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I don't think it is that complicated (as simple as it sounds).

This is pure show. They kicked the station head out, not the entire CIA. The station will continue doing what it is doing because it gets orders from higher up the chain. They know this but it makes good political theater and appears like something was done for the populace to be appeased.

The US does it too. The IRS commissioner (Steven Miller) who supposedly resigned because of the so called scandals was quitting anyways. It was just show.

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics...

> Why? Because IQ tests are banned for employment purposes, and he has to use the proxy of SAT scores which allowed people to get into competitive schools.

False. The fact that the cops are allowed to discriminate by IQ is a pretty strong counter-example to any claim that IQ tests are banned.

Nobody complains about all those people jammed into a metal tube with no windows powered by a nuclear reactor and dumped into the ocean(s)...

Really? Never been to a "peace" rally before, have you?

But I suspect you mean "nobody complains that submarines don't have windows". Well, of course not. Most people realize that 1) the "passengers" on those subs are all highly trained volunteers to want to be there or they wouldn't be, not random Joes who find out after they go down the "subway" (not jetway) that there are no windows, 2) there is no light at the depths they submerge to, so windows would be useless, and 3) when they are doing close quarter operations (like docking) they are on the surface and people are actually standing on top of the submarine looking around. If you want a perfect example of what happens when you can't see what you are doing, look at the accident when a US submarine surfaced right through a Japanese trawler because it couldn't see it.

And I bet you've never heard a submarine coming into port told to "follow the Airbus, cleared to land", or "cleared for the visual" either. Yes, one way that busy airports deal with high levels of commercial traffic is to get them into visual operations (despite them all required to be on an IFR flight plan) and off of instrument operations as soon as possible. That requires being able to SEE.

Well, I hope your luck holds. You might be careful when flying from these airports: The Top 20 Airports for TSA Theft

Not that "climate change" is homogeneous and 10 years does not centuries make, but currently from a notorious yellow rag: NOAA's most accurate, up-to-date temperature data confirm the United States has been cooling for at least the past decade. "Temperatures in North Dakota falling for the past 10yrs is not relevant. " But this is NA, a slightly larger land area than ND.

I think the GP is arguing about extrapolation of the data to fill in missing gaps. And while I completely agree that "dumping crap into our atmosphere is a bad thing", the devil is in the details.

They think that a million smokestacks is enough, I think that a thousand of them is enough, you think that only one is enough. So how many are built? What point on the gradient is right?

Oh, and I like and believe in science too. But at a certain point you seem to have made up your mind (quote: Contradictions? No, "It's dead on."), blame the dumb and evil groups trying to stop you and come across as these guys. They were 100% convinced too, you know, with a literal evil guy trying to stop them.

Not that they're not bad and misleading groups out there. And to slightly mis-quote you: "climate data is HARD to deal with." So how do you know that you (they) have gotten it right? After all: men won't live through the high 15mph speeds of trains, bumblebees and men can't fly, and man will never go to the moon.

Models are wanna-be theory implementations, but this one is slightly wrong.

Quoting from elsewhere in this thread: "That is why there are so many people who choose ignorance and belief over reason and fact." And I'm sure the End of the World people above used those exact words too.

Down here in the bible belt (sigh) there's a saying; "God did it; I believe it; That settles it." As opposed to the other funnier saying: "My mind's made up, don't confuse me with the facts." Those match this current discussion When Beliefs and Facts Collide.

Finally, to end this rambling, no matter which side of of the fence you're on (fences only have 2 sides, right -- black and white, right and wrong, "yer with me or agin me"), this is just wrong: forced to step down after subjected to 'Mc-Carthy'-style pressure from scientists around the world.

Just because you want to present a debunked theory doesn't mean you should be shouted down -- it ought to be easy to refute their (new?) arguments. And if not -- why, that's even better! Science works by correcting incorrect "facts" no matter how widespread they're known.

He was already famous. Anyone writing a similar essay while in high school would be investigated, if not suspended or expelled. Even hand gestures are grounds for punishment. And lord help you if you write anything about sex!

I don't think they're trying to upload data through your phone without your knowledge

That would've been a relatively small problem and is not, what I meant. My suspicion is, they may try to collect data from the plugged-in phone. Call-logs, pictures, locations you've visited — all those things, police now need a warrant for — unless express consent by plugging your phone into their socket.

What data can be collected may depend on your device's model and settings, but apparata for extracting information from (uncooperative) phones exist, and police are already using them.

and noise-level data

This too seems like a euphemism for recording conversations held by people resting on the "smart bench". Hardly unheard of either... Sure, the self-identified "Liberals" of Boston would not approve of such snooping. But, if it is presented as merely "monitoring noise levels", then it is Ok.

The FBI has been able to listen to any cell phone mic, even when off (as long as it has battery power) for quite some time now.

/. is really going downhill....

The media in general is going down hill. As much as Foxnews shills for the republicans, this is probably the biggest story of the year, yet it's missing from nearly every other news organization in the country.
http://www.nytimes.com/
http://www.latimes.com/
http://www.pbs.org/topics/news...
http://www.cbsnews.com/
http://www.nbcnews.com/
http://abcnews.go.com/

I checked every one of those and there's no mention of it.
Obama could get IMPEACHED over this. This is turning into a Watergate level scandal.
It could all be coincidental, but seriously? The IRS doesn't archive email? REALLY?

According to Amazon's website, the phone will range from $649 to $749 with an AT&T contract and will be available starting July 25.

cite. Even if that's a misprint and that's the price without a contract, that is WAY too much money!

It is amazing how much phone you can get for $100 now - GPS, decently high-res screen, MicroSD slot. If you ask me the movement is towards off-contract phones that provide a decent value, and $749 phones are going the way of the $3500 PC.

Might want to check your numbers. Dodge Ram = 70% USA. Toyota Tundra = 80%. And I am sure the sub-components are actually foreign.

http://abcnews.go.com/WN/MadeI...

Actually yes.

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/po...

Quote:
"It has been nearly two weeks since Rush Limbaugh called Sandra Fluke a âoeslutâ and in the age of the 24-hour news cycle, that is virtually an eternity.

Yet the outrage over the conservative talk radio hostâ(TM)s remarks is still making headlines, spawning activist attacks and causing headaches for advertisers."

The rest of my comments are usually equally valid. I'm human- I make mistakes- and I weight facts according to my own personal biases. I'm not perfect.

But in this case, you've literally remapped your memory to erase something that actually happened less than two years ago.

I regularly expose my thought processes to a wide variety of pro-conservative and pro-liberal viewpoints. I recommend it to keep a more accurate view of reality.

The reality is closer to "any delivery man could one day decide to just steal your mail, and this is pretty likely to happen actually". But why don't they? In fact why doesn't anyone with some control over your life use that position to screw you over and take what they want? It's the question never pondered.

There's not much need to ponder the question, because it *does* happen. Not on a huge, sweeping scale (not including the NSA stuff, anyway), but it's enough to be concerned about.

Okay, quick breakdown we have the three branches of government. Law enforcement reports up through the DOJ to the President. Actually all federal government functions except those of congress, and the judiciary are run from the White House. Here's a little graphic that shows this. The FBI is under the white house. Now, they're supposed to be independent and work within the law, but in the past we know that the FBI has done some underhanded things. Things like the whole Whitey Bulger affair.

No, the reasons they're not allowed to donate are outdated reasons. It made sense when there was no test, or when the tests were less reliable. Today, we obviously have tests, every donation is tested. The false negative rate is 0.03%. So it's pretty safe to take a negative as a negative.

Gay men are also more likely to have had an HIV test than most people, and they would self-exclude themselves if positive. Given that gay men could already simply lie, it's not like a whole lot would change there.

As far as empirical evidence: it appears that bans on gay men donating blood doesn't do much. The American Medical Association is convinced it's a stupid policy.

Lastly, there are drugs to treat HIV. If you die from a shortage of blood, there's no drugs yet to manage that.

So are you suggesting that it was up to the Americans and Russians to determine the choices a sovereign people should make? How about if someone made those choices for you? Oh Wait, they already do...

First, sovereignty isn't an absolute, especially when Russia and Ukraine were in fact a single sovereign country until very recently. Crimea is historically Russian and was only part of "Ukrainian" territory in the USSR because of an internal administrative boundary change.

Hell, throwing your "choices a sovereign people should make" back at you: what about the parts of Ukraine that are heavily Russian and WOULD rather be part of Russia?

Obama didn't just allow the Ukrainians their own choice - he actively supported the rebels against the pro-Russian government. Given Russian interests in the Ukraine, especially in the Crimea where Russia maintains a significant military presence, and the clearly stated importance Russia placed in Ukrainian status, Obama still helped topple the government there.

That's the mess Obama needlessly stepped into. And made worse. Then walked away from spouting hashtags while people died.

But it gets worse - after fomenting a rebellion everyone in Europe knew the Russians would respond to militarily (which is why they didn't support Obama, resulting in the "Fuck the EU" comment), Obama seemed surprised by the Russian response. Hmm, exactly like Obama was surprised by the reaction to his deserter-for-five-terrorists deal. (Is "Chuck Hagel did it!" our fifth excuse for that PR disaster now?)

Here you go, although she's already famous. You'll have to seek fame on your own merit somehow.

The NBA has no grounds to force him out

Morality clause.

One of those documents, which Sterling signed when he first bought the Clippers in 1981, and signed various amended versions since, states that an owner will not take any position or action that will materially and adversely affect a team or the league. Owners also sign morals clauses, which state that they will be upheld to the highest standard of ethical and moral behavior.

The only question here is whether that should apply to what should be considered a private conversation. (well, and if morality clauses are even legal)

sale of an asset he shouldn't be forced to sell.

That's the thing, he doesn't really *own* an NBA team, he owns the license to play in the NBA. If the NBA revokes that license, he just ends up with a really expensive athletic organization.

This one isn't frivolous. It has put pilots and crew in the hospital with eye burns.

http://www.wfaa.com/news/local...

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/he...

While it hasn't led to air crashes YET it is still a serious form of assault on someone in a critical position.

Some states still have the death penalty for attacking a first responder. Something to think about.

ok, and how many people do you know that have been permanently blinded by a laser? Any?

Yes. And your implication that it is ok to temporarily blind someone who relies on "see and avoid" to keep from running into other traffic is just pathetic.

How about this? It took all of five seconds to find using Google.

I can't even find anything on a lab experiment gone wrong or military laser accident. Nothing.

Why yes, of course, every lab accident makes the 11 o'clock news so you can find out about it.

The only thing I can find are articles from pilots complaining, and they have an understandable axe to grind.

Yeah, I supposed it's a surprise that people who are the targets of attempts to blind them, even temporarily, might have "an axe to grind" with those people.

But what's the practical chance of that happening?

It's documented fact. The chance of a documented fact happening is not "damn near 0".

You're worried about people going to prison for trying to blind a pilot of an aircraft carrying upwards of 200 passengers? Here's the simple way to avoid it: DON'T SHINE A LASER POINTER AT AN AIRPLANE. Problem solved.

OT: what the hell is wrong with /. today? It keeps telling me I'm not logged in and it ignores the "ads disabled" flag completely? Five different views of the same discussion in five tries at reading it.

it happens all the time.
here is a pilot that ahd eye damage?
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/he...
http://www.wfaa.com/news/local...

Permanently blinded? I don't know. Temp blinded, often.
There are hundreds of cases.

Learn to fucking use Google.

... has auditions in San Diego on June 7th.

Most CEOs are more like Ballmer; they are managers, not pioneers, and they don't get the credit when they do a good job, or steer the best possible result in a losing cause.

The job of a CEO is not to be a "manager". They are to be the leader. The job of a President or COO is to be the manager. Ballmer was never a leader; he just managed things without a larger sense of what MS was supposed to do. His

I use the basketball analogy to point out that there can be a lot of basketball superstars, and not match the performance of a Michael Jordan.

A more correct analogy has nothing to do with performance. Phil Jackson who coached both Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant would pick MJ over Kobe because MJ was a stronger leader in his opinion.

That doesn't make them failures, and it doesn't make Ballmer a failure for not matching Jobs' performance.

Again, it's not a binary: failure or success. Ballmer didn't do as well as Jobs not because he didn't match the stock price increase that Apple had. He didn't do as well as Jobs because under his watch MS was reactionary to whatever Google, Oracle, Apple, etc was doing.

Please give me some sort of source to your claim.

According to this page the average number of bus passengers in the UK is 9, and buses get about 6 MPG. So that is 54 passenger-miles per gallon, which is about as good as one person in an electric car, or two people in a gasoline powered car. But even that overstates the case for buses, since they drive a fixed non-optimal route, where a car goes directly to the passenger's destination, so the "miles" are not equivalent.

So ... us "bitter clingers" with our icky big families in our minivans have that beat by a country mile :)

I doubt anybody (but you) linked it to global warming. Am I right?

We already let tons of unlicensed drivers on our roads (and I'm not referring to "illegals").

20% of fatal accidents in the US involve an unlicensed driver http://abcnews.go.com/Travel/story?id=118913 so it can only make our roads safer if we can put them in even semi-autonomous cars.

Newt keep up on events without streaming Fox News?

Shakrai wrote:

Plenty of species have benefited from humans without becoming primary sources of food for them. Easy example: Cats and Dogs. Other examples: Squirrels, pigeons, and rats.

Except that cats, dogs, squirrels, pigeons, and rats have all been (or are) on the menu.

Deaths versus shootings...are you really that stupid as to not be able to tell the difference?

I'm not sure what you're on about with that question. You said 4,000 people/year die from being accidentally shot by children. Those would be shooting deaths. What is the difference you're talking about?

The very first link returned by your Google search says that almost 3,800 people died from unintentional shooting deaths in the six years from 2005 through 2010. That's about 633 per year. So no, 4,000 or so people in the US do not die every year because they're accidentally shot by children.

Most of the people accidentally shot by children are other children. According to this report, 98 kids under 18 died from accidental shootings in 2010, and 85% of them (83) were shot by other children.

we avoided 1 entirely because this hasnt been our style since 1910. We avoided 2 because we have a 25 year track record of failed wars and coups, not to mention king georges debacle in iraq. we also dont pick fights with countries that possess a nuclear fleet or long range bombers. Three works, and it works because we're beholden as members of NATO to protect our allies. because we rely on russia very little (as does russia us) we expect to get away with what basically amounts to a great deal of symbolism.

Wait what? You haven't heard? It was just another oil grab, you Americans really don't know the real reason US went to Ukraine?

Holy shit, you guys are dumb, the WHOLE WORLD knows.

The Farce Is Complete: Joe Biden's Son Joins Board Of Largest Ukraine Gas Producer
  BidenÃ(TM)s Son Gets Ukrainian Oil Company Gig
  Vice President Joe Biden's son joins Ukraine gas company
  Joe BidenÃ(TM)s Son Appointed to Board of UkraineÃ(TM)s Largest Gas Producer

Yeah, and he could also be the guy responsible for sinkholes that show up an alarming rate lately because the wildfires he sets make Earth crust softer thus more likely to sink.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new...

http://www.viralnova.com/huge-...

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics...

One roll per "SWAT" call, results to be cumulative:

On a "1" he gets shot in the arm

On a "2" he gets shot in the leg

On a "3" he gets beat-up and tossed into a squad car for a few hours

On a "4" he gets a stripsearch, a cavity search, a delousing and a county jail "roomie" for a few nights

On a "5" he gets a round in the face

On a "6" he gets the crap scared out of him (literally... threaten him till he soils) by an over-militarized police unit

On "7" through "12" he gets his life threatened by armed men, and spends a sleepless night talking with investigators, trying to "prove" he's not guilty of something gets the contents of his home overturned and sifted through and has to explain all this to, and comfort, his terrified family members who many never again feel safe in their own home.

That's the sort of risk he subjected every family member to in every home he pulled this "prank" on. At 16, you are plenty old enough to know better. Kids at age 16 used to be able to hold jobs, and in some places even marry. 16 year olds fought in both the American Revolution and in the American Civil War and have fought in many other wars in human history. This kid is a dirtbag playing with the lives of innocent people and he would likely have continued to do it up until people died (and almost certainly even beyond that point) and if somebody does not put him down soon he probably WILL become a rapist, a murderer or a child abuser (SOME form of bastard that gets his kicks destroying people's lives).

As for the authorities... that's a whole other (and serious) problem. We've had a rash of recent episodes where the police who are supposed to "protect and serve" and who gun control activists tell us are the only ones who should be "trusted with guns" have gone NUTSO and blasted away like Yosemite Sam. The recent episode in Florida where 23 officers unloaded 350+ rounds into two unarmed men, the Los Angeles pickup truck barrage, The infamous NYC "shootout" with an unarmed man, The Arizona vet shooting, etc are all examples of this poor training, poor discipline, and just appallingly bad judgement. There is simply NO excuse for authorities to bash their way into a home in response to such a 911 call... SOME effort out to be made with things like cameras and pocket periscopes to see what's happening inside before lives are put very much at risk.

Personally, I liked that one:

http://abcnews.go.com/Technolo...

http://www.wptv.com/news/local...

Just search for "zombie bees" to see a bunch of links popping up.

Sensationalism. Propaganda. We'll be sure to think of the children as ew teach the tairists a lesson.

Think about it.

Knight was an active duty enlisted member of the Navy assigned to the nuclear aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman. He worked as a systems administrator in the carrier's nuclear reactor department. He is accused of conducting some of his unlawful hacking while aboard.

Feds: Sailor hacked Navy network while aboard nuclear aircraft carrier

That cuts a little too close to the bone.

It gets better:

''Essentially I am in trouble for posting all of the stuff on Twitter,''Knight told ABC News by email in his first interview. ''Although a lot of people are saying I was the leader of some crime organizations that was out to get people which wasn't true. Just a group of people that were dumb and did dumb things.''

In criminal information filed Monday, prosecutors allege that while Knight served in the Navy as a systems administrator in the nuclear reactor department of the USS Harry S. Truman, he was also leading a double life as a self-proclaimed ''nuclear black hat'' and the leader of a hacking group called Team Digi7al that stole or attempted to steal confidential or private information and post it online.

After the attacks, the group then bragged about their accomplishments on Twitter, with Knight acting as the main ''publicist,'' according to the Department of Justice.

The court filing noted that three alleged members of the group were minors when they joined.

Prosecutor Ryan Souders, who is involved in the case, told ABC News that generally when a suspect is charged in a criminal information filing, rather than an indictment, that means the defense has indicated they will not contest the charges.

Alleged Navy Hacker Says His Group Just 'Did Dumb Things'

I

PR for who and what though?

Just to address this bit - I meant specifically as a defense strategy, as Nintendo had been painted negatively in the news, especially after their first response's gaffe;
http://abcnews.go.com/Entertai...

( As opposed to saying "you're right, that is a bit odd isn't it? we'll make a patch available in the coming weeks." or sticking to the "the game is what it is and the code and content simply doesn't allow for gay marriages - don't like it? don't play it." (paraphrased) )

Obama and putin are buddy buddy

Some times I wish this were true, but it is not. I think, Obama is genuinely and sincerely appalled by Putin's aggression against Ukraine and other countries. He is just caught completely by surprise — Obama is a master of class warfare rhetoric, which helps him domestically, but he is learning foreign relations as well as simple history of the world on the job.

This is not me — a racist RethugliKKKan saying it — sympathetic newspapers in 2008 agreed, that it is Joe Biden, who brings foreign policy heft to the ticket:

Mr. Biden is among the best-informed lawmakers on international affairs, a gap in Mr. Obama’s résumé.

I'd say, things could've been a lot worse under an Administration, where a jovial lunatic is the primary fount of foreign policy expertise. Or, maybe, they are just as bad as they could get...

Whereas Putin is an expert, Obama is a neophite — an out-of-his-league amateur. While Putin can order his army into Ukraine at any moment — they already have "PEACEKEERS" painted on their helmets and vehicles — Obama can't even muster enough determination to send body-armor to Ukrainian military.

The one that challenges the Republican views that:money is speech, and since the rich have more money they should get to decide what speech I should listen to.

You think the view is exclusive to Republicans? Then you either don't pay enough attention, or you need your head examined.

Remember during the sequester, the Democrat President shut down public access to the White House, but sold access to "donors" at half-a-million a pop.

Not to mention, >8 of the 10 richest Congressional districts are represented by Democrats, not to mention the fact that7 of the 10 richest Congresscritters are also Democrats.

With apologies to Charles Baudelaire - "the greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world that Republicans are the party of the rich."

What does it matter? Both parties serve the corporations.

The one that challenges the Republican views that:money is speech, and since the rich have more money they should get to decide what speech I should listen to.

You think the view is exclusive to Republicans? Then you either don't pay enough attention, or you need your head examined.

Remember during the sequester, the Democrat President shut down public access to the White House, but sold access to "donors" at half-a-million a pop.

Not to mention, >8 of the 10 richest Congressional districts are represented by Democrats, not to mention the fact that7 of the 10 richest Congresscritters are also Democrats.

With apologies to Charles Baudelaire - "the greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world that Republicans are the party of the rich."

So if I read this right, while they are in the presence of electromagnetic fields they can't orient themselves via their internal compass, but the moment they leave that field they regain their orientation. So all they have to do is fly in any direction, and they will eventually get oriented. I'm not sure I see how big a problem this is.

Thanks armchair expert.

http://abcnews.go.com/Technolo...

So how much is really because of EM and not the ASSumed by us "red light"??

Kosovo, Iraq, Afganistan, Guantanamo, Libya, Syria just to name a few in the last 15 years. Tell me please, which one of those has been outdone by Russia?

Chechnya comes immediately to mind. That's where Putin himself was ordering tanks, multiple rocket-launchers and bombers to be used against his own citizens — something he now gravely warns Ukrainians against.

Then Afghanistan, with its over a million victims. Before that go military suppressions of popular uprisings in Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Hungary, and support (overt and covert) for various Arab regimes in their wars against Israel.

That takes care of military conflicts. Guantanamo is just too precious for words — an American-run prison... Do you know the conditions in Russian prisons — how easy it is to get into it and how hard it is to get out? Please, don't make me laugh.

The Vietnam war alone took more lives than all military conflicts the U.S.S.R. had been involed in since WWII. Combined.

I'd say you are ignorant, but these numbers are so easy to verify, you must be lying. Soviet war in Afghanistan killed 850,000–1,500,000 civilians (plus up to 90K fighting men). The Vietnam war killed 455,462–1,170,462. This alone deals with your "all military conflicts combined" false claim.

But there is more — the sole reason, Vietnam war was as bloody, was USSR's support for the Viet Cong. While we were fighting the spread of Communism — the single deadliest school of thought known to man (even Hitler's heinous strand of Fascism being but a distant second) — USSR was attempting to spread it. Without it, we would've prevailed — and quickly — and Vietnam today would've been more like South Korea, instead of being more like the North.

I know your educational system is wanting

I grew up in USSR — my educational system was perfect (in your opinion), so that's another "oopsie" for you. Remember to logout.

...and McDonalds phased it out over 2 years ago.

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/he...

At the beginning of 2011, we made a decision to discontinue the use of ammonia-treated beef in our hamburgers. This product has been out of our supply chain since August of last year. This decision was a result of our efforts to align our global standards for how we source beef around the world.

Search that exact phrase in Google for HUNDREDS of search results explaining the impact of that press release.

Look man. I get it. You don't like mechanically separated beef bits in your ground beef - but at least get your McDonalds facts straight.

You're 0-2 on this.

Where are people getting the idea that the media isn't talking about the lack of male teachers? I hear about it constantly. In fact, I suspect you might have to be particularly plugged-in to tech news to be hearing significantly more about women in tech than male teachers.

Here's one: http://abcnews.go.com/Health/m...
Here's another: http://www.sciencedaily.com/re...
Another: http://abcnews.go.com/Health/s...
Another: http://www.dallasnews.com/news...
Another: http://usatoday30.usatoday.com...

Where are people getting the idea that the media isn't talking about the lack of male teachers? I hear about it constantly. In fact, I suspect you might have to be particularly plugged-in to tech news to be hearing significantly more about women in tech than male teachers.

Here's one: http://abcnews.go.com/Health/m...
Here's another: http://www.sciencedaily.com/re...
Another: http://abcnews.go.com/Health/s...
Another: http://www.dallasnews.com/news...
Another: http://usatoday30.usatoday.com...

I heard about it on the radio a couple of weeks ago. This case is an absolutely appalling abuse of power.

Advocates Fight for Justina Pelletier, Teen Held by State in Psych Ward

One day Justina Pelletier was a seemingly healthy teenager performing jumps and spirals at a skating show and six weeks later, on Feb. 10, 2013, she was in the emergency room at Children's Hospital in Boston after a severe bout with the flu, refusing to eat and barely able to walk.

Her parents, Lou and Linda Pelletier of West Hartford, Conn., say their daughter was diagnosed and being treated at Tufts Medical Center for mitochondrial disease, a rare genetic disorder with physical symptoms that can affect every part of the body. Justina's sister Jessica, 25, is also being treated for the disease.

But three days later, a team of doctors at Boston Children's said her symptoms were psychosomatic, according to the family. The hospital then filed a complaint with the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families, as required by law, because they suspected the parents of child abuse for subjecting their daughter to invasive medical treatments and denying her mental health therapy. ... more

Pelletier Family Files Habeas Corpus Pleading, Points Out Disturbing Facts About Boston Children’s Hospital

... Among other things, the Petition also argues that the requirement to issue detailed written findings of fact and conclusions of law justifying DCF’s intervention has never been met. Never has the juvenile court issued such required findings of fact or conclusions of law.

“This case comes down to the simple fact that new doctors at Boston Children’s Hospital (BCH), who had no experience with Justina, came up with a different diagnosis than her expert treating physicians at Tufts Medical Center,” said Staver. “The state cannot take children from their parents when the parents make reasonable choices for their medical care. This case is outrageous,” said Staver. .... Justina has gone from a competitive figure skater to being confined to a wheelchair,” said Staver.

Fourteen months ago, Justina, now fifteen years old, was seized by Massachusetts DCF after her parents, at the direction of Dr. Mark Korson, took her to Boston Children’s Hospital to see Dr. Alejandro Flores, a gastroenterologist who had previously treated Justina when he worked at Tufts Medical Center before he transferred to BCH. Dr. Korson, Chief of Metabolic Services at Tufts Medical Center, was Justina’s primary physician who was treating her for Mitochondrial disease. Instead of allowing Justina to see Dr. Flores, Justina saw Dr. Jurriaan Peters, a BCH resident only seven months out of medical school. He brought in Dr. Simona Bujoreanu, a psychologist who coauthored an article in which she contends that in up to 50% of children who present with physical complaints, the complaints are not physical but mental. Without consulting with Dr. Korson or Flores, Dr. Bujoreanu rendered a diagnosis of Somatoform disorder. Without a thorough review of her care, she opined that Justina’s physical complaints were mental, not physical. BCH then presented the family with a new treatment plan to discontinue all medical care and medications and which forbade any second opinions. When the parents refused to sign the new treatment plan and requested that Justina be discharged so they could take her back to Tufts Medical Center, BCH called DCF, and DCF prevented the family from discharging Justina

I heard about it on the radio a couple of weeks ago. This case is an absolutely appalling abuse of power.

Advocates Fight for Justina Pelletier, Teen Held by State in Psych Ward

One day Justina Pelletier was a seemingly healthy teenager performing jumps and spirals at a skating show and six weeks later, on Feb. 10, 2013, she was in the emergency room at Children's Hospital in Boston after a severe bout with the flu, refusing to eat and barely able to walk.

Her parents, Lou and Linda Pelletier of West Hartford, Conn., say their daughter was diagnosed and being treated at Tufts Medical Center for mitochondrial disease, a rare genetic disorder with physical symptoms that can affect every part of the body. Justina's sister Jessica, 25, is also being treated for the disease.

But three days later, a team of doctors at Boston Children's said her symptoms were psychosomatic, according to the family. The hospital then filed a complaint with the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families, as required by law, because they suspected the parents of child abuse for subjecting their daughter to invasive medical treatments and denying her mental health therapy. ... more

Pelletier Family Files Habeas Corpus Pleading, Points Out Disturbing Facts About Boston Children’s Hospital

... Among other things, the Petition also argues that the requirement to issue detailed written findings of fact and conclusions of law justifying DCF’s intervention has never been met. Never has the juvenile court issued such required findings of fact or conclusions of law.

“This case comes down to the simple fact that new doctors at Boston Children’s Hospital (BCH), who had no experience with Justina, came up with a different diagnosis than her expert treating physicians at Tufts Medical Center,” said Staver. “The state cannot take children from their parents when the parents make reasonable choices for their medical care. This case is outrageous,” said Staver. .... Justina has gone from a competitive figure skater to being confined to a wheelchair,” said Staver.

Fourteen months ago, Justina, now fifteen years old, was seized by Massachusetts DCF after her parents, at the direction of Dr. Mark Korson, took her to Boston Children’s Hospital to see Dr. Alejandro Flores, a gastroenterologist who had previously treated Justina when he worked at Tufts Medical Center before he transferred to BCH. Dr. Korson, Chief of Metabolic Services at Tufts Medical Center, was Justina’s primary physician who was treating her for Mitochondrial disease. Instead of allowing Justina to see Dr. Flores, Justina saw Dr. Jurriaan Peters, a BCH resident only seven months out of medical school. He brought in Dr. Simona Bujoreanu, a psychologist who coauthored an article in which she contends that in up to 50% of children who present with physical complaints, the complaints are not physical but mental. Without consulting with Dr. Korson or Flores, Dr. Bujoreanu rendered a diagnosis of Somatoform disorder. Without a thorough review of her care, she opined that Justina’s physical complaints were mental, not physical. BCH then presented the family with a new treatment plan to discontinue all medical care and medications and which forbade any second opinions. When the parents refused to sign the new treatment plan and requested that Justina be discharged so they could take her back to Tufts Medical Center, BCH called DCF, and DCF prevented the family from discharging Justina

Finding the applicants is not the problem, as you can see by looking at the number of applicants for the very few seats.

Unless totally unqualified people were applying .. but that still begrudges the question: why aren't these Nawth Ca''lina universities teaching what the students want?

Oh .. yeah .. sorry, I forgot. All that money going for Black Studies.

http://espn.go.com/college-spo...
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01...

Even better, Just stumbled across this when checking ABC news. Apparently one officers idea of "crowd control" is to trip and shove high school girls at a football game.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/video...

[citation] [citation] [citation] [citation] Why do the Canadians want to build a $7 billion pipeline instead of refining tar sand in Canada? Because refining tar sand is one of the filthiest processes on the planet. There are no regulations in Texas so spending $7 billion on a pipeline is the most profitable method of dealing with the fallout.

Tune into http://www.whitehouse.gov/, just like any other idiot box channel be it http://abc.go.com/, http://www.nbc.com/, http://www.cbs.com/, http://www.cwtv.com/, http://www.fox.com/, suck up the corporate cool aide and be informed, of what you are meant to know, and about how you are meant to think and whom you have to vote for. All the channels with the same corporate message, all the talking heads reading off the same Teleprompter feed. The US no longer has a president, it just has another puppet, saying what it is told to say, pretending it thinks for itself, and working ever so hard at dumbing down the airwaves. Of course the rest of the world is looking at the office of the President of the United States and realising just how a empty suit really occupies that position.

I realize it may seem like Microsoft has the IRS over a barrel, but keep in mind that the US Government does have a bit of negotiating power on prices due to its sheer size and the common use of large comprehensive contracts. I'm sure they aren't paying the average price for support.

Analysts noted earlier this year that Microsoft had dramatically raised prices for Custom Support, which previously had been capped at $200,000 per customer for the first year. Instead, Microsoft negotiates each contract separately, asking for an average of $200 per PC for the first year of Custom Support.

Emphasis mine.

So they are paying $30 million to migrate to Windows 7. According to the article they have 58,000 PCs left to upgrade. That's $517.24 per machine. Licenses for Windows 7 Ultimate and Pro seem to be between $150 and $200 a pop on GSA Advantage. Throw in some CALs, software assurance, or other essential software, and it is probably leaving less than the $200 per machine average for the Custom Support.

Should they have dragged their feet this long to upgrade? Of course not. But I wonder if something set them back.