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Author Topic: News and Current Events - 2013 to 2014  (Read 769712 times)

Offline Lyle (Mooska)

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Re: News and Current Events - 2013 to 2014
« Reply #60 on: August 02, 2013, 02:29:28 PM »
I didn't say there wasn't a reason to be out driving at 4:30am, just that it should
be a clue into what he was doing, but I guess my point is being lost.
Okay, there are millions of people driving around L.A. at 4:30 in the morning.
And we should celebrate Christmas in July because then the stores aren't so crowded.
And it's warmer in the country than it is in the summer.

Offline Jeff Wrangler

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Re: News and Current Events - 2013 to 2014
« Reply #61 on: August 02, 2013, 02:46:19 PM »
Again, mot a chance.
I know the Civil War is taught ... to some extent... in Northern schools.
Down here, it's a current event.
And perhaps you have forgotten the recent semi-termination of the VRA.

No I have not. The point was that the VRA was rammed down Southern throats back in the Sixties, and so will gay marriage be eventually, when all the states, whether they like it or not, will have to accept it as falling under the "equal protection" and "full faith and credit" clauses of the United States Constitution.

Offline doodler

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Re: News and Current Events - 2013 to 2014
« Reply #62 on: August 02, 2013, 03:47:20 PM »
Jeff, you seem to be saying making it a lfederal law will make it acceptable.
not a chance.
Just take a look at abortion.

And, in another advanced part of the world, there is a couple in GB planning to sue the Church of England because of its stated policy of not performing gay marriages.
In 2010, 606 people (all ages) were accidentally killed by guns.
Almost 3000 teens (15-19) die in traffic accidents a year.
1100 kids under 19 drown each year.
44 kids under 5 died of heat stroke in hot cars in 2013.
HIGH school sports account for 1.2 million trips to the ER annually.

Offline Jeff Wrangler

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Re: News and Current Events - 2013 to 2014
« Reply #63 on: August 02, 2013, 05:34:34 PM »
Jeff, you seem to be saying making it a lfederal law will make it acceptable.
not a chance.
Just take a look at abortion.

And, in another advanced part of the world, there is a couple in GB planning to sue the Church of England because of its stated policy of not performing gay marriages.

Well, there's acceptable and then there's acceptable. Some people will go to their graves never accepting it. But the day will come when they're going to have to accept it--perhaps live with it would be a better way to say it?--whether they like it or not.

I'm sure there are some folks not just in the South but all over the nation who don't accept interracial marriage, for example, but since Loving v. Virginia they have to accept it--live with the fact of it--whether they like it or not.

And the day will come when accepting it/living with it will be crammed down the throats of all the states--North, South, East, West--that have amended their constitutions, or whatever, to state that marriage is only between a man and a woman.

And good for those folks who are going to sue the C. of E. I wish them luck.  :)

Offline dejavu

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Re: News and Current Events - 2013 to 2014
« Reply #64 on: August 02, 2013, 07:18:43 PM »
I was sorry to hear that JJ Cale died this weekend.
Not really well know, but Rick and I always liked his sound.

"After Midnight"

http://youtu.be/TxuL8BsuWuA


I really love this song, though I mostly know it because of Eric Clapton.
Jack's from Texas.
Texans don't drink coffee?

Offline doodler

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Re: News and Current Events - 2013 to 2014
« Reply #65 on: August 02, 2013, 09:29:57 PM »
Well, there's acceptable and then there's acceptable. Some people will go to their graves never accepting it. But the day will come when they're going to have to accept it--perhaps live with it would be a better way to say it?--whether they like it or not.

I'm sure there are some folks not just in the South but all over the nation who don't accept interracial marriage, for example, but since Loving v. Virginia they have to accept it--live with the fact of it--whether they like it or not.

And the day will come when accepting it/living with it will be crammed down the throats of all the states--North, South, East, West--that have amended their constitutions, or whatever, to state that marriage is only between a man and a woman.

And good for those folks who are going to sue the C. of E. I wish them luck.  :)

I hope you remember that the next time you are on the other side.

American Blacks are constantly complaining that what has been crammed down the throats of American citizens for 1-1/2 centuries is not working for them. If you think discrimination and hatred can be outlawed, you are mistaken.

And how can the government of GB interfere in the practices of a religion? Of course, perhaps it is different in England than here. But here churches have long set their own practices when it comes to their ceremonies... baptism, internment, etc. Why should marriage be any different? Marriage as a civil union is one thing. Marriage as a religious union is another. What's next... MAKE the Vatican ordain female priests?
In 2010, 606 people (all ages) were accidentally killed by guns.
Almost 3000 teens (15-19) die in traffic accidents a year.
1100 kids under 19 drown each year.
44 kids under 5 died of heat stroke in hot cars in 2013.
HIGH school sports account for 1.2 million trips to the ER annually.

Offline Marge_Innavera

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Re: News and Current Events - 2013 to 2014
« Reply #66 on: August 03, 2013, 06:25:55 AM »
Also -- I'm kind of surprised anyone would say "there is no reason to be on the road at 4:30" -- in LA? Anywhere in the entire state of California? Anywhere in the USA or the world?  Unless a curfew is imposed, people can (and they do) use the roads. There is probably even less reason to be on the road in Stockton than in LA, but some people are out there driving.

I understand the uneasiness over any demand that people account for their whereabouts, if they aren't doing anything suspicious*.  People who work night shifts certainly have a reason to be out at 4:30 a.m.

However, the context here is a conspiracy theory over a cause of death so the circumstance is a legitimate question; despite Los Angeles being a "busy little place."


* "Suspicious" as in breaking into a house, setting fire to a convenience store, etc.  Unfortunate that the venue dictates qualifying that.
« Last Edit: August 03, 2013, 09:01:17 AM by Marge_Innavera »
" 'Red' states are the meth labs of democracy."

Offline Marge_Innavera

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Re: News and Current Events - 2013 to 2014
« Reply #67 on: August 03, 2013, 06:27:43 AM »

There main concern was to put fear in future leeks, so NOT to happen again. So, not to question your GOVERNMENT AGAIN.


I prefer fear-free leeks.  They taste better.


another view of Saint Bradley's conviction:

"Whatever we might think about the motives and repercussions of Bradley Manning's actions, one thing we know for sure is that he broke the law. He was apprehended, arrested and, as a soldier, he was given a fair court-martial without a jury of his peers per his own request.  He was able to hire a defense team and was backed up by public advocacy around the world. From there, he plead guilty to breaking ten laws in the face of having pledged an Oath of Enlistment. And on Tuesday, a military judge found him guilty on an additional ten charges.

"Knowing this, I'm not exactly sure why there was such violent garment rending yesterday over the fact that Manning will go to prison per the mandates of the law. He was given due process, he was presumed innocent and he was tried in the plain view of journalists. So, why the angst?

"I'm not clear as to how Manning has been able to attain such a small but vocal following of supporters given his recklessness and naivete in leaking so many documents, many of which revealed information damaging to American diplomatic endeavors. As with Snowden, there's a vindictiveness in Manning's actions -- a destructive blurting of information in order to seemingly exact punishment upon his government and the people from which it's derived. Had he released fewer documents with a more precise goal in mind and done so through more respectable channels, it's likely he wouldn't be facing 136 years in prison. Better yet, he probably wouldn't have as many critics. "

http://bobcesca.thedailybanter.com/blog-archives/2013/07/bradley-manning-lives-in-a-nation-of-laws-and-hero-or-not-he-broke-16-of-those-laws.html
« Last Edit: August 03, 2013, 09:02:54 AM by Marge_Innavera »
" 'Red' states are the meth labs of democracy."

Offline Marge_Innavera

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Re: News and Current Events - 2013 to 2014
« Reply #68 on: August 03, 2013, 09:09:57 AM »
Eventually it will be rammed down the South's throat by the Damnyankees, just like Emancipation and the Voting Rights Act.

And the day will come when accepting it/living with it will be crammed down the throats of all the states--North, South, East, West--that have amended their constitutions, or whatever, to state that marriage is only between a man and a woman.

American Blacks are constantly complaining that what has been crammed down the throats of American citizens for 1-1/2 centuries is not working for them. If you think discrimination and hatred can be outlawed, you are mistaken.


Y'all, please.  Get a room.
" 'Red' states are the meth labs of democracy."

Offline oilgun

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Re: News and Current Events - 2013 to 2014
« Reply #69 on: August 03, 2013, 12:21:26 PM »
Well, we all know that nothing would satisfy you short of complete exoneration, probably with a cash bonus and his own reality TV show thrown in for good measure.

I can see the show now, Being Bradley Manning. I'm sure he'd give the Kardashians a run for the money.

The guy pleaded guilty to 20 charges so I don't expect complete exoneration.  I would be satisfied with a fair sentence, like maybe 5 years at most.  
It's funny how people consider Manning and Snowden to be traitors but have no problem with Rumsfeld, Cheney, Bush, (Saint) Obama and all the rest getting away with war crimes.  Who endangers the US more, Manning or that criminal bunch of sociopaths?
« Last Edit: August 03, 2013, 12:54:50 PM by oilgun »
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Offline oilgun

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Re: News and Current Events - 2013 to 2014
« Reply #70 on: August 03, 2013, 01:56:40 PM »
He did have a history of drunk driving, which is unsafe.
I'll wait for the report re: his blood alcohol level.

Quote
Which could have occurred because the undercarriage of the car ripped over the median, traffic signs, fire hydrant and such...

Possible but rather convenient.

Quote
So -- anyone could have done it? Just curious, everyone says "it's easy to do" - so why haven't I even seen
this in a movie - they're usually first with things that seem a bit improbable to do...
From a two year old NYT article:
Researchers Show How a Car’s Electronics Can Be Taken Over Remotely
With a modest amount of expertise, computer hackers could gain remote access to someone’s car — just as they do to people’s personal computers — and take over the vehicle’s basic functions, including control of its engine, according to a report by computer scientists from the University of California, San Diego and the University of Washington.
Although no such takeovers have been reported in the real world, the scientists were able to do exactly this in an experiment conducted on a car they bought for the purpose of trying to hack it. Their report, delivered last Friday to the National Academy of Sciences’ Transportation Research Board, described how such unauthorized intrusions could theoretically take place.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/10/business/10hack.html?_r=0[/quote]


Quote
Someone he worked with said he was "always" working on a hot story.  I don't disagree it should be
investigated further, is anyone doing it?
  Has anyone ever said what he was doing out driving around
at 4:30 in the morning? That's what I want to know.  Why don't we even know those things? L.A. is not
a particularly "late night" town, or even an "all night" town.  Bars close at 2am here, they aren't 4am or
all night rules.  Where was he, was he with anyone, what was he doing, coming from...no one knows or
has reported these things?  Any other time of day, as I said, I wouldn't be as interested, but 4:30 am in
L.A. is pretty much the zero hour for "anything" going on.
I think it's telling that the LAPD within hours decided that it was simple accident.  Usually investigations take a little longer than that.

The Obama administration is waging a war against whistleblowers and journalists, Hastings was likely assassinated.

In the movie, I think Casey Affleck would be perfect as Hastings:



[/quote]
"Yer fond of me lobster aint' ye? I seen it - yer fond of me lobster! Say it! Say it. Say it!" - The Lighthouse.

Offline oilgun

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Re: News and Current Events - 2013 to 2014
« Reply #71 on: August 03, 2013, 02:43:24 PM »
12 people who should be in prison instead of Bradley Manning
Who are the real criminals? Here's a preliminary list

On July 30, a judge in a military court found Bradley Manning guilty of 19 of the 21 charges brought against him. Although he was acquitted of “aiding the enemy,” the most serious he faced, Manning could still face a sentence of well over 100 years' imprisonment.

It is absurd that the U.S. government would prosecute Manning, a whistleblower who exposed crimes and secrets that were being covered up by the Pentagon and State Department. It is equally absurd that the so-called justice system allows the real criminals in society—Wall Street drug launderers, CEOs responsible for willful and deadly negligence, racist murderers, killer cops and war criminals—to walk free. Below is a list of a dozen people, in no particular order, who should rightfully be sitting in prison cells instead of Bradley Manning.
[...]

http://www.pslweb.org/liberationnews/news/12-people-prison-instead-bradley-manning.html
"Yer fond of me lobster aint' ye? I seen it - yer fond of me lobster! Say it! Say it. Say it!" - The Lighthouse.

Offline Paul029

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Re: News and Current Events - 2013 to 2014
« Reply #72 on: August 04, 2013, 05:49:18 AM »

My attention was drawn recently to two detailed and informative news articles (in The Guardian and The Age) about Wednesday’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing into the NSA program and the declassification of documents relating to its bulk surveillance operations.
 
In brief, issues raised included:

a) criticism of

• the truthfulness of statements made to Congress in March by James Clapper, the Director of National Intelligence;
• the conflating to Congress by intelligence officials of the value of phone and internet communications surveillance;
• the NSA argument that “terrorist plots” were successfully “disrupted” by its bulk phone record collection;
• the fact that “technical personnel responsible for NSA’s corporate infrastructure and transmission of metadata” may handle phone records data without the “special training” in court-ordered restrictions undergone by NSA intelligence analysts; and
• the NSA claim that providing information about the number of American citizens whose data was included in its database would violate their privacy.

b) concerns that:

• the bulk surveillance collection program was insufficiently transparent;
• its usefulness for stopping terrorist attacks was overstated by the NSA, despite no evidence that this has occurred;
• Congress had been “deceived and actively misled” about the extent of (so-called “accidental”) abuses of NSA’s databases;
• the program involved massive privacy implications; and
• judges’ definition of the “relevance” of criteria (when asked to authorise warrants for the collection of records by the FBI) was vague.

Hmmm.  8)


...there was no real scent, only the memory of it, the imagined power of Brokeback Mountain...

Offline Paul029

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Re: News and Current Events - 2013 to 2014
« Reply #73 on: August 04, 2013, 05:50:27 AM »

US senators rail against intelligence disclosures over NSA practices

The bipartisan leaders of a powerful Senate committee questioned the truthfulness of the US intelligence community in a heated Wednesday morning hearing as officials conceded that their controversial bulk phone records collection of millions of Americans was not "the most important tool" – contradicting statements they previously gave to Congress.

Just before the hearing began, the US director of national intelligence declassified and released documents shedding more light on how the bulk surveillance occurs.
Senator Al Franken, a Minnesota Democrat, denounced the move as "ad hoc transparency."

Senator Patrick Leahy, a Vermont Democrat and chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said: "We need straightforward answers, and I'm concerned we're not getting them."

Leahy, joined by ranking Republican Chuck Grassley of Iowa, criticised director of national intelligence James Clapper for making untruthful statements to Congress in March about the bulk phone records collection on Americans, and NSA director Keith Alexander for overstating the usefulness of that collection for stopping terrorist attacks.


Full report here: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jul/31/us-senate-intelligence-officials-nsa

...there was no real scent, only the memory of it, the imagined power of Brokeback Mountain...

Offline Paul029

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Re: News and Current Events - 2013 to 2014
« Reply #74 on: August 04, 2013, 05:51:11 AM »
The following is from the article, published by The Age on August 1, to which I referred previously.

US declassifies NSA program for debate, as a further disclosure emerges

Washington: The Obama administration on Wednesday released formerly classified documents outlining a once-secret program of the National Security Agency that is collecting records of all domestic phone calls, as a newly leaked NSA document surfaced showing how the agency spies on Web browsing and other Internet activity abroad.

Together, the new round of disclosures shed even more light on the scope of the US government's secret surveillance programs, which have been dragged into public view and debate by leaks from the former NSA contractor Edward J. Snowden.



Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Senator Patrick Leahy
and Senate Intelligence Committee Chair Senator Dianne Feinstein
confer on Capitol Hill in Washington. Photo: AP

Being mindful that extensive quotes from an online news source might be deemed to be excessive I'll refer merely to a few concluding paragraphs in the article:

A key question has been how the judges justified stretching [the term "relevance"] [to encompass collecting records of all calls. Government officials have explained that a subset of those calls will later turn out to be relevant when analysing who has links to a suspected terrorist. By putting them all into a single database, the NSA can preserve the records for later analysis for up to five years; look at circles of callers up to three "hops" removed from the target, even if they are subscribers to different phone companies; and search for patterns that may indicate that a suspect is trying to hide his communications, like cycling through throwaway "burner" phones from different providers.”

Senator Leahy asked whether the government could not obtain "virtually all available commercial data" like a comprehensive database of all Americans' credit card records, website visits, medical records, or firearms ...” the Deputy Attorney General, James Cole. replied that "We're not collecting all their phone records so that we can wander through them. The phone records are being done to look at the connections. If somebody's buying things that could be used to make bombs, of course we would like to know that, but we may not need to do it in this fashion."

When asked by Senator Grassley how the calling records of innocent Americans could be considered relevant, and whether there was any legal precedent to support such a broad conception of "relevance," Cole replied,

"that judges on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court had now signed off on the program 34 times because the orders have to be renewed every three months, and each was such a precedent. The legal precedent comes from the history of all the orders that have been issued."


In other words—it’s legal because we’ve done it before.  ::)

An argument which is, IMO, certainly one for the books.

...there was no real scent, only the memory of it, the imagined power of Brokeback Mountain...