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University of Michigan students held vigils for victims of police brutality after Minnesota police officer, Jeronimo Yanez, was acquitted on Friday of all charges in the 2016 shooting of Philando Castile.

Yanez had been charged with second-degree manslaughter and endangering safety due to discharging a firearm in the shooting.While Yanez testified that he believed Castile was reaching for a gun when he fatally shot him, Castiles girlfriend, Diamond Reynolds in the passengers seat at the time of the shooting said he was merely reaching for his identification.

Postdoctoral fellow Austin McCoy, who attended a vigil for Castile in downtown Ann Arbor on Saturday, wrote in a Facebook post that he believes his passion for political activism is driven by the helplessness he feels due to the current state of systematic oppression within the country.

Im probably not alone when I say this, but I was reminded tonight at the vigil for Philando Castile that my politics and activism grows out of my struggle with intense feelings of helplessness that developed at an early age, or my fight against those feelings, he wrote. This struggle has driven my activism and it has shaped my rather radical politics.

McCoy related his emotions toward the Philando Castile case to what he felt when George Zimmerman, the man who shot 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, was acquitted in 2014.

There was something about learning about the not guilty verdict in the Philando Castile murder on Friday that brought some of the helplessness that I felt in 2014 back, he said. I dont know if its just our current political moment, watching the merry-go-round of injustice spin around, or my continuing education about the intransigence of our criminal justice system, but, as we were observing Philando Castile and Aura Rosser last night, I felt like we were back at square one.

According to the Facebook event, the vigil hoped to "(g)ather together with others tonight on Liberty Plaza commons to share your thoughts, sorrow, anger, and other emotions about Philando, and how to move toward a world in which police are obsolete, in which we love and protect each other, in which black lives matter. Bring candles, flowers, and signs, but mostly, simply gather and commune with others."Many victims, including Castile and Martin, have been Black or African American.

Many University students felt similarly upset. Public Policy junior Denis McGrath said his opinion on the acquittal is divided because he can understand where both parties were coming from leading up to the fatal shooting.

On the one hand, Castile was a model citizen, beloved by his family and the children he worked with, yet he was shot dead while following police orders, he said. To be quite frank, he in no way deserved to die. On the other hand, I have to sympathize in some part with Officer Yanez. Yanez had no way of knowing Castile was an incredible human being; he thought Castile resembled a wanted robbery suspect, he smelled marijuana and he knew that Castile had a weapon. Unfortunately, due to this cocktail of misperceptions, stereotypes and guns, a model citizen was left dead, and a city rioted.

McGrath further explained that he believes the United States has a problem with racism, as well as a problem with underfunded police forces, and nothing will change until citizens take action to fix these problems.

I believe that the United States most certainly has a race problem and a police problem and the two, when combined, are a recipe for disaster, he said. I think what bothers me most about these shootings/killings of Trayvon Martin, Sam DuBose, Alton Sterling, Freddie Gray, Eric Harris, Tamir Rice, Philando Castile the list goes on and on for far too long is that we as a society fail to take any action to remedy these issues.

University alum Joe Shea, former Cental Student Government Communications Director, wrote in a tweet that he hopes Castile is never forgotten.

Shea explained that last October, University graduate students held a vigil for victims of police violence and brought in pictures to commemorate men like Castile and Garner. The display remained inside the Ford School for the whole year.

Some grad students organized a vigil way back in October for Dia de los Muertos and people brought pictures of Philando Castile, Eric Garner, Trayvon Martin, Tamir Rice and I think one other person, he said. It ended up being this very nice display on the second floor, right outside the academic office on a table and had some candlelight and decorations and they left it up for, I think, the entire academic year.

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City, University students hold vigils for victim of police shooting following officer's acquittal - The Michigan Daily

The National Security Agency is amongst the most secretive of the US intelligence agencies. It employs genius-level coders and mathematicians in order to break codes, gather information on adversaries, and defend the country against digital threats.

Unsurprisingly, the NSA has always to preferred to work in the dark. But ever since the Snowden leaks in 2013, the organization has gradually increased its public presence. A few years ago, it opened a Twitter account (in fact, it was the first profile Edward Snowden followed when he joined in 2015).

And now, its opened a Github account, and has shared several interesting code repositories under the NSA Technology Transfer Program (TTP). So far, it lists 32 different projects, although some of these are coming soon. Many arent new, either, and have been available for some time. SELinux (Security-Enhanced Linux) for example, has been part of the Linux kernel for years.

Im not surprised the NSAs taken this move. For starters, theres a long and proud tradition of technologies making their way from defense and intelligence environments to the general public. The internet is a brilliant example of that. And engaging with techies via Github is a great way to sanitize its image, and potentially recruit talent.

You can check out the NSAs page here.

Continued here:
The NSA (yes, that NSA) has a Github account now - TNW

Don't pay for Windows software! There's always a free alternative and - for the most part - it will do everything the big names do. Our picks for the best free alternatives to Word, Photoshop, plus antivirus, backup and VPN

By Jim Martin | 40 mins ago

These days most software is either free or cheap to buy. But some Windows programs still cost 100s. Either that or you have to pay a subscription fee (such as Microsoft Office 365 or Adobe CC). But there are free equivalents to just about every paid-for program, from Word and Excel to Photoshop,antivirus and games.

Hereis the best free Windows software you can download right now.

You might not need a whole office suite, just a word processor. In case you didn't know, Windows has one built-in: it's called Word Pad. It lacks many of Word's features but may have enough for your needs.

If you must have Word, then here are a few ways to use Word for free.

Now that Microsoft has made a concerted effort to switch everyone to a subscription model for Office 365, it's even more tempting to opt for a free alternative. Our pick is LibreOffice, which is now far from being a mere off-shoot of OpenOffice. For most people LibreOffice offers everything you need, being just about as compatible with Microsoft Office as it's possible to get.

If you want a suite which copies Microsoft's ribbon interface, look at Kingsoft Office Suite Free.

Also, there are plenty of free PDF editors which allow you to convert a non-editable file into a format, such as .doc or .xls so you can change it.

Photoshop is still the benchmark for photo editors, but there are two cheaper alternatives: Lightroom 6 (109.99 from John Lewis) and Photoshop Elements 15 (80.99 from Ebuyer). However, there are plenty of free photo editors, including some web apps.

Some people find that Paint.net offers everything they need for offline use, while others will be more than happy withPicMonkey.

You'll find more recommendations in our dedicated roundup of the best free photo editors.

Also, don't forget that in the Creators Update to Windows 10, the built-in Paint app has had a massive upgrade!

Plus, if you have a phone or tablet, there are some excellent photo editing apps. Most apply edits to the whole photo, but some, such as Photoshop Mix, even support layers. Others, like Snapseed, let you apply changes just to certain areas. And they're both free.

Opinions will always be divided on the best free antivirus software and, as with paid-for AV software, test results will change on an almost daily basis because makers update their databases and algorithms.

There are quite a few to choose between, but don't forget Microsoft's Defender whichis included with Windows 8 and 10.

For our current top picks, see our separate Best Free Antivirus software roundup.

Email is one of those personal things where, as with antivirus, any recommendation is always going to be controversial. Some people swear by Mozilla Thunderbird while others think thatIncredimail is the best thing since, well, email was invented.

Most people don't use either of those, instead preferring the web app of their chosen service such as Gmail, Outlook or Yahoo, along with the default email client (or the service's own app) on theirphone.

We've compared the best free email services in detail separately.

Backing up irreplaceable files is a chore we could all do without, but while cloud storage services let you sync files without lifting a finger, none are capacious enough (even if you're paying) to back up your entire PC or laptop.

The good news is that there's free backup software on offer, you just need to provide the storage. One of our favourites is Easeus ToDo Backup Free 9.You'll find more alternatives in our guide to the best backup software.

But if you have under 50GB of files, it's well worth checking out Mega. This cloud storage service will give you 50GB for free. Find out more in our roundup of theBest cloud storage services.

Windows Movie Maker is now defunct, and most people couldn't get on with its limited tools. Fortunately there's a number of free alternatives, includingLightWorkswhich you can read all about in our roundup of thebest free video editors.

Again, as with photo editors, don't overlook the video editing apps available on your phone and tablet. For iOS users, iMovie is a convenient way to edit video you've taken on an iPhone (or iPad) and if you're running iOS 10 or later, you can quickly edit within the Photos app using the Memories section.

Android users don't have the same built-in software, but GoPro Quik is free (and it's also available for Windows).

VPN services aren't just for browsing the web anonymously. They also let you access or unblock content that's otherwise limited to users located in particular countries. All free VPNs have their drawbacks, one of which could be unwanted advertising. Another is restricted data or download speeds.

But for some people, a free VPN is all they need and CyberGhost's free service is one worth checking out. Free VPNs have their limitations, and many agree that you need to pay for a service for it to be

Here are the bestfree VPN services we've tested out, and also the best paid-for VPN services.

You're bound to know other great free software, so if you feel you have a better suggestion, or want to suggest software in other categories, let us know in the comments below.

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The best free software for Windows - PC Advisor

wbur Commentary A Capitol Hill Police officer stands watch in Alexandria, Va., Wednesday, June 14, 2017, after a shooting involving House Majority Whip Steve Scalise of La., and others, during a Congressional baseball practice. (Cliff Owen/AP)

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James T. Hodgkinson, who died in a shootout with police Wednesday after wounding Congressman Steve Scalise and four others, apparently had a valid gun license. Whether or not he came by his weapons legally, the tragedy is bound to reopen our gun control debate and the assertion by Second Amendment fundamentalists, contrary to the view of most firearms owners, that gun control is unconstitutional.

They're wrong. I have this on good authority from two expert sources the late Justice Antonin Scalia, and the Founders who wrote the Constitution.

Gun-rights advocates may quote the Second Amendment robotically, but ... they apparently skip over its insistence that any militia be well regulated.

Before his death last year, Scalia was the Supreme Courts conservative brain, devoted to interpreting the founding document with what he saw as the intent of its drafters. Those founding fathersfamously quill-penned the Second Amendment: A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed. So it will pop the bubble wrap in extremists minds to hear that in not allowingrestrictions on firearms, theyve been genuflecting to a myth.

Thats because theyve skated over inconvenient words from both the men who wrote the Constitution and Scalia, their medium.

Start with the latter. Gun control advocates cite his words in District of Columbia v. Heller, which at first blush is odd, since that 2008 case saw the high court uphold an individuals right to bear arms without serving in a state militia. Yet Scalia, writing the majority opinion, declared, Like most rights, the right secured by the Second Amendment is not unlimited, adding that it is not a right to keep and carry any weapon whatsoever in any manner whatsoever and for whatever purpose.

Nothing in our opinion should be taken to cast doubt on legislated conditions and qualifications on the commercial sale of arms, he wrote. Scalia also OKd restrictions in sensitive places such as schools and government buildings and on felons and the mentally ill.

These categories capture the vast majority of gun laws in America, says UCLA constitutional law professor Adam Winkler. In short, theres plenty of room under the Second Amendment for gun control.

Unnerving as those words will be to people who support fewer restrictions, they might suggest Scalia was an apostate from the Founders views. Uh-uh. Gun-rights advocates may quote the Second Amendment robotically, but, Winkler notes, they apparently skip over its insistence that any militia be well regulated.

Early America lived by that modifier, Fordham University historian Saul Cornell says: For instance, starting in the colonial period, states enacted a variety of safe-storage measures to deal with the danger posed by stored gunpowder. A 1786 law went as far as prohibiting the storage of a loaded gun in any building in Boston. Such laws, including early versions of gun registration, Winkler says, were so restrictive that todays NRA leaders would never support them.

Gun advocates will point out that Hodgkinsons rampage was itself stopped by guns, when police killed him-- glossing over the fact, as they gloss over the Second Amendments inconvenient words and history, that no one objects to trained police with guns.

Of course, the Founders permitted any number of things that would make moderns cringe slavery comes to mind so rights advocates are free to argue that the drafters views on guns were wrong. But they can't cloak extremism with phony Second Amendment protections, and anyway, its hard to come up with a defense for such extremism that passes the giggle test, as Scalias writing attests.

Beyond the restrictions permitted by the Heller opinion, judges spanning the ideological spectrum have upheld other gun controls, such as assault weapon bans. Even legal scholars who disagree with these rulings concede there are a lot of them. Its true that in a culture steeped in gun ownership, laws alone will never be enough to end Americas firearms carnage. Other measures that account for the resilience of that culture will be necessary as well.

But as this weeks atrocity recycles our endless gun control debate, its worth remembering a less familiar point. Those who think the Constitution permits unfettered gun possession should read it first.

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Rich Barlow Cognoscenti contributor Rich Barlow writes for BU Today, Boston University's news website.

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Originally posted here:
After Congressional Baseball Shooting, We Need To Talk About Gun Control - WBUR

More than 181,000 people, most so-called economic migrants with little chance of being allowed to stay in Europe, attempted to cross the central Mediterranean last year from Libya, Africas nearest stretch of coast to Italy. About 4,500 died or disappeared.

Hundreds already have taken to the sea this month, braving the winter weather. In the latest reminder of the journeys perils, more than 100 people were missing off Libyas coast over the weekend after a migrant boat sunk.

Some European leaders are warning of a fresh migration crisis when sea waters warm again and more people choose to put their lives in the hands of smugglers.

Come next spring, the number of people crossing over the Mediterranean will reach record levels, Malta Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, whose country holds the European Unions presidency, predicted. The choice is trying to do something now, or meeting urgently in April, May and try to do a deal then.

The 28-nation EU already has a controversial deal to stem the flow of migrants from Turkey, which has agreed to try to stop the number of migrants leaving the country and to take back thousands more in exchange for billions of euros to help Syrian refugees in Turkey, visa-free travel for its citizens and fast-track EU membership talks.

Now, the EU wants to adapt this outsourcing pact to the African nations migrants are leaving or jumping off from to reach Europe, despite criticism that the agreement sends asylum seekers back to countries that could be unsafe for them.

The bottom line is that the Turkey deal works. The number of people arriving in the Greek islands, for instance, plunged over the last year despite political wrangling over whether Turkeys government was respecting the conditions to secure visa-free travel in Europes Schengen area, where passport checks are not required.

And EU nations have even fewer scruples about turning away migrants who take the central Mediterranean route to Italy since they mostly are job seekers who would be ineligible for asylum.

Niger, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Mauritania, Mali and Chad are all on the EUs radar, and dealing with them is proving expensive. But the blocs arrangement with Turkey has shown that the best way of stemming migrant flows is to stop people taking to the sea. Libya and Egypt are the main migrant departure points, and pacts with them would probably have the biggest immediate impact.

Muscat wants to build on a deal Italy is trying to reach with Libya by adding EU funds and other support. He also thinks the EUs anti-smuggler naval mission, Operation Sophia, should be extended into Libyan territorial waters to stop people in unsafe boats from reaching open waters.

Easier said than done. The EU has been unable to secure United Nations backing for such a move, and Libya has no central authority with the reach or stability to negotiate a long-term agreement with the Europeans.

The reality of Libya right now is that there is no unified government controlling all parts of the country, and no end of groups willing to upend things if there is an advantage in it for them, Carlo Binda, a Libya expert with Malta-based political and development advisers, Binda Consulting International.

Libyas neighbor Egypt appears a more viable option. Many people have set out from the country bound for Europe in recent months, mainly migrants from the Horn of Africa trying to avoid dangerous Libya and increasingly Egyptians themselves, according to the EUs border agency Frontex.

Despite some instability, President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, a former general who led the 2013 military removal of an elected Islamist president, is a man with whom the Europeans feel they can do business. Sissi also wields plenty of influence in Libya.

Egypts economy has been battered by unrest since the 2011 uprising that toppled longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak. If there is one thing the worlds biggest trading bloc does well, it is raise funds to pay for its problems.

Egypt is the country with which one could come to some sort of agreement, Maltese Foreign Minister George Vella said. There is stability to a certain extent, and they are interested because even they themselves have got their own problem with migration.

Time is of the essence. The EU has for several years tried to cobble together migration polices while people were dying at sea.

The refugee emergency Europes worst since World War II also has raised tensions among EU member countries. Some countries have erected anti-migrant fences or reintroduced border controls amid deep disagreement over how to manage the challenge.

Things are getting complicated. I would rather face the music now, Muscat said.

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Crisis Warnings Sound as EU Gears Up For New Migrant Wave