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Im one of the most fervent supporters of the First Amendment that you can find. I love that we Americans have a right to think, speak, and practice the way that we feel we want to. As I continue to travel to different countries, I repeatedly kiss the founding fathers in my mind for giving us the freedoms to be individuals as opposed to living in a country that is of one belief system.

That being said, I think people are losing the idea of what the First Amendment particularly, freedom of speech actually means.

According to Dictionary.com, freedom of speech is defined as the right of people to express their opinions publicly withoutgovernmental interference, subject to the laws against libel, incitementto violence or rebellion, etc.In more digestibleterms, this means that you, as a free American, can say things like, I hate my president, or, Hillary Clinton should be jailed, or, all politicians are morons who benefit from the money and ignorance of the middle class without the government coming after you. How great is that? We are allowed to freely criticize our own government. I know many of us do this on the regular; I am no silent critic of Trump in my daily life, and I definitely wasnt a silent critic of Obama either. I also am not a silent praiser when they do something worthy or praise. Either way, I can say whats on my mind about our political institutions without fear of being jailed, tortured, or killed. You can too.

Heres what freedom of speech does not mean. It does not mean that people cannot question or call you on your thoughts. If you stand in the street and say that you love Donald Trump, someone has the right to challenge you on that. They have the right to call you an idiot. Is it mean? Absolutely. Is it ridiculous that we live in such a society where insults are our main form of debate? One hundred percent, friends. But its the truth. Freedom of speech means that you, and anyone else, can challenge someone on their thoughts. It can get dicey. While you are allowed to express your thoughts, other people can express their thoughts too. Whether you disagree with them or not, they hold the same rights you do.

Nothing makes me more annoyed than when someone on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or any other social media site gets behind their keyboard, types something, and then when the heat gets high, they use, but my freedom of speech.. They say that because they have the right to free speech, they should not be challenged. That is NOT what freedom of speech is. Freedom of speech simply means that Trump, Obama, Bush, or any future president that we have cannot throw you in jail or make you disappear forever because you said something hostile against the state. Freedom of speech prevents a situation like that of North Korea or China, where people are held for speaking badly of their leaders. It is not a card for you to spew your opinions without repercussions. It is not a right for you to say whatever you feel like in your daily life to other people and not be corrected. Sure, you wont be thrown in jail, but I can guarantee youll either annoy someone or youll be embarrassed when they correct you and/or tell you where to shove your rude words.

The biggest thing to remember? We are human beings. Opinions are not right and/or wrong. I could be very wrong in a lot of the things Ive written in my life. My opinions could be based on fallacies, I could be seeking information from the wrong places. Heck, I might even have opinions that are based on prejudices that I dont even see. You might be in the same boat. Life is a learning experience. Like anything in life, your words and opinions develop with you as you grow, mature, and learn. You will never stop learning or at least, I hope you never stop learning. Theres too much knowledge out there for you to know everything before death.

So the next time you see someone trying to play but my freedom of speech, or even worse, you play that game; try to remember what freedom of speech was originally made for. Originally, America was under a monarch. We created these rights so we could give ourselves the freedom we didnt have under British rule. Its fine to have opinions. Its fine to voice them. Just please remember that people can challenge you. You have the right to defend yourself too. But discourse (polite discourse, of course) and debate are what we are made of. A single, concrete mindset is the exact thing we do not want as Americans.

With free speech comes a ton of responsibility.

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But the First Amendment. - Albany Times Union (blog)

Updated 19 hours ago

Ron Barber had a passion for justice, a calm demeanor and a sharp intellect a combination that served him and his clients well as he successfully argued in Pennsylvania courts for the First Amendment rights of the media and individual civil liberties.

Ron was the most gentle trial lawyer I have ever seen, said fellow partner David Strassburger, who worked with Mr. Barber on many cases at the Pittsburgh law firm of Strassburger McKenna Gutnick & Gefsky. There was no fire and brimstone in him at all. His passion came through with his intellect and the words that he chose rather than the volume that he spoke them at.

Being honest about what he was saying resonated with every judge and jury he stood before.

Ronald D. Barber, 56, of Sewickley died Thursday, July 6, 2017, at West Penn Hospital in Pittsburgh of complications from prostate cancer.

Born in Fort Lewis, Wash., on Aug. 12, 1960, he was the son of Mary Barber of Sewickley and the late Alan Barber.

Mr. Barber graduated from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law in 1988 after completing undergraduate studies at Pitt in politics and philosophy with magna cum laude honors.

He began at the Pittsburgh law firm as an associate attorney and became a partner in 2003. His career at the firm bookended a period between 1994 and 2000 when he pursued another passion teaching and served as the permanent law clerk for Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Ronald Folino.

Known for mentoring younger attorneys, Mr. Barber was an adjunct faculty member at Pitt, teaching courses on ethics, public policy and mass media.

He was a pro bono legal adviser for the university's student newspaper, The Pitt News, where he'd served as an editor while a student.

Strassburger said Mr. Barber obtained a ruling from the state Supreme Court that settlement agreements resolving claims against public agencies in this case, a civil rights suit filed against the Westmoreland County Housing Authority should be made public, even if paid with insurance money.

He successfully argued so many of those types of issues that did not result in a lot of notoriety but served to educate the bench and others about the importance of open government, Strassburger said.

He was a member of the legal committee of the Pittsburgh chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union.

If he saw there was a wrong that needed righted, that's what he saw as a good case, said his wife and fellow attorney, Jean Novak. He was always doing the right thing, whether or not it benefited him.

During his two-year battle with cancer, Mr. Barber participated in a trial treatment in the hope, even if it couldn't help him, it would help other people in the future, she said.

When not working on cases, Mr. Barber enjoyed hiking at Cook Forest and playing chess.

A former longtime president of the Pittsburgh Chess Club, he often visited prison inmates to teach them the game.

He thought chess was a great equalizer, and he was devoted to doing what he could to promote the game to everyone, his wife said.

There will be no viewing for Mr. Barber. A memorial service is planned for later in the summer.

In addition to his wife and mother, Mr. Barber is survived by two children, Zachary and Alexandra Barber, both of Squirrel Hill.

Memorial donations were suggested to the Look Good Feel Better Foundation, 1620 L Street NW, 12th Floor, Washington, D.C. 20036, or to Animal Friends, 562 Camp Horne Road, Pittsburgh, PA 15237.

Jeff Himler is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at 724-836-6622, jhimler@tribweb.com or via Twitter @jhimler_news.

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Pittsburgh attorney fought hard for First Amendment rights, individual civil liberties - Tribune-Review

Photo: BRETT CARLSEN, NYT

Waymo dropped several patent claims against Uber on Friday, but the two companies are still involved in a bitter lawsuit.

Waymo dropped several patent claims against Uber on Friday, but the two companies are still involved in a bitter lawsuit.

Waymo scales back claims against Uber in driverless car dispute

Waymo, the autonomous vehicle business that operates under Googles parent company, dropped several patent claims against Uber on Friday, pulling back some of its major allegations in a bitter lawsuit over driverless technology.

In a federal court filing, Waymo said it was dropping three of its four claims over Uber violating its patents related to light detection and ranging sensor technology, or lidar. Lidar is a vital component in driverless car technology, helping the vehicle detect its surroundings to navigate roads.

The case, an acrimonious battle between Waymo and Uber, spotlights the arms race surrounding autonomous vehicle talent and technology. It is especially significant for the Google unit now Waymo that spent years working on driverless car technology before other tech companies took an interest. But as Waymo searches for a way to make money from self-driving cars, many of its best engineers have left for potential competitors, carrying valuable knowledge of its technology with them.

The case with Uber, the ride-hailing company, began when Waymo filed suit in February, claiming Uber was using intellectual property stolen by one of Googles former project leaders in its driverless vehicles. That set off months of wrangling, eventually leading Uber to fire the former Google project leader, Anthony Levandowski. The case is scheduled for trial in October, with the thrust of it centered on Uber misappropriating Waymos trade secrets.

Waymos dropping of three patent claims against Uber weakens its original argument for bringing the suit. Still, each side called the latest legal move a victory.

Waymo said it agreed to scale back its patent claims because Uber had halted work on a lidar design that violated Waymos patents and is proceeding with a different design. Waymo is permitted to reassert its claims if Uber returns to the design that Waymo challenged. The company said Ubers current lidar design still violates one of its original patents.

We continue to pursue a patent claim against Ubers current generation device and our trade secret claims, which are not at all affected by this stipulated dismissal, Waymo said. We look forward to trial.

Uber said the dropping of the three claims was yet another sign of Waymo overreaching and not delivering on its claims.

Last month, Waymo received a signal from federal court that the patent claims were not its strongest legal argument in the case. Judge William Alsup of U.S. District Court in San Francisco, who is overseeing the case, urged the companys lawyers at a hearing June 7 to drop the patent claims because youre going to lose on all these patent claims unless you pull some rabbit out of a hat.

Uber, meanwhile, has been trying to distance itself from the actions of Levandowski, who joined Uber last year.

Waymo has said that Levandowski worked with Uber to steal proprietary information from Google before joining Uber. Waymo said Uber was aware that Levandowski had stolen files.

Uber said it expressly told Levandowski not to bring any stolen documents to the company or apply any of Waymos intellectual property to Ubers autonomous vehicle efforts. The company said Waymos lawyers have not found the stolen documents in Ubers possession, despite extensive discovery.

The matter has been complicated by Levandowski asserting his Fifth Amendment right to avoid self-incrimination. Uber said it urged him to cooperate with Waymos lawyers and fired him when he continued to refuse.

In a separate filing Friday, Uber said Levandowski, before invoking his Fifth Amendment right, told Travis Kalanick, then Ubers CEO, that he had downloaded the documents from Google because he was worried that he might not receive full payment of a $120 million bonus owed to him. Uber said this indicated that his actions were unrelated to his work at Uber.

Daisuke Wakabayashi is a New York Times writer.

Original post:
Waymo scales back claims against Uber in driverless car dispute - SFGate

ISTANBUL President Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday Turkey would not watch passively as weapons are sent to Kurdish fighters on its southern border, saying his country would respond to any threats to national security.

The United States has been arming Kurdish YPG fighters taking part in the battle to recapture the Syrian city of Raqqa from Islamic State, angering its NATO ally Turkey. Ankara views the YPG as an extension of the Kurdish PKK group that has waged a long insurgency in southeast Turkey.

Turkey, Washington and the European Union have all designated the PKK as a terrorist organization.

"We will definitely not remain silent and unresponsive to the support and arming of terror organizations next to our borders and the forming of terror islands in the region," Hurriyet Daily News website quoted Erdogan as saying.

"We will not hesitate to use our right to self defense against formations threatening the security of our country," Erdogan told a news conference at the G20 summit in Hamburg, according to the web site.

Erdogan expressed Turkey's alarm at the U.S. decision to arm the YPG at a White House meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump in May. The two men also met at the G20 summit.

Syrian rebels said on Friday they were preparing to join the Turkish military in a major new offensive against Kurdish forces in northwestern Syria, raising the prospect of yet another front in an increasingly complex conflict.

Turkish officials have not commented on any military preparations in northern Syria. Turkish troops launched an incursion across the border last August in support of Syrian rebel fighters, targeting both Islamic State and the YPG.

(Reporting by Dominic Evans; Editing by Helen Popper)

HAMBURG President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday he thought his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump had been satisfied with his assertions that Russia had not meddled in the U.S. presidential election.

Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto on Saturday said that the U.S.-Mexico relationship cannot be defined by "murmurs," the day after U.S. President Donald Trump said Mexico would "absolutely" pay for his proposed southern border wall.

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Erdogan says Turkey will respond to any threats on its border - Reuters

Hamburg - German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Saturday that "deep differences" remained between her and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, after they met on the sidelines of the G20 summit.

She stressed however that Erdogan had engaged in the talks and that the gathering "honoured" Turkey's role in managing the migrant crisis driven by Syria's civil war and other conflicts.

Turkey's sweeping arrests of alleged state enemies after last year's coup attempt and a dispute about a Nato base "are developments which I of course raised that show deep differences," Merkel said.

"And we didn't sweep those under the table".

Berlin-Ankara relations have been fraught, deteriorating sharply over Turkey's mass crackdown after the failed putsch against Erdogan last year and a host of other civil rights controversies.

Another dispute is about Deniz Yucel, a German-Turkish journalist with the newspaper Die Welt who was imprisoned by Turkey on terror charges earlier this year.

And last month Germany decided to withdraw its troops who support the fight against the Islamic State group in Syria from Nato partner Turkey's Incirlik base and move them to Jordan after German lawmakers were prohibited from visiting the base.

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Merkel says 'deep differences' remain with Erdogan - News24