point out his victim, Ricard said in a statement on October 17.

Ricard said in a October 21 press conference that the attacker offered two boys, aged 14 and 15, between 300 ($356) and 350 to identify the teacher.

Abouyezidovitch told the students he wanted to "ask the professor to apologize" for showing the controversial cartoons and that he wanted to humiliate and to "hit him."

These schoolchildren remained with the attacker until the teacher left school around 5 p.m., and pointed him out, Ricard said during the press conference.

Abouyezidovitch attacked Paty as he walked home after work. The teenager was not known to intelligence services.

Before police gunned him down later on Friday, Abouyezidovitch posted on Twitter that he had executed one of Macron's "dogs of hell," who had belittled the revered prophet, Ricard said.

The love of lacit

Secularism -- known as "lacit" in French -- is deeply ingrained in French culture, with many believing that nothing -- not even one's religion -- should come before national identity. Yet for those with a strong faith, this tenet is a complex one to hold.

"It's an activist secularism," Catherine Fieschi, executive director of Counterpoint, an advisory group on new forms of risk, told CNN.

"Lacit is a tenet of the Republic, it's cross-party. This cuts across the spectrum -- leftist social democrats are just as against religion in the public realm as [those on the right.]"

Fieschi said secularist laws had been intensifying since 1989. She believes Macron's decision to crack down on extremists may be a positive move for most French Muslims, as the government is opting to focus on extremist organizations and hate speech, rather than community integration.

"Macron has moved increasingly onto this territory since the summer," she said. "He has shifted to talking about separatism, not integration. They're not attacking the communities but these [...] vectors of hate, that are seeking to undermine these communities. They're not mentioning integration, that's not the conversation.

"I think we might actually see this as a turning point," Fieschi added, explaining that the fact that Abouyezidovitch "is not from a former French colony ... that in many respects ... gives the opportunity to French Muslim citizens to feel they're not being targeted by the government."

Crackdown on radical Islamism

The French state responded to Paty's murder with bullish measures.

Seven people will be placed under formal investigation following the attack, Ricard said at a press conference on Wednesday. Officials have opened a judicial investigation for "complicity in murder in links with a terrorist enterprise, for complicity in attempted murder on a person vested with public authority in links with a terrorist enterprise, and for criminal terrorist association with the purpose to harm people," he added.

The group includes the two minors aged 14 and 15, who pointed Paty out to the attacker.

Ricard said the involvement of minors in such a probe was not unprecedented but that the attacker was able to identify Paty "only because of the intervention of these schoolchildren."

Investigators are examining the link "between the actions" of Brahim C. and Paty's murder. They are also investigating Abdelhakim S., a man who interviewed Brahim C. and his daughter, in a video posted online.

Abdelhakim S. has "been part of radical Islamism movements since his arrival on the French territory" and refuted all responsibility in the attack, Ricard said.

Macron and his government have been quick to declare a crackdown on extremist Islamists.

On Tuesday, the President said French citizens -- especially Muslim citizens -- needed to be protected from radical Islamism, which aims "to turn some of our citizens against the Republic, because of their religion. We will not let this happen."

"What our citizens expect from us are actions," Macron said. "And these actions will be intensified."

He said dozens of measures had already been taken against organizations and individuals "pushing forward a radical Islamist project, in other words, an ideology aimed at destroying the Republic," adding that the investigation into Paty's beheading would show that some of these organizations "were involved in Friday's attacks."

Further actions will be announced in the coming days and weeks, Macron said.

On Monday, France's interior minister Grald Darmanin said more than 80 online hate messages would be investigated in the wake of Paty's murder, adding that there would "not be a moment of respite for the enemies of our Republic."

Darmanin said on Twitter that 51 organizations and non-profit groups would be visited by state services this week, and several would be dissolved. The minister is also working to close a mosque in the northern suburbs of Paris. Darmanin said its director was one of those who re-posted a message calling for Paty to be threatened. The post also included the school's location.

Religious discrimination

France is home to more than 5 million Muslims -- the overwhelming majority are not radical Islamists, but many are nonetheless affected by the country's secular legislation.

A series of French laws have curbed how Muslim women dress over the last two decades.

In 2004 hijabs were banned along with Jewish skullcaps and large Christian crosses in public schools. Burqas and niqabs, which cover the face, were banned in 2011.

Legislators who supported the law, including then-President Nicolas Sarkozy, said the garments threatened French secularism and were debasing to women.

The task Macron now faces is one of colossal importance.

He is a year and a half away from an election, in which his main opponent is likely to be Marine Le Pen, the far right politician who, in the aftermath of Paty's death, called for the "eradication of Islamism" in France.

Macron has combined his moves against radical Islamism with public messages of unity.

Correction: An earlier version of this story used an incorrect title for Catherine Fieschi. She is currently the executive director of Counterpoint.

Zamira Rahim wrote in London, Pierre Bairin and Melissa Bell reported from Paris. Pierre Buet, Martin Goillandeau, Barbara Wojazer, Gaelle Fournier and Lindsay Isaac contributed to this story.

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A teacher is beheaded, and France's war over secularism, freedom of speech and religious equality reignites - CNN

Provided by Prince William County Schools (PWCS)

Freedom and Patriot High Schools have been chosen to benefit from a $149,000 grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrations (NOAA) Marine Debris Program. George Mason University (GMU) and Keep Prince William Beautiful will administer the grant. The School Divisions Energy Management and Sustainability Team (EMAST) assisted the schools in earning this opportunity and will help coordinate the activities associated with the grant.

Freedom High Biology Teacher Jessica Dorion and Patriot High Earth Science Teacher Melinda Landry will lead 20 teachers and 35 high school student delegates in a project that focuses on single-use plastic water bottles. The project will span two years, with the first year primarily spent learning about the watershed, aquatic life, data collection and analysis, and behavior management. The second year will involve student-led project-based initiatives to educate the community on the understanding of marine debris and how debris becomes part of the aquatic ecosystem.

The grant aligns well with the curriculum taught in Freedoms Center for Environmental and Natural Sciences (CENS) specialty program and lessons teachers at Patriot conduct using their recently transformed outdoor classroom that features a natural pond/aquatic area.

EMAST will help both schools facilitate and coordinate the project activities. Our community partners have a shared vision of a sustainable Prince William County and conserving resources and the environment. It is our students who will carry on this work now and into the future, said Jeanne Jabara, EMAST energy education coordinator.

Landry said, Its exciting to be recognized by NOAA for our efforts in PWCS. With the financial assistance from NOAA and the expertise from others in our community, Im hopeful that we can make a difference in the amount of single-use plastic waste making its way to our watersheds through education of our youth.

In the fall of 2019, Freedom adopted the stormwater drainage pond on their school grounds. The adoption, coordinated through the Prince William Soil and Water Conservation District (PWSWCD) and Prince William Countys Department of Public Works Watershed Division, provided the students with guidance on the clean-up.

Students learned how trash on their own campus could have an impact on wildlife as far away as the Chesapeake Bay. They saw firsthand that most of the trash collected was plastics, specifically plastic beverage bottles, Dorion said. This project made students more aware of the overuse of plastic bottles within their school and sparked their interest in reducing single-use plastic waste. The grant money from NOAA will help students continue their efforts in teaching others about the importance of how marine debris effects watersheds.

For more information on the work that PWCS students will be involved in through participation in the program, check out NOAAs Marine Debris Program account onTwitter,Facebookand theirwebsite.

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Freedom and Patriot High Schools Beneficiaries Of NOAA Grant - Prince William Living

The details are still emerging, but the horror is clear the beheading of a teacher, Samuel Paty, in Paris, apparently in response to his using Charlie Hebdo cartoons in a classroom discussion on free speech.

After such attacks there are always claims that free speech isnt worth it. Hardly had news begun filtering out about the 2015 Charlie Hebdo murders than there were suggestions that the cartoonists had brought it on themselves. The same will no doubt happen again.

But in such moments, we need to do the opposite: to reaffirm commitments to free speech and the freedom to offend.

What is called offence to a community is usually a struggle within communities. There are hundreds of thousands, within Muslim communities in the west and in Muslim-majority countries across the world, challenging religious-based reactionary ideas and institutions - writers, cartoonists, political activists, daily risking their lives in facing down blasphemy laws, standing up for equal rights and fighting for democratic freedoms.

The unwillingness of liberals to stand up for basic liberal principles, their readiness to betray progressives within minority communities, nurtures reactionaries, both within Muslim communities and outside it. The more society gives licence for people to be offended, the more people will seize the opportunity to feel offended. And the more deadly their outrage will become.

Liberal pusillanimity also nurtures anti-Muslim sentiment, feeding the racist idea that all Muslims are reactionary, that Muslim immigration should be stemmed and Muslim communities more harshly policed. We must reject both kinds of bigots. In a plural society, much of what we say, others will find offensive. If we want a plural society, we need to defend the freedom to offend.

Kenan Malik is an Observer columnist

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The freedom to offend is a priceless commodity - The Guardian

In 1978, the U.S. government approached a sound company with a unique proposal. They wanted to develop a specific technology that would allow aircraft pilots and NASA astronauts to communicate clearly with ground crews and other pilots even with the ultra-loud roaring of jet and rocket engines in the background. The resulting technology would later become available for use outside of aeronautic environments; following its use in military headsets in 1986, the technology gradually made its way into mainstream and public usage.

Today, this technology is known as noise cancelation technology, and is used around the world in headphones and earbuds to help people focus on the music, podcasts and other audio that they want to hear while blocking out the sounds that they dont.

Simply putting on any pair of earphones will block outside noise to some extent. But unless you completely seal off your ear, it is impossible to stop outside noise filtering in and interrupting your audio experience. In order to understand the process of capturing and filtering the noise that leaks in that is key to noise cancelation technologies, it is necessary to first look at how sound waves work and how they are transmitted into your ear.

Sound waves are produced by vibrations which then travel long-distance through a surrounding medium to reach your ear. The most common example of this is the air around us. The reason why we can effortlessly carry on a conversation in a caf is the same reason we cannot hear sound in space it is dependent on the presence of air as a medium.

Noise cancelation works by harnessing the unique characteristics of these sound waves and their medium. The first method for canceling noise is called Active Noise Canceling (ANC), which works by creating its own noise-like waves that work to offset the unwanted noises entering your ears from outside. The second method is called Passive Noise Canceling (PNC), which blocks outside noise from entering your ear by limiting the mediums through which the sound is delivered.

It is said that the most effective tool to cut a diamond is with another diamond. Similarly, sound waves can be offset or even canceled by other sound waves. Just like the waves we see in the ocean, sound waves have peaks (the highest point) and troughs (the lowest point). When sound waves with the same distance from peak to trough come from different directions and collide with each other, the respective peaks and troughs clash, leaving the sound wave at a near zero value.

ANC uses this principle of destructive interference to cancel out unwanted sounds before they reach your ears. Sounds from outside are collected through an external microphone mounted inside the earphone. The earphone uses its internal circuits to analyze those sounds and then replicates them to produce sound waves that are similar to the unwanted external sound but that move in the opposite direction. Through this process, the earphone cancels out the unwanted sound waves before they can reach your ears.

Because ANC uses collected sound and responds based on analysis of this outside noise, noise cancelation takes place regularly and continuously. If the earphone picks up a sound that is similar to a noise it has analyzed previously, a reverse wavelength can be emitted at the exact right time in order to eliminate the unwanted noise. This is why this sound offsetting technology is highly effective in places where the background noise is consistent, for example on an airplane or a busy subway. On the other hand, ANC can be less effective in cases where the external noises are random and more difficult to predict, such as during a conversation between two people or when a sudden noise is emitted unexpectedly.

ANC is more effective at mitigating low pitch sounds than it is high pitch sounds. The system requires time to analyze external noises, and that potential time delay can affect how well it offsets external sound and how much external noise the user hears. In other words, unwanted external sounds might come in faster than the ANC can cancel them out. In the case of bass sounds, which have a relatively long wavelength, the gap between the peak and trough of the waves is wide(more time gap), so a slight lag in the offset timing will not impact the quality of ANC, noted Kim. However, high-pitch sounds with short wavelengths have a shorter gap between the peak and trough points, meaning that even a small delay can make it hard for the ANC to match the waveforms up correctly, causing ANC performance degradation.

When they hear a sound they dont like, most people cover their ears this is because this is by far the easiest way to block out noise. Since sound waves travel the air to reach your ear, the sound cannot properly enter the ear if there are obstacles, such as hands, in the way. This is also why communication underwater is so difficult, given the amount of water in the way between a noises source and a persons ears.

This is essentially how PNC works. PNC-enabled earphones are designed to physically block noise out by closing the ear off from its surroundings or using a sponge that absorbs sound. Headphones with over-ear padding covering the entire ear and in-ear earphones that completely block the entrance to the ear are some of the best examples of PNC technology.

Unlike ANC, which requires microphones and analytical circuits to offset unwanted noise, PNC earphones are fairly easy to make, making them generally cheaper than ANC earphones. Furthermore, if PNC earphones have been made to fit the shape of your ear perfectly, they can block outside noise almost entirely, making them more practically effective than ANC earphones. However, as PNC headphones fit right into the ear canal, some users can find these kinds of earphones uncomfortable to use.

In the end, it is not just the noise cancelation technique that matters when it comes to cutting out those unwanted sounds, but also the shape of the earphones themselves. Up until now, most noise-canceling earphones were produced as canal-type earphones since this shape fits right into your ear compared to open-type earphones, which leave more space around the ear and are subsequently less effective at noise cancelation. Open-type earphones have rarely been equipped with noise cancelation technology, but when Samsung unveiled the Galaxy Buds Live on August 5, the company expanded users options by applying ANC technology to an open-type wireless earphone.

While noise cancelation technology can help you fully immerse yourself in your music or better focus on an audiobook, it can also present dangers if you cannot hear exactly what is going on around you. It is difficult to recognize a dangerous situation when wearing earphones with noise cancelation technology as they block out all surrounding sounds, noted Professor Kim. The volume inside a pair of earphones can reach up to 70 to 80 dBspl1 the same as a car horn but since the sound from a users earphones is much closer to a user and more immersive, it is easy for a user to become insensitive to external noises. On top of this, the activation of ANC technology further reduces external noise by around 30 dB while maintaining the sound in the earphones at 70 to 80 dBspl, making it more difficult for users to detect any auditory signs of danger.

When using their noise-canceling headphones, users need to keep their own safety top of mind and have a good understanding of the situations in which they are using their earphones. If you are looking to enjoy your favorite audio indoors, earphones that feature effective noise cancelation are a great choice. However, if you enjoy using your earphones while doing outdoor activities such as jogging, you should be sure to stay mindful of your surroundings at all times and choose earphones that offer a reasonable level of noise cancelation, allowing you to stay aware of the world around you.

1 Decibel (dB) is originally a relative unit of measurement, representing the difference between the level of a base measurement and that of comparison. When used in the context of sound, 0 dB is defined as the lowest sound level a person can hear and is used as an absolute measure (dBspl = dB + sound pressure level (spl)). In other words, dB is used both when representing the difference between the sound of people conversing in comparison to that of a car horn and when expressing the sound of the car horn in absolute terms, but the latter simply omits spl from dB.

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The Freedom Not to Listen: The Story Behind Noise Cancelation Technology - Samsung Global Newsroom

Donald Trump is now back on the road, holding rallies in battleground states. These events, with people behind the president wearing masks but most others not, look awfully irresponsible to most of us some polls show that as many as 92 percent of Americans typically wear masks when they go out.

Trumpworld sees these things differently. Mike Pence articulated the view in the vice-presidential debate. Were about freedom and respecting the freedom of the American people, Mr. Pence said. The topic at hand was the Sept. 26 super-spreader event in the Rose Garden to introduce Amy Coney Barrett as the presidents nominee for the Supreme Court and how the administration can expect Americans to follow safety guidelines that it has often ignored.

Kamala Harris countered that lying to the American people about the severity of the virus hardly counts as respect.

It was a pretty good riposte, but she fixed on the wrong word. She could have delivered a far more devastating response if shed focused on the right word, one that the Democrats have not employed over the past several months.

The word I mean is freedom. One of the key authors of the Western concept of freedom is John Stuart Mill. In On Liberty, he wrote that liberty (or freedom) means doing as we like, subject to such consequences as may follow, without impediment from our fellow creatures, as long as what we do does not harm them even though they should think our conduct foolish, perverse or wrong.

Note the clause as long as what we do does not harm them. He tossed that in there almost as a given indeed, it is a given. This is a standard definition of freedom, more colloquially expressed in the adage Your freedom to do as you please with your fist ends where my jaw begins.

Now, conservatives revere Mill. But today, in the age of the pandemic, Mill and other conservative heroes like John Locke would be aghast at the way the American right wing bandies about the word freedom.

Freedom emphatically does not include the freedom to get someone else sick. It does not include the freedom to refuse to wear a mask in the grocery store, sneeze on someone in the produce section and give him the virus. Thats not freedom for the person who is sneezed upon. For that person, the first persons freedom means chains potential illness and even perhaps a death sentence. No society can function on that definition of freedom.

Joe Biden does a pretty good job of talking about this. At a recent town hall in Miami, he said: I view wearing this mask not so much protecting me, but as a patriotic responsibility. All the tough guys say, Oh, Im not wearing a mask, Im not afraid. Well, be afraid for your husband, your wife, your son, your daughter, your neighbor, your co-worker. Thats who youre protecting having this mask on, and it should be viewed as a patriotic duty, to protect those around you.

Thats good, but it could be much better if he directly rebutted this insane definition of freedom that todays right wing employs.

There are certain words in our political lexicon that belong to this side or the other. Fairness is a liberal word. You rarely hear conservatives talking about fairness. Growth is mostly a conservative word, sometimes the functional opposite of fairness in popular economic discourse, although liberals use it too, but often with a qualifier (balanced or equitable growth, for example).

Freedom belongs almost wholly to the right. They talk about it incessantly and insist on a link between economic freedom and political freedom, positing that the latter is impossible without the former. This was an animating principle of conservative economists in the 20th century like Ludwig von Mises, Friedrich Hayek and Milton Friedman.

Its manifest silliness. To be sure, when they were writing, it was true of a place like the Soviet Union. But it is not true of Western democracies. If they were correct, the Scandinavian nations, statist on economic questions, would have jails filled with political prisoners. If they were correct, advanced democratic countries that elected left-leaning governments would experience a simultaneous crushing of political freedom. History shows little to no incidence of this.

And yet, the broad left in America has let all this go unchallenged for decades, to the point that todays right wing and it is important to call it that and not conservative, which it is not can defend spreading disease, potentially killing other people, as freedom. It is madness.

One thing Democrats in general arent very good at is defending their positions on the level of philosophical principle. This has happened because theyve been on the philosophical defensive since Ronald Reagan came along. Well, its high time they played some philosophical offense, especially on an issue, wearing masks, on which every poll shows broad majorities supporting their view.

Say this: Freedom means the freedom not to get infected by the idiot who refuses to mask up. Even John Stuart Mill would have agreed.

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Theres a Word for Why We Wear Masks, and Liberals Should Say It - The New York Times