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Category Archives: Transhuman News

Facebook blocks Chechnya activist page in latest case of wrongful censorship – The Guardian

Posted: June 7, 2017 at 4:45 pm

Facebook moderators have just seconds to decide whether to delete content. The company said the decision had been made in error. Photograph: Justin Tallis/AFP/Getty Images

Facebook censored a group of supporters of Chechen independence for violating its community standards barring organizations engaged in terrorist activity or organized criminal activity, the latest example of the social network mistakenly censoring government dissidents.

The Facebook group, Independence for Chechnya!, was permanently deleted by Facebook in late May, according to the group administrator, an Estonian human rights activist who asked to be identified by her initials, MP. She said she was shocked when she received a message from Facebook informing her of the deletion. We do not support terror, MP said. We support [a] political[ly] legal way for returning Chechen independence.

After the Guardian contacted Facebook about the group, it was reinstated. A company spokesperson said that the deletion had been made in error and pointed out that with millions of reports each week, the company sometimes gets things wrong.

The case is just the most recent example of how Facebooks mission of creating a more open and connected world can be compromised by its gargantuan task of policing billions of pieces of content.

In recent weeks, the company has censored a Pulitzer prize-winning journalist for publishing a series of posts alleging corruption by Maltese politicians and an abortion rights organization for violating its policy against the promotion or encouragement of drug use. In all of those cases, Facebook reversed its decisions after it was contacted by the Guardian.

Facebook is also facing complaints from critics who argue the network is not censorious enough and is failing to stamp-out extremist or abusive content.

The Chechen independence group, which had about 6,000 members, had existed for almost a decade and was originally created by a resident of Chechnya, according to MP, who said she took over administration of the group after the original administrator was forced into hiding due to threats to his relatives. The group is supportive of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, an unrecognized government consisting of exiled leaders from the wars for independence.

While some Chechen separatist groups, such as the Caucasian Emirate, are considered terrorist organizations by the US government, the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria is not. Indeed, the group is specifically listed as not violating in a list of terrorist groups that the Guardian reviewed as part of the Facebook Files. One Facebook moderator told the Guardian that content reviewers have less than 10 seconds to make a decision about whether content should be censored or not, making the careful policing of extremist content a mission impossible.

MP said that her group was used to spread news about what Chechens really want and how they think because there is no real free media in Russia. My friends and me, we wanted to give the Chechen point of view.

Its a modest but difficult goal: press freedom is tenuous in Russia as a whole, and basically non-existent in Chechnya, a Russian republic ruled with an iron first by Ramzan Kadyrov.

Local media works according to one principle: Do not make Kadyrov angry, an anonymous Chechen journalist wrote in the Guardian last year. Today, I do not know a single journalist here who would agree to work on a story that was anything other than positive about life in post-war Chechnya.

Kadyrov was selected to lead Chechnya by Vladmir Putin, and he has been linked to the assassination of Russian opposition leader Boris Nemstov and accused of various human rights violations, including the reported detention and torture of hundreds of gay men.

The Chechen leader has a particularly authoritarian attitude toward social media. He enthusiastically documents his lifestyle to his 2.7m followers on Instagram, while retaliating harshly against Chechens who voice even mild dissent on social networks. A favored tactic is public humiliation forcing those who wrote negative comments to appear on local television to renounce their views and apologize.

While the Chechen group has been restored, the case raises concerns for press freedom advocates about how Facebook is wielding its power to censor. Not every group of dissidents will catch the attention of a news organization or advocacy group, said Suzanne Nossel, the executive director of free-speech advocacy group PEN America, and that seems to be a much more reliable means of redress than Facebooks official system for appealing censorship decisions.

If that dissident group doesnt have the channels or access to power to get through to Facebook at a higher level, they may just find themselves silenced, said Nossel. What is necessary is a more accessible, transparent, timely process of individual appeal and the provision of rationale that make this incredibly powerful hand that Facebook and other platforms wield something that is more understandable and can be a subject of public debate.

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Facebook blocks Chechnya activist page in latest case of wrongful censorship - The Guardian

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The Enemy of Your Enemy is No Friend of Liberty – The Libertarian Republic

Posted: at 4:43 pm

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By Ian Tartt

As if it didnt already have enough problems, the liberty movement is now divided even more than it was before the last election cycle. This is largely a result of the campaigns of Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. While most libertarians reacted in horror to both candidates, some were more concerned about one than the other.

Accordingly, some voted for Clinton to stop Trump, while others did the opposite. At the same time, many of them joined organizations that are not libertarian in nature but agreed with them on a handful of issues brought up during the election. This resulted in some libertarians aligning with right-leaning organizations and others aligning with left-leaning organizations.

The core problem with these associations is that they are based on what those from different sides oppose rather than what they support. That is, those who side with right-leaning organizations do so because those organizations oppose socialism; likewise, those standing with left-leaning organizations have allied with them because of their shared opposition to fascism. But simply opposing socialism or fascism does not a libertarian make. Its the consistent recognition and defense of individual liberty that makes one a libertarian.

Because some libertarians are joining with organizations who are merely enemies of their enemies instead of being their friends, there is great risk involved. Over time, they may adopt some decidedly un-libertarian positions and could even end up leaving libertarianism altogether. Of course, that depends on how heavily theyre involved with the organization and why theyre involved with them in the first place.

Another major drawback is that the libertarians who align with non-libertarian organizations often become divided (that is, those working with right-leaning organizations would see those aligning with left-leaning organizations as their enemies, and vice versa). Since there are also a number of libertarians who reject such alliances entirely, the liberty movement is now further split in several different directions. Some libertarians, whether theyre aligned with those on the left, those on the right, or with neither, refuse to work with those who reject their alliance or lack thereof.

While theres nothing wrong with working with an individual or organization to advance a certain goal (such as standing with a right-leaning group to protect gun rights or helping a left-leaning group push for drug decriminalization), libertarians should avoid strong partnerships with those organizations. And they absolutely shouldnt reject fellow libertarians, with whom they agree more often than not, in favor of working with those with whom they almost never agree. Doing either will only weaken the liberty movement by bringing in people who shouldnt be there in the first place and severing ties among those who are natural allies.

The best thing to do at this point is for those libertarians who are strongly aligned with a left or right organization that doesnt respect individual liberty to break those ties. Once they do that, they should try to rebuild as many bridges between themselves and their fellow libertarians as possible. This will help strengthen the bonds between lovers of liberty as well as prevent those unfamiliar with libertarianism from thinking that its something that it isnt. There is still time to undo the damage that was done from unnatural alliances, but until a serious effort to set things right is made, the liberty movement will continue to struggle while increasingly more freedoms are lost.

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The Enemy of Your Enemy is No Friend of Liberty - The Libertarian Republic

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US says it may pull out of UN human rights body, citing member abuses, treatment of Israel – Washington Post

Posted: at 4:41 pm

UNITED NATIONS The Trump administration warned Tuesday that the United States could pull out of the U.N. Human Rights Council unless the body ends what Washington calls the whitewashing of dictators abuses and unfair attacks on Israel.

President Trumps U.N. ambassador, Nikki Haley, delivered the ultimatum in an unusual address in Geneva to the 47-member body.

The United States is looking very carefully at this council and our participation in it. We see some areas for significant strengthening, Haley told council members.

Being a member of this council is a privilege, and no country who is a human rights violator should be allowed a seat at the table.

The United States accuses the council of shielding the repressive regimes it should be condemning, allowing such regimes to join the body and then use it to thwart scrutiny. It is the same criticism that led former president George W. Bush to shun the council in 2006, a decision that President Barack Obama reversed in his first year in office.

Haley pointed to what she said are egregious human rights violations in Venezuela, a council member, and said if the country cannot change then it should step down from the council.

Haley outlined proposals for change in a separate address later Tuesday, delivered away from the council headquarters. She again accused Venezuela of masking starvation and repression at home with membership in the human rights body and added others to the list of those she said misuse positions on the council.

Countries like Venezuela, Cuba, China, Burundi and Saudi Arabia occupy positions that obligate them to, in the words of the resolution that created the Human Rights Council, uphold the highest standards of human rights, Haley said in remarks at the Graduate Institute Geneva.

They clearly do not uphold those highest standards.

She did not mention U.S. ally Egypt, a council member accused of arbitrary detention, torture and other abuses.

When the council fails to act properly when it fails to act at all it undermines its own credibility and the cause of human rights, Haley said.

It leaves the most vulnerable to suffer and die. It fuels the cynical belief that countries cannot put aside self-interest and cooperate on behalf of human dignity. It reinforces our growing suspicion that the Human Rights Council is not a good investment of our time, money and national prestige.

The council risks becoming as discredited as its predecessor, the Human Rights Commission, Haley said.

That 60-year-old body was disbanded in 2006 as irredeemably tainted by its protection of abusers, and the Human Rights Council was formed as a fresh start.

America does not seek to leave the Human Rights Council. We seek to reestablish the councils legitimacy, Haley said.

Jamil Dakwar, director of the American Civil Liberties Unions Human Rights Program, attended the council session.

Its hard to take Ambassador Haley seriously on U.S. support for human rights in light of Trump administration actions like the Muslim ban and immigration crackdowns, he said in a statement. Regardless of the party in power, the U.S. needs to lead by example and practice what it preaches on human rights.

The United States is demanding changes to the way members of the council are chosen. Countries should have to compete for membership, thus making it much harder for human rights abusers to slip through, Haley argued.

The council must also stop singling out Israel for criticism, Haley said.

The former South Carolina governor, frequently mentioned as a future Republican presidential candidate, has focused heavily on what she calls mistreatment of Israel at the United Nations. The effort has endeared her to Israeli leaders and to conservative U.S. pro-Israel organizations. Haley will travel to Israel later this week.

Its hard to accept that this council has never considered a resolution on Venezuela, and yet it adopted five biased resolutions in March against a single country, Israel, Haley said in her remarks before the council. It is essential that this council address its chronic anti-Israel bias if it is to have any credibility.

The council should immediately address worsening human rights conditions in Syria, Congo, Eritrea and Ukraine, Haley told the body.

Before she spoke, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Raad al-Hussein had criticized Israel for the 50-year occupation of land the Palestinians claim for a future state. He invoked the Holocaust while saying that Israels actions now are not comparable.

The Holocaust was so monstrous and so mathematically planned and executed it has no parallel, no modern equal, Zeid said. Yet it is also undeniable that today, the Palestinian people mark a half-century of deep suffering under an occupation imposed by military force.

In June 1967, Israel captured the West Bank, East Jerusalem, the Gaza Strip, the Sinai Peninsula and the Golan Heights in fighting with Egypt, Syria and Jordan.

In response, Israeli U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon criticized Zeid, a veteran Jordanian diplomat, and said Israel is looking forward to working with the U.S. to enact real reforms and put an end to this most absurd chapter in the history of the U.N.

The connection between the commissioner and human rights has proven to be purely coincidental and it comes as no surprise that he chose to spread lies about Israel before he even mentioned the massacres in Syria, Danon wrote in a statement issued in New York.

Haley is the first U.S. United Nations ambassador to address the council, and her address is part of a Trump administration campaign to demand chages to what Haley has called hidebound and biased U.N. bureaucracies.

A separate ambassador represents Washington at the council and at other U.N. bodies headquartered in Geneva, so Haleys decision to make her case in person was intended to underscore U.S. frustration.

A U.S. withdrawal would have only symbolic effect, since the council has no enforcement powers, but would represent further U.S. disengagement from international organizations.

The ultimatum follows Trumps announcement last week that the United States will withdraw from the Paris climate change accord and his refusal to specifically pledge allegiance to European defense at a NATO summit last month.

The debate over whether to remain a part of the U.N. Human Rights Council has parallels to the administrations internal discussion about the 2015 Paris agreement, with some Trump advisers arguing that the United States can have more influence by remaining a member.

Haley had said last week that the Trump administration would decide on its council membership status after the councils session concludes later this month.

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US says it may pull out of UN human rights body, citing member abuses, treatment of Israel - Washington Post

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Oldest Homo sapiens fossils discovered in Morocco – Washington Post

Posted: at 4:41 pm

A composite reconstruction shows the earliest known Homo sapiens fossils found just west of Morocco at the archeological cave site called Jebel Irhoud. (Philipp Gunz, MPI EVA Leipzig)

Bones found in a cave in Morocco add 100,000 years tothe history of modern human fossils.These bones are from early anatomically modern humans our own species,Homosapiens,with a mixture of modern and primitive traits, an international team of anthropologists, paleontologists and evolutionary scientists report in apair of paperspublished Wednesday in the journal Nature.

Despite theirprimitive features, these ancient people could blend in with a moderncrowd, study authorJean-Jacques Hublinof theMax Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, said in a news briefing Tuesday particularly, he added, if hats covered their somewhat oddly shaped heads.

The oldest Homo sapiens bones known date to about 200,000 years ago, but the new analysis shows these bones are surprisingly old: 300,000 to 350,000 years old.

Workers discovered the bone site in the 1960s. Barite miners excavating a hill in western Morocco hit a pocket of red sedimentwith ancient stone tools, limbs and a humanskull, which the workers gave to the quarrydoctor. The doctor turned the skull over to scientists. It was a puzzling bone. At first the skullwas linked toNeanderthals, a species that has been found in Europe but not Africa.

Discoveries of human fossils in Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzaniasoon overshadowed the bones from the Moroccan hill. Complicating matters still, the quarry miners took few detailed records of where they found the bones.But the hill, named Jebel Irhoud, was not forgotten. Hublin explored the siteseveral times in the 1980s and 1990s, though he had little luck.

In 2004, a cave at Jebel Irhoud yielded a tooth. And a year later, a second tooth. And then, finally,another cranium.

The Jebel Irhoud fossils areroughly 100,000 years older than any previously described modern human bones. In the late 1960s, Richard Leakey and his fellow paleoanthropologists found Homo sapiens fossils from the Kibish Formation of Ethiopia, dated at the time as130,000 years old. In 2003, in Herto, Ethiopia, anthropologists said they found olderHomo sapiens, about160,000 years old. Two years later, a reanalysisof theKibish specimens added 35,000 years, pushing fossil evidence ofHomo sapiens tojust under 200,000 years ago.

Based on the previous discoveries, expertssuggested that humanancestors evolved intoour species 200,000 years ago. But the new fossils shift that window in time back half again as long, to 300,000 years.

I think it's wonderful that finally weve got a date from Jebel Irhoud, said Frank Brown, a University of Utah geologist and author of the Kibish reanalysis who was not involved in the new research. They're not Homo neanderthalensis. They're not Homo erectus. They're not Homo anybody else.

Brown said that the dates made sense, considering the near-but-not-quite modernity of the specimens. He also noted that the authors were careful to say that the remains are on their way to being anatomically modern.

There is nospecific biological feature thatvalidates a specimen as a member of modernHomo sapiens.But a jutting chin helps. Humans all around the world have a modern human chin,Shara Bailey, an anthropologist atNew York University and one of the study's authors, told The Washington Post. Bailey said that Irhoud mandibles, like our jaws, have aprominent chin, as well as several dental features found only in modern humans.

The really cool stuff with Irhoud, she said, is that the traits that make them look more like humans are not primitive traits.

This reconstruction of a mandible fossil found in Jebel Irhoud can be compared to archaic hominins, such as Neandertals, as well as with early forms of anatomically modern Humans. (Jean-Jacques Hublin, MPI-EVA Leipzig)

To reconstruct ancient skulls, the study authors examined features from specimens Irhoud 1 (the face and brain case found in 1961), Irhoud 2 (a brain case found in 1962) andIrhoud 10 (the partial face found in 2007). The reconstructions of the Irhoud 10 face fall right in the middle of the recent modern humans, said Richard Potts, a paleoanthropologist who directs the Smithsonian Institutions Human Origins Program.

The analysis revealedsmall faces shaped distinctively like modern humans, he said in an email. And although the brain pans fall outside therangeof humans alive today, so do several other clearly fossil Homo sapiens from Africa and Europe, he said. So thats okay.Comparing these with facial position on known human skulls fromEthiopia, Potts said, I think we have a good instance of early Homo sapiens from Irhoud.

Two techniques dated these humans to about 300,000 years ago. Electron resonance spin dating can estimate how long enamel, for instance, has been bombarded by radiation from sediment. With this method, the scientists determined anIrhoud tooth was 286,000 years old (give or take 30,000 years).

A method called thermoluminescence, or TL, dating can gauge the last time an object was heated, by measuring the electrons trapped within it.Fortuitously, the inhabitants of the Jebel Irhoud cave burned their flint tools.

That was big luck, I would say, Hublin said during the news conference.

People must have been involved in heating the flints, and these have been dated directly using well-established TL techniques, said Richard Roberts, an expert in luminescence dating at the University of Wollongong in Australia who reviewed the dating techniques beforethe papers' publication.

I feel the authors have presented pretty convincing evidence for the presence of early modern humans at the site by 300,000 years ago and possibly a little earlier, Roberts wrote in an email.

Potts was more critical of the dates. In short, the dating has a lot of [indirect] links in the chain of interpretation, he said. The authors of the study assume that all of the human fossils came from the same sediment layer, he said. To link the new fossils to the 1960sspecimens, the scientists cite a metal nail they found in the area from an olderexcavation. Potts also noted that in east Africa, datingthe argon in volcanic ash is preferred overthermoluminescence (but there is no ash in Morocco to measure).

All told, he said, the researchers' estimate of about315,000 years old is aprovisional best bet,with the probable range between247,000 to 383,000 years.

Three hundred millennia ago, Morocco was wetter and dotted with clumps of trees. The ancient humans would have sought shelter in the cave as they stalked prey. The overall picture that one gets is a hunting encampment, study author Shannon McPherron, a Max Planck archaeologist, said during Tuesday's briefing.The hunters carried the flint from a source some 15 miles away; they would have stopped by the cave to eat, light fires and retool their weapons, he said.

The burned flint tools were more elegant than the heavy cleavers earlier in the Stone Age, McPherron said. Found among them were the remains of butchered gazelle, zebra, wildebeest andhartebeest. The researchers also discovered bones from a few carnivores, such as lions and leopards.

As formidable as theSahara is today, the region was more humid and the desert smaller 300,000 years ago,Hublin said primarily grassland, instead of dunes,and broken up by lakes the size of Germany.

The site is far north of where other early Homo sapiensbones have been discovered. Hublin envisioned that these early humans could travelacross Africa from Morocco to Tanzania and back,spreading their genes along the way.

There is no Garden of Eden in Africa, Hublin said. Or, there is a Garden of Eden and it's Africa. (Any one siteclaiming to be birthplace of Homo sapiens, in other words, is a tourist trap.)

Potts said: This view promoted by Hublin is by no means a slam dunk, but it is feasible. It will doubtless be tested over and over by further African fossil discoveries in this important time period.

Bailey said that this research gives a Pan-African perspective to early modern humanity. We tend to focus on areas of the world where we have a lot of fossils, in east Africa and south Africa. Much less work has been done in north Africa, she said.Were getting a bigger picture of the process of the origin of our species.

Archaeology shocker: Study claims humans reached the Americas 130,000 years ago

Humans and Neanderthals may have interbred 50,000 years earlier than previously thought

Scientists discover a new human ancestor that roamed with Lucy

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After owner’s arrest in human trafficking, Speedbowl back on track … – CT Post

Posted: at 4:41 pm

In this April 6, 2017 photo, the NASCAR logo is among the signs at the the ticket entrance of the New London Waterford Speedbowl in Waterford, Conn. The track, in operation since 1951, postponed its planned May 6 opening after NASCAR pulled its sanctions in April following the arrest of owner Bruce Bemer. (Dana Jensen/The Day via AP) less In this April 6, 2017 photo, the NASCAR logo is among the signs at the the ticket entrance of the New London Waterford Speedbowl in Waterford, Conn. The track, in operation since 1951, postponed its planned May ... more Photo: Dana Jensen, AP In this May 3, 2014 file photo, fans watch a race at the New London Waterford Speedbowl in Waterford, Conn. The track, in operation since 1951, postponed its planned May 6, 2017 opening after NASCAR pulled its sanctions in April following the arrest of owner Bruce Bemer. (Tim Cook/The Day via AP) less In this May 3, 2014 file photo, fans watch a race at the New London Waterford Speedbowl in Waterford, Conn. The track, in operation since 1951, postponed its planned May 6, 2017 opening after NASCAR pulled its ... more Photo: Tim Cook, AP

Bruce J. Bemer, of Glastonbury, leaves Superior Court, in Danbury, after his arrest in connection with a human trafficking ring in Danbury, Conn. Thursday, March 30, 2017.

Bruce J. Bemer, of Glastonbury, signs paperwork before leaving Superior Court, in Danbury, after his arrest in connection with a human trafficking ring in Danbury, Conn. Thursday, March 30, 2017.

Bruce J. Bemer, of Glastonbury, leaves Superior Court, in Danbury, after his arrest in connection with a human trafficking ring in Danbury, Conn. Thursday, March 30, 2017.

After owners arrest in human trafficking, Speedbowl back on track

The New London/Waterford Speedbowl that had its NASCAR sanctions ended after its owner was arrested in a human trafficking ring, is getting back on track with its racing season.

NASCAR severed its ties with the 66-year-old track after Bruce J. Bemer of Glastonbury, the owner of the speedbowl, was charged in March with patronizing a trafficked person.

Since the announcement, seven Speedbowl officials have resigned, according to the Norwich Bulletin.

A prostitution ring that exploited young men with mental disabilities for more than 20 years in the Danbury area unraveled early this spring when police arrested two men authorities say were clients of the operation. Along with Bemer, William Trefzger, a previously convicted sex offender from Westport was arrested.

After NASCAR cut its ties to the track, it had to remove all NASCAR branding. Drivers also had to reassign their NASCAR license to another track.

But on Monday, the speedbowl announced a proposed lease for the 2017 season.

The management team is happy to announce that an agreement has been reached with George Whitney of Whitney Farm Racing, LLC to lease the track for the 2017 season.

With over twenty years in racing, George has raced Enduro Cars, Street Stocks and Late Models where he earned Rookie of the Year. Taking several years off, George then returned to begin his career in the Legends Division taking home a Championship at The New London Waterford Speedbowl and four state championships during his Legends career. His latest accolades are bringing numerous drivers to National Championships as their Crew Chief. He now gets his racing fix doing chassis set ups for many drivers as well as Legends car repairs.

The speedbowl posted on its web site, Additional details will follow in the coming week. An updated race schedule is being reviewed and will be posted as soon as dates are confirmed, but it Georges goal to get the racers back out on the track where they belong as soon as possible. Kick off weekend, open practice and many more details will be posted regularly so please watch the website and Facebook for details.

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Theresa May Wrong To Attack Human Rights In Post-London Bridge Attack Terror Speech, Experts Say – HuffPost UK

Posted: at 4:41 pm

Theresa May is wrong to say human rights law stands in the way of the fight against terror, experts have told HuffPost UK.

Under pressure after the London Bridge attack, the prime minister gave a speech on Tuesday saying she would rewrite laws that stop the Government acting to prevent further attacks.

Three men killed eight people and injured dozens in their rampage on Saturday.

The attack prompted difficult questions for the Government and security services who had monitored one of the attackers but concluded he was not a threat.

In a campaign speech in Slough two days before the election, May outlined tougher measures to make sure that the police and security and intelligence agencies have the powers they need.

She added: If our human rights laws stop us from doing it, we will change the laws so we can do it.

PA Wire/PA Images

But human rights experts have denied Britains Human Rights Act is a practical obstacle to fighting terror and said the changes May suggested would not necessarily conflict with it.

Human rights barrister Adam Wagner said he did not know of any terror attack where the Act had prevented the authorities from acting to stop it.

Its always tempting to respond to terrorism by saying we need stricter laws, he told HuffPost UK.

Ive not seen any particular terrorist attack where theres been a clear link found between something the authorities couldnt do because of human rights law and the outcome...

In the London Bridge attacks, it seems to be more about the way the authorities used intelligence rather than not being able to deport people or intern them for 28 days without charge.

The Human Rights Act makes the European Convention on Human Rights, which Britain was instrumental in drafting in the 1950s, enforceable in UK courts.

Its rights include privacy, a fair trial and family life, which has prevented some foreign-born criminals being deported from Britain.

In her Slough speech, May said she would look at deporting more people, restricting terror suspects movement and legislating for authorities to be able to detain them for up to 28 days without charge.

Wagner said: The fact shes not making any specific suggestions or changes [to human rights law] is important.

The reality is, the things shes mentioning and wants to change, will probably be permitted within human rights law.

PA Wire/PA Images

Rachel Robinson, acting policy director at civil rights group Liberty and a former barrister, said human rights law did not stop the Government from legislating even very serious counter-terror measures.

Almost all of the rights [in the Act] are qualified rights. So in the interests of national security, effective, targetted and proportionate measures can be taken forward without breaching human rights laws, she said.

The fact [The Government] wins many cases shows how sensitive our human rights framework is to the broader public interest.

Both Wagner and Robinson stressed that the British Government has won most human rights court cases brought against it by terror suspects.

David Anderson, the QC who was the independent reviewer of terrorism legislation until March, wrote that the last eight times Britain had to defend its terror laws before the European court had resulted wholly or very substantially in victory for the Government.

He said that human rights do not unthinkingly prioritise individual rights over our responsibilities to each other and Governments have a wide discretion in how to apply them.

Robinson said the Governments court victories showed the law was extremely flexible.

PA Wire/PA Images

The depiction of human rights as somehow offering a carte blanche in these situations is completely inaccurate, because considerations of national security are such an important part of the balancing exercise carried out by our courts, she said.

Thats why the Human Rights Act is able to act so effectively in protecting rights and freedoms but not preventing the state from doing things which genuinely are targeted and effective as a way of countering terrorism.

Wagner added: In almost every case that a suspected or actual terrorist goes to the European Court of Human Rights, the state wins.

Im sure its very frustrating for a Home Secretary to have to deal with those cases but thats the price of the rule of law.

Kate Allen, UK director of Amnesty International wrote on HuffPost UK that May was asking people to think human rights as some kind of blockage to law-enforcement in this country.

Allen said: Yes, there should be serious conversations about our resourcing of the police and the security services.

And yes, we need to ensure that our law-enforcement bodies can process potentially life-saving intelligence quickly and efficiently.

But human rights are themselves a vital part of that work, not obstacles to it.

Robinson called Mays comments opportunistic and dishonest.

Though May suggested restricting terror suspects movement, Robinson pointed out it was May who abolished control orders, which did just that, when she was home secretary.

May also abolished the 28-day detention before charge for terror suspects, which the Labour government had introduced.

Robinson said: Yesterdays comments were opportunistic and dishonest. She knows these are discredited and ineffective ways of responding to the terror threat.

She added: By threatening to undermine our rights and freedoms through these knee-jerk, ineffective measures, the Prime Minister is actually handing a victory to the terrorists whilst doing nothing to keep us safer.

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Theresa May Wrong To Attack Human Rights In Post-London Bridge Attack Terror Speech, Experts Say - HuffPost UK

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New Instantly Rechargeable Battery Deals a Fatal Blow to Fossil Fuels – Futurism

Posted: at 4:40 pm

In BriefPurdue researchers have developed a flow battery that wouldallow electric cars to be recharged instantly at stations likeconventional cars are. The technology is clean, safe, and cheap. Go With The Flow

Purdue researchers have developed technology for an instantly rechargeable battery that is affordable, environmentally friendly, and safe. Currently, electric vehicles need charging ports in convenient locations to be viable, but this battery technology would allow drivers of hybrid and electric vehicles to charge up much like drivers of conventional cars refill quickly and easily at gas stations.

This breakthrough would not only speed the switch to electric vehicles by making them more convenient to drive, but also reduce the amount of new supportive infrastructure needed for electric cars dramatically. Purdue University professors John Cushman and Eric Nauman teamed up with doctoral student Mike Mueterthies to co-found Ifbattery LLC (IF-battery) forcommercializing and developing the technology.

The new model is a flow battery, which does not require an electric charging station to be recharged. Instead, all the users have to do is replace the batterys fluid electrolytes rather like filling up a tank.This batterys fluids from used batteries, all clean, inexpensive, and safe, could be collected and recharged at any solar, wind, or hydroelectric plant. Electric cars using this technology would arrive at the refueling station, deposit spent fluids for recharging, and fill up like a traditional car might.

This flow battery system is unique because, unlike other versions of the flow battery, this one lacks the membranes which are both costly and vulnerable to fouling. Membrane fouling can limit the number of recharge cycles and is a known contributor to many battery fires, Cushman said in a press release. Ifbatterys components are safe enough to be stored in a family home, are stable enough to meet major production and distribution requirements, and are cost effective.

Transitioning existing infrastructure to accommodate cars using these batteries would befar simpler than designing and building a host of new charging stations which is Teslas current strategy. Existing pumps could even be used for these battery chemicals, which are very safe.

Electric and hybrid vehicle sales are growing worldwide and the popularity of companies like Tesla is incredible, but there continues to be strong challenges for industry and consumers of electric or hybrid cars, Cushman said in the press release. The biggest challenge for industry is to extend the life of a batterys charge and the infrastructure needed to actually charge the vehicle.

When can we expect to see these batteries in use? The biggest hurdle isnt the materials, which are cheap and plentiful, but person power. The researchers still need more financing to complete research and development to put the batteries into mass production. To overcome this problem, theyre working to publicize the innovation in the hopes of drawing interest from investors.

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New Instantly Rechargeable Battery Deals a Fatal Blow to Fossil Fuels - Futurism

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Here’s Everything You Missed From Tesla’s Annual Shareholder Meeting – Futurism

Posted: at 4:40 pm

In BriefTesla's annual shareholders meeting took place yesterday, andfor many, the highlight of the event was CEO Elon Musk taking thestage. In addition to answering questions from Twitter, hedelivered updates on several forthcoming Tesla projects. An Annual Update

Tesla founder and CEO Elon Musk is a showman, perhaps on par withApples Steve Jobs when it comes to big reveals during public appearances.

His usual platform is Teslas annual shareholder meeting, but yesterday, he didnt deliver much by way of reveals. Still, Musk didpaint the general direction Tesla would be taking in the next several months while addressing the shareholders and responding to questions from Twitter.

If you missed the livestream of the presentation, dont fret. Heres everythingyou need to know from it.

Musk mentioned three upcoming vehicles that Tesla has been working on: the Model 3, the Model Y, and an electric semi truck (that last ones so exciting it deserved an article all to itself).

The Model 3 is expected to be releasedby the end of the month, andMusk emphasized the vehicles relative simplicity. I should say that weve kept the initial configurations of the Model 3 very simple, said the CEO. A big mistake we made with the X, which is primarily my responsibility there was way too much complexity right at the beginning. That was very foolish.

Attendees were then treated toa first look at the Model Y, Teslas electric crossover SUV. Theimage is decidedly lacking in detail, so we still have very little to go on with this model, but we do know that its slated for a 2019 release and would be built on a completely new platform. In fact, Tesla would build an entirely new factory for its production.

Oh, and an electric plane somewhere down the road is also not inconceivable, according to Musk.

Musk also offered updates on Teslas Autopilot, claiming that the company will be rolling out improvements to the system for its Hardware 2 vehicles. Since its split with Mobileye the Israeli software maker responsible for the earlier versions of Teslas self-driving system Tesla has been developing its own semi-autonomous software. While some consumers have had some issues with the autonomous system in Teslas new vehicles, Musk said that its now almost better than the Mobileye version.

Usually, after Musk points out a problem, he shares a solution for it(see: traffic and the Boring Company). At yesterdays meeting, Musk shared his criticisms of todays music algorithms and playlist quality, and in typical Musk fashion, he plans to do something about it. He says Tesla will release a music service or feature later this year, and its gonna be the music you want to listen to.

After being asked about how he spends his time, Musk made reference to his late-night tweets. He admitted that he would sometimes go crazy on Twitter, but he blames it on music, wine, and a sedative. You know, [when] theres a little red wine, a vintage record player, some Ambien. Magic. Magic happens, he said, later echoing the sentiment (where else?) in a tweet.

Musk also explained that he generally spends 90 percent of his time working on Tesla and SpaceX, whiledividing therest betweenNeuralink (3 to 5 percent), the Boring Company (2 percent), and Open AI (less than 2 percent).

Like a true showman, Muskwas sure toinclude a cliffhanger in his presentation to keep the people wanting mroe. Theres a few other things I havent mentioned here. I just like, really recommend showing up for the semi truck unveiling, he said. Maybe theres a little more than were saying here. Maybe. Could be. Who knows?

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Here's Everything You Missed From Tesla's Annual Shareholder Meeting - Futurism

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Business Expert Asserts That Bitcoin is Not Currency – Futurism

Posted: at 4:40 pm

In BriefMark Cuban has attacked Bitcoin on Twitter, claiming it is nota currency, it is a bubble, and that the whole system of valuationconcerning it is wrong. But is he right? Mark Cubans Twitterstorm

Mark Cuban has recently raised a series of criticisms of bitcoin on Twitter, which has resulted in the cryptocurrencys exchange rate dropping rapidly illustrating many of the issues with the currency that he discussed in the Tweet themselves.

Mark Cuban rose to wealth by selling his start-up businesses MicroSolutions (a PC company that he sold to CompuServe for $6 Million) and Broadcast.com (which transmitted sports games over the internet, and was subsequently sold to Yahoo for $5.7 Billion) in the 1990s, and rose to prominence by becoming owner of the NBA team the Dallas Mavericks.

Earlier today he took his opinions of Bitcoin toTwitter:

Cuban crucially differentiates between blockchain and Bitcoin: the former being a means of transaction that is more secure, transparent, and distributive, and the latter a cryptocurrency.

However, Cuban likens bitcoin to the religious worship of gold as an asset and describes it as a stock, which is fundamentally different from a currency currencies measure how much of an asset you have. This is why Cuban progresses to state I am not questioning value. Im questioning valuation.

Just because bitcoins exchange rate has reached thousands of dollars, this doesnt mean that anyone would be willing to give you thousands of dollars for your bitcoin. Currencies are universal measures of value in the country you operate which allows anyone to trade with anyone as part of a universal system of value. This is in contrast to assets which you can buy with that value system but not necessarily trade anywhere as easily.

Currencies, in order to operate in this way, need to be relatively stable which Cuban showed bitcoin was not due to the almost instant drop after his tweetstorm. To analogise: can you imagine the dollar, pound, or euro drastically dropping in a matter of hours just because of a few tweets?

On the surface, Bitcoin looks monumentally impressive: it has grown every year apart from 2014, has climbed 141 percent in value this year alone, even peaking at $2,900 this past week. However, the precise reason for this success is the reason for its potential failure it is too turbulent, too successful.

This means that while Bitcoin may seem extremely seductive it has been billed as, among other things, the ultimate investment and a universal currency we must be careful when investing in it (particularly because it is difficult to convert back into dollars), putting faith in it, and being overoptimistic about its potential.

Bitcoin is one particularly famous use of a potentially more promising and widely applicable system called blockchain, which has the potential to revolutionize everything from the music industry to sustainable development and even banking accountability.

According to many, it is blockchain, not bitcoin, that has the potential to revolutionize future transactions: If the internet bought us near instant digital communication, then the blockchain brings us near instant asset transfer, asset movement and security of data movement said Simon Taylor, the previous head of Barclays cryptocurrency division.

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Business Expert Asserts That Bitcoin is Not Currency - Futurism

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China to Reveal Its Autonomous Bus/Train Hybrid in 2018 – Futurism

Posted: at 4:40 pm

In Brief A new train that operates autonomously is expected to begin serving a Chinese city next year. The train follows a pre-set route laid out by white dots on the road. The technology provides small and medium-sized cities with a cheaper public transport

The state of public transportation has arrived at an exciting juncture. It seems that technologies have finally advanced to the point that truly never before seen solutions are starting to pop up all around the world. Were seeing the likes of autonomous taxis, flying taxis, and high-speed trains like themag-lev limo concept, which promises to deliver travelers from New York to Beijing in 2 hours time.

Another option is readying itself to transport people around the Chinese city of Zhuzhou as soon as 2018. The smart bus is being developed by Chinese rail transit firm CRRC to combine the economical ease of bus systems with the modularity of subway trains, as well as the convenience and safety of autonomy.

The smart bus, or Autonomous Rail Rapid Transit (ART), will follow a preset path guided by white dots lining the roads picked up by sensors in the trains. ART is an excellent option for smaller to medium sized cities who cannot afford to invest in the infrastructurenecessary to have a subway system.

The three-car trains will be able to hold 300 people along its 6.5 km (4 mile) track. More carriages could be added to allow for a greater numbers of passengers.

This project seems like a stepping stone solution between our current transportation systems and the forthcoming high(er)-tech possibilities.

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Category Archives: Transhuman News

Facebook blocks Chechnya activist page in latest case of wrongful censorship – The Guardian

The Enemy of Your Enemy is No Friend of Liberty – The Libertarian Republic

US says it may pull out of UN human rights body, citing member abuses, treatment of Israel – Washington Post

Oldest Homo sapiens fossils discovered in Morocco – Washington Post

After owner’s arrest in human trafficking, Speedbowl back on track … – CT Post

Theresa May Wrong To Attack Human Rights In Post-London Bridge Attack Terror Speech, Experts Say – HuffPost UK

New Instantly Rechargeable Battery Deals a Fatal Blow to Fossil Fuels – Futurism

Here’s Everything You Missed From Tesla’s Annual Shareholder Meeting – Futurism

Business Expert Asserts That Bitcoin is Not Currency – Futurism

China to Reveal Its Autonomous Bus/Train Hybrid in 2018 – Futurism

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