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I'm not a political supporter of Weiner, but it sure looks like he was set up by somebody.

Yes, he was set up by Anthony Weiner. Telling not just lies, but stupid lies didn't help.

Rep. Anthony Weiner: 'The Picture Was of Me and I Sent It'

And what's better, he has been caught again doing the same sort of stupid stuff.

Anthony Weiner admits to sending more lewd images, texts but vows to stay in mayor's race

There is something wrong with him.

Perhaps this is just sensational journalism, but there are situations like this found with regional pilots (not major airlines):

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/video/inside-airline-pilot-crash-pads-12874917

http://www.foxnews.com/travel/2012/02/01/confessions-regional-jet-pilot/

Admittedly this is for people who are trying to break into the industry and become established as opposed to those who are at the top of their game working for the major airliners, but if you want to become a pilot today and go through the steps to be qualified to become a commercial airline pilot, the path you must take today runs through these "crash pads" and comparatively low salaries. Note that few pilots start out from college or a decent air training school and go straight to major carriers. Former military pilots do get to count their flight time in military aircraft in a variety of ways for certified flying time, and some military aircraft definitely have civilian equivalents or certainly can compare in terms of general types that might get you into the major carriers after flying for the military for 20 years (necessary for retirement benefits), but not everybody can or cares to go that route either.

Airlines have also been gradually cutting salaries on their pilots and doing so in a variety of ways... with many of the airlines that paid the highest salaries simply going bankrupt (like Pan-Am... to name one airline in particular). I agree that life isn't nearly so bad as is sometimes claimed and a pilot who has been flying for 30 years can expect to be earning a pretty decent salary, but that is the end of their career, not the beginning.

The First Battle of the Atlantic
British submarines in World War One
His German Imperial Majesty's U-Boats in WWI
WWI German submarine has underwater Lake Michigan grave
German WWI Submarines (Pictures)
U-boat Attack, 1916
Anti-Submarine Measures from World War I
Depth Charges

See, that's what's nice about not being a partisan hack.

Something you obviously know nothing about, being a partisan hack. Anybody that "Oh, it's Fox and Glenn Beck you tea-bagger ignoramous" ... yea, tell us more about how you're not a partisan hack, you partisan hack.

Curtis admitted to eavesdropping. You didn't bother to read the source link in the article you tried to cite, did you? And which republican is responsible for O'Keefe's actual attempt to actually place an actual bug in a senators office, not just eavesdrop by an office door?

Well now I have (what a long-winded, whiny blowhard). The device used is irrelevant. He didn't plant a bug and leave, he held the bug in his hand and left with it. You can scream "it was eavesdropping not bugging" all you want - it's a distinction without a difference.

Dude. Both liberal and conservatives were scrutinized under a Bush appointee. Deal with it.

Not really. First, while the commissioner was appointed during the final months of Bush's presidency, he is a Democrat who materially supports the Democrat party, supported Obama, and was selected by Max Baucus because Bush could not get a Republican confirmed at that time in a Democratic congress. IRS Commissioners serve 5 years, so they would not confirm an appointment without having a say in it. The commissioner's wife famously works for a progressive organization and actively campaigned for Obama.

It was targeted at conservatives. There has been one IRS official that claimed certain other groups were also on the list, but none have seen the kind of 2-3 year delays and outrageous scrutiny that was applied to the conservatives groups, so the claim is not even credible.

Stuff like more winger bullshit? How is denying FOIA requests - which he's doing wholesale on the military-industrial-surveillance-war crimes complex - "punishing" "enemies", exactly? Obama loves right wing big agri/petrol business as much as his predecessor.

Denial, diversion, distraction etc. What the EPA loves is Taxpayer-supported NGOs that promote the globalist environmental agenda, and they prove it over and over by not only funding those organizations, but actively discriminating against others, in violation of the law.

Pretty please...don't you have a less ignorant Ayn reading brother in law you could call in here, or something?

You love these unfounded associative ad-hominems, don't you?

Offensives against North Vietnam were what was ended in 1973. The war itself and the occupation of South Vietnam weren't ended until 1975: [wikipedia.org]

And, apparently, using Wikipedia as a source. Forty years ago, on March 29, 1973, the United States ended its military involvement in Vietnam. Although the war would continue another two years, the South Vietnamese would no longer receive American assistance. Whoopsie doopsie indeed.

How about that Trans-Pacific partnership, which will overrule by treaty state and federal laws protecting American workers and consumers. How about giving the military the authority to step in an "emergency" domestic situation to "restore order".

I rail against that crap, too, but the worst things are all the stuff he (rightly) blasted Bush for doing during the campaign, then proceeded to embrace when he took office.

I have trouble believing this. Can you provide a citation?

It is commonplace. Here is a quick example of people doing it at an abortion clinic.

http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/story?id=130243&page=1

BBC is the closest news network to cover it?

Cases Of Mysterious Valley Fever Rise In American Southwest [May 13]

Valley Fever Outbreaks Lead California to Move Inmates [July 5]

Interesting post. I disagree with a number of your points, but I'll limit myself to a few counterpoints.

Guantanamo bay has never even held a total of 1,000 people as prisoners. Al Qaida teaches its members to lie and carry on the jihad by any means possible. Gitmo guards often attacked by detainees As to feeding tubes - yes they can be unpleasant, but it's likely the prisoners magnify the difficulties in line with their training.
Al Qaeda Manual Drives Detainee Behavior at Guantanamo Bay

WASHINGTON, June 29, 2005 – If you're a Muslim extremist captured while fighting your holy war against "infidels," avoid revealing information at all costs, don't give your real name and claim that you were mistreated or tortured during your detention. . .

Anwar al-Awlaki wasn't targeted due to making speeches, but due to his active participation as a terrorist recruiter, trainer, and leader: Awlaki's Legacy: A Dozen Terror Plots Linked to Al Qaeda Leader

Soviets rule was not benign: The Soviet Story

You know what, how about a few more.

http://www.contracostatimes.com/news/ci_21326939/lathrop-man-accused-killing-wife-screwdriver

Mentally handicapped individual still figured out how to kill with a screwdriver.

Or how about a doctor who killed babies with scissors?

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/philadelphia-abortion-doctor-accused-killing-babies-scissors-charged/story?id=12649868#.UeVhjY2miUQ

Or how about this guy who killd another man with a basebal bat. Too bad the 62-year-old didn't have a gun to aid him when he was trying to defend the woman.

http://www.news10.net/news/article/247702/2/Deputies-Man-coming-to-wifes-aid-killed-in-baseball-bat-attack

And then of course there's this guy, who killed with his bare hands.

http://www.news10.net/news/article/196580/5/Father-beats-man-to-death-with-bare-hands-for-sexually-abusing-daughter

So if we really want to be safe, we need to add to the list of dangerous weapons to be banned:

- Knives
- Screwdrivers
- Scissors
- Baseball bats
- Bare hands

This list could go on for pages.

More than that. I'd say Napolitano is probably the least knowledgeable person about terrorism in the Obama cabinet, which is just fucking sad.

She repeatedly claims there is no violence along the US/Mexico border, even though Arizona happens to be the kidnapping capital of the world, and people as far north as Chandler, AZ have been beheaded by Cartel members.

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=6848672&page=1#.UeBPe23aW2U

I remember it was her who made it sound like right wing groups were ready to storm the nation:

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/04/15/extremism.report/

None of these "threats" ever actually panned out. Not a single one. The worse that happened is some idiot or two made a comment (e.g. talk about assassinating the president) but no physical violence ever surfaced.

Ironically most actual "acts" of domestic terror have been committed by left wing groups, usually environmentalists and/or animal rights groups, but including the mass shooters, nearly all of which considered themselves to be left wing:

http://archive.adl.org/learn/ext_us/ecoterrorism.asp
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=ba6_1345149941

I remember a few years back there was an article on slashdot about how medical researchers had to stop their work due to eco terrorism being so bad, with one researcher who was studying Parkinson's by manipulating rat neurons, and some group threatened to Molotov cocktail his family, so he quit.

Napolitano has never made a single mention of anything like that, not even once. Al Qaeda threats are probably 1% of actual terrorism that happens in the US, and the so called "right wing" threat practically doesn't even exist. But to her, those are the top priority.

The entire H1B program is bullshit.

There is supply in the US. Companies prefer cheap imported labor - young, family-less, unlikely to complain labor instead of more expensive domestic labor.

"In 2010, there were nearly half a million workers on H1B visas in the United States, 18 percent higher than in 2001."
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/02/are-americans-losing-high-skilled-jobs-to-foreigners/

Shitcan the H1B program and not only will the engineers we already have be able to find work but we'll have more engineers in the future to fill the need that will exist.

Assuming engineering work isn't all outsourced overseas, of course.

$823,000 for the security contractor that adviced them to do that destruction? I know that for police not having high IQ is a requirement, but seems that the standards are even lower in other places.

Considering that you have between 500.000 and 5 millons "Snowden-style" external people with probably full access to all your organization data (that will do anything they want because they surely respect you), everyone have a far bigger problem than internal employees.

And retiring trust in them would not make them more loyal. Maybe the US can push the strategy of creating enemies to grab power because they will exist after that, but for me is an approach unsustainable in the long term and with very high cost. The right measures are not technical, is not that you will be fast enough to dodge bullets, but that you wouldn't have to.

Seriously, do you ever take than tin foil hat off? Audit Obama's campaign records and then talk shit about untold riches. Yep, all those innocent Democratic Klan members:

http://www.nationaljournal.com/politics/democrats-make-it-official-they-ll-take-undisclosed-donations-too-20110429

http://spectator.org/archives/2011/05/02/obama-vs-the-undisclosed-donor

https://www.stlbeacon.org/#!/content/17875/funding

http://www.beachwoodreporter.com/politics/obamas_small_donor_myth.php

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2008/10/those-undisclos/

http://pumapac.org/forums/feck-obama-team/

There is a difference between speculating and knowing. Maybe takes time to dig thru gigabytes of information, or decided to release it not all at once to let people assimilate all of it. But is highly possible that had first hand access to that information.

Also, "for a field that is compartmentalized".... maybe really a lot (half a millon? 5 millon? at that range don't matter anymore) of people had access to all that information, or at least all your information, that surely used it in a totally responsible way. Don't fall into the survivorship bias, don't focus in the visible Snowden, but in all the others that had the same access and could had used all that information in other ways.

Worth the trouble? You should weight how much it costs you privacy vs what could cost you don't worry about it, but unfortunately, english is a bad language to realize how important the future is.

How it could affect you? You can check what have the FBI/NSA about you. You can see precedents of what NSA did with private information (if that the respect that soldiers in the battlefield deserve, good luck about you). You can see the starting trend of misusing information and how it could impact you in the future.

I think that the widespread perception of the danger is not enough... yet. But as jailing/killing the people that could inform you about the real situation is the new normal, you probably won't be aware of why you should had done it before until it hits you. Or won't have the chance, as the next salvo probably will be outlawing consumer encryption (it already started). Some of the things that you can do could be complex or cumbersome to do, but you can start progressively with this tools, taking the path of least resistance, it will protect you not just from the NSA, but from other evil people and organizations too.

This is old news? http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/drive_to_discover&id=6755677

Yet 911 still happened.

9/11 happened in spite of the fact that the CIA were tracking some of the hijackers before 9/11 and just didn't tell anyone. And it happened in spite of the fact that two of the hijackers were living with an FBI informant before the attacks. Missed connections, intentional neglect, you be the judge.

Here's a link to a story of a McDonald's employee being forced to get paid off of one of these cards.

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/mcdonalds-worker-sues-franchise-paying-wages-debit-card/story?id=19420181#.UcKz7Otlt4F

It's one thing if the employer is offering these as an alternative to a pay check for people that can't get a bank account somewhere. It's an entirely different issue when they are defaulting to these or forcing them on people. Pay employees the traditional way, via check but offer alternatives if needed. The alternatives though should not be saddled with these fees. I received a similar thing as a rebate from Goodyear for some tires I bought. It was a prepaid Visa card. There were a lot of fees for not using it (they charge per month), using it to get cash, going over the limit of what is available on the card, etc. So, I just took it and bought an amazon gift certificate for the full value of the pre-paid card and applied it to my Amazon account. These stupid cards are ridiculous. I can't imagine having to get paid off of one of these.

Your computer was ASSEMBLED in TX. The motherboards and all the components are made in the Far East, mostly China. You're part of the "problem" whether you want to admit it or not. (I don't think there is a "problem" though)

Why do you assume that to be the case? Intel have Fab sites in Oregon; Arizona; Ireland; Israel, Samsung manufacture chips in Austin...Hell even Sony Manufacture in Wales (They make the Pi :). The reality the measure of manufacture is not to make every part....manufacturing does not work like that :) A complex device can be made from thousands of parts...here is your Car anaology ;) http://abcnews.go.com/WN/MadeInAmerica/page/made-america-car-american-made-13795239

The bottom line is people in America not china are paid. How about you encourage it.

While that's a cute meme you're spouting, it's the Democrats and environmentalists who have protested the building of various solar power initiatives in the southwest and managed to stop several:

"Environmental Groups File Formal Protests Over Federal Plan to Expedite Desert Solar Power Projects in 6 Western States" - http://www.eastcountymagazine.org/node/10908

"BrightSource’s cancelled projects highlight hurdles for desert solar thermal plants" - http://gigaom.com/2013/04/04/brightsources-cancelled-projects-highlight-hurdles-for-desert-solar-thermal-plants/

"$2B Mojave Desert solar plant breaks ground" - http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/local/inland_empire&id=7749227

That last one that actually got built was by, you know, a Republican....

Just say'in.....perhaps reflexively categorizing "Republicans bad" and "Democrats good" isn't the best way to view the world...

Ferret
From the High Mountains of Colorado

How telling others (specially, US citizens) that they are being spied put your own people in danger? Who is behaving wrong there? Or spying all the world is a god given priviledge? Is not that they won't abuse that privilege,

I don't want anybody hurt, but give government free card to do anything and they will be the terrorists. If you think that that terror campaign only goes to a few countries, think again, they want to go against hackers too (so better you don't live in the same area that someone downloading an mp3). And if that don't worry you because you, after all, live in US, you probably will be next.

This is about awareness, the rest of the world so they can protect themselves, and you, that should be the one that can do anything about it. But you can keep giving them free pass, in the end, if/when something happens to you or to someone you cares about in the hand of that government you are defending, you will know that was your fault.

He's way of getting awareness is now starting to cause damage. I understand he wants to shut the program down but he's going about it the wrong way. Also it might not be an option to shut it down anyway.

So I agree with you if it's about abuse we have to prevent that but I don't see how him fleeing to Cuba or threatening to release damaging files will prevent abuse. Has the NSA stopped spying on us? No.

How telling others (specially, US citizens) that they are being spied put your own people in danger? Who is behaving wrong there? Or spying all the world is a god given priviledge? Is not that they won't abuse that privilege,

I don't want anybody hurt, but give government free card to do anything and they will be the terrorists. If you think that that terror campaign only goes to a few countries, think again, they want to go against hackers too (so better you don't live in the same area that someone downloading an mp3). And if that don't worry you because you, after all, live in US, you probably will be next.

This is about awareness, the rest of the world so they can protect themselves, and you, that should be the one that can do anything about it. But you can keep giving them free pass, in the end, if/when something happens to you or to someone you cares about in the hand of that government you are defending, you will know that was your fault.

it is time to stop trying to drag down those that are actually creating jobs and employing people and start trying to pull everyone else up so that they can have those same successes.

Agreed. However we need to address the rich AND the poor who are abusing the system in order to do that. That is what OWS was truly about for those of us who do have a clue. Those with money who abuse their power are a far larger force for damage then the 4% who "rather sit in their trailer and collect money from the government than work". Minimum wage jobs like working at Walmart are my go to example for this. They pay people so low that huge groups of people have to go on welfare in order to survive. Quite honestly if I looked around and saw that as my only job option you bet I would rather sit around then work. What would be the point?

California taxpayers are spending $86 million a year providing healthcare and other public assistance to the state’s 44,000 Wal-Mart employees, according to a new study by UC Berkeley’s Institute for Industrial Relations.

from http://www.ilsr.org/new-study-finds-walmarts-miserly-wages-cost-taxpayers/

http://www.goodjobsfirst.org/corporate-subsidy-watch/hidden-taxpayer-costs This link contains over 20 states that have companies like Walmart as the biggest contributer to "lower-income workers are turning to taxpayer-funded healthcare programs such as Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP)."

And if you think "that's just the cost of low prices!" well

By Ed Smith's math, the CEO of Walmart earns more in an hour than his employees will earn in a year.

So I seriously think they can afford to pay much better or at least give decent benefits.

Obama's current->plan() || current->legislation() Face(s) Long Fight

Everything from gun legislation after massive shooting sprees to just keeping the government fucking running has been next to impossible for this guy. Instead, you can thank the party of no for making sure we reaffirm 'in god we trust' and try to repeal healthcare reform 33 times. because thats way more important.

You have no idea what you're talking about

I'm afraid you have a very distorted picture of the US based on misinformation.

The US defense budget at the end of WW2 was approximately 38% of GDP. It now hovers around 4-5%. The idea of an all powerful "military industrial complex" is a distorting myth. The defense budget is in fact dwarfed by social welfare spending. And don't forget healthcare spending, which is three to four times larger share of GDP than defense spending. You can see a chart of defense spending at the link below:

Defense Spending as Percentage of GDP Well Below Historical Average

Also, your idea about the nature of the conflicts doesn't really match up with the history. The 9/11 attack killed about as many people as the Pearl Harbor attacks which caused American entry into WW2. The 9/11 attacks resulted in about $100,000,000,000 in damage to the US economy. The fact that something is not an existential threat does not mean that it is not dangerous and has to be dealt with.

Saddam's invasion, conquest, and annexation of Kuwait in 1990 was also another military episode that was properly dealt with. The UN took action and a large international coalition of nations drove Saddam's army out of Kuwait. Completely proper, and justified.

I think you have a very one dimensional view of the American armed services which is an all volunteer military which both protects the United States and helps abroad.

U.S. Aircraft Carrier Leaving Disaster Zone After Tsunami
U.S. Military Relief Mission in Haiti Ends

Exclusive: Only Three Have Been Waterboarded by CIA

Now now, don't confuse Senator Obama with President Obama. They're entirely different people...

(I'm not sure to what extent I'm joking...)

In a sense they are. It's easy to make big sweeping claims when you're uninformed about the threats out there, on unfamiliar legal ground, and not the one responsible for national security. One election takes care of the question of who is responsible. A couple of daily presidential intelligence briefings will start to take care of the uninformed part. Some briefings by the Justice and Defense departments on the Law of War and national security law will firm up the legal ground. The world is going to start looking different at this point.

When you're President of the United States, you own whatever happens on your watch. President Obama already owns at least two successful terrorist attacks, and two attempted attacks, ignoring the ones that were intercepted. He probably doesn't want to own any more. It's bad for the party at the polls, bad for his record as president, and bad for America, let alone the victims. Also note that he hasn't asked Congress to rescind the Authorization for Use of Military Force, passed after 9/11, and legally the same as a declaration of war.

If you're responsible and assumed that there were no terrorist threats before becoming informed, you might have a change of view as well. And if he hadn't, or wavers in the future, and that results in more successful terrorist attacks, the Congress would likely become a Republican congress within an election or two, and at that point they would help the President along.

2013 Boston Marathon bombing 3 dead, 254 wounded. Fifteen victims suffered amputations, two of which had double amputations.

2010 Attempted bombing of Times Square in New York City by the Taliban - Attack failed, car bomb could have been mass casualty event.

2009 The "Underwear" bomber - Attack failed, potentially could have brought down aircraft with death of all aboard

2009 Fort Hood massacre - 13 dead, 30 wounded

Just a few weekly arrest reports from the FBI during President Obama's term:

FBI’s Top Ten News Stories for the Week Ending January 27, 2012

U.S. citizen Antonio Martinez, aka Muhammad Hussain, pled guilty to attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction against federal property in connection with a scheme to attack an armed forces recruiting station in Catonsville, Maryland.

Yonathan Melaku, of Alexandria, Virginia, pled guilty to damaging property and to firearms violations involving five separate shootings at military installations in northern Virginia between October and November 2010, and to attempting to damage veterans’ memorials at Arlington National Cemetery.

Jamshid Muhtorov was arrested by members of the FBI’s Denver and Chicago Joint Terrorism Task Forces on a charge of providing and attempting to provide material support to the Islamic Jihad Union, a Pakistan-based designated foreign terrorist organization.

FBI’s Top Ten News Stories for the Week Ending January 13, 2012

Not the brain. That was figured out years ago - the optimal place to zap isn't the brain, but a certain branch off the spinal cord.
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=235788&page=1#.Ubq0U5wavRg

He patented it too. For once patents are actually acting as they should, so you get to see exact instructions on how to build your own:
http://www.google.co.uk/patents/US6169924

I thought the conventional wisdom on this is that we shouldn't be sending them messages, but we should be listening? At least that's what Stephen Hawking says.

Maybe he likes basketball.

Forgot this. Give power to the NSA. After all, they won't abuse that power, no? Well, they did, in 2008 NSA itself used to intercept phone calls from your fellow soldiers in Middle East to their loved ones, and even shared between them "interesting" calls. Are you prepared to not have that kind of privacy neither?

I still don't really see you making any counterarguments or providing any new facts. Its pretty much all personal attack. So I'll give you one more attempt. Where do I go wrong below? Where is the hyperbole, the straw men? The blinding fear? I understand that injecting actual facts on this subject is unpopular with many people.

Terrorists exist. They've conducted attacks in the past. They'll continue to attempt attacks in the future. A significant part of the reason the number of successful attacks has been limited is due to hard work by the security services, good intelligence, and civic minded people. Crippling the intelligence agencies is a bad idea. In the past, people that stole large amounts of classified documents from the intelligence agencies, fled the country, and took refuge in a communist country where they began making the documents available to America's adversaries have been considered and called spies and traitors. Below is a list of a few attacks and arrests of terrorists.

2013 Boston Marathon bombing 3 dead, 254 wounded. Fifteen victims suffered amputations, two of which had double amputations.

2010 Attempted bombing of Times Square in New York City by the Taliban - Attack failed, car bomb could have been mass casualty event.

2009 The "Underwear" bomber - Attack failed, potentially could have brought down aircraft with death of all aboard

2009 Fort Hood massacre - 13 dead, 30 wounded

FBI’s Top Ten News Stories for the Week Ending January 27, 2012

Denver: Man Arrested for Providing Material Support to a Designated Foreign Terrorist Organization

Jamshid Muhtorov was arrested by members of the FBI’s Denver and Chicago Joint Terrorism Task Forces on a charge of providing and attempting to provide material support to the Islamic Jihad Union, a Pakistan-based designated foreign terrorist organization.

Baltimore: Man Pleads Guilty to Attempted Use of a Weapon of Mass Destruction in Plot to Attack Armed Forces Recruiting Center

U.S. citizen Antonio Martinez, aka Muhammad Hussain, pled guilty to attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction against federal property in connection with a scheme to attack an armed forces recruiting station in Catonsville, Maryland.

Washington Field: Man Pleads Guilty to Shootings at Pentagon, Other Military Buildings

Yonathan Melaku, of Alexandria, Virginia, pled guilty to damaging property and to firearms violations involving five separate shootings at military installations in northern Virginia between October and November 2010, and to attempting to damage veterans’ memorials at Arlington National Cemetery.

FBI’s Top Ten News Stories for the Week Ending January 13, 2012

1.Tampa: Florida Resident Charged with Plotting to Bomb Locations in Tampa

A 25-year-old resident of Pinellas Park, Florida was charged in connection with an alleged plot to attack locations in Tampa with a vehicle bomb, assault rifle, and other explosives.

Referring to the Fort Hood and the Boston attacks is particularly cynical (and lunatic), since neither of them was prevented by any NSA surveillance - nor was 9/11.

You are correct. In both cases there were warning signs and warnings. In the case of Hasan, it was out there for all his peers and superiors to see but they all ignored it.

"There were all sorts of ... comments made throughout the year that made me question his loyalty to the United States, but nothing was done," said Finnell, who recalled one class during which Hasan gave a presentation justifying homicide bombings.
"The issue here is that there's a political correctness climate in the military. They don't want to say anything because it would be considered questioning somebody's religious belief, or they're afraid of an equal opportunity lawsuit.

Russia swears they warned us about the Tsaranev boys but strangely our government says it was "vague." Anyway, it sounds like a congressional boondoggle trip will find the answers. The FBI acknowledges it but says nothing suspicious was found. Humm, what happened to the old days? I can imagine J. Edgar Hoover (probably in women's underwear - ewww, reminder I need to patent that mental bleach idea I have been working on.) assigning a couple of agents to follow these two for at least a couple of months but did the government by looking at the data the NSA had dismiss them as suspicious?

But you touched off a thought I was having regarding what Prism is/isn't. Anyway, I'm wondering what the network map looks like for the Tsarnaev brothers regarding their communications. Since a friend to the Tsarnaev brothers was shot late last month by an FBI agent it brings a little more thought into this NSA program and the concept of "Six Degrees of Separation." Given that you or I may be only a few people away from knowing the Tsaranev brothers, does that make us suspects or possible terrorists? I know somebody who knows somebody who knows somebody that knows X and X does bad things. That to me in and of itself isn't a link but something like a Heat Map of my contacts would probably put a better focus on those relationships. I guess from the government perspective they're the only ones that know with a 50/50 chance that they can assume that I'm a foreign national. They have call detail records (CDRS) and Internet data to correlate, so what are they doing with the data and models projected from that data? I'm also thinking right now that there are a lot of folks in the academic community who'd like to have this data so they can start pulling apart more insight into social behavior.

because they were involved in VICTIMLESS "crime" as defined by the U.S. (totally legal in their origin jurisdiction):

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/poker/news/story?id=6362238

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aj..NNwfvacU

There are a couple more but most of them related to online poker.

Edward Snowden have chosen to defect to China. He basically recognize the superior human rights of China. The only group of people that defects to China are North Koreans. Therefore USA = North Korea.

I know little that you couldn't, but apparently much that you don't. And that is sad, really. But you aren't alone. So, here is what I'm talking about to help you along.

Attacks against Americans that were attempted and not intercepted, or completed (this excludes war zones):

2013 Boston Marathon bombing 3 dead, 254 wounded. Fifteen victims suffered amputations, two of which had double amputations.

2010 Attempted bombing of Times Square in New York City by the Taliban - Attack failed, car bomb could have been mass casualty event.

2009 The "Underwear" bomber - Attack failed, potentially could have brought down aircraft with death of all aboard

2009 Fort Hood massacre - 13 dead, 30 wounded

2001 9/11 attacks - 2,973 dead. Two skyscraper towers destroyed, heavy damage to Pentagon.
Estimated damage to US economy: ~ $100,000,000,000.

2000 Photo: USS Cole - Video USS Cole - 17 dead, 39 wounded, major damage to US Navy destroyer

1998 Bombing of US embassies in Tanzania and Kenya - 224 dead, est. 4,000 wounded, both embassies heavily damaged

1996 Bin Laden's Fatwa - Text of the fatwa, or declaration of war, by Osama bin Laden first published in Al Quds Al Arabi

Small, limited sample, of other terrorism arrests and trials in the US:

FBI’s Top Ten News Stories for the Week Ending January 27, 2012

Denver: Man Arrested for Providing Material Support to a Designated Foreign Terrorist Organization

Jamshid Muhtorov was arrested by members of the FBI’s Denver and Chicago Joint Terrorism Task Forces on a charge of providing and attempting to provide material support to the Islamic Jihad Union, a Pakistan-based designated foreign terrorist organization.

Baltimore: Man Pleads Guilty to Attempted Use of a Weapon of Mass Destruction in Plot to Attack Armed Forces Recruiting Center

U.S. citizen Antonio Martinez, aka Muhammad Hussain, pled guilty to attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction against federal property in connection with a scheme to attack an armed forces recruiting station in Catonsville, Maryland.

Washington Field: Man Pleads Guilty to Shootings at Pentagon, Other Military Buildings

Yonathan Melaku, of Alexandria, Virginia, pled guilty to damaging property and to firearms violations involving five separate shootings at military installations in northern Virginia between October and November 2010, and to attempting to damage veterans’ memorials at Arlington National Cemetery.

FBI’s Top Ten News Stories for the Week Ending January 13, 2012

1.Tampa: Florida Resident Charged with Plotting to Bomb Locations in Tampa

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During the cold war the NSA was focused on the Soviet Union, which was an actual real threat to our national security. There is little evidence that the NSA was engaged in domestic spying during that time. Today the NSA, and all this surveillance, is focused on stopping some hermits in Afghanistan from talking to a few guys with a pressure cooker full of gunpowder.

So you acknowledge that the Soviet Union was a threat to national security? Well, good, that's a first step. Now things get a bit more interesting. I recall that the Soviet Union shot down a number of surveillance planes during the Cold War, such as the famous U2 incident. I don't recall that they ever bombed or torpedoed any American warships. I also don't recall that they bombed any, let alone two, American embassies, killing large numbers of people. Nor do I recall that they ever attacked any American skyscrapers or military headquarters, killing thousands of people on American soil (2,973 ) - approximately as many as died in the war igniting attack on Pearl Harbor. Nor did they recruit any attackers to shoot dead American soldiers engaging in administrative processing at an American military base. And yet Al Qaida and company has done all these things, and they continue to attempt to recruit extremists to commit further attacks.

1996 Bin Laden's Fatwa - Text of the fatwa, or declaration of war, by Osama bin Laden first published in Al Quds Al Arabi

1998 Bombing of US embassies in Tanzania and Kenya - 224 dead, est. 4,000 injured, both embassies heavily damaged

2000 Photo: USS Cole - Video USS Cole - 17 dead, 39 injured, major damage to destroyer

2001 9/11 attacks - 2,973 dead. Two skyscraper towers destroyed, heavy damage to Pentagon.
Estimated damage to US economy: ~ $100,000,000.

2009 Fort Hood massacre - 13 dead, 30 injured

2010 Attempted bombing of Times Square in New York City by the Taliban - Attack failed

You dismiss intelligence efforts to halt attacks like this as "stopping some hermits in Afghanistan from talking to a few guys with a pressure cooker". You don't think those sorts of attacks need to be stopped? I'm curious, what sort of body count or damage will it take for you to realize you're wrong?

Prior to the US invasion in 2001, Al Qaida was turning out thousands of trained terrorists per year in Afghanistan. That pretty much stopped after the invasion.

Meanwhile, our diplomatic relations with China and Russia have deteriorated, and we have very little idea what is going on in Iran or North Korea.

There should be no surprises there.

From Warren Christopher to John Kerry — Slow learners about weak horses in the Middle East

Remember last month, when the Chinese Red Army was identified as actively behind cyber-spying? It was some gumshoes working for a private company that tracked it to a specific building in Shanghai.

You aren't suggesting either that the NSA had no idea, or that they make regular press announcements

A lot of tough talk, but what can everyday Americans do to change their government?

Join a militia to do some group violence? Hear that--that's a drone coming, you've got about 10 seconds...

Go solo against the government? Enjoy your one-way ticket to a secret prison somewhere.

Civil disobedience? How does spending the rest of your life in prison sound?

March in protest? Worked in the 60s, not anymore, unless you like a mouthful of pepper spray and a tear gas canister shot into your skull.

Vote? LOL

that's quite possibly the honest truth since neither that "war" nor "terrorism" has been defined to any degree.

For it is the doom of men that they forget. -- Merlin, Excalibur

SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION FOR USE OF UNITED STATES ARMED FORCES.

(a) In General.--That the President is authorized to use all necessary and appropriate force against those nations, organizations, or persons he determines planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001, or harbored such organizations or persons, in order to prevent any future acts of international terrorism against the United States by such nations, organizations or persons.

By their deeds you shall know them.

1996 Bin Laden's Fatwa - The following text is a fatwa, or declaration of war, by Osama bin Laden first published in Al Quds Al Arabi

1998 Bombing of US embassies in Tanzania and Kenya

2000 Photo: USS Cole - Video: 2000: USS Cole Attack in Yemen

2001 9-11

2002 Bali terror attack

2004 Madrid train attacks

2005 London 7/7 Terrorist Attacks

2009 Now classified as "workplace violence" - Nidal Hasan Admitted Jihadist Motive, Ft. Hood Victims’ Attorneys Say

2013 Boston Marathon Bombing

Note that this is only a snapshot of attacks, and doesn't include the many attacks that occurred in the Middle East (except the Cole). It also doesn't include the many plots disrupted by the security services, or cancelled by the terrorists planning them. It doesn't include the many arrests for terrorism related activity, but snapshot of that over a short period of time is below:

FBI’s Top Ten News Stories for the Week Ending January 27, 2012

Denver: Man Arrested for Providing Material Support to a Designated Foreign Terrorist Organization

Jamshid Muhtorov was arrested by members of the FBI’s Denver and Chicago Joint Terrorism Task Forces on a charge of providing and attempting to provide material support to the Islamic Jihad Union, a Pakistan-based designated foreign terrorist organization.

Baltimore: Man Pleads Guilty to Attempted Use of a Weapon of Mass Destruction in Plot to Attack Armed Forces Recruiting Center

U.S. citizen Antonio Martinez, aka Muhammad Hussain, pled guilty to attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction against federal property in connection with a scheme to attack an armed forces recruiting station in Catonsville, Maryland.

Washington Field: Man Pleads Guilty to Shootings at Pentagon, Other Military Buildings

Yonathan Melaku, of Alexandria, Virginia, pled guilty to damaging property and to firearms violations involving five separate shootings at military installations in northern Virginia betwe

The companies denied knowing a code name (PRISM) and using a specific method for giving data to the gov't (backdoors). They didn't deny participating in a program to give data to the government. ABC News has a good analysis of their statements:

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/nsa-prism-dissecting-technology-companies-adamant-denial-involvement/story?id=19350095

Also all the companies say they only do it in accordance with the law. That may well be true, but so what? That doesn't mean the law isn't corrupt, or that they didn't get an overly broad FISA court order that comes with a gag. I really can't blame these companies as they have little choice. The problem is with the government.

The companies denied knowing a code name (PRISM) and using a specific method for giving data to the gov't (backdoors). They didn't deny participating in a program to give data to the government. ABC News has a good analysis of their statements:

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/nsa-prism-dissecting-technology-companies-adamant-denial-involvement/story?id=19350095

Where or where are my mods points when I need them? Intel is a dirty filthy company who plays dirty filthy pool debasing the whole idea of a free market and undermining the progress of CPUs in the process.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/184882/A_History_of_Intels_Antitrust_Woes.html

http://www.osnews.com/story/21468/Source_Intel_To_Be_Found_Guilty_of_Monopoly_Abuse

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/story?id=7574976&page=1#.Ua94NkDrz4M

and plays hardball against even the smallest of critics-

http://www.faceintel.com/kenwonintellost2.htm

All the while sucking as hard as any monopoly at the public teat:

http://www.faceintel.com/tax$subsidizeintel.htm

Intel is a dirty, disgusting company that debases the whole idea of a free market.

T-Mobile (with the shittiest customer service out there and who have been called to account for their new 'no contract deals' with gotchas)

Oh, the horror. Buy a no-contract phone on a monthly payment plan, and they actually expect you to pay the remaining balance owed if you terminate service with them?

Wow, that's some gotcha.

Oh god but dealing with T-Mobile is an outright clusterfuck! It's better to go to WalMart and buy the SIMs from them or get their StraightTalk (aka Carlos Slim) services or even to SimpleMobile which is now owned by TracFone who is in turn owned by América Móvil that is owned by Carlos Slim. So, choose you can go to VZ, AT&T or T-Mobile (with the shittiest customer service out there and who have been called to account for their new 'no contract deals' with gotchas) or you can go to the Mexican Cartel and contribute to Carlos Slim's bank account.

I was on Simple Mobile and it was really funny last year. You could tell when the Indian Help Desk was changed over to the Mexican Help Desk. In all cases, they still couldn't understand what you were saying or fix anything. I've now gone with T-Mobile via WalMart. Talk about a red-neck wireless solution!

Reisse was a pedestrian in a crosswalk, not a driver.
http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/local/orange_county&id=9122999

Because you know, guys with guns fleeing after a firefight and a violent encounter with police are totally white, nice and fluffy, model citizens and police should just wait for them to show up again and not try to prevent them from doing it again. What a nice example of police brutality!

Sometimes, it actually helps to read the source:

Authorities say the incident began when officers saw two vehicles full of people involved in some type of criminal activity in the 1000 block of Rosewood Court Thursday. When officers went to investigate, there was a physical altercation between police and 26-year-old Gerardo Diego Ayala that ended with a fatal officer-involved shooting. Police say a gun was located at the scene.

Source: http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/local/orange_county&id=9122999

I think you forget how cops act in the United States. Even for small crimes that are NOT violent in nature, they pull out a full squad, armed to the teeth, kick down doors and terrorize whomever they are going after. Since criminals know the cops will have guns out for non violent crimes, then it only makes sense to start shooting at the cops when you see them for violent crimes? Why? Because the cops are going to be gunning for you. Cops actions for all crimes have made it so criminals really have no choice but to get in shoot outs.

Another article gives a bit more information than the one in the summary:
http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/local/orange_county&id=9122999

It appears the chase was preceded by a "physical altercation" and a "fatal officer-involved shooting." You can also make an argument for testosterone-fueled fights and shootings but it seems that the police had reason to be chasing these guys and the alleged bad guys had a reason to run. Oh yeah, they were also all gang members on probation.

Because you know, guys with guns fleeing after a firefight and a violent encounter with police are totally white, nice and fluffy, model citizens and police should just wait for them to show up again and not try to prevent them from doing it again. What a nice example of police brutality!

Sometimes, it actually helps to read the source:

Authorities say the incident began when officers saw two vehicles full of people involved in some type of criminal activity in the 1000 block of Rosewood Court Thursday. When officers went to investigate, there was a physical altercation between police and 26-year-old Gerardo Diego Ayala that ended with a fatal officer-involved shooting. Police say a gun was located at the scene.

Source: http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/local/orange_county&id=9122999

"The suspects were taken into custody. Police say all are gang members on probation, with outstanding warrants for their arrest."

http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/local/orange_county&id=9122999

The manufacturers probably already make them do this, though perhaps less to reduce future harm and more to keep secrets.

Nope they self destruct so more robots need to be manufactured and sold.