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Its really about Obama versus Bush, and Biden versus Trump, not the other way around, Mr. Emanuel said. We built long-lasting, robust economic growth. And I think comparing one to the other is, is historically not accurate. And also, more importantly, its strategically not advantageous.

David Axelrod, who served as a chief strategist to Mr. Obama, said he believed the current criticism was born of a desire to avoid a midterm shellacking similar to the one Democrats suffered in 2010.

It is irksome only in the sense that it was an entirely different situation, Mr. Axelrod said. If the Obama economic record were deficient, Im pretty sure Joe Biden wouldnt have run on it.

In many ways, the maneuvering is a stand-in for larger tensions within the party. Mr. Obamas close-knit circle is keenly devoted to protecting his policy legacy. A growing left wing wants more investments in health care and combating climate change, and a break from hard-line policy on immigration. Mr. Bidens administration is seeking to chart its own path.

In a recent address to House Democrats, Mr. Biden argued that it was Mr. Obamas humility that cost Democrats at the time, because the president didnt spend enough time explaining the benefits of his stimulus package to the American people.

Barack was so modest, he didnt want to take, as he said, a victory lap, Mr. Biden said. I kept saying, Tell people what we did. He said, We dont have time, Im not going to take a victory lap, and we paid a price for it, ironically, for that humility.

Excerpt from:
Democrats, Pushing Stimulus, Admit to Regrets on Obamas 2009 Response - The New York Times

Many Americans probably dont know exactly what terms such as anti-racism, cancel culture, racial equity, white privilege and systemic racism mean. And its likely even fewer could explain such concepts as woke ideology, critical race theory or intersectionality.

But these terms are now regularly invoked by activists, pundits and even some elected officials. Why? Largely because of two separate but related trends in American culture and politics. First, American institutions and voters, particularly on the left who have become more attuned and liberal on racial issues amid the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement and increased attention on police killings of African Americans are now making a similar shift on other issues invoking equality and identity. That leftward shift is resulting in new initiatives and policies from corporations, local and state governments and, with President Biden in office, the federal government too. Many of these policies emanated from concepts like anti-racism and systemic racism that originated in academic or activist circles.

Second, many conservatives and Republican officials are now regularly invoking the term woke as an all-encompassing term for liberal ideas they dont like, particularly ones that have emerged recently, and warning that conservatives who object to these ideas are increasingly being canceled.

So its worth unpacking this new language and explaining what policies and values are behind them. This piece will focus on the political left and one later in the week on the right.

Ideas on the left that are ascendant

Here are 10 views, based on polls and public discourse, that are increasingly influential on the left. This is an informal list, but I think it captures some real sentiments on the left and ideas that people on the right are criticizing when they invoke the term woke:

These views are now expressed regularly by left-leaning people and Democrats particularly those who use Twitter, are involved in the Black Lives Matter movement and are under age 40. Books such as Ibram X. Kendis How to Be an Antiracist and Isabel Wilkersons Caste have become bestsellers because they appeal to people with these views and are likely pushing those who read them even further in this direction.

Perhaps most important, these views are powerfully shaping public discourse and policy. Examples include American news outlets describing the treatment by the British monarchy and press of Meghan Markle as part of a deeper structure of racism, with her husband, Prince Harry, portrayed as beginning to fully understand his own white privilege. There is also Goldman Sachs recent announcement of a $10 billion initiative to boost Black women specifically. And it is an increasingly mainstream and uncontroversial idea that America is behind other developed nations by many metrics, such as infrastructure.

The Biden administration has issued an executive order that describes ensuring racial equity and fighting systemic racism as one of its key goals, embraced a federal commission to study reparations and dramatically overhauled ICEs approach. It also enacted a $1.9 trillion economic stimulus package that reflects the concerns of Sen. Bernie Sanders and other liberal Democrats that capitalism as it currently operates in the U.S. isnt working for many Americans. Cities across the country are reducing spending on policing or reallocating police funds to other services. Cities and universities are instituting programs to make up for past discrimination of Black people.

What most stands out to me about the American Rescue Plan is that it points to the ascendancy of certain ideas in the national discussion and the fading of others, progressive author Anand Giridharadas wrote recently. He noted that the newly passed stimulus proposal focuses on the poor (so not just the middle class), gives direct cash benefits to most Americans and reflects little concern about increasing the national debt, three shifts from the Democratic Partys approach during the Clinton and Obama presidencies.

Where these views came from and why theyre ascendant

On the left, we are now seeing the culmination of a number of movements and events that happened over the last decade: Occupy Wall Street, Black Lives Matter, Sanderss 2016 campaign, Donald Trumps election, Trumps presidency, the emergence of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and The Squad, Sen. Elizabeth Warrens and Sanderss 2020 campaigns, and the protests after George Floyds death during a police arrest. These events and movements built on one another. For example, it is likely the protests over Floyds death were so large, in part, because many of the people attending them had become more passionate about fighting racism in America because of Trumps presidency (more on this in a moment). Ocasio-Cortez worked on Sanderss 2016 campaign and then was a key endorser of his 2020 run.

The result has been a big shift in public opinion on the left many of the views I noted above were held by few people and even fewer major public figures like politicians as recently as five years ago. These views go beyond the increased number of Americans who said they are more aware of the racial discrimination that Black Americans face after the rise of Black Lives Matter and Trumps election. In some cases, these views were once so out of the mainstream that we cant find much pre-2020 polling on them.

Share of Democratic voters that support each position according to polling

Pre-2016 refers to polling conducted before the 2016 presidential election. Most of these surveys were conducted in 2015-16, but in a few cases, the survey data is from earlier. For example, the cash reparations number is from 2002. We tried to use data from the same pollster, to reflect changes in the results that were not due to questions being phrased differently. Positions with no previous response is the result of a pollster not asking the question pre-2016. That finding suggests an issue is new to the political discourse. For example, Gallups non-polling on the reparations issue from 2002-19 was telling.

Sources: Pew Research Center, PRRI, Gallup, YouGov

The woke trend has impacted the polling field not only in what types of policy questions we ask, but in how we think about core constructs of survey demographics like race and gender, said Natalie Jackson, director of research at PRRI, a nonpartisan organization that focuses on public opinion about questions on cultural and demographic issues.

Such a shift, as you would expect, has a number of causes. First, it is likely the Trump presidency accelerated support for these views, because of his controversial actions and statements on issues of identity and race in particular and the general trend of thermostatic public opinion opinions tend to move against the positions of the incumbent president.

Second, the COVID-19 pandemic validated some of the views I listed above and pushed many Democrats, including President Biden, to support more aggressive policy solutions than they had before. The disproportionate number of Black, Native and Latino Americans who have died of COVID-19 no doubt contributed to Biden putting racial equity at the center of his agenda.

Third, many of these views are evidence-based rooted in a lot of data, history and research. For example, the evidence is strong that Black people are behind white people economically in America today in part because of the lingering effects of slavery and Jim Crow-era policies.

A big part of this is white people learning the things they didnt teach us in U.S. history classes the reality of Reconstruction; the casual, celebratory nature of lynchings; the effectiveness of white terrorism against Black successes, said Lilliana Mason, a government professor at the University of Maryland, College Park who has written extensively about partisan divides in American politics.

We were not taught any of these things, on purpose I assume, she added.

Fourth, many of these views are hard to forcefully disagree with in public. Some of them have a very strong moral force. For example, its likely that people who are transgender will gain more rights in the next few years and decades in the same way that gay and lesbian people did it is easy to make a case in public that people should be treated well no matter their gender or sexual identity and kind of uncomfortable to make the opposite case without sounding prejudiced and mean. Many of these emerging views are about issues of gender, race and sexual identity, so those who are wary of them (particularly cisgender, heterosexual white men) sometimes dont feel comfortable directly stating their objections, leading to more vague criticisms (like saying these ideas are too woke.) But it is hard to blunt growing support for an idea if you arent directly stating your objection to it.

Many of these ideas still arent likely to be enacted anytime soon

At the same time, many of the 10 views I listed above are opposed by a majority of the public, with even a sizable number of Democrats in opposition. This is not surprising. Movements and ideas that challenge the status quo are often unpopular at first. Some of them eventually become popular (gay marriage, for example), some remain unpopular but influence policy nonetheless (the abolition of ICE) and still others remain unpopular and are eventually abandoned (extensive busing programs for school integration).

As long as those poll numbers remain low, its hard to imagine Biden, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer or most Democratic mayors and governors will push many of the ideas forward in their purest form or even strongly support them rhetorically. (And those Democratic leaders, who tend to be more centrist than the partys activist wing, may oppose some of these ideas on the substance too.) So on reparations, Biden is officially supportive of a commission, but its clear that he and congressional Democrats are aware of the unpopularity of reparations and unlikely to push even the commission too hard. In terms of ICE, it seems like Biden will overhaul the agency but never abolish it nor invoke that language. It is unlikely Biden will give a speech suggesting that America is not an exceptional nation or that billionaires should not exist.

So dont expect most Black Americans to get cash reparations or for ICE or any big-city police department to be disbanded anytime soon.

Instead, over the next few years, we are likely to see Biden and other Democrats in elective office carefully negotiate with more left-wing people in his party. They will push Biden publicly and privately on policy, he will push back publicly and privately and its likely that policy will land somewhere between what would have been the Democratic mainstream five to 10 years ago and the lefts demands today.

Early in Warrens presidential campaign, in 2019, I suggested the Massachusetts senator would likely lose the primary but that her ideas and framing of policy might still end up shaping the Democratic Party. I think that dynamic has not only happened in the Democratic Party, but in a lot of other institutions in America: People like Warren, Sanders, Ocasio-Cortez and Kendi arent in charge, but those in charge are implementing some of their language and ideas.

This could change perhaps public opinion shifts right with Biden in office or there is a backlash as some of these ideas are implemented. But for now, the woke are winning.

See the original post here:
The Ideas That Are Reshaping The Democratic Party And America - FiveThirtyEight

In a recent webinar, IBM has summarized the latest advances in cryptographic technologies the company has been working on, including confidential cryptography, quantum-safe encryption, and fully homomorphic cryptography.

According to Gosia Steinder, IBM Hybrid Cloud Research CTO, each of those technologies is solving a different piece of the security equation.

Confidential computing is IBM moniker for security enclave-based cryptography in the Cloud:

Confidential computing provides hardware-level privacy assurance by encrypting data within a secure enclave that not even the cloud provider can view or access.

This enables users to run workloads in the cloud or on-premises with the maximum privacy and control even when they don't own the infrastructure they are using, says Hillery Hunter, IBM VP and CTO of IBM Cloud.

Confidential computing is not only relevant to guarantee data privacy on the Cloud but also to ensure data integrity and to prevent anyone from tampering with the data, says Samuel Brack, CTO of open-source financial platform DIA. The alternative to using confidential cryptography would be a decentralized approach with increased costs and reduced performance, he adds.

Looking at the future, quantum computing is known to pose a serious challenge to cryptography, says IBM cryptography researcher Vadim Lyubashevsky. As he explains, some of today's cryptography is based on factoring, a problem which is considered hard on classical computers but quantum computers can effectively solve. For example, says Lyubashevsky, a prime integer with a thousand digits could require billions of years to be factored on classical hardware, while a quantum computer could in a couple of hours.

A particularly worrisome dimension of this is highlighted by Dustin Moody, mathematician at NIST, who is working at defining standards for post-quantum cryptography. Indeed, while quantum hardware is not yet there, the mere possibility of its existence means encrypted data is potentially under a threat of attack now. In fact, somebody could take hold of that data and wait for quantum hardware to be available to decrypt it. As a consequence of this, he says, you may not be protecting your data for the amount of time you hope you do.

As Moody recounts, NIST is running an open process to select the best crypto systems, based on security and performance. Currently there are seven encryption schemes that advanced to round 2 in the selection process, out of 69 initial competitors. The expectation is to be able to have a draft standard for the first quantum resistant algorithms at the beginning of 2022, with the prospect of completing its standardization by 2024 after a process of public comment.

Transition will not be easy, though, says Moody:

We're dealing with algorithms that are a lot more complex in terms of the math they use and some of the characteristics that they have they also have things like larger key sizes so we as much as possible we're trying to prepare as much as we can and encourage others to do so.

Four of the quantum-safe algorithms that made it to phase 2 were initially proposed by IBM, highlights Lyubashevsky, and they are available through the open source Cryptographic suite for algebraic lattices (CRYSTALS).

These schemes derive their security from the fact that they are based on the presumed algorithmic hardness of something called lattice problems.

In other words, counter to integer factoring, lattice problems are thought to be hard even for quantum computers. To understand what lattice problems look like, Lyubashevsky suggests a simple example. Say you have a public list of six numbers. You pick three of them and then calculate their sum. The problem consists in finding which three numbers you chose from their sum. When you deal with thousands of thousand-digit numbers, it seems this problem would be hard for quantum computers. Lattice problems are just one possible approach to post-quantum cryptography.

As mentioned, IBM is providing an implementation for CRYSTALS, which makes it possible to carry through experiments to assess their performance.

We've noticed that the efficiency of the schemes is such that the end user won't notice any difference. In fact, sometimes the new scheme is even faster. So, the quantum threat is not an existential one for cryptography. We will have security.

According to Lyubashevsky, there is no reason to wait further before switching to lattice cryptography using CRYSTALS. The critical point would be not to hard-code the scheme you use but make it replaceable as a black box. In this way, you are prepared for when standardized quantum-safe schemes become eventually available.

The final front on which IBM is working regarding cryptography is fully homomorphic encryption, which brings the promise of enabling computing data while in its encrypted form. This makes away with the need to decrypt the data before processing it, which leaves it in a vulnerable and exposed state.

IBM FHE has made great advances from its inception to the initial implementation in 2011, which was painfully slow, to 2015, when it became possible to compare two fully encrypted genomes with FHE in less than an hour. FHE is today ready to be used by any companies, from small to large, says IBM.

Eric Maass, Strategy and emerging technology director at IBM, explains that FHE is made possible by some of the same lattice encryption techniques and mathematics used in CRYSTALS.

Adopting FHE in a more widespread manner has been historically complex not just in terms of the calculations that are performed on the data. It also requires a lot of computing power and the skills and learning curve have typically been very steep.

While confidential cryptography is a rather mature technology, homomorphic encryption and post-quantum cryptography are research fields that still attract lots of efforts. IBM is not the only company investing on homomorphic encryption. Microsoft, for instance, released SEAL (Simple Encrypted Arithmetic Library), and Google recently unveiled its Private Join and Compute tool. Similarly, a number of efforts towards quantum-safe computing are ongoing at several other companies, including Google, which selected NewHope, Microsoft, with PICNIC, and others.

Continue reading here:
The Pillars of Future Cryptography at IBM - InfoQ.com

Rocks in the Sahara desert, Libya.

Libya is a predominantly Islamic nation located in northern Africa. It is surrounded by six countries namely Tunisia, Algeria, Sudan, Chad, Egypt, and Niger. The states capital, as well as the largest city, is Tripoli. Libya has a population of approximately 7.2 million. Acclaimed as the 4th largest country in Africa by land area, Libya possesses many unique features as outlined below;

The first and last monarch of Libya was known as King Idris I. He was both a political and religious leader who was born into the order of Senussi. King Idris I served as the Emir of Cyrenaica before his becoming the King of Libya in 1951 at the end of colonial rule. The kings rule was unpopular because of his conservativism. In 1969, King Idris I was deposed in a coup dtat led by Colonel Gaddafi who later succeeded him.

The discovery of oil in Libya in the 1950s was a great turnaround for the country which had previously been ranked among the poorest in the world. As of 2010, the countrys annual oil production was 1.65 million barrels per day. Today, oil and petroleum products for the largest portion of the countrys exports and government revenue. Besides, it is among the 15 most thriving economies in Africa alongside South Africa, Nigeria, Algeria, Egypt, and Cameroon among others. Nonetheless, the unstable political environment of the country in the recent past led to fluctuations in its oil price globally.

Today, Christianity is a minority religion in Libya. However, the country possesses strong Christian roots. Examples of two important biblical characters linked to Libya are Simon the Cyrene and St. Mark. Simon who was forced to help Jesus Christ carry his cross was from Cyrene City. Cyrene was a Libyan town that existed hundreds of years ago. On the other hand, St. Mark who wrote the gospel of Mark founded the Church of Alexandria in Egypt in 49 AD. This church birthed many of the Eastern Orthodox churches, Coptic Church, and Greek Orthodox Church which exist in Libya.

Fezzan was the southwestern part of Libya, Cyrenaica occupied the eastern half of the country, and Tripolitania covered the northwestern parts of Libya. Today, the country is divided into three administrative regions that have been sub-divided into 22 districts (calledshabiyat).

The Libyan Desert comprises the eastern and northern parts of the Sahara Desert. Ideally, it is the part of the Sahara Desert found in the state of Libya. The Libyan Desert is known for being the harshest, driest, and most remote region of the Sahara. With day temperatures of up to 50 degrees Celsius, this region may go for decades without rain.

Libya imports most of the food consumed by its people due to its inability to locally produce the same. The country is located within the extensive Sahara desert which means it receives very low precipitation. It also possesses poor soil and climate which are both limitations to food production. A major attempt made by former Libyan President Gaddafi to reverse the situation was the financing of the Great Manmade River Project that was built for irrigation of the farming lands. This project turned out to be the worlds largest irrigation project. It comprises of 1750 miles of an underground network of water pipes. Nonetheless, Libya still depends on imported food for the survival of its people.

Mostly prepared by women, the Libyan tea is very thick as a result of mixing a lot of tea leaves and a high sugar concentration. Once the two ingredients are mixed and an appropriate amount of water is added, the tea boils for 20 to 30 minutes. When the tea is ready, it is served in small pyrex glasses accompanied bysumakandkhobzawhich are Libyan favorite bites.

Bette Peak is the highest mountain in Libya being 7,434 feet tall. Also known as Bikku Bitti, the mountain is found in southern Libya at the Chad-Libyan border. The first documented climb of the Bette Peak was by Ginge Fullen alongside his Chadian guides in December 2005. Nonetheless, the mountains location makes access to it difficult and rare.

Cyrene, present-day Shahhat, is a city in Libya that was part of the Greek empire that existed hundreds of years ago. It was one of the most important Greek cities as it was the center of philosophy education. As one of the oldest towns in the country, Cyrene is listed among the UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

Muammar Gaddafi seized power in 1969 and ruled Libya for 42 years. As a result, he became one of the longest-serving African and world national heads of state. Gaddafi was famously known for being a dictatorial leader. However, he also served his country well by improving its health services to the level of being among the best in Africa. He also increased Libyas rate of literacy from only 25% before his reign to 87%. His reign ended in 2011 when he was toppled from the government. The militia tracked him down in his hometown where he had sought refuge and assassinated him. At the time of Gaddafis death, his net worth was US$ 200 billion.

Read this article:
10 Interesting Facts About Libya - WorldAtlas

21/03/2021 HR/VP Blog - It has been one year since the launch of the EUs naval Operation IRINI. On 18 and 19 March, I visited IRINIs Headquarters in Rome, the air base Sigonella and one of our four ships currently at sea - the FGS Berlin. My visit comes at a critical juncture for Libya and the international efforts to support the search for peace: we are beginning to see a more hopeful phase.

I have said before that the Libyan conflict had become a theatre of proxy wars, right on the EUs doorstep. As EU we should do whatever we can to help bring an end to the fighting and support a genuine political settlement, even if we know how difficult this will be.

After 10 years of conflict in Libya, the country and its people have a new chance: a ceasefire agreement is in place, a political process is under way, elections are scheduled for the end of the year, and an interim government was just sworn in. I am proud that the European Union has been able to contribute to these positive developments, including through Operation IRINI.

At the Operations Headquarters in Rome, I had the opportunity to see how the Operation monitors and tracks ships and airplanes suspected of violating the UN arms embargo and coordinates action at sea. In Rome, I also met with Foreign Minister Di Maio and Minister of Defence Guerini, whom I thanked for Italys contribution to one of the most significant European operational engagement at our doorstep. We had the occasion to discuss also other important issues that are on the agenda at the moment.

At the Sigonella Air Base and on board of one of the four ships currently deployed in the central Mediterranean, FGS Berlin, I paid tribute to the hard work done by all the women and men serving this Operation. While on board of the German ship, the FSG Berlin, I also spoke with the Minister Kramp-Karrenbauer and expressed my gratitude for Germanys contribution to the Operation and more broadly to the peace process in Libya.

"Naval assets from France, Italy, Greece and Germany; a Lithuanian boarding team serving on a German ship; a Luxemburg plane next to a Polish one; staff of six different nationalities working together in the same room of the Joint Operation Centre: this is European defence in action. "

At the same time, with 24 Members States contributing to the operation, Operation IRINI is a truly European endeavor. Naval assets from France, Italy, Greece and Germany; a Lithuanian boarding team serving on a German ship; a Luxemburg plane next to a Polish one; staff of six different nationalities working together in the same room of the Joint Operation Centre: this is European defence in action.

Implementing the arms embargo on Libya

Let me recall how the EU came to launch IRINI. In January 2020, at the Berlin Conference on Libya, the implementation of the UN arms embargo was recognised as a priority. As long as weapons are flowing into Libya, it is difficult to build sustainable peace. The EU took the decision to act. It was not an easy process. Some feared the so-called pull factor for migrants, which in fact never materialised. It took some time to explain, convince and reassure. Reaching unanimity often is hard, but we managed. Together with member states, we carried out all the necessary planning in just six weeks, and the EU was able to launch Operation IRINI on 31 March 2020.

"IRINIs ships, planes and unmanned aircrafts have patrolled the Central Mediterranean, conducting more than 2,300 hailing, close to 100 friendly approaches, and 9 inspections."

Throughout last year, IRINIs ships, planes and unmanned aircrafts have patrolled the Central Mediterranean, conducting more than 2,300 hailing, close to 100 friendly approaches, and 9 inspections. IRINI also seized one illegal cargo and prevented an illegal export of fuel.

With IRINI, we also contribute more broadly to maritime security in an area of strategic interest for Europe. This is what we do also with Operation Atalanta off the coast of Somalia or in the Gulf of Guinea with the new Coordinated Maritime Presences. As the maritime domain is becoming an arena for greater geopolitical competition, our engagement at sea is important for the security of Europe and our citizens.

IRINI monitors violations of the UN arms embargo on Libya occurring at sea but also on land and by air. During the past year alone, it tracked 16 Libyan ports and oil facilities, 25 airports and landing strips and close to 200 flights suspected of carrying military related cargos to and from Libya. For that purpose, IRINI can also rely on the information provided by the European Union Satellite Centre (EU SATCEN), thus demonstrating the importance of this capability to European security.

Operation IRINI is sharing this crucial information with the United Nations. So far, IRINI has sent more than 20 classified reports to the UN Panel of Experts on violations of the UN arms embargo. However and despite all our efforts, the latest UN Panel of Experts report issued just this week concluded that this embargo is totally ineffective. We know that, unfortunately. This is fully consistent with our own assessment and confirms the need for an Operation like IRINI. The report also acknowledges the good cooperation with Operation IRINI, the only actor implementing the arms embargo and serving at the same time as a deterrent. So we have to step up and broaden our efforts.

It is worth recalling that IRINI can only inspect suspect vessels in accordance with UN Security Council resolutions and the International Law of the Sea. It cannot intervene on-shore, nor intercept planes. But we do know exactly what the spoilers are doing because IRINI is watching them. It is now up to the Security Council to take action in the light of this report. It is crucial that all UN member states abide by their obligations to implement the arms embargo and that all flag States comply with the Security Councils call to cooperate with inspections.

Operation IRINIs mandate is set to be renewed for a further two years. We will continue to monitor suspect vessels, regardless of their provenance. In accordance with relevant UN Security Council resolutions, we will conduct inspections with the highest degree of professionalism.

Libya today is more stable than before but it isnt yet at peace. There is a window of opportunity for Libya, which must be seized. As EU, we are ready to do more to help end the conflict and further support the UN-led peace process.

Continued here:
Operation IRINI and the search for peace in Libya - Libya - ReliefWeb